#again a bit all over the place but that's my brand and i'm sticking to it

[catcze]

Reblogs are greatly appreciated !!

[ ###… ] modern AU, rockstar Wriothesley, gn reader, est. relationship, a lil bit of hurt/comfort, fluff, long-distance pining, lovesick & homesick wrio, kinda cheesy which is kind of on brand for me lol

By the time Wriothesley manages to get back to his hotel room and check his phone, he's pretty sure you're asleep. He hopes you are, knowing how late it must be on your end.

It's no surprise that there are several messages waiting for him— each day you've been apart, you give him something sweet to read in the evenings after a busy day of promos or after a hectic show. Something to make the distance between you seem a little less vast, to let him know that you're still thinking about him.

Even on days where he's dead tired, he'll always read them. Always let you know that he thinks of you, too.

What does surprise him is the newest text, sent at just over twenty minutes ago. Wriothesley frowns as he wonders why you're still up, and his heart only drops more when he scrolls through the messages and reads the latest thing you sent.

I miss you. I really, really miss you.

Before he can even hope that he's not bothering you, his finger near slams on the call button. You answer on the second ring, voice lacking the raspiness of a roused sleep. It makes him sigh with relief.

"Wrio?" you ask, surprised. "Are you okay? What's up?"

"I should be asking you that." Wriothesley sits heavily on the plush bed, flopping back against the pillows with all the grace of a man who just gave a two-hour performance.

As luxurious as the king-sized bed is, with its soft sheets and myriad of immaculately fluffed pillows, he can't help but yearn for the warm familiarity of your own bed and your well-loved blankets.

"Why're you still up, honey? Don't you have breakfast with your friends tomorrow?"

"...can't sleep," you murmur after a beat, voice so quiet. He hears sheets rustling, then silence again. You hesitate. "I... it might sound selfish but I miss you being here with me. It sucks that the bed feels so empty without you."

And oh, if he could, Wriothesley would crawl through the phone right this very second and wrap you in his arms— would crush you to his chest and hold you tight as he listens to your breath taper off into sleep. Would keep you against him, wrapped up in his love and adoration, until you practically have to beat him off of you with a stick.

But he can't and it's killing him.

"It's not selfish. I miss you too," he says, voice longing. "I want to go home to you so bad, sweetheart, you have no idea. Wish I could've packed you up in my bag and smuggled you here with me." He has to fight sleepy giggles at the thought.

"Speaking of— you better be prepared for a crapload of gifts when I get back. I've got a whole suitcase of stuff I thought you'd like."

You gasp, and even sounding a little crackly from the speakers, his heart does a flip. "A whole suitcase?! I wouldn't even know where to put all that!"

"We'll find space. 'm pretty sure there's some stuff we can jigsaw around." Wriothesley tries to keep the tiredness from his voice, tries to fight back the yawn. It's been so long since you've called, what with timezones and schedules getting in the way, and he wants to talk to you longer— ask how your day's been, what your plans are for the rest of the week, if there were any places you want to visit when he gets home. This call is much too short for all the things he wants to say, for all the hours he wants to spend listening to you talk.

But try as he might, you can tell he's close to knocking out without even having to lay an eye on him.

"You should sleep," you tell him, voice soothing him like a balm. "You're probably tired after your show. I saw a few videos, you know— you were so cool. I'm proud of you, Wrio."

He hums, basking in your praise. His eyelids are already growing heavy, the soft siren's song of sleep growing harder to resist. If he closes his eyes, maybe he can imagine that you're just down the hall, busy with something. You'll come in any second now, crawl into bed and slip into his arms, and everything would be right with the world.

"Thank you for... for calling. For checking up on me just because of a text." You giggle at that last bit, and (as it always seems to do) his heart flips. "I love you lots."

"Mm, no need to thank me. Just gimme lots of kisses when I get home." His tongue is growing heavier, sleep more inviting. But he manages to get one last thing out— "I love you lots, too."

Right before Wriothesley lets himself drop, you press a loud, exaggerated kiss to the receiver of your phone. He smiles.

That's how you both fall asleep: with both phones still on the line, even breaths and quiet snores comforting the other into a restful slumber.

[cosmerelists]

If Cosmere Characters Had Brands Sponsoring Them...

As requested by anon. :)

Let's imagine a world--a perhaps terrible world--in which Cosmere characters have brand sponsorships. If it gives you chills, please blame the anon who requested it. ;)

1. Adolin

Shallan: Wow, looking sharp! Shallan: Is that a new outfit? Adolin: Yup! Armani sent me a whole bunch of suits. Adolin: Apparently that's all I'm gonna wear from now on! Shallan: That sounds a a bit dystopic but also you look REALLY good. Adolin: Ha ha yeah let's think about it no further!

2. Steris & Wax

Steris: Wax, thank goodness you're here. Wax: Whoa! Did you start on taxes without me? Steris: I promised HR Block I'd use their services so that they can promote themselves as the brand that "even Steris Harms trusts." Steris: But obviously we need to check their work. Wax: Yes--obviously. Wax: And after that, let's pour ourselves some glasses of Jack Daniel Whiskey--Make it Count. Steris: ... Wax: ... Steris: Why did we agree to this again?

3. Amaram

[Amaram offers Wit his hand] Wit: No thanks, I wouldn't want to get any of it on me. Amaram: Any of what? Wit: Whatever you use to keep your hands clean, my lord. It must be powerful stuff, indeed. Amaram: Seventy percent of pigs have cleaner hands than forty percent of humans, you knw. Wit: I...what? Amaram: And that little fact is brought to you...by Meta AI.

4. Tress

Tress: (muttering to herself): Well...we do like to go places... Charlie: Hey do you need some help with...whatever you're dong? Tress: Yes please! I'm trying to stick these posters all over Two Cups. Charlie: What's a Toyota? Tress: Not totally sure...but they are offering a lot of money...do you think it's okay? Charlie: Well...we do like to go places... Tress: That's exactly what I said!

5. Nightblood

Nightblood: Pleeeeaase....? Szeth: I will not plaster stickers all over you, sword-nimi. Nightblood: But the Google asked me to! Nightblood: And their motto is "Don't Be Evil"! Nightblood: It's perfect! Szeth: Actually, I believe they changed their slogan a while back. Nightblood: You mean they're...evil after all? Nightblood: New plan! Let's kill them all! Szeth: I don't think brand sponorships are for you, sword-nimi.

6. Vin

Vin: When I need to go fast... When I need to leap from roof to roof... When I need to murder entire keeps... Vin: There's no shoe I trust, other than Nike. Vin: Nike: Just Do It. Vin: ... Vin: Well, what do you think? I'm supposed to pitch an angle for the commercial tomorrow! Elend: I feel like the brand probably doesn't want you to mention murder. Vin: What? Then why'd they ask me?

7. Yumi

Yumi: Ha ha! Yumi: Wow, it's so easy to stack when you're using legos! Yumi: Relaxing...fun...colorful... Yumi: This was DEFINITELY the right brand to partner with! Painter: Yumi, the neighbors are starting to complain. Yumi: What? Why?? Painter: You're fourteen-story lego tower is blocking out the sun! Children are crying! I just heard someone whisper that the nightmares must be back! Yumi: I thought it'd be inspiring!

8. Kelsier

Kelsier: I have a secret... Kelsier: Secret brand deodorant!!! Kelsier: ... Kelsier: ...Are you SURE we need the money to fund the ghostbloods? Kaise (barely keeping a straight face): Oh, absolutely.

9. Moash

Moash: I think it is time to cover up my Bridge 4 tattoo. Odium: That's a great step forward--I'm proud of you. Moash: Yup, gonna replace it with this Grey Goose Vodka tattoo instead. Odium: ... Moash: What? Drinking helps a man forget...stuff. Moash: It's thematic for my character! Odium: You have a ways to go.

10. Kaladin

Dalinar: What has happened to us? Where is our honor? Kaladin: Honor is dead...But I'll see what I can do. [Kaladin hesitates and looks back at Dalinar] Kaladin: That cool one-liner is brought to you...by Redbull. Kaladin: Redbull gives you wings. Dalinar: ... Kaladin: ... Dalinar: ... Kaladin: Anyway I'll go save your sons now.

[vulpixisananimal]

(Siffrin) {Mal Du Pays} <Null> |Asterion| [Loop] [(Saffron)]

[Market day!]

[You and the party were staying in a little town on your way to Wolworth And as luck would have it, it was market day! So, what better a time to have a lovely little date with your wonderful Red Giant~]

[You and Isa were running through the crowd, laughing, smiling. The sun was bright, the day was perfect.]

[(Then why are you so anxious?)]

[Ignore it, you squeeze Isabeaus hand.] "See anything you like~?"

"Hmmmm. . ." [He puts a hand to his chin.] "I mean I like a lotta things here! What about you?"

"Me?" [You pull him closer.] "Oh I have all I need right here~"

"H-heywait!!" [He's blushing, and you were already laughing.]

[You kept walking, (trying to ignore what happened at the Jouvente market), looking around, enjoying things. There were honey sticks, homemade cookies, some nice wood carvings, it really was a bananza of creativity.]

[(And you're still going to ignore what you read this morning?)]

[It's ALL you could do!! STARS!! You wake up all nice and ready for a perfect day with your Red Giant, you look at the journal and there!! A brand new voice to add to the chorus. And none of us have even met him!!]

[(And so you'll ignore it like a coward.)]

[Yes! This ASTERION can wait for later!]

". . . Oh!" [Isa stops, looking at one stall.] ". . ."

"Oh?" [You mimic,] "Find something you like~?"

"Aaaactually, doooo you know that person? I think I recognise them but. . ." [He replied, pointing in a direction.]

[You move next to him and try and look over the crowd, who was he talking about. . . There were a lot of random couples, groups, strangers, and. . . A stranger by one stand Isa was pointing at. You didn't recognise, but, no you. . .]

[(YOU.)]

[You almost jump in place, do you mind?!?]

[(You Don't remember who that is?? Are you a blinding idiot?!?)]

[The prompting of lovely Saffron jogged your memory. Stranger, on the road, talked about stars, universe, had food, and- universe, Universe.]

[(THAT. BASTARD.)]

"H-hey what's-" [(Isabeau starts, but you were already pushing your way through the crowd, step by step, untill you finally got to the tall figure with lightless hair.)]

". . . Oh!" [(The Universe smiled.)] "Hello again!"

[(You grab it and pull it around to look at you.)] "YOU!"

"What are you doing here!" [(Every hair on your head bristled and anger filled your eyes.)] "What are you BLINDING doing here!"

"L-loop what's gotten into you?!?" [(Isabeau caught up, trying to get you to calm down.)] "P-please, maybe just, calm down a bit?"

"No I will NOT calm down, Fighter!!" [(You glare at him, then back to the Universe.)] "You, y-you come here, after everything, to, to, to MOCK me?!? Haha, hahahahAHAHaha--"

"That's enough, now." [(The Universe huffed and wagged its finger.)] "Your ruinning Loops date. Leave us alone, Saffron."

[. . . You blink a few times and shake your head. That, what- STARS. You let go of Jinn in disgust. You didn't want to make a scene but your mind is YOUR BUSINESS!!]

"Oh! Sorry! It did look like he was giving you some trouble." [It replied.]

[Isabeau was looking confused between you and Jinn.] ". . . I feel like I've just missed a whole conversation."

"Oh! Yes!" [Jinn does a little curtsey.] "I'm Jinn, you remember me, yes?"

[Isa taps a finger on his chin, then snaps his fingers.] "Traveler we found on the road!"

"Yes!! You'll be happy to know I've kicked my passing out habits-"

"JINN-YYYYY" [A new, high pitched, energetic voice joined the conversation, shortly followed by a smaller figure crashing into Jinn. Their outfit was either a fashion disaster or fashion masterpiece. Everything was clashing and felt like your eyes couldn't focus on one thing for long. Which was weird because the outfit was just a very simple shirt, dress, and such.]

"Nebby!!" [Jinn giggled and ruffled their hair.] "Wandering off again? You're almost as bad as I!"

"Nuh uh!" [They giggled and kissed Jinns cheek.] "I sensed danger and came running- YOU!!!"

[You were surprised by the accusitory finger pointed at you.] "M-ME?!?"

"YOU'RE THE MEAN ONE!!!" [The stranger, named Nebby, tried to wiggle free of Jinn, but was unsucsessful.]

"W-whhhaaaatisgoingon-" [Isa was looking confused between all of you.]

"Please, Nebula, relax!" [Jinn lets go.] "Loop just has a lot of anger, and it's not like they can hurt me."

"I know that! But it's, it's the, theeeeee-"

"Principle?" [Isa offeres.]

"It's the PRINCIPLE of it!! THANK you Zaza!!" [Nebby moved quickly and booped Isa on the nose.]

". . . Okay, what's going on, who are you?!" [You ask, since Isabeau was too confused to.]

"Aww, don'tchya remember me?" [Nebby says with a pout.]

"Loop never met you, dear. Siffrin did, would you like t-" [Jinn was cut off by Nebbys enthusiastic nods.] "Alright, come on out, Siffrin."

(WhhUHHUH!?!!??!)

[?!??!??!?!?!??] "H-how, how, d-did you-" [You hold your head, you had a MASSIVE headache.]

(Nebby was practicly vibrating on the spot.) "HiSif!! Hiiii it's sooooo so good to see you again!!!"

(You look up, you, could recall some of what you did today. But, uh. .) ". . I, do, I know you?"

"Whaaat?!?" (Nebby looked shocked, then smiled!) "Oh RIIIIGHT! I have to do the THING!!!"

(The thing?)

[The thing?]

"Y'know! The thing! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧"

"The thing?" (Isa asks.)

[. . . . . Is that-]

"O-OH!" (T-THAT'S-)

"YAAAAY!!! ※\(^o^)/※" (The Change God flapped their hands excitedly.) "You remembeeerrred!!"

"Siffrin, Loop, why don't you introduce us?" [Jinn leans down and asks you politely.]

"FINE." [You hunch down, frustrated, but, you had to, for Isabeau.] ". . . . Jinn, Nebby, ttthhhhiiiiis is Isabeau. And, Isa, this is. . ." [You take a breath.] "Nebby, the Change God. A-and, Jinn, The Universe, or Ke- k-keao--."

"Oh!! Oh no need for the full name please!!" [Jinn frantically clarified as you massaged your throat, stars, that hurt.]

". . . . . ." [Isabeau was, completely silent for exactly thirteen seconds.] ". . . O-OH!"

"You're bigger in person!!" [The Change God stepped up to Isabeau, and poked him.] "Sooo much bigger!! Wow I should get out more!!!"

"Nebby, dear, let the mortal have his existential crisis for a moment."

"Awww, but he's so cute!! AND cool looking!!! And a real go getter with changing things up, too!!" [Nebby turned back to Jinn excitedly, then back to Isa. Who, at this point was still processing everything.]

(What the, the stars is going on.)

"Myself and my bonded are just taking a trip together! A little, 'date' you could say~" (Jinn giggled into its hand.)

"YEAH! 'Cause you OWE me, Jinny!" (Nebby pouted and teased their bonded.) "With the whole timey freezy timey loopy thing?"

"Y-yes, ah, I, did. . . A-anyway! What about you two!"

[You squint.] "Don't you know?"

"It's called being POLITE, Loopert!" [Nebby stuck their tongue out.] "YEAH I remember that cute widdle nickname, heheh."

[STARS.] "Fine! Just, we're on a date too. I wanted a nice, relaxing day at the fair. Clearly that's not what the Universe had in mind!" [You say, momentarily forgetting just who you were talking to.]

"Oh no, your day will be far from spoiled, dear." [Another small giggle from Jinn.] "It's your day with Isabeau. You all like him, don't you?"

"YEAH!! You and everyone in that head of yours!!" [Nebby interrupts.] "All uh, one.. Two.. Seve-"

"Don't spoil it, love!" [Jinn bapped Nebby on the head.] "Let the mortals figure that out by themselfs!"

"I- wait." [Seven-]

"Would you like to go on a walk with us, you two?" [Jinn interrupts.] "We would enjoy the company.

". . That sounds good to me!" [Isa finally speaks up again. His expression was one you had never seen before; some mix of horror, curiosity, confusion, and disbelief.] "Double date with two gods? Why not!"

"Dawww Zaza!! That's suuuch a good idea!!" [Nebby was still flapping in glee.] "Y'get all those confused thoughts outta your head yet?"

"Uh, I-"

"Didn't think so!! That's okay c'mon lets go!!!" [Nebby interrupted Isa, then grabbed Jinns hand and started excitedly pulling it in a new direction.]

[Despite your absolute disgust and horror, you were compelled to follow. Isa holding your hand. You look up, he looks pale as a ghost.] ". . . Are you. ."

"The Change God knows about me?" [Oh he was deffinatly not over any of this.]

"I, y-yeah."

"The Change God is dating your god and knows about me?"

"It's okay, just get it out of your system."

". . . . . . Okay!" [He laughed nervously.] "I'll try and be normal about all this!"

"Stars, my wonderful Red Gaint you have no need to be normal about THIS!"

"OH!!!" [Nebby pointed excitedly at one stall.] "Let's look at that one!!"

[They ran over, Jinn, and by extention you both, running to catch up. Nebby had found a setup from a craftsman who was showing off all kinds of nicknacks. Statues, masks, clothes, a scouple swords, art, the style looked familiar.]

"This is SO COOL!!!" [Nebby was taking in every little detail, and started talking to the person running the stand. Oh if only they knew just who Nebby was.]

"It is pretty good craftsmanship. . ." [Isabeau, naturally, had gravitated to some of the clothes, you could have sworn the style was familiar.]

[You wander over to the few swords on display, they were-]

"A curved Ka Buan blade!" <Your eye widened.> "And that's Ka Buan calligraphy, did you make these?"

"Aye!" <The Craftsman answered.> "Ma 'Nan was from Ka Bue and they taught me a lot and I kept it up!"

<You beamed like you hadn't before, looking over the arts and crafts. Such intricate and delicate work, masks with little details that a fine eye was needed for. You joined Isabeau in admiring the clothes, Nebby looking at the small statues, Jinn at admiring the art. You were too absorbed in admiration to remember just who you were next to.>

[?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!???!]

<Ah. Sorry.>

"Everything alright, both of you?" <Jinn asked. It took you a second to realize it's talking to you.>

". . Yes." <You looked away. Take front back, Loop, please.>

[Of course~] "Just got surprised, is all~"

"I understand. . ." [The two of you stood quiet. You look back to see Isa was getting over his shock, since he was talking casually with Nebby.]

<. . .>

[. . .] "Jinn. . . Why."

"Why? Why what?"

"You know why."

". . . I'm. . ." [It looked at you for a moment, then away.] ". . . I have no excuse, Loop. I'm. . . I'm sorry."

<What.>

[What.]

[From the back of your mind, you could hear echoes of others saying that one, simple word.]

". . ." <It, took Jinn a moment to continue.> ". . . I am bound as a God to grant any wish if done right. And all I remember of our home is that whatever wish I granted to cause. . . That, was one where there was no other option."

"What you remember?" [Shouldn't it-]

"No. I don't." [It looked, sad.] "My memory of it is gone. And many of those who followed me no longer do. . . Do you know a gods existence is tied to those who believe in them?"

". . . No. . ?" [Your eye widens.] "Then, wouldn't that. . ."

"Oh they still believed." [Jinn nodded.] "But they knew not that they did. Directionless, nameless. If it weren't for the strong cultural ties to Vaugarde, I would be naught but dust. . ."

". . ." <Your mind was clicking things into place.> ". . . Let me guess. After all of that, it left your skills of wishmaking in tatters?"

<You glance at it and it has its head in its shoulders, embarrassed?> ". . . . Y-yes, that, yes. . ."

"Buuuuut it's getting better!!" [In a flash Nebby was back by Jinns side nuzzling up to it. It had a statue from The Craftsman in their hand.] "Sooooo much better considering the LAST few wishes!!"

"I-it wasn't for anything so major!" [It reassures your horrified face.] "I, I-I am trying my best to not cause, more grief."

"Right. . ." [You think back to Wren and his wish, Vixul, Polaris-]

"Oh I'll keep him in mind!" [Jinn interupted your thoughts, smiling.] "All of them, actually. You'll see them again in time."

". . . . ." <You sigh.> "It's. . . Fine."

"Hey Loop!" <Isa calls to you, he was looking at the sword. You lift up your eyepatch.> "O-oh- Null you weeeere interested in these?"

"Maybe. . ." <You go back to the swords, one of them called out to you. You turned to The Craftsman.> "May I pick it up. . Thank you." <At their nod, you pick up the sword. Or TRY to.>

"Too heavy?" <Isa says at you struggling a little.>

"Blind it all-" <You scowled, why did this body have to be so, frail. So weak. So. . . No, it had some of its own upsides, at least. But. . .> ". . . Where it not for the weight, and price, I'd. . ."

<Isabeau glances from you, then to the duo of gods, then back, to you.> "I mean, if-"

"Shall we move on?" [Jinn stepped forward and out of the stall without waiting for an answer. You set the sword down and followed, of course.]

[It stops right outside of the stall, and turns back to you. You squint.] "What are y-"

[It cuts you off with a hug.]

[It's, it's an impossibly warm, comfortable hug. A hug that felt like one only a parent could give. One that, that was saved for those who needed it most. The kind of hug that could fix a person. . .]

"I'm. . . So proud of you, Loop."

[The words hit you stronger than any of the Kings attacks.]

[. . . It lets you go, and curtsies.] "Even with my blunders, you did so, so well, I'm proud of you."

"Uh huh!!!" [You felt Nebby punch your shoulder, then walked to Jinns side.] "And look at you now!!! Going on a DATE!!! You!! On a date!!!"

"Even sharing a body as you are, you're still finding ways to survive, no, thrive."

"Thrive is right!! You should have fun while you're here!! Maybe ask your new boyfriend about Vaugardian Culture!"

[They both giggle at that, what? What does THAT mean?!? You stared at them both in disbelief. The God of Change and Entropy, time, and decay. The God of the Universe, of everything that ever was, and ever will be. . . And they're. . . You're, you're crying. Isabeau's at your side, taking your hand.]

". . . . Until next time." Take care, Siffrin.

"Bye bye!! See you around!!" I'll be watching, Siffy ♡⸜(ˆᗜˆ˵ )⸝♡

[In a blink, they dissapeared. The crowds around you moving on like nothing ever happened. You were left standing there, trying to understand what, just, happened. . .]

". . . . I uh. . ." [Isa starts, then coughs into a hand.] ". . . Heading back time?"

"Y-yes please." [You mumble, the two of you heading off-]

"Aye!! You two wait up!!" <You turn, The Craftsman had walked up to you and shoved that sword into your arms.> "Can't be forgetting this, aye? Those friends of yours got it for ya!"

<What. The Craftsman walked back to the stall and now you were left dumbfounded. They, BOUGHT it for you?!?>

[Weren't we struggling to lift it earlier???]

<I- You're holding the sword easier. You unsheeth the blade a little and, no, it's a real sword. A well crafted, well made sword of steel yet, it was, light.>

<You look up at Isabeau, squinting. He's looking away.>

". . . Isabeau?"

"Y-yes, Null?"

"Did you make a wish?"

"N-no!! No I didn't- I, uh-" <His head sinks down.> "I-Iuh, just, asked, N-nebbyforafavor--"

". . . . . . ."

[He's gone mad, how could-]

<You walk up to him and tug on his shirt untill you're face to face.> "If you wanted to get my attention, Isabeau, a sword is the perfect gift."

<You give him a small kiss, then let go. You can see his mind break in real time. You take his hand in one of yours, your new weapon in the other, and head back to the inn.>

[. . . You got the AIRY KATANA!]

[Lowers speed, increses attack, and gives a chance to reflect some attacks!]

[. . . Just like you remember it. . .]

[finniestoncrane]

2.5k Event Request - KTJL!Harley Quinn x Fem!Reader word count: 800 a/n: i think the only thing that could motivate me to get back up on my feet after an injury would be harley slapping on a hello kitty plaster and then kissing me. otherwise, i'm done cw: mentions of injury, mentions of blood, lil smooch 🔞minors dni🔞 • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie2.5k (to follow or to block)

You'd been fighting for so long now you'd almost forgotten who it was you were in battle with. The only saving grace to your out of focus brain, exhausted, almost blindingly so, was that the people you weren't supposed to shoot were all beside you, lined up behind the wall you had chosen to defend yourselves behind.

Everyone had stationed themselves along it, popping up almost comically every so often to offer up their little bit of rage as they tried to take out as many of the opposition as possible. And of course, when each of you had taked out your spot, Harley had chosen to stick beside you.

You could never quite tell if it was a defensive move or just one of comfort. Was she insistent on keeping you safe? On you protecting her? Or was it just a tradition now? A good luck thing? Supersition based on your bond? Either way, you were very glad to always have that constant beside you. Her constant presence, constant chattering, constant unique brand of what you could only describe as nihilistic optimism.

And you were even more grateful for it in that moment, when you were knocked back by the large arm of someone, and it could have been any of your fellow squad mates, falling to the ground in a heap after scraping along the ground for a few feet. The pain was enough to have you curling up into a ball. Striking heat and a pulsing sting from the sharp gravel embedded into your fresh wounds combined with the dull ache of bruises quickly forming on your limbs and joints. Even your knuckles had taken a hit as you'd tried to stop yourself, instinctively curling your hands into fists to fight whatever might come for you while you were down.

As you lay there, wincing and whimpering, you could feel a shadow blocking the hot sun, looking up to find Harley taking in all of your injuries before she grinned wide and knelt down beside you.

"Aw, come on! You're letting the side down! Are we really gonna let those idiots look like the toughest ones on the squad?"

Her smile was infectious, and though her words were a bit pushy, you could understand where she was coming from. She continued regardless.

"I mean, this is a girl bos operation. Waller would agree, right, Mandy?"

There was no response from the omniscient voice in your ears,but it didn't matter much, as Harley had already begun talking again as she whipped out her lacklustre first aid kit and began wiping your scrapes.

"I love ya, but you're rolling around like some downed guy on a sports field."

She was harsh, or at least her words were. But she was gentle with her touch. Once your wounds were free of debris and blood, she carefully unwrapped six little band-aids, all of them with cute imagery on them and in bright colours. So very Harley. The pain was still almost unbearable though, even after being soothed over by her quick and caring hands.

Harley recognised that you might need a few more minutes. That not everyone was as resilient as she was, or that maybe you had alittle bit more of an instinct for self-preservation. Whatever it was, as she gazed off to the carnage that she was now no longer a part of, she pushed aside the desire to return to the violence and instead placed a hand on top of yours. Her fingers tangled around your own as she squeezed, a comforting grip that was accompanied by a surprising silence as Harley let you catch your own thoughts.

You would be ok. It's not like you had any other choice. There was limited time for you to work through the pain and get back on your feet, something that the relentless hail of bullets was reminding you of quite well.

As your eyes stared forwards, focused on the task you would have to return to shortly, you felt a warmth against your cheek, eyes catching Harley as she held your cheek in her palm, her lips against the other. Pulling you around to face her, her lips clumsily moved to yours as she quickly kissed you, affection pouring over you before she quickly pulled away and stood up.

"There! That should give ya somethin' to fight for! Or at least... to stay alive for!"

Pulling back from the kiss, Harley smiled wide, self-satisfied and cheerful as she looked at your reddening cheeks and bright eyes, the efffects of her kiss so obvious.

"If you make it outta here on those busted up little legs, I'll give you another!"

She winked, bouncing off to the front line again, not wanting to waste any more time that could be spent on unhinged violence. War now, love later.

[understandableparadox]

Queer Charecters in One Peice.

The queer community lives and dies but those who remain in sight. What constitutes this sight? From top down, it's Activism. Advocating for yourself, those around you and those you will never see. Community, advocating for yourself and those around you. Then there is seeing yourself as something worthy of protecting, worthy of expression.  Worthy to speak in your own defense. That was an exceedingly pretentious opening for a post regarding one piece and its themes but I do believe that it's a good flat layer in which we can build our understanding of the importance of seeing Militant Queer characters. 

To be militant means to be combative and aggressive in support of a political or social cause, often in favor of extreme and confrontational methods. It is often shown to be a negative state of being. Survivors of the rise of JpegTubers angrily waving their stick puppet around yapping yelping and parking because a lesbian was miffed that she was only socially acceptable as a tab on someone's browser may sit this explanation out, please enjoy the cookies, pizza and soda left outside of the seminar hall, don't bitch about them being store brand tho. 

We still see this bastardization of what it means to be militant in shows and movies, Milquetoast hand wringing writers eager to join the laughs at the straw men they crafted with dyed hair and pronouns waved about to pantomime the faux outrage they believe comes with being militant. “Ah yes, those Snowflakes will most certainly care that I'm placing this Sticker on the back of my truck~! Mmmm, their outrage, delightful, tasty, a Special Little treat for a Special Little Man~ WAIT NO, BIG MAN, BIG MAN, BEHOLD THE BALLS ON MY TRUCK, A SIGN THAT MY OWN BALLS ARE JUST AS SWOLLEN AND ENGORGED, A BEACON OF MASCULINITY THAT ANY MEDICAL PRACTITIONER WILL WEEP AT!” What was I talking about…? 

Oh yeah if i ask you to come up with a list of characters that follow this little diddy. A well meaning, white suburbanite, oft well to do who is overly vocale on social issues much to the detriment to their own social circles. Switching the tracks, a young black woman with a protective hairstyle or Big afro. Maybe a green jacket in most weathers.Attends rallies and goes about abusing bullhorns via shouting about black issues, often alienating her from her own friend group or creating discord between them because she may have white friends that are rather Perturbed by her rhetoric.  The second may be played to attempt a positive characterization but it still comes from the same hay bale. 

This character comes from a shift in public perception that the Advocates words must be genial and pleasant if it is to make the mark. That their struggles must be made palatable and consumable to the larger audience if they are to be accepted. Of course this is a larger load of shit then the streets of london prior to the advent of public plumbing. 

Yes this is the Malcom x vs Martin luther bullshit again, a million smarter authors have penned this shit enough time for the squids to beg for a bit reprieve and I promise i'm not going to go over it to much as I have nothing clever to say on it aside from a brief summary of pop cultural digestion and acidic markings. 

Martin Luther is seen as the Soft Figure, the Proper advocate. The one that will go to a place and make a heart warming street and march and hope the police will beat them a little bit softer or hope the towns water pressure isnt as bad (an unforgivable assertion by the by, those marches were massively disruptive, you cant march that many people down a large street and not have it be in some way fucking disrubtive.) This gets turned into someone like Professor X, one who balks at his own power and helps humanity in hopes of appealing to the shared empathy of all. This is contrasted to Malcolm X, the black panther movement, the Threat of violence in service to a social cause. The Scary Other. This is morphed to magneto, the one who demands mutant acceptance now but is revealed to be a mutant supremacist. Song Meet Dance. 

Now what the fuck does all of this have to do with one piece? Simple. It is the story of the Militant Other. 

But do I hear someone say, it's a shounen manga that's filled with gratuitous fighting! Of course we're going to see those labeled as the “other” being militant! Well I must simply retort that you are trespassing, please leave im vary scared, im holding a sword and quivering in place, my fucking teeth are chattering, get out please, you can have a bottle of water on your way out but take no more I beg of thee. 

The story of one piece is about characters that are othered at birth, made others by circumstance and society or choosing to embrace their otherness and becoming militant.  Who shall we look at first? The main character?! Oh you treat me so well, what a delight~!

Now Luffy and his story isn't inherently tied to him being queer but it sets up a very clear arc path for other queer characters that we will see later on in this post. If you are not aware, luffy is almost violently asexual, by violent i mean in that way that if I was an obnoxious power scaler i could easily list it as a power feat. please note the episode when he first met boa hancock, a woman drawn to be sexually attractive with the explicit power of turning people who find her cute or attractive into stone. Luffy gets hit with this and just ignores it. Fuck you it counts and I like it… ok im sorry, i dont know how you reacted to that information, that was so rude of me, im so sorry, please sit down, you can have another water bottle ontop of the courtesy failed robbery water bottle you recived. Please try to remain hydrated. 

Funny aside, Luffy is Himself. He is always Himself. There is no situation in which he can act as anything other than himself in all situations the self that he embodies is indelible. He understands this about himself thus surrounds himself with people that are able to not change the self but help the self become more with the promise of the same happening to those around him. 

He is also astoundingly passionate in what he believes in, he is passionate about the causes of his friends, he is passionate about the causes of people he finds to be good. This passion often shows itself as Extreme, Violent and one may even say Confrontational. Of course some may not consider punching someone directly in the face multiple times as confrontational but apply your better judgment to this matter as you consider it. 

Luffy is a militant activist. When he supports a cause, it's mostly for its ideological aspects. He believes that people should be free in the most basic of terms, they should be free to travel, grow, eat, laugh. Anything that hinders that is a direct insult to Luffy's ongoing system of thought and means you are going to be punched or ignored. 

Lets keep going down the line to see who else fits in this theme, shall we? No? What the fuck man? I gave you two water bottles, and they're like…Good water bottles, they don't even have those squiggly walls, they're like… smooth plastic square bottles. 

Well I'm going with or without you, starting with my beloved Bon clay. We meet bon prior to the start of the alabasta arc, fished out of the water by the straw hat crew in which he gives his express thanks, here we are given a stark humanization. We get to see him eagerly match pace with the energy of the crew, eagerly feeding into their jokes, showing off his powers, laughing with them.  

A side note. Laughing has always been made a huge deal in one piece, whether it's the other characters' starkly unique laughs or most arcs ending off with the crew and cast laughing. It's a show of celebration, that you are in a joyous mood, that you are Happy. I wonder if that's important to any narrative theme… anyways

I think this is all astoundingly important because they show bon clay as a fun weirdo who is in love with the self they have become before they are shown as a part of the villains crew. It establishes that they are more than their narrative born role as a minor antagonist, they are a complex human that is capable of complex thoughts and ideology. Show cased by the end of the arc, the exact moment that i fell in love with them, like really fucking hard. I'm talking about running into senpai, bread in mouth. My hearts going doki doki, doctors are flipping shit trying to label it as heart arrhythmia but oh no it's not you P.H.Dick it's the power of love burning like a goddamn cyclone smashing into a oil refinery, that explosion isn't disrupting the wind flow but it is sucking up those flames like a really well thought out sexual innuendo that your super duper impressed by and think is really funny and want to congratulate me on for making such a cool sexual joke. 

They sacrifices himself in order to allow the straw hats to escape from alabasta. Ending their appearance with a heartfelt farewell to the crew that they have fought with only a day ago, that he was willing to kill on orders a day ago. Leaving them with the words

“One may stray from the path of a man, one may stray from the path of a woman, but we never stray from the path of a human.”

FUCK THATS A REALLY GOOD LINE, anyways we see him again later in impel down in one of the hell layers, with even the scorching heat and arid air unable to squash his eccentric personality like the god damn wonder they are. Dancing in the depths of hell they soon hear that luffy has broken in and rush lower through the layers to meet up with them, Eager to join up and fight with him. 

Again, we are seeing behavior Vary similar to luffy, that actions which serve their passions are to be taken always. A passion for friendship, loyalty, all of that. The willingness to serve time in a massive human rights violation of a prison…ok thats a little vague, thats most prisons… Anyways we do get to see more of bon clay's belief system as we meet both our next queer character and our next militant character. 

Ivankov. They to me are the true exemplification of all three levels of advocacy in service to a group of peoples existence. At the most basic level, ivankov cannot hide who they are, it's impossible, I mean look at her! He has powers that can increase the size of their face, they wear makeup so thick it can be peeled off, they are Violently of the self. 

For their community, we have the new kama queendom, she has created a paradise in the depths of super hell jail to protect those around her. Even outside of the jail he has done much of the same by creating the okama queendom, the island outside of government control in which men and women flock in order to be able to express their true selves. Notably, despite ivenkovs ability to turn men into women, many of them do not make use of this power. They are free to express themselves without the expectation of fitting into that role visually. That's the community aspect to me. 

Then we get the more militant activism, ivenkovs role as a member of the revolutionary army. The way he provides an outpost in the middle of the grand line, his funding through his miracle medical work, his willingness to fight for those she will never ever see. 

And there are more, we see other queer characters in the revolutionary army, and they have yet to be shown in any sort of negative light. Their militant activism, their willingness to fight and rally others to fight for a cause is shown to be positive. 

The desire to fight for a cause throughout one piece is shown to be an overall positive cause, all forms of it. Whether it's through the more peaceful methods such as otohime or through violence and confrontation such as Fisher tiger. 

So to reiterate because this is getting hella long, I love One Piece because it allows its queer characters to fight for what they believe in, in any way that they desire. That queer characters are allowed to be weird, they are allowed to be evil, they are ugly, beautiful, powerful, anything and everything! 

Thank you for reading.

[strayrockette]

A Daughter’s Letter

A/N: It's been a hot minute since I was last active...But I think I'm back?

Huge thank you and appreciation to @runnning-outof-time for never giving up on me even when I was radio silent.

here's a breadcome of a story I baked out while basking in the fall-like weather I've been experiencing. Something about the crisp wind and the warm sun makes me want to write sad and angsty stories.

Let me know what you all think. like, reblog, and comment. Give me all the goodies. Did I break your heart, just a little? Did you tear up?

Dearest Father,

I have daydreamed countless times of what I wanted to say. Unfortunately or fortunately for you, there are far too many words, phrases, paragraphs, essays, and monologues for me to fit onto this letter.

I suppose I should start off first by saying, you failed me. And though I wish it weren’t true…the truth of it sitting heavily in my heart hurts too much for me to deny. Your memory haunts me. It leaves a bad taste at the back of my mouth, like acid. Perhaps this is a harsh judgment from a scorned daughter. You have left me, abandoned me to the world. To grow alone. To learn alone. You’ve given me nothing but pain and insecurities. Your legacy is not one of generational wealth or love. But of heartache and wonder.

I wonder, are you even alive? Do you remember me? Know that I exist? Do you think I’m dead? Alive? Living? Happy?…

Words filled her mouth, eagerly awaiting the freedom of relief of being heard. Each one was biting and vicious like a madman with a knife. Aimlessly swiping into the air all in vain and with all the hope it would pierce through flesh, if only to make it clear the kind of pain that held her at choking point every minute of the day. Her pain swallowed itself. Receding back into its slumbering cage, where it would once again wait for the moment it could be free.

For now, she would deal with another kind of pain. Equally as excruciating but not as invisible. The best kind of pain, she thought bitterly.

Her forearm ached violently as she poured alcohol onto the wound. She should have known better than to approach a panicked soldier. A wounded one at that. His leg had been shredded to bits and the blood loss had him delirous. Adrenalin was the only thing that had kept him awake and panicked as he was. Y/N gave a quick glance at the white sheet thrown over the cot to her left and fought the urge to burst into tears. Nothing, I could've done. Not my fault. Her mind repeated this mantra. She didn't believe it but maybe one day it would stick.

She carefully threaded her skin back together with the little supplies she had on her person. Medical supplies were dwindling and guilt wrapped around her stomach for using it on herself.

"More incoming!" A voice shouted in the distance. Her heart sunk ever so deeply as she inhaled a breath and steeled herself. Forgetting her measly work on herself, she tied a ripped sheet over her arm, already knowing it would loosen, but knowing that there were others who needed her more.

Her feet pounded into the muddy ground, the grey skies and the panicked cries mixed with the scent of ash and blood branded her.

The number of men piling up into the church and tents was ever-growing. Always growing.

She hated to ask, but did out of necessity "How many and how bad is it?"

"4 unconscious, 3 missing limbs, 4 with burn marks" A girl, no taller and older than her stated. Face caked in mud and blood. Y/N chose to ignore the tears in the girl's eyes, Marge, she corrected herself. A new volunteer who was just as clueless and naive as every other girl who came in her place.

"4 for 4 in the church, the 3 with go to tents 5 and 6" Y/N ordered. She went to help the others relocate the soldiers to their respective spots. "Your hurt" Marge could barely take her eyes off the sight of her slit forearm. the wound ugly and jarring and barely pierced together. A tiny string hopelessly holding the reddened skin together.

"I'll be fine, dove. We've got work to do" Y/N nodded to the stretchers making their way past them.

"You're no help if you can barely lift anything with your left arm" Catherine, an older and more experienced nurse stated exasperatedly. "Get out of my sight, before you hurt someone and yourself."

She shooed her away with a comment about how soldiers needed us nurses to be in tip-top shape in order to be of use. It quelled the guilt inside her for only a moment. Y/N sighed and made her way to the quietest part of the church/make-shift hospital. Away from the screaming and cries. The only place in this hell hole where soldiers didn't leave, lifeless.

Her footsteps echoed as she made her way to a chair near the back of the room. A soldier lay sleeping. He'd come in a day ago with a broken leg and fractured hands. His fingernails were bloody and almost falling off. He'd climbed out from the ground they said. Or tried too. The crew of men who'd dug him and his fellow comrades out were amazed at their survival. To survive being buried under dirt while a war raged on above was more than a miracle. A God-given blessing. Or so they said. Y/N believed it to be pure luck and an insane amount of will.

She nestled herself into her spot, brought a tray closer to her, and laid her arm a top of the table stand next to her. She fished a needle from her pocket careful not to prick her fingers and began the work of stitching herself together. She worked quietly, teeth pulling at her lips, tongue choking back the whimpers.

"You're hurting yourself," A deep voice timbered.

Her brows furrowed eyes never leaving the steady needle making its rounds into her skin, "If you know a way to make this hurt less, I'm all ears, soldier."

"Ay," He rumbled, "Just let it out."

She scoffed and almost laughed. Let it out? She closed the last stitch and broke her gaze, ready to tell him off for offering such helpful advice but stopped.

His face was littered with cuts, and it was the first time she'd ever managed to really get a good look. His eyes were so blue she wondered if he'd taken the beauty of the skies and held it for himself. "You've done well, keeping us lads in one piece," his mouth pursed and he sighed, "We won't think less of yah for crying in pain."

"Right, lads?" He called out, so sure of himself. A chorus of agreement rang throughout the room.

For the first time since offering her services to the war, she cried.

Dearest Father,

I met a man. And he's given me far more valuable advice than you ever did..... I hate you.

Sincerely,

Your aching daughter.

----

Taglist:

@mysticalpandora @ultimatreality @lovecleastrange @watercolorskyy @rockerchick05 @lyarr24

Can't remember who else wanted to be a part of the tag list. If you'd like to be on it please let me know!

[raimi]

Shaving for Beginners

When you've never shaved before, the idea is intimidating. The idea of cutting yourself shaving is scary, and the amount of options at the store for equipment can be overwhelming.

So! Here's an overview of getting started and what to expect. I'm assuming here that you'll be buying things at a brick and mortar store.

Preface: I'm Scared of Cutting Myself!

This is one of those things that's scarier in concept than it is in practice, for a couple reasons.

The kind of razor you can buy easily at the store is something called a safety razor. It uses a cartridge with multiple blades to distribute pressure more evenly against your skin and make it significantly harder for you to cut yourself by accident. With a safety razor, you'll almost never cut yourself unless the blades get dull.

Cutting yourself doesn't actually hurt. The cuts are so small that you don't really feel them at all, and you're more likely to notice them from the blood than from the sensation.

Shaving cuts bleed more than you might expect on account of being on your face, but it's still not very much. Sensation-wise, they end up stinging very slightly, comparable to a very small scrape. The worst thing they do is make small red spots that make it more obvious you shaved in the first place.

Picking a Razor

At the drugstore (or any store with a personal hygiene section), you can find disposable razors and reusable handles and blades. In this post, I'm going to focus on the reusable kind.

You'll probably see the razors divided into "men's" and "women's" razors. They're more or less the same aside from packaging and aesthetics; the main difference between them is the pink tax. So! Go for a "women's" razor if you need to for gender/dysphoria reasons, otherwise a "men's" razor will get the same job done for less money.

Once you've decided between "genders," the next thing to do is select a brand for your handle. You'll need to buy matching blade cartridges for it so this is a bit of a commitment, but worst comes to worst you can always just buy a new handle. Personally I'm satisfied with my least expensive option, but if you care about getting a "nicer" one you can look at reviews online.

After picking a brand, there's only one more decision to make before you can actually take something off the rack: what blade count you want for your cartridges. More blades is allegedly a smoother shave, but this isn't a huge deal. Also as long as you're staying with the brand you picked, you should be able to switch between types of cartridge, so there's no commitment here. Again I like saving money, so I just buy whichever cartridges are cheaper.

I started out with one handle and one box of replacement cartridges when I made my first purchase, but your handle should come with a couple cartridges to start you off so you don't need to buy your first replacements at the same time if you don't want to.

Picking a Shaving Cream

Shaving cream makes your shave smoother and decreases your chances of nicking yourself. I shave dry so I can't give you a personalized overview of this, but it's more or less the same process as picking any other product that goes on your skin. Research your options if you care about getting The Best One, but as long as it doesn't have any ingredients you're sensitive to you should be good with whatever.

Your razor and shaving cream are the only things you need to buy. The rest of this is about the process of shaving itself.

Assembling Your Razor

This is pretty easy, but I want to go over it quickly for completeness.

There are two pieces: the handle, and the cartridge. The handle has a little metal bit at the end, and the cartridge has a part that sticks up a bit. Hold your cartridge in one hand, and stick the metal bit on the handle into it with the other hand. Once that's done, you can pull the cartridge out of the plastic guard it comes in, and your razor is ready.

To change cartridges, eject your current one by pushing the button on your razor and then put in your new one the same way you did the old one. You'll want to do this about every 5-7 shaves.

Shaving Itself

Get a bit of shaving cream in your hand, add water, and work it into a lather, then work it into your hair where you want to shave.

Once that's done, take your razor and work in small strokes against the grain of the hair.

After you've finished shaving, rinse out the shaving cream from your razor, wipe your face off with a wet washcloth, and clean up the fallen hairs so they don't clog the sink.

Thatse it :)

If you have recommendations for products or methods, or if you noticed something I missed, please leave that information in the notes.

[arcanemoxhi]

Holiday Fun 🔞💕

///Modern!Vi x Fem!Reader///

Warning ⚠️: Lingerie, ripping clothes, fingering, smut, NSFW, Christmas kitten!Reader, Dom!Vi, spanking, a lil degrading, praises, mentions of breeding, edging

A/N: Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all 🥰!

"Merry Christmas, Vi!"

You said to Vi, leaning against the kitchen wall. Vi was finishing breakfast for you both, placing them on the plates set out for you two. She turned to you excited to respond until she halts in shock. You were wearing Christmas lingerie. White fluffy trims go around the bright red bra and underwear on your body. A bow sat at the cleavage of your chest as your Christmas choker jiggles. The side of the choker had the name, "Violet" written in cursive. Vi smiles grows as the seduction begins in between her legs. She walks up to you, pulling you by the waist. "You did this all for me~? God damn, I can't wait to tear into this present." Vi slapped your ass aggressively, but with a grip, a growl follows from her. You leaned in, whispers into her ears, "I've been a naughty kitten, Vi~~" Something in Vi ignites as she lifts you up immediately sprinting to her room.

"God I just wanna ruin you," Vi throws you into the bed as she tears off your lingerie, exposing your chest and already drenched cunt. Vi finds a box on the bed, it was for her. She opens it as she finds a brand new strap-on with a new false cock. It has more length than the old one, which made Vi even more excited. You giggle, "Merry Christmas, Vi." She watches your pussy twitch in excitement.

"Fuck yeah!! Please, mommy!!" You moaned as she has you against the wall, plowing you harder. She edged you 3 times after her fingering, eating, and having you tease your sensitive bud. She commanded your every moment as you get so close to cumming. Since you've been naughty, she has to teach you a very valuable holiday lesson. "Ohh, my naughty slut needs me~~?? Huh~??" Vi stopped her hips to watch you whine and whimper, barely able to speak. "mm, isn't this a good lesson?? You learning so much, right?" Vi devours your neck as she pinches your chest with her other hand. You couldn't respond with all the pleasure emitting from all over your body. "I-I wanna.. c-cum..." you mutter from all this. Vi slaps ur ass, "no no, that's not what I asked. Aren't you learning so much, kitten~?" Vi repeated. You nodded as your pussy clench around her. "Use your words, bby girl," Vi hums as she slams into you once more. "Yes, mommy!! Yes mommy!! Please let me cum, I wanna cum!!" You pant out as you twitch. She smirks at your crazy rambling as she starts up again.

6 edgings later, Vi has you standing up leaning against the wall, as she plows you from behind. You were drooling against the wall as you drip from all the wetness in between your legs. Vi leans into your ear, "You're allowed to cum now." Hearing that, you get excited as your body shakes for it's final release. Vi has your hips bruised as her plowing doesn't slow down. You pant loudly as your body twitches. You scream as the final release sends shivers down your body. Your tongue falls out your mouth as you pant loudly. So much cum surrounds her strap-on. "Fuck, baby... I wish I could breed you" Vi watches your body shiver and the cum fully covers her new false cock. She chuckles a bit as you turn your head back towards her.

"M-Merry Christmas, mommy~~!"

"Merry Christmas, my kitten 💕"

~ ~ ~

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone!! I'm hoping to make as many Christmas stories today with Vi so stick around! ☺️💕 Love you, bye bye ✨

[desertdollranch]

Eyeswapping my A Life of Faith doll

~*~*~ Before & After ~*~*~

This adorable little lady here is a doll from the doll brand A Life of Faith. The dolls were first released in 1998, and are based on characters from the Elsie Dinsmore book series, which was published in the 19th century. Since the dolls are no longer being produced, I had to acquire mine secondhand.

But they can sometimes be tricky to find without a certain very common condition affecting dolls: eyes that have changed color over time to red, orange, or purple.

(Left: a Violet Travilla doll; right: a Laylie Colbert doll, both from A Life of Faith; both pictures taken from secondhand listings)

This is absolutely not the only brand that has that defect; My Twinn, Ruby Red Fashion Friends, and Berenguer Classmates are some others I've seen whose eyes turn a bright shade of red.

My new doll came to me in excellent condition, but with light purple eyes that I did not like. I planned on removing and replacing them the moment before I bought her. It turned out to be easy and surprisingly inexpensive.

When I received my doll, I could tell immediately that she had the right kind of vinyl that would make it easy to replace her eyes. I took photos of each step so that I could show precisely how you can do the same.

The first thing you will need to do is get yourself a pair of flat-backed oval glass eyes, size 20 millimeters, in the color of your choice. I used these eyes from CR's Crafts and I'm pleased with what I got, but I can also recommend Dolls By Sandie as a legit source of doll parts that I have purchased from in the past. This size of eyes is also commonly used in reborn baby dolls, so if you're wanting to shop elsewhere you can search for that type of supplier. But do not compromise on the 20 mm size. Too big and they won't fit in the socket at all; too small and they will move around in the socket.

What else you'll need:

A very small screwdriver, or a similar slender metal or plastic tool

A large pot of water, and a way to heat it up (ideally a stove)

A few extra large plastic sandwich bags; large ziploc style bags are what I used

Dry towels in case your doll gets wet

What you'll be doing here is using the water to heat up the head, which will make the vinyl soft and flexible. Then you'll use your screwdriver to pop out the original eyes. Then you'll heat the vinyl again and use your hands to insert the new eyes.

Warning..... there are pictures within this post of an eyeless doll. If that is something you don't want to see, do not continue reading this post.

.........

Start by heating up some water in your large pot. Make it about 8 inches deep.

While that heats, remove the doll's wig and peel off the eyelashes. If you want to put the lashes back on after the eye swap, keep them in a safe place where they won't get lost. Eyelashes have the tendency to stick to random things and get far away from you.

Removing the wig isn't absolutely mandatory, but I do recommend it. It will make the whole process much easier when you're not worrying about damaging it or keeping it restrained and out of the way. You can always glue it back on afterward.

When the water is ready, get your doll suited up for the hot water plunge.

I covered her with two large plastic sandwich bags, then a plastic grocery bag. This will protect her from getting wet, while still allowing the vinyl of her head to heat up and become soft and flexible.

Bring your water to a boil, and then immediately turn off the heat and take the pot off the heat. Carefully bring the pot of hot water to a stable surface--I put mine down on the floor and sat there to work on my doll.

Turn the doll upside down and lower her head into the water. Make sure your water is deep enough to be level with at least her chin. Hold her there for about two minutes.

If your water is hot enough, the vinyl head should become warm and flexible.

Oops, she got a little bit wet. My bag leaked. If this happens to you, use towels to dry her off completely. Do not let her eye sockets get wet and remain wet, as this could let mold grow.

Working very quickly before the vinyl cools down, slip your screwdriver or other skinny tool into the eye socket behind the eye and pop it out. Be careful not to scratch her skin. If you're having trouble, put her back into the bags and heat up her vinyl a bit more.

Jeepers creepers! This is what you'll see after extracting them peepers.

Set the old eyes aside, and get the new eyes ready at hand. Then stick your doll back into the bags for 60 seconds to heat up the vinyl again.

Once she's warmed up again, it's time to insert the eyes.

The previous steps were the easy part. This is the tricky part that's hard to photograph in a helpful way. What I did was slip the top half of the eyes into the eye socket and then just pushed down hard on the eyes until the bottom halves popped into the socket.

You may need to reheat the vinyl again after putting in the first eye and the second eye.

If that's not working, you can also try squeezing the head to stabilize it and push the eyes in that way.

As soon as they're in, you're done! Reattach the lashes and the wig if you took that off.

Success!

This is an older picture and she has since changed wigs, but I'm so happy with her new eye color. It gives her a completely different, more natural look.

[fromthedeskofmuffin]

Far Out

Chapter 7: More to Learn

Now that I was less distracted by everything new on the station, I noticed a few things I hadn't before on the way back to the medbay. Firstly, that I was drawing far more eyes than I liked. It could have been the fact that I was being pushed in a wheelchair by the very large owner of Brock Station, but I happened upon the real reason as we came to a junction in the walkways.

"Wait! Wait, stop! What is that?" I shouted, pointing to one of the information displays. Flashes of my own face were just barely visible through the crowd.

"Hm? Oh." Helga pulled up short, then pushed the wheelchair closer, so I could see. 

It was a wanted poster. For the return of the separatist Jessie Black, dead or alive, whoever brought me in would be given... something. The reward was blacked out, and the word 'Amnesty' was printed in large, red block letters over my face. My face... looked horrible. One eye covered by bandages, the other sunk deep, gaunt features, my short hair sticking out at all angles. It had probably been pulled from the cockpit feed when the Uthean recovery team found me. I realized I hadn't seen a mirror in a long time.

"Do... I look like that?" I asked, reaching out to touch the screen.

"Well, a litt— oof!" Helga began, but was cut off by a dull thump. I heard Dr. Skisk chitter reproachfully. "Okay, no, you don't look that bad. I’m sure it doesn’t feel good to see, but I had to make sure visiting bounty hunters knew what the score was with you. They won't try anything here."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Aren't there like, pirates and stuff in the Frontier? I thought this place was lawless. Wouldn't anyone just do it anyway?"

"Some might elsewhere, but they know better than to try that with me," Helga said, turning the chair and setting off again. "They know how Brock Station works. If I give someone amnesty, that's the final word."

I thought about how angry she got earlier, and decided that she was probably right. Still, the looks I continued to get were making me nervous, so it was a relief when we made it back to the medbay. Once I was safely back in bed, and the various monitors were hooked up again, I voiced the question that had been in the back of my mind since I woke up. I had just been too scared of the answer.

"Dr. Skisk?"

The Vespian was double checking a monitor while Helga looked on. "Yezz?" 

"Is anyone going to be able to fix my legs?" I looked between them and Helga.

Dr. Skisk tugged an antenna in thought. "Yezz, Yezz, I tink zo. Z'ka..."

They said something in Vezek, and Helga nodded. "I'm going to translate for you," she said, looking to me. "It's a bit more complicated than the good doctor's Ulthean vocabulary can handle."

I nodded, and Dr. Skisk began their explanation. Through Helga's translation, I learned that my situation was not uncommon. What was uncommon about it was that I was a civilian, or at least relatively, as I had been a Navy mechanic. Either way, I was the first Ulthean civilian they had heard of to break out of Ulthea's borders. Given the drastic measures it required, I understood why. Ulthean soldiers deserted with some regularity, and certainly more success, due to their remote work and stressful conditions. The Frontier wasn't exactly full of them, but it was enough that some enterprising cybernetics engineers began to take note of a new brand of strange limb prosthetics that couldn't be removed without some serious effort and know-how. As a result, there were a few that decided to specialize in repairing them instead. 

The good news was that my legs could be restored to full functionality with a kind of surgery. It was a bit like disarming a bomb, except without the explosives. Crack open the shell, remove the signal blocker, seal it back up, and the limb would be like new. The complicated part was the synthetic muscles. I had been aware of them already, but now I learned that the signal blocker that kept them from working was implanted deep inside the fibers. It had taken Frontier cybernetics engineers more than a few tries to figure out how to remove it without destroying the limb completely, and even then, it wasn't always successful.

That was only partially the bad news. The rest of it was that — due to the low population of Ulthean escapees, and by that logic, prosthetics — there were very few Ulthean cybernetics specialists, and none currently living on Brock Station. It would be a month before anyone could get in contact with one, and likely up to six more until they could resolve what was already on their schedule and get to the station. 

I stared at my legs in disbelief. It had been so easy to take the prosthetics of Ulthea for granted. This miracle of technology, as simple as going to sleep and waking up with different limbs. PaliTech constantly advertised new styles, new gadgets, different ways to modify yourself. So normalized, that no one ever thought twice about entering any of their facilities for an update, or tune up, or to blow their whole paycheck on some gaudy status symbol. Now, they were even more of a burden then I had thought.

With a jolt, I realized Dr. Skisk and Helga had still been talking, and only the Blessed knew how long I hadn't been listening. My panicked look stopped them, however. 

"What?" Helga asked. "Isn't that good news?"

"Is what good news?" I asked, my eye darting between the two of them.

They shared a somewhat concerned look, one I had seen plenty of times before. I never liked it. "That we have robotic braces," Helga said. "So you can get around on your own. Are you feeling alright?"

I shook my head, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "No, I mean, yes, I'm fine, sorry. Um. Braces. Robotic braces?"

"Yeah," Helga said, still looking at me oddly. "I said, they're a frame you strap to your legs, and they read nerve signals to help with basic locomotion. Usually they're for heavy lifting jobs, but they function as mobile assistance in a pinch. You wouldn't be doing any running around, but at least you would be able to get to the bathroom by yourself. Dr. Skisk thinks you could possibly get back into zero gee work within a month of getting used to them."

"Oh!" I said, perking up a little. "Thank you! That's perfect! How soon can I get them?"

"Two week," said Dr. Skisk. "Ztill healing. Two week."

Two weeks. I took a deep breath and nodded. I could handle that. 

I couldn’t handle two days. Just the knowledge that there was something I could use to finally be mobile again — and that I couldn't use it for my own good — was killing me. There was nothing except a tablet full of icons and symbols I didn’t understand, and I was getting antsier every hour. By the second day, I was begging for Dr. Skisk to let me start using the robotic braces. Of course, they would always turn me down. This back and forth occurred every time they came by to check in on me, and when they left the room in the middle of one of our arguments, I hoped I had finally wore them down enough. After ten minutes, I began to worry that I had made them angry. Instead, an hour later, they returned with a box and another tablet.

"Benni zayz you reztlezz. Brain… data pulled from zhip. Need keep buzy. Here," they said, handing me the tablet and opening the box. The tablet had a list of what appeared to be the same newsfeeds, but they were translated to Ulthean. The box had a few puzzles inside, jigsaw and otherwise.

I hadn't expected Dr. Skisk to talk to Benni. It didn’t occur to me that Benni might even know other languages. Maybe I had been getting on Dr. Skisk’s nerves more than I thought. "Oh, thank you. I'm... I'm sorry. My mind just kind of goes crazy if I don't have anything to do. I shouldn’t have bothered you so much."

"Yezz, yezz, know, underztand," Dr. Skisk said. "Have patientz like you before. Took too long to recognize. Lan… Lank — k'rzackk — zpeech. barrier. unique problem, az well. Enjoy."

With that, they left the room.

I started with the tablet. Frontier newsfeeds were nothing like Ulthean ones, which fascinated me. In Ulthea, they mostly proclaimed major victories for the military, recited grand feats of the Seven Blessed (our leaders), and did highlights on high performing production worlds. There were also a lot of really interesting pieces on various new products coming from the seven companies and conglomerates that made everything we used.

In the Frontier, the news seemed to use much less exciting language, but that somehow made it more compelling. Plus, there were so many different ones to read from! Pirate attacks, reports on costs of goods in different spaceports, random interest pieces on whatever topic the writer was fixated on that day, it felt like it was endless. This was also where I began to truly realize how the rest of the galaxy viewed Ulthea.

It had been easy to shake off or ignore the comments Helga made, or the frustrated rambling of Dr. Skisk. What was harder to shake off was article after article of Ulthean invasions, unprovoked wars, and the desolation of planets stripped of all resources. The juxtaposition of my perception of the Ulthea I grew up in, to the Ulthea I was being shown felt like it was actively twisting my brain into knots. It made me physically ill. I began to actively avoid any articles that brought it up, with the justification that stress was antithetical to healing. Besides, I was just a civilian. None of this was my fault. The fact that I had been repairing the military's ships stuck in my mind as a cognitive dissonance that I desperately needed to ignore.

None of that helped, of course. I couldn't stop thinking about Ulthea, and my mind finally drifted back to Nate. There was a sudden pang of guilt at the realization that I hadn't thought of him once since I escaped over two weeks ago. We had been incredibly close. Once or twice we even joked about dating, but it never happened. Outside of work, we hung out all the time, and regularly shared meals in the canteen, even if it wasn't entirely allowed. They said he had been detained for retraining. Had he been on the station when Benni and I destroyed it, or had they already taken him elsewhere? 

If there was any information on him, Ulthea kept it inside their borders. I wouldn’t find out by simply reading articles. Sleep didn’t come easy that night, but it came regardless.

< Previous Chapter | Start | Next Chapter >

[pbandjesse]

I just tried to reperm my eyelashes and it did not go super well and I'm a little frustrated. I hope it takes and doesn't completely burn my eyelashes off. Ugh.

Thankfully, besides that, I felt a lot better today. My energy levels were more normal. And my throat and chest didn't hurt anymore. I coughed like twice this morning and dislodged something and then I felt fine. Like I could be even better but I was in a much better space. Physically and mentally.

I slept pretty well. I had stayed up for a bit reading but my head hurt very bad. So

eventually I had to just close my eyes and try and sleep it off. When I woke up at 9 I felt a lot better. But I also didn't really want to get up. I waited in a dreamy state until James came and got me. I asked for five more minutes. But I would get up. And stretch. And go to get dressed.

I loved my outfit today. I felt so cute. The zipper on these overalls is broken though so I will have to replace that but I still felt great in my little outfit. James did help me change my hoop earring that has been hurting me so much the last month. And it absolutely sucked getting it changed because it hurt so much but having a non hoop earring has helped a lot already. Still hurts but not as much so it was the correct move.

While I was getting ready, James went down to the car to get the shoes I wanted to wear. I decided it was finally cool enough to wear my new ugg loafers. And for the begining of the day I was correct! But then it would get warmer and I got a blister and my ankles hurt very very much. Frustrating but I tried to not let it ruin my day.

Me and James would head out after I had a little bowl of cereal. The weather today was a bit all over the place. It seems fall had taken a pause this last week. But this morning seemed more fall like. It would warm up mid day, but then it stormed which seems to have brought in the cold again.

I was very comfy this morning though and so I had James take pictures of me. Which I appreciated. Also James looked so cute but I never got a picture of them which I am slightly disappointed about. Ah well. Them being so cute gets to just be for me.

We would drive to Glen Burnie. It was very pretty out. We went to value village first. In the parking lot I noticed how dirty our car was and drew a heart on the back window. James came over and drew an arrow going through it. We are so gross. Love them so much.

I had fun walking around the thrift store but sometimes it's hard when I'm shopping with someone else who mostly is it follows. That's not fun. Go look at your things and we come back together. They would find a few things on their own but sometimes I felt like they were just waiting for me and I don't like that.

I found some good stuff though. I was mostly looking for a long sleeve black crop top to replace the one I already have that is getting very worn out. And I would find that and I found a very very soft oversized black shirt I'm thrilled with. Great jammies.

We got a few other household things. We did find a pair of vans for James but they had no laces and when we got laces for them they were to tight. Disappointed but we'll find a home for them I'm sure.

We left there and headed to five below. I did not enjoy being in there.i was to hot and my feet were starting to hurt. I wanted to leave pretty fast.

I had wanted to go to Ulta because I thought there was one right there but I was wrong. So instead we went straight to target.

I had better luck there. Mostly. We were able to get our face wash. And some snacks. I got a balm stick which I am hoping with help the dry skin patches I've been struggling with. They didn't have the brand I was actually looking for but the one I ended up getting I actually think I like better anyway.

I was pretty disappointed when they did have my lips crib but not the flavor I wanted. We were walking around seeing if they were hiding anywhere and out of the corner of my eye I saw they had a lip gift set with it being one of the included things!! So I ended up with a whole bunch of different lip products. Including some lipsticks which is neat. Besides the lipstick I wore to our wedding I don't have any anymore so that's fun to have on hand. I also just had fun looking though makeups and things with James. I was just really enjoying their company.

It was time for lunch though. I decided I wanted to go to Denny's. I dont know why but it seemed right.

So James took me to Denny's. Where the wait staff made a fuss about how cute I was. And the food was pretty good. I liked the vibe of them all yelling at each other in the kitchen though. No sarcasm, it was just fun.

I had fun talking to James about trying to have a baby. Things we should be doing. Vitamins and eating and such. Plans and ideas. It was just really nice and I love my husband and how supported I feel from them.

Even though my feet were hurting so bad we decided to go grocery shopping. The first step was to go to the organic store to look for some vegetarian things. It was about a half hour from where we were so I got a nice break and we listened to music and I read on my phone.

I would complain about my ankle pain but I was holding it together. I had fun at Mom's, the organic grocery store. And while I did not find the shrimp I like I did get fake fish fillets. And James found a squash for a recipe I wanted to try. I also got a new scrubber that looks like a teddy bear because I have a brand. And I'm nothing but consistent.

While we were there my mom texted me about how she found 50 Disney pins for $20?? Incredible. She's such a good finder, I really did learn from the best.

We would go to the regular grocery store next. Got cheeses and yogurts and some frozen things. Bread and chocolate. And then it was time to go home.

I was very ready to be home. We brought everything upstairs, including the package that had my new boots in it! I was surprised how light the box was. I was worried something was wrong.

But it seems the soles are just lighter. Neat

They are a little more brown. And the toe box inside seems to be a little mishaped so I'm hoping wearing them will sort them back out since they are real leather. I cut some insoles for them from the last set I have. They fit great though and I'm excited to have a new pair in better shape then my normal ones.

James would clean out the fridge while I worked on taking off labels and stuff. I was having a nice day.

James decided to go for a bike ride before the weather shifted. I would lay down to read. And just have a cozy afternoon.

The wind would pick up really strongly around 4. And James would come home as the rain started. It would get cool enough that I needed to close the windows. And they would get in bed with me to warm up after they got a shower. Just a cozy afternoon.

At 530 we got in the car to go down the street to our friend Meghan's place. She's moving out and was giving us a chair and a Christmas miniature set. James gets to see her everyday now because she's at the museum full time. But it was a nice treat for me to see her.

We headed home and I vacuumed the chair. Put baking soda on it and everything. James is going to use it as their desk chair. It's such a beautiful blue velvet.

I would chill on the couch for a while after that. Eventually though I decided to take a bath. And that helped all my aches. And once I was done I would spend the next half hour or so working on perming my eyelashes. Which like I said did not go great. I struggled to get them to stick to the glue and I'm not sure it's going to take but I hope it does.

Now we are in bed. Sweetp is here. We are supposed to be keeping an eye on if the heat comes on but it has not yet. But we are still cozy.

I think I will be alright at work tomorrow. But I am not sure I will have the energy to go on an hour hike. I already told Elizabeth but we will see how I am in the morning. I don't have high hopes. I do hope it's a good day though.

I hope you all have a good night tonight. Take care of yourselves. Be safe and stay warm.

[the-scrappy-stinger]

What the FUCK is "champon"?

Oh well, I'm about to learn.

Well that was fast! And holy shit, an actual woman in charge for once!

This'll be a treat! Maybe KitKat will be less of a dickhead to a lady proprietor aaaand she has a boyfriend by the end of the manga.

Okay, so Aki and Peter have called KitKat to save the restaurant. So don't worry! Help is on the-

Who the fuck is this?

This is uuuh... ... Reese's Cup. He's got skills!

But Peter's got a weird feeling that the dude isn't legit, not like this food he had at a place called Goro- go- (looks it up) Goryokaku-tei.

It's KitKat's old place. He's talking about Kitkat.

But anyway, Reese's Cup is all ready to open up the restaurant with a new recipe, a new facade, and a new name!

The name of Gor- (stops and looks) Gyokuryu, which is NOT Gokor- I'm bad at these names! (goes back) Goryokaku!!!

It's not like I can't pronounce any Japanese! These names just all stick together in my mouth!

So Reese takes Aki and Peter to get the approval and branding of a local Chinese food place, and the owner of the place asks to speak to Aki, and then when she starts talking-

Reese talks right over her. Well, at least he's on-brand for an off-brand KitKat. The established restaurant owner puts forth a challenge: if the first 20 people to order the champon finish every bit of it, they get his endorsement. So Reese kicks Aki and Peter out of the kitchen and cooks them all himself. 19 bowls in and everybody finishes it to the last drop. It's time for bowl 20-

Heeheeheee~ time for KitKat to KitKat

Maybe I'm glad he's not screaming at Aki? But this still feels like a copout. Like, other than Reese kind of subsuming her restaurant like an amoeba, people are eating it...

That's why. It's because Reese is stomping on KitKat's territory.

Peter's the one that narc'd on Reese. Good for him? Meanwhile

It... is though, you gotta do a good bit of mental math...

But like- okay, so Reese is named Yukichi and he worked at aaaAAAGH- (looks it up) Goryokaku-tei for like half a year before he quit. So KitKat is like "I'm gonna show you up with your leftovers!" and goes to cook

why does his shirt look like his chest hair- whatever! So he makes the food. Reese is so moved by his delicious food that he just kind of... fucks off, and Aki is like "Okay now YOU teach me to make champon!" and KitKat is like "The thing that made that chef bad is that he wanted attention!" and I'm like... man, you hate TV chefs the way that Oishinbo guy hates French food.

So let's get to the meat of it: why champon? Why this weird little veggie and fish sorta thing?

Because Aki got in a fight with her father, and if she doesn't make food so delicious that it makes him smile, he's gonna force her to marry a man she doesn't love. And she needs KitKat to teach her how to make food that's delicious to impress her father.

KitKat tells her she's an idiot.

And he fuckin' bails.

I'm gonna run out of pictures...

So Aki decides to make ramen instead... mostly because the fuckin' dragon outside her door makes everybody think her place is a ramen shop, and she suddenly goes "Oh right! It was actually ramen my dad loved!" and so she and Peter decide to make ramen instead, fuckin'...

And KitKat is like "legit, let's do that."

wait a second how long is this arc again? I'm getting flashbacks... I'm gonna run out of pictuuures!

So KitKat is like "Okay, ramen is a good business venture for amateur cooks because it doesn't take much expertise to master. What do you want to make?"

Aki says tonkatsu ramen. Peter says miso. They fight.

KitKat is like "okay you two need to get your act together or this is never gonna work." and makes them samples. They don't budge on not liking the other person's ramen, so KitKat is like "Okay. That's it. THE TRAINING" and takes them to THE TRAINING.

THE TRAINING is they're gonna work at the goddamn circus. The Japanese goddamn circus of course- are circuses a thing in Japan? I've only seen them in animes in, like, Gyo and fuckin' Yakitate Japan...

So KitKat makes them the circus's caterers for the next week and a half. They suck at it. KitKat's like "okay this is worse than I thought."

So KitKat gives them the food that the normal circus caterers cook and he's like "You know why these two make such good food? It's because they get along and they trust each other!" and Aki's like "Of course they do! They've been married for 20 years!" and KitKat's like "They're not married!"

"They're fuckin' KNIFE THROWERS!"

Or they were! They don't do the act anymore, but they were the knife-throwing act for like 15 years.

And now KitKat is gonna make them hurl knives at each other.

I'm gonna RUN OUT OF PICTURES

So Aki and Peter- okay only Peter practices the knife-throwing, Aki just goes in the kitchen and peels potatoes while the lady knife-thrower talks to her about the love between men and women, and eventually Aki and Peter are like "Peter!" "Aki!" and they kiss and because they have kissed, they can make delicious ramen.

And also KitKat doesn't actually make them do a knife-throwing act because that'd be, almost in his own words, a literal goddamn crime and fucking stupid.

Okay maybe I exaggerated a little but the thought's still there. So KitKat drives them back to their restaurant, explaining how this is only the first step to making their own rame-

Oh god DAMN IT!

So this is her father's doing.

Turns out he's actually a bigger dick than she let on.

So's KitKat.

But anyway their shop is destroyed, so to make a name for themselves, KitKat signs them up for the RAMEN COOKOFF!

Can we STOP with the racism- when was this manga published?!

1999?!?!

lord- okay... that's how many chapters this arc has been- how long is this now? (looks) this has been TWELVE CHAPTERS and we're still not done yet. Okay so Aki and Peter test a bunch of recipes and Aki comes to the conclusion to make ramen with a salt base- like the soup is basically just finely-balanced seafood stock and salt- topped with pickled onions the knife-thrower lady gave her. And KitKat calls it the dawn of a new ramen.

Salty onion water ramen.

I mean maybe it's good, I dunno. Just seems like overhype to me compared to tonkatsu and miso ramen.

But this arc is FINALLY OVER after... THIRTEEN ISSUES, along with a lead-in for the next issue.

and I did NOT

run out of pictures.

[ramen8baka]

I'm sorry it may sound similar or something I keep asking you cause I love your writing so the thing is suppose yn came fromTokyo she left Konoha few years ago She is an Independent girl and she has own brand or company. She came here to launch her brand in Konoha. People in Konoha would see yn differently cause her style fashion sense were different than them idk and she meets Itachi again she liked him and all and she would see Itachi with Izumi?!?

Sorry it's too long 😃

NO LOVE IT’S NOT TOO LONG 😄

i literally love this request though it’s very creative

tw: none

Itachi x reader

Your parents always said you were a creative independent girl. But growing up in a city it was kind of difficult to pursue what you wanted since a bunch of other people were trying to do the same. Later on in your career you decided it would be best for your company if you went to other areas to broadcast your company. This lead you to Konoha

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• “Y/n l/n?” A woman’s voice called. You were sitting in a room with a bunch of random files and boxes a minute later. “so from my understanding, you want to promote your business here and advertise?” The hokage that called herself Tsunade asks. “correct. I also came here because it just has nice scenery if I’m being honest” you laugh and scratch your neck. “understandable” tsunade smiles. “I suppose you can put up signs or find shop owners and ask to put signs up there, whatever you need to do. Just ask!” She says. “thank you, miss!” You check your watch and stand up. You were getting an apartment and you didn’t want to be late and make a bad impression for your new roommate. You figured it’d be good so you wouldn’t have to live alone. Plus, you’d have a friend.

“sorry, miss I have to go find my new apartment.” You wave and make your way to the door.

“good luck, y/n” she smiles kindly.

you ring the doorbell to the apartment. It looks small on the outside. “Oh, hello” a man about your age says. “you must be y/n” you blush. Was this your roommate? How’d you get so lucky? He’s pretty cute, you think. “nice to meet you!” You stick out your hand. he shakes it and hold open the door to gesture you to b to bf your things inside. It was bigger than you thought.

“what’s your name?” You ask

“Itachi” he seemed introverted and calm. You liked him already. “I’m glad we’re roommates. You seem chill” you smile softly.

“where’s my room or whatever?” You ask

“here, follow me” ge walks over down a short hall to show you a cozy looking bedroom. It wasn’t big, but it sure was cozy looking.

“This is so cute! Did anyone live here before?” You question

“uh, yeah. An old friend of mine. She lived with me for more than a year. But she eventually moved out a few months ago and I guess I didn’t like the loneliness of living alone so here we are.” He shrugged.

“oh. I’m excited to be here.”

“what b eh bugs you to konoha anyway?” Itachi asks curiously as he leans on the door frame. you set your bags down. “I’m here to launch my business. I come from Tokyo and I need to make it big and well known in other places too.” You say as you start to unpack.

“ahh, so that’s why you have a different style.” You raise an eyebrow.

“what’s that supposed to mean? Are you insulting me?” You cross your arms.

“No! If anything I like it more than all the other girls here” he raises his hands in defeat. You let your arms drop to your sides.

“oh… uh, thanks” you give a tilted smile. “anyways, tell me a bit about you now. Why are you here?” You ask him.

“I was born here? Why else would I live here. Nothing interesting really happens in my life if I’m being honest.” He says.

“come on, there has to be at least one cool thing about you!” “not really.” He shrugs. You sigh in defeat. At least he wasn’t weird roommate. Boring, but not weird.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• You go off to get started with work in the morning. You heard birds chirping and the sun wasn’t too bright but it wasn’t too dark. It was perfect out.

I may start to like it here… you think.

after some interactions with villagers you make some plans with people to get a shop hopefully going. By the time you knew it, the day was over. You went ‘home’ for dinner. You hadn’t decided if you should call it home yet. It kinda felt like home. But you knew where your true home was. You guessed it was too early to put labels. “hey itachi!” You yell as you hear the door open.

“hey,” he says cooly. “How was your day?” You ask as you set out plates for dinner. “eh, just the same old stuff”

“that one sentence described your whole personality,” You mutter. “what?” “oh nothing I just said dinners ready” good save, you think. “really? You made dinner on your second night here? I could’ve done it”

“Too late! I got to it first” Itachi just shrugs as if saying ‘whatever.’

the days continue like this for about a month. You’d made new friends, too. You were starting to think you liked it here more then at your real home. You and itachi had gotten a lot closer too. You’d be lying if you didn’t say you had a tiny crush on him. And you even had a plan for a shop! Your business would be doing great, then.

“y/n!” You heard a deep voice call. “yeah?” You walk over to itachi’s bedroom.

“I need help. Which one should I wear?” You see him standing. Shirtless. Holding up a dark blue shirt and a reddish shirt. “umm… I say blue. But why are you dressing up?” You sit on the edge of his bed.

“I have to meet someone. Then they’re coming over for dinner” you raise your eyebrow

“oh, come on. It’ll be fine!” he says as he puts on the shirt. “no, no it’s not that I don’t wanna have people over. It’s just the way you said it. Is it like… a date?” You look up at him. “no I swear it’s not!” He holds up his hands.

“anyways, I gotta go.” And with that he runs off leaving you sitting on his bed. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• You didn’t know what to do since he was gone. You realized you liked him a lot more than you thought you did. To get your mind off everything you went to get a snack in town. “wow that looks good!” You heard a voice call. You looked over to see pink hair.

“oh, sakura! What’s up?” You say, shaking your boba.

“eh, just naruto being an idiot as always. But I came to order some boba. What kind did you get?” She asks

“Oh, the same thing I always get,” you laugh

“mango tea with passion fruit popping boba,” you tell her.

“I might try it myself,” you walk with her as she goes up to order.

“After this do you wanna walk around town for a bit?” You ask while sipping on your boba. “yea, of course I was just gonna ask you the same thing!”

so that’s what you did until it got to dinner time so you headed home.

“bye sakura! See ya tomorrow!” You say as you open the door. “y/n?” Someone asks.

“where were you? I wanted to introduce y-“

“oh, so this is the pretty lady?” You see a beautiful woman with black hair and wonderful features.

“Well I guess. Her name is Izumi. She’s my-“

“girlfriend I bet” you roll your eyes and groan. “no, no! That’s not how it is!” He stand up and walks over to you, with Izumi still sitting there. “then what is it?!” You scream. everything goes quiet.

“Izumi’s my cousin. She came to visit for the weekend because I haven’t seen her in years and I needed help with something.” He says calmly with his eyes closed. You stay silent.

“y/n…” he grabs your hands

“I love you. Only you. Since you came here, I’ve felt different. I’m a good way! Like you’ve helped me come out of my shell.” He opens his eyes as you look into them. “I-I love you too” you say, shocked. You both lean in and everything finally feels ok again.

“awww!” You look over to Izumi.

“Oops, sorry!” She says. Everyone laughs

“so… what are we now?” You ask as you and itachi are alone.

“we could be a thing.”

“like girlfriend and boyfriend?” You ask. Itachi laughs.

“of course, my dear”

[wroteonedad]

The Teenage Smokers Collection

The first time I ever looked at anything Ed Templeton had done was when I was trying to figure out how I wanted my first photobook to look like. What type of paper I wanted to use, heck how heavy I wanted the paper to be. There is so much thought and process which goes into creating a photobook, a zine or any form of physical media that displays the work that you have created. Ed Templeton was no stranger to this. You see Templeton is a little bit of a dabbler, being a skateboarder, photographer, contemporary artist and vegan activist all at the same time. You name it, he has made it.

In 1999 Templeton published a breakout Zine titled 'Teenage Smokers', the whole project is pretty self explanatory. He took photos of teenagers smoking and the point of it was to explain that any of these images featured in the Zine are timeless based on the fact that there will always be teenagers smoking. I wanted to reflect on this project in particular, especially in a time where the vape is becoming more popular and more accessible to teenagers everywhere.

I feel as though there has always been something so cool about smoking. Not literally smoking and all the terrible effects it has for your health, but instead more how glamorised it was. We have only just began to enter a new era where it's no longer seen plastered over the pages of magazines, super models aren't photographed walking the streets holding a cigarette in their hand the way they used to. Actors are no longer smoking on TV shows, this mostly down to new legal rules in TV studios. Look at the way all of the characters looked on Twin Peaks chain smoking anywhere and any time, they all looked so cool. It just wouldn't really have the same effect if they were huffing a Lost Mary would it?

People back in the day looked so cool smoking that even David Bowie has a whole Instagram account dedicated to him smoking the cancer stick. But I'm trying to figure out why it was so cool in the Ed Templeton selection of images. Was it the rebellion, looking cooler because you simply didn't care and smoked because you enjoyed it or was it something such as lighting up a cigarette was the difference between being a child and being an adult?

But also, why do teenagers look so cool smoking too? I feel it has to be the sense of fashion, the attitude it feels like we receive from looking at these images. The way it feels that most products that have ever been created feel like they are being made for a teenage audience. It feels like there's a shamelessness to it.

The very first edition of Teenage Smokers was presented as more of a zine. A small collection of smoking teenagers, these people mostly photographed around the skateboarding park where they would take breaks every so often to light one up. The softcover book itself was only 36 pages long and mostly consisted of Polaroid images.

Templeton described the notion of how he came up with the concept in the first place; the idea of him once as a kid thinking that smoking looked really cool. He tore a piece of paper which was length wise long enough to be a cigarette, stuffed it with grass from the front garden, set it on fire and toked it. He explained that the 'cigarette' he had just tried tasted like glass and from that moment on, he couldn't understand how teenagers would indulge in the pain just to look cool. The first edition zine is the most interesting in terms of its full creation. Low budget because he barely had any money, only 36 pages and once that original collection was sold out, they never sold again.

In 2015 came a brand new release of Teenage Smokers 2, a brand new hardback cover featuring nothing except for an illustration of a hand with painted red nails as a cigarette burns. The book itself doesn't have a correlation with the original zine, rather it is a whole new book of original images that were taken after the release of the first. I feel as though Templeton could have left Teenage Smokers as its own singular project, for that one zine to be the only format of work to ever exist on the piece. It keeps it original, especially with the whole original set of works being created in the 90s; times have changed so much since that it could have been left as a standalone.

It is interesting for one artist to simply use smoking as its main subject in all of the images, it doesn't feel deeply thought out at all. There doesn't feel like there was a deep research project that came with the works behind the scenes. It feels more of a spur of the moment, as if Templeton waited for these people to come along and carried his camera with him at all times to ensure he got the shots he wanted. To be able to see so many people from so many different passages of life all come together through their passion for skateboarding and their hobby of smoking is an oddly wonderful thing, something that is so simple yet so effective for their community. I truly don't think there is much to say about these images other than they're fact they're nice,,, my lecturers would have hated me looking at an image and just saying they're nice, but they are. It's so refreshing to me to be able to look at a set of photos and just agree that they're simple and effective. They work well as a collection and they also work well as their own separate shots.

[dfows]

Monday

August 26th, 2024

First day of lab!! Waiting for the bart.

I had to buy new boots from Acme because after 3 semesters of abuse, I had to retire my workboots from RPD. There was a hole near the big toe knuckle that sparks would go into. I ruined a pair of socks this way.

I got tims in size 7 and it is a little tight on my bunion on my right foot. I don't want to destroy these brand new boots. I have brought spats for this reason. They look extremely stupid, but I don't care. I always look extremely stupid in my welding getup anyway.

I am going to be slightly late ugh I hate being late. And youtube music has turned off for no reason. The service here is shitty I guess.

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Ok I am not going to be late lol. Bart is pretty fast.

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Welding was good?

I did mig. Just lines on plate. We were supposed to do the welding process from last semester but I figured I should get practice with the gun since I'm learning FCAW this semester. I did stick last semester and I probably will never do it again LOL. The gasless aspect of stick was nice, but ultimately I was bad at it and don't care enough to improve.

Anyway, at first my mig beads were blobby and disgusting. Partially because the plate was too cold, but also because my hand was unsteady and my travel speed was inconsistent and my distance away from the plate was inconsistent. Basically everything was inconsistent.

Also, I think I was a little too far because the nozzle is different this semester and the contact tip is a little more recessed into it, so the visible stickout is not the same as what I'm used to. Also my desk setup was a bit too high or low and after I fiddled with it a bit I was a little more comfortable.

Started with flat, then did a few lines of horizontal. Being able to see the arc is really helpful, because if I line up the arc with the toe of the previous bead, I am able to get a perfect overlap (no little valley). However, today I could not see the arc at all. So I focused on the edges of the cooling puddle and tried to keep my line straight. I failed a few times because I am not good at drawing a straight line. Also I had to weld over this lumpy plate and was simultaneously trying to fill in the lumps. But since I couldn't see very well, this did not go very smoothly. Literally. It was not smooth.

Man, I'm excited to have a welding journal. Finally, somewhere to put my photos. Previously I just texted the photos to all my friends, most of whom did not care.

Also, my spats were awesome. They covered my boots completely and didn't look too dorky. I will not end this semester with ruined boots, ok. Imma try to make these boots last the rest of my welding degree.

Speaking of welding degree, I may be taking more courses than I anticipated because I asked Javier when we get to do more practical things and less theoretical practice projects and he said "in the C class." So. I will take that into consideration.

James said I could make a stool though. Maybe I will attempt this if I have time outside of the real classwork. I could just model it on an existing stool? Seems like a reasonable place to start.

[lilacpaperbird]

idk what cheese brands are solely US, but I also use velveeta cheese blocks (like a huge block of cheese that you then slice) for my grilled cheese sandwhiches. I don’t usually do kraft like was suggested in the comments of your post, just velveeta, or whatever cheese is available at my local store like provolone or pepperjack.

My recipe below!

Necessary ingredients:

- two slices of bread (preferably white bread - that multi grain stuff doesn’t soak up the butter and cheese grease)

- stick of butter

- minimum four slices of desired cheese

- equipment: stove, two plates, spatula, and pan.

Instructions:

- lay out your four pieces of cheese on plate 1 so they can warm post-fridge. alongside them place your two slices of bread.

- cut four slices of butter from your butter stick. All four of these slices TOGETHER should use up about 3/4ths of the butter stick.

- place your pan on the stove and turn the stove on medium/high. Put a piece of the butter on the stove, moving it around with the spatula. It needs to be a little bit melted before you put your piece of bread on top of the butter to soak it in.

- let your bread rest on top of the butter for a minute or so. Flip up the underside of the bread slice to see if it looks wet/greasy. Once it looks wet, NOT browned, put another piece of butter onto the pan and flip the bread over so the dry part is on top of the butter. After this, you wait for it to go from dry -> wet -> crispy. Then you flip it over once more and place your cheese on the crispy side. You press your spatula on top of the cheese/bread hard to fry the other side. This will take only a few moments, should be under a minute.

- you repeat this for the second slice but make sure the stove is turned down lower! It’s already so hot it might burn your bread slices. Also, personal note: Pairing pepperoni slices with the cheese in the sandwhich can be good especially if the cheese you use is pepperjack. Also a cool glass of milk goes with it amazingly, I recommend whole milk.

THIS IS SO SWEET thank you for taking the time to send me the instructions omg 😭😭😭 I've actually read the whole thing twice using all my brainpower to understand each step I'm not joking lmaoo I'm going to buy the ingredients needed for this and I'll try it out, I'll tell you how it goes !! thank you again for your guidance, mysterious grilled cheese anon 🧀👽