#and sort screens out for some icons i gotta make

[hautevaux]

OOC: I've weeded the garden, mown the lawn, put up a new bird feeder, and baked my uncles birthday cake. Now I'm gonna get to replies <3

[honeydewblogforwriting]

Safe and sound

Warnings: a bit of angst I guess, postnatal depression mentioned, typos, does not explicitly follow the plot of OBX, website links, written and smau

Faceclaim:kelssopretty on Instagram

*YouTube video clip*

The clip begins with a darkened screen and the sound of a typewriter being set up. As the sound of paper sliding across the rollers punctuates the air. The clack of the cartridge return lever echoes as the first letter in bold white font appears across the screen. Bit by bit, the words are spelt out to the sound of the typewriter's keys. As the last shift is heard, the screen reads, "Business owner dilemma: Pope reprimands us for being careless... again."

The screen fades to a still image of you and the Pogues with the press play symbol in the middle of the screen; a mouse icon appears; clicks the symbol, and the video begins. "No more $200 on heirloom tomatoes" can be heard in the background as you adjust your camera's focus to capture Kiera's shocked and disgruntled expression at Pope's demand.

 You chuckle in the background, but your laughter is cut short as a question enters your mind. You ask Pope, "What about my imported peppers to make the jerk sauce?” Pope stutters on the first word in his haste to answer you, "Those—the peppers gotta go too, baby."

A caption materialises at the bottom of the screen as he speaks, "I know he's reprimanding me, but that "baby" at the end did it for me; it got me like, Sir, yes, sir!" The Pogues can then be heard collectively arguing; as you turn the camera to yourself and roll your eyes, the screen cuts to black.

*Girls Trip Vlog Clips*

"Hey, my babies, welcome back to my video," you whisper into the camera. "It's 5:36 a.m., and I, for the life of me, can't sleep," you say as you drag out the last syllable of the word sleep. Next to you, Sarah grumbles something and turns onto her outside. You make the gesture of shutting up to the camera, quietly ease yourself off the bed, and enter the next room.

"I had to leave the bedroom; I didn't want to wake my girls up. Idk how they can sleep right now; I've been feeling so stressed and anxious lately, you explain as you yawn and wipe your face. "Life just isn't going how I expected it to, and the girls decided that I needed a break from Outerbanks and the boys and just that sort of life in general, and now we're here on vacation."

You walk towards the counter and place your camera on its tripod. Taking a step back, you stand still for a second as you scrutinise how it's placed and make necessary adjustments. "Now that you guys are comfy, I'm going to make breakfast and list today's itinerary to you guys, just so you have an idea of what we'll be doing," you cheerfully state.

You turn to the refrigerator and unpack tomatoes, spinach, eggs, bacon, carrots, and bell peppers. You rest all of these items on your countertop and pivot towards your drawers, where you remove a knife and cutting board along with a ceramic bowl and fork.

 “Also, I`m cooking scrambled eggs for the girls and I. Ah, yes, our itinerary; we're going to do some shopping, Obvi!" You say the "obvi" in an exaggerated tone. "We're also going to visit the beach and some other tourist attractions; it's going to be so fun."

The sound of rustling can be heard in the bedroom, followed by a faint "aw sh*t." "Kie is awake now," you whisper as you cut the tomatoes. "I think I'm going to cut the video here so I can make breakfast and have some girl time with Kie; see you guys in a few minutes; bye-bye," you say as you kiss the screen.

*Next clip of the girls trip vlog*

 "Hey, my babies," you say, your voice laced with a hoarse tone. Excuse the way I sound; I've been crying." Sarah interrupts, "Yes, we just had a healthy crying session. We cried about everything." She appears in the camera with puffy eyes and red cheeks; her appearance evokes a chuckle from both of you. In the background, Kie can be heard yelling, "Yes, because we are girls together!" The screen fades as her last word is uttered.

*Final clip of the vlog*

"Hey my babies, I'm currently at the airport; the girls just boarded their flight and are heading back home, while I'm stuck waiting on Rafe," you say with a sarcastic grin. "The Kook King shows up whenever he feels like, Lucky me." The clip cuts abruptly.

The next clip starts with you accepting a beverage from someone. As you stretch your hand to accept it, the other person's hand appears on camera; the rings on their index and pointer fingers are easily identifiable; it's Rafe Cameron, your best friend. You drink your chai tea and state into the camera, "This is good!” You continue by demanding that Rafe say hi to the camera, which he does, then turn to whisper something in your ear that makes you groan and push him away.

You flip the camera from facing you to the back, where Rafe can be seen on camera. Behind the camera, you tell Rafe to tell the people where we're going and why we're going there. "We're heading to New York for some sort of fashion show and fashion awards," he drawls. "Yes, it's going to be so fun!" You exclaim. "I'm so excited, and I'm going to be taking you guys along with me."

"Rafe is here with me ‘cause he's paying for the flight," you say as Rafe scoffs in the background. "Tell the truth, Y/N," Rafe demands. "Okay, okay," you say as you give in, "he's not only here's paying for it; he's also here because I need some support." You take a second to breathe and then continue. "Things have been hectic and demanding for me, so I need someone with me to ground me, and the girls can't be here 24/7; they have lives of their own." Your voice cracks, and you pause to clear your throat. Rafe leans forward and collects the camera from you, whom he then gently shuts off and rests on the seat next to you guys.

*Off-camera, real life*

Rafe pulls you into a hug and places his head on your shoulder. "Are you alright?" He gently enquires, and you hug him tightly while shaking your head, "No.". You rise with your lips parted to verbally answer his statement, but instead, you're met with a lump in your throat, teary eyes, and a wobbly chin.

"Hey, hey shush kid, c’mon. Things are going to be okay. I'm here, kid. C’mon, sweetheart." Rafe tries all the comforting words in a bid to calm you down. "Is it the Pogues? ” You shake your head no. "Is it?" he hesitates. "Is it Pope?" You strongly shake your head at this question. "Then what is it, sweetheart? You've got to tell me something so I can help you."

You take a deep, shaky breath and start to speak, "Pope is great. He's perfect—better than perfect. It's me; I'm the one who's changed. I just feel so uncomfortable and ashamed of myself and my life, and I feel so undeserving of everything and everyone around me." "I feel so uninteresting in everything, and my mood has been so bad. I feel so worthless and undeserving of my success, you, my friends, Pope. You pause for a second and then continue in a shy tone, "The baby."

Rafe takes a deep breath, "Have you told Pope how you've been feeling?”

"No, I haven't. I've been ignoring his calls and messages for the past few days.

“Y/N," Rafe calls your name in an admonishing tone. "You need to tell him. Does he even know where we are? Heck, does he even know that you're with me? Don't answer that."

He takes a deep breath and drags his hand down his face. "Okay, I'm getting sidetracked; I should be focused on offering help and comfort. Kid, you're not worthless. You deserve every good thing you've got and more. If anyone is undeserving, it's me."

"You're loved, and I know I don't tell you this even or at all for that matter, but I love you, sweetheart."

"Pope loves you, and that little angel that you gave birth to does as well."

"You've worked so hard for everything you've got; don't you ever again think you're worthless or be ashamed of who you are." His words cause the tears that are pooled in your eyes to trickle down to your cheeks. "Y/N, there's only so much I can tell you, but I think you need professional help; it sounds like you're dealing with postpartum depression."

"And before you deny it, just take the time to talk to the Pope and see someone. You deserve to, you understand?" You shake your head yes.

"It's kind of ironic the guy that needs to be fixed telling me to talk to someone; no, you (you enunciate the "you") need to talk to someone," you laugh. Rafe shakes his head and joins in. "You've got me there, kid."

*Q and A Clips*

“Hey, my babies, I know I`ve been gone for a while so today I`ll be answering some of your most asked questions. I recently did a poll on Instagram where I asked you guys to send in questions to ask me,” you explain to your camera. “Okay, let`s get started. First question: How long have you and Pope been dating?” You pause to think things over and do some mental calculations. “It`s been about six years now; we started dating at 18.”

“Next one: How did you and Pope meet? We met at his dad`s business. I went there to get some fresh shrimp for a get-together my family was throwing. This was before my family threw me out and he was the one that sold me, and then he invited me to hang out with his friends and him because I was new to the area,” you detail.

“Another one: Why are you still with Pope when you could be with Rafe instead? You have enough money to be considered a Kook now,” your irritation visibly increases with each word you read. You take a deep breath to calm yourself before answering. “I`m still with Pope because I love him and you guys don`t know anything about us or our relationship. This is such a distasteful question to ask.”

“Anyways, unto this question: why do you take the Pogues everywhere you go? There was no need to take them to Brazil. It`s like they`re sponging off of your success,” you laugh as you read this comment. “I don`t know why you guys are so upset that I take my friends on trips with me. There would be no “y/nsopretty” without them. Pope was the person who brought my first and only camera. The one that I use to this day, he bought it, and we weren`t even dating at that time. JJ helped film most of my beach and surfing content. Kie did my hair and makeup. Sarah let me use her room as my backdrop because mine was a mess and a space I shared with two others. John B drove me to another state for my first ever interview with my management team,” you passionately state. So if I want to spend a few extra hundred dollars and take them to a country that they`ve always wanted to visit, so be it. My success is our success, and I`m a Pogue for life, bitch.”

“Next question: How is motherhood treating you?” You smile upon reading this question. “Oh my, it`s such a blessing and probably my biggest accomplishment. I love being a mother more than I expected. I won`t lie, the first few months were the hardest. I was in a dark place, and Rafe was the one who talked some sense into me and made me get the help I needed. I was diagnosed with postnatal depression, commonly known as postpartum depression, which was rough but not impossible to navigate.” You continue, “My therapist helped me to realise and acknowledge that dealing with postnatal depression doesn`t mean that I`m failing in any way and that it doesn`t make me less of a person or a mother. She said it`s important that I take time to rest and lean on my loved ones for help.”

“I`ve been regularly visiting my doctor, praying, and exercising. I also had to change my diet and rest. I`ve been accepting help because it does take a village, and I`m so grateful to have mine,” you say. “Pope has been my biggest supporter. He`s been at my every beck and call. He`s taken all of my anger and insults and just turned them into genuine love and concern. He hasn`t judged me or make it seem like I`m the problem in the slightest. He`s an angel. He`s been so smart and mature every aspect of my diagnosis and road to recovery,” you gush. The video progresses as you continue to answer varying questions.  You end the video by listing charities and support groups that can be contacted for advice. Displayed on the screen in Times New Roman size 12 font are the following groups:

Association for Post Natal Illness (APNI) – helpline on 020 7386 0868 (10 am to 2 pm, Monday to Friday) or email info@apni.org

Pre and Postnatal Depression Advice and Support (PANDAS) – helpline on 0808 196 1776 (11 am to 10 pm every day) or email info@pandasfoundation.org.uk

NCT – helpline on 0300 330 0700 (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday)

Mind, the mental health charity – infoline on 0300 123 3393 (9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday) or email info@mind.org.uk

[cryingpariah]

Punk Hazard confirmed that Kid watches underworld broadcasts to check which new kinds of weapons are sweeping the black market (frankly makes even more sense given his backstory that he and Killer were gang leaders on their home island of Kutsukku in the South Blue).

And Shriek watches these broadcasts too in much the same way how little kids play on the floor while their parents are watching the news. Not quite fully understanding what's going on and piping in with a few questions, but getting the gist that it's important.

"How come a blunderbuss is called a blunderbuss?"

"It's based off of donderbus which means thunder gun"

"But it doesn't even shoot thunder! Thunder's not even something you can shoot, it's a sound! It should be called lightning gun!"

"Yeah, that'd be fuckin' sick. As is, they're only really effective against infantry at short range. They don't have the velocity to do damage past 50 feet"

"That's why they gotta shoot lightning! It goes all over the place. Hey, do you think we can make cannons that store up my Electro and fire it like a lightning gun?? 🤩"

"Only one way to find out! 😈"

The Underworld broadcast are so interesting to me like how do they schedule that sort of thing? Is it on on a monthly or a need to know basis? As the king I’d imagine this kind of this falls under Big News Morgans's jurisdiction but you never know 🤔🤔

Kid and Killer probably try to limit Shriek's screen time when it comes to this sort, it’s not that they think she can’t handle stuff but the Underworld is a completely different kind of ick they barely tolerate. Shriek finds it mildly boring but it does give her some great ideas!

Speaking of which…

*KABOOM*

Killer immediately started running towards the sound of the explosion (after taking his bolognese down to a simmer naturally, whatever tomfoolery was amok wasn’t going to spoil dinner) when she spotted his captain and apprentice coughing and walking out of Kid's workshop covered head to toe in soot.

“Well *cough* Attempt 1 was a complete fucking failure. You alright brat?”

“I’m *cough* fine! I really thought it was gonna work though! Next time let’s try copper instead.”

Killer cleared his throat causing both their shoulders to jump as they slowly turned his way. Guilty but giddy smiles crossed their faces as Kid began opening his mouth when Killer's hand shot up first.

“Don’t know. Don’t wanna know. Go clean up for dinner.”

“You are so right Killer and might I just say, for no reason at all, that you are looking extra fine today?”

Call it years of knowing each other in every way possible but Kid could feel the judgemental eyebrow raise Killer was giving him without ever needing to see beneath his iconic helmet.

“…. Alright Pup let’s hit the showers.”

[setsuntamew]

Welcome back to "Icon Making With Killian: An Intro to the 'Lost' Art of LiveJournal Icons"

aka, you didn't think I was one and done, right?

This tutorial was written in Photoshop 2020, but you can probably recreate it in as far back as CS2-ish (since I still use the same sort of techniques I've been using since then, lmao). It also assumes basic understanding of the software, though I've tried to be as clear as possible throughout.

I was possessed with a need to both make an icon of Madara's new event card and then write a tutorial, so let's all be proud that I busted it out before Halloween 💪

I started with the bloomed art of Madara from The Howling Forest★Lupine Halloween event (image from the Halloween 2024 campaign announcement, because the event hasn't started yet).

Since there's a lot of extra text & etc on this, I knew I'd be cropping it pretty close. I started with a blank 100x100 canvas, pasted the original image in, and then resized + rotated it until I liked the composition/crop.

First up, I wanted to get some cobwebs in here (for Halloween!), but didn't want them to overwhelm the whole icon. I used a texture from lookslikerain, set to Lighten, and rotated it a bit before erasing anything covering his face.

Next, I used another texture from lookslikerain and set it to Darken. There's a lot of green in the images for this event and I wanna pull some of that back into the icon, since it most got cropped out.

Time for light textures!!! I used a bunch in this icon~ I started with one from lookslikerain (can you tell I love their resources?), rotated it, and set the layer to Lighten, before deciding that it was too harsh. I used a small, soft brush set to 30% Opacity to erase most of the texture from his face, as well as softening the edges of the light.

The next few light textures are kinda subtle, but overall add to the icon. I'd say sometimes less is more, but I'm a maximalist at heart XD For the next few steps, just assume that the light textures were rotated/resized/moved/etc as I saw fit. I used yet another texture from lookslikerain, set to Lighten, and tucked in the bottom right corner.

This light texture from Sanami276 is also set to Screen. I moved it around to get just a bit of orange in the top left corner- gotta keep those Halloween colors in there!! :D

I wanted some more depth/texture in the upper left corner, so I decided to use part of a texture from Sanami276.

However, it's way to harsh to just throw in there like that...at least not for my purposes. I decided to invert the colors and recolor the black parts orange. My go-to method is with a Gradient Map adjustment layer. The easiest place to find it is in the Adjustments window.

I then used these colors for the gradient itself: #e7b676 at 0% and #ececec at 100%.

And it left the texture looking appropriately orange! I then pasted it into the actual icon, moved it so the rectangles were in the upper left corner, and set the layer to Darken.

Now for more light textures!! I used a couple from ianthinae, set them to Lighten, and went to town. I cut them up, moved them around, rotated them...just about anything to make them fit where I wanted. I love playing with light textures in general, and I find that even when I use similar ones a lot, they can look very different depending on how they're place.

Finally, I used part of a large grunge-y texture that I've unfortunately lost the source to D: I inverted it and set the layer to Multiply, before moving it around a bunch until I found a spot that looked good.

And with that, it's done! You've now got some new skills to make icons with~

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I'll answer as best I can- as long as it's not about making icons in other software D: I only know Photoshop (and Paint Shop Pro, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore). If there are any other icons of mine you're interested in seeing tutorials for - or even just specific techniques! - just lemme know. I love helping :D

Also, I'm happy to share where I get icon resources from. I have a whole post dedicated to that on my DW graphics journal, though tbh that's the best place to talk to me about making graphics in general. But I will absolutely answer asks/replies/etc about icons here on tumblr, don't worry!!!!

[chirpsythismorning]

The Hellflire Club Foreshadows Mike's Monologue (and More Than You Think...)

Several fans have noticed already that there are direct parallels between Mike's monologue in The Piggyback, with Eddie's monologue in The Hellfire Club.

While we've been grappling with all sorts of supernatural creatures over the course of Stranger Things' entire run, here Eddie is warning us about forced conformity and how that is the real monster.

This has also led fans to joke painfully about the fact that Max 'died' because forced conforming; that's what's killing the kids, aka Mike's whole speech to El wouldn't have happened the way it did in the first place, had him, Will and El not been trying so hard to be who they think they're supposed to be, instead of who they truly want to be.

However, what I want to add to this discourse, because I haven't seen anyone else acknowledge it (correct me if i'm wrong!?), is that this scene at lunch has two extras with whom Mike sits between, which are very likely meant to represent Will and El.

We've seen a lot of (love) triangle blocking used with these three before, often with Mike between the two. This screen-cap below has gotta be one of the most iconic and so I feel the need to mention it briefly:

What also makes this shot relevant as an example for this post, is the costume choice for Will and El here: the same shade of dark blue (hints of gray), and the fact that this doesn’t align with the colors/style they usually wear as individual characters. However, this was presumably one of the few times Will and El have genuinely interacted beyond supernatural happenings. And so now, with both of them standing on either side of Mike, after two seasons of him having only one of them beside him, and while the other was out of reach, what we're seeing is that these two are more or less two sides of the same coin. Whether Will and El are actually blood related (I'm like 75% sure they could be) remains to be seen. However Mike's bond between both of them individually is causing him to sort of be at war with himself (and his identity).

Now bear with me, because I know so many of you see theories/analysis involving set design/blocking/costumes and you just instantly check out and stop taking it seriously. But I can assure you, this is the real deal.

What follows, is so outrageously easy to overlook. And yet upon thinking about what it actually requires to film a scene, especially a scene like this with dozens of background extras, along with how this scene actually turned out, I'm going to explain why there are several factors which make me feel fairly confident about what these two specific extras represent.

To start things off, we know how this scene begins, with Eddie dramatically reading a Newsweek magazine:

"The Devil has come to America. Dungeons and Dragons, at first regarded as a harmless game of make-believe, now has both parents and psychologists concerned. Studies have linked violent behavior to the game, saying it promotes satanic worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy, suicide, and even... Murder."

After they give us a short introduction to some of the faces of the Hellfire Club (notably Eddie), they cut to this point of view shot from Mike:

Here we are instantly introduced to the two extras that are going to dominate a majority of this scene outside of the main characters themselves, aka Willel...

note: interesting they don't include Mike in the shot for that specific sound bite below... almost as if he considers himself a freak for a different reason...

Yes, on the surface this scene is establishing that Mike and Dustin are finding a place in High School, as the freaks and geeks, but a place nonetheless.

Though, is that really all there is to it?

You'll see what I mean.

note: there's no meaning behind the circles touching here. i just wanted to acknowledge here that the El extra is visible at first, only for her to become hidden the moment that the Will extra becomes visible.

Now, this shot right here below is kind of iconic, because it's what made me realize that this girl extra here in the scarf represents El.

To provide a little more context, the Will extra next to Mike has already been picked up on by a decent amount of fans. I've even posted about it at least once. This guy definitely resembles Will at certain angles, to the point where he could arguably be a stand in/stunt double for scenes that don't require a close-up of him.

Also keeping in mind, this is a scene of the party in high school, in a D&D club. Assuming Will could have stayed in Hawkins and went to high school with the party, he would've more than likely been right here beside them. So that's what I initially got out of this scene and still partially do get out of it, regardless of these other observations I'm discussing here.

What's so fascinating about the Will extra though specifically, is that they avoid showing his face as much as possible, which is a unique choice that we're just not seeing be applied to the other extras in the frame. They even let us see the face of the guy across from the Will extra (blue/yellow striped shirt guy) multiple times, but apparently they really wanted to avoid showing this guys face (there are a few notable, but fleeting side profiles from an outside POV), almost to keep up this guise that we could imagine this is Will and hell, it could be him, bc it's pretty damn close.

However, upon recently rewatching this scene, I remember looking for other points when this Will extra might have been prominent, to see if I could find anything else.

And that's when I realized this girl in the scarf, directly blocks the Will extra at the most convenient time.

And that's when it hit me...

FORCED CONFORMING!!!!!!!

The following images below is when it really starts to get obvious that there was an intended direction going on here with the blocking of these two extras, in accordance with Mike's placement in the frame.

What sealed the deal for me, was noticing how the other extras surrounding them (excluding Willel), do not seem to be granted much importance in the continuity of this scene.

Continuity between shots is pretty essential to filmmaking. It's gotta be the main thing about film that just bugs me, which is that you can tell very visibly when a shot is followed by another shot, but from a separate take (has the capacity to ruin the illusion that this is real and not all fabricated).

For example, what I gather from the beginning of this following conversation, is that there were at the very least 2-3 takes done for these reaction shots of Dustin and Mike, and it's because the extras in the background give it away. Sometimes they're in the frame, sometimes they're not.

The Will and El extras provide a contrast to all the other extras, in that the continuity for their blocking in the frame is fairly spot on each time, equal to the standards of the main cast arguably. Meaning they had a mark and they had to stick with it.

Check this out:

side note: star wars reference (luke & leia??)

The most obvious thing that gives away the importance of these two extras, besides the blocking, is them both sporting an almost identical color in their costume. While the Will extra wears a maroon shirt, the El extra wears a scarf in that same color.

This is so simple yet sort of genius, because again, from what I understand, no one has noticed this, and so it's pretty epic once you finally do pick up on it.

The Will extra is almost always in the frame on Mike's right? The El extra is facing the the opposite direction as them (not on the same page), and wearing a scarf, which is there to represent the tentacle choking her during Mike's monologue...

This theory does take a turn for the hilarious, when at a later point Eddie starts monologuing again, while Dustin and Mike look at him fondly (w/ Mike in focus), the Willel extras are now nowhere to be found...

I think this choice was made to indicate that Mike's attraction to Eddie is based on the most basic type of attraction, while what he shares for Will and El is so much more complicated (and deep). When you're just experiencing everyday attraction, you're not thinking about your significant other or your hearts desire in that moment, because this moment is just a blip encounter that isn't going anywhere, it's attraction and that's all there is to it. Whereas what he feels truly for Will is true love, while what he feels truly for El is familial love. This tiny moment isn't about his conflict over his romantic feelings, it's about the fact that Mike is attracted to men.

And then what follows directly after this, is that little snippet of Eddie's monologue, which echoes Mike's monologue to El at the end of the season...

Oh and look who it is?! The El extra has made a reappearance, just in time!

This is one of the few times they made a point to have the El extra in the frame while the Will extra wasn't, which I also think is intentional because it could be a hint to how Mike's speech about falling in love with El the moment he saw her is a fabrication (copyright to be exact), and it also doesn't resemble the love that Mike has for Will, hence why he was almost entirely left out of those shots. (Also similar to Mike's monologue at the end of the season, where Will was in certain shots but not others, because the words did/didn't match Mike's feelings for Will at those points).

Lastly, we get a Gap (gay and proud) reference for Mike. And low and behold, the Will extra is making a reappearance, just in time!

I think what makes this scene easier to understand on a basic level, without making it too complicated for yourself, is comparing the implications that come with it, to the implications that came with Mike's monologue.

The choice to put Will in most of the shots, directly behind Mike as he professes his love to El, who is lying before him unable to look in his eyes or even respond, leads those truly paying attention, to the conclusion that this is not how you shoot a satisfying love confession. Therefore it can't be a genuine love confession.

Instead what this scene more so depicts is a character having a confession practically wrenched out of him. And because of all the other details happening over the course of this season and just the series overall, we can gather that Mike feels pressured to go through with this because he thinks he has no other choice.

They didn't beat the big bad this time, instead they lost. Because forced conforming, that's the real monster.

With only one season left, they're going to have to face the truth if they want to make it out alive this time (and happy!).

[mytimeatsandrockzine]

Because of the handful of followers last night we’ve decided to go ahead and lay out some questions and answers we know might be on some minds.

Q and A :

Is the Zine looking for moderators?

Yes! We have participated as contributors for other zines in the past so we know the work behind it and what generally goes on behind the scenes. However, we’re new to the experience of moderating anything like this. We don’t want to go out asking random people to mod who don’t know us but if people offer up help or sign up to help would love to consider! I think we’re more looking to have people also experienced in zines.

Is the Zine looking for contributors?

For the future, yes! Right now? Ehhhh…

Well, you know how it is. We can’t exactly seek out people who wanna join when we’re looking pretty bare bones (and have been for a minute). But we are super interested in doing this and have already planned for a Portia and Evershine zine as well in order to spread the word on Pathea’s games for the unfamiliar ones and fans of their older games as well! We do plan on opening up sooner rather than later since we’ve obviously delayed it enough and people finding this blog and following means there’s SOME interest.

Will the Zine be published electronically or physically?

We are going to be electronic only! Yes, we understand that it would be so super cool to be able to physically have it in hand, but at this time we don’t know any manufacturers that specialize this and none of us have an experience in selling in shipping! It’s not just that though, we understand safety and privacy issues that come with handing over your information to someone you don’t know as well, so we would rather avoid the whole thing all together and just put it online where everyone and anyone can look at!

Is the Zine going to be for free or purchasable?

The plan is to make it 100% for free online for everyone to look at. We aren’t comfortable with profiting off of an IP which doesn’t belong to us in any way, shape or form, and also strongly believe that art should be accessible. For this reason, we instead would encourage you to donate to any water conservation foundations or charities in your area in the spirit of Sandrock’s message. We’ll try to do our own research as well and compile a list for anyone interested!

Who can contribute to the Zine?

Everyone and anyone whose art can be published electronically! This means artists, writers, cosplayers, crafters, etc (and from all over the world)! Perhaps even video or audio is a possibility since it’s all online? We’d love to hear anyone out with an idea and a dream and see how we can fit it in as well! Although we will be using the google forms as a sort of “screening” we generally don’t plan on rejecting anybody regardless of skill level. Everyone belongs in Sandrock and everyone should have a place in the zine no matter what.

Can people collaborate on a Zine piece?

Of course! We’re gonna try to see how to work this out.

Does the zine have any promotional art or cover art?

Not yet, but that was probably obvious given the fact we don’t even have a banner or icon that isn’t the game’s promotional art, haha. We would like to properly commission someone or have someone genuinely down to do this to make it however, and do have a couple of people in mind (who we totally haven’t just looked at on Streamily or Instagram for ideas) but we’ve gotta work out how we’re gonna go about this.

Can we find the zine on other social media?

Nope. We’re not exactly comfortable migrating the project outside of tumblr, so at this time it’s just us here. Our ask box is always open for communications however! Not sure how DMs work though given this is a side blog, but generally speaking it might be a little better to just use the ask box since if YOU have a question, maybe someone else had it too.

Please also note that having a tumblr is NOT NECESSARY!! This will just be used as the main hub for updates and eventually where we hope to publish this. The google form is what will be used in order for people to sign up for submissions and to submit their final pieces. Again, we would like for this project to be as accessible as possible. This is also why we turned on anonymous asks just in case people without a tumblr have a question (last we checked, you shouldn’t need an account to ask a question, right?)

Is there a discord for the Zine?

Nope! Sorry, we don’t have one. We don’t even know if that will be necessary but if it is then we’d have to figure out how to organize it and such (again, we’ve never exactly moderated a zine project before and that kind of extends to Discord servers)

What is the theme of the Zine?

We’ve brainstormed a lot of ideas! A scrapbook theme, Original characters and their stories, friendship, etc… but were really leaning towards just “What you love about Sandrock”. Be it events, characters, scenes , all that! We want it to just be all about your love of the game and how you wish to express that!

Are you partnered with Pathea?

As awesome as that would be…. No. This is the project made up of people who love the game and want to show it by making a tribute to it, nothing more.

Whew, I think that covered everything! Thanks y’all!

[astrxlfinale]

As Tem lazes around, certain thoughts begin to trickle into her head. It’s not like her and Lighter are always togetherーbetween her proxy work and his own endeavors, there’s plenty of time apart. She knows he’s got an important match in the ring, and she should probably be there… Her work had been planned to go much later, so she hadn’t thought she’d be able to make it.

The tomboy rolls over in her bed, and then flips herself again, humming with uncertainty. Finally, after some shuffling and shedding of clothes, she snaps a few photos, types a quick message along with them, and sends them on their way.

✉　》【 img.jpeg 】

✉　》【 I got finished with my commission early 】

✉　》【 your match hasn’t started yet, right? 】

✉　》【 img.jpeg 】

✉　》【 should i come by? i think i’ve got time 】

✉　》【 or should i wait here 】

✉　》【 i can grab some take out to have ready when you get back 】

✉　》【 lol 】

Being settled in the locker room before the start of a match etched itself as a ritual. Where the racket of cheers, curses, arguments all devolved into a hodgepodge of activity was a wave he forced himself to find focus in. Somehow, being set underneath within the mellowed lights always brought him ease, a share between dealing with his demons and how this was signified as reprieve all the same. Leaning back, those dark jade bangs framed his face as he rolled in the silence as his second stood watch out the door.

Disturbances for the Champion were simply not permitted unless by officials. In a way, there's a more appreciative excitement to be held, faint as it was in taking on these very challenges. "Patience, patience. All this build up for what I'm going to offer as a minute at most. Gotta revel a touch in the moment." His words were meant for a crowd that they would never reach. Before his thoughts would draw more idle contemplations, that's when his phone went off.

There's a few ideas on who it may be.

Nonetheless, there's a nonchalant casualness in how he plucks it from his coat positioned off to the side. Bringing the screen before his visions, an amused huff escaped at this outright glaring image he saved as Tem's number icon. It might've earned him a good wap in the gut that day to earn this very view, but of course Lighter found those endeavors for the unknown worthwhile.

What he'd also find worthwhile would lie between those casual note of questions offered--.

Those glasses did not hesitate to come off. A little earlier than intended, but for the scale of what was offered made the exchange feel infinitesimal to consider in terms of 'price. For heaven found itself settled before him, in many, many positions. Sights that were drawn in a casual sort of glory, as if she was thriving within her 'purest' form. One held an instance of her gaze, drawn from the shoulder as there's nothing left to the imagination on the descent on down.

Lighter's breathing found itself growing slower, as if trying to will time to slam the brakes despite the rushing stir of his heart. Talk about take out found itself briefly tearing into his consciousness, short lived and burned alive as the glory of the second comes to light. Where the delighted glory of her peachy behind found itself as a gift before his eyes. Focusing his gaze a touch more amidst the lighting, from the sheer volume, that's when another gift found itself glittering in this 'Cheer for her Champion.'

Fire found itself storming through his toned midsection as he leans up, a particular grip almost working to crush the implement within his hands. Exchanging glances higher and lower, the time before his call edging down like finely grained sand, leaving him too aware and too heated from this timing as his throat flexed.

There would be a couple of buzzes awaiting Tem's phone.

Text: No.

Text: What I want means you have to stay exactly as you are.

Text: I'm making a World Record tonight.

Text: study closely

His control over his body would command that growing excitement to settle, silent gratitude given for the semi-baggy attire he decided for his boxing garb. Drawing from his seat, he'd bring his phone back to the privacy of his coat before making his prideful march towards the ring. As the raised arms, sign and multitude of cameras begin to flash before his vision, raw resolve finds itself stirring brightly like a bike's engine. Gloves adjusted on, he'd raise his arms high, greeting the blessings and curses surrounding him as his opposition awaits him in the cage.

The ferocity on a close-up short of his face was prevailent. Tonight's match was going to be an even affair.

Merely a warning, of what happens when they stand between him and what he desires.

@batoushoujo

[fandomhop]

hello friend, what is fable? you seem to like it a lot and i gotta be honest i dont know the first thing about it. now,, i COULD ask google but i think that you could explain it better mhm mhm

[Oh boy! /affectionate]

[So, in a general, overall statement, Fable is a series of games from the 2000's-2010's. It's a quintessential bit of adventure fantasy, and totally progressive of its time.]

[Fable, as a whole, is about making your own sort of path within the story, and having your actions reflected on the world and yourself. It has a cool morality morphing system where, when you do something good or bad, not only does it affect the funny lil' NPCs around you, but it also reflects on your body. Do enough good actions, your complexion becomes glowing and you have a halo, do enough bad and you become more demonic looking.]

[There's actually both a deep and semi-shallow amount of lore. The first game was deffo built upon the bending and twisting of stories and folklore- you know, fables- and the games after followed along centuries after that, showing a world trying to grow past it's story built roots, but not being completely rid of them, even as technology grows and advances.]

[It's also British as hell. But, like, in a fun way! There's a fun and wonderful mix of light and darkness, sincerity and satire, sadness and humour. There's these beasties called Hobbes that are these sorta ugly things that act silly in and out of combat, but they also eat human flesh and are rumored to turn children into them. Some of them turn into kamikazes and they like teddy bears.]

[Also you can kick chickens (they're fine, don't worry about it, they have reinforced feathers)]

[Your character is a Hero (with the capital H), a person who is born to be able to deal with the struggles of protecting or commanding respect of the common man. You can wield and utilize Strength, Skill and Will, the trio of combat skills. The combat is a bit simple, but it's also fun and easy to get into. You can also upgrade with experience points to get better with your weapons and will powers.]

[I think the story, world, and characters of Fable: The Lost Chapters are extremely iconic, but the character building and development starts to really shine in the later games. All the games have wonderful setting appearance, though. Looking at pictures of Fable are these beautiful settings and desktop/screen background worthy scenes. The people look a bit silly, though.]

[Also? This game series is also progressive bc of its LGBT+ rep. The first game got called out for letting the male only player Hero marry a man, so the next game include bisexuals. Fable 3 lets you adopt children, regardless of your spouse's gender. There's a potion that lets you trans your gender (available only once in a quest after the main quest) and no one bats an eye to it (if you have a straight spouse, they won't immediately divorce you as long as you treat them well, but they won't have sex either.) There's a quest where you help out a guy find a suitor who is secretly gay, and the end of the quest is him coming out to his dad and being accepted. You can wear clothes of either gender, and get tattoos, hair, and facial hair regardless of your sex. (there is a cross-dressing statistic, but the Brits love a bit of cross-dressing humour.)]

[Now, I will not lie and say that they are perfect games, there are some flaws with them, and Fable 3 gets a bit of a bad rap for it's heavy streamlining, but I can genuinely say that these games are cherished a lot. Fable 2 is my go-to favourite game ever, and every once and a blue moon, I will be revitalized with a longing for the series. If you wanna get into it, I think it's a fun time for an old-ish game, and I really hope the new one that's coming out in {*looks at wrist*} the-yet-to-be-announced-future will be as cherishable, even if it's slightly different.]

[Also? Like, every time I (re)enter an interest/fixation, I make a little Fable AU in my head to consider what kind of heroes the characters might be.]

[dafukdidiwatch]

One Piece - Episode One

Yo Ho Ho yall (fuck that's cheesy lol) Well the Live Action One Piece came out a few weeks ago and I've only just started to watch it. I love One Piece. I 100% believe that One Piece is Classical Literature and Classical Story Telling. Like it will stand the test of time it is that good. And since I'm in love with the anime and watching the new series, I've decided to give like a mini review of each episode I watch.

Major Spoilers Ahead: I haven't caught up with the anime (like holy shit no I haven't) but I have rewatched the beginning seasons/arcs many many times. So this is honestly might be more of a comparison between the adaptation and the original source material. So I'm going to go over a lot of plot points of, well, everything.

Here we go!

Overview: Episode One follows Monkey D. Luffy on the start of his journey to become the King Of The Pirates on the open ocean. He faces against The Alvida Pirates and takes rescues the Cabin Boy Koby from her iron clutches. There they travel together to a nearby Marine Base to take find a map of the Grand Line, and we get the introduction of Zoro the Pirate Bounty Hunter and Nami the Thief and Catburgler. Shenanigans force the group together where they face off against Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan and retrieve the map together. Leaving Koby behind to follow his own dream, the trio sets off on a stolen boat and sails onto the next episode.

Initial Thoughts: I feel like I have to break up my review into so many categories because My God, they cram packed SO many things into this episode. Every minute there's anyone easter egg, another name drop, another scene where I go "Oh! It's That Part from the Anime!" I don't think it's going to be possible for me to look at it strictly on it's own merit, because a lot of what I like about it is going to be colored by the anime. Specifically what they kept, changed, and adapted to fit a live action setting. Because honestly, I'm blown away. They did an insanely good job with this series.

Plot:

I have to start with some of the plot here. Not just the overview I mean like a Deep Dive into how this is a lot of people's first introduction to One Piece.

I like how they have the first scene be the Gol D. Rodgers backstory. His death and final words, as stated in every episode, "drove countless souls to the sea." His legacy is the driving point for the show, so having it at the beginning is a great way to set up the exposition and expectation for the series. This is Pirates. Government vs Pirates. The King Of Pirates Treasure created more Pirates.

I also like how at every Pirate's Introduction we see a wanted poster fly by and cover his face. The bounties are used as a "power level" marker in a way. Higher Bounty = More Dangerous. It's a nice visual cue to show they are key players.

They also kept a lot of the iconic scenes and moments from the anime too. Nami drifting in the boat. Shanks getting beer smashed onto him by the bandits. They actually kept in some manga only moments too: Luffy stabbing himself in the eye for example and the reveal of his Gum Gum Powers. Not shown in the anime. So the Live Action series is faithful to both anime and manga.

Then the show even expands on some moments that were sort of glanced over. It actually shows Zoro being recruited for Baroque Works instead of Zoro mentioning it one that happened off screen. Which was a really cool badass visual to show rather than tell why Zoro is epic. Leave the myth/legacy/stories for Gol D. Rodgers. If the guy is on our crew, we gotta see why he's cool enough to be on the crew.

They also added in a lot of new mashups in here too. It makes since, Episode One covers about the first 5ish episodes of the anime. So you have to smash what you can when you can. Nami never interacted with Luffy or Zoro until the next island. They never were all together in a bar/tavern (which, ha, classic bar meet up). And there were new combinations of how other characters interact with each other. Morgan and Zoro never met prior to Luffy's bullshit. But damn, that was a pretty interesting interaction to just flex on their characters.

Speaking of...

Characters:

I'll get into main cast specifics afterwards, but I have to say that the show is perfect with capturing the essence of each character. No matter what actions they take or how the story changed, the show stayed true to the core of the characters. Luffy's childlike wonder went everywhere he went asking questions about everything. Zoro's sassy to everyone and honorable in battle. Nami self-reliant and sneaky and can handle her own. Morgan's self importance was shown with self-portraits. And this is for Everyone. Even the background mooks and randos. The crowd immediately going to sea as soon as Rodgers gives his Pirate Blessing for his treasure. Nothing is missed. Everything is well, exactly how and why we love these characters.

Luffy, well, I wasn't sure if I could like at first. It's the voice. I have a thing where if I know a character for a while, sometimes I can't vibe with another iteration because I am too invested in the first version. The voice was still high pitch and casual, but it just felt different. Between that and just how calm he was acting I wasn't sure if I liked Luffy. But the more I saw him the more perfect he was. He is happy, go-lucky, a gentle airy voice with a tinge of excitement. Terrible liar, a little bit more clever perhaps but still a well rounded dumbass. He's really the perfect Luffy.

Zoro was a bit of the same way too. I don't know if it was just the monotone but he was a bit like the same with Luffy. But then he opened his mouth and was just as so flipping sassy and snarky. Then we see him fight and kill a man on screen which yeah, he does that. And wow he's still super bad ass. I'm just sort of waiting to see more of his flaws in the next episode, and I'm actually surprised that Zoro had embraced the "Pirate Hunter" moniker when he couldn't give less of a shit is still serious and stoic, can't tell if he's more competent or not just yet.

A little surprise that Zoro wasn't on the crew yet. But I think they changed it so it would feel more like Zoro was willing to join rather than a "choose: join up or you'll get killed"

Nami was also as badass as I hoped. We see her on the job. On the clock. Taking one problem at a time. She would give Lupin a run for his money. Like her scoping out marines in the bar to steal the clothes, that was a brilliant move! A lot better to show the lengths she would go than just tricking some rando pirates. And we get her animosity immediately with Luffy. She really is super clever.

Shanks actually feels more parental here. Like a dedicated dad type. He felt easy going, but more in a mature adult way. He still cared for luffy in the anime don't get me wrong. But Anime Shanks absolutely laughed and teased Luffy. For example: Live Action Shanks was concerned and worried when Luffy showed his devil fruit powers for the first time. Anime Shanks was worried and called Luffy a dumbass for doing a stupid thing like eating random fruit. I get why they wanted him to be a more serious parental figure in the live action, just a bit different.

It actually is interesting because there is a distinctive change with Shanks and Buggy. Shanks as noted above went a cool older cousin to a parental figure. Buggy is cloaked in insanity and danger. He is menacing, which is important. He's the first major main antagonist. But his goofiness has been pulled back a bit and turned into crazy. He's still ruthless but it's more like Joker Crazy instead of just wacky clown. Granted he's only just introduced at the end of the show so there was no time to flesh it out. So we might have more silly wackiness coming our way. But it isn't a bad change.

Setting:

I can't believe how accurate the setting is to One Piece. Like, first they kept all of the weirdo gadgets like the Transponder Snails and those goofy looking seagulls. And yeah the CGI isn't like technically the best or detailed, but it feels like it was pulled straight from the manga.

Speaking of being pulled straight from the manga, the costumes are insane. How long did the costume department just stare into the anime and just bring it to life. Everyone's outfits are colorful, iconic, it perfectly fits the character and their designs. Same with the island, the ships, every location it just felt so real. So vibrant. It just breathes life!

And there's Violence! Honest to god Violence! In One Piece! Oh sure we have fights and battles and deaths in the show and manga. And it isn't shied away from at all. But now there's Blood. There's actual Canon Death. Point Blank from the beginning this is the Pirate Era and they are Ruthless by just killing a man off screen and forcing the wimpy boy to clean the mace. The show is not playing around.

Vibes: It's weird to say but overall, the vibes I got from the Live Action One Piece is the same as a Bollywood Movie. Bollywood is Big, Bombastic. It's silly and exaggerated but open and honest with everything. No matter how crazy or ludicrous it is, it's played straight in the movie. There is no lampshading or "jk" moments. The story is earnest in what it's doing.

That vibe 100% fits perfectly with the One Piece World. EVERYONE is a weirdo! That's the point of how the characters are introduced or treated or act. If they were written as weird, then they are more memorable by the audience. Not only that but everything is played straight no matter how goofy it is. Luffy's Rubber Devil Fruit is a useful power to have! He also can stretch his face and dodge like a 1920s cartoon. It's weird but it works. Mr. 7 and Buggy the Clown are dressed like madmen crazy people. But they are still set up as dangerous. Their villainy is still threatening no matter what the getup is. And it works because the show doesn't make fun of them for it. It isn't trying to wink at the camera and go "Take a look at this clown boy am I right?". We aren't taken out of that immersion of the world to mock the characters regardless of how ridiculous they are.

But importantly, it captures the central themes of One Piece: Adventure, Freedom, Dreams. The show doesn't try to tone down these things, it embellishes it. It is honest with the determination of the cast, their dreams and plans. I keep coming back to the word earnest because it fits so well with One Piece and Bollywood. No matter what happens, they both keep the sincerity of these themes and that's why it works. It is faithful not just in storytelling and plot points, but in spirit too.

Overall I really need to stop gushing over this one episode lol. Because it was just ONE Episode. I still have 7 more to go! What the Shit! This show is just already amazing. It's faithful to the source material. Faithful to the characters, the plot, the story. It puts in future plot points for the live action audience to pick up on that doesn't feel rushed or forced. It's just, a wholesome adventure story when it comes down to it. 100% 10/10 will watch everything

[nerves-nebula]

My brain is like an old TV screen saver

The little icon bonks around and every time it perfectly hits the corner, a well thought out thought occurs(like some sort of productive thing)

The rest of my thoughts are stupid or "I gotta check Tumblr" and via checking Tumblr I constantly check on your stuff and the asks make me think of sending you an ask 👍

fascinating stuff, thanks for telling me haha

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAO actually I ended up enjoying it a LOT more than expected it’s lowkey not like a genre I’d typically get involved it but it was surprisingly kinda light and entertaining?? It’s called fragaria memories it’s (according to wiki) a multimedia project by Sanrio LMAO they mainly have stuff on YouTube like voice dramas and little Q and As and music (???) which is also why I said very different from what I typically consume LOL Although I’ll admit it’s not super deep or anything but I haven’t seen any insane fans either so I’m kinda enjoying the chill aspects of it!! I’ve also always liked Sanrio too so that probably helps but yeah if you decide to give it a try hit me up!! Made me laugh a bit I’m ngl and I think the concepts kinda cute

LMAOAAO that’s what makes it so funny it’s so ridiculous we definitely watched it for the memes and got semi invested in the drama but the secondhand embarrassment was so bad I’d have to shut it off mid episode lowkey another no brain chill watch sort of thing I feel

YAYY CONGRATS!!! I almost forgot abt the carnivorous Pegasi ngl I’m looking forward to reading more about them than sae (#oppmoment)

YUKIIIIIII did him justice except he needs more screen time but omg SHIDOU??? I have not opened tiktok in awhile the editors are cooking fr but YESS omg so excited for the upcoming Barou goal

SHDHSHS I MISINTERPRETED THAT I THOUGHT YOU MEANT YOU WERE DROPPING A CHAPTER BOMB LMFAOOAAO HUT NOOO HOLLYHOCK YOU WILL BE MISSED BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!!! Its ok gotta focus your efforts for the quality fics very understandable

- Karasu anon

ooh that sounds fun!! confession i actually never got into sanrio so i know like 0 lore or ANY of the characters 😓 my cousin had a huge hello kitty phase iirc but when i was that age i was into like paleontology and geology for some reason?? so i was always reading like textbooks and field guides and shit 😭 but a fun silly unserious fandom is always great to be in!! maybe it’s time i actually figure out who the characters are i feel like sanrio is such a popular thing online i’m behind the curve for not knowing abt it

ALSO WAIT SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC BUT SOMEONE FINALLY MADE THE KARASU EDIT I MANIFESTED IN ONE OF OUR CONVOS A WHILE BACK idk if you saw it or not but here’s a link…bro i’m going to miss tik tok when it’s gone ong 😭💔

IT WAS CRAZYYY ngl whenever i get the adrien agreste comments on my stories i do laugh though they’re funny 🙂‍↕️ there’s so many iconic audios from miraculous i feel like it’s one of those things where everyone has heard smth from it

HAHAHA i keep writing more for my opps than my favs 😫 but i’ve been traveling the past few days so not much work was done alas however i’m hoping to finish soon because i haven’t posted any xreader content since the angel kaiser one shot in mid october 😰

yukimiya looked sooo good and him in the recent official art too?? with the flowers and whatnot…ugh he’s so handsome 😭 and YESSSS LESS THAN 24 HOURS UNTIL BAROU I’M SO HYPE LIKE SOOOO SOSOSO HYPE

LMAOOOO I’M SORRY FOR THE MISUNDERSTANDING 😔 i need to get through a request or two and then i have to write a one shot which i’ve planned and MANY people have been asking for + i think you will really enjoy before i need to get on updating the oaeu and pursuit as well as possibly something super secret and new (no promises) so hollyhock had to take one for the team unfortunately 😩 lots to do in the miraverse as you can see!! but it’s all very exciting and should be fun i hope

[thedaveandkimmershow]

And the category is... calendar apps.

Why?

Because there are, there is information that routinely slips through, slips by our awareness. Completely leapfrogs the categories of Things We Need To Remember and Things We Need to Remember To Do.

They're related, of course, these categories. One leans more toward deadlines. The other leans more toward events.

I actually googled Best Family Calendar App to get a sense of what we're talking about. The first hit had a line that clarified the picture for me immediately.

Figure out your stress-points to find the right app for your family

I wouldn't automatically assume that makes sense. But the way it made sense to me immediately was something like figure out where you fail.

Figure out.

Where you fail.

For us, where a calendar app is concerned, what are the deadlines we historically struggle with? What are the areas where we have trouble coordinating our efforts?

That's the To Do List side of things.

On the Events side of things, there's this:

What's the thing we keep asking Hey, when's this gonna happen?

That is, and always will be

When's your next gig?

Where are you playing next month?

Which is all about Liny's schedule between winery gigs, Midnight High gigs, Little Lies gigs, private event gigs, and future Dream Patrol gigs. There are so many elements in her schedule that we lose track almost immediately.

I'm also gonna make one for our individual and family travels. Because those are planned well in advance... and then we sort of forget about them. Until they jump out at us at nearly the last minute.

Now, the list of apps I'm looking at is a varied lot. The second app, though, jumps out at me because it's like this: you can have different calendars for different kinds of concerns. And you can share each of those calendars with different people. BAM, then. That's the one I download.

The first calendar I made is LinzyGIGs which captures every performance on her calendar, available in real time to Kimmer.

The second calendar I will make will be a weekly bills calendar because yeah. We need one.

The third calendar I'll make is a business calendar that's mostly admin (our least favorite thing).

The fourth calendar I'll make will keep track of our individual and family travels.

The fifth and sixth will be Kimmer's work schedule and then her doctoral program schedule.

And so on.

It's a helluva thing when you actually think about this stuff how much we're actually keeping track of.

Or not.

Mostly or not. A lot of events and deadlines still surprise us like

Oh that's today???

So with this calendar app you can have a bunch of different calendars. I've described six so far. And any time you click on the icon for one of those calendars, that calendar shows up on your screen. You move between calendars like this.

However.

You can also overlay one calendar over another. Over another. Over another. So, for example, we have a calendar of Linzy's gigs. We have a calendar of travels. Put them together and we can spot those times we're on the road when Linzy's performing. Or. We have a calendar of Kimmer's work schedule. We have a calendar of her doctoral program schedule. Put them together and we can spot where there's too much pressure on a given day. Or a given hour. Or a given week.

Or with a click and a click, we can spot when Kimmer's gotta take work and doctoral studies on the road and if it would be better to not.

Once upon a time, we used an app called Cozi. At the time it made sense for family things and sending reminders to all of us or some of us and so on. There was a lot to coordinate, keep track of. Today though, we need more help balancing, in a way, the things we've gotta do with the things we want to do. And the more I think about that, the more obvious it seems that those details are getting lost, obscured by all the different categories within which we have to remember deadlines, dates, and possibilities.

We'll begin, then, with putting space between those categories so we can consider each one in context, consider each one against the others...

And see how that helps.

Fingers crossed.

😬

[not-the-coffee-machine4]

I’m bored and thought a transcript might be beneficial for some people, so transcript for the Queen parts under the cut! “[…]” indicates the cuts between clips

Adam [off-screen narration]: now over a decade later, I’m still on tour with Queen! Backstage, I’m eager to hear from my bandmates about what life was like with Freddie in the 70’s

Adam: let’s start with your name!

Roger: ABsolutely

Brian: yeahhh

Adam: the name Queen. You were aware of the different…y’know, meanings (Roger: well-) of the word Queen

Roger (humorously): guess who came up with it!

Adam: when ironically, the word “queer” and “Queen” are very similar looking

Brian and Roger: *unintelligible murmurs of agreement* (if I can figure out what they said, I’ll update)

Brian: and this is one of the things we should talk about because the vocabulary has changed a lot

Adam: for sure

Brian: queer was a word you wouldn’t want to use (Adam: yeah) I would never have used it to Freddie (Adam: correct) and he would have been upset if we had (Adam: right) you know he’d say ‘I’m not queer I’m…I’m normal darling!’ (Adam: *laughs*). Because queer meant odd and weird and a little bit scary

Roger: it meant odd at first and then it came to be a term of, of…of abuse, really

Adam: yeah. That is generational as well because now the attitudes towards that have shifted

Brian: I understand that because of you. But…it’s hard for us to talk about Freddie as a queer musician. He would say ‘I’m a musician darling’ (Adam: yeah) (Roger: yeah) ‘that’s all I want to tell you.’”

Adam: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Brian: and I think there’s more in Freddie’s music than people realize

Adam: really

Brian: I think there’s still stuff to find, yeah

Roger: yes

Adam [singing In the Lap of the Gods, Revisited]: it’s so eassyyy but I can’t do it

Brian: there’s stuff in there…I think

Adam, singing: so risky but I gotta chance it

Brian: yeah

Adam: I mean we’ve said before like ‘what is that about? I wonder what that’s about’”

[Studio track plays in the background]

Brian: that’s Freddie’s transition I think. For me. There’s an explosion in me about to happen

Adam: yeah

[…]

Adam: for a young person like me, looking back, you didn’t see a lot of representation…publicly as gay or bi as readily as they do today

Brian: no, but-

Roger: absolutely. I think it was swept under the table

Brian: mmm

Adam: yeah, I think so too

Roger: I mean there were, there were sort of very gay um, comedians and stuff and it was always ‘oooh, outrageous!’”

[…]

Adam, about Killer Queen: what about the song itself, who was that about?

Brian: various people have claimed it was about them (Adam: *laughs*) you gotta laugh really

Roger: yeah, true, they would

Brian: there was a real evolution in Freddie where he became more able to be more direct about how he felt about things ‘cause Freddie really was very, very shy

Roger: shy

Adam: but interesting how in front of the audiences on stage he just *makes a blooming motion with his hands/arms*

Roger: yeah

Brian: found himself, yeah

Adam: blossomed. Which is probably what he liked about it

Brian: and it made him a wonderful sort of icon to people who felt the same way

[…]

Adam: did you see any homophobia

Roger: the most obvious uh, thing is the MTV not playing the video I Want to Break Free. It was a joke you know, it was meant to be a parody (Adam: yeah!) (Brian: mmm) of a very famous soap opera in the UK

*Studio Track plays in background*

Roger: and we were dressed as women! Which we thought was hilarious.

Adam: yeah

Roger: I just remember laughing all day

Brian: and we all fancied Roger!

Adam and Roger: *laugh*

Roger: I shaved one leg. To get…to get the stockings on. And then…it was so much bother…I couldn’t be asked to shave the second one (Adam: *laughing*) so I just…pulled it on. As Freddie said: “my dear. You RUSHED into your frocks!”

Adam and Brian: *laugh*

Roger: yeah it caused lasting damage

Brian: it cost us hits. There’s a whole sequence of hits which were massive all around the world that were not in the States. We didn’t get a hit until Freddie’s gone. I remember Freddie saying “we won’t get the states back until I fcking *whispers* die”

Adam: oof

Roger: and he didn’t want to tour in the, in America

Adam: ‘cause you could feel it here (Roger: yeah! Yeah) you could feel the homophobia

Roger: it was beautiful for a while and then it was not

[…]

Roger, about AIDS: I remember the…sort of panic. They called it a plague

Brian: it wasn’t just called a plague, it was called a gay plague

Adam: so it vilified gay people more than they ever were, yeah

Roger: I know…I know Freddie was very worried about it, you know

Adam: yeah

Roger: yeah, it was bad

Brian: it definitely set everything back. Gave people a reason to feel scared

[…] Brian: you’ve just awakened me to a realization. We had a hideous time with journalists. They hated us. But perhaps an element of it was that we made them feel uncomfortable!

Adam: yeah!

Brian: because Freddie, Freddie was always that way you know, and-

Adam: well it’s the same way that—that’s where homophobia comes from

Roger: what they don’t understand, (Adam: what they don’t understand) or is shocking, yeah

Brian: it’s frightening

All three: yeah

Adam: so anything that seems like it could be suggesting of a sexuality different than your own (Roger and Brian: yeah) will make somebody that’s close-minded and sort of basic, it’s gonna make them uncomfortable

Roger: yep

[…]

Adam: if Freddie hadn’t been taken by AIDS…what do you think his life would’ve looked like. Is that a weird question to ask?

Brian: ohhh it’s a question I think about so often

Adam: yeah

Brian: I think he just wishes…he was here

Adam: I know, I wish I could meet him

Brian: I WISH

Roger: yeah

Brian: you would’ve got on like…

Roger: yeah you would’ve got on

Brian: …like a house on fire

Adam: I think he sounds like he would’ve been a lot of fun

Brian: you would’ve just—you would’ve just loved each other there’s no doubt about it. He was a lovely…open-minded person

Roger: it’s only-

Brian: and very brave wouldn’t you say, as well

Roger: yeah incredibly brave it’s…it’s really only since he’s gone all these years, these many years…that I realize just how bloody brilliant he was

Adam: yeah

Roger: when you’re working together, you just take it all for granted

Adam: right

Brian: we were so lucky to find each other, really

Roger: yeah. Freddie was (Brian: extraordinary) utterly exceptional

Brian: he was

[Barcelona plays]

Adam, now separate, alone: Freddie Mercury was a genius and a superstar and a killer vocalist and performer

[screen-recording ends]

ADAM’S DOCUMENTARY

Brian and Roger are at the beginning! (And throughout)

[night-chant]

MLQC Scenario - Miss. Love: King’s Choice (Role Swap AU)

Wait no hear me outt

Featuring: MLQC Guys + reader

Synopsis: There’s this new otome game but there’s no way he’d have any interest in these sort of things. That is until he saw a certain pixelated character through the screen . . .

Warning: None---enjoy the madness loool

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Victor:

stage 1: denial

When Victor first heard of Miss. Love: King’s Choice, he was really put off by it---the title sounds ridiculous, the game mechanics doesn’t seem entertaining cuz really, why would he get excited over virtual cards?

stage 2: curiosity

Apparently the game is really successful, proven through the engagement on social media posts and promotions about the game online. 

The algorithm would constantly feature you---front and center with your beaming smile as you sat on a floral swing adorned in roses. It was your most iconic SSR . . .

aHEm forget his phone, he would still hear passerby talked about it---he would never admit how much his attention sharpened at the sound of your name whenever they talked about you, your elegance and courage found within your dates and chapters.

Eventually, he would download MLKC as a joke, ready to nitpick everything about it, internally promising himself to uninstall if---I mean WHEN it gets boring.

Although he complains about aspects of it, he never really did???

stage 3: embarrassment

Will hide it from anyone from a two-meter radius.

When Goldman walked nearby, Victor would stare at the calculator app so...stiffly…

stage 4: acceptance

He will get over his embarrassment soon (you bet he would get your top-up cards yesssss)

You know that lead board for every love interest in Momentos for Bond Points? Victor was always ALWAYS at the top for yours.

And so when it was your featured day in Box Office, everyone gotta watch out cuz he will be at the top in Box Office too XD

Lucien:

The toys at the orphanage didn’t appeal to one of the children and she was bored out of her minddd

Lucien tried to offer ideas and the more the little girl reject every one of them, the more crazy his ideas got just to mess with her lolol

Like noo professor sir I don’t want to read that Quantum Physics textbook plz noo XD

He finally managed to make her happy when he offered his phone. He didn’t have any games on it, but she was welcomed to download some as long as he approved of them. (He wasn’t a dad but that didn’t stop him from acting like one lol)

He was expecting like dress up games or UNO but what she chose ... well..

“Are you sure?” Lucien asked as he carefully eyed the preview contents of MLKC. “It seems harmless but unfortunately, I don’t think you’re the target audience.”

The little girl pouted. “But this lady looks like a superrr beautiful princess!! Did you see her hair and dress? Look look!” She swiped to the image of your profile. Robed in a simple yet stunning lavender dress, you held elegance in your posture and innocence in your eyes. 

The little girl poked Lucien’s cheekbone. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Is that a yes?”

He smiled after recovering from his daze. “It seems that the princess has convinced me too.”

They were your firm loyal supporters from then on lol

He was always pushed into dealing with the gacha pulls especially after you came home to him many times aww

Even after visiting the orphanage, Lucien might admit he read all of your unlocked dates on his own lol

Kiro:

He ain’t picky with any kind of games, his phone was full of all sorts of them (he had the dream phone storage space sighh)

He has rpg, shooting, ones where you just raise farm animals ,...webkinz?? So an otome game isn’t a strange exception. 

Although he didn’t really download it for the romance, he instantly gravitated to your charisma to the MC player. Your compassion made his heart swoon and now all he thought about was romancee

And when you sung happy birthday to him on his special day?? His heart almost couldn’t handle your angelic, lovely voice.

Screenshotted your dates all the time ---he demands new content asappp

Kiro consistently voiced his support to you like the biggest stan to anyone who would listen (i am so sorry Savin the car rides to the tour performances will feel much longer now)

Kiro got excited over any event and raved about how gorgeous the art in your karmas are.

His manager sighed as Kiro was nearly bouncing off the walls. “What are you going on about now??”

“Savinsavinsavin look at the new karma I got! Doesn’t Miss. Chips look perfect??”

“Kiro, that is a R karma.”

Offended, Kiro wrapped his arm protectively around his phone as he glared at Savin. “!! ANd I need to frame it on my wall.”

He had all your merch in his room. Your posters, your pins, your figurine, your body pillow--

Lately, his songs was all about one girl and fans had no clue who was his secret girlfriend cuz the only one he ever posts about was a game character??

Gavin:

When it came to media, this guy lived under a rock. The latest movie’s gigantic, bright ad could be flashing in front of his face and a lone smol bird by the streetlight would catch his attention first.

So how on Earth was he gonna find out about the mysterious, subtle mobile game Miss. Love King’s Choice??

Uhhh

He was kinda peer pressured by Minor . . .

Minor: yooo brooo i know a girl who is sooo your type and she is right here!

Gavin: Really? Where? 

The only pedestrians in the streets were an elderly couple.

When he sees you in Minor’s phone screen, he was concerned. He had two thoughts:

1) Minor played dating simulation games?

2) Oh no why does this virtual character look cute?

Cute was an understatement. How you cuddled with big fluffy dogs in your SR or how you were very much embracing the look of your long veil in your wedding SSR.

Gavin acted/tried to convince himself he wasn’t interested in playing MLKC but nevertheless, he would look over when Minor was doing the dailies in order to get a chance to have a glimpse of you.

“C’mon, bro, drop the act and download the game!” Minor said when he caught Gavin low-key eyeing over at his phone. “Do it and I’ll stop tapping on your girl’s forehead.”

Gavin glared. “Stop doing that.”

(but then how was he supposed to read the next dialogue?? Anywhere else would earn Minor sthg way worse than Gavin’s glare QAQ) 

If Minor knew what was good for himself, he gotta make it clear his favourite character was NOT you.

Gavin maaybe did some research about a certain character…

”Huhhh?? I didn’t know she could control flowers and plants???”

”Minor, there were clear hints: lilies grew where she walked at the end of chapter 2.”

Eventually, Gavin ended up playing the game. He enjoyed the moments where his MC player gets to save you in dangerous moments of the story.

He always associated you with cuteness until he read your Valentine SP’s Mind Quest his face is completely red aAH 

He was a bit defensive when people criticize your character though so watch outtt

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my second attempt to make you smile lol I hope you enjoy it!!

Masterlist

[thealtoduck]

Being the son of Cher from ✨”Clueless”✨ and Carlos De Vil has a crush on you …

Carlos De Vil x Male Reader

y/s/c = Your skin color

y/h/c = Your hair color (A/N: Strange crossover i know but i headcanon all movies with characters as iconic as Cher, like the Heathers, Elle Woods, etc… exist in the Descendants universe (and plus i just watched Clueless for the first time and got ideas)).

(Another A/N: The night before i wrote this i could not get any sleep so i wrote this while very… very… tired, so this may be terrible but i tried)

It all started one day when you arrived back at school after getting coffee while wearing the iconic yellow blazer.

You were walking towards the doors of the school and noticed that a lot of people were chatting privately amongst their friendgroups in an odd way.

You walked up to Jane because she usually knew what was going on whenever something big was happening.

”Hey Jane, what’s up why are everyone so huddled together and whispering? Did they see Lonnie’s new haircut? I told her not to do it” You asked in a ✨Clueless✨ voice.

Jane looked at you as if you had forgotten the name of the country you lived in. She then said ”Don’t you remember the villain kids arrive today”.

It was at that point you remembered that you had promised Ben to be there when they arrived. ”When and where do they arrive?” You asked her suddenly panic strucken, ”On the other side of the school in 3 minutes” She answered.

”Dammit” you said and started running but you also turned around quickly and said ”Thank you, Jane”. You sprinted through the school as fast as your legs could carry you.

When you arrived completely exhausted at the other side you saw that the marching band was waiting as well as people with flags and signs.

You then saw a limo approaching and the marching band immediately started playing and people started waving their flags.

The Limo the came to a halt, as the chauffeur opened the door a boy with white hair and red,white and black clothes came tumbling to the ground as he was pulling something, then another boy with long hair emerged from the car and lastly came two girls one with purple hair and one with blue hair.

The Fairy Godmother then did some sort of welcoming speech for them and then Ben had a small welcoming speech. They then started walking over in your direction so you made yourself look presentable.

Though first they stopped at the statue of king beast, Ben clapped his hands so it transformed making the boy with white hair scream and jump in to his friends arms.

You couldn’t help but let out small laugh at this but quickly contained yourself as they started walking in your direction.

Ben then stopped in front of you and said ”This is Y/n Lucas-Horowitz” and you gave them a bright smile. Ben then continued by saying ”He’s a good friend of mine as well as 83% of students so if you wanna be more social i recommend talking to him”.

You looked at the four villain kids and said ”Hi, it’s very nice to meet you all, also got to mention that your guys outfits are great” the girl in blue said a quick quiet ”Thank you”.

Then a ringing sound came from your phone and the screen lit up saying Lonnie, you looked up at the six people infront of you and said ”Sorry gotta take this, but i’ll see you all later, okay bye”.

As you walked away from Ben and the others they heard you say something about ”You may as well have gone bald”

While leaving you didn’t notice the boy with white hair’s gaze following you.

You spent the rest of the day trying to somewhat fix Lonnie’s hair but it was no use.

For the most part of the next day you didn’t see a lot of the villain kids. The only two major events were that Jane’s hair just suddenly looked better and Chad had walked up to you putting an arm around your shoulder to which you had reacted to by pushing him away from you while saying ”Eww! Get off me!” and ”Ugh, as if!”

It wasn’t until later that afternoon when you wanted to go for a walk in the woods behind the tourney field that you saw the white haired villain boy playing with Dude the dog.

You walked up to him and said ”Hey, it’s Carlos right?” He nodded as if he wasn’t completely sure you could be trusted yet. ”I see you’ve met Dude” you said and crouched down as Dude came running to you. You petted him as Carlos walked over to you.

”So, how was your first day?” Yoy asked looking up at him from your crouched position.

”Overall it was good but turns out i’m not that good at tourney” he explained, you smiled at him and stood up.

”Don’t worry i was never good at it either, Ben asked me to substitute during one training session for one of the players who had like broken a leg and when running through the kill zone i’d just hid behind Ben, also i almost managed to break someone’s leg on accident.

This made Carlos laugh. ”Hey, do you and Dude wanna come with me on my walk? I’m just going in to the forest right here and i can tell you about how i almost broke that guy’s leg” You asked with a smile.

”Yeah! We’ll come along” Carlos said and the two of you started walking side by side towards the forest.

During the walk you and Carlos dicussed several topics like how you grew up, interests and just generally funny moments from your life. During this moment a friendship between the prep and the dog boy nerd was created, a friendship that would turn in to much more.

So to summarize everything that happened after that…

Ben breaks up with Audrey and immediately starts dating Mal.

But then it turns out it was a love spell but it didn’t matter because Ben loved Mal anyway.

Evie learns she can be smart and pretty.

Jay learned that he likes being part of a team.

And Carlos learned to like doggo’s

Then at Ben’s coronation Jane stole the wand and accidentally destroyed the barrier to the isle, which released Maleficent and blah…blah…blah…

Long story short the Vks defeated Maleficent and Lonnie got her hair fixed.

Now to the interesting part:

A few months later…

Carlos p.o.v…

Carlos had gone to show Y/n the completed version of a computer program they had been working on to help Y/n pick an outfit in the morning.

He arrvied at the door to Y/n’s dorm and knocked, he then heard a voice saying ”coming”. He heard some footsteps and the door opened and there was Y/n standing shirtless with a towel around his waist. ”Sorry just got out of shower” he said.

His y/s/c skin and y/h/c hair were still wet and shiny, Carlos just stood there for a while taking it all in until he was snapped out of it by Y/n saying ”Did you want something?”.

In his mind Carlos said ”You” but in real life he said ”Um… Yeah i just finished the computer program” and patted the laptop he was holding.

”Yes! Come inside and show me how it works” he said excitedly and held the door open for Carlos. Carlos walked inside and looked around, it was pretty much the same as most other boys dorms except it was much more decorated to fit Y/n’s taste.

Then he turned his attention back to Y/n who was picking out a pair of boxers. ”You can set it up while i put these on” he said and walked back in to the bathroom.

He went and sat down on Y/n’s bed and opened his computer

Just then the bathroom door opened and Y/n walked out, but this time only wearing boxers.

Carlos felt his face heat up and he refocused on the the computer screen. Y/n walked over and sat down besides him making Carlos feel butterflies in his stomach. He then showed Y/n how the outfit picker worked.

After he finished he put away his laptop and Y/n said excitedly ”Thank you so much!” and gave Carlos a big hug which basically tackled him to lay down on Y/n’s bed. The two of them were laughing from bear hug but soon noticed what kind of position they were in.

With Y/n in only his boxers laying on top of Carlos and Carlos with his arms wrapped around Y/n’s bare lower back.

Neither boy could contain themselves and soon their lips crashed together. Their hands began to roam the others body. One of Carlos’ hands started traveling south but Y/n gripped his wrist with one of his hand and said with a smirk ”Were not there yet”

After a while of making out Y/n asked Carlos ”Do you want to stay the night?” and Carlos answered ”Always”.

[spooderboyandtincan]

You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone

Chapter 2

There’s a spider on the ceiling.

Peter can barely make out its eight gangly legs through a blur of tears. He feels some sort of bond with it- not only because of the DNA they share- but because they’re both alone. Then again, the spider has probably spent its entire life in this room, and Peter’s only been here- on a whole different continent- for a good couple of hours.

Maybe it’s just the jet lag. According to literally anyone who’s known him at all- he gets adorably grumpy when he hasn’t gotten his beauty sleep (Tony’s words, not his.)

Who does he think he’s kidding? He’s homesick, he’s alone, and he really, really misses Tony. Misses him as in the his heart is literally being torn apart sort of missing. He wishes he’d considered how his severe separation anxiety might play a part in this when he’d still had a choice.

Peter chokes on a whine- the one that forces its way out of his throat until he’s full on sobbing and gasping for breath.

He scrambles for his phone on the nightstand. He needs Tony, he needs him, like a fish needs water. He fumbles with the lock screen and desperately taps on Tony’s icon (a picture of Tony holding a proudly displaying a mug that reads “Number 1 Iron Dad.”) It rings once, twice-

“Pete? How’s it going, kiddie?” Tony’s voice, so gentle, so full of love and concern- he already knows something’s wrong, of course, because his Dad Senses are off the charts- makes the tear in his heart rip open.

“Tony,” he sobs. “Tony. I don’t- I can’t, I can’t do this. I wanna go home, Tony.”

“Whoa, hey, it’s okay Petey, breathe for me okay?” He can hear, just barely over his sobs, that Tony is pacing, can hear that his breathing is just a bit too fast, and Peter feels awful for freaking him out, but just can’t stop crying.

“‘M so sorry,” he wails, “‘M so sorry. I-I wanna go home, I want you Tony.” He grasps his pillow tightly and buries his face in it, trying to stifle his sobs, pretending that Tony is there, wrapping his arms around him, kissing his hair, rocking them back and forth.

“I know, baby, I know,” Tony croons, “Everything’s gonna be okay, we’re okay. Right now I just need you to take a deep breath, buddy- in, two-three, out, two-three, okay?” Tony demonstrates for him, taking exaggerated inhales and exhales, which are probably benefiting him as much as they are Peter. “You’ve got this, Pete, I know you do.”

“I miss you, Tony,” Peter whispers after a few seconds of shaky breathing. “I wanna go home.” He feels so immature, begging Tony to fly across the Atlantic in the dead of night just because he’s a little homesick.

Tony, however, seems to consider his request very seriously. “Do you want me to fly out? I could be there in a few hours.”

Peter almost laughs, imagining Tony arriving to the hotel at daybreak, dressed only in sweatpants and a stained AC/DC t-shirt. It’s actually not a bad idea- Tony could act as a chaperone, they could explore the city together, make another precious memory.

“Yeah, um, that-that would be great, Tony,” he sniffs, wiping the wetness of his cheeks. “A-are you sure? I don’t wanna, like, make you, there’s probably Iron, um, Iron Man things, I don’t-”

“Pete, listen to me,” Tony interrupts, voice again so impossibly gentle. “Nothing- nothing- is more important to me than you, understand? I’m here for you. Always”

Peter smiles wetly, relaxing back into the covers, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “I know. Tony?”

“Yeah, bud?

“Can-can you, um, talk? Please?”

“‘Course I can, Pete. What about?” Tony says fondly. The idea that his voice can bring such comfort to this sweet kid makes him feel all… schmoopy.

“Anything. I just… wanna hear your voice, s’all.” He tugs the covers up and curls into a ball, resting the phone on the pillow next to his ear.

“I’ve got you, bud,” Tony says. I miss you too. “Oh, you’ve gotta know what DUM-E did today….”

Peter feels himself relaxing as Tony talks about his day. It’s not just the words that soothe him, but the familiar sound of his warm voice that’s full of such love and affection. His thoughts begin to wander as he drifts into a barely conscious haze, but the voice remains steady and present in his mind.

Tony is quick to notice that Peter is on the precipice of slumber and wakefulness, and is just as quick to provide the last bit of reassurance Peter needs to fall asleep. “Sweet dreams, buddy. I love you,” he murmurs.

Just before Peter slips away, he finds himself slurring, “Love you too.”

Tony stays on the call for a solid ten minutes after Peter conks out, listening to the steady whoosh of his breathing against the speaker. Before he finally makes himself hang up, he whispers a quiet, “‘Night, Petey. I’ll be there before you know it.” Tony leaves for the airport at daybreak, not able to spend another second in that horribly empty penthouse. The absence of Peter’s presence is tremendously obvious, and Tony finds himself desperately trying not to imagine the unimaginable.

~~~~~

With a pilot on-call 24-7, and without the hassles of a public airport, he’ll be back with Peter around early afternoon.

Thank god.

He steps out of the Cadillac, barely noticing the blistering wind and the tiny snowflakes biting at his cheeks in his haste to board the plane. He greets the pilot- Allison, he thinks- with a nod, but she gestures to stop when he moves towards the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark!” she says over the howling wind. “We just can’t fly in this weather!”

To hell with that, Tony thinks. “When’s it letting up?”

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Stark,” Allison says apologetically. “Not for a few days at least.”

Tony activates the suit with a simple tap of his watch, the nanobots rushing over him within seconds. Allison gasps and jumps back, gaping as he rockets into the air.

He’s been flying for a good 50 seconds before a neon red warning lights up the HUD.

“Boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y says, tone filled with caution. “The wind is blowing at a speed of 78 mph. I must advise that you return to the ground immediately, or you run the risk of losing control of the suit.”

Tony curses loudly. Just his luck, really. “How high is the risk?”

“89%, boss.”

“So, not all that bad,” he chuckles.

Then, F.R.I.D.A.Y reminds him how devastated Peter would be if anything happened to him.

Tony returns to his car on foot and pulls out his phone to call Peter.

~~~~~

Peter basks in the sunlight outside of a bustling café, sipping from a cup of hot chocolate. He’s ordered a chocolate croissant, and added the tasteless protein powder Tony and Bruce had synthesized to keep up with his spidey metabolism to his mug. Despite the jet lag, he’s eager to explore the city and it’s merits, his enthusiasm only growing knowing that Tony will be here within a few hours.

Feeling pleasantly full, Peter leans back in his chair- it’s an armchair, on a stool, and it’s driving him nuts, he loves it- and beams at Ned, who lounges next to him in an identical chair. “Dude,” he says.

“Dude,” Ned agrees.

Peter is grinning, Ned is grinning, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, life is sweet-

Peter’s phone rings.

His first thought is that Tony’s plane has crashed.

His second is one of relief when he realizes it’s Tony who’s calling him.

His third is that his plane has crashed, and Tony’s calling him, mortally wounded, to say goodbye.

Ned stares at him, taking in the panicked look on his face, and mouths You good? Peter shakes his head and scrabbles for his phone.

“Pete?” Tony says as soon as he’s answered. He sounds fine, at least. “Hiya.”

“Are you okay?” Peter asks first, because he knows that even if Tony sounds like he’s fine, that doesn’t mean he is.

“Yeah. Yeah, Petey, I’m just fine, I promise,” Tony assures him. Peter relaxes in his chair, flashing Ned a quick thumbs up, because knows Tony would never lie to him, especially not if he was hurt. “How’re you doin’?”

Peter’s face lights up. “Oh, great! There are like, dogs everywhere here, even in the restaurants, and I saw this German Shepherd eating like- dog ice cream or something? And I got this super good chocolate croissant where we’re having breakfast. Y’know, I really thought the jet lag would be super bad but I’m not like, tired at all yet!”

“Aw, buddy, that’s great, I’m glad you’re havin’ a good time,” Tony says, voice dripping with fondness. “You’re drinking enough water, staying hydrated and all that, right?”

“Yup! Are you?”

Tony scoffs. “‘Course I am. Hafta set a good example n’ shi- stuff.” Peter snorts. He knows Tony does his best not to curse around his- and he quotes- “young, unsullied ears" but he ends up failing quite a lot.

“Which reminds me bud, how’s Ted?” Peter’s best friend’s health has pretty much no correlation with cursing, which makes the teen think that Tony has a specific reason for asking about him. He decides not to bring it up though.

“It’s Ned,” he sighs in mock frustration. And he’s good, he’s right next to me! I guess I didn’t tell you yesterday, but the hotel guy put us into two different rooms ‘cause they had extra or something and we didn’t realize ‘til we got to our rooms.” He sighs again then, for real, his good mood evaporating.

Tony’s Dad Senses pick up on it instantaneously. “Not ideal, huh?” he says gently, which earns him a small laugh from the kid. “D’you want me to talk to them?”

Peter nods sheepishly, then realizes Tony can’t see him. “Yeah. Thank you,” he says in a small voice, embarrassed that the genius is going to all this trouble just because he’s a little lonely. “Are you gonna be here soon?” he asks then, because he misses Tony, misses him just like he knows Tony is missing him.

Tony clears his throat. When he speaks, the guilt in his voice could rip him in half. “About that, buddy, well- Jesus, Pete, I’m so sorry. The, uh, the wind is too dangerous for me to fly over, and it’s not letting up ‘til around Monday. I’m so sorry, kiddo.”

Peter’s heart sinks. “Oh,” he says numbly.

He hears Tony lurch up. “Hey, Petey- shit, I’m so sorry, buddy. I- you know what, fuck it, I’ll fly over anyway, I-”

“No! No, I’m okay, I’m fine!” Peter says, wincing silently at the forced cheeriness in his voice, and knowing that Tony has seen right through.

“Hey, hey, buddy, it’s okay, I’ll be perfectly safe-”

“You can’t,” Peter pleads, desperate to keep Tony safe. “Please, Tony, you can’t, you’ll crash, or-”

“Whoa, Petey, deep breaths,” Tony interrupts, voice gentle. “I’m right here, I’m fine, you hear me?” He waits for Peter’s breathing to resume a steady rate, then says, “Bub, I won’t fly over if it’s not safe, I promise.”

Peter sighs. He’s relieved beyond belief that Tony is keeping both feet on the ground where he’ll be safe- he better be- but he misses the billionaire more than ever.

“And hey, who knows, maybe the wind’ll let up in a few hours!” Tony chuckles. Sobering a little, he says, “If the weather is on schedule, I’ll be there on Monday, 6 am, sharp.”

Peter prays he will. “I miss you, Tony,” he mumbles- he feels childish, knowing that he’s just begged the man to stay in New York, and now is just making him more miserable knowing that he’s miserable.

“I miss you too, Petey,” the genius murmurs back, voice filled with sorrow.

“Peter!” The phone nearly flies out of Peter’s hand as Mr. Harrington taps on his shoulder. He gasps a little, and though his teacher doesn’t seem to notice, Tony sure does, his gentle voice turning harsh with barley contained panic. “Who was that, Pete? Are you okay?”

“Um-” he tries.

“Come on, now! The bus is almost here, I can see it around the corner!” Mr. Harrington says loudly, and abruptly struts off, frantically waving down the bus that is already stopping.

“Peter!” Tony exclaims.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, it was just Mr. Harrington,” he rushes to reassure him. Tony breathes out a heavy sigh of relief. “Uh, the bus is here, I- I have to go.” He hurries to catch up with his best friend.

“I love you,” Tony says. “I love you so much, Pete, stay out of trouble, be safe.”

He doesn’t want to say goodbye. Neither of them do.

“I love you, Tony,” says Peter. “I’ll be safe, don’t worry about me!”

And with that, the call ends.