#and then they will go make some crazy more difficult to read layout. it's amazing.

[thedevotionaltour]

can i say the craziest thing for comic students at my school at least is some of them literally dont understand how to read comics for the language we are writing in and they will forget basic bubble flow. ppl will go i didnt know you were supposed to read left to right up down it's insane. u can present them the easiest most clear cut panel flow ever also and they go i dont know how to read this. i think this might confuse a reader. i will kill us both

[mykedrop]

Persona 5 Royal Thoughts

     Alright so there’s a lot I want to talk about here. Fair warning, this write up is actually like, really damn long. Also like HUGE spoiler warning below the cut! I played the original when it came out, bought a PS4 practically only to play Persona 5 not even knowing if I’d like it. But I did! I loved it, loved all of it. Beat the game in just over 100 hours I think. Easily became my second favorite game ever. So now here comes Persona 5 Royal, adds a bunch of new stuff, a lot of little stuff and some pretty huge additions and reworks, includes all the dlc from P5 which is nice. It’s a strictly better version of the game I already thought was amazing enough.

     I remember being a little wary of going for it and reading a non-spoiler list of all the changes, which are actually A LOT when you list them out. Then I thought about how much I loved playing the original, and figured I’m not doing much else right now, so I got it. And BOY that game just checks all the boxes for me. It’s the same game, but better now. There’s a little more depth to playing the game and more stuff!

   One of the biggest additions and probably my favorite addition is Maruki’s story and confidant. Everything involving him I thought was incredible. First of all the man is a dreamboat. Secondly great voice actor. Thirdly the story built around him was really awesome to play through. Every time some new story beats came through while playing through the first parts of the game I always thought how great it all fit in. It made sense, it kind of opened up the world of the game a little more narrative-wise and it all felt right. And the SONG (Ideal and the Real) that plays in Maruki’s office is so GOOD. That song plays in my head 24/7 and I love it. He’s got such a great personality and story and it was a great time getting to rank him up. The song ALONE made me want to hang out with him as much as possible. It’s an angle I wasn’t expecting, his story I mean, and while the “right” choice was pretty clear, it still made me think about what he was trying to accomplish. And they drove the point home real hard during the final stretch of the game before you figure out what’s going. It’s so hard to look at your friends having such a good life and go, “yeah no I don’t think so.” But that’s a whole different  discussion. It felt sort of morally ambiguous, which was really cool. And I also like that Maruki gives you a choice, not only once but twice. Which again, gives you pause, even if only a short one.

    So that brings me to another one of the biggest additions: the new palace. BOY I love this palace. From the way it’s first introduced so early on, to how you keep peeking in every once in a while making a little progress here and there. Until finally you’re able to just go wild at the end. This palace feels like the team designing this was told go all out. The aesthetic, the mechanics, the layout. Going through this I had a big ol smile on my face the entire time at how different it felt compared to those in the original game. Those are good too, don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any palaces I dislike. But I can easily imagine some ideas and how incredible some palaces would be with the level of detail and complexity of Maruki’s palace. It’d be kind of ridiculous and extremely difficult no doubt, maybe even a little too much to ask for I think. Anyway, seeing the garden section of the palace for the first time was INCREDIBLE. They went so crazy with making almost every part of that palace look amazing! And that last area was easily my favorite of the palaces in terms of looks and theme. They did a good job of conveying the scale of that giant tree where the treasure is at with those stairs. Plus it’s another great moment to show of the smaller details of the palace like some flowers, the lighting, some other really neat effects. It was great! And the whole boss fight at the end was so fantastic to watch! I’ll say that even at the hardest difficulty, my SO (who is a turn-based combat FIEND) didn’t have too much of a difficult time with the fight. But the mechanics of it were so interesting! I loved the ideas they went with. Again it felt like they really gave it their all with this palace. The story beats during the fight were incredible as well, and they gave me one of my favorite moments back that used to be in the Yaldabaoth fight: Press X to Fire! The fight with Maruki at the end was also pretty novel too, and so dramatic! The snow falling at the end, the glass platforms collapsing, it all looked so GOOD. One of my favorite things in any game like this (remake/remaster/GOTY version/etc.) is getting to listen to NEW MUSIC. And this palace KILLED IT with music, as did the rest of the game as usual. There’s no feeling that compares to being right at the edge of beating a Persona game. And this palace was a hell of an out of the park home run. After 170 hours, it was so bittersweet to beat the final boss and move on towards the rest of the story. I loved playing through that palace and it’s a shame I’ll never get to experience it for the first time again.

    On to one of the more advertised additions: Yoshizawa! My first thought when I saw her way back when when they first revealed her is I thought she’d be a female protagonist. Which I thought would be INCREDIBLE. Even if it’s not exactly my preference, I would’ve been so HYPE to romance one of the guys. I didn’t really think about it from a gameplay standpoint, as there are way more girl confidants than guys, but still I thought it’d be fun to potentially explore that! Obviously that wasn’t the case, but now on to what I think of the new confidant! I love her! Like absolutely 100% love her so much! Let me tell you just how those concept meetings went down when they were making Yoshizawa: Cute girl, in cute clothes, who has a cute personality. Done, the perfect character. Of course she’s much more than that, but on the surface level it’s easy to see where they were going with this character. Playing the game I had zero idea about her eventual involvement in the final section of the game, so seeing her only have 5 confidant levels I was a little disappointed! Maxed her out as fast as possible and waited... Seeing her story woven through the original narrative was also super fun. Like Maruki, I really liked seeing her in places where she wasn’t before, and adding new scenes and such around to flesh out her character throughout the first two semesters. Then came the new part of the game after the holy grail fight. I was absolutely not expecting that twist with Yoshizawa. I had no idea that they would go somewhere like THAT in this game! It totally caught me off guard and I LOVED IT. What an incredible story all around. And like super fucked! The whole reveal moment was FANTASTIC! Had my jaw on the floor and everything! Her entire confidant was fun, using her in combat was fun, and her romance path was extremely fun! There’s nothing I don’t like about her really. She had such a wild story and such an amazing arc that I can’t not love her! She’s not my favorite confidant, but still adding in a new character like her into such a tight-knit group like the phantom thieves that i already loved as is is such a risky move! It’s so hard to improve upon a dynamic like theirs I think, but they made it work when they needed to! Anyway I love her character a lot and her story and all that. Beautiful.

    Speaking of adding new characters to a dynamic, this might be my favorite addition/rework in the entire game: Akechi. Holy crap I can’t tell you how much I LOVED HEARING AKECHI JUST GO OFF EVERY BATTLE, or while we went riding through mementos, or just all his new dialogue and confidant level ups. Akechi very quickly and easily became one of my favorite parts about the new part of the game. His character was such a HUGE CLASH with every other character in the party, especially Yoshizawa! Which I have to imagine isn’t an accident. He is fuckin CRAZY. Unlocking his Showtime attack was BONKERS. That whole sequence with Yoshizawa and Akechi in Maruki’s palace was so GOOD. Having Akechi be part of the team was an amazing breath of fresh of air. Trust me when I say I have ZERO problem or complaint with the overly positive nature of the party. But MAN it is FUN to see Akechi just be an ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE. Every new interaction with Akechi was a TREASURE. Dropping the “detective prince” act was 100000% the right move. Even more fun was seeing Haru and Akechi’s interactions in mementos. The way every character acted towards him was pretty good, but something about Haru’s overbearing positivity towards him was really fun to watch. I can’t stress enough how much Akechi added to the experience of the final act of the game. His persona? Badass. His personality? Absolutely cutthroat and also badass. His hair? Still incredible. Also the only character in the game who will only play 701 in darts. That threw me for a fuckin LOOP the first time I invited him out for darts. Dude is a STUD in like every way. Love Akechi A LOT. He singlehandedly brought the experience up from an 11/10 to a 12/10. This game is so much better with Akechi being able to go batshit crazy. One of my favorite interactions is during battle: when you heal the whole party, with Akechi and Ryuji being two of the active members, depending on their order, you’ll have Akechi say “No time for thanks” right before you hear Ryuji say “Thanks!” Just thought that really exemplified how much of an ass he is, and how much I love him for it. He is THE badass asshole character this game didn’t know it needed but absolutely deserved. How much of a bad ass do you have to be to able to look at your inevitable death in the face and say “this is how it has to be.” One of the coolest parts of the whole game is him not only accepting his eventual fate, but actively driving you towards making that decision.

     Next up I suppose I’ll talk about Maruki as a character. Love the way he was included, and liked all his interactions with all the characters during the first part of the game. He’s just so likable and honestly very relatable for me. Helping people through counseling has always been a personal goal of mine, so it’s always interesting to see how characters doing the same are portrayed. And while his overarching plan is something I don’t agree with, wanting to help people drives you to do crazy things sometimes. I felt for the guy. I enjoyed all the hangouts with him, and felt like I really understood his goals. The way his entire story was crafted did an incredible job of divulging all the right information at the right time. Before Akechi 2.0 came around, he was my favorite part of the game! I love the confidants and the stories they tell and interacting with them and all that. I looked forward to ranking up Maruki and trying to see what he was all about. The more I learned the more I liked him. Before, during, and after the palace my feelings about him didn’t change much. The man went crazy sure, but I still couldn’t bring myself to hate him or even dislike him. I love the man! My SO had no mercy for the man during the boss fight, but I felt bad seeing her kick his ass! I thought they did a good job mixing up the motivations for Maruki as a villain. Making him a confidant made it so much more difficult to picture him as the big bad evil guy. Plus he has like one of the best songs tied to him in Ideal and the Real. I’ll mention that as much as I feel is necessary.

      So now I’ll go through all of the smaller details that I really liked in no particular order. Kichijoji was a great destination, gave me a lot to do over the course of the game. The phone calls after you hang out with a confidant are a very welcome addition! It’s a way to fit in more dialogue which I always love, and gives you a chance to rank up the confidant a lot quicker. There’s the fact that Morgana no longer forces you to sleep nearly as often, letting you at least mess around in LeBlanc, which helps rank up your social stats. I LOVE THE DARTS MINI GAME. And I’m so glad it also gave you an upgrade for your baton passes. I did not play enough darts. The jazz club was also MY JAM. Again more dialogue, great music, and a fun way to give your confidants new skills or stat boosts. One thing that I find really funny is the way they handled Valentine’s Day. They CHANGED IT. I know they added a lot of new stuff to them for new story reasons. but they CHANGED THE CONTEXT OF THE DATES. For example, in the original P5, Kawakami makes it VERY CLEAR what’s going down later. Ann too! But in P5R, that context is GONE LMAO they really went and changed the dialogue to be less sexual. It’s strange, but mostly I found it funny considering Takemi’s max rank conversation is untouched, among plenty of other ones. Anyway White Day was a GREAT addition! The final part of the date overlooking the city is AMAZING. That reveal made my jaw drop. Speaking of things that changed, the Christmas date also changed, and I like the change a lot! Watching the snow fall from the window on the bed was a great touch. The changes to boss battles and some parts of palaces because of the grappling hook were very welcome. The grappling hook itself was also extremely handy. The thieves den is an incredible addition that adds SO MUCH NEW DIALOGUE AND CONTEXT THAT IT’S A CRIME THAT IT’S HIDDEN IN THE DEN! Anyway. I’ll never say no to new personas. The showtime attacks are a GEM. The new music in this game is AWESOME. I can’t stop listening to the soundtrack. I really enjoyed getting to see a little bit of the dynamic between Sojiro, Futaba and Wakaba. I never knew just how much I wanted to see that until I saw the bit of it in the late part of the game. I don’t remember if it was in the original game, but I LOVE that one of Yusuke’s battle lines is “How do you want to do this?” LOVE IT. Oh Chihaya’s confidant boosting fortune reading was SUPER CLUTCH. Extremely good quality of life right there. I love the extra little bit they added to the warden’s confidant, getting to take them out of the velvet room and show them around. Super cute. Iwai’s gun customization was pretty sweet. Adding Jose to mementos was strange, but very welcome! It made going around much more interesting. Oh speaking of, buffing Ryuji’s instant kill was a GREAT idea. Haha Morgana go vroom vroom. The alarm in the velvet room was also awesome and made making the perfect persona a million times easier.

     It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve finished the game, and it’s unfortunate that I can’t remember more of the little things. This whole write up has been an on and off thing since I finished P5R. Still I love the game and don’t really have any complaints. Well maybe one: LET ME FEED YUSUKE. Someone please feed that man. I forgot how much I loved playing the original game, and going through it again with all the new stuff was a total pleasure! And obviously the 3rd semester was an incredible experience. If you like the original a lot, and it’s been a while since you played it, get P5R. If you never played the original but were interested in it, get P5R. Anyway that’s all I got to say about it.

[realm-sweet-realm]

Your Own Medicine

Someone once asked me what it would take for Joey to start taking the ink-related problems in the studio seriously. I answered privately that I would show him. Well, here it is. (Or at least, my own best shot at fucking traumatizing the Drew.)

---

“They haven’t even started on the new branch of Heavenly Toys, and you increased their funding? Why?!” Joey yelled.

Grant looked only slightly nervous- a good sign, because lord knew he wouldn’t be if there were something to be mad about. “The basement where you wanted them to set up has a serious pest problem. The extra money is to call an exterminator. That’s all.”

Joey sighed. Of course. It was like everyone in this studio would take the slightest excuse to shirk work. “And they wouldn’t set up because the exterminator would have just torn everything down anyhow, right?”

Grant broke eye contact. This part was rather hard to believe, but it wasn’t his story, or his fault. “No. They said they heard growling down there. Someone described it as being like a wolf’s. They didn’t want to go down there until things were figured out.”

Now Joey understood. His prison for failed ink experiments was in the floor beneath where they were supposed to be setting up new toy-making devices. He’d just show Mr. Cohen the hatch from which the growling was coming from, and everything would get moving again! Time was money, after all. “Oh!” he chirped, getting up from his chair. “Okay, this is an easy fix. Come along.”

As soon as the door creaked open to the basement, Joey could tell that things would be a little more difficult than that. For starters, the lights refused to turn on. By the light of the floor above it, Joey could see a floor littered with ink stains, empty bacon soup cans, and other debris. It was the type of environment that made a person whisper their words, even when there was no need to. “Did they mention anything about the lights not working?” Joey whispered.

“No,” Grant whispered back. “This must be new. Maybe a result of the pests.”

There were some flashlights on the steps- as though someone had set them up for them. Joey stepped into the dark basement, Grant right behind him, leaving the thin beams of their flashlights as their only way of seeing once the door closed. Joey shivered. He really regretted the floor’s maze-like layout now. But, the plan remained the same- show Grant the hatch door, go back. Wouldn’t take more than ten minutes.

As they went on, the environment became more ink-soaked. The black floors and black walls were almost blinding, leaving the duo to rely on touch as much as eyesight to find their way. Not three minutes into their journey, Joey walked straight into a wall with a thud. The growl that emerged in response was none that he’d ever heard before. It didn’t sound like any of his ink creatures. What was more, it sounded close. Suddenly, going on until they found the hatch seemed like a very bad idea.

“You see?” Joey said, somehow finding it in him to sound confident. “I have an experiment right behind this wall. But it’s locked up, nice and safe. Tell the Heavenly Toys department to give me a couple hours, and they can get going. Alright?”

A second growl sounded. This one sounded closer. “You’re sure it’s locked up, Mr. Drew?”

“Yes,” Joey growled. Joey looked around with his flashlight, finding what he was looking for: a fire axe, hung up on the wall. He took it down and nearly threw it into Grant’s hands. “Here, take this if you’re so nervous. Leave the flashlight. I’ll lead.” Lord knew that Joey felt less anxious with one of them armed. Where were those growls coming from? Had one of his creatures mutated and escaped?

They carried on back. Joey thought he remembered the way they’d come- two lefts, two rights, another left... but he quickly found himself with no idea where they were. He could hear that creature coming closer- hear that third set of footsteps sloshing through the ink. Finally, they passed a projector playing a “Nightmare Picnic.” By the increased light, Joey could tell somewhat where they were, and he eased immediately. There was a floor map in one of the nearby rooms- he just needed to figure out which, and maybe they’d be okay. Then, a black, inky hand appeared from behind the wall. Joey screamed and dodged into a nearby room, locking the door behind them. The next thing he did was to hang his flashlight from the ceiling- it wasn’t much light, but it would have to do. Grant looked to Joey, desperate for guidance. He tried to say something, but Joey shushed him. There was paper and pencils on the table in front of them, so Grant wrote out his message instead.

What are we going to do?

Joey took a pencil and wrote back, stay quiet for a few minutes so that thing will go away, then leave. We can’t be far from the stairs up now.

I saw that thing’s face, Grant wrote back. It looked like Norman Polk. He wasn’t feeling brave enough to accuse Joey of anything, but he’d seen what he’d seen, and was very curious about what Joey would have to say about it.

Joey knew it was impossible. Sammy had noticed Norman getting infected about two weeks ago- long enough that he’d feel sick, but certainly not long enough to make him go crazy. He and Sammy weren’t planning on kidnapping Norman for another few days yet- they had plenty of time. It isn’t, Joey wrote.

Are you sure? He went missing a few days ago. And a few days before that, his wife asked me to talk to him because he had been acting really irrational and she didn’t know what was wrong. I don’t know what she expected me to do that she couldn’t- I guess she was just desperate. But he was very clearly on the brink of a mental breakdown. He even said that he needed to ‘go away’ for everyone’s good. Of course, I tried to steer him away from that and suggested he go to a hospital, but that was the last time I saw him. Maybe this was where he ended up.

Cold dread filled Joey as he read the message. There was no way- no way that the ink had affected Norman that profoundly after only a few weeks. But then... Joey thought of just how strange Norman was. His stalking, his strange questions, his reputation in the music room as an awkward creep. He was the kind of person whose movements, whose inflections of voice, whose shifty eyes all read strangeness- if not danger. Joey would have been surprised if the man didn’t have some sort of underlying issues. Maybe the ink had gotten to him quicker because of that.

Maybe you're right. We'll handle that once we've got the lights turned back on. But for right now, let's just focus on getting out. I think it's been long enough.

With that, the duo stepped out. The hallway was partially illuminated now, by a projector playing a Bendy cartoon against a wall. Joey hadn't made it five steps before a hand came out of the shadows and Joey felt himself being picked up by the collar and slammed against a wall. There could be no doubt now- his assailant was- or had been- Norman Polk, and looking none too good for a man only recently infected with ink. His entire right side was ink- his right hand black and cold as ice against Joey's chest while the other was white-knuckled and warm. Tendrils of ink spread across his face like veins, but left both of those angry, savage eyes untouched.

"What are you doing?" he growled. "You here to lock me up? Cause that's not gonna happen. Here to get rid of me So I can't spill your secrets?" It was almost amazing that such an animalistic voice could even produce words.

Grant spoke up. "Actually Norman-"

Norman turned to look at him briefly, then immediately turned back to Joey. "Oh. Or maybe you're here to do with him what you did to me, huh?"

Norman's lips peeled back from his teeth, blindingly white against the black ink. Then, with an animalistic bark, he began raining punches on Joey's face and chest with his right hand. Joey squeezed his mouth and eyes shut in a desperate attempt to keep the ink out. Momentarily, the blows stopped, and Joey heard Norman yell the words, "Stay out of this!" followed by Grant yelping in pain. It was in this moment that Joey managed to wriggle out of Norman's grasp, falling down onto the ink-flooded floor. "Run!" he yelled, before following his own advice. Hearing Norman roar with pain, he looked back to see that Grant had planted his axe in Norman's shoulder before following behind. Thankfully it seemed to be slowing him down. After they exited the illuminated hallway, they were in complete darkness, running into walls and feeling their way through. Finally, Joey saw it- the chink of light beneath the door that they'd escape through. Norman could be heard lumbering behind them, moving quickly but somewhat heavily. Stumbling over discarded cans and slowed by sticky ink, the pair made it to the exit and scrambled out. Joey locked the door behind them.

The two men looked at each other a moment. They were back in the light now, but it was as though they'd dragged the inky darkness back with them. Joey's face was covered in ink, along with the spot on his shirt where Norman had grabbed him. Grant had fared better, with only what resembled inky claw marks across his face. Finally, Grant broke the silence. "We need to talk. Your office or mine?"

Once they were safely out of the view of others, Joey attempted to explain himself. "Okay. I know that looked bad, but... but..." what explanation was there? Joey realized then that he'd have to kill Grant- he'd seen too much. At least it wasn't someone more irreplaceable. "I give up," he sighed, sitting back down in his chair.

Grant was evidently holding back tears. "You need to get this under control- whatever it is," he said, sounding more mournful than angry.

"I agree with you! And I promise I will!"

"Promise? With all due respect, Mr. Drew, a promise is what I make when I tell everyone that their delayed paychecks will be coming next week. I don't know, and I don't totally control it. And I have a feeling that this is the same way! I need more than a promise, Mr. Drew. Please."

"Go back to your office." Joey said in a low voice, hoping to be left alone. It really didn't matter what Grant thought of him if he'd have to kill him anyhow, and Joey was too emotionally drained to deal with this.

Grant got up to leave- normally this situation would terrify him, but after being the encounter with Norman, he was running low on fear. "That was my best friend. If you don't do anything to keep this from happening again, I'm calling in the police. I don't want to lose my income, but..."

"Now!" Joey yelled, and Grant finally obeyed. Joey hated the tone of Grant's voice. If he'd been yelling and hysterical, that would have been one thing, but he'd spoken as though he were only stating truths.

For the rest of the day and into the night, Joey was plagued with worries about how he’d purge that beast from his studio, whether Grant could leak his secrets before he got the chance to kill him, and whether anyone else could, like Norman, succumb to ink too quickly to be noticed. And who was to say that, after being hit in the face with Norman’s infected hand over and over, that he wasn’t infected himself? Everything had gotten so far out of his control.

Once he was unconscious, however, all of his thoughtful, adult worries vanished and only his most visceral fears remained. Only that creature plagued his nightmares, once again standing over him, a beast of black ink over sickly white skin, trickling down into that big, gaping mouth and over those teeth. In his dream, they were as sharp and bloodstained as the teeth of a wolf.

[niall-is-my-dream]

You & Me - Part Four

2360 words

Niall's POV

Olympia Theatre, Dublin 29th August 2017

Arriving at The Olympia Theatre had been crazy. Loads of fans all waiting outside for you, and it was still early. Making your way around the backstage area you caught up with everyone who would be working with you for the whole tour. You said Hi to Martin, Phil, James and Adam who were part of the sound team but you hadn't yet spotted the one person you were dying to see.

It had only been two days since you'd seen her. Two days since you'd spent the whole afternoon lying on her bed, kissing her, holding her, talking about anything and everything together. You'd text a few times, but you'd been busy catching up with family so hadn't spoken to her on the phone. You'd missed her smile, her voice, her smell, everything.

It had been almost four months since you realised you saw her as much more than a friend and work colleague and you'd managed fine with being apart. Now you'd crossed over that friendship line, you couldn't get enough of her. It had taken every ounce of control to hold back when you'd been kissing her. You definitely didn't want to rush into anything. You'd only felt like this once before and that had all ended badly. There was no way you were going to make that same mistake again, you didn't want to fall too far too soon and scare her away.

When you rounded the corner, down and to the right of the stage, you saw her. She had her back to you, headphones on, and her eyes on the paperwork in front of her. Callie loved her paperwork, she always had lists of everything she had checked before every gig. There was no way anything was going to go wrong with any of your guitars. It was one of the reasons you hired her, she was thorough, and picky about every little thing. Martin, the head of all the stage layout and equipment said she was quite feisty, professional, hard-working and kept them all in check.

You paused at the entrance of the little corner she was in, watching her hum what sounded like Take my Hand and tap her foot along with the music. She was wearing just simple dark jeans and black t-shirt, hair pulled up in one of those messy buns she always has.

Everyone was getting on with stuff, but you checked around you before you made your way to her, your hands landing on her waist. She jumped and turned her head to face you, slipping her head phones off as she did. 

 "Fucking hell Niall!" She whispered, a hand clutching her chest over her heart. 

 "Sorry." You whispered back, burying your face into her neck and wrapping your arms around her waist.

"Ni, someone might see."

You could hear the smile on her lips.

"Its only a quick cuddle."

 "We agreed you wouldn't distract me when I'm working."

 "Am I distracting you then?!" You mumbled as you kissed her neck, a massive smile on your lips to.

 "Mmmmmm you are." She sighed blissfully.

 "Just wanted a kiss and then I'll leave you to it."

 "Just one then." And she turned around giving you a quick kiss on the lips.

When she went to pull away you made a pathetic whine and she giggled.

You heard Martin call her name and you released her from your hold, moving a few steps back in time for him coming around the corner. If he hadn't have called out wondering where she could have been, he would be seen you with your hands all over her. Callie had been right, you had to keep your hands off each other when you were working.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt."

"Not interrupting anything important, just me telling Callie how nervous I am about tonight!" You smiled nervously.

"Well first night of solo tour mate with all your family here!" He replied, patting your back.

"That's not helping Mart, not at all!"

You were all laughing now.

"You'll be fine mate. Anyway just wanted to give you the final plan for today." He said, handing Callie a A4 piece of paper. Timings for stuff, meet and greet, soundcheck, breaks etc."

 "Ahh thanks Martin."

 "No worries, catch you both later."

 And with a quick wave he was off. You looked at her out the corner of your eye. "Ok, I'll keep my hands and my lips to myself when we are at work from now on."

 She nodded and smiled, before leaning in and whispering. "Maybe sneak a good luck kiss in later, but that's it!"

She turned around to place the schedule on her little desk she had set up and you took the opportunity to give her bum a quick smack before you darted away before she could react.

*********

With sound check and meet and greet due soon, you made your way down the hall and to the food area to grab an early dinner. The room was full of people, your family being some of them. They looked up and smiled, cheering as you walked in. You felt yourself blush from embarrassment and even more so when your Mum came over and hugged you. You could see Callie smirking in the background.

You introduced your family to everyone in the room, all the crew as well as the band. When it came to meet Callie, you couldn't hide the smile from your face.

"Mum, this is Callie, my um ...... guitar tech." You said, suddenly feeling nervous about your Mum meeting her. Although you weren't sure what exactly you and Callie were, you'd not discussed it with anyone, so she was just a guitar tech to everyone around you. Were you dating? You'd not discussed it when you'd been at hers the other day. Far too busy kissing her, making up for lost time.

"Nice to finally meet you Callie, Niall has told me a lot about you." She said with a smile.

"Oh he has?!" Callie replied with a quirk of her brow. "Good things I hope?!"

"Said you're amazing at your job and at keeping everyone in line."

"Did he now?! Well I tell you, these lads need it." Callie smiled.

You felt the blush creep up your cheeks and you turned away from her gaze, only to be met with your Mums, a smirk upon her lips.

"Well Maura it was nice to meet you, but I have to go set up for soundcheck."

"Don't let me keep you sweetheart, I'm sure we will meet again soon."

"I'll see you in a bit Ni." 

"Yeah, about half hour to go I think." You replied, looking at your watch.

She nodded and gave you both a wave before leaving the room. You watched her walk away before turning to face your Mum again.

"So ....... Callie seems sweet." She said raising her eyebrows, a massive smile on her face.

"She is.......what's with the look?"

"How long have you been seeing one another?" She whispered, as she leaned closer.

"What?!" You whispered back.

"Oh come on Niall James, your face lit up when you saw her. You're telling me there's nothing going on?"

"Jesus Mum, how did you guess that?"

"Mothers intuition. Plus you both couldn't keep your eyes off one another. I take it we are still whispering because no one knows?"

You could see a couple of people looking over so you gestured to your Mum to walk out the room with you.

"No, they dont. Callie is worried she will look unprofessional. And to be honest Mum I'm not really sure what we are. We've not really discussed it."

"Too busy doing something else!" She smirked.

"Mum, Christ no nothing like that."

"Its perfectly natural Son!" She laughed. 

You shook your head at the awkwardness of the conversation, taking a second to look up and down the corridor.

"We've kissed that's all, I really like her and I don't want to mess it up. Is it that obvious that there's something going on between us? Because she really doesn't want anyone to know."

"Niall, you're my Son and I can read you like a book. The smitten look all over your face was obvious to me. It may come across different to other's, but I'm a mother and I know when my boys in love."

"That's a strong word there Mum!" You replied. "Not quite at that point."

"It won't be long. The connection between you both is strong."

"Mothers intuition?"

"Yes, Mother intuition."

Your Mothers words stayed on your mind as you sat and ate with your family and friends. Callie had popped back into the food area a couple of times and you'd instantly looked up, you could just sense it was her entering the room. This sudden realisation that you'd never been so aware of someone presence before shocked you. 

When you'd first met Callie you'd been instantly attracted to her. She was stunning, in a completely natural way. She hardly ever wore make up and because of her job she wore simple jeans and t-shirts with her battered white converse. She was the complete opposite to who you normally found yourself gravitating towards.

She completely owned the room, she was strong willed and although she was just hired to be a general guitar technician, you'd not let her help anyone else out but you. She made sure everyone in the crew took their breaks so they were not overworked, she bossed Martin around even though he was actually the boss.

It had frightened you that day when you'd hugged each other for the first time. Your skin had never touched before and something ignited in you that day, blaming it on the excitement of Slow Hands being number one for the racing heart and clammy palms you'd gotten.

You'd wasted months dating Saskia, who clearly was only with you for your name and the publicity. Towards the end, you couldn't even hold back the annoyance you got when she kept hinting about you two on social media or to the press. It just wasn't you. Callie was the opposite, she didn't want anyone to know. However keeping it from your inner circle and security team would be difficult as they knew you too well. Tara had already been asking questions and you knew Basil, could tell something was up. He's been working with you for years, even in your 1D days.

You were pacing around your dressing room when Tara came and told you that it was almost time for sound check and then meet and greet. You headed towards the stage, when you stopped in your tracks. Conor was leaning in to Callie, a smile on his face and you could hear her laughing. You had specifically told him she was off limits and yet here he was flirting with her.

You called out her name as you approached them.

"Can I have a quick word with you about something for tonight?" You asked her.

"Yeah of course love, nice chatting with you Conor but I have worked to do!" She smiled as she followed you down the corridor.

Once you were back inside your dressing room with the door closed, you turned to her.

"Need that good luck kiss now Ni?" She asked you, a smirk on her face.

"Yeah I do actually, but I should probably also warn you about Conor."

"Warn me?!" 

"Yeah, he asked me if you were single that first time you met at the pub."

"And what did you say?"

"Said that you were but you off limits." You admitted.

"Bit jealous are we?" She smirked.

"No!" You scoffed.

"Listen Ni, I'm not sure what we are and now isn't the time to discuss it since you're about to go to sound check, but know that I'm not interested in anyone but you."

A smiled appeared on your lips at her words, you reached out and your hands grazed her hips. Tugging her closer to you, her arms wrapped around your neck.

"I'm sorry." You whispered.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because I told him to stay away from you, when I hadn't even told you how I felt about you."

"Doesn't matter. Now let's sort out this good luck kiss before they send out a search party for us."

The first show of the tour, had gone amazing. Standing up in front of everyone, singing songs that no-one knew had been scary. You'd had a wobble half way through, you'd set your guitar down to find Callie at your side handing you the one you needed for the next song. When she mouthed the words 'you're fucking amazing' you grinned and found a much needed energy boost.

Your family had headed home but yourself, the band and some of the others had headed into Dublin to a bar to celebrate. Callie had been packing up when you'd left and you hadn't wanted to leave her.

"Ni, go and celebrate with everyone."

"I want you to be there with me."

"I know, but I have work to do. I'll text you when I'm done, ok?" She'd smiled at your neediness.

You hadn't even been able to kiss her goodbye, as there were too many people around. The feeling of needing to be with her at that moment started to overwhelm you.

Standing in the bar, a beer in your hand, the last person you expected to see was Saskia and her friend.

"Oh Niall, you did so amazing tonight!" She said as she flung her arms around you.

"Thanks, hadn't realised you'd be at the show." You replied politely, hugging her back. She didn't release you though and carried on clinging onto you.

"I couldn't miss your first show!"

You were gently trying to pry her off you, not wanting to have her touch you anymore than necessary. Unbeknownst to you that a certain guitar tech had arrived at the bar and swiftly left.

Part Five

https://niall-is-my-dream.tumblr.com/post/182753620638/you-me-part-five

[psyched2b]

One Touch - Part Three - Soulmate AU

Note: This is a soulmate AU that when you first touch someone, you feel tingles all over your body and your soulmate can channel different emotions through the bond. In this piece, the reader is not originally aware of soulmates.

A/N: This is dedicated to @mermaidxatxheart. You is kind, you is special, and you is important. 

P.S. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Mild panic attack(s), Description of Accident, Swearing

Recap:

Sam was the first to break, his face breaking out into a look of unease and uncertainty. “Yeah, about that...you can’t leave because you’re supposedly dead.”                   

Panic blossomed in your chest. Was this hell?                   

“Jesus, Sam. You’re going to scare her,” Bucky growls, fingers twitching, itching to smack his comrade upside the head. He then turns his attention to you, an apologetic look. “He doesn’t mean that you’re actually dead. What he means is that we ran your DNA through a database and that the only match we found matched that of a four-year-old who died in a car accident twenty years ago.”                   

“With your name,” Sam finished.

“I’m sorry, but what the fuck did you just say?”

You feel yourself reeling and you stagger against the wall. This is just too much, you think to yourself. Your chest feels like it’s collapsing in on itself and you feel yourself gasping for air. You lean forward, place your hands on your knees and let your head hang down. This was absolutely crazy. Your thoughts are racing, trying to make sense of this mess.

You recognized the accident that they were talking about. You knew all about it. It was the accident that claimed the lives of your parents and brother. Except, you had survived.

What kind of sick joke is this?

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay.” You look up, still panting, to see that Bucky was crouched in front of you, his blue-grey eyes watching you with concern and empathy. “Just breathe in, breathe out. Follow me.” He exaggerates his breathing, in through his nose, out his mouth, chest lifting with every breath.

You mimic his actions and you can feel your heart rate slow and your breaths become more even and regulated. Your thoughts began to slow down and you felt more steady.

Your mind clears and you realize something. This is all in your head.

You were in an accident. Not the one from twenty years ago that claimed the lives of your family, but more recently.

You had been on your way home from work, having just received a promotion to partner in your law firm. You were crossing a bridge over a highway when a coworker sent you a text. Distracted, you hadn’t realized that you swerved into the next lane over until a semi-truck was blaring its horn at you. Shocked, you dropped the phone and jerked the wheel in an attempt to get out of the way, but it was too late. The semi clipped your side of the car, sending your car spinning into the guardrail. The cement guard broke on impact and your car went tumbling over the side. You remember a broken piece of concrete crashing through your windshield and hit you in the head before your car smashed into the highway below.

You know that there is no logical explanation for how you could have survived. Either this is the afterlife or this is your brain trying to protect you from the trauma.

Trying to figure it out right now was futile.

You take a deep breath to settle yourself once again and you feel the tension leave your body. You brush the invisible dirt off your hands, stand up straight, and turn to face Sam and Bucky.

In an eerily calm voice, you say, “I’m good now.”

Bucky and Sam share a worried look, but otherwise, don’t question it. Sam goes over to Bucky and whispers something in his ear that Bucky gives a nod to in response, both not taking their eyes off of you.

“Well,” Sam drawls out, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “As much fun as this shindig is, I’m going to...go do...things.” And without a further goodbye, takes off out the door.

You look to Bucky, raising an eyebrow in question of Sam’s strange actions, but otherwise, don’t say anything. He just shrugs, not offering any explanation before saying, “Let’s go on a tour.”

Bucky heads down the hall, not looking back to see if you would follow.

You stand there for a minute, debating whether to follow along or try to make a run for it. Since you had no idea the layout of the building or knowledge of what Bucky’s skills were, you erred on the side of caution and decided to chase after him, catching up in just a few steps.

He leads you through the building, pointing out different areas of interest, but you aren’t paying much attention. Instead, you’re lost in your thoughts.

The one thing you were certain of is that you crashed off of a bridge and that you had hit your head. Logically, this reality that you were in was just a projection your mind is giving you in order to protect you from the real trauma. What you couldn’t figure out is if this’ was just some play-by-play of some deep set fantasy. You were never someone who had been into Marvel Comics, nor were you the type to romanticize relationships. Yet you were in New York, surrounded by bickering idiots, and had Captain America claiming to be your soulmate.

Trying to make sense of anything was giving you a massive headache.

Instead, you turn to face the mountain of a man. "So, how come Sam called you grandpa? Is that a kink of yours or something?"

Bucky stops walking, turns around to look down at you, and gives you an amused look. "He thinks it's so funny just because I was born in 1917."

What the fuck? You think to yourself, but manage to keep a straight face. "Well, you should tell me what skin care product you use because you don't look a day over twenty-five."

“Skip the ageing cream,” he comments casually, starting to walk down the hall again. “If you want to stay this fresh, I recommend experimentation by either German scientists or terror groups. Really does wonders for the body.” He pauses, tapping his chin with a silver finger, feigning that he was deep in thought. “Oh! And being frozen either in ice or cryogenically. That helps too.” He gives off a sardonic laugh, shaking his head at himself.

His response makes you pause, needing a moment to process everything that was just said. A half second later, you give a small shake of your head, clearing it. “Sounds realistic.”

Bucky comes up on an unmarked door, stopping and turned to give you a smile. “Yeah, we’re an interesting bunch.” He doesn’t leave room for you to comment, quickly changing the subject. “Do you like to read?”

“Are you implying that there are people who don’t like to?” you retort, crossing your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow at him.

He lets out a little laugh before opening the door and gesturing you in.

You’re in awe. Never in your life had you seen so many books in one room beside in a library. Without further invite from Bucky, you rush forward to the first group of shelves and begin to peruse the section. Your eyes go over the classical literature that was sitting before you, flickering through the many titles. Glancing over at Bucky, you point to a certain book and ask, “Can I grab one to read?”

Bucky comes up over your shoulder to see what you were pointing at and gives you a look of surprise. “You want to read Animal Farm over some trashy romance novel?” he questions in a skeptical tone. You nod in affirmation and he just shrugs. “Go crazy.”

With a smile, you pull the book out from its spot and turn to face Bucky. Giving him a quick pat on the head, you happily skip over to where a group of plush armchairs are and plop down in one of them and immediately begin to read. Bucky grabs his own book from the same shelf and you glance over the cover of yours to see it was The Picture of Dorian Gray. Seems like you weren’t the only one who like classical literature.

You’re only half a chapter in when Bucky speaks up. “What do you do for a living?”

You look up from your book, quirking an eyebrow. “Are you going to ask me what my favorite color is next?”

Bucky rolls his eyes at your sassy response and closes his book, setting it down in his lap. “I am curious what life looks like for normal people.” He pauses, glancing at you sideways. “Normal being a relative term.”

His last comment has you snorting. “Yeah, who’s normal anymore these days? Normal is boring.” You dog ear your page and close the book. “I work as a child psychologist. It’s….a difficult job. Not a lot of people want to work with children just because every single child is different. Adults are arguably easier because they can articulate their thoughts and feelings better whereas children, you have to be incredibly intuitive. There are only three of us in the county where I’m from, but I had just received word that I was given funding to start a larger program…one where I’m in charge of recruiting other child psychologists, developing family groups, teaching my ways of treating these children and so on and so forth.”

Bucky was silent. When you looked up, you were amused at the awestruck look on his face.

“What, cat got your tongue?” You tease.

He shakes his head in disbelief. “Not at all, doll. I’m just...that’s amazing. I can’t believe how far we’ve come from locking up people in looney bins.”

“Primitive asses,” you mutter, pinching the bridge of your nose. “It’s still not perfect, people wanting to medicate their children at any sign of not being immediately compliant, but at least we don’t shame and degrade them.” You allow yourself a deep sigh and change the topic. “Anyways, what do you do?”

“I keep Captain America from getting into too much shit,” Bucky chuckles, getting a fond look on his face. “That man has no sense of self-preservation but, he comes from a good place. You wouldn’t believe it looking at him now, but he was a scrappy little punk back in the day. Didn’t matter, I was constantly pulling him off of guys three times his size. I always told him I looked forward to 70 years down the line when he wouldn’t be picking fights anymore. I shouldn’t be surprised that’s not the case.”

You take note of his “back in the day” story to investigate further at a later time. “Bucky, do you have a man crush on Captain America?,” you ask in a teasing tone, raising an eyebrow in mock speculation.

Bucky just laughs, “Steve’s a good guy, but he’s not my type.”

Before you could respond, you hear a knock on the door followed by a familiar face walking in.

Steve Rogers stands by the door awkwardly, rubbing his hands together in a nervous manner as he looks to you.

Bucky looks over and his face splits into a large smile. Stomping his feet on the ground, he gracefully leaps up from the couch and heads to Steve, grabbing him in a quick hug before pulling away. “Steve! Glad you could make it! I’m going to go catch up with Mama Red Wing!” He then turns to you and nods a goodbye. “I’ll see you around.” And with that, he’s out the door.

Traitor, you think, slightly irritated he just left you alone with this man who was notorious for making outrageous claims.

You’re sorely tempted to ignore Steve’s presence and just continue reading, but Steve had this pathetically soft look on his face and you find yourself taking pity on the man. “You can come take a seat, I don’t bite.” Hard.

Steve takes the invitation and walks over, moving surprisingly graceful for a man of his size and stature, and claims the same chair Bucky had previously occupied that faced you.

He sits there and stares at you for a moment in silence and you take the opportunity to check him out yourself.  You have to admit to yourself that he’s a very attractive man for a delusional person. Then again, you've always been a sucker for blond hair and blue eyes. A part of you wonders what that says about you, that you created this gorgeous man and he's completely insane and supposedly your soulmate.

Steve clears his throat and gives you a nervous smile. “I imagine you have some questions?”

Tags for Everything: @mermaidxatxheart @bettercallsabs @thinkwritexpress-official

Tags for One Touch: @blackcat-midnight-thatsme @kittylovesfandom @angryteapot @chonisberonica @delusional-of-love @unknownuserhasjoined @toews-a-peek @dryerpet

*Can’t tag you

[rebelwheels-blog]

Dose #6: Added to the Mix

May 26, 2019

It is at the times of when we feel we no longer can that we always manage to prove ourselves wrong.

This was supposed to be posted a month and a half ago oops

Greetings readers, yet again, long time no write. These past few months have not been pleasant and writing this blog now is not something I have been particularly looking forward to writing… Although I will admit that seems to be my mentality for every one of these posts lately, which I apologize for. However, writing about my life isn’t all that easy. Some may argue that I could or should leave bits and pieces out, which I have seen others do. But I always feel like the rest of the story just doesn’t make as much sense when it’s done that way. Luckily, a friend of mine convinced me that it needed to be written, and they’ve fallen asleep on our phone call right now, so I ended up gathering the courage. Of course, as I say this, I am having second thoughts, but nevertheless, I will continue.

Picking Up Where We Left Off

My last big blog entry was definitely a heavy one. With me getting sick, discovering my love for poetry, and then being plonked this news that a fellow SMAer had passed and basically left me money from the contest we competed against each other in. Granted, it was his parent’s idea, however it did not feel that way when I was gifted his money. I mentioned how he left a rather large imprint upon my soul and that because of him I wanted to embrace the fact that I am apart of the SMA Community as well as the Disabled Community in general.

When I wrote this, I had no idea what Life had in store for me.

The month of February was the month of my sixth Spinraza Injection, February 25, to be exact. I was ecstatic to be receiving my sixth injection as this is the one that many have said on the social forums to be the one that really counts. The one where you notice bigger milestones to be achieved. The one that matters. So as the weeks go by, I get my blood drawn where and when I usually do, as well as other things, and wait. Then the Thursday before my injection, I get a phone call from the place where I get my injection. I thought it a bit strange to be called on the Thursday instead of the Friday to confirm my appointment for Monday, but I picked up anyway.

The phone call wasn’t to confirm Monday’s appointment.

The lady that schedules all of my doctor’s appointments had called me to say that my injection date had been moved to three weeks later. I couldn’t believe my ears. Apparently since my insurance had gone through a merge with another company, the paperwork to get my injection and medication paid for had been completely changed. Even though I had received a letter a few weeks prior saying everything that was pre-approved would not have any issues and coverage would overlap until the end of July.

Apparently not.

My immediate reaction was to bite my tongue and agree to changing the dates in my calendar. But emotions overruled my logic and tears began to stream down my face making it difficult to see.

Great, this is bringing back all those emotions.

I quickly changed the dates in my phone and thanked the lady on the other end of the phone before hanging up and sobbing as my grandmother held me after running to get a box of tissues.

The next few weeks were hell. I did not handle it well at all. I’m still having the effects from it to be frank. Even though the effects that I was experiencing are not possible to even occur. I was assured and reassured this. At least two more times after that phone call of having to move my injection date, as I was told two more times on the Friday that I still couldn’t have my injection. Every week was purgatory, every second was worse than the last. Then, to top it off, every day I felt my strength dwindling every second that ticked by. Which is the effects that I had been assured and reassured is not possible. Well I am here to assure everyone that their assurance is not true at all. Sure, molecularly, it’s still in my system until the sixth month mark. But the effects of the Spinraza giving me back my strength go straight down the drain after the four-month mark.

I may not be an expert at chemistry, but I do know that what I was experiencing was not psychosomatic. Getting tired easier, leaning over more, experiencing difficulty picking up my head again… The list goes on. Of course, due to this occurrence, I have found myself researching how genes work and how Spinraza does what it does down to the molecular level. In turn, causing this update to be a month late. Okay, it wasn’t just my curiosity that caused this update to be much later than I prefer, as I’m not only just regaining the use of my body the way I had before this hiccup, but the fog that has clouded my thoughts over the past months is starting to lift as well.

Gotta love my brain.

Now, there is a flicker of light in all this darkness, and that leads me to my next heading.

All Over the Place

During my roller coaster of emotions, I ended up acquiring a group of friends. Yeah, I have actually acquired a group of friends.

I’m growing up!

This group has helped me all through the month of ups and downs, so allow me to introduce them to you.

Our little family is quite the complicated bunch, so here is how we all refer to each other.

Dova is the founder of our family. She found us scattered all over the world, and brought us together to create our group. I owe her a lot for taking me in. Especially since she understands my crazy as she is as crazy-probably more-as I am. All joking aside, she is the first person to invite me into a group and I haven’t felt unwelcome.

Schiki is Døva’s longest friend in the group, and they refer to each other as Twin due to how close they are. I used to not talk to him much, that was, until we decided to phone each other. I haven’t been on a call as long as I have been with him since… Well that was in the past. Talking to him is as easy as it gets, never losing things to talk about. Granted, this applies to the rest of the family as well, but with this one, it’s different.

SD is the youngest of the group, I recruited her. She’s like the little sister I never wanted. (Sarcasm) SD is one of the funniest people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, even if her humor sometimes ends up getting misinterpreted. But she has a beautiful soul and a voice to match it. She’s gonna hate me when she reads this hehe

Spike… Now that’s a character. He has many fascists which makes him interesting to get to know. He’s an amazing artist, easy to talk to, as is Schiki, and pretty smart. Him and Schiki are two I’ve had group calls with and we ended up talking about physics. This guy knows how to push my buttons, but who doesn’t, really?

Hybrid is an entity all of his own. He’s part of the family, but in a sort of complicated way. However, he’s a physics major which makes it easy for us to talk. Can’t really say much about him as he’s been away for a bit.

Death is a new-ish addition to the group, but he’s pretty interesting. Gets along easily with Spike and has a great sense of humor. I can thank him for introducing me to a video game that I can actually play.

The best way I can describe this group of ours as a whole is in the layout of a poem that I had written for one of our members during a moment of doubt.

We’re the puzzle pieces that get lost

And are found one day

By someone who took the time

To look

And to pick us up

And put us in our own puzzle

That creates a bigger picture

That’s just as odd as we are.

Every one of these people has helped me out one way or another. Sure, we get on each other’s nerves a lot as well, but that’s what happens in a family. I don’t know how I could have made it through my unknowns without them. They found me at my lowest and helped me get back to where I should be, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

The Sixth Battle

The day finally came where I could actually be given my injection. April 1st. Yeah, we had the same thought. Who would book an appointment as important as this when so many things have gone wrong already? Well, luckily the appointment actually was kept after being moved three times already. Three times the charm, I guess.

Even though this injection was an absolute pain to get, it was my sixth one which was supposed to be when I saw more extreme changes in my strength. So I decided to make my Spinraza crew a gift.

Those who were there to see the gift were blown away, but most of the crew for this injection was new. The usual staff was out for this, that, or the other, but my main nurse was there which was all that mattered at that point.

Of course, the complications with this injection weren’t going to stop simply because of the fact I was actually on the table about to have a long needle shoved into my back. Noooooo. The one time I decide not to put my earbuds in to listen to music is the one time the needle decides that it doesn’t want to find my spinal fluid sack in my spine. It took a good ten, twenty minutes to finally feel the spinal fluid drip out from the needle. Never had I welcomed that feeling so much in my life.

As each second ticked by that my doctor couldn’t get the spinal fluid out, the more I worried that they’d have to take the needle out and either redo it or book the appointment for another day. But everyone assured me that I’d get it that day no matter what, and they were right.

My injection site was in a lot more pain than previous times, as well as my lower spine when I put my head back to eat. But I was grateful to have the synthetic DNA back in my system. Although, more than a month later, I still don’t feel like I have all of my strength back. Especially when it comes to my core strength. But I’m hoping as I don’t have to go through all of this approval garbage for another year, Spinraza should build itself back up in my chemistry.

[odaatlover]

Author Q&A

Q: What’s your sexual orientation? 

A: I identify as gay. 

Q: Which country are you from? 

A: The United States - more specifically the southeast. 

Q: Sometimes the level of detail and realism in the fic amazes me to no end. So I was wondering if you had taken inspiration on personal experiences or some real life people to write any scenes or describe some details? 

A: Thank you! I have taken a few things from my own life – most of it being the more sexual stuff – but for the most part I’m just putting myself into the mindset of these characters and just writing as if I am them. I’m a very empathetic person, and it’s incredibly easy for me to put myself into ‘other people’s shoes’, so to speak. So because of that, I am able to write as if I am actually Nicole, or Waverly, or whoever is speaking in the moment. I do it for every single character in my story. It’s kind of fun, because it’s almost like acting! I will say that the only character I feel that’s a little different in my story than in the show is Dolls. I think in the show he’s a little more “to the point”, but in my story he’s a bit more easy going and laid back. That wasn’t a conscious decision, it just sort of happened that way. But I feel like if he wasn’t an agent that was trained to eradicate paranormal forces, he would be more laid back like that anyways, so it works out! 

Q: Last movie you watched? 

A: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, and it was VERY good. Chloë Grace Moretz’s acting in the film is incredible. It’s very realistic and eye-opening, and I definitely recommend buying/renting it and supporting the queer woman who wrote and directed it! 

Q: What do you usually use to write your fanfictions? 

A: I use Word on my laptop, and when I’m out and get a sudden burst of inspiration I’ll pull up the Notes app on my phone and start writing. The Notes app is great because it’s linked to my laptop as well, so when I get home I can just pull up the app on my computer and everything is there from my phone, so I just copy and paste it into my Word document! Technology is great. 

Q: What does a typical day look like for you? 

A: I wake up, take my wife to work, go to my job where I teach some kids how to play percussion instruments, come home to do something creative (writing, creating music, playing an instrument, etc.), pick my wife up from work, do something with her – usually either watching TV or playing a board game, go to sleep. 

Q: What’s your favorite thing to write? 

A: Most of the time, smut. Which is why there’s so much of it in my story! But I also really enjoy writing the humorous stuff as well. 

Q: Favorite WayHaught kiss? 

A: Their first one…it was a really good first kiss 😏 

Q: Do you already have in mind other fics for the future? 

A: Actually, I’m in the process of writing one right now! It’s a WayHaught high school alternate universe story in which Waverly is a cheerleader and Nicole is a basketball player who transfers to Purgatory High in the middle of sophomore year (10th grade). The story focuses on Waverly and Nicole figuring out who they are as young adults, discovering their sexuality, and exploring their bodies – as teenagers do. The goal is to make it as true as possible to being a teenager in 2019, for all of the teens out there that are stuck in high school and need something to relate to. I feel like a lot of the high school fics are a bit outdated, or don’t “go there” enough to touch on the “uncomfortable” or “taboo” topics. And you better believe that this fic will! I’m getting close to halfway through with it – about 10 chapters so far – and have been working on it for the past month. I will begin posting that when I’ve completed it, so be on the lookout! If you’re interested in helping me out with some plotline ideas for it, you can fill out this survey here… https://www.opinionstage.com/odaatlover/wayhaught-high-school-fanfiction-topics-calling-all-teens-or-anyone-interested-in-providing-ideas 

Q: What’s your favorite holiday? 

A: Pride! …does that even count as a holiday? If not, then I’ll say Christmas. 

Q: What’s your favorite kind of date night? 

A: Something where we can converse pretty easily. Maybe dinner or walking around somewhere. 

Q: Do you brainstorm chapters before you write them? 

A: Sometimes I’ll have a layout. For example, this is the exact brainstorming layout I have written out in my notes app for the next chapter… 

Chapter 55 – (title?) 

- Dolls asks Nicole for advice on a date he has planned 

- Nedley asks Nicole to go “undercover” to find out what’s going on with Chrissy in her life 

- Waverly surprises Nicole with a romantic homemade dinner. They talk about their day, Waverly asks Nicole some questions about her past. 

There’s a little sneak peek for you guys 😉 But other than that, all of the dialogue just kind of flows naturally. There have been a couple of chapters where I didn’t have a layout at all and just let the words flow out of my brain, but most of the time I have an idea of the main plots of the chapter. 

Q: Waverly or Nicole? 

A: I relate more to Nicole, but I find Waverly to be more attractive. 

Q: Do you have any siblings? 

A: I have a sister who is 3 ½ years older than I am. 

Q: What color are your eyes? 

A: Blue. And they’re very sensitive to sunlight. I spend most of my life squinting. 

Q: Do you ever get writer’s block? 

A: Yes! Quite often, actually. Which is why your survey answers in regard to “The Grind” have been so helpful! Also, those who comment on my fic with ideas of things they want to see help too. Any time I get writer’s block, I’ll either read some fics to draw inspiration from, or I’ll just start writing something that’s completely different, just to get the creative juices flowing. Often when I have writer’s block and aren’t sure where to take the story, I’ll just do a random smutty chapter for the week. Hope you all are okay with that 😉 If you haven’t filled it out yet, you can find that survey here… https://www.opinionstage.com/odaatlover/the-grind-reader-survey 

Q: Lipstick or chapstick? 

A: If you’re asking which type of lesbian I am, chapstick. If you’re asking which one I prefer on my lips…chapstick. 

Q: Favorite concert you’ve ever been to? 

A: Blue Man Group! Although, I will say that I went to Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour back in August with my wife who is obsessed with her, and although I’m not crazy about her music, I’ll admit that the girl can perform. I thought I was going to hate it, but I actually really enjoyed it. 

Q: Is there a specific place that you write? 

A: Most of the time I just write at my house - either at the table or sometimes on the couch in my living room, but occasionally I like to go to the Barnes & Noble at the mall close to us and write there. My wife and I will go together and we’ll just sit at the same table – me writing and her reading a book – while we occasionally steal glances at each other and kick each other’s feet. It’s pretty great. 

Q: What superpower would you choose and why? 

A: Shapeshifting, because I genuinely want to know what it’s like to walk through life as other people, more specifically as a man 🤔 

Q: Windows or Mac? 

A: Mac. I have nothing against Windows, but everything I use is Apple and I’m used to it. 

Q: What’s a fun fact about you? 

A: I’m deaf in my right ear and wear a hearing aid, due to having had a lot of ear infections as a kid. Bonus round: I started wearing glasses at age of 2, but stopped needing them at 16 because my eye doctor said that my glasses corrected my vision and I didn’t need to wear them anymore, so now I’m glasses-free! 🤓 (<-- not me) 

Q: Favorite lesbian YouTuber? 

A: Rose and Rosie! They’re hilarious, and honestly remind me of my wife and myself. 

Q: Describe yourself in three words. 

A: Where’s my wallet? (Always using it, always losing it…) 

Q: What was the #1 song on the radio the day you were born? 

A: *searches song* Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot 😂 Classic. 

Q: What languages do you speak? 

A: English and some Spanish. I can understand Spanish better than I can properly speak it. My wife is fluent in both, but her first language is Spanish, so I’m exposed to it often.

Q: Are you a DomKat fan? 

A: I love them! I genuinely enjoy watching their interviews, including the ones with them as individuals (Just Dom or just Kat). I also enjoy listening to the podcasts they’ve been featured in, more specifically Tales Of The Black Badge. I don’t ship them as a couple like a lot of people think they secretly are, but I love their friendship. You can tell they genuinely enjoy each other’s company, which in turn shows through their WayHaught scenes on screen. I love both of them, but I’m a bigger fan of Dominique. She’s just so adorable! 

Q: Do you have any celebrity crushes? 

A: Dominique Provost-Chalkley 😍 But also, Emma Watson. 

Q: What is your favorite season of Wynonna Earp? 

A: I think season 2 is my favorite. I loved season 3, but I liked season 2 better. And season 1 was inevitably them trying to figure things out since they didn’t have any fans yet. 

Q: What’s your least favorite thing about Wynonna Earp? 

A: The violence. They’ve toned it down a bit, which is good, but it was a little too much in the first season, which made it kind of difficult for me to watch. I’m not a huge fan of violence 🙅🏻 

Q: Do you have any other lesbian ships that you like? 

A: Well, I’ve watched the supercuts of pretty much EVERY lesbian ship out there, but I am a big Hollstein (Laura and Carmilla) fan. Spashley (Spencer and Ashley) was the first teen lesbian ship I was exposed to, so that will obviously always hold a special place in my heart. I loved Sanvers (Alex and Maggie), but since it ended I kind of lost interest in that ship. Big Calzona (Callie and Arizona) fan, and am super sad they’re no longer on the show. And I’m currently getting hooked on Avalance (Ava and Sara) now that we’ve just finished season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow. Basically, I’m very gay… 

Q: Do you have any fanfic recommendations? 

A: “From Afar” – Avrilsky. I know it’s popular, but I really enjoyed that one. Also, “How do I wrap my heart up for Christmas” by breezered is short, but sweet. 

Someone asked for me to tell my coming out story, and I’m going to make a separate post about that one tomorrow where I’ll share my story. So if you’re the person who asked me that, don’t worry, your question was not ignored and I will answer it! 

Thank you to all who sent me questions! ❤️

[rohobi]

The Personal Stylist 01 | (M)

pairing— kim taehyung x reader, personal stylist AU  genre/warnings— smut, fluff, swearing, humor  words—3,501 → chapters ⤷ A/N: series co-written by @taenity

summary — ❝You and Taehyung dated briefly before his debut before breaking things off. When you get hired on the styling team for his group, Taehyung grows interested with the woman he used to know again, paid to clothe him. Alternatively, you are Taehyung's personal stylist and he wants to be everything but clothed with you.❞

► Listen | happy reading

“Stylist coming through, if you don’t move, you die and if you die, I get days off so please everyone if you’re in my way, you’re going to die and you bet your pancake booties that I will be happy about it!” you shout while pushing a clothing trolley filled with gucci past backstage staff. “I’m being serious, move! Important goods for BTS coming through!”

“Hey, watch where you’re going Y/N!” a makeup artist shouts, narrowly avoiding being run down by your trolley. “You nearly hit me.”

“I told you to move Jieun.” you shout back, just barely being heard over the sudden roar of screams coming from inside the arena. Turning back to the trolley carrying his clothes, you push it harder towards his dressing room. You were severely running behind schedule, but what person here wasn’t.

Bangtan were at a much larger stadium at this stop on their tour and it was amazing. Lots of air conditioning and lights SO YOU CAN SEE WHERE YOU’RE GOING down hallways but, obviously, it wasn’t big enough for you to hide from him and his blue contact coloured eyes and silver goddamn hair. You hate this comeback. DNA? More like DNA helicase because unzipping jeans is all you want to do to him lately.

“Y/N, are you running to Taehyung's dressing room by any chance?” another stylist asks holding up a paper bag filled with food. “Take this with you, my wife’s working on his makeup.”

“I’m taking some too,” you mutter, accepting the bag with open arms. “Wish I had a husband as thoughtful as you.”

He laughs. “One day Y/N.”

“I seriously doubt it in this job, I’m married to the paychecks I get every week.”

Ruffling your hair, he smiles. “Who said money can’t make people happy?”

“Rich people obviously.”

Pushing the trolley past him, you shake your head as you smell the beautiful scent of cinnamon donuts. “God these smell amazing!”

Let’s get something straight, you were only hired on the premise that you were engaged. Which is a crafty tactic set by your employers to protect the boys from unwanted romance. You never felt the obligation to tell them that your partner of 5 years had fallen out of love with you and in turn left you for someone younger and with a penis a month post-contract signage.

You didn’t tell them either that you had history with one of their members. It wasn’t appropriate and you didn’t think it would matter when you both dated in high school and broke up before he debuted. In fact, you hardly even remember those 4 months you spent together.

He wasn’t your first kiss.

He wasn't your first sex partner.

You hardly loved him.

You hardly cared when he broke up with you.

And you had spent more time apart than together which is what made breaking up easier than pulling apart two magnets.

He was a different person now and to be honest, so were you but that’s just the natural forces of life. Keeping your single status under control was another way of life you had to maintain too. Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be in a relationship when everything about you exudes loneliness? so hard.

And, it was only by chance that Taehyung had overheard your phone call with your mother when you had announced that you were single again. The same phone call that should’ve brought tears to your mother eyes but instead brought relief as she laughed and cursed into the shell of your ear. “I knew from the very minute he bought a christmas sweater that he wasn’t for you. Thank fucking christ we don’t have to see that ugly motherfucker again.”

Through the crack in the door where Taehyung stood, it was the smile that had taken over your face and the laugh that fell from your lips as you pressed the phone to your ear that piqued his interest. The sparkle in your eyes, the smile across your face, the care-free body language. You look so beautiful and the attraction he suddenly feels after so long of loveless nights makes his cheeks burn a blush.

You were single.

And Taehyung was overjoyed by that.

Then, days later when you had hugged him after a particularly poor performance because you just knew how torn he would feel, his heart began to flutter again. The way you hadn’t said a single word before wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pulling him to your chest as if you just knew what he was feeling without him having to show it. He felt like someone finally saw him for the first time and then it felt like he could finally breathe again. It was akin to an emotional heimlich that squeezed out all of his anxiety and fear, and as you held him close, running your fingers through his hair, Taehyung never wanted to leave your arms.

He felt safe with you.  

But that was a year ago when you worked for RM and before you became V's personal stylist.

And now everything was different.

No longer the innocent man he proclaimed to be, Kim Taehyung was enthralled by the feeling of danger when he was alone with you. He was a cocky son of a bitch, a tongue in cheek little shit, and the bane of your existence. He begged without saying a word for affection, for your touch, for your lips on places that would relieve him of the fire burning underneath his skin.

And it was driving you crazy because hell no were you about to jeopardise your dream job for a horny kpop idol albeit how much you relished in the bated breaths down your neck, his warm hands touching places his hands should not go, the raspy whispers into the shell of your ear and the dark stares he gave you when you fixed his makeup.

You weren’t stupid and neither was he.

It was just weird. You never knew him to flirt so much and to flirt so hard with the likes of a girl like you; a leaf amongst red roses. It was apart of what made being a stylist difficult. The deep look he’d give you as he’d slowly tear his shirt off in front of you, revealing soft abs, or when he’d reach down and unbuckle his belt. It was his tongue and the way he’d lick his lips before smirking at you.

He knew what he was doing to you.

But even then, he didn’t know how much it affected you, he just hoped it would.

“I’m coming in Taehyung, are you decent?” you shout, knocking loudly on his dresser door. Wiping away the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand, you push open the door when you hear him grunt his answer.

“Where have you been?” he asks. Crossing his legs on the black leather couch in front of a coffee table filled with food, he nit picks his dumplings with a single chopstick as he watches you.

“I was picking up the clothes,” you say, pushing the trolley in and parking it by the wall. “There was traffic so the clothes for your set only just arrived.”

Your phone vibrates in your pocket, as you push the door closed. “You pushed it all the way on your own?” he asks.

Pulling out your phone, you ignore his question as you respond to the massacre of questions from your best friend in your inbox. You miss the frown flicker across his face as he watches you ignore him.

You were wearing double denim again with an old pair of white nikes and your hair was pushed up into a ponytail. He hated it when you wore your hair up, he could only imagine it in his fist behind you.

“Alright, Taehyung. Time to get your outfit on.” You lock and drop your phone, making your way over to the trolley rack holding up several coat hangers with different style of clothes. Ones that you’d specifically chosen the night before according to the data you compiled on latest trends vs. potential trends. All that was left to do was pick and help put them on him without messing up his hair or his makeup.

Running your fingers through the many materials, you look at the variety of coats, turtle neck sweaters, shirts and pants. It was way too hot for fur, but Taehyung often chose the strangest combination of clothing in a desire to be the centre of attention.

So in knowing that, the rack was filled with an array of clashing gucci colours, fabrics that ranged in price and designers who had sent their clothing specifically to the member who would most likely wear them, as opposed to Yoongi who was dead set on his leather jacket for his airport look.

“What did you want to wear tonight?” you ask, mindlessly lost in the thought of what he’d look best in with his new silver hair.

He laughs lowly on the couch. “Tonight or tonight tonight?”

You ignore his comment as you continue to look through the materials, picking out a good combination of clothing. Grabbing the hangers off the rack, you turn to show Taehyung. Not expecting him to be so close behind you, you slam straight into his chest

A pathetic yelp escapes your lips and he chuckles, wrapping his arms around your waist, holding you up and holding you close.

You quickly regain your balance and put your hand up to his chest, “What the hell. Taehyung, you scared me. Can you not do that?” You exclaim, pushing him away and retreating behind him as quickly as possible. He was doing it again. Putting himself in these positions so he could touch you again and you were weak, very weak. “I’ve picked out the clothes for you and um, you might want to grab the robe or something.”

He pouts behind you. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“I know, just put the clothes on. Tell me when you’re done and I’ll come and help you.”

Knowing that Taehyung was stripping out of his clothes behind you, you busied yourself by adjusting the shirt onto the hanger then holding that over the pants. You looked at the layout, a simple blue button up with red ivory embroidered on the collar, and long black pants through the mirror. You nodded approvingly to yourself. You could see the pictures of him on stage in these plastered all over the fandom.

“Are you done?” you ask, shaking your head of improbable dreams. “Can I turn around now?”

He hums his response and you turn around, eager to complete the job so he can leave and you can deep breathe. But instead of the bathrobe protecting his skin from sight, Taehyung stands in nothing but his navy briefs in front of you.

His eyes are dark and his lips are smirking.

You roll your eyes, you aren’t a 17 year old girl. Skin isn’t something you’re afraid to see and if Taehyung things that, he’s poorly informed. “No robe? Fine. I can work with that.” you sigh. Walking around him, you let your eyes wander on each crevice, muscle and scar on his body. You know you shouldn’t, but it’s in the job description, you’re just doing your job.

“So,” he starts. “I’ve been working out. Jungkook’s been dragging me to the gym. Can you tell?” he asks, flicking his hair back.

You carefully rest the outfit on the chair and grab the shirt from the hanger and unbutton it before holding it open for him to slip his arms in through the sleeves. “Oh, no idea sorry. I don’t pay that much attention to your body anymore Taehyung. I’ve seen all that I want to with you.”

He laughs cockily, as though he thought your words to be a lie.  “We can do a little revision at my house tonight if you can’t remember…”

“No thanks.”

“Are you sure? I know you like all of this.”  he whispers, grabbing onto his junk in front of you.

“First of all, no,” you cringe. “Second of all, your head's too big and your ears are too small.” you deadpan. Adjusting his shirt over his shoulders while he buttons himself up.

“I’m just trying to be healthier. It’s important you know, self-love. How do you expect to love another if you can’t love yourself.” he whispers.

Grabbing his jacket and pants, you nod. “That’s true. Do you love yourself Taehyung?”

He nods. “Yes.”

You wait for him to completely button his shirt up before resting the coat over his shoulders.

“Not too hot?” you ask, watching him roll his shoulders back as you bend down to help him into his pants.

“I think I’ll be okay. The fans love it when I take my clothes off anyway,” he laughs loudly before looking down at you. “But I’ll keep them on because you put them on me.”

“Good, I don’t want you to ruin these clothes. Or, my boss will have my neck.”

“Do you like this?” he asks suddenly and for a deep mortifying second, you aren’t sure what he means. He steps into the material without you having to ask.

Pulling the material up his legs, you raise your brows. “Do I like what Taehyung?”

Pulling them over his toned thighs, he grabs the waistband, pulling them up until the top of the pants are wrapped around his waist. You pop the button through the hole first before attending to the zipper.

This pair of particular pants is from a Hungarian designer who stitched in clips on the zipper line, making it difficult for the pants to full down for dancers with intense choreo like the boys. The expensive catch was that it was difficult to put on and Taehyung and you had already established that fact many times and as much as you hate getting on your knees for him, it’s what you had to do.

“I mean, dressing me. Do you like it?”

You sit yourself on your knees, making yourself comfortable in front of him as you pull the small metal zip upwards through the two clips. The pads of your fingertips lightly graze his bulge as you do, causing you to freeze for a hot second as his pelvis slightly jerks towards your face.

“Sorry,” he whispers. “I’m sensitive so be careful unless you plan on-

-it’s just that the clip is difficult.” you interrupt, frowning at the stupid bloody design. You mumble a small apology to his acknowledgement while your face heats up naturally at the idea of letting your fingers accidentally graze him again out of spite for his stupid annoying ass.

“About dressing you ...I mean, it’s apart of the job description. What about you? Do you like being dressed?”

His eyes are impossibly black as they stare down into yours. “I’d prefer it the other way, but when it’s you …I’ll take what I can get.”

“Ah…” you mutter awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck. “You’re oddly needy today, don’t you have a girlfriend or something? I thought I overheard Jimin talking about you liking some girl.”

It’s silent for a few more seconds before his voice cuts through the odd tension.

“I mean, I do like someone but I don’t have a love life or a sex life Y/N. I don’t really have the time to fit that in the schedule but sometimes when no-one's around and it's just you and me, I imagine you’re my girlfriend and you’re just here to look after me. Sometimes that’s all I need. Most times it’s all I want.”

“What?” Your heart thumps painfully in your chest. “Really? That’s kind of lame.”

He nods. “And then I have those days where I just wonder…”

“I’m afraid to ask but about what?”

He stares off into the distance as though his thoughts were intellectual, articulate and meaningful but then he says, “Sometimes I wonder what your pussy tastes likes.”

“W-what the fuck,” You choke on the frighteningly sudden words so unexpected your heart jumps against your chest wall. “What did you just say?”

He ignores your question, patting his groin. “You aren’t done with my pants yet Y/N?”

“Did you just say what I thought you just said?”

He taps his groin again, prompting the return of your gaze to his zipper. The tension in the room grows unbelievably thick as you return your fingers to his the zip clip.

“What did you say Taehyung? Did I mishear you or…?”

He clears his throat. “Y/N, I can be that guy you know.”

“What guy?” you ask.

He stares at you, eyes cast in sincerity. “The guy that kisses you, chokes you and throws you up against a wall. I can be that guy for you. I’ll treat you right. I’ll even eat you out for an hour. I’ll make sure you finish. I’m not like your ex. I won't be.”

“How did you…” heat floods your cheeks as you mentally slap your bestfriend. “Did you read over my shoulder in the car? That was private!”

You’re slightly mortified at the thought of him reading your texts especially when the content was explicit and made references about him but the thought doesn’t subdue the sudden ache between your thighs as you clench them closed.

“Your phones font is in size 16 you blind fool and sometimes when you type your messages, you say them out loud under your breath. I know you want me.”

“I can’t believe you were reading my messages and I can’t believe you just said that to me.” You slide your hands from the zip to right over his groin in anger, applying pressure to where you know he needs it the most. “I can’t do one thing without you getting into my business now can I?”

You frown hard when he whispers and then you almost immediately notice the outline of his hardening length under your palm. “What would you fucking know about satisfying me Taehyung, you’ve spent the last year murdering my soul and driving me crazy.”

You look up to see his eyes clenched shut and his bottom lip trapped in between his teeth, he was enjoying this a little too much. He steps closer to you, prompting the movement of your hands as he sways his hips. “Touch me Y/N,” he begs, “I know you want to and I want you to.”

You scoff. “You know you want me to?” you repeat, letting him move his hips against your hand.

“I heard you ...I heard you talking about wanting me to fuck you behind your clothing partition.”

You gasp loud, palming him harder in anger. “You were listening to my phone calls, are you kidding? Where's the privacy Taehyung.”

His voice his strained as you touch him. “In the same place where you have private conversations and not in the car or in my dressing room. Do you have any idea how much I masturbated over the idea of doing that to you?”

“I don’t know why I’m surprised that you listen to my phonecalls ...but then again ...who knows what kind of voyeuristic things you’re into,” You exhale, as if already fed up by this engagement.

“I’m into everything really if it’s with you.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind cumming in these expensive pants and having to explain what happened to them to my boss.” You weren’t being serious. You weren’t even prepared in the slightest of doing this but you were way too proud to stop. You're thankful thought when he grabs your wrist to stop you, there is no way you’d make him cum not on his clothes anyway.

He holds your wrists tight. “Please don’t stay stuff that sounds like a promise for later because I always keep my promises and really hope you do too.”

“What?”

“Let’s not do this here,” He stands you up with a simple pull of yours hand and the gaze he gives you sends shivers down your body when he lets your wrists go. “I want my way with you where I won't have to worry about these pants ...or yours or your job and mine.”

You stare at him, heart still thumping loudly and groin pulsating. He finishes dressing on his own as the door slams open. “Taehyung, you’re on in two.”

He looks into the mirror once again before looking back at you with the slightest hint of that dirty cocky smirk placed on his lips. Walking around you, he whispers into the shell of your ear. “I’ll see you when I finish.” Then he was gone, leaving you alone to the strangest feeling in the bottom of your stomach.

“Fuck.”

If only you knew that was the beginning of a long comeback season with Taehyung.

[festfashions]

Insomniac Founder Pasquale Rotella Did A Reddit AMA Live

Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella did a Reddit AMA Live to answer questions on EDC 2018 and here’s all the questions and answers he responded to.

The live AMA took place Sept. 27 at 3pm PST. Lots of questions came up, but only a few were answered. Since some of them offer us new insights into EDC 2018, I’ve compiled them all for us! Check it out below and read the Reddit thread here. Some of the questions got off the topic of EDC 2018, so I’ve reorganized them to be at the bottom.

Q: jtet93: Can we have details about how the shuttle experience will be improved? I can't really express how bad my experience was last year, and I was personally really frustrated that it was so challenging after the cancellation of third party shuttles. I swore I wouldn't come back to EDC unless the transportation improved. I know you're handing off the planning to an outside company but any details you can provide on how their plan will make a real difference to the shuttle experience would be awesome. I'm also wondering if there will be reentry for campers? And how the issue of sunlight will be dealt with in the "turnkey" tents - will there be any effort to create shade or darkness in the camping areas? Thanks Pasquale! I will say that once I'm inside EDC it's definitely one of my favorite places ever and I love attending. I would love to see the logistics improve and come back year after year A: PasqualeRotella: We have confirmed the third party company we will be using for shuttles and they provide transportation for the largest live events in the world. I am excited about collaborating with them to make it the best it’s ever been. Also, great camping question! The tents we are setting up will provide protection from sunlight. There are also multiple shade areas for not only activities around the campgrounds but also at the center camp, which is called The Mesa. We’ll have more details about this when we announce camping soon!

Q: Shannonraczka: Can we get a ball park range for camping passes? Also will they be available in a payment plan as well? Lastly can we get an estimated time that they will go on sale? Thank you!! A: PasqualeRotella: It will be between $250-$275 to bring in your RV, and we’ll have hook-ups available for an additional fee. As far as campers, there will be several different packages available. It depends how many people you’re with and what packages you choose, but you’ll be able to get something between $450 to $2,500 for 4 days of camping. This will all be laid out clearly before we go on sale with camping options.

Q: RaveMeSilly: With camping being added and festival hours being extended, are there plans to change the re-entry policy? I'd love to party from 3pm to 6am, but it would be clutch to be able to hit up the campgrounds for a bit in between to relax and recoup. A: PasqualeRotella: Yes, during festival hours you can come in and out of the show as long as you have a camping wristband [additional response on the same post] We will have in's and out's at the festival for campers, but non-campers will not be able to enter the campgrounds.

Q: TheHans215: How likely would it be to get a small stage, maybe even sponsored by like 7-Up again, inside of the huge shuttle tent outside the speedway? Waiting in the early hours of the morning would be way better with some chill music to groove to. Even better, have campers host the stage like a "sound camp" type thing. Doesn't have to be crazy lights or effects, just some sound to keep peoples moods high. A: PasqualeRotella: We're capable of building that, no problem. No plans for that right now but I like the idea. Thanks for the suggestion! That said, we do not plan on having a long wait at shuttles with our new provider.

Q: ekapote: Hi Pasquale! I have a question regarding security on shuttle waiting lines. Last year a huge cause of frustration, along with long waiting times, was due to large groups of people jumping the fence dividers and cutting lines leaving the festival. Does the new company plan on upping the amount of security monitoring these lines? There was no way cops on the outskirts could see what was happening inside the tents based on the layout. My group witnessed several fights break out, and we were concerned for the safety of everyone involved. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions! Can’t wait for 2018. ✌🏼🌼🦉 A: PasqualeRotella: The answer to that question is yes. Shuttle operations are gonna be completely different next year.

Q: juanmiindset: Im a Cast Member at Disneyland and Ive seen you and Holly at the park often, how much inspiration from Disneyland goes into these festivals if any? A: PasqualeRotella: I get inspiration from so many different places. Even going all the way back to the original LA warehouse underground scene. But yes, theme parks as well!

Q: DeClann: Will the livestreaming experience be improved for 2018? Having a continuous stream for each stage would be much more appreciated than 10-20min sets from only a handful of DJ's. I can't wait to see what you have in store for EDC 2018! A: PasqualeRotella: I've gotten mixed opinions from people for what they'd like to see on this. I do appreciate your input. We're capable of doing longer sets. Maybe I should get a vote on this from fans.

Q: brandejae: You advised that EDC 2018 will be getting longer hours, new shuttle service, camping and new stage designs. Does this include the neonGARDEN as well!? We've had the "TechnoTeepee" for going on three years now and it's definitely getting a bit stale. Personally, I really enjoyed 2013/14's designs with the larger structure and feel that Insomniac could take note from Awakenings & Time Warp for their new Factory93 experience. Techno has definitely been growing in the states and I feel like we are definitely past due for some upgrades! Thank you! A: PasqualeRotella: Agree! We are working on new designs for next year's neonGARDEN.

Q: Rekari: Are there any plans to update QuantumValley stage? This year was great, but could have been better with the addition of CO2. Also it seemed like it was too small of a venue for some of the bigger acts like ATB and Gareth Emery where it was completely packed this year. A: PasqualeRotella: Yes, I'm excited to say that it’s going to be a new open-air stage.

Q: Ilovewingsnthings: Pasquale, I LOVE all the main stage designs, but can we please have more LED on the main stage? I really like Insomniac visuals, but the last 3 years they been obstructed. Kinetic Cathedral has been the perfect balance. A: PasqualeRotella: We pretty much use all the LED in the United States for EDC Las Vegas every year so that might be difficult unless you own an LED company.

Q: Redrunk: Where exactly is the camping going to be on the speedway grounds? A: PasqualeRotella: Surrounding properties outside the Speedway grounds.

Q: slombar: As a big trance and Dreamstate fan, I have to admit the QuantumValley experience just didn't compare to the old Megastructure of Circuit Grounds. Is there any plan to bring a megastructure stage back? A: PasqualeRotella: There are no plans right now, but there's the possibility of bringing the megastructure back, just not for the circuitGROUNDS. It's not big enough to accommodate the people at that stage.

Q: xxalexmxx: Pasquale will you improve premier parking for edc 2018? I spent $150 this year and left at 4am and no one in the lot could leave till 8am friday it was horrible Everyone in GA left before us. The pass was for faster in and out but we were the last ones to leave Ive had premier for 3 years in a row. 2015-2016 was better so why change it Youve also moved it into a diffrent bigger lot which makes me think its more about the money now. Edit: Can you let us know if premier parking lot will be in the new 2017 lot again or will go back to the good lot they had in 2015-2016? A: PasqualeRotella: The only way that we’ll have it as an option is if it is 110% improved.

Q: vanewho: Pasquale! The announcements you made regarding the changes to EDC have definitely lived up to the hype and shows that you are actively trying to improve things for us. I've been attending EDC for 3 years now and this past year just felt.... off. It bummed me out a little but this gives me hope that 2018 will be great again. Question #1: Are you going to continue this trend of booking artists that are not part of the EDM scene? (DJ khaled, metro boomin, etc.) Question #2: A lot of headliners complained about being ripped off by the water vendors and being denied ice in 100° weather. Are you aware of this at all? A: PasqualeRotella: Thanks for supporting us for the past three years and reaching out to me today! For your first question, we'll always experiment with things out of the box. We are a dance music festival first and foremost, but we're gonna have fun sometimes, especially in Las Vegas, California. ;) As far as the water question, I never heard this before but thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll speak to the head of F&B at the Speedway. Good thing is the average temp in May is 64 at night. Thanks again. I'll get on this.

Q: Bertillcious21: Hey Pasquale! Just a quick question... Will shuttle prices go up with this change? When will you announce shuttle stops? Can we expect to have the same ones as last year? We want to book our hotel ASAP. A: PasqualeRotella: Not only are the prices not going up but shuttles will be immensely improved. All stops will be announced before the shuttles go on sale.

Q: kunfuz1on: Having a large quantity of DJ's at EDC is good for diversity but have you thought about lowering the amount of DJ's at the event in place of longer sets? It would be nice to see multiple DJ's play for 1.5 - 2 hours. A: PasqualeRotella: We will have artists periodically play extended set times depending on the genre or stage they are playing at.

Q: nnicot: Hi Mr. Rotella, as an 'older' festival-goer it's been amazing watching the evolution of Insomniac festivals through the years. present-day EDC especially is mind-boggling with its production quality and lineups. My mind was completely blown this year watching Valentino Khan throw down his ridiculous set while all the fireworks were going off in our faces right behind the Basspod stage! First question: after so many years of holding EDC in June, what was the final tipping point for you to move EDC to May? Second question: moving forward, how much involvement do you think you will have with the HARD brand of events, and what is your vision for the Hard brand? The recently revealed Holy Ship lineups are absolutely insane and have definitely served to calm the fears of many of the die-hard Ship fans. Thank you and my crew and I are eager to see what Insomniac brings in the future! A: PasqualeRotella: The biggest factor in our move to May was the cooler weather. It allows us to do camping, have extended hours, and the temperatures are way more comfortable for Headliners. It also takes if off of Father’s Day, which is great for me and all the other Dads. We’ve owned HARD for 4 years but haven’t operated it, with the exception of helping with HARD Summer at Glen Helen this past August. Moving forward we’ll continue with operations.

Q: IIcantstopwontstopII: Every year you manage to up the ante with production design, you see to have the perfect layout stage by stage at the speedway. Wil we ever see stages que relocated? Or since the system is already in place, will things forever stay the same? A: PasqualeRotella: We don’t have any plans to but if you think there’s a reason to, please let me know.

Q: mycleanaccount96: Why wont you release all dj sets recorded at edc? A: PasqualeRotella: We leave that up to the artists to make that decision.

Q: soondubu23: How safe is camping? Are personal items susceptible to stealing/looting while we're at the festival? A: PasqualeRotella: If you're in an RV I suggest you lock it. If you're staying in a tent, we ask that you bring your own lock as the zippers will have luggage lock holes. Security will be roaming the grounds as well. [later to the same post] You'll be able to access your vehicle if you want to lock items in there too.

Q: A_burdenless_pig: Hi Pasquale! Just wondering what the timeline for camping? What date could people check in and what is the latest they could check out? Thanks A: PasqualeRotella: Campers will definitely be able to check in on Thursday, but we're looking at the possibility of Wednesday. Checkout will be Monday around 7pm.

Q: sheriffChocolate: So my question, like so many others, is related to EDC camping. In the campground can we get above ground pools and have pool parties with DJs? Since we're so far away from the strip I feel like this would be a great way to supplement some EDC week pool parties and cool off! A: PasqualeRotella: That is being explored and likely to happen. Plus a lot more activities will happen. I'm excited about it.

Q: alpatt: Pasquale, Will EDC LV be going "cashless" and make the attendees utilize wristbands for payments in 2018 similar to other music festivals? A: PasqualeRotella: No plans for it right now but is that something you think we should do?

Q: Psirocking: Was edc ny ended over low turnout, high cost, or a bit of both? A: PasqualeRotella: The reason we no longer organize EDC New York is because we felt like we needed to find a better venue.

Q: shotnuke005: Where do you lean on the pineapple on the pizza argument? A: PasqualeRotella: All toppings are welcome here :)

Q: Ilovewingsnthings: Pasquale, I've always wondered this, what happens to the main stages after you're done using them. Where is Kinetic Cathedral for example. Scrapped for parts? I like to daydream that one day there will be an EDCLand full of all the mainstages A: PasqualeRotella: I have some artifacts in my backyard, there are some in the Insomniac warehouse, and we are looking to make an Insomniac Production Museum.

Q: cu4tro: Do you have any updates on a location for Middlelands? Lots of Texans hope it doesn't leave this state. Being from Texas and going to EDC since 2014, it was amazing to be able to RV camp at an insomniac festival so close to home. It was awesome running into you to personally thank you and welcome you back to TX since Nocturnal in Rockdale. Cant wait for RV camping at EDC! A: PasqualeRotella: We are still searching for the right venue and the plan is to definitely bring it back but not before finding the right place. Glad we crossed paths!

Q: throwaway3921218: What was the first festival you ever attended? A: PasqualeRotella: Grateful Dead show in Southern California with Mama Irene.

Q: king_of_nogainz: Mr. Rotella, my question to you is, have you ever Kandiflipped? A: PasqualeRotella: Yes but I’ve been sober for many years now

Q: wookin: Hey Pasquale, what's going on with the Mexico on sale? Do you have plans to donate to those affected by the earthquake? A: PasqualeRotella: The on sale will be October 16/17 for EDC Mexico and will raise funds for those affected by the earthquake. The same goes for EDC Orlando for those affected by the hurricane. And it doesn’t stop there. All of our major festivals support communities in need.

Q: manny-rr: Hey what is your favorite non insomniac festival and why? If it is burning man, what's your second favorite. A: PasqualeRotella: If you’re not letting me pick Burning Man, then I would say Boom Festival.

Q: aquino661: Would you ever consider throwing an edc inspired cruise? #EdcCruise A: PasqualeRotella: Yea an EDSEA has been considered many times. We will make it happen one of these days.

Q: ZerophoniK: Pasquale, do you play Fantasy Football? If so, who are your top players on your roster? A: PasqualeRotella: I don't play Fantasy Football but I do play Galaga and Donkey Kong

[qwertsypage]

Great Content from JSConf Budapest 2019

JSConf Budapest is a JSConf family member 2-day non-profit community conference about JavaScript in the beautiful Budapest, Hungary. RisingStack participated in the conf for several years as well as we did this September.

In 2019 we delivered a workshop called "High-Performance Microservices with GraphQL and Apollo" as our contribution to the event.

Now I'm happy to share the news with you that all conference talks are available online!

Top Picks by the Community:

Essential JavaScript debugging tools for the modern detective by Rebecca Hill

Debugging JavaScript can drive developers crazy. It’s not surprising when so many us stick to the trusty console.log - but there are better ways. From tracking down a critical issue in production, to simply struggling to add a new feature and not realising you’ve misread some documentation - debugging skills are used every day but it's difficult to take the time to improve those skills when the pressure is on.

This talk will show you some really handy techniques that will level up your skills of deductive reasoning.

Take on me, web browsers! by Eva Ferreira

In 1985 pop music was mesmerized by the a-ha “Take on me” music video. It’s been almost 35 years since then, the world needs new catchy tunes with impressive video animations… on the web.

In this talk we will explore the bewitching ways we can modify web videos and create immersive experiences worthy of the ‘80s using JavaScript and CSS. Let us swim in the why-not possibility of Chroma key, Rotoscoping and more video animation techniques on the web platform!

API Modernization: Building Bridges As You Cross Them by Shelley Vohr

In an ecosystem undergoing constant flux, what does it mean for an API to be modern?In this talk, I'll discuss the work that's taken place over the last year to deliver modern JavaScript APIs to developers in the Electron project, and the obstacles we encountered along the way.

You'll come away with a deeper understanding of how open source projects can more effectively balance innovation with maintenance, as well as perspectives on how to appropriately consider end-users and their needs when modernization affects the code they use.

Check all JSConf videos below:

Accessibility vs latest Web APIs. Can’t we just get along? by Mauricio Palma

Unfortunately, we still treat accessibility in the same way we deal with front-end development for older browsers, something to be done at the end. What if I tell you that we can use the latest Web APIs and still offer an inclusive and accessible experience.

In this talk, you'll learn how to combine Web APIs such as Speech Recognition and Geolocation, with performant Javascript techniques to create empathic user interfaces.

Testing in production: Ideas, experiences, limits, roadblocks by Jorge Marin

Are you afraid of testing in production? Do you test in production? Do you use real data?

By definition testing in production is hard. This talk puts together my experience testing in production a large scale system that affects millions of users. Experience, ideas, limits, roadblocks, tips and more.

Weaving the web - Programming textile-based interactions by Charlie Gerard

What if you could interact with interfaces and devices using your clothes? When we think about wearable garments, we usually think of the technology as an output. We might think of LED dresses or designer-made outfits that react to the environment but what if instead, we used this technology as an input, as a way to interact with other things.

This talk walks you through the process of making interactive clothing using conductive textile. Also Charlie shows what it can do and talks about the possibilities and limits of such technology.

Composing music with composed functions by Adam Giese

Functional programming can be difficult to learn. Although there are many practical lessons, they are often hidden through academic lingo and dry examples. What if these basics could be livened up and taught through the lens of music?

Together, we will go over some of the basics of functional programming including functional array manipulation, closure, immutability, and composing functions. Adam also shows how they can be applied to the creation of music and musical instruments using the web audio API.

How not to read the room: Creating socially awkward wearables by Stephanie Nemeth

I’m introvert. This can be bit unfortunate, when you are a person that enjoys spending a lot of their free time creating things bedazzled with LEDs… only to rarely wear them out in public. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In an effort to actually share my weird and wonderful creations with others, I decided create a wearable project that would force me to be sociable in order for it to reveal its magic.

In this talk, Stephanie shares how she used machine learning with javascript and tiny computers to make “fashion” that is responsive to the people around you and the attention you are (or aren’t) receiving.

Taming Git-osaurus Using Mystical Trees by Damini Satya Kammakomati

Raise your hands if you all start to panic when you mess up your local git workflow, trying frantically to save your work and eventually giving in to the complications thereby deleting your repository. Well, Git isn’t the terrible dinosaur you think it is, on the contrary, the messier it becomes, the more interesting it gets.

This session aims to make friends with Git and to express the hidden gems in the mysterious git land which will definitely help you to become more productive and look cool in front of your peers struggling with a git-gone-wild.

Web Norms of the World: An exploration of the internet beyond the West by Kat Kitay

Flat, muted minimalism, vast fields of whitespace, millennial pink landing pages: the internet today, amirite? In this talk, we'll take stock of these biases and take a culturally relativistic look at the internet outside of our comfort zone. We'll explore questions like: Why are Japanese websites so information-dense? How does a script like Arabic, read right to left, affect web design? What languages do (or can) programmers across the world use?

The viewers of this talk will walk away with a fresh perspective and ideas for improving our web and making technology that's more inclusive of a global audience.

Legendary Lambdas by Tejas Kumar

The Serverless paradigm is one that is slowly taking over the internet. This talk dives deep into Serverless, particularly Serverless Lambda Functions, and their benefits and drawbacks to web applications. We will also discuss how they can benefit business, being extremely cheap to implement and maintain.

As a practical, technical case study, we will examine serverless performance across a number of popular front-end UI frameworks and measure various metrics relevant to a serverless application.

Mastering UIs with Finite State Machines by Rubén Sospedra

Did you ever feel like monkey patching your UI component? Adding too many if/else, handling a lot of complexity or hacking several non-desired side effects. Did you ever have a problem with double-clicking an async button? Fetching multiple times the same resource in a row? Did you have problems translating UX interfaces and mock-ups into your applications scenes?

All this kind of problems can be properly fixed by applying a different point of view. An architecture based upon Mealy state machines. Also known as finite state machines or automatas. These machines are deterministic, pure and idempotents. Opening a new set of possibilities from predictable components to autogenerated tests.

Deciphering Brainwaves with the Web Audio API by Braden Moore

Early last year, my colleagues and I did something amazing — using only JavaScript, the browser, and the Web Audio API, we were able to decipher brainwaves. It sounds sensational, but it’s (mostly) true. This is a story about how we converted brainwaves into audio signals — and then back again — to solve the problem of epilepsy diagnosis on the web.

In this talk, you’ll get to see a new browser API being used in a novel and unprecedented way, combined with world-leading innovations in the field of epilepsy diagnosis. You’ll learn about the challenges of real-time brainwave filtering and how we solved them. As you’ll see, the technologies we use each day can sometimes be applied in unexpected ways.

A privacy first period tracker? Is it even possible? by Benedicte Raae

Do I want to track my cycles? Yes. Do I want the tracker to push my data to a third party? Hell NO! Do I want the data lying around unencrypted in a database somewhere? Not really. Do I want backup and access from multiple devices? Kinda.. What would I need to learn and is it even possible?

Learn how Benedicte created a secure and private web-based period tracker.

StrangerDanger: Finding Security Vulnerabilities Before They Find You! by Liran Tal

Open source modules on the NPM ecosystem are undoubtedly awesome. However, they also represent an undeniable and massive risk. You’re introducing someone else’s code into your system, often with little or no scrutiny. The wrong package can introduce severe vulnerabilities into your application, exposing your application and your user's data.

This talk will use a sample application, Goof, which uses various vulnerable dependencies, which we will exploit as an attacker would. For each issue, we'll explain why it happened, show its impact, and – most importantly – see how to avoid or fix it.

Testing presentation components visually by Balázs Korossy-Khayll

You have written all the unit tests, integration and e2e tests imaginable to your project, your code coverage is in the skies, you are sure that everything is in working order, your application is ready to ship. Or is it? Frontend developers often face the challenge that even a plethora of tests don’t cover visual differences, and while the functionality might be working and protected by tests, we don’t know much about the layout’s and visual styles’ correctness.

Writing unit tests or manual testing for visual styles is tiresome and error-prone, so at BlackRock we came up with a better solution. Using Storybook we have developed a way of comparing visual differences of the rendered images of our presentational components.

Great Content from JSConf Budapest 2019 published first on https://koresolpage.tumblr.com/

[lovediva0303]

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt

We’ve talked about illustration Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . and graphic styles plenty. Let’s turn out attention towards another favorite design manifestation of mine: logos. I find them to be a very difficult and complex part of branding, that can make or break a business.Gestalten is a famous German book publisher championing visual content from graphic design, in particular. Now, if we piece these two together we get the newest edition of Los Logos, the 8th one in the series. It was launched in September of last year but now is still an excellent time to bring it to your attention.The collection is a guide for designers, brand managers or marketing strategists inside the world of contemporary logo designs. It explores examples from all over the world, with insights on creative processes, developments and, of course, trend predictions. It’s inspiration on steroids, with interviews that reveal approaches from both big brands and small, undiscovered studios.The book is perfectly curated, with an amazing layout, constituting a necessity for any professional in the industry wanting to understand the evolution and status quo of the logo.Therefore, Los Logos 8 should be on your desk right now as an indispensable guide to turn to. Anytime you feel like you’re running out of creative juices, this 400-page book will spark it up again. Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Classic Ladies

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Hoodie

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your LongSleeve

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Sweatshirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Unisex Let’s properly start the New Year, by sensibly building your creative approach Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . Before you get down to business, you should review the trends.I know! Ideally, it shouldn’t be about what’s popular, but what your designer soul tells you. Unfortunately, we do not live in that perfect world; regardless of how much we wish we did. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create from the bottom of your heart. My advice is to find a common ground between that and expert prognosis on what’s going to be big in 2018.Shutterstock does that kind of analysis each year, to prepare everyone using their services. It’s a little head’s up to creatives, although these creatives might be the actual trendsetters, without even realizing it.Just like fashion, I don’t know how much is natural aesthetic burst and how much are artificially induced tendencies, by the big players in the industry. I wouldn’t know the reasons for the latter. Yet, looking at the Shutterstock predictions, these trends make sense because they are fun, challenging and you can work in unimaginable ways around them.11 styles seem to have emerged, and some we also see manifesting themselves in t-shirt designing. On top of this selection, the famous stock image site will cover these trends across the entire year, with tips and tutorials. It is a reliable source to regularly come back to and get inspiration from.Here are the 2018 popular design trends that Shutterstock says you shouldn’t let out if your sight. I included some examples of our own that apply in the t-shirt industry: You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[lovediva1313]

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt

We’ve talked about illustration Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . and graphic styles plenty. Let’s turn out attention towards another favorite design manifestation of mine: logos. I find them to be a very difficult and complex part of branding, that can make or break a business.Gestalten is a famous German book publisher championing visual content from graphic design, in particular. Now, if we piece these two together we get the newest edition of Los Logos, the 8th one in the series. It was launched in September of last year but now is still an excellent time to bring it to your attention.The collection is a guide for designers, brand managers or marketing strategists inside the world of contemporary logo designs. It explores examples from all over the world, with insights on creative processes, developments and, of course, trend predictions. It’s inspiration on steroids, with interviews that reveal approaches from both big brands and small, undiscovered studios.The book is perfectly curated, with an amazing layout, constituting a necessity for any professional in the industry wanting to understand the evolution and status quo of the logo.Therefore, Los Logos 8 should be on your desk right now as an indispensable guide to turn to. Anytime you feel like you’re running out of creative juices, this 400-page book will spark it up again. Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Classic Ladies

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Hoodie

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your LongSleeve

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Sweatshirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Unisex Let’s properly start the New Year, by sensibly building your creative approach Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . Before you get down to business, you should review the trends.I know! Ideally, it shouldn’t be about what’s popular, but what your designer soul tells you. Unfortunately, we do not live in that perfect world; regardless of how much we wish we did. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create from the bottom of your heart. My advice is to find a common ground between that and expert prognosis on what’s going to be big in 2018.Shutterstock does that kind of analysis each year, to prepare everyone using their services. It’s a little head’s up to creatives, although these creatives might be the actual trendsetters, without even realizing it.Just like fashion, I don’t know how much is natural aesthetic burst and how much are artificially induced tendencies, by the big players in the industry. I wouldn’t know the reasons for the latter. Yet, looking at the Shutterstock predictions, these trends make sense because they are fun, challenging and you can work in unimaginable ways around them.11 styles seem to have emerged, and some we also see manifesting themselves in t-shirt designing. On top of this selection, the famous stock image site will cover these trends across the entire year, with tips and tutorials. It is a reliable source to regularly come back to and get inspiration from.Here are the 2018 popular design trends that Shutterstock says you shouldn’t let out if your sight. I included some examples of our own that apply in the t-shirt industry: You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[lovediva013]

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt

We’ve talked about illustration Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . and graphic styles plenty. Let’s turn out attention towards another favorite design manifestation of mine: logos. I find them to be a very difficult and complex part of branding, that can make or break a business.Gestalten is a famous German book publisher championing visual content from graphic design, in particular. Now, if we piece these two together we get the newest edition of Los Logos, the 8th one in the series. It was launched in September of last year but now is still an excellent time to bring it to your attention.The collection is a guide for designers, brand managers or marketing strategists inside the world of contemporary logo designs. It explores examples from all over the world, with insights on creative processes, developments and, of course, trend predictions. It’s inspiration on steroids, with interviews that reveal approaches from both big brands and small, undiscovered studios.The book is perfectly curated, with an amazing layout, constituting a necessity for any professional in the industry wanting to understand the evolution and status quo of the logo.Therefore, Los Logos 8 should be on your desk right now as an indispensable guide to turn to. Anytime you feel like you’re running out of creative juices, this 400-page book will spark it up again. Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Classic Ladies

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Hoodie

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your LongSleeve

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Sweatshirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Unisex Let’s properly start the New Year, by sensibly building your creative approach Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . Before you get down to business, you should review the trends.I know! Ideally, it shouldn’t be about what’s popular, but what your designer soul tells you. Unfortunately, we do not live in that perfect world; regardless of how much we wish we did. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create from the bottom of your heart. My advice is to find a common ground between that and expert prognosis on what’s going to be big in 2018.Shutterstock does that kind of analysis each year, to prepare everyone using their services. It’s a little head’s up to creatives, although these creatives might be the actual trendsetters, without even realizing it.Just like fashion, I don’t know how much is natural aesthetic burst and how much are artificially induced tendencies, by the big players in the industry. I wouldn’t know the reasons for the latter. Yet, looking at the Shutterstock predictions, these trends make sense because they are fun, challenging and you can work in unimaginable ways around them.11 styles seem to have emerged, and some we also see manifesting themselves in t-shirt designing. On top of this selection, the famous stock image site will cover these trends across the entire year, with tips and tutorials. It is a reliable source to regularly come back to and get inspiration from.Here are the 2018 popular design trends that Shutterstock says you shouldn’t let out if your sight. I included some examples of our own that apply in the t-shirt industry: You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[beautshirt79]

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt

We’ve talked about illustration Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . and graphic styles plenty. Let’s turn out attention towards another favorite design manifestation of mine: logos. I find them to be a very difficult and complex part of branding, that can make or break a business.Gestalten is a famous German book publisher championing visual content from graphic design, in particular. Now, if we piece these two together we get the newest edition of Los Logos, the 8th one in the series. It was launched in September of last year but now is still an excellent time to bring it to your attention.The collection is a guide for designers, brand managers or marketing strategists inside the world of contemporary logo designs. It explores examples from all over the world, with insights on creative processes, developments and, of course, trend predictions. It’s inspiration on steroids, with interviews that reveal approaches from both big brands and small, undiscovered studios.The book is perfectly curated, with an amazing layout, constituting a necessity for any professional in the industry wanting to understand the evolution and status quo of the logo.Therefore, Los Logos 8 should be on your desk right now as an indispensable guide to turn to. Anytime you feel like you’re running out of creative juices, this 400-page book will spark it up again. Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Classic Ladies

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Hoodie

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your LongSleeve

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Sweatshirt

Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your Unisex Let’s properly start the New Year, by sensibly building your creative approach Joker Joaquin Phoenix I am not crazy my reality is just different than your shirt . Before you get down to business, you should review the trends.I know! Ideally, it shouldn’t be about what’s popular, but what your designer soul tells you. Unfortunately, we do not live in that perfect world; regardless of how much we wish we did. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create from the bottom of your heart. My advice is to find a common ground between that and expert prognosis on what’s going to be big in 2018.Shutterstock does that kind of analysis each year, to prepare everyone using their services. It’s a little head’s up to creatives, although these creatives might be the actual trendsetters, without even realizing it.Just like fashion, I don’t know how much is natural aesthetic burst and how much are artificially induced tendencies, by the big players in the industry. I wouldn’t know the reasons for the latter. Yet, looking at the Shutterstock predictions, these trends make sense because they are fun, challenging and you can work in unimaginable ways around them.11 styles seem to have emerged, and some we also see manifesting themselves in t-shirt designing. On top of this selection, the famous stock image site will cover these trends across the entire year, with tips and tutorials. It is a reliable source to regularly come back to and get inspiration from.Here are the 2018 popular design trends that Shutterstock says you shouldn’t let out if your sight. I included some examples of our own that apply in the t-shirt industry: You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[oosteven-universe]

Test #1

Test #1 Vault Comics 2019 Written by Christopher Sebela Illustrated by Jen Hickman Coloured by Harry Saxon Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou     Aleph Null is a lot of things: An orphan, a human guinea pig undergoing medical tests for cash, a bodyhacker, a hardcore future junkie, and a corporate asset. But now, Aleph is on the run from their old life, in search of a mythical, Midwestern town named Laurelwood—where they’re test-marketing the future with tech that can’t possibly exist yet, and won’t for decades.     Here is the thing I never know what I am going to experience when Christopher is writing a new book. I’d love to spend time with him getting a better glimpse at what goes on his head and I could just imagine the pillow talk. This is a tad barmy but then that’s always the best stories and we all know that’s true. The opening is where you’ll figure out right off the bat that something isn’t right here. Aleph is introduced in a rather unique and different way and I actually like the fact that he/she/they got a ride from a trucker and didn’t have to put out for it.     That is the other thing we notice, we aren’t sure who or what Aleph is, not gender wise anyway and that’s intriguing in and of itself. The ambiguity there is something that can be played with in ways we’ve yet to see done and I am excited for it. I have to say that there are a few things that are in this issue that really caught my attention in some very positive ways. Aleph’s own narration and then the computerised version of the repo report. Both of these were able to convey quite a bit of information that is invaluable to how we as the reader will find ourselves able to relate to Aleph better.     I love the way that this book is structured. The ebb & flow of how information is released and how we see the plot & story development along with it’s pacing and then add the character development and how we see it all come together is extremely well done. Christopher really does have this amazing skill set and talent at his disposal and he knows how to best utilise them. This makes it incredibly enjoyable for a myriad of reason including but not limited to keeping us guessing with every page.     Oh Jen pulls out all the stops for this one as well. I have seen her work before and just by looking at this I wouldn’t have pegged is as her style. There is something fresh and different in what I am seeing here. The linework has both this rough and gruff and clean and crisp moments and the varying weights are utilised so extremely well that all of it just kind creates a new kind of perfect storm. I like the composition in the panels with close ups, stellar utilisation of backgrounds not to mention the angles and perspective which also goes along with how we see the page layouts showcase her rather stupendous eye for storytelling. ​     I have been a fan of Harry’s colouring and it’s great to see him on book like this one. There are a lot of different colours, schemes and tones happening here and which makes it crazy difficult. Harry has the technology, he has the capability to be better than he was before, smarter, faster stronger, but has the skills and I love seeing them in play here. The mood and tone of the book is beautifully demonstrated with bright or muted colour. The effective way that gradation is utilised through light sources that also create highlights, shading and shadows.     The next time someone asks for a recommendation on what to read, don’t even hesitate and tell them Test! And I’m telling you to read it too because this is crazier than a shit-house rat and that’s precisely why you are going to fall in love with it. Amazing writing and interior artwork from these folks make me want more and more right now. Vault and their line of Science Fiction, from straight up to horror and everything else in between, is where you really need to go for comics that can rival the classics themselves.

[peoplium]

Congratulations, you found the courage to ask someone special, and he/she said yes. Now comes the challenging part: planning your first date.

But if you still struggling to find your soulmate, you can check our advice to help.

I know it can be scary. You want to organize your date to make sure you have a great time and prove how interested you are. But you also don’t want to appear to be putting in too much effort or investing a lot in something that might not be working.

To help you, I put together a foolproof list of first date ideas organized from the easiest to the most difficult. Check out our 17 best first date ideas and more than 10 useful first date tips.

Let’s get started.

Local Bar.

The first date idea has to be the easiest: asking her out for drinks at a local bar. Most guys have and are probably familiar with this one. It is the most common setting for a first date. While a dimly lit quiet bar is one of the perfect settings for a casual date, you’ll not win any points for originality; this is one of the lowest safe data ideas in the list.

Grabbing a Coffee.

A Second cute first date idea: if you’re very nervous about asking a girl out for a date, then suggest grabbing a coffee or something.  And it’s a great way to test the waters and see if she’s interested in you romantically. Meeting for coffee in the morning or afternoon with a woman is a very low-risk and potentially high-reward.

Carnival Parks.

The Third idea on our comprehensive list of the top 17 first date ideas is to take her to the local carnival or theme parks. They could be full of light, sounds, snacks, drinks, and all manner of crazy activities. A good tip is to focus on the fixed carnival games, or you can try your best to win for a giant furry animal just like in the movies.

Stroll in the park.

The fourth spot on our roundup of amazing and simple first date ideas is a super romantic and affordable:  stroll in the park. At some point, it costs you nothing except stepping up your conversation games, and let’s faces it.

Museums.

The fifth one:   taking her to museums. To pull off a successful museum date, you’ll have to know which exhibitions are on at the moment. So make sure you do your research ahead of time.

Home Cooks.

Number six of this roundup best first date ideas will appeal to foodies and home cooks. If you suggest attending a cooking class with your date, you’ll probably surprise her with your originality. Unlike previous options, this one comes with a set start and end time. So there’s no sneaking off early if things do not seem to be working out. But a cooking class could be a fantastic way of breaking the ice and diffusing any nerves you might both feel by engaging your date.

A Dancing Date.

Number seven is to take that beautiful lady out dancing. No woman will be attracted to a man who refuses to dance and instead stand free food by the wall. The trick is to make sure you’re having fun and not care what everyone else thinks. No need to invest hundreds of dollars in the private dance classes. Be yourself and make sure you put the focus on her.

Hiking.

Number eight is:  go on a hike. It’s a great way to catch up with someone, and it’s rewarding when you get to the top of that mountain, and you see some great views.

Go to the Beach.

Number Nine is: go to the beach. The beach is impressive. If you don’t live by the ocean, you can still go to a lake. You can build a sandcastle, play beach volleyball, bringing a bottle of wine up to the beach, and sit there and relax in the Sun.

In-home Movie Theater Date.

Number Ten date idea is an in-home movie theatre date. So basically, what that means is you pick a movie. I recommend a scary movie.  And I want you to add some beautiful, comfortable blankets on the couch. Bonus points, if you make like movie ticket stubs, I think that is so cute, cheesy and weird.

Build a pillow or a blanket.

Oh yes, we’re getting old school.  I mean there isn’t much to say about it except that this is a brilliantly simple idea and it’s always fun.  Extra points if you have like fairy lights, wouldn’t recommend candles that could go horrifically wrong.

Baking.

I mean, who doesn’t love some baking?   You can do cookies; you can do flapjacks, you can do brownies, you can do pies, sweet or savory, you can do crumble.  I mean, possibilities are endless, and then you get to eat it afterward.

Picnic at Home.

Go to the shop, buy whatever little bits of food and nibbles and snacks that you would have at a picnic. And layout a rug on your kitchen floor or your living room floor or camping in your backyard, and I will allow candles for this occasion.

Crafting.

Do some crafting or coloring in a book.  Crafting is so peaceful and cathartic.  But only if you pick an easy task. Something that is simple and that you repeat. 

Homemade Pizza.

It is a classic. You can do that, where you get all flirty and start throwing flour at each other. It’s still great; you get to make the dough or buy pre-made dough, roll out the dough, put on your bases and your cheeses.  Customize and personalize all the different toppings that you want and then eating it. 

Tasting Party.

Having your tasting party, tasting menu, so you can pick whatever category you like so you could pick chocolate,  you could choose a wine, you could pick cheese,  you could pick whiskey.  You could do whatever you like, and you order in a bunch of samples, samples or whole bottles,  depends on how much you want to pay to get started,  read up about each thing, learn a little bit about its history, where it comes from, and all of that and then drink slash taste it.

A Cocktail Date.

The latest from our list of first date ideas is a “cocktail date”. In this kind of “rendezvous”, you could do something delicious, or you could do something that tastes awful.  If you don’t drink, you can make mocktails. You can still make some fun concoctions that don’t have any alcohol in them.

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The Most Valuable First Date Tips.

So you’ve asked a gorgeous girl out, and you want your first date together to go well. It can be stressful, that’s why knowing some useful tips will be helpful.

I gather for you the most valuable first date tips from Quora.com and Reddit.com

1Be Normal.

Might sound vague, but all it means: show her a regular experience. And not one that’s weird or unusual. Don’t show her at dinner how you can burp the alphabet. And don’t bring a magic set with you to the date and surprise her with an illusion. Instead, be normal: Be considerate, polite, and down-to-earth. And take her somewhere normal: fun, casual, and light-hearted. 

2Show up on time.

This tip shouldn’t surprise you, as it’s generally polite to show up on time. But, why is it so important on a first date? Because being late shows her one of two things, either you’re too lazy and irresponsible to plan your day to be on time. Or you don’t value her time enough to make your date a priority. Plus, waiting for you is just annoying, and that alone is the last impression you want to make on a first date, right?

3Be Proud Enough of Your Appearance to Dress Well.

You don’t have to spend all day getting ready for your date. But that doesn’t mean that you should only spend a few seconds getting prepared. She looks her best to show you that you’re worth the effort. So why wouldn’t you do the same for her? Take a shower, groom your beard and hair, Put on a nice, clean shirt. Show her that you care enough about her to put in the effort to look your best. 

4Have a Well-Designed Date.

This fourth tips might be the essential step to first date success. Fortunately, with the right formula, planning a fun and casual date is easy. What’s the right formula? Simple: A meal + an activity. Take her to a good meal. Somewhere lovely but not fancy, then to an activity, like mini-golf, ice skating, or an arcade. This combination gives you a fun, easy way to get to know her, Without the pressure of a formal dinner. 

5Don’t Let Her Know the Whole Plan.

Have a plan for the date, but don’t let her know what that plan is. Women love surprises, especially on a first date. It shows that you’re spontaneous, fun, and will always show her a good time. Now, it’s important to let her know some information about the date. Like if she should dress up, bring something warm, or avoid high heels, But don’t tell her everything. She’ll love the excitement and surprise of the unknown. 

6Compliment Her.

Every woman loves thoughtful and appropriate compliments. But what do we mean by ‘thoughtful’ and ‘appropriate’ compliments? Generous compliments are specific to her, not general or vague. And appropriate compliments are neither too serious nor too sexual.

7Don’t Just Talk About Yourself.

You won’t make her like you by overloading her with information about yourself. Not only will that push her away, but it’s also a huge turn off to women. So instead, ask her thoughtful questions about her family, past, interests, and goals. Go into the date to know her as much as possible. You’ll notice that showing that much interest in her makes her like you more and even makes her want to get to know you better. 

We have a very helpful section in our article called “How to Talk to Girls“. Give it a look.

8Think about Your First Date Questions and Conversation Starters 

Both men and women fear too much silence on the first date. So plan out a few conversation starters that you can ask her like: 

‘If you had an entire day off work to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?’

‘Where in the world do you want to travel most?’.

‘How Would You Spend A Billion Dollars?’ 

Even if you don’t use these, it’s nice to know that you have them if needed. 

9Know If You Should Kiss Her.

Most girls expect a kiss on the first date, but if you think about it. You’re much more memorable if you don’t kiss her then. You’ll be different from overeager guys who’ve kissed her right away in the past. And she’ll even be more excited to kiss on the second date. So consider waiting to kiss for the first time and make her want it by the time it comes on your second date.

10Land a Second Date.

You might have heard the ‘rule’ to wait three days before calling a girl after a date. But that rule is ridiculous. Simply because: She doesn’t want to wait around for three whole days to hear that you like her enough to go out again. So call her the next day, and schedule your second date. 

11Keep in Touch.

After a great first date, it’s essential to keep in touch with her. So call or text every few days, to let her know you’re still interested. Why should you do that? If you don’t, contrary to what a lot of guys think, it will not make her like you more; it will only make her confused or angry. So keep a good impression from your first date, and stay in contact with your girl. 

Use these tips to nail your first date, and even land a second! 

The post 27 First Date Ideas and Tips That Are Actually Useful. appeared first on PeoPlium.