#fancy tree films

[abbeyofcyn]

Meet baby Leo(nardo)

After a first bonding went very wrong, I finally got Pippin a tiny new friend.

I hope Merry can rest peacefully knowing his brother has someone to care for now he's gone ❤️

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

HI I know the new Halloween character isn't out yet but I needed an outlet for my excitement (Yes, I am unfortunately a Nightmare Before Christmas girlie) 💀 so please be advised that he may not be in character here, I'm just writing based on vibes! This is technically a twisted!Jack Skellington x Reader fic, but the Reader is basically playing a role similar as Sally from the film.

P.S. I want everyone to know that I busted out my drawing tablet to make this special border for him the same day he was first announced... Yeah...

Boo.

On the nights with full moons, he liked to steal away to the Spiral Hill on the outskirts of town.

The outcrop of land overlooked a vast graveyard and field laden with pumpkins, perfuming the air with the crisp sweetness characteristic of autumn. Beyond it, uncharted territory. When he squinted into the darkness, he could make out the vague shapes of naked trees, their gnarled branches like fingers beckoning him to approach, whispering his name.

He draped his long, lithe legs over the hill, letting them hang in the frigid air. Spindly as he was, the wind easily blew them, knocking his legs around like the straw-stuffed limbs of a scarecrow. He kicked with the breeze, carefree as a child on a playground swing.

The moon stitched his pinstriped suit and tattered cravat with silver thread, touched his pointed crown at its highest points. Even the white ribbons ribbing his jacket and the pattern of bones tugged over his gloves seemed to glow under the celestial light. He liked the view, and the view seemed to like him, too.

Held in his skeletal hand was a single flower. He stroked a silken petal, then slipped another finger under it, plucking the petal free. The wind claimed it, setting it sailing off into the unknown.

He continued. A second, a third. So on and so forth, until the flower was left stripped down and barren, even robbed of its leaves.

He dropped the stem off the hill. The pumpkins below consumed it, and the once lovely flower’s body became one with the patch.

"I figured this is where you were."

He lowered his dark circular lenses. His bright eyes slid to the figure that had approached from behind, on feet so swift they hardly made a sound. They came in with the sweetness of deadly nightshade, the trace of a poisoning committed at midnight. "Not a lethal dose, just enough to knock the doctor out for a few hours," as they always said. "How else would I sneak out to see you?"

Dry, ghostly lips dashed with hatch marks pried into an open smile, both teeth and the gaps between them. Charming, in a crooked sort of way. "My dear. You've come."

You bent down. “If you don't mind, I'd like to join.”

“The spot beside me is always reserved for you.” He patted it, inviting you to take a seat.

"Such a gentleman." You sunk down, folding your hands in your lap. "And so handsome when you're brooding. You're terribly good at that."

He was, he was, especially silhouetted by the moon. The man was practically monochrome, but bathed in silver like this, his pale skin was less sickly and more ethereal. He almost appeared like a cruel angel in the light, descending to expunge evil.

"I'm not brooding," he pouted, "I'm dreaming."

“Dreaming." You reached out and tucked a strand of alabaster hair behind his ear. "Father says it’s a ridiculous, wild thing.”

"Ah, but that's what makes it so much thrilling. Life’s no fun without a good scare.”

His mouth quirked to one side, and his smile became off-kilter--as his ideas often were. "He'll bring us to ruin with his crazy, new-fangled thinking and flights of fancy," your father would complain. But you adored that about the boy. How spontaneous he was, how his curiosity was never-ending. He'd race about like a child, picking items up and sticking his face where it probably shouldn't go.

Full of life in this otherwise lifeless town.

"What's this? What's this?" he'd say. "I must know!"

"He's gone daffy," your father would declare.

"Mmm." You nodded absentmindedly, tracing your fingers along the shell of his ear and down to his arm. "What were you dreaming about today?"

He lifted his head, looking beyond the hill and to the woods. Not a word was exchanged. None had to be.

"The Hinterlands?" you whispered. "But we don't know what's out there. No ghoul or monster has ever ventured out that far."

"Then sounds like I'll be the first! They’ll put me down in the history books as a pioneer." His laughter brightened up the gloomy night. When he quieted, his gaze was solemn—more solemn than you'd ever witnessed him. "... Don't you wonder about what's out there? Stuff that's cold and fluffy and falls from the sky. Things that come in colors we haven't seen."

"Sometimes," you admitted quietly, "but those are just dreams. I don't chase them."

"Maybe you should. We should," he mused, fingers tucked under his chin. "I bet there's all sorts of things we've never even dreamed of, too. And wouldn’t you like to see something strange?”

"I would. I really, really would," you told him in a soothing tone. Trying to reassure him as much as you were yourself. "Let's not doing anything dangerous though. I sense something in the wind—tragedy at hand. I can't shake that feeling that something bad is around the bend if you tread that path."

You gingerly laid your hand over his. Behind tinted lenses, his eyes widened.

"Stay here with me," you begged. "We can be together. Gaze at the stars. Be safe in one another's arms."

“… Sweetness, I would love for nothing more than to have you and to hold you ‘til death do us part.” His voice fluttered like the brush of a falling leaf upon your cheek. He regarded you tenderly, locking his fingers with yours and squeezing. “But you know that’s not the kind of man I am.”

“Yes, you’re every flavor of foolish imaginable,” you replied, pressing your forehead against his, “and I love you for that.”

“As do I.” He brought his icy lips to the back of your hand. A chill spider-walked up your arm, and you shivered.

“Then…”

“That’s why I must depart one day.” He pushed his glasses up. You caught the tragic reflection of your face in his lenses. “Out there… something more awaits us. I’m sure of that. I intend to find it and revive our town, this season that’s gone stale.”

“I won’t stop you if you decide to go,” you murmured. “And I will count the days until you return to me.”

“I knew you’d understand.” His smile—now it was touched with sadness, the knowledge of soon parting ways. “Thank you, dearest.”

He stood slowly, drawing you up with him. Your feet followed, as if pulled along by a puppeteer. How in sync the two of you were, how nicely molded your bodies were to one another’s. Your joy melded under the watchful eye of the moon.

“Shall we share a dance? One for the road,” he crooned. An errant breeze tousled his pallid hair, his tattered coattails—but to you, he was fairest of them all. “Our last dance for a while.”

“Alright, let’s make this one count,” you chuckled, “so I can send you off on your travels with a smile.”

“Excellent 🎵” He slid a hand around your waist, guiding you to lean into him. “Let the merrymaking commence!!”

“Yes…!!”

The midnight waltz began.

He led you, step by step, and you trailed after. Movements easy and effortless, like two intertwining maple leaves, spinning and spiraling. Their partner, the center of their universe.

“It’s as plain anyone can see,” he breathed.

“We’re simply meant to be,” you returned.

They danced as if possessed or an enchantment was cast upon their footwear. The moment too sweet, too succulent, to relinquish so soon. They wanted to savor it, indulge in it—and each other.

For never was there a more perfect pair than the Pumpkin King and his consort.

[ms-demeanor]

Do you know of any resources for physical film photo manipulation? Not sure if there's different terms for non-digital stuff, but I'm having a hard time finding anything.

Okay so there are, I'm going to say (casually, informally, and inexpertly - photography experts feel free to correct me or add on to what I've missed), four major types of photo manipulation that are common with non-digital photography. They are: exposure manipulation, compositing, actually photographing weird bullshit, and just straight up painting.

Exposure manipulation gets you things like Ansel Adams "Moonrise." This is what it looks like if it's evenly exposed:

And this is what it looks like with significant modifications to the exposure:

That is. Like. SEVERAL layers of different exposures for the final print. This can be achieved through processes called "dodging" and "burning." "Dodging" is creating a physical mask so that the parts of the negative you want to remain darker are exposed to less light. "Burning" is creating a physical mask so that the areas you the negative you want to be brighter are exposed to more light.

This is a process that is really, really easy to do in photoshop, and really really hard to do in film.

Here is a very comprehensive writeup of how to dodge and burn, and why you might want to.

Compositing is a fancy way of saying "copy/paste". But more so. And with more techniques. Compositing is basically combining two or more images to create one new image. You can do this by making multiple exposures (exposing the negative to light multiple times), splicing film negatives together (physically cutting the negatives and taping pieces to each other), or by combining negatives and prints into a new print. For instance the image below is made up of six different photos, which were composited into a single image by Henry Peach Robinson in 1877.

This is an article written by a photographer who walks you through the process they used to make a composite print in 2020. It involves a lot of planning, cutting, pasting, masking, dodging, and burning. This is a writeup from a photographer who uses a more blunt method of splicing negatives together to create more abstract images.

Actually photographing weird bullshit is what I'm calling "in camera effects." There are all kinds of tricks that you can use while taking a photo to create surreal or magical effects. One that a lot of people know is the speeder in Star Wars:

The floating speeder wasn't achieved through later manipulation of the film, but instead through mirrors hanging in front of the wheels and vaseline smeared on the camera lens to create a blurred effect.

Light painting is perhaps the most commonly used of these kinds of effects:

That's a 6-second exposure, the first three seconds were of the cup and saucer still, then the light was lowered as the cup was lifted and light was swept up when the cup was in place to make it look like it was floating.

The Cottingley Fairy Hoax is one of the best known examples of manipulating photos by just photographing weird bullshit. In 1917, two girls cut pictures of fairies out of a book and took pictures of themselves with the paper fairies propped up in trees, then swore up and down that they actually found fairies.

This seems crude, but hey they couldn't reverse image search the fairies or anything back then. Some of the photos also make good use of forced perspective, which is something that we still use for in-camera manipulations (it was how a lot of Lord of the Rings was filmed in order to make the hobbits look small)

Here's a listicle with a bunch of "hacks" for using your camera and for testing out some types of in-camera effects.

Just Straight Up Painting is what I'm calling photo retouching. It's a bit of an exaggeration to call it "painting" but yeah sometimes it was literally putting paint on negatives or etching away parts of negatives. It's how you end up with photos like this:

Here's an article about retouched photos of Joseph Stalin (maybe the most well known examples of pre-digital photo retouching) and an article about the art of portrait retouching. These examples are relatively subtle, but you can also use these kinds of retouching and airbrush techniques to exaggerate parts of an image or add objects to an image (see the text added to the flag in the article about Stalin).

I can't think of any comprehensive resources offhand, but photographers love to tell you how they pulled of their photos (which is why quite a few of the links above are from photographers discussing process). This is by no means a comprehensive list of non-digital photomanipulation techniques, but hopefully it's enough terminology to get you started on what you're looking for.

[kitasgloves]

idk if you’ll see this and it’s low key my first time requesting but like..Dazai and chuuya with orange cat girlfriend?

I'm ready to deliver anon 💪🏻

I've discussed this with a friend before and agreed that NAKAHARA CHUUYA is a Norwegian forest cat. I don't see Chuuya as some sort of guard dog or a chihuahua (it's fucking ridiculous). Sure, he's loyal to the Port Mafia but he's a pretty independent person. Norwegian forest cats are typically aggressive and cautious around strangers but they become affectionate when they get familiar with you. And I think that is very much like Chuuya.

Now, Chuuya with an orange cat gf is an interesting pair. Usually, I view Chuuya as someone who's reserved and can depend on himself, he does not seek chaos nor prefers to get entangled in it, however, you seem to attract trouble wherever you go. Your boyfriend always finds you in ridiculous situations that end up in catastrophe.

You try to cook spaghetti for date night, the kitchen almost sets aflame. Going on a date with him at a restaurant, you two were escorted out for getting into a fight with another couple (Chuuya caught the guy ogling you, got pissed off, and tried to kill him all the while you filmed it instead of prying him off the poor guy). Celebrating your anniversary by going on a romantic camping trip with him, you two ended up getting lost from your tent while getting chased by wolves (don't worry Chuuya saved you).

Your natural curiosity was usually the cause of trouble. You seemed to love to fuck around and find out. You're fortunate that the gravity manipulator adored you or else he would've lost his patience long ago. Chuuya does think that your clumsiness and playfulness add to your charm. You were always so outgoing and bright that it was difficult to resist you.

The mafioso was cautious of you at the beginning. He was closed off and didn't engage with you, since you were just a random civilian and he was part of the Port Mafia. You would always see him at your local stores or even the park just relaxing. However, with your persistence in constantly bothering him, he was starting to see how you genuinely wanted to get along with him. He tries to get to know you while slowly letting his guard down. When he sensed no maliciousness from your intentions, Chuuya felt like he could breathe easily.

The way you tugged on his heartstrings by learning all about his preferences made him think that he had to keep you in his life. The fact that you let him be vulnerable around you solidified the moment that he fell for you. It was a long time before he confessed to you, he was afraid at first considering he has lost a lot of dear people in his life, and he wouldn't want to permanently lose you. But after pondering and mustering enough courage, he confesses to you. Chuuya was bombarded with your sweet and wet kisses all over his face, and it made his insides melt.

There are even moments where you draw out the playful side in him too. Just like cats, you and Chuuya enjoy playing around. I would see you two going on dates that involve extracurricular activities like ice skating/rollerblading, hiking, swimming, etc. I also think Chuuya would love to take you on expensive and fancy dates just to see you dolled up for the occasion. And yes, he loves to spoil you with clothes and jewelry as well.

However, I think he's a bit peeved with your eccentric taste in food combinations or music. The executive spotted you mixing chocolate with pasta (rip Italians) once and he never wanted to talk about it again. You also love sending him weird playlists that have incredibly specific names, nonetheless, he still listens to them during his spare time.

"Babe, what are you doing up there?"

Chuuya peeked up on the tall tree where you were stuck, clinging to one of the branches. You grinned down at your boyfriend. Chuuya sighs.

"You know what, don't explain"

"Catch me!"

"What? ...shit! Wait—!"

Without having enough time to activate his ability, Chuuya ended up getting squished on the pavement by his girlfriend. He groans while he feels your giggling weight on top of him.

"Baby, you could've at least waited until I activated gravity"

"Whoops, sorry. Are you hurt?"

The gravity manipulator shakes his head but you lean down to kiss him, hoping any bit of physical pain would magically go away. This makes Chuuya smile and envelope you in his arms.

"You are one silly girl, [Name]"

"Can you carry me back home?"

You batted your eyelashes at him and you know it's enough for him to yield. Oh, how can he say no to his eccentric but lovable girlfriend?

Okay, we all know and agree with the fact that DAZAI OSAMU is a black cat. He's both weird and mysterious. So, him being paired up with an orange cat gf seems natural. Black cats are perceived as intelligent and aloof so I had a feeling that you met Dazai during his time at the Port Mafia.

You were nothing but a disposable civilian who had a quirky personality. And yet this quirky personality of yours has managed to capture his heart. You always found Dazai in public places (I mean, he's always wearing dark clothes so he was easy to spot), and you often tried to strike up a conversation with him. When you found out about his suicidal tendencies, you didn't mock or scold him. Weirdly enough, you started giving him more unique ideas on how to off himself.

"Try mixing bleach with a milkshake, I heard you wouldn't even taste the bleach"

Dazai suddenly looked at you with glimmering eyes and proposed for you and him to commit double suicide. Shockingly enough, you agree. So, when you both jump into a river and Dazai ends up being alive but you haven't emerged from the water yet, his body turns cold.

"Oh shit"

He starts to frantically search for you in the water. To his relief though, you finally swam up to the surface with...is that a fish in your mouth?

"Look! I caught one while I was at the bottom of the river!"

From that day forward, Dazai has officially fallen for you. However, he doesn't confess his feelings to you yet. It was not until he left the Port Mafia and began working at the Armed Detective Agency. He hasn't seen you ever since but that doesn't mean he doesn't think of you often. He has dreamt of your face with that fish in your mouth.

The moment you reunited with him felt like destiny. He was chasing a criminal down the street with Kunikida when all of a sudden, the criminal got hit by a car. His breath hitched when he saw you stepping out of the car and rushing to see if the criminal you hit was alright. Dazai felt like he was seeing you for the first time again.

You recognized him immediately and called him by his first name, which made his heart flutter. Dazai felt like he couldn't waste another moment without telling you how he felt. So, just like back then, he offers you to jump off into a river like before in another double suicide attempt. This time, he feels glad that both of you emerged from the water.

At that moment he tells you how he loved you then and now. You tackled him into a hug which sent you both plunging into the water again. But you gave Dazai a proper kiss when you two swam back to land.

I have a feeling that Dazai loves to enable your weird behavior. He'd encourage you to try outrageous things like diabolical food combinations or bungee jumping without the rope (he swears he's not trying to kill you, okay?). He doesn't have to stress about you being harassed by other men since your logic is to behave as crazy as possible so you won't get picked on. But if some bastard persists in bothering you, all Dazai has to do is stand menacingly behind you, truly channeling his scary black cat aura. It's enough to send them away while shitting bricks.

I've mentioned before that you give Dazai suicide ideas, it's clear to him now that it's all satirical. However, when you tried to off yourself once (as a joke of course), thinking it would make your boyfriend laugh, instead he firmly grabs you by the shoulders and gazes at you intently with his black eyes that are void of light.

"Don't ever do that again"

He scared you at first and almost made you cry. Dazai felt bad and apologized to you by cuddling you and feeding you your favorite food. As much as the thought of double suicide excites him, the idea of you dying genuinely disturbs him.

Dates with him aren't expensive. He's down with strolling with you on the streets and kissing on sidewalks or going stargazing on the rooftop with your legs dangling on the edge. He adored your jokes and silly pet names that you would call him. He'd pet your head affectionately like a cat.

Dazai would often indulge in your antics. You two enjoy chasing each other all over the house or outside like cats. You love plopping on top of him and rubbing your cheek against his chest. Even though he's on the skinnier side, Dazai is strong enough to support your weight and carry you around. He too enjoys snuggling against you and stealing all your body warmth.

You two were walking home after another double suicide attempt. Both of you were soaking wet from jumping into the river. People gave you and your boyfriend weird looks as you two entered the local fast food. Dazai was fishing his pockets and chuckling before whispering to you.

"Darling, I may have lost my wallet again"

You paused mid-chew on your burger and blinked at Dazai. You smiled reassuringly at him.

"Don't worry I'll pay—"

Your stomach drops when you can't feel your wallet in your pockets. You cast Dazai a look and he immediately knows it. Both of you looked at your surroundings and back towards each other. Immediately, you and Dazai made a run for it, bolting out of the establishment with one of the employees cussing at the two of you. Dazai couldn't be happier and content spending the remainder of his existence with you like this.

[torakowalski]

I'm trying not to say "sorry for the delay!" every time I post because there's only so many times you can say that before a delay becomes... Just the speed at which I post.

Anyway, I started a fancy new job last week and I'm knackered, but luckily so is Steve. So here he is! Finally at his first games!

(part one | part eight)

Seoul is... Wow, Seoul is like nothing Eddie has ever experienced. After roaming the US for two years, he thought he was pretty well travelled, but it turns out that he was a super embarrassingly wrong.

Jonathan Byers loaned Eddie his camera (with strict instructions on how to take care of it) and Eddie has already sent a roll of film home to be developed, despite having only been here three days. He's also sent about a dozen postcards and had one thirty-second phone call with Wayne where he just had time to promise he wasn't dead and wouldn't become dead, before his money ran out.

Now, it's sometime in the evening and he's lying on his bed, pretending that he isn't fully fucked up by the thirteen hour time difference between here and home. He keeps thinking about how it'll be early morning in Hawkins, that he's basically in the future right now. He rolls over, grabs another postcard and addresses it to Dustin.

Greetings from the future. Today's lottery numbers are...

Then he flicks a drop of ink and deliberately smudges it across the paper.

He's busy laughing at his own cleverness, when there's a knock on the door. Expecting the incredibly helpful woman who runs this hotel, Eddie rolls off the bed, and pads barefoot over to the door, opening it with an, "Annyeonghaseyo."

Steve, standing on the other side of the door, smiles at him and says, "Have you learned the whole language yet?"

"I'm not Robin," Eddie tells him, before grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. "What are you doing here?"

Steve shrugs, running a hand through his hair to push it back off his face. It doesn't look like there's any product in it, and he looks tired, standing there in a plain white t-shirt and his red and white Team USA tracksuit pants.

"My roommate brought one of the athletics girls back to our room, so I said I'd give them some space."

It's been two days since they last saw each other and Eddie wants to hug him, or kiss him, or maybe climb him like a tree, but he's not sure what the rules are.

They've barely had a chance to talk about anything since that first kiss three weeks ago. Dustin insisted on coming back to their hotel room with them for a sleepover that night, and then Steve has been training with the Olympic coaches every hour since.

They've kissed four times in total. The last one was four days ago in Toronto Airport before they boarded the longhaul flight to Seoul. Then Steve headed to first class with the rest of the swim team and Eddie to cattle, clutching his brand new passport.

He'd spent eleven hours wedged between an international student and a very chatty Korean grandma. Every time he went to pee, he spied on Steve through the little curtain but only managed to catch his eye a couple times. Steve looked happy, making friends in the team, and being brought complimentary bags of peanuts. He'd looked like he belonged.

"Well, welcome." Eddie gives Steve a bow then wishes he hadn't. That's what he'd do for anyone, and Steve isn't just anyone.

Steve rolls his eyes at him, but hopefully at least kind of fondly.

"Thanks. I'll make myself at home."

He throws himself down onto the bed, stretching out his arms and groaning. Eddie's mouth goes dry watching him, wondering if it'd be okay to follow him down.

Steve closes his eyes for long enough that Eddie thinks maybe he's just come here to nap. Then he blinks up at Eddie, and holds out his hand.

"Lonely?" Eddie asks, stepping close enough that Steve can push his fingers between Eddie's.

"I mean, I wouldn't say no to some company." Steve pulls on Eddie's hand, pulls again. Eddie thinks for a second then rolls up onto the balls of his feet, so the next time Steve tugs, Eddie spills forward and right down on top of him.

Steve wheezes on impact, laughing out, " You shit," when he gets his breath back.

Eddie looks down from about two inches above him. They're almost nose to nose, so close that Steve's eyes are a blur of green and brown. "Sorry, is this not where you wanted me?"

Steve wraps his arms around Eddie's middle, rubs his fingers along the hem of Eddie's shirt. "I guess there are worse places for you to be."

He smiles and Eddie smiles, then Steve lifts his head and Eddie lowers his and they're kissing. Again. Some more. First kiss in Korea, fifth kiss overall. Eddie wonders if they'll ever do enough kisses that he stops counting.

Then he tells himself to stop hoping for a future and focus on right now.

Steve's kisses are slick and measured, so Eddie tries to slow down to match. He shifts a little to the side so he isn't totally squashing Steve but Steve makes a protesting noise and hoicks him back on top.

"I'm too heavy," Eddie protests. He's never laid on top of someone before, but he's gotta be, right? He's a full grown adult man.

"I like it," Steve says, like that's the end of the argument. Then he pulls Eddie back on top of him and kisses him and, well, that is the end of the argument.

"How long can you stay?" Eddie asks once he's kissed every part of Steve's face that looked kissable (all of it) and is thinking of moving on to his neck.

"Curfew's ten and it's -" Steve lifts his arm to check his watch over Eddie's shoulder. " - ten past ten, so I guess... forever?"

"That is the best logic I ever heard, but I don't think time works like that, sweetheart."

Steve's eyes flare, which is kinda interesting. Eddie calls everyone sweetheart, same as his mama called everyone sugar, but if Steve likes it, it's his.

"My roommate will cover for me," Steve says, easily. Of course he's immediately fallen into the whole team aspect of the games. He's a jock all the way down to his DNA and they bond like pack animals. "He thinks he's sent me roaming the streets of Seoul alone, after all."

"Rude," Eddie says. "Banished you out into the night, just so he can get laid."

"Super rude," Steve agrees. He hesitates then adds, "Or like, not actually laid. The guys who were on the team for the LA games think it's bad luck to have sex before a race."

"Like...immediately before or at all?" Eddie asks. Steve's races don't start for another four days and Eddie isn't, okay Eddie isn't expecting anything, but Steve is in his bed right now.

"From the opening ceremony until their races are done," Steve says. He makes a face. "It's just total superstition, obviously."

"Obviously," Eddie agrees.

Steve bites his lip.

"And you're scared to go against it just in case," Eddie fills in for him.

Steve puts a hand over his face and squints at Eddie from between his fingers. God, he's cute. A cute, cute dork. "Sorry."

Stupidly, Eddie feels himself blush. "Sweetheart, I'm not, I wasn't, I'm not... I, uh, I. Shut up."

Steve frowns. "I didn't say anything?"

"I was telling myself to shut up." Eddie groans.

"Ohhh, I can help with that," Steve says. Then he kisses Eddie again, like he thinks he's smooth.

It's actually kind of easier to relax into just kissing now that he knows they're not gonna be doing anything else. He can focus on the warmth of Steve's lips and the spit taste of his mouth. Or, it turns out, on the weird feeling of Steve yawning directly into their next kiss.

"Excuse you," says Eddie.

"Excuse me," Steve agrees, and tries to go back to kissing. But Eddie caught a look at him when they broke apart and he's heavy eyed and very, very sleepy-looking.

This time when Eddie moves to the side, Steve's protest is quieter.

"Tired?" Eddie asks.

"Nah, I'm good." Steve yawns again then looks betrayed by himself.

Eddie strokes his hair back behind his ears for him then runs his finger over Steve's flushes cheekbones. "Wanna have a nap?"

"I should get back," says Steve, while simultaneously snuggling down deeper into Eddie's pillow.

"A short nap, then I'll wake you up," Eddie promises, secure in the knowledge that he hasn't fallen asleep before four any night they've been here yet.

"Just a short one," Steve says, tugging Eddie back so he's hooked under Steve's arm.

Entirely unsure of the protocol, Eddie lays his head on Steve's chest. It's all hard and muscly, not actually all that comfortable to lie on, but it's also Steve's chest so Eddie's gonna give it a whirl, anyway.

"You're coming to watch me, right? Every heat?" Steve asks, fingers twirling in Eddie's hair.

"I mean, there's a lot of other stuff happening. You know they've let tennis back in, this year?" Eddie says, drawing it out. When Steve tugs a little on his hair, he laughs. "Yeah, I'll be there. I haven't watched every other time you swam in the last two years just to miss out on any of this."

Steve hums like he's smiling. They've shared so many hotel rooms by now, spent so many nights talking in the dark, that Eddie can read him without having to see his face.

"Good," Steve says. He plays with Eddie's hair a little longer, before his fingers go slack and his breathing deepens.

Eddie smiles to himself, trapped under Steve's arm and not minding one bit. He might still be second guessing all the new rules of their relationship, but this part is familiar. He absolutely knows how to take care of Steve before a competition.

If there's such a thing as a tour manager for a swimmer, then he has all the experience in the world. He's still pondering whether or not that's a real career when, inevitably, he too falls asleep.

(continued here)

[dehydrated-turtle]

Theres a First Time For Everything

//warnings// 16+, nsfw, mdni

//contents// Jason Todd x transmasc!reader, transmasc reader, robin!jason, underage?? (its not where i am), vaginal sex

//synopsis// First time invited over for dinner and a movie at Wayne Manor by your boyfriend, Jason Todd. - wc: 3.2k

//on ao3//

Being sophomores in highschool, you find it a wee bit odd that you’ve never seen the inside of your boyfriend, Jason’s house. You’d think by now he would’ve invited you over for a sleepover or maybe just dinner. You think maybe he’s just scared of what you’d think of him afterwards because he does live in Wayne Manor. But you know this and don’t look at him any different so what’s he hiding? 

One fateful day however, he actually asks you over for dinner and a movie, he says he has a private theatre at the manor so no need to get dressed up all fancy. He offered to actually have you sleep over and the whole deal, he was super ecstatic about it, almost giddy. What changed? 

Now you’re packing an overnight bag with Jason waiting on your bed, on his phone. He says that Alfred is going to pick you both up and take you to the manor, whoever that is. He seems so chipper about all of this, practically jumping off your bed once you declare you’re done. He rushes you down to and out of your front door by pulling your arm, down the steps and into the ridiculous limousine–apparently–waiting for you and Jay. 

“Hey, Alfie! How ya been??” 

“Very well, sir. Not any different since I last saw you merely 3 hours ago.” The old british man said before putting the car into gear. 

“I am so happy Bruce gave me the OK to actually bring you over!! Also one more thing but I’d rather show you than tell you.” He remarks while smiling ear to ear. 

“What’s got you all excited?” 

“You’ll see.” 

It doesn't take long before you’re pulling into a long and winding driveway which you can only assume is for Wayne Manor. It gets very suddenly eerie like you just entered an actual Tim Burton film. The trees scattered along the property look quite old and twisted. Although it looks cold, somehow it seems welcoming. You see the warm lights coming from inside the manor as you pull up to the front steps and get ever so nervous as you realize that you’re ‘meeting the parents’ for the first time. But like he read your mind, Jason put his hand on your thigh and rubbed little circles with his thumb to calm you down. You looked up at him and his reassuring eyes met yours with a tender smile. 

“Trust me, he’ll love you.” 

You do trust him, with your whole heart, so you take a deep breath and just smile back and nod. 

The car comes to a smooth halt–Alfred’s a good driver c’mon–and you start to gather your things back up to get out. You were about to reach for the door handle when you saw Alfred at the window, pulling open for you. You step out of the vehicle with your overnight bag in hand, looking up at the enormous castle-like building that towers over any of the hundred year old trees around it. Jason came around to your side and grabbed your free hand and squeezed it three times before leading you up the steps and through the intimidating wooden doors. 

On the other side of the oak, stood a tall and handsome man that anyone in Gotham could recognize in an instant as Bruce Wayne. For a billionaire, he sure looked quite humble and sweet with a charmingly warm smile as he offered his hand out to shake. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” he remarks as he shakes your hand gently but with intention and a firm grip nonetheless. 

“Uh.. ditto.” You mutter out, starstruck and at a complete loss for words. 

“I’ll get Alfred to take your bag up for you.” he smiles, yet again. 

“Oh no, it’s fine I can take it, really it’s no problem.” 

“Ok well you and Jason go get ready for dinner, shouldn’t be long.” 

Jay took your hand again and dragged you through the long and seemingly unending hallways that were shining with gold detailing and picture frames of family. It was all so beautiful, you had no clue why you hadn’t been invited before. You come to a halt at a door which you assume is Jason’s room as he opens it revealing a very tidy bedroom. Everything was put away and clean but it was clear that it was his room due to the posters on the wall, stacked bookshelf with all of his favourite books, bedsheets that didn’t match the decor like the rest of the guest rooms they past, and of course Jason’s schoolwork spread out on his desk. You drop your bag on the floor next to his bed while he rushed by you to flop on top of it with a heaving sigh. You laugh at him before he pats the bed, beckoning you to join him. You jump up with him and snuggle into his chest while just resting above the covers. 

“So, why did it take so long to get me here?” 

“Oh, B was scared that you’d find out about his ‘demons in the basement’” 

“Isn’t it ‘skeletons in the closet’? And what changed?” 

“No, B quite literally has demons in the basement. Well, maybe more like bats. And, he finally gave me the ok to show you them.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” you remark with a chuckle, looking up at him now. 

“Maybe we should wait until after dinner, I hear Alfie coming.” 

Just on queue, “Good ear, sir. Dinner is being served in the main dining hall, gentlemen.” 

You both rush behind Alfred, almost stepping on his heels, eager for dinner made by the man, the myth, the legend himself. Jason has always bragged to you about Alfie’s cooking and baking skills, now you get to see them for yourself. He opens the doors to the dining room and you spot Bruce sitting, ready to eat already. 

“Sit across the table from me ok?” Jason said as he saw how you were scanning the room. 

“Ok.” the room itself was beautiful, the same gold trim as the rest of the house but the seats had a deep blue velvet finish to them that perfectly matched the tablecloth with more of the gold accents. The warm light coming from the chandelier and the candles set along the tremendously long table along with Bruce’s signature smile were all so welcoming. You pulled out the chair to the left of Bruce who sat at the head of the table while Jason took his seat to his right, across from you. Almost immediately after you were seated, a couple of people wearing uniforms came out of what had to be the kitchen with dishes with silver lids on top of them. They had placed one in front of each of you then proceeded to lift the lid. A puff of steam came out of each of them, followed by an intoxicating smell, a cocktail of spices and fantastical scents. What appeared from under the steam was a perfectly cooked steak with a side of green beans and butternut squash. 

“Anything else, Master Bruce?” 

“Uh, maybe some soda for the tykes?” 

“No problem, sir.” 

Dinner goes by quickly, with the amazingly cooked food and the smooth and easy chatter it was tremendously more enjoyable than it was nerve racking. Your nerves were also settled by the soft eyes of your boyfriend reassuring you from across the table and the touching of your shoes together underneath it. As soon as you took your last bites, Bruce threw his napkin onto the table. 

“Alright, I promised Jaylad that I’d show you something real special.” You just looked at him confused then over to Jason who was almost jumping for joy. “C’mon, follow me to the batcave.” 

“Batcave?” you asked but no one responded as you followed Bruce across the manor to an unsuspicious looking grandfather clock. Bruce opened the glass window and turned the hands to 10:48 which made a small click within it. He then pulled it out of the wall, it acted as a door which led to a dark and cold stone staircase. You held Jason’s hand as he practically dragged you down the narrow and steep steps. You quickly came to a very, very, very large cave with so much stuff it was hard to take in all at once. One of the first things that actually processed through your brain was the costumes on the wall, Batman and Robin. “What is this?” you say, utterly confused. 

“The batcave.” Bruce replies. “I’m Batman, Jason here is Robin. I thought it was finally time that you should know, Jason goes on about your forever, only thought it right. Plus he begged me for an hour.” 

You went straight back to your starstruck state as you looked around the cave, trying so hard not to touch anything. All this was very hard to take in but the excitement trumped the worry while you and Jason just blabbed on about things that started to make sense. Bruce had left to do god knows what but really just to leave you two alone. 

“Wanna go get ready to watch a movie?” he asked once the tour of the cave was over. 

“Sure!” 

Jason took your hand again and led you back out of the cave. He really loves to hold your hand, just to know you’re there, following him, making sure you’re safe. The two of you travel to the other side of the manor, swinging your hands between you as you walk. He squeezed your hand three times and looked into your eyes with just pure happiness, his secret is out. One that he didn’t want to keep. He’s ecstatic. 

You get back to Jason’s room, you both change into some comfies, you in one of Jason’s stolen hoodies and some pj shorts, and Jason in an ironic batman tee shirt given what just happened and pj pants. After a quick pit stop in the kitchen for snacks you head to the theatre which is near the back of the manor. 

You go straight to the front of the theatre, the best spots in the house with your arms full of snacks. You sit down beside Jason and lay out all the snacks on your laps. The two of you collected popcorn, swedish berries, fuzzy peaches, doritos (original and sweet chilli heat), root beer, coke, and some maltesers, a nice big box of them along with two blankets. 

“Alright, what movie do you wanna watch? We have literally everything, not kidding.” 

“Ooh, how about Back to the Future?” 

“YES!! Alright I’ll put it on.” 

He grabs the remote on the armrest next to him and turns on the projector at the back of the room. He turns on the movie and while the opening credits start to play, you pull your blanket over you and open your drink. 

The movie continues to play, you both laugh and yell at Marty for doing dumb shit. A while into the film, Jason reaches for your hand on the arm rest between you and takes it up to his face and kisses the back of your palm. You look over at him in wonder but he just gives you a radiating smile. He then leans in for a proper kiss which you reciprocate passionately. He places his hand on the back of your neck to pull you closer. After the kiss breaks, he places a soft but obviously needy kiss on your jawline and more along your neck, leaving a trail of slight hickies behind. A moan escapes your lips, small and wispy but he still heard it and felt it from the vibrations of your neck against his lips. His hand starts to wander down your body, resting on your thigh, rubbing small circles with his thumb which makes you unbearably wet very suddenly. 

“Jay…” You whisper against his hair, so low that only he could hear it even if there were people in the theatre. Just then Jason snaps his head up abruptly. 

“Is this going somewhere?” He asks, like he was genuinely curious.

“Um, I hope so?” 

“Perfect. Then we’d better get out of here, not so sure Bruce is keen on having our bodily fluids in the theatre, he does come here often. C’mon, let's clean up and take this to my room.” 

So you do just that, pack up all the snacks and blankets and quite literally run back to Jason’s room. Laughter filling the halls the whole way across the manor. What must Bruce think of these hooligans? 

You rush into his room and look around cluelessly for a place to put the ridiculous amount of shit you have carefully balanced in your arms. 

“Just drop it on my desk.” Jason pants out while shutting the door with his foot as his hands are also full. “There’s nothing important there anyway.” 

He comes up beside you and drops his armful down beside yours before looking up into your eyes with the kindest smile you’ve ever seen a human bear. He leans in hesitantly with his eyes half lidded, looking at your lips before connecting them to his in a soft kiss. He let a gentle moan leave his lips, almost a whimper and barely audible but just enough for your boxers to be soiled. You both make your way to the bed, shuffling and trying not to break the kiss as you do so. 

It all started to happen so fast, dropping pants, pulling off shirts, getting onto the bed, kissing, kissing, and more kissing. Jason offered to take your binder off if you were comfortable with it, you said yes as you aren’t uncomfortable with what you have and don’t really mind your boobs, they just get in the way. So, he pulls off your binder and throws it on the floor and just ogles at your naked figure for a short second, making you blush. He starts to trail kisses from your collar bone, down your sternum, all the way to your pelvic bone where he places a singular kiss while looking up at you with those puppy dog midnight blue eyes, shining against the silver light of the moon coming in from the window. He places another small peck on the crook of your thigh while his fingers wander gently along the skin of your other thigh, teasing you. 

“You know… I’ve never done this before.” He remarks, hesitantly. 

“This being…?” 

“Sex.” 

“So I’m your first?” 

“Yup.” 

“Honestly, that’s kinda hOT-” you yell out as Jason takes your clit into his mouth and starts to swirl his tongue, not at an insane pace but just enough to be surprising. He snakes his arms under your legs to get a hold of your waist, keeping you in place while he works your cunt. Your moans get louder as he starts to go faster. 

“You sure you’ve never done this before?” 

“I’ve watched a lot of porn.” he replies, out of breath but nevertheless goes straight back into it as soon as he finishes his sentence, before you could even laugh at him. He thrusts his tongue into your hole and curls it up repeatedly making your back arch and throw your head against the thousand pillows holding you up. You look down at him to see his eyes are on you, loving and gentle, a beautiful juxtaposition to his ravenous actions. You run your fingers through his raven hair which used to be perfectly placed, now dishevelled. Honestly, you think it looks better like this. 

You feel one of his hands remove itself from its place on your hip, you feel it prod at your folds, teasingly before being pushed in further. He makes sure to go very slowly, drawing it out as long as he can before pumping them ever so gently, curling them up into the sweet spot. He moans against your clit making you whimper at the sensation of the vibrations that are sent through your body, tingling down to your fingertips but resonate in the pit of your stomach, you can feel it bubbling and boiling over. 

“Jay… I-I’m gonna cu-um, fuck…” You mutter out and the hand in his hair starts to push him down further. 

Hearing your words, his tongue flicks on your clit harder and faster, same for the fingers buried deep in your cunt, almost reaching your cervix. His free hand massages your hip and upper thigh in an effort to sooth you while you start to shake and your muscles tense. He can feel you clenching around his fingers as you moan his name along with a river of profanities, cumming for him. 

“Such a good boy for me.” he says, kissing your inner thigh before resting his head on it and looks up at you lovingly with a soft smile while you pant, coming down from your high and sweat drips from your forehead making your hair stick to it. 

After a while of just sweet nothings, Jason slithered his way up to face you and whisper even more sweet nothings in your ear that just made you wetter. You could feel his tip leaving a trail of wet along your thigh as it drags against the skin. 

“Jay… I need you. Please?” 

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” He sits up between your legs, pumping his length a couple of times before lining up to your lips and pushing in slowly but surely. He makes sure that you are comfortable, making sure you can take it. His dick was very much on the large side for what you would think a teenage boy would have, and yet he stretches you out so good. His fingers trace along your skin so gently as he starts to pump, hitting your cervix with every thrust. You moan out his name, begging for more. Your legs wrap around his waist, forcing him to go deeper, if that’s even possible. 

The sounds of skin and heavy moans coat the walls of the room, making the air heavy and damp but electric. The smell of sex and sweat filled both of your noses and swirled in your head making you drunk on it. It was all so exciting and beautifully messy. Beautifully human. Jason buries his face into the crook of your neck, whimpering against the flesh making it hot with his breath. You could feel his dick twitch inside you as you run your fingers through his hair and play with it carelessly but gentle. He leaves bruising kisses where he rests his head. His hips stutter ever so slightly before he whispers into your flesh that he’s going to cum. 

“Please don’t pull out… I’m on birth control, it’ll be fine.” 

All he said in response was a whimper and a final thrust of his hips, pouring his white rivers into your canal. Pouring his heart out into you. He collapses on top of you with a huff and a gentle laugh. He squeezes your body so tightly that you fear you can’t breathe but nonetheless you laugh with him, kissing the top of his head. 

“Hm, I think I love you…” he whispers.

[bursting-at-the-memes]

Christmas themed sentence starters!

"We should totally hang some mistletoe." "We are not hanging mistletoe." "I don't need gifts. Just give me eighteen boxes of pigs in blankets and I'll be happy." "We should bake gingerbread." "Don't look! I'm not done wrapping your gift yet!" "Look! It's snowing!" "Want to decorate cookies with me?" "I need to confess something. I've never cooked a turkey before." "Wait, did we forget the roast potatoes?" "Present time! This one's for you." "Stockings go over the fireplace, not in the fire." "Hot chocolate, blankets, and the lights on the tree. Is there any better way to spend christmas eve?" "I think the tree needs more decorations." "I think there's too much on that tree." "Oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree. ...Uh...what's the next line?" "We should watch christmas films!" "Why are you putting lights there?" "We need more lights." "That house must be visible from space with all those lights." "You should put the star on the tree." "Can I put the star on top?" "The houseplants deserve tinsel too. Otherwise they'll get jealous of the tree." "You cannot escape the ugly jumpers, (name)." "Are you seriously wearing antlers?" "Get in the spirit, name." "I stocked up on fancy chocolates for christmas three days ago. Now they're gone. I am full of sugar and regret." "I'm practising my surprised face. How's this?" "Why even put candy canes on the tree? Aren't they supposed to be eaten?"

[thebramblewood]

Apologies if you've answered this before, but I was looking through your asks and couldn't find anything.

Do you have any advice on how you take such good screenshots of your game? You have such a knack for lighting, having variety of shots, and making them immersive.

This is so sweet. Thank you! 🥰

If I'm being honest, it's 90% vibes and gut feelings for me. I don’t have any formal background in filmmaking or photography, and everything I know is by sheer osmosis. There’s a lot of fancy terminology to describe why certain image compositions look better than others. I admire and respect anyone who purposefully keeps that in mind. But I am definitely not that person. I think I’ve watched enough film and TV, though, to subconsciously be doing the "right thing" - or at least what looks right to me.

That being said, I think the best way to improve is practice. If you spend enough time doing something you'll obviously get better at it, even if you don't realize it at first. So the most important thing is to give yourself the patience to grow and the freedom to experiment! At any rate, here are some things I've learned that will maybe be helpful to others.

Camera Tricks: We all know the camera in TS4 can be a little wonky at times. I use Buckley's camera mod. It hasn't been updated in eons but still works as far as I can tell. It gives you more freedom with movement, and I've found it especially helpful for getting shots that are lower to the ground.

Now that I've realized how sneakily useful first person camera can be, I also take advantage of that all the time. There's the trick of making your Sim look in a specific direction. (This works with poses and gameplay actions, by the way! For example, I used it to turn Caleb's head toward Lilith while he was trimming the bonsai tree.) There's the Dutch angle trick explained in this video. This is great for moments of disorientation and unease. I also just straight-up used first person camera to convey Helena's confusion upon waking after being turned.

Also, saved camera positions are your best friends. You can save up to five positions using CTRL+5-9. Then you just click the corresponding number to return to that position. I've used these for so many reasons. By taking two shots in the same position and Photoshopping them together, I've been able to edit Sims in (like Vlad below), fix accessory clashes (the book was in the hat category, so Lilith couldn't actually wear it at the same time as the towel on her head), and to pose Sims in open doorways (Helena had to walk through the door to open it for the Vatores, so I shot both halves separately).

Zoom: I love smashing that zoom button, whether it's zooming way in or way out. Zoomed out shots are perfect for establishing setting or as interstitial shots during a long conversation when you don't want to always focus on Sims' faces. They're also great for the draaama. Extreme close-ups are great for emphasizing emotion or a tiny but significant detail. Playing around with the extremes of zoom is one of the best ways to achieve shot variety!

Focus: I don't think Reshade is a necessity for good visual storytelling, but it does make certain things easier. I rely a lot on depth of field shaders to pull focus in shots. I like using cinematic depth of field especially in conversations to blur some characters while emphasizing others. I feel like this helps ground conversations because it reminds us there are multiple participants instead of always zeroing in on the speaker alone. Another way to play with focus is to allow the angle to mirror the emotions of the conversation. It's an older shot, but I always liked how Caleb seems to cower beneath Lilith's bat form here even though she's technically smaller. And in the recent conversation between Lilith and Helena, I kept the camera to Lilith's back to emphasize her vulnerability and discomfort and put the focus on Helena's reaction to it.

Framing/Angles: I do this by pure instinct, honestly, and have gotten better at getting it right on the first shot over time. I used to take half a dozen shots of the same pose from different angles and choose the best one. Nowadays, I'm quicker to commit and often take only one shot. I've learned that if something immediately tickles my brain, it's usually the way to go. I usually angle shots so that the characters aren't looking directly at camera, as it seems more natural that way. On the other hand, sometimes the direct to camera look can actually work in more confrontational or unsettling moments.

Environment: If I can help it, I don't do my own builds. In some ways, this is a disadvantage because I have to set up the scene within a space that wasn't specifically catered to it. On the other hand, it makes for fun little surprises, like the ability to peek in through a skylight or frame two characters within perfectly placed archways. I like using objects and structures to create interest when I can. I often don't discover things like this until I'm pulling the camera around and randomly happen upon them. I definitely recommend navigating all around to see what you've got to work with before committing to any specific angle. You might find one you didn't even think of!

Lighting: I do what I can with the game's lighting. I avoid placing ceiling lamps or at least turn the brightness down much lower, and I don't usually turn all the lights on in a room at once. I tend to change the color to one of the warmer golden hues to avoid a stark white that washes everything out. I always like when I can get some sources of light into frame because it adds a lot to the ambience. But I've also been using Relight on all of my posts lately. It's an addiction, and it truly makes all the difference. I'll use it to give light sources a stronger glow so they stand out more and also to create shadows on Sims' faces. It's also very good for flashlights and computer screen glow!

After having self-indulgently written all this, I'm not sure how much is usable advice versus rambling musings. I find it hard to give storytelling "tips" because so much of it feels innate and personal and hard to put into generalized terms. I also don't want to imply that every one of my shots is perfect or that there aren't a million other ways to go about achieving good results. But thank you to anyone who's made it this far, and I hope you found it worthwhile. 💕

[iolite-moodboards]

scooby gang vibes

things i associate with the scooby gang!!

requests for these are open if you're interested!

fred jones~♡

diners in the middle of nowhere

late-night drives to think

coffee with cream and sugar

butterscotch

his playlist is either motivational 80s or 2000s music

saturday morning cartoons

diner pancakes

fresh, clean smell

geo guesser

lends his jacket if someone is cold

early mornings

always buying new accessories (steering wheel covers, fuzzy dice, little pine trees) for the mystery machine

attempting to read a map while driving

blue jeans

history books

interviewing priests for answers about hauntings in the area

camping

forgets to drink water

messy bedroom

daphne blake~♡

aliens and anything outer space

iced matcha

fun cereal

scrunchies

always offering to pay

binge watching tv

going to the planetarium

girly music

boxing

sneaking in past curfew

peaches

freckles

dragging friends out to stargaze

sheet masks

strawberry ice cream

taking notes with glitter gel pens

conspiracy theories

grwm tiktoks filmed in the back of the mystery machine

pinkpantheress

almond nails

velma dinkley~♡

library trips

hydro flasks

pasta

conspiracy theories pt 2

mothman

freshly brewed coffee

ballpoint pens

falling asleep on the bus

staying up until 4am reading

oversized sweaters

rock collection

digging on reddit to find their next cryptid spot

cinnamon

sunscreen always in her bag

jack stauber

lip oil

doodling stars in her notebook

sitting by the coast

gummy worms

charcoal stained fingers

shaggy rogers~♡

pizza

indie music

skating

beanies

naps

cd collection

stopping for snacks at shady convenience stores

track

skipping stones

keychains

bubble gum

an old mp3 player he won't get rid of

plants in his room

baja blast

rocky road ice cream

stealing daph's sunglasses

afraid of the dark

french fries

always smells both like he just got done grilling and like dog

superstitious

scooby-doo~♡

fancy dog shampoo (literally titled "le ham")

loves going to the beach

fetch

stealing the gang's french fries

sleeping in the back of the mystery machine

oreos

Big Stretch™

unreliable guard dog but he tries his best

hiding behind shaggy

scooby snacks

[naamahdarling]

By the way, if you are looking for something light to watch or wholesome media to put on during a family gathering, I heartily recommend Netflix's documentary Inside the Mind of a Cat. It's from 2022 but it only just popped up on my feed.

It's SO good. Utterly charming, very positive and progressive in its view of cats' intelligence and their love of us. No "they're secretly evil, haha" here.

Just deep affection, beautifully filmed. Lots of slow-motion jumping and playing.

And it features the trick-performing Savitsky Cats, who are delightful and brave.

Fancy was fascinated:

(Pardon the mess, we had to move a bunch of stuff for the tree to go up.)

[misguidedasgardian]

I need to (9)

... Remember

MASTERLIST

Summary: It turns out, you can’t outrun the past 

Pairings: Cregan Stark x Fem!Reader 

Warnings: MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS cursing, talks about cheating and inappropriate relationship, angst, fluff, hints of blackmail, gaslighting, this is awful, might contain some triggers regarding psychological abuse relationships, and relationship with power imbalances, toxic relationship

Wordcount: 3.998 k how cool 😂

Notes: Can’t believe we are already in the 9th chapter! what a trip! hehe Anyways, like it was said in the warnings... it gets a bit angsty

Cregan was nervous

Really nervous 

His room was a mess, his bed completely covered by clothes, his own clothes, that he had tried on and then discarded for different reasons

“This one is too formal”

“This one has a small hole in it”

“This one makes you look like a creep”

“This one makes you look like you just ended filming Aegon’s conquest history channel remake“

All commented by Jace

“Dude it is going to be fine! just a shirt and some jeans will do”, said Jace, “maybe a button up shirt with jeans, clean jeans…”

“I want to make this special”, he said, “like, enough that it looks like I care… but not enough that she thinks she is under dressed”, he continued

“Wow”

“I really like her, I want this to go well”, he looked at Jace in the eyes, making him smile

“Where are you taking her?”, he asked

“To that place with Yitish food?”

“Oh it's cool”

“Right? I mean, it is not very fancy, but is a treat, the place looks amazing, and it has a great variety of food you know, plenty to pick up from… and it's kind of intimate too, but not that fancy that we are nervous because of it…?”

“She is going to love it”, he said, confidently, “I’m happy for you guys, even though you just met, I can tell there is something going on”

Then Cregan’s phone dinged, he grabbed it and smiled when he realized it was a text from you, but then he got serious

“What?”, asked Jace

“She canceled”, he said, sadness sneaking into his eyes

“Why?”, asked Jace, “did she say?”

“She said she is very sorry, but she can’t make it, and that I please don’t hate her for it”

“Oh man”, whined Jace, “I know she likes you, maybe she got too nervous”, he tried

“Yes, maybe I jumped the gun, maybe I was too fast”, Jace twisted his lips, “well… I hope I didn’t make it awkward”

“You didn’t”

“I was really looking forward to it”, he whispered, “I wonder what happened”

“Well lucky for us… we have a man on the inside”

. . .

You hugged into the pillow tighter as you fell someone opening the door, embracing yourself for the coming storm that was your roommate

“Heeey!”, she sang, “how are the preparations going?”, whe she saw you, laying on the bed, you heard her stop in her tracks, “what happened? why aren’t you getting ready for your date?”, you sniffed, couldn’t hold it together

“I can’t go on a date with Cregan”, you whined

“Why not? you were so excited”, she asked

“He was here…”, you whined, “my ex, Aemond was here…”

48 hours before

You had your morning free, and so did Cregan, so he had accepted to pose for you for the photography class 

You met in the park that joined all the buildings together

He was waiting for you, so handsome, still in winter clothes, so were you

As soon as he saw you, he drew a big smile that made your heart jump within your chest. You smiled widely

“Ready for some pictures?”, he asked

“Oh I hope you are ready”, you teased

You grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to an evergreen tree that was in the main part of the park, it was huge, with purplish-red leaves and a white color on its branches and trunk, it was breathtaking, you knew here in the North they called it “the heart tree”

One of the branches hangs low, so it was perfect for Cregan to stand in front of it, the beautiful leaves in the background 

“Watch the ISO and the exposure”, he said as he smiled at you, entertained

“Oh no, I’m using automatic”, you mocked, his face got all serious and you snapped a picture

“Hey…”, he protested

“Am I the teacher’s pet or not?”, you teased, he laughed wholeheartedly 

“Alright”, he said posing. He had control of his “model face”, he was so handsome you were thankful you had the camera hiding your face or else he would see clearly how nervous you were.

“I’m thinking something…”, you whispered

“What?”, you pushed him into the tree, he laughed, a couple of leaves frames his face, and you snapped photos, of the beautiful leaves, and his laughing face in the background

“YES!”, you cheered, checking the pictures, they were great

“Can I see?”

“Oh no”, you teased, “you will have to wait”, he hadn't showed you the pictures, you were not going to show him yours yet

“Wanna grab a cup of coffee?”

“Yes”, you said back, you started your walk towards a small cafeteria just outside of campus

“Is the cold getting to you yet?”, he asked 

“No, its fine”, you whispered, “I like it”, you entered the small coffee shop, as the rest of the campus, it was made of old stone, had a nice, ancient but cozy sense to it, nice warm lights, wooden tables and vintage coffee machines, cozy seats with wooden cushion made of soft, old colors, it was so beautiful 

“How do you like your coffee?”, you let him invite you, as you smiled coyly at him

“An Ashford with a spoonful of chocolate, no lactose milk, two sugars”, you said with a shy smile

“You have a sweet tooth” he muttered looking at you with a smile on his face, “I like that”, poor barista felt like she was intruding while you undress each other with only your eyes 

“How do you take yours Ser?”, you teased back

“Dornish”, he finally broke the spell and talked to the woman, “semi-skimmed, a spoonful of cinnamon, one brown sugar please”

You had to take a mental note of that

You took your coffees and sat on a cozy table by the corner

“What do you think about Friday?”, he asked, “for our date?”

“I’d love to”, you answered with a big smile, it was two days from now, “where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise”, he said

“Uh, what about the dress code?”, you teased

“Mmm”, he hummed, “I’ll leave it to you”

“oh c’mon!”, you whined, “you have to give me something!”, you teased, he shook his head, he looked at your cup and smirked

“Now, I don’t want to push it and get between a girl and her caffeine, but… “ he said with a smile, “I am curious about your beverage”

“That’s funny, I am curious about yours”, you teased, “so specific and exotic”

“Let’s do it then”, you looked into his eyes as he looked into yours, you passed each other's coffees, fingers touching

The taste was strong, but comforting, much like Cregan himself, so foreign to you and yet, it felt kind of homey

He moaned softly, catching your attention

“So creamy..”, he whispered, his intense gaze on you

“Yours not so bad itself”, you whispered, completely flustered.

His gaze was on you, yours was on him, the smell of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon was in the air… the heat from the small wood heater warm your body as the sip of the coffee had, soon, Cregan was too far for your own comfort, he seemed to notice, moving on his spot to come close to you 

“I bet it tastes even better… if I do this…” Cregan leaned in, and you felt your heart in the back of your throat, a cinnamon taste in your mouth

He was going to kiss you, you closed your eyes and puckered your lips like a tennager in those cheesy romcoms, but the kiss never came

“HEY GUYS!”, Ben joined you at the table, clearly oblivious to what was going on, Cregan and you separated as the other burned your skin, trying to make him believe nothing had happened

Shit fuck

“Hey dude”, said Cregan with an embarrassed smile, “how that paper coming?”,

“Great”, he said, “you won’t believe what my economics professor did today…”, he started chitchatting, Cream arm was behind you, he didn't remove it as he got comfortable on the Long chair next to you, as he listened to his friend

You were about to kiss him

The boys started talking, you chipped in once in a while, but you had classes son after, so you apologized and left 

You were about to kiss Cregan… the taste of cinnamon still lingered on your lips, it was exhilarating, scary and exciting all at the same time

Besides photography you had six very demanding classes, and you needed to focus, your performance was way better than the one in Dragonstone, you were more invested, more dedicated and far more interested, but… the first semester was always the hardest, it was a hard contrast against highschool and…

You had a date with Cregan Stark

Oh gods

What were you going to wear? jeans? sneakers? boots? a dress with many layers so you won’t freeze to death?

Homeworks and research had you spend the rest of your day head down into the computer lab and wood workshop, trying to get ahead some work so you would have friday free

Also, you used a special program to develop the photos, the face of Cregan staring back at you his flirty eyes, his smile

He was so handsome… 

You wondered what he thought of you when he developed your photos.. no matter, you prepared the 5 photos of his portrait and were done for. Wanting to leave him for the next 48 hours until your date. 

Tomorrow you had design workshop, the most important class of them all 

You needed to get your head in the game, you were struggling, as many first years, but you needed to keep the work up, and even though you wanted it, bad, you couldn’t get distracted with Cregan.

28 hours before

But as you were preparing to get out of your room the next morning, Sara already had left, you opened the door, and gasped

Finding someone else at your doorstep, wanting to knock on the door

“Aemond”, you whispered, wide-eyed and shaking, he smiled softly, his eye twinkling

“Hey stranger”

You were cutting classes for him, as you looked at him flinching, squinting your eyes as he sipped on his black coffee from the Arbour, no sugar, no happiness, pure bitterness. He made a sour face and let the coffee sit a bit away from him

“This place is… picturesque”, he said like he was looking at a week-old roadkill

“I like it, it was character”, you said defensively

“Of course you do”, he said mockingly. You watched him expectantly, you started playing some sort of sick game, whoever speaks first, looses 

He looked back at you, and then he drew an amused smirk

“Well, I think you proved your point”, he lost

“What do you mean?”, you asked

“You punished me, ghosted me, fled from me, you proved that you can be independent, I learned my lesson, now let’s go back South”

“I didn’t come here to prove anything to you”, you said, “and much less to punish you”

“Did you get my emails?”, he continued

“No”, you lied, and he knew you did, because he smiled, “I did a week ago, what does that have to do with anything?”

“I told you I was coming…”, he said, “I told you you tricked me, that woman tried to babytrap me”

“Did she trapped you with her vagina?”, you whispered angrily leaning over the table, “what was it? a carnivorous plant? Were you an innocent fly?”

“Stop it!”, he whispered back, “you are being childish”

“And you are being borderline a psychopath”, you said back, “is over between us Aemond, you cheated on me, we are done”, he smirked

“When did fighting for your relationship stop being romantic?”, he asked

“I told you…”, you were getting angry, and he had barely moved his lips, he was fresh as a lettuce, so, you needed to calm down, “I don’t want to work things out, cheating is a deal breaker”

“And I’m telling you… I think you should reconsider”, he said simply

“Why would I?”, you asked back, “is not like we are married with two kids, Aemond…”

“Not yet darling…” he said with a smile once it would have made your legs turn to jelly, “I’m thinking it would be foolish to throw it all away, many thought we were the perfect couple, we had the looks, the money, the influence… all of it”, you rolled your eyes, “we are perfect for each other”

“No we are not”, you said, your lip trembling.

The worst part is? He could manipulate you, he could make you believe his words, right now, sitting in front of him, you felt powerless, even though now you were in your university, across the continent, with your friends, your terrain…

He still had that power over you

“See, I think we are”, he said

“You… never took me seriously”, you whispered, “you made me change colleges, you were willing to sacrifice my future…”

“I never make you do anything”, he said simply, your eyes filled with tears, “you did on your own volition, you decided to go to the best school on the country on your own”

“I didn't”, you whined

“You did it because you knew it was the right thing to do”

“Aemond I don’t want to be with you anymore”

“Why, because I looked away once?”

“You fucked my teacher Aemond, a professor of the school”, you said, “my mentor, the only one who gave a shit about me”

“Well, now we know why, don’t we?”, you froze, “she used you to get to me, she targeted you… to use you to get to me”

You believed him

“Aemond, you fucked her”

“I know”, he said, seriously, “I fell for it, but now, I’m telling you that I regret it, that it might just be the biggest mistake of my life, because I lost you”

“You are sad because you lost the founding for your father’s campaign”, you said bitterly, he smirked

“We are perfect for eachother”, he said, “we belong together”

“Aemond, this whole thing made me realize that… we are not so perfect for each other, we want different things”, you whispered, “you want… I don’t know, global domination, power, a public life, I don’t want any of those things”, he only looked at you, angrily

“Are are together since the tenth grade”

“I know”, you said, “and it was beautiful, innocent and sweet, but we are not kids anymore”

“No, you are right”, he said, “we are no longer kids, what we do, the decisions we make, matter and affect those around us…”, you frowned, not knowing what he meant, “Now I know, you shared that picture to damage me as well”, he said bitterly

“I didn’t share that picture”, you said firmly, “I just wanted out”

“You wanted revenge, you got rid of her because you wanted her gone”

“That’s not true”, you whispered, “Maris Baratheon stole the picture from my phone and spread it around, not me…”

“Either way, you took it”, he said, “You spread that photo of us”, he said with venom in his voice, “Do you want to play that game?”

“I didn't spread anything!”, you said back

“Do you know what I can get out there? from you?”

Your world stopped spinning as you looked at the man across from you

He had nude pictures of you

Things you had sent him, and he had taken screenshots of, you knew because you received the notification. WHen you confronted him, he gave you this whole speech, that he was your boyfriend and there had to be trust between you, that is “how relationships work”

“Are you threatening me?”, he chuckled darkly

“No darling, I… just… pointing out the trust we had for each other”, nothing, because you didn’t have nude pictures of him, he never send you one, and the ones he did, you didn’t take screenshots, “the things we had shared, and lived… together”

It was a threat

A single tear fell from your cheek

“Now now, why are you crying?”, he asked innocently

“Aemond let it go, you are in Dragonstone, I bet you can find someone better than me, someone that wants the same things as you”, you said softly 

“No one like you babe”, he whispered 

“Aemond, we are not getting back together”, you said firmly

“I don’t think you are thinking clearly”, he repeated, “we love each other, I came all the way up here for you!”

“I didn't ask you to!”, you fought

“Together, we have money, influence, power, together we have a future…!”, he continued

“I wonder who benefits more from all of this”, you whispered 

“...And we love each other”, he continued

“Not anymore Aemond…”, you tried to stand up, but he stopped you, grabbing your hand

“I’m here for three more days”, he said, “I advise you to think about it, or else… I might let someone steal your pictures from my phone like Maris stole yours”, you paled, releasing yourself, and exiting the cafeteria, you could still make the second part of your class after the recess

But you couldn’t focus

He wouldn’t do that, would he?

No…

He would, you knew he would, he would spread them all around Dragonstone campus, and perhaps even here, but you didn’t know they would fly here

Your face was in those pictures 

4 hours earlier 

Your nerves had been on edge since yesterday, you thought about it even, coming back to him, but you couldn't, if he was going to post those pictures fine, you could not live your life blackmailed by your ex boyfriend

You met Aemond again, this time, in the fanciest restaurant in town, way out of your budget but enough for me, you found him sitting there, sipping a cup of wine

You in jeans and a sweatshirt under your jacket, you tried to ignore his disgusted face

“I thought this palace could be ideal to celebrate”, he said softly

“Celebrate what?”, you asked shyly

“That we are recuperating what we once had, because of course you regained your senses” he served you whine

“I don’t think you are understanding what is going on”, you warned, he sighed, apparently giving up

“This place has changed you…”

“Thankfully”, you said sharply. He looked at you, he got angry, you could tell, he already knew by looking back at you that you were not going to budge, that you were not going to crawl back to him

“Not really”, he said bitterly

“Aemond, I’m not going back together with you”, you said firmly, “my life is here now”

“Your life? away from your family? and your friends?”, he mocked

“My friends are here now, and I see my family any time I want”, you defended

“in a second-rate school?’

“Is the best school on my field”

“Design”, he mocked, “do you think here, alone, by yourself, can you achieve all the things i can give you? easily?”, he was lashing out, and you were going to take all his heat

“I want to discover it”, you said simply, he frowned, you could tell 

“Do you think you can find someone who is going to love you as much as I do?”, he continued, you stopped moving, “who can give you all the things I can?”, you only looked at him, “you will never found someone like me, especially not with that guy you are shamelessly walking and talking to”, now you were scared

“How do you know?”, you asked, and then you shook your head, “Aemond, I really hope so”, you said back, “I really hope I never find anyone like you ever again”, you were to stand up

“I made you”, he bit out, “I made you the person you are today, I gave you everything, you were just an orphan when we started dating you had nothing… I gave you connections, I introduced you to my family, and my friends in Dragonstone”, you only looked at him with pity, “last chance… are you going to throw all of it away?”, he asked

“I already did”, you bit back, “Don’t ever contact me again Aemond”, you whispered, “I thought we could be civil, but if this is how you want to ends things, so be it, I don’t ever want to see you again”

“That is going to be difficult in political events”, he mocked

“I’m going liberal”, you answered blankly, “And your friends all acted like they had sticks up their asses, oh and Aemond? Apart from Helaena, your family SUCKS! your brother has hired sex workers and he is only 21, and has a drinking problem, your grandfather and father are creeps and your mother Aemond, your mother is in a religious cult!” you said before you storm out of the restaurant 

And that is how Sara found you, curled up in your bed, sobbing

When the adrenaline of the rage and the heat of the fight abandoned you, you started crying and couldn’t stop

You were sad, scared of what Aemond could do, and in hysterics, because you still believe what he says, because he had power over you

What if nobody ever loves you?

When she entered Sara saw the state you were in and went to hug you tightly

At least you did have friends, you did, good friends, with even only two months of meeting them you knew that you loved 

“What happened?”, she asked. And you told her everything

. . .

It took you all night and the rest of Saturday to regain your composure, you knew you owed Cregan an explanation.

So you went with Sara to their palace, half an hour before they had invited you to play board games with the rest of the group, and order from The Tavern Wings and Beer, you really thought Jace and Sara had made this up for you and Cregan to talk, because you knew Jace had asked Sara why you canceled your date

As soon as you entered the apartment, Jace and Sara locked themselves in the kitchen with lame excuses, leaving you and Cregan alone

“I’m sorry Cregan”, you said, he could see how sad you were, and he wanted more than anything to console you, “I really do like you, but I don't want to string you along, really I… my ex did a number on me, and he paid me an undesired visit yesterday, and I realized I’m just not ready to date yet”, you said, finally looking at him, “but I really do want you close, and hang out with you, do you think you can settle for a friendship first?”, he smiled softly

“Of course I can”, he said, “thank you for telling me”, you begged him, with your eyes, even without releasing it, and he couldn’t help it, he hugged you against his chest, and you immediately hugged him back

“I’m sorry”, you whispered against his chest

“You have nothing to be sorry for” he said, caressing your back

Jacaerys and Sara were clearly listening, when they gout out of the kitchen with big smiles on their faces

“Let’s warm up before the rest get here”, said Jace

“I think we all need to sign agreements before a notary that clearly stated that what is going to happen here, when i completely destroy at “Iron Bank property” is not going to affect our relationship with you guys”, you laughed 

“Oh I agree”, tease Sara, “But when we play ruins of old Valyria, that is when I’m burning you all”

Baela and Rhaena, Alysanne, Ben, Jon, and you four

It was so much fun

Perhaps tomorrow everyone was going to know how you looked naked, but tonight? you were going to enjoy it 

If you still had your friends by your side, you had nothing to be afraid of.

More notes: now we are done, we are not going to be seeing that fucker anymore, for the time being, I mean, he got the message, he won't try to get with reader again, but he might be mentioned or show up in the future when they run into eachtoher

I edited a sentence int he discussion about Alicent, not fair what I wrote, I edited it

taglist! ❤️

@mxtokko @princesssterek @thefandomimagines @iamavailablesstuff @misspascalpunk @sweethoneyblossom1 @ipostwhtifeel @lunamoonbby @ahristata @watercolorskyy @yazzzmints @n4tforlife @littleshadow17 @alexa4040 @speedyballoonpainter @hc-geralt-23 @rayrayredpanda @eralen @yentroucnagol @valeskafics @iloveallmyboys @schadenfreude-and-sarcasm @ttkttt @aleemendoza2425-blog @drwstarkeyy @casualfansoul @urmomsgirlfriend1 @bruher 

[violet-harmon2011]

the evans ideal date

a/n: i know some of these are not totally canon - just let me live out my fantasies in peace lol

p.s. i love you all, thank you for reading!! pls lmk if any of these seem incorrect, i haven't revisted some seasons in a while. also please send me requests or just any evan peters related thoughts lol 🤗😚

all photos are from pinterest <3

evan peters

i have a feeling he would love going to the movies

or building a pillow fort and watching one in your living room

he has mentioned in an interview that he would watch anything just to eat buttered popcorn and candy and drink soda lol

if it were up to him, he’d prob pick a rom com but he’s also up for a good horror film every once in a while

if you went to the theater, he would definitely wanna sit in the back and make out

if you're at home, he would wanna cuddle and would let you lay your head on his chest until you eventually fall asleep together

tate langdon

i feel like he would wanna take a walk around the neighborhood after dark, you know, escape the house for a bit

he'd def wanna hold your hand

shares an earbud with you

listening to your shared playlist on your ipod

would give you his sweater if you got cold

would walk on the side closest to the road to protect you

kit walker

most days the he's too tired after work & you just wanna stay in

would wanna bake with you!!!

and would it turn into a steamy makeout sesh on the countertop? ...and potentially something more? 100%

but seriously, he just loves spending time with you after a long day at work

cooking with you, holding you, kissing you, cuddling you

when he's able to save up to take you somewhere special, he'll ask you out to the movies or a nice restaurant or even the county fair

overall just a lovesick puppy who is head over heels for you

kyle spencer

would want you with him at any parties he has to attend

but would much rather prefer spending time alone with you

would wanna take the bus out of town to escape for a little while

loooves picnic dates with you

would get the maid's help to make a bunch of food to bring

could relax under a tree with you for hours

jimmy darling

would take you to a diner in town

would wear gloves and try to pretend he was normal for you

but you would take none of that, holding his hands with nothing but a proud smile on your face

he would definitely feel 100x more confident after that

your reward would be waiting for you in his trailer that night ;)

james patrick march

would settle for having a nice dinner with you in his room and taking you to bed afterward

but would also be open to doing wtv you want

would ask you if you wanna get a drink at the hotel bar or have dinner at a nice restaurant if you’re tired of the hotel

kai anderson

going out with kai is a rare occasion

most of the time, you’re lucky if he lets you sit in his lap while he’s doing cult work late at night

but every once in a while (especially on nights he wants to try for his messiah baby) he’ll ask you out

god forbid you make a big deal about it or even tell anyone other than winter

“get changed, i’m taking you out in five”

is really the kai equivalent of “do you wanna go out tonight, my gorgeous princess?”

peter maximoff

shows up to your house, hiding behind a bouquet he picked for you

would wanna go to an arcade

beats you at every game

then he feels bad so he wins you a teddy from the claw machine that is absolutely impossible to win at

would take you out to eat after

nothin fancy probably just a diner or somewhere cozy

he cannot afford it but you don’t need to know that

would split a milkshake with you <3

afterwards, he has the zoomies so he gives you superfast piggyback rides

made you matching goggles in your fav color for protection :)

would wanna run around target at 1am pushing each other in shopping carts until you’re both kicked out lol

makes you playlists and loves sharing his music with you

warren lipka

would wanna drive around, get drunk, do it over again

no but seriously, he'd just be content driving nowhere, windows down, screaming some song that makes him feel "alive"

would take you to the gas station or some cheap diner

would love taking random road trips together & finding adventure

alex (adult world)

would love to take you to a museum if you're down

if you're a writer, he would come to poetry readings & book signings with you

loves going to the art store/bookstore

would also be down to just rent a film from adult world & chill at home if yk what i mean 😉

[injuries-in-dust]

What concerns me with the humans are space orcs stuff oddly enough was humanity's clothing,

Looking at mass effect and other SciFi games and films the clothes suck, boring and basic design all round.

Then I look at what we wore around the 1800s, where did our sense of fashion go?

Security chief Thron frowned as they looked down at the human, classified as; "Stowaway" in the holding cell.

Xe didn't know how the conversation had spun around to this topic, but it was engaging enough to pass the hours until they reached the next spaceport to hand the human over to the proper authorities. "Human fashion is so boring."

Jupiter classified themselves as a "Hitchhiker" but after a few hours in the cell and settled on an "agree to disagree" mentality with the security chief.

They shook their head. "You've clearly not met the right humans."

Thronn shook xyr head, "I have met many humans during my service."

"Oh service," Jupiter rolled their eyes. "You can't judge human fashion based on those guys in the service. Uniforms don't count."

"It is not just humans within the service I have met. We are a cargo vessel, we bring many useful supplies to many fledgling colonies, human ones included."

Jupiter shook their head, "new colonies? You're judging fashion by what you see on the new colonies?"

"Then what of your garments? Dull colourings all over your person. Little accoutrements to be seen. Very boring. Very typical of human stowaways."

"Hitchhikers." Jupiter corrected. "You can't judge hitchhikers and colonists. They don't have the resources to waste on fancy stuff, and I've got to travel light. It's all about keeping it simple. Hardwearing stuff that lasts a long time and could be easily replaced or repaired. And the dark colours help me hide when I'm stow... hitchhiking."

Thronn decided xe would let that slip of the tongue pass without comment.

Jupiter looked xem up and down. Even in a uniform, the alien had been allowed a few accessorires of cultural significance. It certainly added splashes of colour to the usually dull grey security uniform. A small headdress with a bright embroidered pattern, a sash around the waist with a matching design, and an epaulette on the shoulder made of small conical seashells stitched onto silk and painted in bright colours.

It was certainly more than Jupiter had going on. They had a navy blue bomber jacket, dark shirt, dark khaki trousers, brown hiking boots, a black and white shemagh wrapped around her neck and a dark green and black rucksack usually slung over her back, but right now it was sitting outside the cell in an evidence locker. The closest to an accessory they had going on was a few ID patches sewn onto the jacket and bag. Name, species, blood type, and world of origin.

Photographs and memories were their souvenirs.

"Have you ever been to any of the long-established colonies? Any that have been around for a century or more?"

Thronn shook xyr head, "I haven't. The ship's duties only take us around the border worlds."

"Then you haven't seen what humans are really capable of when they get comfortable." Jupiter pointed over to the locker holding their bag. "There are some pictures on my datapad. I managed to visit Port Marinda, Alforanza, and New Barcelona last year, they're all human colonies, all about two hundred years old. Go on, get the pad and I'll show you the pictures."

Against xyr better judgement, Thronn opened the locker and retrieved the datapad. Xe opened a small hatch in the holding cell, usually used to pass meals through.

Jupiter scrolled through the pictures until they found the folder holding the pictures of their visit to New Barcelona. The pictures showed the wonderful countryside of rolling hills of silver and purple grass, scattered with trees with leaves of bright orange. Sunglasses were a must when walking in the countryside because of the risk of violent headaches, especially on sunny days. The sunsets were simply stunning, and they had amazing local fruit that looked like a red banana and tasted like raspberry and dark chocolate.

The capital city was also a sight to see. Tall, wavy and twisting buildings that looked like bright coral growing right out of the ground. Each one was a different colour so every district contained a rainbow of either bright or pastel shades.

The people were equally bright and ingenious in their clothing. Jupiter turned the screen to show Thronn a picture they'd taken of a picturesque street market.

Thronn looked at the handful of humans in the picture. One human wore a colourful dress that looked almost like millions of feathers sewn together. Even in the still image, xe could imagine how they would shimmer in the light.

Another human, a male, he wore a bright green suit, covered with silver, gossamer-like webbing which rose out of the shoulders, spreading behind him, resembling small wings.

Xe spotted a person Xe almost thought wasn't human at all until xe realised that their skin was painted from the neck down. Covering the paint was a simple dress that looked like a net. Where each thread crisscrossed with another, a brightly coloured jewel had been sewn.

One human being, who looked to be talking with a shopkeeper over some sort of food, was dressed in an elegant gown of a bright colourful fabric that looked like a sunset itself had been turned into the material that made the garment.

There was a tall adolescent human was dressed in a tight full-body outfit with an elaborate headdress which covered their entire face with a snake-like mask. You couldn't see the human and it gave Thronn an almost unsettling impression of a large bipedal reptile moving among the humans.

"You see," Jupiter said. "Forget uniforms, travellers and frontier colonies. Just give humans time to settle down, get some resources to spare and watch their imaginations fly."

Thronn had to admit it. Human fashion was not boring.

[saintsenara]

Hi thank you so much for your Many posts spreading Love of Romione with such accuracy and eloquence. It makes me so happy seeing such well done defense for them in 2024! I would to hear anything else lovely you have to say about Romione forever and ever thank you (Maybe your Favorite Romione moment? Or When, in your opinion they fell in love with each other?) thank you!!!!! ❤️

thank you very much, anon! this is extremely lovely of you.

i've got one favourite romione moment here, but another is her being genuinely won over by ron's improved rizz once he's had a flick through twelve fail-safe ways to charm witches:

“Nice,” said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crabapple tree to gold. “You’ve really got an eye for that sort of thing.” “Thank you, Ron!” said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would find a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches.

hermione has a bit of a reputation in this fandom - largely, i think, due to the fact that she's written as so prim in the films - for being someone with an extremely low tolerance for frivolity. but, in the books, she's clearly perfectly capable of being silly and funny and a bit of a hopeless romantic. her being sincerely delighted to have the boy she fancies gas up her way with a wand [behave] is something so sweetly teenage that it always makes me smile - even before the added poignancy of the fact that this is a small joy for her after she's vanished from her parents' minds and is preparing to go on the run at any moment is taken into account.

it's why she decides to pack his tight jeans. change my mind.

as for when ron and hermione fell in love?

on the train. harry's reaction to meeting her is "wtf? moving on..." but ron is so bothered by her - groaning when she's sorted into gryffindor! my guy! - and she is so bothered by him - as we see in literally everything she does in the opening half of philosopher's stone - and this constant, prickling irritation, this desire to know what someone is up to at all times, this commitment to caring about what they do and say and think of you... is a very good indicator of love at first sight.

so - of course - it takes harry six more years to work out what's going on.

[sunsetkerr]

BEFORE A GAME WITH Y/N L/N | s.kerr

summary: netball australia releases a video with you (and sam) before a game. [1k words]

pairing: netball!reader x sam kerr

notes: another netball!reader because I love her

[OPENING SHOT OF Y/N'S HOME IN ADELAIDE. A MAGPIE SITS IN A TREE, CALLING OUT]

6:28AM, Y/N L/N'S HOME

THE MORNING OF ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS VS. MELBOURNE VIXENS

[SHOT OF Y/N'S BEDROOM WINDOW, THE SUN IS BEGINNING TO RISE. Y/N’S VOICEOVER BEGINS]

Y/N L/N: So, it's around 6:30 in the morning right now. Today is game day, we're playing melbourne and I have to be at the stadium by- (Y/N LOOKS DOWN AT HER PHONE, BLINKING A FEW TIMES) -9:30 for strat.

INTERVIEWER: Are you tired?

(Y/N LAUGHS, EXHALING THROUGH HER NOSE)

Y/N L/N: So tired.

Y/N L/N: I like to let sam sleep when I have to be up early.

[CLIP OF Y/N BRUSHING SAM'S HAIR OUT OF HER FACE AS SHE SLEEPS. SHORT CLIPS OF Y/N PULLING HER KIT OUT OF THE CUPBOARD, QUIETLY AS TO NOT WAKE HER GIRLFRIEND UP]

Y/N L/N: She flew in from Brisbane last night. (Y/N PAUSES TO MAKE SURE SAM IS STILL SLEEPING) Got in around midnight. So she needs a good sleep. (SMILES AT SAM)

[Y/N'S KITCHEN; Y/N SITTING AT THE KITCHEN BENCH, STILL IN HER PYJAMAS]

Y/N L/N: Game days I eat a big-ish breakfast. Some times we do team breakfasts if it's an earlier match, but we start at 6 tonight- so I'm eating here.

[CLIPS OF Y/N MAKING BREAKFAST; CEREAL AND YOGURT, MIXED NUTS ON TOP]

Y/N L/N: My grandad, well my Pa, used to have this cereal and when I was in juniors, I would eat it before my games. So now that I'm old (LAUGHING) and live out of home, he misses the cereal with the nuts and drops it off every month.

[PICTURES OF Y/N AND HER PA, OLD AND NEW]

Y/N L/N: He doesn't really like netball, but he watches it for me.

[Y/N EATING HER BREAKFAST QUIETLY AT THE BENCH, TRYING NOT TO LAUGH WITH HER MOUTH FULL]

Y/N L/N: (SWALLOWS BEFORE SPEAKING) I feel very strange with you all watching me eat.

[B-ROLL FOOTAGE; Y/N SAT EATING, PANS TO CREW FILMING HER. LAUGHTER FROM BEHIND THE CAMERA]

(SAM WALKS INTO THE KITCHEN, PAUSES WHEN SHE SEES THE CREW. LAUGHTER EMITS FROM Y/N AND FROM THE CREW]

SAM KERR: Um.. (PAUSES) What the *BEEP* is going on?

(MORE LAUGHTER)

[CUTS TO Y/N SITTING WITH SAM ON THE BENCH, SAM LEANING HER HEAD ON Y/N'S SHOULDER]

Y/N L/N: This is my girlfriend, her name is Sam.

(SAM WAVES TIREDLY AT THE CAMERA)

Y/N L/N: She should be asleep right now.

SAM KERR: I would be, but there's ten random people in our home right now (LAUGHS)

7:33AM

[CUTS TO Y/N IN THE BATHROOM, SKINCARE PRODUCTS SET UP BEHIND HER]

Y/N L/N: Before I go to the stadium, I shower and shave. I always try to remember to shave my armpits (LAUGHS) on the morning of games, but sometimes.. I forget. I keep my hair up and try not to get it wet, because I'll wash it later tonight after the game.

[CLOSE UP OF PRODUCTS BEHIND Y/N]

Y/N L/N: I get out all my stuff to wash my face with and everything before my shower so I don't forget anything.. because.. I will.

SAM KERR: *OFFSCREEN* She will.

Y/N L/N: Let's keep the heckling to a minimum, shall we?

8:19AM

SAM KERR: Y/N takes forever in the shower, so I usually, if I'm here, will try to make sure she's got everything.

(SAM PULLS A THUNDERBIRDS DUFFLE OUT FROM THE CUPBOARD, PLACING IT ON THE BED)

SAM KERR: This is her game bag, she needs her training gear and shoes. Her dress is at the stadium ready for her, which is good- because it would be all wrinkled, like the rest of her stuff (LAUGHS).

(SAM FOLDS AND PUTS Y/N'S CLOTHES INTO HER BAG)

SAM KERR: Uhh, clothes, shoes, deodorant. What else? Body wash. This is her little bag that she brings to shower after, has all her special, fancy stuff in it. And I'll- (SAM PULLS A HOODIE FROM THE CUPBOARD) put this in here, because it'll be cold when she comes home.

[Y/N PEERS AROUND THE CORNER, HER TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND HER. SHE TRIES TO KEEP HER BODY OUT OF SHOT]

Y/N L/N: Can I come in now?

8:36AM

[Y/N'S CAR; SAM IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT, Y/N IN THE PASSENGER]

SAM KERR: I feel like we're vloggers or something

Y/N L/N: No, I know (SMILES)

SAM KERR: Hey guys! Welcome back to our channel!

(Y/N LAUGHS WITH SAM)

Y/N L/N: So now I'm on my way to Netball SA to meet the girls, Sam's driving me because she's a good girlfriend.

SAM KERR: I didn't wanna be left alone.

Y/N L/N: That too. The stadium is in the city and my place is like forty-five-ish minutes away? Thirty-five with good traffic.

SAM KERR: Your phones going off bub

Y/N L/N: It's Georgie (CHUCKLES)

SAM KERR: (BANGING THE STEERING WHEEL PLAYFULLY WITH A SMILE) Georgie Horjus!

Y/N L/N: she wants to know if you're allowed to be driving with how much sleep you've had.

(SAM LAUGHS, ADJUSTING HER SUNGLASSES)

SAM KERR: Probably not, tell her to piss off.

9:17AM

[CLIP OF Y/N KISSING SAM GOODBYE THROUGH THE OPEN CAR WINDOW. SAM PULLS AWAY, BUT HOLDS Y/N'S HEAD CLOSE]

[SUBTITLES APPEAR AS SAM TALKS INAUDIBLY]

SAM KERR: *MUMBLED* I love you

[SAM QUICKLY KISSES Y/N ONCE MORE BEFORE TIGHTENING THE RIBBON IN Y/N'S PONYTAIL FOR HER]

[CLIP OF Y/N WALKING INTO THE STADIUM]

Y/N: So we're at the stadium, heading in to talk strategy with the girls for today's game. After that we'll do drills and warm ups, probably rewatch our last game again- boring stuff really (CHUCKLES). Oh, oh-

[CAMERA PANS TO TIPPAH DWAN, GOAL SHOOTER AND GOAL ATTACK FOR THE ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS. SHE SKIPS OVER TO Y/N, SUNGLASSES OVER HER EYES]

TIPPAH DWAN: Hey!

Y/N L/N: This is Tippah, my starting attacker.

TIPPAH DWAN: Dream-team here really (SHRUGS)

Y/N L/N: Thanks for spending my morning with me.

(TIPPAH PULLS Y/N IN FOR A TIGHT HUG AS Y/N LAUGHS, WAVING TO THE CAMERA)

TIPPAH DWAN: Now get outta here!

6:03PM

[CLIP OF Y/N TAKING TO COURT, TIGHTENING HER PONYTAIL UNDER THE GOAL RING. PANS OVER TO SAM KERR, WHO SITS WITH OTHER THUNDERBIRD PLAYERS PARTNERS. SHE IS CLAPPING, AND CHEERING FOR Y/N AS THE COUNTDOWN TO THE GAME BEGINS]

[THE SCREEN TURNS BLANK AS THE WHISTLE SOUNDS]

[the-starry-seas]

It's my goal to finish some monthly prompt lists and I decided to let people request the characters I write about! comfy-vember is platonic hurt-comfort with an emphasis on comfort, fanovember is literary themes, and fluffcember is all fluff. Links lead to the prompt lists. Plain text prompts are below the cut and I'll cross out prompts as they're requested.

Rules:

You don't have to be following me

One request per person

Send an ask instead of a DM/reply/reblog

Name the event you're requesting for

Request two or three prompts in order of preference, in case somebody else already requested your first choice

Open to all characters and ships but SFW only

Use character names instead of ship names, and specify platonic or romantic for fanovember and fluffcember prompts

Fandoms I'm writing for:

Alien franchise excluding Romulus

AVP

Fallout (show)

Jurassic Park and Jurassic World

Killjoys

Leverage

Pacific Rim

Star Wars (any of the movies, BOBF, Bad Batch, or The Mandalorian)

The Murderbot Diaries

Titanfall 2

TMNT (Bayverse or Rise)

Transformers (Bayverse, Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts, or TFOne)

Comfy-vember

Breaking bad habits — New day — Train ride

Favourite song — Holding hands — Walking and talking

Special breakfast — Spoon feeding — Forehead kiss

Bed rest — Mug of tea — Soft music

Saying their name — Hand on knee — Dressing fancy

Weak crying — Trusting — Slow hug

Eye of the storm — Sleeping on shoulder — First hug

Found — Thunder shower — Fresh fruit

Scars — Passing smile — Baking cookies

Overcoming fear — Sharing a bed — Lullaby

Verbal affirmation — Couch cuddles — Nose kiss

Hand on shoulder — Practical gift — Movie night

Relearning a skill — Surprise compliment — Fresh laundry

After nightmare — Day together — Random gift

Shopping trip — Storytelling — Laughing phone call

Carrying — Reading aloud — Loving gaze

Healing wounds — I love you text/note — Rain on the roof

Coming home — Kitchen dancing — Sleeping in

Putting on ointment — Thick blankets — Sunset

Desperate hug — Sharing food — Care for caregiver

Enthusiastic greeting — Late night laughter — Waking up together

Bail out — Car ride — Lamplight

Remembering medication — Art on fridge — Warm toast

Apology — Palm kiss — Campfire

Washing bloodstains — Hair brushing — Cheek kiss

Confession — Crying hug — Picnic

Promise keeping — Quick hug — Beach/waves

Cast taken off — Sleepy kiss — Hot chocolate

Showing up — Birthday gift — Bicycle

In dreams — Happy tears — Dancing in rain

Fanovember

Romance

Short story

Terror

Adventure

Art

Retelling

Historical

Journal

Theatre

Witchcraft

Religion

Fantasy

Astrology

Mithology

Poetics

Reality show

Press

Urban fantasy

Film/Movie

Family

Music

Epistolary

Sci-fi

Autobiography

Cuisine

Dance

Board games

Classic

Thriller

Flash-fiction

Fluffcember

Roasted Marshmallows

Winter Flu

Snowman

Christmas Sweater

Northern Lights

Gingerbread House

Condensed Breath

Sparkling Snow

Sugar Rush

Carols

Slippery

Skiing

Fire and Ice

Winter Soup

Naughty List

Chocolate

Snowed in

Mistletoe

Fondue

Fairy Tales

Cabin in the Snow

Winter Storm

Confessions

Christmas Tree

The Perfect Gift

Forgiveness

Family Gathering

Cold Turkey

Mint

Warming Up

Fireworks