#i had to write it all in a separate document in case tumblr decided to delete my post :))

[starrbar]

The July 2022 Amphibia Attacks

DISCLAIMER: Awhile back, I privated my Twitter to feel safer, but it still had some things on it that I don't want to cut off people's access to. And while the Wayback Machine is absolutely incredible for what it does, I find it so agonizingly tedious to load up even one page to read. It's even worse if there's images attached, each of which I have to manually open in a new tab to see, if they load at all. So I'm taking some of my old posts and reformatting them for Tumblr. This is STRICTLY FOR DOCUMENTATION PURPOSES. Do not assume these are recent events and do not EVER harass anyone!!!

SUMMARY: The Amphibia Attacks (as I call them) were a set of targeted stalking, harassment, and witch-hunting of four artists in the Amphibia fandom for their private, "problematic" nsfw art. This led to the doxxing of a fifth artist who was at very real risk of death. It's one of the most dire situations I've ever seen spawn from the "anti/proship" discourse, and I had the displeasure of being there as it happened, where I was able to document and collect information so that people could be informed.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Harassment, doxxing, mocking victims of such things, discussion of nsfw art of child characters (but no images shown), liberal accusations of "pedophilia", disturbing audio of the culprit bragging about what they had done with their "fans"

The original Tweet thread on the Wayback Machine can be found here. Everything below the Read More link is a direct paste of that thread and its relevant media (with a couple accessibility tweaks).

I also dumped all the individual screenshots I've used into this Google Drive folder, in case people would like to borrow them or if the combined versions I made are difficult to read for some reason.

Speaking of accessibility, almost all of these screenshots are nothing but text, and I've been working on this for hours, so I'm going to post them as is, but anyone who sees this is welcome to add captions that screen readers can follow.

In the last few days, I've come to understand that all the info I wanted people to know about the recent Amphibia Attacks has been documented by others, BUT they're all separate threads posted across Twitter.

This thread is to provide some connective tissue to form a full picture.

Several anonymous users conducted a coordinated attack against four artists, two of whom are crew members for Amphibia. The invasive release of these artists' private nsfw accounts also directly inspired the doxxing of a fifth artist (a minor), almost leading to her murder.

The "proship" crowd gets made fun of for overstating the "body count" of antishippers, but this time it almost happened. Brownteen32 was a 17-year-old girl living in a third world country where "dishonor is death", and she would have been legally killed for her art.

I'm starting with her case because it was the most dire, and thus I paid much closer attention to how she was doing. Thankfully, Brownteen is safe now, though she has decided to leave social media. I hope she will remain safe and still be able to live a fulfilling life.

The people that attacked BT have many sock puppet accounts, but a thread by @/stopnow98630374 (linked next) suggests they aren't all one person. The original attacker is @/phibbyburner, who at time of writing, is still active. The doxxer is @/ballsybeech aka @/AllBeech.

Part 1 of the aforementioned thread (and the Archive if it's ever needed).

Part 2, because the thread was cut for some reason (and the Archive)

Phibby's priv has been confirmed to be @/booboyapologist, both in these screenshots and in the linked video (more on the videos soon).

Video (and the Archive)

There are also mentions of a "mole" that helped Phibby get the information. I have not seen confirmation of who this person is yet.

Link to the video pictured above (Archived version)

I'm going to come back to Phibby after I cover Beech's actions.

These are the 1st posts Beech made against Brownteen: screenshots of her old Instagram callout against someone else for "pedo" art. Brownteen's responses included in the link so she can explain. I understand and believe her.

There's also these, specifying that Brownteen was 17 (A MINOR) when this happened. These are from Instagram.

I don't know if these are from Phibby, Beech, or someone else.

I really want people to see this in particular. She is BEGGING this person not to do this to her, APOLOGIZING for shit that wasn't wrong, and even calling her own artwork REVOLTING. Said she would get off social media forever too. All to survive!

THIS TOO! Directly pleading for her life, and this heartless monster went through with it anyway and smugly said "that's what you get uwu"! It's honestly heartbreaking.

I'll restate that Brownteen was able to get home safely, and was very thankful to everyone who supported her and gave her advice through all this. Also of note is that Brownteen deactivated for a short amount of time, out of fear.

I am DISTURBED by the fact that someone was backed into a corner like this and almost killed. She deleted ALL her artwork out of fear, tried to say she regretted drawing it, was made to express remorse for it, and all the while mocked and terrorized.

Besides that, Beech has continued to post Brownteen's private fucking photos online with VERY nasty captions.

I'm only linking these so y'all can report them. Make these into dead links please!

Link 1 | Link 2

Hey, present day Starrbar here, THESE ARE STILL UP FOR SOME GOD-FORSAKEN REASON. So I'm leaving the links here to be reported! Brownteen made it clear she didn't want even partially censored pictures of herself left online, which is one reason I literally chopped up my original thread and re-did it with all her photos FULLY blacked out. I know some of the other documentation does have partially censored photos of her, but those people were at least on her side and trying to help. These, on the other hand, were purely malicious and trying to bring her harm. GO REPORT THEM, PLEASE!

Beech had also leaked Brownteen's address, but thankfully that Tweet was successfully removed.

Now, to finish covering Phibby's (current) actions.

This thread, which I have already linked parts of, contains audio/video recordings of Phibby damning himself further in a voice chat. It's painful to listen to if you aren't a remorseless pig like him.

Video (Archived)

Phibby claiming to have a coherent motive despite admitting in a public voice chat that he just likes to fuck with people for clout~

"Cyberbullying isn't real", also said in one of the audio clips. Constantly mocking the victims and talking about how they just need to "turn off the PC and go outside", as if his entire goal wasn't to ruin their fucking lives.

I think we've ALL clowned on this one by now, so pick your favorite QRTs! Reminder that the rhetoric Phibby based his "reasoning" on is entirely bound to lead to stuff like this. If you dehumanize others by convincing yourself that they're predators, things WILL escalate.

Now, as for the other artists that were attacked, primarily by Phibby, I don't know every detail of that, but I'll highlight a few things.

Phibby's 1st Tweets were just a bunch of screenshots (and a tasteless video compilation) of the artists' private nsfw of "minor" characters.

I will not be spreading those callouts, as they were not meant to be spread in the first fucking place. But I will assure people that the ONLY thing contained in any of them was artwork. Stylized, cartoon sketches of the Amphibia characters doin smut.

The horror. 🙄

The main thing I think I need to say about these 4 artists is that people initially thought that all of them were Amphibia crew members, but that isn't true. Only 2 of them are, the other two are fanartists.

Here's a simple guide. (Archive)

I do know that Sook, aka @/DirdyBongWater, deactivated after all this. However, I have been told that they're fine. Obviously I can't verify this personally, but I really hope that they are.

Alex, aka @/raebits, has also deactivated, and the fuckers are all celebrating it.

One thing that has come to my attention is that a user by the name of @/dilydily292 has appeared and started going after Phibby, with alleged doxx information. -_- This is not okay, and I encourage people to go report that account, regardless of how much I hate Phibby.

The account also fails to prove... anything?? Like, they don't give any evidence that actually connects Phibby to the names and messages they're posting. All around lame job. And again, don't doxx ANYONE!

I think that's all I got for this. I REALLY hope I didn't accidentally post anything that Brownteen didn't want out there. I know other people have already shared some of it (not their fault—Brownteen only told me directly what her boundaries were), but I really tried not to.

Never forget what this was really about. Not pedophilia, not incorrect art. It was about stalking, privacy invasion, and people playing judge, jury, & executioner for the sake a power high. This was an attack, not a tragic outing of "bad artists".

Link to another one of my (much shorter) threads about this (Archive)

And I hope anyone who reads this will believe me when I say this. If you have any kind of taboo/dark fictional interests: You are not alone, you are not wrong, and you are not obligated to live in accordance with the wonky demands of bullies on the internet. You are okay. 💖

Tiny update: It's hilarious that all it took to make the bullies mad was for Alex to reactivate and then sit there on priv with an icon people feel entitled to gatekeep x'D

The irony of the "you're a grown adult" comments too, ah, chef's kiss~

Happy update! The other three artists are BACK and wearing their true selves proudly!! @/raebits is still priv, but they've been back for awhile, and I hope they're doing well. We also have @/FISTRAID, @/bokobokosplices, and @/bangkaigagak (just so no one has to dig around)

[touhou-music]

Album Name: 東方名曲蒐 (Touhou Music Collection, I believe?)

Audio Length: 07:25

Collaborator: GROOVE COASTER

Genre: Vocal, Instrumental, Pop, Electronic, Rock

Song List is below.

01. tete+a+tete -FULL EDITION- (03:43) [C.H.S.] - Arrangement: t+pazolite - Original: Septette for the Dead Princess (Final Stage Boss Theme: Remilia Scarlet) - Source: 東方紅魔郷 ~ Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

02. そして誰もいなくなった -GAME EDITION- (And Then There Were None) (02:01) [IOSYS] - Arrangement: void - Lyrics: 黒田椋子 - Vocals: あにー - Original: U.N. Owen was her? (Extra Stage Boss Theme: Flandre Scarlet) - Source: 東方紅魔郷 ~ Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

03. クリスタライズ！ -GAME EDITION- (Crystallize!) (01:49) [石鹸屋 (Sekken’ya)] - Arrangement: 秀三 - Lyrics: 秀三 - Vocals: 秀三 - Original: Crystallized Silver (Stage 1 Boss Theme: Letty Whiterock) - Source: 東方妖々夢 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom

04. IN MY LIFE -GAME EDITION- (03:29) [発熱巫女～ず (hatsunemitsuko’s)] - Arrangement: Tim Vegas - Lyrics: Laura April - Vocals: Ark Brown - Original: Diao ye zong (withered leaf) (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Chen) - Source: 東方妖々夢 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom

05. Material of Puppets -FULL EDITION- (02:55) [Silver Forest] - Arrangement: NYO - Lyrics: Silver Forest - Vocals: 奏瀬いちこ, 星河さきち - Original: The Doll Maker of Bucuresti (Stage 3 Theme) - Source: 東方妖々夢 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom

06. Finder -GAME EDITION- (04:35) [EastNewSound] - Arrangement: 黒鳥 - Lyrics: くまりす - Vocals: 紫咲ほたる - Original: Deaf to All But the Song (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Mystia Lorelei) - Source: 東方永夜抄 ~ Imperishable Night

07. ジンガイクライシス(feat.ytr) -FULL EDITION- (Inhuman Crisis) (04:11) [TAMAONSEN] - Arrangement: Coro - Lyrics: ytr - Vocals: ytr - Original: Plain Asia (Stage 3 Boss Theme: Keine Kamishirasawa) - Source: 東方永夜抄 ~ Imperishable Night

08. GROOVE IT LUCKY (グルコスMix) (03:30) [A-One] - Arrangement: ELEMENTAS - Lyrics: Yassie - Vocals: あき, 越田Rute隆人 - Original: The Road of the Misfortune God ~ Dark Road (Stage 2 Theme), Dark Side of Fate (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Hina Kagiyama) - Source: 東方風神録 ~ Mountain of Faith

09. 東方地神律 -GAME EDITION- (Touhou Law of Earth Gods) (02:17) - Arrangement: COSIO - Original: Native Faith (Extra Stage Boss Theme: Suwako Moriya) - Source: 東方風神録 ~ Mountain of Faith

10. カリソメ -GAME EDITION- (Transiency) (02:00) [BUTA-OTOME] - Arrangement: コンプ - Lyrics: コンプ - Vocals: ichigo - Original: Hartmann’s Youkai Girl (Extra Stage Boss Theme: Koishi Komeiji) - Source: 東方地霊殿 ~ Subterranean Animism

11. LOVE FOR YOU -GAME EDITION- (04:05) [暁Records] - Arrangement: ACTRock - Lyrics: ACTRock - Vocals: Stack - Original: Green-Eyed Jealousy (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Parsee Mizuhashi) - Source: 東方地霊殿 ~ Subterranean Animism

12. 鼓動、零れぬ酒 -FULL EDITION- (My Heartbeat and Unspilt Sake) (03:57) [Yuuhei Satellite] - Arrangement: HiZuMi, 奥山ナマリ - Lyrics: かませ虎 - Vocals: senya - Original: A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe (Stage 3 Boss Theme: Yuugi Hoshiguma) - Source: 東方地霊殿 ~ Subterranean Animism

13. 揺蕩うLove (feat. らっぷびと) -GAME EDITION- (Fickle Love) (03:30) [TAMAONSEN] - Arrangement: TINY PLANETS - Lyrics: らっぷびと - Vocals: らっぷびと - Original: Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Kogasa Tatara) - Source: 東方星蓮船 ~ Undefined Fantastic Object

14. Sad Rain -FULL EDITION- (03:29) [REDALiCE] - Arrangement: REDALiCE - Original: Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind (Final Stage Boss Theme: Byakuren Hijiri) - Source: 東方星蓮船 ~ Undefined Fantastic Object

15. イニシャルイニシャルエコーエゴー -GAME EDITION- (Initial Initial Echo Echo) (04:23) [凋叶棕 (diao ye zong)] - Arrangement: RD-Sounds - Lyrics: RD-Sounds - Vocals: Meramipop - Original: Youkai Girl at the Gate (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Kyouko Kasodani) - Source: 東方神霊廟 ~ Ten Desires

16. コノ���ズク -FULL EDITION- (03:17) [BUTA-OTOME] - Arrangement: コンプ - Original: Shoutoku Legend ~ True Administrator (Final Stage Boss Theme: Toyosatomimi no Miko) - Source: 東方神霊廟 ~ Ten Desires

17. マーメイドダンス -GAME EDITION- (Mermaid Dance) (02:03) [IOSYS] - Arrangement: void - Instruments: void, john=hive - Original: Mermaid from the Uncharted Land (Stage 1 Boss Theme: Wakasagihime) - Source: 東方輝針城 ~ Double Dealing Character

18. INCOGNITO -FULL EDITION- (04:18) [ZYTOKINE] - Arrangement: 隣人 - Lyrics: 隣人 - Vocals: Nana Takahashi - Original: Lonesome Werewolf (Stage 3 Boss Theme: Kagerou Imaizumi) - Source: 東方輝針城 ~ Double Dealing Character

19. FEEL MY BEAT! -More Rock Extended- (01:58) [TatshMusicCircle] - Arrangement: Tatsh - Lyrics: 黒田椋子 - Vocals: 黒田椋子 - Original: Primordial Beat ~ Pristine Beat (Extra Stage Boss Theme: Raiko Horikawa) - Source: 東方輝針城 ~ Double Dealing Character

20. 完全の模様を刳り貫いて -GAME EDITION- (Perfect Hollowed Pumpkin) (04:20) [shoujo fractal] - Arrangement: 神奈森ユウ - Lyrics: 奥山ナマリ - Vocals: 天宮みや, 柚木梨沙 - Original: September Pumpkin (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Ringo), The Lake Reflects the Cleansed Moonlight (Stage 2 Theme) - Source: 東方紺珠伝 ~ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

21. Dream Coaster -FULL EDITION- (03:37) [A-One] - Arrangement: ELEMENTAS - Lyrics: Yassie - Vocals: 越田Rute隆人, あき - Original: The Mysterious Shrine Maiden Flying Through Space (Stage 3 Theme), Eternal Spring Dream (Stage 3 Boss Theme: Doremy Sweet) - Source: 東方紺珠伝 ~ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

22. ジョーカー・ジュンコ ～ 永遠の純化 -FULL EDITION- (Joker Junko ~ Eternal Purification) (02:40) [COOL&CREATE] - Arrangement: ビートまりお - Original: Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart (Final Stage Boss Theme: Junko), The Sea That Reflects One’s Home Planet (Final Stage Theme) - Source: 東方紺珠伝 ~ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

23. 東方外魔伝 -GAME EDITION- (Touhou Outer Demonic Tale) (02:20) [ZUNTATA] - Arrangement: MASAKI - Original: Pandemonic Planet (Extra Stage Boss Theme: Hecatia Lapislazuli) - Source: 東方紺珠伝 ~ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

24. 孤独な花 -GAME EDITION- (Lonely Flower) (02:53) [BUTA-OTOME] - Arrangement: コンプ - Lyrics: コンプ - Vocals: Ranko - Instruments: - Original: Deep-Mountain Encounter (Stage 2 Boss Theme: Nemuno Sakata) - Source: 東方天空璋 ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons

25. 秘神マターラ-HYPER TECHNO MIX- -GAME EDITION- (Secret God Matara) (02:09) [ZUNTATA] - Arrangement: YS - Instruments: Kou Ogata - Original: Secret God Matara ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons (Final Stage Boss Theme #2: Okina Matara) - Source: 東方天空璋 ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons

26. Captain Murasa [Tracy vs. Astronomical Mix] -FULL EDITION- [Amateras Records] - Arrangement: Tracy, Astronomical - Guitar: UK - Original: Captain Murasa (Stage 4 Boss Theme: Minamitsu Murasa) - Source: 東方星蓮船 ~ Undefined Fantastic Object

27. ぐる☆ネーション -FULL EDITION- (Guru (Teacher/Master) Nation) [森羅万象 (ShinRa-Bansho)] - Arrangement: kaztora, Hedonist - Lyrics: Caral - Vocals: あよ - Original: Love-Colored Master Spark (Stage 4 (uncanny) Boss Theme: Marisa Kirisame), Eternal Night Vignette ~ Eastern Night (Title Screen Theme) - Source: 東方永夜抄 ~ Imperishable Night

[silverskye13]

different anon. it does for some people but not everyone. (also, some people may find the feature annoying in certain cases because the length it decides is Too Long is kiinda arbitrary and peoople have differnent lines.)

So in the spirit of Under-The-Cutting, I guess.

First thing of address, I guess: I can't control if people turn off the auto Tumblr readmore function. If it doesn't work for you, you can't control that either. But I find it a bit unfair that someone might, hypothetically, turn off the useful tool for cutting back on longposts on your dashboard, and then come into my inbox and be passive-aggressive about me not doing the function for them on my side of the equation. If that's the circumstances that kicked all this off, it's a bit... ahm... self-centered. I personally have it turned on, less because I want to filter long written posts [I like reading the fics posted on Tumblr] but because I like to filter long image posts, and those generally don't get censored under a readmore.

For that matter I also can't control someone's scrolling speed. I get what the second anon is trying to say: maybe only censor posts of a certain size. The issue here is what I think is long isn't the same as what someone else does. For me personally, I think long is a written work that tops out around 10k words. I'd get annoyed scrolling through that on my dashboard. The fic I posted yesterday was a rare 5k-ish. Most fics I've posted here in the past are around 2-3k, but I've posted an 8k fic here before with no resistance. Something I'm learning from this is other people think 2-3k is fine enough to scroll through, but 5k is a lot. So... noting that for the future.

So I personally don't like censoring my posts under the readmore function for a couple or reasons:

It cuts back on engagement, noticeably. It's the side-effect of social media that you want instant gratification as quickly as possible. When someone is given the choice to either click a button and sit on a post for awhile, or continuing to scroll through their dashboard for something quicker to engage with, normally they'll pick the second option. That's how social media was made, and while the Tumblr platform subverts this a little by it's nature, it still buy-and-large holds true.

Read mores, as far as I'm aware, can only be added on desktop. The snippets that make it to Tumblr, barring when I archive them for myself on a separate document, are all written on mobile. If they aren't completely mobile, they're at least started/drafted there and then moved to desktop later - but I want to say 9/10 of these are written and posted completely from my phone. And they're going to lean even more into that, since for various reasons, it's currently easier and more reliable for me to write on my phone. I won't be able to continue writing fics here if I have to wait until I have access to my laptop every time before posting them. Which leads me to my incredibly me-only dilemma:

Writing these quickly and posting them rough to Tumblr is the only reason these quick fics get written in the first place. I started posting written work to Tumblr because I was tired of abandoning so many ideas in the shuffle between "Is this good enough for AO3?" and "Is this good enough to be written at all?" But if I have to re-add roadblocks that make posting here more trouble than it's worth, I know myself, I will end up not posting fics here anymore. I'm sure it sounds silly. It sounds silly to me. But it's less of a "readmores make me not want to write" and more of the mental gymnastics of: Is this fic long enough to need a readmore -> If it does need a readmore, when will I have the time to add it -> Do I post it now and edit it in later? Probably not, because I won't remember to add it later -> Since I waited to post it, do i even remember hours later that I had a fic I wanted to post -> Would it have been easier to post this on AO3, even though it doesn't meet my standard of craft of AO3 fics? -> Why am I bothering to do this when I have so many other things I'd rather spend my time on? If you've ever done that thing where you got nothing done on a free day because you had (1) thing you had to do in the afternoon, and all your mental faculties were taken up going "No I can't do X, I have to do that thing in 4 hours!" That's kind of the odd cascade the whole readmore thing is doing for me right now.

My thoughts on this currently is I have 2 compromises and 1 definitely-not-a-compromise. And the one not-a-compromise is I ignore all this ever happened, and continue doing what I have been doing. I don't want to do that because I like to be accommodating? I'm very community focused. I like building an atmosphere that's welcoming when it comes to the blog. But that might also be what I resort to just because, as I said above, if this turns into more trouble on my end than I think it's worth, I'll just stop posting fics here, and I don't want to do that. Which leads me to--

Compromise 1: I stop posting fics here. It's not really a compromise, but it's easy. Ish. Eh. Not really. Tagging everything on AO3 is a pain in the butt for something quick and dumb you wrote up because you thought it'd be fun. But being able to post a link to a fic like with my LongFics is a think I could just fall back on. I think it also means I'll probably stop writing this stuff though, because I'll get bogged down in things like trying to edit them, or link them together cohesively when they're out of chronological order [Like the Hels/Wels fics, which currently are all over the place in their timeline, and will continue to be so probably]. Regardless it's an option.

Compromise 2: We can go back to the old standby which is me tagging anything longer than 3 paragraphs as "long post" and then if anyone doesn't want it popping up on their dash, they can filter the tag. I also don't like this option because it blocks even more than a readmore does. But it's quick and easy for me, and maintains the integrity of "I wanted to post this to Tumblr and not worry about it anymore."

This is all stuff for me to stew on. I don't expect people to weigh in on these options, though you're welcome to if you think you have some good input for it. But that's about where I'm at right now.

[wish-that-i-was-buckys-girl]

hey! could i possibly request a blaine one shot where the reader is another girl working on the ski patrol with blaine and they absolutely hate each other, but one day they get stuck in a snowstorm during work and end up lost for a few days? and during those few days they just get more and more lied up with each other until they just end up hate-fucking our in the open? it can end however, but i’ve been dying for some blaine action🥰🥰thank you💕

Thank you so much nonnie! I enjoyed writing this so much. I hope you enjoy it too!

Warnings: Fat Shaming, smut, slight bullying.

If there are any misspellings I’m sorry! I wrote this all on tumblr and didn’t get a time to proofread it in a different document.

Ice, Ice, Baby.

_______________________________________________

You walked to the cafe for hot chocolate at seven o’clock in the morning to prepare for your shift. It wasn’t easy being on ski patrol, that’s for sure.

Dads always tried hitting on you while you were trying to watch their wives kids struggle to learn the most basic of skiing. You just nodded in agreement and smiled a little to get through the conversations. Wouldn’t wanna get written up for being “rude” to a paying member of the resort. It wasn’t always so bad, some of the dads were kind of cute, and they always tipped well if you just did the bare minimum of looking good and reacting to their advances. You weren’t even supposed to get tipped, but that didn’t stop them. However, you didn’t enjoy watching their wives glare at you around dinner time. You could always feel their eyes burning into the back of your head.

Although you absolutely loathed the attention from the dad’s (besides the occasional tip), there was one reason why you absolutely dreaded going to work every day.

Blaine. You could say he was the Blaine of your existence. Shitty dad jokes always crept into your head due to how much time you end up spending with them.

You had tried being nice the first couple of weeks into the job, only to be met with incredible amounts of misogyny and downright assholeishness. God, you hated him. It was so unlike you to hate anyone, but the kid was ruthless.

He always made nasty remarks about the way you look, whether it was your facial features or your weight, he had it covered. Even though he always tried to get his friends to join in on the action, they never did. Everyone else liked you at the resort. Blaine was the only problem.

You made your way up to your snowmobile, tredging in the deep snow with your backpack and snow shoes on. You secured your hot chocolate and your backpack before riding it all the way up to your post. The post wasn’t too bad by itself. It was close to a nearby cabin in case of emergencies, stocked with food, with working water and electricity to last for up to a month. Even longer if it was less than 4 people.

You finally arrived at your post, hoping Blaine wouldn’t be there yet.

He was.

Fuck.

“You’re looking plump today y/n, more than usual. Must be from all the hot chocolate you’ve been drinking” he said laughing to Chaz. Chaz just rolled his eyes under his sunglasses. You could tell.

“Ha ha Blaine, you’re so original. It’s not like I’ve heard that one before yesterday. Or the day before that. Or the day before that.”

“Yeah, well I think saying it everyday is a good reminder. Maybe I’ll see you in the resort gym one day because of it.”

“Why? Is it cause ya wanna see my tits bounce in a sports bra? Get ya all hot and bothered?”

Blaine just gritted his teeth in response. You could tell he wanted to say something, but didn’t cause he didn’t want to give you the wrong idea. Or the right idea.

Blaine always had a pretty girl on his arm. You doubt he was attracted to you, but you say those things because it shuts him up every time.

You bundled up extra today. The news said there was a possibility of a snow storm, but it was highly unlikely. Still, the wind chill was extremely cold today, making you double up on the clothes underneath your snow suit. You wore a beanie, mittens, and a scarf too, just in case.

You and Chaz chatted for a while, Blaine giving you resentful side glances and a few eye rolls here and there to show his detest towards your interaction. God, what was his fucking problem?

At about noon, Chaz took his lunch, leaving you and Blaine alone for at least a half an hour.

Silence filled the mountains. Barely anyone was out on the slopes due to the potential storm coming, but that didn’t stop your job from making you go out anyways.

The silence was broken with a call from the walkie talkies. It was your manager, Janice.

“Get off the slopes, news just confirmed one of the worst snow storms to hit this side of the mountain in three years. I repeat ge-“

The walkie talkies went silent. The wind began to pick up, starling both you and Blaine. You acted quickly, knowing this could be a life or death situation. You both hopped on your snowmobiles to get to the cabin nearby. Unfortunately, Blaines wasn’t working. You quickly shouted “Get on!” Reluctantly, Blaine hopped on the back of your snowmobile. Thank god it was his snowmobile that wasn’t working. You’re not so sure Blaine would’ve rescued you if it was your snowmobile that died and not his.

You reached the cabin just in time, the snow finally picking up with the wind. You quickly grabbed the keys from your snowmobile and stuck them in the front door.

“Hurry! Jesus Christ we’ll die at this rate!”

“I’m trying asshole! Stop yelling at me!”

The door finally swung open. You and Blaine rushed inside, aggressively slamming the door behind you and locking it.

Both catching your breath while clutching onto your things, you made eye contact.

Of course you thought.

Of course I’m stuck with the one goddamn person who hates me in the middle of one of the biggest snowstorms of the decade.

Blaine didn’t hold back what he was thinking.

“Great, I’m stuck with Fat Albert with minimal supplies. We’ll be out of food by tomorrow.”

You scowled at him snd stood up.

“THAT’S IT. First of all, I’m not fat. Second off, even if I was, that is none of your goddamn business to make comments on it. I have fat on my body. Just because I’m not the twink of the century like you doesn’t mean I should be degraded for it. We are stuck here for god only knows how long. If you just shut up I’m sure we can make it through this. But you’ve got to stop being such a fucking asshole to me all the time.”

Blaine just stood there and rolled his eyes again at your response. At least he didn’t open his loud mouth.

Such a fucking drama queen.

_______________________________________________

As the sun began to set, your stomach started to growl, loudly. You resisted eating all day due to Blaines comments, but you knew you had to eat at some point.

You gathered the courage to make your way into the kitchen to look around.

Thank god they keep this up to date regularly.

There were tons of cans of different soups, ravioli, spaghetti, fruits and vegetables, and non-perishables that would keep you sustained for a long time. Especially with only two people being in the cabin.

You decided to microwave some of the ravioli. Just as you opened the microwave door, it shut again with a hand directly planted on the glass.

“Well well well, what do we have here? Is two ton Tony looking for a little snack?” Blaine said in a mocking tone.

“Fuck off Blaine. It’s dinner time, I’m hungry and I know you are too. You just haven’t eaten yet to prove a damn point and humiliate me. Now if you don’t shut up I will eat all the food and make sure you starve to death.”

He grimaced at your response and walked to a cupboard to look for food of his own. Thank god. You swore you were five seconds away from giving him a swift punch to the face.

You both ate your dinners in separate rooms. You didn’t want to interact with each other more than you had to.

After a few more hours of existing in separate rooms, you decided you wanted to fall asleep for the night. You casually walked into the bedroom, having absolutely no pajamas to change into, you figured you would either sleep with the clothes you had on or just sleep in your underwear. There were enough blankets to keep you warm if you did end up choosing the latter. As you walked into the room you noticed something horrible.

There was only one bed.

How could this even be possible? There were supposed to be four, as most times three to four people were on ski patrol.

Then you remembered three out of the four beds were taken out two months ago, as they were desperately disgusting. The shipments for the new beds hadn’t come in yet, figuring a situation like this wouldn’t even happen at all.

Go figure.

You decided since you got to the bedroom first, you’d have the bed. Fuck Blaine, he’d been an asshole to you the entire time you’ve known him, he can sleep on the damn couch.

You began to strip, thinking it was wise not to smell up the two sets of clothes you had to last you for god only knows how long.

You ended up sleeping in a bra and underwear. Normally you wouldn’t have even worn the bra, but considering Blaine was in the building and you couldn’t lock the bedroom door, you figured it was the safest bet.

As you crawled into bed you heard footsteps heading towards the bedroom.

Here we go.

Blaine entered, looking just as bewildered as you did when you found out there was only one bed.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

You ignored his comment, simply rolling over under the covers.

He stormed over to the bed and ripped the blanket off, revealing your half-naked body in the process.

You became infuriated.

“Hey!!! Do you fucking mind!” You said screaming and grabbing for the blanket.

Blaine stood there in a daze for several seconds, not expecting to see as much as he was planning on seeing.

Thank god I had my bra on.

You expected Blaine to have a comeback to seeing your body. Something about a beached whale ending up in the bed, or anything along those lines. Surprisingly, he didn’t. He had nothing to say at all. He just turned around and slammed the door behind him.

What the fuck was his issue? Whatever it was, he better fix it fast. Your patience was running thin, and it was only day one.

_______________________________________________

Several days had gone by, and the snowstorm wasn’t slowing down at all.

Blaine had ignored you at all costs. If he had to interact with you, he always made some snide comment under his breath. This somehow pissed you off even more. At least before you didn’t have to guess what he was thinking, he said it directly to your face. Now, you had no clue what he was saying about you. God it made your blood boil.

It was around lunchtime again when you saw him. You had chosen to eat chicken noodle soup that day, as you had been colder that day compared to most others.

On your way out of the kitchen, you bumped into Blaine.

You heard him make a comment under his breath again, something alone the lines of “.......fucking bitch.......where you’re goin.”

You had had enough.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

He was taken aback by your abrasiveness. Nonetheless, he still had a response to your question.

“I said, watch where the hell you’re going you fucking bitch.” He enunciated slowly, in a condescending manner.

You were done.

“I’ve had enough of this fucking bullshit Blaine. Why the hell do you hate me so much? What the hell did I ever do to you?”

“Your looks have insulted me from the day I met you. I learned all that I needed to know by just looking at you.”

Out of no where, you decided to shove him. You shoved him so hard he hit the wall behind him.

He looked confused and offended.

“Did you just shove me?”

“I don’t know, did I just shove you? Or did you trip over your enormous fucking ego?”

Blaine stood up tall and pinned you to the wall.

He looked you dead in the face, his eyes piercing into you with anger and something else...

You returned his stare, hopefully having the same effect on him that he was having on you.

After staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, Blaine kissed you, hard.

You resisted, you resisted so much but your head didn’t have anywhere to go. After a few seconds you gave into the kiss, slowly moving your lips with his. You hated to admit it, but his lips were so soft. It was like kissing clouds surrounding the gates to heaven.

Finally, Blaine pulled back and began staring into your eyes once more. Again, you lept at each other. You grabbed his hair and the side of his face, while he grabbed your hair and your ass to hike up your leg against his hip. Your lips were on each other in no time, sucking and pulling on both his lips and his tongue.

God you were so turned on.

You hated that he made you feel this way but fuck if he wasn’t good. He felt so goddamn good.

He hoisted you up against the wall, your legs wrapping around his hips as you continued to aggressively make out like the two horny twenty-one-year-olds you were. After kissing for five minutes straight, Blaine put you down so you could both remove your pants.

You spoke first “We don’t tell anyone about this.”

Blaine just nodded in agreement, eager to put his cock inside of you.

He hoisted you up against the wall for a second time, wasting no time shoving his cock into your pussy.

“Ohhhh fuck Blaine... go slow go slow...”

You also hated to admit it, but he wasn’t lacking in at least one department.

He smirked, knowing it was too much for you in such a short amount of time.

“What’s wrong y/l/n, can’t get fucked right either?”

“Maybe if you fucked me better I wouldn’t have to complain so much.”

All the talking had allowed time for your pussy to become soaked. Blaine could feel how wet you were. He also noticed how tight you were.

“Fuck, your pussy has been this tight the entire time and you never told me?”

“Oh Jesus Christ just shut up and fuck me before I change my mind Blaine.”

That’s all he needed to hear. He also took it upon himself to take that as the cue to go as fast as he needed to.

He started pumping in and out of you at a rapid pace, making absurdly loud slapping noises in the process.

You couldn’t help but moan into his neck, his name on your lips every ten seconds.

“Fuck, fuck , fuck Blaine don’t stop! Oh god don’t fucking stop.”

He loved hearing his name come out of your mouth like that. In all honesty, Blaine has wanted to fuck you since the day he met you. He suppressed that lust with crude comments, hoping the feelings would subside. Guess that didn’t work out too well.

“Yeah you like that baby? Huh? Like that I’m fucking your pretty pussy?”

“Oh god yes Blaine! Fuck me harder!”

He wasted no time, pounding into you as fast and as hard as he could. You couldn’t help but let your eyes roll in the back of your head as he fucked you so good you thought you were about to see God himself.

Blaine loved seeing you like this, drained by him fucking you relentlessly. In fact, he loved it so much he felt the need to repress his feelings once again, which would be his last effort in trying to do so.

“I still fucking hate you, oh god, oh fuck.”

You looked at him, dead in the eyes, and said “Bold words coming from a man who’s cock is in me.”

All he could do was smile, going in for another kiss while he continued to plow you.

Both of your moans filled the cabin, screaming with no shame, knowing for a fact no one would hear you.

You felt a tight coil forming in your lower stomach, causing you to hold onto Blaine’s shoulders tighter.

“Oh fuck Blaine, I’m gonna cum, oh god I’m gonna cum.”

Blaine took it upon himself to whisper more comments in your ear as you reached your climax together.

“Goddamn right you’re gonna cum on my cock. This is my pussy. No one else gets to touch it, just me. Cum for me baby, you can do it.”

You both screamed as you came, Blaine unintentionally spilling his seed into you. Thank god you remembered to bring your birth control pill.

Just as you two were coming down from your high, you noticed something out of the corner of your eye.

Not something, but someone.

It was Chaz.

You hadn’t noticed while you were fucking, but the snow had cleared up enough just for a one person rescue party. Chaz had come in just moments ago. However, he didn’t say anything. He really didn’t have anything to say. He was stunned.

As you both stared at Chaz, you were the first to speak.

“Well, fuck.”

[artgirllullaby]

Strangers Now, Friends Before

Ok, so... this was @jantomweek Day 5 “Childhood friends”...

Which apparently I finished AND NEVER POSTED????

If this was posted someone send me the link and I’ll delete this one.

I found it while organizing Tumblr and my own files to see if something got lost on the rambles of writing (and yes, there are a few) but i didn’t expect to have a whole thing in my files and never had posted????

Anyways, here it is, later as ever but oh well. I hope you guys like!

.................................................

Strangers Now, Friends Before

Tom didn’t need much to be happy. A good sleep, his comforter, a cozy place to relax and just do nothing. It wasn’t asking much and it wasn’t that all complicated.

So right then and there he was wondering how such thing seemed so freaking impossible as he stared at his best friend on the bars across the police district in a separate prison than his.

“This is your fault.”

“Oh excuse me, if I cared enough to get in a fight while trying to help you.”

“I told you I was fine.”

“Yeah, sure.” He sighed resting his back on the bars refusing to look at her, “Whatever.”

There was a few minutes of silence, both refusing to look at the other or talk about the fight. On his side he knew why he was avoiding, it wasn’t his fight in first place. He wasn’t even supposed to get into it or knock the guy unconscious, it was Janna thing and she was the one who should solve, but what anyone expected him to do when the guy grabbed her arm  and tried to force her inside the car to do whatever?!

At same time he knew it was none of his business. Not when they haven’t talked to each other in five years. It wasn’t intentional, but as they grew they began to hang out with different people and have different interests. And then when they least expected they had nothing to talk about. He often stared at her contact over social media and  thought on talking to her again, but awkwardness always had got the best of him and he gave up.

A few hours later a police officer came and opened the gates for his and her cell right after, “Ok, you two are clean. The witnesses around proved that you were only defending your friend and that he was indeed trying something on her.” The officer guided them through corridors out the cells and to the police department “The exams gave out the high level of alcohol in his blood, and he is filed by violence against women in the past. Some time in jail for trying to abuse a minor will give him a little reminder after he wake up.” The officer pointed out two seats for them “But next time, please don’t try dating a guy much older than you. For your safety, girl.”

“I didn’t know he was that old,” Janna finally spoke “I actually went to break up with him in my friend place since she was scared of his reaction. I thought he was a jerk on our age, I didn’t know he was over his twenties. I had a spray and a taser I thought it would be enough to make him leave me alone in worst scenario” She hugged herself and shivered “I didn’t think he would follow me on my way home after recovering.”

Tom put a hand on her shoulder to show support, but as she tensed he realized it might not been the best opinion and recoiled.

“Well, since you’re older you can leave. She will have to wait for her parents.”

“I will wait with her, if that’s not a problem.”

“If she doesn’t bother either, it’s up to you”

Janna didn’t said anything as he sat beside her, not even when her parents arrived and decided to file the case. Or when they asked Tom to deliver her to their home since there were still some documents to sign and would take time for those and for their lawyer to get there. Not even when he put his jacket on her since she was shivering from late night cold air. The walk back home was just as silent.

“Why did you care even?” Janna suddenly spoke a few quarters away from their home.

“Because you are my friend and he was hurting you.”

“Are we friends even?”

Tom frowned, “Of course… We are distant, but I never considered you less than a friend.”

“Doesn’t feel like.” She replied quietly.

Tom sighed looking at her “What is this about?”

“This is about you getting into my life. I appreciate, but I don’t understand.”

“What part of ‘I saw you in danger and reacted’ is hard for you to get?”

“The part in which I had got in worse and you didn’t care.”

He tried to defend himself “If I knew…”

“You should, it were your friends who got me on it.” Tom stopped walking to look at her back, hoping she would say it was a lie, but Janna kept walking without looking back “I thought you gave the order. I guess I was wrong about that at least.”

“I never… I would never…” He returned to walk until he was in front of her and held her shoulders so she stopped walking, “Janna, believe me, I had no idea… I’m sorry.”

Janna took a step back to be away from his touch and then continued to walk avoiding him, “Having them being jerks wasn’t worse than having your best friend turning his back on me and being just as cold.”

“That’s not how-”

“Then tell me why,” Janna said suddenly turning around and stopped walking to stare at his eyes “What’s your excuse for being distant?”

Tom gulped and tried to find the words to express himself “I… didn’t know how to deal with it.”

“With what?”

“With you, ok? I just… Couldn’t find a way to talk to you again without being weird.”

Janna frowned and gave him back his jacket, “Keep it, I can go home from here.”

“Janna!” Tom called when she started to walk and had to once again hold her so she wouldn’t escape, “Look, I swear I-”

“Save it.” Janna said taking his hands away from her. “You didn’t know who to deal with me after knowing about my crush on you? You could have said you needed time or whatever. But what I won’t forget is how you walked away from my life without ever looking back right after you ex girlfriend had exposed me to the whole school out of pure jealousy.”

“Why do you think I broke up in first place?!”

“Well, why didn’t come talk to me then?” Janna replied annoyed “I could have take my time away and give you space and whatever more you need… You just ignored me for years and suddenly come as a hero and… What now?!”

“I… We’ll figure out, ok?”

Janna turned around and walked back to her home, just a few more houses ahead. This time without complaining of his company. Tom kept close to her, a bit afraid she would try running away any minute. He put his jacket above her shoulders again, holding it in there.

When they got in her house, Janna put her keys on the door and unlocked, but instead of walking inside, she decided to turn to him and play with the key chains. Tom knew a signal of unwanted departure, so he took a step and stood closer, caressing her arms above his jacket.

“Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head, “Mostly when he grabbed my arm, it stings a bit and probably will be a bit purple tomorrow but that’s it.”

He hesitated for a moment, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged “just a bit shaken.”

“Do you want me to stay until your parents arrive? Would make you feel safe?”

“I don’t know… You got your stuff to do too.”

“Don’t worry about it, just tell me what you want.”

Janna sighed and rested her forehead on his chest whispering, “I want to know why you walked away in first place, and why you’re back.”

Tom looked beyond her head, to the little white flowers in her garden “It was stupid of me… I’m sorry. I don’t even… I guess I didn’t know how to deal with your feelings” he replied finally, “I didn’t know how to bring it up or how to come close after the whole fiasco my ex did… I was afraid I would hurt you even more or people would mess with you. It was wrong of me to leave you like that… I’m sorry.”

Janna shivered a bit and moved her hand, was she crying? “Why you’re back then? Why now?”

“Because I didn’t want to walk away in first place.” He confessed, “But I did, and you moved on and looked happy with your girlfriend and I thought… It was too late, that I had no right in stepping in your life and messing with your happiness. And I wish I didn’t stepped back like this but… it’s how things happened.”

He was caressing her back in circles when she sniffed and stood back, cleaning her face with her hand of the remaining tears and took a deep breath. “What made you so scared that I had a crush on you?”

“Because I didn’t know how to treat you right.” Tom laughed a bit at that “I always treated you like a stupid jerk and said stupid stuff. I didn’t know how to be other way with you… I still don’t. I couldn’t risk hurting you because I’m a idiot.”

“And ended up hurting a lot more.”

“Yeah… I’m really sorry about that.”

Janna touched his shirt, caressing the fabric gently and his chest as consequence “You know why I liked you in first place?”

“Why?” He asked curious.

“Because you were real.” She replied suddenly very interested in the stamp of his shirt “You didn’t look like a fairy tale or too good to be true. You were just what you’re to everyone else, there’s no difference. You weren’t like a dream or enchanted, but that’s what made you so great and special for me since we were kids. You didn’t mind if I was a girl or a boy who wanted to play pirates, and you didn’t care when I took interest in both boys and girls… You were real and that’s all I wanted.”

“I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t. We never talked about it” she replied recoiling her hand.

They stood in silent for a minute, letting the night air hung on them and the sounds of night bring the calm around them for finally solving everything after so many years of yearning and longing a solution that none tried to take the step to actually solve.

The red haired boy hugged her and she let her face rest against his chest, taking profit of his warmth by pulling his jacket closer and nuzzling her face gently against his body. He didn’t mind, since he took profit by holding her close to rest his chin on her head (wow, he could actually do that now that he was taller), his arms resting around her gently, so she could pull away whenever she felt like.

“Tom?” Janna suddenly said.

“Yeah?” He replied nuzzling her hair gently without even noticing his own actions.

“As much as I hated myself for this along the years… It hasn’t changed.”

She stepped back just enough to look at his face, and Tom looked at her eyes a bit confused “What?”

“The only difference is that I’m no longer 11 having a silly crush on a older boy who’s 14… I’m older, so are you. And I despised I didn’t move on completely, there were always the thought of you in the back of my mind no matter how much I tried to fool myself.” Janna took a breath before confessing for once, “Things are still the same. I still like you just as much I liked you then…” She gulped looking down before looking at his face again “What do we do now?”

Tom looked at her shocked for a moment, then looked right at her lips and her face. He could feel her trusting his actions right then and there. To either turn  her down or take the chance, she wanted to have a conclusion, to turn the page over or write it together.

He decided to write with her.

It was immediate reaction once he made the decision. His hands left her hips to cup her face and bring her closer, smashing his lips on hers eagerly. Eyes closing just mere seconds after hers. Janna lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, dropping his jacket in the process and kissed him back with hunger, her fingers passing on his hair caressing his scalp, her lips continued glued to his moving a bit tipsy like a first kiss and with too much longing for them to control or think on slowing down to adjust. His hands rested on her hips holding her close to him as before.

It took a few minutes for them to let the years of distance and unnoticed longing to vanish, even after slowing down and separating, both continued to share little kisses, hesitating to separate and stop the moment. Her hand rested on his chest as the other cupped his cheek.

“It’s late” she said between kisses, “I should get in.”

“And it’s cold… you should.”

And still none of them found the will to move out the embrace or stop the kisses for another five minutes.

“I can stay if you want.” He said finally, now tracing his kisses along her face, as apologies for being away for so long when he wanted that just as much as she did.

She nodded slightly to his suggestion, “Ok… I do like that…” she sighed when he kissed her forehead.

Sharing one more kiss, a bit longer than the others, Janna finally opened the door to her house and let him in as she closed the door again behind her. She went to turn the lights on and Tom found himself in a familiar place with few differences of walls and decorations.

“Just… to be sure,” She said resting her back against the wooden door “where do we stand?”

Tom looked back at the door, feeling the hesitation in her voice. It was comprehensive, he was a jerk in those years of distance and leaving her hanging without a “yes” or “no” during five years didn’t do well. He closed the distance between them and held her hand.

“We are together. I’m not leaving this time, Janna.”

He rested his forehead on hers looking into her eyes for a moment. She took her time to let the statement settle in her and smiled at him mischievously as he remembered she always did.

“You better not. I’m not going to give you chances to.”

He smirked, “There’s the Janna I know.”

“Shut up” she rolled her eyes still smiling before wrapping her arms on his neck again pulling him down to her for more kisses.

When her parents got home, they smiled at the two of them cuddling together with blankets and pillows like they used to do when they were younger. Her father turned the lights off and let them sleep, relieved they finally had solved things out. As the lights turned down, Tom held Janna closer, cradling her head against his chest and she nuzzled his chest adjusting to hold him close as they continued to dream.

[cowboyjen68]

cant be bothered to say nothing about current events bro? ur always so politically vocal and youve been REAL QUIEY lately. dont think nobody noticed

 I have been busy privately.. talking to friends of color.. seeing what they need from me as a white person. I don’t have the ability to protest. I can’t risk injury, jail, or covid because I am Lori’s only parent and the sole provider.  

Going on to Tumblr or Facebook and virtue signalling or giving my opinion or talking about any donations I made to local groups that provide resources to people of color. blah blah... as white person.. seems empty and like I am giving myself a big old pat on the back.. Yay me.. 

I have also had some discussions with the non profits boards I am on and how we can best support either the demonstrations or individuals in our community who might be not dealing well with feeling safe. How to best put something on our social media to show support, encourage engagement and even how to be safe if demonstrating. 

ON my personal page I posted this

“Local Friends/Family Planning on Going to the Protests: PLEASE READ THIS!!! 1. Please put a couple of numbers of people NOT going in Sharpie on your skin; if something happens (arrested, hurt) you may not have access to your phone. You are welcome to use my number. I/we will help you, i/We will pick you up, etc. 2. Have a person, again NOT going, as a check in. This is a person you will contact by X time when you are home safely. Talk to this person ahead of time w/where you are going, with whom, & emergency contacts in case you can't call.

.3. Password protect your phone (not touch/face recognition) 4. Go with a buddy. Designate a meeting place ahead of time in case you are separated. 5. Bring water, wear comfortable shoes, wear your face masks, put your hair up. Bring your id. Keep anything important in pockets, not in bags (supplies only in bags, not keys, not id, not money, not your phone, etc) 6. Only take with you items you are a) willing to not get back right away, if ever, and b) can not be seen as any kind of "weapon" 7. Exercise your right to remain silent, ALWAYS. If you're detained but not arrested ask, repeatably: Am I being arrested? Am I free to go? 8. If pepper spray is used DO NOT use water! Water will make it spread. Do not wear contact lens. 9. Document any police misconduct you see; if taking video state the date, time and your location. 10. Stay with the group as much as possible; beware of snatch squads detaining outliers. If you'd like more tips, there are a lot of resources out there, and I am happy to share some more with you or just talk about it; call or text me”.

My ex Jen wrote it and I shared with permission. I also added to make arrangements for pets home alone and weigh your physical and mental abilities before you rush to action. 

Some of us do great on the front line. Others..do better in support or background roles. 

SOO anon.. just because you don’t follow me on all social media do not think me quiet or not engaged. I was organizing protests likely before you were born. BLM and what is going on it not about my opinions. 

I have a lot of younger followers AND everyone of them needs to decide for themselves if they can demonstrate and how they should conduct themselves. Do you want me to say “I hate all cops”  because I won’t. But I hate the way the institution has become a power imbalance where just getting pulled over means you are not sure if the officer will be human or treat you like you are less than him. I don’t like that families have to pay money to write a letter or email or speak to a loved on in jail. I hate that many prisons are a profit centers. I hate that overwhelmingly young black teens are jailed for minor pot charges while their white counterparts rarely spend a night in custody. 

I can’t even begin to imagine what it feels like every time you walk from your house as a person of color and know that you are judged (and negatively) for the color of skin you were born with. NO matter how hard I try I just can’t and when I do try and get anywhere it is over whelming. 

I know lots of people, including maybe you, think I have answers and can share wisdom that can help people make decisions. This movement and the demonstrations are a long time coming. Just like any human can be, I am overwhelmed and saddened. I am unsure how to proceed, what to do exactly so I do what I can. Today I read the BLM website to see what they suggest. I am weighing my need to pay my bills and donate. Weighing  the need and desire  for me to be a good ally to POC and at the same time not make it about me or toot my own horn. And I have no answers. The entire law enforcement machine needs to be shaken empty and rebuilt with a coalition of citizens. I am afraid it won’t. And I hate that too.   

I guess I should be flattered that you “don’t think no one noticed” clearly you did. And I appreciate that you value my opinion and thoughts so much that you reached out to find out why I haven’t spoken. The fact is, I have not been sure what to say. I have been hesitant to speak on actions or opinions that might not follow the wishes of the black leaders of this movement. 

If you are asking if I am a racist.. yeah....probably to some extent. I am not immune to false stereo types or judgement calls based on skin color. The difference is I am self aware enough to call myself out when I do that and think over my internal voice. I used to be one of those A holes that said I was “color blind” until i went to college away from my home town. That is a story for another blog entry. 

[irarelypostanything]

The State of Technology Today

In old science fiction, they described the Internet (even before the Internet was invented) as a landscape you would plug into and get a rush from - my favorite book on the subject is Neuromancer.  Maybe you’d plug something into your brain, and then there would be so much information that you would get high on it.

The Internet now is really not that far off from the science fiction fantasy, it’s just more integrated with reality.  You go on the phone while waiting for the bus, and you’re there.  You record something happening now onto your Facebook live, and you’re there.  It’s not quite so interesting to talk about cyberspace as a literal space because we don’t fade to black and transfer our consciousness to the net, like we would in this fantasy, but in a sense the brain does similar things.  Inside the net, our minds go into a different mode of thinking.  We quickly open links, instead of linearly processing information like we would while reading a book.  We see things differently...people become a front-facing entity we can interact with, and a backend we don’t see.

I wish I could refer to this imaginary cyber universe as The Matrix, but unfortunately someone already copyrighted that term.  I’m just going to keep calling it FIGNATIA (Facebook, Instagram, Google, Netflix, Apple, TikTok, Intel, Amazon) until it catches on.  Even when it doesn’t, I’m going to keep calling it that.

FIGNATIA is the world we enter when we turn on anything that gets us into the net.  FIGNATIA is accessible on a phone, a laptop, even a Kindle.  And FIGNATIA, in this day and age, is where most of us choose to spend most of our waking moments.

Is it bad?  I don’t think so, but there’s certainly something a little bit terrifying about it.  In this imagined world, we have a separate entity that’s like us, but not us.  It’s a series of attributes, the presence we create every time we like, share, write, or post something.  We’re creating a persona for ourselves, and even when we project it via a conference video or a picture, it’s still not REALLY us.  It’s as authentic as we can make it, but it’s still just far enough from real to serve as something of a mockup.

View Facebook in developer mode, and you can see the JSON-like attribute structure that makes up every person.  Hit “view source” on a website, and you can see portions of the frontend code that render a website.  Unless you’re an app developer or a data scientist, you’re not going to get much out of this except the ability to to remember passwords you forgot and bypass certain payment walls (or, in my case, briefly pretend I’m Neo in The Matrix)...but as a metaphor, I find it interesting.

Many of these things, like software objects or whatever the f*** it is JavaScript decided to use, have an outward-facing component.  That’s our world - it’s an image that makes comments, a username we talk to, a bunch of pictures.  Underneath that, in the background, are all the many pieces of related information that develop as we go about our lives in FIGNITIA.  They have metadata.  They don’t just track what we post, they track the locations, the times, the many other related pieces of data.  With this information at their disposal, FIGNITIA attempts to predict the future by influencing it - it determines what we’re likely to want next, how long we want it for, where we’re going.

And someone like me will act like we’re above all this by seemingly making nothing secret, and by sharing thoughts like this with the world...security by obfuscation, we might say...no one can find anything on me if they have to navigate through a deluge.  But then tracking tools exist.  Run Tumblr through some tools that leverage the API, and you can tease out specific details.  In the same way, websites that cannot seem to be shut down exist that scrape addresses, simply by using associated information.

I think.  I never figured out how some of these tools work, and why they’re legal.

FIGNITIA exists in a feedback loop.  We compete for approval, for attention, and the data this provides is enough to make a person feel high.  Briefly.  The amount of pleasure created is so brief, and so fleeting, that we keep finding ourselves drawn back.

And, again...nothing is wrong with this.  But it’s not reality.  What I write here is still coming from me, but it’s not EXACTLY the cadence of how I interact in real life.  The picture I post may be as close a representation of reality as modern technology can create, but it’s still not QUITE real.  Recording serves as a way to document history, but at what point do we record excessively?  At what point do we find ourselves traveling to landmarks for the pictures, instead of to behold the view?

Reality, in that sense, can quickly feel more like a recording effort than like a series of experiences to enjoy, or at least to live through.  The problem with this virtual reality isn’t that it’s bad or overly addictive, but that it seems so close to reality that the two images become immistable.  

We all have the ability to unplug, at any moment we want to, and that’s why there’s nothing inherently bad about the software world we have created.  It marks people safe in natural disasters, creates no shortage of minable data we can exploit in order to determine trends, allows us to investigate things in ways most people don’t even know are possible by combing data they don’t even remember creating.  The net is beautiful, in that sense - for advertising, for helping to make business transactions, for forming a brand on the skills in our respective fields we wish to market.  The net is great.  I cannot even remember what life was like before we had a high-speed connection.

But it seems we live so many times in it, from the latest TV series to the newest news article to the last thing suggested to us by an algorithm passively harvesting the information we provided.  And sometimes it feels wrong, but I don’t know why.  There’s no patience in it.  In the net, time passes differently.

[psychedaboutstudying]

CV masterpost

1. Introduction

 A CV (curriculum vitae) is  the story of your life. In your CV, you want to draw attention to your best achievements, your most relevant experiences. This is always true, whether you are a senior in the field, or you haven't even graduated high school.

A CV and resume are not one and the same thing (unlike what I have believed for many years). A CV is a long-ass document that contains all your work experience, education, accomplishments. A resume is a short document that hightlights your most relevant experiences and skills. Internationally, there are great differences in the use of a CV vs a resume. Where I'm from (the Netherlands) we don't usually use this distinction, and a "CV" is most like a combination of the two. In this post I mostly use the term "CV", but most of these tips apply to both CVs and resumes!

Because CVs are often multi-page, I recommend adding your name and page numbers in the upper or lower margins of the document, so that someone who prints the CV will still know they belong together.

All links in this post will lead you to a picture of an example CV, unless stated otherwise.

Use

Examples of when you may need a CV:

Apply to a vacancy

Open application to a company

Applying to college or other educational institution

Whether you need a CV or resume and what exactly you need to include in your CV in each situation, depends so much on country that I cannot tell you in this post, but I recommend looking up before applying, especially if you are applying to a foreign country where you're unfamiliar with the "CV habits".

Customization

Much like you don't tell the same things about yourself to every person you meet, you have to adapt your CV each time you're applying for a job. Maybe you did a lot of extracurricular activities in high school, but it just takes up space and attention if you write them all down. You can, however, write "several extracurricular activities" to show that you were an engaged student.

It's useful to have a general CV, which you may use, for example, to publish on your website. This is often a multi-page document that contains all your education, experience, achievements, published work, grants, etcetera. It's good to have this document ready even when you're not applying to jobs and to keep it up to date.

In other cases it's useful to have a single-page resume. This is, as the name implies, a version of your CV that is condensed into one page. Here, it's especially important to think about what you want to boast about. What accomplishments are valued highly in the field that you want to work in (not necessarily the field you are currently working in)?

 Example #1: General format

Research master Developmental Psychology, cum laude, [university], [graduation date]

Average grade: [grade]

Thesis: [title], grade: [grade]

 Example #2: When applying to something where the research master is irrelevant

Research master Developmental Psychology, cum laude, [university]

 Example #3: Applying to a job related to specific courses that I took during my masters

Research master Developmental Psychology, cum laude, [university], [graduation date]

Average grade: [grade]

Thesis: [title], grade: [grade]

Relevant courses: Introduction to programming [grade], multilevel analysis [grade]

Language

If you speak multiple languages, it might be useful to have your CV ready in two languages. For example, I always keep my CV up-to-date in both English and Dutch, so I can easily apply to both English and Dutch vacancies. It is also worth noting that you can create your LinkedIn page in multiple languages as well, so that someone who visits your LinkedIn page can decide in what language they prefer to read it. And because you create it yourself, you don't have to be afraid of silly auto-translation mistakes.

Order

You can choose to order your experiences chronologically or anti-chronologically. Personally, I recommend anti-chronologically. This means that you start out with your most recent job (or education, grant, workshop, etc.) and you work your way backwards through time. The great advantage of this is that (usually) your most relevant and impressive experiences are the ones that you did most recently. By placing these on top, you automatically draw the reader's attention to these experiences first. Some people prefer to read it chronologically, i.e. you first name your first job, then the second, etc. Both are fine! But whatever you do, do it consistently. Speaking about that…

Consistency

You always need to make a lot of choices when it comes to your CV. Do you use colours? How are you going to order the information? What do you include and what not? However you make these decisions, the most important thing is to keep it consistent across your CV. That means:

If you mention your graduation date for one education, do so for all

If you make a function title bold, do so for all functions

If you list your education chronologically, list everything else chronologically too

If you place dots behind one line, place dots everywhere

Don't use different fonts (exception: one for main text and one for headings, but that is not necessary)

Etc.

Layout

You have a lot of options when it comes to layout. I noticed that academic CVs are usually very simple and plain, but when you work in anything art-related you might want to add a splash of colour, an intesting design element, or an unusual (yet professional) font. Some people have a "sidebar" where they include things such as skills, whereas others put everything in one column. Whatever your choice, don't be afraid to leave some white on the page, as this is easier on the reader's eye. And remember to keep it consistent and professional.

Career progression

Your CV is going to change a lot over the course of your life/career. After I had just graduated high school, I included things like school choir and school paper in my CV, because I had no experience and no education other than high school. As you gain more and more life experience, things such as college courses will be replaced by more relevant accomplishments. Don't be afraid to drastically change things on your CV as you go.

What to include?

This is a list of things that are typicall included in a CV (though not always in a resume!). I will go over each of these in more detail in the next sections of this post.

Personalia

Education

Jobs/experience

Extracurriculars

Training

Skills

Publications, grants, awards, etc.

References

2. Personalia:

Obviously, you have to include information about who you are. This typically may include:

Name: This is clear, right? ;)

Address: your address is not something you would publish online, so you don't always include this (typically you don't on your resume)

Date and place of birth:

E-mail address: it's important to use an e-mail address that you check regularly and it not tied to your current employer or educational institution (it may expire once you graduate and you don't always want your employer to know you're looking for a new job). Don't  be afraid to use your personal e-mail account (like Gmail), but make sure it looks professional (not coolchick69@...).

Phone number: if you want someone to be able to contact you over the phone, include your phone number. This is useful if you are applying for a job (they will usually call to give you the good/bad news), or if you have your own business.

Website or LinkedIn: if you have either, include them! Just make sure that they are up to date and the links work before you send in your application.

Photo: A photo is optional, and whether you include a photo of yourself or not may depend on the type of job or organisation you're applying for.

3. Education

When you just enter the job market, education is very important because you don't have the work experience to show yet. Typically, you include the level and topic of education, the institution where you followed this education, the city, country (if necessary), and GPA. You may also want to include relevant courses, internships, or your thesis topic, if it is related to the job you're applying to. If you add the date of graduation it is clear that you have already finished this degree. However, this is not necessary if you work on this popular format of putting years in a left column and education in a right column

Example #1

Research Master Developmental Psychology, University of XX, graduated on 28th February 2019. GPA: XX.

Thesis topic: XXX

Relevant courses: this course and that course

Example #2: This is supposed to be a two-column table, but Tumblr doesn’t allow tables.

2016-2019 | Research Master Developmental Psychology, University of XX

  4. Jobs/experience

Here you list any previous experience you have. This may only include relevant experience (typical for resume) or all jobs you've had (CV). Personally, I worked for a year between high school and college, and listing that (irrelevant) job does explain the gap (i.e., I was not just drinking and sleeping my days away). For every (relevant) job you list, also add your tasks, responsibilities, and/or achievements.

A professional once advised me to include a separate list here of my internships because I had quite a few that were relevant and, when presented together, quite impressive. (I am not sure how impressive they felt to me, but that is not the point of a CV.) It's usually fine to separate experience into "paid jobs" and "internships".

Example #1: Job that is not very relevant or important

2012-2014 | Barista, Central Park, New York City

Example #2: Very relevant job. Tumblr is very limited in terms of layout, but imagine this in table format with the tasks going straight under the job name, see templates.

2017-current | Research intern, Cambrigde University * Contacting participants * Administering EEG to adolescents * More tasks and responsibilities…

5. Extra toppings

The things I mentioned above are standard parts of any CV or resume. Depending on the job and your background you may want to spice up your CV by adding the following. I would recommend placing these after your education and experience, but the order in which you put them depends on what you want to emphasise.

Extracurricular activities

These typically include things like volunteering. As mentioned, these become less important as you progress your career, but fresh out of high school or college, these can show your future employer the things you care about and that you're willing to go the extra mile.

Training

Perhaps you've followed some workshops or training that you can put to good use in a job.

Skills

These may include software, languages, but also soft skills! There are many ways in which to do this, but sort and order them in a way that makes sense in your situation and is consistent.

Example #1: Sorted by skill type. Again, put this in a table

Software | Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, XX, …

Language | Dutch (native), English (fluent), …

Soft skills | Leadership, cooperation,…

Example #2: Languages (e.g., in hospitality jobs). Again, table.

[empty cell] | Passive | Active

English | Excellent | Excellent

Portuguese | Good | Moderate

Publications, grants, awards

I am  not yet at the stage where I can fill this portion, but hey, if you received any of these things, put them on your CV! These are the pearls of your CV, because they are proof that other people appreciate your work.

6. Other files/related things

We've already discussed CVs and resumes, but there are three  other things (by lack of a better word) that go hand it hand with this: LinkedIn profile, letter of motivation, and references.

LinkedIn profile

Your LinkedIn profile should exactly match your CV (consistency!). A great advantage of LinkedIn is that you are able to link the companies you worked at directly, or otherwise link to pages where you can show off your accomplishments.

Letter of motivation

Your CV should also be in line with your letter of motivation (consistency!). This is a completely different topic, but I have a few remarks on this. Your CV and letter should complement each other. In your letter of motivation, you point out to specific experiences in your CV and explain why they are valuable in the position you're applying for. The letter should not merely repeat what you've said in your CV, but there should be a link. If you only mention experiences that are not in your CV, this raises some questions. These experiences should either be on your CV, or not in your letter. Lastly, I like to match the font and feeling of my CV and letter. Same font type and size, about the same amount of white space. This makes the two feel like the power duo they are.

References

A reference is someone you've worked with in the past who can tell a future employer about their experiene working with you. You can either add references with their name and contact info (but make sure to ask them if this is okay with them before you do so!), or you can simply state "References available on request" or something like that, and then provide your potential employer with the needed information when they ask for it. In any case, notify your reference(s) that you are applying so they know they can expect a call or e-mail. Sometimes, you need a reference letter for an application and you can ask your references to write this letter. Your references may also ask you to write a reference letter about yourself, and they will edit it as they see necessary. We're drifting a bit from the CVs here, but

 7. Conclusion + TL;DR

Pfew, that has been a long ride! Kudos if you're still here. I've tried to keep this post as general as possible, so that a lot of people benefit from it, but it's quite hard to give general advice, because every situation is different and you always want to emphasize different parts of your CV. Maybe you did not finish your college degree, but you have some great practical experience (list your jobs first). Maybe you took longer to finish your degree, but you did a lot of volunteering work in the meantime. Although I hope these tips were helpful, always ask yourself if they make your CV look better, and don't just take them for granted. (Except the consistency one. Consistency is always relevant.)

Here is my Google Drive folder with 3 different Microsoft Word templates + Google Docs templates, in case you don't own Word.

Take away:

Consistency is key

Customize your CV according to application needs

Make the most important things stand out (without sacrifising consistency)

[ttomatoez]

Wounded (ItaSaku) Ch. 1

Link (chapters 1-4): https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13101412/1/Wounded

Summary: Sakura has trouble coming to terms with the direction her life is going when she is forced into the company of Uchiha Itachi who needs his eyes fixed in order to resume his own way of life. Their two paths converge and then diverge, creating an attachment that Sakura would have never expected. 

Pairing: ItaSaku, Non-Mass

Rating: T

A/N: I’m uploading this story from my ff account in case there are people who only read tumblr. The rest of the chapters will be in the link provided (I’m currently working on chapter 5)

CH. 1 - House Call

Two years post-war. Non-Mass.

Sakura flushed the bathroom toilet and went to the sink to wash up before returning to the hospital floor. She pumped some soap into her hands and scrubbed it into her skin, purposefully avoiding her reflection in the mirror above.

Miss Sakura! I drew you a picture!

She clenched her jaw, scrubbing the milky lather harder into her skin.

The little girl's mother beamed happily as she handed her a beautifully scribbled drawing that consisted of three stick figures holding hands in a field of flowers. Three different people. Three distinct hair colors. Naruto with his characteristic whiskers was right in the middle, her and Sasuke positioned on their respective sides.

It's very beautiful, Yuka! I love Sasuke-kun's spiky hair!

That carefree smile was still imprinted in her mind over a month later. How it had quivered, pressing innocently into a frown as she was read her diagnosis.

She turned the water off, lingering there with her hand on the knob, making no attempt to fix her hair as it fell over her face.

For the past few weeks, she'd been trying her best to steer clear of the inpatient unit, instead spending most of her time in and out of the lab and research departments where she could veil her insecurities in the privacy of an empty chamber surrounded by nothing but test strips and petri dishes. Tsunade advised her not to get too comfortable with it; her skills were obviously needed in the more public parts of the hospital, but she didn't see too much harm in it given it was only for a short period of time.

Sakura hadn't pressed the subject much after that. She enjoyed interacting with patients, being a part of their before and after, even healing her own comrades whenever they returned exhausted and dizzy from strenuous missions. So much time had passed since she'd seen battle that this had become her new reality, but at the end of the day, there was just no substitute for the cold comfort of the lab. At least, not in her current state of mind.

"Sakura-chan, do you have a minute?"

Sakura had been bent over one of the tables, a pair of blood cultures in one hand and a pen in the other, signing labels to stick on them. She hopped a bit in surprise, turning to find one of her coworkers leaning over by the door.

"Risa-chan?"

While she was used to seeing her downstairs in inpatient, sometimes the two of them went out for drinks after work. Sakura usually enjoyed herself after the effects of a few beers, but it had been several months since they'd last gone.

"What's wrong?" she said without thinking, her worried expression spreading from Risa's face to the cultures in her hand as she remembered to keep shaking them, hoping they hadn't already started to congeal.

A look of surprise came over Risa's face, settling into a sheepish laugh. "Wow, you caught me," she said defeatedly. "I didn't think it looked that obvious."

Sakura tilted her head, releasing a light chuckle of her own. Maybe she should have been a little less vocal about it. "Just a little," she replied, bagging up the vials and sealing it closed. "Believe me, it happens to the best of us. Is there something wrong?"

"As much as I would like to say no," she trailed off. Sakura kept her eyes on her as she spoke, breaking eye contact only when she reached the opposite corner of the room where the air tube was to send off the samples. "Yesterday, I received a house call from Uchiha Fugaku. I feel responsible for following through with it, but if I'm honest, I don't think that what they're asking for is within my scope of expertise."

At that moment, she was thankful that her back had been turned as it concealed the look of distress that consumed her face when she heard the word 'Uchiha'.

"I couldn't stop thinking about it for the entire day."

She released her finger from the button, sending the bag of cultures up the pipe that led to the testing center, her heavy gaze revealing an intense desire to follow it through the ceiling and dismiss herself from the conversation.

"Sakura-chan?"

Ever since team seven had returned from the war, her name had become synonymous with Naruto and Sasuke - bound to them like cement. It came with it's own ups and downs, but Sakura enjoyed spending time with them as she always had when they were children. The differences between them sort of just crept into frame at some point. Naturally, they were bound to have separate adventures going forward. Everyone around them were getting married and starting families of their own, including Ino who had vowed she wouldn't become a housewife until at least thirty-five. That obviously didn't happen.

Naruto began training immediately to become the next hokage, much to Kakashi's relief. Sakura always knew he'd make it there at some point. If it wasn't for that she wasn't sure Sasuke would have ended up leaving the village again, but those two lived to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, which meant that as long as Naruto stayed, he was destined to find his purpose somewhere far away.

Looking back, she should have known it was a waste of time to wait on him. Nowadays she couldn't decide whether it tortured her more to see him gone or have him here…

"Have you talked to Tsunade-sama about this?" she asked. It was her turn to attempt to mask her feelings.. "It sounds like you might have to have someone else take the assignment."

The room fell eerily silent, dense with some invisible emotion.

Part of her didn't even want to know what the details of the assignment were. If she could maneuver through the rest of her life without seeing another Uchiha, she'd probably be much healthier herself.

"I..did-"

"She'll do it."

Behind the door panel, a pair of heels clacked their way to the doorway as Tsunade revealed herself. The look on her face could only be described as 'perturbed'. Sakura knew it very well since like now, she was often on the receiving end of it.

"My office," she said, only stopping long enough to shoot her a glare. "Now."

"Shut the door behind you, Sakura."

Tsunade had made it a point not to answer any of her questions until they made it up the stairs and into her office on the leftmost wing of the hospital. Sakura stared at the piece of paper in her hand as they walked, hoping to get an idea of what this was all about. It looked familiar, but she wasn't able to make out exactly what it said until the door clicked closed, and it was violently slapped onto the face of the desk.

"What is this?" Tsunade shoved her finger on it. "Some kind of joke?"

Sakura's eyes fell on it, instantly coming to recognize the delicate lines composed of her own handwriting, the feelings she had while writing it rushing back to her with force.

"That was two weeks ago," she said.

"And that changes what?" The hinge of her chair squeaked as she dropped into it, crossing her legs. "After all the medical training we've done. All the fighting. Is that what you really want? To stay in the lab with the students and new grads?"

Sakura couldn't look at it anymore, cutting her gaze towards the tile flooring that matched the rest of the building's interior. If she had an answer to that question she would have just said it, but she couldn't help the bitter taste of confliction at her tongue, impairing her ability to make a decision.

Unfortunately, she didn't need to. The hesitation was itself an answer; It made her want to puke.

Tsunade sighed heavily. "I taught you to be stronger than this.. You act as if you've never seen death or suffering first hand before when you're one of the few people left in this building that has! How many years did it take you to master the Hundred Seals?!"

"Shishou,"

"And if it's Sasuke again-" She started to say something, but decided not to finish the sentence. "You need to pick yourself up, Sakura. You've been dragged through much dirtier mud and you know it."

"The last thing I wanted to do was disrespect you and the time we spent together.." Tsunade was no longer looking at her. She had taken a large red 'declined' stamp and began marking the whole page with it.

Sakura let out a gentle sigh of her own. It had been a while since she'd mustered the balls to admit these things to herself. "I guess I did let it get to me, more than I thought," she said. "When he came back."

She threw her arms in the air, letting them fall back down as if they were dead. "And now he's gone again. And Naruto's gone too.." Shaking her head, she pinned her gaze on one of the windows.

"It feels like I'm going nowhere with my life."

"And at what point are you actually going to start living for yourself?" Tsunade seemed to have cooled off well enough to carry on with her work. In fact, she seemed pretty satisfied with the answer she got. Or was it just the fact that she got to deny the hell out of Sakura's transfer request?

She finished her signature at the bottom of another document that she slid towards Sakura alongside the first. "First thing - For the record, I wasn't going to allow you to transfer in the first place. Ask again, and I'll fire you."

Sakura softened, her lips curving into a small smile. 

As if she should've expected anything less in the first place...

"I'll try," she teased, earning a low glare in return.

"Second - I'm giving you this signed order to take with you to the Uchiha compound. Tell Itachi that the one his father requested is not skilled enough to use the techniques required to fix his eyes. I mean, that part is pretty self-explanatory. Just do the job - "

"Shishou!"

The instant they locked eyes, Sakura could tell that her next words might be her last. If she wasn't careful, Tsunade was bound to lose her composure again, and then she might actually be out of the only job she knew how to do.. Not really, but there was a devilish glint in Tsunade's eyes that screamed 'please, try something'. Her fists probably still itched from Jiraiya being gone for the past few months.

"I - Aren't there others that can do the job just as well? I do have other projects I'm working on right now, and the others need the experience anyway."

"No, Sakura," she said seriously. "There's no one else I trust with this job other than you. Your projects can wait a few weeks."

"What if I -"

"10 AM tomorrow. Now take the paper and leave before I kick you out myself."

The rain came down in droves the entire night, and at around eleven o'clock, Sakura realized that if she didn't take a sleeping pill she wasn't going to sleep at all, which would inevitably end up impairing her work in some way the next morning. The pills had been her saving grace over the past few months. Even though she knew at some point she'd have to stop taking them, tonight was probably not the night to start. Fugaku was even more no-nonsense than Tsunade was as a former Hokage and that's saying a lot.

As for Itachi, she didn't know what to expect from him. He was Sasuke's older brother, he was an ANBU officer, and he must have helped in the war in some way. She'd only met him twice in her entire life and they weren't rememberable at all. Perhaps that was a good thing when she really thought about it. She'd had enough of Uchihas and their stubborn arrogance.

If you've met one, you've met them all. 

Someone told her that once, but she couldn't remember who..

At around midnight the sleeping pills finally began to take effect, eyelids drooping heavily over her irises despite her will to stay awake. She wanted to think and prepare more and continue to watch the rain splash itself over the rails of her balcony.

It wasn't enough to keep her conscious. Within minutes, she was fast asleep under a mountain of blankets that she would probably end up kicking off of her at some point during the night, the rain only starting to subside in the wee hours of the morning as the sun slowly popped its head over the distant treeline.

It was bound to be an interesting day...

[starswornoaths]

📔

I wrote these a bit lengthy, so I’m sticking a cut here bc spoilers for 4.5 but I was an indecisive bean and there’s an entry for Serella, Uthengentle, and just because I write him enough that I might as well, one for Aymeric as well! Thank you for the ask! \o/

(edit: OR IT JUST WON’T LET ME ADD A CUT WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT TUMBLR I’M ON THE DESKTOP SITE SO FAIR WARNING SPOILERS FOR 4.5 AFTER THIS EDIT OKAY THANK YOU I’M SO SORRY WTFFFFFF)

Serella:

My name is Serella Arcbane. (her name is underlined)

Not so long ago I would have found it ridiculous that I needed to remind myself what my name is. Given that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been referred to by my name instead of a title, however, I think I’m allowed. Now that I have another one, however temporary...it seemed a good time to remind myself.

Antecedent...the title carries with it too much pain. Too much loss. The remaining Scions approved of my accepting the title for lack of anyone else with any seniority willing or able to take it. I remind myself that it’s temporary, that the second even one of my companions wakes up, I get to just be the Warrior of Light again.

Just, I say. As if it were an inconsequential thing in itself.

At least then, when I was naught more than the Warrior of Light, I was able to still be Serella. I wasn’t made to isolate myself from everyone I know and love. It hurts, knowing that I had finally found family amongst so many people, so many I hold dear, who now can’t see me, either because they are unable to make the journey or because it would be improper of them to do so.

Ma came to visit me today. Her visit...I don’t know. When she called me by my name...I didn’t even respond to it at first. It was as if I had just...forgotten it. Perhaps I did. Perhaps I will again. She suggested I write it down. Said it’s how she remembers the little things about Da. I don’t know if it’ll help. I wish he was here, too. Of all the things I’ve forgotten, that I can’t remember what he looked like hurts me the most.

I’ve forgotten so many things I took for granted. So many little things about those I love. In writing, I hope I can remember at least a few- or at least, be reminded of them.

Raubahn has this deep belly laugh when I crack jokes with him- and really, he is the one constant patron of my puns, readily exchanging more with me for as long as we both have jokes to spare. Says it’s from years of being a father. I can’t remember how his laugh sounds.

Merlwyb would refuse to admit it- and if she ever catches wind of documentation of it, she’ll throw me to the Sahagin, of that I have no doubt- but I miss her singing. Low and rumbling as thunder, textured like velvet but fills the room like smoke. I’ve forgotten how the tune goes, which is ridiculous. I’ve heard her hum it a thousand times.

Aymeric...gods, for how he haunts my dreams you would think I would remember his smile. I should. I remember the things that made him smile. When I would bring sweets from that one chocolatier in town, or sweets from somewhere I had recently traveled. When I would move his bangs to kiss his forehead. Or sometimes...just when he looked at me. 

What shade of blue were his eyes? Were they a deeper shade like the night sky over the Steppe? Or was that the blue of his coat that I’m remembering? 

Why am I forgetting everything so quickly?! I have object permanence! It’s only been some moon and a sennight since I last saw everyone! I’m not some geriatric invalid rapidly losing who I am! I’m not some tempered thrall of a primal, adrift in want to serve my master and bereft of all concept of self! I am not-

(The following lines are writ with words made illegible with scribblings of ink and lines frustratedly crossed through them with enough force to nearly tear a hole in the paper. At the bottom, as if in triumph, there are only two more legible sentence:)

I am Serella Arcbane, and no one can take that from me. Not even a god.

Uthengentle:

Visited Ma over coffee this morning. I went fully intending to just say goodbye then and there. Made sense, I figured. We were leaving tomorrow.

I couldn’t say goodbye. I tried, Rhalgr knows I did. 

Had written a letter ahead of everything just in case. Only makes sense, given our line of work. Left that instead. Didn’t even have the stomach to say goodbye at the door. I left while she went to make another cup for me. I’ll have to apologize to her later. If we make it back.

...When. When we make it back. No sense in the doom and gloom; we’ve been through such shite before. Doubt this would be the end of it, either, but I can hope.

Ellie’s been having worse episodes with that voice, nearly passing out a time or two from what F’lhaminne told me. I hate I can’t be more help. I wish I could at least understand what she’s going through. All I get is headaches, sometimes a flash of an image, but it never bothers me. Krile suspects that has to do with Serella being more sensitive to aether and the Echo than I am. 

I just hope they stop once we leave. They should, right? If we’re going where we’re being called, they have no reason to keep callin’, I’d assume. Or their arseholes, and will do it anyway. Won’t matter. Let ‘em. We’ve got our family to save.

...Well. Some of ‘em. Still feels wrong to abandon everyone on the front lines. We should be there. The closer we get to leaving, the more ill I feel about it. From what Ellie said, she’s not faring much better in that regard. Said Aymeric told her to let them handle this fight, but he’s gotta know without us it could go either way. The man’s not stupid- none of ‘em are. Raubahn promised he’d defend the camp with his last breath...but I don’t want it to come to that.

Riol’s been scouting in Thancred’s place- from what he’s been able to gather, the Garleans are holding their cards to their chest. They have something big planned, and they’re just waiting for the right time to use it. Is that time when we’re out of the picture?

I hate that I don’t know, and I can’t find out before we leave.

I hate even more that we have to leave at all, but it’s clearly not something we have a choice in. Either we go to them, or we’re pulled to them. Better we still have our bodies and our senses and just bite the bullet. 

Warned Hilda to up the Watch with the Templars out of Ishgard. Not that she needs that warning; woman’s an unstoppable force already. It could be her and her alone standing at the gate if the Imperials march on Ishgard, and the safe money would still be on Hilda, far as I’m concerned.

I know my friends are capable without me around. I know they don’t need the Warriors of Light to keep them going. Doesn’t mean I don’t just want to be there to protect them- or failing that, die with them- and just fuck off to some far flung wherever.

We’ll be back before we know it. I’ll see to it myself if I have to.

Aymeric:

The battle continues into its fifth week, now. Though we have not lost an ilm to the Imperials, nor have they lost ground to us. Losses on both sides are mounting. We are hitting a breaking point, everyone can sense it. That there is a turning point fast approaching is not in question, but to which side the tide shall turn. 

O Halone shield your children from the encroaching dark, I beseech thee. 

The Warriors of Light make to leave in search of the Scions. The Alliance had to all but force them into leaving this battle to us, a turning point that came with the fear that (there is a name crossed out) the acting Antecedent had fallen to the same affliction that had claimed the rest. With her restored, however, they yet have hope to find those whose souls have been set adrift from this star. I only hope their path leads to victory, and then to home.

(the remainder of the entry is written in a different ink, presumably at a later point in time. The letters are splotched in places with drops of water.)

I nearly lost her. When Estinien laid her lifeless body in front of me, I feared the worst. We bore her to Ishgard with the full expectation that she would not wake. By the Fury, but when she did...

We are...no longer courting. I remind myself of this every time I am made to respond to one of her missives. That we are only separated by temporary obligation is beside the point: whatever relief I might have felt, whatever ache I carry in my chest will have to stay there, so long as she holds the title of Antecedent. 

Only for now. Another reminder to myself.

She yet shields me, even now, so far from the battlefield as she is made to be. Her promise still sits upon my hand. It shall do so unto death, and longer yet. I have already requested she not be allowed to take the ring from my finger. I have no need to be freed from it in Halone’s halls; regardless of her own heart, if I am the first to fall, then I will wait. I had long since decided thus, even before we were betrothed. 

I only wish I had not been so reserved with her for so long. I should have made more time for her. I swore to her I would never take her for granted and yet to dwell on our courtship, I always took her return as given. Now...now I only pray, and continue to fight that I might live to see her return.

(there are entire swaths of sentences scratched out, only some words such as, “promise,” “love,” and, “forgive,” are barely legible)

She must return. I know not what to do without her otherwise.

O Halone guide my beloved home in victory. 

[lycorogue]

Meet My OCs: Willow (Part 3 – Character Arc Events)

Hello yet again! Ready for the next part of Willow's introduction? I'm telling you, when I first started working on this, I did NOT intend on Willow's entry surpassing 30pgs single spaced within a Word document, nor did I expect it to take a week to write up and edit! Thankfully, the epic document was easy enough to break down into 6 parts for slightly easier consumption. I wonder if my other characters will be as detailed....

Anyway, how about a quick recap before I keep going? This is part of a multi-post series I started here on Tumblr about a month ago. A means to introduce you guys to my main OCs.

In Part 1 of this series, I talked about why I'm doing it in the first place, as well as explain the real-world influences that helped me create my two story worlds of Gyateara and Glitches.

Part 2 of the series talked about the inspiration that birthed each of my four main Gyateara characters.

Part 3a did the same, but for my four main teenage Glitches characters.

Part 3b then talked about the Glitches main supportive cast of six adult characters; each one originating as a canonical X-Men character.

Earlier today, I moved on to Part 4 of this series: the official introduction of my characters, one by one. I started off with my most present character: Willow Driver. In Meet Willow: Part 1, I shared Willow's background, gave an overview of her personally, and talked about her powers. There were also some lovely pictures to showcase what she looks like.

In Meet Willow: Part 2, I discussed her main relationships.

Part 4 will showcase the other artwork I created for Willow, as well as two cards @chibisunnie created for me that feature Willow. 

Then, in Part 5, Willow is showcased narratively with a series of scene samples and shorts.

Finally, Willow’s introduction is concluded in Part 6 with a couple videos of wrestling intros we created for Hubby's WWE13 video game. It will be a fun closing post for this mini-series about Willow.

Now, getting back to this post (Part 3), I'm going to discuss Willow's main story arc events, as seen thus far in the X-Future play-by-post game she originated in. In truth, I haven't played Willow since 2017, so I had forgotten just how eventful her X-Future life truly was! At the end of this recap of her life, I'll also talk about how any of these events will relate to my intended opening character arc for Willow in Glitches.

So, hopefully you have a snack and a drink, because this ended up being 10gs long in my word document. It may take a minute or two to read. Once you're ready, go ahead and check below the break to see what Willow has been up to in X-Future, and how it will transfer to Glitches.

X-Future: 

Most of the early events I had already talked briefly about in Part 2 of Willow's introduction, as I discussed her main relationships.

She was at Colossus Academy from the ages of 13 through 15, but when Colossus and Jubilee were killed on mission, and the Academy was shut down, Willow transferred to the Xavier Institute along with her close friend Marge, her surrogate younger brother Hedge, and her pseudo-girlfriend Penumbra. They were a tight clique, but she quickly grew attracted to Chayse, formed a rocky friendship with Lia, and found a playful flirt-buddy in Devon.

She was pushed hard by the faculty at the Xavier Institute, and held to a higher standard than she was used to. This forced her to shape up, mature a little, and stop pranking/bullying others as much. She became closer to Devon, and focused using her powers to mostly prank and tease him and William.

Devon couldn't really hide his attraction to Willow, despite her teasing, and she soaked up as much of the attention as possible. She also tried to ignore her feelings for Chayse, who was dating Lia at the time. Instead she leaned more towards her feelings for Devon, much to Penumbra's dismay.

Willow noticed William's straight-laced and overly conservative personally, and put it on herself to get him to loosen up and act like the 17yo he was. She falsely believed he had a crush on her, so she routinely teased him with sensual images. She thought he was riled up because he, a nearly-18-year-old, was trying to resist his attraction to her, a 15-year-old. She didn't realize he actually got so worked up because she was genuinely annoying him.

One day there was an accident. William was practicing unsupervised as he pushed his powers to their limit. He ended up passing out when he teleported too high into the atmosphere, and plummeted to his death. Willow and Lia joined forces to lead a vigil and build a statue dedicated to William's memory. Willow then realized she thought of William as a brother, as she remembered her own estranged brother. She regretted her treatment of William, and toned down her sensual illusions to tease people. She didn't give them up completely, but she certainly used them more as a means of flirting with those who positively responded to them, as opposed to using them to tease and prank as she had done with William.

Life evened out for a few months, getting back to some sort of normalcy within the school. Then came the day that Devon went to Willow to confide in her. He was on a mission to recruit a new kid for the school, and he had run into The Brotherhood. The leader of the organization, Pyro, told Devon, who was abandoned at a church orphanage while only 4months old, that The Brotherhood could help him figure out who his parents are. Devon had turned down the offer, knowing the Brotherhood to be a terrorist group trying to rule over humanity, as opposed to the X-Men's goal of cohabitation. Devon couldn't get the offer out of his head, though. Trying to help Devon clear his mind, Willow suggested he try out his first Danger Room session. Cyclops offered to run the session, and went to the control room; leaving Devon alone in the DR. Willow moved to an observation deck, assuming watching Devon's first DR run would be hilarious.

Instead, it became something that would haunt Willow for the next couple of years. Devon was put through a generic rescue mission training, in which he had to recover Penumbra. Upon freeing her, Devon was promptly knocked out in a surprise attack. Willow was horrified as she watched the Danger Room transform to look like the school’s infirmary, making Devon believe he was outside the simulator when he awoke. Devon was then told of a mission he needed to go on, and Willow desperately tried to signal to him that nothing he was seeing was real.

While on this “mission,” Devon was paired up with Willow's friend Marjory (Marge). They were separated from the team and confronted by Pyro, who again offered Devon information about his past. All he had to do was “get rid of” Marjory. Devon wrestled his teammate, put her into a sleeper hold, and knocked her out. He discretely checked that he didn't kill her, and then swiped her phone, hoping to use it to contact the X-Men with a location once Pyro brought him to Brotherhood HQ. The simulation didn't last long enough for Devon to execute his plan, however. Cyclops shut the simulation down, declaring Devon a failure of his loyalty test, and instantly put Devon on probation; resulting in him getting limited access to X-Men records and withholding information on who Devon's parents are.

Willow was beyond pissed at the deception, not fully grasping the irony of her anger. She viewed Cyclops a villain for his manipulation, and stormed off to cool down. She intended to check in on Devon later that night, but she never got the chance. Devon had decided he would prove Cyclops wrong by following through with is Danger Room plan, but in real life. He'd infiltrate the Brotherhood, find out about his parents, and then lead the X-Men to the Brotherhood stronghold to take the organization down. He wrote a letter of apology and gratitude to Headmistress Kitty Pryde-LeBeau for giving him the opportunity of joining the school. He wrote another letter of apology to Marjory, in case she truly was in the DR with him instead of a simulation. He wanted her to know that he never meant to hurt her. Finally, he wrote a farewell letter to Willow explaining why he had to leave, and his plan for coming back. As proof that he intended to return, he left Willow his prized possession: his customized lighter. His only means of creating fire that he could then manipulate with his powers.

Before anyone realized Devon had gone, and/or found his letters, the school was attacked by a large energy blast. The energy blast created a major explosion that collapsed the school. Chayse and Gambit were able to read the energy change around the school soon enough to give almost everyone enough warning to get to the safety bunkers below ground. There were still some casualties, though, and Willow feared that Devon was among them. The faculty wouldn't let the students leave the bunkers as they did headcounts and looked for the missing. Drifting to the Astral Plane, Willow watched the clean-up and rescue crew pulling bodies from the rubble. She was relieved that none of them were Devon, but devastated to discover young Hedge's body among the deceased. She swore vengeance on whomever attacked the school.

A few hours later, security film revealed that Devon had run from the school campus an hour before the attack, although the actual attack wasn't caught on cameras; they were all damaged by the energy surge.

Most at the school suspected that Devon was somehow involved; signaling to The Brotherhood for the attack. The fact that the faculty knew Devon was the son of two Brotherhood members, and that he had been in and out of juvenile detention centers for the past five years didn't help matters.

Willow decided that Devon was a traitor, and his was the face she'd picture whenever she thought of revenge for Hedge. She spent the next two years hating her former best friend and crush; picturing ways to torture and punish him for Hedge's death. She also hated Cyclops for his deception, although she understood why he did it. The whole experience showed her, from an outside perspective, what her own powers do to people, and her use of them to pull pranks dropped significantly.

Around the same time as the attack on the school, Chayse's best friend Nix was abducted from the school's infirmary. Chayse had a lead on where Nix could be, and desperately wanted to follow it. Cyclops was chosen as an escort, and Willow his teammate. Lia wanted to go as well, but her earth/magma manipulation powers were too valuable for the fortification of the school's foundation and bunkers, so she was ordered to stay behind to help with reconstruction. Nix's girlfriend Annika also stayed behind, working with her mother Rachel Grey to try to find any other hints on Nix's abduction.

Willow and Chayse spent most of that summer running around Europe, following faint traces of clues to Nix's location. On a mountain range in Bulgaria, their search came to an abrupt end when they came across an experimental facility. While searching through the building, Chayse believed he heard Nix call out to him, but there was an explosion shortly after. Chayse had to decide between Nix and Willow, and decided to phase Willow to safety. Having pushed his powers to an extreme he never tried before in order to save Willow, Chayse collapsed from the strain. The explosion had also separated them from Cyclops, so Willow was left alone to fend for both of them for three days before they were rescued. When the trio went back into the building to see if there were any possible survivors, the facility was in complete ruins, and charred remains rested where Chayse thought he heard Nix call to him. The DNA sample they took revealed that it was indeed Nix. Their search was complete, and Chayse had failed. Annika wouldn't believe them, though, claiming she still felt the psychic link she had with Nix. When everyone tried to tell her she was in denial and grieving, Annika left to prove that Nix was still alive.

Willow helped Chayse grieve over the next few weeks. Between that moment of vulnerability and the months of being each other's companions, the two became incredibly close. They both felt sparks, but both assumed it was simply a product of traumatic events – Willow's near-death and having to nurse Chayse, and Chayse's grief over Nix – and assumed the feelings would fade again. Chayse remained faithful to Lia, and Willow became even more flirtatious with just about every other student at the school.

The next year went fairly smoothly, mostly focused on rebuilding the school, grieving the students they lost, and continuing their trainings so they would be strong enough to take down The Brotherhood. During this time, Willow became Lia's new roommate to replace Annika. This allowed the two of them to get fairly close, and soon enough Willow, Lia, and Chayse became the big power-trio on campus: The Three Musketeers.

Then, while protecting a new recruit coming to the Xavier Institute, Chayse was attacked by a new Brotherhood member. He managed to defeat the Brotherhood, and get the recruit back to the safety of the school, however, he was badly injured: two spiral electrical burns to his chest. While Chayse was in the infirmary, Willow realized how much she truly cared for him. Not wanting to break up a happy couple, she decided to keep her distance while Lia stood watch over her boyfriend.

Chayse was hurt that Willow didn't visit while he was injured, and confronted her about it. Eventually, Willow admitted to her feelings, and how she had them nearly the whole time she had known him. Chayse confessed his feelings as well; they never truly waned after their mission to rescue Nix. Willow refused to be the reason he broke up with Lia, though, and told him they needed to stop hanging out. Chayse admitted that he and Lia were drifting lately (a fact Lia ended up not realizing), and that he couldn't ignore his feelings for Willow any longer. They agreed that Chayse had to break things off with Lia, and that they'd allow her time to grieve the relationship before Willow would start dating Chayse. She didn't want to rub her relationship in her roommate's face while Lia was still healing.

While on the subject of healing, Willow then checked on Chayse's chest, and was confronted with two healing spirals that would be scarred there. Chayse told Willow of the attack, and described the assailant: a man about 19 with the same silver-white hair and aquamarine eyes Willow had, and went by the code name Screwdriver. Willow was dumbfounded to discover that her brother had powers, had teamed up with The Brotherhood, and had attached Chayse. She didn't want to believe any of it. Picking up on how overwhelmed Willow was, Chayse left her to process everything.

The next day, Chayse went to break things off with Lia. She was so devastated by the news that she lost control of her powers, nearly burning Willow with a fire blast, and forcing Chayse to strain to use his powers to help her regain control. Chayse wasn't healed from his brush with Screwdriver, and fainted under the effort. Willow stayed by Chayse's side as Lia rushed to get help. The two of them had a fight in the infirmary waiting room as Chayse was taken care of. The fight ended with Lia running out of the building to hide by the river that ran along the border of the school's estate (more about this in Lia's intro in 2 weeks).

Chayse recovered fairly quickly, and he and Willow walked on eggshells for the next couple of weeks while Lia recovered from her heartbreak. As Prom neared, Chayse asked Willow to be his date. Trying to extend an olive branch, Willow asked Lia and a couple of other girls on their floor if they all wanted to go dress shopping and get ready together. Lia, now infatuated with two newer recruits Lincoln and Ripley, agreed to the group Prom-prep party. Willow and Lia still had a rocky relationship, and Lia still hated to see Willow and Chayse together, but they were at least civil and attempted to be friends.

At the prom after-party, hosted by one of the students - a former Irish pop idol - the Brotherhood attacked. They were again after the recruit Chayse had saved from Screwdriver. Shawn had already killed the mutant Dazzler, who was there to perform at the after-party, and then he set his sights on Chayse. He quickly picked up that Willow cared deeply for Chayse, and so Shawn focused on killing his sister's boyfriend in front of her. Willow, being protected and carried away by a fellow student, slipped into the Astral Plane in order to try to create illusions to distract the Brotherhood long enough for the students to escape, as well as have enough power to mentally attack Shawn to slow him down and protect Chayse.

In the end, Chayse was able to take down Shawn on his own, but Screwdriver was whisked away from the battle by his teammates before Chayse could properly capture him for transport to the X-Men. Meanwhile, Willow's illusions made it look like the Brotherhood's target was killed in the crossfire, rendering their mission complete. Just as the students were going to call themselves the victor, Chayse noticed the same energy signature he felt just before the school collapsed two years prior. He alerted Willow via telepathy, and she relayed the information to the other students. They ran for cover as she used her telekinesis to hold the building together long enough for everyone to escape. The strain of using her powers so much that night, and lingering on the Astral Plane for so long, left her unconscious the next day.

Shortly after recovering, Willow's world was rocked by a new arrival at the school. A man with silver hair in his early 20s. A man who had come from the future, and one who looked an awful lot like an aged up Chayse. Soon enough, it was revealed that this man – Sebastian – was Chayse and Willow's son. He was from an apocalyptic future where an organization called Challengers of Heaven took over the whole planet. Sebastian and is fiance Brianne - who was originally from the present, but was thrown into the future via a wormhole - came to the present to try to stop the Challengers, who had also sent warriors to the past.

Sebastian was excited to spend time with Chayse, who had died when Sebastian was about five. Meanwhile, Willow was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was going to have a kid with Chayse, and that she would be known as one of the Great Protectors; the last of a resistance against the Challengers.

As Willow continued to recover from the prom after-party, and tried to cope with finding out about Sebastian, Lia was in charge of an escort mission. During the prom after-party, Lia managed to capture the Brotherhood member Trish. Lia was the only one who couldn't be burnt by Trish's pyrokinesis, so she, and a few other students that had signed up as X-Men junior recruits, were assigned as prison escorts for Trish's transfer to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The mission went horribly wrong. A relatively new student, who went by the code name Psyke, had betrayed everyone to The Brotherhood. The terrorist organization managed to kill most of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents, and Psyke killed a student who believed himself Psyke's best friend. The Brotherhood also managed to rescue Trish from the X-Men and S.H.I.E.L.D. The only victory the X-Men had on that mission was three Brotherhood members defecting. Lia had run into Devon while he was there to rescue Trish, and he instantly switched sides to help Lia and the X-Men. His pseudo-girlfriend Nyssa followed suit, as did Devon's best friend Zeke. The former Brotherhood trio even rescued Lia from a new villainess who called herself Agony; a mutant who has the ability to transfer the pain and physical damage she received to whichever target she picked. So any time Devon would punch Agony, Nyssa would feel the connection as if Devon had punched her instead. That sort of thing. She has far more powers than just that, but those will relate more to Lia's intro, so I’ll talk about them then....

Upon arriving back to the Xavier Institute, Lia vouched for Devon, Nyssa, and Zeke, and asked for them to be accepted into the school. The trio was vetted by the local telepaths, and were put on probationary student status. Willow was NOT a fan, however, and instantly attacked Devon the second she saw him. Chayse had to peel her off of Devon to stop her from knocking him out, especially since Devon was just accepting her hatred and punishment, and likely would have allowed her to beat him unconscious.

There were a lot of arguments between Willow and Devon as he tried to find his place within the Xavier Institute again. The main conflict between them became the premise of the collaborative story “Please, Let Me Explain” that Devon's creator Ronoxym and I started working on YEARS ago. (We need to get back to that story...).

Shortly after Devon's return, Chayse and Willow had their own encounter with Agony. They were off to recruit a mutant, but their mission went south the second they landed at their destination. They quickly realized they were sent to the same portion of Bulgaria where they lost Nix. The very mountain range the facility was on rose above the valley they landed in. Chayse, already suffering from PTSD, instantly dropped to the ground and became catatonic. Telepath and team leader Emma Frost almost instantly realized that the PTSD flashbacks must have left him vulnerable, and he was attacked by a powerful telepath. Chayse was stuck in some sort of mental trap, and Willow needed to enter his mind to rescue him while Emma looked for the attacking telepath. It was tricky, since Willow never astral projected herself into someone else's mind before, but after a couple of tries, she succeeded. While in Chayse's mind, she saw him tortured by Nix; screaming about how little Chayse must have cared for anyone if he let Nix die and abandoned Lia for Willow. Willow quickly stepped in to try to protect Chayse and reassure him he had done nothing wrong. When Nix retaliated against Willow, Chayse came to his senses and rescued her. That was when it was revealed that Nix was actually Agony, astral projected into Chayse's mind, just like Willow, but cloaked in the image of Nix. After a quick battle, wherein Agony failed her attempts to mentally attack Willow, the duo incapacitated Agony, and Emma created a means for the three of them to escape the mental trap Agony set for Chayse.

Once back to the real world, Agony physically attacked; attempting a sneak attack to stab Willow through the shoulder blades. Chayse stopped Agony, and knocked her away. Willow then attacked Agony, knocking her to the ground, only to watch Chayse fall to the ground as well. Any injury inflicted on Agony would also happen to Chayse. To further prove her point, Agony stabbed a barbed spike through her own palm, and Chayse's hand went limp and began to bleed. Willow and Agony tussled a bit more, before Willow accidentally stabbed one of the barbed spikes into Agony's side in a take-down tackle. Thankfully, Chayse phased at the last second, transferring the pain of the stab, but the injury couldn't be transferred since he didn't have a solid form at the time. With Willow distracted in making sure Chayse was alright, Agony slipped away, vowing to not underestimate Willow next time.

After patching Chayse up, he, Willow, and Emma made their way to a Bulgarian prison where their recruit was being held. After a tense prisoner exchange, they got the new recruit Nodya to safety and flew back to the Xavier Institute.

To try to help Willow relax after so many emotional and physical shocks, Chayse took her to Japan for her 18th birthday; spending two weeks on the other side of the world. The trip didn't go exactly as planned, though, since they experienced some fairly open mutant discrimination and hatred. Chayse was even attacked while trying to defend Willow against an anti-mutant threat. Chayse managed to win the fight, barely, and they spent the next three days holed away in his mother's summer home in Japan (where she was trained by Wolverine, once upon a time) while Chayse recovered. The majority of the trip was lovely, though, and Willow appreciated both the distraction and the time away with her boyfriend (and future baby-daddy).

Returning to the school refreshed, and seeing how much effort Devon truly put in trying to make amends with the school, Willow's hatred for him faded. He didn't really do anything terribly unforgivable, and he had suffered just as hard over the past two years: thinking he had abandoned his friends to die. The Brotherhood wasn't actually at fault for the attack, and so Devon had also spent two years looking for revenge for the death of his found family. Devon and Willow never got back to the same level of closeness they had before he had left, but they slowly became friends again.

Then, a few weeks before the summer break ended, Nyssa started receiving letters from her estranged family. She had been disowned simply for being a mutant, but her parents realized how much they missed and loved their daughter. They asked for forgiveness, and begged for a chance to make amends. Nyssa mostly ignored her parents' pleas, but then she received a letter from Trish stating that she was with Nyssa's parents, and vaguely threatened their lives. Nyssa couldn't leave her parents to that murderer, and so she decided to go stop Trish. Devon insisted he'd come as well, since Trish was clearly after him that whole time anyway. They asked the X-Men for help, but there was a delay (for some reason that I can't recall... lack of intel?). Nyssa and Devon couldn't wait for the X-Men to be ready to go in for the rescue, so they went on their own. After a long battle with Trish (another story I've written but still need to polish before publishing online), Nyssa and Devon were killed. Turned out Nyssa's parents were already long dead, and all the letters about making amends were written by Agony, who had partnered up with Trish for this bit of sport.

Willow grieved the loss of her friend, unbelieving that he was truly gone this time. (In truth, Devon was revived, has amnesia, his mutation gave him a new default face, and Devon now lives in a mutant safe-house as he tries to remember who he is; no one knows any of this though.)

As the summer came to a close, and everyone once again grieved the loss of student lives (real safe place, the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.... >_> ), Willow was rocked by another development. She had gone to Chayse's room one day, to discover him missing and the room ransacked. There was a note that Chayse had received, which told him to go back to the destroyed building the prom after-party was held in. The note's author, who turned out to be Agony, offered up information about what had happened to Nix all those years ago if Chayse agreed to meet.

Willow gathered up Lia and Zeke to try to help track Chayse down. They managed to get to the destroyed building shortly after Chayse. Agony originally mocked Chayse, but when he attacked her, she was rescued by a man made of ice and dressed in a monastery robe. The man called himself Boreas, and he could control winter weather – creating a frozen tundra on the building's lawn despite it being early September in New York state. Chayse instantly recognized Boreas as Nix; his DNA somehow altered to remove his telekinetic powers, but his ice manipulation powers enhanced to Omega level. Another body had its DNA manipulated to match Nix's, and that was the body Chayse had recovered from the facility two years prior. Willow raced to Chayse's side to help him as Boreas cried out for vengeance for being abandoned, and attempted to kill Chayse. Pissed that Chayse had backup, Boreas used a massive arctic wind to knock everyone away from them. He then created a maze of magical ice; the same thing he had used to help Trish escape S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

Chayse was alone with Boreas, and knew his only option was to fight his former best friend. He hoped that once he incapacitated Boreas he could bring the man to the Institute, and have Nix be restored. Willow, Lia, and Zeke were all separated from Chayse in the maze – and Zeke separated from the girls. They rushed to try to get back to him, but Agony managed to corner Willow and Lia, cutting off their advancement to Chayse. Avoiding a two-on-one fight, Agony welcomed into battle Boreas' main ally, his partner Judgment. She was a woman in her early 20s, dressed in battle armor, and resembling a warrior angel as flame wings erupted from her back. Judgment declared Lia her opponent, and Agony happily detained Willow. Before anyone could react, Agony used yet another power no one know about, and encased Willow in an orb that forced her onto the Astral Plane.

Willow and Agony battled, and Willow managed to get the upper hand at one point, threatening to stab Agony. Unfazed, Agony simply stepped into the knife, spraying blue blood all over Willow. The blood then paralyzed her, trapping her stiff on the “ground” of their battle field. Once fully incapacitated, the blue blood spilled off of Willow, and formed into a blade within Agony's hand, leaving Willow vulnerable to Agony's killing blow. At the last second, the three copies Willow made of herself earlier in the battle lunged towards Agony, stopping the attack. Agony was startled that the copies moved of their own accord and independent of each other, the doppelgangers Agony created earlier in the fight could only mirror her movements. It was then that Willow discovered that the illusions she made on the Astral Plane were actually psy-weapons, which meant Agony disbelieving the illusions didn't dispel them. As the three Willow copies wrestled Agony, the dagger fell from her hand and shattered. Terrified by the sight of the blade breaking, Agony quickly retreated, and wished Willow luck in escaping the Plane Agony had put them in.

As Agony vanished within a blue orb, the landscape changed to a faded image of their battleground; gray and barren. The only thing Willow could see was a large blue crystal in the distance. The paralysis gone, she ran towards the crystal, and spotted the silhouette of a woman sleeping inside it. Finally, Willow got close enough to discern who the woman was: Willow herself. Upon that realization, Willow was brought back to the physical plane, the ice walls of Boreas' maze still up, the growls of battle around her, and her physical body locked comatose within a blue crystal right where she was when Agony forced her onto the Astral Plane.

Willow was still astral projected, as if she were a ghost on the physical plane. However, she was locked; not on the Astral Plane, and not truly on the physical one. She couldn't interact with anything, and couldn't communicate with anyone, despite how hard she tried. As if she were watching a TV show she couldn't control, Willow was forced to watch Lia finish her battle with Judgment, who had turned out to be Lia's friend and former roommate Annika; Nix's girlfriend who had volunteered to join the same villainous group as him, simply to stay by Nix's side.

In a cruel play, Judgment pretended to be Annika again; confused as to what had happened. As Lia ran to comfort her friend, Judgment held her close, and then used telekinetic powers to throw six adamantium spikes at Lia. Even in Lia's obsidian form, adamantium was the toughest substance on the planet, and they could rip right through her. Lia, in survival mode, dodged out of Judgment's death grip. She still was struck in the face, legs, and arms. Two spikes even ripped straight through Lia's shoulders like bullets. Already bleeding out pretty badly and in pain, Lia then noticed that in dodging the spikes, she condemned Judgment to be struck by them instead; all six impaled in the woman's torso. Willow was helpless to stop any of it.

Judgment collapsed into Lia's arms. She teased that Lia was capable of killing someone after all, and then passed out. Lia screamed for help, and the ice walls fell. It wasn't clear if Judgment had died in Lia's arms, but shortly after, her body vanished within a blue orb, just like Agony had done to escape the Astral Plane. Boreas escaped the same way as well. Chayse then rushed to Lia's side, with some assistance from Zeke. Once Chayse was certain that Zeke could care for Lia, he ran to the crystal that had encased Willow. He tried to phase her out of it, but the crystal reacted with violent electrical shocks, badly burning Chayse's hand. Zeke got to one of the motorcycles they had used to get to the ruined building, and sent a distress signal while Chayse tended to Lia's wounds.

Willow tried to call out to them, but her telepathy didn't seem to work. She tried to run for some help, but she was tethered to her physical form, incapable of going more than 20ft (6m) from her body. She screamed again for help, and Zeke responded to her; surprising her since she didn't realize he was a telepath. Chayse causing the electrical reaction from the crystal managed to create a microscopic crack that allowed Willow's telepathy to leak out slightly; catching the attention of other telepaths within that same 20ft radius she was locked within.

At the Institute, Chayse and Lia's wounds were taken care of. Chayse was released later that day, and Lia a few days later. Willow, on the other hand, was stuck with her body; trapped inside the private room in the infirmary for a week. Finally, when no one else could figure out how to get Willow out of her crystal, they called in the Sorcerer Supreme: Pixie. She was shocked at the massively advanced spell – one that she had only heard rumors of previously – and tried a few spells of her own. She was able to dispel the crystal, and trap it for further examination to see what kind of sorcery they were fighting against. Finally free of the crystal and the infirmary room, Willow went off to freshen up, have a few arguments with Chayse and Lia over how they overburden themselves as if they were the world's lone protectors, and then Willow blew off some steam at a new parkour training park Deadpool had built. She ran into a couple of new recruits, worked out on the parkour course for a little bit, and then headed back to the school in hopes of getting back to whatever her normal was.

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

Like I said at the beginning, Willow has gone through way more than I remembered. And it's the points that I remembered that will make it to Glitches. Mostly because they were the most impactful on both Willow as a character and me, as a “reader.”

First and foremost, I don't want to get into the complexity of time travel in Glitches with everything else I'm trying to balance. So Sebastian and Brianne won't be making their way to Glitches. However, they MAY make their way into their own side-story at some point, but that's probably a couple decades into the future, especially at the rate I'm going....

Things with Nix and Annika are a bit too complicated as well, plus Nix/Boreas and Annika were created by other players (although, Husband came up with the Judgment persona for Annika after Nix's player came up with Boreas). Nix and another character – Lucas Kinney – will most likely become an amalgamation; one of the glitch children Matteo rescues when he tries to break his sister out of the experimentation facility. I can go more into this when I introduce Matteo.

Similarly, I don't know if I'll have the William plot exactly. Again, mostly because I don't own William, so I'd have to create a replacement character, and I'll most likely have to discover a new reason for Willow's grief over him, her realization of that brotherly connection she destroyed, and her adjusting how she uses her powers; assuming I have her still be a callous prankster at first.

While the Japan trip is sweet, we never actually role played it, so I don't see the over-all impact on Willow's arc, so that's also gone.

So, what bits are staying? For me, these are the key parts of Willow's development:

Willow's dual attraction to Chayse and Devon.

Willow becoming best friends with Devon, only to feel betrayed when he runs away to find out more info about his past.

I'm still trying to decide if the school will again be attacked by a third party so that Willow ends up hating Devon, blaming him for the attack, and vowing vengeance for Hedge's death.

Since Devon's DR run, his running away, the school being attacked, Willow's self-hatred for “pushing Devon” to betray them, as well as her hatred towards Devon, and then their subsequent reunion makes up soooooo much of Willow's arc in-game, I feel it NEEDS to be in Glitches in some shape or form.

The real trick is either convincing Ronoxym to allow me to write Devon/co-author Glitches with me, or I’ll have to create my own Devon from scratch...

Willow discovering her brother Shawn not only has powers, but has also joined The Brotherhood (Called The Virus in Glitches) and wants to kill her and their parents.

Seeing the interaction between Shawn and Devon would be interesting

Shawn will just be “turned evil” by his childhood; no additive of being a psychopath needed (I'll leave that to Trish).

Shawn will still be discovered via his attack on a new recruit for the school. I'm debating if I want it to still be Chayse, and Willow finds out after-the-fact, or if she is there for the first interaction...

While not necessarily a prom after-party, I do want an off-campus gathering to be attached by The Virus in order to capture one of the students. That way Lia can show off her badassery with her one-on-one with Trish, and Willow can still prove her usefulness by using illusions to throw off the attackers into thinking their target is dead. Also, that was her greatest showcase of her telekenetic powers, and it also showcased the downsides to Willow having to be on the Astral Plane in order to fully utilize her powers.

Willow's interactions with Agony; a means for her to push her mental powers, and a foil as Agony has similar powers of manipulation/illusion.

Hubby originally headcannoned that Agony was actually Jacob's first child before meeting Meryl and having Shawn and Willow. Which is why Agony and Willow have similar power sets. It seems a bit weird, however, that Shawn's powers wouldn't match those of his sisters, nor did it seem logical that both of Willow's siblings were murderous psychopaths that loved to torture and torment, but Willow wasn't like that after seeing how much her powers truly hurt others. So, I'm still debating if I want to make Hubby's headcannon official.

Willow being trapped within the crystal after a battle with Agony. It would be interesting to have the time to fully explore that experience, and the grief her friends suffered while trying to break her out of it.

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

You good? Everyone caught up? You can take your pee-break now.

Makes sense that this kept me so long to write up and edit down, no? Anyway, thank you guys SOOOOO MUCH for again indulging me and sitting through all of that! You all amaze me!

Next up: Part 4 - Images. Who’s ready to see all the different versions of Willow I’ve collected throughout the years?

[archive-sugamoom]

Unit 0 | 2

Pairing: Detective!Jaebum x Detective!Reader

Summary: Jinyoung doesn’t know what to do with the information that he found. Please help him!

Word Count: 1915

Genre: Drama | Mystery | Crime | Detective!AU

Warning: Jinyoung lowkey having a midlife crisis. Mention of death, nothing really whoops.

A/N: I finally have inspiration after what feels like 10 years. Also wooohh Jackson and Joon appeared! I also had an idea for side chapters, like where you see what the others do on their day off. I think it would be fun to write those things so yeah. Please let me know!! one last thing. Apparently tumblr hates part 1 so I can’t link it anywhere, and the URL does not exist.. Enjoy!

Requests | Masterlist 

Character Introduction | Prologue | Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4

~~~~~~

Date: 14th of July.

Seoul Gym. The spot to find Jinyoung when he didn’t know what to do with the information he got. Jinyoung was a logical man, everyone that knew him knew that. But it can be hard to sort out the thoughts and information you get daily. And that means that it can be hard for Jinyoung as well.

Every minute that Jinyoung was alone he kept thinking about the name that he saw. Soo Changwoo. Jinyoung couldn’t think straight, he did not know what to do. So he went to Seoul Gym to clear his mind. Normally he would talk to his best friend Jackson Wang, but in this case it was difficult.

After all there was the professional secrecy he had to keep. And even if there was no such thing, Jinyoung would think of himself as a bad friend to you. A really bad friend. Because which best friend would suspect your fiancé for murder? None, right?

However Jinyoung couldn’t blatantly lie to Jackson. After all Jackson was a smart man, he could easily read through the lies of Jinyoung. So instead of talking with Jackson he decided to work out with him, that way Jackson wouldn’t ask 10 million questions and Jinyoung could try to think what to do with the case.

‘’I know we normally don’t talk while we are working out Jinyoung, but you really are quiet today.’’ Jackson said looking Jinyoung up and down. ‘’You okay?’’ He asked upping the speed of the treadmill once more. Jinyoung glanced at Jackson and sighed, stopping his treadmill all together. ‘’I’m fine, just sorting my thoughts.’’ He said hoping that Jackson wouldn’t ask further.

Jackson kept looking at him trying to find a weak spot in Jinyoung his stance. ‘’Alright, alright I won’t pressure you to tell me. Take care of yourself though. Worries me to see you like that.’’ Jackson said as he stopped on the treadmill as well. The two of them walked past the other equipment to the small canteen.

Jinyoung kept quiet and gave Jackson a nod worrying he’ll end up spilling everything about the case if he said something. Jackson grabbed two bottles of water and handed one to Jinyoung. ‘’Here, it’s on me. It might cool you off or something.’’ Jackson said as he sat down at the table where the co-owner of Seoul Gym Joon Park sat. Or Joon as everyone calls him.

‘’Jinyoung, good to see you! How is work?’’ Joon asked. Jinyoung sighed in relief. Although Jackson and Joon had the same type of personality, Joon was a person that would ask questions that were easy to answer. ‘’It’s been alright.’’ He said not sure how to continue his sentence quickly drinking half of his water. ‘’Well that’s better than not alright. How is (y/n)?’’

Of course this question would come Jinyoung thought and groaned internally. ‘’She’s great. Has been very happy now that she and Changwoo have a venue for their wedding.’’ He said taking another sip of water. ‘’That’s great! They deserve it.’’ Joon said.

Jinyoung nodded. Really you two deserved it. You and Changwoo started dating at that exact place. Jinyoung remembers you telling him back at the police school how you always wanted to get married at the place you started dating. He just rolled his eyes at you and laughed. Saying how cliché and cheesy you were. But you just shrugged at him and said that it would be very romantic.

His thoughts got interrupted as his phone went off. Taking his phone out of his pocket he picked up. ‘’Detective Park Jinyoung?’’ He said with a more serious tone. As the caller kept speaking Jinyoung his posture faltered. ‘’I’ll come right now, thank you.’’ He said as he hung up.

Jackson and Joon looked at him with raised eyebrows. Jinyoung looked at them and placed the water bottle down on the table. ‘’Duty calls.’’ He says as he leaves the other two alone.

-

‘’Jinyoung you’re here!’’ You said as he walked inside. ‘’Is it true?’’ He asked looking around if it was just some prank. You shook your head and showed the report. ‘’Sadly it is. He was found in the exact same spot as our first victim.. Who would do something like this??’’ You asked with a sign. ‘You fiancé’ Jinyoung thought. But he would be a horrible, horrible friend if he said that.

But top priority is calming you. You two have seen more gruesome murders than this but it still hurt you. Jinyoung placed both of his hands gently on your shoulders. ‘’It will be fine alright? It is horrible I know but for him, and for our first victim we must find the perpetrator. You almost have lunch so go and eat that lunch okay?’’ He said as he looked you in the eyes. Looking back at him you nodded and smiled a little. ‘’You’re right Jinyoung, thank you.. What would I do without you?’’ You said as you two separated after a quick hug.

Jinyoung chuckled softly but didn’t answer knowing that there would be a high chance of him slipping up. Thank god that the door opened. His heart almost dropped though when he saw the person that came inside. ‘’Changwoo you’re here, thank god!’’ You said as you hugged him.

Changwoo kissed your cheek and hummed. ‘’Thank god? Did something happen? Wait did your boss JYP say something inappropriate to you?’’ Changwoo said as he looked at you. You shook your head. ‘’It’s not that, something happened and I need the distraction! So where will we have lunch??’’ You asked him with a small smile.

Changwoo puffed his chest out a little with pride. ‘’We will go to my new restaurant, you can try the things that might go on the menu~’’ He said. ‘’What are we waiting for then??’’ You ask hurriedly pushing him towards the door. ‘’Bye guys!’’ You said to the rest and left.

-

Jaebum looked at Jinyoung walking around. Jaebum raised an eyebrow as he has never seen Jinyoung acting like this. It was almost as if Jinyoung was panicking, thinking that it would be soon over Jaebum thought that it was enough of observing the younger one and go back to writing his and Youngjae’s rapport about a minor crime of today.

‘’Jaebum-Hyung? It’s been 10 minutes..’’ Youngjae said softly as he observed Jinyoung. ‘’Shouldn’t we do something?’’ He asked as he frowned. Jaebum sighed and nodded. Getting up from his seat he and Youngjae walked towards Jinyoung. Both standing on one side of him. ‘’Jinyoung?’’ Jaebum started and sighed softly when he didn’t get a response.

‘’Park Jinyoung?? Detective Park?’’ He said. Still no response though. ‘’Let me try.’’ Youngjae said. ‘’Junior!’’ At that Jinyoung looked up, a bit shocked. ‘’My name is not Juni- Oh.. I there something?’’ He asked as he looked at Jaebum and Youngjae.

‘’We should be asking you that Hyung, you’ve been out of it for 10 minutes. Is the case really that hard?? Still no suspect?’’ Youngjae asked him. Jinyoung dropped his shoulders not knowing that they were tense. ‘’Yes there is, I mean there is no suspect yet, I mean I don’t know..’’

Jaebum raised an eyebrow. ‘’Jinyoung you should tell us. We might be able to help you? What about (y/n)? Maybe she can help once she’s back.’’ Jaebum said trying to reason with Jinyoung who in return sighed once he heard your name. ‘’I can’t tell her..’’ He groaned leaning with his head on his hands. ‘Well it’s now or never..’ He thought.

‘’You can’t tell her because?’’ Youngjae pressed him. ‘’I can’t tell her because I will break her heart.’’ Jinyoung said. Youngjae chuckled and joked. ‘’Why are you suspecting her or something??’’ Jinyoung shook his head and looked at Youngjae. ‘’No but I do suspect Changwoo.’’ Jinyoung felt a wave of relieve after he said that. He definitely thought that the guilt would only grow more if he told another soul.

Youngjae and Jaebum looked at each other and then at Jinyoung. ‘’Tell us what you got.’’ Jaebum said as he grabbed a chair for himself. Youngjae doing the exact same action. Jinyoung nodded as they both sat down.

-

After 10 minutes of research, discussing and reading Jinyoung was convinced that it was Changwoo. It turns out the first victim has actually stalked you before he got sent to jail. The three of them we’re reading the statement that Mr. Oh had made. Reading the description of the perpetrator it fit Changwoo perfectly. Reading another document they found out that the first victim had started to stalk indeed.

The fact that there was a 90% chance of him being the perpetrator made Jinyoung feel like shit. He hoped that he was wrong. He really did. The only missing piece was the murder weapon. If only Changwoo wasn’t your fiancé..

‘’We should inform JYP.. I’m sure he knows what would be the best.’’ Youngjae said feeling bad as well. Both Jinyoung and Jaebum nodded. ‘’Let’s call him. We should do this as soon as possible. And Jinyoung, I know it will be hard. But we must do this. In the end we would be protecting her. Yes it might hurt her in the beginning, it might break her but (y/n) is strong, really strong. You should know as her best friend.’’ Jaebum said.

Breathing deeply in and out Jinyoung nodded. Finally his mind was clear, the information and thoughts he had were sorted. ‘’You’re right, I’m sorry if I acted weird. And thank you. Thank you both. Now let’s do it.’’ He said with a smile.

-

JYP arrives shortly after Youngjae made the call. ‘’What is it?’’ He said as he sat down on his seat behind the desk. During the call Youngjae briefly said something about having a suspect for the case you and Jinyoung were working on.

‘’We have a suspect and I am 90% sure that it is the perpetrator.’’ Jinyoung stated standing in front of JYP’s desk together with Jaebum and Youngjae. ‘’And the reason that you had to inform me is? Inform (y/n) instead of me’’ JYP said as he folded his arms while leaning back against his chair.

Jinyoung glanced at Jaebum and Youngjae. With a sigh he started. ‘’That’s the thing sir. Not only I but Jaebum-Hyung and Youngjae believe that it is Lee Changwoo. (y/n)’s fiancé.’’ Jinyoung said as Jaebum placed the file the three of them made on JYP’s desk. Hearing that JYP his face dropped as he unfolded his arms to take the file from the desk.

JYP frowned as he was reading the file, the three men looked at each other hoping that JYP would have a plan. At the sound of a soft cough they look back at their boss, who looks back at them. ‘’This is what we will do. Jaebum and Youngjae, you two will take over the case. We will just say that it’s handy to have two clear minds working on the case. Junior I’ll give you and (y/n) a new case.’’ JYP said.

The three of them nodded. ‘’I’ll make sure to get a search warrant. Make sure that (y/n) does not know about it. Good luck. Also keep this from Bambam and Yugyeom the less people know about it the better.’’

‘’Yes sir.’’ They said in unison, and with that the three of them worked on other side cases.

[lostinfic]

6 | Biting

Mercier x Betty British Raj AU

Calcutta, 1902. The word ‘dance’ comes to mind, their own choreography of gazes exchanged across the room, brushes of hands and half-spoken confessions. They orbit around each other, destined never to collide it seems; Mercier is upper class, Betty is a governess. And he’s spying on the family whose children she swore to protect. But in this foreign land of spices and silk, of golden gods and lush forests, where cultural norms clash and wane, even destinies must yield to desire.

Rating: Mature Word count: 2.8k CW: predatory behaviour from a man You don’t need to have seen either show. Tumblr   |   Ao3   |    This chapter on Ao3

Mercier scratched the back of his head, ruffling his hair in frustration. His hand followed the curve of his neck, and he rested his fingers at the base of his throat, where Betty had kissed him.

Today was her day off, but Mercier wasn’t in Calcutta.

He loosened his necktie, sighed and returned to the legal documents in front of him.

When he’d last seen Betty, with her braid and nightgown, holding a book of pressed flowers. She’d looked young, innocent. But then to find The Kama Sutra hidden in her book and that teasing kiss. There was so much about her he had yet to discover.

As a rule, he avoided women who tried to play these kinds of games of seduction: tempting, then withdrawing, suggesting then playing coy. He preferred straightforward, honest affairs. But he couldn’t blame Betty for doing this; he’d pursued her in the house of her employer, and he’d suggested they secretly write to each other. What else was she supposed to think?

All of this would be much easier were she his equal. It was madness for a man of his standing to pursue a governess. A governess working for a man suspected of fraud by the French government. Madness. And yet, he intended to persevere.

Mercier sipped some tea and looked out the window at the vast indigo plantation. Under the watchful eyes of soldiers, native men in white turbans, carried loads of blue flowers on their spindly backs.

Monsieur Lelievre, the owner of the plantation, entered the study, arms full of large books. A cloud of dust burst from the pages when he dropped them on the desk. “The plantation’s bookkeeping from the beginning,” he announced. He brushed his waistcoat and trousers, then sat opposite Mercier.

Not long ago, Mercier would have jumped at this chance for a real mission outside Calcutta. The negotiations between European tradesmen and local authorities often required skills of the military and diplomatic kind. But in this case, not only did he have more interesting duties in the city, Mercier suspected he’d been sent on a wild goose chase. He’d been here two weeks without making any progress.

Mercier cursed de Brem under his breath. Only a few days after landing on the shores of India, the man had taken over the investigation on Lord Wigram and had sent Mercier away from Calcutta. What if there was more to it than the old rivalry between them?

*

Gabrielle whistled as she entered her home, removing her hat and gloves. It had been a wonderful promenade, and she gave each dog a treat for their good behaviour. She’d met Miss Salinger in the park, it was her day off. To make up for her brother’s absence, Gabrielle had done her best to cheer her up, with some success. She was a bright young woman, no wonder Jean-François was so taken with her.

“It’s lovely to see you so happy, Miss Mercier,” de Brem said in French.

At the sight of the blond, mustachioed man, Gabrielle stiffened. “It seems you have gotten lost in the house Mr. de Brem. Again. Let me show you the way back to the consulate wing.”

Since Jean-François had left for Dhaka, de Brem kept coming over, at all hours of the day. Since he was her brother’s boss, she couldn’t be as rude with him as she wished.

Gabrielle walked away, but he stepped between her and the door.

“I am not lost, I assure you. I wanted to see you.” He touched her arm, and Gabrielle recoiled. “I remember a time when you welcomed my attentions.”

“That was a long time ago. Before I met Armand.”

He stepped forward, she stepped backward.

“He’s a poor pianist,” de Brem said.

Forward, backward.

She clenched her fists, remembering her brother’s boxing lessons.

“I love him,” Gabrielle stated.

“I would give you anything you desire.”

“You are married. You have children. You have no honour.”

The back of her legs hit a writing desk. Her knees buckled and de Brem smiled. His breath ghosted over her face, she turned her head away.

“Unlike your brother, you mean? And what has his honour ever done for him? I am his superior now. When I want something, I take it.”

His tongue snaked out between his thin lips as he contemplated Gabrielle’s face. Then his gaze strayed to a point behind her shoulder, and he smirked. Gabrielle pushed him away. The front door opened, and de Brem retreated so as not to get caught.

“See you soon, Miss Mercier,” he said before leaving.

Gabrielle sat down and closed her eyes to steady her beating heart.

De Brem’s self-confidence had once seduced her, but something corrupt had festered in his soul. She reflected on how people who grow up with everything shall never be satisfied.

So far, she had not told her brother about his colleague’s behaviour, but now it had gone too far. When she turned to the writing desk, Gabrielle saw what had caught de Brem’s attention earlier: a letter from Miss Salinger to Jean-François.

*

On the porch of the Wigram’s house, Betty leaned against a doric column. Her feet ached from walking all day in cheap boots, but she would enjoy her free day until its last second.

The twilight hour had a peculiar stillness to it, even birds in the palms dozed off, tired from the day’s work. A hot wind chased dry coconut shells down the street and stirred the fragrant frangipanis. Warm hues filled the sky and painted white buildings with gold. A tabby cat curled at her feet.

With each breath, her chest pushed against Jean-François’ latest letter hidden in her corset; Gabrielle had passed it on to her during their promenade. She missed him. She missed how every step out of the house thrilled her with its chance to meet him. If only she’d given him a proper kiss goodbye. What if he’d met someone else in Dhaka? Another deep breath, and the envelope crinkled in her corset. No, he was still hers.

With the delay between letters— three days, sometimes four— their correspondence lacked the back and forth, akin to a conversation, it had before. But there was more of an openness to them, more daring and risque too. He remained a gentleman, and she a well-behaved young woman, but they chose each word carefully for their double meaning or reference to The Kama Sutra. Each sentence crafted to arouse the reader’s imagination.

She grazed the letter with her fingertips, and her skin goose-pimpled with excitement. Should she read it now or wait until she was alone in her room?

Knocks on the window decided for her. Her three pupils, Victoria, Winifred and Oliver, pressed their faces against the glass and slapped it to attract their governess’ attention. Betty waved at them, and they ran to the door to greet her. They jumped in her arms, talking one over the other about their day, as if they had been separated for weeks.

Lady Wigram stood nearby, always with that haughty set to her chin. She stared at the children’s display of affection. Hurt flickered in her hazy blue eyes, but she chased it away with a flippant remark about Betty’s appearance. Betty couldn’t help that she’d been in the children’s lives longer than their step-mother so they trusted her more. Still, she felt bad for Lady Wigram who obviously wished to be closer to the children.

“Where did you get those earrings?” Lady Wigram asked with narrowed eyes.

Betty touched the delicate pendants at her ears— a gift from Jean-François to apologise for his absence on her day off. “… Miss Mercier gave them to me.”

At the mention of Gabrielle, Lady Wigram perked up. “You know Miss Mercier? Why would she give you earrings?”

After some incoherent babbling, Betty explained she’d first met Gabrielle after Oliver had fallen in the river and Jean-François helped them out. She then made up a story about helping out with Gabrielle and Armand’s upcoming wedding. “She gave me the earrings as a thank you. They’re second-hand. Said she never wears them anyway.” She held her breath as Lady Wigram appraised her for long seconds. She nodded curtly, and let Betty go.

From her bedroom window, Betty had a good view of the tree in the backyard under which she’d met Jean-François before he left town. She couldn’t help but glance at it, hoping to see him there, leaning against the trunk, neck tie loose and smoldering eyes. But he wasn’t there.

She postponed reading his letter until after the children had gone to bed. She hid it at the bottom of a drawer along with the earrings, then changed into her grey governess dress. And thus she also slipped back into her governess persona: meek and unremarkable.

On the dinner table, a servant had set a plate down for Lord Wigram but his chair was empty. It remained untouched until the end of the meal, and Lady Wigram kept glancing at the clock and at the front door. It wasn’t Betty’s place to ask about his lordship’s whereabouts, but she worried. Thankfully, Victoria asked “Where is Papa? Won’t he be hungry?”

Lady Wigram’s hazy blue eyes settled on Betty even as she answered Victoria. “Your father said he was going out to meet a friend this morning.”

Betty focused all her attention on cutting her chicken into bits so as not to meet that unprovoked icy glare. She didn’t have anything to do with his absence.

Not ten minutes later, a great guffaw announced Lord Wigram’s return. He staggered into the dining room, arm in arm with an equally inebriated man. Wigram kissed his wife, then each children’s head, and Betty’s too. Laughing, Betty ushered the children out of the room before the men became too rowdy.

Samaira, Oliver’s nanny, joined them. As the children chose a story, the nanny and the governess chatted about their day. The conversation confirmed what Betty thought: Lady Wigram had tried to play with the children so they might warm up to her, but she’d suggested activities ill-suited to their age.

“Betty, I want to go out tonight,” Samaira whispered— she meant meet up with Rakesh, her boyfriend who worked next door.

“Of course, I’ll cover for you,” Betty answered. Someday, she might need Samaira’s help to sneak out and meet Jean-François.

Betty came up with a plan that would kill two birds with one stone: ensure Lady Wigram wouldn’t catch Samaira leaving the house, and make her feel appreciated by the children. Betty had been teaching the children a nursery rhyme, she asked the Victoria to write down the lyrics while Winifred drew flowers around the sheet. They practiced singing it with a simple choreography.

When Samaira was ready to leave, Betty took the children to the drawing room. Lady Wigram was alone, his lordship already snoring off the ale.

The children were nervous as they took place in front of their stepmother. Betty offered Lady Wigram the lyrics and encouraged her to sing along. There was much laughing and off-key singing, but they did splendidly.

At Betty’s behest, they hugged and kissed their stepmother goodnight. She seemed genuinely happy, more than she had ever seen her.

“It was their idea,” Betty lied. She hoped Lady Wigram would be nicer if she didn’t feel in competition with the governess.

“That’s very kind. Tell me Betty, you really were with Gabrielle Mercier this afternoon.”

“Yes, your ladyship.”

“Do you think… She is a very fashionable young woman. The talk of the town, one might say.”

“Yes, she is.”

“And her fiancé is a talented pianist. Their wedding is bound to be a grand event.”

“I suppose it will,” Betty replied carefully, wary of this unusual amiable tone.

“And of course, my husband is a close acquaintance of Colonel Mercier.”

The mention of Jean-François unsettled Betty, she panicked, until she realized what Lady Wigram was really after: an invitation. “I believe miss Mercier said you would be invited to her wedding.”

“As it should be,” she answered with a satisfied smile.

Maybe if she secured an invitation to the wedding for the Wigram, and made the children lover her ladyship, Betty wouldn’t be the target of the lady’s insecurities anymore. At least, Lord Wigram was nice to her, but it only made matters worse with his wife. Eventually, he might decide to grant his wife’s wish and fire Betty, instead of keeping an old promise made to her late father.

Back in her modest room, Betty put these thoughts behind her; she finally had time to read Jean-François’ letter, and she wouldn’t let anything distract her from his words.

She changed into her nightdress but put the earring back on, them climbed into bed with a candle.

Dearest, I am sorry to miss your day off. I trust you made the most of it, and followed your wonderful sense of adventure. I hope the gift pleases you. If I cannot be with you, at least let something from me be in your presence. The earrings are made of oxblood coral inlaid in white gold. Perhaps not the most luxurious of gemstones, but certainly more original. I believe you are far too unique to wear the same stone as everyone else. They reminded me of you.

Betty smiled. The Kama Sutra described “the coral and the jewel” as a type of biting done by bringing together the teeth and the lips “the lip is the coral, and the teeth the jewel”. Every time Betty moved her head, the earrings brushed against her neck, evoking his mouth on her skin.

The thought of being bitten shouldn’t arouse her, but she imagined herself with Jean-François, in the throes of passion, sweaty, naked bodies, clawing fingers and head-spinning pleasure, a state so primal sharp teeth become an aphrodisiac.

Her heart ached with longing for this kind of liberation, the complete opposite of her daily life as a governess where every action and word was calculated so as not to attract attention but also set the perfect example for her pupils.

With a sigh, she sagged against her pillows. Her thighs rubbed together as she reread his first sentences, hearing them in his lightly-accented voice: “you are far too unique”.

He went on to talk about his work in Dhaka, and even if he didn’t say so, she sensed his exasperation.

*

“I think we should wait before requesting a meeting,” the owner of the indigo plantation, Mr. Lelievre, said.

Mercier narrowed his eyes at him and bit the inside of his cheeks. Not for the first time, Lelievre was postponing the execution of a solution to his problems. Lelievre was a young man and had recently inherited this domain and its history of conflict with the locals. So far, Mercier had attributed his reluctance to inexperience bordering on ineptitude. But after spending days looking through dozens of old accountancy books, he was running out of patience, and his suspicions had grown. Lelievre was purposefully stalling their work. But why?

“We will not wait before requesting a meeting,” Mercier stated. “In fact, we will go there first thing tomorrow.”

“But—”

A messenger entered the living room, “Some mail for you, sahib.”

Two letters, one from the French consulate, and one from Gabrielle which he knew concealed a message from Betty.

“First thing tomorrow morning,” Mercier repeated sternly. “Now if you will excuse me, this is a confidential matter.”

Mercier’s favourite spot on the property was an old stone bench underneath a canopy. He lit a cigarette, taking a moment to relax and clear his mind before opening Betty’s letter.

My hopes to have a whole day with you were shattered by your departure for Dhaka, but I nonetheless tried to make the most of it as you said. I ate food I had never tasted before: bhelpuri. I bought it from a street vendor thanks to a few Hurdu words Samaira taught me. I ate it directly from its newspaper cone! It was like an explosion of flavours! I tried a sort of ice cream too- kulfi. I met with your sister and we visited a park I had not seen before...

Mercier imagined himself, right alongside her, ambling hand in hand through the streets of Calcutta, savouring spicy food and sweet kisses. And when she shared her excitement about attending a play next week, for her eldest pupil’s birthday, again he pictured himself at her side, perhaps in a private box, the coral pear drops drawing his attention to her slender neck… they would miss the third act.

The sky turned to ink and the night bugs’ chant rose in the air. Mercier smoked the last of his tobacco, still lost in a world of his own, his eyes trained southward. Some 400 miles away, lay his heart.

He opened Gabrielle’s letter next.

De Brem keeps coming over to our side of the house to talk to me. I told him to stop, but he’s very insistent. I asked Armand to come over but he has concerts most nights. I really don’t like this, Jean-François, he scares me. Can you do anything about it?

Mercier clenched his fists. This mission to Dhaka was nothing more than de Brem getting rid of him to make a move on Gabrielle.

He’d wasted enough time here, he was going back to Calcutta as soon as possible.

Chapter 7: Kissing

[thefuckingsoapshop]

Introduction of the 3 Worlds [I]

Hello there, fellow mortal. This blog (or micro-blog, whichever) is one that documents the Lore of the 3 Worlds, a timeline of occurrences, events, and tales taking place in-- you guessed it --the 3 Worlds. This is an archive that I will reference in the future for writing, as well as integrating it into the Soap Shop, and keeping track of everything.

It's being posted here, on Tumblr, since the devices I'm using will likely explode if I try opening more than 3 tabs on Chrome, and Google Docs runs slow on them.

A World is a finite collection of Realms. A Realm is a boundless collection of Universes. A God is an Immortal with a Concept. An Immortal is a Mortal that cannot die of "regular" causes, and must be killed directly. A Concept is the manifestation of the literal conception of something, such as the sky, fire, the sun, etc. A Mortal is a living being that can recognize the Concepts of good and evil.

This may be confusing at first, but will be elaborated on.

Imagine the multiverse, a place with countless universes and their contents, with infinite possibilities on what may roam within. With this, there may also be gods existing in separate worlds, for what would seem like forever to us, as we succumb to the primordial conception of death to their humor (yay).

To be clear, gods are just like us. They aren't anywhere near being human, see, but they are closer to being mortal than they are to being the image of a god. They aren't omnipotent, and are as weak as us (don't tell them that, though; they'll smite you the first chance they get).

In reality, gods are just immortals with the power of concepts in their souls. And a soul, in this case, is not a metaphysical floating form of wisp that many humans like to imagine, or a floating white sheet ominously whispering "OOOOOOOO" behind you.

No, they are things beyond our comprehension, fragments of your consciousness, your personality, your physical form, your memories, and your very existence brought forth into the worlds, driving on, fading only in the name of death.

Souls are our Achilles Heel. Our, as in, mortals, immortals, gods, animals, plants, microorganisms, and other things that live. Every single thing has a soul, whether they want one or not.

And to the gods, a soul is like their vault. Immortality is like their key. A concept is like the $3 million of drug money they received from a global trade deal hosted on the internet (we'll get to what this is an analogy about later, just focus on the gods right now).

Just hard cash and a safe isn't enough to be a god. They need immortality, a key that locks that safe to keep other gods attempting to become more powerful with concepts at bay (and though more concepts means more power, they won't amount to anything compared to powerful concepts).

If you think of the gods this way, as rich aristocrats and businessmen who grew their empire (whether from lies or from their own efforts), it'll be easier to visualize them for what they really are.

Now, a god is a being that lives to rule. What is power if it isn't used? The gods lived by this question, considering it their philosophy, and wondered what life would be like if they weren't worshiped or didn't have their powers. Pride was their drive, just as much as ours is with desire. They needed to rule over a civilization.

The problem was, the multiverse itself is, well, big. Big didn't even cover it. The gods themselves were baffled at how big it was. It was bigger than your mother, too, which is surprising to all of us.

So, it would be logical to form alliances with each other. Pantheons of powerful beings, joined together underneath contracts they formed, soaked in their blood.

Beings such as the gods would certainly need their own home as well. They usually stayed in the universes they were born in, but may migrate to emptier places to rule over. They would join together universes, claiming them to be under their domain, and call them Realms.

As more gods created more Realms, they formed a World. Then two more popped up. And that's how the 3 Worlds formed.

The 3 Worlds were thriving. They aged in the name of time much like our own realm, and faced the absolute shitfest we call the "future" every day. The future is a terrible thing. Some say that if the future had physical form, it would be constantly laughing at us.

Though they aren't exactly correct, they're close enough.

Why don't the gods leave to a realm where omnipotence was shared, and came back to the 3 Worlds. to become powerful? Why do gods have to be worshiped? Who keeps track of everything? What's stopping anyone from doing fuck all?

Fate. The most powerful conception to exist. The government over the gods. The only conception in the 3 Worlds that is known to be sentient. And it is the only concept that literally anything can claim as theirs, and still be named Fate.

To be named a Fate, or a Host of Fate to avoid confusion, is like being at the top of the mythological food chain in the 3 Worlds, right below Fate itself. Based on which specific conception of Fate you are hosting (such as the concept of the Fate of Mortals, the Fate of Gods, the Fate of Chaos, etc), your powers will be decided.

But, one thing that stays consistent is that you are always above everyone. A god is an ant to a Fate. A mortal isn't even big enough for them to identify.

The very future itself prevents the gods from lashing out. In order to keep them from starting a rebellion, Fate makes sure the gods stay happy, by being worshiped, to having their quarrels being settled through godly war.

The Introduction to the 3 Worlds must end here for now, to avoid this being a giant pain in the ass to read. A follow up of this writing, going into the different social and political levels of the gods, the Laws of Fate, and later, the realms within the 3 Worlds.

Stay tuned for more. Or don't. This is an archive, anyway, it doesn't matter.

[dramallamadingdang]

Replies!

Some overdue, as usual. :)

For @blackswan-sims. @wiksims, @celebkiriedhel, @deedledops, @declarations-of-drama, @dunne-ias, @deedee-sims, @hemfbg, @strangetomato, @youregonewhenyourestillinmyheart, and @patjustpatposts.

blackswan-sims replied to your post “Would you mind uploading you rotated garage tutorial shell house? :) I...”

I'm not the requester, but I wouldn't mind having it packaged as shown in the title pic. :)

Well, now that I think about it, I could pretty easily do it both ways, so maybe I’ll just do that. :) Especially if I don’t hear back from the anon before I get around to doing it.

wiksims replied to your photo “Pixelhate’s mesh: No white lines, doesn’t fade…but boy howdy does it...”

I kind of like it stretched. It fits dormen right in my opinion

It does look all right for that dormer, yeah, which is 12 clicks tall. But there’ll be a problem for ones meant for shorter walls, especially for foundations and foundation-height walls. So, I’ll need to experiment to figure out how to compensate for the stretching for those shorter walls and then I can decide whether to allow the stretching or not. I’m thinking maybe the trick to compensate for the wall stretching that the game does might work, since the texture image for the overlay is the same size as the standard image size for walls, but I’ll need to experiment.

celebkiriedhel replied to your post “hugelunatic replied to your post “Halp?” ...”

The other overlay you may want to consider is the EA Butterfly Decal Mesh. It's a Half-Wall, and doesn't fade.

That’s a possibility, although for 12-click-high walls I need taller than half-wall height. Although if that thing shifts, since it’s a painting....

deedledops replied to your post “Halp?”

I could swear the object fade was a simpe thing. I know there's an option in game that affects it as well, but I have found that some stuff I recolor, like paintings doors etc would do this depending on how I imported new textures. I think it was to do with the dxt format I used (dds utilities). The most used ones are dxt1, 3, 5 IIRC. I could be more helpful if I had recolored anything recently smh, I'll look into it

It is a SimPE thing, in that it’s a BHAV thing and that BHAVs can be altered in SimPE. I don’t really know how to alter them, though. It’d be easier to clone an object that doesn’t fade and then replace the mesh with the wall writing one. Then you don’t have the fading behavior. But I don’t really know how to do that, myself. I know how to clone stuff, but I don’t know how to do the mesh-replacing thing. Soooooo, it’s probably easier for me to just use a different mesh that doesn’t fade. :)

But, it doesn’t have anything to do with the texture (I pretty much always use DXT3 when I make recolors; even if there’s no transparency, the image quality is better), and some things (stairs, ceiling plants) still fade even when you have fading turned off in the game settings (which I do). I understand why, for playing purposes, since stairs especially can block a lot of your view, but it’s annoying when you want to take pics and stuff. :\ Especially previews for recolors.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “This is an idea I have. I’ll often build decorative-only dormers on...”

Gene Wilder would say "Cleeevvvveeeerrrr!!" (Willy Wonka saying 'clever' to Mike Teevee)

Heh. I prefer to think of it in the Jurassic Park “Clever girl” sense. ;) OK, not really. I don’t tear apart and eat people. So we’ll stick with the Willy Wonka sense, I guess. :)

dunne-ias replied to your post “My Sims-Related New Year’s Resolutions”

both me and holley have shared posebox images with each other, so just give us a shout when you're going to get started, in case we have some DeeDee doesn't have. I have 2-300 poseboxes though, and I don't have pictures for all of them. I strongly suggest collection folders for poseboxes, because they clog up your misc categories something awful. Also, any posing advice needed at all, don't hesitate to ask, I love talking about that stuff!

deedee-sims replied to your post “My Sims-Related New Year’s Resolutions”

Oh, I have a separate folder called posebox swatches, because I have way too many, and never know which is which, so I think that's perfectly normal XD (also, fortunately most of the poseboxes come with such picture that I can add to the folder)

We need, like, a database for this stuff. Not that *I* want to put one together, mind you, but it’d be helpful. I have this very old thing, a Word document IIRC, that I found on the web somewhere many years ago that has links to poseboxes (which no longer work, of course) and descriptions and some reference pics, but....Yeah, it’s like 8 years old, at least. But I like its format because it has notes about stretchskeleton settings needed and stuff like that, so that’s kind of what I want to put together for my own uses.

But thank you, Dunne-ias for the offer and the advice. And I’m sure that when I end up screaming in frustration and wanting to kill things with my brain, I’ll end up screaming for you and/or Holley. :)

hemfbg replied to your photoset “OMG, I went into my building neighborhood to start on a...”

This is glorious. I wanna rebuild it but I don't think my game could handle a lot that big.

It is fabulous in its sheer awfulness, isn’t it?? :D But I totally would never play something this big, as I’m sure that once furnished, landscaped, and populated with Sims, it would choke my poor Simming computer to death. :) I mean, it’s on the largest possible lot, outside of Lot Adjusting it to 6x6, and it takes up most of it. Even if it didn’t choke my computer, it’d take Sims a Sim-hour, at least, to walk from one end of it to the other. Then they’d be missing carpools and school buses and it’d piss me right the hell off. I mean, that’s mainly why I’ll never play a lot larger than 4x3, preferably not larger than 3x3.

Nah, I built that thing mostly as a furnishing/decorating challenge, which will require approximately 1000 retextures/recolor of some very old and (now) nasty-looking “fancy” objects. I would never actually play the thing.

strangetomato replied to your post “loonyjelly replied to your post “So, um…I need an image host so that...”

I wouldn't recommend Tumblr for this. I've done it in the past and then my images disappeared later. They were still on Tumblr, but not the post that links to them.

That’s kinda what I feared, that it’d work for a while until Tumblr noticed the off-site hotlinking and changed the path to the images or something. I mean, that’s what I’d do, if I ran Tumblr, set up bots to look for that sort of thing. So, in the end, I went with Imgur. Even opened an account. Even if I only ever use it for storing pics for Secret Santa gifts...Well, at least it’s there. :)

youregonewhenyourestillinmyheart replied to your photoset “I needed these for my cabin/”hotel”-building project. Thought I’d...”

I need it for ts4

patjustpatposts replied to your photoset “I needed these for my cabin/”hotel”-building project. Thought I’d...”

These are amazing ! Wish they were for Sims 4 :(

Well, I’m not sure what Inge’s policy on converting for other games is. Heck, I’m not even sure if she’s in the Simming community anymore at all. But if she’s amenable and someone wants to convert those beds for TS4, people are totally free to swipe the textures I made for such conversions. I don’t even own TS4, myself, because I have no interest in it, so I’m afraid that’s not something I’ll ever do.

[codywalzel]

This is part one of two summarizing replies to a conversation I had following an ask by @arletestanyol on Instagram. This response is about storyboarding portfolios. I’ll post part two about TESTING for storyboard positions soon.

I wouldn’t write anything in script format, that’s not really showing anyone hiring for storyboards that you can do what is required of the job of ‘storyboard artist’. If you’ve seen me posting writing material, or seen me writing in script format, that’s either just for fun, or something I’m working on for my writing portfolio. I’m transitioning from storyboard artist to writer, and hoping to get staffed on a show for a totally unrelated, live action position- Staff Writer. Big world building/character design/pitch projects are fine, but I personally don’t recommend them. For one thing, if what you’re looking to do is storyboards/writing, there’s a lot of surrounding art required, (character designs, environments, unseen backstory, text documents with outlines and character descriptions, visual development, etc….). Basically it’s a ton of work for one short storyboard sequence, which is the only thing in there really worth looking at for storyboards. And, they’re big to sort through. There’s a good chance the person looking to hire board artists will give up scrolling through pages of character designs to get to board samples. Try to keep in mind that recruiters are looking for people to fill positions as fervently as you are looking to get a job. Meaning line-producers, showrunners, and studio recruiters are on a moving train that is a TV show or movie. They don’t think in terms of “let’s give this kid their big break.” They’re more like “We need a board artist who can start and be trained perfectly by next Monday, or we lose a day in the schedule.” So, in that panic, they don’t care about your well thought out art, they want to see specific skills on display that show you can do the job immediately. Make things they can look at QUICK, many times they barely read in boards or comics, they just scroll through and know in an instant how it feels. Storyboard artist can mean many types of work, ranging from projects where board artists write all the dialogue and most of the plot from a Writer’s outline- to projects where board artists follow detailed scripts to a letter, interpreting the images visually like a cinematographer, but not contributing to writing at all. I’ll get into the different types of jobs and the broad categories of ‘board driven’ vs ‘script driven’ shows later. First, I want to mention some of the better types of storyboard portfolio samples in my opinion, and why they are better: Webcomics, any type: -They can be a big serialized story you work on over years, like Jesse Moynihan’s Forming. (Jesse= Board Artist/Writer, Adventure Time, Creator, Manly) -They can be a weekly gag strip style comic Like Kelly Turnbull’s Manly Guys Doing Manly Things (Kelly= Board Artist/Writer Ben Ten, Board Artist Good Vibes, Ugly Americans) -They can be a mini series like my buddy Alex Cline’s Stinker’s Garden  (Alex= Board Artist/Writer Regular Show, Pickle & Peanut) -They can be just random ideas you have like Toonhole Chris (Toonhole Chris=Artist/Director/Writer at Cartoon Network. 

-They can be real life stories like Avner Geller’s Things That I Hearn (Avner= Visual Development Artist  Mr. Peabody and Sherman, The Penguins of Madagascar, Trolls, and Larrikins,) Webcomics are great because 1.Little things are really easy to digest quickly, 2. They show both your drawing/staging/joke writing ABILITY, and the unique FLAVOR you would bring to the team. There’s no one ‘cartoon network artist’ sence of humor or specific take on storytelling, the point is to do your own thing, and show your own voice. The other good one- Board Samples: -These are more prevalent in feature story, but see my buddy Todd’s feature portfolio anyway. TV focused people can do a similar, but slightly less detailed set of boards for their own personal projects. But this is where it gets into complicated territory, because different categories of project are looking at slightly different things when hiring. On A board driven show like Adventure Time, you are often writing the dialouge, and a good deal of plot based on a Writer’s or Showrunner’s outline. People staffing on those shows are going to want to see writing centered stuff like webcomics over a bunch of boards mostly focused on staging and acting. On a Script Driven Show like Bojack, they are going to care way more about staging, acting, and economic shot choices. Script driven shows tend to be half hour episodes (Family Guy, SImpsons, Bojack, Rick and Morty, Gravity Falls), instead of board driven’s 11 minute episodes (AT, Regular Show, Ben Ten, Star vs. The Forces of Evil). So, the longer episodes tend to call for more economic use of existing backgrounds and character models. Some of what they want to see if that you aren’t just cutting to a new angle every shot, that the acting is clear and thorough. On an Animated Feature, the boundaries are a lot more loose. You get strict movies where you are basically providing ideas at the occasional story meetings, then executing the script to the letter. You get really loose, open projects where the script is in  a constant state of development, and you are pitching ideas, shole scenes, huge, structural plot changes, and even songs. On most moves it’s in the middle- where you are changing and playing with dialogue, and keeping the intention of scenes as written in the script, but changing up the structure of your sequence to make it work. On all animated features, the recruiters scrutinize acting, staging, and cutting VERY closely. You are almost always drawing boards for a 3-d movie, so the camera restrictions are gone, because almost any angle is easily producible. Even 2-D features don’t place as much emphasis on re-using backgrounds as 2-D TV, because the budgets are big enough to cover a bunch of different backgrounds, so you can get a ton of angles on a scene. In any case, when you have freedom of camera, you need to use it wisely. Feature boards require the highest level of cinematic language, but not as high of writing ability as board driven TV shows. You don’t have to know which type of thing you most want to work for, you should be open to all of them starting out. And, you will probably end up working multiple types of jobs as a board artist. For any of the above jobs, a badass comic or board sample will always impress, so just do your thing tonally in your personal work. You definitely should be doing original story ideas, but that can include fanart of existing characters. If you’re doing board sample featuring the Little Mermaid, do something that comments on the movie, or is a joke or something, don’t, like board serious, cannon attempts at LIttle Mermaid fan fiction, and don’t just re-board a scene that’s already in the movie. Personally, I prefer to do board samples and comics of my own ideas and experiences, because I think it shows off your flavor better. But if you make any kind of comic or board sample amazing enough, recruiters will completely ignore the fact that you’re a different tone than the show, and assume you’re talented enough to adapt. One last thing on your portfolio: it’s not the hard part, I wouldn’t get too nervous about that. Pretty much all TV boarding is decided by tests. The only thing the portfolio is for is a key that unlocks the gate to the tests. It only needs to be good enough for the recruiters and line-producers to send you test. Testing is almost a completely different skill set, so I’ll talk about that in the next post. But the portfolio is pretty easy & difficult at the same time: Make awesome personal work and submit it to studios, if they get back to you with tests, try and pass them. If nobody is getting back to you or sending you tests, you probably need to work on your portfolio, make more awesome work, repete. Social Media: You can send studios your social media pages like instagram, tumblr, a facebook art page, twitter, etc, if it’s only your art on there (or if it is MOSTLY your art. You can have tweets about other stuff on your page, but if you send them to the ‘media’ section of your Twitter, the recruiter better not have to scroll past a dozen Green Arrow reaction gifs before they get to your first piece of art.) If your social media is a little more disorganized, that’s fine, just don’t submit it to recruiters. You’ll have to make a separate website for your art. I still recommend at least a simple website on top of the social media page though. It just keeps every type of thing in one place, so someone looking at people’s comics can find all your comics in one folder, someone looking for board samples can find that, for sketchbook pages can find that, and so on. I send both a portfolio website and my social media page, since they have slightly different things on them most of the time. As crappy as it might sound, if they see on your social media that you have a big audience, that can only help you. When you get to the next round and a Showrunner is looking at your test, they probably won’t care that much whether you have 10,000 Twitter followers or not. But, the recruiter deciding who to pass through to various productions in the studio definitely will consider that. If you DON’T have 10,000 Twitter followers, submitting your social media still won’t hurt you if the art’s good and your page is mostly art. Tons of people nowadays are scoped out by studios through their social media pages, whether they have followers or not, but obviously, the more popular online artist are more visible. Part 2, on TESTING, to come. Follow me on Instagram or Twitter  here.