#i mean it MIGHT if i redid everything from the top but no thank you not today !!! maybe sometime. but idk and its fine its just ah. ah...

[xumoonhao]

the backgrounds i made. btw

[drghostwrite]

A baby for Christmas

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau x reader & BAU x reader

Summary: this is part 2 to the story two hearts collide, long story short Will left a pregnant JJ who has had feelings for you and she falls for you hard. You make the relationship official, but will it stand another challenge when the time for the baby to be born comes around.

******************************************************** You moved around the kitchen hearing laughter fill the air with soft Christmas music in the background., colorful lights flickered outside the window.The warm lights blended with the smells of your cooking. You had invited the team over for a sort of nontraditional Christmas dinner, you had spent the days before prepping for the meal, you had invited the team over one time before and they loved your cooking and begged so here you were an array of dishes covering your large kitchen island.

You quickly ran upstairs to you and Jj’s shared bedroom, changing into something a little nicer than the leggings and Christmas t-shirt you were cooking in, swapping it for nice jeans with a red and white plaid flannel, you let your curls falls down around your shoulders doing one last mirror check before heading back to the kitchen. You made your way down the hallway towards the large staircase stopping at the nursery door that was cracked open, you slipped in opening the top drawer of the changing table and grabbing a red velvet ring box, JJ had gone into full blown nesting mode and completely redid everything but she started with the nursery so you thought it would be great to hide the ring and turns out it worked.

you tucked it in your pocket and returned to the kitchen, only to be met with your pregnant, soon to be fiancé, sneaking some bites.

“Baby what’re you doing?” You smiled at her as she was caught red handed.

“Sampling the chefs cooking making sure it’s suitable for the general public.”

“Mmhmm I see…” you said getting close and pulling her into a kiss her bump brushing up against you, you lingered there before feeling the baby kick, you ran a hand along her 9 month swollen bump.

“only a few more days and we meet the little one.” You said with a smile but she saw it was laced slightly with disdain though you didn’t mean it.

“Our baby, Y/N we meet our baby, as far as I’m concerned its as much you as it is me.” She traced the side of your face gently with her fingers tips, pulling you down to meet her lips.

“Awww, mistletoe kisses.” Garcia cooed at you.

“Mmhmm mama is getting a special present tonight.” Derek said and you watched as Garcia slapped him in the arm for his dirty mind though you did chuckle, as JJ went bright red and turned hiding in your shoulder.

“Okay well please before it gets cold.” You motioned for them to come closer and took a step back, Derek called to the rest of the team and they quickly filled the room plates being made.

———time jump———

2 hours later and you found yourself putting dishes in the dishwasher and sliding leftover casserole dishes into the oven to keep them semi warm, the table had been cleaned and the team found themselves in your living room everyone helped themselves to the bar and had their respective drinks.

You finished drying your hands on the towel you were holding and made your way into the room. You watched as Garcia and Emily, laughed with JJ on the couch while the guys stood around the pool table, you heard Reid rambling about something while Hotch and Derek had a game going, Rossi was at your bar cart pouring a drink.

“Here love, this might help.” You heard Rossi next to you, extending his glass to you.

“Ahh no thanks.” You said as he just raised an eyebrow in protest but then proceeded to shrug and nurse it himself.

“you’re gonna do it tonight right?”

“yep, while we hand out gifts.”

“you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“take it from someone with three failed marriages, I’ve seen the way you both look at each other and the way you handle Henry, if I believe anyone can do it it’s you two.” You turned giving him a small smile, it meant something coming from him. “On that note though let’s get these gifts going.” He said chuckling before pulling everyone in around your big tree. You walked over and sat sideways behind JJ letting her lean her head back against your thigh, you ran fingers thoughtlessly through her blonde hair, you all watched as you opened various gifts from each other. A bottle of very expensive Italian wine from Rossi, along with some other things and baby items from the members, now it was your turn you handed out your gifts and then all eyes were on you as you knelt in front of JJ on the couch.

“Y/N, what’re you doing?”

“Well I figured everyone got amazing gifts but I already have the best that I could ask for and in turn I have a question for you…” you slipped the red velvet box from your pocket flipping it open, “Jennifer Jareau will you make me the happiest woman alive and marry me?”

“Y/N I-I… Yes omg yes!” She said leaning down to kiss you, you pulled apart and gently held her hand sliding the ring onto her finger, you stood up and Emily also stood to congratulate you as Garcia leaned over to your new fiancé.

“So how’s it feel Jayge?… your gonna be married to the boss?” He said and you punched your best friends arm as Emily hugged you.

“Oh my god…Oh my God…” she said with a gasp.

“Babe he was just…” you didn’t finish before you saw the look of confusion and fear on her face.

“Oh my God.” She said with a gasp, wincing slightly.

“JJ baby what’s wrong? What’s going on?” You said kneeling next to her.

“M-my water just broke… on the couch, Y/N my water just broke.”

“Okay it’s okay.” You said rubbing a soothing hand up her arm. The team started to scramble but thank God for Derek being your rock he quickly ran upstairs grabbing the bags you had packed and putting them in your car, he came back in and ushered everyone out aside from Garcia who offered to stay and help clean up, leaving you to focus on JJ who was starting to feel contractions.

“Y/N car is packed and started.”you nodded to him looking over her shoulder as a contraction started to come over her.

“Okay love we’re gonna have to get you to the car…” you said turning back to her and in your most soothing voice possible.

“You sure, it could be a false alarm?” She said.

“Yes love I’m sure, you’re in labor your water broke, it’s time to go.”

“Okay.” She said as you helped her up and guided her to the car, Derek and Penelope stood by the front door watching as you pulled the car out of the garage and waved as you quickly drove by.

Meanwhile…

Inside the car JJ had her knee pushed up against the dash a hand gripping tightly at the skin under her bump as she contracted. Her other hand was digging into your bicep. She let out a small moan as she focused on the contraction, for a moment it subsided but the next took her breath away stealing it and the only sound that replaced it was a strangled cry.

“Nnghhh… this hurts.”

“Okay baby breathe just try and take deep breaths.”

“Y/N I can’t do this.” Tears gently rolled down her face as she held onto your arm for dear life, her hand u see her bump trying to soothe the burning muscles.

“Yes you can, I’m right here with you.” You reassured.

“Ugh what did I even do to deserve you, you shouldn’t have to be here.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean I got pregnant and he left, you stepped in without even missing a beat and now I’m going to marry you but our kids won’t be yours.”

“Jennifer baby that’s okay, we can have more kids and as far as I’m concerned they are my kids because I made a choice to love you everyday for the rest of our lives and that includes them so no matter who’s dna they have I will constantly choose them because I love them as much as you.”

“You’re too good to me Y/N Avery….Unghh, but please babe drive a little faster, this baby isn’t going to wait.”

21 hours later and you held the most beautiful baby girl in your arms, you cooed at her as you sat in the recliner and looked up as you heard JJ stir in her bed.

“Is that our baby?”

Mhmm you said a huge smile pulling across your face, you stood moving over to the bed, she scooted over and you climbed in next to her handing her the baby, “Meet your mommy baby girl.”

“Hi baby, I’m your mommy… well one of them that is because you have a mama who also loves you so much and she’s the strongest and bravest woman I know and I’m going to marry her.” She spoke but she was watching you watch your little girl as she said it, you looked over meeting her blue eyes. You pulled her into a kiss foreheads resting against each other before the baby started to coo up at you.

“Looks like someone approves,” you chuckled pulling them both closer to you letting JJ rest in your arms.

“I think she’s saying she wants another sibling, but next time we have one, you’re carrying.” She laughed nudging into your side.

“A deals a deal.” You both laughed watching as your baby girl fell asleep, this wasn’t how you’d imagined spending your Christmas but here you were holding your soon to be wife and newborn baby in your arms.

[yetanotherramblingfangirl]

If you’re still taking prompts, how about Baxley? :)

I've made up my mind / This is gonna be mine / I'm so glad I waited oh / Why did I try / To figure out why / Everything can't be anticipated / I can't wait to tell him / Yes, we're gonna fall in love and it feels so right - “Yes” by Merry Clayton

Phyllis smiled reflexively when Joseph’s slightly shocked face appeared on her computer screen.  “Hello, Joseph.”

“Hello, Phyllis,” Joseph said in return, brow crinkling slightly in confusion.  “Did we have a meeting scheduled?  If I forgot ab--”

Phyllis blushed slightly and waved her hands in front of her to stop him.  “No,no, no.  We didn’t.  I just wondered if you wanted to eat lunch with me this afternoon.”

Joseph’s brow crinkled even further.  “What?”

Phyllis smiled softly at his confusion.  He was a nice man and a fine colleague, Joseph Molesley, but not always quick to pick up her meaning.  She supposed she could have been clearer.  “I just thought it might be nice to have someone to chat with over lunch, even if we can’t be in the same place.  If I’m interrupting something important, we can always try another day.”

“No!” Joseph said, grimacing by way of apology when he realized that he’d been a bit too loud.  He cleared his throat slightly and looked sheepishly into the camera.  “No, you aren’t interrupting anything.  I think it’s a lovely idea.”

“Good.  I’m just going to set up in my kitchen so I can prepare my lunch.  Sorry if things go a bit wobbly for a minute.”  She picked up her laptop, carefully holding it so that the camera was still focused on her face.  It was only a few steps from her office set up in her sitting room to her kitchen.  She set her computer on top of a stack of cookbooks.  “There we are.  Oh!  Your kitchen is lovely, Joseph!”

The scene from her computer screen showed a neat and orderly kitchen with modern fittings.  From the window she could see a neatly maintained garden.  She couldn’t help but think it would be lovely to spend time there in the future.  But that thought was most assuredly and hastily shoved aside for contemplation later.

“Thank you,” Joseph said, smiling at the compliment.  “I redid it myself.  You’d be amazed what you can learn to do through YouTube.”

“You did that yourself?!”  Phyllis winced internally at how the question sounded.  She quickly amended her question.  “That’s incredibly impressive.  I don’t know that I’d be able to do something like that.”

Joseph shrugged.  “I enjoy learning new things.  And the state of this place before...well, it was long overdue.”

“Well, you did an excellent job,” Phyllis said, moving about her own space to gather ingredients in an attempt to regain control over herself.

“Thank you.”

The silence that fell between them as they both set to making their lunch was neither strained nor comfortable.  It just was.  Phyllis glanced back toward her computer screen every few seconds, occasionally smiling when she caught Joseph doing the same thing.  He was a very efficient cook from the look of things.  “What are you preparing today?” she asked, putting on her best TV presenter voice.

Joseph smiled at the question.  He continued to chop vegetables as he answered in his own TV-ready voice, “I’m making a quick pantry pasta.  It’s all in the sauce, you know.”

“Ah.  Sounds delicious.”

“What are you making, Phyllis?”

“Cheese on toast and a salad for me today.”  She placed two slices of bread in the toaster and leaned against the counter with her arms crossed over her chest.

“A classic.”

She nodded with playful solemnity, struggling to contain her own smile.

Silence lapsed between them again.  Phyllis went about preparing her lunch and finally settled at the counter to wait for Joseph.  She was just sprinkling Worcester sauce over her toast when Joseph settled at his own countertop with a plate of steaming pasta.

“That looks delicious,” Phyllis said as she screwed the cap back onto the bottle of Worcester sauce.  “I’m jealous.”

“Oh, well, when this is all over I’ll have to make you some,” Joseph said as he shaved Parmesan cheese over the top of his pasta.

Phyllis looked up from her plate, pausing with her toast halfway to her mouth.  Joseph’s gaze was fixed resolutely on the Parmesan block in his hand.  She watched him for a moment before saying, “I will hold you to that.”

“Good.”

“Indeed.”

send me a ship/character and i’ll put my music on shuffle, pick a line, and write you 100+ words based on that.

[nixmatize]

Making room for someone new (chapter 7)

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Read on AO3

For @marigami-week, under the prompt “meet the family.” This is the second to last chapter, which means that tomorrow will be the end of the story - thank you so much to everyone who has read this far and left such kind feedback!

Marinette’s hands twitched down to smooth her shirt again, even though she had done so too many times already. She had brushed her teeth three times, undid and redid her signature ponytails twice, and changed outfits four times. Needless to say, she was slightly nervous about her date.

Above her, Tikki giggled, smiling down at her silly chosen. “Don’t worry Marinette, Kagami already likes you a lot. Tonight will go great!”

“I know Tikki, I just – I want everything to go perfectly!” Marinette checked her reflection one last time before starting for the stairs. “I’m going to go wait downstairs… I want to be there when she arrives!”

Tikki just rolled her eyes at her chosen’s antics, before diving into her hiding place on the inside lining of Marinette’s jacket.

Marinette stepped downstairs, only to see the bakery surprisingly empty except for her parents sitting together chatting at one of the tables. “Maman? Papa? Where are the customers?”

“We closed the shop a little early, Marinette,” her maman said with a secretive smile, “since it’s your first real date. We have to meet your new girlfriend before you two go!”

Marinette had almost entirely forgotten that her parents knew about her asking Kagami out today. Of course they had been the ones to help her prepare part of her confession gift, but she had still been stuck in such a happy daze when she got home from school that she just sighed longingly and nodded to her parents questions about how it went without even consciously registering them.

Marinette’s face blushed red at her parent’s focused attention. “She’s not – I mean not yet – we’re not girlfriends, actually… wait, did you say meet her? You’ve already met Kagami, she was over just this last weekend?”

Her papa laughed. “Of course we’ve met her, but that was before we knew she’s be dating our little girl. We have to re-meet her now that we know she’ll be part of the family!” His face dropped more serious for a moment. “And I have to let her know that if she ever plays with my precious daughter’s heart, no amount of sword training will save her.”

“Papa!”

At Marinette’s affronted shout, the humor returned to his face. “I’d say ‘just kidding,’ Nettie, but we both know I’m not.”

Sabine put her hand on her husband’s arm, and did her best to shoot him a warning glare that was weakened by the smile trying to inch it’s way onto her mouth. She turned to Marinette. “He’s right, sweetie, meeting a date is a bit different than just meeting a friend. We’re excited to talk to her for a few minutes before you two head off.”

As though summoned, a car pulled up in front of the bakery. Marinette turned just in time to see Kagami stepping out, and felt the air get stuck in her chest. Kagami was wearing black pants with a deep red button up, with a dark coat over top. She was gorgeous, and Marinette found herself frozen in place, unable to look away as Kagami straightened up and head for the bakery.

X

Kagami stepped through the door and made eye contact with Marinette. Both just stared for a moment, faces pink, before Marinette’s parents stood up.

“Welcome, Kagami,” Mme. Cheng said, clearly trying to hide the amusement and fondness in her voice. “We’re glad to have the chance to officially re-meet you, as the girl our daughter is dating rather than just a friend this time.”

Kagami snapped out of her trance, reluctantly turning away to focus on Mme. Cheng instead of Marinette. “Thank you for welcoming me in, Madame Cheng. I am honored to have the chance to date your daughter.”

Marinette’s papa drew himself up even further, until her was at his full height, broad shoulder creating an impressive sihouette.

“Now you take care of my little girl, okay? I will not take kindly to anyone meddling with her heart.”

Kagami supposed that this might have been somewhat unnerving, if she hadn’t known that Marinette was Ladybug. As it was, she knew Marinette could destroy anyone who crossed her without any help, though she was almost too nice in withholding herself from doing so. Mostly, Kagami was just glad to see someone else willing to stand up for Marinette, especially when there were terrible people in this world like Lila who would see Marinette’s kindness as a weakness to exploit rather than a precious treasure.

“Yes, sir,” she replied dutifully.

“Then it’s a pleasure to see you, Kagami!” He reached out a hand, and Kagami shook it. “I’m always happy to see my potential-future-daughter-in-law.”

“Papa!” Marinette shouted, face completely red.

Kagami just laughed, amused at the Dupain-Chengs’ antics and more than a little overwhelmed by their kindness in making her feel so welcome in their home.

Marinette stepped forward and linked their arms together. “We’ll be going now. Love you!”

“Love you too!” Marinette’s parents chorused, watching them exit the bakery arm-in-arm.

Kagami had never seen such raw kindness. While she had a working relationship with her mother, they were not quite close in the same way. Her mother cared, but never showed it as openly and often as Marinette’s parents seemed to. Kagami could not find it in herself to be jealous, though – Marinette deserved all the love in the world.

She turned toward Marinette. “I was thinking we could walk and find André’s ice cream tonight? I know you said his ice cream has some magical power for couples, though I will admit to doubting this claim myself.”

Marinette looked over with sparkling eyes. “Yes!” She seemed to realize that her volume had been a little too much, judging by the startled turn of nearby pedestrians, so she flushed a bit further and quieted down. Kagami found it unfairly endearing. “I didn’t really believe in it either, but when André was akumatized into Glaciator – do you remember that fight?”

Kagami nodded, hoping Marinette would take it as a vague memory of the event itself and not realize that she had gone back and pored over every last Ladybug clip in the past few days.

“Well, after he was akumatized, I realized that I was probably wrong about his ice-cream. Couples that get ice cream there really do seem to stay together. And, even if it’s not true… it can’t hurt to try, right?”

Marinette’s expression was so open, so earnest, that Kagami felt herself melt just a little bit further. Her first real friend that was around because she wanted to be and not because of any parental pressure, and her first date – she didn’t know what she had done to deserve such luck, but she promised to give everything of herself to Marinette in return.

Kagami started them off on the route she had looked up in the car. She and Marinette chatted pleasantly all the way there. Even though the walk was a respectable distance away, Kagami felt as though almost no time at all had passed when they arrived at the ice cream cart.

André was humming to himself, stirring a tub of ice cream when he noticed them approach.

“Ah Marinette! It’s good to see you again my dear. And a special someone came with you – try André’s Sweetheart Ice Cream, and your love will stay true.” He quickly scooped together a mix for them; orange and blackberry, two fruity flavors for them to share. André winked conspiratorally as he passed it over. “You expected a different pairing at the start, I’m sure, but André’s glad to see you have doubts no more!”

Kagami was unimpressed with the rhyming, but as she and Marinette sat on a bench to take a taste of the treat, she had to give credit where credit was due; this ice cream really did taste magical. She rarely let herself be caught up in fanciful dreams, but as she looked at a giggling Marinette who had a dab of orange on the tip of her nose, she couldn’t help but hope the stories about André’s ice cream were true.

Her heart felt too big for her chest as she smiled at Marinette. Kagami wanted to stay with Marinette for a very, very long time.

As she heard the screaming start somewhere off behind her, she added one more wish to her list: that Hawkmoth would get his just desserts very, very soon.

She and Marinette locked eyes over the ice cream, both reluctant to cut their perfect evening short but also both aware of what Marinette had to do. “Go,” Kagami said, and Marinette went.

She wished she could protect Marinette, could help her, could make sure that an akuma never hurt her again. But Kagami knew that not only was Marinette fully capable of protecting herself, as it was Kagami would be more of a hindrance than a help without any good way to fight the akuma. She ran off to hide nearby, even though every illogical part of herself was pushing to go back and stand at Marinette’s side, despite her complete lack of magical protection.

But even more than that what stopped Kagami from rushing over was her great respect for Marinette. If she allowed this secret to cause her to run into every battle, it would be an insult to Marinette’s skill and her faith in Ladybug. No, she would stay out of the way.

She heard a distant crash. Keeping herself from running immediately to Marinette’s aid was one of the most difficult feats of self-control she had ever performed.

[chuffyfan87]

Hiding. Part 61b

“Thank you Lisa.”

"That's OK."

“Will you ask Peter to come upstairs? I’ll wait in his bedroom.” Sarah smiled.

"Not to be funny but I'd rather you spoke to each other somewhere more public." Duffy replied, her eyebrow raised.

“Oh....” Sarah blushed. “The kitchen?”

"Yeh. We'll make sure you're not disturbed." Duffy assured her.

“Thank you.” Both of them headed downstairs.

Duffy walked out into the garden, leaving Sarah in the kitchen. She sniffed the air suspiciously. "Charlie, have you been smoking out here?!"

He grinned cheekily and shook his head, “No.”

"Hmm..." She smirked at him. "Sarah wants to talk to you in the kitchen Peter."

Peter nodded. His hands in his pockets. He went back into the house.

“I think we need to talk.” Charlie said gently.

"Out here?" She asked. "Or upstairs?"

“Either. It’s important.”

"Let's go upstairs." She suggested. "Leave them to talk in the kitchen."

He nodded and kissed her cheek.

The headed upstairs and into their room. Duffy flopped onto their bed. "This was not how I imagined I'd be spending today." She sighed.

“No. Me either.” He perched on the end of the bed. “I... I think we need to consider how our choices may affect the children.”

"What do you mean?"

“Peter said the reason he doesn’t use protection all of the time was because I don’t.” He paused, “He’s got a point.”

"How does he know you don't?"

“Well the amount of babies we have is a clear indication we’re pretty lax on the idea of contraception.”

"Yeh... About that..." She chewed her lip.

“Oh God no! Please tell me you’re not pregnant?”

"There was possibly a faint line on one of the first tests we did so we redid them coz we weren't sure which test belonged to who." She paused. "Sarah's second test was negative."

“And what was yours?”

"I haven't dared look." She admitted.

“Can I look?” He asked.

She nodded.

“Where is it?” He gently touched her cheek.

"Bedside table." She sighed.

He lent over and picked up the test.

"Well?" She asked, her face in her hands.

“Bloody hell Duffy.” He gasped. “Look.” He handed her the test.

She looked up, her face full of fear. She took the test and squinted at it. She turned and took hold of Charlie's reading glasses from his bedside table. "One snigger and I will kill you!" She threatened as she put them on to look at the test once more.

He smirked but didn’t laugh out loud. “It’s negative... You can relax.”

"Then why..?" She began, glaring at him over the top of the glasses.

“Then why what? You look very sexy in glasses by the way.”

"Why did you swear when you looked at it?" She asked, purposefully ignoring his comment.

“Giving me a heart attack, thinking you were pregnant again.” He laughed gently and kissed her lips.

"I genuinely thought I saw a line..."

“False positive?”

"Such a thing doesn't exist. The tests fell in the sink." She shrugged.

“What if we were to do another test in a few days?”

"OK." She slumped back onto the bed.

“Mrs Fairhead you are sexy in specs.”

She laughed. "You think?"

“Charlie Jr agrees with me.”

"Does he now?" She smirked, rolling onto her side.

“Uh huh.” He smirked and placed the test in the drawer.

Duffy crawled over and pulled Charlie to lie down on the bed with her.

He smiled, “You’re so beautiful.”

"I think I might need glasses." She sighed, sulking.

“There’s nothing wrong with needing glasses.” He replied, “We could do the sexy headteacher/pupil roleplay if you fancy it?” He grinned.

"It always boils down to sex with you doesn't it?" She laughed.

“I’m just looking for the positives.” He smirked. “You look gorgeous in glasses.”

"You hardly ever wear yours." She pointed out.

“That’s because they don’t make me look sexy.” He replied, rubbing his hand against her thigh.

"Oh I don't know about that..." She giggled.

“You think they do?”

"Mmhmm." She grinned.

“Going back to the previous conversation, I do think we need to be more careful. For Peter’s sake. Lead by example.” He shrugged.

"We are careful." She purred as she stroked her hand down his chest.

“But not careful enough and we should be. I should be more careful.”

"We could fit a lock on the bedroom door..?" She giggled.

He rolled his eyes playfully, “You know what I mean.”

"It'll stop us getting caught." She shrugged, giggling. "Or we could fit sound proofing?" She smirked, her hands reaching the waistband of his jeans.

“Well, what can I say? You’re the loudest one which increases the risk of being caught.” He smirked, reaching over to open the bedroom drawer.

"I am not loud!" She replied with mock annoyance.

“No?” He smirked. He reached into the drawer and pulled out a condom. “I am not screwing you without it. Safe sex is important.”

"Hark at you!" She mocked, giggling.

“I don’t want Peter to make the same mistakes I did.” He sighed and turned onto his back. “I don’t regret any of our children, but I’d maybe change a few things.” He admitted.

She rolled onto her back and folded her arms. "What things?" Her tone was harsh.

“I wouldn’t have had the twins so close to Emmy. I wouldn’t have made Baz have that second abortion had I known she felt the way she did.” He shrugged, “I’d have been careful. More careful.”

"She could have refused to have the abortion." Duffy countered.

“I don’t want Peter to get a girl pregnant, get an abortion and actually regret the decision. That’s all.” He sighed, “I don’t want it to push him over the edge either if he does get a girl pregnant. Or has a baby... I told him how much I struggled. How much I still struggle.”

"I think they've learnt their lesson."

“I hope so.” He paused, “Being a father is the best thing in the world but the hardest and most scariest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

"You should have seen the look of relief on Sarah's face when the test was negative."

“I hope this is the scare they’ve both needed.”

"Here's hoping."

There was suddenly raised voices in the hallway downstairs.

"Do we leave them to it or go investigate?" Duffy sighed.

���Let’s go and investigate.” Charlie suggested. “Might be the girls.”

"Our initial plan was much more fun..!" She complained, picking up the condom and flicking it at his face.

“I know but duty calls!” He kissed her tenderly and got up off the bed and left the room. “Peter? Sarah? Girls?”

“Get away from me, Peter!!” Sarah yelled from the hallway.

"What the hell is going on?" Duffy demanded as she followed her husband down the stairs.

“Get him..” Sarah jabbed a finger in Peter’s direction, “Away from me!!”

"Woah, woah, woah! Slow down and start at the beginning." Duffy replied.

“He’s dumping me!! The absolute arsehole!!”

Duffy looked from Peter to Charlie and back again, hoping for an explanation.

“I’m not dumping her.” Peter replied, “I just said we should concentrate on our schooling a bit more.”

"Its a very good point. You do both have very important exams coming up in the next few months." Duffy agreed.

“He said he wanted us to go on a break!”

"To be fair Sarah if it was up to your parents you wouldn't even be in this house right now." Duffy replied.

“I know!” Sarah closed her eyes, “I hate you Peter! I’m so glad I’m not pregnant!!” She stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind her. She was just upset and confused by everything that happened.

Peter watched as the door slammed shut and muttered, “Women.” He didn’t say it as quiet as he thought.

Three little figures appeared at the doorway, “Oli smells.” Tilly said with a giggle, “He pooped.”

Duffy fired a filthy look at her eldest son. She sighed as she turned to Charlie. "Can you deal with Oli? I'm going to..." She inclined her head towards the door Sarah had just slammed.

“I didn’t mean to upset her feelings.” Peter said.

“Yeah of course, go.” Charlie smiled and kissed her cheek.

“He stinks.” Lottie said.

Duffy headed out the door and jogged down the road. "Sarah!" She called, seeing the teen walking, head down, further up the street.

“Why is everything going wrong?” Sarah practically screeched as she stood still.

"Its not, you've just hit a rough patch. It happens to every couple at some point."

“Everything is wrong in my life!”

"Fancy a coffee?" Duffy asked. "I would suggest a glass of wine but it's quarter past eleven in the morning and you're only fifteen!" Duffy chuckled.

Sarah nodded. “Wine seems so tempting right now.” She paused, “I’ll settle for a coffee, please.”

"I promise as soon as you're legally old enough we'll go out and get riproaringly drunk on wine and spend the night slagging off the men in our lives!" Duffy promised with a laugh as they turned to head towards a local cafe.

Sarah laughed, “Deal. When I turn eighteen?” She smiled and brushed away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

"You have my word." Duffy smiled, squeezing Sarah's shoulder.

“I feel sad about everything.” Sarah confessed as they walked to the cafe.

"Its been a tough few months for you hasn't it?"

Sarah nodded.

"I'm quite looking forward to putting this year behind me too." Duffy admitted.

“When Peter did what he did...” Sarah swallowed, “And then everything with my parents and—“ She exhaled.

"I've struggled to wrap my head around everything that's happened and I'm a lot older than you are. So it's not surprising that you're finding it hard."

“It’s so hard.”

They entered the cafe and ordered two coffees, sitting down at a quiet table in the corner. "Tell me what happened that night." Duffy asked softly.

“With Peter?” Sarah tapped her fingernails against the mug.

"Yeh."

“When he came round, he was acting really weird.”

"Weird how?"

“Like he was on something.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 099: The Fanfic Dorms (Part 2)

Previously on BnHA: The kids returned to U.A. Aizawa promptly ripped into Rescue Squad Jr. for going off on their own to save Bakugou, and the others for knowing full well what was going down and not doing anything to stop it. He told them he expects them all to regain his trust by getting their provisional licenses so they can do that shit legally. Bakugou unexpectedly paid Kirishima back for those expensive night vision goggles and it was cute as fuck. Aizawa gave a quick tour of the dorms and the kids moved into their rooms. Then they decided to have a competition to see whose room is best, and so far it has been delightful.

Today on BnHA: The kids continue our tour of the 1-A dorm rooms. Satou ultimately wins after bribing all the others with a goddamn cake. Ochako calls Rescue Squad Jr. outside to talk to Tsuyu. They have an emotional heart to heart because Tsuyu was apparently feeling awkward and uncomfortable about the whole Rescue-Squad-breaking-the-rules-over-everyone’s-objections thing, and so was everyone else apparently, and they’re also feeling anxious because of everything that happened with All Might’s retirement and all that, even though none of them actually says it out loud, and basically all of these kids are a hot fucking mess and I’m glad they can be there for each other now to sort their shit out. The next day, Aizawa announces that they’re gonna start training to come up with new super moves for the upcoming provisional license exam.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 145 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so here we are, one chapter away from the big one-double-oh. All Might has just retired and the world is bracing itself to enter a new era without the Symbol of Peace. the villains are regrouping with Tomura as their leader now that All for One has been captured. basically a lot of shit went down that shook the world to its very core. so now that we’re approaching this milestone, I can only imagine what kind of momentous events will be --

OH WAIT THIS IS A CHAPTER ABOUT THE KIDS INVADING AND CRITIQUING ALL OF EACH OTHER’S ROOMS SO THEY CAN ALL DETERMINE WHICH ONE IS “THE KING OF ALL DORM ROOMS”

or at least it’s starting out that way, lol

WELL I DON’T KNOW! ARE WE?? I don’t actually mind either way, as long as I continue to ignore every panel with Mineta in it as I have been doing thus far!

you see, there are two panels here of Mineta being Terrible, but I can just skip right past them!

and if I do, I end up with

DRAMATICALLY SLEEPY TODOROKI SHOUTO

it’s a highly effective reading strategy and I strongly recommend it. though I expect I’m hardly the first to pioneer this technique

wow, what

holy shit. this Ochako is amazing

and literally the chapter title is talking about how we’re moving from two digits to three digits. like, this fucking guy needs to get out of my fucking head already, it’s seriously starting to creep me out

(ETA: but like, between the chapter title and the “premium Ochako” and Deku’s fourth-wall-breaking narration wondering how long we were going to keep touring rooms, Horikoshi sure was feeling cute this chapter wasn’t he)

RED ALERT EVERYONE WE’RE ON THE FOURTH FLOOR, ALSO KNOWN AS BAKUGOU’S DORM FLOOR, I ALREADY MEMORIZED IT

anyway, Kirishima’s telling them that Bakugou already went to bed, so I guess they’re just gonna skip him. what a loyal friend and how respectful of them to comply with Bakugou’s wishes

though if they do decide to just barge in on him later, you won’t see me complaining. though they will all die though, so that’ll be sad

so now it’s Kirishima’s room!

wow. flame curtains and a goddamn punching bag. and is that a fucking boombox. when’s the last time you even saw one of those. what is this, 1998

does his wall clock have muscly arms. and he didn’t put his boxes away omg

what a scathing fucking indictment of this sweet angel. I’m disappointed, Hagakure

Shouji’s room is so empty it probably has a weird echo

there’s actually less stuff in here now than before he moved in

YO, SERO’S ROOM THOUGH!?!?

whoa. I need to check this one out in the anime to see what kind of color scheme we’ve got going on

(ETA: lots of warm and neutral colors. his is definitely my favorite room out of the 17 that we actually see. the kid has good taste)

AND NOW TODOROKI’S ROOM. I BET IT’S JUST A NORMAL BOY’S ROOM

half the girls in the class can barely control themselves. because he’s so handsome and mysterious

what the fuck

jesus did he teleport his old bedroom into this new building or what. fucking redid the sliding doors and everything

they’re asking him how he did it and he just deadpans:

WHAT ARE YOU

(ETA: look, no joke will ever top “sorry I punched you in the balls.” but this is a close second. Shouto’s delivery is key and he fucking nails that shit)

oh my god Satou’s room has an oven. he made a fucking cake. you have a whole kitchen available for use downstairs dude

he’s offering everyone cake oh shit

Satou wins hands down. it’s over. it’s allllll over

so now they’re all heading to the girls’ dorms

oh my god I fucking love Jirou so much

a fucking drum set and everything. guess this place is going to be lively

Hagakure’s room is filled with stuffed animals and flower patterns and shit. very cute and totally what you would expect

I feel like Mina somehow has the same bedspread as Kirishima. or like close to it

(ETA: is that a fucking surface pro)

and Ochako’s room is super cute and somehow even more Japanese than Todoroki’s

she even has the laundry rack. even though they probably have dryers in the laundry room downstairs

ah, now they’re finally getting around to addressing the fact that Tsuyu hasn’t been around this entire time

Ochako says she’s not feeling well

so they’re moving on, but then Tsuyu’s cracking the door open and peering after them

what’s going on here. sudden Tsuyu angst?? her of all people? my god

holy fucking shit Momo tried to fit a goddamn library and a four poster bed into her room

and I say “tried” but she fucking did it though

wow. I guess it’s really true that once you’ve slept on a king size mattress you can’t go back

now we’re actually doing the vote. we’re seeing this thing through to the end huh

Mina is describing this as the first ANNUAL King of the Rooms contest lol

obviously it’s Satou. like, was there ever any doubt. dude was a lock as soon as he whipped out that fucking cake

(ETA: so apparently Satou got six votes, meaning that all of the girls voted for him plus one extra person. since he wasn’t allowed to vote for himself, I wonder which of the guys voted for him too. also I bet you Tokoyami ended up coming in second place just because all of the guys thought his room was cool as fuck)

Shouto just wants to go to bed now

CAN HE SLEEP?? CAN THIS BOY JUST FUCKING SLEEP ALREADY??! FINE, BUT MAKE SURE YOU BRUSH YOUR TEETH FIRST!!!!

this was amazing. even though my child slept through it. it was perfectly in character so that part of it was great too. his room is probably in one of those bonus things anyway

(ETA: oh so we can have three bonus pages’ worth of Ochako being poor, but you can’t be bothered to give us even a glimpse of my son’s dorm room, huh Horikoshi. wow)

oh my god, before Shouto can leave, Ochako’s asking if he can spare a minute. and also Deku, Iida, Momo, and Kirishima

in other words, Rescue Squad Jr. ohhhhh boy what is this

Tsuyu???

wow. it looks like she’s apologizing for what she said to them back at the hospital. about how them rushing off to break the rules was no different from what the villains do

(ETA: actually it might be the opposite. I have no idea. The anime makes it seem like she’s shocked and disappointed that they went even after her objections. meanwhile Viz’s version makes her out to be ashamed for trying to stop them in the first place. as for me, I got nothing. pretty sure she’s actually feeling a mix of both, which is why this got her so worked up)

wow, it’s really been weighing on her huh

Tsuyu nooo. what the fuck. Tsuyu feels?? in my fucking chapter 99

WHY ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING THERE IS NO ONE GOING TO HUG HER?!?

so even though she’s still coming to terms with it, she wanted to come talk to them anyway so that she didn’t have to hold it in anymore. “so that I could be able to have fun talking with all of you again”

oh my godddd

and Ochako says it’s not just her. “everyone wants to erase the incredible anxiety they’re feeling”

shit

whoa. the power of the fanfic dorms strikes again?! look at these feels in the middle of my domestic fluff?!!

and like, Ochako’s making it to be more about them wanting to make up with the Rescue Squad and letting them know they support them and such, and I don’t doubt that was the main reason. but also, all of them must be feeling so much anxiety just in general. All Might’s done. there are villains out there and they’ve already been attacked twice. they just want to be normal kids sometimes and hang out and have fun

given that, I really think the dorms were the best decision U.A. could have made right now. not only for safety reasons and let’s-flush-out-the-traitor reasons, but also because right now all of these kids are going through the same thing, and it’s just good for them to be around each other so they can bond and support each other that much more. because shit’s rough right now. and it’s only going to get rougher from here on out

so wow, that was unexpectedly touching and poignant just now

and now Kirishima is coming over and putting his hand on her shoulder, which, good. like I guess he’s not actually gonna hug her since ~she’s a girl~, but he looks deeply moved and he’s apologizing and thanking her

and Deku’s watching and thinking pretty much the same things I was. about how everyone’s just feeling the anxiety and pressure and doing their best to get things back to normal

(ETA: I can’t believe I forgot to make mention of the fact that Iida calls Tsuyu “Tsuyu-chan-kun.” like, that’s peak Iida right there. “I’m being considerate of your name preferences, but we’ve still got to be proper.”)

all right chapter, you have two pages left. I’m ready for you to end on some sort of shocking and/or really cool note to lead into THE BIG ONE

so now it’s the next day and Aizawa’s telling them more about the provisional license exam

he says it’s a big deal since the licenses are directly concerned with matters of life and death. yikes, that does sound serious

apparently there’s only a 50% average yearly passing rate

(ETA: and apparently they can up and change that whenever they damn well feel like!)

YO LIKE THREE HEROES BUSTED THROUGH THE DOOR ALL OF A SUDDEN

hell yes. fucking excellent. it’s about time Deku got some sort of special move

this all reminds me that we never got Bakugou’s hero name. this fucking kid. his dorm room, his name... he just sits out fucking everything. fine, Kacchan. fine

(ETA: listen guys, I know I always say please no spoilers, but I really need someone to tell me right the fuck now whether there will ever be any scenes in which we see even just a part of Bakugou’s room. right now I’m betting on a combination of Tokoyami, Ojiro, and (surprisingly) Deku’s rooms. Tokoyami for his “everything is black” aesthetic, Ojiro for the “I barely changed up any of the original furniture” aesthetic, and Deku because I would put money on Bakugou having at least one All Might poster up in his room as well

as a matter of fact, the only reason it stops at posters is because he was too embarrassed to bring his own All Might bedsheets to school. that’s right, Kacchan. I know all your secrets.)

 BONUS:

I can’t believe the bonus wasn’t Kacchan’s fucking dorm room GODDAMMIT

but this is an amazing image of All Might. I don’t even know if it goes with this chapter or not but there was nothing else to put here so

fucking legend. will never be matched. I bet he would’ve beaten Thanos. Avengers what were you even doing goddammit

(ETA: YO. DID YOU ALL SEE THAT TRAILER THOUGH. OMG)

[dazzlingfantasiesblogs]

Hurricane P50

Happy x Reader

Warnings/Triggers: 18+ only. If under 18, kindly un-foloow me. Do not read if under 18.

Notes: I have huge plans in store for P51. A lot of smut. :D

Tags: @moodygrip @mywhitehatisbigger @camobighairnboots @samanthab983 @jenny885 @trippinjenni

Pics and gifs are not mine.

SOA is not mine, but this story line is and my personal Characters (Sammy and Trina are personal friends of mine in RL) . Please do not repost on other websites. Credit does not count. Do not take what is not yours!

I do not own the lyrics that are bolded!

A few days past and you did not see your father, thankfully. You had Juice looking into what he had been up to in the last decade. Of course without anyone knowing. Promising him free coffee from Craig’s whenever he wanted.

“Hey babe, where are you headed?” Happy asked as he walked in, shutting the door behind him. Grabbing your keys from the bowl, Kozy next to you. “Tomorrow is the party, so Lorenzo and I are headed to the building to make sure everything is being properly set up. I already know I will be checking the stage stuff for the performance and climbing rigs, so I am dressing like shit.” Happy looked you up and down. He seen your tight yoga pants and his loose SOA shirt. “You look good..” he smirked, wrapping his arm around your waist, planting a gentle kiss on your lips. He bit the bottom one slightly. “Don’t be out all night.. Need my girl..” he slapped your ass. “I am going to chill here though hun. Want to catch up on some Netflix. Kozy can stay with dad if he wants. I am just going to order a pizza and drink a beer.” Your heart swelled when he called himself Kozys dad. “Wanna stay with papa?” you knelt down, petting your Babyboy. Wagging his tail, he walked next to Happy, leaning against his leg.

“Alright then. Remember he will need to eat at five hunny.” You blew a kiss to your boys, shutting the door.

After heading to the building that Lorenzo completely redid for his production business. “Wow, it looks great Lorenzo!” you spoke walking up to him. The structure had a lot of glass windows. The name of his company in large letters. “Dazzle Productions.” “Come see your office.” Nodding you followed him to the top level of the building. “This is yours.” The elevator opened. A huge black door with your name on it in bright letters. “Here.” He handed you a key to the door. Opening it, your jaw dropped. “What the fuck… Lorenzno…?!” looking around, it was huge windows on two sides. On one side a huge black desk with a new computer, still in its wrappers. A seating area with comfortable looking grey couches. Another seating area with a small table. On a desk by the window, held an espresso machine and a few cups. “Also..” Lorenzo walked into the office on the dark cherry wood floors, showing you another door. He opened it for you. “Lorenzo!” you looked at him amazed. It was a full bathroom with a shower, clawfoot tub. “I wanted to make sure you always had a place to go if anything happened.” He smiled to you warmly. You wrapped your arms around him hugging him tightly. He did the same, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. “I love you Y/N. You know that. I only want the best for you. Hell if you only wanted to be here an hour a week I don’t care. I am just glad I have someone I can trust here.” Smiling at him “I will do my best and ask questions if I have them.”

Hours passed as the two of you ran around the building trying to make sure it was set. You eventually headed to the stage where the speeches would be and made sure the lighting and sound was set.

Happy: “Coming home anytime soon?”

You: “Shit.. didn’t even realize it was midnight.. I am still fixing lights..”

Happy: “Don’t they have construction workers for that?”

You: “I know.. I just want things to be perfect..”

Happy: “Ok baby. Be safe, call me on your way home.”

You: “Will do.”

After two more hours of adjustments, you and Lorenzo decided things where perfect. After saying your goodbyes to the team you got into your Jeep. Starting the car, you dialed Happys number. “Hello..?” He groaned half asleep. “Hey baby.. on my way home.” “Ok.. be safe..” “I will. See you soon.”

Driving home, you got out of the Jeep and headed inside. Locking the door behind you, you slid your keys in the bowl after locking the Jeep, making it beep. Happy walked down from the loft. “Come on beautiful.. you need to sleep for your event tomorrow.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Coming.”

You where nervous, the butterflies in your stomach, threated to fly out your mouth and onto the concrete. The party started on time at 7PM. Happy stood next to you in a tux that Lorenzo bought for him. “It feels so weird to not see you all in your kuttes..” you looked at Kozik who had Lily on his arm. Her engagement ring bright on her right ring finger. “We are here to support you sis. It is ok to take a brake from being a biker.” He smiled to you. “I feel like vomiting..” “Why y/n? I might have you plan out wedding.. everything is so beautiful. The color scheme of bright purples and blues and the beautiful flowers. The twinkling lanterns. Plus the fucking food!” She said with a smile as she shoved another bite of chicken in her mouth. “Thanks Lily..”

Looking over you seen Trina and Sammy arriving. Sammy holding onto Jaxs hand and Trina onto Chibs. You made your way over to them. “Oh my god girl.. can you get any hotter?” Sammy yelled hugging your frame tightly. Trina, joining. “God I needed my girls! You guys look stunning!!” you looked them up and down. “Hey Prince, Chibs.” They smiled to you nodding. “I gotta give a fucking speech soon.. ugh.. I am going to vomit..” you tapped your high heels foot nervously. “There she is!” you looked over to see Lorenzo walking over to you all. “Trina! Sammy!” He hugged both of them, kissing their cheeks. Lorenzo slid an arm over you shoulders. “You ok? You look nervous.” His smile fading. “I am terrified.. I am not.. like you.. I come from SOA.. You do too.. but you had a longer time.. getting acclimated to these rich.. investors..” he chuckled a bit. “Hunny, they will love you like I do.” “Watch your tongue rich boy.” Happy growled his way, sliding his arm around your waist. “Oh shut it Hap. I knew her first.” Lorenzo spat back. “Alright you two stop before you cause Y/N to fucking die of embarrassment!” Trina snapped at them, glaring.

Walking up on the stage with the mic in your hand. You took a deep breath. Looking to the side, you seen Happy standing there, watching your move.

“Hello everyone! My name is Y/N L/N. I have known Lorenzo, the CEO for Dazzle Productions since he was seven years old. Since then, we have gone through life together. His blood, sweat and tears went into this company. When he told me, he wanted me to watch over the California division I was hesitant. This man created something bigger than many production companies. He reassured me that I could do this. So when your best friend tells you, that he trusts you with his name, his success you dive in. I hope to make Dazzle Productions bigger than any company here in California.

I also want to make sure that I take care of everyone that is associated with us. I am so excited to work with all of you and get to know each of you. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask me.”

You bowed, handing the microphone to Lorenzo.

“Thank you Y/N!” Lorenzo gave you a tight hug. “Y/N has been easily one of the most important person in my life. She helped this transfer happened. She was here till 2 A.M to make sure the stage lighting was perfect. She wants something and she tackles it. She lives and imbodies the spirit of Dazzle Productions. I personally plan on spending time 50/50 from here and New York .Thank you to all the investors who made this happen. Please, enjoy the drinks, food and everything else!”

He bowed and the applause was overwhelming. You smiled to everyone, walking off the side. “Amazing you two!” Kozik smiled to you and Lorezno. “Thanks brother.” “Lets go have fun all!” Lorenzo spoke as he nodded to the DJ.  Most of the crowd was pretty young, about the same age as you and Happy. “I was so scared..” you whispered to Happy “You are so fucking amazing… I cant even..” He whispered in your ear. “You have no clue how bad I want to fuck you right now… your so independent.. amazing.. powerful.. badass..Fuck..” He bit your ear quickly, noone paying attention. A blush creeped over your cheeks and ears.

You walked around with Happy, talking to some people. IT seemed a lot of people came from all walks of life. Especially rough upbringings like you and Lorenzo. Before you knew it, it was time for you to sing. When everyone hurd that you were singing they were excited to see it. You had sung this song many times in bars but you wanted to make sure that you sang it again. For Happys sake.

“Hello everyone, we have a special surprise. Y/N is going to be doing a cover of Bad things.” The voices hollered as you stepped out. Walking out in waist high ripped black jeans and an SOA shirt, all the SOA boys hollered happily. You wanted everyone to see the real you, not just the professional version. Miswell break the ice right away and show who you are.

Holding the microphone to your lips “So.. I am not going to lie.. I am nervous as all hell. I am not extremely classy. This song means a lot to me… I dedicate this to the person I love very much.” You looked at Happy with a smirk. He raised his eyebrow, sitting in the front row. He wondered where you went off to. He looked at your outfit and had to shift to make sure the erection her had didn’t show.

“Am I out of my head, am I out of mind? If you only knew the bad things I liked.” You sang out. “Nothing's that bad, If it feels good, So you come back,Like I knew you would, And we're both wild, And the night's young, And you're my drug, Breathe you in 'til my face numb, Drop it down to that bass drum, I got what you dream 'bout, Nails scratchin' my back tatt, Eyes closed while you scream out, And you keep me in with those hips, While my teeth sink in those lips, While your body's giving me life, And you suffocate in my kiss”

As you sang, you looked directly in Happys eyes. You watched as he bit his lip and ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “This song was made for you two..” Kozik whispered in his ear. “No kidding..”

“I want you forever, even when we are not together… Scars on my body, I can look at you whenever.”

Happy smirked, you wanted scars, he was going to give them all over you.

“I can't explain it. I love the pain. And I love the way your breath. Numbs me of novacaine, And we are, Always high, Keep it strange, Okay, yeah, I'm insane, But you the same, Let me paint the picture, Couch by the kitchen, Nothin' but your heels on, Losin' our religion, You're my pretty little vixen, And I'm the voice inside your head, That keeps telling you to listen to all the bad things I say”

After the song ended, you bowed. The crowd clapped, even the people who where older, you were sure they wouldn’t enjoy it. You bowed again and walked off stage. The DJ started to play more music as your heels clicked down the steps. “You gotta do one with the girls!!” Lorenzo smiled at you. Trina and Sammys eyes went wide. “Would you want to?” Sammy asked with a smile. You chuckled and nodded. “We can go on after the DJ plays for a bit.”

[bookcoversalt]

is dread nation a good example of a cover utilizing photography/a real model? (please tell me its a good example bc i love it SO MUCH and i haven't even read the book yet)

YEP YEP YEP YEP YEP the dread nation cover is AWESOME and here’s why, even though I’m usually a big proponent of illustrated figures over models for this kind of thing: a) the figure isn’t separated from context b) the photography is a stylistic choice with conceptual relevance rather than a presumed default.

A “a model on the cover as the character” typically works best when the entire cover is comprised of the original photograph, rather than a figure that’s been cut out and pasted over a new background (*unless your design is intentionally collage-ey, like, say, the new Simon VS cover. There’s exceptions to everything). This is common in contemporary YA: good examples off the top of my head include To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and When Dimple Met Rishi.

These are both art directed well, framed interestingly, and edited in a very natural-looking way, with a similar ~ light and modern ~ overall aesthetic that suits the book. (Seriously, the WDMR cover is SO CUTE AND GOOD AND WHAT WE DESERVE.) It’s just straight up harder to do this for fantasy or historical, both logistically (costumes and props are more expensive and harder to obtain) and artistically: “photography of a model in a studio” lends itself to breezy naturalism more easily than ~~~~ high fantasy drama ~~~~~.

To get that high fantasy/historical capital-d-Drama with your photographed model, you normally enter the world of heavy photomanipulation, and while that’s by no means an AUTOMATIC bad thing it throws the door wide ass open for… Issues. 

(See also my The Belles review and…… every romance cover since 2001 or so.)

Because once you start stylizing, where do you stop? And once you pass a certain threshold of unrealism (usually, the point at which you physically cut out the figure from its background) what’s your justification for using photography at all? [real answer: because the alternative, illustration, is expensive and time-consuming.] How are you using the inherent clash between the two to your design’s advantage, rather than making it a burden of visual weirdness? The above two examples are draped in fantasy symbolism but divorced from any context that make them feel ~ real in any intended way; they’re too glossy and obviously composited while trying to convince you that they’re not.

At a certain point, if you refuse to cede realism to stylization, you either have to execute with 101% skill to make it work or you end up in uncanny valley slash extreme cheesiness.

(The Mirror King models got me feelin….. a way. Mostly about how he’s wearing a…… p aintball vest (?) and she’s literally wearing this exact cinderella costume)

(CDs: please get to know some cosplayers/ theater people. you can do better.)

Also I really want to hit this point of “what’s your justification for using photography at all?” It seems like a stupid question, but every single goddam thing in a design should have a reason it looks the way it does, should contribute to a greater stylistic whole. Often the choice to use stock models isn’t a choice, it’s simply a default, the Easiest way to get A Human Figure on the page. To go back to my talk of romance and adult fantasy covers, that’s fine for some genres, but if you’re going to put that much effort into the stylization of your YA fantasyscape, why not do the same for the figures within it? Why not invest in art with a stylization that says something about your story?

One counterpoint to this being that the sentiment that we need more POC on book covers is an important one, and seeing nonwhite models, rather than illustrations, Matters. And I want to be clear that this is not me trying to say illustration is better than photography, or that you can do photomanip THIS WAY but not THIS WAY; when I talk about good vs bad artistic methods and trends, I am not saying X is always better than Y, i am saying, X is normally in a better position to achieve the goals we want to achieve [in this case on fantasy and historical novel covers]. I am making generalizations to which there are plenty of exceptions. Throne of Glass did in theory the thing I want and redid its cover into an illustration, and it SUCKS SUPER HARD, as we all know. Way worse than that weirdly sterile photomanip. This is a rambly post because there’s a lot of nuance and variation in what makes “photographed model” work or not work on a cover, and I don’t want to seem like I’m giving it a blanket dismissal regardless of my feelings about Dread Nation’s cover.

Two good “stock cover model” examples re: fantasy are Shadowshaper and The whole Selection series:

Shadowshaper is flawed (that drop shadow on the title! why! would you do that!) but its use of a model is excellent; it leans into the unrealism of the manip with the paint swirls in her hair that become the primary source of visual interest.

The selection covers aren’t especially popular, but I really honestly think they’re great (and a good example of expanding a cover into a series in an instantly recognizeable but sufficiently varying way.) I’ve always been curious to see what the original photos looked like vs the final, because I can’t tell how much of the sparkles/mirror effects/color/whatever else was edited in vs organically there– it has the dramatic, larger-than-life effect photomanip a ~fantasy~ cover is going for, blended seamlessly with the clearly real model (and the text is interesting and well-balanced.) (to reference my earlier stipulations, this is the rare occurance of the 101% execution.)

SO

TO

BRING

US

BACK

TO

THE THING.

So again, Dread Nation works not only because the design and photographic direction is really tight, but because the model is in context and that context is conceptually sound: this is a civil war photo. This isn’t just imagery pastiched together to look cool, it uses visual cues with specific cultural connotations (the flag draped behind her, the framing, the faint sepiatone, the way it fades out on the right like a damaged antique photograph) to not just tell us what the book is about, but to create this instant gut reaction and sense of drama built off our contextual knowledge of the civil war. Like. You can HEAR this cover, war drums and rifles and [zombie slashing noises] and all, despite not slapping, like, canons anywhere. Subtlety! Incredible!

And it literally would not work as an illustration; it might look cool, but it would lack the visual coding that comes from the realism. That’s what makes a really great photographic cover: if you would actively lose something trying to do anything else.

The other thing I really love about this cover is how the composition really lets its few, well-chosen details (the bloody scythe and the delicacy of the text) breathe, without sacrificing any drama or dynamism to do it. It is fucking hard to use such thin, fussy, textured type effectively on a cover, especially right on top of other imagery, and it’s a testament to the balance of the whole design that it works so well here (and the pairing of it with the tracked-out all caps for the secondary type is [kisses fingers]).

THIS POST IS KIND OF A MESS BUT BOTTOM LINE, DREAD NATION HAS A GREAT COVER AND I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT USE OF MODELS ON BOOK COVERS. THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: To see more in this series “My Single Girl Story {Navigating COVID-19}”, click here.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I appreciate my “me” time.  I’m a strange combination of introverted and extraverted.  I’m often the biggest personality in the room amongst friends, and then I shrink into my athleisure clothing over the weekend to recoup my energy solo. On a normal week, I have the opportunity to get enough social stimuli through work, friends, and chats with family.  At the end of my first ten days home, I’m starting to feel disconnected and isolated.  It’s necessary, but I’m feeling it big time going into the weekend. You’ll notice that I’m not talking about “social distancing” in this post, because for us single ladies, it’s next level.  It’s social starvation, and I am on “me time” overload. I can already feel it.  I’m getting lonely. When you’re single, there is fantastic notion and pride in taking care of yourself.  Anything you have and that you’ve accomplished is yours and because of you.  It could be as simple as paying your electric bill, decorating a room, or unloading the dishwasher.  None of these things happen unless you do it. At the same time, there is a scary feeling tied to being completely self-reliant.  Example:  I have lived in Colorado for nearly 15 years now, and I’ve never skied.  While that sounds insane, I also know that breaking one of my 43-year-old bones would not be in my best interest.  So, I have to make safe decisions sometimes. In the same sense, in light of COVID-19, I can’t get coronavirus.  I went down a dark, twisty hole this week thinking about how this would play out if I were to contract it (more on that in another post.)  That was a fun night…  All this being said, I’m taking social distancing very seriously.  We all should be.  While Coloradans are still free to roam the land (but not dine out, get your hair colored, or go to the gym), I’m choosing to stay put. WORKING FROM HOME I love working from home.  It’s my jam.  I get so much done, and I love being close to my kitchen and comfortable.  I eat healthy meals.  I drink tons of water  The bathroom is clean and just 12 steps away (ooo… something to verify.) My company (unfortunately) has a no “work from home” policy.  While they’ve lifted it right now, it’s been a LONG TIME since I’ve been able to work from my home office.  If you remember, I redid this space years ago, so it’s bright and comfortable and happy.  It’s one of my favorite spaces in my home, and I’m highly productive (and happy!) here. On Friday, I had a call with our executive team and I knew that they might have a fondness for video.  Unlike the other days I’d logged in, I got up and put makeup on and piled my hair on top of my head, suspecting that I might need to show myself on the call.  Like clockwork, 40 people logged on WITH VIDEO.  And, I have to tell you – – I can’t even believe I’m saying this — I liked it! It was great to see everyone after not seeing them for a while, and people brought their personalities to the Zoom and during varied speaking parts.  Really nice. But guys, if I’m for VIDEO CALLS, I’m definitely missing people. MEETING THE NEIGHBORS I’ve also met my neighbors.  This sounds like no big deal, but I’ve lived here for eleven years… and up until this week, I’d met one person.  I’ve said hello here and there, but I didn’t know people’s names.  You best believe I do now.   I met Bonnie and Katie (and her cute baby who’s name escapes me) and Sheila this week.  All very kind and coming together as a little community of helpers.  When someone’s outside, you can tell we all need interaction and we just chit chat a little (responsibly from 6 ft away).  It’s really nice, and have been some of the bright moments of my week. GETTING THE MAIL Hands down, this is my favorite moment of every day.  I live in a condo, so I walk to the mailbox bank every day to see what’s up.  Most days, it’s bills or those dumb flyers that go straight in the trash (I mean, when do those stop being a thing?)  I’ve also been trying to send out cards to friends – – little hellos, as I have to believe that everyone is loving mail right now — and this is where I drop them off to be mailed. Again, I’m starved for interaction… if you’re getting mail at the same time I am, be prepared.  I’m going to chat you up.  This, ladies and gents, is where I met my new friend Glennis.  I’ve decided Glennis and I are BFF.  She probably has a knitting project going right now too.  I naturally started up a conversation with Glennis at the mail area about the census paperwork that showed up.  I mean, that’s exciting and conversation worthy. As I was walking away, I turned around and asked Glennis if she had everything she needed.  She responded that she just got back from vacation and is having a tough time finding (yes) toilet paper.  I gave her my address and told her that I could hook her up with some squares, should she run out.  Naturally (like we all do), Glennis said she’d be fine and that she’d keep looking.  She also mentioned that she had kleenex she could use too.  I reiterated I had extra to share, and we said our goodbyes. When I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about her and decided to find her in our HOA directory and pop by with some TP.  Her unique name made her easy to find, and I bopped over with four megarolls of the Charmin Soft. Her response when she opened the door reminded me so much of my grandmother.  She was just tickled, as Lenora would have been.  “I’ll always remember you…” she said with a smile. What she doesn’t realize though is that I will too, and that moment was hands-down my favorite of the week. ADDING FACETIME TO MY PHONE I disabled Facetime on my phone a while back.  A courtesy to friends that I used to Facetime late at night after a few too many rosés, everyone seems to want to Facetime and I’m here for it (and using it somewhat responsibly.) Last night, we had a group Facetime that was a lot of fun and way too much wine.  Initially, it seemed like just a fun moment with friends, but I literally can’t even describe how much I needed that. Protip:  You can do group Facetimes.  Open a group text conversation, and at the top of the screen, you’ll see an option for Facetime.  Click it, and it will initiate a group Facetime.  So easy! If you’re in an office, team virtual happy hours might be a fun idea.  We’re having our first one next week with the team; I’ll keep you posted how it goes. VOLUNTEERING TO DO THINGS At work, we have a women in technology group that I don’t get super involved in usually.  My busy-body self attends when I can, but I don’t typically raise my hand to lead things.  UNTIL NOW. I just set up a virtual book club at work, and the fact that 45 women want to participate WARMS MY FREAKING LONELY HEART.  We’re reading Fierce Joy by Susie Rinehart, which is hands down my favorite read of 2019. We all could use a little Fierce Joy right now, am I right???  As I re-read, I’ll be sharing some highlights and a-ha moments here and on social media.  Stay tuned, it’s the most lovely book. If you could use a little Fierce Joy in YOUR life –> Click Here. REMEMBERING I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS SUPPORT We all need support.  To be clear, you may not be single but everything I mentioned may be tricky challenges you’re facing as well.  I hope not (and that you’re feeling a-ok), but if you are it’s completely normal.  It’s completely normal to feel lonely.  It’s completely normal to feel not lonely. Let’s all try to reach out to people more often right now.  Only good can come from it! MSGS Tip of the Day:  Take a few minutes to send a card to friends and family near and far.  We’re all loving happy mail right now, and this could be a little way to spread joy.  If you have kids, let them get in on the action too!  Artwork + a happy note = BEST MAIL DAY EVER! Related posts: My Single Girl Story {Navigating COVID-19}: Stocking Up and Settling In My Single Girl Story {Navigating COVID-19}: When You Get Sick Homemade Cabbage Rolls My Single Girl Story {Navigating COVID-19}: About Social Starvation originally appeared on No Thanks to Cake on 03/21/2020, which is not permitted to be copied on other sites without written permission from the original author. #SocialStarvation #MySingleGirlStory{NavigatingCOVID-19} #COVID-19 #SocialDistancing

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/to-see-more-in-this-series-my-single-girl-story-navigating-covid-19-click-here

[eclissy]

Buried Under the Aching Tree 1/2

Back when I was a baby and still writing a lot of DF stuff and my Hero OC stand in, I had a whole side story just about Ty’s sword, it’s name, what the details on it meant and so forth. But then I got tired, busy, and the whole thing felt over the top but, it’s October now. I redid it to de-stress a bit (and fill in the rest of the plot outline since I didn’t finish it seven years ago either. God of course it took me seven years to almost finish something).

Tbh, I reworked it so much that it’s more about Ash and Artix now.

Summary: Ash learns about his friend’’s sword, a relic passed through a million hands but never through a family. That and what it’s like to be possessed by a single feeling.

Accustomed to the Hero’s little giveaways, Ash grabbed the hilt of Ty’s sword before she could plunge it into the farmer’s chest.

“He’s not a thief anymore!” Ash yelled, having to dig his heels into the ground to keep Ty’s sword from getting stuck between the farmer’s ribs. Ty let go to make sure Ash wouldn’t hurt himself and the boy stumbled back, sword in hand.  

The farmer in question was shivering so hard, his skin was likely to peel itself off and all Ty was doing was smiling. No smile lines around her eyes; just this mechanical lifting of the corner of her mouth.

Turning to Ash, that grin shrank into a sheepish bit lip and raised shoulders.

“Did it look like I was going to hurt him?” Ty asked, an eye half closed in a wince as though Ash’s yelp had physically hit her. “Oopsie, I was only trying to scare him. I promise!”

Typically, if you were intending on hurting someone, scaring them came with the package.

“Ty…” Ash stood back, fixing a scolding glare he didn’t really know how to make. He tried to think about his mom giving him a hard telling to when he drank milk straight out of the bucket.

Shrugging and turning her hands over, Ty’s expression loosened into a scowl and her eyes rolled, coming to rest on the farmer.

“Don’t you remember this jackhole?” Ty kept the language clean for Ash. “He broke into your camp, took your gold, and your clothes so you couldn’t leave your tent for days!”

“I mean yeah, you didn’t need to remind me but yeah…” Ash muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Nervously, the farmer stepped towards the young man. He was half hiding behind his pitchfork which made his heavily scarred brutish face much less menacing than the first time he had met Ash.

“Funds are low this season so I’m awful sorry, I can’t give the gold back to you right now. But, you know where the farm is. After Spring comes back round, I’ll return what I stole,” He removed his hat. “Again, I’m awful sorry I did that to you and I really am trying to turn over a new leaf.”

“Honestly, I’m not angry at all. I’m glad things went right for you.” Ash said, genuinely thrilled that the thief had changed for the better. “Don’t worry about the gold.”

“Ash! Don’t let this guy off free!” Ty protested, more convinced that Warlic could drink a vat of melted wax and live than the farmer being completely reformed. “What he did was terrible! He needs to pay! When I found you, the crows were circling and it smelled like pee.“

“I know, I know!” Ash quickly cut her off. “But everything’s ok now. Look at that smile.”

The farmer smiled with all twelve of his green teeth.

“That’s a good guy!” It was okay, Ash hated going to the dentist too.

Brow creasing deeply, mirroring her scrunched grimace, Ty struggled to not break her arms crossing them so hard.

“If you say so.” Ty finally conceded, tilting her head to dodge the arrow shot at her.

For a stunned moment of silence, Ash gaped at Ty and the arrow stuck in the ground. He barely noticed the group of bandits doing the same thing.

Then, Ty began tapping her chin, examining the scruffy bandits that were slowly working their bravery back up. Brandishing some very pretty and very stolen axes and swords, the bandits were coming Ash and Ty’s way.

“Are these guys part of your old posse? Did they maybe come out here to rough you up for leaving?” Ty didn’t look at the man and see him nod. “Oh my god, you guys couldn’t have come at a better time,” She laughed, beginning to walk towards them unarmed. “When I’m done ripping your intestines out of your assholes and tying them together, they’re going straight into your mouths!”

Those bandits were shouting, half in a rage and half in true horror.

Ash didn’t approve of that wording but he was going to try helping first. Gripping Ty’s sword, Ash ran after the bandit that chickened out and was trying to get away.

“Stop!” Ash yelled, catching up to the fleeing bandit. He swung Ty’s sword and rolled on to the ground when it stayed stuck by his side. The blade had suddenly gotten incredibly heavy, squeezing Ash’s fingers white against the dirt. “Ow!”

Hearing Ash fumble, the bandit had returned, tapping his dagger on his palm.

“Huh,” He glanced towards where Ty was rearranging his fellow bandits’ faces some distance away between the trees. “We made it all the way into the woods. You think she can hear you scream over here?”

The point of the dagger flew towards Ash’s eye and gasping, Ash jumped up, lifting the sword with all of his might. It went over his head and he almost tumbled backwards from its weight but managed to keep his footing. The bandit didn’t hesitate making another stab at Ash’s belly.

Panicking, Ash blindly swung Ty’s sword and it smashed into the bandit’s rusty dagger, shattering into pieces.

“You little – AHG!” The bandit screamed, keeling over clutching his bleeding shin. Behind him, the farmer kept his pitch fork pointed at his once fellow thief.

Ash was busy staring at what was left of Ty’s beautiful sword scattered across the patchy ground to thank the farmer. He wanted to swallow the lump in his throat but it was too dry and any tiny movement made his stinging eyes hurt.

“Aw,” The bandit looked at him sympathetically. “It ain’t your fault.” Ash couldn’t hear him over the sound of footsteps coming up beside him.

“Huh,” Ty cast a wary gaze to the farmer though much softer than before. “I’m sad they passed out so quick. You doing okay here?”

“T-Ty…” His grip on the sword’s hilt shaking, Ash lifted his head to look at Ty who had noticed the shiny broken pieces of the sword her father had made for her. Her jaw hung open, hands held up in front of her chest. “I’m so--! I’m so so--!”

“Woah, Ash!” Ty clasped Ash’s shoulders, eyes all starry. “Did you break my sword? That’s so cool!”

The tears began to flow and Ty opened her mouth, shocked.

“Oh, no no no! You’re really cute when you cry!” Ty exclaimed, giving him a big hug. Ash’s tears were shooting out like bullets and Ty continued to pat his back. “Hey, you’re cuter when you’re happy so don’t worry! I’m not mad at all and this totally isn’t your fault.”

“I’ll bay de blacksmit.” Ash blubbered over Ty’s comforting, hugging her back.

“There’s already an appointment set up, I’ll just give Konnan a larger tip.”

Awkwardly, the farmer also began to pat Ash’s back. It earned him a thousand yard stare from Ty.

“Haha...I’ll go back to growing carrots.”

“Carrots? Ew,” Ty bit her tongue to keep herself from sticking it out. “No wonder you don’t have any gold.”

“Ty!” Ash exclaimed, starting to become and laugh a little at the situation.

Under Konnan’s hammer, the metal seemed to move on its own. The intricate embellishments of ivy and holly leaves that had been broken were weaving back together on the broad side of the blade. Ash stared in wonder, attributing it to magic.

Before Ash knew it, the sword was as good as new on the Smithy’s front counter.

“Don’t worry about the extra big tip. I don’t know, buy me some of Serenity’s scones tomorrow,” Konnan took off his gloves and attempted to wipe the soot off of his cheek, leaving a big streak. “I like working on your sword anyways. It makes me feel like I’m actually a master blacksmith.”

“You’re getting there fast,” Ty assured him, waiting for Ash to take his time looking at her sword before she sheathed it. “See Ash? Didn’t take any time at all.”

“That’s all thanks to the magic,” Konnan confirmed Ash’s theory. “I’m no mage but no sword can get fixed that fast. You need to tell me and Yulgar how this sword was forged. If all swords were like it…no wait, that’d put us out of a job.”

“Haha, I couldn’t let out the secret even if I tried. It’s an old antique my dad had remade,” Ty let her hand rest on the sword’s hilt. “We know a few of the stories it’s got under its belt but where it came from and who made it? Not sure and also not sure if that’s why it’s got the magic.”

“Oh well. I still would have liked to know. I’ve never seen this style of sword before,” Konnan rubbed his chin, smearing it with soot too. “And for such a well-made weapon, it has such a cutesy name. Fuukoo… Fuukoo shoes, or something,” He tapped the counter didn’t bring up the correct name. “I’ve got some other work to do so when that’s over, tell me a few of the stories.”

“Me too!” Ash jumped in, eager to hear what kind of heroic deeds pervious heroes had achieved with the enchanted sword. The young hero had only read about great swords with long histories in books. When he did see them, it was from afar with him jumping up and down in the hopes of catching a glimpse of it and its honored master pass through his village.

“No.” Ty said, flat out.

Konnan and Ash froze, though Konnan got back to moving a lot faster, evacuating the scene to busy himself by the tools in the back.

“Nah, that was a gut reaction,” Ty snaked her arm around Ash’s shoulder and lead him out of the shop. “I’ll tell you one while we walk back to my place.”

And she didn’t talk at all while they were in Falconreach. Ash tried to stammer a few things, a little flustered being hugged by the hero like that. Not to mention he had a kind of dumb grin; one that he couldn’t help make even when a few passerby definitely noticed the big ol tomato Ty was escorting out of time.

When they were on the well trekked path to the crossroads, Ty began to tell a tale.

“Long long ago, this sword fell into the hands of fledgling adventurer, who went from swinging sticks with his sister to leading a revolution in an empire wracked with civil war.” Ty started the story in a faux old lady voice to Ash’s amusement.

“The Emperor had already quashed the Empress and the Crown Prince’s rebellion. He had seemingly forgiven his wife and son for all transgressions but then, the Crown Prince died of illness. The Empress passed away of the same. Though he was grieving, the youngest son went to war before he began to suspect that his father had the Prince’s beloved brother and mother poisoned. He was, however, no war hero.”

“That adventurer was!” Ash cut in.

“And that adventurer started off strong, leading a small force of village folk against the Emperor’s men when they came to forcefully recruit them. His many string of victories brought him the Prince’s notice and he was honored with a sword from the royal treasury, a prize from a previous victory long passed. The Prince had stolen and put the weapon in better suited hands.”

Ash could picture it, the young man putting on armor that was shinier than any kind of gold or silver. He was kneeling in front of the crowned Prince on a wide grassy battlefield, knighted by the sword he would receive.

“On horseback, he drew his sword and pointed it at the sky as he charges into his first battle. An arrow strikes his horse’s leg and he skids over the dirt hard.”

The dream shattered and Ash was back on the path with Ty. She noticed his sinking glee but kept the same easy tone as she continued, holding her hands behind her back.

“That fall knocked the adventurer out and he was asleep as waves of his comrades died without his leadership. When he woke up in a panic, immediately rallying the army together, they kept dying because of his mistakes. As it seemed, the appointed champion knew his home woods best. These kinds of battles weren’t anything he’d ever prepared for before.”

Ash could picture that too. He thought of the same panic he had when Falconreach was on fire and his shouts were drowned out by the violence. Only, that hero must have had that fear magnified to a degree Ash couldn’t imagine anyone being able to think in.

“Luckily, the champion’s sister had come despite him asking her to stay behind where it was safe. She had fought beside him when the fight was on their turf and had snuck into the war camp to join him. Taking up a spear, she tied a banner to it and let the colours fly as she fought, grabbing her comrades’ attention and leading the battle to victory.”

Heart swelling, Ash was tossed back from the edge of a tragic end to the triumphant turn in the story.

“Saving the army and her brother was a story that gave the Crown Prince’s side morale. It swung the undecided to his side and the Prince decreed the two of them to be his champions. Together, they lead the armies until the army could only be led by one. That adventurer had no talent leading an army and one day, he disappeared.”

“What? Did he go back home?”

“In a sense, he did. All of a sudden, the Prince’s army was suffering losses and they had to retreat to the remaining champion’s home. They met her brother there in the flames he started. Jealous of his sister, the former champion had gone to the Emperor with all the information he needed to destroy the rebellion. He said as much when they reunited, having already killed his own parents to hurt his sister.”

As vivid as the bright sun that shone over Ash right now, the image in his head of the carnage was alight with fire.

The once bright and hopeful young boy was standing over his coughing sister. The heads of their friends and family were propped on stakes all around the village as it was demolished by fire and battle. In his gauntlets was the sword, more red than silver under the full moon.

‘You stole everything from me! I was the hero and you took it all away!’ Ash heard the boy’s voice when Ty quoted him.

“That was when his sword became heavy. Its weight pulled him down and it disappeared from under him, coming back when his sister plunged it into the back of his neck.”

She could have incapacitated him when the sword decided that she would be its new master. She could have taken him to face justice. In fact, she could have killed him so no one else would have been hurt.

Instead, she murdered him in cold blood, hooking the point under his skin, scraping it into his skull just for the sake of making him suffer. The sound of her brother’s messy death blocked out the chaos, veiling her in the only kind of joy she would ever feel again.

“After that, the rest of the battles were nothing special. What was special was how the remaining champion kept the head of her brother chained to her belt. With the sword, she mowed the Emperor’s army down with the vindictive forces who had too been enraged by the destruction of their previous lives. They were only the Crown Prince’s army in name. Once they made it to the Capital—“

The champion, alone with the Crown Prince, stormed the room where the man who ruined her life sat atop a great throne. To her horror, the Emperor stood with her sword held at his side. She found that her hands were empty and the Emperor spoke to her.

‘Do you know my story? The story of a boy with not a drop of blue blood? I stowed away on the pirate ship that destroyed the small fishing village where my family lived. Under the bloodied gold and silver was the sword I used to avenge my family. It slew hundreds of pirates, thousands of the worthless soldiers, and all of the idle nobles until the remaining bowed to me. But I wasn’t done. This sword stayed in my hands until all I knew was war. Country after country fell for no reason other than for the phantom slight I imagined they had committed against me. Even when I found a new family, they came to hate me and were taken by an enemy I couldn’t kill.”

The remaining Emperor’s Son had found out long before that his father had nothing to do with his mother and brother’s deaths. His war had been waged not for revenge but to save a country from a war mongering tyrant he loved dearly.

‘I could not raise my sword against my wife and son. I only waged war so a truly evil Emperor would not threaten the next Emperor’s reign with their shared blood. This sword could no longer be mine.’

The cursed sword reappeared in the champion’s grip, refusing to leave her hands when she tried to drop the horrid thing.

‘Promise me that when I die, you will do all that is within your power to sink the sword into the sea.’

Ash’s intense daydream ended as the silver blade rushed towards the Emperor and disappeared into his throat.

Blinded by the daylight, Ash shielded his eyes, distraught by how he had been absorbed into Ty’s story. The young hero, reminded of her presence and of their walk, staggered away from her and her cottage. In the midst of the daydream, he hadn’t noticed that they had already arrived.

“They couldn’t pry the sword out of the champion’s hands and she didn’t hesitate chopping them off. The new Emperor had it sunk in a sea that was so far away, it didn’t have a name yet,” Ty was finishing the story. “Probably would done it, promise or not. He was an honest and nice person. I’d say he would have thrown the sword away out of guilt.”

“He should have broken it!” Ash said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. How had he literally seen the scene in his head?

“Magic, remember? One of the reasons why the first champion started to get really good at fighting after he deserted was because of the sword,” Ty was treating the matter so nonchalantly that it was making Ash angry. “I brought it to the Smithy to fix it faster but if I had left it alone, the sword would have pieced itself back together on its own.”

And come back to Ty on its own.

“I could tell you some more stories,” Ty unsheathed the blade, holding it level. “There’s a bunch I know from before it met the first Champion and after it crawled out of the sea. This one was just one of my favorites.”

Ash shook his head, keeping his distance.

“Why would you have it? Why won’t you throw it away? That sword makes you obsessed with revenge!”

The moment that Ty took to think about her answer that was scarily short.

“I like it.” She put it simply.

Despite her behavior before; every single fight that Ash remembered how Ty had taken too far, he still couldn’t believe his ears.

“What?”

“What if after each war we have in Falconreach, Amityvale, the Sandsea, anywhere people we care about get hurt, the event ended and I was too tired to stand?” Ty asked. “What if the villains get away with it and hurt more of the people we care about? What if I let everyone in Falconreach stay hurt? What if I can’t bring them the justice they deserve? What if, what if, what if, right?” Ty tilted the blade and Ash could have sworn, the ivy and holly leaf markings swayed.

“This sword doesn’t make you obsessed with revenge. The people it chooses are already in love with revenge and it won’t let them forget it,” Ty gazed at the sword, as if at peace thanks to the idea it kept locked in her mind. “I have to make them pay.”

“That’s it,” Ash said, disgust clearing dripping from his voice. “Does saving people matter at that point? You’re in love with revenge because you want to make people suffer. Whether they did something bad or not doesn’t matter. You fight to protect the weak, to be a hero. Not to hurt people. You didn’t have to make people suffer! You do it because you like it.”

Ty lowered the sword, thinking of dropping it. Only thinking.

“You’re right, Ash. And I’m sorry,” Ty turned to him, a little less color in her cheeks. She smiled despite that. “I was just glad you can’t use the sword. And you deserve to know the reason why,” She turned to face her friend. “You’re a real hero, Ash.”

A beat passed, one where he tried to stop being mad. It was just that he was so disappointed and the heavy, foul mood grew over him like mold.

“I…Ty, I need to go.” He didn’t intend to say goodbye.

“I know.” Ty nodded, watching him walk back towards Falconreach.

Taking a detour was seriously unsafe when the sun was setting so low but Ash needed it. He didn’t think any monster would approach, hearing how heavy his stomping was.

In all honesty, he had no idea how to deal with being this kind of angry.

Ash tried comparing it with some other mishaps in the past, like when he dropped his sword on a noble’s foot and it cut the poor man. That was Ash’s own fault and he was angry at himself though.      

Perhaps it was an over exaggeration but he tried likening this to the anger that came from Falconreach being attacked yet again. Destroyed yet again. But, they were all villains. Not any of his friends.

None of Ash’s friends would make him feel this way.

“Argh,” Ash tugged at his hair, not noticing how the orange sky had gone pitch black. Only a sliver of the moon was out now. He kept walking, going nowhere near Falconreach and into parts of Surewood he didn’t recognize.

In fact, all these trees had no leaves. Kind of like in Doomwood actually.

“Since when did the grass get gray?” Ash did a bit of a hop, startled at the mist beginning to form over the forest floor as well. “I didn’t walk that far, did I?” The panic started up and Ash frantically scanned his surroundings for anything familiar or for anything out to attack him.

If this was Doomwood and not some random patch of Surewood that caught the flu, Ash figured he could take down half a zombie if he tried very hard.

In the corner of his eye, a familiar glint caught his attention and his stomach plummeted.

Blade stuck into the ground, covered in a bed of foliage was the silver sword.

Ash rushed to it, terrified at how it was out in the open. Anyone could get their hands on it and do their worst. Anyone was likely to be a necromancer, a vampire, oh gods was Drakath out here?

What about Ty?

“I can throw it away.” Ash thought out loud. An ocean couldn’t keep it trapped but it had to have taken time to escape. Ash could toss the thing into a bottomless pit, a gully, or feed it to something nasty. Then, he could go to Warlic or Artix and find a way to actually destroy the cursed sword.  

Shoulders squared in resolution, Ash trudged through the leaves. He went right up to the sword, took its gold hilt into his hand, and wrenched it from its resting place.

Blood gushed from the leaves, pulled up by the sword and splattered his shins.

Ash’s heart came to a hard stop before pounding against his ribs in sheer terror. Confused and horrified, Ash tore away at the ivy leaves, searching for anyone that could be hurt under there.

The bed was endless and the more he yanked away, the deeper it got and thorns began biting into his skin. Before he knew it, Ash had sunk into this pit, his head disappearing under the leaves.

On instinct, Ash slashed the sword through the greenery and it was as light as air. Blood pooled at his feet, draining from the vines he slashed, making the thorns glisten.

“My children were flayed,” An ivy vine wrapped around his ankle. “Who would avenge them if not I?”

“My brother accused my wife of witchcraft. She burned as I was hung,” Another voice invaded as Ash tried to cut the bindings only for his other foot to get swallowed into the gore, ankle deep. “Why was it that I had to crawl from my grave to right the wrong? Who would have avenged us otherwise?”

This was a dream. A very bad nightmare Ash was convinced he was having. He didn’t remember falling asleep but he must have and the story of that magic sword scared him so much that the thorns tearing through his armor felt real.

“A wretched King conquered my home when we showed kindness. All of my friends and family, their bones piled like trophies in the royal coffers,” A pair of hands accompanied this whisper, grabbing Ash’s hands as he attempted to remove his boot and escape. “They all had to die. All of his people. That was the only right way.”

“No!” Ash’s voice was shrill. “Let me go!” He couldn’t hear himself anymore. The couple of voices had grown to tens, to hundreds, to thousands of laughing mouths and reaching hands. The fingers that wrapped around his neck were made of steel; prosthetic limbs made for a veteran.

“Didn’t you think I had to? I had to! We have to!”

That voice was the same as the one he had imagined when Ty was telling him the story. Except, it wasn’t his imagination. The sword had long felt his mounting disappointment, and caught him in its will long before.

“Avenge their deaths.”

“For hurting me.”

“Humiliated me.”

“My future destroyed.”

Each reason was increasingly becoming frivolous; things that Ash couldn’t understand people taking lives over.

“I was the hero.” Another joined the cacophony and Ash could not escape its echo. “I wanted to be the hero. I worked so hard to be a hero. I’ve been dreaming of being a hero, a real knight for as long as I lived. She stole it from me.”

That sword fit in Ash’s hands all of a sudden. He held the sword as though it was the only thing keeping him alive. The nails digging into his lungs screamed for him to act and Ash jabbed the sword towards the source of that despicable laughter, imagining silver slicing through a neck.

“My Hero let me down.” Ash heard and it came from somewhere that was so close, it could have been inside him.

The sky was orange again, tinged with the sunset. Surewood was as green as ever and the only rotting deathly smell was stuck in the back of Ash’s nose.

Resting across his outstretched hands was his silver sword. What was left of all of the ghostly shouts was a single, wind-chime like query.

“Prithee, great champion, may I ask of you—” Ash closed his eyes and the whisper sank into his heart.

“Is revenge a science? Or is it an art?”

[truereviewpage]

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs

Many moons ago John shared the beach house before & after photos from downstairs (tons of never before seen angles!) right here in this post. And it has taken us a while (how has it been eight months?!) to get the upstairs before & afters all together so you can see all of those comparisons, and browse the entire second floor of our project, which we are thrilled came together (it was looking ROUGH at the start). So let’s pop upstairs & look around, shall we? Because the transformations were just as big up there…

UPSTAIRS HALL & OFFICE

Here’s the upstairs hall as you face the front room that we converted into a mini storage room & office. There was tons of water damage, mold, and termite damage throughout the entire top floor.

This is the same angle now, with smooth walls and a non cracking ceiling! Makes all the difference, eh?!

If you take a few steps towards that doorway, this is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now that we converted it into an office with the addition of some really simple shelves that rest on brackets (and a very basic desktop that we hung in a similar way). It adds SO MUCH FUNCTION to such a small space (when in doubt, go vertical whenever you can!).

chair / gold frame / curtains / curtain rod / shelf brackets / shelf tutorial here

FRONT BEDROOM

This is what the front bedroom looked like when we got the house – we could see potential in that beautiful floor that we refinished, but it was pretty much a blank slate.

Here’s that room now, all furnished & welcoming for guests. This room gets such great light, so we love putting up friends & family who come to stay. It’s so lovely sometimes I wish it was our master bedroom – but there’s no attached bath. So we have the smaller bedroom in the back & leave this loveliness for anyone who comes to stay with us.

headboard / duvet cover / blue blanket / night stands / lamps / wood bench / curtain rods

Without a doubt my favorite part is this original chimney that we exposed (it used to be hiding in the wall behind drywall) and this dresser, sconce, and mirror setup that we created (the inlay dresser was my best craigslist score to date!).

similar inlay chest / rug / sconce

To give you more of an idea about how far back we stripped things at this house, here’s a photo that was taken from a similar angle back before the walls went back up. In order to address all the water damage & ensure everything was structurally sound, we had to go all the way back to the studs – and we patched that hole in the brick while we were putting everything back together.

MIDDLE BEDROOM

There was also a middle bedroom that you used to have to walk through to get to the back bedroom (so… zero privacy). We opted to add a central hallway to change that middle bedroom into a fully private room (now people could take the hallway to get to the back bedroom instead of passing through this one. Oh and it came with a very rotten foosball table full of roaches and a ceiling that was literally crumbling onto the floor in a few spots. Not pictured: giant hornet’s nest.

Here’s the central hall we added, so you can see how it totally changed the entire upstairs for the better! We kept everything light in color, so it didn’t feel closed in, and we love how functional it all became with the addition of a few added walls and doorways. And if you’re looking for affordable hallway or bathroom or closet lights, these small industrial guys are such a great price and look really clean. The putty color on top is perfect.

gold frame / ceiling light

This is the small but cozy middle bedroom that we furnished simply with some soft upholstered items, wood tones, and then some nice brass and oil-rubbed bronze touches.

gold frames / similar mobile / lamps / curtain rod / duvet cover / blanket / watercolor art

BUNK ROOM

If you spin around in the doorway of the middle bedroom above, you’ll face the doorway to the bunk room, which was one of the worst areas in the house when we bought it. The walls were so damaged & rotten, that’s light from outside that’s shining in (and yes, if light can come in, every time it rained this room rotted more – we couldn’t even stand in a few parts of it because the floor was so badly damaged it could have collapsed).

There were also some animals living in here – hence all that debris on the floor. It was a mess.

Here’s that room now, after completely removing that side of the house and rebuilding it from scratch. We love to save what we can, but it just wasn’t secure or salvageable – but it was worth all that work because now it’s clean, and cozy, and free of animal excrement! HOORAY!

blackout shade / quilts / cube shelf / baskets / shark head

We built the bunk beds above that you see from scratch (here’s the tutorial for you) and had fun trying to get the wood ladder to tie into the original heart pine floors. That’s right, we saved them and put them back in when this portion of the house was rebuilt!

HALL BATHROOM

Here’s another shot of the bunk room, this one is if you have your back to the bunks. You can see that totally open area in the ceiling at the corner where every animal was slipping in with all of their friends.

We actually realized that we didn’t need such a long skinny room for the bunks when we were rebuilding, so somehow we squeezed a full bathroom, complete with a shower, into this space as well as the bunk room! It was another super functional update that we’re so glad we made.

drum stool / similar vanity / mirror / light fixture / towel / blinds

You access this bathroom from the same hallway you get to the bunk room and the middle bedroom, and we loved adding a lot of personality with that blue patterned tile on the wall.

Oh and I should mention that every single wood door upstairs is original to the house. We stripped and waxed them so they’re completely refreshed looking, but they still have great old details like the original latches and knobs (this one has a tiny ceramic knob, but many others have larger turned wood ones – they’re all so full of wonderful character and still work well for us).

patterned blue tile / subway wall tile / hex floor tile / shower curtain

BACK BEDROOM

This was the view when we bought the house if you walked up the back stairs and looking into the back bedroom, which used to open right up to the stairs themselves.

We didn’t do much reconfiguring of that wall you see above, but boy did it transform when we redid the walls and refinished the floors! There’s another original door and you can see what I mean about the wooden doorknobs that a lot of them have! They’re so unique and feel so solid in your hands.

beach photo / night stands / wall sconces / similar headboard / similar duvet cover / blue pillow

If you spin around and stand with your back to the doorway above, this was the view when we bought the house. See how the stairs just popped you up into the room without much privacy for anyone sleeping in the back bedroom (which we turned into the master bedroom).

Well, after A TON of brainstorming, we came up with the idea of pocket doors that could be open so the light from that window would still pass into the bedroom, but at night (when there’s no light to enjoy anyway) they can be closed for privacy – so we can sleep in the bedroom and not feel like anyone in the kitchen can just pop up into our space. They create such nice privacy and also feel extremely original. Whenever anyone tours the house they can’t believe they weren’t there before.

similar rug /similar duvet cover / fan

Also, a quick chat about fans. They’re so nice in vacation house bedrooms – many people prefer to sleep with one on for a gentle breeze and we didn’t get it until we added them to all of the bedrooms here at the beach house & NOW WE GET IT! They’re also hard to find attractive ones that are quiet and work well and don’t look awful – but we got these and think they’re just beautiful. In two years of using them, we have had zero issues and really love them. So much that we added fans to the duplex bedrooms too!

MASTER BATHROOM

The master bathroom was arguably one of the worst rooms that we inherited. The floors were so brittle we couldn’t walk on them and the tub was extremely close to falling through to the first floor. Oh and the ceiling was collapsing above it. Generally: everything was falling apart.

This room also had to be completely removed from the house and rebuilt from scratch since none of the studs or structure was stable – but again it was completely worth it because we earned a lovely master bathroom that doesn’t have holes in the ceiling or a floor that’s about to give way. SCORE!

glass shower wall / wall tile / vanity / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

This was the view as you faced the tub (while standing in the bathroom doorway)…

… and this is that same view now that everything is rebuilt. You can see that we reconfigured the tub to be off to the right, centered under another lovely and large window. That move meant that we could add a freestanding shower to the left of the room. We also laid this small hex floor by hand, making the little blue flowers one by one, tile by tile (more on that here). It took forever but it feels so charming and original and beachy. We are so glad we did it! It’s one of our favorite details in the entire house.

marble table / wall hooks / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

THE BACKYARD

We inherited a pretty overgrown and lackluster yard thanks to it being really small and full of poison ivy and not much else…

… but the after might be one of our favorite updates to date!

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

That before shot was from October 2016 and the next one was taken just a few weeks later, right after we cleared some of the brush and weeds. It’s also the project that gave John the worst case of poison ivy of his life. #memories

So yes, this backyard and I got off to a rocky start. But all is forgiven now because it has become one of our absolute favorite places in the world. No joke. We are out here basically every night that we are in Cape Charles.

patio table set | shed light | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool| shed: SW Mellow Coral

The end result is also made sweeter by the fact that we had to wait for it longer than originally planned. Our original schedule was to tackle this in the fall of 2017, once our contractor Sean finished the inside of the house. But a new little project distracted all of us (ahem, the duplex!) and we back-burnered the beach house backyard. So for our first few months of staying in the otherwise finished beach house, this was our view out the back door:

Slowly but surely we got moving back there – getting a hot tub, adding a paver patio, and getting a shed built in a spot that would make the most of the layout and give us a nice nestled feeling. And thanks to a few strategic furnishings and a lot of greenery, here we are today! Our little backyard beach house oasis…

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

The before shot below was the red rusted out shed we got with the house:

And here’s our new setup, which allows us to enter the shed from the left side (that path leads to two double doors that swing out without disrupting the dining area to the right – plus we got to add a charming planter box on the front).

Right across from the hot tub is our outdoor shower. Our contractor installed the same vinyl outdoor shower kit that he put in over at the duplex and it’s quickly becoming the most used shower in the entire house.

hooks | house light | towel | welcome mat | house: SW Mellow Coral | door: SW Pale Patina

Oh, and this is what that same area looked like when we bought the house – complete with a not-so-safe-looking awning that we tore off ourselves. But the back door is still the same one, we just repainted it a cheerful new color (SW Pale Patina – the same color as the duplex shutters and the doors to our pink shed).

And I’ll leave you with one last before & after. This was the view down our side yard when we bought the house (ours was the tree-covered one on the right side).

And here’s that view today. The fence is also new and matches the ones that both of our neighbors already have in their side yards. It gives us some privacy, allows our dog Burger to be loose in the backyard, and offers a sweet little peek down towards the shed when it’s open. It also swings to be double-wide when needed (future planning for parking a golf cart back there). We love that our neighbors on both sides have the same one so from the street it all looks nicely cohesive – once ours weathers to be that darker brown/gray color it’ll be great.

So we hope you guys enjoyed that beach house before & after fest. And remember you can find all the paint colors & furniture/accessory links on our Beach House page – there are just some linked here – but that post is much more exhaustive. You can also see the downstairs before & afters of the beach house here on our finally finished (it’s only a year overdue ;) Beach House Before & After page, which you can find from now on under the blog header in the dropdown menu that says Before & After. And you can browse all of our beach house posts & projects here.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs appeared first on Young House Love.

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs published first on https://aireloomreview.tumblr.com/

[endlessarchite]

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs

Many moons ago John shared the beach house before & after photos from downstairs (tons of never before seen angles!) right here in this post. And it has taken us a while (how has it been eight months?!) to get the upstairs before & afters all together so you can see all of those comparisons, and browse the entire second floor of our project, which we are thrilled came together (it was looking ROUGH at the start). So let’s pop upstairs & look around, shall we? Because the transformations were just as big up there…

UPSTAIRS HALL & OFFICE

Here’s the upstairs hall as you face the front room that we converted into a mini storage room & office. There was tons of water damage, mold, and termite damage throughout the entire top floor.

This is the same angle now, with smooth walls and a non cracking ceiling! Makes all the difference, eh?!

If you take a few steps towards that doorway, this is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now that we converted it into an office with the addition of some really simple shelves that rest on brackets (and a very basic desktop that we hung in a similar way). It adds SO MUCH FUNCTION to such a small space (when in doubt, go vertical whenever you can!).

chair / gold frame / curtains / curtain rod / shelf brackets / shelf tutorial here

FRONT BEDROOM

This is what the front bedroom looked like when we got the house – we could see potential in that beautiful floor that we refinished, but it was pretty much a blank slate.

Here’s that room now, all furnished & welcoming for guests. This room gets such great light, so we love putting up friends & family who come to stay. It’s so lovely sometimes I wish it was our master bedroom – but there’s no attached bath. So we have the smaller bedroom in the back & leave this loveliness for anyone who comes to stay with us.

headboard / duvet cover / blue blanket / night stands / lamps / wood bench / curtain rods

Without a doubt my favorite part is this original chimney that we exposed (it used to be hiding in the wall behind drywall) and this dresser, sconce, and mirror setup that we created (the inlay dresser was my best craigslist score to date!).

similar inlay chest / rug / sconce

To give you more of an idea about how far back we stripped things at this house, here’s a photo that was taken from a similar angle back before the walls went back up. In order to address all the water damage & ensure everything was structurally sound, we had to go all the way back to the studs – and we patched that hole in the brick while we were putting everything back together.

MIDDLE BEDROOM

There was also a middle bedroom that you used to have to walk through to get to the back bedroom (so… zero privacy). We opted to add a central hallway to change that middle bedroom into a fully private room (now people could take the hallway to get to the back bedroom instead of passing through this one. Oh and it came with a very rotten foosball table full of roaches and a ceiling that was literally crumbling onto the floor in a few spots. Not pictured: giant hornet’s nest.

Here’s the central hall we added, so you can see how it totally changed the entire upstairs for the better! We kept everything light in color, so it didn’t feel closed in, and we love how functional it all became with the addition of a few added walls and doorways. And if you’re looking for affordable hallway or bathroom or closet lights, these small industrial guys are such a great price and look really clean. The putty color on top is perfect.

gold frame / ceiling light

This is the small but cozy middle bedroom that we furnished simply with some soft upholstered items, wood tones, and then some nice brass and oil-rubbed bronze touches.

gold frames / similar mobile / lamps / curtain rod / duvet cover / blanket / watercolor art

BUNK ROOM

If you spin around in the doorway of the middle bedroom above, you’ll face the doorway to the bunk room, which was one of the worst areas in the house when we bought it. The walls were so damaged & rotten, that’s light from outside that’s shining in (and yes, if light can come in, every time it rained this room rotted more – we couldn’t even stand in a few parts of it because the floor was so badly damaged it could have collapsed).

There were also some animals living in here – hence all that debris on the floor. It was a mess.

Here’s that room now, after completely removing that side of the house and rebuilding it from scratch. We love to save what we can, but it just wasn’t secure or salvageable – but it was worth all that work because now it’s clean, and cozy, and free of animal excrement! HOORAY!

blackout shade / quilts / cube shelf / baskets / shark head

We built the bunk beds above that you see from scratch (here’s the tutorial for you) and had fun trying to get the wood ladder to tie into the original heart pine floors. That’s right, we saved them and put them back in when this portion of the house was rebuilt!

HALL BATHROOM

Here’s another shot of the bunk room, this one is if you have your back to the bunks. You can see that totally open area in the ceiling at the corner where every animal was slipping in with all of their friends.

We actually realized that we didn’t need such a long skinny room for the bunks when we were rebuilding, so somehow we squeezed a full bathroom, complete with a shower, into this space as well as the bunk room! It was another super functional update that we’re so glad we made.

drum stool / similar vanity / mirror / light fixture / towel / blinds

You access this bathroom from the same hallway you get to the bunk room and the middle bedroom, and we loved adding a lot of personality with that blue patterned tile on the wall.

Oh and I should mention that every single wood door upstairs is original to the house. We stripped and waxed them so they’re completely refreshed looking, but they still have great old details like the original latches and knobs (this one has a tiny ceramic knob, but many others have larger turned wood ones – they’re all so full of wonderful character and still work well for us).

patterned blue tile / subway wall tile / hex floor tile / shower curtain

BACK BEDROOM

This was the view when we bought the house if you walked up the back stairs and looking into the back bedroom, which used to open right up to the stairs themselves.

We didn’t do much reconfiguring of that wall you see above, but boy did it transform when we redid the walls and refinished the floors! There’s another original door and you can see what I mean about the wooden doorknobs that a lot of them have! They’re so unique and feel so solid in your hands.

beach photo / night stands / wall sconces / similar headboard / similar duvet cover / blue pillow

If you spin around and stand with your back to the doorway above, this was the view when we bought the house. See how the stairs just popped you up into the room without much privacy for anyone sleeping in the back bedroom (which we turned into the master bedroom).

Well, after A TON of brainstorming, we came up with the idea of pocket doors that could be open so the light from that window would still pass into the bedroom, but at night (when there’s no light to enjoy anyway) they can be closed for privacy – so we can sleep in the bedroom and not feel like anyone in the kitchen can just pop up into our space. They create such nice privacy and also feel extremely original. Whenever anyone tours the house they can’t believe they weren’t there before.

similar rug /similar duvet cover / fan

Also, a quick chat about fans. They’re so nice in vacation house bedrooms – many people prefer to sleep with one on for a gentle breeze and we didn’t get it until we added them to all of the bedrooms here at the beach house & NOW WE GET IT! They’re also hard to find attractive ones that are quiet and work well and don’t look awful – but we got these and think they’re just beautiful. In two years of using them, we have had zero issues and really love them. So much that we added fans to the duplex bedrooms too!

MASTER BATHROOM

The master bathroom was arguably one of the worst rooms that we inherited. The floors were so brittle we couldn’t walk on them and the tub was extremely close to falling through to the first floor. Oh and the ceiling was collapsing above it. Generally: everything was falling apart.

This room also had to be completely removed from the house and rebuilt from scratch since none of the studs or structure was stable – but again it was completely worth it because we earned a lovely master bathroom that doesn’t have holes in the ceiling or a floor that’s about to give way. SCORE!

glass shower wall / wall tile / vanity / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

This was the view as you faced the tub (while standing in the bathroom doorway)…

… and this is that same view now that everything is rebuilt. You can see that we reconfigured the tub to be off to the right, centered under another lovely and large window. That move meant that we could add a freestanding shower to the left of the room. We also laid this small hex floor by hand, making the little blue flowers one by one, tile by tile (more on that here). It took forever but it feels so charming and original and beachy. We are so glad we did it! It’s one of our favorite details in the entire house.

marble table / wall hooks / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

THE BACKYARD

We inherited a pretty overgrown and lackluster yard thanks to it being really small and full of poison ivy and not much else…

… but the after might be one of our favorite updates to date!

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

That before shot was from October 2016 and the next one was taken just a few weeks later, right after we cleared some of the brush and weeds. It’s also the project that gave John the worst case of poison ivy of his life. #memories

So yes, this backyard and I got off to a rocky start. But all is forgiven now because it has become one of our absolute favorite places in the world. No joke. We are out here basically every night that we are in Cape Charles.

patio table set | shed light | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool| shed: SW Mellow Coral

The end result is also made sweeter by the fact that we had to wait for it longer than originally planned. Our original schedule was to tackle this in the fall of 2017, once our contractor Sean finished the inside of the house. But a new little project distracted all of us (ahem, the duplex!) and we back-burnered the beach house backyard. So for our first few months of staying in the otherwise finished beach house, this was our view out the back door:

Slowly but surely we got moving back there – getting a hot tub, adding a paver patio, and getting a shed built in a spot that would make the most of the layout and give us a nice nestled feeling. And thanks to a few strategic furnishings and a lot of greenery, here we are today! Our little backyard beach house oasis…

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

The before shot below was the red rusted out shed we got with the house:

And here’s our new setup, which allows us to enter the shed from the left side (that path leads to two double doors that swing out without disrupting the dining area to the right – plus we got to add a charming planter box on the front).

Right across from the hot tub is our outdoor shower. Our contractor installed the same vinyl outdoor shower kit that he put in over at the duplex and it’s quickly becoming the most used shower in the entire house.

hooks | house light | towel | welcome mat | house: SW Mellow Coral | door: SW Pale Patina

Oh, and this is what that same area looked like when we bought the house – complete with a not-so-safe-looking awning that we tore off ourselves. But the back door is still the same one, we just repainted it a cheerful new color (SW Pale Patina – the same color as the duplex shutters and the doors to our pink shed).

And I’ll leave you with one last before & after. This was the view down our side yard when we bought the house (ours was the tree-covered one on the right side).

And here’s that view today. The fence is also new and matches the ones that both of our neighbors already have in their side yards. It gives us some privacy, allows our dog Burger to be loose in the backyard, and offers a sweet little peek down towards the shed when it’s open. It also swings to be double-wide when needed (future planning for parking a golf cart back there). We love that our neighbors on both sides have the same one so from the street it all looks nicely cohesive – once ours weathers to be that darker brown/gray color it’ll be great.

So we hope you guys enjoyed that beach house before & after fest. And remember you can find all the paint colors & furniture/accessory links on our Beach House page – there are just some linked here – but that post is much more exhaustive. You can also see the downstairs before & afters of the beach house here on our finally finished (it’s only a year overdue ;) Beach House Before & After page, which you can find from now on under the blog header in the dropdown menu that says Before & After. And you can browse all of our beach house posts & projects here.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs appeared first on Young House Love.

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/

[additionallysad]

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs https://ift.tt/30SUZgA

Many moons ago John shared the beach house before & after photos from downstairs (tons of never before seen angles!) right here in this post. And it has taken us a while (how has it been eight months?!) to get the upstairs before & afters all together so you can see all of those comparisons, and browse the entire second floor of our project, which we are thrilled came together (it was looking ROUGH at the start). So let’s pop upstairs & look around, shall we? Because the transformations were just as big up there…

UPSTAIRS HALL & OFFICE

Here’s the upstairs hall as you face the front room that we converted into a mini storage room & office. There was tons of water damage, mold, and termite damage throughout the entire top floor.

This is the same angle now, with smooth walls and a non cracking ceiling! Makes all the difference, eh?!

If you take a few steps towards that doorway, this is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now that we converted it into an office with the addition of some really simple shelves that rest on brackets (and a very basic desktop that we hung in a similar way). It adds SO MUCH FUNCTION to such a small space (when in doubt, go vertical whenever you can!).

chair / gold frame / curtains / curtain rod / shelf brackets / shelf tutorial here

FRONT BEDROOM

This is what the front bedroom looked like when we got the house – we could see potential in that beautiful floor that we refinished, but it was pretty much a blank slate.

Here’s that room now, all furnished & welcoming for guests. This room gets such great light, so we love putting up friends & family who come to stay. It’s so lovely sometimes I wish it was our master bedroom – but there’s no attached bath. So we have the smaller bedroom in the back & leave this loveliness for anyone who comes to stay with us.

headboard / duvet cover / blue blanket / night stands / lamps / wood bench / curtain rods

Without a doubt my favorite part is this original chimney that we exposed (it used to be hiding in the wall behind drywall) and this dresser, sconce, and mirror setup that we created (the inlay dresser was my best craigslist score to date!).

similar inlay chest / rug / sconce

To give you more of an idea about how far back we stripped things at this house, here’s a photo that was taken from a similar angle back before the walls went back up. In order to address all the water damage & ensure everything was structurally sound, we had to go all the way back to the studs – and we patched that hole in the brick while we were putting everything back together.

MIDDLE BEDROOM

There was also a middle bedroom that you used to have to walk through to get to the back bedroom (so… zero privacy). We opted to add a central hallway to change that middle bedroom into a fully private room (now people could take the hallway to get to the back bedroom instead of passing through this one. Oh and it came with a very rotten foosball table full of roaches and a ceiling that was literally crumbling onto the floor in a few spots. Not pictured: giant hornet’s nest.

Here’s the central hall we added, so you can see how it totally changed the entire upstairs for the better! We kept everything light in color, so it didn’t feel closed in, and we love how functional it all became with the addition of a few added walls and doorways. And if you’re looking for affordable hallway or bathroom or closet lights, these small industrial guys are such a great price and look really clean. The putty color on top is perfect.

gold frame / ceiling light

This is the small but cozy middle bedroom that we furnished simply with some soft upholstered items, wood tones, and then some nice brass and oil-rubbed bronze touches.

gold frames / similar mobile / lamps / curtain rod / duvet cover / blanket / watercolor art

BUNK ROOM

If you spin around in the doorway of the middle bedroom above, you’ll face the doorway to the bunk room, which was one of the worst areas in the house when we bought it. The walls were so damaged & rotten, that’s light from outside that’s shining in (and yes, if light can come in, every time it rained this room rotted more – we couldn’t even stand in a few parts of it because the floor was so badly damaged it could have collapsed).

There were also some animals living in here – hence all that debris on the floor. It was a mess.

Here’s that room now, after completely removing that side of the house and rebuilding it from scratch. We love to save what we can, but it just wasn’t secure or salvageable – but it was worth all that work because now it’s clean, and cozy, and free of animal excrement! HOORAY!

blackout shade / quilts / cube shelf / baskets / shark head

We built the bunk beds above that you see from scratch (here’s the tutorial for you) and had fun trying to get the wood ladder to tie into the original heart pine floors. That’s right, we saved them and put them back in when this portion of the house was rebuilt!

HALL BATHROOM

Here’s another shot of the bunk room, this one is if you have your back to the bunks. You can see that totally open area in the ceiling at the corner where every animal was slipping in with all of their friends.

We actually realized that we didn’t need such a long skinny room for the bunks when we were rebuilding, so somehow we squeezed a full bathroom, complete with a shower, into this space as well as the bunk room! It was another super functional update that we’re so glad we made.

drum stool / similar vanity / mirror / light fixture / towel / blinds

You access this bathroom from the same hallway you get to the bunk room and the middle bedroom, and we loved adding a lot of personality with that blue patterned tile on the wall.

Oh and I should mention that every single wood door upstairs is original to the house. We stripped and waxed them so they’re completely refreshed looking, but they still have great old details like the original latches and knobs (this one has a tiny ceramic knob, but many others have larger turned wood ones – they’re all so full of wonderful character and still work well for us).

patterned blue tile / subway wall tile / hex floor tile / shower curtain

BACK BEDROOM

This was the view when we bought the house if you walked up the back stairs and looking into the back bedroom, which used to open right up to the stairs themselves.

We didn’t do much reconfiguring of that wall you see above, but boy did it transform when we redid the walls and refinished the floors! There’s another original door and you can see what I mean about the wooden doorknobs that a lot of them have! They’re so unique and feel so solid in your hands.

beach photo / night stands / wall sconces / similar headboard / similar duvet cover / blue pillow

If you spin around and stand with your back to the doorway above, this was the view when we bought the house. See how the stairs just popped you up into the room without much privacy for anyone sleeping in the back bedroom (which we turned into the master bedroom).

Well, after A TON of brainstorming, we came up with the idea of pocket doors that could be open so the light from that window would still pass into the bedroom, but at night (when there’s no light to enjoy anyway) they can be closed for privacy – so we can sleep in the bedroom and not feel like anyone in the kitchen can just pop up into our space. They create such nice privacy and also feel extremely original. Whenever anyone tours the house they can’t believe they weren’t there before.

similar rug /similar duvet cover / fan

Also, a quick chat about fans. They’re so nice in vacation house bedrooms – many people prefer to sleep with one on for a gentle breeze and we didn’t get it until we added them to all of the bedrooms here at the beach house & NOW WE GET IT! They’re also hard to find attractive ones that are quiet and work well and don’t look awful – but we got these and think they’re just beautiful. In two years of using them, we have had zero issues and really love them. So much that we added fans to the duplex bedrooms too!

MASTER BATHROOM

The master bathroom was arguably one of the worst rooms that we inherited. The floors were so brittle we couldn’t walk on them and the tub was extremely close to falling through to the first floor. Oh and the ceiling was collapsing above it. Generally: everything was falling apart.

This room also had to be completely removed from the house and rebuilt from scratch since none of the studs or structure was stable – but again it was completely worth it because we earned a lovely master bathroom that doesn’t have holes in the ceiling or a floor that’s about to give way. SCORE!

glass shower wall / wall tile / vanity / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

This was the view as you faced the tub (while standing in the bathroom doorway)…

… and this is that same view now that everything is rebuilt. You can see that we reconfigured the tub to be off to the right, centered under another lovely and large window. That move meant that we could add a freestanding shower to the left of the room. We also laid this small hex floor by hand, making the little blue flowers one by one, tile by tile (more on that here). It took forever but it feels so charming and original and beachy. We are so glad we did it! It’s one of our favorite details in the entire house.

marble table / wall hooks / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

THE BACKYARD

We inherited a pretty overgrown and lackluster yard thanks to it being really small and full of poison ivy and not much else…

… but the after might be one of our favorite updates to date!

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

That before shot was from October 2016 and the next one was taken just a few weeks later, right after we cleared some of the brush and weeds. It’s also the project that gave John the worst case of poison ivy of his life. #memories

So yes, this backyard and I got off to a rocky start. But all is forgiven now because it has become one of our absolute favorite places in the world. No joke. We are out here basically every night that we are in Cape Charles.

patio table set | shed light | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool| shed: SW Mellow Coral

The end result is also made sweeter by the fact that we had to wait for it longer than originally planned. Our original schedule was to tackle this in the fall of 2017, once our contractor Sean finished the inside of the house. But a new little project distracted all of us (ahem, the duplex!) and we back-burnered the beach house backyard. So for our first few months of staying in the otherwise finished beach house, this was our view out the back door:

Slowly but surely we got moving back there – getting a hot tub, adding a paver patio, and getting a shed built in a spot that would make the most of the layout and give us a nice nestled feeling. And thanks to a few strategic furnishings and a lot of greenery, here we are today! Our little backyard beach house oasis…

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

The before shot below was the red rusted out shed we got with the house:

And here’s our new setup, which allows us to enter the shed from the left side (that path leads to two double doors that swing out without disrupting the dining area to the right – plus we got to add a charming planter box on the front).

Right across from the hot tub is our outdoor shower. Our contractor installed the same vinyl outdoor shower kit that he put in over at the duplex and it’s quickly becoming the most used shower in the entire house.

hooks | house light | towel | welcome mat | house: SW Mellow Coral | door: SW Pale Patina

Oh, and this is what that same area looked like when we bought the house – complete with a not-so-safe-looking awning that we tore off ourselves. But the back door is still the same one, we just repainted it a cheerful new color (SW Pale Patina – the same color as the duplex shutters and the doors to our pink shed).

And I’ll leave you with one last before & after. This was the view down our side yard when we bought the house (ours was the tree-covered one on the right side).

And here’s that view today. The fence is also new and matches the ones that both of our neighbors already have in their side yards. It gives us some privacy, allows our dog Burger to be loose in the backyard, and offers a sweet little peek down towards the shed when it’s open. It also swings to be double-wide when needed (future planning for parking a golf cart back there). We love that our neighbors on both sides have the same one so from the street it all looks nicely cohesive – once ours weathers to be that darker brown/gray color it’ll be great.

So we hope you guys enjoyed that beach house before & after fest. And remember you can find all the paint colors & furniture/accessory links on our Beach House page – there are just some linked here – but that post is much more exhaustive. You can also see the downstairs before & afters of the beach house here on our finally finished (it’s only a year overdue ;) Beach House Before & After page, which you can find from now on under the blog header in the dropdown menu that says Before & After. And you can browse all of our beach house posts & projects here.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs appeared first on Young House Love.

[lukerhill]

Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs

Many moons ago John shared the beach house before & after photos from downstairs (tons of never before seen angles!) right here in this post. And it has taken us a while (how has it been eight months?!) to get the upstairs before & afters all together so you can see all of those comparisons, and browse the entire second floor of our project, which we are thrilled came together (it was looking ROUGH at the start). So let’s pop upstairs & look around, shall we? Because the transformations were just as big up there…

UPSTAIRS HALL & OFFICE

Here’s the upstairs hall as you face the front room that we converted into a mini storage room & office. There was tons of water damage, mold, and termite damage throughout the entire top floor.

This is the same angle now, with smooth walls and a non cracking ceiling! Makes all the difference, eh?!

If you take a few steps towards that doorway, this is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now that we converted it into an office with the addition of some really simple shelves that rest on brackets (and a very basic desktop that we hung in a similar way). It adds SO MUCH FUNCTION to such a small space (when in doubt, go vertical whenever you can!).

chair / gold frame / curtains / curtain rod / shelf brackets / shelf tutorial here

FRONT BEDROOM

This is what the front bedroom looked like when we got the house – we could see potential in that beautiful floor that we refinished, but it was pretty much a blank slate.

Here’s that room now, all furnished & welcoming for guests. This room gets such great light, so we love putting up friends & family who come to stay. It’s so lovely sometimes I wish it was our master bedroom – but there’s no attached bath. So we have the smaller bedroom in the back & leave this loveliness for anyone who comes to stay with us.

headboard / duvet cover / blue blanket / night stands / lamps / wood bench / curtain rods

Without a doubt my favorite part is this original chimney that we exposed (it used to be hiding in the wall behind drywall) and this dresser, sconce, and mirror setup that we created (the inlay dresser was my best craigslist score to date!).

similar inlay chest / rug / sconce

To give you more of an idea about how far back we stripped things at this house, here’s a photo that was taken from a similar angle back before the walls went back up. In order to address all the water damage & ensure everything was structurally sound, we had to go all the way back to the studs – and we patched that hole in the brick while we were putting everything back together.

MIDDLE BEDROOM

There was also a middle bedroom that you used to have to walk through to get to the back bedroom (so… zero privacy). We opted to add a central hallway to change that middle bedroom into a fully private room (now people could take the hallway to get to the back bedroom instead of passing through this one. Oh and it came with a very rotten foosball table full of roaches and a ceiling that was literally crumbling onto the floor in a few spots. Not pictured: giant hornet’s nest.

Here’s the central hall we added, so you can see how it totally changed the entire upstairs for the better! We kept everything light in color, so it didn’t feel closed in, and we love how functional it all became with the addition of a few added walls and doorways. And if you’re looking for affordable hallway or bathroom or closet lights, these small industrial guys are such a great price and look really clean. The putty color on top is perfect.

gold frame / ceiling light

This is the small but cozy middle bedroom that we furnished simply with some soft upholstered items, wood tones, and then some nice brass and oil-rubbed bronze touches.

gold frames / similar mobile / lamps / curtain rod / duvet cover / blanket / watercolor art

BUNK ROOM

If you spin around in the doorway of the middle bedroom above, you’ll face the doorway to the bunk room, which was one of the worst areas in the house when we bought it. The walls were so damaged & rotten, that’s light from outside that’s shining in (and yes, if light can come in, every time it rained this room rotted more – we couldn’t even stand in a few parts of it because the floor was so badly damaged it could have collapsed).

There were also some animals living in here – hence all that debris on the floor. It was a mess.

Here’s that room now, after completely removing that side of the house and rebuilding it from scratch. We love to save what we can, but it just wasn’t secure or salvageable – but it was worth all that work because now it’s clean, and cozy, and free of animal excrement! HOORAY!

blackout shade / quilts / cube shelf / baskets / shark head

We built the bunk beds above that you see from scratch (here’s the tutorial for you) and had fun trying to get the wood ladder to tie into the original heart pine floors. That’s right, we saved them and put them back in when this portion of the house was rebuilt!

HALL BATHROOM

Here’s another shot of the bunk room, this one is if you have your back to the bunks. You can see that totally open area in the ceiling at the corner where every animal was slipping in with all of their friends.

We actually realized that we didn’t need such a long skinny room for the bunks when we were rebuilding, so somehow we squeezed a full bathroom, complete with a shower, into this space as well as the bunk room! It was another super functional update that we’re so glad we made.

drum stool / similar vanity / mirror / light fixture / towel / blinds

You access this bathroom from the same hallway you get to the bunk room and the middle bedroom, and we loved adding a lot of personality with that blue patterned tile on the wall.

Oh and I should mention that every single wood door upstairs is original to the house. We stripped and waxed them so they’re completely refreshed looking, but they still have great old details like the original latches and knobs (this one has a tiny ceramic knob, but many others have larger turned wood ones – they’re all so full of wonderful character and still work well for us).

patterned blue tile / subway wall tile / hex floor tile / shower curtain

BACK BEDROOM

This was the view when we bought the house if you walked up the back stairs and looking into the back bedroom, which used to open right up to the stairs themselves.

We didn’t do much reconfiguring of that wall you see above, but boy did it transform when we redid the walls and refinished the floors! There’s another original door and you can see what I mean about the wooden doorknobs that a lot of them have! They’re so unique and feel so solid in your hands.

beach photo / night stands / wall sconces / similar headboard / similar duvet cover / blue pillow

If you spin around and stand with your back to the doorway above, this was the view when we bought the house. See how the stairs just popped you up into the room without much privacy for anyone sleeping in the back bedroom (which we turned into the master bedroom).

Well, after A TON of brainstorming, we came up with the idea of pocket doors that could be open so the light from that window would still pass into the bedroom, but at night (when there’s no light to enjoy anyway) they can be closed for privacy – so we can sleep in the bedroom and not feel like anyone in the kitchen can just pop up into our space. They create such nice privacy and also feel extremely original. Whenever anyone tours the house they can’t believe they weren’t there before.

similar rug /similar duvet cover / fan

Also, a quick chat about fans. They’re so nice in vacation house bedrooms – many people prefer to sleep with one on for a gentle breeze and we didn’t get it until we added them to all of the bedrooms here at the beach house & NOW WE GET IT! They’re also hard to find attractive ones that are quiet and work well and don’t look awful – but we got these and think they’re just beautiful. In two years of using them, we have had zero issues and really love them. So much that we added fans to the duplex bedrooms too!

MASTER BATHROOM

The master bathroom was arguably one of the worst rooms that we inherited. The floors were so brittle we couldn’t walk on them and the tub was extremely close to falling through to the first floor. Oh and the ceiling was collapsing above it. Generally: everything was falling apart.

This room also had to be completely removed from the house and rebuilt from scratch since none of the studs or structure was stable – but again it was completely worth it because we earned a lovely master bathroom that doesn’t have holes in the ceiling or a floor that’s about to give way. SCORE!

glass shower wall / wall tile / vanity / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

This was the view as you faced the tub (while standing in the bathroom doorway)…

… and this is that same view now that everything is rebuilt. You can see that we reconfigured the tub to be off to the right, centered under another lovely and large window. That move meant that we could add a freestanding shower to the left of the room. We also laid this small hex floor by hand, making the little blue flowers one by one, tile by tile (more on that here). It took forever but it feels so charming and original and beachy. We are so glad we did it! It’s one of our favorite details in the entire house.

marble table / wall hooks / white hex floor tile / blue hex floor tile

THE BACKYARD

We inherited a pretty overgrown and lackluster yard thanks to it being really small and full of poison ivy and not much else…

… but the after might be one of our favorite updates to date!

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

That before shot was from October 2016 and the next one was taken just a few weeks later, right after we cleared some of the brush and weeds. It’s also the project that gave John the worst case of poison ivy of his life. #memories

So yes, this backyard and I got off to a rocky start. But all is forgiven now because it has become one of our absolute favorite places in the world. No joke. We are out here basically every night that we are in Cape Charles.

patio table set | shed light | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool| shed: SW Mellow Coral

The end result is also made sweeter by the fact that we had to wait for it longer than originally planned. Our original schedule was to tackle this in the fall of 2017, once our contractor Sean finished the inside of the house. But a new little project distracted all of us (ahem, the duplex!) and we back-burnered the beach house backyard. So for our first few months of staying in the otherwise finished beach house, this was our view out the back door:

Slowly but surely we got moving back there – getting a hot tub, adding a paver patio, and getting a shed built in a spot that would make the most of the layout and give us a nice nestled feeling. And thanks to a few strategic furnishings and a lot of greenery, here we are today! Our little backyard beach house oasis…

patio table set | lounge set | white planters | window box | string lights | similar drum stool | shed: SW Mellow Coral

The before shot below was the red rusted out shed we got with the house:

And here’s our new setup, which allows us to enter the shed from the left side (that path leads to two double doors that swing out without disrupting the dining area to the right – plus we got to add a charming planter box on the front).

Right across from the hot tub is our outdoor shower. Our contractor installed the same vinyl outdoor shower kit that he put in over at the duplex and it’s quickly becoming the most used shower in the entire house.

hooks | house light | towel | welcome mat | house: SW Mellow Coral | door: SW Pale Patina

Oh, and this is what that same area looked like when we bought the house – complete with a not-so-safe-looking awning that we tore off ourselves. But the back door is still the same one, we just repainted it a cheerful new color (SW Pale Patina – the same color as the duplex shutters and the doors to our pink shed).

And I’ll leave you with one last before & after. This was the view down our side yard when we bought the house (ours was the tree-covered one on the right side).

And here’s that view today. The fence is also new and matches the ones that both of our neighbors already have in their side yards. It gives us some privacy, allows our dog Burger to be loose in the backyard, and offers a sweet little peek down towards the shed when it’s open. It also swings to be double-wide when needed (future planning for parking a golf cart back there). We love that our neighbors on both sides have the same one so from the street it all looks nicely cohesive – once ours weathers to be that darker brown/gray color it’ll be great.

So we hope you guys enjoyed that beach house before & after fest. And remember you can find all the paint colors & furniture/accessory links on our Beach House page – there are just some linked here – but that post is much more exhaustive. You can also see the downstairs before & afters of the beach house here on our finally finished (it’s only a year overdue ;) Beach House Before & After page, which you can find from now on under the blog header in the dropdown menu that says Before & After. And you can browse all of our beach house posts & projects here.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Before & Afters Of Our Beach House: Upstairs appeared first on Young House Love.

[vincentbnaughton]

Wanna See Some Finished Bedrooms & Bathrooms at The Duplex?

We’re working overtime (so many trips to the beach these days!) to get all of the rooms in the duplex finished and photographed so we can get our rental listing up on Airbnb for weeklong summer bookings. Don’t worry, we’ll make a big announcement when that happens – you won’t miss it! So even though we still have a bunch of rooms that aren’t quite done yet (like 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 2 laundry rooms, and 2 more bedrooms and bathrooms), it feels extremely momentous to be 100% finished with the four rooms in this post. *Please imagine every single celebratory emoji here*

So without further ado, I’ll show you around the two bedrooms and two bathrooms at the duplex that are done, done, done! *Imagine that gif of Shaq doing the happy shoulder dance here*

bed | sconces| rug | fan | duvet | pillows | lumbar | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

This is the completed master bedroom on the right side of the duplex. Each side of the house has some slightly different challenges and measurements, and this bed wall was slightly less wide than the one on the other side, which meant that hanging accordion sconces made the most of the space, and they can be flipped on or off from bed. Meticulously planning our outlets so they were placed right by each nightstand (and not behind the bed for example) means there’s a free outlet on each side for people to easily charge their phones right by the bed.

We aimed for as much function as we could, and as for the actual character of the room, we loved exposing that original brick chimney that was hiding behind the wall. And adding a window behind the bed made the room feel so much brighter and more welcoming. We had to appeal to the historic review board and get their permission to add it, so it wasn’t without effort, but it was well worth it! This is a picture we took during the framing stage of that window going in. We really have come a long way, huh?

And we actually love a bed in front of a window (remember we have one in the front bedroom at the beach house!). Our tip is just to choose a bed that allows light to pass through it, like this metal one, so it feels like it layers into the room instead of sitting heavily in front of the window and blocking things off, if that makes sense.

bed | scones| rug |duvet | pillows | lumbar | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

You probably also remember that we added a small addition in the form of a full bathroom off of this room to make it a true master bedroom (another thing we needed permission from the historic review board to do – more on that process here – and you can see how that addition totally changed the back view of the beach house here). We think it’s one of the best things we did to add value and function to this house!

bed | sconce| rug | sound machine | vanity | faucet | pulls | tile | mirror | bath light | door: SW Oyster Bay ?

We’ll have to snap a few more photos when we can to capture it all (it’s a small room, so a video tour might be the best way to show you everything), but the bathroom feels airy and bright thanks to the tonal tile and the greeny-gray doors (Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams – this entire side of the duplex has doors that color). They pair so nicely with the crisp bright walls (Spare White by Sherwin Williams, which is the wall color we used throughout the entire duplex).

floor tile | wall tile | shower floor | grout: frost | door: SW Oyster Bay

Bathrooms are some of the hardest rooms for us to tackle because we tiled all the floors ourselves, which takes significantly more time/sweat than just assembling some furniture like you do in a bedroom or a living room. But let me tell you, the final accessorizing is so easy and fun. It’s like they slowly come together for months with heavy plumbing and tile stuff and then bam, finished in a day when you’re at the “decorating” stage since they’re so small. YESSSS! We’ll celebrate that little victory!

We added a mirror, a few towel hooks, a long white shower curtain, our favorite toilet paper holder that we use everywhere, some leather pulls on the vanity, and a few frames for the wall and called it good. Oh and speaking of the mirror, we knew we’d have to find a somewhat unusual solution since there’s a window right over the sink, but we love how this cool hinged chrome one looks! It’s functional, and it still lets tons of light flood in from behind it. Oh and we frosted the glass so you don’t have to worry that someone is peeking in on you or deal with some weird blind-behind-the-mirror scenario.

bed | sconce| rug | sound machine | vanity | faucet | pulls | tile | mirror | bath light | door: SW Oyster Bay

I guess I should have said that all the doors on this side are Oyster Bay except for these, which were quirky old original doors that we saved! Many of the other doors, trim, windows, and light fixtures in this house had been replaced over the years, so we LOVE that we could save these doors and use them to create two built-in closets that flank the large window. The original charm that they add = priceless!

bed | duvet | pillows | lumbar | baskets | faux fig | bench | dresser| mirror

We added the cubbies on top to balance things out since the original doors are shorter than standard ones. And inside each closet there’s tons of nice storage space to hang clothes, put suitcases, etc – with bonus storage space up top in the cubbies. Sidenote: I love a wood hanger and a luggage rack, so we tucked them into each master closet for people to enjoy.

dresser| mirror | baskets | rug | luggage rack

We also added a dresser across from the bed with a nice big mirror (this one that I LOVE!) for even more space to store clothes. The rug is also really cute in here – I love the beachy feeling and the soft color. It’s interesting but not too demanding, which helps the room feel serene (and the price was right!).

When I walk into that room it just feels so surreal to see it all finished! It has been a long road, and we hardly can picture what it used to look like back when we bought it. There was painted plastic paneling to hide the mold in the walls and a drop ceiling to cover rot from a roof leak that had been and issue for years. There was also threadbare wall-to-wall carpeting and baseboard heating that didn’t work (we redid the entire house’s heating and cooling systems, along with new electrical and plumbing to get everything up to code & safe). This is a before shot of the room from one of our first walk throughs (you can see the entire before tour of this house here).

The window you see above is essentially where we placed the door that leads to the new bathroom addition, and then we added a new window further over towards the chimney on that wall, which you see behind the bed below.

fbed | scones| rug |duvet | pillows | lumbar | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White?

Since before & afters are so much fun, let’s switch gears to the front bedroom on the other side of the duplex. This is what that room looked like before. The theme of this house was definitely add-coverings-to-hide-damage-in-the-walls-and-ceilings, so once again there were drop ceilings and plastic faux-paneling on the walls. And that little front closet (with the blue door) was devoid of any natural light. We quickly discovered that they had covered a window with drywall (!!!!!) so we dug it out of the wall and exposed it again – and it was one of the ones with diamond grills!

Ripping out that crazy window-blocking drywall and exposing the beautiful diamond-grilled window allows light to flood into the room from that closet as well – and lighter walls also help things feel airy and fresh. Again, this front bedroom is on the opposite side of the duplex as the master bedroom we just showed you, which is why it has pink doors like all the other doors on the left side (White Truffle by Sherwin Williams). And the old floors look so much better since refinishing them (more on that here).

rug | faux fig | basket | artwork set | curtains | curtain rod | door: SW White Truffle | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

I always feel like before & afters skip a HUGE part if you’re doing a deep renovation because a ton happens between them. You go backwards, sometimes A LOT, before you can go forwards again. This house had so much rot that we had to strip things waaaaay back to get rid of it all and rebuild it. So just for kicks, the window you see above is almost exactly where I’m standing in this picture below. Did I mentioned we had to strip things waaaaaay back?

So that might explain why we’re feeling so good to be in the home stretch! If you walk through the bedroom door and turn to your right, you see this cozy bed that we found at Ikea and two soft greeny-gray nightstands with pretty gold hardware that ties into the wall mounted accordion lights. The hilarious thing is that we only have two sets of these lights in the entire duplex (one set per side, so someone renting one unit won’t even see the other set) but the two bedrooms that happen to be done both have them in there… which is why they’re all over this post. I promise all four of the other bedrooms have different lamps! Ha!

bed | duvet | pillow | nightstands | sconces | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

How cute are these nightstands though?! And the price is SO GOOD. I love that they’re super functional with three drawers each (yay storage!) and that they bring in some color. It’s actually a subtle nod to the other side of the duplex since they’re almost exactly the same color as the greeny-gray doors on the other side! #MintToBe

bed | duvet | pillow | nightstand | sound machine |sconce | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

There’s also a nice little closet in this bedroom, complete with a dresser for folded clothing. Remember the room with the diamond-grilled window? That’s all redone and it’s such a sweet space. But we haven’t fully finished and snapped photos in there yet. Soon I hope.

Now let’s skip over to the hall bathroom on the right side of the duplex (back to the side with those greeny-gray doors). The tile in here is one of my favorites (even though it was kind of a pain to lay), and we finished the room off with some natural touches, like some leather vanity pulls and a floating wood shelf. We rounded things out with a few other classic items, like an extra long white shower curtain, a round gold mirror, a simple white vanity, and some beachy art.

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | shower fixtures | curtain | rod | shelf | art | toilet

Each side of the duplex originally just had one full bathroom, but the upstairs of each side now has two full baths – along with an additional powder room downstairs, which is so nice. This before shot of the one and only bathroom on the left side is yet another demonstration of the cover-rotting-things approach (don’t try this at home, folks). See how the vinyl floor is bubbled and loose? It’s because there were all sorts of water issues going on under there and they were trying to mask them with sheet vinyl.

And now for the fourth room we’re completely finished with… which is pretty dang similar to the third, ha! It’s the hall bathroom on the left side of the duplex, which has different tile floors but the same vanity and accents.

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | light | curtain | rod | shelf | art

It’s kind of fun to just change one major thing and stare at both of these and try to pick a favorite. Is the bolder blue floor more your speed, or the scrolly pink & green hex? John’s favorite is the blue one and I love the pink one. Maybe when the whole duplex is done we should do a room by room duel and have you guys vote your faves in various polls (I know John’s data-lovin’ mind would enjoy all of those stats).

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | shower fixtures | curtain | rod | shelf | art | toilet

Oh and while we’re on the subject of sides, so many people ask me if I have a favorite side – even close friends lean in and say “whisper it in my ear, I won’t tell anyone” – and I honestly can’t choose! There are so many elements on each side that I love, so I just ping-pong back and forth. For example, I love the kitchen with the pink tile and the blue cabinets on the left side a smidge more than the wood one with the blue backsplash if you super twist my arm (it’s very very close though, you can see them both here), but my favorite twin bedroom by a sliver is the one with the oranges, which is on the right side. DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE!

P.S. You can see the entire process of bringing the duplex back to life here From buying it and planning the layout to screaming into a pillow over a sad setback, it’s thorough.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Wanna See Some Finished Bedrooms & Bathrooms at The Duplex? appeared first on Young House Love.

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Wanna See Some Finished Bedrooms & Bathrooms at The Duplex?

We’re working overtime (so many trips to the beach these days!) to get all of the rooms in the duplex finished and photographed so we can get our rental listing up on Airbnb for weeklong summer bookings. Don’t worry, we’ll make a big announcement when that happens – you won’t miss it! So even though we still have a bunch of rooms that aren’t quite done yet (like 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 2 laundry rooms, and 2 more bedrooms and bathrooms), it feels extremely momentous to be 100% finished with the four rooms in this post. *Please imagine every single celebratory emoji here*

So without further ado, I’ll show you around the two bedrooms and two bathrooms at the duplex that are done, done, done! *Imagine that gif of Shaq doing the happy shoulder dance here*

bed | sconces| rug | fan | duvet | pillows | lumbar | similar side table |wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

This is the completed master bedroom on the right side of the duplex. Each side of the house has some slightly different challenges and measurements, and this bed wall was slightly less wide than the one on the other side, which meant that hanging accordion sconces made the most of the space, and they can be flipped on or off from bed. Meticulously planning our outlets so they were placed right by each nightstand (and not behind the bed for example) means there’s a free outlet on each side for people to easily charge their phones right by the bed.

We aimed for as much function as we could, and as for the actual character of the room, we loved exposing that original brick chimney that was hiding behind the wall. And adding a window behind the bed made the room feel so much brighter and more welcoming. We had to appeal to the historic review board and get their permission to add it, so it wasn’t without effort, but it was well worth it! This is a picture we took during the framing stage of that window going in. We really have come a long way, huh?

And we actually love a bed in front of a window (remember we have one in the front bedroom at the beach house!). Our tip is just to choose a bed that allows light to pass through it, like this metal one, so it feels like it layers into the room instead of sitting heavily in front of the window and blocking things off, if that makes sense.

bed | sconces| similar nightstand | rug |duvet | pillows | lumbar | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

You probably also remember that we added a small addition in the form of a full bathroom off of this room to make it a true master bedroom (another thing we needed permission from the historic review board to do – more on that process here – and you can see how that addition totally changed the back view of the beach house here). We think it’s one of the best things we did to add value and function to this house!

bed | sconce| rug | sound machine | vanity | faucet | pulls | tile | mirror | bath light | door: SW Oyster Bay

We’ll have to snap a few more photos when we can to capture it all (it’s a small room, so a video tour might be the best way to show you everything), but the bathroom feels airy and bright thanks to the tonal tile and the greeny-gray doors (Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams – this entire side of the duplex has doors that color). They pair so nicely with the crisp bright walls (Spare White by Sherwin Williams, which is the wall color we used throughout the entire duplex).

floor tile | wall tile | shower floor | grout: frost | door: SW Oyster Bay

Bathrooms are some of the hardest rooms for us to tackle because we tiled all the floors ourselves, which takes significantly more time/sweat than just assembling some furniture like you do in a bedroom or a living room. But let me tell you, the final accessorizing is so easy and fun. It’s like they slowly come together for months with heavy plumbing and tile stuff and then bam, finished in a day when you’re at the “decorating” stage since they’re so small. YESSSS! We’ll celebrate that little victory!

We added a mirror, a few towel hooks, a long white shower curtain, our favorite toilet paper holder that we use everywhere, some leather pulls on the vanity, and a few frames for the wall and called it good. Oh and speaking of the mirror, we knew we’d have to find a somewhat unusual solution since there’s a window right over the sink, but we love how this cool hinged chrome one looks! It’s functional, and it still lets tons of light flood in from behind it. Oh and we frosted the glass so you don’t have to worry that someone is peeking in on you or deal with some weird blind-behind-the-mirror scenario.

bed | similar nighstand | sconce| rug | sound machine | vanity | faucet | pulls | tile | mirror | bath light | door: SW Oyster Bay

I guess I should have said that all the doors on this side are Oyster Bay except for these, which were quirky old original doors that we saved! Many of the other doors, trim, windows, and light fixtures in this house had been replaced over the years, so we LOVE that we could save these doors and use them to create two built-in closets that flank the large window. The original charm that they add = priceless!

bed | duvet | pillows | lumbar | baskets | faux fig | bench | dresser| mirror

We added the cubbies on top to balance things out since the original doors are shorter than standard ones. And inside each closet there’s tons of nice storage space to hang clothes, put suitcases, etc – with bonus storage space up top in the cubbies. Sidenote: I love a wood hanger and a luggage rack, so we tucked them into each master closet for people to enjoy (there are more hangers in the other closet in here too).

dresser| mirror | baskets | rug | luggage rack

We also added a dresser across from the bed with a nice big mirror (this one that I LOVE!) for even more space to store clothes. The rug is also really cute in here – I love the beachy feeling and the soft color. It’s interesting but not too demanding, which helps the room feel serene (and the price was right!).

When I walk into that room it just feels so surreal to see it all finished! It has been a long road, and we hardly can picture what it used to look like back when we bought it. There was painted plastic paneling to hide the mold in the walls and a drop ceiling to cover rot from a roof leak that had been an issue for years. There was also threadbare wall-to-wall carpeting and baseboard heating that didn’t work (we redid the entire house’s heating and cooling systems, along with new electrical and plumbing to get everything up to code & safe). This is a before shot of the room from one of our first walk throughs (you can see the entire before tour of this house here).

The window you see above is essentially where we placed the door that leads to the new bathroom addition, and then we added a new window further over towards the chimney on that wall, which you see behind the bed below.

bed | scones| rug |duvet | pillows | lumbar | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White?

Since before & afters are so much fun, let’s switch gears to the front bedroom on the other side of the duplex. This is what that room looked like before. The theme of this house was definitely add-coverings-to-hide-damage-in-the-walls-and-ceilings, so once again there were drop ceilings and plastic faux-paneling on the walls. And that little front closet (with the blue door) was devoid of any natural light. We quickly discovered that they had covered a window with drywall (!!!!!) so we dug it out of the wall and exposed it again – and it was one of the ones with diamond grills!

Ripping out that crazy window-blocking drywall and exposing the beautiful diamond-grilled window allows light to flood into the room from that closet as well – and lighter walls also help things feel airy and fresh. Again, this front bedroom is on the opposite side of the duplex as the master bedroom we just showed you, which is why it has pink doors like all the other doors on the left side (White Truffle by Sherwin Williams). And the old floors look so much better since refinishing them (more on that here).

rug | faux fig | basket | artwork set | curtains | curtain rod | door: SW White Truffle | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

I always feel like before & afters skip a HUGE part if you’re doing a deep renovation because a ton happens between them. You go backwards, sometimes A LOT, before you can go forwards again. This house had so much rot that we had to strip things waaaaay back to get rid of it all and rebuild it. So just for kicks, the window you see above is almost exactly where I’m standing in this picture below. Did I mentioned we had to strip things waaaaaay back?

So that might explain why we’re feeling so good to be in the home stretch! If you walk through the bedroom door and turn to your right, you see this cozy bed that we found at Ikea and two soft greeny-gray nightstands with pretty gold hardware that ties into the wall mounted accordion lights. The hilarious thing is that we only have two sets of these lights in the entire duplex (one set per side, so someone renting one unit won’t even see the other set) but the two bedrooms that happen to be done both have them in there… which is why they’re all over this post. I promise all four of the other bedrooms have different lamps! Ha!

bed | duvet | pillow | nightstands | sconces | curtains | curtain rod | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

How cute are these nightstands though?! And the price is SO GOOD. I love that they’re super functional with three drawers each (yay storage!) and that they bring in some color. It’s actually a subtle nod to the other side of the duplex since they’re almost exactly the same color as the greeny-gray doors on the other side! #MintToBe

bed | duvet | pillow | nightstand | sound machine |sconce | wall: SW Spare White | trim: SW Extra White

There’s also a nice little closet in this bedroom, complete with a dresser for folded clothing. Remember the room with the diamond-grilled window? That’s all redone and it’s such a sweet space. But we haven’t fully finished and snapped photos in there yet. Soon I hope.

Now let’s skip over to the hall bathroom on the right side of the duplex (back to the side with those greeny-gray doors). The tile in here is one of my favorites (even though it was kind of a pain to lay), and we finished the room off with some natural touches, like some leather vanity pulls and a floating wood shelf. We rounded things out with a few other classic items, like an extra long white shower curtain, a round gold mirror, a simple white vanity, and some beachy art.

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | shower fixtures | curtain | rod | shelf | art | toilet

Each side of the duplex originally just had one full bathroom, but the upstairs of each side now has two full baths – along with an additional powder room downstairs, which is so nice. This before shot of the one and only bathroom on the left side is yet another demonstration of the cover-rotting-things approach (don’t try this at home, folks). See how the vinyl floor is bubbled and loose? It’s because there were all sorts of water issues going on under there and they were trying to mask them with sheet vinyl.

And now for the fourth room we’re completely finished with… which is pretty dang similar to the third, ha! It’s the hall bathroom on the left side of the duplex, which has different tile floors but the same vanity and accents.

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | light | curtain | rod | shelf | art

It’s kind of fun to just change one major thing and stare at both of these and try to pick a favorite. Is the bolder blue floor more your speed, or the scrolly pink & green hex? John’s favorite is the blue one and I love the pink one. Maybe when the whole duplex is done we should do a room by room duel and have you guys vote your faves in various polls (I know John’s data-lovin’ mind would enjoy all of those stats).

floor tile | wall tile | vanity | pulls | faucet | mirror | shower fixtures | curtain | rod | shelf | art | toilet

Oh and while we’re on the subject of sides, so many people ask me if I have a favorite side – even close friends lean in and say “whisper it in my ear, I won’t tell anyone” – and I honestly can’t choose! There are so many elements on each side that I love, so I just ping-pong back and forth. For example, I love the kitchen with the pink tile and the blue cabinets on the left side a smidge more than the wood one with the blue backsplash if you super twist my arm (it’s very very close though, you can see them both here), but my favorite twin bedroom by a sliver is the one with the oranges, which is on the right side. DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE!

P.S. You can see the entire process of bringing the duplex back to life here From buying it and planning the layout to screaming into a pillow over a sad setback, it’s thorough.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Wanna See Some Finished Bedrooms & Bathrooms at The Duplex? appeared first on Young House Love.

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