#i should probably reblog more of those oc question things those were fun

[salvadoerena]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

OOOOO GOOD QUESTION!!

Funnily enough, tumblr is one of the main ones. My characters tend to develop from ye olde tumblr oc ask/rp blogs, so I got in the habit of reblogging a lot of funny posts tagging my characters. It still happens even if I'm not tagging them. For example if there's a post like "every friend group has the chihuahua, the yorkie, and the borzoi" or like, a picture of someone holding a giant mouse or something, in my head I go "haha, yeah Andy is tooootally a yorkie. Too much energy and slight diva tendencies" or "oh man giant versions of little things would be rad. is there a way I can worldbuild on that? more oxygen in grounded islands means bigger bugs?"

Sometimes, if I'm looking for inspiration regarding character designs/fashion references, I might go on picrew or pinterest and just look and see different styles people might have or mess around with doll makers. Usually picrew doesn't have what I'm looking for exactly, but it'll be something like "oh there's a fishnet top in this one. i think Mareilli would absolutely wear this" or "oh this is a fun hairstyle. i should give more of my characters long hair so they can do more updo's," you know? So if you're looking for character design/inspo, highly recommend!!

If you wanted my biggest website inspiration though, it's probably youtube. I spend a lot of time on there watching speedpaints/character designs/costume builds/etc and it's a HUUUUGE inspiration. A lot of dichotomies I make between Grounded/Aerin islands comes from listening to people like Bernadette Banner regarding like...okay so like she made a video re: the costuming choices in Game of Thrones and that REALLY sent me on a spiral into looking at what differences in fashion and textiles you would find in islands that...float...and have windstorms haha;;;

This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would so the rest is under the cut! (Please read under the cut there's some writing programs and editing services I recommended under there).

And I know everyone says this but seriously: consume as much media as possible. I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much television, music, film, books, anime, manga, comics, podcasts, and video games have either driven me to better my writing or have inspired me to make certain creative choices.

A lot of things from Seraetia were heavily inspired by Black Sails, from things like costume design to obfuscating certain characters' motives to me deciding to go whole hog on including polyamory as an end-game relationship status for some characters. Reading The Locked Tomb series and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians (plus literally everything else in that series haha) really pushed me into forcing myself to work on my imagery and prose, while also forcing me to think about pacing and how/if I should write it as a saga or how arcs should work. Nonfiction stories and documentaries also help!! Though, I'm pretty biased as I'm more into animals and psychological research, but I have definitely referred to those things when thinking up like, units of measurement and cuisine and things.

Also do NOT underestimate the power of infodumping and word vomiting with friends. When I write out my acknowledgements, @okiedoki and @miscbeary are going to be front and center "Thank you guys so much for letting me speak nonsense for hours on end and just nodding along." Roleplay with friends!! Even silly little inconsequential things or alternate universes or iterations upon iterations will help you to flesh out your characters! I've come up with so much about James and he's gone through so much development because I would go "Haha what if he was in the modern world he'd probably own an iguana that would be funny. Why an iguana...? You know, it's probably because he likes to be seen as different, but also because he just thinks they're cool. They're dinosaur-like and he enjoys the fact that something so unconventional and kind of scary can love and be loved--OH MY GOD JAMES SEES HIMSELF AS A MONSTER AND USES THE IGUANA TO PROJECT AND TEACH HIMSELF HE'S WORTHY OF LOVE."

*cracks knuckles*

Now in terms of actual programs you can use to write stories!!

Google Docs tends to be my go-to, but ever since I discovered StimuWrite 2, I tend to switch between both. Since I do most of my writing at night, Gdocs is really harsh on my eyes (even with f.lux, blue light glasses, and darkreader), so I like that you can set a gentler background on StimuWrite. Even better, it makes my ADHD brain happy and actually stay on task bc there's so much stimulation in there lol The only downside is that it doesn't really save your work (there's an emergency back-up it creates, but it's only for the last couple of writing sessions I believe), so I'll use it to write out a bulk portion and then transfer it to Gdocs.

If you're planning on writing a serious novel and want something with a little bit more organizational prowess, I would go with Scrivener. It has a lot of bells and whistles that are actually pretty neat, like being able to save reference documents/photos and putting it in the same "container" as the actual writing passage. Honestly? It's a lot. But!! It includes a built-in tutorial that does a REALLY good job of going through everything, so highly highly HIGHLY recommend following it because it explains the features very well and I do quite like them! Unfortunately, it does cost $60, but it's a one-time purchase and genuinely very useful.

If you're more into screenwriting that novels and the like, cannot recommend FadeIn enough. We had to use that in my Creative Screenwriting class and it was SO easy to use and made exporting scripts SUCH a breeze. In fact, Welcome to Irth was entirely developed in FadeIn, haha.

If you're looking for more like, art resources I would go with things like Clip Studio Paint/Paint Tool SAI. I used to use FireAlpaca like a decade ago, and I really enjoyed it! Can't say how well it's held up, though. PureRef is great too!! It helps you keep track of your reference images, and you can set it to "float" on top of other programs.

FINALLY LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!

If you're looking for an editing service, please please PLEASE look into RoseLark Publishing. I had the privilege of working with them this past summer getting a Manuscript Assessment and I'm so glad I did. They're very professional and are great at communicating their timelines and everything! They might still be accepting editing assessment applications at this time, but you can shoot them an e-mail on their contact page!

Anyways, I am going to stop myself here or I will literally not shut up. Thank you for asking!! I looooooove love talking about my writing and apparently about the writing process as well, lol.

[splicerspawn]

tell us more about valaun'drin!!!

AHH of course!! ;u; I already posted a long thing here when I went wild with oc building, but in “short” he’s a dark elf i created for my first d&d campaign who is (well, used to be) a travelling actor, and part time criminal like the rest of his theatre gang (whom i really wanna work more with later)! Whether or not he’s a good actor is under debate but most signs lead to no.He has a mysterious mechanical crab he named Mr. Snips and a flute named Sir Pervical III (fates of I and II unknown except I think he destroyed one in a knife fight). Personality-wise he is very (VERY very) pretentious, confident and self-serving which is why I love him. VERY sassy even when he doesn’t intend to. Attempts flirting with basically everyone. Focused on his appearance and image and looks just AMAZING in purple. He is actually a pretty nice and helpful person but it’s difficult to know when he’s being genuine. Basically he is kind of a difficult character to play since it’s hard to gain his loyalty (which does still belong to the theatre gang), aaand since our dwarf does a lot of stupid shit, he’s been like THIS close to leaving at least 5 times. Like I HONESTLY don’t think it would be unrealistic if he just joined the next good villain that comes along.I’ve been very hyped about him this year, I think playing d&d is a really good way for me to develop characters and express myself in a way. Thank you so much for the interest!! I’ve also drawn him a lot recently so I’m gonna post some more art of him soon.

[atlafan]

Wrecked - One Shot

a/n: this is slightly inspired by the wilds because I watched that recently, but it’s in no way as messed up or sad. psychologist/therapist!Harry is detective Nikki Reese’s ex’s best friend. They end up on the same cruise, and the two end up going overboard due to a freak hurricane. What happens while they’re stranded? Well, you’ll have to read to find out! Feedback and reblogs are super helpful! I really want to know what you all think of this one!!! (not proofread) You can support me here if you’re able!

Warnings: a lot of angst, a little fluff, and some smut. TW: trauma/dealing with trauma (Nikki is an SVU detective, so some things of that nature are brought up, but not in graphic detail)

Words: 14K

Pairing: Harry x OC

It was supposed to be a cruise, a ten-day cruise around the Caribbean to help clear her head. Well, it was originally an engagement present to herself and her ex, but since they were now broken up, it was to help clear her head. Nikki never would have thought she would end up in this situation, and especially not with someone she hated just as much as her ex…his best friend. As she lays under the stars for yet another night, she can’t help but think back to how she got herself into this mess in the first place.

//

She was packed and ready to go, excited even. Nikki had never gone on a cruise before, and she was looking forward to meeting some new people. She was never one to be nervous to go to things alone, she knew how to take care of herself and keep herself safe. She had grown up as the mom friend, so her purse was always stalked with essentials. She had one of those ones that was like a little backpack.

Nikki got to the docks a little later than she was hoping, but there was nothing she could do about getting stuck in traffic. She gets out of her cab in her white sundress, large sunhat, and sunglasses, and rolls her suitcase up the pathway to the boat. There was a bit of a line, but she didn’t mind. For the next ten days, she had all the time in the world.

There was a large area for her to check in at, and get her room key. She was surprised she wouldn’t be able to do it over her phone, but she knew that once they set sail the WIFI may not be as strong in certain places. She brought a spare lanyard to stick it on and everything.

“Hello, Miss.” The woman at the table smiles.

“Hello, I’m Nicole Reese.” Nikki smile.

The woman nods and looks her up in the system. She takes out two room keys and hands them to Nikki, along with a couple of pamphlets that were full of activity options, and where the boat would be stopping.

“Here you are, Miss Reese. We hope you enjoy your stay with us. It’s going to be an excellent cruise. Your other party has already checked in.”

“My who?” Nikki’s heart stops.

“There’s two of you signed up for this suite. A nice gentleman checked in about twenty minutes ago.” She taps a few times on the keyboard. “A Mr. Harry Styles.” The woman smiles. “Has there been a mix up?”

“Nope.” Nikki swallows. “Everything’s fine.”

Nikki quickly makes her way to her room. The ship was pretty easy to navigate. She was enraged. Had Kyle sent Harry in his place? Why the fuck was Harry even there? Did he suddenly acquire time off from work? She scans her key card, and enters the suite.

“Jesus, fuck!” Harry shouts. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?! What are you doing here?!”

“Kyle sold me his ticket…he…he didn’t think you’d still go.” His face falls. “Why did you?”

“Because I paid for my own fucking ticket, and I wasn’t going to let him ruin my trip! I planned the god damn thing, I should get to enjoy it. You need to leave before the ship does.”

“Sorry, I paid to be here too, I’m staying.”

“Don’t be a prick, Harry.”

“M’not trying to be. I got the time off last minute, I need a vacation just like anyone else.”

“And you came here alone?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Thought it would be nice to meet some new people…apparently you thought the same. Unless…oh no, did Alex come with you?” He groans.

“No, she’s not with me.” Nikki rolls her eyes. She knew it was useless to argue with Harry. “That couch should be a pullout, you can sleep on it.”

“But I’ve already started to unpack in the bedroom…you know I have a bad back, Nikki, come on.” He follows her into the bedroom. “It’s a king sixed bed, we can just share. I’ll even make a pillow divider if that makes you more comfortable.”

“I am not sharing a bed with my ex fiance’s best friend!” She looks around. “It’s bad enough we have to share a fucking bathroom.”

“Look, if I thought this boat would have any extra room, I’d go ask for one, but the woman at the desk said it was a fully booked cruise.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I know this isn’t an ideal situation…but think of this way, it’s nice to know at least one person here, right?”

“Wrong.” She shakes her head. “I came here so I could have some time to just not be reminded of Kyle for one fucking second! Now with you here…I’m gonna be reminded of him every single fucking day.” She blinks away a few tears. “You probably think I’m being stupid since it’s been three whole months since we ended things, but-“

“I don’t think it’s stupid…you two were together for three years, that’s a long time to be with someone.”

Nikki nods, and then sighs heavily.

“I think they’re going to make the safety announcements soon. Uh, let’s back out to the main deck, yeah? We can figure all of the sleeping arrangements out later.”

“Fine.”

The two silently head up to the main deck and listen to all of the announcements on how to stay safe, and other things they might need to know. There were a lot of passengers all around them. Nikki was hoping to have some type o rebound while on this trip. How the fuck was she supposed to bring someone back to her room with Harry there? Maybe he was thinking the same thing. His cruise could have easily just been ruined like hers.

“Have you told him I’m here?” She asks him as they move towards the railing to watch the boat take off.

“No.” Harry says. “My phone’s on airplane mode, I’m trying to unplug while I’m here. It’s really none of his business, Nikki.”

“That, or you just don’t want him asking questions.” She scoffs.

“Either way, I haven’t told him, and I’m not going to, okay? You can relax.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because the suite I thought I was going to have to myself has been infiltrated by a six foot, curly headed, no good moron!”

“Hey! I’m not the one who cheated on you, okay?! Don’t take it out on me. Maybe you should have been a better partner to him and he wouldn’t have felt the need to stray.”

“Fuck you, Harry.” Nikki huffs, and walks away from him.

He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but she shouldn’t have called him a moron. That was the problem with Nikki, she thought she was smarter than everyone else, but you don’t get to become an SVU detective by being stupid. It wasn’t her fault that her work was a 24-hour job. She was lucky she even had the time off for this. All activities on the boat were all inclusive, and she wasn’t going to waste it. When she gets back to the room, she starts to unpack so she can freshen up. Harry comes in shortly after. She was just getting out of the bathroom.

“Nikki, look, I-“

“The pillow divider should be fine…I’d feel bad if you hurt your back.”

“Are you serious?”

“We’re both adults, think we can share a bed without it getting weird. You were right before…it’s good to know at least one other person.”

“Nikki, I’m sorry about what I said before.”

“Don’t be. You were absolutely right. I drove him to it.”

She knew how to play the game and keep the peace with someone. It would be easier to play nice with Harry so she could enjoy her trip than it would be to fight with him the entire time. And he was right about one thing, he wasn’t the one she was truly mad at. A little resentful maybe, but she wasn’t mad at Harry.

“Do you…wanna head down to the bar?” He asks her.

“Yeah.” She smiles. “That sounds good.”

Nikki doesn’t stay with Harry for long. She finds herself talking to a cute guy that was seated next to her. Harry didn’t mind because he was talking to some other folks as well. Nikki has dinner with the cute guy, and eventually goes back to his room with him. She has her fun and goes back to her own room. Harry was there, just getting out of the shower, his towel hanging low on her hips.

“Hi.” Nikki says, blushing. “Are you done in there?”

“Yeah, it’s all yours.”

“I…I talk in my sleep sometimes…and sometimes I…punch.”

“Punch?”

“Yeah, I have, like, bad dreams because of work.”

“Oh…well, thanks for the warning. I’m sorry that happens to you.”

“I’ve learned to live with it.” She grabs something to wear to bed before going into the bathroom. She takes a shower, and then comes out. She smirks when she sees the pillows in the middle of the bed. “Thanks.”

“It’s the least I could do since I ruined your vacation.”

“You didn’t know I was coming.” She gets into the bed and turns the light off. “Just like how I didn’t know you were coming. I had a bad reaction before.” She sighs as she gets comfortable. “Nice bed.”

“Yeah, better than a hotel. Well…goodnight, Nik.”

“Night, Har.”

//

Harry was rustled awake around four in the morning. He looks over his shoulder and sees Nikki thrashing around. He sits up immediately and moves the pillows out of the way. She was drenched in sweat, so he rips the blankets back. She was gritting her teeth and kicking her legs.

“Nikki!” Harry grabs her shoulders to try to wake her up. “Nicole!” He straddles her hips to try to still her body. She was really strong. Her eyes burst open and she gasps for breath.

“What are you doing?!”

“You were having a bad dream!” He strokes her cheek, and moves her matted hair away from her face. Her breathing calms eventually and he gets off of her. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

“Please.” She sits up. Harry jumps out of bed and goes to fill up a glass. He comes back quickly and hands it to her, sitting on her side of the bed. She takes slow sips. “Thanks.”

“That looked pretty scary…do you remember what your dream was about?”

“Um, yeah, but I don’t want to scare you. I can’t really talk about cases.”

“If you need someone to talk to, I don’t-“

“It’s fine, Harry.” She snaps.

“Is…is this why you and Kyle never moved in together? Because you get these night terrors?”

“That…among other things. I don’t want to talk about him right now. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t be.” He puts his hand on her leg, giving her a squeeze. “Why don’t I put the TV on, hm? We can just relax for a bit, and-“

“Harry, fuck, I don’t need you to be my shrink!”

“I’m not trying to be! Jesus, you cops all think seeing a therapist makes you weak, but it’s actually the strongest fucking thing you can do.” He huffs. “I’m turning the TV on so I can get back to sleep. I need the white noise.”

He grabs the remote off the dresser and turns the TV on. He flips around the stations until he finds MTV.

“MTV?” Nikki asks.

“They show music videos early in the morning. It’s what the whole fucking station was created for in the first place.” He puts the volume on low, and gets back into bed. Neither of them bother putting the pillow barriers back.

“You don’t understand the stigma. If we see psychologists…they think we can’t do our jobs properly.”

“So you just suffer in silence? Must be fucking terrifying to have nightmares so often.”

“It’s my problem, not yours.”

“But it doesn’t have to be a problem, there are a lot of things you can do to-“

“Harry, please just drop it.” She turns away from him, sinking back into the mattress, and pulling the blankets back onto herself. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Whatever.”

//

They barely speak for the next couple of days, which sucks because the first couple of days are just spent on the boat until they reach the Caribbean islands. Their first stop would be in Florida, and Nikki couldn’t wait to get off the boat and explore where they were getting off at.

“Hey, uh…do you think we could grab breakfast together this morning?” Harry asks her just as she was packing her bag for the day.

“Sure.” She sighs.

He nods, gets his own backpack together, and they head to the breakfast buffet. They both had started to make other friends, but Harry thought it might be nice to explore the Florida coast with her. Luckily, Nikki hadn’t had any more night terrors since that first night. Her head was really starting to feel clearer. They’re quiet at the table they choose to sit at. Harry sighs heavily as he sips his orange juice. He notices Nikki stuffing a few apples into her bag.

“What are you doing?” He asks her.

“We’re going to be out all day today, I wanted to make sure I had snacks.”

“You need three apples?”

“For someone else…if they need one.” She mutters. “I just like being prepared, I can’t help it.”

“Well, I suppose if I get hungry later, I’ll be thankful.”

“Oh, are we wandering around together today?” She raises her eyebrows, and takes a bite of her bagel.

“I was hoping so. I don’t like that we’ve barely spoken these last couple of days. We’re friends, Nikki, why can’t we act like it?”

“I stopped being friends with you the day I found out Kyle was fucking cheating on me.” She stands up and storms off. Harry groans, but follows her. It had gotten increasingly windy out, normal stormy morning in Florida. Although, it had started to drizzle. “Stop following me, Harry!”

“No!” He grabs her wrist. They were outside on one of the lower decks. Not many people were outside due to the weather. “I didn’t know, okay?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t know Kyle was cheating on you!”

“How could you not have known, you’re his fucking roommate! And apparently, it was going on for over six months!”

“He never brought her home! Any girl that he brought over was you, and any time he was gone for the night I just assumed he was with you…if I had known…” He steps closer to her. “I would have confronted him, and told him to cut it out. I would never condone something like that.”

“But you’re still friends with him! You just sat in your room while we were fighting!”

“I’ve been friends with him since uni! I was confused, I thought it’d be better to be on his side and keep the peace. I yelled at him afterwards. I told him he was an asshole for proposing to you while having someone else on the side. And I don’t live with him anymore, alright? I moved out a month ago, got my own place. We’re still friends, yeah, but I…I couldn’t look at him every day knowing what he did to you.” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “I always liked you, Nikki. From the second he started bringing you around, I thought he hit the jack pot, and he fucked it up.”

“He told me I drove him to it. That I wasn’t around enough, that I wasn’t giving him what he needed, but he didn’t feel like he could break it off because we already invested so much time. The fact that it was with his co-worker, someone I never even really trusted.” Nikki scoffs. “I’m glad we weren’t living together, sort of made things easier.” She looks down. “I can’t help that my job keeps me busy, and that I’m not always up to fucking my boyfriend after dealing with a sexual assault case.” She looks back up at him.

“I get it.” He sighs, and grips the railing. “Somedays I come home after a rough session with a patient…like, you know when it’s so bad that when you drive home in silence and go the speed limit?” She nods at him. “It sucks sometimes…being someone that makes other people’s lives easier.”

“Right, because telling a worried mother that her child was found dead and buried in the woods totally makes things easier.” She rolls her eyes.

“That mother gets closure at least. She knows where her kid was and what happened. It helps with the grieving process.” He looks at her again. “You know I work with a lot of victims and survivors, right? I’m not out prescribing anti-depressants to a bunch of rich fucks.”

“I guess I forgot about that.” She furrows her brows at him. “You really didn’t know he was cheating on me?”

“Nikki, I swear, I had no idea.”

Just as she was about to say something else, the wind had picked up. Everything happened really fast from there. Sirens had started to go off, a hurricane was whipping up the coast. It wasn’t supposed to, it was supposed to travel out east, but it didn’t. Harry and Nikki had grabbed onto one another, but it wasn’t enough to stay grounded. They both got flipped over the side of the boat. Nikki had just grabbed at one of the life boats that was attached to the side in time. She pulled the tag, it inflated, and they landed in the water. They were dragged under at first, trying desperately to hang onto the raft. Nikki wasn’t sure how much longer she could hang on for, though. Everything around her started to fade. All she could see was her hand grasping around the rope of the raft before everything black.

//

Nikki’s eyes fluttered open when she felt water splashing on her face. She sits up slowly when she realizes she was drifting along the shoreline. She stands up and tries to figure out her surroundings. She remembered the storm, but she could have been blown all the way to Cuba. She looks to her left and sees the orange raft. Her backpack was next to it, thank god. She stands up slowly and goes over to the raft to flip it over. She steps back when she sees Harry laying there.

“Fuck.” She breathes and kneels down next to him. She almost forgot he was swept away with her. She checks his pulse first, he’s alive. She starts performing CPR, just the chest compressions. Before long he’s coughing up water. “Oh, thank god.”

“What…what happened?” He sits up slowly.

“We got…blown off the boat, I think. There was a big storm that wasn’t properly forecasted. I wonder if anyone else got thrown off like we did.” She looks around, but doesn’t see anyone else. “I have no idea where we are.” She opens her backpack. Everything was wet, but still useful. “My phone’s fully charges and working.”

“How?”

“I have one of those waterproof cases.” She squints at it, raising it up. “No signal.” She digs through her bag and finds a small baggie.

“What’s that?”

“Personal hot spot.” She turns it on and connects her phone. “The signal’s weak, but it’s there.” She stands up and starts walking around. “Map app won’t work.” She groans. “Fuck, I just wanna know where we are!”

“Try calling the ship director, I bet they’re taking attendance for safety measures.”

“Do you happen to know what that number is?”

“No.”

“Well, neither do I. Let me call my partner. The WIFI calling should work.” She taps the number and puts the phone on speaker.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”

“Dan! Thank god you answered.”

“Woah, Reese, what’s wrong?”

“There was a freak storm down in Florida…I got thrown off the boat. I just woke up ashore somewhere, but I have no idea where…could be an island off the coast, or we could be in another part of Florida.”

“Can you try sending me your location?”

“The map app won’t work…”

“But you might be able to send your location over iMessage. Are you alone?”

“No…a man named Harry Styles got thrown over with me. He’s a friend of Kyle’s.”

“Gross.”

“There are worse people to be stranded with.” She smirks at Harry.

“Are either of you hurt?”

“I’m a little achy, but nothing’s sprained or broken. Harry, are you alright?”

“Yeah, m���fine.” He says as he stands up.

“Alright, I’ve got your location…shit.”

“Dan.” She sighs. “Where the fuck are we?”

“Cuba.”

“How the fuck did we end up in Cuba?!” She shouts. “The ferry here would be an overnight trip for fuck sake.”

“Don’t know. I’m looking into it now and it looks like a pretty powerful hurricane swept you guys away. It’s like it chewed you up and spit you out. You’re lucky to be alive. I have the name of the cruise ship, since you left me the contact info, I’ll alert them right away. I’m sure they’re taking stock of who might be missing. I’ll have to get special clearance to get you out of there. It could take a few days. Do you have any supplies?”

“Yeah, I’ve got my mini water purifier, and a couple of bottles, some fruit and granola bars…basic essentials.”

“Okay, stay where you are, try to make a shelter in case more rain comes. Don’t use your phone at all unless I call you. I don’t want your battery running out. I’ll get you out of there, Nik.”

“Thank you, Dan. You’re amazing.”

“I’m sorry your vacation got ruined. I’m sure Captain will give you an extended leave.”

“I’m not worried about that right now. It’ll be dark in a few hours and we need to get to building a shelter like you said. Keep me updated.”

“Will do, stay safe.”

Nikki hangs up the phone and looks around.

“What are you looking for?”

“Drift wood. We can use some and the raft to make a little shelter to huddle under. We also need to make a fire to stay warm. If we’re going to be out here for a few days, we need to think smart.”

“What if there are wild animals running around, or-“

“Harry.” She puts her hands on his shoulders. “I know this is really scary, but you can’t freak out, okay? Did you ever read Hatchet growing up?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Okay, so, that little boy got stranded in a fucking forest in Canada…in winter! We’re at least on a warm beach. We can still wash up, and I have a mini water purifier. We’ll be okay. I just need you to not freak out. I’ll need your help.”

“Okay, but after we’re rescued you better let me freak out as much as I want.”

“Deal.” She sighs and goes to her backpack. “Here, put on some sunscreen.” She hands him the sprayable can.

“What are you, the fucking grandmother from Halloween Town? Is that a bottomless bag?” He chuckles as he sprays himself with the lotion.

“No, but I’m a detective that helps people that go missing, so I’ve learned some things along the way. I never leave my house without a stocked bag.”

//

The two work together to move the raft back so it wasn’t near the water. They’re able to find some wood sturdy enough to prop it up for a small shelter. Next, they work on making a fire. Luckily, Nikki’s lighter was still working. Harry was able to keep things going as she checked their supplies.

“We’ll have to ration a bit. Apples are high in carbs, so they should keep us full enough. I’ve got two bottles of water in here. Once we finish them we can use the purifier. I even have two travel toothbrushes and toothpaste in here.” She smiles. “I have deodorant too, but no soap, sorry. We’ll just have to use the salt water to keep us clean.” She furrows her brows as she keeps looking at everything. “I have granola bars as well. Ugh, thank god I had my period last week. I’d be pissed if I had to deal with that too.” She takes out a couple of tampons. “Besides, these’ll be great fire starters.”

“I guess things could be a lot worse.” He sighs and sits next to her once the fire is good to go. “We’ll probably have to take turns watching it, huh?”

“Most likely.” She starts laughing.

“What could possibly be funny?” He asks.

“Nothing, just…wouldn’t it be hilarious if we were just in some rich family’s backyard?” She looks behind them. “I know we’re not, but it would be funny.”

“Yeah.” He smirks. “Well, now that most of the excitement is over, I’m gonna go take a leak.”

“Hey, if you shit, make sure you dig a hole first and cover it. We don’t need to attract animals.”

“Not that I have to do that right now, but you don’t have toilet paper in there do you?”

“I have a packet of tissues, but they need to dry out a bit. Got pads too, those could work…but I may hog them since I have more areas to wipe than you do.”

“Fair enough. Suppose I could use some leaves if need be. I’ll be right back.” He disappears into a discrete area so he can wee, and then comes back to find her rubbing lotion onto her bare arms and legs.

“I’m really glad I wore shorts today and not a dress.” He sits down next to her. “Don’t worry about your luggage back on the ship, either, Dan will make sure everything will get back to us.” She takes out a gun from her bag.

“Holy shit.” He flinches.

“Relax, it’s a flare gun. I’m saving it to use for when they come for us. No use in using it now. I don’t really feel like getting thrown into a Cuban prison.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly on my bucket list.” Harry chuckles. “What did you do to the water bottles?”

“Oh, I used a marker to mark off how much we should drink at a time to conserve it.”

“God, if there was ever someone to get stranded with, I’m glad it’s you. You’ve thought of everything.”

“I’ve just been trained well.” She shrugs. “Wish I had some blankets or something. It’s gonna be shit sleeping on the sand.”

“We could lay our clothes out and sleep on those.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. We’d create more body heat if we’re almost naked.”

“Oh, so we’re cuddling?” He smirks.

“Not cuddling, surviving.” She corrects him.  “We could drag out some of the larger leaves too. Make a pellet of sorts.” She stands up. “Come on, let’s go search for some.”

“Okay.” He watches as she grabs a lipstick out of her bag. “Freshening up?”

“It’s to mark the trees so we don’t get lost.” She deadpans, and he follows her into the unknown territory.

//

“Four days?!” Nikki shouts into her phone.

“I’m sorry, that was the quickest I could get clearance for a plane to Cuba.”

“But it’s a rescue mission, Dan!”

“Yeah, into a non U.S. territory, Nikki. I spoke with the cruise ship director, you were the only two unaccounted for. Your things are safe. I flew down to Florida today and gathered both of your things. I made sure to get you both a full refund on your tickets. I also contacted the people on your emergency contact lists so they’re informed. It’s going to be okay, you just need to survive on that beach. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Try to get some sleep. I’ll call you in the morning if I get any new information.”

Nikki sighs heavily and lays back under the raft. Her and Harry had made a decent enough pellet with leaves so they could keep their clothes on.

“Four days we’re going to be stuck out here.” She shakes her head. “This is all my fault.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry lays back next to her.

“If I hadn’t stormed off from breakfast, we never would’ve been swept off the ship!”

“Hey,” he turns on his side to look at her better, “don’t do that. Neither of us had any idea a hurricane was coming. At least we know someone’s coming for us. So we’ll feel a little hungry and maybe we’ll get bored. Let’s just pretend we’re on a really remote vacation.” He smiles at her.

“I have to pee.” She stands up and finds a spot to do her business before joining him back on the ground. “Let’s try to get some sleep.” She rolls away from him.

“Didn’t you say we needed to keep each other warm?”

“Yeah…I…prefer to be the little spoon.” She smutters. Harry wraps his arm around her, and gets his leg between hers. “Hold on.” She sits up and takes her bra off under shirt, then she takes her shorts off. “Need something to put under my head…and I can’t sleep with this thing on.”

“Good idea.” Harry peels his shirt off and puts it under his own head. They get back into position. She feels warmer with his bare chest against her back. “Goodnight, Nik.”

“Goodnight, Harry.”

//

The next morning, Harry wakes up alone. He sits up and gets his shirt back on. He squints towards the water and sees Nikki in her bra and underwear. She was about calf deep rinsing herself. She brushes her teeth and walks back towards their little campsite.

“Morning.” She says as she throws some wood on the fire. “Water’s warm. I was just cleaning off yesterday’s sunscreen.” She grabs the can and sprays her body, rubbing it in on certain spots. “What?” She noticed he was staring at her.

“N-nothing, uh, where’s that other toothbrush?”

“Here.” She tosses it to him, along with the toothpaste.

“Thanks.” He clears his throat and gets up. When he comes back, he sees that she’s put her other clothes back on. “So…how should we handle not dying today?”

“Think we need to treat it as a beach day, but in the shade. I don’t want us getting dehydrated.”

“I can’t sit around for four days, I’ll go bananas.” He sighs. “Can’t we go for a walk?”

“Sure, but we shouldn’t go too far.” She looks at her watch. “This’ll tell me when we hit a mile, how does that sound?”

“Works for me.” He shrugs. The two go for a walk. Nikki puts her phone and hotspot in her back pocket. “What’s your percentage at?”

“Eighty. I put it on airplane mode last night to conserve it. I know it won’t last a full four days, but I’m hoping Dan can get here sooner than that. Special clearance for a fucking rescue mission.” She scoffs. “This is ridiculous! Who’d you put as your emergency contact?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Harry.”

“It’s Kyle, alright?”

“Wow, so you can barely look at the guy, but you put him down for an emergency contact.”

“I’m British, my family lives in the U.K., he’s the only person close enough to me here that I could put down. Who was yours?”

“Alex.”

“She’s so annoying, I don’t know how you stand to be friends with her.”

“I happen to love her, so it seems like a you problem.”

“She’s never been nice to me.”

“It’s because she likes you and you don’t like her back, and she’s not great with dealing with it.”

“She likes me?!”

“Yeah, she thinks you’re cute.” Nikki shrugs. “Think you were still seeing Tina when I first introduced her to you, and then you broke up and didn’t make a move, she was sort of hurt, but to be fair she didn’t make a move either.”

“She’s pretty, but she’s not my type…sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Can’t help you like, you know? I still can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for a lawyer, especially with the business that I’m in.”

“You know, he used to talk about you all the time. He loved how were this strong, independent woman who was just…badass. He saw you as fearless, and he really liked that. We’re both needy guys…I think the busier you got, he just didn’t know what to do with himself. I personally would have tried to talk to you about it and not my colleague, but that’s just me.”

“He’s a brilliant lawyer, but he sure is a fucking moron. Has he…mentioned me at all since we broke up?”

“I know he felt like shit at first, but…th-the woman, Katie, moved in with him when I moved out…I’m sorry.”

“Well, they’ve been together nine months, perfectly acceptable amount of time to be together before moving in. I bet she never has nightmares.” She looks down at her watch. “We should turn around.” They do, and get back to walking towards their things.

“I know you were blindsided, but…I think things happen for a reason. You two weren’t supposed to get married. I…and this is just my inner psychologist speaking, but when I’d observe you two, you just never really seemed all that compatible. Especially as time went on. Your witty banter turned into hushed arguments. I think when two people get too comfortable, they’re too scared to break it off and start all over.”

“I wanted to marry him. He was the love of my life, Harry. And he…he ripped me to shreds. In my profession, it’s pretty male dominated, or there’s a ton of lesbians, which is fine, but…sometimes I don’t always feel like a woman first. Kyle…Kyle always made me feel like a woman first, and a detective second. It made me feel special.”

“Nik…he…he learned how to treat you like that because of me. He was constantly asking me for advice on how to deal with you.”

“How to deal with me?” They get back to their camp. “Didn’t realize I needed to be dealt with.” She huffs.

“See, that’s your problem right there. You’re extremely hot headed! Are you, like, the bad cop at work? Do you get into the suspect’s face, and scream at them?”

“No, I keep my cool at work. No one gives you information when you yell at them.”

“You’re constantly jumping to conclusions, Nikki. You look down on people when they can’t figure things out right away. He wanted to be with you, but he didn’t know how. So I helped him.”

“Right, are you done pointing out my flaws now?” She rolls her eyes.

“I��m not trying to do that. I just think-“

“That’s your problem. You never stop thinking. You never do. You’re a fucking wallflower, Harry. You come off cool with your tattoos and your nail polish and your rings, but underneath it all you’re a shy little boy who never speaks up when he should.”

“And you like to push people away so much that every word you spit stings.”

“I think we should not talk until it’s time to eat later.” She says, looking away from him.

“That’s your best idea yet.” He says, and storms off. She watches him peel his cloths off, stripping to his boxers, and dive into the water.

//

They share an apple in the midafternoon. She was able to cut it up with her swiss-army knife. They didn’t say anything to each other. Nikki and Harry used to have a decent enough friendship. He would often watch a movie with her and Kyle, or he’d come out to the bar to hang out with their other friends. They got know each other well for the most part. She hated feeling such disdain towards him, but right now he was the only punching bag in sight, and she was abusing him for it. Around three in the afternoon, she comes over to sit with him.

“You should put more sunscreen on your face.” She hands him the can. “I just reapplied.”

“Thanks.” He spritzes it into his hands and works it into his skin. “Look, about before…I’m sorry we keep getting into these heated debates. I truly think you deserve better than Kyle, and it kills me to see you still so hurt and hung up.”

“I’m just…grieving the loss of the last three years still. I’m sorry for flipping out so much.”

“You get a pass while we’re stuck here. It’s not easy to keep your cool while you’re stranded.” He nudges her and she chuckles. “Can we just call a truce for the time being?”

“Yeah, definitely.” She smiles at him. “What do you say we go with that beach vacation idea of yours, and build some sand castles?”

“Oh, that sounds like fun.”

The two get to work on building sand castles, and laughing when they knocked them over afterwards. It was good to exert a little energy so that they could sleep that night. Just like the night before, Harry cuddled Nikki with his bare chest pressed to her covered back. They didn’t get any updates from Dan that day other than an iMessage that things were still a go for a rescue plane to come in a couple of days.

Harry woke up in the middle of the night feeling cold. When he reached for Nikki, she’s not there. He sits up in a panic. He hasn’t really panicked yet since he woke up the other day because she told him to stay calm. Without her, he wasn’t sure how to stay calm in such a stressful situation. Yes, they knew people were coming for them, but it was still their job to survive on this unknown beach. His breathing slows when he sees her laying closer to the fire, staring up at the stars. He gets up, without grabbing his shirt to put back on, and goes to lay next to her.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack.” He says, turning his head in her direction.

“Sorry, I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s alright…just got a little cold is all.” She hums her response without looking at him. “Are you looking at the constellations?”

“Not necessarily.” She sighs. “The only time I’ve ever seen the sky this dark, like, without light pollution, was when I was twenty-one. I got to go to Israel for a birthright trip with my older sister. We camped out in the desert. We all stood in this big circle and preyed and reflected on where we were. I had never seen so many stars.” She turns to look at him now. “I was so overwhelmed that I cried. It was so beautiful.” She looks back up at the night sky. “What you said earlier, about things happening for a reason…I think you’re right. Maybe it wasn’t a cruise that I needed to clear my head…maybe it was getting stranded out here with zero distractions. That’s all the cruise was, a big distraction, but now…being out here…my head’s never been more clear.” She takes a deep breath. “I think I’m done mourning that relationship. The good was good, but the bad was bad…we weren’t right for each other, and I think I’m starting to really see that now. I…I’ll never forgive him for hurting me the way he did, but I want him to be happy, and if that other woman makes him happy and can give him the things that I couldn’t, then, well, good for him.”

“That’s a very adult way of looking at things.” Harry smirks. “It’s amazing what a little unplugging can do for people? A lot of the time I tell my patients to think of a calm, happy place when I have them close their eyes. Nine times out of ten guess what they say their happy place is?”

“Where?”

“The beach. And not at a resort or anything fancy, they just see soft sand, warm water, and a place for them to just sit and breathe for a while. It’s good you were able to come to those conclusions on your own, Nikki.”

“You helped me get there.” She looks at him with a smile. “Guess I respond better to tough love than anything else.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many stars either, it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, it is.” She sighs. Her lips start to quiver, and she sits up.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry sits up as well and gently rubs her back as she starts to cry. “You know, other than the fact that we’re stuck on an underdeveloped area of Cuba.”

Nikki chokes out a laugh, and turns to look at him.

“It’s just…I’m so lonely, Harry.” She sniffles as more tears pour from her eyes. “I love my job, and I know I have this tough exterior, but…it’s so fucking hard to meet people in my line of work. I feel like I just latched on to Kyle…and when we ended things I was like what the fuck am I gonna do now, you know?”

“You’ve got Alex…and your partner, Dan…”

“As close as I am with him, I’d never date my partner. Things get too complicated that way. Alex is my best friend, she’s not someone I can be in a relationship with. And I can’t…talk to her about everything. With Kyle, like, he understood where I was coming from sometimes with my cases.”

“You know you can always talk to me. I was sort of…sad that we lost touch when you and Kyle broke up.”

“I hated you by association.”

“Clearly.” He keeps his arm securely around her shoulders. “You and I aren’t so different, Nik. And…sometimes I need someone to talk to too. I listen and help with such heavy shit all day, it’s hard to shake it off and pretend like everything’s normal. I’d like for us to be friends again.”

“I’d like that too.” She wipes her tears and gives him a soft smile. “I’ve missed hanging out with you, you were always so much fun when we’d go grab drinks.”

“Wish we had some booze here. It would certainly take the edge off.”

“Wait!” She stands up. “I think I have a few nips in my bag! I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want us to get dehydrated while we were out in the sun. Hold on.” Nikki quickly goes over to her bag and pulls out two nips, and then goes back over to Harry. “Grapefruit vodka, it’s really good.”

“Anything sounds good right now, honestly.”

They clink the little plastic bottles, open them, and down them. Normally something of this size wouldn’t have an effect on either of them, it was just a double shot. However, with little food over the last couple of days, the alcohol went straight to their heads.

“I don’t know why people hate on grapefruit so much. It’s sweet and it’s got a kick.” Harry says.

“It’s the vodka.” Nikki says. “Vodka makes everything better.”

“Scientifically speaking, it doesn’t. It’s a depressant, and a poison, so technically-“ In an instant Nikki was straddling Harry and putting a hand over his mouth.

“Hey, shrinky-dink, shut up, yeah?” He nods his head yes. “Good.” She gets off of him and sighs as she lays back into the sand.

“Did you ever own shrinky dinks?” He asks, hugging his knees to his chest.

“What?”

“You know, those little plastic things you’d bake in the toaster, and then they’d harden into these little keychain things.”

“Oh my god! I remember the commercials for those! I always it, but my parents never bought stuff off infomercials.”

“We saw it in the store one day. I whined until my mum threw the box in the cart. Even though she was mad at me for behaving poorly, we had a blast making them together.” A few tears come to his eyes. “The first thing I’m gonna do when we get back is call her. She’s probably worried sick.” He wipes under his eyes.

“You know what I’m gonna do?”

“What?”

“Get a Big Mac from McDonald’s.” She looks up at him and they both start laughing. “Yup, gonna stuff my fucking face. Might sue the cruise company too, just to see if I can make a cool million and never have to work another day in my life.”

“Now that’s a brilliant idea. Might have to join in on that. Might just offer us a settlement so we don’t have to go through the whole court process.”

“That would be too easy. They’d say something like, ‘the hurricane was just as much of a surprise to us. We put on sirens’.” She scoffs.

“I think the sirens are the last thing I remember hearing before you woke me up. Can’t believe I only have a few scrapes and bruises.”

“I know, we’re lucky the ropes from the raft didn’t get stuck around our necks.” She sits up.

“Extremely lucky…in all sorts of ways.” He puts his hand overs and gives it a squeeze. “Come on, we should try to get back to sleep. We need to look for more wood tomorrow for the fire.”

“Yeah, alright.” She sighs and they both stand up. They head back over to the shelter and lay down. “Do you think…would it be alright if I just rest my head on your chest?”

“Sure, makes no difference to me.”

She gets comfortable, resting her head on his bare pec, her arm string across his stomach, and a leg over one of his. He puts his arm around her, keeping her close. They don’t say anything else to each other, they both just drift off, succumbing to sleep.

//

“God, I feel disgusting.” Nikki groans the next morning. “I wish I had a razor in here.” She mutters as she rummages through her bag.

“You’re telling me, I usually like a clean shave because my facial hair grows in all patchy.”

“Actually, a little scruff suits you.” She says without looking at him. “I wouldn’t want you with a full beard, but just a little something looks nice.”

“Nikki.” Harry chuckles. “You don’t want me at all.” Her head whips in his direction and he blushes.

“What is that supposed to mean?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“N-nothing.” He clears his throat. “Uh, why do you think you need a razor anyways?”

“Because my pit hair is starting to grow out, and when it grows out I sweat more, and if I sweat more I’ll stink more.” She says in a quick breath. “Also, my leg hair is starting to get prickly, and I have sensitive skin so it itches like crazy.”

“You could try rubbing your legs with some of the mud and salt water…that might help.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” She sighs. “Think I’m just gonna go for a swim and clean up that way. You know how I said I was going to get a Big Mac?” Harry nods yes. “That’s now the second thing I’m going to do.”

“What’s the first?”

“Shower, in fact, washing my hair is the first on the list.” She takes out of the elastic and shakes it out. “it’s all greasy, but the salt water’s been good for it, I think.” She peels off her shirt and wiggles out of her shorts before walking down to the water.

Harry hadn’t been able to relieve himself in almost a week, and it was really starting to get to him. It especially wasn’t easy because he was around someone like Nikki. Harry always thought she was beautiful, and he thought Kyle was the luckiest bastard for scooping her up. When he saw her come into the suite that morning, he hid how overjoyed he felt. He hated fighting with her, but he was grateful for any interaction he was having with her. He missed her. In all honesty, his plan was to reach out to her another month or so from now, reconnect, tell her how he felt about her…how he really felt about her. It took him nearly a year to figure out why he liked being her friend so much, and why he was so happy for Kyle. It was because he liked Nikki…as more than a friend. But he wasn’t the type of guy to make a move on his best friend’s girl. He wanted to throttle Kyle. Harry truly had no idea he was treating on Nikki. He would have knocked him off his ass and gotten him to either stop, or just break up with Nikki before anyone had to get hurt.

He decides to get up and join her for a swim. He takes his shorts off and goes down to the water in his boxers. He dives in to submerge his body, it was incredibly refreshing. He stands up so he’s only about calf deep. They both agreed not to go too far in because there could be sharks or other predators.

“Think I’m about done with this underwear.” She says to him. “Might go commando for the rest of the time we’re here.”

“You could walk around naked for all I care.” He smirks, and she splashes him. “Oi, I was kidding!”

“Mhm, sure.” She rolls here eyes. “I’m gonna go dry off, and then we can look for more wood.”

“Okay.” He nods and watches her walk out of the water.

They’re able to find more wood later on to keep the fire going. They split a granola bar, and they both sigh once it’s gone. The sun was setting, and Nikki couldn’t help but take a picture of how beautiful it was. Just when she was going to put it down, Dan calls her.

“Hey, Dan.”

“Hey! Great news, I’ll be on the rescue plane first thing in the morning. How are you two holding up?”

“We’re…okay. Mostly just hungry. Bring lots of food.”

“I’ll try. The medic may not want to overwhelm your stomachs. We’re gonna bring you both right to the hospital to get checked out. Your bills are going to be paid by the cruise ship company. If I were you I’d threaten to sue to get some money out of them. They’ve been able to keep this story under wraps and I’m sure they’d like to keep it that way.”

“Okay. I have a flare gun, what time should I set it off so you can find us?”

“Try for around 7AM, we should be close by then.”

“Sounds good, thank you.” She hangs up and looks at Harry. “They’re coming for us bright and early.” She nearly squeals.

“That’s incredible news.” He sighs with relief. “Think we could eat some more food?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s like, you know how the night before it snows you don’t do your homework, but you don’t end up getting a snow day so you’re fucked?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’d rather not eat the food just in case something happens.”

“Fair enough.” He shrugs. “Think I’m just bored anyways.” She sits down next to him.

“Me too. We’ve already played twenty questions, never have I ever…I think if we play another game I’ll go bananas.”

“We could have ourselves a wank.”

“Very funny.”

“M’serious, Nik.” He looks at her. “I think I’ll go bananas if I don’t come soon.”

“Harry, it’s only been a few days…”

“Yeah, but I haven’t done anything in over a week because I thought it would be disrespectful while we were sharing a room on the boat.”

“Alright, so go behind a tree and jerk it.” She shrugs.

“Yeah, I could do that…or…”

“Harry Styles.” She gasps, a smile growing on her face. “Are you seriously suggesting that I stick my hand down your sandy pants, and give you a hand job?”

“I’d be getting you off at the same time so-“

“Are you kidding?! I’m all stubbly down there, and I probably smell disgusting, and-“

Just as she had done to him the night before, he was pinning her down and putt his hand over her mouth.

“Nikki, if you really don’t want to, I’ll drop it and go behind a bush and handle things myself, but I have no problem with a little bit of hair, and I’m just offering to finger you, my face doesn’t need to go anywhere near you if you don’t want it to.” He lifts his hand away from her mouth, but continues to hover over her.

“It’s just…we’re friends.”

“Friends help each other out, don’t they?” She nods her head yes. “Do you want to? Don’t let me pressure you.”

“I…I want to, I mean…getting off doesn’t sound terrible. And it could be a good time killer.”

“Right.” He smirks and moves to lay on the ground next to her. She rolls onto her side and so does he. “Can I…touch your chest?”

“Yeah, I’ll take my bra off, but I’m leaving my shirt on. I just…I feel gross, you know?”

“Whatever makes you more comfortable.” Once she’s situated, she unbuttons her shorts. “I went commando today…put my underwear in the fire.”

Harry nods and undoes his shorts. He was a little nervous.

“Can I kiss you?”

“No.”

“We’ve been brushing our teeth, what’s the big deal?”

“Kissing would make it more intimate, Harry. I don’t want this to be some big, emotional thing.”

He furrows his brows, but chooses not to speak. Instead, he reaches his hand inside her shorts and starts to rub at her folds. Her breath hitches, but she reaches him. Her hand slides inside his boxers and she starts to pump his hardening cock.

“You’re already hard.” She breathes. Their faces were only an inch or so apart.

“M’turned on.” He grunts as her thumb swipes over his tip. He feels her getting wet, and he drags it up to her clit. She bites her bottom lip and twists her hand around his cock. He slides his middle finger inside of her and her mouth falls open. “Fuck, you’re tight.”

“Haven’t done this in a while.” Her hips buck in his direction. “Feels nice. Use two.”

“Are you, ngh, sure?”

“Yes.”

He slides a second finger inside of her and uses his thumb on her clit, applying just enough pressure as he presses circles into it. A moan leaves her lips, and for the first time he was hearing because of something he was doing, and not through the walls of his old apartment. It just makes him work harder, curling his fingers up inside her.

“Fuck, that’s so good.” She mewls. “Don’t stop.”

He presses his forehead to hers and pinches his eyes closed. He was getting closer. His cock was slick with precoma, and she was pumping him perfectly.

“Shit, Nikki.” He moans, and it makes her own closed eyes pop open. She had never really heard a guy genuinely moan before, and she thought it was hot, really, really hot. His fingers were petting against her g-spot in just the right way. He opens his eyes and sees her already looking at him. “Is everything alright?”

“Y-yeah, just…say my name like that again.” Her hips were grinding against his hand. “I’m so fucking close.”

“Me too.” He pants. “Fuck, Nikki.” He moans again. He bites his bottom lip to ground himself.

“Oh my god, Harry!” She cries out as she comes around his fingers, and she feels warmth against her hand. He had also come to his release. He slowly takes his hand away, and she does the same. “Shit.” She breathes and sits up. “I, uh, I need to go pee, excuse me.”

He watches her grab some tissues, and she goes to her designated bathroom area. Harry lays back under the raft and tries to catch his breath. He could clean himself up later.

//

The next morning went by painfully slow. They were up at sunrise in anticipation of the plane coming for them. Nikki’s phone and hotspot had finally died. They made sure to put the fire out safely, and once 7AM hit Nikki shot the flare gun. About ten minutes after that a small plane flew over them, and a rope ladder was thrown out.

“It’s here, we’re saved!” Nikki exclaims, throwing her arms around Harry. He holds her tight for a moment. “I’ll climb up first, okay?”

Harry nods and watches as she starts moving up the ladder, her backpack slung on her back. He climbs up after her, and they’re both pulled inside. Nikki falls into Dan’s arms.

“Thought I was gonna have to go through getting a new partner.” He mutters into her hair. “I’m so happy you’re okay.”

“Me too.”

“How you holding up, Harry?” Dan asks him as the medic checks Harry over.

“I’m alright, I’m feeling really tired, though.”

“So am I.” Nikki says.

“Rest up, we’re headed to a good hospital in Florida.” Dan says, keeping Nikki close to him.

The next time Harry wakes up, he’s in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. Kyle was sitting by his side. Harry groans as he looks over at him.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Kyle says. “I flew down here as soon as they called me, man. They said you were severely dehydrated, and you had way too much sun, even with all the sunscreen you guys were using. They want to keep you overnight for a psychological evaluation.”

“Makes sense.” Harry sighs. “We’re bound to have some shared trauma, nightmares, remembering certain parts of being thrown off a fucking cruise ship, you know, normal stuff.”

“I haven’t been able to see her yet. I guess Dan’s been in with her, trying to get more info on what happened.”

“Is she awake?”

“I think so…I’ve walked by her room a few times. Did, uh, did anything happen between you two out there?”

“Right, because being stranded is super romantic.” Harry rolls his eyes.

“M’serious, man, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know how you feel about her. The way you’d look at her sometimes…I could see it.”

“Nothing happened.” Harry swallows. “We were out there as friends, and we came back as friends.” Harry sits up a bit. “Is your girlfriend here?”

“No, she’s back at home. She was, uh, very understanding of me wanting to come down here and make sure you both we alright.” Harry nods at that. “If…if something did happen, like, if the next person she ends up being with is you…well, I’d be alright with that.”

“Oh, well, thank god for that. I was really worried about how you’d feel about her moving on.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Kyle. “You really fucked her up, you know that? She’s not going to be happy to see you.”

“I know what I did was wrong, but I still care about her wellbeing. I’m gonna go check if I can see her now.” He squeezes Harry’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Kyle stands up and goes down the hall to Nikki’s room. Dan was no longer sitting in there, so he figured it was now or never. He knocks on the door, and she sits up when she sees him.

“Kyle?”

“Hey.” He comes in cautiously. “When Dan called me…I got down to Florida as soon as I could.”

“Yeah? Where’s Claudia?”

“Back home…how are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Nikki sighs. “I’m not roughed up or anything, I guess we were really dehydrated, though. Must have been from all the sun because I had my water purifier…must not work as well with really salty water.”

“I was really worried about you, Nik.” Kyle starts sniffling as tears come to his eyes. “I would have never forgiven myself if you died and the last words you said to me were that you hated me.” He takes her hand in his. “I miss you so much. I hope…I hope we can find a way to be friends.”

“You can’t be serious.” She scoffs and takes her hand away. “You come here, make things about you, and then ask me to be your friend? You cheated on me for six months, Kyle, six months! And you still had the nerve to propose to me! You broke me in so many ways, and I’ve finally been able to put myself back together. Getting stuck out there was almost a blessing. It gave me a lot of the clarity that I needed.”

“I didn’t think you’d still go on the cruise…if I had, I never would have sold Harry the ticket. You must’ve been so mad when you saw him.”

“I was…but he was the perfect person to get stuck out there with.” She shrugs.

“Did anything happen between you two?” He chews on his bottom lip. “I saw him before you, and he said nothing happened, but…he’s a terrible liar. He said you went in as friends, and come out the same way, or something.”

“Well, he’s not wrong about that.” Nikki smirks. “You really wanna know what happened between us?” Kyle nods yes. “Too bad.”

“What?”

“You don’t have the right to know. I meant it when I said I hated you, Kyle. I do, I hate you. It was very nice of you to come down here and make sure we were both okay. I actually appreciate it, but I’ll never forgive you for what you did. Cheating…it’s just not something I can forgive.”

“Okay.” He nods. “Well…I…I really am glad you’re alright. Did they tell you when you’d be able to go home?”

“In a couple of days. They’re keeping us overnight, and then they’re sending in a shrink to evaluate us. Standard procedure.”

“If you need anything at all when you get home…any help suing the cruise ship company, please don’t hesitate to ask. I could help you pro bono.”

“My god, how selfless.” She rolls her eyes. “Go home to Claudia, Kyle.”

“Bye, Nikki.” He lingers for a moment, and then leaves. A few tears roll down her cheeks, but not because of him. She just…missed Harry and wanted to see how he was.

//

Nikki and Harry weren’t given much time together during their evaluations. They were each spoken to separately, and when they were brought into the same room, they had to speak to the psychologist directly. Nikki desperately wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but she wasn’t really given the chance. Harry was able to catch her in her room before they left the hospital. They were to go directly to the airport to head home.

“Hey.” He says to her.

“Hi.” She says as she zips up her bag. “I think I’m sitting with Dan on the plane.” She swallows.

“Right.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Um, listen, when we get home…don’t be afraid to talk to me. Like, if you have a nightmare or something, don’t be afraid to call. I won’t care what time it is.”

“That’s nice of you, thanks, but I’ll be alright. It’s no different than seeing some bad shit at a crime scene.”

“No, it’s not.” He sighs. “You might-“

“Harry, please.” She shakes her head as she grabs her bags. “I’m a big girl, I think I can handle what happened. It’s not like it was traumatic.” She scoffs.

“Yes it was, are you kidding me? A hurricane-“

“I was there, I know what happened.” She shakes her. “I appreciate you being so nice, but it happened, and it’s over now. Back to reality.”

What she said carried a lot of weight. She was coming down from her cloud, and she realized her and Harry needed to part ways here. Every time she looked at him, she saw Kyle, and she just couldn’t deal with that right now. Harry knew what she meant too. He was extremely disappointed. Even though he was the one that suggested they do what they did that night, he was feeling a lot of emotions about it, almost regret because he knew he’d never get another chance to feel her like that again.

//

“Captain, I swear I’m fine. I just want to get back to work.”

“I know you do, Reese, but you’ve been through a lot, and-“

“Sir, not to be disrespectful, but I disagree.”

“Nikki.” He sighs. “Take another week off, alright? Work will be waiting here until you get back. I’m happy to see you, but I’ll be happier once I know you’re home. It’s an order, Reese.”

She sighs, but does as he says. She couldn’t really argue with the captain of her precinct. She tells Dan she’ll be out for another week, and then heads home. She hadn’t spoken to Harry, but to be fair he hadn’t made an attempt to reach out to her. He wanted to give her some space, and let her come to him if she wanted to. By the third night she woke herself up screaming and in a cold sweat, she knew she had a problem. She kept having flashes of being dragged under water and not being able to breathe. She finally worked up the nerve to call him…at 3AM.

“Nikki?”

She could tell she had woken him up, but it felt so good to hear his voice.

“Hi.”

“Are you alright, love?”

“No.” She swallows. “No, I keep having nightmares.”

“So do I.” He sighs. “Do you want me to swing by?”

“No, that’s okay…I kinda just wanted to hear your voice. I’m sorry if that’s weird.”

“It’s not…it’s nice to hear yours too.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t reached out until now. I feel like I’ve been trying to pretend nothing happened.”

“A lot of people try to cope that way, but repressing shit isn’t healthy, Nik.”

“So I’ve come to realize. It’s crazy, like, I work with all of these victims, and I’ve never really understood how they couldn’t remember certain things, but I get it now.”

“Trauma’s funny like that.” He says softly. “Have you been back to work?”

“I tried, but my captain told me to take another week off. What about you?”

“I’m doing the same. I’m too distracted to properly help my patients. They’ve been very understanding.”

“That’s good.” She chews her bottom lip. “So, you’ll be home tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe I could come by in the afternoon? It would be nice to talk…maybe we’ve been having the same nightmares. I keep waking up screaming and sweaty.”

“Are you dreaming about being dragged under the water?”

“Yeah…”

“So have I.” He sighs. “Come over around two tomorrow, yeah? I’ll text you my new address.”

“Okay, that sounds good, thanks, Harry.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Well…I’ll let you get back to sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Nik.”

//

Nikki knocked on Harry’s door promptly at 2PM. She was just in a simple quarter zip and jeans, along with her hair up in a messy bun. Harry opens the door wearing a tee shirt and joggers.

“Hi.” He says.

“Hi.” She says.

He steps aside to let her in. They look at each other for a moment, it looks like they’re both about to speak, but they both close their mouths. There was so much to be said, but neither were sure how to articulate it. Her eyes well up with tears, and she rushes towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, crashing her lips to his. He wastes no time wrapping his arms around her, and returning the kiss. Even though her mouth was preoccupied, kissing him made her feel like she could breathe for the first time in days.

“I missed you.” She says, pressing her head into his chest.

“I missed you too.” He rests his chin on the top of her head.

“I’m sorry if that was weird, I just-“

He cups her cheeks so she’ll look up at him. He gives her a soft smile.

“Nikki, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…I was pretty jealous of Kyle for a while. I’ve always thought you were wonderful. Feel like we have a lot in common.”

“We do.” She agrees.

“We don’t have to rush into anything…I’d rather us work on ways to not have nightmares and such, but…if you’d be willing to give it a try, I’d love to take you out sometime.”

“You wouldn’t feel weird…about Kyle?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I…I don’t think he’s really someone I want around anymore. I’d rather have you around.” He kisses her tenderly, sucking on her bottom lip for just a moment. “I really fucking like you.”

“I can see that.” She swallows. “I think…I think we could have a lot of fun together.” A smirk grows on her lips. “Just don’t become my therapist, or I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

“Is that a threat or a promise.” He smirks, nuzzling his nose to hers. “Wouldn’t mind seeing how you use your handcuffs.”

“Remember when I called you a moron?” She chuckles. “I meant it.” She shoves him.

“I was kidding, relax.”

“Mhm, sure.” She rolls her eyes.

“Do you want some tea? We could sit and chat. I’ve been trying to record the dreams I’ve been having in a journal. I have my patients do it, so I figured I’d take my own advice.” He leads her into his kitchen and has her sit. “I keep having the same one: drowning.”

“I have that one, and then I have one where…where I wasn’t able to hold onto you.” She frowns as he gets his kettle going. “You know…I had less night terrors sleeping on that beach with you than I have in a long time.”

“Can I ask…would Kyle hold you at night?” Harry sets a mug in front of her before he sits down.

“Um, usually when I’d first fall asleep he’d spoon me for a bit, but he’s not a cuddly sleeper, and he’d eventually roll over. We didn’t spend a lot of nights together because I’d usually wake him up by accident. What does any of that matter?”

“I held you all night while we were on the beach.” He puckers his lips in thought. “Do you have a weighted blanket?”

“No.”

“Do me a favor, get one. You may need the extra weight at night to keep you calm. They work wonders, I have one myself, and a body pillow. I’m a cuddly sleeper.”

“I’ll, um, I’ll look into that.” She takes a careful sip of her tea. “How can I get them stop? The nightmares.”

“Well, talking about it usually helps, and doing things like getting a weighted blanket can help. I think you’ve repressed a lot, Nikki…you need to talk about the things you see and feel.”

“It’s not that simple, Harry.” She sighs. “If anyone at work found out I was seeing a therapist-“

“If it’s that big of a deal…then don’t tell them.”

“Things have a way of getting out.”

“Then…just say you’re seeing me.”

“That’s not fair, though.”

“Nikki.” Harry sighs and places his hand on top of hers. “I’m not offering to be your therapist, I’m just offering to be someone that you can come to if you need to talk about something. M’a really good listener.” He smiles.

“I know you are…thank you. I just don’t want to come to you, and dump on you when people pay you to do that all day. Why should I burden you with my problems?”

“Oh, darling.” He raises her hand to his lips and kisses it. “Nothing about you is a burden. Tons of people feel that way, and that’s why they don’t want to talk to anyone, but once you get talking it just gets easier and easier. I always liked when you’d tell work stories…you could just tell me about the not so great stuff when it’s feeling really heavy.”

“So, if I come to you and say I just spent the day searching for a kid, and we found their dead body in the trunk of a car, you’d be okay with that?”

“Probably wouldn’t wanna chat about it over dinner, but sure.” He shrugs. “Nikki, I told you, I see people who have been through shit, victims and survivors, that stuff doesn’t scare me.”

“I may not open up right away.”

“That’s alright, we don’t always have to talk about the heavy stuff.” He smiles.

“What if I don’t wanna talk at all?” She mutters.

“Well, I don’t know if you remember what happened between us that one night on the beach, but I’m pretty good at not talking too.” He smirks.

“You know, if I had known you had liked me for a while, I wouldn’t have been such a jerk about kissing and stuff that night.”

“I was too blissed out with your hand wrapped around my prick to really care.”

Nikki licks her lips and swallows, looking at his lips briefly.

“You know what would be great?”

“What?”

“A tour of your apartment.”

“How rude of me to not offer when you first came in.” He stands up and extends his hand. She takes it, and lets him lead her around. He shows her the art on the walls, and the various books in his home office.

“Do you ever see patients here?” She asks as she sits down in one of his comfy chairs.

“God, no.” He shakes his head, leaning his bum on his desk. “Sometimes patients can grow certain attachments to their therapists, it’s better for them to not know where I live.”

“Right, because you’re the hot Dr. Styles.” She smirks. “Same thing happens to me sometimes. I’m usually the one they send in undercover to seduce some sick fuck.”

“That’s because you’re incredibly skilled and talented at what you do, Detective Reese.” Nikki stands up and wraps her arms around his neck. “You’re also insanely gorgeous, but that’s besides the point.” He kisses her nose. “Would you like to stay for dinner and watch a movie?”

“Yeah, I would.”

//

Five months later…

“Dan…what is this?” Nikki points to the plant Dan plopped down on her desk.

“It’s a bonsai tree, they’re super easy to take care of. Consider it your first house warming gift.” He beams at her.

“Aw, you old softie, thank you.” She gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Allie can’t wait for our next game night, by the way. She was thinking we could have you two over to play Clue once you’re all moved in.”

“Yeah! That sounds great. Oh! I wrote down that recipe for that dessert I made for her.” She grabs an envelope from her desk. “That cookies and cream pudding pie.”

“God, thanks.” Dan takes the envelope. “She’s been dying to make it, but she wants to make it the way you did so she can start selling it at the bakery and call it ‘The Nikki’.” He chuckles.

“She’s too sweet, honestly. If you don’t put a ring on it, I will.”

Things had been going really well for Nikki. Thanks to Harry, she had gotten better about opening up about things. It was so slow going at first, but eventually she got to talking, and it helped her be a better detective. Being Harry’s girlfriend was amazing. It didn’t take much for her to fall head over heels in love with him. And there was no denying that he was gaga over her. That’s why after just five months of dating, they were moving into their very own town home together. It didn’t feel fast to either of them because they had known each other for years, and they slept at each other’s places all the time as it was. It just made sense to move in together. They were in love, and were a great pair. Alex had even gotten used to it, and Harry set her up with one of his friends, Ben. Their friends helped them move, and Nikki put her new bonsai tree in her kitchen bay window. Everyone left after having some pizza and beer.

“Can you believe this is all ours?” He says into her ear as he wraps his arms around her from behind.

“No.” She giggles as he nibbles on her earlobe. “But I’m really happy.”

“Me too.” He hums. He sponges kisses to her neck and sinks his teeth into her skin.

“Harry.” She whines. “We need to unpack.”

“Don’t wanna.” He mumbles into her skin.

“Can we at least do the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom? You know, the, um, essentials.” She swallows. Harry was often very affectionate with her, and she liked it. She really, really liked it.  

“Fine.” He turns her around. “But when we’re done with the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom, we’re doing the bedroom.”

“Seems fair to me.” She pecks his lips.

The two work in tandem to put their essentials away. It was actually fun to organize the cabinets together. Next, they go upstairs to work on their bathroom. Actually, Harry handles the bathroom while Nikki gets some fresh sheets on their new king sized bed.

“Bathroom’s all set.” Harry says.

“I just got the foam topper and the fitted sheet on the bed, I just have to – ah!”

Harry had grabbed her and thrown her onto the bed. She squeals as he launches himself onto it, almost crushing her in the process.

“Making the bed fully would be a waste of energy.” He says into her ear as he pins her wrists down. He sucks on her supple bottom lip, and lets it go, causing her to whimper. “Don’t you think?” She nods her head yes. “Just wanna fuck my new live-in girlfriend, can I?”

“Please.” She breathes. “Need you to take care of me.” She pouts at him.

“Aw, my angel-baby-detective needs some lovin’?” He pouts back at her.

“Uh-huh.”

He grins at her and has them both sit up. He peels off her tee shirt, and lifts off her sports bra. He gropes her breasts before kissing on them. He sucks bruise after bruise into her plushy skin. He pulls her into his lap so she can grind on him while he paid attention to her breasts. She liked it when Harry left marks on her like this. She liked being his. He lays her down onto her back. He kisses down her torso, nipping where he pleases. He loved kissing on her pudgier areas because he wanted to show how much he loved every inch of her. She did the same with his love handles. He drags her yoga pants and underwear off, and tosses them to the floor.

“Look at you, so wet already.” He says as he pulls her thighs apart.

“You were already making me feel so good, Har.”

He hums his response as he laps his tongue around her center. He moans once he gets a proper taste of her. He licks his way up to her clit and sucks on it while he works two fingers inside of her. She grabs at his hair and tugs on it while her body starts to tingle.

“Fuck, just like that.” She mewls while raising her hips to meet his mouth more. She comes to her release, and she tugs him up to her. She licks into his mouth and sucks on his tongue. “Get naked, now.” She nearly growls.

Harry grins and gets his clothes off. He sits up against the headboard and waits for Nikki to swing her leg over his lap. She lines him up with her center, rubbing his tip along her clit before sinking down onto him. They both moan out, and he grabs at her hips to help her find a rhythm. She puts her hands on his shoulders and starts bouncing up and down on his cock.

“God, I love you so much.” He grunts.

“I love you too.” She kisses him and runs her hands through his hair. “Don’t know I ever survived without having your big dick inside me, fuck.”

“Yeah? M’making you feel good, baby?”

“So fucking good.” She pants. “Best I’ve ever fucking had.”

She comes again, and with the way she clenches around him he nearly loses it inside of her. He lifts her off just in time and comes on her stomach. He kisses her over and over, and they both giggle. Once they’re both cleaned up, Harry helps Nikki get the bed made, and they both climb in. She rests her head on his stomach while he reads his book.

“Harry?” She looks up at him. “Could you out your book down for a second? I have something to tell you.”

“Sure, sweetie.” He dog-ears the page he’s on and sets his book down. “What’s up? Oh, is this about me buying the Hamilton Beach food processor instead of the Cuisine Art one like you wanted?”

“No.” She chuckles.

“Are you sure? Because you cried when I brought it home. I swear, the Hamilton Beach one had better reviews, that’s the only reason why I got it.”

“I cried because I was hormonal.” She chews her bottom lip. “Harry, I’m pregnant.”

“But I came on your stomach.” He blinks, and then looks down at her.

“Yeah, tonight you did.” She sits up so she can look at him better. She kisses his shoulder and then smiles at him. “My period was late, so I took a test just for the hell of it…I’m six weeks.” She grabs her phone off the side table. “I even took a selfie with it to show you.”

“Oh my god, you’re not kidding.” He looks at the picture and then at her. “How long have you known for?”

“Only a week. I wanted to wait until the move was over to tell you. How, um, how do you feel about this? We haven’t really talked about kids or anything.”

“I know.” He hands her back her phone and throws his arm around her. “I mean, I fully intended on proposing and all that, just not for another few months. I wanted to see how living together went.” He smiles down at her. “And I was hoping you’d want kids at some point…think you’d make a great mum. I’ve seen you with kids, you’re amazing.” He kisses her temple and starts laughing. “I can’t believe I’m gonna be a father.” He shakes his head. “Thanks, Nikki!”

“You’re such a dork.” She chuckles. “You’re really not mad, or upset?”

“How could I be? I’m living with the girl I never thought I’d even get the chance to kiss, and now she’s pregnant with my baby. I’m ecstatic.” He pecks her lips. “How are you feeling about all of it?”

“I’m…actually pretty excited. I mean…I went off birth control months ago for this very reason. I didn’t think it would happen quite this fast, but this is a pretty happy accident.”

“I wonder what we were doing six weeks ago.”

“What does it matter?”

“I’d just like to know how our little fetus got conceived.”

“I, um, think it was the night, you, uh, let me lick the whip cream off you on your desk.” She swallows.

“Oh, yeah! Blew my load right up into you, didn’t I?” He smirks. “We should do that again, it was a great sensory exercise.”

“Harry!” She smacks his chest.

“You’re really okay with all this, Nik? It’s your body.” He caresses her cheek and she leans into his warm palm.

“I’m more than okay with it. Just don’t rush an engagement or anything like that, okay? I wanna marry you at some point too…but…not just because I’m pregnant.”

“So…if like four months from now I had a long weekend for us planned to go apple picking up north, and while we were settling down in the evening getting cozy in front of a fire place…you wouldn’t want me to propose?”

“You know, I hear being pregnant can make you forget all kinds of things, so I can’t wait to be surprised four months from now when you suggest going away for a long weekend to go apple picking.” She beams at him. “I think I’d really like that.”

[penguintransporter]

Tiny Clouds (Serge Gnabry oneshot)

You need to ban me from here 😂 I don’t know if it’s the fact that I am on my holidays, or if it’s my mum’s homecooked food, but I have been writing and updating more than ever before. Anyway, you should all thank @disneydaddyevans​ for giving me the idea to write this little piece that is so cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself. Inspired by his fashion sense and the overall cuteness that the man oozes. Read, heart, reblog, and tell me what you think about it. Also, I wasn’t sure if I should use to name for my OC or just “Y/N”, so I stuck with the way I usually write. 

“Max… Max—Maximillian,” Dolores hissed quietly, stopping dead in her tracks, barely fifty meters away from where they were heading. “That,” she pointed her index finger at the outside of the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art with a horror-stricken face, “it doesn’t look like a regular exhibition opening. Look at all the press. Are you sure they will let me come in wearing this?”

“There is nothing wrong with your outfit, Lola,” her friend replied, using her nickname – a deep chuckle escaping his throat. She couldn’t help but glance down at her attire, narrowing her eyes at the worn-out jeans and a woolly pullover she had knitted for herself, some two years ago. It was already losing its shape and growing lint on several spots.

When Maximilian asked if she would like to join him for an exhibition opening, Lola agreed without thinking twice, not expecting to be thrown into the middle of what seemed to be a huge media fuss. If she was being frank, she could have googled what the exhibition was about or what the artist’s name was, but with her long shifts at work and three papers due for her night courses at the university, Lola completely forgot to do so.

“If you say so,” she mumbled back, glancing once again at her outfit – eyes narrowing at the stubborn stain on her Converse high-tops. For a moment she contemplated licking her thumb and trying to rub the dark spot away, but she decided against it once she realised that it was highly unhygienic and probably a very weird thing to do in front of all the people that mingled around her.

It wasn’t like she hated or didn’t like fashion – on contrary, she thought it was fun, but Lola found comfort in being practical rather than being stylish, and the older she got, the more overwhelmed she felt with the fast pace of fashion and trends in general. There were too many terms, too many weird combinations being pushed in the foreground, so she decided that it would be the best for her if she stood on the sidelines of it all like a spectator rather than participant.

“I am being honest,” Max added as she caught up with him and they slowly made their way towards the entrance – camera flashes that tried to capture very important people hurting Lola’s eyes. “Moreover, I think that jumper is incredibly cute with its tiny clouds. Or are those sheep?” Max asked, grinning down at her as he adjusted the collar on his trench-coat.

“Tiny clouds,” Lola remarked, “better than your Inspector Gadget coat though, if you ask me,” she joked back, making her friend laugh out loud before he placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the crowd.

The main exhibition room wasn’t as packed as Lola had expected it to be, and once they were ushered inside by an artist friend of Max, they made their way around it - slow-paced and without any rush or pressure. They stopped ever so often to read the description, comment or even chuckle on some of the art pieces that they didn’t find very interesting. 

Lola had visited the museum only a handful of times before this, but whenever she was here she enjoyed the look and feel of it. From the minimalistic approach to the main rooms and furniture, to the small and narrow hallways that led to different rooms with unique art exhibitions and graffiti on the wall. 

“Maximilian!” a deep, mature voice called out from across the large room, and Lola reflexively turned her head in the direction of it before seeing a tall and a lanky man in a pressed suit trousers and white button down striding towards them. She could vaguely recognise his face as one of Max’s artist friends, but she couldn’t remember his name. “Maximilian,” he repeated as he stepped closer, blocking Lola’s view of the art installation in front of them, forcing her to look away from it, “there is someone I want you to meet,” he breathed out as both, Max and Lola curiously peered at him. “He doesn’t have a lot of time, but he plays for your favourite team, so I thought you’d be happy to meet him.”

**

“Maximilian, this is Serge. Serge, this is Maximilian, and…,” the artist friend trailed off, looking down at Lola with an awkward smile, “sorry dear, but I don’t remember your name.”

Lola smiled back nervously, shifting on her feet a little. “Dolores,” she answered, looking first at the man in front of her before glancing at the good-looking athlete only to find him looking back at her curiously, “or Lola for short. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s lovely to meet both of you,” Serge replied politely, sticking both of his hands in the pockets of his wide trousers, and Lola couldn’t help but glance at his well-put outfit that looked very expensive and taken care of. “Are you an artist too?” Serge asked looking in Maximillian’s direction.

“No, no,” Max replied, mimicking Serge’s posture, “just enthusiast. By the way, great season with the team...”

Next to them, Lola was wringing the exhibition brochure she picked up on the entrance in her sweaty palms - bits of the paper sticking to her skin. She wasn’t shy or easily intimidated by other people, but there was something about being in the crowd that made one stick out like a sore thumb with her outfit. It was turning her into a nervous wreck even if she didn’t want that.

Having Serge Gnabry in front of her didn’t help either.

“And what about you, Lola?”

Lola felt her heartbeat quicken at the sound of Serge’s voice saying her name, and when she looked up at him, slightly confused, he had a gentle smile on his face, patiently waiting for her answer. His brown eyes were focused on her face and her eyes, and she suddenly felt at loss of words.

“Lola is not an artist either, but an avid knitter instead,” Max interjected with a grin, and Lola looked away from Serge’s eyes and up at her friend – her eyes narrowing a little. “She’s once knitted an entire winter scarf on her way to Hamburg,” he added as Lola felt the heat rise to her cheeks, but she managed to push it away casually.

“It was a nice scarf, though,” Lola sheepishly smiled, feeling the insides of her stomach flip excitedly when Serge chuckled before the silence fell upon the three of them. To keep her thoughts straight, she looked down at her smudged Converse, knowing that Serge probably waited for her to elaborate or keep the conversation going. The only problem was that her mind was blank, her palms sweaty, and all the words she wanted to say seemed to be stuck inside her throat. “I real—really enjoy knitti—,”

“—Serge!” a middle-aged woman wearing a shapeless dress and thick, white-rimmed glasses approached them in a hurry, interrupting Lola in the middle of her sentence. “We have Thibaut from Revver magazine outside. It would be lovely if you could just answer few questions for him.” The woman sent an apologetic smile towards Lola, and Lola only smiled back weakly, not really knowing what else to do.

She looked away to mask her disappointed for ruining her chance of talking to Serge, not noticing the lingering gaze he gave her before he walked away.

**

An hour into the evening, Lola found herself walking along one of the walls covered in graffiti on her own after Max excused himself to go outside for a “much needed smoke”. Rather than just standing alone and waiting for her friend to come back, Lola continued to walk along the painted walls before seeing another room that was adjacent to the main room, and which seemed to be empty.

Smiling at the several people who quietly talked among themselves outside, Lola pushed her way inside, quickly being mesmerized by the colours and style of the art that occupied the tiny space she was in. It was a collection of the tall yet narrow murals – each one describing a different story that captivated Lola’s curiosity, and she found herself forgetting about the time. 

“You don’t like to talk much, do you?”

Lola looked in the direction of the voice before shyly smiling once she realised it was Serge who stood behind her. Quickly, she looked away, feeling her cheeks redden at his words. He moved closer, stepping mere few meters away from her before interlacing his fingers behind his back as he observed the same mural as she did – his lips curled into small smile.

Lola breathed out a short breath before opening her mouth to speak. “It’s actually difficult to shut me up once I get started, but I easily get intimidated around people who…,” she trailed off, unsure in how to phrase her ridiculous insecurities, “nevermind,” she finished, glancing towards Serge for a brief second.

“Are you intimidated by flesh and blood, Lola?” he asked before stopping for a second, “That’s your name, right?”

She nodded, stepping closer to the wall, reaching out to touch it, as if that would help her figure out what kind of materials did they use for it. 

“Flesh and blood in trendy, expensive clothes. I will be honest with you,” Lola shook her head a little, pointing at the large museum room where the actual exhibition was presented, “I felt so out of place over there, so I came here.”

“Well, maybe they are expensive,” Serge commented with an amused smirk, “but how many of us are actually wearing a knitted pullover we made ourselves. That’s the real style, if you ask me.”

Lola felt the warmth evade her face yet again as she moved away from the wall, straightening her back and looking at him. “How do you know I knitted it?”

“Pure guess,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “Did I guess right?”

“Yeah,” Lola admitted, “And these are tiny clouds, by the way, not sheep,” she quickly added making Serge chuckle a little. “It’s the confidence and courage,” she muttered, and Serge muttered a small ‘mhmm’, urging her to continue. “I wish I had the courage to experiment a bit more. For example, I like what you are wearing. It’s very,” Lola stopped for a moment, thinking of the word to use for his immaculate outfit, “…fashionable.”

Serge laughed a little at her words, and she curiously peered up at him, waiting for him to speak. 

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with what you are wearing,” he responded, looking down at her, “but here…” he trailed off as he turned around to face her before untying the neckerchief he was wearing around his neck and holding it out for her. “May I?” he asked, taking a step closer, and Lola felt her heart start beating faster because of his proximity but she nodded slowly. Serge nodded as well before putting the scarf around her neck, tying it in a loose knot. “There you go,” he mumbled.

Lola smiled, looking down at his hands as he adjusted the ends of the scarf, folding them so that they sat nicely against the curve of her neck. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled, touching the neckerchief with her fingers – the silky material soft against her skin.

“Now you’re wearing something fashionable,” Serge commented, emphasizing the word ‘fashionable’ with air-quotes.

“Fashionable, I guess,” Lola smirked, “but you should take it back. It feels so wrong to wear it,” she added with a small and nervous laugh.

“Wear it tonight, and you can give it back to me some other time,” Serge replied, sticking his hands in the pockets of his loose trousers, turning around so that he was facing the wall again. “That’s if you want to meet up, of course.”

Lola was quiet for a moment, trying to stop the butterflies in her stomach from going crazy, but she couldn’t stop the smile that made its way on her face.

“I do,” she answered, moving so that she was standing next to him – her eyes trying to focus on the tiny details on the mural. “I do want to meet up.”

They stood next to each other in silence for a few seconds – neither of them looking away from the wall. “Friday maybe? Sunday afternoon works too. We don’t have to dress up.”

“Friday works for me,” Lola answered, “but if we wait on Sunday you might get a pair of knitted mittens as a thank you gift for making me look,” she stopped to raise her hands in air-quotes, “fashionable.”

“Only if they come with tiny clouds,” he stated, looking at her at the same time as she looked up at him.

“If you want,”

Serge nodded – his eyes never leaving hers. “Then it’s Sunday afternoon.”

“It is,” Lola nodded.

“Perfect.”

**

Thank you for reading, and this really needs some editing. I apologise.

[just-the-hiddles]

Writer’s Spotlight | myoxisbroken

Happy hump day, peeps!  This week’s spotlight is the queen of a historical fic, AU or canon.  The maven of food porn in a fic. And the reigning champ of teasing me with smut @myoxisbroken​ !  Let’s dive in!!

The Basics

MASTERLIST HERE

Any other names you want people to call you?

Miss Ox, myox, whatever you feel like!

How long have you been writing fic?

2 years.

What fandoms and/ships do you write?

MCU (Loki, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes), other Tom Hiddleston characters (Pine, Conrad, Sharpe, Buxton, Nicholls, Plumptre, and ever-growing), and just branching out into Pedro Pascal with The Mandalorian; I also have a few Doctor Who fics in my Masterlist (Ten/Donna Noble)

How did you get started writing fic?

I was reading a ton of Doctor Who fic and enjoying the Doctor/River Song stories. Then I rewatched DW season 4 and was so depressed about Donna's ending that I immediately watched the David Tennant/Catherine Tate version of Much Ado About Nothing. And then I started to ship the Tenth Doctor and Donna.

So I read a bunch of their fic and thought, "You know what would be awesome? If someone wrote a WW2 AU where Donna's a single mother and the Doctor is an injured fighter pilot that she takes in as a boarder." And then I started to get snippets of dialogue in my head, and ideas for scenes, and I wondered if I might be able to write a story myself. I hadn't written anything in years, but I decided to give it a try. And a few months later, I had my first story completed, a 14-chapter Doctor Who AU.

 After that, I had the writing bug and I haven't been able to stop coming up with ideas and working to put them into words!

Story Recommendations

Which of your stories are your favorite?

It is honestly so hard to choose. I'm only going to choose completed works, because I always love the WIPs I'm working on. So, let's see: You Bring Me Home is one of them, because it was so fun to just jump into a sexy vacation romp with some playful kink exploration for James Conrad (Kong: Skull Island). With Brooding Wings was my first attempt at a vampire story using multiple Tom Hiddleston characters, and I really enjoyed playing with the dynamics of different personalities and settings in that world. 

 In A Restless World Like This Is is another, because I had such a great time writing a fluffy love story for Steve Rogers and an older OFC. It started as a spite project because of someone's objections to older characters and turned into such a lovely experience. It was one of the easiest I've ever written in terms of how quickly it flowed from my brain through my fingers. I'd loved writing for Loki (An Excellent Suggestion was my first Loki story, and my first time writing smut) and for Bucky (We Are All Victims of Physics Sometimes was my first dip into capturing Bucky's quiet reserve and depth of emotion).

I honestly could go on and on about stories but would only sound more conceited.

Which story are you most proud of?

I think A Pursuit of the Heart. It was my first time writing in the Regency/Georgian era, and I did a TON of research for it. It was also my first novel-length story, and I didn't even know if I could take on something that big or write a historical romance convincingly, in a way that felt era-appropriate and true. I was so proud of the finished product.

Which of your stories do you think is the most underrated?

Let Your Heart Be Light, a Bucky/OFC story with a Christmas theme - its companion piece, Kissing The New Year In, also didn't get much traction. But I loved writing them!

Someone is new to reading your stories, which story/stories should they read first?

It depends on what actors and characters they like, really, as well as if they like smut or fluff or both. For a smutty one-shot, I'd recommend An Excellent Suggestion (which has a one-shot sequel). For a swoonier longer fic with smut, I'd recommend either You Bring Me Home or my fake relationship Steve Rogers fic The One Thing You Can't See. 

For fluff, An Unforeseen Outcome is a Loki one-shot with both fluff and a little emotional hurt/comfort. Interestingly, I've written more not-smut fluff for Loki than for any other character. I think I just want him to find connection and love and acceptance so much. 

And if you are a fan of historical romance, I'd recommend either my Thomas Sharpe AU A Compromising Situation, or if you like your fics with a healthy dose of angst, Beside Us When Beauty Brightens, my William Buxton (Return to Cranford) story about what happens after he loses Peggy.

Which Story did you do the most research for?

A Pursuit of the Heart, since it was my first one set in the Georgian era and I had a lot of catching up to do! I research for most of my stories, and definitely for my multi-chapter stories. Even if they're contemporary, I still look up resorts, locations, restaurants and local foods, things to do, etc. I can't help it. It's like I'm addicted to research.

Which Story was the easiest to write?

For a multi-chapter fic, In A Restless World Like This Is. For a one-shot, probably my Loki Christmas fluff All I Want For Christmas Is You.

The Writing Process

What is your favorite part of writing?

When a scene I've had in my head just flies out of my fingers and onto the page, and I can read it back and think, "YES! That's just how I wanted it!"

What is your least favorite part?

When my brain is too scattered and unfocused to actually allow me to do any writing.

Describe your style in 1 to 2 sentences.

Well-researched stories that use the information to make you feel like you're there and that incorporate sweetness into even the smuttiest scenario. Also, food porn, and porn porn.

Who are some of your writing idols and/or influences?

For published novels, Mary Balogh and Sabrina Jeffries are two of my favorite historical romance writers, and I think that reading them has helped to make my writing better. In terms of fic authors (some of whom are also published), @nildespirandum​ and @caffiend-queen were two of the first I read in the Tom/Loki fandom and their excellent quality and intriguing plots are an inspiration, even if I will never be able to write plots as twisty as theirs. Also, reading @yespolkadotkitty​'s stories helped me push myself to get better at setting scenes and at incorporating the various senses into stories, because she is so good at both of those things and so much else.

What programs do you use to write and/or edit?

I use Google Docs. I have also been dancing around buying Scrivener for an original novel I plan to write and shop around, so I'll be doing that soon.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Plotter, for sure. My brain would implode if I tried to pants my stories.

Do you write RPF or not?

I have a few chapters of a Tom Hiddleston RPF in draft form but haven't proceeded with it. I'd kind of like to write a Pedro Pascal RPF one-shot. I love reading RPF but feel odd about writing it for some reason.

Who is your favorite character to write and why?

Again with the tough questions! It might be Loki, because he is such a chameleon and there are so many hidden depths to him. I really want to write some multi-chapter Loki stories, because so far I have done one-shots and one 3-chapter short fic. I'd like to explore a longer character arc for him.

What do you think are your writing strengths?

Authenticity because of my research, realistically depicting emotions, and writing in a style that feels genuine to the setting and era.

What do you struggle with?

PLOT. I do think that there is plenty of room for all kinds of stories, and I like to tell stories about relationships. But I would like to get better at adding outside conflict and other types of plot to my stories.

Favorite Trope?

It's so hard to choose between There Was Only One Bed and Fake Relationship. I think those are my top two.

What is the best piece of writing advice you have heard?

Write something. Anything. Even if you think it's crap, get your first draft done, because you can always go back and rewrite something that's bad and make it better. Also, if you're stuck on your WIP, write something else - a piece of another story or one-shot, a description of something you saw, a character profile, a bit of personal journaling. Keep writing and don't let a temporary roadblock turn into a long-term one.

What would you say to a new fanfic writer starting out?

It's hard when something you wrote doesn't get a lot of attention, especially when you love it. We share stories in the hopes that other people will discover and enjoy them, but you have to at least partly do it for your own satisfaction, or it will get pretty discouraging if the likes/kudos, comments, and reblogs just don't happen.

What is a random bit of research you have not managed to work into a fic yet?

Ladies' drawers (underwear) were not commonly worn until the mid-1800s. They were thought to be gentlemen's garments and it was thus vulgar for a lady to wear them. Yes, ladies of the Georgian (incl. Regency) era were generally commando beneath their skirts, petticoats, and shifts. But that was still a lot of layers.

Any goals or WIPs you want to share?

My goal is to write an original novel (series) set during the Napoleonic Wars. My hope is to get it researched, written, and put in final draft form so that I can send query letters out before the end of 2021.

This or That

Fluff or Angst

Fluff AND Smut

Reader Insert or  OC

Canon Divergent or AU

Pepsi or Coke (Neither: Cherry Coke Zero)

Coffee or Tea (Neither: Cocoa)

Sweet AND Savory

And that is it, until next week, remember to check out the masterlist here.  And your new fav fic is just around the corner!  Until next time, toodles!

[the-darklings]

—𝗖𝗢𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗤;

Hello, everyone! So with COA being such a long-running series and new readers finding it constantly, I have come to realise that a lot of questions I get often repeat. So to keep everything easy and clear and friendly for everyone regardless of whether you started COA at the very beginning of the story or just recently found it, I have spent the day relaxing, eating junk food, and compiling this FAQ. Please read through it because chances are the answers are here somewhere. I have sectioned the guide into following: general, story, ships, original squad (OCs), AUS, OC!V and tips/advice. If the answer to your question is not here, please feel free to send me a message and have a wonderful day! <33 - kat.

GENERAL:

when does this story update?

I try to keep a bi-weekly schedule (now usually Sunday updates). But I always let you know when the chapter is done by making a final word count post (pre edits). 

do you have a masterlist?

yes, you can find it here.

do you have a tag list?

not for COA. they’re very time consuming and I’m already really busy sorry :(

are your requests open?

I rarely open my inbox for requests. the only exception being the monthly blurb nights. then I reblog a prompt list and let people send some requests in for any fandom/ship. however, usually due to how many I get, it only happens every few months. that being said, you can still send me ideas/suggestions and if it inspires me, I will write it. that’s how the majority of the AUs have come about. but i’m also a very busy person so sorry if I can’t. 

can I make X or Y for COA and tag you?

yes. yes. yes. please, please, feel free to create whatever for COA (no matter how small or silly) because I consider it a great honour that I’ve been able to inspire someone else. whatever it is, please tag me. I wanna see.

okay, I made a thing and tagged you but you didn’t respond :(

Tumblr is notorious for eating my notifs. whatever it is (art/post/etc) if I don’t respond to it in a day or two, please give me a nudge. you’re not being annoying, I promise. chances are I missed it/tumblr ate it. 

I wanna scream/discuss/theorise about COA with others, is there any way for me to do that?

my amazing readers have set up this reddit page that is full of lovely people, theories, and memes etc. I check it often and interact on there, too, so feel free to drop by.

STORY:

how many chapters will COA be?

25. the last one being a very long epilogue.

have you decided on the ending yet?

yes. from as early as part 2. it's barely changed since. 

will we ever see more of Prague/Naples? hoe, please say yes.

yes. I plan to write both as COA bonus stories after the main story-line concludes.

will there be a sequel? 

depends. on two things: 1) if anyone will even care by that point 2) time. this story has consumed 5 months of my life entirely. i’ve been incredibly strict with myself when it comes to writing it (in a good way) but at best it won’t be finished till the end of august/beginning of september. so likely even if I do, there will be a break for a few months at least. I do have ideas though.

you promised us smut. where is it?

patience is a virtue. ;)

happy ending or tragedy? (please don’t say tragedy, you monster)

I would describe it more as “bittersweet” but whether it leans more towards bitter or sweet you’ll have to see.   

SHIPS:

any endgame hints?

you know more about the ending than you probably realise

can v/s finally go to Paris? for the love of GOD? pLEASE?

no

hector + v? powerful. will there be more of them in the future? 

agreed & yes. hector and v have their own arc to go on. it’s actually one of my favourites in this story. I don’t want to say more than that right now because I have plans for their dynamic so no spoilers. :)

please stop bullying john. give us some j/v content please? 

i, for one, adore john. it’s team S that’s bullying him lol. but wait till parabellum. i’ve always referred to that portion of the story as the second coming of j/v.

does lucien actually have a thing for v or is it a creepy obsession? 

it’s both.

I ship v with everyone :/ is that bad?

the sky is the limit. ship all the things proudly (but seriously, no, it isn’t. I ship all the ships, too, and that’s the fun of it) 

v/elder tho? 👀

🔫🤡

j/v or s/v? be honest.

you fool,,,, you buffoon. ot3 j/v/s is where it’s really at. imagine their POWER.   

ORIGINAL SQUAD:

what do the Elites/Lovers look like/how old are they?

please refer to this

will there be more step??

of course. he’s my baby. :)

will we see more of camorra/learn more about the elite’s and their backstories?

while I would love to take the time and flesh them all out with full backstories, only hector will be getting his backstory explored in the main canon because plot.

does lucien care for mika anymore or has he replaced her with v?

lucien is a messy hoe. mika is his subject of “affection” but v is his foil and equal. he recognises the same hurt in her that he has gone through himself so it’s more of a fixation. with time, lucien would likely destroy v so no bueno. 

I ship our OCs.

I do, too.

can we write about your OCs/V?

so you would have to come to me and discuss this more in private but I’m fine with this sort of thing usually. in fact, a prequel hector story already exists so you’re likely good but please contact me first. 

AUs:

when/how often do you update the vampire!au?

whenever I have time/inspo. mainly time. so this means you can get it daily or not get it for several weeks because COA is priority. I keep you all updated on when I have something cooking tho.

what is the actual pairing for vamp!au?

undecided as of yet. i’m leaning more towards ot3 right now but we shall see.

how often do you update flowing in me?

same as the above. whenever I have the time but I will keep you updated.

how many parts will flowing in me be?

I have 5 parts(ish) planned.

do you have a tag list for flowing in me?

I will. please leave a comment on the story if you want to be tagged in future parts!

will flowing in me feature other characters (john, winston etc.)?

this story is mainly camorra-centric but I do plan for John to appear at some point.

how did you come up with your lore in vamp!au?

to be completely honest....I just wrote a bunch of stuff down and used what stuck. mostly the ideas were pulled out of thin air while still trying to keep within the spirit of the canon material (the high priest, the holy church, the twelve priests, john being the boogeyman etc). camorra as the natural enemy seemed fitting and santino as a vampire prince even more so.

can we send you new au ideas/expand on old ones (manager!V etc)?

yes, always. I always try my hardest to reply but ofc I can’t promise I’ll be able to use them all but thank you in advance.

OC!V:

who is the face claim for OC!V?

weronika spyrka

what is her real name?

clara

how old is she at the beginning of the story and now?

23 beginning of chapter 1, 30 beginning of chapter 4 (current timeline)

will/would you ever write an original story about her?

I have considered creating something original out of COA itself or one of its sister series/concepts (like FIM). since I really started working on COA during last year’s NaNo, that might be the time I create something original this year. 

TIPS & ADVICE:

how do you write so much, so quickly?

I don’t think that word count is really reflective of the quality work itself. I don’t think you should worry how much you write, either. 100 words can be just as valuable as 1k. most of them time I have a deadline breathing down my neck and I do work well under pressure so that inspires me to force the chapters out. I also do very long days because despite what it might look like I’m not a fast writer.

how can I improve my writing?

read and practice. I know it’s dumb and overused advice but it’s how I learned english and found my style (still a mess and WIP) but still this advice does help. 

how do you keep motivated?

spite, your support, genuine adoration for these characters/word, a lot of spite. 

do you plan? outline?

I have a vague story outline with specific scenes in mind as I go along (helps to set up foreshadowing, twists, and those ‘full circle’ moments). I also plan each chapter scene by scene and know what each chapter is meant to accomplish. So yeah in a sense. 

[seapandora]

Fierce (Part 1?)

Avengers x oc!Rexy, (I honestly haven´t decided on what the final ship will be if there will be one…, also kinda oc!reader)

A/N: I started writing this as a reader x Steve fic but it just works better with an OC. I tried my best to not be too descriptive. This is sorta following the Avengers movies, not the comics. Probably no mention of the guardians… or maybe of Rocket and Groot but they get a pass in my book. Lastly, Ive got no clue wether this will be a series or not. Depends on how its received. So if you wanna see more, reblog and like. I don't own Marvels characters, this is just a fic, nothing more. Enjoy reading it. Thanx <3

Warnings: Anxiety, Blood, Probably some character-distress, slow burn, probably some character death along the road.

Words: 3019

Steve, oh sorry… Captain America… The world's golden boy and everyone's favorite Avenger. Well, everyone, except the Avengers, favorite Avenger. He was always so correct and he drilled the others quite hard, to the point where they had all thought of ways to take him out. Not that that was an easy task. He was a supersoldier. He had superspeed, superstrength, and well, he was quite agile. Bucky was a good sparring match because he also had the supersoldier serum. Those weren´t the only two with it though. They had a third supersoldier on the team, Rexy. Although the serum was the same as Steve and Buckys, Rexys had been spliced with genome from different animals who possessed certain abilities. While Rexy had no real clue as too how Hydra had created the "improved" serum, she now knew what it contained. Mostly thanks to Bruce, who had taken a blood sample when she was taken to the compound. Turned out she had genomes from a cuttlefish, those genes had proven to give her the ability to blend into any kind of background. She also had genes from a pit viper, which essentially gave her the ability to detect people's heat-signatures.

In all honesty, Rexy was a genetic freak, and it was clear that the scientists had been very keen on the whole Jurassic World deal seeing as the genes they had been using had also been used to create the fictional Indominus Rex. That had essentially gotten Sam to give her the nickname Rexy, and Rexy didn't mind. She had never provided any other name and wasn't about to start now that she had stayed with the team for a few years. It would be weird. Steve had been the first one to approach Rexy when she was found, but she had shied away from him. He had thought he could understand her, but he realized how wrong he was when Bucky told him that it was very different to be injected with something out of free will, compared to being injected against your will. Bucky had started to speak Russian and while Rexy hadn´t understood a word, she knew who Bucky was. She had seen his picture millions of times and had heard how he betrayed and left Hydra. That led to Rexy trusting Bucky to keep her safe. She had never heard of Steve before, only Captain America, and she hadn´t made the connection at that point.

For a while, Rexy didn't speak to anyone, not even Bucky. Mostly because he kept speaking to her in Russian and she didn't understand a word. Eventually one day she had asked to be allowed to make a phone call. She had spoken perfect English and the Avengers had all been frozen in their spots when she spoke up. After that, she was able to bond with each and every one of them in a unique way. She had always been the most comfortable around Bucky and Sam because they never put any pressure on her. The same went with Natasha who had become like an older sister to Rexy. Rexy had also quickly bonded with Peter who had become a very close friend of hers. That lead to the Avengers finding out that she was only four years older than Peter and that she had been taken at the young age of 12. Once they realized that Tony made sure to get her into a homeschooling program that the Avengers would help her with. Bucky and Steve worked with her on history, Sam on current conflicts of the world. Natasha helped her learn computers and programs. Bruce helped Rexy with chemistry and Tony worked with her on physics. Wanda helped her with psychology and Vision provided his knowledge whenever someone lacked information. She had gone through her missed years in just under two years and had applied for college. When she knew she had a spot she talked to Tony to see if he could get her a program she could follow from the compound. She wasn't comfortable around others and just felt the safest when she could be in her own space.

Tony had taken care of it all and Rexy was reading three different programs. She was like Tony, a workaholic and she hated not having something to do, and currently, she wasn't allowed on missions. She had had a bit of a tantrum a few weeks which had resulted in a lot of destruction and Steve with a black eye when he tried to calm her down. Rexy was still extremely embarrassed by the whole ordeal and she hated that she had hurt Steve even if he was completely healed after three days. She hated just thinking about it. Back to her studies, she liked having a lot on her plate and she was studying psychology, chemical engineering, and computer science. She wasn't an overly intelligent human freak, but she was interested and that took her more than halfway to her goal, most of the time. And now that she had a lot of time on her hands she made sure to keep up with everything and not fall behind on her studies. The Avengers all tried to help her, but often Rexy would just stare at them until they shut up, and then she´d kindly say she´d ask for help if she needed it. Mostly she talked to Natasha or Tony about stuff she found hard with her computer science courses, but she often asked Peter as well. They usually did most of their homework together or just sat and studied together.

Today just so happened to be one of those study days. Summer break had just started and technically Peter didn't have to study, however, he was still doing the "Stark Internship" and for his teachers to accept it he had to write a larger report on Starks technics, and how some of them worked. Tony had given Peter some parts that didn't do much for him and that wouldn't be a security risk if it leaked. Not that Peter would ever be that stupid. Rexy would trust Peter with anything. Sure he could be a bit of a talker but he had a pure heart and could challenge Steve for being the kindest and most caring human being on the planet. Or should he be called humanoid? He was part spider after all, right? Rexy was just finishing up an essay she had to write for her chemical engineering. It wasn't that hard, just a lot of work and she had put it off for a few days in favor of spending time with Shuri when she had come to visit. Shuri was of big help as well but seeing as she rarely visited them, she and Rexy rarely had time to talk about school or help each other. Mostly when they called they talked about boys or just T´Challa, Bucky, Sam, and Steve because it was fun to gossip about the old men.

Peter repeated his question and Rexy looked up. "Sorry, I was in a weird zone, care to repeat Pete?" She asked softly and blushed slightly at her antics. She usually didn't space out when someone was talking to her. He laughed but just shook his head. "Don't worry ´bout it. How´s the essay going, need anything? I was going to get something to drink and something to eat, you want anything?" He asked as he stood up. Rexy thought for a moment before she stood up as well. "I´ll just go with you." She answered knowing Peter would most likely forget something and then he´d be mad at himself. This way they could focus on what they wanted for themselves and then help each other back. She was always keeping an extra eye on Peter knowing he did suffer from a bit of anxiety. It didn't help that he was underage and fighting crime. It was a lot of pressure on a teenager. Rexy always figured that everyone stayed strong for her that she would repay them by staying strong for someone so important to them all and be his rock instead of the opposite way around. Yes, Rexy had missed a lot of her life as a teenager, but her years in Hydras´ grip had made her appreciate the small things in life and she didn't take anything for granted. She taught Peter to enjoy life while he still had it. It wasn't something you could get back later on, once you were gone you were gone. Peter had, because of Rexy, started to date MJ and he had started saying no to nightly patrols in favor of spending time with MJ.

Rexy didn't mind Peter spending a lot of time with MJ, she knew she always had him. She also had a lot of other things she had to do rather than think of Peter. She was an Avenger. Well, sort of at least. She hadn´t signed the papers, afraid that she would end up in another organization, like Hydra. She did however work as a consultant for the government. The American, and several other governments as well. She wasn't American by birth and didn't even have American citizenship. Hence why she didn't show loyalty to only the states. She was a freelancing superhero. She snapped out of her second daze in just a short time as Peter stood up and she followed his lead. She had gotten a call earlier during the day and she was leaving for a solo mission in just a few hours but she and Peter had planned this afternoon of studying for some time. Once they were all done she would be leaving though. So far only Natasha knew as she had been around when the call came. Rexy was hesitant to telling Peter she was leaving. Peter always worried about her and he wouldn't be able to relax until she got back and she didn't want that for him. He had a date with MJ the next day and Rexy wanted Peter to enjoy it.

They walked to the kitchen and Rexy got herself a cup of coffee and a soda. She needed the energy for the rest of the afternoon. She also got herself a FlapJack bar, one with summer berries. She waited for Peter to grab what he wanted for the afternoon before they began walking back towards the library. Rexy yawned a bit and hummed. It was a slow day and it made her slow and tired. She was in some weird way looking forward to the sleep she could get on the jet. She enjoyed sleeping on the jet, something about it was soothing. Rexy and Peter sat back down at the table and quickly emerged themselves back into their studying. Rexy began to type on her essay fairly quickly and within minutes she was in a flow. Her essay was actually on nanotechnology as a means of drug delivery in the human body. While Rexy wasn't necessarily supposed to make a case for a certain technology her professor had accepted her request to be allowed to create a drug delivery system that could work, with the help of nanotechnology. It had all been a success and the essay was mostly a discussion about potential issues her mechanic could have and whether it was more effective than traditional drug delivery. She was, in all honesty, very happy with her results and the way the essay was coming along. She was just hoping it would be accepted by her professor and that the reviewers wouldn´t be too harsh, even if that was the point. Rexy didn’t intend for her research to go mainstream and she had no interest in making it a reality. The technology was expensive and few countries would get access to it and in Rexy´s mind, everyone should have the same possibility to acquire the technology or no one should have it. The current techniques were acceptable and working, rich countries didn’t need another way of distributing drugs, not yet at least.

She typed up the last few paragraphs and emailed it to Bruce, who had promised to proofread it and think whether Rexy's arguments would hold or not. She noticed Peter was still stuck on one of his problems and leaned over to get a better look at it. Their relationship was incredible. They didn’t even need to talk to be able to communicate their issues. Rexy could see he was struggling and wanted her help. “Read the problem to me, and I´ll see if I can help.” She said softly and smiled at him as she leaned her head in her hand. “Okay, so… I have to calculate the momentum of a 2000 kilo elephant who´s running at 7.5 meters per second. Compare the momentum of the elephant to that of a 0.0400-kilo dart fired at 600 meters per second. And lastly, I have to calculate the momentum of a 90-kilo human running at 7.4 meters per second.” Peter explained and sighed softly Physics wasn’t his strong suit. The truth was it wasn’t Rexy´s either, but she had taken a course in basic physics just to understand some things that Bruce and Tony would talk about now and then.

“Okay so let's break each question up. The first question was about the elephant's momentum, right? So momentum is the mass times the velocity and you have both of those factors, right?” Rexy said and smiled. Peter nodded and quickly wrote up the equation as meve and continued by adding in the values he already had. Peter used his calculator to do the multiplication of 2000 times 7.50 and got the answer 15 000. “Cool, now let´s write that as a scientific notation instead. “ Rexy said and waited as Peter instead wrote the answer as 1.50 x 104. “And don’t forget what it is you’ve calculated, kg times meter per second.” She added to let Peter know he had to write out the SI-unit. “Okay, now the second question. Let´s calculate that the same way, to begin with, now that you’ve got how to calculate the momentum.” She said and smiled as she took a sip of her drink. It didn’t take Peter very long at all and he waited for Rexy to swallow her drink before he looked at her for help. “So comparing the two momentums… momenta?... oh well. You want to divide the momentum of the elephant by the momentum of the dart. So it will be 1.50 x 104 kg x m/s divided by 24.0 kg x m/s as that was the momentum of the dart.” She explained and pointed to his two previous answers. The more Peter thought of it the less hard this became. Maybe it was just hard because he was thinking of so many other things. He had the date with MJ in his head and he had a few exams coming up in the next few weeks. Peter did the math quickly and got the result 625 as he should. “Great, so if you'd want to put that sensibly for a test or so, you could write that the momentum of the elephant is 625 times the momentum of the dart because the elephant weighs much more than the dart,” Rexy explained with a quick shrug. She didn’t mind Peter asking her for help even if the problem wasn’t that hard. He always helped her with things that turned out to not be very hard.

“So last question. This is the thing you’ve done for both previous questions so why don’t you do it while I save up my file and I´ll check it in 2 minutes?” She asked and smiled at Peter before she turned to her laptop to save her current file and to open the email she had received from Hill with some assignment details. She quickly transferred those files to her file in Friday's head and made sure Friday would lock it up with a password. The password wasn’t that hard, but it was something the others didn’t know about her. Okay maybe Natasha knew, but she knew everything. She checked back in with Peter in precisely two minutes and smiled as he had done it correctly. “You got it.” She said and patted his arm. “Now if the questions get any harder, please don’t ask me, I suck at physics.” She chuckled and closed her laptop. “I gotta go, Pete… I have some stuff to do.” She said and frowned. “Oh, okay Rex. Study sesh tomorrow?” He asked and looked over at Rexy as he too began to pack his things up. “I can´t tomorrow, I´m going out of town for a little bit.” She said and sighed. “I´ll be back by the end of the weekend.” She added and looked at Peter who looked like she had just told him someone had died. “Is it a mission or something?” He asked and frowned. He was always very protective of her even if she was technically older than him. “Yes, but I´m going to be fine Peter. It’s a simple mission.” Rexy assured him. He stood up and hugged her quickly. “Are you going off-grid? Or can you send me updates?” He asked as they hugged. This was the exact reason she hadn´t wished for Peter to know. He would be worried sick and she hated making him worried. “Look, you have a date tomorrow night, and I don’t want you to worry. Hill wants me to be off-grid but I´ll make an exception for you until tomorrow night, okay? You and Tasha are the only ones who know I´m going. You can´t tell Sam or Bucky until later tonight, or they will try to stop me. This is something I, and I alone, have to do.” She explained and kissed Peter's cheek before she let him go to collect her things. Peter sighed but knew better than to argue with Rexy. She was a capable woman who was more than used to her own missions by now.

[pens-swords-stuff]

How to gain attention in the Writeblr Community

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this lately, so instead of replying to each one, I decided to make one large post. Please note that these are based off of my personal experiences, and how I run my writeblr. This is what worked for me, but you might run your blog differently, you might post different things, and that’s perfectly fine.

Post Frequently

If you don’t post, people won’t be able to find your blog! Try to post as often as you can so you’ll pop up on people’s dashboards, and remind them what a cool Writeblr you are.

Obviously real life comes first, and you should never feel pressure to continue posting if you don’t want to. Breaks are absolutely okay and understandable, but if you feel up to it, try to keep your blog going! Use the queue, schedule some posts if that will help you.

They don’t all have to be original content either — reblogs work too, and in fact, probably work better because I know how difficult it can be to come up with original content everyday.

Make your original content when you feel like it, and use reblogs to keep your blog alive and active!

Be smart about your tags

A quick rundown on how tags work

Only the first five tags will show up in tracked tags. (i.e., if you tag your post #writeblr, and I’m following the tag #writeblr, it might pop up on my dashboard even if I’m not following you.)

Only the first twenty tags will show up in tumblr search.

Reblogs will not show up in tracked tags or search.

That’s a lot to remember, are you still with me? The most important thing to remember about tagging your work is that the first five tags are the most important. You want to use your biggest, most relevant tags in the first five. All of your organizational tags for your personal blog tags (i.e., I use #undine writes stuff to organize all of my original writing) and all of your fun tag comments should come after the first five at the very least.

So you know that the first five are most important, but what tags should you use? What tags are the best?

Here’s what I usually use and though I don’t know if they’re particularly popular or not, but they’ve worked for me just fine.

A basic guide on what tags to use

#Writeblr and #writing for any writing-related post that you make. I also sometimes include #writblr because some people use that tag instead.

#creative writing, #amwriting, #original writing work really well for your original writing content.

#WIP and #OC are also popular for your WIP and OC posts.

I’ve written a more in-depth guide on tagging, and what to use here in my “How to use tags effectively in the writeblr community” post! Please check it out if you want more information. It includes a more comprehensive list of what tags to use for what posts.

Engage with the community

When people ask me how to gain attention on writeblr, I often feel like they’re expecting me to have some magical solution that will make them popular.

Well, that one magical solution doesn’t really exist, but engaging with the community is the closest thing I’ve got for you. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough.

At its core, this is a community; a way for writers to find and support each other. If you ignore the community aspect, you are not utilizing a vital part of Writeblr, and you will probably not gain a whole lot of attention and support.

The absolute best advice I can give you is this: If you want attention in the community, you have to start by appearing in people’s notifications.

It is the one guaranteed way to make sure that you’re on people’s radar. That’s really valuable because the writeblr community is massive and it’s really easy to get lost in the shuffle. The more people that notice you, the more likely they are to gain an interest in you.

For example: I don’t know who all of my followers are, and I don’t know who all reblogs and likes my posts. However, if someone is consistently popping up in my notifications, I take notice. I recognize who they are, I’m grateful for them (and probably consider us friends, honestly), and I’ll check out their blog since they’ve been such a massive supporter of mine. Then I decide to follow them and we become mutuals because I’ve noticed them, and I’m now interested in what they do. Then, because I follow them, I’m more likely to reblog their posts because now they pop up on my dashboard.

This is how it works for the majority of writeblrs; we follow people that have supported us, so we can support them in return. It’s a win-win situation, really, so you should really take advantage.

So reblog and comment on people’s stuff consistently! Send them asks, slide into their DMs, tag them in stuff! Become friends with people! Participate in their ask games! Send them things that you think they’d like!

Doesn’t it feel great when someone reblogs your posts and writes a nice comment? Isn’t it wonderful when someone is genuinely interested in your stuff and sends you an ask? Be that person for other people! It’ll benefit you in the long run, I promise.

Don’t be shy; Kick down the door and barge in!

I get it — It can be really frightening to talk to people, especially on the internet. But like I said, Writeblr is massive, and it’s not that people don’t want to notice you, it’s just that there’s so many other things going on that they might not see you. So assert yourself! It’s okay to message your favorite writeblrs, it’s okay to reblog and comment. Make sure that people know you exist, and that you’re awesome!

As a bonus: It’s easier to talk to people who talk to others publicly and visibly. By having conversations with other writeblrs on your blog, and interacting with others, it shows your followers that you are open to conversation, and that you are accessible, and they will be more likely to engage with you. 

A lot more important advice under the cut! Be sure to keep reading!

Make writeblr friends

If you make a friend, you guys can both support and promote each other! It’s also really fun to have a writing friend to talk to, and talk about writeblr things. Some of the closest friends I have were made on the internet, and they can be a huge support system, and your biggest fan.

Participate in tag games

If tag games aren’t your thing, you don’t have to participate in them; that’s fine and it’s your choice.

However, writeblr tag games are a fantastic way to engage with the community, post about your WIPs and OCs, and make sure people see your content, all in one.

A lot of tag games involve talking about your WIPs and OCs, and you can directly tag other writeblrs without being annoying and invasive! I’ve gotten a decent number of followers, and people on my tag lists because I tagged them in a tag game, and they liked what they saw!

Even if you aren’t tagged any, if you see one you like, go ahead and participate! Tag your favorite writeblrs and ask them to join! By actively participating in tag games and tagging people, you’ll get tagged more often in them as well. It’s a great way to jump in if you’re a little nervous about tagging people!

Reblog your own posts

There are a lot of reasons why you might not be getting notes, and one of them might be that people just haven’t seen it. Time zones, and when people are active, the other posts on their dashboards, maybe they weren’t even following you when you posted it — they all contribute.

So reblog your own posts every so often! It’s okay, it’s not as annoying as you think, and a lot of new people will see it every single time.

Especially reblog your WIP posts!

Promote yourself; Be your own biggest supporter

No one wants to read things if they’re bad. So saying stuff like “It’s not very good, my writing is bad,” isn’t going to make people want to read it. Learn how to sell yourself! Try to be as confident as you can — fake it if you aren’t!

Talk about how much you love your WIP, sell people on it. There’s a lot of other WIPs people can be reading on tumblr, why should they check out yours? What are your strengths? Really push those forward; talk about yourself as if you were talking about your favorite writer.

Be confident! Confidence will bring people in.

Keep talking about your writing, keep posting about where you can read it, keep reblogging your favorite posts. People will take notice eventually, and you’ll find your audience!

Build up your followers with non-WIP content

It’s an unfortunate reality that it’s really difficult to gain interest and followers by just posting about your WIPs and OCs alone. Is it impossible? Absolutely not! A handful of Writeblrs have found success doing this, but realistically, it doesn’t happen very often.

So my very realistic and cynical advice to you is: reblog a lot of other posts. Reblog writing advice, memes, something that’s popular in Writeblr right now, etc., to draw people in initially. They can all be stuff that’s popular, but also make sure that you want to reblog it! Make your blog your own, and unique, don’t force yourself to reblog things that you don’t want to. But if you like it even a tiny bit, consider reblogging it.

People are more likely to reblog things that they can relate to like writing memes, and writing problems. People are more likely to reblog positivity, than they are WIP posts. If that’s something up your alley, try making some posts like that!

By building up a bigger follower base with non-WIP related stuff, you can make sure that more people will see it when you do post about your original content.

Other things that work really well, it following other writeblrs and posting stuff like “Reblog if you’re a writeblr, and I’ll follow you!”, “Looking for more mutuals, I’ll follow anyone back”. (Make sure you actually follow people if you say this though!). I cannot think of a single writeblr that won’t reblog these posts, because we all want followers. And a lot of people will follow back, and be a new mutual, which means a bigger audience who might be interested in your WIPs.

Also you’ll find a lot of awesome writeblrs to follow, and that’s a win in it of itself.

Gaining attention takes time and won’t happen immediately

I know how hard it is to feel like you’re shouting into the void, and no one cares. It really sucks to post something you’re proud of and have it get maybe two likes at most. I’ve been there — I’m still there. It’s a struggle that I think every single one of us here can relate to.

Realistically, overnight successes are something that probably won’t happen to you. Even the biggest, most successful writeblrs have started out with less than a hundred followers, and they slowly, painstakingly increased their audience one-by-one over a really long period of time. 

You can get there too, if you keep at it. I know it’s hard when you feel alone. I know it’s discouraging, and I know how disappointing it is. Take a break if you need to, but there is no magical way, no quick solution to being a popular writeblr. You have to work at it, and revel in the small victories as you slowly grow.

You’ll reap success if you keep at it, I promise.

Here’s a post I wrote about how to deal with not gaining follower and notes if it ever gets really hard.

Be a writeblr for yourself, not to gain attention

At the end of the day, there is absolutely no guarantee whether you’ll gain followers or not. You can try things, but ultimately it’s out of your hands.

The best way to deal with that hard truth, is to be a writeblr for yourself. Do what you want, run a writeblr because you want to, and it’s fun. Don’t expect notes, instead let every note you get be a pleasant surprise. Run your writeblr to engage with an amazing, kind community, not to be popular. Have a writeblr so you have a place to talk about how much you love writing, not so other people will love your writing.

Don’t tie your self-worth and measure of success into your writeblr, because you are so much more than note counts and follower counts. Your writing ability is not measured by your popularity, and it’s important to remind yourself of that every now and then.

It’s just like writing, write for yourself, and the audience will follow. Run your writeblr for yourself, and your supporters will follow.

It’ll be a lot more fun that way, and a lot more genuine. 

You can do it. Don’t get discouraged, and keep at it! Remember that it’s okay to take breaks if you need to, writeblr should not be your entire life. You’re a great writer no matter what, and I really hope that this will help you gain some new friends!

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[justfandomwritings]

All A King Should Be (Part One - Tywin Lannister)

Pairing: Young Tywin Lannister x OC

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: none yet but we’ll see

Summary: Men like Tywin Lannister weren't made. They were born. His was a mind superior to the realms of men. No one but the gods could create such a thing. Poised for greatness and ready to cease it. Tywin Lannister was born to wear a crown, and she was going to be the one to put it on his head.

Notes: So this story starts Pre-Rains of Castamere, Pre-Ninepenny King. So Tywin is like 16.

This story will be continued on FF.net and AO3, not on Tumblr, but I wanted to share the introduction here too. Both of those are linked ^^ so please go follow there. But like/reblog this to let me know what you think.

“Father,” Tywin growled under his breath. ���Must you bring her?” 

“Be kind Tywin,” Tytos good-naturedly reprimanded his eldest son. Playfully shoving the stubborn young man in the shoulder, as if that would ease Tywin’s mood. “This is meant to be a lovely family journey to Lannisport, not one of your angry mealtime lectures.” 

“The family does not include whatever woman is warming your bed tonight, Father,” Tywin spat with a venom that he made sure the unwelcome addition could hear.

“Tywin,” a shrill voice cut through the air. “Relax, dear. It is only some traders from Essos. This is meant to be fun!” 

Fun. Tywin knew Megga’s idea of fun. 

Megga was a candlemaker’s daughter, a lowborn woman who had worked her way into his father’s chambers one night after making a delivery of candles on her father’s behalf. It had taken her meer minutes to seduce Tytos Lannister into inviting her up to his chambers under the guise of choosing an arrangement for his next order of candles, and they had not left his room, except to order more wine, for three days after.

She delighted in nothing but possessions. Tytos’s words of affection did nothing for her. Megga’s father’s pride at her rising status did not warrant notice. The attention showered on her by knights and lesser lords looking to be in Tytos’s good graces meant little. Even her newfound friendship with that witch of a woman Ellyn Tarbeck was of no consequence. 

Megga spoke one language: gold. She wanted bars of it for paperweights, more jewelry made of it than she could ever wear. She wanted to spend every last ounce of gold that came out of Casterly Rock’s mines, and Tytos Lannister had a mind to let her. 

A fleet of merchant ships had docked in Lannisport and asked to speak with the ruling branch of the family. Normally, such a thing would have garnered no response from even such a weak willed man as Tytos, but the fleet held promise. They had sailed straight to Lannisport, and their hulls were still full of all their wears. If they had come from Westeros, that might not have been of note, but the ships had sailed all the way from Essos, all the way from Asshai, without stopping.

Even the usually disinterested Tywin had been intrigued to see what their stores held, but of course, Tytos brought Megga. What should have been a promising discussion of continued, mutually advantageous trade would instead be turned into a one-time spree aboard respectable merchant vessels who would never wish to return to House Lannister once they had met its pathetic excuse for rulers.

“Might I suggest, dear Megga,” Tywin looked around his father to glaring loathingly at the woman in question, “that you refrain from such indecencies and address your liege lords by their proper titles when in the presence of outsiders.”

“Of course, Tywin,” Megga smirked. “I’m happy to know you no longer see me as an outsider.”

Kevan snorted derisively at Tywin’s left hand side. “Brother, peace,” Kevan half-heartedly endeared, “we have the ride home to deal with, lest you forget.”

“Yes,” Tywin mused, “the ride home plus one carriage no doubt. I’m sure Tytos will have to buy one in Lannisport to fit all the goods Megga convinces him to buy for her.” 

Tygett, riding behind his elder brothers, chuckled to himself. “And who, pray tell, is going to sacrifice their horse to pull the bloody thing, Tywin?”

Tywin glowered at the thought. “None of us are walking for that wench, brothers.” Tywin assured them. 

The party of Tytos, his three eldest sons, his mistress, and a handful of guards rode for their extended family’s home in Lannisport, intent on informing their distant cousins of their presence should they wish to join the group in seeing the traders. 

House Lannister of Lannisport was only a few miles from the Rock, and there had never been a want or need to build a castle so close by, simply for the cadet branch’s pleasure. Rather, their seat was a spacious villa, nestled right where the walls of Lannisport met the sea. It was a gorgeous place that Tywin often enjoyed visiting to escape Tytos on particularly agitating days when he could no longer tolerate the man. Tywin knew his extended family well. 

“Ella?” Tywin called as he saw his distant relation standing at the road, seemingly waiting for them. 

“Ser Tywin,” Ella curtsied to him but didn’t even bother acknowledging Tytos. 

“What is this?” Megga addressed the young woman.

Ella diverted her gaze to the candlemaker’s daughter only briefly before her eyes turned back to Tywin. The cadet branch of the Lannister family had been one of the few houses in the Westerlands not to take advantage of Tytos’s cowardess. Lannister was their name Tytos so callously sullied as well. There would be no deference paid to a woman like Megga here, no matter how much she demanded it. 

“My lord, the trading ships from Asshai have invited us to join you and have moved to dock just off our shore so that we might paddle out from here.” She said to Tywin. “Everyone else is prepared to leave. They are waiting at the water.” 

“Excellent!” Tytos leapt from his horse in a rush to help Megga dismount hers. 

Ella waved and called out to a group of boys lingering around the house, and the stable hands came running to take the lords’ horses. 

“Tell me, Ella,” Kevan made conversation as they walked to the docks. “Do any of you know what this is all about?”

Ella gave an excited answer, “I would presume that, being from Asshai, they have something interesting like dragonglass, but if they’re making such a grand display to summon us all, I rather hope they have a dragon egg. I’ve heard there are several in Asshai, turned to rock with age.”

“Well, if they have such a thing I’d certainly enjoy seeing it.” Kevan agreed.

They joined Ella’s older sister and younger brother, Arcella and Lyman Lannister, at the docks and were greeted by their father, Lawsen. Three row boats had been prepared, and a small troop of guards was preparing to paddle out to meet their hosts. 

Not far off the shore, Tywin could see a group of four large galley ships clustered in the harbor. Traders from Asshai ventured to Lannisport occasionally, but only as one stop of many along regular trading routes. None had ever been worthy of a visit from House Lannister. As a result, Tywin had never personally seen a trading ship from Asshai, but even if he hadn’t known what they came to see, he would have known what he was looking at. There was no mistaking the galleys as the property of anyone but Asshai. 

Their wood was almost black against the crystal clear water and looked as dark as the Shadow from whence it came. Sails of gleaming gray billowed out from their mast; if they weren’t flowing in the wind, Tywin would have thought they were made of metal. Intricate carvings, too small in detail to make out from a distance, littered the bow of the ships, each unique from the one next to it. Three of the bows were capped by beautiful young mermaids, but the fourth, the largest in the center, was crested by the head of a dragon, complete with wooden wings folded back along the sides of the ship. 

“Well, they don’t call them Asshai by the Shadow for no reason.” Tygett voiced his brother’s observations and chuckled as he climbed into one of the row boats. 

Tywin nodded his agreement and followed his younger brother. “Not a traditional wood for a galley, I wonder what they used.” 

“It can’t be very fast,” Tygett added. 

Lawsen gave the order and his men on the shore pushed them off. Four guards paddled each of the boats: Tywin, Tygett, and Arcella in one; Lawsen with Tytos and his mistress in another; and Kevan, Ella, and Lyman in the boat bringing up the rear. 

“Did they say which ship?” Tywin overheard Tytos asking.

Lawsen snorted. “The dragon of course,” he said as if it was the dumbest question in the world, and it probably was.

As they paddled in, two rope ladders were hauled over the expansive side of the dragon ship. “There,” Tywin got the attention of the guards and pointed to where they should go, “But follow after my father.” 

It wasn’t that Tywin wanted Tytos and his mistress to mare the merchants’ impressions of them, and if it had just been his father he would have not cared for the disrespect of an heir going before his lord. Yet, with Lawsen present he didn’t want to further undermine his father’s authority. The man already made House Lannister look weak enough without help. 

“Are you the Lannisters?” One of a cluster of men atop the ship deck asked. 

“Yes,” Tytos called up the ladder as they pulled in close to the ships. “We have travelled from Casterly Rock.”

A slight figure, covered head to toe in black, pushed to the front of the group and flung themself over the railing. With deft hands, they descended one of the ladders down to the boats to greet them, stopping a few rungs above the tops of the Lannister parties heads. 

“Which of you is the Lord of this party?” The voice that came from beneath the hood was too high to be a man’s. Tywin thought it odd that a boy so tall would lack any width or bulk, but these were sailors not soldiers, he supposed. 

Tytos Lannister stood in his row boat and almost went tumbling over the side as he lost his footing. Scrambling back up with the help of a guard, Tytos tried to sound off with some of his lost authority. “Boy, I’m here to see your captain. I am Tytos Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock.”

With one gloved hand still gripping the rope, the sailor hung leisurely off the side of the ship. “Boy?” 

With a quick shake of the wrist, the glove fell from the figure’s free hand and landed in the water beneath, rushing down under the ship with the current. An exposed set of long, thin fingers reached up to push away the hood. 

It was a woman, a Valyrian woman judging by her frosted hair and purple eyes, and like all of them, she was a beauty to behold. 

Pale skin, strong in its unblemished perfection yet fragile in its delicate porcelain tone, was stretched over sharp cheek bones, colored only slightly despite the warmth of the midday sun and her all black attire. The hair behind her ears was pinned up in a twisted knot at the back of her head while a dozen locks came down both sides to frame her face; their shine made them easily mistakable for long chains of silver jewelry. Her lips were small, much like her narrow frame, but they were beautifully pink and perfectly shaped. 

Her eyes, though, drew Tywin in. Not in the way bards loved to sing about falling for a woman’s eyes or the way his father lavished affections on ladies about their enchanting irises because it was an easy and appropriate thing to compliment. 

Her eyes drew Tywin in with their depth, with their intelligence. They were a dark shade of royal purple, even darker than King Jaehaerys or Crown Prince Aerys. They gave her otherwise ethereal features a sense of foreboding. Her lips were quaint; her frame was petite; her skin was that of a doll; her hair was richly colored; but her eyes were fierce, discerning. Tywin thought, if the shade wasn’t so dark as to hide the wheels spinning inside her mind, he could watch her calculating her next move. 

“Tytos,” her voice cut through the air, “was not the name I was told to look for, boy.” She spoke the Common Tongue with a thinly veiled accent that rolled each of her words into the next one, more like song than speech.

“I,” Tytos spluttered, “I don’t know the meaning of this. I am Lord Tytos Lannister of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West.” 

“You are a lord?” The woman questioned in a doubtful tone, and when Tytos didn’t immediately respond she returned to the ladder and made to climb back up to her ship.

Tytos sat down beside Megga with a dramatic huff of air. No one else spoke as they watched the woman begin to climb, and Tywin grew frustrated with being so openly flouted. He had not wasted a day of productivity for this. 

The guards with him paddled lazily at the water to keep the heir’s row boat from bumping into his father’s, but he was only a few feet further, well within earshot.

“My name is Ser Tywin Lannister, Heir to Casterly Rock.” Tywin carefully stood from his place and spoke with all the authority his father tried and failed to possess. “We were summoned here by the captain of this vessel, and we will speak to him immediately.” 

The woman turned while he spoke and looked him over curiously, “Now that,” one of her eyebrows raised in amusement, “I actually believe.”

The still unnamed woman pressed two fingers to her lips and whistled to the men above, “Call for the Captain! They’re coming up!”

Tytos sent his eldest son an appreciative smile and helped Megga up onto the empty rope ladder first. 

“No.”

A hand quickly whipped out and blocked Megga’s path up the side of the ship. 

“What is this?” Tytos complained at being impeded yet again. 

“Your men and the girls are welcome to come aboard, but her kind aren’t allowed on the ship. They cause too much dissent amongst the crew,” the woman sneered down at Megga from several rungs up the second ladder. 

Megga was shocked, and even from his distance behind her, Tywin could see she was visibly enraged. “I beg your pardon; I am a guest of his Lord Tytos Lannister.”

“Guest or not, that does not change what you are.” The woman rolled her eyes at Megga’s attempts at defense. 

“And what do you mean by that?” Tytos actually sounded as those he’d managed to work up some anger on behalf of his companion. 

The woman didn’t even acknowledge Tytos spoke, she continued to address Megga directly, “Darling, you might fool weak Western lords, but I grew up in Lys. I know a whore when I see one.” 

Tywin was conflicted. The sheer elation he felt watching Megga’s horror at being condescended to by someone other than himself was weighing against the utter embarrassment of being so openly called out on such indecency. As if Megga hadn’t damaged their reputation enough in the Westerlands or Westeros, now the world would know his shame. 

“I-I will not be treated in this way,” Megga spoke utterly aghast. 

With a swift kick to Megga’s right arm, the woman sent Tytos’s mistress tumbling back into the boat with a sharp cry of pain. A guard caught her while another steadied the boat against the hull of the ship to keep from capsizing, with Lawsen’s help. 

“You will be treated as you are paid to be treated: cheaply, judging by the looks of you.” Purple eyes turned to Tywin, “Forgive me, but if you wish to return home by sundown we really should hurry this along. The whore stays in the boat. If your guards wish to come up, I can have a man wait with her.” 

“Our guards will wait here.” The men being mostly in Lawsen’s employ, he answered the woman and settled the matter quickly. 

“Good. Then follow me up.” The woman climbed up so quickly that when Tywin blinked she was already disappearing back at the top. 

It was an ordeal to rotate the three boats close to the ladder so each of the Lannisters could climb up, but it was made worse by Megga’s constant moaning about her exclusion. “At least we won’t have to worry about being informally addressed,” Tygett commented to Tywin just loud enough for Megga to hear as the pair began to climb the two ladders. 

Hooded figures bustled around the polished black deck of the ship, all resembling the woman who greeted them in their clothing. All black with not a color in sight, and every person was covered head to toe. The only distinction between each figure was their size. Making it obvious that, while most were men, there were clearly other women mixed in amongst the crew. 

Tytos passed the time waiting for their group to assemble on the deck by trying to lecture the young woman who had allowed them up. His voice demanded very little and came out more as a whine that the woman blatantly ignored.

She was lounging, hood cast aside at her feet, on an ornately carved black staircase that led up to the bow of the ship. Her gaze paid far more attention to her ungloved fingers, which she was examining quite closely, than she paid to Tytos Lannister.

“Father,” Tywin called as he helped pull Ella over the side of the ship. “We have a meeting to attend to.” 

The young woman hopped to her feet and pushed past Tytos without a second glance. “Yes, after me, all of you.”

She led them down a short set of stairs along the dingy hallway to the back of the ship and banged her fist on a wide door cut with the word captain. 

“Enter,” came a voice from inside. 

The door swung open, and Tywin, at the front of the group, got his first glimpse of the Captain who had assembled them. 

The older man was a surprisingly slim physique, lacking any real breadth. His muscles were long and lean, just as his frame. His length forced his head to scrape the wooden beams above him, such that he had to duck down to fit in the space when he rose to his feet behind the desk. 

Not a knight by any means, but still a war-worn man. His skin was beat to a deep tan by the sun, and scars littered the visible surface of his arms, scaring over in a rough texture that matched the thick callused skin of the hands holding him up on the desk. The man was not a merchant by any means; he was a sailor. 

“Ashenna, these are our guests?” The captain finally put a name to the Valyrian woman’s face.

“Yes,” Ashenna gave a low nod, stepping out of the way to allow the entire traveling party to enter the room. “This is Ser Tywin Lannister.” She introduced Tywin to the Captain with a wave of her hand.

The Captain circled his desk and held out a hand to greet the younger knight, which the Lannister quickly accepted. “A pleasure, Ser Tywin. You are exactly the man we wished to speak to.”

Tywin’s gaze narrowed. “Then perhaps you could afford my Lord Father and I the pleasure of your name.” 

“Of course,” The Captain turned to Lawsen, who quickly shook his head and directed a hand to Tytos. “It is an honor to be in the presence of the Lord of the Rock. I am Captain Tarik Rogare.”

Rogare. That was a name Tywin hadn’t heard since his days studying with his Maester.

“Where is that name familiar to me from?” Tytos clearly couldn’t recall his own lessons.

The Captain accepted the slight with relative ease. “The Rogare Bank, my Lord.” It was a name every Lord, especially one so rich in gold as the Lannisters, should know by heart. Still, the Captain briefly explained, “My family once ran the largest bank in the world, till untimely deaths saw to its collapse.” 

“Oh yes!” It dawned on Tytos. “The Lysene Spring, how could I forget.”

Ashenna, as Tywin now knew the woman to be called, rolled her eyes and slid past the Lannister party towards a solid metal chest sitting in the corner of the room, the only piece of furniture in the room besides the Captain’s desk. 

Captain Rogare stepped aside to let her past but continued speaking uninterrupted. “Much of our family still resides in Lys, but my brothers and I have made our names in Asshai. Our fleet controls the waters from the Jade Gate to the Saffron Straits and traverses from Bear Island to Ulthos to the Thousand Islands.”

“Quite an expanse of water,” Tygett commented idly.

“Indeed,” the Captain agreed with a small hint of pride. “Such dominance has afforded us many opportunities for trade and exploration, and of course,” Rogare turned to Ashenna with a wide smile, extending a hand to the chest in the corner, “adventure.”

Ashenna lifted the latch on the chest and hauled open its lid with some effort against the weight. 

The Lannisters all seemed to hold their breath. The speculation was over. Whatever had brought Tarik Rogare to their shores and had assembled them in his quarters was to be revealed.

Ashenna pulled from the chest a long, thin wooden box. It was a beautifully made box, carved from what appeared to be driftwood but polished till it gleamed like the sea from whence it came. 

Ashenna carried it like a child. Her steps towards the Captain’s desk were slow, deliberate, as if a single jostling of the contents in her arms would mark the end of her very existence. She cradled the box as she slowly lowered it to the empty surface and set it down with a heavy breath that was clearly relieved of no longer having such a responsibility.

The Captain joined Ashenna standing behind his desk and gestured for the eight Lannisters to come closer. Without much thought, the family crowded around the desk. A look of wonder gleamed in Tytos’ eyes that was mirrored in his Lannisport cousins. 

Only Tywin seemed composed in the face of this mystery. He stood directly before the box looking on with the calculated disinterest of any born dealer. He was sure whatever was in the box Tytos would demand to have; he only hoped he could negotiate the deal. Captain Rogare could have demanded his right arm, and Tytos would have given it without even knowing what was inside. 

“Our dear Ashenna,” Captain Rogare motioned to her, “brought this back to us from her travels. On her return to Asshai from Volantis, she came by way of the Gulf of Grief and, in avoiding a group of pirates, did as no man has done before. She navigated the Smoking Sea of the Doom of Valyria and survived to tell the tale.”

Tywin looked on the woman again in a new light. She couldn’t be older than himself, yet they claimed she was capable of a feat men could only lie and say they accomplished. She was either the greatest sailor on the seas or an utter charlatan.

“She found there, the wreckage of a ship against the side of a volcano, undisturbed even after three centuries; for she was the first to live long enough to see it.” 

“And you have brought Valyrian treasure to us before the King?” Lawsen interrupted the story with a look of utter confusion.

Captain Rogare and Ashenna both smirked and shared a quick glance. They looked like the only two privy to a dark secret they were about to reveal before the world. 

“The ship,” Rogare reached out and took a firm grip on the top of the wooden box, “was not Valyrian.” 

Rogare removed the lid, and the room filled with a collective gasp. 

It wasn’t the dragonglass the Lannisters had been expecting or the eggs Ella had been hoping to see. It wasn’t from the Shadow at all, or even from Essos for that matter. 

It was a sword, and it was from Westeros. A sword from the Rock itself.

Tywin reached out a hand gently scooped the sheathed blade into his arms, marveling at a sight he had never hoped to see. The scabbard was a well worn leather he knew was not original to the thing, but there was no mistaking the sword for anything other than exactly what it was.

The hilt was a magnificently cast lion’s head, plated perfectly in a gold that remained untarnished even after so many years. It rested atop a beautifully carved crimson handle that led to a cross guard that swirled with design embossed in pure gold, meeting where the blade disappeared with a diamond of gold set inside a ruby frame. 

With all the care he could manage, Tywin pulled out the blade, as much to wonder at its craftsmanship as to confirm its identity. 

“You found it,” He murmured to himself, running his fingers over the flat edge of the fine Valyrian steel. “Brightroar.”

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Taglist:

Forever Taglist:

@maybe-a-fangurl / @libbymouse /

Game of Thrones Taglist:

@crimson-knuckles

Only Tagging because this is Tywin and the only person who loves Tywin as much as me is : @scarhades

[utopiannamjoon]

A Knight in Leather Armor Chapter 5: The one worth staying for

Genre: Angst, fluff, university au, biker au, enemies to lovers sort of thing

Pairing: Jeongguk x reader, Taehyung x reader

Major characters: Jeongguk, Taehyung, Yoongi, Jimin, OC

Warnings: Depictions of violence, swearing, blood, character injury

Words: 6,2k

Synopsis of the serie: You had an uneventful life, you went to uni and wanted to get by with no trouble but that with was thrown out of the window when you run into a biker, literally smashing your face against him at the university. Everything is changed from that point forwards.

A/N: Remember to like, reblog and comment to know if you liked it and want to see more. This chapter contains more violence than previous ones but gets more saucy.

~~

You looked at the stiletto knife in your hand and the old mattress leaning against the wall between the doors of Jeongguk’s and Taehyung’s rooms. It’s full of holes and slices, all over. You thought that one more wouldn’t hurt or be noticed. Not that they’d mind.

You set the blade against the thin material and pushed it in. It cut a slit through the material effortlessly. You pulled it away and pushed it back in. You did it again. And again. And again. Creating new individual cuts on every stroke, painting the material with unique patterns.

”What’re you doing?” Yoongi asked, leaning his back on the wall from across the room. He had been looking at you for a while without being noticed. He examined your form and the way you just shoved the knife in without any thought.

You kept the knife buried deep in the flesh of the mattress and turned to look at him.

”If you wanna kill, stab. If you wanna hurt, slice,” Yoongi said and shrugged. ”Don’t wanna learn that the hard way.”

-

The more and more nights you spend with the boys the more your mother winked at you and tried to tease you about it. You’ve lost count how many times she has asked you about the biker boys and if you were dating one of them without failing to mention they seem way better than Jimin. It felt awkward at first but she wouldn’t let it go so you took it with humor. And thankfully - or for your misfortune you woke up at the clubhouse again.

You explored every cupboard on a hunt for a clean bowl to pour your breakfast in. It was about time they invested in a dishwasher since they were typical guys, not disturbed by all of the disgusting things they lived in. So you took matters in your own hands and cleaned around a bit. How hard it is to pick up a brush and wash the dishes?

You found a bowl and set it on the table next to the cereal box when you were disturbed. You peaked in the garage after hearing a series of groans echoing from there. You tiptoed to the corner to look at Yoongi and Jeongguk lifting up a beaten motorcycle in.

“C’mon old man,” Jeongguk complained when he looked over the handlebars to see Yoongi’s aching expression when they had a full sized motorcycle up in the air, “It’s not that heavy.”

“Shut your mouth, muscle man, you don’t know my struggle. I’m carrying all of yah so I’m allowed to have a hard time with this.” Yoongi huffed, taking small and weak-looking steps, grip getting weaker by the second. A beam of sweat rolled down his temple.

They got it set on the stand and Yoongi leaned his hands on his knees, sighing deeply to catch his breath.

“What’re you doing?” You walked in to look at the rusty bike just for the two guys to turn their head at you. “That’s like straight from the garbage.”

“Yup but it’s for a customer, needs a lot of work but it’ll be worth it.” Yoongi tapped on the fuel tank, dropping paint chips with each hit. He grimaced looking at his tainted palm, “Just wait and see.”

“Yoongi has the habit to pick up the worst bikes out there.” Jeongguk rolled his eyes, pointing at the multiple faults that you could see without even being trained in motorcycles. The cracks and rust filled every corner and,  ”The wheel rim is cracked as well so we couldn’t just roll it in.”

“Yeah, it sounded difficult.” You laughed. “All of the groans and swear words.”

“Oh great, she heard it too.” Jeongguk kicked Yoongi’s thigh who was sitting on the floor with a wrench in his hand looking at the motor, “You should pick better bikes.”

“I like a challenge.” He shrugged and moved his hand to pet the damn thing, “Look at the shape, the model, oh the possibilities I have. If you see this ...”

You slipped back to the common room to avoid the sermon Yoongi was about to give on motorcycles to finally have your breakfast, the search for clean utensils was exhausting. Jeongguk followed you probably for the same reason.

Yoongi joined the full table few minutes later and sat down, slamming his hands on it with a sigh, gathering everyone’s attention and shaking the little tiredness you still had away.

“So now that we are all here; what are we gonna do?” Yoongi looked around with raised eyebrows, waiting for answers but you all were confused. You exchanged looks,

“What do you mean?”

“Pogtan will revenge us.”

“For what?” You asked once you got your cereal spoon out of your mouth.

“We stole their money… and reorganized their pathetic little hut.” Jeongguk leaned back on his chair, hands behind his neck.

Tae’s eyes bulged so far that you thought they’d fall out, “You what?!” He was already yelling at 10 am. 

“I mean I think it’s fair since they kidnapped her, don’t you think?” 

“That’s beyond the point right now,” Yoongi dragged his words out and sent daggers at Jeongguk via his eyes. Jeongguk is out for blood and will take any chance he gets to start a fight, Yoongi knew that too well  “They’re not creative with their revenges so they’re going to trash our house, just like what we did to them.”

“What’re we gonna do about that? We got no idea when they’ll come.”

“That’s why I used my brain and had a big think,” Yoongi tapped his finger on his forehead sarcastically, making fun of their logical thinking, “We’ll spread around that we aren’t here this weekend and they’ll use that opportunity. It gives us a window.”

”How’re we going to do that?”

”Just talk about it loudly when you know they’re listening. Say you’re visiting parents or seeing friends. And for Jeongguk this means more socialising with your baseball team.”

~

You slammed your book shut and threw it in your backpack, getting ready to exit the classroom. You’ve had enough of lectures with the dullest of professors but if you were lucky someone would crack a joke or ask the dumbest question in existence. 

The girl group at the back of the class stayed last and they caught your attention when you were just right out of the door. Just hearing the words, “Those biker boys,” was enough to for your ears to perk up. Being curious, you leaned on the door frame, looking out in the hallway to not raise any attention.

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, and it killed you too. You were never expecting to hear the things that left out of the girls’ mouths. The accusations of violence and malicious behavior about the boys, your friends. You couldn’t have believed that there were this type of rumors spreading around until you heard them. Calling Taehyung a psychopath and accusing him of stabbing someone to death in a cold rage fueled rampage.

Saying that ‘the blonde guy’ is behind vehicle accidents since he is a mechanic and can go around and destroy brakes without anyone knowing.

How could they say that about Yoongi? The guy who only became talkative around people he trusted and loved. The guy who checked his friends’ motorcycles regularly to avoid anything even close to bad happening. He was the sweetest person under his shell and made sure everyone was safe.

“Their leader is the brains though. He is calm and cold, but tame. He plans the tortures and gets Mr. Bandana do it.” A girl giggled.

Baffled. You were utterly baffled. It felt unreal to hear these about your close friends. Especially when they weren’t true. Jeongguk was anything but calm headed. When he exploded there wasn’t a thing you could do to stop him. It’s not anything better than what they claimed but at least it’s not a lie based on nothing but rumors going around. It’s like a broken phone, no one knew what’s real.

You debated on confronting the girls but what’s the point? What would you do? They’d just laugh you off and at worst start talking behind your back too. The best thing you could do is to take this info and keep it locked in your mind. You’re flabbergasted that these are the things you would hear before you got to know them and you used to believe those things.

You closed your locker with your jacket thrown on your shoulder and marched out of the main building. The nerve of people to spread rumors about things they had no idea about. You took it personally.

“Hey you!” A deep yell went by your ear and you found a hand grabbing your shirt by the collar, slamming you against the wall, knocking your breath out.

Jack thrusted you against the stone wall, knuckles pushing just under your throat, hurting your collar bones. Your attempts of ripping his hands away from you were unsuccessful. It hurt so bad. Your heart jumped in your throat when you realized that he didn’t move under your most powerful touch.

“Tell your boys to stop messing with us.”

The helplessness was indescribable, he wouldn’t budge. You were stuck between him and the wall with nothing to do but watch his angry face and hope someone would see you. You were pathetic. You had no chance against Jack, his muscles were clear without even flexing and that terrified you. 

You glanced by his side and saw someone who made your heart beat faster - Jimin. Never in your life had you been this happy to see him when he walked by. He could help you. He would help you. 

You whined and struggled all while looking at Jimin, begging with your eyes that he changed his course to come help you. You weren’t expecting him to be your savior and love you again, just that he told Jack to cut it out but you weren’t expecting him walking away either.

Jimin saw you as his walking slowed down and looked at you directly but… he didn’t stop.

“We’re not happy with you. You’re making everything more difficult.” Jack spat at you and kept on rambling but you zoned out. The ultimate betrayal you felt with Jimin walking away, as if he hadn’t hurt you before.

”You will be sorry for the things we will do to you.”

You focused in the real world again when you saw someone’s figure behind Jack.

Jeongguk waved his fingers at you, smirking with his lip lifting up from the otherside.

“Bangtan has a hard on for you and I don’t know why.”

“You’re just jealous,” There was a brief cocky smile on Jeongguk’s face as he scoffed and threw a hook at Jack’s kidneys. He struggled with the hit and let you go out of instinct before Jeongguk kicked him and ripped him up again. 

Jack went pale immediately, both from seeing Jeongguk and being hit in a tender spot.

Jeongguk held Jack’s throat against the wall with the other hand up in the air getting ready to swing but he made the mistake to glance at you. You didn’t say anything, just being there, trying to calm yourself down since Jack hasn’t actually touched you before. You held your hand on your chest from the pain Jack’s arm inflicted.

“You really have a death wish,” Jeongguk threw Jack on the ground by his clothes, ”Touch my girl again and see what happens. I dare you.”

Jack mumbled and bolted off, running while holding his side.

“You gotta learn to protect yourself.” Jeongguk said nonchalantly while scanning you up and down for any marks of physical contact. He would deny it to the end of the world if you asked but it pained him that he is the reason why you’re under a threat. He saw the red marks on your collar bone and at the bottom of your throat but didn’t say anything, his tone stayed the same despite his nostrils flaring up, “They’re so big compared to you. They’re strong but you’re agile.”

~ 

The rusty gate screeched in the dark night against the concrete once Mark destroyed the lock with fence cutters. He tip toed through the yard after Jimin who didn’t make an effort to move silently, kicking every rock in his way and sliding his hand on the metal fence. ”Shouldn’t you be quiet?” Mark shussed him. “They’re not here you moron,” Jimin scoffed and ripped the fence cutters from Mark’s hand, “Their bikes are gone.” “But- but they have neighbors who might see us, and report us.” “Their neighbors are all worse crackheads than you are.” He rolled his eyes and pointed at the wall on the other side of the garage. “Just come on and picklock the window.” Mark took his time pushing the window latch up and wiggling it but it refused to open. Jimin was about to smash the fence cutters through his head but he settled on pushing him out of the way and swinging the cutters from behind his back. The glass shattered and flew in every direction, leaving shrapnel both in and out of the building. Jimin ordered Mark to crawl in to open the front door, there wasn’t a way he could go in through the window. Not that he couldn’t fit but he refused to wrinkle his tight, buttoned up shirt with popped collars. Mark got in with a little trouble, scraping his palm on a sharp edge of a glass shard. He ran through the garage to the front door to let Jimin in. “They’re here.” Yoongi grabbed Tae’s shirt and shook him relentlessly, waking you up in the process, your head shaking as well from using his bicep as a pillow. “What day did you go rumor around?! They weren’t supposed to come today!” “Obviously I told them the night between Saturday and Sunday, Jeongguk did too, I heard him talking to the baseball boyos.” Tae swatted Yoongi’s swinging hands away from himself and lifted up his head. “I’m not insane,” he whisper yelled, “I wouldn’t allow Y/n to stay over if I knew they were coming.” “It’s middle of the fucking week, why are they here?” Yoongi sat on the edge of the bed and gazed into nothingness. “We’re fucked. Jeongguk isn’t here and we don’t know if they came with the full posse.” “They lack so much intellect that they got the whole date wrong,” You scoffed in amusement mixed with uncertainty. There are many directions that the confrontation is able to go into and you’re not excited in witnessing any of that. “Fuck, I’m sorry we woke you.” Tae sat up after you. His finger hit your temple and brushed strands of hair behind your ear. “I mean it was inevitable if they’re here…” “I’m still sorry.” “Me too,” Yoongi tapped the blanked on top of your foot and nodded to Taehyung. “Get up, we can’t let them destroy our house, no matter how filthy or screwed up it already is.” Items crashed on the other side of the wall in the common room when Taehyung was climbing over you. ”Stay here, don’t come out, they’ll just get fueled... and it won’t end nicely.” You sat on the bed in the dark room, fiddling your thumbs around while your heart climbed up to your throat and refused to calm down. The nearly closed door didn’t  muffle Jimin’s audible sigh and disappointment in seeing your friends, your ear perked up trying to catch every word and insult thrown at each other but you grew more and more curious. ”... FUCKED UP OUR SHIT- Oh who do we have here?” Jimin cocked his head when the top of your head came in view from between the door. His face flashed with confusion before it settled back to the cocky one he always sported. ”I was iffy on if you were fucking her but I guess it’s true. Does she circle around or who gets to use her?” He laughed with his tone being higher than usual, ”Taehyung?” ”Cut that shit out, you don’t own her Jimin,” Taehyung said calmly but you could hear him being aggitated, his voice dropped from his regular one. ”Taehyung you pig, I can’t believe you took Jimin’s sloppy seconds.” Mark chuckled after and got met with Jimin’s open hand on his arm but he continued, ”Too bad she wasn’t introduced to us, we could’ve collectively pounded that cute ass.” ”You motherfucker I hope you enjoy seeing your own brain -” ”I admire the courage you have to show up in our clubhouse and mouth off, I really do admire it.” Metal clinked against metal, locking in and loading the double barreled shotgun in Jeongguk’s grip, it was a loud noise that you’ve only heard in movies but there was no mistake about what it could be. He leaned on the wall coming from the garage, you didn’t notice him coming back. His eyes traveled up and down on the firearm before they found themselves on Jimin. ”No one else has been stupid enough to come in in the middle of the week, destroying the window and rustling the gate, might I add, with no care in the world.” Taehyung startled Mark by pushing him, he stumbled against the sofa from the sheer push to the chest and before Jimin could react Tae pressed his hand against his throat, making the other gag. He pointed his finger at Mark to not to move a muscle, ”If you look at her funny, I will publically tear you to the ground so you won’t dare to show your face ever again.” Jimin nodded against Tae’s hand. A simple threat of humiliation was worse than violence to him. He lived for the attention he got being the most popular guy in Uni, no matter how childish it seemed. He looked at you with the same eyes you shot at him when it was Jack’s arm against you, with those eyes with a smidgen of hope, hoping that maybe you could do something to stop Taehyung. You didn’t. Jimin walked backwards out of the house and towards the open gate with Taehyung’s firm and unwavering grip still pressing up on his throat. He pushed him down when got out of the yard. Mark didn’t need guidance, he was willing to bolt out before Jimin from the simple movement Jeongguk made. ”You’re lucky that she is here, it got you saved from getting your guts spilled on the floor, messy but it would’ve been worth it,” Jeongguk spat at shaking Mark and Jimin who was lying on his butt on the pavement next to Taehyung’s foot. ”Don’t let me catch you on our property or touching our bikes because I’m not afraid of putting this to good use.” He tapped the cold metal barrel. ”You’d be sorry if you think that this will change anything.” Jimin dusted off his hands when he stood up, ”Just a matter of time when you will get hurt.” Jimin’s back slammed against the metal fence from Tae’s force. ”You don’t know when to stop do you?” He let go off him but stood still, looking in his eyes without blinking, like a predator at his prey, ”Leave.” Jimin challenged Taehyung in his staring competition. His nostrils flaired and his breathing got heavier. His fist tightened but Mark pulled Jimin on his sleeve away from Taehyung. Mark pulled harder everytime Jimin tried look back at your boys but soon they turned the corner. You watched this happening through the open garage door Jeongguk left open when he got in. ”They left blood on their way in,” Yoongi said while pointing at the broken window and the trail of small tricklets trailing from there. ”Yup, that’s how I knew something was up.” Jeongguk leaned on his bike and crossed his arms. ”They picked an awful day to come, something could’ve happened.” ”They’re all bark and no bite.” Taehyung scoffed when he caught up to you from making sure Jimin didn’t have another ideas. ”Bad talking means nothing, it’s when they have an animalistic look in their eye and they’re silent, determined to get to you, that’s when you should be scared.”

~

The warm, steamy water stopped running on your body when you turned the handle. You wrapped a towel around yourself and got out of the bathroom, into your room. You opened the door and froze.

You weren’t sure who was startled more you or Jeongguk and Taehyung. They were on your bed fighting over a book you were reading but Jeongguk let go when you got in the room. You didn’t let them in and they weren’t expecting you to walk in half nude either. A smile was slowly making its way on Taehyung’s lips, he wasn’t afraid to look you in the eyes- in fact that’s the only place his gaze was, on your eyes. He didn’t glance anywhere, maintaining strict contact. Meanwhile a blush grew on Jeongguk’s cheeks and his head was in a complete other direction than you.

Unconsciously your hands tightened the towel around your chest. “How… How?” was the only thing to escape your mouth. How did they get in?

“Your mom let us in, she is so nice. Asked us about how we’re doing and what we were planning. She gave us cookies as well.” Taehyung smiled and nodded, not releasing his eyes from yours. He spoke so clearly, this wasn’t awkward for him but for you and Jeongguk it was, “We just wanted to ask you to come to this party with us -” He pointed at Jeongguk with his thumb who had still his head down and eyes in a different galaxy so that he couldn't catch a glimpse of you, “- so that you wouldn’t die of boredom in here.”

“Sure, sounds great… I’ll just… Get dressed.” You shuffled closer to your closet, keeping hands on the towel, trying your best not to flash your friends. Having clothes on would make you feel better than talking in the nude. You got on your panties and jeans with little to no trouble and set them on your chair. You thanked whatever was up there for blessing you and your towel from not dropping. You started to feel anxious when you tried to reach for your bra from the shelf. Why did you have to set it so high?

“Need help?” Taehyung asked such a simple question but you felt embarrassed. Surely you don’t have a reason to but you just do. He stayed put until your eyes said it was okay for him to come and reach for the shelf for which you would’ve had to lift up your heels from the ground to get to but he did it with no trouble.

“Here,” his eyes locked with yours when he gave you the white bra. His eyes never wandered or even glanced anywhere despite your cleavage being right there in the open. You doubted you had that much control of your eyes than he had.

You grabbed your clothes and excused yourself to the bathroom to change. You’ve seen them in their boxers but you won’t give them the same delight. Jeongguk is so sleepy in the morning that he doesn’t care what he is wearing to breakfast, not even when you are around. You just try to keep your eyes to yourself since there should be a level of respect but sometimes if he is reaching for a glass from the cupboard you catch yourself from looking at his back and shoulders.

As soon as you got your clothes on you were on your way. 

It didn’t take long until you got to the party house and the guys’ turned off their motorcycles. Yoongi was already there, waiting for you next to his bike before heading in.

“Hey, I gotta question.” Yoongi said when you pulled off your helmet. He had a small smile on his face and hands in his front pockets.”I have a problem with the bike I’m working on. The rusty one.”

You knew nothing about bikes let alone fixing them. You should be the last person he asked help from, “I don’t think I can help you with that.”

“On this matter you can. I have a problem with the color.”

“Doesn’t your customer pick one?”

“Yeah but I have free hands on this one. I’d like you to pick the color.” He said and you thought it was the cutest thing. He pulled a shy smile and had trouble looking you in the eye but he still wanted to ask for your opinion. It felt so refreshing to be valued, you really wanted this feeling to last forever. You’ve never been too big of a fan of motorcycles. Well to be fair you have had no experience with them before either until you got involved with Bangtan. Their bikes were all so boring, gray and black - except Jeongguk’s bike that had golden details but still. On the other hand a flashy bike wouldn’t necessarily be the right fit for his customer,

“How about red? Like burgundy,” You suggested and he nodded, eyes growing into slits when his smile grew bigger.

When you were deciding the color the boys took something from their saddlebags and you’re quite certain you know what they’re hiding from you.

As soon as your group walked in and Jeongguk and Yoongi excused themselves.

“They’ll make some rounds,” Taehyung tried his best to sound nonchalant. Even though you didn’t judge them on selling drugs he didn’t want you to be influenced. It’s their business and he doesn’t want to make uncomfortable by it. “Want something to drink?” He wrapped his arm on your shoulder, letting it rest on it. Once you got in the kitchen he opened a bottle for you, using the edge of a counter to pop the lid off.

“Aren’t you going to drink?” You asked when Taehyung took no effort to get a beer of his own. He shook his head and pulled a water bottle from his jacket, as usual, 

“No, I gotta drive but you can drink some.” He clinked his bottle with yours and smiled, he was about to say something but the words weren’t leaving his open lips. He sighed after the pause and gathered enough courage, “I really don’t know what to toast for. I guess I just wanna say thanks.” He said, one corner of his mouth going up. He looked a little embarrassed telling you that. You followed him back into the dim living room,

“Thanks for what?” You chuckle. He has no reason to look like that.

“For staying with us. Thank you for it.” 

“Hey,” You touched his shoulder and he lifted his head up to look you in the eyes. The way he acted for you to show them decency was humbling, “I’ll never leave you, I’m here to stay - I want to stay. You’re all wonderful guys. I don’t understand how everybody else doesn’t see it. I’m not leaving you anytime soon and… I’m thankful too…” You dragged your eyes from his, “for that you took me in and want to spend time with me -” Taehyung pulled you in, wrapping his arms around your upper body. Your face got snuggled in the crook of his neck. When you hugged him back his grip tightened and he breathed in with his nose.

“I’m not leaving you either,” He said when he unravelled his arms from your body and set his hands on your cheeks. He didn’t do anything or say anything, he just looked at you.

“AHEM.”

Taehyung lifted his head and you turned around to see Jeongguk standing there behind you. Tae’s hands flopped to his sides.

“Sorry for interrupting.” Jeongguk said but he wasn’t sorry, he had a sly smirk tugging his lips. “Yoongi is still making rounds.”

“Aight,” Taehyung nodded and bit his tongue, eyes looking into nothingness. You nodded along with him and said nothing. It was a completely innocent hug but the way Jeongguk interrupted it made you feel nervous about it but -

Jeongguk grabbed your hand and pulled you against his chest before pushing you against the wall. He pressed himself against your torso, brushing his pecs against you, his cologne puffed around you.

He took his lips close to your ear, feeling his warm breath against your skin brought you to goosebumps when he whispered,

“Knife.”

 Your heart jumped to your throat and this wasn’t the first time this has happened, though you didn’t know who should take the blame this time. You wished those weren’t the words that came out of his mouth instead of something else.

You looked over Jeongguk’s shoulder to see what’s happening. You were just talking to them and you got dragged away without understanding. How could he spot such a thing?

Taehyung’s nose crunched and his eyes closed tightly. Poodle was standing right behind him, towering over him. He reached his head down and said something. You couldn’t hear or see Poodle’s mouth, just that Tae’s expression wavered, his brows furrowed and lips pulled in to a straight line. Something went down Tae’s cheek, leaving a line that shone in the dark lighting.

Poodle pushed Taehyung forward with little to no force and was gone faster than Jeongguk was able to react. Tae’s steps were wobbly and uneasy when he pushed open the porch door, holding his other hand behind his back. You and Jeongguk shared glances, he cocked his head with caution and slight confusion before rushing over outside.

Taehyung leaned his hand on a pole, head hung low.

”Are you okay?” You went up to him, being careful to touch his shivering back.

Taehyung gave you a slight smile, eyes glowing and tearing up. He wasn’t crying necessarily but the stinging feeling wouldn’t stop and brought the tears to his eyes. He took his hand from his back to your line of sight, ”I don’t think so.” It was covered in dark and thick gooey liquid.

”That was a dramatic-ass exit - shit” Jeongguk scoffed after he closed the glass door to find Tae’s fluids in front of him. He lifted up Tae’s shirt and grimaced. ”Take off your shirt.” He said with a certain tone, he knew what to do, asserting himself in the situation.

Tae did what he was asked but with groans and change of expression, his eyebrows were low and the burning pain was so clear on his face. He managed to shove his shirt in your hands before releasing his grip from the fence. His knees hit the ground and so did his upper body.

”The grass is cool,” Tae smiled, cheek pressed against the freshly cut grass. He breathed in to smell it, ”Moist.”

”Because you’re basically dying doesn’t give you the permission to say that word.” Jeongguk pressed Tae’s shirt against the cut, you made a mistake looking at it. It was a long slash going from his lower ribs to his tailbone that went deep, though you had nothing to compare it for, you’ve only seen these types of cuts on the big screen. The blood oozed out no matter how hard Jeongguk pressed on it.

”’No bark, no bite’ my ass, who am I to say such things… This is your fault though.” Tae turned his head enough to see Jeongguk in his peripheral vision, ”If you weren’t pulling guns at them this wouldn’t have happened. They would’ve never done this.”

”You won’t blame this on me for protecting her.”

”YOUR PROTECTION?! Your ’protection’ is getting us killed - AAH.” He stated through gritted teeth, pushing his forehead against the ground as he tightened his eyes from the pain, ”What about me and Yoongi? What about when they go so far and hurt her?” He made his very best effort to point at you without lifting up his arm, ”I won’t be able to forgive myself and all because you can’t hold your shit together.”

Jeongguk shook his head.

”If this kills me I’m coming back to haunt your ass until you die and finally end this miserable life of yours,” Tae quipped and laid his head back on the ground, trying to ease his breathing. ”This hurts like a motherfucker. Why did he do this… It’s not my time to go...”

Jeongguk didn’t say a word but you saw how he got worked up. His lip twitched and his knuckles were their way to turn white from the tight grip he held on the shirt. It was only a matter of time when he blew up.

His breathing got heavier and eyebrows furrowed, ”Where the fuck is Yoongi?!” Jeongguk yelled with clear frustration while looking around and at the house, maybe to see a glimpse of him through the window. He didn’t know what to do and Tae not shutting his mouth made everything worse. He hated being helpless and at mercy of others. He was ready to hunt down every member of Pogtan at that moment to kick their knees out of place and twist their necks until a loud crack could be heard for doing this to Taehyung.

Jeongguk pulled himself up and pulled on his own hair but stood still when he made eye contact with you. He didn’t move or say anything just hands grabbing his hair and solid eye contact.

He rested his arms by his side and informed you with a hush voice that he’d go find Yoongi.

“What… what did you, you do?” Tae turned his head toward you. “He didn’t yell or break… anything. What did you say to him? Wha- what on earth did you do? I’m so puzzled to how you’re able to do that. Around... you… he doesn’t blow… up.”

“I did nothing,” You shrugged it off and pressed Tae’s shirt on the wound but it was already spreading dark red over the fabric, “Don’t move, you’re losing a lot of blood.”

“Uh-huh… I - I - I think I’m…”

“I can’t find Yoongi, he isn’t here - Holy hell he is shivering,” Jeongguk ran back and hopped on his knees, pressing his bigger hand on top of yours on the shirt. He turned to face you, his forehead crinkled and pupils widened, “Yoongi isn’t here.”

“Where could he be then?”

Jeongguk didn’t seem like his normal self. He hesitated and was unsure, completely opposite of his regular self.

“We gotta go to the hospital.” You break the silence of words when Tae’s breathing turned into whining. Jeongguk pressed his hand on Tae’s head and lifted up his eyelid, that were almost rolled back.

“No. We’ll go to the club,” Jeongguk shook his head and let go of Tae’s, “We are broke and no one can know about this. There’s an emergency kit at the club.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I wish I wasn’t.” Jeongguk got up and he looked at Taehyung with glossy eyes. He wouldn’t say it but he loved Tae as his brother and seeing him unconscious was the worst type of pain he could be in. “Wait here.” He bolted off around the house, leaving you to take care of Tae. You made sure to press hard enough to stop the blood the best way you could and focus on his breathing. If it goes away, you’re screwed. You didn’t have time to think about your emotions, it hit you so hard. You just had to get over this and deal with them later.

A motor boomed loudly, it echoed through the bass of the music coming from the house, and soon enough there was a rat truck in front of you, it slid and drifted into a stop on the grass, making a full path from where it came from. 

“That’s not yours.” You lifted your head up to Jeongguk whose head poked out the window.

“Nope.”

-

Jeongguk carried Tae inside the club bride-style whilst you ran in to swipe up the dinner table clean from plates and glasses, you swiped your arm over it, not caring where everything landed.

“The kit is under Tae’s bed,” Jeongguk struggled pass the narrow hallway into the kitchen. He landed Taehyung on the table, as softly as he managed and then carefully rolled him on his back. 

You reached your hand under the dusty bed and you found the box. You pulled it out and opened it. You picked up the red emergency stashed under all the junk and a polaroid fell out with it but you couldn’t focus on it.

Jeongguk took the kit from your hand and rummaged through it for a needle and disinfectant. “I’ve never done this.” He pulled the thread through the hoop and looked at you, one hand clasping Tae’s wound close, “Are you sure you want to be here?”

“I want to stay. I have to.”

His the corner of his mouth twitched and he took no time taking the needle close to Taehyung’s skin. ”Yoongi has always sewn my cuts…” Jeongguk’s voice trembled when the penetrated the skin and pulled the needle through, ”I want this dumbass to pull through. He can’t leave us like this.”

[vore-scientist]

Not an anon buuuut I don’t like reblogging stuff without doin it myself so yeah lol. I have a question that has probably been answered before but I’m curious and I don’t think I’ve seen it asked. But how did you come up with the names of your ocs? And which one was the first one you came up with?

[Sorry for this being weirdly long BUT AHHHHH THANKS FOR ASKING]

So my main way of coming up with names for humans are probably not ones that you should or can use. Maybe you can though idk you well?

Let’s start off with my saying Im Jewish and for most characters (especially humans, but also other races) I try to give jewish names. Obviously jewish names. 

My main source of Jewish Names is… facebook (and my old hebrew school yearbooks). I’m friends with a few rabbis on FB, so I pop over to their friend lists and write down first and last names that I like and mix and match. Creating realistic jewish names. I of course know a lot of jewish names off the top of my head, I used those first. But I often gotta go to the lists for help reminding myself of cool jewish names. 

Most of the main/major character names are ones I was very fond of already.

When naming the characters in Mystic Woods I started off using my favorite Jewish First names. Yonah and Sophia are two of my favorites. They were the first ones I decided on. Yonah’s friends got a bunch of my faves and Sophia’s siblings got more of them. 

For example: Micah Cohen and Shoshana Jaffe, two of my favorite Jewish first and last names! 

Some are standard names that are normal in real life. Ben, Daniel, Noah, Sophia, are all common names, but are very very Jewish. 

But not all names are real jewish ones. Especially for non-humans or for something fun i wanted to do. Though I still tend to lean towards jewish/hebrew sounding/inspired

For giants I tend to give Nouns. Evan, Regla, Oznai (meaning Stone, Leg, and Ear) [yes I know Evan is a real name, it’s hebrew in origin and means stone].  Malaka is a alteration of the word Malka which means Queen. Have not decided on last names for Giants yet. but Im probably going to go with another jewish naming convention [name] son/daughter/child of [parents first name] but alter it a bit. 

FireWitches, though human, i wanted to give last names that meant Fire. Fire Witches that I made i would give words for fire/hot in hebrew. Yonah’s last name, HaEsh, means The Fire (though it should be HaAish, but I’m paying homage to a friend’s TTRPG character where he wrote/pronounced it Esh). My other FireWitch, Gittel Midoora means Good Bonfire [gittel is a common yiddish name meaning Good]. 

Yonah’s father, Emmett, I named after one of the legends of the Golem. In which the golem had the word Emmett [Truth] written in Hebrew on it’s forehead, but erasing the first letter changed the word to Met [death]. Also it makes Emmett HaEsh’s name The Fire of Truth, Malaka the Queen of Fire, Yonah is the Dove of Fire, and Ariel is the Lion of Fire, which I think is badass. 

Elves I decided to give joke names, or weirdly common modern names [Jacuzzi and Andrew for example]. 

Dragons just get cool sounding nonsense names unless i come up with a cool system. 

[Of course I do the same thing for Rough Waters. Niel is Nathaniel, Davi is short for David and common nickname. Kov is short for Yaakov]

[umbralich]

Never ending survey

RULES: Repost, do not reblog. Tag 10 blogs!

Tagged by: @lareine-kira and @paleshadeofrose

Tagging: @hangedemperor , @istolin , @maximiloix , @trahja-tia , @eorzeasfrozenknight , @charm-in-spades , @thorcatte , @haila-wetyios , @a-sharlayan-abroad

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BASICS.

FULL NAME: Varg Blacksoul, formerly Timur Oronir NICKNAME: Varg-Varg (given by Lareine), Stiffy and Grumpy (given by Silke) AGE:  54 BIRTHDAY:  9th sun of the 1st astral moon ETHNIC GROUP: Xaela Au Ra NATIONALITY: Othard, Ishgard LANGUAGE/S: Common, xaelic, ishgardian SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Demisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single and not looking for company. HOME TOWN / AREA:  Dawn Throne, Azim Steppe CURRENT HOME:  Pillars, Ishgard PROFESSION: Paladin, medic/healer at Ishgard’s service.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Long and silvery grey. EYES: Black with white limbal rings, small irises. FACE: Angular features, long nose, high cheekbones. LIPS: Narrow, often cracked, slightly darker than his usual skin color. COMPLEXION: Grayish purple BLEMISHES: Dark circles SCARS: Lots of scars which he keeps hidden at all times. Two thick, long ones are visible and almost go across his right eye. TATTOOS: No tattoos. HEIGHT:  210cm WEIGHT: Slightly underweight BUILD: Slender but masculine, somewhat toned. FEATURES: Black markings around eyes, and naturally thick, black claws. ALLERGIES: None USUAL HAIR STYLE: At work or formal meetings it’s combed back either completely or with some locks on his temples left loose. In more casual situations he mostly just lets it be. USUAL FACE LOOK: Calm, focused, narrowed eyes. USUAL CLOTHING:  Full, dignified heavy armor or parts of it combined with a long coat, formal robes, jodhpurs, vests, blouses and high-heeled boots.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Imprisonment, being held or tied down, physical pain, betrayal. ASPIRATION/S: To be successful, self-sufficient and powerful until the end, to bring as many as possible wrongdoers to justice, to find an heir, and catch people still on the loose who managed to escape his revenge long ago.

POSITIVE TRAITS: He keeps his word, doesn’t leave things unfinished, is a good motivator for slackers, aims for high-quality results in everything, is reasonable and logical.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Insensible towards most of people, logic always comes before his own or other people’s feelings, very straightforward, capable of cruelty if necessary.

TEMPERAMENT: Calm SOUL TYPE/S: Thinker ANIMALS: Gray wolf

VICE HABIT/S: Smoking. He hates it, but it’s the least harmful thing that calms his nerves down, and he’s addicted. He tries to limit it though, and use it only in worst occasions, since he doesn’t want the side effects affecting his health or work. If things get especially grim, he also has full stashes of potent liquor and intravenous sedatives.

FAITH: Science usually comes first, but he’s also spiritual in some way. It’s one of those topics he doesn’t discuss with anyone. Some of his duties include working as a cleric, so it may have something to do with Halone. Or then it doesn’t, and it’s just another job.

GHOSTS?: Has seen them with his own eyes so can’t deny their existence. AFTERLIFE?: He hopes it exists, for reasons. REINCARNATION?: It’s a possibility.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Generally neutral, but on demand would choose the side of underdogs: ignoble, the poor and the sick, minors etc. Wouldn’t show his alignment publicly if it was a threat to himself. Would also pretend to be supporting the oppressor, only trying to sabotage their work at every opportunity. Even I’m not sure would he actually die for anyone else or some common cause. He has fled once to save his own hide and he could do it again. Knows main points of what’s going on and where around the world for the sake of common knowledge, but is only interested in topics that concern himself. Has been a target for racists since arriving to Ishgard as a teenager, so he despises them from the bottom of his heart.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Learned

FAMILY.

FATHER : Not relevant MOTHER :  Not relevant SIBLINGS : None that he knows of EXTENDED FAMILY: Iris Ymir (patient and protege) and Arsene Dreadeois (butler)

NAME MEANING/S:

Timur is a Turkic and Mongolic name which literally means iron. In Indonesian, timur translates to east and symbolizes hope by the rising sun.

All members of the Oronir tribe believe themselves to be direct descendants of Azim, the tribe's god of the sun.

Varg is wolf in swedish. Varg was also originally a nickname given by his friends at the Steppe. It was the only thing he kept after starting his new life in Ishgard and severing his ties with his homeland.

Blacksoul was given by his comrades in the army for being so ruthless towards enemies - both the ones on the battlefield and the ones captured.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: None

FAVORITES.

BOOK:  Science, mythology, swordplay, alchemy, etc. Everything that has something to do with his work or hobbies. DEITY: Halone seems to share most of his values. HOLIDAY: Doesn’t celebrate any. MONTH: September and October. There isn’t many little things in life he gets pleasure from, but fall colors is one of them. SEASON: Fall and winter. PLACE: His estate, cathedrals, libraries and forges. WEATHER: Thick fog, rain and sunshine at the same time. SOUND/S: Fire, rain and musical instruments when someone who actually knows what they’re doing plays them. SCENT/S: Herbs, iron, parchment. TASTE/S:  Whisky, tea, whatever Arsene makes. FEEL/S:  Clean clothes, heat radiating from a fireplace. ANIMAL/S:  Doesn’t like animals except for his chocobo, Mori. NUMBER: Doesn’t care about numbers. COLORS: White, black, blood red, gold, silver.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Accuracy of a chirurgeon, skillful with swords, managing to define a goal fast in any kind of surprising situation and being very patient and stubborn at achieving it.  BAD AT: Admitting he has weaknesses, comforting people, having fun, small talk, relaxing. HOBBIES: Reading, studying, weapon maintenance, alchemy. TROPES: Antihero, tragic hero and mad scientist. Definitely could also be a villain. Depends on whom you ask.

QUOTES:

“Since you seem to be so worried of my… customers, perhaps I should take you along the next time I interrogate them. You would see with your own eyes what kind of delicate, exquisite and misunderstood individuals they are, when they spit on you, mock their victims and brag about the amount of people they have raped or murdered.”

“Today it happens. Make sure she is out of here before I return tonight. I am no longer even sure which one of them is the worse one.”

“It was a mere procedure. If procedures were considered intimate, I would be close friends with half of Ishgard by now.”

“Do tell me... If you work as much as you claim, how come you are always broke when we meet?”

“Very well. Play something for me. Let us see are you a man of your word.”

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :  If you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?          

A1 :  He’s been busy sticking his spoon into so many soups during his life that you could probably make a trilogy of his fooleries feats. The first part would tell about his early life in Azim Steppe and how he was forced to leave from there, the second part about how he found his soulmate and adapted to his new life in Ishgard, and how it all eventually ended up into a shitstorm, and the third one would be the current storyline. No clue about the name, though. The Soulforge would be perfect but too bad it’s taken.

Q2 :  What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 : Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Amnesia the Dark Descent OSTs are absolutely the closest ones you could get to Varg. Orchestral, choir, bowed string instruments, both epic and monstrous. Even if there were more peaceful pieces here and there, while listening to them you’d still have that same feeling of dread you used to have while playing the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill games and finding a safe room: you just barely escaped death but can’t stay in the safe haven forever.

Q3 : Why did you start writing this character?          

A3 : He’s quite different compared to my Forsaken shadow priestess in WoW, whom I used to RP for... two or three years? Long story short: I wanted something else for a change. I also used to have an old Forsaken death knight, who was a lot more similar to Varg, but he was more evil. He existed pretty much only for occasions when someone needed a true villain for some plot. He was funny however and I always thought it was a pity I didn’t get chances to RP him more often.

Q4 : What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 : He’s a mixture of four different OCs of mine, with a bit of his original spice ofc. One of them came into being in, uh, somewhat obscure conditions. Kept seeing him in my dreams when I was a kid, and he became one of my imaginary friends I used to have back then. And not just one of the many, but the closest one. Also generally in entertainment I couldn’t care less about Lukes and Frodos. Villains, tragic heroes and the like are my thing. They’re usually the most multilayered and interesting characters.

Q5 : Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : Perfectionism. I’m similar and it sometimes drives me nuts to watch him neglecting himself while trying to achieve perfection. If I could physically talk to him I would go and slap him and be like “EAT. SLEEP. YES THE THING IS GOOD ENOUGH ALREADY. LEAVE IT.”

Q6 :  What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 :  Well, already kind of answered this one, but wait, there’s more: insomnia, nightmares, PTSD, misanthropy and cynicism come to mind first. And booze. How could I almost forget booze? I believe I know what misery is so I’m good at RPing miserable characters and make them look as authentic as possible. *lols like Alcyone from Magic Knight Rayearth* We both also have a strong sense of justice and nonexistent sympathy for those who use others as stepping stones. Aye I know, sounds a lot like a self-insert character, but it’s not like that. It’s more like... before meeting him/the OCs he’s based on, I used to be quite a scentless and tasteless kid. Similarities and peer support attract. And I’ve also learned from him.

It’s also a lot like me and Lareine. We became friends because we had 95% of the same interests and problems but perhaps that’s why we get along so well and understand each other.

Q7 :  How does  your muse feel about  you?          

A7 :  He would probably hate and like me at the same time. Or couldn’t decide. We both like peace and quiet, doing our job well is fundamental and our basic values are pretty much the same. We would get along well if we worked in the same place. However, unlike him, I have some horrid procrastination seasons, crippling self-esteem issues, tend to put other people’s needs and opinions above my own and keep stressing about things for 7 billion souls instead of just myself. I’m suspicious of pretty much everything else except Lareine and our plushie crow Agatha, except that Agatha creeps me out sometimes as well when she takes out a knife and sits next to my bed at night, staring at me, can’t watch Hachiko without bawling my eyes out during the entire movie, love puppies and kittens and danger noodles and I’m addicted to video games. Very likely he’d kick me out as well.

Q8 :  What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?        

A8 : Varg would never admit it to himself, but I think he gets best along with people who are a bit silly in some way, and who get on his nerves by being too carefree and doing stupid things. Lareine and Iris, when they’re behaving. Arsene, who’s kind at everyone. Currently Shaura is my favorite. Varg himself is so uptight people like them help breaking his gray routines. Also a bonus: he doesn’t see them as a threat, so that’s probably the closest he’s able to get to relaxing among other people.

Q9 :  What gives you inspiration to write your muse?        

A9 : I’m a fan of my own characters. It doesn’t feel like I would’ve created them. I saw them with my third eye or something and I’ve just written for others to read what I’ve seen. I don’t plan RPs beforehand. I just let the hound loose and let him do whatever he wants. So far I haven’t got tired of my characters’ antics and could just write more. The only obstacles are limited hours per day, necessary evils like eating and sleeping, procrastination, trying to sort out my life, and the damn FFXIV. SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE IT OUT OF MY HANDS.

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete?          

A10 : Ehh, maybe 4-5 hours.

[nikatyler]

Hi :) Do you have any tips for telling a story through your gameplays? Or even starting a legacy challenge?

When I was in the middle of writing this, I realized it’s all over the place and not everything probably answers your question, but they’re all things I’ve learned in my three years of being a simblr and trying to tell stories through this game. I hope at least some of it will be useful 😊 There are currently 2 different ways I approach storytelling. My Rose Legacy is mainly planned in advance with breaks for regular gameplay (but I focus on the story, therefore less completely random stuff happens). Golden Days, aka the gen 4 story I keep talking about but haven’t shown much of, is planned in advance completely (I write it first, then I go in the game to take pictures) and has no true gameplay parts. And then there are NSB and BPR, which are mainly about me having fun with the game. A lot of random stuff may and will occur. I do some planning too, but nothing too heavy usually.

But onto those legacy tips now. Some apply more to Roses, some to my other two legacies. Just get inspired by what you think could work for you!

It’s under the cut!

1. Come in with no big expectations

This might be just a coincidence, but it’s something I’ve noticed happened with all my big legacies. The only intention I had when I started them was to have a good time playing the game that I love. Don’t immediately think “I’m going to make the best founder ever” or “this is it, I’ll never create a better legacy”. Don’t stress yourself too much about it, just have fun. Don’t force yourself to be head over heels about your founder from the beginning, you will form a natural “bond” with them and their family as you play and get to know them better. They don’t have to be the best sim in the legacy, you might like their children more. It happened in all my legacies: I like Ezra more than Amelia, Isaac more than Elizabeth, Roxanne more than Gwyneth and (even though it wasn’t like that from the beginning) Ross more than December.

2. Have a basic idea of what you want to do

I found that I like setting requirements for myself because if I don’t do that, I’ll do what I’m always doing in the game, and well, then it all gets boring so quickly. When you’re playing a challenge-based legacy, you already have these requirements you have to complete somehow. If it seems too easy, just add your own! I’ll be doing that in my grey generation because I’ve already finished a lot of the requirements during the yellow generation, and this one would be too short and easy.

3. Try things you’ve never done before

Step out of your comfort zone! Think about what you’ve never done or explored in the game before: complete some aspirations, master some skills, have a certain number of relationships your heir will have to have in their life, make a rule about how many children your sim will have…have these basic guidelines, but don’t forget to give yourself some freedom too. Which brings me to the next point.

4. Whatever comes your way, roll with it

This is something I’ve been doing a lot in my NSB and it’s so much fun. Your house is on fire? It sucks, but don’t quit. This sim keeps showing up and wants to talk to your sim? Maybe they could be friends…or maybe enemies. Or maybe enemies to lovers! Was your spellcaster cursed? Nice, don’t you dare to exit without saving, challenge yourself and break the curse. Do you get an impulsive need to abduct your sim? Turn them into a vampire? GO FOR IT! Go crazy. Do bizarre things. Act on a whim. Let your sims suffer from time to time. Get inspired by the awful things the game throws at you. You could also make a list of things to do in the game, assign them numbers and then use google to roll the dice. Actually, I think I’ve seen someone make something like this already, but I might be making that up right now.

Basically: have goals, but leave some free space for unexpected twists. It’s like life, isn’t it? You focus on something, but sometimes, you can’t get straight to it. Obstacles happen.

5. And what about story-heavy parts?

If you want to add a part of a story that is less about gameplay, go for it! It can be refreshing. I always plan these parts in advance. Also, if I’m in the middle of a storyline, I usually break the previous rule, meaning that yes, I pretend some things didn’t happen, and yes, I quit without saving when something doesn’t go right. 

A perfect example is when Miracle burned to death while I was setting up another scene. If it happened in a gameplay, I’d be heartbroken, but I’d keep it (and maybe I would get a new, different storyline out of it). But in this case, I was in the middle of the story and I couldn’t just let her die, it would affect everything and I wasn’t in the mood for that monstrous rewriting. (it was in the middle of quads’ storylines and really, I don’t think they’d be in the mood for going on dates right after their mother died, but that’s off topic)

6. If you need to, take a break

This sounds simple, but I’m always surprised how often people force themselves to open their saves just to crank out content for their simblr. Why? You’ll just end up being bored and bitter and very often, you can tell when someone isn’t having fun with their game (or simblr in general). It took me four months to feel like opening the Rose save again. It would be pointless to make myself load it up when I actually don’t want to play it. Remember what I said in that first point: you want to have a good time. If you’re not having it, just leave. Take that break. You don’t owe anything to anyone, and if anyone tries to tell you otherwise, well…they’re the asshole here, not you. You can get burned out or uninspired from time to time, it happens, it’s natural, don’t feel bad about it. Get some rest and then come back - next week or next month, doesn’t matter.

7. Small generations are the best

I learned this the hard way and yet I still find myself breaking this rule so often. Gen 5/6 of Rose Legacy were exhausting because there were just so many sims and so many stories I wanted to tell. I still ended up scrapping a lot of them and I’m not satisfied with it. My tip would be have less children per generation, but write down your story ideas and just use them in later generations. Be patient. In fact, as the time goes, you can develop these stories and get rid of the flaws, so in the end they’ll be better than if you have used them all in one generation!

8. Writing prompts, tags and ask games are amazing

If I develop a character more, I find it easier to get attached to them - and then I’m less likely to quit the save too. I’ve had many pretty sims, but I let them go in the end because they had no depth. You can always develop your sims on your own. No one is stopping you from sitting down and writing all the headcanons you have for them. 

However, what I find more fun are ask games with questions about your OC. Not only you’re challenged to think about something new (these questions can be about awfully specific things, I love when that happens), but you also learn which characters people are interested in or what they want to know about them, and then you can work with that too. However, don’t get discouraged if no one asks anything. It happens a lot and it’s hard to then not feel down, but you’re not the only one. It’s not even that big of a deal when you think about it! (I’m still learning this, by the way, I’m always discouraged when no one asks haha.) I’d suggest that you interact with others. One thing I always try to do is leaving an ask for the person I’m reblogging from - of course, sometimes I just can’t think of anything, but if it’s something as simple as dropping some question numbers, then why wouldn’t I leave them there and just pick a character I like?

9. Get inspired, but don’t become a copycat

This one…inspiration is great, but make sure you’re not taking it too far. I don’t want to draw a line where inspiration ends and imitation/copying begins, as I know that everyone sees it differently and what I’d consider copying someone else would still call inspiration, so basically, I’d just say follow your heart and be nice. Taking someone else’s storyline and just playing it step by step with your own characters is not okay. Also speaking of imitation - imitating a person’s writing style or sense of humor can sometimes be tricky. It comes natural to them, but you’re just trying to be like them and it might show and it won’t feel right. Allow outer sources to inspire you and shape you into a better writer, but stay yourself at all times and you’ll be just fine. 💕 

10. Play for yourself, not for other people

This probably should’ve been the first tip. Do the things you want to do, not the things that are currently trendy in the community. I mean, if you want to do the trendy thing, that’s fine! But if you’re only doing it because everyone else is doing it, well, you’re not going to enjoy it. Same with…let’s say you have a sim and she has to pick between two guys. A typical love triangle. You want her to end up with guy A, you have good reasons why you want her to end up with him, but your followers want her to end up with guy B. Maybe listen to their reasons and consider them, but in the end, you’re the one who’s making the decision. And if you still feel like she should end up with guy A, then just let her. Don’t completely give up everything to please your readers.

I can’t really think of anything anymore, but I think I’ve said enough. I hope it made sense. I wrote most of this on the train so yeah 😅 Also, sorry it took me so long.

[mfackenthal]

The MFackenthal Show and @maxattack-powell!

banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat

Hello all!  Welcome back to the MFackenthal Show!  I am so glad that you are here today.  If you’re new to the show, I encourage you to go here to find past episodes.  There are only a few.

The MFackenthal Show has officially been green lit for more episodes!  We used to only be able to afford to run the show every once in a while, but the people have spoken - they want to see the show more often!  The funding came through and we hope to give the people what they want!  Do you want to be on the show?  Do you have someone that you want to see on the show?  If so - reblog or comment or send a message to let MFackenthal know!  We’ll see what we can do!  We have this show and two others lined up for you!

I could not be more excited to bring you this next guest.  She has been with the fandom for quite a while.  She was one of the first people I started communicating with on a regular basis.  She has talked me up, supported me from the beginning and though she hasn’t written much lately - when she does drop a chapter - it’s long and it’s worth it!  Please welcome to the stage @maxattack-powell!!!!!  (Insert Cheering here!)

(Megs greets Max with a hug - which means that Megs essentially runs and leaps into Max’s arms.  Max is fairly tall and Megs is barely 5′3″) 

Megs:  Max, I am so happy that you are here!  Can you believe that you’re here today?

Max:  Haha, yes - I can.  But I am honored to be here.

Megs:  Max, sit with me.  For those in the audience who may not know you, tell us about when and why you joined the fandom.

Max: Yanno, I always made my best guess at this before, but I knew you were going to ask me this - so I looked it up.  Did you know that now there’s this Official Tumblr blog called @memories, and it knows down to the minute when someone joined? Let me go check it… *digs through the blogs posts* Okay, it was apparently 07/31/2017 at 1:17:15 PM, which means it must have been on the weekend because of the time of day haha.

As for why ... hmm, well… I found the Choices app one day, when it only had like… three series I think! Anyone else remember that time? 

Megs:  I do!  Because I was playing Hollywood University I think I downloaded choices the day the app came out.

Max: Awh!  Well, I fell in love with The Freshman Series. Mostly because of Chris Powell and Zack Zilberg, and a long time ago I was in another fandom that had tons of fan fiction/art… so I googled “Choices Chris Powell” and any other combination I could think of looking for possible fanfiction. The fandom was almost non existent at the time. There was actually one person, who has long since left the fandom due to fandom dramas - we all know the kinds I’m talking about - but a few others had started posting their works as well… and I got hooked. Eventually I felt the bug to write how I felt TF should play out as well, and here I am *looks back at the “joined tumblr timestamp”* uhh… 20ish months ago!  Haha!!

Megs:  LOL, when you put it that way it doesn’t sound like that long ago ... lets call a spade a spade - that was almost 2 years ago!  That’s amazing!  You have to have seen so much in this fandom!  What is it that keeps you around?

Max: There are so many awesome people in this fandom, in this world we’ve all created for our pixelated loves lol. Soooo many creative minds to follow and enjoy. The content people share, original or repost… it’s great. 

... Unfortunately it is also a double edge sword ... the drama, the jealousy, the rumors, the hate, etc. I’ve sadly seen far too much and it comes in so many forms… it’s unnecessary.

Megs:  I couldn’t agree more!  If you could tell the fandom one thing - what would it be?

Max: It would be that we’re all here because we want to have a good time. No one came here to get ridiculed, to be scrutinized or chastised for their opinions, their likes or dislikes. Real life has enough of that going on. We are all individuals - if you want to be treated nicely, fairly, etc. you must also do the same to others. There is no reason someone must agree with you or anyone else. Live and let live. Embrace our differences as it makes us who we are. Most of the issues I see stem from a simple difference in opinion. That is ridiculous. Everyone’s entitled to their own thoughts. We must build each other up, not tear one another down. No one here owes anyone anything, now go have some fun.

(The room stands up in applause!)

Megs:  You should definitely stand up and take a bow, Max! 

(Max does just as Megs suggests - but she also makes Megs stand up and do the same. Laughing, they both sit back down.)

Awh, Max ... okay, let’s get back to you.  We know that you’d fight anyone for the position of The Chris Powell Appreciation/Fan Club.  And for those who don’t know, Max has been retelling the full The Freshman series, interweaving dialogue and plot from PB but also adding much of her own content.  MC and Chris get a backstory.  Chris gets best friends from back home.  What is your favorite piece that you have written?

Max: Oh geez hahaha. Um… can I just say The Freshman Chronicles as a whole? I’ve written for different fandoms, and I have original WIPs but I’ll stick to the Choices fandom for this answer. I’ve put a lot of time into TFC. Tons of additional story work, research on characters and their backgrounds, PBs and my own OCs. You should see my file folder setup haha. It’s crazy… I have so many docs, pictures and gifs. Most organized by location (Hartfeld, Boston, New Haven, Cherryfield, etc.), then by character… and on some I get more detailed and split them by emotion and situation.

Megs: By what again?

Max:  Emotion and Situation ... Yeah. I warned you it was crazy! *laughs* TFC was the reason I joined tumblr really. Instead of staying a Nonny and only reading others posted works. I wanted to comment, like and reblog what I enjoyed, while I also worked on my own contribution to the fandom. I had a vision for Chris and MC that had more than the game could give, and I wanted to see if i was still any good at writing since it had been years and years… it’s funny to see how different my current posts are from my first over a year ago. Makes me want to go update a few because they could use a little help *awkward laugh*

Megs:  I’m sure we can all relate to that!  Hmmm ... I’m starting to get a feel for this, I think, but what is your writing process?

Max:  Lots of planning, mostly in my head. When I feel like I have a decent concept I might type out some notes or work it into my outline (another crazy thing I have going for TFC because it’s so big haha). But usually, once I hatch out a basic plan on where I’m going… I just start typing. Keeping the general plot and main points I want to hit in mind, I simply start typing… keeping it as organic as possible. It usually works out well. 

Megs:  Do you have any advice for other writers?

Max: First, and most importantly… do it because you enjoy it. Don’t do it for likes, reblogs, popularity, etc. If you’re having a good time dreaming things up and typing them out, that’s what’s important. The rest is just an extra bonus. Also, don’t give up. It’s easy to become discouraged, frustrated, distracted and more… but remember - your creative cells can’t be running all the time. They need to rest just like your body. Take breaks… go read, play games, hang out with friends/family, watch a movie… whatever. Just do something to help you relax, to reset and you’ll very probably find inspiration and/or motivation to continue. Remember, this is for fun. *wink and finger guns*

Megs: So what do you do for fun?

Max: I actually have a few things I do regularly. A big one is making costumes/props for conventions, small productions, etc. I also train and show horses. I do the same with my dogs, but more for competitions and not really any shows. I’ve always drawn, sculpted, painted since I was old enough to hold things with my hands… and about a year ago I started learning how to do it digitally as well. I run (not at all for fun haha) and play hockey (totally for fun), follow comics and watch anime. I've restored houses, cars and old furniture. I like to read as much as I can - that’s an important one. I also play video games. Something I’ve done since I was young… I've even competed, and won, a few gaming tournaments.

Megs:  You don’t know how to be bored do you?

Max: LOL, Megs.  Yeah, um, so there’s a “few” *makes air quotes* of my never ending list of interests haha. Gives me a lot to talk about with people, eh?

Megs: Not that I can understand how you’d have time for this ... but what do you do to help pay for your many activities?

Max:  Oh like, my job? Well that can be a simple answer… like “I work in software” but the more interesting way to say it is I use my MBA, experience in business, the financial industry and technology to improve and stabilize my customers environment through technological solutions that fit their specific needs. *presses lips together* I solve problems by designing solutions. Bored yet? Hahaha.

Megs:  No!  That sounds wonderful!  Who doesn’t want their stuff to be designed better?  Any chance you could start working for tumblr?  Some of us have a few complaints ... tags ... mobile losing our work ...

Max:  I’m not sure they could pay me enough to help them with all of their problems!  But, tumblr, feel free to send me an offer!

Megs:  Seriously - send her a 6 figure offer!

Max:  Okay, Megs, well now I have a question for you.

Megs: Uhhhh, Max, that’s not exactly how this is supposed to go. 

Max:  Yeah, don’t care.  Your fans need to know ... Hoooow do you find the time to read and review so much?! And I know that’s just in this fandom.  I know you read books and you may read for other fandoms!?  Seriously, it’s awesome. We need to clock your page flipping speed haha.

Megs:  *blushes* Oh my gosh, you have to stop!  Here’s the key to how I do it ... I wake up at 5:30am and read for about 30 minutes.  Then I workout and start my day.  I read in line at the grocery stores.  I read on my breaks at work. 

Max:  Oh my gosh - you’re such a nerd and I love that!  Okay, nerd, what is your favorite thing to do, besides reading all the things of course?

Megs: This show, of course!  And, of course, getting people to do silly things on this show with me.  For instance - with as athletic as you are, I hear you can’t jump? 

Max:  Megs, shhhhh.  You told me you weren’t going to bring that up.

Megs:  I did no such thing! (Meg says while laughing) I said I might not bring it up.

Max:  Uh huh.

(Kris Kross’s “Jump” starts playing in the studio)

Megs:  Come on - show me what you’ve got! 

(Megs starts “singing” along and jumping along with the song. Max stays seated.  Megs finally pulls Max up into a standing position. Max plays along and “jumps” next to Megs - getting no air at all.)

Oh, come on Max - put some real strength in to it.  Jump! Jump! Jump!

(Max jumps and gets the smallest amount of air time.)

Max:  *laughing* Megs - I’m tall!  I don’t need to jump to reach things!

Megs:  *laughing* That must be nice.  I got good at this type of jumping because I had to learn to jump up and gently grab things from the grocery so I didn’t knock everything down.

*continuing to jump around the audience - getting everyone to join her* And that’s all for the show today today, folks!  Thank you for watching!!  Have a great night!

[thetenthdoctorscompanion]

UMBRELLA ACADEMY CHARACTER POSTERS - TUTORIAL/RESOURCES

So since the giveaway, I’ve gotten a couple messages inquiring how I made my character posters for Umbrella Academy OCs. I figured I’d throw a quick walk through together in case anyone wants to make their own and isn’t sure how to start.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t work for the Netflix graphics department, so obviously this design isn’t mine. If you make one of these posters, I don’t need credit. If you use my blank template, maybe give it a reblog for others to find it, but I don’t need or expect anything. Thanks in advance.

So to start off, there’s a couple things you’re going to need for this edit. I use Photoshop for all of my editing, but there are plenty of good editing websites out there where you should be able to put the pieces together. Before you start, you probably want to collect the following:

poster base/background

picture of your character

super adjective (ex: quiet, cursed, strong, bitter, high, etc.)

OPTIONAL: background symbol/number

OPTIONAL: umbrella picture

PART ONE: YOUR BASE

To start off, you’re gonna need your full stripe-y background. So full disclosure, I didn’t start from scratch. I took one of the licensed promo posters and selected the thin strip of stripes at the top, made it a new layer, and then stretched it to cover up the entire original poster. I also duplicated that layer to add a “sprayed strokes” filter on top, just to give the lines that unfinished texture they have in the regular posters. If you want to skip that step, here’s the plain background I started with.

PART TWO: YOUR CHARACTER

The next thing you’ll want to add is you - your OC, your selfie, whatever you’re making the poster for. Wait that’s a good idea, I want to make a poster of me. File that idea for later.

This is a pretty personal step, so there’s not much I can do to help you. If you’re keeping to the promo poster style, you’ll want to stick to pictures where the person is looking into the camera. I searched for other character promotional footage or photoshoots. I tried to restrict myself to pictures that framed at least from the hips up. This is important so your character doesn’t take up too much of the width of the poster and hide the striped background. And obviously, you’ll want to make sure the image is large so the quality is conserved in the poster.

(Additional Note: If your character is someone who was in the Umbrella Academy, you might want to keep an eye on their hands in the photos. Almost everyone [with the exception of Klaus] has an umbrella in their poster if they were part of the team, but I’ll get to this bit in more detail later.)

So you’ll add whatever character to the poster, and use a standard mask to get rid of the background. I usually use the lasso tool with my feathering on 1 pixel.

PART THREE: TOP TEXT

Pretty easy step. The “super superlative” at the top of the poster should be black, Impact font. Whatever word you pick: keep it short, and keep it one adjective. The longer the word, the smaller you’ll have to make it to fit on the poster, and the less bold it will look in the finished product. You’ll want that layer to be behind your character.

OPTIONAL STEP: BACKGROUND SYMBOL/NUMBER

This is another personal step. If your character was one of the Hargreeves children, they’ve probably got a number assigned to them. In the promotional posters, these numbers are displayed in the background behind the characters. (If there isn’t a number for your character, you can skip this step. Characters like Hazel and Cha Cha simply have striped backgrounds, and that’s just fine.)

The font used in the real posters is not any default font that I could match. For my posters, I used white Arial Black. Resize until it’s as large as you’d like (probably at least 1/3 the height of the poster) and drag to whichever side of your character you’d prefer. This layer should also be behind the person in your image. Then you want to convert your text layer to a workable layer (rasterize) and trim the edges.

OPTIONAL STEP: UMBRELLA

Oof, okay this one can be tough. As I said earlier, most of the Umbrella Academy team members appeared with an umbrella in their poster. With the exception of Klaus, the lil deviant, and Ben who is too dead to hold one. It’s not a necessary part of the poster, but it does take it up a notch if you’ve got the time, patience, and program to do a little more work.

Obviously, this picture of Eliza Dushku does not come with umbrella. I had to do a lot of Googling for “closed umbrella” or “woman holding umbrella” in order to find positions that would work with each photo or hands I could sub out in the picture. Once you’ve found one you want to use, you can mask the layers and adjust the color appropriately. 

This one didn’t work too well cause I had already cropped her legs, but you get the idea.

PART FOUR: BACKGROUND STRIPES

Now for the fun, up for interpretation part! Playing around with that background bit. If you’re working with a plain background, you can select uneven sections of the stripes to delete, so they don’t all reach the bottom. If you’re working with a number, you should already have rasterized the layer. You can go ahead and select some uneven sections so those black lines drip down through the number.

PART FIVE: FOREGROUND STRIPES

There are...probably better ways to do this. But alas, what I have for you is a semi-cheap, time-saving way. We’ve deleted some stripes in the back, now it’s time to stretch some of the stripes down in front. But as the stripe extends over your character, it inverts color. So what I ended up doing was *~* MAKING A NEW LAYER *~* on top, and painting with a white brush where I wanted these lines to go.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT FORGET TO MAKE A NEW LAYER FIRST. YOU WILL REGRET IT IF YOU DON’T.

After that I used the rectangle marquee to trim the brush strokes, i.e. extend the negative space from the stripes above. Then trim the ends of the lines where you want them to stop, and the tops of the lines where your character’s outline begins.

VOILA! YOU’VE DONE IT! THAT RIGHT THERE IS A POSTER!

Anyway, I hope this was helpful for some people. I spent about an hour and a half longer on this tutorial than I intended. Whoopsie doodles. Please reblog if this helped, and/or shoot me a message with questions.

[safrona-shadowsun]

Borrowed this neat little list from @ask-iraiel.

01. Oldest OC: This would be the departed @lady-handhour, who started off as a human (Gilnean) Warlock character in Vanilla WoW, and my very first heavily Rp’d character. She is now a banshee that is bound to the Ghostlands and surprisingly is still fun and interesting for me to write after all these years. 

02. Newest OC: @wraithsongs is my newest character, a Dark Ranger. I haven’t written very much for her or introduced her to RP, her blog just merely aesthetics now, so I haven’t done a lot of advertising, but she will be getting some stand alone stories very soon.

03: Favorite OC: A hard question, as I like something about each character I was inspired to create and develop. My favorite to write for and develop has been @echoesofthelight lately, I think, though who I end up writing/rping for is really influenced on my daily mood and the interest shown in a character by others.

 04 Favorite OC Design: I really love sketching out my more supernatural-looking characters, and of them @gravekeeper-anna has been the most fun to play around with. Though she recently had a more darkly whimsical look to her, she’s recently going through some revisions to her design, and its been an interesting challenge to try to put together what she looks like now as I take my group’s Rp contributions into consideration. (Truly some amazing writing occurred and I love the people that support my little forsaken lady so much. )

05 Main Reason for Making OC’s: Rolling a character and developing an OC are two very different things for me, and usually an OC comes out of an idea that haunts me or one that is built through a bridge of stories on one of my already existing characters. Inspiration is a very large motivator for me, and I usually can’t go on playing a toon I create unless they really come alive for me in my mind.

06. Describe Your Character Creating Process: This is probably intertwined a lot with the answer for number 5...it all starts with being inspired by something, being haunted by a concept for days or weeks that I can’t shake. Usually I’ll start writing some the concept, sketch out things for myself, and then I’ll share my ideas with an Rp friend I trust to see if it sounds...well, sound. Then if I’m lucky and confident with my idea, I can see it flourish into stories and Rp, and maybe even more grounded art.

07: Character Ships: The word ‘ship’ has a few meanings for me, as they can mean different types of relationships continuously written with a regular rp partner that for me, revolve around character exploration and development. I currently have a romantically-inclined ‘ship’ between Safrona here and @thefirstperished. On @echoesofthelight I tend to do a lot of character developing with @renwyck’s writer, a platonic relationship. And @roselyn-ravenblade has a mentor/mentee relationtionship with @asharinhun, and she also has a fine friendship building with @natereising. 

08: My favorite OC ship has been what has developed between Safrona and @thefirstperished. It was something that was organically Rp’d and a little unexpected, but has been very satisfying. There is a rich intimate exploration into both of our very not normal characters that always pulls me right in and keeps me and Saf both on our toes, or sinking in a sea of feels or even snickering to myself. Throw in there that I just admire The First as an amazingly written character in his own right, I’m just always looking forward to see this deeply bonded relationship develop however the way it does. 

09. Weirdest OC: I think the majority of my characters have a little ‘weirdness’ to them, and that is what makes them enjoyable for me to write. I think the weirdest concept I have is my Forsaken Monk at @danseindeath which is possibly too off kilter to even legitimately RP. I love her twisted, violent aesthetic though, so I keep her blog around. That’s where the most disturbing of my inspiration goes, likely.

10. Villains? @danseindeath was supposed to be the most villainous of my roster, but not sure anymore, as I’m not actively writing that character. I honestly have trouble writing a clear hero, or a clear villain. I usually play with moralities, dancing in a grey area. There is always a reason for the things one does. I suppose right now @lady-handhour is my most ‘lawful evil’ of my characters, but on the whole, most consider undead and their motivations to be ‘evil’.

11. Would you consider yourself nice to your OCS? I didn’t used to be. I think I liked writing tragic characters much too much. Many of my characters don’t have great orgins, and some characters, by the gods, did I put them through the wringer. But I’m coming to a point that some of these characters I’ve written for so long falling into pitfall after pitfall of ruin (some ten years rl in running) deserve some positive development for once, or having things work in their favor.

12. An OC you’ve killed (if you havent killed anyone, who would you kill?) Most recently I tried to permanently retire @gravekeeper-anna after the assault on Lordaeron by the Alliance after Teldrassil’s burning with her execution, but some dear writer friends weren’t having that at all, so she is returning, slowly but surely. :) A grateful nod must go to @sanguinesorceress, @duraxxor, @silvertonguedaggermaw and @nixalegos for inspiring her recreation. 

13. Are any of your OC’s parents? Safrona has had terrible luck being a parent, but she can remember some semblence of what it felt to have a child, somehow. As can @lady-handhour. @gravekeeper-anna is the a motherly guardian to the Lost of Lordaeron in a way, but right now, it is @wraithsongs that has had a child survive her, and sadly, it probably breaks her brain. Maybe one day one of my characters will get to have a healthy parent-child relationship, who knows?

14. Are there any OC’s you find yourself neglecting? I find I’m neglecting @delaurac a lot mostly because his story has fell flat on its face for me and I think I’ve fallen into making him a punching bag, and I probably don’t want to go that route again with ANOTHER character. Just lack of steady inspiration for me when it comes to Quint.

15. An OC that is difficult to write/draw/rp: That would be Saraj the Ethereal. I have always, always wanted an Ethereal character, but he falls into all those categories of being a highly intelligent, centuries? old entity that I just don’t have enough lore on to a point that I don’t know if I can ever deeply write him, while also being very hard to draw as a space mummy, and being someone that just shows up as cameos for the Courier. I dearly love this character though.

16: Tallest/Shortest OC: Shortest: @roselyn-handhour, tallest is Safrona’s Shivarra, that I sometimes bring in as an IC interation.

17: Oldest and Youngest OCs: Youngest OC is @roselyn-ravenblade in her early-mid twenties and the oldest is Saraj who is...who knows how old Ethereals are.

18: Do you dislike any of your OCs? Well. I wouldn’t ever want to meet @danseindeath in real life, but the idea of her intrigued my horror-appreciating brain.

19: Have you ever made a self-insert? I think there are aspects we identify with or that intrigue us as writers that we put into characters to make them relatable to us and therefore inspire us to write, but I stayed away for a long time from really putting big chunks of my personality into my characters. They were for a long time art that I released into the world, subjects that I subjected to stories, environs, and the impact of other characters on their existences. That changed a little with @roselyn-ravenblade, as I just started writing her half the time with my own reactions in a social environment. And its made her feel more of a real character to me as an effect, and its all kinda amusing.

20: An OC regret: I regret sometimes letting myself get too carried with making characters. I feel like I sometimes don’t have the brain to keep up with them all. Its often a feeling that makes me want to shelf a character, or retire them, but I never can pick who. And then I just feel like I’m giving up on one of my creations.

21: An OC you didn’t expect to be popular: I honestly did not expect Safrona to be so popular. She is a courier. There should have been nothing very interesting about that. She was my very first Tumblr account though, and she’s been around for a time here, and I was fairly active in having her interact with people. Am still a little stunned at the follower count she has, and moreover that it isn't dropping. I don't feel she is as popular with people now despite all this, just an old account and characterization I haven't shelved. This of course does not wither my massive love and gratitude for those that have written with Saf, ever liked her posts or reblogged, complimented and supported this character somehow. Just still pleasantly surprised.

22: An OC you didn’t expect to love: Many years ago, there was this gnomish warlock I knew in Vanilla Wow that really grew on me that I cant even remember the name of. He completely stuttered through his every word consistently, and while reading his text may have been annoying to some, I just appreciated the time he put into his characterization so much and how well he was rp'd with anyone and everyone that any group rp function we ever had felt a little empty if he was not attending. He is probably the reason for near automatically loving gnome rpers when I see/read about them. Strangely, I never really had a good gnome character that I could think of rping myself.