#i think this is the first time I finish a challenge like this let's goooo

[ai-higurashi]

Compiling all my sketches for @adorkastock 's Draw Everything June, it's been such a blast!!

(Part 2 in the reblogs)

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 714: The new team, Gunma Ryousei!!

Pag 1

1: The previous day, Gunma Prefecture

Gunma's cycle sport park

2: In the northern part of the prefecture, on the side of Mt. Oomine, there's a circuit exclusive for bicycles

3: Each lap is 6km long and full of variation, with tight curves and steep slopes at the end of up-and-downs

4: Races in Gunma are oftes held here

5: This day, too, high school students are holding a Challenge Cup

Everyone in the venue

6: thought that Gunma Josui, a powerhous who's a regukar partecipant in the Inter High

Pag 2

1: Would win

Pag 3

1: Seems like in today's race, too, we're the only “highlight”

2: I can't say it loud, but we have no opponent

Yeah

Nishimaebashi and Tone High school, well.... they're lively

Ah-uhm

3: Uhm, excuse me, I'm a reporter

4: Today there is a team that's partecipating for the first time

6: Listen- manager? Are you new?  First year? You're saying such “nonsense”

Ah, uhm, I'm sorry

7: Okay, I'll ask, who?

Then you'll forget about it in two seconds, Tomaki

Hahaha

8: Ah.... yes

It's... four people..... in Shinjo City.....

Pag 4

1: It's Gunma Ryuousei High School

Pag 5

4: Uhhh aahhhhh....!!

5: Waaa, it's the first race, the first race!! Road race!!

Are you okay, Kiji-san!?

Yeah

An immediate answer!? I'm not okay at all, I'm so scared I almost peed my pants!!

Pag 6

1: There's so many people!

Do your best!

Goooo

And it's an asphalted road

And it's so wide

2: The bikes, too..... no matter how many times I ride it, compared to a mountain bike it feels so thin and unreliable

3: But it's light and easy to handle

4: Like, it's easy to lift

I'm.... I'm not talking about controlling it

It's a race

5: Why are you so calm!?

6: I've partecipated in many races up until now

8: It's the same

We gather with our bicycles....

Pag 7

1: And decide who's the strongest

2: The one who has strength left until the very end, who can see the opponent and keep calm, will win.... that's it, isn't it?

3: Like, when it rains and the soil gets muddy, the conditions in MTB are always changing

Now the bikes are different and the road surface is different

4: It's the same as usual, yon

Just think

5: of how to win, yon!!

7: There's no need to be nervous, let's go

Why don't you shout? Like always

8: The challenge cup will start soon

9: Always....

Ah!!

10: Yes!!

Pag 8

1: Fou!!

Start!!

Josui!

Josui!

Gooo

Do your best!

Pag 9

1: Kaida-kun

2: Yes

3: Sonomoto-chan

Yeah!!

4: If anyone jumps forward, chase them and run together

Yeah

Yes

5: Ichifuji-kun, run ahead of me

Yes!!

6: At any rate, today watch those “Josui”'s movements, and run accordingly!!

7: It looks like they're the ones controlling this race

8: Observe carefully

We, Ryousei

Pag 10

1: Are going to defeat them and go to the Inter High!!

Yes!!

Yeah!!

2: Did I just hear “Inter High”!?

3: Huh!?

That guy!?

5: No.... it can't be... he just looks similar, there's no way he's here

After all, he does mountain bike!!

Pag 12

2: He jumped....!!

3: I'm sorry, Kiji-san, I couldn't avoid it.... I'll leave the rest to you!!

4: Got it, yon

Pag 13

1: Hayaaaaa

2: Who's that guy

I heard he suddenly jumped

His control of the bike is incredible!!

3: Okay, okay, I get it, so this is a road race

4: I guess you can divide the roles?

You don't have to do everything alone

Yeah, that's it

Pag 14

1: Interesting!!

2: Wha-

What!?

3: Huh

Ah!?

4: “Ryousei High School”!?

Pag 15

3: 500m left!!

Idiot, who the hell are you!

This here is the place where...

4: We get our one-two!!*

(NdT.: when first and second place are both from the same team)

Tomaki!!

6: So this is a competition of powers!?

Alright, yon!

But, sorry

7: If it's a comeptiton of one-shot power, then these mountain bike legs

Pag 16

1: Are far superior, yon!!

Pag 17

1: Finished!! The winner is Josui... huh!? No.... it's Ryousei High School!!

2: Gunma Ryousei.... the number 78... Kiji Kyuui!!

Ryousei!?

Where!?

Kiji!?

Who's that!!

3: That guy.... amazing

That formidable acceleration before the finish line... what was that? Now....

5: Alright, the first win....

Yon

Pag 18

1: I wonder if it will reach them.... everyone

Who's that guy!?

A third year!?

I've never seen him before

Josui was defeated!

2: Saitama Prefecture, Nagatoro Town

3: Oh, oh, oh

4: Onii-chaaaan- I'm- I'm- I'm-

What is it, Suzune, why are you so panicked...

Pag 19

1: Look at these news!! About yesterday!!

About that guy!!

2: In a ro-ro-road race....

You said it last autumn, didn't you

It makes no sense to do road racing too!!

3: He won

And it says that he might go to this year's road racing Inter High

4: O.....

5: Do road racing!!

Onii-chan, too!!

Do that!? Oi!!

6: But mountain bike is my life

I can't betray it!!

Huh...

I kinda like that, but

7: Chiba Prefecture

Pag 20

2: Who is he.... this guy

“A striking victory”.... ?

He's a third year... same grade as us but I've never heard of him before

3: Oi, Onoda

4: There was a small race held in Gunma

There, the champions Josei high school, were defeated by a no-name cyclist

5: Do you know Kiji Kyuui?

[schmedterlingfreud]

💗​ Day [21 of 100] of Productivity 💗​

Writing: - Effetto Luna, Chapter 19 -- Finished and posted (let's f0cking goooo!)

I was waiting for this moment from like… the very first second I just started to think about and to plan this long fic. This is the very famous chapter-like "I'm going to write and consume myself in a nearly 200,000 words fic just for the pleasure to arrive to this specific scene". So my brain is simply going ape shit like this…

(This is how I'm going ape shit btw... 🙈​) I worked very, very hard for months to build every single sentence for the better, to write this chapter just the way I was thinking about it. I swam through a very large amount of emotion during the process of writing, so I hope this will be perceived even by my readers through my words. I hope my beloved readers will be moved just like I was moved during the writing. To me, writing this chapter was a challenge - hard, funny and maybe even illuminating. Smut writing was never my favorite cup of tea, I confess, even if I've always enjoyed reading about it. I wrote something in my past fics, but sex was never really important in the big picture of my stories. I would have never imagined myself writing something this smutty, lol. I wish I could show this to my past self to encourage and motivate her.

I would like to dedicate this chapter and my thoughts to all writers who fear to face something new, to writers who sometimes feel intimidated by their own writing, who may not feel "enough" when it comes to inking their own ideas. Don't give up and believe in yourself! Give yourself the chance to experiment, to come past your insecurities, and to celebrate your successes. ♡♡♡

Reading: - The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick - The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

Listening to: Il cielo in una stanza, by Mina

Snacking on: Chocolate Galatine (I ate the whole package, wtf is wrong with me...)

Extra: My new job rhythms can be very tiresome, and I find them very often fatiguing my body, maybe because I'm not yet used to my new chores. I hope it's temporary because, at the same time, my mind is experimenting with an exciting creative sprunt, and it's very frustrating when your brain says "Yes! Let's do it!", while your body replies: "No, please, I can't, I need rest". But I carry on. Slow or fast, I must carry on, hoping to do my best every day. Because having something to aim for is the perfect secret to endure every-day-challenges, I'm seriously planning my next (and 5th) tattoo. Five is my lucky number, so I wanted it to be dedicated to Hetalia. More than ten years in this fandom and I don't have a Hetalia tattoo yet – funny how I did the “Luca” one before the “Hetalia” one, are we joking or what? Respect the hierarchy, belin! 🐟🇮🇹​

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 4 Pt. 1

Woo, I'm finally gonna write these up. Knives on the cover let's goooo

I can't tell who is saying the dining room line in this panel, Brad or Wolfwood, but either possibility amuses me. (It doesn't sound like Vash...) Also greatly enjoying the random kid who can only be spotted by half of their face hjhgnjg

Enjoying Vash just (-_-) with all the chaos around him

Wolfwood sounding slightly, just barely, hopeful... :')

They're so cute... brief happiness I love it...!

KNIVES JUMPSCARE

Idk what Hoppered's deal is but his earnestness is very different from the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns... I kinda like him honestly.

Eepy Knives... also I guess we finally hear what Wolfwood's actual mission is.

Hey I uh... feel kind of bad... for Legato... like there was no way he could've known that. It's exactly as Midvalley was saying - humans are insects to him and they are no different. It's just intriguing to me that Legato would ask questions of Knives with his very firm devotion, and that Knives would be dismissive about something that, let's face it, might have been important for Legato to know? You could argue that having Ninelives go after Wolfwood for being a traitor ups his cover, but Wolfwood never really had a "cover" to begin with and isn't that just a waste of a resource? Idk. I don't know what to make of these two. Did Knives used to tell Legato every part of the plan? Is that why he asked? Is Knives still pissed at Legato for trying to kill Vash and this withholding is part of the punishment? Knives also allows Legato to speak directly with him in this way, implying Legato is the highest rank of his "knives" and therefore more valuable (probably due to being very powerful), but then he straight up shattered his spine like it was nothing... I'm so confused by their dynamic, I guess because I'm not seeing the reason for Legato's devotion. I hope this gets some elaboration.

Aaaand back to Vash and Wolfwood. How are they so stupid sometimes... Meryl is so wonderfully petty. Good for her.

"I just wish we'd gotten to them sooner." MERYL OH MY GOD she's so funny

I love them. I love them so much. Look at that teamwork!!! <3

I'm sorry out of context this looks kind of funny... but nooooo Meryl!!!

It's very simple - if Milly cries, I cry. :'(

What is this "it" that Zazie used...?

Augh. Milly can't sleep while Meryl's in danger... :(((

HJDHBJSHF??? Zazie doesn't even finish the sentence and Vash just leaps out the window??? Hello????

I'm glad Vash and Wolfwood still find a way to be absolute idiots even in dire circumstances

"I've always been nothing but trouble for Miss Meryl" Milly WHAT DO YOU MEAN??? You've literally always jumped in at the right moment!!! I think you've caused the least amount of problems out of everyone! Sweetie...

Hmm... something something "everyone will pick up a gun if their loved ones are threatened"... also "You wanna try me?" Milly I love you. Also I'd love to know what these two got up to over the two year gap. They're so close now! Milly is so protective of Meryl! And Meryl has so much faith in Milly!

...ok first off this is brutal. Secondly, this is now the second time we've been shown the damage being done to Wolfwood's body from inside. It's wonderful from a visual storytelling standpoint but I also... don't like it. Why are we watching him break from the inside.

Ah... I kind of suspected that's what might be happening... :/

Plant reveal, Plant reveal!!!

Midvalley voice: "oh no I can't play one note on my saxophone... :( welp imma head out bye chapel"

Vash’s suicidality… noooooo... :'(((

The people booing him ahahhahaaha (that was kind of a dick move though man...)

Yeah he can't actually see, can he...

Oh???

Huh. Well this seems. Fun. Knives quit torturing your brother challenge.

[lovingkaneko]

Ch.1: The Girl With The Bike (Colt x Mc)

Summary: Colt Kaneko never lost a race, but when challenged to one by a female from another crew, he finds himself to be smitten with her. 

Author Note: I don’t get many reads but I hope you guys actually check this story out! First chapter, let’s goooo. Next part here

Book: Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance | Choices: Stories You Play (AU)

Pairing: Colt Kaneko x MC | Ellie Wheeler

Word Count: 2,356 

Rating: VERY N*FW (Sex, Swearing)

Sometimes I genuinely couldn’t understand why my pops trusted that guy, he was a nobody. He was just a high school drop out, but he was kept around for what? The fact that he can drive fast? Bullshit. My dad never believed in me, never saw what I was capable of. So, I sat at the front desk chewing my gum aggressively and waiting for costumers. Nothing interesting ever happened, I’d only ever meet people who knew nothing about cars and were trying to repair something. Yet, Logan got to be part of the crew and I didn’t. I couldn’t help but clench my fists with anger, not hearing a voice calling me.

“Son,” I finally heard and sat up in my seat quickly.

“What is it?” I asked him as I popped my gum aggressively.

“I want you to do something for me,” He said blankly, as always. But still, my heart jumped excitedly at the thought of being needed by him. I kept a poker face as I answered.

“How can I finally be of service to you?”

“Don’t think you’re doing anything big, you’re simply turning in a car to a customer. That’s all I ask,” My dad answered in an expressionless tone.

“A customer for the shop?”

“No, son. You’ll be giving the keys to a member of the Wheelers.”

My jaw dropped unexpectedly, the Wheeler Crew was a well known group. Like the MPC, they also deal illegal cars. Nobody messes with them, their leader is rumored to be a police officer, you’d be in immediate danger. I was shocked my dad came to me with this request.

“Why can’t pretty boy do it?” I asked with a scoff, pretending I wasn’t at all enthused about the job.

“He’s out doing me another job, everyone else is busy. Trust me, you weren’t my first choice.”

I felt anger bubble up in my chest at his words, but I couldn’t ruin this moment I had to prove to him that I was capable of doing other jobs for him. I’d start with turning in a car and then I’d work my way up to more serious tasks. 

“When do I go?” 

“Now, she’ll be waiting for you at the regular dealing spot. You’ve followed me there before,” My dad answered and I nodded.

“I’m on it.”

He handed me some keys and I raised eyebrows when I realized what they had bought. A 2019 Camero, not bad for a car. I got out of the shop quickly, not wanting to waste any more time. I put on my helmet and rode off on my motorcycle. The wind flowing through my shirt was something I would never get used to, the adrenaline pulsing through my body was intoxicating. 

Buildings passed by in a blur, I was going fast and zooming through the alleys of Los Angeles. Before I knew it, I got to my destination. The dim lights in this alley were making it slightly easier to see in the dark night. I couldn’t see anyone nearby, I scoffed. She was probably late, not surprising. 

“Wow, Kaneko sent his son. I’m honored,” said a female voice from behind me. She was leaning on the wall with a bike next to her. But it wasn’t just any bike, she was standing beside a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle.. My jaw dropped at the sight of it, one of the fastest bikes in the world. The girl’s head turned to look at the vehicle beside her.

“Like the bike huh? Got it last year, a birthday gift from my dad.”

I hadn’t paid much attention to her, I was distracted by the vehicle beside her. But I finally met her eyes and chest tightened painfully. My heart began to beat faster than usual and I felt like throwing up. What the fuck was I feeling? 

“It’s nice, don’t think it’s a bit fast for a girl like you?” I asked with a smirk as I tempted her. She didn’t seem to like the joke, she scoffed.

“What would you know about speed? I could beat you in a race any day,” She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

“I would love to see you try, princess.”

Her eyes looked at me up and down, slowly.

“It’s odd seeing you here, your old man never lets you out to do business,” She pointed out after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah? Well, I’ll be around more now that I can prove myself to him.”

“That’s good,” She smirked, “I’ll be sure to leave a good word in for you.”

I felt my heart twist at her words, if my pops could just hear that I did well with this job, surely he’ll trust me more. If she mentioned to him that I was professional and fit for the job, then maybe I could do more for him.

“Under one condition,” She added.

“What would that be?”

“Only men get to be part of the big boy activities. I’m not sure you’ve got it in you to work for your dad’s business,” She walked closer to me, “You’ve gotta prove yourself to be a man.”

My mind clouded with anger as she taunted me, but my body reacted... Differently.

“Yeah? Well why should I have to prove anything to you?”

“You don’t,” She answered, trailing her words, “But wouldn’t you love to keep doing business with us? If I only requested that you come to the trades.”

My eyebrows raised in surprise, she could definitely make those sorts of requests to my dad. He didn’t have the guts to say no to the Wheelers. 

“What do you have in mind?” I asked as I finally allowed myself to take in the rest of her appearance. My eyes trailed down to analyze her body and boy, I was pleased with what I saw. 

“A few things... How about a bet,” She was standing right in front of me. Even though I towered over her, she still didn’t lose confidence. 

“A bet?”

“Mhm...” She bit her bottom lip gently as she thought for a moment. I wanted to badly to push her up against the alley wall and just--

“A race,” She said finally, “You, me, and our bikes. A quick spin around the block. If you win, I get to tell your dad that you’re the best dealer I’ve met. If I win, well... Let’s just say you’ll have to find out.”

I don’t know how I felt in that moment, I felt a jolt of electricity run through my body, I felt taunted and overall... Turned on.

I nodded slowly, “You’ve got yourself a bet.”

She smirked triumphantly and made her way over to her bike, putting her helmet on. She turned to me and motioned towards my motorcycle. I snapped out of my daze and got on my bike, making sure to slip on my helmet as well. 

The engine of her ride roared into the night and my eyes admired her body. She sat up straight and drove out of the alley to our starting line. I followed her, the adrenaline rushing through my veins. She stayed beside me.

“Whoever makes it back here first wins, it’s an innocent race. Don’t even think of playing dirty with me, little boy.”

This girl pushed every button on me, making me angry and ready to win.

“Won’t have to,” I smirked, knowing she can’t see me behind my helmet. 

“Count of three!” She yelled over the roar of her engine, “One... Two... Three!”

We started driving at the exact same time, I could easily beat her. I’ve never lost a race against another bike. The wind flew through my clothes, I heard nothing but the sound of it. I could see her beside me, her body leaned forward as she laid on the bike to go faster. 

Before I knew it, she was ahead of me by a lot. I stepped on it, quickly making my way close behind her, still not being in the lead. Beside the wind, I finally heard something. She was roaring with laughter, mocking me.

Her voice echoed in my head, “What would you know about speed?”

I’ll show her what I know. I somehow went faster than I ever had, not willing to lose to a cocky bitch like her. My bike drove next to hers, the finish line in sight. She twisted her head to look at me, I looked back at her and could’ve sworn she winked. 

Her motorcycle zoomed ahead, beating me by five full seconds. She slowed down and finally stopped. She parked the bike and took her helmet off, her braid messy because of the wind. I got off as well and placed my helmet on the bike.

“I won, fair and square.”

“Didn’t expect that from a girl,” I answered as the adrenaline of a race still pumped through my body. 

“Well, you don’t know anything about me,” She whispered as she stood directly in front of me. Her gaze was intense and I could see that she was planning something to do to me. But I couldn’t think much, her body was tempting me to do things I’ve never thought of doing. I never thought that having a girl beat me in a race would be so sexy.

There was a dark look in her eyes that made her a thousand times hotter. She pressed her hand onto my stomach, feeling my abs.

“Decisions, decisions... What am I going to do with you?” She asked as she continued to feel me up. Normally, I would’ve just teased her for being desperate. But I wanted her now more than anything. 

I pushed her into the wall directly behind her, capturing her lips with mine. She moaned into my mouth, a sign that she wasn’t expecting me to kiss her. Her hand made its way behind my neck, pulling me closer. Her other hand traveled up my shirt and she roamed around. 

My arms were wrapped around her waist, my hand lowering to feel her ass. I gently squeezed and she gasped into the kiss. I took this as the chance to slip my tongue inside her mouth, she was going crazy for me and I could feel it. 

After deepening the kiss, I finally pulled away and pressed a teasing peck to her jaw. Slowly, I trailed my lips down to her sweet neck, only letting my mouth hover over and breathe on her. She squirmed with need and I finally locked my lips right below her jaw. I gently scraped my teeth against her neck and she whimpered with pleasure.

I continued to mark her neck, loving how she would make the best noises. I went back to her lips and she sighed heavily, missing the contact.

Surprisingly, she decided she wanted to do the same to me. Her lips suckling at my neck, making sure that her bites were noticeable. 

We went back to devouring each other’s lips, hungry and filled with need.

I didn’t expect her hand to trail down to the bulge in my pants, she gently palmed me as we made out. This girl was going to drive me insane, I could already tell. 

“Please,” I whimpered as I couldn’t take it anymore. The voice that came out of me was one I hadn’t ever heard before, I hated it, I sounded so weak. 

“Those are the magic words, baby,” She licked her lips and made her way to her knees. My heart pumped erratically in my chest and I simply couldn’t function.

She unbuttoned my pants and trailed the zipper down, only pulling my jeans down low enough to expose my package. Lucky for us, this alley was fairly dark and everyone was scared of it anyways. We’d be alone for a while.

She pressed a kiss to my bulge through my boxers and I couldn’t help but groan. I felt as she pulled them down and kissed the tip of my erection. Her tongue licked the top all the way to the bottom slowly. I heard her hum in approval.

Finally, she took me into her mouth. My jaw dropped and I let out a moan I didn’t know I was holding back. She sucked harshly and drove me crazy. 

I pulled at her hair and she groaned, sending vibrations onto my cock. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. I tried to tell her, but my voice was caught in my throat.

“I-- I’m--” 

“Shh baby, I’ve got you,” She whispered, her hot breath touching me made me almost lose my grip.

She went back to sucking and after a few moments, I felt myself on the edge.

“Aww look how I got you twitching,” She smirked as she looked up at me. She finished me off with her hand, I came harder than I ever had and she had only used her mouth. All the girls I had been with in the past barely got me to finish, but I had never felt anything like this.

She pulled my boxers back on and stood back up.

“Not bad, Kaneko,” She chuckled as she leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. I was still catching my breath and couldn’t say anything. I kissed her again and she smiled against my lips.

“Don’t worry about getting me off tonight, we’ll just have to wait till next time,” She pressed one last lingering kiss onto my lips. She reached into my pockets and pulled out the keys without me even noticing, I was in a trance. She handed me a big case that I hadn’t seen before. It was heavy with cash and I totally forgot we were doing a trade.

“I’ll be sure to leave a good review,” She winked and got back on her bike. She drove off quickly, without letting me say goodbye. I ran a hand through my hair as I stared in the direction in which she left.

I smiled to myself for the first time, it wasn’t a smirk... I genuinely felt content.

[seokmattchuus]

Finally - Daewhi

- Requested -

Of course it had to be him.

Of all the people, of course it was him.

When your group mates invited you out for lunch with the new producer to help them come up with ideas, you didn’t know what you were expecting, but when he stood to greet you as you walked in, you might’ve been a little too obvious in your disappointment. 

It wasn’t that you had bad blood.

But it wasn’t good blood either.

Had it not been for the incident that happened a year ago, you’re sure things would definitely be different.

-

“I told you, y/n, I can’t. We can’t.” Daehwi sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Why not?” You spoke up, your voice cracking. “You were willing to get in a scandal for her, but it’s different with me, huh?” You paused, getting up from your seat in his studio. “Was everything you told me a lie? Were your just playing with me this whole time?”

“If I was playing with you, would I have written multiple songs for you? Would I have even confessed in the first place?” He argued.

“What’s the point in confessing if you don’t plan on acting on it.” You spoke bitterly, not giving him a chance to respond before you stormed out, stopping outside the door to wipe your tears so the rest of the boys wouldn’t ask you anything.

-

That was the last time you spoke to him. He never even tried reaching out to you and it made everything even more clear. 

He didn’t care.

And if he didn’t care, you wouldn’t either.

Keeping that mindset, you followed the girls to the table and kept your face free of emotion, trying not to spoil the mood.

“How was the traffic?” He asked you, but you were too “busy” talking with Yuri to hear him.

“It was fine.” Sohee spoke up when she noticed no one answered his question. “Would’ve been better without the rain.” She chuckled. “We didn’t have any umbrellas in the van.”

“I can give you guys a ride back? I have some spares at the dorm that I can pick up on the way.” He offered. “You can even keep them.”

“That would be nice.” Sohee smiled. 

After the food came, you tried your hardest to ignore him until it was eventually your turn to ‘introduce’ yourself to help him give him ideas for your part of the song.

“I’m y/n. Main rapper. Just turned nineteen,”

“That’s a little vague don’t you think?” He asked, his tone soft.

“I’m sure you already know enough about me.” You challenged, watching as his eyes grew wide at your boldness. “Through our manager and all.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “But it’s better to hear it from you.”

“Tell me what you don’t know and we can go from there.”

If the table wasn’t full of tension before, it definitely was now.

To your group mates, they thought you were just grumpy because they dragged you out, but to Daehwi it was a battle of who would cave first.

“Maybe instead of me dropping you off at your dorms, we can come back to my studio?” He offered. “If you guys don’t mind of course, it’s just that I already have an idea for the song.” 

“That’s fine with me.” Yuri smiled, looking to the you, Sohee, and Hani to see if you also agreed. 

“Why not.” Sohee shrugged. “The faster we get this song done, the less grumpy y/n’ll be.” She giggled as you glared at her.

“You just miss your bed.” She stated. “The faster we do this, the faster we get home.” She pointed out.

“Fine.”

-

By some holy grace of the universe, Hani had called shotgun before you could argue about seating arrangements, and you gladly took the backseat, pulling out your phone to message your friend that you couldn’t meet up tonight. smiling at her response. 

“What’s a good place for a date?” You turned to Sohee. “I owe my friend two dates cause I keep having to bail and I wanna mash two into one, so it has to be really good.”

“Who are you seeing?” She wiggled her brows, the action causing the other girls to join in.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” You smirked, deciding to play along with them.

“Just say it!” Sohee jumped in.

“Byungchan.” You wiggled your eyebrows. 

“Wait, are you serious?” Yuri piped up from behind Sohee. “Haven’t you liked him since like, forever?”

You wanted to laugh. They couldn’t possibly be believing you right now.

“Back to the date question. Where do I goooo.” You whined.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we’re here.” Daehwi spoke flatly, getting out of the car and leading the way.

You’d be lying if you said that being back in the building didn’t bring back memories, but you tried to shake it off for the sake of keeping the past in the past.

“Water? Coffee?” Daehwi suggested as you all reached the recording room.

“Water would be fine.” Sohee spoke up, the rest of you nodding in agreement.

“Y/n, can you come help me with the waters?” He asked, knowing you had no excuse not to.

“Sure.” You nodded slightly, following him out the door.

“You haven’t talk to me at all, what’s wrong.” He whispered while walking.

“’What’s wrong?’” You repeated with a glare. “Are you serious right now?” 

“Just answer the question.” He spoke as you reached the cafeteria.

“Let’s see,” You started. “You ‘confessed’ to me just to say you didn’t want me around, then when I left, you never contacted me after, proving that everything you said was indeed, a lie.” You spoke while you held the water bottles. 

“You never gave me a chance to explain.” He spoke softly.

“You had a year to explain, Daehwi.” You glared before turning to walk back, leaving him even more defeated.

-

Why he even made you guys come along to basically approve his lyrics was beyond you.

He didn’t need any of you there when he was just writing and you wondered why Sohee agreed to this in the first place, knowing this wasn’t needed.

Some leader she was.

“I finished everything except the rap parts, but other than that, everything seems good, you two can go wait in the practice room, take a nap or something.”

“So do you want them to stay to help you out?” Sohee offered.

“No, it’s getting late, are either of you good at writing lyrics?” He asked, already knowing the answer..

“Y/n’s better at it than me!” Hani piped up, mostly lead by the idea of taking a nap, and you groaned inwardly.

“Then if you’re okay with it, do you mind staying?” He looked at you.

“No problem.” You spoke through gritted teeth, watching as the rest of the girls said their goodbyes before heading out the room.

“Now will you let me explain.” He sighed once you were alone.

“What’s there to explain?” You argued. “Can we just write these lyrics so I can go?”

“I’m not writing anything until you hear me out.” He said. “I’m not letting you walk out on me again.”

You closed your eyes in frustration. “Go ahead then.”

“I wasn’t trying to get in a scandal, it just happened that way. I never even met her before in my life.” He rushed out. “I went to help one of her producers. I didn’t think it would end up like that.”

You raised a brow in response, not believing him.

“Why would I confess to you three days before, then?” He argued. “Why would I confess, just to go out with my ‘girlfriend’ a few days later?” 

“That’s what I’ve been wanting to ask you.” You crossed your arms, already over the conversation. 

“What will it take to prove it, then?” His voice dying down.

“Tell me why.” You started. “Tell me why I wasn’t good enough for you to date. Why I wasn’t good enough for you to run after.”

“I can’t.” His voice came out broken, like he was torn between two different responses.

“Then I guess I have my answer.” You got up, turning towards the door but he caught your wrist.

“The dating rule.” He whispered once you turned towards him. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“You couldn’t tell me to wait? You couldn’t explain yourself then?” You raised your voice. “I knew ever since Wanna One ended that you were gonna re-debut here, but you couldn’t tell me when? Did you not think I’d understand?” 

“I knew you would, that’s why I didn’t say anything.” He raised his voice. “I didn’t want you to be stuck in whatever I would be stuck in. I knew you were getting ready to debut, so why would I jeopardize that?”

“Was there something else you were hiding from me?” You whispered, snatching your wrist from his grasp. “What would jeopardize my debut?”

He didn’t answer.

“What would jeopardize my debut, Daehwi.” You spoke louder.

“You didn’t see the rumors at the time, did you?” 

You shook your head.

“The dating scandal came out the way it did because of all the rumors about me. No one had ever even seen me near a girl, and the first chance they got, they turned it into something.” His voice back to normal. “I didn’t want you to be dragged down the same way she was.”

“And you couldn’t tell me?” You glared. “You had to run away instead of talking to me?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Talking isn’t that fucking ha-”

You were cut off by his hands cupping your face and pulling you into a soft kiss, your hands trying to push him off for interrupting you.

“I know you’re mad, but stop.” He whispered, his hands coming up to grab yours. “I fucked up, I know. But let me make it up to you.” He said, his lips landing on yours again.

There was no rush in the way he was kissing you, almost as if he’d break you if he pushed too hard.

“I still want an answer.” You pulled away with a pout. “Don’t try to distract me from being mad.”

“I’m not trying to distract you.” He smiled. “But I can’t stand us pretending we don’t know each other.”

“Well, we’re gonna have to.” You bit your lip. “They don’t know we know each other.”

“Oh yeah.” He cocked his head to the side. “They think you’re dating Byungchan.”

“Correction, seeing Byungchan. Not dating.” You started. “And it’s not my fault they were dumb enough to believe it.” You shrugged in your defense.

“Then we should clear it up.” He smirked.

“Nuh uh.” You smirked yourself. “You still have some making up to do.”

“Then make up, I shall.” Was all he said before backing up to the table, turning around to sit you on it.

His lips were back on yours as you slightly parted your legs to make room for him to move closer, your hands moving to wrap around his neck.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, trailing kisses down your neck. “So sorry.” He whispered as he reached your shoulder. 

“Stop apologizing.” You whined. “I’m trying to enjoy this and you’re making me want to hit you.”

“Sounds kinky.” He smirked.

“Lee Daehwi, I swear to go-”

You were cut off as he pressed his lips on yours once again, pushing you back onto the table so you were laying down while his fingers worked against the button of your shorts.

After undoing it, he pushed them down slowly, letting them fall down your legs before he trailed kisses up your thighs, your hands traveling to his hair as he got closer to you.

“Please, don’t tease.” You whimpered, tugging his hair slightly as you felt his kisses turn to go inside your thigh, rather than straight up.

“Only because you asked so nicely.” He mumbled, his hands coming up to grab your thighs and bring you closer to his face before kitten licking at your clit.

The gasp you let out gave him the sign to completely wrap his lips around it, trailing his hand from your thigh to rub at your entrance, collecting the wetness before pushing a finger in.

As much as you wanted to moan out, you had to remember that the door was only so far, and that people were definitely still going to walk by it.

“N-Not so fast.” You gasped as a blush crept up to your face. “I don’t want us to get caught.”

You didn’t get a response, only him adding a second finger while his tongue flattened against your clit, his eyes looking up at you before pulling away, your hand falling from his hair onto the table, grabbing at nothing as you tried to stay quiet.

“Then I guess you should stay quiet.” He whispered before pumping his fingers at a faster pace, smirking as your free hand came up to cover your mouth, any noise you made coming out muffled.

“I bet you’re a loud one, huh?” He licked his lips. “I can’t wait to have you all to myself when we’re alone.”

His words had you clenching around his fingers in excitement, and it didn’t go unnoticed before he pulled them away, getting up to rid himself of his own pants.

“Hurry~” You whined, moving you hand back over your mouth after realizing how loud you sounded.

“Who would’ve known you were so needy.” He smiled down at you, grabbing himself and pushing in slowly, watching how your hand gripped over your mouth tighter while your eyes screwed shut.

His hands spread your legs wider while he bottomed out and he placed a hand around your thigh before starting off slow.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He groaned, his head falling back as he took in the feeling of you.

It was when you tried to respond, and it came out small, that you forgot you were still covering mouth.

“Faster..please.” You spoke softly, your head rolling to the side as he complied with your request, his hips finding a stable pace.

No words were needed, almost as if you were both too scared to ruin the moment. The small pants and grunts from the both of you while the sound of skin slapping skin filled the room seemed to be the only noise needed.

Your hand eventually wrapped around your mouth once again as you felt your thighs start to shake, one of his hands coming down to rub your clit to help you, and moving your hand to replace it with his lips, smirking as you whined into him.

However the kiss didn’t stop there, or after he came, or even past that.

It wasn’t until a sudden realization hit that he pulled away.

“We might have to stay even later.” He chuckled.

“Why?” You furrowed your brows.

“We never wrote the lyrics.”

[pixelgrotto]

Ladies and lords of Waterdeep

From April of 2019 to June of 2020, I ran Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign for levels 1-5, for two groups - a party of three gals and a party of six guys. This was a tricky undertaking - mostly because as written, Dragon Heist is kind of a mess (more on that in a sec) - but also because I had to balance an adventure for two very different audiences that really only shared the commonality of being filled with D&D newbies. It was a worthwhile endeavor, though, and looking back on the experience reveals some interesting food for thought on how to remix an adventure, as well as how some ladies and gents experience roleplaying games differently. 

First, let me briefly discuss the adventure itself. Dragon Heist is meant to be an urban outing set in the Forgotten Realms metropolis of Waterdeep, which I described to my New York-dwelling players as “pretty much a fantasy version of NYC.” Over the course of five levels, players inherit and possibly renovate an old tavern, catch wind of an ancient heap of gold beneath the city and run into a bunch of important figures from Forgotten Realms history, ranging from Laeral Silverhand to Volothamp Geddarm. All of that’s epic, and the only issue is that the adventure’s laid out in a pretty shoddy way. 

There are four chapters in Dragon Heist, and the first is the only one that can be run with a minimum of hacking on the part of the Dungeon Master. The other three present a so-called “toolbox” of vague ideas for missions with Waterdeep’s various adventuring factions, as well as middling advice for scenes like a rooftop chase and a battle with a chain devil in a crypt, but it’s all highly disorganized with a minimum of connective tissue, requiring heavy lifting on the DM’s part to stitch together. The book is also rife with excessive red herrings for players to stumble upon as they search for the treasure trove, way too many characters with overly long names, and last but not least, there’s a lack of an actual “heist” in the grand finale, which is more scavenger hunt than Ocean’s Eleven. 

With all these criticisms, why did I choose to run this book for not one, but two different groups at the same time? It was largely because I’d just finished playing through Dragon Heist with my own character - a mask-wearing teenage street urchin who fancied herself a swashbuckler. I’d had a more-enjoyable-than-not time with the folks I played with, but the guy who DMed had a habit of sending us on the aforementioned red herrings for multiple sessions at a time, with nary an interesting combat encounter or social challenge in sight. I don’t really blame him for this - especially seeing at how poorly the book was laid out afterwards - but immediately after finishing, I was approached by two friend groups who wanted to try their hand at D&D, and this gave me the excuse to see if I could do a better job. 

Since I already had a clear example of which pitfalls to avoid, the version of Dragon Heist that I ran heavily remixed all of the elements in the book, with an emphasis on streamlining whenever possible and always making it feel like my players were accomplishing something. This is usually my underlying philosophy whenever I run a game, but it’s an essential strategy for newbies who might be driven off of roleplaying games altogether by bad pacing. For instance, as written, there’s an annoying series of fetch quests near the end of the story where players have to find a number of keys in order to open the hidden treasure vault. These keys are random as heck, ranging from semi-sensible McGuffins like a bronze dragon scale to bonkers junk like a ballad played by two dwarven bards and a friggin’ unicorn. This whole exercise in randomness reminded me of the worst of video game filler, and I cut it out entirely by having the son of the man who hid the treasure accompany the characters, with a drop of his blood activating the magic needed to open the vault’s doors. (This also led to an amusing situation where the guys were stuck as they ruminated on how to open the vault...until the dude playing the goliath suddenly shouted, “I GRAB RENAER’S HAND, CUT IT AND SMEAR THE BLOOD ALL OVER THE DOOR!” and I was like, “Okay. It...opens!”)

Because my players were nearly all D&D virgins, I also wanted them to get their money’s worth by encountering all four of Dragon Heist’s villains - Xanathar the beholder, the devil-worshipping Cassalanter nobles, Manshoon the cloned wizard and Jarlaxle the drow rogue. As written, Dragon Heist touts itself as highly replayable, since DMs are only supposed to choose one villain for their players to go up against. The problem is that all of the bad guys are teased on the cover, and the beginning chapters dangle most of them into the narrative with the players caught in the middle. This created a lot of confusion when I was a player, as my companions and I kept hearing about Xanathar and Manshoon...only for them to suddenly disappear halfway through as Jarlaxle took center stage as the big bad. And so, in order to circumvent this confusion and make both the boys and the girls feel like they were getting a quintessential experience with a minimum of loose ends, I threw in all the baddies. (I wasn’t the only one to do this - tabletop RPG designer Justin Alexander also recommends this approach on his blog The Alexandrian, where he offers an impressive revision of Dragon Heist that I probably would’ve used if I hadn’t discovered it too late.) 

So, when it came down to actually rolling dice, how’d my two groups interact with the material? I think it’s safe to say that both the girls and the boys hit the same major story beats and had a grand time doing so, but the nuances of their experiences were fascinatingly different. The girls, for instance, dove into the art of roleplaying and devising histories for their characters, and one of them decided to play as an elf from a seafaring clan and gave me a whole backstory involving the ocean that inspired my “final boss” for Dragon Heist, an evil, decaying dragon from the Elemental Plane of Water that isn’t in the book. (Hey, it’s called Dungeons & Dragons, the story’s named Dragon Heist, and since I wasn’t sure if all of my players would stick around for future campaigns, I figured I’d better stick a notable battle with a big scaly lizard in there somewhere.) 

The girls also got way more into some of the social justice subplots that permeated my version of Dragon Heist, pushing hard for Waterdeep to remove the anti-dragon magic bubble that surrounded the city and excluded an entire species from its borders. Their interactions with non-player characters - often progressing along the lines of “well, if you feel like you want us to do this quest for you, then we certainly can” - reflected this sort of empathy, and even though this sounds incredibly stereotypical, by the time the final session wrapped up, all three of the gals had either shipped or flirted with NPCs that they’d encountered during their journey. One of ‘em even ended up hitched with a baby!

The boys, by contrast, were much less likely to devise in-depth character histories beyond “I’M IN THIS CITY TO GET MY MONEY,” and their NPC conversations also frequently waded into “GIMME MY GOLD�� territory. I don’t want to make it sound like their characters were just two dimensional mercenaries, though, because definite, organic progression occurred over the course of the campaign - the goliath who couldn’t read gradually worked his way through Volo’s Guide to Monsters and became fluent in Celestial after joining the Order of the Gauntlet, for instance.

Where the boys clearly felt more at home than the girls was in combat, probably because 1) there were six of them as opposed to the three ladies, and 2) they collectively had lots of video game knowledge, and D&D’s influence has kinda trickled down to every video game ever made. It didn’t take long for some of the dudes to begin subconsciously min/maxing their characters, and while there were two major deaths in unpredictable boss fights, the boys did go through a long period where they were just steamrolling everything to come their way and yelling, “LET’S FUCKIN’ GOOOO” as they did so. In contrast, DMing for the girls during combat sequences was occasionally a nail-biting experience where I didn’t know who was going to survive, and since some of this was due to my own slapdash encounter design where I underestimated the abilities of the monsters they were up against, I made sure to give them lots of friendly NPCs who could potentially offer a helping hand, or even resurrection spells if needed. 

Both groups were aware of the other’s existence, and I’d sometimes playfully pit them against one another. (Example: The guys often forgot who was who, and one time one of ‘em looked down at his character sheet and was like, “MY NOTES ARE SUCH SHIT” which made me respond, “Well, y’know the girls take really good notes...”) But at the end of the campaign, when my players asked me which party was more fun to DM for, my answer was that both groups were great. The girls were bursting with imaginative roleplay, and they gave me real moments of glee as they responded to story twists with the legitimate surprise and wonder that comes from people who aren’t already overexposed to fantasy tropes and gaming culture. The boys gave me that feeling of what some fans affectionately call “beer & pretzels D&D,” where you’re shooting the breeze with your buddies, playfully teasing each other and going for broke in combat encounters. 

I want to stress that the ladies I DMed for were absolutely not representative of how all women might approach D&D, and the exact same thing must be said for the fellas. This was no planned sociology or gender studies experiment that I conducted, in other words - it was merely a thing that I did with two friend groups, and the resulting experiences were two opposite yet totally valid sides of the same RPG coin. And while I doubt that I’ll run the same campaign in the future for two different groups at once (let alone a campaign as wonky as Dragon Heist), I like to think that as someone who tries to advocate for how roleplaying games can be fun, welcoming experiences for all, I played a small role (hah) in bringing swords, sorcery and storytelling to the lives of people who might not have experienced such imaginative forays otherwise. 

Already, both the gals and the guys are whipping up ideas for future characters and checking out stuff like Critical Role...which means that my work here, at least for the moment, is done. 

[thebibliomancer]

Tides of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 13

Tides of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because convince Ethri not to abandon plot, goooo!

Last times in book: Amri and co are on a quest to unite all the Gelfling clans against the Skeksis and it is not going great so far? Maudra Ethri has decided that the Sifa are going to ditch and sail to a new continent guided by Captain skekSa, multi-talented voluntary exile from the Castle of the Crystal. Ethri tries to ditch early but Amri and co catch up to her and Onica convinces her to read the flames and see what they have to say.

Chapter 13

A very convincing flame-reading, a new objective, some frustration

So now its time to throw some herbs in a fire and read the flames to see what the Sifa should do. Every other sign in the world says sailing across the ocean is a bad idea. skekSa says ‘its fiiiiiiiiiine.’ What will the flames say?

Onica took her own bundle from within her cloak. She and Tae followed Ethri, and soon three blue-gray trails of smoke cut like pathways into the sky. Onica led them in the ritual, raising her hands over her head and drawing mystic symbols in the air with the smoke of the smoldering herbs. Triangles and spheres, spirals and many other shapes. Amri saw the signs of the moons and the suns, the sigils of the wind and fire, earth and rain. Ethri and Tae mirrored Onica, the maudra’s motions reserved at first but warming with every passing moment.

“Deatea. Deratea. Kidakida. Arugaru. We open our souls to the fire. We open our minds to the wind. We open our hearts to the water. We open our hands to the earth.”

The bundles of herbs are thrown into the fire and there’s a blast of heat that blows away the smoke just leaving clear flames.

Within moments, the hearth beat again. The hearth of the ship, the heart of the Sifa.

Nice play on words!

Everyone around the fire breathes in the scent of the herbs and hold hands. It sounds like a pretty cool moment.

Onica’s voice rose from the quiet, one with the crackling fire. She did not speak words. The song from her throat was wordless, harmonious. Amri opened one eye to see her, head tilted back, crimson hair alight with the red of the fire. Her song changed, as if she herself were transformed - one moment a Sifa, Gelfing as the rest of them - the next, a different being, made of dreams.

She bowed her head to face the fire, eyes open, seeing all and nothing. All were silent.

“A hero stands before the hearth fire of the Gelfling. But not alone. From the darkness that surrounds him comes... Wind. Lightning. Light. Earth, Shadow, Water... Fire.”

Onica’s brows crinkled in pain, a tear escaping. Her voice was transparent, rippling, not her own. Amri listened, rapt. Saw Ethri and Tae, Naia and Kylan doing the same, every breath hanging on the Far-Dreamer’s words.

“Great trials face us. Pain and loneliness, I see... Seven maudra. Seven of seven. Bearing the fires. Wind, Lightning, Light. Earth, Shadow, Water, Fire. In this way, the Seven become One. By Gelfling hand, or else by...”

Not even going to finish the rhyme? Man, Thra prophecies love the or else by none thing, huh?

And the seven Gelfling clans have elemental associations, apparently. Grottan for Shadow seems obvious. As does Sifa for Water. Or are they Wind with the Drenchen being Water? Are the Vapra Wind or Light? I’m pretty sure the Stonewood are Fire despite their name evoking Earth so much. And what about the Dousan? Are they Lightning?

Some of the clans feel like they’d overlap several elements but this is symbolic, not wholly accurate.

My guess is Drenchen Water, Spriton Earth, Stonewood Fire, Grottan Shadow, Vapra Light, Sifa Wind, and Dousan Lightning.

The Gelfling at the hearth fire also see a vision of the Sifa hearth struggling to push back the darkness until Gelfling come with torches and increase the hearth’s flame.

With an obvious meaning.

“My Sifa,” [Ethri] said. “My heart breaks with grief that I nearly let you down. Forgive me... I will stay, if you will stay by my side. So that we may stay by the side of the others who stand against the darkness. For Thra.”

Tae lifted her hand to the sky, Ethri’s fingers entwined in hers.

“For Thra,” she said.

All at once, the hands of the Sifa rose like wildfire.

A pillar of flame exploded from the hearth, sparks showering in a rainbow of colors. The fire burned in every color under the three suns, the whistling and howling of the air as it fed the flames resonating with a familiar, bone-deep song.

Kylan’s firca joins this song all on its own and dream-etches the Story Thus Far of Ethri, the Omerya, and skekSa’s ship into the deck.

The pyrotechnics end and Ethri has the Omerya return to the docks.

To Amri, Ethri finally looks like her two halves have been united. The youthful person that she is and the proud and valiant maudra leading her clan.

Also, look at that, two made one symbolism. It recurs.

Maudra Ethri tells Team Naia that when the time to rise up comes, the Sifa will be ready and asks where they’ll go next. That’s still up in the air.

And Naia reassures, kinda, Ethri that despite her fears of being the first to stand up, that the Vapra fire is already lit by All-Maudra Mayrin. And that neither were the first to stand up.

“You know, Maudra Argot of the Grottan was actually the first to hear our story and believe. And because of it, they were struck down. They lost their home. They’ve been in the dark and cold, alone. Waiting to know the other clans are out there.. and now, you are part of their hope. Your fires will guide them... You are not alone, and now, neither are they.”

As Team Naia leaves the Omerya, Amri realizes that somewhere under the waves there’s a skekSa who will soon realize that the Sifa have changed their travel plans. And he wonders if she’s going to be very angry or whether it won’t matter to her one way or another.

I suspect that he’s very glad that he isn’t the one who has to deal with that fallout!

The group goes to say goodbye to Onica, assuming she’ll stay in Cera-Na.

“I must go with Naia,” [Tavra] said. “But I will not forget our promise --”

Onica interrupted her with a sweet laugh. “Don’t be daft, my Silverling. You think I would let you go to light the seven fires of resistance without me?”

Awwwww (girl)frens!

Annnnd thennnn. Someone steals Tavra. Just bumps into the group and swipes her right from Kylan.

Geez, this was a feel good moment of the Sifa deciding to stay and Onica becoming a permanent party member and some random pickpocket ruins it!

“Why would someone steal Tavra?” Naia asked.

“I don’t know! She’s tiny, and shiny? You know, we never did figure out where Tae’s stolen jewelry went!”

Dang, I can’t believe I forgot that too!

The narration made a point that it was A Thing Occurring and then the explanation for Tae’s poisoning didn’t explain what happened to Tae’s jewelry.

I briefly wondered if maybe skekSa swiped it out of magpie kleptomania and that’s how the gang would turn the Sifa against her but that didn’t make much sense for skekSa’s character really. And then things got resolved with Ethri REALLY fast so it just slipped from my mind.

Team Naia plus Onica minus Tavra chase the thief off the beach and into the tropical brush between the beach and mountains.

Amri catches up to the thief first because of his great climbing prowess and tackles the hooded thief.

They rolled to the ground and wrestled until Amri came out on top, yanking back the hood. Beneath was the tattooed face of a Dousan boy. His face was pale and sand colored on the left, fading into a deep, glittering indigo on the right.

The Dousan bonks Amri with a rock but Naia catches him.

They get the jar full o’ Tavra and she reveals that the thief has Tae’s jewelry too, which ties up that mystery.

Naia stepped back, now that she had Tavra.

“So, what? You’ve just been sneaking about Cera-Na filling your pockets. What do you have to say for yourself?”

He shrugged. “It was worth it?”

Pffft

Naia is less amused by him than I am and drags him off to turn him over to Maudra Ethri.

So the Dousan changes gears, and introduces himself as Periss and says that he overheard the stuff about the seven fires of resistance and has seen the dream-stitched pink petals.

So he figures that they’re going around trying to unite the clans. And that they arrived on a sea ship that sails in the sea with sails. So Periss has a question.

“So... how are you planning on reaching the Dousan clan in the Crystal Sea? Without a, you know. A sandship, and a Dousan to sail it.”

Amri hated the smug tinkle in Periss’s eyes.

What a character, this Periss!

He’s a lot more of a shit than Rek’yr.

Tavra concedes that the little shit has a point. You can’t cross the Crystal Sea without a sandship and even if you did, out of Naia-esque stubbornness, finding the Dousan would be a hell of a challenge because they’re nomadic.

Amri looked up at the Claw Mountains that rose south of Cera-Na’s sandy shore. He had never seen the Crystal Sea in person, of course, but he’d seen maps and drawings. On the other side of the Claw Mountains spilled a vast desert of golden and white sand. The desert sprawled southeast, stopping only when its waves of sand lapped the border of the Dark Wood. Between the Claw Mountains and the Dark Wood, it was a world of light and constantly changing terrain. Desert creatures roamed the dunes. It was somewhere out there, navigating the constant storms, that the Dousan Gelfling had made their home.

“I think Tavra may be right,” Amri said.

Periss’s hands had drifted from the air to his belt, his expression of surrender transforming into a pompous smile.

What a little shit!

So now that they’re not going to turn him over to Maudra Ethri because they need him and now that he’s feeling smug about it, he presses the advantage and brings up the question of payment.

“We’re not paying you,” Naia retorted. “Your reward for helping us is knowing you took part in saving the Gelfling race.”

“I’m afraid good feelings don’t make my heart as full as a pocket of pretties. So, show me what you have to give, and I will tell you if you’ve come up short.”

Wow!

Takes guts to charge to help save the world but y’know, if they save the world then he has the payment. If they don’t save the world then it doesn’t make a difference whether he charged or not. Its win-win, of a sort.

Periss winds up taking Naia’s sweet metal dagger and Kylan’s bone firca as payment. Also, Onica has to read his fortune. For those three things, he’ll be their guide and transport as long as it takes to find Maudra Seethi and the Dousan.

Doesn’t seem fair. The firca is an irreplaceable magic item and the knife has sentimental value. Buuuuut they do need to visit the Dousan. They’re the only ones that haven’t been touched on yet.

The Dousan gestured with a broad smile.

“Congratulations, my friends. You’ve just bought yourselves a one-way trip into the desert of death.”

[101scenes]

Wanna One Lai Guan Lin - The 24 Hour Challenge

 featuring: lai guan lin

genre: fluff

word count: 1,964 words

summary: a 24-hour experience with a newly assigned class, and a so-called crush

suggested: nah lmao

you were a junior in your high school

so as an annual tradition, each junior class has to conduct something special for their class to bond before the start of the school year

because in sophomore year you all were in different classes

so you kind off had to get to know each other

your newly elected class representative, lee daehwi, suggested a 24 hour challenge at a chalet

and it was somehow approved by the school

it was supposedly “innovative” and a “fresh idea”

anyways

everyone in your class managed to chip in a little fee to book the chalet for a full day

luckily in your new class you knew a few people from your sophomore class

you thought about skipping cause you thought it would be weird lmao

but your friend dragged you along because she loves exploring new things

so ofc you went

class spirit!

time skip

on the day of the 24 hour challenge

everyone gathered at the booked chalet at about 3pm

& our amazing class rep split the class up into small groups of 4 to their rooms to unpack

boys & girls rooms duh

at about 4pm everyone was gathered back at the common room

and he began explaining the ground rules

like no alcohol, no illegal substances etc

and no electronics

so he had to confiscate everyone’s phone lmao

he also explained the itinerary of the full 24 hours

and he said everyone could hang around until 6pm, where people had to gather at the bbq pit for dinner

after dispersing, you were left defenseless without your precious phone

so you went to the kitchen

isnt the kitchen everyone’s safe haven lmao

and started socializing with your new classmates

you made a few friends surprisingly 

and it was fun overall

stirring your cup of coffee, you looked over at the common room decked with kinect & wii games

you spot this really enthusiastic kid that dragged his friend to switch on just dance to play

seeing the slightly taller guy dance made you smile a little

he seemed like a really reserved guy, but he looked like he was having lots of fun with his friend

it was really cute

so you never thought you would do this

but you joined them

since just dance could play up to 4 people

you decided why not

you never tried just dance

and you played a game with them

yes, without asking their names

after this extremely long and strenuous song

you got second place

with the taller guy in last

you look over to expect a defeated look

but he was still smiling like how he did 10 minutes ago

he was panting yeah

trying to regain his breath on the couch

he still looked really smol

even tho he was tall

while you let your other classmates play

you learnt the guy who got 1st place was seonho

he was generally just a really happy guy

you kindoff guessed it when he entered the class on the first day and gave everyone a sweet and a card with a happy face sticker on it

& the other guy

who was still dancing away

was named guanlin

after chatting a bit with seonho you decided to help out at the bbq pit

and you saw daehwi & your friend chatting away

they were exchanging jokes and giggles

and you just pressed your hand against the glass pane and smiled

you sHIPPED THEM sO hard

bc class rep & vice class reps are shippable

then you heard someone next to you say,

“i ship them too, they’re cute,”

you faced him, to see guanlin pressing his arm against the glass pane as well

“oh, hello, i’m y/n,” you turned to him and greeted

and he did the same

as you threw him a towel from the drawer to wipe his sweat, you asked,

“should we disrupt their moment?”

guanlin shook his head

“nah, it’s their moment,” he said, smiling as he walked away

you watched him as he walked away

and that kindoff concluded your first interaction with him

the guy with the smile that needed to be protected

time sKIP

after some good dinner

(daehwi made sure eVEryone was full)

(class rep more like mother)

he said it was time for gamES!!

you could hear seonho frm the other side of the room squeal

& it was hide and seek

you swore you haven’t played hide and seek ever since you were 8

but you were convinced that you could find a great hiding spot

you kindoff saw a spot earlier that no one wld ever suspect (!!)

so once the seeker began counting down, you loitered a bit first

cause you wanted to see everyone scatter

maybe you could find a better spot

but you ultimately went to your spot

which was this camouflaged door under the stairs that led to a small storage area

you weren’t afraid of small spaces

so why not

you opened the door to see 

well

a tall fella

sat in the corner

before you could apologize and leave, the seeker had already announced he would begin

and guanlin grabbed your wrist, pulled you in and shut the door

uhh it was kindoff a small space

so it was just you and guanlin

in the dark

uncomfortably close

you were both sitting in silence

you wanted to say something

but the seeker could hear you guys talking if you did

so you kept quiet

you could still see some of guanlin’s face due to the fading light falling into through the thin walls

he had literally no flaws

how can a guy have flawless skin?!?

without thinking you blurted out,

“sO-”

before you could even continue tho

he grabbed your wrist again

his hand shocked you lmao

so you fell forward a bit & he caught you

& you could smell his scent

like

NO

you felt like you did injustice

and you backed up a bit and whispered sorry

thanks to the light

you couldnt see the red fading on guanlin’s cheeks

oh & god damn your ears were all red too

ugh just kiss already

anyways

the seeker was left with you two

and could not find you two

so you two crawled out of the little storage room 

everyone didn’t expect the two of you to be together

in an enclosed space

so there were a bit of murmurs

daehwi exCLAIMED,

“yOU hAVe vIOLATED THe RUleS of INdeCen-”

“NO” you blurted

daehwi started laughing

and everyone did too

except you and guanlin

you literally thought they were interrogating you

but it was a joke

haha joking

you fake-laughed

you turned around to see him

just looking away

occasionally rubbing his cheeks

after the game, it was curfew, & you managed to escape to your room as quickly as possible

and dug your face into your pillow

and you just lied there for 10mins

and did not notice your friend enter

“what was the deal with guanlin? are you all a thing?” your friend asked as she sat on your bed

“uughhhhhhh”

“so i take that as a no?”

you sit up and faced her

“it was embarrassing,” you said & covered your face

“pff, it’s okay, have a good nights rest okay?” she said, patting your back

after sulking a bit more, you decided to change into your pjs

as you walked out of the room door, you noticed guanlin walking to his room wearing his freshly changed pjs

it was a matching set of fluffy pjs

it was so adorable wtf

wait

wHy were you feeling these?!?

you shook your head vigorously

like girl

you cant fall for some guy you just met

you did a quick change and went to sleep

but through hours of tossing and turning

you couldnt sleep

you just couldnt sleep in a new environment

partially another reason you didnt want to come

you would naturally grab your phone and scroll around on instagram or something

but since you didnt have it

you just laid on your bed

looking at the clock

it was almost 3am

you sighed

you had nothing to do

so you decided to go down to kitchen and make yourself some hot tea

it was really soothing to you

as you floated down the stairs craving for your tea

you noticed the kitchen light on

you peeked in

and saw guanlin standing there with his own cup of drink

before you could run away from the embarrassment previously

he called out your name

“yo y/n! you up too?”

you found his raspy voice so bEauTifuL

you slowly spun around

and reminded yourself to not remember the incident previously

and you did

“uhh, y-yeah,” you stammered, and walked past him to make a drink

he saw you, it was impossible to just walk away again

“ahaha yeah, me too, i can’t sleep in new places,”

while the hot water was pouring into your cup, you turned around

“rEally?” you said too enthusiastically

you eyes literally shone 

and he was shocked

“o-oh sorry hah, i have the same problem,” you said, collecting your drink

looking out of the window, you said

“i just never knew someone with the a similar, yknow,”

guanlin hummed in agreement

the next hour was just spent talking

about anything tbh

about how you never really saw him in freshman and sophomore year because he was that timid

about grades

until you two finished your midnight drinks

you two walked up the stairs back to your rooms together

as you turned the doorknob to your room, he ruffled your hair and passed by behind you

“goodnight, y/n”

you could hear a smile from his voice

which made your heart melt ok

you returned to your bed and kindoff reflected

you would be spending two more of your years in school with your cRush

oh god u admitted your crush

aaaaaaaaaaaa

and you fell asleep to the thought that you would be able to see that smile everyday

fEw hOURs pass

9am!! sun rise!!!

breakfast!!

ofc u weren’t up because you slept at like 4am last night lmao

so you waddled out of bed at 11am

everyone already had their breakfast and are literally out of the door heading for the beach 

you were so behind time lmao

once you saw no one around, you realized you were late

as you opened the front door, you heard stomping behind you

it was guanlin

because he slept at 4am too

“lets goooo!!” you shouted, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the door

jeez he didnt even put on slippers yet

once you reached the beach, you just ate the sandwich you packed for lunch and thats about it

while everyone else played

you werent much of a fan of the sun and outdoors bahah

but you saw guanlin playing in the water with the other guys

he had the smile again

the captivating one

you sigh and just look his way

for some reason

you had the urge to make him smile like that

and you really wanted to see him smile because of you

and you only

uhgh what were u thinking

time sKip

it was time to leave :(

everyone was one by one leaving the compound with their belongings

and you were one of the last ones

when you left, you saw guanlin waiting for you near the door

guanlin grinned, put down his duffel bag and opened his arms

you walked right into them, hugging him back

“see you soon, guanlin,” you said

“wait-”

you turn around

“uhm, i would love to talk with you again,” he said, handing you his phone with a new contact application

you smiled

“of course,”

[wingsofanillyrian]

Frozen Fox (Elucien)

@seriouslyobssesedfangirl asked: “ Elucien with a snowball fight please? And since Lucien is a cute ginger fox, he ends up getting so cold, and needs cuddles to get warm.”

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Lucien didn’t care for snow very much. Being of Autumn and Day Court decent, he would much rather endure the blazing heat of the summer than the freezing winds of the winter. His mate Elain thought the opposite, which is what fueled their breakfast debate one crisp December morning.

“You can only take so many layers of clothing off,” she argued from her spot at the kitchen table.

“But you don’t run the risk of loosing a limb to frostbite in the summer,” he countered, setting the pan of eggs he’d made on the hot plate between them.

Elain scooped some of the fluffy delight onto her plate. “No matter how good your argument is, I’m not backing down. I still want to go out and play in the snow with you!”

“Fine,” he relented, nursing his cup of steaming coffee. “I’ll go out for twenty minutes, but no longer!”

“Yay!” She squealed, leaning across the table to kiss his cheek. Her sheer, unchecked excitement sent a rumble of laughter through him, and he smiled. That boundless joy was one of the many things he adored about his mate. No matter how dire the situation seemed to be, she would always be his light shining in the dark to guide him home.

“Hurry up and finish eating,” she said around a mouthful of eggs. She shot up from her chair the moment she cleared her plate, scrambling around the table to tug on his arm.

“C’mon! Let’s goooo!” He managed to shovel one more bite into his mouth before she pulled him from his chair and shoved him towards their room. “Dress warm, Luci!”

Sighing, he opened their wardrobe and retrieved his down jacket, fur lined pants, boots, hat, and mittens. He reluctantly slid into the winter gear, feeling a bit like a marshmallow when he was done.

“Okay, I’m ready.” He zipped the coat up as high as it would go, leaving only his eyes and nose showing. Elain grabbed his gloved hand in her own, pulling him out the door and into the snow-covered wonderland of the outside world.

The first inhale of the frozen winter air had Lucien immediately regretting this decision. Was winter in the Night Court always this cold? No way he could live like this forever. He needed a vacation home, preferably somewhere warm. With a beach.

“You okay Luci?”

Smiling as best he could with his chattering teeth, he simply replied: “Uh-huh!”

“Good,” she said, bounding a few steps further into the ankle-deep powder and tugging him along with her. “Because we’re having a snowball fight!”

“What?! No!” The possibility of snow creeping through the cracks and crevices in his winter gear sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. His brows drew together and he pulled his scarf further over his nose. “Too cold!”

His mate threw her head back and laughed. “You big baby!”

“I am not!” He sputtered, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest.

“Prove it then.”

That was cheating. Elain knew that his competitive streak ran just as deep as hers did, and he could never back down from a challenge. Though her back was to him, he could imagine the corners of her mouth tugging up in a devious grin.

Slowly, he crouched down, never letting his gaze stray from the back of her head. “I,” he started, scooping some of the snow into his hands, “Am not-“ he shaped it into a lopsided ball- “A baby!”

The snowball hit her square between the shoulders. She gasped, whirling to face him. “You’re on, fox-boy.” She dipped into the snow, quickly stockpiling her ammunition.

Lucien yelped and scrambled to find cover as she launched snowball after snowball at him with inhuman speed. She was a good shot too, hitting him almost every time. He ducked behind a tree, drawing in a ragged breath.

“Okay!” He yelled, “I surrender!”

“Surrender not accepted!”

He caught the honey-gold flash of hair on his left a moment too late and another cold mass splattered onto his chest. Damn, that woman was fast.

He chucked a few more snowballs in the general direction hers had come from, but none hit their mark. His attempts were met with her bright laugh and another snowball. He ducked, which proved to be the wrong move.

The cold, wet, solid ball hit him directly in his unsuspecting face.

“Ohmygosh!” Game suddenly forgotten, Elain scrambled to his side. He groaned and scrubbed the drops of melted snow from his face, wincing as he sat up.

“Are you okay?!” A gloved hand cupped his cheek, worried brown eyes boring into his hooded copper and russet.

“That hurt,” he moaned, his head throbbing from the impact coupled with the cold. Truthfully, it didn’t hurt that bad, but he was nothing if not a male of opportunity. That snowball to the face was the one-way ticket to a toasty, cuddle filled afternoon.

Carpe diem, right?

“I’m so sorry,” she said, pressing gentle kisses to his nose and cheeks. “I didn’t mean to hit you in the face- I was aiming for your chest!”

“’S okay,” he mumbled, playing it up and rubbing his temples as he stood. “But can we go inside now?’

Elain looped an arm around his waist. “Yes, of course we can go inside. and I’ll make us something warm to drink, and you can build us a fire.” She obviously saw through his ruse if she was demanding he build a fire, but that was just fine by him. As long as he didn’t have to stay out in the frozen wastes.

“Thank you,” he murmured, giving her a lazy smile. Her brown eyes rolled, but glittered with happiness all the same.

“Uh-huh.”

“That really did hurt you know,” he teased, shaking more snow from his now soaking mane.

Try as she might to hide it, Lucien could still detect the undercurrent of amusement in her voice. “Sure it did. Don’t think this gets you off the hook though, the snow will still be here tomorrow.”

[squishy-min-suga]

Best costume

Yoongi x Reader

Warnings: swearing, alcohol

Genre: Fluff

Word count: ~2k

A/N: My second fic, I accidentally published this wayyy late

✘��—✘

Halloween.

The spookiest time of the year.

Full of ghosts, skeletons, ghouls, screaming kids, last minute costumes, and you can’t possibly forget every single possible thing becoming a ‘slutty costume’.

Slutty nurse? Got it.

Slutty cat? For sure.

Slutty Elmo? You bet.

But this year, picking out a costume had been the last thing to do. You had been too caught up with your friends and planning a good Halloween party to really care about your apparel.

Around 5, you had finally got the last bit of the food set out in your home that you managed to turn into a decent 'haunted house’ with just rolls of orange and black streamers, blackout curtains, some different colored lights here and there. Your friends and a few other friends of theirs are expected to be arriving in just a few hours. Giving you enough time to quickly gather a costume together just before they arrive.

“Brainstorm time. Let’s goooo-” Trying to pump yourself up to think of a costume, you ran to your room, nearly tripping over a pumpkin decoration on your way there. “Ideas, ideas, ideas. Hmm.” You opened your closet, shuffling through what you could think of quickly.

“Hm, maybe Where’s Waldo?” You mumbled, grabbing an old red and white stripped shirt, shaking your head and tossing it to the side.

You got your hands on an old graphic tee with a fake shell bra as the design, “Hipster..modern mermaid?” Scoffing you tossed the shirt to the side, “Yeah no.”

Idea, after idea, a pile of clothing had managed to swallow at least a fourth of your room. “Why didn’t I try to figure this out earlier.” You groaned before leaning back and flopping into the quilted sheets of your queen sized bed.

 After shoving a few shirts off your bed in a frustrated manner, you curled up into a ball and started reconsidering life without a costume. Slowly, your eyes closed, you had managed to tire yourself out from stressing so much about a Halloween costume that your mind drifted off into a light sleep.

–

Suddenly your ears filled with the sound of your phone going off, causing you to jolt awake. “Shit I fell asleep!” You started cussing yourself out as you desperately scrambled around to find your phone. Quickly finding the pesky device under a few pairs of clothes, answering whomever was calling you.

“Hello?”

“Y/N answer the door, we’ve been knocking for 10 minutes. Are you even inside?” The recognizable voice of Namjoon spoke softly, chuckling but easily could be losing his shit.

“Yeah! I’m so sorry, I passed out.” Hanging up, you walked over to the door, doing a mental walk of shame for not having a costume as you knew everyone would have some sort of fun outfit on.

Upon opening the door, you were greeted by the many faces of good friends dressed as spooky creatures, you smiled enjoying their creativity but feeling embarrassed for not having a costume as well. “Welcome everyone, come in.” You stepped away as everyone rushed in, looking around and complimenting the decorations.

“Y/N, you’re not in costume?” Hoseok knocked you out of your thoughts, looking him up in down in his silly flower costume.

“Yeah, I kinda forgot to get one and I fell asleep while picking out something.” You sheepishly replied, laughing softly. “Let’s just say I’m an adult who can’t really adult.”

Hoseok laughed and nodded, “So, yourself?” He teased, making you giggle.

“Well youre not wrong. Thanks Hoseok.” Just as you finished your sentence, he shuffled off to go talk with Tae, who you recognized as he was dressed as Snow White. You laughed at the thought of Taehyung as Snow White with Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook as the dwarves. Thinking about it, Yoongi actually did look like a dwarf.

“Hey, Y/N.” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, literally. Yoongi had his teal hair slightly messy with a pair of dark red devil horns sticking out. He smiled softly as he had grabbed your attention.

“Hey Yoongs or shall I say Satan.” You rubbed the back of your neck, looking at the details of his face a bit more. You noted the dark eye makeup that he clearly didn’t do himself, his soft smile flashed the fangs he had.

“Yeah, I thought the devil would suit me. It also may have been the first thing I saw when I went to the costume store.” Yoongi sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “But hey it works and at least I have a costume unlike someone.” He gave a quick up and down look at your casual outfit.

You reached out and poked his side, “At least if I did have a costume I would have put a little more thought into it.” You smiled, repeating the same poking motion in rapid succession before he swatted your hand away.

“Hey, I did put thought into this, do you not see my makeup, my fangs, or my outfit?” Yoongi made a gesture to the black ripped jeans with his white T-shirt tucked in paired with a worn out black leather jacket and black converses, laughing under his breath.

With a roll of your eyes you replied curtly, “That’s literally your everyday outfit, I already assumed those are the only pieces of clothing you owned.”

Yoongi shrugged, “I mean you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t put thought into it.”

“Mhm, sure. Well I don’t need a costume to drink, so, let’s get this party started.” You left the handsome devil behind as you rushed to the kitchen, passing by the radio and turning up the music that already had been playing.

Namjoon had already been getting into the alcohol as you made it to the kitchen. “Tsk, Joon, drinking without me?” He chuckled and passed you one of the few solo cups of liquor he had poured. Another hand reached and grabbed one of the other glasses, glancing up, you were a little surprised to see that Yoongi had followed you into the kitchen. He smirked slightly as he brought his cup to his mouth, quickly downing it.

Your competitive nature instantly saw this as a challenge of sorts, making you instantly chug down your first cup. You grabbed a second as Yoongi reached for his, making him raise his eyebrows before he started smirking again, his fangs a bit more visible. Soon you were in a mental competition with Yoongi, downing as many cups as you could. He really didn’t seem to care, just nonchalantly drinking the alcohol and making conversation with Namjoon.

——

You walked, well really shuffled, your way around the living room, making conversation with the other party goers as they listened, talked, or danced. Upon spotting Yoongi lazily laying on one of the couches, you shuffled your way over, sad that he wasn’t interacting with anyone. “Yoongi-” A whine spilt out of your mouth as you stood by the couch.

Yoongi’s eyes slightly opened, he raised his eyebrows whilst looking up at you while he was laying. “Yeah Y/N?”

With no warning what so ever, you sat down on Yoongi’s chest, causing him to cough.

“Yoongs you need to interact with people, its a party, not a sleepover.” You continued to sit on him even though he tried to push you off, his hands on your thighs.

“Y/N- Move- I don’t wanna interact with anyone.” He spoke grumpily, but you could sense the small laughter in his words. “Get off.”

You proceeded to move but instead of sitting you started full on laying on top of Yoongi. “Nah, I’m good, I’m gonna make you interact with me.”

He looked at you calmly, just blinking for a second before answering. “Well fine, but seriously you reek of alcohol.” He joked, cracking a smile.

“Oh hush, I won the competition of who could drink the most. So, in your face.” You stated and poked his nose, causing him to scrunch his nose up in return before sighing. “There was no competition, Y/N,  but whatever makes you feel better about your unhealthy habits.”

“Shh, no more words, I have an idea for my costume since it was a big deal earlier. I finally know what I wanna be.” You quickly strung words together in your drunken state, tapping your finger on his mouth. “How about, I dress up as your girlfriend?”

Yoongi raised his eyebrows once again at your proposition, feeling a smile coming on.

♡"Only if you stay in character all year"♡

[izloveshorses]

Here's everything I love about the Anastasia Musical (Part One)

So!! I've finally collected my thoughts and was able to list out everything I love about this musical (this was supposed to be limited to like 5 songs but I couldn't pick just a handful bc they're ALL SO GOOD). Keep in mind, I haven't seen it live yet, just listened to the album and watched that First Look preview hundreds of times. Pleeease don't mention any spoilers or anything bc I really wanna go see it for myself some day! Warning: long post lol

The first few notes of Prologue: Once Upon a December gave me chills omg

I love how they really touched on just how much Communism affected everybody. Life was pretty crappy for everyone and it's important that it's discussed. Like, the exchange between Anya and Gleb ("I can't lose this job...") really highlights to me that they were all hungry, desperate for work, etc. and it not many people had any hopes for a better future...

"The skies are grey, the walls have ears and he who argues disappears!"

"We're good and loyal comrades and our favorite color's red!"

"Two cans of beans, comrade?" "... doNE"

The collective "SHHH!!"

DONT!! GET ME STARTED!! ON IN MY DREAMS!!!

Christy's voiCE I CANT

When I was first listening to this I was like "ohhh boy... I'm already crying on the 3rd song.... this is gonna be an emotional ride"

"Call the child anYA"

"Is it Pariiiiis? Paris..."

"And I HEAR A VOICE WHISPER 'I'LL MEET YOU RIGHT THERE' IN PARIIIIIIIS. Paris..."

"You don't know what it's like not to know who you are"

"But I still have this faith in the truth of my dreammmms"

"AND MYYY DREEAMS. SEEEEM TO SAAAAY. DONT BE AFRAID TO GO ON. DONT GIVE UP HOPE COME WHAT MAYYYYY"

"I know it all will come baaaaack ONE DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!"

Anya/Christyyyyy you're breaking my heart stop it just started

Honestly the whole song is beautiful

All of Learn to Do It is great too bc wow that's a mood changer from the last song lol

"How do you become the person you've forgotten you ever were?"

"Am I floating?" "Like a sinking boat"

"I never cared for stroganoff!"

"I don't like being contradicted." "That makes two of us!"

"I've hAD it!! And I hATE YOU BOTH!"... "Don't forGET I don't remember anything! Get OUT and let me be!"

She takes a big breath before she lists everything she learned lol

Ramin's so talented what the heck

"I heard the shots.... I heard the screams... but it's the silence after I remember most."

"A revolution is a siiiimple thiiiiiiiiiing" my guy, my dude, my man,, no.... that is false,,,

DEREK'S VOICE!!!!! MY PETERSBURG IS ICONIC

"Funny when a city is all you know, how even when you hate it something in you loves it sooooo!!"

"There's a boy, growing up, all I've been, all I'll be..."

"Funny how a BOY CAN GROOOOWWWW! Funny how a city tells you when it's time to goooo!"

"But tonight, there's a sky and quite a viewww... welcome tooooooooooo..... My PetersBUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRG!!!"

I know that Once Upon a December is exactly the same as the movie but Christy's voice is so gorgeous so I need to talk about it

"Accross my meeemoryyyyyyyy...."

THE ENSEMBLE!!!! HOLY CRAP!! THEIR HARMONIZING IS SO HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL IT LITERALLY SOUNDS LIKE GHOSTS DANCING WOW IT GIVES ME CHILLS

The piano rising in a crescendo

"FAARRRR AWAY! LOOONG AGOOOO! GLOWING DIM AS AN EMBER!"

Christy's voice at the end my lord

The whole orchestra in this song is amazing

OKAY SO. STAY, I PRAY YOU. IS VERY UNDERRATED. LIKE. WHEN I FIRST LISTENED TO IT I WAS JUST SITTING ON MY COUCH WITH TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY CHEEKS AND WAS LIKE "why.... am I crying... about crossing the russian border.... when I'm not even Russian.... what the heck...."

And!!! It emphasizes the fact that this is communist Russia. You don't leave!!

Constantine's voice here is so haunting and The strings are lovelyyyyyy

This is like that one song from Sound of Music when they cross the mountains lol

THE ENSEMBLE AGAIN....

Christy's and Derek's harmonizing is b e a u t i f u l

"How to go wheRE IIIIII HAve never gone befoooorrre..."

"Let me have a moment, let me say goodbyyyyyye...."

My absolute favorite part is how it slowly fades from the entire cast singing and repeating "iiiii'lll bless my homeland...." to just the trio, to dmitry and Anya, and finally until it's just Anya left.... "iiii'lll bless my homeland... tillllll I diiiiieeee..." It's so chillingly beautiful I'm never gonna get used to that

We'll Go From There is so pure and happy!

"Some women say I look distinguished this way"

"Meet the royal. Mess!"

"Why did I say? yes?"

Again, Derek and Christy's harmonizing is amazing how--

"Getagripandtakeadeepbreath and soon we'll know what's what"

"Oh what a lovely ride! And what a lovely dayyyyy! For a totally illegal geeeeetawayyyyy!"

"From theeeeeEEeeeeeeEEeeeeerrreeeee! We'll go from there!!" Bum

Ramin is baaaack with more angst and beautiful vocals in Still!

"A son becomes a man! At his faaaaather's knee..."

"--to FULLFIIIIILLLLLLLLL"

"But then you see her eyes, and something in them tells you that she ABSOLUTELY LIES"

I KNOW THEY DIDNT CHANGE ANYTHING FROM JOURNEY TO THE PAST BUT IT MUST BE DISCUSSED

It's so empowering I'm PUMPED like every time I hear it I have to get up and run around like I'm the one performing or making a music video

"Peo.ple always say, Life is full of choices, but no one ever mentions. fear..."

"Home. Love. Faaaamily. There was once a time I must have had them tooooo... Hoooooome, loooooove, faaaamily! I will never be complete until I find youuuuuu!" (Brb crying)

THE ENTIRE LAST STANZA. EXCUSE ME WHILE I KEEP SCREAMING ABOUT THIS.

Christy's voice in "THINGS MY HEART STILL NEEDS TO KNOOOOOW!"

"YES!!! LET THIS BE A SIIIIIGN!! LET THIS ROOOAD BE MINE!! LET IT LEEEAD ME TO MY PAAAAAAAAAAAST!!! AAAND BRING ME HOOOOME!! aaaaAAAAAT LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!!!!!"

AKFKFINGSG SF,F SHES SO TALENTED THAT LAST NOTE OMG

I'm always out of breath when this song is over lol

Paris Holds the Key always pumps me up omg

"Everything is is avant-garde, or chic!"

Dmitry's part tho...

"There's hope in the aaaair!"

The one and only thing I'm kinda bummed about is that they didn't include that one part from the original where everyone is singing in the final chorus and then it's just dmitry singing "toooo... Herrrr...." and then the ensemble finishes it off. Idk it's so heartbreaking but that's probably my favorite part from the original song and I'm kinda sad they cut that bit (but it's ok bc DEREK)

Crossing A Bridge is VERY underrated too omg

The orchestral part is beautiful and again CHRISTY'S VOICE

"Halfway between where I've been, and where I'm goiiing..."

"Me on the left bank, you on the riiiight!" And then Her voice at "every light is like a promise.."

I love how the middle it's kinda loud and emotional but it ends really soft and quiet

Watching Christy's "Royal Misfits" vlog made me love Mary Beth Peil bc she kinda reminds me of my Nanna, so Close the Door broke my heart a little

I love the mood of Land of Yesterday bc they're complaining that they're no longer rich lol and Lily's like "well we're not dead now!" And my favorite: "RUSSIAAAAAA!!!"

IN A CROWD!!! OF THOUSANDS!!!! I SOB EVERY TIME I LISTEN TO IT. The chemistry btwn Christy and Derek is magical (I mean I haven't seen them but) I can hear them smiling and their harmonizing is just... good lord. And the tension is so real

"You're making me feel I was there too." "Maybe you were, make it part of your story"

I love that you can hear the shift in Christy's voice from playful and humorous to a dawning, frightening realization ("and I tried not to smile, but I smiiiiled... and then... heeeee bowwwwed...!!!!!" "Um, I didn't tell you that" "You didn't have to!! I remember!!!!" And then a heavy pause)

"With the sun in my eyes you were gone... but I knew, even then, in a crowd of thousands... I'll find you... aaaagaaaaain....." AIGFHGKVNID THEY FOUND EACH OTHER EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO CRY

"Your highness..." !???!???? WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING TO MY HEART

Meant to Be is beautiful (especially the orchestra) but I'm gonna skip to QUARTET AT THE BALLET. BC HONESTLY ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. The striiiings....

"My past and my future so neeeeear..." and then Dmitry breaking my heart again with "next to me this frightened girl, holding tight as the dancers whirl"

The whole part where Dmitry and Gleb are singing together omgggg "ITS FATE!! THAT BROUGHT US HEEEEERE"

And don't! Get me started on the part where they're all singing together it's so intENSE it's honestly one of my favorite parts from the whole musical. And!! DMITRY'S PART OMG HE REPRISES JOURNEY TO THE PAST "hooome, looove, faaaamily.... she will have all of it!! I will help her..." AKFJOND HE KEEPS BREAKING MY HEART HE LOVES HER SO MUCH #OTP

"Find a wayyyyy.... ANASAAAAAAASIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

Again Dmitry just loves her... Everything to Win messes with my heart. "I didn't know, she mattered to meee... but now I can see, she doooeees..." (and later Anya says the same thing omg what kind of romantic crap is this, "conman and princess get their wish and fairytales come truuuue!" *clenches fist*) and "with everything to win, the only thing I lose... is youuuuuu..." :(

I love how Gleb interrupts Anya's pining for dramaaaaaaa. "If you really are Anastasia do you think history wants you to have lived??" "YES, why don't you!?"

"All but one. Finish it, I am my father's daughter." "AND I AM MY FATHER'S SON!" ( I can actually hear Anya standing with her chin held high staring at him straight in the eyes, a challenge, a dare) and a gun clicks and omg my heart started racing

"Look at their faces in mine, hear their screams, see their BLOOD." ... "Do it! Do it and I will be with my parents and my brothers and sisters in that cellar in Yekaterinburg all over again!!" GOOD LORD ITS SO INTENSE

"WE HAVE A PAST TO BURYYY AAAANYAAAAAAAA!!!!"... "A reVOLUTION IS A SIMPLE THING!!"

The ending is absolutely perfect... "she was a dream. A beautiful dream." And then "the case is closed. But still...." and the ENSEMBLE COMES BACK. They didn't have to go so hard, man

[thedragonsteaparty]

←Day 7

Sorry for the lateness of this post!

The Team

Hedwig (Noctowl)

Burd (Fearow)

Zappy (Magnemite)

Squidward (Tentacool)

Burgie (Haunter)

Reserves

Sleepy ZZZ (Drowzee)

Pointy (Female Nidoran)

Nointy (Male Nidoran)

Smokey (Koffing)

Following the loss of Hercules at the gym in Olivine I was unsure where I needed to go next. I knew there was a gym in Cianwood City across the sea but was that it? Apparently yes it was, in fact, I was probably meant to do that gym before the Olivine City one but never mind… We arrived outside the gym and confidently walked in. It was a fighting gym and I had two flying Pokémon (Hedwig and Burd) plus Sleepy ZZZ the Hypno, I’d be fine. Everything was until I got to the gym leader… Or rather as close as I could get – three boulders were blocking the way.

Dragon: “Hey! Um… Hello Mr Gym Leader, could you possibly step in front of the rocks for me so that we can battle?”

Chuck: “Only one strong enough to move the boulders is strong enough to face me. You must teach Strength to one of your Pokémon.”

Dragon: “Strength is a Normal type move, that doesn’t make sense!”

Chuck: *shrugging nonchalantly* “Game logic!”

Dragon: “Crap, Hercules was the one that knew Strength… OK, time for someone else to learn it.”

The whole team looked each other, embarrassed. Finally, Hedwig stepped forward.

Hedwig: “Thing is… No one can learn it…”

Dragon: “UGH! Fine! To the PC!”

Upon opening my box and looking at my meagre reserves (Smokey the Koffing) I realised I didn’t have any Pokémon that could learn the move. Would I have to catch a Pokémon for the sole purpose of using Strength? A small amount of hope dawned on me – I hadn’t caught a Pokémon on the island yet!

I fished and caught… A Magikarp… Powafish the Magikarp could not learn Strength. I racked my brain then remembered the pair of Nidoran that I’d put in the day care.

Dragon: “Euuuuuuuuurgh the day care is so far… I don’t wanna goooo…”

But go we did.

Day care man: *pretend shock* “My goodness! We found an egg! No idea how it got here!”

I looked over at the two Nidoran, Pointy (female Nidoran) and Nointy (male Nidoran), lounging on a picnic blanket by the river, feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries.

Dragon: “It sure is a mystery. Right you two! Time to take you out to the real world!”

Nointy: “Yes! Pointy, it’s finally happening! With the help of Dragon we can hatch our egg and tour Johto, finding the perfect place to raise our child!”

Dragon: “Euuuuh… Well actually…”

Nointy: “You know, I was thinking somewhere near Route 38, there’s lots of Normal type Pokémon that our baby can Double Kick to grow big and strong.”

Dragon: “Actually, Smokey and Powafish are going into the day care, Pointy is coming with me, and Nointy you can… You can sit in the PC with your egg. It’s not really worth me having technically the same Pokémon on the team.”

Nointy: “What?! No! You can’t separate us! Pointy, don’t go! Let’s run away together!”

Pointy: “Look Nointy… I’m really sorry but… It was fun while we were in day care and all but… I don’t know, I just kind of feel like you’re smothering me. I need to get out and get to know myself, have some fun, see the world, before I settle down for good, you know?”

Nointy: “But… All those things we said…”

Pointy: “All those things you said. I’m sorry Nointy, I was in it for the fun. I’ll see you later OK?”

Nointy: *getting sucked into the PC* “Wait for meeeeeeeeeeeeee…”

There was a silence as the team awkwardly pretended they hadn’t eavesdropped on the whole conversation.

Pointy: *sidling up to Burd, batting her eyelids* “Hey there…”

Burd nervously edged away slowly.

As it was Pointy couldn’t learn Strength until she evolved but she’d levelled up so much in day care that that wouldn’t take long. Sure enough, a few battles in and I had myself a Nidorina.

Pointy: “Hey Zappy, check out my new body.”

Zappy: *briefly glancing over* “Uh-huh.”

Dragon: “Will you knock it off!”

Pointy: “Sorry Dragon, just… So alone for so long in the day care…”

Dragon: “You were there for less than a week!”

Pointy huffed and waddled away awkwardly on her newly evolved legs.

We made our way back to Cianwood City where Hedwig and Burd swooped and cawed at Chuck’s Pokémon until they begged for mercy, I even got Sleepy ZZZ out of the PC to help with the taunting. They were no match for us. We marched out of the gym happily, gloating over our 6th badge…

Woman: “Excuse me, did you just get the Storm Badge?”

Dragon: “Yeah, isn’t it awesome?”

Woman: “I have something that might be use-”

Dragon: “No time to talk! Hero in the making here! Time for the next gym! Bye!”

It was a long walk to Mahogony town and when we got there I was surprised at how small it was. I was also not very happy about two things: First of all, the gym here was an ice gym. I don’t like fighting Ice Pokémon much, they can get tricky. Secondly, everywhere was blocked off and I kept being told about the Lake of Rage.

For my first issue I put Zappy, who was becoming my go-to Pokémon, in the PC for a little break, he was 5 levels higher than anyone else so he could stand it, and took out Nointy the Nidoran instead. I figured with both Nidoran and Nidorina knowing double kick that would count as some fighting moves for kicking some ice type ass, then Zappy could take care of the rest.

Nointy: “Pointy! You’re still here! I was so worried about you! Finally, we’re together again!”

Pointy: “Oh, hey Nointy, this is awkward but… I’m with Sleepy ZZZ now.”

Sleepy ZZZ: “Sorry dude…”

Nointy: “But… You’re my one and only… We have an egg together!”

Pointy: “It’s nothing personal, it’s just… I’m a Nidorina now and you’re still a Nidoran. You’re just too immature for me.”

Nointy: *Eyes welling up with tears* “I am not immature!” He started ugly crying. I felt bad for the little Guinea-pig critter and picked him up to give him a cuddle.

Nointy: *Struggling* “Put me down! I am a strong Nidoran and I’ll evolve soon! I am too mature to be cuddled! I don’t… I… OK, I mean, that’s kind of nice.”

He finally relaxed and snuggled into my arms with his head resting on my shoulder, glaring at Sleepy ZZZ, who was discussing the wonders of the universe with a fascinated Nidorina as they walked behind us.

Sleepy ZZZ: “It’s like… We’re a region, and there are more regions which makes a world… But we’re also like… In another world.”

Nidorina: “Woah…”

We set out for the Lake of Rage to calm down some Gyarados… On my way up I captured a Girafarig named Friglet who was sent straight to the PC. on reaching the lake I headbutted trees for ages until I found an Exeggute, which was awesome considering I had no grass type Pokémon anymore. Fritatta was also sent to the PC for the time being though, being vulnerable in the ice gym. On top of that Nointy, also evolved.

Pointy: “Oh, wow, Nointy you look… You look amazing.”

Nointy: *Examining his reflection in the lake* “Woo! Looking good!”

Pointy: “I mean did you want to like… Go headbutt some trees together?”

Nointy: “You know what? I’m good. I just need to focus on me right now. I’m getting into this challenge, you know?”

Pointy: “Oh… Yeah… Totally…”

I looked at the lake and sighed. Time to sort this Gyarados out! First though, something had been weighing on my mind.

Dragon: “Can I talk to you, Hedwig?”

Hedwig: “Sure, what’s up?”

Dragon: “It’s just… I’m sure you’ve noticed but your attacks just don’t do a huge amount any more, I mean you are a great tank and for now you’ll remain a great tank but I was thinking…. I don’t want to lose you, and… Don’t take offence but I was wondering if you’d like to retire after this gym? You could be my flying Pokémon, I’d take you out to fly all over the region with you but keep you out of battle.”

There was an awful silence and I started to wonder if I should have brought it up at all but then Hedwig smiled.

Hedwig: “In all honesty I have been wondering this myself. I can’t keep up with these new Pokémon on the team – soon I’ll just be dead weight. Don’t make any important decisions without your ol’ pal Hedwig, though… You can’t be trusted!”

Dragon: “Of course, you’re my voice of reason.”

Hedwig: “Burd and I were saying we want to travel together once this challenge is finished. It’s good to know that dream is a step closer.”

Dragon: “Thank you for understanding Hedwig. I’ll miss you while you’re in the PC though!”

Hedwig: “I’ll see you often enough, Fly is a popular HM.”

We smiled and walked back to the group. I leapt on Squidward and we surfed to the middle of the lake where a large, red Gyarados was raging up a storm.

Dragon: “OK, we got this! It’s going to have some mean attacks so Hedwig, get us started and tire it out!”

Hedwig swooped into battle, pecking the Gyarados as he flew past. The Gyarados retaliated with Thrash and suddenly Hedwig stiffened, and started to fall from the sky.

Dragon: “HEDWIG?! Squidward quickly!!!”

We surfed as fast as we could, and I managed to catch Hedwig before he fell into the sea.

Dragon: “Hedwig, what happened?! Are you OK?!”

He slowly shifted his wing to show a bloody wound in his side.

Hedwig: “It got me, Dragon.”

Dragon: “No it can’t have done! You’re my most defensive Pokémon! You’ll be OK, we’ll get you to a Pokécentre and-”

Hedwig: “It’s OK Dragon…” *cough* “I’ve had my time” *cough* “It was an honor to work by your side… Please… Finish the challenge. You can do it, I know you can. You can make it to the end.”

Dragon: *crying* “But… I wanted you there with me…”

Hedwig: “I’ll always be with you… In spirit… Just remember…” *cough, cough* “Don’t… Be… An… Idiot.”

With that Hedwig’s eyes closed for good, I buried my head in his feathers and sobbed. The clouds darkened over the lake and I lifted my head to meet the gaze of the awkward-looking Gyarados who was beginning to wonder if it should just leave quietly.

Dragon: “You. You bastard.”

Red Gyarados: “I was just defending myself!”

Dragon: “He was so close to retirement and you stole it from him!”

Red Gyarados: “I mean… I don’t know what to say, I’m sorr-”

Dragon: “Here I am trying to calm your stupid fish ass down, so that Team Rocket can’t exploit you and your Gyarados family, and you kill the companion most precious to me!”

At this point the Gyarados started slowly sinking into the lake, trying to sneak away under the water and leave me to my raging.

Burd hurtled towards the Gyarados’s retreating head. “Oh no you don’t, you murderer! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!”

I held out an arm to stop the distraught Fearow in his tracks.

“It’s okay, Burd. I’ve got this one.”

As my bemused Pokemon watched from the sidelines, I beat seven bells out of that blood-red monster. By the time I finally allowed it to slip away under the surface of the water and skulk back to its lair, I’d wrung enough experience out of its bruised face to level up twice. But it still wasn’t enough to negate the loss of my beloved Hedwig.

We took Hedwig’s body back to land. That night we built a prye, and cremated him under the stars, there was not a dry eye in the team. Hedwig had been a friend to everyone and the voice of reason, always steering us towards victory. Burgie, my only Pokémon remaining from my original team (if you’d told me that he’d me my last original standing at the beginning of this challenge I wouldn’t have believed you), gave a heartfelt eulogy and each team member said a few words. For a minute I thought I saw the silhouette of a Croconaw watching respectfully from the water, but it must have been my imagination. When I looked back it had gone. Finally, we let the wind carry Hedwig’s ashes away into the wind so that, even in death, he could still travel the world.

  Imagine the death eater is Gyarados, the owl is brown and Harry has a Pokémon hat on. There you go.

The Team

Burd (Fearow)

Squidward (Tentacool)

Sleepy ZZZ (Hypno)

Pointy (Nidorina)

Nointy (Nidoran)

Reserves

Zappy (Magneton)

Burgie (Haunter)

Smokey (Koffing)

Fritatta (Exeggute)

Fritlet (Girafarig)

Powafish (Magikarp)

RIP

Hedwig (Noctowl)

    Dragon’s Nuzlocke Challenge – Day 8: Getting Thrashed ←Day 7 Sorry for the lateness of this post! The Team Hedwig (Noctowl) Burd (Fearow) Zappy (Magnemite)

[sumner250-blog]

Why Lifting Heavy Weights Scares Most Women – Here’s What You’ll Actually Look Like

“How much can you bench? How much can you deadlift? How much can you squat?”

“Nah, I don’t go too heavy or do those exercises… I don’t want to get too big” Most women assume that weightlifting is only for men. Why? Because they don’t want to get “bulky” like the hulk! But surprise, even the female version of the strongest green Marvel character on earth She-hulk is hot and she can lift ridiculous amounts of weight without getting “bulky”!

The gif above, as a guy, is my reaction. Lifting heavy will lead you to getting really sexy and curvy! You won’t accidentally turn into what men have spent countless years trying to look like! “Woops, I think I got too much muscle”

Hold on to me with this if you are one of the women who are afraid to lift to heavy. You’re going to want to go heavy with your weight lifting sessions (with good form!) after reading this article!

Common Misconception #1: Lifting Heavy Will Make You Look Like A Female Arnold Schwarzenegger

Unless you take steroids, there’s no way in the world, no matter how often you train or perfect your diet, will you ever look like an overly-muscular cute girl like above! Women are genetically unable to build that much muscle in their upper body

Women are unable to get massive unless they use steroids. No surprise there!

We humans have this genetic “wall” to how much muscle a female can build related to your body size. Your genetic “wall” is called Myostatin prevents your body from gaining too much muscle.

Steroids break this genetic “wall” which will allow the body to keep on building muscle

Women have way less testosterone (15 times less!) than men making it difficult to get “bulky” (as if it was hard enough for us men to build muscle!) and unable to grow muscle quickly.

Correction: Lifting Heavy Weights Will Build a Thick, Curvy, Aesthetic Physique.

True, lifting heavy weights will not get you skinny like a Victoria’s Secret model but let’s be honest, is it worth eating a 1000 calories a day to look like one? If I were you I would eat whatever I want.

Mind you, female bodybuilders can easily eat a lot of food. Around 2,400 calories a day and still lose weight in a deficit. Why? Because maintaining muscle mass demands energy. The more muscle you have (for female bodybuilders, mostly on their legs and butt), the more calories you burn just by doing nothing!

The bigger the booty, the more calories are burnt? Seems like a great deal to me!

Common Misconception #2: Cardio Will Tone My Body

Yes, cardio is great for building cardiovascular endurance AKA stamina for those everyday enduring tasks but it has been proven that exercise has very little effect on weight loss. Toned?? What do you exactly mean by toned?

I’m not bashing cardio but I would like to set your goals in the right direction.

Steady-paced cardio will not have great effects on your body as it can decrease your muscle mass which to an extent, can lead to a saggy butt or a small butt along with skinny legs. When females perform most exercises, their hips, glutes, and legs grow the most. They actually grow better than men when exposed to stress AKA weight training.

Women recover from lower body exercises easily hence the reason why men tend to avoid leg days while women prefer leg day 8 times a week!

Correction: Weight Training Will Tone Your Body

I would very much like to be buried in these leggings because I am literally deceased at how pretty the colour is, DECEASED. I wear these in XS because I have very short leggies (5ft 3) 🙋🏽🐳. Also wearing the @womensbest hoodie in XS which I cropped myself! If you wanna nab it they have an easter sale running currently! Easter15 for 15% off woooooo! 🐰🐰🐰

A post shared by Bethany Tomlinson (@beth_fitnessuk) on Apr 16, 2017 at 8:57am PDT

The concept of bodybuilding is to build that well-rounded, aesthetic physique. Bodybuilding is made out of seasons of careful bulking and cutting.

You bulk to gain more muscle at the cost of a bit of fat by eating more than your body burns while training well.

Then you cut by keeping the muscle and lose the fat through a high-protein diet while being in a caloric deficit.

If you want a bigger butt, you’ll have to expose it to a certain stimulus so you body will need to grow. Put lots of stress into your glutes through heavy weights and you body will tell itself “you need to grow because we can’t handle this weight too often!”

Go for a challenging weight that will allow you to do 8-10 reps for 3 sets for each exercise.

🏋🏼‍♀️ THE ULTIMATE LEG DAY 🏋🏼‍♀️ As requested from yesterday, here is my fave workout to do when I either don't want to workout or have no idea what to do. I strip it back to basics – lifting heavy & getting a full body (with some heavy booty concentration) sweat on 💦 Perfecting these compound lifts will do wonders for your training in general, so as fun as all those fancy instagram workouts are, I thoroughly advise whippin' this out every so often! Plus, your core will thank you for it #helloabs 👋🏼 [for more workouts, click the link in my bio!] The workout: Activation (still worth activating those glutes to build dat bubble butt 🍑): A) RB Clams x10 per side B) RB Crab Walks x20 Repeat x3 1. Sumo Deadlifts 5×5 I only started deadlifting this year due to messing up my back in an accident when I was 13. I have to alter the form slightly but am currently doing 5×5 at 70-80kg (154lb-176lb), which I'm super proud of 🌟 2. Squats 5×5 Again due to my back these aren't always an option for me but I'm currently performing them at around 70kg (154lb), concentrating on form rather than weight. (A few months ago I could squat 120kg (265lb) 😭) If you're having trouble with squatting, head over to @amandabuccifit's YouTube channel where she's just done a fab squat tutorial 🍑 3. Hip Thrusts 5×5 The ultimate booty move 🙌🏼 make sure you use a mat or barbell pad over your hips! I perform these at 100-110kg (220-242lb). Booty burning finisher: A) RB Raised Glute Bridges x15 B) RB Hip Thrusts C) RB Crab Walks Repeat x3 🔥🔥🔥 (RB stands for resistance band) I LOVE working on strength & I honestly think that while getting a good isolated burn is amazing, compound lifts will always have my heart 💕 I find lifting as heavy as I can super empowering & these lifts are what made me fall in love with weightlifting 🤗 How about trying this killer workout & engaging your whole body (especially da booty!!) for the perfect start to your week 🙌🏼 Text/tag yo gym partner, let's goooo 🏋🏼‍♀️🏋🏼‍♀️🏋🏼‍♀️ #GFG #GraceFitGuide **video is at double speed I am not the usain bolt of squats** Wearing the new @gymsharkwomen cropped hoodies releasing this Friday! #gymshark #gymsharkwomen

A post shared by G R A 🌙 E | #GFG (@gracefituk) on Mar 19, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

How Heavy Should I Lift?

When going for those weights, aim for a challenging weight that will stimulate your body to grow. Aim for 7-10 reps for 3 sets per exercise.

Try to get 1-2 minutes rest per set.

If you’re going for barbell squats, a good example would be 50% of your bodyweight for 8 reps and 3 sets for a beginner. As you progress try to aim for that milestone of 80% of your body weight squat for 8 reps.

Once you reach that certain milestone, you’re butt in proportion to your whole body will have already been plump and curvy!

Workout Routine For Women

Beginner:

Barbell Squats – 50% of your bodyweight for 8 reps – 3 sets

Hip Thrusts – With no weights for 10 reps – 3 sets

Barbell Lunges – 30% of your bodyweight for 8 long strides – 3 sets

Intermediate:

Barbell Squats – 80% of your bodyweight for 8 reps – 3 sets

Hip Thrusts – With 5kg plate for 10 reps – 3 sets

Barbell Lunges – 60% of your bodyweight for 8 long strides – 3 sets

Leg Press Machine – 80% of your bodyweight for 8 reps

Bulgarian Squats with Dumbells – 20% of your bodyweight for 10 reps

By the time you reach advanced-level then you will have a well-defined glute goal!

Advanced:

Barbell Squats – 100% of your bodyweight for 8 reps – 3 sets

Hip Thrusts – With 10kg plate for 10 reps – 3 sets

Barbell Lunges – 70% of your bodyweight for 8 long strides – 3 sets

Leg Press Machine – 100% of your bodyweight for 8 reps

Bulgarian Squats with Dumbells – 40% of your bodyweight for 10 reps

Deadlifts – 100% of your bodyweight for 6 reps

These workout plans are based on weights relative to your bodyweight so reaching advanced level is guaranteed to have amazing results!

The post Why Lifting Heavy Weights Scares Most Women – Here’s What You’ll Actually Look Like appeared first on MyoAbility.

from Why Lifting Heavy Weights Scares Most Women – Here’s What You’ll Actually Look Like