#this is such a fun idea you should have written for voy

[boytoymccoy]

People keep showing up to his table in the mess and at his station looking for advice at the worst times. He complains about people lacking boundaries and instead of discouraging the behaviour Janeway gives him a blue uniform and an office and says "now it will be easier for the crew to tell when you're available for support :-)".

if one semester of biology is all it took to qualify tom to multiclass as pilot/nurse harry’s ability to empathize and tell others what they need to hear should’ve qualified him to multiclass as engineer/ship’s counselor

[serpentface]

Do you conlang? I was wondering if you had naming languages (or possibly even more developed ones) for pulling the words you use. I tried to search your blog but didn't find anything, wouldn't be surprised if the feature is just busted tho. Your worldbuilding is wonderful and I particularly enjoy the anthropological and linguistic elements.

Ok the thing is I had kind of decided I was not going to do any conlanging because I don't feel like I'm equipped to do a good job of it, like was fully like "I'm just going to do JUST enough that it doesn't fail an immediate sniff test and is more thoughtful than just keysmashing and putting in vowels". And then have kinda been conlanging anyway (though not to a very deep and serious extent. I maybe have like....an above average comprehension of how language construction works via willingness to research, but that's not saying much, also I can never remember the meanings of most linguistic terms like 'frictives' or etc off the top of my head. I'm just kinda raw dogging it with a vague conceptualization of what these things mean)

I do at least have a naming language for Wardi (and more basic rules for other established languages) but the rudimentary forms of it were devised with methods much shakier and less linguistically viable than even the most basic naming language schemes, and I only went back over it LONG after I had already made a bunch of words so there's some inconsistencies with consonant presence and usage. (This can at least be justified because it IS a language that would have a lot of loanwords and would be heavily influenced by other language groups- Burri being by far the most significant, Highland-Finnic and Yuroma-Lowlands also being large contributors)

The 'method' I used was:

-Skip basic construction elements and fully move into devising necessary name words, with at least a Vibe of what consonants are going to be common and how pronunciation works -Identify some roots out of the established words and their meanings. Establish an ongoing glossary of known roots/words. -Construct new words based in root words, or as obvious extensions/variants of established words. -Get really involved in how the literal meanings of some words might not translate properly to english, mostly use this to produce a glossary of in-universe slang. -Realize that I probably should have at least some very basic internal consistency at this point. -Google search tutorials on writing a naming language. -Reverse engineer a naming language out of established words, and ascribe all remaining inconsistencies to being loanwords or just the mysteries of life or whatever.

I do at least have some strongly established pronunciation rules and a sense of broad regional dialect/accents.

-'ai' words are almost always pronounced with a long 'aye' sound.

-There is no 'Z' or 'X' sound, a Wardi speaker pronouncing 'zebra' would go for 'tsee-brah', and would attempt 'xylophone' as 'ssye-lohp-hon'

-'V' sounds are nearly absent and occur only in loanwords, and tend to be pronounced with a 'W' sound. 'Virsum' is a Highland word (pronounced 'veer-soom') denoting ancestry, a Wardi speaker would go 'weer-sum'.

-'Ch' spellings almost always imply a soft 'chuh' sound when appearing after an E, I, or O (pelatoche= pel-ah-toh-chey), but a hard 'kh' sound after an A or U (odomache= oh-doh-mah-khe). When at the start of a word, it's usually a soft 'ch' unless followed by an 'i' sound (chin (dog) is pronounced with a hard K 'khiin', cholem (salt) is pronounced with a soft Ch 'cho-lehm')

-Western Wardin has strong Burri cultural and linguistic influence, and a distinct accent- one of the most pronounced differences is use of the ñ sound in 'nn' words. The western city of Ephennos is pronounced 'ey-fey-nyos' by most residents, the southeastern city of Erubinnos is pronounced 'eh-roo-been-nos' by most residents. Palo's surname 'Apolynnon' is pronounced 'A-puh-lee-nyon' in the Burri and western Wardi dialects (which is the 'proper' pronunciation, given that it's a Kos name), but will generally be spoken as 'Ah-poh-leen-non' in the south and east.

-R's are rolled in Highland-Finnic words. Rolling R's is common in far northern rural Wardi dialects but no others. Most urban Wardi speakers consider rolling R's sort of a hick thing, and often think it sounds stupid or at least uneducated. (Brakul's name should be pronounced with a brief rolled 'r', short 'ah' and long 'uul', but is generally being pronounced by his south-southeastern compatriots with a long unrolled 'Brah' sound).

Anyway not really a sturdy construction that will hold up to the scrutiny of someone well equipped for linguistics but not pure bullshit either.

[sevenofninehouseofmusiker]

3, 9, 17 & 19 for the asks!

thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about fic, friend! okay, so:

3. Is there a fandom/ship you’d love to write for but haven’t?

Honestly, if I’d started writing earlier I think I maybe would’ve written for cophine? Maybe one day I will, if I do a rewatch. Orphan Black was the first show that like, made me feel safe? So maybe that, if I had more time on my hands. I briefly considered writing some agathario but I have to finish the show first lmfao 😂

Anyway, I think I’m very firmly a saffi writer for now (forever? idk). I’ve loved Seven basically my whole life, and I think Raffi is the best thing to happen to her and trek as a whole in a long ass time, and I’m very obsessed with them. Also the saffi discord is what/who ultimately made me feel comfortable and confident to write fic, so I’m very emotionally attached all around.

9. Which fic did you feel the most fulfilled/healed writing?

whatever a sun will always sing was probably the most fulfilling thing to write and post. That one hit me like a truck while watching voy and doing homework in uni, and i hammered it out in one day (wild for me). Like, the fact that Icheb and Seven bonded over star charts, and he told her to try star gazing, AND THEN NML HAPPENS?! And then the Stargazer in alpha canon? Statistically Significant Reoccurrence Of Stars methinks. Raffi is Seven’s Sun, her orbit revolves around Raffi, etc etc.

Or maybe with will to choose? That was my first murderboard hc where I was like, “this needs to happen and someone needs to do it and I guess that’s me.” I still deeply love the idea of Seven taking Raffi’s last name, and the implications of that tangible connection between them. I could talk about that forever. Maybe I’ll write more with that.

They’re both pretty early works for me (and having read it again I could make “With Will To Choose” a little more cohesive now), but I was/am really proud of those. They came pretty quickly and made me really feel like I’d done something cool with original ideas (as much as fanfic based on a show can be original, anyway).

that dear perfection (which she owes without that title) is probably the one that healed me — that and I'd Give Up Forever To Touch You. Because season three and the social media shitstorm the showrunner went on really put me through the wringer (though somehow I never caught a block — it’s my greatest fandom shame /j), at a time that many things in my life were doing the same. So writing those was a good detox and catharsis for me. Biiiig taking a hammer and fixing the canon energy. And since I’ve always really identified with Seven, taking time to give her the respect and the time with her gf (I remain a breakup denier) that she deserved (& that the show should have given her) made me feel a little better, too.

17. If you have any multi-chapters, what is your favourite chapter?

Oh god 😂

So I guess tell all the truth (but tell it slant) is the truest multi-chapter I have, and it haunts me daily that I haven’t finished it (fwiw, chapter 7 is supposed to be basically another sex scene and some domestic fluff. very short — and yet it remains incomplete, lmao). But I think I’m gonna go with the behemoth that is number 4, the 20k chapter. Absolute beast of a thing. Rare example of lighting striking in that I was extremely motivated AND I had time/energy/inspiration.

19. What are some of your favourite fic’s you’ve gifted to someone else?

(these are all nsfw because I am who I am 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Probably can’t keep my hands to myself, because it’s ridiculous and fun but takes itself a little seriously and I think has a little of everything — including good Seven characterization. I sometimes do my best work under threat of a deadline!

Plus, Raffi calling Seven “sweet girl” always gets me (and you too, lol).

seeped into my chest has to be here too because that one is so soft and I looooove me some hopeless-romantic-Seven. And superpowers-Seven. She’s a sweetheart but mostly she’s Raffi’s sweetheart, and I’m kinda obsessed with my hc that Seven can hear people’s heartbeats — and that she listens specifically for Raffi’s the way some people listen for their ship’s warp core white noise.

indentation in the shape of you is absolute fanservice and even more hopeless-romantic-Seven, and Rangers Seven, my beloved. And also has subspace phone sex, and string lights (not in space but still)!

[justsomeoneunordinary]

i have an idea of something i want to put in a fanfic and i would like to ask your opinion.

My idea is to make a cursed item.

an special Uzumaki mask that acts like Hakari's domain expansion but more extreme (if that's even possible).

basically what i have in mind is that the mask, a three eyed oni mask that when put on, allows the wearer summons a deity (maybe an eldrich god of some kind) the deity allows the wearer to gamble in a slot machine where if the wearer wins he gets infinity chakra and get like they opened the eight gates for a few minutes (two minutes and twenty six seconds the lenght of BENNETT - Vois sur ton chemin - DJ Holanda MONTAGEM CORAL Remix (Official Audio Video) that song they use to do those gojo and yuji teacher/student short edits) consequence free but if the wearer loses they die and their souls is devoured by teh deity the mask summons.

the thing is, the chance of the person wearing the mask winning or losing depends exclusevily the persosn's luck, but every time they hit a jackpot, the chance of losing increase, like, let's say, Sakura wears the mask for teh fisrt time so the chance of hitting a jackpot is 50/50, if she spins again the chance of hitting a jackpot independently is she pulls the lever right after her first pull or after some time has passed, the chance of hitting the jackpot drops to 20/80 and so on and so forth.

Hi anon, my opinion is this: You should write whatever makes you happy, no matter what others think about it. If this concept interests you and you'd like to see it written, go for it! No one else's opinion should matter.

On that note, I'm starting to feel rather uncomfortable with the increasing asks for my opinion on your concepts. It's flattering that you care so much for my opinion and that you like my character analyses and concepts, but the problem is when you send me something that doesn't interest me, I have to come up with a polite and diplomatic answer that doesn't hurt anybody, especially not you.

And I just don't feel like treating my tumblr inbox like a professional e-mail. I'm running this blog for fun and it stops being fun the moment I am facing asks that aren't my cup of tea.

So my answer to all your asks about your ideas is that you should go for anything that brings you personally joy, because that's all that matters.

Sorry for answering this openly for everyone to see but because you're on anon, I couldn't send you the reply privately.

[sapphicsandscience]

20 questions for fic writers

Not going to lie - no one tagged me in this lol - but I am doing it .

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

47.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

322,829.

Crazy number for me. I know some have literal millions but I can’t believe I’ve written that much in like the last two or three years??

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Star Trek (TNG/VOY/PIC & some DS9). ER and Criminal Minds more so in the past. But ER I’ll never leave you.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Aster

- my labor of love - no pun intended.

- i WILL finish her (manifest it pls).

A Flame In Your Heart

- going to be honest writing post s3 isn’t something that interests me the most.

- however, this is a cute story and i wish i had some more ideas for it as i feel like i lack direction.

I Should Have Moved Moons For You

- ahhh.

- a fic I really should have pre-written before posting but i do have fun with it.

- i am half confident she will be finished in time but it stresses me out thinking about it and my outline lol.

- but like most of my WIPs the chapters are all outlined and i do have semi-concrete endings for them or at least know the main plot.

A Lot Of Things Can Happen In Two Months

- like the concept but i think i could have written it better ?

- feels a bit messy but also there are a lot of feelings in it.

- but happy i got it finished !! and i am proud of it overall.

Eighteen Minutes

- ngl I forgot I wrote this lol.

- the only one-shot here.

- def benefited kudos wise from being posted after the second episode aired.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! And I love to give comments regardless if I get a reply from the author. But personally, I like to reply back as the commenter has taken their time to do this. And you can have some really lovely and funny interactions in the comments haha … I just love talking about fic.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well…it would have to be either of the ones I killed Beverly in - Last contact or Too Late.

Not sure which is more angstiest?

However, as for a multichap ending that ends the most angstiest and wasn’t written to be a character-death-fic - maybe - A Lot Of Things Can Happen In Two Months. Which sucks cause it’s pretty much canon compliant LOL.

Hmm now I am tempted to write another multichap with a less than happy ending…

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics that have an ‘ending’ are WIPS that I haven’t finished yet lol.

But maybe Our Turn - it’s just Beverly and Jean-Luc enjoying everything wonderful in their lives <3

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Not really - I doubt anyone cares enough lol. But I am ‘fortunate’ that some of the more ‘controversial’ ships I may write have had writers come before me and take the brunt of any crap :(( but they’ve created a lovely sandbox for the rest of us to play in <3

9. Do you write smut?

Not often but I have yeah…and *deep breaths* … I have no idea if I am even acceptable at it LOL. It’s definitely something I sometimes want to add to my fics and lately I’ve been giving in a little.

Okay, someone tell me if I am terrible and I will stop.

10. Do you write crossovers?

It’s not my go to thing but yes I have. Including the fusion ER/TNG fic that three people have probably read (but three people I love).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but that would be cool as!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! With my lovely and supportive ER fic buddies ❤️

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Not sure how best to answer this. It is very dependant on my current hyperfixation and I am one of those sapphics that very much is into the woman more than the man in terms of interest in f/m ships…

However, at the moment it’s Beverly/Jean-Luc and I can say I am definitely more invested and interested in Jean-Luc’s character than I have been with other men in f/m ships. So that’s another reason.

But I love to read/write Crusher/Janeway ❤️ and LOVE those characters. Kerry/Sandy too is special to me.

Can honestly say apart from helping me give Emily Prentiss a baby in my fics I never cared that much for any of her ships I wrote (sorry 😭).

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but probably won't?

Probably better I don’t answer this. It stresses me out cause I want them all to be done 😭

I’ll answer with a WIP I never posted which was a dystopian AU with Kerry and Sandy. Field medicine, babies (it’s me so ofc) and friends trying to survive together.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm - I think I can come up with some good ideas. I can be good at description and introspection … probably more than dialogue.

And I am very strong in the art of giving Beverly Crusher lots of babies. And also making her go through angsty stuff. But I make up for that with the babies I think.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Long intricate plots ? I would love to be better as balancing many themes and plot points in one story. I struggle with dialogue sometimes as well.

Also I am very word count preoccupied at times which is a hindrance as a writer. I sometimes really struggle to get anything out in a session then can overcompensate later by writing too much? But honestly either way I just let myself go with the flow these days otherwise I stress about it.

Yeah and I probably need to edit better.

And smut.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Is this controversial?? I don’t have any issue with it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

(redacted)

20. Favourite fic you've written?

These are both not what I would consider my best work (idk what that even is) but probably Gone (Ice)fishing or It Takes A Village.

Both were written as gifts and out of my comfort zone (for different reasons) but I am really proud of them both.

But I also love some of my Kerry/Sandy one-shots I did here on this blog. And Aster is definitely a personal accomplishment in terms of length as a writer. I love it too ❤️.

Oh, also - To Build A Home - cause it’s tragic & angsty but also BABY🥹 - it’s just my brand.

—————————————————

Okay -I’ll shut up now.

Anyone feel free to do this and tag me.

[laurelsofhighever]

Hey! I'm intrigued by the DS9/Voyager crossover! What inspired you to write it? Are there any interesting/fun dynamics between characters you weren't expecting?

I'm also looking at your Wayhaven WIPs, especially the time travel one. Do you perhaps have a snippet from one of them to share? <3

You asked about the DS9/VOY crossover! Like with so many of my longfic ideas, I just really, really like exploring what-ifs, and back in university I was part of the Star Trek Society, which meant my mind way pretty much saturated with Trek. The basic question of "What if Voyager never got taken by the Caretaker?" got stuck in my head and since VOY and DS9 are my two favourite Trek shows, it made sense for Voyager as a state-of-the-art ship to be posted at DS9 to deal with the conflict with the Maquis and later with the Dominion. The whole thing is planned out and the only reason I haven't written it yet was because I misplaced the USB with the first five chapters and only recently found it again. And I need a sensitivity reader to make sure I handle Chakotay better than the original writers did. And I got obsessed with Dragon Age.

There are so many dynamics that make me really excited for this crossover, including but not limited to:

Janeway and Sisko: the two highest-ranking Starfleet officers in the sector, both a bit gung ho, masters of snark, crafty as fuck, and determined to bring down the Maquis, make the ultimate dream team of Federation overachivement and the biggest thorn in the Dominion's side throughout the war. A mutual respect turning into genuine friendship is something I can definitely see happening

Tom, Harry, B'Elanna, O'Brien, Bashir, and Dax: just. The shenanigan potential of these two groups coming together would be off the charts

Worf and B'Elanna: As the only two Klingons in Starfleet with relatable yet completely different upbringings and relationships to Klingon culture, they should and would have some very deep, meaningful conversations about their place in Starfleet. In particular I want Worf to offer mentorship like he did to Sito Jaxa in "Lower Decks"

There are a bunch of other relationships I would tweak as well, e.g. Garak/Bashir and giving Janeway/Chakotay much more of an enemies to lovers vibe. You're making me love this again - I may actually write it after 9 years in limbo XD

And as for my TWC fics... they're all still in the planning stage so far so nothing concrete is written beyond some scribbled notes, but I can reveal that the opening scene in the time travel fic is Nate and Leah waking up to the start of a day off, only for cuddling to be interrupted by Adam. First he tries Nate's phone but Leah flings it across the room 'by accident', but they have to answer when Leah's phone starts ringing too. and then things get serious >:)

Thank you for the questions!

--

Ask me about my WIPs

[fand0mfancies]

Came across this on Tumblr a few days ago, it amused me for a couple of hours or more, filling it in, while watching QI.

 Fandom Questions

 1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Star Trek: Voyager, I suppose at least for reading. Started writing with Stargate SG-1.

 2. What is your latest fandom?

I dip in and out of lots of fandoms on and off, the most recent ‘pick up’ is Ballam from Eastenders, I don’t watch soaps, but Robron and Ballam both appear a good bit on my tumblr, so I eventually gave in to checking them out via fic and youtube – thank god for youtube, lol! I still don’t watch soaps, but I watch those storylines!

 3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Gosh, that’s... actually no that’s really easy. Primeval. For anyone not familiar, it’s a ‘silly little dinosaur show’ produced in the UK. It had 4 short seasons, with a somewhat revolving main cast – although they managed to keep 3 of them through all 4 seasons – but the fandom was/is amazing. I made life long friends through the fandom and even though I don’t write much any more I still read some and still talk with those people.

 4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I would say no. I can’t say every fandom has always been amazing – ship wars anyone! – but mostly fandom has been a very positive experience in my life.

 5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

How long have you got... in genuinely no particular order (basically as they came to me) Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, Voy, Ent & Reboot Movies), Marvel, Kingsman, Person of Interest, Due South, Quantum Leap, Firefly, Buffy/Angel verse, Harry Potter, The Sentinel, Torchwood(/Doctor Who), Hawaii Five-0, Shadowhunters, Sherlock, Primeval, Emmerdale (Robron), NCIS, CSI (Vegas, NY & Miami), White Collar, Empire Records, Bull, Diagnosis Murder, MacGyver (the original), 1-800-Missing, CHAOS, Without a Trace, M*A*S*H, Charmed, Queer as Folk (US), Will & Grace, Bring it On, Nash Bridges, Magnificent 7 (TV series), House, Babylon 5 – I think I got them all... a few of those were one time only deals, but a lot of them have more (anywhere from 2-52 (or more still!) ranging from 100 word drabbles, to thousands of words – hey I’ve been writing fic for 21 years... you tend to amass a lot of fandoms...

 6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh geez, here we go, lol! Okay...

 Stargate SG-1: Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson

Stargate Atlantis: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard

Star Trek: Elim Garak/Julian Bashir, Chakotay/Tom Paris, Jonathan Archer/Malcolm Reed, James Kirk/Spock – I don’t particularly have an ‘otp’ in TNG, the couple I’ve written were Picard/Data, I’ve also dabbled reading Data/Gordi)

Marvel: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Kingsman: Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin

Person of Interest: Harold Finch/John Reese

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray K

Quantum Leap: Sam/Al

Firefly: Malcolm Reynolds/Simon Tam

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Giles, Angel/Spike, Xander/Spike, Willow/Tara

Harry Potter: Harry/Draco, Harry/Hermione, Harry/Hermione/Draco

The Sentinel: Jim/Blair

Torchwood: Jack/Ianto

Hawaii Five-O: Steve/Danno

Shadowhunters: Magnus/Alec

Sherlock: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade

Primeval: Nick Cutter/Stephen Hart, James Lester/Hilary Becker Emmerdale: Robert Sugden/Aaron Dingle

NCIS: Gibbs/DiNozzo CSI: Nick Stokes/David Hodges, Mac/Danny, Horatio/Speed White Collar: Neal/Peter/Elizabeth

Empire Records: Joe/Lucas

Bull: Benny/Jason

Diagnosis Murder: Steve/Jesse

 I’ve left a few out where I don’t have particular OTPs

 7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Here we go again... lol!

 Stargate SG-1: Jack/Sam, I just... no. I’ve read a few where it’s a background or secondary pairing, but it always makes me wince a bit. I’ve read a few with Sam/Daniel as a secondary pairing that didn’t make me react that way and I’ve read Sam with other characters, but Jack/Sam just is a nope for me.

Stargate Atlantis: McKay/Keller – no, just no. that was horrible. She treated him like... awfully, trying to change him to suit her, just... no.

Marvel: Contentious, but Tony/Pepper, also Peter Parker/Tony Stark. Maybe because I saw the movies before I ever looked at the comics, but meh.

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray V – again, contentious, but honestly I think Ray V was kind of a shit friend to Fraser.

Firefly: Anything with Jayne. No really, I just can not stand the character. I spent most of the series wanting to punch him in the face and sometimes you get characters you love to hate, but I just hated him.

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Spike, Willow/Kennedy

Harry Potter: Ron/Hermione, Ron/Harry, Harry/Ginny... basically, Ron and Ginny should just be loveless hermits who live by themselves. Ok, no, that isn’t fair... but as much as Ron was Harry’s first friend, he was selfish and bitter and Ginny/Harry just... never sat right with me. Ron literally says she spent ‘all summer talking about’ Harry, when she’d met him for all of three seconds. She didn’t know him. It always felt like she fell more in love with the *idea* of Harry Potter, than Harry Potter himself.

Sherlock: Sherlock/Molly, he’d eat her for breakfast. Serious, she’d never survive him.

Primeval: Oliver Leek and anyway. Arg. Creepy little dude is creepy and evil.

NCIS: Ziva/DiNozzo – ugh, just no.

 Again, I’ve left out ones where I don’t have particular NoTPs

 8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Tumblr, god damned bitches posting gifs of pretty boys falling in love, roped me in!

 9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

I dabble in several fandoms at once... but if we go by ‘most recently picked up’ as ‘current’ we’re talking Ballum, which hey, it’s always fun to have an actual canon pairing be my OTP, that’s rare for me, lol.

 10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Well (so far) I haven’t written any Ballum. (I say so far, because I’m a realist, lol). I rarely read in fandoms and not end up writing in them at some point. Although I have probably dabbled in a few I’ve not written for, but if I read it with any sort of consistency, I mostly end up writing it. I am weak!

  Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

 11. Who is your current OTP?

Okay, so that list above, just basically go with that. While I do drop in and hour of fandoms and some I certainly read in more than others, I do tend to go back to fandoms... If we were talking about what I’m mostly focused on writing atm... Steve/Tony, Mycroft/Lestrade, Harry/Draco and Robron are ones I’m currently working on most.

 12. Who is your current OT3?

I’m not currently writing anything that’s OT3 with any real focus. I have a couple of Neal/Peter/Elizabeth WiPs that I will at some point finish, but they aren’t a big focus just now. I did recently read a fabulous Neal/Peter/Elizabeth fic that’s been on my tbr list for ages.

 13. Any NoTPs?

Just... see above, lol!

 14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Harry Hart/Merlin, those two are Bro’s until the end and I will fight you on this. Also, Eggsy/Roxy! OMG they are such a BroTP! And Tony/Pepper/Rhodey – I may no like Tony/Pepper as a pairing, but I love them as best friends and of course, our Rhodes, because again, I will fight you on this, they are awesome and Tony needs his best friends!

 15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I’m not sure there is. I suppose I’ve read a few fics for some random pairings over the years, but nothing that’s made me really ship-ship them. I like Clint Barton/Bucky Barnes, after seeing it as a secondary pairing in a Steve/Tony fic, but I’ve seen that pop up a few times since, so maybe it won’t stay obscure for long!

 16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Jack/Sam, Tony/Pepper, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Buffy/Spike – they all seem to be het pairings, oops. But I am mostly a slash fic reader/writer, so I suppose that’s not too surprising.

 17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Jack/Daniel from Stargate SG-1. I still love them. I still read them, although it has been a while since I’ve written them on their own (I have got some SG-1/SGA x-overs where they feature)

 18. What ship have you written the most about?

I’m genuinely not sure... without going and counting (and I’m not going any counting!) I’d guess Jack/Daniel, McKay/Sheppard, Jack/Ianto and Steve/Danno.

 19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

No, not that I can think off. I either like it or not. I do occasionally feel bad for not reading a fic if it’s an author I really like, but I don’t read that fandom or pairing, but nothing specific.

 20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Robron and Ballum, lol. I do not do soaps!

  Author Questions

 21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

 Stargate SG-1, Jack/Daniel, a story called The Dare, The Disaster, The Almost Happy Ending, And The Very Happy Ending – it was awful. Don’t go looking, lol!

 22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Don’t we all? No, I wouldn’t specifically say so. There are certainly fics, especially older ones, I wish I could have written better, but nothing I’d go, ugh I should never have done that.

 23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Uh... honestly that’s really hard. I... um... yeah, I don’t know, really. I wrote a nice little flower one in POI that I felt worked rather beautifully. The Language of Flowers. An I wrote an SGA fic for NaNo a few years ago, called A Different Life, but it’s not online, because I didn’t finish it yet and I knew I wasn’t going to finish it any time soon, so I didn’t feel it was fair to leave it up unfinished (there is a reason I don’t read WiP fics and I don’t post them either, because I know how much I hate unfinished WiPs) Edit: After writing this I reminded myself of a POI fic I wrote called Hours of Separation – It’s a Harold/John break up story that I always intended to write a sequel too where I ‘fixed’ them, but I just couldn’t do it. I broke them a little too well. But I really love it actually.

 24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

The afore mentioned A Different Life needs to be edited and finished, lol! Also a Primeval fic with the working title Crypt Keeper (don’t ask) that I worked myself into a bit of a corner on and I figure out how to fix it, but I haven’t done it yet, so it’s still needs fixing and finishing, lol!

 25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

I haven’t the foggiest.

 26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

Sometimes, really easily, a quote, a line from the fic, a song title... other times it’s like pulling teeth, hence working titles on things like ‘crypt keeper’ which is a reference to one scene near the very start and has no actual hint of the plot, lol!

 27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Oh the titles. Summaries you can just copy a few lines from the fic if you are desperate, if you had to post ‘untitled mcshep fic #67’ people would get cranky, lol, hell I’d get cranky!

 28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Oh... I... huh. I mean who wouldn’t love fanart for their stories? Any of them honestly! But if I had to choose just one... I guess something in my Animal Instinct verse, which is Primeval (although I always intended to write other fandoms in the verse) where some people transform into animals, based on their ‘spirit animal’ and some art of the characters with their spirit animal form would be awesome.

 29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

Sometimes, look if you’ve read this far, you know I write in a lot of fandoms, lol. In some fandoms it’s easier than others to find beta readers. Also, sometimes if it’s just something short, I won’t bother. But I do try for my longer fics.

 30. What inspires you to write?

That old adage, if you want to read it, sometimes you just have to write it? Spite? Boredom? Honestly sometimes I just have ideas I have to get out of my brain and it’s write or go mad(der)

 31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

That it inspired them to write something.

 32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Sometimes, sometimes I find it distracting when writing because I end up singing along and forgetting what I’m writing, lol! I do sometimes get inspiration from songs, I guess mostly from the lyrics, but no particular band or genre – although I listen to a lot of country music!

 33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

Little from column a, little from column b... littler still from column c...

 34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Around 60k, I think.

 35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have. Primeval had/has a week drabble challenge, mostly when I’ve written drabbles it’s been for a challenge, with a specific prompt.

 36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Uh... I mean, my fandoms really span the genres, but I guess sci-fi or crime are probably my favourites.

 37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third mostly, I have occasionally written in first person, if it felt like the fic needed it.

 38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Little from column a, little from column b... it depends on the fandom and the story. Sometimes you just need more characters, mostly they are minor roles, I don’t tend to write much established character/oc fic

 39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Ability to convince myself people will want to read it, lol! No actually to be honest, I love to know people read and like my stuff, but I gave up a long time ago on trying to ‘please’ people with what I write. I write what I want to read.

 40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Focus. The problem with 21 years of fandom history, is well... 21 years of fandom history. A lot of fandoms, a lot of pairings and as I say, I never really ‘leave’ a fandom, I just drop in and out and sometimes that means I’ll write on something consistently for weeks or months and then end up getting distracted by another fandom again and not touch it for weeks or months again. Hence, I don’t post WiP fics, because I know I’m easily distracted and don’t want anyone to suffer my lack of focus but me.

  Fanfiction Questions

 41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I don’t read WiP fics, so yeah... but 5 I’ve recently read in different fandoms that I’ve really enjoyed

 Turns Out, I Have a Rose Garden by betheflame (Steve Rogers/Tony Stark)

Lucky by china_shop (Neal Caffery/Peter Burke/Elizabeth Burke)

Colors by Quesarasara (Sherlock/John)

Betrayal by Blackghost7 (Gibbs/DiNozzo)

Matchmaker (Part 1 of the Marmalade Series) by HastaLux, Mottlemoth (Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade)

 42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

See now this is hard, because... ahh so many...

 FredBassett – Primeval author, her Stephen/Ryan series is epic and brilliant and endless

https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett

 Keira Marcos – I know other people will have said her, I don’t care. I love all her stuff, across all the fandoms she writes in

http://keiramarcos.com/

 theapplepielifestyle – her Steve/Tony is amazing. Hands down some of the best I’ve ever read. I will fight you on this.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/theappleppielifestyle/pseuds/theappleppielifestyle

 JillyJames – her Tony DiNozzo is a real life grown up... exactly as he should be considered given he’s a goddamn federal agent!

https://jillyjames.com/

 missbecky – I’ve read pretty much all her Steve/Tony and Harry/Eggsy and it’s awesome.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky

 Honestly, I could have listed so many more, but, I’m being good!

 43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Everyone. The thing is, fandom at it’s best is like crack, the more you get, the more you want. The writing, the gifs, the art... it feeds you and makes you want to make more of it, because more of it needs to exist and if that means you need to do it yourself, so be it!

 44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

ALL OF THEM!

 45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Oh hell no, not even, I can not. It took me an hour to narrow down 5 authors, I can not narrow down one fanfic!

 46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

I mean, it depends on what they like... probably the Hour of Separation I mentioned above, if they like the fandom/pairing, or my Animal Instinct stuff.

 47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

Archive of our Own. I haven’t touched ff.net in *years* since they started getting super restrictive about what you could post. I do occasionally post stuff to tumblr, but mostly I now post to AO3. I did have my own site and I’ve yet to upload a lot of stuff to AO3 – one of these... months... that will be a project – but it’s amazing. Seriously, having been in fandom 20+ years, going from having to search all over a million different places and now it’s all in one place, where we’re honestly, spoiled and protected. The kids now have no idea how crazy impossible that once seemed.

 48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes, but not as often as I should. I love AO3s kudos button, so I can sort of say ‘hey I enjoyed this’ without having to comment, because I sort of hate leaving comments just going ‘hey I enjoyed this’ because I always feel like I should say more, like, oh I enjoyed this specific thing, which yes is an unnecessary hang-up, but there ya go.

 49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

Of course it’s nice to get comments, kudos, reblogs etc. I’m not as attached to them now as I was when I was younger, because I learned along the way that it was more important that I like what I’m writing than that other people do, but it’s still nice to know that something I’ve created is enjoyed.

 50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I went looking for Star Trek Voyager stuff online, pics etc, waaaaaaay back when! And I came across fanfiction entirely by accident... and I read some – het stuff mostly, then I started watching Stargate SG-1, went looking for fanfiction for that, but was not on board with Jack/Sam, found Jack/Daniel went ‘huh really? That’s weird’ read it... and yeah... 21 years later... lol!

 51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Ship Wars. No seriously, just don’t. Like, who the actual fuck cares. I like my ship, you like your ship. I don’t care if it’s canon or not. I don’t care if it’s popular or not. I don’t read my NoTPs, but I’d never dream of telling someone else not too. Yes I think they are terrible, bad, no good pairings, but that’s *my* opinion. Don’t try to change my mind and I won’t try to change yours. I avoid them like the actual plague. If someone starts that shit around me, I will shut it right down. You are a dick. Go to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200.

[elencelebrindal]

Honest Opinion - Scorpio Milo

Hell yeah, the man’s here! Another poor Saint deprived of his name in the Italian dub, but the best son of a bitch I’ve ever seen in my life. 

Warning: this is definitely longer than any other posts I’ve made with my opinions. 

(Hades and Soul of Gold not taken into consideration, I need to re-watch them before talking)

Overall score (character, not looks) Classic: 10/10 Legend of Sanctuary: ?/10 More on this in a while

Okay, full disclosure.  1. I am a Scorpio 2. Milo is my favorite character of the entire franchise alongside Shun and Hades 3. I have an undying love for the Scorpio Saints This might be biased a little bit. But it’s still honest. 

Now, onto the serious stuff.  Milo. Where do I eve begin with this man? Right off the bat, I could immediately tell Milo was going to be a character I was going to like.

At the start, he seems like a man all over himself with his pride. The way he wanted to refuse a mission from the Pope because he didn’t want to fight against someone below him definitely told that story.  And I was like “dude, this man is bizarre”, because I really didn’t know how to judge this Saint.  Was he going to be good or bad as a character? I had no idea. Generally, I don’t like characters with that personality in the role of the “stereotypical” good guy, but I’d already been confused by a fair share of other Saints before him, so so prejudices. 

My god, was I glad I didn’t brush him off.  A couple episodes after, and Milo is off to Andromeda Island, ready to kill the everloving shit out of everybody, and I completely fell for this man.  I mean, he should definitely stop being a damn contortionist, I need to cosplay him and how do I even lift my leg like that, but I’m going off topic. We see him unleash his tremendous power and basically destroy everything in sight as he followed the Pope’s order, and I though “okay, maybe he’s not just someone who doesn’t care about what he’s being told” and my view of Milo radically changed. 

I was still confused by him, because I still didn’t know anything about his personality other than his pride, but that scene carved its way into my heart and stayed there as a proof of his almighty power and it’s refusing to leave. 

Now, let’s make a jump forward onto his fight against Seiya and Shiryu.  I have no words.  As soon as I heard him and associated his voice (a voice that did change in the Italian dub from his first appearance to the 12 Temples) I was sold. Completely. His new voice matched perfectly a personality that I finally recognized as “mildly psycho but having fun while also being smart”, and finally seeing Milo in a proper fight sequence was amazing. 

Ritenetevi fortunati, non v'ho dato morte. Non basta una puntura soltanto perché il veleno dello Scorpione faccia il suo fatale effetto; la calma vi sia compagna per ora: vi spegnerete molto più lentamente. Non è questa la degna fine dei traditori? La Cuspide Scarlatta è forse l'arma che più s'adatta a voi due Cavalieri: l'arma più lenta del Grande Tempio, l'arma che più provoca dolore! Benvenuti alla fine del viaggio, non altra conclusione è altrettanto adatta alla vostra follia!

All his techniques are good, he’s both merciless and merciful because he knows when to stop, and the Scarlet Needle? I love it. I love how they described it, and how Milo asks his victim to surrender before using it because he knows how painful it is as soon as Hyoga enters the picture.  He struck a good nerve right there.

Fighting with Hyoga, he shows way more of his personality, he tries to reason with him, tries to let him go because Camus would surely be upset at Milo killing his disciple.  And when Hyoga says no, I want to fight, Milo fights. He respects his choice, and keeps fighting, despite knowing he could disappoint more people than himself by doing so. 

Hai sentito, Aquarius? Hai udito le parole di Crystal, tuo allievo? Le parole di chi ha voluto difendere se stesso. Lui ha espresso il desiderio di combattere con me. È diventato un uomo, un Cavaliere di cui non bisogna avere pietà, la pietà che toglie onore, intende. Dunque dovrò combattere con tutte le mie forze. Ne sarebbe offeso il suo onore, altrimenti, e insieme al suo il tuo onore. È evidente a questo punto, affrontarlo in battaglia è come riconoscerne il coraggio. Lo farò salire al paradiso dei Cavalieri, non gli darò requie! Sei d'accordo, Aquarius?

And then... he realizes he’s wrong. Before killing Hyoga, he realizes the lies he’d been told by the Pope, and helps him. He saves his life, instead of bragging about how he should have surrendered, or killing him and end it there.  Milo is honorable, not just prideful, and it showed so much during that scene. A scene that, I have to admit, had me in (not quite literally) in tears.  He knew he was going to risk the life of a friend, by saving Hyoga, but spared him anyway. Hoped him well anyway.  You could tell that, I’m not making up any fanfiction shit right now. I could easily say “yeah, he was heartbroken because Hyoga was going to kill Camus and he loved him” but no.  I’m telling the canon story, here, and you could tell he was worried about Hyoga and Camus, because Milo cares. A lot. 

I deeply love this character, I cannot find anything bad to say about him. I want to be honest, and this is it. I loved every second of him, even if at the beginning I was uncertain about his personality.  Milo is well written, well interpreted, and has a good arc in the classic series, even if short.  And I can say, even without re-watching it, he’s amazing in Hades as well.

And now, let’s tackle the elephant in the room. Legend of Sanctuary. You might be familiar with my displeasure towards the Gold Saints in this movie, at this point. I don’t hate them, I generally think they could have been made better.  I went berserk against Deathmask because they did a 180° on his personality in this movie, and... yeah, Milo is definitely a problem. 

Not because he’s a woman. I don’t have a problem with female characters being introduces in a series, that’s obvious.  I have a problem with it when it interferes with the story it’s taken from. So, Milo being a woman in Legend of Sanctuary is a huge problem because she is not supposed to be there.  With all the other characters being the same as the old ones (appearance not withstanding), I hate that they only changed him.  Either to change the whole crew, or keep it as it should be. This is exactly the same feeling I have for Netflix!Shun, I can’t stand it. 

On her own, LoS!Milo is stunningly amazing. I loved her, I loved her personality, I loved how much she kicked Seiya’s ass, I saw a good characters as said “yeah, she’s cool”.  She wasn’t far off from classic Milo, actually. Their personalities and reactions were pretty similar, in fact.

So, her score would be a 10/10, without hesitation. 

But, LoS!Milo cannot be seen on her own. She’s part of the story. A story that shouldn’t have changed one character to fit whatever criteria they wanted her to fit.  It seemed like something ripped straight from a genderbend fanfiction.  Because of this, I cannot bring myself to love LoS!Milo as much as I normally would. 

This might be controversial, a lot of people might have different opinions on her, but I’m honest.  And I won’t change my mind. 

[hide-in-imagination]

“Roads That Cross... With Delfi and Jazmín” (Part 1)

You can read the previous chapters here: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13) 

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This chapter ended up being way longer than I anticipated so I took the healthy decision of dividing it in two. That way you get updates faster, and I have time to figure stuff out in the meantime. Enjoy!

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Simón wasn’t sure where the urge had come from, but he didn’t question it as he made the short walk to the mansion to get his guitar.

Part of him hoped he’d find Ámbar there or in the way there. He wanted to feel her close. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and breathe in the smell of her hair. It was a scent he could recognize now; even carried it with him after that morning, although he couldn’t smell it in himself. He still didn’t know exactly what it was 'cause the bottle didn’t show it, but it was nice, and most importantly, his memory associated it with sweet moments with Ámbar. Maybe if he smelled it, he’d feel better. Maybe if she just smiled at him, he’d feel better.

He didn’t find her.

Simón almost stayed in the storage room. Not because he wanted to hide from Benicio but because the calmness of the empty room was inviting. He could just stay for a while, play a couple songs without anyone bothering him…

You wanna lose your job too?

With a sigh, Simón placed the guitar inside its gig bag and made his return to the Roller alone.

Once inside, Simón walked to the stage and sat on its edge, bringing his guitar close and playing with the strings. Soon, a melody came about, a nostalgic one, and his voice came out to join it.

Te vas amor,

si así lo quieres qué le voy a hacer

Tu vanidad no te deja entender

Que en la pobreza se sabe querer…

Right as he began the next verse, another voice started singing, taking him by surprise. Simón snapped his head to the side and saw Luna, smiling widely as she walked closer to sit at his left. Seeing her smile brought a smile to him as well, and he strummed the guitar harder, with more vivacity, singing the chorus with her.

For two minutes, Simón forgot about everything. He felt back in Cancún, under the sun he had grown up with. He could almost hear the waves and their laughs with Luna and the voice of her mom begging him to stop playing that song.

Then the song was over, the strings rigid and static once again, just like his life. He felt stuck, as if, at some point, the solid ground under his feet had been replaced by a treadmill, and no matter how hard he ran, he didn’t arrive anywhere.

Simón didn’t have many moments like these; he didn’t allow himself to. He had learned— internalized from a very young age that a positive attitude was the key to achieve everything in life. And it wasn’t a karma thing where you expected the world to return your good deeds back to you one day, it was about how you chose to see things. Whenever something dragged you down or didn’t go as you wanted it to, you had two options: let it get you down or keep going. Simón kept going. He kept advancing and advancing, but there would always come a point where the big boulder he was pushing up the hill would roll back down and try to crush him.

This was one of those moments.

It was stupid, really. Benicio thrived on making other people’s lives miserable, for all intents and purposes he shouldn’t have listened to him. But he couldn’t un-listen to him, so now he had a cacophony of voices in his head calling him a failure. Telling him to go back to his country. Telling him that he wasn’t good enough.

“This song talks about love,” Luna told him hesitatingly, her green eyes showing worry. “Is there anyone that you think doesn’t deserve a love that’s sincere?”

It was funny. Some months ago, drowned in bitterness and hurt feelings, he would’ve answered ‘Ámbar’. Now though, it was like the lyrics he had sung a thousand times over had transformed into something else while remaining the same. It was like looking at something that could be written by a future version of himself. A version of himself abandoned with nothing left but a song.

“I wasn’t thinking about the lyrics,” he replied. It was both true and a lie. He was thinking about everything and nothing at once. A part of him was screaming at him to stop making up scenarios in his head while another kept answering ‘but what if they come true?’

Keep going.

Suddenly, Luna said she had to go, so Simón put on a smile to make it easier for her to do so.

Once again, it was just him and his guitar.

 *************************

 Five times. Sharon had left five times enough money to pay for the tea and coffee they had consumed. She probably hadn’t even bothered to look at the prices and hadn’t taken the time to count in her haste to leave Ámbar alone once again. How long had they been together? Ten minutes? Five?

I failed.

Ámbar stayed in her seat, finishing her tea as she wallowed in everything that had gone wrong. Not only was Sharon not stopping but now she was mad about Simón. Oh, Simón; she had lied to him telling him she was going to see Vidia, all for what? She had told Sharon that she wasn’t going to tell him anything, and for what?

She didn’t know if what she was feeling was fear, frustration or anguish. Maybe all three. What was she gonna do? What could she do? She was trapped.

A sudden wave of anger hit her. This was all Sharon’s fault. All of it. She wouldn’t be in any mess if it wasn’t for her. Had Sharon ever even thanked her for all she had done for her? No, of course not, it’s just what was expected of her. And now she had the audacity to tell her who she should and shouldn’t be with? She wanted her to renounce something that made her happy just because of a whim of hers? She knew Sharon was selfish, but this was something else.

Ámbar reached for the bills Sharon had left. She didn’t want anything from her, she’d pay the drinks herself. She almost wanted to tear the money apart. She almost did. But then she got an idea.

No; she was going to spend it. And she was gonna spend it on something for Simón. It was the biggest ‘fuck you’ move she could manage at the moment and she was gonna do it.

With her mind made, she asked for the check, paid, and left the Café to go visit some stores.

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

The plan had been to just buy him something and go back to the Roller quickly, but once she started looking through different things, Ámbar lost sense of time.

It occurred to her that it was the first time she was shopping for Simón. What could he like? What would be useful? Those questions repeated on her mind. She got a little over-excited going through the stores, seeing everything on a new light because she wasn’t thinking about her tastes but about his.

Of course, she had bought stuff for Matteo when they were dating, but that had been different. Back then, she had done it almost with professionalism, going for the prestigious brands first, thinking about which accessory would fit more with his style or which item of clothes would go better with his skin color.

Clothes. Clothes are useful, he could like that.

As Ámbar went through different male sections, she confirmed how different it was to shop for Simón. She didn’t think about brands; she knew he didn’t care about that. Instead, she looked at different items and imagined how they would look on him. She thought about which one would make Simón happier, or which one would make her want to take it off him the most.

Not everything was fun though. Against her will, her conversation with Sharon continued to play on her mind. Her blind rage against the Valente, her accusation that Ámbar had switched sides, her ice-cold voice telling her to break up with Simón... 

It was the first time that Sharon ordered her something and Ámbar straight out refused. The fact made her proud as much as it scared her. What if Sharon was serious about wanting her away from Simón? What if there was retaliation? What if she did something?

Don’t be ridiculous, Ámbar, this is not a soap opera.

Sharon wasn’t going to hire assassins or something. Ironically, she would have to actually care to do anything about it, and all her life experiences had shown her that she did not.

‘You better listen to me, Ámbar, it’s for your own good.’

Ámbar put the hook she had been holding back into its rack with a little more force than necessary. ‘For your own good’; she was so sick of hearing that phrase from her mouth. To tell her that she would go down with her, that no one would forgive her…

She doesn’t need to tell me that, I know it already.

Ámbar shoved all of that out of her mind and re-focused on the clothes. She was gonna give Simón something, he was gonna be happy, and he wasn’t going to leave her.

The low budget made things difficult. Of course, she could use her credit card and not just Sharon’s money but, one, that would defeat the purpose, and two, she felt if she pulled her card out, she was going to end up buying half the mall and then Simón would feel bad and scold her for spending so much on him.

Well, he better be prepared for his birthday. There was no way she wouldn’t fill him with presents then.

If we’re still together, her mind retorted immediately. She focused all her will into ignoring that.

By the time she finally made it out of the mall, it had been hours. She felt irresponsible for leaving her work on the side for so long, but it was time well spent. She wanted to get to the Roller quickly and see Simón’s face.

But when she arrived, he wasn’t there. Confused, she turned to Pedro who was retrieving empty plates from a recently vacant table and asked him about Simón.

“He said he was going to the mansion and coming right back.”

Ámbar frowned. That was unusual. Maybe he had forgotten something that morning?

Anyway, he thanked Pedro and was making her way through the cafeteria to wait for Simón when she heard voices coming from the dressing room. The door was ajar, so she stopped right before it to avoid being seen and concentrated on listening. Normally, she wouldn’t have eavesdropped —the days where she focused on what everyone else was doing were behind her— but she immediately recognized the voices inside, and it did not sound good.

“...the Red Sharks no longer exist,” Ramiro was saying, his voiced clipped.

“Maybe it would still exist if its teammates weren’t traitors,” Benicio spat resentfully.

“The reason it doesn’t exist anymore is that you don’t even care about skating, all you two care about is ruining everyone else's lives! Just leave Delfi and Jazmín alone,” Ramiro exclaimed forcefully.

Ámbar’s attention peaked at hearing her ex-best friends’ names. Why was Benicio going against Jazmín and Delfi?

“We are not going to do anything; they did it to themselves all on their own. And I don’t remember asking for your opinion, traitor. Benicio, did you ask for his opinion?”

Oh, so Emilia was also there. It didn’t surprise her. Ever since Benicio arrived, she hanged to his every word. Ámbar had noticed some jealousy coming from her when Benicio and her had been… together. (God, how she hated to remember that.) Now that she was out of the way, Emilia had clearly stepped up to take the role of his right-hand woman. Or, more exactly, the same pitiful role she had played with Matteo.

“No, I didn’t,” Benicio answered, and Ámbar could perfectly imagine the cocky face he was making. “It seems to me like you’re just desperate for someone to talk to, Ramiro, interrupting conversations like that. But you made your choice. We don’t want you anywhere near us.”

“And if your besties from the Roller don’t want you near either, then… I’m sorry, honey. But you’re going to be very, very alone.”

Emilia’s mocking tone made Ámbar want to slap her. They had been something like friends once, but the more time passed, her attitude became worse. Ámbar had had the hope that Emilia would come to her senses since she was not stupid, but with Benicio’s influence and her trying to win his attention… It was a bad mix.

If the pair had been trying to intimidate Ramiro, it didn’t work. His voice sounded firm and decided when he replied, “I prefer it that way.”

“Leave Delfi and Jazmín alone, I mean it,” he said with a warning tone, and next thing Ámbar knew, he was walking out the door, almost colliding with her.

Ramiro’s eyes widened when they focused on her.

“Á—”

Quickly, Ámbar rose her hands in a gesture for him to remain quiet and dragged him away by the arm. She stopped inside the lockers and turned to Ramiro.

“What was that about?” She asked in some of a quiet voice in case Emilia or Benicio walked by. “I heard Delfi and Jazmín being mentioned, what are Benicio and Emilia planning?”

Ramiro let out a deep sigh. “Sadly, I have to admit that Delfi and Jazmín were the ones who got themselves in this situation.”

“What situation?”

“Did you watch their last videos?”

Ámbar blinked. “No? I have more important things to do.”

“Like going shopping?” He asked sardonically, giving a look to the bag she had left behind her on top of the bench.

“Oh. No, that was just an improvised gift for Simón,” she dismissed.

Ramiro gave her the cheekiest smile and look on the planet. “Awww, the little princess is in love.”

Ámbar rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tease me, Ramiro, just tell me what’s up.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Fine,” he sighed. “So, basically, Delfi’s and Jazmín’s last videos were almost identical. Everyone assumed one had copied the other and each of them claimed the other was the copycat, which generated a fight.”

“Okay…”

“But, the truth is that they planned it all. They made the whole scandal to gain views and subscribers.”

Ámbar raised her eyebrows. “Really…”

And then they complained that it was she who pushed them to do these kinds of things. Look at them now. She didn’t even talk to them and they had planned a scam all on their own!

They could not blame her influence for this one, and Ámbar felt a little happy about that. It was almost vindication. Also, it served as proof that even ‘the good ones’ made bad deeds sometimes.

Contrary to her silent joy, Ramiro looked troubled.

“It was wrong what they did, I know that. But now that Benicio and Emilia know about it, they’re going to tell the whole world and I’m worried about what’ll happen to the girls.”

If Ámbar knew the internet at all, they were going to get a lot of hate once the news broke out. Backlash from a failed plan was something she was definitely familiar with.

“Well... you’re right,” she told Ramiro. “They did get themselves in this situation.” Just as she’d had to deal with the consequences of her actions, Delfi and Jazmín would have to deal with theirs.

“Yeah, but Benicio and Emilia shouldn’t get to enjoy it,” Ramiro retorted with frustration.

It was a good point. Yes, the girls had made a mistake, but Benicio and Emilia turning it into a victory of sorts for them didn’t sit well with her at all. It could be that all Delfi and Jazmín would have to face would be some angry comments, but to Delfi, and especially Jazmín, their followers’ opinions were important. It was going to be a hard blow.

“Although, maybe nothing will happen,” Ramiro continued on a hopeful note. “Even if Benicio and Emilia expose them, who will believe them? It’s not like they have a good reputation in the Fab & Chic or Ja Jazmín.”

“That’s a good point,” Ámbar agreed.

Ramiro looked pensive. “I think I’ll tell the girls anyway. Just in case.”

She nodded. “Yeah, better. I’ll be here all day so, if I see them, I’ll give them a heads up too.”

Ramiro smiled and gave a playful shove to her shoulder. “Look at you, being all nice. What happened to the ‘I don’t care about anyone or anything’ attitude?”

Ámbar shrugged with pursed lips. “I just think they have the right to know. Maybe if they have time to prepare themselves it won’t be so bad…” she averted her gaze. “I surely would’ve liked some heads ups.” About a lot of things. 

She could feel his eyes on her in the silence that followed, but she wasn’t expecting what he said next.

“I know you didn’t mean to burn the rink.”

Surprised, Ámbar turned to see him. His gaze was kind as he showed her a sad smile.

“You do?” She asked hesitatingly.

“Yeah,” he confirmed assuredly. “You’re like me; skating is a part of us. To think that you’d intentionally destroy this place is absurd.”

Ámbar’s whole body reacted with energy and her hands rose to the sky. “Why, thank you! Finally someone uses some common sense!”

He laughed at her utter elation and she laughed in utter relief. Finally, finally someone believed her. Well, she assumed Simón believed her too since she doubted he would’ve gotten back together with her otherwise, but he hadn’t believed it at first, and it was nice to actually hear the words for once.

It gave Ámbar just a little hope. Maybe with time, more people would believe her too.

“Well, since I’m here, I think I’m gonna skate for a while,” Ramiro said, walking to his locker and opening it. He spun to look at her. “Wanna join me?”

She gave him a sorry smile. “Thanks but I have to work. I ignored my responsibilities for too long already.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” he said with a smile, pulling out his skates.

“Okay.”

Ámbar walked out of the lockers and headed back to the cafeteria. The moment she stepped foot in there, the first thing she saw as if pulled in by a magnet, was Simón scrunched back as he talked with Luna, sat on the edge of the stage. He had his guitar over his legs, but even without it, she knew she would’ve recognized him. Just as her eyes always found him.

Her chest instantly filled with glee. It had only been a couple hours but, she realized that she had missed him.

Over his shoulder, Luna saw her and their gazes met. Quickly, she said something to Simón and stood, leaving him alone. She gave Ámbar a little smile as she walked to the other side of the bar and then sat in one of the couches.

Ámbar understood the gesture and returned the smile, albeit feeling a little weird. She still wasn’t used to being amicable toward Luna. She suspected it would take a while considering how long she had spent hating her guts. But she didn’t hate her anymore, and she was an important part of Simón’s life; that was a big reason for them to get along.

Luna must have come to the same conclusion, and Ámbar wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

 ***************

 Fingerpicking was something Simón had struggled with when he first started playing guitar. Now it was something he did without thinking, or rather, it was something he could do automatically while thinking of something else entirely.

If he hadn’t been distracted, he probably would’ve heard the footsteps behind him. But he was and he didn’t, so when a pair of hands touched his shoulders and he felt a kiss on his cheek, he nearly jumped.

Simón spun in a flash and his heart skipped another beat when he saw that smile.

“Ámbar,” he said surprised as she happily took sit beside him. He left his guitar aside. “You arrived.”

He had wanted to see her all day but, now that she was there in front of him, he wasn’t sure what he felt. His head was a mess at the moment, too many worries and situations that may or may not happen fluttered around.

But seeing her smiling at him, looking at him with nothing but affection… it eased the knot of anxiety in his chest a little bit.

“Actually, you arrived. I’ve been here for some minutes now,” she informed him.

He was surprised once again. “What? Really? I didn’t see you.”

“Ah, I was in the lockers with Ramiro until now, that’s probably why. And you weren’t here when I arrived,” she explained. “Now I see why you went out. Did you get a strike of inspiration or something?” She asked, signaling to his guitar.

Simón brought his gaze to the instrument. “Something like that.”

He didn’t want to talk about his worries now that she was finally with him. Especially what had to do with her. She’d probably just scold him anyway for listening to Benicio in the first place. It was silly. It wasn’t worth it.

“Everything okay with Vidia?” he said instead, to avoid the topic. “You were out for a while.”

Ámbar blinked, and for one second, he thought he saw a change in her expression, but it was gone very quick.

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s fine, everything went well,” she replied smiling and held one of his hands.

Suddenly, he was reminded of how much he had wanted to hold her before. The feeling of her hand against his may have not been much, even friends held hands sometimes and it didn’t mean anything deep, but right now, it was reassuring. She was there, with him, sweet and tangible.

A shout came from afar.

“Ámbar!”

She turned around and Simón tilted his head to the left to look behind her. Ramiro was skating toward them, which was weird because that usually wasn’t allowed in the cafeteria. He was holding a white paper bag in one of his hands.

“You forgot your present.”

Ámbar let go of Simón’s hand and stood rapidly.

“Oh my god, thank you,” she said, and received the bag when Ramiro reached them. “How silly of me.”

Simón stood up as well and watched them. A bad feeling settled on the pit of his stomach; one he didn’t like but also couldn’t help. Why is Ramiro giving gifts to Ámbar? He thought. And, of course, the immediate reason was because they’re friends, but were they really that close already? Since when? And how close?

There was nothing wrong in Ramiro giving her something, he knew that, but Simón felt defeated all the same. He hadn’t even given Ámbar a gift yet and he was her boyfriend. Wasn’t he supposed to do those things?

Completely unaware of Simón’s discomfort, Ramiro smiled at Ámbar.

“You’re welcome, little princess,” he told her. With a wink. Then he looked at both of them and said, “I’ll leave you two alone.”

Just like that, he turned on his skates and began sliding back to where he came from. On the way, he was approached by Luna, who started following him. “Ramiro! Hi! How would you feel about being a background dancer?”

Simón barely registered all of that because his mind was still on the wink, on the gift, and on the ‘Little princess’.

Since when did they treat each other like that? Since when did they have pet names? 

They’re just friends, he repeated to himself. But at the same time, he was hearing—

‘Now that she has you, let’s see how long it lasts.’

“Simón?”

His gaze snapped back to Ámbar.

“Yes?”

“You seemed kind of out of it for a second,” she told him.

He shook his head and tried to smile. “It’s nothing.” They’re just friends, they’re just friends.

Ámbar held the gift bag with both hands and Simón hated the way she seemed to handle it with care. Right as she started saying something, another voice called out for him.

“Simón!”

Simón turned to his left as Pedro rapidly came to his side, holding a tray with drinks on one hand and a note on the other. He had a rug on top of one of his shoulders and he seemed a little agitated.

“I’m sorry, could you make the orders for table three?” He asked. “I have my hands full.”

Simón felt a jab of guilt. Of course; it was probably lunchtime by now. Customers always went up at that time of the day, it was the reason why they usually took breaks after those hours. Simón should’ve been minding the clock, he should’ve been tuned in to that, Pedro shouldn’t have even had to ask.

“Yes, of course,” he replied immediately, receiving the piece of paper from him with the orders written down.

Pedro turned back to deliver the drinks while Simón quickly left the guitar in the stand on top of the stage and went behind the bar. He didn’t even look at Ámbar, feeling ashamed. The first thing she had seen after hours of being gone was him playing the guitar while he was supposed to be working and Pedro practically begging him to help out.

So he was not only a lousy boyfriend but a lousy employee as well. Great. Just great.

“Wait, could you take five minutes?” Ámbar told him. “I wanted to—”

“No, I’m sorry, I took enough minutes already,” he told her as his hands moved through ingredients. “I gotta help Pedro.”

To be honest, he feared whatever she might say at that moment. He didn’t want to hear it. The one thing he wanted right then was to stop feeling like a complete failure.

“Okay…” Ámbar said slowly. “Okay, sure. I’ll just grab my folder and I’ll let you work.”

She walked behind the bar and ducked to pull out her big green folder from under it. As she turned to leave, Simón felt the urge to grab her and tell her he’d give her as many minutes as she wanted. As many gifts as she could ever wish for.

He didn’t.

As he continued working, the voice inside his head calling him ‘loser’ didn’t even sound like Benicio anymore. It sounded like himself.  

 ...

..

.

  ------------------------------

Y’all think that Ámbar is the human embodiment of ‘conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know’, but I actually think that Simón is as Elsa as Ámbar and I’m gonna prove it. Consider this chapter the prologue of my thesis: “Simón has been through shit too, he just smiles too much for you to see it.” Also, consider that thesis the part one of a trilogy called “No one deserves Simón and that is a FACT.” 

Also, did anyone ask for more Rambar? Well, here you go, fresh out of the oven.  

Hope you liked this and Part 2 should be done in about two weeks. 

[mia-cooper]

2019 fanfiction in review

I usually put more effort into pimping my favourite fics of the year, boosting a few new writers in my fandoms, etc. This year, however, I have not, for reasons both within and beyond my control. Which is pretty much my excuse for not Doing Better with writing for the past month or so, but hey. At least there’s this.

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

1. Best fic(s) you read all year, and why?

How can I even begin to list all the beautiful, shocking, feel-good, feel-terrible-but-in-a-good-way, envy-inducing, page-turning, soul-destroying, fluffy, hilarious, infuriating and horny fics I’ve read this year? I can’t. So I will instead list three that come immediately to mind.

@curator-on-ao3 – The Dismissed Protocol (rated T, VOY, TNG, Janeway & Crusher)

This fic made me angry. So angry that I left a ranty and incoherent comment, slammed down the lid on my laptop and stormed around the house for a bit. Why was I so pissed, you ask? Because this fic hit a good few of my personal triggers around bodily autonomy and the right to make informed choices, and because although the fic ends triumphantly, it’s somewhat of a pyrrhic victory and it left a really bad taste in my mouth. Which, considering this is fiction, is the mark of some really good writing. When it comes to tackling difficult topics with a fresh and thought-provoking perspective, and without opting for the easy answers, Curator never disappoints. This story is just one of many examples of that in her work.

@love-in-the-time-of-kolinahr​ – it will take place without witnesses (rated E, DSC, Pike/Number One)

Okay so let me start by saying it was the author’s fucking EXCELLENT pun of a pseudonym that made me read this in the first place. Then it was the poem they quoted (Discovery by Wislawa Szymborska, which is like a portentous rocket in the guts). Then it was Una’s scales-off-the-eyes, we-are-true-equals, don’t-bullshit-me-lover candidness in the way she sees, talks to, knows Chris Pike. I adore Pike in his laconic-space-cowboy-with-a-heart Disco incarnation, I like him a lot as the CoolDad in AOS, but this fic? This fic gives me smart, forthright, deeply tender Number One, and Pike as the fractured and very human hero I hope like hell we’ll see more of because they are definitely making a Pike series RIGHT? It is written. Anyway… this fic is beautiful and harsh and deft and real and sexy and poetic and at its core it’s about love, and who doesn’t love love?

@captacorn​ – Stars in a Ruined Sky (rated M, VOY, Paris/Torres)

It took me a while to read this one because CaptAcorn was posting it at the same time I was writing my epic, and I had no brain space to maintain a hold on someone else’s dark and compelling plot. But when I picked this one up, I couldn’t put it down. It is AMAZING. A Timeless AU, set in a universe where Voyager crashed and most of the crew survived, this goes where no other 100k+ epic I’ve read before has dared to tread, and it does so without flinching. The details are what make this unforgettable – there’s no magic reset button, so when something bad happens to the crew, there are actual lasting consequences – but it’s the humanity of the characters (if I can use that word to describe a crew that includes aliens) that makes it unputdownable (fuck off, my nana said that’s a word). This is not an AU I want to think happened, but CaptAcorn makes it one that rings true. And I’ll definitely read this again when I have the emotional fortitude for it.

Wow, there’s no Janeway/Chakotay in my top three. What? So here’s a bonus:

Northernexposure’s trilogy – Soft Light, Aftershocks and Resolution (rated E, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay) – three for the price of one! I mean, when northernexposure posts a new fic I race to read it no matter what, but smut! Beautifully written, true to character, sexy sexy smut from one of my all time favourite authors! How could I turn that down?

2. Best fic(s) you published all year, and why?

Mmmyeah to be honest I kinda feel as though my writing peaked in 2017, but here we go.

Desperate Measures (rated E, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay and other pairings) – because there’s angst and smut and the plot is twisty as fuck and I feel like there’s a pretty satisfying payoff. And it’s really long and relies on the reader engaging with my OCs which people seem to have done, which makes me think that if I ever do want to go write another original novel, maybe I won’t want to burn it as soon as I’m done.

This Is The Moment (rated M, DSC, Pike/Tyler) – because these two have exhausting chemistry and I couldn’t not write this but it was hard to make it come out of my brain the way I wanted it. But I’m really happy with it.

And I have a soft spot for First Officer’s Log (rated T, VOY, Chakotay & Tuvok, implied Janeway/Paris), because I just really love Threshold, okay? And while the episode is wack on so many levels there are really dark and heavy themes to explore there which I feel have gone very unexplored and I hope my fic struck that same balance between moral philosophy and holywhatthefuckery.

3. Favourite opening line(s) in a fic you published in 2019:

From Bad Maquis (rated M, VOY, Janeway/Chakotay):

The only thing more restrictive – and bosomy – than this outfit, Kathryn mused as she stared at her reflection, was her holodeck governess costume.



Still, at least she didn’t have to leave her quarters wearing this getup, and thank goodness for small mercies. Because she was on the verge of backing down from this challenge as it was, and Kathryn Janeway did not chicken out. Ever.

I mean, it sets the scene, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t love Janeway in leather.

4. Favourite closing line(s):

This is maybe cheating a little bit because this fic isn’t finished, but this first chapter can stand alone and I won’t be continuing it for some time (first, I have to finish the two prequels, haha). Anyway, these are the closing lines from Inertia (rated T so far, VOY, Janeway/Paris and others):

When the daze clears and Tom looks up to discover that his hovercar is parked in front of an address he’s never visited but has nonetheless memorised, maybe he should feel a little bit surprised.



He doesn’t. No matter how far he tries to go or how long he stays away from her, turning up at Kathryn Janeway’s door is inevitable.

Why do I like it? Well, I have an everlasting appreciation for Janeway/Paris, for one thing. For another, if you read the rest of the story and understand what Tom has just learned, you’ll want to know what happens next. I hope. I sure want to know.

5. The fic that was best received, and your favourite comment(s) on it:

That would be Desperate Measures again. It’s my longest fic by far and I was absolutely bowled over by the response to it, but one of my favourite comments on it is this one:

It actually looks like Janeway is saying gimme and it cracks me up.

Honestly though… the depth and kindness of comments on that fic in particular, the time and thought and effort that people have put into their reviews … it made up for every moment I wanted to chuck it in and never look at that fic again, or any other.

6. The fic you wish had gotten more love:

Honestly, I was surprised there was so little response to my @voyagermirrormarch​ fic trilogy, Heaven in the Shape of Hell. I really thought they’d be crowd pleasers, but it shows what I know, lol. I haven’t even finished the third one because the lack of interest made me wonder if they were just really shite, but I’m not so butthurt about it anymore and I will come back to it someday.

7. How many fandoms you wrote for in 2019, and which inspired you most:

Does Star Trek in all its incarnations count as one fandom? If so, I wrote for two (Trek and Marvel). If all the different versions of Trek count separately, I wrote for seven (MCU, AOS (that’s Trek Alternate Original Series, not Agents of SHIELD), Disco, Mirror, Enterprise, DS9 and Voyager).

Anyway, I guess I’ll never stop being inspired by Voyager, so even if Disco season 3 and the Picard show do nothing for me, I’ll always have that.

8. Your favourite pairing(s) to write for:

I mean, Janeway x Chakotay, for sure. But I’m deeply, deeply invested in Janeway x Paris at the moment.

9. What you’re writing now/next:

I’m struggling through the second part of what was supposed to be my contribution to @25daysofvoyager​. I’m actually going to post the first part once I’m done with this quiz in the hope it’ll kick my ass into gear. I’m also on semi-hiatus from Kinetic Friction, but I’ll be going back to it as soon as I’m done with my 25 Days fic. At some point after Kinetic there’ll be the sequel, and then the rest of Inertia. I’m also contemplating something for Threshold Day, possibly throwing something into @voytalentchallenge​ (don’t count on that one), and I have an idea for a pre-Enterprise D, pre-Voyager meeting between Picard and Janeway (with smut, obvs), plus all the other fics I’m definitely going to write …

And of course there’s my meat raffle. Time to pimp that one again. Donate to AO3 and if I draw your name out of the hat of randomness I’ll write you a fic to your specifications (roughly).

10. Writing goals for 2020 (word count? new fandoms/pairings? anything?):

Look, I’d just really like to actually write to some of the prompts I’ve had sitting in my ridiculously complex filing system without getting sidetracked by the newest shiny thing to catch my eye. In terms of fandoms, I hope I’ll write more for Discovery, I’m looking forward to Picard, and I would like to branch out from Trek a bit. More MCU, definitely, and maybe others if I get inspired. The main thing I want out of writing fanfiction at the moment is for it to continue making me happy, though, so I just hope I keep having fun with it.

[dariodanoite]

sting like a beamer | alain & dario

LOCATION: garage babineaux. PARTIES: @carbrakes-and-stakes and @dariodanoite. SUMMARY: dario gets a job from an old...friend?  

Dario was careful to make sure he’d be on time for his meeting with Alain, knowing he really needed to get another job if he wasn’t going to be begging on the streets anytime soon. Sure, he had the tattoo shop, but minimum wage with just one job wasn’t exactly enough to keep him afloat when he’d come back into this world with nothing. Beyond that, though- he was anxious to see Alain again. Would he look the same? Dario himself had grown a few inches while he’d been missing after it was widely assumed his whole family had been murdered, their house burned to the ground. It had Hunters written all over it to the trained eye. Beyond his extra height, he’d filled out a bit more as well, no longer a lanky seventeen-year-old, but a fully grown man. Now, he waltzed into the office of the garage in an attempt to find his old mentor, nostalgia practically smacking him in the face. There hadn’t been all that many places in White Crest filled with strong enough memories to give him any sort of reaction that came close. After all, he’d only lived here for a year before everything went to shit. But he went up to the attendant working the desk, simply saying. “Is Alain here? I had an appointment with him about the mechanic job.” Would Alain even remember him? It’d been thirteen years, and he’d just been a single snobby kid all that time ago. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Alain was almost done repairing yet another windshield when he heard his name told. It was just him and his colleague at the counter and so the garage was almost quiet, which happened rarely enough to be noted. An eyebrow raising, it took him a second to remember the appointment he had with the kid. Alright, maybe it was not a kid, he corrected himself as he took a look at the guy standing in the entrance. “C’est quoi ce bordel,” he had a confused look on his face as he approached him. What was his name again? It had been God knows how many years but he knew he’d seen this guy before. Even if Alain was used to people disappearing, he remembered that when Dario -there was the name- went missing, the whole town talked about it. “Well you haven’t changed one bit,” he looked up at him and held up his hand. “Don’t stay here, come in,” he pointed at the front door, as if to tell his employee to close for lunch break, and walked toward a car which already had the hood opened up.

As Alain came into view, another sharp wave of memories hit Dario. In truth, he hadn’t thought all that much about his time here in White Crest since he’d been back. And perhaps...that had been for good reason. He didn’t need a reminder of all the things he’d lost. Nevertheless, he couldn’t deny that he was happy to see Alain. Someone who’d known him before- certainly it might be validation with the state that he was alive, but...perhaps it was also simply a reminder to Dario that he hadn’t died all those years ago. “You still speaking French when you know damn well know one can understand it?” he asked with the beginnings of a grin, perhaps the first one he’d granted to anyone since being human once more. Relief washed over him. Alain did remember him. “Well- I’m taller. Wish I could say the same for you.” In only moments, it seemed Dario had fallen back into something closer to what he’d been before his days as a jaguar, poking some fun at Alain. But he followed after the other man, eyes looking over the car that was in front of him.

“Je vois pas le problème,” Alain replied, raising an eyebrow. It was common for the mechanic to speak to himself in French as he worked, and he exclusively cursed in French if he happened to pinch his fingers while working on an engine. “You are taller, yes,” he deadpanned as he heard the comment on his own height. Well that was certainly original. “You could have learned new jokes while you were away,” he drily replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “Alright. Can you tell me what’s wrong with this car?” There weren’t many ways to know that, and Alain figured that his first question wouldn’t be too hard. What he was most interested in was to see if he could fix that quickly enough. It wasn’t much work and could be done in less than an hour.

Perhaps in a bit of a teasing and stubborn tone, Dario simply replied, “Dois podem jogar esse jogo.” Alain could have a taste of his own medicine, not that Dario actually minded all that much when the older man babbled in his French. But he’d always enjoyed poking some fun at the mechanic. “My jokes are fine as they are.” The hint of a smile was still on his lips, the rush of having someone even somewhat familiar to talk with still filling him with that grain of excitement. But as Alain asked about the car, he grew more focused, knowing he needed this job. Otherwise- he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t end up sleeping on a street corner someday soon. “Definitely. You want me to just do it, yes? Fix it?” Part of him was itching to get to work, missing the feeling of fixing a car and doing something with his hands.

Lucky for you, I was forced to study latin, and understood mostly everything, Alain thought to himself, closing his eyes in despair. Did he really want this smartass back in his garage? His arms still firmly crossed over his chest, he shook his head as Dario declared that his jokes were good enough for now. Well maybe Alain had a shitty sense of humor then. He had already been told that it was an acquired taste, after all. “Well enough jokes, get to work,” he motioned toward the car with his chin, a stern look on his face. Dario might have been a nice kid, Alain didn’t want a clown in his shop. He had a reputation to maintain and old times’ sake was not going to count in Dario’s application. “Do you really want me to answer this question?” He drily replied, heading to the workbench to pick up his cup of coffee and sitting down on a stool for now. “Maybe you could start by trying to turn the engine on?” You could tell from his tone that he was slightly annoyed.

Perhaps Dario should cool it with his jokes, but he’d simply been so excited to see a familiar face. There weren’t many familiar faces left in his life anymore. He was somewhat surprised Alain didn’t seem phased by him being missing for thirteen years, or his family being murdered and their house being burned but….not entirely shocked that Alain was focused on more important things. That was the past. This was now. At least- that had been the method Dario was trying to employ as for late. “Just making sure, Alain,” Dario said back with more of a relaxed air than he’d had as of late. He was much changed in demeanor from his seventeen-year-old- self, quieter and not nearly as vibrant, but parts of him were still here. Nevertheless, he began the process of diagnosing exactly what was wrong with the car, his hands remembering the process of their own accord.

Alain looked at his former apprentice with a stern look on his face. You could see the fondness in his eyes if you were attentive, but now was not the time for this. He stood up from his stool after a certain time, to get a better look of Dario’s look. If it seemed at moments that it had been a while since he had been around a car, Alain figured that it was due to stress, and whatever backstory that led Dario to disappear for a decade. “Well, I’ll probably have to stay around you when you work for the first week or so,” he said once Dario was done both confirming that he had a job, and telling him that he would have to work hard to keep said job. 

As he finished up, Dario wiped the grease from his hands on a dirty rag as best he could. He’d enjoyed fixing the car, realizing there were some gaps in his knowledge. But hopefully that’d come back soon enough with the rest of the things he’d forgotten. Spending thirteen years as a jaguar did some strange things to the mind, and the memories he found foggiest were the ones that came just before his family’s untimely demise, and the year surrounding it. Apart from those momentary struggles though, he’d loved the feeling of a car underneath his hand once more, the way working on it had taken up most of his mind, not letting him think about some things he’d rather forget. It was a momentary respite. The grin Alain got in response was probably one of the widest he’d felt since turning back to human, mixed with utter relief. Maybe he’d be able to get out of the garage the strange cat lady had let him stay in for now sooner rather than later. “Thank you,” he said, with perhaps more sincerity than he’d ever given to Alain, desperation making him eternally grateful. “You won’t regret it.. And I meant what I said like- online about- paying me in food or something if that’s more legal or now. Or whatever.”

Approaching the car, Alain rubbed at his jawline. He had a look at the boy, or should he say the man’s work, and while it had taken him a bit longer than it should have, it was a job well done. There was no reason that he would not improve if given the chance, and a little push in the right direction. Since Alain had already had plans of taking an apprentice, this would not be much different, and he was certain that Dario would learn a lot more quickly than anyone else. “I would feel terribly uncomfortable paying you in food,” he gave his new mechanic a pat on the arm and asked him to follow him to the register. Putting what would be worth one week of paycheck in an envelope, the hunter handed it over to Dario, without a word. He would have to replace it later with cash he kept at home, but this seemed like a more than ideal solution for now. “We can sign your contract later, when you get your ID back.” The man paused, sighing. “You spoke to the guy I told you about ? Winston?”

It seemed that Dario’s gratitude wouldn’t end as he followed Alain to the register, and he held the envelope the older man had handed him with a slight reverence. He had a job. A way to have some sort of income. Did this mean he wouldn’t have to eat only ramen for every meal? Well- he might still have to. He needed to pay the strange cat lady that had let him live in her garage something in the way of rent, most likely. But either way, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wasn’t rich, but he had a means of surviving. A simple nod was what he gave Alain when it came to contract terms, unable to form words for a moment because of the sheer amount of gratitude coursing through his veins. “Yes- yes he said- something about my immigration papers. Or records. They took my fingerprints so- they might be able to prove I’m me with those. But...really...I don’t know how to thank you, Alain.” It seemed that he’d been humbled from the sarcastic man that had walked in here an hour or so ago. “And I mean it when I said you won’t regret it.”

“Oh ? That’s… that’s pretty good for you,” patting the man on the side of the arm, Alain gave him his brightest smile so far. It was not often that life rewarded kind people, and to see that Dario’s troubles would come to an halt (maybe not an end), soon, was making him feel really happy, right now. “I’m… That’s great,” he repeated. The mechanic had, since the moment he offered Dario to come here, been worried about how this all would end, and to know that maybe this would not end terribly, was a relief. Now time would tell whether Dario would become a proper employee, although he was not worried. Back then, he learned fastly and always showed interest for what he was taught. This would be fine. He had good hopes.

[therealpolyglot-blog]

5 great tips on how to learn a new writing system

Many of the languages that we learn have another writing system, to name some: Russian, Armenian, Hindi, Arabic, Greek, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and so forth. But sometimes we even have to learn some new letters for a variation of the Latin script in another language that uses it. For learning a new writing system you can do various kind of stuff and sometimes you need to try different methods to find one that fits your needs. And I guess not every method will be suitable for every type of writing system out there, because there are differences in writing systems. We can encounter an alphabet, consisting of letters where each segment is written on its own and corresponds to a sound, like the Latin script or in Greek. On the other hand we can also find writing systems that use syllables. These syllables often consists of a vowel that is “bound” to the consonant or a vowel on it’s own (often found with another symbol for a “free” vowel). Languages that use this kind of writing systems are for example, Hindi and Korean. And then there are logographic writing systems where a whole character can be used for a word or a phrase. You can find this system in traditional Chinese characters and in the Kanji of Japanese.

Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels

But let’s get to the fun part now! I’ll show you 5 great tips on how you can learn to write in a new writing system! Yay, isn’t that great?

1. Get used to the writing system

Before you start to learn what each symbol corresponds to, you should learn how the writing system “feels”. What I mean is that you should go and find an article on Wikipedia or a song that you like in your target language. Pick a part of the text, as much as you want to write, and get used to writing in your new writing system. This gives you a feeling for each segment and how they work together.

2. Learn the “symbols”

After getting used to the appearance and “feeling” of the writing system, you should start to learn the symbols, and their corresponding sounds of course as well. You can look for an app, make your own flashcards or write them on a piece of paper and put it on your wall. Whatever works the best for you.

3. Actually write them down

This only applies to those who chose an app as an learning medium and didn’t write anything down as they went along with it. You should not only learn the symbols, you should also know how to write them. Search for writing templates that provide you each symbol to practice it one by one or just plainly write them down in your notebook until you know how to write them. (And stay tuned for something new on our Etsy store, regarding this point!)

4. “Nonsense” words

Before you start to write actual words of the language, start by writing “nonsense” words. These words could be names you know, actually names are not nonsense but I guess you get what I mean, or just words you come up with like: mimi, lalulop, tuztarit, etc. Just try to get used to your own writing “production” and write until you feel comfortable with combining the segments you learnt and with the rules behind it.

5. From beginning on

My last tip is about writing the actual words of your target language. Use it right away, from the beginning on, when you write something in your new target language! The best case for a serious language learner is to tackle the writing system first (also applies for pronunciation)! You will create a good base for any further learning. So my advice for you, again, is to start writing all the new words and phrases in your learnt writing system right away from the start! You will get used to it, even if you need some phonetic transcription at the beginning while you get used to writing and reading it.

I hope I was able to help you with these 5 great tips! And I guess not everyone is into writing system as I am but at least you should try to master its basics so it can be useful on your language journey! Have fun with this approach on how to learn a new writing system and feel free to try new things. Just try them out and tell us about your experiences on Instagram or Twitter. Chrissa

5 buenos consejos para aprender otros sistemas de escritura

Muchos de los idiomas que aprendemos tienen diferentes sistemas de escritura: ruso, armenio, hindi, árabe, griego, mandarín, japonés, coreano y muchos más. Pero a veces incluso tenemos que aprender variaciones del alfabeto Latino que incluyen algunos idiomas. Para aprender un nuevo sistema de escritura puedes hacer varias cosas y a veces tienes que probar diferentes métodos para encontrar uno que se adapte a tus necesidades y a cada idioma. Podemos encontrar un alfabeto que consista de letras individuales en las que cada segmento sea independiente y corresponde a un sonido específico, como el alfabeto latino y el griego. Por otro lado podemos encontrar sistemas que consistan en sílabas, estas tienen lo que conoceríamos como una consonante y una vocal o en ocasiones una vocal sola. Podemos encontrar ejemplos de este sistema en el coreano e hindi. Luego tenemos los logográficos, que identifican una palabra o incluso una frase, podemos encontrar este sistema en el kanji japonés y en el chino tradicional.

Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels

Ahora vamos a la parte divertida. Te voy a enseñar 5 buenos tips para aprender un nuevo sistema de escritura. ¿Estás listo?

1. Acostumbrate a usarlo

Antes de que empieces a aprender a qué corresponde cada símbolo deberías aprender cómo se ve en contexto el sistema. Lo que quiero decir es que busques un artículo en Wikipedia o la letra de una canción. Elige una parte del texto, y copia la escritura a mano, ve acostumbrandote a utilizarlo. Esto te dará una idea de cada segmento y de cómo funcionan juntos.

2. Aprende los símbolos

Después de acostumbrarte a la apariencia y el sentido del sistema, deberías aprender a usar los símbolos y sus sonidos correspondientes. Para esto puedes buscar una app, crear tus propias flashcards o escribirlas en un papel y ponerlo en tu pared. Lo que mejor te funcione.

3. Escribelo

Esto aplica especialmente a los que les gusta aprender con apps y no lo escriben nunca. No solo deberías aprender a reconocer los símbolos sino también a producirlos. Puedes buscar plantillas que te ayuden a escribirlo uno a uno o puedes escribirlos en tu cuaderno hasta que te los aprendas. (Pronto habrá algo especial relacionado a este tema en nuestra tienda de Etsy)

4. Palabras sin sentido

Antes de escribir palabras reales en el idioma que aprendes puedes aprender a escribir palabras sin sentido. simplemente unir sonidos como: mimi, lalulop, tuztarit, etc. O puedes intentar con nombres que sepas y escribir este tipo de cosas hasta que te tengas mas confianza uniendo segmentos aplicando las reglas.

5. Desde el principio

Mi último consejo es que aprendas el idioma usando su sistema desde el primer día. Lo mejor que puedes hacer es enfocarte en el sistema de escritura primero (también aplica para la pronunciación). De esta manera vas a crear una buena base en el idioma que estés aprendiendo. Mi consejo para ti es que escribas las palabras nuevas que aprendas en el sistema correcto. Te acostumbras fácilmente incluso si lo acompañas de una descripción fonética.

¡Espero haberte ayudado con estos 5 consejos! y quizás no a todo el mundo le emocionen tanto los sistemas de escritura como a mi pero si te recomiendo que los aprendas correctamente porque serán sumamente útiles en tu proceso de aprendizaje. Diviértete con estas maneras de aprender y buscas tus propias maneras. Si las pruebas cuentanos como te fue a través de Instagram o Twitter. Chrissa

5 großartige Tipps für das Erlernen eines neuen Schreibsystems

Viele der Sprachen, die wir lernen, haben ein anderes Schreibsystem, um einige zu nennen: Russisch, Armenisch, Hindi, Arabisch, Griechisch, Mandarin, Japanisch, Koreanisch und so weiter. Aber manchmal müssen wir sogar einige neue Buchstaben einer Variante der lateinischen Schrift lernen, die von anderen Sprache verwendet wird. Um eine neues Schreibsystem zu lernen, kannst du verschiedene Sachen machen und manchmal musst du verschiedene Methoden ausprobieren, um die zu finden, die deinen Anforderungen entspricht. Und ich denke nicht jeder Methode wird passend für jedes Schreibsystem da draußen sein, denn es gibt Unterschiede in den Schreibsystemen. Wir können einem Alphabet begegnen, es besteht aus Buchstaben, bei dem jedes Segment einzeln geschrieben wird und einem Ton entspricht, so wie die lateinische Schrift oder in Griechisch. Auf der anderen Seite, können wir auch Schreibsystem finden, die Silben nutzen. Diese Silben bestehen meist aus einem Vokal, die an einen Konsonanten “gebunden” ist oder aus einem alleinstehenden Vokal (oft mit einem anderen Symbol für den “freien” Vokal). Sprachen, die dieses Schreibsystem nutzen, sind z.B. Hindi and Korean. Und dann gibt es logografische Schreibsysteme, bei denen ein ganzer Zeichen für ein Wort oder eine Phrase genutzt werden kann. Du kannst dieses System in traditionellen, chinesischen Zeichen und im Kanji des Japanischen finden.

Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels

Aber lass uns nun zum spaßigen Teil kommen! Ich werde dir 5 großartige Tipps zeigen, damit du lernen kannst in einem neuen Schreibsystem schreiben zu können! Yay, ist das nicht toll?

1. Gewöhne dich an das Schreibsystem

Bevor du beginnst, zu lernen für was jedes Symbol steht, solltest du lernen wie sich das Schreibsystem “anfühlt”. Was ich damit meine, ist, dass du einen Artikel auf Wikipedia finden sollst oder einen Song, der dir in deiner Zielsprache gefällt. Such dir einen Teil des Textes aus, so viel wie du schreiben möchtest, und gewöhne dich daran, in deinem neuen Schreibsystem zu schreiben. Das gibt dir ein Gefühl für jedes Segment und wie sie zusammenarbeiten.

2. Lerne die “Symbole”

Nachdem du dich an die Erscheinung und das “Gefühl” des Schreibsystemes gewöhnt hast, solltest du die Symbole lernen, und ihre zugehörigen Töne natürlich auch. Du kannst nach einer App schauen, deine eigenen Karteikarten erstellen oder sie auf ein Blatt Papier schreiben und an die Wand hängen. Was immer am besten für dich funktioniert.

3. Schreibe sie wirklich aus

Das zählt nur für die, die eine App als Lernmedium benutzt haben und sich nichts notiert haben als sie damit gelernt haben. Du solltest nicht nur die Symbole lernen, du solltest auch wissen, wie man sie schreibt. Suche dir Schreibvorlagen, die dir jedes einzelne Symbol vorgeben, um es zu üben, oder schreibe sie einfach aus in deinem Notizbuch, bis du weißt wie sie geschrieben werden. (Und bleib gespannt auf etwas Neues in unseren Etsy Shop bezüglich dieses Themas!)

4. “Unsinnige” Wörter

Bevor du damit beginnst echte Wörter der Sprache zu schreiben, beginne damit “unsinnige” Wörter zu schreiben. Diese Wörter könnten Namen sein, die du kennst, eigentlich sind Namen kein Unsinn, aber ich denken, du weißt, was ich meine. Oder denke dir einfach Wörter aus, wie: mimi, lalulop, tuztarit, etc. Versuche dich einfach an deine eigene “Schreibproduktion” zu gewöhnen und schreibe so lange, bis du dich daran gewöhnt hast die Segmente zu kombinieren, die du gelernt hast, mit den Regeln, die dahinter stecken.

5. Von Anfang an

Mein letzter Tip handelt über das Schreiben der eigentlichen Wörter deiner Zielsprache. Benutzte es sofort, von Anfang an, wenn du etwas in deiner neuen Zielsprache schreibst! Das Beste für ernsthafte Sprachenlerner, ist es, das Schreibsystem zuerst zu bewältigen (das zählt auch für die Betonung)! Du wirst eine gute Basis für jedes weitere Lernen kreieren. Also, meine Rat an dich, nochmals, ist, dass du beginnen solltest deine Wörter und Sätze von Anfang an in deinem neu erlernten Schreibsystem zu schreiben! Du wirst dich daran gewöhnen, selbst wenn du am Anfang noch die phonetische Transkription brauchst, während du dich daran gewöhnst es zu lesen und zu schreiben.

Ich hoffe ich konnte dir mit diesen 5 großartigen Tipps helfen! Und ich denke, nicht jeder steht so auf Schreibsysteme wie ich, aber du solltest wenigstens versuchen, die Grundlagen zu bewältigen, damit es dir nützlich auf deiner Reise in der Sprache ist! Habe Spaß mit dieser Herangehensweise über das Erlernen eines neuen Schreibsystemes und probiere gerne neue Dinge aus. Teste sie einfach und erzähl uns über deine Erfahrungen auf Instagram oder Twitter. Chrissa

[bloodgulchblog]

The Return by Kevin Grace. Kevin Grace was the franchise manager from ‘09 to ‘18, wrote a ton of terminals, was the lead on Halo Wars 2, and is currently on Halo Infinite, so he is still very much a current Halo dude (unlike most of the people on this anthology.)

That reminds me: I should go read the terminals, because I never did. ANYWAY...

The story is about an unnamed Sangheili shipmaster trekking across the surface of a world he helped kill during the war, looking for a sense of purpose. What’s interesting is that this is set six years after the end of the war, which means it’s 2558. At this point in the development of the Halo canon, I don’t think anyone else had written this far into its future.

You can see how some of these ideas about the post-war state of the Covenant directly fed into later Halo canon where they would be developed in further detail.

The root of the idea behind the Banished is right there. We’d also later see the Sangheili struggling with being on their own technologically in places like Glasslands and Envoy.

Anyway, our boy Unnamed Shipmaster runs across a conflict between Jackal scavengers and humans. He kills the Jackals. One of the humans is dead, the other is badly wounded and will soon be too, so the Shipmaster leaves him. While investigating what they have at this camp, though, he discovers human records of investigating forerunner sites and artifacts, including (excitingly!) an Oracle.

The Shipmaster returns to the dying human and calls to his ship to send medical assistance. He’s going to find out what this human knows.

(It’s not exactly the happiest ending, implying that he’s willing to go to torture, but I like to think it wouldn’t come to that, you know?)

It’s another story that is mostly just okay in the execution, but the place in the lore was fun for me.

This brings us to the end of Halo: Evolutions, besides a little in-universe note about the portal at Voi. (But I’ve also not been commenting on the poetry in here either, so I feel justified in letting it go. I am lazy.)

[jayankles]

Sunny Spain

Pairing: Jensen x Reader

Summary: Jensen decides that his work is getting to much for him to handle so books a spontaneous trip to Spain, where he meets the reader.

Word Count: 2518

Warnings: Reader’s got a shitty past, mostly fluff, porcupine hair!jensen(defo a warning)

A/N-This is my entry for @dancingalone21 Lau’s Summer Escape Challenge - I chose the prompt Barcelona, Spain if you couldn’t already tell by the title. And thank you @salvachester who I can’t freaking tag, for checking my Spanish for me.

It was quite funny actually the green eyed man had been at the bar for at least ten minutes and still no such luck. From afar, you bit your lip, trying to stifle a laugh. He was getting frustrated, that much you could tell.

Getting up from your place on the sandy beach, you dust the sand off your butt and walk over to the bar, where the man was still shouting.

‘Please, I just want a beer! Does no one speak English here?’ Jensen wasn’t pleased.

His holiday abroad was supposed to be calm and relaxing but instead had been a lot more stressful that he anticipated.

Before booking a spontaneous trip, he should make sure that they could speak English or that he could try and learn the basics of the language.

He should really buy and carry around a Spanish to English dictionary.

‘¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás?’

Great, another Spanish speaker that is going to get served before him. Jensen without a beer when he wants one turns his inner voice into one hell of a sassy dude.

The bartender smiles at the woman, at you, and answers, ‘bien gracias, ¿y tú?’

You tilt your head head from side to side, a small smile on your face as you answered that you were fine too.

‘¿Qué estás teniendo?’ The bartender grips hold of the pump closest to him and waits for you to order.

‘Voy a tomar una cerveza para mi amigo inglés y, para mí, un vodka y coca cola.’

‘¿Un simple o doble?

‘Solo por favor’

The conversation between you and the bartender moves swiftly, he places your order in front of you and tells you the total. Handing over the euros, you wait for the change before pocketing it in your shorts.

Smiling, you turn to the English speaking man and hand him the beer that he had been struggling to order himself.

‘Quite a few of us speak English, you know,’ You smirk as you turn to the befuddled man. ‘Stressing yourself isn’t going to help it, dude.’

The tall, dark and handsome man gratefully takes the proffered beer and asks how much he owes you for the beer.

You wave your hand and shake your head, ‘I just want your name, otherwise I am going to keep calling you tall, dark and handsome.’

If it wasn’t already hot, it definitely did turn hotter. He felt it at the tips of his ears and the length of his neck.

Muy caliente, as they would say.

He swallowed a sip of his beer, the redness of his cheeks accelerating as he realised what you had said.

‘Jensen,’ he stuck out his hand, you accepted it gracefully, your dainty fingers wrapping around his larger ones. ‘But I guess you can call me whatever you want. Since I don’t know yours, you wanna do a little name exchange? You know mine but I don’t know yours. I’ll keep calling you beautiful in my head and you can call me tall, dark and handsome. If you didn’t wanna tell me who you are.

Jensen was so cute when he was babbling, he was even cuter when he screwed his mouth shut and scrunched his face together when he realised.

‘Aww, how sweet,’ you gushed, ‘a few minutes into our friendship and we already have nicknames for each other. My name is Y/N, if you must know.’

Jensen’s face turned almost a crimson colour as he blushed but he admired your subtle boldness.

He could instantly tell that you were a kind, warm hearted person and loved have fun; he loved your sassy personality – definitely a cool trait to have when meeting someone on a first meeting.

‘So Jensen, what brings you to sunny Spain? Is it the sun?’ You smirked at him, giving him a flirty wink.

Jensen wrapped his lips around the neck of his bottle and took a pull of the beer that you had so kindly ordered and brought for him.

‘I guess you’re right. The sun was pretty enticing, compared to Vancouver, but I had to get away from work and take a bit of a break. It being overwhelming and all. My work and personal life were merging a little too much and I’m not in the right mindset for that.’ He shook his head, clearing his mind a little before he asked, ‘what about you Y/N? You speak Spanish, are you from here?’

With a lick of his lips, the green eyed god in front of you awaited your response.

You took a seat on the barstool next to him, sipping at your vodka and coke. ‘I only know basic Spanish, enough to get me around. In high school, I decided to study it in my free time. I wanted to go to college and further study it but couldn’t because of my grandpa; he got sick, so we had to pay for the proper medication.’

You took a deep breath, realising that you may have divulged a little too much information but your mouth had a mind of his own.

‘I’m a journalist. I hop around a lot covering what the media thinks is important or not in some cases, writing reviews of places they send me.

‘Sometimes it pays well, depending on where I go but others I’ve had to skrimp and save before I can move on to the next thing.

‘I’ve been here for a while, deciding to take a break like you, and try to get past an incident that happened on my previous job. Nearly got me killed because they didn’t like what I had written and published; the couldn’t handle the truth. A nice older couple took me in, aided me back to health, kept me safe and I owe them my life.’

Jensen hadn’t expected you to reveal such information, he was expecting a short simple sentence or two joined together, along the lines of ‘I’m here on break from being a teacher, the kids are driving me nuts.’

He didn’t look at you with sorrow and despair in his eyes. Although he did hold sympathy for you, he knew that he shouldn’t have been the one to cause you to dive into your past, especially if it was that traumatising, revealing that kind of information to a stranger was bold and daring. He liked being that person that you could trust even if you had known each other for a short amount of time.

‘So now that we’re friends…’ he changed the subject, it was very welcome. ‘You wanna exchange phone numbers? That way you can teach me how to order my own beer.’

You held up your glass and Jensen did the same, clinking your glasses together, ‘to new friendships and ordering a beer in Spanish.’

He repeated the chant and smiled at you, taking another pull of his beer as you sipped at your drink through your straw.

You pulled out your phone and unlocked it, opening up the contact app so Jensen could input his details, while he did the same for you.

Jensen was benevolent and attentive as you continued to chat and banter, throwing out empty threats of pushing the other into the ocean but as you got to know him a little more, there was a playful side to each other that could have meant that those empty threats may not have been so empty.

A few bottles and glasses of alcohol later, the both of you had relaxed immensely, a weight lifted off both of your shoulders, laughing and giggling about everything and nothing. Your inhibitions were definitely no more as you scooted closer to each other, the two of you close enough that could see the golden flecks in his emerald irises.

‘Wow…’ you breathed, a little too close to Jensen. If he had a problem with it, he didn’t say anything and you were damn grateful because it gave you the opportunity to study his face. Freckles, both light and dark, dusting his nose and smattering his cheeks. His eyes flicked over both of yours, going back and forth in a matter of seconds.

‘What’s wow?’  He said, equally as quiet.

You squinted your eyes at him, wondering how he did it, ‘you, Jensen, you’re so goddamn pretty. Your eyes,’ you slurred, ‘they just pop and- and your freckles are so cute and then there’s this little thing you do with- with your tongue when you smile and it’s adorable. Why are you like this? Teach me your ways!’

You grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook them for emphasis.

Jensen let out a full belly laugh, so much so that his body swung back in the seat, almost falling off his bar stool.

At some point in the night, the bartender had cut you off, refusing to serve you any longer when he thought the both of you had reached your limit.

Soon after that, and and Jensen strolled arm in arm along the beach, content to stay in silence and enjoy the sounds of the crashing waves. You grew tired quickly, legs wobbling as your feet dug into the sand, you made sure your companion knew about your tiredness.

‘Jay!’ You whined loudly against his shoulder. ‘Can we stop for a second? My feet are killing me.’

‘Alright beautiful, you can take a rest or I could carry you, your choice sweetheart.’

You didn’t speak with your voice, you let your arms do the talking. You held them out and wrapped them around his neck. Jensen lifted you, his arms wrapped around your back and hooked underneath your knees.

Since his hotel wasn’t that far away, Jensen decided that it was a good idea to carry you the entire way there.

Your fuzzy mind could barely comprehend what was happening until Jensen had stepped out of the elevator and found his room. Putting you down on the ground, keeping an arm around your waist so he could fish out his keycard from his pocket.

Jensen got you into his room without another protest from your fuzzy brain self.

Waking up the next morning, with your eyes still closed, you could barely remember a thing about the previous night. Man, you really had drunk too much last night.

Your head was pounding, big mistake, you were never drinking again – until next time that is. You really didn’t want to open your eyes, well, that was until you felt a weight against the bare skin of your waist.

Your eyes shot open and you scrambled away from the weight, which happened to be attached to a gorgeous man – urgh, what was his name again. Jordan. Jason. Jensen!

‘What?’ The man shot up and you realised you had shouted his name out loud. He was still so adorable, even with ruffled porcupine hair and a dazed and I just woke up look on his face. It was disgusting.

You looked down at your body, squealing a little as you went to grab the sheet to cover your body – only clad in underwear.

‘Why am I in my underwear? We didn’t- did we?’

Jensen chuckled as you almost fell off the bed and questioned whether you got the goods last night.

‘First of all, I wouldn’t take advantage of you or anyone if they’re intoxicated. Secondly, I offered you my clothes and you took them. But as soon as you put them on and got under the covers, you kicked them off – said it was too hot, urgh, I can’t cope. I gotta take these off. They’re so restricting.

‘You took off my clothes and threw them over there.’ He pointed over his shoulder. ‘But I  was already in bed and couldn’t be bothered to get up and put them away. I also brought you here because you refused to tell me where you were staying and you wouldn’t let go of my neck, not even when I set you down outside of my room. It was pretty cute actually. You’re very clingy when your drunk and you tended to touch my face a lot too. When I asked you why, you just said I had a cute face and an ‘A+ jawline.’ Thank you, by the way. Coffee?’

Sitting on the bed, you groaned as he explained your drunk self to your sober self. Way to make a fool out of yourself, now he thinks you are loco. Good job you, extra brownie points on the embarrassment card.

‘Yes please.’

You clasped your head in both of your hands, why did you let your guard down?

Jensen came out, his palm resting on your back as he handed you the coffee he made, ‘you shouldn’t beat yourself up you know. I can take you back to the bar and you can make your way home and I won’t have to know where you live.’

‘Thank you but you’re not like the others, Jensen. I’m not rushing out of here to find the morning after pill because some ass thought it was a good idea to fuck whilst drunk.’

‘That’s okay, I’ll be your night in shining armour anyday.’ He winked. ‘Since you don’t have any spare clothes I got you one of my shirts, a pair of shorts and boxers, you’re welcome to use the shower too and because you don’t know where you are I’m going to treat you to breakfast.’

‘Jensen, you are a dream, like are you even real?’ You whispered daydreaming, if you had a man like Jensen most of your problem’s. Mostly your single life problems but they’re problems, nonetheless.

‘I can assure you that I am real and just as human as you are. I must really like you if I’m sharing my hot water.’

Your face almost split into two as you beamed. ‘I must really like you too because I really wanna kiss you right now.’

Jensen cocked an eyebrow, a cheeky grin growing on his face from where he sat next to you, his hand coming up so his knuckles brushed against your cheek before he cupped it in his large hand. ‘So why don’t you?’

And good god, you were not going to miss out on this opportunity.

You closed the gap between you and Jensen, attaching your lips together. Jensen’s brow furrowed as he deepened the kiss, his lips plump and soft as they slanted against yours.

Smiling against his lips, he pulled away, a little out of breath and pressing his forehead against yours.

‘You have really bad morning breath.’

You shoved at his shoulder, pushing him away as he cackled at you.

‘You’re a jerk.I knew you were too good to be true’ You reprimanded him through pursed lips before you grabbed your clothes that were scattered and the pile of clothes Jensen had stacked on the table next to the bed, heading straight for the shower so you could be treated to a free breakfast. You had a good feeling about Jensen, you were sure you were going to have a great vacation, especially if he was involved.

Lemme know what you think...

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[ac-ars]

The first fan

that’s for birthday girl @theherondaels, once you seemed into this idea and i hope you like it!!!

happy birthday i love you 💘

The first fan

You all may think that Dante Balsano isn't supporting his son, that he despises the music career; so different than the one he planned himself for his first and only child. He actually was really against that, it's very hard to break through in this business. Music career is harder than every career Dante can name and that's why he didn't want Matteo to get into that.

To be working as diplomat is completely different; easy, not really surprising, completely predictable and Matteo has all characteristic to be one.

But he wanted to be a singer, so a singer Dante will let him be.

First song written by Matteo Dante hears quickly after the kid tells him about his future plans. Elena sends him this link to video where Matteo is playing the guitar in this funny skating place he likes to attend daily. The whole situation is super dramatic, just like his son has never showed he could be. It's obvious that he's he's a lovesick puppy, singing about not knowing where he is going and that he should follow his heart, asking if it's not too late.

That's pretty Balsano level of dramatic and Dante has always thought Matteo would be the exception confirming the rule.

He wouldn't admit at this point that he is having the song on replay, because it's very nice, calm song. The girl surely gone for him after that, probably not Smith girl since Matteo growled once something about breaking up with her after Elena asked about the kiss with that brunette girl during competition. Hopefully the girl is nice.

Princesa, as title of video says, is Dante’s favorite song recently and his wife is just smiling widely when she notices he's been humming it most of the girls time.

Matteo, on the other side, stares at him weirdly once he hears him trying the lyrics after dinner, but the disbelief in his look turns in something like happiness and Dante can’t really deny that he needs this song on spotify quickly.

Dante has no idea how it happens, but he goes crazy about next song of his son. Matteo tries the ice and hints something during one of the dinners saying that Roller was classified further in the competition and that Luna liked his song. Elena claps her hands with grin asking about the girl and the song and by Matteo’s face Dante guesses that his son fell hard this time.

Just like he fell for the song, especially since Matteo put Italian there and the oldest Balsano man is honestly a trash for Italy and things Italy connected.

He drives one day home, after dismissing his driver, and guesses he can pick up the kid from this weird Roller place. Matteo seems super confused and lost, but agrees lowkey excited and as soon as the phone call is done, Dante turns the music louder, wondering how it’s possible for his son to make a song like this.

How does one even make music?

It doesn’t really matter, as long as the music sounds like this (and has Italian lyrics).

Matteo gets into the car after throwing his backpack on the backseat and Dante hears him cough at the sound of Alla voy from the speakers. He turns it a little lower, so he can ask his son about classes and his day and all the stuff Matteo cares about, only if he wants to tell him about this.

And yet Dante can’t stop himself from rising his hand, stopping Matteo. “Could you please wait a second? This is my favorite part,” he says and makes the song louder just to hear Italian (!!!), and Matteo seems amused, but nods eventually, waiting for his father to mouth all of the lyrics which he seems to know by heart.

“You like the song?” His son asks later and Dante can only nod, making Matteo grin.

Stranger really fucks him up. Like damn, how did Matteo, his little boy managed to write such a song? Is it real or just a song? Did someone really broke him that? Dante is going to ask, but for now he has this one on repeat since he’s home alone today. Matteo is out on a date with Luna while Elena went to have some fancy garden tea party with her friends. That’s actually great, because as soon as he saw Matteo’s performance on this funny blog some two girls have, he is listening to it without a break and he’s lowkey sure he knows the words completely.

He’s walking around the living room with his tablet and working while the song is almost on full and honestly he’s not able to stop himself from taking steps with the rhythm. If that’s how most of Matteo’s songs will sound, Dante is going to be the first to buy his album and play it to everyone without any chill.

He doesn’t really notice when walking turns into lowkey dancing, and this into rocking the song with loud singing, but he doesn’t care as long as he is home alone. This song is too good to be calm and stable while listening.

When the song is finished, before repeat, Dante hears thump and turns around. In the entrance to living room is standing Matteo with very surprised face. Actually it’s complete shock, his father has never seen before and behind his son is Luna, giggling into his arm. Dante smiles waving at them and turns the starting song off.

“Hello, kids. How are you?” he says, trying to act completely casually, but Matteo is still speechless.

“We’re good, mr Balsano. I see you are having fun.” Luna says, giggling even more, but not feeling any awkward for the first time when she sees him.

“Of course I do.” Dante grins and nods at Matteo. “I’m the first fan, champion.”

[lucyvivesnews]

Instagram live 26.05.17

“I should tell you guys about myself since you clearly have no idea who I am so what’s up? My name is Lucia Vives. I was born in 96 on 11th of January in a city called San German, I’ve always liked philosophy, I’ve always written, I’ve always been a strange kid I don’t know how it’s pretty pretty normal to me. I studied all my life in a sacred heart school in Miami but ended up graduating in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.”

"Debo decirles chicos sobre mí ya que claramente no tienen idea de quién soy, entonces que tal? Mi nombre es Lucia Vives. Nací en el 96 un 11 de enero en el pueblo de San Germán. Desde siempre me ha gustado la filosofía, siempre he escrito, siempre he sido una chica extraña no sé cómo es bastante normal para mí. Estudie toda mi vida en un colegio del sagrado corazón en Miami pero termine graduándome en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico."

“I’m not really sure what I would name this album it’s an EP. I will be honest with you guys, I make the chock and I just improvise over them and then polish a bit so it’s some unfortunately just gonna come as it comes we crossed the bridge when we come to it. We’re gonna be bouncing genres a little bit which is fun, I can’t descriminate on a genre I love music my whole live it’s kind of kept me from making music but hey man the world needs it right a point in I think global politics where it’s selfish for me to keep these frequencies to myself. It’s important to share with you guys. It’s what I got so I’m gonna give you guys all of it my writing, my music, myself, my art. So thats the best kind of way I can fight whatever war this fucking is. Am i going to release it officially? I’m not really a lot to say that until it’s like extremely officiall. Probably will be on itunes, probably will be on Spotify but It will be on soundcloud I think it’s important for people that want to access my music and can’t pay for it. This isn’t about the money, it’s alright”

"No estoy muy segura de que nombre le pondré a este álbum es un EP, supongo. Voy a ser honesta con ustedes, hago la pista y sólo improvisó sobre ellos y luego puló un poco, vamos a estar probando géneros un poco lo que es divertido no puedo describir en un género, me gusta la música, mi vida entera me mantuvo de hacer música. Es importante compartir con ustedes. Es lo que conseguí, así que voy a darles todo esto mi escritura, mi música, yo misma, mi arte. Así que esa es la mejor manera de poder luchar contra cualquier guerra que sea esta. ¿Voy a lanzarlo oficialmente? No soy de decir mucho hasta que sea oficial. Probablemente estará en itunes, probablemente estará en Spotify, pero va a estar en soundcloud creo que es importante para la gente que quiere acceder a mi música y no puede pagar. Esto no es sobre el dinero, está bien "

“My book is the first thing i’ve been working on that before i started working on the music, I thought the book would take shorter time but i was wrong because one book turned to two books turned to three books. The first book is called “Lies i tell myself”

“Mi libro es lo primero en lo que he estado trabajando antes de empezar ha trabajar en la música. Pensé que el libro tomaría menos tiempo pero me equivoqué, porque un libro se convirtió en dos libros y luego en tres libros. El primer libro se llama “Mentiras que digo a mi misma”

“I just always want my music and my book to do what art does do, what music does and it’s be honest and represent not just me but my time, my experience, my feelings, my emotions. I want you to read that and I want it to be my voice speaking throughout so it’s a story I get to tell you. It’s something we can go through together and share i think it’s intimate as fuck and music is something I think a little bit further than that if not exactly the same it does take a lot of dedication and actual respect for whoever the autor was to read an entire book start to finish I think that’s a beautiful thing so even if one person reads that’s more tan enough for me. Music is a whole another thing I get to do my best to transmit my vibe to you guys from far away in all sorts of frequencies which is especial”

“Siempre quise que mi música y mi libro hagan lo que el arte hace, y es ser honesto y representar no solo a mí si no a mi tiempo, mi experiencia, mis sentimientos, mis emociones. Quiero que tú leas eso y quiero que sea mi voz hablando a través, entonces será una historia que tengo que contarles. Es algo en lo que podemos ir juntos y compartir, creo que es muy íntimo. La música es algo que va mas allá, toma mucho tiempo de dedicación y respeto por quien sea el autor. Hago lo mejor en transmitir mi vibra con ustedes desde tan lejos en todas las formas de frecuencias lo cual es especial”