#this took forever and a day i'm so sorry

[lulu-draws-stuff]

How does that sound?

[doctornilaybailey]

Nothing could properly describe how proud and in awe she was of him for pulling all of this off so effortlessly. Nilay was a bit of a perfectionist herself: she needed as much time as possible to get every single little thing down to a perfect T for any event she was throwing together. She believed that she had, in a way, inherited that trait from Richard and Jasmine. Now, if only she gained their public speaking skills as well. Of course, she was capable of it. There has been numerous times in which she's had to give a speech and has even performed on stage in multiple productions. She knew that she could do this. But... There was a part of her that was nervous about somehow ruining this. That wanted to make Saul proud. The man has come to mean so much to her, and it was all so nerve wracking. She laughed slightly, though perhaps mainly awkwardly, at his words. "I... I am," she admitted. "But... I'm worried that I'll mix my words up or say something that I don't mean... I'm worried of embarrassing you. Especially after all your hard work for this. I really wanted to make you proud."

📜@saulweissberg

“you can say that again, kid.” the past two weeks had somehow felt like an eternity and a blink of the eye simultaneously, and he had been incredibly stressed by the undertaking. fortunately, like any lawyer, he thrived under pressure, and saul had learned at a young age how to get what he wanted. the luncheon was slapdash, but—at least in his opinion—no one would be able to tell. the power of persuasion and perseverance prevailed! however, he never wanted to put together an event like this in such a short span of time ever again. or maybe he did, saul wouldn’t be able to think about that for at least another week. if it wasn’t for his caseload, he’d probably take a long vacation just to sleep. when nilay hesitated, saul glanced down and gave her another soft squeeze into his side. “are you sure? heller and fatima were expecting you to warm up the crowd for them.” he teased lightly, then grew serious. “are you feeling up to it? i won’t make you speak if you don’t want to, or maybe i can go on for you.”

@doctornilaybailey

[g1rlr0b1n]

Just the concept of Jon and Damian beings childhood best friends to lovers beings me to tears cus like they've known each other since they were kids, they've grown up together, been through so much together, seen each other change as people, have disagreements, know what they like and dislike about each other, and even if they get under each other's skin sometimes they still choose to stuck with each other cus that's unconditional love right there.

Being able to be in love with your best friend is the best thing and that's what they have. Cus even if they are together romantically they're also still best friends at the end of the day and I think that's so beautiful 😭

me too anon, me too 😭💖

[fleetsonourgecentral]

hii not sure if this blog is active still but since its the 23rd, that means scourge finally gets the birthday he deserves in the fleetway universe.

OH SHIT HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY TO THE BASTARD MAN HIMSELF

~~~

"Scourge."

"Mmn."

"Scourge."

"Mmn."

"Scourge."

"Can't you take a hint?" Scourge hissed, swatting at the finger insistently poking him in the head. "'M sleeping. Go away."

"Absolutely not," Sonic snorted, evidently giving up on poking Scourge awake and upgrading to physically shaking him. "If I let you sleep in, you'll just be bitching later."

"When have I ever bitched about sleeping in?"

"Repeatedly. Get up before I push you out of bed."

It wasn't an empty threat, and Scourge knew it. The knowledge, however, did not stop him from burying his head under the pillow and groaning long and low. "Fuck off and let me dream about setting Tekno's experiments on fire."

It was disappointing, but not surprising, when instead of heeding Scourge's command, Sonic yanked him out of bed by his ankles, letting him crack his head on the cold, unforgiving floor.

"Son of a bitch!" Scourge twisted in Sonic's grip, pulling his poor ankles free. He glared up at Sonic, who looked down at him with his arms folded, customary smug smirk on his face. It was sorely tempting to kiss that stupid smirk away, but that would require getting up, and Scourge was seriously considering pulling the blankets off the bed and curling up on the floor and going back to sleep out of sheer spite. "What was that for?"

"Get up and you'll find out," Sonic said, nudging him with his foot. "It'll be worth it, I promise."

"How about you get up and find out a new place to sleep tonight," Scourge grumbled, reluctantly hauling himself to his feet. "Won't even let me sleep in peace when there's no new missions you need me for... don't get in the bed if you want to be up at the asscrack of dawn."

"This is my room," Sonic said, linking his arm in Scourge's before Scourge could contemplate throwing himself back under the bed-sheets. "If it bothered you that much, you would go crawling back to your own room."

"Maybe I will."

"Sure you will."

"You think I won't?"

"Prove me wrong tonight if you want to, but you're not going back to bed today. After all the bitching you did about the birthday chair on my birthday, I'm not going to let you sleep your birthday away and give you the chance to bitch about not getting the chair."

"Some boyfriend you are, not letting me sleep in on my..." he trailed off, half-asleep brain finally registering Sonic's words. "Birthday?"

"Yes," Sonic said, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Birthday."

That couldn't be right. His birthday wasn't until...

Scourge frantically tried to remember the date, and when his memory failed him, he snuck a glance at the calendar.

Huh. Well, fuck him sideways, look at that. It was his birthday.

Scourge... had honestly forgotten all about that.

It wasn't his fault! It was this stupid dimension and their backwards way of writing dates. The weirdos wrote the day before the month, like maniacs, instead of putting the month first like a normal person. That little difference had tripped him up more times than he cared to admit, and he'd lost count of the amount of times the mix-up had gotten him into trouble. His recent tactic was to just leave all the date stuff to everyone else, and while he had gotten better at remembering their weird system, it still didn't come to him automatically. It was one thing to know, logically, what month it was, and another thing entirely to look at the date and associate the unfamiliar order with the month they were in. So he hadn't been paying much attention to the date, and the reminder of his birthday just sort of... slipped by him.

Apparently, though, it did not slip by Sonic. He remembered. Although Scourge couldn't remember ever telling him when his birthday was, so how Sonic knew was beyond him.

"It's my birthday, and you're still making me get up at ass o'clock in the morning?" Scourge complained, shoving down the warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest as he snatched his glasses from the nightstand. It was a familiar feeling by now, and it didn't bother him as much as it once did, but it was way too early for anyone to see him feeling sappy feelings.

"Oh please, it's only nine o'clock," Sonic snorted, dragging him out of the room. "Nowhere near the asscrack of dawn. Quit your bitching."

"I think I should get to sleep in as long as I want on my birthday. Don't I get any birthday privileges? What kind of fucked up dimension is this?"

"Your birthday privileges are the birthday chair. Move your ass, or you won't get any of the presents you were bitching about missing out on on my birthday."

Presents? Well, that was a motivator, Scourge couldn't lie. He dragged his feet for a few more seconds, just to prove a point, just so Sonic wouldn't win, but with lingering sleep slowly losing its grip on him, eagerness took its place, and he couldn't stop himself from picking up the pace a little. Sonic, like the dickhead he was, noticed immediately, and that stupid knowing smirk returned, and fuck, Scourge really needed to kiss it off his face. He'd do that. Later. Pencil it in to his to-do list. He'd get around to it right after he opened his presents.

Downstairs, the rest of the Freedom Fighters bustled about, the same way they had done for Sonic's birthday. Just like before, there were no cheesy banners (thank fuck for that) and the old ratty armchair had once again been dragged out of storage. The hand-made banners from last time were nowhere to be seen, but that was expected; those were banners for Sonic, after all, and Scourge didn't want banners about Sonic Day hanging from the walls on his birthday anyway. Overall, there weren't as many decorations as Sonic had, and the ones that were in the process of being hung up were boring and generic, but as most of those decorations from last time mentioned Sonic specifically, Scourge wasn't too upset about it. There was a green cushion on the armchair, though, which wasn't there last time, and Scourge took his rightful place on his throne for the day with smug satisfaction coiling in his chest. It wasn't much, but the cushion was so clearly bought with him in mind. It was for him and him alone, and it did wonders for his ego. No wonder Sonic was so pleased with himself while sitting on the armchair on his birthday.

"Scourge!" Amy appeared seemingly out of nowhere, beaming at him with a bright smile Scourge still wasn't used to. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." Scourge leaned back in the armchair, crossing his legs and doing his best to shove away the bubbling discomfort. Amy didn't need to know he still wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to such genuine... genuineness. If she knew, she'd probably do it more, under some kind of excuse like helping him get used to it, which was such bullshit; Scourge knew her well enough by now to know she liked messing with people, and liked messing with people by being nice to them even more. The only reason she'd stopped telling people she was Sonic's girlfriend was because Scourge bragged about dating Sonic too much for anyone to believe it; apparently not even dating Tekno was enough to get her to stop, because Tekno found it funny and encouraged her to do it more. If anything united the Freedom Fighters outside of, well, fighting for freedom, it was opportunities to screw with Sonic.

Speaking of Tekno, she also fluttered in and out with presents clutched in her arms, parroting another "happy birthday" in his direction, although thankfully she was gone almost as soon as she said it, so he didn't need to reply. Even Tails waved at him as he flew in with a few more decorations.

"Sonic, can you-"

"Yeah, yeah, already on it," Sonic interrupted Amy, dashing into the other room after Tekno to help. Scourge peeked through the doorway after him; from what he could see, the pile of presents was nowhere near the size of Sonic's pile on his birthday, but he guessed that was to be expected. Sonic was the Hero of Mobius, receiving presents from grateful citizens in every Zone they entered, including a few sent over from the Special Zone, and Scourge had no interest in being viewed as a hero by anyone. No one had the same sense of gratitude towards him as they did towards Sonic.

An envelope and present landed on his lap before he had the chance to feel anything about that.

"From Ebony," Amy said quietly as she passed, like a secret. "And... well, the rest of them, too, I guess."

Raising an eyebrow, Scourge ripped open the wrapping paper on the present; Sonic had waited until all his presents were brought into a pile at his feet, but considering who this was from, Scourge figured he'd be forgiven for opening this one early. It was nothing special - a simple mug, Scourge couldn't tell if it was hand-made or store bought - but it was honestly more than he was expecting. It would be good to put his hot chocolate in, if nothing else, since he broke his last designated mug and hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet.

Setting the mug aside out of sight, he ripped open the envelope next. A cheesy birthday card greeted him - gross - but when he opened it, he was greeted with a glorious sight: money. Score.

He almost didn't bother reading the words on the card, but he was feeling gracious, so he skimmed them. Ebony's neat, cursive handwriting greeted him: thank you for all you've done for us. From Ebony, Pyjamas, and Super - The Groovy Train

Ew, sappy shit. Scoffing, Scourge tossed the card aside with the mug, ignoring whatever weird feeling was happening in his chest. He didn't even know why they'd bothered to send him anything; he didn't even like them that much, he only showed up to babysit Super if Ebony promised to pay him. But hey, if it meant he got birthday money out of it, he wasn't going to to question it too much.

Folding his arms, Scourge watched Tails and Amy hang the rest of the decorations. Someone managed to get their hands on some balloons, which they'd scribbled "yearly survival day" on in marker. And - oh boy - they'd found some banners to hang up after all. Amy was balancing on a ladder holding one end, while Tails grabbed the other, flying up to stretch the banner out-

Oh.

That... that was a hand-made banner. Not one of Sonic's, and not a generic or cheesy one, either.

Thanks for bullying Sonic, it read, with a bunch of names scribbled underneath. Signatures. Signatures of people he knew, people he was... friends... with. Front and center, proud, not tucked away at the back where they'd be out of sight.

Scourge stared at it. It was objectively ugly, an eyesore if he'd ever seen one, clearly made with limited resources, and the letters smushed together at the end where they'd clearly started to run out of room when they were writing. It was messy, far from perfect, nothing lavish or fancy. In all his life, he'd never had a birthday banner as ugly as this.

A pesky lump formed in Scourge's throat. He swallowed it down. At least his eyes were dry, and if that changed, his tinted glasses would hopefully hide that.

And oh fuck, there was Sonic suddenly standing before him, arms full of presents, glancing at the banner before meeting Scourge's eyes with that stupid, stupid, smug and knowing smirk.

Fuck it. He wasn't waiting. He was moving this task to the top of his to-do list.

Sonic barely had time to drop the presents onto the meager pile before Scourge seized him by the arms, dragged him in, and finally kissed that smirk off his face.

His triumphant plan promptly failed, for although Sonic couldn't smirk, his smugness was apparent in his kiss, instead. Asshole.

"Worth getting up for, huh?" Sonic said when they broke apart. "Was I right, or was I right?"

"Eh, I've had better," Scourge lied, pulling Sonic onto his lap. Turnabout was fair play, after all.

"I've got something planned for later," Sonic promised, looping an arm around Scourge's neck without his customary complaining. "Bring your spray can, we're going vandalizing."

... Fuck, Sonic knew him too well. Damn it, Scourge loved him. It was actually unfair how much he loved him. He'd say there should be a law against it, but... well, Scourge wasn't exactly famous for giving a flying fuck about the law.

"You'd better treat me to dinner after," Scourge said, instead of saying any of that sappy shit.

"You'll get burgers or hotdogs from the first stand we see and that's it."

"Cheapskate."

"You'll get over it."

It wasn't lavish, or extravagant, or over the top, or any of the flashy, fancy things he was sure he'd get when he became the King of Moebius. And it was still too damn early, and he would've still liked a lie-in. But the hand-made banner was for him, and was signed, and Sonic wasn't even complaining about being in his lap, so... it would do.

It would do just fine.

[mugentakeda]

WELL. I had an anon that was kindly asking me background info on my oc jiro and whatever he had going on with lu ten. I had the Fawking response all done and had it saved as a draft right. and i just needed to switch it to post but tumblr Wouldnt Let Me (it was saying something "went wrong" idfk) so I deleted the draft and was gonna try posting it again thinking the ask would reappear in my inbox but it DIDNT it just deleted the whole ask along with the draft :((( so i'm just gonna post it all here anyway and hope that the anon sees it fhkdndncmxbc,dndkzhnx

-basic stuff: 27 (<-when he meets lu ten), nonbender (<-doesnt need bending lol)

-finest jewelry maker in the fire nation. he also does metal art like embossing and figures and shit. he collaborates closely with famous potters and tailors in the FN to make stuff for the royal family and their special occasions (like holiday and celebration banquet jewelry and bedazzled outfits and shit). he also works with fire nation theaters, to help with their costumes for their more pricey productions. he's made MANY crowns for the royal family as well.

-oldest of 3 brothers. the business he owns was passed down in the family thru generations. jiro inherited (usurped?) it when he was 23, after he beat his father to death for smacking their mother around. their mother lives with the middle brother and his family on one of the outer FN islands. the youngest is estranged and started his own (less successful) business out of jealousy towards jiro.

-neutral on the war in the same way june the bounty hunter is- money is money to him. and when I say neutral I mean neutral. he obviously doesn't get clients or customers from other nations due to the war but if he did then he'd be more than happy to serve them. but his business still wouldn't be affected no matter the outcome of the war because even without international clients his wallet is thick, so he doesn't really care what the outcome ends up being. he believes a true businessman goes wherever the wind takes him and is good at adapting. not a "stuck in his ways" type of guy. the royal family is his top priority client obviously, but it's simply because they pay the most for the finest pieces. it's not out of any kind of loyalty or patriotism.

-jiro likes material things and having money, but he's genuinely super passionate about his craft and the arts in general. he does a lot of other crimes (<- lol) but counterfeiting isn't one of them. all his products and art are genuine, handcrafted, made to detail. he's probably kinda disgusted by the idea of counterfeit and scamming because he genuinely looks forward to the reaction of his clients when they receive what they paid for. he does the act of service, he gets the praise and the money, he's a happy camper.

-despite all of the above, his demeanor is the definition of greasy and sleazy- but he also can be genuinely suave when he wants. he'll charm the pants off your granny. but not sleazy in the same way zhao is, though (cus zhao is no real charmer lol). cus zhao is high in the navy so he's Very stuck up, and he's also an otl (<-???) ass-kisser. he's a slimy douchebag, but still one that adamantly adheres to and enforces fire nation law. he's a guy that has goals and will do anything to get there. meanwhile jiro, you look at him and you know he does criminal shit. he just gives the danger vibe, and he flaunts it with confidence. and you must reach at least level 4 friend to unlock the gentlemanly, white-knight-syndrome side of jiro.

-what jiro DOES do for criminal activity is that as he has most of all the fire nation nobility and high court (along with the Literal royal family) in his pocket. he has eyes and ears in a LOTTTT of people's business. sensitive business. criminal business. blackmail on top of blackmail. he's only loyal to people he personally gives a shit about, and whatever the people he cares about gives a shit about. he's got the love in his heart to make those extensions because he really is thoughtful in nature. but anything outside of that is not his problem so yes he WILL sell your ass out. the most dependable man in the world if he loves you, but the most venomous, backstabbing scorpion-viper if he doesn't care about you.

-and he doesn't hire goons- the business and its dealings are done all by him, and him alone. so if you air out his business or try to fuck with him, he will show up in your house alone and kill you in the next 24 hours i PROMISE you. preferred form of doing so is beating to death. and them is workers arms baby so you aren't getting out of it alive!!! jiro isn't very tall but he is strong as FUCK. and because of the fact that he knows everybody's dirty laundry he gets away with all of it lol. jiro is not afraid of jackkkkk SHIT (<- which is why he's very dependable if he loves you. he's unflinching and dedicated)

-as for him and lu ten: he and lu ten met by chance (they quite literally ran into each other in the palace and toppled over each other), and ended up being twin flames. lu ten's like the orange cat to jiro's black cat. they balanced each other out and jiro was exactly what lu ten needed at the perfect time. their first date or whatever (Doing An Activity Together) was having lunch and tea together in the palace gardens, and it kinda spurred from there. they spent time together like an old retired couple basically lol??? lunches, dinners, long walks from evening to night, doing their tasks in silence but they're next to each other so it's fun (<-parallel play for adults), sitting on benches for hours and just talking and bird watching. two people with tough jobs, so they sometimes forget to stop and smell the roses, but they reserve time for each other so they can stop and smell the roses together.

-it isn't ALWAYS them acting like a retired old couple though cus like I said jiro is a sleaze bag and a flirt. azula was the only one that really noticed and she was very disgusted by them and would constantly swear lu ten has a thing for losers. but then again she'd claim any person lu ten messes with to be a gross loser so there's that

-as soon as they got close to tension hitting a boiling point the siege situation rolled around (<-AVERAGE COCKBLOCKER IROH MOMENT) and lu ten obviously didn't come back. and jiro never let go of it because of all the "what ifs" and how there was something there that was mutual but it never became official or was put into words. so there's more regret rather than bitterness about lu ten's absence in jiro's life. like "right person, wrong time" trope??? but this is the dai li au so they'll be fine eventually lol

-after lu ten died and ozai took over, jiro was silently cut off from the royal family. ozai didn't directly order that or anything but he didn't commission or hire jiro for anything the way azulon always did. jiro also quietly removed himself from the whole political ring and just focused on his work. didn't have a reason to stop and smell the roses anymore, but the work never quits and the world didn't stop turning

-once azula got old enough to be let loose into the playing field, she hired jiro under the table due to her knowing how close he'd been with lu ten (which makes him someone she felt that she could trust), and he got put back into the political game (<- to everyone elses dismay). since her first rodeo was outside of the fire nation, he became her eyes and ears back home.

-and he wasn't forced by her or intimidated by her- he was brought back to life by finally having a real reason to get back in action again. at first, azula being the kid lu ten personally took care of for the first little portion of her life (<-which is a secret jiro knows from lu ten. azula doesn't know about that, and it's gonna stay that way. it's more to be a driving force for jiro. cus jiro has a "whats yours is mine" mindset when he loves someone. so what lu ten loved, jiro also loves. so whatever azula wants from jiro, jiro will provide it to her.) was what made being her guy so easy, but he ends up taking a genuinely liking to the crazy kid. he feels like they get along pretty well cus they're like-minded when it comes to their methods

[imeriayapping]

Hi bestie, hope you are doing fine. <3 you are one of my favorites here btw, just wanted to let you know this before continuing. <3

About the last thing you posted, I wanted to write you something because you said you hope at least one person writes to you.

I, myself, usually write out of necessity, I have to write only because of my degree, and loscar being my favorites, are always the characters I use to work with words. The concept is usually similar. I have some kind of a fixation I can't get rid of. Maybe I'm not satisfied with something? I don't know.

For some reason, whenever I write about them, one of them is not present and sometimes it's vague whats the reason behind it. In addition, another frequently used symbol in my writings is usually some kind of a garden that comes with them. A kind of symbolism for their love or their absence. An overgrown garden is usually used to symbolize the absence of one of 'em, and a beautiful lush garden reflecting the light in a beautiful way is usually a symbol of their good, or better days when they were together, in love, and happy.

You can use all the above and some kind of a supernatural or paranormal thing. Make one of the characters into a ghost or maybe let it be realistic and make one of them solely an idea that the other one has in mind. A product of their imagination or madness.

I didn't have any idea, and I thought maybe writing this to you; gives you some kind of a picture? Even if at last you don't like it and forget about it, at least, I've tried. I'm not really good with giving ideas or words, so an imagery was all I could give. Hope it helps one way or another. :>

With love, a friend. <3

Omg first of all skndkskdkslskfk thank you soooo much for this ask!!!! I'm very honoured to be one of your favourites (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)♡

Second of all i really like your idea so here something that my brain generated when i read it, hope you like it :p it won't be finished or anything but still something

It always was there, as long as he could remember there was a door that lead to a garden. It wasn't magical itself (at leat it didn't show anything to logan) but it's just always appeared behind any door if he thought about it enough. Garden was beautiful but always only for him to see, logan could never find it when he wasn't alone. The incident when he was six and tried to show it to Dalton but without any luck for twenty minutes before giving up and being teased about "imaginary garden" was enough.

One of the first times Logan gone there he broken a few branches and stomped few flowers, it wasn't out of cruelty but more of childish need to destroy sometimes. But after that only thing he was answered with was quiet gust of wind that made plants sing. It shouldn't have gotten any reaction from him probably but still, Logan was momentarily flooded with shame because of his actions, a gentle voice in his head reminding him to treat everyone around with kindness while broken wood shined under the sun as to remind him of what he did. Logan flew out of the door right after and didn't try to summon garden back for a few weeks.

Afterwards he got into a habit of helping the garden any time he visited, maybe picking up few leafs or watering flowers with hose that always was somewhere around. Besides that he just hang out there as before, sometimes running wild or just napping under trees.

Time was moving the same for outside world and here so for most part Logan only had bit's and pieces of time to spend there before his family would start to worry.

As his life progressed there always were three constants - racing, garden and oscar.

After moving to Europe it was pretty nice mix to keep him grounded, a passion of his life, a place ha can feel at home that will always be there for him, and only person that would be his friend no matter what distance is between them.

Meeting oscar probably one of the best parts of moving, part of the reason not to give up. Their friendship wasn't one to fall apart from distance of being in different series (tested in Logan's first year in f3) and by the time they got to f1 the bond is stronger than ever.

It makes Logan wish sometimes to show his garden to oscar but at that point garden became his place of solitude, his always sunny runaway spot. Even if he knew he wasn't there alone, Logan saw that sometimes pots were moved around or leafs that he put off cleaning weren't there when he came back. Maybe it's garden being actually magical, maybe someone actually come there but they never bothered him so he figured thay couldn't be too bad.

So he continued opening closest door whenever things became too much and sticking close to oscar, two simple truths of his life.

Until one day after oscar being so sweet to him and logan wanting to repay to that he broke his promise of not breaking anything in the garden. Well technically he didn't break, just carefully cut off a few flowers that he doesn't remember planting, to make a small bouquet for oscar. But it was fine wasn't it? He always could just put some new there and it's not like there was someone to mind.

Or so logan thought before he saw frown settle onto Oscar's face just few minutes after he received flowers, his initial smile melting away longer he looked at bouquet. This reaction made Logan anxiously ask if everything was alright but he was quickly reassured that nothing is wrong and oscar even going as far as to kiss him on a cheek, leaving him dizzy while oscar retreated back to McLaren.

Logan tried not to think too much of this interaction because he's pretty sure it would just drive him mad. So he hides this memory in furthest corners of his mind till he gets back to garden hoping to water some greenery and maybe even plant a flower that he was eyeing for a while.

It all came to halt when he was walking past flower bed that contained flowers that he cut off before. There was a McLaren cap hanging on one of the strongest stems that were left there as a result of his bouquet preparations. When he picked it up there was a little note with "these were mine >:(" that in pairing with cap left no room to imagine who other person in the garden was

"Fuck"

[queenofbaws]

There's been a drought of non-poly Chrashley-focused content for quite a while now (apart from the occasional story on Ao3), and I'm starved for ANYTHING featuring the nerds and their schmaltzy escapades. I've considered remedying this situation by making my own food (read: trying to write my own fanfiction), but I fear I wouldn't do the characters justice. You've proven to be a talented author from what I've read of your works, so would you be willing to write a soft, sweet snippet in my stead?

catch me catching up on some not-quite-six sentence sat(or)sunday!

"So...is it that you think glaring it down is somehow going to magically make it safer, or...?" He couldn't mark it down as a full victory, not with the way her mouth was twisted up like that, but there was juuust enough laughter in her eyes for Chris to pat himself on the back. Not that he ever needed much of an excuse to do that.

After another moment of heavy, heavy consideration, Ashley sighed, then groaned, then forced herself to take a single lurching step over the threshold and into the cable car. She mumbled something as she shrugged her bag off and plunked it down on the same bench where he'd ditched his, and while he couldn't make most of it out, he for sure caught "death trap" and "tin can" thrown around in there.

"That'd be a 'yes' on the glaring question, then?" he teased, pretending not to follow her with his eyes as she sat beside him. She folded her arms and sighed again, and he nudged her shoulder with his own. "Think about it this way," he tried instead, "maybe it's Peter Pan rules - if you believe we're going to drop about a million feet and plunge to our icy deaths, then we will, and if you don't, we won't!"

"Chris! Oh my God." Ashley dropped her head into her hands, laughing tensely. Very, very tensely. "Do you seriously think that's helping?"

"Nah. I just didn't want to go full bad movie cliche and say, y'know...c'mon, Ash, what's the worst that could happen?"

The cable car's door clicked shut, the mechanism began to hum, and Ashley's laughter took on a desperate note. "Oooh but you said it anywayyy!"

She scooted another few inches away from the window, and just like that they were flush against each other, her arm pressing into his...from between, like, twelve layers of jacket, anyway. They hadn't even chugged a single inch up the mountain yet and whoop, yeah, uh huh, now Chris was all aboard the Anxiety Express too, his ticket paid for, processed, and punched in not by heights or the decidedly out-of-date maintenance sticker on the back window but Ashley herself. As was so often the case.

What was his move here? Did he have a move here? And, maybe more importantly, since when did he think about his life in terms of moves?

Okay, that last one was actually easy enough to answer: Since he'd hung up with Josh all of three minutes ago. It had been a thirty second call, if that, just enough to let him know they were heading up and he should expect them at the summit's station in the next ten minutes or so...but in true Josh fashion, he'd managed to pack that thirty seconds with as much psychic damage as humanly possible.

"Hope you two have a nice ride up," he'd said cheerfully enough, which had tripped at least five different warning alarms in Chris's brain. "See the sights, revel in the atmosphere, engage in a much-needed heart-to-heart...you know, just...really enjoy each other's company."

Good ol' Josh. Always knowing the exact thing to say to leave a guy completely unarmed.

Armed! Was that the answer? He could, in theory, sort of stretch his arm around her shoulders. People did that, didn't they? If someone they were with was freaked out? It...it didn't have to be seen as a romantic gesture, not if all he was doing was comforting her, but...but would she see it like that?

The cable car crept a foot off the ground, two, three, four, five...and right as they crested the roof of the station, it...well, it stopped. Completely.

"What's going on?" All it took was the cable car rocking once as it came to a halt and Ashley was on him, her face buried in the fur lining of his parka and her arms wrapped so tightly around his middle he could feel her fingers knotting at his side, Princess and the Pea style. "I can't look! How high up are we? I - wait, no, I don't want to know! Don't tell me!"

"I...we're like seven feet up, Ash. Like, maybe eight. Nine?"

"Make up your miiiiiiiind!" she groaned into his coat, her shoulders shaking as he did, in fact, scrounge up courage enough to wrap his arm around them. "I knew this was a bad idea...God, I hate these stupid things!"

"They've never stalled like this before. It's probably just, uh, a glitch or something. The system needs to warm up a little bit." He tried to sound confident as he said it, even as he glanced out the window and started running the numbers in his head. Could they jump out if they needed to? Maybe. It'd probably hurt, though, and he was prone to getting hurt on leisurely walks around the block, to say nothing of sick, snowy stunts. Plus, it'd taken a hell of a lot of convincing to get Ashley into the cable car in the first place; convincing her out of it...

"Yeah," she agreed, poking her head out from his coat only long enough to shoot a worried glance out the window on her side, "they've never stalled like this before, that's the problem, Chris! Maybe this is it! This is the time they break down for good! We're going to be stuck up here and - "

Before she could get another word out, the lights in the car flickered. And dimmed.

They turned to each other, eyes wide as panic began to really set in, and...and then...wait.

Now wait one fucking second.

The car suddenly filled with music. Music of the low and slow variety, that was, music the likes of which you only ever heard during the swelling denouement of a cheesy Hallmark romance movie, and Jesus Christ, he was going to kill Josh when they got to the summit. If they got to the summit.

Chris's head fell back against the glass panel behind him with a dull thunk. He squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they went. "Well," he said, feeling his adrenaline begin to flag, "looks like someone installed speakers in this bad boy since our last visit."

"Oh my God. Oh my...God." Beside him, Ashley slumped. Up until that moment, she'd been a spring wound tight against his side; now she felt more like a ragdoll folded up under his arm, her heartbeat still frantic enough that he could feel it through their layers upon layers of winterwear.

A moment later the cable car chugged back to life, rising up, up, up into the sky and towards the lodge, its lights low and its jams smooth. Chris waited for the moment Ashley straightened again, prepared himself for their inevitable separation...and even as the lights of the summit slowly came into view, it did not come.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Ashley asked after awhile, her arms still tight around him, her head still nestled in his parka's lining. "Just had to go and jinx us, huh?"

It took him a second, but when it clicked, it was all he could do not to laugh outright. Instead, he pressed his luck a liiittle more, tightening the arm around her shoulders to pull her closer before setting his chin atop her head. "Ash, uh, if this right here is the worst that could happen, I gotta be honest, I would love to know what your idea of the best-case scenario would've been."

[theroyalsavage]

i know i already came into ur askbox gushing abt how ur into one piece AND aftg but like i just saw a tsc post of urs from like 10 days ago and NDFCJDKSMDNFEJWK ITS STILL INSANE TO ME!!!!!!!!

did tsc kill u (bc it killed me.)

needless to say tsc ate my brain like a very efficient woodlouse. alas i read it in a single feverish sitting and now over a week and a half later i keep thinking of random things i want to say about it and cold texting them to my loved ones who a) don't know what the hell i'm talking about and b) at this point are too scared to ask. like sorry you guys just aren't thinking about the Themes Motifs and Parallels in a book series about mafia lacrosse. maybe you need to reassess your priorities and get on my page

[the-unending-journey]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers (ू•‧̫•ू⑅)♡

Aaaw thanks for sending this! <333

Anyway uh....

Well my dogs first and foremost. Idk where I'd be without those two goobers

My girlfriend, especially since I can be my completely unhinged self around her with my fandom interests, and she's also been a rock in dealing with my mental nonsense

My mom and my sister (counting them as one for family, but not saying family as a whole for reasons). Even though my sister can drive me nuts sometimes (what siblings don't though?), her and mom have been huge pillars of support in my life and I love them so much

The small handful of friends I have, especially the ones that have stuck around for years. Ily all <3333

The community here! Like yeah there's gonna be assholes no matter where you go, but it's so refreshing to see so much more friendliness and acceptance here than the toxic bullshit on Twitter

[coldshrugs]

i know how to stick honey this is it, we can be happy now

blessed by hydaelyn @harumeau with this jaw-dropping art of io and estinien 🥴💗 they are definitely in attendance at this formal gathering. absolutely not sneaking out. no way.

[reflective-muses]

If Alhaitham had paid attention to the signs, he would have noticed when his rut was starting to come around. Or at least expected it, considering Kaveh was nearing the end of his heat if he wasn't already at the end of it. He knew he had been spending more than what was recommended, mostly likely at home, but he couldn't help but want to make sure Kaveh was taken care of. Though, unfortunately it may be biting him in the ass now.

Due to not noticing the symptoms, his body had grown weak and hot, and he was dizzy, and before he knew it, he had felt someone's arms around him to help steady him. The worst part about this would be that he didn't have time to get stuff together at home or have time to warn Kaveh with proper notice. But, once he was home, they at least were able to help him inside until he glanced and noticed Kaveh.

The person next to him left once told by Kaveh it would be fine, though Alhaitham cursed himself for having to quickly go to his room. He'd just prepare stuff the next day if Kaveh left, not wanting Kaveh to be around the smell a ton now that Haitham was home.

Having full clarity back after a week was an amazing feeling.  Or, at least however much clarity chronic sleep deprivation gave someone.  Kaveh knew his lack of sleep was his own fault, but he had been productive!  So it was okay!  That made it okay, right?

The sound of the door opening pulled Kaveh’s focus from his drafting.  Oh, it was Alhaitham–wait, he was being helped inside by someone else?

Kaveh hurried over, not thinking about how living with Alhaitham was supposed to be a secret, and helped bring the scribe inside.  He thanked Panah and then sat Alhaitham on the nearest divan.  Apparently the list of people who knew Kaveh lived with Alhaitham was slowly growing: Tighnari, Cyno, Collei, the Traveler, Paimon… and now Panah.  At least he knew Panah could keep a secret.

His nose wrinkled as the strong scent of alpha assaulted his nose.  Oh… Oh, that was why Alhaitham was home early.

“Ah–um, let me help you get things together, yeah?” Kaveh offered as he began to flit around the room, already beginning to gather things for Alhaitham’s room.

“What do you need?  I can get you some food and water.  Do you need extra blankets?  Towels?  What books do you want to read?”

[mostlyvoid-partiallyflowers]

hello! hope you're safe from the fanfic writer curse this week <3

I already made my low quality meme but I saw you also have some ec inspired andrew thing so I'm saying whatever you wanna write more?

<3

Hi taz! Thank you so much for the ask and the meme (<3)! I've got some Kevin angst for you because that's just what came to mind easiest (and I actually haven't started the ec inspo andrew thing yet rip).

WIP Wednesday 7/31/24 | Kevin Day angst

When Kevin sees Neil Josten’s tape for the first time he thinks of a poem Renee showed him earlier in the year when he first joined the Foxes. When she first read him the line, “hope is the thing with feathers,” he didn’t understand it, but he thinks he might now. His heart flutters, something feathery blooming, beating in his chest. He watches this plain, inexperienced striker score over and over again. He can almost see the potential of what he could become if given the time and direction.

Wymack watches from the seat beside him. Having to replace Janie so late in the game has had Wymack chain smoking cigarettes and downing cups of coffee at all hours of the day.

The tape ends and Wymack turns to Kevin. “What do you think? He fits the line.”

Kevin leans closer to the tv, rewinds the tape, starts it again. “Given enough time, he could be Court.”

Wymack smiles. “I’ll book our plane tickets.”

[biff-adventurer]

today i met tiny chris

poor wean's da got et by a 'bon. now he wants 'em all dead. wiv' crossy eyes like them as drawed in the picture shows. dinnae get et and ye might be his new da.

he actually made me think about two things - the npcs/people we've helped along the way, and the writing of accents.

it's no secret i gave biff this accent - it tells you he ain't a city slicker but rather a rural boy, it tells you his folks ain't got a lotta money (at least, one would think), and it associates him with a specific cultural/ethnic profile (gaelic, i know/studied a little more about irish than scots so i lean irish)

i think we should, as a society, be wary of continuing to associate class with specific ethnic communities, but i'm not learned enough to make a post dedicated to my specific thoughts on that (yet? tbd)

mostly, i think it's important to look at the way characters speak as a vehicle of writing. when you write a character's accent, is it useful for what you're trying to establish in the scene? is the noble supposed to fail to understand the vernacular of his server? is it useful if the character is always going to say "dinnae" instead of "do not"? when dealing with non-western characters with accents, how far is it okay to go until the dialogue goes from representation to racist charicature?

writers have the power of flexibility. writing is about persuasion more than anything else, and we should remember to persuade our audiences that these are people. they aren't real, so don't bother with "realistic" - but they represent real ideas, concepts and associations in our world. it's important to be careful what you do with these, intended or not! and if you make an oopsie? acknowledge, accept and continue on your journey to being your best.

my preferences for writing accents based on my experiences, observations and education lean thus:

pick and choose what words require emphasis. if the whole sentence requires it, then so be it! but make conscious choices. words weigh differently, and they carry double the weight when they're written out to represent an accent. just really think about whether or not this is the point you want to say to, t', ta, or tae. the whole sentence doesn't need to be written out phonetically b/c avoiding doing that helps us steer clear of reiterating caricatures.

include culturally specific verbiage. "what's the craic" or "how's it hangin'" depending on who your character is. in india, lots of people greet each other with religious phrases (in english, it'd sound like saying "god is good"/"good is god" call and response) - so a thavnairian character could say anything between "sisters be with you" to "mindhurva guide your path today" (and also yours, brother/sister). but also: wain, wean, child, sweetling,

be careful which non-english words your character uses. i don't call it chai tea latte, i call it chai latte. my wife doesn't call it green tea latte, but matcha latte. i actually don't drink chai latte, i drink chai. but i call it both chai and tea interchangeably; so, when i want someone to know how to prepare my tea, i might ask for chai instead of tea. because with chai, you get half or whole base milk instead of water. you get dried ginger or an array of spices depending on the auntie. with tea, you get dried up leaves and some hot water. big difference for me.

above all, make sure it's legible most of the time. you can do this by avoiding writing a character's accent out completely phonetically. this isn't to say "conform your character to what people think they should talk like". this is about being aware that writing implies an audience. if you want your writing to connect with people, the important parts should be clearly communicated in the text. especially if you're writing in english. if i wanted my characters to speak hindi, why would i bother writing the story in english at all? you want people to see your character a specific way. write them the way you hope they'll be seen--if you've done a good enough job, it will lead to so much joy and satisfaction. if you haven't--it's back to the drawing board! but you get the chance to learn even more.

[quietblissxx]

.

[rayne-the-neutrois-nerd]

Tell me everything you know about the witch/destroya

I mean, in terms of canon stuff, I just know what was shown in the comics. I'm not sure if Gerard has talked about these two in more depth in interviews or something, but if they have, I'd love to know.

The Phoenix Witch works as a psychopomp, a guide of souls to the afterlife. She does so by collecting the masks left in special mailboxes dedicated to her. Said masks are known to contain the souls of whomever wore it, Killjoy and Drac alike. You cannot pass into the afterlife without someone depositing your mask, or other signifying item of yours into a mailbox. (There are some exceptions though, like The Girl who talks to the Witch after she dies. I suppose The Witch favors some people. I guess this also goes for The Girls Mother, since she apparently got with the Witch and kicked off Witchfucker Wednesday, which Poison desperately tries to accomplish themself).

I tend to think of her as like, The Zones version of Charon, ferryman of the dead, who requires a coin to ferry a soul across the Styx into Hades. I don't really see her as the Zones' Deity of Death, just a guiding hand to find your way from one spot to another. It's not as callous as I feel Charon is usually portrayed though? I feel she'd take a moment to talk with souls who are confused or need help with closure about their death. She prepares them emotionally as well for the afterlife.

I personally think that the Zones religion is more polytheistic, based on how The Witch is treated as a Deity. She's just probably the one that everyone worships and has the biggest role in the Zones. I kinda wanna come up with a few others but I'm not sure what domains or things they should rule over.

My personal headcanons of other symbols associated with her are ravens, based off her raven-like feathers in her design. People especially devoted to her will wear handmade jewelry (necklaces, bracelets) with chunky wooden beads. Since good wood is hard to find, each bead is usually scavenged and probably hold a special meaning to the wearer based on where they found it and the events around it.

DESTROYA always felt very monotheistic to me. It's very much a Savior figure to the androids, with their Graffiti Bible prophesied its rising to save the androids from oppression. (I mean I'm not Christian and never was, but it just feels Jesus-y in themes.)

Something I find super interesting about DESTROYA is that, its a location. It's tangible. You can touch it. Hell, The Nest is literally right next to it. There's absolutely no way to say it isn't real. Maybe some naysayers will say there's no way it'll come back to life, but there is no doubt it's REAL.

I think for human Zone dwellers, its kinda tabboo to mess with DESTROYA. That's the Androids deity afterall. You can climb on it, touch it, whatever like that, but under no circumstance can you take pieces off or graffiti it. Afterall, they'd feel pretty offended if an android vandalized a mailbox or such.

I think maybe its also a semi-closed religion? A sort of android-only thing. I mean I guess humans can like, be mindful and know what the androids believe, but its a bit weird for a human to be devoted to it.

[mattodore]

When you get this, list 3 facts about your favorite sim and send it to the last 3 people in your notifications! Let's get to know each others' sims!

three little facts about theo... okay <3

theo technically has two names! there's theodore and then there's yeonu. yeonu is only what he goes by w/ his extended family.

theo was never allowed to have a pet as a child... most of his adolescence was spent entirely alone. he really likes odious (matthias's cat) but playing with her makes him feel a little sad... he can't help but think that he wouldn't have been such a lonely child if he had a companion.

theo really likes playing sports. he's the best at soccer and the worst at tennis (are these the only two sports i know anything about? ...perhaps). he doesn't actually watch sports, though. he's only interested in actually playing and feeling all that energy and movement. he's also very competitive athletically. he'll play dirty.