#tumblr fucked the quality so bad just open it in another tab...

[daevolloqui]

short little thing to marina's you are not a robot

[sleekervae]

The Neighbour [0.7]

Masterlist

The sun was high in the sky, bright and casting everything in a flattering golden light. The grass blades beneath Eva's body pricked at her fair skin and Remington's hair tickled her spine, the May heat was blazing but she was happy as she proofread her latest article.

Remington had his white heart-shaped sunglasses on, and Eva was sure he must've been asleep from how still he was. She broke her attention from her laptop and looked over her shoulder, stormy blue eyes gliding over the expanse of his torso and the many tattoos that were like a gallery to his world. A gallery that she had the pleasure of enjoying just for herself.

With a sharp intake, Remington stirred when he felt he was being watched. And when he saw Eva's delicate face looking back at him, he smiled back, face thick with sleep but he looked happy.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"Just checking on you," she replied coyly, "You comfortable?"

"Yes I am. Had no idea you made such a good pillow," he grinned, to which Eva simpered amusedly, "How's your article coming?"

"Just proofing before I send it," she said.

"How much you getting for it?"

"Seven hundred and fifty bucks"

He gave a stirring whistle, settling down against her flank and closing his eyes, "Make that money, Eva,"

Eva was quiet as he nestled down again, but she kept her eyes fixated on his body. She admired the way the light bounced over the sunscreen-slick film on his skin, and how effortlessly pretty and cool Remington looked in contrast to the lush green grass beneath him. The tips of her fingers brushed at the cooler blades beneath her chest, fighting the urge to reach over and touch the ink on his bicep.

And just like that, a new poem jingled in her brain and sprinted to her fingertips. The poem was drafted in minutes, and as Eva read it over and over to herself she was at a loss as to whether she should publish it to her blog. She knew Remington had looked at her poetry, and she wondered what he would think if she posted a piece about him. Or what his fans would think if they happened to find her blog. Would people even know it was about him?

Nevertheless, she took another glance at his rising and falling chest. In her lens she looked at him like a muse, a piece of art that she wanted to record and worship with her words. And that feeling made her nervous.

... But it also had her simmering with excitement.

"You're still staring at me," he suddenly said, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

Eva rolled her eyes, though a sheepish grin spread across her own lips as she pushed her laptop across the grass, "Let me up,"

Remington's eyes snapped open again as he lifted his head so Eva could get to her feet, "You alright?" he asked.

"I'm just gonna' get something drink. You want anything?" she replied.

"I'm good," he threw his hands behind his head as he laid back down in the grass, "I'll guard your computer for you,"

Eva chuckled, "You're so brave,"

"Aren't I?"

Eva slipped her tank back over her bikini top, rubbing at the hot spot where Remington's hair had prickled over her skin. Her hand seemed to shake as she pulled back the glass sliding door, quickly slipping inside and finding Emerson sat on the couch with his notebook and variety of charcoals. Pepper was sleeping at his feet, but she perked up and tried to crawl to the top of the couch when she heard Eva's footsteps.

Emerson turned to his neighbour, "You okay, Eva?"

"Yeah," the small brunette replied, "Could I grab some water?"

"Of course," he smiled, "You know where the glasses are,"

"Thanks," she grabbed herself a glass of cold water and headed back for the door, stopping when she peaked over Emerson's shoulder and gazed in awe at the gothic victorian architecture covering two full pages in his journal, "That's so sick,"

"Thanks," he replied happily, "Did Remington tell you about our graphic novel?"

"He did. Did you illustrate everything?" she asked incredulously.

Emerson shrugged sheepishly, "I had a lot of help. I'll let you read the first copy that comes out, if you'd want"

"That would be awesome,"

It was then an idea stirred in the back of Emerson's head, "Do you write any fictional stuff?"

Eva shrugged, debating whether she should bring up her fanfiction hobby, "... I've dabbled,"

Emerson smiled, "Well, I'm planning to make these into a series. When we start drafting the next volume, would you want to work on it with us?"

Eva's heart nearly leapt into her throat, "You serious?"

"Why not?" he shrugged, "It's always more fun working with friends, anyway,"

Eva's face flushed, "Emerson, I'm honoured! I'd love to work with you guys,"

Over in the backyard, Remington shifted and sat up from his nap. He blinked his eyes a few times to get used to the sudden influx of light, then focusing in on the shadowy silhouette of Eva and Emerson in the house. He watched her smile, and the hand that wasn't holding a water glass came to rest on her chest. He wondered what they were talking about: probably art, the pandemic, the album party that was coming up this week.

Or was it possible that they were talking about him?

Remington took a glance at her macbook, the screen having just fell asleep. Curiosity got the better of Remington, he wondered why Eva kept glancing at him between her writing. He checked again and Emerson and Eva were still having their conversation, and Remington reached over and tapped the touchpad, bringing the laptop back to life. Eva's main page was her article about dog fighting and the people who ran these gambling rings, but Remington clicked on the open Tumblr tab. A draft of a new poem stared back at him, and before he knew what he was doing he was reading it word-for-word.

"You sleep soundly, protected by the company of

snakes, angels, and demons.

They guard your organs, flesh, and muscles.

Without moving eyes they watch the world pass you by

While you're none the wiser, drunk on beer and sunstroke.

The breath that leaves you fans over a crest of regality, valiance,

The summer grass tries to scratch away the frowns of the skulls on your arms,

You've come too far to continue to be sad.

At least, that's the impression I get.

I like your homage to the illuminati: that little triangle below your intestine

forever searches for lies and enlightenment.

Or maybe you just decided that it looked cool?

And I love that angel, clinging to your spine as you dive into the four corners of hell

Yet it drags you back to the surface, reminding you of the better qualities you have

that overshadow the bad ones.

Your body is a gallery, and I've bought myself a ticket.

I only planned to take the basic tour, a brief introduct --"

Remington quickly clicked back to Eva's article when he heard the door sliding open again, but Eva had caught him snooping. She looked down at him quizzically.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her standing figure blocking out the searing sun.

Remington glanced back at the screen, "Reading about the bastards who exploit defenseless animals and force them into fighting for monetary gain," he replied quickly, "Very profound work,"

Eva had the mind to know he was spouting straight bullshit, but she didn't press on, "Thank you," she set down her water glass and started to pull off her shorts.

"Your thirst quenched?" he asked.

"Yes, and now I'm going to go for a swim," she smiled, "You're more than welcome to join me,"

Remington sat back as her tank top fell to the ground, revealing the small flower tattoo on her ribs peeking out from the band of her bikini. Eva stood at the edge of the pool, shook out her hair, and dived head first into the crystalline water. Remington smiled to himself as he stood up, his heart thrumming as fast as a hummingbird could bat its wings when as the words he read fluttered behind his eyes.

She was writing a poem about him.

Eva emerged from the water just as Remington took a running start, and without warning, cannonballing into the water beside her. As she wiped the water from her eyes more had splashed over her head. Remington broke out of the water seconds later, laughing when he saw the scowl on Eva's face.

"You're so fucking chaotic!"

"You love me,"

The album was to drop this Thursday at midnight, and they were going to stream and celebrate its release at Sebastian's place with a party. A small party, with Daniel, Andrew, their mom, and their girlfriends.

And of course, Eva had been invited.

Remington assured her it was just going to a small casual affair, and all she needed to bring was her "gorgeous smile". Those were the words he used. Nevertheless, Eva had a constant flutter in the pit of her stomach as Thursday neared; annoyed because no matter what she pulled out of her closet she seemed to have nothing to wear, and popping advil because her period decided to pay her an early visit the morning of the party.

Remington continued to check Eva's Tumblr and Instagram pages now and again, wondering if she had posted the rest of that poem. He felt a little guilty about snooping, and he wondered what her reaction would be if she knew he had looked. Or perhaps she already knew that he had and she was only letting it slide because she didn't want to talk about it. And as he stood in the shower on the morning of the party, not snapping out of his thoughts until Emerson banged on the door loudly for his turn, Remington began to realize he wanted Eva so much more than he should have for a friend.

Pluto lay diligently at the foot of Eva's bed while she worked, wearing a face mask to hopefully keep her period acne at bay. She read through her most recent poems, a shiver crawling up her spine every time she read them. It was scary because within the last few days, she realized Remington had become the muse she examined and picked apart in her pieces. It wasn't that she hadn't written about boys before, she had, but they didn't elicit the same excitement Remington did when he touched her; or when he was even near her.

In the two and some months she had come to know him, Eva's world had grown so small and yet exploded so suddenly in such little time. Remington was a firecracker of wild colors that splattered across the folds of her brain and drew her into him like a moth to the light. She wanted to watch him move, work, and no matter what she wanted to make him smile. After listening to his music, she knew how badly he needed to be happy. And there was a part of her that wondered what it would be like; how would he be with her if they started a relationship? What's it like dating a rockstar? She imagined the day-to-day wouldn't be very different from how they were now: great friends just one step further on the scale of intimacy.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted it. She wanted him.

✧✧✧

Remington's tongue tingled as he approached the complex courtyard in the late evening, his gaze flying to her balcony to hopefully get a small glimpse of Eva. He smashed the call button for her apartment and waited for her sweet voice to pick up.

"Yellow!" she answered happily.

"It's your friendly neighbourhood psychopath," Remington smiled as he spoke into the speaker.

Eva chuckled, "Come on up! I got the door open,"

The front door clicked and Remington slipped inside, his mask over his face as he waved to the landlord who was too nose deep in his newspaper to give a damn about him.

He pulled his mask down and knocked first before entering Eva's apartment, first being greeted by Pluto who leapt out of his bed and began to rub himself against his pant leg. Remington scooped him up in his arms.

"It's good to see you too, buddy!" he cooed at the cat, "Are you coming to the party with us? Maybe if we ask nicely your mom will take you?"

Remington's attention diverted from Pluto when he heard Eva walk in from behind. Turning around, any words he had were suddenly stuck in his throat when his eyes fell over her. Just when Remington thought she couldn't look any more gorgeous, she blew all his expectations out of the water in a body-hugging black, white, and red plaid dress, white sandals on her feet and her short hair loose and wavy. She only had on mascara and some eyeliner, but in his opinion, Eva didn't need any more than that.

She was absolutely beautiful.

Her smile faltered when Remington hadn't said a word, not even a hello, "... You're looking at me weird," she said, bordering on panic as she glanced at her dress, "Do I look weird? 'Cause I can go change --"

Remington quickly snapped out of it, "N-No! You're fucking gorgeous," he gaped, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare like that --"

"No, it's okay," she assured him, smiling sheepishly as her heart skipped a beat, "You look really good, too. Yellow suits you nicely,"

Remington chuckled, continuing to cradle Pluto as he glanced at his pants, "See -- me and Emerson got into a debate. I say they're yellow, he think they're lime,"

Eva shrugged, "Regardless, they're on the citrus spectrum," she grinned, going to grab her purse, "Are you sure I can't bring anything? Like a bottle of wine, or --"

"Nope! Seb's got all the alcohol we'll need," he replied, "You can bring Pluto if you want, though. Emerson's gonna' bring Pepper,"

"He's better off here where I know he'll be safe. Over there, I'll constantly be worried if he's trying to tear up the carpet or... or eating another shoe," Eva shook her head.

Remington shrugged as he set Pluto down, "Just as well, I don't think he and Pepper like each other," he said.

"Oh really? What gave that away?" Eva asked in mock disbelief, "The constant hissing, the yapping, the growling? The cat's staying here,"

"Sorry bud, I tried," he said to Pluto. The tabby spun his tail before striding off back to his bed.

Eva took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling, "He'll be fine," she sighed.

Remington cocked his head, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded quickly, "It's that time of the fucking month again and my stomach does not like me,"

He swallowed with uncertainty, "... It's just a period thing, right? You're not losing taste or smell or anything, right?"

"No, it's just a period thing," she assured him, "I'll be fine. I feel like shit, but I just need some fresh air and some good music,"

"Lucky for you, I can provide all of those things. And just to reiterate, you look fantastic," he said.

"You're sweet," she smiled, slinging her denim jacket on and clutching her purse, "Shall we?"

"We shall," Remington quickly held the door open for her, "After you, my lady,"

"Why thank you, kind sir,"

[tyrellsimsoficeandfire]

Tyrion’s Story Replies

@treason-and-plot:  Anyone who doesn't appreciate books is a complete tool.

I totally agree!!!! I mean, he is presented with one of the most valuable and rare books and he FUCKING destroys that piece of history!!!!!!! I hate such people.

@dreamywritingdragon:  So many details!Margeary’s dress is gorgeous! And poor Sansa, looking so distress :/ I love Leonette and Garlan being absolute sweet lovebirds :) and I’m pretty sure Oberyn is whispering very dirty things in Ellaria’s ear…:p

I’m so happy you noticed all these details!!!!!!!! I always put some book characters in there. Not just our favourites you noticed! I’m happy you recognized Garlan and Leonette (My favourite couple). Not quite visible are also Qyburn, Lord Redwyne and the Kettleblacks.

@andantezen:  Gorgeousness! So many different expressions telling of different moods in the same event!!

Thank you! I know that I put too much effort into such scenes. But I think it would be boring and unrealistic if everyone is just standing in the same pose. I didn’t think about it before,but you are right! I really managed to show perspectives of different characters.

@lifeasasim: I love this ;_______;

@treason-and-plot:  This is epic in every sense. Bravo! 🤗

@murfeelee:  Yaaass Queen.

Thank you! As Joffrey says: “A royal wedding is history” and I wanted to show this!

@andantezen:  to enlarge your pictures, and dwell in their details... I can never get enough, I can never praise your artistry enough!

You are too nice! But I think that tumblr somehow destroys my picture’s quality. Enlarge them sometimes helps but on the app they still look blurry.

@acquiresimoleons:  Very nicely done!

Thank you! A very minor scene I just felt the need to show for it gives clues about Joffrey’s true murderer.

@dreamywritingdragon: He's deeeeaaaddd!!! The Evil brat is dead! The evilest king that ever was, the ...crap, I don't remember the rest of the lyrics :p very nice scene, as always :3  

Yess!!!!! Never was a real Joffrey-hater but his behaviour during the wedding made me angry AF. But I’m a bit sad for I found my Joffrey Sim quite handsome.

@treason-and-plot:  Well that fills me with a nice sense of schadenfreude 😁

He got what he deserved! Millions of people worldwide felt like you!

@mentally-restless:  yoooooooo where's Jeoffrey's outfit from?! (p.s magnificent scene as always ;) )

From Severinka’s medieval oriental set. I noticed that she might have converted a Joffrey armor from the GOT videogame. 

@marfuhenka82: !!!!

@scipisims:XD!!!! Love it!!!!

Thank you! Lots of love to you <3

@andantezen:Another epic sequence! I have it opened on another tab, so I can check longer... So many characters in this scene, all beautifully dressed... I love how you use default patterns and make them look lush on the costumes... The care you put on their hairs and everything... Every time I have to think of the amount of careful work you put into these... Thank you, and know that I do enjoy and take my time appreciating these! 

What a nice comment!!!!!! I always use the same patterns from basegame and I want to create some real medieval look. I have lots of households stored, so I don’t have to create new sims as background characters each time. The ladies-in-waiting (Green dresses) you’ll encounter more often in my posts. But you are right dressing my protagonists each time takes a lot of work. I love how you enjoy my pics and check out the details!

@andantezen:  How many characters are there indeed in this scene? What was your biggest scene so far?

8 protagonists in my main household and around 30 extras in the background. My weddings and tourneys are the most populated scenes I do. I just feel a need to put that many sims there because real royal courts were crowded, as well. Unfortunately my games recently shows difficulties when it comes to mass scenes :(

@treason-and-plot:  Breathtaking! ❤

@lifeasasim: He's frame!

He is indeed! Thanks for your comments.

@treason-and-plot:  These screenshots are like oil paintings ❤

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if I could make a scene taking place in a dark dungeon looking stunning. But I think, here this effect mostly depends on lighting and the contrast their costumes create!

@andantezen:  so dramatic, so beautiful! The warrior in black has such a great presence; even in daylight he looks so threatening!

He’s a monster indeed. I didn’t want to show his face to make him look more inhuman. His nickname is “The Mountain that rides”. Therefore, I placed him on a resizer all the time. Glad, my little tricks worked out!

@treason-and-plot: Well, that really sucks! :P

Bas Karma!

@treason-and-plot:  Nothing against your gorgeously realised scenes but ick!!

Yes, they behave very strange (to say it nicely). Mainly Cersei is a real sociopath who can only have this incestuous relationship. Don’t judge me if I find it intriguing as  element of storytelling. After years of GOT and loving Ancient Egypt, I’m used to incest. It doesn’t bother me anymore as long as it is consentual and presented as part of a story. I mainly did that scene to play with decoration, contrasts and lighting: Their golden hair, the naked bodies and those red candles create lovely pics, I think. And yet it is creepy to F*** your brother over your dead son’s body.

@mentally-restless: <3

@lifeasasim: :(

Lovely and sad at the same time!

@treason-and-plot:  The lighting is spectacular in these shots 😍

Again, it was a problem to make a dark dungeon look beautiful. I placed lights very carefully, therefore to keep the dungeon atmosphere.

@treason-and-plot: I'm confused about Jaime. Is he a good guy? But how can someone who fucks his own sister be a good guy?

Many people despise him. He has done many bad things and has a reputation as oathbreaker. But he uses that to cover up the good things he does. He denies to see himself as the good guy: Everyone despises him for he murdered a king years ago and yet he didn’t tell anyone that he stopped that king from a planned mass murder. He does kind acts but disguises them with threats, he almost killed a child but saved a friend from rape... Things aren’t that easy with him. But I like his complex character. 

He loves his dwarf brother very much and I think for him he is the good guy. But the story with the wife mentioned: At 13 Tyrion married a peasant girl. His father had her raped by his guards then sent her away. Jaime was forced to tell Tyrion she was a whore he just payed for being lovely to the dwarf.

[figjelly]

what *is* your writing process?

First, it always starts with something half-formed. “What-ifs?,” blurry memory of dreams, people watching, drawing. And then you get to play scientist. If you buy into dichotomies of “science vs art,” then think of a writer being the best of both skill sets.For any skill though, the first step is always, always, always observation. So my process relies on being able to observe the outside world, my internal states, the interactions between these two, and how they shape or change one another. This all seems super abstract, but this is good practice for think about how fictional, non-existent characters might be formed. Second, become familiar with different forms of writing and what type of literary genre is best suited to tell the type of story you want to tell. Some stories aren’t multi-chapter worthy (if they aren’t and you try to force it, it’ll show. Trust me). There are three types of things to know about writing: mechanics of language, story structure, and being a writer.Third, sit that booty down and write. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART. Wanna know why? Because those first two things get put to the test AND you gotta write. You can read a lot of guides on writing but you really won’t know what you don’t know until you do something. You can work with something; you can’t work with nothing. If it stays in your head, it’ll always be this flurry of blurry ideas that never quite come to fruition. Characters on life support. Events in current stasis. A scene that runs through your head constantly like “Call Me Maybe.” But this “paint-by-numbers” method is kind of canned bullshit, the Easy Mac of advice about writing that isn’t really helpful. What all writers need is practical and useful advice that is: actionable, goal-oriented, and produces tangible, deliverables (aka something you can deliver and there is a trail for it). So, you can know the difference between an em dash and an en dash (there’s a difference, pinky swear), but it’s gonna do you shit good if you want to write. It’s super easy to tell people, “Just write!” You wanna know something? I’ve not worked on any ongoing stories I post for free on AO3 (another good rule? Promote the hell out of the stuff you work hard on. Ain’t no shame in having pride in your work). Why?Eh, I guess I could blame it on all sorts of things but, honestly, I’ve not taken the time to open the fucking documents on my many portable computing devices. You want to know “Ash’s Super Official Pragmatic Guide to Writing a Shit Ton Based on Her own Experiences that May NOT produce 100% Quality Results You Wanna Share with the World but Damn if it Won’t Make You Write a LOT.”? Okay, here it is:1. Only hand-write for quick notes, sketching out ideas, and the like. Don’t write by hand and then think you’re gonna transfer it over digitally all nice like. It wastes time, energy, and you’ll spend way too much fucking time agonizing over drafts as they exist on paper. That shit is for quick and dirty work.2. Open a word processor document OR a Google Doc. Honestly, I’ve moved to working almost exclusively on Google Docs because I can share with people more easily for editing. Word of caution: Docs won’t have some functionality like most word processing software but it isn’t the end of the world. Just see what you can live with.2a. Yes. You will get frustrated with learning how to type and use hotkeys and deal with stupid computer issues (like when things start tabbing over for no fucking reason). Don’t let this stop you. If you can understand what’s going on (i.e. it does not affect cogency/intelligibility), figure that shit out later when you’ve got time.3. While we’re on the subject, if you can only muster the energy to do ONE thing for a story, open a new document/start a new doc and NAME THE FUCKER. Once a thing is named, it exists. Congrats! You’ve now begun.4. You know all those tidbits you got floating around? Okay, pick one. You’re gonna bleed that thing dry. DO NOT: focus on character description. DO NOT have 90% dialogue. Not yet, at least. DO NOT focus on scene description. There is a start, there is an end. You know what they are. Make ‘em meet up.5. Eh, they can’t all be 80 Chapter epics. I’ve got a literal ton of digital documents that consist of three pages that are short and sweet--simply based on an idea that couldn’t go anywhere OR that I realized I had no interest in pursuing once I started writing. Once you get that thing finished, save it and then say, “Eh, that’s it for that.”6. Set yourself some goals. I don’t find it’s super helpful to chart my progress in days or hours but rather in pages. For all my AO3 shit, approx. 16 pages per chapter is what I’ve hit. Is it ideal? Nah. But it was my goal when I first started writing. So if I know I’ve got 16 pages to do something, I break it up by big landmarks. For a lot of chapters, I know where it begins and I know what the ending will be. I know things I want to happen (whether it works out is a writing process thing) so I work to put together the dots.7. Things you should always be asking yourself: is this boring me? Are my characters bored? If they were real people and I kept telling them to do these things, would they tell me to fuck off? Like, I don’t know about other people, but I’ve got one character (obvs, it’s Rook) who I’ve been writing and thinking about forever in different incarnations and she is SUPER bossy and opinionated and I FEEL bad, like physically/mentally, if I realize I’ve mistreated her (e.g. made her do something she wouldn’t do). If you’re bored, I’m bored. The end. There ARE times where you’re writing will be less compelling then other parts of your story, but boredom is something quite different. Downtime/quiet moments are not synonymous with tedious, drawn-out, “please shoot me already” writing. A lot of this depends, again, on observation. I know I kinda shit on the “Three Things” thing I made up and outlined at the beginning, but it doesn’t make them any less true. You need to be able to observe yourself. You’ve got habits. Some need to be changed if you wanna write a lot. What you need to write is different than what I need to write. I love using tools like pomodoro, pomodroido, and toggl. There are a lot of tumblr posts that have links to sites where it forces you to write 500 words before it lets you access your browser again (HA, joke is on it because I can just open up Firefox--obvs, site-blocking apps do shit for me because I eventually change browsers or just end up disabling the app) or you write one word at a time and so on. Heck, there’s a whole wiki dedicated to NaNoWriMo with TONS of resources concerning software and the like.BUT, this is all gonna mean shit without some motivation and accountability. Motivation is easy to unpack (you gotta want to do it, whatever your reasons. It might be good to unpack those but that’s a personal thing). Accountability? Well, that’s trickier. You can make yourself accountable (e.g. “I will write three pages a day, single-spaced, 12 pt font every day without revisions.”). But I find having external motivators better. I surround myself with people who write, I have a lovely and wonderful beta, and I also do things like this where I bluntly ask people to make me talk about (AND THINK ABOUT!) what I’m doing. If you’ve got more specific questions, hit me up!(also, @nonsensicaldiary, you asked this).