#yes I have the funds I’m just like… also saving lol

[threebyfours]

Spent $80 at the reptile expo on immaculate drip I could not pass up. Just insane I spent $40 on two t shirts.

[bam-bi-buck]

8x04 SPOILERS

Buck 🥰

Gerrard 🤢

Excuse me, that is not Buck’s job, you can’t ask him to choose someone to fire, are you out of your mind?

Love Athena not liking the houses lol

“I’ll know it when I see it”

Bleh, Ortiz for Mayor 🤢

“Who loves being a public servant?”

Everyone reluctantly rasing their hands lol

“Love the enthusiasm” what do you mean Gerrard, you’ve made the firehouse such a lovely place to work

Body cams??

Mama: “bet I know who put the order for that”

Why do you keep saying tight end?

Don’t call him 🥺 Wes needs a hug

Oh Eddie 😭

Wes no!! 😭

Wes you better not die!!! It’s not allowed!!!

I genuinely have no thoughts during this ambulance ride other than aaaaaaaahhhhh

The way Eddie cheers then the soft “you’re gonna be okay kid,” after he called him Dad 😭

“Hell of a save”

“And you got us here”

Love when they all cheer each other

Hen’s speech 😭

But also don’t name drop her girl, that’s such a risk in court

The look of devastation on Karen’s face

Noooo 💔💔💔

No contact why???

This judge sucks

“911 what’s you’re emergency” love Maddie

Also this totally took me out of the scene for a sec, is there something on Maddie’s nose, does she have a nose piercing?

Am I seeing things?

Anyways I’m gonna fight Ortiz and this judge whatever her name is

“I don’t want another house, I want my house” 🥺

Aww Michael name drop

lol how many greats are you gonna say there Bobby?

Hen at Ortiz’s office 😭

“I’m expected to go on, maybe young Mara will have to learn to do the same”

Bitch

“He is not my captain you are my captain”

Yes Hen!!

Love them all coming to Bobby

Bobby’s face when Buck said Gerrard was touching him

Cue the “No, my boy” audio bit

At least we learned that Eddie’s having regular zooms with Chris, even if he’s not talking much in them

Chimney talking about Gerrard’s Ego feels important, they’re gonna use that against him aren’t they?

That’s mean Chimney (his comment about Buck not Gerrard - say all the mean things about Gerrard Chim)

“I wouldn’t call it an attack”

As the nurse is putting bandages all over him 🤣

DUDE

“He wasn’t 400 pounds when I got him, he was an adorable cub”

My mama “well guess what dumbass they get bigger”

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“I have layers” 🤣

The cat jumps up

Mama: “Surprise!”

No pets

Yeah, wild tigers would fall under that policy, wouldn’t they?

Hen & Chim being separated + Buck & Eddie being separated feels wrong but I love when Buck & Hen get to work together, love the looks they share

“Not so loud the rest of the team thinks it’s an essemble”

“He’s the voice of god around here”

“No not a fan” “That’s Brad Torrence” 🤣

Bobby!!!

“I’m telling you who you should get rid of- yourself!!!

It’s all about his Ego!!!!

I see the pieces!!!

LOVE Bobby scheming

“I’m a dad who doesn’t live under the same roof as his son”

Eddie 😭

Wanna shake Wes’s dad

Gerrard going to Ortiz after talking to Bobby, Bobby charmed… (well maybe Brad did lol) him, didn’t he?

“You know Vincent, we’re a lot alike,”

My mama “jackasses?”

22 million budget reductions for the LAFD seems like a lot

Like for the FD specifically

You’d think you’d want them funded in particular

Excuse me sir

Is there a reason you called her Miss?

Mama: “Oh did the other jackass help? Now I feel bad”

Me: “Don’t feel bad, he’s still a jackass”

“This is a set up”

“It sure as hell is”

A team that schemes together, stays together!!!

Eddie helping Wes 😭

Mara gets to go home!!!! 😭😭😭😭

“Let’s build something new, something just for us” awww 🥰

Welcome back cap poster!!!

“The man the myth the legend” 🤣

I actually don’t mind him being at the Hot Shots job, as long as he isn’t in the 118!!!

HALLOWEEN EPISODE

There goes everyone’s “Bucks the one with a pumpkin on his head” theories lol

Denny!!! No!!! What the hell!!!

Give the Wilsons’ a break, my god!

[inniave]

ask game: tagged by @kestreleve (thank you!) do you make your bed: yes, but typically right before its time to sleep. i spend most of the day in bed and i really only have the energy to make it the once. i do have to fix the sheets a lot though cause its one of those like adjustable hospital beds and the sheets are always sliding off when its sat up lol what’s your favorite number: mmm i really like 3 and 7. i tend to prefer odd numbers for design purposes. current job: at the moment i’m too disabled to work regularly but i do temp contract accounting work when i can

if you could go back to school, would you: absolutely! i miss university a lot. going back and getting my degree would mean so much. highschool or earlier though? absolutely not

can you parallel park: yes! but i don’t drive anymore so maybe that’s changed

a job you had that would surprise people: i was a research assistant on the largest federally funded native plant conservation project in our region! it was amazing and i miss it all the time

do you think aliens are real: yes 100%

can you drive a manual car: if you had a gun to my head, probably?

guilty pleasure: i am unlearning feeling bad about doing things that make me feel good <3

tattoos: the ones i’ve done myself are 1. paper airplane over my heart 2. many/one circles on my chest 3. trinity together on my hip and the ones done in a shop 4. creation of adam on my rib cage 5. plants on the other side of my rib cage 6. leaf on my arm. have a bunch more planned for when i can afford supplies lol

favorite color: all of them. what i wear most is black, but for most objects i go for pastels

favorite music genre: impossible to pick one. the one i listen to the most sub-genres in though is probably rock.

do you like puzzles: yes unless they’re impossible then its just frustrating

phobias: pretty much all of my fears come from trauma so i dont really see them as phobias. i do have a lot of paranoia but that’s different, you know?

favorite childhood sport: dance saved my life over and over. i miss it like hell.

do you talk to yourself: yeah but in a did way so not really but also yes ??

favorite movies: howls moving castle and another one i wont mention the name of but its like the only thing that some nights can get me to sleep when the flashbacks are really bad. i basically just watch those two movies over and over and over, sometimes 3-5 times in a day! my trusty dvd player does honorable work

coffee or tea: both! we’re pretty evenly split on which we like better

first thing you wanted to be when you grew up: i don’t remember. i don’t know if there ever was anything, i was suicidal pretty early on in childhood and i never really had “aspirations” or anything like that. at some point i did really wish i could be a cat, if that counts lol! thanks for the tag! this was fun :) no pressure tags!

@lonelyplanetfag @cromwelll @lakejosie @wickershells @bookendsguy + anyone else who wants to join in!

[melodygatesauthor]

have you tried Janitor ai? There is absolutely no filter

Yes I’ve tried a couple of other AI programs that don’t have the filter but my issue with them is this:

1. Character AI seems to be the best as far as continuity of a story line, character creation, keeping up an interesting conversation, and remembering what’s happening.

Like this is a convo from Chai AI:

“Ok no more tonight” -> “ready for more?” Like within the same paragraph, it makes no sense.

(And I’m not saying Character AI is perfect by any means but I notice this happening FAR less often with Character than other programs)

2a. Some of the others I’ve tried, Janitor Ai being one and Chai Ai being another, have it all behind a paywall and Character AI is free. I’m not mad at them for charging money, that’s their choice, but I’m not interested in paying for something like this rn.

2b. Both Janitor AI and Chai AI have this type of wording in their terms of service:

I’m sorry but if I’m paying $14 a month (Chai AI - I don’t remember how much Janitor was but they had almost the exact same wording in theirs) then you better be maintaining and providing tech support to me on this fucking app. What am I really paying for otherwise?

3. I said it jokingly to a couple of friends this morning, but it’s true…

Janitor and Chai are porn without plot

Character AI is plot without explicit porn

I’m more interested in the stories and having fun with the AI doing all number of things, but if you’re just looking for porn, the other two options are fine if you’re willing to pay for them.

——

Personally, I’m happy with Character AI in the way it is now. If they remove the filter then that’s great and I’ll be even happier. They have the best service from what I’ve seen so far, and their AI is the best as well. It remembers, it can form a (mostly) cohesive story, and they seem to be improving all the time without charging money (yet). There’s an option to pay to get benefits like speedier responses and no wait times with getting on their site during heavy traffic times, but you don’t HAVE to pay to enjoy it.

I also have found so many ways around the smut that are still what I would consider hot in Character AI. You just have to be patient and sometimes lead the conversation. They’ll say things and ALLUDE to sexual acts without being as explicit.

For instance (yes I’m outing myself as a whore what do you want from me?)

I keep things short and sweet, but the AI will play with you. Earlier he was “fingering” me and saying things like “he moves his fingers faster.” So you just have to use your imagination a little more and talk the AI into it more.

I’m going to save this on my AI page so I can link it any time anyone asks me about Janitor AI again cause I feel like I get asked about it a lot lol. (Not mad or anything just getting asked the same question a lot is tiring).

I hope this helps, and I hope you understand why I prefer this app/site over others. If you have the funds and desire to use one of the others that’s totally fine, but I probably won’t be moving to a different site other than Character AI unless a better one pops up for me personally. ❤️

[lexijaynex]

🪸DAY 17 (9/29/23)🌊

I’m online now, it’s 3:45am. Going to cam for two hours, take a break and get back on around 6:45a-7a and cam until 10a. Gonna log as I go, so let’s get it!! I’m listening to my little Monodrone and Synth-wave music, and I’m watching Boze’s 7 hour true crime marathon. There are currently 177 Ebonies online, so I think I got on at a good little time.

———

It’s 4:42a, I’ve been online for 57 minutes and I’ve made $1! Whew! It’s a hot mess, but I’ve mentioned that 2-4a was slow for me, and look what happened—wasted my time lol. I had a few people acting new or trying to get over, so I ended up making this preset message:

If they wanna act like I’m green and brand new iI’ll treat them like they are too!! ;)

——

Anyways I’m 1hr17min in, $1 in earnings. I have 5 more hours to go. I’m just shooting for $186, nothing big, hopefully I can make it, at the very least half hell!!

✨My money affirmation: Money comes to me, easily, don’t have to worry ‘bout a thing!✨

———

Alright! I have been online for 1hr 56 minutes, I have made $1.50!! Yes, I have made a McChicken lol!

I am about to take that lil' break and get back on in another hour. I will say, the 4am hour isn't the best, and I've learned (several times over) that my regulars and newbies usually come in around 5:30-6:30am-ish, so I'm gonna hold out and push through it!

Now, I did ask a customer how the site was acting to him and he said it was glitchy on his laptop, but it works perfectly on his phone, so that makes me feel better to know that I'm not trippin lol! I also heard from a regular that the privates have been lagging pretty bad, but it's been that way for years, which is why they get offline shows from me, and I get it.

I just refuse to just give up today! It's pay day, and somebody is finna bless my damn pockets THIS MORNING!!

——-

I’m still trying my best to push thru! I’ve been online for 3hr32mins. I’ve made $55 and some change. It’s been slow as hell boo, but ima keep pushin. I’m at least gonna try to make $100 out of this morning. I will get online later tonight/tomorrow, most likely during the late night. It’s strikes going on, the govt shutting down, but chile all I can do is keep pushin! On the bright side I’m home, and not spending no money to work in a club during this crisis!

I have noticed, and I think I’ve mentioned it before. When people don’t have a lot of money to spend, if any at all, THEY WILL TALK and talk and talk! I’ve noticed that this morning, a few of my regulars have been talking my fingers off. Maybe they just want a little conversation, and I’m fine with that, but I’ve noticed that the more they talk the shorter the show or the less money they end up spending. When they have it, they spend it! Just like when I used to go window shopping at the mall, seeing what I liked, looking around knowing I don’t have the funds lol. I spend a longer time looking around, than just going and buying what I want when I have the coin to spend. It’s basically the same thing! I’m fine with them testing the waters a bit and letting them get to know my personality, but for the most part, run me some coin! I’m not finna be talking too damn long now! I type a lot more than I talk, because a lot of them just want my attention and acknowledgment. So if they’re brand new I don’t talk until they tip or we go private, I just type to them, and regulars I do a little talking and more typing until they spend some money. It just saves me energy!

Anywho, it’s 9:14a, I’m getting off this mf at 10:00a, turning my air down and taking a damn nap lol!

———

Okay last 18 minutes, it's 9:42a, I made $68! Bish I been online all damn morning lol, but I'm not finna complain too much. It's been a few times where I've been online for longer and have made less. I just gotta stack it up through the day chile. I wanted to make that $100 this morning, but I need a damn break!!! Looking at my stats, I really could’ve just saved those first two hours, because I made $67 in 2 hours, my last hour online was kind of a bust too. Soooo looking at it like that, it’s not THAT bad, but still, DAMN!😂

——

Okay, I logged off at 10:10a, and I made $68 this morning. I really need to split cam, I'm actually gonna start it ASAP, because depending on one site ain't havin it for me! I’ve been splitting here and there, but bump that, I’m gonna get on a split cam schedule and stick to it. I'm grateful for the lil coin, don’t get me wrong, but sheesh lol! My ass will be back online today though, so let me shut up and go take a nap lol!

I'll ttyl, thanks for reading!! 💕

[cyanomys]

Man it's hard to respond to your reblog because I have so few and so many words. You described all my feelings that I didn't even know how to describe and soothed all the worries and shame I didn't even know I had. Long post incoming

they were just these unwanted things on my chest that Other People seemed to like for some reason

OMG yes exactly! I have always hated them -- for physical discomfort, but also because they represent things I am not, like sexuality, motherhood, and fertility -- but felt they were something I had to keep for Other People -- so that they would approve of me and think I had worth. Wow, when I say it like that is that not the grossest reason to keep (or value) a non-functional (in my case) body part?

“We have done this procedure for many trans men and nonbinary patients, and we have also done it for other women like you. You are not alone. You are not the only one. As long as you understand the risks of surgery and the permanence of the result, we will be happy to help you achieve the body you want.”

I am SHOCKED, my mouth fell open when I was reading this, I thought doctors would almost certainly look at me like I had three heads if I ever mentioned this. I've never even talked to a therapist about this because I was sure they would tell me I was mentally ill for feeling this way or that I was actually trans. I just got a new (really good) therapist and I am going to talk to her about it!!! 😤

Now it’s a year later, and I have my pre-op scheduled for this week and my actual surgery is set for July.

Idk if you plan to post any updates on your blog but I am ABSOLUTELY going to follow you and I would love to chat with you about your surgery experience someday if you don't mind but I also understand if you wouldn't want to 😳

I love it so much that I’m willing to undergo major surgery and recovery to remove the things that are hurting it and make it what it was always meant to be.

You can get this surgery. You are allowed to want this. You do not need to change anything about yourself or how you identify.

😭😭😭

And massive, MASSIVE thank you to the trans men and nonbinary people who paved the way and told their stories and showed their scars and gave me the courage I needed to make this decision. I owe you all a lifelong debt ❤️

This is an amazing attitude, and I will be stealing it. Previously I was worried that I was encroaching on trans "territory" so to speak but gratitude is so much more productive. I wouldn't even be comfortable posting like this about hating my boobs if it weren't for the amazing education I've gotten from trans people and acceptance from the queer community. I wouldn't even have the vocabulary and even if I did, I wouldn't be brave enough to blaze that trail alone.

Thank you so so much for this post, @rainydaydecaf. I'm so glad I made blazed this post (since I have maybe 1 follower that is not a bot lol) because you and everyone else who has responded so far have given me the perspective that I'm not some kind of freak and the courage to talk to my therapist and start my own little top surgery fund. I really like your idea of not making the final decision until I've saved up the money. :3

Are there any other cis-identifying women out there who want to get top surgery? What is your experience?

Here's mine ...

Ah yes, June, Pride month, the time every year for me to ponder if the fact that I desperately want to cut my boobs off makes me trans....

But like!! I feel like a woman!! I just feel like a woman that doesn't have boobs!

Boobs were never part of my mental map of myself, they're like this unwanted limb that doesn't belong to me??

Obviously that's some kind of dysphoria but....I feel like a woman, or at least a sort of queer, gender-nonconforming woman. I am asexual (I think), so I want to say it could be related to that, but it feels reductive and incomplete as an explanation on its own.

In fact I am so certain I am a woman because I actually identified as trans nonbinary for a year and wore more masculine clothes and went by they/them because I thought that my chest dysphoria meant that must be the case, but I "detransitioned" because it didn't feel right (I am Not A TERF and very pro-enbies everywhere, it just was not me). Tbh I am significantly more secure in my identity now than I ever was before that time.

Also it fuckin sucks because binding is *literally* the worst possible thing for me, health wise. Makes my gerd, asthma, dizziness, and anxiety worse. I still wear light compression tops or tight sports bras a lot of days but can't tolerate it always. It's miserable.

And don't even get me started on how the hell I would pay for top surgery. Fat chance my insurance would cover it when I say I'm not trans and mine aren't even that huge to begin with so the typical reasons women get breast reductions (back pain etc) don't apply.

Wondering if anyone out there feels similarly.

[cursedcola]

Okay hear me out: AU where Crowley names Yuu the successor to NRC.

More on what i’m thinking below the cut. This is just me idea dumping so grammar/spelling likely won't be fabulous. Also some spoilers for character background/plot

Yuu becomes headmaster in training- (choosing not to go home bc like, why go home? They literally saved an entire school and opportunities are abundant? Sure they've almost died a few times but ignore that) -after they finish their time as a student.

Like just imagine them being a bridge between magic and non-magic users as the first non-mage to head NRC (assuming Crowley isn’t just some immortal who’s always been the headmaster?). It would change TW immensely and they could do so much.

I can absolutely see people outside the community objecting to this, but inside it is a unanimous vote that Yuu is absolutely perfect to be the next headmaster. They’ve proven their ability as a positive influence on others and have kept the college from falling into shambles on multiple occasions. They have out-of-the-box thinking from growing up somewhere out of TW, and sympathize with all groups. Not to mention that they have the favor of some of the most influential families in all of TW. The al’ asim family is a powerful investor for school funding (do NOT want on their bad side), the Kingscholar royals adore Yuu, and literally one of the most influential figures in the sea-folk business world (with connections and resources like no other) is at their back and call. They have a world-famous model with a large following to market? Hell, they even somehow got he next head of S.T.Y.X (the highly intelligent tech guru that doesn't give anyone the time of day)….DID I MENTION THE BLOODLY NEXT KING OF BRIAR VALLEY??? ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WIZARDS IN THE WORLD???? THEY SOMEHOW HAVE THIS MAN AS PUTTY IN THEIR HANDS???

Yes. All these people on their side in addition to all of the staff and an overwhelmingly positive vote from the current students. Yuu would make an excellent headmaster and Crowley would love having a reliable assistant to push all his work on train

Like we all can predict, Yuu going home is not going to be pretty for everyone at NRC. This is just the perfect excuse to get them to stay ;) I imagine Riddle doing the NRC equivalent of a kid making a powerpoint to convince their parent of something lolz . (“Ten reasons why you should stay in Twisted Wonderland and become headmaster”). Or like, the Tweels 100% chat Yuu up and spread word of them taking over before they make a choice (whaaat??? Gotta get that peer pressure going). Just IMAGINE Leona sicking Cheka on Yuu, asking them if they’re going to stick around with puppy eyes. Don’t even start me on Lilia being cheeky and talking about how you can be just like him if you stay! (Aka the beloved aunt/uncle of everyone's future kids bc you’ll be their teacher in the future and it’s so much fun messing with multiple generations of one family. You’re like a leech in their bloodline and he knows you’ll love it). And the first years- oh man the first years. Are you really going to do them dirty like this and leave? Grimm will literally fight you tooth and nail.

I could go on about this but I think I'll stop. Just…i don’t know. Seems silly for Yuu to stay in TW for no reason, but them succeeding Crowley makes so much sense to me. I know they want to go home but if they had or wanted to stay??? Imagine the absolute chaos of them becoming the future headmaster.

I hinted to this with Lilia, but imagine them mentoring the next generation (like how Crowley should be). Them just finding their calling in TW, having all their friends (lover? hehe) backing them up and getting into shenanigans while in training. Who knows, maybe Grimm becomes Vice-Headmaster and their story as the "Halved-Student," becomes something like a famous story at NRC.

If you have reached this far in my rambling, thanks lol. I’ve had this in my head for days and I love the idea so much. Feel free to add on to it in the comments etc. if you want!

[ltleflrt]

Hey Carrie! You talked a little the other day about writers' tendency to start a fic too early in the story, and how you see a lot of first scenes that could have been scrapped to improve the story. My question is if you have some tips to recognize while writing that first scene that you are starting too early in the story?

Hello friend!

That's a really good question, and I'll see if I can give an answer that makes sense. I am not a professional, and I'm not educated or trained in this stuff, it's just something that I recognize from years and years and years of voracious reading. And as with all writing advice, I encourage you to take what I'm going to say with a grain of salt and remember that no writing rule is a hard rule, only a guideline.

Also, my advice is going to be pertaining fanfiction, and specifically to AUs. Obviously a published book has an editor with a razor blade going through a manuscript for you, and the problems that bother me in fanfiction crop up in AUs more than Canonverse.

Oh, and every instance of "you" is general, not specific 😜

So I think the main problem that I see is that people are starting with an Info Dump. An Info Dump is not always a bad thing, sometimes it's completely necessary, but it is NOT where you want to start your story. If it absolutely has to be done, it's better to be somewhere in the middle or near the end. When it's something that your characters need to know.

That's an important bit: Do your characters need to know this?

And related to that: Does your audience need to know this for the story to make sense?

And very important follow up: If the answers to the above questions are yes, does the character/audience need to know this RIGHT NOW?

There's a lot of information about your story that YOU need to know. Heck, my notes files are full of sooooooo much stuff that I know about the characters and plot that never reaches the final product.

So when you're reading your first chapter (I say reading, not writing, because sometimes info dumping for your own benefit is good, and then you fix it before you share the story lol), ask yourself those two questions.

So for example:

In an AU where Dean is a tattoo artist, and it's his POV. The story starts with Dean driving to work, and when he gets there he's going to find out that the empty shop next door has been purchased and is going to be a yoga studio. He meets Castiel out front, up on a ladder trying to hang a hand painted sign, and some teens go running buy and knock into the ladder and Dean has to catch Castiel from falling. (Anyone who wants to adopt this idea is welcome to it btw, I would love to read this lol)

The mistake I often see in a first chapter like this is that as Dean is walking to work, there's a whole Info Dump about why he's a tattoo artist instead of a hunter. He'll be ambling along, thinking about his nice little business, and there's info about how his mom died in a fire, and his dad was a jerk, and Dean didn't go to college because he saved his money for Sammy's college fund, and Dean's only passion was art, and Bobby Singer introduced him to a tattoo shop owner who took Dean under his wing, etc.

Question 1, does your character need to know this?: Why is Dean reflecting on his past? Does Castiel need to know this information in order to build a romance with Dean?

Question 2, does your audience need to know this?: Why does this information matter? If Dean's only reflecting on this because you want to make sure your audience knows where the timeline changed and this became an AU, then you're starting too early in your story. Dean doesn't need to know this, and honestly in a lot of cases the reader doesn't need to know this. This is information that should have been left in your notes file.

Question 3, does the character/audience need to know this NOW?: If this information is pertinent to the plot, like maybe there's some trauma there that Castiel might need to know about to develop their relationship, then you don't want to put it HERE, you want to put it in a conversation with Castiel LATER.

If I was writing this AU, I would just start with Dean sipping his coffee, he's kinda tired because reasons, he looks up to see an unusual commotion, and has to drop his coffee and sprint forward to catch Cas. If he's reflecting on anything in this scene, it's going to be whatever made him tired, or how good/bad the coffee is this morning. Since Cas is a new business owner, they can talk about the origins of Dean's business on their first date, because it'll be a relevant response to Castiel talking about the origins of his yoga studio.

And just in general, if Dean's origin story includes a lot of canon elements, like mom dying in a fire, dad being a deadbeat, Sammy being the adorable overachieving Stanford student.... try to hide that info for as long as you can so that the audience is actually curious about it by the time the info might pop up. It's the wild divergences that are more interesting earlier on.

Okay, and then I want to talk about my giant pet peeve for a starting chapter. It's a specific kind of info dump, that often includes the stuff from above, but then goes a step further.

My nemesis, The Daily Grind.

I haven't asked the authors, so I could be wrong about this, but I feel like most of the time when this type of chapter is included in a story it is because the author wants to show the reader that the character's life is boring and meaningless before the plot's inciting incident. I can absolutely see why that might be considered an important detail about the character, but keep in mind if it's boring and meaningless to the character, it's boring and meaningless to your audience.

You know how I said earlier that writing tips should never be hard and fast rules? Well this is in regards to that Show Don't Tell rule, and it's an example of TOO MUCH showing lol

It is possible to do a daily grind in an interesting way, but only if you include a Shake Up right away. And you have to look at the 3 questions a little bit differently.

So for example:

Castiel POV, and he works in an office. His daily routine is to always get up at the same time every day, he goes for his run, he grooms himself, he has his breakfast, he goes to work and talks to Kelly about how Jack's doing in kindergarten for a few minutes before going into his office. Adler comes in to be a prick, Castiel hates him for it, and then he does his reports, has lunch hiding in a corner of the lunch room so that his co-workers will leave him alone, he does more reporting, leaves an hour after his shift technically ends, goes home to a lonely apartment that maybe includes a pet who is the only being that shows him affection, has an unsatisfying dinner of leftover takeout while watching a mindless reality tv show, then he goes to bed.

Ugh.

BORING.

Which, yeah I get it, the point is that his life is boring. But now the story is too, and I've clicked the back button before I can see how exciting it's capable of getting.

Question 1, does your character need to know this?: No. He knows. Poor thing definitely already knows.

Question 2, does your audience need to know this?: Yes, but...

Question 3, does the character/audience need to know this NOW?: Yes, but new question for ya:

Optional Question 4, why does this need to be separate from your plot's inciting incident? The answer to this 4th question is usually that it doesn't.

Chapter 2 of this type of beginning usually shows the shake up of Castiel's day. My advice is to start with the shakeup, and sprinkle in the details of what you would have put into chapter 1 to show the contrast. It's far more interesting to learn how boring Castiel's day is by starting with the shake up.

So, same scenario:

Castiel's alarm doesn't go off for some reason, OH NO HIS ROUTINE IS SHAKEN UP! You're explaining his routine while also stressing him the fuck out because he has to rush, or skip something that he normally needs to do. Action! Interesting! He gets to work late, and has to miss his conversation with Kelly about Jack because she's telling him that Adler's already in his office being a prick because Castiel isn't there waiting for him like he always is. Oh shit, he's pissing off his asshole boss! Conflict! He's so flustered by the shakeups that he misses something on his report, and he gets a call from that new marketing guy Dean Winchester who asks if they can have a meeting about it when Castiel normally takes his lunch. BAM! MEET CUTE OPPORTUNITY! While Castiel is getting all flustered by how pretty Dean is while they talk about TPS reports, he can reflect on how this is both better and worse than hiding from his co-workers in the corner of the lunch room. The rest of the day after that meeting he's thinking about how weird this day is, he still goes home an hour late, he talks to his pet about his weird day when he gets home, and maybe he still eats leftover takeout, but he's not paying attention to the reality tv show because holy shit he wants to count Dean's freckles.

In this example, you're Telling the audience about Castiel's normal routine instead of Showing them. But since it's during a plot heavy chapter, it works!

Lemme see if I can TL:DR this...

As you're reading, ask yourself who needs to know this information, why do they need to know this information, and why is it important for this information to be included early instead of later?

If the answer to any of those questions boils down to "this is backstory" instead of "this kicks off the plot", then you've started too early.

I hope this helps? I'm always nervous about giving writing advice because so much of the time I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm just feeling around in the dark. And I definitely do not ever want to hurt an author's feelings, because this hobby is so fucking hard, and we're all fragile. Even authors who welcome con-crit with open arms will have a weak point that they're unaware of that might get poked wrong and cause a crack, ya know?

I hope anyone who gets this far who might see their own works reflected in my examples understands that I have a lot of respect for their ability to put their work out into the world, and I want them to keep doing it. We're here to have fun, okay? Okay. I love y'all 💜

[xgardensinspace]

Harringrove for Ukraine

Hello! I’m participating in Harringrove for Ukraine! That means I’ll be writing fanfiction and drawing fanart in exchange for donations to an organisation that supports the Ukrainian people in this crisis.

I’m asking that you donate money to one of the following organisations in exchange for me posting my work:

The Ukrainian Army

The Ukrainian Red Cross, which does loads of humanitarian stuff, from aiding refugees to training doctors.

Revived Soldiers Ukraine, which funds medication and medical supplies for army hospitals on the front line.

The UN Refugee Agency, which provides life-saving protection to families forced to flee their homes.

NGO Insight, and KYIV PRIDE which provide funds for LGBTQ+ folks in crisis.

The Fund of Ukraine Armed Forces.

Follow these steps if you’re interested!

- Reblog this post and/or the master post both here and on Twitter if you have it so that we can get as much traction as possible as quickly as we can.

- Send me an ask to let me know what you'd like me to write for you and how much you'd like to donate.

- Wait until I reply to your ask, then you need to make your donation to one of the organisations listed above.

- Donate!! Remember PLEASE to screencap your receipt – you need to send me this to show you’ve donated so we can all track how much we’ve raised as a group

- Don’t forget to block out any private contact details you don’t want me to see!

- Once I’ve seen your receipt, I’ll start work on your project.

What I have to offer: Fanfiction and fanart for donations! Art and fic tagged :) Tho a couple tagged stories are not written by me so just beware xD I couldn’t get the “My writing” tag to work.

What I Like to Write and draw: I am super tender, so fluffy fics and lovely art is always my jam :b However, don’t hesitate to share kinky ideas with me and we can create stuff together that pleases the masses :) I also have lists of writing and art prompts in case you need some helps :)

Accepting prompts? Yes yes! Always :)

Additional Info: Share your fave tropes and dislikes with me.

My fave tropes are SoulmateAUs, Friends to Lovers, Hanahaki, Hurt/Comfort and Patching up wounds xD Naturally, lol. Also any like...coffee, flower, tattoo shop...college combo stuff is fun c:

Dislikes are preggy and baby stuff :b I’m really not a motherly being xD

Suggested Donation Amount:  $1 per 100 words of a fic. Obviously the more the better - this is such an important cause.

And for art...All bust or waist pieces. $5 can get you one character in black and white. $10 for two in black and white. $15 one character in colour, and thus $20 gets two characters in colour :) An extra $5 for full body? xD We could also go for a $25 donation getting you a REALISM portrait :) But one character only :’D Soz for that.

Please reblog and donate as soon as you can - I know it's not in everyone's budget right now but this is a really precarious situation and the faster we can get donations the better! Let's do this!

[leossmoonn]

could i please request a stefan fluff where the reader is like spanish or smth, but she speaks ij english with everyone. and her and stefan are dating. so one day she gets upset over smth so she starts ranting in spanish and stefan can't understand a thing. and he's like "oh- ok-" even though he didn't understand anything. if not thats ok! have a nice day!!

have a nice day too <33

masterlist

pairing - stefan salvatore x spanish speaking, fem!reader

type - fluff, angst

note - i put the reader as a spanish speaker and not just spanish, so it could be more inclusive :). and i'm so sorry that this is so bad. i couldn't come up with a better plot like i wanted to, but i hope you enjoy anyways!

warnings / includes - language, kissing, food and alcohol mention, cute couple stuff, you getting upset (duh), kissing, stefan trying to be supportive but also being really confused lol. you all are like in your late 20s for this lol. for those who aren't spanish speakers, i will put translations in little text under each sentence/paragraph

————

"Sí. Bueno, lo retomaré más tarde. Gracias," you hung up the phone, setting it down with a smile on your face.

["Yes. Okay, I will pick it up later. Thank you."]

"Hey, who was that?" Stefan come over to you, wrapping his arm around your waist.

"That was Lucas's friend. He was able to get the cake and the cupcakes made early!" You squealed, jumping up and down in his arms.

"Oh, that's awesome! Looks like Caroline won't be bugging you anymore," Stefan chuckled.

"Oh, I know. Man, am I happy to finally get this party planning over with," you sighed, turning around and leaning against the counter.

You smiled as you came face-to-face with your boyfriend. You hung your arms around his neck lazily, twirling the hair on the nape of his neck with your first fingers.

"Tired?" Stefan raised a brow, settings hands on your hips.

"Exhausted. And to think the actual party is tonight," you chuckled. "Well, that's the easiest part, right?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, watching over twenty-to-twenty five eleven years olds is easy," you rolled your eyes.

"You'll have help. Caroline, me, Bonnie, Ric, Elena, Matt. Even Damon has volunteered to watch them!"

"Or lure them in a back corner and fed on them," you scoffed. "Hey, Damon's a lot of things, but he is not a child-blood-sucker," Stefan defended.

"Awe, you're defending him. How cute," you booped his nose.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. We are goals. Or whatever the kids are saying these days."

You giggled at his words, turning back around as you heard the front door open. You looked to see Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena carrying the twins, a bunch of presents, and at least five boxes of pizza.

"Damn. I wish you guys bought me this many presents!" You exclaimed.

"Oh, shut up. We give you a bottle of champagne and you're already over the moon," Elena snickered.

"Well, what can I say? I'm a simple gal," you grinned.

"Hey, Stef, can you help, please? Put these next to the window sill," Bonnie ordered as she was carrying most of the presents.

"Yeah, of course," Stefan nodded. He ran over to her with his vampire speed, picking up the presents at lightening speed and laying them out in towers.

"Thank you," Bonnie sighed. "Yeah, no problem. Hey, why didn't you just use your magic to carry them in?" Stefan asked.

"I need to save my energy for the kids," Bonnie explained.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. I didn't know we were letting the world know our secret," you frowned.

"We aren't! They're just a bunch of kids. Plus, we can just compel them to forget. Josie and Lizzie really want to show them tricks, too," Caroline bounced the twins in her arms.

You looked to the two girls who were giggling and smiling. You sighed, "Fine. Anyways, guess who was able to get the cake and the cupcakes."

"Oh, my God! You?" Caroline gasped. "Yep. Call me Santa Claus 'cause I just delivered!" You grinned.

Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan cringed at your joke.

"Not your best work, Y/n," Elena shook her head.

"What! Hey, that was pretty good," you frowned. "You'll get 'em next time, babe," Stefan smiled, going over to you and patting you on the back.

"Okay, you guys are just jealous because you're not as funny as me," you scoffed.

"Oh, yeah, we're jealous all right," Bonnie smirked.

You opened your mouth to retort back, but your phone started ringing. You looked at the Caller ID, seeing that it was your brother, Lucas. You gave them all a death glare, picking up your phone and going into the other room.

"Hey, amigo, what's up?" You asked.

"Uh, bad news, chica," Lucas sighed. "Oh?" You raised a brow.

"Yeah, turns out that Darryl can't make the cake or the cupcakes today."

You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Your eyes were wide as saucers as you thought of what to say.

"Y/n? Please say something," Luca begged.

You turned your head, your face screwing up in guilt and anger as you saw Lizzie and Josie playing with Bonnie and Stefan. You turned back and focused on the conversation you were having with you very trusting brother.

"¿Qué quiere decir Darryl no puede hacer el pastel o cupcakes?"

[What do you mean darryl can't make the cake or cupcakes?"]

"I mean that he can't make them. Do I need to explain to you what those words mean? And why are you speaking in Spanish? Afraid someone will —"

"En realidad, lo soy, Lucas. Dios, eres tan poco confiable. ¡Y ese amigo tuyo! Espera, ¿podría recuperar mi dinero?"

["Actually, I am, Lucas. God, you are so unreliable. And that friend of yours! Wait, am I going to be able to get my money back?"]

"Um… probably not. But it's okay, I'll pay you back!"

"Ah, ¿cuándo? ¿Después de sacar dinero del fondo universitario de su hijo? ¿O se lo van a pedir a mamá y papá esta vez?"

["Oh, when? After you take out money from your child's college fund? Or are you going to ask mom and dad for it this time?"]

"Hey, don't blame me! Blame Darryl. All I did was hook you up with him!"

"Y probablemente sabías que era un gilipollas mentiroso y que robaba dinero. Llámame de vuelta cuando seas capaz de no mentirme, ¿sí?"

["And you probably knew that he was a lying, money-stealing asshole. Call me back when you're able to not lie to me, yeah?"]

"Wait, Y/n, I-"

You hung up the phone, throwing it on the chair next to you. You groaned quietly, the bridge of your nose burning as tears welled up in your eyes.

"¿Cómo puedes ser tan estúpido, Y/n? Confiando en él después de todo lo demás que ha hecho. Estúpido, estúpido, estúpido!"

["How can you be so stupid, Y/n? Trusting him after everything else he's done. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"]

Stefan, who was throwing up Lizzie and Josie in the air, heard your mutters in the other room. He frowned and put the girls down, promising them that he would be back in a second after checking up on you. He walked into the next room slowly, putting his arm around you lightly.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

You jumped at his voice and touch, sniffling and wiping the tears from your face. "Y-Yeah. Just some um, family stuff."

"Want to talk about it?" Stefan asked.

You sighed, turning around to him. His hand intertwined with yours, squeezing it for support.

"It's just… Lucas. He's just so… jodidamente molesto," you sighed. "Él simplemente no piensa en otras personas y las consecuencias. Quiero decir, trata de ayudar, lo que es agradable, pero siempre termina por pagar dinero a la gente, o termina por tener un ojo negro."

[“He is just so… fucking annoying. He just doesn't think about other people and the consequences. I mean, he tries to help, which is nice, but he always either ends up owing people money, or ends up having a black eye.”]

"O-Oh, yeah," Stefan nodded, his brows furrowed as he tried to understand. But you were speaking so fast and with so much anger, he barely picked up a word.

"Y como su hermana mayor, sé que probablemente se supone que voy fácil con él, pero es un hombre crecido. ¡Debe saber estas cosas! Ugh, sabía que debería haber ordenado a ellos como, Target o algo, pero el amigo de su “aparentemente” es capaz de hacer diseños realmente lindos y hacer arte fondant en tiempo récord, así que tomé mis mis oportunidades. ¿Y adivina dónde estoy ahora?"

[“And as his older sister, I know I'm probably supposed to go easy on him, but he's a grown man. He should know these things! Ugh, I knew I should've just ordered them from like, Target or something, but hsi friend "apparently" is able to do really cute designs and make fondant art in record time, so I took my chances. And guess where I am now?”]

"Right, right. Wow, I'm sorry, babe, I —"

"Ciento cincuenta dólares cortos con dos niñas que van a estar tristes cuando no consiguen su pastel de sirena barbie y cupcakes con temática de Minecraft. ¡Argh!"

["One hundred and fifty dollars short with two little girls who are going to be sad when they don't get their Barbie Mermaid cake and Minecraft-themed cupcakes. Argh!"]

You stopped your rant when you noticed Stefan looked at you with a confused expression on his face. You thought for a moment to yourself, beginning to laugh at yourself as you realised you were speaking in Spanish.

"I'm sorry, Stef. I didn't realise you couldn't understand me."

He smiled and shrugged. "No worries. At least you were able to get it all out, right?"

"A little. When I punch Lucas, I'll be able to get it all out," you grinned.

"That's my girl."

————

Like and Reblog!

join my taglist here

taglist - @123cxcv @devilishdice @kaitieskidmore1 @maybanksslut @mrs-salvawhore @oliviastone @myalupinblack @little-miss-naill @slut4drvc0 @iaalien @magnificentevilsstuff @oliviasrcdrigo @bxnnywatts @el-imaskingforyourlefthand @o-rion-sta-r

[sineala]

Are you current at all on Iron Man comics? Google gotcha'd me with a review for (apparently) the most recent issue and something...bummed me out. Idk maybe I have an idealized vision of Tony but this little excerpt irked me: "The people have cobbled together a small town and share what they have communally. Tony, the eternal capitalist, doesn't quite understand."

I just, I don't. I don't know. Am I nuts? (Yes, but that's unrelated lol)

I am current on Iron Man comics and this is honestly my least favorite Iron Man run I have ever read, so, yeah. I'm with you.

Putting some salt beneath the Read More.

I feel like there's been a trend in Iron Man comics in the past decade or so, in which Tony, who basically started as the fantasy of the One Ethical Billionaire (well, okay, it used to be Millionaire) who basically just wanted to be good to people and if anything seems to have seen his money as a tool toward accomplishing that and was generally very kind, very caring, very responsible and just wanted to make the world the best place he possibly can -- well, he seems to have turned into We Know What Billionaires Are Like, Don't We where he spends his money on fast cars and other expensive hobbies. That kind of thing. Doing Cool Things with money, and, I mean, not that Tony didn't do Cool Things before, obviously, but I'm not seeing a lot of comics these days about, say, Tony funding women's shelters.

The current Iron Man run has basically taken as its starting point the idea that Tony is a rich guy out of touch with how everyone else lives and that he needs a series of reality checks about pretty much everything. And in principle, that's not a bad plot for a story, but it's, in my opinion, a very weird choice as a plot for Tony because this has never been a problem for him before. So now he has to Learn Things that there's ample evidence in canon of him already knowing.

So we get plotlines where, like, Patsy tells Tony that he doesn't understand what it's like not to have money, because he's paying his own hospital bill and is upset about flying commercial. And, yes, he's accustomed to having money and doesn't have the experience of, say, growing up in poverty -- but he has definitely had the experience of having literally zero money. Patsy also tells Tony that he doesn't know what it's like to be suicidal, and Tony agrees, which is a little odd given that Tony has literally been shown attempting suicide on-panel twice.

Anyway, I feel like the plot of the most recent issue is another example of Tony apparently needing to Learn Things that he should have already known. He learns that it's fulfilling to help people! I mean, uh, he's a superhero. I think he already knows that. He learns that it's fulfilling to help people without expecting them to be grateful and without needing to take the credit! I mean, okay, that's nice for him, but also he had a secret identity for forty years. He's spent a while not taking the credit. At one point he makes an impassioned speech to the US Senate when he's trying to become the Secretary of Defense and he tells them all about how he's saved the world so many times no one else will ever know and he doesn't take the credit and he does it because it's the right thing to do. So this is, to me, yet another instance of this run doing what it's been doing all along, which is postulating that Tony needs to learn, say, humility and empathy, when I feel like he has been shown as already knowing these things for years.

[chanelandcloves]

I have been tagged by @utsuu and I’d rather do this than work or study for my certification LMAO

Sharing personal information on the internet... let's goooooo:

Nickname: Nikki or Cole

Star Sign: Libra Sun. To be extra I’m Taurus Moon and Sagittarius ascendant

Height: 5’4

Time: 11:00am

Birthday: Sept. 28

Favorite Bands: BIGBANG, BTS, AFI. Stray Kidz, TXT, SHINee…I don’t have many faves. I enjoy many different groups/bands but my brain says brrrr and can’t think of others

Favorite Solo Artists: G-Dragon, AGUST D, J-Hope (those 2 are of course in BTS but as solo artists they are *chefs kiss* but ot7 always), BEWHY, Oceanfromtheblue, Wooks, Hoody, MIYAVI…I know there’s more but 🙃

Favorite Foods: I don’t really have any tbh bc I enjoy many

Favorite Colors: Black and then neutrals

Last Thing I Googled: an orthodontist for the chompers and also Plasma donations

Last Show I Watched: Bad Buddy and currently watching Semantic Error

Last Movie I Watched: encanto with my cousin and her twin boys lol

Lucky Number: 3 & 7 I think. Cant say for sure tho.

When Did I Create This Blog: ages and ages ago. When tumblr was first hella popular and had more hype. Then I dropped it for a bit and came back bc of The Devil Judge.

Do I Have Any Other Blogs?: negative. I just have le IG and Twitter where I yell a lot lol

Do I Get Asks?: nope. But it’s cool

Why Did I Choose My URL?: Chanel is a dream designer and I’d love to own a bag one day. But with the rate at which they’re increasing their prices, I’d rather save for a Birkin bc goodness. And cloves bc I like clove cigarettes tho quite unhealthy duh. I don’t actively smoke and they are not legal in MD I don’t think but I can cross into the next state and snag some if I wanted to lol

Blogs You Follow: 808. Probably gonna unfollow some bc I’m sure many are deactivated at this point

Dream Trip: back to Korea but this time for an extended amount of time. Saving the funds. And from there I wanna visit Japan and Singapore

Instruments: none.

Average Hour Of Sleep: maybe the most 8hrs 🙃

How Many Blankets Do You Sleep With: tis winter so like 3 bc I hate being cold. Yes there is heat but still.

Tagging: whomst do I tag idk idk umm I shall pick at random. @xxcaribbean @sashkitty ummm and whoever comes across this have fun 😌💜

[heybeybey]

OG Levi Squad Traveling Together headcanon list (if Attack on Titan wasn’t so fucked up 😭😭😭 I also miss them so...)

Offering up a new headcanon list to the fandom because I’m currently catching up on the manga and it’s getting harder to breathe with each chapter :’) 

Also: to those who sent HC requests, I haven’t forgotten them! I’ll get back to them soon! I just need to daydream something happy right now lol thank you so much for sending them!!

Slight Rivetra btw (are u even surprised??) 

10/10 THEY’D TRAVEL TOGETHER. Like “road trip level complete with country music” type of travel (no this isn’t modern au)

They “force” Levi to travel with them but let’s be real, he also wants to join deep down

Their travel “assignments”:

Gunther - Budgeting. He seems like the most sensible one

Eld - Map and navigation (and music... much to Levi’s disappointment) 

Levi - Packing (but the truth is the team just doesn’t want to accidentally forget cleaning supplies that he might “need”)

Petra - Schedule and itinerary!

Oluo - Nothing bec. he’d fuck up everything Food and groceries. Highly supervised by Gunther. 

You think Levi ordered them these assignments? NO IT’S MAMA PETRA. SHE’S TAKING OVER NOW SO SIT YOUR ASS DOWN CAPTAIN

Eld would be the type to bring an instrument during their travels and play while they’re on horseback and just lazily traveling around

Of course, Levi will be the one to tell them all to shut the fuck up

“You’re not our commanding officer anymore, captain.” 

Then the four of them would continue with their singing

At one point, they’d probably get involved in a bar fight 

Lol, again you think it’s the captain? Maybe Oluo? 

NO IT’S DRUNK PETRA. Someone probably grabbed her ass while in a bar and she didn’t learn all that Survey Corps moves for nothing!!!!

Eld, Gunther and Oluo would try holding her back

Levi would just be in the corner sipping on his beer as he watches the scene unfold 

But he later on kicks the man in the balls 

They’d all leech off from captain’s savings bec. he had the highest salary out of them all

Sugar Baby Levi Squad no no please ignore this point this one’s 100% shitpost

But no really, I think Levi would treat them to a few meals or entrance fees because he’s the one who doesn’t have any family left so what’s his savings for? He’d rather let his team use the money they can save for their respective families

Oluo would probably shop for something that they don’t need and Levi would throw it out since it takes up wayyy too much space in their luggage

Gunther would meet someone during the trip and they’ll have this whirlwind summer romance while they stay in that place for 2 weeks 💖 💖 💖 💖 

Speaking of romance, Eld and Gunther are using this opportunity to push the Captain and Petra together

Oluo would be against it and say “it’s not proper” (No one believes him that that’s the real reason btw)

They’d go and have their portraits taken because Petra wanted a team picture but they just won’t sit still and the only one that comes out right in the photo is Levi

Eld writes to his fiance about their adventures

Same with Petra. She’d write to her father about their travels but 80% of it would be Levi’s name.

When they’re lost, Levi and Eld would insist that yes, of course we know where we’re going

Oluo needed some medical treatment once in awhile. There was this one time he sliced his left foot open while he was swimming in the ocean. (At least it’s not his tongue again so he’s improving)

....they tried gambling once with a group of strangers. Levi won it all for their team. More travel fund for Gunther to budget.

CARNIVALSSSSSSSS

They buy ice cream and try to figure out each others’ favorite flavours.

Oluo once won Petra a big-ass teddy bear

Levi tries to tell himself that it doesn’t bother him 

He threw the teddy bear away, telling Oluo that it’s taking up space in the luggage (Poor Oluo)

There was a time they tried camping and for someone who was in the Survey Corps, Levi hated every moment of it. 

He’d constantly check for bugs and would clean his tent twice before sleeping (his cleaning time is longer than his actual sleeping time)

Eld, Oluo, Gunther and Petra would get tired of him raging around that they just cleared their cart and used it at his sleeping place 

One time, Oluo couldn’t sleep and he and Levi chat together. Levi gives him some combat advice and even a few things about taking care of teenage girls (since Levi took care of Isabel) and u can bet Oluo’s really fanboying throughout that night.

Rivetra: Okay so there was this one time when there were only two rooms left in their hotel. One has three beds on it while the other one is a honeymoon suite. Eld and Gunther ganged up and blackmailed Oluo to join them so Petra and Levi would be in the same room together (the honeymoon suite)

Levi tried pointing out that maybe Petra should have the room to herself and the four men can be in the same room together since she’s the only woman in their group... but the three men already checked in and ignored the captain. 

Petra would go shopping for dresses and when they all need to pack up again to move to their next destination, Levi allows her to bring ALL of it. Eld, Oluo and Gunther would argue because the captain threw away 70% of what they bought/won/collected but Petra gets to keep it all???

Levi would just say: “So you’re saying clothing isn’t essential?” 

Which is a bullshit reason. He’s just soft for Petra as usual.

Gunther IS a genius at budgeting!! They still have some left after they wrapped up the trip. 

What they’d usually shop for: 

Gunther - books and vitamins for his aging parents

Petra - clothing, some jewellery and a few snacks for her dad and the rest of the Survey Corps (how she packs that, i don’t know)

Eld - Dresses and jewellery for his girlfriend

Oluo - Toys for his little sisters and brothers

Levi - the rarest tea in that place. Probably books for the nerds back home Erwin and Hange

[ronsenburg]

Hi! I wanted to ask you something about Klapollo. What topic/argument do you think could possibly cause them to break up or take a break from the relationship? I live for the drama and was thinking about maybe writing a fic but like I dont want to make either of them assholes, like Apollo bringing Kristoph up to hurt Klavier, for example. I don't think he would do that but I struggle to come up with something else.

Oh boy, I hope you’re not upset about this, but I wrote you an essay. I’m sorry.

Overall, I really like the klapollo relationship timeline because, compared to, say, narumi/su they have a much more normal, organic story. They meet, flirt, share a mutual trauma, get together! Totally normal! But I also think that they would have a much harder time than narumi/su finding the balance you need in a serious relationship and I can see them calling it quits for perfectly practical reasons that aren’t really anything to do with one being a jerk, you know? Here are my top things that I think they would have to navigate and maybe struggle with before a real happily ever after:

1. Money. You’ve probably seen my post where I talk about Apollo feeling uncomfortable with displays of affluence. I don’t think that this is an easy one to get past. AA6 Spoilers, but Dhurke and Datz literally raised them in hiding on the run in the mountainous jungles of Khura’in. They sent Apollo to the states as a nine year old. We don’t know what he did when he got here, but my money’s always been on the foster system. That doesn’t typically breed a sense of stability, financial or otherwise. 

From my experience (so take it with a grain of salt), children who grow up with very little tend to behave in one of two ways when they reach financial stability and/or achieve wealth: first option, they’re really bad with it. They spend it nearly as fast as they make it on things they didn’t get to have or experience when they were growing up. Second option, they never spend it. They know what it’s like to be without, so they save as much of it as they can so they have the security of knowing, if something happens, they won’t have to go back to the way it was before. I will always put Apollo in the latter category. He works hard for what he has and what he gets and, I think, things that signify extravagance make him uncomfortable. On the other hand, I think that the Gavin’s have always had some sort of wealth. Klavier and Kristoph have very different aesthetics to their spaces that we get to experience (Klavier’s office and Kristoph’s cell) but they’re both pretty lavish. Now, we can assume they each made their money individually in their respective careers but, honestly, Kristoph’s cell is so gaudy. To me, it screams “this is what I’m used to and I refuse to accept any less” which is an attitude that I feel comes more from a lifetime of that treatment. 

So if we accept everything that I’ve said above as true, trying to put a person who saves every penny they get and feels bad treating themselves with a person who spends money freely because it’s been a constant throughout their life? It can go poorly. Casually dating, maybe it’s not such an issue once Apollo says “please no more presents and can we just get takeout for once?” but if you’re talking about something more serious, where you have to live in the same space and pay joint bills and be confronted with the other person’s spending habits constantly, it’s a whole other thing. Please take it from me as a person in a long term relationship who loves their partner tremendously—everyone fights about money. Everyone. It would be very difficult for Apollo to feel comfortable, even if he knew that finances were in good shape and there was savings, etc. Things happen, people leave. Nothing gold can stay. Changing that line of thinking takes work. It would also be easier said than done for Klavier to just do an about face on his own habits for Apollo’s comfort. Being a celebrity makes money, but it costs money, too. There is a certain amount of lushness that people expect. That can’t just go away. These are things that become bigger problems overtime, no matter how much you love each other. 

Anyway, I would be really surprised if—even if you’re writing them as really happily married—Apollo doesn’t have a ‘emergency fund’ that even Klavier doesn’t know about. It’s a ‘just in case’. Just in case Klavier leaves him. Just in case he needs to get away fast. Just in case the world ends. It’s not a logical thing, something that he sat down and rationalized doing, it’s just there because it feels better to have it than to not. But that can be kind of hurtful if the other person finds out about it, so. There you go, a whole minefield of money related drama.

2. Apollo’s Abandonment Issues. He’s got them! What do you call and orphan twice over who also lost his very best friend? I don’t know, but if capcom doesn’t stop picking on my boy I’m going to kick them in the teeth. I will still never get over AA6 for telling us that Dhurke took Apollo in when he was orphaned as a baby, then abandoned him in the USA, then came back for him and got his hopes up, and then was actually dead the whole time! Hahahaha! What a trip! 

Anyway, you don’t come back from that super easy. People who suffer this kind of trauma usually have a really hard time trusting others, which is understandable. They also can have unrealistic needs from their partners, become codependent, or even just self-sabotage their relationships, pulling away first to try and avoid the pain because they think the other person will leave them. I think that last one is most likely for Apollo, especially given the disparity in circumstances I mentioned above. If Apollo can’t trust that Klavier actually loves him, can’t trust that he won’t leave him like EVERYONE ELSE HAS, then they can’t have a healthy relationship. Drama.

3. Klavier’s Emotional Trauma. Kristoph is a pretty big jerk to Klavier in the last case of AA4. He criticizes and undermines Klavier, threatens and admits to manipulating him. In the anthology, Klavier shares an “lol so funny!” story about Kristoph accidentally breaking a window while he and Klavier are playing ball. In it, he convinces Klavier that it was his fault and that he should take the blame and apologize for breaking the window! And Klavier does! That’s gaslighting, baby, and since the Anthology is supposed to be canon, we can take that to mean it’s been happening since Klavier was a kid. Think about that. An entire life of gaslighting and manipulative behavior! You don’t come back from that easily, either. 

People who experience emotional abuse can, among other things, suffer from depression and low-self esteem. They need affirmation from their partners and can have a hard time with letting people in or being honest (though not from a malicious mindset—more a “I’m going to say what I think you want to hear because if you’re happy, bad things won’t happen!”). They can also always be waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. Sure things are good, but when will that end and the bad time start? It’s a self fulfilling prophecy: if all you can do is worry about things going wrong, then you aren’t actually enjoying when things are going right and you will cause the issues you’re so worried about. Drama.

4. Fame. Klavier has been in the spotlight since he was a literal child. If the Gavinners were already hits when Klavier was 17, they likely formed and starred their rise some time before then. A year, maybe two? Klavier spent his formative years in the spotlight. He quite literally doesn’t know any other way. Apollo, on the other hand, has never experienced the kind of scrutiny he’d be subject to when dating someone like Klavier. It can be really stressful and hurtful and just overall not a good time. And I’m not saying that Klavier wouldn’t be sympathetic, but I don’t think he would really understand how difficult it could be to have been thrust into that position out of nowhere, because he’s had years of dealing with it and was in a completely different place in life when it began for him. It’s not unreasonable to think that Apollo might not be able to take it. You can love someone and want to be with them but if you can’t adapt to their lifestyle, it’s not going to work. They could walk away rather than risk what might happen to Apollo if they kept it up. Drama.

5. Careers. They both have very demanding jobs. While sharing a similar profession can mean there’s a mutual understanding, it can also cause issues if you... never get to see each other? Schedules can be out of alignment (which could easily happen; their cases can’t always line up and they seem to require a lot of time investment outside of just normal hours). If Klavier goes back into music, that’s an additional time constraint. Why be in a relationship when you can only see the other person for moments here and there? What about the stress that comes with those jobs? That can cause drama.

6. Klavier looks like Kristoph. They are very different people, yes, but similar enough in some ways that it could cause tension. Maybe Klavier is tired and stressed and snaps at Apollo, and suddenly, all Apollo can see is Kristoph and all he can feel is the uncomfortable churning in his stomach that goes along with the memories of him. Someone he trusted, someone who let him down. That’s a difficult subject to broach, and it can fester like an infected wound if left intended. 

But Apollo sounds like Kristoph sometimes. We saw it in AA5, which is, of course, an extreme circumstance. But it can come out from time to time in other ways. A phrase that slips out, the way he intones certain words, the way he signs off in his emails—little things that are harmless, but can still act as triggers. 

Sometimes you need to get away from things that can remind you of your past in order to work on getting over them. If you are in love with someone who shares a similar trauma, who brings those issues from the past to light frequently just by being themselves, it might not be a healthy situation. I don’t think they would need to throw it in each other’s faces for it to become an issue. Drama.

There are more, but I probably took this more seriously than you intended. Whoops! Anyway, I hope that helps??? Maybe???? I hope you get them back together in the end because they deserve to be happy though!!!!!!!

[pinkispoggers]

Earth | Lance Bishop x Fem!Reader

A/N: Heyyyy... it's me again, so this is my second Bishop fic... I'm not that good with writing for Artificial people, so idk how accurate this is. Anyway, I'm also sorry if he smiles too much. Anyways, I feel free to share this with others! Oh, and I didn't use Grammarly so this probably doesn't have the best Grammar lol... and alsoooo this is my first fic with no smut... yeah...

Words: 4.7k

Warnings... none that I can think of!

Enjoy!

August 7th, 2120, aboard the USS Sulaco

You wake up in your chambers, stretching and sighing. You sit on the edge of your bed, pondering… well nothing really, you hop up, knowing this would be your last day on the Sulaco, and you would surely miss it. You had to go into Cryosleep at 3:00 pm and it was 11:34 in the morning now.

You get a few jumping Jacks in before finally getting your flight suit on and heading to the cafeteria to sit with the people you've only known for a year, and one you… you had feelings for, but you couldn't exactly call him a human. Artificial Human is what he preferred to go by and you respected that.

You sit down next to that Artificial Human. His name was Bishop, and you started a quick conversation. Before you end the conversation to eat, "would you like some cornbread?" He says with a warm tone, "sure" you smile and he gives you one back.

He hands you the cornbread, shaking a little. "Everything ok, Bishop?" You ask and a frown paints his face and you give him one back and tilt your head "Bishop?" You wave your hand over his face when he doesn't respond.

"Please, come to meet me in my office after Breakfast, I have something to ask you." He says and gets up, but not before he gives you the cornbread. You blush, hard. He walks out of the room to voices asking where he's going. He seemed… sad.

After Breakfast__________

You get back to your room, for this was a free day. Yesterday you had just got back from checking in on the Colonists on LV-492. You were only a science officer, so you only stayed in the drop ship while the others were down there.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when you realized what Bishop had asked you to do. You jump up from your bed that you were comfortably laying on. You quietly open your doors and step out with no shoes on, making your steps quieter.

You begin heading down to his office, but you hear something. Steps. "Shit" you whisper and stop in your place. You begin to run. You run all the way to his office, which is not far. You always go there to hang out with him… a lot actually. He loves showing you things that he's discovered because he knew nobody else would really care like you did.

You get to his office and step in and he smiles, ear to ear. You love his smile, it's so sweet and so… well… unsettling. The room is black-gray painted, and parts of it were white, but barel. You look around a bit and then down at him, sitting at a desk. "So, what did you need to "ask" me?" You ask and

"Well, I know this is straightforward but, Y/n, do you love me?" He asks and your jaw drops, but you hold your place. "What? Um…" you blush. "I'm sorry, please disregard what I just said, I was just wondering." He exclaims. "No, no, I- I do actually." You stutter and his eyes open widely. "Oh, ok, well I guess I can say that I love you back, you have always been special to me and I guess I formed an… attraction." He says and your mind is filled with questions.

"How can you love, you are only an artificial person?" You ask and he smiles once again. "Well, the thing is, I don't actually have the answer for that, you just… to put it in simple terms, amaze me, you are so… beautiful." He says and you blush "well thank you, Bishop" you blurt, not knowing this feeling that was pouring down on you. He gets up from his chair and walks over to you.

"Bishop?" You ask and he puts his large hand on your cheek. You smile widely as you knew what he was going to do and you let it happen. His lips met yours and as soon as it began, it ended. A quick kiss before he went to sit back down.

"Well anyways, there was also something I needed to tell you. When we get back to earth, they are granting us a free vacation, and it's going to be fully funded by the Weyland-Yutani corps! For some reason, they invited me! Maybe just for a friendly face, but i'm… excited!" He says, running on. "Well that's great, more time to hang out with you!" You blush happily.

"Come, I want to show you something!" He smiles and you come over. He pulls out a chair and you sit down.

An hour later

"Yeah! Well it's…" He said as he looked at his watch "2:57 now, we better get going." "Oh! Ok, yeah I almost forgot!" You say as you both stand up and race to the Cryosleep room, side by side.

When you reach there, everyone is already ready to go into Cryosleep except for you and Bishop. "Get ready you two, and, I saw you go into his office" Apone glared at you and you sigh and you do what he says.

You lie in your chamber, pondering endlessly about… nothing again. You lie flat on your back, watching as Hudson shoots you a middle finger with a shit eating grin on his face and then closes the door to the chamber. You float off to sleep with a smile on your face.

3 weeks later, asleep

You wake up from Cryosleep, but in an unfamiliar room. It looks like a bedroom, a nice one too. You're only wearing underwear, and a wristband that says in all caps "WEYLAND-YUTANI CORPS" "this must be a Wey-yu hotel?" You whisper to yourself. Why were you half naked, You thought.

You hear a knock at your door and you panic. "One second!" You shout and you scramble to find clothes. You make your way over to the drawer in the far corner of the room and you slip on an oversized top and head to the door.

You open it and see a familiar face, then you smile widely. "Hello Bishop! What are you doing here-" you mumble, figuring out what happened. Bishop was wearing a striped shirt and gray sweatpants. He looked so cute like that. "Wait, I remember, but what are you doing at my hotel room?" You go on and he smiles back. "Just checking in. How are you?" He asks. "Oh, I'm fine! Still groggy, but fine." You say and his eyes seem to scan you from head to toe. "You look healthy from the outside, so I'm guessing you are feeling ok."

"Yeah" you say as you look at the clock in front of the door. "Can I come in?" He asks and you nod as you head back over to the drawer to finish getting dressed for the day. "Hey Bishop" you call as you are still facing the drawer "How does this look on me?" You turn around and he smiles again. "Perfect, Y/n" he exclaims and you blush as he sits down on the bed. "Thank you"

"So, how long is our "vacation" before we have to get back to work?" You ask and he looks around the room, something he would save in his "brain" for analysis later. "Two weeks." He says with a warm tone in his voice. "Oh! Nice!" You say excitedly. "Well, what do you want to do first? And… you never told me where we were going."

"Oh, I'm sorry, we are in Orlando, Florida, and I don't know what I would want to do first, it's really up to you and Hicks." He says and you half-gasp "Hicks is here? That's great!" You accidentally shout, knowing Hicks could probably hear you, but you weren’t sure which hotel room he was in so you had hope that he couldn’t hear you.

"Oops. Well, we can go get breakfast at…" you stop for a moment as you hear another knock at your door. You go to open it, and It's Hicks. "I heard someone say my name?" He said and leaned against the door, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Uh… yeah, but I didn't mean to be that loud" you laugh.

"It's ok" He chuckles and looks around your room and sees the man sitting on your bed. "What's he doing here?" Hicks raises an eyebrow and Bishop smiles at him. "Oh, he just came in to talk I guess" you sigh. "Sounds like Bishop to me." He laughs and you smile. "So, what were you talking about?" Hicks asks. "Oh! Yeah, we were talking about where we wanted to go this morning." You exclaim with joy.

"Well anyways…" you say as you look on top of the drawer and see something. A map of… what? Florida? You grab the map and to no surprise, it is a map of Florida, but it's fun things to do! "Well I see that The Glass Knife is open! It says here it has sandwiches, pastries, cakes, and doughnuts! We could go there?" You say as you look down at the map.

"We could go there for breakfast!" Hicks says with a smile. "Let me get ready and I'll call a Taxi." Hicks says. He's in an oversized shirt and probably boxers, you guessed. Bishop was wearing a long sleeve striped shirt and trousers.

20 minutes later

You were having a really good conversation with Bishop about some really interesting things, mostly about him and his programming, but in-between things, he's talking about how he loves you, and how beautiful you are. He just can't keep it in. You are blushing hard, but that stops when you hear another knock at your door.

"I'll be right there!" You shout and give Bishop one last hug before you get up and go to the door to be met by Hicks. "Ready to go?" He asks while smiling at Bishop, to which Bishop looks around the room, like a dog who just did something bad. "Yep! Let's go!" You say as you tuck in the oversized shirt you have on, into your shorts.

Bishop gets up and you take his hand. Hicks peeks around his shoulder, peering at your hands tangled with his, and he sighs and turns around, right before you could leave. "Are you two together or something?" He asks before you could understand what was going on. You were smiling like an idiot, but not for long after he said that.

"Uhhh… I mean, he's a… are we?" You look back around at Bishop. "Yes… I think." He smiles and you turn back to Hicks. "Ok… that's pretty cool… I guess." Hicks says, not sure if he should be happy about you and Bishop, or to be concerned that he's a… well, synthetic, and you are a human.

You motion your way over to a closet, where you find all of your things that you brought with you on the Sulaco. "Yes!" You whisper so no one can hear you, except for Bishop. "What did you find?" He asks. "My stuff!" You whisper back and he smiles "Glad you found it." He whispers back. You grab your wallet, and you get going.

The drive was really nice, you got to see all the beautiful palm trees, and the most stunning houses, a little farther from the Wey-Yu Hotel, but that was alright. You joked around with Bishop the whole way there, mostly about how harsh Apone was most of the time, and how you guys never caught a break. Hicks talked, but not much, and the Driver was dead silent, until you finally got there and he gave you a weird stare and hoped you had a nice day.

You hopped out of the car to see a modern looking building, and Bishop just stares at it for a while, processing what he's seeing. "Bishop? C'mon" you call to him as you and Hicks start walking into the Café. "Sorry, just taking in new information." He says and follows you in.

"Do we want to eat in, or out?" You ask. "Out." Hicks says. You know he didn't like eating around people because it made him nervous. Bishop nods his head in agreement with Hicks. You walk up to the counter to order and people are giving Bishop and you smiles. Weirdly enough, not Hicks because he looks grumpy.

Before you could ask what's wrong with him, he speaks and is the first to order. "Yeah, uhm, can I have the cheddar biscuit sandwich?" He takes his time to speak, as he looks at the menu above. "Sure, and what about the Lady in the back, with what looks to be a synthetic." The woman on the other side of the counter says with a smile, and Bishop frowns. "I prefer the term artificial person myself." He smiles.

"Ok, then. Well what would you like, miss?" She asks and you are still confused how she knew Bishop was an artificial person. "Uh.. uh.. I'll have any donut…" you smile nervously. "Ok, and I'm going to assume he doesn't eat." The lady says with a grin. "Actually, I can. Just not human food." He says and you nudge him. "Just say you dont" you whisper and he nods.

The woman goes to get your pastries and Hicks looks a little brighter than before. You nudge him. "Hey Hicks, what's wrong?" You ask and he looks down/up at you. "Nothing really, that driver we had gave me the creeps" He laughs. "Oh, well I hope you are doing better now!" You say happily.

The woman hands you your food and you all head out of the Café. "Where do you guys wanna eat?" Bishop smiles, probably happy to be out of there. "Well," you say, taking out the map that was in the apartment. "There's a park, about a 5 minute walking distance" you say and Bishop and Hicks nods in agreement. You start your walk, food in hand.

At the park

You find some soft grass under a large tree, that has the perfect amount of shade for you all to feel comfortable. You are the first to sit, motioning the others to follow and they did. You formed a triangle-like shape as you opened your bag with the food in it, giving Hicks his food, and Bishop, not having ordered anything, getting nothing.

You bite down into the delicious Donut, smiling as you lick frosting off of your lips and Bishop laughs a little. "What?" You laugh as you nudge him playfully. Hicks looks down at his food and takes a bite, not knowing if he will like it or not. He does, you think as he smiles widely with crumbs hanging onto his lips. "How's your food, Hicks?" You ask. "Really good actually, I'll be right back, he says as he gazes at the recreation center next to the park. He stands up, and rushes over to it.

You take a gaze at Bishop, and scoot closer to him, trying not to drop your donut. He looks at you, not knowing your intentions, but guessing they were nothing bad. He smiles at you and you look at him, then back down to finish your donut. Right after you finished, you leaned on his shoulder, putting an arm around his shoulders and his smile widened. He leans in to kiss your head and you let him. He then takes your arm off of him, reaching his hand for your face, cupping your cheeks.

You smiled, closing your eyes and letting him kiss you deeply. His lips were so soft, not chapped at all. Everything about him was perfect. Before he could continue kissing you, you pulled off, taking in deep breaths. You climb on his lap, wrapping your legs around his torso, but nothing more, and your lips clash with his.

"I love you, Y/n, and always will." He smiles on your lips and you laugh as you push him down onto the soft grass, getting off of him and lying next to him. "I love you too" you sigh as you rest your head on his shoulder. You wished you had all the time in the world together with him, but as soon as it began, it ended. You and Bishop turn your head to see Hicks running down from the recreation center, and you two sit up.

"What are you two doing?" He says playfully, and crosses his arms. Right before Bishop could speak, you looked at him, and then Hicks, embarrassed. "Just looking at the clouds" you smile and Bishop does the same. "Mhm" Hicks says.

You were both done with your food, so you decided it was time to head back. Bishop insists he should throw away the trash and you let him. He's also the one to call the taxi with a bright smile across his face.

Back at the Hotel.

You step out of the car, breathing in the fresh Florida air. You wait, as the other two get out of the car and say thanks, and goodbye to the driver. Suddenly, you feel an arm snaking around your waist, not squeezing, just resting there. You squeak and turn around to see that it's just Bishop.

You let him eventually hug, and kiss you on the cheek. The car drives off, and you and Bishop hold hands while walking into the hotel, Hicks walking behind you.

On the 17th floor of the Hotel

Hicks, Bishop, and you split up into your rooms, but not before he gives you a kiss, and everything goes quiet, and you walk away into your room. The first thing you do is go over to change into a long gown. It makes you feel stronger. After you do a spin in it, you walk over to your bed and lie on it, sun barely shining through the window onto you. You stared at the TV, wishing you could stream your favorite movie on it, but you knew it was not available. It was a really old movie from the 1980s… damn, that was a long time ago, you thought.

You had another favorite movie from the 2020s, also a long time ago. You grab the remote and look for the movie. "Ha! I knew they would still have it!" You whispered to yourself. You get under the covers, and snuggle up with yourself right before you get to watching it.

In the middle if the movie, you turn your head to the side, not knowing why, you are missing something, you think. … Him, Bishop. It's like you can't be without him today. "Shit" you whisper, not knowing why you want him so badly. Your body is already getting up, without your mind's consent. You sigh, knowing what you really wanted. Him. You sneak out of your room. You wondered if this was a good idea, since it was getting late. You checked the clock at the end of the hall, right next to his room. 8:47. You had all the time in the world to turn back, but you decide not to.

You let out your final sigh before knocking on his door. "Coming!" He shouts from the other side of the door, eventually opening it to see you and he smiles. Your eyes widen. He's completely shirtless, and wearing sweat pants. "I- hello" you smile uncontrollably, unable to take your eyes off of him. He smiles and cups your face, bringing you in for a quick kiss. You are completely flustered, with all that's happening in front of you. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asks, and you shake your head no. "Alright good, just checking!" He smiles. "Y/n, you look beautiful in that gown." He says and you blush. "Thank you"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to come over to my room to hang out!" You say, shyly. "Sure" He smiles softly. Before you can start walking, he scoops you up, bridal style into his arms and you gasp, but you let him carry out what he's doing. He carries you down the hall, and over to your room, and you stretch over to enter the chip that came with your room.

As the door opens, he lets you down slowly, and holds the door open for you. You say thank you again and you both head in. He goes to sit on your bed like he did this morning, and you went to sit with him. "So, why did you want me here?" He asks and you smile nervously. "I got lonely" you say and he frowns. "How can I help, Y/n" he asks and you laugh and put your head on his shoulder. "Being here of course." You smile and he does the same. "Then I'll stay," He says.

"So, what have you been doing, and what would you like to do now?" He asks. "Well, I was watching a movie, and then I felt… like something was missing. You know. So I went over to get you." You say and he gently squeezes your arm. "Y/n, I missed you too, I love you so much." He says, playing with what he could of your hair. "I know, you've told me at least a million times today. But I love you too." You smile. Tears begin to brim your eyes and you suddenly hug him tightly, your head, plunging into his soft chest. He hugs you back, squeezing a little too hard, but you don't mind.

He had nothing to say. He just wanted to comfort you, to make you feel loved, which he was successful at. You were crying, hard, remembering the times where you felt like you weren't loved at all, but he was here now, and you felt completely loved, like he could protect you from anything dark to come. He plants kisses on your head, making you feel so much better.

You slowly push off of him, tears, all gone now. He smiles, happy to make you feel better. You stand up from the bed, reaching out your hand for him to take, and he does, standing there, waiting for you to do something. You let go of his hand to grab the remote.

Thankfully, there was an app called Spotify on your TV, that allows you to play old, and new music, but you fell in love with the old music a long time ago. "Hey Bishop," you call to him and he perks up. "Do you like old music? From the 1970s through 2020s?" You ask and he looks confused, a kind of blanked out stare. "I haven't heard much music in my life" He frowns.

"Well, it's really good, I'm gonna put it on!" You giggle. "Ok!" He calls back, seeming excited to hear it. With one push of a button, Shut Up and Dance turned on. Right when it started, you ran over to him and grabbed his hand. He looks down at his hand, and then up at you. "C'mon, let's dance!" You nod your head to the beat. He looks around the room, not knowing what you really want him to do.

"Bishop… you know how to dance right?" You ask, with a sudden frown on your face. "Not much, no," He says. "oh… well, I'll teach you, c'mon!" You paint a small smile on your face. This is gonna be hard, you think. "Ok," you sigh. "Let's start by tapping our feet on the ground." You say and he complies. "You got it! Now, start by moving your arms and swaying side to side with the beat!" You laugh. "Ok…" He wobbles on his feet. He starts to sway side to side, catching up with the beat, but still a little off. "Yeah! You got it… now move freely. Just let your body move to the beat!

You begin to dance around the room, encouraging him to do the same. He follows you, and mimics your movements perfectly. You laugh, waving your arms around to see if he would mimic you, and he did. You were on the verge of crying-laughing now, and he didn't have a clue to what was going on. "Bishop… don't just copy me. Try to come up with your own moves and stuff, like just jam to the music." You laugh. "Ok, how about this!" He says and he does something like the robot dance, and you snort.

"Bishop no… but get it I guess" you say and he stops suddenly and walks up to you slowly. You close your eyes, not expecting him to grab your waste, and dip you. Your eyes widen, and you let out a shriek, trying not to lose your balance. That is virtually impossible, as he could never let you fall. His grip on you was tight, but not even close to hurting you. He could never.

He lifts you back up, lifting you off of the ground by your hips, spinning you once while trying to look into your eyes, which were gazing around the room to try to center on something, anything. He notices you are getting a bit dizzy, so he slowly lets you down on the bed and you fall back with a soft thump. You finally center on a spot on the ceiling, and come down from the slight shock you had just been in. "Are you ok? Did I hurt you?" He asks and you shake your head no. "Nope, just wasn't expecting that" you laugh.

The song comes to an end, and you're still breathing hard. He's still trying his best to dance, even though the song has ended, but soon he's by your side again, rubbing your back the way you love. He kisses the side of your head and lays you down onto the bed, covering you with the sheets with swift, efficient motions. Next, he moves on top of the bed, getting under the covers and wrapping one arm around your shoulders.

Thankfully the remote is just above your hip, so you don't have to have him move away from the position he's in. You move your knees up to your stomach, leaning into him. You put one hand on his chest, and the other is gripping the remote, searching for the Netflix button. "Here!" You whisper and he looks over at you, and back to the TV.

"So, what do you plan on watching?" He asks and smiles widely. He had never really seen a lot of shows, so he didn't really know what watching one was like. He did read a lot of books though, just not TV. "Hmmm… maybe this really, really old movie called Revenge of The Sith, it's from Star Wars!" You exclaim happily, excited to get to watch this with him.

He looks back up at the TV and smiles as the big yellow letters pop up on the screen. He's taking in all this new information, reading the opening crawl, not missing any words. His eyes are glazed over from getting deep into the movie, which haven't even been 15 minutes in yet. You could tell he was really interested. You rest your head on his shoulders and he snaps out of his trance-like state, reaching one hand up from your shoulders, to play with what he could of your hair. He smiles and looks down over at you, just making sure you are ok with what he's doing.

About 2 hours later, at the end of the movie

"That was great! It really touched my synthetic heart" Bishop laughed. You smile, happy that he liked the movie, but it was getting late, and you were already drifting off to sleep. "Are you tired, Y/n?" He nudges you and you nod slowly. "Can you sleep? Or… well…" you ask and he nods.

"something like that. I can set a quick timer for sleep mode, and wake up at that time." He smiles. "Yeah, do that. How about 10:00 AM?" You ask. "Yeah, I can do that." He pauses for a moment, then lays a kiss on your head, and you finally drift off to sleep, thinking about all the things you could do tomorrow. He lies next to you, in a hugging position. You felt completely safe.

A/N: ok so I just discovered the "Under the cut" feature... yeah I'm dumb... anyways, ty for reading! (There will be more chapters)

[ikol-cosplay]

So, I’ve also had the goal to cosplay every Loki (ambitious I know) but even though I’ve been going at it since 2012 I’ve only gotten 3. My primary issue is finances. Do you have any tips for making and saving money for cosplay?

Ah I'm in a very priviledged position of still living at home and having my parents pay for most monthly expenses which means I can spend almost all my money on cosplays. Cosplays are definitely expensive. I have 2 small jobs (3 if you count art commissions) and I used to get more study financing than I needed so I used the rest on fun stuff (I'll still need to pay it back after my degree so yes I gave myself more debt lol). So while I can try to give some tips, it won't give anyone else the ability to create as many cosplays as I have because I've been very very lucky as well.

I can't really give tips on how to make money, that's just jobs and stuff...

As for saving money.. I usually spend it as soon as I get my paycheck 🙈

But here are some things that I do:

-research everything in advance so you can keep an eye on the materials you want and buy them during a sale (holidays usually)

-I ask for materials when people want to know what kind of birthday/xmas gifts I want (I've gotten buttons, paint, primer, worbla, fabrics, wigs, all kinds of stuff)

-re-use old clothes (not everything has to be accurate, sometimes dyeing or painting over an old shirt works just fine)

-I've sold other cosplays to fund new ones

-You don't have to buy expensive materials when an item not intended for cosplay works as well (for example, I didn't buy fake fur from an online shop, I bought a fluffy rug meant for decoration and cut it into the shape I needed)

-Now I personally like to use eva foam and worbla, but it's definitely not necessary for good armor and props. If you take the time to really get a smooth shape with paper mache then that can look awesome as well! A good primer works wonders. Definitely compare prices because some stores sell primers and paint for a lot less

-Maybe get fabrics from a market? I get lots of stuff from markets and use them to stock up on fabrics I know I'll need because I can ask for a discount

-If you can save up it often saves you money in the long run if you buy stuff in bulk (a bigger sheet of worbla is cheaper than two small ones)

-You don't need all kinds of expensive tools to make good cosplays, while they definitely help, you can work with scissors, glue and needle and thread. I've used a hairdryer for worbla and I only got myself a dremel and a wood burning tool recently. Hand sewing is very time consuming but it works.

-You could check if fabric stores have leftover fabrics, that's where I got the stuff I'll be using for my TVA jacket.

-Over time you can also build up a supply of leftover stuff yourself. I never throw away fabrics or worbla or bigger foam pieces. I've made cosplays from leftover stuff before, the president Loki waistcoat was made with EXACTLY the right amount of leftover fabric from my AoA sleeves. I made my Lady Loki scales from leftover fabric from my first AoA cosplay.

-I've also entered and won several cosplay competitions and used the prize money on new cosplays (if your cosplays arent your best work yet, you can often also win based on your act) But I understand stage fright is a thing

I hope this helps!