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biglisbonnews · 1 year

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Capturing the Mysterious Antarctic Whale Gathering on Film Secret Obsessions is Atlas Obscura's new column where we ask wondrous people to take us down a rabbit hole. This edition features award-winning wildlife filmmaker and television host Bertie Gregory, as told to Associate Editor Sarah Durn. Antarctica is some 9,000 miles from my home in England, and I had been trying to get there for more than a decade to film one of the biggest animal gatherings on Earth. Hundreds of fin whales come there to feast on krill, a tiny, translucent crustacean, but the gatherings are little studied, rarely seen, and have never been properly captured on camera. For a wildlife filmmaker like me, capturing these legendary gatherings became the holy grail. Wanting to go to some remote corner of the globe to film an animal is a familiar feeling for me. It started young. Growing up, everyone at my school thought I was a complete freak because any moment of spare time, during sports practice or whatever, I would slip away to go sneak up on animals. I realized that if I took pictures of the animals I was seeing, it was a great way to get other people excited about what I was excited about—and also explain where I’d been sneaking off to. Before university, I wanted to see and photograph bears, so I emailed a bunch of wildlife tour guides on the west coast of Canada, and said, “Can I come hang out?” I ended up living in the basement of one guide for two summers, helping out on a bear- and whale-watching boat. I was there to see bears, but it was the whales that really captured my imagination. One day I went out with a tour group. Normally, you'd see maybe four or five whales, mainly either grey whales or humpback whales. For whatever reason, there was this freak event, where all of the humpback whales’ prey had come into shore. You couldn't drive the boat more than a hundred yards without having to go around a whale. There were humpback whales everywhere. That was the first time I saw wildlife en masse. A light switch went off in my head: “Wow, this is special.” Years later, in 2018, I had my first tantalizing glimpse of what the Antarctic has to offer. I was there filming for the BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, and the fin whale gatherings were on the long list of animals we wanted to film. One day we saw a gathering of about 150 whales. It was spectacular, but very brief. I think we ended up watching them for only an hour. The German research ship we were on had a tight schedule, and we couldn’t stay. As soon as I had seen that, I was like, “I need to film this.” And I wanted to get it from all angles: in the air with drones, at water level with gyro-stabilized cameras, and diving underwater with a camera. And the only way of doing that, really, is with a sailboat, so you're super-maneuverable. When this series, Epic Adventures, was commissioned, I knew I wanted to try it. It was our most ambitious, most expensive episode. There was no budget for a reshoot. We had to get it. After two years of planning, we gathered an amazing team and set sail on a 75-foot sailboat across the infamous Drake Passage from South America to Antarctica. We could only stay 28 days. The whale gatherings are thought to happen right at the end of the season when it’s possible to visit the southern continent. So we were there as late as we possibly could be before the weather would get really bad. Near the start we saw this small gathering, but it was too rough to film. We knew it was happening, but the days just started ticking by. I felt awful. I’m in Antarctica, surrounded by cool people, looking for whales, it doesn't get better than that. But so many people were counting on us to get this. The idea of not being able to pull it off was really hard to take. Three quarters of the way through the shoot, I remember lying in my bunk, and my friend Dan Beecham, the other underwater cameraperson, was in the bunk above me. There were pieces of icebergs grinding on the hull, and you could hear the anchor dragging because the winds were so strong. And I remember looking up in the dark. “Dan, was this a bad idea? Like, do you think we can actually do this?” He was very calm and very wise, and said, “We can do this. We've done all the right things.” He was kind of the voice of reason in all the doubt. And the next day, the winds were calm. The sea was flat. The sun was out. For the first time, there were no clouds. And just as we were pulling the anchor up, I lifted up my binoculars to the horizon, and that was when I saw what looked like cannons going off in an old sea battle. It was all these whale blows backlit by the rising sun. As we motored towards the whales, the blows getting closer and closer, I couldn’t decide what lens to put on the drone. It's something I’ve done a thousand times, but I knew this could be the only flight. Finally, I was like, “Okay I just need to pick a lens and go.” Then I flew the drone up above the gathering. I have never seen anything so epic on a monitor screen, all these blows going off in front of snowy mountains. There were some 300 feasting whales. But to really appreciate how big these animals are, we needed to get in the water. The biggest danger of the whole shoot was getting lost while diving. It’s very easy to lose divers in the open ocean. We were all kind of on edge when we dropped in. All we could see is blue. The water's below freezing, so immediately you get this brain freeze. And then you wait. For permitting and disturbance reasons, the whales have to come to you. We could feel the whales before we could see them. Fin whales make a really deep noise you can’t hear. But you can feel your guts vibrate. Then a big group of chinstrap penguins came whizzing past us. And then out of the gloom, I see this weird shape. All of a sudden this giant fin whale mouth comes out of the blue and cruises right past me. It was so close we could look each other in the eye. There are no words to describe that feeling—to see an animal that big, that close. I followed its eye with the camera, and the body kept coming and coming. Eventually, the tail came past and I was like, “I’m not going to get shot like that in while.” But soon enough, another whale came along, then two more. All of a sudden there were whales coming from all directions. After we got out and the sun started to dip, whale blows were still going off everywhere. I remember Martha Kane, the medic, turning to me and saying, “You need to take a look at this with your eyeballs. Stop trying to film it and just look at it.” So often with this job, you're so focused on filming that you spend the entire time with your head in a monitor. I remember going up to the bow of the boat and looking out at the whales. It was like looking at a scene of what the planet was before humans messed it up. I'm very lucky that I get to go all over the world and see amazing animals, but literally everywhere we go, a guide or scientist tells us, “You should’ve seen what it was like 10, 20 years ago.” Wildlife populations are nosediving all over the world, but it’s possible to bring some of them back. Fin whales almost went extinct during the commercial whaling era. Now, thanks to protections and good governance, they’ve come back from the edge. And to see this truly wild place, with whales and penguins and the snowy mountains behind them, it was really emotional. This is what happens when you give nature an opening. It'll do the hard work, it will come back. We just need to give it the chance. Bertie Gregory is an award-winning wildlife filmmaker and the host of the new Disney+ show Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory. He is a National Geographic Explorer and has hosted six projects for National Geographic (Leopards at the Door, Jaguar Vs Croc, Wild_Life, Resurrection Island, and The Big Freeze). Resurrection Island won the Best Television Host award at the Jackson Wild Awards in 2019. Bertie also films for the BBC David Attenborough series Seven Worlds, One Planet, and is one of BAFTA’s youngest-ever cinematography winners.

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hisoknen · 4 years

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kinktober day 6: praise warnings: smut, rope bondage, suffering, breathplay wc: 2.9k

a/n: hi hello reader!! super excited to share this one as a rope fanatic! however, this is NOT a guide/blueprint to any kind of play you want to try. thank you so much to @10millionyearsdungeon for beta reading and giving me amazing feedback! this is a softer more sensual kinktober day i hope you enjoy!

“And your safewords, kitten?” Aizawa secured the hardpoint, doing a few more checks to the bamboo before coming down to your level. His hand reached out to cup your cheek, waiting patiently for your reply.

After discussing the scene he had in mind, it was time to begin. He was crouching down in front of you while you were kneeling at his command. Dressed in only a pair of silk panties, you could feel the air in the room kissing your naked flesh.

“Red stop, yellow check-in slow down and green good.” You breathed, he was lightly pinching at your cheeks, your eyes threatening to shut and absorb the feeling of him caressing your skin. Your heart was racing, mind and body hungry for anything he was ready to give you.

“And if something's your mouth?” he presses a small ball into your palm, a little bell jingled inside of it as he wrapped his yours to close it.

“Drop the ball, red. Uh, uh uh, is yellow, and for green, nod.”

“Good girl,” he sits down, “turn around.” You do as you’re told, untucking your knees and turning your back on him. Your body sinks into his hold, his thighs on each side, trapping you in place. He begins littering kisses on your neck and shoulders, calming your racing mind with soft words and chuckles.

Ever since you found your way into Aizawa’s arms, you’d experienced more than you could list in one sitting. Together you slowly explored your boundaries, trying new things out and pushing each other to grow. You had a genuine and deep submission. It was the heartfelt kind that came from trust, respect, lust, emotional connection.

You’d always found a strange comfort in suffering. Nothing aroused you more than suffering for someone you loved and having them look into your pleading eyes and offer you their tender violence in return.

When you could do something that made your partner feel good, you felt the world around you bathe you in warmth. You found catharsis erotic—a harmonious battle between instincts and surrender.

But this desire always seemed to put you into sticky situations. You’d find partners who didn’t care for your soul or body. They wanted your suffering for their pleasure and theirs alone, treating you as though you were disposable. Broken people sought out broken people, or so you thought.

Aizawa was different. It was an exploration for both of you, an equal exchange. He cared for your mind as much as he desired your body. He treated you like an invaluable treasure. It always felt so safe being wrapped in his ropes, no matter the sadistic ideas he would bring to fruition.

Trailing his fingers up your shoulders, kneading softly at the muscles. He leaned in, placing a kiss at your neck's junction right behind your ear. Your mind is already spinning from the small ministration. His breath tickled the spot he knew sent spots to your vision.

"Are you ready, kitten?" He purred against your ear. Without even brushing his fingers against the aching spot between your legs he already had you dripping and feverish.

Nodding, you turn your neck to the side to give him more access. He nips at the skin, slowly bringing your arms behind you, hands rubbing up and down, easing your shoulders back.

Dragging the rope slowly a few inches above your wrist, he ties a single column securing your wrists together, pulling the tension up. Aizawa wraps two bands around your front above your breasts, over your other arm to the right. Skimming his fingers against your chest, he looks into your eyes, silently asking if everything feels right.

Lazily smiling up at him, you rub your middle finger against the thumb's padding to check, nodding. You feel the tug as he drags the ends through where the initial rope went from your wrist to the arm, reversing the tension and locking it off. The push and pull were like a lullaby rocking you to sleep.

There was a tug when he secured a knot in the back, his fingers feeding between the rope and your arms and where the jute is placed, fixing the tension evenly. He continued to the left, wrapping two more bands a few inches below the first, trapping your breasts in between.

After months of playing with Aizawa, you had his movements memorized, it was like dancing. Each time he moved, your body followed obediently as he secured the stem, feeding rope into the harness.

Pushing your body forward, his warmth leaves you. He brings the rope over the bamboo, pulling your body up in the slightest. Reaching down, he takes it through the bite created on the stem pulling it taut.

“It’s been a long week, hasn’t it? Not enough time to play. I hope you’re not upset, kitten,” his husky voice sinks into your ears. It’s smooth like honey, and the tender promise it leaves has your skin prickling. His foot pushes against your shoulder, body leaning to the side just enough to feel the tension applied.

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” He steps away, pulling the rope on the upline. The tug has you on your knees once more, slowly getting onto your legs as he aids you with a steady pull. Once both of your feet are flat on the ground, he secures the upline stepping out of your line of vision.

He lightly taps your ass, and you quiver at the touch. Crouching down, he wraps two bands around your ankle, securing a single column and capture loop. His hand grasping the pit of your knee, hoisting it up.

You stare in awe at each movement he makes, watching his fingers work rapidly. Balancing on one leg you search his eyes as he pulls your leg up, tossing the ends of the rope over the bar. He brings the working ends into the bite and back over the bar to secure the knot.

The shift in weight adds pressure to your hips and gut. Your knee is at the same height as your hips, restricting your breathing slightly. While it’s nothing crazy, it does spike your interest. He was being far too gentle. You don’t notice that he’s untied the line to your harness, jerking it up in one swift motion.

A yelp resounds throughout the room, your entire body weight now depending on your ability to hold yourself up by your toes. There is tension on your arms and leg in the air but nothing compared to what it will be if you happen to falter.

Your breath hitches and you start to relax your body, checking your thumb once again to see if it’s numb. Your head is bowed, watching the shake in your legs as Aizawa circles around you. He pulls your chin up roughly, his eyes dark scanning your features.

That was the look you were waiting for. He presses a fervent kiss against your lips, fingers flicking across the heat he’s left behind.

His other hand comes up, waiting at the entrance of your mouth. Licking your lips you open wide. Slowly he eases his fingers in, circling the pad of your tongue, edging closer and closer to the back and gagging you. Your throat convulses around him, only prompting him to go back even further fingers tickling the back of your tongue.

He lets out a muffled groan pulling his fingers out, gliding the slick digits down your neck to your breasts, swirling around your nipple and pulling.

Your eyes are fixed on him as he moves the rope holding your leg further from your body, setting your body off balance. Breathing through your nose you hop, trying to reset your toes on the wood.

"Tongue out, kitten." You obediently loll it out from your mouth. His hands disappear to his back, bringing out a clothespin. He opens its teeth and clamps it down onto your muscle. Wincing and letting out a pained groan, you look up at him with pitiful eyes filled with affection and adoration.

Grabbing another rope, he wraps it around your waist tightly, pushing out your breath. He connects it to the bamboo, leaving you sputtering around the wood, pulling desperately for the room's air to trickle into your lungs.

Aizawa drops down, settling onto the floor. Grabbing your shaking leg, he rubs the skin and leaves lingering kisses, taking a final rope from his side. Trailing his fingers sensually up your calf, he sets the jute below the bend of your knee, pulling it through and trapping your calf into place.

Your eyes widen in horror at the realization of what he's about to do. He pulls the rope tight, pain shooting up your leg and straight to your center. A strangled gasp ripples past your open lips, saliva beginning to drip from your tongue onto the floor slowly.

“Already?” His lips are parted, watching you intently through hooded eyes. He runs his hands through his hair, gazing up at you hungrily.

“We just started, kitten.” He holds the rope tight, tying it around your trapped muscle, each one tighter than the last until he reaches right above your ankle. The dull ache of the clothespin is nothing compared to what awaits you.

“Are you ready to breathe again?” You hadn’t even noticed that you’d stopped, too busy imagining what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath through your nose, you hold it nodding down at him.

“1, 2-” you breathe out the second he gets to two, knowing he never waits until three. Your gut tightens as he crosses over the rope the opposite way, constricting your calf more than before, creating spaces where the rope touches and the muscle remaining is pushed tight against the confines, pulsing.

A single poke of his finger will have tears surfacing in your eyes. But maybe he wouldn’t press on it this time. He forces his finger underneath the rope to lock it off, sending waves of agony course through you.

You rip your leg away from him, bringing it to your chest to relieve the pressure, but the moment you do, all of the weight shifts to your chest, arms and the opposite leg. A frustrated grunt leaving your wet mouth. It was as if he had woven the rope around your body with a banner that said, choose your preferred method of suffering.

Landing your foot back gently back onto the ground, you look down at him with pleading eyes. With the weight of your body resting on one painfully constricted leg, your muscle tries to escape the confines, pulsing against the rope and radiating up your side.

“Whas dah for?” Aizawa pulls a metal rod from his pocket. He grabs onto your leg, pressing the metal into your constricted flesh, a shriek leaves your lips and you strain. While the tension in a section lessens at the push, another side begins to ache and throb. That was the game. Your body and bottom leg are aligned, but the leg in the air is forward, hips sinking along with your chest. More pressure. Less air.

“Can you take a little more for me?” He looks up at you with admiration and lust, chest rising and falling heavily. A sob wracks through your body, your instincts tell you to scream no, but your body wants more. You had your safewords. Aizawa would listen to you if you needed to stop. Shaking your head, you try desperately to hold onto each gulp of air, remembering to check your fingers.

You nod down at him as he presses down again. The more your breathing falters, the less you can manage the pain and hold your body up. Your leg is trembling, threatening to lose its hold on the ground. You can hear Aizawa’s breath falter as he takes in your cries and plea’s. His pupils are lust blown with a devious glimmer.

Standing up, he comes to face level, pressing down on the pin and releasing the pressure. The moment it’s removed, the ache comes back tenfold, blood returning to where it was restricted. Sucking in the droll on your lips, you stare up at him defiantly.

“Sick fuck,” you spit out. You want to scream and lash out at him. Rake your fingernails down his back and draw blood.

“‘Sick fuck’ is not your safeword.” The moment the words leave his mouth, tears of frustration bubble into vision.

“Use your words.”

“It hurts Shouta-” you blubber through quivering lips.

“I know.” He purrs, stroking your face with fingers wet from your tears. He understood that you were suffering. That this was painful and frustrating for you. But most of all, he understood that you were suffering for him.

“Good girl, I’m so proud of you.” You smile, shivering at the warmth of his praise. He kisses your nose, bending down to untie the binds on your leg. Wincing at each shift you moan at the release.

Aizawa’s fingers stroke the imprints left behind fingers kissing your sensitive flesh. You glance down seeing his cock straining against his pants, a damp patch showing just how much he was enjoying this.

“Please,” you whisper, pulling against your restraints. He follows your eyes, running his hands along the length of his covered cock, squeezing. It’s been so long since you had tasted him, felt him.

“What is it, kitten?”

“I want to touch you,” he chuckles, lying on the ground to watch you, hair pooling around his head as he looks up. Your chest is rising quickly and heavily. Looking into your eyes, he waits. You nod to signal green, and he presses his foot into your stomach, absorbing the choked cries you let out while you struggle to take breaths in.

Your only comfort and control are swept away from you as your leg is lifted off the ground. Your tears land onto his face, one at the corner of his lips. He dips his tongue out, pulling it into his mouth.

“You look so pretty like this, kitten.” He pushes himself off the ground with his elbows. The pain was distressing, bleeding into your veins, but he continues to praise you for taking it. Your head is spinning, and your cunt is dripping, the pain and pleasure rolling off one another.

He stands in front of you, fingers dipping down to push your panties to the side. His fingertips brush against your soaking core, body still shaking with sobs.

“If it hurts, why are you so wet, Y/n?” You look up at him shamefully, his voice is condescending, head tilted and eyebrows quirked. His fingers glide over your sensitive clit, slowly circling over it. You bite your lip to hold back a needy moan. Aizawa’s fingers plunge into your cunt, curling his fingers immediately, ripping the cry from you.

He starts roughly jerking his hand, pounding his fingers against your g-spot. You let out whimpers and grunts as he rubs at your insides. The pressure from the waist rope increases and floods your cunt as your leg begins to give out.

“Shouta plea-” you hiccup, begging for more. With one hand reaching out to hold onto your raised thigh the other continues to search the depths of your pussy for the orgasm you owed him.

The insistent squelch coming from you is pathetic; the pain of the rope and the brutality of his ministrations begin bleeding together. Looking down, you can see your arousal spilling out from your cunt all over his hand.

He breathes heavily against your ear. “You’re so good to me, kitten. Suffering so beautifully for me.” Mewling between sobs, you want to ask for more. You can feel that you’re about to cum, your cunt squeezing around him desperately.

Your leg loses its strength below you, the pressure of the rope squeezing your waist, pushing you even closer to the edge. But he pulls away at the last second, leaving you clenching pathetically around nothing.

You let out a silent scream, frustration, and desire filling you, thick tears falling from your eyes. Your breath is faltering, mind hazy and racing.

“Such a needy little slut.” Aizawa walks behind you, untying your leg from the rig, holding it as he places it on the ground. The waist rope is next to loosen and fall to the ground. He welcomes your body tightly against his own, as he lowers the final upline until you are both on the floor.

Your body feels like jelly, thoroughly spent, head leaned back against his chest while you breathe in the sweet air, filling your lungs. Bringing your legs up to your chest.

Small whimpers still fall from your lips when your legs are torn apart, his fingers plugging back into your abused hole. You can feel his erection prodding against your back. You pant, grabbing onto his wrist to anchor yourself. He holds your limp body against his solid chest.

“You did so well for me today," his fingers explore you, setting flame to the dwindling embers. Kind words and praise in tune with the thrusts of his fingers, your vision flickers.

"Cum for me," the soft commanding words are all it takes to send you over the edge, the pressure of your orgasm pushing out his fingers as you soak the floor. Rubbing at your clit he helps you ride out your orgasm.

You can hear Aizawa sucking on his fingers between closed eyes, tasting the mess you made before kissing the top of your head. Your body is spent, shivering and aching, a soothing hum of satisfaction riddling your veins.

He is caressing your arms' marks, memorizing what is left of the memory of you in his ropes. He pulls the blanket over to your sniffling body, holding you tightly.

"Thank you, kitten." he hums as darkness takes over.

—

kinktober masterlist

tags <3 @thewheezingwyvern @linestrider @idratherliveinbooks @mx-minxx @kenmasmyvibe @leeswritingworld @katsukis-sad-angel @trafalgar-temptress @dabis-kitten @stainedglass-wings @thirsthourdemon @zyrielwolf @shadowmountain @secondhand-trash @tomurasprincess

#aizawa x reader smut #aizawa smut #tw overstim #bnha x reader smut #bnha smut

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backdraft-bimbo · 3 years

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too late to turn back now

Sam and Bucky go undercover at a club in Germany while tailing some insurgents. (You can probably guess what happens next.)

Words: 1401

Chapters: 1/1

James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson

It takes thirty seconds for Sam to spot a third insurgent entering the club, swiftly weaving through the haze of moving bodies. Everyone is either drunk, stoned, or both, and Sam can tell that he, Bucky, and the Flag-Smashers are the only ones here who aren’t having the time of their lives. Despite their chichi getup and fabricated gangster backstories, all Sam and Bucky have going for them now is the crowded chaos.

So maybe their cover is a little flimsy. That’s probably why it doesn’t come as a surprise precisely fifteen seconds later, when the mission takes a steep downturn. The insurgent starts to beeline it in their direction. And shit, this guy is moving with purpose, like he can see past the sweaty crowd, eyes boring right through their flashy suits and expensive jewelry.

Sam lets out a low, breathy hiss. “Shittt!”

Bucky surreptitiously glances behind his shoulder. Not half a second later, he whips his head back in Sam’s direction. How in the world can he manage to look even grouchier?

“Great,” Bucky deadpans. “I thought Zemo said–”

“I know, man. C’mon.”

Sam grabs Bucky by his finely tailored sleeve, forcing them through the bustling crowd of party-goers. They relocate to the back corner of the club. Kicking away a plastic cup on the floor, Sam leans nonchalantly against one of the marble columns and lowers his voice. “Look, I know what Zemo said. But I don’t think he knew this was gonna happen. Either he somehow set us up from inside his fancy little jail cell, or these kids just felt like adding more to the party.”

Bucky frowns, looking antsy. “What the hell do we do now?”

Great question.

Sam purses his lips, craning his neck to scan for the initial two insurgents. If they get caught now, there’s no chance of finding whatever cave the Flag-Smashers set up shop in. The Super Soldier serum isn’t a joke; the world doesn’t need any more enhanced humans prancing around. It’s more trouble than it’s worth, which these kids just don’t understand yet.

Bucky elbows Sam lightly in the ribs, nodding toward the center of the crowd. The Flag-Smashers are moving like they’re about to meet in the middle. Something useful has to come out of this mission; something as simple as a code word may give them the upper hand. Unfortunately, the bass is so loud it’s literally vibrating Sam’s teeth, so it looks like he has to rely on his eyes for a lead.

The Flag-Smashers are doing some kind of hand signal, maybe a greeting, that Sam can’t distinguish. None of them cover their faces anymore, masks loosely hooked on the hoops of their jeans. Sam guesses the “Freedom Fighters” symbol was just a way to get access to the club, which is definitely more efficient than his and Bucky’s alternative. Going to Zemo’s cell and demanding VIP access to an underground European club earned a spot on the list of sophomoric lunacy Sam never thought he’d take part in.

“Sam,” Bucky cautions. “They’re looking at us.”

That’s about when Sam realizes they aren’t being as subtle as they can afford to be. The insurgents are shooting them sporadic glances, murmuring something amongst themselves, and for a blood curdling moment, Sam thinks that’s it: game over, mission ruined. Bucky is holding a few steady fingers on the underside of his glove, the metal peeking out from beneath the fabric. As soon as the insurgents start to shuffle forward, Bucky speaks again; louder, with clear annoyance in his tone: “They’re coming right at us.”

Because he’s hopeful at heart, or maybe just foolish, Sam isn’t convinced the Flag-Smashers recognize them yet. Take it from the Falcon himself: nobody notices Sam Wilson until the goggles come on. And Bucky’s bionic arm is the Winter Soldier’s trademark, which is no problem either; he’s got the cashmere suit and gloves.

Although they do look fresh as hell tonight, Sam isn’t so confident in their disguises that he thinks the Flag-Smashers aren’t going to recognize them from a few yards away. These kids aren’t stupid; they’re dangerous. And this is too important. Steve would have thought of something.

That’s precisely the moment an idea pops into Sam’s head.

Wow.

It might be nuts, and it violates the hell out of workplace professionalism, but it’s all he can think of. Sam can’t exactly evaluate the pros and cons of what he’s about to do, since the Flag-Smashers are getting closer with each passing second, and Bucky is glaring at them sporadically like a tiger about to pounce.

Okay, this is it.

Sam grabs Bucky by the lapels of his suit, meeting his deep gaze as he pulls them chest to chest. The guy ogles at him like he’s grown a second head. In any other situation, Sam would’ve made fun of how out-of-character that expression is on Bucky, but his pulse is pounding so fast he can hardly think straight.

“Bucky, just go with me on this.”

Sam leans forward and kisses him.

Bucky reacts the same way he does when a stranger bumps into him on the sidewalk. There’s a cursory shudder of alarm accompanied by the initial surprise, which Sam tries his best to assuage. It’s almost like trying to tame the sea during a storm, smoothing out all the waves until the calm returns. He brings a hand up to the back of Bucky’s neck, brushing the skin meaningfully, hoping the gesture isn’t lost on him as the Flag-Smashers approach in his periphery.

Commit to the role.

Sam admittedly should have thought this through, since the guy he’s frenching is from the 1940s. But after a few seconds more of tangled limbs and barefaced shock, Bucky seems to get it and quits resisting. His hands rise up to roughly grab Sam’s hips; probably to let Sam know he’s pissed. At this point, whatever; Sam can handle Bucky’s irritation. What he can’t handle right now is whatever this feeling is, because it’s like a million little electrical shocks hitting every nerve in his body. If someone told Sam he’d be making out with Bucky Barnes a week ago, he’d have stuffed that comment away into the Things That Will Never Happen lobe of his brain.

It takes a lot of willpower to remember why they’re in this situation again. Two of the insurgents have decided to thoroughly ignore their little lovemaking session. Which, good. And at this point, Bucky seems understand the strategy appeal. Sam chose kissing because they’re at a club; hookups happen, and physical affection makes people very uncomfortable. So presto! Crisis averted. But just when Sam thinks the coast is clear, he notices the third insurgent ogling at them like he can’t tear his eyes away.

Bucky clearly notices as well, because he snags Sam by the hair and shoves them against a nearby column. The force of the movement makes Sam stumble forward, deepening the kiss as Bucky angles their faces away from the insurgent. A deep, muffled groan escapes Sam’s throat, and the insurgent visibly goes red in the face, finally turning away to follow the other two, and thank the fucking Lord it’s over now.

They’re finally alone; as alone as they can be in this place. Sam elegantly shuffles away from Bucky, hands still warm from the other man’s skin. He doesn’t even have a joke for this situation, which proves how empty his head is right now. Somehow, Bucky looks significantly less flustered than Sam feels, but maybe he’s just used to hiding it. As Sam tries to process that, he squints up at Bucky’s profile in the club’s vibrant blue and green lighting. His dark hair is all ruffled, lips tinted a raw shade of pink. Despite the disarray, it’s kind of captivating.

After a few minutes of silence, Sam speaks up.

“So...where’d you learn to kiss like that?”

Without pause: “I’m 106 years old, not a virgin.”

It doesn’t take long before Sam is doubling over on the floor, gasping for air like he hasn’t breathed a day in his life, because holy shit. What a way to keep their cover. His hysteria is clearly contagious, since Bucky starts to smile too, a few short bursts of laughter bubbling up from his throat. For a long moment, Sam completely forgets what they’re doing.

Right.

On with the mission.

#sambucky #tfatws #ao3 #fanfiction #mine

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weaverofthreads · 3 years

Text

On the process of writing a novel...

Ok, so this began as a DM to a very dear friend who had said they were super excited to work on a novel of theirs that they'd abandoned for years, but they felt a bit lost when looking at the project again. They had "too many characters, too many intrigues" and they didn't "know how to create order" for all their ideas. They didn't know "what to keep, what to remove, what to change" and wanted to know if I had any tips.

I began to reply in messages and then realised I needed to make a whole post out of it, so here it is! All 3k words of it. This is for you, darling! I hope it helps.

Things I found extremely helpful when planning my novel for NaNoWriMo this year, after also taking some time off from it.

Most of this comes from Alicia Lidwina’s Four-Part article on her NaNoWriMo prep process, and setting up a writer’s notebook, for 2018. You can find the link to the first part here and I highly recommend you check out the whole series of articles for a more in-depth read.

Content of this ‘essay’:

Preparation, Groundwork, and Materials

Project 'Stats' & Overview

Mood, Moodboards, and Key Imagery

Things to Consider, and Important Bullet Points

Get to Know Your Characters

Chronological Order

Tangential and Preceding Events

Basic Premise, Plot Definition, Sub Plot Ideas

List of Locations

Scenes

Chapter Outline

NaNo Plan

Additional Notes and Tips for Writing

Ok. Let's begin.

First of all, I'm not saying that this is the only way to write or organise a novel. It can be tackled in as many ways as there are writers in the universe. This is just the method I used to get my ideas crystallised and organised.

Preparation, Groundwork, and Materials.

Take your preparation seriously. I bought a cheap but still nice A4 sketchbook with blank paper for maybe £2 at the local hobby store, and used it solely for the purposes of being my Novel Notebook. It doesn’t have to be a pretty, perfect, Aesthetic(TM) journal at all. Its function is to act as a route-guide through the process.

I bought a cute sticker from Etsy and used it as the front cover design so that I liked the book and that it felt a little bit special, without being too intimidating to put a mark in. Then I left the very first page blank, and opened it to the first double page. On the left, I wrote ‘Contents’ and then moved on to the right and wrote ‘Project Stats and Overview’.

I used a pen that was comfortable to write with, which for me was important. I’m a very tactile person, and having nice paper and pens (not necessarily fancy), made the process feel good.

Project Stats and Overview

This is the bare bones of the book, and includes details such as:

Project Working Title: (in my case it’s Weaver of Threads)

Targeted Wordcount: (to give yourself an idea of the scope, but it’s not necessary. For me it’s 50-100k)

Genre: (for me, fantasy)

Series: (will it be one book or more? For me, probably more than one, and at least two).

Inspiration: (here you can jot down all sorts of things which inspire your world and your writing, and it can be anything. In my case, I began with “density and lore, and feeling of being grounded in a real world from LOTR and Tolkien.” And I went on to include other writers and novels in the fantasy genre, as well as elements from our own world, such as Mongolian herding communities and way of life, the history of the Persian Empire, and Renaissance Florence!).

Project Timeline: Give yourself a structure, and be realistic. If you know you’re a slow writer who’s prone to distractions, be generous, but if you’re someone who responds well to short deadlines, tighten the time frame up a bit. I said “November 2020 - November 2021 for the whole manuscript” because I know I’m a procrastinator who gets dejected if they shoot past intense deadlines….

Editing Deadline: December 2021-January 2022. I know I can edit fairly quickly, so I made this one much shorter.

Main Requirements Prior to Starting: What do you need to get sorted before you can get going? It could be purchasing a laptop or figuring out a magic system. In my case, it was the latter.

What Happens in your novel?: This is not ‘what do your characters do?’, but what, in one sentence, actually happens in the book. For Fellowship of the Ring, you could say ‘a diverse group of people assemble and set off together with the goal of destroying the Ring’. LOADS more stuff actually takes place, obviously, but that’s probably the key thing that happens in that book. So, write the same thing for yours. I’m not going to tell you what happens in mine, because that would spoil it :).

That took up the first A4 page of my writer’s notebook, and after that, I moved on to Mood and Key Imagery.

Mood, Moodboards, and Key Imagery

On the left hand side of the page, I wrote down the words and concepts that sprang to mind when I thought of the novel itself. These were in no particular order or placement — just a random cloud of ideas in a rough column on the left hand side of the page — and they included: history, mystery, love, friendship, betrayal, nostalgic, homesick, sense of belonging, sense of place, searching, closeness, secrets… etc. etc.

Then on the right hand side, I wrote down five key words that I wanted to associate with the novel. These would form the ‘visual aesthetic’ in the background of my mind, and could be very easily expressed with a moodboard.

This same process (writing down words and creating a moodboard) could be achieved on a website like Pinterest. Take your time with it, find the right visual clues that really match the essence of your story, and create a final mood board with a limited number of panels that will be your novel’s ‘true north’ when it comes to feelings. If you're artistically inclined too, you could draw sketches of things relevant to your world too.

While this stage is really important for solidifying the feeling and mood of the novel, don’t get stuck here and spend forever procrastinating on Pinterest or whatever. Once you’ve crystallised that ambiance, it’s time to move on. It’s also perfectly fine to come back to this at a later stage if you find yourself running out of inspiration or drifting a bit. Daydreaming, drawing, mood-board-ing are all great ways to work on your novel on days when you don’t feel like writing.

Things to Consider:

Alicia Lidwina asked herself some questions which helped me get past the ‘block’ that I’d created when thinking about the novel, and those were:

What scares me about this story? (in my case it was the scope of it - it was easy for me to get lost in over-thinking tiny details and get too overwhelmed to handle the big picture)

What will readers take away from it? (in my case, I hoped that it was a sense of friendship, people from desperate cultures finding common ground, and a sense of being grounded in a real, tangible world.

What is its selling point? (essentially, why would an agent/publisher choose yours over the next one in the pile?). Don’t be bashful about this. This is your notebook, so if you’re proud of a feature or aspect of the story, write it down. In my case, there is no ‘Big Bad come to destroy the world’, no Chosen One who is the only one who can stop it. There is an antagonist, but it’s on a personal scale, and that’s the selling point. It’s about two people going on a personal journey to uncover a lost piece of knowledge that’s arguably not all that world-changing on its own, but which means the world to them.

What will be the three biggest issues in writing the first draft? Identify the three biggest roadblocks, and then take a bulldozer to them. For me, it was time management, getting mentally stuck, and the sheer darned effort of it becoming overwhelming!

Important Bullet Points

These are five key facts about your novel, distilled from the sections above. They include: What’s at the heart of the story? How long is the story? What’s the narrative focus of the story? What are the maximum number of main characters? And the maximum number of supporting characters (this obviously doesn’t mean you can’t have other, less important characters too!)?

Relationship between the two main characters is forefront

50-100k words

The novel’s focus is on the characters’ main goal (had to be more vague here so I didn't give it away)

2 main characters

3 supporting characters

If you find you’ve got too many main characters (not necessarily a bad thing to have a lot of characters - look at A Song of Ice and Fire after all!), then figure out whose story you want to tell here. You can always write another story with other characters in a connected novel, or a sequel. You don’t have to tell everything all at the same time.

Speaking of characters…

…Get to Know Your Main Characters:

Here you can write character sheets for each of your main characters and cast. There are hundreds of these templates available on the internet, asking questions like ‘how would your character react to [insert event]?’ etc. to get to know your character. If this isn’t your thing (it isn’t mine) then at least write down some useful information about them. Rough height and weight, hair, eye and skin colour, general temperament, and any other defining physical or mental traits.

Next came the Chronological Order

This does not have to represent the final order of the novel’s structure, nor the order in which you write the manuscript, but you need to know what happened within the timeline, and when, in order to be really clear when you’re telling the story. You can write the manuscript out of order, and you can tell the story with flashbacks or in a different order, but you need to have the underlying chronology securely in place so that your writing makes sense and so that you don’t confuse yourself or the readers in the process.

Preceding and Tangential Events

These don’t need to be in the novel itself, but it may be important to define the sequence of events that also led up to the moment where we pick up your story, and what is happening elsewhere so that you can be sure of these too. In my case, I defined the events that concerned one of the supporting characters’ lives so that I knew how and why they were at the point they are in the story. It relates directly to - and heavily influences - the events of the novel, so I needed to have this person’s history nailed down as well, even though I don't tell it all explicitly in the book (because that would be unnecessary and a bit dull).

Basic Premise, Plot Definition, and Sub-Plot Ideas (plus writing a synopsis)

Alicia Lidwina defined the story premise helpfully with the following formula:

Story Premise = Main Character + Desire + Obstacle

Pick a different colour for each of these components, and write a short paragraph to explain them in the context of the novel. Alicia Lidwina used the following:

[Main Character] “Harry, an orphan who didn’t know that he’s a wizard, [Desire] got invited into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and wanted to live his school life to its fullest, [Obstacle] but a certain Dark Lord who killed his parents is trying to rise into powers again and kill him in revenge.

Do this for your novel, and keep it really short.

Plot Definition: This is even shorter than that! It’s a single sentence!! It’s most closely tied to the desire of the character, and lies at the heart of the story. It’s most likely a distilled version of the ‘what happens in the story’ from the Project Stats page, so check that to see what you wrote there.

Sub Plot Ideas

Five bullet points (no more) for things that are happening concurrently and which are related in some way to the main story. For me, Kae and Tomas are doing their research, so that’s the main theme, but beneath that there are a few other related incidents.

Writing a Synopsis - developed out of the points in this section, and includes:

Who the main character is

What the stakes are (the story premise is your guideline)

What the main plot line is

How the MC resolves the problem in the main plot line

How the book ends.

List of Locations

Start with the main ones and add to it as you go on. Write a little bit of information about them so that you have something to refer back to. I also drew a big old map which I found very helpful and also really fun to do.

List of Scenes

It’s very important to map out every single scene that happens in the novel. Use your timeline to help with this, but remember a scene is not necessarily a chapter. You can have more than one scene within a chapter, but try not to have too many.

I used small post-it notes (sticky notes) and wrote down things like “M joins K’s clan at the fire and K learns about magic” and “K studies at Citadel, intro to Citadel, magic, and characters” as separate scenes. Once you’ve written down everything that is going to happen (this will take some time! Get a drink and some snacks ready, and go slow), you can stick them into your notebook in the order you’d like to tell the story. Some chapters may have just one scene, while others may have two or three. I didn’t have more than two in any of my chapters, and actually ended up splitting some scenes that I’d made too vague in this section into more chapters. It doesn’t have to be set in stone, but it will form a road map.

Additions and Notes:

I left a section of the Scene Outline bit of the notebook blank for things to add in as I went along. I haven’t used it yet, but I might.

Chapter Outline

I arranged the scenes into the chapters already by sticking them in order, but you could do a chapter outline separately after this. It’s up to you.

NaNoWriMo plan:

I did this back in October, and wrote down the main goal for nanoprep, which was to finish the background info. Breaking that down further, I listed - magic (how does it work exactly), geography, and politics.

After that, it was just a case of writing the 1667 words a day. *spoilers, I got distracted and didn’t do NaNo this year* . What I should have done, was break it up into chunks and write down my goals so that I had something tangible to use as a road map, and I will be doing that now for the novel as I take it up again outside of NaNo. Having check boxes and manageable goals really works for me. Find what will work for you, and if it turns out not to, adapt!

Some final pointers and tips:

Set regular goals for yourself. Whether you work by saying ‘I’ll write 1000 words a day’ or ‘I’ll write something every day’, make a structure for yourself. If you slip and miss a day, week, or month (I didn’t meet NaNo this year because I chose to work on another project instead *slaps forehead*), don’t beat yourself up. Writing is a craft and it takes a long time and a lot of discipline to master a craft.

Your first draft does not have to be good. At all. Your first draft is just words on paper. A first draft is the block of marble taken from the quarry, and subsequent edits and reworking is the process of carving the sculpture itself. The editing that is done by the publisher or the professional you employ to edit it for you later, is the final polishing. Don’t be demoralised if the block of marble seems very rough when it first lands in your studio. That’s ok!

Take regular breaks. Writing is hard work, and most people can’t concentrate on something successfully for longer than 55 min's, and if you’re doing that, you’re already doing really well. Personally, I’m at 15-20 on a good day. Write in little sprints of ten minutes or so, and then get up and stretch, look out the window, maybe leave the room, come back in with a fresh approach.

Stretch your hands, and wear wrist braces when you work. Seriously. I gave myself tendinitis on my first major project, and couldn’t use either hand properly for weeks. The ones I have are these, and they allow me to work safely for much longer.

Keep hydrated. Have a bottle of water on the desk in front of you between your arms as you type and sip it, otherwise you’ll forget. 2 litres a day is usually recommended, but know your body and drink accordingly.

Treat yourself. Whether that’s something as simple as a decadent hot chocolate after your first chapter/chunk/sprint is done, or a new notebook or a pen or that sticker set you wanted on Etsy or literally anything nice, reward yourself for the hard work you’ve put in, with tangible things you can look at or experience and say ��I have that because I did the work’. It’ll help with your sense of achievement, especially if the project is a long one.

Join a local writer’s group for feedback. With the current Covid-19 chaos, this is probably not possible right now, but getting constructive feedback on your work from someone who hasn’t been cocooned in the project in the way you are, but who respects you as a writer and wants to help you grow, will be invaluable. It’s too easy to exist in a little isolated bubble and think you’re doing ok, when in reality you could be creating bad habits which will be difficult to break later. By these, I mean things like ‘filler words’ you don’t realise you use, or other pit-falls it’s easy to tumble into when you can’t see the wood for the trees…It’s intimidating, and it might take some courage to work up and do, but I promise it’ll help you grow. You don’t have to do what the people suggest, but it’s great to get outside opinions all the same.

Submit work to writing competitions. This will help with showing agents and publishers later down the line that you’re not only committed, but hopefully talented, and will help you to push yourself. Use the world of your novel for the setting, and get to know it by writing short stories on the competition’s theme set there.

Read. Read the writers you admire, and read them ‘actively’ - figure out exactly what it is about ‘that’ sentence that made you shiver, and use the same techniques in your own work (don’t plagiarise, obviously, but if it was alliteration that made the sentence work so well, use it yourself! Perhaps it was the metre of the line? Great, now you know a rhythm that will drive a sentence forward or slow it down etc.)

Enjoy it. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, it’ll show in the work. Take a step back if you start floundering, and ‘interview’ yourself about why it’s not fun any more. Refer back to the sections in the notebook that helped to clarify the plot/process, and see if you’ve wandered away from them. Make yourself answer questions like: ‘What is the main reason I don’t want to do this?’ ‘What is the character’s motivation?’ ‘Should I scrap this section?’ (don’t delete it, but cut and paste it into another ‘scraps’ document, and then start afresh from the last place you were happy with. Nothing is wasted - it all goes into building the world and getting to know the characters, even if it doesn’t get explicitly told in the finished product, so don’t be afraid to do that last bit).

Good luck!

I hope you found this helpful, and if you have any questions or things you’d like to add to this, please feel free to send me an ask here on Tumblr.

If you’re a new writer hoping to get an agent or publisher, you might also find this post on ‘talking to a published author’ helpful or interesting.

If you would like to keep up to date with my own novel’s progress, you can follow me here on Tumblr, as well as on my writing Instagram @rnpeacock

#writing #writeblr #writing process #how to write a novel #novel writing #nanowrimo #national novel writing month #writing a book #writing advice #author #authors on tumblr #how to structure a book #long post

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imagesbyele · 3 years

Photo

My first attempt at a premium theme: Spring theme! The price is 2 euro or any donation you'd like to make! Send me an ask/im for it, even just a ‘hey I’d like your spring theme’ and I’ll link you my ko-fi or paypal.

previews in the source. If you buy like or reblog, if you don’t buy and you’d like to help me get some visibility, you can reblog anyway (and just like the post if you like it, or donate regardless to give a hand) <3

What do you get with this 'spring' theme, which is probably the first of a season collection, besides of course the exact look you see in the preview 1? (you can check the previews to see most of what I'm talking about)

This theme is first of all responsive: you will be able to see everything, from posts to links to sidebar, in every device no matter how small, down to 320w x 340h tiny mobile screens. [On tablets/phones the navi links will simply move above the screen, then you'll have the title, description and finally the container.]

There is an optional dropdown menu for your updates and a searchbar, npf posts fix ( @ glenthemes ) so photos uploaded from your phone always show correctly, pxu photosets so photosets always resize correctly, minimal soundcloud player, video resizing script ( @shythemes and @bychloethemes ), an askbox with a colorful button ( @eggdesign), the 'can't right-button click nor see the source' script to keep people from stealing it, rounded borders, and instructions all over the html in case you want to bring changes there. Sources are always visible when present, tumblr controls are smaller and grow when you hover over them. Icons by cappuccicons (follow html instructions if you want to replace them) and bgs from pixabay.

It also has animated title and navi links, and your custom pages will appear right under them. Only note is that if you pick 540px posts people with small laptops (1024px) will only be able to see one column of them before they are cut off so max 9 links or they won't fit for them.

Options from the customization page:

-you can upload your own background (toggling off the selectbg option), and a semi-transparent 'overlay’ image on top of your posts, right now it's the same as the overlay you can add to your background.

-you can select: post-size, type of blockquotes, font of your posts, or if you toggled on selectbg’ you can also select one of the 7 spring themed bgs present, as well as adding an optional overlay and gradient on top of them (to remove them you select the blank space instead). Instructions in the html if you want to add the overlay and gradient to a background you uploaded instead (because they conflict with the existence of a background-color and it needs to be removed). -you can toggle on and off: like I said the selectbg option which allows you to upload your own background instead of picking among provided ones, the visibility of the container decorations in case you want them without flowers on the top left and bottom right corners, the like button, your avatar/portrait on the sidebar, the ladybug icon which you can click on to show updates and searchbar, the unnested captions in textposts, the unnested captions in all other posts (if you pick them, the portrait and url of the person who wrote the post will be on top, editable in the unnested captions sections of the html), the background for post-titles which will show you the blog background, the border around unnested captions, the 'spring version' of the description which will be replaced by a regular rectangular one without flower crown, the minimal spotify player (as opposed to one that shows you the big album art), and the fade-out (how things fade when you refresh the page).

-you can type in: the font size of your regular text, the space between images in photosets, your posts background and description background colors (right now it's rgba(234, 211, 248, 80%) for both, except the description has a 90% of visibility, I used rgba because I liked the semi-transparency but you can use whatever you want), the linear-gradient of your container bg colors and of your tumblr audioplayer, the symbol next to your lists, the text of your update (when you click on the ladybug), 7 navigation links and their titles when you hover over them.

What can't you do from the custom page? you need to go to the html editor to edit fonts and sizes of everything else (just search for font-family and font-size) as they go hand in hand, and you need to manually delete the navigation links you don't want or the spinning flower will stay.

A reminder to always toggle on and off everything and to not trust tumblr preview when seen from the editor because it will hide things and mess with images positions, always open the blog in another tab to see your changes.

And because I’m a nervous wreck at the thought of not giving it for free, a reminder that I’m happy to answer questions - though I can’t guide you every day/through super long complicated editing if you decide to change the entire theme because I’m not always here. If you decide to edit everything you should have some html/css knowledge.

#premium theme #contained theme #spring #nature theme #nature #flowers #cute theme #responsive theme #themes #evansyhelp #dailyresources #spllcraft #mythemes

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northcarolinanative · 4 years

Text

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 / 𝙲𝚑 𝟷𝟼

Chapter 16: A Sliver of Hope?

Description: John B’s Sister comes home from staying with their mom, only to find out that her brother is missing and her dad was murdered. JJ may have just lost his best friend. Her and JJ have to figure out what to do and how to pick up the pieces.

A/N: Hey guys, I have no idea if this chapter has literally any accuracy to how things like this work, but here it is. Enjoy. I might not be super active in the next few days because I have a lot going on, but I had this done and wanted to get it out:) As always my asks/messages/requests are always open:)

Need to Catch Up? Collision MasterList

“Actually, we might have.” As the words left Pope's mouth I could feel the smile take over me. I pulled JJ in closer to my chest. Looking over at his face he was smiling just as wide.

“Well go on!” Kie said patting Pope on the shoulder before looking over his shoulder.

“Okay, Okay.” He laughed before pointing to the screen and redirecting our attention back to it. “Here is what they call a passenger log.” He said pointing to the list. He hovered over the ship's code and clicked. “This right here is the ship that made the weird turn,” He pointed to the column in the middle of the screen. “Here.” He tapped it twice.”Says that there were 8 people on board when they left port in Delaware.” He used two fingers on the trackpad of the laptop to scroll down the screen. It was moving painstakingly slow. Then reached up to point at the second number. As his finger fell right below it. I read the number. My breath left me as I felt a familiar wave of hope wash over my body. “10” Pope said with a smile.

I jumped back from JJ with a smile on my face as he stood up and turned to face me. “Pope you are a genius!” I was practically yelling. I was literally bouncing on the balls of my feet.

“Holy shit,” Kiara said, turning Pope to pull him into a hug. JJ was standing in front of me, his smile was one that I missed seeing. He looked so purely happy, for the first time since we found the ship’s code that night. We locked eyes and I couldn’t look away. The look of absolute hope in JJ’s eyes was enough for me to reach forward, putting both my hands on either side of his face, bringing us closer together.

I felt JJ’s arms wrapped around my middle as he picked me up. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he spun me around. I dropped my head to whisper in his ear, “I am so fucking proud of you right now.” As he set me back down, it was almost as if I was getting grounded again. The feeling was so overwhelming and heavy, but I was so happy.

I hadn’t even noticed how emotional the whole deal had made me. “No need to cry baby” JJ chucked the name once again rolling off his tongue without a second thought. He moved one of his hands to cup my face, wiping the tears from my face. I laughed, looking down at his now slightly wet hand, a small laugh escaped my lips as I pulled JJ back into a hug.

“They’re alive JJ like there is tangible proof that they are.” I stood back from him. I raised my voice so that the other two could hear me. “We did that. We found them.” I said throwing my arm around Kie and pulling her into a hug with me.

“What do we do now though?” Kie asked as she pulled away from the hug.

I felt my face contort back into one of confusion and worry. She was right, what are we going to do. I found my seat back on the other side of the picnic table. JJ followed my movements, once again sliding in beside me. “Well, we’re gonna go to the Bahamas,” JJ said in a joking manner, causing Kie to scoff at him. I wrapped my arm through JJ’s and leaning my head on his shoulder. I felt him rest his head against mine. The worry in the pit my stomach was now joined by an array of butterflies at his small action.

I looked at Kie who had a knowing smile on her face. Then followed her glance to Pope, who was typing on the computer at a feverish pace. I watched as Kie knitted her eyebrows together and leaned closer to look at his screen.

“You look tired,” JJ said, looking down at me. I didn’t miss how close his face was, as I could feel his warm breath. Even in the sweltering late July heat, I didn’t mind how close we were, even if JJ was like a human heater.

“Just what every girl wants to hear” I said chuckling with him.

“No, no” he stuttered. “You’re cute when you’re sleepy. You got up early this morning, don’t think I didn’t catch you going over the maps before the sun was even up.” He laughed

“And you didn’t help me?” I said, feigning offense. We kept our voices low, as Kie and Pope we’re focusing on the computer screen in front of them.

“Bro I was tired.” He laughed, but I didn’t.

“Where’d you go last night anyway. After..” I trailed off but he knew what I meant.

“Just to the beach, I walked for a little bit.” He said with a soft smile. “I wasn’t gone for long, but when I came back you were asleep, so I just hung out and cleaned up the pogue.” Something about his words didn’t convince me but I let it slide, just softly nodding my head.

I shifted my focus back to the pair in front of us. I left my exhaustion to get the better of me and laid my head back against JJ’s shoulder, I kept my arm laced through his, but this time he reached to place his hand on my thigh, slightly pulling me closer to him. “So what are you coming up with over there, not gonna let you work on this alone” I stated, causing Pope to look up from the screen for a moment.

“Yea, Okay, so I found the company's number and it’s a long shot, but I’m gonna ask them if I can speak to the captain of the ship? Or a crew member?” Pope said reaching through his bag till he pulled out his cell phone.

“What exactly are you gonna do though? Like if they ask you why?” JJ piped in causing Pope to groan.

“He’s got a point,” Kie laughed.

“School interview?” I said with a question. “That’s how we got the maps?”

“I don’t know Y/N, they might just ask to answer my questions.”

“Tell them you noticed a specific wave pattern that day or some shit, and wanted to know how they combatted the storm?” JJ said growing slightly impatient. “Just call em man”

Pope gave him a side-eye before unlocking his phone and starting to dial the numbers with a beep, I heard the phone turn to speaker mode. Kie reached for my notebook, reached across the table, and handed her a pen. She sat in front of her on the table, so she could write if needed. As the dial tone rang quietly at our table I reached to grab JJ’s hand under the table. His grip was tight, even if he wasn’t showing it, he was worried, just like me, that it would be a dead end.

“Transatlantic Liners, this is Denise speaking, How may I help you?” The lady over the phone’s voice ringing through the air made all of us tense up immediately. The only thing helping me stay grounded was the small movement of JJ’s thumb across the back of my hand.

“Uh yes ma’am. I am a reporter for Kildare County… Uh. SmytHS.” Pope made a noise resembling that of a phone static, rather convincingly, before continuing with his statements. “We see here that you had a freight liner come through the morning after the tropical depression that hit our North Carolina Coast. We were wondering if we could talk to the captain or one of the crew members for an interview?” Pope finished his sentences finally, his fake, over-exaggerated, southern accent making his words hang in the air for longer than they normally would.

“Was the accent necessary?” JJ giggled quietly beside me, making me smile.

“Ah yes, Did you know which ship you had in question?” Denise spoke, before a bit of rustling was heard. JJ made a typical yes, fist bump with Kie, as she pointed to the ship number on the paper in front of them.

“Uh, Yes Ma’am, code 45759.” He said, a smile prominent on his face. I started to feel the familiar rush of adrenaline. This was going unbelievably well.

“Oh okay, Captain Larry Jones and Jim Steinman, were on the ship that day. Looks like they’ll have a good story to report, turns out they came across something, but I’ll let Jim tell you about that.”

Kie was writing down the names of the men as fast as the woman on the other side of the phone was speaking. My heart rate was skyrocketing at this point, but it also felt like the world was standing still. I was staring intently at Pope as he feigned a laugh before muttering a quick “Thank you.”

“I’ll just transfer you to Jim, might take a bit, he’s a popular man these days.” I could hear her laugh and some rustling again before the line went dead. The air was now full of a monotoned beeping noise as we all waited for Jim to pick up his line. Kie glanced up at me and JJ, a huge smile on her face as she tapped the end of the pen against the pad of paper in front of her. No one dared to speak for fear of jinxing this moment. The longer the beeping continued the more nervous we all became. JJ began to bounce his leg up and down in an attempt to focus his energy somewhere. I used my other hand to cover his, now holding his hand between the two of mine in my lap. JJ sent a soft, blushed smile my way before we heard a sharp click on the other end of the phone. “This is Jim, What can I do for ya?” The man’s voice was sharp, but he spoke slowly. He didn’t sound too old, but rather tired.

“Hey, yes sir,” Pope began, eyes wide, looking at the rest of us expectantly. We all shrugged and shook our heads. Kie whispered something about the ‘interview and Pope finally began talking again. “I had a few questions about your ride through the Atlantic last week, we had a tropical depression here in the Outer Banks, wondering how you dealt with that?” He paused to take a drink before continuing. “On our map here we saw that you made a rather out of place turn outside of Kildare Island, any reason for that?” Pope finished with the question, but the man on the other line was quick to start talking.

“Oh, yea! Let me tell you, that was the most interesting ride I’ve been on in a long time fella.” He spoke, obviously trying to recount the events for us.

“Do you mind giving us some details?” Pope questioned further.

“We were out on the water, we’d held back because of the storm, but crossed into the state early that morning. When we were about halfway down the coast we saw a reflector from the water. It didn’t look like much but, we headed that way anyway. Found a shipwreck.”

The man stopped talking and there was a rustle before he continued. “We found two kids out there, in the middle of the sea. I have no idea how the hell they survived that storm in that rickety old boat they had.” The man paused to laugh, causing JJ to scowl at the man's words.

“She was a great boat” He whispered, causing both me and Kie to laugh. We were all smiling from ear to ear as we listened to the man recount his travels with John B and Sarah, who were alive.

“And they came all the way to Port with you, in Nassau?” Pope questioned.

“Yes. Yes. They were awfully excited when I told them they had booked a free ride to the Bahamas.” He chuckled again. “I haven’t seen ‘em since, but they were in a hurry, they asked me what direction Cameron’s Airstrip was in. Blew me away honestly, Mr.Cameron’s got business dealings everywhere.” The man paused for a minute. We all looked at each other, silently questioning how he knew about the Camerons. “Not that you all know what I’m talking about. Did you have any further questions?”

“No. No. I think that covers it. Thank you so much for your time.” Pope said, the fake smile in his voice evident.

“No problem son, send us a copy of that article you’re gonna write, alright?” Jim said.

“Of course, sir.” Pope hung up the phone, as we all let out a sigh of relief as he set the phone down, then let his head fall in his hands. Kie was quick to move her hand to rub his back.

“So why the hell were they trying to go to Ward’s airstrip?” Kie asked.

“Isn't it obvious?” Pope said, his head snapping up to look between us. We all wore a confused expression. Our silence begged him to continue. “Cameron’s plane took off with the gold in it?” He drugs his words out slowly, trying to get us to understand.

Then it clicked. “He was sending the gold to the Bahamas,” I said with a smile, turning to face JJ whose smile was growing to match mine.

Masterlist

Taglist (if you wanna be added PLEASE send me an ASK:))

@nikki082489 @lovelymaybankk @dolanfivsosxox @alexa-playafricabytoto @downbytheouterbanks @heyhargrove @kayln021 @readysteadygo23 @im-a-stranger-thing @thatsonobx @dumbxgirl @ameeraaa21 @zehnuhrfunf @imagines-and-preferences1216 @mileven-reddie @sw-eat-ing @tangledinsparkles @shawnssongs @karleeluv @rockyyc77 @omigodyall @whoreforouterbanks @bqbyl0n @hmsjiara @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @softstarkey @summerintheobx @outerbanksbro

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verdantspringcourtyard · 3 years

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SP Yamakaze Super Oniou Event

A new and revamped Super Oniou event featuring a familiar face for CN and TW/JP players. The event coincides with release of SP Yamakaze and lasts for 1 week.

This Super Oniou has been changed in quite a few ways by introducing elements more common in recent 2020 events. Hard to say if these changes are for the better.

Quick Intro

For people unfamiliar with Super Oniou / Uber type events, here is a quick intro. You can also check out the Super Onio Invasion page here on the wiki too.

Your overall goal is to find & fight 50 bosses a day, try to get the rewards for finding & fighting 100 bosses, help out/leech off friends and buy everything you consider important in the exchange shop (eg, random SSR/SP, shikigami skins, icon frames, black daruma, sushi, boss packs, etc). It is recommended to save up AP and plenty of jade to make the most of this event.

Bosses used to spawn after clearing explore, mitama or awakening/evo dungeons. Best location, however, was awakening/evo due to how easy it is to clear in a short amount of time. Any stage would do as long as you can one-shot it. Eg; attackers like SP Ubume, Tamamo, SP Ibaraki or Kuro Mujou with 126~ spd can easily one-shot stages 1-6 without the need of a puller to let them move first.

Before fighting a boss - can either use 10 fatigue or use 30 fatigue for a 2.5x damage boost. The 2.5x damage boost should only be used for soloing 5-6* bosses. If possible try to solo 6* bosses for max amount of points, if you can’t then open it up to friends but do try to secure MPV or the last hit. Absolutely don’t forget to kill the minions, not just the boss. Not killing the boss + all 5 minions before times runs out = failing and receiving 0 points.

General Info

Super Oniou bosses are random shikigami (daruma, R, SR, SSR, SP) of varying grades that represent how strong they are.

6* bosses are immune to control effects.

Only 50 bosses can be found every day.

10 fatigue is used to challenge Super Oniou bosses and 30 fatigue can be used to challenge them with a 2.5x damage boost.

There is no limit to how many times you can assist with a friend's bosses, but assisting 50 or more times will cause the fatigue cost to be tripled.

When your fatigue reaches 100, you cannot fight any Super Oniou bosses.

58 jade can be used to reduce your fatigue by 100.

Defeat bosses (getting the final hit) reduces fatigue by a set amount depending on the grade.

Changed Features

Super Oniou bosses have even higher HP than previous events.

Super Oniou bosses no longer spawn from evo, souls or explore.

Instead feathers are used to spawn bosses with the Discover button.

Instead of anima and 3 daily buffed shiki, you must pick 3 of a selection ~20 shiki everyday.

Buffed shiki only have a 50% boost to damage dealt and damage reduction for Super Oniou bosses.

Point leaching has been limited to your top 20 friends.

Instead of Vanquish there is Practice to Become King.

In Practice to Become King there are 4 Boss Challenges and 3 various types of bosses.

SP Yamakaze replaces your onmyouji in battle.

There are buff effects for him and the daily buffed shiki.

Buffs are unlocked by how many bosses you have found and fought, buffs are equipped with wolf fang necklaces

A total of 12 wolf fang necklaces can be obtained, so you cannot equip every buff effect.

Can re-equip buff effects at any time and at no cost.

Similiar to the Hyakki Yakou event, there'll be a chibi SP Yamakaze that'll auto farm event currency by fighting wolves.

For every set amount of bosses you defeat, new rewards and extra event currency will be unlocked.

Chibi SP Yamakaze will farm event currency even when you’re offline, however he will stop after couple of hours if you haven't claimed any rewards.

SP Yamakaze

In battle your onmyouji is replaced by SP Yamakaze. Unfortunately, he is not super OP like Suzuka in Journey Home or the onmyouji in Bound by Love. He's a strong single target attacker, however, unless you can sustain both him + the rest of your team or you start unlocking more buff effects he can feel a bit lacking.

Buff Effects

Next to the button for the event shop on the main event page is the button for the buffs page and SP Yama's stats.

Buffs are unlocked by defeating 0/10/20/40/60/80/100 bosses and equipped with wolf fang necklaces. Most of the buffs are stat boosts for SP Yama or extra 20% boosts for certain daily shiki. Only 1 of the first row buffs may be equipped. For buffs that share one stone, the bottom one can only be equipped if the top one is already equipped. Eg; on the 2nd stone in the 3rd column is a RES boost and a HIT boost, even if you don't want the HIT you'll need to equip it to get the RES.

Recommendations: For the buff effects that are available straight away, the 1st and 3rd column ones are probably the best. The 3rd one is good for extra onibi and an ATK buff, however, both beginners and experienced players may prefer the 1st one for an extra AOE after SP Yama attacks every 2 turns.

Super Oniou / Uber

This part of the event remains mostly the same. The 2-3 biggest changes are boss spawns/discover button and point leaching.

Bosses no longer spawn from evo and souls, instead feathers that are obtained by farming are used to spawn bosses with the discover button. Costs 3 feathers to use the discover button and there's no time limit between uses of it. A max of 150 feathers can be farmed each day. Everyday at 6:00 and 18:00, 10 feathers can be collected from the main event page. The max number of bosses you can spawn is still 50 (or 56 if you remember to get the extra feathers at 6:00 and 18:00).

Short Summary: Don't need to farm evo for bosses any more. You can do your regular soul farming until you get max feathers then fight as many bosses as you want when you want before reset. For lazy people who only do evo guild quests like myself, you wont get evo materials from farming for bosses any more, but instead you'll still get them from the chibi SP Yamakaze's battle rewards.

Point leaching has been given a big change. Instead of being able to collect points from everyone on your friend list at any time, you are now limited to your top 20 friends of the previous day and points are all collected in one batch in the middle of the day from the main event page (there'll be a pop-up for it). Depending on how OP your friends are, you can get some random 6* souls as an extra reward.

Short Summary: If you're planning on clearing out your entire friend list for OP players, don't.

These are the last rewards for "Find & Fight 100 Bosses".

Practice To Become a King

Practice: Boss Challenges

During the first 4 days of the event, these boss challenges will be gradually unlocked. They can be challenged from 8:00 to 23:59 everyday, costs 3 AP to do and the battles have a 3 minute time limit. Each boss has different mechanics and each has 4 stages of varying difficulties.

Mechanics:

1st Challenge: Enemies have increased crit.

2nd Challenge: Every time the move bar is moved outside of an ally's own turn, a small amount of damage will be dealt to them.

3rd Challenge: There is a damage cap per hit.

4th Challenge: All ally buff effects will fail to work.

Additional Mechanic for all 4 Challenges: Every time Boss SP Yama deals damage, he'll always do an AOE blizzard attack that can inflict freeze too.

Last clear rewards all include a stone which "weaken" the hard mode for the Become a King bosses. So if you are a beginner or aren't very strong, do not stress yourself out about getting them / defeating the 4th stages.

Become a King: Various Boss Types

On day 5 a new boss becomes unlocked. It can be challenged from 8:00 to 23:59 everyday, costs 6 AP to do, has easy and hard modes and the battles have a 3 minute time limit. On hard mode the boss shares the same mechanics as the 4 boss challenges, clearing all 4 difficulties of them removes those mechanics (except the additional one).

Boss Types:

Day 5: Netherworld gate type, boss Yamakaze cannot receive damage.

Day 6: Starts out as boss defense, fight boss Yamakaze until his HP goes below 70% then he switches to 4 SP Yamakaze.

Day 7: Standard boss defense, boss Yamakaze starts at 70% HP.

Exchange Shop

For a full list of items in the shop, please refer to the wiki version of this guide.

Majority of the exchange shop items have damage requirements to be unlocked. Eg; SSR/SP and icon frames require 2 mil damage.

Buffed Shiki

Here is a list of recommended daily buffed shiki. Only a max of 3 per rarity will be recommended.

You are only able to pick 3 shiki out daily selection, so hopefully these recommendations can be of some help. Ultimately, you should pick which 3 shiki you intend in using on whichever days. Those 3 will have their 50% ATK & DEF boost increased to 100%. After picking, you cannot change your decision.

Recommended Teams

Regardless of what type of team you intend on using for whatever part of the event, if you don't have Senhime + Enmusubi you'll need to make a choice. Until you unlock the last 2 rows of buff effects, you can set SP Yama to only use normal attacks or equip 1-2 shiki with Fortune Cat. Not doing so may result in onibi issues. Once unlock the reduced onibi cost and crit/crit DMG buffs, you can start using SP Yama as your sole DPS for certain teams (ones with Youkinshi and no clear DPS).

When using Ushi, can use Shadow, Watcher or Kyoukotsu on her depending on the rest of your team.

When using Senhime, use whatever souls fits your needs. Don't need to use the same ones recommended in the below sections. Kyoukotsu, Fortune Cat and Nuribotoke are all options for her.

Feel free to look through the resource section for additional teams. Recommend looking through the past super oniou resources and guides if don't have shiki like Senhime or even Enmusubi.

Super Oniou

Only the general teams are listed above. For teams recommended for certain annoying bosses, please refer to the wiki version of this guide. There is no need to prepare teams for the annoying bosses, because there is no guarantee that you will encounter them unless you’re unlucky or have extremely active friends/guildmates.

The alternative to Senhime in a lot of teams is Enmusubi + Oitsuki. If you don't Senhime or Enmusubi, then you'll need to use teams like the very first 2 listed. The 1st team relies heavily on Sasori and her splash damage, it's up to whether you want to use a shiki to help proc the splash damage or a regular AOE DPS. While the 2nd team relies on SP Yama to be your sole DPS, however, unless you have unlocked the crit/crit dmg buffs it should only be used when all the minions are KO'd.

If you happen to find a 5-6* boss and whatever shiki you're using in this event are still 5* or your soul sets are still 5* - give up fighting this them on your own. It's not a fun time when you don't have the recommended shiki and/or are too weak to tank their attacks. Try to get your friends and guildmates to help clear them.

There are also 2 additional bosses you should be wary of - the 4* Mannendake and Ungaikyou bosses.

Lastly, before challenging an annoying boss if you find one/are invited to one, always read the boss mechanics first. There are some you need use very specific types of shiki. Eg; can’t use female shiki a DPS for Kidoumaru, need multi-hit for Tamamo, need some form of shield for Susabi.

Practice: Boss Challenges

Need +120 SPD for Senhime, Takiyasha, Kiyohime and Kamikui.

For the 1st and 3rd boss challenges, if you don't have Takiyasha, any other AOE shiki could work. Should use seductress + songstress instead of dawn fairy as well.

To Become A King: Various Boss Types

For the day 5 netherworld gate type boss, if you remember what shiki/teams you used for the netherworld type bosses in Kinnara's event you can probably use them again here. If you have Senhime, Suzuka or SP Tama are the optimal choices.

Same advice for the day 7 boss defense, if you have happen to have a Sanbi team that you used in a previous super oniou event then use it. Use Sanbi and make me proud. Not 100% sure if I would actually use Nekomata, could probably use SP Kiyo instead. Could also use the same Yuki Douji + Sanbi team recommended in my previous guide.

For the day 6 semi boss defense, if you don't have Kinnara then any AOE multi-hit shiki, like Takiyasha or Suzuka, will do just fine instead.

#Onmyouji #Onmyoji #events #long post #very long post

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smalltragedy · 3 years

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* brigette lundy-paine, nonbinary + they/them | you know kirby wormwood, right? they’re twenty five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, two weeks? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to ring ring by mika like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole balancing acts at perilous heights destined to entertain, jack of all trades master of none, refusal to accept the mortal world as it is thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 1st, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( james, 21, est, they/them )

hllo welcome 2 my third character i love them a lot theyre a. remake of an older oc of mine so this is fun <3 sdfhk anyways once again i am asking u. pleathe like if u wld like to plot.

ARSON TW

mini playlist.

wizard ;; lucas lex / ring ring ;; mika / crows ;; clues / sunrise sunset ;; bright eyes / la llorona ;; beirut / no children ;; the mountain goats / might be love ;; the pesky snakes / sax in the city ;; let’s eat grandma.

statistics.

full name: kirby wormwood (currently).

nickname(s): magpie.

birthday: december 1st, 1995.

zodiac: sagittarius sun, aries moon, libra ascending.

mbti & temperament: estp & improvisor / sanguine.

label: the hellion.

hometown: abilene, texas.

sexuality: bisexual.

pinterest.

biography.

alright lets get right into it. kirby ws switched at birth. they cld’ve hd a very like. picket fence trampoline in the backyard. 4 columns cos its texas n it feels right. bt instead they were chosen <3 somewhat unintentionally <3 by dorothea n fawley wormwood, two traveling circus workers who emergency stopped in abilene.

n u know what. growing up in st. pierre’s traveling circus ws kinda fkn awesome? like ok. besides the fact tht they were homeschooled fr like evr n there were a sparing amt of children 2 socialize with? it ws p cool idk.

it ws kinda like everybody ws their parent n also not at all bc they were all very casual. bt they grew up learning hw 2 maintain the circus (n also like. normal school thingz bt i dnt think kirby hs ever cared abt school like ever) n whenever they hd a show kirby wld facepaint or handle tickets until they were old enough 2 start learning like. the Real fun things.

fawley hd a lot of his own weird odd little like superstitions n beliefs n practically raised kirby on them like n they dnt rly <3 make a lot of sense. lots of made up philosophy. very much like. nothing defines u. u cn b anything or anyone. n kirby ws like ok cool. n then developed a god complex.

names didnt rly stick 2 kirby when they were a kid like. nothing satisfied them or felt worthy fr them or simply they just. got tired of a name. this isnt related 2 them being nonbinary BUT it did help ease some of the. pressure of exploring gender identity. theyve only hd one name tht stuck genuinely n tht ws magpie n. thts bc everybody hd their own bird name n it felt very. like community. like a role. usually the names they used during performances bt. anyways KFHDSGLKKHL

theyre Kirby bt answers 2 most. neutral nouns.

honestly. they were also a rascal as a youth. ws like. oh. i learned sleight of hand? cool. time 2 pick pockets. wld throw popcorn into the hair of other kids n b like. omggg what was that ... became a mime fr a year. it ws a rigorous training.

now a master of charades. bt anyways. they traveled pretty much weekly, maybe bimonthly n sometimes just pure monthly. there wsn’t an off season fr them, when the colder months came they’d travel south and when summer rolled in they’d go right back up again. it ws easy to switch personas almost daily n just. never reveal ur true self. totally not saying tht’s what kirby did bt thts what they did. it nvr made them lose sight of themselves it ws more like. acting. tricking ppl fr fun.

anyways all good things come 2 an end and when kirby ws like. 18. they were like hey ur old enough that we cn trust u with fire. we think. n they started 2 learn fire-throwing n like. they were ok at it bt lessons were painfully slow n kirby ws like. i wld b so good at this if i cld do it all the time. n it ws like. hey kirby, chill. u already know a lot of things.

arson tw // u see where this is going. tents are kind of flammable. kirby ws unsupervised. bad decisions all around. circus is aflame. all the animals n all the circus workers got out fine bt like. st. pierre’s ws efficiently out of business. arson end of tw //

n kirby fkn booked it they just. ran. pure fear. nvr looked back which is like super traitorous of them 2 do bt. sometimes they meet up in secret like. sunglasses n all at a coffee shop. not all of them just like. fawley or someone else. theyre like. ur family u cld burn down a thousand circuses n we’d still love u. n kirby is like yeah i know bt i’ve rly committed to the bit now. n they dnt reunite.

anyways. since then kirby hs just been. a traveler. nvr rly staying anywhere fr super long n driving around in their shitty little van tht’d been used as housing back at st. pierre’s.

they’re in irving n theyve been there fr almost. suspiciously long. compared 2 their average stays. when asked abt what they do or why theyre there theyll just. give a vague answer or spin a long tale tht usually involves a burning circus.

theyre staying at uh. abernathy creek rn bc of course they r they fit in so naturally. welcomed with wide arms. might b soul searching rn might b on the hunt fr their birth parents might b just vibing ... whose to say ..

personality & facts.

has a Big personality tht attracts others fr better or fr worse. either super likeable or the most despicable person on the earth. no in betweens. n honestly tht is a talent in itself

has no off button is constantly. spinning tales or performing a dance or getting kicked out of bars fr whatever nonsense reason.

honestly they prob think tht nothing bad cn ever happen to them even tho like. bad has literally happened 2 them before? love the optimism here. KLFGDLKFSDHGF

acts a bit like u’ve known them fr ur entire life they r oddly warm in tht way bt they themself r so distant tht its like. oh nice ok ...

both honest n yet dishonest like. yes they will hustle u out of ur money bt they will also tell u their opinion straight up.

probably smart bt they r just like. prime thembo? flowy pirate shirts n cropped tshirts n pants tht r never tight. dresses like they do still work n live at a circus.

likes 2 instigate things between others n then stand back n just watch it happen while taking like zero accountability. loves a good small town drama. avid milf hunter.

does not hv any faith in the american healthcare system at all n will straight up refuse 2 go 2 a hospital if they get hurt theyre like. i cn do it myself im like practically a professional. they r not a professional.

bt does hv like. a thing abt apples. fkn loves them.

uuuhhh cn play instruments bt all very badly. only knows one (1) song tht isnt made up n its wonderwall by oasis. they play it at parties. they expect fr tomatoes to b thrown at them at any given time.

very nimble. agile. granted its frm. learning circus tricks frm a baby age bt they hv impeccable balance n cn sneak up behind anyone without a single noise. uses this 2 their advantage in order 2 scare ppl. chaotic neutral.

loves having the attention on them i wont fk around here. will go to drastic measures to accomplish receiving it. my other muses r capable of taking things srsly bt kirby just. is not. they do not take a single thing srsly they barely even took. st. pierre’s destruction srsly n they caused it. maybe.

likes being able to just. be unknown so the amt tht ppl know abt them is actually very. little. i dnt think they even tell others their last name. sometimes not even their first. just hs so many aliases n nicknames. i know i didnt list any bt thts simply bc Any cld.

probably acts out to compensate fr the. underlying guilt they hv bt thts okay. i mean it isnt bt.

will probably show up if u call them fr help bt they lose interest in people p quickly n r always moving onto the next shiniest person. bt when they do they give them like. all their attention. if u wrong them in this period they will just. ignore it. bt when theyre bored then its like. u werent even friends at all? very odd.

perhaps it is commitment issues bt <3 ya. thts them. they do not claim favorite colors or movies or. most interests. probably bc theyre very very disconnected frm pop culture i think they learn everything thru twitter n google.

i wld not call them a good person bt i also dnt think theyre like evil horrible nasty awful they just. think abt themself a lot more than they think abt others n also refuses to face consequences ever and also .. anyways.

wanted plots.

part of the bird’s nest ;; honorary bird honorary circus member. u hv to be very well regarded by kirby to earn a bird name bt i feel like tht doesnt feel like a lot considering theyve only been here fr like. two weeks KDGDSHKGK. the catch is tht u cn only refer 2 them as magpie frm then forward.

hand in unlovable hand ;; theres comfort in being terrible ppl together n it may not last bt it doesnt hv to anyways. its just them n the like. vibes. n knowing tht its smth thts nvr gna b long term. cld b anything ur character just hs to be also a little evil. KHDSGFDS

one jester ... wht abt ... TWO jesters .. ;; hoo boy. ooh man. unstoppable force and immovable object combine forces n just become. the worst of the worst. ultimate jokesters. epic pranksters. absolute clowns. chaotic energy unmatched. always nonsense.

n also ;; ppl they’ve stolen frm, ppl who hv caught them in that act, ppl who’ve maybe seen them in the circus a very long time ago, Found Family Trope, real family shenanigans, kirby just asking everybody if theyre their dad., mortal enemies if they see each other its an instant duel 2 the death, etc.

#( kirby wormwood. ) about. / sunrise sunset.#irvingintro #arson tw

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noredinktech · 3 years

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Haskell for the Elm Enthusiast

Many years ago NRI adopted Elm as a frontend language. We started small with a disposable proof of concept, and as the engineering team increasingly was bought into Elm being a much better developer experience than JavaScript more and more of our frontend development happened in Elm. Today almost all of our frontend is written in Elm.

Meanwhile, on the backend, we use Ruby on Rails. Rails has served us well and has supported amazing growth of our website, both in terms of the features it supports, and the number of students and teachers who use it. But we’ve come to miss some of the tools that make us so productive in Elm: Tools like custom types for modeling data, or the type checker and its helpful error messages, or the ease of writing (fast) tests.

A couple of years ago we started looking into Haskell as an alternative backend language that could bring to our backend some of the benefits we experience writing Elm in the frontend. Today some key parts of our backend code are written in Haskell. Over the years we’ve developed our style of writing Haskell, which can be described as very Elm-like (it’s also still changing!).

🌳 Why be Like Elm?

Elm is a small language with great error messages, great documentation, and a great community. Together these make Elm one of the nicest programming languages to learn. Participants in an ElmBridge event will go from knowing nothing of the language to writing a real application using Elm in 5 hours.

We have a huge amount of Elm code at NoRedInk, and it supports some pretty tricky UI work. Elm scales well to a growing and increasingly complicated codebase. The compiler stays fast and we don’t lose confidence in our ability to make changes to our code. You can learn more about our Elm story here.

📦 Unboxing Haskell

Haskell shares a lot of the language features we like in Elm: Custom types to help us model our data. Pure functions and explicit side effects. Writing code without runtime exceptions (mostly).

When it comes to ease of learning, Haskell makes different trade-offs than Elm. The language is much bigger, especially when including the many optional language features that can be enabled. It’s entirely up to you whether you want to use these features in your code, but you’ll need to know about many of them if you want to make use of Haskell’s packages, documentation, and how-tos. Haskell’s compiler errors typically aren’t as helpful as Elm’s are. Finally, we’ve read many Haskell books and blog posts, but haven’t found anything getting us from knowing no Haskell to writing a real application in it that’s anywhere near as small and effective as the Elm Guide.

🏟️ When in Rome, Act Like a Babylonian

Many of the niceties we’re used to in Elm we get in Haskell too. But Haskell has many additional features, and each one we use adds to the list of things that an Elm programmer will need to learn. So instead we took a path that many in the Haskell community took before us: limit ourselves to a subset of the language.

There are many styles of writing Haskell, each with its own trade-offs. Examples include Protolude, RIO, the lens ecosystem, and many more. Our approach differs in being strongly inspired by Elm. So what does our Elm-inspired style of writing Haskell look like?

🍇 Low hanging fruit: the Elm standard library

Our earliest effort in making our Haskell code more Elm-like was porting the Elm standard library to Haskell. We’ve open-sourced this port as a library named nri-prelude. It contains Haskell counterparts of the Elm modules for working with Strings, Lists, Dicts, and more.

nri-prelude also includes a port of elm-test. It provides everything you need for writing unit tests and basic property tests.

Finally, it includes a GHC plugin that makes it so Haskell’s default Prelude (basically its standard library) behaves like Elm’s defaults. For example, it adds implicit qualified imports of some modules like List, similar to what Elm does.

🎚️ Effects and the Absence of The Elm Architecture

Elm is opinionated in supporting a single architecture for frontend applications, fittingly called The Elm Architecture. One of its nice qualities is that it forces a separation of application logic (all those conditionals and loops) and effects (things like talking to a database or getting the current time). We love using The Elm Architecture writing frontend applications, but don’t see a way to apply it 1:1 to backend development. In the F# community, they use the Elm Architecture for some backend features (see: When to use Elmish Bridge), but it’s not generally applicable. We’d still like to encourage that separation between application logic and effects though, having seen some of the effects of losing that distinction in our backend code. Read our other post Pufferfish, please scale the site! if you want to read more about this.

Out of many options we’re currently using the handle pattern for managing effects. For each type of effect, we create a Handler type (we added the extra r in a typo way back and it has stuck around. Sorry). We use this pattern across our libraries for talking to outside systems: nri-postgresql, nri-http, nri-redis, and nri-kafka.

Without The Elm Architecture, we depend heavily on chaining permutations through a stateful Task type. This feels similar to imperative coding: First, do A, then B, then C. Hopefully, when we’re later on in our Haskell journey, we’ll discover a nice architecture to simplify our backend code.

🚚 Bringing Elm Values to Haskell

One way in which Haskell is different from both Elm and Rails is that it is not particularly opinionated. Often the Haskell ecosystem offers multiple different ways to do one particular thing. So whether it’s writing an http server, logging, or talking with a database, the first time we do any of these things we’ll need to decide how.

When adopting a Haskell feature or library, we care about

smallness, e.g. introduce new concepts only when necessary

how “magical” is it? E.g. How surprising is it?

How easy is it to learn?

how easy is it to use?

how comprehensible is the documentation?

explicitness over terseness (but terseness isn’t implicitly bad).

consistency & predictability

“safety” (no runtime exceptions).

Sometimes the Haskell ecosystem provides an option that fits our Elm values, like with the handle pattern, and so we go with it. Other times a library has different values, and then the choice not to use it is easy as well. An example of this is lens/prism ecosystem, which allows one to write super succinct code, but is almost a language onto itself that one has to learn first.

The hardest decisions are the ones where an approach protects us against making mistakes in some way (which we like) but requires familiarity with more language features to use (which we prefer to avoid).

To help us make better decisions, we often try it both ways. That is, we’re willing to build a piece of software with & without a complex language feature to ensure the cost of the complexity is worth the benefit that the feature brings us.

Another approach we take is making decisions locally. A single team might evaluate a new feature, and then demo it and share it with other teams after they have a good sense the feature is worth it. Remember: a super-power of Haskell is easy refactorability. Unlike our ruby code, going through and doing major re-writes in our Haskell codebase is often an hours-or-days-long (rather than weeks-or-months-long) endeavor. Adopting two different patterns simultaneously has a relatively small cost!

Case studies in feature adoption:

🐘 Type-Check All Elephants

One example where our approach is Elm-like in some ways but not in others is how we talk to the database. We’re using a GHC feature called quasiquoting for this, which allow us to embed SQL query strings directly into our Haskell code, like this:

{-# LANGUAGE QuasiQuotes #-} module Animals (listAll) where import Postgres (query, sql) listAll :: Postgres.Handler -> Task Text (List (Text, Text)) listAll postgres = query postgres [sql|SELECT species, genus FROM animals|]

A library called postgresql-typed can test these queries against a real Postgres database and show us an error at compile time if the query doesn’t fit the data. Such a compile-time error might happen if a table or column we reference in a query doesn’t exist in the database. This way we use static checks to eliminate a whole class of potential app/database compatibility problems!

The downside is that writing code like this requires everyone working with it to learn a bit about quasi quotes, and what return type to expect for different kinds of queries. That said, using some kind of querying library instead has a learning curve too, and query libraries tend to be pretty big to support all the different kinds of queries that can be made.

🔣 So Many Webserver Options

Another example where we traded additional safety against language complexity is in our choice of webserver library. We went with servant here, a library that lets you express REST APIs using types, like this:

import Servant data Routes route = Routes { listTodos :: route :- "todos" :> Get '\[JSON\] [Todo], updateTodo :: route :- "todos" :> Capture "id" Int :> ReqBody '[JSON] Todo :> Put '[JSON] NoContent, deleteTodo :: route :- "todos" :> Capture "id" Int :> Delete '[JSON] NoContent } deriving (Generic)

Servant is a big library that makes use of a lot of type-level programming techniques, which are pretty uncommon in Elm, so there’s a steep learning cost associated with understanding how the type magic works. Using it without a deep understanding is reasonably straightforward.

The benefits gained from using Servant outweigh the cost of expanded complexity. Based on a type like the one in the example above, the servant ecosystem can generate functions in other languages like Elm or Ruby. Using these functions means we can save time with backend-to-frontend or service-to-service communication. If some Haskell type changes in a backward-incompatible fashion we will generate new Elm code, and this might introduce a compiler error on the Elm side.

So for now we’re using servant! It’s important to note that what we want is compile-time server/client compatibility checking, and that’s why we swallow Servant’s complexity. If we could get the same benefit without the type-level programming demonstrated above, we would prefer that. Hopefully, in the future, another library will offer the same benefits from a more Elm-like API.

😻 Like what you see?

We're running the libraries discussed above in production. Our most-used Haskell application receives hundreds of thousands of requests per minute without issue and produces hardly any errors.

Code can be found at NoRedInk/haskell-libraries. Libraries have been published to hackage and stackage. We'd love to know what you think!

#engineering #haskell

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blakemetothemoon · 3 years

Text

Love in a Laundromat - 7/? - SaifahZon, M

Notes: Soooo with everything going on, my NaNo has kind of changed into me focusing on this fic and I'm super okay with it. Thank you for all the support on this!

Summary: Zon's favorite place is a laundromat. That is until a certain tall, handsome stranger steals his washer and seems hellbent on making Zon miserable.

Read here or on ao3! :)

Marley Coffee Bar is only a short, five minute walk away, but it feels like ages.

Awkward pauses linger, like now that they aren't in the laundromat playing music they don't know how to talk. Saifah seems like he has something he wants to tell Zon, but every time he speaks, it's something mundane that comes out. Comments on the humidity, or how classes are going. There's this noticeable space between them Zon swears wasn't there before the party. Zon is starting to wonder if he’s the only one thinking about those intense moments of touching and moving together and kissing at all. In fact, Saifah barely looks at Zon. His eyes don't linger on Zon's lips like he’s caught them doing more than once…

And that’s when it hits Zon like a brick wall what Saifah is trying to say: that night was a mistake.

Of course, Zon thinks. Of course Saifah regrets it. He’s Saifah, and Zon is Zon, and—

"Here it is!" Saifah says, yanking Zon out of the heavy thoughts starting to weigh him down.

Zon glances up at the shop beneath the white “Marley Coffee Bar” sign and crinkles his brow at the darkened building, chairs on tables and no staff bustling about inside. “Um, it looks closed."

Saifah holds the door open for Zon and gestures for him to take a right instead of a left into the other side of the entrance where the lighting is dim and soft, jazzy music plays from an overhead speaker. “It’s a bar, too. Mostly wine and beer, but they’ve got some coffee-flavored cocktails and small plates.”

The barista-bartender is all smiles as he approaches them, white towel thrown over his shoulder. ‘Ban’ is handwritten pretty in white on his nametag. Ban raises an eyebrow when he notices the guitar on Saifah’s back. “Saifah! You’re not scheduled to play tonight, are you?”

“No, I’m just here with a…,” Saifah pauses. Then, he smiles softly and brushes past, smoothing out the wrinkle of hesitation like it was never there. “With a friend from university. This is Zon.”

Still stuck on Saifah’s pause—why did Saifah pause? What was he going to say? What was he ashamed to say?— Zon’s bow and greeting comes out a little awkward. Then, he glances up at the giant menu. Written in fancy, gold script, it stretches from one side of the bar to the next. Coffee, a column of roast types, teas, a beer and wine list, signature cocktails, food. Zon’s head starts to spin as he takes it all in.

“Just a cup of coffee black," he finally says. "Whatever the darkest roast is.”

“And the usual for me,” Saifah tells Ban. Then, he turns to Zon. “I’m going to put my guitar on the stage out of the way. I’ll grab our drinks on the way back, you go grab one of the booths.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Zon grumbles out of principle, but wanders off to do what Saifah demanded, ignoring the amusement in both Saifah and Ban’s faces.

Only a few other people are in the bar: a couple conversing with each other at the bar, another at the booth closest to the stage, and a group of five girls at a table. Every single one watches Saifah as he walks to the stage, their gazes more than fleeting, innocent interest. Zon makes a face and rolls his eyes before dropping into the closest booth, tossing his backpack onto the seat next to him. While he waits for Saifah to grab the drinks, he finally takes in the coffee shop-bar hybrid.

Marley Coffee Bar is this bizarre mix of antique and modern, like a coffee shop version of those speakeasies he’s read about in old American novels. The chandelier lights are all different shapes and types, and the booths are made of red leather, while the wooden tables are rustic grey. There’s a mahogany curtain next to the line of booths to separate the bar from the coffee shop; it’s velvet and soft when he loses against the urge to touch it. The stage is the only part Zon recognizes, thanks to all those fan videos of Saifah. It’s small and intimate, while the grand black piano next to it adds another level of class he didn’t expect when Saifah invited him to a coffee shop.

Zon is finding the whole mix-match of it kind of...inspiring? His fingers twitch, craving to write. Songs, stories, a new world with Marley Coffee Bar at the center of characters' lives. And this is where Saifah plays? He’s part of creating this atmosphere, part of the reason people come here?

“Really amazing, isn’t it?” Saifah says as he finally slides into the booth across from Zon.

So are you, Zon thinks. He barely stops himself from saying it out loud.

Saifah’s now sans guitar and holding four drinks. He sets them down without spilling a drop. Zon’s black drip coffee is in a mug the size of his face. The marble is a faded blue. Saifah’s drink is in a tall white glass with, “est. 1929” in golden scrawl. It’s completely different from Zon’s, like there is no consistency beyond the cups having history that customers can converse over.

“What are those?” Zon asks, pointing to the extra drinks.

“Ban made them. On the house, since it’s your first time here.”

“It’s not yours though, so why do you get one?

“VIP,” Saifah says and winks.

Zon snorts. “You’re so cocky.”

It’s one hundred percent not a compliment, and he did a great job of keeping any sort of endearment out of his voice. But it doesn’t stop Saifah from looking annoyingly proud of himself. Zon reaches across the table to smack Saifah’s head, and the taller man grunts even though Zon had put barely any force behind it.

Saifah pushes both cocktails into the center in a peace offering. “This one is basically a cold brew with rum and orange, and this one is a white russian. And if you don’t want to drink that’s fine, too.”

There goes Saifah being all considerate and annoying. Except it’s not annoying, it’s stupidly attractive, and it makes Zon all frazzled and giddy.

“Which is your favorite?” he replies.

“The white russian."

“You have that one.” Zon grabs the cold brew with rum before Saifah can accommodate him again. His head is already a mess trying to read Saifah tonight, he doesn’t need another reason to fucking swoon. Plus the drink he grabbed is so good, he has to immediately take another sip.

“So…” Zon continues, setting his cup back down on the table, enjoying the coldness against his clammy hands. “This is where you play?”

Saifah nods. “Most Wednesdays and sometimes when they do open mic nights on Saturdays. They raise the curtain and keep both sides open for those.” He glances back over his shoulder to the stage, then turns back to Zon with a trademark smirk. “You know, there aren’t that many people here. Ban would probably have no problem if we played a song or two.”

The suggestion instantly makes Zon’s stomach plummet. “No.”

“C’mon, it’ll be fun—”

“I said no, Saifah.”

Saifah seems taken aback, and Zon flinches, realizing the harshness of his tone a moment too late.

“It’s just—”

“No, I get it,” Saifah interrupts, saving Zon from fumbling out an explanation. “You’ve never even sang in front of someone before until recently. At least, not knowingly—ow!”

Saifah rubs his head again because Zon had hit him considerably harder that time.

"Stop bringing that up!” Zon snaps. “And how can I perform in front of people I don't know when I've never even practiced? If it was just us alone in your room or something, it would be diff…”

He slams his mouth shut, but the words are already out there, lingering and heavy with all sorts of implications, and Saifah definitely heard him because he looks both awed and then devious at the same time.

“Oh?” Saifah says, the word tilting like he’s singing it. "You wanna be alone in my room with me?"

“Music!” Zon rushes out. “Just to make music!”

“There are a lot of different kinds of music we can make—Zon, wait!” Saifah laughs as he grabs Zon by the wrist to stop him from storming off. “I’m kidding!”

Saifah gently tugs Zon's wrist and pulls him down into the booth next to him. The touch is so light, but his fingers burn heat into Zon's skin, and he hopes Saifah can't feel the sudden racing of his pulse. Thankfully, Saifah lets him go. Not so thankfully, Saifah slides his arm over the back of the booth, and he's so freakishly long, his hand can dangle over the edge. Saifah also has no trouble pulling Zon’s drinks to this side of the table, and now it would be too awkward for him to switch seats again, but… if he ignores the logic part of his brain, he knows he doesn’t want to.

There’s a soft buzzing against Zon’s leg. He thinks it’s his phone but quickly realizes it’s Safaih’s. In Saifah’s pocket. Which is pressing against Zon’s thigh because they’re sitting that close to each other, and now that he’s aware of it, it’s all he can focus on. When Saifah shifts to pull out his phone, Zon jolts at the movement.

“You’re pretty popular,” he says to distract from it.

“Well, obviously,” Saifah replies, meeting Zon’s snark with an amused quirk of his eyebrow. “But this time it’s just Day.”

“Day? Tutor’s friend?”

“Hey, hey, that hurts. You know who Day is but had no clue who I was when we met?”

Zon feels his cheeks grow hot which is dumb because he has nothing to be embarrassed about, just because he didn’t know who Saifah was. Maybe Saifah is popular with his music and maybe he’s a good friend of Tutor’s and maybe he’s so tall Zon would have at least noticed him once across campus. Maybe, considering all those things, some embarrassment was justified. Not that Saifah needs to know that.

“With how many adoring fans you have, I highly doubt me not knowing who you are means much.”

Again, Saifah looks like he wants to bring something up but drops his gaze back to his phone. He doesn’t sound particularly casual when he says, “I posted a new video earlier. Day likes to screenshot some of the more… fanatic comments.”

Zon doesn’t need to see the screenshots to know what those are like; he’d read plenty of them when he was looking up Saifah that one night weeks ago. (And a few more times, but only because they were playing music together and he wanted to know more about Saifah’s style. Research. It’s important when it comes to being a writer.)

Saifah is still reading through Day’s messages, and Zon is feeling the slightest bit ignored so he asks, “Do you want my line?”

They’re still pressed together; Zon feels immediately when Saifah’s entire body goes rigid. He raises his head slowly, like a puppet on a string. “Do you… want to give me your line?”

With an annoyed huff, Zon grabs Saifah’s phone and quickly goes to the contacts. “I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to.”

Saifah laughs when Zon hands the phone back. “ ‘Zon-Zon-Zon-Zon’ is your username?”

“If you’re going to make fun of me, then give it back, I’m deleting it!”

“Nope, nope!” Saifah hits the call button and wiggles his eyebrows when Zon’s phone rings. “Allow me to honor you with mine, too.”

After he digs his phone out of his pocket, Zon swipes his thumb, making a show of ignoring the call. Saifah’s affronted gasp makes it hard for Zon to keep a serious face, and he laughs. Apparently, regretting their make out session still doesn't stop Saifah from flirting with him. (This is flirting, right?)

“A giraffe?” Saifah says, incredulous, as he watches Zon set his contact name. “You’re using a giraffe emoji?”

“It’s the most accurate,” Zon replies with a smile, enjoying Saifah’s pout. Then, he sets his phone down and takes a long drink of his coffee, working up the courage for what he’s about to say next: “Okay.”

Despite the sudden backtrack in conversation, Saifah picks up what Zon is replying to. "Okay?"

The opening to back out is tempting, and Zon… he's scared but he wants to do this. "Let's do it. Write songs. At your place."

Zon doesn't expect silence. It stretches so long he finally has to look at Saifah to gauge the other's expression. His lips are tight and his small brown eyes are completely unaffected. "Okay. We can do that."

"Hey," Zon pouts, "why do you sound so unhappy now that I agreed?"

Saifah grabs Zon's arm and shakes it playfully. "My Zon, my Zon! I'm so sorry! Please come play in my room with me!"

Zon feels his entire face grow hot with a fierce blush, and he shakes Saifah's hand off. But before he can scold Saifah, the other unlocks his phone and opens YouTube.

“By the way, there’s a song I think would be fun to do together," Saifah says. "You know ‘Shallow’, right? I found this really pretty acoustic cover of it. Or we can do whatever you want. Maybe that Pardon Me song you wrote? I've been coming up with a bridge that I think works. I can teach you how to play guitar, too—” His excitement suddenly simmers when he meets Zon’s wide doe eyes. Like knowing he has Zon's rapt attention makes him nervous. He clears his throat and pushes a smirk. “You’ll have to ask me reallllly nice, though.”

Zon is about to remind Saifah he’s the one who brought it up. But Saifah’s enthusiasm is endearing and his closeness is a warmth Zon leans into without meaning to, and he can’t help but play along. “Oh, wonderful, Mr. Saifah. Please teach me how to play guitar with your paramount skills.”

The music video starts playing, but Saifah keeps the volume low so only they can hear. He hums and he sets his phone on the table. Then, like the coffee bar and Zon's answer have wiped away all that uncertainty he's been struggling with all night, he says, “I might need better convincing than that.”

For the first time that night, Zon catches Saifah looking at him like he did before The Party. In his eyes is that same heat he had when pressing Zon against that door before stealing his lips and his breath. A heat that holds words he isn’t saying but that Zon can read. The twisting confusion in Zon’s chest tightens while his entire being flares, burning hot and craving. He swallows against the lump in his throat and his mouth is dry as a desert. He chugs half his cocktail to try and moisten it, but his voice still cracks when he replies, "Guess I'll have to think of something."

Then, Zon presses in closer to Saifah's side, pretending he's more interested in the song than kissing Saifah until they're breathless.

#saifahzon #Saizon #Why R U #why r u the series #why r u?#Fic #blakemetothemoon

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cptsdstudyblr · 4 years

Text

I got a new planner!

[Image descriptions are available at the bottom of the post.]

[Image description after text because it is very long.]

This year, I’ve really been struggling with the digital planner system that’s gotten me through the past 4 years of school. Honestly, I think the fact that all I ever do anymore is stare at my laptop has made that planner less practical for me to use. So, today, I was out and about trying to find a specific size of envelope (which I did not find) and I ended up at YP Books (영풍문고), where I found this planner (the Color Point Study Planner). I honestly picked it up just because it was there and it was cute, but when I opened it I was struck by how well-organized this planner was for someone who likes to plan the way I do. To plan, I need a delicate balance of structure and leniency, because if I tip too far one way or the other, I’ll never accomplish anything.

It’s got this really cute monthly page (which can be customized for any month). You do have to write the days yourself, and as you can see by my scribbles, I momentarily forgot that not every month starts on a Sunday. However, this page is super versatile! I write my assignments and exams here and color code those days, and I use the unlabeled checklist at the bottom right to make a brief to-do list for the month. Once I finish something, it gets marked off or highlighted! I think this is a really helpful way to visualize my schedule and make sure I don’t lose track of any due dates.

Each month also comes equipped with daily pages. Once again, you do have to customize these yourself, but that’s part of what I like about it. I can skip days if I need to and I can make sure that the page handles what I need how I need it. These pages are quite complicated, but I’ll give you the basics of how I use them.

At the top, there are 3 blanks after the date. One is labelled “D-Day,” but I instead use this to label the day of the week as I find that much more useful for me, then I fill out how many hours I plan to study (I do this at the beginning of the day so that it motivates me), then I put my general goal or plan for the day to the right. Below that, in the “Check Point” space, I put the two biggest goals I have for the day task-wise. These are usually my highest-priority tasks.

Obviously, the bulk of the space is used for a checklist, which I use to outline all the tasks I need to do that day, both school and otherwise. To the right, in the schedule space, I plan my day to make sure I can get everything done that I need to get done. There’s also a space at the bottom that I use to write events and extremely important tasks (such as exams and due dates).

Overall, the point of this post is that it’s really important to find an organizational system that works for you, whether it be digital or paper. My personal suggestion for figuring out your best system is just trial and error. Unfortunately, trial and error can be quite expensive, so I’ll include below some tips to find a good system for you without breaking the bank:

Try digital first! Most digital platforms are free (or at least have free trials), so this is a great place to start to save money. It’s also a great way to figure out what elements of different systems work for you - even if digital isn’t your thing, you might realize that you prefer a to-do list over a calendar, or that you work really well with a super structured study schedule. That info can help you find a paper planner that will work well for you.

Go to the store and look at physical planners. Once you have an idea of what you’re looking for in a planner, go to a physical store (or multiple) and spend some time looking through a bunch of planners. Once again, even if you don’t like any of them, this might help give you an idea of what you do and don’t like.

Print out (or draw) planner pages. If you want to test out a style of physical planner without buying it, find an online PDF or create your own and print a few to test out. You can also draw it (just make sure to take a photo in the store so you can do so accurately) in a regular notebook for testing purposes.

Do research. There’s lots of different methods of planning schedules, keeping track of due dates, and journaling besides the typical Google calendar and to-do list or the standard paper planner. A great example is bullet journaling, which allows you to create your own planner and change it up as you want.

Eventually you’ll figure out what planning style works best for you, and you’ll find the perfect paper planner to purchase if that’s what you decide is your best option.

[Image description after the read more:]

[Image description:

Image 1/4: There’s a pink notebook. On the cover are a man and a woman holding smiley face signs over their faces. Below them, text reads “Anything is good if I can do it with you. Whether it’s laughing together, studying together, or playing together, everything is twice as wonderful when you are doing it with me.” In the top left, a blue sticky note covers the user’s name and on it is written “@cptsdstudyblr.”

Image 2/4: This is a two-page notebook spread. The pages are white with a purple outline. The page is titled “How to Use Study Planner.” The two pages detail how each page of the planner is intended to be used, but most of the text is in Korean (transcription note: according to Google, the Korean alphabet would not work with English screen-readers, so I haven’t included this text). There are 7 steps labelled in English for using the planner.

About my goal

Time table

Monthly study plan

Daily study plan

Exam plan & result

Internet lecture check

Mock test record & graph

Transcription note: I’m happy to provide the Korean contents of the page for anyone who is interested, but I don’t want to break everyone’s screen readers.

Image 3/4: This is a two-page monthly calendar spread. The pages are primarily white, with a yellow bar across the top. The number 10 is circled in the top right to indicate that the page is for the 10th month. The days of the week start from Sunday and go to Saturday. The month is labelled from date 1 (a Thursday) to date 31 (a Saturday). Below are listed dates with special notes:

October 4 - Micro HW. This date is highlighted purple, and the text is highlighted yellow to indicate that the assignment is complete.

October 7 - Networks HW. This date is highlighted purple, and the text is highlighted yellow to indicate that the assignment is complete.

October 8 - Critical Thinking Paper. This date is highlighted purple, and the text is highlighted yellow to indicate that the assignment is complete.

October 10 - Korean HW. This date is highlighted purple, and the text is highlighted yellow to indicate that the assignment is complete.

October 11 - Micro HW. This date is highlighted purple, and the text is highlighted yellow to indicate that the assignment is complete.

October 15 - Micro HW. This date is highlighted purple.

October 18 - Micro HW. This date is highlighted purple.

October 22 - Comp Pol Exam. There is a bubble around the words and the date is highlighted pink.

On the far right is a cute, colorful drawing of a woman studying with her dog and the quote “It’s more fun when you study together than alone!” Below that is a checklist with the items “Vote!,” “Student ID,” and “Midterms.”

Image 4/4:

This is a two-page spread consisting of two daily planner pages. The pages are primarily white with a yellow outline. The leftmost page is as follows:

There are two columns on this page. The left column’s top row has three sections - “Date - 12,” “D-Day - Lun,” “Study Hours - 5.” (Transcription note: The “D-Day” blank is used for the day of the week instead of the proper use, and the days of the week are labelled in French rather than English.) The second row of that column is labelled “Check Point” and has two bullet points “catch up on micro” and “be ready to vote.” Below that is a small slot to put a song of the day, which is “SKZ (Transcription note: SKZ stands for Stray Kids) - Slump (Japanese ver.). Below is the checklist for the day. It includes both the priority and the item as follows:

HI - buy envelope

HI - micro lab video

HI - Korean class

MED - micro lecture

LO - micro HW (lecture)

MED - grocery shopping

HI - Korean HW

Below this checklist is a doodle of a woman studying.

The right column of this page starts on its top row with the slot “Goal,” which is filled with the phrase “catch up.” Below that, the user has indicated that they woke up at 11:30 and went to sleep at 1:30. Below that, they have colored 4 water drops out of 5 and given the day a score of 4 stars out of 5. Below that is a timetable for the day, which is filled with “Shop” from 13:00 - 14:30, “Study” from 15:30 - 17:00, 20:00 - 20:30, and 22:00 - 23:30, and “Korean” from 18:00 - 20:00. The right page is as follows:

There are two columns on this page. The left column’s top row has three sections - “Date - 13,” “D-Day - Mar,” “Study Hours - blank.” (Transcription note: The “D-Day” blank is used for the day of the week instead of the proper use, and the days of the week are labelled in French rather than English.) The second row of that column is labelled “Check Point” and has two bullet points “vote” and “micro HW.” Below that is a small slot to put a song of the day, which has been left blank. Below is the checklist for the day. It includes both the priority and the item as follows:

HI - drop off ballot

HI - comp. pol lecture

MED - micro HW (lab)

MED - micro HW (lecture)

HI - Korean HW

LO - religion series plan

Above this checklist is a doodle of a man sleeping.

The right column of this page starts on its top row with the slot “Goal,” which is filled with the phrase “micro HW.” Below that, the user has left the wake time, sleep time, water consumption, and daily score fields blank. Below those is a timetable for the day, which is filled with “Vote” from 9:00 - 11:00, “Study” from 12:00 - 14:00 and 14:00 - 18:00. The bottom of the page has been censored with two blue sticky notes that read “Plans for the day! Censored for safety reasons.”]

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waterboysokka · 4 years

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What You Look Like; ATLA oneshot

Summary: It was easier when Zuko never had to explain why he had his scar. It was easier whenever everyone took to the common theme to never ask. It's harder to avoid a blind girl who doesn't even know it's there. (Three weeks post-canon)

Word count: 3,882

Note: Hii! Welcome to the first ATLA fic related thing I’ve posted on here so far :) This is a one shot that basically is deep 5am talks with Zuko and Toph. I dunno, I love their friendship and I felt like it had the potential to be so deep and intellectual. Soooo, that’s what this is! It’s basically Toph asking about Zuko’s scar (I saw a fic rec list of this prompt somewhere but now I can’t find it?? I would link it if I could!) Anyways, I listened to disney lullaby songs while writing this bc it just?? fit? Idk, it’s soft and kinda sad... But besides all of that, I hope you guys like it!! It’ll also be up on my AO3, which is linked in my bio!

Toph groaned as she rolled over once more in the bed that she could tell was just all-too big for her. She hadn’t asked for a separate room, she actually didn’t mind sleeping with the rest of the group, but Zuko's maids had insisted on each of them getting their own room since there were so many to go around.

It had been only three weeks since the defeat of Ozai and Zuko’s overtaken the role of Fire Lord. She continued to forget that he wasn’t just a prince anymore, he now had responsibilities- bigger than any of them had realized.

So when he had asked them to stay with him until things got in order, none of them were opposed. Maybe it was because they weren't quite ready to adjust to their new life in totality yet, or maybe they were fearful about losing their friend to the immense amount of stress that he had just been put under.

Whichever it was, it didn’t matter, because they were still here as a team for Zuko.

But all of that didn’t change that the bed that she was put in was incredibly uncomfy for it to be owned by royalty. She felt like she was drowning in sheets and slowly getting devoured by the mattress itself.

Frustrated, Toph groaned and pushed herself out of bed. She needed tea. After being here for a couple of weeks, she was finally able to understand the layout of the palace without being attached to Aang or Sokka’s arm, as she used to be. She knew it was thirty-two steps down the hall to the right, then down the stairs, and one hundred and twelve steps to the kitchen- not counting the columns she’d have to dodge.

She hummed softly as she counted in her head the steps confidently, knowing she didn’t miscalculate considering that this was the fifth time she’d done this walk to get tea since they’d arrived.

“Toph?”

The voice startled her- not because she couldn’t sense someone there, but because she didn’t expect anyone to be awake. All the other times she had done this she had been the only one.

“Zuko?” She asked and raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t expect you to be awake.” “I could say the same thing to you,” Zuko replied.

“Well, I’m just down here to get some tea and then I’m leaving,” Toph explained nonchalantly and walked around the bar, feeling her way down the long, cool counter to the tea kettle (which Iroh conveniently pulled back out at night once the maids left for her after she told him about her occurrences). As she got closer to the tea kettle, the counter got increasingly hotter until she jerked her hand back in shock.

“Did you make tea?” She asked Zuko, who she could tell was now sitting at the long table.

“Mhm,” He murmured, and she heard him take a long sip of it.

Toph rolled her eyes, already knowing that Zuko’s tea was nothing in comparison to Iroh’s. Luckily, she had learned from Iroh about the best way to make tea for herself and it sufficed. Zuko’s wouldn’t- it was basically hot leaf water.

“Are you dumping it out?” Zuko asked, perplexed. His voice wasn’t raspy, which was a hint to Toph that he had been awake much longer than she had realized. Had he even gone to sleep?

“I’m not drinking hot leaf water,” Toph answered with a shrug and began the stove up again to make a much better mixture.

It was silent for a while after that while she worked. She could tell that Zuko was still there, just sitting and silently sipping his tea. He was stressed, he was anxious. She deduced that this probably had something to do with the reason why he wasn’t asleep, and she couldn’t blame him.

Even after the hard time she had given Zuko, she still knew that being the Fire Lord wasn’t a breeze even though he liked to surface-level it to everyone. No one believed what he said, not even for a minute. Which was another running contender for their prolonged stay.

The tea kettle began to hiss, and she immediately took it off of the stove, cautious not to wake anyone else up, and poured herself a cup. She got ready to leave when something in the back of her mind tugged at her to sit with Zuko, just for a minute.

So, that’s what she did.

Toph approached the table and felt around the chair sides and pulled it out for herself. She placed the drink on the table in front of her and plopped down into the seat, adjusting herself to where her tea was placed promptly in front of her for convenient drinking.

“I feel weird asking this, but how ya been holding up?” Toph said as she took a sip of her tea, she took a long sip of it, even though it had definitely burnt her tongue because she hadn’t waited long enough for it to cool.

“Good,” Zuko replied. It was a short reply, one that she definitely expected from him.

Silence hit again. She wasn’t very good at opening up to people on her own, let alone having other people do it with her. But she felt like she understood Zuko in a better way than some of the others, and she couldn’t depict why- she hadn’t ever asked about his past or even what his plans were for the future… or even what he looked like.

“I bet it’s hard,” Toph said, “getting thrown into running an entire Nation.”

“Yeah,” Zuko replied with a sigh. “But it’s what I expected. It’s what I was born to do.”

Another hit of silence. Toph blew on her tea to cool it off and heard Zuko do the same.

“How, though?” Toph asked bluntly. It was her only move she knew to continue the conversation. She was curious.

Zuko hadn’t spilled much of his life to anyone except for Aang, and while they were all incredibly close now, it had never seemed to come up about his past- just like it hadn’t ever come up about her’s or Suki’s. They were all too busy fighting and defeating Ozai that they had forgotten that they didn’t know much about each other.

Zuko sighed and she watched his outline run his hand through his hair (she presumed he had hair, unlike Aang, who she’d been notified to be bald).

“What do you mean how? Azula’s younger than me,” Zuko explained. Toph could tell he was bordering defensiveness. She pressed on anyways.

“You wouldn’t have wanted to fight your dad or your sister if there wasn’t a reason,” Toph said. “It just doesn’t add up like that.”

Zuko’s heart rate quickened. He wasn’t speaking. Toph knew this all too well- the attempt to create a lie that threw off the actual answer. He should really have known by now that that wasn’t going to work.

“Don’t lie. I can tell you’re trying to,” Toph bluntly pointed out. She took another sip of her tea and then placed it down in front of her again.

“I was banished. I had to find the Avatar to restore what I thought was my honor. I did that for three years before deciding it wasn’t right and my destiny was to join Aang,” Zuko explained in an overly-simplified, overly-glazed way. Toph rolled her eyes. “I already know that part. I’m talking about before that. I wanna know why you were banished.”

“Why? I thought you were going back to sleep.”

As much as he had worked on letting people in, this unexpected press of information of his past- from Toph of all people- was close to stepping over the line. He didn’t have time for this. He had things to do, orders to get through with, staff and guards and armies to command. He had his job to do once dawn broke.

Toph didn’t answer and took another long sip of her tea.

“I said something I shouldn’t have in a meeting.”

“And?”

“There is no ‘and’. I said something I shouldn’t have, it upset him, and he banished me.”

“Just like that?” Toph raised an eyebrow. This conversation was going nowhere fast, and she knew it. She could bail out now and go and sleep until the sun rose in a few hours before she started asking the big question.

“Mhm.”

She rolled the idea around in her head in the silence and opted against it. This question had nagged at her for a long time, and although it seemed to be like pulling eye teeth, it needed to be asked. She wasn’t sure if she could even go back to sleep anyways.

“What does Aang look like?” She asked. She started simple- one she knew that he could answer in a breeze. She felt his heart rate drop down to a more normal rate and his body relaxed.

“Hmm,” Zuko thought. He didn’t say anything for a minute, as if to gather the best explanation of his friend as possible. As much as it probably shouldn’t have been, it was a lot of pressure to describe one of their closest comrades to her. He hadn’t ever really thought about what Aang looked like- he just knew. He could just see him and know that, well… he was Aang.

“Well, ah… He’s short. Yeah, just a little bit taller than you, actually. He’s bald, obvious- well, maybe not obviously… sorry,” Zuko stuttered. “He has really big blue eyes. Like huge. There’s always like an adventure behind them, too. You can just tell that he’s always looking ahead- looking forward to something. He has his Airbender tattoos that are light blue and they’re, ah… they’re arrows. They start at his forehead and travel round his arms and wrists and stuff… it’s cool. He’s super thin, but I don’t know if you can see that- well, not see, but I didn’t know if that was important, er… maybe not.

He smiles really big, too. His whole face is centered around his smile. Katara told me that when he grew his hair out, it was brown, but I’ve never seen it… he wears lots of oranges and yellows, too. It’s pretty standard Air-Nomad colors.

I can’t really think of anything else… I think… I think that may be all.” Zuko breathed a sigh of relief as he tapered off what seemed to be his one long run-on sentence. He was known to do that when he was uncomfortable, or even under pressure. Hell, sometimes tired, too. These were all things he was feeling. He glanced up at a Toph who was looking up- not necessarily across the table to him. Just… up. A small smile was planted on her lips.

“I hope that helped some,” Zuko said and took another sip of his tea. He didn’t even realize how dry his mouth had gotten. It shouldn’t have been a difficult task describing Aang, but it was deemed to hold a lot more responsibility than just some random bystander looking for the Avatar. He knew he had to do it justice for Toph.

“Okay, now Katara,” Toph said as she flicked her gaze back down to reality. She took her teacup in her hands and cradled it to give her hands warmth. Zuko’s eyes widened for a second at the realization that she was going to go through the entire group. He cleared his throat and thought for a couple minutes, just like he had with Aang. “Well, she’s taller than you and Aang. But, she’s not really tall… just- average. She’s just average height. She has long, ah… dark brown hair? Sorry, I don’t know hair colors that well. Anyways, she also has big eyes, but not in the same way as Aang’s. You can kinda just… read her whole past in her eyes if you wanted to. You can see the pain and the fear that she’s… yeah. Uh, and they’re blue- like, deep, icy water blue. Her lips are naturally downturned- I think, but… you know how Katara is. She also has these two… what’d Sokka call them? These two… hair loopies that come down and… I dunno… frame her face? Her and Sokka have kinda ah… like a golden complexion? Not like gold- please, don’t think they’re gold- but it’s a deep tanned shade… I guess. I don’t know, it’s hard to say without sounding weird or… The colors that her and Sokka wear are the ones of the Water Tribe, so lots of blues and whites and stuff… they complement their eye colors and skin tone, too… Katara kinda has this disposition where she could hug you or fight you at the same time if that helps… I don’t know.”

He ran his fingers through the divots of the wood carved out in the table from wear-and-tear over time. They were smooth curves now, no rigid edges or stray wood to prick his fingers like they used to when he was a kid. It was his distraction, ultimately, from his stumble of a description of his friends, and mostly, Toph’s reaction.

There was no talk again for a minute, only the faint sound of fire igniting briefly for Zuko to heat up both of their teas. He wasn’t sure of the time anymore, but they had been sitting long enough for their drinks to no longer carry any warmth, which signified a significant length of time.

“Sokka?” Toph asked. He watched as her gaze, just as before, leveled back out with where her head was positioned.

“He… well, he looks like Katara, except… if Katara was a guy. They are siblings so it makes sense. He’s, ah… how do I say this- he’s not built. He’s super… think like a piece of wood. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing I think it kinda fits him, I guess. Oh, he’s taller than Katara and shorter than me… I wish I had a better visual to give you besides just the in-between height of Katara and I. His eyes are the same type of blue as Katara’s but instead of pain, they hold curiosity and… thrill, maybe? It doesn’t mean there isn’t any hurt in his eyes- in Aang’s either- but in Katara’s, it’s kind of hard to navigate around her hurt… yeah. Believe it or not, but Sokka’s hair is kinda long… I guess he used to shave the sides or something, but now it’s all grown out and stuff so he just pulls it back. He has this smug attitude that’s kinda just… all over his face? He always looks like he’s ready to do something or maybe even that he’s hiding something… But there’s also seriousness that hides in his face, too. He wears the same kind of blues and whites like Katara does, again, standard for the Water Tribe… ”

He waited hesitantly for her reply. It was a lot harder than he thought to describe these people who he’d become so close with. He just hoped he hadn’t messed up any of her visions of them. He wasn’t sure what her plan was for all of these descriptions, or why she'd even asked him.

He knew the others could do it better- make it more poetic and imaginary. But he wasn’t that person. He was the Fire Lord- and even before he was the Fire Lord, he was a silenced Prince. Creativity didn’t flow through him like it did the others. He wished it did, sometimes. Maybe then he’d be able to give Toph illusive descriptions of the people that mattered most to her.

“I hope those were okay,” He said, and rubbed his eyes with the bottom of his palms and pressed in hard so he could see dots. He was getting tired, but he couldn’t sleep even if he was. He hadn’t been able to. He had gotten comfortable with tiredness. He knew it wouldn’t last forever, but adjusting to the new role was harder than he thought.

“They were,” Toph reassured him quietly. It was sincere- he had no doubt. Toph, who was usually loud and stubborn and a tough fighter, was more reserved at night than Zuko would have thought. Maybe it was because she was tired, or because she had seen her friends in full bloom for the first time. Whichever it was, he couldn’t tell.

They sat there in silence again, moments of tea being sipped were exchanged, but mostly just quiet. It was solemn, and peaceful. Nothing was in a rush to be said, no battles to fight or rebuild plans to do- it was nice.

“Zuko,” Toph sighed. “What do you look like?”

Zuko’s breath hitched in his throat as his heart rate sped up again. He didn’t know where to begin or what to say, and surely he was stupid for believing that she wasn’t going to just let him slide. He couldn't just ignore the brutality that slashed half his face. He couldn’t sit with the guilt that she didn’t know it was there because he didn’t tell her.

His eyes widened slowly as he came to a sudden realization of what Toph was doing. It was comical, truthfully. He almost laughed. This was her way of getting the story. He wasn’t sure how she knew that his banishment had something to do with his cosmetic looks, but he gave her props for it nonetheless.

He took a deep breath and locked his gaze on the wood table as an anchor.

“I’m tall. Tallest, actually. I have really pale skin, but that’s just a Fire Nation thing… I don’t consider myself to be… built? I’m not exactly like Sokka but I'm not crazy buff either if that helps. My eyes aren’t as big or… full of adventure as the others have. I don’t know what all you can see, but I know they don’t have that. They’re brown, but almost everyone in the Fire Nation has brown eyes. It’s nothing special. I have shaggy hair- well, it’s black, and I have to pull it back for Fire Lord stuff, so I guess shaggy is the best way to describe it. I like it, I guess. I don’t feel confined with it. I wear a lot of reds and golds and blacks, which are Fire Nation colors. Right now I’m just wearing a… red shirt and black pants? Black slippers? I don’t know if that part helps or not… I also always look dissatisfied. At least, that’s what Sokka tells me. I don’t really know what he means by that…”

Zuko paused for a minute. Toph was staring across to him now as if she could recognize where he was. Her eyebrows were stitched together as if attempting to put his puzzle pieces together.

“And then there’s my… my scar.”

Deep breath.

“It covers my entire left eye… It doesn’t even open fully anymore. It bleeds out around to my ear and stops just before my jawline. It doesn’t hurt anymore, in case you’re wondering. It’s healed. It’s been since I was banished, so… three years. But, it’s there.

There was more to that story, by the way. My banishment. I didn’t just say something and was kicked out. I didn’t back down from an Agni Kai to… well, to prove to m- … Ozai, that I was stronger than he thought I was. That I deserved to be in the meeting. I didn’t think it’d be my own father I’d fight. I pleaded for some kind of relief and reprieve. All I got was a burn so deep that my skin almost melted off…”

There was silence.

No tea sips, no shifting in chairs. There wasn’t even really the sound of breathing anymore. It was still air.

This story had the ability to do that.

“Can I feel it?”

Zuko didn’t question it, or back away. He nodded, even though he knew she couldn’t see it.

He pushed himself out of the chair and walked around the table. He slowly crouched down until he was level with Toph, his hand steadying himself on the corner of the table, his fingers circling the divots so smoothly carved once more.

He took Toph’s hand, almost twice the size more compact of his own, and gingerly placed it on his cheekbone. He swallowed and shut his eyes, allowing her small, calloused hand to run slowly over it.

Toph wasn’t a gentle person by nature. But the minute that her hand touched his scar she felt his pain a thousand times over- intense and deep and wretched. She moved her hand slowly across his face, the ridges telling each their own thread of agony and grievance. Her hand roamed, unsure of where or if it ever was going to stop. If the story of his pain was ever going to cease. She blinked back tears as she finally reached his jawline. Untouched and human. Boyish and youthful. Peace.

She took her hand off of his face and cleared her throat, unsure of what else to do. She had gotten herself to this point- to this level. Now what?

She felt his presence leave due to the shift in cold air that shuffled in and heard him sit back down across from her, respectively.

Again, there was silence.

Not the same kind of silence where it was stilted, or even tense. It was an understood silence. An ‘I know your pain’ silence. It was gentle and welcomed and fluid.

So, they sat there for a minute. Neither unsure of how else to go on or continue their conversation. They sipped their tea in offbeat patterns. Long, slow, drawls of tea.

As the sun began to rise, Zuko realized that his job was beginning. He wasn’t a banished prince anymore, or a kid with an uncontrollable rage and fear of his father. Although that kid still existed in him, it wasn’t center stage. Fire Lord Zuko was. And as the dawn rose, so did he.

He gathered the two pieces of china from the table, both now completely empty of their tea. He put them on the counter for a maid to clean later.

Zuko glanced back at Toph- still sitting at the table, only this time, she was looking at the sunrise from the fully-bloomed windows in front of her. He knew she wasn’t looking at the sunrise, but he hoped that maybe she was picturing her friends in the same ways he had said- hopefully, even better. There was a small smile on her face, too. One of understanding.

He knew then that although she wanted to know his past, there was a part of her that wanted to be able to see her friends, too. He’d never know why she had asked him rather than asking a more creative mind, or even a closer friend, but he knew he would always be appreciative of being the one who did it for her.

Zuko’s lips upturned slightly and he turned to leave, carefully in an attempt to not disturb Toph’s somewhat mediation.

“Hey, Zuko?” He looked back over his shoulder to the girl, her face and gaze unmoving from the now more evident daybreak.

“Thank you.”

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nyxicnymph · 3 years

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Horizon and Edge

#4: The Never-Ending Show

Bright lights. People are staring at me. Cameras filming me without permission. This is my worst nightmare!

I’m screaming, but no one hears me. WHY AM I HERE?!

Suddenly, someone is up in my face. He--I assume that he’s a he--is wearing a black and green outfit, with what appears to be night-vision goggles, so you can’t easily identify gender, or see his eyes.

He asks me, “Are you ready to play a game?”

I say, “Nnnnnnn....”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” He turns to the crowd. “Now, how shall we put her through her paces?”

Someone yells, “Make her recite poetry!”

I shudder. I do NOT like poetry. And someone knows that.

“Ah, yes,” he says, “Poetry. You must recite a set of poetry, of your choice. You may even recite your own poetry. You must recite three pieces, at least eight lines, of any type.” He pauses. “The only exception to the eight-line rule is haikus.”

I stare at him.

He stares right back. “You must start... Now.”

I think frantically. What am I going to recite?!

Haikus. I can do haikus. Five, seven, five. No rhyme necessary.

I take a deep breath. “I stare at the sky,

Wondering about the night,

Moonlight and starlight.”

That’s the first one. I’ll do one more haiku, and end with something... else.

I close my eyes. “My hands open wide,

reaching for inspiration,

but cannot find it.”

This one last one... I hope I can do it.

“Rena's ring, ran away

Ran away to be safe.

Rena's rage, roars greatly

And asks the ring to abate.

Rena's ring, returns today

Rena’s rage roar fades away.

Rena's ring, returned at last,

Rena's rage, restored in the past.”

I stop. That’s the end of the poem, which I wrote for a school assignment about alliteration. But it works great here, too.

The guy contemplates me. “Hmm... That was some good poetry, what a way to finish the show! Am I right, everyone?”

The audience cheers, while I blink confusedly. But I thought that it had just started?

The show dude continues speaking: “Tune in next time, when you’ll hear me say...”

The world distorts around me, and everything goes... fuzzy, for lack of a better word.

“Welcome to the Never-Ending Show!”

“NO!” I yell. It’s been reset. I have to do the poetry all over again!!!

“Are you ready to play a game?”

“NOOO!”

“Well, too bad,” he says. “You’re going to play one anyway. How should we put our guest to the test?”

“A super high obstacle course! With spikes!”

“NOPE!” I yell, and attempt to walk off the stage.

The host grabs me around the waist with inhuman speed, and sets me right back onstage. “Ah, ah, ah. You can’t leave yet! You have to take the Hightly-rated Obstacle Course, With Spikes!”

I’m all of a sudden standing at the beginning. I see the path they mean for me to take, fraught with perilous balancing sections, and walls of fire. Oh, and spikes. Because I need more injuries, in the case of...GULP. Falling.

But... I also see another path. It’s a little trickier, and I’ll have to rely on some jungle-gym experience, but there’s less chance of dying... I hope.

I hear the buzzer ring, and I take off, heading in the “correct” direction, until I grab a metal support beam, and swing. The obstacle course goes halfway around the stage. I’ll get there way faster like this.

Until he starts pressing buttons.

A column of flame erupts right in front of me, nearly searing off my bangs. I yelp, and go around it. Then there is a storm of arrows, and a truly diabolical moment with some tesla arcs and metal wires. I finally reach the end, turn towards the host, and raise a pinky finger at him. Thank you, Annemarie.

The host chuckles. “We couldn’t let you have an easy win. That would have been boring. But, now, the show’s over. Good night, everyone, and tune in next time, when you’ll hear me say...”

The weird distortion happens again, and again I hear him say:

“Welcome to the Never-Ending Show!”

I scream at the ceiling. This is truly my worst nightmare.

**********************************************

I’ve been through so much tonight. They’ve made me swim with sharks, dance in front of people, do a VR skydiving simulation... The list goes on. I can’t catch a break. They even made me parse a sentence, without textbook help. That wasn’t so much a nightmare as much as me making shtuff up, and then screaming at the host.

I’m panting on the floor. The whole thing has just reset, again, and I’m waiting for my next trial.

POOF!

I jump, and almost yell. Edge is right in front of me, holding his index finger to his lips in the “shh” sign.

I never understood that sign. One finger does not keep someone’s mouth from running. Heck, in some cases, a whole two hands and a roll of duct tape wouldn’t do that. Not naming any names... *Cough, cough* Liam.

Anyway, I see him do that, and then he disappears. But not with a poof. He just fades, so I’m pretty sure he just turned invisible.

Right in my ear, I hear, “Just stay calm. I’m going to fix this.”

I nod ever-so-slightly. I feel a whisper of wind, and know that he’s gone. I stand up and turn towards the host. I dunno what Edge is going to do, but I know what I’ve been itching to do ever since the tesla arcs.

I walk up to the host. “Hey, Mr. Host-dude.”

He turns to me. “Yes? We haven’t picked the task yet.”

I smile sinisterly. “But I have.”

He cocks his head. “Oh, really?” A skeptic if I’ve ever met one.

I flip my hair. “Yeah, it’s called, ‘What’s Super-hard and Can Be Shoved into a Super-jerk’s Face?’”

He strokes his chin, and I adjust my stance ever-so-slightly. Super-jerk is super-dumb.

“I haven’t heard of that one. Is it a game of riddles?”

I shake my head. “I’ll show you. Just come a little closer...”

He leans in... and I punch him in the mask-covered face.

He recovers and looks in my direction... or where I used to be. I run across the stage and jump off.

“HAILEY!” Edge yells at me. I just wink over my shoulder. I have no idea where he is, but, he’ll probably grab the bad guy, and keep me from being torn to pieces.

Probably.

I turn around, just in time to see Edge pummel the host, ripping through an illusion. Oh, boy. The real version of the host is super creepy. I’m mildly creeped out.

Edge is unphased, and continues to beat the host.

“You need to quit forcing people into living their nightmares, Nightmare Host!”

Well, at least his name makes sense.

Edge puts his foot in the small of Nightmare Host’s back, and raises his hands up. They begin to glow golden light, and then he aims at the villain, slashes through the air, and Nightmare Host vanishes.

The world distorts one last time, and I’m back in the dark street. I’m on my knees, peering at the world confusedly. A second later, I realize that Edge is right beside me, panting. He sounds like he just ran two consecutive marathons.

“Are you okay? Did you kill that guy?” I pause. “How long was I in there?”

He sits up a little straighter. “I didn’t kill him. I don’t do that. I simply banished him for a while. When he comes back, he’ll be powerless, and in jail.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m okay, just drained. That power takes a lot of energy, that’s all.” He stands up, only a little unsteady on his feet. He pulls me up as well. “You were only in there for a few minutes. It only seemed longer because it was a mindscape. He made it seem longer than it actually was.”

I nod. “Thanks for getting me out of there. If you hadn’t, I probably would have lost my mind.”

He looks at the sky above us. “And then I would have had to fight you, and get you out from under his control.”

I shudder. “I hate being controlled and manipulated,” I say. “And I’m glad that you don’t have to that.”

“Me, too.”

I begin to walk. “Guess I’ll see you around.”

“I guess so. Try and stay out of super-trouble,” he warns.

I turn around and roll my eyes. “I already do that. It’s trying to get trouble to stay away from me that’s the problem.” I pause, thinking to myself, This was the first time.

He chuckles. “Maybe you’re the trouble.”

I retort. “Sure, I’m trouble. Just my life.”

He smiles. “You better get home. You look like you need some sleep.”

I turn towards home, and remark, “After that game show of doom? Uh, yeah.”

He laughs again, then disappears.

Me, I head home.

#horizon and edge #h&e #hailey jardin #kaylee quintant #bethany harvord #erik quintant #Hero Edge #my story #original story #send me asks

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wuxian-vs-wangji · 4 years

Note

Do you plan out the whole story before you start writing? I always have so much trouble with that kind of stuff I give up even writing before I start. What is your system like, if I can ask?

So I actually have two systems that I decide on based on how much of a plan I have. I’ll do a quick summary of them and then if you click “Keep Reading” I’ll go into more detail there (with pictures, so you’ll learn the plot of the first 2 chapters of the fic I guess).

Also, I have two planning sheets that can help people clarify their vision and plot if they have trouble with WORLD or CHARACTER building.

If you would like a document version or printable PDF of either sheet, just DM me. I keep them in a dropbox folder and get about 20 requests for the files per week, so please do not be shy about asking if you need it!!!

System 1: Fill In As You Go

That is what this particular notebook is structured for. This is my default setting for longform fics just to help keep details clear. The “Chapters” tab lets me put a short summary of what happens in that chapter in case I need to reference something later and don’t remember which chapter to go to (This fic will probably end up being several hundred pages long typed out (it feels like a 40 chapter fic), so this is more important for longform than, say, a 6 chapter one.

I don’t fill out anything until a chapter is finished, wholly edited, and ready to be posted. I have a history of wiping out 20+ pages of my own writing because the flow doesn’t feel right, so holding back on filling stuff out until I’m ready to double-down on the material keeps me from getting confused. If you’re constantly writing and erasing large swaths you’ll forget who you’ve introduced when and what you deleted thinking you would put in later vs what has always been there.

System 2: Index Cards of DOOM

This is the most extreme system I use, and I only use it for the most complex of stories (and for Draft 2 of any originals) that must be planned extensively before writing. I first started using it for “Project Echo: Part 3″ because every even-numbered chapter takes place ### Days before a certain incident happens, and that incident in the flashback has to take place immediately before the “present” arc chapters reach the grand final battle. I had to balance the number of chapters between each arc and add details to one or the other as needed to keep the chapters dynamic. So a lot of preparation was needed.

Basically take index cards and cut them in half (or buy the small pre-cut ones). On each card write out a single detail. I highly recommend a color coding system, with different colors for ships, main story details, side story details, villain movements, and secondary characters. Do not double-up on any card, keep it to a single sentence even if you need to note multiple things happening in a single scene.

Lay out the cards and group them together by chapter. Then note at the bottom of each card which chapter you put them in, and keep them in order. Write in a notebook each bullet point (I use the same color coding system) in their new order, and keep the cards as backup in case I have to re-shuffle details.

Click “Keep Reading” for more details (and pics) of each method.

System 1: Fill In As You Go

So I posted the pic of my notebook with the tabs, but this is what it looks like when you actually open it--

For the green tabbed “Clan” sections, what is written in pink is canon details. I used the fandom wiki to fill these out so even if something is not referenced in the show, if it is mentioned in the novel it should be accurate.

Anything written in black, meanwhile, are story details I add. Each clan has a handful of blank pages so I can add notes in black as needed.

Another area I’d like to highlight is the “Chapters” tab (I write “Details” because it is chapter details, the “Detail” tab off to the side is little worldbuilding notes like added clan capitols (also noted in each clan tab). Most details in the notebook are repeated 2-3 times so however I need to look it up later on, I will find it.

And finally, this list is cut-and-dirty. It is in whatever order the characters appear and is kind of a sloppy list before they are added to the “Chapters” or clan tabs later on (Note to self: Add Liqin to the Lan tab).

-----

System 2: Index Cards of DOOM

Really this is the one I thought you guys might need pictures to explain. I posted something about it a few years ago and got a TON of questions. I also want to warn you--- this looks and sounds super intimidating, but it’s actually crazy simple!!

I only keep my index cards until the series I am writing is done, so these are for my original (I mentioned “Project Echo: Part 3″ above, an Avengers fic I finished writing in 2016, so those cards were thrown out).

Here is what the index cards look like when all the damage is done, but read the how-to before you panic!!!

OK, that looks complicated, but here is the key to reading it::

The 4 columns of marks correspond to 4 POV mains. Since the chapters rely on POVs, all the column means is that whatever the card says happened during a specific POV. The column has no other meaning.

Now for the colored markings themselves (which I know in this pic it is hard to distinguish colors but I also wrote on the card itself in that color, which is more useful than the markings at the top)::

Pink:: Aerynn POV, actions that directly move the plot along.

“Aerynn meets with Maya”

“Aerynn liaison with priestess”

Magenta:: Brionna POV

“Brionna introduced”

“Brionna slips out of labyrinth to meet someone”

Sky Blue:: Samena POV

“Samena revealed to be working for White Queen”

“Samena revealed to have Ouroborous”

Both of the above are revealed in her first chapter, so they aren’t spoilers.

Dark Blue:: Nereene POV

“Nereene receives hair combs from #########”

“Nereene attends meeting with ########”

Peach:: A character in a ship, even if what they are doing is not about the ship itself. It just means “love interest” and separates them from the secondary characters.

Pertains to Vivienne (Nereene), Emad (Nereene), and Colm (Samena)

“Colm goes to the Under Vault doors”

“Emad tortures Sorrese”

“Flashback: Vivienne and Nereene saying goodbye”

Black:: Someone planning on killing someone else (You’ll notice Column 1, Nereene, has a lot of black since she is an untouchable sociopath)

“Nereene announces plans to kill Turi”

“Caldair tries to kill Nereene”

Purple:: Secondary Character

“Sorrese introduced”

“Donia visits Nereene”

Red:: Actions against POV mains by others that impede the progress of the plot

“Caldair enacts slave purge” (forcing many of the slave characters into hiding)

“Army moved into capitol” (making missions of slave rebellion more delicate).

This is the simplest picture of all to explain::

Once you’ve got your cards figured out and in their piles, gather them together on a per-chapter basis, write the chapter number at the bottom of the card itself so you can put them in order if they’re dropped or something, and then use 2 alternating colors as you see above to unite cards of each individual chapter.

Basically every time you see a wad of green, then a wad of pink those are cards pertaining to different chapters. Some chapters had more details noted so the wads of cards are thicker, some chapters early on especially (when they just say “introduce character” because I don’t have need-to-note plans) they are only 1-2 cards.

This is just so if you need to quickly grab the cards for, say, Chapter 10, you can count the alternating colors and pull out just the cards for Chapter 10 without having to flip through the fronts of them to the numbers you wrote.

So yeah, those are my systems.

Usually I just write free-range. I only plan long-form fics. I don’t really have a specific cut off for what counts as a long form vs shorter fic. My longest short-form fic is 6 chapters and my shortest long-form fic is 35 (I think, I’ve rewritten the first 10 chapters of Project Echo: Part 1 a few times to adjust how it begins so I think it’s at 35 now).

Just decide for yourself if you need intense pre-planning (System 2) or if you want to let the story flows where it flows while still keeping track of details you may need to recall later on (System 1).

#my writing #writing references #writing reference #mine #ask #PLEASE BE AWARE:: on PC it is glitching and locking the 'keep reading' at the very top above any text #I did not place it there and it doesn't show up in HTML view even for me to remove #maybe my computer is glitching but yeah #i answered in detail beneath #so if you are on computer just click through #and fuck this glitchy website

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the-navistar-carol · 5 years

Text

Daminette Songfic — “Stronger” from Finding Neverland

Ok so technically this is a follow-up to my ‘Invisible Thread’ fic because 1) that BROKE 500 NOTES THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH and 2) literally everyone who reblogged or commented requested that to happen. There is a time jump from ‘Invisible Thread’ to here, because they know each others’ identities and are now currently dating.

This is nowhere near as good as ‘Invisible Thread’ and I can say that freely. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!! @ozmav @maribat-archive :)))

Before you read, trigger warning — death, gore, swearing.

In the darkest place is the faintest light

Gives me hope to face the hardest fight

Marinette. He had to get back to Marinette.

Hawkmoth would conquer all of Paris, maybe more.

The only person that stood in his way was Ladybug, was Marinette, his soulmate.

Damian cast a scorching glare around his surroundings. He stood in a cave, the only exit caved in. It was large enough for him to see the cavern around him, and too empty for his liking.

Stalactites thick around as his wrist hung from the ceiling, some of them reaching the floor as columns.

Someone had been elegant enough as to provide one, single, red LED lantern. Or, rather, it had fallen in with him. It sat tipped over five feet away, glowing like a sun.

The mark on his hand, usually pink, silver, and blue, was bathed in red.

Pain delivers me

His side flared, and it was only then that he remembered he’d been clawed.

Right.

Stripping off his shirt (it was too thin for the Parisian weather, anyway, and gray) he tore it to carefully bandage the injury, cleaning what he could.

Damn cats and their claws.

The white claw-tipped gloves had turned crimson and then a ruddy brown as they’d gone through his side.

And now he was here.

No matter. He’d worked through worse.

And he’d work through this.

I don't need their sympathy

Growling, Damian stalked over to the cave-in, surveying it for possible weaknesses.

He could’ve punted me into a place easier to escape from.

The rubble wasn’t evenly sized, all jagged and sharp, which was almost bothersome, but they formed a rough slope.

An endless Cataclysm would create problems.

Which it does.

So he set to work, flinging rocks away from the top by the white light of the lantern. Next camping trip, he would insist on the Coleman brand. They definitely worked.

The hole grew, slowly but steadily, and he worked through his pain and exhaustion.

Gonna have to try better than that.

Cause they can't take away my might

Where I go they will never find

The hole wouldn’t be more than a crawl space between the roof of the cave mouth and the rubble. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it didn’t need to be.

He’d take a scraped back or battered hands if that was what it took.

Because that was what it took.

And he would take more.

For Gotham, for his family. For Paris, even if he didn’t really like the city.

For her.

The hole grew.

I've got to be stronger

Reach up higher

How far back did this blasted cave-in go?!

No matter how much he removed, hands bleeding on the tips of his fingers, on his palms, wrists, forearms, there was always another rock.

His soulmate mark was crusted in rusty brown. Its pretty colors could barely be seen.

He couldn’t let himself dwell on this. If he stopped to think, he’d be crushed.

Literally? Maybe.

The rocks digging into his spine, the backs of his ribs, they agreed with the sentiment.

Tch. He had had to prove himself to a good many things.

The rocks would be another one on that list.

Dumb rocks.

He’d move a mountain if that was what it took.

Must dig deeper

Find the fire

Finally.

Damian had never put any stock into the whole ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ thing. But now?

Now, as he crawled out of a hole in the ground, bleeding and covered in dirt, and into the fresh Parisian air, he believed it.

The young, green trees on the sides of the streets were still tied to their support poles. Rubble covered the paved streets, cars of all colors and sizes had been flung into buildings.

Bodies — bodies — littered the ground. Blood pooled in patches, rivers, trickles. No matter who or where, it was always the same deep red. Almost black, even.

His mouth dried, his tongue felt too large for his mouth. Hawkmoth hasn’t killed people before.

Ironic. The one person in charge of this damn mess was the one person (was he even a person?) he knew hadn’t ended a life.

Be enlightened

Can't be frightened anymore

His legs wobbled beneath him, so he picked up a wooden pole from where it had been uprooted, next to its slender, frail tree (the leaves were still green, but the birds’ nest had fallen, its eggs had cracked) for stability.

The birds wouldn’t return. Not without the Miraculous Cure, if it happened this time.

People had died this time. Maybe this time, Hawkmoth really was holding up to his promise that he would do anything to reach the Miraculi.

People died, he reminded himself with a snarl which was suspiciously animalistic. That woman with blonde hair, her glasses were shattered and blood stained the back of her hideous leopard-print blouse.

That man with the buzz-cut, he stared up at the sky with unseeing eyes as pale as the sky. They would see the sky no longer.

That child — that girl — lay in the middle of the road, half-curled into a ball. Her red hair spilled over her back, blending with the puncture wound through her chest.

Hawkmoth is going to fucking pay.

I can run now, so much faster

Now defeat won't be my master

Damian struggled on, his right hand clutching the pole and his left at his side, putting pressure on his injury. One step at a time.

The sounds of conflict grew now, and he picked up the pace.

Shouts echoed through the quiet streets of Paris (this quiet wasn’t because of peace, not anymore) of determination and rage.

Angel.

He saw a flash of blue and black, and heard a zap of electricity. The familiar whizz of a grapple sounded from above, and he was scooped up off the ground and launched into the air.

With a hiss of pain, he scrabbled in the grip until he realized the familiar person next to him was Nightwing.

“Keep calm, little D,” Nightwing murmured, and dropped him in an alleyway, away from the fighting.

“We’ve got to stop this.”

For to conquer the demons I won't have to wait any longer

I've got to be stronger

He wasn’t Robin right now. There was no cape behind him, nor military-grade boots on his feet. Not even a domino mask, to preserve his identity.

He wasn’t his mother’s assassin, either, perfectly poised and ready to strike with his injury.

He was only Damian Wayne, armed with a splintering garden pole.

But he pressed on, only determination, spite, and willpower left in his arsenal.

No fancy tricks or midair flips.

Just him.

You'll see in time

You will survive

He limped along the streets of Paris, heading straight for the fight. Well, not really. He had to take breaks when he felt like his side was on fire, which was a lot more than he was used to.

A red blur zoomed through the rooftops and he tensed, thinking it was another akuma of Hawkmoth — well, Scarlet Moth now — but when the figure landed before him, it was all he could do to not lurch into her arms.

Ladybug did it for him, squeezing him tight. He didn’t even complain when his side erupted, pole clattering to the ground as he returned the hug, arms twining around her.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispered, shaking her head. “But then Nightwing told me he found you. Rena is out of commission, and Carapace’ll follow soon.

“I need you, Damian. Not as Robin.”

She let go of him, standing straight, and held out a hand. In it rested a black octagonal box, red design twining across its facets.

“I present to you the Miraculous of the Tiger, which gives the power of invisibility. Your brothers are already outfitted.”

He took it without hesitation.

Too soon to run

Too late to hide

He didn’t even flinch when the kwami — Roaar — zoomed out in a burst of yellow light. When it dimmed, he spotted a black-and-yellow panjas bracelet, which he slipped on, listening to her.

“Who are you?” the kwami demanded, buzzing into his face, her tiny tail lashing. “You’re injured, you’ll never do!”

Ladybug frowned, shaking her head at the kwami. “Roaar. Leave your personal feelings out of this, he’s the only one who’d fit you.”

She sniffed, tiny fangs flashing, but turned to him anyway. “I assume you know the drill. For five minutes, you will become invisible with the command Hunter. All you have to do to transform is say stripes rise, and to detransform, it’s stripes fade.”

Damian nodded to Roaar. “I look forward to working with you.” At her nod of approval, he tightened his fist. “Roaar, stripes rise!”

In a flash of magenta light, his pain faded and new strength rose to take its place.

It's your destiny

Every pace, every strife

He grinned, feeling the sharpened teeth against his gums. Ladybug closed her eyes, let out a long breath, and unhooked her yo-yo. “Let’s get going.”

Roaar had given him a croquet-like mallet and discs on a belt, the mallet on his back like Chat Noir’s baton. His suit was red, black stripes offset by white criss-crossing his frame. The armor on it was lighter, surprisingly supple, and almost changed shades as he moved into the light. Combat boots similar to his Robin boots laced halfway up his shin, the suit’s gloves retaining the familiar fins.

Damian glanced into a shattered window, taking in his reflection. His hair was now shot through with red, almost like a tiger’s stripes. The domino mask across his face was like so, a deep auburn with the beginnings of white strips at its corners, and unlike Ladybug’s, two white fang-shaped crescents peeled down over his jawbone.

He unhooked the mallet, testing its weight. It was perfectly balanced, made of red material with, of course, black stripes running diagonally across its length.

“I agree. Let’s go.”

And he sprang into the air, super-charged with the kwami’s godlike strength, Ladybug zipping beside him on her yo-yo.

I am stronger

Reach up higher

Rena Rouge and Carapace were nowhere to be seen. A monkey hero wielding a staff had entered the fray aside Queen Bee, who could only have been Tim. An ox hero fought aside them, charging at akuma in his way — Jason. Clones of a rooster hero, however odd, fought with only the acrobatics of Dick.

A smile almost tugged its way onto his face. They were here. His brothers, they were here.

Scarlet Moth and Mayura — or the akumatized Catalyst — were nowhere to be found.

His feeling of something close to pride was shot down as Queen Bee screamed, Ladybug’s eyes widening as a white (and now rusty red) figure shot through their ranks, white claws turning red as they dug into her side.

Chat Blanc.

Fury twisted his insides, and he leaped down, hefting one of the discs. Trusting in the Miraculous, he tossed it into the air and whacked it with the mallet, sending it flying.

The disc shot through akuma like a rebounding chakram, smashing bones, armor, and akumatized objects at will, and struck Chat Blank in the back with a solid crunch.

Digging deeper

Find the fire

Chat Blanc fell, scrabbling at the ground. Damian snagged his ring with a sneer, smashing the center gem. An akuma flitted out, which Ladybug purified. He tucked the ring into a pocket, for her to take to the master later.

Queen Bee had fallen, Tim getting her to safety as Jason and Dick closed ranks around him and Ladybug.

“I see you’ve got a new outfit, little D,” Dick grinned.

“Tt. It has a better look than that ridiculous color scheme of yours.”

“Ah, you’re just jealous.”

“Compare sizes later, boys,” Ladybug ordered, yo-yo spinning. “We’ve got a job to do.”

“Can do,” Dick replied cheerily, readying his balero.

The akuma ran at them, and Jason, with the fortitude of the Ox, met them in stride, plowing through their ranks like, well, a bull in a china shop.

He fought akuma after akuma, breaking object after object as the three brothers — four as soon as Tim returned — made a circle around Ladybug, who purified the akuma.

Rena Rouge returned to the fight, joining their fight, but Carapace and Queen Bee were nowhere to be seen. “Carapace is taking care of Queenie,” she relayed. “They’re safe.”

Were they?

Feel enlightened

Won't be frightened, anymore

Finally — finally — they stood up against none. A lone scarlet butterfly flitted into view, catching Ladybug’s eye. She purified it, then began to zip in the direction from where it had come. The brothers followed her, trusting in her judgement as Scarlet Moth sent out another red akuma, purified it, and followed its course again.

One way or another, they would find Hawkmoth.

A beeping from Tim’s circlet alerted him that he was about to transform back, so he fell back, promising to catch up.

The team found themselves staring at Agreste Mansion, as fury built in Damian. Ladybug’s yo-yo whizzed by, catching another akuma as it flitted from the window.

“Damn him,” growled Jason. “Go fucking figure.”

She said nothing, merely readied her yo-yo and launched herself skyward, only to shatter the window of Hawkmoth’s lair. The three brothers and Rena thudded down beside her, ready for justice.

I can run now

So much faster

It was five on two. Hawkmoth never stood a chance. He was first rammed into the wall by Jason, Catalyst attacked by Rena and Jason at once.

Jason stepped aside to let Damian deal his blows, and then he, too, stood to the side as Ladybug stood over the weakened Hawkmoth, no sneer on her face.

Instead, it was almost… one of pity.

Rena Rouge yanked Catalyst’s akumatized iPad away, smashing it. The akuma form bubbled away to reveal Nathalie Sancour, a flickering Peacock Miraculous on her chest. She gently unclasped it, cradling the pin in her hands.

She crouched, and removed the brooch of the Butterfly. A purple light flashed, and Gabriel Agreste lay at her feet. One blow from Jason sent him unconscious.

The fox superheroine handed Ladybug the Peacock Miraculous, and the red-themed superheroine gave her a nod of thanks. “Rooster, alert the police.”

Dick saluted, and bounded out the window.

Now defeat won't be my master

They were done. They were done.

As the last traces of Miraculous Ladybug swept across the skies of Paris, the four Gothamites and the four Parisians stood on the top of the rooftops in wonder.

“Your Miraculi, please.” Ladybug’s voice was thick as the Butterfly, Peacock, and Black Cat kwami floated at her shoulders, almost melancholy that this would end.

“Orikko, end my cry.”

“Xuppu, show’s over.”

“Stompp, rampage’s done.”

“Roaar, stripes fade.”

The four sons of Bruce Wayne stood on the rooftop, Queen Bee nodding. “I thought she might pick you guys.”

“Wayzz, shell off.”

“Trixx, let’s rest.”

“Pollen, buzz off.”

Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, and Chloé Bourgeois stood before them, kwami at their shoulder.

They looked to Ladybug, who gazed at them back with tears in her eyes.

“Tikki, spots off.”

For to conquer the demons

I won't have to wait any longer

Summer had begun. Paris was beginning to heal. Gabriel and Nathalie were imprisoned, as was Lila. Adrien was sent to live with his uncle in England, clearly getting the easy way out.

Alya, Nino, and Chloé walked out of school with Marinette, chatting happily amongst themselves. New earrings shone in Marinette’s ears, this time permanently jeweled in red-and-black. In fact, the four all carried tokens similar to their Miraculi, some subtler than others.

The Wayne boys met them at the bottom of the stairs, eager for a new start.

Damian pulled Marinette into a searing kiss, and his soul mark warmed against her jawline, her own happily tingling as she snaked her arm around his neck, deepening the kiss.

Alya’s palm flashed green and blue as she snapped a picture on her camera, Nino’s shimmering orange and white when he pushed up his glasses.

Chloé’s soul mark was clear for the world to see on her right shoulder, red and gold and black starkly contrasting with her white strapless crop-top. Kagami, happy to be out of her mother’s clutches for once, waved a greeting with her yellow-and-black hand.

They could finally, finally come out on top.

They weren’t perfect, but they were better than when they had begun.

I am stronger

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