#anyways. I'll upload the next part later today :)
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part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8
Steve and Jonathan go setup the cabin before they start unpacking.
Steve opens the windows, takes off the couch covers and dusts off the coffee tables while Jonathan takes care of toiletries and then they get the bed sets and start making the two bunks and the big bed in the main room.
Steve has mostly shaken off his freak out about Eddie saying all that stuff about him and Steve reacting by practically shoving his fingers in his mouth.
Robin helped. She always does.
She's been telling him to make a move on Eddie for months, but Steve keeps overthinking it.
He likes Eddie so much, it just feels impossible Eddie could like him that way too.
So, whenever Eddie says something like what he said in the car, Steve's head cannot compute it.
It doesn't make sense. Steve came out to them all ages ago. If Eddie thought of him like that, surely he'd have made a move by now, right?
He's the loudest, most unashamed person Steve has ever met, he's so unapologetically himself, he sticks by the stuff he likes no matter what, of course he would've made a move.
But he hasn't. And so he doesn't, Eddie doesn't like Steve like that. He's just nice.
He's so nice.
Of course he's not gonna make a big deal of what Steve did in the car. Steve's still a little embarrassed but he knows Eddie would never give him a hard time over something so silly.
Robin reminded him of that too, as soon as they got out of the car and Steve made mortified eyes at Eddie's back as he watched him go stand by the lake.
"You're kinda drowning in a glass of water there, man," Robin said, ruffling his hair.
Steve laughed, escaping her hand and glaring at her.
"I bet he didn't even think twice of it!" she offered, then when he didn't look convinced, she added "He said a bunch of stuff about you, did you think it was weird?"
Steve shook his head "Of course not. it doesn't have to mean anything"
"Exactly." Robin agreed then, rubbing his back. Steve sighed, leaning his head on her shoulder.
So, Steve is mostly over it now. Robin is right.
But, that doesn't stop Steve from stealing glances at the grill through the bedroom windows, where Eds and Nance are making hot dogs, as him and Jonathan make the beds.
Jon must notice, because when they switch to the second bunk, he comments "You know, you can let him down easy. it doesn't have to be a big deal"
Steve immediately drags his eyes away from Eddie and looks at Jonathan.
"What?" he asks,
"Eddie" Jonathan presses, Steve stammers,
"Wh-?"
"Oh come on, he obviously has a crush on you, man." Jon says, "And it's fine if you don't feel the same you know? you can talk to him as your friend, he's a cool dude- I don't think he'd be-"
Steve finally finds his words and interrupts Jonathan.
"Wait, no. Back up. Eddie doesn't have a crush on me." Steve states.
Jonathan scoffs but when he looks at Steve's face his half smile fades,
"Are you serious?" he asks,
Steve looks around them like his answer is written on the walls.
"Didn't you hear what he said in the car?" Jonathan demands "I thought that was the whole reason you were freaking out!"
"I'm not- I'm not freaking out." Steve excuses "And he doesn't have crush on me, if he did he would have made a move by now" he explains.
Jonathan gapes at him for a bit before he answers.
"Okay, one: you have not stopped looking at him since we got out of the car;" Jon notes, "And two: you flirt with all of us except him, you shut him down when he gives you a compliment and you always refuse to dance with him when we go out. Why would he make a move?"
Steve feels his eyes go wide and his stomach drop.
"Shit. Do I?" he asks "No, I don't flirt with you guys" he adds,
Jonathan snorts and gives him a non-plussed look.
Fuck. Okay maybe he does, it's a past-time of his, sue him.
"I-" Steve scrambles "How do I shut down his compliments? I don't do that" he tries,
"You cough and redirect or you laugh and deflect," Jonathan supplies, apparently had those at the ready, damn.
"I didn't do that in the car" Steve counters,
"Robin changed the topic. And you two share a brain" Jonathan states,
Steve covers his eyes with a hand. He hoped it hadn't been that obvious.
"Ohmygod. Fuck. And I do refuse to dance with him" Steve remembers, he's afraid Eddie will figure him out if that ever happens,
"Uh huh, but you dance with us," Jonathan reminds him,
So Eddie had made a move. Several, if Jon's to be believed.
"Fuck. Fuck. Eddie thinks I don't like him," Steve realizes, "Eddie might be attracted to me and he thinks I don't like him at all" Steve despairs,
"I mean," Jonathan placates, "you do spend a lot of time together, I'm sure he knows you like him"
With this realization, at the sight of the tiniest possibility, Steve feels his despair dissolve every excuse he's ever had to hide his feelings.
"No," Steve explains, dragging his hand down his face "No, he thinks I don't like him like that. He doesn't know I'm attracted to him!"
"Wait. You are?"
"Yeah!" Steve confirms, "It's the reason I freak out around him! I can't trust I won't throw myself at him if we dance and I'm always embarrassed of my reactions to him flirting or complimenting me cause I don't want him to find out. I don't wanna ruin our friendship" Steve explains
"Oh." is Jon's helpful reaction.
"Yeah, oh." Steve says,
"How are you so sure he has a crush on me?" he asks Jonathan after a bit,
"Well," Jonathan starts " First of all, who doesn't?"
Steve laughs despite himself "Shut. Up!" he says, balling up the sheet in his hands and throwing it at Jonathan's head, he dodges it easily and picks it back up.
"Second of all," Jon continues, like there was no interruption, "everything Eddie said in the car. And third, just how he generally acts with you." Jonathan shrugs, like it's so obvious, "He shares his songs with you first, he always lets you pick the movie, he cooks your favorite meals, he makes us buy your favorite dessert, I could go on, it's no very hard to tell,"
"And yet-" Steve interjects, laughing a tad bitterly.
"Give yourself a break, Steve." Jonathan tells him, "Nobody thinks straight when they have a crush,"
"Har har" Steve deadpans at the pun.
"That was completely unintended, I swear." Jonathan defends, "I meant it's not hard to tell from the outside. I bet if you really thought of it you could come up with signs you've missed too",
"I don't wanna assume-" Steve muses,
"Then don't." Jonathan tells him, "That was more or less what I was gonna tell you anyways, only now its the opposite"
Steve gives him a confused look.
"Just- You don't have to go ask him out this second," Jonathan explains, "you can just start letting him see that you find him attractive. You said your reactions embarrass you, you keep hiding them, I bet he'd love to see them if we're right about how he feels." Jonathan goes on,
Steve thinks about all the redirecting and hiding he does with Eddie, just so he doesn't find out Steve feels this way about him. If he has a chance to be with Eddie he knows exactly where to start.
"And if we're wrong he won't be an asshole about it." Jonathan says, "I'm 100% sure of that. You can have a big conversation if you want but I know that can be hard, so you can do easier stuff first"
"Like flirt with him" Steve supplies, maybe a little too excited by the prospect.
"Exactly." Jonathan smiles, "Helps that you're not bad at that",
"I'm not the only one" Steve shoots back with a wink.
Jonathan laughs, "There it is" he says, throwing the balled up sheet back at Steve.
Steve chuckles and catches it easily, "Okay. Alright, then. This- I can do this" he states.
"Yeah." Jonathan agrees, "Don't think of it like a huge change, just remember you're only letting him in a little bit, trying to figure out if he feels the same, and if he doesn't, that's cool," he reminds him.
"Yeah." Steve repeats, "Yeah you're right. That makes sense." he agrees,
"I mean it doesn't." Steve adds, "I can't believe he might be attracted to me but- thanks, man. I really appreciate it"
Jonathan smiles and reaches out to clap his shoulder "Anytime, dude. You're my friend, you can talk to me whenever, I'll be happy to listen." he says. Steve can't help thinking Will is so lucky to have him as a brother.
"You're really good at this." Steve tells him, "But, you know, I'm here for you too man, anytime." he offers.
"Thanks, Steve" Jonathan smiles,
Steve smiles back and untangles the bedsheet in his hands, and then they get back to work on the second bunk.
part 4
#steddie#steveddie#steddie headcanon#stranger things#platonic stonathan#not tagging stobin bc it's not that central here but you know they're always central in my heart.#we'll get more of them further down the road don't worry#anyways. I'll upload the next part later today :)#.#steddie lake fic
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So you wanna sell your art on Redbubble but you don't know how?
(Or, I meant to write this months ago but better late than never lol)
OKAY okay. I have a bunch of friends as well as mutuals who have lovely lovely art and have considered selling it online (specifically on Redbubble lol that's what's being covered today anyways) but don't really have any clue how RB works, if it's right for them, or what to expect. SO I'M HERE TO GUIDE Y'ALL THROUGH ALL THE BASICS and hopefully, if I've done my job right, this tutorial will help you set up your RB shop and start selling your art online (or help you decide that RB isn't for you lol).
Table of Contents:
What the heck is RedBubble and should I use it?
How to make your account and set up payment
How to add a new work
Pricing? Markup?
Extra: Checking sales and payment history
Extra: Taxes and copyright, in case that scares you.
Extra: The Partner Program (or how to make "officially licensed" fanart)
What the heck is RedBubble and should I use it?
>> RedBubble is a site that allows you to upload your artwork and sell it on quite a variety of different products.
>> The main benefit of using RedBubble, aside from reach and visibility, is that RB handles *everything* when it comes to the manufacturing and shipment of your product. You are literally not responsible for anything other than making the art, uploading it, and deciding how you want it to look on different products. If there is any kind of problem with material quality or delivery (though in my experience they're pretty good with both of those things), it's not your responsibility to correct!
>> RedBubble does not charge you to sell on their site, but they do set a base price for all products to cover manufacturing and to ensure that they make some level of profit for each sale. We'll look into the specifics of this in a later section when discussing pricing and markup, but it would be considered pretty standard, for example, for an item to cost $20 and you to make $4-$5 upon making a sale.
>> At the end of the day, whether or not RB is right for you largely depends on whether or not you feel their pricing and payment is fair, and whether their available products correspond to what you wish to sell.
Okay, so how do I get started?
Well first you're gonna need an account!
>> Head over to the RedBubble main page and click "Sign Up"
>> Select "Artist Signup"
>> Fill in your email, shop name (this is your username also), and password
>> Click "Sign Up"
>> You will be brought to this dashboard page:
>> We will discuss creating products in the next section. Everything under "Set Up Shop" is optional and I'll let you explore that on your own so we can focus on the essentials. That just leaves... Getting paid!
>> First, check the email you used to confirm your email address. If you didn't receive an email to confirm your email address, don't worry, we can resend the form- keep going with the steps for now.
>> Then, under "Get Paid", click "Add your name & address". Note that all of the options in the "Get Paid" section actually lead to the same form, but selecting this option starts us near the top.
>> Fill out all the fields on this page. If you didn't receive the email to confirm your email address, click on this button:
Then check your email again.
>> Note when choosing your payment method: if you are from Canada, like me, then paypal is your only option. Same for parts of Europe that aren't in the UK. Otherwise, you also have bank transfer options:
>> Once you've finished filling in everything on this page, click "Save Changes" at the bottom and... That's it! Now you can get paid :)
**Note: I believe RB still requires you to make a minimum amount of money before they do a transfer (for me in Canada I believe it's $20 CAD?), so do keep that in mind!
>> Payments are made to your account monthly, generally on the same day every month (assuming you've made profits!).
How to add a new work
So you've made your account, fantastic. Now you're ready to actually add your works to RB and make them available for purchase to the wider public! To demonstrate the process, we're gonna use our pal Nicky here (who was a gift from my lovely friend @llumimoon) and pretend that we want to upload him:
Ain't he a doll? Anyways, let's begin.
>> Hover your mouse over your pfp in the top right corner to make this drop down menu appear:
>> Click on "Add New Work"
**On a new account with nothing uploaded, this will look a bit different. instead choose "Sell Your Art" from this dropdown menu, then "Add New Work" from the top right corner of the same dashboard page from earlier.
>> Click on "Upload New Work" (and note the file type and resolution requirements at the bottom. I always stick with PNGs, but in theory JPEG or GIF works as well.)
>> Select the file of the image you want to upload. In our case, that's Nicky.
>> Now write a title for your work, tags, and a description if you want. The tagging system is how people will actually find your work, it works a lot like Tumblr's! Try to choose things that are relevant to whatever your piece is. If you're uploading fandom-related art and aren't sure what tags are used for your fandom on RB, try looking some up and seeing what generates the most relevant results!
>> You may have noticed the "background color" section right below Nicky. This sets the default background color for your piece on different products. We're gonna keep this as the default white here, and I'll show you how to adjust this for individual products very soon.
>> Scroll down. This is where we decide what products we want this design to be available on and how we want Nicky to look on each thing we've enabled.
For example, if I were actually selling Nicky here (if that wasn't clear obviously I'm not actually selling my friend's art lol don't do that ofc) I would definitely want people to be able to buy him as a little sticker :]
>> In this case, "Stickers & Magnets" have been enabled by default. If you wanted to disable them, you would simply click that little "Enabled" button. Similarly, if we want to enable a product type that is disabled, just click that same button (which will be grey rather than green and say "disabled").
>> If a product is disabled and you are being prevented from enabling it, that's because the dimensions of your image are too small for the product in question! You'll wanna resize your image (preferably in a manner that retains its resolution of course) and come back.
>> Hm. Let's use the hats here as an example of how we might make edits to the layout of a specific product.
He's kind of cut off, as you can see actually that's pretty in-character, and I think I want this hat to be pink rather than this default beige-looking color.
>> Click on "Edit"
So, the first thing I'm gonna do here is use that "Scale Image" slider to scale him down a bit. I'm also gonna click the image and drag him up a bit to re-center him.
Next, I'm gonna pick from one of the default colors and choose the pink one.
>> Notice the two arrows beside the words "Bucket Hat"? This lets me go through the different types of hats available and change the background/base color for each of those, like the dad hat:
>> Before we apply our changes, click that little gear icon right under the pencil icon
>> This lets us adjust the markup price for each individual hat. It is 20% by default. Changing the markup percentage affects how much you will make off of a sale, as well as how much your product will cost. More on that in the next section!
>> Click "Apply Changes"
The "dad hat" was the last hat I had selected (when setting its color), so the display has changed to show that one in the preview. Here's our bucket hat from before:
Nice!
>> The specifics of how you can adjust your design will vary depending on the product. With pillows & totes, for example, the editing menu looks like this:
Using the "Choose pattern" option, I can make the Nicky image repeat as a pattern like so:
(note that I also scaled the image down a bit here too).
>> One last thing. See that "Replace Image" button near the top?
You can use this when you want to use a different version of your image altogether for a specific product.
>> That's the gist! Play around with the settings for each item as you see fit. You can always edit them again later.
>> Scroll down. Select up to 2 relevant media types.
I'm pretty sure this affects search results when users choose specific filters, but tbh otherwise I don't think it's all too important.
>> Let's look at what remains.
>> I have the "Who can view this work?" section set to "Only You"- THIS IS SO I CAN FINISH THE STEPS HERE AND SAVE THE WORK WITHOUT ACTUALLY MAKING IT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. In practice, you'd only use this option if you wanted to buy your own work on something but didn't want other people to be able to see or buy it. Otherwise, you're always gonna choose "Anybody (public)".
>> Collections can be created to organize the pieces in your shop (for example, by fandom), but we won't cover the specifics of how to do that here.
>> Set whether or not your work contains "mature content".
>> If you want, you can set which product shows up in the preview for your work when people view your shop. If you think your piece looks especially nice on a mug, for example, you can make sure that's what people see first.
>> Finally, agree to RedBubble's User Agreement (read that little blurble, since that's basically all you generally need to care about when it comes to what you can and can't sell on RB, but more on that later).
>> Click "Save Work" and voila! Your piece is now available in your shop, and can be found in the search results of whatever tags you left on it (this may take a few minutes to take effect).
>> If you want to check out your design in your shop, navigate to your pfp and click "View shop"
>> Don't fret if the design doesn't appear in your shop right away! Again, this can take several minutes.
>> To edit your design again (and to view/purchase privately uploaded designs like Nicky here), click the "Manage Portfolio" option instead:
>> Here is Nicky as he appears in my portfolio (again, your portfolio and your shop are different things- Nicky will not appear in my shop at all because he is set to "private")
>> You can click that little gear icon to do a variety of things, like return to the editing menu from earlier. The three icons below Nicky refer to the amount of comments, sales, and likes your design has received in total.
>> Click on your design either from your shop page or your portfolio page. Wow! Your cool art is now available on all the products you enabled. Be sure to look through them and make sure that everything is to your liking!
Pricing? Markup? What's that about?
Well good tumblr user, RB handles everything regarding the production (and shipping) of your product, which means that they set a base (minimum) price for every kind of product to account for materials and production, and of course make some amount of profit themselves. The *markup* is a percentage that you the artist set (see the previous section on how to do so), and will determine how much you actually make off of a sale. Note that increasing the markup price means that your product will increase in price as well!
>> An Example (using hypothetical but more or less realistic numbers):
Let's say that the base price (0% markup, i.e. no profit for you) of a phone case on RB is $15. You set the markup to 30%. 30% of 15 is 4.5, so the public price is increased to $19.5, and if anyone purchases this phone case with your design on it, you will make $4.5.
And that's really the gist! Ultimately the markup price is up to you and what you feel is reasonable, though RB sets it to 20% by default.
Extra: Checking sales and payment history
Eheh, unfortunately I've reached the image limit for this post but:
To check your sales:
>> Click on your pfp
>> Click "Account Settings"
>> Under "Artist Tools" (on the left side), click "Sales History"
To check your payment history:
>> From the same "Artist Tools" menu (see above), click "Payment History"
Extra: Taxes and copyright, in case that scares you.
>> Do I need to report the income I make on RB when I do my taxes?
Yup! But dw, it isn't anything special. I mean, I'm not here to do your taxes for you, but money you make on Redbubble counts as "Self-Employment Income", same as if you sold your art just about anywhere else really!
>> So what am I actually allowed to sell on Redbubble? Is fanart okay?
Generally speaking... Yes! Obviously work should be your own, and it should not contain any company logos or names that you don't have the right to, nor photos of actual people unless you have their explicit permission.
>> Hm, okay, but what if I *do* accidentally sell something that isn't allowed?
In most cases, it'll just get taken down 👍. And no, you won't be asked to pay back any profits you made off the work in the meantime.
**A more extreme case: Story time. So, years ago a friend of mine uploaded some official Rick and Morty art that he forgot to set to "private". Overnight he made... Let's just say he made quite a bit of money. RB responded by taking down the work and banning his IP address, effectively preventing him from ever selling on the site again. But they still let him keep the money he made, and he didn't get into any actual trouble outside of that. What I'm saying is, even if you really fuck up, it'll be alright. And again, this was a pretty extreme scenario.
***Note: if your work falls under one of the brands in Redbubble's "Partner Program" (see the next section), it will be temporarily removed from the search results and your shop while it undergoes review. So don't panic if you see your fanart suddenly disappear from your shop!
Extra: The Partner Program (or how to make "officially licensed" fanart)
Very briefly, Redbubble has their partner program, which I won't explain in full detail here, but basically it means that if you upload a work and tag it as one of these brands, it will be inspected for review and, upon passing that brand's guidelines, will be considered "officially licensed" merch for that brand. Just felt worth mentioning!
So that's really the gist folks! There's certainly much more to play around with when it comes to RB, but that's all you need to know to get started! Hopefully this was useful? Hopefully lol. In any case, good luck out there!
#*breathes* OKAY#gee I sure do hope this is actually useful lol#artists on tumblr#redbubble#selling art#idk what to tag this as lmao#baba's tutorials#<- new tag ig lmao#if y'all have other questions (especially friends and mutuals and followers) feel free to reach out and I'll answer what I can!#so if you're wondering. yes I've sold on the site before. no you don't get to know what haha.#bought a lot from RB too- their shit's good quality!#but to be completely clear ofc I don't speak on their behalf haha this tutorial exists so that I can buy more of my friends' cool art lmao
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Okay, so I've basically uploaded all of the selkie images in the first collection. I'm going to post the snippets here too. There's only three of them and they're not that long. Really they're just three snapshots into a fic I'm never going to write. So, after this post I'll have posted everything in the collection. If you want to have a pdf of all of them I'm going to put it up on Ko-fi later today, I'll post a link to it.
But, yeah, this is the first collection of selkie stuff. I think, for the next one, I might do an NSFW or slightly NSFW one with a bit more nudity. I don't like putting the nsfw with the gen artworks and what I've posted isn't that bad since, yeah, merfolk wouldn't often wear the bandages around their chests because they would get damp. So, yeah, the next one might be a little more risqué and the characters in there will be over 18. So, likely it'll be focused more on the LOK characters since Korra is defo over 18 in her own show. Plus, you know, her dilf dad and Iroh II are in that show too.
Anyway: snippets
Day three of his imprisonment dawned with Sokka jolting awake when someone touched his tail. The automatic ‘HEY!’ he would usually aim at Katara died on his tongue as his eyes opened to red, red, fire, metal, red.
Right. He wasn’t at home anymore. He wasn’t, well he didn’t even know where he was he just knew that barking at the teenager holding his tail wasn’t the best thing to do right now.
The guy, Zuko, Prince pouty pants– amongst other names he’d heard the crew call him– didn’t seem to be trying to make him into Sokka stew. Instead, despite his grip being tight, his fingers were gentle as he rubbed something foul smelling on his– ow! Ow! Oh that stung.
“I’m sorry,” Sokka heard over the blinding pain. “I’m sorry,” Zuko said again, scowl hardening even further as he rushed to add more salve to the gashes in Sokka’s tail. “I only have a few more and then you’ll be done and– I knew I should have let uncle do this.”
Sokka wanted to protest, he really wanted to say anything to this guy, but not screaming was on the top of his agenda right now and not screaming was what Sokka was going to do. No human sounds. That was what mom always taught them.
The salve stung even as Zuko fastened it back in the medicine bag. His tail was wrapped, Zuko eyeing him for a moment before taking off the upper part of his armour. Sokka only had a second to wonder how a kid his age managed to get muscles like that before he was hoisted into the air, his bathtub prison growing distant as he was carried out of the room and up to the upper deck.
He was tied up. Naturally. After their second day together Zuko had learned that Sokka would do his best to jump overboard, injuries be damned, meaning a rope and a guard were constantly on Sokka whenever he was away from Zuko’s room.
He wanted to pout, but the fresh air after being trapped in Zuko’s room? Amazing. Sokka was finally starting to understand why Katara always said his room stank. There was just something about the sweat of a teenage boy that made him want to puke. Or maybe that was just how Zuko smelled. How the fire that shot out of his hands smelled as he ordered one crewmate or another to spar with him in his daily melee.
He wanted to say it was entertaining. It should have been entertaining. But Zuko was good. He was beyond good and he was Sokka’s age. It made him sick to think of what this guy would do when he was older. When the Southern Water Tribe came back onto the Fire Nation’s radar.
A board slid over to him, Sokka knocking his head back as the other bane of his existence sat himself opposite him. “He’s rather good isn’t he?” Iroh said, sending a word of encouragement to his nephew before placing the tiles on his board. “He will be training for a while I think, I gave him some new scrolls to look over last night.” Yes, Sokka knew, the candles Zuko kept lit as he tried to read those scrolls keeping him up half the night. “What say we have a quick game while he finishes his warm ups?”
Sokka forced himself not to respond. To never respond. Iroh didn’t know. Iroh couldn’t know. He was just… Sokka didn’t know but he wasn’t going to be the one to spill his tribe’s secrets. He’d already gotten himself captured by the enemy, the least he could do was keep his mouth shut while he waited for– for– well he didn’t know.
Death? Release? Whichever was waiting for him he guessed.
Iroh moved a tile on his board, those eerie eyes looking at Sokka expectantly. Sokka could feel his face twisting. He wondered if turning his back was too much of a sign he understood them?
Iroh didn’t care. After a while he simply moved Sokka’s piece for him and, like the last time this had happened, explained the rules to him again like Sokka was simply confused, not scared for his life.
All in all, it was a long morning.
Truthfully, Sokka didn’t know what was worse. Time on deck, with Iroh watching his every move. Or time in Zuko’s room. True, there was no Iroh, or crew or the promise of freedom if he just untied himself and jumped overboard. But there was Zuko. Zuko and only Zuko and Sokka had never wanted to fill a silence as much as when he was trapped in that suffocating room with the guy who spent half of his time meditating and the other looking over maps and scrolls.
His bathtub was the worst too. How did the Fire Nation use these things they were so cramped? Or maybe they were standard issue? Sokka didn’t know, all the boats, the proper boats, back home had been taken by dad when he left. Maybe they had cramped bathtubs too. Still, he doubted dad spent hours upon hours inside of one every day.
He missed dad. He missed Gran Gran. He even missed Katara, and when he missed Katara Sokka knew things were getting bad.
He groaned, arching his back to try and move his tail into a more comfortable position. Something popped in his spine, the feeling not wholly uncomfortable.
Unfortunately it was loud enough that Prince fire hands heard it, rushing over from his desk to run worried eyes over him.
“What was that?” He said, to himself Sokka was guessing since Sokka wasn’t supposed to know what he was saying and, unlike with Iroh, Zuko definitely thought he was a stupid dumb animal. He had to. There was no way the guy would be so… gentle, as he checked Sokka over if he knew what Sokka was. That being not stupid, or dumb. “Sorry,” he moved Sokka’s tail to the left, “I’m sorry,” he lifted it up, Sokka still impressed that the guy didn’t even break a sweat at the weight. Sokka was usually a light guy, but the tail added a few extra pounds.
Eventually the examination got a bit much, Sokka batting the prince away much like he’d seen the polar dogs do to some of the kids. Zuko took the hint, his scowl making an appearance as he looked Sokka over one last time.
“I suppose you’d be screaming if you were in pain,” Zuko mumbled before walking back to his desk. He glanced back every so often however, Sokka grumbling to himself as he tried, once more, to get himself comfortable for the night.
Truthfully he didn’t know how he fell asleep. He still didn’t know how he’d slept the night before, or the night before that. All he did know was that he did sleep and when he woke Zuko was there again applying salve to his tail. Salve that needed time to air out, meaning no bathtub for Sokka. Meaning time with Iroh.
On and on and on it went. An endless cycle. A punishment maybe? Whatever it was, it didn’t look like Sokka would be escaping it anytime soon and with each passing day he couldn’t help but wonder what would hurt less: a spear to his tail, or being burned alive by his captor?
SNIPPET 2:
“You should leave,” Zuko sighed.
“And then what?” Sokka asked, pulling himself up onto the bank. “You wouldn’t last a day without me.” Iroh might, but Iroh was a hardened war general. Zuko was… more pathetic than he looked, and he looked pretty pathetic right now. “What did you do to your hair?” It hadn’t looked… great before but, with the patchy hair growing in and the long patch at the back. Yeah, this wasn’t one of Zuko’s better looks.
“I’ve done fine on my own before,” Zuko snapped. “I’ll be fine again. Go find uncle if you’re that desperate to bother someone!”
Sokka forced himself not to bark back. He deserved some of this animosity, he knew that. He knew that if he had been carting around an animal that wasn’t an animal and had been listening to him be gooey and soft in his private time then, yeah, maybe he too would be as grouchy as Zuko. But he also knew not all of this was because of him. “I don’t even know where your uncle is,” for one, “and,” loathe as he was to admit it, “look, we have a common goal here. As much as I would love to swim home and never see you again you’re,” why was this so hard? “very persistent.” Amongst other things.
Zuko gave him a look. “What?”
“My sister is with the Avatar.” He could hardly believe it himself. All those weeks he’d spent listening to Zuko talk about the Avatar and his girlfriend only to find out his sister was that freaking girlfriend? He felt sick just thinking it. How had Gran Gran let this happen? “I don’t know how he managed to persuade her to go with him but I need her safe and home and not with that freak!” He was over 100, who knew what he was doing with her. “You know how to track him. You know where he's likely going next so,” he grabbed at his waist, the skin loosening until it fell into a cloak. Zuko’s cheeks reddened as Sokka wrapped it around his waist. “We do this together. I’ll help you take out my sister and you help me by finding them in the first place.”
Zuko glanced over, then faced him fully when he saw the cloak wrapped around Sokka’s hips. “You’d really make a deal with me?”
“You sang me a lullaby when you thought I was having nightmares, I think you like me enough not to kill me on our way there.” Their way back? Sokka would deal with that when they came to it.
Zuko’s brow furrowed. “You realise my father wants him imprisoned.”
Yeah, Sokka did. But he also knew he would burn down the entire world just to see his sister safe. The war had survived so far without the Avatar. Sokka was sure they could find a way to survive a bit longer if the Firelord took him out permanently.
He held his hand out, “I can breathe underwater and I look as far from Fire Nation as you’re ever gonna get. I’m useful.”
Zuko considered the hand for a moment before taking it, standing up himself. “Fine.” They shook on it. “But we take him alive. The terms of my exile were very clear on how the Avatar was to be returned home.”
“Whatever.”
They let go after a moment, Sokka flexing his fingers to get rid of the lingering warmth. It took a moment for both of them to get their bearings, for Zuko to take back the things he had stole. Once he did, he let Sokka in on what had happened while he’d been gone. How Azula was actually a bad guy– shocker! Also that Iroh was living in a cave.
“You could have gone with a better haircut,” Sokka told him.
Zuko’s cheeks reddened again, “I didn’t exactly have much to play with!”
True. “I’ll fix it when it gets a bit longer,” Sokka decided. Maybe he would give Zuko a nice wolfcut. His own was quite dashing if he did say so himself. “A proper haircut could help you blend in with the locals. Make them less inclined to call your sister on you.” His scary, terrifying sister.
Seriously though, how was it that the guy with the macho scar was the softie of the family?
“Thank you,” Zuko offered quietly.
SNIPPET 3:
“Wow.” Sokka honestly hadn’t believed it when Aang had said Zuko was his descendant. Yet, there it was, proof in the flesh. “That’s er-”
“Uncle said it should grow longer,” Zuko said, his scowl settling into his features as he turned his small cloak around in his hands. Sokka meant small too. It must have been hidden when Zuko was a baby. Azula too, Sokka spying the other coat that had been hidden away in the Fire Nation archives
“It will,” Sokka promised. “The two of you just need a chance to get to know each other again.” He stepped closer, Zuko letting him run his fingers over the coarse fur. It was lighter than Sokka’s. It made sense, Aang’s was still white despite him being around the age his adult fur started to come in. Sokka wondered if Zuko’s would change as soon as he put it on or if he would get a few weeks of pure baby whiteness before whatever colour his tail would be grew in. “You know, this actually makes a bit of sense.”
Zuko hummed in question.
Sokka picked up Azula’s. “Our tails are a part of us, To be away from them,” he shuddered, “Gran Gran once told me people used to go crazy. That the Fire Nation would take our coats just to make us go crazy. Our tails balance us.” And to be without it, from birth? No wonder Zuko and Azula were so messed up.
Zuko followed his gaze, promising, “I’ll get it to her. Maybe it’ll help her sleep.” Sokka knew he’d been worrying about that. The letters came in daily that Azula was growing more and more paranoid. She’d outright refused to eat her meals yesterday. She’d stopped sleeping long before that. He took the cloak off Sokka, putting it back into its trunk. He followed Zuko out, the door closing with a heavy click. “You really think this will work?”
Sokka shrugged, forcing a smile on his face, “Only one way to find out.”
Aang was practically bouncing when they found him. He’d wanted to come with them to the archives, but Toph had started destroying the royal garden and someone– not Sokka– needed to reign her in. Sokka felt quite bad for her as he spied her under a tree. Then he remembered how much Toph hated swimming to begin with and the guilt faded.
Besides, Katara had promised to sit with her. The two of them had been talking about a bending battle at dinner last night, Sokka was sure the royal gardens would really be destroyed by the time they came up for air.
He took his tunic off, unwrapping his coat from his hips and pushing his boots and pants down. Aang had already clambered into the small river that ran amongst the gardens, darting back and forth as he told Zuko to hurry up.
Sokka glanced back, spying the hesitation in Zuko’s hands on his belt. “Katara’s not watching,” he teased.
Zuko sent him a look, but it did its job of loosening Zuko up enough to actually take his clothes off. Not for the first time Sokka wondered how on earth Zuko still had muscles like that after the months of starvation they’d endured. He grabbed his own cloak up, walking to Zuko’s side just as the last of his clothes ended up on the grass. Handing his own cloak over, Sokka took Zuko’s off him.
“Relax,” he told Zuko, “Your tail will fit.” He wrapped his arms around Zuko’s waist, separating the cloak out until it touched the small of Zuko’s back. There was a gasp against his neck and then Sokka had to act fast, Zuko’s legs falling out from under him.
His tail was white, but the longer they both looked the darker ir appeared around the edges. Spots were appearing and changing, some of them as dark as Zuko’s hair, others a light gray.
Aang wiggled his way over to them, pulling himself alongside Zuko so the two could compare colours. Sokka tugged his own tail on, happily falling to the grass in time for Aang to start dragging them both to the river.
He remembered how daunting it had been when his dad first brought him swimming. The disbelief that he could actually breathe underwater. The hesitance in dunking his head. Dad had ended up flinging him into the deep end, mom yelling at him to be more gentle even as Sokka took his first breath under the water. He remembered the fish he’d seen. The penguin otters. He remembered how happy he’d been when he realised he could keep pace better with dad under the water than out. He remembered how happy his parents had been showing him all of this, and Sokka could kind of understand that now as he watched Zuko steel himself and, like he did everything, dive head first into the water.
There was that moment of disbelief as Zuko breached the water. There was ease in which he realised swimming was so much more easier with a tail. There was the smile that Sokka hd seen only a handful of times in their year and a half together. The one did his upmost to bring out as much as he could these days.
Sokka slipped into the water, lazily swimming around and catching Aang when he swam too close.
Mostly he watched Zuko.
He was caught more than once, yet it was only when Aang went to coerce Katara into swimming with him that Zuko swam over to ask “What?” and there it was, the shock again that he could speak. That he could be heard, not quite like they were above water, but Sokka knew what he’d said anyway.
Sokka shrugged “I’m just happy for you.”
Zuko gave him a smile. Another one to add to this list and– screw it, he dove forward, gently capturing Zuko in a kiss.
“I’m really happy for you,” Sokka said when he pulled away.
Zuko blinked at him a few times before another smile graced his lips. Before Sokka knew it he was being dragged down to the bottom of the river, Zuko clinging onto his shoulders as they kissed amongst the riverbed.
He vaguely heard Katara call him gross, but Sokka didn’t care. Everything was finally alright in the world, why would he care what his little sister thought?
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RSoFs, Demo Update, 4/23/23.
First, let me appreciate the beautiful date that is today.
Have I said my gratitude for I've hit 500+ followers on Tumblr? Allow me to thank everyone who's been on this journey with me. Thanks for your support and 500+ followers🥳🥰! Every like, follow, repost, ask, critique, and the bug report is valuable input for me in continuing my work.
Now, what I've been done this week?
This week I've been going on vacation with family, due to the holiday. Does this mean I've put my writing aside? No, I had not. I even bring my iPad to a swimming pool and write like a workaholic. Wait, am I a workaholic? Anyway, it's been quite a productive week.
About the Alpha version release.
I released the alpha version on my Patreon yesterday. I've announced it on my Instagram but I had something to do, I forget to post it here.... It consists of the preview demo and an advanced version of ch 5 before it goes to the public (TBA), and the next few chapters after that. It will be upload regularly in partial. The next part will be released around 14-16 May, if nothing gets in the way.
Why there is a need for an Alpha version?
The alpha version exists because of my thoughts. If I stop writing then my negative thought gonna eat me inside, making me procrastinate and this project will not be finished. So I decide to make an Alpha version in order to set my goal to put the consistent work and had a deadline. A high-risk goal that made me want to finish the story and for you to read it in advance.
So what's for next week?
Next week I'll be continuing the Extra story for next month and continue to write. There is something else I planned for my Patreon, but that's it for now.
That is it for today. See you later~
Do you want to check other platforms?
My social media here. Want to check out my random update about my progress, or what I’m working on Patreon? Check on my Instagram here.
#interactive novel#interactive games#interactive fiction#interactive story#RSoFs#am writing#wip#Red String of Fates#RSoFs Demo#Red String of Fates Demo#RSoFs Weekly update#IFs#IFs demo#fantasy#IFs WIP#RSoFs update
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Banyan Bend
While looking for something else the other day, I came across a link for this world and all of its original lots that were created by the 3 administrators of the old Sims Crossing site. Plus, the original sims created to live here were also up for grabs. Someone over on the Sims Cave uploaded them all. Which was great, since I had lost some of the stuff during my last 2 computer meltdowns and it was impossible to find any of them previously. So, if any of you want to play this world, hop on over to the Sims Cave and type in Sims Crossing - or Banyan Bend.
Anyway, this world was created right after Late Night came out and has no CC. It's their vision of how Twinbrook should have been. And while I like parts of it, there is room for improvement. But CAW hates me, so it is what it is.
I'm currently redoing lots. They placed the movie studio lot from Bridgeport on probably the only 64x64 lot in this town. And since I want to use that for my festival lot, I needed to find a movie lot on something smaller. They placed 2 of those dome thingies - that thing next to the science center in Sunset Valley - on 2 different 60x60 lots in town. One is for butterflies, while the other is... well, I'm not sure what it is. The butterfly one is down by the industrial lots - just down the street from their movie lot. So, I bulldozed it. Yes, I did! My greenie sims are not happy, but I'll let them have that other dome lot to keep their bugs in. I know! I'm way too nice to my sims.
I tried several different lots on this space before I accidently came across a lot over on MTS, created by someone called mccorade. It was created with Riverview in mind. And while it wasn't exactly what I wanted, it was a good start. And it was on a smaller lot. I think maybe 50x50. So, thank you!
Anyway, here it is now. I have made several changes - as I normally do - but the bones are mccorade's.
First thing I did was resurface the parking areas and change out the fencing. This is Banyan Bend! These rednecks can't afford fancy fences, so chain-link it is! I also added the fountains and those 2 large statues. Just because. I also made that main flowerbed smaller - so delivery trucks could access the main building. Then, on the backlot, I redid the houses - mostly used different finishes and added some more landscaping.
Then I made that area where the 'stars' can hang out in their trailers. Oh! And I switched out all the trees.
And finally, in the back, I added a guard shack, more fencing and that driveway to the back doors of the main building. And viola! Banyan Bend has a new place to make movies! Go me!
While I was in the area, I also got rid of the old science center lot. Since I used that hospital from Supernatural on the lot in town where they had their hospital RH, I really didn't need another lot wasted on my science sims. (This world was created before EA came out with their combo lots). So, I decided to make another 'movie' type lot.
This one is loosely based on that KWLW Studio lot from the Sims 1. This is where the hit series, "As the Stomach Churns," and the "Next Great Sim Nation Idol" are filmed. And the local Banyan News channel churns out their daily feed. I used that smaller stage - the 6x7 - one for my Idol stage. If any of you want it, it's over on TFM's Naughty Sims Asylum. You have to be a member, but sign-up is super easy. Once you get over there, type in Shimrod's mods. It's his BuyDebug Genie Lamp and smaller showtime stage mod. Pop it into your overrides folder and viola! A smaller stage is yours! Easy-peasy!
Anyway, I'll post interior pictures later. I was moving in sims today - after redoing the generic cemetery they had. Had to kill off sims and then replace all the fake graves with ones that will generate ghosts. Plus, I write bios for all my families and then - with the help of MasterController - create conflict amongst all of them. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it. Which is why I am the simgoddess and my sims aren't!
#sims 3#Banyan Bend#a BIG thanks to mccorade over on MTS and#Shimrod and#the lovey people over on the Sims Cave#Thank you all!
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‘Tis I with a review *grabs more tissues*
Sae Itoshi
- CAUSE NAH not the guest bedroom ouch 🥲
- Another big ouch cause not Sae degrading me but not in the fun kinky way 😭😭
- AND YET AGAIN THE KICKER IS THAT DAMN FANCY GUEST BEDROOM BRO THE WAY I GASPED
Aiku Oliver
- Not the leftover college feelings 🤧 those never end well 💀💀
- I love the college friends bit btw I think it really suits Oliver having that one long-time friend that he can be himself around yknow?
- He’s so cold in this but why the heck is it also a turn on 🤨😤🥲
Nagi Seishiro
- I bet watching Nagis face as he plays a challenging game or is losing would be so cute. He’d get this little scrunch between his eyebrows and be unconsciously pouring the entire time and his cheeks would probably look extra squishy too agkjffgkhhg 🥰.
- I lost it when the reader mentioned a diary YOU DONT KEEP DIARIES DUDE SECRETS ARE MEANT TO BE TAKEN TO THE GRAVE I already know how this is gonna go 💀😖
- Knew it I FREAKING KNEW WHY IS NAGI NOSY I COULDVE BEEN HEARTBROKEN BUT STILL BE HAVING GREAT SEX COME ON NOW
I love how you keep the nicknames consistent throughout all your characters and fics. Ariel, Bambi, Miffy, etc. It’s adorable and a great attention to detail. I also love love love how you hint that the feelings aren’t one-sided from the reader. Just the tiny things like bantering with Sae, Oliver being a gentleman and giving you the couch, and Nagi being all cute and just himself while gaming with the reader at the beginning. And ofc the smut was exquisite as always. Nagi’s was my personal favorite smut wise and Oliver’s was my favorite story wise. Sae gets an A in both (irresistible bastard it’s always the freaking red heads I swear). It almost made my forget the angst. Almost 🤧😭💀. Also the fact that none of them stayed until morning like *cries* this is why i could never do anything casual ever. read abt it? heck yeah bring it on. do it in real life? id be a crying mess after the first night 💀💀. ANYWAYS.
I was waiting for class to start when I saw that you had uploaded and I was like heck yeah but then class started so I had to wait until later. How are you btw? How was your day? Uni still the same? Don’t forget to eat something today and drink a bunch of water and get some sleep!! *sends many virtual hugs*
- ✨ anon
Welcome back !!! <3
Not me chuckling cause this is the nth time i've written angst and atp my bllk masterlist is looking like sebastian's training
But. I have some fluffy hcs coming soon (istg the pace at which I'm going with the angst) ૮₍˶Ó﹏Ò ⑅₎ა
This one is gonna be a long talk but I'm gonna do it anyway
I was thinking abt adding praise for Sae; but he doesn't seem (or rather feel) the type to do that when it is a fwb arrangement. He's very condescending and as far as he concerned, he is done with you when you get off and so does he so nah he's not gonna degrade you in the kinky way, he'll downright be mean; yeah he's an asshole there wasn't much matter in his part cause I'll be covering more of it in the second part.
I KNOW. the fancy guest bedroom is where you sleep and he sleeps in his own room and then shamelessly asks you to do his tie the next morning... smh
*sigh* Oliver... where do I even start with this man the way it hit home
Watch me defend this man <;/3
Leftover college feelings never do end well, but YES! *bangs on table* the fact that he can be himself around you + 'we go way back' makes a good reason for him to turn you into fwb. Turn me into a love interest you jackass
He was cold in this one and he is getting slapped next week (I did not stutter. Might make an extra sequel for this one cause... you'll see, no spoilers)
OMG!! YES!! I- *bangs on table and breaks it*
I literally thought of the same thing when I tried to visualize the whole thing with Nagi and how he would be when he games along with the veins on his hands when he holds the consoles and the nerve he had to read someone's diary.
*crying* Nagi giving (y/n) pity fuck, but its good 😭😭
So here's the thing. I can't imagine any of the blue lock characters (or any of the characters I write for) calling someone baby or babe or anything that normal couples call each other in a relationship for some reason? Unless its been mentioned in the manga or the anime (which is like a very rare case) so I come up with names on my own so here's how it went
Sae : Ariel (cause admit it he looks like her)
Miffy : cause my mom made me watch that show and the manga panels with Nagi in it reminded me of it and yeah she loves Nagi cause of it (cause of the 'x' for his mouth) [Even in my tears, your comfort; the opening lines for Nagi's part were taken from the theme song cause we used to sing all the time]
Bambi : Cause I know that he would think you're doe eyed and he has watched bambi and he was upset for two days about bambi's mom
I'm so glad you liked these! (cause c'mon they're adorable)
AND YES! Things weren't one sided. It's always to do with memories and small moments...more of that in True north. I knew that nagi's smut was good cause honestly, i can imagine him having that tiny voice thats raspy and high pitched but mid yk? and there's more of it discussed in the sequel, same goes for Oliver (i'm just hellbent on loving him he's also my screensaver). me crying atp cause i want him to get animated
Oh yeah casual stuff is never fun; I like the thought of affection cause stuff like this can affect a person speaking from experience
i'm actually doing pretty good! started watching a new anime (romantic killer and I feel like riri), finished watching a k drama and i can continue with ghost doctor, been reading and drawing a lot but there have also been downs like the side of my phone case breaking 🥲 and it’s green picked cause it reminded me of Aiku
And it was new too 😭
I had a Gatorade and a protein bar (´-ω-`) ik i don’t eat well but yeah that’s just me. Uni’s going great honestly; working on assignments and presentations and finishing things off little by little. Classes are tiring but I always look forward to learning something new
I hope you’re doing well and having a good day? 🫶🏻
*sending bear virtual hugs* <3
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Sorry for the shorter part today. I promise it'll get more interesting soon!
The Hitman's Daughter
Part Two: My Own Assignment
The evening went exactly according to plan. I’ll spare you the details but it involved a lot of lies, disguises, Tamara's selfish behavior, and her getting shot and Don Yates getting stabbed. So overall, a successful night.
I sat in the outside dining area with my non-alcoholic drink, watching people tangoing on the dance floor. But soon enough, my mother walked out there and my father soon joined her.
I knew that they only started dancing to blend in with the crowd but still…
I liked seeing them having fun together and I could only imagine what they were whispering about, probably working out the next steps in our plan.
Eventually, the song and dance ended, my parents broke apart, and mom came over to me.
“Madeleine,” she began, “come with me.”
She began to walk away and I hurried out of my chair to follow her.
We walked behind the building and she pulled me aside.
“Alright, listen here, Madeleine, this is important.” She said.
I stood tall and listened attentively, hiding the excitement I was feeling as I was getting my own assignment.
She handed me my purse which carried things such as my untraceable phone, money from all over the world, and a pistol.
“I want you to go back to the car. I’ve already told the driver to take you to the city, just head to the safehouse from there. I’ll meet up with you later.”
My heart sank.
“Wha-what?”
“I know, it’s sudden. But I need you to trust me.”
I sighed and nodded, “I do trust you.”
Mom smiled and adjusted the bobby pin that kept my bangs out of my eyes.
“That’s my girl.” She said, planting a kiss on my forehead.
I just stood still as she walked away, without another word said.
Part One:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
Part Six:
Part Seven:
#hitman#47 x diana#agent 47#diana burnwood#diana/47#hitman 3#Madeleine Burnwood#hitman fanfiction#hitman fandom
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Session 1: Part A-
An introduction to the characters and a small hint to the set up. This is my longest one yet. I'll be uploading some art for it as I can/when I'm feeling well enough.
TW: Mild drinking, cursing, exceedingly mild violence (a single slap)
Mercedes slid her mask on and sat in the chair across from the scrybes. It was almost humorous seeing their imposing forms slid into chairs around one table. It was crowded enough with Grimora and P03 sharing one end of the table, but the DM was almost in awe when she was reminded how large Leshy and Magnificus were with how they each completely took up their own sides.
Magnificus, humorously, looked the most out of place of them all. She had to suppose that it was probably because he was so used to distancing himself when it came to his own games. To be perfectly honest, he didn’t seem to be entirely comfortable with mere social situations either. He awkwardly sat with his hand in his lap, looking expectantly as she laid a map down of a tavern, and 4 game pieces.
The woman flushed a little as P03 gave her an entirely unenthusiastic stare at her map and the pieces. He made the flicker of a disgusted face, before correcting it to his neutral expression. She was about to say something, but she shook her head. “I’m going to make each of you unique pieces later. I thought for today we should start giving our characters life, after all, and I didn’t want to hold it up with a bit of crafting.”
Grimora smiled politely and waved a hand in her direction. Although her pupils were hidden in a radiant yellow cast, Mercedes could tell she was looking to P03 and Leshy in part. “Some of us have very little imagination if we cant see what we’re working with, dear. No harm on your part.”
A small huff came from Magnificus. If the young woman didn't know any better, she'd think he was laughing, but it could have been something of a sound of agreement. She smiled gratefully at the two of them, earning an annoyed look from P03, though Leshy seemed to be keeping to himself.
The scrybe of beasts was being all too quiet. She was wondering if he was displeased, but after looking at him and examining his leaned forward posture, she realized it was probably taking him everything to keep quiet. A smile bloomed on her features before she sat down and nodded to all of them.
“Let’s start, shall we?” Clearing her throat, she blew out the candle next to her in a single puff. The room slid into darkness for a moment, the only light being P03’s screen, by her own design for now. “Welcome to Aetheryth.” She looked at all of them, catching their eyes, even cast in shadows. “I’d give you a history lesson, but to be honest, the oldest parts of this story have been forgotten, and would not be known anyway.” She gave a wry smile at the look of discomfort from both Leshy and Magnificus. “We start instead in a small town that’s pressed between a forest and mountains. It’s thriving, despite the location. The name of it is simply Blackthorne, named for the wood settlement that had been there when this area was merely used to pass through the dangerous mountains.” Reaching forward, she picked up a red game piece and placed it in the tavern. “Our adventure begins in the Tavern, the Broken Barrel. Like the name implies, most of their product is generously given, if a bit low quality. Here we find our first hero.” She nodded patiently to P03. “P03, can you please tell us what your character is doing?”
The scrybe of technology looked an odd combination of distressed and disgusted. “‘What’s my character doing?’ I thought you were the person telling the story.” He looked at the piece on the map and poked it, questioningly, the look going to smug. “I don’t know. Standing around? Work with that.”
Oh? So he was going to play tough? Alright. Maybe some honey could catch this fly. She cleared her throat and gestured. “Standing about 6 foot tall, an individual named Ermin is standing next to a window, draining the drags of their alcohol from their cup. Long, curved ram-like horns frame a devilish face, making those around them eye them nervously. It’s obvious they’re waiting for someone. You see, they were here on a job, hired along with some other people they have yet to meet but were told of by their employer.” She waved to Magnificus, who awkwardly grabbed his own piece and slid it through the door.
---
“Dragon shyte and pigeon blood! It's so cold, I could feel my fingers gluin’ to my lute!” Wandering in, Althea set her hands under her armpits, stomping her feet on the ground before going over to the tavern bartender and ordering something stiff to warm her up. “Hey, Johna. Y’know I don’t often come this way, but I’m a bit low on funds, and yes, I’ll pay ye. I got a few coins for a down payment on a job I’m supposed to be doing tonight.”
Johna looked at Althea and gave a purse of her lips before frostily nodding towards Ermin. “The tiefling in the back there is one of your contacts.”
“Now don’t be like that, Johna.” Althea smiled winsomely. “I only left without sayin’ anything last time because I had a job to do in another town and it was one of those middle of the night things.”
---
Mercedes laughed in pure delight and looked at Magnificus with a large grin. “You’re going to HAVE to do a persuasion roll.” She passed him a set of dice to match his small game piece, blue with veins of black along it and golden flecks, as if it was made of lapis.
The scrybe of magic looked at the dice and took the one that Mercedes pointed to and rolled. The room went dead silent as the number came up. It was the first roll of the game and a new concept for the others.
When she heard the clacking stop and she stared at the result, her body froze in place and a hand rose to her face. The DM let out a snort and choked back a laugh. “W-well…”
[Roll result= 1 + 2 Modifier]
---
The bartender slapped Althea and tossed her rag over her shoulder before walking away in a huff. A waitress awkwardly rushed past the bard, not looking at her, but unable to help but let out titters and giggles the whole way.
The elven woman slid a hand to her face and walked towards Ermin who was looking at her with an obvious grin. She snarled and shook her head. “Don’t start.”
“I didn’t say anything, lady.” They set their pint down to give a helpless hand in the air. “The name’s Ermin.” They offered a hand, which was stared at and then shook hesitantly. “And you are?”
“I’m Althea Brightwell. If you’re here, that means we’re waiting on two more people. This seems a little overkill for a single night job.” She sat down in a chair near them and pulled out her lute to play lazily.
---
“Would you like to do a performance check?” The DM offered an apologetic smile, nudging the dice again. “I promise it’s statistically rare to have it happen twice.”
The wizard looked warily at the die and then rolled it, a bit ruffled, but seemed to ease when he saw the results this time. “It's twelve. With my...modifier?” He checked with her, nodding as she nodded back at him. “It's fourteen.”
—
The music flowed into the room, making some pause in conversation, changing the mocking mood into a more mellow one, as they listened to the lackadaisical melody. The two individuals, now seated at a table together, getting to know one another, noticed a large, hulking figure come into the tavern and sit across from them, turning a chair to meet their stomach and folding their muscled arms over the back of it.
“Well, well. We seem to be having a lively discussion. Judging by the fact that neither of you look like you work in the woods, nor in the mountains, I’d have to guess you’re travelers like me.” The beast of a man towered over the other two, even while sitting. He had quite the jovial look on his face.
—
“Why would a pirate be in a land locked area?” Magnificus turned towards Grimora with a disapproving look. “I don’t think it makes sense.”
“I don’t really get it either.” P03 poked the small orange piece away from his red one. Funny how a moment ago he was mocking the piece and now seemed near protective of it.
Mercedes raised her hand and shook her head. “You think pirates never made it inland? While it might be unusual, he’s more of an adventurer than anything. Now, Grimora, if you could introduce your character.”
—
“The name’s Gunther.” The goliath held out his hand to Althea, squeezing her hand in his. His smile actually made her settle in her unease when she saw the genuine friendliness to it, past the bravado.
“Charmed, I’m sure. Althea Brightwell.” Althea felt herself smiling back. She began to play again, much to the enjoyment of the night crowd, and looked at Ermin expectantly. “Play nice, rogue.”
Ermin rolled their eyes and offered a smile that was more teeth than humor and stuck out their hand. “Ermin. Just Ermin. It looks like we’re waiting on one more body before we can bother the person who hired us.” Their hands clasped at the forearm, gripping firmly before releasing.
It only took moments of drinking and polite conversation before two more figures approached the table. One was a rather tall man dressed in a somber blue with watery eyes to match. He was obviously human, and nearing his late sixties. The group could tell that when he was younger he was probably rather bland looking, but as he aged, a beard and repeatedly broken nose seemed to add to his personality. The other was a faun who was well put together, with large, black glass like eyes that seemed to take in the whole room at once.
“My name is Dyan, I am a Merchant on the board of the Merchant’s guild, and this is Wylder, the young forest lord of the area.” Dylan nodded to the faun accompanying him. “I thought I should have someone I trust in the group, no insult to all of you, but one never knows.”
#inscryption#DnD group therapy AU#sandalwoodsnowdrop#grimora inscryption#grimora#inscryption p03#p03 inscryption#inscryption leshy#leshy inscryption#inscryption magnificus#magnificus#magnificus inscryption#P03#Leshy#inscryption grimora#Mercedes#fan oc#fan character#fanfiction#fanfic
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An Unhealthy Obsession: Chapter Two
The New News
Hi everyone! It's great having an audience to write out to, and I hope you all are enjoying it. I'll be trying to upload pretty regularly, and will give updates if I take a hiatus for any reason.
Previous Chapter | Master List | Next Chapter
You woke the next day, your head a little foggy. You stumbled out of bed and fumbled your way to the bathroom. Balancing yourself on the countertop, you tried to look in the mirror – you’re too sleepy still, and your reflection seemed smudged. You stumbled off to use the restroom, and as you started to wash your hands and brush your teeth flicker on some lights. Once you brushed your teeth and splashed some water on your face, you began to wake up a little bit more. You looked again in the mirror – this time much clearer. You hadn’t slept with makeup on, which was nice. You tried to think about what happened yesterday…
Oh yes.
The strange house with the strange basement in a strange forest. A house you had never been in where the rain never stopped but felt cozy all at once. A television with a show set in the DVD player and journals pages full of episodes and obsessive notetaking.
Obsessive.
That word gave you tingles up your spine, but it was true; it did seem obsessive. Scrawling down notes, watching episodes twice in a row, recording someone’s every action was not normal. But you didn’t mind if it was about…him. Your face felt warm again and you could see pink flush into your cheeks. It wasn’t as bad as the passion you had felt the day before, but even thinking about Spencer and what you had done gave you those tiny butterflies once more.
Trying to shake your head of the thoughts, you headed downstairs to make some breakfast, or see what this house had, anyway. The kitchen had only a few selections of breakfast cereal and was bare-bones for the most part. It did have silverware, which was handy, but you knew that if you wanting to stay, you’d have to go out for groceries. The fridge had the exact kind of milk you drank – soy – and had barely enough left for your cereal. Other than that, it was also empty except for some butter and jam.
You chose to have the off-brand Cheerios and sat down on the couch to eat breakfast. There was a dining room with a lovely set of tables and chairs, but you didn’t feel like eating in that empty room by yourself. At least on the couch, you could turn on the television and not feel as alone. You turned on the television and the home menu for ‘Criminal Minds: Season One’ appeared. While Spencer’s face got your blood pumping, you switched the HDMI for cable to see what was on the news. You were greeted by a newscaster that said something that made you run cold.
“Hiya folks! This is Juan Webster with Kiro news, reporting to you live on this morning of February 12th, in the great year 2009! Today we do have some traffic coming up th—”
You turned the television screen off. February? 2009? No, no, no, this wasn’t right. It hadn’t been February when you were at home – it was June, and you took a nap in the afternoon sun. You KNEW for a fact that it wasn’t 2009; you were fourteen in 2009 and by God, you still weren’t fourteen! You had had a job, an apartment, and graduated college. Th-this had to be some joke, right?
You turned on the television again, too soon to tell if this was reality or someone playing a prank.
“…and as of yesterday, the BAU has finally caught the alleged killer in Olympia. The team is leaving the station today with Roderick Gless in custody and is currently being charged with three cases of first-degree murder and one attempted manslaughter. His court date is not yet set.”
You remembered this case. Or at least you think you did. His mugshot seemed familiar, and so did his name. You did not recognize the name of the city “Olympia,” but made a mental note to look later. The cameras switched from showing the mugshot of Roderick Gless to a live broadcast outside of the Olympia police station. In the background was the US flag with a smaller, green flag hanging under it. What state had a green flag; you began to wonder.
“…Here comes the team now on their way back home to Virginia with Gless in custody. Let’s check in with the team and see what the FBI had to say about this case and this killer…”
The reporter said more before walking up to the FBI team, but you couldn’t hear him. His voice had become muffled as the sound of your own heartbeat became louder and louder. A piercing reached your ears, and your eyes were glued to the screen. As the person in handcuffs was guided into a police car and a blonde woman whose face you recognized quite well began to cut off the journalists and reporters, your eyes followed a certain individual. Scared. Curious. Astonished. Obsessed.
There he was on your screen, on the news. You couldn’t see much of him with the camera crew and reporters cutting in, but the glimpses of his face and hands were a sure sign.
Spencer Reid was right there.
The more you began to analyze the scene, you began to take in more. There was Prentiss, and Morgan, and Jarreau, and…him. The team was there. On screen. On the news. The REAL news, not the DVD or a news cap from an episode. This was REAL.
You caught a glimpse of Reid looking into one of the cameras directly, and even though you knew deep down that he was not staring at you, you could feel his cesspool of eyes stare into you. His look into your direction hit you, and you almost keeled over. Oh, there. There was that feeling again! That heartbeat, the heat, the flushing – all of it. It was almost too much. He was there, he was REAL, and he looked at you. YOU!
You tipped your bowl over – luckily, it was empty – and did a sort of happy dance. Oh, what if! What if you met him here in this strange world? What if he came here, to this strange house? What if he fell for you? Could these same feelings find a way into his own heart?
The excitement of it all overtook you, and you had to catch your breath for a few minutes. How wonderful the idea would be of someone loving you that much as you love them, and especially if it were Spencer Reid himself.
You calmed yourself down and walked over back to the kitchen to put your bowl away. There was a dishwasher, and since it was empty, you added your mug from last night and this morning’s meal into it. You couldn’t find any dish soap for the dishwasher, so you added it also to your mental grocery list. You hadn’t checked your wallet or accounts since you had entered this house and hoped you had enough at least to get what you needed.
Sighing, you went upstairs to get ready for the day. You couldn’t remember if you had showered before this whole mess, but considering it was now February when you had thought it was June, you decided to take one just in case. The hot water felt amazing on your skin, and the pressure was perfect. In the shower, you found bottles of shampoo and conditioner that matched your exact hair type. A bottle of exfoliator, a razor, and some body wash also sat on the counter’s edge. This house seemed almost too perfect, from the milk in the fridge to the shower.
You began to ponder, and as you did, questions and ideas This house WAS in the middle of nowhere. There WAS a creepy basement full of tools with collars and locks. This WAS the reality where your dream crush existed. Could you…?
As you washed your hair and began to exfoliate your skin, you wondered. Could you really be this crazy? Was this idea…too much? You were stuck in this world, and who knows for how long. If your actions had consequences, you weren’t sure what they might be, or what would happen. But the idea of it succeeding was too good to pass up.
You decided on a plan. You’d stay in this house if you stayed in this world. Today, you’d go out and get groceries. You’d find out where you were, and where this “Olympia” was. You’d watch every episode of Criminal Minds, taking notes and watching the episodes twice again. Once for general knowledge, and once for Spencer. If what you had seen on the news was in an episode, you’d continue to watch and gain a potential upper hand. With the notes, the house, your passion, and whatever money or coincidences came your way, you were determined to find a way.
You were going to meet Spencer Reid, and you were going to make him fall in deep, inescapable, obsessive love with you.
#fic#my fic#fanfiction#criminal minds#criminal minds fanfiction#spencer reid/you#spencer reid/reader#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid x you#spencer#spencer reid#yandere fanfic#yancore#yandere#an unhealthy obsession
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the bachelorette chp 5, part 2: connie’s proposal
an: hey yall 😛 i'll be posting another q&a before the final elimination chapter comes out. the day after that, i will close the poll, so make good choices! if you wanna change your mind, do it NOW! if you haven't voted, NOW is your chance😁 also, once again, i had to add an extended part to the connie family chapter because the full thing did not upload :( if the extended part helps you change your mind on connie, let me know! also, i really like this chapter because i could properly write a beach story! i went to a beach last week for the very first time and now i won't sound stupid when writing (and i'll never beat around the bush again!) link at the bottom!
tags: fem, black reader
tag list: @taybird
Unlike Jean, Connie did give you an idea of where you were going. He told you to bring some sandals and a light outfit and "not to worry about swimming because I know you don't want to mess up your hair- or makeup". There was a high chance you would be going to the beach where you had your first solo date. It was also the first time you talked about Connie being your husband. He said something about being "wise" about your decision. Now that you think about it, there was a pattern of Connie trying to avoid the fact that you two would have to be in love. You wondered if he'd bring that up again while proposing to you. You wouldn't want to say no to Connie if he did that but the whole friend zone thing is a BIG turnoff (y'all's words, not mine 😉)
But there was a positive side to this maybe? You already knew Connie and he had a higher advantage than Jean. You wouldn't even have to think about building a connection with him because you already had one. But the problem was love. You knew would enter a relationship with Jean, y'all would be lovey-dovey BUT you would need to build a friendship too.
Damn, this was hard. But this would all be over soon. You'd get a big wedding and if you didn't like Connie or Jean, you could move on. It's not like you're signing papers at the televised ceremony.
But anyways 😭 let's starts Connie's date. No time for analysis!
Connie had texted you that he was outside. You grabbed your purse and left the mansion. When you got outside, Connie was leaning on his car, being handsome and all.
"Hey," you greet him. You hold your arms out, hoping for a hug or even a kiss. Connie steps forward leans towards you but his head goes to the side and he's hugging you. Would this guy wait till the possible engagement before getting romantic with you or would the rest of your marriage be like this?
Connie pulls away. "I'm really excited," he says. You want to yell at him right now but the day just started. Maybe he was doing all this to lead you on and make sure you want to fight for him. To be real, this was getting tiring. Connie better be doing something big!
"I'm really excited to see what you have in store for me as well," you reply. Other than seeing Connie's next moves or his proposal, you were excited about the food. You knew Connie could cook, it was in his genes and he did cook for you multiple times throughout the show. As Connie opens the passenger seat for you, you begin to ask him what was on the menu today.
"Well, I've noticed how nauseous you get when under the pressure, so I made egg sandwiches and I packed juices and water. I hope that's alright. When we get engaged, I'll make you a big meal. I promise," Connie says before closing your door.
You thought it was sweet that Connie took note of that. When he got into the driver's seat, you gave him a small smile before opening your mouth. "Thank you, Connie. I really appreciate the fact that you thought about that."
Connie starts the car and begins the drive to the venue. There wasn't much talking done, probably because you would bring up the whole friendship thing. You wanted to get that settled but you also wanted to see what Connie has planned. These two dates weren't just about you saying yes or no but it was a way to see how much Jean and Connie wanted you. If there were problems in the past, they would try and fix them now.
Minutes later you were at the beach (you were right😁). Connie found parking and got out of the car to get the food. You got out on your own. It was weird not having someone rush to your side to open your door. Connie met you on your side of the car and offered you his hand. You can't remember him doing that before (if he has, forgive me yall🧍🏾♀️). But his hands felt nice, so you couldn't complain.
The same table from your solo date remained there. "Hey, Connie, just for you, I'll get in the water," you suddenly say. "Huh?! Really?!" he explains. 'Gosh, what a kid,' you think. "You just made this better, y/n! Thank you!" Connie continues. "Just my feet though. I didn't come here to get baptized or anything."
Connie places the picnic basket with all the little things he packed for you. He then proceeds to pull a chair out for you. When you sit, he pulls out one egg sandwich for you. "Juice or water?" Connie asks. "Um, (juice/water)," you reply. He places the drink of your choice in front of you and finally sits down. Connie sets up his food and is ready to dig in until he notices that you haven't touched any of your food.
"Hey...is everything alright? You feel sick?"
You shake your head. "Connie, we need to talk."
Connie sits up slowly. "What's up?"
You liked that Connie was able to see that something was up. This would be useful if you got married.
"How long are you going to friendzone me?"
Connie chokes in his spit. "What?"
"I mean sure we've been lovey-dovey but I still don't feel that romantic connection. If I do say yes to you, I expect us to start acting like a couple. I want you to be my husband, not my friend."
Connie is silent for a minute and then he opens his mouth. "But people who are friends-"
"Oh, shut up. You can be my friend but I want a husband! Please, stop bringing up those statistics and love me!"
You never thought you would be throwing a mini tantrum over a man. Is this who we are? Is this what we represent?
"Come with me," Connie says. You're hesitant to get up until he offers his hand to you. You take it and he pulls you up from the chair.
Connie slowly leads you down the water and you start to freak out mentally. Was he going to drown for telling him off? Connie wasn't that crazy right?
As you walked, you felt yourself slipping out of your shoes. The sand didn't hesitate to fill in the gaps of your toes and tickle your feet. The further you went, the deeper you were. Connie was just walking like it was nothing. You reached the water and Connie came to a stop. For a moment, he stared out into the ocean. You just stared at your feet. The waves pushed the water on your feet causing you to sink more into the sand. This was the world. You were on the edge. You weren't going to live for long, so you had to make the best of it.
"y/n, I hear your cries for love and I'm willing to give it to you. Marry me. I'll work on myself and you'll work on yourself. I promise you, I'll do anything to grow old with you."
Connie’s ring didn’t come in a box. He just pulled it out from his pocket. It was a diamond covered band with a halo shaped sapphire right in the middle.
damn, wonder who y’all gonna choose🤒 LINK
if you’re curious about how these rings look like, here:
connie (left) jean (right , however, his doesn’t match the description i wrote😒)
also, sorry for the white hand. i took a buzzfeed quiz
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My YCCTEAM'S Wireless Switch Pro Controller - Part 10 (Playtime through Super Mario 3D All-Stars game in Super Mario 64 #1)
Hi guys! Miss me of doing my continue YCCTEAM Controller topic reviewing? After using my controller of testing its buttons, batteries results, and doing gyro/motion controls in check, I decided to bring this for my YCCTEAM Controller topic to finished and give the results for how good was my controller is....almost. For my next one that I said from my April 22nd post, I've recording a video of using my controller during playtime with one of my games I choose. This video I did was back in April 18th; before 5 days later til showing my controller's gyro and motion through 👻Luigi's Mansion 3. Link Here
However though, I actually did 3 or 4 recording clips during the same day and I wanted to merge all 4 to make one video during this month of May 2021; instead of doing one at the time in clips. I can thank for my PicsArt app on my iPad Mini 2 to help me doing video edits and it really works! *thumbs up*
Those screenshots I took back in May 20th, by the way. ⬆️
However, it seems that I can't remove its tradmark on the right side bottom of the recording video. I'm sorry if I'll just leave it like that cause I don't have some money into my Apple account to purchased the PicsArts membership to help me remove its tradmark. At least knowing its small enough to not bother during this video of me playing games with my YCCTEAM Controller I've recorded. Nevertheless, let's get into my next topic part about using my pro switch controller through playtime I've been saving since April 18th. What better ways to show me playing with my controller with a game that I got from last year of Decemeber 2020 as my late Christmas gift: 🌟Super Mario 3D All-Stars! I've waiting for months to ever get started of my new progress through one of three gaming collection at first look. Just hoping that my buddy 🐰🖌Maxwell and his siblings will be ready to bring their reactions; mostly with Maxwell cause he's a big Mario fan and he'll be looking forward of me having fun with this game's progress I'll be bringing soon. Enough talking, let's-a-go for my latest topic part for today!
By the way, the original video's file size number was much larger so I use other video converter sites to turn down the file size smaller; that way I can uploaded through my tumblr blog just as easy.
0:00 to 0:37
Since now this recording video was actually the merge one with different shots I edited by using my PicsArt app, I'll begin saying the first one I did with my pro switch controller is doing Mario's moves through Super Mario 64. You know from my childhood that I happened to play the original Super Mario 64 since childhood. I remember when using my old N64 controller to play as Mario; jumping, running, and walking was a alright experience to begin my journey exercise to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. Now years later that I got the 3D All-Stars collection version, I'm using my YCCTEAM Controller to get into Super Mario 64 once again. I still got it remember for the controls after learning from my original N64 game years ago, so here I am doing this to test my modern controller at hands. It looks good for starters when I use the left analog stick to move Mario and pressing the A button to perform jumping. I even do altogether while running and pressing the A button to perform a triple jump move.
0:37 to 0:53
Onto the next clip that I edited was pressing the Y button to perform his punching attack; like if I would be using it more often then doing jumping on enemies. At least knowing I've using it for the first boss battle which I'll get to that on my next video next month, by the way. I did five or more times of him throwing punches and the respond works fine. *thumbs up*
0:53 to 1:05
I quickly get into another part by performing Mario's ground pound move attack. I pressed the A button and ZR button while mid air. Just like my previous ones that it can do well when you gonna use for enemies/bosses and doing switching puzzles.
1:06 to 1:52
Finally now we're getting into the last part I've gotten of doing more of Mario's moveset I recorded. First was the jump kick attack after pressing the jump button then pressing X or Y button to kick in midair. Not bad, but barely if using it during my journey to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser sometimes. After that, I'm now doing the running long jump by moving the left analog stick to make Mario run faster a bit. Meanwhile pressing the Y button at the exact time can perform his long jump that I can feel the vibration on my YCCTEAM Controller; which is unexpected to say at least. I should've turned off the controller's vibration off during my recording, though....Just in case if It'll be little annoying when trying to have my gameplay through Super Mario game. Just saying, though. Anyways, I'm doing one more thing before ending this video and give some results about using my YCCTEAM Controller during playtime at first try. This is for the camera adjustment part as I use the right analog stick to move the camera; which Lakitu holding. It's little bit slow though when I'm trying to move the right analog stick quickly, but it was okay when using it for looking things; except looking into Mario's face cause reasons.
Looks like that's all I can bring you in this recording video of how far using my YCCTEAM Controller for Super Mario 64. Just wishing I could bring more of Mario's moves I haven't gone through it yet; such as crouching and doing backwards jumping. I did happened to perform those while not recording, but let's just say they're works fine as well; even could be useful during this game's progress. 🙂👍🏼
My Thoughts:
To my latest topic post for my YCCTEAM Controller review, it was a good start of using it during my playtime with Super Mario 3D All-Stars game and to the controlling respond as well. Testing with Mario's moves of jumping, ground pound attack, and so on was like taking me back when I'm playing with my original N64 controller, except differently since the N64 Controller had one analog stick in the middle bottom in weird design choice honestly. Nevertheless, it was still a good start.
Now if you we're thinking this will be my last topic review post for my YCCTEAM Controller, but I have other recording videos that I'll love to share for next month. So yeah, I'm still continuing this topic til I decided to finished. That being said, I did have good fun testing my controller; especially using through my first gaming progress of Super Mario 3D All-Stars that I promised to share for my upcoming posts soon.
Let's see how my mains reaction after showing my latest topic post for my YCCTEAM Controller.
🐰🖌Maxwell: It was the amazing thing I ever saw! At least during the begin though. ^^* While I give you applause for trying out Super Mario 64 on Switch in this recording, I'll can also give you a thumbs up about this latest topic post for using your YCCTEAM Controller in new test through playtime a bit. 😉👍🏼With this, I'm sure it can work well for your other games like 👻Luigi's Mansion 3 and 👊Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Though you already have.
🐰👊💥May: Indeed. Still our A-Pal will bringing more video recordings for another day soon. So his YCCTEAM Controller topic will continue, but hoping not to long eventually.
🦊⚽️Sam: Yeah. Besides, we like to see if he'll continue his gaming progress through Super Mario 3D All-Stars to share on his posts soon. That and he'll be doing his next items through upcoming topic reviews.
🐰🖌Maxwell and 🐰👊💥May: Huh?
You heard me right, guys. After I'll be done with my YCCTEAM Controller topic soon, I'll get into the next one for my other items that my family give me through stores or brought me online just in case we're still staying in houses til the pandemic can be over. It happens from months ago, by the way.
🐰🖌Maxwell: Guess you'll be doing your busyness through your upcoming topics, huh? Well at least hoping you'll have plenty of time to take it easy and organize your writing. For now though, you'll should keep going on your YCCTEAM Controller topic to continue; we can wait.
Thanks, Maxwell. Also hoping I'll remember when I can sharing one on my Super Mario 3D All-Stars gaming progress in screenshot pics to my Tumblr blog soon; by any chances I'll get. That's all for now. Hope you'll guys will giving a like to my lastest YCCTEAM Controller topic review post. See ya! 🙂👋
Pervious Posts for my YCCTEAM’s Pro Controller Topic:
Wireless Switch Pro Controller for Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite (Part 1) - Link Here #1
My YCCTEAM’s Wireless Switch Pro Controller for Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite Unboxing (Part 2) - Link Here #2
My YCCTEAM’s Wireless Switch Pro Controller for Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite Comparison with my Xbox One (Part 3) - Link Here #3
My YCCTEAM’s Wireless Switch Pro Controller for Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite Comparison with my Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons (Part 4) - Link Here #4
Testing Buttons (Part 5) - Link Here #5
Rumble Feature Testing (Part 6) - Link Here #6
Battery Charging Test (Part 7) - Link Here #7
Playtime Battery Life Results (Part 8) - Link Here #8
Gyro and Motion Controls 1st Half (Part 9) - Link Here #9
Gyro and Motion Controls 2nd Half (Part 9.5) - Link Here #10
#yccteam#yccteam controller#switch pro controller#video#video post#recording#super mario 64#super mario 3d all stars#3d collection game#3d game#testing#moves#doing moves#run#walk#jump#ground pound#etc#video edit#picsart#part 10#may 2021#may 24th 2021
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Issue 30 came out today, so I'll be talking about it (minimally) and also about solicits for upcoming Issues. Also, I've decided to try out uploading images on mobile, so this post is also kind of a test for that (for that reason, I'll also be keeping images to a minimum).
Like I said, I'm not going to be talking about Issue 30 too much since not a lot actually happened, but there are some key points I'd like to mention, including Gemerl and Omega (or what's left of him) getting kidnapped by Metal Sonic and Eggman, most of the Deadly Six going missing, and us also learning where Sonic went...
Hey, we were right! He did get sent to Blaze's dimension! They also brought in the Koala dudes from Rush Adventure, so I wonder if that means Marine will show up next Issue or soon.
That's pretty much it for what I wanted to bring up regarding Issue 30's contents, but there is one interesting piece of trivia I'd like to say about one of it's covers. As it turns out, in the A Cover for this Issue, that reoccurring side character Lanolin the Sheep was actually originally going to be on the cover, but was later edited out. The version with her lineart in it was released online though, so here's a comparison of the two versions. The one with just lineart has Lanolin hanging out at the bottom, but the final has her completely cut out.
I'm not completely sure why they decided to cut her out, but maybe it was to maintain her status as a background character (you know, despite her already being on one of the covers for Issue 2 and actually showing up quite a bit).
On the topic of covers, we also have this finished (I think?) panoramic cover for the Issue 29 and 30 Retail Incentive covers...
We also have a few covers already for upcoming Issues, but some of them I might have covered already (although I can't actually remember because of how long we've had the Issue 30-33 solicits), so I'll just be showing two that I find noteworthy. First up, we have this really nice Jon Gray cover for Issue 31...
"MISSING! Please don't find them. Seriously, they're awful and they smell."
Never change Jon Gray and Reggie Graham, never change :3
We also have this really cool Diana Skelly cover for Issue 2 of Bad Guys, and I really like this one because it looks like it's going to be part of a panoramic cover (which I hope it is because I wanna see Rough and Tumble hanging out at this bar :3)...
That'll be it for covers for now, but it's time to look at release dates and solicits! Some of these I might have already put on here months ago, but some of them are completely new.
Issue 31 (September 2nd) - It's all led to this... the thrilling two-part epilogue to the Metal Virus Saga. The world has changed. Heroes and villains plan for the future as reconstruction begins. But one hero remains missing...
Issue 32 (September 30th) - The second half of the Metal Virus Saga epilogue. With all the chaos of the recent past still fresh in everyone's minds, Dr. Eggman launches a new assault-determined to take down his enemies once and for all.
Issue 33 (also September 30th? That may be wrong) - Hold onto your chili dogs, Sonic fans! Long-time artist Evan Stanley takes over as writer with an action-packed, friendship-fueled new arc: "Chao Races and Badnik Bases!" The perfect jumping-on point for new readers! The Metal Virus is gone, but things aren't quite back to normal. Omega is damaged and his allies turn to Tails and Sonic for help. The only way to rebuild him is to trade parts with a mysterious champion Chao racer... but things aren't what they seem.
Issue 34 (October 14th) - It's off to the races with Cream, Cheese, Amy, and Rouge! They have to keep up their winning streak or surrender Cheese to Clutch's evil...clutches! Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails are being watched by a mysterious figure in Eggman's seemingly abandoned base and Shadow investigates a mystery!
Bad Guys Issue 1 (September 16th) - The mastermind behind the Metal Virus isn't done yet. Ian Flynn returns to answer: What happened to Dr. Starline? The Shadowy Scientist is back to his evil antics in Bad Guys! And what better place to concoct nefarious plans than one of Dr. Eggman's abandoned bases? But that is easier said than done when badniks are guarding the entrance! Dr. Starline knows he can't do it alone, so he decides to recruit some familiar and not so friendly faces.
Bad Guys Issue 2 (October 28th) - From Sonic veterans Ian Flynn and Jack Lawrence comes "Smash & Grab," an exciting story jam-packed with bad guys and badniks! Some of Sonic's worst enemies are back and badder than ever! Dr. Starline, Dr. Eggman's former-right hand, has brought together Mimic, Rough, Tumble, and Zavok and promised them even more incredible power... if they can stop fighting each other and start fighting badniks to get to it!
The only really noteworthy stuff I want to bring up about these solicitations is the stuff in Issue 33 and 34 regarding a new character, presumably a Chao racer named Clutch. Nothing is known about this character other than his (I'm just kinda he's a dude, but he might not be) name and what he does for a living, so stuff like his species and whether or not he's like a hero or a villain or whatever is kind-of unknown. The Issue 34 solicit also mentions that Shadow leaves to investigate something, and at the end of Issue 30 he actually does leave to follow Eggman, so him leaving then could be what leads up to whatever happens in Issue 34.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. The next date we have set for a release is September 2nd, so I guess I'll see you all then!
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Trial & Error | chapter 6
Main Pairing: (jimin): student/idol x (main): foreign student
Side Pairs: main x taehyung,, main x (nct) jaehyun
PART 5
You and Jimin did start hanging out a little more often after that Sunday. Your relationship grew and you could see the way he would attempt to make you a part of his plans every here and there and not to get you wrong, it wasn't much but it was a start. Not to mention an upgrade from how he used to treat you, which wasn't the worst, looking back at it, but for some reason, you just wanted his attention and he never really gave it to you so you guess you could say you grew bitter feelings towards him because of it.
As for Taehyung, you hadn't seen or heard from him in a couple days which made you worry about what happened. You really wished that he wasn't in trouble because of you. Whenever you asked Jimin about him, he would just tell you not stress over it and that he's okay but that was about it. But Taehyung was your best friend, you just needed to see if he was alright for yourself.
So after school on Friday, you decided you should make your way to their dorm. You had never been there before but you knew their address because Jimin gave it to you to come over a day prior.
When you got to the apartment, you almost didn't want to knock so you just stood at the front door, debating like a weirdo when someone suddenly opened the door.
It was Jungkook. You noticed him from school. You two occasionally talked but you knew very little about him. He never really showed up to school and when he did, he didn't necessarily associate with anybody who wasn't already his friend. But around his members, he seemed really outspoken and loud.
"Hyung, I told you it was her!" he shouted over his shoulder, banana milk in his right hand, slightly smirking at you.
You shyly smiled back, hoping he wouldn't see how nervous you were. Jungkook was one of the most popular boys at your school and in BTS in general. You swear, like, everyone had a crush on this man. And you couldn't blame them to be honest. He was hot.
"We have CCTV," he explained. "Saw you on the camera."
You swiftly nodded your head in understanding. "Ohhh, gotcha." You then looked away awkwardly, finding it hard to look him in the eyes with the way he was smiling at you in a cocky manner.
Just then, Jimin came up. "Yah, stop flirting with her like that," he teased Jungkook, making him laugh as he walked away. Jimin turned to you. "Hey, I didn't know you were coming today, come in."
You did as told and as he locked the door behind you, you took a moment to scan their living room. It was quite cramped and messy, which honestly didn't surprise you but still, something needed to be done about it.
"Jimin, this place is a pigsty," you said in disgust.
Jimin put his hands on his hips and stared at you. "Well, maybe if you told someone you were coming over, miss."
You cocked your head, disapprovingly. "So you mean to tell me you only clean up when you have company?"
He laughed. "What? No. Pfftt--"
"Yes he does," a voice spoke. You turned your head to see where it was coming from only to find a semi tall boy with black hair and tan skin, coming out of one of the rooms. He was wearing red boxers and a white T-shirt. "He never cleans. If and only if someone is coming over and he half asses that too," he continued as he walked to the kitchen.
You started laughing. He looked like he was annoyed at just the thought of it. "I believe it," you said back to him.
Jimin sucked his teeth. "Wow, so you guys are just gonna gang up on me, huh? I see how it is."
You and the boy both laughed before he looked at you fully. "I'm Hoseok," he finally introduced himself.
"I'm y/n," you replied, slightly bowing in his direction. "It's nice to meet you."
"Y/n," Hoseok repeated, slowly scanning over Jimin, grinning. "I see, I see." He looked back at you. "Well, it's nice to meet you too." He then turned around and went to the fridge.
Jimin rolled his eyes. "Let's go to my room," he said before grabbing your arm and pulling you into his room with him. It was small with two bunk beds, stuffed animals scattered around on almost every one.
"Well, wait," you spoke, making him turn around and look at you. "I actually came here to check on Taehyung. Do you know if he's around?"
Jimin's eyebrows raised in realization. "Oh... Taehyungie.. I-I told you he's fine, you don't need to worry about him." He shook his head and sat on his bed.
"I know you said that," you replied, sitting down next to him. "I just want him to know that I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Getting him in this mess. He'd be okay if it weren't for me."
Jimin sighed. "It's not your fault, y/n. Or his. You guys didn't do anything wrong. It's just some fans... they... I don't know. But you didn't do anything and he's not mad at you."
You thought about it and he was right. You had no reason to feel guilty but for some reason, you did. "I just want to see him," you whispered, looking down.
You could feel Jimin staring at you as you both sat there in silence for a while. It had to be at least a minute or two before he spoke up again. "He's out right now and I don't know when he's coming back but I can tell him to give you a call."
You shook your head, knowing that there really wasn't any other option.
"And it's okay," he reassured. "We're not even that famous, this will die down in a few days," he laughed. "I honestly am surprised there were people that cared in the first place."
Honestly, this made you feel a little better about the situation. "Hey, don't say that," you chuckled. "You guys will be big one day, I just know it."
"Ha, yeah, right," he said, rolling his eyes and laying back comfortably. "Have you even looked us up? Like at all?"
Your eyes widened as you tried not to burst out laughing. You truly hadn't look them up and you never really thought to until he mentioned it. You suddenly felt like a horrible friend and you guess the fact that you, in fact, hadn't was present on your face because Jimin rose back up and got closer to you, examining your face. "Wow," he said. "You haven't looked us up, have you?" he shook his head in disbelief. "You're a fraud."
You felt like sinking. "I'm sorry?" you attempted to apologize. Eyes closed, he shook his head no. You grunted. "I'll do my research when I get home later. I promise!"
He opened his eyes. "And you have to take me out for ice cream. Maybe then I'll accept this apology."
You sighed at the pettiness but agreed anyway.
After leaving, you went straight home, took a shower, ate, studied, then did your research on the boys like you said you would.
If you were being truthful, you never looked them up, not because you weren’t interested but because you wanted to continue looking at the boys as friends rather than K-pop idols. But alas, you knew the day would come where you would have to see their work someday.
You took a look at the only three music videos it appeared they had. You liked them. Honestly. They were so talented, it left you in shock. You saw some dance videos their company uploaded and was even more in awe. How come they never bragged about their talents? And Jimin's doubting that they're gonna be big? Not a chance in this world, not with that kind of talent.
You also decided to take the time out to listen to their albums. You pretty much watched and listened to them all night long, eventually falling asleep to their music. You now saw why the little amount of fans they had went as hard as they did for the boys. Can't say you could blame them. They were different from other groups and it showed. You knew that with time, they could really be something huge.
~~
The next day at school, you excused yourself to use the bathroom and while heading towards your destination, you saw a familiar face walk by, stopping you in your tracks. He glanced black at you but continued to walk away. Did he really just walk pass me? you thought. You scratched your head in confusion.
"Taehyung," you called, turning around.
He stopped walking and just stood for a while, looking down at the ground. You repeated his name. He turned, an extremely annoyed look on his face. "What?" he asked blandly.
You flinched at his tone. It was much different from the one you were used to hearing from him. "Are you mad at me?" You knew Jimin said he wasn't but you just had to ask because with the way he was acting, it sure seemed like he was.
He sighed.
"You haven't been answering your phone or coming to school," you continued. "I tried to talk to you yesterday but you weren't home... Jimin said he'd tell you to call me."
"He did," he said sternly. "What about it?"
You started to feel sad, as if you were about to cry or something. Your eyes were definitely teary, at most. Taehyung was such a good friend to you, you had never seen him be like that before.
"Tae... What's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?" you sulked, looking down at the floor.
"I'm not acting any way, y/n. Just leave me alone, alright?"
"What?" You looked back up, your heart beating a bit faster than before. What did he mean leave me alone? "Tae, come on. You don't mean that--"
"I do."
You were at a loss for words. This wasn't like Taehyung at all. He would never be so harsh and he was someone that truly valued every single type of relationship he had, no matter who it was with. This was way too out of his character and that's what caused a tear to drop.
You then heard a tsk as he rolled his eyes and looked slightly away from you, clearly feeling a tad bit guilty.
"Taehyung, I don't want to lose our friendship over something so dumb," you stated. You had no idea how serious this was and some part of you actually did believe that he wasn't mad at you at some point. But you were wrong. He was mad at you, as you thought the first time. Before Jimin made you believe otherwise.
"It's not dumb, Y/n. My career is in jeopardy. And we're still rookies, it's not too late for them to kick me out--Jesus, why am I even explaining to you?" He scrunched his eyebrows before rolling his eyes once again. "It’s not even like you would get it. I'm leaving. And don't even think about contacting me again. It's best that we both keep our distance so that these rumors clear."
He turned and was ready to walk away before he stopped and turned around one last time. "Oh and that also means staying away from Jimin," he added.
You couldn't believe the attitude from him. It was so usual. What got him so upset? You understood about his career but the way he spoke to you was just so uncalled for. Maybe if it came from someone else's mouth you would have been okay but hearing it from Taehyung's was another story. Feeling hurt, you proceeded to head to the ladies room where you locked yourself in a stall and cried it out in private.
It only last about 30 seconds before you got it together and got out the stall to fix your appearance in the mirror. Your eyes were still puffy and red but at this point, you had been out of class long enough to stall any longer so you made your way back. You re-entered the class just as Mrs. Lim was putting in a movie.
Walking back to your seat, you passed Jimin who was leaning on his desk as if he were about to fall sleep. Until he saw you, that is. He peeped his head up, staring and looking back at you as you sat. His assigned seat was two rows up and one seat left of yours.
You looked at him, looking at you. "What's wrong?" he mouthed, seeming concerned.
You shook your head. "Allergies," you lied. You didn't want him to know. Not only was it embarrassing but you didn't want him and Tae to argue. So you decided to keep things quiet.
A few minutes passed. The lights were out and the movie was now on. Out of nowhere, balled up paper landed on your desk. You already knew it was Jimin.
"Pizza after?" it read. You semi smiled, looking up to a cheeky Jimin. You nodded your head as a ‘yes’, then put the note away and focused on your work for the rest of the class, although it was kind of hard to.
You was honestly just worried about how you and Taehyung would end up after this. You didn't want to stop being friends with him or at least make sure that it didn't end of the way that it did. You felt the two of you still needed to talk regardless, you just needed a plan on how.
A/N: Sigh, poor Y/N. that was a different side of taehyung huh. will they makeup though? stay tuned <3
PART 7
#bts jimin#bts taehyung#jimin x y/n#jimin x reader#taehyung x y/n#taehyung x reader#bts#jungkook#namjoon#rm#yoongi#hoseok#seokjin#jin#jimin#taehyung#jaehyun#nct scenarios#bts scenarios#bts reactions#kpop#kpop reactions#kpop scenarios#bts army#jimin angst#jimin fluff#taehyung angst#taehyung fluff#jungkook fluff#bts fluff
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God's in his Heaven
Still waiting for my laptop to get here... starting to get afraid it might be lost in the mail 😬 I tried to upload this a couple times before and the connection has been bad today so it destroyed my drafts. Crossed fingers!
Anyway, here is the next Young!Patience chapter. Warnings for major creepiness.
***
A neatly manicured finger ran down her homework, which was smudged and stained and scribbled over. The only sound in the room was the tick-tock of the clock.
Patience stood still, hands joined behind her back. She shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for the time to be over. He studied the paper, his porcelain face blank and passive, before he smiled and his dark blue eyes lit up.
He said, "Very good. Your fractions are improving."
She heard him stand up and move over, and flinched as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You can go play outside for a while."
***
When she had arrived in Mr. Borghese's mansion, she had not been cooperative. She still wasn't. But she was better.
At first he had taken away her belongings and locked her in a bedroom downstairs. He only entered in order to rape her, and after a while the timeless sun setting and rising blurred in her mind, and her loneliness got to her, and she promised to be good if he let her out. He smiled and did so, and she tread lightly around him.
She learned to be afraid of him, and fast.
When he took her out, he expected her to be his perfect little girl. She could growl and grouch as much as she wanted, but she had to smile for the cameras and lie down with him when he wanted to. The lying down was the worst part. It didn't hurt as much as it did the first time, but it still made her sick and uncomfortable. She could barely sleep when he was breathing beside her. To make it better on herself, sometimes she pretended he was her father and cuddled close to him.
St. Joseph's was better than high school, but that wasn't saying much. The students ignored her, and the teachers treated her nicely because of her adopted father, but at least people left her alone. If she wanted to cry by herself in the gym room because Mr. Borghese had wanted to sleep with her early in the morning and she could feel his wet spend sleeping through her skirt during her classes, then people would leave her alone.
Church was worse. He kept her close to his side the entire time, monitoring her interactions with others. She hated being in the Church of the Holy Virgin--her old churches had been small, cozy, made of balsam wood and slowly burning candles, and she had known everyone there. Here, everyone seemed to speak a different language, and the congregation changed each week, although what didn't change was that everyone seemed to know Mr. Borghese.
The first time she had been in confession, she was perplexed that Mr. Borghese didn't give her any instructions, nor accompany her into the booth. But she spilled herself anyway. She told the priest that he forced her whenever he pleased, that he told her she would have his baby and that she was destined to be his housewife whether she wanted it or not. She even told the priest that she had seen him kill her parents--and her voice had broken and she had peered out of the shade at him, leaning against the church dome in his black suit, his hands behind his back.
She held an impossible hope that the Father had called the police, even through the long limousine ride back, and it was only when Leonardo turned the key to the lock of the front door did she realize what she had done wrong.
"There is not a single person you have met who does not answer to me," he said softly. "And every word you told that priest enters my ears."
The priest had seemed so nice. So sympathetic. His voice had even broken a few times.
"He..."
"He will tell me everything." He sat down on his armchair and spread his arms. "Give your daddy a kiss."
She looked at him, rooted to the spot and fists clenched, and eventually, out of fear, climbed onto his lap.
He was warm and smelled flowery, a scent she had become to despise. He shifted her on his lap, settling in until her crotch snugged deeply into his own. He always liked her in this position. Right above his cock.
"How long has it been since you had your monthly?"
There was that typical question. She lied and said, "I'm having it right now."
"Bugiarda. You had it almost a week ago. Still trying to lie to me."
He began to pull her skirt up. He liked it when she wore her uniform. It was neat--he ironed it every night--with a white blouse and a shirt skirt that reached just past her knees.
Patience wanted to cry. Big, wet, sobbing tears. But instead she pressed her face into his shoulder and let him do what he wanted.
When he finally let her go, she ached and throbbed. "Go to your room. I'll come up later and bring you some cocoa."
She did so without complaining.
***
The next day was a Monday. She was watching cartoons on the TV after school, her favorite, Rocky and Bullwinkle.
A man came in. Tall, stubble on his chin. He stated at her with a mixture of suspicion and sympathy. She recognized him. "Goose Eppy?"
"Giuseppe." He sat down beside her, tan trench coat and all. He watched Rocky and Bullwinkle for a while, laughing at jokes he couldn't understand. "So you live with him now?" He said. "Where are you from?"
"Massachusetts," she muttered.
After an uncomfortable silence, he said, "Ah, Massachusetts. My family is Neapolitan."
"That's bullshit."
"Pardon?"
"Neopolitan is made-up. It's an ice cream, not a place."
Giuseppe stared blankly at her, but was saved from answering by Leonardo entering the room. They spoke briefly in Italian, then he stood up and left her, leaving her to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle by herself, but with her ears pricked.
Patience ran to the locked door, then pressed her ears against it. Their voices were fading as they left down the stairs.
She went around the vast wooden mansion. It was far too big for her to explore, even if she had wanted to. But she he found a grate to the cellar hidden beneath a tall tuft of grass, and it was so rusted she pried it open and wriggled in.
The edges of the grates dug into her breasts, but she wriggled on, until she came to a wire air conditioning unit, which she peered through.
She saw a clean metal room. Like a veterinarian's room. Giuseppe and Leonardo were talking to each other in Italian beside a metal wheeling cart. Something covered with a black bag was on it.
Patience narrowed her eyes. It smelled like disenfectant in there.
Kneeling was beginning to hurt. She had to sit with her knees together, or else she would hurt between her legs. He never gave her any time to heal.
Giuseppe pulled the black bag off with a flourish, and what Patience saw made her heartrate skyrocket. It was a human--naked, his face battered beyond recognition. It didn't even look like a face. It was a mass of black and blue.
Patience pressed her hands over her mouth. She wiggled backwards until her knees reached the grass.
The face of the man kept flashing in her mind. She hugged her knees and looked back at the air conditioning grate. What had she gotten herself into?
***
Patience twisted her hands in her skirt. The waiting was making her nerves heighten. "Why does it have to kill the bunny?"
"Do you want a pet bunny?"
"No! I just don't want the bunny to die!"
"Don't you want to find out if you're having a baby?"
"I do, but..." she hated the thought of living with the fear of having to drop out of school, but she liked bunnies.
The doctor, a man with a thick Santa Claus beard, came out. "The tests were negative."
She wilted in relief. One cautious glance at Leonardo, and his mouth had tightened somewhat. "Very well. Thank you for running the tests, Heinrich."
He had to meet a friend at a restaurant downtown. She wasn't hungry, so he let her wander around the shops ("stay where I can see you").
Patience wandered around, peering through a toy shop. Stuffed animals and train sets, little kid stuff. Leonardo kept her room well-stocked with those, like she was an eight-year-old or something. She was more interested in fashion magazines and singers like Frank Sinatra, to his trepadation.
The minutes ticked by, to her annoyance. How long was he taking? Stupid jerk was probably having one of his long-winded boring conversations that he had with his friends.
Patience turned a corner and something caught her eye.
Like a golden altar, it sat there. Blue painted eyes and pink quirked lips. An hourglass waist and a blue shoulderless dress. Fresh and vibrant and fashionable and so cool.
She couldn't stop staring. When Leonardo came to look for her she was still staring.
"Can I get this?" She said. She never asked for anything, but she REALLY wanted this.
When Leonardo saw, his lips curled. "Don't you want a baby doll instead? I'll get you any baby doll you want."
"No. I want this."
"It's too expensive," said Leonardo, who was a millionaire. "Come on. We need to get home in time for dinner. I'll take you here some other time."
Leonardo towed her out, her still protesting, and she was sullen as she got in the car and headed home. He put on her favorite station and tried to sweet-talk her, but she ignored him.
Halfway home he slammed on the breaks and pulled into an alley.
Leonardo closed his hand around her jaw and yanked her face to look at him.
"You will never," he said to her quietly, "Be like that Barbie doll. You will never be blonde. You will never have a boyfriend. You will never "hit the sunset strip" or whatever nonsense that is. Your destiny is to be a housewife and mother. My housewife and mother."
Her eyes were watering at his iron-hard grip on her jaw. He put his mouth next to her head until his warm breath washed over her ear.
"You will never go to college. You will never be a police officer or lawyer like you keep whining about wanting to be. You will have a baby after you finish at St. Joseph's, and you will be my wife like you were meant to be, as is the best you could have hoped for in your useless life. And you will be satisfied with it."
He let her go, and she rubbed her jaw, tears starting in her eyes.
His voice turned soft. "You can have some ice cream when we get back, how does that sound?" He said. She started ahead, tears blurring her eyes like rain on a windshield.
She thought about Barbie, but the painted face seemed so far away now. Blond and smiling and happy, not the pale, freckled, trembling little girl in the passenger's seat.
I guess he is right, some part of her whispered. I'll never be Barbie. I'll never ride in a convertible or flirt or go to college.
All I can do is dream.
***
The phone sat there, black and shiny.
She had the napkin hidden under her mattress. She had memorized the numbers. She agonized and agonized, aware of the time ticking away, before she picked it up.
Leonardo was becoming discontented. She was not conceiving, and was due to graduate St. Joseph's with honors. She had already had several scholarship offers. He had made her stay home from school several times during exams, to sleep with him and force his seed deep down. She could see her life closing in on her, and so she strove in school, aching to attend a university, any university, as long as she could get away from him.
The cords to all the other telephones were disconnected. She knew this was the only chance she had.
Patience dialed the numbers, heart thumping. She was praying desperately for that rough, growly voice to answer, but a different voice spoke from the other end.
"Pronto?"
"Uh," she said, startled at the unfamiliar voice.
"Chi parla?"
"I..."
"Who is this?" Growled the voice.
"I want to talk to Salvatore Mallozzi."
"Who do you think you are, to talk to the boss?"
"I--"
The dial tone rang dully in her ear.
"Salvatore Mallozzi?" said a gentle voice beside her. "Just who do you think you're talking to?"
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