#but i love this interior for a lazy it really fits the image i have of that personality💛 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fandom-space-princess · 3 years

Text

The Game of Us

Rating: T (gen, no warnings)

Chapter 3: Raphael

Read below the cut, or on AO3

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

With Gabriel gone, the shades begin to dissipate, and soon Michael finds himself alone once again.

It doesn’t last long.

“Well done,” comes a voice from behind him. The tone is the same as before, but now the words are spoken aloud. The entity’s form has shifted. It wears a body that, while still indistinct and hazy, appears far closer to human than it had previously done.

Michael scrambles to his feet. He can feel his own form shifting as well, physical appearance undergoing continental drift atop his roiling grace.

“You took her. Gabriel. What have you done with her?”

“Please try to keep up, my boy. I took nothing and no one. The messenger is safe and well, merely—well, let’s call it offstage, for the moment. And she came quite willingly, as you saw for yourself.” The entity folds its hands neatly in front of it. “I see that she has given you much to consider. I trust your time together was informative?”

“That’s—one way of phrasing it.” The entity moves away, beckoning, and Michael doesn’t fight the impulse to follow. At the termination of the crevice, just outside the circle of crumbling stones, he is unsurprised to see that the path continues deeper into the forest.

As they walk, low-hanging branches catch and drag at his hair, his clothing. Michael feels as though he might be leaving snippets of himself behind, like fur snagged in brambles along the trail. He thinks of Gabriel’s wispy audience with sorrow. “So much of the Host, dead and gone. So many shades. I knew, of course I knew. But seeing them there... it’s not the same.” Regret swirls within him, settling as a tightness around his eyes; he can feel it there, performing the subtle work of reshaping the image he wears.

Into what, though—he doesn’t yet know.

The being at his side nods, curt. “You must understand where your actions lead. Not solely for yourself, but for others. You cannot abdicate your duty to your nature by refusing to choose, any more than you can by making choices.” He gets the impression that it raises its eyebrows meaningfully in his direction. “In your brief period of freedom, you knew the state of Heaven, and yet you turned your back on your responsibilities. On Earth, with that human—that wasn’t choosing. You were hiding.”

The words dig at him, slivers of ice working their way into the center of his grace. Adam. “He needed me. And I needed to keep him safe.”

“That’s a partial truth at best, and I’ve no interest in coddling self-delusion. Try again.”

Being dead, he is discovering, has a way of making it harder to lie to himself. Shame flares low in his stomach. “I... I should have done better by them all. They were my family, and I failed them. I couldn’t face them. Couldn’t face—”

He stops. The path has led them to the edge of another river. Crystalline and clear, smooth as glass, it burbles quietly past their feet. It winds away in lazy curves, disappearing into the deeper shade of the trees.

Michael looks down at his reflection, and his Father’s face looks back at him.

A hand on his shoulder. “I am not without sympathy for your pain,” the being at his back says, gently. “But running from it is no solution. The realm of Heaven is in disarray. Without you and your kin, it will fall, new God or no. And then—whatever it is you love, whatever it is you fear—then there will truly be nothing left to salvage.”

Michael crouches down, touches fingertips to the image of Chuck’s face. Tiny ripples distort the surface, rebounding off each other, spreading and fading away. “This isn’t the Styx. None of this should be here at all. What have you done to the local reality? And to what purpose?”

“Ask your next brother. They always were the wisest of you.”

This time, Michael doesn’t need to turn to know he is alone.

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

He follows the river further into the wilds, meandering gradually down the mountainside. The underbrush thins with the change in altitude, and the straggling trees grow steadily sparser. Before long he finds himself among yet more ruins, though these appear considerably more modern than the last. The river glides through the bones of a forgotten city. He picks his way along streets of stone dwellings adorned by grand archways, airy courtyards, monolithic houses of worship. Mist twines in and among the silent remains of civilization, and everywhere he looks he sees the incursion of the forest: trees growing in cracking walls, moss overhanging low rooftops.

Near the center of the city, both buildings and trees grow abruptly denser once again. A thicket of olive trees and creeping ivy, solid and unassailable, tangle up through ruined foundations and collapsed walls. The river seeps between the roots and disappears under a wall, alongside a single narrow entryway into what must once have been a church. It is barely wide enough to permit him entrance.

He pushes forward, through the vines.

An uneasy aura pervades the air within, musty and stifling, heavy across his shoulders and thick in his lungs. The further in he travels, the stronger it becomes. As it intensifies, he realizes that the feeling is not solely physical; a heady and potent psychic residue that he recognizes as grief only when he finds himself choking back a sob, without understanding quite why.

Down an overgrown corridor, and as suddenly as the vegetation had closed in upon him, it clears. He finds himself in an interior courtyard, roof all but gone, open under the sky.

“So, I get to see you again, after all. Hello, Michael.”

He looks around, confused, for a moment unable to identify the source of the words. Then, all at once, he sees.

In the quiet grove that has sprung up to consume this once-thriving city stands a sparkling pool, the termination point of the river’s above-ground course. Here the water stagnates, swirling deeper into a reservoir carved through foundation and bedrock to disappear into the earth. A stand of trees grows about the edge, roots worming deep down to seek the water through cracks in the floor. What he had originally taken for a statue carved into that living wood shifts minutely. Raphael meditates among the trunks, limbs now gnarled branches, head crowned by thick twisting ivy.

They are, he realizes, the source of the pain imbuing this place. He circles the pool and seats himself beside them, back bending under the onerous weight of their distress.

“You’ve taken His face,” they observe. Their voice holds neither scorn nor approval. Only sorrow. “Don’t take this personally, but I don’t think it suits you.”

“I’m not so certain of that,” he replies morosely. He brushes his hand lightly over the back of one of their own, firm and warm as olive wood. “And you’ve given up on a human form at all. I didn’t realize you held any fondness for dryads.”

“I needed—a change of perspective.” There is, momentarily, a hint of wry smile in their voice. Even on their worst days, he reflects, Raphael always held a spark of gentleness. It makes him ache for them; warrior and healer both, the only one among them as truly skilled in restoring life as taking it. They had never needed his protection, but he should have done more to uplift and support them, still. “Hamadryads have no skin to stitch. No bones to set. They neither bleed, nor do they break. They put down roots, and they grow, and they watch the world pass. It’s a peaceable enough existence.”

“Brother, you—you do realize where we are.”

Raphael rolls their eyes. “I’m dead, Michael, not blind.” They shake their head, ivy tumbling back and out of their face. Michael realizes, abruptly, that the ivy is a deep emerald green; like the blindfold Gabriel had worn, it is the only point of color against the otherwise monochrome environment.

“Then maybe you can enlighten me. I was sent to find you. By... well, I still don’t really know by who.”

“Don’t you, though?”

“I don’t,” he replies, adamant. “I can’t see the purpose to this, any of this. We are asked to return to the world, but to what end? What makes him think—” Michael breaks off, defeated.

“What makes him think we’d do any good for it this time around?” Raphael finishes knowingly.

Michael studies his reflection in the water, and says nothing.

They shake their head again, turning to contemplate the pool. “Did you know this pool has no bottom? If you fell in, you’d sink for eternity. There’d be no point in swimming; you couldn’t save yourself.”

“Why do you sound like you’re considering it?”

Raphael sighs. “I tried so hard, Michael. I fought and bled and died for our family, and still, it fell apart. You’re wearing His face, and for what? You blame yourself?” They look down at their palms, loose in their lap. The wood there is stained; in a place with light, with color, Michael wonders with a shiver if the stains might not appear the ruddy brown of old blood. “But I was our healer, Brother. And I tried and I tried, but I couldn’t heal anyone.” The sadness in the atmosphere redoubles, clawing over Michael’s skin.

Their voice cracks. “I couldn’t even heal myself. He wouldn’t even allow me that much.”

Michael’s head drops to his hands. This agony, like a breaking bone or a breaking heart, has been eating at their foundations for so long. Gabriel struck speechless, Raphael in tatters, and himself—what had he done for them? Other than carry out the edicts of a creator who treated his creation as no better than toys, to be discarded when He was bored of them?

He feels tears bead at the corners of his eyes, and overflow. To his astonishment, they do not fall onto his hands. He draws back in surprise.

The tears hang suspended in the air before him, crystalline. Gently revolving, they slowly coalesce, and descend toward the pool. When at last they meet the surface of the water, they merge without a single ripple marring the glassy shine.

Raphael watches, impassive. “Our pain is not weakness, Michael. This grief... it took some time, but I did eventually come to understand. Why I awoke here, that is. You met Gabriel at the Styx? Fitting. Judgement always was her burden to bear. But this... this is mine. The Kokytos is fed by the tears of mourners.” Their voice rings hollow, but there is an underpinning of tenderness there, Michael thinks. Something patient. Something compassionate. “My own contribution was long overdue.”

“How do you know where I came from? And why the rivers at all?”

“My stubborn, immovable brother.” Raphael’s smile is weary, but fond, even in their grief. “This place is his to command, he who sent you here, beyond mortality as it is. Knowledge flows through it. You need only listen for it.”

Michael scrubs hands across his eyes, and takes slow, steadying breaths. “Raphael. You don't belong here, not like this. Please. Move on from this place with me. We can do it together.”

Their eyes crinkle at the corners. Gently, they extend a hand down to break the surface of the pool. “No, Michael. In that, you are mistaken. It has been too long since I allowed myself to sit with my pain, and learn what it has to teach me. Give me time. I’ll catch up with you.” They draw the hand to their face. Trace their fingers over their lips. The tip of their tongue flicks out, catching at the water that beads there. “If I am to heal, first I must let myself mourn. Don’t worry too much about me. I know how far the river of lamentation runs; I will not drink so deeply of this well that I drown.”

The thought of leaving Raphael behind fills him with dread, but he nods. Stands. They reach up to him, trace a hand over his wrist as he pulls away.

“I wish I could have done more for you, too,” they murmur. “But you aren’t Him, Michael. Please remember that. You’re nothing like Him. I wish I could have helped you to see that more clearly.”

Michael resists the urge to look back into the pool, to see his reflection there. “I don’t know what I am. But I’ll keep searching until I do know.”

“That’s all I could hope for. See you soon.”

He feels the edges of his countenance shift and blur again. When he exits the room, his companion is waiting.

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

(Chapter notes:

- The city in which Michael finds Raphael is inspired by the ghost city of Kayaköy, currently part of Turkey; by its former inhabitants, it was referred to in modern Greek as Levissi. Between World War I and the Greco-Turkish war, its entire population was either forcibly exiled or killed. Despite the horror of that recent history, until that point it had been a relatively peaceful place, its mixed Muslim and Orthodox Christian populations living together harmoniously. It is now officially under the protection of historical conservation, and there have been some attempts at restoration. I think Raphael would consider such a place deeply meaningful, and be able to find healing in the possibility of moving on even in the wake of such tragedy.)

#hugs for raphael <3 #spnarchangelweek #day 2 raphael #michael spn #gabriel spn #raphael spn #lucifer spn #my fanfic #spn #supernatural

16 notes · View notes

non-plutonian-druid · 2 years

Note

I adore your tarot card series, your art is amazing and one of my favorites in the fandom. I have a strange (possibly unanswerable) question, but do you have any tips on emulate Gabriel Bá's style? I've tried to, but it always feel like a poor imitation. I feel like yours emulates his amazingly, while also being unique to your own. Sorry this is probably confusing, and feel free to ignore if it doesn't make sense.

awww thank you so much!!! honestly I feel like I'm still figuring out how to mimic his style. but! I love talking about how I make art, and what I think about when making art, so Anon, I hope you are ready for this extremely long and convoluted reply under the cut

first of all, reference! obviously lmao. I just googled around for pictures from the comics. but if you have something specific you're trying to draw you should definitely get the closest equivalent.

[ID: a screenshot of a canvas on Procreate. It has a large upright rectangle surrounded by various panels from The Umbrella Academy comics. End ID.]

This is my reference for the tarot series. I really ought to have more, and make tailored reference sheets for each card, but I’m lazy lol

Once you have some reference (don't be afraid to decide that some of your reference isn't that helpful, or that you need more), you can get to ~analysis~

Basically, this is just getting a feel for what the artist does that makes their style distinctive, especially when its different from your own. Things to look out for include proportions, amount of detail, the way eyes, hair, hands, and clothes are drawn, and any other distinctive features of note (like how Bá often exaggerates the chin). A good place to start is by tracing the form!

lets use this picture of vanya as an example (sorry about the quality lol)

[ID: a panel from The Umbrella Academy, of the White Violin playing and tuning her violin. End ID.]

Tracing the white violin’s form is fairly straightforward since she’s not wearing any clothes, but even so this is not just an outline- you want to mark the pieces of her body (such as head, shoulders, ribs, stomach, hips) and how they fit together, like for example:

[ID: the same image as above with the opacity lowered. A red line tracing the outline and joints of her body has been drawn over the image. End ID.]

(I also marked how much of her head that her face takes up, which can be helpful too.)

from this, you can learn that Bá has drawn her with a large head, small shoulders, a torso too wide for her shoulders, and a very long torso- very long ribs in particular, as her stomach and hips are more traditionally proportional. Doing this more times, with more characters - being careful to outline the body under the clothes, not the clothes themselves - can give you a feel for how Bá generally draws proportions. Based on my own experience, I can tell you that the “torso disproportionally wide to the shoulders” thing is pretty typical, and that though he does tend toward longer torsos, this is pretty long even for him.

If you want to get more specific, you can. for example, you can use this method to examine how his faces are proportioned - how how much space in the head that the face takes up, how much area the eyes take up versus the nose, whether there is more space in the forehead or the chin and so on.

[ID: a panel of The Umbrella Academy showing a closeup of Vanya’s face. The opacity has been lowered, and the basics of the forms of her face have been sketched over in red. Arrows note which line indicates her hairline, that the line of her brows is used to determine the size of her face, and have sectioned off how much of her face is taken up by her eyes versus her mouth and nose. End ID.]

This can vary depending on the character, but I’ve noticed that he usually draws ears as very small, sharp, and low on the head with minimal defined shape, and when he draws hair, he usually draws it in one big shape with minimal interior lines.

You can also use it to figure out how he draws hands - some specifics that I’ve picked up are that his hands are usually more realistic than mine, and that the meat of the palm, where the thumb connects to the hand, is generally very pronounced and is also generally a round shape (I usually draw this area fairly pointy).

Figuring out how Bá (or any artist) generally proportions a character can go a long way to making your own imitation feel more accurate. Another good, though more straightforward, thing is to examine and imitate how he draws details - how he draws t shirts if you’re drawing a character wearing a t shirt, how he draws trench coats if you’re drawing a character wearing a trench coat, and so on. When choosing reference, keep in mind is how close to the “camera” whatever you’re drawing is, and try to get reference that is located at a similar distance. There’s more detail closer up and much less detail farther away!

and of course, practice before you jump into your final piece! You can try to copy directly from the reference a few times, and then place your version directly over the original to examine where you went wrong - if you tend to make your heads too big or your torsos too short - in order to keep it in mind for the future. and also practice the pose you’re planning to draw and examine its proportions compared to other drawings Bá has done. And don’t be afraid to trace!! tracing is taboo for final pieces but it can be extremely useful for practice, as long as you are paying attention while you do it!!!

All this is important foundational stuff to getting a good imitation, but what really sells the style, and what can make any sketch look at least more like the comic no matter how unlike the style, is the final lines and coloring.

heres an uncolored piece of art by Gabriel Bá.

[ID: a black-and-white illustration of Five, Diego, Klaus, Allison and Luther standing in a jungle, presumably in Vietnam in the 1960s. End ID.]

I use it for my example because it’s easiest to examine line art when there isn’t any color.

this has more detail than the panels in the comics, but from it you can learn a few things. The most important thing is that Bá uses a thin pen with absolutely no line weight variation or tapering, and also uses large black shadows. He also occasionally uses intermittent dots or dashes to add texture. Many of his lines, particularly the ones for small details, are very wiggly. And much of the time, a given curve is actually made up of a series of straight-ish lines.

The pen I use for the linework looks like this.

[ID: a set of scribbles made by a pen that does not vary in width, and does not taper at the ends. The curves are slightly jagged. End ID.]

now lets take a look at the coloring. I don’t know if Bá does the coloring or someone else, but the style is still very distinctive and worth taking a closer look at.

[ID: a panel of The Umbrella Academy showing the Sparrows from the end of Hotel Oblivion. End ID.]

All of these colors are flat colors, with no gradients. Not terribly surprising for a comic book, but worth pointing out. All of the shading is very geometric, and there are almost no curved lines, even in the shading for the smoke. most areas have a base color and a shadow, rather than a base color-shadow-highlight, or even multiple highlights and shadows (this is a rule i break frequently). The shadows are likely individual colors picked to be darker than the base color, rather than one color layer set to “multiply”. That’s fairly obvious, but I point it out because its different from how I would normally shade. Occasionally, colors do not fit neatly into the outlines, usually on background objects rather than characters. There are almost no areas where a low-opacity color is laid over the other colors; any places where this happens are almost invariably small and shaped like a rectangle, as though drawn by a chisel brush.

The brush I use for the colors looks like this.

[ID: a set of scribbles made by a chisel-shaped pen. It also does not vary in width, though vertical strokes are thinner than horizontal strokes because of the shape of the tip. End ID.]

for figuring out what colors to use, I honestly recommend just finding a scene that you like the coloring for and taking the colors directly from that. It’ll teach you how to use color palettes like it in the future, and the coloring is already done by a professional, so why not let them do the work for you! If that feels too much like cheating, I still recommend at least taking inspiration from them.

All the practice for form etc is important if you really want to feel like you’re imitating the style, but honestly even just copying the line art and coloring techniques will get you pretty far.

this got. so long. I hope at least some of it was helpful!!!

#for the void #tua #thanks for the ask!!!#and im so gald you like my tarot series!!!#hoooly shit this is so long i really really hope it helps *somebody*

10 notes · View notes

oosteven-universe · 4 years

Text

That Texas Blood #1

That Texas Blood #1 Image Comics 2020 Written by Chris Condon Illustrated by Jacob Phillips CRIMINAL colourist and first time solo artist JACOB PHILLIPS and writer CHRIS CONDON break onto the scene with a brand-new ongoing series! Like Paris, Texas gut-punched by No Country for Old Men, this mature neo-Western crime series kicks off when the search for a casserole dish leads to a dark and tense confrontation on Sheriff Joe Bob Coates’ 70th birthday. I love going into these blind as that’s where I think being a reviewer comes in handy. This allows me to have a more critical eye to what I am seeing and to enjoy the way that the story is told in a more pure state. I read this and went over sections a few times and in all honesty I have absolutely no idea what in the great green canopy of the Amazon is really going on here. Plus I love every damn moment of it! Joe Bob’s turning 70 and he’s worrying about if his best years are in the past. From there what we see is a whirlwind of mystery tied into every aspect of what we see and it’s unbelievably good. The way that this is being told in a pretty smart and interesting manner. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is executed flawlessly. I mean the overall way we see Joe Bob as he goes about his day as Sheriff and how all this stuff seems to happen around him. The character development is interesting to me, it doesn’t feel normal but then again neither does the story itself so it fits. We do get a nice look at Joe Bob, his role in this town, his personality and his wife and all of it just makes you want to learn more. The pacing here is phenomenal and as it takes us through the pages revealing twist after twist and turns galore it has this strange hypnotic effect on the reader. How we see the way the book is structured and how everything works together to create the books ebb & flow. There is something fresh, new and exciting about this book. You think about it long after reading it, it seems to have this really intense humanity angle as well as this supernatural element maybe. Just the way that this is put together was done with such precision and care and it’s pretty damn amazing. I like the interior artwork a whole heck of a lot. There are times when it feels a tad simple and then there are times it’s so intense and so detailed which really amps up the story’s feeling. Those hair curlers, brilliantly done, the whole bedroom scene and that cave oh my god that cave scene there are some truly magnificent moments here. The way that we see backgrounds utilised is great, could be better but still great nonetheless. The way we see them within the composition of the panels brings us this great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a rather strong, talented eye for storytelling. You’d never guess this is his first series as the main artist. The colour work is sensationally rendered as well. The way we see these, I’m assuming digital, brushstrokes that bring the shading are done in a way that isn’t lazy but it’s like the artist who thinks the work is never done and keeps going. I like it’s great and it adds a nice dimension I wasn’t expecting. The hues and tones utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is fantastic to see. If you want something off the beaten path that will shock, thrill, entertain you and engage your mind then this is for you. If this continues on like this debut then it’s going to be the next big thing we talk about in the comics world.

#Comic Books #Comics Reviews #Image Comics #Chris Condon #Jacob Phillips

1 note · View note

dayoneliveaid · 5 years

Text

doing alright

okay friends! here is my first ever fic–hope you all like it! literally just 5.3k of maylor getting high and having some sexy times!! smut and a lil fluff hehehe (ft. a little deacury makeout sesh!!)

i live for feedback, and would love to get some requests from you guys for other fics, drabbles, headcanons, etc. enjoy, lovies!!

“Brian, darling, you’ve got to lighten up a bit! It’s only marijuana,” Freddie drawled, rolling the rrr sound out for much longer than Brian was comfortable with. It wasn’t that Brian was against smoking, exactly. He had just never really seen the appeal before. He was happy with the buzz from a few beers on occasion, and never really desired more.

“Really, Bri, you’ll love it. Makes the whole world go fuzzy and lovely,” John chimed in, joining in on the peer pressure. Taking a long drag from the joint Roger had expertly rolled a few minutes ago, John let his head loll back on the armrest of the couch he was splayed out on.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, mate,” Roger piped in, already enjoying the calming sensation from the few hits he’d taken. “But it does feel nice. Like, real nice,” he added, subtly licking those pouty pink lips Brian could never say no to.

Brian looked around at the three of them, all lounging about on different plush couches and armchairs that decorated the interior of the posh little hotel room they were hanging out in: Freddie stoned out of his mind, John following shortly after, and Roger with that goofy little smile he always got when he was a little too happy.

After thinking a few more moments, Brian shrugged and plucked the joint from John’s fingers, mimicking with his own the way he had seen them all holding it. He brought it up to his lips, looking over at Roger for, perhaps, some encouragement or pride or something else ridiculous that Brian was always trying to get out of him, and took a hit.

He’d obviously smoked cigarettes before, though he had quit them long ago, so the smoke quickly filling his mouth was not an unfamiliar feeling. He breathed in the smoke, the stale burnt-plant taste sticking to his tongue while everything else filled his throat and lungs. He didn’t cough, really, just breathed out a little uneasy, waiting to see what effect it might have.

As soon as he’d exhaled, John broke out into a round of applause, followed by Freddie shouting, “Bravo, darling! Couldn’t be more proud! We’ll make a proper druggie of you yet, my love!” Roger didn’t do much else but smirk, and snatch the joint from between Brian’s fingers to take his own puff from it. “Want another, Bri? I don’t think one hit will do much for you anyhow,” Roger asked, blowing smoke out his mouth as he said it. And god, if it didn’t just look so attractive when Roger did it, smoking might not seem so appealing to Brian in that moment.

So Brian took another drag, a little longer this time, holding it a bit deeper. Almost as soon as he breathed out again, he could feel some sort of funny foreign sensation take him over. It wasn’t all-consuming by any means, not like getting properly plastered. It began slowly, more like his sense of time was getting slightly warped, calming him fractionally. He looked across to Roger, unable to help the giddy smile that spread across his face as he scanned the drummer’s features. It felt like it took ages to take his eyes off Roger, starting with those damned babydoll eyes, to the slightly upturned slope of his nose, down to those rosy lips he always fancied to steal a glance at.

“Alright, Bri?” Roger asked, almost a whisper, eyebrow cocking ever so slightly.

“Yeah. Alright,” Brian replied, blinking his eyes through what felt like the thickest air he’d ever breathed. Everything was moving so slow, but in a good way. Like he’d never have to take his eyes off Roger if things stayed like this. His head would stay warm and filled with these pretty little images of Roger smirking at him like that.

“Boys, I think we’ve done it,” Roger chuckled, getting Freddie and John’s attention, “I think Bri’s properly stoned!”

Freddie and John immediately began cackling, getting just as much enjoyment out of the slightly ridiculous face Brian was making as he tried to reconcile his movements with the strange, strange way his head was starting to feel.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Bri? I told you you’d love it. Makes you feel so good, dunnit? Makes you want to lay down and hug everything,” Freddie mused, crawling over to where John was laying on the floor to give him a full-bodied hug. “And kiss everyone,” he giggled, pressing little wet kisses to John’s cheek. The bassist immediately blushed pink, trying to push Freddie away to save his own dignity. “Not in front of the boys, Fred,” John chuckled, quiet and sheepish.

Brian pried his eyes from the little scene Freddie was making to look over at Roger again, his mind going blurry and tranquil. Roger did the same, as he knew John didn’t like it when Freddie was so publicly affectionate toward him, smiling wide and happy as he locked eyes with Brian.

“Fred’s right,” Roger said, voice low as he scooted closer to Brian on the couch they shared. “Makes you want to do all sort of things,” he almost-whispered, gently removing the joint from between Brian’s fingers so he could take another drag. He then stood up and announced, “Alright, boys. This has been lovely, but I’m quite tired. Gonna go to bed.”

With the joint, and a wink to Brian, Roger left the room to go down to the hall the the room he was actually meant to be staying in. All four of them always got their own hotel rooms on tours, but they usually ended up just hanging out and sharing until Freddie and John wanted to fuck–which is exactly what it looked like they were about to do, Brian realized–and he certainly did not want to be there for that.

“Um,” Brian mumbled, standing up shakily, “I think… I’ll go to bed as well. Night lads,” he said, the drugs clearly having no effect on his ability to be intensely awkward at times, his two other bandmates already snogging wildly on the floor next to him.

However, instead of going to his own room, Brian decided he still wanted to hang out with Roger. The high was making all his pining much more intense, somehow. He didn’t think it was ever possible for Roger to get prettier than he usually was, but somehow the drugs put Brian on a whole new level of worship for the drummer.

“Rog?” he whispered, giving a light knock on Roger’s door. “Fred and John are, um, you know. They’re… can I come in? Hang out a bit?” he asked, words coming out lazy and a little slurred. Roger answered the door, slightly less dressed than the last time Brian saw him.

He answered the door in quite the outfit: just some grey boxer briefs and a billowy open button-down that Brian recognized as his own. “Course, Bri. Come on in,” he said, welcoming Brian into the room.

“Is that… is that my shirt, Rog?” Brian asked, eyes scanning his entire body, from the wispy blonde hairs on his legs, up to the bare chest peeking out from his shirt, right up to that bloody adorable face he always had on.

“Suppose it is, Bri. Problem?” he asked, definitely aware of the once-over Brian was giving him. Brian didn’t notice the little smirk on Roger’s face as his band member gave his whole body a scan.

“No, no. No problem,” Brian mumbled, head spinning with an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction. He was so fucking happy, standing across from Roger wearing hardly anything except his own clothing that was adorably oversized on the drummer’s smaller frame. “I just, um. Didn’t know you had it, and I think I’m like. Really high?” he giggled, eyes crinkling up at the sides.

“Good, glad that one’s settled. You do realize you’re stoned off your ass, yeah?” Roger laughed, leading Brian inside to take a seat on the bed he’d just been lounging around on.

“Yeah, I’ve gathered that,” Brian replied, his already soft spoken manner somehow even softer now. “Feels quite nice though. Like everything’s just… dreamy. Like, I keep looking at you and it’s just how you’ve always been–‘cause you’ve always been nice and cute and everything. But this is like… different. Like Fred said. It’s like I could have a big cuddle and hug you forever and not have it be enough, I think. Y’know?”

Roger grinned, lip quirking up at every new ridiculous word that was spilling from Brian’s mouth. “You think I’m cute?” he asked, cheeky as ever, hiding a little blush on his cheeks.

Brian sighed, like he had been keeping his admiration for Roger a secret and he was suddenly being found out. Because, after all, it wasn’t truly a secret.

It started as a running joke within the band–Freddie taking jabs at him for always following Roger around like a lost puppy, John making some snide remark about how Brian always had “heart eyes” for Roger when he had a solo–but Brian never found the comedy in it. Roger, too, caught on to the way Brian would look at him, catch his eyes lingering on his lips while they were talking, the way his hands might catch a little too long on the small of his back when they’d hug. But Roger didn’t mind it at all, not in the least. He always leaned into it, let Brian admire him, stare, touch, linger as much as he wanted.

So Roger would do it, too. He’d catch Brian staring and return it with a wink, hug him a little tighter so their hips fit right up against each other, bury his face into Brian’s neck to breathe in his scent. Not things they talked about, nothing they’d ever mention. It wasn’t all too serious.

Until suddenly, stoned out of his mind, it felt very serious to Brian. Serious enough for Brian to reach out and take Roger’s hand in his own, studying it carefully, slipping his own fingers between Roger’s and holding them like that.

“You’re more than cute, Rog. You’re bloody wonderful. Like, the prettiest person I’ve ever seen,” Brian said, voice low and light, almost inaudible. “So talented and beautiful a-and everybody loves you so much, y’know. Even if you’re a bit of a dick sometimes. I think you’re sweet, really.”

Roger blinked up at Brian, eyes wide in disbelief. “Bri, are you serious, or just taking the piss? Because it’s not funny if you are!”

“I’m not,” Brian replied calmly, stroking his thumb over the top of Roger’s hand as if to let him know just how serious he was being. “I just think you’re lovely.”

And with that, Brian leaned in carefully until his lips were pressed gently against Roger’s. It felt like it took a million years to travel the distance between their mouths and finally get himself to exactly where he wanted to be–kissing his best friend.

Roger, though a bit taken aback at first, melted into the kiss, eyes fluttering shut. He let Brian kiss him slow, smooth, a bit chaste for Roger’s taste, honestly. But it was so sweet, so Brian, that he couldn’t even complain. He let Brian carefully prod his mouth open with his tongue, one hand moving to sink into the fluffy mess that was Roger’s hair.

After a minute or so, Roger got with the program and gave it right back to Brian, gripping at his shoulders and coming back at him with small nips to his lower lip and his tongue nudging a bit more aggressively into his mouth.

Before either of them could realize, they were falling back onto the bed, Roger half on top of Brian and leaving not a centimeter of space anywhere between them. Brian let his hands wander down to the shirt of his that Roger was wearing, and pushing it right off his shoulders to get his hands on the silky pale skin of his chest. This left Roger with close to nothing on besides his underwear, and Brian still completely clothed.

“So pretty,” Brian murmured up against his mouth, almost unaware of what he was saying.

It was all too erotic for Roger already, spread out on top of Brian with hardly anything to cover up just how much he was enjoying all of this. Of course he’d thought about it before, but never dreamed it would be quite as lovely as this. Brian was so gentle with him, almost like if he did everything he truly wanted with him, Roger might break–Brian’s hands ghosting over his chest, right down to his hips, holding him so tenderly. Roger had never had anyone treat him like this, handle him so delicately, let alone call him pretty.

“Bri,” Roger breathed in between kisses, trying to catch his breath as his mind raced to catch up with what was happening.

“Yeah, Rog? Are you–are you okay? Is this alright? I’m sorry if I was too forward,” he said, moving to sit up before Roger pushed him back down.

“Bri, no, it’s fine. Very fine. Bloody brilliant really,” he sighed, “I just really, uh, liked what you said before. About, being like, the prettiest person or whatever,” Roger said, ducking his head down into Brian’s chest so he might not see him blush so hard. “And I think,” he began, “I’d like it if you, um, if you would say it again.”

Brian was so fucking relieved to hear that, scared momentarily that Roger was going to tell him that this was a big mistake and snogging your friends wasn’t right or that just didn’t want Brian in the first place. But this–this was so much better.

“God, of course, Rog,” Brian exhaled, laughing with relief. He kissed him once more and pulled him closer by the hips, making sure he was looking into his eyes when he said, “You’re so fucking pretty, Roger. Prettiest boy I’ve ever seen.”

Roger couldn’t even try to hide how much he loved hearing that, even surprised by it himself. His hips gave an involuntary roll down against Brian’s, breathing heavy as Brian showered him with praise.

“Get your kit off,” Roger breathed, rolling to the side so Brian could shed his clothes.

“Right, yeah,” Brian replied, eyes going wide as he did as he was told. He stripped off his shirt first, his trousers following suit.

“Much better,” Roger smiled, leaning up to kiss Brian once he was down to his boxers.

Brian was by no means a virgin, not even close, but something about Roger or the pot or something was making it feel like he had never truly been touched before, not like this. Every single one of his nerve endings flared each time Roger’s hands spread over his skin, let alone that mouth, god. Roger was kissing down Brian’s neck, cheeky little teeth nibbling every so often. All Brian could do was let out breathy little gasps as he let Roger have his way, little red and purple spots blooming wherever his mouth touched.

“Roger,” Brian sighed, getting the blond’s attention as he continued to kiss his way down Brian’s body.

“Yeah, mate?” Roger responded, the platonic nickname just a reflex at this point.

“Uh,” Brian laughed, shaking his head with incredulity, “first of all, can you not call me mate when I’ve got a hard on for you?”

“Sorry, sorry. Force of habit,” Roger replied, shrugging apologetically before he took notice of what Brian was talking about. “You are pretty hard, aren’t you, love?” he teased, ducking down so he was face-level with Brian’s crotch. He ran the very tip of his nose up Brian’s covered shaft, letting his breath ghost over the stretched out cotton.

“Rog,” Brian whined at the sensation, eyes fluttering shut. “That’s not… not what I was going to say,” he continued, words coming to him uneasily as he tried to balance the feeling of being stoned with the feeling of Roger’s face that close to his dick.

“What is it, Bri?” Roger asked, hands scratching at Brian’s bare thighs as his mouth hovered over Brian’s briefs, looking up at him with faux innocence.

“Was gonna ask if I could suck you off,” he replied, trying to find his words through the fog of intoxication and arousal.

Roger’s eyebrows practically jumped to his hairline, if only because it was so shocking to hear those words come from Brian fucking May.

“Bri, I’d love that. I really would,” he sighed, “But I know your mouth has got to be dry as hell from smoking, and I don’t want to put either of us through that, love.”

Brian took a minute to assess what Roger had said, realizing Roger was right. He hadn’t noticed it too much before, as he was thoroughly distracted by Roger’s tantalizing kisses, but his mouth did feel pretty horrendously dry.

“Oh,” Brian settled on, “you’re right. Another time then,” he said, disappointment clear in his voice. And God, did that kill Roger. Everything Brian did, he always did it so earnestly, so enthusiastically. To think he was actually sad he wasn’t going to get to suck Roger off had the drummer’s heart positively melting.

Roger crawled back up Brian’s body to give him a firm kiss on the lips, then leaning back to get a good look at him: messy curly brown hair, red-rimmed blown out eyes, and that sweet sincere face of his. “You really wanted to blow me, huh?” Roger asked, licking his lips. “Is that what you came over here for? Couldn’t stop thinking about getting your mouth on me? Wanted to see me fall apart with my cock down your throat? Saying your name and begging for more?” he questioned, cracking a smirk.

“Christ, Rog,” Brian mewled, hips rolling up against the blond’s involuntarily, “you’re fucking filthy.” He almost laughed out of shock, never thinking he’d hear words like that come out of his best friend’s mouth.

“I’m filthy?” Roger retorted, already thinking up the next thing that would get Brian even more riled up. “Love, you’ve no idea what kind of thoughts I’ve had about you,” he admitted, “God, Bri, you get me so fucking hot, don’t even have to try,” he continued, hips shifting subtly against Brian’s, just enough to get a tiny bit of friction going between their clothed erections.

“Think about you all the time. When we’re on stage, recording, especially at night, though,” Roger went on. “Wonder how it’d feel if you fucked me, what you’d look like, sound like saying my name. Gotten off so many times thinking about it,” he said, reaching down to palm Brian over his briefs, slow and almost teasing.

“M-Me, too,” Brian choked out, head swimming from the feeling of Roger’s hand that was rubbing his cock, driving him mad. “Think about fucking you more than I’d care to admit.”

Roger smirked, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Yeah? What do you think about, Bri? How d’you wanna fuck me?” he asked, one hand tugging at Brian’s underwear to get them off so he could actually stroke his cock.

“Oh, Rog,” Brian moaned, trying to get his brain to form coherent thought so he could respond properly, taking a minute to think. “Think about you on your hands and knees for me, fucking you from the back, ah, pulling your hair, making you b-beg,” Brian explained, words shaky from all the pleasure that was coursing through him from the dry friction of Roger’s hand.

“Fuck, Brian,” Roger sighed, shutting his eyes as his own cock throbbed at the thought.

“S-sometimes,” Brian continued, “think about you on your back, looking up at me. Those beautiful blue eyes, like. Ah, so pretty, Rog. Just want to hold you and fill you up and make you feel so fucking good.”

The rhythm of Roger’s hand on Brian’s cock faltered, a little gasp escaping his lips in response to Brian’s words. His rubbed his hips up against Brian’s thigh, dying for some satisfaction as all the words he’d always wanted to hear spilled from Brian’s mouth.

“Keep going,” Roger pleaded, spitting on his palm so he could get Brian’s cock wet as he continued to jerk him.

Brian nodded, adjusting to the new feeling on his shaft with a little moan before he went on. “Wanna hold you down, watch you take it. God, I know you would. You’d take it so well, wouldn’t you? My good boy, look at you,” Brian breathed, watching as Roger stroked him, one hand coming up to nestle into Roger’s hair and give it a little tug.

Roger let out a little moan, hips shifting against Brian’s thigh as he fucked his clothed cock up against it, trying to focus on what his hand was doing. It was getting hard to concentrate, though, his head now full of the filth that was spilling out of Brian’s mouth. It was exactly what he wanted, like Brian had secretly been in his head for years now and knew all the fucked up fantasies he always had about his best friend.

“Fuck me,” Roger whined, “please. If you keep talking I’m gonna come in my fucking pants and it’ll be so embarrassing, Bri. I’m so fucking hard for you, please, fucking anything.”

Brian took the opportunity to flip things around, push Roger onto his back and get on top of him. He yanked Roger’s briefs down to his ankles and took his cock in his hand, stroking him slowly.

“Brian,” Roger begged, eyes screwed shut with pleasure as Brian worked him over. Brian never seen Roger anything like this before, so needy and desperate–all for him.

“That’s it, love,” Brian whispered, nibbling on his ear, “I’ve got you.”

He leaned down and kissed Roger, wet and soft and messy, leaving a trail of them all the way down to his neck. He ran his thumb up and over Roger’s tip, wet and sticky with his arousal, smearing it all over his own hand to get it a little slicker.

“Bri, I-I can’t, I’m close,” Roger breathed, hips shifting up against Brian’s hand as he leaned into the little kisses that Brian was covering his chest with.

“That’s it, love. Come on. My pretty boy,” Brian cooed, using his free hand to brush the hair out of Roger’s face. The blond suddenly seized up, mouth dropping open as he shot off in Brian’s hand, a strangled little moan escaping his throat.

Roger looked almost sheepish as he came down from his high, as if he was embarrassed at how good Brian had made him feel. Brian just smiled and kissed him hard, giggling against his mouth as he wiped his soiled hand on the sheets next to him.

“You laughing at me?” Roger asked, a disbelieving laugh leaving his own mouth at Brian’s reaction to his orgasm.

“No, no,” Brian responded, giddy as ever. “I just… ‘m still a bit high and I can’t actually believe that just happened, y’know?”

“Oh, I know,” Roger snorted, shaking his head. “God, I can’t believe half the shit you just said to me. If I’d known you were capable of that… I’d have gotten you high years ago.”

Brian kissed him again, pecking his lips once, twice, three times. “Guess pot makes me a little more descriptive about how I want to fuck you,” he chuckled, cock rubbing up against Roger’s thigh as a reminder of how aroused he still very much was.

“I think pot just makes you horny, love. Perfectly normal,” Roger shrugged, hand skimming down Brian’s side and around to get a handful of his ass.

Brian lurched at the touch, surprised and pleased at the contact. “What are you doing with that now?” he asked, eyeing Roger with suspicion.

“Oh nothing,” Roger replied, looking up at him with squinty, playful eyes. “Just thought I might try something,” he teased, now gripping both of Brian’s cheeks.

“Try what?” Brian raised an eyebrow, head still riding his high from before, making things a little bit fuzzy for him.

“I just, uh,” Roger began, looking bashful and mischievous at the same time somehow, “I’ve always found that when I’m high, getting fingered is, like, really nice.”

Oh, Brian thought, now that’s different.

He paused, considering Roger’s proposition. Brian was a top through and through, had never had it any other way. Never even had his ass played with, definitely not fingered. But with Roger’s hands on his ass, and the excitement in those baby blue eyes of his, Brian kind of wanted to give it a go.

“We don’t have to,” Roger reminded him, sensing the hesitation in Brian’s expression, “but I’ve got some lube in my suitcase, and I think I could make it really good for you.” He kissed Brian’s neck as he let the guitarist contemplate the suggestion, sucking a tiny purple mark just below his ear.

Brian shivered at the thought of Roger’s hands, his fingers, how they might feel inside of him. He figured if pot could make all the regular stuff feel better than ever, surely it would make getting fingered feel just as great, right?

“Yeah, I want to,” Brian finally said, exhaling shakily, “Want your fingers in me.”

Roger grinned, kissing Brian before he rolled him off to go and grab the lube. It gave Brian a minute to contemplate the tingling in his spine from the pot, the blood still rushing to his cock, the feeling of the little marks Roger had left all over his chest and neck. It was the most debauched and delighted Brian had ever felt in his life.

“Alright, Bri. Let’s see how this goes, hm? Promise it’ll be good. And if it’s not, we can stop and you can just fuck my face, alright?”

Brian almost choked at the thought, shutting his eyes as his cock throbbed. He was now laying on his back, thighs spread a bit so the Roger could fit in between them as he crawled back up on the bed, fingers now properly slicked up.

“Alright, Rog. Come on,” Brian sighed, impatient as ever.

“Relax, babe. Gotta take it slow at first,” Roger replied, pressing a sweet kiss to Brian’s lips as his hand slipped between his legs.

He let the kiss fall into a messier rhythm, nibbling at Brian’s bottom lip and tonguing into his mouth, just to make sure he was truly enjoying himself as his fingers probed at Brian’s entrance.

“Pretty tight, aren’t you, love?” Roger chuckled, affection clear in his voice as he slipped a finger in to the first knuckle, careful to be gentle about it.

“Oh,” Brian sighed at the foreign feeling, kissing Roger back as best he could while he got used to Roger’s fingers.

Roger pushed his finger all the way in finally, pumping in and out as he felt around for that sweet little spot he knew Brian would scream for.

“You like it?” Roger asked, trying to read the expression on Brian’s face–a mixture of pleasure and confusion.

“I like you,” Brian replied without hesitation, immediately giggling after he’d said it. “I mean, uh, yeah. ‘S nice. Mostly ‘cause it’s you.”

Roger had no idea how Brian May got him to blush while he was the one getting fingered. Bloody amazing.

“You’re a sap,” Roger sighed, sinking a second finger into Brian as he said it.

Brian let out a little moan at that, enjoying the fuller feeling quite thoroughly, though he wasn’t exactly sure what all the hype was about just yet.

They made out while Roger leisurely pumped his fingers in and out of Brian, finally curling them in such a way that made Brian tense up, yell out in pleasure.

“Oh, Rog. My god, right there. Bloody, fuck!” he moaned, spreading his thighs a bit wider.

“That’s it, Bri. There we go. Is that where you like it? Gonna make you cum on my fingers, hm? Told you you’d like it, darling.”

Brian nodded, impossibly turned on by the cocky filth that was spilling from Roger’s mouth and the feeling of his fingers inside of him. He was absolutely squirming beneath the blond, gasping and panting and glowing from the pleasure.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Roger used his free hand to grip Brian’s dick, giving it a few measured strokes. All of it was too much for Brian, overwhelmed with how full he felt, the friction on his cock, and Roger’s beautiful eyes staring down at him like he was hanging in the Louvre or something.

“Rog,” he gasped, “fuck, I love you.”

And, with that, he was spilling into Roger’s hand, spasming and moaning like he never had before. His head was reeling, seeing stars, and too high to comprehend what he’d just done.

As he came down, Roger pulled his fingers out and immediately got up to go clean up in the ensuite bathroom. He left Brian to sit there in his post-orgasm mess, sobering slightly as he realized what had come out of his mouth a few seconds ago.

Left all alone now, Brian was terrified. He knew he had taken it too far, had made all of this weird. God, he was probably going to turn Roger off forever, and they’d never get to do any of this again. Such an idiot, he thought to himself, listening to the faucet run in the bathroom.

A few seconds later, Roger came back with a warm washcloth and threw it to Brian, wide smile on his face.

“Better clean up, love. You look a right state,” Roger laughed, not a trace of awkwardness or tension in his demeanor. It was as if Brian hadn’t said anything strange at all.

Brian nodded and wiped himself up, throwing the washcloth off to the side as he waited anxiously for Roger to address what he’d said mid-orgasm.

To Brian’s surprise, Roger just climbed right into bed with him, pulled the covers up and cuddled into his side. Brian was tense, unsure of what to do, confused as to why Roger wasn’t freaking out on him.

Instead, Roger was doing quite the opposite. He had taken to pressing little kisses to Brian’s pectoral, nuzzling into the crook of his underarm like a little house cat. It was bloody adorable, is what it was, but Brian was still terribly confused. Until Roger spoke: “Did you mean it?” he asked, voice all light and raspy.

“D-did I? I mean, uh. The thing I said? Before?” Brian replied, flustered and blushing harder than ever.

“Yeah,” Roger said, laughing at Brian’s clear awkwardness, “when you said you loved me. ‘S alright if you didn’t. I get it. Fingers up your ass can make you say all kinds of things.”

Brian shook his head, finally allowing himself to make eye contact with Roger once again. “I meant it. Yeah. Of course, I love you. You’re my best mate, Rog.”

Roger smiled, leaning up to kiss him, sweet and soft and perfect. “I love you, too, mate,” he teased, hinting at how utterly ridiculous Brian was being.

“Gosh, Rog. You know what I bloody well mean!” he laughed, cheeks burning bright red, “I love you, like properly. I let you put a hand up my ass, alright? If that’s not love, I reckon I don’t know what is!”

This time, Roger was in stitches, giggling into Brian’s chest. “Seemed to enjoy it, though, didn’t you, love?” he teased.

“Was nice,” Brian replied, sharing the laughter with his best friend now, trying to act like he hadn’t just been crying and moaning at the feeling.

“And you liked smoking, yeah?”

“Yeah, I liked it alright.”

“Hm. Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.”

283 notes · View notes

murasaki-murasame · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Ep3: “Let’s Play Rich Man-Poor Man!”

There’s a whole lot going on in this episode, and there’s a lot I wanna say about all the neat things it did to tie different scenes from two separate chapters together to make a surprisingly cohesive whole.

I’m also getting more and more unsure of what the pacing and structure of the reboot is gonna be like in the long run, but that’s a whole other post I wanna make. I’ll just talk about this episode in this post for now.

Also, I’m probably gonna put a disclaimer in all of these posts from now on to warn people that I’m not gonna hold back from referencing stuff from the manga that hasn’t been adapted yet, if I ever feel like it.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

This episode, and the last day or two leading up to it, sure was one big rollercoaster of me being continuously surprised and confused about how they were gonna handle this episode, in terms of what chapters they’d adapt. Initially I figured it’d just adapt chapters 4 and 5, then I thought that maybe it’d work better to adapt chapters 4 and 8 together, then once I started seeing the preview images for ep3 and the Kagura-centric gifs that I found from Funi I thought maybe it’d adapt chapters 4, 5, and 8, and in actuality it turned out that this episode really did just adapt chapters 4 and 8, and that apparently those gifs I saw are all gonna be in episode 4 next week, lmao.

It’s worth noting that they technically didn’t include the final bit from chapter 8 where Momiji talks to Hatori about having met Tohru, but that might just be in the next episode, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut it out entirely, since at this point it isn’t really necessary. They showed Momiji meeting Tohru, figuring out who she is, and seeing the flyer for the school festival, so there doesn’t really need to be anything else with him between now and the part where he and Hatori show up at the festival later.

And along with that they also didn’t include the part where the girls at school show off the dress that they want Yuki to wear, but that’ll probably just be in the next episode. It’s the sorta thing that I kinda hope they just cut out, but I doubt it.

Since this ended with the part at the end of chapter 4 where Kagura first shows up, that’ll probably be the first half of the next episode, but I don’t think they’re gonna pad it out into an entire episode like the 2001 anime did, so I think they’ll then move into adapting chapter 9 to have the festival start, and then we’ll probably go into the Hatori backstory stuff afterward.

At this point it seems very likely that they’re going to push the events of chapter 6 back a fair bit, which I think is a good choice. It’d work better if they spend more time building up the central group dynamic before getting to that point, so it has more impact. I’m not entirely sure when I think they’re planning on having it actually happen in the reboot, though.

Anyway, as for this episode itself, it was surprisingly great. I was initially worried because I thought they’d be trying to fit the whole Kagura chapter into the events of this episode, but I’m glad they didn’t. Spending the episode just on a combination of chapters 4 and 8 worked REALLY well. I honestly think it flows even better than it did in the manga. The events of these chapters tie together very nicely, since they focus on the two sides of how Yuki and Kyo both resent and envy each other, and like I kinda said just before, I think it works well to have these character development moments happen early on so that stuff like the events of chapter 6 have more weight behind them.

I think it’ll initially throw some people off, but I actually like how they went back and forth between material from the two chapters, and actually started it off with stuff entirely from chapter 8. Framing the entire episode around the festival preparation was a really good choice which helped tie things together nicely. Since a lot of the scenes take place in basically the same locations, they can be tied together surprisingly easily. I also liked how they combined the two different scenes of Yuki picking Tohru up from work into one big scene, so that we went from her meeting Momiji to Yuki talking about his insecurities and stuff, which were two completely different scenes in the manga. At the very least it’s really interesting to see that they’re willing to shuffle scenes about and even combine them when they think it’s necessary. Thankfully it isn’t making the pacing feel rushed or anything, thus far.

And on the note of Momiji, I feel like there’s gonna be so many people who just watched the original anime who are now incredibly confused about why he’s suddenly German, lmao. It’s one of the many details that the 2001 anime decided to completely ignore. And the more I think about it, the more that this specific choice they made in that one baffles me. I get why the 2001 anime cut out stuff that was just there to set up way later plot points, but Momiji being German is just a character trait of his, so I think they just didn’t want to bother finding a voice actress that could even just speak broken German, which seems kinda lazy to me. I also noticed recently while watching someone react to the 2001 anime that it unintentionally set up this awkward situation where they make a big deal out of Kisa’s unnatural blonde hair, but there’s nothing that contextualizes Momiji having blond hair as well, and why nobody seems to mind it with him. Whereas in the manga you can tell that the difference is just that his hair’s naturally blond since he’s German and everyone’s fine with that, but Kisa’s hair is more obviously unnatural and strange.

Anyway, that aside, another thing I liked about that whole scene was how well it got across the sense of space within the building Tohru works at. We never really see too much of it’s interior in the manga, and I remember being a little confused about parts of it’s layout, especially in this scene with Momiji, but it worked really nicely here.

In general the background layouts and scenery and whatnot are still really great. It gives a lot of the scenes a distinctly different feel from the manga, which is often more abstract and floaty, so to say, but I really like it. In particular, the scene with Yuki rejecting that one girl in the library had some really nice camera angles, and the whole sequence of him and Tohru walking through the city and on the bridge was just really pretty [and the part where Yuki talked about being caged by his family while being framed behind the bridge railings was a neat detail].

I also really liked the overall flow of this episode, especially in how it moved back and forth between focusing on Tohru’s different scenes with Kyo and Yuki. It’s the sort of thing that I was worried might feel jarring and choppy, but it all flowed really nicely.

I said before that I’m glad they put the plum scene this early on, and I do indeed think that it works really nicely to have it happen this early on, since it’s such an early major step in Tohru and Kyo’s relationship. It also establishes some central themes the story’s working with, and in general it’s really neat to have it happen right after her whole speech to Yuki about the nature of kindness.

Also, before I forget, I just wanna say that I love how they drew the cats that got drawn to Kyo in this episode. They’re so adorable, I love them.

Which also reminds me that, even though this episode meshed some of the more subdued and emotional parts, there were still a whole lot of really nice comedy moments. In general the reboot is actually a lot more comedic than I thought it might be. They’re keeping like 99% of the jokes from the manga. A lot of people have already complained about not thinking that it’s funny enough, but I think that’s only true if you just compare it to the 2001 anime, which made up a lot of jokes, and often took the jokes that existed in the manga and did them way too many times. So in comparison to that, this might not seem as comedic, but still. I appreciate that they’re not leaning entirely into the drama and emotions, at least not at this point.

One thing I also wanna mention, that’s more about the series as a whole but also kinda about this episode, is that I’ve always liked how this series starts out with a relatively small, tightly-knit cast, and then slowly introduces side characters one after another as time goes on. It just gives the pacing more of a relaxing flow, instead of it being the sort of series that tries to introduce like twenty main characters in one episode and gives half of them like one line of dialogue each, lol. And I think this episode went a bit further with that, by bringing up the events of chapter 8 so that we got a whole episode focused almost entirely on developing the whole main trio, while sowing the seeds for some future characters to come into the story later.

And that’s about it for this episode. Like I said, I have a feeling that the next episode will adapt chapters 5 and 9, but we’ll see. I might end up making a separate post about my more extensive thoughts on how I think the pacing/structure of the entire reboot might go, including the next stretch of episodes, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

Either way, I was a bit worried at first that this episode might mark the beginning of them rushing through the manga more than I’d like, but in fact it ended up feeling even more nicely paced and cohesive than the manga did, so that’s cool. The fact that they’re still sticking to an average of two chapters per episode does make me apprehensive about if this pacing quality will keep up in the long run, but for now I think they’re making some really smart decisions that are at the very least alleviating the rather episodic feeling that the manga had early on.

#murasaki rambles #fruits basket

19 notes · View notes

cursebreakerglenetive · 6 years

Text

Mo Ghile Mear - Part 2

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x reader

Warning/Genre: a little bit of angst, a little bit of smut and whole lot of fluff at the end

Word count: 2.4k words

Summary: Y/N wakes up in Charlie’s cabin and he’s healing her while trying to avoid a conversation about their breakup at all costs. Y/N finds herself reminiscing about the past.

A/N: I am sorry it took me so long and it kind of turned out like a filler but I hope the cursive flashback at the end of the chapter and the sexual tension satisfy you. Loved your feedback so far and am always happy to hear some more and your thoughts and ideas xx

Tags: @dyslexiccherry @eh-ilikestuff @hermionemonica

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Flashing images of green scales repeated themselves in front of your eyes accompanied by a red searing pain. It was hot, way too hot and your whole body felt like being set on fire.

You distantly remembered fighting a dragon. And there was a head of ginger curls shining in the sunlight. You knew this image, it came to you nearly every night when you were dreaming about him.

Charlie had been there, too. But now you were not so sure about the realness of your dream or rather nightmare.

You jolted awake when a blazing pain covered your right arm. You slowly opened your eyes only to be met with the red head of curls from your dreams leaned over your arm.

You must’ve groaned out load or something because his face snapped up to yours with a worried line on his forehead.

“You’re awake.“ He pointed out the obvious and stood up to hover over you, his blue eyes scanning your face. You weren’t so keen on that because you probably looked like absolute shit right now.

“Dragon?“ Was everything you asked with a raspy voice, you were terribly dehydrated.

Charlie immediately rushed to the closest sink in the little cabin to get you some water. “Yes, dragon,“ He chuckled as he helped you sit up carefully not touching the burns on your arms. “We got away safely and the Romanian Longhorn isn’t harmed.“ Of course he would worry about the goddamn beast that nearly killed the both of you.

It wasn’t the first time that you felt like he loved these dragons more than he could ever love you…or anyone for that matter. That was one of the reasons you broke up.

Lifting your arms to take a sip hurt like hell but you would never let Charlie help you with that as well, the situation was humiliating enough as it was.

“Sooo…“ Charlie drawled out and took a seat across from you “What are you doing in Romania?“

You couldn’t keep yourself from staring at the way he sat there with spread thighs and his muscular arms steadied on them. Charlie had always been quite muscular due to his many outdoor activities including Quidditch but after these two years of being separated he became even fitter.

“I’m on vacation, isn’t that obvious?“ You remarked sarcastically and let your eyes sweep over the interior of the little cabin.

You were laying in a rustic bedroom adjoined by a little bathroom and you made out a kitchen through the doorway. As you looked around the room you noticed lots of books and drawings of dragons, also a lot of bandages and ointment for treating burns. It didn’t look like a woman had ever stepped foot into this place and it took some pressure of your chest.

As your gaze wandered back to Charlie he looked at you with a raised eyebrow and a little smirk on his lips. He always knew when you weren’t serious and wouldn’t take any of your shit.

“I’m on a mission,“ You sighed “I was about to crack this curse on a cave when the dragon unkindly interfered.“

“Tonks told me you and Jacob started a Curse-Breaking firm,“ He nodded and stroke the scruff on his chin thoughtfully.

“You’re still in contact with her?“ You questioned startled. You were still close friends with your favorite Metamorphmagus but she had never mentioned anything about Charlie despite them being best friends at Hogwarts. You just figured that he broke contact with all of your friends, and not only you.

“Yeah, she kept me updated.“ His eyes locked with yours and you were both aware of the words that hung in the air. She kept me updated about you.

An icky feeling pooled in the pit of your stomach at that thought. He probably knew how miserable you had been since he left you after graduation. But not once did he think of contacting you in person.

Of course you didn’t want to hear from your friends how splendid he did in Romania, living his dream without you. But seeing him now across from you he felt like a whole different person.

“Why?“ The question left your lips although you didn’t really know what you were asking.

Why did he decide to leave you? Why have you never heard from him? Why did he still check up on you? Why was he so far away when you needed him close by?

Your vision involuntarily blurred as your eyes met his, looking so completely heartbroken for you in this awkward situation. It was the same expression on his face as when he watched you crying after he told you he would leave. You couldn’t take it.

“You know I care about you.“ It was as simple as that to him. But that answer did not nearly satisfy you.

“No, Charlie. Why did you never write or visit or anything?“ You felt the tears well up in your eyes once again, this time from a whole different pain. “You never even tried to make this work!“ You accused him and motioned between the both of you which only made you wince because of the pain.

He was at your side in a matter of seconds, a worried gaze sweeping over you.

“Let me treat your wounds first and then we’ll talk,“ He offered and got to work before you could deny him. “Why did you even try to fight a dragon all by yourself?“

His hands worked quickly as he gathered some bandages and the ointment. He was a master of distraction but you were kind of thankful that he delayed the topic for later because you didn’t have it in you yet to scold him.

“I didn’t know there would be a dragon,“ You mumbled and clenched your teeth as he spread the salve on your skin carefully. “The stupid client didn’t mention it and Jacob is on a solo mission in France.“ You hissed and clenched the bedsheets in your hands.

Charlie’s bedsheets as you noticed, the familiar scent only reaching you now.

“So you just ran straight into danger as always,“ A disappointed but also amused tone laced his voice and he mumbled something under his breath: “Stupid hero complex.“

“Well, you know me.“ Better than anyone. A cheeky grin graced your lips as he looked up with a suppressed smile, his ginger curls hanging in his eyes.

“You’ve always been reckless. It’s probably the reason why I became such a great nurse.“ He chuckled and motioned to your left arm wrapped in a perfect bandage.

The two of you had been in this situation a million times before. He always stitched you back together after a duel with Merula or a particular hard quest on the Cursed Vaults. Often enough it was the other way around, you helping him with his wounds. Most of them were from him being too naive with magical creatures, some from quidditch and more than you’d liked from him following you into battle.

Your mind drifted to those times at Hogwarts, a lot of kisses always entailed a treatment. You wouldn’t receive those today most likely.

His thoughts must’ve gone to the same place because when you looked at him his eyes were fixed on your lips. Your breath hitched a bit and when he noticed he quickly averted his eyes, a blush forming on his freckled cheeks.

“All done,“ He commented after a while when the last bandage was fixed “It will probably take a couple days until you’re fit again though. I’m sure I have some Wiggenweld potion somewhere here.“ He stood up already roaming the mess of the room for the vial but you grabbed his arm quickly.

“What do you mean a couple days? I have to finish my mission and get back home.“

There was no possible way you could stay any longer in Charlie Weasley’s cabin.

“Oh no, you are going nowhere,“ Charlie intervened and sat down on the bed beside you. “You can barely move and you shouldn’t take these burns too lightly, they’ll wear you out sooner than you think. You’re staying here.“ His tone didn’t leave any room for discussion.

You were about to argue with him when his stern face shut you down immediately. You hated that after all those years Charlie was still the only person who could somehow reason with you.

Anybody else never stood a chance against your stubbornness and reckless courage. But the Weasley boy knew you too well and kept you from getting in lots of trouble in the past.

“Fine, but only until I can move without pain again.“ You agreed angrily and stared him down until he left the bed with a dazzling smile.

“Sure thing, curse-baby.“ He laughed and you felt a stab in your chest at the mention of your old nickname.

It came so effortless over his lips, like it never meant anything.

“Charlie?“ You called out to him as he already stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his broad shoulders barely fitting between. “We still have to talk.“

He turned around to look at you and then at the ground, leaning against the wall.

“Rest a bit, I’ll fix you something to eat and then we’ll talk.“ He obviously was avoiding the dreaded conversation. You couldn’t really blame him but you needed some kind of clearance.

You nodded and laid back down on Charlie’s pillows, smelling like fresh grass and honeysuckle.

You breathed in his scent deeply, finally being able to feel it again after only carrying the memory with you for so long.

You thought about all the times you woke up next to him, his scent invading your mind, his bare chest beneath the palm of your hand and a lazy grin on his sinful lips as he whispered good morning with a rough voice before pulling you into him and pecking your lips softly.

And as you laid there, Charlie in the room next door, you couldn’t help yourself but dream about the future that might had been.

“What do you mean you never tried firewhisky?“ Charlie laughed loudly as you looked down at him laying in the grass his bright red hair like a halo around his face.

“I just never got the chance,“ You giggled laying next to him and ripped some grass out only to throw it at him “At the ball Tulip and Tonks finished the only flask we brought before I even got the chance to take a sip!“

“I just can’t believe this,“ He still chuckled. “You, Y/N Y/L/N, the biggest rulebreaker of our generation never snuck a sip of alcohol in your whole seventeen years of living!“

“Nearly eighteen!“ You reminded him and your lips formed into a pout.

His hand moved to the nape of your neck and his fingers intertwined themselves in the strands of hair there. He slowly pulled you down on him and pressed his lips, warmed by the spring sun, against his own.

You lost yourself in his mouth and the sweetness of it. You could spend days laying here with him on the school grounds far away from all responsibilities and anyone who might disturb you.

“Did you never crave this feeling of absolutely losing control?“ He broke the kiss and you sighed annoyed.

“If you haven’t noticed my whole life is kinda out of control.“ It was meant as a joke but as you spoke it out loud the truth of it hit you hard.

Charlie’s face turned serious as he regarded your somber face.

“We’ll find your brother.“ He promised and stroke your cheek carefully. You turned your head into his palm and left a tiny peck on it. You knew you could always count on him.

“You make me lose control too, you know. More often than I’d like.“ You tried to lighten the mood and grinned at him.

“Do I now?“ Charlie’s smug smirk drove you absolutely crazy.

If it weren’t for that smirk you probably wouldn’t have rushed into this mess. You wouldn’t have kissed him, wouldn’t have started a friends with benefits relationship with him and definitely wouldn’t have fallen in love with your best friend. But now it was too late.

“Hmh.“ His hands grabbed onto your body and pulled you on top of him before pressing his lips to yours.

Feeling Charlie so close to you was exhilarating and made your nerves tingle from head to toe.

His mouth latched onto your throat, leaving little hickeys behind that you could hex away later so none of your friends would notice them.

Suddenly he turned you around, now laying on top of you, your back pressed in the grass between wildflowers. You needed him badly and you felt him needing you too but you weren’t reckless enough to do this in the middle of a meadow on school grounds.

He broke away from the kiss staring at you kindly, his blue eyes crinkled at the edges from smiling so much were the same color as the sky above him.

“Y/N,“ He breathed heavily and your hands tugged on his beautiful curls of fire “I think I’ve fallen in love with you.“

You heart skipped a beat as you heard the words you only dreamt of hearing for the past few months. Slowly a smile started to form on your lips until you were both beaming at each other.

“I have fallen in love with you as well, Charlie!“ His mouth attached itself to yours again in a passionate kiss, teeth clashing from smiling too much.

“Then I think it’s time we make it official.“ Charlie thought out loud and intertwined your fingers looking down at them.

“Are you for real?“ You couldn’t believe that the day had finally arrived when Charlie Weasley would be your boyfriend.

He nodded at you smiling, his adorable freckles gleaming in the sun. “C’mon, we’ll tell the others straightaway!“ He was about to sit up but you pulled him down against you.

“Not quite yet…I want to have my boyfriend all to myself for now. Besides, I think the others already kind of guessed there was something going on between us.“ You giggled against his lips.

He laughed but obliged when he peppered your whole face with little kisses and the both of you lost yourself between the flowers of the meadow.

#harry potter #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm charlie #hphm mc #charlie weasley #jacob's sibling #charlie x mc #charlie x reader #charlie x jacob's sibling #hogwarts mystery fanfiction #charlie weasley smut #Charlie weasley fanfiction #charlie weasley fluff

365 notes · View notes

secondsofhappiness · 6 years

Note

I need cheering up Megan please help. What do you think Rob is like on a morning? Who makes the best breakfast? What will it be like when Rob and Aaron move back in together? Who will propose to who? What are some of their house rules? xxxx

Anon, I’ve got you ❤️

Morning!Rob depends on a few factors. If he has business related shiz to do then I reckon he’s alright at getting up and on with his day but weekend!Rob I reckon loves a good lie in. Rob is a snuggler. I don’t care what anyone says - dude loves a cuddle. So I think prying him out of bed on a weekend - especially when he’s with Aaron - is close to impossible. Rob is DEFINITELY a coffee fiend. Mr Black Coffee can’t start his day without it and I bet he’s proper snappy without it. Good job Aaron’s also a terrible grump too so it works.

Breakfast is TRICKY. They’re definitely bacon sarnie blokes and I think Liv and Gerry are too so I just have this image of them all living together and eating bacon sarnies in the morning together. Aaron’s home for delinquent teenagers…! I think Aaron probably makes it straight up - no fuss. Just toast (obviously) etc and a cuppa and I think Rob misses that a lot. Aaron’s so warm and homely that I think Rob would miss their mornings a lot. I think Rob is the best at breakfasts though and I reckon Aaron secretly misses Rob’s cooking even if he’d never admit it. I bet Rob makes great omelettes or if he makes a bacon sarnie he lightly toasts the bread and uses fancy bacon etc. So I guess it depends :)

Moving back in together is going to be WEIRD. I mean, is Gerry going to be cohabiting with them still?! Hahaha. I hope so. Watching Rob living with Gerry is going to be hilarious. I mean there’s a lot of “what ifs” re: Seb and Gerry but I think Liv will be a huge factor and I can’t wait for Rob and Liv to have a relationship again. I don’t think it’ll be easy but it’s an excuse to watch them build their bond again as they were really quite close and it was THE BEST. I miss their little weirdo bantery big brother/sister/parental relationship so much. As for Aaron and Rob, I think once the decision is made they’ll slip back into pretty easily. They’ve shown time and time again that these two are home for each other. Aaron always does his “happy sighs” when Rob gives him a cuddle and I think it’ll be a big deal to know that Rob is back and close by. I think, by far, the biggest shock to the system will happen to Rob who will be completely bowled over because Aaron wants him around again and Rob gets to try to build what they set out to. Rob’s heart is so closed off and kind of brutal right now and I think the thing I’m going to enjoy the most is seeing the shock Rob goes through when he realises that he has a second chance. Aaron will be the one to reassure I think. I’ve always thought Aaron was the better adjusted one out of the two of them and he’s grown so much and hates a fuss so I think he’ll just want stuff to be as easy as it can. It’ll take a while but I think they will know that and take it one day at a time!

Proposal…! It has to come from Aaron, for me. 100%. We will ALWAYS have Rob’s “YOU ARE AN IDIOT, MARRY ME” moment and all his yelling but it has to come from Aaron. He has to want Rob back and accept him back and actively express his wish to have Rob as his husband again. I think for his character, for him to have that control is important. Let’s face it, Rob’s going to be choked up and bowled over and he’s going to melt on the spot and he proper loves when Aaron’s in charge.

Oh house rules are hilarious to think about because Rob is Mr Interior Design so I reckon he has rules about housework etc which Aaron rolls his eyes at as sometimes Rob is a bit of a fuss. That said, I think they can both be lazy as hell so it’s swings and roundabouts. I like to think that Rob gets his way when it comes to certain home related things because Aaron secretly LOVES it… like fancy washing powder or sitting at the table for meals. I bet Aaron rolls his eyes but secretly loves it. Waking Aaron up with a cuppa is a habit. 100%. I also like the thought that they have video game night. They have tons of shows on series record too and nobody is allowed to touch them. I like that we know Aaron keeps magazines in the toilet and Rob loves it so he adds some of his own reading material to it…! I like to think that they’re both a bit lazy sometimes that they have the “bin rule” aka the last person to put something in the bin which won’t fit because it’s so full has to take it out. Aaron has a rule that Rob isn’t allowed to talk while they watch their favourite shows but he will and he’ll get around Aaron but being a total sap. Aaron will get him back by slagging off all of Rob’s high brow stuff. I find them hilarious as people living together as they’re both known to be lazy and messy but Rob is also into aesthetic and design and he’s neater but Aaron balances those things out well with his Dingle homeliness and simple pleasures :)

I hope this helped, anon. Chin up, love ❤️

#ask #robron #ed rambles #headcanons

9 notes · View notes

hotcocosharing · 6 years

Text

Voltage Island Prologue (Multi Canons x OCs Dating)

Fandom: KBTBB / IM / ASA / FILA Category: Drama / Fluff / Smut / Angst?

Character: Eisuke (33) / Ota (27) / Yukihisa (36) / Shunichiro (36) / Rikiya (32) / Aki (26) OC: Eriko (31) / Katie (21) / Jazz (28) / Pippa (28) / Kara (30) / Joanne (24) Notes: After a glimpse of the reality TV show Love Island and given how ridiculously hilarious it is, I cannot resist doing one with Voltage men for my own entertainment purpose. Basically just a bunch of guys and chicks who wear swimwear all day in a mansion, doing nothing but drama and have audience vote them off one at a time, oh and they’re here to find love or whatever. So in my case numbers of Voltage canons and OCs, if you find this fun and want to add your personalize oc, inbox me as readers could definitely vote who they want off the Island, that’s if I could still bother with it ;)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Prologue

Six tall and slender men in their swim shorts marching from the grand entrance to the 5 meters enormous pool, sitting themselves down on the deck nearby with one blonde helping himself and begins tending drinks while the rest quickly introduce themselves.

“This place is fucking huge, Eisuke.” The boy smirks and puts his wavy brownish-orange hair out of the way, placing six glasses on the bench.

“Guess they really like rubbing money in peoples face, huh?” The auburn hair eyes widen to the huge pool while Eisuke Inchinomiya shrugs in response.

“The place is okay, could have found a better interior designer but not as bad as I expect it to be.”

The pool has blue water that sparkles in the sun, the one with pale skin and short, black hair gazes down at his wavy reflection, giving in to the luxurious temptation and jumps right in. After a few lazy strokes, he emerges from the water, shaking that gorgeous hair of his to the side of his face as his pale skin glistens with tiny water droplets, sliding down his toned chest.

The two older men watches from the stools with cocktails in hands, wondering just why on earth they’re invited here.

“It is good publicity for the firm.” Says the man with neck length hair while his friend on the right questions with his brows raised.

“Yes for you and the firm maybe, I’m an in house doctor. Or is that why I’m here, as a doctor?”

The dark hair man shurgs, “Or your image just fits the show.”

“Oh my image?” The doctor chuckles, “Sure I’m the one who would fuck any woman with her legs spread open, aren’t I?”

“Are you not though?”

“Does it matter? The audience doesn’t care, I don’t even have a route, no back story no nothing, I’m just a sexy pervert.”

“Who seems awfully happy about this situation more than anyone?” The man finishes his drink and politely asks the blonde boy for a refill.

“I’m not exactly a bartender, just so you know.” The pretty boy combs his hair in irritation but refills the empty glass anyway before finding his quiet and arrogant looking friend who’s now sitting by the corner on his own.

“Free drinks, free food, hot chicks well lack of privacy but hey the hot chicks pay off, I suppose.”

The two older men share a sly grin and continue drinking, the boy in the pool has now swam to the edge.

“Hey, I’m Aki and you are?”

“Rikiya Mononobe, how’re you approached?” The older and taller man puts his feet down into the cool water and makes a new friend.

“They said it would bring me more customers for my pastry shop and a chance for finding love.”

A dry mocking scoff escapes from the man sitting by the pool with his hands stretching behind his back, letting out a loud yawn. “Sure love exists with 12 strangers trap in a freaking mansion and sleeping in the same room.”

Meanwhile six girls in similar heights await inside the mansion, some with their eyes rolled and annoyed while two are overly excited but a particular girl pacing around the glass sliding door anxiously, fully aware and uncomfortable in her bikini that’s provided by the producers.

“What’s your name?” The shortest woman with blonde and beautiful long hair asks.

“Pippa.” The girl pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and soon crosses her arms over her chest. “Why are you girls allowed one piece swimsuit and I have to wear this?”

“Because we are the older women and you three are the young hot and sexy ones.” Another woman in black strappy onesies that’s clearly showing off her sides and flat stomach joins the conversation.

“How old are you three?” Pippa takes a step away from the other two girls in bikini and stands closer to the other three.

“31.” The one in black immediately says follows by the woman in white who is 30 and the blonde who’s 28.

“I’m 28 too why am I …” Pippa bites her bottom lips and lowers her voice, “categorized with them?”

“Welcome to stereotype baby.” The one in white low cut lace and backless one piece plays with her ponytail and puts a hand out, “I’m Kara by the way.”

The blonde in yellow is called Jazz while the one in black is Eriko.

With instructions coming from their phones as signals, the two youngest girls open the sliding door and rush outside to finally meet the golden boys while the other four walk hands in hands and see just what on earth they’ve gotten themselves into.

Eriko is the first to swear, “Shit, you’ve got to be kidding me!” She keeps her mumbling to minimal as everyone starts picking a spot by the pool.

Choosing the far left corner of the pool, right opposite Eisuke Inchinomiya who also comes from a wealthy family like her but mainly because Eriko would avoid talking to her other three acquaintances from college at all cost, she bets someone has tipped the show off and invites Shunichiro, Yukihisa and Rikiya on purpose, without exchanging a single word to the men on the other side of the pool, the woman who’s in charge of one of the largest clothing brand in Japan is already getting a tremendous headache.

Pippa who’s previously covering herself up is now sitting next to Eriko, totally captivated by Shunichiro’s charms and gentleman like smiles. The Creative Director of Addison & Rhodes rises his cocktail and winks at the clearly overwhelmed 28 year old whose heart is about to burst right open.

Next to Pippa, sits Jazz the pretty blonde who’s trying her best not to roll her eyes at the choices of men across the pool, the event planner who’s always too busy for dating is now seriously doubting her friend and supervisor at work who talks her into this joke. Scanning the men in few seconds, she decides to sit opposite Yukihisa, simply because he seems to be the least annoying and most mature one, judging by the looks he should be in his mid 30s and Jazz prays that they could at least hold a proper conversation.

Kara who has just turned 30 last week takes a seat next to Jazz purely bases on her impression earlier, never once consider the choice of seat would affect her next step. The auburn hair nods at her before stealing a not so oblivious glance at Eriko.

The 21 year old half Japanese half Brazilian part time model Katie flashes her eyes at the angelic blonde artist while the larger figure in red bikinis Joanne sits herself down at the right corner of the pool and sets her eyes on Aki the pastry shop owner who’s still unintentionally shaking water out of his wavy hair.

To put it ever so nicely- the first one on one getting to know each other session is about to begin with half the girls who are more than ready to fall in love while this remains the start of a complete disaster for the rest.

Let the dating begin, here on Voltage Island.

Writer Notes: Feedback welcome but be warned that this may discontinue at any time. And yes, canons and OCs shall be changed from time to time, if you’d like a say or vote, inbox me no guarantee though.

58 notes · View notes

dctuk · 4 years

Text

DCTUK are the home of affordable design, but what is affordable design?

Now, I’m sure you have seen the phrase ‘affordable design’ popping up left, right and centre at DCTUK, just like our live chat.

Well, that is because here at DCTUK we are the ‘home of affordable design’.

Our number one, numero uno, mission is to ensure those hours spent browsing through Instagram and Pinterest saving ‘interior inspo’ pins and images do not go to waste.

Our promise to you is high quality luxurious products at a budget friendly price that won’t leave you feeling as if you’ve paid for a 14-night stay at the Four Seasons, your neighbours’ new car and the dogs down the road surgery.

vimeo

How do we achieve this you ask? Well with the numerous free services that we offer, duh.

Okay, so we all love a bargain which is why we have cooked up our own magical Lowest Price Promise. If you were to find a tile cheaper elsewhere (which pfft, I don’t believe you will), we will beat it, squash it, crush it.

Don’t consider yourself to be much of a handy man with the tape measure? No worries, our fitters will pay you a cheeky visit and conduct a FREE site survey to ensure you have the accurate measurements to begin designing.

Now, we have made it real simple to get a fresh look for your workplace and we have two, yes two, options available to you.

1. Quite easily pleased, not too fussy and just like to go with the flow? Our Shop the Look pages sound like the perfect match for you. Just head on over and click on the image you like, enter your measurements and we will tell you exactly what is needed to complete it. And can you guess what? No, sadly you will not be awarded a interior design diploma, but it is FREE!

2. However, if you are a tad lazy and looking for something a touch more personal, pop your feet up and let our design team turn your dreams into reality whilst keeping it within your available budget.

Don’t say we don’t spoil you guys.

So, why are we just dishing out all these fancy services for free?

We are passionate about helping our customers reach their interior goals by providing these free services. Why should design services only be available to those raking in the dough?

DCTUK are here to assist you on your flooring journey from start to finish, providing you with the extra necessities, guiding you in the right direction.

But how will I save the big bucks you ask?

Nouveau is here to lend a helping hand as it keeps those uncooperative budgets in mind. Our in-house brand Nouveau takes its inspiration from higher-end brands, offering you great alternatives for just a fraction of the cost.

Let’s take a look how Nouveau compares against the big guns…

Nouveau Apollo vs Desso Essence

We love Desso Essence here at DCTUK however we realise it does not fit into everyone’s budget. Nouveau Apollo will not disappoint, with the same construction and similar thickness, it is a perfect cost-effective alternative.

Nouveau Rio vs Burmatex Academy

Burmatex Academy is a great cost-effective tile itself with a huge range of colour options. However, if you aren’t looking for a specific colour, Nouveau Rio could save you some pennies.

Nouveau Carnival vs Heuga 727

727 is a hugely popular tile and many who know Heuga are reluctant to swap from their beloved Heuga tiles. At a £1 saving per tile, Nouveau Carnival may be more suited to your budget.

Nouveau Beeline vs Interface Transformation

When it comes to carpet tiles Interface really know what they’re doing which is why we look to them for inspiration. Although only available in two colourways, Nouveau Bee Line is a great alternative to Interface Transformation.

Opting for Nouveau products allows you achieve the same stunning look without the killer invoice at the end!

Happy shopping!

0 notes

greg38mcall · 4 years

Text

Our HGTV Urban Oasis Experience

Did you all see that this year's HGTV Urban Oasis giveaway house is located right in my backyard? That's right! This year it is located in Minneapolis, MN and you are going to want to hurry and enter to win this beauty!

Photo Credit: Tomas Espinoza for HGTV

I know many of you come here for our organizing and house projects, but this quick story is just too great not to share! And I would be beyond thrilled if one of my readers happened to win this amazing home.

I have really gotten to know designer Brian Patrick Flynn over the past few years, and he is one of the most generous and kind humans I have ever met. He is ridiculously encouraging, really supports independent artists and small businesses, has an impeccable design eye, and can find beauty in just about anything.

Brian is the designer of the HGTV Urban Oasis home and he asked ME to be the organizing stylist! Organizing a house that no one actually lives in is slightly different than my typical duties; it has its own set of challenges but it is a bit of a dream at the same time. You have to work within the parameters of specific sponsors and design styles and be sure it is editorial, while also being able to use beautiful props. The ideas still have to be relatable and sensible, which of course is my favorite part! I wanted the folks that are entering the giveaway to be able to see the organization as possible solutions that they would be able to incorporate into their daily lifestyle.

Photo Credit: Kelly Christine Photo for HGTV

After the organizing was complete and the Urban Oasis was being prepped for media, Brian asked me back again. This time he had me bring my crew to be photographed enjoying the Hygge lifestyle at the house! My oldest son had college prep and work so he couldn't be there, but my younger boys were absolutely thrilled to take part of a really fun HGTV photoshoot. These pictures were such a treat and we will cherish the opportunity forever. Kelly Christine was the photographer behind the camera and she did such a great job of capturing us as a family pretending to live our best Minnesotan lives. As you can see, they definitely wanted to show the relaxed, comfortable, family-friendly lifestyle that this home provides. My son couldn't believe that he had a once in a lifetime opportunity to jump on a sofa and get away with it!

Photo Credit: Kelly Christine Photo for HGTV

This year's Urban Oasis is a Modern Scandanavian Farmhouse, which is an extremely popular design aesthetic around here. It is not necessarily my personal style (I lean more colorful and traditional), but I was still able to find so much inspiration throughout the entire home. It instantly hugs you when you walk through the front door and the entire place feels like a cozy nordic sweater. It is layered with plush and textural textiles and has art sourced from really incredible talent. And don't even get me started on the finishes and hardware and oak kitchen cabinets... #sigh

Photo Credit: Rustic White Interiors for HGTV

You can tour the entire house here, and enter to win here (GO DO THAT NOW!). Although this post is somewhat of a "check out this cool home and our awesome experience", I also wanted to share some images of my favorite no-fuss organizing tips that anyone can incorporate into their living spaces.

__________

As soon as I was hired, I searched Overstock.com (the sponsor website) to recommend some of my favorite organizers ahead of time and crossed my fingers that everything would be fluid enough to work when I was finally able to see the home in person. My first day on location everything was a blank slate of freshly painted walls and empty cabinets and drawers. It was an experience in itself to watch the house transform as the team worked to install and style all of the rooms. TIP #1: SELECT VERSATILE ORGANIZERS

Photo Credit: Tomas Espinoza for HGTV

My biggest money-saving tip is to try and source products that are versatile enough to work in a variety of spaces and can move and evolve right along with you. I knew I would be tasked with organizing the master bedroom closet and bedroom, the studio armoire, and many of the kitchen cabinets/drawers. The key items I sourced were a mixture of wire and woven baskets, spring-loaded drawer dividers, clear bins, wooden hangers, and glass jars. I was able to mix and match these items in each area that I touched, which made my job much easier in the end. I do believe in measuring and purchasing storage that makes sense for each project, but by selecting items in basic and natural finishes, you are guaranteed that they will stand the test of time. TIP #2: SPRING LOADED DRAWER ORGANIZERS ARE AMAZING

Photo Credit: Rustic White Interiors for HGTV

I have mentioned before that sometimes I am the last to hop on any trend train, and for some reason I wasn't quick to take advantage of spring-loaded drawer dividers. This experience flipped me completely. I am IN LOVE. I used the dividers throughout the kitchen and I now want to be the poster child for these special organizing tools. They were so easy to use (ANYONE can install them in a jiffy), and they instantly created flexible drawer dividers for all the things.

I used them for the maintenance drawers, utensil drawers, and even to hold pots, pans, and lids in place. A bonus is that the natural finish of these particular dividers fit right in with the custom wood drawers. Swoon. TIP #3: FILE YOUR CLOTHING

I know that most of you know this by now but it is always worth mentioning. File your clothing. If your clothing is filed, it is always easier to see exactly what you have. It is also infinitely easier to take clothing out and put it away.

BONUS TIP: Use small bins and baskets inside of your drawers to corral the little things like undergarments and accessories. Sometimes the most obvious ideas are the most helpful. TIP #4: MATCHING HANGERS

Hangers have come a long way over the years. Wooden and velvet options are both readily available and are fairly inexpensive in bulk. Anytime you can, swap out all of your mismatched hangers for ones that match. It will instantly take your closets up a notch and help them feel more uniform and calm. BONUS TIP: Color blocking the items hanging in your closet will have a similar effect. I like to hang items in order by type first (jackets/cardigans, long sleeve, short sleeve, sleeveless), and then color within each category. TIP #5: USE DEEP BINS IN DEEP CABINETS

Organizing deep cabinets and pantries is always perplexing. It is truly wonderful to have all of that extra space, but making sure items are not being lost in the back can be a major problem. It is my goal to find the deepest bins possible in this situation because they turn into instant drawers. These bins not only categorize everything, but they also take items from the back to the front in a single motion. Also, whenever possible I like to organize from shortest to tallest. If space permits I will also add lazy susans to the mix.

Photo Credit: Rustic White Interiors for HGTV

Another tip is to place your small appliances inside of the deep cabinets and relocate your more frequently used items and foods into your standard cabinets and drawers. Small appliances are generally only used on occasion, so it may make more sense to store them in places that aren't as easy to access as the items you use every day.

TIP #6: A+ ARMOIRE

This house didn't have closets in the two main bedrooms (one styled as an office, another as a guest room), so armories were added in their place. We use armoires in our own home where we are lacking in built-in closets also, and I love that they can offer customized and space-saving storage opportunities.

I especially appreciate the option of adding them to a home office, as they are an ideal way to conceal anything from printers, electronics, and craft supplies, to cozy sweaters and work totes. A clear workspace translates to a clear mind.

TIP #7: CLEAR SOLUTIONS

Speaking of clear... I love a good woven basket when I am actually trying to conceal and streamline visual clutter, so I find they are a great option for open shelves and in open areas. But when it comes to organizing behind cabinet and fridge doors, I say the clearer the better. Anytime you can quickly see what you have on hand, you are one step ahead of the game. It also allows you to identify items without the need for fussy labels. Heading to the grocery store? Clear jars and bins will give you a quick look at what you have and what you may need. TIP #8: PRETTY AND PRACTICAL AT THE SAME TIME

Photo Credit: Tomas Espinoza Interiors for HGTV

If you are limited on space, or even if you just love to keep things right within reach, find creative ways to use the walls as both decor and storage. Just off of the mudroom, Brian installed the most darling rail system and I was absolutely obsessed over how it was used to display and organize the ordinary in such a beautiful and organic way.

TIP #9: ENTERTAIN THIS IDEA

Dedicate a spare cabinet or drawer to entertaining essentials. Our homes are best when filled with folks we love, so be ready to entertain at a moment's notice by keeping a drawer stocked with your favorite linens, candles, vases, napkin rings, serving dishes, etc...

This eliminates the stresses that come with hosting last-minute dinner dates and happy hours, or at the very least, quickly and easily elevates the setting for a nice mood boost. TIP #10: DRAWERS ALWAYS GET MY VOTE

I was recently having a discussion with a friend about kitchen planning and storage and whether she should install lower cabinets or drawers. Drawers always get my vote if there is an option between the two. I typically find that lower base cabinets are a recipe for that deep and dark area of doom (standard depth is around 24"). Sure, you can add pull out drawers and mechanisms inside of the cabinets, but you have to open the cabinet doors all of the way, navigate around them, and then pull out the contents. A drawer is a quicker way to access everything while ensuring nothing is getting lost. Drawers are also much easier for kids to use and maintain while maximizing overall space (no need to install any extra components).

__________

Last but not least, let's just celebrate this amazing backyard moment. I am so envious of this year's lucky winner!!

Photo Credit: Kelly Christine Photo for HGTV

Photo Credit: Rustic White Interiors for HGTV

Photo Credit: Kelly Christine Photo for HGTV

ALL STORAGE SHOWN WAS PROVIDED TO URBAN OASIS BY THE SPONSOR OVERSTOCK.COM. IN THE EVENT OVERSTOCK NO LONGER CARRIES THE SPECIFIC ITEM, I SOURCED A SIMILAR ALTERNATIVE

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.

ENTER TO WIN THE GIVEAWAY HERE

TOUR THE ENTIRE URBAN OASIS HOUSE HERE

SEE MORE OF OUR FAMILY PHOTOSHOOT HERE

Brian and I had such a great time working together that he invited me to take part in another HUGE project last month. I can't wait to share more!

from IHeart Organizing http://www.iheartorganizing.com/2019/11/our-hgtv-urban-oasis-experience.html

0 notes

sandralmuller · 7 years

Text

Using Facebook and Instagram like a superstar

One of the things I love about organising The Great Melbourne Blog-in is that I get to shape the event. At September’s blog in, I got to question Catherine and Cherie from The Digital Picnic about all things Facebook and Instagram during our Q&A panel. You know that glorious moment when you have all these questions simmering in the back of your mind and then suddenly you’re face-to-face with some very generous social media experts and you get to ask them all those questions? Yes, that moment. It was awesome!

Social media experts Catherine and Cherie from The Digital Picnic. Oh, and that’s me in the middle.

Pin it to read later

Running a Facebook page

Best tips for running an engaging Facebook page #Facebook #FacebookPage #SocialMediaStrategy Click To Tweet

As most people are aware (except those that make this critical error) one of the biggest mistakes Facebook page owners make is using it as a dumping ground for self-promotion. Using Facebook page only as an advertising platform is not what gains you engaged fans and followers. You need to draw back the curtain and put yourself out there. Show some of the back end of your business. Make your page about your audience and what they want.

As a copywriter, this makes sense to me – know your audience, what are their pain points, how can you address them, sell the benefits and not the features yadda yadda yadda.

Since the blog-in, I’ve created a schedule for my Silk Interiors Facebook page. This page supports my eCommerce site Silk Interiors, where I sell wallpaper online. My plan includes a mix of:

design quotes

inspo photos/eye candy

recycled blog posts

decorating and styling tips

videos

FB live

before and after home makeovers

celebrity style

discounts and sales happening in Australia

memes

questions

our wallpaper products.

My next step is to use the native Facebook scheduling app to schedule content to post each day for a full month. Doing it in one big batch will save a lot of time, even though it will take some time to curate and schedule the content, but I’ve made a BIG list of sources (I’ll blog about how I find them another day), which will be a great help. I’ll monitor the engagement metrics via Facebook’s ‘Insights‘ dashboard and see which post types perform well and I’ll experiment with different times of the day.

Whatever you plan, test, test, test and figure out what works best for your business.

If you have any plans, even a very vague and distant plan to use Facebook Ads, install the Facebook pixel into the header of any or all pages on your website you wish to track. This means setting up a Facebook business account and grabbing some code to paste into your website (very easy to do with a plugin if you’re using WordPress). The FB pixel is a sneaky little thing. It gives you the data to show your ads only to people who have visited your website in the past, for example. It helps you target people already interested in your business. You can also create ads to target users in the same demographic as your website visitors. Ooooh. Sneaky sneaky. And perhaps a bit creepy…

Have you installed the Facebook Pixel yet? #SocialMediaStrategy #FacebookPage Click To Tweet

Facebook. Knows. Everything… my business bestie and I were chatting on Facebook Messenger about awnings (totes random, I know) and then we both started seeing ads for awnings in our newsfeed. We hadn’t visited any awning or blind sites or visited awning pages. In fact, in our Messenger chat, we were coming up with the most random thing we could think of in that conversation. And then there were ads for awnings. Just saying.

What I learnt about Facebook Live videos

Pre-promote your Facebook Live session so you won’t chicken out. If you’re running a Facebook Live Q&A session, give people a chance to prepare their questions that you (hopefully) can answer. As a Facebook Live novice, I’m not sure what’s worse though – people turning up or people not turning up!

Pre-plan what you’re going to say. Always have something to talk about. Talk about something before you get into the guts of your video to give people a chance to join you, live. If they’re following you, they’ll get a notification to say that you’re live.

Avoid the wobbles and use a tripod for your Facebook Live videos #FacebookLive #FacebookTips Click To Tweet

It’s best to set-up your video on a tripod so your video is steady. A steady camera can also save you a lot of data – those micro wobbles when you hold your phone camera create a fatter video file. Not that I have to worry about data here in Korea, but a tripod will give your FB video a more professional look. I tend to swing my body from side to side while my head remains stable-ish when I do Facebook Live videos. I don’t know why. Perhaps that’s where my nerves manifest. Or I’m just a weirdo.

After you finish your Facebook live video, you can upload it and then change the video thumbnail. For laughs, Youtube and Facebook are in some kind of conspiracy to make sure they choose a thumbnail where you look your absolute worst.

See what I mean? Worst thumbnail choice ever! Excruciating for me… and the potential viewer. I look so bored with my own FB Live vid I’m falling asleep on myself.

But it’s easy to change it.

On the video post, click on those three dots on the top right… then click on ‘Edit post’.

Next, scroll through the available thumbnails and hopefully, there’s one that looks like you haven’t just eaten a sour lemon or are about to pass out. But if that fails, add your own custom image.

While you’re on that screen, you can add metadata to your post to help it get found more easily in Facebook’s search engine.

After you’ve uploaded your Facebook live video, go through the comments and respond to any questions people have. This will give your post a bit of a boost. The more comments (including your own) the more reach your video will get.

If you’re happy with the video, you could also consider using it in a Facebook Ad.

What I learnt about (non-live) videos on Facebook

If you’re going to add your video to Youtube, don’t share a link to the Youtube video with your Facebook audience. Instead, for better reach, upload the video directly to Facebook. Apparently, Facebook loves native video content. Of course, this makes sense. Facebook wants to retain as much ad revenue as possible. Keeping users ON Facebook and not sending them away to the Adsense share of the market is the sensible thing to do if you’re Facebook.

For greater reach, upload your video direct to Facebook, not via a Youtube link #FacebookTips Click To Tweet

Also, consider using a square format for your video as this is becoming really popular – people are used to and expecting the Instagram size and style of videos.

Don’t share everything between Instagram and Facebook or your audience, if they follow you on both platforms, will start to look like me in that thumbnail picture above. Yawn. I think it’s lazy social media-ing when businesses do that. Especially when you’re confronted with a face full of Insta hashtags on Facebook. I’m petty like that. Mix it up and share your video on Instagram a different day (or at least a different time of the day) then when you published your Facebook post.

I need to start a Facebook group and so do you

At a past TGMBI event, Linda Reed-Enever talked about building a Facebook Group to support your business or blog. I won’t rehash those bits, but it’s a timely reminder that if you share your Facebook page’s post to your Facebook group, it sends powerful signals to Facebook’s algorithms and can help increase the reach of your post even beyond the group.

I’m still considering what my FB Group will be about, how it fits with my brand and vision for my business and who I want in it besides my business besties. But first I need to schedule content, experiment and evaluate my Facebook plan.

Stay out of the naughty corner

Something else I learnt just this week is that Facebook has legislated yet another reason to put your page in the naughty corner – not disclosing sponsored or affiliate links. Facebook calls it ‘Branded Content’.

If you’re doing sponsored posts or publishing, as Facie puts it, content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value, you need to tag the business partners in your branded content posts. But it’s not that simple. So you can do this, first you have to sign up for Branded Content within the Business Manager section of FB and be approved. If you’re publishing branded content (by Facebook’s definition) and not disclosing your relationship with the company, then you could find yourself in the FB naughty corner. This has happened to someone I know I know in a Facebook group just this week.

You can identify Branded Content posts because they have the small text ‘Paid’ whacked next to the time stamp of a post. This is different to posts you pay to boost where it says ‘Sponsored’. Other than that, I’m not sure what it all means, yet! You can read more about Facebook’s Branded Content tool and laws here.

What I learnt about Instagram

LinkTrees! AKA where had you been all my life/why didn’t I think of that.

Solve the 'link in bio' dilemma with a LinkTree @Linktree_ #instagramtips #linktree Click To Tweet

You know how you have to write something like Link in bio on your Instagram post and then update every single time you promote a new page or post or product? So annoying. Well, enter the Link Tree. You put one link in your bio that goes to a landing page where you include ALL your links. There’s even a website you can outsource your link management to – LinkTr.ee. (I wrote more about this tip in my recent post What to do after you publish a blog post.) You could also host a link tree page on your own website.

Instagram Stories – you need to be there and in the regular ole newsfeed. Your ‘story’ only lasts for 24 hours, but now that Instagram is no longer chronological, it’s your best bet for getting noticed at the top of someone’s Insta feed.

Look at your insights. What are the peak times and WHY are they the peak times? Look into the reasons why certain posts are popular than others.

If you haven’t already set yourself up with a business profile, it’s easy to switch from a personal to a business profile – here’s how. You’ll need a business profile to access your account’s insights.

Until recently, I’d only been using the image tools like Filters in Instagram on my pictures. Then I discovered an app called Fotor. The basic version is free. You can use the app or the desktop website to manipulate your images to make them look gorgeouser. I must admit, I’m a bit visually illiterate, but with Fotor, I’ve been having fun experimenting with image manipulation.

Get your images Instagram ready with the Fotor app @fotor_com #instagramtips #photoediting Click To Tweet

To illustrate my point, here the original photo I took.

And here’s the edited version. How much cooler and more interesting does this second image look?

Final words on social media-ing

Ultimately, when it comes to sharing content, be endearing to your audience. Maybe even a bit vulnerable. Be relatable. Suprise and delight your audience.

Thank you, Cat and Cherie, for sharing your time and knowledge. If anyone wants to improve their social media skills, then you need to attend one of their online or in-person social media courses – and not just in Melbourne. These savvy social media experts travel!

Have you experimented with anything on social media lately? Any success or spectactular fails to share? Let me know in the comments below.

Using Facebook and Instagram like a superstar was originally published on Sandra Muller

1 note · View note

hiraeth-doux · 7 years

Text

My Weakness

Prompt by @bbluenose "Imagine person B is insanely ticklish and when person A goes to exploit this weakness, B accidentally punches them in the face when trying to fight A off."

I honesty don’t know how to thank you for this request! It was a delight to work on, and I hope it turned out fine :) Have fun!

AO3

Owen Grady was a man of many talents. The Navy taught him a lot, and the life – even more. He could hunt like he was born with a rifle in his hands, grill a mean steak, look dashing without even trying, and kiss her until she was weak in her knees, which Claire considered the most valued of his skills.

Well, the second most valued, if she were completely honest with herself. The first one she discovered on the night of their first date when they stumbled into his bungalow, tugging at each other’s clothes like their lives depended on it, and Claire hadn’t left until the next morning, unstable on her feet, her body aching in all the right places. The man clearly knew what he’d been doing the night before. And maybe they annoyed the living hell out of one another more often than not, and maybe he didn’t appreciate her control issues while Claire found most of his habits distasteful, but, boy, was it easy to ignore all of that when his hands were on her body.

Claire’s eyes skittered over his living room, taking in the fishing gear on the walls, the books organized in alphabetical order on the shelves, his boots caked with mud sitting by the door. Even though she’d spent many a night here, she hadn’t paid much attention to the interior design of his place before, which was a shame, really. The one thing that she certainly didn’t anticipate when she jumped into their messy affair was to find out that he was a neat freak, his bungalow that she expected to be messy and chaotic was about as organized as she imagined his Navy housing used to be. Everything had its place, the floors were clean and the kitchen sink empty, no moldy dishes piling up in it. Even his bathroom… well, his bathroom was putting hers to shame. Frankly, she had never been more wrong about someone based on a first impression.

She traced her fingers over the framed photo of Owen with a few other men from his platoon, all of them in the Navy uniform, tall and broad-shouldered, resembling a solid wall, the sky above them and the water behind them so strikingly blue it hurt to look at it. Her lips formed into a small smile on the will of their own. It must have been at least 5 years since the photo had been taken, his grin radiant and cheery, making her heart squeeze in her chest.

The early morning sun was peeking through the crack between the curtains, bathing the living room in the honey-gold glow. Claire pushed her mussed hair out of her face, breathing in the unmistakable scent that all wooden structures seemed to bear. The polished floor was warm beneath her feet when she padded back to the bedroom where Owen was still fast asleep, sprawled diagonally across the bed, tangled in the sheets and snoring softly into her pillow, taking full advantage of a Saturday morning to catch up on what they barely had time for the previous night.

Her lips lifted at the corners at the memory, her eyes scratchy and her body pleasantly sore. Claire had to admit that she did, in fact, had certain reservations about their relationship. Or used to have, at least, but there wasn’t a moment when she regretted it, the pieces of their lives falling so perfectly and seamlessly together she couldn’t help but admire the picture that they made.

She lowered down onto the edge of the bed, allowing herself to study him uninterrupted (and without an array of ‘Like what you see?’ jokes that would rain on her whenever he’d catch her looking at him), her gaze skimming over the taut lines of his broad shoulders, the fine muscles of his back that moved with his inhales and exhales, streaked with scratch marks left by her nails – her personal branding, and down toward the narrow waist that ended with the finest ass she’d ever seen. The one that never failed to make her want to sink her teeth in it – which she did on more than one occasion. Her response to the bruises on her inner thighs from his hands and lips that never seemed to fade.

Claire looped her hair around her ears and leaned down to press a kiss to his shoulder, trailing her mouth slowly toward the nape of his neck, one hot kiss after another, tasting his skin, breathing him in. Whatever this was – whatever they were – Claire couldn’t get enough of it, of them, of this. She’d never known anyone like him, anyone so willing to give without asking for much in return. On the surface, it might have seemed that their fight for dominance was imminent and unavoidable, a battle that would leave nothing but victims in its wake. However in reality, he was more was willing to relinquish his position, let her call the shots, if she so pleased, somehow maintaining his status quo nonetheless while also allowing her to maintain hers.

It was weird still, thrilling in its newness, requiring the kind of trust Claire didn’t know she was capable of giving, and more often than not, her first instinct was to retreat, or worse yet – to attack and reclaim her position. He never fought her, letting her find her footing. It was a slow process, she was a work in progress, but so was he, and there were certain things that were worth the effort, a thousand times over.

Her hand moved lightly over her skin, tracing the contours of his muscles, memorizing his body with her fingertips, searing the texture of his skin into her mind. He grumbled something in his sleep, a low, guttural sound deep in his throat, and rolled onto his back, lying before her in all his naked glory, a sheet draped artfully over half of his hip. Claire chuckled under her breath, amused by his bedhead and more than a little pleased by the instinctual reaction of his body to her touch.

She scooted closer to him, her face hovering an inch from Owen’s, taking in his ridiculously long eyelashes – and how unfair was it that guys always got the best deal on eyelashes when they were almost completely rudimentary to them?! – and the tan lines on his face, the perpetual crease between his eyebrows from squinting in the sun day in and day out that never went away anymore, a bow of his slightly parted lips, and the shadow of his scruff, spilling down from his cheeks and onto his neck, scratchy to the touch. Her whole body was covered with pink marks left by it.

“Mmm,” Owen’s eyes fluttered open slowly, as if sensing her proximity. He blinked, his gaze unfocused.

“Hi,” Claire breathed out, pressing her mouth to his collarbone and moving toward his throat with slow and deliberate precision, planting one open-mouthed kiss to his skin after another, not oblivious to how his breathing shortened momentarily, his heartbeat sprinting into a race.

She’d long lost count of the number of times when she’d woken up with his hands and mouth doing something wonderful to her body, his fingers dancing over all the right places, knowing exactly where to press and where to stroke to make Claire’s blood run hot. She imaged he wouldn’t mind if she returned the favour.

Owen inhaled sharply when she teased a path down his sternum with her fingers – he might not have been fully awake yet, but a few parts of him definitely were, and knowing that she had that effect on him, so much power over him, was intoxicating.

She loved the warmth of his skin, the leathery feel of it, the heat radiating off of his body in waves like he was a human furnace even on the hottest of days. Loved the smell of it – the cedar from his body wash and forest and something distinctive that was purely Owen, the combination that often left her hyperventilation and yearning for more. It was ridiculous how she could catch his scent even when she couldn’t see him, picking up on his presence a in the roomful of people, her skin tingling in response whenever he was within half a mile from her.

She had never given this much control over her to anyone ever before, let alone willingly.

Owen swallowed, his breath hitching briefly when she threw her leg over his hip, straddling his waist, her palms splayed on his chest, green eyes glinting with amusement and contemplation, her lips curved into a coy smile. He smirked and gave her a suggestive once-over, taking in her tousled hair, the sunlight tangled in her mane, drinking her up. He loved the pristine version of her, suits and heels, not a hair out of place. But it was this Claire, the one that smelled of sex and looked like she could eat him alive that was driving him wild.

Claire leaned down, her hands propped on either side of his head, and traced her nose down his cheek, her lips formed into a soft half-smile, feeling his wanting in her core. If anything, Owen certainly taught her to appreciate the weekends and lazy days off, spent half- or completely naked, fleeting touches and hungry mouths, soft laughs and never-ending exhilaration. Her lips trailed along his jaw and fitted to his; his hands bunching fistfuls of his shirt draped over her body, pulling her closer. However, when he tried to deepen the kiss, Claire drew back, hovering over him, close, but out of reach.

“That’s how we gonna do it, huh?” He smirked.

Without another word, Claire moved back, rising just far enough to take him in, deep on a single slide. Owen’s eyes went black and he snapped his hips snapped up, filling her completely. Her mouth dropped open with a surprised moan, fingers scraping over his chest, his palms on her thighs making her skin burn. She was certain she’d find blisters everywhere he touched her later on.

He sat up, the suddenness of a new angle making them both gasp. One hand on the small of her back and the other one tangled in her hair, Owen captured her mouth with his, swallowing her whimper, devouring her, Claire’s body pulsing around him, hips pushing against his, savouring the moment.

“You’re overdressed,” Owen muttered, his fingers fumbling with the two buttons that were keeping his shirt in place, needing to touch her, see her, feel her whole.

He pushed it down Claire’s arms, his teeth scraping down her throat and along her shoulder until his mouth closed around the rosy peak of her breast, cajoling a sigh off appreciation from her as his tongue ran around her nipple while his thumb played with the other one – gently strokes that were making her shiver. She arched her back against him, throwing her head back to give his a better access to her, and he smiled mid-kiss, leaving faint bite marks all over whatever skin he could reach, loving the sweet, warm weight of her pressed into his body, soft around the edges in the morning light. Radiant and so damn beautiful he couldn’t believe she was really there. Couldn’t believe his damn luck, for that matter.

Hands full of fistfuls of his hair, Claire nudged their hips into a rock, demanding rather than asking, her pleasure mounting. Eager to oblige, Owen fell back, taking her with him, and rolled them over, pinning her to the sheets, her yelp of surprise morphing into a laugh. His mouth crashed against her, silencing her, their fingers laced together above Claire’s, delicious friction that left them both balancing on the edge. She let out a low, breathy whimper when he buried himself deeper inside her and her long legs wrapped around him, reeling him closer still, the hot, throbbing sensation turning his whole body into a bundle of raw nerves, their bodies smearing into one another.

Owen found the rhythm and set on a more deliberate quest, sliding in and out of her, Claire’s hips rising and falling to meet him rock for rock. His lips were dancing all over her face, light sloppy kisses dropped on her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids while his hands groped for her skin, grabbing the headboard for support. Deeper, faster… She clenched around him, crying out, nearly undoing him in that instant, her fingers digging into his shoulders, and then he was falling after her, spiraling into pure, sparkling bliss.

The world still spinning wildly, Owen pressed his forehead to her temple. Grunted, the words incomprehensible. Meant to thank her, but it required the energy he didn’t have. Claire laughed and kissed his shoulder, his body damp and wonderfully heavy – the only thing that mattered. He stirred, his muscles still spasming as surges of lazy aftershocks rolled slowly over his body, his hands clutching fistfuls of sheets.

He actually had to make a conscious effort to unclench his fingers, reaching for Claire instead. He touched his hand to her hair, his eyes heavy-lidded and his breathing still nowhere to be found. Made a faint sound of appreciation in the back of his throat that came out as soft groan against her skin, making her squirm away with a giggle.

“Tickles,” she breathed out, kissing his neck, but when he tried to move, she tightened her grip on him, holding him close. “Don’t.”

“You’ll suffocate,” Owen chuckled, nuzzling into her hair.

“Mm, not the worst way to go,” Claire purred into his ear, earning a short laugh in response, her mind clouded with enough endorphins to make her feel like she was floating through space and time as her hands played with the hair near the nape of his neck, carding slowly without soft curls, elated and giddy.

Still, Owen’s flopped on his side with her still wound tightly around him, her head resting on his bicep and their lips meeting in tender, slow kisses.

“Now that’s… wat I call… a good… morning,” Owen murmured, punctuating the words with the pecks on her mouth.

“You and I have that in common, Mr. Grady.” She wiggled her leg from beneath him, pressing closer to his chest, her other one draped over his hip, their sweat-slick bodies sticking to each other. Her hand dropped from his face and skittered along his side, making Owen tense. And her eyebrow cocked in surprise. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for the ticklish one.”

He brushed her bangs back from her forehead, studying the golden specs in her eyes. “We all have our weaknesses.”

Claire smirked. “I thought I was yours.”

Owen’s fingers traced the line of her cheekbone, slipping under her chin to lift her face up. “You’re definitely in the top 5.”

“Is that so?”

Catching him by surprise, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him again, holding him down, smiling wickedly, her hair veiling her face. Their chests were still heaving, small tremors still running over their bodies. One corner of Owen’s mouth curled into a cocky grin.

“Wanna play it rough, huh?”

“Top 5?” She echoed, incredulous and more than a little insulted. “Top 5?”

And then she suddenly let go of his forearms, her fingers flying all over his chest, skimming over whatever parts of him she could reach. Owen let out a shriek of confusion followed by bellows of laughter as he tried to catch her hands, wiggling beneath her. Claire, however, had a much better leverage. Lean and swift, and impossible to get a hold of, she had a definite advantage over him, the peals of her triumphant laughter ricocheting against the walls.

Until his hand shot forward to grab her wrist just as Claire leaned in for a kiss. Too fast, too unexpected… The heel of his palm connected with her skin with a sickening crunching sound, and then she let out a pained howl and jerked away from him, scarlet droplets of blood splattering the grey sheets.

“Claire?” It took him a moment to realize that something was wrong.

“Oh, my god,” she mumbled, scooting away to the edge of the bed, her voice muffled by the hand she was holding over her face, her eyes filling with involuntary tears. “You broke my nose.”

—

He didn’t, but even half an hour later, Owen was still feeling sick to his stomach from the idea of hurting her, however unintentional it was, his hands shaking with a jolt of adrenaline that was coursing through his system.

Wrapped once again in his shirt, Claire was sitting in a chair in the living room with her head tipped back and a pack of frozen peas resting on the bridge of her swollen nose and studying the beams and pillars that held the roof of the bungalow in place. The sharp pain that scared the living hell out of her not so long ago had dulled down to unpleasant throbbing that made the process of breathing not quite as comfortable as she preferred.

“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Owen crouched down beside her and kissed her shoulder. He had probably apologized at least a thousand times, seemingly far more freaked out than Claire, albeit slightly less inconvenienced. Holding her face between his palms, he kissed away the unbidden tears, murmuring soft apologies until the words started to blend together. He tucked her hair around her ear, his eyebrows knitted together. “Does it hurt?”

Claire shot him a quick sideway look. “What’s your best guess?”

“Claire, I swear to god–”

“I know, I know,” she breathed out, ashamed of her snappy voice. It was no one’s fault, after all. She was an idiot and Owen was merely trying to shield himself form something that was causing him discomfort. And now, they were both paying for it. So stupid. “It’s not that, it’s…”

“Let me see.” Owen easily swung her chair around, its legs scraping against the hardwood floor, and plopped down on the couch in front of her. Pulled Claire’s hand away from her face, her fingers cold and her nails turning blue from holding the frozen peas – he knew he was going to hear more about the fact that he even had frozen peas in the freezer later, what with his diet consisting primarily of crackers and beer when she wasn’t around. He grimaced a little and she frowned. “This is going to bruise.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” she sighed. Rubbed her forehead and let out a frustrated huff. “I have a meeting with the President of Trade Associations first thing in the morning, and what am I going to do? Show up looking like a raccoon who was hit by a train?”

“You know, if a raccoon was hit by a train–” He cut off when she gave him another look. “Or, you could just tell the truth.”

She touched her nose cautiously, wincing. “That my boyfriend punched me in the face?”

That it was an accident, Owen wanted to say, but instead he just stared at her like she’d just grown a second head.

“What?” She asked when he didn’t say anything, her heart leaping into her throat. “It was a joke, I’m not going to actually say that.”

Owen ran his hand over his hair and cleared his throat. “It’s the first time you called me your boyfriend.”

Claire blinked. “No, it’s not,” she protested automatically. “And even if it is… is that a problem?”

“No! God, no,” he replied quickly. “It’s just…. You’ve always wanted it to be a casual thing.” The words tumbled awkward out of his mouth, a topic they rarely addressed. The one that was filling the space between them half the time, squeezing the air out of their lungs.

She did.

Until she didn’t.

Until her spare toothbrush found a permanent home in his bathroom and there were her clothes in his hamper, and staying over became more of a thing than sneaking out in the middle of the night – all the things Claire didn’t expect to happen were staring her right in the face. She had no idea just when exactly did they settle into a semblance of a routine – even though the word routine could hardly be applied to them – but there was nothing that felt more normal anymore, her days filled with business meetings and her nights with Owen. She certainly didn’t mind that balance.

She looked past him and out the window where the sunlight was bouncing off the bright green foliage, making the whole world look like it was glowing, a thick lump rolling in her throat because she was scared. Hell, she was downright terrified, and having Owen sit there in front of her in his grey sweatpants, waiting for her response, was making it pretty damn hard to think straight.

“Hey, c’mere.” Sensing her hesitation, he reached for her hand and pull her up to her feet and into his lap, the peas left behind on the chair. His fingers ran over the bridge of her nose gently, the spot tender to the touch, before tangling in Claire’s hair and turning her face to him so she had no other choice but to look at him, the words rolling on his tongue but having a very hard time coming out of her mouth. “I’ve always wanted more. You know that, right?”

She nodded slowly, her gaze locked with his. “I don’t know what I want,” she admitted after a short pause. “But I think I want more, too.” Which was perhaps the most honest thing she’d ever said to anyone she’d been in a relationship with, which left her stomach in knots.

“I would never hurt you, Claire.” His voice was soft, the words so earnest they felt like a sucker-punch, knocking all wind out of her.

Her mouth quirked, her lips quivering. “Forgive me for not believing that.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, kissing her temple. “How ‘bout you skip that meeting tomorrow?”

“Can’t.” Claire’s hand curled around the back of his neck. “We need that contract. Without it, we might have to consider including the guests of the island in the meal plan for the animals.” God, she loved smelling herself on him, loved not knowing where she ended and he began, his warmth like a cocoon around her. “And that is frowned upon.”

He laughed, a vibration that shot all the way from the top of her head and into her toes. “Okay then.” Owen’s hands was rubbing slow circles into her sides. “Then how ‘bout you stay here today and make sure this hurts less?” His voice dropped to a husk that ran over her skin like electric charge as he trailed her finger down her nose, barely touching her and yet leaving a burning trail.

“I don’t think that what you have in mind can actually help with that,” she pointed out, not disagreeing but challenging him to try harder.

He cupped her cheek with his palm, kissed her lightly, and then again - deeper. “No harm in trying.”

#clawen #claire dearing #owen grady #jurassic world #clawen fic #otp: for survival #pls show up in the tag!

39 notes · View notes

likevelvetkisses · 7 years

Text

Appreciated [02]

Pairing: Jin / Dasom (BTS Kim Seokjin / SISTAR Kim Dasom) Rating: G (may change for succeeding chapters)

Summary: An opportunity for acting opens a new door for Seokjin and brings him closer to his co-star and senior colleague, Dasom. It was the kind of friendship that formed unexpected, but the common saying rings true about it possibly being the most fun, if not the best. The two share a journey of growth in life and love, take their lessons for their respective careers, and learn that they, too, are just as appreciated as the others.

Author’s Note/s:

My apologies for taking too much time with this chapter. I couldn’t grow content on it until I decided to split it into two chapters. If I extended it, it would have been too lengthy, so the next part is still in progress.

Again, I am maintaining the use of Korean honorifics.

I forgot to mention this but I am sort of following the current timeline of activities, starting from November 2016 to the present (and maybe future). Some of these events actually took/will take place (end-of-the-year shows, other performances, etc.), but do understand that there will also be made-up ones for the story. But I guess you guys already knew that lol.

II. Laugh to Meet

Being a celebrity was never an easy job, and much less for being an idol celebrity. People talk. Seokjin knew from the very start that he could never please everybody, but that didn’t make the words online sting any less.

Upon the release of the news that he was cast as one of the lead roles for an upcoming 2017 film, criticism weighed heavier than congratulations on the scale. Considering how Seokjin and his fellow groupmates were quite active on social media, it was easy to see the comments pour in for every article that concerned them. His fingers against his phone scrolled up and down through the comments section and clicked on every article he could find about his film participation. It was odd how a person could get upset from words from yet at the same time obsess over them, just to see what else they had to say, and maybe get a miraculous positive note among the hundreds that had a much more negative tone.

‘I like Jin, sure, but isn’t it too early for him to participate as a lead? I’m more worried about backlash than his performance now.’

‘Wonder how he got casted this fast. Were the producers drawing lots from a hat? LOL.’

‘BTS Jin? Lead? Wow, good luck.’

‘Gongchan shouldn’t have refused this role. He’d do much better.’

‘I read it’s a low-budget film anyway, and considering Jin’s an amateur actor…’

‘Isn’t it unfair for Taehyung then? He started off fairly well with 'Hwarang' as a supporting actor while Jin shoots up as a lead?’

Seokjin bit his lower lip.

‘Honestly, I understand everyone’s concerns, but we have to take into consideration that maybe Seokjin does have what it takes to fulfill this role. I’m a fan and even I’m surprised by the news, but instead of judging him now just because we haven’t seen him act before, why don’t we just encourage him and hope for the best? It’s his stepping stone into the acting world so give him a chance.’

He finally exhaled. He didn’t realize it but he was holding a breath until he found this miracle among the hundreds.

Seokjin took a screenshot of the comment for future comfort. It had been some rough weeks on the online community.

“What did you expect? A fanfare?” A bored voice asked from across Seokjin. The latter looked up to see his roommate, Yoongi, sneaking a lazy glance at him then back to closing his eyes. “People are judgmental, hyung.”

“… What?” Seokjin’s reply clearly showed how much he was still in a haze from reading from his phone.

“You’re looking at the comments again.” Yoongi said. “Put it down.”

Though he was older, Seokjin understood that Yoongi and Namjoon were among the members who tended to have a more mature mindset, thus he was more inclined to listen to them when it came to advice and such.

He nodded and followed the simple instruction as he placed his phone beside him on the bed, and face-down for good measure.

It was an early December morning and a rest day for the whole group, although Seokjin and Hoseok had a meeting in a couple of hours regarding a television show appearance and the others had their own appointments.

Yoongi opened his eyes again and sighed, then rolled slightly to face Seokjin. “Sulking about all of this won’t help you with your film.”

“I know, but it just makes me think that maybe I should have just refused the role as well.”

“Sejin-hyung found you a chance. Don’t let it go to waste.”

Seokjin nodded and tried to give a little chuckle, but failed miserably. “You’d think hate comments are something we’d get used to by now.”

“Well we have to. We didn’t grow up being showered with praises after all.” The dark-haired member took his own phone from his side table and tinkered around with it.

The older member thought for a while before standing up. As frank as his words always were, Yoongi knew what to really say. Sugarcoating would have been sweeter but Seokjin didn’t need that today. Turning to their wall clock, Seokjin took the time as a cue and stood up to grab and put on his sweater. The day seemed like it would grow even colder. After fixing his items in his bag, he smiled a bit more genuinely this time and made to ruffle Yoongi’s hair, much to the latter’s mock irritation.

“Thanks, Yoongi. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go so I can sleep more.” Yoongi told him a bit jokingly, casually waving his one hand as a weak goodbye.

“Hey,” Seokjin called as he got to the door. “Hey, look at me first.”

Yoongi groaned but nonetheless put his attention on Seokjin. “What?”

Seokjin leaned over their door frame and put on the best manly face he had at the moment, then said the line with an accompanying rise of his eyebrow:

“If you drink that in one shot, we’re going steady.”

Yoongi stared at him blankly. “… The heck?” He then remembered that famous line, and rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously quoting Jung Woosung at me?”

Seokjin’s face scrunched up in a smile, losing the manly image he had earlier. “Yeah, yeah! What do you think? Can I pass off as an actor now?”

“Sheesh, get to your meeting!” Yoongi threw one of his pillows at Seokjin, an amused smirk gracing his face.

“Okay, okay!” Seokjin laughed and said his real goodbye this time, but not before sending his signature flying kiss at his roommate, which Yoongi made a face at.

As soon as the door closed behind Seokjin, Yoongi sighed loudly and sat up on his bed. He shook his head and snorted at Seokjin’s antics. “Honestly, that guy...” With the phone still in his hand, Yoongi opened some browsers and logged in a couple of websites via his barely furnished user-accounts as he decided to leave his own comments regarding his roommate’s situation:

‘Stop being dicks and just let him act.’

Hoseok’s presence was the complete opposite of Yoongi’s and Seokjin welcomed it fully. After all, there really was no point in moping around over criticisms, and he knew that doing his best in the project was the only way to neutralize the comments, if not overturn them. Hoseok had been more congratulating of the opportunity beset on his fellow member, and he had been telling Seokjin how excited he was for its eventual release within the year.

“Have you read your script already? What’s it about?” Hoseok asked as they settled down in the van. They each took a captain seat opposite of each other and readied for their trip to the Seoul Broadcasting System building in Mokdong. A pre-filming meeting was set for the two of them for their upcoming appearance on ‘Baek Jong Won’s Three Great Emperors’. With BTS stabilizing themselves on the Korean music map, their CEO, Bang Sihyuk, along with their managers and team leaders had arranged for more show appearances for the members. This time around on the ‘Three Great Emperors’, the managers agreed that both Seokjin and Hoseok were the perfect fit: Seokjin with his actual love for culinary and Hoseok with his humorous charm. They were at least bound to do good work for the show.

Seokjin nodded and put his seatbelt on. “Well it’s a love story. The title literally says ‘Romance in Jinhae’. But do you really want spoilers now before it’s all even filmed?”

Hoseok considered it for a moment. “Eh, I guess not. But is it, you know, corny? Like, do you have corny lines?”

“I thought you didn’t want spoilers!”

The other laughed. “Alright, I’ll take that as a yes! I think you’d nail it if it had more dad jokes, though.”

“I don’t think the script could call for my dad jokes.”

“I don’t think the audience would call for it, either.”

“Hey!”

Of course, Hoseok’s finger guns ended that joke on a light note.

Their bickering continued for halfway of the trip until both of them fell asleep when they reached the expressway. The sun had unexpectedly shone brighter that morning and the commute to Mokdong took longer than usual, thus providing them a lethargic feeling within the van that even their manager, Hobeom, fell asleep as well. Seokjin only awoke when Hoseok nudged him as they neared the SBS building. He wondered then how long their meeting would take. It wasn’t as if he had a lot of extra things to do, but he wanted to study his film’s script a little more. He had a week left until the script reading after all.

“Now that I think about it, we never really got to visit their main building much, have we?” Hoseok said after he hopped off the ground and stretched out his arms. He looked up at the glass walls of the SBS building.

Seokjin followed suit and shook his head. “No. We usually performed at the Open Hall.”

“It looks pretty fancy.”

“I think Big Hit is fancier.”

Hoseok laughed. “Bang PD would want to hear that.”

The interior of the entertainment building did not disappoint their initial impressions. Although they have visited a few times before, it seems the company has changed quite a few things with their décor, including the polishing of their large silver pillars and more posters of their current shows lining the walls. LED television sets were also available for viewing commercials and show teasers, most especially dramas. It felt like the first time visiting again for the two members.

After receiving visitor’s passes from the reception personnel of SBS, Hobeom accompanied them inside the building and they all made their way up to the tenth floor of the building via the elevator. The air-conditioning was still turned up quite high as regular company structures would have them, despite the December cold outside. None of them could remove their coats for the time being, even if they wanted to. Upon reaching the designated floor, an employee assigned to them was waiting at the guest area, escorting them soon enough to the conference room where their appointment was to be held. It seemed that they were the first ones there and the SBS employee bid them to take comfort while they waited for the producers of the show. Hobeom excused himself outside, as he had to take a phone call, leaving Seokjin and Hoseok behind momentarily in the conference room.

Seokjin looked at Hoseok and grinned. “It’s kinda fun to think that we’re finally starting to get on more variety shows.”

Hoseok nodded. “Yeah! I wonder which shows we all could go as a group again.”

“I’d want us to go on Infinite Challenge if we can. But for now, I’m glad to be able to get on a show about food.”

“Oh yeah. You always wanted that, right, hyung?”

Seokjin nodded. “How about you?”

Hoseok thought for a while. “Right now, I just want to go on any show where I could do a lot of things, although I have been thinking about emceeing, too.”

“You did great last time at Inkigayo.”

“Exactly why I want to try it again.”

A few more discussions about varieties and live shows started until Seokjin excused himself to go to the restroom. Since they still had some time before the actual start of the meeting, his trip to the restroom was accompanied by some sightseeing within the building. The higher floors had little posters now as compared to the ground floor’s lobby, and this time they were replaced with framed artworks instead and doors for studios and other conference rooms. There was a feeling of professionalism within the walls, Seokjin thought.

As he passed a long hallway towards where the restroom was located, he couldn’t help but hear women’s laughs at the end of it. They echoed quite pleasingly, and one of the laughs was oddly cute. It was the best he could describe it, especially when the laugh turns up a higher pitch to a squeak at every breath. The other one was huskier. Seokjin grew slightly curious as he neared the source.

“The year is about to end but our love for everybody, especially our fans, STAR1, will never stop. Thank you for continuing to support SISTAR and we promise much better music and appearances for the upcoming year.” Hyojung stated, finalizing her speech for the cameras.

Dasom followed suit to fully close the talk. “Bora-unnie and Soyou-unnie also send their love. Please continue to look after us in 2017 as well.”

“Again, thank you. We’re the B. E. S. T., SISTAR. This has been SISTAR. Happy holidays!”

With new music releases come promotions as well as promotion wrap-ups. Hyojung, or more commonly known as SISTAR’s Hyolyn, had just finished her own promotion period for her recent mini-album, “It’s Me”, and thus was invited over for an SBS talk show, 'Access Showbiz Tonight'. Although they had already interviewed her when it was released, Hyojung’s interview this time was to cover how it was like as a solo artist to promote once more on her own and still be quite active with her original group. At the same time, Dasom had been present for the same interview to join Hyojung on discussing plans for SISTAR’s future and competition with rookie groups. Jihyun and Bora had their own activities to attend to, thus the absence.

Their interview finished within the morning and the two decided to have brunch at a nearby restaurant after parting with their company staff. Their manager had bid them his own goodbye to check on over the other managers of SISTAR who accompanied Bora and Jihyun, leaving the two behind on their own.

“You know, unnie, I’m still really proud of you for this album.” Dasom said as they freshened themselves up in the restroom. “I know the physical sales weren’t what we expected, but I’m still proud of you.”

Hyojung smiled as she combed her hair out. The curls she had earlier were a bit too much. “It might sound selfish but I wasn’t really worried about the sales so long as I get to release music that I like and fans like.”

“And you did.” Dasom started to fix her items as soon as she finished retouching her makeup. As always, she wore quite the little amount today as they weren’t performing.

“Thanks, Somie.” Hyojung said as she led the way outside the restroom. “I can’t wait until you, Jihyun, and Bora-unnie release your own stuff, you know. But I feel like you’d be the one with the most surprising output.”

“How so?”

“You yourself know you’re not made for hip-hop sounds. You can do it, of course, but it’s not the genre you’d focus on.”

Dasom nodded in agreement. “Well that’s true. But you know what? I’ll just leave it to your words. Let it all be a surprise.”

“I’d be more surprised if you actually came out with hip-hop, so I’ll be expecting that then.” Hyojung laughed. “I’ll flip if you rap with Mad Clown.”

“I should join Unpretty like you did to test myself out!”

Hyojung’s husky laugh mixed with Dasom’s own high-pitched one filled the quiet tenth floor of the SBS building with both of them forgetting that there could be other people and staff passing by. Yet at that point, they hardly cared. It didn’t calm either of them down, too, when Hyojung pretended to rap about Dasom’s interests of cute stuff and then dabbing in the end. Dasom broke out in larger laughs, holding onto the wall for support.

“You seriously dabbed—“ And the statement couldn’t even be completed between all the laughing and joking. Hyojung was on a roll on her own, after all, and Dasom was her victim for the day.

Hyojung was the first to calm down, surprisingly, while Dasom was only starting to catch her breath, but every glance at her fellow member caused her to chuckle a little more. The only reason Hyojung stopped, however, was because all the laughing caused her to grow a need for the bathroom again.

“Okay, I need to pee again.” She said nonchalantly, almost tossing over her bag to Dasom while she rushed inside the ladies’ room. “Wait for me here, Somie.”

“Don’t take too long.” Dasom called at her, and the only response she was met with was incoherent babbling from a rushing Hyojung. As the door closed, however, Dasom’s focus was quickly shifted towards the approaching young man from the hall.

Seokjin got to the source of all the echoing laughs, and he paused his tracks momentarily upon seeing a senior colleague in front of him. Had she been the one with all the pretty laughs earlier? He hadn’t expected to see her until a few more days, either, but Seokjin found it a pleasant chance to meet Dasom outside of their work schedule. He smiled brightly at her and bowed in respect.

“Good morning, sunbaenim!” Seokjin greeted and, as always, remembered to introduce himself. It also dawned on him then and there how little interaction BTS had with SISTAR all this time. “I’m BTS’ Jin. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

In mutual response, Dasom offered her own smile and bowed (after fully catching her breath, that is), although she realized it was a little harder to do it this time with two bags in her arms. Subconsciously she wondered what could be weighing so much this time in Hyojung’s bag.

“Of course I know you. It’s nice to meet you, too, Jin.” She said, then quickly remembered the recent achievements of the other idol. She gave him a couple of claps of her hands. “And congratulations! I watched MAMA. Those were great awards you received.”

Seokjin’s grin was a mix of happiness and shyness, and Dasom chuckled at the expression. “Thank you! The group is very happy about it.”

“I can imagine so. We’ll be working together soon. I heard it’s your first film.”

He nodded. “It is. I’m excited for the script reading.”

“So am I. It’s quite an interesting story, huh?” Dasom’s talk was cut abruptly as the restroom door opened and out came Hyojung. Seokjin was quick to notice and greet her the same way he did to Dasom.

“Oh, Bangtan?” Hyojung grinned and gave Seokjin two thumbs up. “Congrats on Artist of the Year!”

If being congratulated once by a senior colleague today was already big, having it happen twice was overwhelming enough for Seokjin. He gave another round of thanks, giving deep bows where they were due. Hyojung commented on his politeness. Dasom teased her on her lack thereof (and later reminding Hyojung that she was really just kidding).

Dasom turned back to Seokjin. “You must be busy if you’re here at the building, so we’ll leave you to your work. Unnie and I have to leave anyway. I’ll see you at the script reading.”

“Ah, he’s your co-star?” Hyojung asked, impressed. “Hey, good luck! Acting roles are always great chances for us idols.”

“I’m grateful for it.” He gave them a wave of his hand as they began to walk away. “Take care, sunbaenim. I hope to learn a lot from you.”

“See you on the nineteenth.” Dasom grinned at him as she started heading towards the hallway to the elevators. “Let’s work hard. I'm sure I'll get to learn from you, too.”

Seokjin bid the women his goodbyes, feeling quite happy at the interaction and praise for their group from experienced seniors. At the same time, it seemed that Dasom was approachable enough. Maybe filming won’t be as nerve-wracking as he initially thought. A stirring in his pocket shook him, however, and Seokjin found his phone with a text. It seemed he took too much time wandering the building for his journey to the restroom; Hoseok was looking for him as the meeting would be starting soon.

“Aish—seriously.”

The debate on whether he should go and do his business or hold it in for the rest of the meeting started.

I hope you guys liked it! Like always, feel free to tell me what you think.

Also, I’m on AO3 and AFF!

#bts fanfic #jin #seokjin #dasom #sistar #kim seokjin #kim dasom #sistar fanfic #kpop fanfic #jinsom #jinsom: appreciated #bangtan boys #bangtan sonyeondan #kpop

1 note · View note

digitalmark18-blog · 6 years

Text

The 5 Most Common Mistakes SMBs Make When Designing Their New Website

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/the-5-most-common-mistakes-smbs-make-when-designing-their-new-website/

The 5 Most Common Mistakes SMBs Make When Designing Their New Website

Image credit: ronstik/Shutterstock

Websites are never finished or done and dusted. Here are some of the most common mistakes small businesses make with their website.

Did you know the first website was made was in 1991 and is still online?

I got involved in making websites in 1996. As a fledgling designer, I was annoyed by all of the bad websites out there. This feeling, sadly, hasn’t faded. Some call it “design disease,” but I wouldn’t trade it in.

The biggest issue with a newly revamped website is that people don’t pay close enough attention to the end result that goes live for all the world to see. So the result sometimes is a site representing a business with glitches and mistakes.

While it’s hard to summarize the many mistakes people make when making websites, I have divided them into five main categories.

1. Outsourced supplier mismanagement

Outsourcing is a good idea. Those who recognize they’re not good at everything are the ones who go further in business. However, delegation and abdication are two very different things. As the business owner in charge of the website project, you do have to sign things off, and it’s up to you to check things over properly.

Sometimes it’s not completely the fault of the supplier. Sure, it may be a case of “buy cheap, pay twice,” but if you have decided on a supplier, then give them clear and timely feedback, and show gratitude for their work – they will do a better job for you.

2. “I just want something simple up there quickly.”

People either go the DIY route or ask someone else to help them. In either case, mistakes are made. In both cases, a common issue is that people underestimate the thought, planning, time, talent, care and attention a good website requires. It’s seldom that someone with this intention gets what they desire without some consequences.

They either realize it’s taking more time and skill than they expected, or they don’t realize what is needed. And the result of that is usually not good.

If you decide that you need a new website, plot some time a few months in advance to properly consider who it’s for, what result you want out of it, what you want it to say and roughly how you want the information to be divided up. Then plan time and resources for the steps needed – wireframing, design, coding, content, refinements, testing and launch. Rushing things creates problems.

3. Design glitches galore

It’s hard for a nondesigner to spot what is “good” design” and what constitutes “bad” design. There are many ways in which a design can be bad. However, a few common issues that appear consistently include:

Massive gaps. Many don’t notice when double paragraph spaces happen between paragraphs in website pages. Check the text and correct these extra spaces.

Cheesy images. There are a number of images that people spot and immediately label as “cheesy.” These are the obvious stock photos of people shaking hands, shiny buildings and strange, little 3D people doing different activities.

Full-text justification. While people may think this is a good idea, satisfying our natural desire for symmetry, in narrow columns of text, justified text leaves large gaps between words, making everything look messy.

Poor legibility. This occurs when people use colors that lack sufficient contract between the text and the background.

That picture of you. People put a picture of themselves or their team in About or Meet the Team sections of a website – wonderful! But they use images that are taken on their iPhone, which have poor lighting, are badly cropped, blurry/pixelated, or generally unflattering. There is a better way – use a professional photographer.

4. UX issues: The user journey and user experience

There is a lot of confusion regarding the difference between UX or UI and design. However, some hard and fast rules do apply when it comes to websites. Not everyone follows them, and as a result, some problematic issues come up:

Poor theme selection. If you’re choosing a theme without proper consideration of how your images and content will fit, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. It’s something you need to consider before buying your new template.

Not making the links into links. Many companies will mention their email addresses in the text of a page and then forget to make it a hyperlink.

Using every item from the template. Themes often come with lots of “bells and whistles,” which you may feel compelled to fill in. Just because it’s part of the theme, though, doesn’t mean you have to use it. Sometimes, it’s best to strip things back and avoid adding things to your site for the sake of it. Most people I know prefer simpler sites.

Not checking the site on mobile devices. More than 50 percent of users are looking at websites on their phones rather than their PC. Test your site on your phone – navigate through each page, test links, study each page. This will help you identify things that aren’t lining up or showing up properly.

Links to social media pages that don’t exist. It’s often an afterthought to add social media links, and if they are no longer active, then it’s best to remove it.

5. Poor optimization (SEO and speed)

Traffic is annoying when you’re stuck in it, but when it comes to websites, it’s actually something you really want. Even if you have a fantastic website － clear, easy to navigate and visually appealing － under the hood could be some missed details that will affect the likelihood of your site being found (meaning very little traffic) or your site not loading fast enough (meaning people get impatient and “bounce”).

There are many ways to improve the speed of your site and your chances of getting more search engine traffic. Here are some “under-the-hood” things to check on your site:

Did you get lazy with image names? Rather than leaving images with their default file name, name them with phrases relating to the image, using keywords you’d love people to type in to get your image as a result. For example, “fluffy-white-dog-poodle.jpg” instead of “dog3944394.jpg.”

Mahoosive images? Images need to be optimized to load quickly. Many people disregard this and add images in whatever size they were originally, which is usually too big. This makes the site and images slow to load.

Missing keywords To encourage search engine traffic, there are several places in the code of your site where you can add relevant keywords and phrases, including the Title tag for each page, and ALT tags for each image. Make sure you put these in, as these are basic SEO practices that you need to do as a bare minimum.

What, no Google My Business? This item doesn’t have anything to do with your website but with your Google results – a major source of important traffic to your site. When you search for certain companies, their Google My Business profile will show up on the right side of the screen, and it takes up a good chunk of the results page. This info. needs to be updated with the right pictures, correct address and text relating to your business.

All the WordPress plug-ins in one site! Another common mistake people make that really slows pages down is adding too many plug-ins. Not all the plug-ins are needed; limit yourself to no more than seven or eight.

There is always room to improve. Just like how people never stop learning, websites are never finished. However, if you follow the tips above as your handy life-saving checklist of website love, you’ll have one of the best sites out there.

Keren Lerner

Keren Lerner is the CEO and founder of Top Left Design, a London based design and marketing agency. Founded in 2002, Top Left Design specialises in bespoke designed websites, brands, and marketing material with integrated marketing advice. Keren regularly speaks about design and digital marketing at seminars and workshops for industry organisations across different industries (property, HR, interior design, travel, food, film, finance, and law). She advises on social strategy and communication and trains businesses and teams on how to effectively market themselves online.

Source: https://www.business.com/articles/smb-new-website-mistakes/

0 notes

northfashionandtextiles · 7 years

Text

A D V I C E F R O M A P R O F E S S I O N A L

C A S E S T U D Y O N C A R E E R P R O G R E S S I O N :

Current Job Role: Men’s Senior Design Director

Outward: Dear ***, I am a friend of ***'s. I was given your details to add you on Pinterest and I just wanted to get in touch. I am about to graduate from my course this summer and I was wondering if you had any advice how to get into the industry? Thank you, Rachel North

Reply: Hi Rachel, What did you study ? Fashion or textiles ? Have you ever done an internship ? Most people get a foot in the door that way. We do see many college graduates, we look for someone sharp, on trend, well presented, interested in fashion with natural style, you usually know very quickly if someone is a good fit, positions in US are assistant level, our company pays by the hour for that position.

Portfolio is very important to see your skills and taste level. Most graduates normally work on a project to see what their eye is. Recruitment agencies are probably your best bet, there are U.K based agencies and some that concentrate on international placements, it is a very competitive business to get into, you just need a break. Most agencies you have an appointment, they meet you and keep your details on file should an opportunity fit your profile, sometimes they may have an instant fit for you based on handwriting. Most first jobs in fashion are not well paid, especially in the U.K. Almost everyone uses computers, a good hand in illustrator usually helps, flat sketches etc. most fashion design jobs require this as a basic skill and ability or understanding of PLM, that's where tech packs are built. If you need me to give portfolio feedback I would be more than happy, I can review resume or whatever you want help with. I can also point you in the direction to research should you need it for a specific project.

Good luck.

Outwards: Thank you so much for getting in contact. I study Fashion and Textile Design. So I have done modules in fashion construction, fashion and textile design and printed textiles. I have worked with Photoshop and Illustrator on my course; so I can create mood boards, repeated print designs and technical flats this is something I try to promote in my CV.

I did an internship between my 2-3 year of study at a Bridal Couture studio. I spent a lot of time hand beading accessories and packing orders. It was a very young business with a very small team. I was a great experience as I do enjoy hand-made processes, but there was no element of design, no use of CAD or room for progression, I felt.

I am not really looking to move away from the UK at this point but I feel the opportunities in the UK are limited.

Thank you so much for all of your advice, perhaps signing up for an agency is my next step. I have attached my CV also so if you had time or any brief notes on it, I would be so grateful. I am also showing at New Designers in London this summer and I wanted to invite some brands, who I feel my work relates to/who I would like to work for. Do you have any advice for how to go about that? I was thinking about making a digital invite on Photoshop with some simple imagery of my work and the details of the stand number and so on.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.

Outward: Sorry to bombard you but I thought it was also good to give some context into how I am thinking about the future. The dream, in an ideal world, is to either would like to work in the design of women's wear fashion for brand like Ted Baker, Zara or another high end high street brand. Creating mood boards, tech packs and samples. Incorporating historical detail in a modern context. Or the other route I have been considering is going down a Costume pathway. Allowing me to still be in touch with the handcrafted skills and expressing my love of historical garment detail. I am unsure if this would provide me with more opportunities or if the industry is just as competitive.

I am just going to link my creative instagram account below, I would be interested to hear which route you think my personal style relates to most. Or if you had any thoughts. https://www.instagram.com/northfashiontextiles/ Thanks again, Rachel North

Reply: Hi Rachel, I did take a quick look at your instagram, it looks to me like your strengths may be in textile design and more historical costume making as you said. CAD is a huge role in many companies, everyone needs print and pattern, people generally use Kaledo, Ned Graphics, photoshop or illustrator. In terms of instagram, I would make this your strength, have better quality of images to represent your work, look up Catherinelewisdesign, her instagram as a textile, print and pattern designer is amazing.

You could also show more of the historical side of your research, maybe detailed sketches, close up sections of what you love, vintage fabrics, lace, construction, visit somewhere like the V&A museum, pick a theme, have a story and point of view to tell, the textiles and historical elements will work together. I am sure there are plenty of film, theater companies that work on this, research film companies and costume departments, I am not very familiar.

As for Zara and high street brands, they will be looking for a more current fashion sensibility, research, trend, mood boards etc, color, fabric, I will take a look at your resume.Mood boards can be a collection of images that inspire, interior, exterior, fashion, theater etc, as long as the color tells a story.Section from Catherine Lewis design.Appears to have more of your sensibility.Mood boards I like to accompany your work. Just thoughts, you may already have but it would make your social media and point of view stronger.

Your resume, CV sounds impressive, your final project sounds like the point of view you need, I am sure it looks amazing, it sounds like what you are all about, wish you all the very best and hope you achieve a first. I would say your resume is good for your show in London but as a send out to agencies maybe you could make it more concise. Usually 1 page, people just do 't have the time.

Best of luck !! Good luck in London and your job search. Sell yourself and the quality of work in a highly professional way. Print and pattern could be a good fit, just my opinion is the theater avenue proves difficult. As I said if you want fashion and Zara like companies make it more commercial, but still have a you point of view, market research and looking at what looks cool and fashionable out there, needs to be relevant. These roles you do need color, pattern and technical knowledge.

Sorry for my rambling! You got me on a Sunday lazy morning.

Outward: No, its fantastic! Thank you so much for all your advice and feedback. I have a lot of research and moodboards, sitting in my sketchbook which I just have not published yet.

I found the course is so fast-paced and demanding that I rarely thought about publishing things like that and I was a little intimidated by the 'instagram aesthetic'. I didn't know whether the instagram community reacted better to clean finished pieces. I will make sure to post more of my research, narrative and viewpoint on my instagram in the future! That's great pro-active advice for me.

Maybe I'll take some time when I finish my course to do a self-led more commercial project with a historic inspiration and document it more fully on my social media.

I will also make a more concise version of my CV for job applications and larger companies for sure. As for direction I am still confused but all of your advice will be so helpful and I will start looking into agencies for sure! I will be exhibiting at New Designers in a few weeks time too so I am hoping to gain some more contacts/advice there too.

Thank you so much, again, for all your help and advice. I really appreciate you taking the time to support me. I feel a little less apprehensive about the jump from University to the working world now.

Thank you, Rachel North

0 notes