#AP classes making me write everything my beloved

[not-poignant]

Birthday Spotlight - The Raven Prince

[20th February - Pisces]

The Raven Prince has been a highly divisive character since introduced. Beloved Unseelie King who created the most peaceable reign in existence for the Unseelie fae, or evil, cunning and manipulative trickster, he's a character that often has people feeling everything for him from pure hatred, to hero worship, to general love, to constant suspicion. And you know what? He'd love that.

The Raven Prince is a raven shifter who gave himself the name 'the Raven Prince' long before he ever became royalty, famously eating his true name from the minds of his parents. His true Unseelie appetite is feeding on words, languages, writing and even culture. He is a world class Master Mage, more powerful than anyone will ever truly comprehend, and he prefers diplomacy over bloodshed, but that doesn't mean he won't make mischief, or ruin someone's life, especially if he feels slighted.

The Raven Prince has been trickster, villain, antihero, hero, and just a raven. He has a complex relationship with everyone, but those who get to know him, tend to adore him.

But a story then? All right. I make no pretence at being a storyteller, I’m only a raven, and we only croak and caw don’t we? Try and find something of use in my words, or don’t, it matters little to me.

The Ice Plague II

Game Theory - (canon) Mentioned in the very first chapter, but never seen in the story, the Raven Prince's presence was already established as the 'King that Augus deposed/defeated' and drew everyone's suspicions towards him long before he ever officially became a villain who needed to be defeated by Gwyn ap Nudd. For years, no one - including readers - knew how Augus defeated the Raven Prince. And Augus wasn't about to tell a soul.

The Ice Plague II - The Seething Seas - (canon) The Raven Prince returns in the flesh for the first time in the canon, and manages to save everyone's ass several times over. But he does it in ways that doesn't endear him to anyone, and he seems to prefer it that way, right up until Augus breaks his heart.

A Broken Feather, Straightened - (canon) Asexual, sex averse, and not prone to romanticism, the Raven Prince is curious, nonetheless, about Augus' vocation as a professional dominant. Augus is determined to make the Raven Prince his, in his quest to eventually make him vulnerable enough to defeat.

These Troubled Times - (canon) Augus is determined to try and defeat the Raven Prince, and the Raven Prince is determined to make sure Augus is aware of his place beneath him, as servant and not master.

Deeper into the Woods - (canon) Mentioned only

The Nightingale and Terho the Mouse-Lad - (canon) Mentioned only

The Court of Five Thrones - (canon) Shown in Augus' flashbacks, and the question of how the Raven Prince was defeated is finally answered.

The Ice Plague I - A Forest of Fire - (canon) Only mentioned here.

The Ice Plague III - The Ice Plague - (canon) Creating a holograph of himself within a crystal to teach Mosk magic, his lessons are invaluable in teaching Mosk the finer points of learning magecraft.

All that We Were, All that We Will Ever Be - (canon) In Gwyn's and Augus' happy ending, the Raven Prince is an unexpected part of it, in ways that enrich their lives

The Wildness Within - (AU) The Raven Prince is a significant figure in this, as the one who takes on Gwyn as his apprentice in magic, learns how to become a softer person, and forces a higher Court status on Augus.

Spoils of the Spoiled - (AU) Only ever known as 'Mr Prince', the Raven Prince here is the master of the House of Ravens at Murdock College where Gwyn and Augus attend as students. A stern guide, and retired Olympic fencer.

Constellations - (AU) Mentioned only.

The Lone Wolf - (AU) Significant figure and master of Gwyn ap Nudd, and Unseelie King. Puts him in a difficult position, but still has love for this fae he adopted.

The King's Dog - (AU) Continuation of The Lone Wolf. Holds the Masque where he insists Gwyn attend and Augus be there.

The Nascent Diplomat - (AU) Continuation of The King's Dog. Unseelie King who finally learns the truth of Gwyn's past and fully steps into his role as Gwyn's father.

Underline the Blue - Cameo, and Nate Prince's uncle.

Underline the Silver - (upcoming) In which the Raven Prince (as Corbyn Prince - his human counterpart) will be a point-of-view character and omega opposite Augus Each Uisge, a peak alpha, in the Underline the Rainbow omegaverse.

A raven shifter.

Incredibly intelligent, known as the 'Wordsmith.' His dialogue is always quite precise and it's rare for him to fumble his words.

Black hair, black eyes, raven feathers in his hair.

Distinctive raven feather cloak and prefers wearing black shoes, black clothing, and a lot of silver chains with crystals that are charmed.

Age undetermined, but in the canon, over 10k years.

Unseelie King and the most beloved of the Unseelie Kings

A fae superstar even among the superstars

A fickle trickster who can sometimes be profoundly childish or profoundly mature, the most like the Gentry of all the fae we meet. He can be petty and cruel, but he has a soft heart deep, deep, deep down. Unfortunately it doesn't stop him from doing some truly horrendous things.

One of the strongest magic users in existence. Master Mage, trained at the School of the Staff.

Eats language.

Selfish but drawn to roles of service.

Lively curiosity.

Incredibly self deprecating followed by grandiose statements which are often just him dropping facts because he really is that powerful.

Strongly prefers his raven form, and feels 'clumsy' in human form, which goes some way to explaining why all his actions seem so precise in human form.

Finding Augus incredibly and bewitchingly attractive (and sometimes even falling in love with him), and constantly insulting Gwyn and Ash (but secretly quite liking Gwyn).

That's NOT how you deal with Ash's debt to Olphix, the Raven Prince! (The Ice Plague II)

Being known as the defeated King, and then finally finding out he was behind it all.

Giving Augus to the Nightingale to protect himself and the Kingdom

All his moments with Mosk on the Mantissa, especially on the crow's nest.

Always has black eyes and black hair

Excellent at fencing in every universe

A precise, educated manner of speaking, highly self-educated, comes from humble origins.

Trauma in his background that's often undisclosed for a long time.

Big reader, into languages, finds culture fascinating. Often a writer.

Educator.

Puts himself in roles where he is in service to others (King & educator being the most common)

Has body dysmorphia (when in human form in the fae realm, and the rest of the time just in general).

The Raven Prince was partially inspired by the character of Jareth as played by David Bowie in The Labyrinth.

He gave himself the name 'the Raven Prince' before he was ever royalty, and due to his ability to eat language, he at the memory of his true name out of his family's minds. As a result, he is the only one who knows his true name. (And no, it's not Corbyn, that's just the name I have for him when he's human which hilariously means 'Raven.')

A lot of people tend to assume the Raven Prince is a top in the bedroom, but he's naturally a bottom, and leans towards a degree of submission when the circumstances are safe. He's asexual, but curious about the sensations around sex.

The most divisive Fae Tales character I've ever written. The people who love him, love him. The people who hate him, hate him. I love him. He's probably in the top five characters I've ever written. Maybe even the top three.

Initially I built up his reputation and power by intentionally never having him in stories for years, and only ever having people refer to him with often a great sense of nostalgia (or in Augus' case, bitterness and regret). By the time he appeared in the canon, in the present, over half a decade had gone by, yet it felt like he'd been with us for a long time. But this was an intentional writing technique, and it's one of my favourites.

I no longer crave death. But I am only a bird, and I fear what comes next.

The Ice Plague II

#birthday spotlight #the raven prince #fae tales verse #fae tales #pia foxhall #not poignant #it's REALLY hard not to put in 'i am a dumb fucking raven' in the quotes here just know that #or 'this is all that i am' #anyway!! #birthday #character birthday #do you have any memorable moments about the Raven Prince that stick in your mind most?

[cheyconicbookreviews]

The Edens (will reblog as the last two (3?) books release)

Devney Perry is a goddess. The ease with which these relationships build and flourish is so natural. As a reader, you don’t even notice a shift or a pivotal moment when they blossom from one phase to the next. These organic relationships are magical. 

Also, with the attention to food and coffee in this series, can I move to Quincy? Is there an opening for a girl and her husband to get in on this family for some free deliciousness?

Devney takes everything about writing, everything you might learn in an AP English class, and applies it so effortlessly you don’t even realize you’re getting played. And then it’s so well done you not only fell into it, but you enjoyed it. Ya sicko. Small Town Romance, Each book follows a sibling, Romantic suspense

Indigo Ridge Griffin and Winslow

Fun fact about me– my comfort show is Criminal Minds. I mean, who can resist? Anyway, I have a really hard time sleeping if the soothing sounds of serial murder are not playing in the background. So when this book started off with a badass female chief of police learning her new town has had 7 gruesome suicides in about 7 years, I knew this was going to be good. Winslow Covington is the new girl in a small town. I mean Andy Griffith, everyone knows everyone small town. Population me and you small town. Winslow is new, a young woman, the Mayor’s grand daughter, and the new chief of police. As you might imagine, people aren’t too keen to welcome her with open arms. Her Pops encouraged her to make friends with the Eden family, as they’re basically royalty. And our darling girl unknowingly has a one-night stand with Griffin, you guessed it, Eden. Meet Griffin Eden, grumpy, rugged ranch man who does not want commitment, or change. He’s a family man, loyal to his siblings and parents, but everyone else can go as far as he’s concerned. When Griffin and Winn agree that neither of them would have engaged in the one-night stand had they known who the other was, they were relatively at peace. That is, until a body of a young woman is found at the base of Indigo Ridge on Griffin’s property. Everyone is ready to call it a suicide, but Winslow Covington isn’t so sure. Ruffling feathers as she investigates, Winn wants to make sure that the case is truly closed. Winslow and Griffin are both very dynamic characters. Their relationship feels natural, both in progression and display. There isn’t any unnecessary drama for the sake of plot development. It’s clean and wonderful. The balance of romance and mystery was perfect, in my opinion. The only thing that even remotely felt rushed, in my opinion, was the epilogue. It was almost like Devney had so much she wanted to tell us about their relationship, and not enough pages. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Juniper Hill Knox and Memphis

Knox, the charming younger brother of our beloved Griffin wants two things in this world– peace and quiet. He is a successful restaurant owner and chef, with a mild reputation as a grump. Enter Memphis Ward– single mom, coming in to live in the loft above his garage so she can work at the Eloise Hotel on Main St. Memphis has one goal in mind– carve a good life for her son. Recently cut off from her access to essentially infinite money, Memphis has taken a job as a housekeeper at the Eden family hotel. Grumpy Knox does *not* like that he said yes to Eloise to allow Memphis to live in his spare loft. Memphis does not like that she feels like she’s intruding. Both of them do not like how attracted they are to each other. After some back and forth, they start to get a rhythm of civilness between them. They dance around this invisible line they’ve set. And my God they’re SO mature about it. Devney has my insta-buy approval. But this daycare? Absolutely malicious. You know that feeling when you’re reading and you just *know* something is a big deal? Yeah.

Then here’s another truth. I’m going to take them. I’m going to take all of your bests. Every damn one until you can’t keep track of the top five anymore because there are so many bests that you’ll need a hundred to capture them all.

Knox and Memphis are so so good for each other. They’re magic and stardust and just perfect. I know I keep talking about how organic these relationships are, but I promise I won’t shut up about them. And the DRAMA the ANGST ugh my heart. Heart meet roof. My apple watch told me regularly that mindful breathing could calm me down. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Garnet Flats Talia and Foster

Talia Eden, the super woman is shocked and appalled to see her ex show up at her work, nearly 7 years after he married her best friend and roommate. The audacity of this man to try to win her back? She wasn’t having it. Foster Madden, World Champion Fighter, boxer extraordinaire makes the big move from Vegas to Quincy to win back his girl. He wanted to apologize to her, to tell her everything, but Talia would have none of it. How could she?

So far, this was the least favorite of the Eden stories for me. I love Talia, but the whole deal with Foster was a little much. By the end I liked them, but it wasn’t until like, 60% through that I was on board with them. And I wish that Vivi wasn’t involved. Like at all. I wish I had more of them relearning each other than Talia being jealous of Vivi.It was still a good read, just not my favorite.  

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Again, full reviews of the next books will be reblogged for consistency :)

#the edens #devney perry #talia x foster #griffin x winslow #knox x memphis #quincy montana #the eden family #book review #series review

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ starting prompt: “Everything changed for me when I met her... My Beloved.”

♡ pairing: yandere! damian wayne (Robin) & fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: “imagine me and you? I do. I think about day and night, it’s only right, to think about the girl you love and hold her tight. so happy together.” 

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / in this AU everyone in the batfamily is a yandere and probably has a darling so yeah.

Gotham Academy, for the wealthy and elite one might say. you were one of the lucky ones who got accepted through their scholarship programs and busted your ass off to keep your grades up all years. 

you had very few friends considering most Academy students hardly interacted those who they deemed poor. one friend you did have though was the Wayne heir himself. Damian was one of the first to introduce himself to you when you first arrived to Gotham Academy and really remained your friend throughout the years. 

the fresh morning air blew in the wind, making you pull your jacket closer to you as you tried to find warmth in it. the jackets they provided for your uniform were extremely thin and hardly held in any kind of heat. 

“hey! I think the Wayne kid is looking for you!” you heard your friend, Reagan tell you, “he’s waiting for you at the central garden!” you gave him a smile, thanking him for letting you know before running to where Damian usually was in the morning. 

your mornings with Damian, when he would attend school, would start with him bringing you your favorite coffee and switching homework assignments. 

unlike Damian, you were usually better in courses that had to do with humanities, such as history and english courses and you lacked the smarts that Damian had with science and math courses so the two of you would swap homework first thing in the morning. 

“good morning Wayne,” you said, sitting down on the bench. he handed you his coffee, blowing it to make sure it wasn’t too hot, “good morning, beloved. how did you sleep?” he asked, making sure your eye bags weren’t too harsh. 

you shrugged, “I’m okay. just stressed because of midterms and all of that. how did you sleep?” you asked, taking a sip of coffee. “great considering we fell asleep on Facetime together,” he mentioned, “I did the ap calc homework that you can finally copy!” he added on. 

Damian handed you the calc homework as he watched you scribble down the answers. he noticed that you had painted your nails a new color and touched the polish with his finger, “baby blue? that’s new,” he murmured. you nodded happily, “I love this color on me. I even brought color with me in case it chipped throughout the day!” you exclaimed. 

you showed him the bottle and he grabbed it, “put it on me,” you were taken back by the request. you didn’t take Damian was the kind of guy to dabble in wearing polish but nevertheless complied and put the polish on it before grabbing his hand and blowing on it to make it dry quicker, “I didn’t know you wore nail polish!” you mentioned. 

Damian thought for a moment. 

“I don’t but that way people will know we’re matching,” he murmured as the warning bell rang off. 

you and Damian walked slowly to your first period class. the summer going into your Senior year, Damian made it a duty of his to make sure that the two of you shared the same classes. so without you knowing, he had Tim hack into the Gotham Academy school system and pull Damian onto the rosters where you were enrolled in. 

you found the similarities to be funny, however; some of the teachers wondered how the hell they put the two of you in every class together. some didn’t care considering you were able to keep Damian from saying smart shit to someone in class and others were just weirded out by the coincidence. 

“god, I hate this class. you know Matt who sits in front of the class? I have to swear some gross comment about how great my legs look in the uniform by him at least twice every day.” 

Damian’s eye twitched at what you had said, “does it bother you?” he asked, his fist clenched. you nodded annoyingly, “more than anything in the world. I can’t go one day without hearing the comments,” you groaned. 

the two of you got to class but as you walked in, you had saw that Matt wasn’t in class and sighed in relief. Damian had told you he was running off to the bathroom before class started and just to write down whatever he missed while he was gone. 

you sat down, immediately writing what was already on the board but as the class started, Damian still hadn’t shown up. you were beginning to think that maybe the coffee had upset his stomach but about half way through the class, Damian came and plopped down at his desk. 

“where were you? Jackson nearly had a fit because you were late!” you muttered to him. he shrugged, taking out his pen and notebook before leaning over to copy what you had on yours.

it took about another twenty minutes when another teacher ran into the class frantically, “Matthew Harrison was just found in the garden, unconscious and is barely hanging onto his life!” the teacher told your teacher, making all of you gasp in surprise, “call an ambulance!” 

you stared to Damian wide eyed, “my God, that’s insane! we were just there. I wonder who did it,” you told Damian, chewing your lip nervously, “I hope whoever did it doesn’t come for any of us.”

Damian could tell you were scared from the news and he quickly grabbed your hand, “I think you’re safe, beloved. you shouldn’t worry about it,” he assured you. you nodded, going back to writing down the notes, “hey, he finally got what he deserved for harassing you, right?” Damian mentioned. 

you laughed shaking your head, “I guess but I mean, I hope he doesn’t die or anything,” that was the last thing you said before the both of you got to working on the work the teacher assigned for the class while she was gone.

Damian could tell you were shaken by the news but at the end of the day, he did what he had to do. someone was harassing his beloved and he’d be damned if they got away with it. it took every ounce of self restriction to stop himself from actually killing the idiot but the beating he actually gave him did more than enough to satisfy him for the time being.

two broken legs, a broken nose, and making him go blind in one eye was more than enough. the great thing about Gotham Academy was that because of how old the building was, cameras weren’t installed anywhere outside and any cameras that were inside were just in the upgraded part of the school which happened to be the front of the school and the gym. 

the end of the day came as Damian had offered to take you home. you denied the request, telling him you wanted to walk to get some fresh air before you trapped yourself in your room for the rest of the night. 

Damian was hesitant on letting you but at the end of the day, you weren’t his...yet. he knew his feelings for you weren’t exactly normal. far from it, actually. 

when his feelings for you boiled over to damn near obsession, he confided in the one person he trusted the most and that was Dick. he practically confessed how he needed to be near or around you every day or else he would go insane. even if it was just seeing you from afar made his day a 100x better. 

Dick laughed at his brothers confession because he knew it was about time it happened to him. he had gone through the same feelings when he met his now wife and so did Bruce, Tim, Duke, and Jason. 

when Damian was finally confident enough to tell everyone else, they finally let him in on the family secret. these feelings were nothing to be afraid of. he should embrace them and hell, make his feelings get even ‘worse’. it was his job as your protector to feel that way and act on his instincts for you. 

Damian got home, seeing his father and brother watching the news. they were covering what happened at school and a part of him laughed seeing the coverage. 

“did you see what happened?” Dick asked his brother. Damian nodded, kicking off his shoes and laying on the other couch, “of course I did because I was the one who did it,” he said nonchalantly. 

Bruce and Dick stared at him, wide eyed and shocked, “the scum was messing with my beloved. he was making disgusting comments about her and degrading her in a way she and I didn’t like. the piece of shit deserved more than what he got,” he stated, not even bothering to look at them to see their reaction.

“so it’s best we don’t investigate this, I assume?” Bruce asked, “you would assume right,” Damian replied. 

Dick got off the couch and went on one knee to look at his brother, “Damian, you know the implications that comes with how you left him. you know that, right?” he stated. Damian stared at Dick with no fear in his eyes, “everything changed for me when I met her... my beloved. I would kill for her if I had too.” 

Bruce sat in his seat, proudly smirking at what his son said. Dick nodded, walking back to the couch as Damian stood up to go to his bedroom, “it’s only a matter of what before I make her mine so expect her to be around soon enough,” he told them.

+

a few weeks had passed since the incident with your classmate. since then, you had gotten clingier to Damian, not wanting to be at the end of the beating. Daimian had no issue in it, he was practically basking in the touches and side hugs you were giving him. 

you and Damian had decided to head back to his place after school to get some studying done. Friday nights were usually reserved to studying at your place but Damian had offered to make you dinner at his place and study before watching a few movies. 

you had never been over the Wayne manor before and frankly, you were kind of scared to run into his father. THE Bruce Wayne would most likely be in attendance and meeting the most powerful man in Gotham would probably scare anyone. 

Damian unlocked the gate, quickly taking your backpack as you snuggled into his jacket. you were immediately welcomed by his butler, Alfred who offered to put both of you bags in the hallway so no one would step over them. you thanked him profusely, making Damian mutter to you that that’s why he was here. to serve you. 

“so, what would you like to eat, beloved? I can make you anything you desire,” he boasted. you looked at the cookbook that was laid next to you and flipped through the first few pages, “this sounds nice,” you pointed to the plant based steak with veggies.

Damian quickly got to work, making the veggies first as he offered for you taste them every now and again. you would usually relay a kiss on his cheek as he finally got to cooking the steak. you couldn’t help but wonder how he got to be such a great cook, however; as he was finishing plating the food, you saw his father as well as you assumed were his brothers. 

“uh Damian?” you mentioned, pointing to the three men who walked in. Damian sighed knowing that of course his brothers were going to come and annoy him, “who’s your friend?” Dick asked, putting his chin on his hand. 

“this is ( your name ), my beloved,” he told them proudly. you were a bit taken back by the nickname he so easily used on you, “ahh, we’ve heard so much about you,” Tim continued, “she’s so pretty....she’s not like other girls,” Dick mocked. 

your face felt a burning sensation as Bruce told his sons to be quiet, “nice to meet you ( your name ),” Bruce introduced, “welcome to the family,” you barely caught what he said as Damian excused the two of you to go up to his bedroom. 

“your family is...nice,” you tried to say without sounding nervous. Damian rolled his eyes, “they’re bunch of idiots. that’s what they are,” he muttered, not bothering to look back at them. 

once you got to his room, your mouth dropped a bit. you had never seen such a luxurious bedroom before. satin sheets, the coldest pillows, his bedroom could probably house a family if he really wanted too and the fact that this was his bedroom, you were taken back. 

“wow, so this is how the rich and famous live?” you joked, sitting down on his bed. he shook his head, “all this means nothing to me...as long as you’re with me, I’d be the happiest person alive,” you stared at Damian, wondering if what he said was really true. 

the two of you ate, mostly in silence as you tried to take what Damian had said. there had been rumors floating around Gotham Academy that Damian might’ve liked you. you tried to dispel the rumors, claiming that someone like you was no where near Damian’s type but now that you were hearing the words he was telling you, you were more keen on acting on his feelings. 

after finishing dinner, he offered for you to join him on his bed to watch a movie. you had never actually gotten to hang out with Damian outside of school. since you were always so busy doing schoolwork and Damian always had things to take care of, as he put it, you two never relaxed together. 

the aura in the room was cozy as he offered you a very expensive looking blanket to cover you up from the chilly air coming from his window. the movie the two of you picked was some random rom-com, it felt kind of stupid to be watching this kind of movie with Damian but at some point, you stopped paying attention to the movie and looked up to him. 

“did you really mean what you said earlier?” you whispered to him. he gave you a confused look, “of course I did. would I ever lie to you?” he said back, kind of offended that you would even accuse him of lying. 

you sat back up on the bed and turned to fix yourself as you finally gave him a kiss. Damian’s eyes widened, not expecting you to do that to him. regardless, he immediately pulled you on top of him and deepened the kiss by pushing you up against him. 

Damian slid his hands in the back pocket of your skirt, finding it a bit confusing why the uniforms even had pockets on the skirts. he gripped your ass a bit, making you moan in surprise as Damian tried his hardest to contain himself but failing as he slipped his tongue into yours. 

the two of you remained kissing for what felt like hours. you knew your lips were bound get bruised from the amount of tugging Damian was doing but by the time you pulled away, you could see the faintest of blushes appearing on Damian’s brown skin. 

“wow, didn’t know you felt like that for me,” you muttered shyly. Damian chuckled, giving you a quick peck, “I have feelings you wouldn’t even begin to understand but one day....one day you will,” he replied. 

you didn’t pay no mind to his reply as he had brought you down for another kiss. what you didn’t catch was the smirk playing on his face. he knew that once graduation came, there would already be a ring on that left ring finger and soon enough, you’d be baring his heirs. 

the Wayne’s got what they wanted. it didn’t matter what they had to do to get it but what the Wayne’s wanted, they got. 

#dc #dc comics #dc imagines #dc imagine #dc x reader #damian wayne #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne x reader #yandere damian wayne #yandere damian wayne x reader #yandere damian wayne imagine

[isagisyoichi]

PINKY STAR (RUN) :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

SYNOPSIS: isagi as your boyfriend

CHARACTERS INCLUDED: isagi yoichi my boyfriend of many several years

WARNINGS: swearing? i think idk i forget also yah pretend they all go to the same school and stuff. also horribly self indulgent if u couldn't already tell

A/N: if you remember my old one delete it from your memory it was literally so bad help anyways the re-up because my boyfriend deserves better. also i really like this one and i feel like it’s more in character for him :P lol i've had this in my drafts for like, ever <3 but also my last post for a while because i have ap exams and my sat soon :P

FOR: the anon that asked me where my original isagi bf hcs went :’)

after the initial awkwardness of being in a new relationship fades and you two become comfortable with each other, a relationship with isagi would be like dating your slightly awkward best friend who you make out with sometimes.

like, i don’t really see isagi being high maintenance, so i feel like a relationship with him would definitely be on the relaxed side, but still romantic, you know?

isagi’s inner monologue is so funny and he definitely lets his thoughts out to you. it makes you laugh to see your usually friendly-to-all boyfriend have his moments, too.

you guys are one of those couples that give each other a look when someone’s doing something weird in public #telepathicconnection <3

but, isagi’s really such a sweetie with you. i know user isagisyoichi may be slightly biased when they say this, but believe me when i say that isagi’s 100% boyfriend material.

walks you to class whenever he can. always either holding your hand as he listens attentively to you complaining about school.

writes down things he feels are important about you in a digital note entitled “y/n 💗,” so he can remember them in the future.

isagi's used to talking to all kinds of people, so even if you're not the most talkative, he can adjust with no problem.

and he’ll always entertain you about whatever stupid conversation you wanna have.

kinda basic with pet names. babe, baby, dork (he would, i don’t wanna hear it), are his usual rotation.

randomly compliments you/says these really romantic things out of nowhere because he can’t control himself and often blurts things out.

“yeah, of course, when we get married, i’ll-”

“when we get married?” you inquire as you cut isagi off. you two have never discussed marriage, just but the thought of isagi wanting to spend the rest of his life with you is enough to make your head spin.

isagi’s eyes go wide when he realizes what he’s said. damn his mouth that moves faster than his mind.

swallowing hard and taking a breath, isagi says, “y-yeah, when we get married,” further affirming his statement with a nod, albeit a bit of a nervous one.

now both of you guys are flustered LOL.

likes to sit his head in your lap and have you play with his hair, while you two talk or just sit in silence.

such a good listener, perfect person to rant about anything with. he’s very understanding, he’ll hold you if you need him to, wipe your tears if you’re crying, give you advice if you need it, just overall so sweet.

also always knows when you're sad because of his intuition. isagi encourages you to open up to him, but ultimately doesn’t force you, just lets you know that he’s always there for you <3

(that's kind of lie because isagi does pry a little LOL, but he means well)

takes care of you! nags you a little, tries his best to make sure you're not doing anything stupid, and if you are, that someone responsible (him) is watching you, looks after you when you’re sick, etc.

gives you his jacket when you’re cold (he’s been waiting to do that his whole life bro LMAOO), carries your things, always texts you good morning and good night, just overall sooo good to you.

but as soft as he is for you, isagi does have this tendency to get these random spouts of confidence, so sometimes he’ll say or do something really bold out of nowhere.

like, he’ll suddenly grab your waist and pull you closer to him, or he’ll kiss you out of the blue. the flustered expression that rests on your face for a change always makes him smirk *heart eyes*

in general, though, isagi's still kind of awkward sometimes regardless and does say or do things that make you go "???" and make him be like "why did i do that" LOL he's so cute though <333

he’s pretty basic with dates, usually opts for things like restaurants, walks in the parks, movie nights, or stuff like that, but they’re still really fun!

but, if you ever want to do something out of the norm, he wouldn't be opposed to it, either. but, you do have to tell him ‘cause he's not a mind reader lol.

(okay but, one time, isagi tried to watch a scary movie with you because he wanted to do that thing where he wraps his arm around you during the scary parts, but HE ended up being scared instead 😭)

isagi’s the type to put your name with a heart emoji or the date you guys started dating in his instagram bio LOL

y/n 💓 IHS Forward #10 ⚽️ *insert some soccer quote about grinding*

it’s a bit middle school, but you let it slide because you know he just wants to show you off <3

study sessions are normal between you two but, you guys always get bored or distracted halfway through and start watching youtube or something LOL.

it’s canon he’s a thigh man lol, so if he ever sees you wearing an oversized shirt, especially one of his, with shorts, isagi will literally short circuit in real life.

he keeps his hand on your thigh when you guys cuddle that day, tracing patterns on your skin, or just squeezing it every now and then.

in general, though, isagi likes poking at and playing with them whenever they're out <3

once, isagi wanted you to do that trend on tiktok where he sits between your thighs and stuff, but he had no idea how to bring it up LOL

so, isagi just watched tiktoks of it in front of you and hoped eventually you would get the hint 🙄

and you did, thanks to his incredible lack of subtly. he doesn’t even care when you giggle and tell him how bad he is at being slick, isagi got your thighs around him, he won!!!!!!

takes a picture (or two or three) to savor the moment.

(even though he could literally just ask you to do it again in the future, but whatever, i guess)

when you’re dating isagi, the team comes with him too LOL

they’re always snapchatting you pictures of isagi when they’re hanging out without you, with stupid captions like, “look how sad your boyfriend is without you 😞”

isagi’s not even sad in the picture, he’s just confused as to why they’re shoving a camera in his face 😭

isagi one hundred percent attempts to get you to run the mile with him during gym if you don’t already.

“babe, just try!” isagi pants, as he catches up to you and your friends, as you guys are still on your second lap.

admittedly, the effort is cute, but beloved, i hate to break it to you- i will not be doing anything of the sort.

he will sit down or walk around with you after you finish the mile, though. if he’s not already playing soccer lollll.

when he does choose to go with you, expect exclamations from the team about how isagi “abandoned us for his little relationship” 👎

isagi’s receiving love language is words of affirmation (also basically canon LOL) so, he really values the compliments you give him with his whole heart.

you could tell him how his hair looks nice in the morning, and isagi will think about it all day.

whether it be about how cute he is, or how talented of a player he is, isagi really is happiest when you praise him <3

speaking of soccer, isagi has this tendency to get lost in the moment and talk your head off about some soccer related tangent that probably makes no sense to you.

his eyes light up and his voice is just oozing with passion for what he does as he goes into detail about how he made this crazy goal at practice while you stare at him with the biggest heart eyes ever, adoring his dedication.

and of course when isagi realizes he was rambling, he apologizes profusely for “boring” you, like the gentleman he is.

but when you reassure him that he could never bore you and that you want nothing more than for him to go on, isagi begins to feels lightheaded due to his adoration for you <3

if you're the type to go all out when it supporting isagi at soccer- like make one of those corny signs, yell from the crowd, wear his spare jersey to games, isagi will physically have to withhold his heart from jumping out his chest.

he's a little embarrassed that you're doing all that for him, but the effort means soooo much to him.

and speaking of soccer, it would mean a lot to isagi if you not only supported him at games and stuff, but expressed an interest in learning more about soccer as a whole, too.

you know, learn a little more about the game on your own accord, ask him to teach you how to properly play, or even challenge him to a one on one, do stuff like that, and he’ll literally be head over heels for you. well, more than he already is.

(he always goes easy on you on your guys 1v1's and he thinks your efforts are adorable, no matter how much you may or may not suck)

he'd repay the effort and try to get interested in whatever your hobbies are!

also, you can get him to do almost anything if you pout and beg hard enough, you’re literally so hard to say no to in isagi’s eyes <3

isagi’s the type to not realize when other people are flirting with him LOL

he just thinks they’re being nice (unless they’re being straight up) and i don’t think he would really process it because he’s so focused on you romantically, if that makes sense.

once he realizes you’re jealous, isagi apologizes earnestly, reassuring you over and over again that you're everything he could ask for and that he would never intentionally try to hurt you and all that jazz.

although, i will admit, sometimes isagi’s kinda smug when you're jealous, especially when it’s over a dumb reason 👎

however, when he’s jealous i feel like it could go one of two ways-

on normal days, isagi would just stand there to “intimidate” the other person, maybe cough a little for emphasis until they go away lol.

but on days where he’s already mad/filled with adrenaline/or someone’s really not taking a hint and you’re visibly uncomfortable- oh boy, it’s like a switch flips in him.

has those same fiery eyes he has during the climax of a game. the energy he’s exuding is dead serious, and that alone is enough for the person bothering you to go away. not bad for a man that’s only 5’8 🥰

adding on, isagi doesn’t take any shit about you, ever. even if it’s from his friends. usually isagi’s very neutral and doesn’t actively try to start conflict, but there are some things he’ll always defend and you’re one of them.

isagi always listens/watches/reads/etc whatever you recommend him (on that note, please recommend him good anime because isagi’s out here willingly telling people his favorite anime is darling in the franxx), even if he doesn’t necessarily like it LOL

you could show isagi objectively, the worst song ever and he would be like “yeah, it was good babe!” (it was not)

also does the same thing when you bring him shopping with you, like he's absolutely NO HELP 😭

you could try on the ugliest sweater known to man and he’d like “you look nice 🙂” pls be honest isagi, you can say it’s hideous!!!!!!

but isagi’s also being somewhat truthful in his statement because he does genuinely think you look nice in everything <3

also loves when you wear his clothes- always feels a mixture between pride and slight shyness?

kinda lol idk but overall, isagi really is sooo happy you wanna show him off that much, especially when you're wearing something of his around his friends :')

he says “i love you” first, no doubt.

he’s a bit nervous when he does because he doesn’t know if you’ll reciprocate, but he really does love you and he feels like he physically can’t hold it in anymore.

“i promise you don’t have to say it back!” isagi reassures anxiously. “i know it’s a really big commitment, and if it’s too early for you right now-”

“i love you, too.”

#queued #blue lock #bllk #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock headcanons #bllk headcanons #isagi yoichi #isagi #isagi blue lock #isagi x reader #isagi yoichi x reader #isagi headcanons #isagi fluff #isagi imagine

[magnetarmadda]

My Decade in Books Tag

@lexi-rose-studyblr tagged me for this--thanks!!

The rules: respond to the prompt “my decade in books” however you want, & then tag some ppl! I chose some of my favorites from that year along with a brief description of what I was doing (which is different than what the person who tagged me did). You can do that or make up your own response

I had to do something I never do to make this post: use Tumblr on my computer. I forgot what it looks like in a browser instead of mobile--it’s weird

Lucky for me, I joined Goodreads in 2009, although I didn’t use it regularly until 2015. So I had some help to remember, but let’s just say I left a lot of blanks for myself

2010: This was the end of my sophomore and start of junior year in high school, and because of the coursework at the time, I still had the ability to read in every spare moment. I read a lot of the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer, a lot of e.e. cummings, and Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

2011: Junior-senior year of high school, and I was so concerned with first AP tests and then college applications, I know goodreads snuck off my radar a lot. I finally read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was one of my grandpa’s favorite books (he died in 2003), and many other classics as I prepped for my AP Lit test. I actually enjoyed many of the ones I read, but I no longer remember which ones I read from the 2010-2012 period, so I thought I’d mention a couple of them here: The Great Gatsby, Cry the Beloved Country, Go Tell it On the Mountain, Sons and Lovers, and Pride and Prejudice

2012: Senior year of high school and starting my freshman year of college. I really had no idea how much my life was about to change--I regularly stay in touch with only a tiny handful of my friends from high school now, which is weird. I do remember, though, in prep for my AP Lit test, my teacher gave us a list of prompts from previous years, and I made it my mission to find a way to use Harry Potter for all of them. I ended up writing the actual test essay on the Scottish Play--which I dearly love--but it was fun anyway. I again have a mostly empty goodreads, but I really liked The Macho Paradox by Jackson Katz and The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale

2013: Ending my freshman year and starting my sophomore year of college, I started dating my now-husband, and I used goodreads much less than before. Of the few books I included on goodreads, I enjoyed Deadly Persuasion by Jean Kilbourne and The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill, which was a reread (and still one of my favorite books ever).

2014: This year were some of my hardest physics classes in undergrad, so I almost never used goodreads, which means my memory of what I read is limited. I did enjoy A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix, but that’s the only rating I left 

2015: Junior-senior year of undergrad, when I realized I didn’t want to go to astro grad school, but wanted to be involved in science education somehow. Some of my favorite books were: The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (and so began my love for Queen Leigh), the Alex and Ada comic book trilogy, Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman, Ash by Malinda Lo, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, 1421 by Gavin Menzies, and House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

2016: I graduated with my undergrad degrees, and while I waited to be able to apply for the next round of grad school openings, I worked part-time at a library--so, so many good books were found that way. We adopted our sweet fur babies that year. Books I loved included: The Imposter Queen by Sarah Fine, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Heartless by Marissa Meyer, When the Moon Was Ours by Anne-Marie McLemore, The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero, The Paper Magician trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg, Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour, The Princess Saves Herself In This One by Amanda Lovelace, Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey, and a variety of girl-lead superhero comic books for my women’s and gender studies senior thesis

2017: I started grad school that fall, but spend the first half of the year still working at the library, so I read a whole lot. It was also the year my now-husband proposed. Highlights include: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, Wild Beauty by Anne-Marie McLemore, Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic, A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie, To Be Or Not To Be by Ryan North, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Radium Girls by Kate Moore, Young and Damned and Fair by Gareth Russell, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

2018: I finished my first year and started my second year of grad school, getting married smack dab in the middle of my summer term. The time for reading drastically went down, but I managed to read way more than expected. Some favorites include: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Peril at End House by Agatha Christie, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, Sea Witch by Sarah Henning, the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daughters of the Winter Queen by Nancy Goldstone, and Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

2019: This was a Hell Year for me, with my migraines reaching new heights, and I spent a lot of time listening to audiobooks because it was the only thing I could do. Some books I loved last year were: Beyond the Hundred Kingdoms by Rod Espinosa (The Courageous Princess #1), Sera and the Royal Stars #1-5, Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, Over the Top by Jonathan van Ness, At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie, Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen, Code Girls by Liza Mundy, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, and god, so many more, so I’ll leave it there because I could go on for a long time (2019 was a good year for books for me because I stuck by my policy of putting down books I wasn’t enjoying, even if it was just because I wasn’t feeling them at that moment)

For a more complete list of 2010-2019, feel free to check out my goodreads (and send me a friend request if you want)!

I like to use my notes to tag recent people, so here goes: @takemegnome, @abby-doodle-books, @anassarhenisch, @elenajohansenauthor, @bookphile, @dr-dendritic-trees, and @the-girl-who-lived-to-read. Feel free to do or not do, and anyone who wants to jump on, feel free to take this as your tag!

#my decade in books #wow that was a lot #about me #tagged in #Madison tags people in stuff #long post

[leopard-studying]

Leopard Studying’s Guide to AP’s

Hey Guys! It’s May and I’m here today to give some tips on those dreaded beloved AP’s. Please don’t take any of my advice as law, these are just some tips that helped me through my high school experience. As always, I would recommend looking at a bunch of different guides and picking up the tips that work for you. I plan to make a few of these guides, broken down into subject categories. First off, I’m just gonna give some general tips. Hopefully, these help you with your future AP’s and feel free to message me if you have any questions, I’m always willing to help out.  So, let's get started!

Remember that when it comes down to it an AP is just a test. I know that you’ve heard it before, but this test does not define you. Sure, you want to do well, but don’t beat yourself up over it. High school is all about balance and if you spend all four years only studying for AP’s you are missing out on memories that you could be making with friends. Also, keep in mind that more and more colleges are not accepting AP credits, but want you to take the course. Honestly, my biggest tip is to do well in the actual class. Colleges love to see an A or an A+ for an AP class on your transcript. It shows that you can work hard and be successful when taking a college-level course.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let's me break down some real tips

Do The Summer Work!

Most schools will assign you to work to do over the summer. Whether it is reading, watching videos, or doing practice problems, I highly recommend doing this work. Your teachers know what they are doing and what they are going to cover during the year. Many times, summer work is material that they won’t have time to cover in class or stuff that they will only have time to touch on quickly. It is up to you to get a solid foundation on these topics so that when May comes around you can ace the test.

If your school doesn’t give out summer work, I highly recommend going over previous years work (before taking AP Bio, go through old bio notes, etc.). However, if you don’t have previous notes on the material, I recommend seeing if there is a crash course on the topic and watching some of those videos. 

Start Reviewing Early and Often

At the very latest, I would recommend starting to review heavily for the test in January. However, before this, I would recommend doing weekly catch up sessions. What this means is that once a week, I would sit down and rewrite, revise, or review the notes that I took in class that week. By doing this, you are going over the material one more time before moving on, ensuring that when you review later, you will be able to recall events, formulas, or trends. 

Similarly, I recommend getting a review book. Based on my own experiences, I would recommend getting Barron’s review books. All of their books go into great depth on the content that they cover and help you really go over topics that you may not have completely under your belt. However, the downside to these books is their length. Many of these books have over 3 hundred pages and are hard to get through. If you know that you won’t stick to something so involved, look at getting other books. Many teachers will recommend a book to get and many times you should listen to them. I would also talk to previous students and figure out what worked for them. Once you find something that works for you, stick with it!

Set a Schedule

Every year, I printed out a pdf of a calendar and broken the chapters and units down into weeks. I usually would start to do this right after Christmas break. By doing this, I would know how many pages I needed to read within a week, and then break that down into the days that I knew I had time to read. To do this, I would count out the weeks till the AP and split the units between those weeks, usually leaving one or two weeks to do some final review. However, if you fall behind your schedule, don’t get discouraged. This would honestly happen a lot with me and I would just have to set aside some extra time in the next few weeks to catch up. Life happens and you need to be able to shift your study schedule around it. 

Trust Your Teachers

Despite what some people think, your teachers want the best for you. Try to stay on their good side. I would not have gotten the scores that I did if I had not stayed in constant communication with my teachers. They saw me working hard in the classroom and were more willing to help me when I got stuck on something or needed extra help on a topic. By the end of the year, they would pass along extra review to me, or tell me things that might not have been covered in class simply due to time. Building a good relationship with your teacher is vital. These teachers have been teaching their subjects for years and have been trained to teach you what you need to know for the test. Trust them. However...

Don’t be afraid to go to other teachers for help. Sometimes, you need another person to explain a topic to you in a different way. If multiple teachers are teaching the same AP course, don’t be afraid to reach out to them. By doing this, you gain new perspectives on topics and you could even understand something new that you struggled with before. 

Know the Test

Since the AP is simply just a test, you need to learn how to take it. If your class doesn’t give AP-style questions during tests, you need to get some practice on how to answer them. You don’t want to work hard all year just to do poorly because of the wording on the questions. To prepare, I highly recommend looking at the college board website. On many subjects, they publish short answer questions and sometimes even some multiple choice. By getting the questions directly from the source, you will know what to expect. However, there aren’t that many questions available to the public so that's where my next tip comes in. 

Ask your teachers. Many of my teachers had actual old AP tests that they kept in secret. This isn’t the most legal moral option, but it does get the job done. By seeing old tests, you can really get a feeling about how you will do on the test. Don’t forget to time yourself!

Take Some Time Off

Your life should not revolve around an AP test. Are they important? Yes. Will not doing well change the course of your life? No. Make sure to take time for yourself and to have fun. Your mental health is the most important thing during the year. Do not let this test take control of your life and everything you do. Like they say, everything in moderation. Have fun in moderation, and study in moderation. Plus, when you study for long periods, your brain can get fried. Take some time off and come back refreshed so that you can ace that test.

That's all for now! I’ll probably think of some more general tips and might do a part 2 at some point. However, I will be writing up some tips for specific courses soon. Hopefully, this helped and feel free to message me if you have any more questions!

#me #studyblr #new studyblr #studying #ap #college board #advanced placement #study #tips #bujo #emmastudies

[springatito-moved]

Don’t ask why I wrote down dsmp names it’s a secret but here’s my handwriting. Bc I like writing things by hand over typing them if possible.

#🍒 #handwritten notes > typed notes #all day every day #AP classes making me write everything my beloved

[seashellrosekitty]

Crestfallen (Part Two)

Pairing: Scott McCall x Female Reader (eventually)

Wordcount: 2.2k

Plot: You’re new to Beacon Hills, grieving your parents’ death. Scott befriends you in Biology class.

Chapter Characters: Scott McCall, Natalie Martin, Lydia Martin, and Stiles Stilinski (real world AU - our beloved Alpha and Banshee are merely humans in this story.)

Warning: Deep Angst. The reader’s character might come off as depressing to you. Also, swearing. 

Author’s Note: This is probably terrible. I feel like my writing is all over the place so please bear with me!

I was woken up by the ray of sun coming through the small part of the window that I had forgotten to close the night before. The light was seeping into my eyelids making my eyes roll back to the front and see red. When I opened my eyes, my room looked softly lit. It looked pleasant, as my dream. It was vivid. Clear as reality. I’ve dreamt of them again. But this time I remembered it when I woke up.

I was home again. I was seated on our couch in the living room. An opened book laid on my lap. Dad was seated in his favorite recliner, and mom...well...she was in my view, making dinner in the kitchen. And the house was filled with songs of Michael Jackson from the 80s. We didn’t say a thing to each other, but everything was good. Everything was perfect. Everybody was alive.

I wanted to stay asleep. I wanted to stay in that dream. But no. The day greeted me awake now and all that dream was anything but reality. Another day in this foreign room. In this foreign house. In this not-so foreign town. I drew a sharp breath before getting myself out of the covers. It was a Saturday. I had the morning free and the afternoon was scheduled for me and Stiles to meet for a History report we needed to get done together. He came by at around 4 PM. I was out on the porch when his Jeep pulled up in front of the house. He got out of his Jeep, clumsily carrying his books.

“Aren’t we supposed to do world history? Why do you have so many books with you?” “Hello to you too,” Stiles said to me, clearly pointing out I had to do better in this social etiquette stuff. Or whatever you call it. “We can’t just rely solely on our textbook, you know?” “Sure, but have you forgotten there’s Google and Wikipedia nowadays?” I responded as I opened the front door for him. “Yeah I love that stuff but this stuff is even better. Don’t you wanna ace History?” “I couldn’t care less,” I huffed. He turned around to look at me and I was just startled to have him standing too close to me all of a sudden. He squinted his eyes, probably thinking I should be blamed if we flunk History.

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that.” I didn’t know he was such a go-getter.

When we took breaks, Stiles went to Lydia’s bedroom. And I spent the break hanging out on the poolside. It was getting colder each week. Fall was already in season, and the pool, just like the backyard and the front yard, was full of leaves that needed to be put away.

I jumped when my phone rang. It was Scott. What could he be calling me for? After two rings, I finally picked up.

“Hello?” “Hey, Y/N. Sorry to bother you. Is Stiles still there with you?” “Yeah but he’s with Lydia now.” “Great. Could you bring your phone to him, please? I need to talk to him. He’s not answering.” “Oh. Sure. Hold on.” I stood up as I said that and rushed to Lydia’s bedroom, still holding my phone over my ear. I knocked loudly.

“Lydia? Is Stiles there?” I heard shuffling and grunting noises inside and I just felt repulsed. “Scott’s on the phone. Said he needs to talk to Stiles.”

“Tell him it’s about his dad. He’s in the hospital,” Scott said over the phone. I repeated what he said aloud. Then I heard loud thumps and stomping feet, then the door opened revealing a flushed Stiles. His shirt was clearly just worn in a rush. I instinctively leaned back from the door as I handed my phone to him. Stiles loudly whispered “Thanks” to me as he grabbed the phone and shut the door. It didn’t take a minute before the door opened again and Stiles was rushing to get outside Lydia’s room, still holding my phone and talking to Scott. I was left still standing across Lydia’s door, with a peek of her room. I was obviously interrupting something and the moment I realized that, Lydia was standing before the door and gave me a sarcastic smile as she gently closed it. That was my cue to follow Stiles to the living room where our books were laid open from the research. “Y/N/N, I’m so sorry but I gotta go. It’s my dad. Promise we’ll finish this before the deadline. Hang on to the books for me, ok?” He said and then gave me back my phone, rushing to leave.

At dinner, we had steak, salad, and mashed potatoes. Natalie’s cooking was really good, but I couldn’t forget that look on Stiles’ face when he opened the door, even up until he left. It was plastered with worry and somehow, annoyance. I wonder what happened to his dad? I badly wanted to ask Lydia about it but I thought I might be prying. Besides, she’s never given me a look I could smile at since she closed the door on me that day.

***

I spent the next few days letting myself just go with the flow. I went to class, ate lunch with Lydia and her friends, did my homework, I talked to Natalie...I even smiled for her a few times. I felt like I was there but I wasn't really there. I felt like I trapped myself in my own head and let my brain do all the work for me like I was on autopilot. I couldn't understand what was going on with me. The only times I was ever really conscious about where I was and what I was doing was when I was alone. When nobody could see me, nobody's talking to me, and I am just left thinking how am I still breathing.

I took showers at night because it calmed me. One night, I stood on the shower and let the water run across my face with my mouth open so I could breathe. The droplets of water were soft on my skin. It was probably the calmest thing I've felt upon me since my parents died. Not that it was long ago, but nothing about me was calm or pleasant anymore. Nothing felt okay. But that moment in the shower was. I felt my heartbeat slow down and I kept my eyes closed. I wanted to cry in there, but not a single tear fell out of my eyes. How is it possible for someone to feel hurt and numb at the same time? What a complicated concept. But it happened to me. Maybe it’s happened to you too. But I hope you’ve handled your situation better than I did.

***

Each day, Scott would always strike a conversation between us. He's really nice. Sometimes I wonder what keeps him going, what keeps him positive. I arrived in our Biology lab before he did, and he greeted me with his usual innocent smile. He looked handsome that day. He wore a beige shirt and a denim jacket. It was simple but it suited him.

"You're early," he said. I smiled at him in agreement because I didn't know what to respond to that, and he pursed his lips as he smiled back when he realized what he said didn't really encourage me to say anything. At one point, I wondered if I should just write him a letter to explain things. I felt bad for the boy. "How was your weekend?" Finally, an open-ended question. Not that I would tell him about the glorious shower I had last Saturday.

"Good. I stayed home, so..." I shrugged, letting him assume my weekend was, as a matter of fact, uneventful.

"Me too. There was a lot of cleaning to do," he replied, scratching his head. "So, what do you like to do for fun?" Three weeks have passed since I moved here and no one has asked me this question. Not even Lydia. I looked at him and thought of what to answer him. I didn't even know if I was ready to do anything remotely fun. Autopilot, remember?

I raised my shoulders shrugging and said, "Usual stuff, I guess," then my mind drifted to a memory I carried from when I was eleven. My parents and I went to the beach and set up a tent and spent the night there. We had a bonfire and we watched shooting stars dart across the sky. I don't know why we never did that again. My mind drifted back to Scott, who was still waiting for my answer. "But I miss going to the beach and having a bonfire," I finished with a smile. I felt that smile. It was real. It wasn't forced. And Scott was left speechless and just gave me a smile too. I started to like that smile. I didn't realize that it's nice to remember the good things. I miss them. Maybe that's what good memories are for.

The week after that, I found myself spacing out in class. I almost never remember what the lessons were. The only subject I ever cared to be mentally present in was AP Biology. I couldn’t have Mrs. Finch embarrassing me with her sass for not listening. Once in a while then, I realized how easy it was to cut class. As long as none of Lydia’s friends were my classmates, I knew I was safe from prying eyes.

One subject I liked cutting was English Literature. Ms. Blake was a good teacher and all but I dunno. I just didn’t feel like being in her class all the time. I’d rather listen to Mr. Harris in History than learning about Mark Twain with Ms. Blake. One time, I decided to finally do it. After the third period, I made sure no one I know saw me. I went outside of the school and headed to the bleachers. No one was there. At least, no one I knew. Just some kids smoking their day away.

***

At the Martins' home, the house was usually quiet. I would occasionally hear Lydia talking on the phone in her room while I'd be doing my homework or watch TV, or her mom would be making our meals in the kitchen or talking to someone on the phone. I was grateful that both of them just did their own thing, not pulling a Brady Bunch act on me. Definitely, the Martins weren't anything like the Brady Bunch. One evening, Lydia's dad came to visit. He was tall, thin, and his eyes popped out of his head. Wherever he looked made him look like he was glaring at it. I felt uncomfortable around him. He was always so critical of everything. I think he never trusted anyone but himself. I thanked God that he didn't stay for dinner because I really didn't wanna be in that situation where I'm in the middle of a feud of a family I’m not even a part of. Whenever her dad came to visit, I noticed Lydia would be extra hardworking in school the next day. She would raise her hand all the time.

I never knew why he and Natalie divorced, never even really knew when they did. All I remember was that their family was different from mine. Lydia's parents seemed like the kinds of people who both went to Ivy League schools and intended for their daughter to do the same. And my parents, well, they were more carefree than Lydia's parents. They let me explore so many things without pressure. They've let me try art, explore astronomy, even a few recreational things like fishing, snorkeling, etc. The only pressure I ever got from them was when I got low grades. I was never an overachiever like Lydia, but my parents wanted me to have at least a good passing grade. Getting a C would already worry them. I miss them.

I miss their voices. Their company. The way they used to say my name. I’ve been having little moments of realizing how my life has changed drastically in their absence. There was no mom and dad for me to go home to. No mom to wake me up in the morning. No dad to watch action movies with. When I look at these kids around me in school, I see that they’re full of life. Laughing over Tumblr memes, cheering over their favorite boy band or geeking out over the latest Marvel movie. And here I am. Breathing. But feeling lifeless. Tell me. How can I move forward from this? How can I feel alive again?

Part Three

@bojabee @jurrasicpork @chiamilia @sav625 @kim-hunter5 @thejourneyofabrokenheart @seninjakitey

#scott mccall #scott mccall imagine #scott mccall angst #scott mccall x reader #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf fanfiction #crestfallen series

[nottooldforthisship]

🎬   It Had To Be You , by @fullonlarrie (When Harry met Sally AU) : Harry and Louis are strangers who share the drive from Chicago to NYC after college. They don't have anything in common, don't get along, and at the end of their trip, they're both glad to say goodbye. During a chance meeting five years later, they find that nothing has changed, and they part ways expecting never to see each other again. Ten years after their first meeting, Louis and Harry meet once again, but this time they become friends. Eventually, things get complicated.  (45k, M)

🎬  Take My Breath Away   , by @realitybetterthanfiction​ (Top Gun AU) : There is a prestigious school in the British Royal Navy classified as Premier Delta - or as it is known by its flyers, 1D. These select pilots are an elite set of Naval lieutenants who are trained in the skill of aggressive aerial combat. They are instruments of war, trained in times of peace. They are dogfighters, relentless and fearless in their mission to protect their beloved country. From their lofty vantage, they are always watching, waiting, and ready to lay it all on the line.Lt. Harry Styles, call sign Sparrow, is a prodigy when it comes to flying. The owner of an unrivaled Naval pedigree, being a pilot was always written in the stars for Harry. With his trusty RIO, Lt. Niall Horan, Harry has made an unprecedented ascension in the ranks of the Naval aerial combat elite, and has been recruited to the esteemed Premier Delta flight school, carrying on his family’s legacy. What he finds there are unexpected friendships, perilous challenges, and something beyond what he ever thought possible. Because as his father had always told him, before the great Captain Styles went tragically missing in combat, you don’t fall in love with the sky, you fall in love with what keeps you on the ground. (153k, M)

🎬 everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold   , by  sarcasticfluentry  (Inception AU) : Inception-inspired AU. Louis Tomlinson is the most respected and skilled extractor in the dream-sharing business; together he and his point man Zayn have been hired countless times to steal hundreds of valuable secrets straight from the minds of CEOs and politicians. One day, a mysterious and wealthy client contacts Louis and Zayn, offering them triple their normal rate in exchange for successfully completing a job that other extracting teams have deemed "impossible." The one catch is that this client wants the very best - so he's decided to team Louis' skills up with those of Louis' most hated rival, another highly-respected extractor named Harry Styles. Can Louis and Harry work together to complete the job and get the payout, or will they lose their minds along the way?  (49k, E)

🎬  Paint The Sky With Stars , by kiwikero (Titanic AU): On 10 April 1912, Harry Styles boards the finest ship the world has ever seen. Still grieving the death of their mother, he and his sister are being sent to America to live with a callous uncle who cares more about his business connections than family. Harry prepares himself for a long, disappointing voyage alone in his stateroom.Louis Tomlinson has borrowed and saved, and finally has enough to purchase a Third Class ticket to America. With all of his belongings in a single ruck sack, he boards the Titanic filled with hope for a brighter future. Never one to sit still, he can’t resist exploring the massive ship, and soon goes sneaking into First Class in a stolen steward’s uniform.By a twist of fate, Louis finds himself in Harry’s stateroom, entranced by the most attractive man he’s ever laid eyes on. He keeps returning day after day, even if he doesn’t understand what it is about Harry that continues pulling him in. That’s all right; Louis has a week to figure it out, and Harry is plenty willing to help.Except they don’t have a week. They have four days. Because on 15 April, their entire world will be turned upside down.Or, the historically accurate Titanic AU with a happy ending. (62k, M)

🎬 If You Wanna Try Me On  , by zimriya (The Devil Wears Prada AU):  To be fair, Harry’d been half asleep when Niall convinced him to put in his CV in the first place. Like, Harry wants to be a proper serious journalist--he’s not about to give up that dream in favour of becoming a personal assistant at a fashion magazine, or...whatever. Harry’s not actually all that sure what Tomlinson Styles even is, beyond his ticket to fame or any of the other things Niall’d spouted off at him, but when he shows up for the interview and is unceremoniously shoved into an office with the Tomlinson part of that equation, all Harry can really think about is that he would like to be a Tomlinson-Styles.  (19k, E)

🎬 Just Hear This and Then I'll Go , by @allwaswell16​ (Pride and Prejudice AU) : Former boy band member Louis Tomlinson can’t stand pompous indie artist Harry Styles, but with a new record label to launch he is going to have to endure his pretensions to snag up and coming new artist Liam Payne, who happens to be Harry’s oldest friend. Luckily, Liam seems to be very interested in 78 Records and maybe a little more than interested in Louis’ best friend. Too bad Harry won’t be making this easy on any of them. Or a modern day Pride and Prejudice--Louis is Elizabeth, Harry is Mr. Darcy, Zayn is Jane, and Liam is Mr. Bingley. Oh, and Niall is Mrs. Bennett. Obviously. (44k, E)

🎬  Life as We Know it , by  Rearviewdreamer  (Life As We know It AU) :  When a couple dies unexpectedly Harry and Louis are brought together to care for their daughter. (34k, M)

🎬  Who Painted the Moon Black    , by throughthedark  (Hunger Games AU) :  where Louis Tomlinson is district six's victor from the 69th Hunger Games and Harry Styles is district seven's victor from the 72nd Hunger Games.  (95k, E)

🎬 don't be afraid, it's only love , by threewhitehorses  (The Proposal AU) : A proposal!AU where Louis is at risk of being deported back to England and Harry just really wants a promotion. (14k, E)

🎬  The Dead of July , by  whimsicule   (Captain America AU) :  Being an Avenger means continuing to be Captain America and smiling and being honorable for the public and Harry does his best. But it doesn’t give him time to figure out who he is supposed to be once he takes off his uniform and puts the shield to the side. Just being Harry had always involved Louis, and Harry fears he doesn’t know how to exist without him. or: Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years. (117j E)

🎬  got the sunshine on my shoulders , by @hattalove (Sweet Home Alabama AU): five years ago, harry styles left his tiny home town to make it big as a recording artist. he didn’t have much regard for what he left behind - a life, a family, and a husband, who woke up one morning to find him gone.now, harry has everything he could possibly want: he’s rich, famous, and adored by everyone he meets, including his boyfriend. but when said boyfriend proposes to him, he’s forced to face the uncomfortable facts of his past - and louis, who’s spent the last five years returning every set of divorce papers harry sent him.(124k, E)

🎬  You Drive Me Crazy (but it feels alright) , by MrsStylinson  (Bridget Jones AU) : “Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.“You’re mocking me. Again.”Harry smiles and it's a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them. (102k, T)

🎬  Let's Fall in Love in a Place You Want to Stay  , by  embro  (George of the Jungle / Tarzan AU) : where Louis is a model who meets Wild Man Harry in the Congo. He was raised by apes and barely speaks a word of English and turns Louis' life upside down.  (134k, E)

🎬  Love Actually, is all around, by satellitemoments  (Love Actually AU) : Louis is Prime Minister and Harry his fortunate catering manager.  (16k, M)

🎬  Keep on Dreaming, This is Hollywood , by popfly  (Pretty Woman AU) : Louis Tomlinson, a pop star manager, makes his way to LA with a pop star (and his new music demands) and a very busy schedule.Harry Styles came to Los Angeles with a dream and ended up sharing a flat and an occupation with a male prostitute from Ireland.What happens when Louis meets Harry, and makes him an offer he can't refuse?AKA A Pretty Woman AU where Louis is the high-powered businessman and Harry is the hooker. No, there is no necklace scene, but there is definitely piano sex. (31k, E)

🎬  Take My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too) , by orphean_account (If Only AU) : “What would you do,” Louis begins, knowing that this will only hurt him more, “If this was your last day on earth?”Harry thinks for a bit, brow furrowed in concentration, and then he says sort of cheekily, “Go skydiving. See my family, see my friends.” “What else, Harry?” (9k, E, TW for MDC)

🎬  I would name the stars for you (I would take you there) , by                    impetuous (Notting Hill AU) :  "Harry Styles is a poem waiting to happen, Louis thinks, eyes tracing peach flesh and the undercurrent of blue veins. He wants to write him all down, to capture the image of green eyes and red lips and skinny wrists... dark ink spilled across the page." Or a vaguely Notting Hill-like AU (or that made for TV Disney movie Starstruck if you’ve seen it… no? Just me?) starring popstar!Harry and bookkeeper/soulful poet!Louis; and including guest appearances by Fate, a wise elderly aristocrat, and lots and lots of pining. (91k, M)

🎬  When In Rome , by @nowweare9direction ( Roman Holiday AU ) : A modern day Roman Holiday AU, where Harry is the prince of pop on a European tour desperately in need of a break and Louis is an expat in Rome just trying to make rent. (19k, T)

🎬  Serendipity, Actually  , by  somethingsilly   (Serendipity AU) :   AU where Harry truly believes in Destiny and Louis just happens to cross his path at the right moment. Featuring a world with the size of a stamp, Liam as the best friend ever, Niall as a social butterfly who knows everyone and Zayn who always knows what's going on. Or where everyone is at the right place at the right time. (142k, M)   

🎬  the new romantics , by wildestdreams (John Tucker Must Die AU) : After being blindsided and dumped by his boyfriend Isaac, Louis does the only thing he can do: wallow and mope. But when Harry tells Louis that karma’s going to get Isaac eventually, Louis decides karma isn’t moving fast enough. He takes matters into his own hands, and if he has to drag Harry into his schemes and seduction plans, then so be it.orJohn Tucker Must Die AU featuring drunk dance sessions, bad disguises, and a seduction plan gone wrong.  (36k, E)

🎬  the sound of shooting stars, by  theseblueskies  (Sleepless in Seattle AU)  : where Harry is Sam, Louis is Annie, and the universe has a twisted sense of humor. Guest starring: fate, magic, destiny, and one little girl who unknowingly changes everything.  (33k, NR)

🎬  After Hours  , by  Velvetoscar (You’ve Got A Mail AU)  :   Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are the bane of each other's existences. Unfortunately, they're already in love--even if they aren't completely aware of this minor detail. (26k, NR)

#mine #fic rec #my fic rec #fuck this is very long one #and I prpbably forgot a lot #but anyway #that's a good start #so this is for my anon who asked today #nottooldforthisship fic rec

[saferincages]

I was writing this as a private message to @mothlissa because she is the most lovely and patient, and has been listening to all my ramblings and happy memories and beloved feelings about Star Wars for the past week, but I was inspired to post it instead. (I actually thought I told this story once a long time ago, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere on my blog?)

when I was a senior in highschool, I took a drama class that was open to everyone, so there were students from all four grades in it. (I was deeply into my passion for LOTR at this point, and was writing my AP thesis on Tolkien’s trilogy, so that was a major omnipresent part of my identity right then, as I did research and collected scholarly sources and pored over chapters repeatedly. you could probably find me wearing my Evenstar or at least my Nenya on any given day, because I have never been anything less than a parody of myself). anyway, I had a huge binder, it was white, and it had those clear plastic coverings on the front and back, and to further reduce myself as a nerd stereotype, I made collages of a bunch of my favorite characters and covered the whole binder in them, underneath the plastic.

so one day we were working on scenes, and I pulled my binder out, and a freshman in my class got excited because she saw Anakin and Padme as part of this collage, and she started telling me how much she loved Star Wars and the prequels were her favorite everything, and it made her so sad because kids were mean to her about it.

she was a special education student, she had some learning disabilities and a little bit of a speech disorder, along with a physical component. (I don’t want to be ableist in ANY way in describing this, but it’s important to relay for the sake of the story.) she was incredibly sweet. cohesion/concentration was hard for her sometimes, but she told me she never got bored or had trouble understanding Star Wars. kids, because unfortunately they can be super mean, told her she looked/sounded like “an alien.” Star Wars made her feel better about it.

I worked with her a lot, she was genuine and likable and it killed me that other students (particularly in her grade) bullied her, and sometimes if we had free moments she would ask me about LOTR and what my necklace was etc, because those movies/books were too much for her, but she was so curious and she wanted to KNOW. gosh typing this up makes me tearful remembering it

at some point in the class we were assigned to bring an object of comfort/importance in our lives to class and write (then read aloud) about it. as it turned out, she had a doll of Jar-Jar Binks that she'd cherished for years, and most days she secretly carried him with her in her backpack, like a talisman against the unkind words that were thrown at her, and she was SO FREAKING BRAVE she did her scene about it. imagine this for a moment. the MOST mocked character, maybe of all-time, and she expressed her love for him in front of an entire class in a blackbox theatre. she said he made her feel less “weird” - his eyes protruded too! he got overly excited and hyper, he had trouble with grammar and sentences and sometimes didn't relate to/understand the people or events around him! but he was still brave and he had a job in the SENATE and he had helped save his people! I legitimately sat in awe of her doing this, just straight up defying ridicule and basically proclaiming - I LOVE this, and I don't care if everyone else hates it, because it means something to me!

is he obnoxious to many? well...yes. but. I haven't been able to see a single word or joke against his character since without thinking of her, and I really do not care if every other person on this earth who has seen TPM derides him, his existence is important, because he gave this ONE little girl solace and hope in a world that treated her badly simply for being different.

that, my friends, is an example of why stories and fictional characters matter. it may not be “real,” but the impact it can have on our lives, the strength and consolation it can bring us, the way it can help to shape our identities, the way we carry that love as a source of joy, even (perhaps especially) during hard times, that is undeniably, indelibly, powerfully real, and true, and good, and beautiful.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk #anyway i love the prequels #/ #// #/// #star wars #jar jar binks #the phantom menace #bubble wrap around my heart #maybe tbd

[floggingink]

Riverdale, “Chapter Nineteen: Death Proof”

Death Proof is a great movie. there’s one man in it and he gets Pussycatted at the end. Vanessa Ferlito gives a lap dance. Zoё Bell’s abs have a starring role

Jughead is a Serpent now, so it must follow that he’s taking care of Hotdog voluntarily

did he take the couch? Jug took the couch. he’s writing again, so he’s got his groove back via an emotional plateau/Toni

Betty hung up and was like, Shit. SHIT!

Nick has a knife for...protection? cocktail garnishes?

Mrs. St. Clair seems thrilled to meet Betty and then not at all surprised that Nick has charges brought against him, the ennui of the ruling class

Betty gets a free pass for her suspicious appearance at the apartment for just having been that much of a pain to Sheriff Keller by now

I liked Betty’s tone of disappointed confusion when she says “You didn’t kill him.”

I don’t like BH talking about “nakedness” in any context, no matter who he turns out to be

I want to say those are Veronica’s shimmery blue pajamas?

Penelope’s icy disregard reverts Cheryl back to calling her “mommy,” which I think is like Cheryl’s PR thing? Cheryl continues to be fascinating. she’s called Penelope “mother,” hasn’t she? it’s all about context. it’s all about context with Cheryl

Jughead eats: at breakfast with Jug, Toni daintily eats fruit out of a parfait cup, like Veronica

Toni’s uncle locks her out of his house, so there’s that. the Serpents don’t have somewhere for her to sleep?

Jughead was honestly about to be like “Last night was…[fun/amazing, similar],” because that’s what people do in Bridget Jones and he’s flying without a net here

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: in a remarkable turn, Toni puts an end to the whole affair, because she has better things to do (girls), which is a stress off everyone’s shoulders

Jughead’s “not over Betty” because it was like six hours ago?

also props for the classic bad girl-bisexuality revelation. it doesn’t get badder (it’s GOOD). this is PRECISELY what I want but now I want optical proof

Betty is done with the BH’s “Simon Says”

The Blossom spawn: “the people” at “the Farm” (CAPITALIZED in the closed captioning!) will help Polly “disappear” for while? I’m gonna need a Farm episode pronto. what the HELL is THE FARM

Archie checks up on Betty in the morning and takes care of her of best he can, because this is a Good Archie episode. Good Archie wants to know why Betty hasn’t fixed it with Veronica yet. Good Archie never lets you walk alone. Good Archie stops you from walking into your ex’s brunch

Certified pedigree: the sheer SPREAD of personalities at Alice’s living room shaming. the mayor and the sheriff and their felon children. BOTH Lodges showed up. can Fred handle any more disappointment? Reggie has a parent?? what’s next!!!

Nick’s party was “bacchanalian,” so it’s probably best Alice only saw Jughead’s birthday party from across the yard

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: “Except for my Betty”

I’VE HAD SOME WINE LET’S GET THIS BITCH DONE

SUCCUBUS VERONICA IS GREAT VERONICA. ARCHIE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT A SUCCUBUS IS

I relate to Kevin because “HASHTAG BUGHEAD IS NO MORE?” is coincidentally what I woke up screaming two Thursdays ago

Hiram says “ACID QUEEN ALICE” because there’s something in Riverdale’s water that just gives you that kind of inspiration!!!! apparently he knows some shit about her too!!! everybody’s parents seem to “know” about Alice. she’s got a lot of attitude for someone whose secrets EVERYONE KNOWS

—just like Betty!

“The Southside is the source of all our problems.” HOW’S THAT, HIRAM? because your northside succubus children were the ones who tossed it back like green apple sugar powder in a Baby Bottle Pop

Archie’s 180 with “Not all Serpents are dealers” is the kind of whiplash Archie is capable of. he knows he fucking broke up with his boy. fucking fix it with Jughead you twit before he gets a bigger tattoo

The 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie was SO HOPING she would get out of there with plausible deniability!

Jughead is like NODDING ALONG with every word Mr. Phillips reads, waiting to be abandoned

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: JUG LEAVES THE INSTANT HE GETS A CAPSLOCK TEXT FROM THE BOY HE LOVES

he interrupts a totally warranted scolding from his beloved English teacher to PROBABLY get reamed again by Archie, but he CAN’T RESIST WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN

Archie coming to get Jughead is probably Archie’s “WHAT’S UP IS I SAW YOU, ARCHIE” moment. it’s not equivalent but rather proportional in that you know this is the best I could hope for from Archie, but also—I don’t want to shortchange him! he went to the scary school where everyone hates him, through the metal detectors (OR NOT!!!!!!), and stood dithering in the hallway until he saw his Jughead!!!!!!! HE CAME TO RESCUE JUGHEAD

this is a great example of Archie’s hands-on “justice,” which is sometimes more in quotes than other times, but he didn’t CALL Jughead, you know, he ran over there! fuck! FUCK! WHEN ARCHIE IS GOOD HE IS VERY VERY GOOD

Archie is like hauling him out by the fleece collar too, like Jug wants to get Toni, and Archie, his arms locked around Jughead’s waist, teenage boys scrambling

What damn high school in America: Sweet Pea punches the locker when he gets arrested, because of injustice

I think Veronica would have listened to Betty if Kevin had not interrupted!

“She’s not worth it” is way harsh, Tai, but Betty did seemingly attack her out of nowhere

anyway of course Betty answers the phone, because she’s stressed, down two friends, and doesn’t want to have done all that for no reason

the “Sugar Man”? the “Sugar Man”? SUGAR MAN

if one more person tells Jughead that the Serpents deal jingle-jangle, he’s going to absolutely blow a gasket

“Tall Boy wants to parley” is going to be a code sentence of mine for something. if we’re on the phone and it suddenly sounds like I’ve dropped it and you just hear “TALL BOY WANTS TO PARLEY!!!!,” the Winter Solider is there

Fifth period is AP English: Cheryl is sunbathing, in the shade, outside Thistle House reading Baudelaire because...it helps her feel calm…

Cheryl’s sheaths: I want to say those sick black sunglasses are Miu Mius

“Is there no memory, however traumatic, you won’t defile?” is an Alice-level read

oh, Fred would like to know how Jughead’s doing? ISN’T THAT NICE, YOU PRAWN

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Malachi’s House of the Dead is exactly what I wish I’d had the guts to make my dorm room look like, like all the cool lesbians’ rooms in the art majors’ dorm building, like the cellars of the Opéra Populaire but in the Strand

Gay?!: quick question: if Tall Boy weren’t here, would Malachi be fucking Jughead?

Cheryl had so seamlessly incorporated the Sugar Man into her emotional life as a first grader that she drew a family picture with him in it, like in Children of the Corn (her parents are two TINY stick figures in the background, it’s incredible)

is Sheriff Keller letting Betty have “one question” a red herring? asking for Jughead

the zoom in on Betty looking at Veronica and the cut to her audibly sipping on a milkshake is classic art

Veronica is right that Betty needs to “break up” with BH, but Betty’s Bettiness instead makes her want to “turn the tables on him”

HOW EASY WAS THIS CONVERSATION, BETTY. YOU COULD HAVE JUST TALKED TO THEM TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO

OH MY GOD! Jughead and Archie, together again, it’s been like THIRTY YEARS!!!!!

Archie knows why Jughead joined the Serpents, has learned some lessons maybe? (no)

the second god-blessed cut to Archie (in his letterman jacket) and Jughead (fleeced, his man-about-town look) with the prison phones to their ears

“SP-24601”: FP Jones played by Hugh Jackman would be a sight to behold

poor FP has lost everything except his honor and now he’s lost his SON. his hair is such a mess. he’s gotta SLAM THE PHONE

“Ghoulies dress like fops” is great

they drive hearses, like Claire Fisher

“RIVERDALE DRIFT”? Jughead did NOT watch that franchise? (Archie’s expression is fantastic)

FP’s like, I hate that you joined my gang, but now you’re going to break some laws for me

Penelope eats hard boiled eggs with toast soldiers

the Caravaggio reproduction I liked from the wake escaped the fire!

did Penelope know about the drugs? I thought she didn’t know but I guess just knew the Sugar Man was sketchy and avoided him for Legal Reasons

“I wouldn’t even go cruising here.”

Reggie DOES look good in the county’s blue vest

I hope the reason Betty’s avoiding talking to Jughead, LIKE ARCHIE KEEPS TELLING HER TO DO, is because it’s too important and she’s scared to see him

Veronica’s purple pumps

God bless jingle-jangle: Verne the JJ dealer is a cutie!

you know he’s a Ghoulie because he hand-stitched a leopard-print patch onto his studded sleeveless vest

Veronica was rich: $150 for two stix of the JJ??? this is how you know it’s the northside kids with the drug problems!

“Drugstore Cowboy”

Sexy, aesthetic Southside:  these angels hot glue the ends of the stripey jingle-jangle sticks, because it’s a family-owned business. I kind of love the Ghoulies? like I’d rather hang out at Malachi’s than the Whyte Wyrm from what I’ve seen so far, as long as I get my next tetanus shot first

Jughead calls Archie his “boy” to impress Malachi, Archie is wearing his Riverdale jacket probably without thinking about the political symbolism

I couldn’t believe Maggie Kiley had the audacity to stage the “Veronica/Betty?” “Archie/Jughead?” face-to-face, but she’s this season’s Lee Toland Krieger, she is an artist

Y’ALL REALLY GONNA TAKE JUGHEAD’S FIFTH HOME AWAY FROM HIM?

“SHARON”?????????

Cheryl’s red crop top and paisley trousers

“an unrepentant spore”

Penelope is Cheryl’s “cobra-like mother”

I swear Graham Phillips was darling on The Good Wife

Archie approached Reggie for the car and Betty approached Jughead about fixing it, and that’s that

Jughead consented to sulk next to her while she tuned it up, because he loves her but he’s mad

and it’s okay that he’s mad, for the record, because he’s been broken up with three times in two days

his voice cracks, preciously, when he’s like YEAH AND YOU BROKE UP WITH ME

I love how pissy and curt Jughead gets when he’s peeved. “You just called it a date.”

I’m curious about “You did the one thing that could hurt me.” EVERYTHING hurts Jughead

Betty’s in denim overalls and Jughead’s in a mechanic shirt for no reason except they’re next to cars

Cheryl is getting some grade-A maple syrup this episode! leveraging the St. Clairs’ check for dirt on the Sugar Man? GIRL

The female gaze: Veronica slept with Archie one last time because he literally might die today

aw, he’s proud of Veronica for her Ghoulie stunt

Hiram and Hermione are LITERALLY playing chess

OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY WHEN VERONICA SAID “HE TRIED TO DO IT TO ME,” EVERYONE IN THE ROOM WATCHING WITH ME WHEN HIRAM LOOKED UP WAS LIKE OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!! I’M TELLING YOU!!!!!

Hiram is about to rip someone’s face off with his teeth and Hermione steps into frame and it rack focuses on her, GENIUS

These students are legally children: I want to say Tall Boy is the only adult at the race. the FP at Jughead’s party, if you will

Best costume bit: everyone of course looks fucking incredible at the race. the Ghoulies? slick and absurd dandies. Kevin’s powder blue bomber jacket? he’s not at Needle Park, and he’s cruising. Betty’s high-waisted post-WWII skinny Express trousers? she knows Jughead’s looking. Cheryl’s $1,000 leather jacket and Quentin Tarantino foot-fetish slingback? she knows I’m looking. and Jughead in all black? Jughead looks GREAT in leather. Betty, write this down

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: Betty’s bandana and ponytail

Please protect Betty: Veronica and Archie get to make out, while Betty and Jughead have to make do with Betty telling him she can never stop loving him and to drive good

Jughead doubts it: Jughead’s “You’re an enigma, Cooper” is the second-greatest thing he has ever said to her, after “That was haunting, Betty.”

so Jughead can drive? Jughead can drive STICK?

Toni and Sweet Pea got out on 1) lack of evidence or 2) Penny Peabody threatening someone

Gay.: Toni got a face full of Cheryl and she’ll be back. Toni, save Cheryl from the evils of this world

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: Cheryl was ABSOLUTELY “born for this moment”

Sixth period is Intro to Film: I know this is Grease, and I can appreciate Jughead being the Danny Zuko of this moment, but I don’t want to forget the chicken run from Rebel Without a Cause, where Natalie Wood starts the race with only her elated sky-high jump and tiny 50’s waist

Jughead gives Cheryl a thumbs-up and Malachi makes the rock-and-roll index-and-pinky signal

Cheryl’s hair: God, the see-through scarf? her immaculate cutout shirt? her Jesus Christ Superstar heavenward arms? CHERYL WAS BORN FOR THIS MOMENT

I don’t think Jughead is shifting gears

BUT HE IS HAVING A GREAT TIME!

oh NOW you say “abort”

Archie > Dawson: TURNS OUT ARCHIE HAD A GREAT PLAN! WOWZERS

Jughead can drive very well, has very strong arms, and can run very fast. these things I didn’t know!

okay but the race is forfeit, right? buys them some time, maybe

Betty and Veronica watching Jughead go lite-ballistic from stress and Archie being like, Dude, dude, calm down, like something was not right with the world (Archie did a great job)

although Jughead is right that the power politics are complicated and everyone is in danger, although it was frankly that way before

I liked Archie using a chessboard analogue. Veronica is rubbing off on him

is Betty getting a ride home with Reggie? classic

“Careful you don’t get burned again.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Penelope’s left hand makes her so uncomfortable that she wears ONE leather glove

when one Sugar Man retires, another seamlessly takes his place, like the Dread Pirate Roberts

“Damn good coffee”: fucking correct me if I’m fucking wrong, but is that the nightmare painting hanging over the fucking fireplace?

Cheryl hands the check back over, because as you will remember Cheryl honors business deals, but Penelope decides to be “a mother”

Pop’s trademark blue purgatorial lighting bathes the girls in their plotting booth

The Blue & Gold is basically just Betty’s awesome blog at this point

her “Care to comment?” is WICKED though

Betty has resolved to find BH, which means he has about three episodes left. the Serpents should really start involving Betty in their maneuverings, as she is just as much a hereditary Serpent as Jughead and much more effectual 

50 Shades of Betty: SHE’S BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK AND SHE LOVES IT. this is her driving fast! they love danger!!!!!!

was Mr. Phillips protecting Jughead by telling him to stay away from the drug world??? (I mean obviously he was, but because Phillips was an insider and liked Jughead and didn’t want to have to kill him) or did he just not want Mini Woodward and Bernstein on the case?

he and Jughead make the exact same sort of grimly resolved/horrified eye contact, respectively, as FP and Jughead when FP got arrested last season

Toni TOTALLY knows this shattered something of Jughead’s Southside foundation. look at her little smile

Archie thinks his plan with the race backfired and he’s worried he’s losing Jughead, PUNKIN

Fred’s popping Chekhov’s Valiums, so he’s about to be addicted to drugs

I can’t even do it out here with the fucking Lodges sitting around their cream salon with Andre being like, the St. Clairs are dead or whatever, ma’am, and Hermione’s like, Thank you Andre, go get yourself something nice

Summer + Blair = Veronica: Veronica’s like, I HAVE HAD A STRESSFUL DAY AND IT MAKES ME FEEL POWERFUL

“CHECKMATE,” HIRAM? HIRAM, HAVE YOU MURDERED? DID YOU JUST MURDER?

Betty and Jughead I want to say are back together, but they did not kiss this episode, which means I have to start over with the tally marks on my wall

Betty’s reading The Silence of the Lambs, to better figure out what her game is going to be (Jughead had a copy)

Jughead looks over at her like, Damn. My girlfriend is fucking scary. I fucking love my girlfriend

SUGAR GETS GOT!!!!!!!! BODY COUNT OFFICIALLY TWO! he’s almost caught up to Hiram Lodge

NEXT WEEK: Sheriff Keller does me a solid and takes his shirt off

#riverdale #i say #commentary #tropes

[firewritten]

My Valentine’s thing!

Is not fictional. Is just little essay about my spousal person that I wrote a few years ago for Valentine’s. :)

I could write about Seth, my beloved villain. Perhaps I don’t have time to write a Seth story, but I could write about him.

I could write about writing. I could write about music. I could write about the sky and the trees and the grass and the shadows and the dead leaves and the birds and the cats and the dirt and the rocks.

But when I think about it, there is one person who stands behind Seth and the writing and the music and the world and makes it all possible. He does the housework so that I have time to write. He listens to me go on and on about Seth. He reads my writing, and he tells me that it is good. He gave me tickets to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert for my birthday once, and he always takes me with him to Josh Ritter concerts. When I asked him about our song, he answered with this Josh Ritter tune: The Temptation of Adam.

He walks through the world with me, and he looks at the dirt and the rocks and the trees and the clouds when I point them out, and he agrees that they are good and beautiful.

When Seth’s story attracted attention, and that attention attracted negative attention, and the anonymous hate became too much to bear, he held me. He listened to me. He let me cry. He never judged me. He never said a harsh word. He was just there, gentle and warm, and I knew that with him I was safe.

He patiently repeated that I was a good person, that there wasn’t anything wrong with me, that he has known me and lived with me and spent every day with me for over a decade and that therefore he knew me a bit better than random strangers on the internet did, and he said that they said cruel things because I was so good at writing and because I was so outspoken and unafraid.

I played this song for him, and he smiled. Beautiful Freak

He smiled at the line “You’re not like all of the others, and that is why I love you.”

He accepts me the way I am. Unconditionally. When we get in his car to go out at night and it’s cold and I point at the dashboard and I say “Make the sun”, he doesn’t say I’m weird. He doesn’t say I need to change who I am to fit his expectations. He smiles and he turns on the heat.

Sometimes I say “I wish I was pretty and interesting.” He answers “Well, congratulations, because you are!”

He took care of me when I was sick with the ulcer. He covered me with my blanket and kissed me on the cheek. Once, I felt better at work after getting a Dr. Pepper and a Reese’s Cup from a gas station. He came home from the grocery store with a stack of Dr. Pepper bottles and bags of Reese’s Cups. When I thought caffeine might be making it worse, he came home with Sierra Mist. When quick release Tylenol turned out to work better than the Lortabs I’d been prescribed, he bought bottles of it.

And finally, he took me to the ER and stayed with me in the hospital. He refused to fully recline his chair, because then he might sleep too deeply and not hear if I called for him. He only left for a couple of hours each day, and only while my mother was there. He did leave me alone for a bit the first day, after the endoscopy, but only because he knew I’d be out of it until he came back. He said that I looked like I was getting real rest for the first time in months.

I heard later from a coworker that when he came to the office to pick up some things for me he talked to her about it, and that he cried a bit.

Oh, and now that the ulcer seems to have left me with a bit of lactose intolerance, he’s buying gallons of soymilk. :)

He’s a bibliophile, and he likes to give me beautiful editions of my favorite books for my birthday and for Christmas. I have a wonderful copy of Jane Eyre sitting next to the monitor, with red-edged pages and a bookmark and a sturdy black hardback binding with lovely silver accents.

Once he was cooking fries for dinner, and I pointed out one very long fry and said that I wanted it. When he handed me my plate my fry was there. I said “Hey, my fry!” and he said that he’d set it aside special and told my sister-in-law that she couldn’t have it, that it was mine.

He makes everything better. When I am upset, when I hurt, when I hate myself and I’m beating myself up, when the human species is crashing down on me and I am drowning under its pain and its willingness to cause pain, I hug him. I lean on him and I give him my pain and he takes it, and like Jane Eyre I repose on what I trust.

I love him. I love him so much. I love him more than I love Seth, more than I love writing, more than I love the world.

We met when we were 18. I had made a friend at orientation, and when school started I found her again. We were walking back towards her dorm. She reached out and stopped a guy who was riding by on his bike. He’d been in her AP Spanish class in high school. We agreed to go to a luau at his dorm later that night.

It’s been eighteen and a half years since then. The boy who was on the bike is about to get off work. He’ll be home in forty minutes or so. And when I hear him unlocking the door, I will run into the living room, saying “YAY John’s home, John’s home!” and I’ll give him a hug and I’ll ask him about his day and I’ll tell him about mine, and then he’ll make me dinner, and I’ll tell him how good it was and I’ll thank him for making it, and you know what? It feels almost like a home of sorts or something. ;)

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my friends and all my haters and all the strangers who just drop by. I love you all. Though perhaps maybe not quite as much as I love my spousal person. ;)

#personal #valentinesday #valentine #valentine's day

[dorkcresswxll]

i went...... hard y’all this is so extra and embarrassing but i spent like,, over an hour writing this down so ur all gonna see it u better.

Why did you choose to play the character that you do at Crimson Revolt?

im gonna be honest like………………………………. i picked dirk bc i wanted to play ezra miller lmao. I KNOW HOW SHALLOW THAT IS DONT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT OKAY I CAN EXPLAIN!!!!!!!! alright so before i apped for crt the first time i was at…… a pretty low place confidence-wise bc i’d just left the first rpg i ever joined (also the first rp thing i ever did) and it was a pretty,,,, messy departure lmaoo i gotta admit i could’ve handled that better orz. BUT ANYWAY so i went looking through the ezra miller fc tag bc i’d just discovered this fabulous person and had vague ideas about a character that could fit the fc (dramatic, cheeky, a lil flamboyant) and was also thinking “i will never fall in love with a character the way i did my previous ones again” and more dramatic bullshit along those line bc like i said,,, bad time. obviously i didn’t find any active rpgs that had him in use so i checked crt bc i’d seen it around before and liked the look of it, so i sent the main an ask like “do you see ezra miller working for any of your open characters?” the admin at the time pointed me to barty crouch, peter pettigrew and dirk cresswell.

i just want to take a moment to digest that i could literally have played any of these three, cause all i had at the time was a vague idea of a character and a fc to match. i remember i spent days trying to decide between barty and dirk cause neither skeleton fit my vision perfectly and they both seemed aimed more towards an angry jock-type character (especially dirk his fc was miles teller which…. should give u a good idea of what the admin at the time had in mind for him) ( i mean the first skeleton. the one on the main now is one i rewrote after the main crashed back in june.) (just to clarify: the original skeleton had just as much potential to evolve to a complex and intriguing character as any other skeleton here at crt. i just had my vaguely dramatic ezra miller bby and i wanted it. lmao.) but i liked challenging set characterizations and bringing unique perspectives to contrast against any expectations the admin/s might have about a character. which is why i tend to go for skeleton rps, you get more freedom with those. eventually i decided on dirk bc i liked the sound of aversio and grey moralities appeal to me greatly. i spent a long time delving into the character’s backstory and personality and all those deep-seated insecurities and compelling contradictions that make dirk up to be the person he is now. by the time i submitted the app i was thoroughly in love with the character and haven’t stopped since. he’s my most developed and my most beloved character to play thus far.

Do you have a favorite holiday?

NOPE. as long as im surrounded by people i love and a lot of snacks im good.

Do you prefer coffee or tea? Perhaps neither, or both?

coffee. coffee coffee coffee.

What is your personality type?

INFP-T. the mediator. 86% introverted lmaooo.

What is your Hogwarts House?

ahhh. when i first read the books a few years ago i was like ‘iM A SLYTHERIN DONT TOUCH ME!!!!!’ but i…………literally have the subtlety of a bulldozing stampede of rhinos im sure y’all noticed. i took the pottermore test and had the glaring red n gold show up on my face and i shut the laptop down so fast like liES I BELIEVE NONE OF THIS. then i took a fan-made test that put me in ravenclaw and i was like…………….. ok i accept this compromise i can work with that. lmao im such a gryffindor tho don’t look at me im just *flops* pottermore was right….. i accept my place now i have stopped running from the truth orz.

What is your Zodiac Sign?

Taurus.

Three most recently watched on Netflix?

SURPRISE! i don’t have netflix. most recent stuff i watched tho are Stranger Things 2, IT (2017) and…. i can’t remember orz. but im obsessed with stranger things taLK TO ME ABOUT STEVE HARRINGTON PLS I LOVE HIM SO MUCH *SOBS*

Describe your ride-or-die friend.

don’t call me out like this…………………………………. i don’t make friends in real life people are difficult and i am awkward orz.

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

the ability to focus whenever i want at whatever i want for however long i want and actually manage to be productive with my time. what do u mean this is not a superpower i need it to be one.

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

i have no sleep schedule to speak of. sometimes i sleep at five am and wake up at eight am to get to my classes, then have a six hour nap when i get home and stay up until four am again. sometimes i go to bed on eight pm and wake up at four in the morning and still sleep through my classes, take a small four hour nap when im home and spend obligatory time with the fam for a couple hours lmao. it’s like im just sleeping or waking up either way im always a step removed from a zombie. there is. no reason for any of this i just do it.

What is your favorite color?

YELLOW. it’s so bright and sunny and iouwodc. i love it.

What is the last book you read? What is your favorite?

ahhhh i can’t remember my memory is failing me. which is sad cause i used to pick up a new novel every other day but i just can’t be bothered anymore ugh. i think my favorite was the whole PJO & HoO series’ – i haven’t read the last book yet tho, so i’ll start rereading all ten books when i get the chance.

Where would you rather be right now?

on a bed. sleeping. alone. with a lot of blankets. solitude appeals to me on such a deep level guys u don’t even know.

Have you ever watched the sunrise?

the ones i remember are three – once when i was a kid with my mom, bc i wouldn’t go to sleep and it was approaching sunrise and i rambled about wanting to see the sun come up so my mom was like………………… ‘*throws hands up* ok u lil monster u win’ and took me to the roof to watch the sunrise lol. it was glorious. and cold. bc winter. the second time was with my cousins who were sleeping over (for the first time in a loooong tiiiimmmeeee) and we decided to spend the night up on the roof bc why not. the last time was with my brother i think he was up there fixing something or the other and i was just there….. to be annoying lmao.

Do you listen to music when you write? If yes, what kind of music?

oh no i can’t. i need everything and everyone to be quiet or i can’t write a thing.

What’s the one thing you especially love about roleplaying your muse/s?

what do i love about playing dirk…… his impulsive and his bright attitude and his endless optimism. he has such an uplifting presence and a cheeky sort of charm that makes it impossible for people not to love him, that makes his worming into other people’s hearts so entirely predictable and entertaining to play out. he is a myriad of contradictions – the difference between what he thinks everyone deserves and what he thinks he deserves is appalling, and with time it becomes clear that when he says things like “everyone needs someone to lean on” or “everyone could use some support” he is not referring to himself as a part of this ‘everyone’, if even on a subconscious level, does not find himself worthy of such kindness. he is a character so full of love he is spilling and overflowing with it, his raw emotions and his turbulent nature one of the dearest parts of him to me. the thin line he walks between being kind and violent, loyal and unforgiving, genuine and secretive. all the little details that make him up are reason for me to love him as dearly as i do.

What’s your favorite type of weather?

cold, but not too cold, y’know? just enough to wear a jacket but not so much you spend the night under five covers and a thermometer lmaoo.

What’s your best RP experience?

crt. no contest. and im not just saying that cause i’ve been in a bunch of rpgs by now and they all either a) lack dedicated admins/members b) are cliquey and non-inclusive at all or b) fall into inactivity a meager month or two after opening. crt is one of a kind.

Who inspires you?

this is actually a tough question cause i never really stop to think about it?? i draw inspiration from everything around me and it’s kinda like…. im constantly absorbing stuff from the environment im in and it’s like i’m always half-thinking about writing at any given moment, if that makes sense?? dunno.

Spread some love: mention someone you’ve met that has influenced you or your writing in a positive way and explain how!

ahhh okay so. before i tried roleplaying i stumbled upon this rpg in the fandom tag over a year ago and it’s basically been the catalyst for my time in the rpc. i was looking through the character’s blogs and found someone playing peter and i was like……….. not fond of peter at the time tbh but this person’s writing was so fucking incredible i checked their blog daily, just to see how this thread or that thread would go. their take on a character i’d only held distaste for before was so compelling and complex i was drawn in all the way, i’d even come to love the character so much and was constantly disarmed by the smallest to the biggest details in that person’s characterization – at least the details i could pick up on, some i’m sure went way over my head at the time. some details i still remember vividly and they’ve helped me shape my first character and have influenced my writing thereafter. i learned a lot about the duality of a character’s mind and how to express inner conflict by observing that person’s writing. (yes i sent them a nerdy af message gushing about all that bc they hadda know man…. they hadda know.)

#( ooc.)

[nerdforestgirl]

The Adolescence Alternative

Chapter Two: Friends

Previous Chapter: Chapter One: Excuses

By the end of the day, Sheldon realized it wasn't the book that made him sneeze. He was getting sick. It wasn't uncommon for him to get sick a few times a year. His immune system wasn't very strong, so he informed his mother that he was ill and went to bed as soon as he got home that afternoon. She brought him some soup for dinner and felt his forehead.

“You are running a fever. You better stay home tomorrow,” Mama told him.

Sheldon nodded.

Mama picked up the copy of Pride and Prejudice and looked it over. She was curious about his choice of reading material. Usually when Sheldon was sick, he reread novelizations of Star Trek or The Hobbit. Those things were comforting to him.

“For school?”

“No. Amy recommended it to me. It's better than I thought it would be. I'm almost done with it,” Sheldon told her.

His mother sighed. He sure was going to a lot of trouble to prove that this girl was supposedly real. She decided not to argue with it. “Enjoy Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy,” she said before kissing him on top of his head and leaving him. He made a complaining noise as he rubbed his forehead where his mother kissed him. All it did was smudge the lipstick left behind.

Sheldon smiled to himself as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth circled each other. This silliness was exactly what he loved about these kinds of stories. He didn't care for love for himself. Who had the time when one wanted to win a Nobel before thirty? Still, he was a bit of a secret romanic at heart. When he finished the book, he closed it and lie down to sleep. He dreamt of being an aloof landowner and Amy being a spirited young woman he was hopelessly in love with.

Sheldon spent his whole sick day reading Mansfield Park. Amy was right. It wasn't just about romance. It was about betrayal and class. It was also much more interesting than he believed it would be. By the time he finished the book, he couldn't wait to get back to talk to Amy about it. He wondered if this was what having a real friend was like. Maybe this was why his sister went to school even though she hated all of her classes.

When Sheldon was getting ready for school the next day, he decided to pick up his much abused copy of The Hobbit. He shoved it into his bag on his way out.

In biology, Sheldon took his place next to Amy. She was reading like she always did, but she did look up at him and nodded when he took his seat.

“I finished Mansfield Park last night. I was sick,” Sheldon explained.

“Do you want to borrow my notes from yesterday?” Amy asked. She had been surprisingly disappointed when Sheldon wasn't in class the day before. They weren't friends, but his constant bothering her about the book she was reading was almost endearing now.

Sheldon had never borrowed notes from anyone other than a teacher. It was never worth his time to look through another student's work. That was if anyone would even give them over. Sheldon was used to just reading the assigned chapters from when he missed class.

“Uh. Sure,” Sheldon said in just utter surprise at her offer. He was sure he wouldn't use them, but he liked that she even offered. No one offered.

Amy handed over her page of notes from the day before. “Please return it undamaged tomorrow.”

“Sure.” Sheldon scanned it and saw a full page of tiny, neat writing. It was full of not just what the Mr. Davisson said, but also Amy's own insights. Sheldon had never once needed or wanted a tutor, but if he ever needed help in biology, he knew where to go. She possibly understood it more than he did. He decided that he would copy it down. Just in case.

“What did you think of Mansfield Park?”

“It was good. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would,” Sheldon admitted as he looked back up from her meticulous notes. “Oh. Since you showed me your favorite book. I brought you mine.”

“My favorite book? What do you think is my favorite book?” Amy asked. She was sure that she had never even spoken to Sheldon about The Canterbury Tales. Her beloved copy was still packed in a box somewhere.

“Pride and Prejudice?” Sheldon said now unsure as he slid The Hobbit over to Amy.

“That isn't my favorite book.” Amy inspected the well worn copy of The Hobbit. She saw that it was about wizards and dwarves. She was about the hand it back when she saw the hopeful look in Sheldon's eye. The book had to be loved because it was dogeared and a little tattered while belonging to one of the most careful boys she had ever met. As much as she didn't really like the boy in front of her, she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She thanked him and put the book into her bag before class started.

Later that day at lunch, Sheldon was in his usual seat down the table from a few guys he knew from Math Olympics. They weren't bad guys, but Sheldon never actually sat with them. They left him alone for the most part, and he didn't bother them. Other than Amy, they were the closest thing he had to friends.

Speaking of Amy, she suddenly appeared and sat across from him.

“Don't say anything. I just needed a place to eat,” Amy warned before he could even make a sound.

“You don't have lunch this hour?”

“Of course I do. I normally go to the library to eat, but Mr. Smith is out today. The sub wouldn't let me stay. Just let me eat,” Amy assured him. She wouldn't have chosen to eat with Sheldon Cooper, but he was the only person she knew at this lunch hour. Plus he seemed to like her enough to lend her his favorite book. Tomorrow she would go back to the library.

Sheldon shrugged and started into his own sandwich without so much as another word. That was until the guys whom he knew from Math Olympics who shared the table with him started asking questions. They had never seen Sheldon eat lunch with another person.

“Girlfriend, Sheldon?” Howard asked.

“No,” Amy answered for him. “I don't know him.”

“You can come sit with us,” Stuart offered. He wasn't actually on the team with the other guys, but he didn't have other friends. He was also the only one of the guys who didn't have a girlfriend. Well, Raj didn't have a girlfriend, but Sheldon suspected that he didn't want one because he usually didn't shut up about his friend Lincoln, who was a very handsome basketball player. Even Sheldon could see that there was something bigger going on there.

“No,” Sheldon refused on Amy's behalf.

“I can sit where I like, Sheldon,” Amy snapped. She stood up and went to sit next to Stuart. Sheldon felt a pang of what he could only assume was jealousy. That didn't make any sense, but he wanted to punch Stuart right in his jaw. He flexed his fist, but then he just stared at his sandwich. He didn't want a girlfriend. He was above that. He supposed he was just jealous because he thought that Amy was his friend. Well, not friend, but friendly. Then she just went to go have lunch with another boy. Wasn't she his?

“Do you want to come over?” Sheldon blurted suddenly across the table. He was staring right into Amy's eyes. There was no question as to whom he was speaking.

“Come over where?” Amy asked. Did he want her to come back over to his side of the table?

“My house. After school. We could study together,” Sheldon clarified.

“Why would I come over to your house?”

“Because you are my best friend.”

“Your best friend? We barely know each other and I kind of hate you,” Amy answered bluntly. It was true that Sheldon was the only person she talked to most days, but that didn't mean they were friends.

“It's the 'kind of' that makes you my best friend,” he countered with a slightly crooked smile. He was aware that he wasn't the most popular guy, but he wore it as a badge of honor instead of being bothered by it like Amy was. For whatever reason, he was reaching out to her. She thought about it for a moment and decided to reach back. This was the boy who read the books she suggested and handed over a much beloved object without asking anything in return. She supposed they were friends despite her best efforts.

“Fine. Meet me at the bike racks at three,” she muttered.

Sheldon nodded and left to get to English.

Sheldon met Amy right where she suggested after school.

“Hi. Your friends said you are good at calculus. I hate to do this because I don't usually need any help with anything, but could you maybe tutor me a little?” Amy asked when she saw him standing there. She had gotten a lot of background from Sheldon's other friends.

“They aren't my friends, but I would be happy to help you,” Sheldon agreed. He knew that even if he needed to actually explain something to Amy, it wouldn't be a problem. She wasn't one of the idiots who went to their school. He learned over the last few days that she was very bright. Maybe even near his own intelligence.

“I could return the favor. I don't think you need any help in biology, but English? French? American Government?” Amy offered.

“French?” Sheldon asked.

“You need help in French? I can do that. I'm great at French. I spent six months in France last year, and while that wasn't enough for me to be perfect, I can certainly help you get through a high school class. I aced the AP French test last year,” Amy offered.

“Oh. No. I am learning Mandarin,” Sheldon explained.

“Oh,” Amy returned sadly. She hated admitting any weakness to anyone. She really hated admitting it to someone like Sheldon. This boy was brilliant at everything he did. Of course he didn't need any help.

“Maybe you could teach me a little anyway,” Sheldon suggested. Languages were not his strong suit, and he always thought that they were one of the few things he couldn't just learn from a book.

“Sure,” Amy agreed. “Are those guys really not your friends? They seemed nice enough, and that guy Leonard seemed to know a fair amount about you,” Amy asked as she bent down to unlock her bike.

“They don't like me. No one does,” Sheldon admitted. This time he wasn't really bragging about it the way he had in the cafeteria.

“I don't think that's true. I think that they would talk to you if you sat with them. They are pretty nice,” Amy told him. They were nicer to her than anyone else had been since she got to this school. She promised that she would sit with them again the next day.

Sheldon shrugged, and they both let the subject drop. Sheldon took the handlebars of Amy's bike to wheel it to his house for her. He was strictly a walker to and from school. Missy had been hinting about a car, but Sheldon was sure if she got one, he would still walk. He couldn't imagine that he would ever feel safe in a car with his sister.

“My mom will probably be home. She works part time at our church, but she's almost always home on Thursday afternoons. I'm sure she will question you about your parents and where you go to church. I apologize in advance for that.”

“I don't go to church. We aren't usually anywhere long enough to see the point in joining a community,” Amy admitted. She wasn't sure how she personally felt about religion. She read enough about various faiths, but none seemed to hold the answers she was looking for.

“How many times have you moved?” Sheldon asked. He had lived here all of his life. He wondered what it would be like to travel the world.

“Fourteen times. This is my fourth high school. My parents are trying to let me stay here for my senior year even if Dad gets transferred again. I'd rather not. Maybe we can move back to Lyon if I'm meant to just live in one place for a while. I miss France,” Amy admitted.

“You could stay here. You have friends here,” Sheldon told her. He really meant that she was his friend. He hated the idea of her leaving town again. Even if they had only been speaking for about a week. He wasn't lying about her being his best friend. Well, perhaps his grandmother was his best friend, but Amy was second.

“Don't tell my parents that,” Amy joked, but she liked that Sheldon seemed to want her to stay. Maybe she didn't exactly hate him. She was going to his house after all.

The pair quietly walked the rest of the way to Sheldon's house. Sheldon put Amy's bike in the shed next to his house so his dad wouldn't run it over when he got home from work. Then he led her to his door. He had never once had a friend over to his house, so he wasn't sure what to do now.

“Mama, I'm home,” Sheldon called. Amy smiled that the boy called his mother “Mama.”

“Hey, Shelly,” Mama stopped short and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw Sheldon standing in the doorway with a girl.

“Hello, Mrs. Cooper,” Amy muttered.

“Mama, this is my friend, Amy Fowler,” Sheldon introduced. He would have gloated to his mother that the girl was, in fact, real if not for the fact that he did not want to reveal to Amy that his mother thought it wasn't possible for him to make friends.

“It's so strange when people don't include my middle name,” Amy muttered. It was the first time Sheldon had called her by her full name.

“What?” Sheldon asked.

“At home, I'm Amy Farrah Fowler. My mother is also Amy, so everyone includes my middle name when speaking to or about me at home. Only teachers usually call me Amy Fowler.”

“Oh. Mama, this is Amy Farrah Fowler,” Sheldon corrected himself automatically.

“It's nice to meet you, Amy Farrah Fowler,” Mrs. Cooper said as she reached out to shake the girl's hand. “Can I get you something to eat?”

Amy was about to refuse when Sheldon said that he was starving. He started taking off his windbreaker and took Amy's jacket to hang on the hook next to his. Then he followed his mother into the kitchen while urging Amy to follow.

Mrs. Cooper practically fixed them an entire feast. She put out trays of cheese and crackers, a pitcher of sweet tea, a plate of fruit.

“Anything you'd like, dear?” Mrs. Cooper asked Amy as she inspected the fridge.

“Anything is fine. I'm allergic to avocados though,” Amy said quietly. She didn't want to be a bother.

“Alright. I'll make sure to keep that in mind when I'm fixing dinner. You're staying for dinner, right?” Mary asked cheerfully.

“I'll have to call my mother,” Amy said. She actually realized that she needed to check in anyway because Mother would be worried about Amy not coming home right after school.

“Phone's right there,” Mrs. Cooper told Amy.

Amy called her mother, but she was embarrassed that Mother asked to speak to Mrs. Cooper. Amy handed over the phone to prove that she was still under the observation of an adult. She expected Mother to only speak to Mrs. Cooper for a moment, but the women started chatting about a number of things. Amy shrugged at Sheldon and he just used his head to indicate that Amy should join him at the table where he had already eaten a surprising amount of the food his mother provided.

Amy picked at the plate of fruit and cheese. Sheldon poured her a glass of sweet tea and pushed it at her before he set to work on calculus.

“You understand this,” Sheldon said as he finished helping Amy go over a third set. He didn't think she needed his assistance, and he wondered if she chose to ask for help just to have an excuse to hang out. Not that he could blame her.

“I always think I do, but I only received a 85% on my last exam,” Amy admitted. It was the only class where she did not currently have an A.

“Hmm. Perhaps it's a lack of confidence,” Sheldon suggested. He found that he liked Amy even more now that he knew how smart she was. Even where she felt she needed work, it seemed that she was exceptionally bright. He had not done poorly when he picked a fake girlfriend. If he was a different kind of person, he might even want her to be his real girlfriend. That was completely hypothetical, of course, Sheldon thought as he tried to suss out her eye color.

“Your mama says it's just fine if you stay for dinner, but she is going to come pick you up right at seven,” Sheldon's mother told Amy while Sheldon showed Amy how to play a card game she had never heard of before. The pair of teenagers had given up on studying pretty quickly because Sheldon didn't usually have friends over. He could study whenever. He could only play this game if he bribed his brother or sister to join him.

Mystic Lords of Ka'a was not something that Amy had ever heard of before, but once she got the hang of it, she put down three winning hands in a row. After that Sheldon decided to redirect them to video games until dinner was ready.

Sheldon's parents didn't act as if it was so strange for Sheldon to have a little friend over. The other two kids had friends over for dinner all the time. Sheldon, not so much. They didn't want to scare her off. Junior didn't get the memo.

“Is this your girlfriend, nerd?” Junior asked as he helped himself to what Amy thought was an outrageous amount of food. There was no way he could possibly finish, right? And she thought Sheldon ate a lot.

“She is a girl and she is a friend. She is not my girlfriend,” Sheldon explained without any emotion coloring his tone.

“So, she's available?” Junior asked with a wink to Amy. Amy looked to Sheldon to try to figure out what to do. Normally she would just say no and move on with it, but this was Sheldon's family.

“No. She's not for you,” Sheldon told his brother fiercely.

“Alright, bro. I won't hit on your girlfriend,” Junior said with hands up to signal surrender.

Amy waited for Sheldon clarify again that she was not his girlfriend. Instead Sheldon just nodded his thanks and set back into eating his dinner. Amy was sure that Sheldon thought that he didn't explain again, but a little part of her wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Then she chastised herself for that thought. She didn't stay anywhere long enough for boys, and even if she did, Sheldon Cooper was not her type. He might be intelligent and cute and funny, but he was still a pompous ass. Amy didn't like him. She was sure.

Amy's mother was not even a minute late picking her up after dinner. She also seemed to inspect Sheldon as he effortlessly lifted Amy's bike to put in the trunk of Mrs. Fowler's car, but he must have looked enough like a safe nerd that even Amy's mother couldn't find fault. Amy thanked him for the afternoon, and left.

#NFG fan fiction #the adolescence alternative

[mechagalaxy]

John T. Mainer: Personal Log: Sgt "Bubba" Kerzov

Personal Log: Sgt "Bubba" Kerzov

Life is simple as a Sgt in the Meji military. Since the Iron Prince took over control of the military directly, his loyalty purges to remove the progressive elements of the Prince of Flowers returned the officer class to absolute control of all commissioned positions in the Shogunate mecha forces. Lowborns like me can't rise higher than Sgt, but the powers of Sgt rose to include all the actual drafting of plans, logistics requests, duty schedules; you know, the scut work. Our lords and masters kept their delicate hands free for beautiful calligraphy on the after action reports, and the personnel reviews that made or broke careers. As a result, good officers got rare, and bad officers got a lot of us killed.

Chu-i (Lt) Toyo Hinata is a classic example. A bright hyper aggressive academy project who thought warrior spirit was everything. Of course his little man syndrome caused him to risk feedback damage running machines that were too big for his level of competence. He was running a Specter, jade green missile spawning lord of hell, he could rain down spikes of hyper velocity HESH or AP over half an acre with a single trigger pull. Of course he frequently fell flat on his face when trying to run and fire at once, but his speed made those quick attacks devastaating enough he never seemed to understand the inability to dodge meant outside the range you generally died before you found out what your second salvo might have done.

I was running my Slate, a big slow crystal machine that paired ice weapons and missiles to slow and pummel enemies into submission. I had half my Chu-i's weapons and base speed, but I mastered my machine, so tended to be around for the whole of the battle, not just the first shot. I also read the damned briefings, when I didn't write them. Chu-i Hinata did not.

"Bubba, I am taking the front line ahead with me, I have the present mecha in sight, it is running for the cover of those trees. I won't let it get into the forest and lose us. Follow ahead with the rest of the platoon at the best speed those peasant crystal junkers can do" Hinata was so excited, he totally forget such things as call signs, radio procedure, standing orders for contact reports, and....oh yes....what planet we were on. That last one is super important right now"

"Volley Actual this is Volley2-1, suggest you hold position for rest of company, that is a trap" I was almost done saving his life when the little twerp cut me off with his command override.

"Bubba, I am the Chu-i, the officer, appointed by the Son of Heaven himself to lead this platoon, and you will do as I say! I am samurai, and with four niode powered assault mecha cannot show fear in front of one pint sized mecha that looks like a Christmas present. I will catch him in those trees, and you will follow at your best speed. Chu-i Hinata OUT!"

Well, that was that. I whispered the last of my message before switching to the company frequency.

"This is a trap sir. We are on planet Saskatchewan, there are no trees outside of private gardens. That mecha is not running to a forest, he is running to a battalion of Xmas tree mecha" Oh well, time to break in a new Chu-i, assuming I live. I switched to the company frequency and called to the other fresh meat Chu-i running the patrol's other flank. Chu-i Kagayama. Cold bastard, but intense in the manner of a craftsman.

"Setter Actual this is Volley 2-1, contact report" I sent, because dammit, we had radio procedures and call signs for a reason, even if the noble brats were too important to learn them.

"Volley 2-1, send over" Kagayama was cold, focused, and look at that, had put us on tight beam to limit the chances of the enemy catching the signal splash. Bastard might have promise, why did I always get the idiots instead?

"Setter Actual, Volley 6 and front rank in pursuit of present class specialist mecha closing on figures 125 trees expect Volley 6 to make contact with present mecha inside tree perimeter in figures two minutes. over"

I saw the whole of Setters formation perform a parade ground perfect wheel and switch from march order to battle while advancing to flank speed. It wouldn't be in time to keep us from getting corn-cobbed, but the company would be saved. His reply came back, still cold, but focused tighter than a Galaxy Eye.

"Volley 2-1, slow advance, prepare for delaying action. This is Saskatchewan, those are not trees but Santa's 50 ton Xmas trees. Delay them as long as you can, I am inbound with my forces to extract the survivors. The Tai-i is forming a line with the rest of the company to stop them short of the gate. Just buy time Sgt, and keep that little idiot from getting good pilots killed. Setter Actual out"

That was how a professional officer sounded. Now to watch an amateur die. I switched to my beloved leaders own feed. It was glorious, if you had no clue what competent mecha pilots looked like. The clans would view this as slapstick comedy, watching the clowns fall down, a circus of errors. The Shogunate would turn it into high drama, a glorious tale of duty, honour and sacrifice. Honestly, public affairs officers and politicians have killed more Shogunate soldiers through this crap than the civil war and last two invasions by the Illyrian Hegemony combined.

Chu-i Hinata had amazing reaction speed, it allowed him to switch operations so fast you might almost think he had the bandwidth to pilot a 110ton machine, but in battle, the fine coordination broke down, and your reflexes tried to fire, dodge, and move to cover at the same time you re-balanced your shield emitters against the pattern of incoming fire and tweaked your ECM to disguise your actual signature behind your shield footprint so the enemy fired on sensor ghosts not your actual hull, and therefore fragile ass.

"I've got him! He can't run from me, I am the fastest man alive!" Hinata crowed. He was the fastest in Karasano company, and the best shot, but he could only do both in mecha of 80 tons or less at the same time. His Specter was 110 tons. This would be something to watch.

The odd bow topped mecha that looked like a golden Christmas present stopped and opened to reveal a battery of plasma cannons that splashed over Hinata's fire shields to little effect. He unloaded a swarm of Predator missiles that shattered the little mecha into bronze gold chunks and caused him to cheer. It also caused the trees surrounding him to grow taller, and begin to spin, each layer alternating in direction to gyro stabilize and bring a battery of weapons to bear.

Tandem Bombs lashed out from four enemy mecha, to of them decended on individual mecha in Hinata's line, ramming an Ignus and Apatotron to a halt, one fell just behind the sprinting Notos of Sgt Jawinder, but it didn't matter, the other wide forked and fell on the whole line like the hammer of Thor and turned all the mecha save Hinata's own well shielded machine into shut down or outright destroyed scrap. Hinata tried to salvo another save of penetrators as he shuffle stepped to avoid the incoming missiles. He had the bandwidth to do either well, but not both. His front legs crossed, but his forward speed was such that it caused his mecha to perform half a somersault, ending up turtled on its back, ass to the enemy, legs spread in the air.

His predator salvo fired, even though he was on his back with the missile ports closed, so they detonated in the bay, the belly blast plates vented the reaction out the belly of his beast, but they gutted it on the way through, shutting it down. The Xmas tree closed and casually fired a Candy Cane suppository right up Hinata's proffered posterior. That is where we found him. Legs in the air, candy cane up the ass.

We pulled back to the gate at Saskatchewan base Moose Jaw. Let the Clans deal with this crap. Whole forests of Xmas trees are not something house units are up to, especially not with noble dimwits in command. I can't wait for Christmas to be over, and it to be safe to patrol again. Even the pirates are staying indoors right now.

John T Mainer 28840

[0xpgamedev-blog]

Welcome to a new series by the illustrious 0XP, where we’ll be highlighting effective features of games I seek to emulate in my own work.

Hmmm.

Illustrious.

I never did know the exact definition of the word, hold on I’ll just go for a goggle, let’s see…

*sound effect of a tarantula getting off with a Taser on top of a pile of dominoes*

Oh no, that makes me sound rather up myself a bit doesn’t it? Okay, we’re having a do over – LIGHTS!

I never did ask him where to buy his blackout curtains.

Cheers Terry!

Welcome all to a new series by the appropriately modest 0XP, where we’ll be looking at individual elements, features, systems, decisions and features of games from throughout history and delving into why I would like to emulate them in my own projects. Think of it as a “if you like this game, you’ll probably like the game I’m making” series. Oh shit. that’s actually a better title – Terry!

I don’t pay Terry enough – or anything – he doesn’t exit.

(Was very proud of that animation, so I put it centre stage and repeated it. You know you’ve done the same in pottery class).

For the first episode of the series I thought I’d focus on something I’ve been playing with recently: pixel art!

Nope. Not belling and rings.

Yes, you couldn’t be more desperately independent than if you grew a beard and whipped out a ukulele, but I will be most probably using pixel art in my own game – at least while I’m arting them.

I’ve been a big fan of the style ever since played the gorgeous Sword & Sworcery by Capybara Studios and Superbrothers a few years ago and instantly fell in love with the lanky character models and impossibly intricate background work that could only be described as ‘pixel painting’.

╚═། . ◯ o ◯ . །═╝

The common themes in the games I’ll be talking about in this podcast are uniqueness and simplicity. Sworcery’s style combines both in its character designs, which feature quite blocky (ha, get it – sqwares!) bodies and brittle, one pixel-wide limbs and extremities, which make it looking something like a pixely Adventure Time. I’ve been trying to stem procrastination with my first foray into pixel art on the day of writing this scene, and I immediately sought to ape Sworcery’s jimmies:

I think they turned out rather well.

The next game is FEZ by the internet’s most beloved man. I have a soft spot for FEZ cos it was the first game in years that challenged me OUTSIDE the game as well as INSIDE (sadly studio PlayDead’s Inside does not have pixel art, but I like its style also), and I found the visuals charming and clear. Not to say that Mr Popular isn’t a great pixel artist, but if you look closely (in between loops of the most GIFable thing in existence) you’ll see that the world is actually made of simple patterns repeated and then touched up individually to give detail.

I like to imagine the little FEZ guy steals from behind the bar with his powers and then just sits in the third dimension by himself, drinking. 

This is a more formulaic approach than Superbrothers’ seemingly painstaking process of delicately deploying each tiny coloured sqware (not to denigrate the former in any way), and one I think will be more suited a beginner in pixel drawing such as myself.

Seems like the near decade-long trend of owls everytime, everywhere extends to video games too, apparently.

Speaking of pixel drawing I think I could do but am probably a million years away from, let’s talk about a dinky little fencer by the name of Nidhogg (no relation).

If you had the chance to change your fate… WUDE YA?

And riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight (or left, depending on your orientation) at the other end of the spectrum is the game that took 8 years to make because the art’s so detailed: Owlboy.

I thought I’d end on a twist (as we once loved M. Night for: RIP(career))  with this one as, full confession: never played Owlboy, never will. From all the gameplay trailers I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem to be doing anything mechanically that I haven’t already played a thousand times over. To be quite frank, I think from a development perspective it was a case of putting the cart before the horse:  focusing so much on pursuing an art style that the rest of the game suffers heavily – and no doubt the team did as well.

I know that might irk some, as often some of the greatest artistic and technological breakthroughs are achieved through dogged perseverance, but I’d argue in this case it wasn’t worth it.

Guess how long this took to make? Nope, higher. Higher. Higher. Too High!                            Higher…

THAT BEING SAID – it is undoubtedly stunning. I mean you could spend days just looking at the thing. The detail is insane in the membrane’s mainframe – it looks hand drawn, even though it was drawn PIXEL BY PIXEL ON A COMPUTER. Gotta respect that commitment and skill, everything else aside.

So I’m gonna make mine look as good as Owlboy, yeah? Great. Another transmission wrapped nicely – hit the credits Terry!

Terry underwent design changes between animations and is now two people that I don’t pay or exist.

You can follow my progress on here, or on my other media outlets such as Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Any feedback is greatly appreciated as it’s early days and I would be more than happy to answer any questions.

Thank you all once again for tuning in your sets to our local station, we’ll be back again later in the week for another top up of that sweet sweet sweet one too many sweet juice. Au Goodbye!

Design Highlights #1: Pixel Art Sworcery Welcome to a new series by the illustrious 0XP, where we'll be highlighting effective features of games I seek to emulate in my own work.

#0XP #game design #gamedev #gaming #humour #indie #piskel #pixel art #programming #sworcery #technology #unity #unity2d