#cilla hunt

[iggyinuit]

Iggy (and Syd) at Johnny Varvatos, NY. Picture by Cilla Hunt, 2015.

#iggy the eskimo #syd barrett #mick rock #johnny varvatos #cilla hunt

[ladelinee]

Authors note: I can't believe I finally finished this part! I struggled with finding inspiration 😫, but I'm happy that you can enjoy it now! If you have any suggestions about what you'd like me to include in future parts, feel free to DM me 🖤 Enjoy!

Word count: 3,7K

Warnings: Negative thoughts, teasing, kissing, touching, +18 language.

“All shook up”

(Part 3)

The air was buzzing with excitement as Elvis prepared for his show backstage. With a soft hum, he sang improvised songs while his stylist meticulously adjusted every sequin and stitch on his jumpsuit. The intricate patterns on the fabric hugged his form, enhancing his stage presence. As the room filled with the murmur of conversations and equipment, Elvis remained poised and cool, ready to electrify the audience with his performance. It was a moment of pure anticipation, and you could feel the energy crackling in the air.

Joe entered the room, panting but trying to appear calm. "Hey E, how are you?" he asked.

Elvis turned around with a smile but sensed that something was off. "Hey Joe, everything alright?" he asked.

Joe hesitated for a moment before delivering the news that Elvis was dreading. "Well, I came to speak to you about this... Priscilla is on her way to see the show. She wants to surprise you."

Elvis's face immediately dropped at the mention of his wife's name. He knew that this could cause some trouble. "What? Ya're kiddin’ me, right?" he asked, trying to downplay its importance, but his nervous laugh betrayed his anxiety.

Joe's expression turned serious as he shook his head, "No, Elvis. She's really coming," he said. "I know we agreed to only have wives on opening and closing shows, and I tried to stop her with that, but she's determined to see you. She wants to make sure you're safe after the earthquake."

Elvis sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, looking irritated. "I know, Joe... I know the deal. Damn it, I didn't keep her in the loop.”

Elvis couldn't help but think about Y/n's beautiful face, which had been a nice break from his usual routine lately.

A staff member suddenly entered and informed Elvis that only 15 minutes were remaining until the start of the show.

Elvis nodded at the staff member. "Alright. I'll be there in a minute. Thank you"

Elvis let out a heavy sigh as he turned back to Joe again. “Ya know what, Joe, I was really hopin' to see y/n tonight. But now, it's lookin' like Cilla might just stay on over. Guess I gotta handle this whole thing right now”

“Hey, have you lost your mind?" Joe exclaimed. "There's no way you or any of the guys can leave now to deal with this, Elvis. The fans are swarming the building, trying to find their seats, and the media is everywhere. It's chaos out there!“

Elvis groaned and shook his head, thinking and walking in circles. "Damn... you're right, Joe.”

Suddenly Elvis walked towards the phone backstage, feeling his heart racing with anticipation. He pressed the dial button and tried to contact y/n's office. He thought that cancelling the date would be the quickest way to find a temporary solution.

"Damn it all…” Elvis let out a frustrated groan as he heard nothing but silence on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Presley, you have 10 minutes left." The staff member announced.

Elvis started feeling anxious and decided to resort to a plan B.

“Hear me, Joe. Hunt down that son-of-a-bitch Red, and instead of him playin' bodyguard tonight, send him for a minute to go and tell the girl this…”

Elvis thought for a moment and finally, with a snap of his fingers, he came up with a message. “Alright, just go on and tell her things got switched around. Tonight I'm dealin' with somethin' else, right at the last minute. Make sure she knows I'll ring her later to explain and I'm real sorry, ya hear?”

Joe nodded in agreement and began to head towards the door when Elvis interrupted him again.

“One last thing, tell Red to be gentle with her, will ya? At times, he's rougher 'n a bull in a china shop” Elvis sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“Priscilla is getting on your nerves. Am I right?” Joe playfully teased Elvis to lighten the mood.

Joe's voice caught Elvis' attention as he looked up from his thoughts "Ya got no idea how much... I just want this night to be over, damn it" he said.

…“5 minutes, Mr. Presley”…

Elvis's demeanour changed, and he became laser-focused on giving his fans the performance of a lifetime. It was clear that nothing could stop him from delivering his best.

—————————————————————

“Seat 5, row B, on the right – get ready for a night to remember!” I exclaimed with contagious enthusiasm, guiding the last fan to their seat.

The night was so busy that every employee helped with the crowds coming to see Elvis. Time passed quickly, and the more time went by, the more nervous I became. "Only a few more hours until midnight" I whispered while hugging myself inside the furry coat that Elvis had given me.

As I began a daydream, my mind filled with fantasies and exciting scenarios. I wondered if Elvis would want to grab drinks with me, or maybe he would suggest we go to a secret spot. My mind ran wild with imaginations of all sorts.

My hands began to shake, but not from the cold. They were reacting to the sound of the applause and music coming from inside the showroom, a clear sign that Elvis was on stage. I couldn't help but smile to myself, feeling incredibly lucky at the thought of seeing him later. My body was responding to the nervous excitement, and my

smile seemed to light up the whole lobby.

My thoughts completely caught me off guard when I looked towards the front of the lobby and, to my utter surprise, there stood a stunning woman. Her graceful movements, almost like a model, along with the security team that accompanied her, were walking directly towards the entrance of the showroom.

It was Priscilla Presley.

I was so shocked that I couldn't find the right words to respond. I even missed the chance to welcome her myself. Thankfully an employee intervened, and she entered the showroom.

She made me question how on earth I thought I could ever stand a chance with Elvis. At that moment, I felt so small… and I was still wearing the coat that Elvis had given me, probably as a way to compensate me for the inconvenience rather than anything more significant.

As I was still trying to process the situation, a loud voice suddenly drew my attention. I turned to see a tall and red-haired man standing next to me, who I could only assume was Red West.

“Y/n? I have a message from Elvis” He asked. I could sense the weight of his words, especially given that he spoke on behalf of Elvis.

“Yes, it's me. How may I assist you?” I replied professionally. I waited nervously, unsure of what he would say next.

"He can't make it tonight, he is busy dealing with something more important, Have a good night, miss" Red said before rushing to the corridors leading backstage, without a chance for me to even reply.

The sudden change in my status from something special to something insignificant had sent my anxiety levels soaring, and I felt a hundred daggers piercing my stomach. The coat I was wearing began to feel heavier, as all the joy and excitement it was bringing me was suddenly drained away. I had been nothing more than entertainment for Elvis all this time. How stupid I was!

The sound of Elvis's voice filled the air. The lyrics were hitting me hard. The pain was too much to bear, and I knew I had to leave. As I walked away, the words of the song echoed in my mind, and I couldn't help but feel crushed and devastated.

“Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?

Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?

Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?”

At 4 pm, a new shift started and I found myself in front of the mirror once again. I applied concealer to hide my dark circles as I had barely slept the night before.

I stepped out of my office and walked over to do the daily check before attending to Elvis and his wife, a thought that made my heart ache.

"Oh la la! My dear friend!" Alex suddenly jumped out from the corner as if he were a tiger on the hunt. "Wow, what are those dark circles? Did your secret admirer make them for you?" he asked with a mischievous smirk as if he were fishing for information.

"I really don't want to get into it. He just cancelled everything, end of story" I said, my voice betrayed a hint of hurt.

I anticipated Alex would show some compassion towards me, but instead, he said:

"Look, I've never seen you like this before. First off, you're a top-notch pro. Let's not let the guard down now. Second..." Alex began sprucing up my hair and tweaking my jacket. "Dress to impress, so he kicks himself for what he's missing. And third... guess who left the hotel this morning?" Alex revealed with a sly grin as if he had the inside scoop on last night's drama.

Without even having a say in the matter, I was instantly swept up in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. My expression became a mix of confusion and curiosity. Before I had a chance to voice my thoughts, Alex broke in.

"No time to waste!" he declared firmly, noticing that I was puzzled. "Elvis is up and asking for you. Please go! I will take care of the daily check" he assured me with a determined tone, urging me to focus on the immediate priority rather than being distracted by other matters.

"Oh, you really know how to keep the gossip alive, don't you?" I mumbled under my breath, a smile played on my lips as I headed towards the elevator.

Alex just shot me a friendly smile and gave me a wink to cheer me up. I nodded my appreciation and walked into the elevator, heading towards Elvis's penthouse.

“So I got up and walked out in that… hallway

Had my flashlight and my gun in one hand

I looked at that big chandelier hangin’ over the dining room table…

That son-of-a-bitch was shakin’ man, back and forth”

As I opened the door to the penthouse, I could already hear the sound of Elvis's voice coming from within.

When I stepped inside, I found Elvis sitting in an armchair with his back turned, dressed in black. The jumpsuit he had worn for the concert the previous night was on the floor, and the room was a little messy with some beer cans in the living room area.

Elvis continued talking on the phone until he finally noticed my presence. He said a quick goodbye to the person on the other end of the call and turned his focus to me.

He appeared to be quite pleased with the sight of me, though I could see a small glimpse of guilt on his face for having cancelled our plans the previous night. He didn't speak right away, probably awaiting my response.

“Good afternoon” I said smiling. I knew my role. The last thing I wanted to do was make this scenario personal. So, I maintained my professional demeanour, waiting for Elvis to speak first.

“Darlin’. M’sorry for cancelling our plans, last night was not easy, trust me.” Elvis said, regretful.

“It’s fine, Mr. Presley, I understand. I hope you had a nice time during the show with your wife.”

In return, I remained cold, maintaining my distance. It seemed that Elvis was getting anxious as he realized that I had no intention of engaging in any emotional connections with him.

Elvis seemed quite surprised by me calling him by his last name. "Darlin’, call me Elvis." He insisted.

I remained stoic, calmly replying "Fine, Elvis."

Elvis, worried about my answer, stared at the floor and then continued “Listen, Cilla ain't supposed to be showin' up here. Our marriage ain't going well, believe me. We ain't even sharin' the same bed”

I couldn't help but wonder whether what he said was true or just a lie. Although I wished it to be true, it seemed too good to be true. When faced with a challenge, I chose to respond boldly.

"If your marriage isn't going well, why are you still with her? " I asked. "I knew from the very beginning that you considered me as just an entertainment" I continued, letting my bitterness and frustration show.

Elvis got the point straightaway. “The main reason I'm still with her is all 'cause of my little girl, Lisa. She’s everythin’ to me. I… I love comin’ home and seein’ her pretty little face waitin’ for his daddy." Elvis explained while he walked towards me.

He held my chin gently in his hand, and his piercing gaze locked into mine. He stood so close that his towering height made it hard for me to even see the window behind him, casting a shadow with his broad shoulders.

“And…from the moment I saw ya...” he said, his voice low and steady. My heart raced as he continued, “…I felt somethin' special. That's why I argued with your boss to keep ya. Y/n, ya are very special to me, I can't deny it.” He said. My breath caught in my throat as I realized that the feeling was mutual.

"Is that true?" I asked with disbelief. I couldn't believe the words coming from his mouth. As he drew closer, my heart started pumping even harder. His presence made me weak. I was hopelessly drawn to him.

“I’ve never been so honest in my life, darlin’”

As I was still processing the weight of his words, Elvis swiftly reached out and held my face with both hands, bringing me into a deep kiss before I could react.

The kiss was filled with passion and hunger, almost as if we were both finally giving in to what we truly desired. I felt overwhelmed by the suddenness of his action, but I couldn't resist the feeling of attraction and passion I felt for him.

In the closeness we shared, my senses started to heighten. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek and the firm grasp of his large, soft hands on my jaw. The familiar, sweet and musky scent of his fragrance, evoking memories of our first meeting, caused a tremble throughout my body.

One of his hands slowly slid down my back, as if a hissing snake was running over it. His hand stopped at my butt, grabbing it with desire. His movement was so powerful that he almost lifted me off the ground, slamming me against him.

I moaned into his mouth.

Elvis paused and looked me straight in the eye, making me skip a heartbeat. His blue eyes were filled with a mix of desire and affection.

"Goddamit, baby, do that again," he requested, his voice almost breathless with excitement. He looked down and noticed that he was hugging me so tightly that my breasts were pressed against his chest, and he let out a subtle groan of pleasure.

"I think somethin’ is in the way," Elvis said with a sly grin, now looking at my jacket. My face couldn't help but turn red, the blush of shyness and heat filling my body. His looks and his gestures were becoming more and more sensual and teasing.

Elvis gently removed my jacket, letting it fall directly to the floor. Meanwhile, his lips were close to mine and attempting to bite me. I couldn't help but moan softly, as he requested previously, when he grabbed my breasts by surprise before he finally managed to achieve his aim of biting my lip.

“Oh my… “ I added. I was starting to feel a tingling in my core. His warm and big hands grabbing my breasts with a possesive grip made me feel like in heaven.

"Baby, I can stop if ya want me to" He suggested with a cheeky smirk, while his hands moved down to my shirt and slowly unbuttoned it, his focus shifted to my black bra and looked at it with parting lips.

"No, please... keep going" I replied, my voice became more urgent and needy. I needed his touch, his caresses were like a drug to me and I couldn't get enough.

The manly smell and the roughness of his skin after having shaved yesterday were enough for me to notice the wetness of my panties.

I started kissing and licking his neck vigorously as if begging him for more.

"Oh fuck" he moaned under his breath. We both knew what was coming next, as his bulge hardened against my stomach and Elvis' eyes, gleaming with a hunter’s glint, turned hungry as they fixated on my bra. His hands moved swiftly and decisively, grabbing my breasts with urge and pulling my bra down. His gaze was fixed on my breasts and he was making no intention of stopping any time soon.

My breasts were still bouncing from the sudden movement Elvis made when I felt his warm breath and soft lips on one of my nipples, and my whole body began to tremble.

He kissed them softly at first, passing his tongue around, making me grab his black hair, and whine softly. That reaction convinced him to take it to the next level, and he started nibbling, getting them hard and giving me an even more intense pleasure. Right after, he pinched them and rolled between his fingers, making my breathing become heavier.

I started feeling my clit growing slowly and throbbing. I couldn’t help but rub my thighs together. Elvis watched how I was doing it with a naughty and amusing smile that slightly curled his lip “Hhm, There ya go.” He added.

He started playing harder with my nipples, turning them red. I was about to gasp when he grabbed my neck, taking control of my breathing.

I could feel Elvis’ pants tightening around his crotch area, and he started to buck his hips against me in a slow and sensual dry-humped motion. His breathing was heavy, as he was focused entirely on the sensation of my body and the friction he was making.

The mix of Elvis’ lips just inches apart from mine, mixed with the sound of his growls and his breath hitting my face, was overwhelming. The warmth of his hand on my neck, reddened nipples, and the heat caused from his bulge were driving me wild, the pleasure was too intense to handle at once, all while Elvis was enjoying my gestures and keeping his eyes piercing into mine.

I began to caress his bulge, and my eyes widened in surprise when I realized his length and how hard it was. Immediately I pulled his shirt towards me, eager to kiss him. He leaned back and avoided the kiss, laughing softly and teasingly.

“Well, well…look at ya. Miss Prim and Proper’s gone and turned into a little ol’ thing yearnin’ for me. So am I forgiven?" he said, his smile revealed that he was enjoying my attempts to get closer to him, and I couldn't help but feel desperate for more.

"Oh, Elvis...You're so..." I sighed, blushing but at the same time hungry for more.

Elvis removed his hand from my neck, and grabbed my butt once more. “So… what, darlin’?”He asked with husky and teasing voice while his hands started moving down to the edge of my skirt, slowly lifting it up and showing a glimpse of my panties.

Right before I could reply or he had the chance to peek beneath my skirt, a sudden knock at the door halted everything.

“Housekeeping, may I come in, please?” The voice from outside asked.

It seemed someone had noticed Elvis was awake, and sent them in to clean.

As soon as we started hearing the knocking on the door again, Elvis turned his head to look at the door, then at me. And I just froze. "Oh god, no. No, no, no!" I exclaimed in panic, my face turned pale. "They're going to come in anyway, and they'll see me like this"

Elvis laughed softly, leading me to the wardrobe. He said "Don't ya worry, we'll be hidden in here for a while. Come on, let's hide!" He took my wrist and helped me step into the wardrobe. When we were inside, Elvis kept laughing softly as he shut the door. “Well, ain’t this a pattern? We’re always endin’ up in these tight, shadowed spots.” He said.

He positioned himself behind me, my heart was racing. “This is not funny, Elvis,” I whispered while hiding in the wardrobe. I was terrified of being caught and fired.

As the housekeepers opened the door, I peeked out through the gap between the wardrobe doors and saw my jacket on the floor, with my name tag on it.

“Right, Mr. Presley is not here; I want the room impeccable,” a lady in a suit said before leaving the room.

Oh Lord, that was Angelica, Doris’ boss. That housekeeping manager hated me for no apparent reason, and if she catches wind of this, my career will be over.

The employees began cleaning the room, and my heart pumped with fear. “They’re going to see my jacket” I said, worried.

Elvis, standing behind me, grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, covering my mouth with his hand. “Shh…It’s okay, darlin’, ya work for me now. We’ll figure somethin’ out,” he whispered. “By the way… this ain’t over,” he added softly, his voice filled with desire as he finally brought his free hand to the front part of my panties.

The rush of thinking we might get caught, mixed with Elvis's touch, sparked a whole new excitement in me.

Today's shift was shaping up to be a real rollercoaster.

Need to recap? Part 2 here

Part 4

#elvisaaronpresley #elvis #elvis presley #elvis fans #elvis the king #elvis history #70s elvis #elvis the pelvis #elvis x reader #elvis fanfic #elvis x y/n #elvis x you #las vegas nevada

[tabswrites]

Find the Word x2

I was tagged by a couple of people for this so I decided to just combine the posts!

Gently tagging: @bee-barnes-author @hippiewrites @darkangel319 @oh-no-another-idea and an open tag!

Your words will be: hunt, sharp, cry and breathe.

Tagged by @writernopal here: Ache, mortal, ancient and divine

Ache

Oliver lowered his arms once Adrin got to his feet. He could already feel the right side of his mouth swelling, and a dull ache spread throughout his jaw. (Tomb of Light, Ch. 6)

Mortal

Ancient

“I am younger, compared to the other creatures of this forest.” They batted at Adrin’s hand with their weird, sticky paws until he caught on and began to scratch behind their ears.

“You mean, compared to the bear.” Adrin stated.

“The Ursus Ornata are the most ancient of all,” Irk confirmed with a blink. “Cilla is the last of her kind, the only remnant of the old world. I know only what she knows–much has been lost.” (ToL, Ch. 8)

Divine

Also tagged by @mister-writes here: Soft, stone, peace and guess

Soft

“Gods, what are you still doing here, Monseigneur Chevalier?” the prince slurred, placing his hands on his hips.

Kiran copied his stance as he turned to face him. “Spending some time with a beautiful woman, Eri, just as you wished.”

He grinned widely, displaying a set of blindingly white teeth. “Ah, the famous Valtan hospitality–there’s nothing else like it.” Eri wagged a finger at him and the stack of gold bracelets on his arm jingled a soft tune. “Unfortunately, the time for play has ended. We are needed at the palace.” (Ascension, Ch. 2)

Stone

Towering almost a foot over the whimpering man, she craned her neck down until they were nose to nose.

“I don’t like bullies.” She breathed. “Consider this a warning.” His arm now pressed flat against the table, she brought her left hand down, dagger piercing through his open palm. Davis let out an agonizing cry as he felt the tip of the knife break through to kiss the cool stone before being yanked back out again. (ToL, Ch. 2)

Peace

Adrin shut his eyes again. He inhaled and sighed at the forest’s familiar fruity aroma. He heard the soft breeze rustle the grass and shake the trees, sharing its song with him. The rushing river joined the symphony and he let the sounds wash over him.

“It’s nice,” he whispered. “Peaceful.”

“It can be,” Irk replied, somewhere to his left. (ToL, Ch. 8)

Guess

Grey stood in the center of the room. His face was a sickly shade of bluish-gray and there were dark veins creeping up the sides of his neck. Pale fingers wrapped around the empty bottle of whiskey and held it up near his temple, close enough to scare me. I stepped forward with caution.

“It’s okay. We’re both drunk, right? You’re just…turning into a zombie, I guess.” My brain was still foggy from the alcohol and I was seriously struggling to keep my cool. “Put the bottle down, Grey.” (Oh, scrapped horror story—you will be finished one day)

#find the word tag #wip: tomb of light #wip: ascension #tag games #my snippets

[adastrafanfic]

Archive ♦ Discord ♦ Forums ♦ Tumblr ♦ Dreamwidth ♦ Twitter ♦ Pillowfort

Ad Astra News - 7/2 - 7/8

State of the Archive

All's well!  Things have kind of quieted off on the posting/archiving front, but remain apace in terms of our Discord and our weekly challenges!  The Review Hunt is also going great, with people racking up points on their way to winning the month's two offered prizes, too!  Not much else to say, except it's great to see the archive and community active and I'm looking forward to seeing more and more of your creativity.

Weekly Challenge #13 - Altered States

Your challenge this week, should you accept it, is 100 to 700 words about altered states!  Be they altered states of body, consciousness, energy, thought-- interpret this as strictly or loosely as you like!

When you're done, consider posting it on the archive with the freeform tag Weekly Challenge: Altered States and to the Weekly Challenge collection!

Challenge ends on July 28th, 2023 at 11:59PM Eastern.

Stories Archived

Star Trek: Discovery

by lah_mrh Shelter from the Storm - E - Ash Tyler | Voq/Christopher Pike To Make You Well - T - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike One New Message - E - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike A Matter of Timing - E - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

by BeatriceEagle Seven Days on Starbase Twelve - E - James T. Kirk/La'an Noonien-Singh

Star Trek: The Original Series

by daraoakwise The Sound of Integrity - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Spock by IDICdreads The Laughing Vulcan and His Dog - T - Spock, Ensemble Cast by SLWalker What Good - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott & Spock Frosted - T - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott Processing - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series

by kalima A Chorus of Ordinary Women - T - Nyota Uhura (AOS)/Spock (AOS), Ensemble Cast

Star Trek: The Next Generation

by jamaharon No PIctures - G - Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard To Touch the Future - T - Thomas Riker, OCs Home - G - Ro Laren Chance Encounter - G - Odan, Erik Pressman, William Riker by used_songs Lost Causes - Unrated - Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Kira Nerys

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

by lilly_c taboo - G - Kira Nerys, Jadzia Dax

Star Trek: Voyager

by lilly_c Sweet dreams and sci-fi sunsets - G - Naomi Wildman, Kathryn Janeway O Saathiya - G - Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway a single rose - G - Kathryn Janeway peace of mind - G - Seven of Nine

Expanded Universes

by DavidFalkayn Convergences 4 BOOM! - Mature - Ensemble Cast Convergences 5: Crashing the Broker - Mature - Cilla Oudekirk, Liara T'Soni, Garrus Vakarian by Hawku Find Voyager? No Problem - G - Ensemble Cast

#st:tos #st:snw #st:dsc #star trek discovery #star trek tos #star trek tng #star trek fanfiction #ad astra fanfic

[crystal-writer]

I have been working on this project off and on for the last 10-11 years. I had gotten the idea from a scenario that my sophomore year geometry teacher introduced (Thank you, Mr. A!) I had revisited that initial draft of it while visiting with a friend a few years ago and started reworking it into the second version of the story. The version that I've finally started posting here is the third version, which started with a creative project in the environmental literature class I took while at university. I had initially been writing it with the intention of turning it into a podcast, but I haven't really had the time to record episodes recently, so although I hope to eventually get back to the podcast, what I am posting for now is only the text.

Summary

When all of the technology that powered the world is wiped out by a series of storms known as “The Surge,” the people who found refuge in an old day resort known as The Ranch find themselves in an entirely different world than the one they knew. They must learn to work together to survive in a world where all of the everyday conveniences they’re used to having no longer exist.

Preview Below!

Rory almost kicks the cat.

She yelps, flailing, and nearly falls flat on her face in her effort to avoid Pricilla as the tortie ducks in front of her feet.

She rights herself and sighs, bending to scoop the cat up. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it won’t be the last. That’s just Pricilla. And, like always, as soon as she’s picked up, she squirms and claws until Rory drops her. She lands lightly on her feet and goes back to winding between Rory’s ankles.

“You’re going to get stepped on one of these days, ‘Cilla.” She tells the cat as the animal looks up at her with those big green eyes. It was moments like this that Rory wishes that her phone wasn’t a useless brick so that she could snap a picture.

There was no use for it, though.

She sighs, again, taking a quick inventory to make sure she hadn’t dropped anything when she’d tripped. A hand on the hunting knife hanging in its sheath into the strap of her drop leg bag. A glance behind her to make sure she hadn’t dropped any arrows. Or worse, the bow.

Satisfied, she continues down the path from what used to be the old orchard to the garden, leaves crunching under her feet. Pricilla dashes ahead of her when she has to pause to push the branches of a bush out of her path.

#original fiction #web serial #my writing #creative writing #writeblr #The Surge #The Crystal Writer #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity

[castielsbeeslippers]

I wasn’t a big fan of fantasy AU but Cinderwings has changed me 😤

#cinderwings by bendingsignpost #Cilla talks #now I’m on the hunt for other fantasy au #destiel

[coldvampire]

🧛‍♀️ for all three!

🧛‍♀️ Do they have any preference regarding who they feed on/how they feed?

Katerina Irakleidis is Ventrue, and her restriction limits her to men in their 30s-40s of at least 75% Southern European descent who are either actively cheating on or have cheated on their partners at some point. It sounds pretty narrow, but she finds it to be easy enough to satisfy. Consequentially, her predator type is Scene Queen (not really with subcultures, but bars in general for the same idea) with a touch of Siren. Noticing which men slip off their wedding rings when she chats them up is child’s play at this point, though she doesn’t exactly enjoy the fact that she needs to infringe on someone else’s relationship for the sake of blood. The invention of internet dating websites and hookup apps also makes her search easy, and for those cases, she sometimes finds herself informing her target’s partner of their infidelities. To her, it’s the least she can do--they deserve to be with someone who she won’t be able to drink from, not these scumbags. 

Amber Mitchell differs from Katerina quite a bit. First of all, as a Malkavian, she’s not operating under any restrictions. As a result, the Bagger type is appealing to her for the ease of acquisition, even if the taste is a bit bland. She’s an occasional Scene Queen, if the opportunity presents itself, but bars and clubs usually end up being too overstimulating for comfort, so it’s ideal in her eyes. A gentle variation of the Alleycat is where she usually lands. She definitely doesn’t go out of her way to assault people, instead preferring a stealth approach (with the help of obfuscate) and letting the Kiss render them weak. If there’s no chance for that to work, she may also find herself feigning the need for directions, or the time, or the weather--something like that--before baring her fangs. If all else fails, memories are easy enough to manipulate, and the Masquerade stays intact. 

Iris King is another Ventrue, though her restriction is definitely much broader than Katerina’s. In her case, young men of any background and moral standing will do. Similar to Katerina, this makes the Scene Queen/Siren approach the most obvious, though Iris definitely isn’t as smooth or charming and will often help herself with a bit of presence to make it work. During her time in Tucson, you could also call her a Consensualist for the most part, given the fact that she would often find herself going to Lettow’s ghoul Alexander to arrange a willing participant for her fix. That’s definitely not the norm, though she does sort of wish it was. It’s a very convenient exchange. 

Bonus: 

Cilla Langhorne is a Tremere who is mildly uninterested in the hunt, to say the least. She’s not fond of fighting, or putting herself at risk among crowds of human partygoers, and she’s far too old for something like the Cleaver type. For Cilla, the quickest way to go about the process is either as a Bagger or a Sandman. Feeding on the sleeping feels a bit disconcerting, but it’s not like she’s going to sit there and make sure every human she bites gets a full spiel for the sake of informed consent either. Recent years have made this a bit more of a challenge thanks to security systems, but those aren’t too hard to tamper with if you know what you’re doing (she does). Cilla also has reason to believe that experiencing The Kiss while you’re already unconscious can lead to some very pleasant dreams, so it’s not like they don’t get anything from it at all, right? 

#vampire the masquerade #oc tag #katerina irakleidis #amber mitchell #iris king #cilla langhorne #vtm #vtmnr

[floralege]

ship meme thing for allllllla our ships xoxo orumad

omg  the  whole  SQUAD  let’s  fuckin  DO  THIS  !!!   @orumad

who is the most affectionate ?

cilla  and  daisy  are  EXTREMELY  affectionate,  they  just  love  holding  hands,  kissing,  just  being  close.  mick  loves  having  his  arm  around  del’s  waist,  and  he  gets  progressively  more  affectionate  as  the  drinks  go  around.  pru  is  affectionate  with  bee  in  a  very  Horny  Girl  way  24  /  7  so  her  affection  actually  becomes  very  sweet  when  she’s  drunk  /  high.  we’re  not  at  all  surprised  that  caia  and  lauren  are  the  queens  of  affection,  but  mostly  to  each  other.

big spoon  /  little spoon ?

considering  that  she’s  a  vampire,  elliot  needs  SOMETHING  to  feel  like  a  Big  Man  (  ugh,  boys  )  so  he’s  def  got  big  spoon  energy.  liam’s  big  spoon,  but  he’s  always  poking  fern’s  back.  romy  is  big  spoon  for  molly,  but  that’s  probably  an  ego  thing  because  she  def  bottoms.  WHY  am  i  soft  about  duffy  platonically  cuddling  vee  their  whole  lives  until  one  day  it  doesn’t  feel  Very  Friendly  ?  big  soft.

favorite non - sexual activity ?

hunting  sport  (  re:  stupid  humans  )  for  gid  and  rome,  but  at  some  point,  that  turns  a  lil  sexual.  before  he  got  swept  up  into  work,  grady  loved  watching  tracy / hepburn  films  with  cecile.  liam  and  fern  genuinely  loving  jamming  and  shit  talking  together,  cilla  and  henry  love  spontaneous  date  nights,  emmy  and  dom  drink  and  plot  together  that’s  almost  foreplay.  emile  and  marilyn  taunt  each  other  mercilessly,  but  they  really  do  enjoy  getting  to know  one  another  without  that  pressure.  camille  and  emile  are  the  masters of  non  sexual  intimacy,  so  they’ll  just  stare  at  the  sky  or  make  more  awful  bets  with  one  another.

who is most likely to carry the other ?

Big  Ivor  carries  Little  Cecile  and  yes,  we  love  it  !  dusty  probably  carries  vee  and  lucas  around  constantly.  in  a  sad  way,  molly’s  probably  carried  romy  out  of  many  bars  :(  johnny  drags  cam’s  tiny  ass  out  of  clubs,  sadie  and  del  are  both  going  Through  It  so  they  carry  each  other  out  of  many  los  angeles  night  clubs  where  they’ve  started  shit  and  don’t  want  to  deal  with  it.

what is their favorite feature of their partner’s ?

gideon  fully  believes  that  rome  is  the  most  beautiful  creation  of  all  time,  though  he’d  fuck  himself  with  a  chainsaw  before  ever  acknowledging  it  aloud.  hannah  is  genuinely  attracted  to  freddie’s  inherent  goodness  and  idk,  probably  feels  some  connection  with  that  sort  of  brokenness,  too.   pru  loves  bee’s  nose  and  will  do  the  bradley  cooper  nose  touch  thing  from  a  star  is  born  when  she’s  drunk,  probs  to  bee’s  annoyance.  jack  literally  believes  is  kimber  is  SO  fucking  cute  and  wonderful,  it  aches  her.  mick  is  obvs  taken  with  the  eyes  AND  the  boobs.  call   it  fucked,  but  emmy  loves  when  dom  goes  ice  cold  on  someone  ---  just  not  HER.

what’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other ?

johnny  and  cameron  likely  bickered  more  often  and  tbh,  i  feel  like  one  mick  realized  he  had  legit  feelings  for  delphine,  he  acted  super  weird  and  the  whole  family  noticed.  fern  was  probably  very  gentle  about  it  but  liam  went  full  tf  is  up  with  you,  kid  ?  cameron  and  freddie  always  inherently  had  feelings  for  one  another,  so  it  was  just  there  from  the  get  go.  

nicknames  ?  and  if  so,  how  did  they  originate  ?

most  of  the  nicknames  are  just  ones  everyone  sort  of  had  growing  up  ?  pru,  bee,  vee,  mickey,  duffy,  del,  etc.  like,  i  don’t  know  if  any  nicknames  are  singular  to  any  particular  ship  tbh  they’re  free  for  everyone.

who worries the most ?

fern  worries  about  liam  more  than  she  lets  on  and  it’s  probably  her  inner  saboteur  that  has  her  cope  with  that  by  drinking  with  ethan.  gideon  worries  about  lauren  CONSTANTLY,  because  he’d  legit  die  if  anything  happened  to  her  or  caia.  he  doesn’t  worry  about  rome  necessarily,  but  he  gets  wind  of  her  endeavors  without  him  and  hopes  she’s  staying  safe.  jack  wonders  if  she’s  going  to  fall  into  old  habits  the  longer  she’s  around  pru,  del,  and  co.,  so  she’s  worried  about  disappointing  /  hurting  kimber  because  of  that.  arlo  knows  coco  has  her  shit  together,  but  he  can’t  help  but  worry  !!!  she  doesn’t  need  his  concern  and  he  knows  she  can  handle  herself  but  he  does  !!  want  to  help  !!

who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant ?

bee  probably  remembers  the  food  at  fancy  restaurants  that  don’t  make  pru gag,  so  she  always  reminds  her  what  to  get  ;  dom  can  be  upsettingly  charming  when  he  remembers  what  daisy’s  favorite  dessert  is,  and  she’s  never  convincing  when  she  pretends  to  be  annoyed  that  he’s  already  ordered  it.  on  the  flip  side,  emmy’s  known  dom’s  drink  order  since  they  were  sixteen.  grady  remembers  the  gist  of  cecile’s  favorite,  but  ivor’s  always  the  one  who  rushes  to  the  kitchen  to  let  the  chef  know  exactly  what  her  preference  is.  simon  has  em’s  thai  takeout  order  MEMORIZED.

who tops ?

shocked  to  learn  that  bee  wasn’t  kidding  about  the  occasional  topping  !  though  daphne  def  topped  her.  mick  physically  tops,  del  does  it  emotionally.  molly  tops  romy  which  is  amazing  for  their  height  difference,  and  olivia  and  esme  def  battle  it  out  every  time,  LOVE  that  for  them.

who initiates kisses ?

cilla  is  big  on  kissing  often,  so  henry  tends  to  arrive  at  parties  with  some  trace  of  her  lipstick  on  him  every  time.  with  everything  going  on  in  the  press,  dom  and  emmy  are  wise  to  play  up  their  affection,  but  behind  closed  doors,  he’s  definitely  the  one  to  initiate.  dusty  probably  drunk  kisses  lucas  every  time  and  it’s  just  never  mentioned  ever  again.  jack’s  horny  on  main,  so  she’s  always  all  over  kimber.  meg  initiates  kisses  often,  though  mostly  as  a  power play.

who reaches for the other’s hand first?

cameron,  always.  johnny,  freddie,  cecile,  etc  ---  doesn’t  matter,  she’s  holding  their  hand.  duffy  gets  VERY  excited  about  holding  vee’s  hand,  so  he  tries  it  often.  jimmy  probably  tried  to  hold  sadie’s  hand  once  and  she  elbowed  him,  but  caia  loves  all  form  of  affection,  so  she  got  very  flustered  when  he  first  grabbed  hers.  simon’s  learned  to  place  a  hand  at  the  small  of  em’s  back  when  they  attend  events  together.

who kisses the hardest ?

unless  she’s  drunk,  pru  has  no  idea  how  to  be  soft  so  she’s  always  kissing  with  a  bigger  plan  in  mind.  liam  probs  kisses  rough,  too.  simon’s  big  on  heady  kisses,  and  if  ivor  ever  gets  the  chance,  HELL  YEAH.

who wakes up first ?

cilla’s  only  an  early  riser  if  she  hasn’t  gone  to  bed,  so  henry’s  usually  the  one  trying  to  make  sure  she’s  up  before  noon.  dom’s  always  up  early,  and  while  daisy  was  the  type  to  mumble  sweetly  for  him  to  stay  longer,  emmy  usually  doesn’t  stir  unless  she  wakes  up  in   a  Mood  and  pulls  at  him  to  stay  behind.  bee’s  always  up  before  pru,  and  pru  thinks  that’s  a  complete  crime.

who wants to stay in bed just a little longer ?

gideon  obvs  doesn’t  sleep,  but  when  he  allows  himself  to  rest,  he  demands  WEEKS  of  going  undisturbed,  so  imagine  a  pale,  lonely  freak  vampire  sitting  in  the  woods  and  staring  at  the  sky  motionless  basically.  meg,  unlike  bee,  happily  sleeps  in  late  and  takes  her  sweet  fucking  time  to  do  it,  though  with  sid  she  always  skips  out  before  morning.  ivy  doesn’t  believe  in  anything  before  one  pm,  so  surprise  surprise  that  nora  started  suggesting  breakfast  dates  for  nik.

who says i love you first ?

since  they’re  all  stupid  soft,  gonna  go  out  on  a  limb  and  assume  it  was  mostly  mine  idiots  who  said  it  first.  except�� for  obvious  ones  like  sadie,  who  ran  to  the  hills,  and  gideon,  who  believes  love  is  too  weak  to  encompass  it.

who tells their family/friends about their relationship first ?

listen  EVERY  CHARACTER  IN  EVERY  GENERATION  IS  TOO  CLOSE  so  nobody  needed  to  be  told.  someone  gets  together,  and  by  the  time  they  home,  the  information  has  fully  been  spread.  

what do their family/friends think of their relationship ?

each  ship  has  their  own pros  and  cons,  and  while  certain  people  have  LOUDER  opinions  (  fern  loves  bee,  doesn’t  understand  why  pru  let  her  go  ;  if  cameron  were  alive,  she’d  be  politely  and  quietly  apprehensive  about  camille’s  friendship  with  clem’s  son, the  same  with  daisy  and  henry  /  cilla,  etc.  )   but  it’s  usually  either  we  hate  this  (  meg  @  pru/bee,  sadie  @  mick/sadie  )  or  we  love  this   (  fern  @  pru/bee,  mick  @  jimmy/caia,  dusty  @  duffy/vee  )

who is more likely to start dancing with the other ?

lauren’s  always  the  one  who  gets  elliot  dancing,  grady  would’ve  sat  in  the  corner  at  his  own  wedding  if  not  for  cecile  while  simon  LOVES  to  dance  and  always  guides  em  and  asha  out  to  the  floor.  pearl  will  pull  ANYONE  out  to  dance  with  her.

who cooks more/who is better at cooking ?

cameron  is  a  horrible  cook  and  has  set  freddie  and  johnny’s  respective  kitchens  ablaze  many  times,  marilyn  has  specialty  dishes  but  she’s  too  lazy  to  cook  often.  ivor  knows  the  basic,  but  he  whips  them  up  for  cecile.  nora’s  excellent  at  cooking,  but  for  some  reason,  only  nik  and  coco  have  ever  tried  it.  

who comes up with cheesy pick up lines ?

simon  is  often  too  hetero  for  his  own  good.  clementine  is  guilty  of  this,  too,  but  she’s  cute  enough  to  get  away  with.

who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times ?

BIG  ROME  AND  GIDEON  ENERGY.  also  big  dom  and  emmy /  daisy  energy.  jack  and  kimber  are  definitely  guilty  of  this,  too.  jules  probably  whispered  something  indecent  to  bella  at  cecile’s  wake  (  big  ow  typing  that  !  )  and  it  made  bella  feel  so  normal  for  five  seconds  that  she  was  sort  of  always  endeared  after  that.

who needs more assurance ?

given  their  history,  hannah  and  freddie  need  a  lot  of  reassurance  from  each  other.  that  was  obviously  a  problem  for  mick  and  look  how  THAT  turned  out.  immediately  post  rehab  romy  needed  a  lot  of  validation  from  molly,  which  became  messy.

what would be their theme song ?

MOST  OF  THEM  HAVE  SOUNDTRACKS  AND  SONGS  BUT  THERE  ARE  A  LIL  TOO  MANY !!!!!!

who would sing to their child back to sleep ?

cameron  could  NOT  sing,  but  did  it  all  the  time  for  daisy  and  henry,  so  bless  freddie’s  patience.  fern  walked  in  on  liam  softy  singing  one  of  his  inappropriate  songs  to  pru  once  and  loved  it,  a  la  baby  emma  and  baby  got  back.  duffy  does  this  constantly  for  his  daughter,  and  vee’s  definitely  caught  him  a  few  times.  emmy  would  never  sing,  but  she  def  played  medieval  choir  music  over  bastien’s  baby  monitor  and  dom  was  full  ????  over  this.

what do they do when they’re away from each other ?

most  of  the  time  they  literally  do  not  shut  up  about  the  other  person,  for  better  or  worse.  or  it’s  messy  and  they  don’t  consider  them  enough.  it’s  VERY  one  or  another,  which never  turns  out  well.

one headcanon about this otp that breaks your heart.

AGAIN  too  many  to  choose  from  but  the  way  we  wrote  charlie  out  and  put  johnny  in  as  daisy’s  father  ?  astounding,  10  /  10  because  that  works  a  little  TOO  well  for  the  dynamics  that  played  out  with  gen  two  and  makes  cam’s  death  hit  a  little  HARDER.  also  we’ve  been saying  this  for  years  but  ivor  /  dom  interaction  pls.  the  scandal  of  it  all.  

one headcanon about this otp that mends it.     

soft  concept  is  the scooby  gang  (  there’s  no  freddie,  just  gay  daphne,  a  shaggy  and  scooby,  and  velma  )  having  elaborate  halloween  plans  every  year,  even  if  it’s  just  to  have  a  movie  marathon.  costumes  are  often  required,  and  dusty  LOVES  some  good  riddles,  so  she’ll  get  every  stoned  and  hide  clues  around  the  apartment  that  lead  to  the  snacks.

#my brain is mush take this! pls! #creepshcw #cannot possibly tag everyone so #* ♡ . ━━━ ◜ orumad ／ ships . #also may have forgotten a few don't look at me i tried to remember everyone but u knOW

[narniadreams]

hello lovelies !!

i was tagged by my dearest angels @highqueen and @lucypcvensie thank you both for always tagging me xxxxx <3 

i will make these top 10′s out of things that i have been enjoying lately

movies!!

the chronicles of narnia, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe

后来的我们 (us and them)

room

how to train your dragon

天気の子 (weathering with you)

사냥의 시간 (time to hunt)

기생충 (parasite)

少年的你 (better days)

37 seconds

all the bright places

books!!

the kane chronicles, the red pyramid

the kane chronicles, the throne of fire

all the bright places

room

de wereld van- van gogh (it’s a dutch book)

the hunger games

the chronicles of narnia, voyage of the dawn treader

the signs (astrology book)

de verborgen kamer (a dutch book i hadn’t read again since highschool !)

korean from zero 1 (lol does this count?)

music!!

용서 -  주윤하 (forgiveness - ju yoonha)

cilla - 설 (surl)

where are you now -  하현상 (ha hyunsang)

weak - AJR

falling in love - 유니크 (uniq)

aisha - tony anderson

fall back into you - saltnpaper

life sucks - 핫펠트 (ha:tfelt)

stand up - 超特急 (bullet train)

金曜日のおはよう-  HoneyWorks feat. Gero

tv shows!!

avatar the last airbender

brooklyn nine-nine

킹덤 (kingdom)

반의 반 (a piece of your mind)

???

a dutch baking show??

a dutch farmers searching for love tv show??

a dutch show where problematic teenagers go to a special school to give them another chance to better themselves and their lives????

i don’t watch many tv shows

sorry???

hahahaha i’m sorry my answers are all over the place.. anyways !!

i’m tagging these dear people: @narnianfarmer @lasaraleen @c0ffeebee @edmundforpresident @professorkirke @digorykirke sorry if you have already been tagged ! (or if i tag u too much TT_TT)

#this is a big mess #this is not even my all time favourite top 10 #its just stuff i've recently liked ngnfddh #about me

[hetaces]

@whatsnew-lgbtq​‘s 31 days of pride day 9!! i know I haven’t been doing ‘em all but that’s okay.

day 9: books

so books are my area of expertise honestly so I picked a few favorites to talk about a lil bit here (I’ll put it under a cut).

And feel free to ask me about more books because I’m Like That.

These are all ownvoices in at least one way. Ownvoices rep will be italicized in the list.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley When you hear what this book is about, it sounds really bad. Like “Girl decides to ‘fix’ agoraphobic gay boy and her boyfriend gets ~close~ with him” is essentially what the synopsis says. It sets it up for every bad trope. And then uses none of them. It’s so good, has great portrayal of good accommodations, healthy friendship, and a bunch of Star Trek references. Representation: Sol is gay and agoraphobic

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston Don’t look up the synopsis yourself, go right to goodreads (i’d link but you know how tumblr is with links), some of the synopses that come up automatically start with a “it’s like [story] in space” and it’s a spoiler. I’ll put the first part of it here bc it’s hard to get the words. Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Representation: Ana is written as acespec (not Super clear but it was the intent) Captain Siege is a lesbian. Telle is a lesbian. Robb is gay. Jax is gay.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee So, there’s a lot of hype around Gentleman’s Guide and I was sort of expecting to be let down, but it more than lived up to it. Henry "Monty" Montague is going on his Tour of the continent (travel around Europe and have fun one last time, is the idea). Chaotic disaster bisexual Monty causes trouble, of course. So then on the way to dropping his sister off at finishing school before returning home early, they get attacked. Because Monty is a dumbass (it’s actually his fault). Cue rich kids travelling with no money & trying to avoid a growing number of people. Mackenzi Lee has hit the nail on the head with growth. Not only does she get that sometimes, growth does happen because of one moment of learning, she also writes it well, which is a really difficult thing to write. There’s a lot of heavy stuff in it, but none of it was thrown in for no reason, it’s actually important to the books and to the characters. Representation: Monty is bi, has PTSD, and (at the end of the first book, so spoilers) deaf on one side Percy is mixed, mlm, and (you find out part way through so if you’re picky about it it could be spoilers), epileptic. Felicity is aroace. Many other characters who aren’t white and a wlw character in the second book.

I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver After Ben comes out to their parents, things don’t exactly go well. They get kicked out, and have to go live with their sister who they haven’t seen in 10 years. They start over at a new school, only out to their sister, her husband, and their therapist (because hey, look how well coming out went last time). This book is so damn cute. And a book with a nonbinary main character! Representation: Ben is nonbinary Nathan is bisexual and black

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire Think Narnia, but with more worlds and less religion and you've got the concept of the doorways. Children have always been disappearing - going through a door that's appeared to them. But magic worlds rarely have use for used up miracle children. So they're sent back. But they don't come back the same. The children at Elanor West's Home for Wayward Children have all tumbled once. And they all want to get back. But with Nancy's arrival, things start going wrong. Representation: Nancy is asexual Jack is pan and has OCD Kade is a trans guy Sumi is bi (Seanan McGuire is a queer cis woman)

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman Ariel Stone is a perfect student: he’s a community volunteer, first chair violin, and is on track to be valedictorian. And then he fails a calc test. When he finds he can’t fix it himself, he reluctantly gets a tutor. And he may not like calc, but he might like Amir. I started recommending this book to people when I was 5 pages into it. Ariel is so explicitly Jewish that Laura Silverman put her grandmother’s matzo ball soup recipe in the back because it’s not fair to rave about it so much and not provide a recipe. He’s explicitly bisexual by page 8. Amir and Sook’s eyes are both described as “warm” and I honestly think it’s the first time I’ve seen characters of color’s eyes described as anything but “dark”. Representation: Ariel is bisexual and Jewish Amir is a gay Pakistani Muslim Sook is a chubby Korean lesbian

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson Shaun is back with more “so... the world might be ending?” and I absolutely love it. Dino’s ex-best-friend July died suddenly 4 days ago, and his family runs the funeral home. Dino is touching up July’s makeup (he knows how she wore it and everyone was doing it wrong), and she wakes up. But she’s not exactly... alive. She’s just not-dead. And then... other people just stop dying. So they have to figure out what’s happening. How July came back - or at least how to re-kill her when nobody can die. So not only is it a super interesting book, it’s also like... Shaun goes in on topics like “gay people making gay jokes and straight people making gay jokes are different” and “a cis guy might (might) not mind if you call him a girl, but do not call a trans guy a girl” Also I recommend anything by Shaun David Hutchinson. Representation: Dino is gay Rafi is trans, mlm, and mixed (white/Pakistani) Multiple LGBTQ+ minor characters

On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis It’s an end-of-the-world type book (via comet strike). Due to strange circumstances, Denise and her mother end up not at their government assigned shelter, but on a generation ship. And Denise has just a few days to find her sister and prove that her skills are worth 3 spots on a ship with limited resources. Representation: Denise is mixed (Surinamese/white) and autistic Iris is mixed (Surinamese/white) and a bi trans woman. Els is wlw. Leyla is wlw. Samira and Nordin are Muslim Some minor characters.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman I’m just gonna give y’all the actual synopsis this time

You probably think that Aled Last and I are going to fall in love or something. Since he is a boy and I am a girl. I just wanted to say—we don’t. Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. When she’s not studying, she’s up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City. Everyone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight As. But no one knows he’s the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence. When Frances gets a message from Radio Silence asking if she’ll collaborate with him, everything changes. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. They get each other when no one else does. But when Aled’s identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City—and their friendship—is at risk. Aled helped her find her voice. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence?

This book is so good but fair warning, it gets really heavy. 

Representation: Aled is demisexual (Alice is queer/aroace) Frances is bi and mixed (white/Ethiopian) Daniel is gay and Korean Carys is a lesbian Raine is pan, Indian, and Hindu

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis Otherbound is set in two worlds - Nolan’s (ours) and Amara’s (the Dunelands, where magic is real). Amara is on the run with the former princess, Cilla, whose family was overthrown by the ministers. Cilla has been cursed and is being hunted, and Amara’s particular type of healing magic is, basically, convenient for redirecting Cilla’s curse. Since they were children, Nolan has been experiencing Amara’s world through her every time he closes his eyes. He sees through her eyes, feels what she feels, smells what she smells. But he’s just a silent observer. She doesn’t even know he’s there. Until now. Representation: Nolan is Mexica and disabled Amara is not white, mute (due to mutilation), and bi Cilla is not white, fat, and a lesbian The majority of other characters are also not white.

#books #whatsnewpride #i am both very sorry for the length of this post #and absolutely not sorry at all

[iggyinuit]

Syd & Iggy at Johnny Varvatos, NY, 2015. Picture: Cilla Hunt.

#scrapbook #syd barrett #iggy the eskimo #mick rock #johnny varvatos #cilla hunt

[mrepstein]

The Guardian Review (The Guardian - December 18, 1998)

‘The secret life of the real fifth Beatle’ by Jon Savage

'No one else had the flair, the panache, the wit that Brian had,' says Paul McCartney. So why did he die miserably and alone? 

Jon Savage describes how Brian Epstein fell victim to drugs and the pressures of being a secret homosexual 

From the day that he first experienced the Beatles at Liverpool's Cavern - "a vast, engulfing sound" - Brian Epstein devoted his life to their success and well-being. "He just had this vision," says Alistair Taylor, with whom Epstein made that lunch-time visit on December 9 1961. "Within half an hour, he wanted to manage them. He could see what they could become." 

From that meeting came a cultural and social revolution. The Beatles changed everything and Epstein was the architect of that change. The statistics are staggering. By the end of December 1963, Epstein's acts - the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer - had spent more than 30 weeks at number one in the 1963 UK charts; four months later, the Beatles held the top five places in the US top 40 - a hitherto unthinkable feat, and a coup not repeated since. 

You'd have thought that managing the biggest group in the world would be enough - Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, couldn't believe that the Beatles' manager had more than the one act - but, during the next three years, Epstein continued to manage the enduringly popular Pacemakers and Cilla Black; he expanded NEMS (North End Music Stores, the Epstein family firm) into dozens of companies; he managed the bullfighter Henry Higgins; he produced the West End premiere of James Baldwin's Amen Corner; he ran a West End theatre, the Saville, which showcased Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, the Four Tops and a wide range of rock and soul talent. 

For all this achievement, history has not been kind to Brian Epstein. As a result of his premature death in August 1967, people regard him as a prime example of that old adage - "money can't buy you happiness". When his homosexuality became public after John Lennon's excoriating, 1971 Rolling Stone interview - the gloves came off. Subsequent accounts - most notably in Albert Goldman's book, Lives Of John Lennon - promoted ideas that have stuck; that Epstein was lousy at business, dominated by the Beatles, sad. Even Joe Orton had a pop in his diaries: "A thoroughly weak, flaccid type." 

Yet, as ever, you have to consider who is doing the telling. Epstein rejected Orton's Up Against It script for a possible Beatles film, and Goldman's source for some of his factoids was Nicky Byrne, who was in litigation with Epstein for two years. The problem for anyone rash enough to approach the Beatles' story yet again - no matter at how oblique an angle - is that the myth has become so encrusted with assertion and counter-assertion that when you couch it in book form you have a problem of who to believe that is library-sized. 

So, in making The Brian Epstein Story for Arena, director Anthony Wall and I decided to forget about all the books except Epstein's own A Cellarful Of Noise, published at the height of Beatlemania in August 1964. We didn't want theory; we wanted to talk to people who had been there, who had known Epstein. Because, for all the media fuss surrounding the Beatles, their manager has emerged as little more than a cipher in their story - yet his was a central role: as Paul McCartney says, "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian, you know."

Our first port of call was Epstein's ghostwriter on A Cellarful Of Noise, Derek Taylor, who, despite his grave illness, received us with perfect grace. Taylor had been through the full white light madness of the Beatles' August 1964 US tour as their press officer; his own writings contain the most incisive accounts of the Beatles and their myth. "Brian was undoubtedly very impressive," he remembered, "A very soft appearance. He didn't look as though he did any exercise, but then a lot of people didn't then. I certainly didn't, and I was very thin. Cigarette smoking. So was he, nervy. Very well dressed, very good suit, lovely shirt: these were what made people different. The detail. 

"It is extraordinary that he could be almost immediately acceptable to those four. The only way it could have worked is if it was absolutely right. It was on, in other words. It's no good pretending it works if it doesn't. But thinking big: that's what bound Brian and the boys together. They all did think big. When he signed them up in that office in Whitechapel he told them: "I think I could help you." He actually believed he could, and he was prepared to sit it out with them, with all their cheek and impudence. In a way they had a lot in common: just the vernacular was different." 

To Epstein, the Beatles arrived as the answer to a question that had been gnawing at him for his whole life. Born on September 19, 1934, he was the eldest child of a prospering merchant family. Brian was mercurial, obsessive, and stubborn in pursuing his own path. His school days were disrupted by war and anti-semitism. His ambition to be a dress designer crumbled under family pressure. His dissatisfaction led him to an unsuccessful stint with RADA; his national service had ended prematurely with his discharge on "medical grounds". 

By 1961 he was making a success of the family business, but was, by his own account, "a little listless and bored". The shadow here, which could not have been admitted when A Cellarful Of Noise was published, was his sexuality. Taylor explains: "He wouldn't have had anything in there that implied or hinted at homosexuality, because of the danger of jail after the Lord Montague thing (a prominent gay scandal in which three men were jailed in March 1954), which was a frightening, horrible witch-hunt only 10 years before. But he told me this after only a morning: and how well did he know me? Not well, but a bit. It was a risk." 

It’s easy to forget now - when, despite pockets of resistance, there is greater public tolerance - just how off the map homosexuals were in the fifties and early sixties. Epstein's own thoughts on his life are contained in a document written for his then solicitor in the late fifties, notes for a defence against a charge of importuning: "I believed that my own willpower was the best thing with which to overcome my homosexuality. And I believe my life may become contented and I may even have attained a public success. I was determined to win through the horrors of this world. I have always felt deeply for the persecuted: for the Jews, the coloured people, for the old and society's misfits." 

The truism is that Epstein's interest in the Beatles was fuelled by sexual attraction, and this may well be the case. A persistent rumour which can be neither proved nor disproved (as both parties are now dead), is that he had an encounter with John Lennon while on a spring 1963 holiday together in Barcelona, as imagined in the film The Life And Times.* Yet this is an essentialist argument: even if Epstein did feel a sexual pull, it could easily have been transmuted into the care with which he managed the group. Not every sexual desire has to be physically acted upon. 

There was another element in their mutual bonding: for the first time in his life, Epstein felt as though he belonged. "A lot of stress has been laid on Brian fancying John Lennon," says pop manager Simon Napier-Bell, who encountered Epstein at the end of his life; "But I think it was far more being a loner and suddenly finding he was part of a group. I think that was much more what he was interested in, and that brought him into a broader group again than the Beatles." 

According to McCartney, this theatricality was the key: "We had been playing together a little while and we were starting to feel that we were getting good. But we needed someone to push us and give us a few clues as to how we might go further. It became obvious that Brian was that person. He had a theatrical flair, having gone to RADA. He knew a lot of people. He was a great networker, so it became clear he would be very good for you. It is always very helpful having someone theatrical out front; there's got to be someone out there who says: 'That was really good" or 'When you moved over, they lost you. Don't do that next time.' It's a director: that's really what he was." 

When the Beatles hit in the way that Epstein had predicted in 1962 - "One day they will be greater than Presley" - his showbusiness connections worked conclusively in their favour. Part of a London circle that included Lionel Bart and Alma Cogan, Epstein picked Alun Owen - well known for the play No Trams To Lime Street - to write the script for A Hard Day's Night, an inspiration for a whole generation of rock groups and still one of the best pop films ever. But then Epstein was already on record as saying that he thought pop music was an "art form", and he totally supported the Beatles' instinctive attempts to make it so - that empathetic quality which makes him the doyen of pop managers to the present day. 

By the time it was becoming absolutely clear that the Beatles were like no other pop group, success had brought the problems of over-expansion. "He found it impossible to delegate all the time that I knew him," says Taylor. With this increasing pressure came crippling anxiety: as Epstein states in A Cellarful Of Noise, "When a disc goes badly or a business venture fails, I am the one that suffers most, for I hold myself responsible. It isn't the money that worries me; it's the failure." 

"Brian was obsessed with controlling a situation," says his US attorney and close friend Nat Weiss, who met him in summer 1964. "Anything done outside his area of control brought a tirade of abuse. I think the image of Brian as a sort of very soft, sensitive person is not the case. He was very strong-willed. I remember one occasion when John Lennon refused to do an interview during a tour and Brian went nose to nose with him. He took his tie and said: 'John you're soft', and stared him down. And John backed away."

In the run-up to a famous death, it is possible to see signs of impending doom everywhere. Yet in Epstein's case, the storyline is finely balanced right up until the final act. "Brian was a man of many moods," says Weiss. "He was a very multi-faceted person. With the advantage of looking back 30 years now, I would say that he certainly had all the symptoms of someone who was manic depressive." This emotional roller-coaster was slowly exacerbated by the use of prescription and illegal drugs: principally amphetamines and barbiturates, doled out by doctors ignorant of or careless about their dangers. 

By late 1966, several factors had put Epstein into a downward spiral. The Beatles were maturing and, after their decision to stop touring, had far less need of protection. The Seltaeb Beatles merchandising deal had gone horribly wrong and was dragging through the courts. His close friend Alma Cogan had died of cancer in October. And Epstein's one personal relationship, with a young bisexual called Dizz Gillespie, had ended in robbery and blackmail. "He began to feel like a liberated person but he was never able to sustain a long-term relationship," says Weiss. "He'd become depressed by the fact that he'd believe it was not him they wanted, but who he was." 

Despite a suicide attempt in autumn 1966, Epstein remained positive and forward-looking. His musical interests were still acute: he boosted the Who, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix to Murray the K (a New York DJ) in early 1967, when all three were little known in the US. Friends disagree about its effect, but there is a case for saying that he found LSD - which he publicly admitted taking in June 1967 - beneficial. He was worried whether the Beatles would re-sign with him when his contract came up in September 1967 but, according to McCartney, "there was no question in our minds that we would stay with Brian. We didn't want another manager." 

Epstein died alone in his bedroom at Chapel Street, Mayfair, on August 27, 1967, one month after the Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalised homosexuality, and one month after the death of his father, Harry. There is no reason to doubt the verdict of the inquest: "poisoning by Carbrital, caused by an incautious self-overdose". Little was known about the dangers of prescription drugs at that time: indeed, Epstein's is the forerunner of all those sixties drug deaths - when the limits of freedom were finally tested. It was a ghastly accident, the effects of which were immediate. 

"It was a great loss to us and I know it really frightened us," says McCartney. "John got particularly frightened. I think he thought, 'Right, this is it. This is the end of the Beatles', and it kind of was. Brian's death opened the floodgates. It gave other people the possibility to come in, whereas before there had been no possibility. I think one or two of the other guys got quite enamoured with Allan Klein, but I never liked the idea, partly because I'd seen how Brian did it and no one else was going to stack up against Brian in my mind. No one would ever be able to do it as good because you couldn't have the flair, the panache, the wit, the intelligence that Brian had. They would just merely be money managers. Brian was far more than that."

* The Hours and Times

#Brian Epstein #Jon Savage #The Guardian #1998 #90s #newspaper

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#5yrsago Rolf Harris convicted of indecent assault, but they're still talking about a "witch hunt"

Rolf Harris, a beloved Australian children's TV entertainer resident in Britain since the 1950s, was sent down yesterday on sexual assault charges stemming from encounters dating back decades. His victims were as young as 7 years old. Artist Harris, for whom the Queen sat, faces the rest of his life in prison.

More victims have come forward recently, reports The Guardian and news.com.au. His paintings have been withdrawn from sale, but you can still buy limited edition prints.

Two years ago, Sir Jimmy Savile was posthumously exposed as a sexual abuser of children, with more than 500 people reportedly victimized. Savile's high position within the BBC, and the protection it afforded the star entertainer, drew the corporation much criticism.

Then, of course, there is Gary Glitter. And Max Clifford. And Chris Denning.

These men walked in the same circles, and to those of us who grew up with post-war Britain's light entertainment TV monoculture, their dethronings are amazing (If not unexpected in the case of Savile, left).

People knew, but it was only mentioned in the form of insinuations in TV comedy and radio remarks.

Which gets us to the  outside-the-court interviews with some of Harris's light entertainment contemporaries following his conviction, embedded below. I don't quite know what to say about these interviews, except that they are strange.

The subjects are so nervous, but they babble on, shifting between performance, incredulity, and what they think is subtle cynicism.

When people should have spoken, they were quiet; now, when they would be wise to say nothing, they just can't stop themselves.

Ronnie Corbett, light entertainer

Interviewer #1: Rolf Harris was convicted today, what do you make of --

Corbett: Oh dear no, have ... fortunately, I haven't read the papers.

Interviewer #2: He's been convicted on twelve counts, what is your reaction to that?

Corbett: (having misheard) What, darling?  

Interviewer #2: He's been convicted on all twelve counts of indecent assault.

Corbett: *sighs* Very upsetting. (walks away) Sorry to hear that.

Cilla Black, light entertainer

Black: I've never known Rolf any different from anybody else, um, he was lovely. And I'd rather not comment on it, really. I'm disappointed. Really disappointed.

Interviewer: is there a bit of a witchhunt on celebrities at the moment, from that era?

Black: Well I dont know! I don't know, you tell me. I don't know. I don't know. Ah. It's getting very political, this, isn't it?

Harvey Goldsmith, light entertainment promoter

Goldsmith: It's not very good, it's a mess and, post-the whole Savile thing, it's been a bit of a witch hunt. But if it's true, and he's been convicted, then he's been convicted, you know, what else is there to say?

Interviewer: Did you know him? Did you work with him?

Goldsmith: Yeah, I did. I did indeed. And it's not something you expect, to be honest, but if that's the case, it's the case. It's a bit of an odd case, reading though it. And, um. *shrugs*

Interviewer: Anything back then that you thought, you know, just wasn't quite right, or that you ever noticed when you worked with him?

Goldsmith: No, not really. Not at all. But you know, these things have been going on for years and years and years so, you know, who knows what comes out of the woodwork. It's just odd that it's taken so long anything to come out, you know. There's a whole slew of people. I'm sure there's going to be more as well.

Goldsmith: Maybe witch hunt's the wrong term, but obviously they've been rooting people out, and clearly a lot of people have suddenly come forward. I don't know where they've been all these years. It's a mess. But things in those, you know, the early days, uh, were completely different  from what they are now. I mean. I don't think people had ever heard the word pedophile in the 70s or whatever. So it's a whole new regime today, and its very sad that all this is all coming out now, and its sadder that we've believed in all these people and heroes who've turned out to be not quite what we thought they were.

Emphasis mine.

A witch-hunt, say some, even now, like those kids just aren't there. Let's give Rolf the final word. Here he is explaining to children what to do when they are inappropriately touched by adults.

https://boingboing.net/2014/07/01/rolf-harris-lauded-uk-enterta.html

[twitchesandstitches]

Lilisheb the Shoggirl

Basic Concept: A nice and sweet girl who happens to be a gigantic shoggoth-like creature; her alien appearance is comedically at odds with the unusual situations she finds herself in. And it’s funny for a Lovecraftian entity to be a bit of a wallflower!

Appearance: A massive lime-green woman with a vaguely humanoid body, her body composed of a constantly shifting amorphous mass; new features continually drift in and out of being, additional limbs are common. Overall she has a fairly solid, thick build, but she’s just slim enough to qualify as curvy instead. She’s not usually super busty by the standards of my characters, but she can be! Black veins streak across her body, especially wherever she is about to change form. All her body is extremely soft, but not to the point of being liquid. She’s still solid, just… extremely wobbly. She’s got a lot of subtle details of marine life in general: gills, the sheen of scales, and so on, but she appears to base her form specifically on turtles and octopi in general. She likes those.

Her face is mostly featureless; huge, plump lips, several sets of eyes in fairly random places, and a slight swell where humans would have a nose. She does have several thick tentacles where humans would have hair.

Below the waist, her body is a mass of tentacles, notably thicker than her upper body; she can grow any number of these, and her arms are a similar part of tentacles. She had pseudopods instead of fingers, with very dextrous cillae; she can grow fingers, but prefers not to. She has a very plump and shelf-tier backside, and takes some effort to keep it all big and round.

Due to her shapeshifting abilities, she can take on pretty much any shape she wants, though she cannot alter her species; she is obviously a shoggoth girl, in any form. She generally prefers not to deviate from this base form too much, but doesn’t mind adding extra features such as additional eyes, breasts (for multi boob elements), or limbs.

Backstory: She is OLD. Like, super old, really old. She was old long before humanity ever made their first tentative steps into space, and she may well have been alive since before our most distant ancestors had even begun to walk upright on the plains of Central Africa. Consequently, not a whole lot about her is clear, as her vast age leaves her earlier times obscured by the fog of ages, and she would indeed like to know more of what she has forgotten over the years. It is clear, though, that she is a fairly ordinary woman of possibly the eldest known species in the multiverse. She’s lived through at least four different collapses (societal, galactic and even truly cosmic levels) and in conjunction with the constant disasters she sees on an almost daily basis, she’s become something of a hyper anxious nervous wreck.

She is a member of her species commonly referred to as a brood queen; she reproduces asexually, gestating and producing hundreds of offspring that she can then implant in physically receptive mortals - and in turn give her offspring some of their traits and gradually help her own people adapt to changing circumstances - and her relationships with mortals can cause her to gestate entire new species from them. AS a consequence she’s always been rather sheltered and tends to be very codependent on those around her for emotional support.

In fairly recent years, she has done her best to assume ordinary jobs free from stress and Adventure. She does well as an archaeologist, not so much seeing it as uncovering mysteries as remembering things that modern folk have forgotten or laid aside, but unfortunately that does tend to involve a lot of adventure. Invariably, whether she is a cleaner or manager or professor of magic, she winds up entangled in stressful situations.

Personality: Most people, blessed with powers that make humans look like wimps and a natural form of immortality - or something close to it - would probably be a bit arrogant if they spend all their time around those doomed to die by the advance of time. Lilisheb is not one of those people; fundamentally sweet, kind-hearted and as inclined to nastiness as a lump of jelly, she is deeply loving and is a stable center despite being a primordial mass of shapeshifting immortal flesh.

She’s very anxious in pretty much any high-octane situation or what takes her out of a comfort zone… which is bad for her since most of the events I write her into are full of ADVENTURE. This all despite her being borderline indestructible. She does her best to stay calm, which usually lasts for all of a few seconds.

Outside of constantly panicking when villains attack, giant monsters start fighting or she gets pulled into a treasure hunt as a meat shield, she’s a friendly and kind entity, doing her best to put others at ease. She is very affectionate, and doesn’t have much interest in social norms. She shows her love the ways that feel right to her, even if this means sucking you right into her with an overly affectionate hug! Her basis deamonir is like a combo of bubbly and sedate, easygoing but very cheerful about it. Because her people tend to take a very long response to anything, she comes off as obnoxiously airheaded to her people. She does her duties calmly and without emotion, and often serves as a living couch to her smaller friends..

Species: Her people are commonly referred to as shoggoths, but their own word for themselves - roughly translated into one human language - can be rendered as ‘eldlimi’, or eldlimus in singular. They are unbelievably old, and hold a competitive place for ‘oldest beings in the known multiverse’ alongside the Transformers of Cybertron, the giants of the elemental planes, and various precursor societies. They have little common appearance, generally manifesting as a mass of amorphous flesh that is almost liquid in its flowy-ness. They can learn to assume whatever form suits them, though they are often inclined to use certain morphs as a default. Tentacles, multiple eyes, and aquatic traits dominate their instinctive forms, suggesting that their true origin is deep sea.

Certainly the eldlimi are very, very old and established, having stood as masters of the cosmos time and time again. They hold a position for establishing cosmic councils where all civilizations can meet together and peacefully negotiate for the future, and did so shortly after recovering from their most recent collapse. Due to their age, they tend to not take ordinary mortals too seriously, but at worst they tend to infantilizing others, rather than cruelty or oppression.

Fandom: Original. While heavily influenced by shoggoths from Lovecraft’s mythos, she bears little resemblance to either them or their outlook in a practical sense. She’s more or less her own thing.

Abilities: As typical with her people, she is a shapeshifter and can remold her amorphous body into nearly any shape. She can manifest a seemingly limitless number of limbs, eyes or even produces mouths or relevant organs from her body. (Multiple breasts, mouths of any shape or more delicate, unusual transformations are well within her power.) On the same note, she can alter her body to produce certain liquids or chemicals as she sees fit, assuming she knows what they are made of and the details of their production. She could make herself lactate enormous amounts of super-nutritious milk, for instance, but not super-flammable organic gasoline unless she worked out its chemical composition first.

She can grow smaller or larger, with no real limitation besides the mass she has available to work with, though she naturally gravitate towards larger, squishier forms. She can produce as many eyes or limbs as she requires, but leans towards tentacles rather than hands or feet. While she can force her insides into a rigid framework like a skeleton or even an exoskeleton for armor, she finds this deeply uncomfortable and prefers not to. She also cannot change her body’s consistency from its natural spongey nature, and thus she cannot disguise herself as a different species.

Her body’s amorphous nature grants her some other advantages. She can extend her jaws and swallow anything whole no matter the size, as long as she can wrap around it, and make her digestive acids extremely strong; she could even shift them around into her egg chambers, flushing them with regenerative liquids as an unbirthing method. She can push herself through most gaps and flow out like living water, and she is absurdly flexible thanks to her lack of an internal skeleton. Many attacks will simply pass through her if she remembers to decrease her solidity, and those that do hit her will likely be regenerated very quickly by her immortal flesh.

On a more prosaic note, while she claims to have no useful skills, her sheer age means she has picked up an extremely wide variety of skill sets. She has likely done every single conceivable non-violent career in existence, from plumber to manager to economics expert to caregiver… it goes on indefinitely, even if she can’t remember it or if they were so specific to a certain time’s technologies and social norms that they no longer have applicability. This gives her an enormous range in practical abilities, and incidentally makes her a fantastic teacher.

Height: Varies enormously; since she is a shapeshifter, she can be virtually any possible height if she has the mass to do it. She can’t just grow to whatever height she wants, as if she doesn’t have enough mass, she won’t be able to even stand up under her own power. She typically stabilized at around twelve feet or so, barring exceptionally large meals or unusual magical circumstances.

Relationships: She’s a friendly, sweet and gentle person somewhat prone to developing infatuations with people she has just met, so she has a LOT of friends and casual lovers, though it can be very hard to understand exactly what’s going on in her head. She is by far the single oldest of my OCs, even older than the likes of eons-ancient Jord, and tends to drift into the role of a den mother among her friends for that reason. She doesn’t have any established relationships as of this post, but some possibilities:

Sekhma - she thinks Miss Dionsi is cool, but way too serious! Relax a bit, no need to go all evangelical and stuff…. She may be one of Sekhma’s customers, seeking help for her chronic anxiety problems.

Pavumi - She has NO idea what Pavumi honestly is and that deeply worries her. She may be akin to her own people… or to their makers. This worries Lilisheb a lot, even though Miss Ekidna is a really nice lady!

Hivluk - what a handsome young man! She adores him, he’s just so sweet! For his part, he’s fine with her advances, as she is not even slightly scary.

Toast - she’s a xenophile sweetheart who wants everyone to be happy; he’s a loopy killing machine who wants to kill all humanity for what are probably imagined slights. They don’t get along at all for those reasons, but would probably be decent friends if that wasn’t an issue.

Odina: Besties!!! Both of them hate adventure, and would rather stay home and enjoy mundane, slice of life things. When together, Odina tends to be the more practical and sensible between the two, and gets sandwiched into her body a lot.

Pred Level: Moderate predator, with some prey levels. She is not primarily a predator-type, finding it horrifyingly cruel to swallow friends whole and hurt them no matter how hungry you are. Against threats, ordinary animals or genuine monsters, though, she has little problem simply swallowing them whole with as little interest as if she had finished off a fast food plate. It’s not her first course of action, though, and she is very reluctant to do this.

Prey Level: She’s likely vulnerable to more serious predatory specialists, due to her lack of combat skills and general timidity. Her prey levels are fairly high, owing to both the shape of her body and her trusting, timid personality. However, because of her regenerating flesh, its pretty much impossible to kill her through digestion alone; even one speck outside that gut will regenerate back to the true Lilisheb!

Relevant Kink Material: Xeno stuff in general; her shapeshifting powers offer many possibilities for Big Sexy Monster Girls. Her vast size, kindly demeanor and romantic inclinations are great sweetness material.

#/ #// #/// #//// #///// #queued #oc refs #my OCs #lilisheb #crossthicc!lilisheb

[dctuk]

Fantastic Fits of July

Thanks to all of our wonderful customers that chose DCTUK this month, here's a cheeky little round up of some of the best bits this month.

I said maybe, DCTUK fitting is gonna be the one that saves me...

Oh we do love bright colours and punchy designs here at DCTUK and these stand out carpet tiles from Heuga 580 were perfect for the job. 580 is a spledid choice when you're on the hunt for stylish carpet tiles for a busy commercial environment where durability is key and footfall is high.

We were jumping for joy when our clients approached DCTUK because of our 'stress-free' fitting service and DCTUK carried out a cheeky site survey to offer some words of wisdom (aka measurements and all that jazz) and to check out the space beforehand. Our fabulous fitters made sure everything fell into place with a quick and simple straight-lay service.

Check out all the pictures from this project here.

Our friends over in Tunbridge Wells needed our expert cap and cove skills

Opting for plyboard and feather, this required our fitters to lay rectangular pieces of plywood across the floor followed by a quick feather to fill in the gaps to ensure a smooth and flat surface. Next up our guys laid 80m2 of Polyflor Forest FX PUR - Parish Oak Parquet and Polysafe Stone FX PUR - Light Concrete and topped it off with cap and cove for the finishing touch.

Polyflor Forest and Stone are the perfect choice if you are on the hunt for something stylish yet hard-wearing. Our floor fitters did a sterling job on their Straight Lay installation here, 'Excellent', in fact.

Trend alert: accents are back to break up large spaces

Some say simplicity is the key of life and here at DCTUK we believe simplicity is also a fantabulous idea when it comes to design... most of the time.

In this 110m2 project located in the hustle and bustle of Bristol, our team fitted Nouveau Rio carpet tiles in Grey with accent colours of Black randomly, but logically, scattered throughout. A simple idea but a very effective outcome, transforming something that would usually be a standard grey finish into something modern and striking.

DCTUK also fitted 10m2 of our very own and exclusive Nouveau Entrance Matting - Cilla Black which is designed to provide superior and strong protection against muddy footprints and inevitable tea and biscuit spillages.

Barricade your floors from that pesky dirt which is walked in each day

Our fitters travelled to the only way is Essex for this one, luckily there were no run ins with the infamous Gemma Collins however, one of our fitters has returned with a questionable tan...

Our clients opted for 112m2 of the ever so popular Interface Barricade One in the shade Brown and tiles this tip-top require a tip-top subfloor. Our fitting went in to scrape away any blemishes and carried out a full feather of the subfloor before installing the carpet tiles to give their space a much needed modern face-lift.

Interface Barricade One helps to protect your floors from dirt, as well as reducing maintenance cost from cleaning and improves the lifetime of your flooring. Sounds like these guys made a smart move with their flooring choice ey?

A taste of Nouveau Elite Gradient for the local pub...

Well it seems like stripes are all the rage in the fashion world and the carpet tile one too! When the customer goes for something as classic and on-trend as Nouveau Elite Gradient we certainly can't argue with them. Opting for the shade Cherry Hill, Elite Gradient is made using durable yarns, meaning these tiles could withstand a marathon of woolly mammoths never mind your everyday footfall from the locals sprinting into the pub to make up for the months of missed pints.

Taking advantage of their empty bar stools, DCTUK uplifted the existing flooring to make way for the newbies. Our fitters did a superb job on their straight lay installation here, a smooth and stress free service as promised.

Standard by name but certainly not standard by nature...

Our friends over in Bradford needed our expert team of fitters and their vinyl skills to help re-vamp their village hall. DCTUK installed 70m2 of Polysafe Standard PUR - Silver Birch but before the sheet vinyl could be installed, our fitters needed to give the sub floor a teeny-tiny bit of TLC.

Arriving at the crack of dawn, our fitters began by screeding the subfloor to create a smooth and flat surface for the vinyl to then be laid on. A quick cuppa whilst waiting for the screed to dry, they then began the task of laying the vinyl. Splendid work guys.

A surestep in the right direction for this Staffordshire high school

Sheet vinyl is always a popular choice for busy environments so it's no surprise that Forbo Surestep Material is making an appearance in this schools hallways. Our fitters began their day with a good ol' screed to ensure a subfloor as smooth as silk before straight laying the vinyl.

Opting for the shade Quartz Stone, Forbo Surestep is highly durable, safety vinyl, the perfect selection for a large variety of commercial spaces where spillage and slippage isn't out of the ordinary.

Could you be featuring on our Fantabulous Fits of August?

We have fitters all across the UK ready to complete your project next week. No waiting period, whether it's daytime, evening or weekends, we will work around your schedule. Nothing is too big or too small for us here (we don't judge) and we will literally fit anything.

We have recently updated our residential fitting service to include LVT, laminate and screeding, check it out HERE!

So if you're interested in taking advantage of this fabulous fitting service, all you need to do is head on over to our online fitting page and fill out the enquiry form. Alternatively, you can call our savy sales team on 0345 222 1544 and we can give you a quote for both your products and the fitting of them too.

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Hey! I'm writing a story that centers around a small group travelling all across the world There are at least 10 different locations that they thoroughly explore throughout the novel. How can I establish these locations as being independent and different from each other, and how can I make these locations feel real and not rushed to the reader? Thanks so much!!!

Great question! Now I’m not sure if by “location” you mean town or nation, but I think my thoughts can be applied to both large and small places. There are 4 major things to think about:

What’s the geography of the location?

The geography of a location greatly affects the way a place sustains itself. Is the land by a water source that makes the land fertile for agriculture and fishing/trading ports? Are there forests around to create lumber industry? Are there mining resources? Don’t forget crafts! A combination?

The geography will also affect the architecture. The building materials will be different in different locations. Natural disasters will affect how buildings are constructed. An area prone to flooding might have buildings in raised platforms. An area prone to earthquakes might have buildings with stronger foundations.

Depending on how developed the location is, the type of industry might affect the gender ratio of the location. A relatively new settlement might have more males to do the groundwork in leveling the land. A settlement dependent on trade might have a greater diversity of people (cultural, language, appearance).

The climate will affect the style of dress. For this, I like to think of Avatar the Last Airbender. Each nation’s clothing and cuisine and architecture is vastly different because of the different resources available to each nation. For example, the Water Nations, which are the northern and southernmost nations, wear parkas and thick boots, whereas the Earth Kingdom (which is closer to the middle of the globe) has lighter clothing.

What’s the general attitude of the people?Are the people generally optimistic? Pessimistic? Friendly but secretly judgmental? Guarded? The attitude will affect the dialogue of the characters. One thing that can affect the attitude of the people is the religion(if there is one) of the area. The religion may become integrated with the class system of the area, such as in Ancient India. The religion/attitude might create idiomatic phrases unique to each location.

What kind of government/class systems are there?Is it a militaristic government? A monarchy? Do the people like their government? Is the attitude toward government divisive among the different classes Is there tension between the different classes? What services do the government (not) provide? Are the people educated? Is there a history between the different locations?

Where are your POV characters from?The culture of each POV’s hometown will influence what they might notice about each location. A character who grew up poor might be amazed by the lavish decorations and elaborate facades of richer towns. A religious character might notice a lack of temples and churches in another location. A sociable POV might notice the attitudes or idiomatic phrases of the people. A gluttonous POV might appreciate tasting the different cuisine.

How do you make it feel real and not rushed?

Taking all this into account, remember that you don’t have to info dump everything about a new location in the first three paragraphs after the characters set foot there. Like a character’s appearance, subtle cues make a lot of difference. Feel free to slip an idiomatic phrase as the characters are speaking to the locals (don’t go overboard though). Try weaving details about the location into the plot. Do the heroes have to hunt down a special kind of necklace that is only crafted by a exclusive jeweler in Town X? The description can be as offhand as something like:

Miriam paused the scan the line of soldiers standing along the walls surrounding the city. They looked impressive with their sharp javelins and shiny armored plates. She clicked her tongue. It was a shame though, she would’ve preferred them in her favorite color as opposed to plain beige. Black was way sexier.

When she mentioned this to her companion, he rolled his eyes. “This is the desert, Mir. No one is going to roll around in black metal.”

We have so much accomplished in 78 words! We know the city is located in the desert. We know what the soldier’s uniforms look like. We know that the city is concerned about protecting whatever they have inside (understandable since they’re in the desert and might be stingy about resources). Since they live in the desert, they might trade to get their metal, forge it themselves, or have a local resource. In addition to all that, we also get a bit of characterization in there!

Keep making small references to each location.

Once your characters leave a location, it doesn’t need to sink back into the void. Make references like:

Your POV characters might meet someone from Town X in Town Y.

Two of your characters hate each other because of the history between each’s respective hometown (the insults they throw back and forth can be fun to write!)

Country bumpkin vs City Slicker?

The POV character misses the food from Town X when they eat the food in Town Y

I hope this helps!

-Cilla

#ask c #setting #dialogue #world building #POV #diversity #character backstory #location #writing #writing culture #description