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yourultraarchive · 4 years

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Reply to @prurientpuddlejumper on this ask:

I’m sorry you’re frustrated or if I offended you somehow, but to be frank I don’t appreciate the tone you’re using here. However, to answer you anyway:

> they def meant the links to these alleged "online generators," because I am in the same boat as anon

First of all, unless you ARE that anon, I don’t think you can say they “def” meant anything, since they never came back to clarify, and I did try my best to answer them the first time, and I seemed to have helped since they didn’t come back to report any problems with my answer.

Second of all, “alleged”? That’s very rude. Just because you cannot see them on tumblr mobile, does not mean they do not exist. Plenty of other people have used them just fine, as evidenced by the many posts submitted to this blog. And as the last two people who’ve asked about mobile access before never came back with problems, I can only assume they simply went on the desktop site to use the generators instead of accusing me that it’s not accessible at all.

> post after post about how you updated the UI or whatnot with no link to the thing you updated

It was only two posts (so far anyway), and if you read them closely, you may have noticed I said I was only working on new updates, that they weren’t done, and that they aren’t out yet. And also that “the current generators are still up” so that people have a fully functional version of the generator to use, even if it’s not as pretty as the update is going to be. So no, there is no “link to the thing I updated”, because it’s not done yet. And as the point of the post was about the updates-to-come, I saw no need to promote a link to the generators that are currently available. Seeing as you want that though, I shall go correct those posts and link it, for your and future readers’ convenience.

I apologize for the misunderstanding, if I wasn’t clear enough about the updates being a work-in-progress. I was just trying to update my actual followers (of which I noticed that you are not one) that I was working on stuff, since this blog is usually pretty quiet.

> I REALLY wanna see it, and am growing increasingly frustrated about how much work you're pouring into this *thing* without giving mobile users any way to *access it*.

Again, I’m sorry this is frustrating to you, and you do bring up some legitimate feedback about the mobile accessibility. As I mentioned, I’ve answered at least two asks about this issue before, but since it’s been a few years and phones have definitely gotten more powerful I can look into developing a proper mobile version. But a lot of issues come up with making a mobile version, namely UI and responsive design (because I’d have to account for both vertical and horizontal orientation, and again I reiterate that UI design is hard), dynamic coding/image generation/data input/font importing and styling/etc., and how to save the actual generated image or at the very least the export/import save data for later use on a desktop browser. It takes a lot of work (more than most people realize, I imagine), so if you would like to help with that, let me know, otherwise you have no right to shame me for not making a mobile version, taking my time, or doing any of this.

As it is, you can actually still access the generator on mobile, just not tumblr mobile. You just have to go to a browser on your phone (there’s a reason my URL is so simple). However, as mentioned above, the template was not designed with mobile in mind, so all the fonts and effects and arrangement on the template itself just looks... not like it’s supposed to. Which, again, is part of the issue with the design, but at least you can access it on mobile, against your claims that you cannot.

Also, I mainly made this a desktop site because of how large the dimensions of the template are, in order to make sure the text is visible/legible even in the downsized preview image. Even when I view the template on my phone, I have to zoom in a lot, and with the current live version of the online generators, it would have made scrolling around to input data annoying. The PSDs, as well, would be inaccessible on mobile as far as I know (if Photoshop Mobile has improved enough to handle all the layers, masks, and effects, I’m unaware) so it was a conscious decision to make this whole thing desktop-only when I first started this blog several years ago.

> Even the "downloads" link you just shared just redirects back to this same page. Which is probably because you've hidden all the links away in "pages" which are completely invisible and inaccessible on the mobile app

It’s very much tumblr’s fault, and I really should have thought of that at first, but again, it was a conscious decision to make this a desktop site. Even if I made rebloggable/viewable posts with the links in them (which I plan to do soon, if only to satisfy mobile users like you), only the PSD download links would work (but again, not sure how well downloading PSDs work on mobile devices), as the tumblr app will still loop back to the blog, since the online generator is still one of those blog “pages”. And that is not changing for as long as I don’t have the time or money to host it on its own domain.

I can’t change the fact that tumblr mobile doesn’t automatically open blog pages in an external browser, so the only solution I can offer you is to take the extra step to copy the url and go into your mobile device’s actual internet browser, or just go to your browser and type in my URL manually.

If you actually couldn’t access the templates at all (which should not be an issue if you “REALLY wanna see it” given that not only did I offer you explanations and solutions for the tumblr app problem, but also that it IS accessible on desktop and you reasonably could have just gone on a computer) or had any other problem with them, I have made no stranger of myself and have always been open to help people. They have been polite or nice when they do talk to me, and I’ve always tried to be cordial in return. Your feedback is legitimate, and I appreciate it, but you really could have worded your implied suggestion a little better. And to be quite honest, I was offended by the rudeness of your reply, especially when you called my hard work a “*thing*”. Those asterisks imply a very negative tone, in case you weren’t aware.

I get the impression that you think that your demand will be fulfilled right away if you make enough fuss about it, but I’m not going to be manipulated or guilt-tripped because you feel bad. Maybe you don’t mean it that way, but you can “grow increasingly frustrated” all you want, because not only am I working on this for free, on my free time, and by myself, but I am also not doing this for you. You’re right that I am pouring a lot of work into this, as much work as any fan artist or fanfiction writer will put into their own works, and I’m very proud of it (both as it is now and what it will be in the future) and I have fun working on it, but this is not my job. And you’re not paying for a service.

I’m not working for anyone, and I have no reason to have made more than I originally did--originally I only made the student template PSDs for some friends, and the generator (which seems to be my most popular template, even though my original focus was on the PSDs) only came about because one of my friends didn’t have Photoshop. And I wasn’t even going to release either of them to the public, but I did, and the villain ones came over a year later because of this blog and the people who follow it. No one asked for a user interface update (in fact, more people have asked for a pro hero template), but I’m doing it anyway because I can and I want to. That’s all this boils down to. Also my free time (if you hadn’t noticed, everything on my blog runs on a queue, and when I do queue stuff it’s usually like 3am or so--including right now... it’s currently 5am actually) and motivation (I’m well aware of how few people actually use the templates compared to how many people follow and reblog the posts, and honestly it’s a little discouraging). So if I do make a mobile version, be aware that it won’t be coming out for a very long time. (Also, I think you’re the only one in several years who has complained about it, and you are literally 1 in... what, 3000+ people? Judging by the number of notes on the original post I made when I started the blog and my current number of followers. And again, you’re not even one of them. So to be honest, I’m really not motivated to work on this quickly.)

If you want it faster? Being nice when you show your interest helps, it’s how I got encouraged to make the villain templates. Though I never asked for much other than patience. Or at the very least, the respect any fandom content creator deserves--I may not be cranking out fanart daily or new chapters of a fanfiction weekly or anything, but I am still providing the fandom with something they can enjoy at no cost. And like reviews on fics or comments on art, many people have expressed that they’re grateful the templates and generators exist at all, unlike you, which is really the reason this blog continues to exist and the generators/templates to be updated with new and improved features. I could have just left my original template generator up there and abandoned it, but I know how it feels to find out a fanart you loved years ago was deleted or a really good fanfic was discontinued. So I’ll continue to work on it, and yes I’ll put mobile compatibility for the generators on my to-do list, but I’ll do it at my own pace.

Also I’m not making money off of this, but hey, if you wanna give me incentive that way, hop into my DMs or something and we’ll talk, but I’ve never asked for donations or anything and I don’t plan to. The generators and templates are free for use, and most of that is because of tumblr, which gave it a platform and a home. If I hosted it on its own domain, I’d need a means to pay for that, and I’m personally not invested enough to do that when tumblr is free and works well enough.

If you or anyone else wants to help change that, come talk to me, the ask box is always open.

Otherwise, please visit this blog page on a desktop browser or at the very least something that isn’t just the tumblr mobile app, because nothing can be done about mobile compatibility right now, and I’d hate for you to miss out on seeing the templates. Hopefully I can look forward to whatever you will create with it.

-archivist

#archivist #prurientpuddlejumper #replies #long post #blog management stuff #kinda

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cogentranting · 2 years

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I posted 5,284 times in 2021

892 posts created (17%)

4392 posts reblogged (83%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.9 posts.

I added 4,363 tags in 2021

#tfatws - 853 posts

#random - 570 posts

#bucky barnes - 550 posts

#prodigal son - 534 posts

#cogent liveblogs - 443 posts

#mcu - 424 posts

#sam wilson - 270 posts

#prodigal son spoilers - 242 posts

#the flash - 240 posts

#tfatws spoilers - 237 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#you’re the shape of party hats and ice cream cones and stratovolcanoes. fun but dangerous. but mostly fun. i’d come to you first if i was lo

My Top Posts in 2021

Kinda love the audacity of Taylor just laying claim to all of 2022. She already took control of everyone's 22nd birthday with that song, and now she's just like "actually no, this song is also owning all of next year too". Love that for her.

799 notes • Posted 2021-11-28 23:19:46 GMT

Sam strikes me as someone naturally oriented toward action and helping and fixing things.

We see him in Winter Soldier and he talks to Steve for ten seconds and goes "oh he's not as ok as he'd like people to think" and he immediately extends a hand. Steve shows up at his door later and says "the government's corrupt, we're going to fight it" and Sam instantly says "let me get my wings"

That's coming through really prominently in tfatws. I'd have to listen to what Sarah said about their parents again, but it sounded like what happened was Sam didn't have an avenue to fix what was happening (or had happened) at home so he joined the Airforce as his way of taking action.

And now after the Blip I think we're seeing Sam in a state where he's trying to fix everything. He's trying to honor Steve's legacy in the best way he can. He's working with the airforce to try to be the best superhero he can be in the absence of a larger structure and he's trying to bring some order to a world in chaos (and though we don't see it, I imagine Sam is trying to figure out what the future of the Avengers is and what his role in that is). He's trying to be there for Sarah and his nephews and fix things financially and preserve his family legacy. And on top of that we know he was reaching out to Bucky, which I think is probably best understood as him both trying to do right by Steve and help his friend out, but also (and maybe more so) just his first instinct as someone who worked as a VA counselor in seeing someone clearly struggling and trying to do something to help. It even shines through in his hands on approach to fixing the boat or his gear.

There's SO MUCH he's trying to do right now and it's just this constant orientation to what he can do to help and make any situation better and it seems totally natural to him, even when he's taking on more than anyone can handle alone. It's just his first instinct.

That's different than Steve in the way it plays out but at the same time it's so quintessentially Captain America, which is why he's the perfect one to take on the shield.

982 notes • Posted 2021-03-19 18:50:01 GMT

If I had a nickel for every time a female protagonist of a tv show I watch, who had suffered a lot of loss in her past, watched the man she loves die but then used her powerful magic to bring him back to life because she couldn’t handle losing him, but then had to erase his memory because bringing him back that way was against his express wishes, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice (Wandavision and Once Upon a Time).

993 notes • Posted 2021-02-06 02:28:01 GMT

One thing that stands out to me about Sam, particularly in episode 2, is that even though he talks more than Bucky he doesn’t necessarily say more. Sam is an outgoing, lively person. But right now he’s not opening up and he’s not sharing. He’ll talk about the plan, he’ll banter, he’ll make jokes. But he’s keeping his thoughts and feelings pretty closely guarded.

When Bucky brings up the shield and asks (directly or indirectly) why Sam gave it up, Sam avoids the question. He states that he did what he thought was right, but he doesn’t offer any sort of explanation for why. And he doesn’t necessarily have to, he doesn’t have to justify his choices to Bucky. But I do think it’s coming in part from Sam questioning his own choice based on how it turned out and therefore being a little defensive.

But even more so I think it’s part of a larger pattern where Sam isn’t really sharing what he’s going through with anyone. Sam say’s to Dr. Raynor in the therapy session “I’ll squash it” and get the job done. That seems to be the mode Sam has been in for at least the last six months since coming back from the Blip. He takes his problems, squashes them down, puts on a smile, makes some jokes, and works on fixing other people’s problems.

Bucky, for all his unwillingness to engage and stubbornness and refusal to talk to people, is sort of a raw nerve. We see more of him getting suddenly very emotional, or lashing out. Sam has a much tighter grip on all his emotions, with the biggest moment so far where he let them slip out being when he met Isaiah and the confrontation with Bucky afterward (and look what happened when he let himself get angry). And if this was just a lack of trust with Bucky that would be one thing. He and Bucky aren’t truly friends yet, they trust each other in one sense, in the going into a fight together way, but emotionally they don’t really trust each other yet. But I don’t think it’s just with Bucky. Sarah indicated that he left home and joined the airforce because he was running away from his problems at home. And I got the sense in episode 1 that he wasn’t really being emotionally honest or open with Sarah either. It was all very bottled up and hidden behind jokes and bravado and the sort of hero persona of Sam who tries to fix everything. Even with Rhodey, who I think understood a lot better than anyone else where Sam was coming from and so didn’t need as much to be said, Sam seemed to be a little avoidant.

So I think that’s going to be part of Sam’s arc. He’s going to need to open up and let someone in. Partly because, if he and Bucky are going to be partners and friends, those things entail honesty and communication and right now neither one is giving that. But also purely on Sam’s side he needs to stop squashing all his problems and running from them. Not because he owes anyone anything, but because he deserves a chance to not have to be strong and put together all the time. To be able to voice those doubts and fears and be supported.

1031 notes • Posted 2021-03-28 00:36:21 GMT

Kind of obsessed with this quote from Henry Jackman, the composer for Winter Soldier, about writing the Winter Soldier theme:

“Because there's a human element to the Winter Soldier that gets revealed toward the end of the film, the Winter Soldier starts off unrelenting and brutal and mechanized and almost Terminator like but the difference between The Winter Soldier and Terminator is that somewhere behind the wires and all the mechanization is a character that we know and we care about and that more importantly, Cap knows about and it's very painful to him.

So one of the things I ended up doing with the Winter Soldier was I spent literally ten days just on production with vocals because I wanted to get the sensation of a human trapped inside machinery. So I did a lot of vocal recordings and then processed the living hell out of them to get these tortured, time-stretched human cries of someone who has been so processed that it's become mechanized at the same time but you can still hear the human in there.”

4113 notes • Posted 2021-04-08 06:25:29 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #long post #tumblr year in review #tumblr has a rebloggjng problem but its not coming from me

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sloanecore · 7 years

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hey whats up taz fandom can we chat

hey yall can we talk abt lesbophobia for a hot second bc it has been uhhh disturbingly prevalent lately. i just wanna preface this by saying i absolutely welcome feedback + don’t claim to speak for anyone else. if you have thoughts on this i’d love to hear them + possibly have a discussion.

so here’s the thing: there’s been an Uncomfortable amount of lesbophobia in the TAZ fandom lately in 2 distinct ways. #1 is, of course, the Lup discourse. I KNOW I KNOW you feel a creeping sense of dread at the very words but hear me out for a second.

here’s my hot take: her sexuality hasn’t been confirmed and anyone can have whatever headcanons they want without people slamming them up until her sexuality gets confirmed (if it ever does). before i delve into how lesbophobia has starred in this particular discourse, let me get something out of the way that may raise a few eyebrows at first:

blupjeans isn’t canon (yet).

do i think it will be? yeah probably. is it as of yet? big fat nope! we know barry has feelings for lup. we know lup trusts him. we do NOT know if lup has romantic feelings for him. she told taako to trust him, she put a friendly arm around him in a portrait that she didn’t pose for that was painted before she knew he had feelings for her, and she picked up his glasses. it isn’t canon yet, and insisting that it is is dumb and a waste of time because it contributes nothing to this discussion.

Anyway! on to the main point. i headcanon lup as a lesbian. hi! what’s up, how ya doin. i’m a lesbian who loves projecting. most of my TAZ friends are in the same boat. none of us have made any posts, messaged each other, or anything of the like about disliking bi/pan lup HCs because—news flash—we don’t dislike them. we think they’re awesome. lesbians and bi/pan women aren’t “natural enemies” like some of you seem to want them to be.

but you know what i have seen? a RIDICULOUS amount of posts—a lot of them from people who aren’t even gay/bi/pan women—decrying lesbian lup HCs, talking about how much they hate them, how entitled and whiney the people who have them (lesbians) are, and like, listen. I get it. every fandom needs its opportunity to Let It Out re: hatred of the Big Bad Dykes. but it’s getting ridiculous.

if your reasoning for why lesbians can’t HC lup as gay is because she’s “been involved with/is involved with a man” (which, still, unconfirmed) surprise! that’s lesbophobic. plenty of lesbians (hi! me! what up!) have had past relationships with men due to compulsory heterosexuality. this doesn’t make us “not gay” and it super sucks for non-lesbians to try to enforce the toxic gold-star mentality that we as a community have spent so long fighting to move past.

lesbians having lesbian headcanons for characters with unconfirmed sexualities/straight characters harms no one and does not nullify bi/pan headcanons that people might have for the same character. We Can Get Along it’s not as hard as y’all are making this!

also, a lot of the justifications for trashing lesbian lup headcanons i’ve seen have included something along the lines of “all the other girls in TAZ are lesbians” “there’s a ton of lesbian representation in TAZ” “this is the PERFECT opportunity to HC a character as bi.” which. okay.

1: no. 0 characters have been Confirmed as lesbians. zero, zilch, nada. as it stands, taako is the only character with a confirmed sexuality. there’s confirmed WLW for sure! but No confirmed lesbians.

2: nope again! what is this in reference to, the side couple that’s barely mentioned or the dead ones?

3: hoo boy! here’s the thing: the other women in relationships in TAZ have been in relationships with other women. lup is the first to be implied to be involved with a man. none of the canon WLW in TAZ are canonically confirmed lesbians. there is and has been nothing stopping anyone from HC’ing sloane, hurley, killian, or carey as bi or pan. if lup is “the perfect opportunity” because she’s maybe involved with a man and you’re subconsciously making that a prerequisite for Good Bi Rep, that’s a You problem that you need to unpack on your own without dragging lesbians into it!

if you can tweet all day about how lesbians allegedly think lup being with barry is “not queer enough” (no one alive has ever said that and also that’s its own special flaaaavor of lesbophobia, so thanks) but you automatically consider a woman whose only canonically shown relationship was with another woman to be a lesbian, that says more about you and you should probably examine that before you project your weird insecurities onto your imagined Enemy Dykes. i know it’s easy to impulse hate us, but here’s a thought: Fucking Chill Dude

Alright!! onto the second Big TAZ Lesbophobia: objectification!!!!!!!

let me set the stage. eh-hem.

Years ago, lesbians in fandom said “Gee, I wish people would stop ignoring us!” And the monkey paw curled one finger, and the TAZ fandom was born.

i see posts Every Goddamn Day about how the whole TAZ fanbase are toxic homophobic fetishizers of MLM and to an extent i understand where that anger comes from because MLM fetishization is a pervasive issue in fandom (though the specific Issue addressed in most of those posts makes me fall asleep instantly because it isn’t even deep enough to drown in). but the thing that really gets me is that the authors of those posts—and like, a good 80% of the fandom in general—objectifies WLW to an OUTRAGEOUS extent and it is honestly hilarious for them to be getting on a soapbox about how shipping certain characters is homophobic while perpetuating almost that exact issue with WLW as their puppets.

i don’t know when lesbians and having a new wacky ~cute~ f/f pairing (between characters who have never spoken and never will) every hour on the hour became the Hot New Trend, but as a lesbian, It Kind Of Fucking Sucks Guys!!! we aren’t dolls. we aren’t your Pure Soft UwU playthings that you can jam into any pairing you want to make wildly OOC art of them braiding each others’ hair in the moonlight or whatever. if you’re a nonlesbian/non-WLW and you have 18 ships with the same 4 girls or you reblog posts like the “luptroth is the new ship” post (altho hey at least those two have fuckin Spoken), You’re A Fucking Geek and Very Annoying and i also probably feel unsafe or at the very least uncomfortable with you!

instead of pouring your energy into f/f crackships (get off your high horse, you aren’t ‘creating representation,’ you know damn well that isn’t how that works) maybe you could create some more fucking content for the two (2!!!! one of whom is UHHH dead!) canon f/f ships that we have—*spongebob “AND LIVE” voice* AND NOT AS THE BACKGROUND PAIRING TO A M/M FIC!!!!

also, quick note before i finish, stop using the futch scale to refer to nonlesbians/if you aren’t a lesbian you freaks it’s For Lesbians. bye

#taz #the adventure zone #i wrote this all at once so it might be a little rocky to read but i tried to space it enough to make it easier

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katdvs · 7 years

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Lucas Friar moved back to Texas at 17, now he’s running for Mayor of Rosewood Springs so best friend Zay and little sister Gigi decide he needs a little help from a political consultant.

Riley Matthews found her calling, she found a fiancé, but she never expected to find herself here, of all places.

Cross-posted to FF.net | Soundtrack

Author Note: You guys rock, seriously you are all amazing. I am always so grateful that you take the time to read my stuff, reblog it, like it, review it. Don’t forget if you’re on tumblr I’m doing that 1000 Followers fanfic give away so check that out.

-find a reason-

Lucas had tossed and turned again all night, every thought was about getting up, walking down the hall to the guestroom, lifting Riley out of her bed and bringing her to his.

Now he stood in the living room, watching her move around his kitchen, wondering why she look so at home there? She was wearing a simple floral print dress, the skirt hitting below the knee, and he couldn’t help but notice that she wore ballet flats rather than heels.

She was making coffee, glancing at her phone every so often, biting her lower lip.

He knew it was wrong but he was thankful he didn’t have to see her engagement ring, it let him have the fantasy for a minute or two.

“You should talk to her Lucas.” Gigi watched as her brother jumped, startled by her.

He glared back at his sister, “We’ve talked.”

Gigi rolled her eyes, “I doubt about everything, or anything real. You still love her, I can see it all over your face when you think no one is watching.”

“If, I did and that’s a major if, it doesn’t matter she’s engaged, it’s been too long Gigi.”

“For now,” Gigi shrugged, “I wouldn’t stay engaged if a guy gave me a ring that did to me what it did to Riley, that shows a lack of care, concern, an inability to know or remember facts. You still remember she’s allergic to Nickle.”

“Hey what did Zay say to Dixie last night?”

Gigi looked at the ground, “Oh, yeah, that um, wasn’t Zay who said something.”

“Gigi Darcy Friar what did you do?” His voice raised, out of the corner of his eyes he could see Riley look at them as she poured a cup of coffee.

Gigi moved into the kitchen, “Okay, so Dixie was sniffing around you, she heard Riley was in town, so I kind of maybe implied that Riley was here and that the two of you were … reconnecting.”

“What?” Riley put her coffee mug down and stared at Gigi, “I think I’m missing something here.”

“She got ridiculously jealous, because as far as anyone knows you’re the only girl who has really turned Lucas’ head.” Gigi grabbed a mug from the cabinet before pouring herself some coffee before grabbing the sugar. “Anyways, I had to do something to get her to back off, I mean I could’ve told her some wild tale about you running from a con-artist ex.”

“Gigi shut it.” Lucas warned.

Gigi smiled to herself as she took a sip of her coffee watching the confusion between Riley and Lucas.

“So, I’m in town because Lucas and I are getting back together?” Riley couldn’t believe what she was piecing together.

“Yeah, something like that.” Gigi shrugged, “What was I going to say Lucas likes to get blow jobs from women in Dallas and Riley is here to make sure you don’t find out?”

Lucas shook his head, “Gigi, what are you up to?”

She put the mug down as Zay came into the kitchen trying to tie his tie. “Just trying to help you out with Dixie. I’m sure you can figure it out all on your own.”

Riley noticed the way Gigi went to help Zay out, an odd layer of tension between them that she hadn’t picked up on before, was it new?

Lucas grabbed a travel mug from the cabinet filling it with coffee and doctoring it up the way he liked, “Zay you’re driving, we’re going to church. We will listen to the sermon, we will sing the hymns, and we will socialize, we will all be polite, no one mentions that I’m running for mayor because I haven’t filed the paperwork yet, and we don’t talk about why Riley is here.”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“Lucas is right, now let’s go.” Riley put her coffee mug in the sink, giving Gigi and Zay a warning look as they all went to SUV.

“So, what are you up to Gigi?” Riley stood away from the crowd sipping on watered down lemonade as she watched Lucas interacting with other people, smiling, laughing.

“Lucas needs you Riley, he needs your help.” Gigi sighed, “Maybe he doesn’t need you the way most clients do, but he still needs you.”

“I think he needs me gone, and I think I need to be gone.” Riley watched a shift in Lucas’ body language when a blonde woman came over to him, “Who is that?”

Gigi took a sip of her own lemonade trying not to smile, “That’s Dixie.”

Riley watched for a moment as Dixie’s eyes traveled up Lucas as if he were a piece of meat. “What does she do for a living?”

Gigi thought for a moment, “I think she claims to work marketing for her family’s ranch, but not sure how much work that really is.”

Riley nodded as she saw Dixie reach out to touch Lucas. She said nothing as she shoved her lemonade cup towards Gigi before moving across the social hall, moving right up next to Lucas, “I’ve been looking for you Lucas.” Slipping her arm around his waist.

Lucas felt her slip her arm around him, and damn did it feel right, “Riley, this is Dixie.”

“Oh hi, I’m Riley Matthews.” She rested her head gently against Lucas’ chest.

Lucas blinked, a small smile crossing his lips, he had to be dreaming, why was Riley on him like this?

Dixie narrowed her eyes, “Dixie Carmichael, I heard you were visiting.”

Riley waved her hand, “You spoke with Gigi I take it.”

“So, you won’t be here for long?” Dixie smirked ready for this woman to be out of town.

Lucas felt his heart racing having Riley so close, touching him, he could smell her shampoo, fruity but flowery as well, oh how he just wanted to press his lips against the back of her neck. He was so distracted by having her close, yet he could still pick up the weird territorial tension brewing between the two women.

“Actually, I’ll be here for the foreseeable future.” Riley studied the way Dixie’s nostrils flared at the news.

“What could Rosewood Springs have that New York doesn’t?”

“Lucas, my boyfriend.” She could feel him turn his head to protest so she pressed her lips against his, feeling the spark spread through her body as his hands dropped to her waist. She could get lost in this feeling if she hadn’t remembered they were not only in public but in Church of all places.

Dixie’s mouth was gaping open, “I didn’t know Lucas had a girlfriend.”

Riley put her hand over Lucas heart, “We got back in contact with each other months ago, emailing, video chats, and that special thing between us when we were in high school was still there, so we decided that I would come down here and we would be together.” Oh, how she wished it were true, that this lie she was telling was a reality.

“Yes” His voice dry when he finally spoke as he looked down at Riley with a soft smile, “She’s here to be with me.”

“Good luck, you’ll need it, not a single woman in this town has been able to get Lucas to settle down in anyway.” Dixie sneered.

“Well, none of you are me.” She took Lucas’ hand and started pulling him away, “We should find Gigi and Zay.”

He nodded, “Yeah, we should” he glanced to Dixie, “See you around.”

Riley began to lead him away, biting her lower lip, feeling the nerves pulse through her body, pushing away any confidence she’d just had as they moved to where Gigi was watching them.

“What was that?” Lucas finally asked, trying to ignore the beating of his heart as he studied her.

“I don’t know, it just kind of happened.” Riley admitted, she couldn’t explain it, but she felt like she had to do what she’d done.

Lucas rubbed his chin, “Yeah well now you’re stuck here, you have to pretend to be my girlfriend.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized they were true, she had to stay now.

“We’ll discuss this at the ranch.” She smiled, “Right now we’re being watched.”

Lucas nodded silently before he felt her lips on his cheek as Zay came over.

“We should get going.” Gigi suggested, she couldn’t believe it had worked.

Zay leaned in close to her as they were leaving the social hall, “I don’t know how you did I, but you did. Think she’ll really stay?”

“Yeah, they just gave themselves an excuse to be close to each other, and for her to stay.”

Zay chuckled, “Maya is going to be impressed when I tell her about this.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, I just hope she doesn’t tell her idiot husband Charlie where Riley is exactly, or we might have to deal with Dave showing up, and I don’t know how that ends.” Zay felt the summer air against them, a buzz of energy swarming around them.

“It ends with Dave in New York with his boat, and Riley and Lucas married by November.” Gigi giggled before running towards the car.

Lucas tried to pretend he was looking forward, Zay had jumped in the driver’s seat, Gigi in the passenger seat, leaving him and Riley in the back.

He kept replaying that moment repeatedly in his mind, the sensation of her next to her, the buzz of energy that had filled him. The warmth of her arm around him. The feel of her lips pressed against his, oh the thoughts that were filling his mind after that were not the ones to be had in church.

He’d been stunned to feel her that close, he’d been focused on how to get away from Dixie without being rude. He saw that hungry look she had in her eyes, she always had it around him, at least since he’d returned from New York all those years ago, and with the Bachelor auction coming up on Tuesday night, she was very hungry to finally win him.

And then when Riley had declared herself his girlfriend he was sure Dixie wanted to scratch her eyes out, but the words had spread hope throughout his body, his soul.

Why?

Of all the things that could’ve escaped from her, why was that her answer in the moment? What even was that moment? He still wasn’t sure.

She obviously hadn’t thought of the ramifications of what she was doing. She would have to stay now. She couldn’t up and leave, she couldn’t go back to New York until after the election.

Lucas felt the smile trying to form on his lips.

She was staying.

Somehow, she’d just twisted herself into needing to stick around.

She’d have to at least in public pretend to be his girlfriend, to hold his hand, show affection.

Bid on him at the auction.

He felt his heartbeat pick up.

Last night, he’d been so close to kissing her, wondering if that intensity he was feeling around her was reciprocated, and after that brief kissing the social hall—he knew, he had his answer.

First, he had to go along with whatever crazy scheme she was cooking up, and he gladly would if it meant he got to spend time with her, if it meant he had to dance with her, take her out on horseback rides, do whatever he could to appear as a couple, while making her fall in love with him again.

Second, he had to wait out Dave. No way on earth did Dave feel a tenth of the intensity with Riley that he felt. The jackass gave her a cheap ring, and showed he had no idea what Riley liked, and he probably had no idea about the deepest thoughts and dreams she had. Yes, he knew that they might not be the same ones he’d known or understood when they were younger, but Lucas had a foundation.

This would be difficult though, part of him still wanted to carry her up to his bedroom and lock them in there for eternity.

They would have to have rules.

They would have to have boundaries.

He would also have time to find out why she was so angry at him, find out what he’d done to her, or maybe what he hadn’t done?

God, she was beautiful, she was twisting her fingers together nervously, he knew what that meant, and all he wanted to do was grab her, hold her close, whisper in her ear so she could know this okay.

When Zay parked the car, he snapped out of the trance he was in.

“I’m going to get lunch started,” Gigi was already getting out of the car, “You two should figure this out.”

“Yeah, I’m going to go check on some…stuff.” Zay went towards the barn while Gigi was already in the house.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I really don’t know what I was thinking, what came over me.” The way the words rushed from Riley told Lucas that she’d been holding them in for at least part of the car ride.

“What’s done is done.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, moving just a little bit closer to her, “As far as the people of Rosewood Springs know you’re my girlfriend, and I think that it wouldn’t look right if my girlfriend ran off to New York while I’m running for mayor, right?”

“Right” her voice was tight.

“So” Lucas considered her eyes, “You’ve got to stay until after the election, we attend functions together, maybe stage an outing or two.”

She furrowed her brow as she listened to him, “We’d have to kiss again, I mean be affectionate with each other, it would be all fake.”

He was sure if he could hear pain in her voice he just had, “Do you think you can explain this to Dave?”

Riley closed her eyes, Dave, her fiancé, the man she was going to marry, because yes this would all be fake with Lucas. “He’ll understand, he’ll know what he needs to know.”

“So, our new backstory, we got back in touch, felt that spark we had in high school huh?”

“I think that’s what I said.” She breathed, trying to ignore the tiny voice in the back of her mind begging for her to kiss him again.

“We’ll work the details out later,” It would be so easy to kiss her, really kiss her…not yet Lucas, not yet.

“I should um, call Maya, ask her to send me some stuff from my closet in New York. You know more jeans and stuff.”

“Good idea, those short skirts of yours could only lead to trouble.”

“Yeah shouldn’t give anyone anymore to talk about than they need.” She was searching his eyes, trying to read him.

Lucas pulled away, “You should call Maya, I’m going to check in with Zay, and um, after lunch you can figure out my look, and maybe we can see what stuff you’ve got that will work until Maya sends you what she can.”

“That works.” Riley went to move out of the car only to realize she was still buckled in. She quickly undid it before slipping out of the car.

Lucas watched her, she was staying for now, whatever was going to happen after this; well he would have to live with the outcome. But he hoped to God that outcome included Riley.

#Thunder Chasing The Wind #Riley Matthews #Lucas Friar #Girl Meets World #Rucas #Rucas Fanfic #GMW Fanfic #Zay Babineaux #Gigi Friar

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