#that I passed on posting some pretty peak sketches

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

Heya guys! Just wanted to pass an update for those that follow my blog!

In about two weeks, three at most, I'm going to be removing the read under for most Captain Laserhawk theme posts. Old posts may be edited to remove the read under. Right now I'm trying to keep screencaps limited, but once the two/three weeks are up I'll be sharing more and possibly clips.

I still plan to use the Captain Laserhawk Spoiler tags I announced ("Laserhawk Spoilers" and "Captain Laserhawk Spoilers") at least until January, but the images and the posts will no longer be hidden with a read under.

For those that wish to/do interact with me via roleplaying, or just like reading anything from the "Rayman Roleplay Threads" tag, I plan to eventually launch an au specifically around the Captain Laserhawk universe. Currently it takes place after the events of season one and some things may be subjected to change if more seasons release.

I have some sketches for fanart for the Universe. I may be writing stuff, head canons, and just fun fan lore drabbles for this universe. Stuff specifically for my au version will be marked with "Captain Laserhawk Universe" tag. This applies for the roleplay threads too.

I'll be opening up in character asks ("Ask Rayman and Friends" Tag) for The Laserhawk Version of Rayman (emotes included!) and The Bullfrog Assassin. There will also be asks open for two Au specific versions of 1 Rayman character and one Fan Character once I finally get around to getting those references lined and colored.

I have a lot of art projects I need to get done when it comes to the custom drawn emotes, and my motivation has been all over the place lately. It's been slow going, October is a pretty rough month for my mental health so I take things slower than usual.

Users are more than welcome to poke me with Laserhawk themed asks and what not before the two weeks, however I cannot censor asks. Anything that features stuff from the show will still be marked with the tags. Might even show you some sneak peaks of what I'm working on from time to time.

Since Captain Laserhawk is a mature themed show, I plan to keep certain themes tagged. I enforce a strict NO NSFW rule on this blog and I plan to keep it that way.

#Update Post #News from the Glade #Captain Laserhawk #Laserhawk Rayman #Captain Laserhawk a Blood Dragon Remix #Rayman

[textsfromthefifthbasement]

Hi! So, when I put out a little PSA for my fandom/followers yesterday at 11, I had no idea that I'd go viral, haha. I'm honestly pretty unaware of what's going on in my notifications at all right now aside from things I see in passing, but I know I have a lot more followers this morning than I did yesterday.

So welcome! To be clear, this is a fandom blog for Phantom of the Opera. I'm actually pretty shy on tumblr, but I do usually use this blog for posting links to my own fanfic on AO3, as well as boosting others' POTO fanfiction, fanart, and meta. And if that's not your thing, that's cool, but consider, we have a juggernaut ship of villain x heroine, fanfics with redemption arcs, and a fandom-wide hand kink apparently.

Annually, I run a Queer Week event in late February/early January and a Fluff Week in July. In my pinned bio, you can find links to the tags for both of those events, as well as my own fanfiction masterlist. I am currently writing a Phantom of the Opera AU based on the Carmilla Webseries, with a female Phantom. My most popular fanfic is this POTO one shot where Christine stumbles across some sketches in the Phantom's house by the underground lake. My most popular non-Phantom fic is this Star Wars one shot, which was written for whumptober this year.

I'm anti-harrassment, pro-ao3 (if that wasn't clear from my post). I don't tolerate terfs and racists in my notes.

And even though I went viral and may have caused Phantom of the Opera to trend on tumblr for a day, I still feel like I peaked as a tumblr blog when I got 420 followers on 4/20.

[xxhatchetxx]

Finding sketches that I didn’t find funny last year but suddenly find hilarious this year is my new talent

#dib gets top surgery and then Zim ‘helps’ him get better so they can fight sooner #best concept 10/10 #my art #zadr #invader zim #don’t mind me just going through my files again #I was so committed to doing only ‘good art’ #that I passed on posting some pretty peak sketches

[glitterge1pen]

You Only Water Plants With Cool Water

Rukawa Kaede x reader, sfw, fluff, word count 1,435

reader is a painter 

Rukawa and you both had practice. Studio sessions, gym time, he needed to go to the store for new basketball shoes, you needed new paper or canvas. He knew when you had had a bad day. When every stroke of pigment was wrong, when you had to change water too many times. You knew when he had messed up his scoring percentages, or when he’d landed a shot not to his liking.

You also had good days though. Ones where you would be electrified, dragging Rukawa to the tiny bedroom studio in the apartment, excited to show him a new piece. He tried to be subtle about sharing his smaller successes with you. Quietly asking to go on a walk to the park on weekend mornings, picking up a basketball before heading out the door.

While Rukawa couldn't exactly understand painting, or art, he did understand you. He saw how hard you worked, the same as him. You too were striving for something. So he lets you ramble on about new art books you had bought, different painters you admired, ones you hated, an art supplies store you wanted to try your luck at. This was also how you understood him. You saw how at home Rukawa watched all the NBA games, kept tabs on different players.

The two of your respective passions consumed lots of your life. Which is why he didn't mind when you had the door to the studio closed when he got home from the gym. You didn't bother him when he was watching a game. He would sleep on the small couch you had tucked in the corner of the studio, the radio giving a play by play of some game. Legs hanging off the arm rest, simply enjoying being in your presence. Some days you would go to his practices, half watching, half sketching out ideas for a new chunk of canvas. This was one of those days.

Looking up from your lap you see that practice is almost over. You set aside your work to focus on Rukawa completely. He really is something else on the court. Brash, aggressive, and still sly. Those parts of Rukawa were the same. The part of him that bluntly told you while out shopping what did look ugly, that way you swore he moved stuff around in the fridge to mess with you, or how he shoulder checked people a little too often. When he was playing basketball it was like the various gears and screws that made up Rukawa were perfectly made to play, like it was the only that life made sense to him. It added something to his outward psyche, a fire of energy that exuded from every pore.

You watch as the team starts to wind down. Shooting from various points on the court, running sprints from one side to the other, to end practice there was a complicated passing drill that you couldn't follow. You were prepared to leave, grab some take out on the way home, but when Rukawa came over to you he flopped onto the bleachers.

“Hey! Come on you can't sleep here”

With a sweat towel covering his face he mumbles,

“I can sleep anywhere, just give me a couple minutes”

But you know with Rukawa that a couple minutes can range from thirty minutes to hours. You pull on his arm trying to get him up, his eyes are stubbornly closed though. You poke, you blow air on his nose, you ruffle his hair and pull on his clothes. When that doesn't work you try threats.

“I won't pay for dinner”

“I was going to pay”

He says, words muffled by the towel. Exasperated you sit back onto the cold bleachers. You reach into a plastic bag you have settled down by your feet. It's from the craft store, new paint, new brushes, you had stopped there on the way to see Rukawa. Cautiously you pull out some paint and let it rest against Rukawa's skin.

“If you don't get up, I’m gonna paint you”

“I dont care”

“Really?”

“Why would I care?”

Before you two had been playful, teasing, but when he asks that he is genuine. Like he couldn't possibly comprehend why that would bother anyone. He has one eye open now, peaking at you, seeing that you are considering it now.

“I don't care, go ahead, just let me sleep”

At first you're still a little apprehensive. You are slow to fill up one of the paper cups from the players bench with the water fountain. You use the colors little by little. Mixing them in the palm of your non dominant hand. You start with his arm. The paint moves differently on his sweat tinted skin and you have to adjust.

Rukawa floats in and out of sleep. Lazily watching your concentrated expression move expertly over him. He likes the way the brushes feel, the cool of the paint. He notes that you're holding his hand differently, it's deliberate, your fingers not laced with his but clasping onto him. You do this so you can twist his arm this way and that. He can see blues and greens mixed onto your own skin in puddles. Then he’s back asleep.

You are no longer paying attention to Rukawa, or the dance group that came to use the gym for practice. You like working here. The gym lights are bright, the AC blasting cold air. You were originally only going to do something small. But now Rukawa's entire right arm has been consumed by paint. You are putting the last few strokes of detail on his arm knowing that you aren't done yet. You are afraid to dab at the paint to see if its dry, you blow on it and Rukawa gives a small smile at the sensation.

You pull the towel off of Rukawa’s head and lay it over his chest, placing his arm there too. You grab your bag of supplies and move to the row of bleachers below Rukawa. His left leg your new target. This is harder for Rukawa to sit through at first. The bristles of the brush more ticklish, but it is soon calming once again. He wants to see what you’ve painted on his arm but his eyes are still so heavy, he so tired.

“Wow you're really good!”

“Thanks! He’s a pretty good canvas!”

Rukawa wakes at the sound of your voice.

“Oh sorry I didn't mean to wake you!”

It must be one of the girls from that dance team he decides.

“It’s okay he sleeps plenty”

You tell the girl, she laughs a little before waving herself away. You're packing up your things, swirling brushes into the cup of water, twisting paint tubes closed. Finally feeling satisfied with his nap, Rukawa slowly gets up. Used to sleeping wherever he pleases the dull ache from the bleachers doesn't bother him much. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sees it.

You've painted a river. From his right shoulder to his left ankle is a river. Patches of grass and flowers growing along parts of it, stones, clouds, waterfalls, waves of water. It’s dynamic, twisting over the grooves of his muscles. You are surprised at how gentle his fingers move along the outline of the water, tracing it down his whole arm. In between his knuckles the water fades off his hand in droplets. The red flowers a bold contrast to the cool colors of the water. Fish leaping in and out of the water, some not even breaking the blue surface of paint, shadows of warm color beneath the water.

“You like it?”

You ask, he only nods, still admiring your work. You get him off the bleachers, once standing the daze he was in wears off. He grabs his duffle bag and the two of you head out. The night air is refreshing, the sky dark blue but bright like how it is in the summer. The street is still buzzing from the dusk. People on the way home from work, light traffic in the street, store and street lights flickering in the newness of the night.

“I’m sorry”

“Huh?”

You don't know what Rukawa could possibly be apologizing for.

“I’m gonna have to take a shower and the paint will wash off”

“That’s okay I knew that when I did it”

Rukawa seems discontent with this answer but you aren't sure how to help ease him. At the next block Rukawa turns the wrong way.

“Where are you going the-”

“Walgreens”

“What?”

“They have disposable cameras at Walgreens.”

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　

A/N: If someone made a bingo chart of my writing Walgreens would be on it. Will post this on ao3 later today :) Also no :) I did not :) edit this :) 

#kaede rukawa #slam dunk #slam dunk x reader #Kaede Rukawa x reader #gender neutral reader #painter au

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Rebirth

Chapter 1: Flowers In The Window

Summary: Steven Grant Rogers, the dumb kid, too stubborn to run away from a fight, was never gonna allow a bunch of no-good low-lives to hassle a dame in the street, even if it was going to lead to him getting his ass kicked. For once, however, the ass kicking has an upside as the dame in question seemed particularly grateful, a fact she displays a few days later at the Stark Expo.

But it wasn’t the only encounter that night that seemed set to change his life when Dr Erskine throws him a bone, meaning Steve can finally do the one thing he’s been desperate to do for years.

Join the army.

Warnings: Bad Language words. Nothing much… Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N:  As part of SSB’s 1st Birthday, @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ sent me and ask asking what would have gone down so to speak should Katie have been part of the CA: TFA timeline. So here it is, my take!  I’ll be trying to keep this fic as accurate to the time period and the movie as possible, just like with the other SS fics. I’ve gleamed the dates and timeline from good old google and a wonderful post that flipped up on my timeline which can be found here.

I really hope you enjoy this, there will be some creative license because, let’s face it, what is Fan Fic other than self-indulgence? I’ve been dying to write something like this for ages. All of it will be written from Steve’s point of view because…well, just because.   Huge thanks to my beta readers @southerngracela​ and @icanfeelastormbrewing​ who both found time in their hugely hectic schedules to check this over. That said, any mistakes are my own. I’ll probably spot them once posted but, whatever!

HAPPY 1 YEAR BIRTHDAY to STARK SPANGLED BANNER!!!! 

SSR Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist 

June 1943

It started just the same as any normal Friday morning for Steven Grant Rogers. He unlocked the back of the Grocery Store on the corner of Berry Street in Brooklyn, using the entrance down the alley way reserved for staff. Once inside he grabbed his beige coloured linen apron off the hook and smiled at the items he had to work with today. Fridays, were always a treat as they took the rare delivery of freshly cut flowers ready to be sold for the weekend. This week there were boxes of bright white gardenias with their waxy petals and shiny, leathery dark green leaves, bunches of bright purple heliotrope which always reminded him of one of his mother’s scarves, and plenty of white, blue and purple asters. Steve bent down to take in the strong, vibrant fragrance of the gardenias, closing his eyes. It was easy to imagine he was in some garden somewhere, or even the middle of central park…not some little shop in Williamsberg.

“Don’t be inhaling enough of that to set your asthma off!” Mr Tromley, a kindly faced, portly man in his 50s greeted, and Steve turned to look at him, smiling a little shyly.

“I won’t Mr T.” he assured him. “They’re just so darn pretty…”

“Well set yourself a few aside.” Mr Tromley smiled “You can take them home and sketch them.”

“Oh, I couldn’t” Steve protested, the way he always did when Mr Tromley tried to slip him something for free be it scraps of meat he couldn’t sell from the counter that would be given to dogs, bread that wasn’t as soft as it had been in the morning and would be fed to the birds, milk that was going to turn, cheese that was slightly past its best. Mr Tromley ignored all his protests though, usually threatening to sack Steve if he didn’t take it. The man knew what it was like to come from a hard background, which was part of the reason he’d taken a shine to that sickly, 22 year old orphan with a degree in fine arts that had come begging for a job some 3 years ago. He couldn’t pay him much but he could do other things to make sure he got by.

“Well if you don’t take ‘em Steve they’ll just end up withering and a-dyin’, so reckon you’d be doin’ em a kindness.” Mr Tromley shrugged “Now, my Ada has some coffee going, you want a cup before we open the doors?”

Steve glanced at the clock above the counter, more out of habit than anything as he knew full well that he arrived with an hour to go.

“Mr T that’d be swell.” He smiled.

“Okay, you get started and I’ll fetch it down.”

Steve began in the usual way, pulling some simple bouquets together, varying in size and price, ready for the busy men to pick up on their way home from work, a nice present for their dame’s for the weekend. Once the stalks and lower foliage were trimmed and stripped, he fastened and tied them in simple brown waxy paper using plain brown string. Steve always insisted on using plain wrapping as anything else would detract from the beauty of the flowers. He placed the finished bouquets into one of the green buckets of water Mr Tromley fetched from the back, before he then carefully and delicately trimmed down the remaining flowers before placing them loose in their own buckets according to type, ready for the ladies, and occasional gentleman, who had the time and desire to create their own bunches.

Impeccably organised, as ever, Steve finished his work 15 minutes before the store was due to open. He then set about helping Mr Tromley as they arranged the buckets outside the shop window on the sidewalk, before they set up the other stalls of seasonal vegetables. There wasn’t much fruit to go by at the moment, but that was a sign of the times really. But what they did have, namely a selection of apples and oranges, they set those out ready too. Once that was done, Mr Tromley handed Steve a thick wedge of fresh bread which had been delivered that morning from the local bakery, along with some of his wife’s home-made jam which was sold from their shop. Steve took his breakfast with a mumbled thanks, averse to taking the daily handouts as ever, and Mr Tromley sighed.

“Steve, when are you going to realise that a piece of bread and jam for breakfast ain’t gonna bankrupt me?”

“I just don’t want to appear to take advantage, that’s all.” “Ah quit it.” Tromley waved his hand, shaking his head “If I didn’t want you to take advantage of it, I wouldn’t offer it would I? Now, eat that and get behind the counter.”

The morning passed much the same as they always did. A flurry of activity at opening, a steady stream of locals and regulars through to the usual peak of activity just before lunch. Like clockwork, Mr Tromley closed the doors bang on midday for an hour and Steve gathered his sketchbook along with the brown paper bag which contained his cheese and bread, and headed outside into the sun. At Mr Tromley’s instruction he selected an apple from the display and crossed the road avoiding the yellow cabs and cyclists and trams, taking up seat on the bench which sat directly opposite the shop front.  He chewed his lunch, washed it down with the tin bottle of lemonade that Mrs Tromley had filled for him earlier, and then once he had finished his apple he tossed the core over to a pigeon who instantly began pecking at it. He then untucked the pencil that was behind his ear, opened his sketchbook and resumed the detailed landscapes he was doing of the buildings surrounding the shop front. Drawing was his escape, something he did any chance he got. He dreamed one day of travelling the world, drawing all the different sights he could, but that was out of the question. Well, until he finally got into the army. With 4 failed attempts under his belt already, most men would have given up but not Steven Rogers. Stubborn, tenacious and plucky to a fault, he was already planning his next attempt at enlisting, this time he was going to hail from New Jersey. Well, as good a place as any.  

Steve glanced up, checking the detail of the window to the cobblers next door, and that was when he saw her, just walking down the sidewalk. She wore a red high-collared, cap sleeved tea-dress which flared out slightly from her hips and finished just below her knee. It was cinched in at the waist with a black belt, and was detailed round the hem and sleeve edges with pretty white lace. On her feet she wore a pair of simple, elegant black block heel courts with a T-bar buckle. Her hair was a silky, shiny chestnut which hung around her face in bouncy waves and she had a soft, gentle profile with high cheekbones, slightly flushed cheeks and ruby lips. She stopped outside the shop, examining the flowers with a smile, and then she looked up at the shop door and saw the CLOSED sign in the window. She can’t be from around here, Steve thought to himself, everyone in the neighbourhood knew when Tromley closed his doors and opened them, you could set your watch by it. Still, she hung around, softly picking up a gardenia and holding it to her nose, smiling to herself as she inhaled.

Steve found the innocent act breath-taking. He felt a little, well, shameful in a way, to be watching her so, intruding on what was clearly a private moment but he couldn’t help it. She was beautiful, grace personified, and he felt a little sad as she replaced the flower, gave the buckets one last look, before she continued on her way. Steve sighed, wishing to God that the shop had been open, it would have given him an excuse to maybe see her a little more closely. Perhaps talk to her. Or not as the case maybe, Bucky was always telling him how useless he was when it came to striking up conversations with ladies. But, for now, he had to settle for watching her walk away. Only he wasn’t the only one.

“Hey pretty thing…” Steve heard a voice and turned to his left where a group of men, most likely in their late teens or early twenties, had spotted her. As Steve watched he saw one of them push himself off the lamppost he’d been leaning on and cross the street towards her. The lady stopped, looking at him with her eyebrow raised. He spoke to her again, Steve couldn’t hear the conversation but a smile tugged at his lips as the lady looked the boy up and down, disdain etched all over her pretty face before she shook her head and laughed. She made to move past the kid but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

And Steve just couldn’t help himself.

“Hey…” he called, jumping up and hurrying across the street “Let the lady go.”

“Back off, this has nothing to do with you.” The man rounded on him, looking at him before he snorted at Steve’s stature. “Besides, what you gonna do about it anyway?”

Steve took a deep breath, he was used to people looking down their noses at him, both figuratively and literally. That was part and parcel of being only 5 foot 4 inches tall. He also knew that at 100lb give or take, he didn’t cut a formidable figure either, but he was damned if he was going to let this bully manhandle a dame in the middle of the street.

The woman wrenched her arm away from the man’s grip and glared at him, furious green eyes bored into his as she snorted and looked the guy up and down. “He’s clearly twice the gentleman you’ll ever be. Didn’t your mother ever teach you basic, good manners jack ass?”

“What did you just say?” a sudden darkness crossed the man’s face as he looked down at the woman who stood, un-yielding, clutching her purse as it hung around her shoulder.

“You heard me, well unless you’re deaf as well as ugly.” she shrugged slightly. At that Steve really couldn’t hold his face straight anymore and he felt the side of his lips curl up into a smirk. He was sure the pretty dame’s eyes flickered to his but he must have imagined it as when he stole a glance back at her she was staring straight back at the man who’d been giving her the trouble.

“Mouthy little broad you ain’t ya?” he snarled.

“Show some damned respect.” Steve shot out, and this time the man rounded on him. Steve stood stock still, his mother’s words echoing clearly in his head- you start running, they’ll never let you stop and he was aware in his peripheral that the other 2 men who’d been observing until now were starting to circle like sharks who had just had their first taste of blood.

He braced himself, ready for the inevitable fight, legs slightly apart, hands balling into fists by his side. But it was no use. He was never going to be fast enough or strong enough for one of these guys, let alone 3, and as the fist connected with his face he heard a scream and a yell as he fell backwards into the display of oranges and apples which he had lovingly helped Mr T prepare before.

Steve staggered to his feet, readying himself for another hit but it didn’t come. Instead one of the guys was sent sprawling to the ground besides him, shortly followed by the other. He wheeled round to see Bucky had the one that was left standing pinned up by the collar against the brick wall to the side of the shop and Mrs T was on the door step brandishing a broom handle, a string of Italian expletives leaving her mouth.

“Get outta here…” Bucky shoved the one that he was holding harshly into the road where he narrowly avoided colliding with the side of a yellow cab. Then turns to Steve and pulls him up.

“Seriously?” Bucky groaned and Steve shook his head, dusting himself down “You pick a fight with 3 at once?”

“He didn’t pick a fight with any of them.” A soft voice spoke and both Steve and Bucky turned to look at the dame in the red dress who was dusting herself down as her eyes flitted from Bucky, to Steve, then back again. “He came to help me when one of those bozos was getting a little too familiar.”

“That’s Stevie, a regular Knight in shining armour…” Bucky ruffled Steve’s hair as he gave an exasperated sigh, pushing himself away from his best friend. “Especially when there’s a beautiful dame involved.”

 The lady looked at Bucky, arching an eyebrow slightly before she looked back at Steve and he gulped slightly as for the first time he took her in properly.  She was gorgeous. Deep green eyes that sparkled like emeralds in a coal mine looked back at him from a heart shaped face, nose speckled with freckles which twitched a little as she smiled revealing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth

"I guess I should thank you Stevie." She spoke, and Steve felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

"It was nothing...I just.." he stopped dead as she reached out and straightened his tie, long eyelashes blinking against his cheeks as she smoothed over his shoulders and dropped a kiss to his cheek.

"My hero"

Steve swallowed and looked at the woman as she stepped back, smiling at him.

“I err, it was…my pleasure.” Steve stuttered and the lady arched an eyebrow, a grin on her face.

“Interesting choice of words.”

“I mean, not pleasure, obviously. No one likes seeing a beautiful dame getting hassled, I mean woman, not that…” he shook his head, as Bucky nudged him. He was rambling, as per usual. “I err, I should…”he gestured to the shop as Mr and Mrs Tromley were now looking at the mess of fruit all over the floor.

“I’m sorry about that.” She turned to the shopkeepers who looked at her, Mrs Tromley waving her away.

“Not your fault dear.”

“Can I at least buy some of the flowers?”  She asked, a little shyly “That is what I actually wanted to do after all.”

“Of course, Steven, can you…” Mr T nodded to Steve and then his eyes fell on Bucky “James Buchanan Barnes, what are you doing here?”

“Got a week or so’s furlough, Mr T and Ma sent me for some stuff, I gotta list.” he nodded, fishing it out of his pocket.

Tromley took it from him, scanned it and then turned to walk into the shop, beckoning for Bucky to follow him. Steve’s eyes followed his friend’s broad back as Bucky paused in the doorway and stopped, turning back to the woman. Steve groaned inwardly, he knew that face, Bucky was about to turn on the charm and she was no doubt going to fall in a pool at his feet, just like most of the other girls in the neighbourhood.

“You’re not from round here, right?” Bucky asked.

“What makes you say that?” she countered with a question of her own, looking Bucky up and down as she spoke.

“Never seen you before.”

“Know all the girls in Brooklyn, do you James Buchanan Barnes?” she asked, and Bucky gave a chuckle as she repeated his name to him and winked.

“Only the pretty ones.” “Well I suppose with most men joining the army the moment, even the pretty ones can’t be choosers.”

At that Steve let out a snort of laughter as Bucky blinked in surprise. “Ouch.” He gave a little scoff and shake of his head before he turned to walk into the shop.

“He always like that?” the lady looked at Steve who took a deep breath and smiled a little.

“Yes Ma’am. And to be honest it normally works.” Steve glanced at Bucky before he looked back at the woman who was looking at him, her eyes twinkling “Most girls just can’t say no!”

“Well, I’ll let you into a secret.” She grinned and leaned closer to Steve. “I’m not like most girls.”

Steve swallowed again, nervously brushing a hand through his hair as she straightened up and smiled at him. “I’m Katie by the way, seems only fair you know my name seeing as I know yours.”

“I err, that’s a pretty name.” Steve smiled and then inwardly cursed himself again. He really had no idea how to talk to dames.

“Thank you.” She giggled, and then she turned to the buckets “So errr, do you wanna make me a bouquet Steve? Something pretty for my room.”

Glad of the distraction, Steve nodded and turned to the various bunches of flowers. “I err, I noticed you were admiring the gardenias, so…” “You were watching me?” she spoke and Steve looked at her, ready to start protesting that wasn’t what he’d been doing when he spotted the glint in her eyes and he shook his head giving a sigh. She grinned “I love gardenias, lilies are my favourite but gardenias are pretty too.”

“Yeah we don’t have any lilies, unfortunately.” Steve shrugged “They were my Ma’s favourite too.”

If she noticed the use of the past tense verb when speaking about his mother she didn’t say anything, but really what would she say? They’d met literally about 5 minutes ago. Steve set about gathering a generous bunch of flowers as she instructed him to make it a large bouquet and then she followed him into the shop where he wrapped them in brown paper and string as Bucky was leaning against the counter, chatting to the Tromleys, Mrs Tromley laughing loudly at something he’d said.

“You are a cad Bucky Barnes!” she look at him, shaking her head “Isn’t it bad enough you joined the army? You’ll give your ma a heart attack one of these days.”

Bucky shrugged “It wasn’t so bad, he never caught me. Even on a bum ankle I was faster.”

“You been caught in places you shouldn’t be again Buck?” Steve looked at him and he shrugged, grinning.

“You know me Stevie…”

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Steve rolled his eyes before he tied off the bouquet with the string and then handed it to Katie. She smiled.

“You have talented hands.” She spoke gently and Steve flushed once more, rubbing the back of his hands.

“Yeah, he’s good with them.” Bucky spoke and Steve glared at him. Katie turned to look at Bucky again, a smirk playing on her lips.

“Makes a change, in my experience most men don’t know the first thing about how to use them.”

Mrs Tromley choked a little on her coffee as she looked at the younger woman, flashing her a wink. Katie bit her lip, her mouth curling up into a small smile as she rummaged in her purse, pulling out a small leather wallet.

“How much do I owe you?”

“No charge.” Mr Tromley spoke suddenly but Katie shook her head.

“I insist, I was responsible for your display getting trashed, least I can do is pay for these.”

“Oh trust me.” Mr Tromley smiled, “Seeing you put that toe-rag into them was worth it.”

“Yeah, you had some pretty vicious moves for a dame.” Bucky looked at her and she shrugged as Steve frowned.

“Wait, you…” “Don’t look so surprised.” Katie smiled “A girl should always know how to defend herself. But if I’m honest, it’s always nice to have a man do it for you.”

At that she smiled and slapped some money down on the counter, stepping back. “Keep the change in insist.”

Mr Tromley looked at her, then at the note, his mouth falling open a little.

“Thank you again Steve.” She picked up the bouquet. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“I hope so, I mean…yeah…come back soon.”

She smiled and with a final look in his direction she left, the bell ringing as the door opened and shut behind her. There was a pause until Bucky turned to Steve.

“Come back soon?” he looked at him “Really? That’s the best you could do?”

Steve groaned. “Piss off Bucky.” He shot, giving a yelp as Mrs T swatted at his head.

“Language Steven!” she scalded, as Mr T chuckled and slid the money she’d left to Steve across the counter. Steve blinked and looked at it, before he shook his head. Mr Tromley glared at him.

“You don’t take that you’re fired.”

With a groan Steve folded the $5 note up and slid it into the pocket of his slacks. Mrs Tromley muttered something about going to check on her scones which were in the oven upstairs and Mr Tromley headed into the back, leaving Steve and Bucky alone.

“You know, that dame was practically begging for you to ask her out on a date.” Bucky picked up the paper bag containing the groceries he had come for and Steve looked at him, snorting.

“You’re joking right?” the smaller man shook his head “Dame’s like that don’t want a guy like me.” “Clueless.” Bucky shook his head “Absolutely fucking clueless.” Steve watched him head to the door, before he stopped and turned back. “Oh that reminds me. Ma’s expecting you about 6 for dinner. She’s making meatloaf and told me that if you refuse she’s gonna, and I quote.” Bucky cleared his throat and spoke in a light, airey impression of his Ma “march round to his house and drag him outta that apartment by his ear.”

Steve rolled his eyes well naturedly. He hadn’t been to the Barnes’ for dinner for a week so he wasn’t surprised Winnie had sent Bucky with an invitation that was more of an instruction than anything. “Okay, thanks Buck.”

Bucky gave him a salute before he headed out of the store, whistling to himself. Steve took a deep breath, shook his head and turned back to his work, pushing all thoughts of the stunning young woman in the red dress out of his mind.

“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?” the taunting voice of his opponent rang in Steve’s ears as he staggered to his feet. This wasn’t how he’d planned his trip to the movie theatre going, not one iota. But when the loudmouthed asshole had done nothing but show total disrespect to those fighting overseas as the infomercial was showing, his temper had gotten the better of him and once more had led to him getting into a fight. As far as Monday’s went, this one was pretty crappy.

Which of course he could never walk away from.

“I can do this all day.” Steve huffed, swinging his fist at the guy again. The jerk easily blocked Steve’s feeble punch with his arm, delivering a huge jab with his left which sent Steve sprawling straight into the side of the trashcan from which he’d picked up the lid before. As Steve lay dazed, he heard a familiar voice breaking through the fog.

“Hey! Pick on someone your own size.” Bucky yanked the guy backwards by his jacket, shoving him a little down the alleyway. The guy swung at Bucky who dodged it almost lazily, before delivering a punch of his own, placing a firm boot up the guys ass as he retreated hurriedly. Watching as he scooted away, Bucky turned to Steve who was stood with his hands on his knees, steadying himself.

“Sometimes, I think you like getting punched.”

“I had him on the ropes.” Steve replied, pressing the heel of his palm to the cut above his eyebrow, wincing a little from the various blows he’d taken.

Bucky said nothing, instead he bent down to pick up the enlistment form that had fallen from Steve’s pocket and with a sigh he glanced at it.

“How many times is this?” his eyes scanned the information and he arched an eyebrow “Oh, you’re from Paramus now? You know it’s illegal to lie on the enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?”

Steve ignored him, and then for the first time looked up at his friend to see him stood tall in his full army uniform. Which could only mean one thing. “You get your orders?” he frowned a little.

“The one-o-seventh. Sergeant James Barnes. Shipping out for England first thing tomorrow.”

Steve sighed, great. Just what he needed to hear. “I should be going.” He shook his head dejectedly.

Bucky looked at him sympathetically before he smiled, and looked an arm round his shoulder, pulling him closer in a friendly gesture as they both began to head back down the alley towards the main road.

“Come on, man, it’s my last night! Gotta get you cleaned up.”

“Why? Where are we going?”

“The future.” Bucky handed Steve the newspaper he was holding. Steve opened it to see the ad for the World Exposition Of Tomorrow.

“Buck…” he began to protest but Bucky stopped him.

“Seriously? My last night before I ship off to bust Nazi’s and you’re already tryin’a bail?”

“No, I just…” “Stevie!” Bucky whined. “Since I got my draft last September, I’ve hardly seen you other than when I’ve been home…”

“I know, but…” “No buts, man! I mean who knows when I’m gonna see you again now I’m actually being sent into combat and not just back to Camp McCoy. You know, London is a little further afield than Wisconsin “

“I’m well aware of that.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“So come on! Let’s go, have some fun. Cut loose a little. It’ll do you good.”

Steve looked up to see Bucky’s eyes shining with mischief, his handsome face grinning at him and he rolled his eyes “Fine, but you’re buying the hotdogs.”

“What else is new?” Bucky grinned, grabbing Steve in a headlock and ruffling his hair a little.

“Jerk.” Steve said furiously, pushing him away.

A couple of hours later the 2 of them entered the Expo, Steve taking in the sights around him. It was crazy busy, a buzz of excitement around the air and it was hardly surprising. Howard Stark, the guy at the centre of it all was somewhat of a celebrity. He’d founded his company some 4 years ago at the age of 22 and it had grown from strength to strength, with numerous pioneering technological advances to his name. Steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little excited to see the latest and no doubt flamboyant invention the guy had come up with, but his mind was still on his failed Army application, the feeling of inadequacy exacerbated even more by the fact Bucky was going to be leaving him behind to serve his country, something that Steve felt he should be doing right along with his best pal.

Sensing his brooding nature, Bucky nudged him and opened his mouth no doubt to make some wise crack, but Steve shook his head.

“Buck, just don’t”

“I don’t see what the problem is.” Bucky shook his head as they wandered down the steps towards the main pavilion area “You’re about to be the last eligible man in New York.” Bucky grinned, and Steve sighed heavily. Yup, there it was. “You know, there’s three and a half million women here.”

“Well, I’d settle for just one.” Steve muttered and Bucky grinned, Steve allowing a little smile to spread across his face at his own joke.

“Good thing I took care of that.” Bucky grinned and waved to two girls, a blonde and a brunette, who stood a few feet away and Steve stopped dead as one of the girls waved back, calling out to Bucky.

Great, here we go again.

“What did you tell her about me?” Steve groaned. “Only the good stuff.” Bucky smirked as they walked towards the girls, Steve brushing his hand through his hair, making sure it was as tidy as he could.

Bucky introduced the girls as Connie and Bonnie. It was obvious from the start that Connie was the one Bucky was trying his luck with, although to be fair Bonnie might as well have been with Bucky too for all the attention she paid to Steve. As they wandered into the Pavilion, Steve stopped to purchase a bag of sweets before he followed on behind the other 3, glancing around at the various exhibits.

“Welcome to the Modern Marvels Pavilion and the World of Tomorrow.” The expo announcer spoke “A greater world. A better world.”

There was a little bit of murmuring from people in front of them as they stopped, glancing at the large stage in front of them which was currently dark, but then there was movement, music struck up and Connie grabbed Bucky’s arm in excitement.

“Oh, my God! It’s starting!” she squealed and yanked on Bucky’s hand, pulling him closer. As Steve stood behind them he saw the stage light up to reveal a row of women all dressed in black and white striped waistcoats, short jackets and top hats. One of them walked across the front of the stage, smiling as she spoke into a microphone

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Howard Stark!”

Smooth and cool as a cucumber, Howard Stark strode onto the stage, taking off his top hat, whilst he smiled, handing it to the announcer before kissing her as the crowd cheered. Howard smirked a little, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket which he used to dab at his mouth before he addressed his audience.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” at that point Steve held the small paper bag over towards Bonnie who looked at it, then him, almost scathingly as Howard continued his speech. “What if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won’t even have to touch the ground at all?”

“You know…” a vaguely familiar voice spoke and Steve looked up from where he had been examining his bag of bonbons, wondering what was wrong with them, to see the woman from the shop a few weeks ago, Katie stood to the side of Bonnie. She was dressed in a simple grey dress which sported a pencil style skirt, with a light blue cardigan covering her shoulders. “When a gentleman offers you a sweet and you don’t want one, there’s really no need to be such a rude bitch about it.”

Her eyes were narrowed as she gave Bonnie a scathing look. Bonnie floundered a little as Katie reached out, dipping her red nailed, manicured hand into the paper bag and taking a sweet. In doing so she jostled Bonnie forward a little with her elbow, and turned to the stage, popping the bonbon in her mouth, giving Steve a little wink. Steve felt his cheeks flush a little as Bucky turned a little, his attention drawn to the slight scuffle behind him. He saw Katie stood next to Steve and he grinned.

“Hey Dollface.” Katie turned her head and looked at Bucky as Steve rolled his eyes. However, just like at the shop, she payed Bucky no attention other than a flick of her eyebrow, before her eyes flicked back to the stage, Steve doing the same to see that Stark was now stood by some sort of podium.

“With Stark robotic reversion technology, you’ll be able to do just that.” Howard spoke, and with that he turned to fiddle with a few switches on the podium and the car started to hover ever so slightly off the ground. Steve felt his mouth drop open in awe as in front of him Bucky let out an astonished mumble.

“Holy cow.”

But he spoke too soon, as the robots making the car hover suddenly malfunctioned and the car fell back onto the stage with a loud crash, sparks flying out round it.

Bucky turned to look at Steve, smiling as Steve’s eyebrows raised, and besides him, Katie gave a snort.

“I did say a few years, didn’t I?” Howard laughed, leaning on the bonnet of the car.

“Few years my ass.” Katie mumbled and Steve looked at her.

“What?”

“Nothing, doesn’t matter.” she shook her head. “Listen, I gotta go-”

“Oh, ok.” Steve tried not to sound disappointed but Katie smiled at him softly, cutting him off.

“Meet me at the Cider cart in an hour.”

“I err…” Steve stuttered, before he frowned “You sure, you wanna meet me?”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t have said so.” Katie grinned,  “1 hour, don’t you dare be late.”

“Yeah, an hour, got it…”

Not quite able to believe his luck, Steve watched her go, smiling to himself before he glanced around and his eyes stopped on the familiar Uncle Sam poster pointing at him, with an arrow directing him to a recruitment centre. What the hell, he had nothing to lose…and an hour was plenty of time. Decision made, he followed the signs and jogged up the steps into the building, pausing to take a look around as people were milling in the carpeted hallway.

“Come on soldier!” a woman giggled at her male company, pulling him away from a mirror making him look like a soldier. Once he was gone Steve stepped in front of the mirror but he was too short to fill out the face. His shoulders slumped and then suddenly, a strong hand gripped his right and Bucky chuckled.

“You’re kind of missing the point of a double date.” He said, shaking his head as Steve stepped away, turning to face him “We’re taking the girls dancing.”

“You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you.” Steve replied, hands dropping into his pockets.

“What, you had a better offer? From Doll face?”

“Her name is Katie.”

“Oh my God I’m right!” Bucky laughed “Good for you, Punk!”

Steve rolled his eyes and then watched as a man strode past him in an Army Uniform and when Steve looked back at Bucky, his friend’s face now sported an exasperated expression as he’d clearly realised what Steve was planning. “You’re really gonna do this again?”

“Well, it’s a fair. I’m gonna try my luck.” Steve answered with a little shrug.

“As who? Steve from Ohio? They’ll catch you. Or worse, they’ll actually take you.” Bucky’s voice was frustrated and Steve gave a little smile.

“Look, I know you don’t think I can do this, but I’m more-“

“This isn’t a back alley, Steve. It’s war!” Bucky cut him off.

“I know it’s a war. You don’t have to tell me that-“ “Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs.” “What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal-“

“Yes!”

“-in my little red wagon?”

“Why not?”

“I’m not gonna sit in a factory, Bucky.” Steve argued, shaking his head.

“I don’t…” Bucky protested once more and Steve cut him off.

“Bucky, come on! There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That’s what you don’t understand. This isn’t about me.”

“Right. Cause you got nothing to prove.” Bucky said gently and Steve took a deep breath. But before Bucky could say anything else Connie called out to him.

“Hey, Sarge! Are we going dancing?”

Bucky turned back to the girls, his arms held out to the side. “Yes, we are.” With that he turned back to Steve, shaking his head a little, his shoulders slumped in resignation. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.” He instructed as he started to walk away.

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” Steve shot back and Bucky shook his head, giving a snort.

“You’re a punk.” He walked back towards Steve and hugged him goodbye.

“Jerk” Steve said gently slapping Bucky’s back. “Be careful.”

With a pang of sadness, Steve watched his best friend walking away, not quite sure when they’d see each other again, if indeed ever. He licked his lips and then called out to Bucky once more. “Don’t win the war till I get there!”

Bucky stopped and saluted him before he strode down the steps, “Come on girls. They’re playing our song.”

With a deep breath, Steve headed into the recruitment centre, past an older gentlemen in a brown suit. He was given the usual forms to fill out, this time going with Ohio as his place of birth-thanks for that one, Buck- and he was shown to the medical examination room. After the short physical was over, he was just fastening the sleeves of his long shirt up again when a nurse walked into the room and whispered something inaudible to the doctor.

“Wait here.” The Doctor turned to him, moving to the curtain.

“Is there a problem?” Steve asked, frowning a little.

“Just wait here.” The doctor repeated his instruction before he walked out.

Steve paused for a second, glancing over his right shoulder at a sign warning against lying on enlistment forms before he glanced at the curtain, cold dread filling him. Shit, Bucky was right, they’d caught up with him. Jumping down off the bed he sat heavily in a chair and began to pull on his shoes when someone entered the cubicle. He glanced up and saw a Military Police officer looking at him and he swallowed a little nervously. But before he could say anything another man entered, the man Steve had walked past about forty minutes or so previously in the foyer, and he was clutching a file in his hands.

“Thank you.” The man spoke to the Police Officer who left, pulling the curtains closed behind him. Steve watched as the man turned to face him, his hands behind his back. “So, you want to go overseas.” The man pulled the file from behind him, opening it “Kill some Nazis.”

“Excuse me?”

“Dr. Abraham Erskine.” The man closed the folder and walked over as Steve stood up, shaking his hand “I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”

“Steve Rogers” Steve nodded, noting the man’s accent as he placed the file on the medical bed and started to look through it. “Where are you from?”

“Queens. 73rd Street and Utopia Parkway. Before that, Germany.” He adjusted his glasses as he glanced at Steve “This troubles you?”

“No.” Steve replied honestly, shaking his head.

“Where are you from, Mr. Rogers?” Erskine asked, resting both his hands on the bench “Mmm? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different cities.”

“That might not be the right file.” Steve began to try and get out of whatever trouble he was in but Erskine was quick to cut him off.

“No, it’s not the exams I’m interested in. It’s the five tries.” Erskine closed the file, picking it up “But you didn’t answer my question.” He strode over and stopped in front of Steve “Do you want to kill Nazis?”

Steve glanced to the side before he looked at Erskine “Is this a test?”

“Yes.” The man replied bluntly and Steve took a deep breath, before he answered as honestly as he could.

“I don’t wanna kill anyone.” He shook his head, raising his eyes to meet Erskine’s “I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.”

“Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy, huh?” Erskine smiled before he turned to leave “I can offer you a chance” he said, whipping the curtains open “Only a chance.”

Steve couldn’t believe his ears. Was this Doctor guy actually telling him he’d done it, that he’d finally made it into the army? He had no idea what the Strategic Science Reserve was, or why Erskine had questioned him so, but right now he didn’t care.

“I’ll take it.” He said, hastily grabbing his belongings and following Erskine out.

“Good.” Erskine placed the file down on the desk and picked up a stamp, before replacing it and reaching for another “So where is the little guy from, actually?”

Steve smiled “Brooklyn.”

Erskine smiled back, stamped the form before closing the file and handing it to Steve. “Congratulations, soldier.”

Steve hastily opened it up and did a double take as he saw the stamp was a 1A this time, not 4f. He let out a deep breath and glanced up to thank the man, but he’d already left.

“You’ll be sent your papers and instructions shortly” Another man spoke to him, taking the file off him and handing him back the recruitment slip. Steve nodded. “Be ready, the SSR are on a schedule.”

Steve nodded, before he was shown out of the room. Still in a daze he clutched the piece of paper in his hand and wandered back to the area where he’d left Bucky before. And then he remembered Katie.

Shit.

He hastily made his way outside the building and headed back to the pavilion, weaving his way through the crowds. One bonus to being small was that it made it easy to do so. He found the cider cart and saw her waiting, chatting to the man behind the counter, her brown hair hanging round her shoulders, rouged lips which curled up into a smile as she spotted him approaching.

“You’re late.” Katie looked at him and Steve flushed. “I was beginning to think you’d stood me up.”

“I wouldn’t do that, my ma taught me better.” He gave her a small smile “I was just...” he waved his enlistment paper at her and she frowned a little

“You enlisted?”

He nodded “Yup.” “Wow.” Katie blinked, “Erm, congratulations, I guess. Is that the right word?”

“It is when you’ve tried and been rejected several times already.” Steve shrugged before he snorted “Story of my life.”

“That girl before was fuckin’ rude.” Katie’s eyes narrowed and Steve blinked at the profanity coming from her mouth before she rolled her eyes “Don’t look at me like that!”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact I swore means I’m gonna go to hell.” She snorted “If it does, then I got that particular ticket a long time ago.”

“Sorry, I was…” he took a deep breath “For such a pretty woman you certainly…er…”

“Have a filthy mouth?” she asked and Steve snorted, shrugging as he looked away, his lips curling up into a crooked smile as he raised his eyebrows. She leaned closer to him, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered “You have no idea.”

Steve swallowed at the blatant innuendo causing her to laugh at him even more before she nudged him with her elbow “Come on soldier, what do you want to drink?”

Soldier…that was the second time in 10 minutes he’d been called that, and Steve liked it much more coming from her. He watched her for a second before he realised he was staring and she jerked her head towards the stall.

“Cat got your tongue Stevie?” she grinned and he took a deep breath “What do you want?”

“Erm, an ale…please…hang on.” he began fishing in his pocket but Katie gently wrapped a hand around his wrist.

“No need.” she smiled, as the man behind the counter held out the ale for Steve along with a cup of cider for her. She took it with a thanks and smiled, taking a sip. “Put it on the tab, will you?”

The stall attendant snorted and nodded “Whatever you say, Katie.”

She turned away and started walking slowly over to an exhibit, Steve falling into step besides her.

“How does he know ya?” Steve asked. Katie looked at him as she swallowed a sip of her cider

“Because I work here…well, I do at the moment.” She smiled as Steve looked at her blankly “I helped organise this.” She waved her hand around.

“You work for Howard Stark?”

“Kinda.” Katie shrugged “Now come on, I’m not working now and I wanna see how everything looks.”

They walked around the expo grounds, taking in the sights and various attractions. Steve was surprised to find his awkwardness ebbing away with each minute he spent in Katie’s company. She was down to Earth, easy to talk to and made him feel comfortable about himself…although his good spirits might have also been due to the fact he’d finally made it into the army. His meeting with Dr Erskine had baffled him a little, all truth be told, but he’d liked the man. There was something about him that told Steve he could trust him, and Steve was normally a pretty good judge of character.

By the time they’d done pretty much a lap of the main area of the Pavillion, stopping to examine The Synthetic Man in great detail, Steve was surprised to find that he’d spent over an hour with a woman who hadn’t been seeking to lose him at the first opportunity, quite the opposite in fact. On more than one occasion he noticed men looking in her direction, then to his with puzzled expressions on their face, and he had to admit was it the other way round he’d also probably be slightly surprised to see them together. She was a good 2 inches taller than him, but he was used to that, she was pretty, vivacious…well out of his league all things considered. But she was good company, and he was thoroughly disappointed when they seemed to be heading back towards the place they’d started, signalling their time together was likely coming to an end.

“So, do you need to find Barnes or…” she looked at him and Steve chuckled.

“Er no, no. He’ll be…busy.” Steve shrugged

“What he just ditched you for those girls?” Katie frowned.

“No, not entirely. I ditched him, well, I went to join the army. He doesn’t approve.” Steve finished, explaining slightly.

“Approve of what?”

“Me signin’ up.

“Why not?”

“Doesn’t think I can cope.” Steve shrugged “I wasn’t exactly a healthy kid so…”

“Well they let you in so you can’t be that bad.”

Steve wrinkled his nose and shook his head slightly “Some doctor in there offered me a chance, what can I say? Said that there were so many big guys fighting, maybe they needed a little one.”

At that Katie stopped walking and looked at him. “Wait, it was a doctor that accepted you?”

“Yeah,” Steve frowned

“You mean one of the Medical Recruitment Officers?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Steve’s frown deepened “He was with some Scientific Division” he looked at Katie, who was looking right back at him, her eyes wide “Wait, is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing…just surprised me a little, that’s all.” She looked around, as if she was searching for someone and Steve watched her, a little confused as she chewed her lip with an air of contemplation before she looked back at him, her green eyes locking onto his with a softness in them that made him go weak at the knees, well, weaker than normal “Thank you for keeping me company tonight Steve, I had fun.”

“Me too.” He said earnestly “Hey, if you want, I mean only if you want, we could maybe meet up again, you know, before I get my posting?” At that Katie’s face fell and Steve sighed, he’d blown it. She’d only asked him to accompany her round he expo out of politeness, duty even as a thank you for his intervention on the street a few weeks back, and now he’d put her on the spot. “It’s ok.” He started to back track “I get that you’re probably busy and get asked that all the time…”

“No, it’s not that.” She shook her head “I’d love to go out with you Steve, but I leave town tomorrow. I’m needed back at…well, my other job.”

“Oh, ok.” Steve popped a shoulder up, trying to hide his disappointment. “Well, I err…good luck. With whatever that job is.”

Katie laughed “It’s me who should be wishing you good luck, trust me.” She cocked her head before she took a deep breath “Just remember Steve, the world needs men like you, be a shame if we lost you all in the war.”

At her compliment he felt himself once more flush, and the heat in his neck rose even more as she leaned down and pressed her lips softly to his cheek. She pulled back a little, locking her eyes onto his and he swallowed, the lump in his throat now only rivalled by the one he was starting to feel in his slacks. And then, he had no idea how it happened but her lips were suddenly pressed to his. He froze momentarily, but then he went with his instinct and mirrored her movements, his eyes fluttering closed. Her hands gently curled over his shoulder, his automatically falling to her hips, shaking a little against the fabric of her dress as the kiss deepened slightly, the warm edge of her tongue flicking at his lips. He parted his mouth a little, allowing her to curl her tongue against his, a movement that made him shudder and he was beyond disappointed when she pulled away. She smiled against his mouth, her nose bumping his slightly as his cheeks felt hotter than the sun. He knew he was blushing, furiously, having just had his first proper kiss in the middle of a huge exhibition, but Katie seemed completely nonplussed as she smiled at him.

“For luck.” She whispered, stepping back slightly, before she turned and headed away, casting a glance back over her shoulder at him, flashing him another cheeky little wink. “See you around.”

Steve floundered a little, mouth gaping as he watched her disappear into the crowd, and with a final shake of his head and a deep, steadying breath he headed for the exit.

 As it turned out Steve didn’t have long to wait for his posting at all. The following day he received his papers assigning him to Camp Lehigh in New Jersey as part of his recruitment to the SSR’s “Operation Rebirth” programme, whatever that was. He assumed he’d receive more details upon arrival. It wasn’t that which surprised him the most however, it was the date upon which he was ordered to report. Wednesday. As in, tomorrow. Whilst it didn’t give him much time to prepare, it didn’t bother him too much. He had meagre belongings anyways and anything he didn’t want to take with him he packed up into smaller boxes with the help of Bucky’s teenage sister Rebecca, Buck’s dad promising to keep it safe for him until he got back.

Winnie was beside herself when Steve broke the news that he too was enlisting, but she wished him well and made him promise to write. As did the Tromleys, who both took the news even worse than Bucky’s family had. Ada having first burst into tears then hugged him so hard he thought she was going to crush him half to death, whilst Mr Tromley had shook his hand and warned him that if he didn’t come back alive, with all 4 limbs, he’d kill Steve himself.

The morning rolled round ridiculously fast and both the Tromleys and Mr and Mrs Barnes insisted on seeing him off.  Once more Ada and Winnie hugged him tightly before Mr Tromley and Mr Barnes shook his hand, the latter promising Steve he would sort out everything with his landlord, taking the key to his small apartment in the tenement building where Steve had lived in all his life. Steve felt a little pang of emotion at that point, this was the last physical tie he really had to his mother but he took a deep breath letting it go slowly. She’d been dead now for 7 years and anything that remained of hers in the building was all safely stored.

No, Steve had absolutely no doubts about what he was doing. This was all he had ever wanted, to follow in his father’s footsteps and so, at 6am on the 16th June 1943 Steve Rogers boarded the Army bus that arrived at the bus station to take him and a number of other recruits to New Jersey, leaving the place he’d called home for his entire life behind.

#stark spangled rebirth #pre-serum steve #steve rogers #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x oc #steve rogers smut #katie stark #captain america #the first avenger #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction

[meetmeatthecoda]

I absolutely ♥️ADORE♥️ Scripted and would love to read your director’s commentary for it!

Oh, anon!! 😍 I'm SO THRILLED that you loved Scripted so much, that makes me so happy!! 🥰 Especially that you loved it enough to want to read my "director's commentary" (that phrase makes me laugh, you'd think I created a feature length film all by myself 🤣), so I think I'll skim through the fic - it's been a while since I re-read it - & make a bullet-point list of any special BTS info I can think of 😊 Anddd I'll also put it under a read more cause you know me, I never use one word when one hundred will do 😂

So, the fic itself was inspired by the ending of 5.08 where Liz wakes from her coma to Red reading to her in an armchair as he had been for the past 10 months, it's fine, I'm fine but she still has a ventilator in so she can't talk & instead has to write "how long?" on a piece of paper & her handwriting is super shake-y bc her muscles are so weak (I think Red even helps her hold the pen? It's clearly been a while since I re-watched the ep whoops but ugh, be still my heart.) For some reason, I just latched onto the idea of a mute Liz, really suffering with the implications of everything she went through (since her recovery was so glossed over in the show boo) & Red 1000% being there for her. Mostly, I just wanted to dive into the dynamic of Liz letting Red care for her the way he's always wanted to (without Tom & Agnes btw) to the point where their relationship is unhealthy in its reliance, but neither can see it bc Liz is blocking things out (& unknowingly falling in love with him) & Red is just so thrilled to be able to love & care for her (while already deeply in love with her obvi). So yeah, that was the kind of dynamic & closeness I wanted to explore between them & it was... really fun 😊

The idea of the coma providing the perspective Liz needed to see that Red has always had her best interests at heart & clearly loves her (in addition to the fact that he never left her side or gave up during those 10 months lol peak romance tbh) seemed very organic & logical to me.

I liked the idea of Red & Liz playing board games as a way to pass the time & get to know each other better. It's the kind of casual interaction we were never gifted with in the show & I think they're both competitive in the right circumstances, even if its playfully so.

I liked the idea of Liz being urged to learn ASL, as I'm deaf in one ear & would dearly love to learn it at some point.

The detail of Red sleeping on a cot close enough to Liz's hospital bed that they can hold hands in their sleep was a total guilty pleasure addition & I'm not sorry.

I loved the scene in the beginning where Red is talking to Dembe on the phone in the hallway & Liz is practicing her letters. She's purely doing it so Red doesn't worry & I loved the idea of her being apathetic to everything except Red's concerns, plus I added in the parenthetical of (Red sometimes squints at her k's.) bc I thought it represented that well, but also bc it was just cute af. I also added the little detail of him waving at her through the window at the last minute bc I thought the scene needed something else & once I pictured that, it was too adorable to leave out.

Red handling all the details of Liz's care & transportation without asking (bc he instinctively knew that's what Liz wanted) only to turn around & panic about excluding her seemed like a very RED thing to do & I like how it emphasizes his well-meaning intentions, respect for her preferences, & desire to see her happy, even if she did actually want to leave him lol as if.

I liked the visual of Liz stumbling into Red's arms as she stands from her hospital bed to leave with him (sets a precedent for later) & I also loved the visual of a pen in her ponytail & of course Red using it to flirt a little bc come on.

I remember struggling to write the car ride transition to the lake house. I usually get ideas & visions for specific scenes, moments, or bits of dialogue, so those kind of transition moments are hard for me sometimes. But I liked that I settled on Red helping to ground Liz through touch (again, sets a precedent for later).

Red & Liz playing hangman in the car with Red using the word "fedora" & drawing a suited hangman made me giggle.

I can see the lake house very clearly in my mind, complete with the willow tree, bench, & tiny house (included bc I desperately want a tiny house in real life) & I really enjoyed describing the interior & imagining the joy Red would get out of decorating it with Liz in mind.

Their first night in the house where Liz has her nightmare & Red comforts her - that was a scene I had in mind very early on & I love how it turned out, especially with Liz mouthing "stay with me" into Red's neck, that part gave me All The Feels™.

The "morning after" scene where Liz realizes on some level that she's too dependent on Red is an important moment in the fic & the off-hand detail that at least "she's not going around murdering people & calling it therapy" was a bit of shade to Ruin (which I don't think I ever saw bc I was kind of appalled with the idea lol) I think I posted Scripted after Ruin aired... if not, I guess I'm psychic?? LOL

The breakfast scene - & the fact that Red is preparing every breakfast food known to man bc he's nervous too - is near & dear to my heart. I think that's a pretty pivotal scene since they kind of reach an unspoken agreement & peace &... "things settle after that first breakfast."

I liked the teeny little parenthetical section that comes next as well, which acts as a sort of middle point for the fic.

The next large chunk of the fic was pure indulgence for me. I LOVED writing about all the different things they would do together when it was just the two of them, it was basically a collection of Lizzington headcanons & that's how I sketched them out LOL Here's some notes on them:

I came up with the jigsaw puzzle headcanon (that Liz is bored by them bc they're easy for her bc she's a trained psychologist & easily sees patterns in things) late in the editing process but loved it so much that I included it.

Liz's sandwich preference is actually mine LOL

The Monopoly banter was fun af to write bc I love that game.

The love notes Liz leaves around the house for Red is still an all-time favorite headcanon of mine.

I loved the idea of Red reading to Liz in a foreign language, holding the book only for looks, but not actually reading from it at all & instead professing his love for her. I think I've even used that headcanon in another fic LOL

Their movie nights were also something I was dying to include, especially since they include snacks & cuddles.

Their co-sleeping habits were also something I wanted to include & Liz's newly tactile nature is both a symptom of her dependence on Red & also a guilty pleasure thing for me bc we all wanted more of Red & Liz touching on screen, plus I felt obligated to explain through Red that it wasn't sexual in nature (though if I ever get around to writing part 2, that will change 😉)

Dembe being the one to observe & interfere in their situation was an early scene I imagined as well, that was always going to be the climax of the fic (or at least part 1). I so enjoyed writing about Red & Liz's relationship through his eyes bc he just loves them both & only wants to help them.

Another pivotal scene I imagined early on was Liz having a panic attack with Dembe when she discovers Red has left & that was super engaging to write, as well as the reunion between them which... I pretty much wrote the whole fic with the goal of getting to that lovely angst LOL

Red's resolve to finally urge Liz to speak was heart-breaking to write (so naturally I loved it lol what's wrong with me) & in particular the detail of them eating fruit for lunch before he broaches the topic with her & the parenthetical about it being "a sign from the cosmos that they are meant to be together just because they don't eat each other's favorite fruit" made my heart happy even tho it's stupid LOL & when Red asks her if she would ever try to speak again & she responds with a simple written "Why?" that was a huge moment that I loved the angst of, of course. As well as the absolutely gutting: "Lizzie, I miss your voice."

I liked that Liz needs some time to think & accept everything Red forces her to realize at the end, that was super important to me in the resolution of the fic/part 1 & I tried really hard to include both their mentalities there at the end.

The fact that Red hasn't had a drink since he started caring for Liz also made my shipping heart happy.

And - lastly - the fact that the only thing Liz actually says in the whole fic is Red's name? Yeah 🥲🥲🥲

Welp, there you go, anon, I'm not sure if that was interesting to you at all, but I certainly hope so!! I know that was a lot but... it's a long fic, my longest ever, so I figure it's warranted, right?? 😂 Anyway, thank you so much, both for the compliment of loving Scripted AND for wanting to read more about it, anon, you are so sweet!! 🥰 I hope you enjoyed this & much, much love to you, my friend!! ❤️

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut

#The Blacklist #Lizzington #fanfic #Scripted #ask game #fanfic writers: director's cut #mine #ask #anon #thank you so much for this my friend!! #:D #i hope you enjoyed this #:) #much much love to you!! #<3

[valhikes]

There's been some interest in this 5 day backpacking trip, so I thought I'd post it up since I missed posting it at the time.

Day 1 was heading up Vallecito Canyon along a creek that looks like a river where I'm from. A pretty easy hike right up until the bridge is out. A soggy hike after that. The water was plenty low enough to cross it.

Day 2 was more gentle up along Johnson Creek, then up and over a high pass to the one crowded area along the hike. Lots of waterfalls along the way on both sides of the pass. Ruins from mining history, including a cabin. Lovely lakes. Lots of wildflowers. At least the wildflowers made it into one of these featured photos.

Day 3 was getting up the hill before the mountain goats, and just keep on going. First on the to do list was the 14k foot Windom Peak. Next on the list was getting down before the storm. Last on the list, getting a few miles of trail hiked, didn't happen because the storm didn't involve much rain, but did have some rumbles of thunder. Getting down the trail involved over the pass and across some barren, wide and high lands all perfect for lightning.

Day 4 had to take in some of the missing miles from the day before as I hiked back over the pass and then down Silver Mesa. It was quite endless and just as high and barren as expected. No thunder storms on that day, not even as I dropped past the reservoir and then back up Endlich Mesa. I hiked nearly to sunset before tucking in for the night.

The last day started off easy enough. I popped up to some easy mountains before starting the main down back to Vallecito Reservoir. The day got tough from there as I battled an old fire and not much trail maintenance. I couldn't understand how the trail could be going so bad when approaching easy access. I walked more logs than is believable and was really glad when I pushed through some brush and found actual trail. Then I had a road walk of a few miles to finish it all off.

San Juan National Forest, Colorado. From August 2019.

#Colorado #backpacking #hiking #14ers #Windom Peak #Vallecito Reservoir #San Juan National Forest #nature #landscape #mountains #mesa #Endlich Mesa #Vallecito Creek #travel

[aloesarchives]

im sorry to hear abt ur situation! take it easy and don’t feel bad for not being able to write or post as much. that being said, do u think u could squeeze in a fluffy gaolang x fem!reader scenario where the reader is an artist and likes to use him as reference for practice? tysm!

Sure thing, Anon! Sorry if it's not as much as I usually write but I hope you enjoy.

Warning: Narrator(aka me) swearing

Having artists block is goddamn terrible. It's been like this for a month and you couldn't take it anymore. No matter how hard you tried to get inspiration, it either was an unfinished project or it wasn't enough to satisfy your artistic nature. The thing about you is you're a well-known artist that does digital but mostly traditional art. You always carry around a sketchbook where ever you go when the thought of drawing comes to mind. Besides doing commissions, you could draw something of your own free will without it looking like a bad art restoration project.

 But once you’re you know once you start drawing, you'll finish at least 3 art projects in a span of 3-4days. Now you just need something to get you going, but what should it be?

While you're sitting on the couch with your sketchbook in hand and chewing your pencil/pen, the clicking of the door snapped you out of the whirlpool of thoughts.

Gaolang's home from work

Upon announcing his return, Gaolang makes his way to the living room. Placing down your stuff on the table, you greeted your beloved with a kiss while taking his blazer to be stem later.

“How's work, Gao?”

“The same as usually, nothing too eventful.”

You nod your head and went to grab your stuff from the table. While walking back, the most random but inspirational epiphany came to your mind. Why not use Gaolang as one of your projects? You always used him as a reference and he doesn't mind it as long it wasn't time consuming. You used old videos of Gaolang’s fights for reference for most of your art work and one note you can make out was that he was beautiful in them. Then again, why wouldn’t he be beautiful? Anyway, your brain went into ultra instinct mode and straight started planning out the art piece. You practically spaced out so hard that Gaolang has been calling out your name for the past minute or so. Once your brain calmed down, you were faced directly with the Thai God of War and his chest.

“(Y/N), is everything okay?”

You looked up to make eye contact towards him with soft eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine Gao...”

He raised an eyebrow at your answer indicating that he know there’s more behind your behavior. You sigh as you were there was no point in getting pass him.

“Umm, Gaolang, if it possible if I come watch you train tomorrow? I promise I won’t get in the way of your training since one of your boxing matches is coming up soon.”

Gaolang was going to ask why but after seeing the way your hand grasp your sketchbook, he put two and two together and understood what you were going to say to him. He nods his head before going into your shared bedroom to shower and change into more comfortable clothes.

As the next day rolls in, you’re sitting on a wall bench while watching Gaolang practice and train. Although his primary martial art is boxing, he still does Muay Thai training as it would be foolish to forget it. While sketching, you would occasionally stop yourself and watch his movements and strikes. It was almost mesmerizing to see, from fluid clean kicks to the firm precise strikes. It was beautiful. It was also the way Gaolang’s sweat marbled his muscles and the clear focus in his eyes was something for sore eyes. Besides getting sidetrack, you admitted from time and time again that Muay Thai is a gorgeous Martial Art and sport. After all, being the Thai God of War’s girlfriend made you appreciate the art even more. 

By the time he was finished, you already had the sketch completed. Now, it just needs color and the outlining. It took some time but it was worth it, it was finally down. It wasn’t bad either too. You drew Gaolang in one of Muay Thai’s traditional poses and in the background was a roaring tiger that was surrounded by wisps of fire. It was a pretty awesome the more you looked at it. Not a lot of bright colors but the wisps of the flames are an eye catcher. You’ll probably hang it somewhere around the apartment since it looked nice. You asked Gaolang for his opinion, and he said it looks good while kissing your forehead to look at the painting. In return, you hugged his side, slightly snuggling him. 

As you stayed like that with Gaolang, you can for sure know your artist block was gone(for now) as other ideas start to spur up in your creative brain. Most of them involved you and Gaolang together. Those heavenly depictions/mythical peaked your interest, along with the domestic ones as well.

Maybe one about your wedding in the near future but that’s on you to decide

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #gaolang wongsawat #kengan ashura × reader

[elatedmarvel]

Fallingwater

Steve Rogers x reader

Summary: A whirlwind romance takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. 

Word Count: 2,555

AN: I know it’s NYE and I should post a story about NYE but this was due and I’m so proud of it. This is for @nacho-bucky​‘s writing challenge! Thank you so much for hosting Cait, I had so much fun writing this. My prompt was the song Fallingwater by Maggie Rogers (one of my favs songs ever, it was number 2 on my 2019 most listened). I legit did about 5 outlines before i realized I hated them all, and then listened to the song on repeat for a day before coming up with this. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Slightly angsty and mention of sexy times. 

“The moment I set eyes on her, I knew she was the one. I thought I was doing so well, but then I met her and it was like everything was under a spell.”

It was probably too early to be doing shots, but you couldn’t care. You slurred your way through a speech, how hard you worked, how much you sacrificed to become the Director of R and D at Stark Inc. Your friends cheered loudly, some whooping, before you tilted your head back and let the alcohol burn its way down your throat. 

Your face hurt, but you couldn’t stop smiling. Everything you had worked for just came true, and now you were the youngest co-Director of R and D in the company’s history. Drinks with the girls seemed like the only fitting way to celebrate. 

Your friend, Natasha, was letting everyone know how much you deserved this promotion when your eyes caught his. Suddenly, every word Natasha said was drowned out, and the whole bar became fuzzy expect for him. 

His full lips formed into a smile, and he tilted his beer your way. Quickly he turned to his friend before sliding off his chair and walking towards you. Somehow you managed to meet him in the middle, not even sure when your legs had moved.

“Hi” you breathed. 

“Hey, you’re the new co-director or R and D at Stark’s right?” and his charming smiled almost laid you flat on the floor.

“Yeah... that’s me” surprised he recognized you.

“Sorry, I just realized how creepy that must have sounded, I just work there too. Name’s Steve, I’m the director of graphic design. Tony and Bruce were gushing about you at our meeting today.” he chuckled to himself. “I have to say, you’re a very impressive person.” 

“Thank you! It’s been amazing to work at Stark Inc and I still can’t believe I got promoted. It feels like a dream, to be honest.” 

“Trust me, from what they told me, they would be crazy not to promote you.” 

The moment of silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. You took the time to really get a good look at him. Dimples, blond fluffy hair, and a jawline that could cut through pizza. Meeting his eyes again, you blushed at being caught. 

“Do you wanna dance?” he asks, hopeful. All you can do is nod. 

The night passes by fast. One moment your dancing and laughing at the bar, and the next, your kissing his luscious lips and pulling off your own shirt. 

Rolling over the next morning, you were met with the glorious sight of a naked and sleeping Steve Rogers. His hair was fanned out, and the sunlight peaking in hit him in all the right spots. It was torture getting out of bed and putting on your clothes, you wanted to stay and trace his freckles all day. 

The sound of the front door clicking shut woke him up. Squinting from the intrusive light, he blindly felt the bed for your soft figure, wanting to curl up with you and fall back asleep. The paper on the pillow pulled his attention and he opened the note enough to read. 

Thanks for the magical night! Call me sometime XXX-XXX-XXXX.

“She’s the light in the dark places in my life. No one could compare to her.”

Just like that, you’re hooked. 

The next time you meet is at your first meeting with the rest of the Directors at Stark Inc. Excited to be formally introduced, and wanting to make a good impression, you had arrived early with bagels and coffee for the meeting. 

You’re busy thanking Peter, the intern, for helping you, when he waltzes in. The navy suit he’s wearing does nothing for what you know is underneath. Most things don’t do him justice, it’s like he was carved by Michelangelo himself. And just like that, you’re brought back to Friday night, sweaty bodies and sultry kisses played in your mind. 

You jump slightly as Bruce comes in and begins to chat with you. He’s already talking about making improvements to the new AI you’re building, but you’ve zoned out too long to really catch what he’s saying, so you simply nod along

Steve’s eyes flicker to yours, and you can see the mirth behind his smile. Busted. You hope the office lighting washes out your blush. And just as Bruce segways into another project, Tony Stark himself waltzes into the room, officially saving your ass. 

Everyone takes a seat, and the meeting commences, but you’re far less energetic about it now. You try to focus on what Tony is saying, you really do, but you can’t stop thinking about the blue eyed man sitting on the opposite side of the table. It’s hard not to look at him, even his profile is drool worthy. 

Hoping to god your bsing skills are up to par, you ohh, ahh and nod at the right times. Chancing another glance Steve, you find he’s already looking at you. The smile comes easy to your face before you hear Tony clear his throat. 

Looking around, you realize that everyone was looking at you, and you’re racking your brain to see if you remembered to put on deodorant this morning. 

“Y/N, do you want to introduce yourself, or do you want to keep ogling Steve there?” Tony asks, and you’ve never wanted the ground to swallow you more than you have in this moment. 

Clearing your throat and sneaking a sip of water, you gather your wits quickly and introduce yourself, and also give a brief overview of the projects you have and are working on. 15 minutes later, you’re pretty sure everyone had forgotten about Tony’s snide remark as you give the floor back to your boss to wrap up the meeting. 

Everyone takes turns coming up to you and congratulating you, shaking your hands and other pleasantries that you really don’t care for. Of course, Steve is the last person to approach and your heart skips a beat as he pulls you in for a hug. God he smells amazing. 

“You were great! I really can’t wait to work with you.” he states earnestly. You give a weak smile, and chastise yourself for being so smitten with someone you just met.  

“Thank you, I had a lot of great mentors.” you say, cursing your voice for breaking at the end. 

Steve’s hand falls to the small of your back, and guides you out of the conference room. 

“I’m really impressed with the latest model vibranium shield, looks like it could really be useful to someone in combat.” the mention of one of your projects has you lighting up, and chatting up a storm as you enter the elevator

“Yes! Bruce told me you were the one to sketch the design first, and I have to say that it inspired us to go sleek and lightweight. We really wanted--” but you don’t get to finish because his lips are on yours. It takes you a moment to process, but then you kiss back with as much fervor as you can manage. 

His hands find your waist, and work their way up, while yours find his hair and neck. Anything you both could do to get closer, full on making out like high schoolers in the elevator. 

The ding alerts you that the door is about to open, and you break apart. Your struggling for breath, and your lips feel swollen. The women that entered the elevator takes a moment to take in your ragged breathing and Steve’s messy hair before smirking. “I’ll take the next one.”

The moment the doors close, you both burst into laughter. 

“Well, she sure won’t be forgetting us” you giggle. Steve hums in agreement before taking a step towards you and kissing your forehead.  

“10 bucks says that Tony’ll know before lunch” he chuckles. 

“Oh, I’m sure he already knows.” you states, pointing up to the security camera in the corner. 

Steve groans before burying his head in your neck. “Worth it” you hear him murmur. 

The following weeks follow much the same.

Stolen kisses and little notes are passed between the two of you in the halls. Flowers show up more in your office, and Steve has never had as many baked goods in his life as he does now. 

You make a point to keep it casual, not referring as dates, no staying over at each other’s places. It’s supposed to be light and breezy.

Take out when one person is working late, breaks in each other’s office to rant or feel each other up, bubbles baths after a stressful day. It all falls into place and becomes domestic, and you never even realized the moment it had stopped being casual. 

It’s a whirlwind that becomes too much when you hear three words from Steve. 

“I love you” 

“It feels like I’m stuck upstream without her.”

You’re still panting, and you can feel it in your bones. His skin is glistening with sweat, and you both revel in the afterglow. You know the moment can’t last forever, but you hope to stretch it as long as possible. 

You sigh before pressing one last kiss to his lips and throwing the covers off your legs. You can feel his eyes staring at your back as you gather your clothes from the floor, cursing yourself for so carelessly throwing your bra somewhere you can’t find. 

“Stay” he states, and you’ve never wanted anything more. 

“You know I can’t” you say as you pull up your pants and button them, ignoring the way your hands shake.

“It’s getting late, just stay the night.” he begs, sliding from the bed to pull you into an embrace. He knows how to play dirty.

“I need to go Steve.” you state more firmly, his arms dropping from around you as he takes a step back to study you. After his gaze feels too strong, you start to throw on the rest of your clothes, hoping to leave before doing something you’ll regret. 

“Is this because I told you I love you?” he asks, and your heart leaps into your throat. The feeling of panic begins to ebb into your bones, the same feeling you had when the words left his mouth the first time. 

You had gotten ice cream stuck in your hair. He was helping you get the liquid out of your hair while you lamented about good ice cream going to waste. It was so quiet and inconspicuous that if it weren’t for the panic forming, you would have missed them. 

Laughing nervously, you thanked him for his help and made some dumb excuse to go home as fast as possible. The week that followed was so normal that you were sure he forgot the incident. 

Apparently not.

“No, I just need to go home” voice shaking. “Why are you ignoring this?” he asks. 

“I’m not.”

“Stop denying it! I’m sorry that this freaks you out, but I’m not sorry for you knowing how I feel about you!”

“You can’t actually feel that way! We’ve known each other for 2 months!” you yell back.

“It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known each other because I know how I feel. I love you!” he shouts back, arms gesticulating wildly, it would be funny if you weren’t drowning in the moment.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Say how you feel, say you love me or that you don’t. But say something!” and now he’s pacing back and forth, hands running through his hair. You can tell he’s frustrated, but you can’t seem to feel anything but cold. It’s moving too fast and starting to spiral, and you just want it to stop for a moment. 

“You always tell me just what I’m supposed to say, as if it could be any other way.” you say quietly. It’s not true, you know it’s not, but in the heat of the moment, it’s all you could do to defend yourself.

It’s silent for a moment, he’s stopped pacing and you just stare at each other.  

The stand still is getting to you, and you can’t bare it another second. Grabbing your bag from the chair, you practically run to his door and throw it open. 

The sound of the door shutting feels more like a knife severing your relationship. 

“So, to most amazing woman in the world, I love you Pepper, and I will never stop.”

The applause brings you back to the moment, Tony and Pepper’s wedding reception. Tears you didn’t notice slide down your face, and you dab them away quickly, hoping no one noticed.

Since that fateful night one month ago, you’ve replayed your relationship multiple times. Every time you see him in the halls, you recall a night of passion. Meetings were spent thinking about jokes that you and Steve would have passed back and forth. Laying in bed, you thought of all the things you wish you had said on that final night. 

You excuse yourself from the table, feeling claustrophobic, and make your way towards the bar. You had already seen Steve at the wedding, and if he was going to look so gorgeous, you were going to get drunk enough to forget. 

An arm catches you on the way, and the way goosebumps rise on your skin, you know it’s him. Turning to face him, you could cry at how much better he looks up close. He had grown a slight beard, and the black suit fit him like a glove. You were sure everyone would be staring at him. 

“Hi, dance with me?” he asks, so simple, so loaded. 

You think for a moment before nodding. He gently sweeps you into his embrace, and you melt into him. It feels right, like everything before was unknowingly wrong. 

“I miss you” you breathe, not wanting to disturb the moment. 

“Me too” He hums, the vibrations tickling where your forehead meets his cheek. “I think about you all the time. Life is much more boring without you by my side.”

You both continue to sway, to content to do much else. There hasn’t been a moment that felt as warm and safe as this, this was home. It’s where you wanted to be for the rest of your life, and you’re not scared anymore. 

“I never meant anything I said that night, I was terrified Steve. It was all happening so fast and it was overwhelming. I never loved you fully in the way I could.” tears welling up in your eyes. 

He pulls his head back far enough to look at you before bringing his thumb to wipe the tears that escaped down your cheek. 

“I pushed too hard. I didn’t think about how you felt. I was scared of losing you, and I thought that fighting for you was the way to go instead of catching you.” 

You shake your head and let out a laugh, “we were both idiots.” His arms wrap around you tighter, pressing a kiss to your forehead, he laughs along with you. 

“I’m not scared anymore.” you state. Before you know it, his soft lips are back on his. 

Breaking apart, you know you have the biggest grin on your face.

“I’m like fallingwater.”

~~~

Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always welcome!

#nachobuckychallenge #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #steve x reader #steve rogers fan fic #steve rogers imagine #steve fanfiction #steve fanfic #steve rogers fan fiction #steve fan fiction #steve rogers AU

[segnaczykarts102]

So, first Tumblr blog! Its pretty early in the morning, but that is usually when I’m most active. I feel like my best ideas hit me when I’ve finally settled down for the day and gotten all of my “have-tos” done. It’s difficult for me to explain my “Creative Process” since that’s usually what I call it, but my family and girlfriend usually call it my “Lack of Impulse Control.” 

Typically, when an idea hits me, I like to act on it immediately or sketch it out, as pictured in the second photo listed of my sketchbook, since it’s fresh in my mind and I want to try it out as soon as possible.

 I do tend to get distracted sometimes and will list off other things I think might be cool ideas, but when something peaks my interest, I'm usually laser focused on it and don’t give up until it’s done or some other idea passes the threshold of my attention span, to which I go focus on that instead. I guess as i write this I’m starting to see why loved ones point out my lack of impulse control. Huh. Funny how that works.

Anyhow, for my first photo listed on here and one of my snippets, i used a picture my girlfriend, Hannah, got me for Christmas this year. I set it up under my lamp so that the light would hit it just right. What is “just right?” you might ask? I don’t know. The way it looked made it feel like my brain was giving me a thumbs up, so I pretty much just rolled with it. It’s more fun and easier to not think about things when you do them. I feel like my “end-products” always come out cleaner, the less time I spend thinking about them, and the more time I spend doing them. I’m kind of even doing that now with these blog posts I suppose. It feels nice to put all my thoughts out, but I feel sorry for whoever has to read this and give a grade to some dummy just listing his thoughts as they come to him. I hope you all don’t grade me too bad falling too far from the topic.

Back to the topic of my snippet, though. Immediately when I read that a snippet should be “Audible Candy”, I connected that to the thing that I hear everyday, without fail: “I love you too.” 99% of the time I from my girlfriend. Isn’t she just the sweetest? The other 1% of the time, I’m hearing it from family when we speak, but I hear it from my lady on the daily. It’s comforting, really. There’s not many feelings in the world that are better than knowing you’re loved back, and that someone cares about you as much as you care about them. I wanted to not only reflect that in my snippet, but also my impulsivity. Whether I’d like to or not, I think that will show up in a lot of my work, either intentionally or unintentionally. I hope that’s not too much of a bother!

Finally, to wrap this up is a nice picture of the Pokémon, “Mudkip” that I’ve got a plushie of. Yeah, it might be a bit childish, but hey, I’m having fun. I think that’s all that really matters. I hope whoever manages to make it this far has a good one! I’d headed to sleep after I mess around with this snippet a bit more. “In case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night!”

#Arts102 UofSC

[andytfish]

FREELANCE GUiDANCE: A 10 Part Series - #3 Setting Up Work Parameters

One of the benefits of Freelancing is the FREEDOM but sometimes too much freedom leads to disorganization and chaos.  Possibly the biggest challenger a Freelancer faces is the ability to be his own boss-- with no one constantly over your shoulder, no fear of a walk thru by the uppity mucks there's plenty of opportunity to slack off, and that will kill your career.

1. ESTABLISH YOUR WORK HOURS - This should be a "general" guide because as I've already covered sometimes creativity cannot be caged. Sometimes that great idea or inspiration comes at 2 in the morning rather than at 9. Everyone is different and this is a find your way kind of rule. During a week of working freelance take occasion to jot down notes of the time and productivity-- you'll likely see a pattern emerge. In my own case I like to get an early start but seldom do. But after years of study I've discovered my peak productivity blocks in the day- 5am-8am and 2pm to 10pm. We'll get into this a bit further below.

2. ESTABLISH A WORK AREA - This is the BIGGEST key for me. I don't allow my work to spread out all over the house. I work ONLY in my studio space. The entire third floor of my house is my office area. It houses my computers, drawing tables, easels, supplies and reference material. I DON'T spend ANY time in there NOT working. You wouldn't drive to your corporate office job so you can search eBay would you? I treat my work area with the same respect.

3. KNOW WHEN A JOB IS NOT THE RIGHT FIT - It’s hard when you're just starting out to turn down a job, but sometimes (especially early on) things come along that are not right for you. I can't draw cute. I can't. Bunnies might start KIND OF cute but eventually they're going to look depraved. It's not in my makeup. Early in my career I would have taken that gig and kept at it killing myself and doing four times the work to make it right for the client. Now I know better. You turn down the WRONG job so you're available when the RIGHT job comes along.

4. DEADLINES TRUMP EVERYTHING - My kids from an early age knew the phrase "Dad's on a deadline" -- which meant I'm a phantom that might pop up out of my studio 2-3 times a week. The Deadline is the thing. I don't miss deadlines. This should not be your every week routine— you need to have a life, but those deadline crunch times are special circumstances.

5. SET UP PRODUCTIVITY - Da Vinci used a similar schedule and I've found this works; 45-90 minute working sessions with breaks in between makes me MUCH more productive.

LET'S GET A LITTLE FURTHER IN-DEPTH to my talking points

1- Establishing Your Work Hours-- I would suggest you even buy yourself an OPEN/CLOSED sign that you can put outside your workroom door.  It doesn't have to be a fancy neon one, it can be a simple cardboard one.  In my studio I use to blowmold ghosts that sit at the edge of my desk-- when they're on I'm working.  It not only lets other people know you're "at work" it gets yourself into the right frame of mind.

Share your working hours with significant others.  Let them know you're going to be struggling to "work from home" and you'll need their help.  They wouldn't walk into your office on Park Avenue with your co-workers all around and your boss down the hall clutching the light bill and saying we need to talk about that neon beer sign you must have on 24 hours a day-- they would wait until you're home from work, and just because work is now home there should be no difference.

They need to understand that work from home does NOT mean you don't work.  It does not mean every elderly relative can expect you to shuttle them around to doctor appointments, it doesn't mean you're instantly the chaperone at juniors Zoo trip.  YOU ARE STILL WORKING just AT HOME.

You’ll need to decide if you are going to follow a standard Monday-Friday work week or will you take Mondays and Tuesdays off?  Resist the urge to not take days off because money is coming in. I strongly advocate days off for your own mental health.   It's easy to swing the opposite direction in Freelance and work 24/7.

One of the first things I wanted when I went Freelance was weekends off.  After years of working in retail I never got to enjoy them.  In retail I had every Sunday and Wednesday off.  SPLIT days-- and I was looking forward to two together.  It seemed like a dream to me.

The downside to being off weekends is so is everyone else.  So those Wednesday trips to the bank or the post office I used to make were a breeze compared to trying to go on Saturday morning.

Now, I schedule days off (and to be honest A Day Off) the week I'm working.  It allows me to better balance projects.  And being completely honest, I LOVE working freelance, sometimes taking a day off is like punishment.  But even on the weeks I don't take a day off I take a morning off, or an afternoon, or an evening-- that works for me.  Starting out-- I'd give yourself at least one day off each week as you're figuring out what works for you.

How About Holidays?   That seems like a no-brainer until you're on that big project and it's due Dec 27th and using the Organizational skills I set up for you in Session 1 you realize you're behind.   Suddenly you have a virtual scale in front of you held by Santa Claus with family and friends on one side and the client on the other.

Deciding up front that it's a hard and fast rule that you won't work CERTAIN holidays is a concession I made right away.   I don't work on Christmas-- in fact I don't work two days BEFORE Christmas and I don't work the week FOLLOWING Christmas up through to Jan 2nd.  I don't.  Nope, not gonna do it.

Why?  I like Christmas and it's a holiday I look forward to.    I work extremely hard up to Dec 22nd but truth be told Christmas is VERY Slow in Freelance because most clients aren't thinking about projects either.  So a studio shut down is perfectly acceptable.

But the OTHER 99 holidays on the calendar?  They are all up for grabs.  I don't work the night of my wife's Birthday and I keep the schedule light during the day-- but other than Xmas, New Years and my Wife's Birthday I will work any other holiday even at the drop of a hat.

Knowing this helps me keep the stress level down.  My family knowing this keeps them from asking me why I'm not coming to the Memorial Day cookout, or the Patriots Day party. 

2. Establish a Work Area - My wife has her own studio on another floor of the house.  We meet daily for Breakfast and Lunch which is a nice break.  Her studio is very zen.  Very few things, a handful of books, some sparse furniture and warm inviting lights with some inspirational artwork hanging prominently around the room.  Mine is the polar opposite of Zen.  It's loaded like a High School locker.  There is not an inch of space on my walls or shelves that is not filled with comics, posters, original art, toys, action figures, vintage japanese vinyl toys, a lifesize Frankenstein, an Adam West Batman Cowl, a Nicholas Hammond Spider-Man Mask a Tony the Tiger display head, Darth Vader mask, more toys, more art more action figures and did I mention Books?  Libraries come to me to borrow things.  There are THOUSANDS of books.

I love the kinetic cluttered energy it gives off.  At Christmas time I decorate Frankenstein with colored lights.  The rest of  the year Halloween Lights hang in my studio.  It's my own personal Batcave-- all I'm missing is a British Butler walking in with coffee and scones every forty five minutes.

But that space works for me.  It gets me juiced up and ready to work.

That's how you need to set YOUR space.  When you're just starting out you may have to incorporate a drawing or work area in another room because of space restraints.  When I was first starting out in a one bedroom studio my bed was three feet from my drawing table.  It made for some tough nights sleeping because it was hard to "turn off" working mode in the same room.

Regardless of space, make some for yourself.  I have a good friend whose first studio space was a medium sized closet.  It was actually kind of cool-- you had to climb in like a race car but once you were encased in the environment like a man piloting a lunar shuttle to the moon you were ready to work.

The point is to make this space YOUR work inspiration-- so make it a place you WANT to spend time in.

3. Know when a Job is NOT the Right Fit - Easy to say when you're established.  You're going to take pretty much any job that comes along at first, and that's okay.  Sometimes you don't even know the job isn't right for you until you're doing it. When we get to PART 5: GETTING PAID SON we'll look at how to budget for these types of jobs so at least you're getting paid well for something that isn't a fit.

Let's assume that despite your portfolio of Goth Animals someone comes to you thinking you'd be perfect for that highly detailed photo accurate oil painting of Grandma.  That's not a good fit for you, you know it, they don't.  But the light bill is due and there's not a lot else coming in right now so you're thinking hard about taking it.   It's a fork in the road decision:

A. You take it and spend HOURS upon HOURS resisting the urge to give grandma dark undereyes and floppy ears. If you went with this option the biggest advice I can give you is do a lot of research and spend a LOT of time warming up. Look at portraits, look at Presidential Portraits and study the brush strokes. Grab your favorite sketchbook and some colored pencils and get to an art museum and do some sketching of the portraits in the collection. Get your head ready for the project and then give it your best shot.

B. Pass on it and recommend a friend you know who would be a better fit, earning Karma points from the friend and freeing yourself up for that job that WILL fit. Spend the downtime Marketing yourself (also coming up in the series) which is a better expenditure of your time and resources.

4. Deadlines Trump All - All my rules of work parameters combined with the skills I imparted in the ORGANIZATION session should lead you to a point where you don't have to work overtime, but in the real world we know that occasionally that IS going to happen.  If you find yourself CONSTANTLY working overtime on projects re-evaluate your working methods and see if you are actually being productive or if you're wasting a lot of time.

5. SetUp Productivity - The eight hour workday became the norm at the turn of the last century and pretty much has been the standard ever since.  This method goes back LONG before that to the days of Leonardo Da Vinci who often used this seemingly odd method to accomplish the amazing array of achievements he did over the course of his life. 

It's simple-- you work in 45-90 minute sessions with breaks in between.  During the session you do NOTHING but work.  You don't answer the phone if it rings (that's why Voicemail was created) you don't check your email.  You don't jump on IMDB to see who was the actor inside Darth Vader's suit (it was Dave Prowse, body builder and former Frankenstein actor).  YOU WORK.  Because SO much of our day is actually filled with distraction.  That's OK if you work for SNIDELY WHIPLASH INDUSTRIES who is paying you a fat check to work 30% of the time, as a Freelancer you only get paid for the hours you actually WORK.    Novel concept isn't it?  It's the price you pay for being your own boss.

This is best accomplished either by setting up a PLAYLIST running the allotted time, or by streaming an episode of a TV series or even setting an alarm clock.  Give it a try-- WORK for the allocated time and THEN take a break of 15-30 mins (also timed) to check your mail, return phone calls, do whatever-- you will be AMAZED at how this works if you can really be disciplined about it.

NEXT WEEK: LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS -- it's the difference between eating and not.

Andy Fish is a freelance artist and writer who has been living the lifestyle longer than there has been an iPhone on this planet.  The advice given has worked for him, it might work for you, he hopes it does.  But like all advice, take it with your own situation in mind.  If you want to contact him shoot him an email [email protected]

#ADVICE #FREELANCE #FREELANCE LIFESTYLE

[affogonellamarmellata]

I want to get to know you better! When you get this post 10 random facts about yourself and pass it on to 10 lovely people you want to know better too :D

AAAHHH @prossima-nebulosa​ LOVE WHEN U SEND THIS STUFF TO ME ;;;

10 facts seem like A LOT but i’ll try:

1) okay, i’m pretty sure i’ve already wrote this in some other ask meme, but i consider it to be the truly high peak of my obsessions with fictional characters -- when i was seven years old, i dumped my lil bf because i felt that my heart belonged to Lupin III and I wanted to be faithful. Seven-years-old-me was so brave, she shaped my non-existent romantic life right there, thank you dear.

2) I collect cute food boxes, mostly japanese candy ones like mikado or the clipper teas ones

3) I cry a LOT (REALLY A LOT) while reading, playing games or watching tv shows and movies, i really get invested in characters and stories and i don’t think i’m able to watch a movie in a cinema without at least wet my eyes a bit

4) On a similar note, i’m absolutely not a picky consumer when it comes to movies, i rarely exit a cinema feeling disappointed, not even for franchises that i obsess with like star trek, star wars or marvel. Give me 2+hours of only Spock staring at the screen and i’ll be happy and crying anyway.

5) I DONT LIKE CHEESE IN ANYWAY OR FORM AND THE MERE THOUGHT OF BE CLOSE TO IT MAKES ME SHIVER IN DISGUST. IT’S SO SMELLY AND SLIMY AND WET MY GOD H O W. I can tolerate mozzarella on a pizza and i like grana and shredded cheese on pasta BUT THATS IT. 

6) ...i unironically stan some italian tv celebs like Nicola Savino, Paolo Bonolis and Il Trio Medusa. It started innocently enough and now i’m ready to fight for them. I might have made an account on the Rai streaming site just to rewatch an episode of Reazione a Catena to prove a point. Man i really truly love italian tv stuff, catch me in the kitchen watching Techetechetè with the old Rai Archives all summer long.

7) I once wrote to Mr Lui (an italian mime that became kinda famous in 2005/6 for doing lil sketches between a cartoon and the other in the afternoon tv slot) when i was in middle school and i might have linked him my fanfiction yaoi archive to read. And i think he read some of it because i dinstincly remember him encouraging my writing. 

8) In middle school (and first year of high school) i was dee ee e e p in emo culture, i straighted my hair and only wore black and skulls and red striped things. I engraved on a school table some My Chemical Romance lyrics. Everytime we had to draw something for art class, it was always skeletons and crying anime girls. Ruby Gloom and Emily The Strange were things i had stickers of. And the italian emo culture was INSANE, that good mix of buzurro and edgy with a side dish of weeaboo. Art.

9) S O C K S. Cant never have enough of them. I even buy them not exactly in my size since often enough, kids stores have socks of the shows i like.  

10) I have this dream of taking my bike and just. Ride until i reach Sicily.

Thank you again @prossima-nebulosa, AND BE READY TO WRITE 10 THINGS ABOUT YOU

#tag meme #ask #@prossima-nebulosa #prossima-nebulosa

[harrybushelldesignblog]

DES240 Assignment 2 (unfinished)

Review of Work in Progress

Week 5 (first week of assignment): After studio 5, I began to sketch some very basic ideas down, but mostly focused on researching my specific statistic further. Along with this, I brainstormed ideas for what my GIF could be based on, with my original concept focusing on exercise. I chose to use food as characters in my GIF to avoid potential upset. 

Week 6 (second week of assignment): After discussion about the sensitivity present in my statistic, I decided that the best approach for this GIF going forward was to ensure that respect was kept, and that it should be approached in a manner that will not cause any upset or controversy. With this, I began to research the causes of my statistic in order to approach potential GIF ideas from a different perspective. After researching the causes, I found that unhealthy food and it being a cheap and easy way to feed yourself and your family was the most common cause. With this, I began to develop a different perspective on my GIF, removing the idea of using exercise as the base and instead focusing on food shopping. I created storyboards that show a few ideas, mostly centering around unhealthy food being chosen over healthy food. 

Week 7 (third week of assignment): This week I created my original pixel sprites for my GIF, which through feedback from the class in Discord, I edited accordingly and saved for use on my GIF. Through discussion with Jacky, we decided that an obvious barrier or divide between the cheap unhealthy food and expensive healthy food should be incorporated into my GIF to represent the divide between the two. With this, I created a few more storyboards, which featured my created sprites and a divide between the food groups. I did this in a few different ways, and after further discussion, I decided that using different leveled shelves was the best way to go about incorporating an obvious divide. 

Week 8: After discussion with Caleb in our 8th studio, I designed a few more pixel characters, attempted to add depth to my background, experimented with different ways of ensuring the GIF looped, and wrote my guest lecture reflections. Studio 8 was immensely helpful thanks to the feedback from Caleb, and I felt that this was my most productive week. Once I had formed all of my assets, I began properly attempting to code my GIF. I found this quite difficult, but got to a point where I had the fast food randomly generated on the bottom shelf each time, and had everything positioned correctly on the canvas. 

Week 9 prior to studio (final week): Not much work was done this week due to personal problems. However I was able to get some writing done and format my blog post. 

Reflections on Guest lectures

Guest 1 - Blockchain | Cryptocurrency | NFT’s by Fabio Morreale

Prior to Fabio's lecture, I had never heard of NFT’s or blockchains, and had very basic and limited knowledge on Cryptocurrencies. The concept and reality of making money solely through code and numbers, along with the fact that NFT’s are online artwork that sell for thousands of dollars is quite mind blowing, and I still don’t quite see the point in purchasing an NFT, although it seems to follow the same motivation as purchasing physical art. Along with this, Cryptocurrency doesn’t make much sense to me either, as although Fabio mentioned it, I still don’t understand how a currency can be created and suddenly grow in value as it is purchased by more and more people. The fact that popular crypto like Bitcoin is so highly valued at the moment confuses me, as I don’t really understand why there is a demand for it in the first place. 

Fabio's proposal of a decentralized financial system is interesting. Essentially removing the middle man (banks in this instance) is a valid idea, and would allow money to flow without a dependence on corporations, along with removing the dependence on corporations for storing data etc. However I believe that this would negatively affect both my own scale and on a global scale. Negating powerful and proven corporations opens up the market and peoples data to everyone, or at least to people capable enough to figure out how to access it, and although this is happening now, I have a much greater faith in powerful corporations to protect my data than I do in protecting my data myself. Furthermore, removing these corporations would be detrimental for the short term economy, as jobs would disappear and money plus data for people who aren't really equipped to defend themselves would essentially be easy meat for more capable hackers. I believe that there is a place for a financial system and that these corporations are important for both myself and the world.

Guest 2 - Data, ML & Ethics By Daniel Wilson

Daniels' lecture on ethics was really interesting and very eye-opening. The presence of bias in almost every aspect of day to day life, shown by the splayed data presented by Daniel was pretty surprising, and in some ways disappointing. Daniel mentioned a confusing divide in ethical systems, pointing out that companies must provide information that they are using a certain system but also have systems that must check that this system is being used correctly. He also talked about misinterpretation due to accidental system malfunction, which, despite being created on accident, can still form inappropriate consequences despite the bias not being recognized by the creator. For example, someone creating a survey could be unaware of the multiple genders considered today, and could create something for only male and female, due to the creators outdated knowledge. Thus creating accidental bias. This idea is very important in terms of the future of ethical systems, as being aware of all biases will hopefully mitigate accidental unethical consequences in the future. Coming to this point will be quite difficult, as society continues to grow and incorporate, new biases will spring to life. Despite this, efforts to negate as many biases as possible is the best way to stay ethical now and in the future.

  Research Summary 

- Why does this statistic exist in its current state in 2021?

My statistic - 1 out of 3 adult people in NZ are obese exists due to multiple reasons. However, through my research, I found that commonly, unhealthy eating habits, and the ease of access to unhealthy foods like fast food is too easy and cheap, thus leading to more vulnerable groups struggling with obesity, as healthy eating is too expensive and seemingly not integrated into day to day life. The ease of access to unhealthy food is the main catalyst for the existence of my statistic in its current state in 2021. 

A lot of the blame is placed on cheap fast / unhealthy food, and in the discussion of obesity in children and young adults, a lot of the blame is on the advertising for unhealthy food, as it is too appealing and false. There’s an appetite to clamp down on unhealthy food marketed to kids. Cartoon-covered packaging for sugary cereals, Disney-branded biscuits with collectible magnets, TV ads for unhealthy products at peak viewing times for children. Not to mention, junk food marketing online and fast-food joints sponsoring sports teams. It’s almost impossible to avoid unhealthy food being peddled to teens and kids. Young adults and children are a lucrative market for food companies. As they not only influence what their parents buy (pester power), marketers also bank on shoppers sticking to buying habits they acquired when they were young, hence the progression into unhealthy adult diets.

- What are the interconnected and contributing factors behind this statistic?

The contributing factors behind this statistic is the exponential growth of cheap, processed food, and it becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. As time has passed, processed food has become cheaper to manufacture and deliver around the world, resulting in a massive contribution towards obesity within the general public. This is the most prominent contributing factor behind why 1 in 3 adult New Zealanders are obese.  

- How has this statistic evolved through history?

The NZ Ministry of Health stated that “the overall prevalence has remained relatively stable since 2012/13, however there was an increase between 2011/12 and 2019/20 for adults aged 45–54 years and 55–64 years.” and according to a report written by the NZ Ministry of Health between 1977 and 2003, obesity increased by around 6% from 1989 to 1997 over all adult ages. Both of these statistics provide relevant evidence that the obesity rates in New Zealand are exponentially increasing through history, evolving into more and more of a threat to New Zealanders.   

- What is the future prospect of this statistic? 

If nothing is changed in regards to NZ’s struggle with obesity, then the statistic will continue to grow, as the prospected future formulated from the data collected from the past shows a continual exponential increase in obesity rates amongst NZ adults. An increase in obesity for adults would most likely work perpendicularly with obesity rates of children, as both have been exponentially increasing to this date.    

Copy of code so far (not properly working, however the layout is there)

int numPoints = 10;

int[] posX;

int[] posY;

int xValue = 0;

PImage shelveBackground;

PImage burger;

PImage cookie;

PImage lollipop;

PImage cart;

PImage[] displayImage;

int timer = 0;

int counter = 0;

void setup() {

  size(1000, 1000);

  shelveBackground = loadImage("DES240Assets/background3.png");

  burger = loadImage("DES240Assets/burgerboy1.png");

  cookie = loadImage("DES240Assets/cookieboy1.png");

  lollipop = loadImage("DES240Assets/lollipopboy1.png");

  cart = loadImage("DES240Assets/bigcart.png");

  posX = new int [numPoints];

  posY = new int [numPoints];

  displayImage = new PImage[numPoints];

  for (int i = 0; i <numPoints; i++) {

    posX[i] = int(random(100,width-300));

    posY[i] = (690);

    displayImage[i] = burger;

          }

  for (int i = 3; i <numPoints; i++) {

    posX[i] = int(random(100,width-300));

    posY[i] = (670);

    displayImage[i] = cookie;

      }

  for (int i = 6; i <numPoints; i++) {

    posX[i] = int(random(100,width-300));

    posY[i] = (620);

    displayImage[i] = lollipop;

      }

  for (int i = 9; i <numPoints; i++) {

    posX[i] = (-50);

    posY[i] = (620);

    xValue= 0;

    displayImage[i] = cart;

xValue++;

  }

    }

void draw() {

  image(shelveBackground,-550,-250);

  for ( int i = 0; i < numPoints; i++) {

    displayImage[i].resize(350, 0);

    image(displayImage[i], posX[i], posY[i]);

  }

}

Statement of Intent (for how I wanted the finished GIF to be)

My GIF represents the statistic 1 in 3 NZ adults are obese in an empathetic and lighthearted manner. Although the issue is serious, I thought the best way to avoid any accidental distress or disrespect was to keep the GIF focused on one of the main causes of the statistic, and to keep it brightly coloured and playfully animated to maintain respect and allow the GIFs message to be seen without causing controversy. With this in mind, I used toy-like pixelated food character models to represent the GIF. From the research I conducted on my project, I found that cheap unhealthy food and how easy it is to buy, cook, and eat is the most commonly blamed cause of obesity in NZ. With this, I designed my pixel sprites for the statistic, with 2 ‘healthy’ foods being an apple and carrot, and 3 ‘unhealthy’ foods being a lollipop, burger, and cookie. This was done so that the 1 in 3 ratio was shown in the GIF, with each shelf representing part of the statistic. The ‘unhealthy’ food was placed on the bottom shelf to emulate how easy it is to access it, and a ‘SALE!’ text is imprinted on the shelf to represent the lesser price of it. The ‘healthy’ foods are placed on higher shelves to represent the opinion that they are harder to access, whether it's financially or due to a lack of nutrition knowledge. The GIF shows a shopping cart moving across the screen from left to right, and as it goes, unhealthy food is placed in the cart, while healthy food is left on the shelves. This is to represent the appeal of unhealthy food to a shopper, and to represent what is proposed by my research. The GIF loops by a robotic arm restocking the shelves once the shopping cart reaches the end of the screen, as both a way to show supply and demand of unhealthy food, and also to ensure the GIF loops from start to finish. 

Draft of how the GIF would look

References 

RNZ. (2019, October 13). The true cost of a disordered food system: a panel discussion. https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/otago-university-panel-discussions/story/2018716711/the-true-cost-of-a-disordered-food-system-a-panel-discussion

Obesity Prevention Strategies. (2016, April 12). Obesity Prevention Source. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-prevention/#:%7E:text=Choosing%20healthier%20foods%20(whole%20grains,%2C%20and%20other%20%E2%80%9Csit%20time%E2%80%9D

Obesity statistics. (2020). Ministry of Health NZ. https://www.health.govt.nz/nz-health-statistics/health-statistics-and-data-sets/obesity-statistics

NZ Ministry of Health. (2004). Tracking the Obesity Epidemic: New Zealand 1977–2003 (No. 24). https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/trackingtheobesityepidemic.pdf

[ofnifflersandkings]

Title: Pain of Parting Character: Jonathan Byers A/n: I loved jonathan so much during the first season, his character was really interesting so I decided to write somethin’ for him. I guess we could call this angst so there’s your warning if that’s not your jam.

•

“Do you have to go?” Jonathan asked as he sat cross-legged on your bed, chin in his hands as he watched you move clothes from your closet to a large suitcases that laid open at the foot of your mattress.

“You know I have to,” You told him as you met his gaze with a smile. “My family always insists that we go up to the lakehouse every odd summer. We haven’t been up there in over three years. So yes, I do.”

Jonathan got quiet, his hands were busy pulling at loose peices of string that had been caught on one of your blankets.

You looked up from your folding and noticed the sad expression on his face. You’d known him for a handful of years, and you knew he wasn’t very much of a people person. Apart from you, he didn’t have many close friends.

You set aside your clothes and sat down beside him. “You shouldn’t be sad, I’m only going to be gone until August,” You told him, reaching up and running your hands through his hair. “You can phone me whenever you’d like, and I’ll write to you. Two months and I’ll be right back

Jonathan moved his head to your shoulder, his eyes closing whenever you continued to play with his hair. “Really?”

You looked down at him. “Have I ever let you down before?”

•~•

Jonathan stopped over by your house the day you were supposed to leave, he wanted a chance to say goodbye.

You were already out in the drive away, helping your dad figure out a way to put all the suitcases into the trunk of the car.

“Here, I’m gonna get a few more things from the house. Maybe your mother will be better at this.” Your dad said, giving you a small tap on the nose before jogging inside.

You brushed off your hands on your overalls before you looked over and saw Jonathan awkwardly standing to the side with his hands in his pockets.

“Jonathan!” You called, waving him over. “Come to say bye?”

Jonathan nodded, shifting his weight back and forth as he tried to think of what to say. “I already said it, but I’m gonna miss you.”

You smiled at him. “Don’t be like that, when I come back you talk my ear off about all the stuff you did and we’ll still have all of August to hang out.”

Jonathan met your gaze and he reached out to pull you into a hug.

You laughed and returned his embrace, pulling away as you gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon.” You told him, taking a step back towards your car.

“Y-Yeah, I’ll see you.” He told you with a wave.

You waved back before turning on your heel.

You walked about five paces before Jonathan called you back.

You went to turn around but Jonathan was already there, and before you could even process anything he bent down and gave you a quick kiss.

“Bye.” Jonathan said once he pulled away and quickly made a run for it down the street while you watched him with wide eyes.

•~•

“Jonathan!” Joyce called as she entered the house, her hands busy shuffling through the mail she collected. “You have something from (Y/n)!”

Jonathan came quickly out of his room, only coming to a halt whenever he was in front of his mother. “Yes?”

Joyce looked up at her son and smiled, she handed him a letter and a cardboard box. “These are for you.”

Jonathan took them and a bright smile showed up on his face as he looked down at them. “Thanks.”

He hurried back into his room, setting the box aside on his nightstand before he tore apart the envelope.

You wrote about how nice the lakehouse was, how pretty the scenery was and about all the little adventures you and your family had so far on your trip.

Jonathan noticed you had drawn small doodles of rabbits and frogs all over the paper, they were even painted with the set of watercolors he had given you on your birthday.

He saved up for them for months, and it showed by how proud he was when he gave it to you and saw that you loved it.

“I sent along a box as well,” Jonathan read as he looked over and grabbed it, taking a minute to tear off the tape, he looked inside to find a small collection of things.

“The pencils are for Will, he had given me some of his drawings to keep and I thought he might like these. The earrings are for your mum, and be sure to tell her that I insist she accept them, she deserves it.

I’ve got you a gift as well, but I plan to give it to you in person.

Lots of love,”

•~•

Everyday after that, Jonathan had made it a habit to ask his mother if there was a letter from you.

“Anything from (Y/n)?”

“Did (Y/n) send a letter today?”

You would send at least one every week, but he still felt the need to ask just in case.

Until one day he noticed about two weeks had passed without word from you. Joyce would come home and gently let him know there was nothing, but reasoned the post was just being slow or you were busy with your family.

And at first Jonathan understood, he thought it was a reasonable explanation, so he stopped worrying about it.

Jonathan was driving home from picking a few things up from the grocery store for his mom, but he drove by your house and noticed that your family car was parked in the driveway.

You would have called to let him know you were coming home early, you probably would’ve gone to his house yourself if wasn’t late.

His curiosity was peaked, and he parked his car across the street before ringing your doorbell.

“Hello?” Your sister answered the door, and Jonathan was slightly taken back by her appearance.

Her eyes were puffy and red, she looked like she’d been crying for hours.

“Oh Jonathan, it’s you.” She said as she sniffed, wiping at her eyes with her shirt sleeve.

“Yeah uh, is (Y/n) here?” He asked, slightly alarmed by how distressed she looked.

If possible, her face got even more somber. “I guess it’s best to just tell you, but…” She broke off into a small series of sobs before continuing. “We were up at the lakehouse, and her and dad went out on the boat. No one knows what’s happened to them but they’ve been missing for a couple days.”

It took Jonathan a few moments to register what she was saying, and he was surprised by his lack of reaction.

“Of course, we don’t want to assume the worst, but no one can find them and it’s been days.” She said with a vacant laugh before shaking her head. “Wait here for a moment.”

Jonathan watched her disappear into the house, trying to understand why his mind was going blank at a time when he should feel sad or angry even.

But he didn’t.

“She mentioned that this was for you,” Your sister said once she returned. “She seemed pretty proud of it.” There was that sad laugh again as she held a wrapped package out to him.

“I’m so sorry,” Jonathan said, taking it from her.

Your sister nodded, her hand was now covering her mouth as tears piled up at the edges of her eyes. “She was very fond of you, talked about you a great deal.”

Jonathan looked up at her. “I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

•~•

Jonathan drove home in silence.

He didn’t even turn the radio on.

When he stepped through his front door he was met with more silence, Joyce must have been working late again.

Jonathan closed his door whenever he went inside, his eyes remaining fixated on your present to him.

He didn’t want to open it.

You told him you wanted to give it to him in person.

You told him you were going to come back.

Why didn’t you come back?

Jonathan's hands were tearing away at the wrapping before he registered what he was doing. He then pulled out a leather sketchbook, he could vaguely remember times whenever you’d come over to his house and you’d be doodling around in it, refusing to show him the end results.

He undid the leather straps that kept it closed, and flipped through the first couple of pages.

He wasn’t surprised to find several pencil sketches of various animals, rabits and little mice in particular. Some of them were life-like while others were dressed in little jackets and hats, having tea parties by a river.

Jonathan moved to sit on the edge of his bed, despite the whirl of emotions going through his head, he found himself smiling.

To his surprise, the next pages were filled with portraits. Some were of him, others were of Will or even Joyce, they were all smiling in each of them.

He spent the next couple of minutes going through the rest of it, and he found himself growing disappointed whenever he was reaching the end.

On the very last page, there was a small handwritten note instead.

“I’ve been working on this one for awhile, but I thought you’d like to have it once it was finished.

I know you’re not a fan of pictures of yourself, but I hope you won’t mind a few sketches.

All my love xx (Y/n)”

You always had nice handwriting, it was always in cursive.

Suddenly, a wet spot appeared onto the page, Jonathan didn’t even realize it until it started smudging your signiture.

Another one showed up on the corner of the page, and he brought his hand up to realize tears were falling freely from his eyes.

A few tears slowly turned into sobs, then he was laying on the side of his bed, holding your sketchbook tightly against his chest while he cried.

Why didn’t you come back?

#im so bad at angst im sorry #also slightly lame reason for readers disappearance #but i was watching a lot of lakehouse mystery videos and i was like hold up that's an idea #bUt i hope you like it regardless #jonathan is a good man #jonathan byers imagines #jonathan byers imagine #stranger things imagine #jonathan byers x reader

[travelsofablonde]

Holy Moley!

So... I think I left off on getting to Scotland! I'm going to start with some current updates and then backtrack a bit. I'm trying to get better at this blogging thing, so here goes!

UPDATES:

I have been bitten (I think, I hope, otherwise what is this) by Scottish Midges. Not Midgets. Midges. Google these evil flying creatures. Anyway, I'm COVERED in bites. They itch and they HURT. Like blisters on my face, arms, legs, side, etc. Not fun. I'm covered in anti itch cream and slept to the tune of 2 Benadryls last night and this morning I got desperate and put bandaids over some of them so I wouldn't be tempted to scratch. So fun.

We're back in Chester, I came back a day early so I'd have time to wash laundry and get ready for London tomorrow and to work on some school work. It was nice to sleep in today (literally was passed out from like 9 last night till 12:30 today!)

I got some great things, experiences, photos, memories in Scotland and if I have another chance during this trip i'm going back and going to try and go to the Highlands for a day.

I don't want to come back haha I love it here. There are definitely differences such as no sweet tea, local foods (although they have a shit ton of American-ish food if I ever get homesick), a lot of places don't have A/C but it's not any worse than when our A/C goes out back home. You just learn to sleep with the window open and the sea gulls kind of grow on you. I'm definitely coming back here :)

Tomorrow we leave for London... I'm not excited for that. I don't like London, it's too much too fast if that makes sense. It's like Austin times 1,000. And the underground tubes freak me out. BUT I want to see the museums so yea i'm gonna do this haha ok I think that's it for updates!

Scotland:

So we're going to backtrack a bit to Holyrood Palace. Yes we went to an actual palace! A still used, still in  beautiful shape, still contains original pieces and royal family heirlooms and jewels palace!

This picture doesn't do it justice. On one side of the palace is the crag (massive rock outcropping) that lead's up to Arthurs Seat and on the other are the beautiful and haunting Holyrood Abbey ruins. 

Arthurs Seat is the main peak of the hills around Edinburgh and it's an extinct volcano. In Gaelic it was called Àrd-na-Said which meant Height of Arrows and it's believed that the name Arthurs Seat came from Archers Seat. Now, I didn't hike it but some of the people in my group did and they brought back some amazing photos for me to share with you all! And as soon as they're done uploading to my computer I'll add them to this blog haha UPDATE: photos added :)

Photo Cred to Dr. Mann and Kim and the people making that hike with a bucket of the Col.’s Chicken!

Holyrood Abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. It was used as a parish church until the 17th century (1600's) and fell into ruins within the next century (1700's). According to legend, King David was hunting a hart (fully matured stag) during the Feast of the Cross (celebration of the cross on which Christ was crucified) and was thrown from his horse. As the animal began to charge him, intending to gorge him with its antlers, a holy cross descended from the sky right between the harts antlers and startled it away. As a way to give thanks to God for sparing his life, King David built the abbey on this spot. Unfortunately, during a revolution in 1688 several tombs were desecrated and church members eventually abandoned the abbey thus leading to its eventual ruin. Today it stands adjacent (basically attached) to Holyrood Palace and can be viewed from the palace or its gardens. Several tombstones and graves still exist within the ruins and they're kept very well preserved. I've got some photos below, starting with a view from under the main windows which is opposite to where visitors can enter. 

This is most likely a tomb.. it could have been an altar, due to its central placement within the Abbey hall, however the coats of arms around the sides led me to believe it was a tomb, along with the tombstones surrounding it on the ground. 

This is a shot of the Abbey Ruins from the Gardens outside of Holyrood Palace.

Holyrood Palace itself was very grand in my opinion. The royal family and the country have done an amazing job of keeping it up. Unfortunately I couldn't take photographs inside so I only have a few of the outside and the quadrangle just inside the entrance. BUT those are all on my camera and still trying to upload to my computer. So once I have those I will post them here.

For those wondering, Holyrood means Holy Cross. In old english, rood meant cross. So this is the palace of the Holy Cross and is an official residence of Queen Elizabeth II of England and Scotland. The Queen spends about a week here at the beginning of each Summer and it's still used by the Royal Family for various occasions, such as the reception of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.

The palace was originally a royal residence house next to the abbey and eventually house several royal apartments. The palace that stands today wasn't built until the 15th century (late 1600's).

Holyrood was once the home of Mary Queen of Scots from her return to Scotland in 1561 until her forced abdication in 1567. It was also the place where her royal secretary David Rizzio was murdered by her husband Lord Darnley on March 9, 1566. Lord Darnley had grown jealous and suspected the Queen of sleeping with her secretary and was even convinced their son actually belonged to Rizzio. The murder took place in the Queen's private apartments when Lord Darnley and several nobles stormed up the stairs to her private apartment where she was dining with several courtiers, including Rizzio. They dragged him to the outer chamber, stabbed him 56 times and left his body there. Its said that you can still see the blood stain on the floor from where his body was left to lay by the window. Now, I've seen this spot in Holyrood palace and I think that they continue to stain this section of floor in red for tourists. I think this because those floors have been redone and there's no way the stain still exists on new floors.

Holyrood is also home to several original works of art throughout the royal families history as well as several pieces of clothing and accessories from the Jacobite Rising. There are original beddings in some of the bedrooms and lots of royal jewels and even a case said to contain hair from Mary Queen of Scots. The history inside this palace is simply incredible and if anyone reading this is a history buff you have to make a trip here. But be warned, the only air flow inside is the partially open windows and in Summer with so many other tourists crowding into the building it can get pretty hot and stuffy. But the Abbey Ruins and Royal Gardens are outside and are a much needed refresher at the end of the tour. While we were at the palace there was also an exhibit in residence regarding the wedding of Prince Harry to Megan Markle and their wedding clothes were on display along with those of the flower girl and ring bearer. The dress worn by Mega Markle was also accompanied by several of the original sketches from the designer. Unfortunately, palace staff were constantly on hand to prevent photos from being taken so no pictures of any of this for y'all. Sorry.

Wow this was a long blog! I think I'll end it here and I'll work on the rest of what happened in Scotland later ;)

So I've started collecting buttons at each place we go to and this is just some of what's on my bag now. The green one at the top with the stag is from Holyrood Palace and was given to me because i'm "A child at heart despite the fact that you're a member of that clan Hume we don't speak of here" (the palace staff member was good natured and full of jokes about my clan when he gave it to me).

#Scotland Travel Buttons Pins HolyroodPalace HolyroodAbbey StudyAbroad

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 36

Mmmm k so yeah this one is sorta average but honestly I’m just glad its done? Like I said, every damn one of these chapters is getting me closer and closer to Dipper and Lapis and I just can’t fucking wait for that one oh god my soul will be ripped from my body when I write it. But as for this one, it certainly has its good moments, I think. So I hope you enjoy it! 

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/161587257423/universe-falls-chapter-35-part-3

Chapter 36: Rose’s Scabbard

MXKFZHBA ABPMBOXQFLK X ABXI JXAB ILKD XDL OLPB HBMQ JXKV PBZOBQP QEXQ QEB DBJP JXV KBSBO HKLT

As the summer weeks continued to roll by, it had become something of an unspoken custom for the Gems to bring Steven, Dipper, and Mabel along on their less-dangerous missions. Their reasoning for this was twofold, mostly as a response to the kids pleading to join them but also because they made for good company, livening up what would have otherwise been boring, routine trips and investigations. And much like the past several adventures the kids had accompanied the Gems on, this one was no exception to them providing their own varied brands of intrigue and amusement.

The destination of their exploration today was quite far from Gravity Falls, practically an entire continent away though merely a few minute’s trip by warp pad. It was a vast, wide, hilly landscape, with countless earthen platforms of all sizes somehow suspended aloft in the sun-speckled sky. Though what really made this locale interesting were two distinct features: massive, daunting, ancient weapons of all different kinds, digging into the ground that served as the fertile home for countless oversized wild strawberries, growing as far as the eye could see, something that particularly peaked Steven and Mabel’s shared interest.

“I’ve never seen so many strawberries in one place before!” Steven quipped, grinning as he passed by one of the aforementioned fruits that happened to be nearly as big as he was. “They all look so tasty!” 

“I know, right?” Mabel smirked as she plucked another one of the smaller (but still quite large) strawberries, adding them to the hefty armful she had already collected. “I can’t wait to get these babies home and turn them into something even tastier. I could make a huge strawberry shortcake! Or the world’s biggest strawberry sundae! Or, if I find a bunch of other giant fruits, a really big fruit salad!” 

“Ok, but am I the only one who’s wondering why all of these strawberries are so big in the first place?” Dipper asked with a curious frown as he passed by a particularly massive one. “Or better yet, why all of these huge weapons are just lying around everywhere?” 

“Oh, that’s a wonderful question, Dipper!” Pearl cut in with a bright smile as she eagerly shared her wisdom on the matter. “This field was the site of a historic battle. Every weapon here was left by a Gem over 5,000 years ago!” 

“Whoa, no way!” Steven exclaimed, sharing an awestruck expression with the twins. “That’s so cool!” 

“And all these weapons are so pretty!” Mabel added as she looked over at a towering broadsword nearby. “Why would anybody just leave them behind?” 

“These weapons serve as the final memorials to the Gems who met their heroic ends here!” Pearl exclaimed with a dramatic flair. “I don’t like to disturb them, but Garnet says we can’t just leave them lying around.” 

As the white Gem said this, Garnet picked up a massive battle axe from the strawberry patch nearby, slinging it over her shoulder with not much effort at all, despite how much larger than her it was. “Never know when you might need one of these.” 

“I need one of those all the time!” Steven quipped, stars of excitement in his eyes.  

“So do I!” Mabel exclaimed, just as enthused. “Can we take some giant weapons home too, Pearl?” 

“Mabel, come on,” Dipper interjected with a scoff. “These things are huge, deadly weapons. We can’t just carry them back to the shack like they’re plain old souvenirs! ...Can we?” He asked, directing said question to the white Gem.  

“O-oh, well I do suppose that is what we’re here to do in the first place, isn’t it?” Pearl shrugged with a small smile. “But still, instead of a lumbering war axe, why don’t you kids look for something that’s more... you?”  

“Done and done!” Mabel grinned, dropping her load of strawberries as she ran over to a tall purple sabre, placing a hand on its dull side and grinning up to its hilt proudly. “This one just screams me, doesn’t it?” 

“Yeah it does!” Steven readily agreed. 

“Mabel, that thing’s bigger than you are,” Dipper pointed out as he went over to join her. “How are you even going to get it out of the ground, much less back to the warp pad?” 

“With your help, duh!” Mabel rolled her eyes. “Now, come on! If we both pull hard enough, I’m sure we can pull this up and drag it home! It’s gonna look so cool hanging over my bed!” 

“As if it would even fit over your bed,” Dipper remarked sarcastically, but even so, he consented in helping his sister in trying to lift the heavy weapon up out of its long-time resting place. As she watched their rather futile attempt to even get the sword to budge, Amethyst let out an amused chuckle, one that Garnet shook her head in disapproval over. 

Inspired by the twin’s excellent find, Steven grew even more zealous for the idea of finding a weapon of his own among this impressive collection. “Ok, Lion! Come help me look!” he called to the pink beast, who simply turned and walked away at this prompting, as stoically as ever. “Aw, come on!” 

“You really need to train that thing better,” Pearl commented, crossing her arms as she watched Lion saunter over to a nearby cluster of strawberries.  

“Oh, we’ve been making progress!” Steven informed brightly. “Now he even looks at me when I say his name! Watch: Lion!” Of course, the pink beast did anything but heed the young Gem’s call, far too distracted by digging through the patch of leaves before him to even spare him a single glance. “Lion!” Steven tried again, only to get the same result. “Lion!” By the third attempt, the young Gem realized that Lion likely wasn’t going to listen at all. “Uh... sometimes, he does...” 

Pearl frowned dubiously at this, though her attention was peaked as the pink beast finally did lift his head up, revealing that he was now carrying something he had apparently found in the dirt in his maw. “What’s he got now?” she asked curiously, though her confusion quickly changed into a shocked gasp upon seeing exactly what Lion had managed to retrieve. “It’s the scabbard for Rose’s sword!”  

“Really?!” Steven exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this. He only got a glance at the large, bright pink scabbard as Pearl began prying it away from Lion, eventually succeeding in claiming it and shooing the sullen pink beast away. Still, the fact that it apparently belonged to his deceased mother was more than enough to peak the young Gem’s interest. “Hey, guys!” he called to Garnet, Amethyst, and the twins. “Get over here and check this out!” 

They did so, Dipper and Mabel leaving the sword they made essentially no progress on pulling out of the ground behind for the moment as they headed over to get a better look at the scabbard Pearl was proudly holding out for them all to see. The pink sheath was rather simple in design, visibly sturdy and hardly even damaged at all, despite being exposed to the elements of the battlefield for countless centuries. In fact, the only other noticeable things about it aside from its size and coloration was the familiar rose emblem associated with the pink Gem herself marked on both sides and the fact that it was noticeably empty.  

“Whoa... It’s so beautiful...” Mabel gushed, amazed as she looked over the scabbard. “What is it?” 

“It’s a scabbard, Mabel,” Dipper informed somewhat caustically, though both Steven and Mabel only replied with blank looks of confusion. “You know, the thing you put a sword inside?” 

“Ohhh,” the pair nodded in mutual understanding, neither of aware that there was an actual word for such a thing until now.  

“And to be honest, I think this scabbard looks... sort of familiar...” Dipper remarked, pulling the journal out of his vest as he began to curiously flip through it.  

“What?” Pearl blinked, her smile at this find instantly fading upon hearing such a claim, though she was quick to pick it up again with something of a forced laugh. “Oh, you must be thinking of another scabbard, Dipper. This scabbard has been missing for years now. Why, it’s been centuries since I’ve seen it myself! Until now, of course.” 

“Uh, no, I’m pretty sure this is it,” Dipper said upon finding a sketch within the journal that was remarkably similar to the very sheath Pearl held in her hands. “I mean, the author didn’t label it or anything, but it looks exactly like that scabbard, see?” 

The white Gem frowned suspiciously as she briefly glanced over the image on the open page, which was indeed identical to the scabbard, right down to it even being bereft of the sword it was meant to contain. A brief hint of alarm and confusion filled her expression, though she was very quick to suppress it with more dismissiveness. “O-oh, well... I’m sure that’s just a mere coincidence,” she scoffed, turning her nose up at the book. “After all, the scabbard is quite simple in its design. Whoever wrote that journal probably just assumed what the scabbard would have looked like and drew that.” 

“What? A coincidence?” Dipper asked, confused and somewhat annoyed at how Pearl was simply passing this depiction off like it was nothing. “But how would he have-” 

“And besides,” Pearl cut him off, her former verve returning. “This isn’t just any mere, average, ordinary scabbard. This is the scabbard to Rose’s own sword, the very same sword she skillfully wielded in battle in this very field centuries ago!” 

“Mom fought here?” Steven asked, overwhelmed with curiosity by now.  

“That’s right!” Pearl nodded enthusiastically. “And I fought alongside her!” 

“Man, I bet that battle was nuts!” Amethyst spoke up, excited by the very mention of the momentous war she had missed out on. “I wish I could have seen it!” 

“No, you don’t,” Garnet admonished firmly, setting her axe down for a moment. “Countless Gems were broken here. It was a maelstrom of destruction and death.” 

“But we won!” Pearl jumped in with a bright grin. “Steven, your mother led us to glorious victory! The odds were against us, and our hearts were uncertain,” the white Gem’s tone became more and more dramatic as she continued detailing this striking tale to the immensely intrigued kids. “The enemy’s forces far outnumbered our own, but we didn’t give up! We chose to fight alongside Rose, who bravely led us into battle without a moment’s doubt or hesitation. And here, we made our stand against our Homeworld!” Needless to say that all three of the kids were aptly amazed by this exciting recollection, which was why they all continued looking to Pearl for more of it, which she was more than happy to give to them. “Rose was the one who ensured our triumph that day,” she said, her tone a bit softer as she smiled down at the scabbard fondly. “And she ensured our triumph in every battle that followed it. She was the one who brought us together, who inspired us to be more than what we were made for...” A light blue blush filled in the white Gem’s cheeks as she held the scabbard a bit close to her, her smile widening as she recalled all of the times her illustrious former leader had held onto it herself. “She... She was... exceptional...” 

Pearl maintained her wistful, reminiscing smile throughout the entire trip back to the temple, largely ignoring the kids and her teammates as she continued to gently cling onto the treasured scabbard. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she barely even noticed as they all warped back into the temple with their impressive haul of weapons retrieved from the battlefield.

“This is great!” Amethyst smirked, turning to head to the temple gate with her towering armful of smaller weapons. “My room’s been needing another pile.”

“Now, be careful with this sword, you two,” Garnet advised the twins as she handed the large sabre Mabel had picked off to them. Fortunately, she had carried both the sword and her battle axe back to the warp pad, but seeing as how she had to squeeze the axe into the temple somehow, the twins were basically on their own with the sword. “It’s very sharp and very heavy.”

“Don’t worry, Garnet,” Mabel reassured confidently. “Between the two of us, getting this pretty pointy stick down to the shack should be a-” She was abruptly cut off as the Gem leader finally let go of the sabre, letting it rest in the twins’ outstretched hands though it didn’t stay there long. Its hefty weight was more than enough to pull both Dipper and Mabel down with it, though thankfully they let go of it and let it fall to the wooden floor near the warp pad just in time.

“What’s that you were saying about getting this thing down to the shack?” Dipper asked, raising a dubious eyebrow at his sister.

“Uh… Garnet? A little help here?” Mabel asked the Gem leader with a frown, not ready to relinquish such an interesting piece so easily.

“I’m… a little busy right now,” Garnet grunted as she lifted her own axe up, working on keeping it balanced as she headed for the temple gate herself. “Amethyst! Help me with this axe!”

“I… guess we’ll just have to figure out a way to get this sword out of here ourselves then…” Dipper said, glancing down at the oversized blade worriedly.

“Oh! I’m thinking our plan to move it should include squirrel-driven sleds, or ‘squeds’ for short!” Mabel quipped, excited by her impromptu plan.

“Mabel, I have a feeling that’s… that the best idea in the world…”

“How will we know unless we give it a try?”

“We really don’t need to try a plan like that to know it’s not going to work!”

“Pfft, says you.”

As the twins continued to argue over how they were going to transport the sabre and Garnet and Amethyst struggled to force the battle axe into the temple, Steven remained on the warp pad along with Pearl, laughing in light amusement over the ongoing commotion from both ends. His attention was quickly diverted away from it all, however, as Pearl let out a soft, longing sigh beside him, her gaze still focused on the scabbard. “It’s been ages…” she murmured, her expression almost dreamlike as she blushed once more. She was finally broken out of her fixation on it as she noticed the young Gem curiously staring up at her. “What is it, Steven?”

Steven glanced away somewhat, mostly towards the scabbard as rubbed his arm a bit before posing a question he had been wanting answers for as long as he could remember. “What was mom like?”

Pearl’s soft blush deepened upon hearing this question, a gentle, affectionate smile crossing her features as she looked to the portrait of Rose Quartz herself hanging from the far wall. “She was… courageous, and brilliant… and beautiful…” The white Gem glanced to the scabbard briefly, another soft, nostalgic sigh escaping her before she looked to her young ward warmly. “Sometimes, you look so much like her…”

“Really?” Steven asked with his usual schmaltzy grin as he looked back from the picture of his mother to Pearl.

“Eh-” the white Gem frowned, suddenly uncertain, though she decided not to not really give much of an answer as she instead glanced behind her at Garnet and Amethyst, who were still struggling to fit the axe through the temple gate.

“Yeah, lift it backwards!” the purple Gem encouraged.

“You mean pull,” the Gem leader corrected, pulling her weight against the weapon.

“Yeah, pull, sure, if you wanna be all fancy about it.”

Though Steven was still expectantly waiting for a response, Pearl shifted her gaze over to the twins, who were still bickering over what method of getting the sabre down to the shack they were going to implement. “Mabel, for the last time, we’re not using a team of trained squirrels to get this thing down the hill!” Dipper exclaimed, quite annoyed by his sister’s persistence.

“Aw, but the squirrel idea is such a good one!” Mabel sighed fretfully. “And besides, how else are we supposed to get it to the shack?”

“How am I supposed to know!? You’re the one who decided to you had to bring it back with us in the first place!”

“Uh, have you seen it, bro-bro? It’s so pretty!”

“Yeah, and it’s so huge that we can’t even lift it, for crying out loud!”

A moment or two later, Pearl finally turned back to Steven, perking up with relief with that what she was about to do likely wouldn’t turn into a big deal. Mostly because she didn’t think it really needed to be one. “Hey, Steven…” she began with a small smile, holding the scabbard out to him. “Maybe… maybe you should hold onto this…”

“Whoa…” Steven gasped in amazement as he took the prized possession that had once belonged to his mysterious mother, stars in his eyes as he looked over it. “Thanks, Pearl!”

The white Gem simply let out a small, warm laugh at her young ward’s clear gratitude for this gift, though even as she accepted his thanks, her gaze still happened to drift up towards Rose’s portrait as she replied to it. “You’re welcome…”

Though it took quite a bit of work and time and a well thought out plan on Dipper’s part, the twins eventually managed to haul the giant sabre down to the Mystery Shack. Steven helped them out with this task as much as he could, though he took special care to make sure that he didn’t drop or misplace the scabbard the entire time. When they did get the oversized sword down the hill, Stan was the first to see them coming with it, and he was quick to staunchly refuse to let them take it inside, much to Mabel’s disappointment. Still, the conman did allow them to shove it into the ground near the shack in the hopes that its interesting appearance and large size would intrigue potential customers from afar. Still, getting the sword itself into the soil was much easier said than done.

“Ok, keep pulling!” Mabel called down from her spot atop the sabre’s cross guard to Stan and Dipper as they tried to get the blade to dig deep enough into the ground all while struggling to keep it standing upright. “I said keep pulling! Its barely even moved an inch!”

“W-well, it’d be a lot easier if you actually came down here and helped us, Mabel!” Dipper exclaimed, practically panting in exhaustion as he glared up at his sister.

“I am helping!” Mabel protested. “I’m sitting up here so I can weigh it down for you guys! So yeah, I’m being super helpful!”

“Geez, kid, could you have picked a bigger sword to drag home with you?” Stan asked with a scowl as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “My back’s not cut out for this kind of manual labor anymore. Why don’t you get over here and do this instead of me, kid?” he called over to Steven, who was in the midst of playfully swinging his mother’s scabbard around like it was an actual sword. “It’d be a far better use of your time than standing around playing with… whatever that girly blunt object you got there is.”

“This isn’t a blunt object, Mr. Pines,” Steven chuckled as he held the scabbard in front of him for the conman to see. “It’s a scabbard that used to belong to my mom! Isn’t it neat?”

Stan caustically looked between the young Gem and the scabbard in his hands, his expression far from impressed before he turned back towards the large sabre. “Sure, kid, whatever you say,” the conman deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he continued trying to pull the sword down into the ground.

Steven’s smile faded as he glanced down at the scabbard for a moment, curiosity filling his features as he looked over at Stan again. “Hey, Mr. Pines?!”

“Ugh, what?!” the conman grunted sourly as he finally managed to shove the tip of the blade a bit into the ground, their sudden progress catching Dipper a bit off guard as he accidently stumbled back from it a bit.

“You knew my mom when she was still around, right?” the young Gem asked, walking up to the sabre himself.

“Yeah, I did, unfortunately for me…” Stan remarked coldly, letting go of the blade as he crossed his arms. Of course, the moment he did, the sabre happened to fall backwards, its headway in the ground meaning nothing at all against its top-heavy weight. As it collapsed to the ground, Mabel fell off of its hilt, prompting Dipper to hurry and try and catch her, even if he just broke her fall instead.

“We’re ok!” Mabel called, even if her and Dipper had fallen into a messy heap on the ground.

“Eh, I’ll just have Soos tack that thing down later,” Stan shrugged, only briefly glancing back at the sabre before Steven caught his attention once more.

“So if you knew my mom, then you could probably tell me more about what she was like!” the young Gem exclaimed brightly. “I mean, the Gems are always talking about her, but I think it’d be nice to get an outside perspective for a change, you know?”

Stan let out a long, aggravated groan upon hearing this, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looked away from the expectant young Gem. “Kid, I’m in no mood to open up that can of worms right now.”

“What do you mean?” Steven frowned in confusion as the twins headed over to join in on the conversation. “I know you said you guys never got along that great, but things couldn’t have been that bad between you two, right?”

“Bad?!” Stan scoffed harshly, suddenly quite upset and angry. “Are you kidding me, kid?! Things between me and her weren’t just bad, they were-” The conman abruptly cut himself off, especially as he glanced over at the twins who were looking to him with just as much curiosity as the young Gem was. “T-they were… You know what? Let’s just say things were bad and leave it at that, ok?”

“But why?” Mabel asked with an inquisitive frown.

“Yeah, what happened between you and Rose that made you apparently hate her so much?” Dipper asked, just as confused.

“N-nothing happened,” Stan shrugged crossly, looking away from the trio. “She just… I dunno—rubbed me the wrong way from the minute I first met her. And I don’t think anybody could blame me for it, seeing as how she was nothing but a huge nuisance! She always acted like she was better than everyone else, like she could do no wrong and like was so perfect-”

“Y-you mean she wasn’t?” Steven asked fretfully, knowing the conman’s views contradicted everything Pearl had told him earlier about his mother.

“Of course, she wasn’t!” Stan exclaimed hotly. “I don’t know what kind of sweet, fluffy little lies the Gems have been feeding you, kid, but your mom was far from the amazing, perfect, flawless goddess those three thought she was!”

“That’s quite enough, Stan!” Pearl shouted furiously as she leapt onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere. Her expression was absolutely livid upon as she rushed to stand in between the conman and the kids, more than ready to refute everything he had just said without a moment’s doubt.

“Oh great, the “Rose Protection Squad” is here,” Stan rolled his eyes dryly. “What, are you here to worship the ground she walked on since she’s not around for you sing her praises to her directly anymore?”

“How dare you!” Pearl hissed angrily. “You have no right to say such terrible things about Rose, Stan! You barely even knew her!”

“I knew her enough to know she was pompous, self-righteous snob,” Stan remarked callously. “Sorta like you, Pearl. Guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.”

The white Gem simply let out an irate growl at this, sending a hostile glare to the conman all the while. “You’re wrong about her! Completely and absolutely wrong! Rose was kind, and selfless, and fair, and honorable, and-”

“And nosy, and stubborn, and annoying, and most of all, she was a liar,” Stan scowled pointedly. “Honestly, it’s kind of mind blowing that you haven’t figured that out yet after all these years, Pearl. Then again, I guess it’s hard to see the truth when you’re so blinded by that dumb crush you still have on her even now that she’s gone!”

Pearl gasped, appalled by the bold accusation Stan had just made about Rose, but even so, she wasn’t about to let him get away with it. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! Besides, the real reason why you always had such an issue with Rose was because she was able to see you for the cheating, scandalous charlatan you really are!”

“Hey! I don’t know what half of what you just called me meant, but I take offense to that!”

“Good! You were supposed to!”

“Oh yeah? Well, I-”

“Guys, stop it!” Steven finally interjected, unable to allow such a fierce argument to continue as he pushed his way between the two. Likewise, the twins also looked to the white Gem and the conman with apt concern, quite alarmed at the brutally harsh words that they had just thrown at each other. Even as the young Gem pushed the pair a safe distance away from each other, they were still exchanging hateful scowls, something that worried him even more. “Look, I get that you guys had really different opinions about Mom, but… if she was still here, I bet she’d hate to see you guys fighting about her, just like I do!”

Pearl’s cold expression melted away as she heard this, her eyes widening a bit as she spared a gentle glance down at Steven. “Y-you’re right…” she admitted with an ashamed sigh. “She would…”

“And, while I’m not really an expert on what Mom might have done…” Steven shrugged with a small, bittersweet, almost pleading smile. “I’m sure she would have really loved to see you guys make up and get along? Please?”

The white Gem bristled a little at this, shifting her gaze to the conman, even if she made no attempt to apologize or even show amicability. Likewise, Stan simply crossed his arm and turned his nose up at her, his scowl still as present as ever. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” he remarked tersely, clearly not meaning it as he turned to head back into the shack. “I’ve had enough drama for one day anyway. I’m gonna uh, take a nap, or something…” The conman made sure to avert eye contact with everyone as he said this, not wanting anyone to catch on that he really intended to head for the basement lab instead. “Oh, and Pearl? One more thing,” Stan’s tone turned rather bitter once again as he stopped at the porch, slightly turning back to the white Gem. “One of these days you’re gonna wake up from that little fantasy world of yours and realize that Rose wasn’t as great or perfect as she was cracked up to be. And when you do… I’ll be right there to give you the biggest ‘I told you so’ you’ve ever heard!”

Pearl scoffed in indignant disbelief as Stan simply slammed the door to the shack behind him, outraged that he still insisted that Rose was anything less than exemplary. Still, as ready as she was to throw a barrage of angry words back at him, she refrained upon noticing all three of the kids staring at her worriedly. “Oh, kids…” she sighed in slight embarrassment, glancing away as she rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that… Still, I simply couldn’t take Stan trying to defame Rose’s good name lying down, especially seeing as how not a single thing he said about her was even remotely true…”

“It sounds like things between Rose and Grunkle Stan weren’t just bad,” Mabel remarked with a frown. “They were really, really, bad.”

“Yeah, but I still don’t understand why,” Dipper said, shaking his head in confusion. “What was their problem with each other anyway?” he asked Pearl, hoping that she could provide at least some answers seeing as how she had been around back then too.

“Well, it’s quite simple, really,” Pearl said pointedly. “Rose was always very forward and honest where she could be, while Stan doesn’t know the meaning of the word honesty.”

“I guess we can’t really argue with you there,” Dipper shrugged, knowing that Stan was far from the most candid person in the world.

“So you see,” Pearl continued. “It only makes sense that there would be tension between a paradigm of morality and virtue like her… and someone as unscrupulous as him… Still,” the white Gem clasped her hands together, her mood brightening as she abruptly changed the subject. “Enough about all that nonsense for now. Steven, how are you liking your mother’s scabbard?”

“Liking it? I’m loving it!” Steven quipped, retrieving the scabbard from the spot on the ground where had left it. “I’ve been practicing with it ever since we got down here. If anything tries to eat us, I’ll bop them with this!” The young Gem broadly swung the scabbard out, eliciting an excited grin from Mabel, a look of confusion from Dipper, and a small, amused laugh from Pearl.  

“That’s just the scabbard, Steven,” the white Gem informed gently. “It held your mother’s sword. Nothing else could fit so perfectly inside. For all this time, it’s been… incomplete…”

“Well, let’s complete it, then!” Steven concluded boldly.

“Yeah!” Mabel eagerly chimed her agreement in. “Let’s find that sword and shove it in there! Where is it?”

Pearl hesitated a bit at this, looking around nervously for a moment before looking to the kids, first with uncertainty that soon turned to acceptance and trust. “Can you three keep a secret?”

“A secret?!” Steven exclaimed with excitement, far too loudly for the white Gem’s liking.

“Shh!” she quickly quieted him, glancing around the area once again. “Keep your voice down, Steven! It’s a secret, even to Garnet and Amethyst.”

“Really?” Dipper asked, quite intrigued. After all, if this supposed secret, whatever it might be was kept hidden even from the other two Gems, then there was a very high chance that it would be worth delving into. “What kind of secret?”

“A very special one,” Pearl grinned slyly, her voice still at a whisper. “Rose had a place that she kept hidden from all but me. But Steven, you have her gem. That place is yours now! And I can show it to you! After all, if Rose’s sword is anywhere, it would definitely be there.”

“Uh, ok,” Steven shrugged with a small smile, ready for whatever the white Gem had in store.

“Oh my gosh, this secret place sounds so cool and mysterious!” Mabel chimed in, mirroring Dipper’s investment in this proposed adventure. “Can we go right now, Pearl? Can we? Can we?”

“Oh, well, uh…” Pearl’s smile faded as she trailed off awkwardly. She didn’t exactly have it in her to tell the twins that they couldn’t really accompany her and Steven to this secret place, mostly because it was, in her opinion, far too hallowed and sacred for any human to visit. Not to mention the fact that it had once been reserved solely for her and Rose and nobody else. So instead, she decided to put the truth off a bit by detailing a bit more about it, in the hopes of discouraging them from wanting to come along. “Well, you see, kids, this place isn’t exactly… easy to access. True, it is right here in Gravity Falls, buried deep underground. But its entrance is… rather unsightly. To deter huma—I mean, u-unwanted intruders from getting inside, Rose hid its entrance away deep within the town cemetery, knowing that most humans—I mean, unwanted intruders would be far too superstitious to even venture in there and go snooping around for it! She was always so clever when it came to things like that…”

“A magical Gem place hidden in the cemetery?” Steven questioned thoughtfully. “Why does that sound so familiar…?”

“Because it is familiar!” Dipper exclaimed in sudden realization. “Pearl, this place you’re talking about… I think we’ve all been there before!”

“W-what?” Pearl froze, looking to the kids in apt disbelief.

“Oh yeah!” Mabel grinned, recalling what both of the boys already had. “That really cool sparkly cave filled with all those weapons! The one we found on Pioneer Day while being chased by the cops! Ah, good times. Good times.”

“S-sparkly cave…. Filled… filled with weapons?!” Pearl gasped in alarm, knowing this description certainly fit the bill. “B-but how did you—no.” She quickly cut herself off, shaking her head incredulously. “There’s no way you kids could have been there before. You three must be thinking of someplace else, certainly!”

“Well, why don’t we just show you where we’re talking about?” Dipper suggested, rather confident that the cavern they had been to before and the secret spot Pearl had mentioned were one and the same. “That way you can tell us whether or not it’s the same place.”

“O-oh, yes, good idea,” Pearl agreed, still somewhat shaken by the prospect that the secrecy of Rose’s special spot had been somehow tarnished. “You can three take me there yourselves. Though still, I highly doubt we’re all referring to the same location. But all the same,” the white Gem nodded, prompting the kids to start leading the way to this unknown place. “I suppose it’s at least worth a look…”

While the kids were all in high, relatively excited spirits for their trek over to the town graveyard, Pearl was much more reserved, mostly out of concerned curiosity. Though she still doubted that the place the kids were leading her to even remotely related back to Rose, she was still interested in seeing it for herself, if it was even real at all. However, as they arrived at the cemetery and the trio led her to a remarkably familiar statue, Pearl’s alarm and fear at the idea of Rose’s sanctum no longer being a secret increased. In fact, those feelings only spiked as the kids somehow managed to activate the switch on the statue’s finger that forced it to slide aside, revealing the hidden underground entryway below it. But all the same, the white Gem kept a straight face as the kids led her down into the darkened, narrow corridor, hoping that somehow in the midst of it, they’d end up veering off the familiar path and go somewhere else. Even if she knew that this tunnel only really led to one place.

“So, is this looking familiar yet, Pearl?” Steven asked with a smile as he walked alongside the white Gem.

“O-oh, well, uh…” Pearl frowned as she glanced around the tight tunnel walls, which of course struck a nostalgic cord to her, though she refused to admit that so soon. “I-it… it might look a little familiar. But I’ve seen lots of dark, dank corridors in my day, so it’s really too soon to say for certain if this is the one that leads to Rose’s secret sanctum.”

“Why’s this place such a big secret anyway?” Mabel wondered curiously. “Because of all the really cool magical Gem weapons that are hidden inside it?”

“Er—yes…?” Pearl flinched, still bothered by the fact that the kids apparently knew what Rose had kept stored there. “I-I mean, p-perhaps. Still, there are a lot of places all over the Earth where Gem weapons are stored, like… like that battlefield we were at earlier! And besides, the weapons Rose held onto were far more powerful and more unique than any of those, which is why she decided to hide them away in a place where they would be safe and secure until she needed them.”

“So if the only things in this ‘secret’ place are weapons, then why don’t Garnet and Amethyst know about it?” Dipper asked inquisitively. “And why are you the only one Rose showed it to, Pearl?”

“Well, that’s because I was Rose’s sole confidant,” Pearl remarked with a proud grin. “For the words and secrets she could share with no one else, I was there to listen!”

“Why’d she keep so many secrets?” Steven asked, not truly understanding why his mother might have needed to keep things hidden from so many, especially since nearly everything he had heard about her always made her seem so open and transparent instead.

“She had to, Steven!” Pearl professed boldly, still smiling with adulation for the pink Gem. “It’s the mark of a great leader. Knowing just what to keep hidden from everyone you’re trying to protect. Everyone except me!”

“But how is hiding things from people supposed to protect them?” Dipper asked, somewhat doubtful of this train of logic.

“Yeah!” Mabel chimed in. “Wouldn’t it have been easier for Rose just tell everyone everything? Then everyone could be in on all those secrets, and then-”

“And then they wouldn’t be secrets anymore,” Pearl interjected pointedly, shaking her head. “I don’t think you kids really understand. Then again, I don’t really blame you. None of you have ever been embroiled in the dramatic, dangerous life-or-death dilemmas of a massive war before, and thank the stars for that. But believe me what I say that all of the secrets that Rose kept hidden from others, she kept for the sake of the greater good. Just like everything she did. She was always, always thinking of humanity, of the earth, of her fellow Crystal Gems over herself. And that selflessness, that abnegation, that integrity, that bled into her every word and action during the war and even long after it…”

As Pearl let out an admiring sigh, the kids exchanged a brief, somewhat confused look. There was no denying that the white Gem had a penchant for defending everything about Rose to the very end, and they supposed that it did make sense. After all, Pearl had known Rose for a long time, and had followed her loyally for longer than any of them (or anyone currently living, to be perfectly honest) had been alive for, long enough to truly know her and grow a deep, unwavering sense of respect and adoration towards her. It was understandable that she would be firm in her resolve to brazenly stand up and defend the pink Gem’s reputation, especially since she was no longer around to do so herself. And yet at the same time, it was somewhat concerning to see just how far Pearl was willing to defend Rose, especially if her fierce argument with Stan earlier was any indication. In a way, it was as though the white Gem refused to even listen to any implications that her former leader could have been flawed or imperfect in any regards at all, the very mention of such a thing being more than enough to set Pearl off entirely. It almost seemed like something of an obsession to her, one that she refused to let go of, lest she fail Rose and her memory altogether. And while the kids somewhat understood where she was coming from with her hardened resolve, none of them could deny that something about it set them all on edge all the same.

But even so, none of them questioned her about it further as they finally reached the end of the tunnel, the apparent dead end still as open as it had been when Lion burst through it weeks ago. Pearl’s eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing this, but her jaw completely dropped as the kids freely ran into the open cavern without any signs of trepidation at all, all of them showing their immediate familiarity with the place as they splashed into the shallow water over its floor.

“Here we are!” Steven announced with a broad smile, running up to the central circular platform as Pearl followed him at a much slower pace.

“Ah, this place hasn’t changed a bit!” Mabel grinned, her hands on her hips as she looked over the shimmering cave. “It looks exactly the same as it did when we found ol’ President Trembley in here a few weeks ago!”

“P-President Trem—You found him here?! In Rose’s secret armory?!” Pearl asked, appalled. “But I thought he just… I don’t know—broke out of that block of peanut brittle he, for some asinine reason, froze himself in and wandered out to the surface!”

“No, this is definitely where we found him,” Dipper frowned, somewhat confused by why the white Gem would think otherwise. “And it’s also where we basically got arrested and were nearly dragged off to Washington, D.C. Actually, to be honest, since it was apparently a matter of ‘national security’, I wouldn’t be that surprised if the U.S. Government knew about this place by now, so uh… yeah...”

“They what?!” Pearl exclaimed in a panic, floored by the idea that the government, of all entities, could have knowledge of this place. “B-but that’s ridiculous! Rose and I are the only ones who have ever witnessed the armory’s magnificence before now!”

“Except for us!” Steven quipped, obliviously blithe. “But when we first found it, we didn’t even know what this place really was. And now we do, thanks to you, Pearl!”

The white Gem was beyond flustered at this point, her frustration steadily growing as she walked past the trio in a huff. “How… how did you three even find out about the armory in the first place?!” she exclaimed hotly. “Don’t tell me there’s somehow an entry on it in that… that journal, of all things. …Is there?” she asked hesitantly as she looked to Dipper.

“Uh, well… I don’t really see any entries on it…” he replied after pulling out the journal and flipping through its Gem-related page.

“Well, that’s a relief…” Pearl sighed, only somewhat allayed.

“But it does mention it…”

“What?” the white Gem asked, her tone rather flat but still clearly upset.

“Oh yeah!” Mabel exclaimed, looking at the journal over her brother’s shoulder. “It says it right here on the page about you guys’ weapons! The larger pieces of the Crystal Gems’ artery-”

“That’s artillery, Mabel,” Dipper corrected somewhat dryly.

“Whatever,” Mabel stuck her tongue out at her brother briefly before she continued reading. “The larger pieces of the Crystal Gems’ artillery are safely tucked away within Rose’s secret armory, which is described in further detail in journal 1.”

“J-journal 1?!” Pearl balked, stunned by this revelation. “T-there’s more of them?! But… but how did he… Whoever wrote this, he couldn’t have… There’s no way!”

“Um… Pearl?” Steven spoke up apt concern upon seeing how distressed the white Gem seemed to be over the matter. “A-are you ok?”

Pearl froze at this, her gaze snapping over to her young ward and the twins with the slightest hint of disdain in her features. “If… if that thing,” her expression turned into a sharp glare as she briefly glanced at the journal. “Wasn’t what let you three to this place… then what did?”

“Oh, Lion showed it to us,” Steven informed, perking up into a grin once again.

“The lion?!” the white Gem exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Yeah!” Mabel interjected enthusiastically. “He let out this huge roar that crashed through that wall over there and bam! Before we knew it, we were in a super -secret, super-pretty, super-sparkly cave!”

“And there’s all sorts of great stuff hidden in here too!” Steven exclaimed, hopping up onto the pedestal, the twins joining him.

“I know!” the white Gem huffed in frustration. “That’s why I wanted to bring you here! Now, let me just show you how you can access the artillery.”

“That’s ok!” the young Gem assured, walking up to the hand switch as it rose out of the ground. “I can do it without you.”

“W-wha…?” Pearl flinched, watching in bewilderment as Steven confidently slapped his hand onto the switch. However, instead of activating the impressive collection of weaponry, nothing really seemed to be happening, that is, until the young Gem realized why.

“Oh, right!” he remarked before turning to the twins. “Hey, uh… you guys mind lending me a hand here?”

“You bet!” Mabel grinned, readily running over to him.

“Uh, yeah, sure, Steven…” Dipper assented somewhat less enthusiastically, remembering how they had gotten the weapons to show up the last time they were here.

“Ok… go!” Steven exclaimed with a daring grin, prompting Mabel to poke him in the side playfully. At this movement, the first collection of weapons rose out of the pedestal’s side, much to Pearl’s surprise. “We got some… axes!”

“The Axes of Ages…?” the white Gem murmured, taken aback by the sight of the familiar weapons.

As the axes disappeared into the ground once more as Dipper pressed against Steven’s shoulder. “We got spikey chain lady and her metal dealies!” Mabel quipped as the statue toting an array of flails rose up.

“The Heretic’s Anguish?!” Pearl exclaimed, growing more disgruntled by the second.

“And a three pack of light cannons,” Dipper noted as Mabel pushed Steven’s nose, bringing the cannons up.

“The Quartizine trio!”

“And… Oh! A whole lot of armor guys,” Steven reported as both twins poked him in the sides at once, making the sets of armor appear.

“The Armor of the Fallen!” Pearl scowled, so frustrated by this point that the kids could clearly hear it in her tone.

Steven paused, his brow furrowing a bit as he looked up to the white Gem somewhat innocently. “What were we looking for again?”

“Her sword! Your mother’s sword!” Pearl practically shouted indignantly as she projected a hologram of said sword from her gemstone for the kids to see. “It’s a straight-bladed saber that’s pink with a red handle. There are vines etched in the guard that connect to a rose-shaped pommel. And it-”

“Oh! We’ve seen that thing before too!” Mabel suddenly interrupted.

The projection from Pearl’s gem briefly shifted into an exclamation point to express her shock by this news as she looked to the kids with wide eyes. “H-huh?”

“Yeah, in fact, we discovered it, like, the exact same day we discovered this place,” Dipper added, not entirely sure why this fact caused Pearl such apparent alarm.

“And I know where it is now!” Steven exclaimed with an eager grin. “Come on, I can show you!”

For a moment, Pearl stayed standing in place as the kids began to lead the way out of the armory, far too dumbfounded and stunned to even move. Needless to say, she was floored, not just by how much all three of the kids seemed to know regarding all of Rose’s seemingly best-kept secrets, but just how casual they were about it all. The armory, the sword, these were all things that Rose used to discuss with her in confidence, they were secrets the pink Gem had chosen to entrust to her and her alone. And yet, somehow and some way, not only did Steven seem to know about it all, but so did Dipper and Mabel, something that confounded Pearl seeing as how none of them had even known Rose personally at all. Still, the white Gem forced herself to remain calm (or at least as calm as she could be) for now. After all, even she didn’t know the resting place of Rose’s sword, seeing as how it apparently wasn’t in the armory. There was no way, no way that any of the kids could know where it was if she didn’t.

Right?

“Dadadadadadada… here it is!” Steven sung as he pulled the large pink blade cleanly out of Lion’s glowing mane back at the temple. The twins stood by, not too surprised at this, seeing as how they had helped him get it out of there the first time, but the Gems were all quite astonished by this display, especially Pearl.

“R-Rose’s sword…” her tone faltered as Steven handed the prized blade over to her. “But… but how did it get in there?”

“I don’t know,” Steven shrugged. “But there’s a ton of stuff in there. I keep stuff in him too!” At this, the young Gem easily hopped into the pink beast’s mane, emerging from it only seconds later, only this time, he was sitting atop his bicycle. “Ta da!” he grinned proudly, riding the bike around the den a bit as he rung its bell. “By the way, Mabel, here’s that ice cream cone you asked me to store in there last week.”

“Thanks, Steven!” Mabel grinned, gladly grabbing the cone and taking a lick. “Wow! It’s still cold and everything! I knew it wouldn’t melt if I put it in there!”

“It has grass on the side of it,” Dipper pointed out caustically, briefly glancing up from the journal.

“Well, since this grass came out of a magical lion’s mane, I’m sure it’ll taste just as magical!” Mabel countered, turning the cone over and licking the other side before instantly choking on the grass that was on it. “Ugh! I was wrong! I was so, so wrong!”

“So how’d you guys figure out that thing was in there anyway?” Amethyst asked in casual curiosity, which was a far cry from Pearl’s alarmed bewilderment over the matter. “What, did that ol’ journal tell you about it?”

“No, but it is in here,” Dipper noted, glancing down at the page with the sketch of Rose’s scabbard on it, though this time with the help of his black light. “I gotta admit, it was kind of a cool idea on the author’s part to draw it in here using invisible ink.”

“Oh yeah!” Steven grinned as he looked over the otherwise invisible drawing. “That is really cool! It’s like it’s some sort of super-secret black light bonus!”

“Oh, come on!” Pearl suddenly exclaimed, irate and exasperated. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What’s wrong, Pearl?” Mabel asked with a worried frown.

“What’s wrong is that… that book!” the white Gem huffed, glaring at the journal. “Spying on us from afar and jotting down a few notes on us is one thing, but to know about Rose’s sanctum, her sword, about her so intimately and accurately… How did this ‘author’ person even get all of this information?!”

“Maybe he really was someone you guys used to know back when Mom was still around,” Steven suggested. “And he just, I dunno, wrote the journal without telling you.”

“I don’t know…” Dipper interjected, still flipping through the Gem section of the book. “There isn’t really anything in here that makes it seem like the author was trying to keep the fact that he was writing about you three a secret. In fact, there’s actually a bunch of places where he implies that you guys helped him with his research on Gravity Falls.”

“Oh yeah?” Amethyst asked with a somewhat doubtful smirk. “Like what?”

“Like this,” Garnet said, somewhat jolted by what she saw as Dipper handed the open journal over to her, though she read the entry aloud nonetheless. “Today the Gems presented me with another odd magical item they had found in their travels, though this time it was not one of their own: the Cloak of Occasional Visibility. This mysterious article makes its wearer completely invisible—half of the time. The other half of the time, it flickers on and off again, usually at the worst possible moment, while you wander around trying to find a good invisibility ‘signal’. Very frustrating. In fact, it’s so frustrating that the Gems professed that it never works for them, so they found it best to give it to me. Not that I’ll ever have much use for such a thing, but all the same, I appreciate the thought.”

“T-the Cloak of Occasional Visibility?” Pearl balked once Garnet was done. “But… but we didn’t give that old thing away to someone! We just lost it! …D-didn’t we?”

Garnet simply shrugged, not entirely sure herself as Amethyst grabbed the journal and turned it to another page. “Oh whoa!” she exclaimed, intrigued as she looked it over. “This one’s about that creepy bunker we went to the other day! We found a location for our hidden storage bunker! Rose had originally purposed to me that we could keep our supplies within the temple, or more specifically, in Amethyst’s room, but seeing as how I’ve actually been inside of that disastrous mess before, I don’t think keeping our extremely dangerous equipment in there would have been a very wise idea. Hey!” the purple Gem scoffed in offense. “My room is not a mess. It’s just a little… cluttered.”

“H-he’s been inside the temple too?!” Pearl gasped, taking an alarmed glance back at the gate. “But that’s impossible! Who would have ever opened the gate for him? I know I never let some strange, unknown human wander into the temple.”

“Neither did I,” Garnet reported.

“Yeah, me neither,” Amethyst frowned, perplexed.

“Maybe Mom did,” Steven purposed innocently.

“But that’s… that’s just preposterous!” the white Gem turned her nose up bitterly. “Ridiculous! Completely out of the question! There’s never been a human Rose has trusted enough to take into the temple before. And even if there had been, we would have known him too!”

“But we didn’t know him,” Garnet said, her tone somehow still stoic and calm amidst all this. “And I think it might be time we come to terms with that, Pearl.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Pearl protested adamantly. “Give me that thing!” she suddenly swiped the journal out of Amethyst’s hands, furiously flipping through its pages for more evidence against this claim and instead only getting the exact opposite. “It’s clear to me now that in these uncertain times, the only one I can still turn to is my original research partner, the Gem I would trust my life with, Rose Quartz.” The white Gem had to pause briefly at this, her entire form trembling a bit, before she forced herself to continue. “In light of everything that’s happened, I feel as though Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl would simply shun me, but Rose has never been so quick to judge. Despite her understandable outrage with the true nature of our project, the bond of confidence between us still stands. I was always able to bear my secrets to her, just as she often entrusted her own secrets to me. I can only hope that she’ll understand. She has to understand. She’s the only one I… T-the only one…” Pearl’s reading grew even more shaken and uneven as she finished. “The only I still completely trust…”

The journal snapped shut at this, the white Gem turning on her heel away from the others as she held the book tightly against her chest. The other two Gems and the kids all exchanged a look of slight concern, none of them really knowing what to say to Pearl to calm or to allay her. Still, Amethyst did make an attempt by trying to pass off the entire matter as casually as possible. “So, uh… I guess that sorta proves that the author guy really did know Rose, even if we didn’t,” she shrugged, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. “I mean, it is a little weird that she never introduced him to us or anything, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

Almost as soon as the purple Gem said this, something in the white Gem seemed to snap, her manner going from alarmed and confused, to outright livid and enraged. “No!” she shouted, spinning around to face them all. “Like I said, it makes no sense! There’s no possible way that Rose could have known the author, because if she had then I would have known him too! And even if I had known him, Rose still wouldn’t have imparted any of her secrets to some… some nobody!”

“W-well,” Steven spoke up, wanting to diffuse Pearl’s quite apparent frustration over the matter by changing the subject. “What about Mom’s, uh, super secret place?” he asked, lowering his voice down to a not very discreet whisper. “You knew about that.”

“But the author sorta did too, didn’t he?” Mabel interjected somewhat innocently.

“Mabel, shh!” Dipper quickly quieted her, knowing pointing that out would do nothing to quell the white Gem’s stress.

“A-and… oh, the sword!” Steven exclaimed. “You knew about the sword!”

“And I don’t even think the author knew about where Rose hid it, seeing as how Lion isn’t mentioned in the journal at all,” Dipper said, not recalling any entry of the pink beast, at least not in the journal he possessed.

“But I didn’t know where she hid it either!” Pearl argued, glancing over at Lion sharply. As she approached the pink beast out of petulant curiosity, he merely growled at her, refusing to let her even so much as touch his magical mane. “Did… did Lion have something to do with Rose too?”

“Ohhhhh… of course!” Amethyst exclaimed in realization. “That’s why he’s pink!”

“It was a little obvious,” Garnet pointed out

“But… Rose didn’t have a lion…” the white Gem shook her head.

“Well, it seems like it’s her stuff in there,” Steven pointed out, finally putting his bike back into Lion’s mane.

“No!” Pearl protested firmly, her already palpable indignation growing even moreso. “Rose didn’t have a lion, because if Rose had a lion I would have known about it! And like I said, the very same goes for that… ‘author’ person, whoever he was!”

“Rose kept many things secret,” Garnet interjected as rationally as she could. “Even from us. If she didn’t see it fit to tell us about Lion or the author, then there’s a good chance she had her reasons for it.”

“But she never kept secrets from me!” Pearl stressed, distraught. “I was the one she told everything to!”

“Yo, you’re not the only one who misses her!” Amethyst scowled crossly.

“You can’t understand how I feel!” the white Gem practically shouted, gripping onto both the sheathed sword and the journal tightly. “None of you had what we had!”

“S-she probably just wanted to protect you,” Steven cut in with a small, reassuring smile. “Like everyone else.”

“Yeah, I mean, you said so yourself that she always used to do that,” Dipper reminded carefully. “That she always kept secrets from everyone for the ‘greater good’, or something like that.”

“And you said it was the mark of a great leader!” Mabel added, trying her best to lighten the mood. “And a bunch of other really fancy things about it too that I can’t really remember right now, but still.”

“Yeah!” Steven agreed, though he could tell that his attempt to console the very upset white Gem wasn’t really getting anywhere. Still, he wasn’t about to give up now. “It’s probably just like what Garnet said; Mom must have had a pretty good reason for not telling you about-”

“How would you know?!” Pearl interrupted, her tone far harsher than the young Gem was used to as he looked to her, startled. “You’ve never even met her!” As the white Gem shouted this, her fist slammed into the nearby wall out of sheer frustration, the very same wall that the iconic portrait of Rose herself hung. Easily knocked loose from its hanging, the picture began to tumble down towards Pearl, who could only gasp in alarm as she looked up at the falling image of her beloved liege. Fortunately, Garnet stepped in just in time, catching the portrait before it could hit her or the ground. For a moment, the white Gem remained frozen in place, shocked and shaken, but as she briefly looked towards the equally stunned young Gem, her building emotions finally came to a head.

Before Steven, or anyone else for that matter, could even say a word to her, Pearl turned heel and hurried off towards the warp pad, a tight sob escaping her as she clung onto both the sword and the journal all the while. “Fine, go!” Amethyst shouted after her harshly, her hands clenched into angry fists. “Go cry about it, like you always do!”

The purple Gems’ words fell on deaf ears as Pearl simply warped out of the temple, much to the kids’ shared concern for a number of reasons. “Aw, poor Pearl!” Mabel exclaimed with sincere sympathy. “We gotta go after her and make sure she’s ok!”

“And not to mention, she still has the journal! We have to get it back!” Dipper added, quite alarmed by that fact alone, especially given the white Gem’s current unstable mindset. Though still, he did catch shared disapproving frowns from both Steven and Mabel at this, prompting him to correct his statement. “And uh, make sure Pearl’s ok, like you said.”

“Where did she go?” Steven asked, turning to his two remaining guardians.

“Who cares?” Amethyst glowered, crossing her arms bitterly. “I hate it when she gets like this.”

“Garnet?” the young Gem looked towards the Gem leader, who offered no response as she simply continued to hold onto the portrait of Rose, almost as if she was frozen in place too. “I-is she ok?” he tried again, only for Garnet to remain silent, not so much as even glancing over her shoulder at him. “Well, uh… we’re going to find her. Lion, do you know where she went?” he asked, turning to the pink beast who simply let out a soft roar as his answer. “I’m… going to assume that means you do.”

“Let’s go find Pearl!” Mabel proclaimed boldly, already climbing onto Lion’s back as the boys soon joined her. The pink beast didn’t need much prompting, save for a mere pat from Steven, before he bowed low and let out a fierce roar, one that managed to tear open a transport portal that hopefully led to wherever the white Gem had fled to.

Garnet finally turned somewhat as the kids rode Lion through that portal, a hint of genuine concern in her tone as she imparted them with the best well wishes she could offer at the moment. “Good luck…”

As it turned out, Pearl had retreated to the very place that had started all of this sword-and-scabbard related drama earlier that very day: the strawberry battlefield. Night had fallen over the rolling expanse of oversized fruits and massive weapons, but with the full silver moon hanging high in the radiantly starry sky, which allowed the kids to easily spot the white Gem almost as soon as Lion’s portal landed them there.

“Pearl!” Steven called over to her with apt concern. Her back was turned away from them, the sword and journal both still wrapped tightly in her embrace and her expression awash in grief and despair. She bristled upon hearing the young Gem’s call however, and she didn’t hesitate to spare a glare over her should at the kids, showing that she was clearly not pleased with them following her.

“Leave me alone!” Pearl shouted fiercely, not hesitating to sprint off in the opposite direction. The kids exchanged a look of confused concern at this, none of them quite sure as to why the white Gem was so adamant on simply sitting in her feelings of frustration and sadness instead of letting them help her get past them. But all the same, the trio continued to peruse her, with Steven pressing Lion onward to create another portal just for them to catch up with her. Pearl gasped in heated alarm as the pink beast and his trio of riders suddenly appeared alongside her, though of course, this only prompted her to run faster in an attempt to further distance herself from them.

“Wait for us!” Steven shouted earnestly, pushing Lion on to try and keep up with her, to little avail. “We just wanna help you!”

“Yeah!” Mabel added just as fervently. “If you slow down a bit, then I’m sure we can all just sit down and talk all of this really heavy stuff out and-”

“No, we can’t!” Pearl argued, stopping only briefly as she jumped onto one of the first of what nearly seemed like a disjointed staircase of floating earthen platforms. “Now get that thing away from me-” she scowled hatefully at Lion. “And all of you, just go home!”

Without sparing another word, the white Gem continued deftly jumping from platform to platform, the load she was carrying barely even slowing her pace at all. As they reached the edge of the cliff, Lion came to halt, his trio of passengers dismounting as they all fretfully watched Pearl run even further away from them and her own pressing problems.

“You better sit this one out, Lion,” Steven said to the pink beast as he patted his side, knowing he was be the last thing the white Gem wanted to see at the moment.  

“Actually, Steven, we should probably sit this one out too,” Dipper cut in, referring to both himself and Mabel. “After all, you’re easily the best out of all of us when it comes to making people feel better, which is probably what Pearl needs the most right about now.”

“Oh, come on, bro-bro,” Mabel huffed, wanting to be a part of this. “I’m great at making people feel better. Remember last week when I cheered Soos up by going out and finding that stray cat for him? Then again… that cat did end up scratching his face up before running away… not to mention that Soos is actually allergic to cats…” She frowned as the boys looked to her dubiously, ultimately forcing her to retract her earlier claim. “You know what, Steven, it might be better if just you went up there after all.”

“Ok, well then here goes nothing,” Steven said with resolve as he turned towards the staircase of platforms. “Pearl!” he called after the still fleeing white Gem, narrowly jumping onto the first one as he struggled to remain steady atop it. “It’s ok! I’ve had a talk with Lion and he’s gonna, uh, chill out here! It’ll be just the two of us, nice and private!”

Pearl offered no response, nor even a glance down at him as she neared the uppermost and largest grassy platform, prompting Steven to continue following her. “G-good idea!” he called, jumping to the next platform, which wobbled a bit upon his landing. “I’ll meet you at the top!”

“Do you think he can actually make it all the way up there?” Dipper asked Mabel, aptly concerned as they watched Steven struggle to bridge the gap between the floating pieces of earth.

“Eh, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mabel grinned with a wave of her hand, failing to notice Steven barely his next jump and only catching onto the edge of another platform by a thin margin.

But all the same, the young Gem kept going, despite how daunting and challenging this upward climb was. Even as he began to near the highest outcropping himself, he was breathless and exhausted, having had several close calls that could have resulted in him falling into the wide, deep chasm below. Still, his spirits remained as high as they could, given the circumstances. “This… this is really hard to do in sandals!” he joked up to the white Gem, letting out a small laugh that, of course, she did not return.

“Go away!” she shouted down to him, pausing only briefly to send him another cold glare before continuing on her way onto the last platform

“Pearl!” Steven called back, growing desperate as he hopped onto another platform, nearing that wide finishing jump himself. “Did I… did I do something wrong? You gotta tell me!”

As Pearl disappeared from his view, Steven took a few steps back on the small platform he was on, knowing that there was a good chance he might not actually make this last jump, given just how far and high he would have to go. He paused before attempting it though, casting a small, somewhat fearful glance down to the twins and Lion, who were all still intently watching him from what seemed like miles below now. But despite his nerves and his fatigue, the young Gem pushed himself onward, getting a good running start before he made his bold leap towards the last platform.

Time seemed to slow as he sailed through the air towards it, and for a moment, it seemed as though, against all odds, that he was going to make it. However, his confidence in this belief was instantly shattered as he caught sight of Pearl, standing atop the platform itself. Rose’s sword was locked tightly in her grip, held high over her head as its tip pointed downward towards the journal resting before her in the grass. There was no question that her intention was to run the blade through the book, as if doing so would sever whatever mysterious connections the pink Gem apparently had to its unknown author once and for all. And she was more than ready to do it too, though as she noticed Steven getting closer, her gaze abruptly snapped in her direction, allowing him to clearly see the anger, sadness, and agony written all over her expression. And that intense look of disdain was enough to end the young Gem’s jump right in its tracks.

“Steven!” Pearl’s fury dissipated into panic as Steven suddenly started falling, missing even the edge of the platform by a wide margin. From their spot on the ground below, the twins echoed this shout of fearful concern, both of them more than ready to jump onto Lion and rush to his rescue in a moment’s notice. Fortunately, they didn’t have to, as Steven managed to catch onto one of the vines growing out from the chunk of earth before he could fall too far. For a moment, all the young Gem could do was hold onto the roots for dear life, refusing to look down for a moment as he instead looked up. Briefly, he could see Pearl glancing over the edge at him, but she was too far for her to clearly read her expression. Oddly enough though, she made no effort to come down at help him up, something that confused Steven a bit, but reminded him why he was doing this in the first place: to help her.

“Steve, are you ok?!” Dipper called up to the young Gem from down below, still quite alarmed by what had almost just happened.

“Uh, yeah!” Steven shouted back, even if he was effectively hanging by a metaphorical thread.

“Do you need us to come up there and help you?” Mabel asked loudly, more than ready to hop onto Lion to do so.

“N-no!” the young Gem assured as he began to steadily scale the thick roots upward. “I… I got this!”

Neither of the twins were entirely convinced by this, but still, they decided to let him continue on by himself, watching with shared relief as he eventually did climb up to the top of the platform safe and sound. Still, while that had been simple enough, neither of them were really sure how Steven planned on going about resolving the real matter at hand here, but even so, they didn’t dare doubt that he could. After all, they had both seen him fix this kind of problem before, especially when it came to his fellow Gems, with more tact and skill than anyone else. And while Pearl’s current breakdown was perhaps the heaviest and most intense they had witnessed thus far, there was no question that Steven would be able to work his magic, whatever that was, once again.

As the young Gem shakily rose to stand atop the large outcropping, he was beyond exhausted, mostly physically, but also somewhat emotionally as well. Still, he put his own feelings on pause for the moment, especially as he looked ahead and saw the white Gem sitting on the ground just several feet away. Her back was turned to him, her knees pulled to her chest and a hand cupped over her mouth as she let out a small, depressed sob. Apparently, she had given up on her attempt to stab the journal, as it instead sat a short distance away from her, intact and unharmed, Rose’s sword resting in its scabbard close beside her. Steven could tell just by looking at her just how shaken and distressed she was as he took a small, hesitant step towards her, but before he could even say a word to her, she spoke instead.

“To think that she would entrust her secrets, secrets that she only ever shared with me and me alone… to a complete and utter stranger…” she muttered bitterly, her tearful gaze fixated on the journal. “Who was he? Why didn’t I know him? Why did he matter so much to her that she would trust him… over me?”

Steven stopped at this, his already concerned frown deepening as he realized he had all of these same questions concerning his mother and the author himself. And yet, for as curious as he was to know what the link between the two of them was, he knew that now was no time to ponder over such things. Now was the time for something else altogether. “P-Pearl,” he began, somewhat unevenly, though he forced intent into his tone as he took another step towards her. “Pearl, you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

The white Gem’s shoulders dropped a little at this, a small, ironic, almost inaudible laugh escaping her as she finally addressed her young ward himself. “Sometimes… you even sound like her…” she admitted incredulously, her hand digging a bit into the grass beside her. “Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories? We were right here.” Pearl finally stood as Steven finished his approach, stopping just a few feet away from her as she pushed the journal aside with her foot so that it could rest alongside the sword. “It was over 5,000 years ago… On a night just like this one…”

As if to answer several of Steven’s pressing questions, a bright holographic image flushed out of Pearl’s gemstone, an imagine that was unmistakable even from behind: Rose Quartz. The young Gem was stunned into complete silence at this, his expression solemn as he glanced up at this projection of his mother, one that Pearl humbly bowed to one knee before out of loyalty and respect. As the hologram of the pink Gem finally turned, Pearl spoke for it as well as herself, acting out the decisive conversation that had taken place between them so many centuries before.

“Pearl…” the hologram of Rose spoke, the white Gem’s voice a touch softer as she gave it a voice.

“Yes?” Pearl immediately answered, looking up to her leader intently.

A look of worry washed over the pink Gem’s transparent face, one that, while still incredibly beautiful, was etched with a kind of exhaustion and regret that Steven never knew his mother could even feel. “I’m going to stay and fight for this planet,” she said, glancing away from the white Gem. “You know, just as much as I do, that the things that live here, as precious and special as they are, deserve to survive and be free. And so, I’m ready to do what I must to give them that freedom. This war won’t be easy and it won’t be short. You don’t have to do this with me.”

“B-but I want to!” Pearl professed boldly, without a moment’s doubt. “I want to fight by your side! To stand by you and be there for you, no matter what the cost!”

“I know you do…” Rose said, the concern on her expression only deepening at this. “But this isn’t as simple as you think. It’s not just about fighting and battles and the other Gems… It’s about what comes after it all ends. Please, please understand… if we lose, we’ll be killed. And if we win, we can never go home.”

Pearl scoffed lightly at this, letting out a small, incredulous laugh as she shook her head. “Why would I ever want to go home, if you’re here?” she asked, smiling brightly up at her beloved leader.

At first, Rose seemed taken aback by this, but her surprise quickly shifted into a warm grin followed by a soft, small chuckle. That smile remained as she extended her hand out to the amazed white Gem, as if it was both a sign of the resolved pact they were making together, and so, so much more. “My Pearl…” Rose’s tone was soothing and sweet and fond, all things that seemed to fill the white Gem with inspiration and hope and affection all at once.

“You’re wonderful…” she sighed contentedly, lightly taking her leader’s hand and placing a gentle, loving kiss upon it. The moment she did so, the hologram abruptly burst into the bits of light it was made of, startling Pearl somewhat as it broke her out of the moment and reminded her that nothing had really been there all along. A beat of silence followed, only the sound of the nighttime crickets filling it in until Pearl spoke once again. “Everything I ever did, I did for her…” she sighed, turning her gaze up towards the stars. “I followed her, to the ends of the Earth, and trusted every word she said like it was law. And she trusted me too… Or at least… that’s what I always thought...” The white Gem looked down, casting a small glance at the journal before shaking her head and dropping her kneeling stance into a sit. “And now, she’s gone. But I’m still here. Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes,” she said, addressing Steven as he quietly lowered himself to his knees behind her. “What would she think of me now…?”

The young Gem hesitated during the silence that followed, unsure of what to say after everything he had just seen and heard. While Steven was usually quite empathetic and quick to pick up on the feelings of those around him, he was having something of a hard time completely comprehending what Pearl was going through at the moment, mostly because her feelings about his mother, her passing, the sword, the journal, and everything else were all so complex and deep. But perhaps, he didn’t need to understand what those feelings were as much as he understood how to help her deal with them.

Pearl was taken by surprise a bit as Steven suddenly hugged her from behind, his head resting against the back of her shoulder as he filled in the gaps for her the best he could. “Well… I think you’re pretty great.”

The tears the white Gem had been holding back finally welled up to the surface at this lone, simple, yet genuine statement, one that was enough to fill her with overwhelming relief, guilt, joy, and grief all at once. She took in a deep breath, one that was almost more like a sob as she let it out, and though she didn’t return her young ward’s embrace, she didn’t try to stop it either. The two of them stayed like that for quite some time, neither one saying anything, not that there was really much to be said in the first place. Even as they broke apart and stood sometime later, the bulk of the words that passed between them came in the form of a terse but sincere apology from Pearl, one that Steven readily accepted as she helped him bounce down the floating platforms and back down to the twins and Lion.

While Dipper and Mabel did softly joke with Steven and Pearl about how long they had been waiting for, neither of them could deny that they were quite relieved to see that the young Gem had managed to get his guardian to come around. It was clear that the white Gem’s ongoing melancholy still remained, but all the same, she put on a soft, amicable smile for all three of the kids as she revealed that she had brought both the journal and the sword back down with her, both of them perfectly intact. The former she simply handed back to Dipper, mostly because she didn’t really want much else to do with the implications contained within it, and the latter she entrusted to Steven, though he was quick to put insistently place her hand back upon its pommel as a sign of goodwill. Pearl’s smile widened a little at this, even if it still looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. But for the kids’ sake, she held them back.

Knowing that the sword would be safest within its former resting place, that’s where they all agreed it should go again, until there ever came a need for it the future. Lion’s eyes were glowing bright as he bowed low, allowing Steven and Pearl to push the sheathed blade into his mane together. Still, even with the precious sword finally at rest, the kids could tell that the white Gem was still a bit down, which was why Steven took the lead in trying to cheer her up. With a wry grin, the young Gem began pulling a string of tied together hankies out of the pink beast’s mane as something of a “magic” trick, one that he easily recruited Mabel to help him out with. They continued their attempt to entertain Pearl by pulling several more random objects out of Lion’s mane, making cheerful jokes and jabs all the while. And though the white Gem was mildly amused by these lighthearted theatrics, her genuine interest was only garnished after Dipper handed the open journal over to her, pointing out a particular passage that she had never seen before. And, as Pearl curiously began reading through its contents, tears finally started forming in her eyes once more:

“If there’s one thing between the Crystal Gems that is completely without question, it’s the breadth and depth of Pearl’s unwavering devotion to Rose. Her ever word, thought, and action all seem to be aimed to the goal of showing her undying loyalty to her leader. While some might call this kind of behavior obsessive or even manic, I find her dedication to be quite admirable, something that Rose firmly agrees with me on. She once told me just how much she appreciates Pearl’s endless resolve, how it serves as a constant inspiration to her to be the best leader she can be for all three of her fellow Gems. To pledge oneself to another, not out of fear, but out of the deepest sense of love and respect… its certainly understandable that such fidelity would serve as an inspiration, even to someone as inspirational as Rose Quartz herself.”

A soft, yet almost happy sob escaped Pearl as she finished reading this, one of her teardrops hitting the page as she placed a gentle hand over it. While this was something that Rose had never confided in her about, the white Gem strangely enough bore no anger towards the author for knowing it over her. In fact, receiving the revelation that Rose, of all people, saw her as an inspiration, now, filled Pearl with immeasurable comfort and contentment. And, as she solemnly shut the journal and gave it back to Dipper, she smiled at the book instead of glaring at it, realizing that, perhaps, despite its mysterious, unknown origins, it wasn’t as much of an affront to the bond of trust between her and Rose after all.

Still, the white Gem only had a moment to come to peace with the journal, for as soon as it left her hands, Steven called for her attention once more. As she looked over to him, her confusion soon turned to complete surprise, her jaw dropping in amazement as the young Gem pulled none other than Rose’s iconic battle flag out of Lion’s mane. Her spirits practically soared upon seeing the flag, which she had believed to have been lost centuries ago, and emboldened by its reappearance, she insisted on detailing its role in the war to the kids. As they all took a seat against Lion and enjoyed the popcorn Steven had pulled out of the pink beast’s mane, Pearl jumped to her feet, gripping the flag tightly as she began dramatically recounting how her, Rose, and the other Crystal Gems stood their ground against their Homeworld and triumphed for the sake of the Earth and its inhabitants. The kids were all fully gripped by the white Gem’s compelling tale, though by the time she was finished hours later, they all mutually agreed that it was about time they headed home for the night.

The battle flag rested over Pearl’s shoulder as she sat upon Lion’s back, the twins both sitting half asleep behind her and Steven smiling softly as he guided the pink beast back to the warp pad in front of her. After everything that had happened over the past few hours alone, the white Gem wasn’t entirely sure how to feel at this juncture, her emotions swirling in both lingering regret and sadness but also hope and peace. As she took a small glance down at the young Gem in front of her, something inside of her seemed to tremble a bit, both with pain and with fondness. Steven was so much like his mother, so much that it sometimes hurt Pearl to even think about the similarities between them. But at the same time, he was so drastically different from her, in ways that continued to confuse and bewilder the white Gem more and more each day. In fact, the more Pearl thought about it, the more she was starting to realize that perhaps she didn’t know as much as she thought she did.

She had been Rose’s oldest and most beloved confidant, but even that didn’t mean that the pink Gem told her everything, something that both Lion and the journal were clear proof of. And while some part of her might have seen this as a betrayal or a sign of mistrust, another part of her wanted to believe that Steven had been right. Perhaps, instead of trying to keep things from her out of duplicity and chicanery, Rose had sequestered some things from her to protect her, to keep her safe and happy and loved. And the more Pearl pondered over this possibility, the more she realized that such an action on Rose’s part was not only noble and selfless, it was the purest, most sincere form of showing how much she really did mean to her.

Pearl had always believed it to be her job to shield Rose from anything that could have harmed or injured her, but Rose had done the very same thing for her, only in a completely different way. She had protected Rose, Rose had protected her, and in that way, they had kept each other not only alive for centuries upon centuries; they had kept each other thriving. And, as they left the battlefield where they had decided to make their brazen stand together more than 5,000 years ago, Pearl knew that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

 Next: 

#universe falls #steven universe #gravity falls #crossover #au #jen writes #rose's scabbard #pearl #steven #dipper #mabel #stan #garnet #amethyst #lion #rose quartz #reverse casar again #imo glad its done #imma write more angst now #cause i cant fucking draw so what else am i supposed to do with my idle time #ugh