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saeran-imagines · 3 years

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Did you see the birthday chats from 2019? Specifically the one where Saeran (as "Unknown") invites you to come eat ice cream and watch Netflix with him? Since Saeran's birthday is coming up again, could you write what if MC had taken him up on his offer and gone to meet him? (Jindere has a video of the chats on youtube if you haven't seen it/want a refresher!) I'm obsessed with the idea of this happening and I love your writing so I'd love to read this from you 🥰

Heya! I remember those birthday chats omg, I just had to buy the picture that went along with them when it became available! That and the 707 version are just so pretty, I had them as my desktop background for a good while 🥰

I made this longer than I meant omg! I wanted to get it done in time for his birthday, which, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAERAN !! (and seven too but this blog ain’t about you ❤) I have a bias for the soft Saerans so I didn’t think I’d like writing for Unknown as much as I did, but I had a lot of fun with this 😊 I hope you all like it!

You fiddle with your phone, the broken looking chat room open to “Unknown’s” messages. That hacker… what kind of person is he? There’s no doubt he’s up to no good, but he’s never done anything that would put you in danger. Quite the opposite, actually. You have a feeling he’d rush to your rescue if you found yourself in a bad situation. “It’s my birthday today. Meet me outside the building at 8 and I’ll show you a great time.” Coming from anyone else it’d sound creepy as hell, it should sound creepy as hell, he’s a complete stranger who hacked your phone, but… the feeling of dread you imagine would come before getting axe murdered just isn’t there. And more than that, there’s something in the way he typed, in the long pauses between messages that seemed… lonely. You look at the clock- 7:50. Taking a deep breath, you force yourself up, pull on a coat, and take the elevator down to the first floor. You wouldn’t be able to stand not knowing what might have happened if you didn’t go meet this mystery person. And hey, it could very well be a great time.

You take up a position right outside the building and look around- nobody seems to be here yet. The sun has started its trek downwards, the shadow on the building long enough to reach the other side of the road. It’s a little late to be out. What does he have planned? You take another deep breath and try to relax, worrying won’t do you any good. You check your phone- 7:53. Has it really only been 3 minutes? It feels like you’ve been waiting here for hours. Footsteps followed by a figure rounding the corner next to you cause you to perk up, but another person follows shortly after and you quickly look back down again, dejected. The couple shoots you a suspicious glance, keeping enough distance from you that they end up walking on the road as they pass you on the sidewalk. You must look strange, you realize, fiddling with your thumbs and glancing back and forth in the dark shadow of a building. You sigh, this is a little ridiculous. Just as you’re considering going back inside and forgetting about this whole evening, you feel a tap on your shoulder.

“Hey, doll,” a smooth low voice sounds from where your shoulder was tapped, and you whip around to see the source. “You actually came.” You notice his eyes first, a striking minty blue that almost glows in the dim light. Then you notice his white suit that matches perfectly with his hair, pink accents and all. Aren’t hackers supposed to be subtle? The only things about him that match your mental stereotype are the dark circles under his eyes and the mask covering the lower half of his face. Neither detract from his allure, though. He looks like you could find him on the cover of a fashion magazine. He chuckles at your stunned silence. “What, liking what you see?”

“Ah! Uh-” you stutter out. “You just… weren’t what I was expecting.” You can’t see his mouth under the mask, but you know he’s smirking anyways.

“Oh?” he teases. “And what did you expect?” You try your best to regain your composure. This isn’t the time to be making googly eyes at strangers. God, it’s been way too long since you’ve interacted with someone. You haven’t had the chance to after temporarily moving into that apartment.

“I don’t know, some weirdo in a ski mask?” you joke, making him chuckle again. You feel yourself starting to relax. He seems like a kind enough person, despite the teasing, and talking to him is comfortable. This night might turn out better than you expected. “So, what are we doing tonight?”

“Well, I hope you like ice cream. My favorite parlor stays open late, I figured I deserve a birthday treat. You know, since I’ve been such a good boy recently,” he laughs. It’s a giddier laugh than you expected from him, he must have been looking forward to this for a while. He holds out his hand for you to take. “Shall we?” You pause, looking down at his gloved hand. You can feel that this is the last chance you have to change your mind, to take the elevator back up to the apartment and forget about this interaction. Taking hold of his hand would form a contract that binds you to his side for the rest of the night. After a moment of deliberating you grasp his hand, perhaps a bit too tight. You’ve already gotten this far, your curiosity won’t let the night end until you learn more about this strange man. You flash him the most convincing smile you can muster.

“Let’s go.” He weaves you through the city, taking more than a few sketchy shortcuts through alleyways and unexpected detours. He must have to be careful to avoid detection in his line of work, he’s walking as if he’s trying to confuse anyone who might be tracking him. He makes some small talk along the way, prying you for your thoughts about various RFA members and asking you about your life outside the messenger. You learn that he has a bit of a soft spot for Jumin, seeming to appreciate his cold honesty and business oriented mindset. From the short walk you’ve had with this stranger he seems to be the type to prefer fun over work, but you suppose you’ve only seen one side of him. So far, that is.

You arrive at your destination after around 20 minutes of walking. It’s a small sweets shop painted white and baby blue. A chalkboard sign shows the flavors of the day through the window, around half crossed out due to the business day nearing its end. You feel a light squeeze around the hand that you nearly forgot was being held by the hacker. When you look up at him you can see sparkles in his eyes. When he notices your stare he looks away, is he embarrassed? “Sorry if I startled you, darling.” He apologizes for his sudden excitement, letting go of your hand “My flavor is still in stock,” he says with a smile. “Shall we go inside?” He holds the door open for you and you thank him, walking inside and losing yourself in the sweet scent.

“Welcome!” the chipper cashier calls out. “Do you two know what you’d like?” Your partner wastes no time in calling out a practiced order, something with mint and a waffle cone that you don’t quite catch as you scan the overwhelming array of colors and flavors. Not wanting to spend too much time gawking, you throw out a fast ‘I’ll have what he’s having’ and make your way towards the counter.

“Good choice,” your partner of the evening says with a grin. You stop him as he starts reaching towards his pocket. He tilts his head at you with a questioning stare.

“It’s your birthday, right?” you state more than ask. “My treat.” You pull out and swipe your card before he has a chance to protest. He doesn’t speak for a few seconds, not expecting this act of kindness, but he quickly recovers with a laugh and a thank you as he takes his cone. “Where to?” you ask once you both successfully make it out of the shop with delicious looking chocolate dipped mint chocolate chip ice cream cones. You want to see how it tastes, but a deep rooted birthday etiquette that lives inside of you forbids you from taking the first bite. That’s reserved for the birthday boy, after all!

“Just up there,” he points to a nearby hill. “You can see the stars really well.” You smile and nod before starting the trek. It’s a cool evening, luckily, so your ice cream only barely starts to drip on the way up. Talking to the mysterious hacker seems to get easier as time goes on. Any leftover anxiety you had fades as you make light conversation and tease each other. It feels like you’ve known him for years. You attribute at least some of it to the ice cream, his speech has become a lot more bubbly and a lot less guarded after he got his hands on his cone. You never thought you’d call the person who broke into your phone cute, but you can’t help but smile at how happy he seems.

You reach the top of the hill before you know it. A blanket is already laid out at the very top, and he guides you to sit beside him on it. It’s not a huge blanket, your shoulders are nearly touching. Which is NOT something to blush about, you tell yourself. He pulls his mask down for the first time tonight, leaving you to stare at him for a bit longer than you would have liked to. He was definitely handsome, but there’s a layer of familiarity that you can’t quite put your finger on. His pretty lips turn up in a smirk.

“What are you staring at?” You almost miss it, but his hands fidget slightly as he asks the question. Maybe he’s a bit more insecure than he lets on? You try to get past some of your shyness for his sake, if he’s worried about his looks you’d like to reassure him.

“Nothing much, I just think you look nice,” you smile, feeling just a bit of heat creep to your face. “Now-” you quickly change the subject. “You have to take the first bite of your ice cream so I can have mine. Birthday rules, and all.”

“Okay, okay, whatever you say, doll,” he chuckles. He takes a bite, trying to catch all the ice cream that threatens to drip off. “There.” You grin and have a taste, too. There’s something about small shops that make everything taste a thousand times better. It’s the sweetest, creamiest ice cream you’ve ever had.

“Good, right?” he asks, already knowing your answer from the big smile on your face.

“Yup!” you exclaim. You finish your treats in a comfortable silence. The stars really are beautiful from the top of this hill, they appear so much bigger and brighter without the light pollution from the city. You glance to your side to see him looking back at you.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asks. He’s closer than you remember.

“Yeah,” you breathe. “The stars are beautiful.” His eyes are shining like stars, too. The darkness has made their unnatural color stand out even more, it would be so easy to get lost looking into them. You force your gaze back to the sky, trying to ignore how fast your heart is beating. “Are you? Enjoying yourself, I mean? It’s your birthday, after all.”

“Yeah, I am,” he says without missing a beat. “It’s not often that I get to go out like this.”

“Because of your hacking job?” you ask.

“Yeah, something like that.” He sighs and leans back, looking up at the stars once again. What kind of life does he have? It’s hard to get a read on him. You can talk to him like an old friend but you don’t even know his name. You get the feeling he wouldn’t tell you even if you asked. Better not to, then. You’re satisfied with the little snippets of him that you’ve gotten today, and if he wants to reveal more you’ll let him do that at his own pace.

“Well, I’m glad I came out to meet you then.” He looks over at you again, studying your face. Almost like he’s waiting for you to take it back, or turn it into a joke. You don’t.

“Yeah, me too.”

#saeran #saeran choi #saeran x reader #mystic messenger #mystic messenger imagines #mystic messenger x reader #mysme #unknown #saeran birthday #awawa writing this made me like unknown more #aaHhhhHH I'd ramble in the tags like I usually do but I gotta rush to get ready for something eheheh #I was gonna edit this last night but I was so tired AAAA #so I'm rushing this morning for his birthday I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT #andddDDd if you read this far #have a great day :>

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purity-town · 3 years

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Little late getting to these -- that's fully the fault of a class project I spent all of Monday/Tuesday and most of Wednesday working on -- but I finished my project and wrote up some long replies to these!

(Apologies for any funny formatting -- I'm trying out the beta for the new post editor!)

Absolutely not.

Nope! There are a few people who do know (other guides Andrew's met before, the Dryad, and I'd imagine the Witch Doctor knows something's up even if he doesn't know why), but none of them live in Purity Town proper, and the Dryad and Witch Doctor aren't the kind to participate in rumors or spread what isn't theirs to share. The old man is also aware just because he and Andrew have talked about their curses, but he's 1) not currently in town and 2) not going to share even if he were.

Most folks don't know much about Andrew in general; Becca probably knows the most out of the townsfolk, knowing a little bit about his family and where he's from (he has some pretty specific skills as a hunter that betray this, but he doesn't talk about his exact town of birth), but no specifics and certainly not time periods.

Andrew is good at keeping things quiet; he has to be.

I would actually appreciate if you didn't post to Pinterest -- usually I'm fine with people reposting with credit (several of the things I've posted to my DeviantArt have found their way to Instagram, for example) but Pinterest has something of a reputation for stolen art (things being reposted from another Pinterest post without credit this time, or credit being hard to view for users not logged in or just viewing through Google). So reposting elsewhere is fine (though if you repost to Reddit or Instagram, tag me at u/Ariibees or @Ariibees)! I'd just prefer my works stay off of Pinterest.

The terminology related to The Guide/Andrew/The Guardian/The World’s Core/The WoF is all confusing because on some level, they’re all the same being. Kind of like trying to talk about Jekyll and Hyde -- same guy, different looks/actions, haha.

For all intents and purposes, references to the WoF being the barrier/core/whatever behind or within which the spirits of light and dark are contained is equivalent to saying “these spirits are held trapped by the magic of the Guardian, who when summoned appears as the WoF.” I do break slightly from the official lore in how the WoF/Guardian/thing holding back these spirits works (mostly because I don’t really like the idea that the Hallow is a “temporary guardian” or whatever), but the basic concept of “these are trapped by [thing that makes up the WoF]” remains unchanged.

If “loony cultist” is a reference to something, I’m so sorry, but I’m lost on it. If you’re just talking about the lunatic cultist in a funny way, then yes, they’re in here as a very plot-significant character!

I had to google what meme you were talking about, but it did make me laugh.

Andrew’s most annoyed by the nickname because people do like to call him Guide, and for someone who’s dedicated his whole life to his role, it can get tiring. He doesn’t really *mind* being called Guide -- it’s fine, that’s what he is and as long as people are respectful of his job he’ll take what he can get -- but at the same time, he’d like for people to stop thinking “Aah! Monster!” or “Weird academic know-it-all” and just...treat him like a normal person sometimes. So he fights to be called Andrew. And...Malik comes along and gives him a nickname that he doesn’t like and doesn’t allow others to use, save for maybe a small group of people of which Malik is not a part. So, not cool, man!

People love to overcomplicate explaining shading/lighting, and if you wanted to you could certainly go on and on about reflections of light off the ground and shading colors and all sorts of things, but as I’m writing this at 1 AM I don’t really care to.

If you really want to get into shading, I see nice ones on DeviantArt or Tumblr from time to time, or you can always watch a YouTube video on it. Really, though, just keep at it, think about how the shadows should look and work, and you'll get better at it eventually and pick up new ideas on how it all works. (And this is coming from someone who is new to making comics and actually started as a painter.)

Purity Town’s shading comes down to this: simplicity. As much as I’d love to spend hours and hours redrawing the panels I don’t like and carefully shading every fold of fabric and painting detailed backgrounds, I’m a full-time college student and will be working full-time over the summer -- I don’t have the time. So, I cut corners: I reuse backgrounds or use brushes (see: bricks, trees, clouds) that make certain details easier, and I try not to obsess too much over panels I’m not fully happy with. Shadows go where they feel right, and light on the opposite side.

For shading, this comes down to making things quick and easy. For these last few pages, character shading/lighting has only been five layers. One hard light layer for the bluer soft shadows, one overlay layer for darker soft shadows, one linear burn layer for hard shadows, one soft light layer for soft lighting, and one overlay layer for hard lighting. I’ll often also make use of glow dodge layers for lighting, or change the color balance or add more hard/soft light layers if there’s a very heavy color filter on the scene (such as a celestial event, blood moon, or outdoors at night).

Using all the different layer types is essentially a cheat code to fancier lighting -- don’t want to use flat black? Boom, hard light or overlay or burn will give you colored shadows. Want to make your light brighter? Glow dodge will make it burn your retinas.

Sorry that this isn’t a very comprehensive guide, but in my mind, shading and lighting is really something that you pick up over time and it’s hard to sit down and write a guide for it without making it into a massive essay on art theory that I don't even know proper terminology for because I'm not an art student. Of course with some googling you’ll find *proper* guides for this sort of thing from art majors and the likes, and those can be super helpful and technical! But for Purity Town, I just sort of go with what feels right and what's easy to replicate.

Firstly, I’m happy to hear you’re liking the comic!

Secondly, those buttons are actually there due to the theme! (For those on mobile who can’t see it, I have the theme set to only display on desktop as I prefer the current mobile layout on phone.) I’m using the simple webcomic theme (a quick Google should tell you how to install it for yourself) -- except I’m not actually using it for the webcomic features; rather, it’s a case of “this is the most simple, nice-looking non-default theme I could find.”

The previous/next buttons are added by the theme with the intent that the blog is being used as a typical webcomic website, with nothing but comic pages being posted. However, I post asks and other art here too, and I do so with the intent that people looking at #Terraria or their dashboards in general will see it. So...I use html formatting to make the first/previous/next/last links, along with an index and chapter-by-chapter viewing (using /tagged/chapter##/chrono) so that no matter where you’re coming from, you can still navigate just the pages!

If you want to add just the previous/next buttons, I can’t really help you -- web development is not my area of study in the slightest. But you can check out the theme that they come from and if you want to install only them, you can surely find a tutorial on it somewhere!

(As a side note, the comments section is not from the theme, it’s from a site called Disqus. I don’t expect many people, if anyone, to leave comments, but since I link back to this site a lot and many folks don’t have Tumblr accounts, it’s an option I like to make available.)

Hiya! My hike was pretty nice; it was a short and easy one, but that was quite appreciated as the trail is unmaintained from November to April, and the trail was covered in fallen trees and quite rocky. Still had fun, though!

And for backgrounds, it depends! For indoors scenes (or outdoors scenes with buildings) I don’t tend to use references, outside of looking up things like “which side of a door is the handle on.” I will, however, integrate real-life textures (see: the quilt and rug in Guide’s house, the wood walls on the building in the background of this week’s page), and paint over paintings from the Terraria wiki.

For outdoors scenes, for simple backgrounds (such as foliage-heavy) ones, I typically don’t need references. I like the difference between detailed, lined indoor/man-made object scenes vs. painted, messy outdoor scenes. But for things like mountains, I do sometimes look up references to help with color choices and the likes.

The town’s layout is a bit strange in that depending on the scene, the background could be drastically different. One side of town faces more mountainside, one side faces the orchards/open hillside, and the other two sides face various degrees of open space and more mountainside/forest. References taken on top of mountains are helpful to get an idea of what degree of foliage I should include between the characters and the sky.

Though this is very specific to the town of Purity -- other towns/villages will have significantly different-looking backgrounds, even the foliage-heavy ones.

That said, what's even more helpful than looking at photos is looking at paintings. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is really good for getting an idea of how to draw grasslands and distant mountains, plus Studio Ghibli movies in general!

#purity town #pt asks #terraria #not an update

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spacegaywritings · 4 years

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Of shared Passions and shed Tears - Oneshot

Ship: familial Remile x Virgil Summary: Remy and Emile have been married for a long while but it has not been that long ever since they adopted Virgil. Remy comes home one day to find their child a crying and sniffling mess but instead of just comforting them, they cherish their family together and bond because Remy is the opposite of a neglectful parent. Virgil uses he/him + they/them and is genderfluid (as well as a stimming ADHD nerd) ao3 ; Words: 3051 My KoFi - Support me ♥ or Commission me

Story under the cut:

It was a rather comfortable Thursday afternoon in a cozy suburban area. Everything was peaceful as you would expect and want it to be. The sun was lazily stretching itself over the horizon in its warm bath of orange petals and reddish flakes.

The houses seemed to be in a late autumn slumber, barely moving and in a half daze. Everything was slow, moving not at all or just lethargically so. The world was captured in a film playing in slow motion.

But there was movement, there was trouble. It was just hiding away like a sneaky snake, planning and conspiring against them all. Ready to destroy the peace, ready to hit each stable emotion and crash it into pieces. The predator was waiting to strike at the right moment when its prey was falling victim to its own trust in the comfort of a world that was colder and crueler than it seemed to be, despite the warmish glows the sun spared on the area.

It felt like an idyllic scene. Clearly, this was painted to be someone’s desktop background. It had a great resolution and spiked harmony within the observer.

But hidden in one of the warm houses, an emotion was stirring up. There was a world, a whole storm of feelings. Intensity, depth, wails and waves of rapid changes in mood and situations.

It was the fictional world of Stellaris. Virgil was sitting on the couch, clutching a pillow and watching the latest episodes. He watched them. Again.

One of the protagonists was going through a lot of issues and they were having a breakdown. Virgil mirrored the issues on the small TV as they hugged the pillow close to them and wailed silently.

“But why would you do that?”, he asked.

His words echoed through the emptiness of the universe. It was like speaking in an abandoned church and he was just as likely to receive a response. Another sob wrecked through his body, shaking his ribs and making his throat vibrate as he let out another pained whine.

It was just fiction. HE knew it. His brain was convinced that he had just put on the same DVD again so it was clearly not reality. Hell, the whole world this was playing in was so far from reality that it was clearly impossible for these events to replay but still.. Still, his heart was bewitched to believe all that was happening before hi eyes to be the one and only truth he had ever known.

It was heartbreaking, agony-inducing and absolutely nerve-wrecking .. but at the same time, it was cathartic. In some way, at least. His emotions seemed to receive a ritual of purification as Virgil started sobbing once more, actual tears glistening in his greenish eyes.

“Please don’t go”, he begged.

Their voice was miserable and the pleads elicited nothing more than a one-sided conversation. He would never get an answer, not that he wanted to or had to. Virgil already knew what would happen but they did not like it.

The protagonist went. Oh fuck, they just went along. Why did they do that.

“Nu!”

Virgil cried out and took ahold of a nearby tissue box just to swing it at the TV. His motivation was just weak enough to just let the box mildly grace the screen before sliding down miserably. Even his attempts at rage were extinguished by the sheer hopelessness of the scene.

“Why would you go, you dumb fuck! They trusted you!”

The blonde flopped down onto his back. Painful squeezed rattled his body as his heart sulkily beat in a special rhythm made for heartbreak only. It was like the running engine of a dying car. Virgil would be terrified if his whole attention was not focused on one of the main characters leaving the country - as well as their potential lovers.

The whole light of the show, the colour and all heart left the show and it made Virgil’s soul suffer sympathetically. It was like autumn, all life was sucked away in fear of winter taking it all away. A bit like getting sick, energy was scarce and every bit of feeling and movement seemed to immediately use up all the last pieces of stored energy.

The love interests were talking by now. Dejected and fearful, they hugged and Virgil could not help but curl around his friend-shaped pillow and make sure he was hugging the remorse out of himself. It was not like he had committed the mistake of taking it too far at once but at the same time he had and he blamed himself along with the protagonists.

The tears slowly started making their way through. When the interior monologue of the leaving character started, Virgil could not help but let out another tirade of helpless sobs and silent pleads.

It hurt so much to go through all this rejection just to reject others... to protect oneself.

They were crying so much, they did not notice dad #2 come in until he was being shaken by his shoulder.

“Virgil? Virgilius Thanathel Picani, what the fuck is wrong?!”

The kid flinched and pulled the pillow off their face. Remy was instead their, a face of tragedy right there.

“Dad?”

Virgil hummed and nudged the other so he could sit up. Once dad #2 made space, the teen cuddled up next to him and grabbed the remote to stop the show. The heartbreak was too intense and he could basically taste the worry from Remy’s face in his own thoughts. It was tangible.

“m okay”, they mumbled as they let their head rest on Rem’s shoulder. If it was not for them to be all curled up, their heads would bonk together since Virgil was a bit taller than his dad #2. Dad #1 was just tall as fuck and it was illegal, to be candid.

“Virgil, what is wrong, why are you crying?”

The blonde hugged his dad from the side and he did not hesitate to return the hug and give the child a bit of the sweet medicine that is physical love and affection. It was warm. Their heart felt warm.

The teen mumbled something incoherently into his shoulder and shook his head. It felt like rubbing the bad feelings out of Remy’s chest when he knew that his child was crying.

A cold fear was scratching within him and it was rough, used and abused.

“Can you repeat that maybe? I promise you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to but you can if you want to.” Remy gently brushed the hair out of his face, some of these blonde strands sticky with saltiness and sadness. “I just want to help, darling.”

Virgil’s arms around him squeezed him a bit more and Remy’s heart was about to shatter like a thin cup of glass that was to be dropped onto the hard surfaces of the roads.

“People are so dumb”

The teen’s voice was faltering a bit, squeaky in a sense that the cries made it sound raw and somewhat ... on edge. It was neither composed nor soft and careful as always. Virgil’s voice sounded much like a wound someone just re-opened and rubbed over instead of applying something to speed up and support the damage done to the skin.

A part of dad #2 just cherished that Virgil did not the instinctive nickname he had given him. Another part of him was stricken with the worry of him the blonde suffering from bullying and other issues. And it had been so long after school and here he was, suffering and sobbing.

“Well, of course they are, Virgil.”

Should he say more?

The kiddo cleared their throat and shifted a bit but remained in a rather curled up position, still compressing their actual height. They were just a small ball of soft pleas and little sniffles at the moment. With all the weight and closeness, Remy felt as if he was holding a treasure, a living miracle in his arms. A wonder of creation he needed to protect at all costs but the responsibility and conditions were vague at best.

“Why are people so dumb?”

Virgil sighed and rubbed his eyes, allowing themself to retreat to the corner of the couch once more. The adult let him go, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses which he quickly removed in favour of properly looking at his kid.

“It is just, like, you know. Is that drama there on purpose, do they do it just to make it even harder?”

Remy blinked. That sounded like a very deep conversation. This, indeed, seemed like a situation in which he was all in the mess already and now had to figure out how to soothen out everything that has happened so far. It was like taking over the wheel for someone who did not drive quite as well as yourself but they actually are in a sort of complex situation so you have to figure out where they stand and how to best get out of it without hurting anyone.

If he said a wrong word, that would be like straight-up driving into a truck. Without even looking. Without insurance either. Or about anything to cover up for the damages and other consequence he might cause with his inconsiderate and hot-headed behaviour.

“What happened, what is wrong?”

Virgil curled up with his blanket by now, offering one end to Remy who hesitated just for a moment before taking it and shifting closer. They were sharing a blanket. This was a real deal. This was a higher level of parenting by now.

This was some big big trust level.

“You know, so, there are these people and they would make such a good ship and they are made for one another and one of them is just so scared that they all up and left and the others are left aside and what if they will not get together at all? I mean, I mean”

He took a deep breath, steadying himself. The kid was cuddling a pillow again but still leaning their head against his shoulder. Brushing the pillow, they breathed with more ease. They sounded less hasty, less as if they were running away from a big stone rolling after them.

Was that stimming?

Em had talked about it...

His fingers fidgeted a bit more and the blonde shifted his head over to Remy’s chest. It just stayed. It stayed in trust and silence.

“Look”, he pointed at the screen and pushed a hard object into Remy’s lap. A DVD case.

“They could be so happy together and they just gotta be so dramatic about it. I mean, I get it but they have so much trust and shit and why are they freaking out so much over words. It is just a word, it will not change a thing, why would it change a thing after all?”

He patted the pillow with both hands and let out a deep sigh.

Remy clicked his tongue.

“Are you talking about a show?”

He glanced over the case and read the title.

Stellaris.

Huh, he remembered Emile talking to him about it. He probably just had gotten it for them since they talked about ordering it online. But were those not some books?

“It is not just the show! The show was just released and it is now on terms with the books! Look, look!”

Virgil shifted up again, their head removing itself from Remy’s chest and he spared another peek at his kid as they flapped their hands a bit. When they leaned down to grab something, their body was slightly bouncing up and down like a dull bouncing ball.

The blonde got up and pushed a whole stack of books into Remy’s lap. With all these pastel books and a whole case of DVDs on his thighs, dad #2 had to act quick and pull these items closer, making sure his arms prevented them all from falling.

“Books, oh yes. I remember you getting these books from the library not too long ago. You read all of them?”

Virgil’s head bopped up and down in rapid succession.

“Of course! They are easy to read! This is not a maths textbook or anything!”

Remy chuckled at the statement and let his gaze travel down to the moving toes of his kid. It was adorable to see physical signs of him getting passionate about certain things. Whenever they were happy, they would flap their hands or bounce and it was a delight to the eye, no matter what other people would say. It just made Remy want to hug them. He was blessed to see actual indicators of Virgil’s mood and be able to help him when he needed it or know that he did a good thing and made them incredibly happy.

It was also an amazing implication of nervousness every now and then. Again, some people might be annoyed but for Remy, it was facilitated communication. He did not understand it all but he got the cues most of the time and only needed to react and figure it out from there.

As he did at that moment. Sure, dad #2 did not know what Virgil had felt at first but he now knew he was excited, happily even so ! Now, the man could make sure to attend to whatever the teenager hyperfixated on.

He glanced over the DVD and flipped it so he could read the description. Huh, a fantasy world. Rebellion. Oppression. No wonder Virgil liked it. For a moment he wondered whether his friends Remus and Eden had inspired him to like this..this piece of entertainment.

“It sounds interesting”, he commented and put the case aside.

“I still don’t get much of what this show is about - or the books.”

He shrugged and picked up the books so he could identify the right one to pick. There, volume 1. The smaller man started reading the back of it.

“In a postw-”

“Nooo”, Virgil whined and pressed his whole body against Remy, effectively blanketing dad #2 with his whole weight. “You need to look insideeeee”

“Okay okay! Gee, Virgil”

The man couldn’t help but chuckle again and he surrendered the book to the human piece of blanket on him. Blonde blanket kid took the book and skipped through it they were a few pages into it.

“Okay, now lookie here, Ri!”

Virgil cleared his throat and actually stayed still for long enough so Remy could take his turn of holding the book. There were illustrations of characters. Probably the ones from the show/books. After all, upon glancing at the TV, he could see a person with similar facial features as the person in one of the drawings.

“That is one of the protagonists and they are fucked up!”

Remy blinked.

“I see.. In a good way?”

Virgil pulled back and shrugged casually, their lip dragging into a lop-sided grin. Dad #2 nodded thoughtfully and focused on the next the illustration provided by the wise pages of insight into his kiddo’s new interest. It was a wolf next to a person, a tall person.

“Who is this?”

Virgil let out a loud, intense sound. It was high-pitched, it was a persistent squeal and Remy was sure that his husband could hear it at his work place. He was also convinced this sound would never get out of his system and would visit him in his sleep. …The sound was also worth it. It was the sign of the teenager being excited.

It was not the funky stimming but it was a part of them becoming gradually more and more immersed in something they relished in.

“That is one of the love interests, dad!”

Virgil patted the illustration of emphasis.

“She is one of the protagonists and they are dating the other one you just saw - wait wait!! We can watch the show together!”

Remy shook his head with a smile and pulled the teen into his lap.

“How about we make some snacks and watch it together? Or we can wait for Em to come home and watch it with us”

Virgil rapidly patted Remy’s chest with his hands and nodded.

“Yesyesyesyes!! We can watch it with dad!!”

Dad #2 inhaled sharply and tugged the teen closer.

“I am so happy you are here”, he mumbled as he slung his arms around Virgil who immediately eased into his touch and wrapped his arms around him as well. They were engulfed in the luck being bound, of being united.

They carefully nudged their dad in reply and curled into the warming hugs of comfort and support. If it was not for Virgil to be a light blonde dude, he was sure that he would pass as biological kid to either Emile or Remy at least. Sure, they could not have gotten him together but he was there and he was their kid.

“mhm”, Virgil hummed and fidgeted with his fingers behind his back once more.

“I…I … I am glad too, you know..”

Their voice was silent but composed and every word rolled of their tongue with meaning. It did not drop as much as strive into the world in order to fulfil a certain purpose and find a specific end where it was needed.

Remy breathed out.

“I know, I know. We both know”

He felt tears well up in his eyes.

“It is just nice to hear that you still think we were the right choice after all.”

Virgil was the next to sniffle and shift his upper body closer against Remy. He looked ridiculously gigantic in the lap of Remy, who was smaller than him. Sitting in his lap and clinging o him while he was sniffling once more was just an odd sight to walk in on but Emile did not mind that.

When he came home, he just joined the cuddles.

No matter how old, he would try his best to support Virgil along with Remy.

“Hey dad #1, two said we will watch drama tonight.”

Emile smiled.

“As long as I am with my two favourite people in the world, my life is complete.”

Virgil returned the gesture.

“I know, I think so too.”

26 notes · View notes

95liners3rdmember · 4 years

Text

Worth It

Chapter Two: Saying Thank You

Word Count: 9632

Chapter One: First Meeting

Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I have to do a double take of the group standing in front of me. I try to fight my facial expression but I can’t help but squint my eyes and the raising of my brow. The last thing I expected was an impromptu pajama party.

“Ummm...you all didn’t have to come.” My voice croaks out as I lead the way into the apartment. Even though I know the apartment is as clean as it ever will be before I unpack, I nervously scan for a mess. I can’t help the boxes that litter the building for now though.

“We figured eight is better than one, but we have to be quick or Jungkookie over here will be lost to video games.” Namjoon jokes as they make themselves at home, the bag Hoseok carried now is being emptied on the island. Soda and snacks. So I guess we really are having a party.

“Thank you, again.” Now I feel guilty because I know they are all tired. But they are willingly coming to help me, a still somewhat stranger.

“So where do you want to start?” Seokjin asks as he rolls up the sleeves of his RJ pajamas.

I haven’t even gotten that far, I guess the easiest for them to do is the living room. It’s mainly gaming consoles, movies and pictures. That way they can entertain themselves while I unpack my office.

“How about in here? All I have are games, movies and electronics. Could you do that while I went in my office? There’s a lot more to tackle in there.” My sisters would smack me for asking. I want to smack myself too but they seem more than happy to help.

“No problem!”

I walk down the small hallway to the box filled office and a heavy sigh leaves my lips. There’s so much to do here. My mind gets too lost in where and how to arrange everything that I didn’t notice Namjoon, Jimin and Yoongi walk in with me.

“Whoa. There’s more boxes in here than the rest of the apartment.” Jimin’s eyes widen as he tries to find a place to start.

“Reminds me of when we move offices.” Yoongi comments as he opens the box closest to him. Thankfully it’s only dvds from previous jobs or performances.

“Then we know how to handle it.” Namjoon confidently pats my shoulder as I tugged up the sleeves of the sweater. Time to get some work done…

My eyes start to hurt as I try to figure out why my speakers are working with my desktop. We’ve been at it for almost two hours, I’ve lost Namjoon to the gaming party in the living room. Jimin has gotten lost in the pile of Naruto manga that is proudly displayed on a bookcase. Thankfully Yoongi has stayed with me.

“Let me see, it may be a bad wire. It happened once in Genius Lab.” I wiggle from behind the desk and plop into the chair. My somewhat good mood has faded as the night goes on. This is really the last thing I need done before my office is fully unpacked.

“Fixed. You had them switched.” Yoongi smiles lightly as he adjusts the desk and it sits flush against the wall. Thank god, now I need to get them all something for helping me so much.

“Thank you Yoongi. Why don’t you go join the others? I’m just going to break all the boxes down and pick up the trash.”

He hesitates for a moment before nodding slowly, leaving a reading Jimin and a worn out me in the finished room. Honestly I couldn’t be happier. There’s just enough room where I can dance if I need to work out a move. Namjoon and I set up my camera so it can record if I get ideas, we mounted it above my desk so there aren’t any cords to trip over. I may be a dancer but I’m as clumsy as a person with two left feet.

“Are you okay Y/n?” Turning on my heels I meet Jimin’s gaze. He’s putting the book back in its spot as he moves closer to me. I shake me head yes but I see a small box sitting on the ground. My legs wobble slightly as I move over to it and try to open the tape with my bare hands. Thankfully Jimin is thanking clearer than I am and grabs the scissors.

“Thank you.” Slicing the tape, I see a few picture frames and my heart feels heavy. It’s a picture of me and my two sisters right before I left. They threw me surprise going away party with just us and a few family members. Tears start to prick at the corner of my eyes as I move to place it on my desk.

“Are these your sisters?” Jimin asks as he shuffles through the box, turning I see him holding a picture frame. A weird mix of smile and smirk grace his lips. What picture could he have?

Oh no.

Fire lights in my cheeks as I try to take the photo away from him. Crap. That’s the last thing I wanted him to see. My sister and I are standing in age order with our backs turned to the camera, but our faces turned so you can see who is who, a thumb pointing to the back of our shirts as we stand in front of a large arena. It’s from our first time going to see BTS all together. Each of us wearing a different jersey style shirt. Of course they would pack this one in with my others even after I told them not to.

“I guess Nikole thought it would be funny to pack this. It’s really embarrassing.”

“How? You all look excited.”

“It was the first time the- we got to see you perform. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen.” I had to catch myself before I gave it away that I had been to others.

“Here’s another one.” Jimin grabs the last frame out and I want to die.

It’s a picture of me, wide smile with my army bomb staring up at the stage in awe. The lights in the background almost made it look like something from a fairy tail at how I was glowing. It was during the performance of ‘Fire’ that she took this because I was so proud to see my hard work come to life.

Namjoon had sent us tickets for right by the stage that way we could somewhat see each other during sound check and the concert. I hadn’t kept up with the set list and when I say them running through ‘Fire’ I almost cried. So leave it to my youngest sister to take a picture of the actual concert performance. I swear I’m going to hide this picture in the deepest, darkest drawer I have here.

Jimin mumbles something under his breath, it’s so soft and quick that I can’t make out what’s said. But there’s a strange tension in the room now. I clear my throat and take the second picture from him.

“Ah I knew you had a favorite!” My whole body jumps and I almost drop the frames. Namjoon has been peering over my shoulder long enough to make out who’s is wearing each shirt.

“Jesus Namjoon, you scared the life out of me.” As an instinct the words come out in English. The filter in my brain stopped working from being scared. Jimin can’t help but look at me as if I had a second head when the words came out in an accent he hadn’t heard much before.

“I figured out Nikole and Nat’s that night but not yours. Seems you’ve been hiding something from me.” The grin on his face is full of playfulness and I can’t help but laugh.

“I’m just messing with you, come on Jimin, Y/n. Kookie and Jin are the last two players in the contest. Let’s see who’s going to win.” Glancing over at Jimin another giggle slips through my lips as I notice his cheeks are painted a light shade of pink. The boys lead the way out but I quickly drop off the frames on my bed before joining them.

All of the members have spread out across the couch and the floor. Empty boxes are stacked by the balcony door and everything seems to have found a home. They are quicker than I am, that’s for sure. Yoongi points over to the countertop and I see a pair of pajamas waiting for me.

“Jungkookies clothes would be too big for you, I had an extra pair anyways.”

“Thank you again. I’ll change after watching the last round though. I feel bad for leaving you all out here.” I scratch the back of my head and frown a little. Honestly I would’ve liked to spend more time out here but there was a lot to do.

“Don’t worry about it! Also, I unpacked the kitchen and you need to go shopping.” Hoseok calls from his spot on the couch. He did the kitchen?! I really owe them, maybe I can take them to dinner tomorrow.

“I should probably do that tomorrow after my luggage gets here.” Namjoon pats the couch and I happily oblige as my legs start to feel like a thousand pounds. I squeeze in between Namjoon and Taehyung.

“You can go with me. I’ll come by and get you in the morning.” Hoseok is willing to volunteer himself for something I can handle on my own makes my heart jump. They really are the most welcoming and accepting group of people I’ve ever met. And I’ve met a lot of people in the entertainment industry.

“I’d like that a lot.” Smiling, I lean back into the couch and shimmy out my phone. There’s not much going on except a few notifications from my email. I’m too tired to check them now but I will in the morning. Taehyung reaches over as my guard is down and goes to my secure app that I was told to download. BigHit is all about security, so they told me that they only message within secure and private app accounts. Smart by all means but it’s going to take some getting used to.

A few minutes pass by as I watch him through heavy eyes and finally see that there are seven new contacts and a new group chat. Quietly I thank him but it’s drowned out by the cheering and hollering around us. Once again Jungkook proves he’s superior at most things. I fight against my body screaming for sleep as I clap along.

Namjoon gently nudges me and I look at him with a weak smile. He knows, well they all know too well what exhaustion can do to a person's body.

“Alright everyone, time to go. Some of us have work to do tomorrow.” Being the ever vigilant leader, he manages to wrangle the members. A few protests come from the younger three and I told them we could all get together another time.

I wave goodbye and tell them how thankful I am for them helping me as they single file out of the apartment. Shutting the door, I lock it slowly and trudge back to the bedroom turning off the lights as I go. My hands grab at the clothes on the counter and I stumble into my room.

A few ideas pop into my mind at how to decorate but that can wait, for now I need to sleep. Gently I peel off Namjoon’s sweater and fold it nicely. I’ll make sure to have it cleaned for him before giving it back.

Like a zombie I change into the comfy clothing and cleanup before bed. My head feels so much better as the buns come tumbling down. I can’t even look at the mirror knowing that I look as bad as I feel.

Crawling into the bed, my mind can’t seem to turn off as my body aches for sleep. I guess I’m missing home just a little. On instinct I reach for my phone that’s plugged up and rest it where I can lay in bed and video chat. Clicking on Nat’s name I patiently wait.

“Why are you still awake?” I look around in the background and I can tell she’s back at home already. Her exam must be finished already.

“I can’t sleep.” My voice feels foreign to my ears. I wonder if this is how Namjoon feels.

“Then tell me about your day. I haven’t really gotten to talk to you since you left.” It’s no secret that Nat hates being separated from Nikole and I. That’s why it was difficult for her to accept that I was leaving. There were tons of late nights spent packing and just talking.

“There’s not much to tell. Dinner was interesting though.” My eyes start to close, they feel like a thousand pounds.

“I would hope so. I mean after all you got to hangout with seven of the coolest people ever.” I huff out a laugh at my sister’s comment. Nuzzling my head into the pillows as I struggle to pull the covers up, Nat lets out a small huff.

“Get some sleep sis.”

Buzz ...Buzz...Buzz….

My eyes screw close tighter as I blindly reach for my phone on the nightstand. Groaning out in frustration I finally grab the cold device and shiver slightly as I lift it to my ear, the cord snagging as I struggle with it.

“Hello…” My voice cracks towards the end as I roll over to see sunlight pouring in from the window beside me. What time is it?

“Good morning y/n! It’s Hoseok, I thought you wanted help going shopping this morning?” There’s a slight teasing tone in his voice, pulling my phone away I check the time. 1:30 p.m. Crap!

There’s a knock on my door and I instantly take off sprinting. I must look crazy because as I fling the door open Hoseok jumps back with a look of pure shock. His phone slowly drops from his ear and he quickly ends the call. In front of him sit my three suitcases that went missing yesterday. Thank god they are here.

“I’m so sorry. I overslept, please tell me you weren’t waiting too long.” I bow slightly but I snap back up when a breeze hits my skin. How could I forget that I’m not wearing my own clothes?! Idiot.

“When Namjoon couldn’t get ahold of you I went ahead and did a few other errands.” My eyes dart back to the phone in my hands and notice the dozens of missed calls and texts. One being an email from BigHit…..fantastic.

“I guess you aren’t too used to jet lag like the rest of us. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll take you to get some coffee.” Hoseok smiles widely and I feel a new bubble of energy burst in my body. Grabbing two of the suitcases, I roll them into the apartment before grabbing the third one.

“Give me like...5 minutes. I’ll try to be quick.” Bowing apologetically, I snatch my pink suitcase and take off for my bedroom. My feet barely miss the empty boxes that litter the living room from last night. I’ll have to figure out where to take these later this afternoon.

Slamming my door shut louder than I intended I make myself jump. Skimming through my notifications I get the gist of what all I missed; my sisters being nosey and overprotective, Namjoon trying to wake the sleeping beast, a few texts from Hoseok trying to figure out if I’m awake and lastly an email reminding me of the meeting at 8am on Monday which has a dress code of business casual. So I’ll have to take a bag of my dance clothes to change into. I might as well leave some in my office if this is a regular thing.

Tossing my phone to the side, I unzip the large suitcase and pull out my favorite Saturday outfit. Stripping out of Yoongi’s shorts I jump around as I tug up the black ripped skinny jeans, almost tripping over my carry on. Lord today might be my last day on earth with how clumsy I’ve been today. Cheering quietly in victory I gently take off Jungkook’s huge shirt and dress myself in my version of the white T-shirt, top it all off with a black and red flannel, finishing it off with white converse. Perfect. Now time to take the mane.

“Hey y/n are these videos the ones you made before moving?” Hoseok yells out from the office as I shove my toothbrush into my mouth. Closing my lips around the brush, I throw my hair up into a messy bun and emerge from my room.

“Yes….I can...show you...later.” I manage to say through foamed toothpaste without looking like a crazy person. It must be an entertaining look because Hoseok tried hard to hide his laughter. Running back, I spit out the foam and grab the face mask Jimin gave me last night just in case.

Grabbing everything I need, phone-check, purse-check, mask-check, keys...in the purse.

“Ready?” Tilting my head to the side, a child like smile spreads on my face. I’ve never been this excited to go grocery shopping before. Must be the sunshine effect of the famous J-Hope. It feels weird to call him by his stage name so I’ll just wait until he tells me to.

“Let’s get going! But first coffee. There’s a little shop down the road and they know to be discreet.”

Discretion. Something I’ve never really been used to but now it’s a huge factor in my job. Being around one of the fastest growing bands in the world comes with more media attention. Their stylist and trainers don’t really get much exposure but I saw their old choreographer a lot more in photos and videos. The fans didn’t say much because it was another guy. I can just imagine what the fans will think with a woman around all the time.

I knew the risks, I’m very well aware that one wrong step could lead to me being back home. Is this even acceptable? Going shopping with one of the members and their manager doesn’t sound like a situation that’s allowed. But if it was a big deal Namjoon would’ve stopped me.

There’s a black van pulled up to the front and a large man standing outside of vehicle. Security. Better safe than sorry.

“Sorry. Normally our managers drive us around.”

“It’s fine. I know your safety is more important. If it’s too much of a hassle I can always go on my own.”

“No way! You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. After yesterday I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.”

A sincere sunshine smile radiates from Hoseok as he slides the van door open for us. Fumbling with my mask I hop into my seat. The door slams loudly and my nerves start to go haywire. It’s justifiable though considering I’ve never been alone with any other member beside Namjoon for more than a few minutes. This adventure could hours…

Snatching my phone out of my purse I send a quick text to Namjoon letting him know that I’m internally freaking out.

Y/N:‘Why did I agree to this? I feel like Hoseok will get bored of me.’

RM: ‘Just be yourself. See you later, working on something.’

“Is it nice having a Saturday off Hoseok? I remember Namjoon telling me once that getting a full weekend off feels like a vacation.” It’s no secret that each member works themselves to the bone. Namjoon has told me countless times that Yoongi would stay for days on end in the studio.

“It’s strange but I’m glad. There was a lot of things I needed to get done today and this is the last errand.” His fingers are typing quickly on the screen. Looking away so I don’t invade his privacy, my eyes take in the scenery. Small shops and large crowds fill the streets.

“I’m so sorry for making you wait. I feel bad. You all were more than willing to help me last night.” Looking down at the phone, I lock it and slide it into my purse. I still need to figure out how to repay them for their help. Last night I thought I could make dinner but it may just be easier if I take everyone out.

The car comes to a stop in front of a small coffee shop. Shuffling through my purse, I bring up the white mask and cautiously wrap around my ears. Last night was almost a disaster when I felt the straps tug at my earrings. Pulling the door, Hoseok jumps out and holds the door open long enough for me to exit as well. The manager leads the way as we enter the small shop.

It’s adorable. Small tables line the walls and there’s a large bookcase beside the register. Maybe on my next day off I can come in and read a book. Smiling I stand behind Hoseok and stare at the menu. Bouncing on the balls of my feet as I order an iced coffee, my eyes wander around the shop. I can’t help but notice a few curious customers staring at the two of us. For some reason my heart starts to hammer in my chest. The last thing I want is to get Hoseok in trouble.

“Don’t worry too much. I come here a lot, with and without security.” His words calm my heart a little, but I still want to leave. I guess it’s the gitters of being so close to a member of BTS. Or maybe because I haven’t even gotten to work a real first day yet.

Hoseok pats my shoulder lightly as our names are called. Taking my cup with a quiet ‘thank you’ I follow the man in front of me back into the safety of the van. Tugging the mask down to take a sip I feel a sigh of relief escape my body.

“I didn’t realize last night that you have so many piercings. They look really cool.” Raising a hand up I trace the line of piercings. The studs feel rough under my finger as I twist the one on the bottom.

“It’s something my sisters and I did growing up. It was almost a competition, if one of us would get another the other two would. Nikole has more though, I stopped with the three on top and bottom.” The last time I got a piercing was after the BTS concert. Adrenaline was pumping through me and it was all I could think of.

“Jungkookie will be jealous that you have more than him.” His giggle makes my body vibrate with energy. Being around Hoseok is like being around a ball of pure, fun energy. It makes me want to run a mile, clean my entire house and dance for hours. None of which I’ll get done today but it’s a nice thought.

Pulling into a large parking lot, there’s a lot more people than I thought would be. That’s what I get for sleeping in so late. Definitely not going to bed at a decent time tonight.

“Ms. y/l/n, Hoseok you will have to be quick. Traffic is starting to pick up and it will just be safer.” Nodding slowly, all four of us exit the van and make our way to the store. Hoseok bumps my shoulder as we both grab a cart. Laughing lightly, I bump against him as I walk beside him.

As we walk through the store, both of our carts start to fill up. His more than mine though since he’s getting enough for seven compared to my one. The more that we’re inside, the more my face starts to feel warmer and warmer from the mask. I should’ve worn one back home to adjust.

“What else do you need Hoseok?” Clearing my throat, I tug at the mask to let a small breeze of cool air in. I don’t want to seem like I’m rushing him because he was nice enough to wait for me.

“Um...I think I need to get some milk and then I’m done. Are you feeling okay? I noticed you messing with the mask.”

“I’m fine. Just getting a little toasty, don’t worry about it.” Adding some cheer into my voice, I pick up the pace beside him. A few people look at us as we pass them, a few younger girls have their phones out giggling in groups. I really hope no one notices Hoseok right now.

“Um, do you think everyone would like to go to dinner tonight? My treat.” Those words make him stop in his tracks. A goofy laugh erupts from his chest as he almost doubles over.

“After last night I think everyone would like that, but are you sure about paying? Jungkook and Jin could out eat anyone you’ve met.”

“I’m completely sure. I need to make sure you all eat well before I put you to work on Monday.” Winking at him, we make our way to the checkout counter and start to pay for everything. The process of checking out is so much quicker than our almost hour long shopping trip. I can’t believe we’ve been here that long.

Patiently waiting for Hoseok, I hold tightly to the handles I look around at the rest of the store. There’s definitely more people, I can’t help but swallow nervously. The voice in the back of my mind telling me it was a bad idea.

“All done! Let’s get back.” His singsong voice calms me as all four of us make our way back to the van. Being careful to divide our things into two different piles, we jump right back in and sink into the plush seats. Hoseok quickly pulls out his phone and types at the speed of lightning. Pulling my mask down, I take in a deep breath.

“Everyone but Namjoon and Yoongi will help us carry all of this stuff up.” A strange wave of guilt hits me.

“Hoseok don’t worry about me. I can carry all of mine up.”

“Call me J-Hope, everyone does. And don't worry about it. It’s no big deal.”

Of course I could only get away with being so formal for so long. And there’s no point in arguing with him either.

“Good. And the quicker we get these groceries put away the faster I can watch the videos.” Even through the mask I see a smirk.

I can’t help but smirk too. Of course there’s a hidden meaning behind the kind actions. Two can sort of play that game too.

“Very true. But don’t tell the others. Take it as a thank you for going shopping with me.” I elbow him gently as I winked at him. Earning me a genuine Hoseok laugh.

The drive back is quicker and before I know it the four other members are waiting somewhat calmly down at the front door. It’s strange to see them so ...domestic.

Hoseok jumps out of the van as soon as it’s parked, which gets him a slight scolding from his manager. I can’t help but giggle. Not even worrying about the mask, I follow suit and jump out. All of the boys are dressed in joggers and long sleeve shirts. Their hair disarray from laying around and enjoying their day off. Taehyung greets me with a large boxy smile and an enthusiastic wave.

“Hobi hyung I think you got too much.” Jimin slightly complains as he grabs the bags Hoseok passes. Wiggling my way through I manage to grab all of my bags but some get taken from my hands. I teeter for a second at the sudden weight shift as I stare at a grinning Taehyung.

“Oh, thank you Taehyung.”

“No problem!”

He leads the way with a bounce in his step and I can’t help to put a little more pep in my step. As we enter the building I can’t help but feel like someone is staring at me. Glancing over my shoulder I catch the quick turn of Jimin’s head as he busies himself by grabbing bags. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.

The ride up to the apartment is quiet but in a relaxing way. I don’t feel pressured to start or continue a conversation or ask questions. It’s nice.

As the elevator dings, I step out and Taehyung is right behind me. Unlocking my door, I move flat against the door so he can enter before me.

“Do you need help getting rid of those boxes y/n?” His head nods towards the large pile of broken down boxes and a bag full of paper. That’s something else I need to take care of today before Hoseok comes over. But then again there’s no point in rushing myself to completely move in after only being here a full day.

“I was going to take care of them later Taehyung, thank you though.” His smile never fades as he bounces to the door again after dropping the bags on the kitchen counter. With a quick wave, the door shuts loudly and I’m left in a silent apartment. A sigh wrecks through my body as I trudge into the kitchen. Setting down the bags, I fish out my phone and open up the group chat Taehyung created.

Y/N:‘To say thank you for everything, why don’t we all go out to dinner tonight? My treat :)’

Leaving my phone sit unlocked, I start to figure out how I want to arrange everything. Humming along to a random tune, my phone vibrates nonstop for a solid minute before I finally get to check it.

Kookie:’Be ready at 6 noona! I’ll come get you!’

J-Hope:’I told you this might be a bad idea, Jin hyung and Kookie are already getting a reservation.’

Jin:’Eating is never a bad idea, see you at 6 y/n!’

RM:’I go to work in the studio for a few hours...see you soon everyone.’

A few more texts come in from Taehyung and Yoongi but Jimin stays silent. Letting out a huff, I throw all the bags into the trash can and before I can shuffle off into my room a loud knock echoes from the front door. Hoseok.

“Come in!” I yell from the living room and he’s practically jumping as he takes a seat on the couch. Giggling I load the dvd into the player and take a seat beside him.

“I’m going to have to tweak it a little once I see everyone grouped together. But it’s basically the finished product.”

“Lets see it. I haven’t been this excited to have practice in a long time.”

My heart flutters at his words as I press play. A wave of nervousness washes over me as I try to gauge his reaction. For the first time he’s completely expressionless around me. Biting the inside of my cheek I curl up into a ball and pick at my nails. He probably hates it. Or he probably wishes that I didn’t replace their previous coach. As the song comes to an end, the screen fades to black. I can’t bring myself to look at him as the next song plays.

An excruciating twenty minutes later, the DVD stops playing and silence hangs around us. I almost want to run into a studio and start over on everything without even hearing his opinions.

“That ...are you sure we can’t start today?!”

Huh….

Glancing over at him, my stomach settles and I can’t help but burst out laughing. Here I was thinking that he hated it. Hoseok’s brows furrow together as I laugh even harder at his reaction.

“Sorry...ha..I thought you hated it. I was ready to run to the company and remake everything.”

“Ah, sorry…But honestly this is pretty incredible. It’s intricate and eye catching. We’ve got our work cut out for us this time for sure.” Hoseok searches for his phone and lets out a deep sigh. His expression went from carefree to annoyed in the blink of an eye, I wonder what’s going on.

“I have to go, but I’ll see you for dinner.” He’s off the couch instantly as he forces a smile saying goodbye.

I can’t wrap my mind around what just happened as I stare at the closed door. Maybe something came up with the members? It’s none of my business though, whatever happens in their personal life is completely private and I shouldn’t pry into it.

Tossing the remote onto the coffee table, I fall back into the couch and stare up at the white ceiling. For the first time in days, I’m not exhausted. Every fiber of my being is surging with energy to do something, anything really. The only thing really left to do is unpack my bedroom. Perfect.

Tapping my phone screen to double check the time, I have enough time to unload all of my suitcases and play around with my room. Connecting my phone to the speaker in my room music starts to fill the silent apartment and a large smile spreads on my lips. My eyes land on the pictures that I hid away in my room last night. Instantly I grab them and place them on top of the dresser so they wouldn’t get broken.

I can’t believe that Jimin found those last night, actually I can’t believe my sister packed those without me even knowing. Actually I can. My sister would do anything to embarssess me in front of each and every member. They’ve managed to do so in front of Namjoon so many times that I’ve just gotten used to it. But the worst case scenario for me is Park Jimin. I’ve always admired his style of dance and how he can move so seamlessly with any genre of music.

The music in my room stops playing and ‘Just One Day’ starts blaring through the speakers. My cheeks flush red as I search for my phone that’s mixed in with the massive pile of clothes littering my bed. I finally find it and roll my eyes at the caller id.

“Yes Namjoon…” There’s a slight annoyance in my voice but it disappears when I hear a few different chuckles in the background.

“I just wanted to call and let you know to dress up.” Dress up? Where in the world are we going?

“Um...why?” I hear a few more giggles in the background before Namjoon hushed everyone.

“Seems that everyone is going a little over the top tonight outfit wise. Taehyung came out completely overdressed and now everyone else is trying to outdo each other.”

“You did warn me that they could be a little over the top.” Sighing I look at the piles of clothes, at least this time I have plenty of options. But I’m definitely calling Nat for some input, after all having a fashion designer in the family comes in handy.

“It’s a surprise. I just wanted to give you enough heads up.”

“Thanks. I guess I better finish up what I’m doing so I can look presentable for everyone.” I can’t help but chuckle as I end the call and frantically call my sister. Hopefully she’s still awake.

Who am I kidding, that girl runs off of two hours of sleep and coffee.

Clicking on the facetime icon, I run and start the shower so I can just jump in once Nat ends the call. Just as I suspect, her face pops on the screen. Her hair is thrown up into a messy bun and she’s sitting at her desk. She’s probably working overtime on her midterm project like always.

“Nat I need help!” The desperation is clear in my voice as I flip the camera over to look at the mess of clothes. An annoyed sigh comes through the speaker as she rolls her eyes.

“Hello to you too dear sister. Last time I checked you moved halfway around the world....how could I possibly help you?”

“I need your expert advice. Help me pick out a nice outfit for dinner tonight, pretty please!” Flipping the camera back around I pout at the screen which earns me a gut filled laugh from Nat. Honestly if it wasn’t for her I would be constantly dressed in leggings and tank tops.

“Fine. But what do I get out of it?” I know she’s teasing me but I feel bad for interrupting her work. I’ll have to think about something just so she knows that I appreciate everything.

“I’ll think of something like always. But please Nat, I don’t have long to figure out some sort of outfit and get myself presentable.”

“You’re acting like this is some huge dinner. Is it a work event?”

“Uh, you could say that I guess. I’m going with people I work with.” It’s not a lie but it’s not the truth either. The last thing I want is another lecture from my little sister about boundaries and keeping work separate outside of the office.

“Good to know that you still try to keep secrets from me, but I won’t ask. Since I know all of the clothes you own, how about the black turtle neck with the red skirt. Wear the thigh high black heels.”

My eyes dart around the pile as I grab the items she lists off and I can’t help but smile. Nat is going to make a great stylist for sure once she’s out of college. Whoever she works for will be really lucky.

“Anything else dear sister?”

“Don’t go over the top with anything else, keep it simple. Curl your hair though.”

“Thank you, how’s the project coming? I know that you only have about a month or so left.”

“I’ve been struggling with finding the right accent piece. But it’s not going to stop me from passing. Anyways it was great talking but I really need to finish this, it’s due on Monday.”

“You’ll do amazing considering you can style me from halfway around the world. Love you!”

She blows a kiss at the camera as the screen goes black. I release a sigh of relief, I’m beyond glad that she didn’t try to pry too much into things. Hanging the items up on a hanger, I hurry and put away the rest of my clothes and suitcases. It’s a rushed job but it will do for now. Later on I can always rearrange and make it look nicer. But for now I have to hurry and get ready.

A few hours later and a few energy drinks later I’m completely dressed and ready to go. Taking all of Nat’s advice, I bend down and zip up the heels. My hair falls in my face and I huff out an annoyed breath to blow it away. Normally I love to keep my hair up and out of the way since it’s so long but tonight isn’t a night where I can do that. But maybe I can pin it back. Shuffling to the bathroom, stupid heels, I twist a small section on each side and pin it back so my face is hair free. All of my piercings are visible as well and I can’t help but smile. Maybe the next time I get together with my sisters I’ll add on another one.

Switching off the bathroom light, I move back into my room and dig out my small black boy bag and throw my phone and keys inside. Hopefully we are driving because I highly doubt I’ll be able to walk all the way to and from the restaurant like last time. Turning towards my closet I catch my reflection in the full length mirror and instantly my stomach tightens.

All my life I’ve been self conscious about my body and looks. By no means am I overweight but I’ve always felt the pressure of fitting into the social standard of “thin and beautiful”. Since I’ve danced my entire life my legs are more toned and have more muscle than other women my size. Whenever I wear skirts or dresses I always feel a little people are silently judging me for wearing something so revealing and not having that picture perfect thigh gap.

Pulling at the hem of the skirt I stand straight up and suck in a deep breath. I really hope they don’t think I look too bad. And I really hope they don’t think this outfit is a normal occurrence either. This will be one of the only times I wear something like this in front of them.

A loud knock at the door snaps me out of my inner thoughts and I take in another deep breath.

“Let’s do this.”

Switching off the lights as I go, I open the door to a smiling Jungkook. He’s jumping on the balls of his feet as I step into the hallway and lock my door. Looks like Namjoon was being serious about dressing up, Jungkook’s wearing dress pants with a navy blue dress shirt. He looks like he’s about to go to an interview, not dinner with his brothers and his choreographer.

“You look nice noona. Ready for dinner?” A bunny smile graces his lips, it’s the most pure smile I’ve ever seen. Nodding yes and whispering out a small thank you we ride the elevator down to the lobby where the other six men are waiting for us.

And if I didn’t have as much respect as I do for them I might have just fangirl. Each of them is dressed like Jungkook but with a different colored shirt. Namjoon was being dead serious about it being almost a competition. My cheeks heat up as everyone turns to look at us and I meet eyes with Jimin. Crap. After him finding my picture yesterday I feel weird around him. What if he thinks I’m just some crazy fan that’s trying to get close to everyone.

“Do you mind driving one of the cars y/n? Jin is going to drive too that way we don’t have to walk everywhere.” Namjoon walks over to greet me with a dimpled smile.

“Absolutely, who’s riding with us?” His smile fades as he adjusts the glasses on his face.

“Actually I don’t know where the restaurant is. JK and Jin have been there a few times. The maknae line actually all called dibs on riding with you.”

There’s a bunch of snickers and giggles around us. I guess there’s no getting out of this one. I mean what could possibly go wrong with the four of us in a car? I mean we’re all about the same age anyways.

“Sounds like a plan.” Walking towards the door, I walk past most of them except for Namjoon who’s keeping pace right beside me. The others are hot on our heels but that doesn’t stop Namjoon from picking on me.

“I’m guessing you called Natalie since you hung up on me earlier.” He elbows me gently, which normally wouldn’t cause me to stumble but since I’m in these awful heels I teater just a tad. Someone grabs my waist to help me rebalance but it’s gone as soon as it was there, snapping my head to the side I catch a glimpse of Jimin walking past. Maybe I just imagined it, I mean it was super quick.

“I call passenger!” Jungkook screams and goes running for my car. Taehyung is right behind him as they race for the spot. Looking over at Namjoon he mouths out ‘good luck’ as he gets into Jin’s car. Great….

Jungkook whips out his phone and instantly starts to play music over the bluetooth. In the backseat Taehyung and Jimin sing along and dance. We haven’t even left the parking lot yet. Buckling up, Jungkook just tells me to follow behind Jin. There’s no questions asked but instead we have our own karaoke montage. Anything from their early music to new music by American artists. Thankfully we make it to the restaurant in no time.

As soon as we make it into the private room, I take the seat beside Namjoon and tap his shoulder firmly. That was a long car ride and we only went ten minutes down the road. It’s like he can read my mind as he pours me a small glass of soju. Smoothing my skirt down, I sit down and accept his offer of apology. Sipping the glass slowly the seat next to me gets taken by Jungkook quickly as Taehyung and Jimin snag the seats across from me. I can’t lie that the ride was fun but it was chaotic. I never realized how much energy they all have, not just Jungkook.

“Did all of the maknae have fun?” Yoongi chuckles as he looks through the menu. Shrugging my shoulders I continue to sip my glass and read through the menu.

“We might steal noona on the way back though. She hasn’t gotten to explore much since she just got here.” My eyes widen as I choke on my drink slightly. This was definitely not something I planned on doing. Jungkook turns to me with a twinkle in his eyes but this time I have to say no. There’s too many risks.

“I’m sorry Jungkook, maybe another time. I don’t think it’s such a good idea for all of us to go out. We could get spotted, I could get in trouble with BigHit. Maybe another time okay?”

The pout that forms on his lips makes me want to instantly take back everything I said but I can’t. Maybe after I get on good terms with everyone at the company then I can possibly take him up on the offer of exploring.

“Listen to her Jungkookie. The last thing we want is for y/n to not even start her first day and get in trouble.” Yoongi comments to relieve me from the instant guilt I feel from telling him no. Listening to his hyung he nods and starts to talk with Hoseok. Smiling, I look back down at the menu and breath deeply. Looking through my lashes I notice Jimin and Taehyung looking at me discreetly. Or at least trying to. What if Jimin told him about the picture? Mentally I smack myself because I know that I’m being a little paranoid. If there was a problem Namjoon would’ve said something already.

After placing our orders, the room is filled with laughter and numerous stories. I try to chime in here and there but I’m too interested in listening. So I sit quietly in my chair as Namjoon and I work on a bottle of wine that he’s ordered. Everyone seems to be having fun so the atmosphere is light and bubbly. I lean over and turn my head away from everyone to whisper to Namjoon.

“This is probably the wine talking, but what you all have is special.” A gentle smile rest on both of our faces as I turn to take in the rest of the members. They are all smiling and seem to be carefree despite their hectic and unpredictable lives. An occupational hazard of being an idol.

“It’s been a struggle, you know that. I feel like we’re finally at a place where our music helps others.” The sincerity in his voice makes me nod in agreement as goosebumps form under my sleeves.

“It does, more than you all know.” Smiling brightly at him, I look across and notice that the maknaes have been watching the small conversation between us. Taehyung seems to be watching closer than the other two but he turns away quickly when Hoseo calls for him.

Letting out the breath I had been holding in, the food comes out in platters on the table. Everyone starts to fill their plates as the conversations still seem to pour out. I nibble on my food, too much wine in my system, as I listen to them recall day from their debut times. My heart clenches as I want to comment on their first performance in the states but Namjoon and I both made an agreement. One that I plan on keeping.

“You’re quiet y/n, is everything okay?”

“Huh, oh yeah everything’s fine Jimin. I’m just taking everything in.”

“Did I tell you guys that y/n went to a concert of ours back in the states?” Jimin smiles as he looks at me straight on. His tone isn’t mean in any way, more like playful teasing but I can’t help the blush forming on my face.

“Ah, my sisters and I went to one. It was amazing! Probably one of the best nights of our lives.” Nervously I reach for my chopsticks and start poking at the food on my plate. I feel my phone buzz in my bag but I ignore it as I try to divert attention away from me.

“It looked like it. What was your favorite song on the setlist?”

“Fire, for sure. It was…” I stop midway through to try and process how I felt seeing my choreo performed. My heart was racing as I sang along with every word and tried not to dance along as well. There was a surge of energy and pure adrenaline that kept me up for hours after the concert.

“Something else. I guess seeing all the hard work that was put into the song and choreo...there’s no other feeling greater than that.” Tilting my head to the side a large smile forms as I look back up at everyone. The sincerity in my answer seems to resonate with the members as they all nod in agreement. We continue eating our dinner in a peaceful silence. Relaxing into my chair I suck in a breath of relief.

Once dinner is over and the drinks have ran dry, a few of the members excuse themselves to go to the restroom or are trying to get ready to leave. For the first time I’m left alone with Jin and it’s fun. Everyone else makes fun of him for his dad jokes but yet I love them. Laughing up a storm, I look around for anyone else but it seems they’re all waiting.

“I guess I need to get the bill. Everyone seems to be waiting outside.”

“They have to wait for us either way since we are the two that drove. But about the bill…Yoongi may or may not have already paid while we were sitting here.” Jin gently shrugs his shoulders as I facepalm myself. This was supposed to be my way of thanking everyone for helping. He stands from the table and motions with his head to follow him.

Groaning I stand up and grab my bag tightly. Standing next to Jin is slightly intimidating even with these heels on. He opens the front door for me and I bow in thanks as we meet with group. Yoongi scratches at the back of his head as I shoot him a slight annoyed glare. But my eyes soften as I get closer to him.

“Thank you Yoongi. This was supposed to be my treat though.” I say quietly as I stand in front of him, still not quiet eye level.

“Just go easy on us.” He finishes with a wink and goes towards Jin’s car. It seems like this is our que to head back to the dorms. Halfway skipping and partially stumbling because of these stupid heels, I open the driver door and plop down.

As soon as the car starts, all four of us sing along to some random song playing on the radio. Of course the other three sound amazing compared to me but it makes the drive go by quicker. That and the fact that it’s late and not many people are out. My eyes bulge out slightly at the time displayed on the dashboard...it’s almost 10:30. I can’t believe we were at dinner for almost four hours, that’s insane. But I guess it makes sense considering there were eight of us.

“Are we going to be starting everything on Monday?” Taehyung yells over the music causing me to turn it down and interrupt Jimin and Jungkook’s mini concert.

“Yes. But first I have a meeting with all the department heads. After that I’ll do a run through with each of you individually. Hoseok will show you the video while I’m gone.”

They all seem to absorb everything I’m saying as I pull into a parking spot. Jungkook and Taehyung jump out of the car as I let out a deep sigh before turning off the car. Jimin moves just as slowly as I do. I can’t tell whether he’s tired or is bored, but I’m not going to interrogate him. Opening my door, I lock the car as I watch the swarm of men walk through the doors. Instead of following them, I walk over to a bench that’s nestled between two trees on the edge of the building.

Sitting down slowly, I crane my neck back so I can look up at the night sky. Back at home if you stayed out late enough you could see a sky full of stars but there are too many lights for that here. Stargazing has been a nightly occurrence for the past few months. These past few months I’ve been working around the clock and running on coffee. It’s nice to see that all of that hard work finally got me here but the exhaustion is definitely catching up to me.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here too long without a jacket.”

Snapping my head over my hair spills over my face and I let out a huff of annoyance. Reaching into my bag, I pull out my backup hairtie and pull it into a high ponytail. Jimin takes the empty seat next to me and looks up at the sky as well. Silently I’m thankful that he doesn’t want to lecture me any further or have a conversation. Returning my gaze upwards I hear Jimin take in a deep breath.

There’s a tension in the air. It feels like both of us want to say something but we are too afraid too. Turning my head slowly I look at the man beside me and I instantly snap my head back. My cheeks feel hot and my stomach does a flip. All of this feels like a dream, one that I’m going to wake up from at any moment. But yet here I am.

“Let’s head inside. Last thing I want is for the famous Park Jimin to catch a cold before I get a chance to work with him.”

Standing up simultaneously I turn my head to the side and show him a small smile. He musters a nod as he walks beside me quietly. Warmth hits us as we enter the building and I don’t realize how cold I was until my hands start shaking. Jimin hits all the buttons for us as we ride in complete silence as we reach his floor.

“Good night Jimin.”

“Good night y/n.”

The doors close as he’s still looking at me and I let out a breath I had been holding. Monday is going to be a challenge. Could he be questioning my credibility? Or my skill all together. I know that I danced with them for a song and then let them watch the choreo I made. But I know better than anyone that people can look talented by those but turn out to be a complete fraud. Practicing the same thing over and over again will make you a pro at that one thing.

The beeping of the elevator pulls me from my head as I march to my front door. Excitement rushes through my veins at the thought of taking off my shoes and changing into something more...well me. The apartment is quiet as I make my way back to my bedroom and change into my pajamas.

Before I know it, I’m huddled up in my blankets reading through the twenty emails I missed from BigHit while I was out today. I’ll give them credit, as a company they stay in constant contact and make sure everyone is on the same page with each and every department. And everyone knows the schedule of the others.

‘BigHit Monday Schedule:

8:00-9:30 Meeting in main conference room

9:45-12:45 BTS training with y/n in dance room 1

12:45-1:45 Lunch

2:00-3:15 BTS fitting with stylist

3:30-5:00 Individual schedules

5:15-6:30 Studio time

Any activity after 6:30 is considered free time/training time.’

They weren’t kidding when they said they had busy schedules. I get them for three hours on Monday and that’s it. I’ll have to step up my game then. Maybe I’ll get more time throughout the week because I’ll need way more time than 15 hours a week. But if that’s all I get then I’ll have to make some changes to the choreo.

Looks like this is going to be more of a challenge than I originally thought. But I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge.

#BTS jimin #jimin x reader #park jimin #bts smut #bts fanfic

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nickmuch · 5 years

Text

c.z.k. - high school (part 3)

PART 1 / PART 2

Note: Honestly, I have nothing to do at work atm, so I might update this daily. Can’t wait for Part 4! Bc I have finally some more Zion action planned.

Also: It might be prom season there, but you didn’t hear it from me. My favorite part to write was probably the one that took place after prom.

Aaand: mobile tumblr seems to ignore all the paragraphing I put into the text to indicate the end of a scene???? So it’s probably easier to read on the desktop version.

A week had passed since my outburst. If you thought that everything magically turned upside down and we lived a happy life riding into the sunset on our white horse, then you thought wrong. Absolutely nothing happened. I returned back to class that day, not even flinching from his words. And he came back a couple minutes later, both of us acting as if we didn’t just kiss. He went back to her and I went back to feeling like shit. The usual story.

I acted like it didn’t faze me when he approached my locker at the end of the school day. “So …” he began. “You and Edwin?”. His voice sounded nervous when he asked me. Scrunching up my face, I fully turned towards him. “Me and Edwin what?”. Sighing, he grabbed my arm making me look him dead in the eyes. “You guys together now? You both seem oddly close these days”. Wow, I couldn’t believe the words that left his mouth. “Congrats! You have officially lost your mind, Caleb” I started picking up my pace. The front door wasn’t too far from here, so I hoped he would just let it go and let me drive home in peace. I hoped for nothing because clearly, he and his long legs caught up to me rather quickly, opening the door to my passenger seat before sitting down. “Look, I’m sorry for everything. But honestly, I just wanna put this all behind us. I miss my friends and I feel like I can’t hang out with the group while you’re still mad at me” “I’m not mad at you, in fact I give zero shits about you. But if you have something to talk about with the boys, then do so. I’m not keeping you from seeing them. They were your friends first, so you have every right to chill with them. I just don’t wanna be included, s’all”. A tap on the window made us look up. There she stood, tight smile on her face and eyes cold like ice. “Aw shit” he said, hurriedly opening the door to get out and explain why in the name of God he was sitting in his Ex’s car talking. Since I seriously didn’t need to hear their arguing – which was bound to happen any second now – I quickly drove off.

“Prom is right around the corner. What do you mean you’re not going?! Yes, you are! Don’t leave me alone with these fools!”. Edwin was close to having a breakdown. All because I didn’t plan on going to prom. There was no reason to go, really. I had no date, it was way too cold In New York to walk around in a dress the whole evening, and I wasn’t in the mood anyways. “Eddie, I love you, but please don’t make me go. I would only destroy the fun” I begged, thinking that would change his mind. Wrong! Because Edwin was – well – Edwin. My excuses were exactly that: just excuses. And he knew. “Okay bebecita, I knooooow you don’t feel like going”. He was convinced that easily? Wow, okay. “But!”. Ah there it was. “We will have fun. Trust me! When have I ever lied to you?”. I mean, he was right. Whenever he said something was going to be fun, it actually turned out to be. “Fine, we’ll go! But make sure that Zion leaves me alone. He thinks we’re dating and I don’t feel like dealing with his headassery again”. Edwin’s eyes nearly fell out of his face. “What?! Oh my god, is he serious?”. A hearty laugh filled up the whole living room. “Mijo, not so loud!” his mom shouted from the kitchen, making him quit immediately. “Anyways” he plopped down next to me on the couch. “No offense, but even if you’d be the last girl in the world and we had to reproduce in order to save the human civilization, I still wouldn’t touch you” Edwin finished. “No offense taken. You’re not my type anyway” I casually said while not breaking my eyes off of the tv screen. Gasp! “I- what? I meant because you’re my twin sister! Not because of your looks!” he cried. “Uhm … oh y-yeah, that’s what I meant too …?”. No way I could save my ass out of this. He looked hurt for a second but didn’t seem to dwell on it when he used my lap as a pillow to watch the show. “Don’t be fooled, you still suck ass”.

The night of the prom, Edwin had officially turned into a bridezilla. Minus the bride, of course. His steps could be heard from everywhere in the house, like a ticking clock you couldn’t dismiss. It was driving me insane. It was driving us all insane. “Edwin, you need to calm down” I tried. “There’s no way! No. Way.” he frantically walked from one room to the other. “My clothes need to be ironed, you still aren’t in your dress- “. “It’s 2 p.m.!” my voice sounded squeakier than expected. “- … your hair’s a mess, face not beat, my hair is acting up, and the damn rental car is running late” he finished with one last breath before collapsing on my bed. “We won’t be on time. Just cancel on the boys for me, the stress isn’t good for the baby”. “What baby?!”. “Me. I’m baby”. I couldn’t believe my ears. This boy lost his mind. Narrowing my eyes at him, he challenged me back to a stare-down. “Listen here, egghead” An offended gasp left his lips. “You’ve been talking about this night for weeks. There’s no backing out now. Move your ass up and get your to-do-list, so I can help you with everything. We still have four hours left before the boys are supposed to be here. So, let’s start!”.

The white Range Rover came to a halt right in front of the school building. Loud music could be heard already, some new rap song playing in the background. “This is gonna be so lit!” Edwin bounced on his seat excitedly before jumping out and dragging the rest of us with him into the gym. The motto for this year’s prom was “neon festival”.The wall decoration was painted in a mix of fluorescent colors, which reflected every time the lights hit them. Bright yellow stars adorned the ceiling, some white smoke even coming out of a smoke machine. Everything was arranged so nicely, I couldn’t help but admire the great effort of the students who probably worked hard for this to come true. Now I understood why Edwin wanted to go so badly. Back home, our prom nights were pretty basic. No one could be bothered to put so much effort into an event, just for it to be over on the same night.

“Here, for you” Nick handed me a red solo cup, which was filled with some pink drink, accompanied by a cocktail umbrella. “Thank you” I said, turning my gaze towards the shining stars again. “I’m so sorry about what I’m gonna say next” he looked slightly uneasy, so I tried to calm him down by laying my hand on his shoulder. “Z and Asya will be joining our table. I mean, only if it’s alright with you”. As if on cue, my eyes wandered over to where I last saw the boys, seeing that – in fact – they were surrounded by the couple. All of them looked so happy, laughing and joking with each other. No matter what I felt towards Caleb, I had to set my pride aside and act nice from now on. The boys were longing to hang out with their friend again and I didn’t want to be the reason for a strain in their friendship.

“It’s alright with me” I replied. His hand cautiously wrapped around my hips, like he was scared of making me uncomfortable. “Lead the way, Mara”. He grinned at me. “Say no more, Honoret”. I rolled my eyes at the name. He knew I wasn’t really a Honoret, and yet everyone just called me that, totally ignoring all my attempts at correcting them.

Luckily, I got the seat between Edwin and Brandon. I didn’t know how to greet Zion and his girlfriend. She was too busy typing away on her phone to notice my arrival, anyways. So, I just gave him a short wave and a shy smile. “Looking nice” he said, motioning to my baby blue velvet bodycon dress. His girl was so busy, she didn’t even notice him complimenting another female. Either that, or she didn’t care. “Thanks Caleb, you too”. Coincidentally, he wore a dark grey suit with a baby blue pocket square. To not give awkward silence any room, Austin suggested to me to dance. Gladly taking his offer, we made our way to the dance floor. Soon enough, Edwin and Nick joined us, their dance moves putting me and him to shame. “You guys enjoying yourselves?” Brandon shouted over the music. I pulled him closer by his forearm to join us. “Very”. My grin however didn’t last. When I looked back to our table, I saw Zion all by himself. He looked bored, occasionally scrolling through his phone. “I’ll be right back” I told no one in particular before making my way over to the lone boy.

“Why so lonely, Kuwonu?” I nudged his arm. With a weak smile on his plump lips, he answered “Asya is preoccupied with her group of friends. I don’t really vibe with ‘em”. Nodding understandingly, I offered him to accompany me back to the others. “As long as you don’t hit the folks, we’re good” I playfully teased him. “Ha ha, very funny” Caleb sarcastically remarked. It was nice to talk to him without an attitude or tension building up. Maybe I overreacted a little bit in the last weeks. Having him around felt good, if you ignored the butterflies that erupted deep down in my stomach every time he looked at me or smiled his goofy grin. But we had our chance and it didn’t work out, that’s why I had to get over it. Better to have him as a friend than anything else. Right now, though, was about having fun and enjoying the company of good friends in a night that seemed to be endless.

The thing is, everything has an end. And so, I found myself in the booth of an old diner. The fake leather of the seats was peeling off and little bolts of cloth got stuck to our clothes. One of my legs was pressed against the window side, my other leg was touching Brandon’s involuntarily. Edwin thought a corner booth would totally suffice for all seven of us. Well, he thought wrong because now we were all huddled up, trying to get as comfortable as humanly possible with not much space between us left. Asya decided to not tag along, saying she was too tired from dancing with her friends all night.

“I hope they hurry up with our order, I’m starving!” Ansley sighed dramatically. Turns out, Austin was talking to her for weeks now, he just couldn’t build up the courage to ask her out yet. So, Edwin being Edwin, persuaded her to join our trip for a midnight-snack, claiming that “this pizza is going to be the best you’ve ever had!”. Judging from the interior design and the slack expression we were getting from the waiter, I highly doubted he was right. But then again, never underestimate Edwin.

“Okay, you were right. This is the best pizza I’ve ever had. Kudos to you, Ed” Ansley munched happily on her slice. Suspiciously examining the pieces in the center of the table, I couldn’t really put too much trust into her words. For some odd reason, the pizza had more grease on it than my face in the morning before washing it. “Just try it, she isn’t lying” Zion slid me a slice over. “If I die, tell Mama, Papa and the babies that I love ‘em” I told Ed before taking a bite. This was actually pretty good. Maybe not the best I’ve had, but it came close. “What makes this the best pizza in all of New York, though? It doesn’t taste that special”. The boys smirked knowingly, all eyes looking down trying to avoid my gaze. “It’s not necessarily the taste but rather the memories this place holds, you know? Back when we were younger, we’d spend our evenings after school here since our parents were working and we had no one to watch us in the meantime” Brandon nodded along to Edwin’s words, clearly remembering it all as if it had happened yesterday. “Can you imagine the mess we’d make?! Five little boys, full of energy rushing in to buy themselves some junk food, not a single care in the world” he paused for a moment, giving the others a short smile. The moment was filled with a melancholic retrospective feeling. “We literally grew up in this place. T’was safer to play and wait for our parents in here than at home or on the streets. I guess that’s what makes this so special to us” he shrugged. Sensing that he had finished the story, I nodded slowly, comprehending everything he just told me. “I like it here. Has charm to it”. Grinning widely, I took another bite to further prove my point.

People think of New York as this cool and hip city, with expensive luxurious apartments and such, but they seem to forget that not everyone is fortunate enough to live that life. Some of us have to learn from an early age that this world is full of bad people. Not everyone is going to wish you the best or give a helping hand. “We kinda are like OMB if you really think about it. Sure, no one is forcing us to join a gang or sum, but we do live a similar life” Zion threw in. “Actually, the weedhead might be onto something” B exclaimed. “You moving here out of nowhere” he said, pointing towards me. “Ed having to give up his room for you. A weird crackhead as a friend like Jamal” Now it was Edwin’s turn to be pointed at. “Hey! That’s rude! Besides, don’t do my bro Jamal like dat. He’s a great friend, always got their backs and shit” Ed tried to argue. “You’re a great friend, too. And an even better twin brother” I genuinely told him. A chorus of “Awwee”’s followed the round. “Now this is how you talk to friends! Take notes, ladies”. When he said ladies, he definitely wasn’t referring to me or Ansley.

The night itself turned out being amazing and I was glad that Edwin had convinced me to go to prom. We were talking about everything and nothing, really. Moments turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours, and soon it was already time to leave. Ansley had to be home soon, so Austin took it upon himself to make sure she would arrive there safely. Edwin was craving donuts from the corner shop across the street, but since he couldn’t be trusted on his own, Brandon decided to follow him. “Is B really the right fit to watch him not do any shenanigans?” Nick asked warily. “… honestly, talking from experience, I should probably go with ‘em before their sugar high kicks in”. With that, I was left alone with Zion in the booth of a run-down diner in the middle of New York. Despite being in one of the biggest cities, the world suddenly felt so small around me.

“So …” Zion said, looking around the place. “So …” I mimicked. Shaking his head, he just laughed. “This is low key awkward, not gonna lie”. It was true. In a group we no longer had trouble talking, however when alone it was a whole another story.

“I’m sorry”.

“You say sorry way too much”.

“Maybe. But this time I wanna apologize for attacking you with that kiss last week”.

“It’s all forgotten”.

His mouth opened and closed, scared to say something but I knew there still was something he wanted to get off his chest.

The bell above the door frame signaled the arrival of someone. “Guess what I gotchu guys?!” Edwin trotted over, taking a seat on the table, so that he had both me and Z on each of his sides. A small brown paper bag rested on his lap. With one swift movement, he pulled out some twizzlers, and shoved them in our hands. “And we also bought you make up wipes!” happily Brandon said in a sing-song voice. Fishing out the pack, he handed them over to me. “I love you guys!”. Nick walked in last. “Yo, I’m slowly getting tired. Can we drive home now?” sleepily he rubbed his eyes, already pulling on Zion’s sleeve. Reluctantly, Edwin followed behind, even though all he wanted was to eat his candy. His sugar high was still going in full force. Therefore, he didn’t feel an ounce of sleep.

“Why the fuck is he so bouncy?!”Austin asked. We had called him earlier to ask for his location, so that we could pick him up and drive home as well. He climbed up the Jeep, sitting next to an energetic Ed. “Twizzlers?” he offered to his friend. “No, thanks. Also, please stop smiling so creepily, you’re scaring me”. This was going to be a long drive.

Note: Part 4 will have more Zion moments. The plan is to have only one or two settings, so hopefully it’ll work out as planned.

I’d love to get some feedback, good or bad doesn’t matter!! What direction would you want this to go? How would you like this to end? Let me know!

Cami

#brandon arreaga #brandon arreaga imagines #edwin honoret #edwin honoret imagines #austin porter #austin porter imagines #nick mara #nick mara imagines #zion kuwonu #zion kuwonu imagines #pm #pm imagines #pm blurbs #fanfic #pm fanfic #love #writing

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comicteaparty · 4 years

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June 13th-June 19th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 13th, 2020 to June 19th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

What is your physical and digital workspace like when you’re working on your story?

🌈ERROR404 🌈

LOL it really depends on what stage I'm in of the process - My storyboarding space is at home, as comfortable as I can be, a beer and some food at the ready and pure silence. The cats have to be freshly fed, otherwise I'll be harassed and lose my headspace entirely LOL. I usually work on my story boards digitally, just at a very small scale, with my script/outline on my computer and working on my ipad! The double screen helps a LOT, although i would just print out the script if I had access to a printer, haha. When I'm working on the actual page itself, it's a very different story. I usually just try and work on it in tiny little batches during the day when I'm stuck at home, and usually work around the animals as best i can, lmao. Truthfully, I really prefer to be in a coffee shop when I'm working on finishing pages, it makes me so much more productive than i am in this house with so many things to take care of right in front of me, but, obviously, that's a bit difficult to do these days. ;; I usually reserve food and drink until after I pass a milestone in inking/sketching to help motivate me to keep going for as much as I can before taking a break, and I need some kind of music or video playing in the background to keep myself from being absolutely bored out of my mind. My shading process, since it's in black and white, is very easy and i can finish it in one setting, easy, no matter what I'm working with. I also work digitally for my pages, of course, although I don't need more than my ipad and clip studio for it!

DaeofthePast

freshly fed cats

🌈ERROR404 🌈

They are BEASTS when hungry, the little bastards (love them)

I may only work in peace when they're post-food napping lmao

DaeofthePast

we only have one, but same

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I work almost entirely in the corner of my IKEA couch at home I used to work at a proper desk with a Cintiq, but when I switched to Procreate on an iPad, I migrated to the couch and surrounded myself with a nest of clothes and blankets and books and... here I am, bein' cozy. With terrible posture But when I was between jobs last year, I did rent a little coworking space down the street so I could get out of my pajamas and go get comic stuff done there. It was a godsend. I like drawing at my favorite coffee shop every so often too, but I tend to hide my work while I draw, and there, everyone can look over my shoulder The coworking space had a tall artist desk that was rarely used, so I often grabbed that one. Not cheap, but to stave off cabin fever, heck yes, worth it.

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ahhh I've been really thinking about getting a studio space one of these days I really shouldn't rn, with my finances as they are, but I could REALLY make use of one recently

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I loved the space I used last year. They recently had to close for... current-event reasons... and are going to reopen with all sorts of plexiglass barriers between the desks I feel so bad for them. Good studio spaces are wonderful, I would support them again if I ever was out of a job!

🌈ERROR404 🌈

it's good they've found ways to make it safer, though!

carcarchu

My old workspace was in the basement of my home in canada and it was always perpetually freezing even in the summer and i was frequently visited by spiders so my current workspace is a huge improvement in that regard. I do miss my old ergonomic desk chair though. I'm definitely not the kind of person who can draw in bed or on the couch. I need to be in workmode and having a designated space just for that is necessary for me to get in the right headspace for that.

DaeofthePast

my workspace rn is just my desk with my laptop and my drawing tablet. my laptop is stacked on top of a pile of books so i can see the screen (otherwise my tablet blocks my line of sight). it's kinda simple

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Depends. I have a Cintiq Mobile Studio, so I can draw pretty much every where and sometimes in the oddest position, but most of the time I am on my desk with the cintiq hooked up to a second monitor so I don't have to look down so much.(edited)

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

For Wayfinders: Thumbnails are somewhere cozy and the only physical work. Me and Q sit and plan them out together. The rest of wayfinders are made on Photoshop, and flat colors in clip paint studio. In the world I would love a nice studio place in an office with others. During corentine I have been working from home, and I am not that good at it, being quite the extrovert. Before corentine I was in a artist residency where I worked on Wayfinders which had a workstation and all the programs we could need. It is so nice and me and Q are going to return there when it opens up again!

Miranda

I have an iPad so usually on the couch, cozied up with coffee and pillows and blankets. But sometimes at the table. But usually on the couch like the gremlin I am

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I have a large drafting table, a mini drafting table, and a lapdesk in my papasan when we ink/draw! Toning and letters are all done on the desktop in its own space

Miranda

I need to get a good lap desk. But that sounds like a grand setup!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

My first time hearing about a lapdesk

Omg I need one

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

They are the best things ever Mine has just the pencil holder !(some come with cup holders and its a waste of space imo)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Wow I like your setup of the drafting tables

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I wanna show pics of them....if im allowed in this chat?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I hope so, I'm not sure which channel we can post studio photos at? I did see some did before?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Ill post in shop talk since creator babble gets archived

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

my current space is uh.... a bit better than my last one. I used to work on an old writers desk for a decade and I did most of my comic work sitting there cramped up with my desktop taking most of the space. Now I have an L shaped desk where I have my desktop on the shorter end. The longer end it's my pen, pencils, and watercolor stuff. my display tablet occupy the space at times so switching from digital and traditional without worrying about setup hassle is a lot better than what I dealt with before lol.

I'm glad the days I had to curl up and draw with no privacy are long gone now

kayotics

I’ve got a little drafting table where I draw all my comic pages. I’m messy with my pens so they’re kind of strewn about until I start to lose them. Then I put them back. I’m not particularly neat. I spend most of the comic process off the computer, so most of my digital work is just on an iPad where I can sit anywhere. I try to keep good lighting around my drafting table and there’s always loose eraser shavings all over.

Natasha Berlin (Pot of Gold)

I got myself a lil corner desk by the dining table. Not as well-lit as I'd like, but it's decently ergonomic and I started putting posters on my wall Plus I can leave work mindset easily by turning off my computer and forgetting about the dark corner in the dining room XD(edited)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My desk is really sloppy and covered in all kinds of junk. I have a harmonica, a ball of yarn, a bunch of ink bottles, etc on my desk. I have my sketchbook under my tablet and usually a notebook somewhere for writing. My tablet sits to the right of my laptop (on top of sketchbook) while I'm not using it and when I'm using it it goes over my computer keyboard. I sometimes have a glass of water or some food sitting to the lefthand side

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The only thing I wanna share about my workspace is this

once i spent over three hours looking for that damned pen

never again

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ajkdhfkjs the models for hte magazine im crying

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh my God

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

mad giggling

Deo101 [Millennium]

youre gonna manage to lose the string

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omg

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i know in my heart deo is right but still i hope

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

You should weld a metal chain to it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Watch me lose the whole tablet

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh nooo

I believe in you!

TaliePlume

My workspace is a black table with a white, yellow, blue and green tablecloth with 3 black chairs. It's next to the kitchen. On it, is my laptop and the left side is my clipboard, 3 blue folders full of writing. Then above it, is 3 sketchbooks and another blue folder from a class that I took in community college.

June 16, 2020

sagaholmgaard

I have one long desk at almost three meters. On the left side is all my coffee and tea supplies, in the middle is my work space and on the right is my dining table xD I get everything done from there, despite having a mobilestudio so I COULD sit anywhere and work, lol. It's a blessing during holiday seasons to be able to bring it everywhere, but at some I like my designated working space. Although I am moving in a few weeks, so who knows what my new workspace will be

Moral_Gutpunch

My workspace is anywhere I can draw or write. It's more of a "Will I be interrupted over something petty or stupid" issue than space. Not that I don't want more space.

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

My workspace is a big, broken corner desk I managed to lug out of an old apartment when it was gonna be trashed. Before then, I'd just draw in bed. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure the folding chair I sit at is a similar affair. It's got a Dollar General throw pillow on it so I can at least say I'm trying to save my back. The top of the desk is a mess of mostly old bottles and cans, pencils, incense ash, and my old tarot deck. I love this setup dearly. This is the first time I've ever had my own desk space, much less a space I can decorate or leave as messy as I want. Got my own art up on the walls with sticky tack and all! Also the cat's scratching post is directly behind me, because we've learned the cat won't use it unless it's as in the way as possible. What can ya do, lol.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh cats...

Desnik

I got spoiled with an adjustable desk. It is six feet long, and has a whiteboard top for noodling with dry erase markers

my main computer is set up on an adjustable stand so it floats over the desk, and then I have my cintiq, which we tried to mount on a similar stand but then it was just too heavy

I keep my dice collection nearby because fidgeting helps think things through sometimes

and rolling to make odd decisions never hurts

lately during the quarantine I've been sharing the office with my spouse so we've had to establish rules over when it's okay to bug each other(edited)

oh yeah and we also have a whiteboard installed in the office, and it rules!(edited)

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

Mine is pretty simple: I have a laptop that's long stopped being portable and is now mostly just sitting at my desk at all times and a 19 inch Ugee as my display. I usually keep a lot of stuff on top of my desk, but it's mostly just a mess because I have been using it for work too for a while now

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I suppose I'll talk about my setup too :) My main setup is where I do digital art. I share an office with my SO, so we both have workspaces on opposite walls from each other. I work on a corner desk that holds my beefy computer, two monitors, and a Huion Kamvas GT-191. That's where I draw my comic and pretty much everything else done digitally. Ngl, it's a mess right now. I have comic notes and location floor plans in sketchbooks and DnD character sheets spread out all over the surface, and random pens and sticky notes. In the corner of the room, we have a nice large-format printer where I produce prints for conventions. I actually sketch my pages on an iPad pro in Procreate, so during the sketch phase, sometimes I'll just bundle up on my couch and do it, or before quarantine, sometimes I'd sketch on the go. My other workspace (which hasn't gotten much love as of late tbh) is a drafting table in the corner of our living room. I keep a tabletop easel on it and my Copic markers, as well as whatever I'm working on at the moment. (RN it's some ink washes.) The drawers hold all my ink, pencils, erasers, etc. Next to the drafting table is where I keep all my large charcoal, graphite, and oil pastel drawings (mostly school projects), and my large paintings. Other than that, I have a nifty little cart where I keep painting supplies :) I will say, this setup is by far an enormous improvement from my previous setups.

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic tea party #ctp #creator interview #comic creator interview #creator babble

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likeshipsonthesea · 5 years

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I just saw that post about what would you do if you became disgustingly rich and the one indulgence, but can you imagine that sort of conversation taking place between the frogs? Or even the house occupants? I feel like it would be an interesting avenue for a character study! Especially since recently you mentioned the whole low income to ivy league feels you can get out of Bitty and Dex!

{hey so sorry i took so long to respond to this! work got crazy andthen i moved my entire life back home in a nissan ultima that did not have enough room and then i spent theremaining time cuddling my cats.. so yeah, just watched kingsman for the firsttime, am IN LOVE, and ready to respond to an ask.. i don’t understand my braineither}

the above? written three days ago.. to you and to everyone who’s sent in asks/prompts, please know that i DO want to respond, but my brain has been half-dead recently and i’ve started a bunch of things but can’t seem to finish them (my drafts are unfortunately filling up and my desktop has like seven starts of wips and i am Tired) so i am going to do my best here to respond to this ask now

(also the link for the post referenced above is here and for my amended thoughts on bitty’s relationship to wealth see this add on to the post you mentioned in this ask)

i was going to write out a whole fic but it’s going to have to be a fic outline kind of thing because my brain is not in the Make Words mode rn so this is what we get..

i think the conversation starts on a random night when all the boys are in the haus, let’s set it during bitty’s softie year (so zimbits and shardo are not yet together, frogs are still in their first year, jack is still captain, you get it) and let’s make it a random night where they’re all hanging out but it’s not a kegster

maybe it’s the night after a kegster, a weekend, no game or anything, and there’s leftover tubjuice to get rid of so they cut it with some orange juice (a Bad Idea) and sit on the floor of the living room and just, like,, talk for hours. the kind of meandering, heavy-and-then-not kind of talks, where you feel comfortable and languid and forget what time is, for a bit. maybe you break out into showtunes for a while, maybe you play truth or dare. who knows. it’s great. and when you notice the sun has risen and you’re well and truly fucked, well. at least you have the memories to get you through the following day

so it’s one of those nights, yeah, and it hasn’t reached morning quite yet but it’s late, sometime after yesterday (”it doesn’t count as tomorrow until you fall asleep” shitty asserts, at six a.m., leaning heavily between jack and nursey with a joint hanging out of his mouth) and they’re all sitting around, in somewhat of a lull in conversation, where everyone’s relaxing somewhat into their seats and thinking about the last topic of conversation (top hats) or maybe the one before that (family dinners) and emotions are flowing strangely and nothing seems exactly real

and then someone, we don’t know who, puts it out there, says, “what do you think you’d do if you were rich?” and yeah we’ve got a bunch of college students in this economy in the room but, well, we’ve also got a room full of ivy kids (we know, at least, that shitty and nursey and jack are not strangers to this concept) so when people blink at the asker all, ‘i dunno man’ they clarify and say, “if you were stupidly rich, like, what would be the ridiculous thing you’d do? that the tabloids would report on, people would be outraged about, you know?”

and, well, that takes a moment.

after some thinking, bitty decides he’d want a ridiculously decked out kitchen, with a rotating pantry that’s always fully stocked (either by magic or a 24/7 team of shoppers, he hasn’t decided yet)

jack frowns for a long time (probably busy storing bitty’s idea for an anniversary present at a latter date, though he doesn’t know he’s in love with bits at the time) but eventually comes up with his own private hockey rink, except the ice is made of maple syrup.

(”how would that even work,” holster asks incredulously. ransom just fist-bumps jack solemnly. o’canada plays vaguely in the background)

holster decides he’d want to be carried everywhere (”what about the dudes from wall-e bro?” ransom asks, wide-eyed, and holster pats his shoulder. “i’d come down for leg day, bro, don’t worry.” dex is ignored in the background, throwing his hands up, utterly done)

ransom wants a smart-house, completely decked out with ai, and when shitty points out that movies say that ends with the house murdering him, ransom says that if he didn’t do everything a movie told him was bad, how would he ever have any fun in life? shitty frowns for a moment, confused, but eventually proceeds without questioning too hard.

shitty, on the other hand, wants his entire house to be a library. “i don’t know exactly how i’d organize it yet,” he says, “hopefully something clever, like shit books in the bathroom or something, but i have time to work out a system.” books would be stored in ridiculous places, like the microwave, or inside the couch, and finding them would be either a delightful surprise or a frustrating adventure. dex laments to no one in the background while nursey fist-bumps shitty in solidarity.

lardo says she’d buy housing developments, lower the rents to next-to-nothing, and paint ridiculously sized murals all over the walls, make sculptures out of skylines and left-behind furniture. (”hey that sounds nice, i thought the rules were we had to be ridiculous,” ransom protests. lardo grins. “let me finish”) she would eventually amass so much wealth and real estate that she would eventually buy entire countries, until she could rule the world as a benevolent dictator.

everyone in the room shivers, because they know it’s a possibility.

nursey, mellowing the tone, says he’d get a jetpack. he hates flying but he thinks he’d be okay knowing he’s in control, and he could travel anywhere he wanted without going through the hassle of an airport. “all i’d have to pay for is the fuel,” he says, grinning, and dex rolls his eyes. “yeah, and all the inevitably property damage resulting from you operating a flying machine.” nursey, very maturely, sticks his tongue out at dex in response.

dex, for his part, doesn’t really know what he’d do. he can’t imagine having enough money to spend it irresponsibly, at least not to that degree. securing his family, with houses and cars and savings accounts, securing himself. maybe going on some fun trips. buy a nice pair of shoes. “come on poindexter, one thing.” nursey pokes dex in the side and he squirms. “if you could pick one stupid, ridiculous thing to do with your money, what would it be?”

dex thinks, trying to be outrageous but also something he thinks he would enjoy. after a series of long moments, he decides. “i’d have a swimming pool installed in my house so i could swim from room to room without having to get out once.”

the room blinks. nursey grins and pats dex on the shoulder. “there ya go, you nerd.” dex smiles, pleased, and also now wanting exactly that.

chowder, who’s been waiting patiently the entire time, finally bursts out, very quickly, “i would buy the san jose sharks and an aquarium and once a year i would make them switch places.”

“how would that even…” ransom shakes his head. chowder is beaming too much to dim his spirits.

“on that note, y’all, i think it’s time to head to bed.”

the night sky is steadily lightening and a series of yawns disperse across the room. and then the team, like their author, rises from their spots, stretches, and leaves to find their bed, dreams of stupid wealth dancing in their heads.

thank you, and good night. ;)

#check please #my writing #sort of fic #rambly #samwell men's hockey #the whole og team is here #also mild nurseydex #and some pre-zimbits #but yeah #enjoy #this was fun

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patchworkofstars · 6 years

Text

Salted Caramel

Chapter 2: The Fires of Pride and Envy

AO3 Chapter 1

Relationships: Royality, Analogical

Chapter synopsis: Roman discovers something in common with Patton, but his housemate’s emo boyfriend sends his stress levels rocketing.

Word count: 2,364

Warnings: Mentions of food and difficulty eating

Notes: Heartfelt thanks to everyone who left comments on the first chapter 💖 Roman’s reaction here to positive feedback is very much based on my own 💙

Thanks also to @metaphoricalpluto2 @bi-one and @monstercupcake61176 for acting as my random word generator! back on 12th April?? yet I only finished writing this chapter today???

Having briefly returned to give him a glimmer of hope, Roman’s creativity deserted him for the rest of the weekend. By Monday, his desire to escape his desk and writer’s block was so strong it overcame even his fear of looking like a nerd, and for the first time ever he arrived early to the first lecture of the week.

Big mistake, he realised, as he stepped into the lecture theatre only to find Patton already there. He was sitting all alone, reading a book of some sort, and Roman couldn’t help but notice he was wearing the grey cardigan he normally tied around his shoulders. Covering his arms to hide the bruises from the other night, perhaps?

Roman hesitated on the threshold, considering waiting outside until his friends arrived, but before he could make a decision, Patton looked up and saw him. The man’s whole face seemed to light up, and Roman’s heart sank. He couldn’t afford to be seen talking to Patton. Who knew what damage it would do to his reputation if people began to think they might be friends.

Act confident, Roman, he told himself, geeks can smell fear. That’s how they manage to survive.

His limbs felt heavy and uncoordinated, but he tried to feign nonchalance as he walked in and took the seat behind Patton, close enough to talk without the danger of them looking too friendly when the other students inevitably arrived.

Patton closed his book, and Roman’s breath caught when he saw the cover. Dragon Witch Chronicles volume 4, The Fires of Pride. He swallowed, nervousness quickening his pulse and making him slightly light headed.

Anything but that series, he thought. It looks well-read, too…

“Are you enjoying your book?” he asked, willing the words to sound casual. “You seemed very engrossed, there.”

Patton laid a hand on the cover and smiled. “It’s my all-time favourite series, he said, affection clear in his voice. “Volume six is coming out next month, so I’m re-reading them all in preparation.”

Roman looked away quickly, avoiding the other man’s eyes. Oh gods, he’s a fan, that means he might have read… He cut off the thought, distracting himself by pulling up his bag to take out his notebook and pen.

But having been given an opening, Patton seized it. “Have you read any of the series?" he asked brightly.

“Uh, yes, as it happens”, Roman admitted, trying to quash his rising panic.

Patton’s eyes shone. “Who’s your favourite character?” he asked, leaning forward eagerly. “Mine’s Prince Namor.” A faint pink blush spread over his cheeks as he looked up through his eyelashes at Roman. “He actually reminds me a lot of you. You’re my hero, you know.”

Roman felt his own face begin to heat up, and swallowed again. “Ah, yes, well, Namor is a fantastic character”, he agreed, a little too loudly. “He’s certainly my favourite of the main cast, but I must confess I’m hoping to see more of Tonapt, the Prince of the Cat People from book five.”

Patton’s smile grew wider. “Yes!” he breathed, clasping his hands together. “I love the Cat People! Their culture is so cool, and-”

He broke off as the sound of chatter from outside heralded the arrival of a group of their coursemates. Roman immediately sat back in his chair, putting as much distance as possible between him and Patton.

Still, he couldn’t help but watch out of the corner of his eye as the smile washed away from Patton’s face like a chalk image in the rain. He scooped the book up and tucked it carefully away in his bag, taking out paper and a pen instead and fixing his eyes on the desk before him.

Roman felt a twist of guilt in his gut and almost, almost leaned forward again to apologise, but then Donny’s voice called “What the hell, Zito? We’ve been looking all over for you!” and suddenly his friends were at his side, dropping their bags and sliding into the seats to his left.

Mike slung an arm loosely around his shoulders, grinning. “How come you’re here so early, Rosie?” he teased. “You turning into a swat like loser-boy there?” He nodded towards Patton, and Roman twisted his mouth into an awkward grin.

“Don’t be ridiculous”, he retorted. “I just mixed up the time and didn’t want to hang around in the corridor like a numpty.”

Somewhere at the back of his mind, the curtain between him and Patton fell once more.

*****

Roman ran up the steps to his flat two at a time, and burst through the doorway into the shared living room with a cry of “Logan, I’m hooome~!”

Then he stopped abruptly, his expression contorting from amicable to sullen in an instant.

Logan nodded in greeting from where he sat on their worn but comfortable sofa. He was all straight lines and sharp angles, his measured movements and careful speech a marked contrast to Roman's loud flamboyance. In his customary black polo shirt and blue striped necktie, he looked more like an accountant than an undergrad, but his short sleeves revealed surprisingly muscular arms, and his glasses couldn't hide the high cheekbones that always made Roman want to-

Well, it didn’t matter what Roman wanted, because beside his handsome housemate sat the reason for his current hostility: Logan’s boyfriend, Virgil Price.

In stark contrast to his companion, he wore ripped jeans and a hoodie, with dark patches of eyeshadow painted beneath each eye in classic emo style. While Logan sat straight-backed on the sofa's seat, Virgil sat on the arm, with his feet, clad in striped purple socks, resting on the free cushion. His knees were drawn up, forearms braced against his thighs, and his hands moved rapidly through a series of gestures as they hovered over his knees.

Roman scowled at the interloper, hot anger and frustration surging upwards through his veins. “What’s he doing here?” he demanded, barely managing to keep the growl from his voice.

“Virgil has had a bad day and is currently non-verbal”, Logan informed him, utterly unfazed by his tone. “I would appreciate it if you’d refrain from causing him further stress, for once. We made vegetable soup earlier, and there’s still some keeping warm if you’d like it.”

Virgil glowered and gestured rapidly at his boyfriend.

“I’m aware of that”, Logan told him aloud, “But it would be churlish not to allow him a share when we made so much. Besides which, it’s important to maintain a courteous attitude when cohabiting with someone.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, and Roman didn’t need to know sign language to understand the hand gesture the emo directed his way. Nevertheless, he moved to the kitchen area and served himself some of the soup waiting there. Logan’s cooking was always satisfying and nutritious, and anything beat preparing food for himself with a view of those two being affectionate in the background.

*****

He took the soup and some crackers to eat in his room, hiding himself away not only from Virgil’s glares but also from the pain of seeing his easy companionship with Logan, the way they were so relaxed and open with each other. It always left a hollow ache in Roman’s chest, making him wistfully wonder, despite himself, how it must feel to have someone they could each be so wholly themselves with.

He shook himself from his reverie and put on a soothing Disney medley. There was no point in dwelling on the impossible. Logan and Virgil could be honest with each other because they were both unpopular and had nothing to lose, and Roman would willingly sacrifice that if it meant he could maintain his image.

He steadied his breathing, letting his eyes drift around the room. Each wall was a patchwork of film posters, from Disney to DreamWorks to Studio Ghibli. His complete set of Dragon Witch Chronicles novels were lovingly displayed in pride of place on his bookshelf, while his textbooks sat in a haphazard pile on the floor beneath.

Letting the music wash over him, he pushed away his lingering melancholy and focused instead on thoughts of his writing as he dragged himself through the chore of eating. There was no pleasure in it, these days, having to force himself to chew and then to swallow every mouthful down past the ever-present knot of tension in his throat. Even the soup was like molten tar in his oesophagus, and solid food went down like lumps of lead. Each flavour was a faint tingling on his tongue that never registered fully in his brain. He may as well have been eating cardboard for all the pleasure it gave him.

With what passed for his meal finished, he pulled his laptop over and opened up a text file. He'd been halfway through writing a complex, multi-chapter piece of fanfiction when his writer’s block had surfaced, and the thought of yet another week going by with no new content posted increased the tension in his head to an almost visible metallic grey cloud. He gazed despairingly at the document on the screen before him. It was, to put it mildly, a raging dumpster fire of a story draft.

Well, fine, he would try writing something else instead. He closed the file and double-clicked the appropriate icon on his desktop, mentally thanking Logan for the prompt-generation software he’d created. Even though he’d been almost unbearably smug about it when he’d installed it for Roman.

Opening the Block Unblocker – Logan wasn’t great at names – he clicked the button to randomly generate three nouns and a fanfiction type, the purpose being to write a story in the given genre containing all the words. Immediately, the software gave him a list.

“Cactus, wood, hat – fluff.” What the heck was he supposed to do with that? He shook his head and clicked the button again.

“France, cucumber, potato - angst.” Something about crying over a meal in a French café, perhaps? But I don’t know anything about France. Forget it, one more try.

“Eggs, jellyfish, toaster - smut.” What the-? No no, not writing that, no way. Not even going to think about that.

Ugh, he couldn’t do it. Yet again, his mind was enveloped in fog, devoid of inspiration. With a resigned sigh, he closed the file and opened his web browser. He might as well see what other people had been writing. Perhaps some light reading would help improve his mood.

He scanned down the list of titles and synopses, a bitter feeling of nausea growing in his stomach. Damn, they all sounded so good. All those writers actually writing, posting, achieving, while he did nothing. He wanted to claw out his heart and tear it to shreds to rid himself of the burning envy that threatened to consume him.

They were such good writers, and he enjoyed their work so much. But every story they gave to the world was a further reminder of his own failure to do the same. He loved them, but he hated the way they made him feel.

I have to do this, I can’t let them defeat me. I can’t let this defeat me.

*****

It was hopeless. His head hurt so much he could barely think, a dull but persistent ache accented every so often by a bolt of agony on the right side of his forehead. The unyielding stiffness of his neck muscles pulling his shoulders towards his chin told him this was a tension headache that painkillers would do nothing to ease. From experience, he knew the only cure would be relaxation, but how could he relax with this pounding in his skull and this bruised feeling in all of his muscles?

Desperation was eating away at his bones, dark dread creeping through his veins. What if he never wrote anything worthwhile ever again? What if he had nothing to post, nothing to offer, and all of his followers left in disgust, realising he wasn’t worthy of their attention after all? That anything he’d written had been a fluke, an accident of luck, and he didn’t deserve their praise?

He almost sobbed, and hit the back of his neck with a fist, trying to force some of the tension from the muscles. But all it did was increase the ache there.

He jumped when his phone pinged, and scrambled to check the notification. An email. An email with a comment about his writing.

It was from a user named CaramelCat, and Roman smiled indulgently. CaramelCat often commented on his work, and their words were always as sweet as their name. Even so, claws of doubt hooked into his heart. What if they were disappointed in the latest chapter? Or complaining about the long delay since he’d updated the story?

His hands were shaking as he opened the message, the adrenalin rushing through him in a wave of excitement and fear. He scanned through it rapidly, hungrily, desperate for it to be positive but terrified it might be negative. Once he had satisfied himself it was safe, he reread it more slowly, relishing each kind word, the positive feedback a balm for his bruised and fragile ego.

He read it over and over, joy bubbling up as giggles, his hands clasping and unclasping, moving up to touch his face every few words. His face was warm – heck, he was warm all over, happiness kickstarting his circulation, making him feel more alive than he had since… since…

Since this morning, chatting with Patton about Dragon Witch Chronicles.

No. Patton was off-limits, and that was all there was to it. They inhabited separate spheres, and Roman wasn't about to sacrifice his popularity for anyone, especially not some overly-bubbly geek.

He took a deep breath, pushed the thought aside, and began rereading the comment yet again. It made him want to sing, to dance, to write. His mind fizzed with the first sparks of a dozen different ideas, all jostling for attention.

Then there was a cry of “Falsehood, Virgil, you are highly endearing” from the next room, and the blaze of envy that rose in Roman burned every spark to ashes.

Tagging my own list plus everyone who reblogged chapter 1

@fandersfic-royality @virgil-is-thriving @wisepuma23 @sevencrashing @angst-patton @evilmuffin @starryfirefliesbloggo @shesavampirequeen @elementalshadowwitch @the-prince-and-the-emo @noodlelatte @sander-sides-and-tea @the-office-cat @ocotopushugs @katesattic @smokeyrutilequartz @karmels-stuff @mariniacipher @intothevoidsunknown @trashypansexual @hissesssss @sher-soc-the-famder @what-a-catch-joe @xxladystarlightxx @pearls-of-patton @suyun-doo @patton-in-name

#royality #roman sanders #patton sanders #sanders sides #analogical #romantic royality #college au #british au #patchwork fic #food tw

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rockmiyabideusexmachina · 6 years

Text

2018 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest Results Thread!

Thank you all for your patience this year! I know this is a little later after the holiday than I would like, but one day is simply not enough to contain all this love! Once again, it’s always wonderful to have an assortment of both familiar faces participating, as well as many newcomers.

As always, this will be a rather massive thread, so bear with me. Most of it will be hidden after the break, so please do take a peek at all these wonderful entries!

Due to the size and sheer quantity of comic entries, there are plenty of images to view. For that reason, I’m sticking to thumbnails for now. Please click to view the entry in it’s full glory!

Also, my thanks to @jaybird-c for the help with judging this year. I’ll have some of his commentary with my own below.

The three raffle prize winners will be noted by their alias, as well.

For your reminder, there were two categories, broken down into Humor and Talent. There were 6 total Humor entries, and 14 Talent entries. So, to start off, we’ll begin with the category with the least entrants, and to fit with my tie-in promo art.

*EDIT* OK, now I think everything is good. So long thumbnails, to keep this shorter.

Once again, for an easy link to all the images in a single gallery, please go here: https://imgbox.com/g/uAbXkTDaot

Otherwise, I’ve tested it again on both mobile and desktop, and everything should link to a full image. It still does on my end.

*/EDIT*

For Humor, this year’s theme was “Beauty and the Beastman.EXE.” The goal was to illustrate a mismatched Megaman couple, one in a monsterous, beastly form, with another more beautiful character that falls for them. Any allusions to the popular tale of Beauty and the Beast were welcome, but not a requirement.

Here are your top 3, followed by the remaining entries in alphabetical order by alias:

1.) @prar-draws: (*Prar wins $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Prar's comic has the absolute best execution of a joke, increasing the tension until the last panel when it masterfully throws the audience for a loop. Prar's style complements the story very well by making each individual moment easy to digest, and the last panel also just happens to be really funny to look at on its own. Just thinking about it makes me crack up.

Miyabi wrote: While this piece really contains more tension and drama until the final panel, I agree that the build is what helps bring the big laugh at the end. You can also see the temperature rising for Ciel, as her cheeks get redder and redder as the panels move along. I felt it tied in to the Beauty and the Beast storyline nicely, and your chosen characters fit well to pull off the connection. Very cute, and well constructed comic!

2.) @amiable-apparition: (*a-a wins $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: I don't remember this scene from the Star Force anime. Must've been cut from the final release. Clever use of trickery regarding who the real "monster" is; poor Damian appears to have misjudged the situation something fierce. Good idea and use of twist.

Miyabi wrote: I guess Sam was the one who was ‘Hungry Like the Wolf,’ after all! I too enjoyed the spin at the end, it was a funny deviation on how her character was portrayed in the anime. Subject choice was strong here too, connecting the theme with a couple characters who fit well with the concept. Nice work with the variety of panels you created to set things up.

3.) @frankenchio: (*frankenchio wins $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Ah, the Princess and the Toad Man. Frankenchio's piece is a clever little reference to the classic fable, but most of the humor is in how Roll apparently didn't know what kind of prince was on the other end of that frog. Clever, pretty to look at.

Miyabi wrote: I like that you thought outside of the box with the theme, and used a totally different classic tale, but still connected it very well. Ice Man sure lucked out this time, after whoever cursed him into Toad form. While a simple few panels, your style is just adorable. Those jewels on the crown look really detailed!

Close, but not quite ~

Dark Dullahan:

Jaybird wrote: Dark Dullahan has the idea of recreating an actual Disney scene with Iris and (Zoanoroid?) Zero, which is very sweet. It took me a few repeat looks to digest what was going on here but it's amusing to see Zero protecting his wounds from the fierce and terrible Iris. Because she's obviously the worst thing that can happen to him. Cute, amusing scene.

Miyabi wrote: Sorry, I don’t know why this upload defaults to a side view, when I don’t even have it at that orientation. It automatically glitches that way, no matter how I upload it. :/ Anyhow, a clever spin using the EXE versions of Zero and Iris, living in a world where only reploids...no wait, they don’t exist here. This Beastly ZoanoZero will open up to her over time, I’m sure. But first, he needs to heal up. Again, good use of parodying the scene.

@drewblossom:

Jaybird wrote: The sheer concept of Rock-Belle made me wonder if they were going to throw in an FMA reference somewhere, but Drew's picture doesn't need it. They make good use of the Disney-classic-gone-wrong idea -- Oil Man and Time Man as Lumiere and Cogsworth are nearly inspired --though I think they didn't quite go far enough and should have rounded out the piece with a more feminine version of the suit; Rock-Belle changing into Mega *Man* raises questions about whether the main character's an actual girl or just a cross-dresser, which distracts from the joke.

Miyabi wrote: I guess Rock is both the beauty and the beast, for totally destroying those poor innocent talking inanimate object bots! While I had a good laugh at the quick-change blast, the character reactions, and the overall parody of the classic scene, sadly I did feel it just didn’t quite have the couple contrast/Valentine’s theme as well as others.

@erekisaiko: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* Captain N Height Chart)

Jaybird wrote: I feel like I'm missing a reference to something else. As amusing as the concept of JunkMan's and Meddy's unsanitary hospital sounds, the picture doesn't present us with enough information to make sense of what actually happened (i.e. why was JunkMan wearing a cardboard Falzer costume in the first place?), and [=ClockMan's=] joke lacks the punch it ought to have because the punchline has no set up. (Unless of course this is all just an incredibly obvious reference to something I've never been exposed to that would fill in all the missing context). Amusing concept in punchline, it's fun to think about how this situation could've arisen.

Miyabi wrote: Meddy’s not oblivious, she just has a big heart ready to heal any messy, junky slob! Cute and different idea having more of a ‘fake’ beast, although I think Junk still would count as a beastly character on his own, in some respects. Very well-drawn, and appreciate all the detail you put into your internet background.

For the talent category, the theme was “If You Like It, You Should Put a Ring Boomerang On It.” This category was all about proposal scenes. And I am shocked there was not a single Jewel Man! XD

Here are your top 3, followed by the remaining entries in alphabetical order by alias:

1.) @wintesm: (*wint wins $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Jeez. Unrelenting Style. Your children's book painting is incredible as ever; your figures, your colors, your atmosphere, just about everything. I ran into a problem with your composition, though; the stark black page divider clashes with the predominantly horizontal-mirror structure and makes it hard to wrap your head around the story as its meant to be told. It was less of a problem once I trained myself to ignore it, and you use the divider very effectively in the second-to-last section, but it still made it harder to enjoy the work. Masterful technique, colors, perspective, expression.

Miyabi wrote: With your subjects, I felt this composition was a very clever way to tell the story, and kinda mirror their separate, but similar tales side-by side. As mentioned, you have such a fitting children’s storybook style, from colors to shapes, that shines once again! It’s a cute tale for such evil characters!

2.) @peach35: (*peach wins $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Peach deserves a lot of credit for her mastery of figure-drawing and perspective. That's something a lot of people struggle with, and accomplishment in these matters should be recognized. Another good choice of simple background to highlight the main moment, and awesome use of colors and lighting to suggest 3D -- I'm far more fascinated by Gate's nose than I should be. Incredible faces, hands, colors, and general shading.

Miyabi wrote: The sense of confused shock on Alia’s face is a different reaction that most, as it’s apparent Gate is slipping that ring on in total surprise. Clean lines and soft lighting helped this piece stand out.

3.) @tianura: (*tianura wins $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Tianura's style is difficult to read; the line quality can be inconsistent from panel to panel, some attempts to convey 3D positioning could use polish, and the panels never stray very far from simple torso and head shots. That said, the expressions are exceptionally clear (again, look to the eyes) and convey lots of emotion, and the page-by-page composition is very good. Very expressive faces, judicious use of colors for effect.

Miyabi wrote: I thought this was a creative parallel for life-long partners in using Netto and Enzan. You did a nice job keeping Netto’s goofy charm intact, with quite a few humorous lines. The ending was totally fitting for him, older or not. XD While I’m sure you would have liked to color the whole thing, I liked the differing use of screentone shading. And the watercolor look of the color pieces did give it some storybook charm as well.

Close, but not quite ~

@borockman:

Jaybird wrote: It's such a shame this isn't a humor category, because this deserves major points for funny (the Nana-Sigma romance anime that the fandom doesn't want, but nonetheless deserves). The linework itself is pretty good. Expressive, good use of background for mood. Also, Sigma, the ring goes on the ring finger.

Miyabi wrote: It’s a dream. It’s always a dream! Siggy puts the ring on her pinky because Nana’s his ‘lil pinky-poo... ;p With the tears running down her face, I really did like the emotional feel of the moment.

@digitallyfanged:

Jaybird wrote: In terms of sheer atmosphere, this is one of the best pieces. It looks like a still from some fairy tale picture-book. The forest scenery, the background, the flower-swing, the misting breath, the quality of the outfits and the details on the dress and sword all make this exquisite. Unfortunately the characters aren't quite as expressive as they ought to be -- this is very clearly a fairy-tale love scene of some kind, but what kind? Laika is clearly being emotional towards the princess, but what is he saying? "Who are you"? "You're beautiful"? "I love you"? "Be mine forever"? It's gorgeous, but it's a little too vague to tell whether it's on topic or not.

Miyabi wrote: Gorgeous scene that felt a bit like another Disney-ish tale, moreso of the Frozen variety. They may just be easy-to-use Clip Studio effects, but I really thought it was quite creative how you pulled off the swing design. The watercolor forest background is beautiful, as is Pride’s snow princess outfit. Pretty, pretty picture!

@drewblossom:

Jaybird wrote: I'm glad I saw Drew's title, because it took me a minute to figure out exactly what was going on -- for a moment I thought Geminiman was trying to propose to himself with that (fittingly) gaudy diamond. The linework is pretty good, and I like the lighting effects on Gemini's crystals and the translucence of his chest plate. I'll give them points for an ambitious concept, but the best mirror art looks at a scene from two different directions, and Gemini's reflection is simply a reverse of the main view. Good colors and lighting, elegantly simple background that does a good job of highlighting the main action.

Miyabi wrote: No better way to practice a proposal than to recite it in front of your self. Of course, if he is proposing to his clone, then I think with his nonchalant actions, he’s got this down already. XD Clever, and unique!

@hyperbole1729:

Jaybird wrote: This piece is another mix. It has some very nice things -- the colors are spot on, the composition is very nice (you take cues from the 18th century Romantic movement by having the whole world revolve around the subject), you clearly pay attention to character details, and your field of flowers is great.

Miyabi wrote: Another set of net-battling partners who seem like a great choice for being together forever. The background is a fitting place for Sal to do it, because I don’t quite see Miyu being the one to speak up and propose. That might be more of a frightening proposition. LOL Cute, traditional scene.

@iris-sempi:

Jaybird wrote: Iris-sempi's got style. The colors are interesting, the subject is clear, the linework pops out because it's -also- part of the colors, the cartoony elements fit in very nicely, and the presentation as a literature/manga cover is well-done. The technique is some of the best I've seen. That said, I have to ask, if you were going to go through all the trouble of creating such a cool cover, I think it's only fair to point out the title is blocked by the artwork, which defeats the purpose, especially on something's Volume 1.

Miyabi wrote: Just to clarify for everyone, the Japanese characters for this piece say "Let's Get Married" and "Sea Salt Honey." I thought it was a really clever mag cover format, where the characters really pop out against the pink background. With the waves, it really does feel like Splashy leapt out of the ocean to smack some salty sugar on Honey/Vesper Woman. Her vibrating antennae give some nice movement and comedic effect, too. Love it, but felt it just didn’t quite have the proposal feel as strongly as others.

@jb-artist: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* - Megaman 8 cel)

Jaybird wrote: JB's picture is very cute, and we don't have much actual oekaki here, so props. While you deserve even more props for how direct you are to get to the point, it's difficult to judge how we're supposed to interpret this -- is Alouette precociously misunderstanding the nature of a marriage proposal or is it an actual proposal to her older sister figure? The perspective rocks, the colors and lighting are good, and there are lots of little details that portray lots of love for the Zero series.

Miyabi wrote: Zero’s such the silent, brooding type, that he sends Alouette to do the proposal for him. I’m just not sure if that will help or hurt his rank in this stage! XD It is honestly really cute, especially when you see her doodles on the resistance base’s wall. I think that makes the piece more than anything, and was a clever callback to the game. I like how you set up the scene with the background, and those are some really nice mountains back there, too.

@lightlabs:

Jaybird wrote: Now this is pretty. Great composition to direct us through the piece (-nice touch- on giving the ring some bling) and rocking use of paint swatches for style. The art does a great job of directing us into the center, and the warm colors in the center do a lot to convey mood. Zero, you smug jerk, stop showing the rest of us poor schlubs up.

Miyabi wrote: Yes, this is happening. There is a reason for me to go on. What...what am I using this line foooorr? The warm colors and sparkles give it a unique glow, for what seems to be a night scene. The brush strokes give it a neat paint brush look, for your coloring, too. Nice work conveying their emotions with their expressions as well.

@pandapanic0:

Jaybird wrote: In terms of actual skill, the coloring is good and clear, the piece is composed well, the lighting effects are fairly elegant. If it were the actual humor category, the Ring Man's appropriately outlandish bid and Mega Man's exceptionally feminine reaction would gain the piece lots of laugh-out-loud points.

Miyabi wrote: Thank you for taking the title of this category literally and going for the humorous visual of a giant ring Ring Boomerang! Even if he says no, once he tries to get rid of that ring, it’ll just come right back. XD Rock’s blushing expression is cute. Nice crisp coloring and bold lines.

@shikai-the-storyteller: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* - Archie Worlds Unite Page)

Jaybird wrote: On a panel-by-panel basis, the art is very good: crisp lines; good color and lighting; good technique with hands and faces; great use of background and expression to convey mood -- you got more mileage out of your backgrounds than probably anyone else here.

Miyabi wrote: Another nice job of mixing humor into your piece, while still keeping it a tender, sweet moment. Nice way of showing that things don’t always go as planned for a proposal, but sometimes it’s the thought and effort that counts. As always, your lines, colors and penmanship are smooth and flawless.

Superbasket5:

Jaybird wrote: Aww. If I've got this right, it looks like X is so nervous about giving Alia a valentine that he doesn't realize Berkana is giving Alia encouragement as well. I think. I have to wonder what Marty is doing here -- research tells me she has a crush on X, which seems like it would get in the way, and if that's the case, this impending trainwreck will be something worth watching. That said, the piece is still in its rough stages, especially your setting and perspective; I can't really tell where the characters are (outside at a park?), and Alia's hip is in front of X's arm.

Miyabi wrote: Alia has her support group, but I don’t know if she’s going to be able to pop the question to X with a crowd around her, either. XD Cute expressions, showing her nerves, while X is probably not quite expecting what’s hiding behind her back. I kinda wish we would get that visual of what she’s hiding as a cutaway, much like how you gave X a thought bubble for what’s going on in his head.

@yugiohlesbian:

Jaybird wrote: Good job! I'd like to compliment you on how versatile your figures are and how you use that to make them very expressive; your use of perspective and individual panel compositions are both very versatile. While there isn't any color, the nighttime scenes do a good job with the lighting. Your style is pleasantly simple, but sometimes the panels seem to be oversimplified; more developed backgrounds would be welcome in several places.

Miyabi wrote: Totally different subject, but Zero, none of us understand taxes, either. I like how you illustrated the struggle of a reploid trying to understand human logic and traditions, and yet in the end, it still being something Zero didn’t truly need to grasp in that logical sense. While I know you wish you would have had more time to continue perfecting these panels, I agree that the night scenes stand out and give a good contrast between Zero’s computer research scenes.

Thanks once again to all who participated! I will be contacting the winners soon enough. Work will probably keep me from replying to everyone immediately, but if you don’t hear from me today, I will send a message about prizes hopefully within the next day.

For those awaiting the secret contest results...sorry, for another slight delay. Between finishing my promo art for this thread, and typing this, it took up too much time and I’ve gotta head to work. I will have those posted overnight, into Sunday morning, as it won’t be quite as intensive to write up. My apologies, but I hope you can all hang on for another 20 hours or less. ^^;

#Rockman #Megaman #Mega Man #Rock Miyabi's 2018 Megaman Valentine's Day Contest #Too many tags to list

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purplesurveys · 3 years

Text

1181

survey by painted-skylines

Best movie soundtrack ever: I’ve always vouched for The Twilight Saga’s soundtracks because their OSTs genuinely did pop the fuck off; but out of the five movies, my favorite would probably be New Moon’s.

What was your favorite Disney movie as a kid? It’s always been Toy Story, and it’s never changed even after watching my fair share of Disney movies through the years.

Have you seen it since? Many times. I try to do at least one rewatch every year.

If I looked through your phone right now, what would I find? A ridiculous amount of photos of V on my camera roll, my different work chats, and conversations between myself and Angela that would probably be tagged as NSFW because we’re comfortable around each other like that, lol.

Do you brush your teeth in the bathroom, or do you get bored & roam around? I just stay by the sink.

Reggae or Ska? Ska, if anything. I used to listen to ska punk.

What time did you wake up today? Like 6:15. I’ve started automatically waking up at 6 AM a week ago for no reason, regardless of how late I sleep the night before. Which is fine, I guess, since I’ve developed a knack of starting work by around 8 anyway; the 2-hour gap is the perfect time to have time for myself before another shift.

Why's the summer going by so fast? It’s not summer yet, but I will agree that time seems to be flying by in general. I’m well aware it’s because I do nothing but work all week, but I actually find the monotony quite relaxing for now so I’m not complaining.

What'll you be doing this 4th of July? That issssss a Sunday, so idk. Probably relaxing at home – or if quarantine protocols have loosened by then I will probably back in a coffee shop.

Are you allowed to wear shorts or tanktops at your school? We're not. In my university, yeah. I always wore tank tops then.

When's the last time you brushed your teeth? Around a half hour ago right after I showered.

Are you a picky-eater? Not at all. I will only be picky around fruits or viands I already dislike, like adobo or sinigang.

How many songs are there in your iTunes? I don’t have an iTunes anymore, and Spotify doesn’t work that way.

How many bands? -

Are you a candle-fanatic? I’m getting there, but I’ve had to park that interest in favor of my new BTS addiction HAHAHAHAHA. My online shopping cart went from Bath & Body Works candles to BTS albums stupidly fast.

How do you feel about incense? Not a fan.

I didn't spell that right, did I? You didn’t, but I corrected it because it was bothering me lol. Now anyone else who might take this survey will never know.

Do you know anyone that kind of looks like an animal? Aren’t we all animals though?

Are you ruthless? That wouldn’t be a word I’d use on myself.

What's your couch look like at home? It’s L-shaped and grey, and quite comfy.

When's the last time you were at a playground? 7 months ago when I went to an abandoned playground during one of my depressive episodes – it was to get some air out of the house after a million job rejections and a crumbling relationship. I don’t think I’ll be going to that playground any time soon.

Does your city/town have a little festival/carnival every year? We probably do but I just can’t care less for it.

Do you attend? Nope.

Have you ever been to an apple-orchard? I don’t know what that is.

Were there any cartoons your parents didn't let you watch as a kid? My mom was heavily critical of Mr. Bean (both versions) which I guess is kinda understandable, but we always watched it whenever she wasn’t home.

Do you need to clean your room? I think I need to go beyond cleaning and rearrange it altogether. It’s starting to look dreary to me, and I’ve been meaning to spruce it up with some floating shelves and a bigger work desk.

What's your favorite color? Pastel pink.

No one ever really changes. They just get better at hiding their flaws. True or false? No? People can change.

Have you ever been to New York City? No.

Do you still have a bicycle? Do you ever still ride it? We have a family-owned bicycle. I don’t know how to ride bikes though, so really only my parents use it.

Have you ever carved your name, or anything into a tree or a bench? I don’t think so. The few times I vandalized, the last thing I did was make it obvious I was the culprit.

What's your favorite ice-cream flavour? Cookies and cream, coffee, or chocolate chip cookie dough.

Have you ever had pecan divinity? Literally have never heard of that before.

Cotton candy or nachos? Nachos.

Is your MySpace page private? I don’t have one.

Do you drink milk? I drink it if I encounter milk, which happens rarely.

Would you rather see Death At A Funeral or Get Him To The Greek? Idk, neither sound interesting and I don’t even know what these are.

Have you ever had to clean a college kid's dorm room? Nah. I’ve never been inside a dorm room, actually. The most I’ve reached is the lobby of Laurice and Jo’s dorm building whenever I’d pick them up, since that’s the only place visitors were let in.

What's your favorite kind of candy-bar? Eh, I prefer a certain brand of peanut butter cups.

When's the last time you hugged a family member? Fuck if I know. Can Cooper be counted as family? I literally just took a break from this survey to cuddle him for a bit.

Or are you more of a ''don't touch me'' kind of person? It’s not that I’m not physically affectionate; I’m just not particularly so with my family.

Could you handle motherhood? At this point, no. I want other things first.

Well what about if your child's EXACTLY like you, could you handle that? They’d be a pain in the ass during their puberty years, but I think I would be able to handle the rest of me.

Have you ever been wakeboarding? Not yet. Angela and I have been planning it this year but there hasn’t been any opportunity yet.

What's the sky look like? It’s black and a little cloudy. No stars tonight.

Are you multi-tasking right now? Kinda, considering my focus levels hahaha. I’m trying to take this survey but I’m also listening to music, and so far I’ve stopped typing to dance in my seat 45793847375359 times.

How many pairs of flipflops do you own? None of my own, but we have a couple ones by the front door for anyone’s use, just in case anyone needs to go out to briefly take out the trash or whatever.

Are you any good at basketball? Not at all. I don’t even know the mechanices beyond making the ball go inside the hoop.

Are you any good at sports in general? I can play table tennis. I suppose I’m just a notch below playing competitively; I can do a decent rally and I’m usually able to smash properly when I feel like it.

Would you rather have a bulldog puppy or a husky puppy? Any kind of puppy is fine with me.

Do you have any stuffed animals? If you do, what are they? No.

Is any of this Go Green stuff really gonna make a significant difference? Of course.

Are you good at making up excuses or lies on the spot? If the need be, yes. But I try to avoid lying as much as possible.

Is Mr. Hudson attractive? Idk who you’re referring to.

The last time you snuck out, what were you going to do? I told my mom I’ll just be withdrawing from the bank when I was really meeting up with Angela so she could return my mom’s absolute favorite abaca mat that I secretly lent her for her grad shoot.

Were you into the whole Harry Potter thing when it was popular? Not really. I read the books after all the movies had already come out, but I didn’t finish the whole set.

Do you think Rupert Grint's cute? Not personally.

Have you ever rode a horse? Yeah.

What's something cute to wear with leggings? For me, I’d pair it with an oversized shirt.

Tye-dye or floral? Floral. I never was a fan of tie-dye.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever ate? A couple of weeks ago my mom said she was gonna make cordon bleu, but the final result was anything but hahaha. I still have no idea what it is she made, but at least it was edible.

What's your desktop wallpaper? It’s just a photo of some mountains that already comes as one of the provided backgrounds on my laptop.

What's your wallpaper on your cell? Lock screen is of Kim Taehyung, home screen is a BTS group photo.

17th contact; Jeuel, a guy I went to college with.

Do you know anyone in the military? I don’t think so.

Are you ashamed to admit that you like Ke$ha? ...Is there a reason I should be?

Is there anything you wanna say to someone right now? Not really.

Pancakes, or waffles? (: Waffles.

#survey #surveys

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michaelandy101-blog · 3 years

Text

Test Core Net Vitals in Bulk: Moz Efficiency Metrics Beta

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/check-core-web-vitals-in-bulk-moz-performance-metrics-beta/

Test Core Net Vitals in Bulk: Moz Efficiency Metrics Beta

The writer’s views are fully his or her personal (excluding the unlikely occasion of hypnosis) and will not at all times mirror the views of Moz.

In Could 2020, Google took the step, as they often do, of giving SEOs a heads up a couple of large change coming to their algorithms. At Moz, we’ve taken benefit of this warning and are introducing a function that can assist SEOs maintain their websites up to the mark.

So, at this time I’ve the pleasure of saying a brand new open beta function accessible to all Moz Professional subscribers: our new Efficiency Metrics suite.

The suite contains bulk evaluation (on cellular and desktop), of the three Core Net Vitals metrics which can be set to turn out to be a part of Google’s Web page Expertise replace subsequent month. That is a part of Moz’s dedication to technical search engine optimisation assets in 2021, together with our just lately launched Technical search engine optimisation Certification, and a few extra options and content material items that we’ll have the ability to share quickly.

On this submit, I’ll undergo the background of Core Net Vitals, and the way the brand new instruments from Moz will assist to identify, observe, and repair web page efficiency points as they occur. However for those who’re keen to simply leap in and get began:

Join Moz Professional to entry the beta!

Already a Moz Professional buyer? Log in to entry the beta!

Hold on, Core Net … what now? Is that this search engine optimisation?

Sure — for those who care about natural rankings, it’s essential care about Core Net Vitals and efficiency metrics generally. As such, that is a kind of items of technical understanding that’s going to must enter normal search engine optimisation information, identical to its predecessors in cellular friendliness and HTTPS. Thankfully, it is not as daunting as it could possibly at first appear.

Right here’s a fast recap on the historical past of subsequent month’s replace:

Sitespeed has factored into Google’s rankings since 2010.

In May 2020, Google introduced that three particular efficiency metrics, referred to as “Core Web Vitals,” could be explicitly used to measure web page expertise. They later pushed again the efficient date to May 2021, then once more to summer 2021. The three new metrics are:

Largest Contentful Paint

Cumulative Structure Shift

First Enter Delay

To get a rating increase, Google’s says that you just’ll must go a threshold on all three metrics, in addition to go 4 different primary technical hygiene checks:

This rating increase would possibly only apply on mobile.

The three new Core Net Vitals efficiency metrics are measured utilizing CrUX (Chrome Person Expertise) knowledge, which suggests it’s being measured within the browsers of actual Chrome customers. Curiously, it’s likely that pages with out sufficient site visitors to achieve this threshold will miss out on any increase.

As with Google’s earlier efforts to form the online (significantly with HTTPS and cellular friendliness), the initial impact may be minimal. Nevertheless, previous expertise suggests it should ramp up considerably over the subsequent 1-2 years.

So what’s Moz doing about it?

Suggestions from our customers suggests the majority are at the moment routinely getting these key metrics by querying URLs one after the other in Google’s Pagespeed Insights instrument. This knowledge is then troublesome to mixture, kind, filter, prioritize, and so forth. Alternatively, they could use CrUX knowledge (just like the recently-launched Google Search Console report), however this solely works for those who’re engaged on pages that already get loads of site visitors, can’t be re-analyzed while you want it, and isn’t a managed take a look at. We wished to ship the instrument that mixed the metrics SEOs care about, recognized potential fixes, and will analyze and observe giant portions of pages. Primarily based on this suggestions, it was clear that there was an opportunity right here to handle all of those frustrations, and in doing so, to enhance search engine optimisation practitioners’ day-to-day working lives earlier than this summer time.

Our preliminary beta is open to all Moz Professional subscribers, and may be discovered within the left hand navigation of Moz Professional, nested beneath the Campaigns’ Web site Crawl instrument.

We’ve taken the freedom of pre-populating 100 of your high pages by Web page Authority with cellular and desktop efficiency knowledge. However, it’s also possible to select an inventory of pages to research from a wide range of sources like high rating pages, pages with different crawl points, or all pages – at the moment as much as a most of 6,000 pages per marketing campaign per 30 days.

Extra sources are coming quickly, and what you choose right here may also have an effect on the overview bar chart on the high of the web page. You may then additional refine the pages you want to analyze by narrowing down with URL textual content, reminiscent of /weblog.

What’s included within the beta?

When you’ve chosen your batch of URLs to research, you’ll be introduced with a desk like this one:

As you possibly can see, my private website requires some TLC.

This knowledge may be filtered and sorted. The “details” dropdown arrow in every row highlights key urged fixes for that URL at fast look.

In the event you click on by to “View Report,” you possibly can see extra detailed info for every URL:

Notice that we’re utilizing Whole Blocking Time as a proxy for First Enter Delay. Google can be utilizing “field data” as talked about earlier on this submit, whereas for scalability causes we’re utilizing Lighthouse “lab data,” such as you see in Google Pagespeed Insights and different comparable instruments. It isn’t doable to measure First Enter Delay on this context as a result of there is no such thing as a person to make an enter, however Whole Blocking Time is an effective approximation.

These metrics can every be expanded to provide extra context on every metric, and what’s thought-about a very good or dangerous rating:

And lastly, we’re offering some urged areas of focus, which may be expanded to supply human-friendly explanations:

Why ought to I take advantage of Efficiency Metrics beta?

You would possibly need to:

Determine URLs which can be more likely to miss out on any Core Net Vitals rating increase

Determine URLs which can be performing poorly

Report on efficiency in bulk and determine the size of any issues

Prioritize accordingly

Discover out what to do about every problem

I’m assured Moz Professional is, by some margin, the simplest technique to get this sort of knowledge at scale.

To attract some fast comparisons with the present state of the market:

CSV obtain, extra knowledge, and continuous enchancment

Nevertheless, all that doesn’t imply we’re accomplished fairly but. We had been keen to resolve sure issues SEOs are going through earlier than subsequent month’s large rollout, however it is a beta, and the search engine optimisation significance of Core Net Vitals is more likely to rise regularly for a while, so we do have a number of enhancements already deliberate.

One explicit enhancement I wished to name out is a CSV export. As a long-time search engine optimisation knowledge junkie, that is considered one of my most requested options for any instrument like Moz to have. Once I first made my Moz profile again in 2013, I listed “endless Excel use cases” as my favourite factor about search engine optimisation. I nonetheless have a comfortable spot for having the ability to manipulate and mix knowledge to my coronary heart’s content material in a dwell atmosphere. Even for those who’re extra onboard the current Python search engine optimisation pattern your self, CSVs are nonetheless an effective way to get knowledge into that atmosphere.

Past that, we’re additionally options to trace efficiency over time, and numerous UI enhancements to ensure essentially the most actionable knowledge is at all times surfaced.

Get began, and inform us what you suppose!

That mentioned, it is a beta, which suggests half the purpose is to get your opinion on what ought to come subsequent. You may get began right here:

Join Moz Professional to entry the beta!

Already a Moz Professional buyer? Log in to entry the beta!

Tell us what you’d wish to see added within the feedback beneath.

Source link

#General

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suzanneshannon · 3 years

Text

Scott Hanselman's 2021 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

Can you believe it's been 6 years since my last Tools list? Tools have changed, a lot are online, but honestly, it's just a LOT OF WORK to do the tools list. But here's one for 2020-2021. These are the tools in my Utils folder. I made a d:\dropbox\utils folder and I added it to my PATH. That way it's on all my computers and in my path on all my computers and I can get to any of them instantly.

This is the Updated for 2020-21 Version of my 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2014 List, and currently subsumes all my other lists. I’ve been doing this for over 17 years. Wow. I need to do better, I guess.

Everyone collects utilities, and most folks have a list of a few that they feel are indispensable. Here's mine. Each has a distinct purpose, and I probably touch each at least a few times a week. For me, "util" means utilitarian and it means don't clutter my tray. If it saves me time, and seamlessly integrates with my life, it's the bomb. Many/most are free some aren't. Those that aren't free are very likely worth your 30-day trial, and very likely worth your money.

These are all well loved and oft-used utilities. I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't use them constantly. Things on this list are here because I dig them. No one paid money to be on this list and no money is accepted to be on this list.

Personal Plug: If this list is the first time you and I have met, you should subscribe to my blog, and check out my podcasts, and sign up for my newsletter of Wonderful Things.

Please Link to http://hanselman.com/tools when referencing the latest Hanselman Ultimate Tools List. Feel free to get involved here in the comments, post corrections, or suggestions for future submissions. I very likely made mistakes, and probably forgot a few utilities that I use often.

THE LIFE AND WORK-CHANGING UTILITIES

"If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow." - Beyoncé

Windows Subsystem for Linux - It really can't be overstated how WSL/WSL2 has put the cherry on top of Windows 10. It runs on any build 20262 or higher as it was recently backported and it's integration with Windows is fantastic. It's also WAY faster than running a VM. Go learn more on my YouTube

Windows Terminal - Finally Windows has a modern terminal. You can run shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Its main features include multiple tabs, panes, Unicode and UTF-8 character support, a GPU accelerated text rendering engine, and the ability to create your own themes and customize text, colors, backgrounds, and shortcuts. It also includes a pseudo-console so 3rd party Terminals like hyper, conemu, terminus and more work better!

Windows PowerToys - They are back and they should be built into Windows. Install them here and get a color picker, fancy zones, file explorer addons, image resizers, keyboard manager and remapper, an Apple Spotlight-like running in the form of PowerToyrs Run, the Shortcut Guide and more!

Also check out Ueli as a great launcher/spotlight for Windows!

VS Code - Visual Studio Code is hella fast and is my goto text and code editor. I still use notepad sometimes and I'm in full Visual Studio a lot, but VS Code is like the Tesla of code editors. Check out my Favorite VS Code Extensions below.

PowerShell/OhMyPosh/PoshGit/Cascadia Code - I've had a blast this year taking my console prompt to the next level. Try these out but also look at Starship. Whatever you do, play! Don't accept the defaults!

ZoomIt - A true classic but also the answer to the #1 question I'm asked. How do you draw on the screen when you're sharing your screen? ZoomIt has been THAT TOOL in my toolbox. Really take some time and learn how to do boxes, arrows, colors and more and you'll be a more effective screen-sharer. In fact, just go get the whole SysInternals suite and put it all in your PATH.

Winget - It's apt-get for Windows. Similar to choco which I've used in the past, WinGet is going to be included in Windows 10 and has a ton of nice features. I use it to setup a machine in an hour from the command line, versus a day before doing it manually. Just add your MSA (Microsoft login) to the Package Manager Insiders Program and get it from the Store. It's bundled with the Windows App Installer. Then just "winget search <tool>" and winget install whatever!

QuickLook - Free in the Windows Store, just highlight a file in Explorer and press Space to get a preview!

Amazing .NET and Developer utilities

"Power means happiness; power means hard work and sacrifice." - Beyoncé

CodeTrack - CodeTrack is a free .NET Performance Profiler and Execution Analyzer. It works on basically every version of .NET and will give you massive insight into how your code is running! The flamegraph view is fantastic. It's free but you should donate as it's a one-person amazing app!

LINQPad - Interactively query your databases with LINQ with this tool from Joseph Albahari. A fantastic learning tool for those who are just getting into LINQ or for those who want a code snippet IDE to execute any C# or VB expression. Free and wonderful.

WinMerge - WinMerge just gets better and better. It's free, it's open source and it'll compare files and folders and help you merge your conflicted source code files like a champ. Also see Perforce Visual Merge which free and also can diff images, which is pretty amazing.

WinDbg - Low-level and classic but also new and fresh! WinDbg (Wind-bag?) is now in the Windows Store with ALL NEW VISUALS and more!

Insomnia and Nightingale are great alternatives to Postman for doing REST APIs!

NuGet Package Explorer - This app allows browsing NuGet packages from an online feed and viewing contents of the packages

WireShark - What's happening on the wire! WireShark knows!

GitHub Desktop - Gits, ahem, out of the way! Watch my Git 101 on YouTube!

Useful Windows Utilities that should be built in

"I love my job, but it’s more than that: I need it" - Beyoncé

Ear Trumpet - Fantastic advanced volume control for Windows! If you have ever wished that volume on Windows could turn their UI up to 11, Ear Trumpet is that app.

Teracopy - While I use the excellent built in copy features of Windows 10 the most, when I want to move a LOT of files as FAST as possible, nothing beats TeraCopy, an app that does just that - move stuff fast. The queue control is excellent.

AutoHotKey - This little gem is bananas. It's a tiny, amazingly fast free open-source utility for Windows. It lets you automate everything from keystrokes to mice. Programming for non-programmers. It's a complete automation system for Windows without the frustration of VBScript. This is the Windows equivalent of AppleScript for Windows. (That's a very good thing.

7-Zip - It's over and 7zip won. Time to get on board. The 7z format is fast becoming the compression format that choosey hardcore users choose. You'll typically get between 2% and 10% better compression than ZIP. This app integrates into Windows Explorer nicely and opens basically EVERYTHING you could ever want to open from TARs to ISOs, from RARs to CABs.

Paint.NET - The Paint Program that Microsoft forgot, written in .NET. It's 80% of Photoshop and it's free. Pay to support the author by getting the Windows Store version AND it will auto-update! It's only $7, which is an unreal value.

NimbleText - Regular Expressions are hard and I'm not very smart. NimbleText lets me do crazy stuff with large amounts of text without it hurting so much.

Markdown Monster - While I love VSCode, Markdown Monster does one thing incredibly well. Markdown.

Fiddler - The easy, clean, and powerful debugging proxy for checking out HTTP between here and there. It even supports sniffing SSL traffic.

NirSoft Utilities Collection - Nearly everything NirSoft does is worth looking at. My favorites are MyUninstaller, a replacement for Remove Programs, and WhoIsThisDomain.

Ditto Clipboard Manager - WindowsKey+V is amazing and close but Ditto keeps pushing clipboard management forward on Windows.

TaskbarX - It literally centers your Taskbar buttons. I love it. Open Source but also $1 in the Windows Store.

If you really want to mess with your Taskbar, try Taskbar Tweaker.

ShellEx View - Your Explorer's right click menu is cluttered, this can help you unclutter it!

OneCommander and Midnight Commander and Altap Salamander - As a long time Norton Commander user (google that!) there's a lot of great "reimaginings" of the Windows File Explorer. OneCommander and Altap Salamander does that, and Midnight Commander does it for the command line/CLI.

WinDirStat - A classic but still essential. What's taking up all that space? Spoiler - It's Call of Duty.

Also try SpaceSniffer!

FileSeek and Everything - Search it all, instantly!

I like Win+Share+S for Screenshots but also check out ShareX, Greenshot, and Lightshot

For animated Gifs, try screen2gif or LICEcap!

Alt-Tab Terminator - Takes your Alt-Tab to the next level with massive previews and search

PureText - PureText pastes plain text, purely, plainly. Free and glorious. Thanks Steve Miller

I still FTP and SCP and SFTP and I use WinSCP to do it! It's free or just $10 to get it from the Windows Store and support the author!

VLC Player - The best and still the best. Plays everything, everywhere.

PSReadline - Makes PowerShell more Bashy in the best way.

Yori and all Malcolm Smith's Utilities - Yori is a reimagning of cmd.exe!

Visual Studio Code Extensions

"I use the negativity to fuel the transformation into a better me." – Beyoncé

There's a million great Visual Studio Extensions. The ones I like won't be the that ones you like. But, go explore.

GitLens - Glorious. Just makes Git and VS a joy and adds a thousand tiny lovely features that will make you smile. You'll wonder why this isn't built in.

Version Lens - Do you have the latest package versions? Now you know

CodeSnap - Screenshots specifically tailored to make your code look nice.

.NET Core Test Explorer - Makes unit testing with .NET on VS Code so much nicer

Arduino for VS Code - The Arduino extension makes it easy to develop, build, deploy and debug your Arduino sketches in Visual Studio Code! So nice.

Coverage Gutters - This amazing extension highlights what code is covered with Unit Test and what's not. Ryan is looking for help, so go see if this is a great OSS project YOU can get started with!

Docker for VS Code - Container explorer and manager and deployer, directly from VS

GitHistory - Another nice add-on for Git that shows your Git Log

HexDump - I need this more than I would like to admit

LiveShare - Stop screen-sharing and start code and context sharing!

PowerShell for VS - A great replacement for the PowerShell ISE

Remote Containers - This is an AMAZING EXTENSION you have to try if you have Docker but it has a horrible non-descriptive name. But must be seen to be believed. Perhaps it's "Visual Studio Development Containers," I'm not sure. Open a folder and attach to a development container. No installs, just you debugging Rust, Go, C#, whatever whilst installing NOTHING. Amazing.

Remote SSH - Another in the VS Remote Family of Extensions, this one lets you use any remote SSH Server as your development environment.

Remote WSL - Edit and debug and build code from Windows...using Linux!

And finally, Yoncé, my current VS Code theme. Beyoncé inspired.

Things I enjoy

“We all have our purpose, we all have our strengths.” – Beyoncé

RescueTime - Are you productive? Are you spending time on what you need to be spending time on? RescueTime keeps track of what you are doing and tells you just that with fantastic reports. Very good stuff if you're trying to GTD and TCB. ;

Carnac - This wonderful little open source utility shows the hotkey's you're pressing as you press them, showing up as little overlays in the corner. I use it during coding presentations.

DOSBox - When you're off floating in 64-bit super-Windows-10-Pro land, sometimes you forget that there ARE some old programs you can't run anymore now that DOS isn't really there. Enter DOSBox, an x86 DOS Emulator! Whew, now I can play Bard's Tale from 1988 on Windows 10 in 2021! Check out Gog.com for lots of DOSBox powered classics

Oh yes, and finally Windows Sandbox - You already have this and didn't even know it! You can fire up in SECONDS a copy of your Windows 10 machine in a safe sandbox and when you close it, it's gone. Poof. Great for testing weird tools and utilities that some rando on a blog asks you to download.

Sponsor: IDC Innovators Report: Multicloud Networking--Read the latest from IDC and discover one of the premier platforms addressing the rise of multicloud architectures and cloud-native apps. Download now.

Scott Hanselman's 2021 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

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philipholt · 3 years