#why don’t editors pick up on this stuff

[kaceythecrunch]

・┆Night. ☾ M.S┆ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

FLUFF. FLUFF. FLUFF. FLUFFFFFFFFFFFF

Summary : you and Matt doing your nightly routine!

W/C : 1.2k+

Y/N'S POV :

9:30 

Currently, spinning around on my boyfriend’s gaming chair. As I sit upon his chair, I'm scrolling through edits of Matt, per usual. Until I was interrupted by his faint breathing on my shoulder.

“AAH. WHAT THE FUCK.” I yell, frantically closing tiktok. He looks at me, then my phone, then back to me. I could tell he was slightly concerned. “You’re such a weirdo for watching edits of me. I mean the editors are pretty talented. They also help me, Nick and Chris–” 

I laugh as he continues on his yapping.  Usually, I don't interrupt him when he's yapping because I know he doesn’t get to run his mouth sometimes. “Alright Mr.Yapper, ya’ ready to go to bed??” he closed his eyes. I could tell he was tired.  

“Can you help me, I'm too tired.” he says in a sleepy voice. “You want me to do your skincare for you??” He usually doesn’t like when I do stuff for him because apparently, “I apply it wrong.” He nods. 

I get up from his chair, holding his hands as I drag him to our bathroom. I sit on the counter and start reaching for the skin care. “Wait. Before that. Can you shave my beard for me? I'm tired of beard-Matt right now.” I laugh at his statement. “No more big beard bernard.” I say, as I make fun of him. I glide my fingers on his tattoos as he looks at me unamused. 

I grab one of my headbands and put it around Matt. Of course, I picked the best one I have. The one with kitty cat ears. “What the fuck is this shit.” he looks in the mirror disgusted. “It's just a headband.” I say, looking at him. “It looks so distorted..Why not pick a normal one.” he asks. “You look cute in it, shut up.”

“OKAY. Now, lemme start.” I grab the shaving cream and squirt it all on my hands. I turn to Matt as he is leaning on the sink. Propping himself up with his hands. I bring the shaving cream to his cheeks and glide my fingers on his face. Making sure everything gets covered. I laugh at him as he is scrunching his face. 

I grab the razor and gently shave off his beard. His face scrunches even more. “Hey, stop moving Matt! I don’t wanna cut you!” He opens his eyes slightly, not wanting to move his mouth. Even if he was only opening his eyes, I could easily tell what he was trying to say. 

10:23

It took almost 20 minutes, but voila. Matt makes a frowny face. “HEY! I did the job, right? Plus,  your beard is fully shaved off like you asked. Don’t make that face at me!! I literally did you a favor.” I say, as I pinch his cheek softly. “I know, I know, I'm just messing with you.” he says, smiling. “Tonight, just moisturizer and cleanser. If you want, we could do a face mask too.”

I look at him smiling. “It makes me so happy that you know what skincare is and how to do it. You know, I think we should try the charcoal mask since you just shaved.” He looks at me concerned. “Yeah, no way. I'm not gonna fucking do that shit.” I plead, “But like, there's so many benefits!” I tell him, as I rub the moisturizer on his face. “Like what. Bringing me excruciating pain? Yeah, I’ll pass.” 

10:45

I wash both of our faces and start to apply cleaner on the both of us. “Okay, I’ll give you a nickel if you do the mask.” I try to bargain. “Dude, what the fuck am I gonna do with a nickel? Play heads or tails?” He says unamused. “Okay calm down lover-boy. Chill with the mattitude.” I say, laughing at him. “Bro….” I jokingly mock him. “Bro…” I start to rub the moisturizer on his face. “Okay,” he says, I smile knowing he finally gave in. “I’ll try the mask. Under one condition though.” I slightly frowned as I stopped rubbing in the cleanser.

“You’re such a kid for that. Why is there a condition?” I roll my eyes at him. “YOU WANT ME TO BE IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN. IT'S ONLY FAIR.” I frown. “Fineeee what's my punishment..” “Can you please do the chores that Chris is supposed to do, that I DO.” I look at him, slightly annoyed. But, I agree.

11:17

I rub the cleanser off of mine, and his face. I then reach for the cup and the spatula. “Okay Matt, are you ready?” He shakes his head no. “Well you did agree to this.” I open the container and glide the spread on his face with the spatula. “I think it's stupid how we’re using a spatula. This isn’t spongebob.” I laugh, “who is your favorite spongebob character?” I think for a moment, still making sure the charcoal evens out on his face. “Low-key, I fuck with sandy. She’s a bad bitch.” He laughs, “For me, I think I like spongebob. I heavily fuck with the popsicle.” 

11:30

We finish applying the charcoal mask on both of our faces. “Is it done?” He looks slightly nervous, bouncing his foot up and down. “Almost, give it I don't know, 5 more minutes? I’m pretty sure that this is supposed to stay for about 20 minutes.” 

11:37

I turn to Matt, “I believe it's done. Do you wanna rip mine off first?” I give him an option. “YES.” He says. He rests one of his hands on my shoulders pressing down on it, so he could pull harder on the mask with the other. He grabs the mask on the side of my cheek attempting to rip it off in one slick movement. Which doesn't go according to plan. “OUCH WHAT THE FUCK-” he looks at me. “No no, trust me. This is all pure strategy.” My face is scrunched up as he only got one of my cheeks free. He then switches hands and tries to pull off the other side of the face mask. Of course, the whole thing did not come off in one tug. “FUCKING HELL MATT, OUCH.” he looks at me confused. “I thought that the harder I tug the faster I get it off?” 

12:40

This took quite a while But specifically the mask came off. There were some pieces that weren’t pulled off, but that's a problem for another time. I look at Matt with a devious look. “It's my turn!” I look at him and smile. Without warning I pull at the very top, his forehead and tug. This time, it did all come off in one simple gesture. “FUCK” Matt yells. My jaw dropped. “Okay, the case is closed. You just put the mask wrong on me, clearly.”  Matt laughs, “Whatever. It was hard to apply. I'm never doing that again though. My cheeks are so red, holy shit.” He places his hands on his cheeks. “Are yours also warm?” He places his hands on my cheek. “Damn.” I look at him, pretty tired. “I love you.” I put my hands on his cheeks and give him a kiss. He pulls out. “I love you too” as he smiles back at me

A/N : Hey, seems like you made it to the end! I'm a new writer lol so if you enjoyed this, you should totally yk flood my inbox w/ ideas! Also I hope this is good cuz I'm a Chris girl..I was just, feeling it. ykwim. Also, If yall wanna be on taglist just commenttt. anyways, thank you!

Taglist :

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿

#matt sturniolo x you #matt sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #the sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo imagine #sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo x you #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #chris sturniolo smut #christopher sturniolo smut #Kacey'swritings!

[waywardcrow]

Timeless.

Summary: 1943. 1975. 2024. Three different decades, three different lives, three different times your life and Bucky's interwined; he lost you twice, will he do it again?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader.

TW: It can change each chapter but themes of Bucky as soldier and as the Winter Soldier in general, some stalker behaviour but with good intentions?, flashbacks and a not so good writing style by me, lots of feels, one awful boss, one jerk that almost gets reader in an accident, mentions of headaches, past reader is mentioned to be named Beth but that changes for 2024 version of her so I nicknamed her Ace, this will be a +18 story so minors dni, as always please remember english is not my first language so if I make a mistake or forget something let me know.

Pictures from pinterest and graphic and dividers by the amazing @ firefly-graphics so all credits to the creators.

Your head was aching like never before and that was your life now; annoying pain, annoying boss who was a fucking brat with a trust fund who never heard the word “no” as a kid and that now acted like she was entitled to make your life miserable.

It wasn’t like you were and idiot who believed a job like this will be easy, as a born and raised new yorker who watched The devil wears Prada too many times you were aware of what will come your way as PA of the editor of one of the best magazines in the country but your issuess were beyond that, it was easy to handle a bully if you are getting something in exchange besides a check that barely paid your rent.

This job was suppossed to be your opportunity and Mia Alexander was beating up your expectations. With a sigh you picked the coffee and make your way back to the office, it was so stupid that you have to walk three blocks in the pouring rain just to get her stupid cold brew from the stupid pretencious coffee shop that always made you feel like you were back in high school. Always the outsider in a world ruled by assholes, just like the one who pushed you too hard while waiting to cross the street. For an idiotic reason, your first thought was that you will have to go back for another cold brew when the one in your hand hit you and then the pavement, not the bike coming your way.

It happened too fast for you to understand it, the asshole pushing you towards the traffic, your annyoance, the stranger who hold you back in the blink of an eye, the pain in your head stopping and then you were standing at a safe distance to the cars, with your umbrella tossed in the pavement and absolutely no idea of what had happened.

Alexander yelled at you for your aspect when you came back late with her first coffee all over your dull clothes and the second one not good enough apparently, the best you could do was bite your tongue and not tell her to fuck off. This job was everything you had.

“What the fuck happened to you, babe?” Harper didin’t care about Mia but that was because she couldn’t get her fired being her sister and everything, you were a different story.

“Your evil sister doing her usual shit” was your only response, Harper was completely different to Mia and if you tried to tell her about the incident she will drove you herself to ER. She followed you to the bathroom, your blouse was so stained it couldn’t be saved and still you wanted to do something to don’t cry.

Harper pursed her perfect red lips, it didn’t matter how many times she tried to help you, Mia was their mother’s favorite and will never do anything against her; the best she could do for you was to get you out of that clothes.

“Take that off, I’m bringing you something and don’t argue” Harper disappeared before you could try and came back with a pretty blouse with a V line and a small waist that will rock with your boring blue jeans.

“I can’t wear that” you refused still covered in coffee.

“Why? I have seen you wear more skimpy stuff when we go out” someone walked in the bathroom and shot you an intrigued look when she saw Harper undressing you.

“You know why” your dumb boss didn’t like that the person walking three steps behind her attracted the attention so you were expected to wear boring clothes in order to not be noticed by anyone.

“I’m telling you, one of this days I’m going to punch her in the face and I will not give a fuck if I get cut out…” your hand in her mouth stopped her to finish her sentence “back off, Ace” her nickname make you roll your eyes “you know I’m right.”

She was but your life was a constant reminder that no matter how right you were, you had no other option but to do as you were told if you wanted to pay the bills and help your parents, you stopped wishing for a way out long ago, this was your life.

Bucky went back to the tower that night after making sure you were home safe first, Sam tried to call him back but he ignored his phone and jumped in the shower, the hot water barely easing the tension in his muscles. He could have lost you that afternoon.

The super soldier still wanted to chase the idiot who nearly get you killed but Bucky wouldn’t be able to hold back if he saw him again, that’s why he asked Sam to take care of it without giving a good explanation beyond what had happened: a jerk pushed a by-stander to the traffic and didn’t give a shit about it. Bucky had to act like you were nothing to him, just another civilian he could help. He was liar, a murderer, a destroyer of lives but that lie, insignificant and not even believable, left his chest aching. You were everything; you always were from the moment he set his eyes on you that night in 1943.

Bucky expected more from his last night home before going to war, his date was nice but Connie will never think twice about him once he was gone and in all honesty, he wouldn’t do it too. Maybe it was the fact that Steve insisted in being enlisted that left him so uneasy, maybe the thought of leaving his family behind when his ma and his sisters already lose too much or maybe it was everything mixed with his fears.

Opposite to Steve, he never wanted to go to the war, it was what left them without a father, what left his mom without a husband, Bucky swore he will never abandon his family to fight and die alone in someone else’s land but his country didn’t care about his promises and his fears and demanded his blood and sacrifice anyway.

He tried to don’t let his family see this, not even Steve but Rebecca could see it, only three years of difference between them made them close to know each other well. She was there when Bucky got the letter informing him about being drafted, she held him while he cried like a little kid and swore to don’t say a word to the others, Rebecca woke up early the morning of his mandatory training to make him breakfast and give him a hug before their ma could do the same.

Bucky didn’t want to leave her in charge, she was his little sister, his responsibility but he was sure Rebeca will do it.

The way back after leaving Connie and her friend home was silent, Steve probably was back in their apartment after being rejected again, Bucky promised himself to be reasonable with his best friend later but after he spent one more night with his family.

In the porch stairs there were two girls whistling a short melody, he could see them from the distance, one was Rebecca but he didn’t knew who was the other one, her hair pinned up perfectly giving him a good view of one perfect neck and three moles aligned like a little constellation.

When he got close enough, Rebeca spotted him and she broke a smile.

“Bucky! You are here!” His sister got up, holding him in her embrace. After all those years he could swear he still remembered her scent: homemade cookies and lilacs. “You are early” she said, giving him a suspicious look.

Before she could say more, he interrupted “Who’s your friend, Becca?”

You shot him a funny glance, like you knew what he was doing and follow his sister after fixing your skirt.

“I’m Beth, nice to meet you” You and Rebecca were being friends for more of a year but you never met her brother, Rebeca tried to set you both up but he insisted in not dating anyone as young as her sister, didn’t seem right but that was before he got a chance to actually know you.

He knew a lot of beautiful girls; he probably dated a good number of them in the last years but you were more than your pretty eyes or your perfect lips, he never felt like his whole world stopped with any of them the way he felt it with you.

“Beth” Bucky repeated, his tongue tasting sweet with the echo of your name in his mouth. A charming smile made its way to his lips and you blushed under the intensity of his eyes. Everybody talked about Rebecca’s brother, such a ladies man, a respectful one but a ladies man anyways and you were raised better than to be one of those dames who let men sweep them off their feet.

“I should go back home, Becca” you said giving your friend a quick hug and a nod to her brother.

“Let Bucky walk you home Beth, is late and your mother will not be happy if she knows you went alone” oh Rebecca was good, Bucky could see the spark in her eyes, identical to his, and he could hear her future constant reminders from now on about how she told him so, she was always right about him and Beth.

“I don’t want to impose” was all the girl could say and Bucky took that as his chance.

“Please, allow me to escort you home safe, miss” he used his best smile and extended his arm like a gentleman “it will be an honor.”

For a heartbeat, he could see your intention to roll your eyes but you agreed and took his arm, Rebeca didn’t do a good job at hiding her smile saying her goodbyes before going back to the house to tell Winnifred everything.

And that was the only time he could be close to you before he lose everything he was once.

Next chapter >>>

Please let me know what you think! Thanks 🩵.

#bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes x f!reader #40s bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes angst

[minniesmutt]

⚠︎ ━━━ LUNCH

⚠︎ ━━━ SS + WC: 5 + 0.8K

⚠︎ ━━━ CONTENT: PREGNANCY, FOOD MENTIONS, KIND OF TOXIC EX

     Y/n nervously sat in her car outside the restaurant— nothing super fancy as she had asked thankfully. He had already told her he was inside, she was just trying to calm down, finally gathering herself, grabbing her bag, and walking inside. Telling the host she was meeting someone before they led her to the table. 

     Jeongin had set his phone down on the table as she joined him. “Hey.”

     “Hi,” Y/n offered a smile as she sat down across from him.

     “How are you doing?” He asked 

     “Okay? Kind of nervous honestly.” Y/n grabbed the cup of water in front of her and took a sip. 

     “Let's order then we can talk about it. How does that sound?”

     Y/n agreed and picked up her menu. Scanning over the items for a few minutes before the waiter came over. Both putting in their orders and giving their menu’s to the waiter before they walked off. Sitting in an awkward silence for another minute.

     “I’m not getting rid of the baby.” Y/n finally stated after a moment.

     “I wasn’t going to make you,” Jeongin confirmed, “I know it was a one night stand and we barely know each other but I do want to at the very least co-parent this kid.”

     “I can work with that,” Y/n nodded

     Jeongin nodded, silence taking over the table again, “What do you do for work?” He asked

     “I’m an editor for a online news outlet.”

     “You work with Seungmin, right?”

     “Yeah. We were in a lot of the same classes in college but weren’t friends until after graduation and we ended up at the same company.”

     “Same department?”

     “No. He works more in reporting and journalism. I’ve edited a couple of the stories they’ve let him published.”

     “He hasn’t published a lot?”

     “No, (Astird)’s case was actually the first one they let him take on his own.”

     “They didn’t think he was going to be bias on it?”

     “I don’t think he told his boss she was his roommate. But even when I was editing it, you could barely tell he knew her. He’s very unbiased in reporting which is a good trait to have,” Y/n explained as her phone went off on the table next to her

Jihyun ❌: why aren’t you home?                   I know its your day off

     “Everything okay?” Jeongin asked

     “Yeah, just a friend texting me,” Y/n brushed it off 

     “Do any of your friends know about you being pregnant?”

     “Just my friend Hana, the one who was with me at the club.”

Jihyun ❌: Y/n

     “Do any of your friends know?”     “I may have told all of them?”

     “How many is all?”

     “Five.”

     Y/n nodded

Jihyun ❌: when the hell did you turn your location off?                   answer me

     “Do you need to take that?” Jeongin asked, seeing the constant light up of her phone from the text.

     “No. It’s just me ex. He can deal with it?”

     “When did you guys break up?”

     “Almost a month ago. Hana ended up dragging me to a club to just get my mind off it.”

     “Ah. So I was a rebound fuck,” Jeongin joked and it definetly made her laugh a bit.

     “If you wanna look at it like that,” Y/n said, “I was more so looking to get drunk till I forgot but drunk me also is horny.”

     “Bad break up then?”

     “Yeah. It’s over now though.”

     “Good for you,” Jeongin smiled

     “So, how are we gonna work out appointments and stuff?” Y/n asked, changing the subject

     “I would like to be there for them but if you don’t want me there that’s fine. I also can already tell I might not be able to make it to all of them with work.”

     “You own you’re company, right?”

     “Yeah. There’s certain meetings I can’t get out of.”

     “I can try and schedule them as best I can to avoid that but I can always update you afterwards if it doesn’t work out.”

     “That works out for me.” 

     The waiter came back with their food and they both thanked them before eating. Other small talk continued throughout the meal, some regarding their lives, others regarding the baby. Jeongin paid at the end of the meal, walking out with her.

     “Don’t be afraid the text me if you need anything, okay?” He told her, walking her over to her car

     “I will, thank you,” Y/n said, unlocking her car.

     Jeongin opened the door for her, “I mean anything. Even if it’s a weird pregnancy craving in the middle of the night.”

     The two of them laughed as she set her bag down on the passenger seat. “I will.” Y/n assured him and took her seat.

     Jeongin closed her door and waved her off as he walked to his own car. Y/n took out her phone, wanting to text her friend the good news till she remembered the messages— with new ones.

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[54bpm]

Tips For Vtubers

Howdy there, I’m Liv and I’m a vtuber much like you, but I’ve been here the whole time so I’m here to compile stuff for you to help make your transition less scary.

To start, here’s is a post with a lot of tips for general tumblr use and here’s one for giving your blog a custom theme.

Beyond that here’s other things that aren’t mentioned but are gonna be relevant for you:

If you’re coming back to tumblr know that you can’t follow from your sideblog, if you want to follow back it will be from your main, as will your likes, replies, asks. Decide what to do with this information now before you settle into a blog.

Fully explore the settings, there's a ton of stuff hiding in there. AND do it on PC at least once, some stuff is not in the app.

Blogs have individual block lists, no idk why either. So if you want someone banned from everything you need to do that manually.

 Also enable tumblr Labs! It’s got reblog graphs which are rad (my beloved orbs) And alternate dashboards, the Blog Subscriptions one is my fave because it means all you have to do is turn on notifications to get all your fave guys in one dashboard.

Contrary to popular belief there is still a porn and adult content community here, if you want to get anywhere near them you have to have age in bio or they’ll smite you. EDIT: I posted more about how to navigate lewdposting here.

Tiktok embeds don't play nice with tumblr for some reason, if you also do tiktok then just reupload your videos and link your account there underneath.

The link post type will show up for your followers but there’s a chance it won’t show up in any tags, so don’t do going live posts like that.

BUT you can straight up embed your stream into your posts! As long as you're using the New Post Editor you should see this menu:

Click the video camera, link to your twitch and bam. There it is. You can also do this with the video post type! If you're ever worried about your post format getting bonked just go through the tags and see what posts that DO make it are doing. Together we can overcome spaghetti code.

General "tumblr culture" is to not comment on posts but its not one thats set in stone, your fellow small vtuber account is probably dying for interaction so comment on posts! scream in the tags! send funny asks! Getting interaction right now is going to be a big comfort during a weird time.

Oh yeah we have ask boxes built in, no marshmallow needed.

ALSO we have pinned posts just like twitter, but as long as you want! Put your ref & socials & art tag (yes you can keep your fanart tags) & your minors DNI & a picture of your cat if you want.

OH I do suggest picking out tags for your personal content if you plan to also do reblogging, makes it easy for newcomers to find what you're doing.

#vtuber and #indie vtuber are full of fanart for the big guys. If you wanna find each other use #vtuber uprising

Okay this post is getting so long but final tip: check out custom pages. They're on the custom theme menu and they're basically mini webpages on your blog that can have their own coding. You can do Literally Whatever. Lore! Credit page! Ref sheets! I once put a choose your own adventure where you navigated by clicking specific parts of a picture on tumblr pages. I Mean Anything.

That's all for now, please add other tips if you want. And please reblog! Not just this post but other peoples too! This will all be way less of a drag if we can find each other. 💖

EDIT: One more thing, lolisho shit Does Not Fly here. They are some of the only tags that tumblr has actually shadowbanned and there is a reporting criteria for it to get taken down. It also doesn't fly on my blog! Begone!!

#vtuber #indie vtuber #vtuber uprising #envtuber #livs words #i felt like a specific to us post would b good #since we have specific stuff to worry about like going live posts n etc #also please do themes i wanna see yall go apeshit #post edit #while i doubt that tumblr has the vibes that makes people think lolisho would be welcome here #the post is starting to get big enough that its worth mentioning #resource #tutorial

[pensat-i-fet]

Not a crush (Pedri x Reader)

**I got this request and thought it could be cute and fun. It’s true that the Spanish press has been talking about this arms situation a lot, so it’s a good blend of fiction and reality. But then it turned into one of those writing projects that changed 7 times before its final form. For a second I even thought about turning this into a series. My brain! Anyways, enjoy reading! ❤️**

ETA: I ended up writing a series based on this imagine that you can read here!

Word count: 2685

Masterlist

Wattpad

“All those years in uni to end up doing this”, you muttered. “I’m never going to be taken seriously”.

“What are you talking about?”

“This article I have to do”.

Your colleague Jordi moved his chair closer to yours to peek at your computer screen.

“You know that we can’t use the computers for personal stuff, right?”

You put your head on the table. Really, no one was going to take you seriously.

“Huh?”

“Why are you looking at photos of shirtless Pedri? Got a crush?”

“Shut up! I have to do an article about the evolution of his body in the last couple of years”.

“That’s cool”.

“It’s stupid!”

“I’ve done worse when I was an intern. Don’t be so negative”.

You guessed he was right. It could be a lot worse. And you didn’t have a crush but…there were worse ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon than looking at photos of a cute player. And being given an excuse to stare at his body, which had definitely changed in the last couple of years. You didn’t visit the gym much but liked it when others did. Especially if that was the result of their gym sessions.

Writing the article actually took a good chunk of your day. Between getting the right photos and videos for it and asking for permission to use them, the actual writing and your colleagues' stupid comments about it, it wasn't as easy as you thought it would be at first. But it was a good article. And once the editor saw it and was happy with it, it was posted on the newspaper's website.

The following day you posted a link to it on your social media accounts and a little later you started to go through the comments. So many of them talked about how you were only picked to do that article because it was about a man's body and you were a woman. Right…nothing new on Twitter.

“Stop replying to hate comments”.

“It’s therapeutical”.

"It's pointless".

Just one more…

                                      **

It wasn't just the press or people on social media talking about Pedri's muscles. His teammates loved to tease him joking about that too.

"Here comes the Spanish Lewandowski", laughed Eric.

"So funny".

"Please don't be mad at me. I'm afraid you'll use those big strong muscles to punish me".

Pedri did use his muscles to push his friend and get him out of the way. He knew it was just banter but it all got boring after a few days.

"There needs to be a big signing or something so your arms stop being the topic of the week", told him Ferrán, who was looking at his phone.

“Yeah, I saw Barça posting about it on social media too. People are so overdramatic”.

“Totally, but I didn't mean that. I meant the new article”.

"What new article?"

Ferrán showed him your article and Pedri sat down to read it properly. It was a great article. You took the time to analyze the way his game could be influenced by this body change and picked different photos than the ones used by everyone else. He guessed there were still proper journalists out there. What a plot twist.

"It's a good article", he said, giving the phone back to his friend.

"The internet seems to disagree".

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if they disagree but the girl who wrote it was getting a lot of shit on social media".

"Why?", Pedri couldn't hide his frown.

"I didn't look much into it but I saw people saying nasty things to her and then they found some old tweets and …seems like she used to have a crush on you and now she writes about your muscles or whatever and people on Twitter are the way they always are".

"Right", he murmured. He had listened to everything his friend said but also got stuck on how you used to have a crush on him. And he didn't even know who you were but footballers…they just loved being loved.

                                     **

"No point in deleting them now", said Jordi.

"I wasn't going to…".

People had too much time on their hands. That was the conclusion of the day. Somehow, just because of your article, someone decided to check your entire Twitter history to see if there was anything they could accuse you of. They probably were mad to find no offensive tweets but they found two where you retweeted a Barça fan page and wrote about liking Pedri.

The funniest thing was you barely remembered those tweets. You saw him, thought he was cute and posted that. Then you moved on. There were many players you found cute but had no time for crushes. Pedri got a mention purely for the fact that he signed for your team.

But now this was being used against you. So childish.

"Are you busy next week?"

You looked up to see your boss talking to you. He never talked to you.

"I guess. I mean, I'll be here working. So…".

"Do you have a passport?"

"Yes".

"Your English was good, right?"

"Pretty good, yeah".

He only had to look at your CV to see all the qualifications you had, including all the diplomas that proved your English was more than good but…no one cared that much about an intern.

"You're going on the US tour", he said and left. How could he drop that bomb and leave?

Your jaw was on the floor and Jordi was staring at you with a similar expression.

"Wait!", you said, finally able to get up and follow your boss. "What do you mean I'm going on the US tour? There is a group of people chosen for that already. It was decided months ago".

"I know", he said casually. "But one of them can't go and you'll take his spot".

"But I'm just an intern".

"Do you not want to go?"

"I do! Of course I do!", you said quickly. "But it doesn't make sense".

"Look. You're doing really well here. And you've gotten people to visit our website more than ever with just one article so…you earned it".

You had heard about all the visits to the website after the Pedri article was posted. But the way your boss was avoiding holding eye contact told you everything you needed to know.

"Am I just going because people think I have a crush on one of the players that'll be there?"

"If you weren't a good journalist, that wouldn't be enough for me to send you with that team. But it doesn't hurt".

"Ok, I'll start packing".

This was a great opportunity and you weren't going to reject it just because of some of the reasons surrounding it. But the excitement you felt when you first heard about the trip completely vanished.

And when you checked your Instagram and saw a certain player was looking at your stories…it was even worse.

No one took you seriously but you'd prove them wrong.

                                     **

The pre-season was both loved and hated by players. Pedri didn't really have strong feelings about it. It was just part of the job and they got to visit some different places so there were positives to take from these couple of weeks.

Another positive was having you around. After finding out about your article and your past crush on him, he checked your social media accounts. There wasn't much on any of them, since they were professional accounts. But there were a couple of photos of you and your dog.

Stories were something you also used to mostly promote your work and it was while checking those he found out you were going to the US too. He was hoping you'd meet at some point but didn't expect you'd be the one to interview him.

"Hi, nice to meet you", you said, extending your hand for him to shake. So professional.

"Nice meeting you too. I really liked your article about me".

Something changed in your expression and he couldn't understand what it was but you quickly got back to professional mode.

"Thank you. Let's get this done quickly. I was told we only have 15 minutes".

The interview was pretty uneventful. You asked good questions and Pedri gave you good answers in return. But you were so serious. He didn't know you personally, so maybe that was how you always were. But Pedri had a feeling there was more to it.

"Was that good?"

"The interview? Yes, thank you for your answers. They were really good".

"Easy when the questions are good too".

You nodded, quickly looking away.

"Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because it seems like you would want to be anywhere but here".

You closed your eyes and sighed.

"Is it because of what people said about you?"

His words made you open your eyes and you finally looked at him. Instead of answering, you simply nodded.

"Don't pay attention to them".

"Easier said than done. Especially when they are the reason I'm here".

"The reason…".

"I'm not here because I'm good at my job. But because people thinking I have a crush on you got us a lot of attention. And now this interview will get more attention. So I'm basically just a pawn and I guess so are you".

"I'm sorry".

"It's not your fault".

Picking up your things, you got ready to leave but Pedri stopped you.

"I don't read what people write about me but my parents do. They like to keep the articles and print the photos and all that. Things parents do, I guess", he shrugged. "I read your article because Ferrán showed it to me and thought it was great. And then my parents told me about it, praising your writing multiple times. Your newspaper might be using you but you're good. You showed it to me in this interview too so don't feel sad".

"I don't have a crush on you".

"What?", but then he realised what you meant. "I didn't praise you because of that. God, you really need to get out of that mindset".

When Pedri started to laugh, you were more confused than ever.

"It's not you against the world. And people will praise you just because they genuinely want to…but now I'll be the one who's sad".

"Why?"

"I liked thinking you had a crush on me".

Now you were laughing too. Finally, he got to see the smile he had seen in those photos.

"Thank you for your words. I needed them. And you must go to train. I'll see you around".

"Yes".

The interview was posted just a couple of hours later. And even if Pedri's words helped, the comments you got still hurt.

Got what she wanted. To meet him.

"Yes, that's all I wanted in life. I can retire now".

"Why are you looking at your phone like it offended you?", asked one of your colleagues.

"It's the people inside it that offend me".

"Are there people living inside your phone?"

You half laughed at his bad joke.

"I know what you need to cheer up".

"Really?"

"Yes. Thoughts on karaoke?"

That made you laugh. You were such a terrible singer. "I like it. People don't like hearing me sing, though".

"I want to hear you sing so you're coming with us tonight".

                                   **

One of the easiest ways to get in trouble during pre-season was to go out and wake up to paparazzi photos of the party. But when it was the coach that took you out…then it was fine?

Pedri wasn't really into parties anyways but he thought karaoke night could be fun. He wasn't planning on signing but knew which teammates would. His phone was going to record all of it to tease them in the future.

"It started already", said Xavi, who was the first one to get inside the bar.

And he was right. There was someone leaving the stage while they found their tables. And someone else took the previous person's place immediately. Pedri wasn't interested in the random people who were going to sign but still looked up to see who was talking to the guy that controlled the machine.

And it was you who was on the stage.

"Well, that's a surprise", he said, almost to himself.

"What is?", Ferrán was now looking at the stage too. "Who is she? She's hot".

"The journalist who wrote about my muscles".

"The one that doesn't have a crush on you?", he laughed. "That's funnier now that I know she's pretty".

Pedri rolled his eyes and continued staring at you. He could see you were giggling and it was such a change from the super serious woman he met for the interview.

You picked a Franz Ferdinand song. They were one of your favourite bands when you were a teen and after seeing them live at the FIB, you were back to listening to all their songs on repeat.

Oh, when I woke up tonight, I said I’m

Going to make somebody love me

I’m going to make somebody love me

And now I know, now I know, now I know

I know that it’s you

You’re lucky, lucky, you’re so lucky

Your voice wasn’t great but who cared about that on karaoke night? Pedri didn’t. He just stared at you. You looked so relaxed. Just having fun instead of the worried version of you he got for his interview.

“Whoever she chooses would be lucky. She isn’t lying”.

Ferrán’s words took Pedri out of his daydreams. “What do you mean?”

“The song”.

“I’m not really paying attention to the lyrics. What do they mean?”

His teammate explained the meaning of the lyrics quickly and Pedri had to agree. Whoever you chose would be very lucky.

“I wouldn’t mind being the chosen one but you saw her first. Shame she doesn’t have a crush on you anymore, Pedrito”.

Yeah, it was a shame.

When you finished your song, you felt so much better. This had been the right plan to improve your mood. None of your colleagues wanted a drink, so you went to the bar to get one. It was needed after all that singing.

“I didn’t know you were a singer too?”

You turned to face Pedri and snorted. “Yes, it was my plan b if journalism didn’t work out”.

“There is always autotune to help”.

Pedri was pleased to see you laughing at his words. It was the second time in just one day he had achieved that.

“Do you want a drink too?”, you asked him when the bartender was taking your order.

“Just water, please”.

Once you got your drinks, none of you moved from the bar to go back to your friends. You just kept chatting.

“I mean, who knew writing about someone’s arms could lead to so much drama”.

Pedri followed your eyes which were now staring at his biceps. “Want to touch them?”

Yes. “No”.

“After reading the article I wondered if you knew more about my body than I do, you know? So it’s ok, you can touch”.

You bit your lip, trying not to blush. "I know you hear every day about how good you are at everything and that makes you overly confident but you aren’t as great at flirting as you might think".

"I heard about how great I am from you too. So you're at fault".

"I've barely written about you apart from that article".

"Yeah, but the old tweets…".

"I told you I don’t have a crush on you”.

“And the way you’re blushing says something different”.

When he leaned closer, you noticed how your knees were touching beneath the bar. They had been touching for a couple of minutes and you hadn’t even noticed. Nor did you feel the need to move.

“Not here”, you said.

“What?”

“Not where people can see us”.

“I thought you didn’t…”.

“I just want to test a theory”.

“What theory?”, he asked, smirking at you.

“If the crush I had on you two years ago is still there”.

#pedri #pedri gonzalez #pedri imagine #pedri one shot #pedri x y/n #pedri x reader #pedri fluff #fotballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer x y/n #footballer fluff

[littlegreekhero]

Tim Drake is so short it’s unrealistic: an explanation

In every single comic page featuring more than one adult, Tim is drawn exceptionally short (well Damian too but he’s still a pubescent boy) for mainly composition reasons, I think. You can’t really create a great standing composition with five heads at the same level so they exaggerate the difference. What does this leaves us with? A Tim in his late teens, at a whopping 5 foot and 6 inches of height (source: fandom wiki). This means he must be a certified short guy. Except, he kinda isn’t?

When he is shown with his peers he’s closer to the average height, like in YJ. So why do I think his stats are like this in fandom wiki or he’s drawn like that? I think editors and artists have never seen a teenage boy in their life and they think the younger the age the shorter the person is, linearly. My point is also supported by the fact that he doesn’t have adult proportions of a short person but an average person’s proportions, just shrunk down.

We are the same height for reference. The beginning of high school is the time for men to have their growth sprout and they all end up as their forever height by junior/senior. I’d argue that I’m not simply short-phobic and that artists seem to just ignore this phenomenon. Oh and his weight seems unrealistic considering his height-weight ratio and muscle mass so the second picture is possible to happen. You don’t need to be Kon-el to effortlessly pick that boy up.

So how tall do I think he realistically be? Closer to 6 foot. Because I think we’re ignoring the second greatest factor.

Wealth! He was raised rich, he was well fed during his developmental ages. Even if he had short height genes, his entire lifestyle would make him proportionally taller. There is VISIBLE difference in average heights in wealthy versus poor neighborhoods. Students notice that private school kids tend to be taller. Students (in my country) get weirded out once they realize historical figures that lived in hard times were way shorter than them. Unless he was an extreme case of picky eating, I’d say let’s add at least a few inches. His recreational activities also consisted of rich people stuff. The training he got, the amount of time he spent inside (probably playing games on powerful PC’s, not doing manual labor, not having a neighborhood friend group to run around with and stuff) not burning calories all played a role in the body he ended up with at adulthood. Yeah, he kind of did vigilante stuff since the age of 9, but at the end of the night it was Wayne Manor that he returned to.

BONUS: I think all batkids would have a different height when accounted for environmental factors, I just drew the four Robins to demonstrate

Jason: the wealth point that I defended earlier would work the opposite way for him, so why did i draw him the tallest? ✨growth juices✨ in the Lazarus Pit. I’m also not completely erasing their canon heights and body builds, and dude’s a hunk.

Dick: gymnastics makes you shorter. I thought this was a coincidence but apparently it’s real, especially in women’s gymnastics it’s very noticeable. He was trained since a very young age and did not stop practicing after he left the circus for apparent reasons.

Damian, at 14-15: He would hit his growth sprout a few months maybe a year later than his peers. Why? He’s Arab and even though I did no research on this, I think my experience as a Middle Eastern would account for a decent observation. But when he hits it, he would get noticeably taller EACH WEEK. I only attributed him a numbered height so I could show that he was close in height to his brothers. (Not related to height, but at his age he would have a massive nose with a sharp nose bridge, as it grows first, I remember many of my classmates were very self conscious about their noses in middle school)

#tim drake #batfam #dc comics #batfamily #dc robin #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #red robin #dcu #timothy drake

[avengerscompound]

The Interview - Chapter 13

The Interview - A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Rating:  E

Warnings: smut (MF, vaginal sex)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Melody Danes

Word Count: 2887

Summary:  Melody Danes gets the break of a lifetime when as a lowly intern, she’s assigned to write a profile piece on Captain America.  Steve Rogers is a hard man not to fall for and as she and Melody get closer and Melody’s career takes off, jealousy leads to sabotage, and the potential to bring her whole world crashing down.

Chapter 13

Melody’s promotion went through very quickly and by the end of the month, she was juggling three different jobs and earning three times what she’d been working at the start of the month.  While the new job came with new friends and new employees who hadn’t known that six months ago she’d been an unpaid intern, the people at the Daily Bugle who had seen her meteoric rise through the ranks weren’t all supportive.

Some were fine.  Ben Ulrich was happy in his job as an investigative journalist and always would be.  The Bugle could go through every change in focus possible, as long as he could expose secrets in the superhero world, he'd be happy.  Peter Parker was excited for her, especially given it meant he was getting more regular work that fit around his rather bizarre schedule.

Some of the others resented her for the fact she’d somehow become Jameson’s golden child.  The person who couldn’t seem to hide her disdain the most was Norah Winters. The views-obsessed writer hated the fact that Melody was such a popular choice for celebrity and superhero interviews, nor the fact she’d been given the job as lead editor of what was now officially known as the Blast.  She thought that was her rightful job given how much she’d done to get the kind of clickbait content the Blast would run off.  It shocked her that her mean-spirited clickbait was not the vibe that Jameson had wanted for the new website.  Besides, Melody being so young and new to the industry meant he could pay her so much less than the more seasoned Norah.

Two weeks after Melody had started the job, she was well underway curating the new content, she’d found an apartment with two bedrooms that she and Bobbi could afford.  It was a large percentage of their combined income, but that’s how New York was, and they had been getting by until now.  It was also six blocks further up, so there was now three minutes more travel time and they were further from the parts of Central Park that they liked best, but it would all be worth it when they moved in and had their own rooms.

Steve and Bucky had been helping the women move in, going so far as to borrow a van from the Tower and load it with their stuff in the few hours a day all four of them were free at the same time.  It had been slow going, but tonight they were bringing the last of their things over, including the beds.  As soon as she was done for the day Steve would pick her up and they’d head over there.

“We’re never going to beat the puppy interview,” Melody said as she packed up her things for the day.  “But we definitely need something that people are excited for.  I wonder if we could ever convince people to try different kinds of alcohol or edibles because that would be hilarious.”

As she spoke to the other members of staff who were working on content of The Blast, Peter Parker came out of Jameson’s office and made his way through the bullpen.  “Pete,” she called.  “You know, Spider-Man.  You think he’d do an interview while doing shots or trying different edibles?”

“Ahh… no I don’t think so,” he said, pausing and looking over the top of her cubicle.  “You’re close with Captain America, why don’t you ask him?”

“His metabolism is too high, he processes drugs and alcohol too fast for them to affect him,” she said.

“That must be fun when he’s injured,” Jasmine, the new intern said.

Melody shrugged.  “Yeah, it’s probably not fun,” she agreed.  “Okay… what about something like a scavenger hunt?” she suggested.  “We ask questions as we go around the city looking for clues.”

“Spider-Man might be into that, but it sounds like it would be a long interview.  It might be hard to lock most celebrities down for the time you need,” he said.

“And knowing Spider-Man he’d just leave halfway through because someone would have robbed a bank or something,” Jasmine added.

“Hmm… well we could put it on the docket as a possibility if we have more time with the people.  If we get a really fun host and start with people we know, it might work,” Melody said.  She made a quick note in her notebook to work on the idea.  It might be a good one for Bobbi to host.  “What about something where we get them to try different snack foods?  Potato chips from around the world.  All those different KitKat flavors.  Pizza slices from around the city.”

“Now that Spider-Man would be totally down for.  Hawkeye would do the pizza one in a heartbeat,” Peter said.

Melody looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.  “You know Hawkeye too?”

“Uhhh… everyone knows Hawkeye loves pizza,” Peter said quickly.  “I better go.  Photos to take, homework to do.”

He hurried out toward the elevator and Melody checked her phone for the time.  “Shit.  I gotta get out of here too.  If you have any ideas, we’ll workshop them on Monday.  Have a good weekend.”

She grabbed her bag and dashed to the elevator.  Peter was nowhere to be seen but Norah was stepping into the open elevator car.  Melody ducked in beside her and moved to the back.  The doors closed and Melody looked up at the display showing what floor they were on.

“I know you're dating Steve Rogers,” Norah said.

The statement took Melody by surprise. Not because it was a secret she was dating Steve, just that the accusation was so banal. If Norah had accused her of breathing air she might have been just as surprised.  

“What?”

Norah turned to face her.  “I know you're dating Steve Rogers.”

Melody kept facing forward, not wanting to engage.  “That's not a secret, Norah.  I've never tried to keep it a secret.”

“It's not exactly well known though either.  I mean you talk. about him in that little column of yours but you never mention his name or what he does.  And I don't see the paparazzi hounding you.  Shit, even your X posts lack the weirdo obsessives trying to make you want to break up with him. So far you've been flying under the radar,” Norah said.

It sounded like a threat, but Melody wasn't sure what the woman was threatening.  She couldn't stop her from posting the gossip.  Shit, she'd been expecting someone to.

“What's your point?”

“My point is, I know you must have something on Jameson.  He'd have been telling you that you had to dish the dirt if you didn't.  Not to mention this promotion that should have been mine.”

Melody rolled her eyes and thankfully the elevator opened on the ground floor.  “You're paranoid.  Jameson knows that if I keep things quiet I might have better access to the Avengers for the fluff things I write.  You're the one that writes the kind of gross shit that would end a relationship, not me.  And the promotion was more about saving money than anything else.  You know he's a Scrooge.  Go home and relax.  There's no grand conspiracy here.”

“Yeah well, I think you've had too good of a ride,” she said.  “But thankfully you've given me a great idea.”

Melody stopped and watched Norah leave through the large glass doors at the front.  She didn't like the sound of that, but she had no idea what the woman could be planning other than outing a relationship that wasn't in any way a secret.

She shook her head and went out the side door to the alley.  Steve and Bucky were waiting for her in the large silver van.  The side door slid open automatically when she approached and she jumped in, kissing Steve on the cheek before buckling up.

“You ready to spend your first night in your new apartment?” Steve asked.

“You know I am,” she said.  “Let's do this.”

It didn't take very long to get the last of Melody and Bobbi’s things over to the new apartment.  Having two supersoldiers made moving furniture a lot faster and a lot less effort.  Plus, Melody found it extremely hot seeing Steve just hoist her bed base on his shoulder and carry it up the four flights of stairs to her apartment like it was nothing.

Steve got the bed situated in her room and when the last of the things were in the apartment he came in and helped her make the bed.

“So how does it feel?” Steve said as the two of you shook the sheets out over your bare mattress.  “Having your own room?”

“It’s so good,” Melody answered.  “I could do whatever I want in here.”

They each hooked the fitted corners over the edge of the mattress and smoothed out the fabric, before grabbing the pillows and putting them in place.  “What kind of things would you want to do?” Steve asked. 

“I could strip down naked,” she said, grabbing her quilt and shaking it out over the bed.  Steve grabbed the other side and smoothed it down.  “Dance around.  Put on music without my headphones on.  I could take my sheets and walk to the kitchen and put them in my new washing machine.”

“While you’re still naked?” Steve chuckled.

“Maybe,” she laughed.  “Maybe I’ll have fresh clean pajamas in the drier and they’ll be toasty warm when I put them on.”

He laughed and came around to her, his hands sliding over her hips as he wrapped his arms around her.  His hands splayed out on the middle of her back as he pulled her hips flush with his.  “Anything else you’d do in this bedroom?”

She smirked.  She knew exactly what Steve was hinting at.  She wanted it too.  She wanted him to fuck her right here right now.  She wanted to order takeout and eat it in bed and have him fuck her all over again.  She wanted him to spend the night and wake up in his arms only to have sex one more time before they went out for the day.  She was also enjoying the playful teasing and wanted to drag it out.  She put her hands on Steve’s chest and looked up into his blue eyes.  “I could have the window open and the fan on while I sleep,” she said.

“You couldn’t have done that before?” he asked.

“I could,” she said, dragging the word out.  “But Bobbi always complained that the living room got too cold.”

“Well, you can’t have a too cold living room,” he said, ghosting his lips down her neck.  “Is that it?”

She tilted her head, exposing her neck to him.  He took the invitation, kissing her neck slowly.  He sucked softly and his tongue swirled over her skin, making it break out in goosebumps.  “I don’t know,” she half moaned.  “I feel like I forgot something.”

“Maybe I should remind you,” he said.

He lifted her suddenly and tossed her on the bed.  She squealed in delight and quickly pulled off her shirt and threw it in the corner.  Steve slowly approached her, the expression on his face almost predatory.  It fed her need and where he moved slowly, stripping off his body-hugging t-shirt and throwing it with hers, she moved frantically.  She unfastened her pants and pushed them down and off and then moved on to her bra.  Steve was still in his trousers when he leaned in to kiss her, guiding her back up the bed.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and when her head was on the pillow, she spread her legs and welcomed him between them.

It was hard for her to slow down, she wanted him so badly.  She’d never actually had sex in her bed yet, and now this was happening she wanted it so badly she ached.  Placing her hands on Steve's shoulders she pushed him, wanting to take over, and put an end to the drawn-out teasing.

Thankfully, he took the hint, rolling over for her and pulling her on top of him.  If he'd chosen to ignore her, there wouldn't have been anything she could do, pushing him was like pushing a brick wall.  When she was on top of him she couldn’t help but just sit and gaze down at him.

He looked so perfect stretched out under her, looking up with lust-blown eyes and waiting for her to do something.  She pushed his hands above his head and pressed his fingers to the headboard.  “Keep your hands there,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, licking his lips.  He clenched his fists, making the muscles in his arms flex and the veins and tendons stand out.  She took a shaky breath in and held it as she skimmed her fingers down his arms, mapping his skin with her fingertips.  When she reached his shoulders, she leaned down and kissed his neck.  Her lips moved slowly down, tracing along his collarbone and onto his pec. Her hands smoothed down his sides to his pants and she unfastened them, reaching into his boxers and pumping his already hard cock.  His foreskin moved back and forth over the head with each stroke of her hand and his hands tightened on the headboard and he moaned softly.

“Condom?” Melody asked.

“Left pocket,” he said.

She bit her bottom lip and fished in his pocket, pulling out the condom and sitting back.  She looked down at him as she tore the packet open and placed the rubber between her lips.  She crawled down his legs pulling his pants down as she went.  His cock sprang up hard against his stomach and she took it in her hand.  “What are you doing?” Steve asked.

She winked and lowered her head and using her lips and tongue she rolled the condom down over his shaft.  His cock was so large she gagged before the whole condom was in place, and she had to roll the last part down with her fingers.  The effect was not lost on Steve, he moaned and arched his back, his eyes glued on her.

She crawled back up, wiggling out of her panties as she did and when she’d straddled his waist, she lowered herself down, guiding his cock into her soaking cunt.  They both moaned as he entered her.

There was a moment, where Melody just sat, appreciating how full she always felt when Steve was inside her. He was the biggest guy she’d ever been with by far, and in a lot of ways that wasn’t always a good thing, but the way he filled her - that little sting as her cunt stretched to take him, it was a unique feeling and she liked to savor it.  That brief moment was all she could do before her need took over.  She began to move, bouncing on his cock - up and down, up and down, faster each time until she was leaning over, riding him like she was in a race.

Steve let go of the headboard and his hands moved to her hips, one slid around to her pussy and he began to rub her clit.  He pushed himself up onto his elbow and leaned in, kissing her neck and breasts, and she wrapped her arms around his head, holding onto him for dear life as she continued to move.

“Oh fuck, Steve,” she mewled.  “I’m so close.”

“That’s it, Mel,” he praised, his hips bucking up to meet hers. “Let it happen.”

His finger moved faster on her clit and their bodies slapped together with each bounce.  All her muscles clenched up in sequence, like cords, and wrapped around them and pulled tight.  When they relaxed she came, her body shuddering on top of him. “Yes, Steve!  Fuck!” she cried, burying her face in Steve’s neck to smother the sound.

He flipped her suddenly, pulling her legs up so they were pressed up against her torso.  His thrusts were erratic, but so much deeper than before.  Melody gasped and cried out as she felt him hit her cervix.  He pulled back a little but kept thrusting, chasing his release.

“Fuck… Steve… please,” Melody begged.  She wasn’t even sure what she was begging for.  She just knew if he kept going the way he was she was going to shatter.

She pulled him down into a hard kiss.  Their tongues danced together, and she sucked his bottom lip.  He ran a hand up into her hair as his hips began to stutter and as his fingers tightened in her hair.  It sent a jolt through her, setting off another orgasm.  As her cunt clenched and squeezed Steve’s cock, it brought him over with her.  He groaned into her lips and ground his hips, pushing in deep as his cock pulsed with his release.

“Fuck…” Melody moaned as her legs fell down on either side of Steve’s.  “I guess my bed’s broken in now.”

Steve started laughing, and he kissed her, rolling onto his side.  He pulled back and looked at her, amusement written all over his features.  “Worth the wait?”

She cupped his cheeks and looked into his eyes. “With you?  You know it was.”

// NEXT

#marvel #avengers #marvel fanfic #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfic #captain america #captain america fanfic #steve rogers x oc #fanfic #fanfiction #ofc #smut #the interview

[snowdice]

Unplanned Consequences (Part 4: Virgil) [Sometimes Labels Shift Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Virgil & Logan

Characters: Virgil, Logan (mentioned)

Summary: Virgil picks up some things from Logan's office.

Notes: This takes place after Best Laid Plans

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Virgil found himself pausing in front of Logan’s office door. He felt the need to knock even though he had the keys in his pocket, and rarely ever knocked before anyway. He couldn’t help but stare at Logan’s name on the door.

That seemed silly. That was the sort of thing you did when someone was dead. It wasn’t like Logan was dead.

As though to check the validity of the thought, Virgil pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. The list was in Logan’s notoriously neat handwriting, written not an hour ago.

Virgil had been tasked with picking some things up from Logan’s office, since Logan wasn’t coming back for the rest of the semester. He was on medical leave after his “car accident.”

The list was suddenly shaking in front of Virgil’s eyes.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said, startling Virgil.

Virgil shoved the list back into his pocket and turned.

“Hey Cas,” Virgil said to Logan’s TA. Or, well, ex-TA. Virgil wondered idly if he was out of a job or if another professor would use him for grading. Maybe the professors who were taking over Logan’s classes would have him continue grading for the classes he already was.

Cas seemed to pause. Despite having started the conversation, he did not seem to know where to take it next. He stood a few feet away from Virgil and shifted nervously in place.

“I’m just picking some stuff up for my dad,” Virgil said, aware as he said it that he’d probably never used the title of ‘dad’ in front of Cass.

“Yeah, uh, I heard,” Cas said. “Car accident, right?”

“Yeah, uh, yeah.”

“How is he…?”

“He’s…” Virgil wasn’t sure what to say. ‘Fine’ or ‘alright’ seemed like a lie, but he wasn’t sure how to explain that. “He’s recovering,” Virgil finally decided on. “Plus, he’s in good hands.”

“Right,” Cas said, “your other dad’s a doctor.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation awkwardly died then. Cas shifted a few more times and then cleared his throat.

“Uh,” Cas said, looking at his hands. He was holding a newspaper or something. “I picked up a copy of the Underhall Gazette,” Cas said.

“Cool,” Virgil said for a lack of other things to say.

“I, uh, don’t know why. I’ve already read it since I’m the editor. I usually bring a copy to Professor Sanders to read, so maybe it was just habit…”

He looked up at Virgil.

“Er, I don’t know if he actually cares or if he just reads it because he knows I work on it, but,” Cas offered the paper out, “let him know I’m thinking about him?”

Virgil gave him a half smile. “Of course,” he said, taking the paper.

“Thanks,” Cas said. “Uh, need any help carrying things?”

“Nah, I got it,” Virgil said, “but thanks for the offer.”

Cas seemed to take that as the dismissal it was and nodded. “Okay, see you then,” he said, and turned around to walk back the way he’d come.

With a sigh, Virgil put the paper under his arm and turned back to Logan’s office door. Instead of letting himself think too hard, he pulled out the keys and unlocked the door.

The lights were off, of course, and so Virgil reached over to flip them on. It looked exactly the same as it always did. Logan’s pens and paper were all in order. The filing cabinet was closed and locked. The water bottle Logan used every day was clean and sat in its usual spot when not in use.

Logan’s office was always clean, but it seemed too clean right now even though he knew it was just how Logan always left it at the end of the day. Virgil wasn’t used to being here without Logan’s coat on the rack or his messenger bag near the window. Usually, there was a stack of grading or notebooks out on the table. It looked weird like this.

He took out Logan’s list. For any other person, it would probably take Virgil a bit of work to find everything they wanted, but Logan knew exactly where everything was and had written out the locations in perfect detail.

Virgil went to work. He grabbed Logan’s work laptop as well as his most recent research notes. He also grabbed the ungraded and graded but unreturned papers (though he would take those to the math office instead of home). He shoved the emergency energy bars and soup cans into his backpack since they’d be bad before the office was in use again. Logan had very specific pens and highlighters he wanted as well as a book he’d been reading, so Virgil grabbed those too.

He was done within only a couple of minutes.

He found himself pausing when he was done. He looked around the office. Only a month ago, Virgil had walked in here, stressed about a couple of papers and Logan had sat him down in that chair and told him his office was always open to Virgil. Virgil supposed that was still true. Only Logan wasn’t here.

Irrationally, he felt tears prickle at his eyes. He’d done his best not to cry after Logan was let out of the hospital but suppressing that caught up to him now. He lowered himself into Logan’s desk chair and let himself cry.

He wasn’t sure how long he took to calm down. He’d put his head on Logan’s desk at some point and his face stuck to a piece of scrap paper when he lifted it up. It fell off, fluttering back to the desk.

He managed to choke out a laugh at that.

When he looked back up, his eyes caught on three framed photos on Logan’s desk. He’d seen them before, of course. In fact, he’d felt obliged to complain when he’d seen two pictures of himself looking rather silly. He found his heart warm at the sight of them now.

He contemplated taking the three photographs home, but then discarded the thought. Their being here made Logan’s office feel just a bit less empty. It made Virgil taking things from it feel more temporary. Logan would come back here someday. This was all just temporary. Everything would be okay.

#sanders sides #logan sanders #virgil sanders #platonic analogical #labeled universe #sometimes labels shift #adriana writes #not pieces fic

[ye4gerism]

THE PARADIS MIRROR MAGAZINE ISSUE #2

the new episode of the bachelorette just gets crazier (HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS???) ! let’s hear from some of the contestants!

EXCLUSIVES WITH THE BOYS (questions submitted by the viewers!)

“where do u see urself in 5 years?”

ARMIN ARLERT: i’m a magazine editor, so i’m hoping that one day i can have some sort of leadership role. only if my boss thinks it’s my time in five years!

EREN YEAGER: i’m hoping i can be a senior partner at my law firm within 5 years! it won’t be easy and it’s probably impossible but what an achievement that would be!

“what do they think of taylor swift/what's their favorite taylor swift song? (it tells you a lot about a man💀)”

ONYANKOPON: taylor swift? i’m not too fond of her. i hope that doesn’t get me kicked off the show.

JEAN KIRSTEIN: i’m not a big swiftie…i’m not a swiftie but her song ‘cardigan’ makes me think of my first high school love. obviously i’ve grown from that relationship but that break up was so hard and those lyrics match us so well. coming back and ending things. so, fuck you, taylor swift.

“how do you feel about marriage and kids?”

REINER BRAUN: i’m already raising a niece. luckily, i got to skip the baby stage but raising kids is already hard as is. i don’t mind having more though. it’s a learning experience. as for marriage…when you know, you know. maybe i will meet my wife on the bachelorette.

CONNIE SPRINGER: marriage has to happen. it’s been apart of my parents’ plan before i was born! all jokes aside, i’d like to get married, which is why i’m on the show! i have 2 siblings who are much younger than me, so i feel like a dad already. kids are cute, so i wouldn’t mind having some!

“Is Eren a hoe ?”

EREN YEAGER: i feel like i’m being targeted????

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME…: dirt on the cast

“Zeke has a monkey plushy he sleeps with at night”

If I were hit with human rights violation accusations, I’d hug onto my plushy too! Let’s let’s hope the accusations are just a joke. I don’t think they allow plushies in prison!

“Eren is uninterested”

I think have to disagree with this one. I don’t know why but I feel it in my soul that Eren wants y/n real bad.

“Jean has an STD and a bunch of bumps on his d*ck”

HELLO??? The last bachelorette dropped her pants once on the show. Let’s hope y/n is safe about it and that this isn’t true. Would hate to watch that go down. 😬

“eren and armin hooked up last night.”

Would this count as cheating? I mean, be who you are but remember what you’re on the show for.

“I think Zeke is trying to get y/n to pick eren”

After last week’s episode, it’s starting to look like it. And Eren got the best date too! No weird parenting game, no lack of care during a date. Mf went to DISNEY!!! Favoritism much??🤔

only two episodes in and the bach is taking quite a turn! until next time!

hey again! i’ll take a few more votes and responses before closing the poll and posting the chapter. i will try and get on my zoom again!😭 all my school stuff is starting up again and i’m much more dedicated to that.

i do want to address the poll! in regards to the questions, i’m looking for these answers:

not these:

the majority of the bachelorette is reader based. you write the stories! just wanted to address it bc i think we all got a little confused 😭

anyways, here’s the poll! if you already answered the written answer questions, feel free to skip (just let me know in the poll!). until next time :3

taglist: @katestrophes @taylarxse @invisible-mori @tanakaslastbraincell @mrsharuchiyo @parkerluvsu @conniesbbymama @444ctrl @gabbadabbad00 @cvberidiot @maliagurl @greeniegreengreen @teanica @illgrrl @asymetricstar @llovesero @haitainiwhore3 @durag_tanaka @crazychaoticizzy

#black reader #black yn #aot x black reader #aot x reader #jean kirstein x reader #jean x black!reader #eren x black reader #eren yeager x reader #armin arlet x reader #armin x black reader #connie springer x reader #connie springer x black reader #onyankopon x reader #onyankopon x black y/n #reiner braun x reader #reiner braun x black reader

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep 50: Tristan Hates Horses, I Think

Been a while! Tumblr’s annoying as hell changes to the text editor took a lot of wind out of my sails, ngl. It had some problems they're resolving as they go, but it was really annoying to use and to edit if you write any amount of youknow……words….

And I was talking to a friend about this, and they were like “have you tried writing it in google docs and copy pasting it after?” And I happily realized when you copy paste from google docs, it also copies the PICTURES. This has literally saved hours of my life, y'all. It has turned something that was so frustrating I didn't want to open tumblr again into something that is no longer an obstacle so I can write once more!

So lets travel to Yugi’s brain, where Tristan desperately has to make up for all the work he hasn’t done because he was just a wee tiny bit possessed.

It may be hard to pick up where Tristan is on this picture, and I hope I recorded it somewhere in OBS like 2 months ago when I finished the series because it was such a funny animation, but hot damn this boy has hops.

And  you can see him there on the ground in the bottom left corner, that isn’t a rock, that’s Tristan having toppled a man with his bare hands, a man who had a sword and was sitting on an armored horse.

Can you believe this guy ran for school president? And then lost and humbly became the janitor?

Meanwhile, Joey discovered magic.

Confirmation that duel disks are made out of old tank parts.

Realizing for the first time that magic exists, they decide to peace out.

Back in the real world, Mokuba and Roland don’t know where the hell Seto went. Which is weird, I figured Seto would at least leave a note or a text message or…anything…but apparently even if he did, he just disappeared at some point down in Marik’s old living room.

So Roland and Mokuba decided that in order to find him, they would have to take a massive Boeing 747 to find their lost child.

Some kids have a motorcycle, some kids have a scooter, Mokuba just wants the most boring ass big commercial plane that is meant to sit a couple hundred people in an awkward way. That’s what Mokuba wants.

Just Mokuba things.

My bro who edits these for me wrote in huge ass letters "ROLAND SIGHTING" While saying "ROLAND ROLAND ROLAND" so I want y'all to know how much we appreciate a good Roland in this house.

Speaking of, I know it's like season 5 but...who is the other guy? He wears funny sunglasses but I have never heard his name, not once.

But this is when the plane was filled with heavenly light.

They begin to see the fight happening between Seto Kaiba (the OG Seto, the one that is cool and isn’t depressed because his not-wife died) and Bakura (who is now Zorc). Don’t ask me how the time stuff works, and why we see it now of all the times in human history, and right over Egypt in the sky. Don’t ask me why.

I assume it’s time compression shenanigans, just like FF8, so maybe it’s just every moment in time is able to see this UFO in the sky, but overall, it’s here because it looks cool. The fact that this right here is actually not a physical place, but is actually a figment of Yugi’s imagination shaped by Pharaoh’s botchy memories--is neither here nor there. Instead, it’s everywhere. 

Seto is unimpressed by this, because he knows how science and timelines should work, and this wouldn’t pass Kaiba Corp inspection.

Back at the yellow palace made of cheese and mario blocks, Pharaoh is still knocked out from that time he summed all 3 dragons last episode, which to me feels like just eons ago. 

But it’s OK, he’s fine now.

Typically he’d be dead, because his dragons died on the battlefield and their life force is connected to their monsters. But not only is Pharaoh 1.) already dead and 2.) the author of this universe and cannot die or this universe ceases to exist he’s 3.) got the puzzle, which means he can’t actually perma die, unlike everyone else in his court who is perma-gone.

He is not surprised by what is currently happening in Egypt’s downtown strip.

This is probably every day in Domino. Every day Seto Kaiba wakes up everyone in town with his three-headed dragon princess just because he can. Hell, Seto was doing this fight with Bakura on the top towers of Domino just this morning (or last morning…not sure if time passes in real life the same way it does in puzzle life)

The audacity of Yami right now, the one moment Yugi isn’t there to scream about ledges, this boy is leaping joyfully off that ledge. 

He fuses with the dragon which gives him this familiar outfit.

I thiiiiink it’s the same outfit as Alexander season? I’ll be real with you though, I don’t really want to look it up. Either way, good to see the return of putting on a ton of armor in a card game, I don't think we've seen it Canonically since that one time Joey did it against Valon, and ever since then, Joey kind of forgot it was a thing he can just do.

But unlike Joey, Yami doesn’t take the opportunity to punch Zorc in the face, instead he just loses yet another time.

This time he didn’t even pass out, he barely even died. This is progress, truly.

But as Zorc is powering up the peepee missile to fire in Yami’s face (what a way to die!), Shadi has decided to inform us why he’s been stalking these kids for this entire show.

So there’s two ways to read this. 1.) Shadi was Hassan the entire time but had to go back in time from this moment in order to do it or 2.) Shadi possessed the power of Hassan last second so Yami could avoid death one final time.

Both of these explanations don’t fully make sense to me, I’ll be honest, because in order to know that he’ll be needed in the first place, Shadi had to know that Yami would die at this particular moment--a moment that is a different timeline than has ever existed before.

So really, Shadi was just going by a hunch. He was like “I dunno, I’ll see how this goes.” which is more in line with the Shadi we know and love.

Is it a crying shame that Shadi, who has been with us for so many seasons, and it so integral to this show had such an unceremonious death? Yeah. I feel like I didn’t quite get the closure I wanted but I’m also sort of confused as to…what happened. But I’ll leave it there because apparently we get more Shadi content in Dark Side of Dimensions.

Anyway, I have no idea if these images will even fit into a post with how how tumbler does posts nowadays, and I'll be real I had to re upload the last bit of it, which I suspect was over 15 images???? Not sure??? but we found a workaround! google docs works!

Also, Seto didn’t die today! Instead it was Shadi! For a SECOND time!

I cannot believe how freakin lucky Mana is, this girl is still kicking and if Mana survives everything I am…going to be astonished, that’s what. Mana secretly OP, who knew?

And always you can read the rest of these here

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

if I turn it into a link it doesn't work right because the text editor is really, really bad. I hate it a lot. But uh...feel free to copy paste it until I can get links to cooperate.

#yugioh #photo recap #yugi muto #joey wheeler #seto kaiba #tristan taylor #ygo #bakura #yu gi oh #yami muto #S5 #Shadi

[misstergrayson]

31 Days Of Dick Grayson

🦋☀️🦋

30. What if you had the chance to build the next creative team for a Nightwing run, who would be a part of it?

Tumblr Creative Team

Nightwing #87

If I’m going to be in charge of the new DC creative team, if decided to go a different route and pick Tumblr creatives to build up a great team, to be honest there are so many better artists and authors than DC has in their arsenal, I’d love to see these fans take the reigns and make real positive changes to the Nightwing series.

I feel like the people I’ve picked are amazing artists, and fans who see Nightwing’s character in a similar way and would also be better at including his history. Here’s the team!

Penciller: @vanillabean-97 and @finalgirljasontodd

Vanilla for great pencil design of Dick Grayson and finalgirl for details

Inker: @stained-glass-sketchbook

I know I have designers, but I still love their outfit designs too and their tactical Nightwing suit is GORGEOUS.

Colorist: @ultimatedirk and @duckytree

Cover artist 1: @crow-sizna

I think it goes without saying, crow could put Bruno Redondo and Dan Mora out of their jobs

Variant cover artist 1: @lomakes

One of the original designers to make Dick Grayson the way I see him today, probably who Travis Moore bases their Dick Grayson in, especially love their appreciation for Dick Grayson’s best outfits

Variant cover artist 2: @sentine1ist

They have one of the most unique styles, the color and design all come together amazingly

Character design: @allineedisonedream

One of the people who just understands Dick Grayson is the Barbie of the DC universe, I love every design they come up with

Outfit designer: @mabychan

Author 1: @misstergrayson

Yeah me I mean cmon 😂

Author 2: @danny-chase

Author 3: @hood-ex

Editor: @northoftheroad

Flash Crossover Writer: @givemewallywestorgivemedeath

PHENOMENAL flash fan, I think they should be in charge of the series when Jeremy is done, I honestly love reading their blog to catch up on everything flash

Flash assistant writer 1: @flashdoesahundredyarddash

Flash assistant Writer 2: @jhonnyhotbody

Look I know at this point I’m building a whole flash team too but it’s these tumblrs fault for being so good, and I’ve decided they’re gonna have a lot of crossovers that’s why the team is big

Flash editor: @pulsar-1919

Flash artist: @lightmare000

Flash assistant artist 1: @vvunderkind

Flash assistant artist 2: @artiificiial

I won’t even hide the flash favoritism at this point

Flash design: @absolutelynotsanebaby

Don’t @ me for cheating making choices is hard when there’s so many good ones😭

Titans Crossover Writer: @disco-troy

This blog along with lomakes, Danny, and starfire truther are go to titans blogs

Titans artist: @starfiretruther and @fatimajpeg

I really wanted star as a writer too but I can’t live without their art😭

Tim Drake Crossover Writer: @junkoandthediamonds

Absolute Tim Drake dictionary

Tim Drake artist: @clambuoyance

Great designs and great Tim

Booster and Beetle Crossover Writer: @melonnabar and @boosterblue

I know it’s two but it’s two characters and they’re both too good

Booster and Beetle artist: @frightshack

Batfam Crossover Writer: @arabian-batboy

Honestly, if I want a Batfam crossover I want the person who understands Damian the best, I love this blog

Batfam Artist: @ninalinovna

Outfit designer: @ghostpainters

Honestly could plan out all the landscapes too, they have such great attention to background detail and style

Their gradient coloring style is beautiful

There were so many more tumblrs I wish I could have included, but the team can only be so big!😭 please check out these tumblrs and give them a follow, they are my blorbo tumblrs 🥹🌸 also I haven’t fully explored every art blog here except for lomakes so don’t blame me if you find weird stuff🤷‍♀️.

Also, there were two tumblrs I REALLY wanted to include, but I can’t find them! One is the tumblr that did a painting of Wally West from Earth 18, but tumblr won’t let me search the numbers 18. Second is another amazing artist who draws Dick Grayson with purple hair at the end. If any of you know these tumblrs please let me know!

And a special thank you to @31dod for creating this really wonderful and creative challenge, it seriously made my month and gave me a lot of opportunities to express all of the things I like about Dick Grayson, I’ve had creative block for a bit but this really fixed it. I also appreciate all of their patience for how late so many of my posts have been, (including this one). The month is over but I hope you guys enjoyed my 31 days!

#nightwing #dick grayson #31DOD #🦋☀️🦋 #wally west #teen titans #tim drake

[pushing500]

✨Gracie's Rimworld Modlist✨

(For the Mechanitor's Message run)

Here are all my current mods in order. Once again it’s all hand-typed because I am a bit rubbish at computer stuff and don’t know how to export modlists. Enjoy!! xoxo

Prepatcher (required for one or more of the other mods to work)

Harmony (I think this is just for performance)

Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded (this is just cool for loading screens etc.)

[CAT] Show Hair With Hats or Hide All Hats (so my colonists can show off their beautiful hair)

HugsLib (I think this is just for performance)

Camera + (better for taking screenshots)

Character Editor (so I can start with customised colonists)

Vanilla Expanded Framework (so all the Vanilla Expanded mods work)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Props and Decor (adds fancy props and decor)

Geological Landforms (for fun map generation)

Pathfinding Framework (a framework for pathfinding)

[GMT] Trading Spot (those darn traders always track dirt on my floors)

[KV] Impassable Map Maker (in case I feel like settling on an impassable tile)

[NL] Facial Animation - WIP (they look so cute with their lil’ faces!!)

[SBV] Recreational Drum Use (drum go bang boom, brain get happy)

[T] Moor Floors 1.4 (more floors)

A Dog Said… Animal Prosthetics (animal bionics wooo)

Dubs Bad Hygiene (bathrooms cool)

Allow Tool (makes life so much easier)

Biomes! Core (framework for Biomes! mods)

Biomes! Fossils (dinosaur museum go brrrr)

Biomes! Islands (tropical paradise, here we come!)

Alpha Biomes (adds cool new biomes)

Alpha Mythology (adds cool new mythological animals)

Alpha Prefabs (cool prefabricated buildings)

Alpha Props - Parks and Gardens (adds props for parks and gardens)

Anima Animals Combined (Continued) (cool anima animals)

Animal Controls (animals can have food restrictions, etc.)

Better Mods Mismatch Window (to see which of my mods is fucked up THIS time 🙄)

Biome Transitions (so your biomes transition)

Childhood Backstories (so your children can have backstories)

Clocks (every house needs a grandfather clock)

Colors (personally I prefer “colours”, but we can’t all be right)

Det’s Xenotypes - Avaloi (colourful drunk coral-people!!)

Det’s Xenotypes - Bogleg (alien mafia)

Doors Expanded (expands on the doors)

Dormitories (Not Barracks) (they shouldn’t be that upset about sharing a room)

Dress Patients (Continued) (put clothes on the patients)

Erin’s Baldur’s Gate 3 Hairs (need more hair)

Erin’s Cottage Collection (cutesy furniture)

Erin’s Decorations (cute decorations)

Erin’s Hairstyles - Redux (mmmmmore hair!!)

Extra Alerts (handy-dandy extra popups)

Floordrawings (those kids are so artistic)

GloomyFurniture (Continued) (cutsey furniture)

Gloomy Furniture Fix (fixes something idk)

Gradient Hair (gradient hair)

Hard Times: Hair and Beards (more hair and beard styles)

Haul to Stack (you think they could figure that out themselves, but no. They need a mod)

Hospitality (warcrime-themed hotel chain let’s goooo)

Human Butchery 2.0 (just in case)

Human Leather Floor (👀)

Interaction Bubbles (to see what dey sayin’)

Kinky Bodystrap (I will not elaborate)

Lights Out (conserve electricity, save the planet)

Megafauna (biiiig pets)

Minify Everything (if I wanna carry a whole wall I damn well will)

More Descriptive Words and Names (exactly what it says on the tin)

More Faction Interaction (Continued) (more faction interaction)

More Persona Traits (to make Persona Weapons more interesting)

More Thrumbos (Continued) (mmmmore thrumbos)

More Vanilla Biomes (more vanilla biomes)

negative traits (they can’t all be good)

Non-Binary Gender (adds a non-binary option)

Offworlders - The Biliog (swamp people)

Optimization: Meats - C# Edition (all meat is raw meat)

Pawn Name Variety (variety in pawn names)

Pick Up and Haul (pick it up and haul it)

Prisoners Don’t Have Keys (why would they??)

Random Research (it looked amusing)

Reel’s Facial Animation Textures (face stuff)

Replace Stuff (to build walls on top of other walls etc.)

RimPy Mod Manager Database (just for insurance)

Rimsenal - Hair pack (hair)

Rimsenal Hair Retextured (more hair stuff)

RimTraits - General Traits (more traits)

River’s Tribal Shoes (tribal shoes)

Romance on the Rim (awww, so romantic <3)

Roo’s HD Dreadlock Hairstyles (dreads)

Roo’s HD Glasses Hairstyles (glasses)

Roo’s HD Hairstyles (hairy)

Roo’s HD Royalty Hairstyles (fancy hair)

RPG Style Inventory Revamped (inventory is easier to use)

RT Fuse (I don’t like zzzt events)

Sand Castles (for funsies)

Simple sidearms (always be prepared!)

Smutty Fanfiction (👀)

Snap Out! (for mental breaks)

Stylized Slave Collars and Headgear (to fit the theme)

The Vanity Project - Beards (more beards)

The Vanity Project - Female Hair (for the gals)

The Vanity Project - Male Hair (for the guys)

Trait and Backstory Icons (icons for traits and backstories)

Toddlers (smol bean people)

Upscaled - Won hair_men (hair)

Upscaled - Won hair_women (hair)

Vanilla Animals Expanded (adds fun new animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Endangered (adds endangered animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Royal Animals (adds fancy animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Waste Animals (edgy dystopian animals)

Vanilla Apparel Expanded (new clothes)

Vanilla Apparel Expanded - Accessories (new accessories)

Vanilla Armour Expanded (more armour)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded (alcohol woooo)

Vanilla Base Generation Expanded (generates cool bases)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded - Coffee and Tea (to feed our caffeine addiction)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded (fun food)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Stews (everybody loves a good stew)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded (such a relaxing pastime)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded - Fishing Treasures AddOn (you can fish up cool stuff, like wood)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Sushi (we have to do something with all those fish)

Vanilla Events Expanded (can never have too many events)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Ancients (scary ancient people)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Empire (makes the empire more interesting)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Mechanoids (we couldn’t have a mechanitor run without them)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Settlers (yeehaw)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Tribal (I like having tribal friends)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded (more furniture)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Architect Module (new structure stuff)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Art Module (fancy art and decorations to make)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Farming (we love growing food)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Medical Module (to make the most kickass hospital)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Power (mechanitor has to power their mechs somehow)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Production (cool manufacturing stuff)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Security (you can never be too careful)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Spacer Module (a mechanitor’s dream)

Vanilla Hair Expanded (always need more hair)

Vanilla Hair Retextured (make it look snazzy)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Dryads (for sprucing up gauranlen tree stuff)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Hats and Rags (to dress properly)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols (to customise ideologies as much as possible)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artifacts (cube…?)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Sophian Style (fancy~)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Splits and Schisms (reminds me of Wookshys)

Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded (hell yeah nutrient paste)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Android (it would be cool to have androids hanging out with our mechanitor…)

ReGrowth: Core (I like the retextures)

ReGrowth: Tropical (more fun stuff)

Vanilla Plants Expanded (yummy foodstuffs)

Tilled Soil (heehoo farm)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - More Plants (even MORE farm)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - Mushrooms (I should do a dirtmole colony someday)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - Succulents (they’re cute)

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded (I love ‘em)

Alpha Animals (one of my favourite mods)

Alpha Genetics Expanded (genetics stuff)

Alpha Genetics Expanded - More Lab Stuff (more lab stuff)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures (more customisation)

Alpha Genes (Makes for fun people to draw)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Archon (basically githyanki)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Custom Icons (to make your own xenotypes that much more distinct)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Fungoid (zombies go brrrr)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Genie (how many wishes do I get?)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Highmate (the perfect partner!)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Hussar (nobody will ever be as good as Henry…)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Lycanthrope (do we need a werewolf boyfriend?🍍)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Phytokin (tree people my beloved)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Pigskin (is there a teacup pig variant?)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Sanguophage (vampires go brrrr)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Saurid (lizard people to control the government)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Waster (pollution people)

Facial Animations Xenotype Compatibility (to help smooth out the face stuff)

Vanilla Skills Expanded (makes learning more interesting)

Vanilla Skin Tone Genes (inheritable skin tones)

Vanilla Social Interactions Expanded (more interactions to draw)

Vanilla Textures Expanded (expands the vanilla textures)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - [NL] Facial Animation (makes the facial animation more vanilla and less anime)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations (so things don’t look too same-y)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Anima Theme (for funsies)

Vanilla Trading Expanded (expands the trading)

Vanilla Traits Expanded (more traits!)

Vehicle Framework (a framework for vehicles)

Vanilla Vehicles Expanded (more vehicles)

Vanilla Vehicles Expanded - Tier 3 (even MORE vehicles)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded (to spice up the combat)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Coilguns (adds coilguns)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Grenades (expands on grenades)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy Weapons (more heavy weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Laser (laser weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Makeshift (for when you gotta make do)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Non-Lethal (for interrogations and organ harvesting)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Quickdraw (to draw quickly)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Frontier (yeehaw)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Tribal (they deserve some variety too)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Pirates (arrr me hearties!)

VPG Garden Resources (if I wanna grow uranium I will)

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded - Puppeteer (mind control, oooh!)

VVE - Deconstructable Vehicle Junk (so we can make old cars new!)

War Crimes Expanded 2 Core (Updated) (just in case)

What's That Mod (so I know what the mod is)

While You’re Up (PUAH) (more hauling revamps)

Won Hair Men Retextured (hairy hairy)

Won Hair Women Retextured (more hairy hairy)

Xeva’s Rimhair (hair)

Xeva’s Rimhair Retextured (hair)

ATH ‘s Retexture Female Apparel (looks like fun to draw!)

ATH’s Style Female Dresses (fun to draw)

HousekeeperAssistanceCat (the best mod)

[FSF] Complex Jobs (Legacy Version) (makes job prioritizing easier)

#rimworld #gracie plays #rim #rimworld mods #gracie's #gracie's rimworld modlist #A Mechanitor's Message #Feel free to ask any questions!! #I'm always happy to tell you what mod stuff is from <3 #have an awesome day!!

[sasukesun]

What do u think about those that extremely venerates Sasuke but hates Naruto the character for being a Konoha bootlicker? Is Naruto really a bootlicker like Itachi or Kakashi? Why can't they learn to understand Naruto like they do with Sasuke? They can like both at the same time

hmmm i think you’re new to my blog, i’ve talked about this so much already, but it’s fair that you can’t find it that easily since the posts aren’t that specifically tagged. i don’t think those people can even understand sasuke’s character when they come with those claims, like how “sasuke would be much better without naruto” or stuff like it, and they surely can’t understand naruto either, or aren’t willing to for their own personal bias. sasuke is someone that challenges the status quo, true, but it comes to a point that those people only care about their own political projections onto his character. sure, they can talk about how much he loved his family, but they don’t get that sasuke is a character defined by love, and not only the love he feels for his family, but also for naruto, something they can’t accept, they will say that’s retconned, even though it’s obviously not, or that naruto is bad for sasuke, even though we clearly see that sasuke is happier. with naruto, is happier when he accepts naruto’s love for him. they don’t take the many facets of his character into consideration, making his character less complex than what he actually is. they think love and justice are mutually exclusive, which it’s not. they also can’t be unbiased towards naruto, but since naruto genuinely cares about sasuke in the manga, they have to twist that and claim that “naruto never cared about sasuke and only wanted to control him” or some other bullshit. and no, i don’t think naruto always understood sasuke, always got him and his reasons, but i don’t see how that’s a flaw either, it’s called character development. and, unlike those people, i also don’t feel the need to go through a checklist of whatever naruto did or didn’t do, because those don’t ruin or outshine the bigger picture that is a story about love and devotion and being there for someone and feeling pain when they are in pain, a story that, despite all its flaws, shows that naruto is the only person that sympathises with sasuke, the only one that says what he does is understandable, and clearly the only one who stood against the village to protect his precious bond and even gave up on his own dream for sasuke. nor i eat the narrative up as if it’s 100% right, or pick a side as completely right or completely wrong, since i have critical thinking and am able to understand that there’s nuance in life and that a lot of kishimoto’s ideas weren’t adequate to the magazine he worked for. but, above all, i am able to understand that both characters are happier when they are together and that they balance each other out, like yin and yang.

i myself am very critical of the naruto ending, but i can acknowledge that it’s harmful for both naruto’s and sasuke’s characters, not only one or the other. it does both dirty because it prioritised easy plot conclusions over satisfying character arcs, since the editors pushed for boruto as an easy cash grab, be it because of their behaviour or their beliefs/politics. naruto has been someone that rejected a lot of aspects of the shinobi system, he promised to change it in multiple occasions, because of multiple reasons, so why that’s not the case in boruto? because you can’t have haha ninja kids, in which the main character is the son of the village leader, if the village leader is against being a ninja, knows the problems of being a ninja kid, so everything is swept under the rug for the sake of a sequel no one asked for. the same way sasuke can’t keep his need for justice and revolution, otherwise it contradicts the idea of the sequel. but i’m thankfully aware that the naruto ending we’ve got isn’t a consequence of naruto and sasuke’s reconciliation, isn’t because sasuke accepted naruto’s love for him, isn’t because sasuke didn’t go for his own self destruction in a plan that honestly wasn’t going to work. and i’m not someone who thinks that kishimoto handled everything perfectly, but i see that a lot has to do with the narrative of the story, other than the character itself, a narrative that also forces itachi down people’s throats and, honestly, that was something that made both naruto’s and sasuke’s characters worse, as well as their views and resolutions.

i understand that people that love sasuke notice that a lot of times he gets the short end of the stick in the fandom, including the sns fandom (and especially the sasunaru one), he truly does and i hate that as well. but my response to it is fortunately not hating on naruto, because the character has nothing to do with bad fan interpretations. naruto pretty much acts the opposite of what a lot of people would like him to act actually. when they want sasuke to “redeem himself” and show that he’s worthy of naruto’s love, naruto has accepted sasuke already, he has never held anything against sasuke and never stopped believing he is a good person. when they want sasuke to act out of guilt and regret, the moment sasuke starts doubting himself at vote2, naruto tells him to “stop sulking” in his very unrefined naruto way, but sasuke likes him just like that. i would rather criticise the fandom’s attitudes and interpretations other than responding with nonsensical character hate, which i do already.

and there’s also the fact that a lot of them are homophobic and in denial. but a lot of people will only “understand” what they want to, really.

sorry if i extended myself on this one, but, like i said, i’ve talked about this so much already, and believe me, there’s much more besides this.

#ask #anonymous #naruto asks

[secretmellowblog]

Valjean + 7 & 8 (game ask)

For this ask meme: #7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like? And #8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Thanks for the ask!!

#7: a thing fandom does with this character that you like:

I love fix-its (I just want him to live!) it’s great when Jean Valjean gets to have a happier ending than his bleak passive suicide.  

Fics that explore Jean Valjean interacting with Other Characters (outside of Cosette) are also  great. He has such a narrow social circle in canon — he has basically no friends outside of his daughter— so playing him off other characters is really fun. It’s especially fun if (as is canonically accurate) he struggles very hard to interact with people and comes across as deeply weird. Jean Valjean tends to get “trapped in his own head” a lot, and exploring the relationships he could have with other characters– or just how other characters would be utterly baffled by him, while viewing him from the outside– is always great.

I also love fandom stuff that acknowledges how deeply strange he is. Any fandom stuff that features Jean Valjean breaking into people’s houses to give them money is always chefs kiss.

#8: A thing fandom does with this character that you despise:

I  was originally going to answer this with a whole passionate overlong essay about fandom tropes around Jean Valjean that bother me, but…I’ll keep it short lol because it's not really a big deal, haha. Like, I don’t want to be mean or unfair, and I like being in a fandom so large I can afford to be picky about characterization. I don’t like holding fanfic  to a higher moral standard than big “professional” media properties that are doing far worse. The most popular Les Mis fanfic on ao3 has maybe a couple thousand readers; BBC 2019, which is an utterly vile horrible conservative take on Les Mis and on Jean Valjean in particular, had millions of viewers. Fanfic writers have no budget and often no editors, so we don’t deserve to be held to the same level of scrutiny as massive projects like a tv show . Like I don’t want to overstate harm– fanfic is fine! Les mis fanfic is a tiny niche of a niche, and so small no one’s really being hurt by it. If I don’t like something, I don’t read it, and all that. I'm not here to be the fandom police XD.

And I really don’t like ever positioning myself as an “authority” on these characters or the person who does them “correctly,” because I’m not. 

That being said, if I were to be petty and summarize my personal Problems with the way Jean Valjean is often handled in fandom really briefly–

My core "pain" is that I feel like a lot of fans miss that the police are the villains of Les Mis. The police are the villains of Jean Valjean’s story and they’re the villains of Javert’s. Prison is evil. The carceral system is cruel and unjust, as a system. It is not a problem of Javert “not being nice enough to Valjean,” the entire system is fundamentally violent and vile and needs to be burned to the ground.  acab, and all.

I think part of why that gets missed is that many fans are laser-focused only on Javert–  and often on a highly specific musical-inspired fanon reading of Javert where he Did Nothing Wrong. (I'm not throwing shade, this was kinda also me when I was 13 lolllll.) And then they don’t analyze Jean Valjean anywhere near as deeply, if they analyze him at all, and don't pick up on the larger themes of the novel. And that's a shame, because Javert’s characterization will also suffer if you don’t have that wider context! I think the “problem” is just that if you acknowledge the complexity of Jean Valjean's character and his trauma, if you recognize how deeply Jean Valjean was ripped apart by prison,  how he has not recovered from his imprisonment and never will, and how he doesn’t view the criminal justice system with ‘total forgiveness’ but actually does have complicated overwrought repressed useless grief and rage over the system that abused him and the injustices he’s undergone, how he actually doesn’t like Javert on a personal level and only saved his life out of the same pity he would’ve shown to any other person in Javert's position–  it is much harder to see Javert as a Good Person and the police as a Good Institution. So as a result fanfic!Jean Valjean often  kinda has to be written as a bland saint patiently agreeing that Cops Are Great and Prison is Fine and Javert Did Nothing Wrong...because if he isn’t, the author has to acknowledge Javert has hurt Jean Valjean in ways he will never heal from, and question the morality of both  Javert and the police. 

 I think lots of people take the line “there’s nothing that I blame you for/you’ve done your duty nothing more” from the musical, interpret it as a sincere compliment, and then graft that interpretation onto the book— to the point of making it the entire core of Jean Valjean’s character. But Jean Valjean complimenting Javert with the Nuremberg defense (“it was all fine because you were doing your job”), and this being portrayed as Correct and Wise, is just not a compelling take on the character to me XD. I do not like it all. So I just don’t read fics that head in that direction. I'm not gonna content-police people, I just don't read it, haha.

I’ve been recommended multiple fics where Jean Valjean becomes Javert’s cop partner, or enthusiastically encourages him to return to the police, and it’s always a big “He Would Not Say That.” XD Jean Valjean, the most well-known victim of police brutality in the history of fiction, the character whose entire personality is built on the trauma of surviving incarceration and attempting to save others from his hellish fate, would never enthusiastically participate in incarcerating people–not even if they were  ‘bad’ people! It’s literally the core of his whole weird little Deal. it’s his whole schtick. 

And it's not that I hate Valvert either. I actually think Valvert can be very compelling-- and also funny, which is the most important thing. But part of the reason I’ve often stayed away from the valvert  fandom despite enjoying the Funky Weird Little Relationship is that I’ve had lots of trouble finding fic that gives Jean Valjean an actual life or character outside of Javert, or that also acknowledges the anti-police anti-prison themes of the novel.  But! There are a tiny handful of people who do it occasionally! And that's enough.

And again, this isn’t like the biggest deal or anything! I’m not a fandom cop trying to police what people write, especially because most people are just extrapolating from the musical/lots of people change their minds on characterizations over time/it’s hard to write without a team of editors to help you navigate things. These are just some fandom trends I personally don’t like, that I personally avoid,  and that I hope change over time….so that I have more fanfic to read that lines up with my own feelings on the characters XD.

But yeah those are my (abbreviated) years of spicy fanon Jean Valjean hot takes!!!

#les mis #ask game #jean valjean #fandom discourse!! kinda. XD #if anyone was interested I could write a masterpost on 'brick valjean things that arent in the musical' (that people could add onto) #im not positioning myself as an authority on these characters or anything #but!!! I think the changes to the character in the brick VS the musical and in a lot of fandom stuff are interesting #hes a funky little guy #blorbeaux from my book

[duckprintspress]

How to Write a Great Query Letter

Part 2 of a 2-part series of guest posts by Alec J. Marsh. Part 1, “Why Query Letters are Good, Actually,” came out last week; you can read it here!

Alec is also the author of Duck Prints Press’s forthcoming novella To Drive the Hundred Miles, about a young man coming home for the holidays and finding more than he expected. It’s coming out December 21st, 2022. They know what they’re talking about, as an author and about a writer-writing-about-writing, so read on and learn!

Now that you’ve read the first post in this series, and had a week to reflect on it… are you convinced yet? Are you ready to acquire the most important marketing skill of your career? Great! 

If you’re primarily interested in how to pitch to Duck Prints Press specifically, there will be a full post about that coming out in the near future. But I promise, these skills will help you whatever your writing aspirations are. 

1. The Really Boring Part

Most queries open with a paragraph called “metadata.” This is all the marketing stuff that you need to get out of the way so your agent/editor knows what kind of book it is. This includes 

Title: Self-explanatory 

Length: This is vitally important for traditional publishing. If you are a debut author and your story isn’t within the accepted range, you’ll get automatically rejected by most agents. There are very good industry reasons for that, but discussing that’s a different article. If you want to look at the averages, check out this link.

Genre and age range: This is practical for marketing and readership purposes, and it also puts the summary in context. 

Comparative (or Comp) Titles: This is a tricky one, and a full discussion on selecting appropriate comparative titles could easily be its own separate blog post, but the short version is that you should pick titles that your book can be compared to. That can be descriptive—"Supernatural but set in Eastern Europe"—or genre—"For fans of Tamora Pierce"—or even trope based—"Sunshine/Grumpy romance set in a world of danger and magic." There are a ton of options, but the main point is to position your story in the market and make it easy to pick up quickly. 

Logline: This serves a similar purpose as the comp titles do and is meant to sum up one cool part of your story. It doesn’t have to sum up the entire story. For example, Gideon the Ninth sounds wild if you try to summarize the plot, but I’ve been able to convince all my friends to read it by saying simply, “it’s about lesbian necromancers in space.” That’s all you need! In casual conversation, this is often called your “elevator pitch.” Imagine you’re at a convention and you get into the elevator with your dream agent, and you have only the length of the elevator ride to sell them your novel. What do you say? That’s your logline.

***Both comp titles and logline are technically optional, and you don’t need both of them. It’s better to write something unique than to waste the space putting something in just because you think you need it. 

2. The Biography

This usually goes at the end of the query. Don’t overthink it. If you have any credentials, put those in; relevant credentials can include past publications, editing jobs, or a creative writing degree. Then write one to two sentences that make you sound interesting. For example, I say that I like long walks in the fog (because I write moody fantasy) and have a history degree (because it inspires my fantasy world building). 

3. The Body

I left this until the last because it’s the hardest and most important part. A killer summary will make up for dull metadata and a lackluster bio. But if the body of your query letter is weak, no MFA in the world will save you. This section should be 300 words maximum.  

Your simplest formula for including what needs to be in this paragraph is four sentences: LEAD, OBJECTIVE, CONFLICT, TWIST. It’s simpler than you think to write the first draft. I promise. Let it be terrible, get it down, then edit it to a fine shine (much like you’ve already done with that novel!). 

Lead: This is your main character. Name them and describe them by including their profession, skills, or other plot-relevant details. 

Objective: What does your main character want? Try to make this as specific as possible. “Longs for  acceptance” is vague and generic. “Wants to be accepted into the Book Guild” is specific and gives a reader clues about their personality and the setting. You can put in some information about motivation here too. Maybe her father was also a bookbinder and she needs to redeem the family name. 

Conflict: Now we’re getting to the meat of it! Why can’t your main character get what they want? Again, try to be specific and don’t leave it to platitudes. If the bookbinders just don’t like her, that’s generic. If they don’t like her because they think she’s as corrupt as her father was and will bring ruin to them, that’s something a reader can really dig into. We have themes implied now! We understand this is a story about family ties, redemption, and preconceived notions, and you didn’t even need to spell that out. 

Twist: This is the most nebulous part of the query. The twist can be a real plot twist, like her discovering that the bookbinding guild also sells occult books. It can be a cool thing about the setting, like the bookstore being on an airship. It can be the romantic subplot, if she falls in love with her rival apprentice. It can be the historical inspiration, if the book is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of Renaissance Italy. In short, what makes your book special? What’s going to prompt people to shove it in their friend’s faces? It’s similar to the logline in that way. 

You can also put the twist at the beginning of the body paragraph, if it’s really cool. You can weave it throughout. You can put it at the end in a mic drop moment. Just make your book sound cool. That’s literally all this is! 

And those three sections…are basically it! Doesn’t sound so scary now, right? Oh wait, it still does? Okay, then, here’s some more tips to help you!

Write down everything you need in a query in whatever order works for you. I do it like a sad, clunky mad libs just so it’s all on the page. It’s a lot of pressure to include all this important information AND make it pretty in one go. 

Ask your beta readers to help! It’s hard to summarize your own stories when you’ve been living inside them for months. I’ve helped so many friends with their queries because they wrote something perfectly serviceable and technically correct that somehow still made their story sound frightfully boring. (This is not a condemnation of their skill as writers. The skills needed to write queries are completely different.) 

Don’t use rhetorical questions. This is mostly personal taste, but I think they’re a waste of space. “Will she follow her heart?” is sort of useless when 99% of stories are about people following their heart. “She must choose between her ambition and the chance at true love” is so much more clear and includes more conflict. 

The body of your query letter actually only needs to include the first 30-50% of the story in most cases—enough to leave the reader/agent/editor eager to know what happens next, and no more. This isn’t true if the twist is necessary to understanding why the story is exciting. Can you imagine trying to sell Gone Girl without including the twist that it was all a set up? That twist took the story from generic true crime to something truly original. So to some extent, you’ll need to use your judgment, but there’s rarely any need to try to fit the whole plot into that 300-word paragraph.

Above all, be specific. 

Do not shy away from giving spoilers (again: BE SPECIFIC). “She finds information that may change everything,” are seven words that tell you nothing. If you say what the information is (“she finds a note from her father that makes it clear he was framed”), you’ll leave the reader desperate to know what the outcome will be, begging for the rest of the story. 

Get the query competent and coherent, and then leave it for at least a week. This is good editing advice for any story, but it’s absolutely vital for a query. Because they’re so short and so much rides on them, every single word you write in the query has to be useful, and every sentence has to be clear, concise, and intriguing. Don’t rush this; it’s better to go slow and get it right then hurry along and face a pile of rejections. 

Have a query beta reader who hasn’t read your story. Make sure it makes sense with no context. Revise it again. Leave it for another week. (I’m sorry. But I’m not really.)

I know this sounds like a lot. Query letters are hard, and the pressure makes it harder. Writing culture loves to hate on them, for good reason. But you learned to write a novel, something that takes years to master! You can learn to write a query letter too. I won’t pretend it’s easy, but it is a skill you can learn, and it’s worth it! With a single page, you can convince people to buy your book, and that’s magical! 

-

You can learn more about Alec here; you can learn more about To Drive the Hundred Miles here, and read a teaser here. And, you can check out Alec’s two already-published erotica works Heart’s Scaffolding and Study Hall.

Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

Love what we do? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more!

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#duck prints press #guest blogger #alec j. marsh #writing advice #publishing #query letters

[fuck-customers]

3-26-23 🙄

Horrid employee again

In case you weren’t sold on my previous reasons of proof that Horrid hates its employees, I’ve now found out three new-ish rules/things they want us to do that aren’t insane or anything but just really fucking stupid

1. Customers have 60 days to make a return (but corporate wants us to MaKe ThEM HaPPy so we’ve returned things from MULTIPLE months ago which fucking SUCKS) but EMPLOYEES only have 14 DAYS to make a return and no later then that. But whatever

2. One of the VERY few reasons I like this job is because I do get a first look at new shipment (that’s something we all like cuz who wouldn’t??) and therefore we’re able to make claims on stuff that comes in and are sure to get it before it’s sold out

Well. Now corporate is wanting us to change that. They want us to “leave it for the customer! Order it online instead!” Which can take about a week to deliver. That’s not a long time, but it is if we need it immediately. Also since they keep sending us SO. MUCH. FUCKING. SHIPMENT. (we deadass had about 32 boxes in our very very small back room that we have absolutely no room for on the floor and almost no room for in overstock!!!!) I don’t see why I should have to order and wait instead of purchasing it now. Also they’re still getting our money either way so who gives a shit? Literally all of us were like “absolutely not lmfao”

3. They’ve asked us not to abuse employee holds on items, which I would understand and we are all kinda guilty of, BUT customer holds are only supposed to be 24 hours (unless they call and ask to extend) and YET, and YET, my manager puts customers shit on hold for sometimes up to TWO WEEKS because they’re “frequent and loyal customers and we know them 🥺”. Ma’am, YOU know them. I don’t even remember their names unless they’re assholes, they treat us like shit and cant even be bothered to pick up their PACKAGES and half the time they change their minds about the clothes anyway meanwhile 8 other people have come thru looking for those pieces of clothing on hold and I have to tell them we don’t have it when we do!!!!

Now once again idk if I’m crazy or if these are normal things at most stores but idk everything Horrid does just feels wrong esp when it comes to us the employees (oh also, in case anyone remembers my rant about my $0.20 raise, I still haven’t gotten that back. Also feels like a fuck you to employees “we raised the wages so why would u need the $0.20?”)

@staff I HATE the new text editor!