Juniper Fizz

I’m still ruminating like a cow about this, but maybe…. 

You are correct. This is why my dad feeds all his roses fish guts back home.

She’s got plenty of nutrients. Sadly the issue is she’s been invaded by a parasite (Popillia japonica or Japanese Beetle, is a huge problem in MN this year), so we’re likely going to have to cut her back significantly after we deal with the infestation (hard when there’s literal thousands of the fuckers just swarming the area and leaving behind trees without leaves) in order to let her recuperate.

Pairing: Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov Song: ’Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers (1972) For: @juniperfizz Word Count: 450

Natasha felt weak. And not just because she was exhausted, either.  Also because she was here. She was standing here, her hand poised to ring a doorbell she’d sworn she wasn’t going to ring ever again.

Never, ever again.

She glanced down at her finger, extended and shaking. Fingernails broken and bloody. Her entire body was quivering uncontrollably.  She was weak.  She had no strength left.

Swallowing thickly, she pressed on the doorbell. The sound was dull and muted as it rang through the apartment, and Natasha found herself hoping against hope that she heard footsteps soon.

Please, please, please be home… she prayed.  Because any second, her legs were going to give out and she wasn’t going to be able to stand.

The footsteps inside were muffled, but they were there.  Her heart soared as she listened to them approach the door, heard the pause as their owner looked through the keyhole.  The whispered curse as she fumbled with the locks.

The door flew open and Maria was standing there, looking at Natasha with eyes that accessed.  Eyes that quickly flew around to every square inch of Natasha that she could see. Eyes that searched out every injury, soothing it with a look alone.

Pairing:  Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis For:  @notsureyetuniverse Song:  ‘Rich Girl’ by Hall and Oates (1976) Word Count:  800

A/n:  No Powers AU, Mechanic!Bucky and Darcy Stark.  <3 

Bucky couldn’t stop looking at her.  She was too beautiful. Like she’d been sculpted out of marble and brought to life.

She looked worried, chewing on her bottom lip as she glanced around the garage.

“She’s all yours, Buck…” Steve said with a smirk.  "Just roll your tongue back into your mouth before you go talk to her…"

He rolled his eyes, but checked himself, wiping his greasy hands on a rag as he made his way closer to her. Not too close.  He didn’t want to be creepy, and he was fairly certain that those white pumps she was was sporting would literally hoover the grease from whatever surface they touched.  "Can I help you, ma'am?“

She smirked slightly.  "No need for ma'am, I’m probably younger than you.”

He chuckled.  "Force of habit, my apologies. Can I help you…" he trailed off, unsure if he should address her at all and deciding too late not to.

She assumed he was waiting for a name and gave it.  "Darcy. Stark.“

His eyebrows shot up.  It was a wonder he hadn’t recognized her.  Stark’s wild daughter was all over the tabloids.  Of course, up close, she looked a little more put together than the wild-eyed spreads the paparazzi presented.

"My car's… it’s not… ” she sighed heavily.  "It’s not… going.“

He refrained from laughing.  It was far from the most vague complaint he’d gotten.  "I’ll take a look under the hood.”

here are 10 quick tips for making that good fic, or at least making your fic look good

Tag and Bag: if your fanfic needs tags make them good, make them accurate, and don’t talk in them. You want to make it as easy as possible to attract readers. Tags on fanfic are for sorting not communicating, you have an entire fic’s worth of author’s notes for that

Bait, Hook, and Reel: your summary and title is what sells a reader after they’ve finished tag sorting. The part of the spear that you sharpen is the tip, the rest just has to hold together long enough to follow through

Apologize for NOTHING: all creators are self-conscious, we all feel shades of anxiety and embarrassment about our work. But if you don’t think your work is good, why should anyone else read it? Everyone starts somewhere

Bad Epithet, No Biscuit: kill this idea. Whether calling a boy with dark hair “the raven” or a character’s blue eyes ‘cerulean orbs’ don’t. Just don’t. Use names and pronouns because they are easier for readers to follow

An Ounce of Prevention: DO SOME RESEARCH! Every time you get something wrong in your story you lose at least one reader who knows better. You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to know enough to bluff your way through

Grammar U: grammar is about communication, where you put your comma to splice your run-on sentence is not nearly as important as framing dialogue correctly. It’s a readability issue. Grammar serves you and the reader, not the other way around

Cliché This: know ‘em, avoid ‘em or spin ‘em around until they’re flipped and fresh. Check TVtropes for specifics on your fandom

A Chuckle Darkly: think about the phrases you write. Does it make sense or just sound cool? It’s not a zero-sum game, but making sense is always the more important thing

Floridly Prosaic Mosaics of Prose: writing prettily is not a substitute for story. It’s easy to write florid prose, you can tell by how everyone does it. But only a few do it well enough to merit the distraction from reading a story

Damn Straight, thank the gods,

Really need to drink less gin while reading tumblr as I have zero idea where that was going or where it came from. So I’m going both ways. :)

Reblog so you make enough money to cover your bills .

October 10 - “They’re not good enough for you” Darcy/Frank for @jim-is-spocks-thyla

Set in the Excellent Taste In Dogs AU; I was asked for a follow-up to this ficlet, where Frank and Darcy go to the wedding together.

This came at a really good time because an amazing picture of Jon Bernthal and his dog crossed my Tumblr dash just yesterday. Imagine Frank turning up dressed like this to take Darcy to the wedding… *swoon*