#adding this tag in case anyone has good advice

[lulu2992]

Do you accept art commissions?

I don’t because I’ve never done this before, but to be honest, I’ve been thinking about it lately. The problem is, there are several things to consider and I still have many questions.

The first is: how much should I charge for my drawings? Most people say you shouldn’t ask for less than minimum wage, and while I totally agree, I also tend to take my time and don’t draw very fast. For example, for this piece, because I recorded the process (here and here), I know it took about 17 hours to color. As for the sketch itself, I’d say I drew it in at least 5 hours. In my country (France), the hourly minimum wage is currently €11.88, which means that, for this drawing that took at least 22 hours, I should charge no less than €260. That would be considered fair compensation, but I think that also sounds very expensive and I don’t know if people could or would want to pay that much.

Then, how do I get paid? If I want to do things right and legally (which I do), I could be self-employed and declare the money earned thanks to art commissions as my income. From what I know, this process is strictly regulated by French law: I would first have to provide a quotation that the client would sign, and I could then send my invoice. The problem is that my full name and address have to appear on the documents, and anyone who’d like to commission a drawing would be required to disclose their personal information as well. To receive the money, I’d also have to send my bank account details. As I’m sure you understand, I’m really not a fan of sharing all of that on the Internet and asking other people to do the same...

I’ve read that most artists use PayPal, that it’s easy, and that, with a business account, you don’t even need to use your real name, so that could be a solution. Others sell commissions via Patreon or Ko-fi, and from what I’ve seen, there are ways to easily declare the money you earn on these platforms so you don’t end up accidentally committing tax fraud :’) Also, a lot of artists recommend asking to be paid upfront, and while it’s possible with those online services, I don’t know if you can do that when you’re self-employed in France; I believe the “product” (so the drawing) has to be finished and sent first, which can be risky for me.

The other problem is that fan art, in theory, can’t legally be sold. I know this rule is rarely enforced, that most companies don’t seem to really care, and that many, many artists sell drawings of characters they don’t own the rights to every day, but it still scares me.

So yeah, I guess I could start accepting art commissions if people are actually interested, but I need to figure out how to properly price my drawings, how to get paid... and how not to get in legal trouble.

[vladdyissues]

Lately Ive seen some awful things about antis and haters making threats and getting artists banned from Tumblr and X. Im new to the Phandom and love pompep but Im scared i'll be targeted if I write and share pompep fics. How do you manage sharing your work so bravely?

Firstly, welcome to the Phandom—and especially Pompous Pep! I have a simple protocol for enjoying a drama-free Tumblr experience:

Preventative Action

1. Find your community. Follow other Pompep fans and supporters and reblog their things. Don't be afraid to leave nice tags; we love and welcome interactions :) You can also join the Pompep Discord server if you enjoy chatting (DM me for details).

2. Turn off anon asks. This will solve 99% of all potential problems, and you can turn it back on whenever you want. Antis are cowards who prefer to hide behind the mask of anonymity. They seldom have the courage to say something with their whole username.

3. Block the obvious haters. This is a big fandom, and at some point you're likely to come across people openly hating on pompep, either on their bio, pinned posts, or comments. Block them. For an added layer of protection, add their username to your Filtering Options.

4. Tag your work appropriately. When posting, make sure your work is tagged correctly (the #pompous pep tag is especially important) so people who like pompep can find it and those who want to avoid it can block the tag. Use Content Labels when applicable.

5. Try to avoid using the platonic tag (#badger cereal) and the romantic tag (#pompous pep) at the same time. Some fans are really touchy about this. I'm not, and I think there are legitimate cases where use of both is applicable, but if you want to minimize friction, just stick with one tag or the other.

If you're not sure which tag to use, ask yourself what your intentions are with your art or fic. Is the goal a romantic relationship? If so, use the pompep tag. If it's truly ambiguous and could be seen either way, use the platonic tag first. You can always add another tag like "okay to tag as pompep", just to let people know they can interpret it however they please.

Responsive Action

If the above guidelines aren't 100% effective, here's what you do:

1. Don't feed the trolls. If you receive any negative asks in your inbox, it's important to NOT engage with them. Delete them, ignore them, don't let them get to you. Antis thrive on attention, so let them starve. Eventually they'll move on when they realize they're not going to get a rise out of you.

The same goes for any negative comment left on your work. Just delete it, block the person who left it, and pretend it never happened.

These asks and comments may come in the form of questions. Example: "How can you ship Danny with Vlad? That's [insert gross accusation here]" Resist the urge to answer these questions. They are not made in good faith. This person just wants to start an argument.

2. Report any harassment. If by some chance you receive a seriously hateful ask, like threats of violence or abuse, take a screenshot for proof/safekeeping, then report the message and the user if they're not anonymous. If the ask is anonymous, use the meatball menu (•••) at the top right to report the message and block the anon.

Final Words

It takes time to develop a thick skin and Don't Give A Fuck attitude, but it can be done. You are a phan. You have every right to be here and enjoy this fandom in peace, just like everyone else. Anyone who believes in harassing others over silly things like which cartoon characters should be allowed to kiss clearly has nothing better to do with their life. The sooner you shut them out, the happier you'll be.

Regarding media: Artists attract a lot more negative attention than writers for reasons I won't get into right now, but if you're mainly a writer, you will enjoy a much quieter fandom experience. Wherever you post your stories—I recommend AO3; DM me if you need an invite—follow the same advice there as I've given here: make sure your work is tagged correctly; support your fellow Pompep fans by reading and commenting on their works, building that community; moderate comments if you're concerned about negativity; block and mute users if they give you any trouble, and you'll enjoy a much more positive fandom experience.

There is strength in community. When you start making new fandom friends, you'll feel a lot less lonely, and that will give you the confidence you need to really have a good time here.

Wishing you the best, anon!

[quodekash]

guys jokezo just made out and now they have to share a bed together. just chew on that for a bit.

NO, DON'T GIVE ME THEM SITTING ON A BUS

GIVE ME WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY HAD TO SLEEP IN THE SAME FREAKING BED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEY MADE OUT

👀

(they made out last night btw)

(just in case anyone forgot)

(and then they had to share a bed)

ass x7

also zo is fully just not doing anything lmao

everyone's pushing with all their might and zo is just 🧍‍♂️

FUIWEBSDGIOUVEWJBOGD

oh the desperate thigh grab

yeah, im with him on this, they need to talk about it. especially about how they had to slEEP IN THE SAME FREAKING BED AFTER THAT

welp. I guess joke's day was just ruined in a slap to the face disguised as a few words

AND THE WAY HE TAKES HIS HAND OFF ZO'S THIGH AFTER THAT????? OUCHHHH

I must say tho, this is really giving episode-6-of-bad-buddy

its very patpran-post-rooftop-kiss-core

the vibes be gay and yearning and very very sad

OKAY, THE MOTHER, FINALLY

a few things to say about her

1. she's gorgeous

2. DAMN she is SHORT

3. I was rewatching the first four episodes yesterday and today because I could, and I noticed in the first episode, zo asked his friends to not tag him in photos they took at the bar, because "I don't want my mum to see"

but my question is... why? he's just out drinking with friends, he's an adult, he's not being irresponsible or anything, so why doesn't he want her to see the photos?

is it something to do with what his mum thinks of him? is she overbearing? does she have high expectations of him? does she kinda suck?

she's probably lovely though, and ill end up adding her to my list-of-fictional-parents-to-get-adopted-by (it's a very long list)

I guess we shall find out today as the episode progresses

oh, honey, you're so queer

the amount of times ive done exactly this

she's so short its hilarious omg

also: ive decided I love his mum

she's so sweet

and neither of them know how to use a stove and I think that's so hilarious and endearing

HSDHSHFSHDHHS

(also: this scene is making me think of akkayan at aye's house having a meal with his mum and rhbgdhjgb)

he's putting two and two together

the few braincells he has that aren't dedicated to debating are whirring in his mind

I can practically hear his thoughts

"he kissed me back... he wants to talk about the kiss... we went on two dates together at his suggestion... he showed up at my house and charmed my mother... he says I have secret admirers..." cmon sweetie youre so close

"WAIT, DOES HE LIKE ME?" omg honeybun you did it!

or maybe he didn't do it

maybe he was still shuffling the pieces in his brain but hadn't put them together and then his mum said something and distracted him

either way: that was hilarious and I want to high five dunk for his acting there

HIGH EXPECTATIONS, I KNEW IT

still love her tho

high expectations suck but she seems wonderful so far (obviously my opinion will change if the circumstances do (like if it turns out she completely sucks) but for now she's made it to the adoption list)

brb, gonna go cry real quick

well now their thumbs are making out

you see, I understand the things he's saying. and I honestly agree with him. if I were ever somehow put in his position, id probably say the same things.

HOWEVER, I just want my bl boys to kiss again and be happy and together and I appreciate the realism over the usual fantasy kinda situation we go for in bls, but I just want them to kissssss

this is very good advice

I hope that jokezo kiss again this episode

also AAAGBRDHFKBG JENGPOK CRUMBS

YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO'S LOSING THEIR MIND OVER JENGPOK AGAIN

BERIUFDJKGBEORPVFD

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

SHUT UP

SHUT UP SHUT UP

IM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

FHEWSDGFVESDV

THIS IS TOO FUNNY

im gonna start crying soon

its so funny

help me

girl is worried

I know this is what jeng told you to do but is during debate club really the right moment

im so certain that she ships it

awwhhhhh

HE SAID IT

HE SAID THE THING

AAAAAAAAA

hell yeah

GOUERJLHDGOBIERVLDNF

AAAAAAAAAAA

IM SCREAMING

THATS IT??

THAT'S THE END OF THE EPISODE??

THEY DIDNT EVEN KISS

OR ADDRESS THE FACT THAT - and I can't stress this enough - THEY SLEPT IN THE SAME FREAKING BED AFTER FULL-ASS MAKING OUT

omg next episode is gonna be amazing

I can't wait

gekjrdsbfd I love them so much

im like 70% certain they're gonna kiss next episode so fingers crossed

ALSO NITA DEFINITELY SHIPS IT

anyway. that was good. I should go to sleep now

[protege-not-protagonist]

Masterlist

Criminal Minds: the Protégé

After deciding to leave the BAU, Spencer is now a full time professor at the FBI Academy, teaching profiling and criminology. Spencer is struggling to live life without the BAU, but that is to be expected when it has been all he has known for almost 2 decades. The BAU meanwhile, struggled to find someone to fill the genius shaped hole in the team when he left, and they still are struggling. At least, that's how the newest profiler, Agent Grace Matthews feels. Grace is good at what she's good at, it's why the bureau accepted her earlier than most. But how could anyone live up Dr. Reid's legacy? So, when Grace answers a call intended for her desk's previous owner, she jumps at the chance to meet her predecessor and ask him for some advice. Together, they find a kinship… but unfortunately, they also uncover a disturbing pattern in the deaths of inmates and patients the BAU have helped put away.

Get added to the tag list

AO3 link if you prefer

scenes in a Meme masterlist

Character Mail - send an ask to a character

Audience: recommended mature audience for depictions of violence and sexual references (canon typical for criminal minds)

Chapter 1: Please, Not Another Auditor

Chapter 2: Tangents

Chapter 3: MNI

Chapter 4: My Brother's Keeper Part 1

Chapter 5: My Brother's Keeper Part 2

Chapter 6: My Brother's Keeper Part 3

Chapter 7: My Brother's Keeper Part 4

Chapter 8: The Mountain King Part 1

Chapter 9: The Mountain King Part 2

Chapter 10: The Mountain King Part 3 (alt Title: Trivia Night)

Chapter 11: The Mountain King Part 4

Chapter 12: The Mountain King Part 5 - coming soon

Author's Note: You might have recognised this story from it's previous iteration on Ao3. I had a bit of a personal crisis and deleted my account. So I am re-editing what I have saved on my computer and reuploading it with some fixed continuity errors now that I finished CM Evolution. Will be cross posted here and on Ao3 if you prefer. This fic is dedicated to giving Spencer a happy ending, serving my desire to write crime/mystery and getting my horrific idea's for unsubs out of my head. Set in 2023, and mostly canon compliant. Sorry this is all plot, no peen. But promise there will be a love interest for Spencer, the Grace acts as a wingman for. This more a found family/ give Spencer a smol bean to mentor fic.

It mostly spoiler free and independent it just mentions some past cases and some event of season 17 but I think if you've watched season 12 you could comfortably read this with enough context and knowledge of the characters

[fitz-higgins]

Six Sentence Sunday!

We were tagged by @amielbjacobs to share the six sentences written over the past week. Here's a peek at the unexpected visit from a nosy neighbour.

“Actually, between Monty, you and me, Miss Howell,” Henry continued, lowering his voice a little which immediately attracted the woman's attention. “I'm in the midst of a very important case on the other side of the pond, quite possibly the most trickiest I've come across and I was specfically asked to enlist this good fellow's advice... What a happy coincidence that we were already good friends. And I can tell you, the insights he has on the case are quite remarkable. Right, Monty?” added he, indicating with a discreet look that Monty should play along.

Tagging @aloeverawrites and anyone who wants to participate ^^

[kleefkruid]

polyam ask anon here. Thank you sm for that extensive explanation! I was trying to look on my own but didn't know where to start. I don't have any questions rn (mostly because I need to let the information settle first) but I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to type all that out. I'm a little hesitant to try polyamory even with toe dipping because I'm very inexperienced relationship-wise in general (haven't been in one before) and I'm a little afraid of what my family would think (I love them dearly, but they don't understand polyam at all and think you "don't love that 1 person enough if you need more")

I'm definitely interested in learning more, though. Are there any resources I could use? Books or anything, like you mentioned?

No rush in starting relationships, I had my first one at 24 and that happened by sheer chance as well. And I'd say experience is overrated because every relationship is so wildly different to the previous. You get better at filtering out some types of people but you will always be bumbling trough each and everyone of them and that's fine, really.

Hmm, book wise I just own Opening Up by Tristan Taormino, which was a gift by a more eperienced polyam person when I was starting out. It's not a light read, it's more of a resource guide to all kind of open relationships and it has chapters on for instance starter things like "turning your mono relationship into a polyam one" all the way to chapters on things to consider when buying property, planning a family. It's one of those books you open when you have a specific hurdle to cross. It's a pretty good guide book in my opinion, for the parts I have read. Not to much 'you must do this' and a lot of 'but consider this'

@ BoldlyGrow is a youtube channel that's now inactive but the videos on there have some explanations of polyam terminology and also go into the benefits but also the harder things about polyamory and questions to ask yourself before getting into it. That might be a useful tool for you, I'd recommend looking into that first and maybe you go "yikes, not for me" without having spend money on a book.

I have seen 'the ethical slut' also be recommended as a resource a lot but I haven't had a chance to read it so I can speak for it personally but I'm adding it bc other people seem to like it?

Another great resource is of course always just making polyam friends, on feeld there's a lot of people who are also (or exclusively) looking for friends bc it's nice to have likeminded friends who understand your lifestyle (I don't have to tell the queer website that). If you have polyam friends they can give you advice thats personal to you or you can just see what they're up to. Lot's of people I hang out with are much less mystified by polyamory after a while bc it will be just as boring as anyones elses relationship haha

You can also look for other poly people in the tags over here but good luck bc you have to block about 500 fanfiction writers (half of them from the bts community, fun fact) before you can see any personal posts (we really need a different dedicated tag it's a mess)

The polyamory subreddits I'd avoid because I mean it's reddit, their relationship advice is bad universally

when it comes to parents, ah, you know, my parents don't understand it fully either but they see I'm happy and they like my partner a lot so that helps. It's generally easier when they can put a face to it. there are a lot of polyam people who aren't 'out' to their families but my family is very much of the 'as long as you're happy' variety so I can't give much advice if that's not the case with you :)

[alkaline-wtr]

Just a rant about asks and false accusations...

I was just remembering that time when I first started my blog... I was so excited to get my first ask, and it was just someone accusing me of being creepy and writing NSFW content about KIDS!! 😢 Looking back on it now, I regret deleting it from my blog because, I actually think it's pretty funny considering the context. BUT, I deleted it because I felt like I replied waaay too nicely too it after being disrespected like that. (I searched my entire camera roll, my discord, and a bunch of texts w/ friends hoping to find a screenshot but I guess I never took one??) Anyway, for context I have and always have had my blog tagged as 18+ and MDNI! (In my bio, about section, etc.) The person sent me an anon ask about THIS fic. Which I'd like to point out, is and always has been tagged accurately and appropriately, according to the content. (as all my writing is) I've always made sure to tag and give proper warnings on anything I post in order to allow readers to make an informed decision on the content they are consuming. At the end of the day, it is YOUR responsibility what you consume and nobody else's.... Since the fic was a Konig high school AU, I obviously tagged it as such and added that both Konig and reader were teenagers/17 years-old. The other tags were things like 'fluff', 'one shot', and 'wholesome'. As you can still see for yourself both on my masterlist and on the fic itself. The only warning the fic was tagged with was 'drug use' for the fact that it involved Konig and reader smoking weed. The ask itself was anon "calling me out" for "being a MDNI and 18+ blog" yet "being an adult writing about to minors having sex". It was clear that anon DID NOT read the fic itself, which considering their misunderstanding of the tags makes sense. (I guess) BUT, I think this is a good way to open a discussion about this and remind everyone, the importance of mindfulness here on the internet. I thought when I posted it that it was just a little silly piece I'd worked up. I was still new to publishing my writing and just tried my best. I was proud of it and wanted to share. So, understandably I was hurt and a bit disappointed that my very first interaction with the community was an accusation like that all because, they hadn't bothered to actually read or look into the content before hand. With that all being said, here is a little warning/advice/reminder for... READERS: Be respectful! Especially when going after/criticizing writers in their asks. If there is some sort of problem or mistake within that piece, bring it to their attention in a respectful manner, and most importantly, KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FIRST!! WRITERS: Always tag your work appropriately! Even if it's something small that you may feel isn't totally necessary, just be careful. Most importantly DON'T TAKE SHIT FROM ANYONE!! In this case, it turned out fine. However, accusations (especially ones involving pedophilia) can be very damaging to people.

[killjoy--detective]

ASK BOX: OPEN

INTERACTIONS: NON-SELECTIVE

MUSE: SHIROGANE NAOTO

SOURCE: Persona 4

Hired By @digimon--kaiser

↓ RULES/MORE ABOUT ↓

➢ Please keep in mind both Mod and Muse are minors. Meaning do not show/discuss nsfw topics beyond jokes. (Detailed descriptions of gore/death are okay, just please tag appropriately.)

➢ This blog is NOT spoiler free, as Persona 4 came out 2008, and then later as Persona 4: Golden in 2012; it has been 10 years since it's release, and therefore I do not feel it necessary. So please be mindful that you likely will see spoilers.

➢ M!A's accepted!*¹

➢ I am a semi-literate roleplayer who's responses vary in length, if you ever need me to type more; please ask.

➢ Follows back from @crowlysblog

➢ 6+ years of roleplay experience, however I've only begun seriously doing tumblr roleplay as of this blog. So if you have any advice or wisdom to share, I'm all ears.

➢ Please don't interact with this blog if it is just to argue on if or not Naoto is trans/is good trans rep/etc. Naoto's pronouns here fluctuate based on their own self image at the given moment.

➢ I will interact with almost anyone, including characters or OCs based in other medias. This blog is born of my love of writing and collaborating with others; however I find myself in preference of human-based muses. So I may not get the same engagement from having Naoto speak to a Pokémon than I would their trainer. Of course, there are exceptions to this in cases like Teddie/Kuma (if there are ANY Kuma rp blogs out there I'm applauding you).

➢ As stated above, I run this blog out of pure enjoyment of writing. Ergo, I see this blog as little more than a hobby. My responses will not be instantaneous but I will be attempting to answer asks at least once per day, along with roleplay responses.

➢ Please feel free to reach out to me on any of these three blogs I've listed.

➢ Occasionally I may do art and post it on here; trust that it will be all on-topic. Occasionally M!A's will have drawn responses if the M!A alters physical attributes. However these may be less frequent than simpler plain-text and reply icon answers.

➢ These rules are subject to change/be added onto. I will make a post to inform if that ends up being the case. Thank you for reading.

➢ Most ships are alright with me. If you're unsure then feel free to dm to discuss it with me.

➢ Headcanon heavy! You can probably ask Naoto about anything mentioned ;]

*¹ - M!A stands for Magic Anonymous and refers to when an ask changes/influences something either about the characters surroundings, or the character themselves for a limited amount of time. For example: "M!A x character has to tell the truth for x amount of asks"

[elvensorceress]

sunrise

(the 5x03 episode coda we all deserve) 

Inspired by @eric-dierr ‘s post

on AO3

There’s finality to the sound of the door shutting behind her, but the weight of more years than he’s ever known her disappears as soon as she does. 

He can breathe again. He can relax. He doesn’t have to play a part. He doesn’t have to fake picture perfect, too-exaggerated-to-be-real happiness. He can finally take his home back. 

The irony of his disaster kitchen is not lost on him. But he starts with a message, because it needs to be said, and he hates the idea of hurting anyone. Least of all hurting someone the way Buck was hurt. 

Done. It’s over.

Is what he sends. And then goes to strip the beds and cycle the laundry and wash his whole fucking house of anything touched by her. It’s only a few minutes before he receives a response. 

it go ok? r u ok? 

He could be better. He could have a clean house and a clean mind and he could simply enjoy curling up with his son and finally spending time with him. Fixing everything has to come first. 

It was fine. Probably. Who knows. You make it home?

Once the sheets are washing, he turns to the kitchen and who does this to someone else’s kitchen and just leaves it? He digs out gallon sized ziplock bags and fills them with the assortment of muffins and other baked goods. He’ll have to make a note to himself to take them to the station on his next shift. At least he won’t have to pretend to like bland, flavorless cooking anymore. 

He checks his phone and it’s been a good ten minutes without a response, so maybe Buck decided to nap or cook or… Oh, god maybe his girlfriend is there. 

At least there’s not much of anything in Eddie’s stomach right now because it twists and he’s nauseous and of all the people Buck had to pick her and it’s just… none of his business but Buck could do so much better. He deserves so much better. Though the idea of Buck with anyone is not something he wants to think about. Not that he wants Buck to be alone forever. He’s been so lonely and Eddie knows he desperately wants to be loved. But no one is ever going to be good enough for him, no one can know him well enough or love him the way he needs, he should be adored and cherished and treated like the most precious thing in existence because he is.

And that’s the most Eddie wants to think about on the subject. 

He starts by unloading the dishwasher and then has to restart by organizing his cupboards back the way the dishes and cups and silverware are supposed to be organized. Halfway through the third cupboard, his phone chimes. 

idk. technically. what r u up to?

He reads it and rereads their whole conversation, and sighs heavily. Buck could take his own advice. But then they’d both be alone again. One of them should at least have something? He starts typing and hesitates and knows his typing must have appeared and notified Buck that he’s working on a response. But. Should he? 

Fuck it. Why not. 

Cleaning up my disaster. Want to come over? 

The response is immediate. 

Yes

It’s another moment where he can finally breathe again. In that case, he unloads the clean dishes into a mostly empty cupboard and tries to tackle the dirty dishes in the sink before Buck shows up and sees the mess made of his kitchen. 

disaster?

Is the next message that pops up on his phone and Eddie contemplates sending a picture, but some things are better left a surprise. 

You’ll see.

It takes him less than fifteen minutes to walk through the door and the kitchen is only partly under control. He hears Christopher excitedly exclaim, “Buck! Buck is home! You’re here!” 

And Buck’s near giddy reply of, “Christopher! You’re also home!” He laughs and Eddie has to see them. 

He grabs a kitchen towel to dry his hands and finds Christopher clutched tightly in Buck’s arms, melting onto his shoulder much like he did at the station a few days ago. They both have their eyes closed tightly, swaying as if there’s joyful music only they can hear. Eddie wonders what it might take for him to hear it as well. 

He swallows hard and can’t look at anything else. 

Christopher lifts up and presses both of his small hands into Buck’s cheeks. “I missed you, kid.” 

Buck laughs again but his eyes look glassy even though there’s something about him that is radiant sunshine after years of being lost in a cold night. “I missed you, too, buddy.” He sets Christopher down but bends to leave a kiss on his forehead. When he looks at Eddie with that glowing sunrise of a smile, Eddie can almost believe in hope and happiness and the future. 

It makes him want to believe real love is still possible. That there is something, someone, in existence who might make his heart want and need and bleed love in every incarnation. 

Buck lets Christopher go back to playing and follows Eddie into the kitchen. Where his expression immediately turns into something horrified. “What in the,” he glances in the direction of the other room, shuts the door and mouths quietly, “Fuck happened here?”

“I told you. Disaster.” Eddie tosses his kitchen towel onto his shoulder and returns to the kitchen sink with soaking cupcake pans. 

“But,” Buck says, supremely distressed. “My kitchen.”

“I’ve been working on it,” Eddie promises. He needs to scrub down and wash away everything. 

 “She wasn’t even here that long. What the hell did she do? Who does this and just leaves someone else’s house like this?”

Eddie shrugs but gives him a smile. He can finally smile. A real smile in his own home. It’s almost strange now, but it’s possible. Then again, it’s always real when Buck is around. “That’s exactly what I thought.”

Buck shakes his head and goes to the cupboards to finish organizing them properly. He knows better where everything is supposed to belong anyway. 

With Buck’s help, it doesn’t take long to reorganize and wipe down the entire kitchen. They put new sheets and blankets on the beds and Eddie does a quick cleaning of the bathrooms while Buck vacuums and tidies the living room. They bring the dried laundry to Christopher’s room to fold and put it away and start a load of all Eddie’s work clothes, and only then does Buck turn to him and put his hands on Eddie’s shoulders. 

Eddie tries not to go weak at the touch. It feels like an eternity since they’ve hugged, since they’ve been home, since they’ve been close. 

“Thank you,” Buck says softly.

Eddie looks at him, unsure, uncertain, and longing for something they can never have. “For what?”

Buck bites his lip and tears well in his eyes. “For not being Abby. For being you.”

Eddie takes a deep breath and very lightly rests a hand on Buck’s chest. Over his heart. “Thanks for being you.” 

Buck bends his head and Eddie holds onto him, pulls him closer so Buck’s forehead rests against his own. 

It’s so easy to believe now. He can almost feel it with how they’ve grown together, built this together. There’s something so close it feels inevitable, but he knows it’s something they chose for themselves. 

When they let go, they join Christopher on the sofa and cuddle together closer than they ever have. So close Christopher wriggles out from their tight grasp because they are interrupting game time, okay? Buck looks at him for a moment but curls against Eddie’s side anyway and drifts off as they’re stretched on the couch together. 

His house his clean. His life has a new page, a fresh start, it can be anything. But he knows, no matter what, they’ll have each other and their son. It’s all his heart has ever wanted, and this time, it feels as if they will have it. 

@oneweirdcryptid @ashavahishta @captain-flint @phantomqueenmorrigan @loveyourownsmiilee @oldsouldreamer85 @arrenemris @fleurdebeton @rosefairyirl @holydrogo-n @free-byrd @insaneoldme @oatflatwhite @favouritealias @idealuk @racoonsa @ethicalconflictdiaz

(If anyone would like to be added to my tag list, let me know or go like this post 💕)

[reidgraygubler]

growing in a garden (spencer reid)

Title: Growing in a Garden

Requested: yes, was a request someone sent to @imagining-in-the-margins, but she offered it to me

Pairing: dad!spencer reid/non-binary!child!reader

Category: mostly fluff

Content Warning: talks about the lgbt community, figuring out gender identity/pronouns/labels, brief mentions of parental death, afab!child!reader, I honestly do not know what else needs to be tagged if anything needs to be tagged. Like always if something needs to be tagged let me know!

Word Count: 1,826

Summary: Spencer’s 12-year-old is confused about their gender identity and goes to their dad for help and advice. Later his child has some exciting news.

A/N: okay so pom offered this one to me. It’s got two of my favorite things. Dad!spencer, and a non-binary character. It was quite literally an offer i couldn’t refuse. I also added in an idea I had come up with the same day she sent me the request. Also, like my last enby!reader fic (linked here!) reader is afab and will use they/them pronouns, since that’s me. thank you all so much for the support! i really do appreciate it. check out my masterlist!

{***}{***}{***}

“Hey Dad.” Spencer’s child looked up at him and watched as he carefully closed and lowered his book. At that moment, his child had his undivided attention.

“Yeah, Peanut?” Spencer looked down at the preteen. His child looked away from Spencer and down at their lap. They couldn’t help but pull at the loose threads on their jeans. “What’s wrong, Peanut?” Spencer asked as he sensed there was an issue. 

“I…” his child paused and looked up at him for a brief moment before dropping their gaze. Spencer turned to face them more, preparing for a more serious conversation.

“Do we need to be in Safe Space?” Spencer asked as he rested a hand on his child’s knee. Safe Space was what the father and child called when they needed to have a serious or difficult conversation. Spencer decided it was a need between him and his child after his partner had passed. And he’s happy it exists. The number of times it’s helped his child was amazing. They both dreaded having serious conversations, and would rather have fun or light-hearted conversations. However, Spencer knew those serious conversations came with being a parent. 

But this conversation was different. His child almost never approaches him with a serious topic. Usually it was Spencer going to the pre-teen with a worry or chore. The times his child went to him was typically about school, whether it’d be a bully or a question about a subject. Spencer had a feeling this wasn’t about school. Which made him wonder if it was about something more serious. His mind was reeling with thoughts and worries of what his child would want to talk about. 

“You know you can talk to me about anything… This is a judgment-free zone,” Spencer whispered as he looked at the child. His child looked up at him and nodded. Spencer noted the mild fear hidden in his child’s eyes. Their eyes quickly dropped to look at their knee where their father’s hand was resting. “You have nothing to be afraid about. And I won’t be mad at you,” Spencer reassured. 

“Sometimes… Sometimes I don’t feel like… I should be a girl,” they whispered as they looked at the coffee table in front of them.

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. An unnerving silence fell over the pair as Spencer began thinking of what to say. He’d never thought about this being a situation. He’d read all the parenting books he could, but they never mentioned this topic. Spencer worried he’d say the wrong thing and make his offspring upset. 

He’d never be mad at his child. They’d never do anything wrong in his eyes. The pre-teen shouldn’t be scared about this or their dad being mad at them. To be fair, his child had never felt this way before. They were confused and needed help figuring it out. So, they went to the one person they knew who knows everything. But this time was different, because Spencer didn’t exactly know what to say.

“Well,” he started and paused for a thought. Although none of the parenting books mentioned a scenario like this, he had read plenty of LGBTQ+ books. He knew enough about that to help his child. “What do you feel like? Do you feel like a boy?” Spencer quietly asked. His child looked up at him and furrowed their eyebrows before shaking their head. 

“No… No, I don’t feel like a boy… Or like a girl… I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it,” the child whispered as they rambled for a moment. Spencer could feel the tension his child was feeling, and the stress that was growing. The longer he stayed quiet, the more his child got scared. Spencer knew he’d have to be quick and say something. “Does that make me a bad person?” their voice was quiet and soft. They were worried they were wrong

“No, no!” Spencer exclaimed as he shook his head. His child jumped and looked over at him. He didn’t  intend to scare them, but it’s what happened. “That doesn’t make you a bad person at all, Peanut! There’s nothing wrong with not knowing how to identify yourself,” Spencer started as he moved to kneel on the ground.

His child looked at him as he knelt beside them. Spencer grabbed both their hands and looked up at them. The smile that grew on his lips sacred the child, but also equally calmed them down. The child looked down at their hands, calming down as they looked at the way Spencer held their hands. It made them feel safe.

“Gender is a social construct…” Spencer started with a smile. The pre-teen looked up at their dad with furrowed eyebrows.

“What does that mean?” 

“It’s fake. Made up. It doesn’t matter what you are. A boy, a girl… A robot even! It doesn’t matter,” Spencer replied as he looked at the child. His child looked back up at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Yes, you can identify as a robot… If you wanted.” That made the pair laugh, the intensity breaking for a moment. 

“I can?” 

“If that’s what you want.”

“What… What would the other kids in my class think?” they asked with worry in their voice and on their face. Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at them.

“As long as you’re unapologetically you… you don’t have to care about what anyone says or thinks,” Spencer whispered back, “You got that?”

“Yeah, yeah… Got that,” they softly whispered. Spencer’s eyebrow raised as he looked up at his child.

“What is it?”

“What… What would you call me? Like, I dunno… if I’m not a girl, and I’m not a boy… What would I be?” The child’s voice was quiet and so soft.  Spencer was grateful he was so close to them because he probably wouldn’t have heard them otherwise. Spencer dropped his head to his shoulder as he looked at the child. 

“Well, if you don’t want to be a girl, or a boy… We could try they/them pronouns if you want.” Spencer looked at the pre-teen as he spoke. “How does that sound?” 

“Yeah… Yeah, I like that,” the child whispered and nodded.

“And if you really want to label it, we could try non-binary. And that means you don’t follow the normal gender binary. Do you know what gender binary means?” Spencer asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“No," The pre-teen replied with a shake of the head. 

“So, the gender binary is what being a boy or a girl is called, because binary means ‘having two parts’. Therefore, non-binary is just a term people use to describe genders that don’t fall into one of those categories. Like, identifying as a robot, you wouldn’t fall into either of those categories.” Spencer tried to explain but it was hard for him to explain in a way for a child to understand. “Does that make any sense?” His child looked back at him and nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. It makes sense. Thanks, Dad,” they whispered as they looked back down at their lap. Spencer smiled before patting their knee.

“Of course. If you have any other questions, just let me know and we can figure it out together. Okay?” Spencer asked as he stood. 

“Okay,” they replied back with a nod. Spencer looked at his child as he sat back down beside them on the couch. 

And with that, the usual silence fell over the pair. Spencer went back to reading his book, while his child stayed sitting on the couch. Spencer didn’t question it. He just assumed they needed a break after their conversation and school. They were probably over-loaded and needed a small break. 

That was until they asked another question.

“Hey dad,”

“Yes, Peanut?”

“Can I tell you something?” 

“Of course you can, Peanut.” Spencer looked down at his off-spring with a raised brow and small smile on his lips. The child looked up at him with a smirk.

“I think I'm non-binary,” they whispered as they looked at their dad. Spencer smiled before wrapping his arms around his child’s shoulders. The child smiled before melting into Spencer’s body. 

“I’m happy for you, Peanut. And I’m proud that you were able to figure it out,” Spencer whispered as he embraced his child harder. The child sighed deeply and nodded. 

“Thank you, Dad.” “Of course. I love you, you know that?” 

“Yeah, I know,” the child whispered and nodded. “I love you too.” {***}{***}{***}

“Drinks anyone?” Luke asked as everyone stepped off the elevator. The team simultaneously let out a sigh of relief at the offer. The case they had just finished was a rough one, and drinks seemed like a good way to unwind, for some. For other’s, they’d rather be at home with their spouses and families.

“I’m in for drinks,” Emily was the first to speak as she lifted a hand. Jennifer followed up, joining Emily and Luke.

“Krystall made dinner and I’d much rather see her than have drinks with you suckers,” Rossi spoke as he gestured towards the team. Everyone looked at him with a raised brow as he parted from the group. 

“Wait,” Spencer looked down at his watch when he realized what time it was. Thirty minutes till 3:00pm. If he left now, he’d be able to pick his child up from school. It’d been a rough week for him, so picking them up would make him feel better, and it’d be a nice surprise for his child. “I want to pick my robot up from school.” He looked back at the team as he started walking towards his desk.

“Robot?” Jennifer raised an eyebrow as she looked at her friend, “Spence, do you mean your daughter?” 

“Yeah, like real, flesh and blood, human child?” Matt asked with confusion on his face. 

“No, I mean… Yes, I have a real, flesh and blood, human child. But, no, I don’t have a daughter. I have a robot,” Spencer explained as he gathered his things into his bag.

“Do you maybe want to further explain?” Tara asked. Spencer sighed deeply as he looked at his friends. Everyone surrounded his desk, waiting for a response.

“My child said they identify as a robot. And they use they/them pronouns. I’m not sure what else you want me to say. I gotta go pick them up from school. I’m sure they’ll be excited to see me.” Spencer let out a deep sigh as he threw his bag strap over his shoulder. “See you guys tomorrow.” He smiled before taking off. 

Spencer didn’t bother waiting for the onslaught of questions everyone had. They weren’t exactly his questions to answer, they were his child’s. So he just left, not wanting to keep his child waiting. They’d have to plan dinner with the team so his child could tell them their news.

taglist: @mggsprettygirl​ @muffin-cup​ @thebluetint​ @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @misshale21 @spenciegoob​

if you want to be a part of a taglst or have any comments about this one shot, let me know here

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Mon 15 March ‘21

FIRST TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ARTIST HARRY STYLES!! From the bottom of the stairs to the top of the fucking world baby, get itttt!! He won Best Pop Solo Performance for smash hit Watermelon Sugar-- the other two categories he was up for went to others but he was a dark horse for any of them so getting one is awesome! Yeah the grammys are shit but I’m so happy for him to see him receiving validation and acclaim from the industry that has never appreciated what he (and his bandmates) are and can do as artists, it’s a fucking start you know? We can enjoy the moment! Harry did! His acceptance speech was short and it feels like he was blindsided and forgot everything (including not to swear on TV and as pro as he is you know that means he was absolutely reeling, I love that) but later he said “I want to thank my fans for giving me an environment to be free to make the music that I want to make and supporting me along the way the last ten years”, yes that’s right we have helped you find a place to feel good, and “this is an incredibly sweet icing on the cake of what I get to do everyday so thank you.”

But that’s not all! He also performed, and wore things! Say what you want about Harry (or better yet please DON’T at least to me but that’s a losing battle) we always get so hyped up about even just seeing his outfits and he does not let us down! BLACK LEATHER, TITS FULLY OUT, DICK BANANA CHARM, AND A MUPPET BOA? Yeah he did that! Shirtless under a patent leather suit, I mean: wow. Very glam rock, very… well listen it’s just very GAY in like so many different ways??? Harry Lambert said they wanted “something darker, sexier, and more unexpected” which is definitely about that look I’m assuming and not the pastel thrift store rummage bin hodgepodge he wore later, unless Harry(s) and I have very different ways of interpreting ���darker”. (Harry L also said “free the nipple” and we can all see that he MEANT it.) Harry red carpet-ed and accepted his award in a lavender muppet boa, tits slightly less out but still cleavagey, and with a seemingly random collection of other garments YES BABY OKAY you just WEAR THAT THEN! About that Harry L said, “we wanted to do something that felt British and eccentric, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll and a little bit camp,” but the people have spoken and they said ‘we think he looked like Cher from Clueless’ so, sorry Harry(s)! Esquire struggling to describe the look-- “the kind of thing that Styles seems to make wearable” klasjdlk the doubtful ‘seems’ is sending me. Either way we can definitely all agree on the camp part, and that the matching face mask (as seen in the audience shots and in adorbs pics of him camping it up with Lizzo backstage) is amazing, love that (even if he does spend way too much time nervously pulling it on and off omg just LEAVE IT) and it even went also with outfit number THREE (or at least it did as well as any of his anything went together lol) which was a big floppy orange coat and plaid pants and a THIRD BOA, a dignified (haha JK NOPE it’s still a muppet) black number this time.

It seems the performance was filmed in advance rather than done live-- there were clues suggesting this might be the case, but the real giveaway was when a picture from it leaked before the broadcast, lol. Way to make it so we “can’t even tell if it’s live or not” Ben, and why is he STILL so obsessed with trying to gaslight us anyway my god just say what’s prerecorded it’s fiiiine. ANYWAY Harry played Watermelon Sugar and only WS; well after all it is his GRAMMY AWARD WINNING SONG. Plus it was a really nice version, all smooth and funky, with a highlight of the night being Harry’s full on 60s girl group choreo move with the backup singers, omg. Those backing vocalists were the duo G.A.W.D., and there was extra accompaniment by fellow nominee Devonte Hynes aka Blood Orange (who also directed the performance and no I do not know what that means) and “Spencer and Josh” on horns (the closest I can find to someone crediting them so, apologies guys). Anyway! All of them (regular HS band included) were decked out in matching gucci black leather too and looking good. And Harry looked so happy to be up there performing, just beaming like a lighthouse, so overall- good good stuff, I just keep on dancin!

The real bombshell of the performance though was subtle and needed confirmation after for the excitement to really hit-- it was Sarah drumming  decked out in tight black leather and visibly pregnant!! That’s right, band drummer Sarah Jones is PREGNANT by (Grammy Award winning) guitarist Mitch, there’s a HARRY STYLES BAND BABY on the way!!!! WHAT A NIGHT! It wasn’t enough for Harry to find love in his own band, he’s somehow cupid-ing that energy all over the place and spreading it around, AMAZING!

And Liam comes through with not just a sweet congratulations for Harry (“what a huge moment, proud to be your brother” awwww) but also the final word on the performance look- goddammit it IS one of the rejected Best Song Ever video looks, LMAOOOO. But did he tag HSHQ instead of Harry directly in acknowledgment of how the awards system really works and that they are all to be congratulated or simply because it was easier? We will never know.

Additional tidbits-- bassist Hynes was apparently playing creative director Molly Hawkins’ dad’s bass- did we know her dad was a famous bassist who played with Fleetwood Mac and many other 70s stars?! If I did I had definitely forgotten! And more Molly news-- she’s also pregnant!! Harry will soon be surrounded by quarantine babies, dreams really coming true huh? Harry posted a pic of himself with Mitch and Devonte looking very cooool, we saw the ceramic watermelons label execs were sent for the WS release last year, and Rebecca Ferguson who knows 1D from way back when (and has recently drawn attention for talking frankly about how fucked up the industry is and about having seen unnamed boy band members literally slammed against the wall by their management) congratulated Harry and posted a couple of baby pop star Harry pics, cuuuute. Louis’ merch handlers, in response to no complaints whatsoever, sent out emails apologizing. They say they’ve run out of lanyards which were meant to be sent out so they will “be adding a freebie which we know you’ll enjoy” to affected customers’ orders. That is sucky about the lanyards but that’s customer care! Niall posted about his cool bright limited edition merch to remind that it will be gone gone gone tonight and also shared a pretty and touching picture from a the large anti violence rally held in London to protest the killing of Sarah Everard today. And finally some good advice from Bebe Rexha, loved by larries; she says she loves us right back but please don’t kill anyone for not streaming her new song! Yes good plan.

[gr-ogu]

Hello! As requested, here is a tutorial on how I make my gifs. I would like to preface this by saying there are many ways to make gifs, and there’s no right or wrong answer imo. This is just how I personally go about doing so!

I will be using PS CC 2017, but as long as you have the video timeline option, it shouldn’t matter too much; on any version of PS, you should be able to adapt anything I mention here! You will also need some kind of screen recording software. I’ll talk a little more about that under the cut.

To start, you need the source material you will be making the gifs from! I get mine from snahp(.)it (avoiding links so tumblr hopefully doesn’t banish this from the tags lmao) and I always opt for either 1080p or 2160p. Not all laptops will support 2160p as it’s 4K, but either works great! You just want your gifs to be the best quality possible.

Next is where the screen recording comes in. I don’t use the screencapping method to make my gifs (where you use a program to cap a clip and then load those caps into a stack in PS). This isn’t for any particular reason… it’s just how my friends, (who very kindly taught me to gif), had always done it, so it’s now how I do it too. Personally, I find the quality to be just as good as the screencapping method, and have never noticed a difference between the two.

As I have a PC, I use the software built into it for screen-recording. If you go here: theverge(.)com/2020/4/21/21222533/record-screen-pc-windows-laptop-xbox-game-bar-how-to – you can see how to use the XBOX screenrecorder to record from files you have d*wnloaded. This also works on some streaming sites, but I think it depends on what browser you use. Personally, I recommend Firefox, as that seems to bypass a lot of the blocking and ads that occur when trying to do this sort of thing.

For MAC users, I have been told handbrake works well, as it converts MKV files to MP4, which can then be used to make gifs. You only need to convert part of the file to MP4 depending on how much you want to gif, and this also bypasses the screenrecording stage, as you can edit MP4 clips on Quicktime. I am told you can split them into smaller clips by going to edit > trim and it saves the new clip!

I have also used anyvideoconverter for small clips, but I can’t say what it does to the quality of your video, or how big of a file it lets you put in! With the XBOX screenrecorder, it doesn’t matter what type of video files you get, as the recording will save to MP4 anyway.

LOADING YOUR FRAMES

Now, go ahead and record whatever clips you want to gif. Make sure you have the video timeline open, by going to window > timeline. Then, go to file > import > video frames to layers.

Next, select and open your clip from where it has saved (with the XBOX recorder, it saves in video > captures). You should see a little window pop up, where you can move the sliders back and forth to clip your recording to whichever part(s) you specifically want to gif. I recommend trying not to load a lot of frames into photoshop at once, but I would be a hypocrite to say that, since I do it a lot lmao. Just be patient if you do!

Once you have chosen the length, click okay. Never, EVER, I repeat NEVER click the button that says “limit to every __ frames”. This really ruins the flow and quality of your gif—it’s better to have shorter, but smoother gifs, I promise. And with tumblr’s new 10 MB limit, it shouldn’t be a problem anyway!

Then, your frames should open up. What we want to do is make them into a smart object, so we can edit all the layers at the same time. To do this, click the small button in the left-hand corner. ALWAYS click this first. If you don’t, it will only convert the first frame to a smart object and the gif won’t work.

Give it a second to sort itself out, then, on the right-hand side, select all your frames at once using the shift key.

Then, go to filter > convert for smart filters. This might take a minute. Don’t click anything else in case PS gets angry lmao, just leave it for a second and it’ll do its thing. The more frames you have, the longer it takes! Now we have our gif, but it needs to be cropped, sharpened and coloured!

CROPPING

You want to start by selecting the rectangular marquee tool on the left-hand side, then drag it across by clicking and highlighting the area you would like to crop your gif to, like so:

What I tend to do is select everything inside the black lines you sometimes get around your gif (this depends on what file you d*wnload), and also the tiniest bit inside the sides. This is because I’ve found if you crop it right up to the edge, you get a tiny bit of transparency on the sides of your gifs, which I’d rather avoid.

Once you have your desired selection, go to image > crop. Now, the dimensions for tumblr are 540px width, so all your gifs have to be that width. However, the length is up to you. I really like big gifs, so sometimes I even make a full square, or even longer. It’s entirely up to you, and what kind of set you want to make.

For the purposes of this gif, I will stick to what I usually go for, 540px by 350 px. This will mean you’ll have to crop some width off, but that’s okay, since Marisa isn’t central anyway. The cropping is always trial and error for me, as sometimes people move out of the frame within in the gif. The best thing to do is just try it, and then move the slider in the timeline window at the bottom to see if the person stays inside the gif, and if not, adjust accordingly.

Next, go to image > image size:

In this box, if I put the width as 540, the gif is a smaller height than I want, as it keeps to the dimensions of the gif when you load it into PS. That’s okay, just put the height you want instead, and we’ll crop off the excess.

Then click OK. Using the rectangular marquee tool again, we need to remove the excess width. Part of the reason I like this version of PS is that it tells you the width of your selection as you do it, but you can always use the ruler as a guide, and check the size of your image by going to image > image size again.

Again, use image > crop, and your gif should now be the correct size!

You can also use the crop tool in the timeline window to crop the length of your gif:

However, I tend to wait until later on to do this (which will be explained further down!)

SHARPENING

Next you want to go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen.

These are my settings. However, 0.4px is very sharp, too much so, but that’s easily fixed.

Go to filter > blur > Gaussian blur and then set it to 1.0.

Now on the right-hand side, we need to reduce the blur, so double click the little adjustment button, and change the opacity of the blur. I usually go for 20-30%!

Then click OK, and that’s your sharpening done!

COLOURING

I picked this scene on purpose as it’s dark, so good for showing how to colour a gif. I have a base psd which consists of some very basic adjustments, but it mostly exists so I don’t forget what adjustment layers I like to use. I adjust them every time I make a gif, essentially colouring each gif from scratch.

In this case, the psd actually makes it darker. So, what I will do is turn each layer off, and adjust as I go. A lot of people say using lots of adjustment layers ruins the quality of your gif… I have never found this to be true, as long as you are gentle with them. If you whack the brightness right up to the top, it’s going to ruin your gif no matter if you use 1 adjustment layer or 100. I would just say use your common sense, and adjust a little at a time!

I start with a simple black to white gradient map set to soft light, because I think it helps you see depth once you add some brightness to it. I usually do this on about 10%, or more if needed. It’s probably unnecessary, I just like how it looks!

Then, I move onto using curves and levels. This is where things can diverge depending on who you’re colouring. If this person is white, it doesn’t matter too much. If they’re not white, you don’t want to white wash them. My best advice is to play around with it. By adding vibrance and other (usually the red) selective colour settings later, you can ensure you don’t change the person’s skin tone from what it originally was. You can also use layer masks at varying opacities (various shades of grey), on your curves and levels, to remove some brightening so that you’re not changing anyone’s skin colour. Just brighten slowly and check in with yourself honestly about how your gif looks.

Some people don’t like using levels, or curves. It’s completely up to you. I tend to use both because levels are good for bringing depth, even if not brightening (though I like to use them for that as well). 

One thing you can do is use the white point of the gif to make PS adjust the curves itself, however I like to drag the sliders myself and see what it looks like. Just make sure it’s not too bright, as we will be using further layers to brighten more, after.

Next is levels. The slider on the left controls the black point, the one in the middle controls the midtones, and the one on the right controls the white points. The black brings depth, the midtones adjust the overall brightness, and the white points produce stronger highlights. Again, you’ll get a feel for how this works as you practice. Just don’t use the white point excessively, especially if your characters are not white.

Then I add vibrance (+20!), because we’ve removed a lot of it when lightening the gif. Next is exposure, which I find brings out the highlight and shadow areas more effectively:

Then colour balance! This helps with scenes that might be a certain colour, i.e. too blue, too green, too red, etc. Moving the sliders in the opposite direction of the colour your gif is will counteract it. The best thing to do when accounting for different colours, is to make a new layer every time you change colour, so that you don’t get confused. I always add a new layer for colour balance and selective colour if I want to change more than one thing. So one for red, one for yellow, one for pink, etc. 

A layer of brightness just to make the gif pop, and because the scene is extra dark, I added a very gentle extra curves layer:

SAVING YOUR GIF

Time to save the gif. You can go ahead and file > export > save for web (legacy) now, but then you’ll have to reopen the gif to reset the frame rate from 0.07, to 0.05. Instead of doing that, I use a modified action. The original was made by the very talented @elenafisher! So I do not take credit for that at all. You can find the original here: elenafisher(.)tumblr(.)com/post/190817437374/gif-sharpening-action-2-preview-download and in my resources tag. Please reblog it if you’re going to use this!

To use an action, first make sure you have actions turned on in window > actions. To load in your action, go to the little lines circled, and then load the action from your downloads:

Obviously if you don’t want to sharpen your gifs yourself, you can use the action as it is, and it will give you a beautiful glowing effect. If you’d just like to use it to flatten your gif into frames like I do, make sure to take out all the items I have highlighted:

Until it looks like this!

Make sure you have the layer under the file name highlighted, and then click the play button at the bottom! (If you get a screen saying select all frames cannot be found, don’t worry, just click continue!) You can delete the layer that does that if you want, I just keep it in case I realise I’ve forgotten to do something, because you can click cancel and edit your gif before you flatten it. Of course you can undo the steps to get back to the smart object version of your gif, it just takes longer!

And now your gif is in frames and set to 0.05 already, so you don’t have to change the speed! All you need to do now before saving is change the gif cycle to “forever” in the bottom left-hand corner:

Then to save the gif go to file > export > save for web (legacy). Sometimes, the gif is bigger than the tumblr 10MB limit. You’ll be able to see this in the bottom left-hand corner of the gif save settings. If this is the case, I like to preview the gif, to see whether it would be best to cut frames off of the beginning or the end, or both. When you’ve decided, you can select the frames at the bottom, and in the right-hand side panel, and delete them both using the little bins/trash icons.

I keep checking and deleting frames until I get the gif under 10 MB! Just don’t delete frames from the middle, as then you’ll have the same issue as if you selected “every other frame” when making the gif: it won’t flow!

Lastly, these are my save settings:

So that’s it! That’s how I make all my gifs. Blending I do when the gifs are in the grouped, smart filter stage, whereas text I add on during the framing section above! Really hope this is helpful, please feel free to ask any questions you may have! 💖

[letsgivethisonemoreshot]

BruiserMates

Word Count: 4,644 (it's a long one)

Warnings: Sexual Situations, banter, there's some fluff in there somewhere.

Summary: The British Bruiserweight is more grumpy than usual. But his friends and a co-worker think they just might know a way to fix it. (Also, I tried to make an attempt to keep true with accents for the first time. So I apologize if it's horrible!)

The lukewarm water rushed out of a shower head in the back of the arena. The water pressure in these showers were never that good, but it was early and Lauren had the whole locker room to herself. She had the curtain drawn for privacy, just in case anyone else arrived early. Mostly because she was in the men’s showers. And just as she was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, she heard several voices from the locker room echo into the bathroom.

"You could've stopped to get breakfast first." A British accent rang out.

"They 'ad food at the hotel." The familiar accent of Pete filled the room.

"Not anything for a vegan. And ya know that." Another voice argued.

"I don't know every damn vegan place in tha country." Pete spat back.

"Uh guys, just so you know you're not alone in here." Lauren informed them.

"Who in the bloody hell is that?"

"Lauren. I'm a backstage interviewer here. I really needed a shower after my workout before I got ready to work and they were cleaning in the women's locker room when I got there. No one was in here so I ran in. I'll be quick." She explained.

"Pete?"

"Yeah, she works here." He vouched, recognizing her voice.

"Ah. Alright then love. As long as you work here. I'm Tyler by the way."

"Trent." The other voice rang out.

"You guys are here from NXT UK for the tag tournament, right?" Lauren asked.

"You got it love." Trent answered as he turned on a shower on the opposite side of where Lauren was. "And you don't 'av to rush. We don't mind if you don't."

"As long as you stay on that side of the curtain." Lauren responded in a joking but friendly way.

"Great." Pete murmured.

"What's wrong with you?" Trent asked him.

"He's still sore about his girlfriend messin' around on him." Tyler answered getting ready to get a shower himself.

"Tell my business to the whole locker room, why don't ya." Pete said annoyed.

"She's the only otha one in here. And she sees ya more than us. I'm sure she's noticed you're grumpy."

"No more than usual." Lauren said as she conditioned her hair.

"Aw piss off all of ya."

"See? He's always this pleasant."

"I thought you said you were gonna be quick." Pete pointed out.

"I was, until Trent was nice enough to tell me I didn't have to. So now I'm taking my time."

Pete let out an aggravated grunt. "I can't shower with 'er in here."

"Relax Pete, I'm almost done. What brings you guys in here so early anyway?"

"Time change. Kind of has us messed up. And Pete just doesn't sleep." Tyler replied. "What about you? And working out nonetheless. I’d think you’d moreso be off writing questions."

"How else am I supposed to fit myself into those tiny dresses they want me to wear?" Lauren partially joked, causing two of the englishmen to chuckle. "I have a few interviews I have to do for some social media shows before the actual show tonight. This was the only time I could fit in a work out. I was going to shower real quick then get to work, but the women’s bathroom was closed, so I that brought me here. I guess it’s just bad timing.”

"Ah, I wouldn't say that love." Trent said.

"Well maybe not on my part. Anybody could walk in here. So many people have probably had fantasies that start like this. But apparently, it’s bad timing for some of you.”

"Would any of those fantasies include any of us by any chance?" Trent asked in a joking tone.

“Trent, ya can’t just ask a woman ya just met something like that.” Tyler chastised.

“Why not? I’m just joking.”

"Hm, some just might." Lauren answered.

"For fucks sake…"

"Jesus Pete calm down, I'm done. I'll be out of your hair in a minute." Lauren said as she turned off the water and wrapped her towel around herself.

"Yeah relax mate. We're just messin' around." Trent said to his friend.

"You need to get laid." Lauren stated.

"Excuse me?" Pete asked, sounding offended.

"We've been telling him that the last two weeks love." Tyler said to her.

She pulled open the curtain and stepped out of the shower stall. "Take it from someone who pushed away a lot of her friends by being a negative mope after going through a rough breakup. If she's gonna fuck around, then so can you. Try smiling, go get laid, and live. See ya later boys. I believe I'll be the one interviewing you later!" Lauren called out before walking away.

Lauren left them alone in the men's locker room and walked back to the women's which was thankfully now able to be occupied. She walked quicker than she planned seeing as how she couldn't get dressed there with the guys there. So she was running around in just a towel. No one had really showed up to get ready yet, but she still had to go over interview questions, get dressed, and was expected by the stylists soon. She was rummaging through her bag when there was a lock at the door. She dropped what was in her hands and curiously walked over to the door. Upon opening it she saw an annoyed Pete Dunne standing there. He was still in his trousers, nice button down shirt, and vest. His hair pulled back. Obviously he still hadn't gotten into the shower yet.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you? Miss me already?"

Pete held out a plastic bag with tiny bottles inside. "Ya left your crap in the shower."

"And you're such a gentleman you brought it back to me?" Lauren joked.

"I drew the short straw."

"You sure it doesn't have anything to do with what I said?" She asked as she took the plastic bag from him. “Because my fantasies about you usually start with me still dressed and you ripping my clothes off me, but if this is how it happens I’ll take it.”

“No, it’s because I was the only one who was still dre…wait, what?”

Lauren smiled "Thanks for bringing my stuff back Pete. I forgot it in all the conversation. And if you’re just here to drop it off, I really need to finish getting ready. I need to be in make-up soon. I’ll see you around later.”

She closed the door, leaving Pete standing there dumbfounded at the interaction he just had.

Lauren had gotten dressed and was sitting in the make-up chair. She had decided on a short black off the shoulder dress. Even though the shoulders were bare, the dress had long sleeves, making a bit more acceptable in the workplace. The strappy heels that she had on also made it a bit less casual. She already had her hair done. She chose to leave it down since it was only shoulder length, but add some waves to it. Pete had wandered over to the area as Lauren was laughing while the make-up artist applied the dusty pink lipstick. Lauren was deep in conversation with the artist. She got along with everyone. Well, mostly everyone. She was easy to talk to and calming, which was a plus with her job. The interviews always flowed nicely and never seemed forced. She never really had any real problems with anyone she worked with. Pete leaned against a wall off to the side watching her talk. He had his wrestling gear on now, and had his long hair dangling down over half of his face.

"Alright, all set. How's it look?" The make-up artist asked as she held up a mirror.

"It looks great! Thanks Rachel!"

"Awesome. If you need a touch up just let me know."

"I will. Thanks!"

Lauren checked in the mirror one last time, pursing her lips together, before jumping out of the make-up chair and leaving it for someone else. She walked away from the styling area and right passed where Pete was brooding.

"Lauren."

"Hey Pete." Lauren replied as she walked by.

"Hey, hold up."

"What's up?" She asked as she stopped and turned to him.

"You tell me." Pete stated.

"Is this about what I said earlier? I’m sorry for getting involved in your business. And I never would have said anything had we not already been in the middle of a conversation. But I’ve been there, and I didn’t want you to end up pushing your friends away with your bad attitude like I did.” She explained.

"Not that. After. At the locker room." Pete said in a much lower voice.

Lauren smiled and crossed her arms. "What is this? When is Pete Dunne so timid?"

Pete rolled his eyes. "F'get it."

"No I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." Lauren said reaching out to grab his arm. "I'll be good. What did you want?"

"You to stop being intimidating for a moment would be good."

"I've heard that once or twice before, but not from anyone like you."

"What you said earlier, did you mean it?" Pete asked changing the subject.

"That you need a good lay to forget about her? Absolutely. Your friends seemed to agree."

"No. That you've 'ad fantasies about me." He said as he took a step closer to her.

"Maybe a few times." She answered, surprising him by the serious tone in her voice. He stood there not quite sure how to follow up while Lauren opened the small bag she had with her and looked through it. "Listen, I really have to go and interview Daniel Bryan. But if you want to take my advice, I would love to be the girl that gets under you to get over her. Room 308 if you're interested."

She slipped her spare hotel key into his hand before turning around and continuing to walk down the hallway. Later on that night Pete sat in the back watching the show on a t.v. He was watching Lauren interview his two best friends while he spun the hotel key around in his fingers while being lost in thought. He pulled it together to go out and put on a good show, like he always did. All of his cockiness and aggression was on display. Lauren had been watching his match extra closely that night.

After the show Lauren was sitting alone in her hotel room. She hadn't made any plans for the night in case Pete decided to show up. After about an hour of waiting, she decided to change her clothes and get comfortable. She had the television on and was laying down in the bed, trying to relax, but she found herself not paying attention to it and trying to figure out what reasons Pete could have for not showing up. After driving herself crazy for some time, around 11:30 she realized she was being silly. His good friends whom he hadn't seen in months were in the country for a bit, so he was going to be spending time with them. Plus with all the joking around that she had done with him that day he probably didn't even think she was serious. Or maybe he just wasn’t interested and didn’t know how to tell her in a nice way. Lauren grabbed her phone and laid down on her bed to play some games until she got tired. Only a few minutes after she relaxed herself for the night, there was a knock at her door.

Lauren put her phone down and got out of bed. She walked over to the door curious of who could be there this time of night, especially without texting her first. She looked through the peephole and saw Pete standing on the other side. She quickly opened the door.

"You do realize I gave you a key so you wouldn't have to knock and wait in the hallway, right?"

"I didn't feel right usin' it." Pete told her.

Lauren opened the door wider and stepped aside inviting him in. He stood near her as she closed the door.

"I see you stayed dressed for me." Pete joked as he looked at her in her pink tank top and black yoga pants.

"I could say the same for you." Lauren retorted noticing Pete was in grey sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"It's not m' job to look pretty." Pete stated.

"Good thing I'm off the clock then."

They hadn't really talked much before now, other than just a hello or exchanging pleasantries. Maybe being involved in the same conversation as a group of people. Mostly that was because Pete kept to himself or only really talked with the people he was close to, where as Lauren would talk with everyone and insert herself into others conversations. But Pete definitely took notice today that not many people were able to throw back at him the way that she did, and he liked it.

"So did you just come here to criticize my clothes or…" Lauren trailed off.

"Actually, I wanted to talk." He answered.

"Oh, uh okay."

Lauren definitely hadn't been expecting that. She lead him into the room a little bit more and she sat down on the edge of the bed. Pete took one of the seats that were in the room and placed it in front of her before sitting down as well.

"So?"

"I've been thinking about what ya said. And you're right. If she's gonna bang a bunch of guys and not care, then I should too. Well, ya know."

"So what's the hold up?" Lauren asked.

"I don't want pity sex with someone just because they feel sorry fa' me. Especially if it's someone I 'av to work with."

"I can understand that. I'm not really one for random hook ups either." Lauren agreed.

"But then why did you…"

"I like you Pete." Lauren told him.

"Why? I'm kind of a bastard." Pete asked confused.

Lauren laughed. "Yeah, most of the time. I've watched you. You're grumpy face and your angry promos. But I've also seen the way you joke around with your friends. I've seen how interact with kids. I know how much you care about animals. There's a sweet guy behind that whole bruiserweight thing."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Your best friends. Those goofballs wouldn't waste their time with a complete asshole." Lauren answered with a smile. She reached out and placed her hand over top of his. "I'll be honest. I've had the hots for you since you started coming around. And then when I actually learned things about you I had a crush on you. And seeing you laugh with your friends, I've wondered what it would have been like if we had that kind of relationship."

Pete couldn't help but flash a genuine smile that he usually kept hidden. "Why didn't ya eva say anything?"

"You had a girlfriend, remember?"

"Right. Right. Forgot about that."

"Well that was the plan." Lauren giggled.

"So girls really dig the whole aggressive arse thing huh?" Pete asked amused.

"Oh yeah. There's something wired wrong in our brains. And the accent doesn't hurt either.”

Pete leaned back slightly in his chair and chuckled.

"Did I just make Pete Dunne laugh?" Pete didn't even try to hide it this time after she pointed it out. "Up until now I think I've only made you scowl."

"Yeah yeah, just don't spread it around."

"Don't wanna ruin your unlovable reputation, huh?"

They both sat in awkward silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say next. Pete fidgeted in his chair slightly before standing up. Lauren promptly stood up along with him. He reached out and pulled her to him so her body was flushed with his, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug. The act took her by surprise.

"Thanks." He said into her ear.

Lauren put her arms around her torso returning the hug. But her senses perked up. He was still holding her, his head down and his nose grazing her neck. The thought of his mouth that close to her, with his history of biting, sent an electric wave through her nerves. She tried to push those thoughts out of her head and hugged him tighter.

"Anytime Pete." She said lightly.

Pete broke the hug and stepped aside looking down at her smiling. She gave him a half hearted smile. She was glad that she was able to be there for him, and it seemed like there was a friendship forming between them. But she was a little disappointed that it wasn't going further. And embarrassed that she told him how she felt, and now she had to deal with him at work all the time with him knowing that. She didn't say anything as she followed him as he walked to the door.

"I'll see ya around, alright?" Pete said as he put his hand on the doorknob.

Lauren nodded with a smile. She closed the door behind him and leaned it against it sighing. She felt like an idiot. She was just hoping he wouldn't make a big deal about it at work. She began walking back to her bed. When she was a few steps away, she heard the door click. She turned around and saw the knob turning. It pushed open and Pete walked back inside.

"Hey. Everything okay?" She asked confused.

He slammed the door behind him and walked towards Lauren, throwing the room key onto the bed as he passed it. He made it to where she was and placed his bands on her hips and pushed her up against the wall crashing his lips down onto hers. Lauren put her hands up on his shoulders, bracing herself at his actions. He moved his hands from her hips up to her sides all while continuing kissing her neck. He traced along the top of her tank top before grabbing it with both hands and ripping it down the middle. Lauren gasped into his mouth. Pete didn't give her any time to adjust to what he was doing before his hands traveled back down her body and behind her thighs picking her up and pressing her against the wall. He tore his lips away from hers to slowly lick down her chest until stopping at her partially exposed breast. He lightly licked around her nipple a few times before taking it into his mouth. Lauren ran her fingers through Pete's hair, softly moaning. When he lightly bit down she moaned deeper and arched her back off of the wall. Pushing herself even further into him, she became even more aware that her legs were spread around him and she could feel herself getting wetter every time he nibbled.

Pete pulled her away from the wall and carried her over to the bed. Lauren laid on the bed looking up at him trying to catch her breath. He was looking down at her with his signature cocky smirk. He reached out and lightly grabbed the waistband of her pants before yanking them off and crawling on top of her. Pete nuzzled into her neck kiss and biting causing her to arch her hips up and feel the large bulge in his sweatpants. Lauren slid her hands under his shirt and scraped her fingers down his chest bringing a low growl from him.

"You are wearing entirely too many clothes." Lauren informed him.

Pete chuckled, but it wasn't the light hearted one from earlier, there was a deeper tone to it. There was something sexy in that chuckle. He leaned up onto his knees and peeled his shirt off.

Lauren took the moment to just look at him, kneeling in front of her with his hair hanging down partially in his face. Watching his eyes in the light. He could see her eyes glancing up and down his body.

"Is this what ya wanted?" He asked.

"Fuck yes." Lauren answered out loud, instead of in her head like she planned. "But this was supposed to be for you."

"Does it seem like I'm not enjoyin' it?"

"Well yeah, but what is it you want?" Lauren asked.

"Haven't been asked that in a long time. Honestly?" Lauren nodded. "I want someone to want to be with me. Not just use me ta get off and pass out. Someone who enjoys being with me. To feel loved."

Lauren leaned up so she was sitting up in bed facing him. "Really?"

"Yeah. Sounds stupid. I guess when ya with someone for so long those things kind of become lost."

"No Pete, they don't." Lauren said as she placed her hand on his face. "That's what happens when people stop caring."

The words hurt Pete, but deep down he knew she was right.

"Lay down." She told him.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Take your pants off and lay down. Let me take care of you." She said it in such a calming tone, you'd forget they were just dry humping each other.

He complied with what she asked. Lauren removed her underwear and straddled him. He rubbed his hands on her thighs She pulled off what was left of her shirt. Pete unknowingly bit his lower lip upon seeing her naked in front of him.

"Like what ya see?" She asked with a coy smirk

"Damn love."

"You sure you wanna do this?" She asked him.

"Love if you don't get on me right now I'm going to push you down and get back on top of you."

Lauren smiled and moved to slide herself down onto his dick. She gasped as she slid down. She could have guessed the size of it based on what he wore in the ring, but she didn't think it was as thick as it was. Pete hissed as she began riding him.

"Fuck babe. You're so tight." He commented.

"Yeah, it's been a while." She replied as she rolled her hips.

"You're so wet." He stated.

"I told you, I like you. Now are you gonna do commentary the whole time or just enjoy it?"

"Oh I'm enjoying it love." Pete said as his hands slid up her legs. He groaned as he saw her bouncing on him, her breasts bouncing along with her. He ran his hand along her body and brushed his finger onto her clit causing her to yelp. He liked the sound that she made and continued to rub along her clit as she rode him.

"Fuck Pete if you keep that up I'm not gonna last long." She warned him.

"You keep makin' those sounds I won't eithea."

Lauren pushed his hand out of the way and brought her upper body down so she could kiss him before moving to his neck. She began kissing and sucking on his neck like he had been doing to her earlier. Pete reached around with both hands to grab her ass. She was moving at a slow and steady pace, keeping with his grunts of pleasure. She would bite down on his neck every once in a while hoping to catch him off guard. He would squeeze his grip tighter pushing her at a different pace causing her to moan.

"Wait, Lauren stop." Pete said suddenly.

Lauren stopped and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"I wanna be on top." He told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Lauren wanted to stay on top and take care of him, but it's what he said he wanted to she switched positions with him. She had to admit having Pete in between her legs staring her down was something she had thought about several times. He began placing kisses down her collar bone as she ran her fingers through his hair again.

"Mmmm Pete, please." Lauren begged bringing a smile to his lips.

"Please what?" Pete asked as he ran his length along her entrance, teasing her.

"I know I'm being selfish at the moment but please, I need you." She moaned as she tried to push herself closer to him.

"Baby, I love hearing you beg." He said as he entered her starting slow at first.

"Pete, faster please."

Pete grunted before speeding up, loving the feeling of her needing him, He began to thrust harder as he sped up. Lauren wrapped his leg up around his waist to give him better access.

"Oh God Pete, I'm so close." Lauren said as she scratched her nails down his back.

"Let go for me love." He rasped into her ear.

Lauren grabbed onto Pete's face to pull him into a passionate kiss as she came. Pete finished shortly after her before collapsing next to her. Their session was relatively quick, but emotional and intense. They laid next to each other trying to catch their breath.

"Well, that was unexpected." Pete stated.

"Yeah, definitely didn't think that was gonna happen when I woke up this morning." Lauren agreed as she laid next to him.

"I'm sorry it wasn't really what ya wanted." Pete apologize.

"What do you mean?"

"Ya said you wanted aggressive, and ripping clothes off, and all that."

Lauren leaned up on her elbow and turned to face him. "That's one of the things I've thought about, but I really just wanted you Pete."

He responded by lightly placing his hand on her head and pulling it down to rest on his chest. Lauren laid there cuddling on Pete, which is something she never would have expected from him, and soon found herself falling asleep.

Around three in the morning Lauren jerked awake. She didn't mean to fall asleep. She didn't even realize she was that worn out. Or maybe just comfortable. The room was now all dark, Pete must have turned the lights out. She couldn't see anything but she felt over to the other side of the bed and it was empty. Of course it was. He came for what she said she'd give him and then left. He wasn't looking for anything beyond that. Lauren knew that when she offered him to come to her too, but she didn't think it would hurt that much when he was gone. She laid back down in her beg and pulled the covers up feeling pretty stupid. Just then she heard the toilet in her bathroom flush and the door open. Pete walked out of the bathroom and back over to the bed.

"Pete?" Lauren asked.

"Hm." He replied.

"I thought you left."

"Why tha hell would I do that?" He asked as he pulled up the covers and got back into bed next to her.

"You were gone. I thought you got what you wanted and left. Especially after I fell asleep on you."

"I believe you're tha one that wanted this love." He reminded her. "You’re the one that offered."

"Well, yeah…"

Pete wrapped his arm around her waist and held her hand, lacing his fingers in with hers. He nuzzled his nose into the back of her neck.

"I'm pretty glad you did though." He admitted. This was the most love he had felt in a long time. He really felt like the person he was with wanted him, needed him. That she was focused on him, and it made him want to be focused on her. He felt an actual connection, which is something that he had been missing.

"I'm not goin anywhere for awhile love." He said as he squeezed her into hug, pulling her body to his. "I loved those sounds I heard earlier. They drove me crazy. I look forward ta havin' ya make more."

Lauren giggled as Pete kissed the back of her neck. Neither knew what the future would hold, but right now they were both enjoying the moment.

[i-am-robie]

fic writer review!

thanks for the tag @searidings!

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 6. I have no idea how that happened. It feels like both too many and too few.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count? 204,956. Quick question for myself: what the fuck?

3. How many fandoms have you written for? One

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

don’t go slow ‘cause you’re gonna be someone

i love that i know you (like no one does)

i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on new year's day

you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow 

(your love keeps lifting me) higher & higher

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

oh gosh this is complicated for me because for a while I responded to every comment and that’s what I still want to do—spring was really rough and I let myself get behind BUT I AM GOING TO CATCH UP AGAIN. I respond because way before I was a writer, I was a reader and commenter—and it made me so happy whenever I heard back from an author. Even when it was just a smiley face or whatever. So it’s like, I don’t know, it feels like my way to say thanks for taking the time to read something I wrote and then to let me know, which is incredible and so cool and I feel silly saying it, but I’m so grateful.

6. A fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending

I do not do angst endings, I can barely stomach writing angst at all period! Happy endings only in this house, folks!

7. Do you write crossovers?

I don’t, because I don’t really know any characters beyond SG! (that’s a lie, I know legends, but I don’t wanna write legends).

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah. That actually contributed to me getting behind on responding to comments cause it really took the wind out of me, but I had great advice from very good friends and just deleted the comments that weren’t nice. Still stings though.

9. Do you write smut?

Under great personal duress.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of and I hope if it’s happened, no one ever tells me!

11. Ever had a fic translated?

OH MY GOD SOMEONE ASKED ONCE AND IT WAS DURING MY ‘EVERYONE HATES ME GUESS I’LL GO EAT WORMS’ MOMENT AND I DIDN’T RESPOND RIGHT AWAY and anyway the answer is no, but I still wish it had happened.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic?

nope!

13. All time fav ship?

supercorp owns my entire brain, so...that one.

14. WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I am so worried I’ll never find the confidence/time to finish Symphony AU

15. Writing strengths?

Hahaha does anyone like answering this question? Um. I think dialogue/weaving dialogue in within a scene/with multiple speakers. And (I hope) consistent characterization, both within and between fics.

16. Writing weaknesses?

Flow, all non-dialogue sentences, too many unnecessary descriptions...

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I think it’s a great idea and that I should never attempt it because I speak English, barely, on a good day.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

this one, see 13.

19. What’s your fav fic you’ve written so far?

Oh gosh, okay so like, this doesn’t necessarily mean I think it’s my best writing but. I love morning glory au (you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow) so much because it let me really get to know Kara in a way I didn’t before I wrote it, it also has what I think is a really complete story arc, so much so that no epilogue ever jumped into my brain (unlike wedding date au and whms au—both of which felt a little incomplete to me before I added pieces).

oh gosh i feel like so many people have been tagged already BUT in case you haven’t been, @rocketonthemoon @the-ominous-owl and @bossbeth i’d love to hear from you

[astranva]

Power BFFs.

// masterlist //

Word Count: 2.1k

Category: Fluff best friend!harry, best friend!reader

Warning: None!

Summary: In which Harry’s best friend is a hijabi blogger and they’re everyone’s bffs’ goals.

Bonus: Instagram posts!

..

For as long as you lived, you have always been into fashion. You were the kid who chose to wear pink with orange long before Taylor Swift’s dress was the new cool, always one whom family went to for advice when it came to putting outfits together.

Hell, if someone could pay you for the times your mom was on the phone with your aunt or a friend and you heard her tell them “Y/N can help you with putting the clothes together! She studies fashion. Yeah, not a doctor but she’s doing a good job” you would be a billionaire.

You remember how shocked your parents were when you told them that you wanted to switch majors. How could they not when you told them that you decided to leave med school for fashion?

But you wouldn’t have taken the step if it weren’t for your longtime best friend – Harry.

You and Harry have been best friends for as long as you could remember, having had been your friend long before you even wore the hijab and you remember when you were 16 after deciding to wear it, having sat him down one day and explained to him what it meant.

He has always been supportive of you, and you, of him. You lost count of how many times you had helped him with his wardrobe choices, and every time he was more thankful that he had someone who was daring with fashion and saw it as he did; a form of expression.

You had a good relationship with his fans long before you decided to enter the fashion blogging world, and maybe fans liked you more because of how carefree and natural you were and how innocent and supportive your friendship with Harry looked. Hell, he talked about you whenever he mentioned his family and if that said anything, it would be that he saw you a Styles, a sister.

It was always fun whenever you styled Harry for an appearance, only so the both of you could sit back and watch their tweets and comments, always freaking out and gushing over how good he looked because of your fashion choices, adding memes along the way.

“How does that look?” You asked him, holding a dress on a hanger of you, looking down at the vibrant green color.

Harry, with 3 shopping bags in his hands and his eyeglasses on, shifted his weight on one leg before bringing his finger to his chin and he looked at the dress. “Think it makes your skin look a little dull, not pop.”

“You think so?” You mumbled as you moved to a mirror, nodding, “You’re right. God, I hate green.”

He chuckled, “No you don’t.”

“Olive green is nice, when we’re talking about trousers and skirts but tops and dresses? No, thanks. Looks good on you though, you lucky bastard.”

“Watch out, you’re looking a little green now, love.” Harry teased, a dimpled smile on his face.

“Oh, shut up, I’m not jealous of you.” You scoffed jokingly, fixing your headscarf to avoid looking at him, “Maybe a little.” You added, laughing quietly as Harry laughed.

“I think they have a beige one, hold on.” Harry’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he looked around before walking towards a rack, searching through the colors of dresses for the one color he knew his best friend loved. “Ha!” Harry smiled in triumph as he reached the color, getting your size before holding it out for you.

You sighed in relief, “You are an angel. Sometimes.”

Harry rolled his eyes at you with a chuckle, handing you the dress before you both agreed to pay and head somewhere to have dessert for a treat.

You smiled at the cashier, watching as her eyes widened as she looked from Harry to you. “How are you?” You asked politely.

“Oh my God. Y-You’re-“ She looked at you before looking at Harry who smiled at her, too, “And you’re-“

“And you’re Sasha. Hi, Sasha.” You giggled, reading her name from her tag, “You know this goof?” You joked, pointing at Harry, “Was following me everywhere here,” you cupped a hand around your mouth, though still speaking at a tone louder than a whisper, “Think he’s a bit of a creep.”

“Hey!” Harry whined but laughed, “Don’t listen to her, love. She’s only doing that because I look better in green.”

It wasn’t unusual for you and Harry to tease each other, and it wasn’t new either that you did it in front of people. Perhaps it’s why people enjoyed being around the both of you together.

“You’re both adorable,” the girl laughed, finally calming from her moment, “I’m a huge fan of the both of you. And Y/N, congratulations on your new collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. I think it’s amazing that you’re helping in representing more people in the industry.”

Your mischievous expression changed to a softer one, your hand going to your heart as your eyes twinkled.

“Right? Bloody talented that one is.” Harry smiled proudly as he glanced down at you, “Making history as she goes.”

“Aw, stop it, you two. I’m going to cry.” You cooed, “Thank you, Sasha. This means the world to me. Think this made my entire week.”

“It’s no problem,” she beamed, “I wouldn’t let you pay if I owned the store but…” she frowned.

“Hey, no. It’s your right. We all have bills to pay and as much as it would be nice, favors don’t really pay the rent.” You smiled with a shrug, handing her the money.

“Okay, true.” Sasha agreed, packing your dress before handing you the bag. “It was amazing meeting the both of you.”

“You think it’s okay if we get a picture together?” You asked before looking at Harry, “Can you take a picture of us?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Oh my God,” Sasha fanned herself before letting out a deep breath, shakily handing Harry her phone, “This is the best day I have ever lived in since I started working here.”

You giggled at that, watching her move from behind the cashier before she reached you. The both of you stood beside each other, you wrapping both arms around her as you smiled, her beaming as Harry took the picture – he took 3, just in case the girl didn’t like one of them – before you reached your hand out.

“Here, let me take your picture.” You said, taking the phone from Harry before exchanging places so you can snap a picture of him and the girl together.

As if to tease you, Harry made the same pose as yours, causing you to roll your eyes before you jokingly told him to “be original” to which he wrapped one arm around Sasha while the other was close to his face as he threw a peace sign – a classic Harry pose.

After hugging Sasha goodbye, you and Harry were on your way to his car to go somewhere else to have dessert and maybe spill the latest tea like you always did.

“I’m not so sure about working with them,” You said after taking a sip from your smoothie, resting your chin on your hand as you talked about a brand that had reached you for a collab, “Think they want it so they can look cool, you know? They don’t really care about the message or the representation of hijabi women and I just don’t want to get treated like the next cool trend and hey! Bonus for having a rockstar best friend. It’s ridiculous.”

Harry’s arms were crossed on the table, face showing concentration as he listened intently and nodded in understatement. “I get it. Sorry about that, love,” he sighed, “Wish I can do something about it. Feel helpless when I can’t seem to find any solution to offer.”

“Harry,” you rolled your eyes, “You’ve done enough for people. Besides, you’re growing and learning. This is the best solution.”

“Yeah?” He asked reluctantly, “Just sucks whenever I find the shit they write to you online. Don’t know how you do it.”

“What? Getting told that I’m oppressed even though it was my choice and the racist comments?” You chuckled a little, “Got bothered by it enough already. Just sick of justifying my choices. It’s like,” you thought before your eyebrows went up before pointing at him, “It’s like people with you and how you dress. The mean comments about your choices and the head-scratching comments about why you wear nail polish.”

“Took me long enough to feel comfortable in my skin.” Harry admitted, sighing with a shake of his head, “Wish people would just let people be.”

You shrugged, “Mean people are everywhere, it’s mostly about not letting yourself be one now. I actually feel like we’re at a time when people are unlearning most shit they blindly followed by older generations, the racism, the sexism, the double standards. This is generation is just,” you smiled, “It’s phenomenal, don’t you think?”

Harry joined in, giving you a smile and a nod, “It is. I’m where I am because of all these young people. Music legends are legends and are basically worshipped because of all the young women of their days. Sometimes I can’t even wrap my head around how societies belittle these people so much.”

“Right? They care more about shaping them than helping them unleash all this potential. It’s why they’re so angry sometimes, but so driven. Like, they had enough of silence and are now taking matters in their own hands.” You said, “But to be honest, it’s can be kind of sad sometimes.”

“How so?” Harry asked, sipping his smoothie.

“Like now you have people as young as 13 doing what world leaders should be doing. Really young people trying to teach older people why sexism is wrong and how they can help the Black Lives Matter movement and why they should. They shouldn’t be defending rights and protesting and dying, they should be worrying about their moms not cutting the crust off of their toasts or maybe some high school crushes. But it has to be done, you know? And if world leaders are staying silent, somebody needs to change that even if they’re only 13 for the love of God.”

That was the thing about yours and Harry’s friendship. While you both bickered like children all the time, you also always had heart-to-heart conversations that you couldn’t have with anyone and everyone. It was always comforting.

There were times when you didn’t agree with each other but it was never embarrassing or immature, you’d both state your point of views and find common grounds. It was never about winning an argument because you never could call it an “argument”, just a talk.

“How’s the tour rescheduling going?” You asked, the both of you drifting to another conversation.

//

harrystyles: Proud of you. Always.

..

fan0 CRYING

fan1 power bffs don’t @ me

fan2 are they dating? pls say yes

↳ fan3 when will people stop ruining friendships with shit like that?

yourinstagram are u sick?

↳ fan4 me when my family is nice to me

↳ fan5 me when my friends invite me to places

↳ harrystyles …

yourinstagram you know it all, H. you’re the best best friend anyone could ever wish for. cool photographer too. ❤❤❤

↳ fan7 HE TOOK THAT PICTURE HE’S SO TALENTED

↳ fan8 Hélène Pambrun who? We only know ✨Harry Styles✨

↳ yourinstagram don’t do my girl Hélène dirty like that

annetwist Looking beautiful! 😘

↳ fan8 I love this friendship sm

↳ yourinstagram says you! miss you loads xx

yourinstagram: harry out here looking like mr. pringles on a sour cream & onion can and i love it

..

fan0 HAHAH DEAD

fan1 ADHQWJDIEFIGHEFH HONTENT

fan2 y/n taking the piss at harry is my favorite thing

fan3 10 years of y/n giving us the hontent we need and deserve

↳ yourinstagram happy to provide

user aren’t muslims not allowed to drink wine?? why is harry holding one and why are YOU taking a picture of it? Lol

↳ fan4 leave her alone

↳ fan5 you know she’s free to do anything she wants, right?

↳ yourinstagram this is the amazing chef Massimo Bottura’s dark cherry balsamic vinegar but go off

↳ fan6 ENDED

fan7 This friendship makes me sleep better at night

harrystyles Is this because I look good in green?

↳ fan8 AJDGFKJWOI SHOW OFF

↳ fan9 I love them so much

↳ yourinstagram i dislike you sometimes

↳ fan10 ^ me because harry won’t release studio versions of medicine and anna

↳ harrystyles Love you, too.

 yourinstagram: silky

..

fan0 LOOKS LIKE HARRY’S OUTFIT FROM TOUR IN NETHERLANDS

fan1 imagine looking like that

fan2 this is an au where harry is a hijabi woman

[harrystyles liked this comment.]

↳ fan3 OH MY GOD HE LIKED

↳ fan4 he: confirmed

harrystyles A look.

↳ fan5 I want to thank the queen y/n for teaching harry online lingo

[locke-writes]

Being Oblivious To Their Flirting

Requested By: @rafaelina-casillas​

Tag List: @kamalahkhan​ / @scarletsoldierrr​ / @moonlit-imagines​ /  @randomfandomimagine​ / @groovyfluxie​ / @andreasworlsboring101​ / @ofthedewthesunlight​ / @lotsoffandomimagines​ / ask to be added

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Loki, Stephen Strange, Vision, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner

Bucky honestly thinks flirting has changed because nothing he's doing is working. He's been under HYDRA control for most of his life that his memories are obscured and a lot of what he remembers is from back in the 40s. To him it makes sense that maybe what he's doing in an attempt to flirt is just not registering because it can't be construed as flirting. He tries asking Steve but since Steve doesn't date much (or at all), there's no much advice he can offer Bucky. To Bucky it's more likely that the way he's flirting is wrong rather than you not realizing that he's flirting. In the end he doesn't piece together that you haven't realized he's flirting, he just decides that maybe being upfront is more of a benefit to him now than it might have been years ago.

Loki thinks that something is wrong with him, with his magic. Because you have to recognize his flirting don't you? Because he's being very obvious isn't he? Except he's being obvious by Loki standards which definitely aren't everyone else's standards. He'll put on the biggest show in front of you and everyone yet still you don't get that he's flirting with you. This is just who Loki is, that's what you've managed to think this entire time. You've heard the stories and read the myths and there's nothing unexpected here, this is just Loki acting as Loki does. Over time it becomes clearer to Loki that you just aren't going to get what he is attempting and that maybe there should be a different approach. To him it doesn't register that his flirting has gone unnoticed.

Stephen believes that he's always been bad at flirting, it doesn't hit him that you might just be oblivious to his flirting. He's been cocky, been over confident, but never been good at flirting. It's something he's still going to try and he'll try absolutely every trick in the book that he knows in an effort to flirt with you. Of course being straight forward doesn't cross his mind, he's worried he'd make a fool of himself by asking you out in the easiest way possible. At this point everyone is fed up with his flirting and want to tell you how Stephen feels about you but they won't. Stephen's just going to continue going in circles until finally it registers that maybe he's bad at flirting sure, but maybe you also are oblivious to his terrible flirting.

Vision really has no sense of flirting. He understands the concept but his flirting has simply been gained from the knowledge he once had as JARVIS. He understands the concept, he's received tips from Tony, but the execution of it all has fallen flat. You being oblivious to his flirting isn't that hard because his flirting  is hard to recognize as flirting. It's more entertaining for everyone else to watch Vision become frustrated that his point isn't getting across rather than feeling bad that the flirting isn't being recognized. Eventually this leads to Vision questioning you about your lack of response to his flirting which opens up a conversation about the fact that you didn't even realize he was flirting.

Tony becomes increasingly frustrated and as his frustration increases, his attempts to flirt just grow in size. At first it was simple pick up lines that you didn't register and a combination of compliments that on your part didn't seem to have any ulterior motive. When Tony sees that isn't going to work he thinks you're just waiting for some bigger gesture and so the more you ignore him (in his mindset) the bigger the flirting effort becomes. He has these grand gestures planned, schedules meetings with Pepper to go over attempts at flirting with you, runs simulations with JARVIS to analyze possible reactions. Every resource he has he'll attempt to use until one day someone points out to Tony that maybe you aren't realizing he's flirting with you.

Bruce fumbles over his flirting more than he'd like. He isn't used to flirting and he really isn't used to putting himself out there what with Hulk and all. If anyone can handle the fact that he's not just Bruce Banner then that person is you. The only problem is that he can't seem to get everything across in order to show you that he's interested in you. Bruce is more the person who would prefer to be more direct with you in the first place, worried that his flirting isn't that great and can easily be missed. When it seems that this is the case he gets frustrated that he didn't just attempt to be straight forward with you from the get go.