#at least I’m getting better at photoshop

[bygonethreadsstudio]

“La Belle Beach Jacket” Knitting pattern published in Clark’s ONT Knitting and Crochet Book #6 in 1919

Pattern is available in my Etsy shop here: BygoneThreadsStudio

[shaunashipman]

i told my friend i would find him some beginner’s giffing tutorials, but all the one’s i could find were either years out of date, used a method that made me go “huh”, or incorporated ready-made actions. all perfectly fine, but if i’m sending someone a tutorial i’d rather it be one for a method i understand enough to help with.

so, here is a beginner’s guide to giffing, as told by cleo, a neurotic, detailed, and organization happy individual. there will be many pictures.

this tutorial will strictly cover the gif making portion of the process, from getting your screencaps to importing in photoshop, resizing/cropping, and sharpening. i was going to briefly go over colouring, but tumblr only allows 30 images and i ran out of space, so i'll have to do a separate colouring tutorial (which also means i can go into more detail, yay).

downloading the videos, whether direct downloads or t*rrents, is also another tutorial. but make sure you’re using at least 1080p, and the bigger the file the better. a single episode of a ~45 minute show should ideally be 2gb at minimum. a full length movie should ideally be at least 5gb. imo 2160p/4k files are not really necessary; the quality increase is negligible, and it takes a lot longer to screencap them. if you do use 2160p/4k files, try and make sure it is not HDR, as those videos are often washed out and require a different screencapping program to fix.

Programs

I am using a cracked version photoshop 2022, but whichever version you use should be pretty much the same

Actions. not a program but a function inside photoshop, where you essentially record a series of steps, and then you can simple play that action when needed and those steps will repeat, which saves considerable time when giffing. I will note which parts of the tutorial are best saved as actions, and explain how to create actions at the end.

For screencapping i use kmplayer it’s free and very simple to use

not at all a necessary program, but i use freecommander instead of the regular windows file explorer as i find the dual panels very helpful when moving the frames around

Screencapping

there are many programs you can use to get the screencaps from a video, a lot are basically the same, some are better suited for particular video file types. kmplayer is a very simple program to use, but afaik the capture function only works on mkv. files (the only other file type i’ve tried is mp4, which plays but does not capture)

once you open your video file in kmplayer, we’re going to open the advanced capture window, found under capture→advanced capture, or alt+v

the window should look like this

A-this is where all your screencaps will save to. i recommend making a specific folder for all your screencaps

B-make sure this is set to png for best quality

C-this is the number of screencaps you want to take, guesstimate how many you will need, keeping in mind that most videos are approx. 25 frames per second, and you should always cap a bit more than you think just in case

D-make sure “every/frame” is selected and set to 1

E-make sure “original” is selected, resizing will be done in photoshop

F-make sure “correct aspect ratio” is unselected

go to the part of the video you want to gif, and pause it just slightly before that part starts, then select ‘start’. the screencaps will start to save to the file, no need to play the video, and will automatically stop once it has capped the number of frames you have chosen

and here is how they look inside freecommander. i have already made a folder for this gifset, which is on the left. now you’re going to make a folder for each individual gif. i’ve decided this one will have four gifs, so create four folders (i just label them gif 01, gif 02, etc) and then move the frames for each gif into their respective folder

while you can always delete frames once the gif is made if it’s too big, i prefer to make sure i have the correct number of frames before i start. the gif limit on tumblr is 10mb, so it’s good to look at the scene/shots you’re giffing and decide approx. what dimensions your gif will be. full size gifs have a width of 540px and your choice of height. if you go for a square gif (540x540) you can usually fit 40-50 frames. if you’re planning for a smaller height (such as 540x400) you can usually fit more around 50-60 frames.

and here are the caps inside the folders. another reason i like freecommander is it’s ability to “multi-rename” files. the default file explorer can do so as well, but you have to do each folder individually and you can’t customize the new names as much. either way, i prefer to rename the files to each gif just to scratch my organization itch.

Introduction to Photoshop

NOTE: i have changed many of my keyboard shortcuts in photoshop to ones i prefer, so any you see listed in the menus of these screenshots are likely not the original shortcuts. you can see and change them yourself under edit→keyboard shortcuts

quick run-down of the photoshop interface. i have adjusted placement of some things from the default so this isn’t exactly how your photoshop will look when you open it, but everything is labelled, either on top or by hovering over the element. once you’re more familiar and have your process down i would recommend adjusting the workspace to suit your process.

A-your main tools and colour selector. almost all the tools have either several tools in one, or have alternate options which can be accessed by right-clicking the tool. you can also hover over each tool to get a pop-up with a quick explanation of the tool

B-additional “windows” such as history, properties, actions etc. can be opened from the window menu at the top and moved around with click-and-drag. history and properties should already be there by default, but probably on the right hand side instead. each window opens and closes with a click

C-the timeline window where the gif is made. the white square is a single frame of a gif, and on the row below is the play controls. this will not be there by default and will need to be opened from the window menu

D-adjustment layers for colouring

E-layers box. this is where the screencaps will show, along with adjustment layers, text layers, etc.

Opening Screencaps in Photoshop

go to file → open navigate to the folder for your first gif, select the first screencap, and check the image sequencing, and click open

a window will open labelled frame rate. set it to 23.976 and select ok

the screencaps will open in the timeline view, seen as the blue panel line at the bottom, and the screencaps are combined into video layer in the layer panel on the right.

Creating Frames

technically, you could go right into your cropping/resizing and sharpening from here, however if you do that directly then you have to keep the screencaps in the folders you have, otherwise if you save and re-open the gif it won’t move.

this next part should be made into an action.

at the top right of the timeline window, click four vertical lines to open the menu and select convert frames → flatten frames into clips. depending on how long the gif is, this can take a minute.

the layers panel should now look like this, each frame of the gif is now its own layer.

the very bottom layer will be the video group. this can be deleted as we’ve made the frames from it

in same timeline menu as before, right under “flatten frames into clips”, select “convert to frame animation” and the screen should now look like this. this will be the end of this action.

Cropping and Resizing

with widescreen footage, sometimes it’s just shorter than 1080p, but most of the time it will have the black bars on the top and bottom, and frustratingly, they’re not always the same size. it’s good to save the most common sizes as actions.

to find the size of the actual screen you turn on the rulers under view→rulers and check the height. then open your canvas size dialogue box under image→canvas size and change the height, making sure pixels are selected in the dropdown. yellowjackets is what i call “xtra wide” which is 800px. “normal” widescreen is 960px.

next we’re going to resize the caps. i also make actions for this, one for each potential gif size. open the image size dialogue box under image→image size and change the height of the image to your desired height plus 4 pixels. these extra pixels are to prevent a line at the top and/or bottom of your completed gif. now re-open the canvas size box, change the width to 540px, and the height to the desired, removing those 4 extra pixels. i have set this one to 540x540. this is where you would end the resizing action.

and as you can see she is off-screen. select the top layer, hold down shift and select the bottom layer to select them all, and with the move tool (the very top one) activated, click and drag to move it left to right as needed to centre the figure/s. as you move it a box will appear telling you how far you are moving it in any direction. make sure you are only moving it left or right, not up or down. to be certain of that, open the properties tab.

the y axis is your up/down, x is left/right. for this gif the y needs to stay at -98. you can also manually change the x axis number instead of dragging the image. also helpful for making sure multiple gifs of the same shot are all positioned the same.

the layer are currently ordered with the 1st at the top and the last at the bottom. with all layers still selected, go to layers→arrange→reverse. the last layer will be on top now. if there is movement in your gif, check if you need to alter the position again to make sure the movement properly centred. but once you are satisfied with the position, the layers should be in “reverse” position, of last layer on top. this is to ensure that the gif plays forwards.

Converting Gif

this should also be made into an action, going through sharpening process

in the timeline menu, select “make frames from layers”

the frames are now populated in animation window. in timeline, click select all frames. go to any of the frames on the bottom and click the little arrow beneath it, select other, and enter 0.07 seconds. this is not a necessary step, as we will have to adjust the frame rate at the end, most likely to 0.05, but if we don’t change the frame rate here, then when we play the gif while working on it to check how it looks, it will play very fast.

in the same menu at the right of the timeline box, select “convert to video timeline”

then, making sure all layers in the panel on the right are selected, go to filter→convert for smart filters. this turns all the layers into a single smart object.

but if you look where i’ve circled, it says the gif is 99 frames long*, when in fact there are only 47. if you are making regular “scene” gifs, basic colouring and maybe a caption, this is fine and does not need to be fixed, it will play at the same speed. if you want to change it to display (approx.**) the correct number of frames, go to the timeline menu on the right, select “set timeline frame rate” and change it from 30 to 15

*if it does not list a frame number by 4 digits but instead says 5f, 10f, 15f, etc. go to the timeline menu on the right, select panel options, and change timeline units to “frame number”

**the reason why this is only approximate is because the actual frame rate is not a a whole number, so when changing the frame rate it isn’t a 1:1, and 47 frames becomes 50 frames. the extra frames are removed at the very end, but if you are not doing any edits that require working frame by frame, there’s no need to change the frame rate here at all

Sharpening

this is, as it sounds, making the gif look sharper. to start go to filter→sharpen→smart sharpen and this window opens. play around with the dials to see what each ones does. the below settings are good for most high quality footage.

Amount-basically, how sharp do you want it

Radius-hard to explain, but this essentially sets how deep the lines of the sharpness are

Reduce Noise-smooths the pixels

once you click okay your single layer should look like this.

you’re going to then right click the layer and select duplicate layer. with the top layer selected, go to filters→blur→gaussian blur and set the radius to 1.0 pixels.

then change the opacity of the top layer to 10%. this is to essentially soften the sharpening a bit, as if it’s too sharp it can make the colouring wonky. this opacity level can also be changed depending on need.

finally, select both layers, right click, and click “group from layers”. your gif is now fully made and sharpened.

Colouring

yeah. ran out of image space. but this is where you would do your colouring and add a caption or any other text.

Converting & Exporting

when all your colouring is done, you’re ready to start saving your gif. you can do it directly from your current file, but that means essentially losing your colouring, as all those layers will be merged together. i am someone who likes to save my psd’s (photoshop files), at least until i’ve posted the gifs, in case i need to fix something in the colouring. if you’d like to keep yours as well, open the history tab and select the first icon at the bottom “create new document from current state”. this will open a copy of the file in a new tab. save the original file and you can close it, continuing all work on the copy file.

select your all your layers, convert them into a smart object from filter->convert for smart filters, then follow the same steps from Creating Frames above. once you're back in frame animation, select Create Frames From Layers, and once again set the frame animation speed.

most people set the speed to 0.05. i personally set it to 0.05 or 0.06 depending on the length of the gif. check how it looks at 0.05, if it seems too fast, try 0.06.

now to save. go to file->export->save for web (legacy). the number is the lower left corner is your gif size, it needs to be under 10mb or else you'll have to delete some frames.

the right panel is your save options. the preset dropdown has some built-in settings, but you won't use them because (at least on my version) the presets only go up to 128 colours, instead of the full 256. the 3 i've highlighted in green are the only one's you'll adjust as needed. the settings below i use for i'd say 90% of my gifs. i'll sometimes change the adaptive dropdown to one of the other options, ocaissionaly the diffusion, and rarely the no transparency dither, but play around with them and see how they change the look of the gif.

when you're satisfied with the look of your gif, click save at the bottom right of the window.

voilà! you now have a gif.

Actions

this is your actions panel. the triangle on the left side is the button to open it. remember, if it's not already there, go to windows->actions to open it.

the buttons on the bottom, left to right, are stop recording, record action, play action, new folder, new action, and delete.

as you can see, i have different folders for my resizing, sharpening, captions, saving, and my 1 step (temporary) actions. to run an action is very simple; click the action, and click play.

to create an action, click the new action button, a box will pop up, give the action a name, and click record. the record button at the bottom of the action window will turn red. now perform all the steps you want it to record, and click stop recording. keep in mind it will record every single thing you do, including in other open files, so if the action you plan to record will have a lot of steps, it might help to write them down first.

to modify an action, select the step in the action above where you'd like the new step to be, hit record, perform the step, stop recording. select the step you'd like to delete, and click the delete button.

steps within the actions can be clicked and dragged, both within that action and moved to other actions. actions can also be moved between folders.

[the-mandawhor1an]

Have a taste - Mand'alor!Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

reader can look however you want her to, there are no physical features mentioned, the images are for vibes only

Synopsis: Din is mesmerized by the changes your body has gone through after giving birth to your first child. He's taking special interest in your boobs this fateful evening.

Words: 1.7k

THIS IS ACTUAL, EXPLICIT SMUT! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, THIS IS YOUR WARNING!

A/N: I blame unhinged discord convos for this. My first proper smutty smut. This was interesting to say the least. Yeah, the images are medicore photoshop, they display the vibes perfectly, though. Thank you @evolnoomym for beta-ing and encouraging me that this filth is not utter shit.

Tags: explicit language; unprotected PiV; lactation/breastfeeding kink; itty bitty breeding kink; established relationship; reader is afab and has given birth; reader has boobs; reader is a force user;

divider and support banner made by @saradika-graphics; title banner made by yours truly

Having children sounded so hard in theory. Exhausting, long days and short nights with constant disturbances. Long recovery, emotions, pain. In reality, you were fortunate to say, it turned out so much better. 

The physical part was easy. You were a Jedi after all, so your body could bounce back pretty fast – thank the force for healing powers. Although, it was only made possible because of the devotion of your husband to support you where he could. Now that his son was here, he was glued to the newborn whenever you needed to rest, ensuring ‘mama’ was healthy. 

To be fair, Mand’alor Djarin enjoyed boasting about his son and how proud he was of you enduring all of the discomfort during your pregnancy, all of your pains and cravings, and even the birth. You were the strongest warrior he’s ever known. He had told you more than once. 

He loved you deeply and dearly, as he loved the child you had given him. A little mix of him and you. While babies were mostly soft and squishy and their facial features were barely visible, your son had his father’s eyes. And his nose looked suspiciously like your own, just smaller and still a little chubby. Every time you saw Din with your son, how in love he was with this small human, you wanted to do it all over again. 

And you would. 

With the child fed and sound asleep, you and your husband finally had some much needed time for yourselves. Time to focus on the little joys of marital life you had craved for so long.

You sat on his lap, his cock deeply embedded in you, as you rolled your hips against his. He was propped up against some pillows so he was halfway upright, both of your hands on his chest while his held onto your hips. Perhaps it was too soon to return to having sex, but your body was technically healed, no matter how recently you might have given birth. It couldn’t be soon enough, you had been yearning for him ever since your belly had become too big to find any comfortable position to make love in.

As good as it felt to finally get what you wanted, Din’s demeanor was off-putting, to say the least. Usually he was very vocal, blessing you with moans and little praises, which were completely missing this time around. As soon as you had sat down on him and lifted your shirt, it was like he was somewhere else entirely. You had hoped he would fall back into his ways, but no matter how hard you squeezed him, nothing besides a single grunt had escaped his lips. 

Frustrated, you sighed, halted your movements and looked down to his face. »Do I not feel good?« you asked and rested a hand on his cheek. Like he was shaken out of his trance, his dark eyes found you and he furrowed his brows. »I’m sorry, cyar’ika. I’m…« He didn’t finish his sentence, unsure what to tell you.

Something was wrong and it stung a bit that he didn’t tell you. »Do you want me to stop?« you asked. His hands detached from your hip to caress over your skin, his thumbs tracing over your upper belly. »No.« You huffed and tilted your head to the side. »I’m getting mixed signals, cyare. What are you thinking about?« 

His hands wandered upwards until they rested just under your boobs. He lifted them gently, well aware that you were probably sensitive. They had grown significantly now that you were breastfeeding, but the weight that temporarily lifted off of you made you sigh and lean into his touch. 

You felt his cock twitch inside of you when he touched your supple flesh. »Do you like them?« you asked when you finally connected the dots. You felt him scan every last bit of your chest and continued »I’m sorry, I’m a little lopsided. Ad’ika only really latches onto the left one.« »Do they hurt?« His eyes were glued to your breasts while you talked. You didn’t mind as you finally had his attention. »The nipple is a bit sore. And the right one … well. I feel like it’ll burst soon. I’m a little afraid I will get an obstruction if he doesn’t accept that one soon.« 

Din carefully squeezed your breasts, but flinched when you whined. He just wanted to feel them, their weight and how tight they were, it was never his intention to hurt you. Still, that little squeeze made him groan. »Does an obstruction hurt?« he asked. You nodded. »It hurts and I could get an infection from that. Not necessarily life threatening but I’d like to avoid it at all cost.« His eyes were still staring at your breast and you chuckled. »Do you want a taste, my love?« His eyes shot up to yours again, shimmering, reminding you of a puppy. »You’re joking, right?« You shook your head. »I know a hungry baby when I see one, believe me. Besides… if that’s what’ll keep me from being in pain, go ahead.« 

»But… I’m not…« Din stammered, flustered by your offer. Maybe you were a little more relaxed about that than he was. You were terribly horny and if that’s what got him off, why not? It’s not like you would tell anyone. 

You placed your right hand onto his, effectively guiding him to massage your boob until you felt a drop of milk collecting on your nipple. You picked it up with your index finger and guided it to his mouth. »Open up,« you purred and watched in delight as he parted his lips. Your finger slipped past and touched his tongue. You felt another twitch in his cock as you pulled back. A second drop of milk fell from you and dripped onto his stomach. 

»How is it?« 

You were curious. It’s not like your son could tell you what it tasted like. And to be fair, tasting yourself is nothing that had come to your mind until now. »You’re sweet,« he groaned. Undeniably, that turned him on, to have you dripping for him from more than one spot now. He straightened his back to kiss along your collarbone, slowly working his lips down your breast. »Sweeter than your cunt. Intoxicating.« The stubble on his face was a little rough for your skin, but you liked the subtle burn it left. His tongue dragged over your nipple before another drop could fall, and you both softly moaned. 

»Please, fuck me cyar’ika,« he pleaded as he latched onto your breast, sucking until you felt some of the pressure release. 

As if you were distracted by the situation and needed to be pulled back to reality, his hands grabbed your hips again and guided you to move while he growled against your flesh. Now you twitched around him, earning another groan and a »move,« before he practically buried half of his face in your breast. 

Holding onto his shoulder and the back of his head, you lifted your hips and moved as best as you could without making him have to detach from you. Something about him hanging onto you for dear life, holding onto your hips so hard it would leave bruises and growling whenever he feared you’d unlatch him made your heart flutter and your orgasm approach so much faster. 

You weren’t the only one affected by this situation, as his deep moans vibrated into your chest and you felt him writhe underneath you. His hands practically slammed you down onto his cock, the tip kissing your cervix just how you needed. You wouldn’t last long like this, and he wouldn’t either. As much as you might regret the roughness you were subjecting your body to in this current moment, something primal took over. You were too sensitive and feeling every breath he took, every little noise he made, on your skin sent shivers down your whole body. You felt the tense buildup in your core, your breath quickening as more and more noises stumbled from your puffy lips. 

»Cyar’ika I won’t last long,« you managed to press forward in between moans, only hearing grunts from him in response. »I love you so much. So much,« you whined, overtaken by the sensations and tears forming in your eyes. You’ve never felt so overstimulated before. »Please give me another baby, Din. Please,« you begged your husband in desperation, not able to stop the babbling as you feared you would lose your mind. 

That was it. His nails dug into your skin as he pulled you down, reaching as deep as he could, pushing his hip up from the mattress to nudge himself right into your cervix as he pumped his seed inside of you. The noises he made were feral, somewhere in between a growl, a whine, and a muffled moan, increasing in volume with every twitch he made inside of you. 

You didn’t come, but you were fine with that for the time being. Your thoughts raced around the little confession you had made just now. You knew it was too soon to try for another baby and this was the first time you had ever spoken that wish out loud. Judging by his reaction he was on board, but you needed to talk about that in earnest. 

With a pop he unlatched from your breast and looked up at you. It seemed like tears were sparkling in the corners of his eyes as well. »You want another baby?« he whispered. His voice was so soft and fragile, it almost made you cry. »When the time is right,« you replied and cupped his cheeks in your hands, resting your forehead against his. »I doubt I can get pregnant again so quickly.« 

He straightened his back to kiss you. You tasted the remainder of yourself on his tongue, and he was right – you were sweet. When your lips parted, he sounded a little more like himself again, warm and raspy. »You didn’t cum, my love.« 

»It’s okay,« you reassured him and pressed another kiss onto his lips. »But I want you to,« he groaned and pressed more kisses along your jaw, nibbling on your skin in between kisses. »I want to fuck another baby into you right now,« he whispered against your skin. »I’d like to see you try.« »Oh I will try, I promise.« 

little translation for the Mando'a phrases:

Cyar'ika - Darling

Cyare - Beloved

Ad'ika - endearing term for a child

[rstarsims3]

► 4t3 - Island Living - Mermaid Stuff - DF & non-DF

Alright, so...this is not as much a conversion as it is a mash up (a.k.a. Frankenmesh). Here’s what I mean by that:

- Meshes: I took the tails from TS3 and combined them with the fins from TS4 (because the S4 tails have a different UV and in order to fit TS3 they would’ve needed to be re-UV-mapped);

- Textures: a combination of TS3 and TS4 textures -TS3 for tails and TS4 for fins (only because the S4 textures look horrendous in TS3, at least the ones for tails do).

PLEASE READ the details I listed under CREATOR NOTES bellow !!! 

Details:

Original meshes by EA/Maxis, I just put them together;

Ages: Teen to Elder, both genders;

All LODs & Morphs;

Disabled for random (for non-defaults);

Custom normal maps included;

Custom thumbnails for both Launcher and CAS (though the game might ignore them and generate normal thumbnails instead;

Format: package files;

Programs: S4Studio, Blender, Milkshape, Photoshop, MeshToolKit, TSRW, S3PE.

!!! The Sims 3 Island Paradise required (for everything except the male tops, those are base game).

What does this upload contain? (so glad you asked!)

2 mermaid tails named Fin One and Fin Two (DF & non-DF) from TS4;

2 female tops - non-DF - these were made by me because of -again- questionable textures n TS4 that don’t match TS3 art-style;

1 male top (converted from TS4 <-> non-DF because by design the male mermaids in TS3 don’t have a default mermaid top);

1 (pair of) stockings - DF M & F (made by me; will replace the “markings” your mermaid sims have on their legs while on land).

EDIT: On a anon's request,  I added a NON-DF version for the accessory scales. It's base game compatible, has 3 presets with 3 recolorable channels and is available for both genders from teen to elder.

Edit 16.07.2023: uploaded the male kelp top as accessory as requested by @dezailes2cochon. 

!!! FOR Default Replacements install only ONE OF EACH !!!

Polycounts:

Tails AF: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.6k)

Tails AM: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.1k)

Tails TF: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.6k)

Tails TM: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.1k)

Tails EF: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.5k)

Tails EM: Fin One - 1.9k; Fin Two - 1.7k (original - 1.1k)

Tops: same polycount as the original TS3 items (they’re just painted on the base mesh)

! The reason why I listed the polycounts like this is because it’s up to you to decide whether you’re comfortable using:

the default-replacements (and have all the mermaid sims in town use these items); or 

the non-default-replacements (in which case only your sims will use them as long as you’ve changed them in CAS). 

Specific Details (for non-defaults):

Tops, bottoms and accessories sections;

Presets: 

Tails: 5 presets; 4 recolorable channels

Tops Female: 5 presets each, 4 recolorable channels

Top male: 3 presets; 3 recolorable channels

Mermaid Stockings: 5 presets; 3 recolorable channels

Categories: Everyday, Sleepwear, Swimwear, 

Available for Maternity (female versions).

———————————————

!!! Attn !!! -> The default replacement tails and female tops use only the first preset because I haven’t found a way to integrate additional maps (UVs, in this case) to a default replacement. 

———————————————

Creator Notes:

Here’s where it gets interesting!

If you decide on using the DFs - INSTALL ONLY ONE OF EACH!!!!!!!

And to give you an example, here’s how I’m using the default replacements: Fin One for females (the DF files for TF, AF& EF), Fin Two for males (the DF files for TM, AM & EM), stockings for both genders (DF female & DF male).

As I said above the DF files have only the first preset. The non-DF have 5 presets, each with their own individual UV. Meaning I’ve made patterns out of the UVs to better emulate the patterns on the S4 tails. See bellow the difference in UVs and how they control the channels. It’s applicable to both tails and female tops. This is the only advantage of using the non-DFs in my opinion. But you can have both DFs (only one of each!!!) & non-DFs in your game at the same time and maybe use one of the patterns in the non-DF for that one “special” mermaid.

The stockings aren’t the best aligned to the UV, I’ll admit it. But any misalignments (only along the seams) can only be noticed if you look closely.

This appears to be a common issue when installing default-replacements (you’ll know this if you have DF hairs in your game). Upon loading the DFs for the first time you might encounter a texture issue where you can see the new mesh, but the texture has not loaded properly. Like in this example:

To fix it, you either take the sim in CAS with Nraas MC - Stylist (you don’t need to change anything, just get them in and out of CAS) and/or -if that doesn’t work- go ahead and save, quit and reload the game. This should fix the issues. 

For NON-DF tails it’s mandatory that you use invisible feet This is what I’m using: 1 or 2 (find the null feet files inside the download). But keep in mind that because of the way the package was constructed, Dashboard might display them as corrupted. That’s because of the age categories being all in one file and not separated. Haven’t caused issues in my game so far and I've been using them since December. Anyway, the important thing is you need invisible feet for NON-DFs.

Let me know if you encounter any issues or need some further clarification.

Watch the tails in action HERE

You can tag me so I can see your beautiful mermaids & reblog your posts!

DOWNLOAD: Patreon / MF / SFS

Download scales acc NON-DF: MF / SFS

Download male kelp top as acc:  MF / SFS

Hope you enjoy them!

Happy Simming!

———————————————

If you like my work and would like to support me, you can do so on my Patreon & Ko-fi.

———————————————

TOU 🔊 Do not re-upload my creations. Do not claim as your own. Do not put them anywhere up for download and don’t add adfly to my links.    

[vanilladollette]

Hiii! I was wondering if you can write about the glory characters (the bullies) x fem reader who makes snide remarks and when they try to roast her, she'll roast them back 20x more worst. And yeah that's all!

Love your writings hon♡ !!

The Glory Bullies x Snarky Fem! Reader

Author's note: I'm not good at making comebacks. We're just going to imagine that I made cool comebacks.

Park Yeon-jin

Initial Reaction: Yeon-jin is used to being the one in control. She loves to put others down to elevate herself. When you make snide remarks or sarcastic comments, she’s initially thrown off guard. She's used to having the last word.

Your Comeback: One time, she tries to mock your outfit, calling it "outdated" or "too cheap." Without missing a beat, you reply, "I didn’t know you were such an expert on fashion, considering your wardrobe looks like it’s stuck in a bad K-drama from 2000." Yeon-jin's jaw clenches, but she tries to hide her irritation with a fake smile.

Result: She tries to retaliate, but your comebacks always seem to hit a nerve. Yeon-jin doesn’t like being upstaged, especially by someone she considers beneath her, so she’ll often leave the scene fuming, plotting her next "attack," but deep down she knows you won this round.

Choi Hye-jeong

Initial Reaction: Hye-jeong might be the one who uses passive-aggressive jabs and does so with a smile, pretending to be sweet and innocent. She’s always a little less bold than Yeon-jin. When you make a sarcastic remark, it makes her uncomfortable because she doesn’t like someone fighting back.

Your Comeback: One day, Hye-jeong tries to comment on your "unpolished" appearance, saying, "You should really put more effort into your look. It’s sad to see someone so… plain." You give her a long, unimpressed look before quipping, "Well, at least I don’t have to rely on Photoshop to make my face look better." You can see her eyes widen—she wasn’t expecting that burn.

Result: Hye-jeong is visibly flustered, and she tries to hide it by laughing nervously. But in her mind, she’s already formulating more ways to "get back at you." However, you’ve put her in her place, and it stings more than she lets on.

Jeon Jae-jun

Initial Reaction: Jae-jun is arrogant, and he’s known for his cocky demeanor. He loves trying to make people feel small, often belittling them with his remarks. When you respond with a quick-witted jab, he’s caught off guard, but his pride refuses to let him admit it.

Your Comeback: He tries to get under your skin by saying something like, "You’re pretty cute for someone with zero personality. It must be tough being this boring." Without missing a beat, you reply, "Oh, I’m sorry, did you say something? I was too busy listening to the sound of your voice—that’s like nails on a chalkboard."

Result: Jae-jun pauses for a moment, clearly taken aback by how effortlessly you shut him down. His ego gets bruised, and he tries to retaliate, but you’re always one step ahead, twisting his words and making him look foolish. He might laugh it off, but deep down, he’s annoyed you just got the best of him.

Son Myeong-oh

Initial Reaction: Myeong-oh might think he’s tough and has the power to throw insults without consequence, but when you fire back, he’s quickly out of his depth. He’s more of a coward than a true bully, often hiding behind his insults because he knows people will usually back down. Your sharp comebacks throw him off balance.

Your Comeback: Myeong-oh tries to mock you, "You’re just another one of those 'intellectual' types who think they know everything, huh?" You shoot back, "Oh, I definitely know more than you. For instance, I know that your personality is as bland as the cafeteria food, and even that’s giving it too much credit."

Result: Myeong-oh’s expression shifts from smug to confused. He tries to cover it up by muttering something about you being too "sensitive," but the words are hollow. He quickly realizes that he can’t win when you turn his weak jabs back on him with such ease. His usual smug demeanor fades, and you know you’ve put him in his place. His cowardice becomes more apparent, and he’s left avoiding you as much as possible.

Lee Sa-ra

Initial reaction: Lee Sa-ra thrives on boredom, and nothing entertains her more than belittling others. She picks apart everything—appearance, status, interests—just to see people squirm. To her, it’s all a game, and she assumes she always has the upper hand. But when she tries this routine on you? Big mistake. Not only do you refuse to cower, but you annihilate her with comebacks so devastating she can barely function. Sa-ra can dish it out, but she definitely can’t take it.

Your comeback: Sa-ra flicks her hair, examining you with the same bored expression she wears when critiquing one of her unfinished paintings. “It’s honestly tragic that you have to walk around looking like... that. But hey, maybe in a few years, thrift store fashion will be trendy.” She expects you to roll your eyes and walk away. Maybe even get defensive. What she doesn’t expect is for you to smirk and fire back immediately. You feign a thoughtful expression. “That’s rich coming from you, Sa-ra. The only reason people even pretend to like your art is because they’re scared of your parents. Without them, you’re just another talentless hack with a superiority complex. Tell me, do you even enjoy painting, or is it just the only thing you can do without needing a personality?”

Result: The confidence in her smirk falters because deep down, she knows there’s truth in your words. She doesn’t paint for passion—she does it for validation. And you just exposed her greatest insecurity. Sa-ra hates you. Not because she actually despises you, but because she can’t win. Every time she tries to insult you, you make her regret it. She starts avoiding confrontations with you, but she’ll never admit it’s because she’s scared of what you’ll say next.

To be added to the Taglist

[disneyprincemuke]

midnights, 10.2 * mv1

you drop your head with a small smile. "only if you promise to pick me up?"

through his own tears, max laughs and throws his head back. it's a familiar line - one you said when he first asked you out all those years ago. he squeezes your hand and shakes it. "only if i get to send you home after."

but you sigh tiredly, resting your head in your hand. "are you sure about this, max? what if we only hurt each other more?"

"it's a risk i'm willing to take," he admits. "because it's you."

because he can't bear to watch you walk out of that door again without a fight. the pain he endured for months leading up to tonight felt like it could last forever - like he'd never get around to getting over you.

nothing in his life has ever been so clear: it's always been you, and it's always going to be you.

there's nobody else for him.

"and if we do, at least we know we tried," max whispers, dropping his head. "if it were up to me, i'd do this over and over and over again... if it means i get to be with you for the rest of my life."

“how sure are you of this, max?”

“i’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

"i love you," you smile, starting to feel yourself calm down. a weight has lifted off your shoulders and you instantly feel a tinge of churning in your stomach. "i missed you."

"i missed you more," max sighs, adjusting himself to wrap his arms around your smaller frame. "i miss the way you smell and the way you'd smile at me. i miss your bowl of scrunchies; you have a point making it the table's centrepiece, you know?"

you grin, leaning into his touch. "i'm an interior designer secretly."

"it's what made our home," he sucks in a deep breath, "a home. i hated being there when you were away."

"i hated my apartment without you in it," you confess, a hand holding onto his arm for dear life. “i missed you and the cats.”

you don't know how to convince yourself that this isn't a dream. you don't want to open your eyes and then realise that none of this is real and max is never yours again.

“we’ll do it right this time,” max mutters against your skin with a smile. “i promise i won’t give up on us. you're stuck with me."

"i wanna be stuck with you," you giggle, nuzzling your cheek into his skin. "i'm sorry i wasn't with you when you won the title this year."

"it's alright. we'll just photoshop a picture of us together," max presses a kiss to the top of your head and rubs the exposed skin on your arm, "and then we'll frame it as our biggest picture in the house. we'll tell our kids about it."

"how we photoshopped it?"

"no, how we most definitely celebrated my third title together. we had so much fun, don't you remember?"

"i must be having memory issues. i'm too young for that, max."

"i will take care of you, duh? i'll remind you every single day how much i love you, and you love me." he moves slightly, adjusting so that he can see your face. he brushes the hair away from your face and tucks it behind your ear. “just the way it should be.”

“i’m scared, max. what if we’re never the same again because of this?” it’s a concern that’s been eating at you for the past couple minutes. while being in max’s arms is an ideal situation, what if it’s different this time?

max knows what you mean. he’d also been scared of that. after all the words said, the hurt you caused each other, and those accusations that may never be fully solved — what if you never fall back into what you’re used to?

what if you fall into the same old routine where you’re just fighting again?

“we’ll figure something out, i’m sure,” max cups your cheeks, swiping away the tear stains on your face. “it won’t always be this way. it will get better, i promise.”

you close your eyes, leaning into his touch. a hand comes up to rest over his and you trace shapes on his skin. “i don’t want to hate you.”

“hey,” max’s stern yet gentle tone makes you open your eyes, meeting his cool blue eyes staring into yours with a glimmer you’re unable to fathom. “one step at a time. we will be okay. i will make sure of it.”

you nod and give him a small smile. “one step at a time.”

max smiles, squeezing your cheeks. “i love you.”

he pulls you in gently, one hand coming down to the back of your neck. “you are the only one for me,” he says against your lips, smiling before your lips touch.

you’re overwhelmed by the familiarity of his taste and the way he smells — his perfume bringing you back to a time where your relationship had been so simple. the way his hands feel against your skin and how his lips are moving along with yours fills you with unexplainable joy.

your hands clutch on the material of his shirt by his shoulders, having no idea how much you craved his touch and his sweet words.

he pulls away breathless, giggling dizzily when you lean forward to chase for his touch. he swipes his thumb over your lips to wipe himself off of you. he rests his foreheard on yours.

“do you want to go dance? i know you’re not much of it but we are at a party, after all.”

you smile toothily. you nudge your head to bump his nose. “only if it’s with you.”

taglist: @merchelsea @leclercdream @labelledejourr @laneyspaulding19 @lpab @graciewrote @hollie911 @thatsojasminesworld @mycenterfold @princessria127 @ironmaiden1313 @dl-yum @crlsummer @brekkers-whore @minkyungseokie @honethatty12 @barelytolerabled @vellicora @lokigoeschoki @avg-golden-retriever @lokigoeschoki @cherry-piee @eviethetheatrefreak @hrlzy @dear-fifi @telengraph

[dcdreamblog]

Perhaps you know better history then me, maybe this is photoshopped but I’m having trouble identifying the red figure next to starman here, I’ve heard some sources say he helped batman and star man with some kind of threat but non of it seems verified, and there’s no information on the red man(?)

Whoever he is he’s beating on Nazis so he must be a good guy.

Ah now isn't this a fun one. So, far be it from me to be disbelieving of anything at this point in my life and career but you might be getting taken for a ride on a fairly well known conspiracy theory. One of those things floating around in the zeitgeist and it has been for a while.

(A comic cover starring Dark Horse's version of the "Hellboy" character, their most famous headliner) "Hellboy" was a legend spread among allied troops in the waning days of WWII, evidently having been conjured from the pit by Nazi mystics as one of many attempts to win the war via superhuman "wonder weapons" as the Spear of Destiny began to falter and Germany's other superhuman assets were taken off the board one by one. Soldiers who were there on that night claimed to have discovered a red skinned child with horns and a tail, your classic demonic archetype. The child was then, also allegedly, spirited away into the care of some ultrasecret government agency. Real Illuminati tier stuff. Now, I am not categorically calling it wrong, or false, or stupid. Stranger things have happened but...let's look at the honest facts here. There have been nearly a dozen "secret superhuman government agencies" in the past century. Checkmate, the DEO, Task Force X. Every government spook worth their salt has wanted to wind up some purpose trained superhuman and let them go on whatever national enemy has popped up that week. All of them have been dragged kicking and screaming into the light when their shady business butts up against the superhero community. If this Hellboy DID exist he would have become public knowledge AGES ago, especially from some of the stories that were told about him interacting with the JSA during and just after the war. I have access to stacks on stacks of untouched JSA artifacts and I haven't seen hide nor crimson hair of him. It could be it was born from various legends getting mashed together, maybe those British soldiers saw Etrigan the Demon running wild on some goosestepping rats and got their wires crossed. Maybe a baby did appear from the portal and has been living a rather quiet life ever since. If this picture is real it might be a real, or at least MORE real version of this Hellboy from another universe. But as of me, right here, right now. Dark Horse just keeps pushing the "maybe he's real angle" because they've been #2 in the comics game since the 60s and they want to keep Marvel from eating their lunch.

[enjoythesilentworld]

Simon's Month - (Cat)Fish

day 19!! @youngroyals-events

Simon tries to convince a man on a dating app that, yes, that is his actual face in those pictures.

read below or on ao3 (T, 500)

You got a match! 

Wille liked your photo!

Wille sent a message!

_____________________

Wille: If you’re gonna use fake pictures you might as well make them believable…

Simon: im sorry what?

W: I’m just saying, it’s pretty obvious you’re a catfish. Those pictures are not real.

S: um yes they are? that's literally my face

W: Nice try! No one actually looks like that. Way too perfect.

S: is this some kind of weird pickup line because im not sure you’re executing it properly

W: No? What do you mean? Clearly those are photoshopped or something. Who has skin that smooth looking? Or eyes that beautiful shade of brown?

S: literally i do

W: Seriously, where did you find these? Did you edit them yourself?

S: did you get dropped on your head as a child or something

W: … I mean, probably. But that doesn’t matter here. I know an edit when I see one.

S: clearly you dont because that is my face thank you for the compliment, i guess???

W: You’re welcome for complimenting your editing skills. But I still don’t believe you.

S: ok now im convinced this is some weird plot toget me to send like nudes or something

W: Oh my gosh, no! I’m not even on here for that! I’m too much of a romantic for hook-ups. We’d have to go on at least a few dates first.  And I would only ever ask if I knew you wanted to.  To send pictures.  Naked ones. And only you felt safe doing so. But I think in person is better anyway.

S: okay…

W: Sorry if that was weird. I keep staring at the pictures and they’re making it hard for my brain to work.

S: hard huh?

W: Ha. Ha.

S: i guess that’s kinda sweet i’m not much into hook-ups either

W: Oh. That's cool. But, seriously, where did you find these pictures?

S: i remind you. that is me im starting to question your sanity Wille

W: Sure, Simon. You just walk around like that all day and somehow you’re still single and on a dating app. Sure, very believable, *catfish*! 

S: omfg i do have pet fish but im not a catfish you're one to talk no ones hair is that color also there is no way u have a perfect little freckle on ur top lip or do you put that there with makeup

W: What?? Me?? No, it’s not makeup! I am just Swedish! I get freckles in the sun!

S: suuuure

W: Don’t turn this around on me, Simon.  Except, wait, do you really have pet fish?

S: yes, i do

W: Can I see them? 

S: [Image attached]

W: Beautiful!  What are their names? 

S: idk if i can trust you with their names you think i’m a liar

W: :( Simon

S: :( Wille

W:

You can trust me.  It’s justified, I think, that I don’t believe you.

S: [Image attached] literally me [Image attached] me with fish for proof i cant believe your awful rizz is working on me … Wille? here i’ll write out a little note for you so you know its actually me [Image attached]

W: ‘.,;-=p./ ?um I-m her e SOrry I was.. You are real? 

S: lol i am real

W: When are you free?

S: huh?

W: I would like to take you on a date, Simon To apologize for calling you a catfish But also because you are funny and pretty, and I need to see you in person just to be totally sure that you’re actually real. 

S: hm i guess i’d be okay with that i wanna know what that freckle on your lip tastes like

W: asdnasfwaogjfan

S: their names are oski, olle, and felle, btw are you free tonight?

[f1goat]

the race loser x lando norris + part one

in which you see your ex best friend again after he cut of contact between you two.

not proof read - angsty

sunday - red bull ring

It can’t be. Lando doesn’t believe his eyes. His eyes must have lied to him. It doesn’t take his brain longer then a few seconds to fill up all his thoughts with you. Is there a possibility that you’re here? Here at Red Bull Ring during a race? He shakes his head. He should stop thinking like this. This is the kind of behavior that makes him lose focus which makes him lose points at the end. He tries to discard every thought he is having about you, but he can’t stop himself from looking in the same direction again while hoping to see you. 

He knows his friend Max is here. He also knows that Max is one of the people who’s still in contact with you. Lando always tries to get information about you out of Max, but he never succeeded. Not that he deserves it, but still. 

Before the start of this season Lando spend his whole vacation with you. Of course his friends were there as well sometimes, but you were the one who was always around him. He already knew that he had a crush on you, but that holiday it turned into so much more. At least, for him. It took him one week after his vacation to ruin everything between the two of you. It was the first race weekend. Even now when it’s more then a couple months ago, it still hurts him to think about it. He hates the way he acted that day. He hates himself for causing this. It’s all his fault. 

sunday - bahrain international circuit

“Don’t,” Lando speaks up with a loud voice, “Don’t come in here to tell me it will all be better soon. Because it won’t.” 

He doesn’t notice the way you shake a bit because of the harsh undertone in his voice. He also doesn’t notice the way you can’t stop looking at him. Lando doesn’t look at you, he’s focused on his phone. The race is barely over and he’s already reading multiple tweets about the failure of McLaren. It doesn’t surprise him that there already memes made. Normally he can laugh about them, but when he sees a McLaren photoshopped tractor with himself and his teammate inside he doesn’t laugh. He’s closer to crying then to laughing. 

You don’t know what to say. Lando is getting annoyed by his own thoughts. He wants nothing more then to bathe in your comfort. Would it be a bad thing if he would let you comfort you? He already imagines himself laying with his head on your lap while you try to encourage him about the car. As quick as he can he discards his thoughts about you. 

This kind of behavior makes him a loser he thinks. He can’t even focus half of the time because he keeps thinking about you. Even in the car it’s always like that. Whenever he makes a good move, the first thing he wonders is if you saw him. He’s way too distracted by his own thoughts and they are all about you. 

“Lan.”

He barely hears you at first, but he does look up at you. He notices the way you look at him. The pitiful look almost pains him. This isn’t how he wants you to look at you. 

“Don’t,” Lando says again, “Please don’t pity me.”

“I’m not,” you tell him softly, “I’m here for you.”

He notices the way you try to come closer to him. It costs him all of his energy to move away from you. He can’t be weak. Not now. His mind if made up. He needs to regain his focus. You are a distraction. As long as he’s crushing on you, he can’t focus fully on the races. He needs his focus. 

“Maybe I don’t want you to be,” Lando states.

“What do you mean?” You ask him confused. 

Lando lets out a soft sigh. This is already hurting him. It’s all for the better good. Zak told him about distractions before. You can’t become a race winner if you can’t focus. He has had this conversation with Zak so many times, he never did something with it. But now he feels like it’s the only chance he has left. He needs to focus on racing this season, he can’t focus all of his energy on you. It will be better. Zak told him that you would understand him, it was logical after all. Maybe his crush will even fade away, then it will be easier to be friends again. 

“I need space,” Lando explains. He can’t help but notices the hurtful tone in his own voice. He tries to lose it. It’s his decision, he shouldn’t be sad about it. “And I need to focus on racing,” he goes on, “now I focus too much on us. I’m always busy with us.” 

“What are you saying?” You ask him. Lando notices the sad tone in your voice. He doesn’t dare to look at you. “I can give you more space if you want? We don’t have to hang out every time you’re free.”

“I think I need to get away from you for a bit.” He can barely say the words. It already pains him. He tries to focus on his future as a race winner, but he doubts it will be worth it. Is he really giving up on your friendship? Fuck. His body fills up with regret, but he knows it’s already too late now. He said the words. There’s no going back. 

“Oh.. Uh,” you can’t form the words you’re searching. Lando hears the soft sob coming out of your throat. “Why?” You ask him. 

“I need to focus,” Lando repeats himself. It hurts him to look at you. It’s wrecking him to look at the tears he caused. 

“Are you going to break with all your friends?” You ask. 

Lando shakes his head. 

“Why me?” You continue to ask. 

Lando keeps silent. You let out a sob. When it has been silent for a few minutes you decide to walk away. You won’t get a clear answer. Lando watches you walk away. He knows it his own decision and his own fault, but in his mind he’s running after you. Telling you everything about his feelings, kissing you and keeping you close to himself. But he can’t. He tries to focus on Zak his words. He hopes it will soon feel better like Zak told him, because he can’t see himself focus better if this memory is the last one he has of you. 

sunday - red bull ring

When he races past the same corner, he notices it again. Is it actually possible that you’re here? He tries to think back at what Max told him before the race. Where was Max seated today? Is it in the same place he thinks you are? Could it be possible that Max took you with him? 

After Lando broke off the contact with you - which included blocking you on almost every social media platform, another advise from Zak, he didn’t feel any better. He uses his socials to write messages to you, messages that you will never receive. He writes about missing you. About loving you. About not being able to focus any better now. It’s shit. He uses his fake Instagram account to look at your account. He scrolls back through all the photos of you and sometimes you with him. He can’t stop looking at your highlights, he tries to experience every memory over and over again. 

He can’t. He can’t get his cheerful feeling back. He doesn’t feel the same anymore, he only feels shittier every time. Whenever he looks at the memories, he reminds himself of what he threw away. He should never broke off the contact between you two. It was a mistake. The biggest mistake he ever made. Not because it isn’t even working - his focus is only away further, but because it isn’t worth it. He misses you. Sometimes he wakes up at night gasping for air because he realized again that he’s never getting you back. Other nights he cries himself to sleep while thinking about everything he threw away. 

Zak told him it would be hard at first. But now after a few months Lando can safely say it’s still hard. He can’t find out one small benefit from his actions. The car is getting better, but only because the updates are finally working. And now when the car is finally good enough, Lando himself isn’t. He thinks about how it would have worked out if he didn’t cut you off. Then there would have been the same updates and he would feel good. Yeah, a bit distracted because of his feelings for you, but still happy. 

+++

“Why did you bring me here Max?” 

Max looks up at you as if it’s a dumb question, but you can’t figure out what you’re doing in Austria right now. 

“I had a spare ticket,” Max shrugs. 

You know he’s lying. 

“So you decided to bring the person your friend, who gave you to tickets, doesn’t want to see anymore? That seems like a stupid plan,” you say a bit annoyed. 

“Just wait y/n,” Max tells you, “It’s about time you see how this focussing on racing is treating him. And then the two of you are going to talk.”

“He doesn’t want to talk to me,” you say softly, “he wants nothing to do with me.” 

“We both know that isn’t true,” Max states, “We just don’t know what happened yet. I’m sure there’s some sort of explanation for this.” 

“It has been months, I don’t think he regrets it.” 

You’re a bit distracted from the race for a couple minutes while talking with Max. When you’re about to search for Lando his McLaren again, you hear a loud banging noise. Did something happen? You look around at the track. At first you don’t see it. Until you look right under your nose. Fuck how did you miss that? When you we’re busy searching for Lando and talking with Max, the papaya McLaren car crashed right under your nose. 

Is Lando already out of the car? 

You try to find an answer to your burning question, but it seems like Lando is still in the car. That can’t be good right? You feel yourself getting more panicked. 

“What happened?” You ask Max, “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know,” Max whispers. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! I knew this would happen.” 

“What do you mean?” You ask. 

“Because his focus is even worse, fuck. I took you here to show you that his action didn’t make any difference. I wanted to show you that Lando was in a worser shape without you, but I didn’t expected him to crash right in front of us,” Max explains. 

You don’t look at Max. You can’t look away from Lando. There are multiple people around his car. They are trying to get Lando out of his car. At least that’s how it seems. You feel like you can finally breath properly again when you see Lando getting out of his car. You let out a relieved sigh when you see him walking without support from the stewards. 

“Can we go see him?” You ask Max.

Max is also letting out relieved sounds now he knows his friend is walking on his own. 

“Yeah, I think he needs to get checked out first by the medical team. But we can already go to McLaren so we can see him right after,” Max tells you. 

+++

“What was that Lando?” Zak is standing right in front of him. The medical staff is still busy with checking him. Lando lets out a sigh. 

“I crashed,” he dryly comments.

Zak mutters something, but Lando can’t hear. It’s probably some sort of curse word. “Why did you crash? It seemed like you just let go of the car in that turn.”

“I was distracted,” Lando states. He doesn’t tell Zak what caused him to lose focus. When Lando took that turn again, he couldn’t help himself and tried to find you again. Then he actually saw you. Of course, he saw you just enough to knew it was you, but still. Before he knew it he lost control over his car and ended up crashing. 

“By what?” Zak asks annoyed. 

“By how I need to fix things with y/n because cutting contact didn’t do the trick,” Lando says softly. “I want her back here. And I’m never listening to your idiotic advise again.” 

After he said those words the door is opening again. Lando lets out a relieved sigh, he isn’t sure how mad Zak will be at him so he can use a small distraction. A nurse is appearing in front of them, “It seems like you were lucky today. There’s nothing major going on, but you do need some rest.”

“Can he race next week?” Zak is quick to ask. 

“If he gets enough rest this week,” the nurse answers quickly, “I suggest a couple nights of going to bed early and making sure you sleep eight hours a night.” 

Lando almost snorts. He won’t do that. He can’t. Every time he tries to fall asleep, he ends up thinking about you for hours. 

“There are some of your friends here as well, can I let them in?” The nurse continues. 

“Yes,” Lando quickly responds. 

“In the mean time you can come with me,” the nurse tells Zak, “We can share some ideas for fast recovery.” She walks out with Zak, but does tell Lando that his friends will be here in a couple seconds. 

Lando wonders which friends are coming. He knows Max is here, so he thinks he will be one of them. Maybe the race is already finished and his other friend from the grid - Max Verstappen - will also visit him? Lando doesn’t know who else should be here for him. His mind goes over to you again, but he’s sure you’re not one of the friends that’s waiting to visit him. 

It doesn’t take long for Max to enter the room. Lando isn’t surprised to see him. 

“Are you okay mate?” Max is quick to ask. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lando assures him, “nothing too bad.” 

“What happened?” Max asks further.

“You’re going to think that I’m insane,” Lando says, “but I was so sure about seeing y/n. I got distracted. I thought I saw her and then I lost control over the car. I probably made it up, but I couldn’t focus during the race at all. Like every other race. I told Zak I’m going to find a way to fix things between me and her. But I think she hates me. Can you help me?”

“Mate you’re rambling,” Max says with a small smile, “Why did you tell Zak that you’re going to fix things?” 

“Because he was the one that kept telling me to cut ties with her!” Lando exclaims annoyed, “He told me I needed to do that so I could focus properly. At first I didn’t listen, but then I was so mad after the first race this season that the words flew out.” 

“I might have brought someone with me today,” Max says after a while of thinking, “but you need to promise me to stay calm. The nurse is going to kill me if you’re going to panic yourself into a heart attack.” 

Lando can’t stop himself and thinks about you. Is it possible that Max is talking about you as well? It can’t be. 

“I promise,” he quickly says. 

Max walks away, only to return a small minute later with you next to him. 

Lando doesn’t know what to do. Are you actually standing in front of him? He stands up from the chair he was sitting in earlier. He walks closer to you. In the corner of his eye, he notices Max walking out of the small room. He can’t stop looking at you. The first thing he notices it the tired look you have, you even seem worried. Then he notices the shirt you’re wearing. A simple Quadrant one. Normally you always wore his own merch while attending races, but he’s still glad you’re wearing at least something that’s close to him. 

You don’t know what to do as well. Lando is standing closely in front of you. You notice the way his eyes are looking at every part of you. You realize that you’re probably doing the same. 

“I’m so sorry,” Lando says after a while. 

“I heard about Zak,” you respond, “Is it really true that he made you cut ties with me?” 

Lando nods. “I shouldn’t have listened to him. I’m so sorry Y/N.” 

“Let’s talk about it later,” you say. 

“Can I hug you?” Lando asks you with a few doubts. You nod quickly. Lando moves even closer towards you and drapes his arms around your body. You feel yourself warming up.

“I’ve missed you so much,” you tell Lando with a soft voice. 

“I’ve missed you too.”

Lando thighs his grip on you. Hugging you even closer then before. He can’t stop thinking about how lucky he is to have you in his arms like this again. He knows things aren’t fixed yet, but he’s hopeful to make things right with you. Everything. Even telling you all about his feelings. 

i think there will be a part two of this! let me know if you guys want that as well :)

part two

[justcruisingaroundrevived]

"What is this Feeling?"

Summary: Julie as always look to teen magazines for help, but can they help her navigate her crush with the worst nerd in town?

Word count: 1.7K

TWs: Typical misogyny, fatphobia, the club itself their own warning

Author's note: First fanfic I'm posting, and nervous as hell lol! This was sort of a drabble I made cause I've always wanted to put my OC in the Eltingville universe, but only stuck with short scenarios in my head lol! This would be like an experiment (and Tumblr my guinea pigs lol) Hope you all enjoy!

When I hear the opening of “Toys R Us”, there’s always that one section I go to. 

Even as the bubble gum I’m chewing on fades away, even when I don’t go past the Barbie section (Totally Hair Barbie was good, but I’ve seen better from last year), I always stop at the magazine section.  

Near the empty section, my hands instinctively feel for J 14. Yes, I know it’s inappropriate for a girl my age to read these teen magazines, but I can’t help it! Been reading them since I was 10, and now my closet has a whole section dedicated to them. Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Cosmo Girl, and some only available overseas. However, picking up the J-14 magazine, seeing the badly photoshopped celebrities on to those glittery backgrounds-

“DAMMIT JOSH!”

“…oh god.”

It’s them. I lightly scrunched the pages of my nose, but my nose couldn’t hide the stench. The smell of day old Cheetos mixed with Mountain Dew. I can already see their acne scar faces. GOD, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO COME HERE?!

“Hey Josh! Your twin is here!” 

God dammit.

“What do you guys want?” I gritted my teeth. 

My corner of my eye sees Pete. His red cap is unmistakable. We stare eye to eye, his razor sharp teeth displaying themselves. 

“Oh, you know. Scoping out the store, watching some chick in OUR section. The usual.”

“You don’t own this section. I’m just here looking at the magazines!”

His lackey, Jerry, snickered right beside him. 

“You know you’re kind of a bitch.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

Immediately, I felt his greasy hands pull at the magazine. The face of Demi Lovato crunching on his pressure. 

“Let go!” I squealed, pulling against the bottom of the book, my thumb pressing down on Zac Efron’s face. I pulled it towards me, he did the same thing. 

Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me. Jerry. Me-

He snatched it out of my hands. “Jesus, you get all of your advice from here? No wonder your fashion is from the Disney Channel.”

“How would YOU know that? You watch “Lizzie McGuire” on the spot?”

“He ain’t no fairy! He just knows where a pig like you dresses!”

More laughter. I scowled at the sight of their acne ridden faces and their greasy hairs. Snatching the magazine back, I flipped towards my favorite page; the quizzes. 

“Hey! We’re talking to-“

“FUCK OFF, PETE! Don’t you have your leader’s dick to suck?!”

“Why you son of a-“

“She’s not even worth it, Pete.”

Fuck me…it’s the one guy I didn’t want here. Walking up to me, 5”7 and all, was the head honcho of these gooners; William Alan Dickey. Or Bill, for short. 

You can always tell he’s coming. He has the most acne scars out of all of them (that’s saying a lot), his greasy hair flops to his side, thick glasses covering almost one third of his face, and his clothing style? Imagine the worst Ken doll you’ve ever seen. Now picture that Ken doll with an oversized comic book shirt, worn out jeans and worn out no name brand shoes (at least I have pink Vans, despite them pressing on my soles hard) and he’s a no good bastard is what he is! 

I sometimes even wonder if he even knows what he’s saying?

“Oh god, it’s YOU!” Bill sneered 

“Yeah! It’s me. I’m always here.”

“That’s the problem! You’re always prancing around in OUR space, doing YOUR own shit, ESPECIALLY when’s all that sissy shit!”

“Oh FUCK right off! Just because I actually enjoy my collection doesn’t mean I’m a “sissy”!”

“Whatever, Bill.”

I huffed and walked down to the Barbie section. On the pink walls, I scanned my eyes to the newest Barbie’s. Juicy Couture, Paul Frank, Shrek, Hello Kitty, normal. In my room, I do have the Shrek and Paul Frank Barbies. My fingertips grazed on the double pack Juicy Couture set. Grabbing it, I also picked up the Princess and the Pauper set (I didn't like the movie, but the designs on these dolls are immaculate!). 

I also scanned the Bratz section. I’m honestly glad Barbie has some competition. Don’t get me wrong, Barbie reigns supreme in my heart, Bratz really ups the competition within its fashion and quality itself. I picked up Winter Wonderland Jade (don’t like the rest of the group) and headed to the cash register. 

“Look at her. She’s purchasing girly shit.” Sneered Josh. 

“At least we like grown up shit. Major Violence, Battle Broad, Star Trek. Why are we even talking about her? She’s just a lame ass bitch anyway.” Bill cackled. 

Sighing, I paid the $31 and headed out of the store. I caught a glimpse of Jerry picking up the magazine, but immediately laughing at the mere concept of it. 

What do they know? They’re just jealous at the fact that girls get the quality stuff, while they’re stuff mooching off men who could win “Which guys need to stay away from the playground” lookalike contest. 

Fucking pricks. 

***

This week, I heard they’re restocking those Rock Angel Bratz. I head for the section, watching as the employee stocks the last boxes of the display. 

I reached over to the Jade one. I’m not a fan of her frosted tips or outfit choice, but it’s just one bad doll. Besides, it’s important to document Bratz’s progression. Sure, my selves may be filled to the brim of dolls that are…less than ideal, but still! It’s important to support-

“Woah!”

The collar of my 80s Barbie shirt was dragged to the boys section. From the looks of it, I can see the figures for the new Incredible Hulk movie, as well as the “classic set” for Silver age superheroes. Will people even remember them in the future? Their paint jobs are so tacky….

“How would you describe me?”

Oh fuck, not him again. 

“What do you want, pizza face?”

“Shut the fuck up, Miss Piggy! Listen to the question again, since your ears are filled with last year’s wax! Now, tell me-“

“Bill! Move over! You know you stole my question! Julie, “If you’re throwing a sleepover, what would I bring?!” 

“…is this really-

“EXTREMELY!”

“I mean, probably games, I guess-“

“AHA! SEE BILL?! I CAN HOST “American Idol”!”

“SHE’S ONLY SAYING THAT CAUSE FATTIES SUPPORT FATTIES!”

“SHUT UP, BILL.”

I rolled my eyes and picked at the hems of my long sleeve. “Didn’t last week you thought I was stupid for getting those teen magazines?”

Josh turned to me, his hot breath wafting my nose. “They are stupid, but Ironjaw brought one from his sister and turns out, he’s Gerald Way, which means he’s emo, WHICH MEANS-“

“Get to the point already!”

“HE’S GETTING CHICKS! I mean, just online, and she moved away…a lot of them moved away actually, BUT STILL! STILL!”

At this point, Josh was on his knees, the magazine in his hand crudely rolled up like a newspaper. He was hitting it on the floor, like it was the last thing he would do. 

“See what you did?! Now the whole comic book shop is going crazy because of YOU!” Bill insisted.  I can feel his chewed up nails poking  at my chest.

“I’M the one who started this?! You’re the ones who picked it up and started to actually read it! Why not blame Ironjaw?! He’s the one who got it rolling!”

“At least Ironjaw isn’t a prissy princess like you!”

At this point, he stepped closer to me, and I can feel his chest heaving up and down. His left hand curled into a fist, his right hand slammed against the blue walls. 

Woah…

You know, when I first watched “Never Been Kissed”, it got me thinking how my first kiss would go. Always pictured it like Trinity and Neo; my true love kissing me while in a panicked situation, but still showing genuine love and care for me. Or maybe it would go like “When Harry met Sally”, with it being after an emotional connection that happened on screen. I always complained when my mom did this, but looking back, I’m kind of doing the same thing, except instead of A list actors, I’m looking at it through stories and quizzes. 

However, with Bill this close ... .I've dreamt of him before (dreams I try taking away by scrubbing the value size body wash and Cerave moisturizer), but I never pictured him as…well, manly? Is that the right word to think about right now?! He just yelled at me!

On the other hand, if this anger turned into him immediately a quick yet hard kiss…I-

“HEY! I’m speaking to you!”

Oh right. The fight. 

“I….I-“

“Whatever. Like you have anything of value to say.”

Slamming the magazine down, he stormed off to the direction of Jerry and Pete, who were possibly fighting about god knows what. 

I ran to the dollar section, picked up Jade, paid for her, and ran out of the store. 

God, what is wrong with me?! Why was I imagining Bill like that?! I should-no DO know better. Bill’s nothing more than a misogynist, loud prick who only thinks with his dick! Yeah, that’s right…but why think of him like that?

I know the obvious; dreaming of him like he could be the man to sweep me off of my feet and take me away from this hell hole they call Staten Island, but he’s not that person. More likely, he’s the type to live with his mom, or worse, mooch off of me while I work two jobs for our crappy studio apartment in Brooklyn. I’ve seen his collection outside of his window when I walk home to school; he doesn’t have any savings based on the sheer volume of it. He would have no way of supporting himself, let alone a partner…

But the scene from Toys R Us keeps replaying in my head. That anger, that manliness…I’ve only seen that in the bad boys of my favorite rom coms, even though I know how foolish that is in real life, but never knew a nerd can get like that…

I hear the bus pulling over, and I get in, choosing my favorite window seat. I plugged some Britney Spears in, and headed off home. 

….wait, do I think Bill’s cute?! God, what’s wrong with me?! 

[nebbyy]

Omg I’m so excited you’ve decided to start requests!!!

I was wondering if you vibe with the idea of an Aang X f!reader. Where Aang kind of explores his anger? Maybe a little jealousy and rage but still a nice guy. Very much like Percy Jackson being a powerful rage guy but when relaxed he’s like a skater boy with no stress?

Aang x reader - That voice in his head

A/N: thank you so much for the support! I honestly didn't expect for one of the first requests I was gonna receive was gonna be of a fic for any character from AtLA, but I'm not surprised at all because I haven't interacted with this fandom in a long time!! I absolutely LOVE your idea and it was so fun writing it! 

Also really important, the pic I choose for this fic is from pinterest, I have no idea where it comes from, who made it, whether is a photoshop or a cosplayer,.... if you've got any information about who to crediti for the pic lemme know so that I can give credit to whoever made it!

Summary: you and Aang have been together for some time now, and all seems to be absolutely perfect. All, except for that little voice in the back of Aang’s head, one that made him think- overthink actually, and that made him act...

Warning: actions made out of jealousy, Aang acts in a way that might be considered as self destructive but it's nothing worrying don't worry. also the amount of fluff in this one might be considered to be a warning itself lmao

Word count: 2001

The day had started in the best of ways. Having all been so tired the night before, no one even noticed that you and Aang were snuggled up next to each other in front of the small bonfire, wrapped in the warmth of Appa's fur. And so the two of you were able to enjoy some well-deserved rest, in each other's arms.

Waking up had also been sweet as honey, as you had woken up first and had had all the time in the world to prepare a meagre breakfast to share with each other, before your friends and companions woke up as well. And even when they had joined you to eat a little something too, the feeling that reigned in the air was one of pure peace.

Or at least, it was until Sokka approached you, one hand on his hip and the other wielding a spear. "Hey Y/N, do you want to come with me to go fishing for something?" You smiled enthusiastically at your friend, not wasting a moment to follow him towards the body of water that lay not far from your temporary camp. You did not realise that you had left behind you a rather dumbfounded Aang, who watched you with slightly wide eyes as you walked away with your friend.

Aang… didn't understand what he was feeling. He didn't understand that strange twisting of his stomach, as if something was twisting him from the inside. He didn't understand his throat suddenly becoming dry, and his breath becoming heavy coming out of his lungs. He could not put a name to what was happening to him, yet he could put a face to it,….

Sokka.

It had all started a few weeks earlier, when after the umpteenth time he had been forced to call his friend's attention to himself, distracted by gazing into the distance, Sokka abruptly grabbed his friend Aang by the shoulder, forcing him to look him straight in the eye as he spoke to him: "If you don't take the first step with Y/N, I will." An innocent provocation, mainly aimed at spurring his friend to stop wasting time fantasising about the girl and get a move on declaring himself, although Sokka couldn't deny that if it weren't out of respect for his friend's crush, he would have already thrown his shot with you. Aang's face turned red, partly from embarrassment and partly from the growing jealousy within him. "H-hey isn't that cool, Sokka!!! I've liked her the longest, you can't just come and steal her from me like thi-" "Then you better hurry up, genius." And with that mischievous smile of his, which at such times makes you wquasi want to slap him, he turned away from Aang, heading to Katara.

It was not long after that little dialogue that Aang found the courage to declare his feelings, and he later thought he owed some of his luck to those very words Sokka said to him that day. Yet in that moment, as you saw him approach you, he brushed against your back to direct you into the right position to fish more effectively. At that moment he wondered if those words Sokka had said to him were really just a joke to tease him, if there was no ulterior motive, that of warning him that one way or another, he would try to make his move on you.

Aang's hands were clenched into such tight fists that his fingers were already leaving small cuts on his palms, but the strong emotions he was feeling at that moment prevented him from feeling anything other than the frantic throbbing of his head. With his head still clouded by this inexplicable rage, Aang turned away from the scene, marching towards a sort of circle formed by various rocks and trees.

Once he arrived in front of the first boulder, he did not even have time to take a breath to prepare himself for the earthbending, when already his right fist had moved as if by instinct, planting itself on the hard surface of the rock, leaving a groove where the impact had occurred. His fingers pulsed, his knuckles, but he felt as if he felt nothing, if anything that pulsation mixed with all the emotions he was already feeling. And in that pain, which at that moment he was not even able to metabolise, he found a further drive, which made the voice in his head even louder, more insistent. Y/N is gonna choose Sokka over me..

He threw another punch, incredibly even harder than the previous one. Small red cuts were beginning to appear on his hand, but Aang still paid no attention to them. It was as if he refused to see the reality around him, that voice in his head had taken hold of him, was isolating him in a dimension where there was nothing but him, his anger and the image of you with Sokka etched in his eyes.

Another punch followed, and another, then another. One by one, the stones arranged in that sort of circle disintegrated from the force of his blows. Aang did not really know how long it had been since he had initially gone there to vent the river that was his emotions, he only knew that the sun was about to set, and that a voice in the distance was calling his name.

It was you, worried sick about the sudden disappearance of your boyfriend.

Aang could not move a single muscle, it was as if your voice had brought him out of his trance state, and now the weight of reality was falling on him all at once. He did not have the courage to answer your call, or even to turn around to look at you properly. He looked down at his hands dripping with his own blood. With the adrenaline diminishing in his body by the second, he began to feel the searing pain of his wounds, finally realising the gravity of what he had inflicted upon himself in that state of rage.

What would you have said seeing him like that? You would certainly be disappointed seeing what he had done, and why. Who knows how worried you'd been about him, maybe you'd been looking for him for hours and he'd been selfishly on his own, voluntarily away from you, as if you were to blame for him feeling that way… even he didn't know how. Or again, you had not come there to know how he was. Maybe you had come to him to tell him that it was over between you, that you preferred Sokka after all, that while you were fishing something had clicked, that he was no longer good enough for you,….

"Good God, Aang what happened?" you run in his direction, taking his bloody hands in yours. You tried to meet his gaze, but he seemed to be working hard to avoid it. You didn't pay much attention, instead throwing your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I was really worried about you, you know? You seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth" He didn't answer, but he felt his throat tighten and his eyes become moist. How could you miss him when you had Sokka? "Come on, let's get you fixed up, I bet your hands must hurt like crazy right now, but how did you get them like that?" You began to guide him towards your camp holding him by the arm, careful not to touch his wounds. "I… I-I was training and I think I got the hang of it a bit," he replied in a voice so light that you almost didn't recognise your Aang. There was something underneath that he didn't want to tell you, of that you were certain. But at the same time you couldn't and didn't want to force him to speak, you just wanted to be there for him.

Once you had entered one of the tents, I gestured for him to sit on the stacked blankets, while you took the necessary to take care of his cuts. Your hands worked gently on his skin, the hands you had always loved to hold in yours so much.

It took him a few minutes of tension-filled silence before Aang found the strength to open his mouth, "Sorry, Y/N, I didn't mean to worry you so much. It's just that…" he interjected, swallowing the lump in his throat, "…I don't know, I just had something on my mind" You frowned as you listened to him, intrigued and concerned by his words. You said nothing, and he took that as a signal to continue.

"See, I don't know what I was feeling before, but ever since I saw you with Sokka, in front of that lake, so close, looking like you were having so much fun,… it was like something was eating me up inside, that's it." He made to lower his gaze again, but you wasted no time in gently grabbing his chin to make him look at you. "Aang… were you jealous?" if it wasn't for his injuries and the saddened look in his eyes, you would have found it funny. I mean, how could he think you would ever choose anyone over him, the most handsome, kind, funny, strong and unexpectedly wise guy you've ever met.

He hesitated for a second, before nodding slowly and lowering his head again. His voice came out weak and shaky: "You're not angry with me?" At his words you huffed, completely incredulous at his question. "Why would I be angry about that? Aang, jealousy is something normal, you don't have to feel guilty if you feel that way."

He cocked his head before continuing to speak, "It's not just that, it's… I always take so much care to control my anger, but today… I don't know, it was like I wasn't in control of my body anymore. I was so caught up in my anger that I couldn't contain myself…" A moment of silence, he looked up again to look at you, and you noticed that his eyes were red, as if he was about to cry, "…I'm sorry, Y/N, I know I must have disappointed you-"

"Absolutely not!" you interrupted him, grabbing his forearms. Your eyes were full of concern for Aang, and your tone though stern was full of love and concern for him. "Aang, for as long as I have known you, you have never allowed yourself a moment to vent your emotions. Despite everything that has happened to you, despite the losses, the physical and emotional wounds, you have always tried to keep smiling. But that is not good for you, sweetheart, you are still just a human being and you need to let go, let out all your emotions, even the ones that scare you."

As you continued talking, Aang felt his heart tighten and his chest warm. You did not stop talking, one of your hands coming up to cup his cheek. "I understand that after everyone you have lost you are afraid of losing me too. But I can promise you, you won't get rid of me so easily, you fool." He let out a shuddering sigh and let himself slip gently into your arms. You wasted no time in wrapping your arms around him, resting your cheek against the side of his head. "Thank you baby, this- it means so much to me." After Aang's words, spoken in a soft, hushed tone, a comfortable silence fell.

You stayed like that for some time, then you spoke, chuckling softly, "Maybe next time come talk to me when you're sick before you shatter a dozen rocks and your hands" He moved his head from its place in the curve of your neck to place his lips on yours in a gentle kiss, then pulled away from you to look into your eyes, smiling apologetically, "Yeah, I think you're right."

[fallstaticexit]

Hello hello hello! I have a question. You've posted the first half of The Art of Being Seen in a quick succession, and I've noticed that these are /long/ scenes that you're working with with A+ editing. I was wondering, were many of these scenes already completed before you posted them onto tumblr? 🤔If so, how did you manage to hold back from previewing them? I feel my biggest problem as a story teller is that I rush to get the content out due to my excitement.

Hey hey hey ✨ I have to lock myself into a cage and toss the key across the room 😭😭😭

No seriously, the short answer is yes! I’ll have the next two to three parts already completed by the time I post the first. At least for this story.

I think I’ve done a good job since I started storytelling with not spoiling my own story or rushing through it (even though I really really want to all the time) bc I know the pay off will be better appreciated in the long run. I also want to quickly get content out which is why I work on my stories all the time.

The best way for me to work on my story is that I never really shoot scenes in order. I always take care of the big ones first or the main focus of the update first and I’ll fill in the smaller parts later on. I’m also always a day or two head of when I post vs working on them in real time. So let’s say I’ll post part one on Monday morning , Monday night im already working on part three or four because I started working on part one last Thursday and part two last Sunday. That makes sense? 😭

I also do very little editing which allows me to post quickly! It’s mostly gshade pulling the heavy lifting. I use alot of in game objects to help with scenes that maybe someone would edit in photoshop. Here’s a sneak peek of such a scene where I used these lights bc I don’t have the skills atm to create in PS.

I also owe my heart and soul to builders who create breathtaking lots, because if I had to make even a third of the builds I used I’d post once a year. I’m an awful builder, so downloading the lots I need cuts time between post down soooo much.

TL DR: a firm talk with myself to behave and be patient and have a fairly decent posting schedule that’s ahead of when I actually release them into the wild. 😭🥹

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Absolutely LOVE your Roy Kent fic! Could you do a fic with Roy or Jamie where the reader is really self conscious about their body? Like they are worried they are too big to be with someone that’s a footballer. Thanks!!!

Dress You Up

Roy Kent x Reader

0.8k words

Warnings: Language, feeling self-conscious, flirting and allusions to smutty things

Oh my gosh, how did this get lost in my ask box?? I'm so sorry 😓 I hope it came out good ❤️

You stared at yourself in the mirror, turning this way and that, trying to find any angle that you didn’t hate. When you and Keeley had found this dress at Harrod’s, she’d gushed about how hot you looked in it, how Roy was going to lose his mind. And you’d believed her, deciding that the charity gala was worth the splurge, especially considering the credit card you were using was Roy’s, at his insistence.

But now, even with your hair and makeup done, you felt… ridiculous. Instead of seeing the goddess Keeley had insisted you were in the fitting room, all you could see was every extra kilo, every place where the dress clung to you, and not in the way you’d hoped.

Your mind wandered to the guest list Roy had mentioned during dinner last week. The whole team, of course. Lots of rich old men, ready to open their fat pocketbooks for Rebecca’s fundraiser. And models. Actresses. The kind of women Roy Kent usually went for.

With your brain swimming with images of women whose bodies looked photoshopped, women you’d seen Roy with in magazines before the two of you began seeing each other, you grabbed your mobile, losing every ounce of excitement you’d about this night. In no time at all, a growling voice answered.

“Hey, you almost ready?”

The lump in your throat growing, you closed your eyes. “Actually, I’m not feeling well.” Not a complete lie. “You, er, should go on your own, Roy.”

There was a long pause on his end. “Well, this is fucking awkward then.”

“What is?”

Your doorbell rang. “I’m on your fucking porch,” Roy chuckled. “Can I at least say hello? Haven’t seen you all day. Fuckin’ miss you.”

The tenderness in his voice softened your resolve. “Just a quick moment, alright?” Your heels clicked against the tile of your front hall as you walked to your front door. “Don’t want you to catch whatever I’ve come down with.”

Roy expected to see you in sweats or pyjamas, with your hair in a sloppy bun, face probably tired. What he absolutely was not expecting was you in a beautiful dress that hugged every single one of those curves he loved. His eyes took their sweet time trailing up your figure until they landed on your face.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” he hissed, thick eyebrows raised.

You squeezed your eyes shut. “I know, I look-”

“Fucking hot,” he finished for you. “Like, if we don’t get in the car right now, that dress is going to be in the fucking shrubs.” He reached out and took your hand. “How the fuck are you not feeling well and looking like that? You got some flu that makes you sexy as hell?”

Heat flooded every inch of your skin. “You think I look… good?”

Roy’s eyebrows scrunched, as if your question was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “Fucking course I do. Might have to leave the gala early so I can come back and make you feel better.” He tugged you close to himself. “Unless you’re coming with me. In which case, I know some dark corners at the venue where we could get into some trouble.”

Unable to help yourself, you brought your hands up to fiddle with the lapels of his suit jacket. “You sure you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with me?”

Another ridiculous question, according to Roy’s facial expression. “Why the fuck would I ever be embarrassed to be seen with you? If anything, I’m scared Jamie Tartt’ll try to steal you from me.”

“I mean…” You shifted awkwardly in Roy’s arms. “There’s lots of models and shit there, right? Gorgeous, skinny women-”

“Women I’m not interested in,” Roy cut you off. “Women I wouldn’t give a second glance to. Especially with you in the fucking room.” He kissed your forehead tenderly. “Won’t be able to keep my eyes off of you. And my fucking hands will be just as dangerous.”

You nudged Roy’s nose with yours, the knots in your tummy starting to unravel. “You sure?”

He let out a soft chuckle before pressing his lips to yours briefly. “Very fucking sure. Now come on, put me out of my fucking misery. Say you’re coming to the ball with me.”

In his eyes you could see so much adoration, love, tenderness, and more than a little lust. It was enough to make you stand up straight and tighten your grip on him.

“You know some dark corners huh?” you teased.

A smile broke out across his bearded face. “Plenty,” he assured you, his hands wandering a bit. “I’d love to show ‘em to you.”

“Fine,” you conceded. “Come in while I grab my purse?”

To your surprise, Roy shook his head. “If I come in there, we are not making it to the gala on time. We’d probably barely make it to your bedroom.”

A wicked smile spread across your face as you tugged his tie, pulling him inside with you. “We can be a bit late, can’t we?”

“If you insist.”

[watarfallar]

Hello? Yes, I'm gonna have to put you on hold. Enjoy these while you are on hold!

Etho: Tango, I am questioning your sanity... Scott: I never questioned it, I knew their sanity was missing from the start.

Martyn: Your smug self-assuredness is revolting. Pearl: I think we need to validate self confidence more, lest you end up angry at others for having even a sliver of it. I've done nothing wrong and I have a heart of gold. Joel: I think this message is extremely valid, but also Pearl has implied wanting to set off the Yellowstone supervolcano, so what's the truth? Pearl: I want to set it off.

Waiter: What would you like? Joel: Bring a milkshake with two straws. Etho: *blushes* Joel: *puts both straws in their mouth* Watch how fast I can drink this!!

Joel: Are you an ‘arr’ pirate or a ‘yo ho ho’ pirate? Mumbo: I’m a ‘I’m not paying $600 for photoshop’ pirate.

Gem: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

Scott, singing to the tune of I Kissed a Girl: I killed a guy, and I liked it- Joel, whispering: Should we call the exorcist? Pearl, also singing: The taste of his cherry chapstick. Mumbo, appalled: Call the exorcist.

Scar: I type how I think. Martyn: Odd that you type at all then.

Tango: Scar, my old friend! Scar: I think you tried to kill me at some point. Tango: That was obviously just my way of getting to know you.

Scott: You’re jealous. Grian: Jealous? Scott: That’s why you were being so negative about this. Grian: That’s absurd. I’m always negative.

Bdubs: Firstly, how dare you use mathematics to make me look stupid! Bdubs: I’m actually very good at mathematics. Bdubs: Thirdly, I think you might be right.

Skizz: Why should I make my bed, when I'm just gonna unmake it to sleep in it anyways? Impulse: Why should I feed you if your just gonna die anyways? Skizz: Skizz: I'll go make my bed-

Joel: I warned you. Joel: I'm perfect.

Skizz: While I'm gone, you're in charge Ren. Ren: Yes! Skizz, whispering to Etho: You're secretly in charge, but I don't want them to feel bad. Etho: Obviously.

Jimmy, sniffling: Calm down, I’m probably not sick. It might just be allergies. Lizzie: Okay, tell me this: are you like, really tired? Jimmy: I have depression, what do you think?

Pearl: Gem gave me a get better soon card. Lizzie: That's sweet! Pearl: I wasn't sick, they just think I can do better.

BigB, making coffee: This is going to fix everything.

Pearl: Scar, say aluminum again. It's the entire source of my serotonin during these trying times. Scar: *sigh* Only for you, buddy. Alyoouminnieeum.

Grian: Yum, thanks! Kidnapper: *puts more tape over their mouth* I said stop eating it.

Cleo: Dandelions symbolize everything I want to be in life. Jimmy: Fluffy and dead with a gust of wind? Cleo: Unapologetic. Hard to kill. Feral, filled with sunlight, bright, beautiful in a way that the conventional and controlling hate but cannot ever fully destroy. Stubborn. Happy. Bastardous. Friends with bees. Highly disapproving of lawns. Full of wishes that will be carried far after I die. Pearl: Edible.

Tango: Am I right, Etho? Etho: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

Pearl: Oh and for your information, I don't have an ego. Pearl: My facebook photo is a landscape.

Mumbo: I printed up a bunch of fake safety inspection certificates. Go slap one on anything that looks like a lawsuit. Scar: Mumbo, is that legal? Mumbo: When the cops aren’t around, anything’s legal!

Gem: What makes a bigger memory than a passionate kiss? Gem: A stab wound.

[eeldritchblast]

Making Baldur’s Gate 3 GIFS Tutorial

TOOLS USED:

Nvidia or alternate game video recording software

PotPlayer

GIMP (Optional)

Adobe Photoshop

PART 1: Recording

I personally use the Nvidia recording software that came with my computer to capture videos of the game, but there are plenty of video recording options out there. I know OBS Studio is a popular one, for example. Whatever your choice may be, here are three important tips for when capturing video:

Use the least amount of compression settings your recording software can output, and I recommend at least 30FPS, though 60 is better

Press F10 to hide the Baldur’s Gate 3 UI and capture the entire screen

Give about three seconds worth of video before and after the section you want to record, as safety buffers, if you can

PART 2: Frame Extraction

 Open the video you’ve recorded in PotPlayer in window mode (not full screen), and pause a little bit before where you want to start your GIF. Press Ctrl + G to open up the Consecutive Image Capturer window, and drag it to the side of the video player. These are the settings I recommend in general:

HOWEVER, I suggest playing around with the “Every # frame” option to your own liking. I have a pretty high framerate for this video I’m using, so 5 is fit for me, but if you have a lower framerate, you may want a lower number, like 2.

With your settings in place, click “Start” and unpause the video. Pause the video again after you’ve captured all the frames you want, then click “Stop”. If you’re making a gifset, I recommend then storing each set of frames in a single folder at a time.

PART 3: Resizing

I personally use GIMP to resize/crop the images because I find it easier, then export the image as a PSD for the next steps in Photoshop. But you can use Photoshop for this step too, if you’re more comfortable with that.

The number of frames you can get away with in a single GIF for Tumblr depends on the aspect ratio you plan on saving it as—for example, 270x200 obviously can handle more frames than 540x300 while still fitting within Tumblr’s size limit.

PART 4: Sharpening

In Photoshop, use the Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen tool on each layer. The settings are your choice, but I usually use 200 for the Amount and 0.5 for the Radius.

PART 5: Animation

If you don’t yet have the timeline set up in Photoshop, click on Windows > Timeline to bring it up. Then from the arrow, choose “Create Frame Animation” and click on the button to do so. This will insert the first frame into your timeline. Click on “Make Frames from Layers” in the timeline options menu to add them all.

Click on frame 1, then hold down Shift and click on the last frame to select them all. Then click on the drop-down arrow from the last frame and set the delay between each frame changing. I usually use 0.1 seconds.

Change the “Once” option to “Forever” to make the GIF repeat itself ongoing.

PART 6: Editing/Colouring

Click on frame 1. Then click on the top layer, while still keeping frame 1 visible.

You can use a variety of tools in Photoshop to editing the colours, brightness, contrast, etc. of the gif. Make sure the filters are the top layers to apply them to all the frames. If you test out your gif and see that the filters are not applied to all the frames, toggle the visible option on them off and on again.

I’m not going to go into detail of how to edit your GIF here, because each one is different. But I will say the tools I most typically use are Brightness/Contrast and Curves.

PART 7: Export

Click on File > Save for Web. These are the settings I like to use:

Congratulations, you’ve made a GIF!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

SO WHAT'S THE REAL DEAL WITH ISRAEL? A history of a nation, a people, and a whole lot of conflict.

There is a LOT of misinformation going around in relations to the history of Israel and Palestine. I’m going to do my best to provide you with a comprehensive overview of this land and what’s going on. 

Is it going to be perfect? No. But it’s going to be a lot better than the crap I came across today of an infograph that was filled with wrong information set to fuel the desire that people seem to have to ‘be on the right side’ of a war. 

This is going to be LONG. But I’m going to try to make it interesting. I hope that at least one person that enjoys history gets something out of this. And please, feel free to ask questions! 

And I do mean questions and not just hate screaming out ‘facts’ that you read once from someone with no sources on a badly photoshopped image of two women talking about how Israel isn’t a real place. 

I’m not here to spread hate. I’m here to give you the facts so that hopefully things can be understood a little better and maybe we can start choosing to help and not simply fuel the fire of hate. 

I’m going to use a lot of Wiki links because I would like to encourage people to go read the articles and do a little wiki deep dive for themselves. It’s fascinating, and hey, you might learn a few random cool things on the way.  I'd also encourage further reading if you are really interested or have questions. Wiki can only get you so far.

I’m also going to avoid talking about religious history in depth and simply stick to the people. 

SO! Let’s get into it! Let's actually LEARN something for once!

We start with 14 tribes in the Bronze age 1175-900 BCE

We get into some sketchy history that dates back to King David. Early records are rough because of all the war and destruction from back then...also that it was 1175-900 BCE and record keeping was often difficult at best when it wasn't being burned down. 

Essentially, the 14 tribes did what everyone did back then (and arguably still do) and they fought. A lot. 

King David (1005 BCE - 968 BCE) is credited as the one who gathered up a group of people that had been fighting with another group of people and kicking the ever loving shit out of these people with slingshots (a standard weapon used by shepherds to fight off thieves and LIONS) and the use of a nice newly created metal called Iron (welcome to the Iron Age!) 

He got mythicised a bit and the whole David vs Goliath became the story. It's where record keeping got a bit off... But there is proof of this man existing. 

After the war, he united the split up tribes and became King of Judah and created the capital of Jerusalem ((hey look! They got their name because they were from Judah. They were the Judes. The Jews. The Jewish People. See how language evolves over time?). 

The next king, one you may have heard of, was King Solomon (968BCE-928BCE). He is credited as being in charge of the building of the first Temple. 

The first temple was an incredibly sacred place and where a lot of the things that defined and made the Jewish culture were kept. 

After he died, there was no clear succession line and the kingdom split into two. The Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south.

Let's head on over to Wiki and see what they have to say about this piece of land. 

"The earliest known reference to "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation is in the Merneptah Stele, an inscription from ancient Egypt that dates to about 1208 BCE, but the people group may be older." 

So yeah, we got Israel mentions that date back to 1208 BCE. Before the splitting of the religions and people. 

But WAIT. What's that strip of land to the west called the Philistine states??? 

It isn't what you think it is. 

The Philistines were a group of people who lived in Canaan during the Iron Age, roughly 1175 BCE. 

They often had tiffs with their neighbors over land and identity, which often left their relations with Jerusalem not the best. 

Now, during this time, many of the settlements throughout what is now Israel was sparsely populated and the original inhabitants (the Canaan people) were dwindling and fading out. It wasn't uncommon during this time to come across completely abandoned settlements and ruins. 

Most of the population was centered around Jerusalem. 

You see, back in the late Bronze age, Egypt called all the shots. Take a look at the map down below. Look at all that Egypt territory! 

(keep an eye on that purple bit. It’s about to get important). 

Egypt had final authority on all land disputes in this area. They considered the whole area to be a part of their domain. Their records were a little....outdated. They still listed everything as being run by the Canaanites! In fact, it wasn't uncommon for the lingering Canaanites to run to Egypt any time they had issues with the other tribes and demand that it be settled in their courts.  When we start to see mention of Israel in Egyptian records, it is referring to a people (think ethnicity) and NOT a state! And the Egyptians were starting to see them as a problem. 

So what happened to the Canaanites? They got absorbed by the tribes that were taking over the land: Philistines, Phoenicians (Hey, I know that word from middle school history!), and the Israelites. 

In 539 BCE, a little nation called Neo-Assyrian Empire took the northern part of Israel. Then they slowly expanded into the Assyrian Empire. 

Wait a moment. Zoom in. Enhance. Look at Jerusalem hanging out all alone over there as an unconquered little square surrounded by orange. 

You see, Jerusalem was built as a fortress. A fully walled in city surrounded by unforgiving hill country, and land that worked in their favor. 

And then, Babylon happened. They were having a pretty good run and getting a pretty good reputation as being a HUGE thorn in the side of the rising empires. 

You see that bright purple bit on the other map up there? Yeah, it’s about to get a LOT bigger. 

(This is a VERY simplified map. Because this is early Neo-Babylon and it absolutely expanded further than this over time. )

They expanded around 911-505 BCE and wiped the Philistine people out. POOF. GONE. These people most likely were killed off and taken as slaves by Babylon and then assimilated into the Babylonian people. 

What's interesting is that the Hebrew Bible (which is a record of the Jewish People, their history, and their story of survival as well as laws) is the primary source of the mention of the Philistines due to the conflict with them. (It’s also mentioned in the Quran.) 

So what happened? 

In-fighting. Lots and lots of in-fighting. But that's over simplifying it. If you are Jewish, you know what I'm talking about (this is why there is a rule about how "A Jew is a Jew is a Jew". Division is what leads to weakening of a people and leads to what happens next). The fracturing of the kingdom and disputes over rulers and laws caused them to divide their loyalties and left them open to bad things. Very bad things. 

Remember Babylon? And how they wiped out the Philistines? 

They didn't exactly avoid Israel on their voyage to wipe out the Philistines. 

720 BCE, The Kingdom of Israel fell to the newly forming Babylonian Empire. 

King Nebuchadnezzar II grew tired of Jewish revolts against the new empire (see the unconquerable city of Jerusalem) and well... 

They attacked Jerusalem. This is called "The Fall of the 1st Temple" in Jewish history (589–586 BCE).

Jerusalem fell and the Jewish People were exiled (taken as slaves) to Babylon. This is recorded history! 

It was during this that the Israelite religion really started to form and come together. 

You see, when the temple was wiped out, it was a blatant attempt to destroy not just a people, but a record of a people and erase them and all mentions of them from the face of the earth (See the Philistine people who pretty much only exist because of a few Jewish records about their disputes). 

But the people retained their stories in exile and really got together and formed the corner stone for the way the world's first Monotheistic religion worked: Judaism. (People of Judah. Get it? It's based on a people from a place!) 

The exile lasted for a long....long time. Exile not just as slaves, but with strict laws that forbid the Jewish people from setting foot in their old land. 

What happened next? King Cyrus! (At this point, Persia existed 550 BCE). 

I'm not going to get into the history of Persia (though it is FASCINATING and I recommend you look at it if you want to know the history of the middle east.) 

Now good king Cyrus told the Jews that they were all free to go in 538 BCE. So naturally the Jewish people packed up and made a run for Judah. 

This was called "The Return to Zion". 

What does that mean? 

"Zion is a placename in the Hebrew Bible, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole." 

So that’s where that word originated from! 

OH. You know what else is called Zion? Mount Zion. A mountain located to the south... It has SIGNIFICANT biblical meaning, as well as the location of strongholds and other things. Look it up. 

So, the Jews were allowed to return to Judah, but it still fell under Persian rule. They were just considered a 'Self-governing Jewish Province". 

Some returned. Some stayed. They'd lived in Babylon so long that they figured they had made a home there. I’m also willing to bet that there was reluctance to leave due to 1. The great distance they had to travel (like some sort of…exodus?) and 2. Fear of it being a trick and getting captured again. Hmmmm…. Sounds like a familiar story? 

You may be asking yourself about Egypt right about now. What's this exodus and ten commandment thing and the plagues and all that fun business I heard about in the bible/torah/Quran. (Hi Moses! in Hebrew his name is Moshe. In the Quran it's Musa! But in Muslim, it's a different story and not exactly the familiar one against Pharaoh!) 

Well, I'm not going to get too deeply into the religious stories for a lot of reasons, but a lot of the original Bible (old testament)/Torah was based off of stories told while the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon! They told these stories as a way to keep their faith, traditions, and cultural identities alive while being forced to assimilate. (The story of Noah and the flood mimics a Babylonian flood myth: Gilgamesh Flood! It's a fascinating read). 

But that isn't to say that Judea didn't have complicated and often nasty relations with Egypt. 

But, as the Jewish people slowly started to return to Judah, a more distinctive Jewish identity, culture, and religion started to form. 

And it was at this time that the Second temple was built. 

This is where things are going to start getting complicated. 

Second temple period! (520 BCE-70 CE) 

Because of what happened in Babylon, it became more important than ever to revise how they did things. 

The second temple became a bigger deal and the way the city was run changed. 

Hey look, Persia has a new king! And he's not liking what he's seeing in Judea. These guys are starting to get a little too big for their britches. 

BUT WAIT! Look over there! It's Alexander the Great! And he's conquered Phoenicia and Gaza! 

The Greek Syrian empire is starting to spread out. But there's a small truce with Judea. They’ll protect them from Persia and the Jews can keep doing their thing as long as they aren't a problem. 

However, the Seleucid Empire is starting to push into Judea and take control. The Seleucid empire was a Greek power during the Hellenistic period (312 BCE) founded by the Macedonian Empire...Ruled by Alexander the Great. And they are big into worshiping other gods and forcing people to worship their gods and rulers. This is a big no no for the Jewish people and kingdom of Judea. 

They start to send envoys to Greek trying to get the rulers there to listen to them. It’s not long before their envoys start coming back with bad news….and then stop coming back. 

The Jewish people have seen this before. 

And guess what? Jerusalem has become a problem. They aren't liking all the Hellenistic influence happening in Judea or the fact that the empire is starting to put a stranglehold on them. 

Alright, all my Jewish people? It's time to revolt with the Maccabees! (167-140 BCE) Jerusalem was under siege and the walls are breached! The city is taken and the temple has been captured by the enemy. 

Remember about the hostile countryside I mentioned earlier? 

Time for some Guerrilla warfare! The Maccabees retake the city and spend 8 days fixing up the temple after it was desecrated and all they got is just a little oil that stretches out way longer than it should have lasted (Hanukkah cliff note story version). 

But, there are other powers that are threatening them. Egypt has fallen and the Seleucid Empire is pretty pissed at them. 

We get revolt after revolt. Judea wants the Greeks gone and Rome is the power to do it.

140 BCE - 63 BCE. The Hasmonean dynasty takes control of Judea. They expand outward. 

The Hasmonean dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Judea that is WAY more complicated than I'm willing to get into because I barely understand it. But here it is if anyone wants to take a crack at it. 

Basically, with the Seleucid Empire falling apart, Judea gained autonomy and expanded into neighboring regions (Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea). 

The Roman Republic stepped in at some point and it became a "client state" of Rome. 

Now, those of you that know your Greek/Roman history know that some big power changes are starting to happen. 

Enter King Herod (37 BCE) (And all the Christians in the room say BOOO.) 

Now SOME of you may be paying attention to the dates. We stopped going down and started going back up. 

All the Christian’s here know what that means. A certain Jewish man has been born, caused problems for the Romans, and then was killed by the Romans for causing problems. 

We now have the birth of Christianity. At this point it’s just seen as a division of Judaism and not a real separate entity. 

We got Julius Caesar and Pompey and Mark Antony and Augustus happening over there in Rome and Judea is doing its best to stay alive and independent. They need protection from the other places that are trying to take them out and they know Rome is the key. So they make deals with one ruler only for that ruler to be killed and replaced by other rulers. It's getting hard for them to keep up. 

6 CE Rome is their ally. 44 CE Rome sends someone to preside over them and Judea is considered a "Minor province." 

Powers are changing hands so fast that no one knows who is in charge anymore. 

The Hasmonean Kingdom eventually falls, but the Jewish desire for independence continues. Only now, they are at war with Rome. 

This whole time period is a cluster of problems and it’s honestly hard to keep up with who was allies and in charge and ruling and expanding and fighting. Just know that Caesar wasn’t the only one getting knifed in the back and by the time a face was stamped on a coin there was a new face in charge. It was rough. 

The important thing to know is that in the year 70 CE, Rome besieged Jerusalem. 

Emperor Titus was done with the Jewish issue. 

They held out as long as they could. And then the walls fell. 

The city was burned and the temple was looted and burned. The majority of the population that wasn't killed in the fighting was outright massacred and the rest were taken as slaves. 

The Jews that managed to make it out of the city ran for the countryside and hillside. Many were hunted down and killed by waiting soldiers. The Jewish population was sold and scattered across the roman empire. 

The loot taken from the temple was paraded through Rome with the slaves. They even made a monument for it! 

Arch of Titus, which still stands in Rome today. You can see them carrying the holy Menorah through the streets. 

There is plenty of Archeological evidence that supports what happened at the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Massive stone collapses from the Temple Mount's walls were discovered laying over the Herodian street that runs along the Western Wall. 

It's theorized that 1.1 Million people, the majority of the Jewish people, were killed during the siege. 

I can't convey enough just how big this event was. 

All Jewish people were forbidden from setting foot in Judea. 

We now come to 73 CE, Christianity is considered its own distinct religion. 

So what happened to the land? 

All the Jews were gone. Banished, enslaved, or dead. So who got the land? 

Well... Firstly, the city of Jerusalem was gone. When Rome wanted something gone, they made it gone. 

There was rubble and not much else. 

Know what else they did? The forest was burned down. The land was razed to a point where even today, it is still struggling to recover. 

Jewish areas around Jerusalem were systematically destroyed one by one. There were still uprisings here and there, but they were quickly put down. 

The Roman emperor Hadrian decided that he'd had enough of revolts and set out to destroy Judea once and for all. And while he did kick it in the teeth, he never succeeded in destroying the people. (They got real good at surviving and real stubborn about not getting eradicated). Small Jewish areas did survive in various outlier areas and small farming places that were otherwise overlooked. But life was certainly not made easy for them.

Judaea was changed to Syria Palaestina. 

Sound familiar? Two empires that were enemies to the Jewish people. Remember when I said the Greek records were really out of date and still listed the Canaanites as in charge of the area? Well… They also still called the area Palestina.   You see, Hadrian got the name "Palaestina" from Herodotus' Histories from nearly 500 years before. But Herodotus only called the strip of land along the coast "Palaistine" after the Philistines. He wasn't referring to all of Judaea. And the reason Herodotus called that strip of coastline "Palaistine" was because the Philistines were Mycenaean Greeks, so he was recognizing a (long since dead) former settlement of Greeks. (When Rome wants you gone, they want you GONE and to suffer).

Rome built a colony on the ruins of Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina. Eventually, former Judea became a Christian pilgrimage and was settled by Christians. The land became known as Palestine. 

Not what you were expecting, huh? Bet you didn’t think the Christians would get involved in this Jewish vs Muslim issue. 

So 900 BCE to 70 CE, it belonged to the Jewish people (with the brief exception to the period of exile to Babylon). 

Then the Christians took over from Rome when Christianity took over and mass conversions started to sweep the world. 

Eventually, the population became a mixed bag of Romans and migrants from nearby provinces. 

361-363 CE - The Roman Emperor says the Jewish people can return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. In fact, he encourages it! He’s excited about it and starts to fund it and gathers up all the leaders, who are confused but cautiously optimistic. 

The Emperor is assassinated before anything gets underway and the Jewish people are banished from the holy land again. 

438 CE - Jews are now allowed to visit the Temple site. Note how it's visit, not live. A few times a year they are let into the city to visit where the Temple once stood so they can pray, then they are forced to leave again. 

Oops! Back up a it! What’s happening over there during all this? It’s the 7th Century and Islam has now become a major religion! Any Jews hanging out in the Arabian Peninsula? Convert or get out. They’re going to keep their eye on what’s been happening with Rome, the Jews, and the Christians in regards to ‘Palestine’. 

After all, Islam is a cousin to Judaism and they do share similarities to the holy sites. 

And there have been MANY wars over the holy sites. Sieges, betrayals, false alliances, and an overall repeated attempt to eradicate and massacre people over the land.

Now, we all know the Roman Empire eventually fell. But the Jewish people? Still banished. They became the Diaspora. Attempting to settle in place after place until they are either massacred, converted, or kicked out. They have no home. Just a place to sit for a bit until the next massacre forces them to flee. 

That's not even getting into the Crusades of the Christians against Islam in Palestine 1095-1291!! 

So... Skipping over a LOT of history and massacres and terrible things....

Oh boy oh boy. I'm going to skip a LOT. Because the crusades are a mess of WTFery and I'm not writing a thesis here (right?). 

But... 1917, enter Britain. Because of course Britain has to get involved at some point. You wouldn't be telling a world history tragedy story without Britain somehow getting involved. 

They take control of Palestine from the Turks. Basically, WWI just ended and the Ottoman Empire lost big time. Their punishment? Britain now rules their land (I’ll get to that in a bit). 

A decree is issued establishing Palestine as a national home for Jewish People, so long as nothing is done to cause prejudice or remove the civil rights or religious rights of the existing people that live there (Non-Jewish communities). 

Many Jewish people interpret this to mean that ALL of Palestine is now a Jewish State. 

1921: Britain changes their mind. All of Palestine east of the Jordan River is closed to Jewish settlement, but not to Arab settlement. 

Oh boy. 

1923: Britain says Arabs can immigrate but NOT Jewish people to Syria and Lebanon. 

What? What are you doing Britain? 

Remember that Western Wall rubble that was found in Jerusalem? The last remains of the Temple? By 1929: Muslims and Jews have been fighting over that wall for ages. Riots break out in Palestine and Jewish people are massacred. 

Annnnnnd that takes us to 1933 when Hitler rises to power. Jewish people everywhere attempt to start to emigrate and flee to what they hope are safe countries. 

1939: British government limits Jewish immigrants to 10,000 a year. Jewish people are trapped and the Holocaust catches up. 

1945-1948: Post Holocaust refugees try to find the only place that they may call home: Palestine. The British government detains them and prevents their entry. 

1946-1948: Things start to get violent in Palestine and British rule is unsure if they want Jews there or not. 

1947: the UN approves the creation of the Jewish State and an Arab State in British ruled Palestine. 

1948: Israel declares independence as a Jewish State and opens up to all Jewish people trying to find a safe place to live after the Holocaust. Essentially, it becomes a refugee state and if you are Jewish in any manner of the word, you are now a citizen and have a country to escape to when the massacres happen. 

A Jewish Exodus from Arab and Muslim lands results as they flee or are expelled. 

Egypt invades and Israel holds fast, expanding its borders as a result. 

Egypt continues to attack and threaten Israel until the Six Day War in 1967 when Israel captured the West Bank

(Pictured here)

The West Bank is considered the heart of Palestinians. This is known as the Gaza Strip. 

Many Israelis see this area as their ancestral Homeland. Many Israeli settlements are starting to push into this area in a ruthless attempt to take it back. I DO say ruthless because they have been using violence against those living there and farming there. 

There is international law that states that this area is off limits to Israelis. 

"1890: The term "Zionism" is coined by an Austrian Jewish publicist Nathan Birnbaum in his journal "Self Emancipation" and is defined as the National movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish Sovereignty in the Land of Israel. "

Now, the term Zionism has taken on different roles and meanings over the years. I mentioned above what the word means and comes from. But it was later claimed by right wing Israelis who want the Arab nations out of Israel. It was later taken back again to being used as a simple declaration of nationalism for the right for Jews to have a place to call their own. 

It's...complicated. I think Zionism can only really be defined by those who claim they are Zionists. Which ideology they follow may vary and much like any notion of nationalism, there are problems and dangers. 

Is it wrong to be a Zionist? Depends. But the answer is not a straightforward yes or no. 

The Jewish people deserve to exist in a state. But so do the Palestinians. 

Let's talk about Palestine! 

Historically, you got nothing until Judea is destroyed and the people are taken as slaves and killed in 70 CE. 

Then you have a bunch of Christians wandering around it declaring all the historical sites to be theirs. Which, since Christianity comes from Judaism, they happen to share a lot of the same spiritual and historical sites. 

But so does Islam.

There are repeated revolts, wars, disputes, and claims to the area by MANY different factions. 

Many times the Jewish people attempted to retake the area only to be put down again and again. 

In the late 6th Century, Islam was founded. They conquered Palestine in 636. Unlike previous rulers, they allowed Jews and Christians the freedom to practice their religion in peace.... but they had to pay a special tax and be submissive to Muslims. But, they did lift the centuries long ban on Jews being banished from Jerusalem. 

Guess who wasn't a fan of all this? 

Time for Crusades to 'liberate' Jerusalem from the Muslims. 

European Christians campaigned against Muslims to reconquer the 'Holy Land' of Palestine. 

Hey look! The Ottomon Empire (1466 CE) decided to show up! 

As I mentioned above, the Ottoman Empire had sided with the Germans and lost. They were driven from Palestine and British rule took over. 

Remember how I mentioned that the British government declared Palestine to be a Jewish State in 1916? Well it turns out that just one year earlier, in 1915, it had been declared an Arab State in which the UK agreed to recognize Arab independence. BOTH declarations were seen as giving full control to either the Jewish People or the Arabs. 

Good job Britain. Way to do what you always do and cock it up. 

Here’s the biggest problem with saying that you side fully with Palestine. Internationally recognized terrorists political movement of: Hamas. 

Hamas is an Acronym that translates to 'Islamic Resistance Movement'. 

It's a political military movement that governs parts of the Gaza Strip. 

They have taken charge and governed the Gaza Strip since 2006 and have periodically attacked Israel. They promote Palestinian Nationalism in a strictly Islamic context. 

In fact, they propose that Israel NOT be recognized as a state and that a strictly Palestinian State be formed. 

All the truces they offer to Israel over the years? Incredibly Antisemitic. They have carried out numerous terrorist attacks against the citizens of Israel and continue to 'advocate' for the return of Palestine without Jews. 

They tend to be the 'dominant political force' in Palestine because of their anti-israel stance. They pretend to want a two state solution, but will repeatedly reject talks and demand "From the River to the Sea". Their end goal is to remove ALL of Israel and return the entire region to Palestine, thus making it an Islamic State. 

It’s important to know that this is a radical group that unfortunately has a lot of control and uses its own people to terrorize and hide behind in an effort to bring about fear and hate and death. The actual Palestinian people do not deserve that. 

It’s also important to know that the Israeli people do not all support their own government or leaders who have decided to take up an extremist approach to attempting to eradicate the terrorist movement. 

MANY Israeli and Palestinian people believe in trying to find a negotiation that will benefit both sides and share a land that in a long lengthy way does represent three major religions. 

It is important to know what Charities are supporting. Where the money is going, and who is only furthering violence on both sides. 

It’s also important to know your history. 

When I was little, If you said someone was Jewish, I imagined a white European man. Why is that the common image of a Jewish person? How is it possible to be a colonizer if your people come from that country in the first place? 

So I'm going to ask you a question, and I REALLY want you to think about this. 

If someone owns land and comes from a land, they are forcibly removed from the land for a LONG amount of time, someone else comes in and makes a home of this land and lives there for a long time, and then the first people want that land back.... Do they become colonizers? Are they wrong? Do they not deserve their land back?

If you think the answer is yes, you need to go have a conversation with the Native Americans. 

BUT, as we all know... What do you do about the people that currently own and live on that land that was stolen from the first people? Maybe you didn't do the stealing, but you acquired stolen property and if you give it back then now you have nowhere else to go.... What sort of conversation needs to happen now? How do you solve this problem? 

If you made it to the end, I thank you so much for taking the time to be curious about history and how it impacts current events. If you have questions, please let me know.