#gonna tag the result options here btw

[eyebagsanonymous]

Take this uquiz I made in 20 minutes

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Dragon Age Fans!!!

Read below the poll for details regarding this.

PLEASE REBLOG!

Especially if you choose the first option. It makes no sense to choose it if you don't reblog. Where are you gonna tell me what character you want most if you don't reblog and include that info in the tags?

Now, for details...

I create character interpretations in my work, and I'm a hard-core Dragon Age fan. The game saved my life when my mental health got really dark.

Because of a bad fall, and stuff related to it, I'm unable to draw anymore. Now I make quilts. The interpretations are colors, prints, and symbols. At least, until I learn applique.

Here are examples of interpretations. Several were commissioned pieces, and the clients are very happy about the results.

The first is Odin/The Hanged Man. This was a commissioned piece, and one of few where I applied embroidery.

This one is an altar piece representing Brigid, a goddess.

This is a personal piece, a table runner serving as an altar mat for Halloween and the goddess call Hel or Hela. The light print has metallic gold skulls all over it.

This is a tarot interpretation of the tarot card called The Sun, and was part of a trade. Like the Odin piece, it has semiprecious gems and stones handsewn onto it.

This is a transgender tarot mat, also a commission.

This is an interpretation of my grandpa, made shortly after he passed away. My grandmother wouldn't accept it because it was too accurate and made her cry too much. Instead, I made it a prize for a giveaway.

This is a memorial piece, also a commission. I have semiprecious stones and gems handsewn to it as well.

This is Lady of Guadalupe, an interpretation. I can't remember if it was a commissioned piece or trade.

This last one represents the synesthesia I experience after tonic-clonic seizures. My synesthesia is normally my brain interpreting sound as texture, but it switches to seeing sounds. This is a song, but I can no longer recall the song

This should give you an idea of what I can do. Interpretation is a challenge I love to no end. As of making this, I've made a wallhanging representing Lucanis Dellamorte (the direct translation is Wolf of Death btw). I has a purple crow made with sparkly cotton, on a field of black shiny like polished leather, framed with a purple soft floral border. He's a Crow, a romantic according to devs, and his colors are purple and black. This will be listed in my shop, and soon I'll be working on another with reversed colors.

Emmerich is my next target, and it'll be skulls, blue, green, and possibly brown or off-white. Neve will likely have serpents, Taash will have wealth and/or dragons, Lace will have a bow and flowers, and I need to figure out the rest.

Feel free to include suggestions!l in the tags for the character you're most interested in!!!

Prices will vary by a lot. Size, design, materials, time, all of these will contribute to the final price. The work is worth the money though, that I can guarantee. There's a reason I gave repeat buyers and clients.

[dragonmarquise]

Rise & Devil Theory theories

ONCE MORE the BRC brain rot takes hold on this fine Thursday evening. This time thinking about the connection between Rise and Devil Theory!!

Why would there be a connection between her and them? Think about it: Devil Theory are known in-game for being aggressive assholes, even turning on their fellow writers by snitching on them to the cops. Not to mention the whole “were apparently working with/for Faux behind everyone’s backs” thing.

So then how the hell would Rise be able to apparently have free reign of Pyramid Island, Devil Theory’s own home turf, when DT themselves have been shown to be jerks to other writers? Especially other writers trying to move in on their turf, as seen in the game when the player starts going after them!

She was even blocking off most of the island until BRC got more REP. Ultimately trying to stop them like that would moreso benefit Devil Theory than Rise herself in the grand scheme of things.

AND SO, I present to you, a list of theories about the possible connections between Rise and Devil Theory, about how/why DT would make an exception for Rise! This is gonna be long, sorry, though at least it's not nearly as long as the two headcanon posts I did for Devil Theory and DOT EXE.

Also lot of fan fic material here, just saying, hee hee...

I have this in my headcanon tag just for ease of referencing it again later, but I’ll note which one of these is my own personal headcanon too. :>

Getting this out of the way, the possibility that Rise has no connection to Devil Theory at all. I still think they wouldn’t take too kindly to another writer moving around freely on their turf, even if she didn’t do any graffiti. So then in this case, maybe she somehow sneaks around and never gets noticed by them most of the time. But then that makes the gate guarding risky from her point of view. Though it’s also a bit funny with how she’s just out in the open after that, in a spot where one of the Devil Theory guys can challenge you anyways, so surely he would’ve seen her then, lol

Rise seems to make a big deal about social media, given she has you take pics of her for her missions. I imagine she’s likely a very big name online, so then maybe at least some of the Devil Theory members are fans of hers! They have an agreement, Rise can hang out on the island for “exclusive photos” and stuff, as long as she doesn’t do any graffiti herself. Of course, nothing about her getting other people to do graffiti for her (at least, in a way), given how she gets BRC to up their Rep before letting them into the rest of the island :P (This one is my personal headcanon btw!!)

The Devil Theory guys all have crushes on her (probably stemming from her social media status maybe??), and basically letting her on the island as a chance to ask her out. Resulting in them competing with each other over it. Rise is actually fully aware of this… and just messes with them, so she can still be on the island without having to commit to anything.

Alternatively, they are her simps and she basically pushes them around, which is how she’s “allowed” on the island, she outright bullied them for it. Maybe they’re into that too, don’t judge them for it, lmao

Maybe the most potential for drama? Kinda? But one of the Devil Theory guys could actually be dating her, which explains why she’s being made an exception for being allowed on the island without getting harassed by the others.

An extension to the previous point, it’s a polycule! All the Devil Theory guys are actually dating each other and Rise is in on it too.

Just plain friendship is also an option of course! Maybe Rise and the Devi Theory guys go way back, and they just let her on the island as a favor, as long as she stays out of their way in terms of writer stuff.

Another option: Rise kicked all of their asses in a 1 on 4 fight, so they let her on the island out of respect to her. Probably-maybe the coolest option, tbh :D

Sort of a small subsection that can be applied to all of these: How does Rise chose to deal with Devil Theory being assholes, especially the whole “snitching to the cops” thing? There’s a few possibilities to consider:

First option: She actually didn’t know it was for real. She knows their reputation and the rumors, but she didn’t think it was actually true. In the game, talking to Tryce just before going to the island, he mentions that it’s a “rumor” that they snitch to the cops. So that only gets proven once you try to go after them yourself. Then in this case she breaks off from (or breaks up with) them, after learning the truth. Big potential for dramatic fic writing here! And character development in the aftermath at least on Devil Theory’s side of things, but maybe that’s just my own preference...

Second option: She definitely knew the truth, but turned a blind eye because it at least wasn’t affecting her directly. “Not my monkeys, not my circus” as they say. Not to mention, she probably had it in the back of her mind that her trying to say anything or convincing them to quit it could risk them snitching on her to the cops. In this case I imagine there’s at least some guilt on Rise’s part for not doing something sooner herself.

Third option, and I think the most exciting for both dramatic fic writing and potential character development on both sides: She absolutely knew what was going on the whole time, and even had them call the cops to help her out more than once!! If the truth ever got out on that, you can imagine her social media status would take a BIG hit… but again, excellent potential for character development for both Rise and Devil Theory in this situation, both of them learning to be better from this, at least imo ;u;

I think that’s all I got on this topic! What do you think? Any particular idea you personally like? Or do you have another situation that I haven’t listed here that would be fun to think about? Reply or reblog this with your thoughts and opinions!

No, seriously, please interact with this post, I don’t want to be alone in the Rise + Devil Theory brainrot, ahhh ;o;

[autistic-katara]

ok so tags, tags r so confusing and idk why

ok so the tags do seem confusing but they’re actually pretty simple (i’m gonna talk abt this through the lens of searching for fics btw)

so when u click on a tag and click filter (which is normally how i look for fics) the filters are split into 3 sections

include, exclude, and more options. and if u look at them they have subsections, the subsections for include and exclude being the same, and i’ll explain what the subsections are below

so this is ratings. all of the filter tags thingys are sorted by how many fics there are tagged/rated like this in this tag, in this case i clicked on the Stranger Things fandom tag and that’s the results (don’t think i rlly need to explain what the ratings mean or anything). when including stuff u can only select one (obviously) but u can filter out multiple

next is the warnings, all fics r required to have at least one but u can add multiple. think these r all pretty self explanatory except underage which either means underage sex or underage SA (or possibly smthn more broad but i’m pretty sure it’s one of those, more certain that it’s underage sex in general) also no warnings and creator chose not to use warnings are 2 different things, if something is tagged creator chose not to use warnings then it could mean it has major character death or violence or whatever but the author didn’t wanna add a warning for some reason so be sure to check the tags.

next is categories, this is about the different kinds of relationships in it. for f/f, f/m, and m/m f stands for female and m stands for male so they’re about sapphic, straight, and achillean relationships respectively. gen means no romantic/sexual relationships and multi means there r multiple kinds of relationships (e.g a fic where one of the relationships in the fic is lesbian while another is straight). other i think is just for stuff that doesn’t rlly fit in any of the other categories, like for example if it was [character]/gn reader (put a pin in the / we’ll come back to it later)

up next is fandoms. now from here on all the things that show up in the filters aren’t the only options, they’re just the top 10. i don’t rlly have anything to say on this bit so i’ll just move on.

next is characters, if u want a character to be in the fic ur reading u can filter in their tags. don’t rlly know what else to say on this other than again these r only the top 10 and i’ll talk abt a way u can search for others in a minute.

next, relationships. if u want/don’t want a certain relationship to be in the fic u can filter them here. also remember how i told u to put a pin in that /? well yeah this is very important to remember: a / between 2 characters is a romantic or sexual relationship and an & is a platonic/familial/etc. relationship. srsly u don’t wanna mix them up.

and last in the include/exclude section is additional tags. this is for just everything that would be tagged that isn’t any of the other stuff. like any AUs, if it’s got smut/angst/fluff/whatever, any extra warnings that weren’t in the big warnings section (e.g a suicide attempt or homophobic language), if it’s a smut the specifics about what kinda stuff they’re doing, etc.

but we aren’t completely finished in this section because we still have:

this thing is just what u would use if a tag u wanted to read/block wasn’t in the top 10 of their category of this tag. u can just type it in here and it’ll probably come up but if it doesn’t u can just press enter and it’ll still work.

and that’s all for include/exclude but there’s still more options so i’ll get into that

first is crossovers. pretty self explanatory, exclude crossovers means all fics that come up will only have one fandom, show only crossovers will include only fics that have multiple fandoms, and include crossovers shows both.

completion status. completion status is (obviously) about whether a fic is complete or not. if a fic’s chapter count is like this: 7/7 it’s complete, if it’s like this: 7/16 or 7/? it’s not, and the filtering is pretty self explanatory.

word count. if u want to read something idk shorter with a quicker payoff or longer with more content or whatever reason u can filter the word count. how it works is for example if u put 7000 in the “from” area and 20,000 in the “to” area all the fics would have 7000-20,000 words.

date updated. if u don’t wanna read fics from before/after a certain date u can put the date into this and filter it (e.g i recently watches itsv and wanted to read abt my boy Miles but haven’t yet watched atsv so i put atsv’s release date into the “to” section so none of the fics would have spoilers).

and finally there’s this thing which i honestly have no idea how to use so yk.

there’s also a way to filter only one language in incase u don’t wanna be scrolling and find a rlly good fic only to find out it’s another russian fic or whatever and a way to change what order fics come in (latest updated first, latest posted, most kudos, etc.)

anyways yeah hope this was helpful and made sense and if ur confused by anything just ask and srry if u meant how to tag ur fics not how to use the tagging system to search if u meant that just tell me and i could explain that too if u want and yeah happy writing :)

[thatoneguy031]

It's the weekend, so I have a bit of free time before I have to return to my exams(I only have 1 left, yay!). And I wanted some opinions on something.

I'm working on my PMD story(Y'know, the one with Chris, Lucas and the gang), and I want some sort of... interaction, with my fans/followers(Can I call them interactions, or is it like engagement?).

I have three working titles, and I can't choose which one I want to stick with.

-PMD: Team 7 Is On the Move! - One of... quite a few Naruto references, originally based on the main team's(lack) of a name (๑•﹏•)

-PMD: Soul Searchers/Explorers of the Soul - A callback to what my story used to be(My MCs used to be a Charmander named Riley and a Totodile named Brendan, if you wanted to know)

-PMD: Your Dream Rescue Team is Here! - ...There's no real origin behind this, I'm not gonna lie

I'll appreciate any and all criticism that you're willing to give me about this. I'll try my best to please everyone here, alright? I'm sorta on a pmd kick recently, and I wanted to get this out now.

BTW, check out this comic I found!

*I use Chris's tag as the main filter tag to sort between all my PMD content. This post not focused on him, but this is my general PMD tag.

[esuterunokitsune]

Ooh! Ooooh! Me! I can tell you!!!

So! Everybody does things a bit differently, since ao3 has a lot of different ways to search for stuff, so I'll focus on my preferences, but I'll go through some basic understanding too. I don't know how much you do know, so sorry if I come of condescending, I'm playing it safe.

First, you need to find the fandom.

You have a few basic options here

You can go through the alphabetized list:

You can search for works or tags in the thorough search function:

Or you can be like me and just google "[fandom name] ao3" and click on the result. In my opinion, that's the fastest.

You can use the basic search bar, but that will find works that have it in the title. Then you can click on the fandom tag and it will take you where we're going.

(you can click on any tag and see the fics tagged by it btw. You can also sort through them, if the tag has enough fics. It's not limited to fandoms, get creative!)

Which is gonna be here:

In the fandom tag!

You can see how many works there are, and the most recently updated works.

Now, see that button on the top called filters? That's where the fun starts. Click it, aaand

There! Now you can either pick the most popular tags in each category to include and/or exclude. And you can find more specific tags too by looking them up in the "other tags to include" window!

Then you choose what stats you want to sort by. You can sort by recently updated or recently published, by number of comments or kudos(basically likes) or by number of bookmarks.

Personally I suggest recently updated for fresh fics, and kudos for the most popular and most iconic stories in the fandom. Bookmarks are imo good for finding the fics that stay stuck in people's heads the longest.

You can also pick wether you want crossovers, or if you want finished or unfinished stories, and also what the word count should be, if you want short or long stories.

Then you click on "sort and filter" and read through the tags. Please. Read through the tags.

Also, you see that square made out of four squares next to the title of a fic? They're also written out in the tags, but if you click on those you will get a handy guide explaining their meanings!

And there you go! Enjoy reading!

Don't forget to kudos the fics you like, comment (if you're feeling brave), and bookmark the fics you want to reread! You can't sort through your kudos, but you can sort through bookmarks. You can also favourite tags, which will make them appear on your home page.

And that's the exhaustive guide! Hope it helps and hope I answered most you your questions!

How do y'all find fics in AO3?? I feel like I just stepped into a whole new country with no guide, no friend or family with, no wifi, no phone, while having social anxiety so I can't ask strangers for directions, and even if I did they spoke in a language I don't know

[beardedhandstoadshark]

*turns into pile of dust because of black magic*

Btw your oc looks cool!! what’s their name and backstory? got a reference sheet we could learn more about?

Thank you! But about that…yeaaa the drawing probably made him look a lot cooler than they usually look like, I‘m afraid- sorry about that ^^;

Anyways, I‘ve actually talked a bit about my current oc‘s on here (affectionately and uncreatively called main gang due to them being my current main gang of oc’s) and he‘s the purple one in those posts; you can find a few under the „original character do not steal [tm]“ tag on both blogs. He‘s the first one I made and was originally just one of a few fun (vaguely fantasy) chibi drawing ideas I had…which might also be the reason he‘s the most frequently depicted one (and totally not my fave to draw nope)

And I do have a reference sheet! (though not everything‘s on there and details tend to change a lot over time, even if his design is the only one of the 5 that’s stayed the same so far-)

(This post accidentally got a bit long, the rest the rest under this cut is mostly just lots of side-info)

The main inspo: The weird amount of merchant characters who‘re very knowledgeable about magic stuff and maybe slightly (read: very) sus (Happy Mask Salesman, Magolor, the shop guy from Link‘s Awakening who obliterates you with a laser if you steal, Volo I guess?) But unlike Mags and Volo, Mage isn’t gonna betray the party and turn into the endboss of course. Probably. …nah. (<- a lie? who knows =) )

in a lot of videogames, no matter where they are or what‘s currently happening in the plot, if the game‘s got merchants to buy from, they will be available- even in the deepest dungeons or during the apocalypse. So I thought- wait a minute, if they’re here in the dungeon, and they’re here before the mc‘s who‘re supposedly the chosen ones and the first to set foot here in 500 years- then they must secretly be super strong actually and are just hiding it in plain sight!

A „what if“ thought- what if you had a cliche rpg party but their respective cliche classes are actually the secondary classes. And the primary ones are jobs, or just being an NPC? (That’s where the other four come in)

—————

This also influenced his personality a bit, but not completely: cunning, a bit laid back, cares a lot about making some bank, needs to know things, practiced smile but only when it’s needed, otherwise it’s side smirks- lots of too much smiling in any case. Usually on the friendly side- (also, but not always in that cliche „oh HELLO dear customer! :D“ voice you’d usually get. Again, he’s a bit more laid back and [whatever the vibe fitting a side smirk is called] than that )- unless you wrong him, that is- or he thinks bickering with you is fun. Usually puts his own safety over that of others, the first one to result to backstabbing in order to get what he wants- but both the people he betrayed in that moment and whoever he betrayed them for. (And even if the second option is less profitable; if it grants even the tiniest chance of getting him welcomed by rest of the gang again, well then they couldn’t possibly not pick that, right?). In any case, Mage has clear morals- he’s just very good at setting them aside for the sake of efficiency.

Regarding his backstory, here’s not much too it, really- he‘s just a merchant selling their wares (or info) to adventurers on the road or in his shop when he isn’t traveling; you might find a curious item or two if you go pay them a visit! But whatever you do- do not try to steal anything. You will regret it. He’s lost someonething once, he will not let it happen again. Do you understand? Yes? Good. :) So, do you need anything else, dear customer? What’s this about dark magic? Yes, that’s what he just used, but that doesn’t make him a mage yet-this is just for protecting their wares from thieves. Mages are rarely traveling, he last saw one years ago- and by now, if some thieves, nature or the Roots didn’t get him, the monsters sure did.

Besides, the missing dark mage had a different eye color than him, didn’t they?

———————————

(if this reads weirdly it’s because I’m trying to hide all the parts that are only half-thought out and prone to change a lot. Might add a second version that’s exclusively character information, especially since it’s in the context of a setting that hasn’t been built yet. I kinda just hijacked this ask to finally put all my ideas for this pal into one place lol)

[cafeinthemoon]

So things are a bit complicated here bc I just found out I lost a job opportunity bc of a person I don't even know.

This is what happened: I attended to this job interview and it was almost decided that I was going to get the job, but my father just came home and told me that the girl who had the position I was applying to broke her arm and they can't fire her. Problem is that this girl is a damn liar, bc some days before she said she took the COVID test and the result was positive so she would have to stay at home but instead she went to the beach and posted photos on social media. They wanted to fire her then, and she was about to sign the papers when she conveniently showed up with this broken arm and now they're gonna have to keep her there until her medical license is over.

I'm not usually the type to curse but b*tch could broke both her arms and legs too 🤬

Btw I'm going to use the tag #misserso93 talking to my personal talks here, which will not happen too often but if you don't want to see them you have the option to filter this tag 👍

[graphictutorials]

。・ tutorial six, graphic tutorial four by graphictutorials ゜+.*

-`. Hello everyone! In this tutorial, I’ll teach you how to use and edit gif overlays, like this: .’-

1. Finish editing your image and adding your psd. We want to put the overlay over the psd, that way the white stands out. Here I have edited this picture and I will soon be adding an overlay:

2. Find an overlay gif.

Here is a blog of some: https://overlaygifs.tumblr.com.

octomoosey has posted some gif overlays before, and you can go through their tag to check them out.

library-mermaid has made some as well: 1, 2.

You can also search "gif overlay" on Tumblr and see if you can find any, or go through the tag.

Find the one you like and download it.

I'll be using one from one of library-mermaid's posts.

3. Open the gif in Photoshop and open the timeline (Window>Timelime or Window>Animation). The frame animation should be on.

Example (it should look something like this):

4. Go to the corner of the timeline and click the settings arrow, and then click "Select All Frames."

5. Once the frames are selected, click the settings arrow again, and select "Convert to Timeline."

It will now look something like this:

6. In the Photoshop menu, go to Select and click "Select All Layers."

7. Once the layers are selected, right-click on one of them, and select "Convert to Smart Object."

It will place all the layers into one, like this:

8. Drag the gif over to your edit document.

***Make sure to place the gif layer above all the other layers from the edit, like so:

9. Put the gif layer mode to "Screen" or "Lighten."

It doesn't matter which, but I think people use Screen mode more because it picks up more of the gif. But for certain things, Lighten mode looks better. It is up to you.

It will now look something like this:

10. If your gif doesn't fit like mine clearly doesn't, select the gif layer, click the select tool, right-click on the document, and select "Free Transform" to make the gif bigger.

If it ends up blurry, sharpen it by going to Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen.

Now it fits:

11. Now, before saving it, make sure the timeline duration is in sync to the gif.

As you can see below, the timeline duration ends way after the gif. You don't want that because the overlay will stop for a long period of time.

Drag the end point to where the gif ends.

12. Finally, go to File>Save for Web & Devices, and save it.

***Make sure the looping option is on "Forever" and I recommend setting the Gif to "Adaption" and "Pattern"!!

Here is my final result:

OTHER INFO / TUTORIALS:

Sometimes the background of gif overlay isn't entirely black, so it'll end up looking like this:

It will have a white background and it won't look right. If this happens, add a Selective Color adjustment.

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color.

On the adjustment, switch the color to black. Add some to the "Black" section to darken the background.

Here I added 26% more to the black:

Now it is just the overlay with no white background: 

For this, I used this gif.

Another obstacle you might run into is the overlay might not be white or grey.

Here mine is light pink, but I don't want that:

If that happens and you want it to be black and white, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

On the adjustment, click the arrow to choose and black and white gradient.

Place that into a clipping mask, so that it only makes that layer black and white, not the rest. (right-click on the adjustment and select "create clipping mask.")

It is now black and white:

For this, I used this gif.

But what if you want to change it to a different color?

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.

Upon the pop-up box, set the mode to "Multiply" and click OK.

Now choose a color you want it to be. (Btw, it's going to temporarily change the entire thing to that color, but we'll fix that in a second.)

I chose cyan, but click OK when you're done.

Now it's gonna look something like this:

To fix it, make sure the color layer is right above the gradient layer, right-click on the color layer, and select "Create Clipping Mask" to put it inside the gif only.

Now it should color the gif overlay only.

That’s all there is to it!

I hope you found this helpful and plan on using it. If you need any further help, just send me a message!

[someonecradlemeintheirarms]

sorry for intruding on your post, packitandgo, but i have great news for you! you can actually do that in a search! (im gonna use pictures bc i find it easier to explain that way, also sorry that it will be hella long????? putting it under a cut for that reason)

im also gonna explain more things than you actually need to do what you want to do, both for if you ever wanna use this in the future or anyone else who might see this post

anyway

so you search strange magic (using the example you gave, great movie btw) in the search bar, yes, we got that far

and then you see this, lots of results, lots of scrolling before you even see what you actually want to find

what you're gonna do next is click on this bad boy in the upper right, that "edit your search" button

what that's gonna open up is this

(there is more you can see by scrolling down, we will get to that in a sec)

to start, what we are interested in is the upper right buttons:

work search

people search

bookmark search

tag search

when clicking the "edit your search" button you will automatically be directed to the "work search" category. there, you sill see many fields you can use to filter your search by, including the ones shown in the pic above as well as:

lots of fields you can use to make your search waaay more specific. you can put something in each field (character, relationships, categories, additional tags, etc) or just use one

in this screen, to find the fandom you want, you can write "strange magic" in the fandoms category. that will show you a drop down menu (like in the following picture) and you can click on the fandom you're looking for and then just go the bottom (or top) and click, again, on the search button

yay! now your results carry the "strange magic" fandom tag! now you can just click on the fandom and find all works in that fandom!

so, on to the next page. remember the four button on the top right when we clicked on edit search? good, now we will move on to the next one: people search. when you click on that, you will be taken to this screen

if you remember the name of an author and want to find them, here is the place to use that knowledge!

note: bc the "work search" option has so many fields to fill out, you can also search for a specific author using the author field there, like that's a thing you can do, but it is easier to use the "people search" bc it also has a drop down menu for existing usernames similar to what you are searching for! like so!

the results when searching like this are shown right there, below the search fields, like so

you can also add a fandom and the result will show you hame works that person has for that fandom

NOTE: if the author has no works for a fandom, you will get no results, not even a person, it will just say "0 found", so only search fandom if you know that that author has written for it, i guess (or use this to figure out if they have written for that fandom??? but idk why you wouldn't just check their dashboard to check that, but whatever, it's a possibility)

next search option of the four here! bookmark search! it will take you to a page looking like this:

again, fill out any field you want or know info on, hit search, enjoy your results. also i did not think to say this sooner, but take a day to click on all those blue question mark on each category option, they always have some info that you might find helpful, who knows (it will not take you away from the page you are on, it will just open on a small mini window right where you are, like virtual post it)

and lastly, tag search:

type in the tag name, select the type of tag you mean (do you mean strange magic the fandom? strange magic the character? etc)

in status i recommend leaving it in "any status" if you are unsure if the tag you are searching for is canonical or not. if you do know, pick the corresponding option.

a canonical tag means that it appears in the filtering features the archive uses, so the tags you would find in the drop down menus or autocomplete options. tag wranglers connect non canonical tags to their canonical equivalents, so you might find one in the search for the other (for example: "modern au" is not a canonical tag. "alternate universe - modern setting" is a canonical tag. if your search for "modern au", it will show you the results of works under "alternate universe - modern setting", showing also works tagged with non canonical tags with the same meaning (like modern au) that the tag wranglers have linked)

tag search will also have the results underneath instead of in a new page (like the people search, unlike the work and bookmark searches)

and as you can see here, there is a mix of canonical and non canonical tags (canonical tags are boldened)

so, to do what you originally wanted to do, which was search for a fandom, you can do that easiest, i think, with the work search, or the tag search. i know this all sounds like a lot, specially since i added a bunch of extra stuff (sorry), but try it! and you will see it is actually quite simple :D . also google is your friend (you can searche "strange magic ao3" on google and probably get a result for the fandom tag)

unfortuantely, there is no way i know of to make any of this permanent (so no setting a default that it always searches for a fandom, etc) that i know of

and ofc there are even more ways to search and browse, but this is what you can do/see through the "edit your search" button when using the search bar, so...

hope this helped? sorry for intruding on your response to this post?

In light of that lovely video about the Jane Austen grandma, I'm wondering what people think is unintuitive about AO3.

So! A brief unofficial series of questions, for people who find it unintuitive:

1. What do you, personally, find *unintuitive* about the AO3 interface? (BE SPECIFIC)

2. What goals do you have that you struggle to achieve without lots of random clicking to figure it out?

3. Is your first experience with archives/databases AO3? If no, please explain what other archives/databases you have used previously and find intuitive. (Other examples: EBSCOhost, your local library's catalog, LexisNexis, etc.)

For EVERYONE who uses AO3, whether or not they find it unintuitive:

4.Please share how you normally land on the site (home page, a fandom page, a specific tag page), and how you find new works to read. (Scrolling through a specific tag, fandom, or collection? Through browse? Through the search bar in the header? The work search? Other?)

Please reblog, because I am curious and bored.

[hi-im-dazey]

A few things to think about when writing sex scenes

I want people who write fanfiction about gay relationships, when they are not gay themselves, to try to remember that men aren’t gay because they want to be women, they are gay because they want to have sexual relationships with men. One or both of the couple may or may not have a gentle, caring, lighter, more domestic side, but they are still dudes. 

When you take one of the couple and basically turn them into “the girl” of the couple, you may as well just write het fiction at that point.

 A gay man getting turned on when his boyfriend is in a sex-shop cheerleader costume, is not really an accurate portrayal of how it works. 

Also I think it’s safe to question the feasibility of how often, according to fanfiction, a gay man refers to his lover’s tender flower as, well, a tender flower, or a pussy, or (strangely enough in one fiction) a cunt. 

If you think guys are hot, then think about the things you think are hot about them. You like character “x” in a suit? Well, guess what, character “x” also looks hot in a suit to his boyfriend/love interest. 

His love interest is not looking at the way those dress slacks hug his ass, or how those sweatpants do nothing to hide his underwear choices or reciprocal interest, or how that tee-shirt really accentuates his arms and chest, and thinking:

“Wow, I bet he looks hot in a dress.”

You like the way character “y” holds himself when he’s walking? That’s probably one of the things his love interest likes about him too. You think he’s got a sweet smile and a nice rumbly voice? Guess what? So does your protagonist!

DO NOT TURN ONE OF YOUR MEN INTO A GIRL SIMULACRUM, that’s not gay, that’s stereotyping and projecting hetero-normative relationship roles and gendered actions onto characters who don’t need them.

 AND it is a big self-hate moment to have one man surprise another with feminine dress so he can convince the male presenting party to fuck him “Wow you look hot dressed as a chick, now I can fuck you”... This isn't a bugs bunny cartoon, let your gay male characters appreciate and love men, that’s what being gay is.

Also please note, panty kinks are much more prevalent amongst Hetero males. The amount of gay panty kink fanfiction out there is way over proportionate to its actual existence as a thing.

LUBE.YOUR.ANAL.SEX.

And please, please... please Try to remember Anal Sex just is not happening without severe damage to all body parts involved without adequate lubrication. Blood, spit, water (?!?!)*... these things are not adequate lubrication. And you need to remember that the receiving hole is not the only thing that will get injured, dick skin is delicate, it chafes easy just from enthusiastic, yet dry, hand jobs.

It’s not going to feel good, or in most cases, even be possible, to drive dry dick into a dry hole. So maybe you want your sub or bottom (not the same thing, BTW) to “really feel it” but you have to remember that that anal ring is gonna scrape the happy right off your Dom or top (again, not the same thing).

Attempts without will hurt both parties bad enough that in the future they will never not have lube with them when they intend to get laid or fuck someone. People who like anal play keep lube handy. And the “having to stop and do something else to get off” when you discover you are out of lube is a much more reasonable love-making option than going in dry and NO ONE who likes anal play will tell you differently.

*Blood clots, coagulates, and dries pretty fast, plus it sticks to things and sticks things to other things as it dries, There’s a reason bandages are treated so they won’t stick to wounds. Basically blood will not lubricate and in fact will make matters worse.

*Spit, unless you include a healthy amount of mucus, is not viscous enough to act as a lubricant, in other words, it’s gonna dry before you get the coated member anywhere near the licked hole. and if you think it’s sexy to fuck someone with mucus you should probably make a content warning tag for that so people can avoid it.

*Water dries fast and is not viscous enough to provide any lubrication. Also sex in a body of water is EXTREMELY difficult and in most case down right impossible, and the water will wash away any natural lubrication that maybe happening from a person capable of making their own, and any water based bottle lube you have applied (one of the many reasons water based is great because it WASHES OFF EASILY IN WATER)

Female anatomy notes:

Vaginas snap right back into shape, no matter how many dicks, toys, fists... whatever, have been in them. No matter the size, or number of times the vagina has been enjoying sex, it does not get “wrecked”, “loose”, or “flappy”. It tightens right back up. The only thing that can change the shape or “tightness” is giving birth and even that (barring incidence of medical stupidity during delivery) is temporary and once healed from, minor. Vaginas are built to take dick, squeeze out the resulting babies, and repeat the process. 

(Not that you have to use your personal vagina for any of that, but that is what it has evolved to do and recover from doing)

ETA: I think I pissed someone off because they got all reposty and annoyed about being “told how to write” I am not sure this post was the cause of it, because they were ranting about how they read it rather than what it actually says and did not repost the original with their comments because it would invalidate their claim.... So just to make a few things clear: When you are writing about two men in a relationship, forcing one to be the girl is the fan fiction equivalent of asking a gay couple “which of you is the woman?’

Relationships exist without straight gender roles. Men who want to be with Men, want to be with Men. So if your goal is a sweet, engaging, realistic, romance between two men, please respect your men. Or, if you need there to be a woman, write it with a woman. 

Also tips on writing believable gay romance is not the same as telling someone not to write what they want. Just pointing out things to avoid if you want to write it believably, is not attacking your writing. (and if you feel like it was attacking you personally, maybe you should examine that on your own time.)

If you really like putting a guy in a dress and turning him into the wife and your fans get off on that and buy you Kofi and whatnot, great. BUT these tips are intended for writers who would like to write realistic relatable romances between two (or more) gay men, when you yourself are not two (or more) gay men.

Second thing this person got weirdly pissed about:

Anal sex lube. ( they also got pissed about condom use as if I’d insisted on it, I did not mention condoms except in the tags where I point out that adults negotiate fluid bonding on the fly all the time. So not really sure where they got that panty twist from)

Ok so if you're gonna die on the hill of NO LUBE, (how dare I tell someone not to use three really bad choices for lube options, I must be a monster)

Be aware: Everyone who has actually had anal sex is getting to that dry entry/bad lube choice moment and Noping the fuck out of your story. 

Look, you can have one of your character spew magical unicorn lube, or have the no-tell motel provide it along with their hourly rates, or have one of your characters carry it just in case or whatever, OR you can get people to leave your story unfinished when you have them all turned on and ready to go and then suddenly drop the feeling of having a giant dry dick trying to to tear into them and yuck their yum. 

If your goal is to get people to enjoy your story thoroughly (insert dirty suggestive eyebrow wiggle here) then you really should strive for not destroying the mood you built with something as weird as steadfastly refusing to write as if lube exists and is needed. 

ALSO yes it’s fiction, but, unfortunately sex education in this country ranges from non-existent to super crappy, if someone is reading erotica and looking at porn to get a handle on how it all works, I’d rather be a person who advocated lube use, than the person who tried to pretend anal sex can happen without it.

[thevezinamonologues-blog]

Three and Time to Spend with You

Prompt: Hilary Knight and Freddie Andersen Threesome For: the sin bin gc Warnings & Tags: NSFW, Threesome, Oral, Cockwarming, Face-sitting, IDK LOTS OF THINGS.... also I moved Hilary back to the NWHL and put the ASG in Toronto for purposes of this fic whatever let me live Word Count: 3505

It started with Instagram.

You hadn’t thought anything of it, posting to your story about how excited you were to go to the NWHL All Star Weekend. You’d saved up for months, treated yourself to a nice hotel room, and you were all ready and dolled up, wearing your Hilary Knight jersey and a backwards cap with a bi pride flag on it. You’d managed to get a picture of your back and posted it to your insta story. You location-tagged your hotel (it was fancy, you were a little proud that you’d saved up enough to treat yourself there) and you only hesitated a moment before deciding to tag Hilary herself in it, too. You hadn’t expected a response, you hadn’t even really expected her to see it. And if she did, it was just so she knew she had some support there coming from you.

Ten minutes later as you brushed your teeth, your phone pinged with a notification.

Lookin good! 😍 🙌

At first, you thought it was from your friends, but then you saw the username and nearly dropped your phone in the bathroom sink.

Hilary. Knight.

Holyshit.

You eventually got your shit together, but you were still too afraid to answer, so you just let it be. Until later when you got to the rink to watch the skills competition. You were right at the glass from the get-go, taking as many pictures on your phone as you could. At one point, Hilary skated right past you, no helmet on, grinning wildly. You got an incredible close-up. She looked so happy, so free, so beautiful.

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you opened your Insta DMs and sent the pic to Hilary with the exact same thing she’d sent you earlier.

Lookin good! 😍 🙌

You settled in to watch the skills competition and nearly forgot about the message until you got back to your hotel afterwards. The all-star game itself wasn’t until the next day and you had some time to kill, wondering if you should grab dinner or something. You opened up UberEats when a notification came through on your phone.

Hilary Knight followed you on Instagram.

You were still staring at the phone in your hands with complete shock when a second notification came through. Another DM. From her.

Great pic 😉

You clicked the notification and just stared at the message for a while as a second one came through.

Looks like we’re staying in the same hotel. I’m meeting a friend for drinks and we’re grabbing dinner at the hotel restaurant after. You want to join?

You blinked a few times as a third came through. Then more.

Nothing funny or anything (I mean you’re gorgeous but I don’t want to assume that bi = you’re into threesomes because fuck that’s annoying, right?)

But also if you want to, I sure wouldn’t say no.

He probably wouldn’t either.

But no pressure, seriously.

Love to buy you dinner, though. At least as a thanks for taking that dope pic (can I post that btw?)

Ok now that I’ve sent you like 30 messages I’m just gonna let you do your thing here 👉👉

It took you the better part of a minute to get over the shock and answer.

Yes. To all of it. Yes to posting the picture, yes to dinner or drinks, and maybe yes to other things?

Your answer came back immediately.

👍 Meet you at the bar at the restaurant in 30?

You sent a thumbs up emoji back. Then, after a little debate, you followed up with your phone number. Just in case.

You took a quick shower, shaving and exfoliating as much as you could in the limited time you had. You toweled off and checked your phone to find a text from a new number.

It’s Hilary. From Instagram. Looking forward to seeing you tonight, Y/N 😄

You didn’t pack all that much with you, but you managed to find a yellow cotton dress that looked cute and was comfortable. You’d planned on wearing it on your drive home so you didn’t have to bother with jeans, but it was your cutest option at the moment. You put on some makeup and a little product in your damp hair to make sure it didn’t get too frizzy and declared yourself the best you could get with your limited resources. You sent off a quick text to Hilary.

On my way 😃

You got down to the bar, looking for Hilary and her friend. You saw her long hair and approached slowly, only pausing when you saw who her friend was.

“A buddy” turned out to be Freddie fucking Andersen.

And he looked just as good as Hilary did.

Jesus, you weren’t sure you’d survive this dinner.

You did survive the dinner. Hilary was warm and engaging. Freddie had introduced himself to you quietly, but eventually, he was just as welcoming as Hilary. You weren’t great at social situations with new people normally, but talking with them was easy. Hilary’s bright enthusiasm and Freddie’s dry humour meshed perfectly and had you feeling completely at ease. You weren’t sure if the aforementioned “other things” were still on the table. You would be absolutely down if they were, but even if they weren’t, you enjoyed dinner and thought you may have found one, or even two new friends.

The three of you split a giant chocolate lava cake, crowded together in the half-circle booth. You giggled to yourself as Hilary took a piece right off of Freddie’s spoon and Freddie gasped in mock-shock.

You leaned forward to grab a spoonful of the homemade whipped cream and you felt a hand slide across your lower back. You turned toward Hilary, grinning so that the woman didn’t move her hand away. You settled back against her, enjoying the feeling of her thumb sliding back and forth over the soft fabric of your dress. Her hand went higher to settle her arm around your shoulders and you noticed on a quick glance that Freddie seemed to be enjoying you licking the whipped cream off your spoon.

Maybe those Other Things were still on the table, after all.

Hilary leaned close to your ear, your hair tickling your neck as she whispered. “My room? And do we invite Fred?”

Okay. Definitely on the table.

“Yeah,” you breathed, leaning into Hilary. “And yeah.”

Hilary’s room was a few floors up from yours and the elevator ride was humming with unspoken energy. Hilary’s arm was still around your shoulders and Freddie was looking at the two of you as though you were the real dessert.

You looked between them. “Are you two… like… together?”

Freddie shook his head no. “We used to be, but we’re just friends now.”

“Sometimes we meet up when we’re both in the same place,” Hilary added. “But yeah. Just friends, now.”

You blamed your nerves for the lack of brain-to-mouth filter when you spoke next. “Too much gorgeous for one relationship?”

Hilary snorted and turned to press a kiss to your temple. “Something like that, babe,” she said against your hair.

When you got into Hilary’s room, she excused herself to go to the bathroom and you turned to Freddie. He approached you slowly, reaching out toward you but halting his hand.

“Y/N,” he said softly. “You’re definitely okay with this?”

You smiled softly, stepping closer and grabbing his hand to put it on your hip yourself. His large fingers curled into your soft skin as he dipped down to kiss you slow and searching. He was a patient kisser, coaxing your lips open and by the time you pulled apart for air, you weren’t quite sure you remembered how to breathe.

“Jesus, that’s hot,” you heard from behind you. You turned toward Hilary, Freddie’s hand still on your hip.

Where Freddie was a patient, intense kisser, Hilary was indulgent and fiery. She read you instantly, finding what you liked and chasing it down with a firm tenacity. She pulled your lower lip between her teeth before swallowing your resulting whimper in another kiss, deep and bruising enough that it pushed you back into Freddie’s chest.

Freddie’s hands slid around between you and Hilary, hands splaying across your stomach. You weren’t built like either of them, nor were you all that thin. You flinched a little away from his hand, a little self-conscious about the soft skin he found there.

“Stop that,” Freddie said, voice gruff as he moved one hand to pull your hair to one side so Hilary could suck a bruise into your neck. “You’re beautiful, Y/N.”

You felt your cheeks redden, and it only got worse when Hilary nipped at the newly-created hickey before agreeing. “He’s right.”

You weren’t sure what to say. Anything that came to mind was either self-deprecating or just awkward so you opted for letting it go and tugging at Hilary’s blouse until she relented, stepping back just long enough to tug it up and over her head.

Jesus Christ. Her arms. “Just fuck me up,” you thought, only realizing you actually said it out loud when Freddie chuckled and Hilary all-out laughed. She was still grinning when she pulled you into another kiss.

Freddie had moved into your peripheral vision, pulling off his grey henley and undershirt. You lost track of him for a moment as you closed your eyes, one hand sliding up to the soft cotton of Hilary’s bra, tugging one of the cups down to thumb at her nipple. Freddie moved back behind you and you leaned back, using him as a bit of a wall.

Hilary arched into your hand and you repeated it with your other hand, shifting a little so her legs were straddling your thigh. She shifted one of her legs up, Freddie seamlessly grabbing her thigh so she could roll her hips into your thigh. Her lips were pink and puffy and she looked so fucking beautiful.

“Bed?” you asked them both and the three of you reluctantly untangled. Hilary pushed her jeans down, stepping out of them before guiding you to the bed. She’d hiked your dress up over your hips before you sat down. You marveled at her coordination as she pulled your dress over your head while simultaneously settling herself on your lap. Your hands slid up her thighs, feeling her muscles flex beneath your palms. Freddie was standing, silently watching and lazily palming himself through his jeans.

“Fred and I are probably gonna fight over who gets to eat you out, fair warning,” Hilary hummed against your lips and you cut your eyes to Freddie, then back.

“Both?” you grinned as you pulled away, unhooking Hilary’s bra and tossing it aside. “Both is good.”

“I like the way you think,” Hilary laughed. Her laugh quickly turned into a moan as you slid a hand between her legs. You could feel her wet through the cotton of her panties and you shifted a little, tightening your thighs in response to the warm heat that rushed through you.

“Freddie?” you finally asked, reaching out to him. You felt a little bad he was so quiet, just watching for a bit. He seemed fine with it though, but just as happy to step out of his jeans and kneel on the bed, catching your lips again. He started to unhook your bra strap as Hilary worked her lips up his neck. When he finally pulled his lips from yours to catch Hilary’s, you watched, dazed for a moment before finishing what Freddie started and getting your bra out of the way.

They moved seamlessly together and watching them was like watching a secretive, sensual dance and you shivered a little at the idea that you not only got to witness this beauty, but also participate.

Freddie broke the kiss and guided you back to lie in the center of the bed, eyes trailing over your body as he gazed approvingly. “Since I’m a gentleman,” he said, teasing as he smirked at Hilary. “You can taste her first.”

Freddie ignored Hilary’s triumphant grin as he tipped his head to kiss across your collarbone and down your chest between your breasts. You were pretty well-endowed, but you’d never really considered your breasts a huge erogenous zone before. As Freddie’s stubble scraped over your nipple before he flicked his tongue across it, you realized may have been mistaken.

Hilary, meanwhile, was sucking little bruises into the skin of your hips, still teasing around your panties. She nuzzled over your center, still covered by the soft cotton, and breathed you in. You rolled your hips toward her and whined low in your throat.

Freddie swallowed your moan in a kiss as he palmed your breasts, causing you to arch up into him. You felt all lit up, just shy of overwhelmed from the attention you were getting. You needed something to focus on, so you slid your hand into Freddie’s boxer-briefs and wrapped your hand around his semi-hard cock. You stroked lightly, but mostly you just wanted to feel the weight of him in your hand, occasionally thumbing over the slit, spreading drops of precum around the head.

By the time Hilary finally stopped teasing and started working your panties down your legs, Freddie was lazily fucking into your hand while he alternated teasing at your breasts with his mouth and kissing you slow and tender.

Finally, you felt Hilary’s mouth on you. She spread your lips apart with her fingers and licked the flat of her tongue up your slit slow and hard. You whimpered into Freddie’s mouth, eventually breaking the kiss when Hilary’s lips closed around your folds, sucking them into her mouth.

“Please,” you whimpered, not even knowing what you were begging for.

Hilary moved your thighs over her shoulders then zig-zagged her tongue over your clit. Your thighs shivered, feeling the muscles jump without you even trying.

“So beautiful,” Freddie said, sliding a hand down one of your thighs, squeezing, then giving it a little slap and watching it jiggle. You flushed, a little embarrassed but he pinned you with a look.

“I mean it,” he said, moving back up your body to nibble at your jawline. “I wish Hils brought her strap-on. You’d look so good with your legs wrapped around her while she fucks you.”

“Guess you’ll have to do it instead,” you said, your voice breathy as Hilary worked her mouth over your pussy. You felt her chuckle against you as she slid two fingers into you. You arched into it, seeking more until she crooked her fingers up and the pads slid across your G-spot.

“Guess I will,” Freddie agreed, grinning and palming his cock. “Keep it warm until then?”

You nodded and opened your mouth, tongue covering your bottom teeth. He reached up to put a few pillows under your shoulders and head, making sure you were comfortable before sliding his cock into your mouth, just enough so that you didn’t choke. You tasted the salty precum. You closed your mouth over him, suckling lightly, but he shook his head. “Just like this. Is that okay?”

You nodded as much as you could, keeping your mouth still, just letting his cock rest in your mouth. He cupped your cheek in his hand, running his thumb across your cheekbone. “So beautiful,” he breathed. “So good for us. Is Hils making you feel good, darling?”

You hummed your assent against his cock and he grinned, keeping his hand on your cheek and a steady stream of dirty talk that was, quite frankly, doing a lot for you.

Soon enough, Hilary had your thighs shivering around her head as you came hard, your cry muffled by Freddie’s cock. Hilary kissed her way back up your body, and Freddie took his cock out. You had just enough time to suck in a breath before Hilary’s lips captured yours. Freddie’s hand went between your legs, staying away from your still oversensitive clit.

“You want me to fuck you, baby?” he asked, sliding three thick fingers into you. You whimpered and nodded against Hilary’s lips.

You broke the kiss. “Yeah and-” you broke off on a sigh as he slowly slid his fingers in and out.

“And what?” Hilary prompted, passing her hand over your breasts, then down your ribs. “What do you want, babe?”

“I want-” you breathed, trying to gather your thoughts into words and make those words come out of your mouth. It was a lot harder than you thought, but eventually, you choked it out. “Want you to ride my face while- while he fucks me. Want my mouth on you.”

“Fuck,” the word sounded like it’d been punched out of Hilary and she stopped her gentle exploration to reward you with a hard, deep kiss. “Fuck yes, baby. That sounds- yes.”

“Just-” you added quietly, not wanting to disappoint them, but the way they both immediately stopped and listened to you had you relaxing and feeling warm. You turned your gaze to Freddie. “Be a little gentle at first? I get uh… oversensitive for awhile after…”

Freddie nodded and settled between your thighs, dipping to press a kiss to the inside of your knee. “Of course, dove. Of course.”

Freddie hiked you up a little, then slowly, gently, patiently slid into you and you breathed out slowly, feeling the best kind of full. Hilary put her hand on your cheek, guiding you to look at her.

“You ready?” she asked.

You nodded, more than a little desperate to taste her.

“Keep your hands on my thighs and tap if you need me to get up, babe, okay?” she asked and you nodded, nearly making grabby hands for her as she settled over your face.

“Love watching this,” Freddie said, rocking slow and patient in and out of you.

Hilary grabbed onto the headboard and slowly lowered herself onto you. You opened your mouth, flattened out your tongue and let her settle the flat of your tongue exactly where she wanted it. You lapped slow, moving in tandem with Hilary’s gyrating hips. Freddie’s cock felt perfect, just keeping you turned on while you ate Hilary out from under her.

You speared your tongue at her entrance while the tip of your nose brushed her clit and you two kept a slow, steady build up for a while, giving you time to breathe and her time to build up to a good orgasm. You could tell when she got closer because she let her body do the talking for exactly what she wanted. Eventually, she was just grinding her clit down on your outstretched tongue while her thighs shivered beneath your palms. Freddie sped up his thrusts, moving a little faster and a great deal harder as Hilary slowly moved off of you.

After a few moments, you pushed at Freddie’s chest before turning the two of you over so you could ride him.

“Jesus, you look good like this,” Freddie breathed as you started grinding down on him. You started off slow, but you could tell he wanted more. You leaned forward a little, steadying yourself with your hands on his chest, and moved faster. You felt Hilary’s lips on your neck and her hand between your legs, sliding across your clit.

“Fuck I’m gonna…. If you keep doing that, I’m gonna-” you started, breath stuttering.

“S’fine,” Freddie said, digging his heels into the bed and thrusting up to meet you, finding a speed that worked for him. “I’m close too, babe.”

You shuddered and came around Freddie and not long after, you felt his hands tighten on your thighs and he held himself up as he finished into the condom.

You moved off of him on shaking legs, and fell to the bed. Hilary curled up beside you and Freddie took a few breaths before getting up to dispose of the condom. He came back with two warm rags, carefully cleaning both you and Hilary up before curling up on your other side.

“That was… holy shit…” you finally said and you felt Hilary grin against the bare skin of your shoulder blade.

“Yeah? Glad you enjoyed,” Hilary said, twining her fingers with yours and settling your joined hands on your hip.

“I never actually got to taste you, dove,” Freddie said as he hit the light on the nightstand then rolled over and threw his leg over the two of you. “In the morning? Then I’ll take you both to breakfast. I know a good place.”

You hummed an assent and gave a sleepy nod.

“Damn gentleman, you are,” Hilary said, nuzzling into your neck. “Sounds good, though, Fred.”

Hilary then nudged you a little. “Fred’s got plans tomorrow night though but I’d love it if you stayed in town a little longer, Y/N.”

You were more than a little shocked at her admission, but you quickly recovered. “Y-yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.”

“Good,” she hummed contentedly as Fred started lightly snoring to your side. “I look forward to it.”

[cocoaswatches]

Best of 2018: The Cocoa Collective Awards

The results are in!

We asked and you answered! Here are some of your favorite products of 2018! Do you agree with the results? Did we forget something?? Let us know in the comment section below!

Lipstick Formula You Just Cant Live Without : Fenty Stunna Lip Paint

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Who’s picked up one of the new @fentybeauty Stunna Lip Paints?! I don’t think I can choose a fave shade 😩 Help me out y’all! Which one did you choose? Do We Love ?? #cocoaswatches ( Lip swatches currently loading 🙏🏿)

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Oct 5, 2018 at 6:31am PDT

Most Used Eyeshadow Palette : Juvia's Place Warrior Palette

(Use code ‘COCOA’ for $$ off!)

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It’s looking like the @juviasplace Warrior palette is one of your most used palettes of 2018! (Their palettes are currently on sale! Use “COCOA” for $$ off!) Do you agree?? There’s still time to vote before the end if the year - check link in bio! #CocoaSwatches

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Dec 30, 2018 at 4:40pm PST

Most Unclockable Setting Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Powder

Tag a Translucent Loose Setting Powder lover below! Our exclusive holiday set including limited edition packaging and Velour Puff is a must for your gifting needs!

A post shared by Laura Mercier (@lauramercier) on Dec 19, 2018 at 11:03am PST

Best Bronzer: Covergirl Queen Bronzer

(apparently this bronzer has been discontinued so here are some other options!)

New year, new top bronzer list! Quick FAQs answered ! - Yes, dark skinned people can use bronzer! 🙄💁🏿‍♀️ - Bronzer is meant to warm up the skin while contour is meant to create shadow. - Bronzers can either be matte or shimmery and are placed on or under the cheekbone! From T to B: ❤️ #theprimebeauty “Chocolate Litty” ❤️ #marenabeaute Chocolat ❤️ @theprimebeauty Bronzeville ❤️ @marenabeaute Ebéne ❤️ #maccosmetics Hard to Get ❤️ #covergirl Ebony Bronze ❤️ @maccosmetics Definitive ❤️ #bobbibrown Deep 4 ❤️ @theprimebeauty Glow coast Currently , my fave is Bronzeville from the @theprimebeauty ! DO WE LOVE?? #CocoaSwatches #BronzerForDarkSkin

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Jan 3, 2019 at 4:16pm PST

The Glowyest Highlighter: Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter

View this post on Instagram

#CocoaSwatches of the NEW @fentybeauty #KILLAWATT FOIL DUOS (NEW Blinding formula too!) I knew I was gonna love Mimosa Sunrise / Sangria Sunset but Sandcastle was love at first swatch!😍 edit: these are highlighters but can be used anywhere on the face. Launching tomorrow , 5/21! Do We LOVE?🧐 Which one is your fave? BTW - Swatches of the full collection are now in the Cocoa Swatches app! 😋

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on May 20, 2018 at 5:53am PDT

Favorite Influencer Collab Collection: Jackie Aina x Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

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DAMN that is a sexy shade range! 😍🤤😍 We love a shade range that is inclusive and actually has realistic, **wearable** deeper shades! No gray undertones ova here! @jackieaina , you did that! 😍🙌🏾🙌🏼🙌🏿 Here are the deeper shades of the @toofaced Born This Way Foundation with Jackie’s shades in Pink! I am the shade “Tiramisu.” What shade are you? DO WE LOVE? #CocoaSwatches #TFBornThisWay

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Jun 28, 2018 at 7:43pm PDT

Most Cohesive Creative Collection: Colourpop x Karreuche Brown Sugar Collection

@Karrueche x Colourpop Brown Sugar Collection ⚡️ This collection was formulated to look good on every skintone! Are you a #BrownSugarBae | @trendmood1

A post shared by ColourPop Cosmetics (@colourpopcosmetics) on Oct 27, 2018 at 5:15am PDT

Most Practical Face Palette: Beauty Bakerie Coffee + Cocoa Palette

In love with the Cocoa? 🙌🏾 Shop this multipurpose palette with our @ultabeauty family!

A post shared by Beauty Bakerie (@beautybakeriemakeup) on Dec 2, 2018 at 4:06pm PST

Concealer of the Year: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

Quick and dirty #CocoaSwatches. I was in Nordstrom the other day and wanted to compare Amande to the new golden shades of Radiant Creamy Concealer @narsissist released! Who’s tried these new shades?? DO WE LOVE?

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Jan 16, 2018 at 12:44pm PST

High End GoTo Foundation: Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Foundation

For more swatches & updates like this— download the Cocoa Swatches app! —————————————————————— Issa RIH-STOCK! 😍 @fentybeauty foundation in the 400s will be restocking tomorrow 🙌🏿🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾 ***Edit : Specifically the shade 400 restocks tomorrow and the rest in the coming days/weeks #CocoaSwatches

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Dec 10, 2017 at 4:23pm PST

Low End GoTo Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me Foundation

Who's rockin' #fitmefoundation today? Drop your shade in the comments. 🖤 #regram @ultabeauty

A post shared by Maybelline New York (@maybelline) on Dec 20, 2018 at 9:16am PST

Favorite brush brand: Morphe Brushes

The Sister Collection IS BACK! 🌈The @JamesCharles Artistry Palette & Brush Collection are available now on Morphe.Com! Which is soooo sister sickening. Tag a sister and let them know! 😘 #MorpheXJamesCharles #UnleashYourInnerArtist

A post shared by Morphe (@morphebrushes) on Dec 6, 2018 at 8:00am PST

Brand Most Worthy of Your Coin: Fenty Beauty

Bringing more new new! We're adding 10 NEW #PROFILTRFOUNDATION shades to the fam, in the same soft-matte, long-wearing, sweat/humidity resistant formula...AND we're doing it across the spectrum. Shades 105, 145, 185, 235, 255, 345, 385, 445, 495, and 498 drop on January 11 at fentybeauty.com, @sephora, @harveynichols, and #SephorainJCP!

A post shared by FENTY BEAUTY BY RIHANNA (@fentybeauty) on Jan 2, 2019 at 5:23pm PST

Most Underrated Beauty Brand of the Year: Beauty Bakerie

You all voted @beautybakeriemakeup as the Most Underrated Brand in 2018 😍😍 This brand is black & woman owned 💪🏿💪🏿 and just launched in @ultabeauty stores! #WeStan (Full results of the #CocoaCollective Awards will go live tomorrow!) Here are #CocoaSwatches of their Cotton Candy Champagne Blush palette! DO WE LOVE??

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Jan 2, 2019 at 5:26pm PST

Most Authentic Beauty Brand: Fenty Beauty

Who else is excited for @fentybeauty ‘s THE CURE?! 50 shades of concealer with foundations AND powders to match 😱 Check out my stories to see how it looks on moi! I also tested the new foundation shade 445 ( I normally wear 430 or mix 450 with 390) Do y’all want some #CocoaSwatches?? 🧐🧐

A post shared by Cocoa Swatches (@cocoaswatches) on Jan 5, 2019 at 4:36pm PST

[icravestrawberryflavoureddeath]

Okay here it is

I was gon wait but I feel like I need to get my thoughts on EVERYTHING out before it gets too complicated.

Honerva

Alright, I was totally on board for honerva, not gonna lie. We saw her history, how she fought through it all, what I’m curious about is, it’s not really clear HOW she exactly remembered she’s honerva and not the witch haggar.

I like how we saw how she got her name but there’s so much regarding timelines and ages that just,,, fuck me up? But I mean, sometimes u have to forgive those

But the main thing was, I feel like she was the most developed character in the entire season. I almost wanted to know more about her and what she was thinking. Honestly, all and all, I wish the season was longer or more well,,, organized (something I’ll get into later).

She could step on me. She’s earned the right. Also,,, she’s kind of a snack not gon lie.

Allura

I was gon wait, BUT ITS BOTHERING ME SO MUCH.

I am in love with allura I love her I would fight for her and everything, but this season? Even I was like “okay okay, can we plz hurry up?” She was,, annoying almost? She reminded me of Veronica lodge from Riverdale if that tells you anything.

I understand that there was some sort of whining needed, but,,, it felt,,, uhhhh... yeah.

anD OKAY! Maybe she suddenly liked Lance. I’ll believe that, cuz yes, he grew up so much (something I’ll also get to) but,,, like,,, if I told allura I was in love with her, would she kiss me?? Cuz that’s what it seems like. Anyone tells her they like and she’s like “frickin spunky u tiny man” and kisses them.

She didn’t even want to go with lance originally in the epsiode, romelle, hunk, and lance had to convince her. And it was meant as a “hey my family is making dinner u wanna come?”

Here’s my thing, if they would have written some of the klance moments (yes I’m finally going there) from the past seasons, I would have been all on board!! But as a lance Stan and someone who wants nothing but lance to be happy, this season,,, hurt. Allura was hurting and she wanted to take action, but she was portrayed as,,, whinny, almost selfish(?) and I didn’t like it. Because I LIKE ALLURA! She’s a great character but was not properly used. I didn’t want the entire tension to come down to her dating life. I wanted her to heal, and not have that being her needing a relationship.

And that brings me to my next part, she was hurting. Allura just had everything she thought she knew tangled into a mess and her first reaction? Date Lance. I would have been happy with this if it wasn’t done,,, like it was. And they made their relationship,,, seem,,, I don’t know how to describe it other than,,, forced? I don’t like using that word cuz of what it has meant for this ship but,,, idk I just wish it wasn’t her trying to heal that lead her to it. I wanted her to realize that voltron was her family without having to date lance. Idk I just wanted more

Lance

Now for my boi. I love this man, he’s grown so much, I want nothing more then his happiness, but this season? He wasn’t lance. He was “alluras boyfriend” and that bothered me. Every conversation that wasn’t about the war was about allura. And I get it. U “love” ur girlfriend (of like??? 1-2 months? Max (this well come back to. Again)) but he’s more then that and I don’t think they knew how to write him as a full character on his own.

I had more hopes for lance and it kind of let me down.

He talked with friends?? Allura. He wanted to go somewhere?? Allura. He wanted to- allura. He wasn’t lance, he was alluras boyfriend.

And don’t get me started in the paladins of old “my daughter” bull shit. I rolled my eyes so hard at that.

They wanted to makeup for seasons of rudeness within one season. And it was messy

Also,, WHY IS HE NOW ALTEAN?????? I’m sorry but it’s really strange.

Keith

I would talk about Keith but HE WAS JIST SHOUTING FORM VOLTRON AND THE. YEETING OUT. WTF

Like honestly, there was a lot I wanted to be covered, shit like the Bayard thing with lance, opening up more, more about his time with his mom but what did we get?? Just one note Keith (until lance which we’ll get to. I say that a lot).

Also someone get that boy a haircut

Speaking of haircuts - Matt and Pidge

This is a small list so their gonna be together.

HEWWO?? pidges hair in the beginning and her as the 80s pidge?? I loved that!! She honestly was one of my favourites this season.

Also MATHMATICS HOLT WTF U DOIN WITH THAT HAIR??! U cut off the locks of peRFECTION!

No but seriously, I wish there was more Mathew but that family picture and small scenes were amazing, I was just so happy with everything with pidge and Matt and I cry

Kinkade and the others

I say others cuz it’s background characters. But kinkade and his video? I cried the entire time for no reason other then I love that man.

Acxa was amazingly perfect to join the rag tag group of background characters. Veronica and acxa? Gay. Veronica has strong bi energy like lance and I wanted her and acxa to just get together.

James and kinkade? Gay. That’s it

LESBEENS!!!

Ships

U knew it was comin! I’ll make separate posts about the ships all together later (if I do) but seriously, voltron was like “fuck you and your grandma. Shut the fuck up” and then through a brick at us.

Also, they straight up said (multiple times) that lance allura and Keith were a love triangle. Like bitch???

And while allurance was kind of shitty and very in your face, she still kind of spoke down to him??

And like, the only two times lance and Keith spoke it was so soft and wholesome and,,, that’s why I ship klance???

He helped him with alluras death and DAMN they really did that huh?

I had a theory that klance was supposed to happen, but somewhere along the line they said “yeah, no” and had to rewrite it and allurance was the only way to go and that would explain a lot. It wasn’t a ship planned. It was thrown together like a collage students essay two hours before the deadline. U can tell they tried, just not enough.

Shiros man btw was is clear day date and that’s some cute shit

Plot

I wish they would have converted the honerva story line in the previous seasons so it wasn’t so,,, jumbled.

There were parts were I would zone out for a second and get so lost on the plot and who everyone was

Also thicc voltron/atlas was kinda,,, strange,, but I mean, when you meant to kill shiro and now u have him for the last season, u just hot glue that bitch to the final season script.

It was everywhere and no where at once. I felt like I was about to start watching fucking twilight in space at that point.

They called back a lot of old plot points but some had me going “whomest the fuck is u?” And some made me happy.

I wanted lowhore to come back officially not gon lie.

I WANTED THE BIG LANCE AND KEITH FIGHT SO BAD AND I WAS ROBBED

there’s so many problems with this season that would have been fixed with proper editing and timing

Conclusion

It felt like they started a story and knew what they wanted. But got half way and realized it wouldn’t work. They had to try and create a different ending with what they had made and this was the result. Messy, strange, and kind of hard to follow. There were times when animation fell flat ( that one screen shot of Veronica’s face real close up when her and acxa spoke) and times when, it felt like fan service (for who? Who knows). It would have been better if the show was episodic and not every four months a new season came out. It was rushed for released and it showed in the quality.

I wish it would have been better, everything we wanted, but that never was on option and we should have been prepared for that. But what can u do.

[whysperingwoods]

hi so i have a question !! do you know of any spells on protecting a relationship from external forces and negative energies ? if not fo you have any suggestions on what to use or do to create one ? thank u sm !!

I don’t normally answer spell requests, but I figured this might be a good opportunity to show how you can use a pre-made spell and deconstruct it if you need to adapt anything or make substitutions. So this post is about:

Deconstructing spells and making well-informed substitutions (and a love spell I guess)

The basic steps I’ll be walking you through are: reading through the spell as it appears in the book or online, identifying the purpose for each item or action, finding equivalent or more powerful items or actions as needed, performing the spell and knowing whether or not it worked. 

If you just want the fish then I guess you can read the first part and go home, but I’m giving you the “learn to fish” option (better deal, imo). 

(This spell is mine btw, so please don’t repost it anywhere. This also means it’s based on French Canadian folk magic, which might differ from your personal practice.)

The intent of this spell is: “These individuals are happy together and prosper, and are protected from hindering forces/energies.”

The spell:

- Two apples- One knife- One pack dry yeast (they’re usually about 7g)- 1.5 tablespoons of white sugar- 1.25 (one and a quarter) cups of warm water- 0.5 tablespoons (half) or 1.5 (one and a half) teaspoons- 1 tablespoon of oil- 3 to 3.5 (three and a half) cups of flour - enough twine or string to wrap around the apple, 100% cotton NOT synthetic (butcher’s twine for example)- Baking tray or bread mold- Oven

1. Before you start any kind of ritual, you want to cut both apples in half top down (vertical through the core). Don’t worry about perfection, it doesn’t matter, but you need to have this step done before you cast any kind of circle if that’s something you do. 2. If you have any kind of “pre-spell” activities such as casting a circle or cleansing your space, go ahead and do that. 3. Bring one half from each apple into the ritual space (”ritual space” as in wherever you do your thing, does not have to be an altar or anything of that nature… I do mine wherever is practical, in this case the kitchen counter) as well as the twine. Put the two halves together, wrap the twine around them three times and tie a knot. If you like to say something during your spells such as a mantra or a sentence setting your intent, to this while wrapping the apple and tying the knot. If short, repeat it three times. French Canadian folk magic often has short rhymes repeated during spells.4. You’re gonna bake some bread. You can use a different recipe than the one linked, and change the list of ingredients accordingly. When kneading, focus on your intent and the two people the spell is involving. There will be long pauses while you let the dough rise: what you do during that time doesn’t matter for the spell. The second time you let the dough rise, you need to put the apple into the center of the dough FIRST (so it is enclosed completely) and let the bread rise around it. Don’t worry if the bread rises funny or caves in the middle.5. Bake the bread with the apple in the center. Ideally you should use a bread mold, but you can just shape it roughly round and put it on a baking tray if you don’t have one. 6. Score a cross shape into the bread using your knife (straight sharp blades work best).7. Once the bread has baked and cooled, each party the apple halves are representing must eat a piece of the bread. Depending on the environment you’re in and the apple you used, you’ll have varying levels of edible bread. If your loaf looks roughly normal, you should be able to each eat from one extremity. The closer you get to the apple, the more chances there are that it’s gooey, undercooked, or mushy from the juices. It’s not bad for you, just kinda gross tasting. Feel free to eat it if you want. The more weird your bread looks, the more your center is sketchy. Wonky bread isn’t a bad omen and won’t affect your spell, it’s just physics and stuff. 8. Enjoy your magically enhanced relationship, and don’t forget that no amount of magic can help if there are too many mundane issues left unresolved. 

The rest of this is below the cut because this is already long af. The counter-spell is also under the cut, all the way at the bottom. Please forgive typos, I’m a very tired gay. 

Link to the upcoming giveaway, on the offhand chance you like free stuff.

Interlude:

Before you deconstruct a spell, it’s important that you determine whether or not the spell should be deconstructed. If you’re using a random spell you don’t know the source of, or something written by someone on the internet (like this one), you can usually make a significant number of (logical) changes and substitutions. 

However, in the case of spells that have centuries of history, such as spells found in old arcane texts and grimoires, the more you change the more likely you are to get an unpredictable result. Spells that have been passed down survive because they work as written, and every change will decrease it’s likelihood of success. Ideally, you want as many checks in the “keeping as is” column as possible, and very few checks in the “changes” column. Sometimes there are things you just have to modify because life has changed since the 1700s, and that’s fine, just make sure you’re changing only when necessary and using sensible substitutions. More importantly, be prepared to deal with any consequences that may arise. 

Deconstruction:

Here I’m going to give you the purpose and meaning behind each element of the spell. The next section will show you how to come up with substitutions.

• Apple: In French Canadian folk magic, it’s a symbol of love and unity. Each full apple represents the person as a whole, and we put the two halves together so they can come together. You want to avoid using only one halved apple, as that implies that each person is incomplete until they are paired with the other half, which can create codependency or abusive relationships. One tradition is to use a half with a stem to represent the male in the relationship, and a half without the stem to represent the female. This is obviously heteronormative and might not work for your situation, so in the substitutions section I’ll list some other options. You can also just ignore the stem situation completely, and just determine in your mind which is which. 

• Twine or string: The twine is representative of the relationship itself, keeping the two halves together. It’s all the good things in the relationship, such as communication, honesty, common traits, etc. We wrap the twine around the apple three times because the number 3 in French Canadian folk magic is used to “strengthen” a spell or intent. 

• Flour: Flour represents prosperity in the home. It does not represent excess. It is having enough to eat, to stay warm, to live happily and comfortably. The type of flour doesn’t matter.

• Other ingredients: Everything else is used as part of the bread making process, and has no significant meaning otherwise. 

• The joining of the apples step is explained pretty well already in the apples info, so I’m going to move on to the bread baking. Kneading the dough and preparing the bread are all symbolic of the time and work it takes to maintain a good relationship with someone, and are important steps if you’re able to do them. During kneading, you should be focusing on your intent for the spell. 

• Placing the apple in the center of the bread is to bind the symbol of the couple (the apple) with the symbol of prosperity and happiness (the bread). The water from both will mix, and water is like the “and” in your spell if it were a sentence. You’re saying “These individuals are happy together AND prosper”. 

• Scoring the bread with the cross is your symbol of protection from outside forces. Since French Canadian folk magic is heavily entwined with catholicism, the cross is a protective symbol. 

• Eating the bread can be considered both the activating of the spell, as well as the closing element. It is enforcing the properties as it is ingested by the people involved, and is symbolic that they have accepted the intent of the sorcier or witch. 

Substitutions: 

I obviously can’t possibly cover every single option here, but I’m going to do my best to give you a lot of suggestions that should give you a pretty good idea of what kind of changes you can make and how to adapt the spell to your abilities, correspondences, and what you have available to you. 

• The apples and twine can be substituted for anything else that would represent the individuals and a loving relationship. If your local folk magic has a symbol that is different from apples, you can absolutely use that instead. Likewise if you have a personal correspondence that is stronger to you, or tag locks for the individuals in question (just remember it’s going in bread, so hair might not be your best option here). 

• The stem situation, as I mentioned in the deconstruction section, is not a mandatory part of the spell. Nonetheless, I wanted to provide some alternate options. You can of course you two stemmed apples, two unstemmed apples, you can cut the apple into more than two pieces (so long as you can roughly fit them together, and you would use a corresponding number of apples), etc. Keep in mind that the stems don’t need to represent anything at all, and they can be unrelated to gender (for example, stem representing the taller person and no stem being the shorter one). You can make it whatever you want. If you would like the stems to represent gender, non-binary genders can be a bent stem, a half stem, an additional stem (just stick it in, don’t put glue on it please), whatever you want. Again, you can completely disregard the stems if it causes any kind of anxiety for you or if you’re like me and massively despise the binary implications of it. 

• If you can’t find cotton twine or don’t have cotton string, you can use anything else that would tie the two halves together. The important thing to keep in mind here is that it is going inside the bread, so you definitely don’t want to use synthetic fibers as they could melt in the oven and go into the bread (don’t eat that). The important thing is that there be something going around the apple holding the halves together. You could even use a long strip of dough from what you’ve kneaded. Another important thing is that you don’t do something that will go through the apples to keep them together, such as using toothpicks, as this has a different meaning and will change the intent of the spell. 

• The bread baking is a step that might be problematic for individuals who are not open about their practice, or who are physically incapable of making the bread because of the kneading, or multiple other reasons. If the issue is the kneading, you can use this no knead recipe instead.  If you’re dealing with any other issue for the bread step, you just need to find a substitute that would represent the same thing for you or for your culture. Some examples: using rice in place of bread, writing your intent to fill up an entire page of paper (or typing it and printing it out) and wrapping it around the apple, burying the apple outside, etc. If visualization is your only option, go for it. 

• Eating the bread is your activation step. If someone is allergic to gluten or has a dietary restriction, you can change the type of flour you use accordingly without changing the intent of the spell. If you didn’t bake bread, any alternative that feels to you like the intent of “the individuals involved accept the intent of this spell” will work. It can be as simple as them both holding the apple and reciting a line if you wrote one, or simply reciting the intent of the spell, etc. This step is going to be dependent on what you’ve already changed if anything. Ultimately, there should be an overall impression of completion afterwards. 

Counter-spell: 

You should always, always have a way to undo any spell that you’ve performed. I personally keep the twine somewhere safe, and will cut the twine in half or burn it if I need to reverse the spell. Alternative options would be to have a set of words as your counter-spell, or some other symbolic means of reversing the spell. Be careful that this information is only available to those involved with the spell, so no one wishing ill on the relationship can do any damage.

[uniformbravo]

me trying to make a gif part 2 (thrilling finale, buildup ver.)

ok good news and bad news: good news being withheld for Spoilers (not that it’s that hard to guess anyway lol), bad news explained first bc, chronologically, it is first

so yesterday i mentioned in the tags of that post that i had seen that krita has an animation feature so i was gonna try importing the frames into that and then exporting it as a gif. easier said than done, as it turns out

i started by opening the file i made yesterday with 62 layers as the frames and importing that into krita, which worked fine (i didn’t know you could actually open .psd files in clip stuido ((this typo is so fucking stupid it made me laugh so im leaving it)) and krita, so that’s pretty neat, i wonder if it works the other way around too) but i ran into problems when i tried to convert those layers into frames in an animation. because, like, the layout of the program has the layers displayed in one tab, and the animation timeline in another, like so:

(do u like how im using pictures now, i thought of that yesterday after i published the other post and realized hey, visual reference would probably make my plight a lot easier to understand!! so enjoy these educational diagrams from now on)

so my goal was to get the frames from the layers into the timeline, and i still don’t know if i did it right bc lbr krita is not very intuitive at all,,.,, i mean i watched a video tutorial abt how to animate in krita which was v helpful (it’s the one by jesse j james on yt fuckin SHout out) but it was about animating from scratch, not importing an animation you’ve already done elsewhere

so like, the way krita’s animation thing works, from what i could piece together as i bumbled my way around w/ it, is that each layer in the layers tab is a separate timeline in the,,, timeline tab

i want them all to be in the same timeline, not separate ones, and there’s no way to combine them in the timeline tab bc doing that just overwrites whatever layer you’re pasting it down onto, and also if you define the number of frames for that timeline (62 for this project) it just puts the single image of that layer for all of the frames instead of just one of them, so you’d have to go through and delete all the other frames you don’t want it to be, which would be such a fuckin pain

so i found a workaround, which is so tedious that it can’t be the right way to do it, but basically i started w/ layer 1 and defined 62 frames & then emptied frames 2-62, like this

(that blue box is the frame, btw, even tho it says 0, which actually kind of annoys me like why doesn’t it start the first frame on 1????)

from there i went up to layer two and selected that in the timeline, but for some reason the frame doesn’t show up automatically?

& i couldnt fuckin figure out how to make it into like, an Official Timeline Layer or whatever tf bc like, u see on layer 1 how theres that little lightbulb-looking icon on the right? that’s for turning on onion skin which only applies when you actually have frames with things drawn on them, so basically layer 2 in the layers tab has a drawing but in the timeline it doesn’t?

i didn’t find out what the actual reason for this is or how you’re /supposed/ to make the frame appear in the timeline, but what i did was right click on layer 2′s timeline & select “create blank frame” which magically made the frame i want appear

but it’s on top of the layer 1 frame, and i want it to be the frame after. also it’s still in a different timeline. this is the only easy fix in this whole damn process, u can literally just click & drag the frame from layer 2 to layer 1 and put it wherever u want on the timeline

and then u just delete layer 2 and that’s it, frame transferred!! then i just had to do that for 60 more layers and after [unspecified amount of time but it was a fuckin while ok] my timeline looked like this!

(the gaps near the end are held frames, to save me time so i didn’t have to copy a bunch of frames that were exactly the same)

krita is great because as far as i know ur animation can have an unlimited number of frames, at the risk of your own pc’s processing power, which is a definite upside to SOME expensive art programs i know (clip studio, i’m talking abt csp) and u can pick the frame rate too (cough photoshop elements 5.0 even tho u dont technically have an animation feature & it’s a miracle u can even make gifs at all) so once i finally got all the frames situated all nice and in order like on the same timeline, playing it was great! played at the right speed, looped perfectly, it was a dream come true right

well, time to export it as a gif

ha

haha

hoooo oo  o

so u got 2 options for exporting ur animation, u can either hit “export,” which lets u save it as different file types, one of which being gif, or you can hit “render,” which gives you gif and video options

well

i tried export first, bc that seemed like a good idea, but the “””gif””” it made was distinctly not a gif, despite its claim to be one?? this is what i got:

notice: 1. it is not moving, and 2. the black bars to the sides?? those are supposed to be transparent. they’re transparent in the file i made so why didn’t they register as transparent in the export, when gifs have transparency capabilities??

so That was some real live bullshit but i still had the “render” option, right? export was wrong, so rrender must be the correct option to go to that will produce the results i am wanting to see produced in front of me like a silver dinner platter with a correctly functioning gif under the lid, that’s what i want to see and “Render Animation...” is gonna Give me that silver platter righWRONG ok look at this shit rn ok Look

it says GIF it says it RIGHT THERE right??? right?????? then WHY

?????????????

and it also gave me all This bullshit

like did i ask?? did i fucking ask???? i already have all the individual frames why do i need even M o re i mfjgjgk

((rationally ok yea thats v useful for if ur making the animation in krita and want to export the frames to use elsewhere, but like uhhh 1. again, they’re not transparent & 2. i should have the option of saying i don’t want these??? bc *meme voice* i don’t want these)

so in the end i could find NO correct method of exporting animations as a gif in krita bc every ooption that says gif is fuckign LYING to ur face there are NO gifs in krita, aliens made the progam who looked at gifs and went “hmm i thikng this is how a gif works “ and just made jpegs instead but somehow got on the computers good side and got it to lie for them about it being a gif so thats why it says gif on the file still even tho its not a gif illimati confinr

so what is the conclusion to this? well i said there was good news too, and this is the portion where i divulge that sweet nectar (i type dthis 2 seconds ago and @ me what the fuck)

so after wasting a good 2 hours trying to figure out krita i gave up and watched some good old [youtuber name redacted bc what if it shows up in search & ppl see this dumbass post in there but it rhymes with fjackfsepticfeye] to relax into accepting my fate that i’ll never be able to upload my animations to tungle except in poor quality loopless video form, making me into a laughing stock on my own art blog, but THEN i had a stroke of genius, in my Brain

so if u read yesterday’s post u might remember that flipnote studio, the animation program i use on my ds, to animate, has the option to export files as gifs, both animated and sequential (meaning either as one fully animated gif or each individual frame separately), which is super convenient, but as i mentioned yesterday, any time i tried to open the folder with those files on my laptop, it crashed immediately

WELL today i thought “hey, how about instead of opening the folder in the sd card when it’s plugged in, how about i copy that folder from the sd card to my flash drive, and try to open it there, in case it’s the card’s hardware that’s causing the problem, not corrupted files”

so i tried that and it FUCKING WORKED THANK GOD GLORY HALLELUJAH

so now instead of spedning A THOUSAND YEARS trying and failing to force art programs to bend to my will i can just export the animations straight from my ds and drag them onto my computer Just As God Intended oh GOD im so fucking happy

here’s the gif in the end, i’m gonna post it to my art blog too but this is the Green Version bc i animate in green bc of some default settings in flipnote that i got used to, plus it makes me feel like i’m just sketching so nothing really has to be finalized so i’m comfortable while i work, and also it’s just nice ok it’s a Nice Green

(there’s a few frames at the end that are like the extra scraps from while i was working dw i got rid of those in the final version that i’m posting to my art blog later. also i added my blog url to that one too it’s aaaaaall good)

the only downside to this method is that i can’t change the canvas size to be 540px wide to fit with tumbrl s image dimensions but whatever i can just post them in a text post and fix the html to display it at its original size instead of the resizing bullshit tmurbl pulls constantly ugh. anyway it works great on desktop but it’s inevitably gonna look like shit on mobile no matter what i do *Big Ass Shrug*

anyway thats the end of my success story uhh i can’t make the like comment & subscribe joke again bc i already did that in the last post so like bye i guess thanks 4 watchign & have a great day i’ll see u in my next fvideo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYob4uDjEKI&t=0s

(^that’s my outro music)