#i do not remember where i originally downloaded this. at all. but at least it is done. like here it is. the non-edited version

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Wildflower: 02

The Secret Garden

Category: Short Series

John Wick x Reader

Warning: Nothing Yet

Notes: John is relatively younger in this fic-- late thirties to early forties.

The gif is not mine. Credits to the original creator (Sorry, I don't remember where I downloaded it from)

Unedited

Wildflower 01

“I thought you weren't one for socialising.” Winston commented, observing John’s eyes before they met his gaze again.

“I am not.” John stated simply. 

Winston hummed dismissively and sipped his drink, keeping his gaze locked with John’s.

“You seem intrigued.”

John looked away and frowned. “It’s not every day that I get to meet someone who has not even heard of the Boogeyman.”

“Fascinated?”

John looked up “Amused.That’s it.”

 With that, he chugged away the bourbon on the glass and bid Winston a goodnight before leaving.

—---

As the bus moved past streets and signs, the world around her remained blurred. She sat on the window seat, gazing at her mother’s ring. The tears she fought finally won– a thick drop lined her cheek, followed by another, but she bit her trembling lips and held tight, wiping away her tears quickly. 

Calm down, calm down, calmdown calmdown calmdowncalmdown…

She would not break down like that. She would not allow anyone to witness her break. She was in the  midst of keeping herself together when a handkerchief came into view. She looked up, only to see a man she has never seen offering her the piece of cloth. 

“Please,” He offered politely.

She blinked but mindlessly accepted it “Thank you.” 

That was all she could come up with while wiping her tears. He sat on the seat in the front turned to face her with a smile “You’re welcome. Rough day?”

She mustered up a faint smile and nod, reflecting on the events a few hours ago.

“I haven’t seen you around here before? Are you new here?”

His question made her look up to him in surprise.

He noticed it and added– “I take this bus regularly, the next stop is mine– I know the regulars. So, just curious.”

“Yes, I just…moved to New York.”

“Tough day at work?”

"Would have been better to have a tough day at work. personal stuff."

He offered an understanding silence for a few moments until the bus came to a halt. “Well, here’s my stop. Guess we will run into each other often. I’m Alex by the way.” He rose and offered his hand.

“It was nice to meet you Alex, I’m (Y/N).” She shook his hand with a faint smile before he waved and got off the bus.

What an unexpected, kind surprise.

—-----

Moving into New York was a completely new experience– but she was settling in. A month after her visit to the mysterious Continental, she had not been contacted by Winston— not directly, at least. A parcel was sent to the apartment she had rented. A parcel containing a card under his name and a note saying ‘In case you need it.'

Winston was a strange man. Even though she wanted to ask him how he got her address, she had no other way but to either visit the Continental again, or ring up the number provided in the card. She could not bring herself to do that.

Every other evening, she would take the same bus home from her workplace and run into Alex. Alex Norton was a Pharmacologist who happened to be exceptionally bad at driving cars or balancing motorcycles. So, public transport was all he was left with. Not that he minded, as he told her– he liked to observe, and liked the steady cycle of public transportation– 

“It's one of the few stable things I have in life.”

He told her once, standing over her seat after he had kindly given up his for an elderly man. She did not poke further in favour of keeping the conversation on a lighter tone (he had an amazing sense of humour), but she was almost certain that he meant something deeper.

Almost.

In the last month, she had realised that there was nothing too ‘obvious’, or ‘too certain’-- there were always gaps and cracks, what ifs and buts. It was not that she did not think of her mother. She did, every night before falling asleep, questions would plague her mind and every morning, she would be filled with a sense of hopelessness and dread thinking of all the possibilities– one worse than the other, and all the ‘what ifs’-- what if her mother never left? What if her mother told her where to find her? What if she got the letter on time, what if—what if.

She was in one of those ‘what if’ phases in her mind, walking with her  eyes downcast, but unfocused as she navigated her office street with muscle memory when her vision shook—

No, she shook, after she had stumbled– perhaps walked right into a man and bumped into him hard enough to leave her nose with a dull ache.

She hissed, rubbing her nose. “I am sorry.” She stepped back, apologising.

“No, it was my fault.” 

She looked up. It was the same man who was there with Winston the other night. His eyes remained on her, as if waiting.

“Oh, hello again Mr…”

“Wick—John Wick. Are you alright?” There was a faint frown that settled between his eyebrows.

“Yes, yes, I am. Just a little distracted.” She smiled awkwardly, the man only nodded.

“You’ll settle in.”

“I hope so.” There was no conviction in her tone. If he noticed, he did not comment, just stood there, looking at her. “Okay so, I need to get to work. Good to see you.”

He simply nodded again.

With a tight-lipped smile, she walked past him, turning into another head among the thousands on the street.

John smoothened his shirt, feeling the bulletproof vest underneath– eyes still on her moving form before he finally looked ahead and walked on. He was working after all.

—---

John Wick was not the one to linger around past business. His work was done, he should be heading home. But he found himself staying. Staring at an unassuming office building, he turned around to buy a pack of doughnuts– just in time (Y/N) walked out of it. He turned slightly, watching from the other side of the road as she navigated the streets. His stoic gaze remained on her.

John was conflicted.

He had nothing to do with that woman. She belonged to the other side– the clean, untainted side he could never even dare taste, for he knew that a cursed demon like him would taint it, wither the garden, bring dark, stormy clouds over the perfectly sunny world. The world which she came from was his childhood fairytale and now a distant, wistful fantasy— perhaps some other dimension, universe? He did not know, he was doomed after all. The world he came from…was a nightmare to her– to people like her. 

So, what was he doing there?

John had no reasonable answer to that. He had seen her walking on the street with her eyes downcast, and stopped, allowing her to bump into him. Even through the bulletproof vest he could sense her warmth– a tenderness that made chills run down his spine. Something he had never experienced before. It felt forbidden, but so… so good. It took him some effort to not reach out to the warmth, instead, his fingers folded into a tight fist in his pocket.

She was the forbidden fruit that walked into the place where angels feared to tread— but so oblivious, so sweet so…

John shook his head and stopped. With one last glance at her form at a distance, he turned around and walked away, dropping the pack of doughnuts on the lap of an old, homeless man on the footpath.

-----

“Isn’t this my favourite commuter?” 

She turned around to face Alex with a smile. It was crowded and neither of them had a seat. But standing with Alex was much better than being cramped up with strangers.

“Hi.” She smiled “You look tired?” She commented,assessing him. His usual pristine coat seemed crinkled and dirtied and despite the cool weather, he had beads of sweat. “You okay?”

“Yes, yes I am, just a project going haywire, don’t worry. How was your day?”

“As usual. You were right, once you get a hang of it, I guess things do become bearable.”

Alex smiled “So, tomorrow’s weekend. Wanna grab a beer?”

Now, that was a tempting offer. She glanced at her watch– she had plenty of time.

“Okay, let's go. Your stop or mine?”

“Neither, the next to next stop is a street filled with good pubs. You’ll love it.”

—-

Alex was not wrong. The pub he took her to had just begun to fill in– so they managed to get their desired spot to sit, the ambience, and the environment was lively.

“It's a lovely place, thank you for bringing me here.”

Alex raised his glass and smiled “You're welcome.”

Getting along with Alex was easy. It was smooth-sailing to have a conversation with him, to jump from one topic to another.

“I do not think that it's necessary that the street should be under constant surveillance. You see, it's the people we need to mend.”

“Until then, constant surveillance might help. My colleagues, I mean most of them are so nonchalant about the reports of crime and all.” (Y/N) added. 

They had somehow landed on the topic of crime and surveillance in the city and she was surprised by the degree of nonchalance in the locals.

“You’re new here.” Alex commented, sipping his beer as his eyes casually moved around the place.

She shrugged, focusing on her drink “There are a few things I might never get used to.”

“True.” His eyes found hers again and he smiled.

It was then she noticed– truly noticed how attractive he was. Tall, dark, well-built with a gentle smile. Alex Norton was a treat for sore eyes. But what truly made him attractive was his approach to people, the way he spoke, the way he listened more. 

She took a swig of her beer, an attempt to divert her eyes. 

****

So, what do you guys think? I have decided to turn it into a short series.

[steakout-05]

TF2 related lost media - animatic about Scout grappling with Spy being his dad set to the song 'Please Don't' by K. Will

back in 2018, i watched this TF2 animatic that was about Scout going through all the motions of dealing with Spy marrying his mother and being his dad. it was a really well made animatic, it had this beautifully illustrated inked style on a yellowed paper background, and it was set to the song 'Please Don't' by Korean artist K. Will. unfortunately though, it seems to have since either been privated or deleted and i can't find it anywhere, nor do i have the URL for it at the moment. the only evidence i have of its existence is the thumbnail, which was saved to my old Samsung phone when i downloaded the audio of the animatic (but not the video unfortunately).

i can't remember who uploaded or illustrated the video, but i do have the title. it's "TF2 Please don't Parody" with some Korean text at the end that translates to the same thing. i think it would have been uploaded to YouTube at least 8-9 years ago.

if it helps, here are some details i remember from the video:

the image is of a scene where all the other mercs are getting dressed for Spy's wedding, but Scout isn't present. i think after this is a shot of Spy looking worried/saddened by Scout's absence.

there's a scene where Scout tears apart a photo of Spy, himself and his mum and puts Spy closer to himself (perhaps symbolically showing that he wishes he were closer to his dad)

similarly, there's a scene where Scout's mum is noticeably upset by Scout's absence during the wedding preparations, but i can't remember what specifically Scout is absent from.

there's a scene of Scout driving in his car with a serious look on his face, and then later in the video, the same scene appears later, except he's crying and stops the car.

i think there's a scene where Scout is looking at his mum and Spy either having a laugh together or preparing each other's wedding outfits from the other side of a wall or a door, and he just has this bereft look on his face.

the video has audio of a car driving at the end, and it lasts for about 10 seconds. it was probably taken from the original music video for the song used.

hopefully this video will turn up again or i'll find the user who uploaded it. it's a very nostalgic video to me and i'd love to see it again!!

[shpadoinkle-day]

asking here too but if u have the original of this meme pls reply with it

I could've sworn I had it but unfortunately I can't find it and I've been going crazy all day 👍

[transparencyboo]

For the last two weeks or so I've been playing the Mega Drive dungeon crawler Shining in the Darkness. I've recently been going through all the various action-RPGs the system had to offer and kinda found myself lusting for more, so I expanded the scope.

Shining in the Darkness had one of those cover arts I vividly remember seeing in game stores during the 90s, I understood already back then that whatever this was would be too complicated for my feeble preschool brain, but it had a shiny glossy allure that still beckoned to me with promises of daring adventures and grand battles. Questions lingered in my head: Who is that evil bastard zapping sparks at Cavin from the Gummi Bears? Why has the king entrusted the safety of his kingdom to a meagre boy and his two misfit friends?

Well, it turns out that big bad guy is called Dark Sol, the bane of all game difficulty discourse, and the reason the king has enlisted three poor kids is because there is no one else to rely on after your daddy went missing. Everyone else just sorta gives up along the way.

My initial conclusion of this game was to commend my young self for the striking assessment, my five year old self would never get anywhere in this game between the English text, abstracted navigation and number crunching battle mechanics. Shining in the Darkness is a bona fide classic dungeon gauntlet endurance simulator, where you traverse vanishing point block tunnels and encounter enemies. I've played one or two games like this before, like the original Phantasy Star, but this time a new desire struck me. I wanted to draw maps. Maybe I'm just getting older and more patient, leading me to wilfully ignore easily available resources online.

By my recollection, this is the first time I've dedicated myself to playing a game like this. Usually I just resort to my sense of direction, which I've gathered seems to at least be above average, since anytime I go anywhere with anyone I always end up playing shepherd so they don't get lost. Worst case scenario I'll just fall back to mapping efforts by online heroes from years past. For Shining in the Darkness I persisted blindly about halfway through until I admitted to myself charting a map of the labyrinthine caves would be a lot easier. Luckily, the game allows you to spend 1 MP to see a chunk of where you've walked, meaning I could get neatly organized segments to copy by hand.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this endeavour was how much of the game experience was expressed through this map project. I spent just as much time slaying beasts as I did counting tiles and filling them out with my pencil. It became a natural counterbalance that provided vital pacing to the game mechanics. Walking, fighting, charting. In turn, through the principle of learning by doing, I gained a more intimate familiarity with the environments by just replicating them out on a sheet of paper. I found that while the map helped, I actually didn't need it much for backtracking because my drawings had helped me remember the layouts of the corridors anyway.

I guess the lesson learned is that while old design sensibilities may appear to be arcane and cumbersome when easier solutions exists, the obfuscation is part of the fun. The game hands me an intentionally hard to navigate world, shows me that it's fully capable of displaying maps of it, but still asks me to provide that dimension myself. Through doing this, I discover that drawing maps is both surprisingly enjoyable and cognitively stimulating. I realize that had I downloaded some pre-packaged maps online and used as my bible, Shining in the Darkness would've been a vastly different experience, one of monotonous meandering through endless fights while confidently striding along the known path.

Perhaps that's why the game was called Shining and the Darkness in Japan, it doesn't flow as well as the western title, but at the same time it poetically reflects this act of discovery. I am Shining, the game provides the Darkness, we work together, we must unify to become whole.

As for Dark Sol, he turned into a big monster boy and was vanquished by a spunky cartographer child and her two cohorts. The unknown has been made known and the kingdom is once more saved.

/Kiki

[imoenhatesthis]

Lily Orchard and Imoen: Is the Mod Popular?

So unfortunately, Lily Orchard talks about the Imoen Romance mod in her 'Addressing Allegations' video (starting at 39:31, ending at 41:13) in regards to Courtney, whose made allegations against Lily you can hear for yourself here. Please heed the trigger warnings in both videos, though I won't be going in-depth here.

In this video, Lily describes that Gorion's Ward and Imoen are "the best of friends whose closeness borders on romantic at times...", (40:13) who discover being siblings in BGII. That isn't true but whatever, I'm not here to talk about the game itself. After going through her other sister OCs, she ends by going, "[I] talked about one of the most infamous and positively received mods for one of the most popular RPGs ever made," (41:05) end quote, so clearly this doesn't have anything to do with the real life allegations.

Two issues: One is that this is a deflection that does not address Courtney's allegations at all, or why she would find the fascination with those characters suspect. But the second is that this idea that the mod is popular and well-loved is just not true, and I'm going to spend time arguing against. If anything, how decidedly unpopular it is says that Lily is the one actively seeking out this content.

So why didn't Lily show proof about the mod's popularity in her debunking video? Maybe include a positive review? Well...

There was once a forum dedicated to the mod, populated only by people who'd want to play this kind of thing. So, if Lily is remembering this forum, that information is going to be skewed one way with any negative reviews chased out. It's long gone now, so I can't pull numbers. Instead, I'll be using general forum spaces that are probably the most popular with general BG fans, Beamdog and Reddit.

On the official EE mod release thread on the Beamdog forum... the total combination of posts from the author/coder and players only total 30 pages, with posts as recent as this month. 25 posts a page equals 750 posts altogether from across 10 years, though the most recent page is just 1 post, so 726. If we're SUPER charitable and say that's about 700 people playing and posting there throughout 10 years, not including mod authors, that's a minuscule audience. Especially when the original BGII game sold about 2 million copies, as well as Steam estimated selling about a million copies of the Steam release of the Enhanced Edition. Let's say the old deleted forum had about 1 thousand, maybe 2 thousand members, let's say there may be 10,000 downloads of the mod--that's still such a small percentage as to not matter. Definitely not enough to call it popular in the community.

Googling for lists of the best mods for BGII will bring up mods for the UI, general tweaks, difficulty, visuals, and portraits/voices. Especially portraits, people really like portrait mods. Sometimes the BG1 NPC Project is mentioned (which has it's own controversies, it's just probably the most talked about of any of these), but all of these will come long before a mention of NPC mods. So, NPC mods, especially romantic ones, are a niche of a niche.

On a few forums where I do see someone recommend the Imoen Romance as a "required mod"... most of the time they get a negative response.

(Source)

(Source)

Just straight Googling Imoen Romance mod or mod reviews will bring up forums with pages in the single digits, with general discussion devoted to "Is this incest?" questions. It's impossible to go onto any forum post about the romance without at least one person weirded out by it's existence. So, there's at least a variety of opinions on the mod, it's not overwhelmingly positive.

But fine, that's general forums. What about BG mod reviewers? ONCE AGAIN, never ever reach out to these people.

Lily uses the Smoldering Mod Bar's review of Saerilith Romance to condemn that specific mod for its bad writing and taboo themes. It sure would be something if the mod reviewer also had a negative view on Imoen Romance...Oh wait:

(Source)

Okay, well, let's look at positive reviews instead. Lily has also quoted a Beamdog forum review to defend her views on the mod:

(Source)

Why didn't Lily link to the review in question? It would prove to everyone people love her favorite mod just as much as she does, right? Well, I can link it below:

(Source; scored on a 5/5 scale)

Oh, that's not quite as positive as she'd have you believe. Still liked it, but not quite to the level Lily does.

Here's another Beamdog mod reviewer making similar negative points, despite overall loving the mod:

(Source) Even reviewers who champion the mod as great can point out "Wow, this talks about incest quite a lot in a way it didn't even have to." And about it's other flaws too, things Lily never does.

I'm not saying NO ONE thinks the mod is good or that no one has ever mentioned it. I included positive reviews for a reason.

The issue is lying about how popular and well-liked the mod is in order to paint her sister as a crazy obsessed stalker whose just overreading into things. Especially saying this in a video about those allegations, and especially after saying the Gorion's Ward and Imoen are "romantic at times" all in the same breath. Putting ANY lie in this specific video is a serious stain on the credibility of Lily, thus it's important to call it out.

[orphiclovers]

How many times have you read the novel 😳 (you post so many screenshots of quotes. Consistently too)

Haha, it's not an impressive number. Maybe it will surprise you?

I first read the webtoon in 2021 until whichever was the latest chapter at that point. Then I couldn't wait for the next update, I NEEDED to know what happened next so I found the epub on reddit and read it (lol) from the place I left off.

I don't actually remember how far I got. I must have reached at least chapter 363, since that is when the names changed with the new translator and I remembered it REALLY bothered me (there must have not been a version with the OG names back then, or I just hadn't found it).

The arc I was on must have bored me, because I think I did something VERY uncharacteristic of myself - skipped ahead in the chapters. I NEVER do this, I'm a very chronological reader - I never even skim text, I always read every sentence from beginning to end, only for some reason not this one time (I blame the name change making it difficult for me.)

I had seen the cover art of YJH chained up by white coat wearing Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja and I had heard that yoohankim was a major ship and that Han Sooyoung was the third main character, only in the arc I was on I saw none of that. So I made a huge mistake and looked up spoilers online, to see when Han Sooyoung became an important character, and accidentally spoiled myself on Secretive Plotter's identity (since I read a summary of the 1863 arc)

Then I have a distinct memory of reading the beach episode chapter 454, and being instantly turned off and thinking 'ugh, and I thought I had finally found a novel that didn't put boring fluff but was tense and action all the time". Very Kim Dokja of me. (yes, I know now giving characters a respite was the point of that arc. If i had read one chapter further, I would have seen they went back to action almost immediately. But I didn't read further.)

On top of that, I saw a spoiler online that said that 'orv has the it was all just a dream ending' and that was the last straw and I dropped it (ugh)

Then in the next couple of years I managed to forget every single character and plot point of ORV.

Went back to read the webtoon, arrived at the latest chapter, couldn't wait until the next update, downloaded the epub from reddit, started reading it from where the webtoon left off, you see the pattern. This time I finished it in 4 days I think. That was April 1st, when I posted my first orvpost on tumblr. I had basically forgotten absolutely everything, even how far I got originally, but had a sense of deja vu up until the very last chapter.

Now, I've been on a very very slow, technically 2nd but I consider it my first reread. Except I've never actually read the first 100 chapters and am constantly shocked and amazed at how good they are.

So, technically, I haven't actually read all of orv yet😅. But also am on my 3rd read?

[technicallyswagpizza]

BARNACLESS BAY CAW FILES by technicallyswagpizza

"A storm swept through the island, it ravaged for what felt like weeks and it was so fierce it completely erased part of the island! Now there is nothing else left but sand! And it's everywhere! Even in my ears!"

I always liked the idea of a remote farm type island where the folks living there still haven't heard about Gangam Style or paywalled CC, but I felt that the original Barnacle Bay is just too dysfunctional to play. It has good bones and I really wanted to make it work, but after chipping away at it on and off for almost a year I have come to a point that now whenever I open it in CAW I just don't know what to do with it and feel like I should go play in the traffic instead. Maybe I will finish it one day, but since I'm just sitting on these files I figured perhaps someone else wants to give it a go and make it your own. Change it completely, keep it as it is, share it, lock it in your basement, you do what you got to do to tame it.

These are the CAW files only, I have not play tested the world as it is very much work in progress thus there is no point releasing it in the state it is.

CHANGELOG

Standalone world, it will not replace Barnacle Bay.

A good chunk of the map is gone, I also ran the coastal parts of the map through World Machine to make it feel more realistic, thus all the sand everywhere.

Deleted a fair few lots completely.

Emptied majority of the lots, however I left some of the original lots in because I had a plan, but I forgot what it was.

Reduced the amount of spawners, there's at least one or two each rather than 3-5.

Added and removed some roads.

Replaced all the palm trees with Red Oaks from Ambitions exp.

Added shrubs around the fields

// There's not THAT much to do, but things you may want to fix:

Bumpy ridiculous roads (-᷅_-᷄๑)

Sort out the mess I made with the town centre layout

Double check routing, I'm fairly sure I started working on that but it's been so long I can't remember if I finished it completely.

None of the lots have addresses.

Waterfall looks ok in CAW but in game uh, idk. It looks like farts.

What you need: Maybe the original Barnacle Bay? I'm not sure, if you don't have it then the random CAW items/remaining lots that got stuff in them will get replaced by something else. I'm not sure if there are any BB items left though... I did swap the bridge and idk beachy barrier thing with something else. I don't remember which expansion they came from though. I'M REALLY GOOD AT THIS I PROMISE (.﹒︣︿﹒︣.)

DOWNLOAD // MIRROR

Let me know if the CAW files do not work, I don't think I have ever shared my raw CAW projects before so yeah. I included all the terrain paint .dds texture files just in case you want to paint stuff.

[norman891]

I downloaded this drawing back in October, and ended up cropping it to better focus on Hook’s face. I can't remember where I found it originally or who the artist is ( they're wonderful, BTW).

This picture affects me so deeply on so many levels. I can feel Hook’s misery, his loneliness, his self-loathing, his grief, pain, despair and his utter shame. There is so much pain on so many different levels all captured in one drawing. Does it affect anyone else similarly?

I can only assume he has tried to drink all his feelings away only to end up in pure state of such sadness that all he can do is weep softly to himself.

It makes me want to go to him and put my arms around his shoulders, or at least lay a hand on his back, knowing full well I would be rebuffed and have to move quickly to escape harm. But that doesn't change my feelings, my very visceral need to try and provide some measure of comfort, compassion, empathy, and love to a man who's very soul has been ripped asunder by a careless little monster.

I have loved Hook since I was 5; I consider I was an enlightened child who could see the evil in Pan and the lonely, traumatized man Hook is. Yes, he's a pirate and therefore does things I expect a pirate to do. But he's also a man who's lost his very essence somewhere along the way, maybe even before before Peter cut off his hand, threw it to the crocodile, and left Hook in constant stress and PTSD.

I daresay the man has not had one good night's sleep in so long because sleeping leads to dreaming, or rather nightmares of being consumed by the crocodile and Hook wakes up screaming, soaked in sweat & shaking uncontrollably. And I'm sure he tells no one, not even Smee, so he suffers alone. And that bothers me badly.

I've been there, when you're too ashamed to tell anyone that which is tormenting you every hour of the day and night, for fear of ridicule or embarrassment. Hook is embarrassed enough that he's continually bested by the flying child-demon who so brutally maimed him. To show another his true suffering would be more than he could bear.

To whoever drew this amazing, thoughtful piece of art, give yourself a gold star. Very few pictures/drawings have affected me so deeply that have found myself weeping along with Hook. I like to think that just maybe, if he understood my angst is born of love and not pity, just maybe the knowledge that another soul weeps with and for him might provide him some small measure of comfort.

My beloved Captain, at 59 I still love you, even more than I did when I was only 5. You are definitely not unloved... ever. Not so long as I live and breathe.

I feel a story brewing in my mind....

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 2, episode 2: the running man

day 2 of @tristampparty!! i have less to say about this episode than the first one so hopefully this will be a shorter post than yesterday LOL

iirc this is 98 knives's seiyuu on the radio, right?!!! i am only about halfway through my jp 98 watch and can't recognize him by ear (yet) but i think it's very neat that the original seiyuus have cameos :')

also vash keeping the photo with him What If I Ate Rocks

he is such a kicked puppy of a man

why does roberto say revenge. what does he mean. what does he know. what has he figured out from knowing vash for maybe like a few hours. or is he just throwing that out there without realizing how close he is to the truth. partially, anyway. he didn't guess the savior complex part.

i'm not entirely sure what meryl means by honor...? but money is a pretty normal reason to want a plant, as we've seen and as we'll continue to see.

i like how meryl has a fear of bugs... i can relate lol. i think this character trait comes from the manga when she was kidnapped by zazie and was grossed out? i think here it also serves to reinforce her being sheltered, still unfamiliar with the world at large since worms are everywhere--WAIT HOLD ON.

PAUSE. ZOOM. ENHANCE.

RAI-DEI SPOTTED?!?!??!?! this rewatch is becoming an I Spy game with the wanted posters, jfc.

man i'm so glad i finally downloaded tristamp so i can appreciate the visuals without the crunchiness of streaming video... i can't do the animation justice with just screenshots but i love watching vash scamper around like a... i don't know. he scampers like a cockroach in 98, but this is giving a different vibe. like a... something. like a creature.

i also want to take a second to appreciate how gorgeous the backgrounds are, like,

i loooove the backgrounds, it looks like... maybe a mix of markers and colored pencil... i love the detail and the colors are so pleasing. this is such a gorgeous anime to look at, i don't know how anyone could possibly say it looks bad without them just blindly hating it because it's 3dcg. god i'm getting so distracted looking at the backgrounds that i'm missing the action AND the subtitles LOL

wasn't there a post somewhere that actually calculated how much a bullet is worth based on this information. i don't remember what conclusion it came to. but i'm thinking either food is expensive (tbh, likely) or bullets are inexpensive and vash is just poor (also likely). also it's funny that the dub changed this to donuts. ...where are the donuts at in tristamp anyway...

roberto lmao 😭😭😭😭😭 i guess that's one way to guarantee it doesn't spill

roberto up until this point has acted like meryl is dragging him along unwillingly, but here he's the one telling meryl to get in the car so they can get a move on, lol. yeah yeah we all already know he's actually a softie and that he really cares underneath his aloof demeanor.

which brings us to this scene... i don't want to say that he has vash "all figured out" because obviously he doesn't, but he's got SOME of vash figured out at least. definitely more than meryl atp. he knows vash is running from knives... i wonder how this conversation would have gone if they weren't interrupted.

yeah i don't really have that much to say about this ep, relatively speaking... i don't have any deep thoughts about the nebraskas, they're just comic relief villains anyway, i don't care about them that much, even though tristamp kind of tries to make us care a little bit by the end of this episode...

next episode is gonna be a doozy though. ohohohohohoho.

[farcillesbian]

Hey Peach I won't ask anything super incriminating or anything but do you need a VPN to torrent stuff? Or really good antivirus?

I know I should look into how to do that stuff but before I attempt anything of the sort, I wanna know if I should beef up my security before I start sniffing around.

Im really out of my element here 😭

hi hi, so there are a couple of things I do to keep my computer/data safe when torrenting - first of all, yes, a VPN is a great idea!! the one time I forgot to turn on my VPN before torrenting something at my parents house my dad got a letter from our internet provider about it 😵‍💫 (it basically was something about "your IP address was used to download copyright infringing material, don't do it again").

it's generally best practice to have some type of VPN set up before torrenting! try to stay away from free VPNs, from what I understand they're not the most reputable and oftentimes they're profiting off selling your data (the ol' "if they're not making money off the product then *you're* the product"). I hear good things about Mullvad and ProtonVPN - I believe at least Proton does have a free tier that just has a limit to how fast you can download things with it!

as far as antivirus goes, it's got its pros and cons. I actually don't always have it turned on, and I'm not a big fan of the built in Windows Defender (it tends to have a lot of false flags) - I like MalwareBytes and I'll do an occasional scan of my computer after downloading stuff & before actually running things. I personally find that antivirus programs tend to quarantine video game installation files when I try to run an installer for a game I torrented, which causes the installation to fail and then I have to go manually check the antivirus to un-quarantine the files 🙄 which is why I end up not having mine running all the time. but if it makes you more comfortable def keep it on, and just remember to check for quarantined files if you're having weird errors trying to install anything!

however I do also make sure that I'm visiting sites I generally trust so that lowers my chances of downloading anything sketchy (though not 0 - be mindful of what you download and open on your computer, especially executables (.exe files)!!) I find all sites I use either via direct recommendations from trusted friends who are very knowledgeable about information security and stuff, or from the r/piracy subreddit's megathread (they have a lot of recommendations for all different kind of media, and also a lot of helpful info about cautious pirating in general)

also, make sure that the torrent client you use is good! I've always used qBittorrent - it's pretty easy to use and set up, it's straightforward, open source, ad-free, and also has a lot of handy features (one of them being a feature in the advanced settings where you can have it only do things with your torrents while your computer is connected to your VPN, which is good for keeping your real IP address secure. if you want help figuring out that setting just reach out again and I'm happy to help!) whatever you do, please don't use μTorrent lol, that one sucks. also, you don't have to update it every time it comes out with an update, but it's generally a good idea to check the qBittorrent subreddit when an update does come out just to see if it deals with anything important security-wise - just recently, a pretty major backdoor vulnerability was identified and fixed, so it was actually pretty critical that everyone update to the latest version (to anyone reading this, make sure you're on 5.0.1 and nothing older than that!)

and also, a good Adblock like ublock origin will help keep you from accidentally clicking on nefarious links when trying to download things on the internet, so make sure you have that set up too!

also also, some regular websites (especially streaming services) HATE VPNs so if you have one running and you're trying to watch something on like, Netflix or your cable provider's streaming site and it's not working, pause the VPN till you're done! and that's where having your torrent client set up to automatically pause all torrents while your VPN is off comes in handy.

also also also, a note on torrenting etiquette - when you are torrenting something from other people (aka peer to peer/P2P file sharing) you are considered a "peer" and the people who have the full files and are sharing them with you via torrent are called "seeds". peers need to be connected to seeds to be able to receive the file. you will also have a ratio for each torrent - this is the amount of data you have sent vs how much you have received. a ratio of over 1.0 means you've sent more than you've received and is considered to be "good form". I usually stop seeding a torrent once it reaches above 1.0, and I do also often go stop seeding a lot of stuff below the 1.0 ratio if it looks like it has a lot of seeds, but I like to keep seeding when it seems like I'm the only one or just one of a few people seeding, especially for media that I already had a hard time finding, to make it a bit easier for someone else trying to torrent it. there are some things that I've waited months to finish torrenting just because nobody was seeding at all for a while 😭 so I do what I can to keep torrents alive myself.

sorry this ended up longer than I thought it would be, and probably longer than you expected, but I hope this is helpful! happy sailing the digital seas, anon :D

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Wildflower: 03

The Secret Garden

Category: Short Series

John Wick x Reader

Warning: Public violence, public shootout, stampede-like situation

Note: John is relatively younger in this fic( late thirties to early forties)

The gif is not mine. Credits to the original creator (Sorry, I don't remember where I downloaded it from)

Unedited

Wildflower 02

She enjoyed Alex’s company and so, it was a pub one evening, a bakery one weekend, and a cafe the other weekday. Having a reliable company in the vast city was a blessing indeed. They explored the city on days he could get time off his hectic job, went on random cycling trips to the central park and always had something to talk about.

It was on one such outing when they were engaged in a heated discussion regarding the accuracy of ‘historical facts’ when someone interrupted them. 

“Norton.”

It was a familiar voice that made her turn round. Over the bench where they sat, loomed a tall figure, dressed in all black.

 “Wick?”

The silence that followed was not long, but felt dense.

John Wick’s eyes found hers and he blinked. There was something more than a stoic gaze this time.

“You working, Wick?” Alex asked.

Did they know each other?

“Yeah.”

That was all he gave. He was, indeed, a man of few words.

“Hello, John.” She greeted him, earning his gaze again.

“Hello, (Y/N).” It was his usual voice– low, deep, calm.

But there was something about the way her name rolled off his tongue. It felt different. (Y/N) gulped and mentally shook her head. No, she was overthinking again. She smiled at him, in return, she received a softened eyes.

“You on vacation Norton?”

His gaze turned to her friend– there was almost something unreal about the flicker– maybe it was the way the light fell into her eyes, but they seemed to turn almost mechanical when they turned to Alex– no trace of softness, just…well something.

“Showing around my friend.” Alex replied, but there was a heaviness in his voice. No trace of the light, amused, cool tone she knew.

John nodded curtly “I see…”

“We will get going then.” Alex smiled politely, her bag already in his hold, a silent indication that they needed to leave.

For some reason, despite the doubts and the confusion, she did not question him.

—---

John’s hands remained inside his coat pockets— tightly fisted, knuckles paling as he watched them walk away. It should not matter. He told himself. 

Why did it disturb him?

John Wick considered himself a simple man. At least in terms of his needs, his priorities– his business.

So why was this one simple civilian, so intriguing to him? Who had nothing to do with him, or his business. 

John looked away. Admitting that Winston was right. He was fascinated— fascinated by how oblivious she was, fascinated by her perception of the world around her, fascinated by her simple, (comparatively) unproblematic– normal life. Normalcy– something John could not even wish for– but he craved it. He craved it so bad that it ached. Although now, it was a dull, suppressed throb– his childhood was marred with this…ache, this yearning to be another person on the street– mundane, normal, ordinary.

She was so ordinary, simple yet so complex– with layers of emotions and thoughts that her eyes would always give away. It had, for the first time, John’s heart thumping– like he was in the middle of emotions, not above it– and yet, he did not hate the feeling. 

That was perhaps the reason why he had followed her from two days ago– Alex Norton was good, but not good enough to detect John until he did not want to be detected. He was John Wick after all.

They were friends, he could tell and yet, her speaking so freely, laughing with another man had set an unexpected burn in his chest. Even at thus age, this was a question he felt tumultuous about?

He was just observing. 

Just observing.

Then why did it matter if her smile– that seemed like the sun rising on a field of wildflowers— was directed at someone else? Why did it matter that her laughter, that sped up his heart slightly, was directed at some other man?

John could have the answers if he tried, delved deep enough. 

He simply did not want to have the answers.

Turning away, sat himself down on the bench they had been sitting on. Her spot was still warm, and John, though reluctant, admitted to himself that it felt good– closer to something he could never have.

—----

It was supposed to be a simple deed. Shoot and walk away without anyone noticing. But the drug dealer had a good hand with guns and fists. John could feel a bruise blooming on the side of his face as he chased the man. A head that had the prize of two million dollars on it. 

It was not an exclusive contract and he had already fought off one assassin in the pursuit of putting one prized bullet into that dealer’s head. From the corner of his eye, he could see another figure moving past the unsuspecting, ignorant crowd. At least they appeared ‘unsuspecting’. John knew that more or less, people had just grown used to, grown indifferent. 

He moved past people, shoving some out of his way as he—

BANG! BANG!

John cursed, glancing at the man running parallel to him. And like a typical newcomer, he had to have no silencer. That was when the chaos burst out, people scrambled to get away, screaming, crying, running around. John growled in frustration as he chased his target faster.

Enough of this game.

With one bullet from John, the dealer was down. His eyes found the new assassin— cold and steely—  at least the boy had some sense to get scurry away. 

Mingling with the crowd, he walked the panickem— ready to exit. When he saw her.

Her eyes were wide and confused, looking around in panic as people shoved and bumped past her. She almost fell when someone screamed that there was a shooting going on. John did not know when he stopped, just to watch her. He simply observed, and each little expression transfixed him somehow.

John gulped, watching her eyes widen in fear before she ran off too, not even noticing that the bag she carried had dropped on the floor.

Before he knew it, John was moving towards the bag. Picking it up, he dusted it before zipping it open. His eyes wandered through the contents. Maybe he could find a way to return—

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the familiar black card. Blinking, John fished it out of the bag, bringing it to the light.

“Winston…” He whispered to himself.

****

[inevitably-johnlocked]

i have a confession

recently i had some trouble and had to delete an email

problem is, i used the google docs there to write my fics. and i thought i downloaded them all, but only one of my major ones did, and i lost everything else

literally all of it

i am anonymous because i lost my tumblr acc but on ao3 i am veetheree, and i had this longer dilemma regarding my potterlock fic (pretty disillusioned with rowling and all.that, unsure whether to continue) but even so i saw that a lot of people subscribed to it and i wanted to at least see where the story leads, i had over 300k words apart from the 40k i published

and i domt hve it anymore :') i didnt check the process because it seemed okay and i had other uni and work stuff to take care of, and now i check it and :') it's gone :')) im not doing well, and i am going to delete the fic i think

i dont have the energy to maintain it and i dont want it to be left in the dust either - i have lost all hope for it, and this is just a punch in the gut. and i was proud of the plot and how i intertwined the 2 worlds too

this is mostly just a rant because i dont really have anybody else who can relate to the pain of fic writing and the challenges that come with it

also, as to why i had to delete the email - it's complicated, hacking situation and such, but it happened over 2 months ago so im not able to retrieve it and neither do i really feel like looking into it, im done with that fic for good 😭

that's all, thank you for being a safe space for me to go to, and i apologise to anyone who was waiting for that fic to be updated :(

Hey Lovely *HUGS*

OH GOODNESS, I'm SO sorry you had a garbage time with your email, and even more so, accidentally deleted fics from your Google Drive without saving all of them. I'm TERRIFIED of losing my own fics from my G-Drive all the time (I do actually write and have about 15 "snippets" of fics on there) and back them up religiously.

That said, I can understand how life can overtake literally everything and just make being online Too Much™ – happens to me all the time 💜🖤. And I know how disheartening it can be to just... not have the motivation anymore to continue on with something, heaven knows I've done that plenty in my 40 years, LOL. And Lovely, we have to remember to do what's best for us in the long run.

When I was a teen, I wrote a fairly popular Sonic fanfic series that I never completed, literally left it on a cliffhanger. This was back before even FFNet, and fics were distributed in the Sonic fandom on our Geocities pages via Webring, LOL. After life took over, it still remains unfinished over 20 years later. I recently found the original word docs of all 9 of the stories (with the 10th one half-finished) and while I cringe at my bad writing from back then, I still love immersing myself in that world. One of these days, maybe I'll finish it, because I do think it was a great concept and intriguing storyline that dealt a lot with humanity and sentience, just obviously written by a teenager, hahaha.

The point of that anecdote? We can still love the things we wrote, and still want to engulf ourselves in that world from time to time and not feel bad about it. And if you decide to come back to it a decade from now, that's okay too. You're only human.

And never EVER hesitate to come here for a friendly eyeball to vent to. I try my best to make y'all feel not so alone. Glad to see you are okay, Vee, truly. That's what's most important.

*SNUGGLE BUGGLE HUGGLE* I hope you have a beautiful, prosperous day. And I'm sure your fic-fans understand <3

[cloudninetonine]

*peace signs on in, hands you a mug of tea, refuses to elaborate* 'Sup.

Sleep deprived idea because that trailer left me too feral (plus the fact I'll probably hold on stuff for Fia, Una and Dia until I have every single lore bit of TOTK injected into my veins and that also doesn't help)

Imagining Player humming this to themselves and the Chain after every blood moon in Wild's Time, and at least Wild and Time being incredibly delighted/hysterical, specially if they heard the original lyrics:

https://youtu.be/HPRluY5YZCY

Bonus points if at any point they just end up forgetting where they were and just manage to belt out the high notes like a professional opera singer or something and it just registers to Wild and Time as a seraned or something. Or the plot twist: they hummed it at some point during Time as Mask's very bad, awful, no good three days in Termina to cope with the trauma (come on, the Termina moon is genuinely nightmare fuel if you're not an horror fan specially with the implications) or during a Blood Moon on Wild's Time, and Time still hums or sings the lyrics to this day to himself, and Wild also does whenever a blood moon happen to cope and turns out the way they're all united is not through Twilight or Player being the Guide or something, it's just through shared Moon is Haunted ™ Trauma that no one in the Chain really registers and it drives them up the wall while Wild, Player and Time are basically the shaking hands meme, specially after that gigantic blood moon in TOTK. Even more bonus points if hilariously enough the way Time or Warriors remembers Player is the Guide is because Wild and or/Player hummed that song nonchantly, and Time remembers humming it with Player as Mask or maybe playing it on the ocarina or Warriors remembers Mask and Player hummed that song together whenever they saw a full moon in the sky.

Also, Hyrule being Peter Pan is too accurate and good, and also consider: Player has their phone with them right? And it apparently has plenty of battery life? Imagine if they have the classic Disney movies downloaded, and they have Hyrule watch Peter Pan with them, just a thought, and it accidentally turns into a movie watching marathon with the Chain (I think Wind would like Moana, and imagine showing Mononoke Hime to Wild). Although they might have to explain how the moving images work as opposed to pictures like Wild's Slate take.

Something something. Sleep deprived au that came to me in a dream: Player but the longer they stay in Hyrule as the Guide and move through various time periods the more eldritch they become due to the very nature of the guide as a possible deity and/or the world loving the Guide as much as the Guide loves the LoZ world idk.

Anyway, hope you have a nice day and have fun when TOTK comes out! Sadly I do not have a Switch myself so I'll live vicariously through all people who play it!

-A Very Sleep Deprived and Awkward Summertime Musician.

Player bullying the moon has become one of my favourite Player memes at this point.

They're gotta protect their boys and just the image of them standing in front of a full moon like "I'M GONNA COME UP THERE AND BLOW YOU UP, JUST LIKE THE ASTRONAUTS SHOULD HAVE DONE DECADES AGO!!" Does it confuse the rest of them? Yes, it sure does, but they're not stopping.

Also Player mid movie pausing and just pointing to Peter Pan with Hyrule like "That's you." And he would proceeds to raid the Vet's stuff for a thimble so he can make an amazing and corny kiss joke

And for your sleep deprived au?....Wink, wink, nudge, nudge

HOPE YOU'RE WELL SUM!

[fantasiacafecat]

I just got done playing everyone's route last night on Seduce Me 2: The Demon War. It was on switch and I realize that they may have changed some parts up on the switch than the original. Because I was doing the naughty scene for Sam and I remember him saying "Maybe I really am a brute" and they basically scrapped. So I decided to ne cutsey and remember I bought the complete story, demon war 2, and the first game before I knew switches existed. I downloaded all three on my chrome book.

Number 1: If I do rewrite all routes for Seduce Me 2 there are gonna be some major changes.

The wives (if I decide to even add them) won't be in the Demon world mostly because they don't bring anything to the story. I'll most likely give them their own moments before Mika is kidnapped. Like Carrie in Jame's route. And they'll be mentioned (example: say Mika gets a couple dogs in Sam's route. When she realizes that they have no one feeding them, Sam would reassure her that one of the wives would be taking care of them.

More serious roles for all of the brothers. And maybe one on one scenes with them (I might make a version where Mika doesn't romance anyone or its the harem version as well because I want to). It seems like only Sam gets to have more conversation with his brothers in his story. And it does kind of hurt my soul that in every route only one brother gets to help kill the Demon lord, their shitty father. I know Sam would probably do anything to kick his ass.

The whole story probably won't be a week long. And there would probably be more Battle scenes. Depending on who you choose as your trainer you might get to be part of some missions, like assassinations with Shadow. Or scouting with Fae. I also don't know how dark and sinister I'm gonna make this story (if I do it). Part of me wants to genuinely traumatize the MC (when do I not).

Number 2: As for the Human Heart routes. I'm almost completely sure it's gonna have a similar plot like with each of the Demon brothers. Unless I was writing very tiny snippets of the relationship between Mika and their human lover, I don't think it'd be interesting enough to make a full fanfic (that's based off a game with magic) that doesn't have magic in it. It would be hard to find out a general enemy or problem for each story. Every single one of the brothers has their own baggage to overcome, James with angels, Erik and Oribel, Sam with Dragon's and returned devil lover, Matthew with his Mother, Damien (but mostly Mika) dealing with his humanity.

So let's say "The Human Heart" generally could start in at least 3 ways.

1. Mika never finds out that she has magic, but she still has some magic in her which causes her to be kidnapped and Mika doesn't know jack shit of what's going on, what demons are, and what to do. A decent 4/10 idea.

2. Mika finds her grandfather journal again, and learns magic at a softer and slower pace. Though when reading she knows that it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her spouse that magic exists (because the book says so). So if she does get kidnapped, her spouse cannot help her. Decent 5 or 6/10

3. Mika finds the journal again, and decides it'd be beneficial to tell her human spouse what magic is (because keeping secrets isn't healthy in a relationship). She gets kidnapped because she has Demon magic, but assuming their human spouse learns what Mika learns. They could come to the Demon World. I like this one the best because it just the least amount of plot holes.

As for whether or not the Demon brothers are in the story. It could also go one of 4 general ways.

1. Just because the boys leave Mika in the first game, doesn't mean Diana was able to convince any of them to return, nor does it mean the boys wouldn't think about seeing Mika in the future. Say they come back to Chicago, only to hear the only Anderson child's been missing for the decent part of the week. 8/10

2. The brothers are part of the rebellion because when Diana convices the brothers to come back. They come back to Diana's kingdom in flames. 5/10

3. The boys never actually leave Mika in the first game, Mika just falls for Naomi/Suzu/Andrew. Mika goes missing before their wedding and the boys do the same thing like in any of the Canon routes. 7/10

4. The boys are not part of "The Human Heart storyline". 0/10

I might post more about the idea for The Human Heart.

[feuqueerfire]

4 Minutes Ep 5 - 6 Live Blogging

Ep 5 (Aug 23)

Coincidentally this started airing on iQiyi the same week I'm on my VIP trial. Downloading it to watch on my phone during lunch (while outside lol not in the office) but I can only get the regular version, not sultrier.

im watching this on my lunch break outside where it is very sunny + on my phone so im ngl that entire first part was just pretty much a dark screen for me.

i still cannot quite comprehend the Great and Tyme relationship.

i also don’t get how Tyme’s parents ended up killed but ok

ah, so Nan was not the female doctor. She was in this and decided to team up with Tyme

Watching Sultrier version: okay Nan's friend Mon did die at the gambling place! I was wondering if we weren't gonna see something happening to Mon that was gonna turn Nan against the gambling place even more.

20 minutes in, gonna watch rest while on the subway home bc the lighting will be fine at least.

Spoilers from twitter: Great is dying, Tyme is possibly dying (smth about them dying after e/o? idk), a screenshot where the user was saying Tonkla killed Title, everything was fake from great’s mind?

Sultrier version: the parents trying to figure out what to do about Great helping Nan get away

ah, he took the money because the company owner greats father was there as was Tyme's grandma

rewatched pre-credit scene and ohh it’s how tonkla got Title in a vulnerable position to probably kill him

Nan went ahead on live and is trying to expose the illegal gambling business

as expected, it seems like the woman who tried to kill herself’s son likely was involved in that gambling pool

lol Fah knew about Korn seeing Tonkla and now wants to put an end to it so that they can get married

what’s even going on with the woman giving away her entire life savings to that guy and premonitions of death

wait, misstress son… so Great is related to the dad but out of wedlock and while he had a different wife?

Also, the treatment of Korn and Great is so different. Korn got slapped by the dad like 2 sentences in, right after he spoke harshly to Great's mom about Great. Great on the other hand is allowed to be rude and confrontational.

oh, the woman sent the killer after Great's mom/the company leaders

why did the 4 minutes thing just happen immediately? Like shouldn’t the guy have shot the gun 4 minutes later?

ah, she died anyway

We're at 11:03 this episode, the time is back after not really appearing in ep 4. On the other hand, barely any Tonkla, just that cold open. More and more curious when and how Tonkla and Great's stories will converge (in bigger ways than just Title and Dome)

The watching experience of this episode left a lot to be desired since I was fr just watching on my screen, barely able to make anything out in the darker scenes because of the sun. Maybe I should rewatch but don't really feel like it.

3 more weeks before it all (hopefully) makes sense, oh man.

Ep 6 (Aug 28)

Using data during my walk outside on lunch break but I barely have any data left so probably won’t be able to watch much hmmm

So what’s the timeline, Win found out about Tonkla being a suspect, slept with him again (after finding out he was cheating), then came to catch him? Or is this in a different timeline? Or is the order of events incorrect? But also lowkey why does it feel like Win kinda gave Tonkla a heads up or something to get him outta there.

Oh, we’re starting from the very beginning but presumably seeing the original timeline events

Ah, Tyme’s elusive ex girlfriend

The shots of Great at the end of the table is so beautiful

god Great is such a dick

no like in DFF Great would have been part of the shitty friend group that bullied Non and got him killed, except it’s even worse because Great killed some woman with his car and helped Title hide a body (and he watched as Title first killed the guy)

ah, Great and Tyme’s original meeting

bro I really can’t see shit in the dark scenes

okay back at home

oh I remember some people saying they probably had a one night stand the first timeline and stuff instead of pursuing a relationship

Tyme bugging Great's room?

oh we are Seeing the lube, that's crazy

oh that's crazy, the camera captured them fucking?

girl what, Tyme is gonna post revenge porn of Great?

he really did post it woah. TymeGreat are truly horrible4horrible

Great's dad is saying that Tyme's parents were the ones who originally started this gambling business (+ that he didn't kill them hmm)

Great's conversation at the dinner with Tyme after the clip... he's crazy fr

The way Great said "Wanna hook up?" is so funny, I actually lol-ed aloud. and what a character he is, asking this after knowing the Tyme initially had sex with him to post that clip bc he's beefing with his dad

Oh, in this timeline, is Korn crueller?

In the original timeline, Great pulls down Tyme's mask after he attacks Korn, rather than Tyme pulling it down himself

Aw man, Nan just died in this timeline and Tyme's has to come to terms with that. I get that Tyme's gonna be grieving and such and he does have a point about Great being able to do something because they wouldn't have shot him but... Tyme knew this was a possibility from the start, right?

Great's mother must die in this version too, right? Or wait actually I guess not because the lady who sent the assassin was actually killed by Great. saved his own mother's life in a round about, killer sort of way actually

Ohh, Tonkla shot Great in the original timeline, the reason he's in the hospital.

Okayyyy interesting episode to get the original ep 1 - 5 events! I wonder what this means for the last two episodes. I think if we were going for a "and nothing was changed, Great dies, Tyme dies" after the changed timeline storyline, then we wouldn't have gotten this episode today. Feels like the next 2 episodes are gonna try to tie original and redo timeline together somehow?

I'm curious and excited, this might've been one of my favourite episodes.

The Great and Tyme dynamic feels so much more grounded and realistic this time around, the way Great wants to hook up while Tyme's like wtf... ?? The rosy original timeline was clearly not quite right. But it again brings into question what even is going on with their romance in the redo timeline because they're not in love here + Tyme kinda hates Great right now, so what's up with such a cutesy romance in their redo thing? I can see it from Great's end but Tyme?

Also Great truly is suchhh a piece of shit. Not even in a bad way. well like bad way obviously because he's a bad person but as a viewer, it's extremely entertaining and compelling.

I think I should rewatch this show on my laptop because there are definitely moments esp last week where I was watching on my phone while outside and it was just too dark to truly see stuff. And maybe I'll notice stuff on a rewatch. Dunno if I should do it this weekend or wait until the week of ep 8 and rewatch in preparation for the finale.

[footballandshit]

how i make gifs using filmora x (for anon ❤️)

read under the cut!

hey!! thanks for reading this! just a few notes before i explain about my editing process:

filmora x works very differently from photoshop. it's a video-editing software anyways, so treat it like that!

always use high-quality sources!! most of my issues with grainy gifs come from using low-quality sources. so, i always ensure to use sources at 1080p, at least!

if i'm creating multiple gifs from one match, i usually download the entire match (which is a hugeeee file 😵‍💫 but it's so worth it!!). but if it's only a scene or two, i screen record them! i have an astro supersport subscription and a beinsports account, so i don't have an issue screen recording clips, as their content are always in high-quality! but if you're using other sources or streams, then do ensure the quality is good!!

if the only available source is of low-quality, my trick is to make smaller gifs! for smaller gifs, i usually keep a 1:1 or 4:3 size ratio, and post them side-by-side in a single post - usually two in a row!

general colouring stuff applies here as well, you can check out the photoshop guide i've linked in the ask!

remember, there isn't one "correct" way to gif, you can gif however you like!

and now without further ado:-

step one: adjust video settings, speed and length after importing the clip into filmora, setting the aspect ratio, resolution and frame rate according to preference, the first thing i'd do is to adjust the speed of the clip. i like to slow them down, so i usually go for a 0.5x speed. you can always adjust the speed to your preference!

i like to keep my gifs within a 3 to 5-second length, depending on the content, so i'll trim the clip or adjust the speed as desired. if the clip is shaky, i usually add stabilization at about 10%, but you can adjust as you like! here's an example of a clip before and after speed reduction:

step two: auto-enhance once the clip is at your preferred length, size and speed, now it's time to make it look pretty! in filmora, there's an 'auto-enhance' feature, so i usually begin with that, setting it somewhere between 50% to 100%. here's an example of how it looks like before and after auto-enhancing at 100%:

step three: colour correction head over to 'advanced colour correction', where you can use either the given presets, or manually adjust to your liking. i always manually adjust them!! you can also start off with a preset and make additional manual adjustments as I did below! what i did here was to darken it, then adjust the colour enhancement, white balance (hue and tint), colour (exposure, brightness, contrast, vibrance, saturation), lighting (highlight, shadow, black, white), and hsl (for this example, i adjusted only the red).

you can also save your adjustments as custom presets so that you can use them again in the future!

here's a quick look at how i do the colouring! from the before and after colour correction examples, you can see that this is the important part of the whole process!!

step four: sharpen once i'm satisfied with my colouring, i sharpen them by adding the 'luma sharp' effect (usually at 50% or 70% alpha and 50% intensity)

here's how it looks like before and after sharpening:

step five: final touches and exporting before i export, i make some final tweaks to the brightness, contrast and saturation, etc., ... and voila!! there also many other effects available for you to add (grainy effect, blur effect, etc.) so feel free to play around!

once you're satisfied with your result, it's time to export! now, video-editing softwares HATE gifs. you can always just export as gif from filmora directly, but i don't really like the way it turns out 😭 so, i export them as video (.mp4) and use external gifmakers (like ezgif!) to convert them from video to gif!

aaaand that's all!! here's a comparison of the original clip vs the end result!

final note: remember to size your gifs correctly for tumblr (540px for full width, and 268px for half), and keep each gif within the size limit of 10mb!! if you find that your gifs exceed the size limit, try reducing the number of frames or removing duplicate frames, increasing the contrast, or you may also crop the height if necessary.

if you have any questions about making gifs using filmora, feel free to reach out! thank you for reading, mwah mwah!! 💞