#i feel like it's important to share that my folder for this set was called evil green beans

[chaosgenasi]

I think, perhaps, it's destiny. Do you believe in destiny?

[winterrrnight]

“familiar yet unrecognizable faces” — new beginnings chapter III

PAIRING: stepdad!soft!rafe cameron x mom!reader

WARNINGS: mentions of drugs, drug dealing, bruises

EDITH SPEAKS: a character that we absolutely HATE is being introduced in the fic for the very first time 😐 but keeping that aside, you will see why Rafe is at school 🤭🤭 sooo many of you guessed it accurately!!

I hope you enjoy reading!! Please reblog and share all your thoughts 💐

navigation || requests || join my taglist || series masterlist

<- prev chapter || next chapter ->

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

“Y/n!” Rafe exclaims, his own shock evident in his speech. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Sage’s first day here,” you say, and Rafe looks above your shoulder to see Sage very carefully inspecting some paint tubes kept next to the rest of the art supplies.

“I’m glad she’s in my class then,” Rafe smiles.

Your eyes widen at his words. “Your class?” You echo, confused. Even though you know exactly what he means, you want to hear it from him.

“I teach this class,” he says, walking inside. You follow him, watching him sit in the teacher’s chair, and he gestures to you to sit opposite him, a wooden table between you two.

“Wow okay,” you chuckle. You look around the classroom, the walls tinted a beautiful sky blue, with birds painted on them. The window shows a view of the carefully curated garden of the preschool.

“What, you didn’t expect me as a teacher?” He asks, a smirk playing on his lips, the table supporting his elbows and his face resting in his hands.

“Honestly? No, not really, but I like it,” you smile, leaning back into your chair and resting your back.

Suddenly you feel your pants being tugged in an all too familiar way. You look down to see Sage, a bright smile on her face.

“Mamma it’s Fafe!” She yells excitedly. You laugh at her words and pull her up into your lap.

“Yes, it’s Rafe baby,” you look up at Rafe to see him with a smile, his eyes softened as he’s looking at the little bundle of joy in your arms.

“Hello Sage, are you excited to be here?” He asks, leaning in closer to her. She nods her head vigorously with excitement, causing Rafe to laugh at her actions.

“Well then why don’t you go sit with the rest of the kids? Your mom needs to do some important work now with me,” Sage hums at his words and jumps down your lap, and rushes to her new classmates.

Rafe opens a folder and hands you a paper and a pen. You look at it to see it’s just some basic paperwork regarding Sage, her name, her birthday, and the rest of the required fields.

“You just need to fill this out and we’re all set,” he tells you and you nod at his words, looking over the empty blanks of the form. You start filling them up, but one column makes you stop.

“Uh Rafe?” You call him out. He’d busy himself with some of his own work. “I uh, I don’t have anything to fill in here,” You say, pointing to one of the blanks on the page.

“Father’s name,” he mumbles, “are you a single mother?”

He had his speculations you were single, but he didn’t want to assume something before he knew something for sure.

“Yeah,” you shy away from his gaze, your eyes settling on your lap, “I’m divorced,”

“Alright, that’s no issue, just,” he takes a pen, “check this box,”

You look at the page to see he’s checked some box regarding single parents.

“Thank you,” you smile, taking the paper back from him and filling the rest of the form.

Once you’re done filling all the paperwork, you get up from your chair to go to Sage. She’s now busied herself with painting, her brush creating random strokes on a white page. You get on your knees in front of her, your hold on her shoulders. “Mamma’s going now, okay? Don’t misbehave,” you say, giving her a stern look.

“I won’t mamma,” she smiles, and gives you a kiss on your cheek.

“I’ll come to pick you up very soon,” you tell her, getting up from the floor.

You turn around to see Rafe leaning next to the wooden table. He has a soft smile on his face, you can’t help but break into a smile yourself.

“I’ll, I’ll see you later,” your gaze has fallen to your shoes as you feel Rafe looking at you. There’s something about his blue eyes which always seem like they are piercing you. The kind of eyes which you ache to look at again just the second you stop looking at them.

The kind of eyes which are too easy to get lost in.

He wishes you well, and you leave the classroom, not knowing his gaze is fixed at you, longing for you.

— —

You’re sitting on your couch with Sage lying on your lap, her eyes closed as she’s lost in a deep slumber. The lights of your living room are dimmed, the bright light of the tv in front of you dances across you. One of Sage’s cartoons is playing, but as she’s drifted off, you switch the channel to the news one.

“Three men caught in exchange of drugs, the heroin weighs to around 15 kilograms,” the reporter on the tv says. A little video pops up next to him, showing three men with their backs towards the camera, and each man is being held by a policeman, their hands locked well in handcuffs.

The camera cuts to their faces, and the reporter continues speaking. “The men have been identified as Bill Anderson, Aaron Simmons, and Adrian Hayes. They have been…”

The voice of the reporter fades out, as you hear the familiar name and see the familiar face.

You only hear a ringing in your ear as you sit up straight, your eyes wide, as you see Adrian with bruises on his face, his hair reduced to a bare minimum, black circles prominent under his eyes, and pale skin to add to it all.

You can’t even recognise him.

This is the same man you gave you Sage.

The same man who once promised to love you for an eternity, but now, you’re seeing him on tv, completely unrecognizable, as he gets caught for drug dealing.

You shake your head, suddenly feeling your throat dry up, your eyes wide and breathing fast. You turn off the tv, not wanting to look at that horror anymore. You had almost forgotten about Sage sleeping in your lap, looking so peaceful as her chest heaves up and down with her deep breaths.

You pick her up in your arms and take her to her room, laying her in her bed. She doesn’t detect any single movement as she continues to sleep relaxedly. You gently kiss the top of her head, smoothing her hair with your hand.

“I’ll always keep you safe baby, always.”

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

TAGLIST: @runningfrom2am @saccharinesammie @maybankslover @totalswag @madelynie @chenslucy @ietss @elle-mp3 @viawritesstuff @wallsdreams @tahliac11 @sadfury @newsies-pape-girl @jamesbuckybarneswify @xxxlaura @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles @callsignwidow @starkowswife @rafeinterlude @rylie-m @zulema222 @karmasloverrr @leixwhite02 @congratsloserr @rubixgsworld @dilvcv @fandom-life-12 @drewstarkeyswifehoe @jjchaer @f4ll-for-you @fishingirl12 @wearemadeofstardust0 @drewsmusee @stvrligghtt @rafegirly @leighbronk @addriaenne @rafesdrew @bejeweledreverie @crgirlsworld @valenftcrush @lillywildly @julovesurmom @raf3sgff @drewstarkey1bae @aerangi

(please let me know if you would like to be added or removed! if you would like to be added to my general taglist, please refer the ‘join my taglist’ post linked on top!)

[cal-kestis]

HOW TO: Make an iPhone Layout + Downloadable Template

Hi! I've gotten a few messages asking for a tutorial on my iPhone gifsets — but instead of only doing a tutorial (that would probably be triple the length this one already is), I decided to turn my layout into a template with all the bits and bobs! In the "tutorial" under the cut, I'll share everything you'll need, a free template download, and quickly go over how to use this template. :)

Disclaimer: This template uses Video Timeline and this tutorial assumes you have a basic to intermediate understanding of Photoshop.

PHASE 1: THE ASSETS

1.1 – Download fonts. These are the fonts used for all assets I've included in my template: – SF Pro or SF Pro Display (Regular, Medium, Bold): Either version works, they look nearly identical. You can download directly from https://developer.apple.com/fonts/ or easily find it via Google – Bebas Neue: Free on Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts, and dafont – Times New Roman (Bold): Should be a default font in Photoshop

Make sure to download and install any of the fonts you don't already have before opening my template. That way, once you open the template file, all the settings (font size, weight, spacing, color, opacity, etc.) are as intended.

1.2 – Download my template. Before you use my template, all I ask is that you don't claim or redistribute it as your own and that you give me proper credit in the caption of your post. Making these iPhone gifsets takes me a longgg time and turning this layout into a template took several hours too.

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE VIA KO-FI ← This template is completely free to download (just enter $0), but if you feel inclined to tip me, I appreciate you! 💖

BTW this template also includes some of my frequently used icons!

NOTE: If, for some reason, you open the template and see the pop-up shown below, click "NO" — otherwise, the fonts will be all messed up:

And if you see this triangle with an exclamation point by a text layer, don't double-click it — it'll mess up the font as well:

PHASE 2: THE GIFS

I'm just going to briefly go over gif sizes and my recommendations. Also, keep in mind when grabbing your scenes, you'll want all of these gifs to be the same amount of frames.

2.1 – Background Gif: 540 x 540 px. I recommend this size so you have a good amount of visibility for the gif behind the iPhone wallpaper. I also recommend making this black and white (or in my case, black and white with a slight blue tint — idk I just like the way it looks) so the wallpaper coloring can stand out.

2.2 – Wallpaper Gif: 230 (w) x 500 (h) px. Keep in mind the very narrow dimensions of the wallpaper! And also keep in mind that you'll have a bunch of apps and widgets covering the image. I try to use wide shots (or layer my clips into looking like wide shots). Also, keep in mind your color scheme for your set and your character's aesthetic! I tend to focus on one or two colors for the wallpaper.

I usually position the wallpaper to the side with 20px bumpers, so there's lots of space to see the background:

2.3 – Large Photo Widget Gif: 201 (w) x 96 (h) px.

2.4 – Small Photo Widget Gif: 94 x 94 px.

PHASE 3: THE TEMPLATE – "IPHONE" FOLDER

In this section, I'll try to quickly walk you through how to use this template and some bits that may require extra instructions. I'll be going through each folder from top to bottom.

3.1 – Status Bar. Time, Service, and WiFi are pretty self-explanatory. In the Battery folder, you can use the shape tool to adjust the shape layers labeled "Fill (Adjustable Shape!)" to customize the battery level.

3.2 – Message Notification. Again, these are pretty self-explanatory. I've already masked the circle for the contact photo, so you can simply import any photo and use the transform tool to shrink it down. The circle is 24x24 px. If you don't want to use a photo, there's another folder called Default Initials.

If your message text can't fit the text box, the message should end with ellipses which is how iOS caps off long texts.

3.3 – Blurred Banner (IMPORTANT) This folder is easy to miss because there's only one placeholder layer in there. On iPhones, the area behind a banner notification and the dock get blurred (including the wallpaper and any apps).

What to do: Make a duplicate of the apps in Row 1 and/or widgets that intersect the message banner, convert them all into one smart object, apply a Gaussian Blur filter (Radius: 3.0 pixels) on the smart object, and move the smart object into this masked folder!

(There's another masked folder in the Wallpaper folder for the dock which I'll go over in that section.)

3.4 – Apps Turn off the yellow guide if you don't need it to keep things aligned and turn off layers you don't need by clicking the eye icon. Replace the "App" placeholder text with your app name, change the color or gradient of the square to compliment your color scheme, and add your custom app icon overlay!

If you can't find an app icon you need from the ones I provided, flaticon.com is a great resource. Also, if you can only find the filled version of an icon, check out this tutorial for how to make any text or shape into an outline.

Also, each app folder has 4 notification bubble options (1-4 digits). Again, you can toggle these on and off as you need!

3.5 – Big Widgets I like using these when my wallpaper has A LOT of negative space to fill. I included the Photos and Books widgets in my template, but there are lots of widgets available on iPhones. You can check some of the other ones I've done here, or if you have an iPhone, simply try adding some widgets to your phone!

There are also widgets bigger than these, but they would take up half of the phone screen which is why I don't use them for these edits.

3.6 – Small Widgets The only thing I'll say about these — because they're pretty straight forward — is there are a lot more weather themes than I included in my template. Also, if you set your character's phone to evening, the weather widget will show a dark background (sometimes with stars), so keep that in mind.

Speaking of, I've included Light Modes and Dark Modes for, I think, every applicable widget.

3.7 – Page Dots These barely perceptible dots indicate that your character has more pages of apps than shown in your gifset (so if an anon tries to come at you, you can just say "it's on the next page of apps" /j /lh)

3.8 – Dock Again, the dock has notification bubble options and I've included the default app designs, custom filled designs, and custom outlined designs for iMessage, Phone, Email, and Safari (there's also a FaceTime alternative if that's how your character rolls). These are usually the apps people keep in their Dock, but this is fully customizable too. So, if your character is, like, super obsessed with Candy Crush or something and needs it in thumb's reach — you can put it in the dock.

3.9 – Wallpaper This whole folder is masked already to a 230x500 px rounded rectangle.

Inside, you'll find another "Blurred Portion" folder for the area behind the message banner notification and the dock.

What to do: Duplicate your gif layer and place it in this folder, remove any sharpening filters, and apply a Gaussian Blur filter (Radius: 3.0 px). Be sure to add any coloring/adjustment layers ABOVE this folder and your original sharpened gif layer.

PHASE 4: EXPORT

We made it!

I hope this template makes it super easy for you to recreate this layout! If you decide to try it out, feel free to tag me with #usernik.

If you notice anything wonky about the template, kindly let me know so I can fix it! And if you have any questions about how to use this template, please don't hesitate to send me a message! I just ask that you try to be specific in your question so I'm able to answer you the best I can!

[simtleman]

El Dorado Cabaret & Casino (Download Tray Files & CC)

Yes, I'm back to playing TS4 and that means I'm back to building. I created a sim called Octavia who used to be an exotic dancer (until she married money and started the black widow challenge), so I needed to have a Generic lot that worked as a cabaret/casino for gameplay purposes and I decided to build it from scratch. I'm now sharing it with you guys in case you also need something similar for your vintage 1920s/30s/40s save file.

The exterior is obviously inspired by the infamous El Dorado Berlin while the interior I kinda reimagined myself. Here are some screenshots:

Tickets counter:

Main lounge:

Stage area:

Showgirl's dressing room:

Sky view:

Before you go ahead and download it into your game, a few IMPORTANT disclaimers:

The lot is a 30x20. I built it on Magnolia Promenade.

I used items from a few expansions and packs (listed below), so if you don't own them those items might be replaced with others.

This lot is designed to work as a Stripclub, therefore you'll be needing the Wicked Whims mod in order to obtain the pole and have your sims being able to dance for money.

Like all my builds, this is a heavily CC based lot. If you don't have a powerful PC, it might get laggy while trying to play with it.

Regarding the CC, I do not own nor take credit from any item included within this lot. All credit goes to their amazing creators.

The .ZIP file (2.76 GB) includes two folders: one for the Tray Files and another one with all the CC. I'm 100% sure all the CC I used is already public for everyone; if it's not, it's been definitely longer than three weeks since it has all been in my game and you (the CC creator) shouldn't be putting content behind permanent paywalls to begin with ;)

I did use bb.moveobjects on while building and have playtested it, so it should be fully functional. Let me know if otherwise.

Like I said before, the lot is currently set as Generic so I could turn it into a Stripclub with Wicked Whims and have my burlesque sims make some simoleons while dancing. Wicked Whims is not included within the CC folder, you'll have to download it and install it yourself.

That's all for me! This is only the second piece of content I share for others to download, so if you run into any kind of issues do not hesitate to let me know and I'll try to help best I can :)

If you do like it, please make sure to like this post (heck, maybe even comment on it if you feel like it!) and please, please, PLEASE do tag me on your screenshots if you share them here on Tumblr. I'd love to see what you guys make with it!

Download: Mediafire

Enjoy ♡

[sempsimps]

toga head cannons + dating bits

so mha what a show i have been violently thrown back into it and currently re watching it along with another 4 animes anyway here i am ready to make this since I have like *checks notes * 16- nope 19- nope hold on 24! drafts and I can see more on the horizon so I'm finally letting my bisexual self get some crazy girls on my list

headcannons

She likes Hello Kitty. I think she would love Kuromi (I don't know for sure, as I've never watched it. I'm not really into Sanrio stuff.)

she has some skills with drawing but nothing too major. maybe a really good sketch once in a while, on some important documents (definitely got into a lot of trouble for doodling on her school books or anything like that. ik i did)

She chews on pens or pencils. possibly hoodie drawstrings, just anything, to be honest.

I feel like she loves dinosaurs, like at least knowing some random facts from like stolen picture books or remembering an interesting thing from a museum, and I guess the Internet exists

Dating stage

she has been rejected a few times, which is obvious, so when she finds you, she is nervous about falling fast yet again and getting left. again. but she can't help it, and when you say you feel the same, she could happily fight and die for you x10 more than she already felt like she would

Blood jewelry absolutely 100% like a pretty heart-shaped pendent that's suspiciously liquidy and a beautiful red like take all my money (I will for the precious bean)

She is a criminal, so getting more domestic dates is kind of difficult. so there's options 1 she drinks someone else's blood to disguise and just dresses different from them, so it's less obvious and go to a coffee shop or something. OR 2 screw the domestic stuff! and go out to steal sweets or candy and idk steal a shopping cart, go spray paint some rich guys house, and do stupid shit like getting arrested only to call dabi or shigaraki for help as you both laugh at how stupid that was.

She would love it if you knew how to style hair or let her style yours and be matching

Speaking of matching toga would absolutely have pj's/ onesies for the both of you. examples I can think of would be the night and light furry ones (I think they neat) also those two peice ones so sharing two sets like, skull top and pink short and then having pink tank top and skull trousers.

Love language is physical touch, words of affirmation, and gift giving all the way. Holding hands? "Ah! We're holding hands haha, suck it, dabi your bitchless!". she needs soothing words during a cuddle session like fr tell her she's an amazing girlfriend. Anything you get her stuff like that is definitely her new bragging right, new hair clip? It's on, and she refuses to take it out until you do it yourself. A little pin it's going on her skirt, a keyring? She's putting at least two of those on the handle of her favourite knife. You made her a painting/ printed a photo/ wrote a poem or anything? It's getting framed and hung above her bed

She probably had lots of photos before you dated, but now she definitely has. 2 folders one is a digital file on her phone, and the other is stashed away, filled with secretly taken ones that she looks at when she misses you

If you're a hero, she'll make it a point to watch you and look at all your fan base online. "It's my turn on the TV my adorable partner is on." She would also want to go on every mission close to where your agency would be. If you have any merchandise, she has it already. If she sees other people wearing your clothing line, she would either compliment it or want to stab them (I can't decide)

That's all i can think of, and i want to do more, so anything else in the comments would be nice. im trying to ease my way into writing female characters. i might be bi, but i can't talk to women, so this was fun and a little difficult for me

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Bad Day - A "Kissing You" Drabble

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Rating: No warnings that I know of, just a bunch of fluff with the briefest of mentions about other enjoyable activities with our boy

Word Count: 800

Prompt #5 : Intertwining fingers

a/n: Okay, so I've been working on something for a while, and this is not that something, but rather a small piece of a different something that I'm really trying to convince myself to share. But for now, here's a small piece of that thing that I want to share for @browneyes-issac. I'm so sorry you had a horrible day at work and my brain wouldn't stop until I wrote this in hopes that it might help, even just a little. This is also my first ever released Frankie fic, and also my first time writing f!reader, and also the first thing I've written and shared on Tumblr in literal YEARS, so go easy on me. And if you like it, tell me to post the other ones that may or may not be sitting in my folders.

Masterlist | Next Drabble

Your day has been nothing short of miserable. 

As if a broken water heater hadn’t been enough, the standstill traffic on your way to work and the blown tire just two blocks from the restaurant gave you pause. And then you’d been foolish enough to believe that maybe, at least, work would be tolerable for once. 

But it hadn’t been, and now you're alone in an empty restaurant with a room full of tables still yet to be cleaned. Your coworkers had been no help, piling onto your load with table after table, nevermind your lack of a break. And then they’d left, all citing important events that they needed to attend while you stood, glancing at your watch as it told you your shift should be ending in ten minutes. Keyword, should.

A flash of headlights from outside brightens the empty room, and with a sigh, you head toward the front door, unlocking the deadbolt as Frankie appears on the other side. He’d agreed to pick you up when you’d called him about your blown tire, and he was, of course, on time. 

You're willing yourself not to lose it entirely when you breathe in his familiar scent, but it only takes a second for his wide smile to fade into genuine concern. “What’s wrong?” 

Saying nothing, you turn and walk back into the dining room, gesturing to the tables still stacked high with dishes. “There’s more in the kitchen,” you sigh, eyes falling to the ground in front of you, trying to hide your frustrated tears. 

Slowly, he takes your hand in his, lacing your fingers together and raises them to press a kiss to the back of your hand. “I’ll help.”

A laugh escapes you as you finally glance up at him, “You can’t.” 

Frankie’s eyebrows raise quickly, “and why not?” 

“For starters, you don’t work here. And you wouldn’t get paid. And it’s my job. You probably shouldn’t even be in here like this and you really can’t go in the kitchen and…” 

His grip on your hand tightens, causing you to stop your rambling. Without missing a beat, he counters your concerns with a plan. “How about you wash and I collect the dishes and bring them back to you? Then I can wipe down all the tables and rearrange everything out here while you finish up.” 

“Let me help you, Querida,” he continues when he notices you biting your lip, eyes flickering over the piles of work, and you feel him kiss your hand once more. You have to admit that his plan makes a lot of sense, and it would probably allow the two of you to be out of here long before you would if you did everything on your own. 

“Okay,” you agree after a long breath.

Frankie looks pleased, almost excited, and kisses your forehead quickly before rushing off in the direction of the nearest table. He picks up a stack of dishes and follows as you lead him toward the kitchen. Once you’ve shown him where to set things, you head toward the sink to begin the cleaning process. 

He appears every minute or so as he clears the dining room, stopping in between each trip to kiss you. Sometimes on your forehead, sometimes your shoulder or your nose. Whatever part of you he can reasonably reach, and with each passing moment you feel the weight of the day become a little lighter. A smile here and there, a laugh when he kisses you in the crook of your neck before rushing back into the dining room once more.

Methodically, you scrub away at the dirty plates, working as quickly as you can. Frankie is gone for a while, probably cleaning the tables, and soon the pile dwindles down to nothing.

Strong arms wind around your waist as you rinse off the plate in your hands, a warm chest at your back, and he presses a kiss to the side of your head. “Almost done?” 

You nod, pressing into him as you place the last dish on the rack. “Done.” You turn in his arms, and he doesn’t protest when your wet hands wind around his neck to bring him down for a proper kiss. It’s soft and warm, and you hum when you pull away to find Frankie smiling at you. “Thank you,” you whisper. 

“Anytime,” he returns, hugging you a bit tighter. “Now, are you ready to go home? Because I think I have the perfect remedy for your bad day.” 

His contagious smile finally transfers to your own face, “Is that so?”

Frankie nods eagerly, and you know the spark in his eyes well, so without another word you lace your fingers through his and tug him in the direction of the door. 

And later, when you’re laying in his arms, feeling sated and so very loved, your bad day is nothing more than a forgotten memory. 

Masterlist | Next Drabble

[ghostybourbon]

Something Else

Ch.2 || Introductions

Pairing: TF141 × F!Reader

Warnings: MDNI, Canon-typical violence(?), Swearing, Mention of a mental health condition (DID) If you're not okay with it you can avoid this chapter.

Other note: It's a pretty lengthy chapter (￣▽￣*)ゞ and Hi! Bourbon’s back! I hope you guys like this <3

——————————————————————————

“Split”

“Laswell, we meet again.” Split greets her with a handshake, fresh off from the field. Swiftly taking off some of her gear before sitting in front of Laswell’s desk. She looks around in the office, obviously not owned by the woman in front of her. "You really chose Colonel König's office just so you can speak to me?" She says with a chuckle, before glaring at Laswell.

“Care to take off the mask? and the colonel was more than happy to let me borrow his office for a few minutes.” Laswell starts, taking a folder from a drawer and setting it in front of her, waiting for the soldier to settle her stuff; She scans her movements, taking note of the way she plays with her gloves, how neatly her gear is placed away.

“You know I don’t do that. Called me in for the captain’s approval?” Split asked right away, to avoid further bugging from Laswell. "Indeed," Laswell replies, her tone even as she hands the folder to Split. "The captain has been keen on having you join the Task Force for a while now." Split's gloved fingers tap on the folder in front of her, the atmosphere charged with a mix of tension and intrigue. "And why the sudden change of heart from him?" she questions, her voice steady but filled with curiosity.

Laswell's gaze remains fixed on Split, assessing every detail as she speaks. "He's seen your work, your efficiency. He believes your skills could be a valuable asset to the team." Split chuckles, a hint of amusement hidden behind her mask. "Is that so? And what do you believe, Laswell?"

Laswell leans forward slightly, her eyes locked onto Split's concealed face. "I believe that actions speak louder than reputation," she states calmly. "Given your abilities, you've got a lot of people trying to track you down."

Split's posture remains composed, her demeanor unreadable. "You've done your homework," she acknowledges, a note of approval in her voice. "But you must know, I have my conditions."

Laswell nods, her expression unwavering. "We're open to negotiation, as long as your conditions align with the objectives of the Task Force."

Split's gaze narrows behind her mask, and for a moment, the air is thick with unspoken tension. "I have my reasons for being elusive, for maintaining my anonymity," she says slowly. "I won't compromise that. Not again."

Laswell's response is swift, her voice firm. "We understand the importance of discretion. We can work within those boundaries."

The two women lock eyes, a silent exchange of determination and calculation. Both aware that this meeting is a pivotal moment for the Task Force and the potential alliance they're considering. As Split's gloved hand finally opens the folder, Laswell can feel the weight of their conversation settling over them, setting the course for what comes next.

—————————————————————————— "Settle down. Laswell will be here in a bit." "Aye, sir."

"I think we've got a new member joining" Gaz whispers next to Soap, who's smirking as he watches their captain read a file. "How can ya tell?" Soap whispers back, taking a glance at Gaz before going back to watching Price.

"They never do a briefing in here unless it's a new member." Gaz says, amusement evident in his voice, Soap's eyes widens as he realizes that Gaz may be right. As he was about to speak, Ghost suddenly put a hand on his shoulder, a way of telling them to not pry on it. They both shut up after sharing a glance with each other.

A few minutes passed before Laswell steps inside the office. Price stands at the head of the briefing room, his gaze serious and his demeanor commanding. "Listen up, everyone," he begins, his voice carrying the weight of the information he's about to share. "We've been given a unique opportunity. A skilled operative, known as 'Split,' has expressed interest in joining our ranks."

Laswell stands beside Price, her expression focused as she continues, "But this isn't just any operative, she's a First Lieutenant; she battles with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and her multiple personas possess distinct skill sets. She's a sniper, close-quarters combat specialist, and an infiltration expert, all rolled into one."

The room is filled with hushed murmurs as the members of the 141 exchange glances, the weight of Split's reputation sinking in.

Price raises his hand, and the room falls silent. "She's not just highly skilled; she's also incredibly dangerous. Her ability to shift personas makes her unpredictable."

Laswell's voice remains steady as she elaborates, "But she's not without her challenges. Her struggle with DID is ongoing, and she's maintained her anonymity for a reason. We respect her need for discretion."

Price steps forward, his gaze sweeping over the room. "Our enemies are after her for a reason. They know the threat she poses. And that's exactly why we want her on our side."

Laswell continues, her tone unwavering. "Split's capabilities can bolster our team's effectiveness. We'll work with her to ensure a seamless integration that respects her boundaries while further harnessing her skills."

The room is tense with anticipation as Price and Laswell lay out the gravity of the situation. Split's reputation as a formidable figure within covert operations is evident, as is the potential she holds for the 141.

"We're moving forward cautiously," Price concludes, his voice firm. "But if we can gain her trust and make this collaboration work, we could have an edge like never before. Questions?"

As the briefing room fills with questions, Price and Laswell brace for the discussions and decisions that lie ahead. The 141's future could be forever changed by this enigmatic operative, and everyone present knows they're standing at the crossroads of a pivotal moment in their mission.

Price raises his hand once more, quelling the rising discussions in the room. "I understand that this is a lot to take in," he says calmly, his voice carrying the weight of experience. "But remember, we're a team. We've faced challenges before, and this is just another test of our ability to adapt."

Laswell steps forward, her presence commanding attention. "We're not taking this decision lightly. Split's inclusion will be a calculated risk, but the rewards could be monumental."

Ghost raises his hand, seeking clarification. "How do we know she won't turn against us? What's stopping her from using her skills against the 141?" His voiced somehow laced with venom.

Price responds with conviction, "We'll have strict protocols in place. Trust needs to be earned, and she'll undergo rigorous evaluation."

Laswell adds, "Remember, Split is reaching out to us. She's interested in joining our mission. We believe she sees the value in working alongside us."

Another operative speaks up, concern evident in their voice. "But what about her DID? How can we be sure she won't be a liability in the field?"

Price nods, addressing the valid concern. "We'll be working closely with her to understand her condition better. She's managed it effectively in the past, and we'll provide the necessary support."

Laswell's gaze sweeps over the room, her determination unwavering. "This mission isn't just about adding a skilled operative. It's about embracing change, learning from each other, and becoming a stronger, more adaptable team."

Price concludes, "We've all seen the battlefield, faced the unknown. It's what we do best. Let's proceed cautiously but with an open mind. We've been handed an opportunity, and it's up to us to make it count."

As the room quiets down, the operatives exchange glances. The weight of the decision before them is clear, but so is the determination in their eyes. The potential collaboration with Split adds a layer of complexity to their already challenging missions, but they know that the 141's ability to evolve and thrive amidst adversity is what sets them apart.

"Now all of you, will address her as Lieutenant Katastrof until she tells ya what you should call her, unless you lads have deathwishes." Price says with that iconic smirk as he ends their briefing.

With their eyes set on the challenges ahead, the 141 members prepare to embark on their next mission, aware that this alliance with Split could change the course of their operations in ways they hadn't imagined before. ——————————————————————————

A few days after the briefing. The helipad on the Task Force's secure base was a hub of activity as the helo's blades sliced through the air, gradually descending to its designated landing spot. Price stood there, his eyes fixed on the incoming aircraft. Beside him, Soap and Gaz exchanged curious glances, their anticipation palpable.

As the helo landed smoothly, the dust settled to reveal a figure in black emerging from the aircraft. Split's gear was sleek, all in black, designed for quiet movement and agility. The balaclava she wore had painted red streaks that seemed to flow from the eye sockets, creating an eerie yet captivating effect as if she was crying blood.

Price stepped forward to greet her, and as she turned toward the core members of the 141, the tension in the air was palpable. Soap and Gaz exchanged a quick, bewildered look, both feeling a mixture of curiosity and intimidation. Beside them, Ghost's expression remained inscrutable, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he observed Split.

Price extended his hand for a handshake, his tone welcoming. "Lieutenant Katastrof, welcome to the Task Force."

"Captain," she responded, her voice cool and composed. She shook his hand firmly before turning her attention to Soap and Gaz. Her gaze swept over them, her eyes hidden behind her balaclava. "Soap, Gaz," she acknowledged, the tension momentarily easing.

Soap chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess we're getting another copy of our L.T," he joked, a hint of unease in his tone.

Gaz smirked, playing along. "Right, because one wasn't enough."

Split's lips twitched, the faintest hint of amusement visible under her balaclava. The atmosphere seemed to relax a bit, the ice broken by the lighthearted exchange.

Ghost, however, stood a bit apart from the group, his gaze focused on Split. There was a flicker of recognition in his eyes, something familiar about her. It was as if a distant memory was trying to resurface.

Price's voice broke the momentary silence. "Let me introduce you to Ghost, another Lieutenant, you two will most likely work with each other for the next few months." he said, gesturing toward the silent figure.

Ghost's mask concealed his expression, but there was a sense of intrigue in his stance as Split turned to face him. "Ghost," she greeted, her voice holding a trace of something almost nostalgic.

Ghost's response was barely perceptible, a simple nod as if acknowledging something unspoken between them.

Price glanced between the two, his curiosity piqued by the exchange. "We've got a lot to discuss, but first, let's get you settled in," he said, leading the way toward the base.

As they walked, the members of the Task Force exchanged glances, the initial intimidation slowly morphing into a mix of intrigue and cautious anticipation. Split's presence had injected a new energy into their ranks, and as they moved forward, they knew that the missions ahead would be unlike anything they had faced before.

——————————————————————————

Ch.3 || Evaluation

A/N:

Hey there! Bourbon here! I'm sorry for the inaccuracies that you may have noticed ;-; but anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Any types of support are very much appreciated and thank you so much for supporting me! Bourbon out.

Stay frosty~

[weirdchristmas]

ok but this isn't the first time you've posted racist content, just saying sorry doesn't make up for having the post to begin with let alone the hate you showed to your followers. Those post should of never been made at all and today wasn't even close to the first time your showed you don't give a fuck about bipoc and the fact you even purposely missed certain post just proves you really don't give a fuck unless called out.

I don't know who you are, but I disagree with all of this. I didn't intend to post them at all. I think once about ten years ago I posted a few of them with some talk pointing out how they were examples of the worst that the old cards could be. But since the rest of the blog was snarky, folk thought it set the wrong tone. I didn't agree initially but eventually people convinced me. So I don't post them anymore as part of the "HAHA WTF" cards.

As I just posted, I do think it's important to know the history of stuff like this, but it's a matter of context. They're not jokes, so I don't share them as jokes. But I also don't agree that simply acknowledging their existence makes you complicit with them.

So... I apologize that they were in there. I'm sorry to everyone for that. Like I said, I was grabbing groups of 50 random cards from different folders on my disks without even looking. I thought I had all the racist cards in one well-labelled folder that I'm using for a research project. But obviously some were filed incorrectly and ended up as part of the few hundred things I loaded into the Tumblr queue last night which I obviously did not "curate" very well (or at all, which is also why there were a ton of Thanksgiving and Halloween cards mixed in).

(FWIW, I also have folders for misogynistic, classist, anti-suffragette, anti-Irish, Nazi, and on and on. The history of awfulness is just part of what fascinates me about this hobby because our common pop culture often shows us at our worst, not just our dumbest.)

But if you feel like I'm actually full of hatred toward bipoc, then that's how you feel. And now I've let other people see your claim, too. I disagree, tho, and I hope others do, too.

[the-wip-project]

The WIP Project 2023

Hello writerly friends!

Let's get started. 

One thing I want to do for this time around is to get us away from the wordcounts. Let's have some gentle writing.

Writing isn't all about the words we type. Sometimes it's about notes we scribble, mind maps and pictures we draw, and sometimes it's even editing existing words, where we delete and add words to make the story flow. I know that Camp NaNoWriMo is about wordcounts again, but I hope you won't put so much pressure on yourself. My advice would be that you set a small goal and give yourself the space and time to let your story grow. 

As we approach the April Camp, let's gently get into the mood and habit of working on our WIPs. I'll have a few inspirations for you, some advice, some questions. I hope you'll tell us about your WIP and if you have questions, problems, complaints, write about it. Make a post, chat on discord. https://discord.gg/mve7QSRfDm

I think it's also important to refill the creative well. That means experiencing things, art, stories, life. These things are just as important as the writing itself. I want that to be part of our writing life too.

Without wordcounts to note, we might feel like we do nothing, which is the opposite of what I want. To have some visual representation, I made a calendar for you. You can, of course, use another or make your own, I made this one in canva.com. 

I called it "Writing docket" and you can find it here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c2Mrjo6VUYv5qIEMkteiqYE5NqcMNroh?usp=sharing

You can print this calendar (there's a pdf) or use it digitally (there's a png). I want you to make two kinds of check marks or stars for each day. One for "worked on the WIP", no matter what exactly it was, and another for "refilled the creative well" (I added the star graphics in the folder if you want to use those digitally as checkmarks).

One check mark for working on the WIP, one for experiencing something (yes, watching a TV show counts). Don't worry about wordcounts, but let's make writing a fun thing we do almost every day and let's also enjoy life and art.

Taglist: @quilleth, @theoriginalladya, @kmlaney, @coffeewritesfiction, @mareebrittenford, @lilliebellfanfics, @keyboardandquill, @fontainebleau22, @kinetic-elaboration, @wildswritesites, @rhikasa, @inkvulture

[talenlee]

CoX: Cold Read

This is an explanatory writeup of one of my Original Characters (OCs). Nothing here is necessarily related to a meaningful fiction you should recognise and is shared because I think my OCs are cool and it’s cool to talk about OCs you make.

Just how many chances do you get at living your own life?

Cold Read went from a conman’s aid to a ward of the state to a Priori posterboy to a Longbow operative to finally, finally, an expatriate of Earth, all before he turned twenty-one. There’s a lot you miss when your life is a political football, and Read – ‘Reed’ on the birth certificate – hasn’t had a good take at it.

So now the lilting lying conman mutant is trying his hardest con yet: That he’s worth keeping around, and life is worth living. The mark? Himself.

Cold Read is a technically-a-hero from Paragon City, where he primarily works in environments where people have lived a long time. Known mostly as a ‘Dark’ character, his powers visibly present as trailing lines of black smoke around his fingers, his enemies and the world around him, a sort of suffusing fog. While there’s some degree of ‘combat’ ability to his powers, people who fight him usually describe it as a kind of exhaustion, of being worn down, confused and disoriented until they finally collapse, choking on the fog and black tentacles that follow him.

A just-under-average height man with red-brown hair, the Irish accent of someone born in Ireland, raised in the United States, and absolutely playing up his accent to get attention from people he considers rubes, Read specialises in looking like he’s harmless; where other heroes use a physical identity to set themselves apart, he explicitly tries to look like an ordinary civilian and even has infiltrated events as a hostage. It’s his ability to dupe people and play with perceptions – beyond his powers – that make him helpful to protecting people.

Cold Read has experience as a confidence trickster and stage magician. These skills play into how he approaches problems, knowing what things are and aren’t important to his opponents and also the best ways to play on people’s uncertainty.

His powers being so focused on people and how they feel is what makes him so comfortable operating in city environments. No matter how hard he blasts it, he can’t use his poisonous emotional effects to break windows or damage support beams, meaning that he doesn’t have the same kind of risks of collateral damage. As a teammate, he’s friendly and charming and more often than not, risks forgetting about you the second you’re not important to him. What makes this even more damning is that when he’s then called upon to be charming again, he can remember you – which means the forgetfulness is, itself, an act.

Oh and he may technically be a reformed child soldier working for a terrorist organisation, that point is uncertain.

Build

Read’s build is a little complicated to describe, because it’s a file from an earlier version of the game, found in a folder, along with some costumes. Normally, my builds integrate things like level 50 materials and the Incarnate system, and this is not a character who ever got to swim in those waters. What I can tell you about the build based on the information I have imported into the new readers is that he would have:

45% ranged defense

45% smashing and lethal defense

53% energy defense, which is 8 points of overkill

115% global recharge, which makes Hasten Permanent, which also makes Dark Servant permanent

Why I have this information though is notable, because I have the information that’s from records saved when I preserved his build because this build was capable of soloing a Pylon. For those unaware, this is like a world boss that’s designed for 32 people to kill together. They’re pretty unique as damage tests because they will absolutely kill a player in one or two hits very easily, which means surviving them is often a matter of never getting hit and recovering fully quickly.

Cold Read, a defender, solo’d pylons as a stress test.

I think that’s pretty cool.

History

Phew, well, this is an interesting but fairly deep personal cut, which is to say, Read owes his origin to the roleplay group known as Nation. And man, has a lot of stuff changed around that. The original conception of Nation was a high-concept supervillain group, which positioned itself as being above the hero-villain paradigm, modelled after the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Yes, I know Evil is right there in the name.

The idea, made by the players with the tools we had at the time, was that Nation was an idealistic group of mutants trying to create a unique living space, and then used the tools the game gave us to do our best to both make a faction that could care about and argue within themselves, but was also giving us a chance to use villainous archetypes (at the time, being region-locked), to play heroic characters and tell stories within the confines of Villain content as being morally good characters, while also considering the complexity of a group that probably was at least 50% bastards.

I wrote a lot of lore for Nation and part of what I wound up tabling was the idea of subfactions in the group; people who were doing international combat scenarios, intervening in other government spaces to ‘rescue’ Mutant children, that kinda thing. I also suggested that as a ‘legitimate’ faction, they would maintain a Hero side group, where the hook was that it was for grubby, dark and kinda villainous loser heroes who were more important for how they could be controlled as a public relation tool than any kind of support for the good they did in Paragon.

This was the canvas I had to work on, the space I was building in, when I made Cold Read. He had a good story that Americans love; he was Irish, so he had that accent, and he had a backstory about being ‘branded’ by Longbow to keep track of him with his superpowers. Now, I honestly think that’s pretty silly now — but there’s nothing that’s not got a bit of regret in this characters’ story, ruefully written. The core of what he is – a resentful hero-by-default who has a hard time building trust with strangers, and who treats heroism like a performative magic trick – I like a lot, but the way he got there is pretty rough and has a lot of hallmarks of some truly thoughtless nonsense I chose as a roleplayer. Even just now I’m already negotiating with the backstory — if they put a tattoo on Cold Read to track where he was, then that is a sign that he was probably already being incredibly recalcitrant to responding to things like regular court summons or tracks. It’s clearly a unique solution negotiated with an individual and Longbow wouldn’t do it because it’s terrible optics, so it’s probably done by one rich idiot with – oh yeah, probably Manticore.

Anyway.

Nation wound up going really sour, and I left it behind, pulling all my characters out but I liked the vibes and appearances. That meant that Cold Read hung around, saved in a folder somewhere, and when we got Homecoming, I had him again. Costume files, build files, and a tracker indicating how this build I’d afforded could do all this cool stuff, and a plan to one day try and solo the Imperius Task Force with him when he had incarnate stuff. That meant reflecting on him as a liar, a thief, a scoundrel and a manipulator, who spends his time pretending to be a hero, well enough that he can fool himself.

I like that.

I like that he has to con himself and I get to consider him more wholly, and as a better writer than when I was much younger.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[blindrapture]

WEDNESDAY MAY 25TH, 2011 ("world with empty eye sockets")

12:24 AM I think they’ve passed. I think we’re safe. ..I think I’m going to fucking sleep.

3:30 AM Donnie woke me up, she couldn’t sleep. Guess we’re heading off already.

3:41 AM Okay, I’ve put my CDs into one of those CD folder things. This is much easier to carry. I’ve got bags, I’ve got Tiger Stripes, I’ve got my Pot Noodles and my soda; I’m completely ready. Donnie, still tired, has got her share of snacks and drinks. She’s got a steel frying pan, too. And a T-shirt from something called “Bloomsday.” Isn’t that a department store? ..anyway, uh, we’re setting off now. Good luck to us?

3:45 AM Out of the neighbourhood. No sign of spidercats or anything yet. God, it’s bright for 4 in the morning.

4:18 AM We’re going towards the motorway. It’s the fastest way to London. ..I think. The high street is quiet, as always.

4:30 AM We’re nearing the motorway. Donnie’s quiet. Tired. I can hear a faint cawing noise. Like a crow.

4:42 AM The cawing seems to be getting louder.

4:59 AM Okay. I’m hiding behind a car. I don’t think the Big One saw me hiFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

5:01 AM It stopped. It’s turning back. What the fuck. YEAH YOU’D BETTER RUN. Okay, where’s Donnie, there she is, she’s behind that car, got it. We got everything? Good, good, good.

5:32 AM We’ve been walking down this motorway for a while now. We haven’t seen a single soul, just miles and miles of busted cars. I admit, I was kinda expecting to run into some other travelers or something.

5:50 AM Getting light. Very light. No sun, though. Just red.

6:13 AM We played “I Spy.”

6:38 AM Found a car, a big SUV, filled with good food and drink and whatnot. Time for a picnic!

6:40 AM “So why do you wear that.. outfit, anyway?” Good question. I dunno, really. I like to look distinguished, I guess. Makes me feel comfortable. And cool. Kinda like the Doctor or something! “Looks more like the Blues Brothers.” Yeah, there’s a bit of Blues Brothers influence, but that was really more of a coincidence. I wear the coat because of the slender man, and the hat’s inspired by Yahtzee Croshaw. But it’s all just influences, not really that important. “I think I’ve heard of Yahtzee. What’s the slender man?” Oh! Haha, the slender man! Goodness. It’s an urban legend, this tale of a man who’s seen in the backgrounds of photographs. He’s tall and faceless and wears a business suit and tie. Hella creepy when you read all about him late at night. Left a big impression on me. “Sounds cool. What does he do?” Nobody’s really sure. Usually, the people in the photographs with him go missing. Sometimes they’ll turn up later, disemboweled and strung up on trees. Sometimes they’ll turn up insane, sometimes wearing masks and being violent and unstable. Sometimes they simply won’t ever be seen again. ”..he’s not real, is he?” He’s not supposed to be. He’s entirely fictional; his creation was well documented on a Something Awful thread.

6:45 PM Moving out again!

7:02 AM We’ve still got a long way to go. I’d forgotten how tedious and monotonous motorways were. We’re probably gonna stop and rest soon. Maybe.

7:37 AM OH GOD NO WAY NO FUCKING WAY NO NO NO THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE oh, it’s just a dead guy in a business suit. Never mind. Hahahaaaa, never mind. Nothing, never mind!

7:45 AM Donnie’s getting tired. I mean, she seemed pretty tired when we first set out, but now she just looks exhausted. And I admit, I’m pretty tired, myself. We’ll stop soon.

8:11 AM We just passed Croydon. We’re closer than I thought. We’ll rest iHOLY COCK

8:13 AM WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYTHING WANT MY POT NOODLES

8:16 AM OHHHHHHHHHHHH GOD THIS IS BAD THIS IS VERY VERY BAD WHERE’S DONNIE OH MY GOD WHERE IS DONNIE There she is, next to me, never mind.

8:20 AM …it’s gotten quiet, so I’m going to write. You’re not going to believe this. …actually, you might. We were walking along when all of a sudden, BAM. All the cars on the motorway started to move. They moved into one giant mass, and they have formed a giant motherfucking cobra. Made of cars. I’m going to call it the Carbra. Getting past this thing isn’t going to be easy. We’re hiding behind a tree.

8:23 AM Maybe we should try talking to it. “….you want to try talking to it.” ..okay wow that was stupid.

8:27 AM Okay. Okay. I’m going to make a mad dash for the next tree. Tiger Stripes, give me strength.

8:28 AM fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckmade it.

8:31 AM Okay, now Donnie’s got the courage. She’s gonna make the dash.

8:32 AM YOU MOTHERFUCKER EAT PLASTIC GUITAR

8:35 AM OKAY WELL EAT POT NOODLE

8:38 AM EAT MORE PLASTIC GUITAR YOU MOTHERFUCKEasdfgh I just got smacked in the face with a tire

8:43 AM We’re running we’re running I got Donnie and we’re running we’re running oh my god AHHHHH

8:47 AM We’re hiding. Behind a truck. I sure as hell hope this isn’t, like… the Carbra’s penis or something. I hope it’s just a truck. Either way, we’ve got more problems. Motherfuckers can fly now. The zombies. The motherfucking zombies can motherfucking fly. They have wings now. ..motherfucker.

8:49 AM God, the sound of their wings flapping where the hell can we go

8:50 AM Donnie’s got an idea. I’m following.

8:51 AM FUCK YOU FLYING ZOMBIES FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF RUN RUN RUN RUN

8:52 AM I WISH I HAD A FUCKING GUN

8:55 AM Donnie led me to a shed on a hill. She’s locked the door. I like where this is going. >w>

9:01 AM Sitting by the door, listening for the flying zombies to go away. Yeah, this isn’t quite where I thought it was going.

9:05 AM We’re both yawning several times a minute. I don’t know how much longer we can stay awake.

9:07 AM Now that I’ve gotten a chance to really listen to those damn things, I’m less annoyed and more.. unnerved. The sound of the wings, that is. The flapping.. it sounds like.. swishing. Liquid swishing. But it also sounds like breathing. I’m gonna try to zone it out.

9:13 AM ….she fell asleep and is now across my lap. Shit. I’ve never, uh.. looked up what I’m supposed to do now. Do I.. do I feel her up? Do I kiss her? ..why am I writing in my journal when I could be doing all sorts of— fuck it, I’m just gonna sleep, too.

5:59 PM Note to self: “You have nice pants” isn’t a good compliment. It’s a bit weird.

6:14 PM This place has a stove. Had a Pot Noodle. It was tasty.

6:32 PM Fucking shitcrabs, they’re still out there.

6:38 PM There’s a basement door in this shed. It leads to a long staircase. I think it’s a rabbit hole. I brought this up to Donnie, and I think she wants to check it out. She’s nervous, though. Never been down one of these before. Then again, it’s hardly like I’ve been down more than once.

6:43 PM Led us to a shed that looks pretty similar to the one we were previously in, though the front door is now large and steel. I’m gonna break it down.

6:44 PM We’re in a small blue room. There’s nothing in here. WHERE’D THE EXIT GO Okay, we might be trapped. I’m gonna see if I can break the walls down OH GOD FLOOR OPENED UP

9:40 PM awake ow hey donnie Eah. Hi. We seem to be in a void. A black void. In front of us, a good five or ten feet away, is a lone door. But directly in front of us is the void; there’s no floor. Well, there are, uh… patches? Patches of floor here and there. I don’t know how safe they are to step on, though. NO NO NO WAIT DONNIE DON’T oh. Kay, the ‘patches’ are very safe to step on. Kay, we can easily cross, then.

9:42 PM The door led to a small office. There are several doors around us.

9:44 PM Upon trying a door, I was presented with a long corridor. At the other end of the corridor, I could see a giant screaming face approaching me at terminal velocity. I quickly shut the door. I hate this place. It’s all so typical horror shit but I hate it all the same.

9:45 PM Donnie opened a door and found some rotting corpses. She wants to open any more doors, either. So what are we gonna do?

9:48 PM We’ve looked all over. There aren’t any other options. We’re gonna have to open another door. Fuck.

9:49 PM We drew straws. I got the shortest one. Okaaaay here goes.

10:01 PM We climbed out of a manhole. In a street.

10:05 PM LONDON WE’RE IN LONDON OH MY GOD

10:12 PM We found a stationery store! Oh my god, they have tons of journals! I am so taking one. Perfect timing, too. This journal was just about to run out of

10:20 PM I got myself a new journal. Fancy. Pretty. Huge, too. Nobody’s here, so Donnie and I thought we’d just.. take stuff. We’re gonna look for a map. HMV’s gotta be close.

10:24 PM This street’s pretty weird. I can hear the laughter of little children. YEAH I HEAR YOU GUYS, THIS STUFF WASN’T SCARY IN THE SHINING, IT WILL NEVER BE SCARY

10:27 PM Found a bus station. Had a map. It says we’re at the wrong side of the Thames. Fuck. I can see Piccadilly on here, though. Should be there in an hour, I’d say.

10:31 PM Donnie’s been awfully quiet. Then again, so have these streets. Where is anybody?

10:35 PM We’ve hit the Thames. Bridge nearby.

10:39 PM Donnie says she’s been seeing things. Strings around corners, nearby, moving. Personally, I’m pretty sure that strings are the least of our concerns right now.

10:40 PM Hit the bridge. Crossing the Thames.

10:42 PM God, the Thames is a huge river.

10:45 PM I just heard a splash. Donnie’s here, she’s okay. Looked over the edge, nothing.

10:47 PM strings everywhere in the corner of my eyes

10:49 PM Past the Thames, we’re on the wrong other side of London now, no strings anywhere.

10:55 PM …gotta admit. This sure doesn’t seem like the right side of London. At least we know where everybody is now: They’re all inside the buildings! Looking out at us from the windows! Most of them look like zombies. Let’s.. keep our eyes on the road. <:D

11:00 PM Graffiti says “HMV this way.” Thank you, hoodlums!

11:03 PM The zombies are definitely very creepy. They’re all standing in the windows, staring out at us. 11:07 PM Hit Trafalgar Square. I know this place. We’re close.

11:11 PM Did I say “close?” I meant “halfway.” I wish it wasn’t so far away, dammit. Hey, where’d that door come from? urp

(Attached: “I live in a world with empty eye sockets. Countries grope for light switches, assisted by no one. Nature calls this ‘politics.’ I call it 'aftermath.’ Then again, I’ve been called much worse. I carry, in my hands, a book larger than life itself. A god handed it to me as a sort of graduation present. We’ve passed the final exams and now it’s time to leap blindly into the real world. I have seen this book time and time again in my travels– one could almost say my coming of age, if one so ancient as I am could have a definite age– but never have I had the chance to read it. Now that I finally have it, my eyesight is long gone. It was taken in one of my moments of passion, a rare time where I dared step up to nature. Back then, I had only one name: Derek Taylor, the name I was born with. Now my names could fill a book of their own. If ever they did, and for all I know they might, I’d keep it here in my library for others to see. And if they ever asked me the time of day, I’d say to them the same thing I said to the gods when they dared call me 'eternity’s historian:’ Nothing at all. There is no time of day, not now that the apocalypse has come and gone. There’s only the sound of rain to assure us of our existence, and the faint approaching red shapes in the void that even we the blind can see.”)

(Attached, other side: "Disclaimer: The logs go down a certain path here. If you are not comfortable with unconsensual sexual themes, skip to June 18th. This is the cleanest way to do this.")

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[sophiefosters]

Gif Making Tutorial: Lightworks Edition

I also uploaded this tutorial on rentry and will link it in the source as well.

This is a guide on my own personal gif-making process using lightworks & Photoshop 2023. This does not mean it is the only way, the right one, or anything of the sorts. This is just the way that I have found that works for me and I was asked to share it.

What you need:

Lightworks -> Download Here

Photoshop

Step #1 When you first boot up Lightworks you'll be greeted with this screen. First, you'll want to hit create a new project which will show the pop-up. You can write whatever you'd like for the title & description as it does not matter here.

Step #2 Now we are greeted with Lightwork's dashboard we want to import the media we will be using. On the left of the screen towards the bottom you are greeted with a container called libraries with a bunch of different options below it.

We want to hit Local Files and find our video. You may have to fiddle around and find the correct folder (as I'm unsure where it opens originally). Once you find your video, select it, and then click the "import" option located at the bottom left.

Step #3 Our next step is a bit much so I have also included a video to help. We are going to drag the media onto the timeline as well as remove the audio. Removing the audio is a personal choice, however, I do so because I do want to hear a movie/show in 3-5 second clips :).

Text Guide:

Select media using left click on your mouse and drag it onto the timeline.

Click however many "audio" tracks you have (and make sure you have selected the video one), right-click, and select delete.

Step #4 This is where/when we'll be making the "clips" that will become our gifs. Lightworks has a similar video scrubber as many other programs (however, it happens to have two, but that matters not) which you can use to quickly go through your video. We'll be using two main functions here -- play/pause & clip.

To start/stop the video you can hit the spacebar & to clip the video you hit the C key on your keyboard.

You can let the video play and "clip" as you go, or you can go ahead and clip out parts you know your character isn't in, it truly depends on what you feel flows the best. I will include a screenshot of what a video looks like clipped.

Each spot where you see a "line" through the video is a separate clip, which in turn, is a separate gif. You'll want to do this for your entire video until your timeline has a bunch of little clipped parts.

Step #5 Our next step is taking all of our clips and exporting them as their own seperate files. Follow the steps below

Right click the video one track.

Find the option that says make.

Under make select Syncs....

Select V1 segments from the new pop-up.

Depending on how many clips you have it might take a few seconds to a few minutes. Once it loads you will see a bunch of new clips!

Step #6 Now we want to export all of these clips and Lightworks makes it really easy!

Select all the NEW clips (click one, hold shift, and select).

Right-click any one and select export.

Scroll down until you see H.264/MP4 & pick that option.

Another pop-up will appear! Make sure that it is exporting to the correct folder and then select start! Two windows will pop-up but do not worry. Window #1 is Lightworks exporting the clips and Window #2 is the tasks log.

If you go to the folder where you set them you save them -- you'll see all the clips ready to be imported into photoshop!

You're now photoshop ready!

And now you are ready to import your clips to photoshop and start gifing away! I hope this helped and if you have any questions -- please do not hesitate to send me an ask, or a DM, and I will do my best to help :)!

[disorganizedkitten]

A Study In Friendship Chapter 1

Miraculous Ladybug | 2019 | 1,712 | Ao3 | Masterlist | Next

After standing up to Chloe for the first time, Sabrina latches onto Marinette as a best friend. After all, when you have to pick only one person to be friends with, the one who values you is actually a really good choice. But maybe it's possible to have more than one? Marinette sure doesn't seem to mind sharing.

At The Harbor

Sabrina shifted her weight nervously as she waited for the crossing light to turn green. Marinette still hadn’t answered her!

Then again, Chloe only answered her if she was being helpful, so maybe she wasn’t being helpful enough? But what else could she do to be helpful for Marinette? She had done an extra set of geometry homework for Chloe, but if she wasn’t letting Chloe make her do stuff for her, then maybe she could give the homework to Marinette?

Yeah! Marinette would appreciate that! She was always so stressed about getting everything done, and a set of geometry homework pre-done would help her feel less stressed.

Yes, that would work. Of course it would. It worked with Chloe, and they were best friends. And she and Marinette were becoming best friends. But Marinette would be an even better best friend, because she was kinder.

The light turned green and Sabrina hurried over. If she could catch Marinette and give her the homework, then maybe they could hang out! Using the time that would be saved because of the finished homework, of course. She couldn't intrude upon Marinette's personal time! And then they could study together, which got more schoolwork done, leaving them both free for whatever Marinette wanted to do next. Maybe they could go paint nails, or style hair, or take selfies!

And then-

The door opened, and she came face to face with a very startled Marinette. “Oh! Sabrina. What are you doing here?”

Oh no. Was she not welcome? Oh she’d overstepped her bounds hadn’t she? Marinette was going to hate her. “Sorry,” she paused. She needed to come up with a reason, and one Marinette wouldn’t be mad about. “I was just waiting for you. Did you get my messages?”

Marinette looked uncomfortable, but nodded “Yes! Yes, of course, I was just going to call you back.”

Sabrina’s heart jumped. “Really? I knew you would! Eventually,” she reached into her bag and pulled out the homework folder. “And so,” Deep breath, Marinette would like it. “I did your Geography homework for you!”

Marinette stepped back. “Whoa! You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well since you’re my new best friend, it’s the least I can do,” Sabrina assured her, ignoring the snake that was whispering in her head. Marinette would like it. They were friends. Of course she would.

“Thanks, but I just can’t.”

“Really?” Sabrina’s heart sunk. Doing each others work was what friends did! If she couldn’t do Marinette’s work, and help her, then- were they really friends? Could they stay friends?

“Really. Sabrina, I’m thankful for the offer, but I can’t let you do my work for me. Friends help each other when it’s needed, they don’t give all the work to one person. Thank you, but I can’t accept this. You did the work, you should get the credit.”

“Oh.” Sabrina took a deep breath. Marinette wanted to be friends. Friends don’t do what Sabrina just did. Oh, Sabrina was a bad friend, wasn’t she? Well, she just had to be better then, didn’t she? “Okay. Do you want to work on the physics project tonight?”

Marinette bit her lip. “Uhh, I’m really sorry Sabrina, but I’ve got something really important I have to do and it has to be done tonight.”

“Oh.” Was Sabrina that bad of a friend? Marinette was treating her just like- Chloe did. Was Marinette just using her too? She felt that snake rise up in her throat. Sabrina had already stood up to Chloe today, and her fighting streak wasn’t over yet. She would not take this lying down! “Something really important? Really? Do you know who else uses that excuse all the time, don’t you?”

Marinette shook her head. “No.”

“Chloe!” Sabrina snapped, ignoring any pain that came from getting upset at her no-longer-new-friend. “I’m beginning to see just how similar you two are! I bet you’re just waiting so you can make me do all the work on the project too, aren’t you?”

“No!” Marinette snapped back. Sabrina flinched. But she wouldn’t let Marinette walk all over her too.

“I can’t believe I thought you actually wanted to help me!”

“I do!” Marinette shot back, her composure slipping. “I’m not trying to ditch you, I promise! But something came up that I can’t get out of!”

Sabrina felt the fight leave her. Of course, what was she thinking? Marinette wasn’t like that. Sabrina had spied on her enough she should know that.

“I’ll be free tomorrow, if you want to get together to work then.”

“Hello there!” Both girls jumped as a figure landed beside them. “Oh, I hope I didn’t interrupt something important?”

“Oh, there you are,” Marinette smiled at the newcomer. “I’ll be right with you, after Sabrina and I figure this out, okay?”

Sabrina’s eyes flicked between Marinette and the newcomer, trying to not choke on her disbelief.  Marinette...... had just addressed Chat Noir! Like they were friends! And she brushed him off for her! Did that mean Marinette liked her? Wait, if she liked her more than a superhero…. Sabrina gasped. Marinette liked her more than a superhero!

Chloe had never done that. She always valued spending time with Ladybug, who she claimed was her 1st BFF, with Sabrina as her second. But Marinette was prioritizing her over Chat Noir!

“Why is Chat Noir here?” Sabrina asked, doing her best to keep her cool.

Chat Noir grinned at her, “Your friend here is helping me defeat the akuma from earlier.”

“Akuma?” Sabrina gasped. From earlier..? Oh! The one at the Library! “Is that the same one who crashed our study party?”

“That would be the one, turns out he’s crushing on this princess here. Good thing I’m here to protect her.” Chat turned slightly and flexed.

Sabrina turned to Marinette, worried and awed. Awed, because Chat Noir was here personally to have Marinette’s help. Worried because Sabrina hated it when Chloe was targeted by an Akuma, and now Marinette would be too, and she hated that thought even more.

Marinette was so sweet, and if she got hurt- It would be worse than when Chloe got hurt.

Sabrina felt guilt settle in her stomach at the thought. Chloe had always been her best friend, and now she was wishing that this Akuma was attacking Chloe instead! Some best friend she was. Ex-best friend.

“That’s not safe!”

“I’ll be okay Sabrina. I already got him to swear off violence as long as I show up tonight, so we should be fine,” Marinette assured her.

Sabrina wasn't convinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Even if that guy decided to still attack you-”

“It’s Nathanael, Chat, and he’s calling himself Evillistrator currently,” Marinette cut in, rolling her eyes. How was Marinette so casual with a superhero?!

Chat continued as if she hadn’t, “-I’ll be with you to protect you.”

“I know you will. Although we still need to have a plan for when I meet up with him,” Marinette reminded, before turning back to Sabrina. “I’m sorry for the interruption. I think we were trying to pick a time to study together tomorrow?”

Sabrina nodded, barely staying out of a stupor. “Um, yes! What times are you free? I’m free all day, if you want to just call me whenever!”

Marinette pursed her lips. “I don’t know. If you decide to do something fun tomorrow, I don’t want to yank you away in the middle.”

“It’d be no problem, really!” Sabrina assured her eagerly, watching Chat out of the corner of her eye. He looked somewhere between proud and put-out.

“It is a problem though Sabrina! You deserve to enjoy yourself too, and I can’t just make your schedule bend around mine. That would be really unfair to you. I’m sure we can find a time that you like, and not just because I said so.”

Sabrina thought for a moment. Well, she had been wanting to spend the morning before school with her dad since he had the day off, but in the afternoon she had been planning a spa day with Chloe, which was obviously cancelled, so. “Could we meet up in the library around three? Or we could do over lunch if you’d like that, I don’t have anywhere to be during lunch since I’m not helping Chloe anymore.”

“Do you want to join Alya, the boys and I for lunch? Then we can either hang out or work on the project, and if we just play around then we can work more in the afternoon?” Marinette suggested.

“Oh could I?” Sabrina asked hopefully. “Will the others be okay with it?”

Marinette shrugged. “We’re not really territorial with lunch groups, but I can ask them if you’re worried.”

“Oh thank you!” Sabrina hugged Marinette. She was so Lucky to have her as a friend. Much better than Chloe. She had asked Sabrina about her own schedule! Chloe had only done that once a quarter, at most.

“Of course,” Marinette said, hugging her back. Sabrina wanted to squeal. The amazing Marinette was hugging her! Because they were friends! “And I’ll either text you tonight or talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

Best Day Ever!

“Okay! Thank you so much Marinette!” Sabrina let go of Marinette and made sure her papers were in order. “I’m so glad we figured that out. See you tomorrow, Bestie!” Sabrina started to leave.

“See you!” Marinette said happily, waving.

“Oh, and Chat Noir?” Sabrina paused, turning just enough to fix the superhero with a stare. “Please keep her safe.”

“Of course. I’m the best of best. No harm will come to your friend.”

Sabrina smiled at him, and started back to the crosswalk. The light was red now, so she turned back again. Marinette and Chat were talking now, Chat’s back to Sabrina while Marinette mimed something like she so often did. Sabrina waved, not sure Marinette would see it but wanting to say goodbye again.

Marinette caught her eye and waved back with a smile, before rejoining her conversation with Chat Noir.

The light turned green, and Sabrina crossed, leaving Marinette behind for the afternoon. Her friend Marinette. Who she would get to hang out with tomorrow. And who wanted her to hang out and make more friends.

[snezfics-n-shit]

Sicktember Day 26: [Allergic] Conjunctivitis

Fandom: Ace Attorney Characters: Larry Butz, Franziska von Karma, Adrian Andrews Notes: The “[allergic]” part is my own addition because if you’re squeamish like me (no shame in that), what’s often called conjunctivitis or “pink eye” is kind of an uncomfortable image so I wanted that clarification out of the way. Allergic conjunctivitis is just the “official” name for allergy symptoms in the eyes. I lasted these many days, I think I should be allowed to bend the rules just a little as a treat. Larry gets his time in the spotlight because I love him. He’s staying at Franziska and Adrian’s house (believe it or not he doesn’t live there, though) and has managed to give Adrian quite the scare upon his return from running some errands. There’s established married Fradrian and set post-SoJ purely for timeline purposes, as always. If you like the things I write, I always appreciate reblogs and comments; they really make my day!

     The nearly ten years of friendship Larry and Franziska shared taught the two a lot about each other. There were important things, like Franziska and Adrian requiring the utmost privacy and quiet whenever either of the couple said even insinuated designating an evening as a Date Night, which Larry had accidentally neglected to respect when he needed help using the air fryer. There were also small things, like Larry’s vehement denial of having any interest in the celebrity ballroom dancing show that was frequently on the Andrews’ household TVs was merely a façade he would put on before secretly enjoying the show from the corner of the room. 

At this point, there was no sense in the friends hiding anything from each other. Various life details often found themselves sprinkled in when sharing embarrassing anecdotes involving Phoenix or Miles, too. That said, while hiding information was never a problem, there was always the rare instance of things that Larry would just forget. 

Over the past two weeks, Larry and Franziska had actually been in a sort of lightning round of sharing information vital to have on record for an upcoming collaborative project they had planned. Adrian contributed as well, but her role would have more of an impact later on. There were even some things Larry didn’t consider important to this at all, like his higher education transcripts, that made it into the almighty manilla folder Franziska had been filling with more papers than Larry thought possible to fit in there. 

This diligence on Franziska’s part was probably why Larry could feel his heart sink into his stomach as Adrian frantically led him into the living room as a visual aid for expressing her worries to her wife. 

“What in the world…!?” Franziska made a face perfectly blending confusion and disgust. 

Larry didn’t think he looked that bad, though.

“Do I need to disinfect everything?” Adrian wondered aloud, fretting. “I’ve never seen pink eye before, so…” 

So that’s what this was about. Thankfully, Larry knew well enough that pink eye was not the problem here, and he trusted Franziska to know the same.  Unfortunately, that still meant Adrian was drawing attention to the considerable swelling and visual irritation of Larry’s eyes, something he didn’t realize would be that easy to notice. 

“I don’t believe that to be the case, sweetie.” Franziska spoke calmly, soothing Adrian rather efficiently. She stood up to approach Larry to better assess the situation. “What were you doing to get yourself like that?” 

“Does it really batter?” Larry was about to rub his eyes, but was stopped by Franziska’s superior reflexes when she grabbed onto his hand at what felt like lightning speed. “It’s dot that big of a deal.” 

“It is a ‘big deal’ when you make Adrian worry like she’s doing now.” Franziska firmly lectured him. “You will not put my wife through any more of this and you will provide an explanation for the allergic response you have on full display.” 

“Allergic response?” Adrian repeated quietly. “It’s just allergies?”

“Yeah, like I said–” Larry started before being promptly interrupted.

“Yes.” Franziska nodded. “If you recall, Larry Butz, you were to inform me of every flaw in your health record. Considering the combined efforts of the three of us to keep this house impeccably clean and the gardens’ intentional lack of the flora you explicitly described as giving you trouble while living in France, I am of the firm belief that you are withholding valuable information from both me and Adrian.” 

When Franziska put it like that, it almost sounded like Larry was hiding something on purpose, but in his defense, the cause of his current symptoms was something he frequently allowed himself to forget. It was only just last year when his introduction to a litter of puppies born in the home of a fellow writer went awry, something he had never experienced before. Maybe there was a bit of denial, since the dogs Larry had met in recent years were just so friendly it would be hard to just stop welcoming all that love, but Larry could swear on his life that he would never purposely pretend he forgot about his newly developed allergies. If Franziska needed someone to blame, she should take things up with Larry’s subconscious. 

“Oh, I don’t think Larry would do this on purpose.” Adrian’s defense prompted a look of sincere gratitude from Larry; well, it was as sincerely grateful as he could manage in his face’s current state. 

“Yeah! What she said!” Larry agreed, punctuated by some sniffling. “You see, I was picki’g up food for Shoe like you asked for, and there were just the cutest puppies brought by the local dog shelter…” 

“Puppies did this to you?” Franziska sounded either puzzled or in shock of what she might have perceived as a great weakness on Larry’s part; Larry wasn’t actually sure of which. 

“Hey, dod’t put it that way! They’re just babies!” 

“That’s not–” Franziska stopped herself and pinched the bridge of her nose with a heavy sigh. “Just… Please explain why you waited for us to see you in this miserable state before you said anything.” 

“I’b dot biserable.” The congestion heavily affecting Larry’s voice did a poor job in supporting that claim, especially when followed by a thick sniffle. “I swear I just forgot.”

“Larry Butz, you are very lucky that Adrian and I have known you well enough for us to find that claim credible.”  Franziska finally let go of Larry’s hand and pulled out a pouch of pocket tissues from the pocket of her very comfortable loungewear sweatpants. The irony of the pouch having a puppy theme design was not lost on any of the three occupying the room. “Now, blow your nose, and most importantly: do not rub your eyes simply because your dominant hand is out of my grasp.” 

“Alright, alright.” Larry grumbled as he followed Franziska’s command. The tissues were really soft. Maybe if he used these tissues to tend to the lingering itch…

“Don’t even think about it!” Franziska scolded.

Was Larry that predictable? He looked at his left hand steadily lifted near his eye while holding onto a fresh tissue… Maybe he was. 

“I’m really sorry, guys. I’m completely honest when I say–... K'ttchshiun!! Ht'sshhiiu!! Kk'sshhnn!!” Those sneezes actually felt pretty good compared to the ones that plagued Larry at the pet store an hour ago. That last little bit of dander must have been on its way out, he figured.

The duet of barely stifled giggles from both Franziska and Adrian in response to Larry’s sneezes seemed to greatly lighten the mood. 

“Adorable.” Adrian let the word slip out.

“I told you about that, didn’t I?” Franziska didn’t even attempt to whisper to Adrian. 

“So, uh, I’m forgiven, right?” Larry hoped any unintentional interruption from asking that didn’t ruin his chances altogether.

“For this offense?” Franziska pretended to need a moment to think, struggling to suppress the amused smile on her face. “Yes. Especially given the improvement of Adrian’s mood.” She blew a kiss to her wife after saying that. “Now, I will fetch you a damp cloth and some antihistamines.”

“Aw, thanks, Franzy.”

“However,” Franziska added sternly, “should Adrian tell me you were rubbing your eyes again, I will use you to give my whip a proper send-off before its planned retirement!”

Larry knew then that he had better be careful from now on.

[togenabi]

Hi!

I love your fics! 💖

I want to start writing too and I have a question for you.

I saw that you shared a screenshot of the draft of the royalty story and I noticed that you are working with smaller margins in your document. I just realize that it would help me if I do the same (because of Tumblr's phone format). This is really clever. Can you tell me exactly what is the size of these margins?

Also, do you have any useful tips like that that could help me as a new author on Tumblr? What do you do exactly when you are ready to post a story? (Headliners, image, etc.)

Thank you so much! 💖💖💖

Hello, anon!

Thank you so much for enjoying my writing! May your journey here be fun and gratifying. It's always exciting to get into something new, I'm sure you'll do a lovely job. <3

I'd be happy to share more of my process in case it helps you with anything. Though just a quick disclaimer: this is how I do things, and isn't universal or for everyone.

With that being said, info dump under the cut!

1.) writing the thing✨

For brainstorming ideas, I use the notes app on my phone. For the fics themselves, I write on google docs! I like it because it works both on my phone and pc.

I have a specific format, but it's not actually the margins that I change. I write with the pages halved using columns! These are how my files look like on pc:

You can do this by going Format > Columns > 2! I like to write in TNR 12 like a research paper lol. (Though, I can't remember if you can do the columns on the docs app, because everything looks like it's just one column there. But once you set a doc in this format, you can just duplicate the file and it'll still show up with columns on pc.)

Like you said, this helps me gauge how a fic will look like on mobile, since that's where most people are reading. It also helps my peace of mind since a full, blank page without columns can be a bit intimidating. It can feel like you have to fill up the entire thing, when you really don't!

Another brilliant thing about google docs (on pc) is that, if you use italics or bold in the file, when you copy paste it onto Tumblr, it retains those italics and bolds. This saves me so much headache and I consider it a lifesaver.

2.) formatting (and by extension, branding)✨

I feel like this is really vital on Tumblr, since an established aesthetic can help readers remember and recognize your blog better. My advice would be to pick one or two colors and always use them on your posts.

You can also pick an emoji and use that with your aesthetic! For example, I associate the sunflower emoji ��� with the wonderful @songsofadelaide. (hi Mari! hihi)

If you want to use them, have a default divider. Mine is just a png of a blue line haha, but you can get creative with it. Though I suggest you keep the photo thin so that it doesn't eat up too much space.

Off the top of my head, I think the most important things on a post are: the title, header, and preview. (I'll make a separate point for preview since it's a lot.)

TITLE : Self explanatory!

HEADER : A header does more than make the post look pretty, it helps you differentiate fics when Tumblr only shows you the fic thumbnails on archive or on notifs. I have a folder of manhwa screenshots that I save for headers, and I add an overlay with my blog's signature color using a drawing app. Gifs are also fine as headers, though I don't personally use them because gifs make Tumblr crash on my phone sfhlsdjfkl, but that's just me!

3.) the preview ✨

(I don't think preview is the official term for this, but it's what I've started to call it.)

When I say preview, I'm talking about everything below the header and above the fic. Mine looks like this:

It's up to you what you want to add, but I would say to always keep the blurb/short summary, genre, and word count. Everything else is optional, and you can play with whatever suits your style best.

For the blurb, you can go one of two ways: keep it short, or go more in-depth with the summary.

If you keep it short: One sentence is the best, but two should also be okay. It doesn't have to summarize the whole fic, but give a preview of what readers can expect from your work. I use my blurbs to hook in readers, then use the content notes to make up for what I didn't add in the blurb. If you go in-depth: This would be a standard summary, and you can get away with not needing content notes.

AH. Can't believe I almost forgot, but always add warnings and MDNI tags if your fic needs them! (Some people also use a banner for warnings. Search 'mdni banner' on Tumblr and you'll see examples.)

Once you have a preview format you want to stick with, always use it and keep it consistent! I have a draft with just my preview format so I can just copy paste it whenever I post a new fic.

I'm sure you can find guides for anything specific you're curious about if you search here. But of course I'd be happy to answer more questions if you ask! Also feel free to shoot me a dm <3

I hope you don't mind that I went on a bit of a tangent haha! I wish you the very best with your blog!

[kitkatt0430]

🌈🌩️

So, I've been setting up an old computer to run a diy home cloud and using that to backup all my old WiPs. And I took advantage of this to completely re-organize my WiPs folder to sort out transcript docs into a separate space, better track finished or 'retired' files, and digging through older fic ideas that I'd forgotten about over time. So I'm going to answer this using some of my older files from fandoms I'm not usually active in these days.

🌈 Share something soft/fluffy from your WIP.

Shawn grinned and considered making a bid for the gift, but decided to stay quiet. Odds were he was on the naughty list anyway; he was lucky to have been picked for the Polar Express at all. Someone else would get the gift... but he was okay with that. The entire experience had been an amazing gift all in itself.

And then, above the din, he heard Santa call out, “Shawn Spencer, come with me.”

From a Psych/Polar Express x-over fic. This is from the prologue where young Shawn gets one of the bells from the reindeer harnesses as the First Gift of Christmas. He's not sure what's going on is really happening, but he believes the magic and spirit are more important than real versus fake. And this is from the last part of the prologue where Shawn's spent the whole trip a bit worried he isn't really good enough, so Santa picking him when he's not being loud and acting out validates that the times he does so with his dad don't actually make him a bad kid.

It's just meant to be a silly little fic with a lot of soft moments. In part about how, despite being unconventional Shawn is a good person who cares about helping others. But its also about Lassiter getting to have a happy Christmas after his divorce from his wife is made official, when he felt like he was really struggling to be happy. And him learning to recognize that opening himself up to new friendships is worth the risk in making himself vulnerable.

I really only got this one so far as the prologue, but re-reading it has made me want to do something with it, whether it's write the fic I once envisioned or just split off the prologue and expand it into it's own fic about kid Shawn.

🌩️ Share something funny/cracky from your WIP.

“There’s something unusual about the Force today,” the ginger haired knight mused. “Perhaps we’ve been summoned because of that. Though… why Master Yoda would say that all Ani and I will be there for is moral support is beyond me. It’s not like you’ve done anything worth reprimanding… lately.”

Anakin snickered, earning a sharp, teasing glare from his master. “You wound me, both of you.” Seifer flung his right hand dramatically against his heart. “Oh, the pain… shall I ever survive?”

“And I’m supposed to learn from him?” Anakin cast a doubtful glance in Obi-wan’s direction.

“Just think, Ani; you’re stuck with him for at least ten years… if not more.”

Mock horror stole across the nine-year-old’s face and he scurried over to cling to Obi-wan’s robes. “Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope!”

From an old WiP where the resolution of Time Compression at the end of FF8 sends Seifer to Coruscant and the Jedi in particular. There's speculation that he might be the Chosen one and gets taken as the padawan. The main fic, however, is Seifer and Obi-Wan as adults, sharing 'custody' of Anakin. Having someone else who might be the Chosen One around makes things easier on Anakin so he feels less pressured to be perfect, Obi-Wan is more laid back because he isn't having to jump straight from being a padawan to raising one all by himself, and the council is a bit more relaxed about inter-personal relationships here so Seifer and Obi-Wan are supposed to be openly in a relationship. This one is from... I dunno, my early college years? I still really like the idea of Seifer getting transported to the Star Wars prequels, though I'm no longer sold on the ship. That said, I really love this interaction here. It's silly and fun, with a shout out to one of the most iconic Star Wars lines of course.

I think I actually had a few different variations on this idea anyway, though I don't know that I wrote them all down.