#i'm sure in the us it's a whole other layer of hell

[dykecleric]

not super related, but i've always thought it was so weird how wosm and waggs insist on being apartisan while preaching about helping others, creating a better future and being inclusive, which results in shit like this as well as allowing for very conservative people, specially adults, to be in the same spaces as fem, poc, queer, disabled etc youth

A Girl Scout troop leader in Missouri was threatened with legal action by the organization after her troop tried to sell bracelets to raise money for Gaza, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Nawal Abuhamdeh said that it had been the children’s idea to sell bracelets to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. She said that the members of her troop, including her own 10 year-old daughter, had been deeply emotionally impacted by Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 29,000 people, and at least 10,000 children. “I’m grieving. We are all grieving. We literally couldn’t muster the energy to sell cookies,” Abuhamdeh said. Soon after making a post about the fundraiser, Abuhamdeh said she received an email from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri organization, alerting her that her troop could not support “partisan politics,” and needed to “stay neutral.” The email said that the fundraiser had violated the organization’s governing documents, and that if the troop went forward with their plan, the organization would engage legal counsel to “protect the intellectual property and other rights of the organization.”

[1x20]

hello and welcome to my tutorial on how to create gifs like this one! full explanation under the cut, but if you wanted to take a little peek at the gifset attached to this tutorial, here ya go!

for the purposes of this tutorial i am assuming you know

how to make a gif

what vhs footage looks like

STEP ONE: MAKING YOUR GIF

choose your footage and plug it into your desired software of choice! i use photoshop for this so i can only attest to the efficacy of these methods in that context

as for shot selection, you could feasibly choose anything. however, i prefer shots without too much movement in them - makes it look more like a home video.

because of the heavy amount of colors and filters, i'd recommend a gif somewhere around the 40-50 frames! but of course you can play around.

oh i also set the frame delay to 0.08 seconds. this is slower than most gifmakers tend to set theirs, but it makes it run buttery smooth imo.

STEP TWO: MAKING THE COLORING

here's where we get vhs specific. if you're unfamiliar with vhs footage, i recommend clicking through this youtube playlist! if you're not interested in the coloring, skip to step three (smart object fuckery + filters)

now while making a set i tend to choose some primary colors for my gifs. in the gifset i linked above, i chose to work with blue and orange-y yellow. in some of the other gifs i'll be using as examples (from an unfinished set) i chose green and yellow.

to create the above coloring i generally use these steps:

1) curves

i'm a maniac so i use the same curves layer to initially edit the luminosity AND colors of my gifs. the purpose of this layer is to edit brightness/contrast like i normally would and already start the process of changing the colors a little bit. this is my curves layer for the blue house gif:

to make the gif go from the left image to the right image:

as you can see i used the brightening curves to make the footage a whole lot lighter. i also increased the reds to get rid of the cyan tint a lot of blue footage has, slightly increased the blues, and once again decreased the greens to get rid of any cyan. this does make the blue hue a bit more purple, which is a nice bonus!

as for the gif of the boy, that one's a little harder to show a before and after for, but i'lls how the curves for good measure:

the original shot was already quite bright so i only edited the brightness a litttle bit. because i knew i wanted the gif to be green and yellow, i increased the greens, decreased the reds (except in the shadows), and decreased the blues (to get yellow)

2) channel mixer

now the channel mixer layer takes a little getting used to so i recommend experimenting. ALWAYS USE THIS LAYER ON THE COLOR BLENDING MODE for a more even result.

i use channel mixers to sort of... unify the colors a bit more. for the house gif, for example, i increased the blue channel to +110% blue, but decreased the blue in the red (-12%) to retain the yellow in the window.

if you want me to explain this more in depth, send an ask! it'll be kinda longwinded though

before / after of the boy gif with curves/channel mixer.

3) levels

this is where it starts looking more vhs-y! vhs footage has light shadows and dark highlights.

first, set your levels layer to luminosity blending mode to retain your beautiful colors.

then, crunch the hell out of your gif to make it very... mid.

this may feel a little wrong at first but i prommy it'll look okay at the end. a before/after for the boy:

now that's starting to look familiar right?

4) color fill/gradient map

because i want to unify my colors/make sure my gif is saturated, i usually add either a color fill or gradient map layer. in the case of the house, i chose to go with a dark blue color fill:

because the coloring of the boy gif was a little more complex, i decided to go with a brown to green gradient map.

this will make the shadows yellow, and the highlights green.

BOTH THESE LAYERS ARE SET TO OVERLAY. i usually fiddle with the opacity of them until i like it, but it's anywhere from 7% - 17% depending on what i feel like that day

5) curves (again)

this layer is probably useless but i do it anyway to make myself feel better. this is just a regular curse layer to up the brightness a tiiiiny bit and amke sure everything's clear. also it helps counteract the darkness your overlay color will add in.

6) color balance

this is my most subtle layer so i won't be able to show before and after but i fiddle with the color distribution a little until i'm satisfied. set this layer to color blending 'cause that's what you wanna affect!

i decided i wanted the house gif shadows to be a little more purple, for example, so i added in red (+3), magenta (-1) and blue (+1). etc etc. do what feels good!

STEP THREE: SMART OBJECT FUCKERY AND FILTERS

OKAY that was a lot. sorry or you're welcome. but good news: now's the fun part. convert your animation to a timeline, then select both your coloring and gif layers, right click, and select convert to smart object.

now that your gif's a smart object, i usually crop it. i tend make vhs aes gifs a 4:3 ratio (so 540 x 405 px) because that's what vhs footage was usually recorded as! crop your gif, resize, and then we can continue.

1) color bleeding

vhs footage usually bleeds its colors - this manifests as a short of... weird subtle halo around any object. the way to recreate this in photoshop is to duplicate your smart object.

set your copied smart object to color blending. now move it to the side a couple of pixels (i usually do around 5px, but you do you!)

as you can see, the tree and chimney (and everything else but less prominently) have a yellow shadow to them. this is exactly what we want!

2) filters

now's the time to add your filters and make it look like shit (but on purpose!) first, select both smart objects and convert to smart object again. this will ensure the filters apply to all layers evenly.

i use the following filters:

unsharp mask (amt 35%, radius 4px) - this will subtly add some sharpening but only on the edges of objects

add noise (amt 7.5%, distr. uniform, not monochromatic) - this will add the signature vhs grain.

box blur (2px) - i edit this to be 75% opacity with the little arrows to the right, just to make sure you can still make SOMETHING out when you're looking at the gif. MAKE SURE THIS FILTER IS ON TOP OF YOUR NOISE FILTER. tumblr will kill your gif otherwise

4) ONE LAST THING

usually at this point i'm not happy with either the saturation or levels. (usually the levels). so on top of your smart object, add another saturation or levels layer and fuck around!

in the case of the house gif, i thought it was too bright still so i set my output levels to 13 and 216. for the boy, i thought the shadows were too dark, so i set my shadow output to 11.

BEFORE & AFTER:

aaaand that's it! thanks for reading! if you have any questions, feel free to come to my askbox, i'm always happy to explain my process. happy giffing 🥰

[macaiv]

Source: Sky Sports F1 Pre-Qualifying Show Las Vegas GP 2024

Esteban: Yeah it's definitely been awesome to just being able to have such a result after difficult season. Yeah it's been fantastic and also coming back here last year we had almost a podium, finished fourth. It was a very good race so there's a good momentum at the moment going on and obviously a big fight with the other teams until the end of the year. So it just brings more spice and more interesting things for us until the end of the year.

Transcript:

Rachel: So Esteban we're back in Vegas, it probably feels like a long time since Brazil but those memories must still be pretty good.

Rachel: What did it mean to the factory and to everyone who works in the team to have both of you up there because as you say it's been a really difficult year. Everyone's had to keep their heads down and keep working hard and try and get something out of this season.

Esteban: Yeah I mean there was a huge buzz inside the factory. It meant the whole world for the team. Everyone, everybody was working so hard you know to try and get a good car this year. Unfortunately we don't have the the car that we expected but it's a good reward for everyone and a very very nice one you for me and Pierre for sure to to be on the podium together. It's a special story for us and yeah definitely a moment that we will forever remember.

Rachel: Last three races with Alpine. How are you feeling? Is it weird?

Esteban: Yeah it's going to be emotional for sure especially the the last race but I've spent five years with this team. It's been a hell of a ride some good times some times a little bit more difficult but five years in formula one terms is a long time.

Rachel: You're making me feel really bad man.

Esteban: You've been here for a long time Rachel. But yeah no it's been nice obviously to get that last good results. I hope that we can get some good ones as well for for the rest of the year but it will be more tricky to be realistic to be honest. It won't rain for for the last three but yeah as I said it will be emotional but I'm looking forward to finish the story on the high.

Rachel: I mean this place is quite distracting, isn't it? This actual I mean the city itself have you been out what have you been doing and and I mean look at all this this is crazy.

Esteban: Yeah this is crazy and you know the sunset, the scenery and how it is you know the whole week. It's a standout race I would say compared to the rest of the year. It's a race that we've got really good surprises from last year. I think you know we were expecting something to be very different to actually how it is but it's a really good racing circuit. It can feel like it's warm because I'm wearing very thin jackets but I'm actually freezing for it.

Rachel: But I'm really warm that's the thing I'm really warm right now but I've got about 10 layers back in the office ready for it.

Esteban: Yes exactly just before you take them off and when we do the interview but no it's actually freezing so that brings opportunities because you know the tires the way they work you know it's not usual it's quite extreme so it should be interesting.

Rachel: All right, go well this weekend. Enjoy your last three races with Alpine. Thanks for talking to us.

Esteban: No problem. Thank you.

Bonus Part:

Simon: Well, it was a nice way, isn't it, to end his Alpine career. Great scenes up there. They're not always been the best of friends. We know that. Great rivals himself and Pierre Gasly. But I mean, what an enormous moment for the team, Jenson.

Jenson: Yeah, that was massive. That came from ninth in the championship to seventh. Right. Yeah, sixth. So they jumped three teams. That's massive. But this is a nice way to see out their championship. Well, they they're time together as teammates, as we know, they haven't seen eye to eye always. But to hug it out and stand on a podium together, it's pretty awesome.

Simon: Such similar careers that they've had as well.

Danica: I mean, it's a small world. You never know when you might run into each other or the or a team again or the team personnel within. So I think it's a really good thing to sort of be on this being this in this in this feeling at this point in the season as this comes to an end for Alpine with him. And, you know, he still has a chance to make some really great impression in their these last few races. Here last year, him and Pierre had a great race against each other. So, yeah, it's good to see good to see smiles.

Simon: Is he destined, though, do you think to be one of these drivers that last a long time in the sport, but perhaps doesn't get to one of the top drives, Esteban?

Martin: I think there's more potential in Esteban than he's showed. He fascinates me actually, because he is the nicest person you'd ever want to meet. And then when the helmet goes on, a little switch just behind you here that we've all got goes down and he turns into, with all due respect, a bit of a monster on the racetrack. And I think that energy is wasted in a way. I think there's more potential in him than he's delivered so far. But there's still time.

[testingthewatersss]

Yes, YES, imagine...

Modern problems Usual Winter Solider context warnings but this is pretty tame tbh Bucky Barnes x F Reader Imagine 2977 words Fluff, mild angst. 18+ MDNI

Requests open for a while via messages check masterpost for updated availability.

"It wasn't even a real gun, Buck" you insist, leaning against the door frame.

"that's not the point" he replies, face set in annoyance.

"You can't push someone through a locked door because he has a paintball gun in a gas-station!"

"He's lucky I wasn't aiming for the wall" he mutters petulently. Luckily, he's gotten quite good at not being overheard by now, even by you. 

"Sweetheart," you say, softening your tone in response to his body language, which is the total opposite of his attitude. He's making himself small on the edge of the couch you share, and despite the boldness of his actions and his adamant denials of doing anything wrong, his eyes seem full. 

"He wasn't anywhere near us..."

That makes him scoff, you take the opportunity to pace over to him, taking his face in your hands. His jaw is set under your fingers but still, he lets out a gentle breath as he looks up at you, yet another layer of well-practised bravado falling away. 

"He was heading straight for you, doll" he says quietly, "he was headin' straight for you, and your back was turned and you didn't even know he was armed-"

"-He wasn't armed though, was he love?"

Guilt flashes across his features then, and he quickly averts his gaze. So, in return, you lower your palms to his. Tangling your fingers together to stop him fussing with his hands in his lap.

"He could've been" he counters, "You don't understand how dangerous the world is, Y/N. When I- before, back in the forties things were different-"

"Oh, yeah..." you chuckle, letting him pull you onto his lap, "with rationing, and dancing and bombshelters and the second world war, I'm sure things were just overflowin' with safety"

That manages to make him crack a smile. It's short-lived, it vanishes with a subtle shake of his head, but still. It's so lovely that you can't help but lean down and kiss him. 

Bucky feels his whole posture start to soften the moment your lips meet his. The adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins for hours starting to drain away, replaced by the loud thrumming of his pulse. He relishes in it. Happy to drown in the warmth of your embrace instead of panic for once. 

You trace his temples with your thumbs, rubbing your nose against his as you feel his arms close around you, holding you tight to his chest. 

"I don't mind you keepin' me close" you allow calmly, "I don't even mind you actin' like a security gaurd in public- but you've gotta ease up a little. I can't keep callin' Nat to clean up after us whenever I run an errand, she's gonna start cashing in favours one of these days and I don't even want to know what that might mean."

"I can keep her away too" he mumbles into your shoulder, the words hot on his breath, "I can keep you right here, Sugar. The whole world can go to hell"

As if to prove a point, his metal arm locks in place. You laugh gently, stroking his hair as he nuzzles into the crook of your neck. 

"Stop acting like everythin' is out to get me, Barnes" You instruct, tone failing to hold any genuine authority when his pouting face comes into view.

"It is" he counters, deadly serious, "You just don't see it"

"Or..." you allow, "maybe you see it too much"

He shakes his head, staring at you now, blue eyes imploring you to understand;

"You're so delicate" he murmurs, flesh fingers tracing across your arm adoringly, "you're always gettin' hurt, darlin'- last week you couldn't walk right for three days-"

"Because I tripped on the stairs" you insert calmly, "Not because the stairs attacked me, and not because I'm fragile"

"-The stairs to the subway" he agrees, "The Subway, which is a whole other death trap-"

You snort, but all humour leaves you when you see the seriousness of his expression. 

"It's a packed can of compressed metal filled with strangers and trapped underground" Bucky continues, "It could catch fire, it could crash- anyone on it could-"

"-Hey.." you whisper, stopping him before he can get too carried away, "statistically speaking, this is the safest time to be alive y'know? Sure, flying cars would be a nice change, but the-"

"Cars" he sneers, "Don't get me started"

That makes you laugh, the pure, untempered grouchiness of his complaints and his real disdain for cars paired with the look of stubbornness on his face is funny. Even if you not taking his concerns seriously only adds to the gristle in his tone.

"Y/N/N" He says, "I mean it, you- you are so, so precious to me, darlin'- I couldn't stand it if anythin happened to you, and I know you don't see it but you're human, and the world is-"

"Made for humans, by other humans" you remind him, kissing his brow. "And you shouldn't call me human and imply that you're not"

He rolls his eyes at your scolding and flexes his arm, making the metal plates groan, as if to prove a point. 

"You're still human" you argue, not willing to waiver on that point at least, "A bionic arm and some Stark Industry vitamins doesn't change that, and when it comes to life outside of this tower I am just as safe as you are."

"That's worse" he sighs, head dropping back to rest defeatedly on the couch, "You bein' as safe as me is so much worse than just you bein' on your own, doll- Don't you see that?"

"Not really," You tell him honestly, "but even if it were true, it wouldn't matter. Safety isn't owed to anyone, except maybe you-"

"And if HYDRA decide to pick you up as a hostage?" he says, voice stern now, "or if they just decide to kill you on the spot, just to mess with me, and Tony, and Natasha, and Steve and all the other targets that you've gotten yourself tangled up with?"

"Then I'd think that you, and Tony, and Natasha, and Steve would do your jobs, that you'd keep yourselfs and each other safe while you got to the whole Avenging part of your job."

"I'm not messin' around', Y/N" He sighs, peering up at you defiantly, "I'm serious-"

"So am I," you say with a shrug, "Gettin' old is a privilege, not a right- And, thanks to every one of those targets you mentioned, I am one of the most overly protected people on the planet. Tony has my cell phone and my Apple watch synced up with FRIDAY. My location and my vitals are monitored by SHEILD, all day- everyday- I live in the super-hero equivalent of an armoured tank and I am going to marry the most protective man that has ever lived. I am fine, and if one day I'm not, then I'm real sorry, Buck but I'll have died happy and it'll be more your problem than mine."

"Exactly" he grumbles, deliberately ignoring the humour at the end of your statement "It'll be all my problem, because I love you and I-"

"I hate to break to it you, Buck," you say, "but that is part of bein' in love. Supersolider or not, the hardest part of loving anyone is knowing that you could lose them. That you will lose them someday, if you wait long enough, but that doesn't mean you both just hide away until you die of old age, it means you live the best life you can together so that when one of you is left behind you have it all to look back on."

"You've been spending too much time with Steve" He relents, "You're gettin' a little too good at motivational speeches"

"You're the one who got into the habit of bringin' him to date night- to every date night"

"80 years ago, darlin', I thought he'd grow out of it eventually"

"He still might," You say softly, bringing your palm up to his cheek. 

He huffs out a sigh before closing his eyes and nestling into the warmth of your skin on his, pressing a soft kiss against your wrist before nodding. 

"I'm sorry" he murmurs, "I'll try and give you s'more space, whatever you need..."

And then his face is falling, his arms loosening just enough for you to notice, and the way his lips quirk downward makes you want to just build a bunker deeper than any subway and let him move you in there instead.

"I don't need space" You're quick to assure him, "I need you to use some of those under pressure thinkin' skills and check before you decide someone is a threat" 

There is a genuine look of remorse on his face now, it makes your heart ache in your chest. It's so sad that you feel your own conscience sting in response, knowing that your conversation has fuelled it, 

"I love you" you tell him, unable to not- "I love you a whole lot, Barnes and I refuse to be the reason you have another regret. You hear me? Not a single new regret- not a small one, because you call me three times in a row and Sam gets you thinkin' it's too much and definitely not one that involves some jerk at a bar that gets a little close or some red-neck getting snacks for his road trip, so you better make sure that the next threat you neutralise is a threat, okay? That's all I want."

"I thought he was," he says lamely, "I really thought he was, doll- I saw the gun and I saw you, and I just wanted him gone"

"Well..." You sigh, smiling softly, "He went- With a slightly broken arm, and a huge compensation cheque from Tony, so, as long as you promise to not feel too bad about it, then it looks like we might both get what we want."

He hums softly, not giving much away regarding his opinion on the matter. 

"Why are you still sulkin', handsome?" you wonder, looking at his face again. There's an unhappy crease in his brow, and even though he's trying his best to seem like he's fine, there's something about the way he's watching you that doesn't seem quite right.

"'s nothin'" he mumbles, forcing a smile, "I'm just sorry for puttin' you through this every few weeks, I am tryin, darlin' to get better about it."

You shake your head, quickly deciding not to scold him for feeling guilty, knowing that any playfulness the teasing might hold will be lost in favour of more misplaced guilt. You settle on kissing him, on running your fingers through the tangles of his hair as they slip back behind his ears. On tracing his cheeks as he pulls you ever closer towards him. He doesn't let up until he's verging on breathless. Until his desperate, frantic urge to protect you is satisfied that you're real and solid and exactly where you belong. He knows logically that you're right. That you're safe, as safe as you can be anyway- but the world is so full now. The Brooklyn streets he'd grown up on are more like concrete jungles, infested with noise and lights and cars, and people. He used to love that. The living, breathing soul of the city that never sleeps. The crowds in the daytime and the scattered laughter that would drift in through a cracked fire escape at night. He'd sit up on the roof for hours smoking cheap cigarettes and just watching, and he never once felt scared.  Even when the war first stirred, even then, the people were the one thing that he wasn't afraid of, they were his home away from home. Men he'd never known suddenly felt like family, as soon as they were packed in the back of a transit car. Crowded dance halls meant freedom and packed underground shelters meant protection. But somewhere along the way, they all became threats. Dark, faceless shadows that move around in swarms, making noises that he's never expecting and getting too close to the one thing that he could never bear to lose. Operating machines that they shouldn't be touching, huge metal busses that sound like they might collapse, or elevators that could break, or ski lifts- of all things to exist, huge wires with weak seats that carry people up too high, and you are so breakable. Your ankle a week ago was just the latest injury, before that you hurt your shoulder at the gym, lifting a huge metal barbell that he can't comprehend you touching, and before that tripped in a pothole. The road itself hurt you, because a person didn't do their job and get it filled and he can't trust anything, or anyone other than a handful of people, and all of them just parrot the same thing about you being fine. 

You stay still, resting your head on his chest, letting him settle himself by holding you in place. You had been tempted to start speaking again, until you'd noticed the way his fingers were moving, ever so gently tapping a rhythm against your side. A slow, steady pulse. Your pulse. An exact mirror of your heartbeat, which is a complete contrast to the thrashing of his own. 

As long as he can feel that, then he knows you're alright. That you're not scared, or hurt, or in danger, and that is the only way that he stands a chance of calming down himself. 

"Can you give me five minutes?" You purr, reluctant, but suddenly overwhelmed with an idea, "You can come" you offer, sweetening it with a peck on his cheek, "I just want to go and see Tony about somethin'-"

To your surprise, he chuckles at that, releasing his grip on your waist to paw at his eyes. 

"Should I be worried, doll?" he asks dryly, "I'm here lovin' on my girl and she suddenly wants to go see another man-"

The way you snort makes him smile wider. He kisses you again, on your knuckles this time, before letting go of your hand, feeling a pang of curiosity as you half skip from the room, a grin splitting your face.

It doesn't take long. Ten minutes instead of five, maybe- but not long.

And when you are done, feeling awfully pleased with yourself, you find him in the kitchen, cutting carrots by the sink with the radio playing at such a low volume you can't help but wonder why he bothered turning it on at all.

He looks over at you without missing a beat with his knife and grins wide and genuine when you come up behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing a kiss against the back of his shoulder. 

"I got you something" You announce proudly, beaming as brightly as him when he turns, leaning back against the marble counter to face you, "Somethin' that might make it easier for you to relax"

"I told Tony" he scoffs, "I'm not taking anything he cooks up in that lab- I don't care if he thinks I need a Xanax, whatever that is-"

You laugh at that, small and tempered as you reach into your back pocket, pulling out a small, plain dog tag. 

At least that's what it looks like. An unengraved dog tag, complete with the small hole, waiting for a chain. 

"Thank you?" he says, aiming for pleased, trying not to let his confusion show, especially since you seem so happy to be giving it to him, "It's-"

"You're too polite for your own good- you don't even know what it is yet"

"I've seen more of them than you" he counters, opening his palm to receive it, "but I think you're meant to write somethin' on them, doll-"

The second he touches it, he stops. Words dying in his throat. He doesn't realise yet, not completely, but he's instantly captivated by the warmth humming through the metal. 

Your smile turns smug as you reach out, curling his hand around the tag, putting his flesh thumb flat across the surface-

There it is. It's your pulse, thrumming as calmly as ever.

He's stunned. He blinks at you dumbly for a moment, and then he kisses you. He grabs you and pulls you in and his metal hand is on your cheek and you're breathless and-

The thrumming in the tag speeds up, increasing as he makes your heart flutter in your chest. He pulls back to stare at his hand again. 

"It's a live feed" you explain, "I figured Tony would be able to knock something up- As long as I've got my watch on, or, I'm somewhere that FRIDAY can get a read on me, then it's a direct, real time echo, okay? No delay, no glitches, no dead batteries."

He blinks at you, expression adoring now.

"-and if I need you- If a threat does pop up when you're not there, then-" you reach down, pressing and holding three fingers against the centre of your watch for a second

The tag vibrates in response. A constant unignorable tremor that makes it dance in his palm.

You take it upon yourself to stop it, exaggerating your action of squeezing it in demonstration.

"FRIDAY will be able to give you my location down to the inch."

Bucky knows he's gawking. His jaw is slack and he must be the picture of comedic surprise, but he doesn't care one bit. All he cares about right now is you.

"How did you think of that?" he murmurs, already moving to add it to his chain, the chain he never takes off, the one that has his other dog tag hanging from it, keeping it in its place against his heart.

"I just figured," you say, helping him refasten the clasp, "A modern problem would probably have a modern solution"

(I usually write imagine requests from the you POV, if thats not what you want then just lmk in the message)

[thevoidscreams]

Hello👋 I hope spring has started well for you✨🌹 Mating Press March is simply unrealistically delicious😍🤩 Can I ask Sanguinius? Let's say there are wedding traditions on Baal. After the groom drinks his bride's blood and she tastes his, the groom tracks her down within the walls of their new home. And when he finds her, he takes her to their bedroom and lays claim to her body🤭🤭 Something like that)

Day 14

Hella, let's do this. Also, this one isn't verysut focused. I'm sorry. I had to rewrite the whole thing, but I like this version better.

Pairing: Sanguinius x reader

Warnings: consumption of blood, predator/Prey dynamics, and getting railed without much prep.

I hissed as the needle pulled away from my arm, and a bandage was pressed into place.

Sanguinius was unflinching as they drew his blood for the ceremony, looking as pleased as anything. I understood his excitement. Once this final part of the tradition was complete, we'd be bonded in matrimony not only legally but spiritually as well

I watched with a soft smile as they emptied the syringes into shotglass sized cups.

Each was passed to each respective partner. Mine to him and his to me. The officiant spoke words over us both, just as he had earlier, but this felt different, more intimate.

Sanguinius met my gaze, and I felt my stomach do a little flip. I was shaking with excitement. Not so much for the blood, but from what I knew came after.

Sanguinius had told me in advance what all would be included in this.

I looked down at his blood. It was so dark, and the coppery scent that wafted up from the warm glass was rich. I wasn't so thrilled to be drinking the blood. But being paired with my beloved was more than enough to make up for that. He'd wanted to partake in all the traditions of Baal. So it was also important to him and I could do that for my beloved.

When the officiant was done, I took a sip. It was like being dunked in molten copper. The flavor was so strong.

I watched as he savored my blood, almost like it was a fine wine. His wings trembled as he finished his glass. And he pinned me with his gaze. The officiant and witnesses left the room quickly.

I set the glass of blood, unfinished, on the small table.

I had the distinct feeling something bad would happen if I drank anymore.

Sanguinius didn't seem to notice, or just wasn't bothered.

"I'll give you half an hour to run and find a place to hide. After that, I'll begin the hunt, and once I find you-"

"You'll make me yours truly and completely." You finished and he nodded with a look of anticipation.

"Your time has begun little dove." He grinned and make a shooing motion with his hand. "Go. Fly."

I did. My feet carrying me swiftly and surely. My heart raced, but I didn't feel winded. I felt like I could run every hall in this massive building and not tire.

I'd never felt like that before. It was exhilarating, but it also frightened me. I stopped after ten minutes, looking around and stepping into a room before the turn at the end of the hall.

The room was dark, and obviously not used often.

There were tables and chairs, set and ready to be used if necessary. But a thin layer of dust coated every surface.

At the far end, there was a buffet table with a thick cloth draped over it.

I went to it, my heart still racing and sliding under. There was less dust, and breathing was easier, but the air in the room smelled stale.

I pressed my head to the wall and was shocked to hear voices. Serfs no doubt, gossiping and joking.

I listened before realizing they weren't on the other side, they were a whole room over. In one of the kitchens.

Just what the hell had happened to me after I drank that blood? Was I becoming more like him? I pondered on it as I sat in the dark. I shouldn't have been able to see all that well, but I found that I could. Yet another oddity.

Sanguinius knew what direction you'd gone, and he could tell with relative ease the directions after that for a short time. Now, it could be a matter of using his imhumanly accute senses to track you.

He watched the hands on the wall clock tick by ever so slowly and was on his feet as soon as thirty minutes was up. The game was officially on.

I sat listening to the serfs talk about whatever drama was going on.

The sound of heavy feet didn't register at first.

There had been astartes walking up and down the hall every few minutes.

I almost gasped when the door suddenly swung open. The air was thick with tension and my body went still as the grave.

Under the heavy cloth, it would have been hard to hear if not for the weird effects of the blood, but there was a soft, snorting sort of sound.

He was sniffing me out. Like some kind of hunting hound. It felt more like the sort of thing his brother would have done.

I knew Sanguinius wouldn't hurt me. But the need to bolt for the door was bone deep. The need to flee from my pursuer.

His steps grew closer still. The fabric of concealing me rustled as his wing brushed it.

I could hear him turning over the cloth covering the table across from the one I was under.

"Dove." He cooed sweetly, I know you're in here. "Why don't you come out so we can continue the ceremony together?"

I felt a surge of adrenaline. With his feather poking under the cloth and the rustling of another clothe, I could gauge where he was facing.

The risk had proven worth it. As I crawled from under the table and under another, he'd already checked just in time.

Sanguinius's hearts were pounding. He could smell her, but he was having a hard time hearing over the racing beats in his chest. Your blood had been exquisite, and he was drooling at the thought of tasting other parts of you.

The underside of the buffet table smelled strongly of you. Which meant you had to be close by.

He turned this way and that eyes looking for any minute disturbance.

The rustling of fabric is what drew his attention. His head snapping in the direction of the door.

The corner of your dress vanished behind the door, and his hearts leapt in his chest. He knocked tables out of his way as he began the pursuit.

I bolted, the first crash sending me down the hall as fast as my feet could carry me.

I heard him calling for me, the unmistakable excitement in his voice she he thundered after me.

I ducked into a serf hall. It was thin, and the ceiling was low. I didn't stop, shouting for people to move as I tried to lose him, the game wasn't over till I said it was dammit.

Sanguinius was a man of many talents, but he didn't have his brother Magnus's skill of shape-shifting. The angel growled as his fingers just barely missed your dress fabric.

He rushed down the hall, taking turns on instinct. He knew where it let out, and he knew he could head you off.

He came to a stop at the door to the serfs quarters, opening it and grabbing the first serf he saw by one shoulder.

"Is she here?" He asked.

Of course he didn't have to tell the poor startled woman who.

"Your bride, my lord? No, but I did see her."

"Where?"

"Down the shute, my lord."

"What?"

"Was the strangest thing. She went down the shute we use for the dirty laundry."

He patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you." He took off for the stairwell leading down to the laundry facilities.

I pulled up the comfort pair of shorts and tossed the dress by the corner of one massive industrial washer. That ought to throw him off a bit. The thing probably smelled like me, given that I'd been in it all day, and I was sure that he'd figured out my where abouts by now. Or was about to.

Landing in the laundry hadn't been as fun as I assumed it would be. But there'd been a fresh change of clothes and I wasn't giving up yet.

I was headed for a service door but heard the telltale approach of my husband. The door was across the huge room, and there just wasn't time.

Instead, I made due with the cover of a rolling basket. I made it by the skin of my teeth as he practically flew down the steps.

"Dove? Come out for me, please? I just want to give you the love you deserve." His pleading sounded so sincere I almost did. But I steeled myself, he'd told me how important this tradition was and how he wanted me to take it seriously...and I was having a blast.

I'd never felt so alive before, the chasing the escaping.

Maybe he'd consider this as some foreplay in the future. I watch him from the corner of the basket.

Watching him sniff around until he spotted the dress's fabric. He stalked it more like a cat then a bird.

I crouched and snuck around the basket. Listening as he cooed sweet nothings. The decoy was working. I made it to the bottom of the steps. The old laundry door was heavy, and I knew that it would squeal badly.

Each step up had me holding my breath as I carefully placed each foot. I was only a few steps from the tip when he sprang, tugging the empty dress from behind the washer.

"Dove?" He called concerned. I couldn't help it, I giggled as I shot up the last few steps.

Oh, so that's how it was. Sanguinius laughed and dropped the dress, running up the steps 5aking them multiples at a time.

"Dove!" He shouted after you. Knowing he had to have you now.

The hall was too wide for me to find shelter anywhere, and the hall was long as well. I may not have been all that tired, but I knew I wouldn't make it. Sanguinius's shadow fell over me. His hands reaching and I got a first-hand understanding of what the prey of hawks felt like.

He forced me to the floor, his body coveringine as I writhed and struggled to get away. The game had been fun while it lasted.

"You gave me a good run, my dove.. but I have you now."

I laughed and was lifted from the floor.

Sanguinius carried me close to him as he made his way towards our room.

"That was fun." I kissed his cheek.

He smiled and chirped. "There is still fun to be had."

He pushed his way into our chamber and locked the doors.

"I'm glad you took your dress off, it makes this easier to do." My husband purred.

"Makes what easier?" I chuckled.

He ripped the clothes from my body and dropped me on the bed.

I squealed as I fell, and Sanguinius did much the same to his own clothes in his eagerness to get down to it.

"I've been craving you all day. Since dawn this morning, I've been dreaming of having you."

He grabbed my hips and tugged me closer to him, his face between my legs as he finally got a taste of what I had to offer.

It was like molten lava in my stomach. He lapped at my pussy, rubbing my clit with the tip if his tongue before he plunged the slick muscle into my tight walls.

"Sanguinius!" I gasped, grabbing a handful of his hair and squishing his face between my thighs.

"Dove." He moaned back fucking me with his tongue, lapping up everything I had to offer him.

The excitement of the day and the hunting already had me soaked, and now the love of my life was getting to enjoy me. What could be better?

He pulled his face away, and I looked down at him, face warm with what I was sure was a blush.

Sanguinius's cock was rock hard, he'd never been more excited to do this.

You looked perfect under him, ready and willing to take his cock. He pushed the tip into you. Rubbing his thighs lovingly as you gasped and grabbed his arms.

"I will be gentle."

I nodded, breathing through the pain. It felt like I was being split in two as he pushed in inch by inch.

Once he couldn't push in anymore, he stopped, and I laid under him panting.

The seconds felt like hours. But before long enough, the pain had dulled.

"Please, go slow." I panted.

"I will Dove, I will." He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

He began slow, pulling out an inch or two, then slowly sinking back in.

It burned, but I breathed through it again. And as before, the burning ebbed and pleasure began to bloom under it. Slowly usurping it.

At some point, the pleasure became all consuming, and I moaned under him. Fuck it was even better than I thought it would be.

"I love you, Sanguinius." I mumbled into his chest.

"I love you too, my dove." He hugged me close, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he drove us both towards the edge.

I wouldn't last much longer, but I was okay with that. Tonight had been the most memorable one of my life.

Sanguinius was panting, rutting into me faster now as he got closer as well. We came together, both crying out for the world to hear. We held each other, husband and wife, joined fully in union now.

"That was amazing. Can we do that again?"

"Are you good for another round right now?" Sanguinius asked, smiling warmly.

"Yeah, but also the chasing thing. Can we do that again sometime too?"

Sanguinius laughed. "If course my love."

He kissed you again and again as he slid back in, ready to consummate your marriage many more times.

[marvel-and-chicago-fan]

Break Through Au

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: You go out ice skating on the lake with your brothers and Things don’t go as planned for you three

Warnings: CPR/Death, Falling through Ice, Hospitals, Yelling

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You were on the ice with your brothers Will and Jay, even though you weren’t allowed to, you guys still went regardless.

It was 10pm, no one would be out here to get in your way or yell at you to get off the ice.

“Cmon Y/n/n, it's better out here” Jay said while attempting to slide farther out to the lake. 

“I don’t know Jay, I kinda wanna stay over here. That way I get off easier than struggling to get off if I'm way over there.” you shrugged.

“Alright then, me and will be over there if you need us' ' He pointed towards the middle of the lake.

“Alright, I’m just gonna slide around.” You shivered. Maybe I should work more layers. You thought to yourself.

After a while you got bored and decided to go over to Will and Jay who were “fighting” over who got the better hockey stick.

Will pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Guys it’s 11 o'clock, she should head home now, if we all get a cold moms gonna know that we went outside without asking her, especially if Y/n gets sick”

“But I'm getting good at hockey,” you whined.

Will and Jay just have you that look. “Alright alright let’s go” You caved.

Because your brothers were better on ice than you were, they went up ahead of you. 

“GUYS! I'M NOT AS FAST AS YOU SLOW DO-“ Before you could finish your sentence a loud Crack interrupted you.

That made the two Halstead brothers come to a halt and turn around to you. “No,” Jay whispered. “Y/n don’t move, just stay still we’ll come to you”

Before you could say anything the Ice broke.

Jays pov:

“Y/N, SHIT NO” I screamed, my little sister just fell through the ice.

Me and Will immediately slide over to where she fell in and I immediately throw my whole arm in the freezing water to see if I can feel Y/n

“Give me your other arm so I can pull you once you get her!” Will shouts.

“Once I touch something that feels semi to a human arm I pull. I can tell it’s Y/n because once I pull I feel a bit of weight. 

“PULL WILL, PULL” 

Once we were towards the edge of the Lake I pick y/n up bridal style and rushed over to land.

“Put her down here.” Will says. 

“What the hell do we do?” I cry

“She’s not breathing, Jay, you need to run back to the house and call someone” Wills is studying medicine so he knows a couple of things about what to do in a life or death situation.

“WHO DO I CALL?” I shout

“I DO GIVE A FUCK, CALL 9-1-1 AND HURRY”

My body moves into autopilot as I’m running through the forest making sure I don’t trip on any rocks or roots. 

My legs are burning and I can’t breathe but I can’t stop, if I stop Y/ns gonna die and it’ll be all my fault.

As I reach the house I punch in the code to the door and run upstairs to my bedroom. 

I basically almost threw my  phone into the air while trying to pick it up.

“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?”

“It’s -it’s my sister, she fell into the lake and I don’t know if she’s breathing”

“Check if she has a pulse”

“My older brother is with her at the lake, he-he's studying medicine so he knows what he’s doing”

“What’s your name sweetheart?”

“Uhh jay, my names Jay”

“Alright Jay, How old is your sister and how long was she under water for?”

“I don’t- 5 minutes maybe, and her name is Y/n, but we all call her Y/n/n. I don't know what I’m gonna tell my mom, that my littler sister died because we didn’t listen to her?” I’m panicking.

“Jay, I’m gonna need you to take a deep breath, I have help coming on the way right now”

How did she get my location? I didn’t even tell her.

***

The paramedics arrived and Jay led them to the lake where Will was with you. 

Will did successfully get you back but you were still unconscious. 

Why didn’t we just listen?

***

“15 Year old Female Y/n Halstead, Hypothermia after falling through ice, Was unconscious on site and Has a history of Heart issues.” The paramedic listed off all the things

(Ik that Grey's anatomy is in Seattle but because the show is so old let’s just pretend that this happened with them, it’s been awhile since I’ve watched it so if I make mistakes Woops)

“Alright,on my count if we move her. 1…2…3”Alex said.

Alex looked you over and started telling Jo things to do. “I want a head Ct, Keep me updated on her temperature and get me Derek for a consult.” Jo nodded.

Jay and Will followed Dr. Karev outside. “Is she gonna be ok?” Jay asked.

“She’s not out of the woods yet, but we won’t know more until she wakes up which will be a couple of hours” 

***

“Jay Halstead and Will Halstead” A stern voice called to them that made them Gulp.

“What in the world happened, and why did the Atwater’s call me and say that something happened on the lake and I needed to come home?” Your Mom stoked with her hands on her hips.

Jay and Will glanced at each other and knew they had no way out of this so they just decided to tell the truth and get it over with.

“I have told you guys time and time again not to play on that lake during the winter,

If you want to go ice skating go to the bigger one. Y/n has been punished enough, and as for you too, just until we get home, me and your father Will real with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes mom,” The boys said together.

“Alright, either the Atwater’s or the Uptons are going to pick you guys up and take you home. I will stay here with your sister, your father should be at home by now”

“But mom-“ Jay said. “No buts, wait here”

***

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident and A lot had happened. 

You were on the News, people came to your school and spoke about Ice safety. Jay and Will were indeed grounded but only for two weeks. The lake was now closed off while they were still doing an investigation. Which you didn’t understand why because it’s not like anything else happened but it was whatever.

“Y/n hurry up you’re going to miss the bus!” Jay shouted from downstairs.

“HOLD ON IM COMING” You grabbed your backpack and ran down the stairs.

After getting all your stuff in your backpack you got all your stuff ready to walk to the bus stop.

“Alright, what’s the rules?” Will questioned you.

“No wandering off to the other lake, don’t take off my jackets unless I really need to and don’t get anything that will drop my body temperature” 

“Good.”

“Do you still have to put my hat and Jacket on for me? I’m 15 years old.”

“Because of recent events and mom being gone and I’m going to leave soon I need to make sure you're ok, plus your body temperature is still not to its normal temp yet so layers it is.” You rolled your eyes at what would be said.

“I will pick you up for your doctor's appointment maybe 30 minutes before school ends, and Jay will drop your lunch off at the front office” Will said as he started walking at the door. 

“Bye will see you later” 

Once Will was gone, you ate the last of your waffles and grabbed your hot chocolate or what Jays calls “Jay's famous Hot chocolate” but it tasted like any other drink.

***

“I miss having you out on the lake by the middle school” Your friend Ellie said.

“Me too, but ever since my mom died Will and Jay have been strict on what I can do since my dad won’t really do much and they're trying to get me to learn stuff before Will leaves for New York and Jay leaves to serve” You shrugged.

“But I did convince Jay to get you some fries and nuggets” You laughed 

“You are literally the best, I really didn’t feel like spending all my money in my account today” Yeah the school food was expensive but it’s because you guys had fast food restaurants in your cafeteria so I guess it made sense.

***

“Hey Nugget” Will greeted you as you got into the car.

“Hi Will, can we please get McDonald’s after my appointment?” 

“Sure, where’s Jay? I told him he could get out of school early since he has a free period this week.”

“He said he wanted to stay at school, so he’s probably just walking around the hallways or doing whatever Jay does” You shrugged.

You thought about it for a while, your life was somewhat falling apart. Will was leaving for New York. Jay was getting deployed so you weren’t gonna see him. And your mom was gone so all you had left was your Dad, and your dad wasn’t the best person now since your dad died.

“Hey Will?”You broke the silence 

“Yeah Nugget?” 

“I’m- I’m gonna miss you when you leave” Here comes the water works.

“Me too Y/n me too”

Life from now on was going to be way different for you , and everyone around you knew that. You were going to get through it and it was going to be Ok. Right?

Well that’s at least what you thought…

[sleepymarimo]

𝟓𝟎𝟓

summary: when the flames of your connection burn out, is his only option to watch the embers fade? pairing: ace x gn!reader cw: relationship problems, angsty!! potential spoilers for marineford (specifically thatch and teach) an: bro this was just sad to write... i haven't updated for this event in a hot minute so sorry about that!! wc: 1k ⤷ based on this song! ⤷ part of this arctic monkeys mini event!

it all started so damn good.

ace remembers when pops first brought you aboard. another wide eyed pirate ready to face the world, hiding your nerves and deepest desires under the cover of a cool and thoughtful expression.

you were like a puzzle, an enigma that was just so opposite him that ace had to take you apart himself.

the second division commander was smitten to say the least. hell, even you couldn't deny that his broad smile and daring nature didn't make him all the more appealing.

sure, maybe your conversations weren't the most intellectual or serious, but his beautifully imaginative mind and fiery soul never failed to make you laugh. the sound of that alone struck ace's heart like a hammer would do to a nail.

a mutual dance of passion and excitement, of learning from one another. you'd cool him down and he definitely got you fired up.

but when did it become too much?

when did his bold escapades suddenly become irritating instead of endearing?

when did he start seeing your cautious nature as boring instead of thoughtful?

why did you feel thorns of envy digging into your sides when he stayed out drinking while you waited back at the ship?

why did he bubble with frustration when you wanted to take him away from the liveliness of the crowd and hoard him all for yourself?

he used to give you a beaming, radiant grin as he stepped into your quarters, finding it so cute how you'd lay on your side and face the door while admiring him with love-filled eyes. now, he's only ever greeted with the sight of your back.

you flatly ask how his time was, he says it was good. that's the end of that.

the nights felt longer and more tense, an odd blanket of unease settling in the air. even his touches weren't hot like they used to be. there's a change, a shift that neither wants to address because they know how different things can be between them.

because it all started so damn good.

then, as if it couldn't get any worse, thatch is murdered.

it's too much to handle. you internalize every one of those bad emotions, trying and failing to keep things under control as the whole crew begins to grow restless.

it’s a pirate’s world, after all.

ace’s spirit, what drew you to him in the first place, was on full show.

despite how hot headed and impulsive he was, you couldn’t help but look past that and see his unrivaled passion and need to act. for his crew. for his family.

any other time, you might've held him back and laid out the facts. you might have told him what he was doing wasn't rational.

yet, you find your heart swelling with immense admiration as he declares his plan to find teach himself.

your legs carry you below deck, where you find the raven haired pirate stocking up on supplies for his journey.

“ace?” you call, slightly hesitant.

you can see him visibility tense, as if another complex layer had just been added to horrible mix. he glances back at you, his wary eyes filled with sadness and regret. anger and vengefulness.

he's always been bad at hiding his feelings from you, since you were just too damn perceptive. you can see it all, every emotion.

perhaps the most painful one you take note of is the defeat, as if he considers ending the relationship right then and there.

but he just can't.

he turns back, continuing to stuff a backpack with some supplies. your name is called, softly but with determination. “you can’t stop me from going.”

"i'm not." you reassure, suddenly finding it a little harder to breathe. the memories come rushing back to you, from the unforgettable little firsts to the petty back and forth arguments that seemed all too frequent these days. your arms cross and you cave, unable to stand it anymore. "ace...i'm sorry. for everything. for being..."

his head hangs low and he sighs, deflating slightly and calling your name with a tone of resignation that has your stomach churning.

you persist, almost babbling out of pure panic as you realize how things could potentially turn out. tears prick at your eyes, an immense guilt clawing at your chest as you realize how foolish the two of you had been.

"i haven't been being fair, okay?" you take a sharp inhale and start professing your apologies, listing every bad thing you've ever done as if he wasn't just as guilty. it was a desperate attempt to change the tides, your heart aching. "we just used to be so good."

ace feels his heart split in two, his chest throbbing at the sound of your sniffles. hell, the two of you had gotten into some heated disagreements, but he's never made you cry.

words die in your throat when you feel his strong arms wrapping around you, almost lifting you off of the floorboards. his scent floods your senses and it calms you down, your shaky arms hastily throwing themselves over his shoulders.

"stop." he sighs, his black hair brushing against the skin of your temple as he takes some deep breaths. "we are still good. we're good."

he's so relieved. it's like a weight has been taken off of his shoulders and he's so, so thankful. those past memories don't seem out of reach and unattainable anymore.

no, he'll make new ones with you.

pulling back just enough to get a glimpse at you, he continues. "you've been dealing with my crap, too. y'just looking out for me and..." you're just loving me.

it's silent for a second, but the air is light and breathable.

“when you come back…we’ll fix this and go back to how it was before.” you sniffle, wanting to commit every bit of him to memory.

"yeah." he squeezes you tighter, a burning sensation spreading through his heart as the flames of your relationship rekindled. they were going to shine brighter than ever before; he was sure of it. “when i come back."

taglist: @dimplewonie

[feniksido]

For some reason my post about the Heist in the Hells has been getting some traction recently so I thought maybe it's time to talk about my actual thoughts on what I would like to see in the hypothetical Heist in the Hells DLC (my personal hell)

I was trying to figure out a whole bunch of stuff about Mephistopheles and the 8th layer of the hells! First, the vaults are in Mephistar, a citadel on top of a Glacier named Nargus, which is piloted by Mephisto all over Cania constantly on the move. Mephisto has his slowly melting throne at the very center of the glacier, and the rest of the city is like a mini-hell with 3 terraced levels where the lowest level is with “lowly least devils” and mid tier for mid devils i guess and then hellfire masters and nobles and the wizards on the third higher levels. It’s heated on the inside of Mephistar! It has baths and scented fires (not sure what they smell like but I assume something other than fire?)

The rest of Cania is just like barren wasteland full of just the weirdest left over arcane energy cus of Mephisto’s experimentation, its cold as fuck and it has constant surveillance against spies, mostly spies sent by Dispater, mr THE Arms Dealer of all the planes, so you know that motherfucker mephistopheles is very used to these types of people showing up and trying to go into the vaults and such

NOW Helsik very specifically used the words “I punched a portal into the Archdevil’s dusty vaults”, so I assume it was directly into the vaults that they fell into. I'm not sure how this is even possible but i'm not one to ask questions that i will never understand the answers to (lying, im seething) 

However, regardless of the fact that I don't know how Helsik the queen that she is did that, she did do it. I imagine the vaults are huge and incredibly elaborate and probably several stories? Layers? Deep. The items and scrolls and information must all be neatly cataloged and kept track of in the most particular way because Mephistopheles is nothing if not obsessively controlling of all his knowledge and information

However the whereabouts of the actual physical objects must be like.. Constantly changing or magically protected so that those with no authorization cannot find their way through the vaults

Mephistopheles’s filing system is… insane but i do think he would keep track. Or make someone else keep track. He’s very busy. He typically hands down experiments he ran out of time to deal with in his busy schedule to his lessers so I wouldn't put it past him to have someone else also take care of the cataloging. The Crown of Karsus is NOT high on his priority list so i understand how this was potentially feasible to Gortash and The Dark Urge

Actually Talking about the heist itself now: 

I imagine that if a whole heist dlc (don't think we’re getting one but a man can dream) did happen it would start with a bit of exposition. Probably explaining a little bit of the Letters between Durge and Gortash. Specifically these ones:

Then we cut to a scene where they’re already at Helsik’s place. They’ve discussed the plans in depth, they’ve been doing test runs for this in the House of Hope and now it’s time for the real deal. 

Helsik “punches” the portal into the Vaults and they jump in. The portal closes behind them, Helsik will not allow herself to be implicated in anything. They take in their surroundings; they have to be quick, although it is heated inside of Mephistar the frigidness of Cania cuts deeper than anything Baldur’s Gate could ever manage. I imagine that they, having never been here before, look for something that can help them navigate/orient themselves in the vaults. Perhaps that whole cataloging system I talked about earlier. You can choose to ignore it and just go straight forwards checking every room making it substantially harder and less efficient which makes Gortash a little pissy at you for not taking his advice and helping him look for that or you can look around for one but the actual system for cataloging is encrypted 

Maybe a mini puzzle game can take place here, like the one with the brain in Moonrise Towers 

The thingy would then lead deeper into vaults where they would fight Gelugons (the main residents of the 8th layer also known as ice devils) and other assorted devils including pit fiends and pain devils. Maybe a couple dire polar bears also who knows who Mephisto but on his security team

At one point i want to come across an ice devil that much like Yurgir in the house of hope in act 3, can be convinced to side with you and become a temporary ally (perhaps it holds resentment towards Hutijin, mephistopheles’ second in command, and just got sick and tired of the monotony and wants to stick it to the man, i just want a devil in my party even for a second) 

If you manage to successfully persuade this devil to join you, Gortash might be impressed and tell you about how tricking a devil is no easy feat, you can ask him to elaborate on that and he might tell you a bit about his time in the house of hope as Raphael’s unwilling guest Who knows

Moving on, I’d like several more puzzles to delve deeper into the vaults, some that lead nowhere some that lead exactly where you need to go, if you did the earlier puzzle Gortash will be able to guide you and say which ones lead nowhere and which ones are the ones you need to do 

Eventually I want a mechanically engineered door to be the next hurdle which Gortash takes upon himself to solve on his own since he’s more well suited towards this kind of thing, during this, rounds and rounds of incoming security swarm around you both, and Durge has to defend Gortash while he works on getting the door open. Much like the quest for Halsin looking for Thaniel in the Shadowfell, you gotta keep the portal open but instead of “keep the portal open” its “keep Gortash alive and not distracted”

When the rounds of enemies are done you get a little cutscene where you see Durge being overwhelmed by the many devils and it cuts to Gortash who has just opened the door and he takes less than a second’s pause before he decides that instead of going through the door and escaping to relative safety on his own, leaving durge to die he helps durge and they are both able to get through the door sealing it behind them, now in relative safety, they both take a second to breathe 

You as durge now can talk to Gortash and have the dialogue options to say Thank you, scold him for dragging you away from the bloody slaughter, or question his decision to come back for you

I THINK IN MY MIND that the response for all these options would basically be the same, because Gortash is a well practiced speaker and knows exactly what to say but his body language would sort of give him away for the way he’s feeling about the option you choose 

Thanking him would lead to a more defensive “pushing away” way of saying “I still require your assistance, we’re not done. Don’t expect it to happen again.” tsundere ass but like imagine that but better written 

Scolding him would get a sorta like “I cant fucking believe this” as if he expected durge to be a little more practical about things and not lose focus in the madness that was that slaughter and rampage, like i said still the same but just “Argh! I still require your assistance! We are NOT done. DO NOT expect it to happen again if you intend to act this way.” He needs you to focus, not lose yourself in blood

Questioning and challenging his decision but not outright saying you disapprove would probably be playing right into the whole “equals who challenge each other” thing that he likes to do so it’d probably make him slow down, talk slower, make him really think about why he did it and do the thing where while talking he can't look at Durge in the eyes so he looks off to the side or down at the floor “I still need your help. We’re nowhere near done. Let’s not expect this to happen again, yes?” Like acknowledging that yes that was in fact weakness that neither of their masters tolerate (because obviously the correct thing a baneite would have done is let the bhaalspawn die so that he alone already so close to the crown could take it for himself) and almost regretful that he didn't have a better excuse

You continue forward and finally come into the room with the Crown of Karsus and the portfolio labeled “Accelerated Grand Design”, there they encounter a boss fight, probably not mephisto himself cus they’d be dead tbh but maybe a simulacrum or something idk here things get a bit dicey for me cus what the fuck! How do they get out? I thought maybe they do the fight and once they grab everything they need or want they maybe have an enhanced cloak of dimension door or maybe a scroll of teleportation or something to get them out of the deep deep VAULTS themselves and into a place where they can “safely” create another circle on this side with the components and specific instructions Helsik gave them 

They’d arrive home back in Baldur’s Gate and celebrate their victory briefly and bada bing bada boom the dlc is over. If i had it my way at the end right there those two idiot geniuses would get so horny from the powerrush and bloodlust they just experienced that they end the dlc with durgetash fucking nasty 

[spicyseonghwas]

" illusory obsessions " - choi san

pairing :: choi san x male reader genres/au's :: angst, smut, romance, subtle yandere viewer rating :: 18+ ; heavy emotions & sexual content content warnings :: cursing, very rough sex, unprotected sex, degradation, vaguely implied breeding, possessive/slightly yandere!san, sexual masochism, san is in his mid-30s & pretty much 10 years older than reader in the fic (hes 24 irl), the last sentence is a lil bit dark lol network tag :: @preciousillusions-net event :: preciousillusions net's grand opening event! word count :: 1,881 synopsis :: ah, choi san… your best friend since preschool… and the love of your life. but are you the same to him? or are you just a playdate to him?

"ugh," san groaned, "i'm so bored, someone give me something to fuck."

"what the fuck do you mean, 'something to fuck'...?" you asked snippily, looking up from your phone to give your long-time best friend a suspicious, eyebrow-up look.

"what the hell do you think i mean when i say that? i want to fuck, m/n, you dumbass. i want a hole to stick my dick in."

you rolled your eyes, mumbling under your breath thinking san wouldn't hear.

"well maybe i'd give you myself if you'd fuckin' ask nicely."

but quite (un)fortunately for you, san did indeed hear every word you said.

and that was how you ended up in your current situation...

"fuck, fuck, fuck!" you screamed, throwing your head back into the thick layer of blankets on san's bed and fisting the blankets as hard as you could in futile efforts to keep yourself from floating up onto cloud nine.

"yeah?" san purred, leaning in and biting your neck as hard as he could as he whispered filthy, possessive nothings into your ear. "you like that, bitch? you like being stuffed full of your best friend's cock, hm?"

he wrapped his hand around your throat and squeezed as hard as he could, letting loose a low, feral, wolf-like growl into your ear before letting his whole weight fall on top of you so he could fuck you harder.

"well your best friend likes it too, and now you don't get to fuck anyone else!" he said happily.

"fuck, s-san, right there," you whimpered weakly, wrapping your arms and legs around san's waist and shoulders and using all the strength you had left to squeeze as hard as you could in an effort to keep him as close as you could possibly get him to be.

"yeah, slut?" san hissed into your ear, pulling out to the tip before slamming back into you as hard as he could, making sure he was balls-deep inside you and nuzzling into your neck before he continued his beforehand movements of fucking you into oblivion.

"you love my cock so much, puppy, you're taking it so fucking well... you're gonna drive me insane..."

"fuuuck," you groaned, your face turning cherry-red and your eyes rolling back into your head as the tip of san's cock grazed your prostate again.

"f-shit, san, right there-"

san chuckled, deciding to change positions a bit. he pulled out, immediately replacing his cock with three fingers before you could register that you'd lost the feeling of his cock inside you. he wrapped his other hand around your cock and began to stroke it as fast as his wrist would let him whilst he continued to finger-fuck you into the clouds in the outer atmosphere with his fingers.

"such a filthy, slutty little bitch. such a cute little cocksleeve," san snapped, slapping your face- he didn't hit you hard, but he didn't exactly go soft on you either. he made sure to hit you just hard enough to get the cutest, most kitten-like little whimper out of you when you felt the light sting of his hand making contact with your cheek.

your face turned a little bit of a darker, bloodier shade of red when san slapped you, and despite your devout mental pleading with the universe that he didn't notice... he did.

"oh? you like it when i slap you around, you little whore?" san growled, giving you another, slightly softer slap on your cheek when you took a moment to respond- you were quite mentally unavailable at the moment with how hard and fast san's fingers were still fucking into you.

san smirked darkly when his second hit landed, taking his fingers out of your abused hole and reaching up and yanking you up by your hair. he moved you so that you were sitting on his lap, then wrapped his hand around your throat and yanked you closer.

"you said you wanted to try voyeurism, right?" he asked, looking right into your eyes with his dark, lustful, chocolate-colored ones.

you nodded vigorously, doing your dearest to pay full attention to san's words whilst imagining the things he was going to do to you next.

san let himself fall slightly out of character for a moment, a happy giggle escaping his throat as he smiled his shiny white trademark smile at you.

"yeah?" he asked, falling smoothly back into character as he leaned in to give you his next command.

"ride it, bitch." he hissed, "be a good, obedient little cocksleeve for your hyung, and maybe he'll let you suck it later while i talk with wooyoung."

you immediately obeyed san's wishes, taking hold of his cock and carefully sliding down back onto it. you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and buried your face into his neck before starting to move.

"mmmm... fuck," san growled, slapping your ass cheek lightly. "speed up, slut. i'm feeling impatient tonight."

you once again obeyed san's wishes, speeding up the movements of your hips so that you were bouncing up and down quick and hard on his cock, fucking yourself on it like there was no tomorrow.

"you're so cute," san cooed, pulling you closer by your throat and smashing his lips onto yours as hard as he could while his hips started moving to help you keep up with the pace he had set for you.

after all, he wasn't completely heartless.

not completely.

"oh, m/n," he sighed dramatically, moving both hands to your hips to help you fuck yourself a little harder. "you're such a beautiful boy... tearing my heart up like a rabid dog. i love you so much..." he confessed, smiling softly and pulling you as close as he could physically get you while he sped up his thrusts and chasing his high like a starving cat after a plump mouse.

his hand strayed up to hold your chin, and he closed the distance again, pressing his lips to yours and nibbling on your bottom lip with his canines, just hard enough to draw a little bit of blood.

"fuck, san, i-i'm getting close-" you whimpered, biting your already-broken bottom lip and licking a little bit of the blood off of the wound.

"cum for me, prince." san whispered, tangling his fingers into the hair on your scalp and yanking it in a tantalizingly slow manner before moving his hand to the hair on the base of your neck and yanking it as hard as he could without any warning to you.

and that one little feeling, that burning sting on the back of your neck, was the last little thing that drove you fully over the edge.

you screamed into san's neck as your orgasm hit you like a ship hitting the beach, biting into his collar to keep yourself from falling too far into the blissful void of feelings that was your orgasm.

"good boy." san said softly, helping you get yourself off of him. then he wrapped his arms around you and let his and your weight fall backward into the bed. he squeezed you as hard as he could. then he turned you carefully over onto your back and beginning to leave little butterfly kisses all over your neck, lips, body, chest, thighs, and forehead in an effort to give you soft feelings to focus on as you came down from your high.

"san?" you asked after a short while.

"yeah?" san replied softly.

"were you telling the truth when you said you love me?" you asked hesitantly, turning over onto your side and looking right into his eyes.

san smiled softly, reaching over and brushing some strands off of your sweaty forehead. his hand strayed to your cheek and his thumb began to softly caress your cheek, which was still slightly red from having been slapped twice earlier.

"of course i love you, darling," san said softly, "truthfully? i always have." he confessed.

"wait, really?" you asked confusedly, "what do you mean, you always have?"

san smiled softly again, his face turning a little red as his eyes strayed away from yours for a split second.

"i've been in love with you since you were eighteen, m/n."

"wait, really??" you said astonishedly, "san, baby, how come you never told me?? you've been in love with me since i was eighteen?? that's like- shit..."

you had to stop talking for a moment, and san just grinned in anticipation, waiting for you to figure it out.

"san..."

"yeah?"

"san, you're... you're thirty-five years old. you literally turned thirty-five, like, two days ago. and i'm almost twenty-five."

"mhmmm... and?" san said, trailing off in an effort to prompt you to figure the rest of it out.

"and.... and so that means you've been in love with me for... HOLY FUCKING-"

and san started laughing.

"SEVEN YEARS??" you shrieked.

"yeah, and??"

"AND- AND?? CHOI SAN, YOU'VE KEPT THIS INFORMATION FROM ME FOR SEVEN YEARS!!"

after san got his breath back enough to answer you coherently, he said,

"and i'd gladly fall in love with you for a thousand more and not tell you until the day you die if you not knowing that information keeps you from loving someone else the way it obviously has this time around."

you had no response for this.

"san..." you started softly, but trailed off; you couldn't find anything to say.

"san, why so long?"

"i just told you, it's so that you'd keep trailing along after me trying to find out whether i loved you back or not, and that would keep you from giving in to someone else's advances." san answered, taking your hand and squeezing it.

"m/n, the thought of you falling in love with another man haunts my dreams, it's the only thing i've had a nightmare about for almost eighteen years. i don't... i want you to love me. i don't want you to love someone else, because i'm afraid that if you do, i'll hurt them out of jealousy, and that'll drive you away."

your heart broke.

"san, i..."

your eyes started to burn, and you screwed them shut as they filled up with tears. you tried to keep them at bay, but san knew this would happen, and he wasn't going to let you continue this self-destructive habit you'd always had of acting tougher than you were. because the thought in his mind might sound sort of sick, and one could rightfully judge him if they thought it so...

but san wanted you to cry.

and no, it wasn't because of some sick fantasy of dacryphilia... no, it was for the sake of your heart, because, you see...

l/n m/n never cried.

and every time you kept yourself from crying, it broke san's already-shattered heart into another ten thousand tiny little pieces. he wanted you to cry. he wanted you to let your walls fall down for a while. he needed you to feel better, because you feeling a little more at peace with yourself would make san hate himself a little less for loving you as long as he had.

it would make him feel a little better about the things he wanted to do to you when you were comfortable with him doing them.

© seonghwas-lighter 2023-2024.

[kerubimcrepin]

LIVEBLOG: Dofus Novel 4, The Thirsty Beheader

I apologize for my absence. Translating this novel has burned me out from the fandom in a pretty major way, and I also got into a different fandom in the meantime and am, like, three 4k word chapters deep into a longfic for said new fandom. Besides that, I had a depressive episode and went insane for a while. Basically, I've been a bit busy.

At the same time I release this post, I have uploaded the new, updated versions of both translations (since this liveblog is mostly a reason for me to reread and fix stuff) to MEGA and VK, so I recommend you download the new versions!

I will mostly be copying the text directly, to bypass tumblr's image restriction, but some screenshots will be provided. For example:

If pride is a sin, then the typesetting and cleaning I went through with this book will have me go to hell after I die. (I don't think I'm a master, but I did a pretty good job, ok?)

A cart had just entered the District of the Lost Steps. It stopped in front of the store, as two Srams* got out.

I love the internal consistency of the street being named here. Thank you, author of this book, for caring.

“Are you sure about this,” asked the little guy, “Is this really the right place?” “Yeah,” replied the tall one, “There aren't thirty-six Shushu* houses in the neighborhood.”

LMAO this is something Kerubim is actually known for, huh?

At the time that this book takes place in, joris can't read very well. Cute...

Also, hehe... I am pretty proud of the way this part of the book was cleaned + the font + the layers and colors and opacity I applied to the text, to make it fit in with the paper.

^^^ This is me btw, during this entire post. ^^^

The entirety of the epilogue and prologue are typed on top of cleaned backgrounds sourced from the scan. The rest of the book is typed in front of a digital background. This artistic choice was made because....... You can't set different pages to be different colors in word. You have to overlay some image or a textbox, if you want a page to be a different color.

Anyway — I had a lot of fun searching for the fonts from this book! (and far less fun searching for appropriate fonts for the Russian translation since none of the fonts this book uses have cyrilic versions...)

The fonts this book uses are: Dimbo, Chelsea Market, and Aleo. Google them for all your Dofus Aux Tresors de Kerubim related needs.

The fonts I chose to use in the russian translation are: Brydan Write, Correction Brush, Curinn, and Itim. I just had to make do with what I had, ok?

“My Papycha said it's urgent!” exclaimed Joris, “He could be in danger. Maybe he's being attacked by the Thirsty!” Even Pupuce looked worried. Simone reread the message, thinking out loud: “The Huffing Bow Wow tavern is in the Pandawa district... There's plenty of bamboo milk there. Maybe the neighborhood is overrun by the Thirsters?” “And soon, the whole city will be under attack!” concluded Joris.

Nobody knows how to escalate a situation better than a 7yo with anxiety. God bless <3

The Ecaflip goes full "war machine" mode: he cuts and slices through the living dead for the entire night, and when the golden disk of the sun finally rises over the horizon, the scenery is carpeted with the Thirsty. The region is saved. Kerubim becomes a legend. To thank him, the local lord offers him the... “Hey... Joris? Are you listening?” asked Simone. She began shaking the boy, who, abruptly snapping out of his reverie, mumbled: “Huh? What?”

Joris is so normal. So sane.

“Bye-bye,” added Bowiknif. But Luis slammed the door in their faces, roaring: “You're not going anywhere!” “Oh yeah?” hissed Bakstab, “Is that so?” “Would you like us to chop up your friends with a Brakmarian steel sword of Chouque?” questioned the other, “Or with Samuel J. Axe?” Luis muttered what sounded like a string of expletives, before reluctantly opening the door to the two robbers, who bolted out without further ado.

I'm LITERALLY fucking insane about this.

“I'm sorry,” said Luis, “I tried to hold them back, but...” “We know, we saw everything,” the girl cut him off, “You did your best, Luis.”

Actually deranging. Also explains why Luis did fuckall about Sipho, Harebourg, and Ush — there's just not much he can actually do.

She spotted a Dragoturkey standing near a trough. In two strides, she reached the animal, untied it, and climbed onto its back like an experienced Dragogirl*. “Let’s go!” she said to the boy.

This once again raises a some questions about Simone's past — when did she learn how to ride dragoturkeys? Is it the same reason why she knows how to fight, at least a little?

Then again, maybe she's just being an Osamodas here.

I love, love, love the Simone&Joris content in this book. Their bond is so important to me... She's the aunt who stepped up.

This art is so nice...

They had run like mad through half the city, arrived at the wrong address, turned back just as a thunderstorm broke out, wandered around in the rain in the Pandawa district, and FINALLY arrived at the Huffing Bow Wow Tavern, a large, long building with a thatched roof.

They're so fucking stupid. I love them.

“Ah, there you are!” called out Kerubim, “I almost thought you’d make me wait some more!”

I wish english also had the phrase "I almost thought you'd be late" as a cunty response when someone's an hour or three late to an event. I don't think the english translation I made conveys the sheer frustration.

Kerubim raised an eyebrow — a perfect copy of the circumflex accent:

I struggled with this part a lot in russian sjfkgdfg. It made me nerd out a little bit too.

I didn't have a lot of comments here, but eh. It was nice to finally get this over with dfjgkdsfg.

[colourful-void]

[truly off the charts levels of aitsf nirvana initiative spoilers]

some thoughts on mizuki date and mizuki kuranushi

the whole timeline switch thing is admittedly: cool as fuck. love it conceptually. its neat as hell. in practice i think it required some of the game to be a bit... strained in logic and perhaps if we were less committed to clone Mizuki and some other aspects it would feel a little less like we had to rob Mizuki (Date) as a character to make it work.

I can explain why i feel this way:

Don't get me wrong, its set up really really well in a lot of places. i see now which is awesome. the set up isn't so much the problem, there definitely could've been a bit more in the set up but overall it's solid.

my problem is that, in order to make this work, Mizuki and Bibi need to be functionally indistinguishable from each other not just in appearance but in personality. NOW there are key differences I noted which was very good!!! I did see this, i just think like, the fundamental concept means they have to be significantly more similar than they are dissimilar and that makes for....

Okay like:

Mizuki and Bibi having the same scooter? Fantastic, it's mentioned early on that's abis provided, of course they're the same. having the same gun, sure even, it might be a 'mizuki custom' but if we assume mizuki date didn't actually care that much about her gun's specifics I totally see boss replicating the first one. I'm sure bibi would've wanted that too. Having the same PIPE is bothering me. Because now we're verging into some nature over nurture territory.

Mizuki Date loved that pipe when she was 12, it's something she picked up afaik after coming to live with date even, bcs she didn't have it when she was getting bullied in school. Her having one makes sense. But bibi has a pipe, seemingly because... Mizuki has one.

So then, was it a unique choice Mizuki made when she was younger, or does 'being mizuki' mean predestined to wield a pipe? (i can also see Bibi like, watching over mizuki and deciding she also wants a pipe but that's only slightly better because it's still externally denying the characters individuality) [A minor way of adjusting this could be having Mizuki Date only ever use the pipe, and Bibi only ever use the Evolver.]

There are some good moments of them being different i can recall off hand, bibi talking about her younger sister (mizuki) for example, to shoma, etc. but like. 90% of the time you're not supposed to be able to tell them apart. So they think the same way, and act the same way, and when you're playing a game literally in the brain of a character its hard to even pass off as just, presentation or a front. and i wanna be clear i know there are minor differences.

Bibi doesn't react to Date's appearance in the warehouse (because she didn't know him like Mizuki Date, but also looking back since that was in the past like, Mizuki Date wouldn't have reacted either.), I think there's a little difference in how bibi and mizuki treat boss, maybe? But since mizuki is still playing around with boss and giving her puppy dog eyes in the first investigation scene when That's Mizuki Date and not Bibi, it doesn't quite land.

Because the small pool of people who actually know, Ryuki and Boss and all have to TREAT Mizuki Date and Bibi basically identical for this to work. And again, you can stretch it. Boss is trying to maintain professionalism, etc. But it's another layer of them being... basically the same.

Mainly, my biggest problem is less everyone else and how Mizuki Date and Bibi think and act.

Mizuki Date and Bibi are allegedly two different characters. They're given two different backstories, and lived two very different lives. Despite that, aside from a few minor hints and character quirks, they behave and interact indistinguishably from each other. And that kind of cheapens both of them as people.

Like, we just had this whole game that had everyone saying "if this hadn't happened, if my father hadn't been killed, if this child hadn't been kidnapped, if So Sejima had just kicked it at 20, maybe none of this would've happened, life could've been so different" and then also showed us 'Even if your life was extremely different you would still think and act exactly the same'.

TC-PERGE and alcoholism was a huge part of it, but the cited reason for a lot of Ryuki's behaviour is the trauma right?? Like it comes up multiple times, but the unique traumas that both Mizuki's faced? I guess impacted them exactly the same. or not at all, in Mizuki date's case because we never get proper resolution on the whole 'you were adopted and then your adopted parents couldn't or wouldn't raise you properly so gave you off to Date, who then disappeared." i'm still entirely unclear on who was the guardian of this 12 year old child after that.

TLDR

i think a lot of this twist is really cool conceptually, i'm on board with a lot of it. But in practice, Bibi and Mizuki are only different characters because of their wildly different backstories. They think and act identically, despite having such different circumstances which should lead to different thoughts and actions. In a game where the final Somnium ends in a long chain of "What ifs" where it's characters ask if they could've lived differently had just a few things been different, the central characters appear to demonstrate that no, they wouldn't.

and that kinda bums me out.

[prince-liest]

I like to think that Alastor accepts his feelings towards others as long as they are easy. For him it's easy to protect Mimzy, to care for Nifty and be friends with Rosie, he thinks that with his power he doesn't risk anything by caring for them. Similarly to certain extent is with Husk. Alastor assumes the role of someone who can care about Husk without any sacrifice or risk, in some messed up way. It may be that with Charlie it started like that, him showing care towards her and the Hotel because it's no big deal for powerful overlord to take care of things. But then when to show his care are more than he can handle he freaks out. It starts showing with Hell's Greatest Dad, where his ability to care for Charlie and Hotel is put under scrutiny by more powerful figure like Lucifer, and then fully comes out after fight with Adam didn't end up with Alastor winning.

To summarise, Alastor can accept his attachments to others as long as it looks like he doesn't put much effort into it. When it becomes apparent that he needs to put more effort into relationship he can no longer handle it

Hmmm... I'm not sure if I agree, to be honest! I don't think it's necessarily about his feelings being easy. Frankly, I think a lot of his feelings around Charlie especially are difficult and complicated for a variety of reasons and have been for a while, ranging from feeling threatened by her father to his growing fondness of her butting up against his scheming. With Lucifer, I don't feel like the issue was that Alastor had to suddenly put in more effort: I think it was rather that he has been putting in a lot of effort, and now this bougie asshole's come along who's been neglecting Charlie for years and suddenly thinks he can swan in and do better than Alastor has been with a snap of his fingers because he is, in fact, literally the devil and can summon mountains of caviar with a literal snap of his fingers, all while unsubtly calling Alastor "the help."

I also don't think it's necessarily fair to say that when the tough gets going, he runs, feelings-wise, because the point at which he finally lost it was not when he had to call on favors, or fight heaven, or fish Niffty out of a toilet with his own two hands, or deal with the literal devil and almighty ruler of hell himself... it was when he got physically hurt so badly that he was was yay close to being actually, literally murdered for good. That's pretty damn far from "not much effort" in my books. And sure, you can argue that he has a god complex and never thought that he could be hurt before that, but to that I'd say:

He gave us a whole spiel about how he puts on a smile to hide his real feelings: he makes things look easy on purpose because that's how he wants to be seen.

Even if he genuinely felt like Achilles without a heel this whole time, that doesn't mean he wasn't putting in work and effort when it comes to running the hotel, helping fix it up, defending it, and developing emotional attachments.

Anyway, tl;dr I think it's totally reasonable to freak out because you misjudged your power levels because [mysterious deal chaining his abilities that I hope we'll learn more about in season 2] and nearly got yourself damn well murdered... and it was for this group of assholes that you only just started coming to terms with actually caring about! And that's before you layer his need to look untouchable and maintain his image on top of that.

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

Titivilus, advisor/ambassidor for the ruler of hell's second layer. His normal form is a 5' 6" (1.7‑meter) satyr-like creature meant to resemble his master. He can supernaturally frighten with a word, transform into other humanoid species, use illusions, modify memories, and magically charm you into doing as he says. He's also a teleporting ventriloquist that can make an illusory body-double whose senses he can control and hijack. while he hides invisible and undetectable. He's slippery, one of the multiverse's best charmers and manipulators. Hit smash and you won't be the first, but sometimes a pretty lie is nice for an afternoon.

Fraz-Urbluu, demon lord of illusion and deception. Size and weight unavailable, reality itself is at his whim. He has innate magic to basically control all of your senses. He can create things and terrain that your brain treats as real and make the whole area seem to be whatever he needs. Once per day he can even make you forget something or try to gaslight you with a fake memory. He can terrify, grapple, even make temporary clones of anyone he sees. He's also not just an architect of lies, he's also an architect in general and modifies his realm at a whim. ...Also, note that there's no domination, no mental orders, his charms are through skill. Frequently tricking even demon lords who KNOW what he's about! In the past he's shown to court clever and creative individuals, so if you're chosen I'm sure it'll be a ride of your life!...but not one in your control.

[madbalalaika]

Your pirates of the Caribbean fanart is so beautiful! Please, please share tips for how to do that beautiful painting technique you used! <3

Hi, anon! Thank you so much, both for the compliment, and for the question💗✨

Edit: I've reached the 30 pics per post limit and will have to make a part 2, oopsie daisies. But I'm sure it won't be as long as this :"D

In terms of technique, I guess it depends which part exactly you're talking about, because most of it is just oil painting+pencil drawing made digital, where I sort of block my colours first, then blend as I see fit (or in some parts don't blend at all, which is what some classical painters do; it's really just habits and preferences from years of experience) and add details using a pencil brush.

If you're interested, stay tuned as I try and give some tips while showing my whole process using this lovely photo of Commodore as an example:

Part 1. The basics

I usually only use these 2 brushes, just because I like them a lot, rarely more than that; and I've changed the settings on the second one so it rotates in the direction of a stroke instead of being at a fixed angle.

SO, firstly I just make a sketch of course, then make a very rough base colour layer underneath it, not too dark, not too light, and fill in the background with a solid colour.

(don't be fooled, I don't actually name my layers cause I'm way too lazy for that)

Since we're talking about digital painting here, my biggest tip would be to make a habit of picking the right colours manually, like you would an for an actual oil painting, instead of using the eyedropper tool on the source. Colour matching is an insanely useful skill, it's like relative pitch in music, or an accurate eye in architecture; while it's not absolutely necessary to have it, you'll want it if you want less burden on your brain and more freedom of expression. "Learn the rules to learn to break them" kind of thing (and you'll be able to match the colours to the picture in your head as well, how cool is that? Hehe) I've done this so much that at this point I just do it for the hell of it. It's very fun :D And, as you might've guessed, I do it for the entirety of the process, with some rare exceptions. While I used to do so in the past, I don't like to use blending modes (eg. soft light, overlay, multiply, etc.) for shading anymore. I find it takes all the excitement out of the whole process for the sake of cheap dopamine, and it used to hinder my skill development because I wasn't learning to "speak the language" of art, I just "used google translate", so to speak.

Anyways... A sketch, then a rough midtone colour layer underneath + background:

Another great tip: I learned it from a video on good costume design in fantasy, which is so unrelated to painting that you're probably like "wha- what..?", BUT... the tip was "the costumes don't have to be historically accurate, they just have to make sense in the story". Your colours don't have to match your reference perfectly, they just have to make sense inside the painting, and that's what will make your art feel alive (along with other things ofc).

Next I create another layer on top of all that and get to actually paint, and this is where the blocking part comes in.

There is a really good video on this subject if you want to learn this kind of technique, and an Instagram page of a different artist that I've been immensely admiring for some time now. Although now that I think about it, neither of them use midtones as a base... Anyway,

I start with the darkest shadows, moving on towards lighter ones, noting some places where the they reflect more blueish/grayish tones of his uniform on his neck and jawline, and where they reflect the reddish environment on his nose, temple, cheek, ear, and neck.

Another great artist to help improve lighting skills.

I frequently make new layers on top of everything as I go, just so that I have some room for error and can delete them later if I'm not satisfied, and then merge them down if I am, because I hate being indecisive with too many changes, and having unnecessary clutter.

Sometimes if I don't like how a certain colour looks on the painting, I undo the stroke (or paint on top, if it's too late to undo) and just tweak it on the wheel until it looks right to my eye and move on. Eg. on the next screenshot, I didn't like how that blue from the sketch looked one the screenshot before, so I adjusted it a little with Hue/Saturation.

I also like to slightly exaggerate the palette so that it looks a bit more interesting:

The last thing I usually do is light, with tiny highlights being the absolute last, because both are very easy to overdo. I manually pick the colour from the colour wheel, make a few strokes where it's supposed to be the brightest, and then use eyedropper tool to sample different spots from the freshly-painted areas to make it easier to blend.

Now while that colour might look pretty light, it isn't light at all. To be fair, the difference between light and shadow isn't even that big sometimes. I used to overshoot with either of them in the past, picking either too light or too dark, and was frustrated and baffled why my painting was looking as shit as it was.

So I guess another tip: for lights, pick the colour much closer to your midtone than you think you need, and then adjust accordingly. The reason being: your eyes and brain are partners in crime and are constantly lying to you.

The (I guess second) base is done, and at this point, it's just a matter of staring at his face for 2, or however long, hours and adding more and more strokes, sampling different spots between them, until I like how it looks.

Sometimes, if I realize that either the proportions are a bit off or some lines don't look the way they're supposed to, I use some Photoshop tools to my advantage. I merge everything together (cause at this point I really don't plan on changing the sketch itself or the background), and use Liquify to move things around. So now it's a one-layer painting, just like the real deal lol

And then I continue doing the same thing I'd done before with all the other parts.

Liquify on his face:

I only lightly paint over most sketch lines because I'm really not that concerned about some of them peeking out, especially at this stage, nor am I very pedantic.

Don't forget about subsurface scattering in areas where light meets shadow, of course:

If I see a place like this where I need a smooth gradient but don't feel like actually doing it cause it'll ruin the ~vibe~, and really, I just wanna add more a bit more pizzazz, I just take the pencil brush and hatch over it instead, alternating the darker and the lighter tones.

The caravat:

A lot of the time professional artists will advise you to look for simple shapes in things - squares, circles, triangles, rhombuses, etc. I'm no exception. Simple shapes will let you see patterns and some sort of order. It's easier to understand complex shapes that way, whether it be fabric, faces/bodies, or inanimate objects.

As you can see here, my brain mostly likes to look for triangles, or half-circles. It just feels right 👌

The wig:

I learned to use translucency, with hair and light fabrics fading into background, from watching and doing watercolour. Here's one of my all-time favourite watercolour artists that does that sometimes, and it looks absolutely stunning: 미술부화실 misulbu

The waistcoat and the jacket:

The hat:

Another thing to point out, if you haven't noticed already, I really like my stokes straight unlike myself, with exceptions, of course. It's another habit I picked up from watching other people draw, as well as my years of studying art professionally. Teachers taught me to use straight criss-crossing hatches to indicate form, instead of curved ones (there was a really cool tiktok showing that kind of technique, but I can't find it :(). Not that I follow their advice in its intended way majority of the time lololol but um... yeah...

So anyway, this is the end of part 1, I'll try to finish the second part tomorrow. It will be about smaller details, texture, and an tiiiny bit of 🔥grime🔥

[bugsbenefit]

the same-outfit-hell post from marie shout out heart🫶 @emblazons actually made me look at some of the leaks we got because it gave me horrible s4 flashbacks. i'll never get over them giving us the same outfit for half the season that was so fucked up of them

but we've really only seen two different outfits for each character by now, at most

we know two of Mike's outfits right now, one with the striped polo and black jeans + jeans jacket, which he wears at school, at some point in his room, out biking with Will, and while talking to El on the radio station's roof (not included here bc not enough space, we've really seen that outfit a Lot)

but i'm also 99.9% sure the person on the right here is Finn based on the video he posted of that cake, as well as him seemingly also wearing it in the party hand shot, which would make this Mike's second fit

Will always has the same jacket on top but there's still 1) blue shirt black jeans, second pic is the same look just without the jacket and 2) checkered yellow shirt with teal polo and brown pants (again without the jacket when they're not shooting)

and the same two looks thing goes for most characters by now like Hopper, Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Jonathan

Robin and Jonathan with the variation of not always wearing their jackets as well (which could very well just be the actors being hot on set)

everyone else we've seen only reps one outfits so far: Max, Dustin, Murray, Joyce, Henry, and Nell Fisher (most likely Holly imo but not officially confirmed and all)

Lucas most likely fits into here as well, i'm pretty sure this is the same jacket, but there's not really a way to tell for sure

and while El also technically only has one outfit right now she's also a bit extra because she's confirmed to be filming in just the shirt of it too. seems kind of similar to how she kept taking off layers of her s4 outfit as well

so overall, it could very well be we've only seen them film for two in universe days (unless one of these outfits is the FinalOutfitTM for the finale in which case they could wear it for more than one day due to The Circumstances)

really makes me wonder if they're just hiding other days extra well due to spoiler reasons (it could also be that they have agreements with "leakers" to not show certain things in favour of letting them hang around to see some others, that's not uncommon). or if there's just days they happen to film almost completely indoors on sets (like how Max's hospital room, Mike's basement, Henry's attic, the void, etc are all sound stages. there could very well be an entire episode that they film exclusively inside where the actors are completely "hidden" the whole time)

it could also really just be a coincidence that we're always seeing them wear the same thing, it's not like we have that much bts shots of each individual character right now lmao

[coffeeandbatboys]

Riye

(Mando'a; favor after a run of bad luck)

K'oyacyi: a literal order to stay alive

Warnings: mentions of death, Fives Lives!AU fix it. There is a lot of Mando'a in this. Set when Echo and Rex are split from the bad batch. Echo makes some bad jokes about his death. No clonecest here just really close brothers. Cloneshippers DNI I will block you.

The nightmares plagued Rex's mind every night. War had not been kind to his mental health, and the things he'd seen haunted him to the day.

The death of his Vod'ika at the hands of the Coruscant Guard was a regular occurrence in his dreams. Replaying the horrifying image of the blaster bolt burning into Fives' chest.

But he'd get up every morning and face another day of walking on eggshells so as to not catch the eye of the empire.

Which was kriffing hard seeing as he was in the middle of a very large firefight involving athere'sn entire company of Imperial Stormtroopers. He really wished that he hadn't asked Echo to stay with the computer equipment back at the inn, but it wouldn't do any good to wish at this point.

But another voice joined the fray. A clone, no doubt, but underneath a layer of tiredness, a familiar lilt of humor shone through. It made Rex's heart ache to hear it. But he caught sight of the newcomer's armor and nearly cried out. ARC armor. With little flecks of blue paint stubbornly refusing to be scrubbed off, and shoddy patchwork over a hole in the left breastplate. It couldn't be.

"Fives?!" Rex cried, taking his helmet off once they were in the clear.

The hand that held a blaster faltered and fell to his side.

"Rex..."

"How the hell are you still alive, di'kut?"

"Its good to see you too Captain. Not really sure, to answer your question." He said, taking his bucket off and flashing a sad smile.

Rex pulled the ARC Trooper close.

"I've got someone who's been waiting a long time to see you."

Fives cocked his head to the side, but Rex didn't offer an explanation right away, just turned and led his little brother by the hand.

"Long story short, Echo never died."

Fives shook his head. "What the kark did you just say?"

"He was given over to the techno union so they could use his brain to mine our battle plans. He's got a whole cybernetic getup but he looks very, very different."

When they reached the inn, Rex ordered Fives (who was still trying to process the earlier information) to put his bucket on and stay quiet in the main room. A minute later, he returned with an odd looking clone who bore gray and red armor, and had a scomp attachment on one arm.

"I'm not sure how to tell you boys this but everything you thought you knew is wrong."

"What are you talking about, Rex?" Echo deadpanned, Causing Fives to still.

"Echo, it seems we've found—"

Before the captain could finish his introduction, Fives had taken his helmet off again, earning a groan from the former.

It was Echo's turn to go rigid. He slowly removed his own helmet, revealing his teary eyes.

"It can't be. You're supposed to be-" Echo was cut off by Fives lunging forward to wrap his twin in the biggest hug of their lives. It took Echo a second to get his bearings and return the gesture, but he was still in shock.

"Stars, Echo, what did they do to you?" He asked, pulling away to hold his brother's pale face in his hands. Tears were gathering in his eyes as they frantically searched Echo's.

Echo gave a lopsided grin. "Turns out you get new a cool new set of limbs when you get blown up."

This caused a pained cry to rise from Fives' throat at the terrible joke.

"I thought you were dead."

"I could say the same about you!"

Echo leaned his forehead against Fives'. They hadn't noticed that Rex left to force knew where until that moment.

After hours of talking, the twins were exhausted. They'd hardly left each other's side since they'd been reunited. And neither one was planning on doing so any time soon. But they needed rest, so they had moved to one of the two beds, still opting to be close.

"Do you remember what we told each other the morning before..." Echo didn't really want to finish the sentence.

"Yeah." Fives scoffed. "K'oyacyi."

Echo giggled. "Yeah that went up in flames. Kinda like I did."

Fives groaned "You need to stop joking about that di'kut. You 'dying' really messed me up."

Echo's stomach dropped. He remembered crying his heart out after Rex told him what had happened to Fives. Or what they'd thought happened.

"Hey," Echo spoke in the same reassuring voice he used when one of the dominoes woke up from a nightmare when they were cadets. "I'm right here, Fives. You're here. What more could we ask for? We kept our promise. K'oyacyi."

Fives' grip on his brother tightened a little bit.

"Ner Vod, I don't ever want to watch you die again. You're my brother; I love you. I just...I can't do that again."

"I love you too, Fives'ika. I promise you won't. I'm here."

When Rex came back, he was met with Fives sleeping soundly on one of the beds, and Echo sprawled out over half of his twin brother's torso. Both had a death grip like beskar on each other. His domino vod'ikas, back together again.