#if you want to read the images and tumblrs click to open is too small do right click > open image in new tab

[receding-tides]

Agent 3, a little on the broke side, decides to sign up for the local shifty job everyone calls 'Salmon Run'. Fighting an army of ferocious fish isn't above her skill level, but the true difficulty lies with her teammates - as one of them seems to have recognised her as the New Squidbeak Splatoon's most fearsome agent.

Here's my piece for @heroshotzine !! :] Leftover sales are open until December 8th!

The fic can be read here with the pretty layout from the zine itself, or alternatively it's posted on Toyhouse and AO3 !

[ineffable-endearments]

Hello, everyone!

In light of Neil Gaiman's comment that Amazon is close to officially renewing Good Omens but hasn't done so yet, I think those of us who can should start sending physical postcards to Amazon Studios!

The TL;DR of this post is that you can easily send a postcard from MyPostcard.com for about $3 (USD, I'm sure other currencies can vary). The Web site will print and mail it for you, so you don't have to do any printing or mailing yourself. The postage is included in the $3.

If you don't already have an image or card you want to use, you can just use one of mine above. Some of them are small because of small source images, but the site seems to resize them appropriately for the card. There are bigger versions in a Google Drive folder that you shouldn't have to be logged in to see.

You can send the postcards asking for a third season of Good Omens addressed to Jennifer Salke and Vernon Sanders, co-heads of Amazon Studios, at:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

@fuckyeahgoodomens was the first to post this contact information for Amazon, so thank you, Ixi.

If it's something you don't mind, I would very deeply appreciate reblogs on this, since it works better if lots of people see it! No pressure if you don't want to, though.

And if you have Questions, click through below for my reasoning on all this.

Why should we send postcards to Amazon Studios?

We've made lots of noise online about renewal, and we've done a lot of streaming Good Omens. But I haven't seen much discussion of sending physical mail or, specifically, postcards.

Mail takes up space in the real world. It's slightly harder to ignore than email. It's way more attention-grabbing than posts on X or Tumblr or any other social media site. Because postage is required, physical mail can also appear more "committed."

Postcards specifically are great because of their convenience for the recipient. No one has to open them to read them. All it takes is a quick glance to see what we're asking for, and realistically, a quick glance is the best we can ask for in a corporate office. That's why I'm emphasizing postcards over regular letters (although really, anything helps).

Is sending postcards really going to motivate Amazon to make more Good Omens?

Postcard and letter-writing campaigns have helped get shows renewed in the past. Star Trek: The Original Series is a good example of a series that got another season after a letter-writing campaign. This article has more examples.

We don't actually know what's going on in Good Omens's case. Maybe postcards would make a difference; maybe they wouldn't. We can only make our most determined effort at making sure we're heard, and sending mail is part of that.

The cost of sending a postcard is too much for me.

I understand that sending a postcard will not be an option for many of us. This post isn't intended to try to push you into spending money you don't have. If you still want to find a way to participate, you can also send an email to cs-reply@amazon.com with your comments about wanting Good Omens 3. It's not physical mail, but it is still a personal message from a customer.

In fact, people who are sending postcards might want to follow up with an email, too.

Do we have to use your postcard designs?

No! Not necessarily! You can use anything.

As long as the message you write includes how much you want Good Omens 3, your postcard's image doesn't necessarily have to relate. You could send a souvenir postcard that says "Greetings from Los Angeles, CA / Tadfield, England / etc" from your local post office and just write your message on the back.

Technically, even a plain index card should be thick enough to mail as a postcard, at least by USPS standards. Just write your desire for Good Omens 3 on it, put a stamp and Amazon's address on it, and make sure it's at least 90mm x 127mm (3.5in x 5in).

Isn't Amazon Studios going to notice a bunch of postcards being mailed from the same Web site?

I'm sure they will. But the messages will each be unique, and again, they'll know each card represents a person who had to order the card and postage themselves.

Speaking of unique messages, what should I write?

One sentence is enough. Definitely indicate that you want Season 3 of Good Omens. If you want to add more, you could also write a sentence or two about how much you love the series so far.

Above all, be polite and straightforward! Remember that sarcasm and jokes often do not come across well in print, so it may be best to stick with simple statements that can be taken at face value.

What address should the cards go to?

The co-heads of Amazon Studios appear to be Vernon Sanders and Jennifer Salke; you can address them by name, although I'm guessing it will be someone else who does the reading/glancing.

Amazon Studios's address is:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

Where did you get these images?

The images for the nightingale postcard and the Crowley postcard are screencaps from directedbypiper.

The Please Do Not Lick the Walls and Fell the Marvelous posters were downloads from the Amazon X-Ray feature.

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies postcard was adapted from cover art I did for A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine. Most of it is my own, although the mottled background is an extremely blurred version of a free stock texture from Pixabay, users chrisfiedler and/or humusak.

The bookshop postcard is a promotional image from Amazon used in a Den of Geek article.

[domaystic]

Domaystic 2023 is back!

link to bigger image: click here

[Image description: a blue clothes hanger with clips where socks are drying under the sun; among the socks the word domyastic is separated in three parts and hanged as well. On the right side: the list of 31 prompts and 5 alternatives.]

Hello! This is THE post for DOMAYSTIC 2023 :D

Domaystic is the combination of “domestic” and “May” and it's a prompt event run on May based on the domestic trope: anything inside, outside, beside the house or that has that normalcy flavor of everyday life.

If any of these prompts inspire your muse, please, don’t hesitate and join!

Text prompts

01 Housewarming   02 A stash of...   03 List   04 Packed lunch    05 Learning something new   06 Under the same umbrella    07 Stained clothes   08 The things in that drawer    09 Mistaken identity   10 Bath   11 Volunteering   12 Crisis    13 Taking turns   14 Parade   15 Junkmail    16 Sleeping habits   17 Marked date on calendar    18 Discount at favourite store   19 Police at the door    20 In the nearby park   21 Handmade gift   22 S/o on the local news    23 Small couch   24 Secret language   25 Misdialed calls    26 Sounds from above   27 Passage through a fence 28 Recycling   29 Lottery   30 Feeling of doing nothing    31 Midnight snack

Alternatives

A. No, no, don't lift it!   B. There's a ... in the room! C. Stop the car, now!   D. Look, I made it work! E. Oh, I can't wait to do it!

Text prompts in German: click here Text prompts in Spanish: click here Text prompts in Italian: click here Text prompts in French: click here

Lots of text under the cut!

General rules and guidelines

All fandoms or original content are welcome.

Any kind of media is welcome: fanfiction, fanart, fanmixes, puzzles, diy art, quizzes, podfics, edits, fic recs or whatever it is you feel like doing. That’s all good.

No restrictions in ships, size, min/max word count or the language you want to write into.

As last year, feel free to mix the domestic prompt with anything you like: more drama and lots of crying? YES! The thrill of an investigation for the disappearance of your characters’ fave socks? YES!

There's one prompt for each day for a total of 31 prompts + 5 alternatives with an exclamation point at the end (predictable!).

You can share your work on any platform you like. If you share it on tumblr and tag the blog, I’ll reblog it.

Combine more prompts together? That’s fine but I will reblog the entry only once here on tumblr.

Combine these prompts with another event? Fine too.

You don’t have to do all the prompts to join the event. Do the ones you enjoy.

The event is consistently checked upon during the month of May, but in case you want to share your creation at a later date, you can. I just reblog on a lower pace after May is over.

As for the reblogs, last year I gave myself a bit of an headache, so this time I’d like to try it this way: once the day of the corresponding prompt comes, people will post their work and then I’ll reblog it when that day comes for me too. Does it make sense? I hope so. I’ll miss the world clocks but let’s just trust each other.

AO3 collection

The domaystic2023 collection is open from May, 1st: click here - all the info and prompts are also on the profile page of the collection.

In your tumblr post I ask you to:

Mention the blog in your post @domaystic - tracked tag: #domaystic2023

State clearly the fandom name or if it is original content

State clearly if it is sfw or nsfw

State clearly which prompt you used

In case of lengthy posts, use the “read more option”: ctrl-shift-k on rich text; [[*MORE*]] on html (remove asterisks)

Please, TAG PROPERLY. If there are any trigger warnings, I will base my own reblog on your tags so, please, take even a moment longer to carefully tag it. I hope all participants to stay safe in this event.

Here’s an example:

blablabla my story is beautiful, look @domaystic ! 

#domaystic2023 #day1 #[extraA - E if alternative prompt is used] #[fandom name or oc] #[sfw or nsfw] #[trigger warnings that I get from your post] tw

If you have any question feel free to send an ask, inbox is always open. :D

Hi, @thebigbangblogproject​ can you reblog this?

[phantomcodes]

seashell | theme by sage

get the code: $3 - live preview / version 2 based on my current theme on @phantomcodes​ :)

features (more info below the cut):

optional: music player, extra links, updates, sticky bottom post info, tags on click, glow effect

customizable: description, colors, body & title fonts, font size, & blog title

header with blog icon, title, url and day/night, tumblr controls, & scroll to top buttons

footer with search bar & pagination

sticky top post info, sticky bottom post info with a drop down menu

responsive design, 3 border radius (corners) options, uploadable sidebar image

this theme uses tabler icons

nothing needs to be changed in the code, everything can be changed in the customize panel!

terms:

reblog if using

do not touch the credit

view all terms

credits listed in the code / credits page

please consider supporting me ♡

make sure you read through this post before asking questions!!

left sidebar

the sidebar image is about 270px x 300px (the width will adjust depending on your font size)

4 links for home, ask, archive, & my credit - do not touch this

right sidebar

the music player, extra links, & updates can all be individually toggled off

toggle all of them off if you don’t want this sidebar at all

up to 8 links each with an icon & text

up to 6 updates each with an icon & text

when your browser width gets too small the sidebars will disappear and a sidebar button will appear on the footer (bottom right)

uploading your song:

i recommend using google drive to host your mp3 files - below is a brief explanation for how to do this but you can also see the resources provided here by glenthemes and more links on my credits page

to start you need an mp3 audio file, once you have the one you want go to google drive and click: ＋ New ➞ File upload

select your mp3 audio file and click open

open your newly uploaded audio file in google drive and click the three dots on the top right, then click Share and under General Access change it to Anyone with the link can view

copy the sharing link provided, it will look something like this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBA6KdlLEzoEZPQ6hmaSr9LGLeCQGPxz/view?usp=sharing

go to the following site and paste your sharing url in the first box provided: https://www.joelgrayson.com/drive-download-link-generator

your final product should look something like this: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1pBA6KdlLEzoEZPQ6hmaSr9LGLeCQGPxz

make sure the music player is toggled on in the theme, paste your audio link in the Song URL field

bottom post info

if you toggle the sticky footer option on, the bottom post info will stick to the footer as you scroll

[squarebracket-trickster]

Hey I’m new to tumblr and want to start posting some of my writing for people to read and comment one. Do you have any tips on WIPs, drafts and how to get attention on it? Very new to this space so I don’t really know how things are done.

Hi! First of all, welcome to Tumblr (and Writeblr)!!

The first thing I recommend you do is make a Writeblr intro post and tag it #writeblr intro. Introduce yourself, what genres you like to write, who some of your inspirations are, what your WIP(s) is/are about. You can scroll through the tag to see what others have posted if you need ideas.

You can also make WIP specific intro posts and tag them #WIP intro. These tend to include images that match the vibe of your WIP and will also contain a blurb of what your story is about and a snippet or two of your writing.

For any writing you post - snippets, full chapters, WIP intros, OC intros, single sentences from your WIP - you can also make use of tags like #writing, #writeblr, #writers on tumblr, #fiction writing, #creative writing, #original writing, and genre specific tags like #fantasy writing. Put the five highest trending tags first to guarantee your post shows up in them.

Another great way to grow your blog (and help your writing find an audience) is to interact with other writeblrs. Follow the people who reblog your intro post, send them asks (and ask games like Story-Telling Saturday (STS) or Worldbuilding Wednesday (WBW)), reblog their WIPs, jump in on open tag games. My post for how tag games work can be found here. The more people get to know you the more people will send you asks back, tag you in games, and most importantly reblog your WIP posts so they can reach a wider audience.

You can also specify in your bio if you are ask/tag game friendly. You are more likely to get tags/asks if other writeblrs are certain they won't be annoying you haha.

In general, posts containing links to original writing hosted on other platforms (google docs, wordpress etc.) tend not to do as well as posts that contain the writing itself. I've also heard that posts with images and interesting titles tend to do better. Same with formatted paragraphs and dialogue as opposed to a single, huge text block.

Another thing you can do to help readers find your work is make a master-post for all your WIPs and pin it to the top of your blog. List each WIP, then add hyperlinks below (in reading order) to each post containing snippets/excepts from it. [To make a hyperlink: click on the three dots on the top of the post you want to link to, select "copy link", then go to the post you want to link from, select the text you want to link, then ctrl+v. This will be your end result.]

In settings, you can also feature up to 10 tags that you use for all content on your blog related to specific WIPs. This will help make it easier for readers to search for and find your content too.

My last bit of advice is to talk about writing on your blog (and use the tags). Make little jokes and memes, those "oof relatable" kind of posts, and make and reblog writing advice from time to time. It is the hard truth of WriteBlr that these posts get a lot more interaction than original writing does but they do serve to get your blog seen by more people because they are short, relatable, have wide appeal, and/or low-effort to read. Strangely, they seem to prompt people to check out your blog. I tend to get a small wave of new followers every time one of my posts reaches 100 notes or more. I can only speculate as to why this is.

I hope something in here helps and good luck!

If anyone else has any tips feel free to add on!

[whosthatdccharacter]

Heyo! We've done six of these so far and it's been fun running this little game for yall. I hope its entertaining for you!

Now that we've got some under our belts I wanted to open up for feedback on a few different points. Im going to go over how ive done stuff so far, so if you have any thoughts on aspects of it you can chime in.

Putting the rest under the cut since it's kind of long.

1. Timing

So far I've tried to post new ones at sort of random times in the day so it doesn't give any one a consistent advantage. Im US Eastern and posts might go up anytime between 8am and 2am. I might even use the queue to schedule round the clock.

Another timing thing is that when someone guesses right, I give at least a few hours more before posting the reveal. It's just to give people a little more time to play, even if someone gets the answer right away. That's not to say you cant play after the reveal posts go up, but if youre anything like me, as soon as the ability to see the answer is available im clicking that link lol.

And since the reveal post tags the winner, I wait at least a few more hours for the next silhouette post so the prev winner doesnt have the advantage of being notified of the next one.

So a question here is should I wait longer or shorter on any of these areas? Do you like that its only one unrevealed at a time?

2. Difficulty level

This has been the hardest because it's a learning curve to find what's easy, what's hard, and why. There are SO many characters and runs, so it's hard to know if something I thought was memorable was even a blip on other people's radars. So ive tried to do a mix of difficulties.

Easier ones mean more people have the satisfaction of guessing and maybe getting it right, but if it's too easy then it might feel like these are puzzles for babies.

Harder ones mean a challenge and a lot of satisfaction if you figure it out or know that it's some niche thing. But if it's too hard then nobody gets it and it can feel kind of bullshit.

So what im wondering here is, do you feel like these have been too easy or too hard? Do you like it being a mix?

3. Character and image selection

If I put up a straightforward silhouette of Etrigan, everyone's going to get it and there's no challenge. On the flip side if i did a silhoutte or jason blood standing in a contextless room its like that could be literally any random man, so itd lead to random guesses. So ive been trying to find the sweet spot of the silhouette being somewhat familiar but not completely unique, and the rest of the image with some stuff going on. I think that's been going well but it does mean it relies on me and my ability to make a good little puzzle of it. So i hope I've been doing an alright job in that area.

Choosing from particular runs is interesting. I usually think of a character first then go find something they were in. Im finding the stories with other characters and team ups are good options to provide that extra context. But then the tricky part is that i have to be at least somewhat aware of whats popular and whats not. I dont want to use a panel from a run nobody read (unless its really good), and I also dont want to do one so infamous that everyone knows it like the back of their hand. So as with choosing particular images, I hope my choice of titles I'm sourcing these from has been fair.

4. How to guess

I went with tags so it encourages people to reblog and hopefully spread awareness of the blog. I think its also the easiest way people are inclined to interact per post. We couldve done asks but sometimes those get dropped by tumblr, and all the reveal posts would be answers to asks instead of standalone posts.

I like the idea that even for old ones people can still play and have fun with guessing on their own. Not sure if theres a clever way to encourage that.

And i hope the leaderboard is fun. Just a small incentive to participate. Its like saying nice job, thank you for playing.

5. Hints

As mentioned previously, if over a day goes by and nobodys got it ill post a hint. I've only done one hint so far and i was really not sure how subtle or overt i should be. Idk if anyone has thoughts about it?

--

So that's it. That's the process behind things and kind of where my mind is on it. I want it to be fun and chill, so if you ever have feedback about something you can always send an ask. It can be about the topics here or really at anytime about anything.

Thanks for playing everyone! Keep it up!

[egg2k16]

@wip I've refreshed my page, and it made tumblr desktop appear in the new format being slowly rolled out. I don't like it because the formatting of the images, posts, and sidebars fit too closely to one another, making it feel cramped and difficult to let my eyes roam.

With the previous look of tumblr desktop, there was ample space on either side of the main scroll. I think it's a good idea to keep the rightmost column nonstick, since it opens up the visual panorama, therefore giving our peripheral vision more space to relax in. I'm not too hot on the leftmost column sticking as one scrolls, it feels obtrusive, like if there were someone in your bedroom and you wanted them to leave already.

Also, because of the cramped feeling the columns give me, I tried to zoom out the website, and while it resulted in the columns' material getting more space between them (simulating the previous desktop look), it resulted in the text sizes becoming too small to comfortably read.

Splitting the menus from the previous desktop incarnation into outer left and right columns doesn't really seem to me to be necessary, since they were completely fine snuggled up to each other on the rightmost column.

Another point to the feeling of the layout feeling cramped is the topmost row of text. They're on the verge of kissing the line, when they should have, as menu options, have more space around them, so if I were to click on the "For you" page, my mouse wouldn't hit my browser's bookmarks or address bar.

In short, I think the current layout is claustrophobic, and if it's going to be kept, there should be some resizing done to the menus on either side of the main scroll area.

[crazybutgood]

Origami fic rec (softlystarstruck)

Happy one year fandom anniversary @softlystarstruck !💖 Here's a smol thing I made, based on the fact that bee likes pink + mini cadbury eggs sold during Easter~ Thank you so so much to @corvuscrowned and @curlyy-hair-dont-care for your encouragement and feedback 💕

Please click on the images for better quality!

Images’ description: a pink origami Easter egg, closed on the left and opened on the right to reveal slips of ivory coloured paper inside it

Image description: the pink origami Easter egg next to the opened slips of paper. The papers all hold quotes from some of bee's lovely fics

Here are the fics that I took the quotes from! Do check them out and leave some love for bee:

the moon between my hands (M, 3782)

Malfoy sits in the common room late at night, and Harry joins her.

(They’re girls and they’re falling in love.)

Darling, You're Wiggling (T, 4769) (by @lou-isfake and @softlystarstruck)

Draco has a secret. Harry doesn’t have a secret, until he does. Then he goes to Claire’s.

tender is the night (G, 575)

for the microfic prompt "space song"

measure of affection (T, 329) (warnings for a small bit of panic)

for the drarry microfic prompt "wait"

take a chance on me

written for a tumblr prompt challenge! based on the ask "I'd love to read more from the universe of your "just right" kinktober fic" from anon.

this is the first meeting of harry and draco from just right, based off of this line: “…even though Draco’s been with him every step of the way, after Harry said it’s Harry, actually, and Draco repeated his name like it was a revelation and they ended up snogging in the dingy alley behind that too-loud club.”

content: clubs, jealousy, trans harry, trans draco, no misgendering, draco having Realizations

honey milk tea (T, 14322)

When Draco runs into Harry at his favorite boba tea shop and gets so flustered he orders the exact same thing, he has no idea how quickly his life is going to change.

A love story full of silly texts, blushing twenty-something-year-olds, a leather jacket, and of course: bubble tea dates.

if it is love (M, 700)

for the drarry microfic prompt “hope is a heartache”

home is wherever i'm with you (T, 6164)

“Okay, well when are you going to finish decorating your room then?”

“What?” Draco asks. “What do you mean?”

“I–” Harry blinks, looking bewildered. “I mean, I’ve only been in there a couple times, but don’t you need to unpack the rest of your boxes? It’s been a few months since you moved in.”

“I don’t have any more boxes,” Draco says, feeling as lost as Harry looks.

“But all you have is your bookshelf and your bed. Don’t you have knick knacks? Or– or plants?”

Draco slowly shakes his head.

~

A story about what it means to build a home.

you bring me home (E, 35191)

Harry is happy. He has his cat cafe and his hobbies. He has his friends, and Dolly Parton, and a shirt with a cowboy frog on it. It’s all a man needs, really.

He doesn’t need to obsess over a magic-less, anxious Draco Malfoy coming into his cafe after disappearing from the wizarding world years ago. He doesn’t. Not even if the cats like Malfoy. Not even if Malfoy is soft, and funny, and a little bit neurotic.

No matter how much he wants to obsess.

guide me home (T, 2.4k) (warnings for terminal illness w a happy ending and some blood imagery)

for the drarry microfic prompt “haunt me in the night”

[beelspillowpet]

I really want to commission you but I don’t have the money to spend at the time being, are there other ways I can support you?

There are a multitude of ways to support your favorite content creators without spending a single penny!

1) Engage in conversation with them in posts! A lot of us because usually we wish for people to talk to us about our interests or content. Our thoughts behind our posts, or even just checking in on us.

2) Reblogging instead of JUST liking posts. This one matters a lot to us simply because we just don't get the traction we need to motivate us to continue to create content if it isn't appreciated. I understand that we should be doing this because it makes us happy, but we don't all have that mindset yet, and we need and deserve validation from our consumers to feel appreciated. We like making it, yes, but we love being appreciated for it too.

3) Talking about our work in other places. This is kind of the same as the previous point, but isn't limited to tumblr. A lot of us use discord, and some of us use twitter, or whatever else is out there. Bringing our content to other spheres helps spread the word of us further. Try to avoid lifting images or our entire works though, and simply link off to our blogs or the content you like the most.

4) SEND ASKS! (Only if requests are open obviously) We like to write or draw little prompts when in the mood, since it gives us time to communicate AND create in the process. Obeying the rules of our blog will definitely make us feel respected and not glanced over for these sorts of things.

5) Leave positive comments and tell us why you like something. I dunno about anyone else, but I LOVE when people type compliments at me in replies, reblogs, or tags. I STILL go back and read some of the compliments I got from old work just to get a rush of happiness. These sort of things may seem small to you guys, but they keep us going.

6) Monetarily specifically, if you can't afford the prices, or do not wish to commission someone, please don't feel burdened. If someone tries to guilt you for not giving them money, they are awful. But do try to spread the word of their commissions or work in places you think may help them. If you can commission them, and can afford to tip, while not necessary, it is ALWAYS appreciated. If you can't it's fine obviously, but having a tip no matter how big or small, makes anyone happy.

Really, I'm just rambling on and on, but one of the biggest ways to support someone would just be to engage in conversation with them, interact with their posts when they want feedback, and ALWAYS reblog content of theirs. Even if you only have one or two followers, that sort of thing helps US because you never know who clicks on your blog and finds our works. Thank you for not coming into my ask box complaining that my prices are too expensive, or trying to negotiate lowering my prices. I get nervous about that sort of thing too often nowadays, and seeing someone so actively try to support me because they care about this blog and what is posted on it, makes me incredibly jubilant. Have an amazing day or night, nonna!

[wolfchans]

hiiii!!! i absolutely love your gifs, they always look so clean (despite tumblrs need to crönch images aha!). can i ask what your process is? :)

hi friend!! ahh thank you so much that means a lot <3

my process depends on what method i'm feeling like using on the day lol i gif using screencaps and i also gif importing my videos on photoshop. also this is the base of what any gif maker will tell you, but use always 1080p or higher res videos, anything below that will look terrible, but if you can't help it for lower res videos always go for small gifs.

i'm putting this under a read more bc i like to use images to explain things bc i'm a visual learner and i feel like i get my points across more if i use images lol anyway *chan voice* leeeeeeets go!

if i use screencaps, i use the program mpv.net to get them! here's a tutorial on how to set it up (this program runs on windows only iirc, for other platforms original mpv works, but i've heard of people liking potplayer or kmplayer for screencaps)

once i have my screencaps in a folder and everything i open photoshop and go to file->open and find the folder with the images and then click on the first image and then at the bottom of the window that opened i click on "Image Sequence". This makes your screencaps look like a "video without sound" when uploaded to photoshop

once you click open it's going to ask you for a time frame, usually i just click okay bc i fix it later but some people just like to pick whatever the video timeframe was, for skz videos their MVs are in 24fps, for other things like talkers or skz code they usually are in 30fps.

when you go OK it'll show u this

here i do the basics, like cropping to whatever size i want my gif to look like, photoshop will ask you if you want to convert what you cropped to a smart object, you click on YES and then for good measure click on the "never ask me again" box so you don't have to be giving it the okay every time you are cropping things.

for the other method what i do is going file->open and look up my clip of what i'm going to make, photoshop can open .mp4 files, .avi files, .mov files & some .ts files depending on how they were encoded

anyway, you open your video and photoshop will start loading it and once it does it will look exactly like the other method, take a look

here i crop it to whatever size i want my gif again, if my clip is waaaay too long i use the timeline to trim it (this also goes the same for the prev method!) for example i wanted my jeonghan gif to be only this part of a longer clip so i moved the red line to look up where it started and where it finished and moved the both grey rectangle thingies that are at the start and end of the timeline to the points i wanted, like this

and to make my gif i use a photoshop action that i recorded myself with my process, if you want it just lmk! but what it does is basically edit some things like taking it out of that video group

duplicate the layer so it doesn't have these annoying white lines on the sides that are from cropping close to the borders of the video, and then sharpen it so it can look more "clean" and then flatten everything so i work in the frames timeline. This is where i fix my gif speed.

my sharpen is very basic lol i use an older photoshop (bc i just like the way it works jhfdjhfd) so my settings look like this

on newer versions you need to have the "Legacy" option enabled to use it like this

sometimes i go for 500, 0.4 if i want it sharper but for 4k mvs with that setting you're more than good. for other content i try not to overdo my sharpen bc it looks like shit so yeah, just mess around with what you find looks best tbh

after that i do my coloring, i make everything from scratch bc i don't like to use psds and i like to make my gifs very.... vibrant lol my go to layers are curves, levels,vibrance & selective color to fix up things! if i want to make edits with a color with more accent i use selective colors or hue/sat

and then to finish up i go to file ->save for web (in newer versions of photoshop this option is in export!) and these are my settings

and thats it! thats whatever i do that gives me okay looking gifs lol

if you want to check out other basics i made a very simple guide on my main blog HERE it's kinda a bit old so maybe a couple links won't work but nothing google can't give you a result for if you search :P

[funnuraba]

Quick guide to SAVING LIVEJOURNAL/OTHER FAN CONTENT with THE WAYBACK MACHINE:

(quick note: Tumblr content is honestly much more at risk, so if you have the stomach to try finding things on Tumblr, you can also use this method on that and do some good work)

Uhhh this got long, so look for the bolded parts if you’re not here for a long read lol.

Okay so, at some point, LJ is going under. Or at least all the gay stuff they can find on there. More to the point, PHOTOBUCKET, TINYPIC, IMAGESHACK.... all of those have left huge scars in the records of LJ fandom. So I’ve been using the fact that the Wayback Machine lets you save outlinks if you sign up with the Internet Archive! (Free!)

There’s a Save Page Now function! Good places to use it on include:

Rec lists

People’s masterlists of their own fics/art/meta

Somebody’s well-organized LJ Memories (the page you save needs to contain direct links to the posts you want to save, so if there are sublevels in the Memories you need to go as deep as possible)

community profiles

Every page of a community, if you really feel like it--I’ve been doing this with some small comms, but it’s.... less than feasible with big communities.

Check the “Save Outlinks” button, and the WB will also save links from the page you enter! You can get a lot of stuff at once. Unfortunately there’s a limit on the number of links it’ll grab, but it’s better than nothing. You’ll also see a lot of ERROR!s and it’s annoying. When it’s a Job Failed you can try the page again later.

I don’t know yet how it picks the outlinks to save, so maybe it’s random and you could eventually get all of them by Saving repeatedly??? I’m pretty sure it tries to start at the top, though, because communities with a huge list of tags in their layout are probably not worth your time: I’ve been trying to get stuff from the KKM Fanfic Challenge comm, but.... well, look at it. Trying to save any page with outlinks just picks up a whooooole bunch of those tags on the sidebar, and barely any actual posts. No matter what kind of URL you put in, that sidebar’s always there. You’d have to save each post individually to get every fic. Hope LJ’s not going anywhere fast!

Community profiles are among the most important, because that gives us a lot of info like how many members are left (after years of bleeding users) and how many comments and posts there were in the community! Unfortunately this method is REALLY BAD for art and icons--lots of them are just gone with tinypic and people’s personal LJ albums. Also the WB isn’t good with images in general and there’s no real alternative. But the profiles of icon communities, plus fanfics, meta, stuff like that: a lot of it left to be grabbed! Big main community profiles are best, because they often listed other smaller communities for the same fandom. Saving the big profile with Outlinks will pick up the profile links of all those smaller communities!

Sometimes the big community profiles will just make you sad. Try to soldier on. (If you’re really committing to this, don’t forget that smaller comms will also have even smaller comms listed as affiliates that never made it into the Big Fandom Community’s profile. You can come back later and Save their profiles directly. Sometimes they also have links to fanlistings and other rare things that are also useful to have saved!)

If you can think of a small community, you can also use the method of saving every page, which takes some work and time: you have to save the skip=10 URL, and after that skip=30, skip=50, etc. Then come back later and do skip=20, skip=40, skip=60, etc. The reason for this is that the Wayback Machine will only save one single URL every 30 minutes. So if you’re saving outlinks from skip=30, you’ll also get an incomplete snapshot of skip=20 and skip=40, minus all the important links on skip=20 and skip=40. Obviously, this isn’t much fun and works only with small comms. But it does save a lot of text.

Here’s the type of stuff you’ll get:

a saved PROFILE url: This is good! It saves info about how active a user or community was. In this case it was a user, but the profile is info they chose to put front and center, and the WB isn’t gonna crawl any deeper and grab personal posts from 2004 or anything. (You’ll get a lot of user profiles that aren’t really necessary when using this method.)

a modified POST url: Also good, but you’re gonna get a ton of duplicates on these due to how many different ways LJ would link to a single post. The style=mine doesn’t alter the content. You’ll also see lots of “#cutid1″, which of course is the link left by an LJ-cut. That’s fine, it gets the post. The content of posts 82379 is safe! (but NOT all the nested comments!)

a comment link (in this case dreamwidth which isn’t in danger, but the same format): This saved both the post itself (79392) and a comment thread (131360). You probably can’t get every comment thread just because the WB is bad at unfolding LJ threads, but this does contain the post itself. If you don’t see the plain post URL itself in the list of saved URLS once WB is done saving outlinks, but you do see a comment link: that comment link also has the original post! You don’t need to keep trying!

a journal’s tag link: This is less useful. It saves a snapshot of the tag page itself, but nothing deeper. Any content under an LJ cut or in the comments is not saved. There’s no way to keep these from saving, though. Just keep in mind, that tag in the picture doesn’t mean that the fics this person linked to have been saved. You’ll have to enter the tag link URL itself into the Wayback Machine’s SAVE page for that.

ERROR! JOB FAILED.: These are annoying! Most likely nothing was saved. Unless a comment link was successfully saved, you’ll have to copy-paste the URL that failed and put it into the SAVE page.

LIVE PAGE IS NOT AVAILABLE: There’s nothing you can do unless this URL was already saved somewhere.

BUT WHAT ABOUT IMAGES????

The passage of time means it’s probably too late. Imageshack and Tinypic took out a huge chunk of images on LJ, and PhotoBucket tried to make people pay them by putting big ol’ watermarks on all pictures except those hosted by premium users. It didn’t work and they said sorry, but the watermarks are still there. Lol. If you right-click +Open image in new tab, the watermark goes away, but who wants to do that with every single image? Also, the Wayback Machine sucks with big images and there’s no alternative at the moment.

If you’re lucky enough to find some holy grail like a big post of 1000 icons hosted on someone’s premium Photobucket, you could save a snapshot of the page. Wayback Machine lets you check that as an option, but IF YOU SAVE A SNAPSHOT WITH A TOOL LIKE “GoFullPage”: I find that GoFullPage, at least, will save you a big long image with no Photobucket watermarks! But you’ll have to save that image yourself, or store it somewhere, so keep that in mind.

Also, the snapshot means no animated gifs--although if you want to save those, they’ll be tiny little LJ icon gifs, so pretty easy to store on your own computer.

[phantomcodes]

sunrise | theme by sage

get the code: $2 - static preview / version 2 a colorful sidebar theme with dotted border accents

features (more info below the cut):

optional: music player, uploadable sidebar image, info stats, updates, tags on click, glow effect

customizable: description, colors, body & title fonts, font size, & blog title

header with blog icon, ask & archive links, and day/night, tumblr controls

music player with two images, updates tab with up to 6 updates, up to 6 sidebar links, up to 3 info stats

responsive design, 3 post width options, 3 corner options, 3 post margin options, scroll to top button

this theme uses tabler icons

nothing needs to be changed in the code, everything can be changed in the customize panel!

terms:

reblog if using

do not touch the credit

view all terms

credits listed in the code / credits page

please consider supporting me ♡

make sure you read this post & my faq before asking questions!!

uploading your song:

i recommend using google drive to host your mp3 files - below is a brief explanation for how to do this but you can also see the resources provided here by glenthemes and more links on my credits page

to start you need an mp3 audio file, once you have the one you want go to google drive and click: ＋ New ➞ File upload

select your mp3 audio file and click open

open your newly uploaded audio file in google drive and click the three dots on the top right, then click Share and under General Access change it to Anyone with the link can view

copy the sharing link provided, it will look something like this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBA6KdlLEzoEZPQ6hmaSr9LGLeCQGPxz/view?usp=sharing

go to the following site and paste your sharing url in the first box provided: https://www.joelgrayson.com/drive-download-link-generator

your final product should look something like this: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1pBA6KdlLEzoEZPQ6hmaSr9LGLeCQGPxz

make sure the music player is toggled on in the theme, paste your audio link in the Song URL field

sidebar responsiveness

the sidebar will disappear when your browser window gets too small and a sidebar button will appear on the header to toggle it on/off

[akumaalert]

Snippet of “Awake” - First Chapter of “Divergence”

Hey, all! Wanted to share a snippet of the first chapter (”Awake”) of “Divergence” - a fic that will offshoot from “Heavy Metal Lover.” Note that this is basically a whole spoiler for chapter 20 of “Heavy Metal Lover.” If you’re like me and see random stuff saying “Don’t click if you haven’t read...” and click anyway: Hi! Welcome, chaos lover. If you like this and want to know the context, please feel free to check out the full work on AO3.

“Divergence” should be posted within two weeks and will be open to requests for the reader (”Lucky”) to have different experiences than what she has in the original. This can mean the following:

- AUs

- Re-tellings of certain scenes of the original

- Reader-specific details included in old or new/original scenes (i.e., reader is plus sized, skinny, tall, short, etc.)

- Genderbending of any of the characters

Originally made this Tumblr to share snippets of the stories on...so happy that I could finally do that! If you want to skip writing that was in the story, you can start at “Though sleep pulled at your eyelids...”

Story contains mature elements, swearing, and explicit mention of sex. Please be forewarned.

Looking back, it would only be a wonder that it did not occur sooner.

As soon as you were alone in the bedroom, you took off your shoes and eyed the clothes Heisenberg had provided you from the factory...

...before turning to the tub.

Couldn't hurt to bathe. Love to be clean. 

That man is coming back up to this bedroom.

This is the point, self.

The logical side of your brain, for once, remained quiet. 

Though you had clearly lost all sense of sensibility, you at least moved the divider to completely block the tub from any but the most determined of views. 

The water had been scalding when you got in.

By the time you had bathed and decided that your foolishness had reached its limit, it was stark cold.

"This was stupid," you said. "Fucking stupid. What did I want? Him to join me? This is the universe saying 'Wake the fuck up.'"

Though your fingers were pruned, you dried yourself off and pulled a nightgown from the small cupboard beneath the sink.

Sheer as ever. Fuck's sake. The universe had truly saved you.

Until it hadn't.

Heisenberg rushed into the room like a rocket and you jumped as the door slammed close.

"...you here, Luck?"

"Yeah," you called out. "Um...don't come over here...gotta get dressed real quick."

"...k" called Heisenberg.

Wasting no time, you slid the gown over your body and made sure to fan out the edges as far as they would go. 

You needed no mirror to see your nipples proudly displayed through the fabric.

Mouthing a 'fuck' for good measure, you frowned.

"Heisenberg?"

"Yes?"

"Do you...do you mind looking away for a second?"

"From you?"

"Yes."

"...are...are you coming out naked?"

"No," you snapped.

An awkward silence greeted you.

"Heisenberg?"

"Huh?"

"You looking away?"

"Oh. Yeah. You're good now."

Peeking from behind the divider, you only saw Heisenberg's back. 

With more speed than you were familiar with, you bolted to the bed and ducked under the covers.

Once secure beneath the pillowy softness, you breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay. It’s safe."

You did not miss how Heisenberg whirled around.

"Oh...fuck...that was fast."

"Yeah," you said absently.

"Trying to set a fucking record?"

"Something like that."

"Mmn. I...gotta get changed."

"Okay."

The two of you stared at the other.

"You trying to get a free show or you gonna cover those peepers?"

"...I figured you would go behind the divider."

"The divider is on your side of the bed."

"Oh," you said dumbly. "Oh. Yeah...wait."

Yanking the pillow from underneath your head, you smashed it onto your face above your mouth and pressed down.

Heisenberg chuckled. "Dramatic as hell."

"Doing what you asked of me."

"...didn't formally ask you to...did I?"

Swallowing found your throat on fire.

"Mmn."

"What was that?"

"Mmn," you repeated.

"Heh...don't go into public speaking, kid."

You frowned at the ceiling and the darkness of your eyes. 

Instead of speaking, Heisenberg decided to tell you he was done by climbing in the bed beside you. It struck you suddenly that lamps had been placed in the room instead of the candles that the castle was so beset with. But when you removed your pillow, you found yourself met by more muted darkness.

"Sure you okay with this?" asked Heisenberg. "I can fuck off and go into another room. I like to bitch like a drama king, but I don't need anything crazy set up for me."

"Bed is pretty big," you said carelessly. "S'okay. We've been closer."

The chuckle Heisenberg gave was absolutely filthy.

"We have...haven't we?"

The fucking lilt would be the death of you. What a relief it was to blink blindly and stupidly at the man in peace without judgment. 

"Hey - last time I'm reminding you...what's your one job?"

"Get you out in the morning," you replied.

"Because?"

"Ah...generators...production line...something about a reset..."

"That's my girl. Nighty night, Luck."

"Night, Heis."

A turn. A breath. A feeling that you would never be able to sleep with the man so close that you could feel his body heat radiating from him like a welcome sign. 

But you awoke.

You awoke often.

You awoke in the middle of the night from a dream you could barely recall and all the images of Alcina at the forefront of your mind. 

You awoke in Heisenberg's arms and sobbed into his chest as he clung you to him just as sweetly as any of your snowy imaginings. 

"Fuck you doing awake? No...shh...it's okay...shh...you're alright. I'm here. I've got you."

Though sleep pulled at your eyelids, you nudged your head up to feel the spikes of Heisenberg's scruff. You had to stay awake. Could not return to sleep and Alcina awaiting you with her long talons and even longer legs.

"Nightmare?"

You nodded into his neck. 

"Mmn. Have those myself...think you can go back to sleep? Don't think it's quite time for me to leave yet if you just wanna yak about it or something."

Swallowing, you exhaled. "Don't wanna go back to sleep."

With a grunt, Heisenberg sat up to leave you curled on the sheets.

"Just checking the time..."

When Heisenberg turned to pull something from the floor, you noticed that your eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark. Enough so that you saw the loose movements of his arms and realized that he had gone to bed without a shirt. 

"Fuck...two in the morning..."

"I'm sorry," you said, tensing. But Heisenberg was mumbling and coming back to you with open arms. "Sorry I woke you..."

"S'alright," he said, yawning afterward. "Gotten less sleep and done more stupid things after than make sure the reset doesn't fuck up the factory..."

As he spoke, you could feel one of his hands rubbing up and down your arm a bit too roughly. An awkward and well intended move to comfort you.

"Still...I'm sorry...you need all the sleep you can manage to get. I don't know how much work the whole factory thing will be..."

"Honestly not much as long as I get back in time," he said, hand squeezing your arm for good measure before returning to that same rough rubbing motion. "Could probably even come back here afterwards...heh...that would spook that sixty-foot snake."

You laughed a sleepy laugh and settled further into his grasp.

"Mmn...like a fucking little bunny...cuddling into me and shit..."

"I can stop...pull away..."

Heisenberg's hand stopped rubbing you in favor of clutching you to him.

"Shh...you're talking nonsense. Need some sleep."

"Heis..."

"Shhh..."

"Heis, you can just tell me that you like it when we cuddle."

When he tsked and laid his chin on your head, you smiled. It felt so much like that day at the stronghold.

"Why would I say that? Not in the business of lying to people."

Lying...yes...because what we are doing now is causing you so much distress...

"Well," you said, smiling. "I'll say it then. I like it when we cuddle. Especially in bed. Feels more comfy than cuddling in front of the lycans."

A shiver - as though Heisenberg had been beset by the cold - ran through his body.

"Oof...y'okay?"

"Yeah, yeah..." he said absently. "Uh...actually...we might wanna go to sleep after all..."

"Mmn?"

"Yeah...early morning..."

"You mind if I hold onto you for a while? This...this actually helps from the nightmare."

The only way you knew how to describe Heisenberg in that moment was jittery. His movements were fine on their own but were conducted with such awkward quickness as to be alarming.

When he did not answer you, you looked up at him through the dark.

"What's wrong?" you asked.

A beat of silence and then another.

"Nothing's wrong." Quick words to match his quick movement.

"Heisenberg..."

"It's Heis."

"...you...Heis...something isn't right. Just talk to me. In English, preferably."

What you could only assume was a curse in German fell from his lips.

"I...fuck's sake, buttercup...I don't know how to...if you...this was such a bad idea...so fucking STUPID."

"What?" You paused, gathering enough evidence from his huff. "Sleeping together?"

"Yes."

"It was your idea."

"I FUCKING KNOW THAT, OKAY?" he hissed. "Just...I thought...earlier...it made more sense...this made more sense..."

"Glad something did because I am completely and utterly confused," you admitted. 

"You're confused? You started flirting with me." Heisenberg grumbled something low and rough. "Fucking gave me ideas...false hope...so I thought...guh I'm such a fucking idiot..."

Hope began to fuel you too. Fuel you and feed into the most terrible of terrific ideas.

"Are you...whatever you're trying to say...I was flirting with you. That wasn't false. Honestly...I was in the bathtub just moments before you came in hoping you would join me."

"...you what now?"

You could not help but laugh. The fact that you could not see Heisenberg's expressive face only added to the hilarity as you imagined a hundred different emotions running through that scarred skin.

"I took a bath...a long one...hoping that you would come up here in the middle of it and offer to join me...figured one thing could lead into another and the bed was here anyway..."

The pauses in between Heisenberg's voice could only endear you to him. He seemed every bit lost for words. 

"You...are you talking about...what are you talking about?"

"Sleeping with you," you supplied with a shrug. "What are you talking about?"

"Sleeping...you...ah...I wasn't...I wasn't mistaken? Shit...I...I may or may not have a fucking stiffy over here...because the cuddling is...something you enjoy so much."

"Oh?" you purred. The chance of escaping in the delights of Heisenberg’s body made your body positively teem with anticipation. But you could not forget your own actions...the last time you had seen him in such a vulnerable state. Losing some confidence, you glanced at the darkness of the bed instead of his body. "Umm...I want to touch you...want to...would it be okay if I touched you?"

"Yeah...course. You've touched me before."

"No...I mean...is it...fuck...can I jack you off?"

For a long while, Heisenberg said nothing.

The next thing you heard was a rattling spit.

"OUCH GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKER!" he whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"Pinched myself."

"You...why are you pinching yourself?"

"Because I'm clearly fucking awake but clearly dreaming at the same time because yes, I would enjoy that very much. Please. And thank you."

"Are...are you sure?"

Heisenberg's hand came down heavy but without malice on your neck.

"OW!"

"Shit...I was trying to grab your hand."

Providing your hand to his, you hitched a breath when he splayed it against his chest. His heartbeat thudded against your palm. Wrenching your knees upward, you brushed against that heated length between his legs.

"I...um...we should probably talk about boundaries before I do this."

"Huh?"

"Is this...are you okay with me just jacking you off?"

"Just? This is a goddamn holiday. Marking it on the calendar. Nothing little about it."

"Dumbass. That's not what I'm saying," you said, scratching his chest somewhat affectionately to show him that you meant no harm. "Do you...are you wanting anything more? Because I'm on my period...I'm up for it...but it might get messy and I know that's the last mess I want a certain someone finding."

"We...we can do more? More like..." You heard him take in a shaky inhale. "Can we...is like full blown intercourse on the table?"

"Sure...long as you don't call it that again," you said, shaking your head.

Grumbling and tensing his shoulders, Heisenberg whined when you dropped your touch to round one of his nipples.

"What the fuck else am I supposed to call it?"

"Sex. Fucking. Making love," you added jokingly. "Um...ah...you know...I hadn't thought about it, but maybe you genuinely didn't know. German to English...or...ah...Romanian to English. Might not have those words."

"I like making love," he said with certainty in his voice. "Let's do that. Make love."

You had expected him to laugh at that suggestion if he acknowledged it at all. But there he was giddy and practically giggling over the most flowery option he was given. 

"Okay...are there any places that you don't like being touched?"

"Not that I know of," he admitted. "Are there...is there somewhere I shouldn't touch you?"

"Not necessarily...just...no going down on me this time. Sex is one thing-"

"Making love."

"-us um...us making love is fine, but I don't want to get eaten out while my period is going on. And don't show me your dick after or comment on the blood...just...get rid of it. Please. And...and nothing too crazy to start out with. I'm not a prude, but don't want to be choked or anything harsh like that. Just...vanilla for our first go. Then we can see where things take us."

"Roger that! Heard loud and clear," he said, leaning his face to kiss your forehead. For all the lack of a relationship, Heisenberg was making you feel far much more mushy and cared for than your ex ever had. You let your hand round his stomach slow and soft in response.

"Thank you. We...if you want to, I'll jack you off for a bit before you grab the condom."

"The...I don't have one of those."

That made you freeze. 

"Not even in this room? Your chambers? If you don't feel like getting up, I can grab them from wherever they are."

Heisenberg went uncharacteristically quiet.

"Heis?"

"None in this room," he said plainly.

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable by asking...but...is that typical? You having sex without a condom?"

It worried you. Here you were all too willing to have him fuck you into the mattress while he could be having all sorts of unprotected sex with who knows who in the village. He was attractive - a lord. Anyone with a pair of eyes could easily fall in lust if not love with him. 

Anyone with ears too...fucking sexy ringmaster voice...

"Not typical, no."

"No? Has it just...been a while?"

"Never."

"Huh?"

"Never made love before."

That sent you sitting up in bed.

"WHAT?"

"What?"

"HEISEN..." you lowered your voice, realizing he was growing tense. "You've never...I don't believe you. Quit joking. Not the time."

"Not joking," he grumbled. "Why would I joke about that?"

"You're just..."

"I'm what?"

"You're you," you said as if it clarified anything at all. "You're a lord in a small town. You have a face of a model. Not...not trying to open old wounds, but you're absolutely gorgeous underneath all those layers..."

"Yeah," he snorted. "Fatass McGee will be strutting the runways any day now."

"Oh my god...you're serious." Lying back down, you brought your hand to the clothed length between his legs. He had grown noticeably more soft since the brush of your knee, but you could feel his cock twitch when you cupped him. "So...no one? Not even foreplay or...what about kissing?"

"...ahhh...nah...none of that either...you're probably the first person to see me naked since I was a little kid...well...maybe a few folks in Constantinople. Got sloshed one time and woke up naked tied to a lamppost. But...other than that...all you."

There seemed to be no end to the surprises that would fall from Heisenberg's mouth. You stared at him - or the inky shadow that was him - and ran teasing fingers up his shaft.

"I uhh...fuck...I'm pretty sure anyone who saw me then is dead by now though," he supplied.

"Heis...you're so fucking ridiculous." 

[jamiemackenziefraser]

All That Was Fair 

Chapter 25: Human Wonder 125

Summary: Faerie meets TV

Read on AO3

Read chp 25 on tumblr below the cut

Previous, master list

Human Wonder 125

***

Jamie had thought long and hard about how to approach introducing Claire to television. As much as he thought he’d come to know her, he wasn’t entirely sure how she’d react, seeing as how he would probably be terrified of it in her position. He eventually settled on a nature show— something familiar to her to introduce the idea of moving pictures. 

He had tried his best to explain the concept to her beforehand, but her sweet, honey eyes had simply glazed over. He finally gave up and told her he’d simply have to show her.  

As he settled down on the couch with the remote, Claire beelined (typical) toward his lap. She slid on smoothly, her hand hooking around his neck as she all but fell on top of him. Laughing, he caught her around the waist and back, dipping her a bit as she settled in. 

“Hi,” he said fondly, looking down at her. 

“Hi,” she echoed back in a voice so sweet he would probably need some dental work. 

“Are ye ready, lass?” he asked, pulling her upright on his lap so he could focus on getting the show started. 

“Yes,” she said exuberantly. 

She snuggled down against him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder, and she grabbed his free arm to wrap it around her middle, not even giving him the chance to do it himself. He obliged, quite willingly, and gave her an affectionate squeeze. 

As he pressed the power button and she watched the TV light up, she snapped her eyes shut and shoved her face forcefully into Jamie’s neck. 

“It’s bright!” she cried. 

Jamie couldn’t help his laugh. He probably would be laughing at her quite a bit during this experience, so he hoped she wouldn’t mind. 

“Aye, it is. Yer eyes will adjust.”

She withdrew hesitantly, a great deal less excited than she had been a moment ago. Jamie clicked on Netflix as Claire looked back toward the screen. 

Jamie found himself bemoaning the position she’d chosen on his lap. He couldn’t see her face, so he wouldn’t be able to see her reactions when he actually started a show. Abandoning the remote for a second, he grabbed Claire around the waist with both hands and lifted her out of his lap to deposit her to his side. 

“Hey!” she said indignantly, leveling him with a pout that had his insides twisting in mirth and affection. 

“I want tae watch ye, lass. And as bonny as the back of yer heid is—” he cupped a fond hand over the back of said head, “I think yer face will be more entertaining.” For good measure, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“Oh,” was all she said. 

She looked at him for a long second, but then, once she decided not to be offended, she cuddled up close to his side. Jamie’s breath caught as he felt her tuck herself underneath his arm. (No matter how many times Claire touched him, he didn’t think he could ever get over it. If she stayed with him until they were old and grey— as he wished to God she would— Jamie thought his stomach would still be sent into knots any time she was even near him). He quickly got with the program and draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. 

Feeling like a stereotypical couple— only the girlfriend was a faerie who had never once laid eyes on a tv— Jamie held the remote out in front of them and started the show. 

It was a David Attenborough nature film, a special on Scotland that Jamie had found. It started with an aerial shot of a loch— probably Ness, he figured. A beautiful shot that highlighted the expanse of the scenery. 

The second it came on screen, Claire stiffened. Her back went ramrod straight, and Jamie’s gaze whipped back to her to find her eyes were as big as watermelons. Her mouth had fallen open, and he could hear her breaths coming in rapid pants as the movie continued, changing to various scenic views. 

Claire’s body let out an involuntary shiver, a huge spasm that went down the length of her body, and Jamie suddenly grew concerned. But just as he was about to ask if he should stop it, Claire suddenly was disappearing from under his arm. 

Jamie closed his mouth and simply watched as she rose from the couch and began to float toward the tv. Because floating truly was the best way to describe it. She was padding on incredibly light feet, hunched slightly with her head pushed forward and cocked to the side like a curious cat. She drew closer and closer to the tv, her hand outstretched. He could hear her excited breaths all the way from the couch, and it took all his willpower to stay silent in the face of her adorable behavior. 

Her hand made contact with the screen, and then she suddenly jumped back as the scene changed and bright light emanated from the tv. 

“It’s flowers,” she breathed, commenting on the picture currently being shown. 

“Aye,” Jamie answered. 

Her hand pressed flat against the screen this time (but Jamie couldn’t have cared less). 

“But they’re not actually in there?’ she questioned, darting a quick glance behind the tv as if to double check, “so how do they show them?” 

“It’s verra difficult to explain, lass,” he chuckled, “maybe jes’ sit back down and watch a little more.”

Claire wasn’t even listening to him at this point. She stepped back a couple feet from the tv but remained smack dab in front of it. He saw her head moving back and forth quickly, trying to take it all in. All of a sudden, she plopped down, folding her legs and staring up at the screen. The image was so much like a child enraptured with Sunday morning cartoons that Jamie had to stifle a smile. 

She stayed like that for a long time, silently growing more and more absorbed in the program. Her back was straight at attention, her hands stuck down in her lap, and her eyes were glued to the screen. 

Jamie found himself getting a bit jealous. It was absurd, but Claire’s newfound obsession with the TV meant that he was left sitting on the couch by himself. He hadn’t had a moment with this much personal space while Claire was in the room for a long time, and he found himself mourning the loss of her. Who knew, maybe she would abandon him completely now that she’d found a love for the screen?

His jealousies were assuaged when Claire tore her eyes away to look back and give him a bright smile. 

“This is magic, Jamie,” she breathed. 

“Aye, it seems like it,” he couldn’t help but agree. 

She spared another glance back at him, and this time her face showed an adorably conflicted expression. He could read that one like a book. She was trying to decide whether to come back to him or stay “with the tv.”

This was a monumental moment. Jamie felt like he should eye the tv with narrowed eyes; he never would have guessed when he bought it that he’d be in competition for his girlfriend’s love with the thing. Putting on the charm, he gave Claire a smile. He had something the tv didn’t— well a few somethings…. but one in particular. And he was going to win. 

“Come sit wi’ me, lass,” he said in a silky smooth voice, “I’ll keep ye warm, aye?” 

Take that, television. 

That was all it took to convince her. She scrambled up, nearly tripping in her haste, and smiled innocently as she all but threw herself onto Jamie. All the air was knocked out of him in an oomph, but he was too high on his feeling of victory to mind too much. He let her pin him down to the couch as her knees came down on either side of his legs. Then, her lips were all over his face. She sprinkled kisses all over him, pressing her lips in a barrage of brushes over the skin of his cheeks and forehead and chin. 

“Woah,” he chuckled, his hands going around her instinctively, smoothing over her waist and up her back. 

He was helpless under her, and completely taken aback by her sudden accosting of him. 

“You were jealous, weren’t you?” Claire said when she had finished covering his face in kisses. 

“Nae,” he lied. 

As soon as the word had left his mouth, she was laughing. “Don’t lie to me, James Fraser. I can feel your jealousy right now.” 

“Damn empathic powers,” he mumbled before he caught her lips in a possessive kiss. 

“Don’t worry,” she breathed against his lips, “nothing will ever compare to you. Not even your magic… what is it called again?”

“Television,” he filled in, already regretting teaching her this. 

“Mmm, television.”

As if that was all the reassurance he was allotted, Claire abruptly slid off his lap and settled in at his side to stare at the tv again. Living up to his promise, Jamie brought an arm around her shoulder and pressed the warmth of his body to her ever-chilled one. 

After another couple of minutes of Claire watching the screen and Jamie watching Claire, her entire face suddenly lit up. Her hand flew to grab Jamie’s arm— her wee fingers gripping with incredible force for someone so small— and she let out a gasp. 

“What is it, lass?”

“That was my loch!” she said, pointing enthusiastically, borderline frantically at the screen, which had already changed to a different view, “it was my loch, Jamie! I know it was!” 

At the mention of her home, Jamie’s heart sunk all the way to the pit of his stomach. He had to swallow down the sudden onslaught of emotion— some odd mix of guilt, unease, and the crazy wish that her past would never be brought up for fear of her thinking she made a mistake staying with him. 

Thankfully, Claire was too enraptured to take stock of his feelings— his feelings that at the particular moment were filled with pettiness.  

“I promise it was! I would know it anywhere! Even inside this ‘television!’” she continued. 

“I’m sure it was,” Jamie agreed through the lump in his throat, “is it no’ amazin’ that ye can see real things while yer sittin’ here on my couch?”

She turned to him with a smile so wide that her mouth parted open. “It’s wonderful!” 

He couldn’t help it. He leaned in and took her lips in a gentle kiss, feeling the need to anchor himself to her. She was here. She’d chosen him. She wasn’t going back just from seeing a simple reminder of home. 

She kissed him back, unable to stop from smiling even as she pressed her lips to his. 

When he pulled back, she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. Her attention shifted once more to the program. 

As Claire watched the screen, Jamie began to absently trace along her skin. First just making circles on her hand with his thumb, then letting go to trace the backs of his fingers up and down her forearm. Her skin was so exquisitely soft— Jamie thought no sensation could ever compare to touching it. His exploration wandered up further until he was stroking her cheek. 

It took him aback for a second when he realized the role reversal. Here he was, touching her so completely unabashedly, lost in the wonder of the feel of her. Claire must have been rubbing off on him.  

A few minutes later, she turned back to Jamie, this time with a slight frown on her face. 

“It makes my head hurt,” she said. The crease between her eyes was back, and Jamie was swept up at the sight of it. 

“Poor thing,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to each eyelid, which fluttered closed as he drew near, “Too much bright light for ye, I think. Let’s take a break for now, aye?” 

Claire gave a nod (the absence of a pout clearly indicating the growing severity of her headache), and he reached for the remote to power it down. 

“Well,” he said, once they were left without entertainment once more, “what did ye think about yer first television show?” 

“It was wonderful,” Claire sighed, “but I don’t understand it one bit.” 

“Neither do I, lass,” Jamie agreed, “neither do I.” 

***

Sometime later, Claire and Jamie were in the kitchen where Jamie was preparing his dinner while Claire sat at the table, looking on. 

When Jamie glanced over at her— as he couldn’t help but do— he found her sitting with her arms rested on the kitchen table and her hands pressed to her face. 

“Are ye alright, a leannan?” Jamie asked. 

“I don’t feel so well,” Claire admitted from beneath the cover of her hands. 

His insides clenching in worry, Jamie set down the knife where he’d been chopping vegetables and washed his hands before approaching her. 

He stood next to her and cupped a hand over the back of her head. 

She looked up at him then, her head falling back to rest against his hand, and her expression made his concern amp up a couple of notches. Her eyes didn’t hold their usual sparkle, and the lids seemed hooded with fatigue. Her face seemed pale too, even those bonny pink lips holding less color than usual. 

Jamie hummed sympathetically, his eyebrows drawing together. 

“Ye look tired, a leannan,” he commented quietly. 

“I am,” she confirmed. Her hand came up to wrap gently around Jamie’s forearm— not to move it, but simply to connect them through touch. 

Jamie quickly sat down in the chair next to her so he could look her in the eyes. He studied her for another long moment, unsure how to proceed. At this particular moment, there was nothing he could do but hope for the best, since any kind of medication was out of the question. She couldn’t simply pop a tylenol. 

“Let’s get ye to bed, aye? Maybe ye’ll feel better wi’ a wee bit of rest?” he suggested gently. 

“I think so,” she nodded, voice slightly breathless. 

Catching him still looking at her, she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Jamie. I think the TV just gave me a bit of a headache. Like you said, it’ll probably be better in the morning.” 

Jamie felt the slightest bit better at that, the tension in his shoulders easing. If she wasn’t worried, neither was he. Well... that wasn’t entirely true. He always worried when it came to her and always would, but at least he had a hope to rest on. 

Surely it would pass soon. 

He went upstairs with Claire to lay down with her, slotting her wee body against his and holding her close. His attention remained fixed on her long after her breathing slowed into the rhythm of sleep. 

Looking down at her, she seemed peaceful. A hint of a smile spread over her lips, but the rest of her face was smooth and without tension. 

Even seeing her looking so peaceful, he began to feel uneasy about the situation. The more he thought on it, the more he realized she didn’t seem like her usual self. When it came to Claire, he paid attention to every little thing. He noticed the furrow in her brow, the tension in her face, even the downturn to her lips when she thought he wasn’t looking. He’d been making a lot of excuses, coming up with reasons for why she seemed to be feeling unwell. But those reasons were beginning to feel hollow, and he worried there was something bigger going on. 

Or perhaps he was just overthinking. His protective instinct did seem to go into overdrive around Claire. Perhaps she truly did just have a headache, and he was overreacting. Maybe his brain was simply trying to sabotage the happiness he was finding with her.  

Faced with these two possibilities, Jamie recalled what his mother always used to tell him when he complained of being sick. 

“Go to sleep, Jamie. It’ll be better in the morning.” 

Helpless to do anything else, he prayed that his mother’s words would ring true. 

This was all Claire needed— he told himself firmly— a good night sleep. 

***

Tbc

[admiringlove]

愛してる: 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏.

— we invite you to celebrate the brewery’s first valentines’ day, with freshly brewed sweet drinks, to honor the day dedicated to love. click for valentines’ day special menu!

↳ 青葉城西高校 — seijoh. presenting: oikawa tōru, iwaizumi hajime, mattsukawa issei.

credits for image @ roarzoro on twitter.

oikawa tōru

oikawa tōru is the sun. he is the center of all beings, and he feels as if the world revolves around him. the fangirls are the planets, circling him whenever they see him. the whole school knows oikawa, because he is the core of attention at any given time. 

but you? you don't seem interested in the sun one bit. you like the ocean instead—finding the vast depths of the sea more intriguing than the deep, blue sky. 

and what does oikawa want? the one thing he can't have. you. 

you start noticing him more. he greets you every morning(the fangirls stare at you creepily, but you just ignore them), talks to you during lunch, and even sometimes asks you to come watch his volleyball practice. 

but his expression just becomes distasteful when you decline him. why was oikawa interested in you? he had hoards of boys and girls who yearned for him more than anything else, so why you?

you notice him more—honestly, you don't mind him flying around you mindlessly like a bee. it just annoys you at how attractive he is. you don't know what his intentions are(after all, they can be ill), and you're scared. 

but he doesn't give you a reason to be today. 

+

"oikawa," you huff, "stop following me, you creep."

"b-but [y/n]-chan!!" he pouts, shoving his hands inside his pockets as he catches up to you. you roll your eyes, grunting as you say, "that was the fakest stutter ever. why do all those people in our school like your dumbass, anyway, trashykawa?"

"you sound just like iwa-chan," he murmurs under his breath as you turn a sharp right, walking into a coffee shop to do your homework. he smiles victoriously when you choose a two-seat table instead of the barstool that was free, sitting in front of you almost immediately.

"well, iwa and i share a very mutual hate for you," you joke as you give your order to the waiter who comes by. oikawa winks at the girl, giving her his order as well, "one milk-bread and chocolate milkshake please."

"and may i ask why you followed me into a coffee shop you've never been to before?" you questioned, pulling out your physics textbook as he smiles at you saying, "i like being around you, [y/n]-chan. you just never talk to me about anything."

"fine, what do you want to talk about?"

"you," he smirks, "tell me about yourself, for real this time. no jokes."

you sigh, placing your pencil down to look at his face for the first time today. this time, you actually pay attention to his features. his soft chocolate brown eyes, his slender long nose, and those pink lips. you shook yourself off when he said, "hobbies, [y/n]-chan?"

"reading," you mumble, "i like reading."

the waiter comes back with your coffee and his drink and snack, placing it in front of you as oikawa thanks her. he turns back to you, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"remind me to write down 'library date' the next time we go out," he says, leaning his elbow on the table and placing his knuckles on his cheek. you scoff, "you follow me around and call it a date. you're basically a stalker, trashykawa."

"okay, okay, fine! what if i ask you out on an actual date? we can talk about books, maybe get coffee, and- ooh! what about the movies? we can even go to tokyo if you'd like! it's not that far by train, you know," he daydreams. you scoff for the second time in that coffee shop, your eyes narrowed as you ask, "and what makes you think you can ask me out on an actual date?"

"if you haven't noticed, [y/n]-chan," oikawa shrugs, taking a sip of his chocolate milk, "i like you very much. and not as friends, god no, i wanna take you out and make you happy."

iwaizumi hajime

iwaizumi is closed off—according to oikawa, but you don't believe that one bit. 

"oh come on, [y/n]-chan, he likes you, i swear!"

but you know better than to assume things about hajime, so you shrug oikawa off, leaving the gym to go home. you see hajime waiting for you, and you wave at him happily. he smiles, bringing a hand up awkwardly, but he puts it down as soon as he hears oikawa's voice behind you. 

"iwa-chan!! guess what, [y/n]-chan's walking home with us tonight!"

hajime sighs, looking away(because this boy is as clueless as you). he shrugs, telling you two that he has something to attend to. but you know that he's probably going to overthink when he's by himself. 

you and oikawa share a knowing look, as he says, "tell me everything through text when you reach home."

+

"haji!" you yell, running up to the boy walking ahead. his hands are stuffed into his track pants, and he turns back half-way. he gives you a half-smile, slowing his pace(but not stopping).

"haji, stop!" you grab his wrist, turning him around. he's raising an eyebrow at you, looking at you impatiently as you say, "why're you going home alone, iwa? do you not want to come with me and stupidkawa?"

"i told you to go with him, didn't i? why are you followin' me around?" he scoffs, looking away and continuing walking at his normal pace. you furrow your eyebrows, your lips slightly parted as you say, "hey, what is that supposed to mean?"

"you're always circling around him. can't you go home with him too?" he grunts. you blink rapidly, the information processing in your head as you begin to laugh.

iwaizumi looks back, his eyes narrowed and lips twisted into a scowl, "why are you laughing like a maniac?"

"because, you dumbass, you think i like that loser," you huff, walking up to him as you pant(your stomach is hurting from laughing at this point). you ruffle the ace's hair, chuckling, "i can't believe you haven't figured it out already. everyone thought i was being obvious."

"if you're implying what i think you are, i feel the same way, you know."

"is that why you were jealous of trashykawa?"

"aight, we're never talking about that ever again."

mattsukawa issei

mattsun isn't really that... interested in things. he picks something up, fiddles with it for sometime, and then throws it away. 

but with his love life, everything is different. he rarely ever dates. and it's never too serious. so when his feelings for you start waltzing in, it's a first. 

he hasn't felt this kind of high before. it's scary, because mattsukawa issei has never yearned for someone as much as he yearns for you. his eyes are always looking for you. and when they do land on you, an instant smile creeps onto his face. 

oikawa and hanamaki always tease him, but he's learned to push past that at this point. he's brushing them off constantly, learning to ignore the "eyy" that makki lets out whenever you walk into the room. 

mattsun learns to love you bit by bit. his love is the awkward stares, the panic rising in his throat as he feels that he's been smiling for way too long, the shaking his thoughts off when you snap your fingers in front of his face, or the coincidental nightly trips that he always finds himself looking forward to.

the same thing happens tonight as well. 

+

"why do i always find you outside this convenience store at 10 pm on a saturday night?" mattsukawa chuckles, sitting down next to you on the curb. you take a spoonful of the ice-cream you're eating, and you throw him a smile, "i have a routine. you show up around the same time too, so you can't exactly ask me that question, issei."

"i know," he sits down, opening the soda bottle and gulping down its contents rather quickly.

"woah, calm down or you'll choke," you chuckle, throwing your small ice-cream cup into the trash a couple feet away. you triumphantly smile when the cup falls into the can, and turn back to face issei.

issei, who's only a couple of inches away from your face. issei, who's been in love with you ever since he can recall. issei, whom you love back with just as much intensity—if not, more.

"issei, i'm gonna do something. please don't hate me, okay?" you whisper. he nods, smiling, as he begins, "i could never hate you, baby."

you lean in, pressing your lips on his softly as he kisses you back. he's scared too, that's why he isn't holding onto you tightly or is placing too much pressure into it.

and just like that, the night of february thirteenth forever becomes embedded into your lives.

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[bunsblr]

Tu... torial? Pt. 5.

Final part of my tutorial! This is a little all over the place, because that’s how I am in this stage of editing. Also I didn’t proofread this...

Open this in dashboard for best view of the screenshots.

Disclaimer: I have no formal training for any kind of graphics stuff, I work in an office as a receptionist - I serve coffee for a living. I am absolutely self taught and while I consider myself pretty comfortable with photoshop, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t about a gazillion of other things that can be done that I have no idea about. There are people far superior than me in the Sims community. This is just how I do it, with techniques I have picked up through the years. Some things I go over in these will be pretty basic, some things a little more unorthodox. Disclaimer 2: My edits take time. This is what I do to relax, one edit takes several hours for me. Sometimes days :))) Disclaimer 3: My photoshop is in Swedish, which is my first language. I tried my best to find the English translations for every step that I do.

Tools used: The Sims 4, Adobe Photoshop 2020, One by Wacom Pen Tablet (very basic and unfancy).

It´s hair time baby! I very much enjoy drawing hair on sims. I make a new empty layer on top of my base Sim layer.

This is where having a drawing tablet makes a huge difference. We need the brush to be sensitive to pressure to get the effect of hair strands. I chose a hard brush, small small size (how small depends on the picture size of course, but I usually land somewhere 6-9 px)

I pick up a color from the hair, I usually starts with a medium light color.

I start by drawing strands around any tips of the hair so they don't look quite so solid. I do this part with both short and long hairs. Hot lazy tip: straight unlayered hairs is the absolute easiest. This is a layered hair so I start with the bottom and work my way up. I pick up different colors from the hair as I go along, to add dept.

Continuing up in the hair and add strands to the pointy bits.

When I feel like the pointy bits have been softened I select one of my hair brushes. I use these ones by Para Vine.

I start painting "around" the hair with one of the lighter colors picked up from the hair, changing the direction of the brush every once in a while for a more natural result.

After this the hair is looking a little fuzzy, so I'm going to go back with my small harder brush to fill these parts out.

I don't add a lot of them, just small bits here and there for filling.

This is a little overkill but... now we have some of that "squary" thing going on in the hair as well that are still showing through our painted layer. Now we could paint over these, but painting can actually be overdone and I wan't to keep the hair recognizeable because the creator put a lot of work into it! So I go into liquify and smooth over any wonky lines still showing, just slightly.

A comparison of before and after hair. Still recognizeable, but softer.

This is our result so far. We've come a long way, but we're not done.

At this point (or actually sometimes sooner) I add an adjustment Curves layer, this will not end up in the finished image, this is just to give me an idea of what the image might look like with more contrast (which we will add later). I keep this at the very top of the layer panel and turn this on and off as I go. Very important to have it turned off if we are going to eyedrop a color and use that to paint, since it would pick up the wrong hue if we have it turned on.

Now I still want the front of my sim to be a little darker to fit my lighting, but I don't want to go over with any more shadow. So I duplicate my Sim layer, and go to Layer -> Adjustments -> Curves. This will only change the active layer, as opposed to creating an adjustment layer down in the Layer panel that will change all layers below it. I drag the curve down a bit to make my new Sim layer darker.

I add a layer mask to my new Sim layer, and bucket fill it with black color so the new layer gets hidden.

I chose an absolutely HUGE soft brush, with medium opacity, and starts painting white on the areas where I want the new darker layer to be showing. And blend by going back with black where the line is to harsh.

Time to add some highlights. I create a new empty layer between my two Sim layers, and add a clipping mask by holding Alt and hovering on the line between the new layer and my bottom sim layer, until the little square with the arrow symbol comes up and then click. This will make whatever I do on my new highlight layer, only show up on the areas where the layer underneath is filled.

 Time to paint. I disable the curve adjustment layer for this. I choose a bright color, in this case a light pink because I didn't want a contrasting color for this picture. I go with a big soft brush around the edges where I want my highlight to hit. In this case, the arm, the hand, the arch of the back and the calf. I didn't add anything to the face in this picture because I didn't like the way it looked, but usually a little highlight to one of the cheeks is just *chef's kiss*

And somewhere around here I got really stuck and really struggled to follow with this tutorial. I felt the picture was lacking something and I tried several different things. I added light rays, tried creating different light sources, there was a moon at some point. But I ended up with just a simple additional gradient shadow down in the right corner (on a new layer down in the Background layer group). Life changing…

And then I didn't like the pink highlight on the skin (sigh, this is how I work, but it’s not recommended to be this indecisive) so I removed that and added a more beige-yellowee highlight instead. And forgot to take a picture after the highlight was added....

And now I go into nitpicking mode. I add a new empty layer on top of my Sim layer, I add it under the highlight layer so it automatically takes on the clipping mask of the Sim layer, I name it Clean-up Crew and go in to refine anything slightly wonky. Picking up colors with the eyedrop tool and going over flaws with a tiny brush.

When I fixed this little light area on the back of her head I left the Clean-up Crew layer and went to my Hair layer instead, because I still have that separate and it's above all the other layers.

I thought my sim was a little too far down in the picture so I moved her up by selecting my whole Sim layer group and the layer on which I have her ground shadow, chosing the move tool and pushing them up. This will move all the layers in the Sim layer group as well as the ground shadow layer equally.

I'm telling y'all, nitpicking mode could go on forever. Added more strands to the bangs.

Noticed a little pointy part on the calf, so I wen't into Liquify on the base Sim layer and smoothed that out. Since the highlight layer has a Clipping Mask corresponding to the Sim layer, the highlight stayed in place.

I duplicate my Sim layer group once more, and merge the layers within this group. So now the Hair, Highlight and Clean-up Crew is all merged onto the Sim layer. I hide the previous Sim groups.

With my new Sim layer selected, I go to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation. I want to make my Sim a little less bright so it will match the background a bit better.

I drag down the Saturation and Brightness slider a bit until I like what I see. After this I save my whole image as a PNG-file because from now on I want to edit the whole picture but still want to keep this psd-file as it is for anxiety purposes. Important: I disable my curves layer before saving this as a picture, I don’t want that brought with me into the next steps because I will be adding new curves there.

I open my new saved PNG-file. I go to Filter -> Convert for Smart filters. This will allow us to go back and change any filters we add to this layer. I go to Filter -> Camera Raw Filter and for some reason this window opens up humongus. I start by dragging down the temperature. How much depends on the picture, usually more if it's nighttime.

I pull up the Whites a bit for a cleaner look.

Now I add a Curve Adjustment Layer. Now you can add Contrast in the Camera Raw Filter as well, but I prefer the curve layer because I like to control the different levels. This way I can make my darkest parts a little brighter, giving just a little washed out flair to it all.

I select my background layer again and go to Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise and choose a level that I think looks good. This just brings the picture together a bit more. Also vintage vibes :)))

I add my frame (because it´s my aestethic and I think it looks cool on tumblr) by resizing my workspace and adding a filled white layer underneath the background layer.

I resize my picture (Image -> Image Size) because we don't need it to be huge.

And they I just fine tune the Filters and Curves until the end of time :’)))

And that is that my friends! That’s the end of the tutorial! I hope you could follow somewheat and that someone found it useful. Thank you for reading and never be afraid of contacting me if you have any questions :) I’m very friendly.