#it's long to set the scene. no need to match unless you want too

[amescastaignede]

FOR: @mobscene-starters WHEN: 08th of May, 2024. WHERE: Outside the London Advocate.

Amélie walked down the corridor of The London Advocate, her steps echoing off the polished floors. The hum of activity filled the air as journalists hurried about their tasks, phones ringing incessantly in the background, and loud clamors as new stories flew in faster than they could write them. Sources here, and there. It was manic, and for a woman such as herself, it was odd that she found such comfort here: amongst the noise and the chaos. Glancing at her old, antic watch which had once been Mathis, she sighed, a deadline looming, and her latest piece on the French Organization needed final touches before submission.

But not tonight, no, that was tomorrow's task.

Approaching her over-crowded desk, usually tidy at this time on a Wednesday, was a simple 'fuck you' to the clock that rang 7:00pm, telling everyone it was time to go home. Chucking things into her bag with careful handling, catching sight of Felicity Woodward, her editor, engrossed in conversation with another staff member. Animated, over the top, and wholly different from anything Amélie could've ever attempted. Even If she'd tried...that'd be a failure she wasn't sure she'd be able to live down. Felicity was a formidable woman, sharp eyes never missing a beat. And from the looks of it -- she wouldn't be leaving the office any time soon.

Lifting her hand in a simple goodbye was enough to have her leave...quickly. Before she was pulled in to meet with a source or stay longer than she needed. And just like that, she was up and out, exiting the doors until she came to an almost screeching halt...

What?

"I wasn't expecting to see you...here?" Amélie said, a look of confused bemusement taking over her porcelain features. "You, uh, wait, are you waiting for me?" -- gone was the smile only seconds later, head cocking to the side.

[maximotts]

𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢; 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑡

a/n: this was supposed to be a drabble and it turned into a very long part of my originally planned Christmas fic. sOOO.. you're welcome (and yes I did co-opt Wanda and Vision's thing at the beginning because I can and I wanted to)

request: @wandasdolly; okay so hear me out… festive wandanat sex by the fireplace… and there’s blankets and wine and probably christmas music playing and i am just being horny anyway bye😁

pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Natasha Romanoff

wc: 4.2k

summary: Private Hire: Origins AU; This is an 18+ only work, minors DNI; smut, fluff; cozy and romantic living room sex, fingering, oral, cum strap because I'm a feral homosexual, Natasha has two wolves inside her: one that's horny for Wanda and the other that's disgustingly in love with her, cuddly aftercare and a lot of feelings at the end because this is me and well, I've been wanting to write this for a long time

private hire au. || main masterlist.

"Wanda, darling..."

"Natasha, sweetheart?" Wanda struggled to keep her weight on just one arm, her other bent to keep her glass of wine upright. She'd been in the middle of taking another sip when Natasha leaned in to kiss her cheek, cutting her drink short to replace cool glass with her lips. "What are you doing?"

The redhead chuckled against her skin, leaving lipstick marks along Wanda's jaw as she continued her trek. "You're a smart girl. What do you think I'm doing?"

Elegant piano versions of classic Christmas songs played low in the background, Natasha having insisted on pulling out her records for the living room scene she'd set. Thick blankets laid over the carpeted floor, fire crackling over wooden logs nestled in their large fireplace, Natasha surprised Wanda with a cozy night alone for the holidays. It was a sweet gesture for the typically stoic one of the pair, the kind of thing Wanda loved more than anything especially during her favorite time of year.

"If I had to guess, I'd say you're up to something..." As Wanda spoke, Natasha pressed forward, kissing down her neck as she turned it to the side and allowed her further access. The moment she felt her girlfriend's hands on her hips, she expected some kind of removal of her silk pajama top, but it never came. 

Instead, when Nat's mouth reached the last bits of exposed skin over her sternum, they traveled over the fabric and nuzzled into Wanda's chest where she always felt most safe and secure. "You should set your wine down before you spill it."

Wanda looked down then, raising a confused brow to the woman too preoccupied with reverently kissing the swells of her breasts to notice being watched. "I'm not going to spill- oh..."

The glass met the stone fire hearth with a hard clank, Wanda's hand shaky as Natasha's lips wrapped around a covered nipple. Both arms had to support her now, Nat tugging her closer and leaving her at a somewhat awkward angle- it was hard to care while her girlfriend licked over the semi-hard bud. Both of them knew how sensitive she was, Natasha exploiting it at every turn when she needed Wanda breathless and pliable as quickly as possible, but this was different. 

This was slow, careful, tongue rolling over her in a teasing promise of what was to come before she switched to the other, not wanting to neglect any part of Wanda. "You're going to ruin my shirt..."

"They're pajamas, you'll get over it." She'd been bouncing around for weeks arranging everything —buying this house to get away from bustling city streets, the type of home Wanda sighed over whenever they drove by, giving explicit instructions to not be disturbed unless someone was dying of in danger of it— all of this for Wanda's Christmas gift. Nothing was going to get in the way of Natasha making the most of their time together. 

And so only when Wanda began to whine, needing more after being wound up painfully slowly, did Natasha guide the brunette to lay back. She undid the row of tiny buttons blocking her top half from view before sliding matching bottoms down to her ankles, calloused fingers dragging down skin so soft Natasha felt blessed to touch it. Wanda kicked the pants off herself, moved to rid herself of her underwear, the last piece of clothing that kept her from being fully exposed, but Natasha stopped her. 

She sat back on her knees to get a good look at her, long hair splayed out atop the quilt where Wanda lay prone, wide green eyes a little hazy from the alcohol, but playful nonetheless as she smiled up at Natasha; she swore she felt her heart leap. Maybe she paused too long because manicured fingernails dug into Natasha's thighs, Wanda having grown impatient, "What are you staring at?"

"You," Natasha said without hesitation, tracing the shadows the fire made over Wanda's abdomen with her pointer finger, "You're beautiful and I don't think I tell you that enough." Wanda blushed a deep pink and went to shake her head, but Nat was quick to hold her chin still and force her to take the compliment. "You're beautiful and I love you and I need you to remember that."

Wanda could've made some snarky remark about how dramatic Natasha was being, how she didn't have to say that stuff just to get in her pants, but the words she heard choked her up. Manipulative as she could be, Natasha would never lie to Wanda, not about that, and in the short seconds she managed to make eye contact with the woman above her, Wanda saw only sincerity in her loving gaze. "Show me."

Natasha closed the distance quickly, kissing Wanda until she was breathless and nearly lightheaded. When she descended this time it was with teeth scraped over her collarbone and nibbles that were sure to leave a mark. Pointedly ignoring Wanda's breasts until an insistent hand pulled her by her hair to them, Natasha bit down harder than she needed to, the brunette squeaking and squirming as Nat soothed the blossoming red bruise with a series of apologetic licks. "I'll be wearing turtlenecks until that goes away, Nat."

"It's winter anyways, too cold to show off." She was content to let Wanda rock against her thigh while she played, sucking and licking each nipple and rolling whichever one she couldn't have in her mouth with her fingers, always a game to see how fast Natasha could make her cum just like that. But today was for more than that and as Nat's free hand dipped lower, snapping the sides of Wanda's panties against her hips, she couldn't bring herself to be too disappointed hanging up her mischievous hat for one night.

Pushing insistent hips to still on the ground, curious fingers dipped between Wanda's legs and found a sizable spot on that last piece of her clothing; a telltale sign of her arousal. "You're so wet, baby. Is that all for me? Because I made you dinner and got your favorite wine, or did I play with your tits so much you're already close to cumming?"

Wanda hated and loved when Natasha called attention to her like so; hated for how cocky her girlfriend got no matter what her response and loved for the way that kind of talk tightened that coil in her belly, a true double-edged sword. Keeping her ego in check was a 24/7 job,  but Wanda had to admit it was kind of cute to see Natasha so visibly proud of herself. "Both, now touch me before I do it myself and make you watch."

"Oh honey," Natasha cooed, easily moving the thin lace to the side and sliding two fingers along Wanda's folds, "you know you'd only be begging me to do it for you the entire time." 

Confident fingertips toyed with Wanda's clit, moving in time with the ones still firmly at her chest, Nat grinning wide while Wanda's back arched involuntarily and she cried out, her first orgasm a sudden and unplanned surprise. 

As her head swam, Wanda recalled the short video she'd sent Natasha just a few days prior, motivation to come home after she'd gotten word the older woman was held up and would be back later than planned. In it, she'd fucked herself on her newest vibrator, a toy she knew Natasha was itching to see Wanda use— she didn't realize she'd called out Natasha's name until after she pressed the send button. Soft and desperate, pleading for her girlfriend and her help on pure instinct... Natasha wasn't going to let that go unnoticed. 

In this particular instance, the shock of it all left Wanda's mouth open in a silent scream; gorgeous as she was, Natasha wanted to hear her name again. Thankfully she was far from done. 

Wanda's underwear joined her pants in a heap next to them before Natasha kissed her way back up the expanse of Wanda's bare legs, holding them apart to selfishly drink in the sinful sight of her lover spread open just for her. "Have I mentioned how pretty you are, Wands?"

The girl only rolled her eyes, brushing off her gawking to tug at Natasha who was still fully clothed. "I want to see you too." 

She wasn't shy about her body, Wanda having seen it countless times over the few years they've known one another, but she never failed to be surprised when Wanda asked. Before her and even at the beginning of her, the sex she had was quick and detached, clothes askew and shoved aside to get to the point; when Wanda demanded more from her, Natasha was too head over heels to deny the request. 

Especially on nights such as these where she focused on Wanda alone, she never liked to be the only one naked and so Natasha obliged, shedding her pajama shirt and letting her girlfriend's hands roam at will. Wanda sat up then, taking her turn to kiss every inch of skin she could reach, fingertips lovingly skirting over every cut and scar Natasha sustained over the years. "I think you're plenty beautiful yourself, you know."

She knew Natasha wouldn't let it last long, not when a brush between her legs revealed the thick strap on set firmly in place on her hips, but the brevity didn't stop Wanda from wanting to show what appreciation she could anyways. "And this is for me, I'm assuming."

"Depends, do you want it to be?" Natasha rocked against Wanda's as she rubbed over the fake cock, the textured base of the toy perfect for giving some much needed attention to her neglected sex. She rarely talked about how much it turned her on just to make Wanda fall apart, but honestly, it made her insatiable. Even getting to watch the display she doubted Wanda knew she was putting on, wiggling against the blankets as she palmed her strap with such anticipation she had to bite her lip to keep from immediately asking for it... Nat could've cum on the spot.

Wanda's hand stilled, bringing her eyes back up to meet Natasha's, mirthful expression so cute the redhead fought the urge to pinch her cheeks, "I thought you hated dumb questions." 

Natasha laughed at that, reluctantly pulling Wanda away and pushing her back once more so that she could rid herself of her own pants before leaning over Wanda until their chests were pressed together, "It's not a dumb question if I'm asking. Do you want it?" 

She rolled her pelvis against Wanda's slowly, deliberately sliding the strap on against Wanda's wet folds as she fought to keep still. Wanda knew what she was doing and it wasn't fair, forcing Wanda to beg for something on what was supposed to be a romantic night where Natasha usually gave without asking— it wasn't a habit her girlfriend could kick easily. "Yes..."

"Yes what?" Nat took that sweet pressure away and replaced it with her fingers, pushing one digit past her entrance without warning. It didn't hurt, but Wanda whimpered anyways, the sudden intrusion catching her off guard. A second finger joined the first soon after, steadily stretching Wanda until she was ready to speak her wishes. "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you, whatever it is." 

"I-I..." Forming sentences was hard when two fingers were fucking her open, fast and rough even as Natasha's words stayed even-paced and calm. It was too much and not enough, even as those devious fingers curled, hitting that one spot that drove Wanda to madness. She didn't want to be so close again, not without her girlfriend's strap buried deep inside her; all she had to do was say it. "I want you to fuck me! Nat, please, I'm gonna-!"

"You're gonna what? Cum again?" Wanda nodded, desperately trying to stave off her impending orgasm, but Natasha never let up. When the girl's mewling gave away her stubbornness, Nat cradled her flushed cheek in her hand, thumb running over kiss-swollen lips. "Let go for me, sweet thing. Let me see you cum just like this and I'll give you what you really want." 

It was only a few seconds longer that she lasted, arms drawn tight around Natasha's neck as she rode out her orgasm. This one was stronger than the last, longer and fuller, and Wanda was glad to already be laid out where her muscles could safely give way. 

As soon as Nat's fingers pulled out, her strap pushed in, thicker than her digits and inching ever deeper until her lover bottomed out with a low grunt. "Shit, Wanda..."

Long legs wound around Natasha's waist as Wanda adjusted to the stretch, both keeping her close as she could and giving her girlfriend a better angle to grind against the toy's base, willing to endure the temporary discomfort if it meant hearing more of Nat's swears and the occasional praises that came with them. "Tasha... fuck me."

Gentle command as it was, Natasha moved, slow at first until she could go without resistance, finding just the right pace as she left messy kisses down Wanda's throat. "This what you wanted?"

"Again with the dumb questions," Wanda bypassed a real response in favor of pulling the redhead closer, dragging red lines down her back with blunt fingernails as Natasha hit the perfect angle. It felt so right, like everything did when it was with her; the singular person Wanda trusted to see her at her most vulnerable. "Right there, don't stop!"

"Here?" Natasha accented her question with a particularly hard thrust, Wanda's exaggerated groan immediately giving her her answer. A few more pointed movements of her hips and Wanda might have well been a puddle on the floor, babbling any number of incoherent pleas Natasha could only just make out as Sokovian. 

"What's the matter, Wanda, can’t talk straight with your pussy stuffed full of my cock? Poor baby.” She couldn't help but play into it, to drive her further into the subspace that was for Natasha's eyes only. Wanda looked like she wanted to say something back, probably some half-hearted distaste for Natasha’s vulgarity, but she couldn’t pretend not to love it. Not when the same woman tugged her hips upwards to keep hitting that same spot now threatening to make her drool, her eyes rolling back into her head as she mumbled and reached for Natasha. 

On her third orgasm, she was terribly sensitive and didn't have a hope of lasting long even if she tried. Natasha drew it out as long as she could, working her way to her own climax right along with the woman below. Wanda preferred it that way, always wanting to share her ecstasy with the person she loved most; it was sweetest to her watching the same pleasure she felt wash over her lover at the same time. “Fuck, Wanda, you feel amazing.. I’m so close..”

Natasha’s head dropped into the crook of Wanda’s neck and she was quick to bury her fingers in thick red locks, uncaring of how hard she pulled as she neared her end once more. “Cum with me Tasha, please, please-!” 

Their joined climax was a flurry of kisses and sighs, Wanda clinging to Natasha for dear life as a gush of liquid slipped deep inside her, some added thing to her girlfriend’s new toy that only added to the fullness she felt. Natasha’s hips had yet to still, rutting into Wanda for as long as her orgasm let her. When she did come down, she held tight to Wanda, squeezing her limp form and kissing her shoulder until the other woman protested her suffocation. “Sorry…” 

When Wanda opened her eyes it was to Natasha’s shy smile and she giggled, granting her a quick peck on the nose before Nat pulled back. “You’re quite cute when you’re clingy.” 

“I’m not cute.” Natasha sat back on her knees, lazy eyes dropping from Wanda’s exhausted gaze to where she was now glistening in the firelight, a mixture of her arousal and the toy’s lubricant dripping from her abused entrance. She was gathering it on her fingers without a second thought, moaning as she pushed it back in and slowly let her digits drift back inside. Nat studied Wanda as she toyed with her, checking for signs of discomfort or even pain; when none came, she figured she might as well ask for the one thing she wanted. “Can I taste you, my love? I’ll be quick.”

Wanda nodded, her eyes already falling closed again, “Be gentle.” It was an easy enough request to abide by and Nat laid kisses down Wanda’s abdomen as a thank you, soft and adoring little things over her lower belly, willing her girlfriend to relax when her lips finally reached the top of her mound. She was flat on her stomach now, inspecting Wanda up close to commit the sight to memory— Natasha would spend all night filling Wanda up just to watch it seep out and fuck it back in again if she’d let her, but that was for some other time. 

Her tongue was careful as it licked over her hole, mindful of Wanda’s shivers and quivering thighs, but she tasted divine and soon enough Natasha was taking every bit of her she could get. “You’re always so good for me, Wanda, so perfect…”

The only response she received was a pleased hum, a sound made comfortably enough that Natasha continued on in stride, turning her attention to Wanda’s swollen clit. Loving sets of kitten licks left Wanda’s hips stuttering, Natasha wrapping her lips around it and sucking only because she knew when she let up there’d be a fresh pool of wetness waiting for her. She continued her little cycle until Wanda weakly pushed her away with a strained whine, “Too sensitive, hurts…”

Instantly worried, Natasha was off in a flash, giving the exhausted woman a thorough once over. She’d been so careful, but even so, if she’d done something harmful, she’d never forgive herself. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” 

“I’m perfectly okay, Nat.” Wanda shook her head, running her hands over her girlfriend’s thighs to reassure her now frantic state. “Don’t overreact, I’m fine. Barely awake, but I feel great.” Nat breathed an audible sigh of relief, but kept her distance, giving Wanda the space she hated having after sex. Her outstretched arms reminded Natasha yet again how much of a cuddler her partner was, another activity she only ever indulged when it came to Wanda. 

She scooped her up along with a blanket, wrapping Wanda in a warm bundle before letting her lay on her chest; the brunette’s favorite way to be held when she was tired and reorienting herself. Rarely did she say anything which was more than fine for the other woman who tended to exist in silence unless prompted, but something about tonight compelled Natasha to speak up. “I love you.”

“Yes, I know,” Wanda chuckled, giving Natasha a quick squeeze as she sleepily watched the dimming fire. Nat took her hand though, catching her attention as she played with it in her own. All day her partner had been so… odd; not in any way Wanda could complain about with the gift of this house, dinner, and everything else, but she had to admit it was completely out of character. “I love you too.”

“No, I…” She felt stupid even trying to say it, having shown it as best she could and most likely doing more than enough to prove her point, but the truest words were always the hardest ones for Natasha to convey. “I’m in love with you. I’m so in love with you that it makes me feel like an idiot.”

“You’re being a little silly, sweetheart. We should probably go to bed-” A kiss cut Wanda off, bold and full of a strange uncertainty that caught her off guard. She could still taste herself on Natasha’s lips from earlier and as she was pulled impossibly closer, Wanda feared her spine would break if the arms around her held any tighter.

Nat gave her just enough space, her forehead pressed against Wanda’s as their heavy breaths mingled. “Marry me.” 

Wanda’s once half lidded eyes flew open, scooting back from Natasha to stare at her in disbelief. She’d been with her girlfriend long enough to know when she was joking; Wanda didn’t know if it scared her more not to see any evidence of that in her or not. “Natalia, don’t…”

“Don’t do that, don’t pull away. I mean it!” There was no point in being on one knee when they were both sat on the ground so Natasha just shuffled closer, taking Wanda’s hand back and holding it in her own shaky ones. “I want to live in this house here, with you, and come back here every night to call this our home. I never want to think about having another Christmas without you right by my side or any other holiday that in all honesty, I think are stupid, but you love. I want to see your face light up when I surprise you and kill whatever makes you cry. Hell, I even like cuddling now when it means holding you. I want you to marry me.” 

She didn’t know what to say, effectively stunned into silence at Natasha’s confession. In all the ways Wanda imagined a proposal as a little girl, it was never naked in a blanket on the floor of some American home in New York, being asked by a woman who she loved as much as she butt heads with. Far from her wildest dreams, but Wanda had long stopped having those. “Ask me.”

“What?” Pleased as she was Wanda didn’t yell or bolt from the room as she’s been known to do, her response wasn’t the enthusiastic yes Natasha hoped for. 

“You said you want to marry me, so ask me.” Wanda stared at Natasha blankly, expectantly until the other woman got the hint. Her instinct was to roll her eyes, remark that Wanda couldn’t ever just take a gesture for what it was, no, she had to be difficult about it; she knew this about her and none of it made Natasha want her any less.

And so she straightened up, holding Wanda’s hand firmly now, and asked the question Wanda thought she’d never hear. “I’ve said it a thousand times today, but I’ll say it a thousand more if you ask me to: I love you. So much so that I’m asking you to marry me without buying you a ring because I couldn’t bear one more day without knowing you’ll be mine for the rest of our lives. We fight sometimes and we’re both so stubborn, I’m sure we’ll never stop having our disagreements, but you’ll also never stop being the only person I trust with everything I have. I’m not good with the words that actually matter and you know that so please don’t make me do this again; will you marry me, Wanda Maximoff?”

Wanda didn’t like crying, hated when it happened and even more so when Natasha was around to see it, but this time she’d caused it and Wanda was too overwhelmed with emotion to hold back her sob. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

She flung herself back into Natasha’s arms, a sweaty mess of tears and the smell of sex, but Nat caught her anyways, rubbing her back as Wanda cried. Unfortunately, Natasha hadn’t thought through how emotional Wanda tended to get; she’d barely bargained for her own stumbling before opening her mouth. “You’re too tired to be crying like this, you’ll pass out.” 

“You’d take care of me,” Wanda mumbled, curling into Natasha’s lap as she tried to settle herself down. It took a while, longer because the brunette refused to quit kissing her new fiancee to properly catch her breath. When she finally did, her wide smile was still plastered on her face and Natasha found it contagious, a similar expression stuck on her own mouth. “That was quite an adorable proposal, Miss Romanoff.”

Natasha raised a brow, wiping the last remnants of tears from Wanda’s pink cheeks with a disgruntled huff, “If you tell anyone about that, I’ll make sure they can’t speak a word of it to anyone else.”

“Does that include-”

“That especially includes Sam. Not a word or I’m taking my proposal back.” Wanda laughed, not believing a single thing that came out of her grumpy wife-to-be’s mouth. Natasha was so protective of her steel-cut persona, so few people heard anything different and even fewer actually saw it. Wanda, on the other hand, loved spilling secrets to their friends and more than once, Natasha caught herself being the topic of conversation; they never let her live those moments down. “Not a single word, I mean it. I bet I can sell this house too.”

[narabea06]

Being friends with the creepypastas Nina addition? With reader being a scene kid like her? Something to bond over lol

So I didn't realize I didn't do enough with the specific request of the reader being a scene kid, but I did try my best- Hope you enjoy!

ALSO I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG-

Being Friends With Nina the Killer [with GN! Scene Kid Reader]

Nina is absolutely ecstatic to meet you the moment you walked into her life and saw your energy. It's extremely easy to befriend her thankfully so as long as you and Jeff aren't close, y'all are friends in no time!

Nina constantly loves to share gossip with you all the time, and will tell you all about her day down to the tiniest details. You know all the drama and all the rumors about everyone, and both of you eat that shit up every time.

She is extremely physically affectionate with you whether it's wrapping an arm around you for photos, hugging you whenever she sees you, holding your hand whenever you're nearby, booping your nose when you're being silly- She's really platonically affectionate with you, unless you set up a boundary about touch.

Nina does have a lot of abandonment issues due to losing a lot of people in her life and may get a bit paranoid that you or her other friends are going to leave her. She tries her best to never show you her worries but once you guys get close, she does eventually open up to you. She does need a lot of reassurance that you won't die or ghost her, but she does try her best not to be too clingy if you set up a boundary.

She absolutely loves getting all kinds of charms, jewelry, bracelets, hair clips, pins, stickers- She even gets you guys a bunch of matching sets and accessories, and sometimes if you're lucky, she even makes you jewelry by hands. Additionally to this, she will let you borrow any of her makeup and clothes as long as you bring it back in good condition. On the contrary though, she WILL steal your clothes if she wants to wear them.

They love to paint your nails together, but will absolutely never let you touch her nail polish and will always paint her nails for you. She'll let you use any of her other makeup, but the moment you try to use her nail polish, she will lecture you for hours. Any time your nails chip or you bite your nails, she will drop everything to repaint them for you.

She is very clingy, and oftentimes may jokingly get jealous about you spending time with other people or will text you a lot asking if you need anything or you're okay. Again, this is from a long history of abandonment issues and worries that you will get tired of her.

Nina will teach you Spanish whenever she can because of her being Mexican and bilingual. Due to trying to teach Jeff growing up only for him to give him half way through, she is very determined to get you to actually see it through and become fluent. In return, if you know another language, she will try to learn it too.

Nina gets incredibly protective over you, and while she tries not to be overbearing, she can a lot sometimes. She will often refuse to leave your side and parties and will argue with Tumblr users online for hours if somebody even says a single negative comment in your direction. She is your ride-or-die, she will gut a man if she has to for you.

If you get along with Jeff at all, that will cause a rift in your friendship big time, and may even break it up completely if you're not lucky. Nina will probably never tell the full extent of why she hates Jeff, especially since she doesn't like opening up about her trauma, but will consistently try to throw him under the bus for petty things to get you to stop hanging out with him.

Nina rarely asks for help with anything unless it's small, which leads to her getting extremely defensive if you try to help her with something she can do on her own. This is due to her mother raising her to take care of herself for years, and unless you call her out on this behavior, she will keep getting frustrated with you trying to help her with her hair, makeup, or any other random task.

If you can drive, she will literally beg you to drive her places, whether it's the store Toby works at, or the gas station, or to the mall- She always promises to pay you back for gas and even oftentimes gets you your favorite drinks and snacks as payment for it. Because of this though, she will wake you up at 3 AM to drive her down to Circle K because she's craving gummy worms-

She gives you music recommendations all the time, specifically Melanie Martinez, ICP, and 6arelyhuman. If she sends you a song, she expects you to listen to it immediately to share your thoughts on it. In return, she always listens to and saves every song you send her into a playlist of sings she knows you enjoy.

She will often copy your stims and gets really excited whenever she sees you happy.

Nina often tries to give you hair tips and share what she knows about hair care, but no matter what, don't listen to what she says, her hair is so incredibly damaged-

She is extremely hesitant to introduce you to Toby and BEN, mainly because BEN is an absolute menace of chaos and can be a lot even for Nina, and Toby is still trying to go about his new life. Between the two though, she'd probably introduce you to BEN first, and if not either of them, she'd introduce you to Liu.

She introduces you to Mary and Jane probably immediately after meeting you and will talk about them for hours if you let her. She absolutely loves her girlfriends and will want you to meet them as soon as possible. Jane may be a bit standoffish at first due to her being a bit protective, but will relax once she sees how happy you make Nina. Mary will probably warm up to you almost immediately.

Nina absolutely loves to rollerblade and will try to teach her how to skate herself if you don't know how to. It's a lot of trial and error though since Nina isn't a great teacher, but any bruises you get from falling down, she cleans out herself and apologizes for profusely.

She loves sharing food with you a lot and will always make you a separate serving of food if you walk in on her making something. She also enjoys introducing you to new foods.

She hypes up you constantly, though she isn't as aggressive about it as Jeff is. She's very gentle about your insecurities and will help build up your confidence as best she can.

You two have sleepovers all the time, and will often stay up late together for hours, and have pulled multiple all-nighters together.

Nina did eventually officially come out to you as transfem a few years into your friendship as a milestone for how much she trusted you. She was incredibly scared and even started sobbing, but was just happy she met someone she could trust with her identity.

She is very hyperaware of your body language and triggers, and will try her best to never purposely upset you, and will keep track of your mannerisms. She gets really worried about scaring you or making you not like her, and does everything in her power to not poke at your trauma on accident.

As you guys got closer, Nina starts to feel more and more safe with you, but still often tries to hide her mental health from you due to not knowing how to be more open about it. There are times though that you do witness her meltdowns or panic attacks, and often have to be there to comfort her or get someone to help.

Nina picks up your boundaries extremely quickly and will follow those boundaries EXACTLY. She tries everything never to cross a line for you and always hopes you'll do the same.

You guys will match profile pictures all the time on your social media accounts and will work together on making your accounts look all nice.

Nina absolutely loves taking photos of you two together and has an entire photo album on her phone of the two of you.

[aceofwhump]

Hello @crispyliza !! So I'm replying in a separate post because this is too long for a reply on the post. Hope you don't mind. I also think it might benefit others who have asked me in the past and those wishing to start gif making. Especially with whumptober just around the corner.

So here's a full look at how I make my gifs. This got very long so I put it under a read more

A quick thing before I start: I use windows and google chrome. If you're a mac or firefox user I'm not sure of this will work for you in terms of programs. The techniques I use in photoshop should though.

Okay for this demonstration I'm going to show you how I made the gifs for this gifset

To start we need a video. I don't torrent because my internet connection will cut out a random which makes using vpns rather pointless. I've tried. My internet would cut out halfway through a torrent download and then my internet provider was notified to what I was doing. It was just not great. So I found a new way to download videos off the internet! You can use torrents though. If you've got a vpn, go for it.

There are several streaming sites that I go to to get my videos. 1movies, and bstsrs are my go to right now since soap2day is gone (rip i miss you).

Now there are three ways I can get a video depending on what website I'm using. Bstsrs is the easiest because they have a whole bunch of links available. I always go with mixdrop because it has an easy to use built in download button. Unfortunately this site doesn't have movies. Just tv shows and sometimes it's not the best quality or there aren't links available. That's when I go to 1movies. Once you've found your video I use the chrome extension Cococut to download it. Click the extension button to open, then the download button. Then you just have to wait until the video is rendered. Click save. Wait until its downloaded.

Okay we now have our video! The next step is to turn the scene you want to gif into frames. For this we're gonna need KMPlayer. This video player makes it really easy to turn scenes into frames/screencaps. Open your video. Find the the scene you want and pause the video. Type control-g to open this screen:

Here you choose the destination you want your frames to be saved. Decide what to name your frames and match up your settings with mine. You want to continuously extract frames, original size, and I stick with every 2 frames. Then, and this is important, choose video images only.

Now click start then start playing your video until the scene you want to gif is done. When you've got everything you wanted, pause the video. Hit ctrl-g again to reopen that screen and click stop. You now have all the frames you need so go ahead and exit out of KMPlayer. You don't need it again unless you need to redo frames or get the dialogue or something.

Next up we are gonna open Photoshop. I use Photoshop CC 2014.

Click on File -> Scripts -> Load files into stack -> Browse.

Go wherever you saved your frames and select the ones you need. Click okay and let the frames load completely before doing any thing else. Depending on how many you've selected this could take a while.

Once all of your frames are loaded, click "Create Frame Animation". Next click the little arrow button on right followed by "Make Frames From Layers" so we have all of our frames laid out. Now we need to reverse the frames because they're backwards so click that little button again and then click "Reverse Frames"

Okay you've got your frames loaded and all set to go. Time for all the cropping, resizing, setting the speed, and editing.

First thing I do is set the speed because otherwise I forget and it's important to do and a pain in the ass to do after all the editing is done. So do it first and get it out of the way. Select all of your frames. Click the little button beneath a frame where it says 0.0 and pick your time. I usually go for .1 seconds but .05 is also a popular speed. Just test one out and see which one you like best for your gif. You can hit the play button at any time to test your gif.

To set speed:

After this I do one of two things. Either I go into cropping and resizing or I separate frames. Depends on how many frames I uploaded. If I uploaded all the frames needed for an entire gifset this is the part where I separate them out onto individual gifs. So let's do that.

Originally I was just gonna do one gif but I have 115 frames uploaded which is waaaay too many for just one gif. I like to keep my gifs between 30 and 80 frames. So I'm going to split this into 3 gifs I think. It'll make a nice balanced gifset.

Select the frames you want for the first gif and copy them using the copy frames option in the same menu as the make frames from layers menu. Open a new document with the same dimensions as your current document. Click "Create Frame Animation" and paste the frames over the selected frame. Make sure that first frame is the same speed as all the other frames. Repeat until you have your desired gifs.

Next up I crop and resize. For this gif I'm going to first crop out the black bars above and below the image because we don't want that in the gif. Use the select tool to pick what you want to keep then "Image" then "Crop".

Now I could leave it as it but I think for this gifset I'm gonna focus more on Geralt so I'm going to crop it in a bit more.

Once cropping is all set i'm going to resize the gif to tumblr dimensions. Click "Image" then "Image Size" and change the width to 540px. The height can be anything and best not to mess with it so your gif keeps it's proportions. 540px is the width of a tumblr post and I plan on making these gifs stacked one on one.

Okay the gifs are all cropped and sized. Now it's time to do some editing. Go back to your first gif. We'll do all the work on this first gif and apply the same things to the other ones later because the scenes are the same. If they were different each gif would be colored and edited individually. First thing to do is turn it from frame animation to timeline. Timeline mode makes applying things like sharpening and brightness much easier and smoother.

So just click this button in the bottom left corner to go into timeline mode. Next up select all your layers. They're on the right side. Make sure you've selected ALL of them. Then click on "Filter" -> "Convert for Smart Filters" THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP! We can't edit until this is done.

This button to switch from frames to timeline:

First thing I do is sharpen. You can use one of the presets or try to do manually do it with smart sharpen. I use the preset labelled "sharpen" because I'm lazy and this one does a fine job for my gifs. I also add a layer of surface blur to smooth things out. Just a small touch. Like barely any blur but I think it smooths noise a bit and makes it look better.

Next up: Editing!! This step is going to be different for each and every gif you make. It all depends on the colors in the scene your giffing so you're gonna have to do a lot of experimenting to get the right look you want. Personally that's what I like about it. Makes it fun.

All your adjustments can be found found on the right side of the screen:

I almost always start with the "Levels" layer to brighten up the image because as we all know, every freaking whump scene is sooo dark. So with levels you just slide the little arrows around until you get a look you like.

Then I add a layer of "Curves". I love curves. With curves you can select the whitest white and the darkest black and the middle tone to change the brightness and colors of your gif. Or you can use this part and just brighten or darken a specific part. It's really versatile and i love it. It does take some practice and experimenting though.

Now a layer of "Contrast" and a layer of "Vibrance".

After this it's all about the selective colors, photo filters, and color balance to work on the colors and brightness. For this gif I'm only doing a tiny bit of editing cause I like the coloring but sometimes I'll have multiple layers of these to create a good coloring.

Once you're satisfied with how your gif looks it's time to save it!

Click "File" -> "Save for Web" and wait until it's all loaded. Important thing too look at here is the size of the gif. You can't upload any gif that is larger than 10mbs so make sure it's under that. Sometimes even 9.8 is too big because tumblr is a butt. I go for anything below 9.8. If your gif is too big try resizing it or removing a few frames. Make sure you gif is set to loop forever. Otherwise it'll just stop after a little bit. Don't forget to change this!

Here are the rest of my settings:

After that you can click save.

And that's it! You've made a gif! Congrats! If you have any questions or want clarification feel free to message me :)

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAOOO nah dw abt embarrassing me it must be done….Id rather you see it than have me send it to someone who doesn’t match my freak and have them think im insane

Omg Karasu in the lead?? Guys…….Mira you’ve fr cultivated Karasu nation LMAOO but no you’re so right I remember seeing a poll awhile ago from someone and ofc there were the fan faves like Nagi Reo Kaiser as options and I was shocked to see Karasu there?? Ofc he was dead last in the results but not unexpected ig….also BAROU THIRD GUYS!!!! Barouism rising too??

No seriously Isagi would be sooo cooked if Nagi wasn’t there….trust I know that Nagi goal in u20 is gonna make him skyrocket I’m imagining all the edits to it now LMAO

It’s just the miraverse of content….new genre it’s called “would Mira watch this?” The parallels do go hard though I wasn’t expecting to find so many LOL

HAAHA SHIDOU lowk that’d be really funny….imagine like a 200k wc fic of Shidou shenanigans and sus quotes

Maybe I’ve been too desensitized because when you said too extreme I was expecting a lot more violence LMAO you got the perfect amount though I think when you said extreme I was thinking of Shidou level oops

NO FR?? Like he’s not gonna ever take the top spot but lowk I’ve grown to appreciate him….youre so right though LOLL closeted sweetheart >>> closeted asshole bro wait the grape candy scene was so cute I forgot to mention….its so funny how he kinda just gives it to her without saying anything about it like how people would do secret deals or something but no it’s just grape candy LMAOOO

THREE bro….the aura is crazy…to the dude who wanted your insta you should’ve been like “if you buy me a $50 cupcake I’ll give it to you” /j lowk investing in a bodyguard does not sound like a bad idea tho

OOOOOOH very excited for everything….also the whole masterlist layout for the oaeu>>>>>>>> the visuals look so CLEAN omg but guys look it’s aiku on Mira’s blog!!!! I saw the poll and have not touched it like wdym I’m supposed to choose???? Let’s see if I can be decisive for once but just know I was debating between tabieitaken and barou….speaking of im kinda curious to see which idea of mine will spark inspiration first LMAO take ur time tho im being so well fed with everything in the lineup so far

Im also laughing missing the cutoff is so funny to me because (unless I didn’t read something) it’s like if you didn’t safely get something in before the impending arrival of aiku you’re in for the long ride LMAOOOO

Ok actually real time update I just put them into a random generator to pick and voted LOL because there’s no way I’m deciding in time but I needed to show some opinion somehow….ok but anyways the main point I came back for was why is Nagi tied with your vote tracking option LMFAOOOOO I’m ngl I’ve never set up a poll here what’s the purpose of that…I just know that people aren’t supposed to pick it but I’m crying why does it have more votes than otoya and yuki

- Karasu anon

HAHA okay that is fair i will def keep you posted on any future typos 🤩 honestly they add to the experience though i mean what is a translator without occasional goofs (/j but also as someone who read a 1.5 million word novel translated online from korean #orv i am very used to wading through odd phrasing to get to the heart of a story so ngl sometimes my mind just skips over typos entirely and i don’t even notice)

unfortunately karasu nation has fallen…he’s in second now (w barou as a very close third) because SAE ITOSHI has a healthy lead 😭 honestly it was expected that man just has too many fans 😓 and most of the other characters on there aren’t AS popular (i’m sure there would’ve been more of a split if rin kaiser or isagi were included but honestly none of them were screaming oaeu to me…sae is kinda in the same category as them for me but he had strong oaeu potential hence why he’s included despite not being a miraverse all star like nagi karasu and barou)

I AM SOOO HYPE FOR THE EDITS PLSSS karasu and otoya edits from third selection?? nagi edits from the u20 game?? BAROU EDITS FROM THE U20 GAME 🤤⁉️ AHHH it’s going to be so good i just know those editors are going to cook up so many delicious concepts i’m actually hype (barely one more month we’re so close!!) and LMAOO no literally iirc nagi scored like four of the five goals against barou and naruhaya or something like if he hadn’t done that isagi would’ve had the naruhaya treatment and been out for good 😭 tik tok fans forgetting who the og goat of bllk was 😢 okay but honestly that’s why i love having nagi AND barou as my favs because one or the other is always up!! truly no losing there (and bllk bros automatically respect anyone who loves barou because most of them are barou glazers as if barou is ANYTHING like them 😒)

i guess part of it is also probably just kaneshiro using typical character archetypes too?? like girly dude white haired dude flirty dude etc etc the nagi dragon art was insane work though like what was the reason for that except to cater to us specifically

nah because yk i’d cook even for shidou 😭 but he would not be my first choice (or my second, or third, so on and so forth) HAHA he’s just a bit too chaotic plus like we’ve mentioned i don’t really find him too attractive even though ik some people do?? LMAOO omg idt i could ever write a character as violent as him especially not kiyora…like he’s chill for the most part just not hesitant to punch someone if needed i guess is how i interpreted it?? whereas shidou would just do it for funsies

I HAD FUN WRITING THE GRAPE CANDY SCENE IT JUST FELT SO HIM like the way he gives her a piece after she successfully swallows a pill as if she’s a dog or smth it’s just so innocent 😭 meanwhile reader is like “wow our tongues will match 😏” FBXJFKDS and him writing his number on the empty box so he doesn’t have to throw it away OR actually give her his number in person for fear of rejection…kiyora my underrated goat fr 🥹

JFNFJDDJSJ PLSSS just drop a quick “erm have i known you since you were four years old?? yeah i didn’t THINK so!!” and move on…i fear writing has made my standards very high hence why i’ve never been in a relationship but you’ll never catch me settling fr 🥱 if they’re not like bfb karasu or peregrine nagi or white butterfly hiori I DON’T WANT THEM 🤣 or ig someone like seabird sae would work too HAHA i’ll sacrifice the pining for a man w money and a sense of humor 🤩

OMG YAYYY I’M GLAD YOU LIKE IT i was inspired by those dollar store self help books as well as rom com movie covers when i was making it and i think it turned out well!! and then i saw one of the graphics accounts i follow had posted the green and purple hearts divider and i was like holy shit this is PERFECT it matches so so well w his entire aesthetic…also peep oliver and aiku being diff colors like his heterchromia 😮 LMAOO genuinely this is probably aiku’s first appearance on my blog (besides his cameo in the last part of fwtkac) but ahhh i’m trying to figure out which req to do next myself!! i have a few to choose from so there’s def a bit of variety…i’m thinking of your requests i’ll probably do chigiri?? because barou is part of the oaeu and idk if i feel connected enough to bachira to write for him yet 🙂‍↕️

NFJDBXSNK no because that’s literally what it is…after the gagamaru req my inbox was pretty stagnant in terms of new reqs so i was like ok let me just get these ones cleared out and then i’ll go back to posting my own things again as well 😭 literally the two hiori requests are from my 500 follower event so from back in JUNE like i need to wrap these up and post them 😭 but idm making the newer ones wait like they can go on the crazy oaeu ride w all of us in the meantime 😩

OMG WHO DID YOU END UP VOTING FOR (unless you want to keep it a secret because if so i understand 🫡) also omg that annoys me sm like fr a pet peeve…basically no one can see the results of a poll until they vote but that includes the creator of the poll?? so if you don’t want to skew the results you just make another option so you can keep track of the poll while it’s still open 🤩 but i absolutely HATE when people pick that option like are you seriously that desperate to know the answer that you pick the option that literally says it’s only for me?? it doesn’t matter what you put people will vote on it but it’s so annoying ughhhh i can’t stop putting it because i’m nosy and like to know what’s going on with the poll in real time but it fr irritates me that people pick it like literally just choose a random option if it’s that deep 😒 i think part of what annoys me is like it so clearly says don’t pick it…and then people still pick it…like were you all dropped on the heads as children or smth…ANYWAYS sorry i feel like i’m so chill normally but there’s random things that genuinely make me crash out for no reason 😭 ALSO POOR YUKI AND OTOYA they’re still behind the FOR MIRA ONLY OPTION (me rn: 🤬😡) atp i’m not going to do polls anymore…like damn sorry i tried to get you all involved why are you being stupid and illiterate rn

actually tbh it’s not that deep idk why it enrages me sm 😰 but uhhh i fear it does for some reason

[emeritus-fuckers]

For the match up event please 💙

1. Identify as a cis woman. Use she/her pronouns and am panromantic aceflux. Call me Piff.

2. I would like to be paired with one of the Papa's please!

3. I'm about 5'5" and am plus-sized. I have long unkempt dark blonde hair. It's nearly longer than my back and I kind of just let it do whatever. Blue eyes and thin rounded square glasses. I wear a lot of dull/muted colors and my style is very grunge. Most of my clothes are baggy as well as I feel very constricted in form fitting wear.

4. I'm incredibly standoffish and shy. Very anxious to try anything new and I like routine. I don't talk a whole lot and am more observant- very sensitive to the world around me. Whenever I have the ability to stay in and in bed I take it. Bit of a pushover, particularly around angrier people as I don't have the bravery nor energy to stand up for myself. Once I feel safe around someone I'm a completely different person. Goofy. Cynical. Laid-back and a little lazy. I have quite the temper and allow myself to get angry and irritated around them. I need someone who can handle my harshness.

I also have quiet BPD and my moods can flip drastically in a second over anything or for no particular reason at all. I can make rash and reckless decisions.

5. I'm a huge sucker for anything horror, whether that be watching, reading or playing a video game about it.

Obsessed with cats, am frequently called the crazy cat lady by family. I have a beautiful bombay named Dot who's just as standoffish, anxious and aggressive as me. Would love if she's able to bond with you because she also feels safe.

I listen to a lot older rock when not listening to Ghost. Scorpions, Blue Oyster Cult, Ratt.

In my spare time I like being lazy. Watching TV and screwing around on my phone. I'm a waitress and am very exhausted and sore by the end of every shift- so I just enjoy doing nothing. I do occasionally like to get out and will follow, even if it's for groceries.

6. I love those shitty unhinged Garfield comics. Will laugh at them for hours.

I love the ocean. Surround myself with memories and decor of the few times I was able to visit it.

This post is part of the 1000 followers match up event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your match is...Papa Emeritus II

With you being so shy he was confused at first why you didn't approach him. He realises he needs to open up a little to you, so you can see he isn't really that scary and grumpy. He is actually very caring and loving, he too also has a fun goofy side that people only see when he's at parties unless they are close to him.

He can deal with your harshness, he understands it's you being comfortable around him. He is also very good at standing up for himself and other people. If someone is being angry towards you he will be at your side in seconds looking incredibly intimidating. No one will ever bother you again.

He's really supportive when it comes to your BPD. He'll do anything he can to help when your mood flips. If you make any decisions you regret or want to change he will 100% support you to do that. It's amazing what Secondo and his Ghouls can pull off.

Secondo enjoys reading as well. He loves sitting on the sofa with you in his arms, each of you lost in your own book. He is just so content to know you are there next to him. He also loves painting, as a suprise he painted you in a scene from your favourite book.

If you need to let off steam he'll take you for a walk round the gardens, they are the most calming and soothing place in the Ministry. He'll listen as much as you need, and do what he can to help.

He'll buy you anything you want. He notices your love of horror and buys the best sound system and TV he can find. He sets it all up in his living quaters. He had a spare room that wasn't really being used. He gets the most comofrtable sofa for you to sit on and when you are watching films there together (or you can go there by yourself whenever you want) he makes sure there is fresh popcorn and drinks.

He also takes you on trips to the ocean whenever he can. He'll pay for and arrange everything so you can just go and be by the ocean with nothing to worry about.

~

Written by Nyx

[highfunctioningflailgirl]

Damage Control - 1x16 Shadow

They drive in silence for a while, aimlessly, if Dean’s honest, just away. Away from fighting the Daēva, from Meg, from a blood-stained crime scene. Away from Dad.

Dean’s sure that their father is already well out of town, foot steady on the gas pedal of his truck in spite of his injuries. He took off in the opposite direction, and Dean can feel the increasing distance between them in his guts. Or maybe it’s just his own wounds? The Daēva got him good, and he can feel blood trickling down his side where its claws raked him. There’s a trail of fiery stinging from his ribs to his stomach; the same goes for his forehead.

Looking over at Sam, he sees that his brother isn’t faring any better. The shadow demon tore his left cheek open with its claws, the deep, ragged grooves still bleeding freely. And Dean’s pretty sure the semi-darkness in the car and Sam’s three layers of clothing are hiding additional wounds.

“Sam?” When he has his brother’s attention, he makes a circular motion at his own cheek, then points at Sam.

“Hospital time.”

There’s a sucking-in of air as Sam gets ready to launch into automatic protest. “What? No! It’s not that b-”

“Yes, it is,” Dean cuts him off. “Look at your face, man! I can’t sew this up. Unless you want me to Frankenstein you. Probably need a Tetanus shot, too. And antibiotics. We both do. It got me good as well.” He winces and presses one hand to his side.

That gets Sam’s attention. He sits up straight. “Got you? How bad?”

“Bad enough to hurt like a sonofabitch.”

“Can you drive?”

Dean waves him off. “Yeah. Shouldn’t be far.”

It’s not. Fifteen minutes later, they’re standing at an ER reception desk, lying to the nurse about their names, insurance and an obscure animal attack, and after noticing that Dean’s dripping blood onto the floor they’re ushered into an exam cubicle. Efficient hands peel them out of their bloody shirts and take their vitals. A first assessment determines that they’ll live but will need an impressive amount of stitching. Four deep slashes run from the side of Dean’s rib cage down to his belly button, Sam’s got a matching set across one of his pecs, and there are the facial injuries on both of them.

“What happened to you two?” A female doctor in surgical scrubs enters their cubicle. Her name tag identifies her as B. Kumaga, M.D.

“Wildlife.” Dean gives her his best daredevil smirk. “Wouldn’t advise camping out anywhere near the truck stop on the interstate if I were you.”

They’d agreed on some vague story about an animal attack that went so fast they couldn’t even see what exactly had wanted to maul them. Experience has taught them that hospitals were ready to accept the craziest explanations as long as there were no other people or weapons involved. It kept the police out of it and paperwork minimal, and animal control - if summoned at all - rarely ever showed up before they were patched up and gone.

“What kind of animal?” The doctor, a classy, black woman in her forties, approaches Sam first and carefully examines his cheek.

“We’re not sure,” Sam says, wincing slightly. “It was dark, and we’d been asleep. It was so quick, and we just blindly fought it off.”

The doctor frowns and adjusts the light so she can see better. “These look like claw marks. Some sort of wildcat?”

“Could’ve been,” Dean chimes in from the other gurney. “To be honest, we were too distracted to give it a good look. You know, what with the thing trying to rip our faces off and everything.” He grins crookedly, although he feels like crap. Charm and bravado usually work best on ER doctors, tired of dealing with whiny and scared patients all the time. It keeps questions at bay and speeds up treatment.

“Understandable.” The doctor smirks. She turns away from Sam and snaps on new gloves to check Dean’s wounds now. “And you got lucky.”

“Because the thing didn’t rip our throats out?” Dean sucks in air as the doctor palpates the slashes on his stomach.

“Because I’m a plastic surgeon and can fix this mess,” Doctor Kumaga replies evenly, with a trace of that cocky arrogance Dean has seen in surgeons before. “Your luck I’m on ER duty tonight.”

“Wow.” Dean looks over at Sam. “We’re getting the royal treatment, brother.”

Sam’s responsive smile is a bit lopsided. “Looks like it.”

“Well,” the surgeon says, her fingertips on Dean’s forehead now. “It would be a shame to leave you two boys looking like roadkill. But I have to warn you - this’ll take an hour or two, and you’ll either have to hold still for that long or let me put you under and keep you here overnight. Which one’s it going to be?”

Dean exchanges a glance with his brother. The choice is clear.

“Door number one, please,” Dean replies. “We can handle it.”

“Thought so.” The surgeon gives Dean a look that might be an acknowledgement of their bravery. Then she starts opening drawers and pulling out instrument trays, vials and surgical towels. “I’m gonna numb you up, and then we can start. Who wants to go first?”

Sam and Dean look at each other, both of their right hands already forming fists for a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors. And - sonofabitch! - Dean loses. Again.

xxx

Almost three hours later, Dean unlocks the door to a stale-smelling motel room and limps inside, each step pulling on his fresh stitches. Sam slips past him and drops their bags onto the floor, then sinks onto one of the beds with an audible sigh. Dean does the same on the other bed, tossing aside the baseball hat he’d worn to conceal his wounds.

The plastics surgeon had known what she was doing. She’d sewn both of them up with neat, small sutures that would leave only minimal scarring. Thin, flesh-colored bandage strips are covering the stitches on their faces, making them look almost inconspicuous except for some swelling around the wounds. The motel clerk hadn’t even noticed when Dean had checked them in, head angled away from the light, baseball hat pulled low into his forehead.

To prevent chafing, Sam’s chest and Dean’s side and belly are more heavily bandaged, and Dean is glad for the additional padding when he lies down. The local anesthetic is fading fast, and he can feel the familiar prickle-and-sting of his stitches gearing up for a night of fun.

“Where d’you think Dad is now?” Sam asks from his right. He sounds dejected.

Dean closes his eyes. The memory of his father’s bloodied face rushes in. “Still on the road? Or patching himself up somewhere, laying low? I don't know. But I’m pretty sure he put some miles between us before he stopped.”

“Should we call him? Make sure he’s alright?”

Sam sounds conflicted, his voice unsure. For years he’d nurtured nothing but rage, reproach and bitterness when it came to their father. That one hug they’d exchanged before the Daēva attacked them seems to have mellowed him, and, somehow, that makes it all even harder. They’d found him. Jesus fucking Christ, they’d finally found Dad, and in one piece. They’d reconciled. Dean’s heart had leaped at their reunion. They’d be together again, all three of them. Hunt together. Be a family.

But his hopes had been smashed. The shadow demon had demonstrated why it wasn’t meant to be, why their father had disappeared for months and not even answered his phone - not even when Dean was dying from heart failure. They were a liability. A weakness. John Winchester’s Achilles heel. They didn’t make him stronger. They made him vulnerable.

“He’ll be alright,” Dean answers, heaviness in his chest. “He always is. And I don’t think he’d even pick up the phone.”

Sam stares at the ceiling, and when he speaks again, there’s pain in his voice - and a touch of that old anger rekindling. “That’s what I don’t get - that he can’t even talk to us. I mean, where’s the harm in that? Is that demon tracing phone calls now?! Dad can use a burner if that’s what he’s afraid of. He could at least check in every once in a while and let us know that he’s still alive. Check if we are alive!”

Dean sighs. That didn’t last long. There he is again - the pouty, defiant, self-centered little brother who stormed off to Stanford four years ago. Sammy, so caught up in his own righteousness that he can’t see past the tip of his nose.

“He can’t risk it, Sammy,” he says tiredly. “We don’t know what that demon is capable of. You just saw what happened! We get together, we get hurt. That thing will use us to get to Dad. If that demon finds out we’re in touch–”

“He’s our father, Dean!” Sam sits up, plants his big feet on the carpet, posture aggressive. “I get that he wants us out of harm’s way. And I want that demon to pay for what it did just as much as him, but he’s our goddamn father!”

All Dean wants to do is sleep. His body feels like a slap of lead. Everything hurts. But Sam’s not going to let this go, so Dean struggles upright and, holding his side, he locks eyes with his brother, countering his dark stare with what he hopes is amenability.

“He’s trying to protect us, Sammy.”

Sam scoffs. “He’s protecting himself! He’s obsessed! Finding that demon is more important to him than anything else in this world! More important than his own sons!”

“That’s not true.” Dean’s answer comes fast, with conviction. That flutter of doubt he feels? It skitters away, outranked by his sense of loyalty toward his father. John Winchester may not be perfect, but Dean knows he loves them, he has to, doesn’t he? What Sam says is wrong, clouded by that immature grudge he’s still holding. “He’d die for us if he had to. You know that! He watched Mom die, and that’s why he’s doing this! For all we know, that thing could be coming after us, too, and he’s trying everything to keep us safe by getting to it first!”

Sam stares at him in disbelief, the asymmetry of his injured and bandaged face making him look foreign. “This is the story you keep telling yourself? That he’s doing this for us? Why are you always defending him? This isn’t about us! It’s about revenge!”

Anger flares in Dean. But he’s exhausted, and they’ve been around this block too many times. He knows how it could end. He’s already lost Dad, for the second time. He can’t risk losing Sammy again, too.

“Can we not do this?” he asks, sounding more desperate than he means to. “Can we just… not fight?”

It’s clearly not the reaction Sam had expected. Apparently he’d been ready for Dean to yell at him, to fall into that same old pattern of escalation the Winchester men had cultivated over the years. When it’s not coming, Sam’s face goes blank with surprise before rearranging into confusion. “I don’t–” he says, then he breaks off and starts again, studying Dean. “Are you… are you okay?”

No, Dean wants to reply. No, I’m not okay. I’m hurting inside and out, and I know you are too.

“I’m fine,” comes out of his mouth instead. “I really just need to sleep. Can we talk about this another time?” He hates how his voice wavers.

“Yeah.” Sam’s frown deepens. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Okay.”

Dean settles back onto the bed and rolls onto his good side, face turned away from Sam. Behind his back, he hears his brother shuffling, getting up again, hesitant.

“You… you want the bathroom first? Or can I..?”

“Go ahead. I think I’m just gonna go to sleep.”

It’s wishful thinking. His side is stinging in earnest now, and no matter how he turns his head, his injured face hurts against the cheap motel pillow. While Sam retreats to the bathroom, he stares into the semi-darkness of the room.

Dad, he thinks. Where are you now? And then, inevitably, Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll watch out for Sammy. I’ll keep him safe.

The Damage Control Series Masterlist

Read the entire series on AO3 here:

[hologramcowboy]

(1) Not really an ask, just a couple observations. You've spoken about Jensen and ad-libbing. I feel that early on in his career he relied heavily on his natural talent, and therefore learned some bad habits. At past cons Jensen has spoken about filming on DOOL where, due to the amount of material covered daily, they would have script pages/lines around the set to refer to and retakes were not done unless the error was egregious. Even after moving onto other projects Jensen may have relied on

What a beautiful question. Thank you for asking. ♥️

Grab a tea or coffee or whatever drink you prefer and get comfy because this is going to be a long answer. ☕😂 I'm going to put it in a Read More link right after this gif. 🤠

As far as Jensen is concerned, I see your point, on soaps they film a loooot of pages in one day, however, soap actors should be even more trained than regular actors and, in fact, ironically, most are. Why is this? Because they have to cry on cue within seconds, switch from bitch fights to tragedies to lovemaking to wedding to etc in one day (scenes aren't necessarily filmed in order), not only that, they have a big disadvantage, often times producers and writers don't let them know what will happen to the character or what the through line is until it's too late for them character and script analysis wise. Meaning, they have no proper information to fully build their character so they have to work ten times as hard. I know people like to mock soap actors but please know most are very well trained and they work in extremely hectic settings. Sorry for going off the subject, let's get back to Jensen.

While I do get that his tendency is to repeat what he did in the past, no actor that wants to grow uses the same methods of the past. There is no such thing as a stagnant actor and those who stagnate experience stagnation booking wise. Because acting is a rapidly evolving craft. Jensen lacks a proper actor's toolbox, he also lack something that is KEY: knowing how to fully analyze a script and a character. He often makes comments that show he does not study, get in touch with or understand the full dynamics of the story he is bringing to life, same goes for his character. He needs to learn to Sherlock Holmes the script to enrich his performances. ( Yes, that's an actual expression and Sherlock Holmesing the Text® was coined by Tim Philips, if you haven't read his book, I highly recommend it) Jensen also needs to understand that he is bringing to life a real human with a particular psychological make up, which means he should never play the idea of who that character is but rather find a way to recreate the character's core psychology. This is where an acting coach could help him with a few or constant private lessons until he learns to break down the script and character psychology on his own.

To give you an example, let's say you are playing a rap* victim, if you've never experienced that how can you live that state? You may have never experienced that but you have at some point experienced terror, deep pain, feeling violated to your core, PTSD and other states that match that experience. Based on that and based on the other elements of analysis you can meticulously organically trigger the psychology of that character and fully step into the role. There's are multiple techniques but they are divided into two types: Ones that center on using past experiences (which even Stanislavsky renounced because he noticed that negatively affecting the actors due to triggering deep traumas) or one that centers on Imagination (which is the safest and you can use the Alpha state, for example, to fully visualize the characters emotional life and experiences and step into all of that).

In order to know these things Jensen needs to do his due research. I have no doubt that he could be a breathtaking, dynamic, puts you on the edge of your seat actor if only he could take time to get in touch with his own craft. He still is in his own way but he could be so much more. So, for Jensen, I would recommend private lesson with an acting coach and, if needed, taking a script analysis class though should mention that most acting coaches have already incorporated script analysis within the techniques they developed so, if he finds a great coach, he most likely won't need to take script analysis class as said coach will walk him through it and give him the tools he needs to perform it on his own.

As for Jared, he does meticulously analyze both the script and his character. He also mentioned that, indeed, he reads the script in different contexts and moods and that's a very smart thing to do because it informs the scene, it also keeps him practicing different levels of his range. Sometimes written word may not immediately click despite script analysis until you try it from different perspectives and find what the writer was really going for so what Jared does is quite smart. I am sure he also switches objectives during rehearsal to see which works best. This is something a trained actor would do. If done right, every moment is lived as new with a different take and based on that he can then find the ideal tone for the scene. It gives him more control over his performance and it enriches the character's layers. That being said, you don't necessarily have to go through all of that to nail the scene dynamic but dedicated actors like to cover all of their bases.

In Jared's case, I think his block might be that he over rehearses precisely out of the need to cover all of his bases and, in doing so, he desensitizes himself and this results, sometimes, in a flat performance. So, for him, I would recommend doing exercises that focus on recreating the emotional make-up of the character and fully stepping into those emotions and riding them. For this he could create some Moment Before that supercharges him with the emotional state he needs for a scene or even an Emotional Diary and then let go and go into the scene riding those emotions. Because he works intelligently from his mind but he has a whole Universe inside and what a joy it would be to see him bring it out.

If he's in a rush then he can go straight to scene objective and a powerful substitution. Those are usually what you can go for if, for example, you have a super quick audition where they give you the sides on the spot and you only have a few minutes to learn them and create the character. Just walk into the scene with your scene objective and the appropriate substitution and fight to get what you want out of that substitution.

Also, there's not one right way to do things, it all depends on what works for each actor and the terms I used vary technique to technique but mostly refer to the very same thing.

I could have just written Jensen needs to learn how to analyze and do research and then connects his powerful emotions while Jared needs to focus on letting go more and riding his emotions fully rather than being to cerebral about things. (He isn't always but just those moments where he is less connected and too rehearsed). But, alas, I wrote an endless post. Forgive me?

P.S.: It's no wonder these two work so well together, when you think about it, they balance each other out. ♥️

Thank you again for the question, I know it's a lot so if anything is unclear please let me know.

[noro-noro-noro]

ok i have some more time! here is:

  1. the dream from tuesday night, in which pwaa case 3-5 turns into a horror movie because pearl gets possessed by a demon & then her head explodes. 2. thursday night (technically like 3am friday morning but whatever) where some people would have fake deaths & need to get on the bus

10.25.2022

ok! i don’t remember much of this since it was already a while ago & it was genuinely really unsettling, but it went like this. i made a gif of pearl’s head exploding bc it freaked me out, so if you don’t want to see that this is your sign.

pearl slipped off the inner temple side when the lightning struck & died bc there’s rocks down there. but she came back! but she was possessed by a real actual demon. anyway while her consciousness was still out, it climbed back up the cliff by using her hands as rock climbing nuts, which obviously made them get really fucked up & tore up her skin & everything, but the demon set her hands on fire on the bridge to hide that, & then put the fire out. (it had fire powers), & then pretended to get knocked out by falling rubble or something. 

since the bridge wasn’t as burnt out, edgeworth found her on day 1 of investigations bc it was still safe to cross.. she said she remembered the lightning strike & put out the fire, but didn’t remember anything else. edgeworth is not a medical professional and who’s gonna doubt like an 8 year old whose story matches up currently. he tried to get her to go to the hospital, but she refused until maya was safe, so he at least wrapped her hands up. she also had a big bruise on her forehead like that

and the bruise would get darker pretty much every scene she was in over time. edgewowrth was really concerned if she had a concussion, especially since she was complaining of feeling weird & heachaches all day, but she absolutely refused to leave or be babied by anyone & seemed stable overall, & he was able to focus on the investigation. phoenix was there too but it was following Edgeworth's pov for this part. 

anyway then at night the bridge caught on fire again & everyone that was there ran to check it out, & pearl was there & she said some weird stuff & then her bigass forehead exploded bc the demon was living inside her brain & then it came towards the screen really fast all jumpscare-like & we got a cut to black game over screen.

^it was pretty much exactly like that. so.

10.27.2022 OK so in this one, it was me, one of my internet friends, & my other friend who i played Faith with earlier this week. in the world people had timers above their heads that showed how long until they died. only you could see your timer unless you shared it with people, so like you could show your friends & stuff if you really wanted. but it was like private info otherwise. anyway we all saw that our timers were counting down to a time really soon from now, & they were all the same, & then the bus driver came to pick us up. we were confused - we hadn’t died, we were still alive? but this just happens osmetimse - the timers get confused, so it’s a false death. think like those ants who get the death chemical on them. everyone thinks they’re dead. your brain thinks you’re dead on its basest level, even if you’re not, so you’re dead. 

i was having a fit & i wanted to go home to say bye to my sister, so i managed to convince the bus driver to go by my mom’s house. my sister wasn’t there. my mom could only see me for 30 seconds, & she’d started rearranging the house - a lot of the furniture was gone or moved around in really weird ways. 

and then after that the bus driver took me back onto the bus. there was a little blond girl there. she looked like this one kid ava i worked with when i was 13 - big ol head, flat really pale blond hair, etc. she would cry all the time. tthe bus driver was really mean to her. mean to everyone tbh but i only really got mad when he wa mean to her. mean to me & my friends? whatever. mean to a 6 year old? grr

there were some shenannigans & stuff but i woke up abruptly today so i only have the last scene clearly - we were by the beach. it was really gorgeous. the sand was light orange, the sky was super clear & greenish blue, the water was really refreshing. me & my 2 friends were in a rock pit by the beach in like swimsuits or whatever. idk what we were doing in there. the water was 300 feet to the right. maybe we were hiding from the bus driver, but we knew he’d show up eventually. and he did. 

[fleshadept]

giffing tutorial

hiii so here's a walkthrough on how to make your gifs clean, crisp, and colorful :-) it's literally so much fun, it's one of my favorite hobbies, i hope y'all enjoy too!!

first off here's what you're going to need

photoshop

this gif sharpening automation

a clip you want to gif! preferably in the highest resolution you can find, 1080p is generally my minimum

adobe premiere (optional, but nice to have only for step 1)

let's get started!

step 1: creating your clip

first off, we need a shorter clip than the average tv episode or movie length. choose a scene or shot you'd like to gif. for this tutorial, i'll be giffing a scene from NOPE (2022) as an example.

now, this next part is semi-optional, it just depends on how smooth you want your gifs to be and what access you have to other platforms.

most movies and TV shows are filmed at a framerate of 23.976 frames per second, while youtube and other online videos tend to be 30fps. you can check the framerate of a video file by right clicking > properties > details

however, if i clip out a scene using the built-in windows video trim tool, it will create the clip at 30fps, causing it to lose some smoothness and look just slightly choppier. and giffing is all about trying to minimize choppiness one small step at a time.

here's where premiere comes in. if you have premiere, go ahead and open it up and create a project. i have one just for gif clip exports. if you don't have premiere, you can either retain the framerate by importing the full original file into photoshop (step 2) or clip it and just work with it in 30fps. no worries either way, in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a difference and we can still make the gifs super pretty.

open up the full file in premiere's source monitor and locate the section you want to clip. use the mark in/mark out buttons (or the "i" and "o" hotkeys) to select your clip range

then hit ctrl+M or File > Export > Media to export your clip. premiere will automatically set the export settings to match the framerate and resolution of the source clip unless you've used a different preset recently, so make sure the preset menu says "Match Source - Adaptive High Bitrate," name your file, decide where you want it, and hit export.

step 2: importing into photoshop

you're going to import your clip into photoshop by selecting File > Import > Video Frames to Layers, then picking which clip you want to gif. as you can see in my screenshot, i have this set as a keybind* to alt+shift+ctrl+i to make it faster

this will cause a menu to pop up where you can select the part of the clip you'd like to import into photoshop. now that the maximum gif size is 10mb, you can do pretty long gifs, depending on how much movement is in the clip. generally each gif can be a few seconds, but it's up to your discretion.

the clip markers aren't very precise, so don't worry about getting too perfect with the clipping here, you can shave off frames as you please throughout the rest of the process. when you have your range determined, hit OK and it'll bring us into photoshop proper!

*to set a keybind, go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts

step 3: prepping for coloring

each frame of the clip will be imported as an individual layer. it's subjective, but i've come to like my gifs having a range of about 40-140 frames, depending on how long i need them to be.

you want to make sure your workspace setting is set to "motion," so you can see the frame timeline across the bottom of your screen, like this:

you can select this workspace setting with the dropdown menu in the top right corner.

next up, scroll to the end of your timeline and shift click the last frame, selecting all the frames. click the carrot next to the number under the frames (the number in my example is "0.04") and select "other" to change the frame delay. i normally use 0.05 or 0.06, depending on how slow and dramatic i'd like the gifs to be. for this one, we'll do 0.06.

now hit "C" to open your crop tool. if you want those nice big gifs people make a lot, i'd recommend putting in 4:3 into the ratio bar at the top. you obviously don't have to crop at all; it depends on how you want it to look. hit enter when you have your crop how you like it to complete the action

select Image > Image Size or hit alt+ctrl+i to change the size of your gif. no matter what cropping you have, the width of your gif (if you want it to be the only one on its horizontal row in the tumblr post) MUST BE 540PX!! this is tumblr's ideal width for an image post** and will keep it from stretching or compressing when you post it. so go ahead and type "540" into the width column and hit enter.

now, make sure all of your frames on the timeline are still selected, go to the hamburger menu on the top right of the timeline, and select "Flatten Frames Into Layers"

go to the layer panel on the right (NOT the timeline), scroll past all the layers labeled "Frame [1, 2, 3, etc]" until you hit the first one labeled "Layer [number]." click the first layer, then scroll down and shift click to select all the layers labeled "Layer," and hit backspace or the little trash bin icon to delete them. we only want the ones labeled "Frame" now.

click the "Convert to video timeline" button on the bottom left of the timeline, right under the first frame!

so your screen should now look like this:

shift click the last frame (at the top) to select all your frames, right click any frame in the layer panel on the right, and select "Convert to Smart Object." this will compress all your frames into one dynamic layer photoshop knows is supposed to move.

**540px is ideal for one image in a row, 268px if you're putting two gifs next to each other, and 160px for three in a row.

step 4: COLORING <3

if you downloaded that gif sharpening tool i linked at the top, find it in the folder it downloaded to and double click to import it into photoshop. this should open the "Actions" tab, which essentially allows users to program in a series of actions in a certain order that they can make photoshop execute when you hit "play" on the action. for example, i had one that essentially did all of step 3 for me before my computer died last winter.

anyway, make sure your smart object is selected in the layer panel, open up the actions tab, select "glossy sharpening," and hit the play button. this is a nice sharpening tool i like that takes out a very difficult step, but if you'd like to play around with your own sharpening settings and get it how you like go ahead!

here's what it will look like after executing the actions.

now, remember what i said about the framerate in step 1? here's where that comes in. if your clip is in 30fps, you can skip this part because photoshop defaults to 30fps motion editing. if your clip (like mine) is in 23.976fps then click the same hamburger menu we clicked for "Flatten Frames Into Layers" before and click on "Set Timeline Frame Rate." Choose the correct framerate from the drop down menu and hit OK.

now for the best part: customizing your coloring!! go ahead and click the folder icon in the bottom right to create a group in your layer panel, but don't put your base layers in here. this is going to be for your color editing layers.

the icon right next to the group icon, the circle with a clear half and an opaque half, is now your best friend. this gives us our adjustment layers. the first one we're going to use, and by far the best one, is levels. levels is magical.

levels basically works by you telling it what "white" and "black" means by selecting pixels in the image. generally you want to use the "white" eyedropper to select the brightest pixel you can find and the "black" eyedropper to select the darkest.

this has the amazing power of being able to smoothly lighten or de-fog or clarify images. now, darker images are always going to be harder to make look good, and there's only so much you can do. but that "so much" is endlessly expanded if you mess around with levels, especially if you layer levels layers on top of each other, then right click > Blending Options > and mess with the fill opacity.

note: the levels layer i'm editing is at 28% fill opacity and 71% regular opacity, which is why it didn't entirely deep-fry the image when i clicked on a mid-grey with the white selection eyedropper.

after messing around with levels until i'm satisfied, i'll add a "vibrance" layer and boost it until it looks good. i also like adding a "color balance" layer and playing with it. for this one i'm adding a bit of blue to the shadows and a bit of cyan and red to the highlights. it's also been trendy lately, especially in gifs of people talking, to add a "hue & saturation" layer and desaturate the yellows by a lot while emphasizing other colors, like here:

after you have your colors how you like, i recommend toggling the visibility of the group a few times to see what you've done! it's so satisfying to look at the change between the base layer and the coloring you've made.

step 5: text

i try to keep my text pretty standard, but you can get creative with it as you please. to add text you can hit "T" to toggle your text tool or select it from the left tools panel. when you click to add the text it'll create the layer starting from wherever your playhead is, so make sure you move it on the timeline to line it up with the start of the gif. drag the end of the text layer on the timeline to make sure it's the same length as the gif so you don't get empty frames when you export. i like 18pt text, and i use the font Gadugi, but i've also used Calibri before.

caption colors for gifs come from broadcast caption colors, meaning that the first person to speak is given white captions, the second person is given yellow, and the third is given teal, although you can do whatever. i normally use:

1st person: #FFFFFF

2nd person: #fcbe11

3rd person: either a more muted orange or a soft teal

you also want to make sure your text is centered by clicking the center paragraph toggle on the top of the screen while your text layer is selected. using the move tool ("v" or the tool on the top of the toolbar) you can center on the guidelines photoshop gives you. i generally like my text pretty much as close to the bottom as it can get without getting cut off.

once all that's sorted, go over to the "fx" button on the same row as the adjustment layer and group/folder buttons. we're going to add a stroke and drop shadow.

the stroke adds an outline. i do 2px, postition set to outside, normal blend mode, 100% opacity and solid black (#000000)

the drop shadow is more malleable because it depends on how the text looks based on the scene it's overlaying. i tend to change it up to make the text the most legible i can, but here's the settings i start from:

step 6: exporting

to export as a gif, go to File > Export > Save For Web (Legacy) or ctrl+shift+alt+S. this will bring up a menu to configure your export settings, and will tell you how big the gif is going to be (in megabytes) after the export. as mentioned earlier, you want it to be less than 10mb. if you use the beta post editor, try to keep it under 9.8mb because for some reason the beta post editor tends to thing gifs that are almost 10mb are actually over the limit.

you can see the gif size in the bottom left, 6.507mb, so we're good to go. if your gif IS to big you can go back into the timeline and shorten it by dragging the edges of the timeline layers. if you drag the base layers (the ones labeled "Frame [x]" and "Frame [x] copy") the group above it will conform to that length, but the text layer will not, so you have to manually drag that layer too.

make sure the settings in the top right panel match mine to avoid export errors, and in the bottom right make sure it says "Looping Options: Forever" or you'll have a gif that will only play once.

to double check that you like your gif and see it properly, you can click "preview" in the bottom left. this will open a tab in your browser to view it in its final size and playback speed. if you don't like it, you can go back and tweak it however you want.

so that's that! we've got a gif.

i know this may seem like a lot, but once you get in the groove (or make some automations or keybinds!) it gets a lot faster and the satisfaction of making a good, pretty gif is so nice. i happened to choose a really dark scene to gif for this one so it's not my best work but it was just an example lol.

[iamreykylotrash]

warmth in the blizzard.

psa: this scene does contain sexual content & language. if that isn’t what you like, please skip this one!

Nesta crossed her arms against her chest, shivering as the freezing wind blew violently against her skin.

She could barely feel the warmth of her flames, seeing the smoke rise from her body, trying to ignite at least one speck of fire, but to no avail.

Next to her, Eris trudged through the snow, one arm up to shield his face from the snow. He struggled to see, grunting as the blizzard came down harder onto them.

"We should have never winnowed here! Now, look where you put us!" Nesta yelled at him.

Eris turned to her, "You act like I wanted this to happen! I cannot winnow through the blizzard, especially when my abilities don't work! It's too dangerous!" He explains to her.

"Well, you should have asked Kallias to check the weather before taking us to this dreadful place! Our flames are no match for this!" Nesta told him.

Eris groaned, "Instead of arguing with me, look for shelter! We cannot stay out here for long unless we want to be turned into icicles!" He tells her.

Nesta rolled her eyes, scanning all around her, finding nothing. She shakes her head, "We have to keep moving! There has to be something here!" She tells him, the wind growing increasingly violent.

They trudge through the snow for another hour, struggling against the mighty blizzard. Eris was a few steps ahead, scanning everywhere for some sort of shelter. His arms were at his side, his hands balled into fists, smoke still rising from them.

"I see a cave over there! We can get there within the hour!" Eris yelled, pointing to the location, but Nesta said nothing.

She feels her body ache from the cold, half of it numb. As much as she tried, her flames would not form, leaving her weak. Smoke had no longer risen from her body, making her collapse to her knees.

"Eris," She breathed.

As if he heard it through the violent blizzard, her husband turned around, his face immediately growing concerned. He rushed back to his wife, seeing her paleness, "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She groaned as she tried to move, unable to take the pain, "It hurts too much. My flames are too weak. I'm freezing." She tells him.

He sighs, "The cave is so close. We're almost there." He tells her.

Nesta let out a breath, "I can't, Eris." She says.

He scoffs, taking his wife into his arms, carrying her, "Well, I can. But I need you to keep speaking to me. I need to know you are alright." He tells her.

Nesta rested her head on his chest, shivering as the cold dominated her. She put a hand on the side of Eris's neck, feeling his warmth. The heat seeped into her hand, letting her summon a spark of fire.

"That's it. Let me know that you are okay." Eris says, moving through the snow.

They hadn’t been this close to each other, not since they had kissed a few weeks ago. Nesta had always felt the urge to touch him, wanting to be near him, and wanting to make sure that he was okay. He had always been dependent on her, knowing she was still recovering from the trauma that the Night Court had inflicted upon her, including Cassian.

Nesta hadn’t expressed her gratitude in words, but she made sure to let him know with her actions. The night when he had rescued her on the border of the Autumn Court, she held him tightly, clutching his shirt with the strength she had left. The journey from the Night to Autumn had left her exhausted, the elements of each court attacking her and leaving her with nothing.

But once she saw the orange flames ignite in the darkness, Nesta knew exactly who had come for her.

Even now, Nesta is reminded of that same night. She stared at Eris, seeing him trudge through obstacles like he did nearly a year ago.

As they reached the cave, Eris set Nesta down on the frosted grass, mustering enough strength to walk again. Even though it wasn’t warm in the least, it was the only option they had for a shelter, seeing as the blizzard was getting worse with every passing moment.

“Why hasn’t Kallias or his soldiers come looking for us? It doesn’t make sense to spend so much time in the blizzard.” Nesta asks Eris, using her mouth to heat her hands.

Eris shakes his head, “They aren’t able to come out in the storm. They believe that who ever endures it, they are to be rewarded. With what? I don’t know exactly. It’s a tradition that’s been with the Winter Court for centuries.” He explains.

“So what? Are we supposed to stay here until the storm passes? You told me before that they can last for hours or even days! We have brought nothing with us, Eris! We aren’t prepared for this!” Nesta exclaims.

He turns to her, “Don’t you think that I am worried about that too? I didn’t think we’d winnow in the middle of a blizzard. No matter how long it lasts, we have to endure it. We’ll figure things out as the hours pass, but for right now… we have to get out of these clothes.” Eris tells her.

Nesta looks at him as if he was insane.

“We are drenched, Nes. We have to get out of these clothes and let them dry. If we say in them for too long, we could get sick and our abilities won’t return to us for a while.” He explains to her.

Nesta turns away from him, sitting on the grass, “I’ll take my chances.” She says to him.

Eris sighs, not saying anything to her. Instead, he starts taking off his clothing, stripping down into nothing. Nesta watched as he did it, unashamed as she admired him. He was perfectly sculpted, every part of him, even his…

Nesta cleared her throat, turning away.

“Don’t do that. I wouldn’t take my eyes off of you, my phoenix.” Eris tells her, laying his clothes on the floor.

Nesta clutched her wet clothes tighter, hoping that she would grow warmer, trying to avoid taking off her clothing. But no matter how much she tried to produce her flames, they would not come, hindered by the cold. She grunted, knowing that with every minute, the cold would only make her worse.

Eris kneeled next to her, his hand taking hers. Nesta was about to object to the action, until she saw a small orange flame in their hands. She gasped, desperate to see the power, hoping it could summon hers. But as she tried, she still couldn’t.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why can you have your power?” She asked.

Eris played with the orange flame, twirling it around his fingers, “Your body is cold from the wet clothes. You are freezing, growing numb. If you take them off, your body will warm, even if it’s cold. And if you are against me, it will be quicker.” He tells her.

“Don’t do that, Eris. Don’t trick me into doing that.” Nesta says to him.

Eris leans against the cave wall, “I have never tricked you into doing something you didn’t want. I have always been honest with you. But to get our abilities back quicker, we have to have nothing covering us. I get that you don’t want to do that, but it’s either that or death. And in all honesty, my phoenix, I’d rather force those clothes off of you than to have you dead in this cave.” He says to her.

Nesta rolls her eyes, staring out to the violent blizzard. She knew that it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.

She stood up from the ground, shrugging off the long coat she wore. Her muscles ached from the movement, but she ignored it. As she took off every piece of clothing, she could feel her husband’s blazing gaze taking her in, leaving her heavy with wanting. This was an extremely bad idea, but it was the only one that made sense.

After she laid her clothes out, Nesta stood up, crossing her arms over her chest, turning to her husband, "What do we do now?" She asked him, feeling the cold dominate her like never before.

Eris's amber eyes stared directly at her as if he was entranced by her presence. He looked at her as if she were the only thing that mattered. He didn't look down at her body, nor did he seem disappointed, but it was like he was...

Nesta couldn't bring herself to hope, not like before.

After almost a year of not seeing Cassian, Nesta believed that the mating bond would cease, but it didn't. Her heart kept yearning back to him, but her mind knew that he wasn't good. Their relationship had crumbled because of his actions and the words he spat at her.

He had sacrificed her over his family. He chose to be beside Rhysand, instead of the woman he claimed he loved.

Even now, Nesta's heart shattered at the memory. Her brokenness was displayed for Eris to see. Before, she would have steeled herself, tried to hide it, and wiped the tears away.

But now, it had changed. Her feelings had changed.

Even though Cassian still had a hold on her, Nesta couldn't help but look back at her husband. He had been beside her, was vulnerable with her, and shown that she was his main priority. He had never put anyone before her, not even his own mother, whom he loved so deeply.

But after they married, Nesta saw that change in him, a transformation of someone who was closed off. He had opened himself just a bit to embrace her, letting her see who he truly was and why he did the things he did. It had been the most Nesta saw from anyone, even Cassian.

There were no secrets. No lies. No traps. No manipulation.

It was just him and her, sharing those flames of truth.

Nesta took Eris's hand in hers, starting to feel his warmth radiating into her. He had made her come alive again, not just with wanting, but with life as if she was beginning anew.

She made so many promises to herself, wanting to heal from everything that had been done to her. She promised to gain freedom, being released from the invisible chains that the Inner Circle trapped her in, laughing as they had death in the palms of their hands.

But it seemed that death had a savior... and Nesta was staring right at him.

Without saying a word, she lifted her leg over his lap, straddling him, staring into those amber eyes without shame. Her heart was racing, but she did not falter. Not with him.

For the first time in a while, Nesta had allowed herself to be bold, remembering a woman who was once unafraid to speak her mind. If her human side could see who she had become now, there was no telling of how she'd react.

Nesta's hands touched his face, moving his hair away from his face. He kept looking at her face, his eyes never tearing away from her for a second. His hands were at her waist, lightly squeezing her hips, and his growing erection was inbetween her, making her become drenched as her tether of self-control was nearly undone.

"Don't hurt me, Eris. Not like they did." Nesta breathes, her hands resting on his cheeks.

A flame sparks at the words.

“I have never dreamt it before. Nor do I dream of it now.” He tells her, his lips pressing to her collarbone, feeling their reviving warmth.

Nesta sighs, closing her eyes as her husband’s lips kissed her all the way up to her cheeks. She could feel them heating up, blushing from the action itself. She knew he could feel her wanting, begging for him to touch her everywhere.

His head snuggled into her neck, his breath warm as it hit her skin. He was intoxicated by her scent, being reminded of the beauty that she was. “You have bewitched me, my phoenix. It feels like I cannot live without you.” He admits to her.

Nesta kissed his head, taking in the scent of smoke and autumn, “How could you want me after hearing of what I am? How could you want death so close to you?” She asked him, the question unexpectedly spilling out of her mouth. Her husband’s head lifted, his gaze confused.

“I had faced death. I was entranced by it. And I adore it. You don’t terrify me, Nes. The Night Court had always warned you of your own powers, afraid of it being out of control. But you have control. You don’t let your power dominate you at all. You had always asked yourself why you couldn’t control your power while being in their hands, but the answer is simple: they didn’t let you.” He starts.

“They had taken control from you. They made you believe that you couldn’t handle your own power. They wanted to strip it from you. I know that because that is exactly what Beron did to Lucien. He wanted to manipulate him, make him weak so that he would be under his control. My father did not want him to find his power. He did everything to prevent it from happening." Eris tells her.

Nesta knew what 'everything' meant. Beron would beat Lucien to the point where the boy crawled to a corner and tremble. Knowing that Lucien was not his son, but the son of Helion, Beron did not want him to figure out what he was capable of.

And that meant that Lucien had suffered for centuries under Beron's hand.

"I don't want to regret this," Nesta breathes to Eris, her heart pounding as she grows restless for him.

The Heir of Autumn's lips brush against hers once again, "You're in control, my phoenix. Take it. Do what you want with me." He says.

It was there that Nesta lost herself.

That is exactly what she wanted.

As her lips collided with his again, Nesta let the flames engulf them, feeling none of the cold. Her blood ran warm, and she could feel her fingers as they roamed his body. He felt strong, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her closer.

Beneath her, his length was between her, but she wouldn't let him in just yet. Slowly, she moved her hips, earning a groan from him. His hands gripped her hips, signaling that he wanted more.

Nesta kept a steady speed, separating their lips, and moving them down to his neck. She left her marks on him, biting and sucking down on his skin, her tongue circling the pleasure wounds. She heard him chuckle, his cock twitching with every maneuver she made.

She had come alive with control, not knowing how much she craved it. She had never had the choice, but this feeling did not seem foreign, as if it was already instilled in her.

Eris had brought this feeling back to her.

She kissed her way back up to his lips, pecking them once, "How badly have you wanted me, huh?" She asked, a smirk creeping upon her face.

Eris looked at her with pure lust, "Since the first time we danced." He admits, his hands moving down to her ass.

She hums, "It's good to know I occupied your mind for a while." She tells him.

He grins mischievously, "It is the greatest honor to have you." He says to her, before taking her lips with his once more.

Nesta had no doubt that her heart was tied to his, feeling that connection she desperately wanted to find. Even when she was with Cassian, something had felt wrong.

But, Eris was the last person in her mind she ever thought she could ever want.

Slowly, Nesta lowered herself onto him, his cock sliding gloriously into her. She let out a breathless sigh into his mouth, perfectly filling her. Excitement roared through her.

"You are glorious," Eris breathed, tilting his head to take one of her breasts into her mouth, pressing her body tight against him.

Nesta moaned at the lick of his tongue, a chill rising from the warmth. It was too good. This sensation that hadn't been felt in a long time had become enhanced, stronger than the others that she had laid with.

A flicker of sliver flashed on her fingertips.

With Cassian, the pull had been strong, making her crave for him at every moment. But that was because of the mating bond.

With Eris, it all had come naturally. Her feelings were not forced upon her but were formed because of his honesty and devotion to her. He had given her the truth and stood by her every day.

This was something true.

"Yes," Nesta breathed, her nails digging in his skin as she moved faster against him.

Eris groaned, lowering her onto the grass, hovering above her. He pushed himself further inside of her, earning another beautiful sound from her lips. His hands fisting the ground beneath him.

Smoke started to rise around them, silver and orange flames flickering as their passion rose.

Nesta looked down at their connected bodies. It was too hot, too intense for this kind of bond. She felt the sweat drip down her forehead, her hands tightly gripping his biceps as he trusted himself inside of her again and again.

He lowered his head against her ear, "That's it. I want you screaming for me. Let me know how much you want this." He says.

At the words, Nesta tightens around him, humming as he took her lips again.

"I want this," she breathed against his lips, "I want you. Give me everything."

He grinned, "With pleasure, my phoenix." He told her, turning them over so that she was on top of him, leaving her slightly confused.

"You are too beautiful to be beneath me." He tells her.

Nesta smirked, putting her hands on each side of his head, "You have such a soft spot inside of you." She says to him.

He grips her ass, "It is only yours to see." He says, his eyes gleaming.

She bites her lip, starting to move against him once again. She was so close, feeling the build-up of pleasure nearly bursting. She wanted it, craved for him to come inside of her.

The smoke around them rose higher, a combination of both of their flames forming. They crackled through the violent blizzard, stronger than the cold could ever bring.

They had both gone through so much, losing so much along the way, but each obstacle had led them to each other, finding a connection that not even a mating bond could form.

This was theirs.

Nesta's moans grew louder as she was on the brink of completion. She felt as if this wasn't enough, that this would not satisfy her. She would want him again and again until they were both drained.

"You can do it, my phoenix. You can come. I know you can." Eris told her, his hand gripping her hair, holding her head against his, their lips barely touching.

Nesta grunted, her movements slowing as she came. Her body trembled from the pleasure, sweat dripping down her skin, and her breathing heavy.

Before she could fall against him, Eris shook his head, "You're not done yet. Ride me until I come." He tells her.

She chuckles, "What will happen if I don't? What if I leave you suffering?" She asks him.

He scoffs, "The image of you will be enough." He tells her.

Warmth fluttered inside of her.

As she started to move against him once more, she lowered her head, her lips against his ear as he had done to her, "What did you imagine me doing to you, hm?" She asked.

"Many things." He says.

She scoffed, "What? Like sucking you off? Wrapping my hand around you and finishing on my tongue? Taking me from behind? There are so many ways." She says, earning a groan from him.

"I have dreamed of this too, you know. Ever since we kissed on our wedding day, I would always think about how you would feel inside of me. I would touch myself to the thoughts of you, feeling the heat of your skin against mine. I would picture your fingers inside of me, making me scream as I came onto them." Nesta admitted, feeling bold.

Eris let out a breath, saying nothing. Nesta felt him right there, his hands gripping her thighs as he was close.

"There were times when I pictured myself on my knees, taking you into my mouth. You were so good, so warm on my tongue. Would it be better now that I have you? Will you come down my throat?" She asked him.

But then she felt it.

Eris grunted as he released himself inside of her, holding her tightly. Nesta gasped as the warmth filled her, biting her lip as she stared down at her husband.

"You are a menace," He says, breathlessly.

Nesta laughs, "You have only yourself to blame." She tells him.

She got off of him, falling at his side, the flames still ignited around them. He turned to her, his arm wrapping around her waist, holding her close.

"I hope to hear more of that sound." He tells her, kissing her forehead.

She gives him a small smile, "And I hope to hear yours one day. Your true laugh." She says to him.

He smiles at her, "All I know is that you will be the cause of it." He says, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

Nesta scoffed, kissing him again.

Ever since she was a little girl, she had dreamed about the male she would fall in love with. She would picture him as a beautiful human knight in shining armor, rescuing her from her miserable life, and taking her to a faraway land where they would live happily.

But Nesta would choose her life all over again if it meant meeting Eris, knowing that he was the one all along.

[alcinadimitrescuwu]

Welcome to the Family, Boy (Alcina x Fem!Reader Fanfic)

First thank you all for your support for my first Dimitrescu fanfic. I truly appreciate it and all the support this community has given me on. Let's go on to the next one, shall we?

Premise: After a long and stressful week, your wife Alcina wants to help you let off some steam. However, your amorous activities are cut short by an unexpected surprise.

Warning: blood. There are some steamy scenes in here but nothing explicit, so it's mostly safe for work.

As you climb the stairs to your bedroom, you heave a great sigh. It’s been a long and stressful week. Daniela had caused a small fire in the wine cellar basement by knocking over a lantern when she had gotten a little too eager for a feeding. It was eventually put out, but the corpse was burned in the process. Alcina had been furious at the waste of resources. It had taken a full day to get rid of the ash, but the basement was clean. Well, as clean as it could be. Aside from the wine cellar, Alcina didn’t seem to care much about cleaning up the basement. Well, it was over now. Now you just couldn’t wait to curl up next to your wife and get a good sleep.

You arrive at your doorway and hear Maria Callas singing “Casta Diva” from within. You smile. Your mutual love for opera was one of the first things you discussed as you were courting. Before you reach your hand to knock at the door, you hear Alcina call, “Is that you iubirea mea?”

“Yes, dear,” you reply. You stretch your arms behind your head. “Oh, I just can’t wait to get into bed-” Your voice cuts off as you see what your wife is wearing. She is wearing a black peignoir and as she stands up, she casts it off to reveal a black and red lingerie set.

She smiles wickedly. “I can’t wait to get into bed with you either.”

You don’t move. You can only stare. Her scarlet lips match the exact shade of the lingerie. Without any sleeves, you see her muscular arms and you blush as you recall what those arms feel like wrapped around you. Her legs are on full display as well with a red stocking clipped to a garter. They reach up to your shoulders and you have spent many a time nestled in them with your head on her lap. You open your mouth to reply but find nothing coming out.

Alcina pouts and puts one hand behind her on the bed. “Come, pet,” she purrs, beckoning you with a red fingernail. “You’re not going to stand there all day, are you?”

You don’t say anything. You cross the space between you and your wife in three steps and launch yourself over into her waiting arms. The scent of her perfume is overwhelming and you breathe it in. You close your eyes and kiss her chin, her laugh lines and finally her lips. She laughs through the kiss and holds your head between her hands. “Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Don’t talk,” you rasp, your voice full of desire.

She smiles. “All right, draga mea. No talking then.” She kisses you deeply and you weave your hands through her locks.

She picks you up and carries you across the room, kissing all the while until you reach the wall. You lean your head on the wall behind you and wrap your legs around her waist. “I’ve needed this, my love,” you whisper against her lips.

Ding dong!

You hear the doorbell resound through the castle. You break the kiss and fix her with a quizzical expression. “Were you expecting anyone?” you ask.

She shakes her head quickly. “No. Could be a solicitor. Could be a vampire hunter coming to put a stake in all our hearts.” Her golden eyes are glazed over with desire. “Right now I couldn’t care less at the moment.” She nuzzles your neck and you sigh. She breaks away and looks at you, an unasked question in her eyes. She’s hungry. You nod your consent and she pulls away your nightgown to bear your neck and shoulders. She pulls you close and bites your neck and feeds on the blood pooling around your neck. You feel her neck working against your chest as she drinks. You take pleasure in every gasp and moan she makes. You feel pleasantly light-headed by the time she pulls away with a satisfied sigh.

Ding dong!

Alcina groans and bares her teeth in anger. “It’s getting too late for this!”

You caress her jaw. “Dear, maybe we should answer it. It could be an emergency.”

She shakes her head impatiently. “It’s probably some snot-nosed kid playing a prank.” She lifts your chin with a finger and gives you a seductive grin. “Don’t focus on it right now, pet. Right now is about you and me.”

“You’re probably right-” She stops the rest of your sentence with a rough kiss, opening your mouth with her tongue. Her hand travels up your leg and her hand making contact against your bare leg gives you a pleasant chill. Her hand rests on your thigh and she pushes you up against the wall again while using her nimble fingers to unhook your garter.

Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

Alcina gives a frustrated growl. “Damn it to hell!”

“Darling,” you say gently petting her arm as a signal to set you down. “If it were kids, they’d be bored and have gone home by now. I’m going to check who it is.”

Your wife crosses her arms and gives an adorable pout. “Fine. Do what you want.”

You adjust your nightgown and wipe any leftover blood and lipstick off your neck. As you walk to the door, Alcina gently puts your dressing gown around your shoulders. You catch her hand and give it a kiss. “I’ll be with you shortly. I just need to get dressed.”

You smile at her. “Very well, darling.” As you turn to leave the door, Alcina catches your shoulder and whispers huskily, “And after we get back, we will most certainly get back the lost time that nuisance has stolen from us.”

You blush furiously and kiss her goodbye. As you walk down the stairs, you hear the doorbell ring again. Once, twice, three times. “Yeah yeah, I’m coming. I’m coming.” You grasp the brass handles and with a great effort manage to open the doors wide. You’re jealous of Alcina in moments like these. She could open the doors with such ease that you forget that each door weighed hundreds of pounds.

You are surprised to see Heisenberg holding something wrapped in cloth. You can’t help but smile when you see Heisenberg. Heisenberg and Alcina may be like oil and water, but the two of you liked each other almost instantly. He told you once that “anyone who could put up with that bitch for more than 20 seconds must be a good person. And you have to put up with her for life!”

Heisenberg returns your smile. “Hi, hon.”

“Hi Karl. How about you come in and warm up with a nice cup of tea?” You stand aside to allow him in. “Come on. It’s freezing out there.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, honey, but I really can’t stay long. Is your ball and chain around? This question concerns her too.”

“Heisenberg,” you hear your wife’s drawl. You both look to see her descending the stairs. There is no evidence of your amorous activities as she has on a fresh coat of lipstick, is fully dressed and her hair is pinned perfectly in place under her hat. “To what do I owe this rather unpleasant surprise?”

Heisenberg clenches his teeth. “Believe me, I wouldn’t come here unless it was an emergency.”

“Then what is it?” Alcina asks as she puts her left hand on your shoulder. You reach up to cover it with your own. “Out with it, and be on your way. Some of us would rather be in bed right now.”

Heisenberg notes your kiss-swollen lips and a hickey already starting to form on your neck. “Yes, I suppose some of us rather would.”

Alcina’s eyes flash and she grits her teeth. “Heisenberg, I swear-”

Heisenberg puts up a placating hand while he holds the bundle with his other. “Ok, ok. I’ll cut to the chase then. Sheesh, do you have any sense of humor?” He unwraps the bundle to reveal a mewling French bulldog. It can’t be more than a couple weeks old.

As you place your hand on your heart Heisenberg continues. “I found him outside of his house. Whole damned family was slaughtered. He needs a place to stay. I thought this might be the best place for him.”

You look at your wife with pleading eyes, but she gives a sharp, “No.”

“Darling-”

“No.” She glares at Heisenberg. “Why can’t you take him in? Maybe it would be an opportunity for you to learn some responsibility for once in your cursed existence.”

You see Heisenberg roll his eyes behind his sunglasses. “Yes, and I’d be responsible for him being torn apart by Lycans. I’m not taking him in. It’s not safe for him there.”

You take your wife’s hand in yours. “Darling, please reconsider. We can’t turn the poor thing away. Besides, our daughters would love having a d-”

She immediately puts a hand over your mouth. “Don’t say it,” she warns, looking furtively around the foyer.

“What?” you ask against her hand. “Dog?”

Almost immediately your daughters, Bela, Cassandra and Daniela materialize from their fly shrouds. They zero in on the dog and Cassandra takes him out of Heisenberg’s hands and the other two crowd around her and begin cooing to it, and letting it sniff and lick their fingers.

Alcina covers her face with her hands. “Now you’ve done it, love.”

The girls look up from their ministrations to the dog and as one rush over to your wife, carrying the dog over with them. They begin speaking up all at once. “Mother, please can we keep him?” “Mother, look how cute he is!” “Mother, Cassandra’s been hogging the dog all this time and it’s my turn to hold him!”

“Enough!” Alcina’s voice booms around the foyer. She puts two fingers in the space between her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. She sighs aloud. “God, I need a smoke.” She turns to her daughters and with a long suffering sigh says, “Fine. We’ll keep the little mongrel.”

All three daughters erupt into cheers and you can’t help but smile indulgently at them. Daniela runs over and throws her arms around your neck in jubilation. “Maman, did you hear that? We get to have a dog finally!”

“Yes, dearest, I did hear that.” You drop a kiss on her head and she scampers over to take the dog which Cassandra begrudgingly hands to her.

Heisenberg grins and reaches in his pocket. “I have some food and a water bottle for him,” he says, handing you the aforementioned items. “The Duke should have some more, but that’s all I have right now.”

“Thank you Karl,” you say, reaching over to scratch the dog behind his ears. “We’ll take good care of it, won’t we girls?”

“Yes, Maman!” they all answer in unison.

“I’ll be off then!” Heisenberg turns to leave but not before shouting over his shoulder, “And I think he should fit in pretty nicely around here, especially since the Lady of the House is such a bi-”

In an instant, Alcina has him off the ground and has her claws extended only a few inches from his neck. “Heisenberg, did you want to finish that sentence?” she asks sweetly.

You can’t help but laugh. “Let him down, my love. It’s not worth getting so riled up this late at night”

“Fine,” she says and sets him down not too gently. He brushes himself off and glares at Alcina for the rough landing. She just flashes a smile and you notice that only her middle finger is extended in claw form. You look at your daughters, but they are too busy with the dog to notice the obscene hand gesture.

“All right, this time I’m really off.” he says, turning around and walking towards the castle gates.

“Girls, what do you say?” you prompt.

“Thank you, Uncle Karl!” they chorus. Bela snatches the dog and runs upstairs, vanishing in her bug shroud. The girls run after her, Daniela yelling down the hall, “No fair! I wasn’t finished with him yet!”

Alcina closes the doors and leans against them, sighing. “I just hope this wasn’t a mistake.”

You take her hand and kiss it. “Nothing we can do about it now, my love. Come on, let’s go to bed. It’s getting late.” The two of you hold hands and once you arrive at your shared bedroom, Alcina immediately locks the door, pulls you close and fixes you with a wolfish grin. “Now where were we, draga mea?”

“I thought you said you wanted to smoke first?” You laugh and wrap your arms around her neck.

“Ah, iubirea mea,” she say picking you up again and giving you a sloppy kiss. “Cigarettes always taste better after sex.”

You kiss her as you unbutton her dress and she puts her hand in the same spot on your thigh as before, this time successfully unhooking your garter. You bite her lip playfully and she gives a little growl of pleasure.

The moment is interrupted by a knock on the door and you hear Daniela’s voice, “Mother? Maman? The dog peed all over the carpet in Bela’s room!”

“Only because you led him there!” you hear Bela retort.

Alcina leans her forehead against yours and starts swearing in Romanian. You give her a kiss and pat her hand before you see to your daughters.

[humansbgone]

(This is content for Humans-B-Gone!, a sci-fi series about giant bugs. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/c/humansbgone )

A special treat this week: A behind-the-scenes! Someone had wanted to know how I do backgrounds, so here's how I did this one.

Even though the characters are cg models, it's not practical to model background elements unless they're animated or the characters actually need to interact with them. Besides that, I'm going for a traditional cel-shaded look with the aesthetic, so I like the way painted backgrounds look better as a rule. So, I've taken a leaf from old movies and will basically do painted mattes for backgrounds. (Doing models for characters and hand drawing for backgrounds is a little inverse of how these things are usually done, but since my backgrounds are squishy organic plants and my characters are bugs with rigid exoskeletons, it works out better this way!)

Usually, I can get by with making backgrounds just textures on flat planes in front of or behind characters (or add them later in compositing), so basically like painted cels floating in a 3d space. However, when the camera moves, parallaxing flat planes alone isn't enough to cut it. This is especially the case when a character is standing on a background. Not only will the flatness of the background stand out with a character in front of it, but if the background isn't close enough to their feet, they'll look like they're drifting in space over it!

So, for shots like this one, I'll compromise and make a very simple mesh with the background texture projected on it. Here's what this background looks like from another angle:

Now, let's see how I did it!

You can see that the mesh it's projected on is very simple, no raised parts or actual lighting--just the lighting from the painting itself. Additionally, the doors and "roof" above them are still flat planes. Hopefully, the flatness doesn't stand out too much in the final camera angle!

To make this background, I started off with a mock-up in Grease Pencil. This is a tool in Blender, the 3d modeling program I use, which lets you basically draw in a 3d space. This was very, very rough, and done just to figure out camera angles and animation (the doors have a one-frame opening animation, and the spider stand-in moves forward):

Next, I brought in Rose's model, and made simple cubes for the doors. The doors were set up with a simple rig, so that when I made the final doors I could still use the rig's animation. (Rose looks kind of weird because *all* her facial parts are in place at once--usually the bag under her eyes or the cheeks are used separately, and you'd only see an eyebrow furrow for the side of the eyebrow facing away from us. Also, her abdomen hair hasn't been rotated to match the camera angle, and I didn't turn on the solidify modifier for her line art.)

After I'd established the key frames for Rose's movements, I made a *very* rough background, just so I could set up the basic mesh and make sure the camera angle looked right. The textures were cobbled together from existing backgrounds--the pink backdrop is from an earlier shot in this episode, the big roots were taken from the roots the roach walks in front of in episode one, and the doors were made from the roots the soldiers are standing on in the the "Pest Control" promo!

Here's what it looks like without the textures and with vertices visible. You can also see the rig for the doors, and for Rose herself!

Once I'd finalized the animation, I decided it was time to finally finish the background. (Normally I try to get these done after I've established key poses instead of waiting for the whole animation to be finished, but there were so many backgrounds with such fiddly camera angles that I dragged my feet on it this time.) The meshes had to be tweaked a little, but mostly it was just a lot of painting, which didn't take too long.

In case you were wondering, here's what the image files for the background textures look like on their own:

I hope this was a fun look at the way I do things. Maybe it'll even help you with projects of your own!

Be sure to let me know if you'd like to see more behind-the-scenes stuff like this in the future!

As for the progress update--making good time! All animation is finally done, and now I'm working on backgrounds like the one you've just seen! This was one of three big, intimidating backgrounds with complex parts. Once the other two are out of the way, the remaining backgrounds will be much simpler and can be mostly marathoned. If all goes well, I'd give an estimate of just another two weeks until episode two's release!

[zuko-always-lies]

Ty Lee is a Free Spirit, but She Doesn’t Value Freedom

It’s a common assumption that Ty Lee values freedom above all else and doesn’t like being controlled. However, this is heavily contradicted by Ty Lee’s actual actions and behavior.

To start off, Ty Lee is a free spirit.  As Azula’s comments reveal, running away to join the circus is extremely abnormal behavior for a Fire Nation noble girl, and most people in that category would never, ever consider it.

However, that does mean that Ty Lee actually values personal freedom. Although she preferred staying at the circus to joining Azula’s mission, Ty Lee seems to be perfectly happy acting in a subordinate role once she’s forced into joining. There are even a couple scenes where Ty Lee clearly acts in anticipation of what Azula’s orders might be(in “The Guru” and “Boiling Rock, Part II”), rather than waiting for Azula’s orders. Ty Lee only becomes uncomfortable with the control Azula exerts over her and Mai when Mai dangerously pushes the boundaries.

Then we get “The Beach.” I’ll only very briefly mention that in the one scene there were Azula acts in a very controlling manner, Ty Lee seem perfectly happy to comply with Azula’s wishes.  More importantly, this is what Ty Lee says when she airs her deepest issues:

Ty Lee: Do you have any idea what my home life was like, growing up with six sisters (cut to shot of Ty Lee) who look exactly like me? (she stands up) It was like, I didn't even have my own name. (she falls to the ground crying) I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. At least, I'm different now. (close shot of teary-eyed Ty Lee) Circus freak is a compliment! Mai: (sarcastically) Guess that explains why you need 10 boyfriends, too. (Cut to shot of Ty Lee looking angrily toward Mai and putting her hands on her hips) Ty Lee: I'm sorry, what? Mai: Attention issues. You couldn't get enough attention when you were a kid, so (looking downward) you're trying to make up for it now.

Note that Ty Lee’s issues don’t center around needing freedom or disliking being controlled, they center around needing attention and wanting to be unique.

Finally, Ty Lee ends ATLA’s narrative by joining the Kyoshi Warriors, a hierarchical group of child soldiers, presumably in the most junior position. This strongly suggests that she doesn’t mind being ordered around.

Is there one of the Dangerous Ladies who heavily values freedom?

The Beach:

Mai: (Cut to wide shot of the four of them. Mai lays back carelessly on the rock she is sitting on) What do you want from me? You want a teary confession about how hard my childhood was? Well, it wasn't. (close shot of Mai) I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted. As long as I behaved...(cut to shot of the clouds above) and sat still...and didn't speak unless spoken to. (cut to shot of Zuko listening) My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. (Cut to wide shot of the four of them around the fire) We had my Dad's political career to think about. Azula: Well, that's it, then. (close-up shot on Azula) You had a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and if you strayed from them you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything, and why you can't express yourself. Mai: (close shot of Mai) You want me to express myself? (she stands and yells) Leave me alone!

Return to Omashu:

Mai: There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place. (Cut to a wider shot to show Mai walking next to an older woman carrying a baby. They are being escorted by Fire Nation guards down a tunnel or passage.) Governor's Wife: Mai, your father was appointed governor. We're like royalty here. Be happy, and enjoy it.

Later:

Mai: (somewhat surprised) I thought you ran off and joined the circus? You said it was your calling. Ty Lee: (releasing Mai and smiling widely) Well, Azula called a little louder. Azula: I have a mission (she puts one of her hands on each of their shoulders) and I need you both. Mai: Count me in. Anything to get me out of this place.

Yes, but it’s Mai who values freedom and doesn’t like being controlled.

[4-horsemen-of-the-riordanverse]

Why The Percy Jackson Adaptation Should Be Animated

We can have Heroes of Olympus/Trials of Apollo/Magnus Chase series

Percy shows up in four of Rick’s five (at this time) mythology series, those four series have eighteen books spanning six years

Even if Disney could crank out say three in two years, that’s still twelve years, the actors playing Percy, and Annabeth, and Grover, and Thalia, and Clarisse, and many more will be in their twenties when all the books are covered and that’s on a sped up timeline that is unlikely to work in reality

The reality is, we probably won’t get a Heroes of Olympus television series and we definitely won’t get a Trials of Apollo or Magnus Chase series, which is sad as many favorite characters won’t be seen

Grover, Thalia Chiron, and the Gods won’t age

Yes, technically Grover does age, so that title is a bit of a misnomer, but he ages slower than the others, either the whole he’s actually twenty-eight, but satyrs age slower will need to be axed, or he will have to be played by an adult so that he doesn’t age, which will look strange since he’s suppose to look fourteen/fifteen for the entire series

Grover is only a small problem though, how are they going to deal with Artemis or Hestia, both of whom are portrayed as very young ages, the twelve year old playing Artemis will be fourteen, minimum (though, if we want good cgi, she’ll be more likely around sixteen) by the time the show reaches The Last Olympian

Plus, Thalia is suppose to stop aging at fifteen, again, I suppose an adult could play her, it isn’t unheard of for adults to play fifteen/sixteen year olds, but unless they get an actor with a serious baby face, she’ll stand out amongst the children and teens playing the other characters

It’ll be bearable to watch in ten years

Cgi is improving everyday, which is great....until you watch something that’s more that a few years old, when we have newer and better cgi, the monsters and action of Percy Jackson is going to look....well we’ll remember that it looked good once

That is, if they pay attention to details, skimming over detail, especially when making living things with cgi, you risk falling into the uncanny valley (I’m most of us have seen at least a clip of Lion King 2019), if something is off, we will notice, even if we can’t place why

We can have it sooner

Animation for animated series are easier to make than animation for live action series, they don’t have to worry about matching the lighting and shadows because they get to choose the lighting and shadows, no need to worry how the actors are interacting with the animated monster (ex. the Percy actor bumps into Mrs. O’Leary, then goes to pet her, but moves his hand too far forward and now that has to be accounted for)

The battles will probably cause the most delays, anyone watch Game of Thrones? remember how long the final season took to get out? that was because of the major battles spanning multiple episodes, which is exactly what The Last Olympian will be

They wouldn’t have to use child actors

This isn’t a bash on child actors, there are some good ones out there, what I’m concerned about is the children’s well being

Ever read or watch an interview from an ex child actor, especially Disney child actors, it’s brutal and takes a toll on their mental health, there’s even instances where the child doesn’t want to act, their parents are forcing them to

If on the extremely rare chance someone from the Percy Jackson crew is reading this please: let the kids play when they aren’t filming, don’t make them feel guilty for eating, shield them from the inevitable criticism that always comes with an adaption, take care of them, very few people do these things and kids get messed up from that

It’ll be easier to relate to the characters

Acting just doesn’t doesn’t have the same feel as animation, especially when the actors are new to acting

Acting is obvious, we ignore that it is because that’s how you watch live action, but rarely will it ever not feel like people repeating back lines they memorized, that the expressions are calculated and filmed 20 times over to get it right

Animation doesn’t have that, characters feel real, not like they’re acting because they aren’t, making it a lot easier to relate to them

None of the fight scenes will have to be cut

These are children playing these characters, obviously fights scenes are going to be cut and the ones kept are going to be simplified, these kids will probably have limited fighting experience and even if they don’t, they can’t hire children to play stunt doubles for safety reasons, so they won’t do anything too risky

Just imagine the fight scene between Ares and Percy in The Lightning Thief, they’ll probably hire a bigger guy to play Ares, comparing that to tiny Percy, the battle is probably going to look more like a dance number with every movement scripted as to keep Percy’s actor safe

It supports social distancing

Social distancing is still important and animation is easier to do social distanced

We could see every part of camp, not just the parts they built sets of

Camp is big and fantastical and probably will be barely shown, that’s a lot of set to build, so they probably won’t see it all

The big house, interior of the Poseidon, Athena, and Hermes cabins, and the mess hall will most likely be made, but the lava wall? the forge? doubtful

It’s easier to replace actors

Like I mentioned before, there are 18 books if they were willing to make them all, even if /magnus Chase and Kane Chronicles were made along side instead of in between, a lot of actors, especially child actors, don’t want to be stuck playing a character for that long

while no one shows up in ever book, some characters get dropped and brought back, which when being adapted causes actors to be replaced, the actor playing Will in The Last Olympian will probably not be the actor playing Will in Blood of Olympus (that is, if they even make Heroes of Olympus)

They won’t have to sacrifice the small details

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Nico and Bianca cameo in the Lotus scene? won’t happen, what about characters slowly getting more scars after each battle to symbolize the trauma half-bloods carry with them? Luke will probably be the only character with a scar, see a background character that resembles minor characters like Drew or Kayla or Castor and Pollux? that’s not going to happen

Small details that make the story will be tossed to the side, mostly because it isn’t feasible in live action, I think the Lotus scene is the best example, seeing Nico and Bianca there in the background would be so cool, but they don’t age in the Lotus hotel, and it’ll take probably 14 to 18 months to make a season, let’s say 14 months for now, that’s over two years between their cameo and they’re actual appearance, a very obvious difference when discussing 10 and 12 year olds

All in all, this is just in my opinion and preference

Will I still watch if it’s live action, of course, it’s Percy Jackson

It won’t be as good as something animated and I’m sad I’ll never see some of my favorite characters on the big screen, but at least we’ll be getting a decent adaptation

[kantosableye]

untitled law firm au part 1

this is a thing i’ve started writing scenes from because i have been just. having it on my brain. i’ve decided to set it in the us just to make research easier/draw from my own knowledge. more to come, but probably in the form of disjointed scenes.

------------------------

“Hey - Gary! Hey!”

Maybe Ash should have felt self conscious running down the courthouse hallway. Still, he chased after Gary until he turned, an eyebrow raised. “Do you need something?”

“Just to say hi,” said Ash. “I didn’t know you went to law school, I thought you were doing…some kind of science?”

“Biomedical engineering.”

“Wow.”

Gary shrugged. “I turned out to be pretty good at mock trial. Someone from Chicago was there and told me I should consider it. I’m more surprised to see you here. Weren’t you doing…” He paused. “Wrestling?”

“Judo, actually,” said Ash. “But I pulled my back pretty bad a few years after college, and my girlfriend at the time was a paralegal, so we both took the LSAT and… well, here we are.” He grinned. “How long has it been, anyway? 10 years?”

A bailiff behind them cleared her throat, and they moved off to the side of the hall. It was then Ash noticed the strange expression on Gary’s face. Gary was smiling, but his eyes had the same calculating expression as they had in the courtroom. “Sounds right,” said Gary. “You really don’t strike me as the law type,” he said. 

Ash recognized the tone in Gary’s voice. He had heard it years before, targeted at him or whoever else Gary refused to believe was on the same level as him. When they were younger, the disdain and snobbery practically dripped from Gary’s voice, but now, with age and training, it was hidden under what must have been a carefully practiced polite neutrality. “I was pretty good at mock trial too, you know. I led my team in law school.”

“What law school was that?”

What was this, direct? “Duke.”

For a moment, Ash could see he’d caught Gary off guard, and he had to fight a small laugh. Gary appeared to be recalibrating. “So when did you graduate? How long have you been practicing?” 

“About a year now.”

“I’ve been in five. Do you want some advice?”

Now, Ash couldn’t help but laugh a little. Advice - maybe Gary would have the tact to frame the barbs as advice, but he braced himself. He couldn’t think of any issues with the hearing that were his fault - he hadn’t chosen the expert, and he hadn’t given Gary much to object on. His suit would certainly come up, though.

“I’m sure you know your witness is a quack, and if you’re only a first-year associate you’re not going to be able to fight the partners on that.” said Gary, “You were gonna lose this one anyway, but you could’ve tried to qualify him better. You can’t be scared of the other party objecting – unless, of course, you don’t know the evidence rules…”

“I know the rules of evidence,” said Ash. He had known what was coming, and he knew what Gary was like. Still, he could feel the blood rising to his face, and one of his hands curled into a fist at his side, his knuckles tense under his skin.

“Mm-hmm.” Gary sounded skeptical. “And you keep staring at the judge like a freak. Did you just take ‘maintain eye contact’ completely literally?” He laughed at his own non-joke. “And please don’t get me started on…” His eyes flicked up and down Ash. “This,” he said, with a vague gesture.

“Knew it,” said Ash. “Okay. What’s wrong with my suit?”

Gary inhaled deeply. “I honestly don’t know where to start. Your tie knot is completely inappropriate, though I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to know how to tie a windsor knot. Clearly you didn’t bother to get it tailored, because your jacket is too small and your pants are too loose - you might as well be wearing sweatpants. At least they match each other, which is more than I can say for your socks - black socks and a navy suit? Really?”

At least Ash could respond to this one. “I-”

“Your shirt’s wrinkled, too.”

“-I care about the law and my client. I don’t see why it’s so important to care about something as superficial as clothes when we’re here to resolve a lawsuit.”

Gary put his hands over his heart. “That’s so sweet,” he said, the disdain clear in his voice. “Maybe you should go do something public interest. Wait, no, they’ll also tell you you have to at least put some effort into looking like a professional if you want a jury to take you seriously. Wake up, Ash, image matters, and it tells the court about you.”

This time, Ash didn’t have any sort of comeback. The only idea he had was to call Gary a snobby piece of shit, but he knew by now that Gary would seize on anything that came across as a personal insult as evidence of Ash’s lack of intelligence. So he met Gary’s eye and nodded. “Thank you,” he said, squeezing his fist to keep his voice from rising into a yell. “I’ll be sure to remember that so I can take you down next time.”

Gary raised an eyebrow. Then, slowly, he broke into a laugh. “Please! If it was anything you could even dream of taking me down on, we’d have already stipulated. You couldn’t do it in a custom Boglioli. You’re not bad for a first-year associate, but we’ll never be on the same level. That’s why I’m not worried about helping you.”

“Helping me,” Ash started, about to point out that Gary’s true purpose was obviously far from altruistic. But Gary was looking at his phone.

“Hey, listen, I gotta get back to the firm. But it was so great to catch up with you! See you at the next hearing!”

Ash felt like he had been hit by a truck, but he stood in silence, staring at Gary’s back as he left down the hallway.