#like. try to use blender or just watch a video of someone making something in blender I am fucking begging you

[githvyrik]

people who inherently shit on 3d animation are sooooooo funny and the things they say just prove they have no idea how it works at all. like 3d modeling or animating takes roughly the same amount of time as doing it 2d it’s just a different medium with a different process. you only think it’s cheap and fast because those are the standards imposed by the industry who refuses to pay its workers and expects them to push themselves to the breaking point to put out a movie as fast as possible

[chvnnie]

just some dad!skz thoughts for y’all

a little suggestive here and there, and because of that, MINORS DNI

bang chan - first daughter only

Definitely was the first to have a kid in the group. Spoiled is not a good enough word — his eldest daughter is like royalty in the group. If they know the baby is going to be around, somebody has something to give her.

Religiously watches hair tutorials (one screen has his mixing board, while the other is playing YouTube videos on loop) so he’s ready when she asks him to braid her hair. Has practice on you, Hyunjin, himself. They’re going to be perfect, because she deserves nothing less. The first braid is a little sloppy, but no one has the heart the tell him.

Travel crib folded up in his office, tucked behind the couch just in case. Everyone has used it.

If his little family goes on tour with them, or even just the local shows, he’ll make sure she has a set of headphones. Walks around to check mics with her in his arms.

It took him six weeks to find the perfect car seat for her. No, he’s not being picky. He’s being safe.

Keeps a mini diaper bag on him at all times. You’ll never catch him slacking.

When it comes to you, he’s the most devoted husband. Helps you postpartum, continually encourages to take days off. Reminds you daily how much he loves you, cherishes you, and always takes time to make you feel beautiful. (People sex after child is nearly impossible, but Chan is determined to make it possible.)

Very hesitant about co-sleeping until she’s old enough. Would even say he’s almost anti. But when she falls asleep on his bare chest, and the tv is playing at a low volume, and he’s just really, really tired. Your heart beams at the sight of them, matching expressions, snores coming from the both. You snap a bunch of pictures — it’s his favorite set.

lee minho

Protective? Please. Don’t offend him with that word — it’s not strong enough. If someone even breathes the wrong way in her direction, he’s ready to take measures to insure it will never happen again.

No. He won’t tell you what kind of measures.

He loves bath time. The little sink seat, the bubbles. When his daughter gets good motor skills, he loves the way she always reaches for the duck. Clutching it in her little fist, giggling with her father puts bubbles on its head.

Makes his own baby food. Why would he waste money on that canned stuff when he has fresh vegetables at home? Tsk. His blender is his best friend.

Has a whiteboard on the fridge with a list of what she likes (BIG YES for strawberries, or any berry mix, squash, sweet potatoes. HARD NO when it comes to bananas and anything green). Likes to introduce her early to foods, letting her explore.

Has taken Doongie out of her crib more than once. Caught her trying to feed Dori once. Always reaches for Soonie when she sees him past. Minho’s heart warms at his first babies loving on his new baby (even though she cried the first time Dori licked her cheek).

Daily family walks. It’s important to make sure she gets sunshine, and the fresh air is good for everyone. Always wants to push the stroller, but doesn’t complain when you reach for it.

Shower sex has become a habit, but he won’t complain about it. When you have a clingy baby, you take any opportunity you get. So pinning you the glass door happens more than it did before.

Fondly refers to you as “his girls”. It brings him so much pride that this is his family.

seo changbin — twins only

When the ultrasound showed two babies, he’s surprised he didn’t pass out. He got close though; the cold sweats, ringing in his ears, chills. Two babies? At once? Is it possible to be shaking with excitement but also absolute terror at the same time?

Your pregnancy wasn’t easy. The boys were heavy, and you found yourself on bed rest more often than not. Changbin wouldn’t tell you, but he was on edge the entire time. Seeing you so exhausted, so ready to get out of bed but unable to — he felt so useless. Even though he never left your side, making sure you had everything you could want and were as comfortable as possible, he hated himself for doing this to you.

And to top it all off, they were late. Of course they were. “They just love you so much, they don’t want to leave.” He tried to make you feel better, kissing your stomach, wiping your tears. Held your hand during the c-section, nose pressed to your forehead. Whispering every encouraging word he could think of to ease your fear, like he wasn’t drowning in his own.

When they finally arrive earth side? Oh, you both agree. It was all worth it.

They’re identical. The only difference are their eyes — one has yours, the other his. It was your idea to assign them colors (one is yellow, two is grey). Thank God for it too, because when they’re sleeping, he has no option but to guess.

Not a single second is taken for granted, but Changbin won’t lie and say the first year was his favorite. No, it’s when their personalities start to develop that he loved the most.

One really, really loves trucks. Is loud, runs through the apartment without a care. When he inevitably crashes into something, he bounces back up. Tiny feet carrying him away from the injury, like there isn’t a scrap on his forehead (isn’t a fan when Changbin chases him down to clean the wound).

Two prefers a quieter day. Sitting on the couch, eating yogurt bites as he watches his twin hit the wall. He’s low maintenance, most of the time, but when he gets upset? Oh, how the world is ending. Clings to Mama as he sobs. It’s so hard to be him.

Both, though, love musical instruments. Changbin’s favorite purchase (much to your dismay) is the tiny drum set he got them for their first birthday. One is a big fan of that, while Two stays on the toy piano. Their room filled with music all the time.

Has taken them to the studio a few times. Lets them watch as he and Chan work on songs, plays with Jisung when they’re getting a little rowdy. Eventually, they crash on the couch (along with Uncle Ji) before they can even record vocals.

Two is better than one. Whoever said that wasn’t lying.

hwang hyunjin — youngest daughter only

There’s no doubt. She is Hyunjin’s child.

Copy and paste. Down to the freckle under the eye, she literally looks just like him. Put their baby pictures side to side and have fun trying to figure out which is which.

She learned his scowl within the first year, when you tried to get her to try applesauce. The side eye was intense as she pushed the cup off her tray and called “Pup Pup” for Kkami to clean the mess.

Hyunjin thinks it’s hilarious. Until you give him the same side eye, then his lips are sealed.

For both children, he got custom made rings. Birth stone pressed into a thin gold band, engraved with their birth flowers. Both children have one just the same, but adjustable, so they don’t grow out of it. He wears hers on his right middle finger — and what mini Hyunjin sees, mini Hyunjin does.

Once, when she was still small enough to fit perfectly in a body carrier, her daycare was closed for the day. Water leak. Her brother was sick with the flu, and didn’t want you to leave his side. So Hyunjin took the youngest to work with him that day, completely forgetting that it was a dance practice day. Chan told him it was fine to push it a day, but they were already behind. Besides, the carrier is tight. One hand on her tiny body, he keeps her firm against his chest so she doesn’t bounce much.

After that, bringing her to practice became a habit. Especially after she started taking dance lessons.

What mini Hyunjin sees, mini Hyunjin does. Down to the movement of her feet, trying to keep up with even the most intense choreos.

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she always says Papa.

Bonus: you’re swimming in crafts. The two of them always up to something in Hyunjin’s home studio, painting and crafting the most beautiful art pieces you’ve ever been gifted.

han jisung

Oh. Oh, how do you begin to try to put a love like this into words?

Smothered. Smothered in kisses and snuggles all day long — and not just from him. Not to be biased or anything, but you’re both convinced she’s the best baby in the entire world. Look at those cheeks and try to convince you two otherwise.

Oh, you can’t.

And she’s the happiest little thing. Always giggling, so friendly, chatting up a storm with her babble. That baby doesn’t know a stranger; she’ll smile and wave at everyone.

Out of all the Kids’ kids, she’s at the company the most. Waltzing down the halls with her sippy like she owns the place, right behind her father. Naps on the practice room couch. Steals snacks from the cafeteria. Cut her a check, she’s put in some hard fucking work.

Speaking of naps — when Jisung is home, he’s always napping with her. When the clock strikes 12:45 in the afternoon, they’re both changing into nap time clothes and crawling in the giant bed. Soft music lulling them to sleep until his alarm goes off.

Has almost too many Quokkas. Which is ironic considering her skzoo bias is Leebit (Minho has been working on this since he was made aware of her existence, seeing his hard work pay off is delightful — until his daughter starts to grow a little too fond of her Quokka).

Mirror selfies. So. Many. Mirror selfies. He takes one monthly, saving them on his computer to document growth. Cries as he sorts through them every birthday.

She’s a heavy sleeper. Even as a newborn, she slept through the night with ease. Rarely does she wake up, and if she does, she can typically put herself back to sleep. Which is great, considering the second Bluey is off, so are your pants.

The dilf energy >>> something about becoming a father has made your husband even hotter. More intense in the bedroom, devoting time he doesn’t have to making sure you feel worshipped. Once he spent two hours between your legs — safe to say walking was difficult the next day.

Jisung desperately wants another baby. But that thought is always overpowered when she looks at him — why would you want more when she’s already perfect?

lee felix

House is literally never tidy. Organized chaos at best, but two kids under three make it impossible to keep up with chores. Felix tries — wakes up before you to wash the dishes, gets the majority of the mess cleaned before the little monsters wake up. But in a flash, it’s messy again.

Not that he minds. Or you. As long as the kids are happy and healthy, you can live with papers on the table or toys scattered across the house (except for that morning Felix tripped over one on the way downstairs. He’s doesn’t think that scar will ever fade).

Started prep on a Mother’s Day present MONTHS ago and is incredibly serious about it. The moment he has the kids alone, he’s scrambling. Color this, glue that, just like chill out for 30 second — he knows the paint is cold but the handprints are an essential part of this craft.

He’s had to redo the handprints seven times. But who’s counting?

It’s a recipe book, all the treats thought of by the oldest. Felix helped her write it, the youngest scribbled on some paper, and ta-da! Is it barely holding together? Sure, but you don’t care. Your heart is swelling, tears forming at the care that’s been put into it.

When you mentioned putting the kids in swim lessons, he was almost offended. “We bought this house specifically for the pool. No, I can teach them.” And, true to his word, as soon as the weather is warm, all three are out there daily. Sunscreen from head to toe, new freckles forming on all their faces. Sometimes you join them, but most of the time you just watch them fall deeper in love with each other.

Don’t ask me to explain this — but he SCREAMS airport dad.

Always there way too early, the oldest strapped to his back. Rushes your family through security — “How many times have we done this?” He’s gentle, but the annoyance is obvious to everyone but his daughter, who is grinning up at him. “Shoes off.” — stands in front of the giant screens with arrivals/departures. Hands on his hips, squinting slightly.

“Well it’s a good thing we didn’t book at 9:00 AM, aye, babe?” He shakes his head. “Definitely would have missed that one!”

Tracks the flight on his phone. Knows about delays before the pilots even do

at this point I’m just describing my own father

Is a PRO at soothing the baby on the plane. Standing out of the aisle, tucked in the back as he bounces him. Shushing him as he slides a pacifier in. Soothed and sleeping in under five minutes.

Honestly the most stereotypical dad of the group, and he fucking loves it.

kim seungmin

Last of the group to marry, last to have kids. By the time his son is born, Chan and Changbin already have three. Seungmin doesn’t really see the rush — good things take times.

And oh, is he the best thing.

The most organized nursery you’ve ever seen; all the baby hangers match, clothes sorted by season, then by color. Dresser drawers labeled so everything goes back where it belongs.

Prefers cloth diapers to disposable. Sure, the water bill is high, but do you know how long diapers take to breakdown? No thanks. Cloth works fine.

No, hand sanitizer doesn’t “do the same thing”. If you want to hold the baby, wash your damn hands. If he even lets you hold him. Fucking hand sanitizer, the audacity—

Every time he speaks to his son, he signs what he is saying. Getting him familiar with the hand motions, so when his motor skills develop, he can copy.

Has a good grip in sign language, and Korean, and English by age four.

But honestly, he doesn’t care about any of that. Good skills to have, but Seungmin is endlessly proud of his son. Found a smooth rock and gave it to him? Best gift ever. Messed up a word in Korean because he confused it with the English equivalent? That’s okay, it’s hard sometimes!

Everything his son does deserves to be recognized.

Lets him check his mic. Little fists wrapped around it, the five year old beaming as running over to Jisung’s daughter. Who is doing the exact same thing.

Intentionally involves him in every aspect of his life. Just because he has a time consuming job, doesn’t mean he’ll lose out on time with him.

Thinks you’re the reason the word milf exists. Because damn. Seungmin already found it hard to keep his hands off you, but something about watching you be a mom? Oof.

Literally could be just packing your son’s lunch after he’s gone to bed and he’s standing at the kitchen entrance. Wide eyes and mouth dry.

“What’s that look for?”

And then you’re bent over the counter with your panties stuffed in your mouth.

Kinda has a breeding kink now?

But, fuck, have you seen you? Can you blame him?

Never really thought he wanted more than one kid, but with you? Oh, he wants a million more.

yang jeongin

Goes without saying, but. Matching outfits.

Started with just shoes, but over time, the collection has grown. Sometimes they match on accident even — there’s so much crossover in their closets.

When you feel left out, Jeongin takes his son to pick out an outfit special for the three of you. Wraps it up, has the little boy excitedly wake you up with the present.

Speaking of present, this kid has the most elaborate birthday parties. Jeongin does NOT play around; planning starts about six months out, and even then it’s a rush to get everything ready.

Your son looks forward to it more than any other holiday. And can you blame him? When it seems like the entire world is celebrating him?

Since the party is big, the presents are modest. If he gets too many, they go in a special closet. He’ll get to open one a week, not wanting him to get too entitled when it comes to gifts.

Always, always wants to sleep in bed with the two of you.

He’s a little snuggle bug, getting right in between you and Jeongin, desperate to be close at times. Not that either of you mind, for the most part.

But damn, have you guys become skilled when it comes to quickies. In the shower, in the car before heading to pick up, in an empty practice room while Hyunjin teaches a mini dance camp to the Kids’ kids.

Probably the biggest airplane parent, but only when it comes to safety. He’s so worried about his son getting injured, sometimes he has to remind himself that it’s okay for kids to push boundary.

That doesn’t mean his heart doesn’t drop when he asks if he can sign up for soccer.

dad!skz really is my fucking weakness—

[isuckatwritingsobenice]

Hell-o

Ummmm I dunno if you’re still taking requests… but if you are…

Could you please do a platonic rivals Vox x Internet demon!Reader who have a “Internet killed the video star” type of dynamic? Like calling Vox things like “Outdated” and “Boomer” and Vox trying to prove that NO the tv is NOT DEAD and he is NOT OLD-TIMEY!

Warnings: none!

Navigation!!

Boomer

The air in the studio crackled with static, not the typical kind that plagued broadcast signals, but the tangible electric hum of two egos clashing. Vox, the slick, charismatic overlord of the Vees, stood before his towering screen, his three eyes narrowed into predatory slits. He was resplendent, as always, in his sharp suit and polished chrome, a testament to the power of television. On the other side of the room, however, lounging on a haphazardly arranged pile of discarded cables and servers, was the source of his current ire: (Y/N), a being of pure internet energy.

(Y/N) was a mess of flickering pixels and ever-shifting code manifest, a chaotic kaleidoscope of bright colors and sharp, glitchy edges. They were currently sporting a particularly loud pair of neon headphones and a smug, knowing grin that could curdle milk. Vox wanted to erase it from their face.

"So," (Y/N) drawled, their voice a digital distortion that somehow managed to sound both bored and condescending, "still clinging to the old box, Voxxy? Still trying to convince the masses that moving pictures on a big glass rectangle is 'cutting edge'?" Their form flickered, a pixelated hand gesturing dismissively toward Vox's towering screen.

Vox's smile twitched, his sharp teeth bared just a little too much. "It's television, you digital degenerate. And it is a proven, reliable method of entertainment. Something you, with your twitching pixels and pop-up ads, could never hope to replicate.” He gestured to his control panel, its buttons and dials gleaming under the studio lights. "This is infrastructure, this is art! This is power."

(Y/N) barked a laugh, the sound a burst of static that made the overhead lights flicker. "Infrastructure? You call that infrastructure? Honey, that's a dinosaur skeleton. I've got faster wifi on my left thumbnail than you've got in that whole… thing." They flicked their fingers, causing a cascade of holographic memes to flutter around them like angry butterflies. "The internet is instantaneous, interactive, infinite! Your boob tube is just… static, old man."

The word 'static' grated on him more than 'boomer'. "I am not old," Vox spat, his metallic voice gaining an edge. "Television is timeless! It's where heroes are made, where stories are told!" He slammed a fist against his console with a metallic clang. "You wouldn't understand, you with your endless cat videos and… 'challenges', whatever those are. I make stars, you create… noise!"

(Y/N) hopped off the tangled mess of wires, landing with a soft thump that sent dust motes dancing in the air. "Oh, we make stars too, Voxxy. Millions of them. They just, you know, sparkle a little brighter, burn a little hotter, and get shared a hell of a lot faster. Who’s going to be watching your grainy broadcasts when they can stream a live concert globally, in crystal-clear 4K, with a chat feature?” They pressed a few imaginary buttons on their form, causing a window to pop open, filled with a chaotic stream of comments. “See, this is interaction! It's dynamic! It’s not you just talking at a bunch of blank screens.”

"Dynamic? It’s chaotic!” Vox countered, his three eyes wide with a mixture of outrage and a begrudging sliver of curiosity. “All those… emojis. It looks like someone threw a box of crayons into a blender."

(Y/N) chuckled, a low hum that vibrated through the studio. "That's the point, old-timer! It's a vibrant, messy, beautiful mess. The internet is a reflection of everything and everyone. Your TV is… well, it’s just you.”

"And what's wrong with me?" Vox demanded, his head tilting slightly. He wasn’t used to having someone openly mock his entire operation. "I'm sophisticated, I’m powerful! My broadcasts are carefully curated, meticulously planned!"

“Planned? That's the problem!” (Y/N) teased, their form flickering with digital laughter. “It's all so... predetermined. On the internet, anything can happen! Someone can go viral for sneezing! A cat can suddenly play the piano! The possibilities are limitless!” Their form shifted again, briefly manifesting a dancing cat with a tiny piano.

Vox’s jaw twitched. He knew that (Y/N) was right, in some twisted, annoying way. Something about the unpredictable nature of the internet did chafe at his control-freak tendencies. He was in the business of crafting narratives, of controlling the message, and the wild, uncontainable nature of the web was, frankly, unsettling.

He crossed his arms, his metallic fingers tapping against his arm. “So, what? Your chaotic mess is better than my ‘predetermined’ broadcasts? Please, your algorithms are just regurgitating the same drivel over and over again.” He tilted his head, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “Why don’t we settle this?”

(Y/N)’s pixelated form perked up, their digital eyes growing wide with excitement. “Ooh! Now, you’re talking! What battle are you thinking?”

Vox’s grin widened, his eyes glinting. “I say… a content war! Let's see who can capture the attention of the masses. We'll put our best work forward, you with your chaotic shorts and I with my carefully crafted programming, and we’ll let the viewers decide. The internet will never replace the charm of the tube!”

“Only a boomer would say charm,” (Y/N) scoffed but they were already buzzing with excitement, their form flickering even more rapidly. “You’re on, grandpa! Let’s see if your outdated tech can keep up with the speed of light!”

With that, the battle lines were drawn, the clash of old-school media and new-age chaos about to unfold. Vox may have scoffed at the ‘noise’ of the internet, but he knew, deep down, that he was facing a force as chaotic and powerful as the shifting tides. And (Y/N), despite their snarky demeanor, secretly admired the polished sheen of old-school television, a world they knew they were slowly, but surely, changing. Their rivalry was fierce, but it was also, in its own warped way, a form of mutual respect. They were two sides of the same coin, forever clashing, forever challenging, and secretly, maybe, enjoying the competition. The war was on, and the studio, and the world beyond its walls, would never be the same.

[britt-kageryuu]

Donnie and Mikey are starting another stream with a cooking segment.

"Okay, everyone we're going to be doing some dip n dots type recipes with Nitroglycerin!"

"As interesting of an idea as it would be to cook with explosives. You are incorrect on the name Mandarin."

"Nitrous Oxide!"

"That's Laughing Gas. And not something you want to mix with food."

"Nitro... nitro... whatever!!"

"Sigh. Liquid Nitrogen, is what you're searching for. An extremely cold liquid that turns into a gas when introduced to room temperature. And is quite dangerous to work with when not using proper precautions." Donnie says while pulling into frame a large canister wrapped in insulating fabric. "Don't want to give yourself something close to frostbite or freezer burn."

Mikey nods his head while Donnie gives these warnings, "Yeah, it's not that you shouldn't try this at home. It's more, have someone who knows what they're doing help you with these experiments."

Mikey then goes to grab a cooler and a variety of bowls/containers.

"To be very very honest, that's two verys, we got this idea from another channel where they made cursed flavored icecream. They also made a video trying to make their own dip n dots, that we will be doing ourselves today." Donnie says as they set up an odd looking drip system above another insulated canister. "We've put together our setup based on what they did," Donnie pauses to look around the counter, "Did you not get the blender or food processor?"

Mikey goes wide eyed a bit then scrambles around the kitchen set, going through the different cabinets and bigger drawers, before running off stage.

"I LEFT THEM IN THE MAIN KITCHEN BRB!!!"

Donnie watches his little brother leave with a slight shake of their head. Then some mechanical arms come out of his shell that had little spinning blades on them.

"I was about to mention that my pack has a new blend and puree feature, but I guess we're going to wait for him to come back." Donnie retracts the arms, and goes back to setting the mechanism up, "Might as well quadruple check that this is properly set up for optimal use, and as little waste of the Liquid Nitrogen. This stuff is not cheap, and there aren't many local places to buy more."

There's some clattering noise coming through, and muttering that can be heard, but it's obviously not coming from Donnie, who perked up at the sudden noise.

"Mandarin must have left his microphone on. Let me get th-"

"Orange, why are you causing such a racket? I can't hear the TV, and Angela was about to reveal a deep secret twist!"

"Sorry Pops, I can't find the food processor."

"The second cabinet from the fridge. Now please keep the noise down!"

"Thanks Pops!"

After that Donnie cut off the audio.

"I underestimated how far a range these wireless microphones have. We need to test this later, but for now we wait for Mandarin to get back here." Donnie says while looking around the area. "Would you like to hear about some thieves who where driving a Tesla? Because while not a big thing, it was interesting."

The audience listened as Donnie relays the story for a few minutes until Mikey got back with the retrieved food processor. Then they watched the two experiment with the Liquid Nitrogen.

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

Masterpost

I in the middle of working had this idea, because I couldn't remember that there is a Liquid in Liquid Nitrogen, and kept trying to figure what Nirto word I was trying to remember.

The people stealing while driving a Tesla thing really happened, and I kept going back and forth on whether to make a post about it, so just a snippet in my story it is!

Edit: cheep changed to cheap. English is such a weird and stupid language at times.

[kaiserouo]

Hello! In this post I will describe the details of making a render of Apex Legends stuff (namely the video you're watching) so you can make a photo / video to your liking! Even if you don't wanna render things, I think you might still find the process interesting, OR, especially, the tools useful in you future work.

Why am I doing this? Because I'm taking a train and I'm bored. Also there's too little Bloodhound content here. Maybe someone will actually do some cool rendering of them after this.

Idea

Do you know in training mode, Bloodhound will wait for you indefinitely like a puppy with their cute little look-around motion?

Precious footage of Houndy on Youtube

I want them to be my background. So the most important requirements are:

3 Bloodhounds looking around and waiting like that of training mode. (why only 1 if you can have 3?)

Firing range background.

Looks overall good or something (e.g., lighting, motion not synchronized, 1920x1080 for my computer, etc.)

Let's get started.

Model

Well, there won't be multiple Bloodhounds waiting for me in the firing range in-game. I am also not intended to mod R5Reloaded just for this. So we'll use Blender to pose them.

First we need the model. The details of how to use Apex Legends model in blender can be found in this tutorial I found. Basically you just need Blender, semodel + seanim loader, Legion+, and the game itself. You COULD find archives of some models on the web, but manually extracting will guarentee that you can get everything you need.

Reddit Apex Legends model tutorial

Apex File Archive (by Biast12)

Model name list (may be incomplete)

I made an auto shading addon btw

There are a lot of tutorials of how to use Blender. I will not include the details here.

We need:

Models of 3 Bloodhounds (pilot_medium_bloodhound, bloodhound_v21_pilot_level03_w, bloodhound_v21_heroknight_w)

Animation of them waiting indefinitely (mp_pt_medium_training_blood_idle_A_0.seanim)

The names are a bit weird. You can just try to import all the models / animations to find what you want.

Background

Map files are large and hard to load. In my case I never even imported any map in Blender successfully. Fortunately we are looking for a still image background.

I used R5Reloaded's photo mode (or something like that) to get a clean picture. Quite a lot of steps to get a background picture, I know. I used R5Reloaded for other things at that time so this was the most convenient way for me ironically.

R5Reloaded does has a lot of potential, though. Maybe you can use it on other stuff afterwards.

R5Reloaded official page

But if we just make a render in Blender and composite the result with this background, the perspective will certainly not be aligned and the result will look very weird. Probably need a disgusting amount of time just to adjust this stuff.

Thankfully, by the theory of perspective and projective geometry, we can calculate the focal length, the height and the angle of camera all from a single image by your favorite subject: math!

...I mean, by fSpy. We have computers. We don't do the math that others already did for us.

fSpy official page

After getting the parameters of the camera, you can import them into blender directly. The camera from fSpy already has the background image composited so you won't need to do much else in Blender.

Posing & Lighting

We have almost everything we need. So just:

Import all models and camera (from fSpy)

Shade the models and adjust size / position / orientation so it looks good on camera

Import animations on model and adjust the keyframes s.t. they don't do the exact same motion every frame.

We are using the existing animations so posing won't be a problem. If you want to make your own pose you might need some more proper rigging. Not expert on this so that's all I will say.

Now we need the lighting. The lighting environment in the firing range is not really available to us if we don't have the skybox or the map file. Maybe you can find the skybox in Legion+ or archive, but I use lights in Blender instead.

Namely, a sun light to simulate the light from the sun, and a plane light at front for overall light adjusting (probably also simulates reflection from the ground and the environment).

And wait for like half an hour for Blender to spit out all 285 frames and we're done! I let Blender store each and every frame as an image and use ffmpeg to composite them all into a video because I thought I need the high resolution images for something else. Blender does have a setting to just output a video without the intermediate result if I recall correctly.

Conclusion

This is definitely not a complete guide on how to do rendering pieces of work with Blender. I myself am not even well experienced in this kind of stuff. But I think the process is fun and the result is rewarding, especially when seeing your favorite character moving on your background.

I hope you do check out the reference of tools and tutorials above. After all, as an artist (kind of), having the model is like possessing THE absolute reference for a character. Very recommended for every artist to learn how to use Blender and search for models. In 2024 a lot of games are in 3D and there WILL be someone on the web sharing how to extract models from the game or simply gives out the entire archive. You name it! Apex Legends, Titanfall, Destiny, even Ultrakill has like a 1GB blender file for high quality models, if you just google for that ever so slightly.

...Welp actually you can just treat this post as a huge Bloodhound advertisement. The end.

[femboycatofmystery]

So my post about how you should draw (YOU SHOULD DRAW!) blew up beyond any precedent since my return to tumblr and someone in the FRANKLY KIND OF TERRIFYING NUMBER OF REBLOGS mentioned downloading a free DAW to make music and that got me thinking,

HOBBY SOFTWARE MEGAPOST GO

All of the below software is free to use, and most of it is Open Source (which is its own thing I recommend learning about, its entire existence and success gives me hope for humanity) so GO GET SOME TOOLS! Make things like nobody's watching and then SHOW IT TO THEM ANYWAY! Or don't! Even if you hide your work from the world (lord knows I do!!!) you will have created something! And it feels amazing to create something!

VISUAL ARTS:

Inkscape: Adobe Illustrator replacement, pretty solid if a bit quirky.

Krita: Painting software, if anything slightly overpowered and sometimes more complicated than you want, but can do bloody anything including advanced color management. A wonderful tool.

Blender: You have probably heard it is super hard to use. This is CONDITIONALLY true. Because the developers are working day and night to improve everything about it it's always getting better and now like, 80% of the hardness is just because 3D is hard. Aside: Blender Grease Pencil - A subsystem in Blender is concerned with 2D animation and it is. Surprisingly good. Some annoying conventions but totally possible to literally make professional traditional 2D animation.

MUSIC:

LMMS: A free and open source DAW that can do a lot, except use most modern VST plugins. The practical upshot of this is that if you are just starting out with music it is totally serviceable but over time you might start to long for something with the ability to load hella plugins. (I'm currently trying out Reaper which has a long free trial and is technically nagware after that point...)

PlugData: You GOTTA TRY THIS, it's not mentally for everyone (not HARD exactly, just WEIRD) but if your brain works well with this kind of flow graph stuff it's a magical playground of music. (If you have heard of PureData, PlugData is based on it but has a lot of nice graphical upgrades and can work as a VST if you have a proper DAW)

Surge XT: A big ol' synthesizer plugin that also can run standalone and take midi input so you can technically use it to make music even if you don't have a DAW. If planning notes ahead of time sounds intimidating, but you can get your hands on a midi piano controller, this might actually be a great way to start out playing with music on your computer!

Bespoke Synth: Another open source DAW, but this one is... sort of exploded? Like PlugData you patch things together with cables but it has a wild electrified aesthetic and it can do piano rolls. Fun though!

GAME DEV:

Yeah that's right, game dev. You ABSOLUTELY can make video games with no experience or ability to code. I actually recommend video games as a way to learn how to code because the dopamine hits from making a character bumble around on a screen are enormously bigger than like. Calculating pi or something boring like that. ANYWAY:

Twine: Twine is what I might describe as sort of a zero-barrier game dev tool because you're literally writing a story except you can make it branch. It has programming features but you can sort of pick them up as you go. Lowest possible barrier to entry, especially if you write!

Godot: I use this engine all the time! It's got great tutorials all over the internet and is 100% FREE AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Technically there are more Unity tutorials out there, but Godot has plenty enough to learn how to do things. It's also SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT so you won't spend your precious hobby time waiting for the engine to load. There are absolutely successful games made with this but I think the best thing about it is that the shallow end of the learning curve is PRETTY OK ACTUALLY.

[brandstifter-sys]

Distracting

For @dukexietyweek Day 2: Games           (Ao3)(login required)

Word Count: 1579

Characters: Virgil, Remus, Roman (mentioned)

Rating: T

Warnings: Intrusive thoughts, anxiety, crying, mentions of suicide, referenced suicide attempt, sexual themes, gore mention

Virgil and Remus tend to get serious when they play video games. And when Remus gets anxious because of his thoughts, Virgil knows just how to comfort him.

---

Sometimes having a boyfriend like Remus meant getting dragged into the Imagination for some crazy adventure. Sometimes it meant cuddling him so he wouldn't flail in his sleep when he had nightmares. Sometimes it meant some violent suggestive roleplay. But sometimes it meant playing video games and having a heart to heart. 

Virgil was used to Remus rambling on about his frustrations while plowing through zombies. He was used to venting about his own struggles when it was his turn on the controller. They were better at talking shit when they were both playing. But this time was different. 

"You know what really grinds my gears?" Remus said as he moved Leon through the police station. He was sitting on the couch, leaning on his knees and watching the screen. 

"A lot of things. What is it this time?" Virgil asked from his perch on the couch. 

"Roman. He won't shut up about Nico, and he keeps flooding the Imagination with fluffy romantic scenarios about Thomas getting married and growing old with him," Remus huffed as his fingers worked over the controller.

"What's wrong with that?" Virgil bristled. So maybe he was making that worse. 

"Nothing, but he's setting himself up for heartache. He's trying to make his fantasies reality when Thomas doesn't really know Nico. He's not excited for the journey, just the goals. It'll bite him in the ass if he can't separate reality from fantasy." 

"You're one to talk," Virgil scoffed. 

"I am! When's the last time Thomas actually murdered someone? Or fought a pack of coyotes? Or decided that the blender was a good place to stick his—" 

"Point made." 

"I don't really want to take over the bulk of the creative work while he wallows again. I let my influence slip in too much. I thought you would have caught me back then." 

"You did a good enough job that I thought those slips were just Roman being a mess," Virgil shrugged. 

"Daw," Remus giggled and glanced at him quickly when he was in a safe room, "That's the nicest thing you've said to me all week!" 

"It's Sunday, you dork," Virgil huffed and crossed his arms. He hated how easily Remus could fluster him even though they'd been together since before the series started.

"Yeah and? You'll probably say something even nicer to me before Saturday!" 

"If I didn't have a shit ton of work to do, I'd be insulted." 

"I like it when you're snarky and mean! You come up with the wittiest comebacks and threats, and it makes me feel special that you use that brain power and creativity on me!" Remus said with a shimmy. 

Virgil grumbled and hid his face in his hands. He pulled his knees to his chest and tried to disappear. He really had to get better at taking compliments. At least Remus went back to playing his game. 

"You know, the worst part of this whole Nico thing is that you're involved on Roman's side."

"Are you jealous that I'm spending time with Roman?" 

"Nope! I like that you're friends! I don't know if I like how he's influencing how you think about Nico," Remus replied through gritted teeth. 

"What are you trying to say?" 

"I'm worried about you. You're usually cautious about other people, you need to know more before you get attached. If he's not the guy you guys imagine, I know Pissboy will lose it, but what about you?" Remus asked and wiped his eyes, "What happens to you when he goes back to being a tyrant?"

"Octopup?" Virgil asked and relaxed his posture. 

"What if he starts blaming you and attacking you again when things go wrong?" Remus rambled. He had to pause the game because his hands were shaking, "Wouldn't it hurt more since you were actively trying to help? What if he pushes you to the edge again? I know how mean and hurtful he can get."

Virgil took the controller and set it down before pulling Remus onto his lap. Remus clung to him and trembled. 

"What if I'm not enough to stop you? What if you decide to try again?" 

"Your intrusive thoughts are getting to you," Virgil said softly and rubbed his back. It wasn't an accusation, but an understanding. 

"I can see it so clearly. The falling, the abyss, and then you disappearing. And it could happen! It's not just a bad idea this time!" Remus sobbed, "I keep seeing you die over and over, just like the last time. And I was right back then! If I didn't show up—" he hiccuped and shook with a another wave of tears. 

"Puppy," Virgil said and kissed his forehead, "I'm not going to let that happen. Even if he blames me for everything, I know he doesn't mean it, I know that the others see my worth, and I know that I can't bear the thought of actually hurting you. I can't forget the way you looked at me, the way you pulled me back without touching me. I can't do that again." 

"Virgil," Remus said and looked up at him, "I love you." 

"I love you too," Virgil said and hugged him, "And I won't let any other anxiety eat you alive. You're my snack." 

Remus giggled wetly and nuzzled into his shoulder. It wasn't often he got anxious over his intrusive thoughts, so he was glad to have the most experienced anxious mess with him. 

"Can we play a game?" Remus asked, unsure if Virgil would go with it. With all that needed to be said out of the way, Remus needed a good distraction.

"I guess Resident Evil isn't the best option. So how about this? You name a musician or band and I'll tell you what song of theirs reminds me of you," Virgil suggested. He could think of something else if he had to. 

"If I don't know the song will you sing the lyrics?" 

"It won't be the whole song." 

"Okay. I'll just name bands I don't know well so you'll sing for me," Remus said and lifted his head, "Uh, Escape the Fate." 

"Gorgeous Nightmare." 

"I don't know that one," Remus pouted and dried his eyes. Virgil smirked and kissed his forehead before clearing his throat.

"'You're such a gorgeous nightmare. Old habits never seem to go away. You make me feel brand new, yeah. We resurrect it's like I've come back to life.'"

Remus giggled softly and squeezed his boyfriend. He was an emo nightmare alright. 

"Black Veil Brides." 

"Rebel Love Song," Virgil answered with no hesitation. Remus knew that one and he grinned at the thought. 

"A Day to Remember?" 

"You Had Me at Hello," Virgil responded and gently scratched his scalp. 

"Lyrics?" Remus hummed and melted into the touch like a puppy.

"'What have I gotten into this time around? I know that I had sworn I'd never trust anyone again but I didn't have to. You had me at hello.'"

"Yellow car," Remus suggested, unsure if that was an actual band. Virgil caught him biting his lip and decided he wouldn't make him nervous again.

"Ocean Avenue," Virgil said before singing a few lyrics, "'If I could find you now things would get better. We could leave this town and run forever. I know someway, somehow we'll be together. Let your waves crash down on me and take me away, yeah." 

"Uh, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus?" Remus asked and snuggled closer. 

"Your Guardian Angel. You don't need me to sing that one," Virgil hummed, "I sing it to you at night." 

"Pretty please?" 

"For you, yeah," Virgil said softly and kissed away his tears. 

"'Seasons are changing and waves are crashing and stars are falling all for us. Days grow longer and nights grow shorter. I can show you I'll be the one.'"

Remus laughed softly and kissed his neck. 

"You're so sweet, Scare Bear!" Remus sighed and trailed his lips up Virgil's jaw, "You take such good care of me." 

"That's because you take good care of me. And because no matter how gruesome and gross you are, I love you." 

"Can we play one more round and then cuddle and watch a movie? Naked?" Remus asked and nipped at his ear lobe. 

"You went from anxious to horny fast," Virgil noted and pulled his face away from his gremlin. 

"It's not my usual horny. It's cuddly vanilla horny, and it's all because you gave me a heart boner and it spread. So can we?"

"Yeah, one more and then we can go to your room."

"Papa Roach! And you should still sing!" Remus giggled. He knew them better than Virgil.

"...To be Loved," Virgil said and leaned down right by his ear to deliver on the lyrics with the same cadence as the original recording, "'I want domination, I want your submission, I see you're not resistin', to this temptation.'" 

Remus shivered at the low growl laced in Virgil's voice. He expected that but he was never ready for it. He grabbed Virgil's face and planted a smooch on his boyfriend. 

"You really know how to distract me and make me squishy!" Remus purred, "Keep doing it!" 

Virgil kissed him again and sank them both out. Sometimes having Remus for a boyfriend meant being vulnerable in a casual setting. Sometimes it meant that Remus would need him more than he let on. And most times it meant Virgil had his own piece of heaven. 

[lorestory0]

my imagination did some silly things in sims. under a keep reading because this might get long especially since therse pictures

my sister be doing stuff in blender sometimes. thats why the faces on these so pretty instead of looking like a sim. and with that information out of the way

i have 3 shadows. they used to be 1 shadow according to the imagination, but they got split into 3. different personalities from eachother.

the one with all the spikes on his back is calm and dont like talking to people and gets annoyed easy and is somewhat lazy. the laziness is only there for most things. for anything cool like magic stuff, he will put in a lot of effort.

the one with the purple everywhere is very kind but somewhat shy and more likely to get scared, but not too scared hes still very strong.

the fish with the unicorn horn is only about fun and is very irresponsible. the other 2 have to keep a close eye on him. they know they been split by some weird magic and they worry that if 1 dies they could all die and that would annoy them greatly.

and with that out of the way heres some funny that happened in a combination of the game and the imagination

spikey was trying to read a book. unifish wanted to pillowfight because he just "found" some new pillows. purple stripe felt bad for unifish who has no one to play with and decided to pillow fight. this bothered spikey.

spikey told them to go do it somewhere else. they asked where. spikey told them to do it outside.

unifish didnt want to because its cold at night. then spikey described how beautiful the moon was and that the gentle ocean waves might be a cool dramatic background for their pillow war. he accidentally talked it up so good that now he wants to go outside.

unifish somehow convinced spikey to help move their stuff to outside.

he did but now he doesnt feel like going all the way back to somewhere else and he just has to deal with this.

he tries so hard to read

he does look up when it looks like things are becoming too violent. for a second he thought unifish weaponized his fish claws but no it was a pillow and a trick of the eyes

he eventually gives up trying to read and just watches these 2 idiots.

what a silly little thing that happened.

purple stripe eventually gets a job as a doctor because he likes kindness and helping, but now spikey has the responsibility of watching unifish by himself while purple stripe is away. spikey would have gotten a job himself, but he didnt wanna deal with the social interaction that comes with it and besides someone need to keep an eye on unifish.

day 1 and spikey is not used to this job of keeping unifish out of trouble. he takes unifish to the park and just practices magic and tries to stay close enough to unifish to be more likely to notice if somethings wrong, but he ends up not paying attention to things directly behind him as unifish experiments with mermaid powers, which is something the other 2 said not to do.

i cant put more than 1 video on here and i liked the chaotic stupidness of the one above.

just know that these are footprints and unifish was running around in circles at full speed before suddenly being in the middle of the ocean. also my video recorder was not working for this anyway. because the video recorder sometimes doesnt work at the most annoying time

these 3 visited ravenwood and no one could stop unifish from swimming in the pretty purple water. djkgnjkdfgnd

hes ok now but all 3 of them said that they realized something about the thing they wear as shadow. it looks cool as flip on a ghost

unifish said he already knew what would happen with that water and he wanted to show them something really cool. they both knew he was lying and just wanted to swim in the pretty purple water.

i dont have any more fun stories about these 3 yet but when i do i might add them to this unless its a video then imma make a new post or something

heres unifish with his freshly dug pile of dirt

[stuffs-from-a-cat]

boredom. (aka me complaining)

have you ever felt so bored to the point that you just wanted to slam your head into your desk? or just anywhere? or maybe instead you just want to kick and punch something. well im here to tell you that i have no solution for that, but i do suggest making a list of.. anything! sometimes, i like to write a random short story, or just spam letters on a text file, but if you're like child me, who hates wasting storage space or starting a new story without finishing a previous one (mind you, i used to write very cringy fanfiction (i still do)), then... i have no other solution for you!

or... you can try stretching in your room, boring, but might help you in the long term of life. you can try drawing or doodling, or starting a collage book, the possibilities are endless but then you realize that's exactly why you're bored, there are -in fact- too many things to do.

and if you're, again, like me, then you are pretty much lonely, which means you have no one to spam messages to or no one to binge watch shows with, or your friends are just busy every day. (i have too much free time, don't i?)

even so, thoughts bore me, and maybe they bore you too. the world is such a bore! no hobbies, no interests, no talent, and you simply fear failure, which means your list of want-to-dos are even shorter!

i enjoy listening to music, but once you're listening to music.. what else is there to do really? your ears are occupied, but what about your hands, feet, mind and eyes?

maybe you have something you actually want to do, but your parents disapprove of it, or it requires you to overcome fear of the public's eye, or maybe you just don't have the needed items for it. i, for example, love decorating tiny notebooks with collage stickers, issue is, it's difficult to find decent stickers that do not cost more than they should, and i do not have a driver's license which means i'm blocked from traveling to places unless my parents accompany me (sad, terribly sad).

i also like watching tv shows, but it's boring without company, and playing video games alone becomes boring sometimes. worst part might also be the fact that you suck at video games and have trashy internet.

you could have many personal projects, but... NO MOTIVATION!! oh no!! ive tried to start a minecraft smp with a friend once, but we both lack focus and participation in contributing to it, and two people starting a smp with ONLY two people in it in total? absolute failure. and as forementioned, i write, but writer's block loves to come and pay a 6 month-long visit, so the millions of story prompts and text docs have been on the forgotten-shelf for quite the time.

coding has been an interest of mine for about 2 months -which is a record considering how quickly i move on from hobbies- and ive mainly been trying to do game dev, but! as someone who is under 16 years old, it is difficult to learn such things without proper lessons on how coding languages even work. ive managed most of it, such as the outlining and just displaying text, but then another problem came up.. assets, what's a game without assets? using online free assets would have been a great thing because at least i get to practice displaying images and trying animation, but my arrogant mind wanted to create my own characters.. which leads to -surprisee- another period of ✨no motivation✨. lovely, that game has never appeared in my agenda ever again.

because then i decided to try animating in alight motion! that one actually made progress, but there were a lot of limits to using such a complex app on a very limited storage tablet that crashes every time i attempt to use graphs. but then again, at least i got somewhere with animating eye blinking (very crappy indeed).

maybe instead i would find interest in gaming again- oh nope! my computer breaks after moving to a new country and now my internet sucks even more! goodbye to my 2 year old sims4 game and my blender projects! nice, so now i have to reinstall sims4 and roblox and maybe if i did have more storage, i could redownload blender! but oh no... my new computer only has a intel i3 core that can't even let me write this post on tumblr without lagging! not to mention internet speed limits + data limit (i have to use mobile hotspot, and before anyone says 55 GB is enough per month, i am someone who searches on google 300+ times per day and results do use quite the bit, so does scrolling through youtube shorts).

sigh. what can I do? my friends are a 9 hour flight away and they don't talk to me, my parents don't believe that depression exists, and i have no motivation and am too lazy to do shit. what to do? i have no idea. but if anyone plays rhythm hive let me know..

[fmpmelissa]

Week 07: Wednesday: Production and Research

Production: Starting today, I added new controls to the rig I made last week using empties. These controls are important for animators to use in controlling the rig, which is an industry-standard requirement. To make these clear for animators, I used different empty shapes, such as circles for bones, mainly for rotation, squares for large areas of movement, and crosses for small areas of movement. I then parented each empty to the rig, making it ready for animation. While using this rig, I had a lot of difficulty controlling the legs, especially when mirroring the rig's pose, as it would break the entire rig.

This was a constant issue when trying to animate, so I decided to animate each leg independently along with the IK controls to avoid bending the legs backwards. Halfway through the second frame, I found myself already spending over an hour just trying to get a single frame to work. Frustrated, I stopped, believing there must have been a better method for this. I went online to ask for advice, and someone forwarded me a video that provided a much easier solution, which I discussed further in the research section.

Taking a step back, I began working on finalizing the vault door, which had been delayed previously. I was able to get on a call with Alec, our environment artist, to discuss the texturing. I wanted to ensure it matched well with the environment, so he suggested that I texture it as I preferred, using a substance painter. If the textures did not match the scene, he could always use the premade metal textures he had been using for the rest of the scene. With that in mind, I reopened the old save of the vault door, began cutting seams on the mesh, and exported it into Substance Painter for texturing. Since I didn't have a high-poly mesh for the vault door, I used the option to bake textures using the low-poly mesh. This allowed me to create grunge and dirt maps, which I used to create the rust on the metals. After adjusting the settings, adding sharps and highlights, and making touch-ups with the brush, I exported these textures as Unreal files to be used for the cutscene.

Research:

Recently, I have been experiencing issues with my rig for the spider creature. Before proceeding further, I wanted to attempt a redo using a new video by Polyfjord (2021) titled "Animate a Character in 15 Minutes in Blender." This video presents a different method of animation, specifically demonstrating techniques with a spider model. What is uniquely different about this method is its use of the offset in the Follow Path modifier to control the rise and fall movement of the legs. Since these are fixed numbers, I can easily adjust the height of all the legs, making them more even compared to my previous rig. However, there are some limitations with this rig, particularly for animals with feet that are not solid, like paws, as it lacks additional bones for support. This is something I will need to explore later, as it does not currently apply to this specific project. Overall, using the video’s approach may make animation significantly easier than my previous setup.

References:

Polyfjord, 2021. Animate a Character in 15 Minutes in Blender. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imbIsNAvUpM [Accessed 13 August 2024].

Gantt Chart

Light Red highlights marks the day

This is in place to keep me on track what has been or needs to be done this day of the week.

[goombasa]

Titles and Thumbnails

As someone who consumes a frankly unhealthy amount of videos on youtube, I see a LOT of different thumbnail and video title trends, and I have to admit, there's a lot that I don't really like about it, and with how much everyone makes fun of certain trends, but I thought I'd touch on some of these trends briefly and say what I did and didn't like about them. Dunno why this of all things was on my mind, but I think it's worth exploring a little bit. So let's talk about some title categories to start off with.

WYSIWYG

This is the most straightforward form of titling a video, and I'd like to think it's the most widely used. It is literally just a title telling someone what the video is, no frills, no excitement, but also no danger of being mislead either. Instructional and Tutorial videos are some of the most common examples to use these kinds of titles, because you don't really need much more than that. Unless it's a weird subversion, if a video tells you that it's part three of a larger series of tutorials on the basics of Blender, you know that's what you're going to be watching. A lot of old school videos tend to be like this too. Reviews of a movie or comic or game or anything really, used to just have the title of the media, and then just specified that it was a review, no taglines needed.

Over The Top

This is what you get when a title is a just a little bit more sensationalized. Rather than being a basic descriptor for the content, it does that, but with just a little bit more spice, making a slightly hyperbolic claim or playing up a particular detail about the topic of the video. Not really a question, but essentially a statement about the topic of the video. Something like claiming a game is a ‘disappointment’ or a ‘triumph’ or something along those lines. Not terribly hyperbolic, but setting a specific tone before the video is watched.

The Question

A title that asks a question, with the implication that said question will be answered at some point in the video. This one does start to to kind of dip into clickbait depending on whether or not it handles the question it is posing in any way. And I will admit, if a video poses a question in its title, uses it as the crux of its existence, and then doesn't attempt to answer it in any way, I consider that a pretty big failure. A lot of challenge videos tend to fall under this category, as they are posing a question or a challenge, and then seek to prove whether or not it is possible.

The Intrigue

This is one that I see a lot in video essays nowadays. It's a title that kind of gives you an idea of the video's contents while being somewhat vague about it, or being a bit silly with it. Hbomberguy's ROBLOX_OOF.WAV is a good example of this. It does kind of give you an idea of what exactly the video will be about, without being as plain or banal as a WYSIWYG. Though it also conceals anything additional that the video might hold, giving the video a bit more flexibility than WYSIWYG or Over the Top titles. Going back to the OOF video as an example, a large portion of the video is more dedicated to investigating the various exaggerations and lines of Tommy Tallarico, but it uses its initial premise of the origin of the Roblox death sound to lead into it without misleading the watcher into feeling like they've been mislead as to the content of the video.

Clickbait

This one is pretty straightforward, and I think it's safe to say it's the one that everyone hates the most. Clickbait is a title that is so over the top or just flat out so far removed or misleading from the video that it could be called false advertising at times. There are a lot of larger youtubers that thread the needle here, and often times makes regular use of ALL CAPS and plenty of unnecessary punctuation, usually exclamation or question marks. It's mostly trying to get you to look at the video just through sheer audacity, like if it makes a loud enough claim, then you're going to click on it regardless of its contents, or if it makes that same claim as vague as possible, well, you're gonna get curious, right? That's what makes clickbait so insidious. It's not intriguing, it's not enticing, and in my opinion, it speaks to a lack of confidence in the video itself.

But the title is only half of the equation when it comes to getting someone to click on a video. While the title may get you to click, the thumbnail is generally what catches the eye initially, and it has just about as many variations, both good and bad, as a title can. So here's a quick rundown on some of the common ones I tend to see.

The No-Show

This is what I call videos that don't bother with a thumbnail. I'm perfectly fine with it, but the algorithm certainly isn't. This usually means that whatever you're seeing is a still from the video itself, which could be interesting, or it could be like… a guy. Not to say that's indicative of the quality of the video. ProZD doesn't use thumbnails, but his videos are usually pretty short and simple, so the screenshots that he gets as his thumbnails tend to be pretty fitting.

The Branded

This is usually a basic thumbnail that uses a static piece of branding, like a border or a character or a prop, something that is meant to be associated specifically with the channel. It's usually accompanied with a screenshot of whatever piece of media that is the topic of the video proper. I feel like this is a pretty good way of making a thumbnail, as it allows the creator to put together a unique look that makes the video distinctly theirs, with the big downside being that it sometimes isn't entirely clear what the video is about, but then again, if it gets you to look at the video and read the title, then it's doing its job, and if someone is already a fan of your work, then identifying the same sort of borders makes it obvious when one of their favorite creators has uploaded a new video.

The Photoshop Job

This is a very common thumbnail type that seems very favored by the algorithm, as I tend to see a lot of very large youtubers use this. It usually involves a semi-exaggerated picture of the host of the video photo-shopped into a scene from the game, or a scene meant to evoke the topic of the video. These tend to dip into the uncanny valley quite often, and I find them pretty off putting. They're meant to be cartoony, to make you feel like you're about to get into a wacky adventure, but to me, it just makes me want to walk the other way.

The Artist

Sometimes, when an artist is making videos, they'll do their own thumbnails, entirely from scratch, or a creator will hire a thumbnail artist. I like these ones. It's like another version of the branded thumbnail, as it can add a lot of personality to the thumbnail without looking too uncanny, and can really link the video with its creator.

The Conspiracy Board

This is another one that I don't really care for, as it's meant to sensationalize the video in order to get you to click. The big meme with this one is the red circle or arrow highlighting an aspect of a screenshot, usually from a movie or game trailer, or showing off an easter egg in the background. These elements are sometimes accompanied by some bright white or yellow words, trying to call even more attention to it, or postulate on what it could be, pushing the clickbait elements of this sort of thumbnail further, which is why it's more often used as a joke now. But even that joke is being played out. I really hope this sort of thumbnail style goes away sooner rather than later.

The Mugger

Sadly another very common type of thumbnail to see among larger Youtubers who are always slaving to the algorithm. There's some crossover with this one and the Photoshop job, but rather than the editor exaggerating the person in the thumbnail, the person does that themselves, making a ridiculous, emotional face straight at the camera, usually looking scared or sad or angry. This one gets paired with Clickbait titles all the time too, and I hate it. Most of the time, these thumbnails don't have anything to do with the topic of the video, or are used to enhance the misleading clickbait of a title. It's a very prominent form of advertising for a video, and I absolutely hate it. Out of any sort of means of getting attention on a video, this is the one that I hate the most, I think.

The Still

This is kind of like faking a still. Well, I say faking, but really it's just taking a good looking picture, often of the subject and the presenter for the video, in what is basically just an idealized still. No photoshopping, no words, no tricks, basically just a regular picture. Not terribly exciting, but very honest and leaves no room for doubt on what the video will be about. 

And that's about all I got for right now. Just felt the need to lay out some thoughts on thumnail and titling trends. I should note that of course there is some crossover between all of these, and the quality of a video is often not indicated by the title or thumbnail (though those who use clickbait, as I've noted, tend to do so because they don't have confidence in the content of their video).

I'm interested to hear from others on this. Are there things in titles and thumbnails that you hate seeing? Anything that you like seeing? And if you're a creator, what sort of combinations do you prefer to use and why? And are their any sort of things like this that I missed?

[lihikainanea]

Do you have any recipes that are your fav that you recommend for someone who is not experienced in cooking? Your cooking looks so delicious definitely a goal of mine to make delicious recipes as yours 😋

Babe this is so sweet! I always tell people I was born with a knife in my hands and idk people always take it in the violent sense--which is fine by me. I am just *innocently* trying to tell them of my love for cooking and everyone always thinks I'm stabby.

Honestly, start with soup. Making soup is multi-purpose: 1) it's near impossible to screw up, 2) you can basically use whatever odds and ends you find in your fridge, and 3) it allows you to practice your chopping skills when you don't have to worry about the end result being pretty. Especially if you get yourself a little immersion blender, which is one of my top kitchen tools!

Things like browning or searing meat takes a bit of practice and I still fuck it up, sometimes the meat sticks to my pan and it's kind of just a mess. Getting the right heat is a skill, but starting off my cooking soups or stews is a great way to understand how it all works. A stew is a wonderful start--the meat can be inexpensive. You can practice browning it, and if/when it sticks like hell to the bottom of the pot--that's okay! you're gonna pour liquid in anyway and get all those crunchy, tasty bits unstuck.

Pasta is also a good trick to start with, with a very simple, basic sauce.

Here's a few good recipes I recommend to start, where the ingredients are not too expensive and you can screw it up and still turn out with a delicious meal:

Chrissy Teigen's spicy beef stew (make it without any sides, if you're new to cooking. Trying to juggle multiple pots and pans is stressful. Leave out the jalapeño if you don't like spice!)

Angel Hair pasta with raw tomato sauce

Spaghetti with lemon and olive oil

11-can soup and cheesy toast

Homemade hamburger helper

Speedy dumpling soup

All of these are wonderful, simple, and hard to mess up. Start small, build your confidence, and remember--nothing is ever really truly lost, when you're cooking. Something too salty? Add water. Not salty enough? Add salt. Something stuck like glue to a pan? add some liquid. Did you burn something to a fucking crisp? It's okay boo just cut that part off, nobody will know.

and WATCH VIDEOS! Youtube is great for this. I used to watch Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals, she’s a wonderful teacher. Her first cookbooks were so simple, if you can get your hands on one on Amazon they're probably considered vintage now :-P

Good luck! and keep me posted <3

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

[outofsstyles]

WILDEST DREAMS

a/n: soo I’ve been working on this for a little while now and I’m very excited to share it with you al!! This piece is inspired by Taylor Swift’s music video for her song Wildest Dreams. If you’ve never seen the video, or don’t remember it really well, I recommend you watch it *after* reading the story so you don’t get it spoiled! If you’re interested then you can watch it by clicking *right here!!*

Word count:  17.2k                     Rated: M, mature           

You agree to help your friend on her film project and Harry is playing your love interest.

“You’ve been frowning a lot and haven’t said a single word in the past five minutes, what’s wrong?” You looked up to your quiet roommate sitting opposite to where you stood near the kitchen counter. 

A playlist you both had made months ago, meant only for cooking days, as Nia had instructed, played faintly in the background. You hummed along to the melody of a song you didn’t really know the name of, but had listened to it enough to mumble the lyrics, as you focused on cutting banana slices.

Nia was the one who brought up trying out a new fruit smoothie recipe she had found while scrolling around on Pinterest. She was pretty excited after coming home with the groceries, ready to start the process. Which is why seeing her sitting quietly as she glared at her phone was a big sign that something was wrong.

“I think Jordan is about to pull out on us,” she groaned loudly, locking her phone and throwing it on the counter, running her hands on her face, “I can’t believe this is happening a week before filming starts.”

“Oh, that’s not good news” you said, looking back at your friend’s defeated state in front of you as you threw the banana slices into the blender. “What happened?”

“He said he decided to go with his cousin to Ibiza.” Her arms muffled her voice as she lied on top of them, sighing once again, “this is the third one that leaves, I might as well just cancel the entire thing and fail this class.”

You rolled your eyes lightly at her, shaking your head as you listened to her dramatic reactions. Being her friend for as long as you have, you knew how stressed Nia got with a project, specially something she was passionate about. She was always too hard on herself, trying to push everything to be as perfect as possible, which is a good thing when you focused on the ultimate results. But she often tended to over-stress herself, and that’s what makes you worry.

With this one in particular, you could tell how excited she was from the day her teacher assigned it. She came back home and rambled for hours on end about making her first film. Which is why when she begged you to be part of it, and you couldn’t find it in your heart to say no. 

It was a small production after all, it just being Nia and her partner Evan, whom you have known had gotten close to her in the past months. She assured it would a rather simple concept, with only two characters. The trickiest part being the fact that they would film it out of town, in a camp house that belonged to Nia’s aunt. You had agreed to it to make her happy, and with her promise of buying you chocolate muffins. Most uni students, however, didn’t seem as keen to sacrifice a week of their spring break as you were.

“You’re being dramatic Nia,” you reassured, turning on the blender and cringing at the loud noise that took over the place. “Maybe they just read on the script that they would have to kiss me a couple of times and got too nervous about it,” you tried to humor, raising your voice a bit before turning the processor off. Nia looked back at you with a serious expression, making you scoff, “calm down, grumpy pants, I’m sure Evan knows someone who can do the role, stop worrying.”

“All I do is worry, you know that,” she sighed, standing up to walk towards the cabinets behind you. She selected two matching cups that she had gotten for your birthday, one had Elsa printed on it, and the other Anna. You smiled as she placed them on the counter, knowing you always thought matching friendship objects were silly, but Nia loved it, so you loved it too. She looked vaguely at the blender, letting her shoulder weight down.   “At least we have a banana smoothie.”

“And something else!” You said, jumping on your feet to get to the fridge and retrieved a tupperware. You held it in her direction and smiled, “leftover spaghetti from Joe’s!” you exclaimed, attempting to brighten her mood. She looked back at you, grabbing the container from your hands, as she tried to fight back a smile.

“Yes,  how could I forget the leftover spaghetti?”

**

As the days passed by, the both of you had gotten more stressed out. Nia was still worried about everything related to her film project. With the days passing by and no one to fill the other role on the script, she found herself on a daily cycle of stress breakdowns. 

Just two days after your former cast partner dropped out on the project to spend his week on the busy beaches of Ibiza, she had bought three different boxes of hair dyes. And as you helped her turn her hair into a light shade of pink, she cried about how everything seemed to go wrong in her life.

Meanwhile, you had been struggling to fight your procrastination tendencies and try to finish as much work as possible before spring break. A task that was showing itself to be extremely difficult, considering your mind seemed more focused on binge watching true crime shows on YouTube. 

The blank document stared back at you from your computer screen, as you wished that if you looked at it for long enough, the essay would somehow write itself. Writing a couple of words but soon deleting them and going back to an empty page, you signed. Why was it so difficult to introduce a topic? You took a sip of the hot drink on the sparkly Cinderella mug you had chosen for the day, another one of Nia’s Disney-related possessions. 

You frowned at the blank document, your failure to write a single paragraph still open in front of you. You heard a light knock on your bedroom door, but before you could even say anything, you spotted the already fading pink hair coming into the room. 

Nia walked in jumping excitedly, saying your name in little squeals and almost tripping down as she made her way to sit on your bed in front of you. Breathing out, she looked at you with a big smile and messy hair before blurting out.

“We’ve got you a husband!” you stared back at her, arching your eyebrows. You knew she was referring to the role on the film, but you still laughed off at her choice of phrasing. “Evan got someone, it’s like his old friend or something, said he trusts him not to drop out.”

“Well, fourth time’s a charm, I guess?” you smiled at her. 

“We’re planning a pizza night this Friday, so we can, you know, set the details and all that.” She properly lied down next to you, playing with the strings on the hem of your pajama shorts. “Also so you two can meet each other, of course, you’re going to be married for a week after all.”

“The way you say it seems like we’re actually doing it,”  You laughed, finally closing your computer, and moving down to face her. “We’re just playing characters, Nia.”

“I know, I know… You’re really no fun, aren’t you?” She moved her arm up to support her head and poked you with her free hand as you rolled your eyes at her. “Also, he seems pretty cute, Evan showed me his picture, maybe you two can hit off.”

“I’m sure he is,” you tried not to fall for her attempt on teasing you over someone you don’t even know. Sure, you’ll be playing love interests, but you’ve done this plenty of times before, back on your theatre days. Kissing someone on stage doesn’t mean you have feelings for them in real life, and you knew that pretty well. You sighed, looking down at her, not wanting to engage into this kind of topic.

“Anyway, should we celebrate your new cast member and my inability to write a single sentence about art history?” you changed the subject, trying to distract yourself from your own thoughts. “We could watch Devil Wears Prada and make caramel popcorn.”

Nia gasped dramatically, “these are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard coming from those pretty lips of yours,”  jumping to her feet as she pulled you to stand with her. She then ran out of the room, screaming back, “I’ll get the blankets and you start with the popcorn!”

It’s been years since you’ve known Nia, but yet the dynamic between the two of you has never really changed. You’ve always considered yourself very lucky for having a friend like her in your life. From the day you met her in your English class, it was like seeing someone you had already known your entire life; it was always that easy to be with her. 

You two became inseparable from day one.

Looking back, it’s crazy for you to realize how well your high school plans with each other had turned out. Most people you know had those friends in school they only really talked to because they saw them five times a week. But as soon as graduation came by they parted their ways and became only good nostalgic memories for one another. With the two of you, everything just worked out. 

You both got into the university you wanted, ready to get matching art degrees. On your second year of college, you moved in together. And halfway through the course, Nia just dropped out to enroll on an eighteen months film school. And that’s when she met Nate. 

You always knew she was destined to be that kind of person who just has one great love in her life. Which was funny considering that anyone who spent over five minutes with her and Nate in the same room could swear they would never work together. They just were those kinds of couples who are the polar opposite of each other. 

Nia was a little social butterfly, who could start a conversation with anyone about anything. She could talk for hours with the old ladies at the grocery store about how the new brands of beans are just not as good as the ones not as well known. Or chat with the yoga moms about a new reality show that had premiered on Netflix. She loved experimenting on new things, trying out new recipes or mix distinct colors together on her clothes.

Nate, on the other hand, just wasn’t much of a talker at all. Since the start of their relationship, he often stops by at your apartment -wearing a different shade of grey every time - but it would be a lot to say that you two have had a conversation for longer than five minutes. He just mostly kept it to himself. 

They balanced each other, which is why they worked so well.

It would be a lie for you to say you didn’t think about having something like that for you. You thought maybe you just weren’t the kind of person to have one meaningful relationship in your life. And that was okay. You’d like to think you’re better off on your own, anyway. But now and then you wondered how it would be to fall asleep in someone’s arms every day.

But you tried your best to keep those thoughts locked away in the back of your head. You knew that for the most part love is not really meant to last, Nia was just part of the lucky few.

**

The atmosphere in your shared apartment was cozy, as you waited for Evan and his friend to arrive before you started the pizza hangout, as Nia called it. 

You both had spent the day tidying up the place, trying to decorate it a bit with some fairy lights and nice pillows you found in your room. It had been a long time since you had done any kind of social gathering in your home, and Nia wanted everything to be perfect. She even insisted on making the pizzas herself, which took most part of the afternoon, and a lot of bossing around on her part. 

By the time the food was in the oven and the only thing left to do was wait, her boyfriend joined the two of you. 

She was very talkative and bubbly, as she usually is, getting the wine bottles she selected for the evening and placing them on the counter as she chatted with him. It was nice seeing her back do being her usual self after such a stressful week. 

You got the right amount of glasses, placing them next to the bottles, as you hummed along to the Declan Mckenna’s voice playing in the background. You weren’t really paying attention to Nia’s babbles, catching a word or two as she rambled about some dolphin documentary she had to watch for one of her classes. Pouring out a glass for yourself, you looked over to Nate who had a puzzled look on his face, as he tried to make sense of whatever rant his girlfriend had going on. You took a sip of your wine, and laughed lightly at yourself at the contrast between the two of them, something you had always found very amusing to observe. But before you could go further into your thoughts, the sound of the buzzer took over the small apartment.

“They’re here!” Nia gushed, as she quickly made her way out of the kitchen to get the front door, yelling back at you to get the pizzas out of the oven.

“Yes, ma’am,” you teased after she left, earning a light chuckle from Nate. 

Making your way around the kitchen, you took out kitchen gloves that had figures of little chicks printed on them, giving one last check inside the oven to make sure everything was ready, before opening it and taking out the food. You could hear Nia greeting Evan excitedly in the background, as she rushed him and his friend to come inside. As their voices got closer, you turned your back to the entrance, concentrating on not burning yourself while you placed both pizzas on top of the counter.

“There’s our star!” You heard Evan’s loud voice taking over the kitchen space, making you look over your shoulder and laugh at him. 

You turned around while taking off the gloves, as he pulled you into a tight hug, the strong scent of his cologne invading your nostrils. He wasn’t much taller than you, making him being considered short for a man. But his presence in a room was always so loud and bright that he seem much bigger than he actually is. You pulled back and looked at him, suddenly feeling underdressed in your own home. His entire outfit was bright red, being consisted of a jean jacket and silk pants, his eyes matching with vibrant eyeshadow taking over his whole eyelids.

“It’s very nice to see you again Evan,”  you smiled at him, his hands still holding onto your shoulders as he looked warmly at you. “It’s been too long! You look fabulous!”

“Oh honey, you flatter me too much! It’s why I love coming here,” he scoffed playfully, coming to your side and wrapping one arm over your shoulder as he guided you. “But tonight is not about me, unfortunately. It’s about the two of you.”

As you finally moved your attention to the kitchen entrance, you realized another presence standing there. A man, who you assumed was Evan’s friend, already smirking down at you as both of you approached him. 

You suddenly felt nervous under his stare while you could hear Evan commenting on something you didn’t really pay attention to. You had been taken completely by surprise by the man standing in front of you. Sure, Nia had mentioned to you once or twice that he was good looking, but you were not expecting this. 

It was a weird feeling, being this affected by someone you had just met, but you would have to be blind not to notice. His face was beautiful, a sharp jawline contrasting his soft skin, his fingers poked at his bottom lip as he smirked, you could notice the hint of a dimple forming on his cheek. His hair was short, but still long enough to see the shape of slight curls forming in it, some locks falling charmingly against his forehead. But what hit you the most were his eyes, thanks to the dim lighting you couldn’t really tell if they were a shade of forest green or more of a hazel tone, but you could feel your cheeks warming up from the way he watched you as you got closer.

His shoulders were broad, as he was leaning against the entrance, the hand that wasn’t poking at his lip resting inside the pocket of his brown pair of trousers. He wore a blank white shirt, partly tucked in, underneath a beige cardigan. The sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, making you notice the tattoos hugging the skin of his arms. You felt a curious wish to know how many more you could find under all the layers of clothing..

As you and Evan got closer, he moved from his leaning position to stand tall in front of you. The smile never leaving his lips, and his eyes still watching you closely.

“So, darling, meet Harry,” Evan spoke up, gesturing you towards his friend. “He’s a pest, but I’m sure you’ll get along just fine”

“Way to give a first impression, E,” Harry rolled his eyes at his friend’s teasing, before turning his attention back to you. He moved closer, embracing you into a side hug “S lovely to meet you-”

You quickly cleared your throat, afraid that your voice would give you away, before saying your name. The attempt didn’t really seem to work, as your words came out higher than you had intended. You could feel Nia’s gaze turning to you on the corner of your eye, but tried your best to ignore it. He repeated it, before shooting a smile in your direction, the sound of his deep voice and the way his lips circled around the words making the hairs behind your neck rise.

“Okay! So how about we move this party to the living room?” Nia’s voice broke into the atmosphere. “Everyone can get their wine glasses and make themselves comfortable while y/n and I finish arranging the pizzas.”

She shot you a knowing look, before moving to get the wine bottles and handing them to Nate. Everyone shifted to get their glasses and settle in the other room, leaving you and Nia alone. 

You moved to get the knives and looked at the pizzas standing on the counter in front of you, calculating how you could cut out even slices on each. You could see your friend from the corner of your eye leaning on the counter staring directly at you.

“You know you can’t fool me even for a second, miss,” she teased, you could hear the smirk on her voice.

“I’m not doing anything,” you murmured, still not looking in her direction. She scoffed, elbowing you lightly as she mimicked you, saying your name in a high-pitched voice. You shot her a dirty look before shushing her, afraid the guest in the other room could hear her teasing. “I didn’t sound like that!”

“Oh please! You should have seen how you looked at him!” She rolled her eyes at you, “thought you were gonna drop down on your knees right then and there!”

“Nia!” you screamed in a whisper, your cheeks warming up at her words as you pinched her, making her squeal. You quickly shot a look at the entrance to see if anyone might’ve heard her, but they seemed to be enrolled in their own conversation. “Let’s just get this done quickly before they suspect we’re in here for too long.”

“Okay, cheeky girl,” she bit her lip and moved to get a knife to cut one pizza, but still eyeing you with a slight smile, leaning in one last time, “but I told you he was cute.”

Eventually, the two of you finished sorting out the pizza slices and joined everyone in the living room. Nia then rushed to join her boyfriend on the loveseat, leaving the only spot available for you being between Harry and Evan on the couch. She shot you a teasing smile, but you tried your best to ignore it and focus on finishing the wine glass you had poured for yourself earlier.

“Okay, so I’m going to need everyone to eat the food and tell me how good it is,” Nia pointed out to the center table where the  pieces of pizza laid upon, “I’ve spent the entire afternoon on these babies, so eat up!”

“You know that I’ve helped you with them, right?” you added, squinting your eyes at her, “some credit wouldn’t hurt.”

“You only laid the toppings on the dough so they would look even,” she snapped back pointing a finger at you, “I did all the hard work, so shush it.”

But before anyone could move to get a slice, Evan was already stretching out his arms to stop you from moving. “Wait a second,” he spoke, “I feel like I’ve watched enough seasons of MasterChef to be the first one to judge.”

“I mean, you are the best critic I know,” Nia pointed, leaning in to get a slice and offering to Evan, “but again, I don’t really know any other critics.” She humored as he took the food, making a show of analyzing it.

Everyone waited expectantly as Evan bit into the pizza slice, keeping a straight face that didn’t reveal much of his opinions. Nia leaned in his direction, nervously biting her bottom lip as she waited for his final verdict.

“You have to be honest,” she warned, observing him, “but know that I can get my feelings hurt pretty easily.”

“I don’t mind that,” Evan finally said, straightening his posture as he looked back to Nia’s waiting eyes, “I’ll say that it’s not the best pizza I’ve ever had,” he announced, “but it works.”

“You know what, I take it,” everyone laughed lightly as Nia visibly released a breath she had been holding in, “It’s not a bad review for a first time.”

The hours went by quickly as you eased into a conversation with everyone. It was nights like this you missed the most when the stress of all the accumulative work weighted on your shoulders. Having a more of a cool night to hangout with a few friends, drinking some wine and chatting about whatever topic came to mind.

As time passed, you could tell Nia and Evan got more agitated, probably due to the amount of wine they had consumed without even realizing. They chatted excitingly about Midsommar, their voices raising a bit too loud. But every time you tried to shush them, jokingly reminding of the neighbors next door, they would soon forget about it again.  You watched them babble, giggling when they would get excited on a certain topic and start to trip over a few words. 

You also felt lighter because of the alcohol, not as much as them, but still enough so you could feel your chest warmer and your mind a bit dizzy. You still felt an annoying tingle at the pit of your stomach when you felt Harry’s eyes fixating on you when you spoke, or when your hands brushed as you reached for the bottle at the center table. It was silly, and it made you feel like a teenager being in the presence of an attractive boy for the first time.

When it all quiet down eventually, Nia had dragged Evan to her room so he could give an insight on how she could decorate it. It was something she would do now and then, give her room a big renovation so the change in the space could make her more motivated, or something like that. Sometimes, if she felt inspired enough, she would change around the living area or  even your own room - when you allowed her, of course. 

Nate was still sitting on the loveseat looking like he was about to fall asleep at any moment as he scrolled through his phone. He hadn’t spoken a lot during the night, which wasn’t unusual for him, but he still managed to chat for a bit. 

That left you and Harry alone sitting on the main couch, with one person less it left you enough space to cross your legs, making yourself more comfortable. He was sitting on his side, his back resting on the big pillows by the arm of the couch, his chest turned towards you.

You reached for the wine bottle at the center table, realizing there was just a bit left, enough for a last glass for the two of you. “Wanna help me finish it?”  You turned to him with the bottle in your hand. He had a smile resting on his lips, as he raised his glass toward you so you could pour the liquid into it. You could tell his eyes were a bit cloudy, but you knew none of you had had enough to be drunk.

“Thank you, love,” he said, the raspiness on his voice as he spoke the pet name making the hairs in the back of your neck rise. You poured yourself the rest of the wine left, emptying the bottle as you settled it back where you got it. “Should we make a toast?” 

“Sure,” you replied easily, smiling at him, “what should we toast for?”

He looked away, puckering his lips slightly as he made a puzzled expression, a hand scratching at his chin as if in deep thought. You giggled at his dramatics before he pointed his finger up, his face turning into a big smile. He raised his glass in your direction, as you did the same. “A toast for being husband and wife?”

You chuckled, clinking your glasses together, “that’s fair,” you said, “ ‘s why we’re here after all, isn’t it?” you joked, taking a sip of your drink before settling it down on your lap.

“Sure is,” he mimicked, rising his glass to his lips, a smirk still adorning them as he managed to not break eye contact. He took a small sip before settling his glass back on the table.  He scratched the tip of his nose slightly with the side of his finger, before he relaxed back on the couch. “So” he spoke up, bringing your attention to him, “E told me you’re an actual actress,” he raised his eyebrows at you, “made me a bit nervous, love.”

“That right there is a lie,” you chuckled, biting your lip and shaking your head. “I used to do theatre back in the day, haven’t done any acting for years though.”

“A theatre kid, huh?” He laughed as you rolled your eyes jokingly.

“I’m aware we have a poor reputation, yes,” you said,  “I reckon we deserve it, but we weren’t that bad, I promise.”

He giggled, making your heart skip a beat at the sound. His smile was something you could easily get used to, the way it formed crinkles in his eyes and the dimples deep on his cheeks. You had to stop yourself for staring too much, moving your gaze to the glass on your lap.

“People are too harsh on theatre kids,” he reassured, “I think it seems pretty fun — only time I did it was when I played Elvis when I was about five, I think.” He added, resting his arm against the couch, his hand just a few inches away from your shoulders. “Had the time o’my life though.”

“You got main character though, that’s impressive,” you expressed, raising a hand to poke at his side playfully. “Have you done anything since your big debut as the king?”

“Can’t say I have, no,” he chuckled, “guess this is my big comeback, maybe I’ll get a call from broadway soon.”

“I’m sure you will!” You giggled, taking another sip from the glass in your hand.

You found it easy to dive into a conversation with him. You were both giggly from the wine, but it still seemed like you could stay like this for hours on end,  just talking to each other. 

He told you he wasn’t planning on doing the film, considering he never really thought about acting. But when Evan asked him if he could be part of it, he saw how desperate he was to fill the role, so he agreed. It warmed your heart to hear how fondly he spoke about his friend, telling you how willing he was to help, even if it involved doing something out of his comfort zone.

You two bounded over your mutual wish to become teachers. You found out he was studying Literature, a choice that for him as an easy one, considering throughout his life he had always been an avid reader. He said no matter how harsh thing got, he always found an escape between books, you could tell how passionate he was about it as he spoke about his favorite reads.

Eventually, you could hear voices coming closer from Nia’s room, as they seemed to be gushing about the filming that was starting soon. 

As Evan came into the room, he made his way to the couch, placing his hand on Harry’s shoulders. “Honey, as much as I wish we could stay here ‘til dawn, I’m afraid we must get going.”

With his declaration, everyone moved around to gather the dishes splattered across the center table to put it all at the kitchen counter. After some insisting -mostly on Harry’s part- on helping with cleaning, you convinced them you two could handle the task just fine. And they were the guests, after all.

Finally, you said your goodbyes, pulling Evan on a small hug, assuring him you’d do your best to do his script justice.

And as you came to face Harry, he leaned into a hug, giving you a last kiss on the cheek, before telling you how lovely it had been to meet you.

**

You had woken up with your door opening abruptly, making you jump a bit from the sudden change in the peaceful atmosphere from your deep slumber. Before you could process the situation in hand, Nia was already pulling out the covers and spitting out words at a faster pace than you could comprehend in your mind state.

“Get up already! We are very late,” She urged as you lazily scratched at your eyes before sitting up to look at her. “Evan is going to kill us!” She cried out.

Your head pounded slightly, making you search for your water bottle previously prompted by yourself the night before, knowing you would need it in the morning. You reached for it in your nightstand, taking big gulps as you watched amusingly Nia run around your room picking random clothes and throwing it in a duffel bag you had just noticed.

Resting the bottle down on your lap, you yawned lightly, still in the process of waking up. “Calm down Ni,” you mumbled, “We still have time, we’re only leaving at like, two.”

She looked back at you as if you had just slapped her across the face, your shirt falling partly from her hand. “It’s already one,” she informed, making your eyes bulge as you reached to check on your phone, confirming as it read 1:16pm. “We don’t even have our bags packed AND we got a sink full of dishes to wash.”

The minutes after that were rushed, as you two did your best to get ready as fast as possible. Mentally slapping yourself for leaving everything for the last minute, but still managing to pack your bag in record speed.

But as time passed and the list of things to do was still far from over, Nia phoned Evan and let him know you would need a few more hours to be ready to leave. To say he wasn’t the happiest about the news was an understanding, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

A couple hours later you were finally packed, and after a quick stop to shop for road trip snacks you were off on the road. 

You left much later than planned, and even if it wasn’t that much of a long drive, it was still 3 hours until you got there. The ride itself was mostly quiet, except from Lorde’s Melodrama playing softly in the background. You hummed along to the words, but apart from that there wasn’t a lot of talking between the two of you, all due to the limited amount of sleep you got from the previous night.

As you got closer, the scenery of open grass camps and blooming flowers at the peak of spring was a peaceful change of scene from the busy city streets you were used to. And when you finally got to the house, the sun was almost setting on the horizon. The sky being a satisfying mixture of blue and orange. There was a car already parked in, and as you got closer, you could see two figures sitting on the front stairs. 

Getting out of the car, you quickly made your way to where they stood. “Have you been waiting long?” Nia asked as you got closer to them. 

“Longer than I was planning to, I’ll say that,” Evan replied, taking off his sunglasses to greet you.

Harry came up from behind him, looking incredibly cozy wearing a knitted cream sweater. It took everything in you not to nuzzle on him as he met you with a quick embrace. You had to focus on keeping your breathing steady as you looked up at him when you parted. The sun coming from behind you doing wonders as it hit his face perfectly. His eyes were the prettiest shade of green as he smiled down at you before moving to greet  Nia.

“We’ve been here fo’ ten minutes, don’t listen to him,” he assured with a small laugh.

The house itself was much bigger than you expected, it wasn’t huge, by any means, but you had pictured a small cottage with barely any space for the four of you. The place, however, was big enough for you to have your privacy but still small enough to feel cozy and welcoming. 

You quickly found there were three rooms, and despite you arguing you didn’t mind sharing one with Nia, considering you two lived together, she still insisted that you and Harry had your own bedrooms. It was her way of thanking you for agreeing to help them.

After you got established in your respective room, you met everyone down at the kitchen. The place was loud with chatter as they played around while making dinner. Nia seemed to boss the boys around to cut the vegetables properly, as she concentrated on figuring out how to work the old stove. They laughed lightly as she cussed under her breath in frustration after another failed attempt. You watched quietly for a moment, before joining in to help her.

You finally turned the stove on with the help of a few matches you found laying on the counter, being able to cook with no more trouble. It was already getting late when you finished eating and gathered the dishes to lay them on the sink. Still, Nia insisted on watching one of the movies she had carefully selected on her extended collections of DvDs to bring with her. 

You decided to make yourself some tea while the rest of them moved around to arrange themselves for the movie night. After offering if anyone else wanted a cup as well, you were met with Harry’s warm smile as he accepted shyly.

Soon enough everyone settled down on the big couch to watch the movie. Evan took his place on one of the armchairs, while Harry opted to sit by the end of the couch, setting his legs on the footrest in front of him. As you walked in with your mugs, he gazed up at you, shooting a soft smile and muttering a quick ‘thank you’ as you handed him his drink.

He patted the spot next to him, indicating for you to sit, to which you happily obliged. 

“Wanna share?” he asked, holding up a blanket that lied at the arm of the couch. “There’s jus’ three of ‘em.”

“Sure,” you replied, moving to pull the blanket, so it was covering the two of you. You knew very well you could always get an extra one from one of the bedrooms, but you would never bring yourself to suggest it.

Finally, Nia entered the room with a small pack of m&m’s on one of her hands and the DvD case for ‘Love Actually’ on the other. She was quick to insert it on the player before settling down next to you. Pulling out the leftover blanket for herself, she lied down to rest her head comfortably on top of your legs.

It didn’t take long until she fell in deep slumber, cuddling up on your lap as soft snores left her lips. You pouted slightly down at her. The poor thing was exhausted from driving all the way, and the bad night of sleep the day before.

As the movie progressed, you could feel your eyelids getting heavier as well, the words coming from Keira Knightley’s mouth becoming more of a background noise as you fought to keep yourself awake. But before you could doze off, you felt Harry shifting slightly next to you. Suddenly feeling his arm hugging your shoulders, as he gently pulled you closer.

You moved your head to look at him but before you could say anything he shushed you softly and pulled you back in. “ ‘S fine, love,” he whispered, “can see that you’re tired.”

And with a half-woken mind and heavy eyelids you laid back on his shoulder and allowed yourself to snooze.

You woke up with him shifting again from under you, opening your eyes slowly to find the end credits rolling up the screen in front of you. You yawned lightly before sitting up, being careful not to wake a still-very-much-asleep Nia on your lap.

“Sorry,” you heard Harry say as you scratched at your eyes, “didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” you assured, your voice a bit raspy from your nap, “would have to happen, eventually.” You looked down at the unconscious girl lying on you, knowing you had to get her to bed so she could sleep properly. “We should wake her.”

“Want me to carry her to her room?” he asked.

“I think she’ll be okay,” you replied, gently calling her name so she could slowly wake up.

Surely, it didn’t take a lot of coaxing to get her eyelid to flutter open, as she lazily rose from her sleep.

You helped her to her room, afraid she’d trip down the stair in her hazy state of mind, still half asleep as she dragged her feet across the floor. 

As soon as she laid down in her bed, you made your way back to the kitchen to fix yourself a glass of water so you could go to sleep. 

It surprised you to find Harry still awake as you entered the space; he looked up at you from his position leaning on the counter with his phone in his hand. Quickly placing it in his back pocket as he saw you coming in, giving you a slight smile. “Thought you’d gone to bed.”

You reached for the cabinet Nia had pointed you to earlier where the cups were placed, picking one with little thought and closing it. “Just came here for a glass of water,” you spoke, moving the cup under the tap, “always have one next to my bed, y’know, in case I get thirsty and stuff.” You shook your head slightly, not wanting to ramble about the benefits of staying hydrated during the night just to make a conversation.

“Smart girl,” he joked, causing you to chuckle as you felt blush creeping out on your cheeks. You could see him coming closer to stand next to you from the corner of your eye, which didn’t help the tingly feeling forming at the pit of your stomach. “Excited fo’ tomorrow?” he asked, crossing his arms on top of the counter as he leaned next to you.

“Guess I am,” you answered, looking up at him and finding he was closer than you had realized. You smiled nervously as you met his eyes gazing down at you, before clearing your throat lightly. “What about you?”

“To be honest ‘m a bit nervous, love,” he confessed.

“Why’s that?” 

“I mean,” he started, his eyes still fixed on you, “ ‘s not every day I get to pretend ‘m married to a pretty girl like you.”

You could feel your heart skip a beat as he reached one of his hands to move a strand of your hair behind your ear. He kept his hand on your cheek just as his eyes seemed to gaze down at your lips, so subtly that it felt like you might’ve imagined it. 

The silence in the room was loud as you could almost hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears, as he leaned down just barely, getting closer to you. He looked down one more time at your lips, this time making sure you realized the unspoken question behind that action. You suddenly felt water pouring through your fingers, as the forgotten cup in your hand overflowed. This caused you to jump back a bit, quickly turning the tap off and resting the glass on the counter. 

“Oh my god,” you squeak, reaching out for a towel right next to the sink to dry your hand. “I’m sorry, that was-” you chuckled, glancing at Harry who seemed to watch you with an amused expression. “That was awkward, sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” He assured, picking the full glass and moving it in the counter so it was out of your reach. “ ‘t was actually quite cute,” he moved closer to you again, reaching his hand to hold at your jawline. 

You held back your breath as you felt his own hitting the top of your upper lip, your noses brushing slightly. 

“Been wanting to do this fo’ a bit now, love,” he spoke a bit above a whisper, his deep voice sending chills down your spine and making you grab at his sweater, ”would you let me?” his thumb caressed your cheek lovingly, “would you let me kiss you?”

You could feel your heart beating strongly against your rib cages, swallowing hard as you looked up at him. He was watching you closely, his dark emerald irises gazing down at you as your lips barely brushed. You nodded at him, trying to pull him closer.

“Use your words, darling,” he insisted, not budging from his position. “Wanna hear you say it.”

“Please, Harry I-” you moved your hand to grasp on his waist, “just —kiss me.”

Giving a satisfied hum, he finally leaned down, closing the space between the two of you. His hand remained stroking your cheek softly, as the other sneaked under your neck.

He moved his lips ever so slightly, his cupid bow founding its way above your inner lip, sucking on it gently. The kiss was teasingly slow, making you hyper aware of all of your senses. Your hands feeling the soft fabric of his sweater, grabbing at it as if asking for more. 

He moved the hand on your neck, pulling gently at your hair, making you angle your head up a bit. As his tongue poked to lick at your bottom lip, you opened your mouth, deepening the kiss.

You stayed like this for a while, pressed against the kitchen wall as you enjoyed the taste of each other. 

When you pulled back, he splattered a few kisses along your cheek, giving one last peck on your mouth before pulling back.

“As much as I don’t want to end this now,” he muttered, moving his hand, so they were both holding your cheeks, “We should get some sleep fo’ tomorrow.” 

“We should,” you agreed.

“We’ll get the chance to do this again,” he said, making you bite down a smile at the innuendo behind his words.

He gave you one last kiss before pulling away completely, reaching for the glass of water you had already forgotten about on the counter and handing it to you. 

You walked back to your rooms without saying a word, but still sharing glances and smiles along the way. And as you got to your respective rooms, you whispered quiet good nights before parting ways and closing the door behind you.

**

The days that followed were rushed, considering the filming had officially started. You two barely had the chance to be alone again, which was disappointing. But still you couldn’t find yourself time to miss the feel of having his soft lips against yours, considering the scenes you had with each other. What you did miss was being able to kiss him without it being written in a piece of paper, or having someone from outside tell you to. You missed the intimacy of feeling his tongue meet your own and having his hands pulling you close as you both craved for more. You missed the shared secret between just the two of you, that was knowing how it felt to have him all to yourself.

It was discomforting, earning for someone you barely even know. Jumping into a feeling you know there’s no way can end well. You both were playing characters. Lovers, yes, but it was all pretend. It didn’t help that he was so good at it. In front of the cameras he would be so loving that you often wondered how much of it was just part of the act. 

It was subtle things that made you think of it, like a glance across the room between takes. Him leaning close to you every time they called you to watch back something you had just recorded. Or when he sucked in your lip during a scene, so softly you could barely notice but still made your heart skip a beat.

But as much as it was nice to pretend that you two had some shared secret, you knew that the most likely scenario was that he was just doing his work and being friendly. So you tried your best to convince yourself that all of it was just your mind playing tricks, this way you could prevent yourself from inevitably getting hurt. That encounter in the kitchen was most likely his way of making things less awkward to when you inevitably would have to do it in front of a camera. That was it, nothing more. 

It seemed to have worked pretty well, you two had the chemistry Evan hoped for when he wrote his script. Nia kept teasing you with every given opportunity. You didn’t tell her about the late night kitchen situation, but you knew she could sense the ‘chemistry’ was not simply because you two were just that good at acting. No one was complaining though, considering everything was going so smoothly they suspected it could be wrapped up even earlier than expected.

Every time they would mention the possibility, you found yourself wishing deep down something would set you back on the schedule. You felt bad for it, and you never voice your inner thoughts, but you knew wrapping up early meant going home early, and you were getting a bit too comfortable getting to act all loved up on camera.

As if some kind of outer force had listened to your wishes, just as you were halfway throughout the week, mother nature seemed to be your biggest ally.

You had just woken up with the annoying tune of your alarm clock, one you had chosen for finding it soothing at first. But you soon found that those sounds are not meant to feel soothing at all, as it woke you from your deep slumber. You were quick to turn it off before rubbing your eyes softly and enjoying the warmth of your bed for a few more minutes. You could hear the gentle sounds of raindrops hitting your window, but barely paid any attention to it as you rose lazily, stretching your arms above your head.

Making your way down the stairs you first noticed Evan standing by the big window in the living room, looking out with a hand resting on his hip and the other one holding a mug. Behind him, in one of the armchairs, sat Harry, also drinking out of a mug as he read a book quietly. But as if he felt your presence as you got to the bottom of the staircase, he looked up, smiling at you as you made your way into the room.

“G’morning,” he spoke, alerting the man by the window of your presence as he turned around to look at you.

“Good morning,” you said back, before realizing the worried expression on Evan’s face, “is everything okay?”

“A disaster just happened, honey, look out the windows!”  he snapped, gesturing behind him where you could see the rain hitting the glass. The sky was dark with clouds, suggesting it was just the beginning of the storm that was to come. You looked back with a puzzled expression, knowing the weather was not the best, but as far as you remembered you had already shot all the scenes you needed outside. Evan rolled his eyes, “our natural light is gone, honey, it’s too dark to shoot!” he barked.

“Hey, no need to yell at her like tha’,” Harry looked back at his friend, attempting to calm him down, “ ‘s fine, we were early on schedule anyway, one day is not gonna delay it.”

He shot a look at Harry, his hand finding its way back on his waist as he let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, this is just incredibly frustrating.”

You smiled at him to assure it was fine, knowing how much stress he was putting on because of this project. “Doesn’t Nia have one of those light things you were using the other day to make the scene brighter?” You suggested.

Evan sighed, “that’s a reflector, it just— well, reflects the light, we would need the sun for it to work, and seems like she’s not showing her face anytime soon,” he weightened his shoulders down, clearly feeling defeated. “I guess today is our off day — we should use it to pray for sunlight tomorrow, otherwise I’m pulling my hair off.”

When Nia woke up, you could tell she was not happy at all with the news that filming had to be cancelled for the time being. She spent the whole breakfast whining and crying about the poor weather. You tried your best to console her, but knowing your friend you knew her dramatics showed off when she worried about something. She tended to overthink every scenario that could go wrong, which did nothing to help the pressure she put on herself.

The day went on as eventless as it possibly could, the rain outside just seeming to get angrier as time passed by. You did your best to distract Nia from her own head, asking her about the recent documentaries she had watched, knowing she could go on tangents for hours. You talked about crime shows you have started before filming and shared different theories you had on them. You even listened to her deep analysis of trashy reality shows she loved to watch and always tried to drag you to get into it.

You talked and talked with no end, considering there wasn’t much else to do. Nia’s aunt hated computers and refused to install any kind of wifi, leaving you with a shitty connection that barely loaded a five-minute video.

As the evening came by, and the raindrops still hit angrily at the windows, you decided to watch another movie — this time it was Evan’s choice of Freaky Friday. 

You volunteered to grab the blankets from the cabinets on the second floor, while Nia excitedly announced she would make popcorn for everyone.

Quickly moving along the hallway, you made your way in front of the doors and opened them. You could hear footsteps coming up the stairs as you tiptoed to  reach the top shelf where the soft blanket you had used the first night lied on top of. 

“Need help?” You heard a voice approach, looking over your shoulder to find Harry walking towards you with an amused expression on his face. You nodded, chuckling as you quickly stepped out of the way to allow him to take your place. He reached up, easily retrieving the blanket and giving it to you.

“Thank you,” you muttered, looking up at him for a moment.

“No problem, darlin’,” he said, fetching two other blankets  before closing one door with a swing of his hip. You closed the other one with a small giggle. You started to quietly move along towards the staircase when he cleared his throat, causing you to look up at him. He kept his gaze down before speaking softly, “After the movie, think I’ll go back to my room a bit early,”  he looked at you for a moment, “ ‘f you want to join me.”

You stopped walking to look at him arching your eyebrows surprised, not expecting this kind of proposal at this moment. He stopped a step ahead of you, staring back with nervous eyes and shooting you a shy smile. “I’m not saying we have to do anything, I just-” he spluttered, “just wanted to be with you, without the camera and stuff.”

You smiled at him, “of course,” you voiced, “sounds nice.”

Shortly, you found yourself in the same position as the first day. Sharing a blanket with Harry, but this time Nia was wide awake next to you with a bucket of popcorn plopped on her lap. Some people would consider her to be the worst kind of person to watch movies with, considering she would always get too excited and comment on every scene she could. You had gotten so used to it with time, that it felt weird watching a movie without her voice interrupting a scene every five minutes.

It got hard to concentrate on this one in particular, and not because of Nia’s speaking over the lines, but the sudden feeling of Harry’s hand resting on your knee halfway through it. Your legs were crossed on top of the couch, making part of it rest slightly on top of his as he eased his thumb over your skin.

As time passed, he moved his hand up a bit, finding its final place on your inner thigh, causing goosebumps to arise on the back of your neck as he caressed it softly. You caught yourself holding your breath multiple times, something he was also probably aware of, considering the position of his arm on the side of your chest. 

The tension between you two was almost palpable as the end credits rolled up. At that point you had prompted yourself to lean your head on his shoulders. He grasped your skin slightly before removing his hand and motioning his position to get up, making you pull back from him.

“‘m going back to my room now,” he announced as he got up, shooting you a knowing look, “g’night.”

You stayed back for a few minutes so as not to look too suspicious, folding up the blanket you had used and scrolling through your phone for a bit. Not long after you excused yourself, climbing the stairs two steps at a time.

You found him in the hallway, leaning in on the wall right next to his door as he looked down on his phone. As he felt your presence he gazed up, grinning softly before bringing his finger above his lips as to warn you to stay quiet.

The two rushed inside his room, trying to be as quiet as possible, considering your friends downstairs could come up at any second. He closed the door behind him, looking right at you as he leaned back. His room was similar to yours, the difference being a few more clothes lying on top of the small couch standing at the corner. The curtains hanging on the big windows were pushed open, allowing the moonlight from the now-clear sky to illuminate the place. 

Your breath got caught in your throat as you stared back at him, meeting his dark irises. He started stepping closer to you until he could lean his forehead against yours. His hands found their way caressing your jawline, one of them going as far as to pulling lightly on the hair above your neck. You held your breath, gazing up at him as you waited for his next move.

He smiled lazily, brushing his nose against your softly before placing a peck to the corner of your lips. He was teasing you, his hand leaving your hair to find its way down your body, paying special attention to the side of your breast before placing itself holding your waist.

You swallowed dryly, feeling your heart speed up as you pulled him closer, wanting desperately to close the space between the two of you. Too scared that your voice would give out your desperation, you moved one of your hands to the back of his neck and pulled him in. He didn’t think twice before finally closing the space and allowing you to feel his lips against yours.

The kiss started slow, both of you still trying to figure it out how it was to taste each other like this. His lips were soft, moving teasingly as he sucked on your bottom lip. Your hand pulled his hair gently, causing him to whine into mouth, licking at your tongue as he deepened the kiss. The hand on your waist moved up, caressing the side of your breast softly as he tried to pull you in as close as possible.

He started easing you backwards, considering neither of you were willing to break the kiss to watch where you were going. You felt the mattress of his bed hitting the back of your knees. You allowed him to lay you into the bed, parting for a moment so you could move upwards, laying your head on the pillows. Shortly enough he joined you, placing his elbows on both sides of your head, not wasting any time before closing the space between your mouths again.

The two of you stayed like this for a while. Slowly kissing each other, as your arm found its way back behind his neck and one of his hand caressed your cheek. You could get used to this, with him being the only thing you could sense. His taste. His touch. His scent. 

He was all you could think about.

When you finally pulled back, you could see his red, puffy lips even with the limited amount of lighting going into the room. 

He looked into your eyes for a moment, “you look so pretty like this, darling,” he murmured, his voice just above a whisper, sending chills down your spine. “Could eat you up.” 

A small whimper left your mouth, as he dove back in to spread kissed along your cheek and down your throat. You bit hard into your lip and swallowed back a moan as he sucked in a spot right below your jawline. You could feel him grinding his hips down on your tights, making you aware of the growing bulge inside his sweats.

You placed your hand on his shoulders, pushing him gently and disconnecting him from your neck. He pulled back, looking back at you with a puzzled look. You kept pushing him until his shoulders hit the mattress, reverting the previous position you both were in, as you stranded his waist.

Looking down at him, you wanted so badly to discover his body, to make him feel good. So you took the same position he had on you. Placing your lips against his neck and running your tongue against it, sucking in his skin. You kept doing it as your hand smoothed down his body, finding the hem of his shirt and lifting it enough so you could scratch at his love handles. He gave you a small moan, a sound so delicious to hear you that made you want to swallow him whole. 

Both his hands found their place on your waist, pressing you down so you could feel his need between your tights. You quickly pulled your head from his neck, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

“Please, love, just-” he grunted, looking up at you with pleading eyes. “Just do something, please, I-“

His hands gripped tightly on your waist as you rolled your hips against him. Neither of you could contain your moans as you repeated the movement, even fully clothed his bulge rubbed deliciously against the place you needed it the most. 

You leaned down again, this time pushing his shirt up as you made your way down his body, splattering open-mouthed kisses along his warm chest. You paid a special mind to the tattoos you met along the way, sucking spots over the wings of a butterfly inked on his stomach. As you licked along the leaves of the ferns that adorned his love handles, you felt one of his hands tangling in your hair, his hips rising slightly as he whimpered.

“A bit impatient, you are,” you spoke, feeling his belly tighten as you placed a playful bite under his belly button, causing another moan to leave his lips.

“Darlin’, please,” he whined, “Just- fuck, just need you right now.”

You decided not to tease him for too long, considering you needed it just as much as he did. Finally, you moved down once more to place a kiss above the hard on over his pants. He lifted his head, watching your every move as his hand that was placed on your hair pushed some strands away from your forehead. You wrapped your hand around the hem of his sweats, rising your eyebrows at him as you felt he wasn’t wearing any underpants. The thought of having such easy access to him making you press your thighs together, feeling your wetness already damping your underwear 

Slowly, you bit your bottom lip, keeping your gaze focused on him as you moved his sweats down, he raised his hips as to help you out. Once his cock was fully out, you stared back down at it lying proudly against his stomach. You ran your fingers gently along his length, causing him to hold his breath, his abdomen tightening once more. He was definitely bigger than anyone you had ever been with, causing your mouth to water a bit and your thighs to press together once again at the thought of fully having him.

You could feel him peering down at you as you wrapped your hands around the base and applied the smallest amount of pressure. The precum was already escaping from the tip and sliding down the tiniest bit. 

Moving your head forward you looked back at his waiting eyes, spitting on top of the head as you moved your hand up caressing it. This time he gave you an actual moan, throwing his head back at the pillows behind him. 

Looking down at him, you didn’t know where to place your lips first, wanting to bite and lick every part of his body. Finally deciding on sucking a spot on his thigh, right next to where rested an ink of a tiger head.

You kept the movement of your hand, twisting it and applying more pressure eventually as you watched him shift around under you. He raised his hips slightly as he pleaded under his breath for more, his hand firmly on top of your head as the other was thrown above his own.

You moved your thumb to run across his slit, caressing the head with a flick of your wrist as you moved your mouth to place kisses at the base. At this point he became a moaning mess, throwing his arm over his mouth as to muffle the sounds while you licked up his shaft.

“God- fuck- such a good girl,” he moaned on his arm, moving it out of the way so he could look down at you. “Doing so good, you feel so good- shit.”

Smiling at him, you jerked him off a couple of times before resting your hand at the base so you could replace it with your mouth.

You licked around his head, giving it a small kiss before you moved down as far as you could go. He cried out, tightening his grip on your hair and moving his hips up to meet your movements as you sucked on him.

He was desperate to reach his climax, and you were desperate to see him cum undone under your touch. So you started speeding up, your mouth licking at his veins, your hand helping you as you moved it along his dick. He was cursing and moaning over you, pleading for you not to stop. You kept moving your hand as you licked at his head once more before detaching so you could look up at him with pleading eyes.

“Almost there?” you asked, having him nod frantically at you, “will you let me have a taste?”

That seemed to do it for him, as he pushed your head back down, making you attach your lips to his head as you felt him shoot his load inside your mouth. You milked him as he came down from his high, feeling his softness on your lips as you swallowed down.

You sat up and looked down at his hazy eyes while he calmed down with heavy breaths. He adjusted his sweats quickly before moving himself up to pull you in for a frantic kiss. “God, darling, you’re a dream,” he spoke between kisses, his hands gripping at your waist as he positioned you to lie on top of him, moving one of them under your shirt, pulling it up slowly.

You quickly placed your hand on top of his stopping him from going further as you detached from him. He furrowed his brows at you. “I should go back to my room,” you said, “got an early day tomorrow.”

He gave you a puzzled look, “but you still haven’t- “

“it’s okay,” you interrupted, moving to get up from his bed, suddenly feeling nervous under his gaze, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Good night!”

You left his room before he could protest, wanting to slap yourself from running away like this. 

**

The next morning was thankfully much brighter than the one before, with sunlight shining through the windows at the earliest hours. You didn’t get a lot of sleep, tossing and turning around, replaying the previous night in your head. The thought of what could’ve happened if you had stayed imprinted itself in your mind. You started to overthink it. What did he even think of you? After running away like that? 

Your thoughts consumed you as you sat in of the stools in the kitchen by yourself, for the first time being the first to be awake. Your coffee running cold by the minute, as you frowned to yourself, taking a sip every so often.

It didn’t take long until you didn’t find yourself alone anymore, having Evan join you as he happily cheered about the nice weather. You nodded along to him, not really in the mood for talking as you anxiously poked at your nails.

It was when you walked towards the sink to wash your used mug that you saw Harry walking into the kitchen. His hair messy and his eyes sleepy, making you annoyed at how charming he managed to look even after just getting out of bed. 

He greeted you with a raspiness to his voice, his eyes lingering on you a moment too long as he smirked before moving to the cabinets. He stood next to you while you washed the dishes, grabbing himself a bowl while he worked on his breakfast.

Yours arms would brush every so often as you moved while doing your tasks, making you gaze at him. He kept a grin sitting on his face as he casually made a conversation with Evan, his dimple poking out the smallest bit, but still not looking back at you.

As soon as you were finished you left for your bedroom so you could get ready for the day, but not before sparing one last glance at Harry. This time his eyes were already trained on you as he chewed slowly his fruit salad. You felt your cheeks getting a bit warm from the eye contact, making you look down and leave the room with a speeding heart.

The work started early, as you ran around to keep up with the schedule after losing one day of productivity. 

Harry seemed to be in it for teasing you. His touches lingered longer than needed. His kisses were harsher, the need behind them being almost palpable. His gaze on you told you something you couldn’t really tell exactly what it was. Lust? Desire? You weren’t entirely sure, but every time you caught him watching you felt a warmth take over your face.

In one occasion, between takes, as Nia and Evan discussed the best position for the camera considering her broken tripod. You stood awkwardly waiting for their instructions as you played with the hem of your dress. You could feel him staring closely, looking up to find him with the same smirk he gave you in the morning. He looked quickly over your friends who were still trying to figure out the problem before leaning up close to you “Still haven’t let me have a taste, love,” he said quiet enough to that just you could hear, the words sending a chill down your spine and making your core twitch as you glanced back at him.

That same night, after you announced you’d tuck yourself in, just as you changed into your pajama shorts, you heard a soft knock on your door.  You opened up to see his darkened irises staring back at you as he quietly let himself in. And within a few minutes he found his place between your legs, your hand gripping tightly at his curls as you moaned into your pillow.

The  following day wasn’t much different, starting with a tight filming schedule that was coming to a close end. An exchanging of glances across the room and yearning touches with underlying motives behind them. Ending with you lurking into his room at the dark hours of the night, craving-filled touched and muffled moans.

**

The wrap up of the film was welcomed with a bittersweet feeling settling itself in the pit of your stomach. Knowing as much as you were glad everything had gone as smoothly as possible during this week, it was time to leave it all behind. 

You were nervous about how it would be with Harry after you got home. Was this the start of something that could potentially become a warm and beautiful feeling? Or was it just a lust-filled affair that would end as quickly as it had started? It made you anxious to think about it, not wanting to let go of it just yet.

Nia walked into the living room with two champagne bottles that had been brought up for this exact moment. The atmosphere was filled with chatter as everyone celebrated the end of the hard work. 

You were dressed in the fanciest clothes you had brought on your rushed-packed bag, which consisted itself in a black blouse and a loose pair of pants you stole from Nia’s wardrobe a couple weeks prior. But you once again could not compete with Evan’s sense of style, as he seemed right out of a cover with a hot pink turtleneck under a sparkly black dress that hung all the way to his feet.

But you still couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.

You watched as he laughed along at something that had been said, his eyes meeting yours for a moment before fixing on Nia as she offered to serve him the champagne she had just opened. 

He looked so good. 

Like you, he didn’t opt for a very glam look, wearing a simple graphic white tee with a rainbow printed on it, and a simple pair of checked trousers. But as plain as someone could argue it was, he still managed to look incredibly inviting, which made it harder for you not to latch yourself onto him.

You were coming into your sixth or seventh glass when it all died down. Your head was fuzzy, and you felt giggly as you cheered along with everyone about the successful week you had. Nia had already gone back to her room. She didn’t  drink as much considering she would have to drive early in the morning, wanting to leave most of the celebration for the premiere day. 

The glances stolen between you and Harry were getting more frequent, the longing in each other's eyes visible with the effect of the alcohol.

**

He had you pressed up against your bedroom door as he sucked in your bottom lip harshly. His hands gripped at your waist tightly, putting his weight against you.

You wrapped your hand around his neck as the other pulled at his shirt desperately with the need of having him close. You felt overwhelmed by him in the nicest way. Having his hips pressing against your own, making you open your tights slightly as you felt his arousal straining on his trousers.

You whimpered into his mouth at the feeling, suddenly needing him as close as possible. You could tell his desperation matched your own by the way his hand pressed on the side of your body and his mouth moved against you. His groans getting lost in your throat every time you tangled your fingers on his roots, pulling at it.

“You’re gonna kill me like this, baby,” he breathed out, his lips moving against your wanting ones, “so fuckin’beautiful.”

You tried to keep your shaky hands steady as they travelled down his chest, scratching as his tummy lightly under his shirt before you began pulling it up. He detached from you to quickly reach over his shoulders and pull it off completely.  He didn’t waste any time bringing his hand to unbutton your blouse, peppering kisses along your lips as he moved it down your shoulders, only to be met with your bare breasts underneath.

“Fuck me,” he groaned staring down at you, attaching your lips once again as he pulled you from the door as he fiddled with the zipper of your pants. You stumbled on each other's arms across the floor until you were met with the plush feeling of the bedcovers on the back of your thighs. 

You stepped out of your pants as they got loose around your waist and fell damply to the floor, allowing Harry to push you gently into the mattress. He quickly got rid of his own trousers, wasting no time before towering above you, connecting your mouths once again.

It was like no matter how close you were, it still wasn’t good enough to satisfy the craving you had. You still wanted more. Needed more. 

He was fully licking into you, his hands gripping your tights as he rolled his hips to meet yours. You moaned in unison at the feeling of your arousals meeting deliciously as he repeated the movement once more before parting your mouths so he could spread kisses along your neck.

“Harry,” you breathed out his name, dragging your nails along his back as you moved your hips up eagerly.

He moved his head from your neck o hover above yours, licking his lips teasingly as he looked down at you with dark eyes. He moved one of his hands to caress your cheek lovingly, as the other found your breast, his thumb grazing over your nipple. “Can I have a taste, baby?” he leaned his forehead against your, not breaking eye contact, “just a fo’a bit, then you can have me.”

You nodded frantically, brushing your nose against his. He gave you one last peck on the lips before moving down again to lick down at your skin. He pressed open-mouthed kisses at your chest, sucking harshly between your breasts.  His tongue moved along your belly, craving his finger into it playfully like you had done to him, making you squeal above him.

He finally settled down between your thighs, his hand gripping at them to keep it apart before moving teasingly slow to the hem of your underwear. Your breath got caught in your throat as you moved up to lean on your elbows, gazing at him, hyper-aware of his every move. 

He looked up, grinning like a devil, before moving his face down to nose gently at your mound. Pulling away, he pressed his hands on your sides, sliding your underwear off your legs as you helped him, raising your hips slightly.

You whimpered as you felt him kiss along your inner thigh, meeting your middle as licked you once. Your hips raised impatiently, making him smirk at you again before completely diving in.

You got lost in the pleasure as he licked his tongue into you, letting yourself fall back in the cushions behind your head. Your hand moved to grip at his hair tightly as he sucked in your clit, making you yelp and call out his name. His mouth was warm as his saliva mixed with your own wetness every time he licked into you.

Feeling your arousal pooling on your folds, you desperately needed to feel him as close as possible. Wanting every inch of him against you.

You pushed him from you, grabbing at his shoulder so he could move up to face you again. He didn’t protest, spattering quick kisses along the way before pressing his mouth against yours. The taste of champagne still lingering on your tongue mixed with your own taste on his as he licked into your mouth.

“y’taste so good, baby,” he groaned, parting from you as he moved to remove his briefs. The limited amount of light illuminated his face beautifully, making you able to notice the glistening of your juices down his chin. You felt your core twitch at the scene above you, desperate to have him fill you up.

“Please,” you urged him, grabbing at his hips to pull him down.

“Can I have you, darlin’?” His voice was raspy, as he looks down at you with hooded eyes, “‘d you let me?”

Your arousal blurred your mind, your grip on his waist tightened as you raised your hips impatiently, nodding along to his question.

“Have to hear you say it, love,” he spoke, leaning down to place kisses along your neck, “just say it, and you’ll have me.”

“You can have me, please, I-” you moaned desperately, babbling words without thinking, “I need you, please.”

He raised his head from your shoulders, giving you a quick peck before reaching down to guide his length between your folds. Your belly tensed as he rubbed his head against your clit, holding back your breath as he finally slid in you.

“Fuck, you’re wet,” he choked, pushing his hips all the way, allowing you to feel every inch of him fill you up. You breathed out a moan, reaching your hand on his back. “‘s this all fo’ me?”

You whined out a ‘yes’, rolling your hips as a way of urging him to move. 

His movements began slow, his cock rubbing heavenly against your walls, making you clench around him. You both moaned and whimpered as your lips brushed.

“Can feel me deep?” He asked, resting his forehead against yours as he pushed his dick all the way in. You nodded, yearning for him to start moving again. “Can feel me in y’belly?”

“H, please,” you begged, gripping your nails on his shoulder blades.”Want you.”

“y’have me,” he kissed you hard before moving again, rolling his hips as he picked up the pace.

 The air around you was hot as you threw your head back with the delicious feeling of him hitting the spot inside of you. He was addicting. The salty taste of his skin. The touch of his hands gripping on your sides. The smell of his cologne faintly mixed with sweat. The sound of his skin meeting yours. It made you earn for him in every possible way. 

You felt your wetness dripping out of you as he pulled your leg up to your chest, allowing him to effectively hit deeper spots. The new position made a cramp start to creep up on your thight, but you ignored it to focus on the way his hips met yours.

Time seemed to pass like a blur as you pleasured each other, but soon enough you felt your orgasm building up. His thrusts became more frequent and smooth as he felt you clench more around him.

“that’s it, baby - fuck,” he grunted, moving his hand down to flicker your clit, causing to arch your back, moaning loudly. “Wanna feel you come for me.”

His cross necklace dangled over you as he watched you closely. You kept your gaze locked on his as you felt the feeling deep in your tummy take over your entire body. A moan got stuck in your throat as you opened your mouth to an ‘O’ shape, digging your nails further on his shoulders as you reached your high.

**

Getting home, you soon realized that throughout the week you had been so lost in your feelings with Harry that you didn’t even think of asking him for his phone number. 

The month that followed passed by surprisingly quickly. During the first week you were swiftly thrown back again into your old reality of course essays and textbooks. You hadn’t heard a word from Harry, and the most frustrating part is that he seemed to have settled his place inside your thoughts. You tried asking about him to Nia once or twice again, but every time she seemed to come up with vague answers and change the subject, so you figured she had other things to worry about. 

It was a disappointing end, to say the least. Even knowing from the start that being let down was the most possible outcome, it didn’t hurt any less. You often wondered if it had been something you’d done that made him pull away, or if he just wasn’t in it from the start.

By the second week you had gotten a job at a tiny local cafe you used to go after class to study and eat cinnamon rolls. That’s when time starting to rush by, as you found yourself busy through most of your day. Nia was working more than you’ve ever seen her. You two barely talked as she spent most of her time with Evan or inside her room editing. And as the week at the camp house got further away, it started to almost seem like you had imagined all of it. 

Having a lot of distractions helped, but you never seemed to push the thought of a certain curly-haired boy completely away. Sometimes during a tedious lesson you would daydream about the feeling of his lips against yours. Or right before you fell asleep you would think about the taste of his skin, how strong his hand were gripping on your thighs. Maybe even at work. When there wasn’t a lot of movement, you could almost hear the sound of his voice.

It was aggravating, the effect he left on you. It got to a point where you got angry; sometimes at him but sometimes at yourself. He was the one who had gone after you, and yet he was the one who disappeared. But again, he didn’t really owe you anything, and that’s what’s frustrating. You were the one who allowed him; you knew from the start that you would get hurt but you still went for it, anyway.

As you got closer to the premiere night that was planned, you started to get anxious. You would catch yourself daydreaming more often, not being as focused as you were. You even started picking your nails again, which is a habit you thought you’d kick it a long time ago. But truth to be told, you were nervous.

The thought about seeing him again made your heart race. You wished that you could somehow find a way not to go. Maybe ask Nia if the two of you could have a private viewing. You had even thought about bribing her with making your mom’s brownie recipe. But you already knew the answer before you even suggested it. This was an important night for her, and you would be there to support it.

You were overthinking this. Was it going to be awkward when you met him? How would you even greet him? Would he kiss you? Would he ignore you? Should you ignore him? All the scenarios in your head made you want to throw up and run away.

**

When the two of you finally arrived, you were greeted by a cheerful Evan, who jokingly teased you for being late. As you got into his house, you found a bigger group than you expected. It seemed like you and Nia were the last ones to arrive, as there was around ten other people in there. Some of them you recognized from being Nia’s friends, others you had never seen, but none was the one you earned to see the most.

Evan guided you across the living room area, “I’ll show you the kitchen so you two can get some drinks,”  He held up his glass as he spoke. Gesturing to the entrance of the room, “We’ll start everything in around ten minutes, so get ready.”

As you entered the kitchen behind Nia, you could feel her stiffen her posture a bit, before looking back at you. You frowned lightly at her, confused by her behaviour, gazing inside the room and finding immediately a pair of green eyes already watching you. It made you think back to the first time you were in this exact position, except in your own kitchen. This time, however, he was the one to approach you.

He looked really good, which did nothing to help the butterflies flying relentlessly in your stomach. He was in all black, a buttoned up shirt with a few buttons open, exposing a bit of the skin on his chest where a silver necklace laid upon. You swallowed dryly at the sight of his hand running swiftly through his hair, with a ring hugging each one of his fingers. 

As he got close, he greeted Nia first, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, before turning his attention back to you. He shot you a shy smile, before embracing you into a hug. You didn’t really know if it was your mind playing tricks but you felt him a bit hesitant as he greeted you and placed a kiss on your cheek. Pulling away, he cleared his throat, running his hand again through his hair, he almost seemed… nervous?

“‘S nice seeing you again,” he mumbled, “this uhm… ‘s my girlfriend, Jess.”

You could felt your heart drop with his words as you finally noticed a smiley girl coming to his side. 

She wasn’t much taller than you, her red hair pulled back in a perfect ponytail. She matched him with a small black dress that annoyingly hugged her body in all the right ways. You could barely register her greeting you, as you tried your best to keep a straight face to hide the shock that took over your body. You felt a heaviness at the pit of your stomach, a feeling so distressful that made you want to scream as an attempt to make it go away.

You didn’t pay a lot of attention as Nia made a conversation with the girl, knowing that’s what she did best. You kept your gaze directed to Harry, your eyes asking a million questions - you didn’t even think you wanted to know the answers to. But he kept his eyes locked on the floor, eventually looking up at the girl in his arms as she seemed to mention him. But never meeting your own.  Her hand was caressing his chest lovingly while his found their way on her waist, keeping her close.

“I think I’ll get something to drink,” you announced, realizing you might’ve interrupted the conversation as they stopped talking. You turned to Nia, “do you want something?”

She looked back at you with sorry eyes, “I should go with you,” she quickly turned back to the girl, “It was lovely meeting you, Jess.”

“Oh! Sure,” she smiled brightly at you two, her hand moving to rest on Harry’s chest, “we should go get our seats as well, right, babe?” 

You left the scene as quickly as you could, not wanting to hear any more of it. Looking at all the drink options on top of the counter, you tried to think which one could get you drunk enough to stop feeling hurt over someone you spent just a week with, but still sober enough so that you could pretend everything was fine. Before you realized, Nia was standing next to you, getting two plastic pink cups before she stared at you with guilty-filled eyes.

“I should’ve just told you about it,” she sighed, “I didn’t want to make you sad, but looking back it was probably best if you already knew.”

You turned your head to look at her, “so you knew it all along?” You swallowed the lump in your throat as you felt it close once again.

“Evan told me like a few days after we got back!” She rushed, “I don’t know if they were together while we were filming.”

You took a deep breath, knowing Nia was probably blaming herself for putting you into this situation. But you knew it wasn’t her fault, she would never purposely put you in this position if she knew about it before.

“You know what, it’s fine,” you tried your best to cover up the hurt and gave her a weak smile, “it’s not your fault Ni. It’s okay. I’m fine.”

She pulled you into a tight hug, “I’m sorry, bubba,” she said, “let’s get you something to drink so you can enjoy this party like the star you are!”

The two of you decided on the vodka mixed with watermelon juice, something you had never even thought of trying before but seemed to be ideal to handle the situation you found yourself in. You walked back to the living area, where people were already beginning to settle on the chairs. 

Following Nia, you prompted yourself on a seat at the edge closest to the door, opposite to where Harry sat with the girl. His girl. You thought bitterly, taking a big sip from your cup and cringing at the strong taste.

There was a speech you didn’t pay much attention to before they started the film, only giving a slight smile when you realized the mention of your name. 

Before you knew it, the lights were out and your face took over the screen. 

It was harder than you thought it would be.  Looking up at the scenes you had with Harry, knowing everything that happened behind the cameras. Knowing every touch and every kiss felt more than just playing a character. You knew the actual feeling of having him to yourself. But now staring at it right in front of you, it just left a sour taste in your mouth. 

You finished your drink barely ten minutes into the film, the feeling of your chest aching starting to become overwhelming as you watched your shared kiss on the big screen. You could feel your throat close once more, your eyes watering a bit.

“I’m gonna get some air,” you whispered to Nia sitting next to you, who gave you a sympathetic smile as you got up. You glimpsed quickly to Harry who had his eyes trained on you, the girl next to him leaning to whisper something in his ear.

You could feel the tears falling down stubbornly as you left the room. Standing in the hallway, you made the decision to turn to the front door instead of the back, not wanting to face anyone with reddish eyes.

You left the house, picking your phone with shaky hands as you managed to call a ride home, sighing in relief as your screen told you it was just about three minutes away.

You heard the door open behind you as stood on the sidewalk hugging yourself to get some warmth on the chilly night. You tried your best to swallow back your tears as you turned around, expecting to find Nia looking at you with pitiful eyes. 

To your surprise, the person standing there was Harry, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he took in your tearful eyes. He spoke your name in a soft voice, causing you to look away.

“Don’t-” you interrupted, raising your hand at him, “I don’t wanna hear it.”

He frowned at you, not wanting to upset you more. “I’m sorry,” he hesitated, taking a step forward.

Your phone buzzed in your hand, as you watched your ride pulling in front of you. You looked back at him, “I’m sorry too,” you said before moving to enter the car. 

You spared him one last glance through the window as the driver pulled away.

[george5259999]

Week 9 - Prototyping

I was really keen to get into this week's content, as it felt as though the product was approaching its finished state. I had a pretty strong idea of the bottle concept I wanted to go with, so I used Rob's advice in the initial stages of the tutorial to make a template of the bottle on its top, front and side views (Image 1). I think that really paid its dividends as it allowed me to have a reference of the bottle's volume and size, but still allowed for a bit of creative freedom when creating the forms in Max.

After aligning my views and importing the reference images onto the planes of the box (Image 2), I started with the modelling of the front view. I found that working in one view at a time was the way to go, because it meant I didn't have to split my time between the three sides at once. I started with a plane and blocked out the outer edges of the form (Image 3), adding in the swift loops I learned from last week's tutorial, as well as the general navigation of the UI. I liked the amount of control I was starting to develop with 3ds Max, and I think that from last week, my skills have improved with more exposure to the program.

After the initial plane, I used the extrude tool to give it depth. When modelling, I decided to only focus on one half, and then mirror it over to the other side. I think its important to try and get concepts done as fast as possible, and I didn't want to overinvest on something that is meant to be experimental. I was having a lot of difficulty trying to connect the mirrored halves together into one solid mesh, so it took me a bit of time to find the answer on the Autodesk forums. I ended up finding a useful video on YouTube which instructed me to use the 'attach' tool when selecting both bodies to join them, and then bridging the edge loops together in the poly modelling tools. Although it was an arduous process, I think it was well worth the learning experience, and something which can be implemented into my workflow in the future to speed up my time modelling.

To create the taper on the side view, I used my discovery of the 'soft select' tool from last week to scale in the bottom section of the bottle (Image 4). I truly believe that the week 8 tutorial was pivotal in my understanding of the program, and it was really rewarding to use all of my experimentation practically. I then used the spline and lathe (Image 5 + 6) features to make the cap, tracing the reference image from the front view. I realised I forgot the bump at the top of the cap in the reference, so I added it into the lathe operation.

After the model was finished, I hid the reference layers (Image 7), and decided I wanted to work on rendering out my bottle design. I started by playing with the material editor in the Arnold rendering engine (Image 8). Before trying to play around with lighting and angles, I just wanted a base render of the bottle to see what the translucent material looked like. It was at this point that I ran into a sizeable issue. Using the MyAccess suite, 3ds Max was refusing to render anything out, and crashed multiple times before I gave up. Instead of trying to get the virtual machine to work, I switched to Blender on my PC. I was disappointed that I couldn't render anything through MyAccess, but I was comfortable with blender, and knew that I could make something which I was happy with.

I made a small pedestal out of a cube, and placed a bevel modifier in the exact same way I would in 3ds Max. Since I had made the jump to Blender, I decided that I wanted to add some branding decals to the surface of the bottle to make it look realistic. After, I UV unwrapped the model, and designed the branding in Photoshop Images 9 + 10).

I applied some textures and shaders to the bottle after preparing the decals and UV's. Browsing on Pinterest for inspiration, I found a frosted plastic which I really liked, so I modified the default Principled shader (Like Blinn or Lambert in Arnold) to pass light through; duplicating and scaling the bottle's body to create the moisturiser inside. I set up the three point lighting and camera angles for rendering in Cycles (Image 11 + 12).

Overall I was extremely happy with how these turned out, but at the same time I was disappointed that I wasn't able to improve my rendering skills with 3ds Max. Despite not using Arnold/Max as the renderer, I still learned a lot about product rendering and staging; as it is something I haven't had to do often. If I could redo these exercises, I would definitely get 3ds Max up and running on a stable platform so that I could render it out. I would also try a few more bottle concepts, and utilise the mirror feature more efficiently now that I know how to use it.

Pre-Class Activity: Andrew Simpson Cup Case Study

I found it extremely insightful when Andrew spoke about the continual and ongoing nature of designing prototypes. Digital and Physical model making both provide the opportunity for rapid iteration and 'tweaking' of ideas. What resonated with me most was when he discussed the importance of weight, and how the object "sits in your hand". Like his cup model, I believe that the physical foam model was influenced by how the form felt in my hand when carving it out of the block.

One stark comparison between Andrew's workflow and my own in this instance was the materiality of his concepts. Obviously, his concepts had a greater range of physical materials and product concepts, but I did my best to simulate that in 3ds max and Blender. Being in lockdown, it is quite difficult to source different tools and methods of production; so I think digital modelling really shines in this instance. Being able to try different materials, colours, finishes with the click of a button really works well with Andrew's mindset of low fidelity and rapid changes. In design, nothing is a static feature; everything plays a role in the perception of the final product.

Watching this video before working on my models was valuable, because it taught me that it was ok to deviate from the initial concept, and to go back and changes to try and enhance the product. It is a goal of mine to become more proficient and confident in every stage of design, and I found it really interesting to gain wisdom from someone who has been in the industry for a lot longer than I have.

[hawksugarbaby]

Kirishima x reader - Drag

Fluff + drag queen Kirishima

"EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!" you sprinted to his room with a crinkling plastic bag in hand while shoving other students out the way. You knocked on his door rapidly bouncing up and down "yes (y/n)?" you shoved the plastic bag in his face and grinned from ear to ear "I saw your Instagram..." his eyes shot open and he immediately started hunting for excuses "uh it was a bet? I lost a bet to mina I promise" he slowly backed up into his room trying to hide the makeup palettes on his shelf and pushing away the feminine clothes lying on the floor "make me pretty!" you pulled out an eyeshadow palette and some brushes waving them about desperately "your already pretty?" he put the brushes down hoping no one else was hearing this conversation "EI PLEASE!" you begged and he sighed pulling you inside and shutting his door loudly.

"Please don't tell anyone pumpkin" he sighed looking at his girlfriend as you bounced around excitedly "baby I will never ever tell anyone if you don't want me to" you promised and he sat you down in front of his mirror brushing the hair out of your face combing through it with his crimson riot hairbrush which you thought was adorable. He shuffled through the palettes in your bag "you got these from the dollar store didn't you" he sat the out on the marble vanity and opened them up to look at the cracked powders making you click your tongue "they weren't like that when I bought them" you said closing the palettes again quickly "it's okay I have plenty" he muttered and pulled a drawer out from under his bed which was filled top to bottom edge to edge with makeup.

"Wow, Ei that's a lot! This must have been a lot of money" you giggled and he pulled out his mint to be and misunderstood palette by colourpop and lipstick by nyx "yeah it does cost a lot but I think it's worth it" he smiled and pulled the foundation you bought out of the bag since it was your shade and he would not be letting you go out looking like a cheap whore who couldn't even match her foundation to her skin tone. "I've never worn makeup before" you admit squishing your cheeks together while he hunted for a colour corrector to go over your purple eye bags "your 17 and you've never worn makeup?" he asked and dabbed the colour corrector on thickly, your eyebags were terrible afterall "you haven't been sleeping well have you pumpkin," he asked blending out the cream under your eyes and pumping out some foundation onto the back of his hand. "Just nightmares Ei" you gave a lopsided grin and he kissed the top of your head "do you want to talk about it," he asked and started putting the foundation on your face gently, he didn't want to hurt you by dabbing too hard.

You shook your head and turned looking into the mirror instead of at him "do you need to talk about something?" he stopped doing your foundation "what do you mean?" you carefully thought of how to phrase your next sentence while he took a drink of his water "are you gay?" you grimaced when he spat his water out getting it all over you and the vanity. he chuckled "no pumpkin I'm definitely not gay" he wiped the vanity down with an old T-shirt "are you trans? If you are I'll support you one hundred per cent of the way" you put your hand on top of his reassuring him even though he didn't need the reassurance "I'm not trans either (y/n) I just do drag" he showed you a little book from his shelf and you flicked through it it was filled with pictures of him in drag and flyers and tickets from all of his shows. It did bring him immense joy knowing that if he was trans you wouldn't break up with him (sorry straight ppl) and that you had no issue if he was gay other than you not being a guy which would have been an issue.

"You look so pretty in this one" you gushed pointing to the picture of him next to a microphone and a laughing crowd and he laughed nervously remembering that night did not go brilliantly, well no it did, but that night he got caught by Mr Aizawa for sneaking out, BUT he got permission to go do his thing instead of having to sneak out "how many people know?" you asked while he primed your eyelids with a different blender "you and Mr Aizawa," he said sadly, sure he was upset that his friends didn't know but he didn't WANT them to know, that's why he lied and told them he didn't have Instagram but he was more than happy now that you knew and he no longer had to hide his passion from the person he loved most in this world "Mr Aizawa?" you giggled imagining the shocked face of your teacher when your boyfriend got home in a full face of makeup "comes to every one of my shows" he grinned and picked up a small pointy brush. "Well I better get to know Mr Aizawa a bit more huh"

He dusted the brush in a dark green and asked you to shut your eyes "so how come I wasn't aware my boyfriend is a drag queen" you asked while the handsome boy packed your crease with dark green and he sighed heavily concentrating on the powder falling onto your cheeks "I just didn't know how you would react" he said brushing the green flecks from your face "I will always accept you Ei don't you forget that" you grabbed the hand he wasn't using and squeezed it tightly while he stamped the rest of the colour in and winged the end and started buffing it out.

"I don't understand why you wanted me to do your makeup though," he said picking up a clean brush and smothering it in a pastel green dusting it lightly on the edge of the crease he had made to blend it out and went back over the dark green, "I told you I wanted you to make me pretty" you reminded him, maybe he forgot what you said when you came to his door and shoved the bag in his face "your already gorgeous (y/n) you don't need makeup," he said kissing the top of your head again while pouring some concealer onto his hand "aw Ei thank you" you smiled at him... maybe, you didn't know you still had your eyes closed "I don't really know why I wanted you to actually i just thought it would be fun" you shrugged and raised your eyebrows for him when you felt him go in with the concealer covering part of your eyelid and the outward flick and more green flecks fluttered down to your face making you scrunch up your nose "wait I'm going to sneeze" you warned him and turned away letting out an adorable kitten sneeze making him laugh "I love you more and more each day" he praised making your face turn red underneath the foundation.

He brushed on a shimmery white into the corners of your eyelid making them sparkle "(y/n) you realise that once the lipstick is on it means no kisses" he smirked and watched as your face dropped and you struggled to keep your eyes closed "YOU NEVER SAID NO KISSES!" you yelled and smacked your hand over your mouth before someone could come and check out the couples quarrel a few rooms over "what if you put your makeup on too then nothing is technically getting messed up?" you offered hoping that you could convince him. You would not be living this day without kisses it was illegal for you to go a day without kisses "what if someone see's me?" he asked picking up a limey green on his brush and moving the hair that had fallen in front of your face. "Then we say I dared you and that I bought all the makeup and followed a tutorial," you said bringing up a youtube video that looked similar-ish to the look he was doing on you "it couldn't hurt," he said and put on the lime green in the middle of your lid blending it into the white.

"I'm really proud of you Ei," you said and your lips turned upward while he applied a lighter version of the eyeshadow he used on your crease to the outer part of your eyelid following the flick upwards and blending it into the shimmery lime "why?" he pulled back to look at his work so far and smiled softly at how pretty you looked, you always looked pretty but this was your first time ever wearing makeup and he was doing it for you, something about the love he put into the makeup made you shine with beauty... and the light on the vanity made your eyeshadow sparkle. "Because you followed your passion even if you weren't sure what others would think. And that makes you the manliest guy alive" you complimented and he looked over at his poster of a crimson riot like it would somehow come to life and agree with your words "that means more than you could ever know pumpkin" you opened the eye he wasn't working on and saw him looking at his poster "plus your only 17 and you're famous as a Hero and a drag queen"

He went in with a white eyeliner cutting the crease with the pointy stick trying not to harm your eye "I hate these things" he said and grumbled something about how stupid and fiddly they are then slammed the liner on the vanity neatening up the lines a bit "wow we're almost done the first eye" he said applying the eyeshadows he used on your eyelid to your lower lashline and blended them out making them look soft and feathery and finally applied the shiny white to the corner of your eye. He picked out a tiny plastic container of tiny tiny diamonds and a tube of eyelash glue and gently pressed the diamonds onto the top of your cut crease. He used the same lash glue and put on the long eyelashes then moved on to fill in your brow.

Time skip brought to you by Autoglass repair Autoglass replace

He finished the second eye and grabbed a large fluffy brush and contoured your face bringing the warmth back into you. He grabbed a rosy blush and dusted it on and finished grabbed a smaller brush brightening your face with a greeny-blue highlighter making you glow in the white light of the vanity. "We're almost done," he said letting you know you could look forward to opening your eyes again. "But then you have to do yours" you reminded him and he hummed "it takes a quarter of this time to do it to myself" he teased and popped open a lipstick asking you to part your lips "why you gonna kiss me?" you chuckled and he leaned in close kissing you with his soft lips "obviously" and he put the lipstick on you adding some green rhinestones to seal the deal.

"Okay (y/n) open your eyes" he instructed and stood up letting you take in your face while he hunted through his wardrobe throwing stuff onto his bed "holy All Might" you leaned in close to the mirror admiring the gorgeous artwork on your face "I didn't know I could look so good in green" you mumbled and beamed at the reflection in front of you "you look gorgeous," he said coming up behind you and kissing your neck "but we aren't done yet" he dangled a green dress in front of you "so you get the rest of you ready while I get myself ready okay?" he said sitting himself down at the vanity and you jumped up and down enthusiastically grabbing the dress and pleaser heels he placed down for you and moving the wig out of your face.

About an hour later you were both fully ready

"meet my photographer," he said bringing you to the back of the dorms where Mr Aizawa was standing lazily checking his phone "MR AIZAWA IS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER? How does he let you get away with those photo's" you whispered the last part asking yourself more than him and he shrugged "cmon after this we're going to a show" he smiled and pulled you over with him in front of the camera "Kiri can we do this like all the time?" you asked while your teacher photographer set up the camera "of course pumpkin". This would be the best photo in his book yet.

A/n: I wanted to make kiri a drag queen so I did