#now it's a process of going through everything i deleted to see what's up with it

[syringia]

tempted to just make a ton of pokemon characters in the sims when I get home just to set them loose and see what happens

[liviawildrose]

𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

it’s a hard pill to swallow, but sometimes, you’ve got to step into a role you never signed up for. maybe your mom wasn’t the nurturing, protective figure she was supposed to be. maybe your dad let you down in ways that left scars. maybe your friends only stuck around to take, never to give. the truth? you can’t wait for someone to come and save you. you have to become your own mother.

ask yourself:

if your child was in your shoes—stuck in a bad relationship, getting treated like crap— would you tell them, “stay”? or would you say, “you deserve better than this”?

if your child was chasing their dreams but struggling, would you mock them? no. you’d guide them, push them to be their best. you’d discipline them with love and cheer them on with pride. now, apply that same energy to yourself.

be that mom who says: “get your shit together because you deserve the best life possible.”

but also the mom who says: “it’s okay to rest, i’ve got your back, and i’m proud of you.”

start showing up for yourself the way you needed someone to show up for you. and yes, it’s sad. sad that we even have to do this. but it’s also empowering to realize you can.

personally, here’s my story.

my mom never cared to take my pictures as a kid nor cared if a haircut made me happy or not, it was literally everything up to her convenience. it hurts now because i would’ve loved to look back and see those memories. but i don’t have them. i can count the photos of my childhood—20 pictures in 17 years. insane, right? so, i made a promise to myself: from now on, i will document my life. i won’t delete my photos. i’ll make sure there’s a record of who i was, what i felt, what i achieved. and when i have kids? you bet i’ll take pictures of them. i’ll curate their childhood with care because i know what it feels like to not have that.

but being your own mother isn’t just about the pictures or the memories. it’s about analyzing everything you missed out on and providing it for yourself now. it’s about being selfless enough to let go of bad habits that hold you back. it’s about kicking toxic people out of your life the way a mom would protect her child from bad influences. it’s about prioritizing your healing, even if it’s messy and uncomfortable. you have to heal your inner child. that 5-year-old who was bullied, that 13-year-old who was treated like shit in her first relationship, that 7-year-old who dreamed big but was told she couldn’t they’re all still inside you, waiting for someone to nurture them. and unfortunately, no one else is going to do it for you. no one else is going to come and fix the damage.

i made a pact with myself: when i have kids, i will raise them so well that they won’t ever need to “heal their inner child” at 17 or 18. they’ll be whole. they’ll be loved. they’ll know their worth from the start. but for now, i’m doing that for myself. and you need to do it for yourself too. because at the end of the day, the only way to heal is to become the person you needed all along. become your own mother.

what is the inner child?

the “inner child” is the part of you that holds your early experiences, memories, and emotions. it’s the 5-year-old you who loved to laugh but was scolded for being “too much.” it’s the 10-year-old you who dreamed big but felt dismissed. it’s the teen you who felt heartbreak for the first time but didn’t know how to process it. your inner child carries the wounds, fears, and unmet needs from your past, but also your natural creativity, curiosity, and joy. healing your inner child means reconnecting with this version of yourself, giving it the love and understanding it never received, and releasing the pain it has carried for years.

how do you heal your inner child?

1. journaling: dialogue with your inner child

dedicate a journal specifically to your inner child. write letters to them, like:

“dear [your name at 5/7/13], i remember when you felt [insert memory]. i’m sorry you went through that, but i’m here now, and i’ve got you.”

let your inner child respond. write as if you’re that younger version of yourself—pour out your fears, dreams, and questions. this process can uncover emotions and patterns you didn’t realize were affecting you.

2. therapy: safe exploration with a professional

a therapist (especially one trained in inner child work) can help you identify wounds and patterns from childhood. they’ll guide you in understanding how your upbringing shaped your beliefs about yourself and the world. therapy also gives you tools to reframe those beliefs and meet your emotional needs.

watch “dear zindagi” lol

3. look at old photos and memories

revisit old photos, journals, or artwork from your childhood. don’t just look at them—analyze them. (i wish i could d this but im stuck with 20 photos so… 😭) what do you notice in your younger self’s eyes, body language, or expression?

• ask yourself:

• what was i feeling here?

• did i feel safe? loved? excited? scared?

• what did i need in this moment that i didn’t get?

• use this reflection to understand your inner child’s unmet needs.

4. create new positive memories

your inner child is still alive within you, and they crave fun, love, and freedom. do things your younger self would’ve loved but never got to do: buy yourself a toy you always wanted. go to an amusement park or build a pillow fort. dance around your room like no one’s watching. this isn’t childish it’s healing.

5. practice reparenting

treat yourself as if you were your own child. when you feel sad or scared, don’t ignore it.

ask yourself: what do i need right now? and give it to yourself.

be the loving, supportive, and protective parent your inner child deserved.

6. identify triggers and patterns

notice when you’re acting out of a place of childhood wounds.

for example: do you get overly anxious when someone’s mad at you? do you seek validation in toxic relationships? trace these behaviors back to your childhood.

were you taught that love is conditional? did you have to “earn” attention by being perfect? once you identify the root, you can start rewiring your responses.

7. inner child meditations and visualizations

find a quiet space and imagine your inner child sitting across from you. visualize yourself comforting them, hugging them, and telling them they’re safe. remind them: “you don’t have to be scared anymore. i’m here for you.”

8. nurture yourself daily

make self-care non-negotiable. eat foods you love, sleep well, move your body, and spend time doing things that make you happy. when you treat yourself with care, you show your inner child they’re worth it.

9. forgive

healing isn’t about excusing those who hurt you. it’s about releasing the hold they have over you so you can move forward. write a forgiveness letter—not for them, but for yourself. (they don’t deserve the love i’m sorry)

“i release the pain you caused me so it doesn’t control me anymore.”

10. promise to break the cycle

vow to yourself (and your future children if you want them) just cause your grandma bleed on your mom and then your mom passed it to you does not mean you will make your future kids life miserable too. the generational trauma must break with you. your future child does not deserve it and so your inner child protect you inner child and when you have a child of your own be the best mother possible, i personally would love to make my future kids childhood so memorable and happy that they will feel the need to comeback and relive their childhood that’s the kind of childhood i want to give them

“i will not let this pain define me. i will create a life of love, joy, and freedom.”

healing your inner child isn’t easy, but it’s life-changing.when you reconnect with that innocent, wounded part of yourself, you’ll find that the love and peace you’ve been searching for has always been within you.

11. foster your inner child’s dreams

when you were a child, your dreams weren’t influenced by fear, rejection, or societal pressures. you dreamed with your heart wide open, purely and authentically. reconnecting with those dreams can heal the part of you that felt unheard or invalidated back then.

a. reflect on your childhood aspirations

• sit down and ask yourself:

• what did i want to be when i was 5? 10? 13?

• what made me happiest back then?

• what did i lose interest in because someone told me i wasn’t good enough?

• write down every dream, no matter how “unrealistic” it seems.

hint: those childhood dreams often point to your soul’s calling.

b. start chasing those dreams now

• even if your dreams have evolved, find ways to honor the essence of them.

• wanted to be a singer at 13? start singing lessons or recording yourself.

• wanted to help people? explore careers like psychology, teaching, or coaching.

• don’t hold back.

it’s not about being perfect, it’s about reconnecting with the passion your younger self had.

c. create small wins for your inner child

• maybe 8-year-old you always wanted to paint but never got the supplies. buy yourself a beginner’s set and paint, even if it’s messy.

• maybe 6-year-old you wanted to be a dancer. take a fun dance class and twirl like no one’s watching.

• small wins send the message to your inner child that they are finally being prioritized.

e. validate your inner child’s feelings and failures

• remind yourself:

“it’s okay that 10-year-old me struggled with making friends. i was just a child trying my best.”

• instead of shaming yourself for past actions, honor them.

every mistake was a step toward becoming the incredible person you are now.

f. use your dreams to shape your future

• your childhood passions aren’t just hobbies—they’re roadmaps to your authentic self.

• align your current goals with your inner child’s desires.

• if 7-year-old you dreamed of making people smile, maybe your career or side hustle should reflect that.

• if 12-year-old you loved storytelling, find ways to write, act, or share your voice.

fostering your inner child’s dreams doesn’t just heal the past—it builds a future that feels authentic to you. every time you take a step toward those dreams, you’re telling your inner child: “you were always worthy. your dreams always mattered. and now, i’m making them come true for you.”

[patchworkprince]

I need to revamp this blog

[vmlnrzmp4]

𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢 𝘶𝘱!

itoshi sae

when papa sae denied little natsuki—saying that she's too young for skincare—only makes her pout as she runs out of the bathroom.

"natsuki?" he halted when he saw his princess infront of your mirror, your beauty products scattered, even on the floor and when natsuki turns around, her papa's eyes go wide.

if not papa's skincare, then there's ma's makeup that would make her prettier than she already is.

"'m pretty now!" she says, holding up your lipstick, "papa i wanna make you look pretty too!"

"natsuki, come here," he says as he pulls a damp tissue, crouching down to her level as he starts wiping the makeup off of her face, completely unaware of what's going on in her mischievous little mind.

she smears the lipstick that she held on his cheek, "natsu—!"

"papa blushy blushy!" she giggles, "i wanna do more!"

he sighs. how can he say no to his princess? he really can't.

"what's..." they both froze, "...what's going on?"

little natsuki let's out a sheepish giggle while sae exhales, explaining everything.

you couldn't hold back your laugher, "you look good, sae," more laugher as your stomach start to hurt, making him glare at you.

"natsuki, you don't need makeup," you say as you hold your princess in your arms, "you're already so pretty," you look at sae, "but maybe we can help you if you wanna do skincare with papa so bad."

her eyes brightened, "yay!" she squealed.

later that day, sae ordered the best 3-4 step skincare that's child friendly.

itoshi rin

sakura rushed to her papa who was sitting on the couch who was scrolling through his phone, "papa," she calls.

he raises his eyebrow, seeing her hide something behind her back, "what is it, sakura?"

she giggles, giving him a smile(she doesn't even have all teeth yet she looks so adorable T_T), she reveals an eyeliner.

"sakura," he calls sternly, "what did ma tell you about touching her purse?"

she pouts, "jus wanna make papa pretty," she looks up at him with her pretty doe eyes, "pleaseeeee?" oh and who was rin to say no to her?

"there there..." sakura focuses, her tongue sticking out as she applies the eyeliner crookedly, "aaaaand there! all done! all pretty!" she shows him a little hand mirror, making him huff.

"papa do mine too! wanna look pretty too!"

rin clicks his tongue, telling his princess that she's already pretty. beautiful even, while applying eyeliner carefully.

click! click! click!

both rin and sakura look at the doorway where you stood, taking pictures of him.

"delete."

"no!"

rin had to pin you down after chasing you and even so, he didn't delete those pictures.

isagi yoichi

"papa hold still," yuki scolded, making you chuckle as her papa sheepishly says 'sorry princess.'

he waited patiently as yuki applies obnoxious amount of blush on his face while you record the whole process.

for a final touch, she picks up the brown eyeliner, tapping so many spots on his nose as cheeks as freckles.

"done!" she cheered.

then it was yoichi's time to put makeup on her, and sadly, he was very poor at it but you were there to guide and even if he messes up, yuki wouldn't mind one bit.

"there you go," yoichi leans back to look at her, "my princess."

"ok, one...two...three!" you click the picture of both of them smiling ear to ear and yoichi didn't mind you posting it on your socials.

#FrecklesAndFun

liked by bachirathecoolestxx and others...

kuronaaaaaaa: isagi isagi pretty pretty

hiori_yo_official: tutorial when?

bachirathecoolestxx: wowwwww 😍😍🔥🔥😝😝😝😻😻👍👍🤞🤞💥💥

michael kaiser

little anne was legit crying because her ma said that she couldn't get a red liner tattoo like her papa so obviously, her papa had to improvise somehow.

michael took anne's paintbrush, dipped it in water and the red colour as he applied it under her eyes.

"there. all done," he says and anne looks into the hand mirror to she her pretty little face.

"papa."

"yes princess?"

your mischievous daughter grins, taking another paintbrush, dipping it into the paint as she cheekily painted two round circles on her papa's cheeks and one big one on his nose.

he laughs, "what are you doing, princess?"

"making you look pretty!" she concentrates, "aaand finished!"

"do i look pretty?"

"...papa," she holds his hand as she says this, "you look like a clown."

the both of them hear laugher from the hallway. they turn to see as you stood there, arms crossed at you observed them.

"your papa already looks like a clown, he doesn't need makeup for that."

taglist: @anuverse @luciddre @kongkhoi @illyria2004 @passw-0-rd @x3nafix [open]

[itsthecline]

the greatest chapter four

it girl!reader x drew starkey smau

summary what are the odds?

previous chapter

DREW STARKEY SENT YOU A MESSAGE

block delete accept

sorry about everyone ‘spawning’ in your comments

ahhhhhhahaha no it’s fine! ahaha

but it is because we’re all fans of you. if that helps!

ahh that’s so insane! thank you so much<3 me and

my friends LOVE outer banks:)

that means a lot. we love knowing people love

it as much as we do!

i swear me and kaylor talked about it all

the time if we could😭

maddie was the same way with love island😂

she got a bunch of us to watch it with her

good thing she did

hahaha! i luvvv her

how’s it being home now? you were there awhile

i missed my bed!

but i’m really surprised at how much support i have rn

yeah it definitely seemed like you felt alone in there

despite having leah, ree, and jana? yeah. i did lol

well you’re home now… what are you planning to do?

i have to be in nyc in two days to film😖

so that first, and then focus on my content

the reunion?

yeah we’re filming on the 14th soooo excited

jana has reciepts we been saving JUST for this

hmmmm the 14th in nyc

who are you ladies coming for?

haha yes i’ll be there for the whole week

jana got me and i got leah

so i’m coming for ethan’s funk ass

jana is going to call out andrea

pretty sure liv said she’s got my back on that too

yeah… that ethan guy sucks

i’ll be watching to see how you go about that one

oh! well let it be known i’m usually much more

graceful than i’m going to seem during the reunion

i’m sure you’ll handle yourself just fine

clocking ethan will actually possess my body…

u should be worried just a little bit

haha if somebody has to it should be you

maddie always loved when you got into it with him

he did my girl SO wrong how could i not😭

so did you watch it all back?

nay and i did whenever we got back!

we stayed at my house for the weekend and

binged it all, writing down the important

shit to bring up at the reunion

how was that process?

i can’t even watch myself act, so i can’t

imagine watching me go through what you did.

uhhhh ahaha yeah… it was rough

that’s why it took the whole weekend tbh

i bet it was difficult reliving everything

that on top of seeing my best friend’s from

a different pov definitely sucked ass

at least you’re home now! you can move on

that’s the plan. the show didn’t work for me, but it

turns out friendship island is much much better

yeah you seem to have found a good group

the best haha!

now it’s on to bigger n better

that’s the only way to go about it i think

read Sunday

yourusername posted a photo!

liked by korde1ll , madelyncline , drewstarkey and others

yourusername back in nyc with my best friend<3

tagged yourbestfriend

view all comments

username ahhhhh im so excited for the reunion!

↳ username PLEASEEEEE I NEED IT NOW

username so glad y/b/f was in charge of ur ig when you were in the villa she kept us feddddd

username my favorite og villa girlie

yourbestfriend and ur never leaving me again

↳ yourusername maybe if u came to boston more u wouldn’t hate it as much

username hate knowing that u n leah live on opposite sides of the country

drewstarkey hmmm

username city girl winninggg

username i can’t remember a time i wasn’t thinking about you 24/7 if i’m being honest

madelyncline 😍 prettiest girl ever

↳ yourusername actually crazy coming from u

username okay when did obx get here?

username i just knowwwwww u and jana are coming to the reunion with AMMO

↳ yourusername baby, we’re coming in correct i promiseee

username ok so r u like going to post a yt video now that ur home? been missing ur vlogs like crazy

↳ yourusername LMAO u clocked me���‍↕️ yes videos are coming soon i swear

username just a girl wishing to meet y/n

leahkateb c u tmrw bb

↳ yourusername crying from excitement tbh

oliviaa_walker okay so we’re getting dinner tn

↳ yourusername yes pls n thx

hmmmm the 14th in nyc

↳ this is actually so sus after ur lil comment

hello again

haha! that was my way of saying i’m

also going to be in new york i get there

tomorrow actually!

oh! ahahaha what are the odds lol

seems like i would have some free time too

haha i will too since i’m making a whole

weekend out of it with my best friend

let me know what you’re up to?

yeah for sure ha!

ISLAND GIRLS🥥🌴

kaylor baby🍰

okay but what r u guys wearing?

liv🖤

real question is:

is y/n bringing a date

y/n🪩

idt it’s that kind of event babe

oh nvm gtg

naynay🤍

LMAO pls tell me y’all kept talking w eo

kaylor🍰

ohhhhhh so you guys have been talking

leah boo🐴

and she left him on read!

naynay🤍

y/n no u didn’t

ree💓

be so fr bitch

liv🖤

WHAT

y/n🪩

😶😶😶😶 hehe no…

leah boo🐴

lyin ass

kaylor🍰

wait what! noooo why would u do that??

y/n🪩

anyways i’m wear a black floor length

dress and evening gloves gtg!

an my giggly girl just geeked drew dms her

taglist @sabrina-carpenter-stan-account @willowpains @percysley @rrosiitas @nellyboosworld @ethanthequeefqueen

[khrystalsnow]

January 2025 FanFic✨

Welcome Everyone! It's been a long time since I've posted anything on Tumblr and for this year, I wanted to start posting more fanfic recommendations to share my love for the authors, instead of being in the shadows and for more people to enjoy them. I will try to post every month the fanfics that I've read (which hopefully I stick by 🤞🏼) but for January, I have mostly Jungkook fanfics so hopefully you enjoy the list and have found something you also love❤️

The majority of fics are 18+ so MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Legend:

🦷-fluff

🔥-angst

🌶️-smut

👅-crack/funny

❣️-personal favourite

✍🏼-ongoing

JUNGKOOK

The Corporate Equation by @someonegoood 🦷🔥❣️✍🏼

-this is in a corporate setting with jungkook as the CEO and y/n as the head of HR. Grumpy x sunshine trope, but really cute because we get to see jungkook slowly but surely softening up to y/n no matter how hard they try to deny it🤭

Neighbor Blunder by @awrkive 🦷🔥🌶️❣️✍🏼

-now listen to me, this is really good😭 I really love the dynamic between oc and Jungkook especially now with the new update👀 He's a gentleman, he doesn't beat around the bushes and sets his intentions straight to oc. I'm really excited about what happens next and will be lurking on AO3 for new updates because I cannot wait

ctrl+alt+delete by @muniimyg 🦷🔥🌶️👅

-obviously, I need to add in a social media au because they are really quick to read and this one is no exception. OC is an OF content creator and jungkook is a youtuber. Both of them are really funny and the interactions with their fans are really cute as well!

Playing the Part by @goldenchimmy 🌶️

-this was really good! it was such a nice build-up to the smut scene which is just perfection. Jungkook's such a gentleman and I need more of him please😭

True Love by @lovieku 🦷🔥🌶️

-this was really cute because OC's a simp for Jungkook and I would be too. It was also so heartwarming that they were able to find comfort within each other when OC would get panic attacks and show each other acts of love

The Love Prognosis by @awrkive 🦷🔥🌶️❣️

-A fan favourite of course 🫶🏻 I related to this a lot (the unrequited love part😶) and just being there for the person you love even if they're not with you, but will ultimately hurt Jungkook in the process. highly recommend it if you haven't read this and the drabbles because they are also extremely fun to read!

Teach Me How To Love by @kookooluvr 🦷🔥🌶️✍🏼❣️

-Another fan favourite because it's just THAT good. everything's going good at the current update of them going to Jeju but I'm ready for the angst that's about to commence😭 Ultimately, I just want Jungkook to finally have his girl fr

The Farmhouse by @solecize 🦷🔥

-the plot was something different from the fics that I usually gravitate to in January. this is a friends to lovers, set in a small town where OC is restoring her grandpa's farm and she reunites with her childhood friend. I love every little aspect of this fic because it deals with grief, growing up, and love. I love the subtleness of Jungkook's love for OC in the beginning where he helps her out in the farm, but it slowly grows toward the end, this is just such a wholesome read!

YOONGI

Love & Lullabies by @ktownshizzle 🦷🔥🌶️

-DILF yoongi because it needs its own warninggg. this was also a really cute and heartwarming read. in every part I read, their love for each other just grows and grows. give this fic some love because you won't regret it!

NAMJOON

Empty Box by @moni-logues 🔥🌶️

-I had hope for the ending but alas this fic does not have a happy ending 🥹 this fic does contain infidelity which I would typically stay away from but I gave it a chance and wow. the writing is really beautiful and rich, you can feel the pain both Namjoon and OC go through throughout their journey which leaves you feeling like you've also gone through the waves of their relationship. The plot feels realistic which makes it 10 times more painful

SHORT FICS

satellite by @httpknjoon 🦷🔥

: Your friend, Jungkook, offers to help you while you review for your human anatomy exam.

Petals and Fists by @kissyforkoo 🦷🔥

: boxer!jk x florist!oc

[damienns]

My GIF Making process: Screen capturing using MPV player, Organizing files, 3 Sharpening settings, Basic Coloring PSD + Actions set

This is a very long post so heads up.

I’ll try to be as thorough and true as much as possible to the way I make my gifs (I already use Photoshop Actions which I’ve long since set up but now for this tutorial I’m reviewing them to show you the exact steps I’ve learned to create my gifs 😃) and present them to you in a semi-coherent way. Also, please bear with me since English is my second language.

First things first. Below are the things and tools we need to do this:

Downloaded 4K or 1080p quality videos (let’s all assume we know where to get these—especially for high definition movies and tv series—so this post doesn’t get removed, okay? 😛)

Adobe Photoshop CC or the CS versions can work as well, but full disclosure I haven’t created gifs using the CS versions since 2020. I’m currently using Adobe Photoshop 2024.

mpv player. Use mpv player to get those frames/screenshots or any other video player that has a screen grabber feature. I’ve used adapter for the longest time but I’ve switched to mpv because the press to screenshot feature while the video is playing has been a game changer not to mention ultimate time saver for me. For adapter you need to play it in another video player (like VLC player), to get the start and end timestamps of the scene you want to gif which takes me ages before I can even open Photoshop.

Anyway! Please stop reading this post for a moment and head over to this amazing tutorial by kylos. She perfectly tells you how to install and use mpv player, both for Mac and Windows users.

One thing I have to share though, I had a tough time when I updated my MacOS to Sonoma since MPV is suddenly either duplicating frames or when I delete the duplicates the player seems to be skipping frames :/ I searched and found a solution here, though it didn’t work for me lol. My workaround for this in the meantime is decreasing the speed down to 0.70 then start screenshotting—it’s not the same pre Sonoma update but it works so I’ll have to accept it rather than have jumpy looking gifs.

Now, after this part of kylos’ tutorial:

you can continue reading the following sections of my gif tutorial below.

I want to share this little tip (sorry, this will only cater to Mac users) that I hope will be helpful for organizing the screenshots that MPV saved to the folder you have selected. Because believe me you don’t want to go through 1k+ of screenshots to select just 42-50 frames for your gif.

The Control + Command + N shortcut

This shortcut allows you to create a new folder from files you have pre-selected. As you can see below I have already created a couple of folders, and inside each folder I have selected screenshots that I want to include in one single gif. It's up to you how you want to divide yours, assuming you intend to create and post a Tumblr gifset rather than just one gif.

Another tip is making use of tags. Most of, if not all the time, I make supercorp gifs so I tag blue for Kara and red (or green) for Lena—just being ridiculously on brand and all that.

Before we finally open Photoshop, there's one more thing I want to say—I know, please bear with me for the third? fourth? time 😅

It's helpful to organize everything into their respective folders so you know the total number of items/frames you have. This way, you can add or delete excess or unnecessary shots before uploading them in Photoshop.

For example below there are 80 screenshots of Kara inside this folder and for a 1:1 (540 x 540 px) Tumblr gif, Photoshop can just work around with 42-50 max number of frames with color adjustments applied before it exceeds the 10 MB file size limit of Tumblr.

Sometimes I skip this step because it can be exhausting (haha) and include everything so I can decide visually which frames to keep later on. You'll understand what I mean later on. But it's important to keep the Tumblr 10 MB file size limit in mind. Fewer frames, or just the right amount of frames, is better.

So, with the screenshot organization out of the way, let's finally head over to Photoshop.

Giffing in Photoshop, yay!

Let’s begin by navigating to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack…

The Load Layers window will appear. Click the Browse button next.

Find your chosen screenshots folder, press Command + A to select all files from that folder then click Open. Then click OK.

After importing and stacking your files, Photoshop should display the following view:

By the way, I'll be providing the clip I've used in this tutorial so if want to use them to follow along be my guest :)

If you haven't already opened your Timeline panel, navigate to Windows > Timeline.

Now, let's focus on the Timeline panel for the next couple of steps.

Click Create Video Timeline, then you’ll have this:

Now click the menu icon on the top right corner then go to Convert Frames > Make Frames from Clips

Still working on the Timeline panel, click the bottom left icon this time—the icon with the three tiny boxes—to Convert to Frame Animation

Select Make Frames From Layers from the top right corner menu button.

So now you have this:

Go and click the top right menu icon again to Select All Frames

Then click the small dropdown icon to set another value for Frame Delay. Select Other…

The best for me and for most is 0.05 but you can always play around and see what you think works for you.

Click the top right menu icon again to Reverse Frames.

I think Photoshop has long since fixed this issue but usually the first animation frame is empty so I just delete it but now going through all these steps there seems to be none of that but anyways, the delete icon is the last one among the line of feature buttons at the bottom part of the Timeline panel.

Yay, now we can have our first proper GIF preview of a thirsty Lena 😜

Press spacebar to watch your gif play for the very first time! After an hour and half of selecting and cutting off screenshots! 😛 Play it some more. No really, I’m serious. I do this so even as early (lol) as this part in the gif making process, I can see which frames I can/should delete to be within the 10 MB file size limit. You can also do it at the end of course 🙂

Now, let’s go to the next important steps of this tutorial post which I’ve numbered below.

Crop and resize to meet Tumblr's required dimensions. The width value should be either 540px, 268px, or 177px.

Convert the gif to a Smart Object for sharpening.

Apply lighting and basic color adjustments before the heavy coloring. I will be sharing the base adjustments layers I use for my gifs 😃.

1. Crop and Resize

Click on the Crop tool (shortcut: the C key)

I like my GIFs big so I always set this to 1:1 ratio if the scene allows it. Press the Enter key after selecting the area of the frame that you want to keep.

Side note: If you find that after cropping, you want to adjust the image to the left or another direction, simply unselect the Delete Cropped Pixels option. This way, you will still have the whole frame area available to crop again as needed and as you prefer.

Now we need to resize our gif and the shortcut for that is Command + Opt + I. Type in 540 as the width measurement, then the height will automatically change to follow the ratio you’ve set while cropping.

540 x 540 px for 1:1

540 x 405 px for 4:3

540 x 304 px for 16:9

For the Resample value I prefer Bilinear—but you can always select the other options to see what you like best.

Click OK. Then Command + 0 and Command + - to properly view the those 540 pixels.

Now we get to the exciting part :) the sharpen settings!

2. Sharpen

First we need to have all these layers “compressed” intro a single smart object from which we can apply filters to.

Select this little button on the the bottom left corner of the Timeline panel.

Select > All Layers

Then go to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters

Just click OK when a pop-up shows up.

Now you should have this view on the Layers panel:

Now I have 3 sharpen settings to share but I’ll have download links to the Action packs at the end of this long ass tutorial so if you want to skip ahead, feel free to do so.

Sharpen v1

Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen…

Below are my settings. I don’t adjust anything under Shadows/Highlights.

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Click OK then do another Smart Sharpen but this time with the below adjustments.

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

As you can see Lena’s beautiful eyes are “popping out” now with these filters applied. Click OK.

Now we need to Convert to Frame Animation. Follow the steps below.

Click on the menu icon at the top right corner of the Timeline panel, then click Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips

Then Convert Frames > Convert to Frame Animation

One more click to Make Frames From Layers

Delete the first frame then Select All then Set Frame Delay to 0.05

and there you have it! Play your GIF and make sure it’s just around 42-50 frames. This is the time to select and delete.

To preview and save your GIF go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

Below are my Export settings. Make sure to have the file size around 9.2 MB to 9.4 MB max and not exactly 10 MB.

This time I got away with 55 frames but this is because I haven’t applied lighting and color adjustments yet and not to mention the smart sharpen settings aren't to heavy so let’s take that into consideration.

Sharpen v1 preview:

Sharpen v2

Go back to this part of the tutorial and apply the v2 settings.

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 20

Radius: 0.5

We’re adding a new type of Filter which is Reduce Noise (Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise...) with the below settings.

Then one last Smart Sharpen:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Your Layers panel should look like this:

Then do the Convert to Frames Animation section again and see below preview.

Sharpen v2 preview:

Sharpen v3:

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

Reduce Noise:

Strength: 5

Preserve Details: 50%

Reduce Color Noise: 0%

Sharpen Details: 50%

Sharpen v3 preview:

And here they are next to each other with coloring applied:

v1

v2

v3

Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the post 😂

As promised, here is the download link to all the files I used in this tutorial which include:

supercorp 2.05 Crossfire clip

3 PSD files with sharpen settings and basic coloring PSD

Actions set

As always, if you're feeling generous here's my Ko-fi link :) Thank you guys and I hope this tutorial will help you and make you love gif making.

P.S. In the next post I'll be sharing more references I found helpful especially with coloring. I just have to search and gather them all.

-Jill

[lolashifts]

SHIFTING ISN'T SPECIAL

please bare with me on this one bc it might be a bit longer than i expected (and excuse my very bad title-naming skills 😭)

in this essay i will try to put down in words exactly what i realised today as i started my first day into reprogramming my mind, something that i’m doing while following reya singh’s method. what is that?

shifting IS easy.

yes, i know everybody says it, but it’s the truth and i’m not telling you this as someone who shifts regularly to her drs, because i don’t (yet!). however, it did just click in my mind why people always say it and mean it. and i feel incredibly stupid for not understanding it waaay earlier than just now, 4 years into my journey.

now, let me walk you through the thought process behind this.

in reya’s 4-day method for reprogramming your mind, she instructs to write a list of your beliefs and non-beliefs. this may sound really silly and kinda useless at first - believe me, i woke up this morning thinking “what exactly am i supposed to do after that?” - but there’s a valid reason for it, which is to help you delete from your mind the idea that shifting is like a superpower that’s simply not for everyone and very hard to reach, when that is not the case at all!

in my own beliefs list, i’ve written “i am capable of shifting” right in between “i can speak english”, “i can write and read” and “i can eat --” (and some other things like “i can’t eat gluten”, bc i have celiac disease, “i can dream”, we all do! and “i can lucid dream”). you see where i’m going with this? i’m putting shifting in the same category as things we all normally do, that we sometimes don’t even think about doing since they’re such a natural activity. to this list i could add “i can breathe”, because we do it automatically, without even realising unless we focus on it. the same can be said for drinking or eating really, if you’re angry or thirsty you just go and get whatever pleases you the most and not dwell on it.

in the non-beliefs list, i’ve written obvious things like santa and the easter bunny (which isn’t common here in italy tbf but yeah) and sentences like “i can’t swim”, “i can’t draw”, “i can’t eat strawberries” and in between them also “i don’t fear shifting”. here, the point is that all these listed beliefs are stuff i know for a fact to be false: i can swim perfectly, i am an artist and i love strawberries + i’m not allergic to them or anything. by placing shifting there, i'm stating that just like i KNOW i can swim or whatever, i also KNOW i'm not scared of shifting.

you’re literally gaslighting your subconscious mind into believing what is real for a fact and what isn’t.

after writing down this list, which can be done on paper just like on your preferred device, i reread everything twice explaining to myself why i chose these things and why they are beliefs or not. that’s how i realised that shifting is easy. when people talk about it “clicking” they weren’t lying!

shifting isn’t special, this is what the list thing tries to prove you. it’s not special because, just like breathing and eating and reading, we do it subconsciously everyday. take your own first language: you speak it naturally without having to doubt it, and if you know a second language well enough like i know english for instance (my mother-tongue is italian) then you can even start talking to yourself and think in that language without having to search up translations.

what’s the difference with shifting then?

the difference is that shifting hasn’t been taught to us in the same way as a language has been, all throughout school. the same thing goes for reading and writing: we read and write naturally because we’ve been taught how to when we were young and it’s now engraved in our brains, just like with learning our first language, which is something we normally do thanks to our teachers, our families and the people around us, of course. this doesn’t happen with shifting in most cases, as we all know, which means it’s normal for it to take a bit to grasp as a concept and existing thing/activity. it’s natural, most of us human beings just don’t know about it, nor that we’re capable of doing it.

this is why i said it’s not special: just like breathing, everybody can do it (and so do you)!

going back to the non-beliefs list; i should also add that as a society we usually are taught what to believe in from a young age, and specifically what is believed to be a fantasy, a dream, or something real. as grown-ups, though, we have the right to believe in whatever we want, like shifting. as a realistic person, i understand that some people may have a hard time believing something as great as shifting could be true, because it genuinely doesn’t sound like it! so yes, this is also a factor that can and does make it harder for someone to trust their guts and expect to wake up somewhere that’s only fictional here.

shifting clicks for everybody at different times, but i hope this post will help some of you here understand it better and know that what more experienced shifters say always has a meaning, you just need the time to properly reflect on it to get it!

when it clicked for me a few hours ago i felt a huge rush of adrenaline and happiness bc yes, i can actually shift. i’m just overcomplicating it for no reason and so many of you are doing the same!

it’s okay though, we’ll all get there <3

(psa: if you saw any grammar mistakes or anything NO YOU DIDN'T and also please don't mind if this rant doesn't sound logical, i tried my best to explain myself like i wanted to 🥲)

[buckyalpine]

Needy Dark!Bucky

Feel like I should issue a warning for this - PLS scroll all the way past this if this isn’t your thing. Maybe this should have stayed in the drafts or be deleted. But I can’t help the absolute headlock, deception, corruption, dub con, mommy and innocence kink has on me rn. 

This is fucked and dirty. 

Heed the warnings. 

Please. 

Imagine dark!Bucky taking advantage of your sweetness. You’re so soft and kind with him, helping him adjust to the new world, hardly realizing he’s damn well adjusted already and doesn’t need anyone to baby him.

But he loves when you do.

Maybe it’s because of all the shit he’s been through, touch starved, deprived of care and softness, that’s how he justifies the need to be utterly babied and taken care of by you. Fuck you’re so soft when you do it, cooing and walking him through everything, as if he doesn’t know a thing, he’s poor little fried brain.

It started with him pouting at dinner, happy to have you feed him instead. Sometimes you help him wash his hair so the shampoo doesn’t sting his eyes, sitting on the edge of the tub with a bowl of water, not minding one bit your clothes would get wet in the process. You even hold him in his sleep like a little boy because his nightmares are so scary. 

He’d taken to calling you mommy when no one else was around. 

But then he wanted more.

So much more.

“Mommy, it’s hard” he frowns with puppy eyes, standing at the doorway in just his boxer briefs', hair still dripping from the shower. His cock is straining against the fabric from the way you had massaged his scalp and gently rinsed with conditioner; the entire time you helped him, he wanted to pull your hand off his head and have you shove them down his shorts. 

“Aww, Jamie” You don’t want him to feel embarrassed over something natural, getting up and taking his hand, sitting him down on the bed, “it’s normal baby, are you feeling little right now?”

Daddy is feeling a lot of things, mommy

You’d noticed he’d slip into a different headspace when it was just you and him though you didn’t mind. He deserved a safe place to heal and relearn everything in a way that helped him. 

How he loved it. 

“A little” he shrugs, “Why is it hard?” He asks innocently, palming himself, whimpering at the feeling, spreading his legs more. He lets out a surprised moan when his hand brushes over his clothed cockhead, feigning innocence, touching himself there more at the foreign sensation. 

“Help me mommy” he takes your hand, placing it on his raging cock, “Please? Hurts, how do I make it normal” 

“Um-” You bit your lip, unsure of how to answer his questions while he continued to confusedly touch himself, rubbing his erection. “You- 

“It’s getting harder, why is my thinggy so hard” 

Go on mama, tell me why my cock is so fucking hard

“It happens sometimes baby, it’s normal though” You cup his cheek trying to comfort and reassure him. That isn’t enough for him though. 

“What-what do I call it?” He pouts, smirking on the inside, proud of his fat fucking cock that hes imagined in your hand, your mouth, your tight little pussy-

“How about we just call it your special spot for now, hm?” You rub the side of his thigh to see if helps ease him but his cock twitches instead, thigh muscles tensed under your finger tips. 

Wonder what you’d actually call it, come play with my special spot, mommy 

“Mommy, its getting wet” He looked like he’s going to cry and you can’t help but want to help him in some way, hushing him gently. 

“Okay, let me see baby” You sit across from him between his wide spread legs. He slips his thumbs into the waistband of his brief's, just enough to free his cock, his thick curved length slapping against his tummy. He pouts again, looking down at the leaky pink tip, his balls full and heavy, every part of him wishing he could just stuff himself into your cunt but he has to do this carefully. 

He’d get that eventually. 

After all, you’d never deny your baby boy. 

“Mommy is going to help you, okay?” You carefully wrap your hand around his shaft, stroking his cock up and down, focused on taking care of him, not once noticing the dark gaze he has on you while you work at his length. “You okay, Jamie?” 

“It’s all tingly, it feels good mommy” His cheeks are flushed, hips every so slightly rocking up into your hand, meeting your strokes. He only lets out soft little whimpers and babbles but his mind is screaming everything else.

That’s it mama, stroke my fucking cock. 

Jerk my dick, get all my cum out, balls are so heavy right now

Would paint that pretty face if I could, you’d look gorgeous covered in my cum

What daddy wouldn’t give to have you slobber and suck his “special spot” 

Bet your cunt is tight as fuck, wish you were a slut sometimes mommy, I’ll make you a whore soon

“I- I feel something” he pants out, pearls of precum beading at the tip, dribbling down over your fingers. You avoid stroking him too fast or hard, not wanting to overstimulate him, avoiding the tip of his cock. “It’s getting so wet, I’m making a mess” He looks down at the head of his cock with glassy eyes, another dribble of silky liquid coating your fingers. 

“You’re gonna be sensitive there baby, it’s okay, that’s just how your special spot is support to be, okay?”

“Touch- can you touch the pink part?” He whispers shyly, letting out a high pitched white when you twist your wrist around his glistening cockhead, “Don’t stop, keep touching me there” He pleads and you shift closer to him, cooing while he squirms. He takes advantage of how close you are to him, pulling you to his side and hiding his face against your neck. 

“Mommy, it feels good, I feel something-I-it feels heavy down there-” He lets his hand go down to his balls, tugging at them, sighing happily when you pull his hand away and gently cup them instead, softy massaging them with just the right pressure. 

“You can let it all out, let go Jamie, it’s okay, let it all out” You start to stroke him faster, more focused on the tip just like he asked, kissing his temple while he continues to shy away from you. 

“Let it out?” He pulls away and gives you a confused expression, seemingly not understanding, his body still thrusting into your hand while you grip him a little harder. 

“There’s gonna be lots of stuff that comes out, okay? It’ll help you feel better, I’ll clean you right up after baby, just let it all out” 

Damn right m’gonna cum hard for you, babydoll, not gonna hold back a single drop

He moans against your neck, body covered in sweat, rutting into your hand while you twist around the tip, his cock growing harder. 

“AH-MOMMY!” He practically wails, cum shooting out in hot white streams, his whole body shuddering and trembling, and endless stream of his cream getting the dark curls at the base of his cock all wet and messy. “OH MOMMMY-it’s -it’s so much”  You whisper sweet nothings to him, telling him he was so good, carefully removing your hand, letting his throbbing length slap against his belly. 

He knows he already got what he wanted but he can’t help himself, wanting just a bit more, putting his sweet pout back on, looking at you with teary eyes. 

“Kiss it better?” He’s tugging you close again, bucking his hips up a little to where he wants attention, “Please” He pleads, his softening cock still dripping with cum. 

C’mon mommy, lick me up, just suck it a little 

You know how needy he can get, and your heart hurts thinking about how different his body must be feeling, overwhelmed and overstimulated. You hush him again with a kiss to his forehead before moving down to give him affection where he needed it. His eyes grow wide, biting back a smirk, gripping the sheets to make sure he didn’t shove your head down.  

“Oh kiss it better mommy” He moans, back arching off the bed when your soft lips brush on top of his tip, pecking the sweetest comforting kiss on his frenulum, making his body jolt. 

Just put it in your mouth

“Can-can you do it again?” He asks innocently, chewing his bottom lip raw. 

“Just one more, then I have to clean you up” You place a firm kiss onto his now spent cock, before getting up and wiping him down, letting him spend the night cuddled to your chest. At some point, he asks to nurse and you can’t tell him no. He doesn’t waste a second taking your top off and latching onto your nipple, hitching his leg over you while his lips suckle. 

Sometimes you have a feeling in the back of your mind, wondering if he truly has no clue what’s happening. Then he looks at you with such innocence, there’s no way, not with those baby blue eyes and sweet pouty pink lips. 

How could you ever doubt him. 

-

On the other hand, imagine one day he catches you in an intimate moment with your hands between your legs, not realizing he was still home. He goes feral on the inside but on the outside, he’s just a lost puppy who wants to know what your doing. You struggle to explain to him what was happening, not catching the flash of hunger that he’s struggling to hide while you’re now wrapped up in your sheet to cover yourself. 

All he knows is mommy was feeling like he was that day and had to take care of her private special spot too. With that cute button he’d love to suck. 

Should’ve asked me mommy, if only you knew how good my fingers are 

“It looks like my thinggy” He points out to your toy, which you snatch away and feel your body heating up further. “Mommy, can I put my special spot inside yours?” He doesn’t give you a lot of room to protest, pleading with you, showing you how hard he is again. 

He starts off with begging, rutting himself against you, humping you like an animal while you try to soothe him but it doesn’t work. He’s thrown his clothes off lying top of you with his bare cock against your folds, desperately rubbing himself, wanting to push it in. 

“Just the pink part, please, I need it, wanna empty everything, it’s leaking mommy” 

You don’t know how or when but at some point he presses his tip into you and shoves his entire length all at once, moaning loudly and thrusting without a care in the world. You’re body and might screams that something isn’t right, unable to stop the moans that slip out of you when he hits your cunt just right, pleasure trying to drown you from reality. 

Imagine the utter filth that spills from his mouth after while your blood runs cold, realizing something doesn’t add up.

“Mommy, your special spot feels so good, so good, so. fucking. good” 

“I wanna fuck you all night mommy, your pussy is perfect”

“I touched myself thinking about you and how you stroked my dick baby, wished you would’ve just sucked my cum out instead. 

“Oh fuck, you’re tight, choking my cock baby, make me wanna bust in you so bad” 

“J-James?” You whisper, eyes growing wide, how the fuck did he know those words, what was happening. Bucky loses himself in how good you feel, no longer giving a fuck. “What-what are you saying-”

“It’s Jamie” He lets out a dark chuckle, mocking your sweet tone, dropping the act, now that he’s deep in your cunt. “Your Jamie’s cock” 

“Cock?” 

“Yeah, cock mama, my cock in your little special spot” 

Bruh I’m so sorry tf is wrong with me 💀

[astroninaaa]

wtf is going on with cellbit - by a brazilian law major student

hey besties ever since the day cellbit released that PDF i’ve been keeping up with his shit bc as a law student (only two years to go!!!!) in brazil it’s kinda really interesting to see how it goes, specially since i don’t think we’ve ever had this sort of judicial action taken by an internet celebrity, like, ever. so i’ve decided to kinda explain what’s going on. if anyone has any questions after this i’d be really up to talk about it i love talking about law 🫶 xoxo let’s start. also sorry if anything reads weird english is not my native language okay

for those who don’t know, very recently, a judicial action taken by cellbit has made public. in this action, he’s suing over 200 people for the crime of defamation.

the action was taken to court in january, but it was under what we call “secret of justice”, which means only cellbit himself and twitter’s lawyers had access to it. now that there have been decisions by the judge and everything, the process’s been made public.

basically, cellbit started an action against twitter (NOT THE PEOPLE WHO COMMITTED THE CRIME YET), citing a little over 200 tweets that accused him of crimes like SA, psychological abuse, pedophilia, and others. all of those are real crimes in brazil — and accusing someone of committing crimes (specially as awful crimes as those) without proof is a crime in itself (defamation). he claimed that the tweets were harmful to his honor, mental health, and reputation, besides categorizing as defamation, since there’s no investigation going on against him for all these infractions he’s being accused of.

with that, he asked twitter to delete all the tweets, and to provide him with the personal information of said twitter accounts so he can sue them directly for defamation. he did these requests through something called “tutela cautelar”, which means the judge gets to decide whether or not twitter has to do these things before proof production and proper investigation, since, if twitter doesn’t do those things, the damage to his honor and reputation will be ongoing + he won’t be able to sue the proper people in time.

the judge conceded to his requests, and twitter has already deleted all the tweets. the main discussion going right now is wtf do they do about the international accounts — does our law apply to them? what’s gonna happen? we don’t know yet. that’s being discussed in court for the moment and, considering brazilian courts, it might take quite a while.

so, yeah, all those people aren’t being sued YET. but they will, probably somewhat soon.

it’s also important to mention that this lawsuit is from january and was only now released to the public. there’s probably a lot more coming after the whole fiasco that led him to releasing his statement, including a lawsuit against his ex herself.

now, other topics — could he sue other twitter accounts for cyber bullying or death threats? probably, but my personal opinion is that suing for defamation and focusing on accounts that were accusing him of having committed crimes was a much better move because it’s a much stronger case.

there’s very little room for discussion when a person has outright said “cellbit committed this crime”. death threats have more room for discussion: “oh, but they’re hundreds of miles away, it wasn’t a serious threat”, “they didn’t mean it”, “it was a joke”. same thing goes for cyberbullying: it can get too subjective.

defamation isn’t subjective. you accuse someone of a crime they didn’t commit? boom, defamation, at least according to our laws. so, to me, personally, it makes a LOT of sense for his lawyers to focus on that: he’s a LOT more likely to win than if he was suing for cyberbullying, threatening, insult, or any of that. also, he’s a lot more likely to win FASTER.

when he gets to sue the actual people who committed the crime, that is. for now, he’s only requested twitter to give him the necessary information to get to these people, which i think they’ll very likely be obligated to do. there are digital data protection laws in brazil, but a crime is a crime. digital data protection isn’t gonna protect you from the court.

another thing: LGPD (brazil’s general law of personal data protection) forces all social media companies to keep records of all the content posted by their users for AT LEAST six months. many companies keep it for way longer. that’s a law created for judicial purposes, in case something published to twitter, facebook, or instagram needs to be analysed by a court. that’s why even tho twitter has deleted the tweets, they still have them, and why it doesn’t matter if the people responsible are deleting the tweets, the accounts, the fucking app itself. the records are still there, and they will be used judicially.

i think that’s the overall for the situation, but i’m willing to answer any questions and to discuss it if anyone wants to! i’m a big law enjoyer. also personally i think cellbit is so fucking right for this like YEAH people don’t get to commit fucking crimes on twitter and get away with it. really interested in how this is gonna go law-wise, but in general also really glad to see someone take action like this.

[richarlotte]

365 Days from Rot to Hot (Pt. 3).

Find your colors. You could use AI, take a trip to Lowe’s (this is one of the things I did), or actually use a service, but sorting out what colors suit you is essential. A major part of building my blend and creating my personal style was based around finding things that suited me, and I do believe that you shouldn’t start buying clothes or putting a look together unless you know your undertone, have a grasp of your colors and your body type, understand your seasons, and are prepared to experiment with what you’ve learned. Finding your colors should be the first step you take, as it will make the process of creating looks easier and give you a general idea of what things will look good on you.

Search for inspiration and don’t hold yourself back. It’s your life; it’s your fashion; it’s your style. You can be as basic or as eccentric as you want. If you think Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber are goddesses, then take inspiration from them. If you’re a budding Betsey Johnson or a Lisa Frank and want to design your own clothes and make them even brighter, then do that. If you’re obsessed with Bella Hadid’s western era and want to chase your own wild horses, then go ahead. I’d recommend doing what I did and creating a number of Pinterest boards and using Instagram to create polyvore-like style and vision boards.

Set a reasonable budget and stick with it. You cannot spend more than you have, and it’s not wise to get into debt pursuing a lifestyle that you know you can’t afford in the long run. Create a reasonable budget and work with it; don’t try to work around it. I found myself shopping from Walmart, Meijer, Gap, and J. Crew Factory and looking for sales before I bought anything. Don’t jump into the process and waste your money buying everything straight off the racks; utilize stores like TJ Maxx, look for sales, use what you already have, and really make an effort to make your dollar stretch. Another part of working with your budget is not blowing it by shopping at Shein; if you buy something and then have to throw it out and rebuy it after 5 wears, you’re not actually getting any bang for your buck.

Utilize Pinterest and social media to find women that look like you. An integral part of creating your own blend and finding what works for you is seeing it on other women. I followed a number of women that looked like me and didn’t look like me, lived in areas of the world I found fascinating, and had tastes that I wouldn’t describe as mainstream. I used a number of different languages to search for the trends that I liked; I used Twitter and Instagram to look at hashtags; and I took total advantage of the resources I was able to access. I used magazines, went through online archives, and spent time building my ideal image. Was it perfect? No, but as time passed, it became more and more helpful, and it eventually became the Pinterest board that I use now and my main vision board.

Tie it all together and see how things work. I had to experiment with so many different looks, delete and recreate so many vision boards, and try things for myself. Am I a hairstylist? No, but I’m also not a billionaire, so I had to learn how to style my wigs to see what suited me. I went to stores to try things on, experimented with IG to see if certain pieces of jewelry would suit me, and had the time of my life during my experimentation phase. Collecting online images isn’t enough, and it’s very hard to actually get a grasp of what you like if you’re doing everything online. Try your lookout, put things together, adjust it as you please, and tie your loose ends up.

Pt. 4 to come next.

[writingsoftarnishedsilver]

Playing for Keeps | Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Chapter 14

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Words: ~4,600

Tags: Modern AU, Reader Insert, Female MC, No Y/N, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Romance, Protective Sebastian

You wake to the sharp, rhythmic buzz of your phone beneath your pillow, an insistent vibration that yanks you from sleep. Bleary-eyed, you grope for the device, barely prying one eye open as the screen illuminates your dim dormitory with a harsh blue glow.

[472 new notifications.]

For a moment, your sluggish brain doesn’t process what you’re looking at. Then the events of last night come rushing back—your post. The Prefects’ Bathroom. The perfect shot of you and Sebastian looking far too cozy in the soft golden light, steam curling around your grinning faces. The ultimate weapon against Amelia and her sanctimonious superiority complex.

And judging by your phone’s unread chaos, it had worked.

Your pulse kicks up, suddenly much more awake. Tapping open the Hogwarts Social app, you’re immediately greeted by a flood of comments, shares, and likes. The notification bar at the top keeps refreshing, struggling to keep up with the traction.

"IS THIS CONFIRMATION??" "can u guys let the rest of us BREATHE" "this is actually sick and twisted of u to drop w NO warning" "BEST PLOT TWIST OF THE SEASON" "THE PREFECTS' BATHROOM??? EXCUSE ME????" "Legendary behavior." "They were at each other's throats last week and now THIS? The enemies-to-lovers trope is ALIVE." "How do I delete someone else's relationship from existence? Asking for Amelia."

Your grin is downright wicked as you swipe to your messages, where, naturally, Imelda has gone feral.

Mel: I KNEW U WERE GONNA DO SOMETHING STUPID BUT I DIDN’T THINK IT’D BE THIS LEVEL OF INSANITY Mel: THATS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT U MEANT BY A PRANK U ABSOLUTE MENACE Mel: ALSO DAMN????? FINALLY FACING REALITY THAT UR INTO HIM HUH?!?!

You muffle your laughter in your pillow, both horrified and delighted. This is a reaction. This is power.

Scrambling upright, you throw the blankets off and move with newfound urgency. You need to see Sebastian’s reaction immediately. There’s no way he’s still asleep through this kind of explosion.

Yanking on your uniform in record time, you barely bother with your tie, stuffing your phone into your robe pocket as you rush out of the dormitory. The common room is buzzing already and a group of fourth-years stifles whispers as you pass, eyes darting toward you like you’re some kind of celebrity scandal.

And then you see him.

Sebastian is already waiting for you near the fireplace, leaning back lazily against one of the worn leather armchairs, arms crossed, the smuggest look you’ve ever seen plastered across his face.

“Oh, good morning, sweetheart,” he drawls, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Sleep well? Or did the overwhelming fame keep you up?”

You skid to a stop in front of him, breathless from your rush down the stairs, heart still hammering from the chaos of the morning. But the second Sebastian’s voice—smooth, teasing, obnoxiously smug—wraps around that pet name, sweetheart, everything else blurs at the edges.

Heat prickles at your skin, not from embarrassment, but from something much deeper, something that coils low in your stomach and sends a shiver down your spine.

The memory slams into you like a rogue bludger. The linen closet, the scent of fresh laundry thick in the small, enclosed space. The way you’d been pressed up against the shelves, breath mingling, fingers gripping onto him like you’d fall apart if you let go.

The way he had kissed you. The way you had kissed him back.

“What’s wrong?" Sebastian tilts his head slightly, lips quirking into something close to a smirk. "Cat got your tongue?”

You blink, willing the heat in your face to die down.

“Oh, you wish,” you fold your arms to feign indifference. “Though I imagine it’s hard to hear anything over the sound of your own ego inflating.”

Sebastian exhales a quiet chuckle, eyes dragging over your face, like he’s committing every shade of pink to memory. “And yet, here you are, sprinting across the common room just to see me.”

You roll your eyes, determined not to let him win this round. “Relax, Sallow. I was coming down for breakfast.”

“Right.” He hums like he doesn’t believe you for a second. “And here I thought you were desperate to see what I thought about our little publicity stunt.” He tilts his head, fixing you with an exaggeratedly thoughtful expression. “Or should I say—soft launch?”

Your mouth opens—then immediately shuts. Because, fuck. That’s technically what you did, isn’t it?

Maybe you hadn’t thought it through last night in the heat of your pettiness, but after the linen closet, after everything, it’s not like the post was a lie. Sure, neither of you had sat down and talked about what it all meant, but if you were being honest, you already knew.

And now, so does the entire school.

Sebastian must see the realization hit because his smirk shifts into something softer. There’s sincerity in his gaze, cutting through the teasing edge of his voice when he leans in just slightly. “Not that I mind,” he murmurs. “Kind of nice seeing everyone lose their minds over what we already knew.”

You scoff, even as your skin tingles with heat. “Oh, please,” you manage, throwing every ounce of indifference you have into your voice. “I was just being a good co-conspirator. We had a goal, and I saw it through.”

“Ah, so the reason you confessed your love for me was all part of the act?”

“Of course,” you declare. “All part of the plan.”

“Hm.” He taps his chin, pretending to think. “Is that so?” Then, casually—so casually—he reaches out, hooking a finger under the knot of your barely-tied tie, tugging you just slightly forward. “So you wouldn't want me to call you my girlfriend then?”

Your brain short-circuits.

Girlfriend.

He said it so easily, so casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it is. Maybe this has been obvious from the beginning, from the first time he drove you up the wall, from the way you always found your way back to each other, no matter how many arguments or biting remarks or hairbrained wagers came between you.

Sebastian Sallow has always been yours. And maybe you’ve always been his.

You swallow, trying to find a way to not combust on the spot. “That depends,” you say, voice steadier than you feel. “Are you asking?”

Sebastian’s smirk falters just for a second, just long enough that you see it, the flicker of something hesitant beneath all that confidence. Then, just as quickly, it’s replaced with something else, something more deliberate.

He hums, fingers still toying with your tie. “You know, I hadn’t planned on it,” he muses. “Thought I’d just let the school decide for us.”

You roll your eyes. “How very democratic of you.”

“But—” He tugs, just slightly, and your breath catches. “Now that you mention it…”

You swear time slows. Your heart pounds. You feel like you’re standing on the edge of something vast, something terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

Sebastian leans in, just enough for his lips to nearly brush your ear, for his voice to drop into something that sets every nerve in your body alight.

“If I were asking,” he murmurs, “what would you say?”

The world outside the two of you ceases to exist. The common room, the whispers, the stares, none of it matters. It’s just him, just you, caught in the electric pull of something inevitable.

You exhale, slow and measured, even as your pulse threatens to betray you.

“I’d say…” You let the pause hang, just long enough to make him squirm. “That you should at least take me on a date first."

Sebastian blinks. Then he laughs, full and unrestrained. His grip on your tie loosens, but he doesn’t step back.

“Alright,” he says, still grinning. “A date first. But after that…”

His fingers brush against your collar, featherlight, and you know what he’s implying. And you know exactly what your answer is.

Around you, the entire common room is buzzing. Low murmurs, barely contained whispers, the rapid clicking of nails against screens as your peers no doubt dissect every single second of what just transpired. And then—because of course—some absolute menace lets out a loud, piercing wolf whistle.

Sebastian, still grinning like a bloody menace himself, barely has time to open his mouth before a flat, unimpressed voice cuts through the noise.

"Oh, for Merlin’s sake—shut up."

Ominis.

Descending from the boys’ dormitory with his usual air of effortless composure, his uniform is, of course, immaculate—not a wrinkle in sight. His blonde hair is perfectly combed back, not a strand out of place. His fingers move deftly as he ties his tie.

The common room quiets—slightly—but you can still feel all the lingering stares.

Sebastian, utterly unbothered, turns toward his friend. “Ah, Ominis. Perfect timing.” He gestures vaguely to you. “We were just discussing—”

“No.” Ominis doesn’t even hesitate.

Sebastian blinks. “I haven’t even said anything yet.”

Ominis exhales, exasperated. “Whatever you’re about to say, no.”

You bite your lip, barely holding back a laugh.

Sebastian balks at him. “So little faith in me.”

Ominis scoffs, coming to a stop beside you. "So much for 'in and out' last night, hm?"

Your stomach drops. Immediately, you feel the twinge of guilt, not just because Ominis had been keeping watch for you last night, standing guard outside the Prefects’ Bathroom as your reluctant accomplice, but because you’d promised him.

In and out, you had said. Five minutes, tops.

Of course, that hadn’t happened.

Because the moment the door locked behind you, with Sebastian standing so close, so smug, and the warm, steam-laced air curling between you, the whole plan had unraveled. The post was still the goal, but before you knew it, you'd both been caught in the gravity of something far more distracting than embarrassing Amelia.

You open your mouth, scrambling to apologize. “Ominis, I—”

He cuts you off with a dismissive wave of his hand, finishing the knot of his tie with a sharp, practiced tug.

“Don’t bother,” he says flatly. “I knew the moment you went in with him that you wouldn’t be coming out.” He tilts his head slightly, unimpressed. “So, I promptly went to bed.”

Sebastian barks out a laugh. “Oh, come on, Ominis. Have a little faith in us.”

“I do,” Ominis says dryly. “That’s why I left.”

You sputter. “That’s—what?!"

Sebastian looks utterly delighted. “So what you’re saying is—”

“I’m saying you are predictable,” Ominis interjects smoothly.

Sebastian cackles, far too pleased with that assessment while, the sharp edges of Ominis's exasperation soften into smug amusement.

"Honestly," he continues, "I’m quite thrilled about all of this. Amit, Garreth, and the rest of them owe me."

Sebastian frowns. “Owe you for what?”

Ominis sighs as if he truly cannot believe the depth of your collective stupidity. "The bet, obviously."

You blink. "The what?"

“The one the entire friend group placed on how long it would take for the two of you to get together.” He gestures vaguely with his wand. “I wagered it would happen before Christmas.”

Sebastian stares, utterly affronted. “You bet on us?!”

"Of course," Ominis deadpans. "If I was going to suffer through your oblivious mutual pining, I might as well turn a profit."

Before you can answer, another voice cuts in from the girls’ dormitory staircase.

"Good morning, lovebirds,” Imelda drawls, descending with a wicked grin. She tuts under her breath as she nears, shaking her head like a disappointed mentor. "Chouette, honestly—I knew you were stubborn, but this was just embarrassing."

You groan, rubbing your hands down your face. "Not you too."

“Oh, absolutely me too,” she chirps. “What? You think the rest of us weren’t watching you two idiots dance around each other for months?” She cocks her head, smirking. “You hated him. Then you really hated him. And then suddenly, we were all supposed to believe you didn’t care when you started glaring at any girl who got within five feet of him? Please.”

You scowl. “I did not glare at—”

“Oh, you definitely did,” Imelda interrupts smoothly. “There was murder in your eyes. Remember the Hufflepuff who asked him to study in the library? You stared daggers into her back for an entire hour.”

Your face is on fire. "I did no such thing."

Sebastian looks just as flustered. “Alright, alright, we get it, we’re very obvious.”

“Oh, very obvious,” Imelda repeats. “But if we’re talking about denial, let’s not forget how long it took Sebastian to get his act together."

Sebastian narrows his eyes. "Excuse me?"

Ominis hums in agreement. "Yes, Merlin knows why you made that stupid wager with Prewett."

Sebastian shoots a pleading look at Ominis, but Ominis merely shrugs. “Don’t look at me,” he says. “You deserved the backlash for that stunt.”

Sebastian exhales sharply, then turns to you. “You forgave me for that literally last night, remember?”

You hum, tilting your head in mock consideration. “I did, didn’t I?” Then, with a casual shrug, “Hmm. Reevaluating that now, though.”

Sebastian makes a deeply offended noise. “Oh, come on—”

“Oh, shove off, both of you,” Imelda interrupts, already making for the exit. “You can argue later—I want to get to breakfast and watch the school spontaneously combusts over your little soft launch.” She smirks over her shoulder. “And more importantly—I need to see how Amelia is handling all of this.”

Your eyes widen slightly, because of course—Amelia. The entire reason for last night’s perfectly executed prank.

Sebastian must catch the glint in your eye because he grins, falling into step beside you as you make your way toward the exit. "Any predictions?"

“Well,” you start, fingers tapping against your chin, “if I had to guess, Amelia probably saw the post sometime around, oh, let’s say… three in the morning? She gasped loudly waking up half of her dorm. Then she stared at her phone in abject horror for a good five minutes, possibly refreshing the page multiple times hoping it was some sort of delirious nightmare.”

Sebastian snickers. Ominis exhales with amusement. Imelda looks absolutely delighted.

You continue, grinning, “Then, naturally, she immediately called her little cheerleading minions, made them all look at the post, and had a minor meltdown about how this ruins everything. After that? Crisis mode. Probably a group brainstorm about damage control, maybe even some panicked messaging to her sources to try and figure out if we’re actually together or if this is just some ‘horrible misunderstanding.'"

Sebastian leans in slightly, his grin widening. "Lucky her, she'll get to see us walk into breakfast together."

The Great Hall doors loom ahead, energy practially leaking from the crack between them. The morning is buzzing with far more excitement than a typical breakfast. You can hear the undercurrent of conversation, the hushed whispers, the not-so-subtle mentions of your name along with Sebastian's.

Imelda practically vibrates with anticipation. “Here we go.”

Sebastian exhales, rolling his shoulders like he’s relishing the attention. “Alright, sweetheart.” He smirks, extending a hand dramatically, like a proper gentleman escorting you to a ball. “Shall we?”

You shoot him a dry look, but there’s no missing the slight warmth that flickers beneath it. With a single arched brow, you lace your fingers through his.

You push open th edoors, and the reaction is instantaneous.

A wave of gasps, stifled shrieks, and frantic whispering explodes the second you and Sebastian cross the threshold, fingers boldly intertwined. It’s like you’ve stepped into a pit of hungry gossip vultures, every table suddenly buzzing with new life, as if no one had anything better to do than analyze your every move.

Someone at the Gryffindor table actually drops their goblet, the metallic clatter echoing across the hall. A group of Hufflepuffs in the corner is already typing furiously on their phones, no doubt drafting what they hope is the next viral post. And Amelia? You find her seated at the Ravenclaw table, and she looks catatonic.

Her fork hovers mid-air, jaw slightly open, eyes wide with utter disbelief. Beside her, her minions—sorry, friends—exchange panicked looks, one of them gripping Amelia’s arm like they’re about to administer life-saving support.

Beside you, Imelda basks in the chaos, grinning so widely it’s a miracle her face doesn’t split in half.

“Oh, this is delicious,” she breathes. “Did you see her face? She looks like she just watched her entire world collapse.”

Sebastian chokes back a laugh beside you, barely containing his absolute delight as the four of you take your seats around the Slytherin table.

But you've barely a moment to onto the bench when a sudden hush spreads through the hall, the way it does when something monumental is about to happen.

You don’t even need to turn your head to know why.

Because Amelia has finally snapped out of her shock, and she is marching straight toward you.

Sebastian notices immediately, his eyes lighting up like it’s Christmas morning. “Oh, this should be good.”

Imelda smirks. “Merlin, she’s actually coming over.

You brace yourself, already preparing for whatever venom Amelia is about to spit.

She halts just short of your table, her expression schooled into something resembling icy disdain. But there’s something desperate behind her eyes, something that suggests she’s still grappling with what’s happened in the last twelve hours.

She levels you with a withering stare. “So, let me get this straight,” she says, voice laced with forced calm. “You and Sallow are actually together?”

You don’t blink. You don’t hesitate. "Is that really so difficult for you to comperhend?"

Amelia’s expression hardens, the muscles in her jaw tightening.

“Oh, please,” she scoffs, loud enough that the entire Great Hall can hear. “Everyone’s acting like this is some perfect romance—like it wasn’t just a few weeks ago that the whole school was laughing at you.”

A pit opens in your stomach, because you already know where this is going. A sharp, collective inhale spreads through the crowd, whispers igniting instantly, like a fire catching on dry parchment.

Amelia lets out a mocking laugh. “I mean, fifty galleons to see who could get between her thighs first?” She taps her chin. “That’s less than you’d pay for a prostitute in Knockturn Alley.”

Gasps ripple through the hall. A few tables down, someone whispers, “Oh, shit.”

“I mean, really,” Amelia continues, so smug now that she’s found a wound to sink her teeth into. “I’d be embarrassed, personally. Imagine parading around with the guy who literally made a bet with Prewett about how fast he could fuck you—”

“You absolute cunt,” Imelda hisses, her voice pure venom. “What kind of miserable, rotting bitch do you have to be to say that?”

Amelia smirks. There's blood in the water now; he’s landed her hit, and she knows it.

She tilts her head, gaze sweeping over you with undisguised contempt. “You know, on second thought,” she muses, “fifty Galleons was probably too much. I mean, I know Hogwarts has been all about inclusivity and body positivity lately, but it’s gone a bit too far, don’t you think?” She gives you a pointed once-over. “I mean look at you. You’re a fat, pathetic, Beauxbatons reject, and now we’re all just supposed to pretend you’re worthy of attention?”

The hall erupts into horrified murmurs. Sebastian’s entire body goes rigid. Ominis’s hands tighten into fists. Imelda looks like she’s about to leap across the table and rip Amelia’s throat out with her teeth.

But Amelia? She just keeps going, utterly shameless, eyes gleaming with malice. “Honestly, I’m only trying to help you.” She clicks her tongue, shaking her head like she’s disappointed. “I mean, if being a cow isn’t enough motivation to lose weight, and your first round public humiliation wasn't enough, maybe this will be.”

Then Sebastian stands. He does it slowly, his movements deliberate, his shoulders set, his expression so stone-cold neutral that it’s actually terrifying. His grip on the edge of the table is white-knuckled, and if looks could kill, Amelia would have ceased to exist on the spot.

But she’s too stupid to stop. Too convinced she still has some kind of upper hand.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Sallow,” she purrs. “Obviously, I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Or have you forgotten?” She lets out a mock sigh, folding her arms. “All those thousands of comments after your little bet with came out? All those people saying they wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole?”

Your breath catches, your stomach plummets, because she’s not wrong. The moment the truth about Sebastian’s stupid, humiliating bet surfaced, the reaction was instantaneous: The laughing, the cruel jokes, the way people talked about you like you were a joke, a punchline, a dare someone had lost all because you aren't thin.

Sebastian looks like he’s about to commit murder.

“I dare you to say another fucking word.”

Amelia sighs like she’s truly pitying you. “You can act all high and mighty now, Sallow,” she says, “but let’s not pretend you weren’t laughing about it with Prewett when you shook on it."

Sebastian’s jaw clenches tighter. His hands flex, his entire body brimming with something violent. And then, suddenly, he laughs.

“Let’s get something straight, Amelia.” His voice never rises, but it carries through the hall like a death sentence. “The fact that you think anyone, anyone, gives a single, solitary fuck about your opinion on anything is honestly embarrassing for you.”

A low chorus of ‘oof’ ripples through the crowd. Sebastian doesn’t stop.

“You've had so much to say about her,” He tilts his head, expression mocking, cruel. “So why don't we talk about you for a moment, hm?”

Amelia stiffens, but Sebastian just smiles.

“Oh, come on,” he drawls, voice light, easy. Mocking. “You love gossip, don’t you? So let’s talk about your tragic, humiliating little crush on me. The way you’ve spent years trying to get my attention—hanging onto my every word, laughing at jokes that weren’t funny, practically throwing yourself at me whenever I so much as looked in your direction.” He tilts his head, eyes gleaming. “And yet…” His voice drops into something softer, something cruel. “I have never chosen you.”

Silence. Complete, suffocating silence. Amelia is fuming, her chest rising and falling sharply, fingers curling into fists at her sides.

Sebastian just shrugs. “It’s honestly impressive, really.” His tone is almost conversational. “All those years, all that effort. Anf after all of it—after every desperate little attempt to make me see you, every sad little stunt you pulled, every time you tried to get under my skin—I still wouldn’t touch you.” He lets that settle, watching as her face twists with barely-contained fury. “Not then. Not ever.”

Something flickers in Amelia’s eyes. She knows it’s true.

Sebastian leans in slightly. “So tell me, Amelia,” he murmurs. “How does it feel? Knowing that after all these years of desperately trying to be someone I’d want, I wouldn’t go near you if you were the last witch at Hogwarts?”

Silence.

Then laughter. Loud, brutal, cutting, spreading through the hall like wildfire. The whispering spreads, too, students already repeating Sebastian's words, dissecting them, immortalizing them.

Amelia's face twists, her entire body tensing like a coiled spring, but she’s frozen in place, trapped beneath the weight of her own humiliation. And Sebastian just watches, entirely unbothered, his smirk lazy, smug, like he’s been waiting years to say this—to finally be done humoring her. And for the first time, Amelia doesn’t have a retort. Because everyone is looking at her now, murmuring, laughing—because she is the joke now, not you.

You barely notice the way Imelda is grinning so wide it’s demonic, or the way Ominis has finally exhaled, tension easing from his shoulders. Because Sebastian chose you.

And now the entire school knows it.

Amelia seems to realize that too, because her mouth opens—and closes. Her fists clench, her knuckles going white. Then, finally, she does the only thing left she can do.

She turns on her heel and flees.

The second she storms off, the hall explodes. Someone at the Hufflepuff table cheers. A Gryffindor bangs on the table like he’s just witnessed the greatest duel of all time. The Ravenclaws look stunned, clearly recalculating their previous assumptions, and the Slytherin table? The Slytherin table is living for it.

Sebastian, utterly unbothered, watches Amelia go with the air of a man who’s just taken out the trash.

Imelda lets out a low, appreciative whistle. “Merlin’s balls, Sallow.” She shakes her head, eyes gleaming with delight. “That was vicious.”

Sebastian exhales, flexing his fingers like he’s shaking off the last of his irritation. “Yeah, well, some people are long overdue for a reality check.”

Your stomach twists, that familiar heat creeping up your neck, because—fuck—now he’s looking at you like that again. Like you’re the only thing in the room that matters. And before you can stop yourself, before you can even think about stopping yourself—

You grab him by the collar and kiss him. The cheers double.

There’s a wolf whistle from across the hall—probably Garreth. Someone shrieks, “OH MY GOD.” A few people are actually chanting, though you can’t make out what because all you can hear is the blood rushing in your ears, Sebastian’s sharp inhale of surprise, and then he grins against your lips, one hand flying to your waist like of course this is how today was going to go, and he kisses you back.

By the time you pull away, Sebastian’s eyes are dark with something utterly satisfied, and his voice is low, teasing, fond when he murmurs, “Well. That’s one way to celebrate.”

You roll your eyes, but you can’t stop smiling.

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[hannahssimblr]

Photoshop Tutorial #1 - Change Background & Add Reflections

Before & After

You will need

Photoshop

Internet Access

I was inspired to make this tutorial after facing a dilemma in my game. I wanted my sims to swim in Brindleton Bay, but, shock horror, the water there is not swimmable. Luckily, I know how to change the background of my screenshots to make it appear as though it is - and I'm going to bring you through the process of how!

Starting off, in game, I brought my sims to Tartosa and got my desired shot. Then, heading over to Brindleton Bay, I got some shots of the horizon that I wanted as a backdrop.

Here's a picture I took:

Okay! Let's open up Photoshop!

For reference, I have Photoshop 2024, but most if not all of the features I've used should be included in older versions too.

Here's our image! Now I'm selecting the Background layer in the layers panel and press CTRL J twice to create two duplicates.

I'll turn off the bottom two layers for now, (by clicking the eye button, for newbies) and go to the properties panel. this should be on the right hand side, above the layers panel, but if it isn't, simply go into window > properties to switch it on.

With the layer selected, I click remove background and voila! Photoshop has... er... done her best to remove the background (she sometimes gets it wrong, but at least it's a help)

You'll see that a layer mask has been created. (circled in image).

If you haven't used layer masks before, the only important thing to know is that black will erase and white will add.

So with my brush tool (shortcut B) selected and set to black, I can go around the image and erase all of the parts I don't want.

If you have a steady hand and a tablet/cintiq you can do the same job a little quicker with the lasso tool (shortcut L) by selecting any unwanted area and simply pressing delete

Once I've removed all that needs to be removed, I see that there's a little slice of her hair that needs to be added. I can change the brush colour to white and paint it in.

Done! Easy!

Okay, let's switch off this layer for now, and switch on the one beneath it.

This is the layer I want to make look like the Brindleton Bay sea. So I'll make sure to pull an image of the water up as reference for colour.

This time I'm going to create a layer mask using the polygonal lasso tool

It's easy.

Find the lasso tool in the tool panel on the left of screen (the third icon from the top - or by pressing L on your keyboard)

Left click & hold, and a menu will pop up. Select the polygonal lasso tool.

Click around the area you'd like to mask, in my case, the sea. Tip: if you hold down the shift key while clicking, you will be able to create perfectly straight lines.

Click on the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers panel (pictured)

Everything except the selected area should disappear!

A small thing here, but I don't want the reflection of the rock in the water in my picture. I'll select the layer (not mask), take the eyedropper tool (shortcut i) with the sample set to all layers, and use a soft brush (B) to paint it away.

Next I'm using adjustment layers to edit the colour of the water, to try and make the blue turquoise paradise look more like the horrible green bog water of the bay.

You'll find these next to the mask button in the layers panel.

For my picture, I'm using hue/saturation for the colour and levels for the light. you can fiddle around with any of the adjustment layers to find what works for you.

I've shown the adjustments I've made for my specific scene below, just for reference.

When I'm happy with the colours/lighting, I select all adjustment layers (shift + L click to select multiple), then right click and choose create clipping mask. This is to ensure that the adj layers don't affect any other parts of the image, just the area I want it to.

And there! My water is looking sludgy, just like I wanted.

Okay! I've decided that I'd like some texture in the water. It always annoys me that sims water looks so flat. So here's where Pinterest enters the story.

I like Pinterest because unlike Google, the majority of the images are not watermarked. You're also slightly less likely to find AI slop.

I wanted some water ripples, so I searched for something like Water Texture, found one I liked, and dragged and dropped it into my photoshop file.

From here, I transformed it (CTRL + T) by resizing & rotating the bounding box, then grabbing the corners while holding CTRL to create some kind of perspective that works for the image.

I didn't bother bringing it all the way to the horizon, because I intend to fade that out with a gradient anyway. I had to sacrifice the bottom of the image for the sake of correct perspective, but that's fine. I will crop that out later.

With the texture layer selected, set the blending mode to soft light. It blends nicely!

Now! Another layer mask! These are our friends

With the texture layer still selected, I create a layer mask.

This time, because I had nothing in the image selected first, the layer mask will appear white. That just means nothing has been masked yet.

With it selected, I find the gradient tool (shortcut G) if you press G and the paint bucket tool is activated, simply navigate to the tool panel on the left of the file, hold the paint bucket tool down and select gradient.

I'll change the colour to black, and make sure I have the foreground to transparent gradient selected.

Other settings are pictured.

I'll drag the gradient over the area I want to mask. In this case, the top of the water texture to make it appear as though it's fading away towards the horizon.

(Doubly make sure you've selected the mask, not the layer while performing this action.)

Looking good!

Time to drag the layer above your adjustment layers and create a clipping mask again.

Alright! Let's do the background.

I'll drag that image of Brindleton Bay that I took earlier into the file.

I want to place it below my sea layer, and above that original background layer (I am going to leave that untouched for insurance reasons)

Then, using the move tool (shortcut V) I'm simply going to move it to the correct place. Basically I just want the horizon lines to match up.

Tip: hold the shift key to drag an image in a straight line.

Enter to confirm.

You can see that the sky is now unfinished, but it's such an easy fix. I'll just select the sky colour with the eyedropper tool, then use the paint bucket tool & brush tool to fill in the sky.

Done!

Now - note that the sea doesn't quite blend in with the background. To fix this, I'm going to take my eyedropper tool (shortcut i) and select some of that dark green colour beneath the mountains.

I will create a layer (+ button on the base of the layer panel) and drag it above that sea texture layer I created earlier.

Then I'll create a layer mask to clip it to the sea.

I'm grabbing that gradient tool again (G) and creating a nice gradient on the horizon.

The horizon line is a little sharp, in my opinion, I want it more faded. So, using a soft brush (B) and that same green colour, I'm going to create a new layer & place it above that green gradient, this time I'm not clipping it.

Holding down the shift key, I'm going to draw a straight line right across the horizon. This helps to blend it all together a bit better.

Now! for Reflections!

Firstly, I'm going back to that sky layer with the Brindleton Bay mountains, and I'm going to duplicated by pressing CTRL + J

I'm dragging it above the sea layer, but below all of the other clipping masks. This will automatically create a clipping mask for the new layer.

Next, I'm going to edit > transform > flip vertical

With the move tool (V) I'm moving the image upwards so that the horizon lines meet and it looks like the lighthouse and mountains are reflecting in the sea.

Note: make sure auto select is off while using the move tool on a layer that lies beneath several others.

This leaves a little bit of a mess on the bottom on the canvas, which can be fixed by creating a layer mask & the gradient tool set to black, and dragging a gradient over the bottom of the image until it blends nicely into the sea.

With the mountains reflection done, I'm going to move onto the people.

I'll turn that top layer that I worked on earlier back on.

Then I'll duplicate it (CTRL + J)

Right click on the layer mask of the duplicate and select Apply Layer Mask from the dropdown. This simply bakes the layer mask into the image. Usually I try to edit non-destructively as much as possible, but in this case it's fine to destroy.

I'm going to rename this layer Reflection

With that new, reflection layer selected, I'll go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, just like before.

I want to add a little water/shimmer effect to their faces, so I'm going to Filter > Distort > ZigZag

I'll just mess around with the settings here until I find something I like.

This is optional, obviously, I've done reflections in edits without doing any of this, but it just adds something a little extra to water scenes, I think.

Here's a time I didn't do that.

anyway, my sims are looking a bit crazy now, but it's fine, because I'm going to, you guessed it, add a layer mask and gradient.

But first, using the lasso tool (L) I'm going to draw around one of the characters and drag her into place. I can move the bounding box around a bit to make her shoulders meet in the right place.

Then I'll do the same for the other character.

Tip: Hold CTRL while moving, warping or resizing something for a smoother, more precise experience.

Now, I'm doing what I said I would, and I'm creating that layer mask. We know how to do it by now, right?

Make sure everything is deselected first by pressing CTRL + D

Create layer mask

Select Gradient (G) set to black

Drag gradient over bottom of reflection (If you ever need more precise gradients, you can select the round gradient at the top of the file. I needed it to blend the reflection on the right more, because the characters are not at an even height.)

In the Layer panel, change opacity to 20% (or whatever you like) and hit Enter to confirm

Using Crop (shortcut C) I'm going to crop my image, cut off that pesky strip at the bottom and just basically make the framing of the picture a little bit nicer.

And viola!

I could edit this image more, throw in bounced light, splashes etc etc but I'll leave it like this.

The only thing I will add in is a little lens flare to indicate sun, so again, I'm taking to Pinterest and searching for one that works.

Tip: make sure the background of a lens flare image is completely black. Otherwise it will be harder to use.

Below is the one I have chosen.

I'm simply changing the blending mode to screen, moving it and resizing it with the transform tool (T), and fiddling with the opacity until I'm happy.

That's it!

I made a video running through this whole process, with all of my shortcuts in the bottom right hand corner so that you can see exactly what is happening.

If there are other tutorials you'd like to see in future, please let me know!

And I'm more than happy to answer any questions!

Good luck <3

[megs-1800]

The Fear Of Loosing You

Notes: Requests are open as usual. This is written from Mason's POV.

Summary: After you and Mason break up 6 weeks ago, he gets the dreaded call that you have been in a car accident. Are you gong to be okay? He has so many questions to ask you? Will you ever forgive him?

Pairings: Mason Mount x Reader

Word Count: 4.1K

Warnings: Fluff, Angst and mentions of car accident and injury

I parked my car up and walked quickly into the restaurant trying not to get wet from the torrential rain that is currently downpouring. As I walk in I see the large table with our own separate part of the restaurant where all the united boys are sat. We agreed to start to meet for dinner before the start for the season it’s a ritual.

Tonight though I really didn’t want to go, it’s the first time I have been out the house for a social occasion since the break up. We broke up 6 weeks ago and my heart still aches as much as it did the night you left. I am completely devastated since the break up, you packed all your things within a couple of hours and moved back to (your hometown) back with your parents. We haven’t spoken since, I have messaged you nearly every day which you never reply. You deleted all pictures of us on your socials and unfollowed me on everything, which made everyone talk. I do not blame you, I done the worse thing I could ever do to you, I cheated on you, I broke your heart which I broke my own heart in the process.

I have been struggling since you have left, I am trying to get my head around everything, get my head around being single again I hate it. We were together for 3 years, we were so happy. That was until I decided to go out that night and get drunk and make the biggest mistake of my life. Now I have to deal with the trauma of never having you again.

I sat down at the table and everyone is chatting away, I try and join in the conversation but my mind is distracted. I try my best to enjoy the evening. I am joining in with the conversation when I see my phone ring. It’s a number I do not recognise, I can see the start of it is a Manchester number but I decide not to answer it. That’s when I get the voicemail ping up, something in me tells me to listen to it now. I quickly escort myself away and listen to the voicemail. “Voicemail for a Mason Mount, I am calling from Saint Mary’s Hospital we have a patient here that you are registered as their Next of Kin so please do give us a call back at your earliest convenience so we can discuss their situation”. I was confused, everyone I am close to run through my head which no one made sense. Then it kicked it, it could be you? But why would you be in Manchester Hospital? You went back to your home town with your parents after the breakup so whats going on.

I quickly hit redial and called the hospital back, they answered after 2 rings which is good as I didn’t want to sit on hold. “Hello, I missed a call from you its Mason Mount”. They agreed and they said they would look into the record for me. My heart dropped at the next sentence “hello Mr Mount thank you for holding.. we have a y/n y/l/n here from what we believe she has had a car accident, she has lost a lot of blood. She has been in and out of surgery since she got here. She is currently in a stable condition but we are not sure about any further damage until she wakes up. The next 48 hours are going to be vital for her. We have been trying to get hold of her parents but there is no answer, so you are the next listed as her next of kin. We are not sure if you want to come down as she really needs someone to support her with the recovery”.

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, I feel sick and suddenly become very dizzy. I need to sit down. Everything is running through my head I have to get to you. I quickly run inside, I didn’t even realise I was crying until one of the boys pulled me in making sure I was okay. I explained what happened and they all told me to go. They know how much I love you. As I am driving I must be breaking all the limits with how quick I was driving but right now I do not care I need to make sure you are okay.

As I run into the hospital I run upto the front desk, “Hey I am looking for y/n y/l/n” they stop and stare at me “omg you are Mason Mount! Oh my god! Oh my god! Please can we have an autograpgh”. I look at her with dismay. “Seriously?” I say shocked “No not right now, I need to go see her please can you tell me what room y/n y/l/n is in please?” I say with a bit more authority. “Are you family? Because we can only allow family in to see her at the moment due to her fragile condition”. Fragile condition how bad are you? “but on this occasion we will allow you to go in just please do not say anything because we will be in trouble”. The girls behind the desk giggle, I do not feel in a laughing mood right now, but at least my name actually done me a positive today. They provided me the number of your room and I basically run there, perks of being an athletic at least I can run up the 8 flights of stairs instead of waiting for the bloody lift without being too out of breath.

When I finally reach your room I open the door at the sight makes my heart shatter. You are all hooked up to wires. You are covered in cuts and bruises, your left leg is wrapped possibly broken or a sprain and your right wrist is the same. You are topless with a bandage covering your whole chest, that really must not be good. You look so broken, all I want is to put you back together. I quickly ran over to you and sit in the chair that is placed next to your bed, and put your hand in mine. I am a mess I can feel my heart beating erratically, I just need you to be okay. “Please be okay baby, please wake up baby. Please y/n I love you”.

I sit with you for a couple of hours, just looking at you all over. Even with you looking all battered and bruised you are still the most beautiful women in my eyes. Your doctor came in to do his checks. I stood away from you as he did his checks to give him space. I look down and play with my hair feeling so hopeless. “What happened doc? Is she going to be okay?”

The doctor gave me a sympathetic look “I believe she had a car accident, swerved off the road and I think the car must of flipped a couple of times by looking at her injuries. She has a fractured leg, sprained wrist, couple of bruised ribs and her lung collapsed. She had a lot of internal bleeding and she smacked her head a couple of times so until she wakes up we generally cannot determine how severe her injuries are. We wanted to run a couple of CT scans however we really do not like running those for women in her condition, so it will be best for her to wake up first for us to examine her.”. I am so confused at those words. “A women in her condition what does that mean? What because she is so fragile?” I asked the doctor.

The doctor shakes his head, “No we do not like running scans on those who are pregnant”, I am taken aback by that statement. “Wait she is pregnant?” I asked with concern in my voice. My next thought is about the baby “Is the baby okay? You know because of the accident”. This is when the nurse in the room buts in “The baby is okay from what we can see, she is still really early on in the pregnancy but the heartbeat seems stable and the scan showed no current concerns. Did you not know about the pregnancy? Did you know if she knew?”

“No I had no idea she was pregnant I cannot believe it, she might of known but we haven’t been on the best terms recently so I am not sure if she knows I am sorry.” The nurse gives me a reassurance smile. “Visiting times are almost over however if you want to stay tonight we can get you a fold out bed so you can sleep here? She will need someone here once she wakes up” I nod at response to her question. I haven’t slept next to you in just over 6 weeks, I cannot believe your pregnant. Is it mine? Did you know? What were you doing in Manchester? Where you coming to tell me? All these things are rolling through my head. Once the nurse brought the bed in, I set myself out. It really wasn’t a comfortable bed but it was nice laying next to you, with your hand in my mine. My head is a mess, once the nurse leaves I left all my tears roll out as I slowly close my eyes. My mind goes back to the day we broke up.

I finished training early to come and surprise you, I even went to buy some flowers for you on the way home. I love seeing your smile and I know you love the little things like this. As I walk through the door, I was expecting to see you greeting me at the door, or see you singing away as you are doing things around the house, but today I am met with silence. Something felt wrong. As I walk into the living room I look at you and can see the tears in your eyes, by the look of your puffy eyes you have been crying a little while.

I quickly put the flowers down and sat by your side “whats wrong baby? Is everything okay?” I went to put my arms around you to comfort you, but as I do this you wiggle away from me and just stare straight into my arms. You look so vulnerable and scared, I am worried with what has happened. It must have been something bad for you to be in this state. “Please tell me its not true?” which I can hear the worry in your voice.

“Whats not true?” I say acting dumb, surely you cannot know. There is no way you can know. “Where did you stay the other night?” You choak out, I can see you really struggling to get your words out as you are focusing more on your breathing. “what do you mean? What night?” I am still trying to act dumb, I knew exactly what you were talking about.

“The night you went out to get drunk, you said you bumped into Jaz and ended up staying with her. I was just on facetime to her, and summer was saying how she was so excited to see you as she hasn’t seen you in ages, when I said that you stayed there the other night she was confused and said you didn’t stay and said I was silly”. Shit I thought I have been caught.

“Summer wouldn’t of seen me, I was up before Summer left that’s probably why.” I say pleading trying to defuse the situation. I hoped you couldn’t see through my lie. “well you text me at midday to say you were leaving so Summer would of seen you surely. This isn’t making sense Mason”. I can see the tears slowly streaming down your face, I can see you adding it all up. “I- um- I-um” I wasn’t sure what to say I have been caught in my lie.

“The thing is Mason, after this I logged into your emails and I saw an email receipt for a hotel that night.. I wouldn’t be too worried about that but why lie to me about staying with Jaz if you got a hotel? See I thought this was really weird so I logged onto your Instagram I know I shouldn’t of but I knew you would lie like you are now. That’s when I saw the messages Mason, from that girl thanking you for a sexy night, and you telling her to keep it quiet, and her asking for money to keep quiet, which you fucking paid Mason. You  rather pay her that stupid money then tell me the truth! You are a fucking coward Mount!” Your sadness has now turned to anger.  I can feel your heart breaking.

“3 years Mason, 3 fucking years! And you just cheated on me seriously!, I-I-I cannot believe it”. You are now in full on tears, I don’t even know what to say, I just wanted to take it all back. The way you are breaking because of me, I cannot believe I have been so stupid. “I-I am sorry y/n, it was a mistake. We had that fat argument and then you said that if I walked out the house then do not bother coming back. I thought I lost you, I-I went out with the guys I was smashed. When I woke up in the morning I woke up next to this girl. I don’t even remember the night. Please it meant nothing to me” I am pleading now, I will do anything to make it okay. “The thing is Mase, she meant enough for it to ruin our relationship” You gave me a small sad smile. “and you had the nerve to hide it from me. I know we fought but I sat here all night alone crying hoping you would come home to sort it out, while you were there fucking another girl. I guess I just cared more about the relationship then you do”.

You stood up and start walking towards the door, I quickly run to reach you. As I am stood eye to eye with you I am not sure what to do. I quickly grab you and push my lips to you with force trying to force you not to leave. You push my away and give me a small slap across the cheek which makes me back away. “I love you y/n please don’t do this” I say sobbing. “I didn’t do this Mase, you did. You and the girl did this, you broke us.” I hate myself so much how have I lost her. “Please y/n I will do anything to make this better. Please do not leave me, I will get on my hands and knees and beg please” I have now lost all pride and kneeling in front of you grabbing your hands, begging for you not to leave. I can see the tears streaming down your face which I am sure you can see the tears staining my face as well. I am a mess. You shake your head. “Please Mase don’t do this, if you love me you will let me go” at this I start crying more, this puts me in a dilemma because I love you more then anything but I do not want you to go. I know I have to let you leave, I did this I need to let you go. I let go of your hands and stand up so we are facing eachother again. I can see you are trying to control your breathing to stop you from hyperventilating. You nod and can see you sniffling trying to compose yourself. “Thank you.. I will get someone to come and grab my stuff. Goodbye Mase.”

I watch you walk out the door as I can feel my heart shatter, I cannot believe that I have just lost you like that. That was the last time I saw or spoke to you. I tried to message you but you always ignored me. I haven’t spoken to you in 6 weeks.

I am woken up to the sound of you choking, as I slowly open my eyes and adjust them quickly to the bright light I quickly remember where I am. I quickly shout for a nurse who comes in and removes the tube out of your throat and she explains to you what has happened. You look so scared, you were always so brave and at this time seeing the pain in your eyes, shatters me I just wish I could take all the pain away. As the nurse leaves, you try and say something but your mouth is so dry it comes out raspy. I quickly grab you the glass of water on your side and put the straw to your mouth, I watch as your swallow the whole glass.

“What are you doing here Mason?” I was pretty much excepting that to be your first question. “They called me, they said they tried to call your parents but there was no answer so they rang me as I was your registered next of kin as well”. You nod your head and look at your body assessing your wounds. You try and sit up and wince, I am quick to respond “Are you okay? You in pain I can go get the nurse? I can get them to give you more pain meds? Did you want help sitting up?” I blurted out. “whoah, that’s a lot of questions. The nurse said a minute ago I am on the highest pain meds so I do not think they going to give me anymore. But yes please if you could help me sit up that would be amazing”. You say trying to give me a smile but due to the injuries on your cheek you cannot smile too wide. I nod and wrap my arms around your back and slowly lift you up the bed trying my hardest to be as painless as possible.

Once you are seated in bed, I take the seat next to you. “What do you remember? What happened y/n? Why are you in Manchester?” I see your body start to stiffen as you are reliving the memory of what happened. “I-uh-I-Uh umm my parents are on holiday which is why they didn’t answer the phone, which I am glad they didn’t answer otherwise they would already be on the flight home by now” you give a small giggle which I can see hurts your chest. “I have something I needed to speak to you about, I thought if I messaged you out the blue or rang you, you would want to talk then and I would chicken out. So I thought if I just turned up at your house then I wouldn’t be able to back out. It was so wet and such a hard drive. I was literally only 10 minutes away from yours when the car skidded, I lost complete control and next thing you know this car crashed into the side of me. The car flipped a couple of times, then I woke up here”. I can see the tears roll down your face, I can see the fear in your eyes are you telling it back. I quickly stand up and wipe your tears away with my thump as I cup your face. “I guess I still have that thing to talk to you about”.

“I know” I responded, which I looked at the confusion on your face. “What do you mean you know?” you ask.

“When the doctor came in to explain about your condition to me, they explained they did not want to do a Scan due to your ‘condition’. They told me you are pregnant? Is it mine?” At that last part, I see your eyes get wide you look angry. “Are you serious Mount! You are the one who cheated not me. Its been 6 weeks of course I haven’t been with anyone else. I don’t know what you have been doing since we broke up, but I definitely haven’t been sleeping around. I cannot believe you Mason that you really think the baby isn’t yours and agrrr shit”. I hear you wince in pain as you grab your side. My face suddenly softens as I suddenly stand up, hoping you will give me an idea on how I make you feel better. I grab your wounded hands in mine. Your eyes look up at me this time a lot softer “Is the baby okay? Did it get hurt?” You say looking down at your stomach and slowing rubbing it. “No.. our baby is a fighter. They said the heartbeat is strong and everything looks okay at the moment”.  I watch the relieve in your face as I confirm the baby is okay.

“I know what happened between us, and whatever you want to do about us is completely your choice. But I promise you I will be here for this baby, I always wanted you to be the mother of my child and knowing you are bringing my first child into this world. Wow I couldn’t love you more if I tried y/n. Please let me be a dad, please let me be here for you both because I know I let you down, but I promise I will never let our child down, and I will spend everyday making it up to you. Please just give me a chance please.”

As you begin to answer the nurse comes in “hiya.. sorry to interrupt. I just want to let you know miss y/l/n that you and baby are doing well. There are no internal injuries which is good. We want to keep you for a couple of nights for observation but you should be free to go within the next couple of days. The only thing is you need to be released to someone, we cannot let you go home on your own due to the head injury. I am not one to gossip but I know you two are not together anymore, but are you going home with him or do you need us to call someone else for you?” I see you look at me not knowing what to answer. Your parents are away and I know you do not have many other close people to call. Of course you are coming back with me.

“She is coming home with me, I can look after her”. I said with authority. Which the nurse looks at you for conformation which you nod and she gives us a smile and walks away. “Thank you Mase, but honestly it will be fine. I will call my sister or something. I do not even have any clothes or anything. I didn’t pack a bag to come, I just kind of got in the car and drove. Honestly its fine, I need to go home”.

“Stop y/n, you are in a lot of pain, I will take care of you. I will buy you everything you need. I will bring you my clothes to wear as I know you will be comfortable in them for now. Please you know it makes sense, I am not far from the hospital. Then when you get a bit better and your parents are back from holiday then I will drive you home okay, please y/n you know it makes sense.”  I watch you contemplate the options which you know this is the best one.

“Okay thank you Mase”. I smile and explain that I am just going to pop home to get changed as I am still in my outfit from yesterday and grab some bits for you. You stop me as I am leaving. “Mase this doesn’t change anything, just because I am helpless right now and carrying your child doesn’t take back what happened. You still cheated, you still broke my heart Mase. I love you more then anything but I need to protect myself.” I nod agreeing with you. “I know baby, just you focus on resting up and getting better and building the best home for our bubba okay. Our relationship stuff will still be here tomorrow okay.” I wink at you, which you lay your head back on the bed.

As I walk out the hospital, I feel a sudden sense of everything. Relief that you are okay, excitement for the baby,  anticipation of what is going to happen between us. But for now, you and baby are okay and you are coming home with me that’s all I could want for now. All I need to focus on is winning you back. How hard could that be?

You can read Part 2 here

[moremaybank]

'TIL DEATH DO US PART — r.c

pairing rafe cameron x fem!reader

summary the night before your wedding, rafe reminds you that you'll always belong to him

warnings 18+, unprotected sex, semi-public sex, cheating, breeding kink (ish), creampie, language

author's note heyyy new layouttt. also i accidentally deleted the request for this bc i'm an actual idiot. don't hate me pls

rafe masterlist

Your rehearsal dinner looks like something out of a movie. A soft, warm light is cast around the room, reflecting off the chandelier hanging from the centre of the ceiling beautifully. The hall is jam-packed with almost every kook on the island, who are all dressed to the nines and engaging in small talk. 

You spot your fiancé Jackson across the way, catching up with some of his old friends from college. He throws his head back in laughter, assumably in response to a joke, and you smile at how happy he looks. 

A year ago, you never would’ve imagined that you’d find yourself engaged to Jackson. Truthfully, you only ever saw yourself marrying a certain Cameron boy. But things change. You still aren't sure for better or worse, but they have nonetheless. 

Deciding that you need another drink after thinking about he who shall not be named, you navigate through the crowd in pursuit of the bar. 

“A shot of tequila, please.” 

The bartender nods, grabbing a shot glass off one of the shelves and topping it up. You bid him a thank you and quickly down the contents of the small glass. You shut your eyes at the slight burn, feeling the warmth make its way down your system. You let it wash away the memories of him. Even after all this time, you can still feel his hands on you and his soul intertwined with yours, as if he left an imprint on you forever. 

He branded you, and you’ll never forget it, not even when you’re married to Jackson. 

You know it’s horrible. It’s awful. Jackson is an incredible guy. He’s everything Rafe isn’t, everything Rafe could never be, and you can see yourself being happy with him for the rest of your life. But even so, deep down, you still yearn for the imperfection and flawed love that came with being Rafe’s. 

You request another shot, knocking it back faster than your brain can process. The guilt is eating you alive, and you’re desperate to kill it. You shouldn’t be thinking about him. Not here, not now, and certainly not with your poor, unknowing fiancé across the room.

“Rough night?”

A chill runs down your spine, and goosebumps prick at your skin. It’s as if your senses have just come alive at the mere sound of his voice. 

You prepare yourself, shutting your eyes and taking a deep breath before turning around to face him.

There he is, standing in all his devilishly handsome glory. His eyes are as icy and blue as ever, his sharp features already making you weak in the knees. His body is clad in a perfectly tailored Armani suit, with dress shoes to match. 

It’s shameful to admit, but he looks gorgeous. Then again, when does he not?

“What the hell are you doing here?” 

He inches closer to you, his dress shoes lightly clacking against the marble tiles of the floor. “Relax, princess. I just came here to give you your wedding gift, seeing as I’m not invited to the actual wedding.”

“You weren’t invited here, either. If Jackson sees you—”

“—Let him see me. I don’t care.”

Same old Rafe Cameron, you think, cocky as ever.

“You can’t be here, Rafe. I’m not going to let you ruin this for me.” 

Your hands find his arms, and you spin him around before shoving him and making a beeline for the doors. You locate the nearest restroom and push him inside, locking the door behind the two of you.

“I gotta say, I’m not feeling very welcome here,” Rafe notes. 

“That’s because you aren’t. You know Jackson has always felt insecure about our past. It’s not fair of you to come here and try to stir the pot the night before our wedding. You have to go, Rafe.”

Rafe’s eyes trail down your form. The dress you’re wearing outlines your curves perfectly. Your arms are crossed against your chest, further accentuating your cleavage. Thanks to the heels strapped around your ankles, your legs look longer, and you’re glowing more than ever.

“You look stunning,” he notes, rubbing his fingers against his lips as he drinks you in. 

“Why are you here? Seriously.” 

“C’mon, baby. You didn’t think I’d let you marry that fucker without getting one last taste of what’s mine, did you?” 

A sinister-like smirk plasters itself on his face when he notices your stern expression falter, and he knows his words are having the desired effect on you. 

“Don’t go there, Rafe,” you say, walking over to the sink and creating more distance between you. You brace your hands on the counter, taking a deep breath and purposely avoiding Rafe’s heated gaze in the mirror's reflection. 

“Why? ‘Cause you’ll jump at the chance?” He asks, stepping closer to you. “I can see it in your eyes, princess. You miss me.”

You scoff, “Actually, I don’t."

“You do. You miss my hands on you,” he whispers. His large hands find your hips. He glides them upward and toward your tits. He cups them over your dress, squeezing them and then revelling in the small, tortured moan you let out. 

His lips brush against the shell of your ear, “You miss my lips on you.” 

Then, his hands slide down to your hips again, pulling your ass against the hard cock in the confinement of his slacks. “And you miss my cock inside of you, fucking you ‘til you’re babbling.”

You can feel yourself growing wet as he rubs against you, and you’re tempted to lean into his touch and give in. But then you think about how wrong this is. Yes, you’re harbouring feelings for your ex, but you’ve never acted on them and never planned to. And so, coming to your senses, you brush him off and turn to face him.

“Go home, Rafe. You…you have to go home.” 

You're barely able to maintain eye contact with him, and you're sure he'll either call your bluff or straight-up ignore your wishes.

“I’m not going anywhere."

Straight-up ignoring, it is.

“Stop it.”

“No,” he simply states. “You’re mine whether you like it or not, don’t you get that? You can’t walk away from this. From me.”

Rafe’s tongue darts out to moisten his lips as he stares down at you, awaiting your next move. He senses your uncertainty. He knows you need him just as much as he needs you, and he can see how hard you’re trying to fight it. 

He’s always loved your fiery persistence.

His gaze intensifies on yours, and before you can speak, his hand slips under the slit of your dress, cupping your wet core through your barely-there panties. The familiar feeling of his cool rings against you makes you shiver, just like old times.

“Look at that. Your pussy’s giving you away, baby. Even she knows you can’t resist me.” 

“Bite me,” you grit out, trying your best not to give him a reaction when his fingers tease your clit. 

“I will. Just remember you asked for it.” His head dips down, and he scrapes his teeth against your jawline, partially making good on his promise.

“You’re impossible. I can’t even look you in the eye right now.”

“Then turn the fuck around,” he says, both hands grabbing you before he spins you around to face the mirror. He hikes your dress up over your hips and tugs your panties to the side. You hear the clinking of his buckle as he undoes his belt, along with the unfastening of his zipper, and before you know it, his cock slams into you without warning. You inhale sharply at the sudden intrusion, and Rafe does nothing to hide the smug look on his face. 

Without allowing you to adjust, he starts to snap his hips against yours quickly and harshly, as if he’s punishing you for even daring to look in another man’s direction. 

“Rafe, fuck,” you whine, your sanity now long gone. Your mouth is wide open as you take his harsh thrusts. He uses this opportunity to fuck the idea into your brain: you will never be rid of him.

“Look how much you missed me. It’s written all over your face. Not to mention, all over my cock,” he grates, referring to the arousal you've coated him in. He goes harder, impaling you balls deep. “So fucking needy. Does he even fuck you right? Get you off? Or are you thinking of me when he tries?”

“Shut the fuck up and make me cum, Rafe.”

“I don’t think you’re in the position to make demands, sweetheart. Not when you’re about to marry a pathetic nobody that can’t make you scream like I can.”

You hate how his words still cut deep, mainly because he’s right. But you don’t want to give him the satisfaction, not when he’s already getting what he wants from you. 

You shut your eyes, trying to ignore him, but Rafe quickly shuts that down. He lands a harsh slap on your ass before gripping your throat. “Nuh-uh. You’re gonna watch me while I fuck you. You need to know that your pussy belongs to me. All your cum and all your orgasms belong to me. Not him. Not anyone else. Me.” 

You stare into his eyes in the mirror’s reflection after opening them back up, biting your lip as you try to keep yourself quiet. 

“There she is. There’s my girl,” he rasps. His hand leaves your throat, slithering down to your clit and rubbing rough circles into it. He feels your knees buckle when he does so, and he doesn’t miss the breathy moan that escapes your lips. “Fuck, I missed those sounds, princess.”

Rafe’s cock jams into a particularly deep spot inside of you, and before you can stop yourself, you yelp loudly. His jaw clenches, and the hand on your clit abandons it to cover your mouth and muffle your noises. 

“Make one more noise, and everyone in the goddamn party will know what a greedy fucking whore you are. One dick just isn’t enough to satisfy my girl, huh?” 

The secrecy and excitement blossoming from your current affair both send you into a spiral. You whimper against the palm of his hand, and you bite down on the skin to silence yourself. He’s reaching immaculate places and making you see stars, and you think that this must be what heaven feels like. You’re not quite sure what to make of the fact that Rafe is bringing paradise to you instead of your loving and faithful fiancé, but all you can focus on is how electrified you feel. 

“Play with your clit. Soak my fucking cock, baby.”

You do, flicking it relentlessly as Rafe fucks you over the edge. You cry into his hand, your breath shaky as your body jerks. The warmth spreads throughout your body, leaving a dewy glow on your skin. 

Rafe releases his hand from your mouth and returns it to your hip to get his own. He pulls you back into him repeatedly, his cock jamming into you and weakening your legs. 

“I’m going to cum right inside this pussy. Imagine if you were walking around on your wedding day with my baby in there. I think you’d fucking love that,” he grunts, getting himself worked up even further. Your walls flutter around him, thanks to his filthy mouth. He chuckles breathlessly, “That’s what I fucking thought.”

You reach behind you, grabbing his balls and massaging them in your hand. You feel his cock twitch inside you, followed by the heat of his cum shooting into your walls and painting them white. Rafe rides out his orgasm, and once he calms down, he pulls out of you. He moves your panties back into place and pulls your dress back down before tapping your butt with his index and middle finger.

“Now run back out there to your loser fiancé with my cum dripping down your thighs. Congratulations on the wedding.” 

updated rafe taglist (join here!): @pankowperfection @tinyluvs @oncasette @rafesmoon @hopesdadswife @taintedxkisses @maybankslover @goldenroutledge @penny4yourthoughts @bmo-bri @hemogloban @princessbetsy123-blog @slytherhoes @whoisdrewstarkey @dreamingwithrafe @vigilanteshitposting @twelfthmortalofcrimsonpalace @laineywilsons @sw34terw34ther @adoreyouusugar @rosie-cameron @f4ll-for-you @rafesdirtyslut @tell-me-when-ur-ready @bbycowboi @venomwh0re @cecesrings @cumbuckett @jjmaybankisbae @mvybanks

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi, are there any recommendations you have for me for my writing process? My process is extremely long because I keep getting stuck. Got an idea for a conflict, okay. Stuck on fleshing that out. Eventually done. Stuck on my characters, who they are, and their roles. Finally get that done. But now I need to figure out backstory. Stuck. Figure out the plotline/solution to the conflict. Stuck. It's MONTHS between these steps of writing a story. I'm on the verge of giving up...

Slow and Clunky Writing Process

Please don't give up. The world needs the stories only you can tell. ♥

There is so much information out there about plot, story structure, conflict, goals, outlining, backstory, plot points, pacing, theme, character arc... blah, blah, blah... it can get incredibly overwhelming, especially if you can't seem to get to point of actually writing the story.

Having said that, I think it's so, soooo important to know that you don't actually have to worry so much about that stuff at the beginning.

The truth of the matter is, your first stories are probably not going to be the stories you publish. That doesn't mean you can't publish them, it's just that most of us will write two or three, maybe four or five stories before we write one that's good enough to share. As a result, what typically happens is you get a little bit better at all of those things (conflict, pacing, character arc, etc.) with every story you write. Keep learning about those things as you go, and try your best to incorporate them into each story, but you shouldn't be looking for a level of perfection that they hold you back.

Think of it like this: if you decided you wanted to build your own home, you wouldn't read a bunch of blog posts and books about home construction, maybe take a workshop or two, and then start building, expecting to build a house you could actually live in. Instead, you'd probably start by building some smaller structures... maybe a dog house, a patio with pergola, maybe help a friend split a big room in their house into two rooms. You'd take on smaller projects to put your budding skills to use and practice them. Then, when you got really good at everything, you might be ready to build your house.

Writing is the same way. You can't take all of that information and pour it into a perfect, flawless story in one go round. It's too hard, too overwhelming, and you never get a chance to actually hone your budding skills.

So, start by just writing the stories you want to write... just for fun... just to practice your skills. Don't worry if your conflict isn't perfectly fleshed out. Don't worry if your pacing is wonky or your character arc is unsatisfactory. Focus first on just writing the story. Then, you can hone your revision skills by trying to improve those things once the first draft is complete. Put the story through two or three revisions, and you're really sharpening those skills. When you go to write and revise the next story, it's going to be a little bit easier.

You'll know when you get to a point where you've written something that's publishable. You'll still need to do two or three revisions to get it where it needs to be, but the whole process will be much easier.

And one last thing: don't worry about backstory unless it's critical for helping the reader understand the world of the story, the conflict, or who the character is/why they do what they do. ♥

Happy writing! I promise it gets easier!!!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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