#pls note that i did not create any of the images in this post

[felassan]

[source (Senior Reporter at Kotaku), linked Kotaku article, two, 'FC 24's performance link', three, four, @/N7SeveranceDay (source of the last two images, "Account supporting BioWare employees laid off in 2023."), five, six, Polygon tweet, Polygon article]

"BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance" statement transcript:

“BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance On August 23 of this year, BioWare eliminated “approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. Following the layoffs, seven ex-BioWare employees engaged the services of R. Alex Kennedy to represent their interests, stating that the amount of severance offered was insufficient under Alberta common law. Counsel for the employees has attempted to reach a compromise that would avoid requiring lengthy court proceedings, but BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court. The basis of Kennedy’s claim is that according to Alberta precedents and under Canadian law, these employees should be receiving approximately 1.7 months of severance per year of service they gave to BioWare. BioWare has now filed a Statement of Defence, which argues that the seven terminated employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year spent in service to BioWare, because of a contract provision that Kennedy says is not enforceable. The filing means BioWare will be taking these former employees to court rather than working towards finding an out of court resolution. The developers involved in the suit have expressed their disappointment: - “We are disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics to fair dealing with people who have given years, and in some cases decades, of dedication and hard work to the company.” - “We believe they are using intimidation and stalling tactics to try and get us to drop out. A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out.” - “At the time of the layoffs, BioWare offered us professional assistance in finding new employment, and an additional payment, but ONLY on the condition that we signed an agreement saying we cannot talk about any details of the settlement, and that we would completely waive any right to legal action or even to complain in any way about anyone associated with BioWare now or ever in the future. Tactics like that sure make me think that BioWare knows it is in the wrong.” - “Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative.” The latest BioWare layoffs were the third round so far this year, and many of the developers affected even in earlier rounds are still searching for work, though some have started to find new positions. Regardless of employment status, the members of the current lawsuit state they remain determined to pursue BioWare in court, regardless of their employment status: - “We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs. Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We’re no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were.” November 7th marks “N7 Day”, which is a fan celebration of BioWare’s Mass Effect games featuring Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag. The ex-employees involved in the suit are all based in Canada and have an average of 14 years at BioWare.”

[source]

You can express your support using the hashtag #N7SeveranceDay.

Edit: [Part 2/update] [more on the Keywords topic]

[miniaturesuitgladiator]

Hi 👋 this is the second chapter of the series I've created. I haven't named the series yet so if you guys have an idea pls tell me. I also appreciate everyone that read my last post. Pls don't be rude I'm still new to writing stories. So if you have any tips let me know!!! Thank you for your time and enjoy!!

Notes: talia is married to bruce. We're gonna act like Jason didn't die and it's ok for him to be seen with the Wayne's.

WARNINGS: Yandere (they aren't really yandere for reader yet.)

You loved church you truly did ,and like anyone else in the would. You observe things that you love. You knew everyone in church. Which wasn't hard because your whole town went. That and the fact that your town was small. The only people that didn't go to church was the people that were just plain bad people at heart ,and even sometimes they went.

They came and left as they pleased and your church welcomed them with open arms ,everytime. Which disappointed your father greatly. Mostly because he's the one that usually had to put them in cuffs when there supposedly good streek was over.

Nevertheless you were also one of the people that welcomed them aslwell. Decideding that everyone deserved a second chance. Anyway, you knew everyone in church by name and address. You even knew what are car they drove.

So image your surprise when there was a new car parked right in front of the church. Right were your father parks. Everyone knew that the parking spaces in the front were especially reserved for the people that helped organize the church. Not even the supposedly bad people at heart parked in your father's parking space.

"What on earth are these people on." Your father says ,and you know your mother's angry by how she doesn't even correct your father on judging people. You cringe at how hard your mother slams the trucks door. Silently you all watch as your mother practically stomps her way into the church.

Now, your mother may have wanted to be early for just about everything ,but she actually had a good reason to be early for church. Your mother was the daughter of the pastor ,and the head manager of the whole church. Everyone knew that.

Your mother was always known as the typical 'preachers daughter' ,but she also did things out of church like ,help with school fundraising ,donate to charities. It was safe to say she was big part of the community. But she didn't do all that to be part of the community. She did it to earn respect. An seeing someone park in the parking space that she's been parking in since she was sixteen and had gotten her first busted up car. Drove her mad. Rightful so, she earned that parking spot ,or atleast she believed she did.

Getting out of your car and walking towards the car that 'stole' your parents parking space. You noticed that it was a very nice car. Like a very ,very nice car. Something that you doubt anyone in you town could afford.

'Maybe their knew and mom will show them mercy.' You think to yourself. They were most definitely rich that was for sure. If they were knew they definitely came to the right place. Everyone important came to this church. So if they wanted to feel included in the community today was the right day. Especially since everyone was going to bring some kind of food to eat at the church ,today.

Everyone in town knew your family. That being said everyone in town knew you. Your grandpa was the pastor, but not only the pastor he's a judge. The only judge that your town has. He was kind as a pastor and a judge. He truly does believe everyone deserves a second chance. He's definitely where you get it from. Your grandma was the towns seamstress everyone knew that if you wanted a dress or a suit you go to her for the best of the best. Unfortunately for them she only made you the best of the best ,and sure others were jealous. But they also wanted to get on her good Side. fortunately for you, you never wore hand me downs dresses. Your grandma wouldn't allow it.

Your father was the sheriff and more often then not he butted heads with your grandpa. Solely because when he would put someone in jail your grandpa would 'turn the other cheek' ,and let them go the next day.

Your father was tall and quite intimidating. He's probably the reason you've never had a boyfriend. It's a small town and it's not hard to see that your the sheriffs baby. Sure your brothers the youngest but your his princess, his angel, his world. And no one wants to get on the sherrifs bad side, especially not with the connects your family has.

Your uncle and aunt are definitely the ones that spoil you the most. With your uncle being the mayor and your aunt being a lawyer. They definitely have some money. Sadly your aunt is infertile ,and their always so busy so they know they won't be able to adopt. So they treat you and riley as their kids. An In their hearts you two are their kids.

You know your family has controll over this town. Not only by what you see but by how people treat you.

Today's no diffrent than any other Sunday except for the fact someone 'stole' your parking space. Just like clock work you walk into the big church door and are greeted with friendly smiles and waves. By now though you can tell the difference between the real ones and the fake ones.

You hug you grandmother and she's excited seeing you wear the dress she made for you. You thank her and decided you should look for your grandfather since he's usually the first one that greets you at the door. How unusual. You walk by the church kitchen and spot your mother and father working on putting some food away. You can just hope your mother's not angry anymore or it'll definitely ruin your sunday.

You smile as you spot your grandfather talking to someone in the hall by the bathrooms. Not wanting to interrupt you simply offer a kind smile to your grandpa and begin to walk to the stage. But your grandpa had other plans. "And this is my granddaughter. " Your grandpa says pointing at you. Feeling awkward you just smile and slightly wave.

"Come say hi to are guest ,sunshine" Your grandpa says motioning with his hand for you to come closer. "Hello" you say with a small wave.. "Hello I'm bruce wayne and this is my wife talia." The man says gently shaking your hand and pointing at his wife. You offer the women a kind smile to which she doesn't retaliate. Shaking her hand she almost looks disgusted by you but you shake it off. Maybe she's just shy. " Well I'm y/n. Nice to meet you." You say and the women simply rolls her eyes. 😁

You suppose your grandpa saw that and got offended for you because of what he says next. "Well sunshine the Wayne's are in need of some land and since are towns land connects right to gotham their trying to by some." Your grandpa had said. It was true your towns land did connect to gotham. But you also knew that other people had already tried to buy land in your town but couldn't. Due to the fact that all the people in your town were plain stubborn.

If you hadn't know your grandpa and your town like the back of your hand you would have thought that your grandpa was just telling you what the Wayne's wanted. But you did know your grandpa ,and town like the back of your hand. You heard the teasing tone in your grandpa's voice and how his smile slightly betrayed him.

To the waynes it was a simple conversation just your grandpa telling you what they were talking about. But between you and your grandpa it was like mocking them. Which you've never seen your grandpa do. Especially not in the church. You knew that the people in your town had a hard time selling cows because of how possessive they are.

Your town was small because of its small number of people ,but it wasn't small in land. No it was quite the opposite ,in land. Your town was probably as big as gotham or maybe even bigger ,in land. Just not in people. And your town liked that. They liked what they owned. They liked having to work hard to keep what they have. Not only for themselves but for their children.

They found confort in knowing everyone in town. So did you. You smile kindly at what your grandpa says playing along in his 'teasing' manner.

"Well, that's exciting." You say staring at the women with the greenest eyes you've ever seen. "Well sunshine why don't you say hi to their children, they do look awfully lonely." Your grandpa says. Looking at their children, all boys ,sadly. Maybe if they were girls you'd have something to talk about ,but their boys. They do look rather lonely or maybe that's what your saying in your head to have some courage to go up to them.

Why your grandpas so sweet to these people you'll never know. You don't want to see these people any longer but you doubt they'll leave before the service and they have kids. Hopefully their kids aren't as rude.

"All right grandpa." You say hoping these people don't hurt your grandpas feelings. Your grandpa did have a sensitive heart after all.

Walking toward the group of boys you had began feeling nervous. What would you talk about. No, what could you talk about. They are nothing like you ,and if they were anything like their mother than you already disliked them.

Maybe it was God listening to you or just luck but before you had reached the boys. You heard someone call your name. To Your surprise it was Lola your bestie. She smiled widely as she waved at you. Quickly changing which direction you were walking you smiled back at her.

"You're actually early today." You say giving her a hug. "I know ,right. My mom wanted to come earlier to help with the food." Lola had said hugging you back. Lola family was usually almost late to church. So you didn't expect to see her so soon ,but oh how grateful you are that she's here today! Today was truly gonna be a good day...

"What were you doing before I came?" Lola asks breaking away from the hug. "Well some knew people came today. So my grandpa wanted me to welcome their kids and make them feel comfortable." You say slightly motioning to were the Wayne's kids are sitting. "So thats who parked in your parking spot ,today. " Lola says kind of shocked. "Yep , my mom was pretty angry." you say kind of laughing. "Well everyones already talking about it." Lola says.

"Do want to come say hi to them with me?" You question hoping she says yes. "Why not." She says shrugging her shoulders. "Come on." she says grabbing your hand and walking towards the wayne children.

Walking up to the group of boys the seem to stop talking about whatever they were talking about. And just stare at you and Lola. Standing in front of the boys your usually extroverted best friends mouth goes dry. You could definitely understand why. I mean these boys practically looked like models.

The silence was just to awkward so you had to swallow all the anxiety that you had and be the first to break it. "Hello my names y/n l/n." You say reaching out to shake their hands. The first boy that reaches out is not the tallest but does look like the oldest. He has black hair and baby blue eyes. "My names Dick." He says shaking your hand with a kind smile. He definitely was a sight to look at.

The next one is definitely the tallest. He has some what of a aggressive presence when you shake his hand and has a white streek in his hair. "The names jason." He says shaking your hand and you can tell he's forcing the smile he's giving you.

The third ones the smallest but you don't think he he's the youngest. "My names Tim Drake." He says gently shaking your hand. You can tell he's the more manned one by how he presents himself. He definitely seems friendly or atleast the less intimidating one.

Then you reach out to shake the last boys hand. He looks the youngest. He also resembles his mother and father the most. You look into his eyes as you shake his hands and notice their just like his mother's. "Damian." He says almost as low as a whisper but you heard what he said.

He looks as if he's glaring at you as you begin to speak but you ignore it. "We'll we just came to welcome you to our church. It's not everyday we get new guests." You say with the kindest smile you can manage.

"Well thank you. The people in gotham aren't nearly as nice as the people in your town are." The boy tim says. With a kind smile matching yours.

Your sure that if you were in a cartoon you'd have heart eyes right now. He was just so pretty.....Snapping yourself out of whatever trance you were in ,you begin to speak.

"Well, we try. So you guys live in gotham?" You say wanting to asking a million questions ,but you don't. "Yeah. Wait you don't know who we are. " The one that's named jason says. You slightly turn to look at him forgetting he was their for a moment. "No?" You say hoping to not embarres yourself. You are the niece of the mayor after all. Your supposed to know some important people.

"Well thats knew." Dick says as he scratches the back of his head. Almost like he's embarrassed that you don't know him. 'Who are these people.' You say in your head. But sadly the last name wayne just doesn't ring a bell. "N/n mama says that you need to help set up the stage." Your brother says running up to you. Thank goodness your brother saved you. You were literally about to pass out from embarrassment.

" ok , riley." You say gentle patting his head. An just as quickly as he came ,he left. "Well we have to go set up the stage ,but I hope you guys enjoy the service." You say grabbing Lolas hand. "Well thanks for talking to us." Dick says awkwardly and everyone slightly cringes at his words.

Finally getting enough distance from the Wayne's it's like you can breath agian. And you suppose Lola feels the same by how she Finally snaps out of the trance she was in. "They were sooooo hot!" Lola says practically jumping up and down.

You snicker at how excited she is. Even though she didn't say a word to them." Yeah hot enough to make you mute." You say. "Can ya blame me they look like angels. Especially the one with the blue eyes and straight hair. " She says walking up the stage stairs. "What was his name agian." She questions " Tim." You say smiling. " Of course you remember. You were practically drooling at him." She taunts but you know she's just teasing. You playfully roll your eyes and smile. "Come on we gotta get everything ready." You say nudging Lola's shoulder. "Yeah ,yeah gotta make sure everything's perfect for your future husband." Lola says nudging you back.

--------------------20 minutes later--------------------

They service began soon enough. You watched from you seat behind the preacher were all the choir members sit. You watch as everyone takes their seats and watch as the Wayne's sit near the front. You can practically feel your mother's anger from were you are. The guest never sit up front. Never.

Your grandpa began to preach as he usually did. With confidence and pride. You can tell he loved what he did and you admired him for that. While some might say that this was the best service your grandpa ever preached. The Wayne's seemed to differ. The Wayne's were obviously different then the people in your town ,but did they have to look like they were in pain while your grandpa preaches?

Soon enough it was your choirs time to sing the closing songs. You sang with confidence and peace as you usually did. But you couldnt shake the shiver that ran down your spine as you saw the Wayne's families eyes stare at you like you were an object.

Like you were prey.

You obviously don't understand that, that's what you are to them. Prey.

-💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗-

Thanks for reading!!!!!

[oneluckydragon]

got hit with the echo+sora brainrot so i am once more rambling in your askbox about it. because reasons.

anywho i think there is something truly saddening about echo's struggles to make peace within herself and how she truly finds it hard to find that peace when she is so certain that if the truth about her origins were to be revealed to the world, much less to *sora*, everything she achieved, everything she worked for, all of which matters to her most, will crumble away in a moment's notice.

but the fear of losing all your life's work is none compared to the fear of losing sora. the feeling of poison that settled itself within themselves and between each other out of fear and tragedy of what had happened to them is familiar. echo's resemblance to dusknoir was already enough to set the two off because of how much it had all hurt to see someone you love and yourself turn into a mockery and a splitting image of someone who had pretended to care yet showed he never did at all, but this poison is louder. it hurts to bare, to carry, and to have none but yourself to be its sole holder.

but this poison, this feeling of heartache is different. because whereas the previous pain was something both of them felt, sora was lucky enough to not have known the truth about the person who she cares for so dearly.

echo knows that she used to be darkrai. and it haunts her to have known that her previous incarnation was so *cruel*, all for the sake of it just feeling right. wishing to engulf an entire world in darkness, solely for whatever desire she used to have.

and for how much she knows, how much she will hammer it into her own head that she is *not* like that anymore, that she looks at her past with sneer and disgust and that she will not be the barer of evil anymore, it will not matter in the slightest when she will have to look at sora if she were to ever find out.

how afraid, angry and dejected she would look when finding out, and how she will go on the defense/offense because of how much this will overwhelm her.

because when echo looks at her own shadow, she sees herself for what she is. she knows what she is, be it out of shame or guilt.

but when sora will look at it, she will see a tall, contorting and menacing shadow, towering over with a bright cyan eye doing nothing but looking at her, as if tempting her to make the next move.

and she defends herself. from someone she knows will not harm her. she raises her arms up in self defense from a hand that would never hurt her more than the world has already did.

she knows echo will not hurt her. and thats why she is afraid.

Oh my oh my OH MY, Sinnoh!!! YES YES YES!

HOW!!! IN THE WORLD!!! Are you so good at crawling into my head and creating these vivid analysis/snippets on my OCs??? I've barely shared ANY information about Echo and Sora because I've been wanting to hoard most of my stuff for when my fic is finally finished... but... I think you've broken my resolve a bit, if I'm entirely honest.

You know what? I'm so inspired by your accuracy and eagerness to talk about my girls that I'm gonna forgo my crippling anxiety regarding my writing skills and instead post a snippet of my WIP fic here as a treat for you. A teaser, if you will. Since I have no idea when the fic in question will actually be done and ready (or when I will be satisfied with it, cause the thing is currently 36,000 words and still slowly climbing). And now you've got me eager to share SOMETHING of my fic with you and anyone that might want to take a peek at it.

Please enjoy this conversation between Dusknoir and Echo. The topic deals a lot with what you'd described up above!! c:

[Note: this is an unedited part of my fic because I am still in the process of writing and it may change in the future, so please be gentle w/ me but I'd love to read any thoughts/comments that pop up while reading!! pls send asks or replies or anything really cause I love you guys]

+++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++

“I’m going to tell you something now, and you are going to listen.” Echo commands with a sharp bite in her voice that Dusknoir cannot fathom ignoring. He pauses and then offers a slow nod, waiting, wondering what she could possibly desire to tell him at a time like this, of all things.

Minutes pass as Echo remains rooted in place, still as her own shadow, and her eyes dart around as she stares at the patches of dry grass and sand beneath her paws. Her claws clench and unclench, digging into the earth like daggers as the wind of the forest (it’s trees so close, just behind them, a looming sort of presence that could engulf them whole) whistles through the surrounding branches, carrying stray leaves of many bright greens through the chilling breeze. Dusknoir watches them dance around Echo, twirling, floating down, down, down… but it’s quiet, too quiet, and Dusknoir feels a shiver pass through him when Echo’s voice finally rings out through the silence.

"When I evolved, Sora was petrified," She says, nearly a whisper, an admission that melts away her confidence and appears to bring her a flood of both shame and regret. Her face twists up then, strangely, like she’d felt a twinge of pain from somewhere deep inside the very fabric of her own soul and was unable to quell it. "She couldn’t even bring herself to look at me most days. At first, my appearance… well, it reminded her too much of you. And eventually of someone I used to be.”

Someone I used to be. At that, Dusknoir’s immediate reaction is to recall Echo’s previous life as a human, as the miserable shell of a creature surviving alongside Grovyle that he’d relentlessly hunted in the dark future. A human made of contempt and anger and apathy, who never smiled or laughed or cried or screamed like the old legends said humans would-- an entity that simply existed rather than lived. An echo of a life long dead and buried. But, judging by her tone, by her voice, by some uneasy intuition itching in the back of his mind like a swarm of pestilent Ninjask… he knows that she means something else entirely. Something that she isn’t willing to share. And frankly, that concept utterly terrifies him.

Someone I used to be. Dusknoir wants to speak, to break his own silence, wants to ask the myriad of questions bubbling up in his throat because this isn't the first time she's hinted at another life beyond being human, but those questions die at the source like a flame doused in water. And always the coward, coward, coward, instead he takes the easy way out by doing nothing at all. Whether Echo notices his surge of inner conflict or not-- the nervous wring of his hands and the tremble in his spine that he cannot control under her gaze-- she does not react.

“I’d take a step and Sora would flinch away.” Echo confesses, her markings flickering with light before going dark and dead, as if her body wished to snuff them out entirely, a deep seated rejection, a self-loathing so strong that Dusknoir cannot help but recognize it and empathize, and his heart aches, “It took ages for her to stop shaking when I’d speak. To stop looking at me like-- like I was going to…” 

Echo grimaces like she’s enduring waves of grueling torture and doesn’t finish that string of thought, but it’s not hard to make an educated guess on what went unsaid. Like I was going to betray her. Hurt her. Break her heart. She’s been through so much already and I couldn’t bear to be another influence in the history of her suffering. I hate myself because of how I made her feel. When her eyes went wide in fear and through them I could see myself staring back like some sort of burden, some sort of curse.

“I am not my past.” Proud and true, Echo straightens up and holds her head high, a spark igniting in her eyes, a glint of determination, a will to keep going and going despite such circumstances and strife, despite this horrid, unspeakable past that haunts her so, “And I am definitely not you. It’s taken a while, but I know that much now. I’ve accepted it.”

I am not my past. And I am definitely not you.

A sigh, a breath, and Echo glances at him with a certain sorrow that cannot be described, a sorrow that lingers even through the veil of her tenacity, "But no matter how I feel, no matter my conviction, my shadows still find ways through the cracks. Every time I think I'm getting a grip and that I might finally understand myself… I change all over again." She admits, sounding more angry and tired than defeated now-- like a mirror of her old self, her human self that had clawed and damned and cursed him, despised him more than anything. "I hate it. I hate that I never truly know who I am. That I have to learn about my past through stories others tell me, or through fragments of twisted, broken memories that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Through conflict and pain and… and..."

"Echo," Dusknoir murmurs her name softly, an offering, a potential escape if only she would wish to drop the subject and forget this conversation had ever happened-- if she'd overstepped and needed an excuse to back out, a diversion, an understanding. And briefly, Dusknoir wonders why she is opening up about this particular information, why she would delve into something so vulnerable, so personal. Why she would bring up this hurtful history when it obviously brings her great discomfort.

And then, he gets an answer.

“You’re lucky, Dusknoir." There it is, that wildfire burning in her eyes again. A spark that’s new and bold and startling. But lucky? No, never. He'd have to disagree, accounting the mountain of evidence that was his life and regrettable deeds.

"You already know exactly who you are and what you’ve done, and most importantly why. You have more than a tattered picture of yourself that reflects broken answers. And you can change with that knowledge. I see you trying.” She tells him, searching, looking for something so deeply and Dusknoir wishes he knew what it could be so that he could give it to her, because he would, he would gladly give it to her without a second thought if it meant they could be close again. But he isn’t a fool, and he’s wise enough to know they’ll never be like they were before. “And if somehow I could change, even as half-assed as I have. Well, then what’s your excuse?”

You can do it, say her unspoken words, I believe in you.

[writefightandflightclub]

Santi saying “Right there, huh? That’s the spot?”🥵😢

Thank Me Later: Santiago “Pope” Garcia x fem!reader

Rating: EXPLICIT. 18+ ONLY. Do not read further or engage unless you are over 18. ⚠️

Summary: your friend knew exactly what she was doing seating you next to this guy called “Pope” at her wedding. He’s ever so clearly trouble. However, given you’re in the mood to be trouble right back, you can’t stay mad at your friend for long.

Genre: smutty!

Warnings: finger-banging, mainly. Alcohol consumption. Restroom at a wedding deviance. Reader has a brother - but no descriptions.

GIF: by @uomo-accattivante (pls tell me if you’d like me to remove this!)

Author’s note: this is a rather quick one, written in snippets over my work breaks. Honestly, I’ve been getting too in my head about writing (or at least posting) any smut lately, so I hope you enjoy this! (Anon, I hope I did this glorious prompt justice! Thanks for sending it to me! 🧡)

You quaff some more of the table fizz, despite the fact you succumb to a grimace of distaste every time you take a sip. It’s so vile you swear it’s an outright act of evil that your friend - the bride - chose this concoction for her special day.

“Not hitting the spot, huh?”

You blink at the handsome man seated to your left, cursing your friend all over again for this seating arrangement. Now that -and you’re counting- is the second direct act of evil committed by her today. Oh, she for sure knew exactly what she was doing when she seated you next to him.

He - Pope, his name is - looks so good in his midnight blue suit that you could believe that he was created for the sole purpose of attending weddings and copping-off with the sexy maid of honour. (That’s you.)

Your friend could even have saved herself a few bucks and plated you up as dessert, you think, since you’ve already turned to jelly under his attentions.

“No it is not. It’s disgusting. It’s practically an act of outright warfare.” His delicious lips twitch around a smile as you continue to rant on the injustice of it all, and -damn him- he continues to listen attentively.

It’s true, that despite your best efforts to ignore him - and his blatant aura of trouble - you’d each relegated the bores seated to your respective left and right to the No Talking Zone. And, in fact, you and he may as well have been seated at a table for two, given you’ve spent the whole three course meal getting to know each other better. Getting, also, to dream up a new position you’d enjoy him taking you in with every passing moment. As you dream up yet another, deliciously sordid images multiplying in your head, a blanketing heat flushes your skin. And, in your attempts to cool off you forget, taking another swig of your damned “drink”, resulting in you grimacing all over again. “But then - she never did have any taste. Look at that complete douche she’s married.”

He looks at your mouth. His gaze briefly dips to your cleavage. His corded throat bobs with warm, roughly hewn laughter. “Isn’t that douche your brother?”

“Uh huh.” That was your friend’s original sin.

Pope eyes you with amusement as you drain your glass, suddenly feeling like you need the courage just to survive him looking directly at you like that.

His flirting -not that you’re complaining- is becoming increasingly brazen. He’s a confident one, this dude. He knows he’s pretty. And, his flirting combined with your gradually depleting better judgement, is a dangerous combination. Almost as dangerous a concoction as this god awful fucking wine.

You skim back over the interaction so far, attempting to consolidate your position. You suddenly think - with horror - back to the moment he’d commented good-naturedly on your evident disdain for the entire institution of marriage. You’d blurted out “Marriage? I’d be grateful just to get laid, honestly. Let’s start there.”

You recall how his gaze had become positively pornographic - his smirk devilish - when he’d responded to your assertion. “Okay. I can definitely work with that.”

He brushes your forearm with his fingers, and his touch crackles along your skin like a lit fuse. It snaps you back to the present moment, your desire urgent and running out of line.

“Well,” he purrs next, continuing his advances. Leaning closer toward you and sending a pleasant shiver shimmying down your spine as his warm breath contacts the shell of your ear. As his fingers skim sensually down your bare arm. “Since the drink’s not working out? I bet I could hit the spot for you.” Pope draws back ever so slightly, allowing you to see the flash of wanton desire sparking in his lust-blown umber eyes.

Christ. He smells good. Smells an awful lot like cologne you’ll be reluctant to shower from your skin later tonight. Smells like someone you’re very much about to fuck in some cramped wedding venue bathroom.

You blink at him wordlessly for a moment as his hand slides on to your thigh, a swallow sinking down your neck. The warmth of him bleeds through your thin, silky dress, his palm easily slipping further up and up without resistance - from you or the fabric. Your mouth drops open with a breathy, eager sigh, and you hate your friend juuuust a little more for getting you into this terrible mess.

“What do you think?�� he intones, his voice thick and packed like crushed velvet. “Wanna find some place a little more quiet?”

“You’re s-serious.” Your voice is full of telltale tremors already, and he’s barely even touched you.

“Oh yeah.” He looks so very pleased with himself already. Doesn’t he? “You’re the most miserable bridesmaid I’ve ever met. Wanna see if I can turn things around for you.” He plays it straight, but you can’t help but note the more gentle, more sincere dose of mirth dancing in his molten eyes - and so, you finally crack your first smile of the entire dinner service. Entirely at his expense.

After all. He might be trouble, but why on earth has he got it in his head that you’re a good idea? “I take it you like a challenge then?” You’re hardly known for your sunny disposition. You’re notoriously hard to please.

Unphased, however, Pope takes your hand in his and, in a gentlemanly fashion, politely raises you to standing. He leans close once again, winding his arm around your middle. “Hermosa.” The sound is abrasive and delicious, almost like rough fingers grazing your skin. It makes you tingle everywhere. “Maybe I just know what’s good for you.”

Well that’s an assertion you’d like to see him back up, and so, you hook your arm in his and pace out - to find somewhere a little more… quiet.

Your friend -traitor- sees you leave arm in arm with him, causing her face to shine with an absurd level of directional glee, her eyebrows reaching towards her hairline first in shock, then pumping suggestively.

Oh, she knew exactly what she was doing alright.

She clearly knows your every weakness, as well as the fact this man is the embodiment of every single one of them. A silver-haired, brown-eyed fox, packaged in a sexy, tailored suit? You were done for the moment you sat down, weren’t you?

Even so, despite your friend’s evident glee at your imminent hook-up, you scowl, shooting her the middle finger as you pass the top table. “Don’t even.”

Hey. You can thank her later; if - and only if- this guy lives up to his own hype.

***

That’s how it happened.

That’s how you had found yourself here like this, pushed up against the tight restroom wall, your right leg hitched up and hooked over Pope’s hip. His corresponding forearm slid along the length of your thigh and his palm curling underneath your ass cheek to support your position.

It’s his other hand though, which has you in all sorts of trouble. It’s his other hand which is sunk knuckle-deep inside you, curling into every sweet spot and dragging delicious, deep, electrifying friction over your walls.

Your arms brace over his shoulders to keep you upright, the leg supporting your weight growing increasingly shaky. Your fingers skim over the soft but crisp cotton of Pope’s shirt, his suit jacket now hung neatly on the peg of the bolted rest room door, and his right-arm shirt sleeve rolled up to his elbow, the veins and muscles in his tan forearm popping as he works himself into you - first with one thick finger, then two.

“Pope,” you protest weakly as he ravages you beyond expectation or comprehension. “There are gonna be after dinner photos. I’m gonna look… fucked.”

“Mmm. Better make it worth it then, huh?” He kisses along your jaw where your head is tipped back against the wall in ecstasy, his stubble leaving a pleasant burning scrape in its wake. His rich, layered scent rubbing off onto your skin.

His mouth latches eagerly over yours and he tongues you with relish, a gruff moan blooming from his throat into the cave of you. He seems to be enjoying you. Enjoying the way his fingers are making you wet enough that he can hear that obscene squelch sound with every pump of his hand. You drink his sounds down, moaning right back into him, your palms slipping down his shirted, shapely chest in almost complete surrender. His impossible jaw working his lips against yours with vigour.

“You gonna get there?” he enquires gently. “Feel good?”

You have no doubt that you’re going to gush all over his practised hand within moments, but you don’t want to give it up quite so easy - if you can help it. “You expect me to be able to cum in this horrible, pokey bathroom?”

“Look at me,” he grits, his deep, dark, brown eyes latched on to yours. He practically growls. Nips your bottom lip in between his teeth until you lightly yowl in protest. “That’s exactly what I expect.” He looks you directly in the eye as his fingers stretch you open, his thumb meticulously nudging and massaging your clit in time with his languid, rhythmic strokes.

It’s good.

God, it’s good.

But now you’re getting too in your head.

What if someone knocks? Hears? What if Auntie Edna need the restroom and- “I can’t!” you protest breathily - in frustration- even as you writhe yourself on his hand, bucking into every long, thick, curling stoke he delivers you, his fingers precise and consistent.

“Fuck. Princesa. Do you ever stop complaining?”

“No.”

And with that, he thrusts a third finger into you, adding a far more insistent pressure against your giving, welcoming walls.

“Mmmmpppphhh,” you muffle then into the junction of his neck, your head falling forward as you give in and succumb to all the sensations he’s bestowing upon you. You bask solely in the steadily building and electric pleasure sparking out from your core. Reaching out to cling to every extremity.

You moan into his neck, huffing hot, grateful breaths against his skin. Licking over each crevice and contour of his throat with the flat of your tongue and press of your lips. Tasting the buzz of his cologne on your tongue.

“Pope,” you plead, though you know not yet quite what you are begging for. You are confident enough now that he will know just what to give you.

Luckily, indeed, Pope truly does seem to know what’s good for you, what you need, and the precise pads of his fingers and the drag of his clumsy knuckles hit a spot inside you which sends white hot sensations blooming out from your middle. The sudden, warm expansion of this pleasure compresses everything else in you, punching an abrupt, abortive moan from your lungs, which dies on your opened lips.

“There you go,” Pope purrs, even more pleased with himself now, his voice all smug honey flecked with grit. Reading you keenly, his fingers repeat their motion, moulding to you just how you need. “Right there, huh? That’s the spot.”

Your eyes roll back in your head as he hits exactly where you want him, rubbing over your swollen arousal; but still, for some reason, you refuse to give him the satisfaction - even if your breathy, undone voice gives it away for free. “Sure. If you say so.”

He grins, still cock-sure of himself, and he bucks the sizeable, straining mass beneath his suit pants zipper up against your thigh for good measure too. You almost clench around his hand from the thought of that -what else he has to offer- alone. Could almost get off just from his big dick energy, which alone feels like it could penetrate you deep enough to count. “Don’t know why you’re fighting it, hermosa. Told you I know what’s good for you.”

He kisses you then; your mouth, your jaw, your neck, your shoulder. The sound is percussive and sweet and slick and in time with the wet, messy noises between your legs, your arousal now dripping down his fingers and pooling in his broad palm, inching down and over his hand.

He groans in disbelief at the feel of you -perhaps at the thought of burying himself in you for some relief of his own- and he hitches your leg a little higher on his hip, hooking your knee over the meat of his pert, ample ass. He braces his sturdy legs slightly, and it marginally adjusts the angle at which he can fuck his fingers up into you.

The slight adjustment is pure bliss, and God. You don’t want him to ever stop touching you like this.

“If you don’t want it, Princesa…” he slowly drags his fingers from your heat, withdrawing this heaven from you only to tease, and in desperation you clamp your hand down on to his veined, sturdy forearm, keeping him in place.

“No! No,” you protest, voice barely above a whisper but no less robust with conviction as you writhe your core on him. “Don’t stop. Right there. Please.”

With a smug, lopsided smirk Pope redoubles his efforts, surging back into your heat, scissoring his fingers slightly to increase the swell and pressure of him inside you. A moan unspools itself from deep within your chest and you bite down on your lip to quell it, your breathing ragged. Mingling with Pope’s own panting - his torn, shredded breaths. Satisfied now, however, that he’s very much about to prove his point, Pope continues where he left off, his fingers delving into you and squeezing your sweet nectar out from around them, filling you up with his girth.

“Uh huh,” you whine and he must feel you tighten around him. Must know how close you are.

“Show me,” he encourages, his voice the stiff rod to your molten core, the only thing keeping you upright; and barely. “Show me how good it feels.”Indeed, you slide all silken - down the wall, down his hand, and it pushes him even deeper.

“Yes.” Your eyes flutter closed. Screw shut. Your moans become unfettered. You let yourself go. “Like that. God. Pope.”

He maintains his pace and his pressure; thank goodness. He does not race you towards an end, but he does guides you there with a gentle, supple hand. And, when his voice comes next, it is to deliver a delicate red ribbon of a phrase, the words unravelling into the shell of your ear and snaking straight down into the depths of you. “Gonna look so good when you cum for me, aren’t you, Princesa? Gonna cum so hard on my fingers?”

You do.

You do.

You implode with pleasure, clamping down around his hand in slow, deep waves, undulating on him until you drag every last vestige of pleasure that you can from out of his touch. You cling on to him for dear life, and he practically has to keep you pinned to the wall with his body to keep you from waning. Wilting.

You drink him in as you convulse, his dark eyes locked on yours, lust-hooded and encouraging. Full of safety. You drink in the sound of him. The moans of his satisfaction at seeing you come apart for him. The mingled scents of cologne and sex and laundry powder - the smell of that crisp white fucking shirt adorning his hot body.

He holds you, making you feel safe and sure as you come down in his arms, still throbbing pleasantly between your legs. Your mouth stays slack with disbelief as he slips his fingers out of your heat, bringing his fingers up to his lips and tasting you with relish as he shoves his own fingers over his supple pink tongue.

“Well done, cariño,” he praises gently before kissing you, slipping the taste of your own juices into your mouth as he tongues you, and the unexpected tenderness of it causes your eyes to brim with emotion. Emotion which you are quick to blink away - hastily, before it can be detected.

You’re sated. Plenty sated. But you already feel to the depths of you that you are not done with this man. You want to taste him too. Satisfy him. Have him take you. Learn him. Hold him.

“D-do you want…?”

You angle your hips towards the substantial bulge at his crotch, and yet his gaze is sincere and gentle all over again. Hosting something deeper than an urgent, consuming hunger.

Gingerly, he hooks your chin with his (oh so talented) forefinger. Flashes you a lopsided smile. “Hermosa. You can thank me later.” He nods over and down - out of the small, square window which peeks out on to the lawn one level below. “I think you’re already late enough for the after dinner photos.”

“Oh shit!”

Pope’s mouth bends with amusement as you scramble to fix yourself up. He unspools some toilet roll and hands it to you so you can clean yourself up, swiping your juices away from between your thighs. He moves ever so seamlessly and calmly around you as you smooth your rumpled dress and hurriedly unsmudge your make-up. And, for his part, he washes up his hands and calmly slips his pristine suit jacket back onto his pleasing form, instantly looking as though nothing at all went down.

You meanwhile, are a dead giveaway. “Uggghhhhhh. Who the fuck has photos after dinner, anyway?” you gripe, and a laugh bobs in Pope’s throat.

“There you go again. Always complaining.”

“Oh shut up,” you snip, already far too fondly. Then, you grab him by the lapels, dragging this delicious man on to your lips. “All that matters, is that I’m going to be very grateful later.”

Your hungry kiss, as well as the clear suggestion in your eyes, leaves Pope stupefied for just a moment. Long enough for you to dash out towards the lawn, at least. Scrambling to take your place.

You are the last out of the wedding party to arrive at the designated spot, but you manage to slot in next to the bride just in time for the photographer to capture you in all your post-orgasm glory.

Of course, as you sidle up to her, though, your friend raises an all too knowing eyebrow. “What took you so long?”

You’d be mad with her blatant scheming, but, given the result, you can’t help the broad grin which erupts over your face. You bump her hip with yours. “Bitch,” you chide, and she emits a wicked chuckle.

“Hussy,” she bites around a mirthful smile. “So. Tell me everything. How did you enjoy your seating arrangement?”

You re-pose as the photographer directs the party, subtly shifting position. “Hmm. Yeah,” you respond mysteriously, knowing it will drive her wild not to have the full story. “Almost enough to make up for the shit wine.”

“That good, huh?”

You erupt into giggles again, this time chaotic enough that you are reprimanded by the photographer. “I love you, bitch,” you whisper to the glowing bride.

“Love you too.”

And, meanwhile, entirely unbeknownst to you, Pope looks on, pleased to see you smiling. He’d even like to think he played a small part in turning that around.

You look beautiful, he thinks. And God. He can’t wait for you to repay the favour.

[iloveyoulinpeckettcomic]

TIPS on drawing BIPOC ocs!

Soooo I recently did a collab with another webcomic creator, if you have seem my last post you know what one : ))

as soon as I saw the wonderful artwork I received I noticed something that felt off to me, it's lin's skintone.

This is my Oc Lin Peckett (main character of my comic I Love you Lin peckett)

I never specified her ethnicity (which is my fault on my part) I thought people might know by her looks that she's a POC. specifically she is black/Mexican mixed (I believe blaxican is the term used sometimes)

here are some examples of people I based her off of aesthetically

they are all people of color, share similar skin tone and hair as her. these images are good inspiration to use!

these women in these pictures are all women who are black/Mexican

I used the eye dropper tool to pick 3 different shades of color for comparison, notice how multiple shades are similar to her skintone

lin has tan skin thats more on the lighter side, sometimes her skin tone changed depending on the lighting but her main color is tan. she has lots of warmer tones compared to cooler tones, so keep it more on the yellow side than red/pink compared to other skintones. you can see a difference between the top and middle one than to the bottom one.

here are some white women to compare lin's skintone to

notice how some are similar to her skin, you might think ok so she's white NOPE, look a second time and notice how the color that matched best with her are the parts of these women's faces that are shaded or shadowed. using these women are not good references and if you notice most of them have more pinker tones, lin has warm toned skin.

heres two pieces of artwork I received recently of my oc lin, (both by wonderfully talented creators I'm grateful to get art from) but notice how bluedragon's artwork is the same as lin's. that's because she used an art programs best friend

the eye dropper tool!

this thingy?

it's literally in every single art program ever created, yes even mspaint

use it if you're not sure what skintone to use on a character!

but back to that drawing, you can see a big difference between the two pieces the one on the left by bluedragon is accurate. and the one on the right is by mk-wizard which has lin is very light skin. which is just not correct lol

so let's use are little friend again (the eye dropper tool) to recolor lin with the skintone used in mk-wizard's artwork. as you can tell it's a BIG difference! lin would be a unseasoned piece of chicken if I colored her like this lol (get it …chicken.. HA)

so my final notes to this long post is, please study the character you are drawing a bit more, ask questions. I know this artist isn't whitewashing lin purposely it's an honest mistake that could be anything from different computer monitors showing up different tones? or them being inexperienced drawing POC? which you have all the time in the world to keep studying while drawing! it's okay to make mistakes and learn from them : )))

also this isn't a "callout post" or anything negative towards the artist, this is simply some advice not just for them but for every artist.

I hope this helped in any way possible? and if I missed anything or made any mistakes pls educate me more on drawing BIPOC! I love to hear advice <3 anyways have a good day and drink some water bye~

[crascet]

X-Men Movie Tier List Update- X-Men: First Class

Set in the swingin' 60s, this film covers the origins of Charles' idea for the X-Men, but this is also more of an origin to Erik as Magneto as well, and the whole relationship between Charles and Erik is the strongest part of this movie. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles and Erik respectively, and both did a great job in these portrayals, especially with the ladder. Any scene involving them just talking to each other are just the best parts of it all. From their first meeting outside Shaw's yacht with Charles telling Erik, "We're not alone," to that spectacular scene of Charles encouraging Erik to not just focusing on anger in using his powers when attempting to turn the huge satellite dish towards them.

Seeing how they develop into the characters we see during the first X-Men movie is great, starting with how Xavier wants coexistence between humans and mutants, but there is still the fact he wants them to be secret and not out with the public, while Erik wants to be more upfront about their existence with wanting to start outright conflicts with them, and the best character that shows this aspect has to be with Raven/Mystique.

Now, I'm aware that some people don't like how the new X-Men movies post Origins have more of a focus towards Raven, but I honestly like how these movies portray her. She first starts out with her human form and throughout the most part of the movie, since that is still the form that Charles prefers her to stay in public compared to her true-blue form, still wanting to keep it as a secret. Erik on the other hand wants Raven to be in her true form as it is the real her, not just some fake image that she has to keep. Hank also does a great job in showing this theme. Hank and Raven seem to hit it off well in the first place, until Hank introduces her the cure for them to look more human, which has Raven doubts herself on wanting look human and decides to not only declining the cure but is a crucial step towards her final decision of staying with Erik and his new brotherhood at the end of the movie (and a way better showing of her compared to TLS).

Hank is a good character here, played well by Nicholas Holt (who will be Lex Luthor in James Gunn's Superman movie next year, so can't wait for that!) and, previously mentioned, is a great part on the themes of the movie. Even though his only deformity is his feet where he can just simply wear shoes to hide it, he wants to create a cure where he can look more normal to people, only for it to backfire, essentially changing everything about him physically to Beast. This actually starts an arc that goes beyond this film into his way of accepting this new form.

The new characters are pretty good too. I like Moira's character in accepting these mutants and how they help in stopping the Hellfire Club, and it's cool to see Banshee in this, although I am disappointed how they're both not Irish in this movie. Come on, where's the Irish representation? (Note: I'm not Irish) It's also cool to see Alex/Havik here since it's always great to see the Summers brothers here and its nice to see an arc where he starts being a bit harsh towards Hank, before being nicer to him. Angel, who is not Warren but a different character here who is also named Angel, however I have heard she is also called Pixie as an alternate name for her, unless I'm mistaken. So, Angel 2 here is alright, even though she joins the Hellfire Club to become the new femme fetale member after Emma Frost was imprisoned by the CIA. Darwin has a cool ability, but it does suck that he died early on, but atleast he went out trying to take out Shaw while still protecting Angel 2. It is messed up how the only black mutant out of the new mutants in the movie is killed off, while the rest are still alive at the end.

Now the Hellfire Club is here are good, but Kevin Bacon did a great job in playing Sebastian Shaw and is a notable part of the group. The whole plot of Shaw wanting to start World War 3, so that the U.S. and the Soviet Union to use nukes to create more mutants and take over the world by actually making the Cuban Missile Crisis happen is a great case of alternate history in superhero films I haven't seen much, with the only one off the top of my head being in Watchmen. It's also great to just have Kevin Bacon be here, pretty much one of my favorite actors.

And of course, there's that cameo scene:

Probably my favorite cameo scene ever!

There is a bit of a continuity error between this and TLS, where Charles and Erik were together when meeting Jean for the first time, but its TLS so who cares.

First Class is a great film that takes my second favorite X-men movie slot, surpassing the first film, but still falling short against X2. Next up, we follow Logan post-TLS, still mourning Jean, as he heads to Japan in The Wolverine.

[txtaetertots]

hellooo all~

i've been feeling kinda icky since last night and i don't feel comfortable updating my au just yet until i address this myself. i hope you don't mind.. and also anyone who didn't know about this i hope you don't get turned off from my aus over this 😭

i've already sent fairybinie a dm about it but i feel like i owe it to their followers to address it to them personally as well because i'm aware they're keeping tabs on me and my smau. i had a feeling that ask i received about my inspiration was a little weird bc people don't normally ask that especially in that manner. thought i was just overthinking it and just brushed it off. but it got the best of me and after some digging i found kdt as well as the asks and comments on fairybinie's blog about me and my smau.

i understand their followers believe my au is plagiarizing fairybinie's au kiss don't tell. and i can totally see how you could assume that given that our synopses are practically identical aside from a few key plot points. same general idea though with the whole hs drama club aspect. and i can assure you that i did not intentionally steal fairybinie's idea. i promise you this was entirely my original idea. it's just a really crazy coincidence i guess.

this idea has been in my drive since 2021. the original idea was slightly different to what i have now but it's still the same main concept. that was last modified a year ago in may 2022. here's a screenshot of the doc details as well as the general idea i had for the fic!

then, january 2023, i revisted the document and drafted the current version in my notes app. i was going to post in january but i was very busy with school so i decided to postpone it until summer when i could ensure i had more time. which is also why a majority of my character profiles list their creation date as january 2023 since.. that's when i created them.. :')

i don't prefer to seek inspiration from reading other people's works (but now i'm thinking i should at least review some when i do get an idea so i can avoid this again bc wow big oof on my end). i usually get it from consuming big media like tv, films, music, etc. which is how i got this idea. i watched movies like hairspray and grease which influenced how the current version of my au came to be.

again. i'm truly so sorry that i've caused so many of you to worry. that was never my intention and i'm sorry it appeared to be that way. and i don't blame any of you for reacting and moving the way you did! it was totally valid and fairybinie is very lucky to have people who care so deeply about their work and efforts. but i hope you accept my explanation and apology or at least understand where im coming from and believe me.

hopefully this doesn't deter anyone from giving my works a chance or continuing to read hopelessly devoted tho.. i was really looking forward to sharing my ideas with you guys but i feel like my name has already been tainted without having a proper chance to even create a name for myself yet 💀 sorrows sorrows

i will be updating my au again soon. had a bit of writers block bc i just could not get this issue out of my head. it felt wrong trying to update and ignore the issue when i know there are people watching me like a hawk with negative connotations. pls don't be mad.. 🥲

((if you don't want to continue reading hopelessly devoted tho i totally understand i mean this isn't the greatest image i've got going on right now but thank you at least for giving me a chance!))

[puddraws]

Adding some extra info to this because I see a lot of people understandably confused about what specific things glaze and nightshade protect against. I am still learning about these technologies so if I get anything wrong here pls let me know and I'll correct it

Examples of glazed and nightshaded artwork under the cut

Glaze

Glaze protects your art primarily against manual, targeted style imitation. This is almost exclusively done using stable diffusion (which is open source and anyone can use) by individuals using a process called fine-tuning to train a sub-model called a LoRA. This is something that has been used to harrass and intimidate digital artists with large followings online such as Karla Ortiz and Sam Yang.

Contrary to what I've seen repeated a lot online, glaze is not invisible. The way the technology works, it can't be, otherwise it would be too easy for it to be stripped from the image say, if it only existed in the metadata. When you run glaze it will give you an option to set the intensity of the protection. The higher the intensity, the more artifacts will be visible. Here's an example of some of my own art that was run through glaze on the slowest speed setting from default intensity up to high:

Nightshade

Nightshade is arguably the more effective option against any type of training, automatic (scraping) or manual (fine-tuning). It works similarly to glaze by visually altering the image. Again, its effects are not invisible and the intensity can be controlled inside the software. A very important difference to glaze though is that nightshade is most effective when the image is accompanied by alt text when posted online. When you run nightshade, first the program will analyse your image to pick one word (or "concept") it thinks best matches what your image depicts. This is the concept that it will poison by changing the image to make it look like something else. When you upload your image online you should use this word in the image alt text or caption for nightshade to be most effective.

Here are some examples of how nightshade looks on its own without also using glaze. For this image the detected keyword was "dog". These were run at the slowest speed setting (render time ~20mins each). Default intensity on the left up to high on the right:

Can these protections be circumvented?

At present I can find no evidence to suggest as much. The developers of Glaze say this on their FAQ:

Isn't it true that Glaze has already been broken/bypassed? No, it has not. Since our initial release of Glaze on March 15, 2023, a number of folks have attempted to break or bypass Glaze. Some attempts were more serious than others. Many detractors did not understand what the mimicry attack was, and instead performed Img2Img transformations on Glazed art (see below). Other, more legitimate attempts to bypass Glaze include a PEZ reverse prompt attack by David Marx, the results of which he posted publicly. Others thought that removing artifacts produced by Glaze was equivalent to bypassing Glaze, and developed pixel-smoothing tools, including AdverseCleaner by Lyumin Zhang, author of ControlNet. A few days after creating the project, he added a note on March 28, 2023 admitting it doesn't work as planned.

For folks interested in detailed test results showing the impact of these attempts to bypass Glaze, please take a look at the official Glaze paper here.

ATTENTION ARTISTS OF TUMBLR

since tumblr is going to start scraping blogs to train ai be sure to glaze and nightshade your art!! Not only will both of these programs protect your art from being copied but nightshade also poisons any ai that tries to steal it

here is some more info on these tools and where you can download them:

Nightshade: Protecting Copyright (uchicago.edu)

Nightshade: Downloads (uchicago.edu)

Glaze - What is Glaze (uchicago.edu)

Glaze - Downloads (uchicago.edu)

[frog-writes-for-fun]

so its pretty much known that youtooz often steals designs & doesn't credit artists (or so i believe), so can you make ranboo getting another youtooz of his own but he isn't aware that his friend, reader, is the OG designer of it? and like- youtooz did the ol' "steal design" thing since reader uploaded a design of a youtooz as a joke, but then boom, an actual youtooz looks like the exact design you uploaded, but youtooz didn't pay you, credit you, or somesort. and then ranboo found out about it, and then ranboo was like "oh, crap, i'm so sorry" and tries to make it up to them, even though reader reassured him that it was okay and that he didn't know? thanks.

they them pls, gn reader

Hello anon! Thanks for the request, I enjoyed writing it!

Ahh… Capitalism

cc!Ranboo x gn!Reader (platonic)

Summary: Y/n, an artist on Twitter, creates a fake merch design. Soon after, one of their friends announces that they are releasing a suspiciously similar piece of merchandise.

Warnings: Capitalism? There’s not really any warnings for this one.

Note: Stealing art is not cool guys! Share and reblog art and fics, don’t repost or steal them!

You had recently reached a follower goal on Twitter. As a thank you, you set up a poll for your next art piece so your audience could vote.

The project was going to be a fake figurine design, but you wanted your followers to pick who it would be for. The options were a few of your friends’ canon characters, and Ranboo won the poll in a landslide.

You ended up quite happy with the final result of your design, and posted it. Before you closed the bird app, the likes started rolling in. You hadn’t tagged Ranboo in the art, assuming he’d see it anyway since you followed each other.

A few days later, you were watching one of your friend’s streams. He was chatting with Tubbo and the viewers while drawing the lore of the Dream SMP and you were only half-listening as you worked on a commission piece.

Something caught your ear and you focused on the stream in time to catch it. Apparently your friend was partnering with YouTooz to release a new figurine.

“‘Can we see it yet?’ Well, chat, they haven’t printed any that I can show you yet.” Ranboo finished the stick figure of his character in MS Paint.

“You should see the concept art chat! It’s really good.” Tubbo sounded excited as he added his commentary.

“I think YouTooz is releasing the art on Twitter tomorrow.” Ranboo switched to a blank canvas. “I could give chat a bit of a spoiler…” He trailed off, seemingly thinking about the pros and cons of showing off the merch.

An image appeared on his canvas, a silhouette of what must be the figure. You looked at it briefly before turning back to your work in progress.

You didn’t plan to linger on the image long, but something stood out to you. It was almost like you’d seen it before, but you couldn’t quite place it. You tried to put it out of your mind, but it kept coming back.

The next day, the full design was posted on Twitter and you immediately realized why it seemed so familiar. That was 100% your art. The artists’ mark you had put in the corner of the canvas had been covered up with the company logo.

Several of your followers had already commented under the post, tagging you and asking YouTooz for artist recognition at the least.

You took a moment to sort through your notifications, trying to figure out what to do about this, when a private message came from Ranboo.

“Hey, y/n, I see you’re being tagged in a lot of comments about the YouTooz. I’m hoping you can straighten this out. Is that your art?”

You quickly replied, saying that it was and attaching the original file with the artist's signature intact.

His response was vaguely panicked, something along the lines of “oh shoot I’m so sorry I can get it taken down if you want or at least get them to pay you or something”

You reassured him: “Hey, you’re fine. You didn’t steal the art, that was the company. Ahh… the joys of capitalism”

As it turns out, he hadn’t seen the art before YouTooz showed it to him as a piece of concept art, since it had gotten lost in his Twitter timeline.

Ranboo was absolutely willing to negotiate with YouTooz to get you proper credit and pay for the work, or even cancel production if you didn’t want your art to be used for that purpose.

He both explained on stream and on Twitter that you were the one responsible for the amazing art that had gotten stolen, and encouraged people to check out your other art.

Ranboo (@ranboosaysstuff)

Hey everyone! This amazing piece of art that was recently used to promote my YouTooz was actually made by my good friend @y/ndraws! Go check them out and give them all the love!

The shoutout definitely gained you a few thousand more followers, so at least something good came of this mess.

[nho-jungle]

DO YOU WRITE MCYT FIC?

DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE PROMOTING YOUR OWN WRITING?

DO YOU HAVE ONE FIC YOU’VE READ THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ?

WELL HAVE I GOT THE EVENT FOR YOU!

hi my name’s mikey, you may have seen me around but im here in your screen rn to tell you about MIKEY’S 1 YEAR FIC REC EXCHANGE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO! (no i will not change the name).

as of january 24th 2022, it will have been an entire year since I posted my first mcyt fic! absolutely bonkers!! i did an exchange like this back in 2020 for a different fandom, and i thought “hey, that went well last time. lets do it again!”

This exchange is for anyone who writes any sort of mcyt fic, as I know fic on tumblr often gets buried. under the cut you can read the rules, but here’s the tl:dr-

send me 2 fics/series’: 1 that you have written and 1 that someone else has written. i will be creating a moodboard and a rec post for every. single. submission. 

if you wish to take part, please reblog this post so that i know people are interested. even if you dont want to take part, it would be nice if you could reblog this post anyway, so more people can see it.

did that catch your interest? well here’s the full in-depth rules!!

HOW TO SUBMIT

send me the link/name + author of 1 fic/series that you have written that you are most proud of. this can be sent via an ask, a submission, or a dm. if you work via a sideblog or wish for me to tag a seperate blog, then give me that url too.

then, send me the link/name + author of 1 fic/series that you have read and you think everyone should read. if the author has a tumblr linked in an obvious place, then i will tag them in the post. 

you have until the 10th of january 2022 to send in your submissions.

GUIDELINES

1) while i am mainly a hermitcraft/empires smp focused blog, you can submit a work for any fandom, as long as it is mcyt! (althought i request that rpf is avoided. i know ao3′s tagging is a mess, but i trust your judgement.)

2) any genre, warnings, or rating is allowed. on the posts i make for each submission, each fic will be fully labelled with everyone you’d see on ao3. for tumblr fics, i will make my own judgement. 

3) no reader insert. i will allow oc’s, but reader insert is a huge personal squick for me. just a personal preference. 

4) fics must be available to read on ao3 or tumblr! i don’t get along with wattpad at all.

5) if you are the co-writer of a fic, you can count that as one of your own, or agree to a shared submission with your co-writer(s).

6) please keep in mind that i have to read every. single. one. of these fics. that’s not to say i am putting a limit on word count, but understand that if the fic is very long then i may only skim read it to get the general vibes.

7) likewise, please try to choose fics that have fairly obvious themes. at the end of the day, moodboards are pictures, and its very difficult to find 9 images to represent 500 words of domestic fluff.  

8) unfinished fics are allowed!! just be aware that if the fic is still in progress then the vibes might change. i am only human. i cant see the future.

9) anonymous submissions are allowed! if you post anonymously on ao3 and wish to remain anonymous, then pls submit your works via an anonymous ask (with an identifying emoji/name if possible). alternatively, you can dm me and state that you wish to remain anonymous. i am just a stranger on the internet, but i promise i wont tell.

10) if a fic has any fanart with it that isn’t linked obviously in the notes somewhere then please send that too. if not, i will be using either just images of the minecraft skins for the moodboards, or any art that i myself have drawn that i feel fits. 

PRIZE

(okay, it’s not a competition, but prize makes it sound more exciting)

each fic will get a rec post, featuring a moodboard made specifically for the fic. it’s obviously not mandatory, but if you take part in the exchange then it would be nice to not only rb your own moodboards, but some of the others as well. after all, this exchange is about promoting people’s hard work!

DEADLINE

moodboards will begin posting on the 24th of january. submissions will close on the 10th of january, as that gives me time to make sure everything is finished. 

please remember that i am only one guy, and a college student at that. i have a life outside of the internet and am, ultimetely, doing this for fun!

EXTRA

final moodboards, as well as any additional information will be posted under the #fr echange 2022 tag. the last time i did this was for bandom fics, but if you want to check out some examples then you can find those in the #fr exchange 2020 tag

[felassan]

Some more on this:

[source, two, three, four, five (Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter links), six, seven, eight, nine]

'EA on the BioWare picket tomorrow [today now]' statement transcript:

"We hope that Keywords and the union are able to resolve their differences but ultimately BioWare has no role in that process. It is our view that any activities targeting our offices are misguided as BioWare is not involved in any way in the negotiations and Epcor Tower has never been a place of employment for Keywords employees."

You can express your support using the hashtag #N7SeveranceDay.

[first post/Part 1]

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 302 Spoiler Thoughts: Y’all Need Therapy

Part 2 of the story that started last chapter and THINGS GOT WORSE!!!  I’m crying through the pain.  There’s a lot going on in this one.  Lots of guilt, lots of abuse, lots of crying, but thankfully some gleam of hope at the end.  A broken family can heal.  This is a step in the right direction.  Though, I’m already seeing the BNHA fandom going up in flames because everyone’s playing the blame game.  I hope I don’t end up accidentally stepping on that landmine after posting this.  Here we go (thoughts are based off summary translations by @redandblonde420 on Twitter and panel images are from @BKIS2327 on Twitter!):

(OP Note: Please don’t DM me with your complaints about my opinions on the Todoroki Family matter.  It’s bad enough that this storyline has people getting pissed off at each other for taking different sides.  The last thing the BNHA fandom needs is more conflict amongst ourselves.)

Chapter 302 picks up where we last left off.  Enji and Rei managed to stop Touya from attacking Shoto (it’s not explained how) and the whole family except from them are asleep.  Enji tells Rei that he doesn’t want any of the kids anywhere near Shoto anymore in fear that they would try to harm him.  Enji also fired a servant because he was so busy at work and he asks Rei to not let Touya out of her sight.  The other reason why Enji won’t watch over Touya himself is because Enji’s presence would only be a constant reminder of the hero world to Touya.  While Enji thinks he’s protecting Touya, Rei says he’s just running away.  A few things here:

1. I get not wanting Touya anywhere near baby Shoto since he did try to kill the tyke.  Touya was pretty much bent on his hatred for his little brother at that point that even seeing him stroked his dangerous jealousy.  But, I don’t know about Fuyumi and Natsuo.  Neither of them showed any hatred towards Shoto (and still haven’t as far as we know).  They’ve shown no signs of violence or anything that would imply wanting to hurt Shoto.  So, why keep them away too?

2. This is probably going to be the start of me getting shit on by the fandom, but I think Enji and Rei are both right.  We saw in the last chapter that Enji did legitimately care for Touya to the point where he tried to convince him to leave his ambitions of being a hero primarily so that he would stop hurting himself.  Just Endeavor being there is a reminder of the hero world.  Which would only provoke Touya more.  And Endeavor can’t just leave his job; he was the #2 after all.  At the same time, Enji is running away from the problem by not trying to talk to Touya more and helping him to control his flames at least.  He was trying to save Touya from himself, but he was also ignoring the real problem.

3. Side note (and because I just 💙 Shoto), the manga panels show baby Shoto sleeping on his little bed with a frosty snot bubble coming out of his nose 🥺!  Not only is it adorable, but it seems like Shoto had his quirk since he was very young. 

Time skip 5 years later!  This is back when Shoto was being dragged along by Enji while watching his siblings play ball WAY back in Shoto’s Origin chapter what a throwback, Horikoshi (Season 2 Ep. 10 in the anime; I think Chapter 39 in the manga)!  Fuyumi is 12 yrs old, Natsuo is 8 yrs old, and Touya is 13 yrs old.  So, that confirms that Touya is 1 year older than Fuyumi, Natsuo is 4 years younger than Fuyumi, and Shoto is 3 years younger than Natsuo since Shoto was 5 then.  God, they looked so cute back then!  I’m honestly amazed how freaking TALL Natsuo is at 8 YEARS OLD!  He’s taller than Fuyumi here and probably Touya.  Someone put this kid in the Haikyuu!! universe and teach him volleyball!  He’d be great, I know it!

We see a few panels of what is basically a remastered version of what we saw during Shoto’s Origin story.  Shoto really wanted to play ball with his siblings, but Enji wouldn’t let him 😭.  I know Natsuo and Shoto try to play ball in present day in the 5th(?) light novel.  Natsuo plays it properly, but Shoto accidentally smacks the shit out of it 🤣.  It’s a very bittersweet scene and I suggest you guys read the translations of it if you can find it.  *AHEM* Anyway while Shoto is looking at them with sadness, Touya is looking back at Shoto with malice in his eyes.  Touya clearly still hated Shoto...

Next, we see Touya trying to talk to Natsuo in bed.  While he admits that he was wrong for trying to attack Shoto, he thinks Enji is to blame as well.  Ok, Enji lit Touya’s figurative flame, but Enji did not attack Shoto.  That was all Touya’s doing.  Had he listened to his father and not been so driven to jealousy, he wouldn’t have attacked.  Enji did a lot of things, but he did not provoke that attack.  

Natsuo was too tired to listen to Touya talk, so he suggested that he talk to Fuyumi instead.  Touya thought that Natsuo was the only one who could understand and he didn’t talk to Fuyumi because “all the women in the family were no good”.  OKAY, I don’t know if this is straight up sexism  or something else, but goddamn Touya.  That is-, that’s not okay.  At all.  Respect women pls, my dude.  Hell, Fuyumi and Rei probably would’ve been a good people to talk to back then.  

One day, Touya is trying to leave the house probably to go train again.  Rei tries to convince him to play with his friends instead, but of course Touya refuses.  Because Rei feels shackled to her marriage, she wants Touya to look at a world outside of heroism so he can be someone he really wants to be.  This is basically what Enji told Touya before and Rei’s echoing his words.  And they are right, but Touya’s too driven to really think of anything else.

Touya gets mad and starts insulting Rei.  He says because his mother sold Rei to Enji, she’s conspiring to all of this.  Touya’s losing his mind and Rei’s scared of him.  I want to point out that one translation I read say that Rei’s mother’s side of the family was actually poor so Rei was actually bought via money like I remembered.  But, that doesn’t mean she intended to hurt Touya.  

Next panel reveals that Touya was born between Jan. 1st and April. 1st.  We know Dabi’s B-Day is on Jan. 18th based off his profile page.  Though, this could be a lie for all we know.  The guy’s still a big mystery.  Anyway, Touya’s fire is growing stronger and finally turns into that iconic blue fire.  When his emotions are heightened his flames get more powerful, but he starts crying too.  Enji learns of Touya’s secret training and gets mad at him again.  Touya just wants to prove that Enji was right for creating him.  Touya’s gone completely insane at this point.  The fire that Enji lit could not be put out.  It was too late at this point.

And the abuse... JFC...  Enji was mad at Rei for letting Touya train and he abuses her (looks like he hit her).  Little 5 yr old Shoto steps up and tries to stop his father from hurting his mother.  Fuyumi and Natsuo are hiding and crying, and Fuyumi is covering both their ears.  Rei reflects that she chose to be married to Enji and she truly thought she could have a family full of laughter.  Th-this just hurts.  No emoji can express how awful this situation is.  Enji looks like a monster in these panels (we still don’t know exactly when the abuse started, but I think it was either after Touya tried to kill Shoto or here when Rei failed to stop Touya from training).  Shoto’s crying and yelling at Enji to protect his mom.  His siblings too if you think about it.  Even back then, Shoto was a hero even when he really shouldn’t had been.

The present goes back and forth with the past here.  Touya waited for Enji to come see him train, but he never came.  Rei also ignored Touya even though she knew of his problems.  Touya was truly alone on that mountain.  And here’s where Rei’s blame comes in.  She was a good mother, I think.  But she did ignore Touya when he needed her most.  She kind of ran away too.  

Back to Dabi, he reminisces of how he faked his own “death” back on that mountain after Enji didn’t show up.  He didn’t know how to stop the fire because Enji only taught him to increase the fire.  Touya started a whole wildfire.  The whole place turned to ash.  Enji tried looking for his son, but was devastated when he couldn’t.  Gotta say, these panels are brutal.  Like, Tenko Shimura’s Origin chapters were dark, but this is a different kind of dark.  

Back to the present.  Enji says that after Touya “died” he didn’t know what to do other than to focus on Shoto (the panel shows a dark figure of Enji looming over a sad Shoto similar to that image of Overhaul looming over Eri because she wasn’t saved yet).  Rei got more disgusted just seeing Enji and she started seeing his shadow when she saw her kids, specifically Shoto and Natsuo (maybe because Natsuo is more built like Enji?).  Fuyumi and Natsuo blame themselves for not doing anything and thinking things were okay even though they knew what was going on.  Natsuo still blames Enji of course because Enji started this all.  And I can’t say that Natsuo’s wrong, but Enji doesn’t shoulder the whole blame.  And yeah, Fuyumi and Natsuo were still just kids when this happened, but a little extra push from them could’ve helped.  It’s just the “It’s my fault” game with the Todoroki’s except for Shoto.

Natsuo’s taking a big hit here.  He was closest to Touya and if Natsuo took more action to help Touya, Dabi probably wouldn’t have been born.  Touya could’ve even treated Shoto to some soba 😭.  That’s a nice thought, Natsu, but we all know what did happen in the end.

So, Rei concludes that everyone is shouldering some blame towards their family’s problems and that it isn’t completely Enji’s fault (this I agree with).  Even so, Rei says that his family would still help him get back up even if he fell.  Coming from Rei, the woman who was abused and put in a mental hospital, this is saying A LOT!  We saw some of this back in the Pro Heroes arc (Endeavor Vs. High End), but here it’s said out loud.  Even a family as broken as the Todorokis can still heal. 

Rei then calls Shoto the family hero as if it weren’t for him going to UA, making friends, and taking action to repair his family, then none of this would’ve happened.  There’s a page that shows present day injured Shoto at the center and that iconic “IT’S YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS” scene from the Sports Fest. in the background.  TDDK or not, this is such a damn good throwback!  I love everything about it.  Again, Shoto’s the family hero, but Izuku’s the true hero in all this.  If he didn’t meddle with Shoto’s family problems, then Shoto and his family would still be a broken mess. Izuku might as well be an honorary Todoroki at this point 💙💚

Endeavor is still crying hard (the man’s literally shook) and Shoto finally speaks (his speech bubbles are shakey, so his voice might be raspier than usual).  Shoto talked with Rei about how he plans to face Dabi on his own.  Rei said “no”.  Shoto concludes that everyone’s going to help stop Dabi, including Enji.  The panel shows Shoto LITERALLY REACHING OUT to Enji!!!  His face shows that he’s still kind of reluctant, but this is a sign that Shoto’s is close to forgiveness.  He’s not there yet and he can turn back whenever he wants.  But, this is Shoto’s choice and I’m so freaking proud of him.  I love this ❄️🔥 boy so much, guys 💙😭!  

The final panel shows Haws and Best Jeanist outside of Enji’s hospital room and they heard pretty much everything.  Very similar to how Bakugo accidentally eavesdropped on Shoto and Izuku back in the Sports Fest haha!  Neither of them look mad or sad, but more contempt I think.  Massive problems in the Todoroki family that’s lasted over 20 years is finally being fixed.  Shoto rebuilding his relationship with his family was good, but THIS is a big step since it’s not just Shoto taking action.  It’s the whole family.

Wooo... I think that’s it.  Again, the Todoroki Family storyline is one of my favorites in the BNHA series.  Probably the most controversial and dividing, but still damn good.  I feel bad for everyone in this family.  Everyone but Shoto feels some kind of blame and ultimately they are at fault here to some degree.  The biggest ones are obviously Enji and Touya himself.  Rei’s also a big reason why things went wrong (she really could’ve helped Touya more), but not NEARLY as much as the big two.  Shoto’s the only one who isn’t at fault at all yet he’s still willing to step up to the plate to help his family.  Again, I love this kid so damn much 💙!  I’m sorry if I missed any details btw.  I might make edits to fix them when the official release comes out on Sunday.  

TL;DR Version of Last 2 BNHA Chapters:

[leejungchans]

— juliet’s archive #5

(a/n: yes this is the fifth one 💀💀💀 i haven’t gotten around to deciding what the previous four are about yet so ahsjahjsjs also i made this with an app called social dummy so it’s not going to look the same as an actual youtube video so please ignore any inconsistencies🥺)

note: juliet’s archive is her series of solo content on ateez’s youtube channel (in the same realm as mars asmr, sanchelin guide, etc.)

click on the image for higher resolution!!

— notes;

released in january 2021; created and filmed during late 2020

juliet covered the song (breathin by ariana grande) and hongjoong did the arrangement

she also choreographed the dance by herself; the dance style is similar to contemporary and modern dance; what i have in mind in terms of the dance style is similar to hyunjin’s (stray kids) dance cover of when the party’s over and ten and winwin’s (wayv/nct) dance cover of lovely (i linked them both if you want to watch them, they’re incredible!!!)

juliet’s inspiration for the choreography was based on her own struggles with her mental health; the dance starts off with a more solemn and sad atmosphere to represent the hopelessness and the feeling of being trapped in her own mind, but ends on a lighter and happier note to symbolise the comfort she feels from knowing that ateez, atiny’s and her family and friends are there to support her through the pain

in case you’re wondering, i made the “JULIET’S ARCHIVE” logo so it’s obviously not the best and doesn’t look as professional ahsjhajs 🤡 i typed it out in an app called phonto, leaving some space to write “juliet”, then i imported the image to procreate and wrote “juliet” to make it look like she wrote it herself? 🤡

— atiny’s reactions;

finally a full dance cover from the legend herself✨

before juliet had only posted short clips of her covering other groups’ choreographies on ateez’s twitter account, so atiny’s were really excited to get a full dance cover!!

they were shocked that she covered the song too; we stan a vocal and dance queen!!

atiny’s were slightly disappointed that juliet didn’t actually sing the word “shit” in the song 😔 (she did a “shhh—” sound to replace it)

the cover went viral and trended for a while!!

atiny’s also trended #kqletjulietsayshit on twitter which she found hilarious

a few days later atiny’s noticed that ariana grande liked the cover on her twitter and everyone (including juliet) freaked out pls it made her day🥺

overall juliet was so happy and thankful for the positive reaction her cover got bc she put a lot of effort, especially into the choreography!!

[literateish]

tag game

thank you for tagging me @reidemandweep !!

1. why did you choose your url? - lumos is the spell from harry potter to create light and i have it in all of my urls on other social medias, and emily because i love emily prentiss

2. any side blogs? - nope

3. how long have you been on tumblr? - i made this account on 11th march 2021 but i used to have a random acc years ago

4. do you have a queue tag? - nope but i need one

5. why did you start your blog? - i was bored in lockdown

6. why did you choose your icon? - because it’s emily! and she’s wearing pink which fits my theme

7. why did you choose your header? - i made it out of images from pinterest that fit my aesthetic

8. what’s your post with the most notes? - the bau ladies as greek goddesses

9. how many mutuals do you have? - only a few because talking to people makes me anxious but i wanna know more of you

10. how many followers do you have? - 143

11. how many are you following - 96

12. have you ever made shit posts? - of course

13. how often are you on tumblr each day? - too long because i spend ages reading + rereading fics

14. have you had an argument with another blog? - no i hate conflict and avoid it as much as possible, also i’m clueless and usually sleeping whenever there’s any drama lmao

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts - idk

16. do you like tag games? - YES pls continue to tag me in them, i love them

17. do you like ask games? - yesss! i love them

18. which tumblr mutuals do you think are famous? - oh my goodness i have no idea

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? - i’m already in a relationship but i have platonic friend crushes on all of you

20. no pressure tags - @neverlandsky @ssahotchswifemain @jj-arms @jemilyisms @taralewiz

[daeyeolss]

how I make my gifs: a tutorial

Hi everyone! Just in case someone asks in the future + for those curious, I'm here with a tutorial on how I make gifs! If you have any questions whatsoever, please do send me an ask! I’ll be glad to help! The gif I made with this tutorial is the one right here! 

So... let’s start this tutorial with the programs I use.

Adobe Photoshop 2020 - To make the gifs, majority of the work is done in this program.

TopazLabs (Topaz DeNoise 6 and Topaz Clean 3) - To "denoise" and "clean" the gifs, as the names would suggest. Links for download: Topaz DeNoise 6 & Topaz Clean 3

KMPlayer (an alternative would be PotPlayer, or any other video playing program that allows you to capture the frames) - To capture the frames. - I use an older version of KMPlayer, though I don't know which exact version that is.

Now let’s continue onto how I use these programs to create gifs!

Step 1: After you’ve downloaded the necessary programs, download your video. The way to get the best gifs? Quality videos. That’s the first step. For K-pop performances, I recommend this website (the hq files are in .ts form, KMPlayer should be able to open these). Bookmark it! It’s really handy :) Get the video you want to make a gif from and open it in KMPlayer (or PotPlayer or any other program, but for this tutorial I’ll use KMPlayer). Open your video in said program and look for the part you want to make a gif of. Then press CTRL+G (I apologize because I cannot for the life of me remember if this was a standard shortcut or not)

Step 2: After pressing CTRL+G, you’ll be met with this screen:

I’ll briefly explain the numbered parts, but before that, these are my standard settings and just make sure you have them all the same and it should be good!

1: This is where your captured frames will be extracted to. I have them extracted to the standard folder, but you can change this if you want to. You’ll need this folder later when opening the frames!

2: Like it says, this is the image format. I use PNG in the highest quality, as the name would suggest, for the quality.

3: These are the amount of frames the program captures. Say you put in every 2 or 4 frames, you’ll get more choppy gifs. To get the smoothest gifs, put “every frame” (this in turn will increase the gif size as the amount of frames will obviously be bigger).

Once you’ve put in the correct settings and you’ve put the slider where you want the capturing process to start, press “start” (now, before you do this I recommend putting the video on mute as the audio will start to get kinda demon-y the longer you record lol save your ears pls). Then, when you’ve captured all the frames you need, pause the video, press CTRL+G again and click “stop” and close the pop-up/program.

Step 3: It’s time to open up Photoshop! Then go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack... (for older versions/another version I used in the past this one didn’t work and I had to use the “Load Multiple DICOM Files...” instead. It should work similarly though, if I remember correctly).

You then get a little pop-up that looks like this:

All you have to do here is click “browse” and navigate to the folder where your captured frames have been saved in. Select all the frames you need, wait for them to load in and then click “OK”!

Step 4: Depending on the amount of frames you’ve selected to load in, as well as the beefiness of your PC/laptop, the frames loading part might take a little while. Photoshop is importing every frame as a separate layer into one file, so just... grab a drink or something and wait a bit! When you’re done waiting, if you haven’t already, go to Window > Timeline. This will show you the animation timeline. For older Photoshop versions this is slightly different (I believe it’s called animation). Then click “Create Video Timeline” and click the 3 squares on the left bottom side (in older versions it’s on the right bottom side, not sure). 

Step 5: After you’ve done all that, you’ll want to select all your layers. You can do this by pressing ALT+CTRL+A or going to Select > All Layers. With all the layers selected, you have to go to Layer > Arrange > Reverse. You only have to do this if you used the “Load Files into Stack” option!

Step 6: After reversing all your layers, you’ll want to go to the three lines you see in the following screenshot, and click “Make Frames From Layers”.

As the name suggests, this turns all the layers into frames. I don’t know why but the first frame will always be 5 seconds long, so to make it easy on yourself when you want to check your gif while editing, just put that on 0 for now. You can do that by clicking the seconds under the frame and clicking “No delay”. After this, check to see if you have the right frames and if you need to delete some (you can do this at any point in the process but I didn’t know where to put it in the tutorial oops).

Step 7: Time to crop the gif to the correct size! For this gif I’m using as an example, I’m making it specifically for Twitter, so the sizes aren’t that obvious (for Twitter I usually use a width of 850 px to keep it sharp, for long size gifs (more height than width for example), I add a background so that it eventually still becomes 850x850 pixels). There’s many posts on Tumblr about the correct sizes for gif/photosets, but a brief rundown of my most used sizes: one gif spanning the entire width of the post has to be 540 px in width. Two gifs next to one another need to have a width of 268 px. I use these dimensions the most! For others, you can Google! 

Step 8: After you’ve cropped the gif, you can do either of two things: either you first add the coloring of your choice and then sharpen the gif OR you do it the other way around. I usually switch these two around depending on how sharp the gif already looks before sharpening because I can’t stand looking at 2 pixels while coloring (lmao). For this one I’ll do the sharpening first.

The whole sharpening process is actually quite simple but you need to make sure that you do the following little steps in the right order or else it won’t work! Select all the layers (CTRL+ALT+A or Select > All Layers) and then click this little thingy:

Then you’re going to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters

If you don’t do it in this order, your gif will end up... well, not being a gif and not moving. If that happens, track back in your history to see if you did it in the correct order! :)

Step 9: The actual sharpening process! After clicking the “Convert for Smart Filters”, you’ll want to go to Filter again and find the Topaz Labs tabs. Personally, I usually do it in the order of DeNoise first and then Clean, but this is a personal thing, really.

I recommend playing around with the settings to see what fits the gif but here are my go-to DeNoise settings (tip: save these as a preset so you only have to click that for faster giffing!):

And my Clean settings:

Press OK when you’re done with these and then go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. These are my SS settings (just copy these, and again, save as a preset!):

Depending on how sharp you want the gif to be, you can input the same settings or go to this in the layers and change the percentage.

Now that we’re done with these... it’s time to flatten it! Just follow these little steps:

And then you wait. Again. I know.

Step 10: After playing the waiting game, you’ll click the three little squares again and do the same thing you did earlier: “Make Frames Into Layers”. Delete the first frame. Add a coloring of your choice (can be a PSD, can be your own coloring, etc. this is honestly just... playing around with things and see what it can do). After you’ve done coloring, select all your frames (same lines as previous screenshot except now you’ll see a “Select All Frames” option, click it!) and change the time to whatever you like (I usually go for 0.05, 0.06, or 0.07. Again, just play around with this!! Try different things!) 

Step 11: Final step! Saving :) I use shortcuts a lot to make things faster so either press ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+S or go to File > Export > Save For Web. Not much to do here, just copy the following settings and save the file!

!!! NOTE: After making a new gif today I realized there’s a weird dotted border on the top of my gifs, it’s a bit difficult to explain but I had no idea what it was. Turns out that the reason why this showed up was because, as shown in the screenshot below, I had “Transparency” selected. If you’re experiencing this too, UNSELECT the transparency and it should be all good!

Also make sure that the “Looping Options” is set to Forever, or else your gif will play only once and then stop!

Tip: While making gifs for Twitter I at one point noticed that if I added in a white background, no matter what I’d do, it’d show up as yellow-y in the preview box. After googling I found that going to the options (1 in the screenshot) and then clicking “Sort by Luminance”, then double-clicking the lightest color (not the transparent one, 2 in the screenshot) and selecting white (or FFF) will get rid of this! This likely won’t be that useful for Tumblr gifs but just in case you ever want to have a white background...!

Then just... save, and upload to Tumblr! :)

Final note: Tumblr has a mix gif size of 3MB. If you have a gifset of 4 gifs you want to upload, all 4 gifs can be max 3MB each. Keep this in mind! If you’re over 3MB, delete a few frames and try again, or resize/crop your gif!

As it turns out, Tumblr has increased their gif size to 8MB, however, the quality tends to get compressed with larger gifs like that so per recommendation: keep them below 5MB! (thank you @yeoli​ for letting me know!)

I hope this helped! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I’ll try my best to answer them.

[seoultaem]

I made my own K-pop Super-group (male)

I did a girl group version for this, check it out here. I wanted to create a boy group too so, here we go :)

Sooooo let's get to know their concept. This is a little different from my girl group. I want their concept mainly to be "Elegant" as well as "Refreshing". I would like them to have a very dreamy image. They'll also have a lot of of energizing and mood-lifting music. They'll be the kings of summer concepts, but they will also put out some heart warming, cozy songs ^^ 

Group Profile~

Group Name : Solatium

Latin, for “Solace”

[(n.) comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.]

Short Form / Korean Name : Wilo (because directly translated to korean, solatium means 위로 which is read as “wi-reo”) 

(a/n : I hope google translate is not wrong ><)

My aim for this group is to have their discography filled with comfort music of various styles. I want it to feel like a nice, hot shower (relaxing, right?). Just like one can find solace while singing in the shower, I want this group’s fans to be able to find solace while singing along with their songs <3

Fandom Name : Amandi 

Latin, for “Loving”

[(n.) feeling or showing love or great care.]

Pretty self-explanatory, their fans are people who love and care for them no matter what. Amandi directly translates to ‘loving’ in English. 

(a/n : idk why I picked Latin words; they’re... pretty?)

Members’ Profile~ 

[Note - This too is an all visual group (●'◡'●)]

(These pictures aren’t mine, credits to the owners!)

J-Hope ('94) - Leader, Lead Dancer, Rapper, Visual 

The reason I picked Hobi as the leader is because he has the most experience, in terms of years active, out of all the members in this group. He also has an amazing skillset, and he can write lyrics, which will be very useful. He's the group's lead dancer, as well as a rapper. Regarding whether he fits the concept, I think Hope's personality is literally the definition of "bright and refreshing" :)

Inseong ('93) - Lead Vocalist, Visual

First, STAN SF9. Anyways, Inseong is such a cute guy like his smile can literally make your day. He's the group's lead vocalist, because he has a very talented vocalist, with a pretty, breathy voice. I think his voice really matches the vibe of many of their songs. Plus, Inseong is a really funny guy. I think his humor is really underrated.

S.Coups ('95) - Lead Rapper, Vocalist, Visual 

Okay to start with, Coups is ADORABLE. He's such a dork, but he's also such a talented rapper and performer. Moreover, this boi has a very soothing voice. I want him on this group for his rapping, but I know that he is very well rounded too.  Also, Coups is really, really, really cute like pls stop my heart can't take it.

Heo Chan ('95) - Main Dancer, Vocalist, Visual

 Chan!!! This man is honestly so underrated. He is an amazing dancer, a good, stable vocalist, a Song Composer, as well as a Choreographer. I think he is literally an asset, because he can bring a lot to this group. Chan is also such a mood-maker, like he is your number one hype-man :’)

Jungwoo ('98) - Main Vocalist, Dancer, Visual, Maknae

Jungwoo is a total charmer, you cannot disagree. He's such an angel and I'm so whipped for this dude (I mean who isn't). He has a really pretty vocal color and I think it will really compliment the style I want my group to have. Needless to say, he’s a great dancer too!

Debut Album~

Their debut album is going to have a really invigorating and fresh vibe. The album will have a total of nine tracks, and the title track is gonna be “Love Me Love Me” (originally by Winner). It’s a really nice song, and has a really happy, dance track vibe to it ; totally fits the brief :)

ALBUM COVER

ALBUM NAME : Oasis

[(n.) Something that provides refuge, relief, or pleasant contrast]

TRACKLIST : {I’ve created a playlist on Spotify :3}

1. TITLE : Love Me Love Me (og. by Winner)

2. Give Me More (og. by VAV)

3. All Night (og. by Astro)

4. Nostalgic Night (og. by Victon)

5. The Eve (og. by EXO)

6. O Sole Mio (og. by SF9)

7. Betcha (og. by Baekhyun) 

8.  A Song Written Easily (og. by Oneus)

9. No Air (og. by The Boyz)

Debut MV~

For their debut music video, I’m going for a really elegant theme. It’s gonna be filled with really beautiful locations. I’m picturing it as pretty boys wearing denim (yes, the denim is important), chilling, having fun and overall just being adorable. It's not exactly cute though, it will have more of a spirit-boosting energy :)

I created a mood board so you can visualize it.

(told you the denim was important)

Thank you for reading this guys, I really appreciate it. Sorry for not posting sooner, I’ve been really busy :( I’m also considering doing a Coed Group next, but feel free to send in any requests :3