#ps its transparent

[dxy-drxxm]

yippee! New background edit by yours truly!

[thecosmiccrow]

only finally time to post this. also this isn’t a step-by-step tutorial. im assuming you generally know how to draw already, this is just a bunch of references compiled together that could help you draw them easier.

SENTINEL REFS :3

extra notes:

dont worry about a bunch of the smaller details. sentinels are littered with them and itd take ages to draw them if you tried to make them 100% every time. just focus on the bigger shapes and add from there.

their eyes ARE octagons, not circles. that being said it does not matter how you draw them because octagons are absolutely fucking obnoxious to consistently draw. i know, i have a half-sentinel oc, ive given up by now. do not place that burden on yourself. the rest of their face lights ARE circles though.

the smaller two flashers are part of their head ridges. their eyes are on a completely separate layer, and have duller ridges atop them. sentinels just have a lot of ridges in general.

if you want to use real-world dinosaurs as reference, i would use Velociraptor, Utahraptor, Deinonychus, and Dilophosaurus as references, given that theyre all similar in body shape and structure. In the concept art, Sentinels looked extremely like the Dilophosaurus, though it got switched to being more raptor-like in the actual show.

I also MORE THAN LIKELY drew their tail wrong. So if you wanna figure out its design on your own, go for it. I just had to put something down so I tried my best, but it is absolutely NOT perfect.

Same with their colors! they’re almost a completely solid grey so it was difficult for me to tell what colors went where, so I just kinda put em at random in that first image. Doing something completely different is also good, since nobody can tell anyways :)

and on a final note, you technically do not have to follow any of these!! stylize them all you want. these are just references for anyone that may want to draw them more accurately :)

transparent sentinel base png: (MAY NOT BE VISIBLE IF YOURE USING ANY DARK MODE, BUT ITS STILL THERE!)

if it doesnt download as transparent, you can set the layer mode as multiply and it’ll work perfectly as lineart. this is free to use, I just want people to be able to make ocs easier :) i just ask that you leave the watermark in, and credit me if you use it, but you dont have to ask to do it.

(plus the image @1-800-hellyeah made for her sta.sh that i used as reference)

Happy dino drawing!!

(ps. you should totally show me any sentinel ocs you make :3)

[earth4angels]

𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥

modern jacaerys velaryon

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: when love is at its final meeting, are you willing to suffer through it or cowardly pretend it is not real to feel nothing?

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: angst. heart break, slice of life kinda? this is all in jacaerys pov. inspired by the song cry — cas.

𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬: this story does have little personal significance to me. i wrote it as a request, noonie wanted something very angst from jace and currently my friend is going through a breakup. so this came to be. when there isn’t love anymore, please don’t stay, don’t fight for something that is already dead. theres someone out there searching for the love you’re willing to give. ps: thank you em for reading this for me and approving the msg 💌

word count: 2k — drabble.

Time. That was all Jacaerys thought of, how every second slipped through his fingers, elusive and relentless like grains of sand in an hourglass.

He sighed once again, his pale fingers danced through the scattered thread that entangled from its perfect pattern of his sweater. He knew he should have given his voice a chance to say something. Yet he sat there with no words and his heart in a complete disarray.

He looked up slowly, the curls of his hair hiding the way his eyes betrayed his stoic expression. He was hiding pain, and regret. Regret of letting his heart play tricks on him, thinking this time it would be different.

She sat there quietly, looking straight into his eyes that became a transparent window into his soul. Jacaerys knew she had already sensed his conflicting emotions, she was just that good at reading him.

“I-,” he started before she released what seemed like a scoff. Whatever it was it had his heartstrings flickering, making a odd sound that only he heard. He paused, his heart shattering once again, this is one of the reasons why he could not bring himself to ever be this vulnerable again. He wanted to avoid ever feeling this way again.

“You’re breaking up with me? Is that what you will say Jacaerys?”

His voice is was caught in a twist, he had nothing to say yet his heart told him it was better this way. There was nothing in common anymore, she was far, distant and cold. Jacaerys no longer felt the need to reach for her as she was entertained with arms that loved her better than he did.

Jacaerys loved her, he truly did. He held his heart on his sleeve just how he was holding the thin thread from his sweater, his fingers pushing it into the pattern that no longer accepted it.

She was beautiful, smart and sweet. Jacaerys fell in love with her eyes, the way she spoke and how she moved, she spoke with her heart and never from a sense of need. He just could not come to terms with what changed.

“You know what dear? Life is simply hard to understand, but love is a complicated thing, some people get lucky and some don’t — and that’s okay! If one love doesn’t work, there will be another to heal you and maybe then, that will the one.”

He recalled the advice his mother gave him, and he believed it as she was now happily married with her second marriage. Her smile was brighter and her skin glowed, she was not the same as before where her eyes did not have the shine he loved to see.

Her eyes reminded him of the same way she looked at him now. As he locked eyes with the girl he once loved with his entire being, his heart no longer throbbed the way it did when he kissed her, or when he held her hand, his skin did not tingle anymore. She was just another girl.

For a second, he did want to cry. Inside a cave, he wanted to curl himself and cry loudly at how much he wished life was different. He had plans and damn he just wanted to love her forever.

She was his world, the center that held him grounded. As he kept looking at her he realized everything he ever felt was gone, he felt absolutely nothing. He was empty, he was sucked out of a possibility that was no longer possible. He was holding onto a fantasy for over a month with thoughts that maybe — just maybe it was all in his head. He would stay to go back to how they started and later laugh together again. He knew better however.

Cregan saw it before he did, Aegon freaking Targaryen, his uncle that had more experience than him and claimed love only existed in movies — saw it. He denied the truth, an excuse pooling on his lips whenever they asked why he was alone majority of the time. His mouth opened and the words became a empty void that only had his relatives and close friends shake their heads with full sympathies.

There was no cheating involved, that Jacaerys knew for sure. She was simply always entertained with her friends that she enjoyed spending more time with than him. The end to their story was simply a regrettable loss. There was no more love to give.

A couple that no longer had anything to provide, no connection and no reason to continue going on with the idea of two souls being together.

Jacaerys knew the hard slap of the truth when he kissed her. When she stayed over one night and he pulled her on top of him, he kissed her cherry flavored lips that he loved tasting and instead of feeling the need to shower her with love he felt… empty. His lips no longer tingled, no longer did he feel his feet curling or how his hands wanted to desperately hold every inch of her body to mark his love. That night as she slept soundlessly beside him, curled a few inches away from him he laid quietly with his heart painfully tugging at his chest — he had fallen out of love with her.

Perhaps, it was him that started to show less reasons to stay, or maybe it was her. Nobody knew who was the one that started breaking apart the chains that held their hearts together. All Jacaerys wanted to do was run and hide into the safety of his home, cry and shout at the Gods for punishing him, for taking away the closest thing he felt to magic.

As she looked at him with no emotions, he began to feel anger or maybe it was disappointment, he could not grab a hold of his emotions. A relationship of a year and a half down the drain, but he knew it taught him one thing — to never lose or change yourself for anyone.

He slowly nodded, his eyes closed slightly before he bit into the tip of his tongue to refuse throwing up.

She slightly moved her head in a quick nod, “I’m glad you are. You are amazing Jace, kind and the sweetest man to exist but you are not the one for me. I just don’t…” she took a deep breath, every word stabbing his heart more, he felt nothing for her anymore but it still hurt to finally say good bye, “You deserve more than what I gave you and I know you feel the same.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He said, his eyes blazing with mixed feelings, he just wanted the way his heart painfully tugged to stop, “When you just stopped loving me, why couldn’t you just lea—“

“Leave? Jacaerys. This is as hard as it is already. I saw how you loved me, you still loved me when I was already five feet out the door ready to run from you.”

Ah. His breath took a sharp inhale. His fingernails was now pressing deep into the palm of his hands. The answer came to him like a bucket of cold water in an instant. She was the one that began the tearing.

“I couldn’t…” she shook her head in regret, “I couldn’t bare to look into your eyes that held so much spark and love for me. You deserved so much at that time and I am so sorry Jace.”

He licked his lips, once and twice. The world felt fuzzy, empty and weird. If he shouted, it could have bounced back like an echo. If he cried, his tears would have trailed out of his sockets like air. He had nothing to give anymore.

“I see,” he said finally after minutes of silence from his part. The center of his world, once upon a time only sat in front of him as tears pooled down her face. If one met him a month ago, they would have cooed how quick he was to wipe those tears. Yet, he only stared quiet and empty.

His fingers relaxed, his skin now tethered. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth. The freckles on his cheeks was more prominent as his face began to grow red. She stopped for a second to admire his beauty. She was seconds away from losing him completely and she began to think that maybe time will tell.

His hands slowly pulled back his curls as he leaned down, his movements looked ragged, it felt almost like his body was only held by gravity, yet he pushed forward. He carefully, with more to say yet no energy to speak, gently pushed a box towards her. The final statement of a good bye, his wishes, his ideas and his heart all in a box.

“I packed everything you left at my apartment, if I missed anything, let the lobby’s receptionist know.”

His voice had no emotion, it came from a place of emptiness. He had no more energy, only simply wanting to forget this current event never happened.

“Jac—“ she reached out towards him with eyes wide, her voice sounding shaken.

He stopped her. This was it — the moment he dreaded yet longed for. He was finally going to be given a chance to start new, to let his mind and heart heal at its pace.

His hands burned at the touch of hers. Slowly he pushed her hands away, “You know what? I wish that this was different, that you cheated on me so I can easily forget you quicker and that this would hurt less. But the fact that we are simply on other pages is harder to grasp. I really loved you. You were the most beautiful angel in the universe and God I wanted to do so much with you…” He shook his head as a scoff fell from his lips, “but now, I blame myself for letting you get away from me, I begin to think if it was me that pushed you, or if I missed anything that you needed or craved for. I truly, began to blame myself. I denied the truth for so long, I kissed you and touched you like you were everything. How many times did I loved you and you only accepted it? When I whispered how much I loved you as I held you deep at nights, did you just laid there accepting it? I think of these things and it’s like a knife going through my heart over and over again. I wish that on nobody, not even you. I wish things were different — that maybe you could’ve been honest so we can avoid this pain.”

He blinked to turn away the burn that his eyes began to feel, he was tired. Sighing in complete disbelief and defeat he continued, watching as she bit into her lips to avoid cries, he did not understand why she was, “If we see each other in the future, I hope we look at each other with a smile. We did share beautiful moments together, and we learned so much about ourselves. But as for now, I do hope to never see you again.”

She released a choked sob that sounded like gasp, “Jacaerys plea—“

He stood up from the bench, grabbing his umbrella he stepped out the gazebo welcoming the slight breeze and the quiet rain that fell on his face. He slowly turned to face her one last time, “Thank you for loving me in a short amount of time, take care of yourself.”

His umbrella covered the rain that fell on him, as he walked further away he focused on the sound of the wind that blew against his cheeks and not at the sobs that came from the girl he believed to have a future with.

Perhaps, in another time, someday, he would not cry for love again.

fav friends aka the slut cult: @benjinotes @hxtd @bucksplum @ellewod @eldrith @swordgrace @vee-mage @divinesolas @housetargaryenloyalist @astrxq @manhandlememando @bryscorner @princessbellecerise @xxselenite @v3lary0ns

natties angel list (open!): @aemondvelaryon @fleurbies @yohanseyebrowmole

jace nation tag list (open): @smurfelle @vividxpages @number-0-iz @writtenapoiogy @thenotesapppoet @agqrtz @girlthatislost

[tare-anime]

SxF Mission 110

(Beware spoilers)

Woah! That was such a scary jumpscare 🥶🥶

Endo would you please stop doing that with Donnie??? Gosh..... 😅😅😅

Anyway, this chapter make me relieved.

Before this chapter, I was conflicted.

I know and I believe Loid is a good man. He has good heart and really wants what best for everyone. However he also was known to be such a perfectionist when doing his job, and he's so good at it. Of course he is not a stranger to anything by any means necessary to achieve his goals. That's the grey morale of his character.

Logically speaking, as the spy it is such a waste of opportunity if he suggest Melinda to leave her husband to end her suffering. But... that's exactly what he did. And he was sincere when he told Melinda that he knows Melinda is suffering by being with Donovan (showed by the transparent speech bubble).

He acknowledge that there are types of abusive behaviour. Physical and verbal. And he acknowledge that Melinda is enduring a great deal of stress.

This.... is a waaaaaaayyyy more better portrayal of how Loid doing his job as a psychiatrist. Miles better than his session with the Tutor Residence chapter.

His analysis and approach is way more compassionate while at the same time, he is showing a professional side.

Aside from being compassionate, Loid also managed to push his mission forward.

And by doing that, we now know another information: Melinda (and Demetrius) believes that Donovan can read minds.

I know this theory has been going around for quite sometimes. Especially with Anya being an experimental result herself, and Donovan has two identical scars on his head, in the more or less identical position of Anya's hairclip.

But....... I'm going with the unpopular opinion here.

I say no, Donovan cannot read minds.

My theory: He might be undergo an experimentation to gain such ability, but he himself is a failure. However, Donovan does uses the rumor regarding his ability to read minds to its fullest potential. That is using the rumor to control the people and ensure he maintains his political power. He might even has few trusted inner circle who actively spreading this rumors.

And that's why Donnie was so happy during that disasterous "family dinner" several chapters back. Donnie can confirm that the rumor still has its effect to his own family. A very few "outer ring" people who has direct contact with him.

But, that's it. It's just rumors being used to its potential in giving suggestive thoughts upon others.

Because, plot wise, that would be unmatch with what Endo has been building, and creating a plot hole as mentioned by Endo himself via Loid's inner thoughts.

Not to say that if Donnie really can read minds, it means he already know Loid was a spy from their very first contact.

But honestly, I don't know where Endo planned with this.

Maybe this will lead to Anya's backstory??? ��

Either way, we can only wait and let Endo cooks his story 🤭🤭🤭

Next chapter is a short chapter, iirc 🤔 so maybe we will know something in 4 weeks.

PS:

I love how Loid said thank you to Yor, and didn't actually convey what thing that make him thanked her. Since the parenteses was in his inner thoughts 🤣🤣

But he was being genuine (thank you Anya). And that's what matter 🥰🥰

[waitmyturtles]

Hey,

I'm not 100% sure how this works. Also this is more of an opinion than a question. I just feel the need to brain dump. You are under no obligation to reply. 😁

I fear that First and Khaotung are being wasted at/by GMMTV. They're both stellar actors and seem to have the sensibilities to tackle more serious material.

I feel like coming off Not Me, the themes in The Eclipse kinda went over my head. My fear was and still is that I didn't understand all the nuances. And that's why I felt like the show was lacking. Also I think the very first preview set it up as an entirely different show (more supernaturalmystery/thriller) in my head, so there was a disconnect there as well.

Their next project was Moonlight Chicken where both of them shined as actors but negligibly as a BL pairing. Having said that, they seem to be on very solid ground in the BL fandom - I am referring to their fan meets.

Only Friends was a masterclass of acting as far as FirstKhaotung were concerned (i was all about Ray and Sand), but I think the overall reputation as show that fell flat on its face overshadowed or at least took away (for me) from the gravity of FK.

And now we're here. With The Heart Killers and I am very wary of how Ota all going down. I see that the final trailer got over million views and I'm happy for them, but based on I think the absolute travesty that was OF, my expectations for this show are on the ground.

I really want more of an insight into how projects are picked up and distributed inside GMMTV (if you ha e any, I'm dying to know). I feel like they would benefit greatly from being on a show like PS I Hate You or something like Peaceful Property.

It feels like they're backsliding in terms of material given. Which I am sure is a) not their fault and b) me possibly being weird and dramatic in the wee hours of the morning. But I wanted to get it off my chest and I was reading your previous reviews when I felt, and then gave into the impulse to write to you.

Also I'm a MaxTul girly too and somehow, you made me want to give Make it Right another chance.

Have a great week ahead and keep up the absolutely exceptional work! ❤️

NIHILISTIC! It's great to hear from you! And thank you for the compliments!

TW for girlies out there who are not Nihilistic: this post will contain criticisms of The Heart Killers trailer. Read at your peril, delicate hearts!

I'll go backwards to save the biggest stuff for last. If you write anything about Make It Right, please tag me! @bengiyo and I always give a little DJ air horn to each other when we've nabbed another one into the broader cultural reconsideration of this AMAZING show. MaxTul, man. Nobody beats them! (Okay, almost, Tul admits he wasn't the strongest actor, but. We'll let it slide, dahling!) Chemistry, humor, pride representation, everything, they're great. I yelped when I saw them in Triage!

Okay, so you are a FirstKhao girlie, and you're worried about what The Heart Killers bodes. (Out of transparency, I have The Heart Killers tag filtered because of Only Friends PTSD. I'm gonna filter my own post!) For you, Nihilistic, I just watched the trailer for it.

I will get to all your questions about the GMMTV model in a moment.

Now, out of even MORE transparency, I am watching the MESS that is Kidnap right now, and listen, it's NOT GOOD. I'm fucking not even writing about it anymore, I'm just reblogging the sessy gifs. I am watching it to support Ohm Pawat, and am hoping that this partnership with Leng Thanaphon will hopefully lead to better scripts.... somewhere. (Or at least, better scripts for Ohm at a place like One31 or Channel 3. I also hope Ohm keeps up his anti-branded pair stance, but if GMMTV forces him to pair permanently with Leng, it won't be a fucking surprise, and more on that below.)

To focus specifically on THK for a sec: the THK trailer evoked a lot of what's gone utterly wrong in Kidnap for me. I think writing Thai BL/Series Y scripts to be different, fresh, and innovative, is just going to be really fucking hard, especially for stories featuring branded pairs that MUST end up together in the end. Because we, the viewers, KNOW that they MUST end up together in the end, what kind of mystery and conflict can a script convincingly evoke to keep us, the viewers, engaged and interested in the drama?

A few of us Ohm girlies were excited that Kidnap could have had non-romantic plot points (CRIME!!!) to drive concurrently with a romance plot. There are Series Y that have done this BEAUTIFULLY, particularly Sammon's stories of Manner of Death and Triage.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't get that from the THK trailer, and that THK smells a lot like Kidnap to me. The trailer itself is giving an indication that the "jobs" these guys have as double agents are going to be compromised due to them falling in love. And after the debacle that was Jojo Tichakorn's Only Friends -- a show premised on the exploration of mean, icky, really horny humans, a great place to start an interesting show! -- knowing that THK will HAVE to end up in a romantic place, with FK and JoongDunk being in memorable and memeable entwinements... that's a lot to ask of a show that already isn't making sense by drive, emotion, and tone in its trailer alone. What matters more to these characters? Their work, or their need to be in monogamous relationships? Seems like the latter to me by way of the trailer, which makes me wonder what the point of the plot is. (Joong's chest, probably.) (Gahddayum.)

(I haven't watched the latest episode of Jack & Joker, btw, but I understand that THIS WEEK's episode is ALSO going through something similar, with dead-end and uncommitted plot points all to get to a kiss. Oy.)

To summarize these points and to touch at your question about how GMMTV chooses scripts: GMMTV has an economic model to sell in giving happy endings to their branded pairs, which I wrote about at length in my Old GMMTV Challenge rewatch of The Eclipse. No matter where a script goes, the ending must be memorable and monogamous to satisfy the retweeting hunger of the branded pairs' fandoms, in order for GMMTV's artists to increase online engagement and to maintain earned media values to sell products.

The wonderful @flowerbeasblog noted to me recently that Tha Sataporn, the CEO of GMMTV, said in an interview that as the productions of Series Y in Thailand continues to increase, there is a greater need for more scriptwriting talent across this niche genre, creating competition for more excellent writing. (By comparison, in the States, when streaming services like Netflix and Hulu starting commissioning more original series just about a decade ago, the demand for scriptwriters and excellent writing also went up by incredible scale -- only to come crashing down recently with pandemic and strike-related losses in revenue.) GMMTV's recently announced script competition, Y Find, updated itself last week with a notice that the company would need more time to sift through scripts to judge. In other words: the demand for creative plots is so high at this company that they are literally fielding entries from the general public.

At the same time, Tha Sataporn has been blunt in indicating that "good shows" are not the priority of his GMMTV, and that talent, management, and engagement are his indicators of success. So, economically -- as long as a show hits that happy ending, and gets the girlies excited online with commentary and purchasing power, then the studio has won, in GMMTV's eyes.

ULTIMATELY, Nihilistic: what we are dealing with regarding your concern, as fans and/or critics of Series Y shows, is a conflict of values, among critical fans like ourselves, other fans who only watch shows for romance and shipping, and the economic bottom lines of the studios/agencies themselves. Some of us just want narratively good scripts, like Bad Buddy or He's Coming To Me. Others are content with having a show end with their fave pairs confirmed together in the end, no matter the process of how they got there. Those are different values we hold in watching shows. I appreciate that while you're a fan of the FK branded pair, that you want stronger scripts for them. I do, too, but that's not a value that every fan -- and GMMTV itself -- holds. And I believe that's why we've been seeing more and more mediocre scripts from that studio in particular.

I actually want to note maybe something positive about FirstKhao. Other than The Eclipse, it seems like they haven't been locked into high school or university settings. Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken -- these are shows that show First's and Khao's characters as young adults, and THK is going there, too. I hope they can avoid the university settings as they continue to work.

Is stellar acting wasted at GMMTV? Oh, yes. Besides First and Khao, who I truly think are good actors, we have Gun Atthaphan, Nanon Korapat, and Ohm Pawat -- these three guys are on my list of the best Thai actors out there who have done BL, and they haven't had great scripts in years. (Gun, arguably, has had the best pickings of decent shows recently in Cooking Crush and The Trainee, but they weren't high art; and Nanon's Dirty Laundry was the last Jojo script I was truly impressed by.) All three of these guys were in MOVIES at one point. Those ambitions, on behalf of these actors by GMMTV, seem to have gone by the wayside in preference for a huge economic push to boost branded pair-based series insteads, with their plot holes and guaranteed romances.

I hope the genre's tide turns for the sake of quality scripts, especially at GMMTV, but my hopes are low for this agency at the moment. My joy in Thai shows recently has been in watching past shows for my OGMMTVC. I've been on a lakorn kick lately, having watched The Miracle of Teddy Bear and I'm looking forward to watching Khun Chai soon. Other agencies and studios, like One31 and Channel 3, are breathing down GMMTV's neck and producing more interesting shows, sometimes with branded pairs and sometimes not. Triage only came out two years ago, and that show's trilogy (along with Manner of Death) will end with this year's airing of Spare Me Your Mercy, starring the very likely one-time pair of Tor Thanabob and JJ (Jaylerr) Krissanapoom, two gigantic artists in Thailand who are circling BACK towards the much smaller genre of Series Y for SMYM's sake. I have VERY high hopes and expectations for that show -- and that show is well out of the purview of GMMTV.

I think what you're smelling about the THK trailer is right, Nihilistic -- to me, the trailer isn't cohesive, and jumps already to its forgone conclusion of a romantic end. Unfortunately, for those of us familiar with Jojo Tichakorn's work, we know that if he was given more leeway, he'd likely come up with something more interesting. But now that he has to work with branded pairs -- who are shipped in the eyes of their fan beholders -- he's got a lot less room to be creative and interesting, which ultimately stifles the otherwise excellent acting we'd see from these young men.

[lutiaskokopelli]

I have an issue with constantly getting distracted, so I got distracted from working by making a 100% customizable Pomodoro App to keep my future self from getting distracted. Have a Google Drive download link.

The Pomodoro technique, if you don't know it, is a discipline method for keeping track of when you are working and when you are taking breaks, notably through the use of a timer.

There are tons of apps centered around this, and yet after looking at so many of them, I somehow could not find one that would do the most basic thing I'd like to have for a study companion: change the background of the app so that yes, I do have a timer telling me to work harder, but I also have an image of my choice to cheer me up along with it.

So what did I do? Did I take the rational, reasonable path, to just suck it up and stick to one of the already existing apps even though it would mean saying no to having my adorable Hearthian OC sleep in a corner of my screen?

Or did I go the hyperfocused insane route of utter procrastination and learn a whole new programmation language from scratch just in order to get my frikkin baby to comfort me while I work?

Yeah, who could have guessed.

So! The Google Drive link I shared will let you download everything you need in order to run your own version of this little app, including a tutorial on how to customize it to suit your needs.

The first thing you will see after unzipping the archive is this:

The "ast" folder (standing for "assets") contains every image used by the app -- which means that you can change them as you please! I even gave you transparent versions of the buttons in the "Asset Creation Help" subfolder, in case you like the shapes but want to change the backgrounds.

You think that's cool? Oh, but the image assets are far from being the only thing you can change for this app's behavior! You can change EVERYTHING that this app is doing (which isn't much because it's literally just three different types of timers, and even then there are some trickier details with more coding than others (but I still give tips on how to handle those), but shush. Everything this app can do, you can customize to your heart's content).

How do you do that? Well, this is what you get when you right-click on the "Pomodoro.ps1" file:

The Pomodoro.ps1 file is the "app" itself, written in PowerShell code that I made as legible as I could make it. There is a whole tutorial in there, made easier to read if you right-click on this file's icon and choose the "Edit" option. Have a preview!

Through editing this file, you can then run a Pomodoro app from which you can have the window's appearance customized, from its size, opacity (if you want to still half-see what's sitting behind it), and start position on your screen (the window can be dragged around, but if you have a preferred position you can tell the app to always load it in that preferred spot right from the get go), to stuff like the custom messages you get whenever the timer progresses:

So, yeah. I made a little app meant to help with productivity. One out of many already out there, sure, and it's probably not as cool as many others (but I'll just remind you that three days ago I knew absolutely nothing about PowerShell as a whole, so- I guess that would be still a little impressive that I was able to make a working app like that at all? xD), but as far as I've looked, it's the only one that will let you have your favorite images keep you company while you use it.

I don't know whether anyone other than me will like it enough to use it, but just in case, it's here! Hope it's as easy(-ish) to customize as I made it out to be, or at least close enough.

PS: The version I use for my own personal choices uses some slightly different assets compared to the version I share in the .zip file on my Google Drive. This is because the version I share online solely uses official Outer Wilds art (while the version I made for myself notably uses one piece of OW fanart that I did not make myself, and it didn't sit right with me to share that piece uncredited, even in an edited form. If you are curious, this is the artwork in question).

[daenerys-stormborn]

GIF SHARPENING ACTION 2.0 by @daenerys-stormborn

This is an updated version of my “all in one” gif action I made 5 years ago. It very similar but I added a new sharpening that I now use, v3: sharper blur. ‼️ UPDATED APRIL 2024 ‼️ I used a new sharpening now. I updated the action and it should be in the link. It’s under ‘sharper v2′.

Please read this for a more detailed breakdown of how these actions work and how I make my gifs.

v1: normal -  smart sharpen (amount 500%, .3px)

v2: sharper - first smart sharpen (amount  500%, .3px) -> second smart sharpen (amount 10%, 10px)

v3: sharper blur -  first smart sharpen (amount  500%, .3px) -> second smart sharpen (amount 20%, 10px) -> gaussian blur (radius 1px; opacity 52%) -> third smart sharpen (amount 500%, 0.2px) -> fourth smart object (amount 5%, 5 pixels) -> second gaussian blur (radius 1, opacity 10%)

sharper v2 (not shown on the gifset) - first smart sharpen (amount 150%, radius 0.4px) -> second sharpen (amount 10% radius 64px)

**v2 looks better in 540 gifs than smaller gifs, its a bit over sharpened here for my taste**

Actions also included:

Load Files Fast - for people using PS CS6 or older, uses “Load  Multiple DICOM Files” for faster screencap loading.

Brighten - duplicates the smart object then changes blending mode to screen and converts it back into one single smart object to brighten dark scenes.

Convert to Frame Timeline - converts smart object back into frames, sets frame delay, and changes canvas sizes to -2px (width & height) to take away transparent border around gifs (you can always delete this part if it doesn’t apply, please read detailed breakdown for more info).

Convert to Video Timeline - converts frames in frame timeline into a smart object in video timeline.

DL: action

These actions were inspired by hoechlin's sharpening and trentcrimms' sharpening.

[creatively-cosmic]

Hihi! I'm the anon from the MN talk sprite ask I'd love to hear about your sprite genius science haha :-D

Ps to say that I'm a huge fan of your work just in general

first of all THANK U SO MUCH WAAH....... im so glad you like our stuff TvT !!

second !! ill hop to the sprite explanation right here! i'll put it under the cut bc it might get long eheh

and a note: im using csp but this should work with any program! i previously used ibis for my talksprites before remaking them ^^

for my example subject, i'll be using ace! they'll be my best example since theyve gotten more use so far!

quick notes about the background; i always export my canvas as transparent to give the image that they're just a Part of the post/environment. the nametags and gradients are optional, but i feel the gradients help fill dead space and add a bit more to it- the nametags help in emulating the feel of video game dialog too (i dont tend to have the patience to actually make pokemon textboxes because i have to do it manually, so putting this over post text is my next best option.. makes it easier for chattier people, and gives screen reader accessibility as well!)

ANYWAYS, now for the actual Building of the Sprite!

where i usually start is with a base sketch of their neutral expression. i have two for All of the modern/updated talksprites, because i had initially wanted to put them at an angle to add a bit more flavor to them.. ultimately though, i stuck with the symmetrical style for my personal quality of life. i find it easier to work with and add to- i just have to be very meticulous about getting the proportions right is the main thing ^^'

now, from the sketch is the natural next step of Lining shit! and heres where the method of madness starts, because a big part of this entire thing is...

this . im so sorry about this image.

if you look at the layers, you'll see the general order of operations! basically i try to look at it as different Pieces, or Assets. its like a paper doll that you're assembling- the pieces that go behind need to go all the way in the back, then you build up. the back of someone's hair goes behind everything, then their body. then their clothes, then head, face, face accessories, bangs, and finally cartoony emotes on the very top if that's your style.

generally, i try to set my layers up for maximum customization- mixing and matching it the key for making my talksprites as versatile as possible. so stuff like having a base body that you can add changes of clothes too, using clipping layers to add shadows that would go over everything, that kinda thing.

but overall, having layer stacks worked out like this is the MOST important part, imo, for doing these talksprites. when it all comes together, the result is a clean basis for mixing and matching however you might need for both expressions and appearance. i keep everything in folders of Lineart, Shading, and Color as well, just in case i need to revisit or add to something premade later.

speaking of adding- this also allows for you to easily make any future assets for changing appearance and expression! i personally do it case-by-case, as i can't ever anticipate every expression or article of clothing i'd Ever Need. when something new is needed, i'll just make the new thing, and then it's just another piece to have in the mix! it's pretty nice! :D

tip: god remember to name your layers/folders. i used to Not and it made finding the pieces i need so hard. doing this method will result in a LOT of layers. be nice to yourself and name things accordingly!

now focusing in on the most important part of an expressive talksprite, heres the face, and the best way ive found to stack the layers so far. within all of these layers are the pieces of expressions that can make countless matches if you add enough to them. fun!

now the Eyes. the eyes . the eyebrows and mouth are pretty straightforward you just Draw and Color them and boom theyre done. but i want to draw special attention to the Eyes because figuring out how to do these were probably the thing i struggled with the MOST. its a system thats a bit more in depth than just. Doing it. here's what we got though.

the optimal stack for maximum eye expression that ive found? do lines and the coloring for those lines. SEPARATELY.

the idea is to make irises fully round so you can move them around or have wide eyed expressions without any weird cutoff in parts you failed to draw (looking at my old sprites. sighs). but to avoid having to delete or erase anything, the iris folder needs to clip onto the eye whites folder so you dont get stuff like

this . yeah.

and another thing i had to learn the hard way is that if your character has stuff like eyebags or makeup, and this is the reason my "lineart layer" has folders, if that if you put that stuff on the white layer, the irises will sit over THAT as well as the whites, resulting in some annoying little things.

see: ace's eyebags in the whites layer, VS ace's eyebags in the lines layer.

ofc this is unnecessary if you dont add that kind of detail to your own characters- in that case, the lines layers can be as simple as just being lines!

with all that, the eyes more than anything are layers i recommend having properly named. you'll need to have the right whites with the right lines, so being able to find the two pieces with the same names is important! else you could get fun bits like this:

i dont think eyes are supposed to do that.

and generally, that's the most important parts of making these that i'd say! i have a few more tips, but theyre mostly little things that are moreso optional that i'll rattle off real quick-

for shading, i just use solid black shading with a lower opacity (i know, booooo). it's the quickest and easiest way to ensure they're both consistent, and covering everything in the same way. tbh i dont every see shading as necessary for these- but it adds just that bit more of depth and extra visual appeal to it imo

a general rule i use for characters with facial hair, which is Several in missing numbers; beards go with the head base, mustaches should be redrawn with every mouth. when someone with a mustache or stubble is talking, its usually gonna be moving and contorting with the shape of the mouth:

having it be static can range from a little off, to just Weird with more extreme expressions. but thats mostly because my style leans more realistic- if you've got a more toony style, i dont think having a mouth overlapping a mustache a little will be too bad!

this is just because i put a lot of detail into stuff and is SUPER optional, but one thing i do is have two different head bases for whether a mouth is open or closed. the jaw is opening is gonna result in the chin going a bit farther down, as opposed to it being closed! all i did to make it was take the original head base, grab the jaw area, and lower it a few pixels, then filled in the gaps. work smarter not harder

when moving the irises around, i prefer to duplicate the base layer. usually to get things to look right, you'll need to move the irises independently, so its good to just have the original stay as it is because getting it back EXACTLY how it was might be difficult. plus, you can keep the moved ones for reuse later! ^-^

if your art program allows for a universal symmetry ruler, awesome! make sure you know exactly where to put it later to add to your character! and if you use a program like clip studio (like me) where the ruler only applies to one layer; at least for csp, i can put it on a folder and it applies to everything inside that folder, so i just put all the assets in one Big folder and put the ruler there. i dont know every art program, but hopefully that still helps??

if your character has strands of hair that rests in front of their shoulders like ace's wisps or leafs big old strands, draw them as a part of the bangs or put them in the same folder so they properly sit atop everything else!

ace doesnt have any hands yet, but those would go at the very top of the layer stack. heres our lovely assistant for an example!

and for now, thats all i can really think of!

these talksprites aren't ideal for a lot of bodily motion, but for stuff like that, i figure thats where hand-drawn pieces come in. generally, i have these setup to make work on updates a bit easier, as it takes me a while to draw entire original pieces (and i struggle to focus. this is in fact why the blog suddenly went quiet again), but i still want my posts to have that visual flair to them! doing an entire visual of a character from the ground up is a fair bit more work than just. drawing a symmetrical mouth onto a guy, so i've found this whole mix-n-match type of talksprite thing a godsend ^^

anyways !! i hope i explained that well enough- good luck with ur endeavors, and i hope i get to see it!! :O

and please feel free to shoot any other questions my way if you need anything else!! im always happy to explain and help :D

and as a blog teaser for whoever gets all the way down here, a little something for your time... ive hired these three trainers to stare at you

[klimkovsky]

Pleiades from Siding Spring⁠⁠

The Pleiades star cluster, captured from Australia's Siding Spring Observatory (31 degrees south latitude).

In my humble opinion, this is one of the best pictures of the Pleiades in the history of astronomy, at least in the category of spectacular images. But it was taken from a continent from which the Pleiades are not very visible. Not to say that they are badly visible, but they do not rise above 35 degrees - like Orion's Belt in the middle northern latitudes. This introduces its own difficulties - in terms of atmospheric transparency and exposure time (series duration), and the Pleiades visibility season is very limited there. Nevertheless, the result is stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTc092jv6Ok

I couldn't resist adding my own melody to this frame, which is related to the Pleiades: "Conversation with the Pleiades"

PS: Not everyone knows, but in the southern sky there are their own - the so-called - "Southern Pleiades". But we'll talk about them some other time.

Original photo

It was published in late 2022 on APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221205.html

[vivsemporium]

Firstly, I would like to apologise to everyone who follows me on Tumblr, I went through burn out and some health problems in September 2024 and have had a lot of trouble to keep on top of my social medias. So, lets be transparent and give you all a reintroduction and get back in the swing of things.

Hello! I am Vivian, the creator of VivsEmporium! I started this business as a hobby project in January 2023, and started working on dnd environmental pieces. Not long after that, the craft hyperfixation kicked in HARD and its been ever evolving since. VivsEmporium delved next into miniature figurine painting with Warhammer AoS, then Dungeon and Dragons themes alongside Final Fantasy Chocobos and character minis. With the word emporium, I want it to introduce more mediums and experimentation, so that will be what this year includes; whilst still sticking to its roots of minipainting.

I have always been a creative person and have needed a creative outlet in order to stay sane. Ontop of that, I am disabled who depends on NDIS and DSP to get by. I am neurodivergent and have chronic pain conditions that have impacted the majority of my life: Fibromyalgia, HSD, CFS, chronic migraines. Meaning that working your definition of a job is something that is near impossible to me. So instead, I started up VivsEmporium to build routine and create pieces for others to enjoy!

There are downsides however and ones that force me to go into hiatus. I experience pain flares, which just amplifies my daily symptoms. This deeply affects my already weak hands that are always in pain, and can't push through like I normally do when in a flare.

Thankfully, October 2024, I started seeing specialists that take me and my condition seriously. With this, I am actively seeking help to strengthen and improve my quality of life after years of medical gaslighting.

With this support, one of my resolutions is to be more active and be more vulnerable online. Sharing experiences, showing progress, and just experimenting with the platform a little more.

Lastly, I do verbalise it on my personal instagram account, but I will here too: Free Palestine, ACAB, and wear a mask not only for your own protection but for those around you too! Covid is still very much real!  PS: The plushie is a giant anteater named Hamburger. If you see me vendoring at cons, he will be with me! Also i've thankfully transistioned out of the splint now and into a widget, which is like a wrist velcro cuff thing to support my hand instability!

[sugurugetos]

hi! again. 😊 Please excuse my bad explanation; I'm new to PS and still learning what things are called. My question was about how you manage to combine pngs images with gifs in such a cool way. As seen in this beautiful HOTD edit, for example. /post/698703305504882688/i-should-not-be-left-to-my-own-devices-anti-hero It would be awesome if you have time to explain how you do this for all of us newbies, but if not, I am thankful that you took the time to answer my ask. Best wishes. 😊

— hii no omg thanku for being so nice with your ask </333333 and i'm more than happy to share how i did it (that set was so long ago 😭 i don't have my hotd files rn but i'll just make do with an example)

this effect technically can be very simple to-do and all you need is a base background and a png to go on top! but if you want to recreate that effect exactly as it was in this set then prior to the png you need:

— two gifs, ready and coloured + blended together — a transparent png with a clean outline — basic knowledge of overlays (but really it's more of a learn-as-you-go thing so its fine 😭)

#1 — so first i wanted to find the png i was going to use. just search up ____ (whatever you're looking for) png transparent online and you should be able to find heaps of good, and free to use options! my go to site is nicepng but there are sooo many places you can look!!

what's important to remember is that for a cleaner result, you want to find a png with smooth outlines - aka nothing that is really rough or jagged in its edges.

so i chose this sun png and it has plenty of black space in it (as this will play a key role in how the colour shows through the png later) but it isn't a solid block of black either!

#2 — so i have my two gifs ready, coloured and blended with each other. remember that the gif choice underneath will also affect how the png's colours show through [whether the gif has a lot of pure white/black can really change the effect!]

#3 — so now i've just inserted the png onto the gif and you can position it anywhere you want on the canvas!

#4 — i'm not sure on the technicalities on why you need to do this (😭) but the png typically is black right, but you want to make it white so make sure to invert the png so it shows up white!! you can invert through adjustments or by pressing command + i or ctrl + i to do this!

#5 — now go to the blending mode of the png and set it to EXCLUSION. i think you can set it to difference as well but i'm no expert in that and i think they give the same result. your white png should turn sort of blue-ish translucent!! now we're ready to add colour <3

#6 — now right click/double click etc on the png and go to blending options here!

#7 — this is an optional step but if you want the outline of your png to appear a little more against the gif (say as the majority of the background in mine is mostly dark) then you can add a shadow to your liking! these are just my typical settings nowadays :D

#8 — head over to gradient overlay and choose a colour gradient that you would like! there are heaps of easy presets that i often default to (like plenty of blue/green/purple options) <3 and make SURE you set the blend mode of the gradient overlay to EITHER: — multiply (shows up pretty dark which can be useful at times!) — hard light (which shows up pretty bright, i'm going to use that in this gif because bright is what i need!) — colour (shows up more light/white and works well on lighter backgrounds imo)

#9 — finish up by adding your typography however you would like! i added the same gradient effect to 'SEVENTEEN' at the bottom of the text for a little more pop of colour!

and there you have it!!! that's your finished gif (or at least the same principle behind the hotd/anti hero set!) and here's the finished result <3 i hope this helps!!

i've gone through these similar steps in this tutorial as well! i learnt this from this great tutorial by @anya-chalotra 🧡

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Super-resolution machining of single crystalline sapphire by femtosecond laser-induced, plasma-assisted ablation

A new study in Opto-Electronic Advances discusses super-resolution machining of single crystalline sapphire by GHz burst mode femtosecond laser-induced plasma assisted ablation. GHz burst-mode femtosecond (fs) laser, which emits a series of pulse trains (burst pulse) with extremely short intervals of several hundred ps, offers distinct characteristics in materials processing as compared with conventional fs laser (single-pulse mode). The authors of the new study have demonstrated that the GHz burst mode fs laser greatly improves ablation efficiency, quality and speed. GHz burst mode fs laser was further applied to surface nanostructuring, showing formation of unique two-dimensional (2D) periodic surface structures different from 1D structures fabricated by the single-pulse mode. The authors took advantage of the distinct features of GHz burst mode fs laser for super-resolution machining of single crystalline sapphire by this original technique, termed laser induced plasma assisted ablation (LIPAA). The single crystalline sapphire is an attractive material for a variety of industrial applications due to its excellent characteristics such as high-transparency in a visible range, high hardness, and good thermal resistivity.

Read more.

[the-queen-and-the-king]

A little piece of paradise - 6

Summary: After a rough interrogation, Emily and Aaron finally found the little girl abducted by this couple and their son who were following an old ritual. However, Aaron seems disturbed by the way he had to act to win the case.

It follows S04E13 "Bloodline"

Characters: Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss

Contents: talk about abusive relationship, family violence (against spouse and children), drunk parent, and CM murder stuff NSFW/Minors DNI

This text will be an AU with a sudden canon-divergence. I wrote it when I was rewatching the show, so many chapters will be directly related to some episodes of season 4. There will be 28 chapters.

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

Read on AO3 / lire sur AO3

___

Emily looked left and right, then down the deserted corridor to Aaron's room. The investigation they had been following for the previous few days had ended on a sour note. They had captured the suspects and recovered the little girl they had abducted, alive and in one piece; but at the same time, they had discovered that this trio of malefactors was just one among many, and that they were free to move about, ready to perpetrate the same modus operandi again and again. This kind of bitter end always sticks in the throat of profilers, but she also knew that her lover was having an even harder time of it than they were, because of his position of responsibility. Each lost case meant fewer arguments to justify the agency's expenses and obtain an adequate budget to ensure their smooth operation. So, she knocked on his door with the idea of cheering him up, by any means necessary.

As she'd suspected, he wasn't asleep, so it wasn't long before he opened it. He let her close behind her as he slowly retraced his steps. He looked dejected, downcast, and clearly not in the mood to have a good time with her. The young woman took it in her stride and moved towards him to snuggle up against his chest. He was leaning against the desk, facing the bed. He put his arms around her but went no further.

“Are you okay?” she asked, lifting her chin.

“No”, he answered, honest.

If Aaron had so much trouble with the political aspect of his status as director, it was because he didn't know any better than to be frank and sincere. An attitude that offended more than one pride, which he couldn't care less about. At least he had a clear conscience. However, he would sometimes embellish reality or turn a blind eye to what he wished to conceal when faced with people he cared about and didn't want to worry. So, officially, his wife had left him because he'd neglected her, and he could hear perfectly well out of his right ear. Two white lies designed to focus his subordinates' attention away from himself. She was the only exception to his pattern. For some reason he was still unable to explain, he had, one night, told her what had really happened between him and Haley. Part of the fault lay with him, but Jack's mother wasn't innocent either. As for his eardrum, she knew that its acuity had been halved, and reduced further when tired.

He told her everything because he trusted her, and he wanted to be as transparent as possible with her. He hadn't been enough during his previous union, and it had backfired. The lesson had been a bitter one, and he had no intention of repeating the same mistake with his new companion, who was also trying to open up more. Which was no mean feat when you had her past, and it was still a secret she hadn't shared. The closer she got to Aaron and the more attached she became to him, the more she thought about how she would one day broach the subject. But tonight, was not the time. Her lover wasn't well, and she had to help him to be positive.

“Is it because of the investigation?” she went on, her own arms around his chest.

“More or less.”

“More or less? What that’s supposed to mean?”

The giant heaved a long sigh. Since she'd entered, he hadn't looked at her. He stared at the wall in front of him without really seeing it, lost in thought.

“You know, now that we know their M.O., we'll be able to get our hands on the others in no time,” she stressed, to ease the tension she felt behind his back. “We'll get the information out to all the police forces, and they'll do what's necessary.”

This was what she had been repeating to herself since they left the police station, to put her mind at rest. A method that doesn't work very well on her partner.

“It's not that,” he disclosed dully.

“What is it then?”

“It’s…”

His muscles tensed under her fingers. What he was about to say was going to be as difficult to deliver as it was to hear. She remained in position, ready to take it.

“It’s this… bad cop thing…”

He stopped there, his eyes brighter than usual. He was hurt. Mentally hurt.

“Then, what?” she encouraged him. “It’s a role. This isn’t really you.”

“Yes.”

She saw him swallow, increasingly uncomfortable. 

“What? Why do you say that?” she questioned, puzzled.

“… My… my father used to beat my mother,” he said, barely audible.

Emily stiffened, more attentive than ever. No one knew anything about Hotch's past until he began his studies. It was information he was retaining four times over in his memory and which he flatly refused to talk about. Even to her. And what he'd just revealed already explained his silence on the subject. This explained a lot of other things too about his behavior. She answered nothing, letting him develop at his own pace.

“Not… not when he was sober,” he pursued, tightening his embrace around her without being conscious of it. “There, he was content to be abject with her. But... when he'd been drinking... anything would set him off and... he'd go down on her. And... later, when... I was old enough to defend her... he hit me too.”

She saw a tear roll down his cheek but didn't dare intercept it for fear of breaking the spell. A vise was closing around her own chest, even though she had nothing to do with it. The pain he must be feeling at this moment was surely terrible, but he carried on regardless, still without meeting her eyes.

“I… I promise myself not to be like him. To… to never let anger win. But… it’s impossible.”

His voice had broken at this realization. He lowered his nose and closed his eyes, letting two new tears escape. His companion understood that it was her turn to play. She put her hands on his face to make him listen.

“Aaron, you’re not your father. You’ve got nothing to do with him.”

“I’m scaring people.”

“No, not at all.”

“Jordan fears me. You are all fear me. That woman was afraid of me. Like… like my mother.”

She forced him to lean towards her so that he could put his head on her shoulder, and she could comfort him more easily. He didn't struggle and hugged her, crying silently into the hollow of her neck. She stroked his hair tenderly and whispered in his ear:

“Aaron, we're not scared because you're evil. You’re just… impressive. You're head and shoulders above everyone else.”

“Spencer is as tall as me,” he mumbled, sniffing.

“Yes, but he's as thick as a potato chip,” she joked to make him smile. “You're tall, square, well-dressed, well-coiffed and you've got a trailer voice. So, yes, it’s true, you do impress us.”

She couldn't have said otherwise anyway, since they were all clenching their butts when he frowned in their direction.

“Jordan doesn't know you like we do, and she doesn't have our training. She stops at what everyone else sees at first glance, and so doesn't get that behind it all is an absolutely adorable teddy bear.”

He had ceased to cry. He listened intently to what she had to say. She was weighing her words. His companion was intelligent and could easily slip through the cracks in an argument to turn it against the litigant. A remnant of his past as a prosecutor. So, she had to lock everything down so he wouldn't take advantage of it to denigrate himself further.

“As for this woman, that was the whole point. It wouldn't have made sense for me to play you, she asserted in passing. And, once again, it was only a role.”

“But I didn’t need to force myself. I was really mad.”

“Like all of us,” she objected, earnestly. “We were all furious at what they'd done to this little girl. Furious at what they had done to their own child. Not even of age and already a murderer, it's despicable.”

Just thinking about it made her insides contract. This kid would never have a normal life, even if he were entrusted to the hands of good, honest adopters. He had killed two people, assisted in the murders of two others and helped kidnap two young girls. It wasn't something you could erase from your memory as easily as falling off your bike or getting a bad mark on an exam. Worst of all, he had to be convinced he'd done nothing wrong. It was revolting, and it was no aberration to be overcome by rage at this terrible reality.

Aaron calmed down and released the pressure around his companion's chest. Emily took the opportunity to give him a kiss on the cheek before pulling away to press her forehead against his. She tried to capture his gaze and he let himself be caught.

“Feeling better?”

He nodded and smiled shyly.

“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

He shook his head.

“The others will wonder.”

“Why? You go down first at breakfast, then they follow and, as usual, I'll be the last to join you.”

The giant pouted, but she was confident. It was the truth. The director was an early riser who was always dressed well before anyone else. On the other hand, she was more the type to leave home at the last minute before being late, with only a cup of coffee in her stomach, and to arrive at the office when everyone else was already on the warpath. A rhythm of life that could have divided them, but which actually suited them in this kind of situation. Everyone could escape from their partner's room without running the risk of crossing paths with their colleagues. It was only on weekends that their rituals harmonized: he'd hang out in bed to enjoy her presence, and she'd accompany him out of the sheets to take the time to relish a real breakfast.

“No one's going to see me leave this place,” she assured him, tranquilizing him.

“... All right,” he agreed, cheerlessly.

“Unless you don't want me to stay...”

“Yes, I do!” he rushed to say, tightening his grip around her.

Her lover may not have been good at verbally expressing his innermost thoughts and emotions – which was hardly surprising given what she now knew about his childhood – but his gestures spoke for him. He really didn't want her to go. She smiled and kissed him.

“We’ll make love tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“Cool!”

His lips stretched more serenely and landed on hers. A few moments later, they were lying under the comforter, he on his back, she curled up against his body, hand and leg wrapped around him. He himself had placed his fingers on hers and his other palm on her shoulder. Eyelids closed, they slept peacefully, reassured by the proximity of their loved one. 

___

First chapter >> https://www.tumblr.com/the-queen-and-the-king/771016298484334592/a-little-piece-of-paradise-1?source=share

Next chapter >> https://www.tumblr.com/the-queen-and-the-king/774821373161930752/a-little-piece-of-paradise-7?source=share

[kazeharuhime]

How do you do the gradient colour text on tumblr?

Basically, I use this site to get a gradient text (to get more control over my gradient colors, I screenshot my draft post, load it up in PS [any program with layers, layer settings and gradients will work though], new layer set to screen, rectangle marquis the text, sample some colors from the pic for the gradient [or I might boost them/choose them myself/mess around with the sampled colors with color balance etc], apply gradient once or a few times to make adjustments if the initial one doesn't look nice [first is an opaque gradient, then one color with transparency to make adjustments unless it's really bad, then it's back to an opaque one and repeat process]. Once I'm happy with it I sample a color from each letter, line up the colors to sample from, then copy each hex code as I sample from the lineup and plug them into the site, adjusting for the number of letters), copy the html code once I'm happy with the gradient, then (on PC, but mobile browser works too) hit the gear on the top right corner of the draft editor, under text editor, hit the drop-down menu and select html. Go back to the draft editor, highlight the text to be gradiented, paste html in its place, hit the gear and go back to rich text under text editor, head back to the draft, see how it looks. If it looks bad, I go back into PS (or if you're not insane like me you could adjust it from the site, but I like knowing exactly what color what letter is going to be) and repeat the gradient and pasting processes. The process repeats until I'm happy with how it looks in the editor. Then I move on to finish the rest of my post

[mr-shockwave]

Heya, I showed my friend your post with all your 3d prints in it and he said (I quote) "Those clear prints give me unspeakable amounts of envy"

They look seriously awesome.

So I wanted to ask what specs/machine/set up you're using, specifically for the clear ones. I can tell it's a resin printer, but all the prints my friend tries keep coming out with bubbles.

ps. your v-tube models look great too :D

So, i use two Elegoo Saturn 2's to print, nothing fancy or modified abt em, and as of NOW just elegoo ABS like transparent and smoky black resin, however i plan to switch resins because of the transparents ABSURD yellowing problem and its just a bit fucky of a mixture. for the colors in the resin, i just use acrylic dye!! it helps both 1. remove yellowing and 2. just pretties em up. Im actually not too sure what exactly causes those bubbles, but its definitely not an issue ive encountered with my printers. and ty !!! im still really happy with how they turned out :]

[editor-flower-shop]

Hi! So i recently had a request for a pastel edit and i just couldn't pastel it. I have made pastel edits in the past but i just. Forgot how??? Soo, if its alright, could i please ask you to make a tutorial on how to pastel edits 😭

Sure thing!

I’m not an expert but here some things I always do when making pastels!

Ps: these are just tips, I’m no expert, and this is my idea of pastel! If you don’t like it it’s ok obv!

Step 1: Prepare

Before getting to the actual editing I like to have things ready to start (like a painter has their colours ready before beginning)

Ready your resources

I always like to have some “props” like object transparents and decorations that fit a certain aesthetic ready to use so that I don’t have to look for it while I have my creative juices going. I can like go wild with it. I have like folders for backgrounds, pre-made layers and such.

I’d say it’s a good thing to have like stuff like that in general. I usually associate flowers and like cute stuff with my pastel edits, for example.

And ofc the transparents of the character. It’s kinda bothersome having to look for them while you’re editing in my opinion and if you’re custom making it I suggest making it in another file, just to be sure.

Choose your palette

Pastel edits usually have one very simple palette or some light gradients so I think you should choose what kind of pastel colours we’re talking about in an edit.

I usually choose the subject and the render I want and start from there, lightening the colours if needed.

Of course, you can also use contrasting colours, although I wouldn’t use them too much in a pastel edit cause the contrast would… idk uhm not fit in with the light pastel feels you want to give?

Tip: if you want to keep consistency try to choose very similar images (from a colour point of view, so like not a super light one and one in the dark)!

Step 2

Edit

Pretty basic, I know.

Like organise things and layers however you want them before turning it into a proper pastel!

Tip: some nice elements to put that kinda give that dreamy pastel vibes (imo) are clouds and flowers and such so yeah! Or whatever you feel like obvs!

Step 3

Make it pastel

There are many ways.

Usually I put a pastel background (just plain colours) and then a foreground (could be a gradient if you’d like) at low transparency (so that it doesn’t cover anything too much.

If you don’t want to lighten the lines of the edit, you can save it and then change it’s colours manually.

Then I usually put some faded foregrounds on (usually I exclude the character to make it clearer).

The from them see if you like it.

I also suggest some glitters, not too much though. But some glitter never hurt nobody, right?

I think it gives the edit a dreamy effect if put strategically.

And… yeah that’s it.

I hope it was useful!