#the zooming an angle makes it looks all weird

[sosadraws]

Hi, is it possible that we could see more Powder? Would she ever want to teach stuff like hand to hand combat to someone, or would she be more interested in a friend who's equally skilled in her interests/hobbies?

(Hi! Sorry! I was procrastinating this ask because I wanted to accompany it with a little comic, but with Art Fight and personal work I don't have time for it right now 😅)

Between both choices, she would prefer teaching.

I mean, she would deeply appreciate having someone that genuinely enjoys her interests; but she would also feel a little intimidated if the other person is more knowledgeable on the topic than her, fearing that she would end up looking stupid in comparison.

On the other hand, the idea of being someone that others look up to really excites her. However, she has to solve her two main issues in order to be a genuinely good mentor figure:

-Being honest with others and herself about her mistakes and the things she doesn't know/isn't as skilled (she's the type to fuck up and go "Ah yeah, I totally intended to do that").

-Remember that not everyone has replika strength or extended polyethylene legs. A gelstalt can't keep up with your rythmn girl please slow down-

But the spirit is there.

Anyways, here's a thumbnail for Art Fight I didn't use and a tragedy:

[front-facing-pokemon]

[cordeliawhohung]

Going off of him calling reader his wife, Ps! Gaz whose highest rated video with his favorite girl is a "Honeymoon" night concept where it's basically a really romantic lovemaking video.

Their natural chemistry is perfect and the romance feels real; they even joke around a little and take things slow.

And that vid is what confirms for the fans that there's something going on between them that goes beyond the cameras.

- 🦴

part 237423849 of kore writing a drabble/one shot when she probably shouldn't have. not edited because my brain is fried? idk save me, pornstar!gaz, save me

It's late into the night when your phone screen illuminates your face.

A sleepless night quickly plagues you with a wandering mind that won't let go of the images that still haunt you from your last shoot with Kyle. The two of you have filmed countless times together, but there's something about this most recent one that refuses to let go of your mind. It overwhelms you so much that you've got your studio's porn site on your phone at nearly one in the morning. 

Usually, you hate watching the videos you perform in. It crosses an odd sort of boundary in your mind that makes you feel disgusted with yourself, but you can't help but watch the one you filmed with Kyle titled "Honeymoon Getaway." Before the video even starts, you notice the ratings. Tens of thousands of people have watched the video already, and it was only edited and published five days ago. The ratings are all positive, thousands of thumbs ups and bookmarks.

Your teeth sink into your lip once the video starts. Both you and Kyle are dressed in your "wedding" attire; a well fitted suit with the jacket removed for him, and a white slip that covers your bridal lingerie for you. It's... sensual. The way he kisses you. And really fucking weird watching it from a third person perspective. You vividly remember his breath against your face and the way his hand caressed your cheek, but it's not what you're looking for, so you skip ahead. 

When the video loads the next portion, Kyle's face is buried in your cunt. The angle they filmed it at is nothing compared to the view you had in real life. The way he kissed the side of your knee, keeping eye contact with you for as long as he could as he kissed all the way down your thigh until his tongue was on your clit… it’s a sensation that ghosts along the inside of your legs even as you lay there in bed. 

But the video? Fuck, it’s terrible. Focusing more on the side view, obscuring his pretty face with your thigh. At this point, you’re ready to take the camera and film everything from a first person point of view next time you film with Kyle. 

But that’s besides the point. You’re looking for something else. 

Once again, you skip ahead and the sound of your laughter emanates from the speakers on your phone. Kyle, who had been hovering over your body, had quickly rolled you on top of him, switching your spots. It was done so effortlessly, and you try your best not to gawk at the way his muscles flex as you straddle him.

"Kyle," your voice whines over the speakers.

"Better view this way," is all he responds.

You hate it. Hate the way he makes your stomach churn just from a video alone. It almost churns worse than it did when you were really filming with him, pretending to be love-struck newlyweds fucking one another in an expensive hotel room.

You skip forward again, a significant distance this time, and Kyle has you pinned to the bed on your back. With his hands underneath your knees, you're nearly kissing them as he ruts into you. You try not to pay too much attention as the camera pans to a view of your cunt sucking him in like the good little wife you pretended to be.

Luckily, you're not stuck watching it for too long before the film shoots over Kyle's shoulders, showcasing the way your tits bounce at his relentless pace. You grimace when they zoom in, but it's not much longer before you finally find what you were searching for.

"My sweet wife. I love you so fuckin' much."

You sit up straight the moment you find it, and your fingers are scrambling to rewind so you can hear him again. The breathlessness of his voice, the lilt in his tone. It feels like gold on your ears, yet it has your heart shredding into pieces in your chest. It feels real. Too real.

But it can't last forever.

You pause the video, ceasing the sound of your moans and Kyle's fake confession. Everything spins around you when you look up from the screen and at the darkness of your room. Lonely. So fucking lonely and cold. You shake your head as you look back at your phone, and you decide to make the terrible mistake of sleuthing through the comments.

The idea of it all, was finding something that would turn you off so that you could forget it all and go back to sleep. And there were plenty of disgusting comments:

>> need a submissive wife like this

>> great tits

>> too soft with her. you need to learn to put your bitch in place the first night.

It should have been enough. You should have stopped there, but you don't. You can't stop scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling. It's a vicious cycle that you can't stop, and you're stuck reading every single comment and speculation from anyone who still had living brain cells after jerking off to your video. Each and every one of them destroy you more than the last:

>> I feel like i'm ruining a special moment lmao

>> there's no way these two aren't together irl what the fuck

>> can't wait to see these two on OF together when they realize they don't want to fuck anyone else lol

>> nah, they really snuck in a whole crew on their actual honeymoon that's dedication

>> he sounds like he's about to cry when he says he loves her

You shut your phone off and fight the urge to toss it across the room as you slam yourself back against your mattress. All you want to do is sleep but your chest aches so furiously that it's all you can focus on. Everything feels so real with Kyle, and it's not fair that he's always out of your grasp. Always teasing you with the promise of fucking you off camera, of looking at you like you're the only woman in the world.

A tremble begins in your bottom lip as you shove your face into your pillow. Kyle Garrick is going to be the death of you, you're sure of it. Judging by the tears that soak your pillow that night, you know it's not going to be a kind death, either.

[freezerbunny-sims2]

Compilation of old TS2 gifs: Bugs, glitches and other weird stuff.

First kiss cutscene while sims are frozen with the Freezer Clock.

Exploding fat morph, caused by mistake in the clothes-making process.

Mortimer just really wants to go to the other side of the room, but Pascal is in the way, giving birth.

Unfinished "caught cheating" cutscene, triggered with debug mode. Looks a bit scary out of context.

Sim stealing a drink from another sim.

What happens when you get the camera too close to a mirror and from a certain angle.

"Shield eyes" animation interfering with "trim bushes" animation.

Bubbles fx stuck in a sim's behind. Tbh I don't remember how this happened.

Custom rocking chair playing the rocking animation with no sim on it.

The "leaving sim at the altar" animation, played outside the cutscene, with a hacked object.

You all know her, you all hate her: PINK SOUP.

Penguin walking sideways.

Mrs. Claus stuck in place, looking indecisive. No idea what caused it.

Water FX from the octopus toy stuck in child's eyes.

Magic sparkles stuck in figure-skating witch.

When you zoom out and in again, toilets might emit this water effect from the unclogging interaction.

[featherandferns]

daylight - prologue

jj maybank x fem!reader | prologue of the daylight series

content warnings: none

word count: 537

blurb: people-watching at a kegger, you find your new muse through your camera lens

His eyes are perfect. They reflect the setting sun like a still lake of water reflects treelines and sky. Clear, crisp and clean. They’re somewhere between blue and green. They remind you of a marsh pond or natural lake, enclosed within shrubs and trees, weeping willows and that sort of thing. His eyelashes are the things that girls would envy: long and naturally curled. Why do men always have such great eyelashes? It’s never fair. 

You watch as crow's feet appear beside his eyes. He must be smiling. Your focus is on his side profile, gazing at him through the viewfinder of your camera. That small mark of technology makes you feel less creepy in your staring. When he laughs, he shifts out of focus and view, shaking with his humour, eyes crinkled and bright. Something about it makes you smile too, as if you’re in on the joke. It’s a small smile. Secretive. He has dimples, you realise. An almost symmetrical smile that is somehow resigned and assertive at once. He’s mesmerising. It’s like he was meant to exist through a camera lens. You take the opportunity to snap a shot the moment he’s back in focus. Two. One more and - yes, perfect. 

You like photographing most things. Nature, people, sports, still-life: you weren’t picky. But eyes - oh, those are your favourite. It has always been a weird obsession of yours. There’s just something about them. They hold so much character; so much emotion, so much feeling. William Shakespeare once said, ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’, and you had to agree. This nameless boy’s eyes are the perfect example. 

But then you realise that you’re seeing his eyes from a whole new angle. 

They’re staring right at you.  

You quickly dart away. Lift the camera up and to the right, as if you’re photographing the sparse treeline which lines the beach. There’s a small thrum of anxiety in your throat which you swallow. You don’t dare look back to where he is. Instead, you distract yourself by adjusting the focus of the camera and zooming in on the branches, hoping to spot some wildlife. A bird is perched on a branch and you take a mundane photo before lowering your camera. You inspect the picture. Then, you finally brave a look to where the boy had been standing before. He’s gone. Phew. As the ‘new girl’ in town, the last thing you needed was the tagline of ‘stalker’. It was intrusive of you to photograph a stranger rather than striking up conversation like any normal person, but the kegger had been overwhelming. Everyone knew each other. Friends upon friends; groups and gangs of teenagers; hell, even the tourists all huddled together like lifelong pals. You felt on the outside. You always liked to people watch. Get a feel for the crowd and the people from a safe distance, your camera acting like a shield.

Looking down to mess with the settings, you take one more glance around to see if you can spot him. He seems to have vanished. Sighing, you lift your camera once more and turn your attention to another crowd of people at the beach, and you continue snapping away. 

read the next part here

[sleepy-sham]

Ok so here are my thoughts that no one asked for on the VR characters for that ride.

Levi is the best. They nailed him. Genuinely the best realistic Levi I've ever seen. Also I love that he has freckles (they all do actually which I do like for everyone)

Next best is Reiner. Extremely good job, very accurate looking imo

Next is Jean. Jean is pretty good honestly. His eyes are just a little bit off for me. I feel like they're slanted kinda upwards? If he had Reiner's eyes it'd be perfect.

Sasha is ok. I feel like her hair is too static, like it looks gelled into place. This is the best job they did with a character who has bigger, rounded eyes though

Mikasa. Again, she's ok. Her hair is good. It's still kinda off for me though, I feel like the eyes aren't right. Also I feel like she should have a different nose

Eren is the worst. Idk man. It's just off. His eyes aren't the right shade of green. Their shape & angle looks weird on his face. I feel like his hair should be a little longer. They did make his face dirty though which is funny to me lol (ok edit after I posted this I zoomed in & the eye color looks a little closer that way)

Ok I'll have to make a reblog of this post to add my thoughts about the titans because there are too many pictures, it won't let me add more than 10 in one post ok bye

[golby-moon]

made a thingy for the @spnfolklorebang and dumped uh a lot of art on it. I now never wanna see and/or draw snow again (good thing it's July ig fghjfhfg)

so first up is the banner, in which I reuse the putting credits on trees thing because I'm very original with banners (at least it wasn't a desk this time gdfgdf). for some reason that sign with the title gives me Club Penguin vibes and I have no idea why, though I'm thinking idk maybe the colors? also look at me forcing myself to get better at drawing forests using that greyed out outline-less object method

drawing the Impala is Hard no matter the angle so I actually used a reference for once yay. just now realizing Dean might be too small but ehh. for this one, I really wanted to emphasize the fact that Cas isn't there at this point in the fic so I drew a lot of empty space in the Impala as opposed to zooming in on Dean and relieving myself of the burden of drawing more Vehicle. also this is my first time drawing snow like that how's it look. also also what no I totally didn't distort various sections of the banner to make the trees in the background what are you talking about

(bonus sketch but I originally just had the Impala all frosty like this and idk I was still somewhat fond of this version even if the fic had the Impala more snow-covered. looking at this now, the frost looks more like salt from the road than anything though :/)

oh no look away it's my attempt at drawing people squatting down ,_, (never a good thing though neither is me trying to shade stuff). nah but I actually found references of Dean and Cas squatting shockingly easily and tried to copy those. still doesn't look quite right imo but an attempt was made so that they could actually see the tiny prints in the snow which I think came out suspiciously well considering. the weird section of snow on the bottom right is supposed to be a slushy sort of river that's partially melted but not really so I tried to make it look kinda melted. also am I the only one who never realized until now that we never saw any of the main characters wearing any sort of winter clothes? they're up to their ears in flannel but don't have a coat or a warm hat??

bonus art piece thingy featuring Phillippe LeChat (the familiar from That One spn episode, since my boy Phillippe is featured in the fic). houses never come out looking quite right and the roof is a disaster but an attempt was made and yeah I did give him huge anime-ish eyes I don't make the rules

the fic this is made for is called "Full Snow Moon" by @mbqnoyolo

(07/06/24)]

[gender-trash]

you know the tumblr aesthetic houses/aesthetic interiors blogs? the ones that post exclusively unsourced images usually ganked from instagram or pinterest?

ai image generation has taken over that entire corner of tumblr like a parasite, and because i content tag for ai generated images i need to zoom in and squint every fucking time -- but i follow a lot of blogs who talk a big game about being anti-"AI art" and seem to, like. not realize? when they are in fact reblogging ai generated images (i suspect because they look more like photos than like digital paintings or w/e).

anyway here's my set of tips for recognizing ai generated aesthetic house photos on tumblr. we're gonna use this post as an example:

check the source: on posts by this species of aesthetic photo aggregation blog, there may be some kind of text that purports to be "a source" (in days of yore, sometimes if you googled this you would find some kind of instagram page that itself aggregated stolen image content; occasionally it was even the actual photographer). in our example post the text is "Thierrynuchanant", which might be a street name or a photographer's mononym or an instagram or all manner of other things, but the entire first page of google results was exclusively this tumblr post or reblogs of it, so i feel pretty confident in assuming it's completely made-up.

(this by itself is a weak signal that the image is also completely made-up, but, like... if it ISN'T, it's still a blatantly stolen unsourced photo. but if you're active in this corner of Aesthetic Tumblr i guess you've already made your peace with that.)

inspect the architecture: this particular house makes it tricky because it's purposefully artsy and asymmetric, and how the hell do i know the architect didn't make all the window frames different on purpose? so instead of asymmetry, keep an eye out for misalignments, things that don't make physical sense, or things that are mismatched but look similar from a distance (typically if you are doing something purposefully mismatched, you want to draw attention to the contrast -- so, an all-black outfit with one black sock and one bright green sock is purposeful, but an all-black outfit with one black sock and one dark gray sock looks like you made some sort of laundry error).

what the fuck is this pointy archway thing that's only on one half of the window? where does it attach?

these lit-up yellow windows look like really fancy and decorative leaded glass (i mean, i *think*; the image is blurry enough that it's hard to tell), so it's weird that they look similar in color but the left one has a diamond-ish pattern and the right one has vaguely gothic arching tracery that is replicated NOWHERE else in the house

the windowsill looks lumpy and, uh, irradiated, and the planterboxes are at two different heights. also come to mention it how are the planterboxes even attached to the thick stone sill?

why are there two slightly different styles of lamp thing at two different heights

windowpanes crooked??? also if you squint the stonework on the window frame doesn't actually make sense or depict anything

this mostly-hidden rectangular architectural mass seems to switch from modern with rectangular windowpanes on the left to elaborate tracery on the right, and the angles don't quite match up either. (i also spent a while squinting at that inverted nipple thing to the right of the round window but like, i don't know a hell of a lot about french art nouveau vernacular architecture, maybe it's... a disused utility hookup???)

plants that aren't in pots: this is the dead giveaway. ai generated images LOVE to have non-climbing plants just vibing on the side of a building.

this is not a fucking epiphyte it needs DIRT SOMEWHERE

okay now i gotta hunt down another example image so i can provide examples of mangled text and maybe mismatched architectural details in other styles. brb

[smol-bean-of-the-smols]

beans, how do you get the lines in your art so clean

OOH YAY IVE BEEN WANTING TO EXPLAIN MY LINES (its a bit of a long rambling post, sorry jkasfgjhak)

I use a specific brush in clip studio paint, Rough under India Ink in Brushes, and i believe it came with my program. This is how it looks at varying pressures (zoomed in for the texture). It's a shaped brush, so it's wider when being moved vertically and thinner when moved horizontally (i use this to my advantage with rotating the canvas :D)

I use this brush for sketching, and a very large portion of the time, that sketch is cleaned up and made into the lines you see in the final pieces! For example's sake, here's what a rough sketch would look like:

The sketch could be cleaner or messier than this, yet the process remains. The sketches get cleaned up with that same brush and the eraser. I like making the width of the lines quite varied, normally the outside/shaping lines thicker and the lines of shallow folds thinner (in the context of drawing clothing).

Usually, I start with erasing the parts of the lines that extrude a bit much and reconnecting the lines properly, and that brush makes it quite easy! Sometimes I also make an area, like a weird intersection, thicker than necessary so I can erase it into the shape I want. This happened to the area with the red arrow below (it's a very fun part :D).

The process of cleaning up the lines usually consists of just drawing over sketch lines to make them more solid and erasing some edges for a sharper look. You'll notice some (not all) intersections are thickened, like around the outside. I don't do this with intersections made of thinner lines because it'd take away some of the delicacy.

And some lines I never touch! Like the line the blue arrows are pointing at. What's also important about that line is the almost angled part of it in the middle. I like using this brush to make smooth corners, like where the yellow arrows are pointing, using pen pressure. I like using almost-triangles in my lines and shapes. You may notice I use a lot of triangles in the middle of clothing to make folds, even when they don't really make sense to stay as lines rather than just shading but shhhh.

And lastly, something I also do, but not always, is copy and paste the lines and blur them with a gaussian blur of 6 and turn down the opacity to how I see fit. It dulls the sharpness of the lines, which depending on the drawing can be a VERY good thing, as well as darkening them a bit.

I can also put that layer beneath the original lines, alpha lock the transparency, and make it a color! Like on the right if you can see the difference. Depending on the drawing, maybe I'll make the layer a blending layer to interact with the colors beneath it in interesting ways! I don't do it that often, but I do love doing it anyway.

Anyways, in conclusion, it's the brush I use that is the main part of the process. Idk what I'd do without it kjashfklaj

[rightshoeonleftfoot]

Lingering Marks

Pairing: Marius "Jäger" Streicher x GN!Reader

Summary: Jäger goes to work with a lipstick kiss mark on his helmet. He doesn't notice it's there.

Warnings: None! Reader is said to wear lipstick sometimes, just for the plot.

Words: 1.4k

This is NOT proofread! Criticism is welcome and encouraged!

It was 6 in the morning and the sky was still dark. Jäger straps on his gear, starting with his shoes, then his vest and plate carrier. He misses you already. The bed had been so warm with you in it, and he hated having to leave it. Work called, however and he left you at 4 in the morning with a kiss on the forehead. He had taken his gear and left in the dark, not wanting to turn on the light to disturb you from your sleep.

He puts on his helmet, too tired to pay much attention to it. He fastens his chin strap and checked his gun, before heading out to the helipad to meet with his team. He feels a bit sluggish as he walks, but he knows he'll shake it off before long. He gets to the helipad and greets his team, only to be met with strange, amused stares from his team.

“I'm ready to go.” He says, ignoring the weird looks. Mira tries to stifle a laugh, looking oddly amused. IQ turns to whisper something to Blitz, which in turn makes him chuckle. Jäger looks at them, waiting for one of them to acknowledge him with words, but they don't. “...What?” He questions, completely confused by their reactions to him arriving.

“Jäger, you have something on your..” Mira starts, before pointing at his helmet. Jäger is confused, because he could've sworn he saw nothing when he put it on this morning. “I do?” He doesn't want to take it off since it's properly fastened, so he takes off his glove and tries to feel his helmet for it. “Here, let me take a picture for you.” Mira offers, smiling a bit widely. Mira pulls out her phone, gets an angle and snaps a picture of him, with the thing on his helmet very visible. Blitz looks at her phone from behind her and snickers.

Jäger was getting impatient and a bit frustrated by the reaction of his team. “Show me.” He reaches his hand out for the phone, but Mira pulls it out of his reach to show IQ, who proceeds to grin at the picture. He sighs, mildly annoyed at the whole debacle, but brings his hand back to his side and waits impatiently. He realises people are laughing at him, and it's bothering him more than he'd like to admit. He hates the way he's being looked at, despises how they just won't tell him what's wrong with his helmet. But he waits anyway.

Finally, Mira hands him the phone and he takes it out of her hand, pushing his visor up so he could see the picture probably. The picture is zoomed onto something on his helmet, and when he finally realises what it is, his face flushes instantly. Thank goodness for his balaclava. He stares at the picture dumbly for a few more seconds, before finally just uttering “Oh.” He hands her back the phone and unfastens his helmet, carefully taking it off so he could see.

A god damned lipstick mark. A single kiss left on his helmet from none other than you. You had drank a little too much last night, deciding to kiss him and his gear so you could quote “be with him during the action.” Of course, he laughed it off and cleaned everything he could see with lipstick on it regardless of whether he wanted to keep it or not. It was unprofessional after all… But he forgot about his helmet.

Despite his initial embarrassment, he smiles a little, finding the situation a bit silly. “So, who's the lucky person?” Mira asks, tucking her phone back in her pocket. “You haven't told us anything about anyone.” She continues. She wants a reaction out of him. In normal circumstances, he'd tell them, he'd gush about you, tell his coworkers all about how amazing you are, how much he tries to make you smile just because he loves you so damn much.

The circumstances, however, make him wait until they're back. “That's none of your business right now.” He slides his helmet back on, fastening it right back and making sure everything is all connected properly. “You should tell us, we’re all curious.” IQ continued, reaching for his helmet. He gently slapped her hand away. Blitz immediately pipes up. “Are they pretty? Handsome? Good looking?” Jäger feels his cheeks redden again. He does want to talk about you, but not before an operation.

“Do they kiss your gear often?” Blitz continues, nudging him with his elbow. “Do they like seeing you wear it?” He teases. Jäger rolls his eyes, before putting his visor back down. “Now's not the time to talk about this.” He shuts his teammates down, not wanting to bring more attention to his relationship right now. However, he still hasn't cleaned up the lipstick mark.

Blitz, Mira and IQ chuckle, amused by his reaction. “At least wipe it off if you don't want to talk about it.” IQ pulls a tissue out of her pocket and reaches for the mark on his helmet to wipe it off. Before she can reach, however, Jäger gently smacks her hand away. “Don't touch it.” IQ laughs as she withdraws her hand. “You must like them a lot. You like it when they mark your gear like that?” She teases. Jäger can't help but blush, the red on his cheeks not visible thanks to his balaclava.

He hates being teased. He feels like he's being made fun of, and he feels so embarrassed. His whole body feels warm as he arranges his gear, avoiding looking at his teammates. “Just stop, please.” He hops in the helicopter, just wanting them to drop it. The last thing he needs is to get teased about his partner. He loves you, he really does. It just doesn't feel appropriate, and he was expecting to be made fun of.

“Come on, we're just curious. We haven't heard anything about someone in your life yet.” Mira sits next to him, smiling. Jäger just looks at her and sighs, before leaning back in his seat. He was expecting as much. Blitz had tried to be his wingman a few times, and IQ had tried giving him tips to flirt. So the teasing was expected, and the only reason why he hadn't told them about you yet.

“Fine, alright, yes, I have a partner.” He admits, knowing the worst is most likely over with. “No, really?” IQ remarks sarcastically, before chuckling. “Yes.” Jäger answers seriously, not noticing the sarcasm. “And yes, Blitz, they happen to be very good looking. And smart.” He wants to say so much more, but he stops himself. Blitz seems satisfied by that answer. “And when do we get to meet them?” Jäger thinks. In reality, he knows his teammates will tell you all sorts of embarrassing stories about him. He knows they'll try to embarrass him in front of you.

But at the same time, he knows you love him too much and you'd overlook any stories they'd tell you. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. To introduce them to the person helping him through all his rough patches. To you, someone who, if you'd ask him to get on his knees and crawl, he would without a second thought. “Maybe when we come back.” He says after a pause. “You better respect your word, Streicher.” Mira says as the helicopter doors close.

The helicopter takes off and he zones out, a bit exhausted from his early morning. He knows he has a few hours to doze off. He feels relieved they found out, since the worst part of the teasing, or so he hopes, has passed. Now, his operation is approaching fast, and he can't help but be excited. The prospect of you finally meeting his coworkers, his brothers in arms makes him incredibly happy. It's a weight off his shoulders, and he knows they're gonna find you just as charming as he does.

For now, he keeps the lipstick mark there, as a reminder that you're waiting at home patiently for him. A little part of you he doesn't have to fear losing because even if it gets wiped off, you can always put a new one there. A promise you'll always be there for him.

[lenfantdeverone]

Say YES to the tuxedo!

Gordon stood awkwardly on top of the platform, slightly turning around in front of the full length mirror. His eyes were fixed on the little details of the light blue tuxedo he was trying on, carefully studying every inch of his body like he had never dared before. He couldn’t pin point exactly what was wrong with this particular suit, from the color choice to the weird way it fell flat on his unusually broad shoulders. Gordon held his breathe, a hand on his chest as he breathed in, analyzing how the fabric acted upon the sudden movement. For as ignorant as he was in terms of clothing, it was still pretty evident to him that the tuxedo didn’t fit him properly.

“It makes me look short.” Gordon concluded after a while of meticulously inspecting and judging, sighing heavily as he desperately turned around to seek the opinions of his brothers (who were his future groomsmen as well).

“You are.” Alan chuckled; his eyes still fixed on the wide shawl lapel imposing on his big brother’s chest. “You look like a discolored penguin.”

“Shut up, look who’s talking!” buried inside an ill-fitting tuxedo, Gordon appeared much less intimidating as usual as he hissed at his baby brother.

“Calm down you two, this is not the time and place.” Scott admonished his baby brothers, a hand distantly raised inquisitorially. He still had his eyes proudly glued unto his baby brother, awkwardly rocking an unusually formal garment which enhanced all the secret qualities that Gordon never really showed off. “It looks good to me… weird, but it looks good!” Scott admitted, but Gordon didn’t perceive the intended warmth in his eldest brother’s reaction. For once, he wanted to be more than just good.

“Maybe a satin lapel is a bit too much.” John appointed, taking pictured from various angles so he could zoom onto the details a little better. “Considering that we’re going for an… unusual color, maybe a less shiny fabric would be better.”

“The double-breasted tuxedo isn’t a good option either.” Virgil tilted his head a bit, his gentle gaze scanning his baby brother from head to toe. Gordon blindly trusted Virgil’s wise judgment, as his big flannel-lover sibling had without the shadow of a doubt the most knowledge of the family when it came to fashion. “You look constricted, as if you are trapped in a cage.”

“I’m going to look like an idiot, am I?” Gordon bit his lip, too defeated to even spare another glance at the mirror. It was the third tuxedo he had tried on, and he had felt terribly stupid in all of them. Maybe he was just meant to make everything look bad on his beaten body.

“No, you’re not.” Virgil firmly assured him. “We just need to find something that suits you. We should try more comfortable single-breast tuxedo next, maybe one with a grosgrain lapel instead of satin, what do you think?”

Gordon hesitated, not really brave enough to put together the picture that Virgil was trying to describe. He was just so tired and defeated. “Maybe I should also stick with black… this color is just… stupid.” The groom-to-be suggested, shrugging that familiar nauseating feeling off.

“But black is boooooring!” Alan rolled his eyes, sinking into the luxurious sofa where the groom’s entourage was assisting the appointment. The littlest Tracy wasn’t really a fan of formal attire, and he had made fun of all the previous options Gordon had tried on. For as innocent as his usually pungent comments were, though, he hadn’t really helped that uneasy feeling slowly devouring Gordon alive. “It’s a beach wedding, bro, I’d rather have you look like a lost merman than look depressed.”

“If I try on anymore of those ugly suits, I’ll be depressed for good.” Gordon dared one last, defeated look into the mirror, suppressing the urge to tear the suit apart and leave the store as naked and humiliated as he felt in that moment. “Virg, please help me out.” He pleaded, voice slightly cracking, exposing how vulnerable and helpless he actually felt in the situation.

“Gotcha.” Virgil simply smiled in return, a gentle hand firmly on his baby brother’s back as he gently guided him towards the changing room.

***

With tears slowly forming in his eyes, Gordon patiently waited for Virgil to bring him some new options to try on. He felt miserable, pathetic. The man who had survived the worst hydrofoil incident in the history of mankind was sitting on the floor of a fancy boutique changing room, crying his heart out and wearing only his boxers. Never in his life, not even at his lowest, had he imagined that he would end up in such a mediocre situation. It was moments like that that made him realize just how much he despised himself. He had managed to defeat all odds and re-learn how to walk when every single doctor who had visited him had deemed it impossible, yet he was unable to enjoy what was supposed to be a happy shopping day with his family. And for his upcoming wedding nonetheless! Gordon breathed in; hands buried in his hair.

Why couldn’t he just be normal about life and be happy for once? Why did it always had to end up like that, with him crying silently in a corner where no one could see? Why was he always messing things up?

“Here, try this one on.” Virgil rested a hand on baby brother’s shoulder, carefully bringing his baby brother’s back to reality. Gordon stared at him for a bit, eyes puffy and red, and his mouth agape craving for air. Virgil bit his lips, trying to keep his facial expression calm and gentle. He really couldn’t afford scaring his brother even further, especially when that doomed shopping day could still be saved. “I really think this is the one. I promise.”

Gordon gulped, his own saliva tasting sour and salty. He tended to trust Virgil’s promises, and he knew his big brother only wanted the best for him. He was tired. He felt like a nuisance. Yet he couldn’t let his family down, not when everyone had managed to take a day off just to be in that stupid boutique with him to pick the less ugly dress for him. Hesitantly, Gordon looked up to see yet another light blue tuxedo hanging before him.

“I said I wanted black.” Gordon’s voice was sore and raw.

“Black doesn’t suit your personality, bro.” Virgil smiled at him. “You’re a force of nature, you’re bubbly and dynamic, just like the ocean.” The elder gently ruffed his baby brother’s blond hair. “Could you try it on just for me? Please? You don’t have to show the others, if you really don’t like it I can go pick a black tux if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

The light blue tuxedo impended over him menacingly, yet Gordon solemnly considered the idea. He really didn’t want to upset Virgil, especially after his big brother had turned the store inside out to find that one tuxedo just for him. After thinking about it for a moment, Gordon finally decided to lift himself up, pull the curtain, and try the suit on.

“Penny would love to see you in blue.” Virgil commented distantly from the other side of the curtain, trying to be as supportive as he could after he had seen just how exhausted and defeated his brother actually was.

“You helped her choose her dress too, haven’t you?” Gordon asked, struggling to figure out the side adjusters on his pants.

“Mhmh.” Virgil proudly confirmed, smiling fondly. “Me and John did.”

“She… she’s going to look perfect, doesn’t she...?” just thinking about his bride-to-be was enough to make Gordon’s voice crack ever so slightly. He really loved her so much. “Of course, she always does…” she was perfection at its core. Penelope was the most amazing woman in the entire universe, she was so wonderfully flawless, she came straight out of a dream. She was calm, secure, confident, always so effortlessly gorgeous, and Gordon just adored her so much. “This is all a mistake, I… I just can’t, I’m ruining everything, Virg, I can’t-” he was pleading, begging, his hands trembling and struggling to even reach the single button on the tuxedo jacket.

Virgil didn’t hesitate a second to reach out for him, carefully capturing his baby brother in the warmest, tightest, most loving embrace. Gordon sobbed silently; shoulders hunched as he buried in face in his big brother’s sweater. Virgil gently rubbed the youngest’s back, shushing comforting words until the crying calmed down a bit.

“I know she’s the right woman for you, because she sees you the way we do, the way we all wish you could see yourself.” Virgil spoke softly, Gordon could distinctively hear how worried he was, yet Virgil was smiling ever so brightly. “We all love you so much, fish, and I really hope you will trust your future wife when she tells you that you are the perfect man for her.”

Gordon sighed heavily; his eyes fixed on the ground. How could he be the perfect man for Penny when he couldn’t even wear a tuxedo without looking like an idiot? Virgil carefully fixed his collar for him, and then he gently shook Gordon’s shoulders.

“Would you please look at you for a moment?” Virgil asked joyfully, and Gordon dutifully obeyed.

Turning back, Gordon held his gaze low for a moment, looking at his shoes. It took him a deep breathe, before he felt brave enough to look his reflection in the mirror. When he finally did, it felt like the world had stopped. The young man just stood there, frozen in place, mouth wide open as he stared at himself in disbelief. He could distantly hear Virgil chuckling right behind him, but Gordon’s mind was too overwhelmed with the sight in front of him to even bother.

“Single-breast, with a neat peaked lapel wonderfully shaping your swimmer shoulders, a textured grosgrain fabric on the collar to compliment the color choice, perfectly balanced with a double slit in the back of the jacket to elongate your figure.” Virgil spoke like a professional, illustrating each feature with precise and elegant gestures. “And it’s a standard size. Just picture how gorgeous it will be once it’s fitted to your measurements!”

Gordon couldn’t help the enthusiasm growing, despite not understanding a single word of what Virgil had just explained. He just knew that he felt… right. Good. No, more than good. He felt beautiful in a way that he had never experienced, in a way that he thought he could never allow himself to feel. Everything was perfect. The suit felt like an extension of his own being, showing off all the best qualities he could offer. He smiled through the dried tears, lips trembling, overwhelming happiness numbing his muscles.

“It’s… it’s perfect already.” Gordon managed to mumble, his eyes drifting from detail to detail. “I can’t believe it, it’s… it’s just…” he was at a loss of words, but for once he wasn’t bothered by it. He was way too happy, way too surprised to express it. He felt at peace, and he knew his brother could tell. “Thank you so much, Virg.”

“Shall we show it to the others?” Virgil asked, proudly waiting for his little sibling to make his big entrance.

Gordon didn’t hesitate, he was ready.

***

“Wooow…” Alan could only stare in shock as his big brother walked confidently across the boutique, his back straight and chin up, happily showing off his beautiful suit with a smile on his face. “Oh yeah, I like this one a lot!”

“Mh mh, that’s what I was thinking.” John nodded in approval, studying Gordon from head to toe with a genuinely satisfied look on his face. “It looks definitely looks great on you.”

“I know, right?” Virgil followed the groom-to-be, arms crossed and a proud, sly smirk on his face. “I managed to make our fish look like a prince, haven’t I, Scooter?”

Virgil patted the eldest Tracy brother’s back, trying to get a positive reaction from him too, knowing just how much it meant for Gordon to have everyone’s approval, especially Scott’s. As a result, Virgil only got a strained whine from his big brother in response. Everyone in the room turned worriedly to check on Scott, as Gordon froze in place, holding his breathe.

“What the heck is going on…” Scott whined, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he sniffed loudly. “I’m literally crying.” The eldest attempted a smile, his deep dimples wet with happy tears. “You’re going to look fantastic on your day, baby brother, I’m so proud of you.”

Gordon had the widest, most sincere smile on his face as Scott hugged him tightly, loosening up after years of acting tougher and stronger than everyone else. Gordon was ecstatic, he felt gorgeous and loved. That’s what he was signing for, with this marriage. A beautiful life of love and happiness, surrounded by all the people who lifted him up and made him the best version of himself.

“So… are you saying yes to the tuxedo?” Virgil happily asked.

“I am saying yes to the tuxedo.”

[puddleorganism]

Oh god I think I just realized why ai generated images work. It’s our own weird ass monkey brains being uses against us.

Like, we all already know the brain fills in the gaps in your perception automatically. Especially with sight. I think when you look at ai generated images your brain automatically does that - it smooths over the imperfections. Especially with photos, because they look real at first glance. The textures, the lighting, it just looks like a real photo so you don’t notice even glaring imperfections. Your brain is literally designed to fill in the gaps. To make it make sense.

Like, for instance, me and my friends were roasting some ai generated image scams (which you should do because it’s honestly good practice for learning how to see those imperfections), and I didn’t even notice the scale was wildly off until a friend pointed it out - for 15 minutes. I was looking at the image for 15 minutes and didn’t notice the focus of the image was completely out of scale with the background.

Anyway. If you want to learn to recognize the hallmarks of ai images (specifically the ones mimicking photos, ai generated art is different) I recommend looking real hard at some. Here are some thing I’ve noticed to be common, though*:

The decor of rooms tend to all be the same sort of style. I don’t know how to describe interior decorating but it’s all like. Mostly white, boxy furniture, lots of houseplants. Kind of like… rustic modern I think?? This could probably change if you put in specific prompts for the background though

Speaking of houseplants, those seem to be hard to do. The leaves tend to just kinda form a blob, and can be odd shapes. I’ve also seen them kind of bleed into the image? Like there was just a fuzzy smudge of green by the plant.

Repeating patterns seem to be tricky for ai. Things like tiles, keyboards, feathers, and sometimes bricks. They look mostly fine at a glance but if you zoom in they’re so janky

Similarly, flooring can be inconsistent. Like, the lines of floorboards can go behind something, and be a different pattern on the other side.

Framed pictures look indistinct or are just a solid block of color

Lighting! Sometimes it makes sense, but sometimes shadows just go a random direction regardless of light sources (eg. shadows are cast to the right, but there is a bright window behind the thing casting the shadow, so they should be moving forward). Also, I don’t think ai can do multiple light sources? Like, in real life you know that thing that shadows do where they duplicate if there’s multiple lights in a room? I’ve yet to see that.

Animals, especially mammals (ESPECIALLY cats) seem to be easy to make a good approximation of, but often aren’t anatomically accurate. Unfortunately, you need to know what they look like beforehand, and with so many ai images out there now looking it up is probably going to be hard. For example, birds species have pretty defined shapes for their wings and tail feathers, and if you know what those are it’s glaringly obvious when ai gets them wrong. I recommend looking at zoos’ social media, Wikipedia, other scientific articles, and older books (photo books, encyclopedias) if you want good references now.

It seems to usually do extremely smooth, but somewhat contrasted lighting. Which means bright light source, and often darker, defined shadows. (But not too dark? For some reason it has more contrast than usual, but not a whole lot)

Scale and perspective are often inconsistent. For instance with scale, a human might be too small compared to the background. With perspective it can be floorboards at a different angle to the wall, or like a cabinet could be flat against a wall when it looks like you should be able to see the top.

*note: these are my personal observations/patterns I’ve noticed, they’re not like a set rule book on what ai can and cannot do. They’re also liable to change, as ai is advancing very quickly.

[jewishvitya]

AI meses up on finer detailing really badly. It's more obvious to me as an artist, but unfortunately, the image generators are stealing more data day by day, and increasingly getting better at covering up the more glaring tells, like hands.

Nevertheless a good rule of thumb is :

AI art looks like it's made by a super skilled artist, but it makes mistakes that an artist of that skill level would never make.

I'll break down some of the stuff I spotted :

Img 1 : Branches that are super "smudgy" going from nowhere to nowhere?? Shadows falling at wrong angles. The more u zoom in the smudgier and more incoherent / nonsense the shapes are

Img 2 : the phantom has the silhouette of its knees / legs at the wrong places.

Img 3 : again, messing up finer detailing, folds of the dress is all wrong- folds are going from nowhere to nowhere.

AI gives you the "illusion" of detail, but all of it breaks down the moment you zoom in.

The hand has a weird finger placement, weird blobs of light n shadow, smudgy joints

Img 4 : again, fingers, there's a weird shape of a finger floating in the dark lol

that's NOT a human hand fsjhdfs

Basically, tldr: keep your eyes peeled, go to the account and look if the artist has a consistent art style / developing / improving over months or years, posting process /sketch videos, etc.

You probably remember I'm an artist too, I'm genuinely embarrassed by how hard I find it to differentiate AI mistakes from stylistic choices someone else might make that I don't. But this is really detailed, thank you so much!!!

[obwjam]

It's Not Safe For You Here (Stargate Atlantis: Carson Beckett x tiny!reader)

a/n: behold, folks: my very first commission! requested by the wonderful and lovely @blueskimmer! i love how this turned out and i'm very happy i got to put this together for them 💞 i hope you all enjoy!

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

You just couldn’t believe your luck.

It usually went something like this: A Wraith ship came zooming out of the ring with that weird glowing light, taking as many people as it felt like. Within minutes, it was gone. It came through every so often, but because the giant village you called home was small, by human standards, the ship’s visits were few and far between. In the last couple of years, you had only seen seven, maybe eight, ring activations.

Of course a ship of unfathomable size descended on your home in the middle of your midnight borrowing trip.

It was pure, unadulterated chaos. People were screaming, dirt was flying, and you couldn’t see a thing. Whenever the Wraith came, you situated yourself in your little bunker until daylight, and this time was no different. You just had to climb down the water well and get to it.

What you didn’t fully realize was that a giant ship meant that there were Wraith on the ground as well as in the air. Debris was flying from every angle as weapons were fired and houses were set ablaze.

All it took was one errant rock to send you tumbling down.

It happened in an instant—so fast that you don’t even remember getting plunked. It was a pebble, really, something that wouldn’t have normally thrown you, but it came flying at such a breakneck speed that it immediately knocked you out, and off your feet.

When you came to, you had to blink away the light that flooded your vision. You groaned and tried to sit up, but immediately fell down when you realized you couldn’t. Your arm was twisted in a way that was not normal. You silently cursed yourself before realizing you had no choice but to get up and run. Things were hitting the ground at a rapid pace, and you had fallen off the well and were out in the open. You couldn’t believe nothing had happened to you while you were passed out.

So for the rest of the night, you stayed hidden behind the cover of grass and leaves. You managed to situate yourself underneath some fallen rock so if anything came tumbling down from above, you would hopefully be safe.

It was torture. You watched as hundreds of villagers dwindled down into a few dozen in a span of hours as the Wraith stunned them and dragged them back to their ship. The thought of getting snatched up by one of those aliens was enough to send you into a panic.

You didn’t realize you had eventually fallen asleep when the noise finally died down, but before you knew it, you were jolted awake by the sound of voices that cut through your ringing ears.

Voices you didn’t recognize.

“Oh, no…” Sheppard said as soon as his eyes fell on the scene before him. They were set to start trade with this planet—in exchange for some medicine, they would receive bountiful crops for the mainland. They certainly didn’t anticipate a culling happening in the week since they had been here.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Rodney cried. “When did this happen?”

“It looks like they were just here,” Ronon observed. “Some of these buildings are still smoldering.”

“Oh dear,” Carson mumbled. It wasn’t often he got to witness the destruction of the Wraith firsthand, and he almost couldn’t believe that just a week ago, this was a bustling village with hundreds of people walking about. Guess he and his medical supplies weren’t needed on this mission anymore.

As the others began to drift off into different parts of the village to investigate, Carson, left with nothing to do, started to aimlessly wander toward the water well in the center of the destroyed town square.

That’s when he saw you.

He gasped to himself, blinking a few times to make sure he wasn’t just hallucinating. Right on the ground, gaping up at him in shock and fear, was a tiny little human.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Truthfully, he was surprised they didn’t encounter more species in Pegasus that weren’t human, but never in a million years would he have anticipated a humanoid creature as small as a mouse. He wasn’t sure if it was just the aftermath of a culling, but a closer look revealed to him how disheveled you were. Your clothes—more like rags—were draped over your figure like loose robes, and your shoes were nothing more than thick, makeshift pieces of cloth. Your hair was unruly at best, and your skin was caked with dirt, scrapes and bruises.

“Oh my god…” he whispered with equal parts concern and amazement. “What… what are you?”

You were shaking so hard you couldn’t stop yourself. Everything in your body hurt like hell, but it didn’t matter. At the absolute worst time possible, you had been spotted. He was wearing a thick vest with what looked like a million little pockets, and he was carrying a giant case that was unlike anything you had ever seen.

In your half-lucid state, you got the bright idea to try and hide from the giant. You managed to get on your feet, but you couldn’t take more than a few steps before your legs turned to jelly and you collapsed. Instinctively, Carson lurched forward, and in the disarray of it all, you shrieked and twisted your body away to brace for anything the giant might do.

At your sudden movement, Carson recoiled. Did he do something wrong? Was he scaring you? That was a stupid question. Of course he was scaring you. The doctor knew he had to help, but he also knew he couldn’t just scoop you up and take you back to Atlantis, no matter how much he wanted to. He had to make sure you weren’t so terrified of him first.

“Hey, hey…” he said gently, trying to mask his own shaking voice. He cringed at how big he felt trying to talk to you, so he slowly crouched down, not missing the way your eyes widened as he got closer. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one. My name’s Carson Beckett, and I’m a doctor. I just want to help.”

You could only stare blankly at this human with an incredibly bizarre accent. You knew he was trying to make you feel better, but a doctor? The ones that poke and prod and touch? Nuh-uh. No way.

“I promise, I won’t hurt you,” Carson said again. He felt like it needed repeating. “It’s not safe for you here. Let me take you back to Atlantis and we can—”

“NO!” you shrieked suddenly, surprising both you and him. You had no idea what Atlantis was, but you knew it couldn’t be good. “N-no, ple-please… I…”

Carson had subconsciously put his hand on his knee to rest, but once he noticed the way your eyes were tracking its every movement, he sheepishly pulled it back.

“Look, I know you must be scared down there. I know I would be if I were in your shoes,” he started. “But you’re in bad shape, dear, and if the Wraith come back again, you’ll be stuck here with nowhere to go.”

Your stomach dropped when he said that. You couldn’t even fathom the Wraith coming back like that again. There’s no way I would survive.

“Let me help you, and you’ll be back on your feet in no time,” he said softly, putting a smile on his face to show he was friendly. “I can take you somewhere safe and fix you all up.”

You instantly shook your head no, and when the doctor cocked his eyebrow, you knew you had to defend yourself.

“I… please, I can’t… I can’t go anywhere with you.”

Carson had to bite his tongue to stop himself from gushing over how cute your tiny voice was. “Why not, love?”

“Because… you’re a human.”

He sniffed an amused laugh before a feeling of unease washed over him. The fact that this little guy needed to distinguish themself as non-human was intriguing.

“What’s so wrong with being human?” he implored.

At that, you clammed up. After years and years of living in secret, you weren’t about to blurt out the borrower code now.

Carson sighed. You were clearly frightened out of your wits, and it didn’t seem like talking would get him very far. Maybe if he could get through to you just how bad your injuries were, you would be more inclined to trust him.

“It’s alright that you don’t want to chit-chat, but as a doctor, I can’t just stand by and let your injuries go untreated! You could be seriously hurt, and I have a responsibility to help you, even if... even if you are just a wee lad who can fit into my pocket!”

You were surprised at his sudden outburst—and amused at being called a “wee lad”—but he was right. You were badly injured, and you didn’t have the means to fix yourself, let alone hunt for food, water and shelter in this state. At this rate, you’d be dead in a week anyway.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself for what you were about to say.

“…Okay.”

Carson perked up. “Okay what?”

“Okay… you can help me.”

A grin grew across the doctor’s face. You clenched your jaw as his hand gently descended palm-up next to you, eagerly awaiting your arrival onto it. You gawked at it in horror—his fingers were taller than your body, and his palm came up to your ankles—but there was no going back now.

Carson’s breath hitched as you dragged yourself onto his palm, tiny hands pressing deep into his skin for support. He was sure that he’d never been more nervous than he was right now—your life was literally in his hands. He stayed surprisingly still, even through your struggle to get your legs moving without being in crippling pain. Your form was so small in his hand, and yet, it was like he has the most important task in the world. He could feel your every little movement, down to your deep breaths and trembles. His heart fluttered with each and every one of them.

Once you were situated, he took a breath. Your eyes were trained on the ground, refusing to look up and deal with just how big he was.

“I’m going to stand up now,” he warned. “Are you ready?”

A tiny, nervous nod. His heart fluttered again.

You had to close your eyes when he stretched out to his full height—you had never changed altitudes so fast before. In a moment of panic, you reached out and grabbed onto the closest thing for support, which happened to be Caron’s thumb. He let out a small Oh!, which just made both of you blush.

Grabbing his medical kit with his free hand, he briskly, yet smoothly, made his way over to a now-empty house to give you some privacy. He pushed away his feelings of unease at the reality of the situation to focus on the task at hand.

Placing his kit on one side of the table, he laid his palm down on the other, his expression soft.

“It’s okay, you’re safe here,” he reassured you, noticing how you nervously eyed the new landscape.

His mouth hung slightly agape as you ambled off his hand, utterly fascinated at something so small moving around. He couldn’t even fathom what this place looked like to you right now.

You watched with wary eyes as he opened his impossibly large case and began to take out tools you had never seen before. He quickly glanced down at you and frowned at your sudden change of expression. He quickly realized just how scary his instruments must look to you.

“Don’t worry,” he stated, “I don’t need to use all of these. I’m mainly looking for… these.” He pulled out some gauze and tape and set them both aside.

“Do you have a name, little one?” he asked suddenly. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when you didn’t answer. He began snipping off small pieces of gauze. “My team and I came here through the stargate hoping to trade, but…” he trailed off. Not only did he want to forget about the culling, but he especially didn’t want to think about you witnessing it. The thought of being so small during something so destructive made him want to vomit.

He shook off his anxiety and continued. “Can I at least ask how you got so banged up?”

You kept your eyes trained on the dents and scratches of the old wood you sat on. “I fell.”

“Fell?” Carson repeated. You merely nodded. “From where? When? How long had you been on the ground?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but no words came out. Your jaw was quivering at just how many questions this guy was asking. He wanted so much information, and you weren’t even willing to give up your name.

Carson pursed his lips. These were all standard questions he’d ask any patient, but he had to keep reminding himself that you were not just any patient. So he decided to keep his inquiries simple.

“So,” he sighed. “What hurts, love?”

You sniffed a laugh. What didn’t?

Carson saw your expression and gave you a small smile. “Right. Sorry. Stupid question, huh?”

You had to admit, it was fascinating watching him move around. He was snipping off pieces of that… whatever it was… and carefully laying them down. His gaze kept flickering between you and whatever he was doing. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Would you say anything’s broken?” he tried. He was still hoping for a verbal answer, but he settled for the impossibly small nod you gave him. Another heart flutter.

“You’re going to have to give me specifics,” he said with a small laugh. He gave you another look-over and frowned—you were wringing your hands and avoiding eye contact at all costs.

It seemed that he had a little more work to do than normal.

“Hey,” he started, putting the scissors down. He spotted a rickety stool nearby and pulled it over, taking a cautious seat as you gawked up at him. He leaned down, still in awe at how everyday objects simply towered over you. “You’re doing great, dear. I know you don’t want to talk to me, but just being here is very brave of you, you know.”

You looked up with a half-bewildered, half-flattered expression. There was this twinkle in your eyes as you tried to suss out how genuine this human was, and it was like you could see your own fascination mirrored in Carson’s own softly curious gaze.

“I’m serious!” he continued. “God knows if the roles were reversed, I’d probably have passed out by now. It can’t be easy being so… small in a giant world, I imagine.”

You stared at him in amazement. How could he possibly know what it’s like? What kind of giant would even try and empathize? That’s not what humans did in the stories you were told. Giants would snatch you up, stick you in a jar and torture you for fun. This one… this one was the exact opposite.

And that meant something to you.

“Kona.”

At the very sound of your voice, Carson felt his cheeks flush red. You were so adorable it hurt.

“What was that?”

“Kona. My-my name.” You cringed at how helpless you sounded. “You asked me for my name.”

“Kona…” Carson repeated. “What a lovely name.”

Your face went hot. Why did his compliments mean so much to you? You barely knew him.

“…I think my arm might be broken.”

“Oh, dear,” Carson mumbled. “Look, love, the best I can do right now is wrap it up a bit so you don’t aggravate it anymore…. but I’m afraid I can’t do much more unless I take you back to Atlantis.”

A pause.

“I know you don’t trust me, but I think you know as well as I do that it’s just not safe to stay here anymore. You could get hurt even more, or worse.” He gave it a moment for his words to sink in, and he could tell you understood. “Everything is destroyed here. There’s no reason to stay.” Another pause. “Please, Kona.”

Your heart skipped a beat when he said your name. You were a borrower that lived by yourself in a giant village on a strange planet—nobody ever said your name that wasn’t you. But the way this human said it… it had meaning. A purpose. Like he loved the way it sounded and knew how well it fit you.

You had never felt this way before.

“Okay,” you quavered, trying not to sound so scared this time. “I’ll go with you.”

It took Carson only a few minutes to pack up his things. Instead of trying to do it himself, he insisted that you wrap the gauze around your own arm, and he made sure to show you—from a distance, of course—the proper way to do it.

Climbing on his hand the second time was not nearly as petrifying as the first. Gripping his thumb seemed to be the easiest way to hold steady, but Carson didn’t mind. He thought it was the cutest thing in the world.

“This is probably the last thing you want to hear, but I came to this planet with four other people,” he explained as he sauntered out of the house. “And the place we’re going… it’s pretty big, even to me.” He chuckled at the fact that he just said that. “There will be a lot of people there, and you might have to meet quite a few of them. Are you okay with that?”

From his hand, it was like you were seeing this planet in a completely new light. Everything was destroyed here, but at least from this vantage point, it didn’t seem so bad anymore. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all.

“Yeah,” you finally replied after a somber moment. For the first time in a long time, you found yourself smiling as you turned your head around and looked up at Carson. He was beaming right back down at you.

“I think I’m okay with that.”

[dufferpuffer]

Do you think the whole “alpha horny werewolf” trope works with how you see Lupin and his sexual interactions? (Like are there certain times in the month where he could fit this trope? obviously he can’t do it alot of the times because of his health/strength). If so, how do you think he feels about this? Does taking a more dominant/aggressive role make him feel weird after? Does he like it? Does he feel shame? How do you think this plays out with him and his partner? How would he approach initiating sex during these times? How does it differ from how he normally behaves? (Sorry a lot of questions lol)

Erm, Ahcktually 🤓☝ wolves don't even HAVE alphas I don't like the 'alpha werewolf' angle for Remus. I think being a werewolf DOES slowly change his body - because it changes Greyback's - but Remus fights that to seem nonthreatening. I really like his movie werewolf design - because it looks like SHIT. Can't even grow a full pelt of fur… he looks weary and sick, enough that a dog is a decent fight even full of adrenaline at moon-rise.

He isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing as much as he is a sheep caught within the body of a wolf. A passive people pleaser. He never gets worked up at anyone for anything.

He pities Greyback, who bit him at 5 years old, and sympathizes with him.

He doesn't get angry at Severus for revealing his secret - he accepts it, and is so well-versed in scurrying off that his entire packing process is streamlined.

When he AGREES with Sirius' point during a heated argument he doesn't help him - because it would mean going against others in the room.

What does he do instead of argue with Harry…? He shoots one hex - and is GONE. zoom. Harry only see's the ends of his tailcoat.

That's the angriest, most emotional we see him: Coat-tails flapping around a corner while he runs off to sulk. He doesn't wanna argue, he doesn't wanna fight - even about important things. He wont stand up for people. He has no backbone.

I said all that... because Im sick of seeing buff dom Remus Because I think there is a distinction to make: I do think werewolf-brain seeps in at the edges of the Full Moon, the day or two before especially. But its not Alpha wolf. Its just Wolf. Dumb dog. Instinct. desire. Food yum. Head hurt. Sex good. He doesn't have an 'Alpha' bone in his body... apart from his partners ;) I don't think he becomes a drooling idiot (without help, anyway) but he is more likely to do what he wants. Which he never does. He always leaves the last piece of cake for someone else. Wolf brain... doesn't think of someone else. Cake yummy - I eat. It's not that he doesn't care, it's not that he is angry - its that he has stopped worrying. He isn't being dominant - just a little more insistent and shameless. I have a HC, a theory, that your Patronus is based not on who you are as a person - but who you are when you're at your happiest. Remus' is a Wolf. He hates it - I think because he hates the fact that he is happiest when he is a wolf. He stops worrying, stops being overly polite... and allows himself to just be himself, without filter.

How do I think he feels about wolf-brain...? He is so meticulous about how he acts and appears - he thinks it is embarrassing. He is always appeasing people, so forgetting that and just living in the moment feels like he is doing something wrong... Intimacy is a good time to practice being a little greedy. If he is encouraged to follow his instincts like this, and nothing bad comes of it... I think that's incredibly healing for him. Its a necessity. The more times he can let loose a bit, close his eyes and do whatever normal or weird shit comes to mind in the heat of the moment - trust that everything wont go wrong if he follows his heart... good therapy. ...Did I seriously write all this just to say 'Remus is not Alpha, Remus is Good Boy' And if you meant Alpha as in that Alpha/Beta/Omega... I have no idea, sorry. Not my cup of tea. Squicks me out along with 'soulmate' stuff.

[fisherrprince]

wanted to ask, could we get a look in to how you put together your animatics?? I've been toying with the idea of trying to make one of my own, but I've got no idea where to start

oh yeah totally

though to be fair, a HUGE chunk of my time is spent listening to about 20 seconds of a song and imagining how the images move around like a little movie, and I refine a ton of stuff in my head before starting to actually put scenes down on paper. This happens with non-music boarding too, imagining different versions of how the scenes line up with dialogue/music. So step one: put a song on repeat and daydream for at least two hours. But, if you aren’t sure how to do this, I’d suggest looking at animatics, MAP projects, AMVs, animated musicals, fight scenes, etc. what do they do that’s cool? Imitate them.

after that, I have most of the main images with some blank spots im not sure how to fill until I put them down. I make something like this and get the compositions of each main image looking more or less okay in this form. This is also the stage I figure out the in between blank spots. I try not to have weird camera moves or other storyboarding don’ts, but some storyboarding donts are completely valid to break if you know what you want aesthetically. As usual. This one was actually pretty clean, but check out all the framing edits. i always have to make the frame bigger

If you really don’t know what goes in between things, don’t be afraid to focus on some little details of the scene, pull out and show us the setting, put some flowery symbolism on screen, give us some fun little comedic anime inserts, or do what cowboy standoffs do and build tension. What we used to do was draw paws stepping across the screen or eyes blinking, lol

next comes audio sync! I like to get the timing extant on copies of these rough thumbnails before moving on. It helps my brain work through smaller more animated movements + testing if the things I came up with for the blank spots work. and also just makes it happy. And also, most importantly, it tests if the compositions work. If you can see it, the whole sequence with mom was a blank spot until I sketched it. I usually do this step in roughanimator even if i don’t finish it in roughanimator. Keeps it very rough.

after this is just a lot of polishing and layers! For lots of small animatics, I just use roughanimator and leave it like that. It’s surprisingly good for a very basic program. But, for things that need tweens or lots of camera movement, I use toon boom harmony. It’s more powerful and is actually supposed to be used for animation, which. Yknow. I do. I tried storyboard pro, it wasn’t my favorite.

Here are some, I guess, miscellaneous more technical tips for making your animatics feel nice!

If you’re going for lots of movement, try out timing it so big movements or scene transitions line up with the spikes in the audio WAV. If it doesn’t feel right, move it a few frames BEFORE the spike/audio beat. Your brain usually wants to see something move barely before it hears it - this works for dialogue especially. BUT! Don’t feel like you have to do this for every beat. unless you want to feel like Wes Anderson, which you can do and I will not stop you.

If you’re going for something slower with not that much movement, try motion tweening! or adjusting something very slowly so we don’t linger on one still image for forever.

you don’t need crazy camera angles for everything, but put a few in there for spice. This all depends on your mood you want to cultivate. Slow = flatter, spacious, details; fast = lots of moves, weird angles, perspective; disorienting = slow/jerky weird angles etc etc. the camera has emotions built into it. Because the camera is you! surprise!

watch storyboarding tutorials. lots of people zoom in too much when they draw and I am not excluded. Also, keep in mind the eyesight rule. It’s hard for me to explain concisely but… you as the artist are always leading the viewers eye somewhere, with every shot you make. Don’t make them dizzy by having the center of attention jump around to six different spots for six shots straight - if you find yourself unhappy with a sequence, especially a fast one, see if your line of sight is going all over the place and try moving the subject of a shot or two somewhere else or having them move/gesture towards the new shot’s focal point so the viewers eye moves there naturally. I’m actually not great at doing this when words/lyrics are involved, pmv makers have my respect.

contrast is your friend. If you want to emphasize a big fast move or big bright image, put little slow moves or simple images right before/after it. and vice versa! this counts for camera too!

easy camera shakes are just 3-4 frames of cam down/up/down less/up less, a blank tween or two (easing back into normal), and then a key for your desired normal camera location. Or left/right, whichever.

your brain needs about six frames to fully register an object as being an object. If you want someone to see and really See it, rather than just get a glimpse of it and go "What was that!" It needs more than six frames.

don’t be afraid to experiment!!!!!! And don’t get overwhelmed! Everything I just described I MOSTLY do off instinct, which you’ll get a sense for after you make one. Or like…. Ten. Does it feel good in your heart? Then that’s what’s important. Find an idea you want to make move, figure out your limits (programs, attention span, drawing capability, make sure not to commit to a minute long amv if you dont KNOW you wanna do a minute long amv), and plan around that. When I was A Child, people on youtube were just making like three amvs per second and cringe hadn’t been invented yet so they were all mostly untrained unpolished and so so important and based to me. Stop thinking so hard about it. You gotta get that animatic out there into the world or it’ll start fermenting in your brain and make you sick. So what if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you imagined it? You’ll have another idea tomorrow. And if it matters that much, you can always do it again. Go make! Good luck!