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#I've been trying to find a way to get the colors and brightness and contrast etc right for this scene for WEEKS but I'm not there yet
neiptune · 9 months
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ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?
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c/w: 11k wc, SUGGESTIVE, summer romance, strangers to fwb to lovers, eren is a surfing instructor, overall it's just a light and hopefully enjoyable story full of sea, conflicting feelings & newfound friendships! it's been a minute since i published anything but i'd love to come back with part 2 if you guys enjoy :)
i've read i wish you would by @meowzfordayz so many times i eventually got inspired to write my own lil summery piece 🤍
PART 2
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Eren doesn’t think anything of it.
He’s used to being watched as he runs back and forth by the shoreline, salt drying on his tan skin and surfboard faithfully tucked underneath his arm.
He’s used to drawing the interest of girls, women and some men whenever he hangs out at the beach cafe with his friends. Eren actually gets a kick out of the thrilled glances he receives as he travels from thick towels to colorful beach umbrellas, in search of strangers bold enough to take part in a volleyball match against his team.
But it’s the third day, your yellow towel is always in the same spot and he finds himself glancing back at you more often than not. You’re a tourist, most probably from the city. It’s clear from how you shield yourself from the sun and the way you keep attempting to brush the sand off your legs with a frown he finds comical. You’re a reader, if the thick book you carry around in that straw bag is an indicator. You’re also alone, he’s never seen you in the company of a friend or a relative. Or a boyfriend.
Somehow, you manage to pique his interest, if only for the smile you grant when meeting him halfway to give back the ball Sasha’s serve has conveniently thrown too far away. As he watches you walk back to your towel and right as he manages to catch the brief glance you shoot him from over your shoulder, Eren thinks he just needs the right chance to try his evergreen luck once more.
Fortunately, the perfect opportunity comes earlier than expected.
He’s fresh out of the water, one hand running through brown locks rendered thicker by ocean salt. The pace is cheerful as they walk towards the cafe, hungry as ever after what felt like hours on end of catching waves, adrenaline slowly flowing out of their bodies and heart rate calming down. Eren spots you right away, suddenly so distracted he doesn’t reciprocate Jean’s playful shove nor does he wince in annoyance when he flicks his forehead.
You’re sitting across from Connie and Sasha, polite smile that turns into laughter at what’s most probably one of his friend’s lame jokes. Despite Jean’s yo! that loudly announces their presence, it’s Eren’s the face your gaze flickers to. The smile is still there and wouldn’t it be unkind of him not to return it?
“Man, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” Jean is absolutely oblivious to your presence and ungracefully lets himself fall down onto one of the rattan stools.
“Burgers are on their way” Sasha pushes her plate of fries towards him and he thanks her with a grin so bright it’s blinding. Her hair is still wet from the lazy swim she took shortly after they arrived at the beach, auburn hair drenched in enough red saturation to contrast with her magenta bikini. 
“I don’t think we’ve met” Eren hasn’t let his eyes shift from your features, so relaxed while witnessing his friends’ antics. You lazily return your attention to him once more and, with a pleasant squeeze of his stomach, he senses the anticipation. Is this encounter so casual, after all? Or is everything going exactly how you’ve been wanting it to? Either way, he’s more than fine with it.
“We haven’t” you reply with a sweet smile, offering a hand he oh so easily envelops in his.
Connie introduces you and your name rolls off from his tongue with a fond inflection already.
“She’s gonna spend the summer here and doesn’t really know anyone—” he interrupts himself to land a protective slap to the back of Jean’s head. He’s been choking down way too many of Sasha’s fries.
“She was asking for some advice on what to do, where to go” Sasha takes it from there, flashes you a smile “so we invited her to join us tonight”
“And I already said I don’t want to intrude” you shrink in your seat a little and Jean scoffs at your demeanor, a lazy wave of the hand to brush your concerns off.
“It’s cool. The more, the merrier”
“Besides” Eren worms his way into the conversation “you’re gonna need reliable allies if you want to survive in the wild”
Genuine amusement settles at the corners of your lips while you take note of the jovial glint in his mirth gaze.
It’s exactly what you must look like to them, you think while trying to decide what to wear for the impending night out. An outsider in need of some guidance, the right companionship not to feel too lost while attempting to navigate the pathetically lonely summer ahead of you.
The simple truth is that you don’t really mind being on your own. This was a last minute, impulsive trip you had booked without thinking too much about it. You sort of wanted to get accustomed to the quieter life, idyllic days puncuated by late brunches, ocean waves crashing against the shore, the familiar rustle of pages of your favorite books, perhaps a movie or two while comfortably snuggled in the big, soft bed your small vacation rental came with.
All you’re actually after is a peaceful summer but sure enough you don’t mind meeting a person or two, nice people you can have a chat with at the beach instead of spending hours on end listening to true crime podcasts. You don’t mind having an excuse to finally put on something other than your sleeping shorts, pull out the only lipstick you have carried with you halfway across the country and actually spend some time outside of your room.
You definitely don’t mind having the chance to get to know hot surfer boy either, pretty much the embodiment of any summer romance trope a girl could think of. Doesn’t take a genius to understand that he’d be the main character in each individual one.
Attractive? Check. Charming? Check. Residing on a remote island in the middle of the ocean? Check. Eats, sleeps and breathes just to flirt with anything that moves? Most probably, check.
And although romance is definitely not what either of you are after, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have some harmless fun.
Isn’t that what summers are for?
That’s the thought you carry with you as you approach their table at the bar, a confident smile hopefully concealing the slight tension in your shoulders. In the end, you opted for a striped blouse and a simple, white denim skirt.
Connie enthusiastically chirps your name and Eren, who is seated on the outer edge of the booth seating, makes room for you right away. The space is cramped enough for everyone to be basically leaning against each other and you think it’s not exactly a coincidence that your thigh has to be flush against Eren’s in order to fit in the booth.
“You have to try this, it’s amazing!”, Sasha grins while gently pushing her drink towards you, the glass leaving a trail of condensation on the mahogany table. You lean over to take a small sip from the green straw. It’s a classic piña colada, the frozen blend of pineapple and creamy coconut a little too sweet for your liking.
“Think I’ll go with a moscow mule” you smile an apologetic smile and she just shrugs, unimpressed.
“I second that” a gentle yet unfamiliar gaze meets yours, copper mug raised in a metaphoric toast “I’m Armin, so nice having you with us tonight!”
“Thanks, Armin” with a soft chuckle you introduce yourself as well.
They’re such a diverse group but manage to fit amazingly well together, you find. The common denominator is genuine friendliness, there’s not an ounce of fabrication in the kind tone used to direct questions your way, each and everyone of those present genuinely curious and determined to make you feel included.
“You can’t be serious” Connie’s nose scrunches in a displeased grimace “books? Tv shows? Is that seriously what you’ve been doing?”
“I’m technically on vacation” your weak attempt at justifying yourself is laughed at.
“A great reason not to stay indoors the whole damn day” Jean downs his third beer of the evening and points a finger in your direction “consider yourself under our wing from now on”
“Not sure sweating under the sun while jumping after a ball matches my idea of fun” you give him a skeptical albeit playful look.
Sasha, three piña coladas in, slams her fist on the table .
“That’s exactly what I tell them every summer!”
“No one forces you to play like, ever” Connie smirks her way “wish you’d spare us the agony of having you on the team actually”
“He’s kidding” Armin is quick to chime in, alarmed by the childlike astonishment suddenly filling Sasha’s big brown eyes.
“What’s your idea of fun, then?” a deep, warm voice pulls you away from the funny scene taking place in front of you.
“This night is fun” you smile, gaze finally meeting sage eyes that have been so intently focused on you throughout the evening. Your leg is still shamelessly pressing against his, more of an intentional touch than a forced one. The amount of warmth radiating through his jeans is enough to send a shudder down your spine.
Eren mirrors your smile.
“We’re fun people” he concedes “what else?”
You pause, pensive for a moment. It’d be great to actually be the mysterious, secretly entertaining stranger from the city he’s probably picturing but the sour truth is that you own a boring, quite ordinary personality.
“Reading at the beach instead of my bed?” you crack another smile, met with a chuckle and an eyeroll this time.
“Ever tried surfing?” despite the amused expression, it’s clear he’s not mocking you.
“I literally live in Tokyo”
“Not even on vacation? As a kid? Ever?”
It’s cute, the authentic shock painting his features. So you smile again with a slight shrug.
Eren clicks his tongue.
“I’ll teach you. You’ll never be the same again”
This time it’s you who’s laughing as he frowns.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just trying to picture how many girls you must’ve said that to”
Slightly taken aback, he offers half a smile.
“I don’t need to say that to girls, I’m actually an instructor”
“Right, so they come looking for you anyway”
“What’s this sudden interest in how I get girls?”
You innocently cross your ankles underneath the table, which causes your leg to press against his a little more.
“Not sudden”
Another boyish smirk splits across his face as he leans slightly closer, a dangerously inviting scent enveloping your senses already. He’s not even wearing any cologne.
“Seriously, come take a look tomorrow” Eren pauses for a second, intentionally, eyes travelling down to the soft curve of your lips “I usually make it fun, or so I’m told”
Sulking in your seat, you playfully raise your eyebrows because this is a game two should play.
“Does that mean you’re not gonna show me your place tonight?”
Without missing a beat, Eren fakes a pensive hum, magnetic gaze shamelessly lingering on your lips again.
“I might. If you promise to come take a look tomorrow”
He’s not one to be intimidated and, as a matter of fact, he has been fighting the urge to place a hand on your thigh for the entire night.
You huff, newly found boldness courtesy of the second moscow mule and the thrill of the unknown. Surf is something you’ve never been interested in and you sincerely doubt all the women telling him how good of a teacher he is weren’t simply after the same thing you are being offered right now. But if a little stroke of the ego and some acquiescence will get you what you want, which is for him to finally just touch you, would you really be dumb enough to miss the perfect opportunity?
“Fine. I’ll stop by” you concede but whatever he has to say in response gets harshly sucked in by Sasha’s sobs.
The invisible bubble that had shortly enveloped you both suddenly bursts with a pop as you redirect your attention to the rest of the party. Jean seems genuinely horrified, Connie is just laughing with literal tears in his eyes as he watches Armin whisper comforting words to their friend.
“What the hell did you say to her?” you’re slightly surprised to hear the protective annoyance embedded in Eren’s tone, especially when you thought he’d just laugh the whole situation off.
“Nothing!” panic makes Jean’s voice squeaky and Connie only laughs harder, slamming a hand on the table.
“She thinks the ocean has dried up!” he can barely spell the words out before erupting in another fit of laughter right as Sasha’s desperate sobs increase in volume.
“Sash, I promise nothing has happened to the ocean” Eren attempts to gently take one of her hands and move it away from her face but she just harshly slaps his fingers away.   
“I don’t believe you!” she wails so heartbreakingly Armin deems wise to catiously hide what’s left of her drink behind one of Jean’s beer bottles.
“Sasha” you softly chime in and perhaps it’s because your voice is still unfamiliar that she looks up, puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks “I just got back from the beach, with a gift” it takes everything in you not to laugh as her eyes widen in shock when you pull out a glass of water from underneath the table.
“Special ocean water, just for you”
“How did you get that?” before you even have the chance to come up with a believable answer, Sasha gasps so audibly a few people turn around to look at your table “are you a mermaid?”
Connie is howling with laughter at this point, as Jean slaps a hand to his mouth to no avail. Eren just sighs.
“Why do we let her drink every time?” he mutters under his breath.
You ignore each and every one of them as you inch across the table, palms facing upward.
“You can’t tell anyone” the conspiratorial whisper is what probably gets her as she leans over in turn, absolutely amazed while inspecting your wet fingertips.
“Guess it’s time to take her home” with a sigh of relief, Armin finally relaxes in his seat.
“Your turn” Connie grins mischievously at Eren, who just rolls his eyes.
“I could use a hand” his lips conveniently brush against the shell of your ear as he pretends the sudden proximity was nothing but a natural consequence of his standing up. You follow suit with a soft smile and so does Sasha, who refuses to let go of your hand.
“We’re not like this all the time” Armin looks exhausted and something tells you he’s usually the one responsible for keeping tabs whenever things get out of control. It suits his kind nature, or at least that’s the impression you get after spending a few hours with him.
“Will you come to the beach tomorrow? I’d really like to continue that conversation about confessional poetry” and so you smile at him, no ulterior motive besides the genuine pleasure that comes with meeting a new potential friend with interests so similar to yours.
Sasha impatiently pulls you by the hand as Eren balances her body against his, an arm around her waist to make sure she stands.
“Yeah” warmth radiates from the tired albeit gentle smile Armin offers you “I’ll bring my Robert Lowell book”
“Remember what I said” Jean scoffs impatiently as Connie waves goodbye with a pestiferous grin glued to his face “our wing. Fun summer. No more indoors”
“Aye aye, captain” you chuckle.
“Let’s go!” Sasha tugs at your blouse twice and Eren has to literally keep her from collapsing on the floor when she clumsily stumbles upon her own feet.
You gently untangle your hand from her grabby fingers and secure her arm around your shoulders, careful not to fall yourself as she suddenly leans in to press her nose to your cheek.
“Your hair smells like the ocean” she mumbles dreamily and you can’t hold back the giggle that bubbles from your throat while you help her out of the bar, Connie’s chuckle the last thing you register before stepping out in the humid hair of the night.
“Everything okay over there?” Eren can’t help but smile when he glances in your direction, sincerely amused by the way his friend is all over you.
“Absolutely” your smile is intended for Sasha instead, who is walking pretty much blindly since her undivided attention is still focused on something that’s entirely different from the sidewalk. With a careful brush of your thumb, you clean off some of the smudged mascara underneath her eyes.
“Maybe someone should’ve stayed with her” you discreetly whisper over her head.
“She’ll be fine. I’ll tuck her in, make sure she wakes up with water and some painkillers nearby” Eren meets Sasha’s gaze and laughs when she grins widely at him.
“You’re my best friend!” she cheers so loudly you jump a little “the best Eren I know!”
“I’m the only Eren you know” he gently flicks her forehead, fingers barely grazing her skin.
You chuckle again, too caught up in the moment to realize how disarmingly nice and attentive and attractive he actually is.
Sasha is not steady enough on her legs but you can barely feel the weight you’re supposedly sustaining, Eren most likely doing the majority of the work. He hums and distractedly mumbles reassuring nothings in response to his friend’s incessant nonsense, still more amused than annoyed. When you reach her apartment at last they both insist you step in with them, Sasha being particularly excited at the thought of showing you her seashell collection (“it’ll make you feel at home!”) but you kindly refuse and watch as he quite literally drags her inside while she enthusiastically waves and promises to visit you the next day. Whether she means to come by your place or dive underwater, you can’t tell.
Because of what you’re wearing, sitting on the sidewalk is a hard pass. Still, Sasha doesn’t live far from the beach, much like basically every other island resident. You don’t mind waiting outside, not when you can hear the faint sound of crashing waves and the brackish breeze gently ruffles your hair.
It’s relaxing, really, getting to quietly stand by as everything else drifts before you. Couples taking a stroll by the shore nothing more than dark silhouettes barely discernible from where you’re standing, an old man slowly pushing a gelato cart and then stopping to take a break, groups of friends loudly making their way through the street as some bystanders direct them glances expressing disapproval.
“Hey” Eren materializes next to you out of thin air, a smile tugging at his lips when you wince “want one?”
With a small nod, he indicates the ice cream cart. You smile back.
“Ah, no, thanks. Is she okay?”
Something passes through his handsome face, some sort of indefinite emotion gone before you have the chance to even fully notice it, the apology remaining tucked up in the corner of his mouth.
“Out like a light. C’mon, I want one, we can share”
He doesn’t give you the time to decline again. You just have to promptly follow him not to fall behind as he marches towards the vendor. They seem to know each other: Eren calls him uncle Katsu and the older man seems delighted about the encounter. He asks if his favorite customer wants the usual but Eren glances at you, amusement conquering his relaxed features once more.
“Nah, she wouldn’t understand. Give me something more tourist friendly”
Brows furrowed, you open your mouth to protest but you’re cut off by Katsu’s boisterous laugh.
Sullen, you end up with a butter pecan cone Eren lets you hold more than a fair amount of time for two people who are supposed to be eating equal amounts of ice cream.
“What’s the usual?” you grumble and he grins walking beside you, hands shoved in pockets and pace comfortably slow.
“Pineapple, with chunks”
“Nice” the attempt at playing off your skepticism as nonchalance fails miserably.
“You’re gonna try it eventually, I’m just giving you some time to get accustomed to the wilderness first”
With a huff you pass him the cone, trying to ignore the pleasant flip of your stomach at his words. Is he assuming you’ll hang out more than just this once?
“You really like living here” it’s a sincere observation that just slips out, past all the casual facade you’re trying to keep up.
Eren shrugs but there’s fondness in the way he looks at the ordinary street ahead of him.
“I do. Can’t imagine myself anywhere else”
The affection vibrating in his tone makes you bitter. You never experienced that sense of belonging, not to a place, not even to your own family. The only person who’s ever been the closest at becoming home has let you down so violently, so suddenly, your scarred skin is still having a hard time healing itself.
Eren peers down at you, taking in your pensive expression. He wonders why you look so gloomy all of a sudden, if your friends ever call while you’re busy spending your days all by yourself on the other side of Japan. He wonders why you’re here on your own.
“What about you?” his tone is light, poised between genuine curiosity and the urge to elicit a shred of actual information “how come you’re staying here all summer?”
The gloom dissipates so abruptly it hardly looks natural.
“Ah, my rich parents agreed to pay for the vacation so why not take full advantage of their kindness?” you shrug with a smile that hopefully covers up the lie well enough. His furrowed brows indicate that he’s not fully convinced but genuine intimacy and heartfelt confessions in the middle of the night are not what you need nor what you want, therefore it’s only fair to batten down the hatches.
“So, where’s this place of yours? Far from here?” you jokingly ask with a light shove of your shoulder to his arm.
Eren pauses for a second, seeming so taken aback you feel your face getting hot with embarrassment.
“You actually want—”
“You don’t—”
Both of you look at each other with furrowed brows, until he stops in his tracks.
Fuck.
“Uh” you let out a nervous chuckle “I’m so sorry. That was weird of me, I don’t know what I was thinking. Probably stood in the sun too long today. Anyway, I can totally walk myself home, don’t feel obligated to—”
He too laughs but, again, it’s not to poke fun at your pathetic little self.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” the playful glint in his eyes only contributes to embarrass you further, so he promptly softens his tone “I should be the one apologizing. I just thought you wouldn’t want to, you know, after Sasha and everything”
You blink a few times, candidly confused.
“No? I mean, I like Sasha. I like all your friends” it’s the unexpected truth, one that makes him smile.
For a split second, he considers asking if you like him too, even if your willingness to let him take you home already speaks volumes. But why would he? If Sasha getting absolutely plastered and almost throwing up on you wasn’t enough of a turn off, Eren should just shut the fuck up and savour the opportunity he’s been waiting for ever since seeing you at the beach for the first time. He’s been picturing the pretty creases of that blouse on his bedroom floor pretty much the entire evening.
“I’m just a few blocks away” therefore he smiles that attractive smirk of his, right before taking one last bite of the crumbly cone in his cream-stained hand.
“Don’t feel compelled to—”
“You look beautiful right now” Eren cuts you off abruptly, words dying in your throat as you look back in shock “the whole night, actually. The last thing I’m feeling is compelled” his noses scrunches slightly, as if feeling nauseated by the ridiculous assumption alone.
Another beat passes before you allow your lungs to deflate with the release of a breath.
“Okay” you mutter, still dazed by the sudden, straightforward flattery.
Eren’s smile grows in softness this time. An entire second is spent thinking that smile suits him more than the confident smirk of a moment ago.
“Okay” he says back.
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When he arrives at the beach the next morning, earlier than usual, he spots you right away. You’re sitting on your yellow towel and seem engaged in a heated discussion with his best friend, both of you interrupting the other with a frantic gesturing of hands.
Eren stops for a second, surfboard planted in the sand for good measure, one hand on top of the other as he just takes a moment to observe you. His mind travels back to the slight disappointment swallowing the convenience of waking up with an empty spot next to him, the sun bleeding through the shutters because he’d forgotten to close them. How could he had remembered with your fingers running through his hair and the goosebumps blossoming on his forearms?
He didn’t have the time to explore you like he had intended to, he couldn’t take his time because you were so eager and it was surprising how impatient Eren found himself to be in turn, how rapidly you adapted to each other. He even remembers genuinely enjoying the short, embarrassing incidents that came with growing accustomed to such a sudden yet highly anticipated proximity: your head bumping into his while straddling his lap, him knocking over the lamp from his nightstand, airy laughs swallowed by each other’s mouths.
Little to no foreplay was needed, the memory of your fingers closing around his wrist to confidently guide his hand between your legs still pulsing in his mind. He barely got the chance to kiss you, nowhere near as how he would’ve liked to, his lips being hastily reclaimed everywhere else.
He’s not even sure why he’s still lingering there, uncertain. Eren’s had countless one night stands before but once both parties got what they needed none of them were really there to hang out again, certainly nowhere near his friends anyway. He’s had longer affairs with tourists, mutual attraction and harmless fun lasting from days to weeks, his conquests eventually recognizing Jean or exchanging a few pleasantries with Connie. But this has never really happened. He’s never made plans with someone before even getting to the point of having them in his bed, for the next day no less. He’s never frowned upon waking up alone and he’s definitely never chuckled while barefoot in his own kitchen, the messily scribbled note you had tucked underneath his french press in hand.
Your coffee sucks.
You didn’t even bother to wash the mug abandoned in his sink but still you made sure he’d wake up to a freshly brewed serving anyway.
Eren’s never truly liked any of his one night stands enough to frame them as potential friends in the long run and so it was a little unsettling, the feeling that you were just about to change that.
“Can you believe they deemed this as lazy writing?” Armin’s finger skims across the page he’s holding open, underlining a particular verse “now the hot river, ebbing, hauls its bloody waters into holes; a grain of sand inside my shoe mimics the moon that might undo man and creation too”
You hum, appreciative.
“It’s the absence of flowered language. Nobody liked reading about raw trauma and dramatic events but at the root of hypocrisy is always fear and low self-esteem” with a little shrug, you smile “essentially, they were a bunch of assholes”
“You can’t truly appreciate poetry if life scares you” for some reason, Armin’s words make your insides twist for a second. You remember one of your favorite Anne Sexton’s poems and its brutal honesty: suicides have a special language, like carpenters they want to know which tools. They never ask why build. It felt dangerously similar to how you were living.
“Enough of this unsettling realness” Armin closes his book with a loud thud and gently places it between your bodies, on your soft towel. You wonder if he’s noticed your sudden gloom or if he just genuinely wants to talk about something else. “Anything fun planned today? I know Jean can be insufferable but we do have some cool activities around here” he smiles.
“Eren wanted me to check out his lesson but I’m not sure surf could ever be my thing” the smile you return is shy, because you don’t want to sound ungrateful nor make the conversation weird. It’s pretty evident that you’ve spent the night with him, if only from the hickeys scattered at the base of your throat. Armin has just been nothing but a gentleman, too polite to even stare at them.
Once again, he doesn’t even falter at the mention of his friend’s name.
“Still, you should give it a go! I used to think the same and now I can’t go a day without riding a wave. Even when I’m not on vacation, if the weather’s nice enough I’m here as soon as I’m done working” he grins.
“I never asked what you do, by the way”
“I’m a copy editor in a publishing house, mainly work from home but sometimes I travel to Tokyo. Leaves me a lot of freedom, really. What about you?”
You hesitate. But he’s looking at you so candidly, head slightly tilted to the side, that you can’t find it in yourself to lie.
“I’ve been laid off a few weeks ago, actually. I was a winemaker at a pretty famous winery in town”
Armin lets out a slow whistle.
“That sounds so cool!”
You chuckle.
“All I do is monitor the maturity of grapes, oversee the process and place orders”
“I’d love to visit once you start somewhere else. I’m sure it’s gonna happen in no time” he places a warm hand on your shoulder and briefly squeezes it. You’ve never experienced the kindness of a stranger, not at such a high level anyway. As you thank him with a touched smile, for the first time this impulsive vacation doesn’t feel like just a way out anymore.
“I suggest you two sit closer to the shore, the first group of the day is gonna be here soon” a playful voice interrupts your chitchat and you look up to find a familiar figure silhouetted against sunlight right before your towel. A flash of embarrassment seems to take over his features for a few seconds as he takes notice of the now very much noticeable marks on your skin. But then he just smiles that friendly smile of his, one that tells you there’s a chance of not letting any potential awkwardness stand in the way of what could become a harmless friendship. You appreciate the maturity.
“Wanna help me out?” Eren then looks at Armin, who’s squinting his eyes in attempt to stare back.
“I’ll keep her company. Maybe later, with the kids”
“You’re pretty special, he never skips the chance to hop on a surfboard”
As you get up and start collecting your things, Armin’s book secured underneath your arm while he helps you out with the towel, you briefly glance at Eren with half a smile.
“Let’s see if you’re good enough to convince me to get on one in the first place”
He rolls his eyes, feigning exasperation.
“Just watch me”
And so, you and Armin look at each other with an equally amused smile, the complicity over a moment so simple warming your heart.
While sitting there with him, feet sunk into where the sand is cool and damp, you observe Eren with genuine curiosity. The variegated group he’s handling consists of ten people, it’s most probably not their first class as everyone seems to already know what to do.
They’re going over what they’ve learned until now, Eren repeating instructions out loud and nodding proudly as his students comply. Two girls, friends by the looks of it, keep asking him to help them position their bodies better on the surfboard. When the blonde one fails to properly stand up and her foot theatrically slips, with an exaggerated grimace she begs him to support her weight as she tries again. With Eren’s hands on her hips, she succeeds in hopping up with a form so perfect you can hardly hold back a scoff. Armin chuckles beside you.
“It’s pretty much always like that”
“No way” you mock “that’s crazy!”
“I mean, it’s kinda part of the job to go along with it” he shrugs.
Does he think I’m jealous or something?
“You didn’t have to stay” there’s softness in your tone, just to make sure he doesn’t take it the wrong way, but he blushes nonetheless.
“It doesn’t happen as often to me” the spluttering makes you giggle. You’re not blind: he has arms, he has abs, shoulders wide enough to well pique one’s interest and a smile so sweet he’s probably the favorite instructor of more than one student.
“I find that hard to believe” the implied compliment tints his cheeks with a richer pink and he runs a hand through his fair hair to conceal the embarrassment.
“But I didn’t mean it like that” you decide to put an end to his misery “I just meant, feel free to go ride some waves”
Armin shakes his head.
“I have the entire day to do that” he smiles “and no one else likes to talk about books with me”
“But your group is great. You guys seem pretty close”
“We all grew up here, I’ve known Eren since kindergarten and I met everyone else along the way. Some of us you didn’t meet actually, like Christa and Mikasa”
“They don’t live here anymore?”
Armin sighs, plants his heel in the sand a little deeper.
“Yeah, they moved for college and never really came back. They prefer the city”
You can understand that, to be honest. You grew up in a small town near the countryside and although it’s not nearly comparable to an even smaller island, you remember the primal need to run away, driven by the firm belief that there’s surely more to explore, better ways to live and opportunities to seize in the big city. Back then, Tokyo felt like a dream. An endless pool of magical possibilities.
“You probably think it’s insane, wanting to stay on an island that only comes alive a few months per year” Armin’s gaze is lost across the ocean, so you look ahead too. Eren’s group is in the water now, paddling in and taking off on the foam that propels colorful surfboards onto the waves. Most of the students previously warming up by the shore succeeds in remaining upright, cheered on by those who have either been less brave or simply not balanced enough.
“No, I think wanting to stay requires a lot of love. I never had that for the place I grew up in”
“And are you happy now, in Tokyo?”
You force your lips into a smile, not daring to look him in the eyes.
“Yeah, I’m happy”
Another cheerful fit of screams has you both returning your attention to the group challenging the ocean, one particular figure paddling perpendicular to an exceptionally big wave, angling his take off perfectly to the left before popping up and digging the inside rail of his surfboard into the water. Knees bent, he’s a sight for sore eyes as he beautifully rides along the vertical center of the wave, the sun complimenting his tan skin.
“Showoff” you snort and Armin laughs.
“Let’s go get a drink, Sasha makes a killer frozen lemonade”
“Sasha?” you ask, surprised.
He nods.
“She should be on shift today”
“She works at the cafe?”
Armin smiles.
“Her family owns the cafe, actually. She just helps out in the summer, whenever she can catch a break from the internship she’s doing”
And sure enough she’s actually there, all smiles and cheerful pitch behind the counter.
She turns ecstatic as soon as the spots the both of you, calling you by your name with such warmth your cheeks hurt a little from how wide you’re smiling already.
“Hey! How’re you feeling?”
You and Armin sit on the rattan stools opposite to the counter and she leans over with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Amazing, whoever left that ibuprofen on my nightstand has my endless devotion”
“T’was Eren’s turn to take you home” Armin shoots her a good-natured glare, which elicits her silvery laugh.
“I don’t think he was too bothered about it” Sasha’s intentionally looking at you and her grin has your cheeks grow hot.
“Leave her alone, make us some frozen lemonade” Armin gently grabs her chin and directs her attention to him.
“Oh come on, none of Eren’s special friends ever hangs out with us, I want some details!”
“Sasha!” he hisses as you shrink in your seat, head hanging low in embarrassment “you can’t remember this but she’s been nothing but caring last night, they both took you home”
“Armin, there’s no need to—” you mumble but he shows no sign of having heard you.
“It’s none of our business what they do” he grumbles, letting go of Sasha’s chin “now, please, lemonade. Before I die of dehydration”
She juts her bottom lip out, sullen, eyes back on you.
“I’m sorry, I was just curious. Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually happy I get to finally spend some time with another girl”
You shake your head with a soft smile.
“Please don’t apologize. You’ve all been way too kind to me”
Truth is, the fear of being seen as nothing but their friend’s easy fuck has been nagging at your brain. Especially since deciding you actually, really like them and wouldn’t mind tagging along if they’ll have you. And, of course, if Eren isn’t bothered. The last thing you wanna spend your summer doing is imposing your presence to a group of childhood friends just because you’ve had sex with one of them. That’d be gross.
“Here, it’s on the house” Sasha slides two tall glasses of frozen lemonade across the counter.
Armin grabs his with a sigh of relief, the creaminess of his drink rapidly decreasing in quantity as he gulps it down quickly. You carefully mix it with your straw, then have a first taste and have to keep yourself from moaning.
“I’m gonna need ten of these” you mutter and they both laugh. It’s genius really, the idea of combining the consistency of a milkshake with the tanginess of freshly squeezed lemonade.
You end up staying at the cafe to keep Sasha company while she prepares orders and entertains you with the latest gossip concerning people you don’t even know. You wonder where she gets all that energy from but you also think it suits her, that bubbly aura she so effortlessly carries around. If customers smile a little brighter and leave generous tips, it’s probably thanks to her never ending friendliness: she remembers their names, special orders and always offers free ice cream to kids. She even has special ice cream for dogs.
After a while, Armin leaves to help Eren with his next group of students, as promised. They’re all children this time, so you doubt they’ll bring them into the water: the whole class consists in some training by the shore, Armin and Eren patiently showing them how to paddle and corretly stand on a surfboard over and over again. When what you can only guess are some heated protests erupt, they patiently allow the kids to practice some paddling as close to the shore as possible. You catch glimpses of Eren’s smile and hear his laugh when two kids start splashing him with water, deaf to Armin most probably attempting to draw their attention to the lesson once again.
Eventually, he’s forced to surrender too, as one particularly agile kid climbs onto his shoulders and demands to be carried around. The whole class turns into nothing more than a game session and you find yourself smiling.
After each kid is collected by their corresponding family member, Armin doesn’t waste any more time and he swiftly grabs his bigger surfboard to jump into the ocean once more, finally free to chase waves at its own pace. Eren seems to hesitate, lingering by the shore for a moment, looking around as if searching for something. Then he turns around fully, seemingly scanning the cafe and meeting your gaze although, from that distance, you’re not completely sure he’s looking at you specifically. You’re quick to redirect your attention to the pasta salad Sasha has recommended.
“Ah, here comes the athlete” she pulls a face “let’s see how many wraps he’s gonna down, last time it was three”
“Hello, ladies” the familiar voice is so close you feel a shudder run down your spine as memories from the previous night resurface. He’s leaning on the counter, body facing you and arms crossed showcasing swollen biceps you’re surprised are not carrying any signs of the crescents you very clearly remember being a consequence of your tight grip.
“You’re dripping on my napkins” not nearly as dumbstruck as you, Sasha shoos him away with the impatient push of a hand. In response, Eren shakes his head like a dog would after getting a bath, splashing both his friend and you with ice cold water. She flips him off.
“You’re an ass”
“Will you make me one of your delightful wraps if I behave?” he grins like a child while taking a seat next do you.
“One?” Sasha skeptically raises an eyebrow.
“Make it three”
You chuckle as you meet her knowing look, which causes him to turn to you. He’s even prettier up close, salt already drying on his smooth skin, cheeks slightly flushed.
“So? Opinions on getting started with the best sport in the world?”
Pensive, you bring a forkful of pasta to your mouth.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go”
You had half an idea of teasing him by suggesting Armin be your instructor but the way he quite literally beams at your words forces you to shut right up.
“I’ll pick you up later this afternoon”
“Pick me up?” you frown, confused.
“This beach is way too crowded, there are better places to go”
“So considerate” Sasha loudly places a plate in front of him and Eren just rolls his eyes.
“You don’t even know where I’m staying” trying to swallow yet another lump of awkwardness, you keep your attention on the now almost empty bowl in front of you.  
He huffs, brushing your concern off by gesturing vaguely with a hand.
“I know where all vacation rentals are. Of course, if you wanted, you could make it easier for me”
A funny sound comes out of Sasha’s nose and this time you go along with her demeanor with the raise of a brow.
“If you want my number, just ask” the challenging words roll off your tongue playfully, you don’t really think anything of them.
But much like every other time you thought you had him cornered, he simply looks up from his plate and plants those resolute eyes in yours without so much as a hint of hesitation.
“I want your number”
Why your heart picks up its pace as you both let a beat pass while staring at each other, you don’t really understand. Nevertheless, as the corners of his mouth upturn in a smile with yet another one of Sasha’s scoffs in the background, you think it’s convenient that he’s pretty much doing all the work. Because of course you want his number too.
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The place you rented is nothing more than a small beach cottage and while Eren doesn’t exactly live in a penthouse, his house is bigger and way cooler than yours. A mere 100 yards from the beach, it comes with a colorful, eclectic exterior and cute double doors opening out to the porch where he keeps his surfboard, a lounger, one whimsical sign that reads it comes in waves and a small table with two chairs. You don’t really have a porch, just three steps that lead to the front door, which is where you’re sitting while you wait for him to come pick you up. Your straw bag is resting at your feet, filled with the few things he recommended you to bring: sunscreen, a swimsuit, water, all wrapped in a towel. It’s later than you had anticipated and you nervously wonder if he’s actually gonna show up, how long it’s gonna take before you’re done. How ridiculous you’re going to look.
And then he pulls up by your little house with the peeling white paint, window rolled down and one arm gracefully hanging out a silver pickup truck. The two surfboards stored on the bed are reflecting the late afternoon sun.
A light honk has you standing up, his warm smile so wide you can guess the excitement shimmering behind those dark sunglasses.
He pushes the door open for you, so you rush to the car and climb onto the passenger seat. Eren barely gives you the time to fasten your seatbelt before his foot is on the clutch pedal again: his hand swiftly moves the gear shift to the left and then up and the accelerator pedal is pressed down way more harshly than needed.
“You do know that this is probably going to suck, right? I have no idea what to do” you anxiously shift on your seat, to no avail because your back remains glued to it.
Not bothered in the slightest by the ungodly speed he’s driving at, a genuine laugh slips out of him.
“It’s gonna be amazing, I’ll teach you everything you need to know! Plus, I’m taking you to one of my favorite spots, consider yourself lucky” he glances at you with a toothy grin and you let out a panicked sound.
“Look ahead!”
Eren laughs again but complies, not a care in the world or so it seems as he sprints through roads that are way too narrow and bumpy and lacking concrete for him to be driving like that.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, why’s my coffee so bad?”
It’s the first actual semblance of a reference to the previous night. You swallow.
“Too bitter. Coffee shouldn’t be too strong, aggressive and off balance. It definitely shouldn’t have just one flavor either”
“Just like wine?”
Surprised, you just stare at him until he cracks another smile.
“Armin told me. You’re kinda cooler than what you come across as”
Eren fakes a groan when you smack his shoulder.
“I just meant” he refrains from looking at your scowl “you don’t really do yourself justice. All that talk about tv shows and books and spending the summer alone—”
“Those things can be cool too. Sorry, not all of us feel the need to live and look like olympic athletes” you cross your arms, stubbornly averting your gaze from his handsome profile to look ahead like a cross child. That’s how you miss a smirk he promptly suppresses.
“I wasn’t trying to offend you. I really do think you’re cool, regardless of your career”
A beat passes before you reluctantly eye him again.
“You’re tolerable, I guess”
The laugh he lets out is so genuine you have to fight back a smile yourself.
His good mood remains seemingly unaltered throughout the ride, lithe fingers absentmindedly drumming on the steering wheel as he strives to make conversation. By the time you arrive at the secluded beach he’s chosen for your first lesson, your nerves are calm enough for you to be actually excited about what’s to come.
The beach is nothing less than a little slice of paradise, sand so white it almost looks fake and turquoise water so inviting you can’t wait to jump in. For the first time, the island presents itself as something other than an overpriced magnet for seasonal tourists: it’s raw in its beauty, so quiet it’s hard to believe you’re not the only two people currently on an uninhabited piece of land in the middle of the ocean.
One thing you’re learning quickly is that Eren is scarily good at easing unnecessary tension. Perhaps it’s because he never seems to feel any, always so relaxed and ready to handle any unexpected circumstance or setback. Sure, he’s outgoing enough for people to easily like him but there’s something about the genuine smiles he offers to everyone, in the attentive care he reserves to his friends. Despite his well-trained figure and intimidating good looks, his touch is gentle and at times timid. He blushes just like everyone else if you trace the line of his jaw with sweet kisses and emits pleased hums when you run your hand through his hair.
You can tell this isn’t something he has set up to lure you back into his bed: how could it be, with that child-like excitement embedded in the instructions he’s giving you? You don’t even feel self-conscious nor ridiculous wearing the wetsuit he’s brought for you, he’s that great at making it fun and keeping it professional. Well, mostly professional.
For the nth time, you jump up with your feet planted and arms out to your side, stabilizing yourself and feeling the breeze flow through your hair as your personal instructor hums.
“Again” he demands and you huff.
“Are we gonna get into the water eventually? I feel like it’s been an hour of this!”
“It has been an hour of this. Now, do it again”
With a pout, you lie belly-down on your longboard once again. You practice your paddling motion once again and then place your palms on the flat of the board just below your chest. In one quick motion, you push your body up with your arms and tuck your feet up and under you. You had started by getting up to your knees first and then bringing up one foot at a time, but you have gained more confidence over the endless minutes spent practicing the same movements over and over again.
“Look at that. You’re a natural” he finally grins, letting some warmth leak through the all too serious facade.
“Thanks to a good teacher” you smile back and he rolls his eyes, barely refraining from uttering a cocky comeback to your obvious statement. He steps closer, calloused fingers gently placed on your hips and warm breath suddenly ghosting over your cheek.
“Don’t spread your legs like that” he mumbles, his own foot gently pushing from behind your left ankle to guide your foot into a better position “this might feel comfortable but it actually makes it harder to control your movements. Balance is always side-to-side, never front to back”
You comply quietly, the sudden closeness leaving your mouth dry. What the hell? It’s not like you weren’t on top of him just a few hours prior. What on earth could be making you so nervous, like some damn bashful teenager?
“Eyes up” Eren gently grabs your chin to lift your head up “always look in the direction you are going”
His other hand is still on your hip, your skin burning so much at the contact you’re positive his fingers are going to leave a mark somehow.
As he lets you go, you’re left so cold you actually shiver.
“Okay! Let’s take it into the water” he gets down on one knee to secure the leash around your ankle, the pads of his fingers grazing your skin once again sending an electric buzz throughout your veins. What the fuck.
Perhaps he senses your weird bodily reactions because he stands up again and motions you to take your board with the impatient wave of a hand. He has his surfboard too, although after seeing what he’s actually capable of doing with it, you doubt it’s gonna be used to ride an actual wave.
“Just get comfortable first, see how it feels” when you’re both waist deep into the ocean he holds your board for you, helping you lie on it again and chuckling when you slip right off a few times.
“You shouldn’t laugh at your students” with a grimace, you try to hold on to it by curling your fingers around the edges. He untangles your grip immediately, one hand gently pressing on the small of your back to keep you balanced on the slippery surface immediately after.
“Never do that, your hand’s gonna slip off and you’re gonna slash your chin open” a subtle teasing is still laced into his tone, so you roll your eyes.
“Okay. I can do this” you mutter, as determined as ever not to fall off the stupid thing again. You haven’t even started yet.
“I know you can” he sounds so goddamn sincere it’s a pain to refrain from glancing in his direction and actually focus on what you’re supposed to do.
With a deep breath, you start paddling around and although you drink your fair share of water in the process, after a while it starts feeling more natural. Your board planes across the waves, nose slightly up, your feet rightly positioned with your toes grazing the leash string. You paddle with long, deep strokes, and Eren keeps shouting instructions and encouragement even if you stray too far from him.
Adrenaline starts circulating in your system and your confidence gets a boost the first time you manage to pop up and shakily cruise on what’s probably the smallest, insignificant wave in recorded history for three entire seconds before slipping back into the water.
But you shout your astonished cry of victory nevertheless and Eren smiles so widely, so proudly, you let excitement cloud your senses and quite literally jump into his arms. It’s not embarrassing, not even when you realize what you’re doing, because he hasn’t tensed a second and is actually hugging you back, happier than ever for the smallest of accomplishments of someone that’s not even him. Of someone he barely even knows.
“Let’s go” you mutter and actually have to take a poorly balanced step back because he’s not, by any means, the one breaking the impulsive hug “I wanna do it again”
This draws an airy laugh, eyes crinkling at the corners.
“You’re already hooked, aren’t you?”
“I just can’t believe how good it feels!” you beam, absolutely euphoric “hate to admit it but maybe you had a point”
“Yeah, that happens a lot”
“People being skeptical whenever you say anything?”
Eren huffs and then inches closer to brush some wet hair away from where it’s sticking to your cheeks and forehead, his touch pleasantly cool on your heated skin.
“Me being right” he doesn’t let go of your face, seemingly conflicted about whatever is going through his mind. Oh, he looks good like this, like he belongs to the sea and the summer and whatever beautiful scenery he may be surrounded by. He just fits in. He’s like a tanned Apollo peering down at you, if his hands weren’t on you it would be alarmingly easy to think he’s just a figment of your imagination.
The adrenaline rush still hasn’t worn off, perhaps that’s why you crack a smile.
“Anything else you feeling right about?”
The self-discipline Eren has to exercise not to kiss you knocks the wind out of his lungs for a moment. Because what would become of him if he’d let himself yield to a temptation he doesn’t even completely understand yet? It’s just day two of knowing you.
Get a grip.
“I think we’d be good friends” it’s not lying, he tells himself. It’s just telling a partial truth. And he wishes so badly not to notice the disappointment that flashes in your eyes for a second, as you take a wobbly step back and force another smile on your pretty lips.
“Totally, I agree”
Eren clears his throat and runs a hand through his disheveled hair, which he hasn’t tied back like he had in the morning.
“The sun is about to set, I think you’ve trained enough for today. Let’s head back”
“Can’t we stay a little longer?” you peer up at the sky, only then noticing the soft orange hues painting it “just ten minutes. I haven’t been anywhere this quiet in a while”
“Ten minutes” he agrees and straddles his surfboard, hands pressed on the surface in front of him as he looks up as well.
You imitate his position and sit on your board as well, reveling in the gentle way the waves are lulling your body.
Eren thinks you look beautiful like this, eyes shut and facing the setting sun, features relaxed and hair wet. He can easily see himself dating you, someone who has already won his friends over and whose touch he seems unable to stop craving. But what would be the point? He’s all too familiar with what being an islander means. It’s a fluid state of being, his existence nothing more than a fleeting detail in the lives of those who come and, inevitably, go.
Insularity is painfully romanticised and although most times he gets a kick out of the benefits that come with belonging to a place so distant from the mainland, he also realizes the downsides.
You won’t be here when the days will get shorter and tourists will fly back to their dull lives. You won’t witness the way leaves turn a deep shade of crimson and fall from the trees of his beloved cedar forest, you’ll never take part in one of Connie’s notorious christmas parties nor you’ll taste the Kansai-style ozoni Sasha always brings to their new year’s dinner.
And so, Eren will just keep doing what he does best. Remaining nothing more than a fleeting detail in someone else’s summer.
“Thank you for doing this” your voice snaps him back to reality. He cocks his head, confused.
“I didn’t do anything”
You smile with a little, timid shrug.
“You were up early, training group after group and still took the time to indulge me. I can only guess how tired you are, let’s head back”
He’s not tired. He’s so not tired, he would gladly spend the rest of the evening sitting on a surfboard in the middle of the ocean just talking to you, apparently. Perhaps one of his students’ boards collided with his head?
Eren notices your subtle shivering and clicks his tongue on the way back to his car. He carries your surfboard too and secures it on his truck once again, right next to his. He then undoes the tab at the back of your neck, pulls it down and unzips it to help you out of the wetsuit, patiently waiting on the other side of the car while you get out of your wet swimsuit and slip back into the white sundress you had on earlier that day.
“All done!” you walk around the vehicle, eager to climb onto the warm passenger seat once more. But Eren sees the goosebumps blossoming on your arms and another shudder is enough to inch forward to keep the door of his car locked. You turn around to look at him, a questioning look on your face.
“Come to my place” he blurts it out before he has the chance to stop himself. Your brows knit.
“Why?”
“You’re obviously cold and my house is closer” Eren does his best to play off his tension as sense of practicality “just take a shower, warm up and then I’ll drop you off. I swear I’m not gonna try anything, it’s not—”
“Okay” you interrupt his pathetic rambling and he blinks back the surprise.
Oh.
“Okay. Good. Let’s go then” Eren clears his throat and opens the door for you.
It feels a little weird to be honest, but you’re not uncomfortable as he drives back to his place. This is probably the last time you two will hang out anyway, so what’s the harm in accepting a friendly offer, especially when you can’t seem to stop shivering?
“So… what d’you do once summer ends?” the quietness is slightly unsettling, so you take it upon yourself to make some small talk. He glances at you, no panicked reaction elicited this time as he’s driving more carefully.
“My family has been in the fishing industry for decades, I mainly help them out and try to catch whatever job I can handle from home”
“Do you ever travel? Like, to cities”
Eren huffs out a laugh.
“Yes. You think I’m some kind of savage?”
“No!” heat crawls up from your neck to your cheeks “of course not, I didn’t mean—”
“Relax, I’m kidding” he grins “my college was in Osaka. Lived there four years, got my degree, came back”
“Which degree?” still a little flushed, you avoid his amused gaze.
“Mechanical engineering”
“And you’re not offered engineering jobs?” there’s outrage laced into your tone.
Eren just shrugs.
“Yes. But they all require my presence in an office on the mainland”
You don’t say anthing, mainly because you don’t want to risk blurting out another poorly phrased sentence. It would come out all wrong, it would sound as if you’re looking down on him.
Eren senses everything that’s sitting behind your silence and he’s not bothered. His personal life is not really any of your business and although he understands you mean well, yours is an opinion he’s heard way too many times before. It’s a topic not even worth discussing, least of all with someone he’s barely just met.
When you arrive at his place, your hands and feet are ice cold, your hair painfully frizzy. He asks to give him a second and disappears into the bathroom, rattling sounds coming from behind the closed door making you smile as you hop onto the kitchen counter and take a look around. The small living room is messier than it was last night, or maybe you simply didn’t have the time to really look around on your very first entry to the house.
He comes out of the bathroom with a folded drying rack filled with clothes in his arms (I forgot I was drying laundry in there) only to disappear into his bedroom once more, the sound of closets being harshly opened and closed alongside what you can only guess are wardrobe doors slamming against the wall makes you chuckle.
“What are you doing?” amused, you have to shout the question from where you’re sitting.
He comes out of the room with arms full once more and directs you a quick smile before heading back to the bathroom.
“Fixing you towels and something to wear, that dress won’t do!” he shouts too, which makes you giggle.
“Don’t give me your clothes!”
“They’re clean!”
You laugh again, shaking your head.
Eren finally walks into the kitchen, seemingly exhausted, all the way to the counter you’re sitting on.
“Okay, the bathroom is more guest-appropriate now” a small smile tugs at his lips and you notice the wet stains on the front of his black shirt. Has he cleaned it?
“Thanks” you mutter, a sudden, small lump of uneasiness you can’t seem to swallow.
“I’m such an idiot” he snorts “you must be thirsty. Water? I also have orange juice somewhere, or maybe iced tea”
Right as he takes a step to walk past you and towards the fridge, your body moves on its own accord and your fingers instinctively grab the hem of his shirt. Eren stops, surprised gaze flickering from your hand clenched around the fabric of his clothing to your face.
“I’m sorry, Eren” your brows knit in a frustrated frown “I didn’t mean to come across as judgmental, or worse, an elitist asshole”
You exhale, unable to sustain the look in his eyes. “It’s not my place and definitely none of my business. But please know I really didn’t mean—”
“Fuck” he curses under his breath, cutting you off abruptly “you’re making it very fucking hard for me”
Disoriented, you cock your head.
“I’m making what hard?”
Eren plants his palms onto the counter, on either side of your hips, body inching forward. He’s biting the inside of his cheek, forehead dangerously close to be leaned against your own. You can’t resist the urge to gently nudge the tip of his nose with yours, an insignificant gesture that somehow has him sucking a sharp breath in. You’d love to giggle, the teasing question does kindness turn you on? dancing on the tip of your tongue but then his tongue is peeking out to wet his bottom lip a second before he leans forward and traces the soft edge of your neck with the tip of his nose. His mouth follows along somehow, not quite kissing your skin but certainly grazing it, anticipation having your breath quicken.
“You said we should be friends” you whisper, regretting it right away. Eren emits a frustrated huff, breath hot on the neck his parted lips are still gently exploring.
“I said we’d be good friends. And we can be” he places his hands on your thighs, a touch so incandescent the thin fabric of your skirt may as well not be there at all “friends who do this” and just like that he finally closes the gap between you two, capturing your lips in a burning kiss that draws a sigh of relief as you pull him closer. He tastes like the ocean, the strands you have buried your fingers into not as soft as the night before, rendered dry by the salt he still hasn’t washed out.
Eren is an eager kisser, right as his grip on your thighs tightens his tongue is languidly slipping past your parted lips with a satisfied hum vibrating in his chest. Head tilted into yours, he kisses you so hard you think your lips might bruise, he kisses you until you start getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen and he does too, although he wouldn’t mind challenging something as silly as the chance of his organs shutting down if it meant keeping his lips moving against yours and having your hands cradling his face.
You break apart first, a panting, breathless mess when you rest your forehead on the curve of his shoulder. He relaxes the grip on your legs, chest heaving with the depth of his own ragged breaths. So long for self-restraint.
“I meant it” he whispers and you find it in yourself to lift your head and meet his gaze “I didn’t invite you here to—”
“Lure me back into your bed?”
Eren senses the playfulness laced into your tone and smiles.
“Yeah”
When he attempts to take a step back, you wrap your legs around his waist to keep him in place. Except he doesn’t offer any resistance, allowing you to effortlessly pull him closer until he’s flush against the counter and the tip of his nose grazes your cheek.
“I know” you mutter, honest “and I appreciate that. But, if you’re down, I’d really like to take that shower with you”
A beat passes.
Two days of knowing you and Eren thinks you hold all the right tools to drive him absolutely insane already.
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PART 2
657 notes · View notes
ssalballoon · 2 months
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Whats your art process and what would you reccomend for someone who would like to achieve a style similar to yours? i love this mix of cartoonism and realism. your work is such an inspiration >.<
oh gosh! thank you?! 💞 i'll do my best to explain it, but even I have a difficult time trying to understand my own art process/style because of how inconsistent it is;; (i still have a lot to learn!) this is gonna be a long reply so i'll place it under the cut
process:
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I start loose with a more gesture type rough sketch. I mainly just do lineart in the same layer as my sketch and erase away parts I don't like. Sometimes I'll lower the sketch's opacity and on a new layer do my lineart (which is what i did for the drawing above). But regardless doing that loose gesture sketch helps keep my drawing dynamic even as I refine over top of it!
- I duplicate layers A LOT for safekeeping my previous progress, especially if I'm thinking of making a big change (ex. changing limb position)
If I wanna put colors down underneath it I set my lineart to Multiply. For coloring I'm very inconsistent with the process, but recently I've been using a more subjective coloring style, where I pick my own shadows and highlights to try relying less on blending modes (which is gonna be too long to get into here;;) Finally if I feel like it, I make a layer on top of my lineart layer where I render everything
Oh this is something that helps me a lot for colors! I have 2 layers that are a mid-gray tone placed above all my other layers. One I set to the Color mode (to make the drawing black and white), and the other I set to the Luminosity blending mode (to make the drawing's brightness the same..?not sure)
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The Color layer helps me check if I have enough contrast in values, and the Luminosity layer helps me check if I have enough contrast in color hue and saturation!
style:
This is really difficult to answer because style encompasses so many different aspects of art, but I'll try to focus my answer on the mix of cartoonism and realism that you mentioned!
I struggled trying to explain what my style is like so I just broke down one of my drawings that exemplifies a lot of my stylizations! Hopefully these can give you some pointers about what I tend to think about when I draw (click for higher quality)
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(+to add to this i use a brush with no size pressure, only opacity pressure)
What I recommend for stylizing a realistic character: The way I learned to stylize a more realistic character like this one was to import a reference of his face, then trace over it very deliberately, making sure to stick to big shapes and characterizing details I thought were important to achieve his likeness! Then I'd turn the reference layer off and freehand it over and over, comparing and redrawing until I managed to get the mix of accuracy and stylization I liked!
What I recommend to find a style: I basically ended up with my style subconsciously as an intersection between the things I like to see in art + the things I like to draw! Most of my inspiration comes from anime (😔) and artists online. I'll see a very specific stylization I like in others' art, and try replicating it to see if I like how it fits with my style + if I enjoy drawing it in that way. I did this a lot over the years, accumulating into a big mosaic of inspiration from all the artists whose work I personally enjoy and learn from! I know this isn't exactly answering how to get a style like mine, but I think knowing this general process may help you out in the long run!
ahh i think that's it! i tried to be as comprehensive as i could without being too verbose (my bane). i hope this is the answer you were looking for and that it can help you! 💞 and thank u for the ask! it was a good exercise for myself to analyze my own art
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oh-hell-help-me · 9 months
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Day 20: Garden
The Koopa King's castle has a garden, apparently.
For Luigi, it was known after everyone arrived to get healed (Luigi never knew Kamek could look so happily annoyed), and their Paper versions had bid them goodbye.
He tries not to think about how easily anyone could drop in and out of their world like that.
Meanwhile, Peach and Mario have decided to stay over ‘for undisclosed political reasons’, but honestly just to keep an eye on… well, him.
-don’t think about it don’t think about it-
So, for some time to himself, he set out for the garden as suggested by Flambo. It’s surprisingly full of color, even though only a small part of the vegetation has flowers.
Immediately, he loved feeling the warm breeze and hearing the quiet rustling of the leaves. He loved how the rumbling of the distant volcanoes is muffled, and that the air smelled sweet and spicy in contrast to the smoke and sulfur that normally lingered.
It become a favorite spot the moment he saw the large marble fountain, visibly made with seats and built-in steps that lead to the water basin.
Could anyone blame him for nearly skipping to it?
Behind him, he feels… something approach why can he feel that. It's large, and- warm? Not in temperature, but-
“Figured I would find you here.”
He turns, and feels his heart flutter does he have- no, don’t think.
Behind him, Bowser stands with the sun shining above him, hair seemingly aflame from the light and scales shining just as bright. His eyes are soft, and Luigi feels dizzy with the burst of affection he feels as he walks closer.
"Mind if I join you?"
Luigi answers by patting the seat next to him, watching as the Koopa plops down next to him before scooting closer to lean against his side.
A sigh-
And they sit there, unwinding from the tension they carried for... four days?
The only noise that breaks the silence is when Bowser shifts and offers a hand- one that Luigi gladly accepts.
Bowser is warmer than usual or maybe he’s colder, but the gentle grip enveloping his hand is just as comforting as ever.
“Luigi.”
He squirms. Even though Luigi knows he doesn't have to fear anything when around Bowser...
He has been trying to avoid this conversation for a while.
"Y-yeah?"
The Koopa catches his eyes, "What's wrong?"
"I- I don't-"
"Love,"
His breath catches in his throat.
"You hadn't gone out for days, and I've never seen you wander the palace like you used to. Not outside official meetings."
Luigi swallows down the sudden nausea that welled up Don't look down don'tdon'tdon't'. "It- it just feels not as safe, you know? I hadn't been able to relax at the library-"
"Luigi." He says his name so softly. "No."
The world's getting blurry, and his eyes are starting to sting-
"It's about this, isn't it?"
He doesn't want to look, would rather he never has to see it but-
A claw traces a knuckle, winding down just past his wrist.
Even he knows it's impossible.
He looks down at their hands, even as he starts to tremble watching that claw run under his wrist.
It shouldn't look like that.
His skin shouldn't look like that -like not even the sun could give him dimension-
Just a solid void, where his skin should be is, just no veins, no wrinkles, no scars, just monochrome everywhere, just-
Nothing. Nothing of himself. Just like-
Another large hand wraps around him, pulling him towards Bowser before squeezing him into an embrace it's warm and safe-
"Breathe, Luigi, breathe."
He takes a gulp of air -that's why he's lightheaded- and tries to keep breathing even if- if he doesn't-
"It's alright. You're okay." He knows he is. He's just wrong- "There's nothing wrong, feeling this way."
"B-" He nearly chokes on the words. "But I sh-shouldn't..."
"Shhh," the hand he was holding only pulls away briefly, if just to wipe the wetness trailing down his cheeks.
"I- shouldn't exist-"
He regrets his words immediately when Bowser physically shudders, stilling in a way that makes Luigi utterly aware of the silence again.
Before he registers it, the Koopa hauls him straight off the bench and holds him tightly to his chest, the plastron digging into his ribs while his cheek is pressed to the near-hot scales above it.
"NO. No," Luigi hates how that deep voice hitches, and it feels like someone is twisting a knife in his gut again- "You should exist, Luigi. You exist, and it's enough."
One of his hands runs through his hair, and it takes everything for Luigi to not question if it creeps him out to feel-
"Even so-"
He tries to not hold his breath, but his lungs(?) burn-
"I'm here,"
He's crying again.
"And I won't leave you like this."
And he's back to square one, feeling small and fragile and feeling like he shouldn't be anywhere-
"Not you."
It feels like something in him is breaking.
"Not when I love you."
And Luigi-
breaks.
The guards stationed along the garden's perimeter never talk about that day, but they still think about the echoing wails and the bursts of acrid feelings years later.
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salemssimblr · 4 months
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Hello there! I'm Eden :D I LOVE your renders! I've been rendering for well over a year at this point, however I only stuck to the super basic stuff since it took me a year before that to even know how to do it at all. I've wanted to up my game and get to where you are now. I'm SO SORRY if this question was asked already (I haven't gotten too far in your posts yet), but;
How do you personally edit your renders? I understand you use photoshop, but how do you do it exactly? Your renders have that kind of digital art style, like you drew them yourself. Feel free to be as descriptive or brief as you'd like!
Hi Eden!!! Thank you so much! 🥹😍♥️
I've followed you back and glad we're moots! I'd love to see some of your work!
I'm not sure if I've answered this before but I'm happy to answer it again! Also I haven't advertised it in a while (and I really need to try to get up a new tut, maybe soon), but my alt account is a Render School where I post tutorials, with plans to post editing tutorials in the future!
But honestly as far as my editing, I really don't do much.
Actions are my secret weapon, and I have a few favorites/go-tos I'll link! A few are by simmers and a few are just action sets. I'm in a family of photographers, so I have access to a wealth of resources for my editing.
Sonder set by @intramoon
Cold Water set by @intramoon
Retro Prime photoshop actions
Indie camera photoshop actions
But my "secret weapon," as it were, and the set of actions that I think most helps me accomplish that digital art style is a set of actions that are sadly expensive and hard to find now.
My favorite set is by Totally Rad! and I think in recent years it's been folded in to this Pixel Sugar product on their website. I know that's a steep price point but it's possible you can find it around the corners of the Internet for less, or if you can't, you might be able to find "dupes" of the better ones, which imo are:
Technicolor dream world
Super Fun Happy
Bullet Tooth
Grandma's Tap Shoes
As for my method, I know a lot of simmers paint over their renders, and I've done that a few times but find I'm too impatient tbh. My goal is always to have to do only minor touchups over my renders and some color/vibe adjustments before the finished product. My "raw" files are always exactly what blender spits out for me, unaltered in any way except to resize them for Tumblr.
To get that digital art style, I'd recommend rendering with alpha details if you don't already. If your computer can't handle alpha cc in the game, DM me and I can give you some pointers (sneak peek info for a future tut lmao) on how to accomplish it without bogging down your game.
When I go into photoshop I adjust the brightness and contrast, as I tend to personally prefer high contrast pieces that contain dark subject matter but you can still see the details. Then I'll paint/blur/clone/adjust anything that needs it, then I'll "stack" and adjust a handful of actions before applying edge blur and vignette and any other color adjustments (levels, curves, etc).
That's a very oversimplified rundown of what I do, but really overall my editing process is simple. The bulk of my work happens in blender itself. I find that the more time I take to perfect the lighting and shadows and angles in blender, the less frustrating the editing process and the happier I am with the end result. So, that said, be sure you're spending a lot of time in blender getting the light and shadows to be exactly where you need/want them to be before running it.
I know this is a bit long I'm sorry! If any of it is super confusing or you'd like a more in-depth look at any of it please let me know! I do plan to do editing tutorials for my side blog, but the latter half of this year has kind of run over me like a train, and for now I'm just trying to get by day by day. But I'm happy to help if you have more specific questions!
& thank you again!! ♥️
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rizzrizzriki · 1 year
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winter | a sunghoon short fic
word count: 1.1k!
warnings: noneee i don’t think / spelling errors
genre: fluff?
pairing: ice skater! sunghoon x ice skater! gn reader
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snow covered the majority of the streets, a blanket of white over everything in sight. the streetlights had enough glow to illuminate the icy road and sidewalks, a bright contrast to the dark sky. everything was quiet, with no cars rushing past or people chattering about what time it was and where they were going.
a calmness that only spiraled in the dead of winter, a peaceful silence unlike any other. everyone was at home, not wanting to be out in the negative-degree weather, bundled up and watching their televisions. you wished you could say the same for yourself, though.
you sighed, shrugging on your coat (and the thick wool scarf that accompanied it) as you trudged through the snow, a light dusting of snowflakes dancing lazily around you. the city's snowstorms were always pretty mild, but this one was something special. special or not, though, it wouldn't stop you from getting to your destination; the ice rink.
it was almost like a blessing from heaven when you entered the rink, feeling its chill wash over you. the smell of fresh pine from the trees that lined the building, the sounds of skating blades clicking against ice; it was perfect. when you finally reached the building, you couldn’t help but sigh in relief and take in your surroundings. it was very late in the day (too late in fact), so the whole building was relatively empty apart from some staff who hadn't gone home yet, sitting at the counter and talking amongst themselves.
you greeted them before making your way to the rink, sitting down on one of the bleachers to put on your skates. after pulling on your laces, you hopped onto the ice, moving slowly to get accustomed to the surface. the music playing through the speakers was soothing, reminding you of how close it was to christmas, as if the shining red and green lights outside weren't enough.
but your mind wandered off as you picked up your pace, skating around the perimeter of the rink. you could feel your muscles relaxing as your anxiety began to slip away; the rink would help soothe you, helping to relieve some of your stress. you made sure to keep an eye on how much pressure you applied while doing the turns, keeping an even tempo and a steady beat. skating was always calming.
it kept you grounded, gave you a reason to keep pushing forward.
as you did another lap around the quaint rink, you noticed another figure emerging; a guy, who seemed surprised that you were there. he stopped short of stepping onto the ice, watching you carefully. his expression wasn't hostile, but rather...confused.
you furrowed your eyebrows slightly, glancing back at him curiously.
"um... hi?" you said slowly.
he glanced away, an awkward smile across his lips. "hi."
it looked like there was more to his statement than just "hi". there seemed to be something he wanted to add to it, like he was trying to find the right words to say. you waited patiently, unsure of what he was thinking about. the silence went on for a few seconds before he took in a breath and spoke again. “how long have you been here?”
you blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. “um, I came in here earlier.”
“oh,” he replied quietly, looking down at his feet. “hope i'm not interrupting your skating, then."
your face broke into a soft grin, your brows lifting slightly as amusement flashed across your features. "not at all," you explained. "did you wanna... skate together?"
his eyes snapped back up, staring intently at you. for a second, you swore you saw a bit of color bloom onto his cheeks. then the faintest hint of a smile graced his features.
“sure," he agreed quickly. he didn't hesitate to take off the coat and scarf he was wearing, laying them over the back of the seat beside him. “oh, and i'm sunghoon, by the way."
"y/n. how come I've never seen you before?"
you questioned, turning to properly look at him now that he was right next to you. his hair seemed silky under the dim lighting of the rink.
his eyes crinkled in a soft smile as he answered your question, the corners of them wrinkling. "i usually come earlier, not at 11 at night."
the ice beneath your feet creaked softly, a pleasant noise that filled the air.
"makes sense," you replied quietly. "it's cool to see someone else here, though."
he smiled, nodding in agreement. you two skated in silence for a while, enjoying the quiet and each other's company. when you got tired, you slowed down a bit, sunghoon skating up beside you. his pace gradually matched yours, and soon the two of you were moving together gracefully.
you felt relaxed around him, which was rare since you tended to avoid interacting with strangers unless absolutely necessary. you also appreciated his presence, despite being a stranger.
"so uh..." he started, voice hesitant. "...what brings you to the ice rink, anyway?"
"i love skating," you responded easily. "always have, i guess."
sunghoon chuckled softly. you glanced over, confused by his reaction.
"you're really good at it too. the way you move... it looks natural," he said.
your cheeks felt warm, and you turned your gaze downwards bashfully, mumbling a response to his compliment. "thanks."
sunghoon nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. he moved his gaze towards the floor, continuing to watch his skates glide along the smooth ice. you mirrored his movements, admiring the sleek lines and smooth surfaces of the rink.
"can i... can i have your number?" you questioned, hoping that it wasn't too soon to ask.
your heart fluttered in anticipation, hoping he'd agree.
after a moment, he shook his head with a small laugh. he pulled out his phone and handed it over to you. you accepted it gratefully, typing your number into a new contact slide before sending him a text message. you returned the phone, watching as a slight flush crept across his skin, again. it was endearing, seeing him so flustered.
"thanks, um, i have to get going," he said, smiling nervously.
he began to skate back towards the exit, but paused once again, facing you.
"are you coming tomorrow?" he asked. "just asking.”
you smiled, quite cheesily. “i am, same time.”
“cool,” he replied with a tiny smirk. “later, then.”
with that, he left the rink, leaving you to watch him go until he disappeared into the darkness. you exhaled loudly, a content smile gracing your features.
you knew sunghoon was cute, but you definitely hoped that he would come tomorrow. you weren't sure why you were so eager to see someone you barely knew, but you decided that that excitement would be a one time thing.
-
had to write one for hoon ofc
<3
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deathbypufferfish · 10 months
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Hello! this is a 2 part ask but, I'm sending it all in one to avoid cluttering up your inbox!!
Back in February or so you received an about your lighting setup for taking photo shoots and you linked all the stuff you use for them (thank you!), but… could we see how you have the lights arranged and such? It's something I've been trying to emulate because I find the lighting in your posts really nice, but can´r quite wrap my head around.
The 2nd part of the ask is a WCIF (sorry!) for the boxers and briefs in these 2 posts (/deathbypufferfish/718514235415691264 and /deathbypufferfish/718527232399884288/outtakes-since-yall-absolutely-lost-your-mind-for)
So sorry for sending such a long ask, and I hope you're having a great day or night! 💗
Yeah someone actually inquired about my set-up but I kept putting it off and then felt awkward doing it so late 😭 I'll answer the wcif in a separate post heheh. This is the post with my light and backdrop cc. The ceiling light is from Get Famous.
I have a build save that I use for photoshoots so I don't have to worry about clones walking around. It's just a basic room with my lighting set-up plus a space to teleport sims out of the way. I recommend turning off sim autonomy in this save too. I just evict sims when I'm done with their shoot.
Use different lights for different intensity, shapes of the light source, softness/harshness, and direction of light. If you experiment with different lights in build mode you'll see what I mean.
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This is my general lighting set-up, but I am always adjusting the lights' color and brightness for what I need. Or turning some off. It depends on the mood I am going for and the sims complexion. (Since pale sims get blown up with my gshade on a white backdrop lol.) If I want a light from the left I will only have the front light and left one one for example. Mess around with the position of your angled lights!
Save your camera state so you can replicate the same shot for other sims or if you need to redo part of your set-up. Simply find your shot, hold down Ctrl and select a number key between 5-9. When you want to snap to your position, enter tab mode and press the number you set. You can set multiple camera states with different numbers. To clear the camera state, use Alt+ [5-9], or override it by repeating the original step.
Keep Teleport Sims statues on hand so you can drag them to the position of your sim if you need to switch out subjects and get the same position. Also to teleport sims away from your set-up.
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For dynamic lighting like I do a dark backdrop with lights on the right and left of the sim at an angle. The colors I use the most are magenta for the focus area and blue for the shadows/contrast. It depends on the mood or sims complexion.
If you want a light source from below, use a table or outdoor light at their feet and turn off some/all lights.
Using the backdrop with different colors can affect the hue and brightness of your screenshot so be careful with that. If you need to key out the background, choose a color not present on your sim. You don't need to just use green. Mxao will also add a seam at the backdrops curve which can be edited out later.
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oddishblossom · 7 months
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Hey I have a question? How do you produce such high-quality gifs. It's so cool and I've been trying but it usually just doesn't come out well
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Thanks! I’ve been making gifs for about 2 years, so I’m by no means a pro. Sometimes it feels like I’m just throwing things at the video until it looks the way I want it to look.
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I didn’t use any guides, so it took a lot of trial and error to learn. Just to compare, here’s the first gif I ever made!
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My advice for starting to get into gif-making is, you gotta really choose a media or character you love because the process is time consuming and it can be frustrating if it doesn't end up the way you wanted right away. Plus, you’re gonna stare at the same picture for like a loooong time. Over time, I’ve gotten a lot faster at making sets. Like that killua x start over gifset only took me an hour to make, but I barely edited that one. I normally spend a few days on each set.
I still don’t completely get photoshop, so I don’t feel like I can give a tutorial for it. But I do make a lot of gifs on my phone so here’s a more in depth look at that.
For starters, I always get video footage in 1080P. Either download or record the footage you want to turn into gifs. I’m gonna use Killua as an example. Here’s a picture of what the clip looks like before I’ve done anything.
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I find that the shorter the clip, the easier it is to make it smooth and crisp. This clip is only 5 seconds long. I try to keep my clips 5 seconds or shorter. I can do longer clips, but then I’d have to shorten the frames used and the speed of the gif (frames per second), which I don’t like doing. Next, I crop it. You want to crop before you start editing.
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After that, I can start recoloring. There’s a couple good apps I like using for this. VideoDay and InShot are pretty good, but they’re pay to use. The free one Apple provides in the photos app is good, too. I’ve got a different coloring style for most of my sets. But I mainly focus on making dark colors darker, making colors more saturated so they pop, and brightening the video. On VideoDay & Inshot you can find this setting under Filter. Then go to Adjust. This is what it looks like after boosting up the contrast, saturation, brightness, shadows, and definition. Mess around with different settings until you come up with something you like.
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Now, I recolor it a second time with filters. Sometimes I use Inshot or VideoDay, but I mostly use the app ImgPlay. ImgPlay is what I’ll be using to actually turn this video into a gif. I use different filters depending on what colors I want to stand out. CL2 and HW3 are a couple favorites. For this set I use HW3. Then I added more contrast, saturation, and sharpened it as high as it could go.
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Now that it looks pretty, time to make it move smoothly. Through a lot of trial and error, I’ve found that these settings work okay. I have it set to 90 frames for this clip. For frames, I usually try to keep it within 80-90 frames (or 30-80 if it’s a shorter clip). If I push it past that, like say 100 frames, it’ll start to look blurry once I condense it.
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For speed, I either use .04 seconds or .05 seconds. For frames per second, I always go with 20 FPS at least. This will push up the frame count, so you’ll need to make the clip shorter. You can do that by using the slide bar or that little area with 9 squares in the top right corner.
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Now it’s time to export! Just click on save and GIF size. Set the loop to infinity and size to 10 MB. Tumblr has a limit on GIF size, so it needs to be 10MB or under. You can also click on GIF dithering to make the colors blend a bit more.
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And we’re done! Hope it wasn’t too confusing and that I explained myself clearly! There’s a lot more cool effects you can do once you get the hang of video editing. This is by no means a strict guide or anything! Heck, even I don’t follow this exactly and I try changing things around, seeing what works and what doesn’t. Gif-making can be super fun, so I hope you keep at it! 😊💖
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daakjenaar · 7 months
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The greatest use of CGI in movie history (I am being unironic) (SPOILERS FOR SPEED RACER)
It’s the final five minutes of 2008’s Speed Racer. Of course the greatest CGI sequence was in a movie directed by the Wachowski sisters, that makes perfect sense.
For years, films with obscene budgets have been racing to try and reach the point with CGI where it can perfectly mimic reality, where practical effects and props are entirely done away with and replaced by some underpaid VFX artists working obscene hours. Any Disney project of the last decade is perhaps the finest example. With budgets to match a small nation’s GDP, they have repeatedly tried and failed to make the finest examples of bland hyper-realism. The trailer for the new Ahsoka series, where the titular Ahsoka fights with white lightsabers in a mostly grey environment, is just the newest case of this. In the drab, depressing Lion King remake, the last few MCU movies I bothered to watch, and seemingly every new Star Wars project, Disney has used a titanic budget to make a shoddy simulacrum of what 70’s movie prop artists could do with a box of scraps.
The real reason for this is that, at the time of writing, VFX artists lack the same union backing as those who work in practical effects. It is cheaper to make people slave away in front of a computer for months on end to render Chris Evans in his newest low-contrast, boring American flag outfit. The fault lies with the executives, who decided that this was the best way to both spend money and treat their fellow human beings, and that this is the direction high-budget cinema should go in. So many high-profile films are just messes of shitty CGI that seems to get worse every year. And I don't want this to be some annoying "RETURN TO TRADITION" post, this is specifically calling out the really big-budget stuff. I've gotten really into low-budget indie horror movies again, and the last few years have been an incredible time for those.
Now, back to that scene in Speed Racer. What does it do right? First of all, I think it justifies itself. The idea of making something so vivid and fluid with mostly practical effects just doesn’t seem feasible. This is a bizarre, cartoony neon-coloured nightmare of a racetrack that refuses to make sense. Bright colours pour out of every single place they feasibly could, and then a few others. It’s absolutely sensory overload, but it’s beautiful sensory overload. Every scene in the movie is high-contrast and visually appealing, even the dark and gritty moments.
On another level, I think it also knows how to hide the weaknesses of CGI. You mostly view objects from a distance and behind a layer of effects, and that makes it hard to see how bad some things might look in a clear close-up. Even when it really zooms in on a car, it’s in a moment where it feels so weighty and is still moving around too much to pick out flaws. Even managing to get across the vibe that these are heavy machines with momentum behind them is impressive, and more than I can say for a lot of CGI-heavy scenes. Nothing feels like it moves in an unnatural way, and the real humans inside of these color-vomit deathtraps don’t look out of place.
I think the thing it does best, though, is context. This movie is many things. Goofy, shockingly earnest, and stylish. The final scene is the culmination of all of that. The cars are doing frankly absurd things. The Mach 6 is doing some kind of car judo flip in the end of the grand prix scene. The flashbacks that come up help set the mood and take your mind off of analyzing the visuals of the scene to the point of finding flaws. I cannot emphasize this enough, this movie is about someone who loves his family and drives cars so well that he ends up halting an attempted corporate monopoly and reveals an insider trading scandal, and the film is all-in on this. They want you to be genuinely invested in this plot, and I still am on every viewing even as an adult. The visuals, the music, the culmination of the plot, it all gives this scene what it needs to work and stand out as perhaps the greatest application of CGI ever. I am being unironic.
Again, if you wish to give pointers or kill me with hammers, please do so and/or kill me with hammers. I finished this at 3am while listening to nu-metal and installing bootleg Starsector mods.
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minnsune · 3 months
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Color Me Blue [Wirt x Reader] (Pt. 1 of 2)
Both of you are lying on the floor of Wirt’s room the evening after Halloween, staring at the ceiling while listening to the cassette tape he had made for you when he first got a crush on you. You both quietly felt each other’s company. Your heads are both next to each other, but you are lying in opposite directions, looking upside down from his perspective. His face is red as he subtly looks at your reaction to the music and poetry he recited on the tape, embarrassed by it. You turn your head to face him and smile as Wirt blushes and he looks at you. He fidgets his hands as if wanting to hold your hand but doesn’t want to make the move out of fear. You sigh taking note of this and took his hand in yours. Wirt’s face flushes, becoming more red than before. He smiles as he looks into your eyes. He squeezes your hand and holds onto it. His hand is soft and warm, which is in contrast to his usually reserved demeanor. But now he is showing much more affection, and it is very much welcome. The tape finished almost as soon as they held hands and she took the chance to say something."Wirt, that was really nice..." you say as she sat up to look at him. Wirt slowly sits up with you, still holding onto your hand. He smiles and looks into your eyes. His face is still bright red and he is nervous to speak, but you can tell from his gaze that he wants to say so much. Just as he opens his mouth to say something, his younger brother, Greg, came in. "[N/N]!" the young boy said using the nickname most everyone called her. "I found your pen!" Wirt’s face fell as Greg entered the room. He lets go of your hand and sits forward, trying to not look bothered, not wanting to show any jealousy, but you can tell he is. He was glad that the tape ended when it did instead of playing another two minutes of romantic poetry. No matter what is happening, he still finds a way to get jealous of him. You glance over to Wirt taking notice of this and decide to help. You walked over to Greg pat the preschooler on the head and took the pen he had extended out for you. "Thanks, Greg, I've been looking for this!" Greg put his hands on his hips and smiled with pride. “Jason Funderburker helped me find it!” You furrow a brow at this. “Jason Funderburker? The one who likes Sarah?” He shook his head and pulled out a frog from behind him, “Nope! This Jason Funderburker!” He said pointing to the frog as it croaked. You smile down at him and kneel to his height. “Thanks for finding my pen, Greg. But, Wirt and I are trying to talk right now, so I can’t hang out with you. I definitely will once we’re done though!” The boy nods excitedly and runs off with ‘Jason Funderburker’ and spouts out a made-up song. Wirt sighs, watching Greg leave the room. He turns his body so he is facing you again with your heads close together as you lay on the ground. “I’m sorry Greg interrupted us.” Wirt’s tone is remorseful but he’s quite happy at the fact that Greg left the room. Once you are the only two in the room, Wirt wants to take advantage of this and speak in peace. "No need to apologize," you say, "what were you trying to say?"
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winter-seance · 3 months
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How do you make so many gifs and gifsets so quickly? Genuine question. It sometimes takes me a long time to make just one gifset and they're often not that good anyway. Yours are always great and I love your colouring technique. Is it just practice over the years or do you follow a particular tutorial?
Have a good day!
Hi! First, thanks for your compliments <3
I think my speed in gifmaking does come from having practiced and adjusted my methods/techniques a lot over the last 10 years. I used to be really, really slow at it and didn't really get very good results, but I kept trying new things and ways to do things and eventually got better at it.
I used to take individual screenshots of every frame of the video (extremely time consuming), but now I use Quicktime (I have a Mac but there are other options for Windows that are probably just as good) to clip moments and scenes I want to gif. It can clip from programs like VLC, or online streaming services like Youtube or Amazon. I always use the highest quality video I can find! Although sometimes with the rarer stuff it's hard. Then I import the clips into Photoshop, which is probably the most time-consuming part of the process for me. Then I quickly crop them, add a curves layer, levels layer, brightness/contrast, and then if the color needs adjusting, sometimes a hue/saturation layer and a color balance layer. Then add text if needed.
Some of this I've automated using Photoshop actions, so that really can help speed things up!
I've actually been considering making a video tutorial thing about how I make my gifs. I think I could explain it a lot better with visual aids!
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thewintersoldier · 1 year
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Hello 💜
This set is absolutely gorgeous. Like, jaw-droppingly stunning. I don't know why it seems like the better, more complicated sets never get as many notes 🙁 but this set is so amazing it makes me weep.
https://at.tumblr.com/thewintersoldier/705733681810227200/wesj90y4zy6k
Please when you have time can you do a tutorial for the first or second gif?
(I promise I wasn't just trying to butter you up with that opening - I've been showing this set to everyone I know, it is truly beautiful)
Lol dude you’re totally good thank you ♥️♥️♥️ but yeah, I can do a tutorial! Everything’s under the cut!
Alright, so first things first, I’m going to assume everyone looking has a basic knowlege of coloring gifs with photoshop.
Now, the biggest thing is you want your two gifs that you are blending to have a lot of contrast. So for my first gif, I chose a scene that I could make the background pretty much pure white but have the subject in it be as close to straight black as possible.
So this is what I start with
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Bucky’s legs are pretty dark here, but since the background is mostly shades of grey, I know that I can get it to lighten up to white pretty easily. To do this, I create a layers level, selet the white eye dropper tool and click around on the background until I get a white that I like. I ended up choosing the big of white sky that you see up towards the top right hand side of the image. This was the area that was already closest to white already and I don’t want to blow out the whole image by selecting an area to make what that was too dark to start with
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And now I’m here.
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I now create another layers level and select the black eye dropper tool.
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and it takes me here
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This is going to help make your blacks blacker while keeping the white’s still pretty while and you need as much contrast as you can get for this to work well. 
At this point, I now add brightness and contrast and exposure layers and play with them until I get the whites as white as I can while also keeping the blacks black and I end up here. 
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What I also like to do to help the gif blend better is add a hue and saturation layer. From there, I’ll go and reduce the saturation on all the colors I don’t want that are in the image. So For this gif, I just went a head and turned the saturation down to -100 on the cyans and yellows to remove the little bit of yellow and cyan that I’m seeing.
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So now about the only color I have going on is a bit of red in the skin of his hand. However, looking at this the skin you can see there, it’s going to make blending the second gif on top of it a bit more difficult and I’d like it as close to black as I can get to the second gif I overlay looks as good as it can. The way that I tackle this is I added a black to white gradient map. 
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Which at this point pretty much turns the gif black and white. If you don’t want it to be straight up black and white though, I suggest adding the gradient map, setting it to soft light and playing around with the opacity until you like how it looks. 
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But this is what I’m left with for the first gif.
Now for the second gif, this is what I’m starting with
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The only color I’m looking to preserve here is going to be the red, so what I’m going to do is follow the steps I took on the first gif with the two level layers, and brightness and contrast/exposure until I’m happy with it. I then also add the hue and saturation layer to remove the yellows I see in the image. 
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This leaves me here. But I want to add a bit more contrast to make the book pop out even more. So I add an exposure layer to make the brights a bit more bright and then balance it out with the blacks.
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My last step is I now add a gradient map of black to red because I want to bring out the reds a bit more here and increase the contrast.
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I then set this layer to soft light and played around with the opacity (ended up with 17%)
and we get here
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I find the more contrast you can put in, the better gifs will blend together. If they’re all sitting at the same range of shades, it’s just murky and you can’t really see what’s going on. Now at this point, I convert both these gifs to smart objects and place them on a canvas together. I do this my creating a new project, making the background black, and then converting the black background to a smart object as well. 
I then drag and drop both smart objects of the gifs into this new canvas. I keep 
The put the first gif on bottom and then place the second on top and set it to screen. For this step, play around with which gif you think looks better set to screen and which one looks better just set to normal. With all the contrast I have in it, I find it really didn’t make a difference either way. This is what I get from doing this:
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These blend together well because the colors in the second gif don’t show up well on white, but they will show up on the blacks. If your contrast isn’t as intense, you can create layer masks on the gifs and erase parts you don’t want showing, but keep in mind, since the gif is moving you have to be careful about where you erase. I do this sometimes, but frankly it’s a pain in the ass and if I can avoid it, I will. I much prefer to blend just with setting a gif to screen if I can. 
Another thing to add, the second gif does have a pretty dark background which also helps make the gif blend a lot easier. If you’re putting a white background on a white background you’re just going to end up not being able to see much of anything. 
Now, my last step for the coloring is I add a Gradient Fill layer. 
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and these are going to be my settings for it:
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I now then set the gradient fill to Multiply and we get this effect:
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It is important to note, this needs to go on top of both of the other gifs or it’s going to mess with the blending. For example, if it put this between the two gifs, it turns the white background to red, which is going to give the second gif more color to show up on which will then make it look like this
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and since we want it to really only show up on the black, putting it anywhere but on top of them isn’t going to work. 
I played around with the text until I got ended up here
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I have a tutorial for how I do this effect here. 
The font’s I used were Champagne & Limousines for the white text, set to 16px
and Doctor Glitch set to 72px, with a flag warp text, which you can find here.
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I hoped this helped! If you need anything explained in more depth or you have any other questions, just shoot me an ask!
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kathy-rah · 1 year
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As someone who is slowly learning how to do digital art alone, I may have some advices to give to those who want to start and don't have time/resources to spend a lot of time trying and testing out drawing processes.
These are some things that I've found useful but Boi, it got me a lot of time to get to it. Of course, this is just what I think can be a good advice for who is a newbie like me, you can try it as a way to start your coloring process but it's not something professional t.t so take it with a bit of salt
First advice I wanna give is to do like I did during this drawing process: while I keep everything on different layers (skin tone / armor / hair /detail / background), don't just start with one layer and then start another one after rendering the first one.
Multiple times I've noticed how the different tones didn't match to each other, or the colors were simply horrible to see next to each other. I've spent a lot of time fixing this type of issues in my old drawing, always deleting the layers (fully rendered) or trying to change the tone with horrible results.
Instead, if you too happen to have this problem, I'd advice you to first coloring everything with the base color. As you see in the video, as first thing I simply filled the lineart with base colors. It's not clear but I assure you I've changed his skin tone multiple times because it didn't match the armor. Same with the mask and the red details.
This is something you can easily do at the beginning to see if the colors match and are nice to see all together in the bigger picture.
It's really something easy and I'm 100% sure they teach you this literally at the beginning of art school but Boi I'm stupid. I only learn when I do things myself t.t
Change colors as much as you want until you've reached your desired tones. Be careful of saturation levels. To make everything more balanced, play with the hue level for every base color you've used. You don't like how the red is in contrast with the blue? Change the red layer' hue/saturation values a bit and you'll find the perfect type of red you need.
After you are happy with the overall results, start with the rendering.
This is something I recommend to do if you still aren't used to the use of tones/saturation.
If you need some examples of the pieces where I struggled, here you go: this one is probably my fav one even now that I draw from pc.
Before:
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As you can see there isn't balance in the colors. Fulgrim's skin is too much out of everything and in general there is too much differences between the colors. It just doesn't look harmonious. Then:
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I assure you I haven't re-drawn anything here, just fixed the saturation, tones and hue levels (and added a bit more of shadows), yet now everything matches. (i also have changed the color of the lineart in a few places, look at the hair for example).
This might looks obvious to others, but I've spent a lot of time on this piece with the only focus on making those colors look nicely together and with time I've learned from my mistakes.
Another example: the commission I did a few weeks ago. I had to draw an Imperial fist, so you'd expect to see a yellow armor. Considering that I painted the background with red colors, bright yellow would have been quite a shock to see: that's why the base color is not yellow but orange. Same thing the clothes aren't white anymore but a light pink.
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On a white background it looks weird for an IF armor, yet this is the result at the end:
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Yellow is only for the parts hit by the light, where the shadow are more on the red tones. (don't mind the light blue for now)
Of course, you have to take in consideration many things before changing the hues of the original colors, but I hope this could help c:
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mistydeyes · 8 months
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Hi, I hope you're having a good day! 🥰
I'd like to ask for a cod pairing pls ✨️
(I hope this ends up being coherent because I did just get back from spending several hours in the blazing sun lol)
as for appearance: I'm 5"4', have wavy brown hair that goes just past my shoulders, green eyes and I'm pretty pale with some freckles. as for body type I guess I'm more on the skinny side but I do have some curves and have been building some muscle lately.
personality-wise, I'm a fellow infp 👋🏻 I tend to be shy around people I don't know yet but once I get to know someone enough to be comfortable I get very talkative and make (sometimes really bad) jokes. my sense of humour bounces from silly to pretty dry or even sarcastic/cynical sometimes. I try to be kind to everyone unless they give me a reason not to, and I very rarely get angry or loud. I also try to always give my friends a sense of reassurance that I sometimes wish someone would give me. I do struggle with generalized anxiety disorder but I've been working on it, trying to live with it and move out of my comfort zone one step at a time.
in terms of interests/hobbies, I love playing video games, especially story-driven or open world adventure/fantasy games, as well as reading and writing, and going for hikes in the woods (I also do a bunch of nature photography). I work out twice a week and am pushing to get to a third time. this is definitely something I need since I work in office administration and sit a lot haha. but I do also like getting physically stronger, it helps my confidence quite a bit.
okay this is starting to get long so I'll cut it off here lol
thank you!💖
Kyle "Gaz" Garrick
How you met: Civilian Hikes in autumn were some of your favorites. You loved the crisp, cool weather and always had your camera on you to capture the changing of the seasons. You zipped up your fleece jacket as the soft breeze flowed gently through the trees. Your camera roll was filled with pictures of the wildlife making preparations for the winter and the silhouette of birds against the colorful leaves. The ground crunched under your step as you walked the nature trail. Eventually, you came across a man who was enjoying the beauty of the forest. He wore a warm flannel jacket and his bright smile was picturesque. You shamelessly snapped a picture of him as he was perfectly contrasted against a collection of yellow, red, and orange foliage. You weren't going to say anything until he approached you with a friendly wave. "Was it a good picture?" he asked and you blushed in embarrassment. You looked at your camera and it was, his smile perfectly capturing the enjoyment of fall and the leaves descending elegantly behind him. You sheepishly showed him it and he awed in response. "You have to send me a copy!" he exclaimed and quickly handed his phone over to you to exchange numbers. "I'm Kyle, by the way," he said as you sent yourself a text, "being a model is just a hobby of mine." You both laughed at his comment and said your goodbyes as you continued in opposite directions. You wouldn't find out until months later but he saved your contact as "the pretty photographer."
A peek into your relationship: "My turn!" you exclaimed as Kyle finished playing through another character's unfortunate demise in What Remains of Edith Finch. You had a tradition when he was on leave to play a game you each picked and trade off controlling the main character. It had taken you months to get through the Borderlands series as your boyfriend was terrible at making quick decisions and completing dialogue branches. He pushed the keyboard and mouse to your direction as you continued to direct Edith through the sprawling maze of a house. You had started the game this morning and after many breaks (Kyle was so upset after certain character deaths) you were finally approaching the ending. You had just played through Lewis' story and both were heartbroken at his fate. "This game is so twisted," Kyle said as you finally navigated to Edith's great grandmother's room. "I know but the art and the story is just so good," you said as you sat back and watched another tragic cutscene playthrough. "You are something else," he joked as he gently held your hand to pull the mouse away. By now, it was only Edith left and the plot twist left you both yelling and screaming at your pc. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE WAS PREGNANT?" Kyle yelled as tears pricked your eyes. "Why did she have to die in childbirth?" you sobbed and shut your computer off as the cut scenes rolled. Kyle picked you up and placed you in his lap to comfort you. "Next time I pick the game," he joked and you could even see he was getting a little glossy in the eyes. "Deal" you said as you wiped at your cheeks. "Can we watch something silly like FNAG reaction montages or something?" you asked and he nodded as he carried you off to your living room for some much needed laughs.
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davekat-sucks · 1 year
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I like most of the pesterquest sprites and i find some of the artistic liberties charming but damn I'm petty and I'm bothered that they didn't base most of their looks from the original alterniabound sprites. I dislike Gamzees pesterquest sprite, I'm too used to his signature long chin. Why is Jane so obese? It's been described multiple times in the comic that's she's busty, gameover shows her figure. Where are her tits? The comic has brought her boobs more than once. She's had 2 titty grab scenes and Caliborn inquired about hers. Give her boobs back, also I'm not a fan of Kanayas sprite, i dislike the weird posture and I'm not into the hair (missed opportunity to have her switch her wardrobe in her volume). I've mentioned before Tavros's sprite is stiff as hell. I hate the lack of a consistent art style, im being picky as hell but it's what i think each time i see those sprites.
After Jade's sprite, everyone else's soon after was a bit inconsistent for art style. WhatPumpkin following the Steven Universe way of Rebecca Sugar hiring various artists/writers to do it and each one is "unique", so it has be shown off. Fuck a set line of rules or details they follow. Everyone's art style is unique in their own way (except for anime. Anime is bad for Western fandom). Reason for Jane being fat is because it was CALIBORN himself who insulted her that she was fat, and people picking it up thinking she genuinely has a real chubby body. He's insulting her, but they are desperate for diversity. So in an unironic fashion, all the fandom has and now accepted Caliborn, the guy who is said to be the toxic masculinity of this fandom, as being in the right. gg fanbase g fucking g Better to ignore Jane's frustration of being called fat. Because fatphobic and not many people like Jane if she were to claim she is thin. Boobs are also bad because girls being sexy is bad and they are all teenagers here, despite that they are fictional. It is a missed opportunity. I can see her clothes change depending on certain emotions (like bright colors if happy or dark when it hits to the bad end). She probably wear something nice and professional when renovating Tavros' room. Don't get me started on the contrast between Mom Lalonde and Roxy Lalonde's sprite. Why mess with her hair? Is Mom Lalonde a bad person for trying to straighten her hair now? Interpretations like this are bullshit. They really didn't give Nepeta her hat. I could have seen funny sprites where her hat would also make similar facial expressions like Nepeta or the opposite that shows her real feelings. Here is a nice art of someone giving Nepeta her hat back.
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sheryl-lee · 1 year
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I've always wanted to ask this but have been too scared but i adore the way your gifs look like they have a reddish tint to them! they're slightly darker and have huge reds popping out? can i ask how do you accomplish this?? thnx!
hello, and thanks! so i love that "reddish tint" you're talking about - it really helps my gifs look colorful and over time, i've found a couple of methods that allow the scenes i gif to look bright and color-corrected while not looking over-saturated.
beyond using high quality footage, screencapping properly, and using the sharpening settings that work best for you (all of which i've touched on before here), these are some other things i find help with maintaining a consistent coloring for my gifs:
selective color layers - my saving grace! i set these layers to "absolute" and usually use 2 or 3 per gif. i don't try to go too overboard with these layers but increasing the cyans on "red" helps make the reds/pinks pop out and look Pretty. i also increase the yellows on "orange" to even things out and maintain some balance. i also set neutrals to -10 to make the gif look more even without fully desaturating the colors. selective color layers are a lot of fun to experiment with, and with practice it becomes like second nature to know how each setting will affect your gif based on the coloring. just keep playing with those layers until it looks the way you want it to look!
channel mixer - another saving grace! i've only just recently started using this adjustment layer and have def noticed a difference. like selective coloring, the channel mixer takes a bit of time/practice to understand how it works, but if you practice you'll get a sense of what to use based on the lightning of a scene. i put this layer right below selective coloring and use it if a scene looks too orange/yellow. this is especially helpful when giffing people, because it evens out skintones. again, i don't go too overboard with this layer but try to make small adjustments until the gif looks more even in tone and enhances that red tint without looking ~too~ intense.
vibrance - a vibrance layer set to +50-70 helps lock in the color and make the gif look brighter, along with one or two brightness/contrast and exposure layers. the brightness and exposure settings vary from scene to scene, so just experiment until it looks just bright enough without losing the color and pops of red.
that's honestly everything i can think of! my coloring process isn't too complicated, and like i said i don't rely on a base psd and prefer to color each gif from scratch bc each scene has different lightning/coloring/etc. but these are the general settings i tend to use when trying to achieve that red tint you're referencing.
hope that helps, and please please don't hesitate to send me an ask or reach out if you have any questions/concerns/comments (and please don't feel scared! i genuinely love helping and chatting with people, especially fellow gif makers/creators on this site, and am always happy to help whenever someone needs it) have a wonderful day/night ❤️
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chaoxfix · 2 years
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do you have any writing tips. .... . ... . .. . . ..
heya ! not fully an expert but here are a few things i remind myself of while writing:
this got REALLY long so one quick note before i put it all under the cut:
writing takes practice, and everyone's style is a little different. the most important thing is to just do it! go for it, and when something isn't quite right, tweak it until it says something that feels right. happy writing!
don't be afraid of editing and re-editing. BUT ALSO, don't fully delete passages if they're long or you even kind of like them -- save them, you might want to revisit them or reference them later.
if you find yourself diving deep into talking ABOUT a scene, espcially if it involves characters interacting... sometimes that scene works better as just. its own scene. (i spent an hour today writing about a scene prior to the main dialogue. and finally i was like... 'chaoxfix... buddy, this could just be like. three lines of extra dialogue. please stop writing 25 paragraphs about how the tone has escalated etc and talking ABOUT the situation when it could instead BE the situation' ... audiences usually like scenes and dialogue and action better than summaries about those things.
don't be afraid of generic verbs. said is NOT dead, it is very much alive and should be kept alive as much as possible. same with walked, run, etc.
when you DO use spicier verbs, make sure they're used impactfully and sparingly.
when describing gestures or body language, picture the characters doing whatever you think they're doing in your head -- and then write the way they actually move. this is the difference between like ... copying popular phrases that might stick out in your story, and making your characters feel alive and kind of personal.
integrate the setting and props when possible! characters don't exist in a vaccuum. but do so in a capacity where it makes sense. let characters flop on couches -- but you don't have to tell me what COLOR the couch is unless you're making a statement about the character who bought it/puts up with having it in the house. ex: 'Sonic flopped dramatically onto the bright orange sofa, quills sticking into well-worn holes' -- this tells me that the character who bought the sofa likes bright colors, and that he (or another hedgehog) has sat on this sofa many times before.
make sure to identify characters ASAP when they're introduced to a scene. nothing worse than starting with "he" when you haven't specified who he is.
here's a quick example for how I write body language, using a character none of yall are familiar with just to show how this can work even when ur not attached to the gumballs i usually work with, to analyze it from a purely technical aspect:
My cat sits on my kitchen rug. She stares blankly at the wall ahead of her. I think she's watching the shadows of the wall start to move, now that it's nearing sunset -- the sun shadows contrasting nicely against the ones from the artificial overhead. She might also be searching for bugs to swat at. I can never be too sure. Yet all too soon, she senses something amiss. Senses, more importantly, someone watching her. She scans her perimeter, looking for potential threats -- or maybe, potential prey. Yet as she scans her perimeter, her ears flick as she realizes the ever-present sound of her master's typing has finally stopped. She whips her head towards me, and I know I've been caught. We make eye-contact. Neither of us move a muscle.
She's my unwilling muse, and now she knows it. She flicks her tail, irritated, as she realizes she's being used.
I slow blink at her to apologize.
Instead, she gets up and walks away.
//
Integrate your setting to ground your characters. Here I integrated the rug and the wall, and also the time of day and the way it impacts my cat's perception of the world. I also integrate sound, aka the typing. everything helps when building a scene, especially if youre going for dramatic tension or trying to make the readers really understand where the characters are at, and making the setting come alive.
Short, choppy sentences show tension. Long, drawn-out sentences are much more laid-back and put your audience at ease. But long sentences can also become dramatic:
The more stops you put into a sentence -- like this -- and this -- and even this -- the more you make your audience pause, and wait with baited breath, for what's coming next. Just be sure to follow it up with something short for catharsis.
Always integrate a slight unreliable narrator. You're the author so you decide how characters feel -- but you also have to back it up. Ex: my cat cannot possibly know that she's an unwilling muse. she has no thoughts in her head. none whatsoever. but i say it, and support that idea with body language, because she flicks her tail and i describe it as irritated, and then she walks away after i try to show love.
As for dialogue... Try to picture dialogue and body language as two parts of one whole. They can mismatch intentionally, or be telling the same story. If they're telling the same story you can save on describing body language, unless you're really hammering home the feelings they're trying to show. If they're at a mismatch, it's almost easier, because your audience picks up on it very quickly.
Ex:
Sonic grins, cheeks still red with exhilaration as he races back from his newest record for outrunning a freefall. He bounds up to Tails's workshop, quills in complete disarray as he throws open the door. "You'll never believe it, Tails! Less than a second! A fraction of a second!"
Tails doesn't look up. "That's great, Sonic," he says mildly, eyes still glued to his microscope. "Mind passing me that wrench?"
-- Sonic's is an example of perfectly matching dialogue to his energy and tone, which further exaggerates his mood. I also get to spend more time describing what he's doing, because his mood and his dialogue match which mean there's more breathing room for action, setting, and appearance. He's also entering a new scene, which is why I describe where he's going -- but it's made easy to integrate with his dialogue and body language because it's not a complicated or mismatched feeling with his dialogue and motions. Meanwhile, Tails's is a mismatch. His dialogue totally contradicts his body language, which makes it more interesting. if i tried to describe his every motion, it would feel a little cluttered, because you've got plenty of info just from this. just from the difference in dialogue and body language, we can infer that Tails isn't excited but is pretending to be -- and we can infer that maybe this happens a lot so he's not really surprised or interested anymore, but used to be, if sonic's still barging in to tell him about it. Tails sounds bored, and yet is still pretending to tell Sonic he's excited, because they care about each other and Tails wants to be polite.
//
Not really a writing coach or anything so I'll end it here, but hopefully this helps whatever you needed! <3
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