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spacedace · 4 months

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Fuck whatever DC is doing with the al Ghul's characterizations and story lines, I've decided that from now on the al Ghul's are gonna be DC's version of the Addams Family instead.

Now I don't mean just give the various al Ghul's the exact personalities of the various Addams and call it a day. That's boring, that erases all the interesting parts of the al Ghuls, that's just using "find & replace" and not actually adding anything. I mean give them the vibes of the Addams Family.

Keep the al Ghul's as the al Ghul's with all their scheming and machinations and world domination attempts but give them all the unhinged energy, the casually insane view of the world, the deranged levels of love and devotion for family. Make them that group where objectively they are batshit insane but also you cannot argue with the fact that they are indisputably the most stable and functional family in the entire universe.

They're creepy, they're kooky, they're mysterious and spooky. Ra's many opulent homes and impenetrable fortresses are a museum and the al Ghul's really are a screa-um whenever people come to see-um (or when they lay waste upon their enemies in a surprise attack that has been planned for months and is just the first domino in a series that will ultimately lead to achieving a far greater goal).

They all love each other and want each other to be happy, they express this primarily with stabbing and murder attempts (its fine, death is a thing that happens to other people).

And forget the League of Assassins being a cult. Just make the whole vast globe spanning organization a collection of cousins/aunts/uncles/dear old friends ect. No one (not even the al Ghuls, if they cared to keep track of such things) is sure who is actually related to them and who just got absorbed into the ever expanding family tree based on their vibes being right.

(Is Sensei Ra's father you ask? Well he's certainly someone's father - probably.

Anyway have you heard about Cousin Cheshire? Despicable poisoner of a young woman, capable of the most horrific things imaginable - yes she is the sweetest dear. Like I was saying though, she just had a baby!

Everyone in the family is just so excited to throw a baby shower to celebrate! Ubu has really gone all out with the spike traps, he does so love getting to welcome a new addition to the family.

Talia of course has cultivated a brand new strain of the most toxic plants imaginable to make a brand new kind of necrotizing poison. You know, as a nice little romantic gift for Cousin Cheshire and that young man of hers. It really is so important to make sure you take time for you and your partner to go on dates and have a few pitched battles to the death on dark rooftops in the pounding rain when you have children.

Now there is some to-do about it all of course, you know how family get together can be. Everyone is arguing over who should get to give little Lian her first weapon and what it should be. Nyssa is pushing for grenades but Ra's is insisting on a sword - he's traditional like that you know - but Dusan has the vote so far on throwing knives. You know the kind that have the little divots along the edges of the blades them to make it easier to get the poison you dip them in to stick.)

I'm just saying that the al Ghuls should be a delightful cross between the Bond Villains they were originally conceived as and the lovingly unhinged Addams Family. It just feels correct in my heart.

(Again keep the interesting aspects of the characters and the nuances of who each of them are like their drive to save the world through destroying humanity and their strong environmentalist leanings and their constantly playing 5D chess and everything, but like, take away the racism and the cartoonishly evil for no reason bullshit and give them some fun feral energy to go along with it).

#batman #ra's al ghul #al ghul family #talia al ghul #nyssa raatko #cheshire dc #sensei dc #no more racism and fucked up dark family dynamics #the al ghuls aggressively adore each other #violence and schemes is their love language #in the full au version of all of this i'd like to imagine how canon plot points change with the al ghuls having these vibes #Just imagine Damian still trying to kill Tim when he first ends up in Bruce's care #but instead of it being a ploy to get rid of a threat its because he's just so excited to meet one of his big brothers #and attempted murder is just how you tell someone in your family that you love them #Tim just SO CONFUSED because Damian is talking so animatedly about how happy he is to get to have some brotherly bonding with Tim #while ACTIVELY trying to run him through with a sword #idk how things change with Cass exactly but i feel like they would in this #like either David Cain isn't an absolute monster or the al ghuls catch wind of what he's doing & are like #This is NOT how al ghuls treat family! what is this shameful behavior! She can't even insult you while you fight!#fighting and violence is a perfectly healthy way to express your love but only if there's actually LOVE involved!#The Heretic & other Damian clones still get made but only because Talia just misses her son so much that she makes more of him #Nyssa has just been bopping around the world for a few centuries & pops up every now and then to have a death match with her baby sister #i just have a lot of strong feelings about the al ghuls deserving better and combined that with the vibes of my favorite unhinged family #Dick still hates Talia but Talia takes all his insults as her darling step son telling her how much he loves her #which only drives Dick even crazier #Tim rocks up to the League of Assassins during his whole trying to prove Bruce is alive thing already seen as an al ghul #Oh yeah that's Cousin Timothy he's one of Talia's kids - never met a truer al ghul in your life #You see how he blew up all those bases? Ra's cried he was so proud #Ra's spoils his grandkids absolutely rotten which is giving Bruce SO MANY gray hairs

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cy-cyborg · 4 days

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Dealing with Healing and Disability in fantasy: Writing Disability

[ID: An image of the main character from Eragon, a white teenage boy with blond hair in silver armour as he sits, with his hand outstretched. On his hand is a glowing blue mark. He is visibly straining as he attempts to heal a large creature in front of him. /End ID]

I'm a massive fan of the fantasy genre, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating when I see so much resistance to adding disability representation to fantasy works. People's go-to reason for leaving us out is usually something to the effect of "But my setting has magic so disability wouldn't exist, it can just be healed!" so let's talk about magic, specifically healing magic, in these settings, and how you can use it without erasing disability from your story.

Ok, let's start with why you would even want to avoid erasing disability from a setting in the first place. I talked about this in a lot more detail in my post on The Miracle Cure. this line of thinking is another version of this trope, but applied to a whole setting (or at least, to the majority of people in the setting) instead of an individual, so it's going to run into the same issues I discussed there. To summarise the points that are relevant to this particular version of the trope though:

Not every disabled person wants or needs a cure - many of us see our disability as a part of our identity. Do difficulties come with being disabled? absolutely! It's literally part of the definition, but for some people in the disabled community, if you took our disabilities away, we would be entirely different people. While it is far from universal, there is a significant number of us who, if given a magical cure with no strings attached, would not take it. Saying no one in your setting would be disabled because these healing spells exists ignores this part of the community.

It messes with the stakes of your story - Just like how resurrecting characters or showing that this is something that is indeed possible in the setting can leave your audience feeling cheated or like they don't have to worry about a character *actually* ever dying. healing a character's disability, or establishing that disability doesn't exist in your setting because "magic" runs into the same problem. It will leave your readers or viewers feeling like they don't have to worry about your characters getting seriously hurt because it will only be temporary, which means your hero's actions carry significantly less risk, which in turn, lowers the stakes and tension if not handled very, very carefully.

It's an over-used trope - quite plainly and simply, this trope shows up a lot in the fantasy genre, to the point where I'd say it's just overused and kind of boring.

So with the "why should you avoid it" covered, let's look at how you can actually handle the topic.

Limited Access and Expensive Costs

One of the most common ways to deal with healing and disability in a fantasy setting, is to make the healing magic available, but inaccessible to most of the population. The most popular way to do that is by making the services of a magical healer capable of curing a disability really expensive to the point that most people just can't afford it. If this is the approach you're going to use, you also typically have to make that type of magic quite rare. To use D&D terms, if every first level sorcerer, bard, cleric and druid can heal a spinal injury, it's going to result in a lot of people who are able to undercut those massive prices and the expense will drop as demand goes down. If that last sentence didn't give you a hint, this is really popular method in stories that are critiquing capitalistic mindsets and ideologies, and is most commonly used by authors from the USA and other countries with a similar medical system, since it mirrors a lot of the difficulties faced by disabled Americans. If done right, this approach can be very effective, but it does need to be thought through more carefully than I think people tend to do. Mainly because a lot of fantasy stories end with the main character becoming rich and/or powerful, and so these prohibitively expensive cure become attainable by the story's end, which a lot of authors and writer's just never address. Of course, another approach is to make the availability of the magic itself the barrier. Maybe there just aren't that many people around who know the magic required for that kind of healing, so even without a prohibitive price tag, it's just not something that's an option for most people. If we're looking at a D&D-type setting, maybe you need to be an exceptionally high level to cast the more powerful healing spell, or maybe the spell requires some rare or lost material component. I'd personally advise people to be careful using this approach, since it often leads to stories centred around finding a miracle cure, which then just falls back into that trope more often than not.

Just outright state that some characters don't want/need it

Another, admittedly more direct approach, is to make it that these "cures" exist and are easily attainable, but to just make it that your character or others they encounter don't want or need it. This approach works best for characters who are born with their disabilities or who already had them for a long time before a cure was made available to them. Even within those groups though, this method works better with some types of characters than others depending on many other traits (personality, cultural beliefs, etc), and isn't really a one-size-fits-all solution, but to be fair, that's kind of the point. Some people will want a cure for their disabilities, others are content with their body's the way they are. There's a few caveats I have with this kind of approach though:

you want to make sure you, as the author, understand why some people in real life don't want a cure, and not just in a "yeah I know these people exist but I don't really get it" kind of way. I'm not saying you have to have a deep, personal understanding or anything, but some degree of understanding is required unless you want to sound like one of those "inspirational" body positivity posts that used to show up on Instagram back in the day.

Be wary when using cultural beliefs as a reasoning. It can work, but when media uses cultural beliefs as a reason for turning down some kind of cure, it's often intending to critique extreme beliefs about medicine, such as the ones seen in some New Age Spirituality groups and particularly intense Christian churches. As a general rule of thumb, it's probably not a good idea to connect these kinds of beliefs to disabled people just being happy in their bodies. Alternatively, you also need to be mindful of the "stuck in time" trope - a trope about indigenous people who are depicted as primitive or, as the name suggests, stuck in an earlier time, for "spurning the ways of the white man" which usually includes medicine or the setting's equivalent magic. I'm not the best person to advise you on how to avoid this specific trope, but my partner (who's Taino) has informed me of how often it shows up in fantasy specifically and we both thought it was worth including a warning at least so creators who are interested in this method know to do some further research.

Give the "cures" long-lasting side effects

Often in the real world, when a "cure" for a disability does exist, it's not a perfect solution and comes with a lot of side effects. For example, if you loose part of your arm in an accident, but you're able to get to a hospital quickly with said severed arm, it can sometimes be reattached, but doing so comes at a cost. Most people I know who had this done had a lot of issues with nerve damage, reduced strength, reduced fine-motor control and often a great deal of pain with no clear source. Two of the people I know who's limbs were saved ended up having them optionally re-amputated only a few years later. Likewise, I know many people who are paraplegics and quadriplegics via spinal injuries, who were able to regain the use of their arms and/or legs. However, the process was not an easy one, and involved years of intense physiotherapy and strength training. For some of them, they need to continue to do this work permanently just to maintain use of the effected limbs, so much so that it impacts their ability to do things like work a full-time job and engage in their hobbies regularly, and even then, none of them will be able bodied again. Even with all that work, they all still experience reduced strength and reduced control of the limbs. depending on the type, place and severity of the injury, some people are able to get back to "almost able bodied" again - such was the case for my childhood best friend's dad, but they often still have to deal with chronic pain from the injury or chronic fatigue.

Even though we are talking about magic in a fantasy setting, we can still look to real-life examples of "cures" to get ideas. Perhaps the magic used has a similar side effect. Yes, your paraplegic character can be "cured" enough to walk again, but the magic maintaining the spell needs a power source to keep it going, so it draws on the person's innate energy within their body, using the very energy the body needs to function and do things like move their limbs. They are cured, but constantly exhausted unless they're very careful, and if the spell is especially strong, the body might struggle to move at all, resulting in something that looks and functions similar to the nerve damage folks with spinal injuries sometimes deal with that causes that muscle weakness and motor control issues. Your amputee might be able to have their leg regrown, but it will always be slightly off. The regrown leg is weaker and causes them to walk with a limp, maybe even requiring them to use a cane or other mobility aid.

Some characters might decide these trade-offs are worth it, and while this cures their initial disability, it leaves them with another. Others might simply decide the initial disability is less trouble than these side effects, and choose to stay as they are.

Consider if these are actually cures

Speaking of looking to the real world for ideas, you might also want to consider whether these cures are doing what the people peddling them are claiming they do. Let's look at the so-called autism cures that spring up every couple of months as an example.

Without getting into the… hotly debated specifics, there are many therapies that are often labelled as "cures" for autism, but in reality, all they are doing is teaching autistic people how to make their autistic traits less noticeable to others. This is called masking, and it's a skill that often comes at great cost to an autistic person's mental health, especially when it's a behaviour that is forced on them. Many of these therapies give the appearance of being a cure, but the disability is still there, as are the needs and difficulties that come with it, they're just hidden away. From an outside perspective though, it often does look like a success, at least in the short-term. Then there are the entirely fake cures with no basis in reality, the things you'll find from your classic snake-oil salesmen. Even in a fantasy setting where real magic exists, these kinds of scams and misleading treatments can still exist. In fact, I think it would make them even more common than they are in the real world, since there's less suspension of disbelief required for people to fall for them. "What do you mean this miracle tonic is a scam? Phil next door can conjure flames in his hand and make the plants grow with a snap of his fingers, why is it so hard to believe this tonic could regrow my missing limb?"

I think the only example of this approach I've seen, at least recently, is from The Owl House. The magic in this world can do incredible things, but it works in very specific and defined ways. Eda's curse (which can be viewed as an allegory for many disabilities and chronic illnesses) is seemingly an exception to this, and as such, nothing is able to cure it. Treat it, yes, but not cure it. Eda's mother doesn't accept this though, and seeks out a cure anyway and ends up falling for a scam who's "treatments" just make things worse.

In your own stories, you can either have these scams just not work, or kind of work, but in ways that are harmful and just not worth it, like worse versions of the examples in the previous point. Alternatively, like Eda, it's entirely reasonable that a character who's been the target of these scams before might just not want to bother anymore. Eda is a really good example of this approach handled in a way that doesn't make her sad and depressed about it either. She's tried her mum's methods, they didn't work, and now she's found her own way of dealing with it that she's happy with. She only gets upset when her boundaries are ignored by Luz and her mother.

Think about how the healing magic is actually working

If you have a magic system that leans more on the "hard magic" side of things, a great way to get around the issue of healing magic erasing disability is to stop and think about how your healing magic actually works.

My favourite way of doing this is to make healing magic work by accelerating the natural processes of your body. Your body will, given enough time (assuming it remains infection-free) close a slash from a sword and mend a broken bone, but it will never regrow it's own limbs. It will never heal damage to it's own spinal cord. It will never undo whatever causes autism or fix it's own irregularities. Not without help. Likewise, healing magic alone won't do any of these things either, it's just accelerating the existing process and usually, by extension making it safer, since a wound staying open for an hour before you get to a healer is much less likely to get infected than one that slowly and naturally heals over a few weeks. In one of my own works, I take this even further by making it that the healing magic is only accelerating cell growth and repair, but the healer has to direct it. In order to actually heal, the healer needs to know the anatomy of what they're fixing to the finest detail. A spell can reconnect a torn muscle to a bone, but if you don't understand the structures that allow that to happen in the first place, you're likely going to make things worse. For this reason, you won't really see people using this kind of magic to, say, regrow limbs, even though it technically is possible. A limb is a complicated thing. The healer needs to be able to perfectly envision all the bones, the cartilage, the tendons and ligaments, the muscles (including the little ones, like those found in your skin that make your hair stand on end and give you goose bumps), the fat and skin tissues, all the nerves, all the blood vessels, all the structures within the bone that create your blood. Everything, and they need to know how it all connects, how it is supposed to move and be able to keep that clearly in their mind simultaneously while casting. Their mental image also has to match with the patient's internal "map" of the body and the lost limb, or they'll continue to experience phantom limb sensation even if the healing is successful. It's technically possible, but the chances they'll mess something up is too high, and so it's just not worth the risk to most people, including my main character.

Put Restrictions on the magic

This is mostly just the same advice as above, but for softer magic systems. put limits and restrictions on your healing magic. These can be innate (so things the magic itself is just incapable of doing) or external (things like laws that put limitations on certain types of magic and spells).

An example of internal restriction can be seen in how some people interpret D&D's higher level healing spells like regenerate (a 7th level spell-something most characters won't have access to for quite some time). The rules as written specify that disabilities like lost limbs can be healed using this spell, but some players take this to mean that if a character was born with the disability in question, say, born without a limb, regenerate would only heal them back to their body's natural state, which for them, is still disabled.

An external restriction would be that your setting has outlawed healing magic, perhaps because healing magic carries a lot of risks for some reason, eithe to the caster or the person being healed, or maybe because the healing magic here works by selectively reviving and altering the function of cells, which makes it a form of necromancy, just on a smaller scale. Of course, you can also use the tried and true, "all magic is outlawed" approach too. In either case, it's something that will prevent some people from being able to access it, despite it being technically possible. Other external restrictions could look like not being illegal, per say, but culturally frowned upon or taboo where your character is from.

But what if I don't want to do any of this?

Well you don't have to. These are just suggestions to get you thinking about how to make a world where healing magic and disability exist, but they aren't the only ways. Just the ones I thought of.

Of course, if you'd still rather make a setting where all disability is cured because magic and you just don't want to think about it any deeper, I can't stop you. I do however, want to ask you to at least consider where you are going to draw the line. Disability, in essence, is what happens when the body stops (or never started) functioning "normally". Sometimes that happens because of an injury, sometimes it's just bad luck, but the boundary between disabled and not disabled is not as solid as I think a lot of people expect it to be, and we as a society have a lot of weird ideas about what is and isn't a disability that just, quite plainly and simply, aren't consistent. You have to remember, a magic system won't pick and choose the way we humans do, it will apply universally, regardless of our societal hang-ups about disability.

What do I mean about this?

Well, consider for a moment, what causes aging? it's the result of our body not being able to repair itself as effectively as it used to. It's the body not being able to perform that function "normally". So in a setting where all disability is cured, there would be no aging. No elderly people. No death from old age. If you erase disability, you also erase natural processes like aging. magic won't pick and choose like that, not if you want it to be consistent.

Ok, ok, maybe that's too much of a stretch, so instead, let's look at our stereotypical buff hero covered in scars because he's a badass warrior. but in a world where you can heal anything, why would anything scar? Even if it did, could another healing spell not correct that too? Scars are part of the body's natural healing process, but if no natural healing occurred, why would a scar form? Scars are also considered disabling in and of themselves too, especially large ones, since they aren't as flexible or durable as normal skin and can even restrict growth and movement.

Even common things like needing glasses are, using this definition of disability at least, a disability. glasses are a socially accepted disability aid used to correct your eyes when they do not function "normally".

Now to be fair, in reality, there are several definitions of disability, most of which include something about the impact of society. For example, in Australia (according to the Disability Royal Commission), we define disability as "An evolving concept that results from the interaction between a person with impairment(s) and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." - or in laymen's terms, the interaction between a person's impairment and societal barriers like people not making things accessible or holding misinformed beliefs about your impairment (e.g. people in wheelchairs are weaker than people who walk). Under a definition like this, things like scars and needing glasses aren't necessarily disabilities (most of the time) but that's because of how our modern society sees them. The problem with using a definition like this though to guide what your magic system will get rid of, is that something like a magic system won't differentiate between an "impairment" that has social impacts that and one that doesn't. It will still probably get rid of anything that is technically an example of your body functioning imperfectly, which all three of these things are. The society in your setting might apply these criteria indirectly, but really, why would they? Very few people like the side effects of aging on the body (and most people typically don't want to die), the issues that come with scars or glasses are annoying (speaking as someone with both) and I can see a lot of people getting rid of them when possible too. If they don't then it's just using the "not everyone wants it approach" I mentioned earlier. If there's some law or some kind of external pressure to push people away from fixing these more normalised issues, then it's using the "restrictions" method I mentioned earlier too.

Once again, you can do whatever you like with your fantasy setting, but it's something I think that would be worth thinking about at least.

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cal-kestis · 2 years

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HOW TO: Make an Animated Google Search Overlay

A few people have asked how I did the effect in my pinned post and this set. So, in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do this typing animation and give you a download to a template I made for the overlay! Disclaimer: This tutorial uses Video Timeline and assumes you have a basic understanding of gif-making in Photoshop.

PHASE 1: THE BASE GIF

I’m not going to show how I made this gif, but if you need any tips on basic gif-making, I have my full gif tutorial here. Instead, here are some tips for making a gif with this effect:

1.1 – Make your gif 540px width, especially if you’re using my template. My gif is 540x400. 1.2 – Use more frames. If you have a lot of characters in your search bar text, you’ll want to make a longer gif (i.e. one with more frames). The gif I made above was only 50-ish frames, so I doubled them and reversed the duplicates so it would play like a boomerang. That gif is a total of 98 frames 😅 1.3 – Have a “feature color” aka choose one color to make pop and make it the same as the overlay. Also, lots of contrast is especially ideal when you have an overlay set to Difference/Exclusion. (Check out the color tutorials on @usergif if you need help making your colors pop!)

PHASE 2: THE OVERLAY

2.1 – Download my template if you’re doing this layout I made this template myself, so all I ask is that you don’t claim it as your own and that you give me proper credit if you decide to use it! Get the PSD with the transparent background here!

2.2 – Download the font Karla (optional) The font I used for the search bar is Karla, a Google Font. It’s not THE Google Font, but I like the way it looks — which is more important to me than accuracy for this part. Here’s the Google Font link. 2.3 – Import the overlay You can either drag the whole folder onto your gif from tab to tab or right-click the folder, select Duplicate Group, and select your gif as the destination document. Just make sure this overlay group is above your base gif! 2.4 – Set the overlay blending options If you’re using my .psd, all the settings are already in place! If not, to get the metallic color effect, simply set the overlay to Difference:

Then, add a gradient overlay that matches your base gif feature color. Here are my settings:

PHASE 3: THE TYPING ANIMATION

*Anakin Skywalker voice* This is where the tedious stuff fun begins...

3.1 – Add your full text Create a text layer with the full text you want in the search bar! Here are my text settings: — Font: Karla Bold — Size: 26 pt — Letter Spacing: 25

3.2 – Create a layer mask This is how we’re going to create the typing effect without typing a new layer each time. You can add a layer mask to your text layer, use the Marquee tool to create a box around all but the first letter of your text, then fill the box with black to erase it. Now, all you can see is the first letter ‘t’

Btw the reason we wouldn’t use keyframes for something like this is because we want each letter to appear in a flash, not with a smooth, sliding reveal like a fade transition. 3.3 – UNLINK THE LAYER MASK This is super important so you can freely move the layer mask with each letter. Just click that chain so it disappears!

3.4 – Trim the text clip SEVERAL times When I say several times... I’m not joking lmao:

Btw, you can click these images to view them at full size and zoom! Now, this part is a little tricky for me to break down into steps, but here are some key tips: TIP A – Trim, Move Layer Mask, Repeat To make it as easy as possible on yourself, the best method is this: — Start with your original text layer (pre-trim) with the layer mask only exposing 1 letter — Move the playhead (red vertical line with the blue arrow) to the spot you want to trim (see Tip B) and click the scissor icon to split the clip — On the copied layer, move the layer mask (white box in the layer panel) to the right to expose another letter. Make sure your layer mask is unlinked (See Step 3.3)! You can see my layer mask moving by the dotted lines in the gif below. — Move the playhead the same amount of spaces as before and trim again: you should now have the original trimmed clip (first letter) and a second trimmed clip (second letter) — Repeat until you’ve done all the letters AND the spaces

TIP B – Make your trimmed clips about 0.03 seconds long. I’ve found this works well for me, especially because I’m working in Video Timeline. It reduces the amount of duplicate frames I get because, for whatever reason, Timeline pauses every 0.03 seconds (at least for me when I click the forward button). In the section above the pink line (image below), you can see I started with my full text clip. Then, under the pink line, you can see how I used the scissor/trim tool to clip them each to a duration of 00:03.

↑ Note: That screenshot is zoomed into the Timeline 100%. The other screenshots are zoomed out which is why the clips look bigger here. TIP C – Your text shouldn’t start at the very beginning. Give yourself some space to let the cursor blink a few times, just like when you pause while typing on a computer. Where you start your typing animation is up to you! In the image below, you can see the first small purple block starts about 1.06 seconds into the gif:

TIP D – Backspace I’m sure you’ve probably figured this out already, but to get the backspace effect I have in my gif, you just move the layer mask to the left to cover the letters you want to “delete.” Then once they appear “deleted,” just edit your next text layer clip with the new word you want to replace it with! (In my gif, I deleted “nik” and replaced it with “@sith-maul.”) Here’s what the gif looks like without the blinking cursor animation:

Now that’s all explained, you basically do a similar thing with the blinking cursor! But no layer masks are involved :)

PHASE 4: THE TEXT CURSOR ANIMATION

4.1 – Create a text layer with just a vertical line like this one → | I’m using the same Karla typeface as before, but thinner. Here are the settings: — Font: Karla ExtraLight — Size: 26 pt

4.2 – Trim, Move, Repeat (Letter Version) This step will be super easy because each cursor clip that follows a letter will be the exact same duration as the letters you’ve already done: 0.03 seconds long. Take a look:

For each letter you reveal, move the text cursor so it’s slightly to the right of the letter, like this:

Do this for all the letters and even the spaces! 4.3 – Trim, Move, Repeat (Blinking Version) This type of text cursor is slightly different because: — These clips are “slower.” The reason is that the Letter Version cursor goes too fast for the Blinking Version. So I doubled the duration of the blinking cursor to 0.06 seconds! — There are spaces between these clips that are the same duration as the clips themselves: 0.06 seconds. — This text cursor starts at the very beginning of the gif and continues after the text is finished “typing,” directly after the last Letter Version cursor. Just add however many blinking cursors you want to the beginning and end of your gif, skipping over the parts where you already did the Letter Version! Here’s how it looks in the Timeline at the beginning of my gif:

Here’s how it looks in the Timeline at the end of my gif (note: it continues directly after the last Letter Version cursor):

Here’s how the blinking cursor would look at the same speed (0.03) as the letter version:

Here’s how the blinking cursor looks at double the duration (0.06):

PHASE 5: EXPORT

That’s it!! Just convert from Timeline back to Frames and export your gif! As always, I recommend checking your frames when you convert from Video Timeline back to Frame Animation — just in case you may have gotten any duplicate frames. Again, if you want to know more about that process, my full gif tutorial is here! And ta-da, here’s the final gif!

And that’s it! I really hope this makes sense because I’m not really sure it does 😅 But if you have any specific questions, my ask box and DMs are open! <3 Also, check out these gorgeous recreations of this effect from @steverobin (Keke Palmer set) and @jakeyp (Jake Peralta set)!

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bigcowboydyke · 9 months

Note

about your disability pride month post: is there anything important/significant you think people should take notes on when writing a character with an upper arm prosthetic? (like starting from the elbow if i phrased correctly)?

Yeah! I think the biggest is that you ought to consider first, esp if its an OC, your reasoning for making the character disabled- you wanna make sure you're not fetishizing or exploiting their disability to prop up abled characters. I've got a list of questions for authors to ask themselves along those lines that I can post or dm

Secondly, you have to consider what level of realism you wanna go with. If you have a character where, in universe, the prosthesis functions in exactly the way an arm does, you could just go with that if you want - it's the path of least resistance, right? BUT you ought to consider that most prostheses in media exist in that way AT THE EXPENSE of good representation of disability. Erasing disability or "curing" it with magical prostheses IS a form of ableism that is so pervasive it just goes unnoticed by most. I believe personally that disabled bodies are worth portraying well even when the creators of the source material did not do that. SO if you want to go with real well thought our representation, here are some common things I think authors and artists often miss (specifically as it pertains to upper limb prostheses):

1) I already said this, but seriously, I cannot emphasize enough that upper limb prosthetics ain't cheap and are usually uncomfortable. Your character, if they are poor, or even like middle class, won't have access to multiple high tech popular mechanics cover story type robo arms. Even if they did ...

2) Not all limb different folks use prosthetics! I personally have used multiple and I disliked them. I tried very hard to learn, but there are multiple requirements to be able to use each model and sometimes, a lot of times actually, limb different people - especially people without a hand or an arm function Better without prosthetics. Be aware in your art that limb different people are Whole. How you ask can somebody without an arm, say, do all that stuff?

3) Consider the idea of adaptation in your writing and art instead of relying only on magicking disability away with prosthetics. Disabled People live in a world full of barriers and tend to be Very creative about navigating it, adapting to our environment through just being a little clever about how we do things is the biggest way i see other people with upper limb differences interact with the world. There are three main ways that we go about this without prosthetics: Using adaptive equipment, Finding an alternate method, or as a last resort, asking for help.

Example 1: I have like 1.5 arms ok so obviously only 1 hand, and I need to clip my fingernails every once in a while. The obvious solution to me, while it may seem gross, is just to bite them off. Bad habit, but efficient. I could use those horrible little nail clippers, with my remaining stump and a little finagling but it takes forever. I could also get some adaptive nail clippers - they make great big handled ones for ppl that can't grab the little ones. Or, I could ask my partner to trim them, but I'm usually too proud to do that. Let disabled people have their flaws too lol!

Example 2: I love to rock climb. This is where adaptive equipment comes in. I could slip off a rock climbing wall pretty easily right? So bouldering (rock climbing without harnesses) is totally inaccessible to me. But if I go to a gym that has harnesses, then that's fine - they catch me if I fall and that's adaptive for me.

Adaptive equipment comes in many shapes and sizes and can be regular items repurposed.

3. If after all that you Must create art or write about an OC or preexisting character that uses upper limb prosthetics, consider that in general, limb different people's prosthetics are not equivalent to having two arms. Prosthetics are only practical for limb different people if they enhance your life or are useful in some way, however, getting one high tech enough to do that is unlikely because they are expensive. There are different groups, clinics, and charities that make lower cost options but they tend to be much lower tech than is depicted (and often are clunky). My first prosthetic was a long flat piece of metal, similar to a doctors tongue depressor, attached to a plaster cuff velcroed around my stump. The idea was that since I had a little bit of stump poking out, I could pin objects against the metal and it would work like a crab's pincers. It was okay, but I did accidentally smack many. Many. Things with it, including my own face and since it was metal, that was unpleasant. Obviously hindered more than helped. Also it did not look even remotely like a hand.

4. Which prosthetics you can get generally depend on what you got on you. Literally. Bodily. With upper limb prostheses, If you don't have an elbow or wrist, your options are almost exclusively limited to the pricier electric options that are both super futuristic, unavailable to many, and also like new car priced. Many of the manual, non-electric models depend on the ability to flex a wrist or elbow, so if you have those things are a little more accessible overall. It also matters whether you are born limb different like me, or if you are an amputee. Amputees are more likely to be candidates for prostheses than people like me because they have all those preexisting muscles and nerves for prosthetics that are higher tech and require surgical attachment Also prosthetics might be an easier learning curve, and more useful for somebody who has been abled bodied than it would be for somebody who never had that limb in the first place.

5. This is a little thing and ... Not to get too medical with it ( and neither should yall) but limb different people often have physical changes associated with lack of or loss of limb. If you do not have a limb, you are not going to be developing the muscles that are surrounding it in the way an a nondisabled person would. Again for example I have 1.5ish arms which means I've got plenty of stump on my "affected" limb. Even when I did Varsity sports and everything, I was never able to get beefy on that side. It is a pet peeve of mine that many people do not seem to get this - Most art I see of vash the stampede has him with two super beefy shoulders and like yeah i get it that's hot, but if hes got roughly the same amount of stump as me, he probably shouldn'tlook like that. Another thing in this vein is chronic pain is associated with limb loss and limb difference- I have it and its reasonable that any prosthetic user or nonprosthetic using limb different person is more likely to have it. Again these are little things but if you're looking to do good representation you need to consider that limb difference is not just a cool little stylistic choice to make a character look tough or what have you - limb loss and limb difference mean that that character will not only think differently than abled bodied people, but move differently, pose differently, have different routines and preferences than are ever represented in most media. Disability is not a style, and it's not a diagnosis, it's an identity. It's important above all to be respectful of that by letting go of centering able-bodied expectations and aesthetic in your art and writing. Hard to do but i believe in y'all!

Hope that helps! I've also got a bunch of links to go along with these points, if you want them lmk! I'm always happy to take asks about this stuff!

Tl;dr please consider making characters that don't use prosthetics, or don't use them excessively because it's more realistic, better representation, and makes me, a disabled dyke on the internet, really happy.

Lastly if y'all liked my advice and appreciate my time you are always welcome to tip me for it - my c*sh*pp is $neptunedrive

#cripple your art #disabled characters #vash the stampede #trigun #character design #disability justice

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forsworned · 7 months

Text

↺ , uni days

꒰ঌa/n໒꒱ happy birthday @suyacho,, i'll just leave this here :), warning there is nsfw in this

Spending your uni days with Nagi was like cruising on the scenic route instead of the main road. You always seemed to be enjoying yourself no matter what you were doing. Whether it would drinking too much coffee and pulling all nighters to study for anatomy exams or sitting in reserved study rooms at your library as your elbows and knees touched. His mechanical pencil eraser bitten down and then him being confused as to where it had disappeared to when he was erasing an equation.

Can I borrow another? He gave you a sheepish grin. To which you could never say no to. This time only giving him a run down one with the eraser being nothing but a nub.

He pouted. This has nothing to erase with. To which you would reply with, I know, as you gave him a smug smile.

He wouldn’t complain for a very long as he would simply instruct you to observe him and erase any mistakes he made.

As much as you liked to think you’d helped Nagi, he was actually the one who was always helping you study. He would tutor you in Statistics insisting on having you clear out parts of your schedule to have sessions whether it be at your dorm or in the library. After the first go around of failing your exams, he was distraught at how upset you had become. Not wanting to leave your room, staying up too late watching reruns of Succession and Twilight until you passed out from exhaustion.

He made sure from then on to help you pull yourself together, practicing equations in the school cafe and doubling down on caffeine.

I don’t get it. You whined in frustration. His lips would curl into a cute smile as he sipped at his large hydro flask. Here. He picked up the pencil and begin to lay it out for you in simple terms and you’d zone out as he spoke.

…and that’s how you get the mean. [Name]? His voice flitted into your ears, making the perk up as you peered up at him. Yes?

He sighed and gave you a small smile. It was so hard to get mad at you. He found that even when you were ignoring him you were cute. How do you get the mean?

By dividing the sum of all terms by the total number of terms. You replied as you bit at your thumb nail. Right?

Nagi blinked back in surprise as his eyes darted back down to the sheet and his lips split into a grin. Yeah, actually. Good job, babe.

You’d cheer and he’d pull you in to kiss your cheek. Now let’s get this done. He whispered against the shell of your ear to which you’d fluster at. It was so easy to rile you up and that he loved.

And on days that he was busy with soccer practice after classes, you could practically hear him frown over the phone as you lazily painted your toenails (he loved when they were white with the little gemstones). I’m sorry, [name].

It’s okay, baby. I know you have practice. You poked your tongue out in concentration as you carefully placed the tiny butterfly gem on your big toe.

He exhaled loudly, clearly frustrated with how their coach was currently overworking them and how that resulted in a decrease of quality time with you. They were already making it to State’s, so training was more exacerbating than usual. It’s just annoying. I really wanted to see you…

The sound of Nagi’s name being called out in the distance was heard on the other side of the line. You smiled sadly. Gotta go?

Yeah. I’m sorry, babe. I love you. And to his defense he did feel really awful about it. He never intended on making anyone a priority over soccer. Soccer was his whole life, and yet, here he was. I love you, too.

…ah…Nagi…that’s–that feels so good…You panted through labored breaths as you tugged on to his white locks as he mercilessly lapped up at you. He hummed against your pussy before sucking on your sensitive, swollen clit. He glanced up at you for a moment taking in the lewd expression on your face. Eyes half lidded in a dazed state, mouth hanging open as your back arched with every stroke of his tongue. That’s the way he loved you the most. At his mercy.

Good girl. He cooed as he gently nudged his long fingers into you as he began to stroke your sweet spot. You could only murmur profanities mixed with his name over and over again as he edged you closer and closer to your release. The band in your stomach tightening, threatening to snap at any moment as he lazily licked at your clit in long strokes.

…Nagi…! It was a soft whine that you had intended to be a little louder, but was cut off by the intensity of your orgasm. He continued his ministrations even after you had released, causing you to squirm under his grasp. He hummed in response as he finally pulled out his lips and finger that were now glossed with your arousal.

He got up from his seated position at the edge of the bed to hover above your form and placed a kiss to your saliva coated lips as he caressed your thigh. You shuddered at his touch, still sensitive from your climax.

He smiled down at you. You were his. All his. I should pass my exams more often. You laughed as you gazed up at him. He chuckled alongside you as he pressed a kiss to your hair. I’ll reward you more often, then.

#nagi seishiro #nagi x reader #blue lock #blue lock x reader #uni days #nagi smut #blue lock smut #blue lock fluff

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poetry-protest-pornography · 8 months

Text

These two continue to ask each other the most insanely intimate things while staring into each other's eyes, and it's bonkers

But this whole episode was just... one long conversation that answered Sailom's first question here:

"Do I have any influence over you?"

Now, ignoring the fact that this is handily answered by Kang's renewed interest in studying after the "Can you do this for me?" exchange in the pool (another totally normal and not at all insane conversation).

And then we see exactly how Kang's relationship with Sailom has influenced him (and, y'know, the whole "the windmill needs the wind" candlelit conversation, holy shit).

First, right after the question, Kang has an existential crisis and thinks about how Sailom has influenced him so far (pool scene included)

(There's also the whole study montage, which is gonna have to be its own post, but we see Kang be serious and dedicated to his studies, and then playful with Sailom, and allowing himself to be vulnerable enough to fall asleep on him.)

Then, we get midterms day.

Kang is anxious, he's struggling, he's lost confidence, and is also likely still thinking about how Sailom keeping his job as his tutor is dependent on him passing. Him continuing to be able to spend time with Sailom is dependent on him passing. Babygirl is feeling the pressure.

But then, Sailom passes him the eraser, and you can see (in the scene, not these screenshots, oops) that Kang is surprised, he's not sure what to expect-- is it another tell off? is it a cheat sheet because Sailom wants to keep his job and because he doesn't think Kang can do it?-- but then, it's encouragement. It's "trust me, you can do it".

And Kang goes from panicking and stressing out to Determined Boy immediately. Because Sailom believed in him.

After Kang fails chemistry and Sailom is no longer his tutor, we continue to see how Sailom has influenced him.

He and his friends don't cut the line, they move on. Kang isn't actively playing games on class, he goes to eat and ends up staring at the place where Sailom sat last time he was at the restaurant and thinking about how much Sailom enjoyed the meal.

He signs up to work on the organizing team instead of the sports team, practically vibrating with hope that he will get to work with Sailom (Sailom is, too, look at his face in this scene! They both want to stay in each other's lives, but don't know how), and they're both devastated when they aren't paired up.

When he sees Sailom with the man at the cafe, he goes through like, half the stages of grief in three seconds as he processes Pimfah's question and then realizes what's happening.

He's so distracted by his concern that he can't stop staring.

He asks his grandmother to hire Sailom back, and it's enough for her to change her mind, and to recognize that Kang has changed.

He says this cuckoo-bananas line to his grandmother.

A month ago, he wanted to beat this boy bloody, and now he can't function without him, and he doesn't want to.

And if Sailom doesn't understand that he has an absurd amount of influence over Kang at this point, then the boy is not as smart as everyone thinks he is, because Kang is studying on a day off.

Kang, who used to swear he was studying as he booted up his game system.

And! He only steps away from studying when Sailom initiates a product placement themed twist on "playfully spray your crush with a hose"!

In a very short time, Sailom has become so important to Kang that he was just in a sad boy haze until he figured out how to get Sailom back.

I wonder if he realizes that he's become important to Sailom, too. Because Sailom was also at peak sad boy while they were separated by circumstance.

This is all obviously super unhealthy, that Kang is wrapping so much of his motivation and self worth up in Sailom and his approval and presence in his life, but like... that's why we're here, right? (Also, the dynamics that are at play here are fascinating, and if I ever get my thoughts about it in order I'm going to write a damned essay)

Anyway, I will not be normal about them until they figure out how to be normal about each other, which is going to be never, so I hope y'all are in this with me.

#dangerous romance the series #dangerous romance #kangsailom #sailomkang

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charliemwrites · 3 months

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LONG ASK I AM SO FUCKIN SORRY

I always think of people's tumblr accounts/discord servers as actual places, and my mind is very fantasy centered. I've been in a big writing drought and thinking of your tumblr, how tumblr works as a whole with reblogs and asks and interactions, how the discord is set up with a bunch of brain jars really got me thinking.

I see your tumblr as a quaint shop in a small town, mainly full of hand-made books and pages everywhere, with a single shelf a Jars. I combined your discord and your tumblr into one place: your shop. I figured there's so many things going on in both places, so a fitting name would be "Charlie's Trinkets" since it's not just one thing and Trinkets are fun.

Anyway here is a little writing ramble I made, it's also in my "Not A Murder Jar" section of your "Brain Jar Collection".

While resting on your journey you find a quaint shop, simply titled "Charlie's Trinkets". You decide to venture inside, not knowing what is in store for you. However, that is half the fun, isn't it?

"Welcome, traveler!" A voice from somewhere you can't see states. "Come in, feel free to have a look around."

The shop smells like a campfire, in the sense that it smells as if people have come and gone, sharing stories, thoughts, things that have mattered to them. It smells as if you walk in as a stranger, yet leave as a friend. It leaves you curious.

The shop is stacked with multiple things. Now you realize why it is named “Charlie's Trinkets”. There's paper on every table and shelf you look. Some have even been bound into books, you realize. They're quite messily put together and obviously hand-made, as if the writer had no idea these individual pages would become one giant story. Other pages are ripped; intriguing sentences half-finished and leaving you wondering. You soon come to the conclusion (after reading a few pages) that all the books- or even pages of the same book- are not written by the same person. These stories have been shared and tampered, many lines bore into time and time again, erased and rewritten until they fit.

As you look around, you find where the voice came from. In the back corner, a person is writing. They are sideways to you and are instead facing a wall full of shelves. On the shelves are an assortment of jars, varying in shape and size.

"Do you need any help? Are you looking for anything specific or just browsing?" The person asks, looking up from their page. You tell them you are just browsing, and you inquire about the shelf of jars, asking if they are for sale.

"Oh no, they are not for 'sale'." They chuckle. "These jars are no ordinary jars."

They do not explain more, which urges your mind to ask another question: what do you mean?

"Well," she- Charlie- starts, glancing at the shelf as they set their page aside, "these jars are the thoughts of many who have come into my shop. We have been friends for a while, and they wanted a place to keep track of and organize their thoughts. These jars give them a home. While these jars rest here, a person has a copy of their jar. When they have a thought they wish not to lose, they open their jar, speak into it, and their thought is kept safe here, in my shop." you take a cautious step closer, attempting to read the labels on each jar. Some are completely empty, you realize; such as "Soleil jar". Others are filled with thoughts, yet never seem to run out of space.

"You are welcome to open whichever jar you would like, but be cautious about it. It will take you inside the jar, to a different place. There is always a way out. It can be very nerve-wracking for your first time."

You find a jar on the edge of the shelf. It looks newer than the others, taller than it is round, almost touching the shelf above it. You pick it up and read the label "Not A Murder Jar". Charlie watches you with careful eyes the entire time, struggling to find the right words to say.

"You might want to choose a different jar for your first one.."

You shake your head, saying it'll do just fine.

You force open the tightly screwed lid.

Finally, you realize one detail too late:

You Should Have Listened To Charlie.

I hope you had fun reading this, I'm glad I was able to escape the dark grasp that Writing Block had on me by thinking D&D thoughts lol

Have a nice day/night!

WALTZ

I don’t even know how to begin expressing my adoration for this. It’s… it’s like a fanfiction of the community? Of me? (Is that vain? I hope not)

And oh my god it’s so ADORABLE! The brain jars, the shop, the imagery!! I could cry this is so beautiful and sweet and thoughtful. It was the most wonderful thing I could have woken up to after a rough night.

I am constantly blown away and humbled by people like you, that I’ve gotten to interact with and share thoughts and ideas and writing with. I am so lucky and grateful. I’m seriously going to cherish this forever. It means so so much to me 💕 words cannot express just… how much this has blown my mind.

Sincerely, thank you, Waltz.

#thoughts™️#waltz

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elviola · 1 year

Text

THE SUN AND THE MOON.

Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk'itan x Reader

SHE/HER READER!

PLOT: You are the moon parallel to the sun. Parallel to Neteyam, you cannot help but to want more of the brightness he gives.

NOTE: not proofread again lololol, i just have so many poems for him so i'll turn them to oneshots instead, this was kinda rushed and i'm half asleep

NETEYAM IS A STAR, the brightest star that you could ever see. The sun to the solar system, your sun in your life. He's the bravest, you notice. When the humans try to take what's not rightfully theirs, he shows his pride in being a Na'vi. He shows it by being brave in battle, flying his ikran along his brother, and father. Neteyam is strong, his skills are well learned and put to the best use there is for the clan.

You walk through a certain pathway to see the hunters train for the next time they go out and you see him. See his hands hold tightly around the bow as his eyes focus intently on the target. You thought, you could never do that. You could never be like him.

You could never be with him.

You talk to the warrior sometimes, when he visits your hut to rest, and heal.

"______, I'm sorry I keep coming. I can not find ways to stop me bleeding without it even bleeding more." He enters, holding his shoulder with pressure. You quickly stand up and inspect the wound, it was deep. "Today was too rough on you." He looks at you as he sits down on the mat, "Nothing is too rough for me."

Your peers notice your adoration for the oldest Sully son. They ask,

"Why don't you tell him? It's not hard to try." But it is, they don't see the way you see him, that he's too high and your wings are too small to fly. When he's near, your mouth turned lock, as you nod instead to speak. Because Neteyam is scary, you fear that when you go too close to him. You will melt, you will give your whole to him.

You know he won't do the same.

When you see some other girl with him under the alluring trees at night. You didn't mean to stare, but when it's him, who doesn't stop to look? His hands weren't holding tightly on his bow but he was holding hers, gently. His gaze wasn't intent but soft and you dared to be selfish, rip him from her, and reason he was yours.

He was never to begin with.

So you try, on a sunny day. Neteyam is with his family, sharing his stories about his journey a while ago, sitting around in a circle. He glances to the side surprised when he sees your form bending over. Trying to catch your breath after running to him when he's free. Free from the chains the Olo'eyktan's son has to accomplish. "Neteyam, I need to talk to you." Jake looks at him and approves, and he bids his sibling goodbye.

You walk with him to the cliff side of the forest, a spacious view of the trees and greenery below. "Is there something wrong, _____? Was it the herbal tea? I will go find the other ingredient, I promise." Neteyam is kind. He acknowledges the generosity the people give him, and he is eager to give it back. "No, it's fine. It's about—" You hesitate, reminding yourself that this it the line where all the memories you've made with him and continuation of it will be gone, erased. His eyes are waiting and you don't want to waste his time.

"I like you." You say as his face morphs to surprise, "I like you so much it hurts."

Neteyam is nice, that he helps even the people shy and awkward to him. He comforts them that all is fine when good and all is under control when chaos is nearing. So he is nice to you.

"I am sorry, _____. We are not close, You are a good friend. Yes? A great healer but I can not like someone I do not know." Your eyes burned tears, he panics as he shifts uncomfortably at his feet. "If you would have talked more to me? Maybe, came closer?" You want to spit venom but even in this situation, you find him divine with the light shining at his face. Illuminating his eyes that make you forget what happened for a moment.

"I couldn't go near you."

"Why?" He asks, and you answer.

I yearn to be near you, to connect eachother until the ache in my heart goes away. But I am mortal, I can be pushed off my feet and be swept away along the wind. You are more, someone that gives me a fraction of a second to not feel like one. To feel belonged, with you.

So I stay far away from the sunlight rays and from your familiar face. I'll make myself content to the little attention I get and I'll train my heart to be strong when it's trying to beat only to you.

I'll be the only one that chooses you over the bright moon,

My sun.

But you give him the version that is kind to your heart instead,

"You burn when you're too close to the sun."

______ is brave, brave to tell the hero, she has fallen and _____ is strong to always face him without messing up her composture. _____ is scary because her feelings are too big for her heart, that she fears it will break but _____ is kind to let water stream down her face as how the rain drops on the leaves, she is kind to set the longing feeling gone, free.

_____ is as mighty as Neteyam and even though they can never be together. They will parallel against eachother.

The sun and the moon.

#neteyam x reader #neteyam #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar 2009 x reader #avatar the way of water #neteyam angst

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bullet-prooflove · 6 days

Text

Trying!Series Part Four: Two Months - Will Trent x Reader

Tagging: @yezzyyae @words-and-seeds @trublu2u @cassiopeiablog @kmc1989

Trying!Series:

Part One: Notions - Seeing you with a baby opens Will up to a future he never contemplated.

Part Two: Trying - You and Will struggle to give each other what you really want, causing friction in the relationship.

Part Three: Thirty Days - Your plans to start a family with Will are put on hold when he goes undercover as Bill Black.

It’s two more months before Will comes home. That’s how long it takes for him to unravel CK’s real identity and disband her operation. He doesn’t see you throughout that time, it’s too dangerous. He’d learned the morning after you’d slipped out that CK had gotten word he’d taken a working girl to bed. It’s then he realises how closely he was being watched. There’s no phone calls or visits after that.

The night you spent together; it sustains him. He lies in bed reliving it over and over again until it’s etched into his memory.

He's exhausted when he steps over the threshold, both physically and emotionally. This whole case has taken a toll on him, but the last couple of days have been the most harrowing. He’d barely escaped the apartment complex with his life, he’s lucky that he’d made some strong connections in his time undercover, or he might not have made it back at all.

You’re sitting on the couch reading, Betty curled up in your lap when he closes the door behind him. He looks at the two of you and something in his heart just settles because finally he’s back where he’s supposed to be.

He’s still a little quiet, a little withdrawn. It’s hard for him making the adjustment from Bill Black to Will Trent. He’s spent the past two months guarded, closed off.

You undress him in the bathroom, your hands light and gentle as you undo the buttons of his shirt. When he steps underneath the spray, he feels the tension beginning to unfurl from his muscles as your careful hands smooth shower foam over his tired form. His forehead comes to rest against yours, his eyes closing as the water flows over his body.

“I missed you so much.” He whispers. “I didn’t mean to be away for so long.”

“I know.” You tell him, your thumb chasing over the line of his jaw. “It’s ok.”

He doesn’t realise how much he needs to hear that until the words leave your lips. Before he left the two of you were trying for a baby, undergoing fertility testing, discussing options if you couldn’t start a family the traditional way. This case had derailed all of that, you’d been forced to put your life on hold, your dreams.

He stays in the shower for a long time after you leave to cook dinner, letting the water rinse away all traces of Bill Black. There were things he had to do undercover that he isn’t proud of, it takes him a while to erase the feel of Rosa from his skin. It went no further than kissing and a little light petting on her behalf but still it weighs on him. He knows it means nothing, that you’ll give him that look and remind him of the time you’d had to do something similar but still he hates it.

It's when he’s throwing away the empty toothpaste tube that he spots the pregnancy test sticking out of the bin. He picks it up, his eyebrows furrowing as he studies the device intently. He may struggle with reading but by now he knows what that little blue cross means. He’d spent months praying for it before he went undercover.

When he steps into the kitchen your focus is on the pasta dish you’re preparing. He notices you’re using wholemeal instead of the regular stuff, that you’ve added more veggies to the recipe. His arms wrap around you as he buries his face into the curve of your neck, his lips brushing over the hinge of your jaw. His palms come to rest on your abdomen.

“When were you going to tell me, sugar?” He murmurs into your ear.

The left side of your mouth quirks up into a smile as you lean back against his chest.

“Tomorrow.” You tell him, your fingers threading with his. “I thought I’d give you tonight to decompress.”

“Oh darlin. Something like this, I wanna know about it straight away.” He murmurs into your ear as his thumb chases over space where his baby resides. “You’ve made the happiest man alive you know that?”

“I think you had a little something to do with it.” You tease, your palm smoothing over your stomach, and he chuckles into the hollow of your throat because the sense of elation he feels right now, he’s never felt anything like it.

“I can’t believe we made a baby, sugar.” He whispers as he cradles you close. “The two of us we made a baby.”

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silverpen-and-paper · 6 months

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loki season 2 episode 4 spoilers

hm timeslipping is in the recap. i wonder if this means it’s gonna happen this episode

ohhhhhh they need kang’s temporal aura to unlock the thingy, i completely missed that last time

OMINOUS WHISPERS??

YOOO THAT WAS A COOL OPENING

hold up hold up so was “for all time. always” ravonna’s and kang’s i-love-you statement that kang made into the tva slogan or did the slogan come first

protocol 42 you say? 🤨

i wonder what they knew that made him want to erase their memories. was it just the knowledge of his existence or something specific?

ohoho ravonna is PISSED

“we don’t need him. maybe we never did” well miss minutes that was quite the 180 from last episode’s shenanigans

victor is in the tva now!

…where is everyone

oh here’s b-15 nevermind

and mobius and loki!

oh hey sylvie!

so it seems like the timeline screens have (at least) two different modes — one showing the branches in relation to the sacred timeline and one showing how the branches are fitting into the loom

hmm not sure if i would trust that general lady either (the one who bombed the timeline, not talking about the one on our side)

this is far from the point but. aww casey’s and ouroboros’ little arm brush!!

YOOO VICTOR AND OUROBOROS BOTH LEARNED FROM EACH OTHER

victor please be better than kang bc a friendship between casey and ouroboros and him would be so cute and i’m starting to get attached to him

AWWWW THEY ARE BOTH SUCH NERDS

“when SOMEONE killed he-who-remains” CRYINGG

awwwwwwwww ouroboros’ little smile when mobius complimented him!!

skdhskdh sylvie’s face she’s so done with mobius and loki squabbling

AWWWWW OB’S SMILE WHEN VICTOR SHOOK HIS HAND!!

uh oh extremely orange prison

not relevant but the actor for brad is doing his holding-his-collar pose! continuity

welp i guess we’re in the pie room now

oh dear loki’s talking about sacred timeline stuff. let’s see if the writers actually got the details right this time

oh so there were branches that survived the bombing. i thought the screen had shown that all of them had been bombed

“we are gods.” why was the camera so far away for that line. that’s. kinda odd

a time door? in MY overly orange prison cell?!

ravonna is baaaack

oooohhhh that’s a deal i bet many of them won’t refuse

woah woah. why are they refusing it. when did that happen

oh so NOW they’re portraying the shrinking cubes as being as horrific as they are, but when mobius and loki do it, it’s just a silly goofy time

MISS MINUTE’S EXPRESSION I????

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT THE SOUND EFFECTS? GOD

i’m guessing this slots ravonna firmly into the evil zone

ayyy it’s the comfort nerd trio! please comfort me i’ve been traumatized by that last scene

i bet victor has an idea about fixing the loom inspired by the coco machine

heyyyyy b-15, welcome to the horrors, here’s some humor-as-a-coping-mechanism for your welcoming gift! (b-15’s actor did a amazing job there)

victor? what are you doing buddy

BRAD NO WHY DID YOU DO THAT

BRAD GO PRUNE RAVONNA INSTEAD

OH NO VICTOR

i'm screaming?? mobius how did you even access unauthorized games from the tva

OH SHIT THE TEMPADS AREN’T WORKING?!?

WHERE IS LOKI AND SYLVIE IN ALL OF THIS ARE THEY OK

there they are!! they’re ok

uh ohh

helpppp victor’s face when he sees ravonna and miss minutes

HOLY CANNOLI THAT’S A LOT OF TIMELINES. IT’S SO GLOWY

and that’s when sylvie enters the elevator!!

RUN LOKI RUN

wait wait is that the loki from ep 1 who’s running around? i think it is

OHH HERE’S JACKET LOKI. YEP I WAS RIGHT

ANSWER THE PHONE LOKI

SCREAMING IT WAS OUROBOROS THIS WHOLE TIME

WOOO THEY’RE GONNA HAVE MAGIC

miss minutes just died. well. that was terrifying

🎶 who’s in the hallway with bradley 🎶

OOHOHO IT’S LOKI

AND SYLVIEEEEEE

GOODBYE RAVONNA

the windows have opened!

oh no no no no nooo victor don’t sacrifice yourself please

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

sobs and cries on the floor. why. why

OH SHIT IT’S EXPLODING. QUICK EVERYBODY PRUNE YOURSELVES SO YOU CAN END UP IN THE FIELD WORLD

WHAT WHAT YOU CAN’T DO THAT YOU CAN’T END THE EPISODE LIKE THIS

AAAHHH THE END CREDITS MUSIC IS SO UNSETTLING

WHAT YOU CAN’T END THIS WITHOUT AN END CREDIT SCENE EITHER ARE YOU SERIOUS GIVE US AN END CREDIT SCENE

#loki #loki series #loki show #loki spoilers #loki season 2 #loki season 2 episode 4 #loki s2 ep4 #loki season two spoilers #loki s2 ep4 spoilers #sylvie #sylvie laufeydottir #ouroboros #victor timely #ravonna renslayer #marvel #mcu #casey #mobius m mobius #brad wolfe

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pilferingapples · 6 months

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Hello! I am catching up on les mis letters and I think the October 7(???) chapter mentions that none of the les amis are wearing ties. Can you tell me the significance of this? I know nothing of FRev ✌️

Sure! I assume you mean this line:

They reached the Quai Morland. Cravatless, hatless, breathless, soaked by the rain, with lightning in their eyes.

A quick Obligatory Mention that Les Mis is not set in the French Revolution, but in the post-Republic years of the early 19C ! Which is of course mostly relevant here because instead of imagining a bunch of sans culottes

(1842 black and white art of two sans culottes, rather pretty and idealized, by Emilé Wattier)

( a color picture of a sans culotte on the left and maybe far right, with a culottes-wearing drummer between them. All are wearing phrygian caps and republic cockades, and seem to be going off to fight together)

You're instead looking at a group more like this, Fashionwise:

Révolution de 1830 - Combat devant l'hôtel de ville , an idealized portrayal of revolutionaries in 1830, fighting outside the Hotel de VIlle, by Jean-Victor Schnetz (you can really zoom in on it at the Wiki page!) I wanted to bring that--again, highly idealized -- pic of 1830 in because it shows not just what people were wearing, more or less, but how that was being socially interpreted! You've got a lot of different hats here--top hat, workers' caps, bandanas, soldier's hats, etc. And IDK how much you know about fashion in this era, Nonny, but I bet you can start picking out a pattern to who's wearing what.

Especially the way that cravatlass people in workers' caps and bandanas and Phrygian caps are, by and large, turned away from the camera, or have their faces in shadow, while the composition leads us to a central, heroic figure--a student-type in obvious Fashionably Respectable clothes, with a great big cravat. There's even an older man in a nice top hat, with a saber, looking and gesturing to him! THIS is our Central Guy, a good bourgeois type the presumed viewer can feel safe with! Even the heroic worker (hat apparently missing, but he's in overalls, then as now a garment linked with labor) who's swooning into the central student's arms has his eyes shadowed , though at least we see most of his face.

You could write a whole paper on this painting alone, but the barebones relevance here: a bourgeois audience is going to have very different reactions to people who are visibly of Their Class than the scaaaaary, faceless Working Class. And in the real world where combat and crowds aren't as neat and shiny as this painting and the little details like shoes and socks and fit of the trousers and so on is going to get lost in the dust and distance, one of the easiest ways to read a man's social status is hats and cravats -- who's wearing them , what sort are they wearing, etc.

So on an immediate, practical, level , losing the hats and cravats is a bit like "rolling up your sleeves"-- ditching or loosening restrictive clothing before doing hard physical work. But on a social/symbolic level, it's a way of erasing differences of status and social standing between the barricade fighters. Hats gone, cravats gone, everyone soaked by rain and covered in mud, there's no easy distinction between Enjolras and Feuilly--or between a porter and a poet.

Which is all very egalitarian and symbolic and all--but to the sort of reader/ viewer who the painting up there is targeting, it's also very scary, because now there's no obvious sympathetic "leader", no easily-spotted reassuring figure to make them think it's all being organized by the Right Sort of people. It's just a scary,lower-class, undifferentiated mob.

Both these factors, the symbolic equality and the perceived mob nature of the uprising, are very relevant to the rebellion in Les Mis!

..and also it's just SUPER awkward to try and do hard physical work with a tight binding loop of fabric around your throat, or without losing most hats. The Struggle is Real, there.

#what do I even tag this #uh #The Barricades #fashion on the barricades #this was a GOOD QUESTION Nonny sorry if it is kind of a Lot of Answer XD

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amerricanartwork · 7 months

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Current digital art process!

Acting on @shkika 's request because making my redraw for this post actually ended up giving me more confidence in my digital art process! As such, I'm gonna use it as a reference. And if this walkthrough of sorts turns out nice, I might do it again as my process evolves!

I started off with a quick sketch of sorts, trying to focus both on movement and volume, and get the general idea of where each element is located. I edit the image dimensions and placement of things a lot in this phase, as my ideas often tend to change once I actually begin drawing them. In this case, as I got it down, I decided I wanted it to look like some cheesy animal motivational poster, so that influenced where the text was.

From there, I began to clean and sometimes edit the sketch, mainly by thickening the lines to make the shapes more definite, and erasing what wasn't necessary and interfered with other parts. Volume is one of my biggest focuses in my drawings, so I try my best to get the volume of each character at least hinted at with the lines. This is something that will probably remain in my process for a while, as I quite dislike doing separate lineart and like the messy, sketchy feel anyway.

I also wanna mention, in addition to having references and such in other windows, I've recently begun having a second mini window of my current drawing off to the side so I can see what it looks like overall more easily, regardless of how much I zoom in on and flip the main window. It's quite helpful!

For reference, this is what the final sketch looked like:

Then, I went on to add the flat colors. Another tip: I almost always set my sketch layer to "Lumi & Shade" because I think it makes the line colors a lot richer, but since it's based on what colors are underneath, it colors the lines a lot more individually than changing the sketch color as a whole. Here's some comparison to a version without the effect (left):

Then, I add some shading using a (really nice) marker brush. This is honestly one of my favorite parts of the process, just trying to carve out all the volumes, especially since I usually use a pretty blue color for shadows!

Sometimes, I honestly just leave drawings finished at this step, because I adore the sketchy look so much, and because I really don't like the tediousness of more realistic rendering in the painting process; from what I've seen/experienced, it often involves having to basically paint the entire image over again, which I've realized I find REALLY boring (and is also why I clean the sketch instead of making a new lineart layer). As such, one of my hopes is to reach a point where I could almost completely avoid having to clean up the image in a traditional painting method, instead being able to lay down lines and colors so well that they convey nearly all the volume necessary on their own, still have that sketchy appeal, yet also look finished and professional.

Alas, I did do a bit of clean up on this image, but I think it still turned out alright!

Here's the finished drawing! I'll have to practice with this process a bit more to truly solidify it as my digital go-to, but nonetheless, I think this came out adorable! Thanks again shkika for the ask, and thanks to @mintscampi for the sweet prompt! I hope you guys like it!

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yunverse · 2 years

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[ ☆ ] ── REALITY CHECK️️❕️

THIRTY-ONE | THE NOTEBOOK

wordcount: 1k

── ✰. [ 4:45 PM ] "I CAN EXPLAIN..."

Miniature flower pots, beige, and burgundy lined the classroom window sill where Heeseung stood, fingers tapping on the hard-covered notebook that he held with his left hand. His right elbow rested on the remaining space of the window sill, unoccupied by the plants, as he flipped through the pages of the notebook from beginning to end with a small grin on his face. He no longer had any use for the book. Today would be the last day he held it in his hands before disposing of it somewhere off campus without anyone knowing. He couldn’t return it, so the only thing that made sense to him was to throw it somewhere discreet, erasing any track of the book.

Everything had taken a different route than he’d expected. But in his opinion, it had changed for the better because he had finally found happiness.

“Don’t need this anymore.” The boy muttered to himself, smiling at the outcome of everything as he shoved the book back into his backpack.

Timing had always been of the essence to him. He despised it but didn’t want to lose a single second of it when it mattered. He had missed his turn hundreds of times after every single failed attempt at achieving his own goal — his escape. But he had always failed miserably.

Timing to Heeseung was the biggest obstacle in his path.

And it still was.

Because why was Yn standing, breathless at the entrance of the classroom, horrified by what she had witnessed?

She had been searching for the notebook for days, suspecting that it had found itself in the trash, or in the worst-case scenario, in the hands of Yui. But she least expected to find out that it was Heeseung, the boy she trusted the most, who had her notebook in his procession.

Written in the cold-pressed pages was the entire plot line of the original webtoon, plus notes she took when aspects of the story changed. It was her prized procession that separated her from the false reality she had slipped into. People from this fictional world would find it absolutely ridiculous and not understand the story written in the pages, so why was Heeseung keeping it with him as if it was something special to him?

Unless he understood it.

It all made sense.

Everything he said in the letter began piecing together like pieces of a puzzle.

“The truth is, I liked Yui.”

Right, he liked Yui.

“For some reason I can’t quite say, I was blind-sighted by trying to win her over.”

She was his goal this entire time. From day one, Heeseung’s sole goal was never to get to know Yn, but instead, it was to win Yui over.

“I never had any good intentions.”

Initially, he was never interested. Yn had always been a roadblock in his path, and when Heeseung saw her as an opportunity, he had used her. In other words, he was forced to get to know her, to befriend her so that he could use her knowledge to change the story himself and reach his goal.

He had known.

He had known this whole time that Yn wasn’t from this world and took advantage of that.

He had taken her notebook so he could figure out where he went wrong — to figure out how he could be the one to end up with the female lead. He had taken advantage of Yn’s kindness, manipulated her to like him, and pretended to be her friend to get more information out of her. She was only his pawn to help him move forward — a sacrificial piece that he would use cruelly in order to reach the other side. She was nothing more than a brand new gift that he would throw away after using it to its max capacity. She was someone he would easily be able to toss to the side.

It was supposed to be no strings attached for him.

But he had made a grave mistake in the midst of everything.

He instead fell for her.

And now he had to face the consequences of his own actions.

“Yn, it’s not what you think,” Heeseung trembled, fearing he had just lost his only source of true happiness. “Please let me explain.”

Over the past months, he had realized that he was never content with chasing Yui blindly, nor was he content with the thought of achieving happiness after winning her over. Truthfully, he had lost his way. He had told himself it was the only thing he could do to reach his goal, but after repeatedly failing, the emptiness in him grew more apparent. To ignore the feeling of impending doom that churned his stomach, he ignored his own concerns and blinded himself to his own reality.

But with Yn, he felt whole again. She was his newfound happiness, a true joy that had him open his eyes to reality once again.

She was his awakening.

And he didn't want to lose her.

Her gaze darted to every corner of the room, trying to process everything before looking back at Heeseung, whose hands were slightly shaking.

She had trusted him the most. She knew he didn’t like her at the beginning but had only thought it was because she was always with Yui. He had originally stated in his letter that his intentions to talk to her were never the best, but she didn’t expect him to be so Cruel.

He had used her and milked information out of her unknowingly while she was under the gaze that he wanted to be friends.

Was he ever serious about his feelings?

At this point, Yn didn’t know what to think anymore.

Was everything a lie?

He had been so sincere in the letters and everything he had said to her, but still, her mind clouded with doubts and worries.

She wanted to believe him, to hear him out. But how could she trust someone who had lied to her since the beginning of time?

He had been so sincere, but had he ever been honest?

There was nothing Yn wanted more than to run away, to escape the reality that unfolded in front of her.

And that’s exactly what she did.

✰. PREVIOUS / MASTERLIST / NEXT

SYNOPSIS › Shocked by the sudden revelations, yn realizes that she has been pulled into another world belonging to her favourite reverse-harem novel as the female lead’s best friend. Content with her new life, she excitedly watches from the sidelines knowing every single encounter in the novel would be unravelling right in front of her. However, as time goes on, she slowly comes to the horrifying realization that the characters she seemingly idolized are not who they seem to be.

[ ☆ ] — author's note: guys ik you've been waiting so long 😭 I honestly am trying My best to update asap,,, it's just that uni is kicking me in the ass rn and I have no time to write. The next chapter will probably be out next weekend. Hopefully I can get back to a more regular update schedule of probably every two days after that since the next chapter is the last written chapter for a bit.

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