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fanficmemes · 3 years

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Ah damn we low on fics for cas this week? *chugs vodka* alright ao3 tab I will regret opening here I come

So I was torn between submitting this fic or the omegaverse mind break robot fucking fic, but this one had better paragraph spacing and I guess slightly more cursed content? Also surprisingly enough I did not find this in the dd:dne tag, although really, that would apply. Also it's a sonic fic, probably not super cursed and definitely not the WORST sonic fic out there but I don't have the patience to scour ffn for the really fucked up stuff, so this will have to do. (And yes, I did willingly look at the dd:dne sonic fics, no I'm not okay and yes I'm surprised too that there was nothing there I thought worth submitting).

Anyways. So this fic is about sonic getting captured by the black arms (some alien hivemind race for those who don't know) and being used as their breeding bitch. He wakes up captive in some room where Doom (the leader of the alien race) explains that he is only alive because Shadow (who has Doom's DNA and is therefore his son) wants him to "be part of creation" and since he's the prince and heir to the whole hivemind, Doom let's him keep sonic. He also explains that they cannot experience sexual pleasure like sonic and Shadow can, so they're gonna experience that through the two of them via hivemind shit, and in return for letting Doom experience an orgasm, sonic will get to bear and give birth to the next generation of black arms. Truly the deal of the century

So shadow gets real close and is practically on top of sonic, with Doom in the room and restraining sonic with tentacles. Naturally sonic is protesting the whole time, saying he'd rather die than be involved in this "deranged alien incest" and begging shadow to come to his senses and let sonic go and help him fight back. Shadow refuses and calls Doom daddy, which is certainly a Thing to add on top of the rest of all the shit going on, and he presses their dicks together and starts to jerk them off because Doom isn't going to breed sonic until after he's experienced an orgasm

Eventually the tentacles realise they are here for more than just restrains and are, in fact, a kink in and of themselves, because they start to wrap around their combined hedgehog dicks and one of them splits in half and goes straight into sonic and Shadow's dicks, fucking them. Another tentacle removes Shadow's hand and encases both of their dicks within itself like a "gelatinous cage" and as they both fuck into this gelatinous cage I'm trying to decide if I'm more horrified by the content, the fact that it's hedgehog and alien porn, or by the way the author keeps saying rod and manhood instead of cock and dick (also I'm realising this all sounds like it's escalating incredibly quickly but the fic itself is actually quite well paced but it's 2am and there's a lot of talking that I cba to repeat so y'all get the speedrun edition)

This continues as Doom continues to take pleasure from the hivemind shenanigans, and he says that sonic will not be allowed to cum unless he asks for it. Out of his mind with pleasure bc by now he has gone through quite a lot of teasing, sonic asks Doom to let them cum, also calling him daddy, which I can't decide if that's better or worse than Shadow calling him daddy.

So at LAST Doom lets them cum, taking a moment to admire the sensation that he's never felt until now. He praises sonic for doing so well, says shadow made a good choice for their new host, an announces that they will now begin "fornicating"

Exhausted from being teased and fucked, sonic is lifted against Doom's chest and doesn't quite realize what's happening until a new tentacle, this one the size of a fist, starts to shove its way up his ass and into his intestines. Sonic begins to panic again and starts to struggle to get free, but since he's exhausted it does not work, and he just has to lie back against Doom and take it as an egg sack is shoved into his ass. The first one exhausts him so much from the pain that he can't even fight against the second one, which, in contrast to the first, starts to feel pleasurable.

While this is going on, Shadow is jerking himself off, beating his meat, if you will (hi, star wars poop anon!) and eventually cums to watching sonic get eggs shoved up his ass. Not that sonic notices since he's so out of it. Shadow then crawls into Sonic's lap and cuddles with him to try and soothe him. Exhausted, in pain, and with some amount of pleasure, sonic submits to Shadow's affectionate petting and relaxes into an uneasy rest as his body finally starts to accept the eggs. When he wakes up he lets shadow fuss over him until the birth. The fic ends on sonic saying he blames the effect of the hivemind and the eggs in him for willingly being their surrogate again and again because it's the only thing that keeps him sane. And then it's over, all 4k words of fucked up hedgehog alien incest smut

So, yeah. There's like two or three fics like this (sonic getting captured and bred by the black arms) but this was the first one I found and was the most memorable. Like I said, there's probably way worse sonic fics out there, so this isn't THAT cursed by comparison, but I'm too lazy to go look for them, cause god knows finding fucked up fics on ffn is only easy if you're NOT looking for them

Please appreciate my sacrifice, because hedgehog porn is something I never wanted to read, but hey, anything to keep the fanfic memes community entertained. Happy cas!

I can’t believe I made it through this whole ask without dying of radiation poisoning anyways 7.5/10

#asks #cursed asks

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jengarie · 3 years

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#showyourprocess !

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you, @rinielle for tagging me! She chose the piece above (original post), and oh boy this one was a whole ass rollercoaster ride! Unfortunately, I hadn't turned on the timelapse feature for this but I'll try to go through each part of the process as best as I can!

The photos I'm gonna upload are gonna be a mix of screenshots and literal photos of my screen, because I'm taking some of them from my updates to friends, since a lot of the steps got lost in my painting process.

But before that, let me tag some other amazing creators!

@dragonji: this gif art!

@candicewright: this yibo painting!

@wendashanren: this gifset!

@mylastbraincql: this gif!

I haven't been able to keep track of who's been tagged so apologies if you've already done this! Also, no pressure to do it at all if you would rather not! <3

Planning

Sometimes, I get an idea first and find reference photos to go with that idea. But for this one, I sought out a reference photo first, and built an idea on top of it!

After that, I roughly sketch out the base pose. Usually, this looks very messy, but it doesn't really matter as long as I understand which part goes where!

The idea for the background didn't really come until the creation process because I don't think I really planned this to be a full piece.

Creation

Sketching

Honestly, from this point on, it's more of trial and error.

So, I redid the the initial base pose—made it cleaner and a little bit more detailed. See: the added definition in their arm muscles, the rearrangement of Wei Wuxian's legs, and Lan Wangji's hand on Wei Wuxian's back. If you look at the second photo, I also changed the pose a bit midway—I tend to edit as I go sometimes when I change my mind. (For this, I thought, given the Lan arm strength, it would be better to make Lan Wangji look more at ease carrying Wei Wuxian. This gets covered by the robes anyway though, so it didn't matter much in the end.)

I also started adding details to the base! I usually start with the face and then the hair! I usually go for the clothes next, but I dreaded the robes in this piece so I guess that's why I ended up with a basic idea of what I wanted for the background instead LOL I also figured out how I want the final crop to look like, so I blocked out all the other areas with an extra layer!

Okay, onto the part that killed me like ten times: the robes. There are a lot of interactions between their robes here given their pose, and not to mention they also have layers upon layers on each of them! So, to maintain my sanity and to keep track of which part is which, I color coded them into the most colorful sketch I've ever made.

Another reason why I filled in each layer of robe with a solid block of color, is so that all the lines underneath gets covered. Without all of the colors, the actual outline actually looks like the one on the right. What a nightmare!

I also ignored the crop again for this part, because it's always better to draw past your borders, in case you decide to rotate or tilt or whatever your piece later on. I didn't do the feet anymore though, because that I was sure wouldn't show in the final piece anymore.

After that, I did the sketch one more time and then started adding the base colors. (I didn't have a screenshot of just the base colors, and the final CSP file is a nightmare so I copy pasted the layers into a new canvas to show you guys :') )

By the way, I drew their robes flowing this way, because I wanted it to frame the lower arch of the moon behind them for the composition. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't get Lan Wangji's robes a little higher because of Wei Wuxian's legs but I later filled in the empty space with his forehead ribbon anyway, so it all worked out in the end!

Painting

Because apparently, I was a masochist back then, I merged the base colors all into one layer and started adding shadows to the robes. (These days, I add shadows first and then, merge. It's much easier this way.)

And then, I started painting! Again, I did the face first and then the hair, before finally the robes. This was my first time painting side profiles and honestly it was quite a pain to figure out LOL but !!! I think I did a good job and I'm proud of how it turned out. I again used reference photos for this one but I can't link any because they were just several random Pinterest photos that I didn't save.

Another thing to note is that I use the mesh transform tool a lot, especially on faces. That's largely why Lan Wangji's face looks so different in the latter two!

And then I went with the robes. Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't like how I planned to do Lan Wangji's sleeves and the flowy part of Wei Wuxian's robes and I... decided, with much dread, to do them over. So I sketched on top of the painted layers and redid the robes, again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this piece because it was honestly very draining! I think it took about three weeks before I decided to open the file again and continue it.

When I did, I just finished painting the rest of the robes and their hands. The blue details on Lan Wangji's outer robes were painted on a separate layer that I put on Multiply. I probably did more adjustments to the face and hair and stuff, because my painting process is honestly a mess :')

Final Adjustments

I added some correction layers on certain areas to fix some of the colors. See: Lan Wangji's sleeve becoming much brighter and paler; Wei Wuxian's legs having less contrast. And then I merged all of the layers (excluding the background) and added a bit of blur. See: Wei Wuxian's ponytail; the entire lower part; the flowing forehead ribbon. My reasoning for this is so that most of the detail (and therefore the flow of the eye) goes to their faces and expressions!

And then, I put a blue Overlay layer on low opacity to make Wangxian blend better with the background, added a bit of shadow on the inside and the lower sections and added the glowing details for the added flair. I initially wanted sparkles and/or stars but they didn't turn out as well as this did. I also upped the contrast by a little for the entire piece!

Aaaand, that's it! In truth, I did a bit more color adjustments to the whole piece, but I was a dummy who forgot to turn them back on before posting so ... oh well.

Posting

Before posting, I upload it either on my spare private Twitter account or on a drafted Tumblr post so I can check the colors on my phone. This is because the colors on different devices can look very different, and I would at the very least want all my pieces to look nice on both of my devices!

And then, once I deem it satisfactory, I just try to think of a caption and post! Some artists wait for a certain time where most of their followers are active, but I didn't have a lot of MDZS followers at this point so it didn't really matter to me.

It still doesn't really; I haven't actually been able to figure out when my MDZS followers are awake even now.

#showyourprocess #mine #whew this was so long oops #but this piece took like #maybe 1.5 weeks sans the break i had to take #so !!#LOL #tag game

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hiro-gari · 3 years

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Batarou Headcanon - Special Valentine's Day

by: Little1993lamb for: Lilia / @hiro-gari

Word count: 1894 Warning: Lots of passionate kisses scene and makeout implication in the end between Garou and Badd, but nothing explicit.

Hewwo, I'm back again with more Batarou mini-headcanon! 🙋😆💕 Still Valentine's Day themed eventhough it's probably has ended already, but whatever we still got the spirit of it waah I'm so sorry for the lateness 😅😂

Okay let's start on the headcanon! 😋💝🍫

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

After Garou moved into Badd's house and living together with the S-Class Hero, Garou and Badd become like chaotic bestfriends before they actually starts dating. They're already trusting and very comfortable with eachother, hence they didn't mind on doing some skinship as a way of showing affection.

Be it like flirting, old married couple bickering, holding hands, intimate hug, sleeping together, cuddling, snuggling, kisses but only as far as kiss on the cheek or light peck on the lips. Many people often mistaken them as a real dating couple because of that, not knowing Garou and Badd just messed with them by being affectionate to eachother for fun. They just love to tease those people with some more-than-friends PDA actings.

Sometimes Garou would asking Badd to act like boyfriends when he wanted to get special offering or even a discount for couple on cafe or restaurant or amusement park. Badd just rolled his eyes at Garou's stupid idea but agreeing to do that with him nonetheless. Besides, saving money by doing simple lovey dovey things with Garou? Why not?

Badd is gaining more benefits from it anyways, especially that he could becomes closer with Garou. Same with Garou, he likes it when Badd showing him his rare affectionate side ONLY for Garou...

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

Then Valentine's Day has come. After going back from Hero Association's meeting, Badd was contemplating himself if he should buy an another gift for Garou aside for Zenko (which consisted of Amai Mask's rare autograph that he struggled himself to beg for that annoying idol hero, a big kitty plushie, and also a pack of premium caramel-filled chocolate truffle wrapped in cute designed box).

Because Badd wanted to appreciate his ongoing friendship with Garou, also limited budget as he already bought expensive gifts for Zenko, he decided to make a homemade chocolate cake for the wolfboy.

Fortunately Garou was still doing his part-time job at that afternoon, so Badd proceeded to bake the chocolate cake on home. He used his late mom's best recipe as his way to remember the memories they had spent together doing their cooking hobby. Also because Badd wanted to give Garou a special and meaningful present by making something he made by himself.

On the evening after celebrating mini Valentine's Day party with Zenko at home, Garou finally coming back home from work. Badd and Zenko welcomed him warmly then asking him to join dinner together with them.

Of course Garou more appreciating this kind of small family dinner but feels very homey than any luxury dinner at 5-star restaurant. He always dreamed about having family dinner with warm and cheerful setting, who truly cares for his well-being no matter what happen.

Now that he lives with Badd, Garou could enjoyed Badd's and Zenko's happy chatting with each other in front of him on every dinnertime and he also could eat many of his favorite food as much as much as he wanted. Or sometimes Badd even giving more food on his plate if he was being generous enough on that day.

Besides, he loves Badd's own cooking, too! Still tasted like 5-star gourmet meal but much better!

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

Dinner time just ended and all the dish were cleaned already, Badd ordered Garou to take a shower before going to bed. And while Garou still in the shower, Badd prepared a surprise Valentine's Day for Garou. He took the cake from the fridge and placed it on top of small table in their shared bedroom while waiting for Garou to come out from the bathroom.

After Garou finished taking a bath and had changed with clean clothes, he found Badd sitting on the couch smiling proudly, then standing out and walking towards him while bringing a mini chocolate cake.

Badd said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Wolfboy! Here you go your special present, better appreciate it because I made it myself", before gently handing his homemade chocolate cake to Garou.

Days before Valentine's day, Garou often jokingly teasing Badd that he couldn't wait for Badd's handmade chocolate gift, which would earned Garou a flustered Badd everytime he said that. But of course Garou just kidding since he wasn't really sure if Badd likes him enough to actually gives him a present, because while they're already become bestfriends Garou couldn't help but secretly pining for Badd.

Garou was speechless, he just stared at the beautiful dessert gift from his bestfriend on his hands. It was a chocolate frosted cake with fresh raspberries decoration, also somehow Badd delicately added Garou's name and cute wolf paw signature written on top of the cake. A simple cake but feels very personal. And it's for him, too?? Nobody ever gives him personally handmade stuff to him before!

He still couldn't believe Badd went as far as spending whole afternoon just to prepare a Valentine gift for him. Garou was so moved by this.

So with a wide cheeky grin, he thanked Badd and start slicing the cake by a plastic knife. But he wasn't immediately eating it, instead Garou took Badd's hand, made him sitting on bedside together with him, then offered the hero to eat the cake together.

Badd was actually a bit surprised by Garou's offering since it was the gift for the wolfboy and not him, but since he asked nicely then why not. Plus he can tasted his own creation to know if it's good or not.

Except there was only a single fork available.

Badd was gonna get an extra fork from kitchen but Garou said it's alright, they can share one fork by taking turn on having a bite for the cake. Besides, he would be very glad to be handfed by Badd, anyways! Badd really wanted to smack Garou hard with a pillow but he resisted it, he desperately trying to not being flustered by Garou's words.

So here the two bestfriends, who secretly pining on each other, taking turn on eating the cake by a single fork only. Garou was enthusiastically ate the delicious cake whereas Badd just munching it while blushing. Only Badd was aware that they were basically doing an indirect kiss!

Perhaps not many people care enough about silly indirect kiss thing, yet Badd couldn't help but cares since it involved Garou. His dearly bestfriend who also his secret crush.

As they finished eating (mostly it was Garou's doing as he always takes a big chunk of the cake at once), Badd noticed that Garou has a buttercream smear on the corner of his lips. 'Garou is truly a messy eater', thought Badd as he shakes his head in amusement. Already used to do it with Zenko, he wiped the cream off from Garou's face with his finger then licking it in very casual manner like no big deal.

But Garou watched him, dumbstrucked with what Badd had just done to him a moment before. Then without thinking, he gets closer towards Badd, reaching his face and tilted it a bit before kissing him.

Garou kissed Badd's plushy lips, so softly but longing. Tasting the mixture of sweetness between chocolate and buttercream, with a fruity hint of fresh raspberry from remaining aftertaste in his mouth. Just like a dreamy first kiss experience of a teenager. He knows Badd probably wont forgive him to do all of this but Garou absolutely never regretting his choice.

On the other hand, Badd was in pure shocked state once Garou touched his lips with his own. The moment their lips collided in a slow passionate kiss, Badd was melted in Garou's arms. He should be shoving the wolfboy off from him or slap his face. And yet he instead pulling Garou much closer to him as he clung his arms around the white haired teen, deepened their sweet kiss in the process.

After they run out of oxygen, they both released the lip-locking activity to take a quick breath before resuming their kiss again. Now even more eager than the first attempt as they poured their whole heart content onto eachother, letting the other know what they have been feeling after all this time.

Slowly, Garou laid Badd down on the bed without breaking their kiss. Badd embraced him tighter, one hand clutching on Garou's back and the other hand on Garou's short spiky hair. They keep doing such intimate act for some hot minutes until finally Garou ended it and released Badd from the kiss.

He gazed at Badd's face, who currently breathing hard, eyes hooded with barely hidden passion, and face blushing so red like a tomato. But then Garou saw his tender smile on his plushy pink lips, Badd looked so pretty with those rare soft smile that only reserved for him only.

He could feel Badd's hand slowly caressing his cheek, stroked it with so much affection, as if he wanted to convey his true feeling even more clearly to Garou. It encouraged Garou to also confessed his feeling for the beautiful hero.

"Love you, Short-stack. So much that I don't know if I can hide it from you any longer.. Sorry for suddenly kissing you out of nowhere-"

A finger touched his lips, sealing it shut for a moment.

"Shussh it's okay no need to apologize. I already know. Me too, Wolfboy..", those tender smile still hasn't left Badd's lips, instead it got more brighter than ever.

Realizing his love has been reciprocated already, Garou let out a loud chuckle before dipped down to rub his nose on Badd's own excitedly before nuzzled his soft cheek, giving the smaller man a shower of little kisses on his cheeks, forehead, then his lips.

Badd was just as happy as Garou, he laughed along with him now that finally they leveled up their relationship into boyfriends after all of these silly mutual pinings for months. He accepted Garou's feeling right away, thinking he was so lucky they're become together in a very special day to any lovers: Valentine's Day.

So maybe upcoming dating anniversary for every Valentine's Day, perhaps?

Garou's gentle caress on his hair brings him back from his deep thoughts, he showed that trademark cocky smirk to Badd before asking, "Shall we do it again, hmm, babe?". He licked his own lips suggestively as a joke to tease Badd more further, making himself looked like a hungry wolf before devouring his delicious prey.

But who said Badd was an easy prey without fighting back? Of course he knows Garou was only joking, but the hotheaded hero wont let him gets whatever he wanted easily. If Garou wanted some dominance over him, he must earned it.

With a wide taunting grin, Badd accepted Garou's challenge, "Ooh you bet! Don't regret your decision, Moon Moon", before kissing him hard. He clung onto Garou and flipped him over on the bed so now Badd was on top of Garou, straddling his torso before proceed to continue their makeout session.

Garou couldn't hold a happy smile between their heated kisses, what a more better way to spending time on special event with your bestfriend-turned-into-newly-boyfriend than this? He let Badd enjoyed a brief dominance on him for awhile before he caught Badd off-guard, taking back the victory by flipping him over again, making the hero submitted to Garou.

Garou smirked when he saw Badd's tender yet teasing smile under him. This gonna be a long night.

---💝THE END💝---

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

Notes:

So how was it? Was this good? 😳✨ Aaaa I'm sorry this ended up being a mix of silly, fluffy, and a bit pervy, lmao! But don't worry trust me they just went as far as doing usual horny makeout between teenagers and not going past there (yet), ahahaha 😜😂

Because they only just start dating, right? They wanted to take it slow and of course Garou would respected any of Badd's decision because he loves him so much, then in turn Badd would appreciate any of Garou's adorkable effort in dating attempts 😊💕

But maybe in the near future they eventually would take the things more further hmm.. 😎✨

Anyways, there I give you (belated) Batarou Valentine's Day present! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it~ 😚😘❤💜💙💚💛💖💝🍫🌹💐

Special thanks for: @hiro-gari , @the-goddessfighter , @kaincuro , @guby1620 , @garous-nipple , @jusqu-une-etudiante ,and @lovelybutnot-ablankcanvas , also all of Batarou shippers in the fandom! (idk if the tagging worked but I love to mention you all, guys! hope you don't mind ilysm 😆💕💖)

-Little1993lamb-

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

~Lilia:

oh my god I’m-

This is so cute and fluffy and perfect hnnnnngh 😭💕 I love their little nicknames for each other too oml choked on my drink cause I haven’t thought about Moon Moon in years and it made me laugh so hard

Thank you for the Valentine’s fluff anon!! Who cares what day it is we need the L O V E💖✨

someone pls let me know if the tags work also!!

#i’m drunk on the fluff #thank you 💖#I’m so sorry if the tags haven’t been working 🙇‍♀️ 😓#technologically challenged #batarou #garou #metal bat #opm #submission #anon #headcanon

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ari-shipping-stuff · 4 years

Text

Nuts and Volts Week

Day One

Modern AU

———

never thought this would be my first post lmao

just note, if any of the characters in these oneshots are ooc, please don't hurt me bc it's definitely my first time writing them

Please enjoy my self-indulgent fic—

———

Arthur Watts never liked his office.

It was just… so basic. Too open. Maybe a little bright. And he had much preferred the basement. The dark, cool basement with no plastic plants, no ugly blue wallpapers.. No windows for peeping. His office, meanwhile, had all that. It wasn't even soundproof. But nonetheless, what Arthur did like was his job.

From the whirring of the gears, the clinking of steel, even when it would sometimes combust in his face. It didn't change the fact that he'd devoted his entire life into creating these machines.

Now they're going to be taken from him.

He forced his bag shut.

Ripped apart.

He gritted his teeth.

Handed over to that amateur Polendina in Atlas. His creations. Given away in mere parts. All because he testified. Now it was more than his machines he was going to lose.

Carelessly, he tossed his bag onto the glass table, hoping it would break.

He began pacing.

His shoes clacked against the perfectly polished white tiles. Cleaned this morning for the next person to work in this godforsaken office.

He stepped over several boxes, feeling too drained to even push them aside. It was as if his chest was hollow; empty. His heart gripped in the lonely hands of nothingness.

Arthur was usually a fast-paced man. Quick and efficient. Never too tired to miss any deadlines. He'd been first to finish his project out of all four competitors, giving him an extra month in the office to fiddle around and make random machines for fun. He was just so certain he'd be chosen.

But fate decided to be stupid and cruel. All his poor machines were going to take the fall now.

If there was one sentimental bone in this man's body, it would be there for the sole purpose of his work. He hated to admit he didn't want to part with these boxes or this room.

His earpiece buzzed.

"Would you quit pushing? I'd prefer you gone sooner rather than later, Arthur."

"Only my friends call me that, Cinder."

"And you have none. What's your point?"

Cinder Fall may have been an insufferable know-it-all and should have been fired instead of him, and a million different retorts could be days here. But Arthur didn't have the energy.

When she spoke again, the smirk was evident in her voice.

"I'll be sending a colleague to quicken the process. Toodles."

Arthur's jaw clenched. If only he could march into her office and give her a piece of his mind. Or a smack. Or a bullet to the mouth. Anything to shut her up, really.

There was static. Then the sound cut. It was just him and the boxes again.. And her camera in the back of the room.

Arthur sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He opened a drawer in the corner and pulled out some masking tape. Call it childish, but knowing that Cinder was watching him was.. Unnerving information.

Reaching towards the camera, he tore out a good amount of tape and covered the camera. His earpiece buzzed again.

"Arthur Watts—"

"Don't worry, Cinder, dear," Arthur smirked, falling back down to his regular height. "I'll try not to steal anything."

With that, he pulled the earpiece out and left it on the table. He turned back to the boxes.

There was a man in the doorway.

Arthur jumped back, eyebrows raised.

The man was tall, leaning leisurely against the doorframe. Stemming from his head was a long, dark braid. He fiddled with it in one hand. His smile was small, but tight and pulled back. Like he was suppressing laughter.

Arthur raised a brow, straightening himself.

"Callows," he said uncertainly. Like trying out a new word. "Right, why are you smiling?"

The grin broke across his colleague's face. He pushed himself off the doorframe, shrugging.

"Oh, nothing." he replied.

"And just how long were you standing there..?"

"Oh, not long. But.." he shook his head. "Just long enough to witness your little work of child's play there."

"I—"

"Personally, I would've broken it."

Arthur blinked at him.

Tyrian Callows was a mystery. All everyone knew about him was scarce common knowledge. Arachnologist. Entomologist. Herpetologist. Probably a serial killer in his free time. Possibly lived in his office. He might've been as work-obsessed as Arthur.

Despite this, they weren't friends. This was the first time they've spoken. Arthur found the timing of it all hilariously ironic. But now that they have finally met, he only had one thing to say—

Tyrian was an oddball. He pranced around the room, practically a child playing hopscotch. What, with his wild grin and the little 'ooh's and 'ahh's he made as he glanced into each box.

Arthur closed the door, clearing his throat.

"Cinder sent you, yes?"

"Mhm!"

Arthur blinked at the pure oddity of a man as he made himself comfortable on the glass table. Cross-legged, even.

And he remained seated.

Staring forward. Smiling calmly.

Blinking.

As you do.

Arthur cleared his throat.

"Yees, ol buddy, old pal?"

Arthur blinked.

"And you're just going to sit there."

"Apparently."

"What?"

Tyrian seemed to find this funny. He laughed. Loudly, but genuinely. Not entirely hysterical, but amused. Arthur didn't like that.

Cinder was amused when she taunted him. Ironwood was amused when Pietro Polendina stole what was his. Salem was amused as she fired him for speaking the simple truth.

Amused was mocking. Taunting. Condescending.

Tyrian doubled over, clutching his stomach. He seemed to laugh harder as Arthur glared at him, clenching his fists until there was blood between his fingernails. But he held up a hand, as if to say 'wait, don't murder me yet.'

So despite how good it would feel to punch his apparent psychopath, he decided to wait.

After a few whole minutes of laughter, it finally managed to cease. Tyrian let out a contented sigh, as if stuffed from a hearty meal.

Arthur crossed his arms and tapped his good impatiently.

"Well?" he raised an eyebrow.

Tyrian perked up, confused for a second.

"Wh-what? Oh. Right. That." he chuckled.

He uncrossed his legs, propping his elbows on his knees. He even steepled his fingers, for God's sake.

"You see, Dr. Watts, I get it."

Arthur waited.

".. You.. Get it."

"See, now you're getting it!" Tyrian clapped his hands together joyfully.

Arthur furrowed his brows at his colleague. Was this a joke? If he stared at Tyrian like this long enough, would he laugh it off, apologize, and finally explain properly? Maybe even turn sane as a bonus?

But when he started to smile and stare again, Arthur found his answer.

He didn't like it.

"I have had enough of you, Callows!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at Tyrian's chest. "Just give me a straight, coherent answer! If not, you're free to leave. It's clear you've no intention to help anyways."

Tyrian slumped, a blank expression on his face.

"So.. You don't want to cherish the time you have left with your machines?"

Arthur's posture faltered. He lowered his finger slightly.

"Wh-what?"

Tyrian shrugged, fiddling with his fingers.

"Well, I'd assumed you loved your job as much as I love mine," he paused, tapping his index fingers together. "So I also assumed you wouldn't want to part with your little machines for as long as possible."

Arthur put down his finger.

"I mean, I wouldn't want to part with Larry." Tyrian continued.

"Larry."

"My oldest scorpion. Lost his tail four weeks ago. He'll be gone in seven months without it now."

"Oh.."

"Yeah."

".. I'm sorry about that."

"Thanks. No need."

Now it was Arthur's turn to stare.

Tyrian shrugged twice. After a pause, he spoke up again.

"Fall, Rainart, even young Emerald and Mercury all have ulterior motives to accomplish once they joined this laboratory. But.. You and I, we genuinely enjoy what we do here. You love making your little machines, and I love my little venomous animals down in the basement."

Arthur hated to admit it. He really did. But somehow, this hysterical man-child really did get it.

He finally relaxed, deciding to speak up this time.

".. Venomous animals, you say?"

"Mhm!"

"Interesting. I don't suppose you could tell me all about it while we slowly.. move out the boxes?"

"Really?"

"Yes, of course. But please, do take your time."

Tyrian hopped off the table, saluting joyfully.

Arthur picked up the box closest to his feet, a smile playing on his lips. He turned the knob, about to open the door. But then he frowned.

"Wait, you own the basement?"

———

aight, so.. if you liked this, yay! bc this is gonna be the universe i'm writing in for the rest of the week!

thanks for reading my trash—

- ari

#nuts and volts week #arthur watts #Tyrian Callows #Modern AU #shipping week

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thuskindlyshescatters · 5 years

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HI! I was wondering, when you make AMVs, are there some general things that you keep in mind or try to do? For example, synchronizing the changes in the clips or whatnot with the music. I'm kinda asking for advice, so I'd be really grateful to hear anything you have to say.

Ohhh, boy...

OH BOY,,,,,,,

This is probably gonna get really, really long, because I happen to be an aspiring filmmaker, so seeing someone ask ME for advice on AMV craftsmanship just makes my heart soar. So, thank you for that

Here’s a couple of my tips and tricks! Note that these are just my preferences, as many other styles and techniques are available to people who use different software.

You’re correct in the assumption that changing clips to the beat of the music (beat-syncing, as I unofficially call it in my head) plays a HUGE role in making AMVs. To make that smoother, I think that being able to see the waveform of the music you’re editing to is a great tool, because I know exactly where the downbeat I want to sync to is. As well as syncing cuts to beat, I think syncing the action within a shot to the beat, like someone blinking or their footsteps, adds an extra layer of immersion. This can be hard to do sometimes given the length of the shot, but the effect is worth it.

Sometimes beat-syncing isn’t precisely the way to go, however. Often, slow, soft fades are much more effectively when matching tempo adagio or slower, or quiet music. And never underestimate the power of a black screen; when the audience has just been hit with a pensive moment, give them time to think. I point to my “Bohemian Rhapsody” video for advice on both of these -- if it’s a slow song, slo-mo, fading, and sometimes straight-up darkness is the way to go.

Just for general creation advice, my “routine” for making videos follows thusly:

Choose the song you want to use. If you scroll through my channel, a lot of the songs I choose are 4+ minutes, mostly because songs that are longer tend to be about something. It’s hard to show meaning and create a visual story to a song with no relevance to the themes of the show.

Write down all the lyrics to the song and break lines according to when you want to change visuals, or make a note indicating when the shot will change (i.e. “One shot per downbeat”, which is usually hell to make and so fun to watch).

Think to yourself, how do I want to organize these visuals? For example, will each verse go chronologically through the show? Will I follow the character arc of one specific character? Just trailers? Just Volumes 1-3? Just 4-6? If it’s a song with multiple “acts”, like “The Killing Kind” on my channel, the answer may be all of the above. Or none -- maybe just all the fights in the show! Just know that the viewer tends to associate chronology the best with the logical progression of a cluster of shots -- if I show the fight on top of the train, Cinder vs Neo, and the fight of the Grimm Reaper, your brain goes “oh, she’ll probably show the mech fight, or the fight with Adam, or the Silver Eyes sequence next” because your brain has figured out that all of these intense scenes are from Volume Six. This is why I find it annoying to do meaningless, upbeat pop songs -- action is exciting, but often when the entire song is action, you have to jump around a lot, and the audience quickly becomes lost.

Now it’s time to “block,” as I call it. For each line or phrase of the song, find the most appropriate shot in the context that you’ve just established (a character’s arc, a Volume, an episode, even), and write a brief description so that you, when you read those words, know what shot that means. I also tag the volume and episode it’s from. For example, some of the common shots I use are “Arm severing (3:11)”, “Pyrrha disintegrating (3:12)”, and even silly ones like “Cinder gets rekt (5:13)” that still get the point across, because I know what I mean. This step is where having an obsessive, encyclopedic knowledge of the show is pretty useful, especially if you want to avoid reusing shots but have the same lyrics as before to work with.

After that, you FINALLY start editing. I cut out ALL of the shots I’m using first by ctrl+F-ing the document I blocked in and going in release order, starting with the Red Trailer, all the way through 6:13. I find the shot and cut it at the very first frame and the very last. It doesn’t matter if it will only be used for 0.4 seconds (literally) -- having all 10 seconds of material may come in handy. Sometimes in this step I see an unused shot that might be better than what I originally intended, so a lot of swaps can be made. After that’s done, I put the shots in order and add the song.

Then you CUT THAT SHIT DOWN, SON. You might have 45 minutes of content before you start editing. In this stage, don’t add any sorts of transitions or anything -- just beat-sync the shots as well as you can, then go back and rewatch to see if there are things you want to fix. Consistency is key; sometimes, lyrics and the beat are syncopated, and you have to choose whether to sync to the downbeat or the words, and then remember that decision for the next verse. This step is my favorite part of the entire process, but it usually takes the least amount of time.

Once you’re SURE it’s properly synced, now it’s time for transitions and colors and whatnot. Transitions should always follow the tone of that part of the song -- is it fast? Is it full of movement? I’ve found that cymbal crashes and other high-pitched percussive noises are best accompanied by a flash or white-fade transition. I generally prefer more simplistic transitions; the meaning and tone of the song is more important to me than looks and showing off. Same goes for color editing; the eye expects to see an approximate parallel to what it’s used to, which means you better have a damn good reason if it’s suddenly going to be in X-ray mode. Obviously, black and white or washed-out colors are more somber or grimdark, and fully saturated colors are more jubilant. Mess around with it -- you have been a consumer of art your entire life, so at this point, your eye knows what looks nice!

That’s probably nowhere NEAR all of my thoughts, but that’s mostly how I do it! My best advice is to find what you love to do most about it -- for me, it’s beat syncing -- and study in AMVs you like to watch how they do it. Don’t plagiarize, but do imitate if it helps you learn, because I know for a fact that I learn something new from every video I watch and create.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them! I’m thrilled to receive them. And, if you're planning on making a video, shoot me a link -- I’d love to see your art!

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