#as i don't quite like how skintones look

[loveryss]

How do we feel about this reshade preset? It has my psd + topaz slapped on top of it but do the vibes of this preset fit my style at all? I know I’ve been going for clean and crisp but this dreamy look is tempting

#ts4 #for indoor screenshots i need to do some additional editing #as i don't quite like how skintones look #like almost a bit too pale #but not on every screenshot #ANYWAY #opinions?

[hotseok]

changes

#hotseoksims #hshsy #aspen with their natural hair colour? never thought a day like this would come #but i plan for them to have a child thru surrogacy quite soon-ish & i don't want their child to come out with orange hair #anyway if their skin looks slightly different it's because i finally realised i was actually using ea's skintone on them?? #idk how i didnt realise till now considering how horrible ea's skintone is -- anyway so i changed it. #of course i tried to match it to their original skintone as much as possible but yeah-- i also changed zayne's too just slightly

[eddiediaaz]

Hi! I was wondering if you had any tips on how to color the flashbacks in the begins episodes, because they have that weird green tint that's so hard to get rid of? Would really appreciate any advice you had! Love all your gifs :)

hellooo! that is really nice of you to say, thank you <3

yeah flashback scenes in 911 can be tricky to color. i don't know why they made the el paso flashbacks look so drab, or the hershey flashbacks so glowy and green lol. anyway, i have two flashback examples on how to go from this:

to this

steps under the cut (:

CURVES

the first thing i always do is usually use a curves layer to white balance the colors automatically. it can be quite handy, but it's usually not enough. it can be a great place to start though. on the top right you can click the 3 lines menu and choose "auto options..."

then you can play around with the different settings in the algorithms section, and the snap neutral midtones. there's usually one that's better, so i just toggle between them and choose which one looks best.

if the auto settings don't work well for your shot, you can always do this manually with the black and white droppers with a curves or levels layer. becca/@yenvengerberg did a great tutorial on it here (in the step one: curves section)

both gifs with curves auto color correction:

as you can see it brings the colors in a more neutral zone and less saturated, but the coloring still needs more editing.

COLOR BALANCE

i used a color balance layer to bring back some warmth into the eddie gif. i started by giving it a bit of red in the shadows, then with midtones and highlights, i simply played with the sliders until i got something i liked (knowing i'll grade the colors more specifically later).

CHANNEL MIXER

for the maddie & buck gif, i wanted to reduce the yellow/green tint. i needed to add some blue to counter the yellow and channel mixer worked better than color balance for this one. this channel mixer tutorial by kate/@aubrey-plaza goes into so much depth, much better than i ever could, but here's how i did it:

SELECTIVE COLOR

my favorite and most used layer! i use it all the time. for the eddie gif, i wanted to make it warmer and less drab. i always start with deepening the blacks, then i want to make sure the skintones are good with the reds and yellows.

then the rest is mostly small adjustments to my liking, especially with cyans, blues, neutrals. this particular gif doesn't have a lot of blue tones so it doesn't change a lot tho haha

selective color results for eddie:

then for the maddie & buck gif, i went pretty much in the same order: blacks, skintones (reds and yellows)

then blues, cyans, neutrals:

maddie & buck selective color results:

FINAL TOUCHES

now that the gifs are color graded, what's left is to add final touches, aka more vibrance, contrast, exposure, etc etc.

for the eddie gif i added these layers

here's the layer order and final result:

for the maddie & buck gif, these are the layers i added:

and the layers order and final result for that one:

that's it, i hope that helps a little!

there's also this great tutorial by ace/@ajusnice on how to color yellow tinted shots, it's a great reference.

#alie replies #tutorial #*ps help #photoshop #completeresources #usermoonchild #userdena #uservivaldi #userisaiah #userace #userchibi #userraffa #userdean #usercharisse #usershreyu #userpjo #useraish #allresources #resourcemarket #userrebekah #Anonymous

[arabellas]

do you have a coloring tutorial? your gifs are so nice and vibrant, how do you do it? :)

hi, here's a simple basic coloring tutorial that I use pretty much for all of my gifsets:

I won't get into the basics of making a gif as this is just a coloring tutorial, but here is my gif after I just crop and resize it:

and here it is after I sharpen it:

sharpen can affect the depth of shadows in a gif, so I do this before I add any coloring, but I know some people color first and only then sharpen, so both ways work!

alright, ready for some fun coloring? let's go!

before adding any adjustment layers, I suggest creating a new group, so all of your coloring changes can neatly sit in one place.

I always start with levels and curves, they often help to make the overall gif more natural if the lighting is too yellow, too dark, etc., it's a very useful guide, especially if you're new to gifmaking. so, let's start by clicking on the levels icon, a new adjustment layer should appear over your gif layers:

the next step is to click on each of these little icons (I usually only use the top and bottom ones) and to select the lightest and the darkest parts of your gif. pick the top one, select the darkest part and then pick bottom one and pick the lightest part, you should see some changes on your gif, sometimes they're subtle, sometimes they're very obvious:

in my gif the lightest part is somewhere near her shoulder where the light hits, the darkest part is her sunglasses (if there are a lot of dark/light parts, I just click around and see whichever looks more subtle. for example, I tried the part on top of her head where the light hit, but it made the gifset too blue because the lighting is yellowish, but since the whole scene is not very yellow, it looked weird so I'm sticking with her shoulder, it just simply looks better overall):

and then I do the same thing with the curve adjustment layer, selecting the darkest and lightest part of my gif just like I did with the levels layer:

while this is a good guide for beginners, it doesn't always fix all the problems. it can be quite harsh, so I recommend setting the opacity to a lower percentage and if it looks a little weird, sliding the arrows to one side and another with each color until it looks better to you:

like I said, it's a good guide but manual work is often needed, don't be afraid to mess around with the settings. for this gif I set levels layer opacity to 60% and curves to 37%.

moving on, I'm adding a selective color adjustment layer to fix how the skintone looks with red and yellow colors. it differs with each scene, sometimes the skin is too yellow and orange, so I add more cyan and less yellow but in this case I chose these settings and I set the opacity of this layer to 35%:

I want to mention that with poc it's very important not to mess around too much with their skin tone and not to white-wash and orange-wash them, there are quite a lot of tutorials on how to avoid doing that.

the next layer I add is exposure, I want to brighten my gif a little bit. you can do that by selecting either brightness or exposure layer like I did:

the scene I'm working with is pretty bright, so I'm not adding too much of exposure, here are my settings:

next up, I want to deepen the shadows a little bit, so I use a gradient map for that:

I use black and white gradient and set the opacity to 10%:

moving on, color balance is another great trick to make the gif look more smooth with one consistent color overall:

if I'm working with scenes that have a lot of green/yellow in them and I want to get rid of that, this is a quick way to slide the arrow to the opposite color and soften it a little bit by adding another color. I usually like to add more magenta to midtones and make the gif have a little bit of a pink look. here are my settings for this specific gif and the opacity of this layer is set to 30%:

and here's what difference it made to the gif:

as you can see, the colors outside the circle are less green on her skin and hair. it's all coming together nicely!

let's move on to the background colors. I add another selective color layer and I'm gonna play with the colors I want to enhance the most. in this case it's green grass and her blue clothes. here are my settings for these colors:

and finally, to enhance the vibrant coloring even more, I like to add one final hue/saturation layer:

here I like to add more saturation to the colors we're focusing on in the background and add around +20 of saturation. I did this to green, cyan and blue colors:

and that's it! here is the finished gif compared to the completely raw one:

this coloring tutorial is very basic, but it works for most scenes I work with, I just sometimes focus on other colors, add more or less layers but the overall process is very similar.

I encourage to mess around with all the settings and see which ones look the most pleasing to your eye. let me know if you have any questions :)

#gif tutorial #coloring tutorial #tutorial #tutorials #ask #anonymous

[gaypleasantview]

Day 2: Rockstar // Face Tattoo Set

Set includes:

⋆ hauntedtrait's Bad Decisions, converted from TS4

⋆ peachyfaerie's Spellbound, converted from TS4

⋆ peachyfaerie's Zodiac Face Tats, converted from TS4

Link, swatch and more info under the cut ♡

Can't believe how long this set took for some reason... Anyway, hi, today I'm bringing you 114 face tattoos! They are all available for TU-EU sims. You can find them in the blush category, and they are divided into layer groups, meaning that your sim can have as many tattoos as you want as long as they don't overlap.

I wasn't sure if blush is the perfect place for them since it's usually cluttered with stuff, but my other option was face paint, which, as far as I'm aware, doesn't normally have custom thumbnails. Which could maybe be changed just like with accessories, but that doesn't show up in Bodyshop anyway, does it? And I would really like for it to be easily accessible in Bodyshop, so. Didn't look into overlay boxes here for the same reason, but maybe it would be a cool wip :)

There's a couple of tats that didn't make the cut, but almost all of them did. Some were separated, some were moved a bit. The textures only work in the face zone, so some of them look a little bit chewed on because they were originally intended to cover the scalp as well. Nothing too extreme tho.

Of course, everything is tooltipped, compressed, and has cute previews. I also tried my best to give all the files clear names because I love when everything is labeled. Important note: when I labeled a tattoo as left or right, I meant the way a sim would see it from their own perspective. Sorry if it's a bit of a mindfuck, just made more sense to me personally, lol.

Credits: aside from the creators that made all of this really cool stuff, I also want to really thank Lifa for their wonderful Birthday Suit skintones that I used in all the in-game previews, specifically the original and the colorful ones (mostly Zodiac, lol). And, of course, The Tattooer, a stunning tool that made it all possible.

☁ Download

SFS | Mediafire

☁ Swatch

⋆ hauntedtrait Bad Decisions. 27 edgy tattoos that inspired me to convert all of this in the first place. Some of these are pretty big. If you hate spiders, be careful – there's a couple.

⋆ peachyfaerie Spellbound. 39 tattoos. Most of these are small and located under the eyes. Many flower-themed images. My personal favorites are the beautiful leaves.

⋆ peachyfaerie Zodiac Face Tats. 48 tattoos. No comment on the color choices for the preview. Anyway, these are quite simple: 4 tattoos for each sign, including symbols and text.

#s2cc #my cc #the sims 2 #sims 2 cc #ts2cc #sims 2 face tattoo #4t2 conversion #4t2 #ts2 cc #ts2 #hauntedtrait #peachyfaerie

[melanieph321]

I’ve got a request if you are taking them. Ruben helping the reader after getting her wisdom teeth out? Super fluff!! Love your work xx

Okay, so I sat down, ready to write this fic. Then my mind drifted away and I got really inspired to write another fic instead.

I'm sorry for not including the pulling of the tooth, but I tried to keep it "super fluff" 😅

Ruben Dias x Black Reader - Clumsy

Enjoy!

Clumsy wasn't enough to describe you. You were clumsy, embarrassing and utterly childish for not learning how to walk in heels until the age of 24.

"Are you okay?"

A stranger came to your rescue. Hopefully he missed the part where you faceplanted to the ground. I mean who trips on their way to brunch? On your way from brunch would have made way more sense.

"Yeah, I'm okay." You said, collecting your purse and accepting the hand he held out to you. You were brought to your feet with one swift motion. He was strong, a thousand times stronger than you.

"But you're bleeding."

"Yeah, I can see that."

It was your knees, bruised by the sidewalk. You were going to have a serious word with whoever one of your friends that suggested everyone wear pencilskirts to brunch.

"I've got some bandaids at home. I live right there." He pointed to the tall building across the street.

"Fine."

The place where you were having brunch was only around the corner anyway. And what was worse, showing up late for brunch or showing up with blood running down your ankles?

"I'm Ruben by the way." Said the strange man escorting you, arm and arm, across the street.

He lived in a remarkably fancy apartment. "I'm Y/N." You said, your eyes in awe of the decor you were met with. It's not that you thought that the guy was broke, but he did dress like he was about to rob a convenient store.

"Sit."

He ordered you to take a seat on his couch. You did as you were told in wait for him to return with the necessities to clean your wound.

"Does it hurt?"

He focused on clearing the blood and dirt first, a bit primitive in the way he went about it. His hand gripped your thigh, holding you still in a way you would never allow a man to do even on the second date.

"Y/N, does it hurt?"

You forced him to repeat the questions since you had been to concerned with his hand on your thigh.

"No, it's fine."

"Did you hit anything else, like your head?"

"No."

You thanked the gods that he hadn't witnessed your takle of the ground with your face. He must have just come around the corner when it happened. Perhaps he had been out for a jog? At least he dressed like he had been.

"I think this should do it."

Once the blood was gone and his hand was off your thigh, you could think straight again.

"I'm never wearing heels again, that's forsure."

You took them off and stretched your legs out on the couch. Ruben grabbed the wool he had used to clean your wound and threw them in the bin. He returned with two bandaids to cover the bruises with.

"They don't match my skintone." You said, not to be picky or anything.

"I didn't know they were supposed to do that." Ruben looked to the package, scratching his head.

"Well they are. It's so no one knows that you've hurt yourself and I'm quite desperate for the world not to know that I can't walk in heels."

Ruben chuckled, but did make his way to the door. "I'll be right back."

You thought it was sweet, he was sweet and handsome.

"There." He said, satisfied with finding a bandaid that matched your skin. He had returned from the store with three different selections of bandaids for you to choose from.

"Thank you Ruben. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you?" By the looks and view from his apartment, he seemed to be getting payed well enough.

"How about dinner? You look like you can cook."

"Come again?" You frowned. "You want me to cook you dinner?"

"As payment for helping you out, yes."

"B...but..." You were about to deliver the greatest speech on how chivalry was dead and how men killed it, when Ruben's lips widen into a devious grin.

"You're fucking with me, aren't you?"

"About the cooking thing, yes, but not the part about wanting to have dinner with you. Unless..." His cheeks blossomed. "Unless you're not up for it, of course."

He was charming, kind and handsome. A deadly combination.

"I'd love to have dinner with you."

It was a deadly combination indeed, but a perfect excuse for being late for brunch.

This way when your friends asked you about the reason for your delay, you didn't have to tell them about the bruise on your knees from the faceplant. You could just tell them that you bumped into a handsome stranger who is now taking you for dinner.

"Great. I'll give you my number on our way down." He said, escorting you out of his apartment

#fanfiction #man city #manchester city #football imagine #ruben dias #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias imagine #footballer x reader #ruben dias x black reader #football angst #footballer imagine #football x reader #football

[olderthannetfic]

Seeing my fandom fight with each other regarding if a Turkish character described as "dark, rich bronze-brown" in skintone is or is not a POC kind of shows how flawed fandom's understanding of race is. He's discriminated against within the story in a way that his coworker, a white Muslim, is not, so it's plainly obvious to me that he is being impacted by racism and is not intended by the text to solely be impacted by Islamophobia, as some people in fandom have claimed. Regardless of whether or not people online think he's white or not, think Turkey is a white or nonwhite nation, etc., in reality, people don't stop and ask you about your ethnicity, nationality, etc. before they decide how to treat you. A man with dark bronze skin is not going to be treated as white by the world. Racists do not pause and ask themselves if he might be X, Y or Z. They see his skin and react.

Fandom doesn't understand that race is a construct and racists will rearrange the construct. You can argue Turkey is in Europe all you want, they'll just change the construct's rules from 'European' to 'European and not brown'. In a discord I'm in right now, I had to explain to some well-meaning and otherwise not unintelligent Gen Z kids about how segregation worked. One of them asked, quite earnestly, what would happen to him, someone who is mixed race, and I had to explain that it very much boiled down to if you were light skinned and capable of passing for white or not. Multiple people brought up blood quantums because USAmericans love us some fractions, but no bus driver, I explained, had ever asked for a person's stats before making a decision. The decision was made purely on a visual basis, usually coming down to skin color. (Although even if you were light enough that you could bullshit your way into saying "I'm Italian!" like my dad's boyfriend managed to do growing up, that only worked when my dad's boyfriend had his hair chemically relaxed and treated to make it the texture of a white person's hair, and it worked best when he was nicely dressed. It was still visuals based. Being 3/4ths white by the math meant nothing.)

Honestly the issue we have underneath it all isn't the terms POC, BIPOC, non-white, etc. The problem we have is that people don't understand what race is. Race is not math and race is not determined by where you're from on a map. It's a social construct. It's not real geographically, biologically or mathematically. To look at it from this very detached psuedo-science POV is to not understand the reality that social constructs are enforced by society via individual experiences.

If a brown man is experiencing bigotry from racists due to his skin color, he isn't white. It doesn't matter where he's from.

--

This is tumblr, so you know what I'm going to reply:

[chalksniffed]

nsfw, pwp discord mod/modern xiao × afab! reader

warning: pwp (porn w/o plot), mid tier written sex, phone? video call? virtual? sex, sex toys, overstimulation, slight noncon recording, corruption, possessiveness, xiao being disgusting like actually (w/ cum)

quite frankly, extremeeeeeely ooc xiao also he calls you dove/kitten- yes living up to the discord mod name

Dudun!

[Dove, vid call, now.]

You answered the ringing discord call notification. A ragged, breathless voice greets your ears.

"Fuck.. (Y/N), I'm so horny right now. I need you.." Xiao voiced out, palming his crotch through his sweatpants. Hands twitching to touch your body but couldn't due to you being away from him.

He opened his webcam, revealing a very flushed and needy Xiao. Biting your lips, you opened yours as well, greeting him with the view of his nervous and blushing kitten.

"You didn't forget to bring your new gift with you right?" You nodded, glancing at the unopened black box beside your laptop.

He smirked, "Good, how about opening it for me?"

Grabbing the sleek packaging, you opened it carefully. It revealed a plush velvet covering a skintone, veiny, silicone.. dildo and as well as a bullet vibrator without a remote?

You held the dildo in your hands, feeling it up and.. it looks just like Xiao's heavy and mouthwatering dick. "Like my gift for you dove?" Your eyes snapped to your screen, greeting you with an overly pleased looking Xiao.

"Yes.. but what is this for?" You inquired, a brow raising at his gift.

"For you to play with and to give me a show, I still want your pussy to only remember the shape of my dick during your trip."

Red flushed on your cheeks from his statement, you even felt a buzz between your legs from his words. Pussy craving the warmth and size of his girth after days of it not being filled to the brim with Xiao's cock.

"Put a show on for me will you? You know what to do to please me after all." Xiao pulled the waistband of his sweatpants down and fished the bulging erection of his cock. It springs up and meets his clothed abdomen, standing erect and tall with the mushroom head an angry red, tip glistening with pre.

You nodded and said okay, standing from your chair and fully aware of the wet patch on your panties through your shorts. You locked the door to your room and moved your laptop and toys on your bed.

Standing in front of the laptop, you slowly stripped your clothes and gave Xiao a personal show. Unclasping your bra and slipping your panties off, not forgetting to show the wet patch he's caused and loved before climbing on the bed and resting against a pillow on the headboard.

You can hear his muffled noises through the speakers and the sound of slick, rubbing of skin. Spreading your legs, he could see your leaking cunny begging to be filled with cock- his cock. God if only you didn't go to that academic trip with Albedo he could be drilling and painting his cum in your pussy right now.

Grunting Xiao said, "Be a good doll and place the vibe on your clit, kitten."

Doing as he commanded, two fingers held the toy down your clit, jolting in surprise as the vibe suddenly sprang to life. "Don't let it go unless I said so, okay?" He said whilst raising his phone up to the view of the camera, allowing your eyes to see the "remote" for the toy.

He cranked the speed higher making your eyes roll back at the intensity and lean dependently against the headboard. Thighs quivering, slick overflowing, and whorish moans- the sight of you made Xiao shiver, pleased to see how much of a slut his darling became. Corrupting your purity and making you his slut wasn't a bad idea after all.

"X-xiao! Xiao... I'm close-! I want to come- please please!" Slurring, you suddenly feel the toy becoming stronger-! A relentless onslaught attacks your clit, overwhelming it and making your climax come faster- "Xiao x-xiao I'm cumming! I'm cumming !"

White fills your vision, slick gushing out your needy hole yet the toy doesn't stop- knowing Xiao he'd punish you if you to let go. He wants to see your sensitive clit and body overstimulated before he ends.

"Good girl, just one more then you can let go, okay?" He panted, his left hand lowered the intensity of the toy while lubed right hand kept jerking up and down his cock at the climax you've shown him- desperately wishing it was him instead of that toy he'd given you or your tight throat around him instead of his fucking hand.

"Y-yes." You can already feel yourself building up again despite already cumming. You bit your lips to muffle your noises, feeling ashamed that your friend is in the room next to you- thick walls can only do so much to block out the noise.

"Kitten, use your other hand and play with your tits." Xiao's voice from the laptop speaker made you snap out from your thoughts. "Like this?" You said while tweaking your left nipple.

"Yes- just like that," he grunts starting to feel the build up of climax, "just do that baby- I'll up the intensity, don't cum until I say so." The sound of his heavy panting fills your ears from the speakers, continuing to do as he told, he upped the intensity again making your already trembling legs give out.

Your left hand continues to play with your tits, adding more pleasurable sensations on your body. Your core tightens, "I'm c-close- xiao please.." You begged, tears beginning to form in your waterline from being denied.

"A little more dove- just a little more hngh." He says placing his phone down on his desk and grabbing a jar almost halfway filled with white, opaque fluid.

Xiao jerked himself harder at heavenly sounds of your moans in his ears, feeling himself close to climax. He opened the jar and placed the opening near the tip of his cock, making the fluid slosh around the jar.

"(Y/N).. cum." He hissed as he jizzed his cum into the jar- relief filling his body.

Once you heard him say his command, your body finally let go- giving you the most intense orgasm of your life. Your eye rolled back from the pleasure and your body gave out. Limbs weak from the pleasure, making you white out from the intensity. Your fingers let go of the whirring bullet as your body turned into mush.

Xiao chuckled at the sight of his cute girlfriend being so fucked out and turned off the bullet from his phone, he's thankful that he had the foresight to record this call for his collection.

It took about a minute of Xiao serenely watching you for you to wake up.

Your eyes blearily opened up to a smiling Xiao, completely and utterly please with himself that he witnessed your body breaking down from pleasure.

"We're not yet done kitten, your pussy is still hungry for cock no?" A sly smirk etched on his lips. "I can still see your hole wanting more."

You whined knowing that he was right, that it still wasn't enough. Xiao trained you too well to be a- his- cock hungry slut. Clitoral orgasm wasn't enough.

With weakened limbs you moved closer to your laptop to grab the imitation next to it. Making Xiao notice your disheveled state, how skin trails with skin or how your hair sticks to the side of your cheeks. A tired yet lustful expression sits on your face, completely unaware of how much it took effect on you.

Pulling the dildo closer, you test the waters by licking the head. Bringing it closer to you, you wrap your lips around the head, sucking the rubbery material.

Xiao feels his softened cock turn on again, watching you give head to a dick that looks his made it twitch back in eagerness.

He spat on his hand again to lube it up and slowly jerked himself. You took the cock in deeper, a visible bump appearing on your throat as the length inched more into your throat.

Xiao's mouth watered at the sight, seeing how the imitation could do that to your throat meant that it'd feel better if it was his actual dick that you were sucking instead.

Plump lips wrapped around the girth and spit trailed down the side of your lip as you slowly pull out the silicone.

The imitation glistens with your spit as you dazedly looked at the your laptop screen, Xiao's blown out gaze meets your own. "I think it's ready now.." You said as you pant in air.

Placing the dick vertically in front of your cunny, you looked at the laptop screen again, awaiting Xiao's orders.

A hum greets your ears, "Sit on it." He eyes as you stand up on your knees, legs spread apart and dick directly under your weeping cunt. You stretched your folds apart and carefully descended on the tip. Your hungry hole swallowed the silicone head, making your breath audibly hitch at the entrance.

With the head firmly inside you, you sat down to the base, moaning as you finally feel your walls stretch against Xiao's dick, dildo sitting comfortably inside the tight walls Xiao shaped.

Huffing at the feeling of being full, you hear Xiao utter, "Ride it and give me a show."

"Y-yes sir."

Raising your hips until your insides only feel the tip, Xiao watches as the shaft exposes itself coated in your slick. Bringing your hips down, you sat on it again, hole swallowing the silicone. Familiarizing with the feeling, you slowly ride the toy. Up and down, up and down- Xiao mimicked your movements. Each upwards or downwards motion is followed by his hand, attempting to synchronize the feelings of pleasure.

'It's not enough,' he thought and muffled groan escaping his lips, 'they need to be faster.'

"Dove, faster- ruin yourself for me." He commanded, pants leaving his lips as you upped the pace.

Heavy breathing leaves your lips as you followed his orders. The silicone fills you up but it's not as good as the original, struggling to hit your sweet spots unlike how Xiao fucks you.

It didn't take too long until exhaustion catches up to you. Paired with how you came twice prior, it could only take you so long until your previous ministrations caught up to your weakened legs.

You whined, "X-xiao I can't, my legs are too tired.. please..."

Xiao broken out of his stupor from following your movements in a daze, he noticed how you slowed down your movements. "It's okay dove, just lay on your back okay? Spread your legs and pump it in and out instead."

Following his instructions, your back meets the soft embrace of the covers making you moan in relief. You pumped the base in and out with your left hand, shivers running down your body as the dick finally hits your sweet spots while your right plays with your tit.

Moaning at constant feeling of being full, your core slowly tightens. The feeling of an climax creeps in your body. "Xiao I feel.. close.." You breathed as Xiao jerks himself to the pumps of your hand, also feeling himself becoming close.

"Come with me, dove?" He asked, grunting as you jerk the dildo harder.

"Y-yes! Yes!" You moaned, movement becoming more erratic. Legs trembling, struggling to keep them spread apart, body shivering from all of the sensations it's feeling. You craned your neck to look at him. Skin flushed, teal-green hair dishevelled and a mess, and beautiful amber eyes blown with lust.

Your eyes closed shut, digging the crown of your head deeper into the pillow as your back arches. "I-I'm close!" Xiao watches intently as you fucked yourself harder on his replica, dick twitching at the thought of it being his cock instead. "I know. I'm the same, dove."

He jerks himself faster, watching you play with yourself all for him. Ruining your pussy just for him. God he can't wait until he can sink his cock again in that corrupted cunt he claimed.

'Mine, you're mine. Just mine.' He thought darkly, 'no one else can see you fuck yourself like this. Not even that stupid Albedo thinking he could this academic trip as a way to seduce you. No one else can handle that ruined pussy of yours, not when all you can do is scream out my name..' He glanced back at the screen, your fucked out face begging for his cum, spit dribbling down your lips, slick overflowing and wetting a patch on the covers but you didn't care. The only thought in your mind was him, his dick, and cumming.

"Xiao-! Xiao! I'm cumming!!" You screamed as he came in sync with you.

Slick creaming around the silicone imitation of his cock and him cumming his spend into the cum jar he's filling up for your return.

The both of you sighed in content, a combination of pleasure, relief and exhaustion runs in your bodies as you both come down from your high.

"Kitten, don't leave the call or remove the toy. I want to watch you sleep with my cock shaping your insides, I'm not taking no for an answer." He uttered as he shifted and tucked his dick back into his sweatpants. Grabbing a tissue and cleaning up any mess that remained.

Hearing you sigh, he once again directed his gaze back on his screen. Your blissed and fucked out self etched into the confines of his brain.

"Y-yes xiao.. only for you.."

Extra: You feel room temperature cum enter your pussy as Xiao forced the head of the cum jar into your hole. Shivering from the feeling of the fluid dripping inside your hole, Xiao patted the jar empty for his cum to find home in your insides.

Xiao sighed happily knowing all his cum and effort are now safely tucked inside you and not wasted on tissue, because his cum should and only be inside your pussy and nowhere else. Removing the jar, he kisses your knee beside him, whispering "mine" as he stood on his knees, the monstrous cock he knows you miss after your long trip stands erect and stiff.

"Let's fill you up with a new batch shall we?"

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

Thanks for reading this mess lmaoo, anyways have a nice day <3

#xiao smut #xiao x reader #genshin impact #genshin smut

[maximilliansblog]

Trans people! We need to give ourselves clear transition goals! /nf

Because for the past few years that I've been transitioning, I've just said that i want an androgynous look. But what does that actually look like?

See, i'm genderfluid, and i would like to have a flexible look that can change with my gender representation. I would love to just be Bram from Scooby Doo Music of the Vampire (good job if you remember that movie, much less this guy) when I'm masc. Here I'll find a picture of him.

This guy right here. There were like no pictures of him online lol. But this would be a very unrealistic transition goal for several reasons. One: He is like 6 feet tall and I am 5'3". Two: He is skinnier/more well-toned than me. Three: He has this very gothy vampirey look (If you want to know more, he was basically in some kind of acting troupe that did vampire stuff but then he wanted to become an actual vampire so he became a bad guy and kidnapped Daphne as a sacrifice. It didn't work. Sorry for the infodump I literally pretended to be this character so much when I was a kid lol) that I would not be putting on every day, and even if I did, that would not look normal!

So what would be a reasonable transition goal? We should have a clear picture of what we want. There's tons of pictures of people on the internet, so we'll find one. But you have to consider a few things.

1.) Your height (You can only change this by an inch or two with those things you put in your shoes).

2.) Your weight (You can change this, but it takes a lot of hard work. I would recommend making your transition goal just how you are currently, but if your outwards expression matched your internal gender).

3.) Your face shape

4.) Your hair type (I really wanted to be one of those "fluffy haired" boys/enbies from Pinterest, but my hair falls flat on my head and has no texture! I tried to get that hair for over a year, but in the end, I couldn't change my hair type!)

5.) Your skintone

6.) Your muscle tone (You can also change this but like I said with the weight, you want to make your transition goal as achieveable as possible! You can always tone up once you reach that goal).

7.) Your personal clothing style

8.) Oh yeah most importantly, will your outward appearance be masculine, feminine, or androgynous (this can be genderless or a mix of feminine and masculine traits)? It is perfectly okay if you want to go for a look that is not traditional! Like if you're a trans man who wants to dress more feminine or something. That's totally fine!

All of these things must be considered when you find your references. I'm calling these pictures "references", like what artists use to make their art piece.

So for my references, I have to consider that I am 5'3", overweight but not quite plus-sized, I have a round face shape, a very fine and flat hair type, a cool-toned pale skintone, no muscle tone, a casual clothing style, and I want a masculine-leaning androgynous appearance. It would be very hard to find a reference with every single one of these traits! So collect multiple! Find one for your haircut that you're going to get, one for the clothes you will wear, etc. You can also edit images to look more like you, by darkening the skin tone (I don't recommend doing the opposite ^^) or slightly changing the face shape. It is also good to find pictures of fellow trans people with your traits as inspiration.

Here are the images that I found:

I narrowed it down to hair, body type, and fashion, but you can have as many references as you want!

Now of course, you won't look exactly like your references! In the end, you are you! Every person is unique. But hopefully, having a clear transition goal will help you in your journey :)

Have a lovely day you lovely person!

#trans #trans tips #transmasc #transfem #transgender #trans man #trans guy #trans masc #trans fem #trans woman #transgirl #trans pride #transition goals #maximilliansblogstuff

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hello!!

First, I wanted to say thanks for all the work you do, you can tell you put a lot of effort and care into it!

Second, I wanted to ask if you had any possible advice for creating black zombie characters?

I really love zombies and enjoy making zombie characters and drawing zombies. Though, I draw quite cartoonishly and when I draw them I tend to make them that cartoony shade of zombie green as well, y'know? I was wondering if you knew how I would go about this- like if I ought to maybe make the skin more on the grey-ish side(since you mentioned that grey-ish skintone bases make the characters look ashen/less-alive recently) Or perhaps sticking with a similar shade of green, but making sure to include more defining black features? I'm mostly looking for tips about appearance, but I'm happy to get any advice you're able to give!

I hardly ever see black zombies in art(I see them in movies/shows and games occasionally, but never really in art!) and I wanna help change that, if I can. Im sorry if this is a bit clumsily worded- I hope you know I do not mean this ask in a rude or disrespectful way(due to the subject matter of (un)dead characters)! I just really love zombies!!

(also I thought the mini-mini lesson about clowns was very interesting and helpful, thanks for writing it!)

ngl, getting this ask at 10 something pm last night was WILD bc I swore I turned anons off lmao.

Thank you!

Um, this really is in the same zone as the sickness question. We'd still look like Black people, but dead lmao. In varying stages of decay too, if you're discussing zombies. My partner suggested watching some clips from The Walking Dead and try to spot Black zombies amongst the extras, so there's an idea!

If you're going with the cartoony idea of making them green skinned, as long as I can tell they were Black when they were alive (unless they're damn near a skeleton) I don't see the issue. If you make everyone that's a zombie green, it'll just match the style. So that's easy enough.

But if you're going for an actual decaying look, I think it would be worth looking into stages of decay on bodies as a whole. What types of injuries do they have and how did that affect them as zombies? (For example, if a Black person got a deep cut prezombie, that cut would be healed either brown or pink depending on depth, versus a post zombie cut would just be... Bloody. Probably not bruising either bc there's no healing going on. But I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me on that. The book I tagged would likely help you, too!)

In my grad program I once saw the recently dead body of a Black lady, and what disturbed me wasn't that she "looked" dead, but that she didn't. Other than her eyes being far gone... She looked the same.

Now, this (and the sickness one too!) also ties into undertones. When we die, the blood leaves our bodies and pools wherever the gravity is. So if we're in a burial position, or we've been drained of blood, the blood will leave your face. Now, on black people, that means our undertone will be pallid. It's the way Black people "blanch"; like we as a WHOLE don't turn pale, but our undertone will change bc it's physiological. (Now, based on our complexion, it's easier to see that on some more than on others!)

Hm....that's all I can think of for right now. If anyone else has any ideas, feel free to chime in!

#creatingblackcharacters

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

"Give me smoochie! MWAH MWAH MWAH-"

Hobie Brown x OC!Diane

Pink Paint Prints - Diane's devious.

"-Diane!" Hobie groaned - but alas, it was too late.

"No! Come'ere." Diane laughed wickedly, pulling the taller boy in as she assaulted Hobies face with an onslaught of kisses.

"Get kissed up!" She demanded, as Hobie faked a wince, like a begrudging cat.

In Diane's defence - he had it coming.

Her smooches left a trail of cerise marks across his face, pink pops of glitter dotted frantically on each cheek, each with an accompanying kissy sound.

Finally, Hobie gave in, relaxing into her embrace - and up this close she smelled like icing and strawberries, a breath of fresh air compared to the smog of his world.

"Might as well get it outta your system, yeah?"

He didn't have to tell her twice.

Diane wrapped her arms around his thin frame in a bear hug and Hobie screwed his face, snickering as Diane placed one last solid kiss on the tip of his nose.

"MWAH!"

"Had your fun?" Hobie asked, as Diane pulled away, cupping his face in her hands.

"Don't you look adorable!" Diane told him, admiring her handy work. "Don't answer that - you do. You're the cutest, smoothest, stone-cold fox, Bie-bie!" She said, pinching his cheek. "I knew this lip color would look good on your skintone!"

"This premeditated then?" He said, watching as Diane's smile grew into a smirk. "That eager to get your hands on me?"

"Uh-huh." She'd nodded. "Now just tell me how the formula holds up, okay?"

"What?"

"The formula?" She said, as dread began to creep in on Hobies stomach. On instinct, he reached up to touch his cheek, long fingers rubbing at the stains of pink.

"They say it's long-lasting. 36 hours! And like, that can't be true. But I can't wear it for 36 hours. But you-"

"Diane-"

When Hobie looked down at his fingers barely any had transferred, traces of glitter left on his gloves the only evidence.

Fuck.

"Diane." Hobie said, more urgently this time, more skeptical, rubbing harder. "I know you ain't do what I think you did-"

Diane laughed deviously. Hobie could feel the prints drying down already.

"I did." she squeaked.

"Diane! The hell is this? What's this shite made of?!"

"I really don't know," she said, "But they call it Liquid Lip Paint or somethin'."

"And by the looks of it, they ain't lying." Diane said, watching as Hobie scrubbed his cheeks with his hands, efforts futile.

"You twat!" Hobie groaned, making a grab for her.

On instinct, Diane pushed forward on her toes, rolling backwards on her skates and right out of his range.

She errupted in giggles, throwing her head back in laughter as Hobie came after her.

"Ah, help!" She yelled, laughing all the while. "Hobie's being mean to me!"

"Come here-" he warned, swiping at her. And just as easily - Diane twirled just out of grasp, his fingers only gracing her as her skates carried her backwards.

When that didn't work, he tried to web her. Though, it was no use.

Diane geared up, kicking off and leaving him in the dust.

"Diane!" Hobie said, his demand lost in a bout of giggles, and the sound of rolling plastic wheels.

Diane took off, and she was gone.

That's what he got for trusting a groupie.

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

"What in God's name happened to you?" Miguel questioned, a sharp eyebrow raised in Hobie's direction.

"What's it look like, mate?" Hobie sighed, pulling on his mask. The morning had been populated by giggles and glances, on the account of Hobie's face being painted in pink lip-prints.

Pavitr had nearly squeeled when he saw it, a new gift for Gayatri already in mind.

'That's so dreamy, you guys!' he'd exclaimed. 'Hobie's dreamy.' Diane smiled. 'Are you going to give me a makeup wipe or not?' 'No.' she said happily. "Now quit asking me that."

Hobie rubbed the stress from his brow. "Diane's what happened."

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

#they so silly sometimes #this was gonna be longer but I'm lazy #spiderman #atsv #spider man #marvel #across the spiderverse #hobie brown #spider punk #spiderpunk #hobie brown x oc #hobie x oc #Hobie x Diane #DiscoPunk #disco spider #DiscoSpider

[starlightingsss]

sparks fly / 2

wildest dreams. 3

kinda hating how i wrote the relationship between haymitch and reader ☹️

u guys i js realized but when im typing on mobile my capitalization is inconsistent n some paragraphs have capitalize first lettters and some dont 😭 sorry

129. she had waved and blown kisses at 129 people so far, making eye contact and reaching her hand into theirs. everything had gone by so fast, she was holding onto haymitch as they got off the train, holding onto his arm.

the crowds had gone wild once they saw, haymitch himself slightly opposed to the public display but unable to shake the woman off his arm.

she loved it, loved having everyones eyes on her. loved the attention, loved the fame. it took forever to get to the stylist cars - much to haymitch and her district partner's annoyance.

haymitch had been careful to make sure not to show any favoritism to the girl, made sure he didn't get attached. he wanted her to survive, and he didn't want to break the poor girls spirit, but still - he didn't think she could live, tributes don't usually care for beauty and it wouldn't get her allies. she would have to prove she was smart, or strong, or anything that might be considered valuable in the arena.

as she and her district partner boarded separate cars, he went onto his own car - one for mentors.

in that car, she was with 4 people. one woman with gold braided into her hair, contrasting against her dark skin, with bright pink makeup and a bright blue dress - weird contrasts but still stunning on her and her skintone. this was her stylist, allium everstar. she had seen the woman on tv many times, as she was always assigned to district 12. the other 3 looked quite bizarre, a woman with fairy wings instead of ears, a man wearing a crop top and ankle length dress with dyed body hair and purple skin, and another woman whos hair was insanely long; split into 2 pigtails wrapping around her ankles, her skin was paper white and she seemed to be drawn in black and white, except for the gigantic golden necklace wrapped around her neck.

she heard them whispering among themselves, "this one is different ... unique! look at those eyes!", the man excitedly squealed to his team members.

she heard other fragments of conversation, little "she looks so different from them.. she could be a capitol girl!", "can't wait to see her all styled up..", "she would be gorgeous if she was pink!"

she looked out the window, still seeing people lined at the streets and waving at her, until they turned into a parking garage.

they all exited the car with peacekeepers joining them and leading them down the elevator.

she was getting sent even more deeper underground - into a room where there were bright white lights.

the team had led her into an odd bathroom, settling her into a bathtub. they stripped her of her clothing, leaving her bare in the cold air of the room.

the head stylist, allium took in her figure, looking at her up and down. she wrote something down onto a little notepad before leaving the room.

she was settled into the tub by the other 3, still unsure of their names.

the women scrubbed her body as the man prepared what seemed to be dye? was he gonna make her purple like him...

"oh dear god! rhuba! abernathy said not to mess with her hair!" exclaimed the woman, in all black.

"we're not cutting it, we'll just make her a little bit blonde .. i'm thinking a split dye, it'll be absolutely stunning on her!" the man named rhuba exclaimed, "don't always have to be so closeminded, volta.."

"we're gonna get in trouble!" the woman with fairy wings instead of ears snapped, "he specifically told us not to touch her hair!"

"i-its fine? i don't mind if you dye it like that .. just d-dont cut it!" y/n said, interrupting their little argument.

"oh dear .. your mentor is gonna kill us." sighed rhuba. "plus people probably wont like it like that, its not popular in the capital at all!"

"she said we could do it!" the man practically squealed, "how exciting! most tributes are so against us dying their hair!"

the two women just tsked, as they rinsed her of the soap and dried her off, they wrapped her in a towel and led her over to a metal bed.

"dear i'm just gonna wax you .. not sure i'm gonna need to though, bare as a baby.." said rhuba, "well! at least we have a tribute who actually takes care of herself this year, not sure why i'd expect less from someone who looks like her.."

"her nails seem ok too ... some color wouldn't hurt tho!" said the little elf looking woman, with the fairy wings instead of ears. she was buffing down her nails, just evening them out a little bit because otherwise she didn't need anything done.

"alright, so its just the hair!" the man said, as he moved himself to be able to access the womans hair.

"alright .. come over here.." he told her, leading her over to a chair. she had nothing but a robe on, and her body had already been examined and picked at her prep team. "it'll be done in just a second! only takes a few seconds to bleach your hair .. can't believe it used to take forever before!", he smiled as he coated half her head in the thick liquid, "...hey how about we add some tinsel extensions?"

"extensions?" she said, a little confused on why she would need the,.

"not just any extensions, hon! tinsel ones, they're like little reflective strips, it'll be totally gorgeous under the spotlight and we can have them match your makeup to it in the parade!" he laughed this, as he pulled out the extensions anyway. he rolled her chair over to the sink as he leaned her head back, washing out the bleach - leaving her with a head of half blonde and half black hair, it suited her but her hairstyle in general suited her beautifully.

he pulled out some weird hairdryer thing that fit over her whole head, and instantly dried out her hair.

once her hair was dried, he started adding the tinsel into her hair.

after about an hour, it was done. she had little holographic streaks coming out of her scalp and honestly, it was gorgeous.

"my makeup.." she asked, "who's gonna do my makeup?"

"oh dear that'll be allium! she's really good at it .. i'm sure she'll do you well!" he said, as he spun her to face him. looking her in the eyes, examining her hair and face .. "really gorgeous.."

"thank you.. and my clothes are decided by allium too right?" she said, a little bit worried.

"yep! she basically does everything except hair, waxing and nails, but she still had control over what we do with you .. now she might be a little mad about your hair.." he laughed again, as he pinched a lock of it. "but i'm sure it'll work well with however she dresses you!" , he gave her a reassuring smile.

she smiled back, as he sent her off to allium, peacekeepers greeting her as she walked out of the room and escorting her to the elevator. they went up 16 floors, up to the 2nd floor. the peacekeepers dragged her up to a door with her name on it, "y/n l/n" and then her stylist's name under it.

she walked into the room, it was like a dressing room - the vanity illuminating the clutter of makeup products on it, a rhinestone bodysuit on a mannequin. it was beautiful but it didn't cover much, the neckline of the suit high and up to the throat but it was sleeveless, and had a heart cut out over her chest area that would show cleavage and little red rhinestones around that heart making it seem like it was a bleeding heart. the sides were cut out, showing even more skin, the cut-outs were all lined with lace, and there was a little very sheer cape and "skirt" meant to cover her a little, the cape wouldve gone as far as her wrists, and the skirt didnt even reach 1/4 of her thigh, barely covering anything.

"oh you saw it .. was gonna make it a suprise for you! didn't expect you to be done so fast.." allium gushes, as she came out from a back room. "the bodysuit is one of a kind, and you're going to need to be stitched into it - it's held together by pins right now but its fine, the jewels are all little pieces of obsidian, the red stuff is rubies, theres also some absolutely gorgeous shoes to go with them! this isn't what i had planned at the beginning but then when i saw you at the reaping ... oh god you were stunning! wasn't sure how i would be ok with myself if i covered you with coal, we're still gonna go for that kind of makeup look though, smudgy eyeliner, freckles and a blood red lip! it'll be stunning on you .. your hair... jesus he butchered it! but no worries, it matches up.. we'll just use a lot of highlighter to make you look like a diamond!"

"you know .. back in the day some people actually used coal as liner i think! we could try that but im not sure how it'd look .. better not to risk it. now i need your help to pick what shoes and jewelry we'll have for you! nothing on the neck of course, its already covered by the suit but we need some bracelets, earrings and maybe an anklet?" she seemed insanely excited as she just kept talking, "we'll cover you in diamonds .. you've got to love that! come come!", she continues gushing as she gestured the girl over to a table where jewelry was displayed.

"i was just stunned by you ... these are all real, and all very expensive. i think this one and this one are the best," she pointed at 2 bracelets, but not bracelets, more like something to go on the upper area of your arm with diamonds spilling down to your wrist. more like a makeshift sleeve?

"those are really nice! could i have a ring? the heart shaped diamond one!" y/n asked, her voice a little squeaky from excitement - she loved all things beauty, makeup, skincare, clothing.

"of course! was thinking about giving you pearls but then i remember that 12 was a mining district, not sure how you'd get pearls there!" she smiled, happy that her tribute was sharing her admiration for clothing and all things beauty.

"now! shoes, you pick .. i think you'd stun in something that'll make you taller and goes up higher on the thigh..!" she pulled the girls arm, taking her to the shoe collection ..".. how about these! you better pick quick .. we only have 2 hours left and i'm not sure that'll be long enough for you to get your hair styled and your makeup done.."

"those are really nice!" she smiled, as she looked at the thigh high boots with pointed tips and red bottoms, covered in black velvet - luxurious.

"alright alright! now we'll have your makeup done, then ill style your hair a little, and then you can get dressed and meet up with your mentor and district partner for the tribute parade!" she said this, her voice getting louder as she clapped her hands and a squad of people came out. seating herself into the chair in front of the mirror, they wet her hair, and started her makeup.

it took around an hour for makeup, excessive makeup that would only look good from a distance. stage makeup, and it was gorgeous.

the smudged out eyeliner drawn out to give a "kohl" look to the girls eyes, the dark red lips lined with even darker lip liner and sharp corners - making her lips seem curled in a smile, her eyes standing out. her eyes were captivating, her entire look was sultry, dominating and seductive at the time - all things that she wasn't. and that would've worked out for her, in the interviews and everything. a woman forced to appear strong in her parade, a woman with a sharp eye and luscious lips, a sultry and seductive woman. a maneater, something that she wasn't and she knew how to work across it, "oh god my stylist just did that to me .. i swear i'm not actually like that!" and little smiles, kisses and looks that would melt anyone. the innocence that wasn't yet stained, something she would have to work to show off, she wasn't what she was dressed to be and it felt like a costume to her. but still, she wore the costume well and just for the night.

as her stylist re-entered the room, she practically squealed when she saw the girl.

"oh dear! this is exactly how i imagined everything .. you stun me!" she managed out, as she examined her face.

"thank you.. i feel really pretty right now!" y/n proclaimed, unsure what exactly she should say.

"honey! you are really pretty!" she laughed, "well now it's time to give you back to your mentor and stuff.."

"he's probably gonna have a stroke when he sees me like this." the girl jokes back, haymitch was probably going to look like hes having a stroke when he first sees her, his jaw dropping a little and eyes widening in shock as he would took in the figure - a figure she wasn't used to "rocking" like this.

as she was lost in her thoughts, allium was pulling her around and eventually into the elevator.

"im so excited!" she squealed, this was her first year after all - and she got to style one of the more gorgeous women she had ever seen..!

the girl still lost in her own thoughts just had a dreamy smile on her face, imagining what haymitch might think of her.

as she entered the room, there was exactly 26 minutes until the tribute parade.

"someone finally decided to show up.." her district partner grumbled this while scowling, haymitch was reclined back into the luxurious sofa with a drink in his hand. he had cleaned up quite a bit, he was wearing a suit. he looked amazing and the girl was definitely staring.

"jesus theyre gonna have a field day with you." he slurred a little, he was drunk. he sat up, looking at her with his full attention. he took in the bodysuit, it hugged her curves well, showing a lot of skin, his eyes lingered where they shouldn't have for a while as he looked her up and down - slightly shocked by what she was wearing.

she just laughed at his words, blushing a little because honestly, she wanted to be on the couch snuggled up into him. she wasn't sure why but she was always quite drawn to the man, he was attractive , rough and a little messy - but still, he had a nice face and a nice body (for an alcoholic at least).

she sat down next to him, still not very comfortable as her stylist followed and sat down next to her district partner, his stylist standing behind haymitch.

"alright so .. you two need to try and get along.. just for the parade." haymitch said, a little grumpy. "but if you don't want to do that because the idea of being nice to each other disgusts you that much, then make it as obvious as possible .. you" he said, pointing at basil, "you need to figure out how to market yourself, make yourself look good and make them like you. and you, ehh sweetheart, you seem to have this whole 'make everyone fall in love with me' thing under your belt."

this led to a smile from her, as she nodded. her district partner seemed less than pleased, asking "why do we even have to make them like us anyway? shes not even that likeable.."

"you have to make them like you so you can get sponsors, sponsors are the difference between life and death in the arena- if you're starving, then a sponsors gift of food might saved your life .. and knowing you, you'll probably be starving if you survive that long. and, she" he said this, gesturing to you, "she is likeable because she is pretty, people are going to look at her before hearing what she says and they're gonna decide if they wanna keep her alive or not, she is desireable in terms of looks and looks can get you everywhere when it comes to sponsors."

"they're gonna hate her after they figure out what her personalities like.." he scowled as he thought about her, the simple thought causing his troll-like features to contort in displeasure. haymitch let out a sigh, seeing how those 2 couldn't get along.

the woman seemed offended at his words, and as she was about to say something not very kind about her partner, the intercom interrupted her.

"Tributes, the parade is taking place in exactly 10 minutes! Make sure you head to your chariots now." a shrill voice said from the speakers.

The group of them got up as they headed over to the chariots, she wasn't present for when they all rewatched the reapinga so she hadn't seen any of the tributes before.

The girl and guy from one were both beautiful, with the boy reminding her a little of cupid. They were covered in gold, matching their shiny blonde hair.

The pair from two were a little more average looking, with a younger girl and older guy, the girl looked as if she had been crying - not something expected from a career district.

From 3, they were both tall and slim, nothing extraordinary.

The pair from 4, with a boy that was obviously a kid - he couldn't have been older than 14.

She kept watching the other tributes, and she noticed how the girl from one would occasionally reach for the boys hand, holding it and smiling at the comparison. How she would look up at him with loving eyes, a look of longing and regret that was only visible to the trained eye. She noticed how the boy from 2 would comfort the girl from 2, patting her head sometimes. She saw how the girl from 4 was always looking back at the girl from 5, she noticed how the boy from 4 would scan the crowds with anxiety in his eyes. How the girl from 5 was also always looking at the girl from 4, love in their eyes for each other. She noticed how horrible the pairing for the career districts were - a pair of lovers, 2 kids, a woman entangled in a queer love affair that was bigger than she was, and the only actual "career" looking tribute was the boy, but still - he would comfort the girl from two. if anything, all the careers from one and two would group together, and the boy from 4 but the boy from 4 would be the one they left out a little more, the disposable one. The girl from 4 would probably ally with the one from 5, running away from the cornucopia to live out their dying moments in the arms of their love.

The pair from 10 seemed strong, 10 was the livestock district - butchers. They knew their way with a knife, and they probably knew how to kill. They would make powerful allies, the only reason they lacked victors was because of their lack of sponsors, they were a district that was greatly overlooked in the games.

She looked at the hands of each tribute, paying particular attention to those of 4 and 8, the districts where knots were useful, 4 using fishing knots and 8 being the one of textiles and fabrics. The pair from 8 almost definitely knew their way when it came to knitting / tying / sewing, the boy was 4 had callused hands - probably from fishing. She knew that those 4 people were to be looked out for as they would know how to manage and craft traps. The girl from 4 wouldn't be a problem unless she found her lover, she would be easy to pick off during her love crazed and very desperate search for her girlfriend. And the girl from 5, would be even easier once the girl from 4 was gone..

She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when Haymitch snapped his fingers in her face, "sweetheart, parades gonna start in a minute or so."

"sorry , was js thinking about something" she apologized, not trying to upset the man. she climbed into the chariot, as she waved a goodbye to the group.

She stood in the chariot, Haymitch's words stuck to her, or not his words but more his tone. He always seemed a little irritated with her, unless she was serving him liquor, he didn't really acknowledge her other than that. He didn't go over plans or advice with her, he just asked her to refill his drinks. She felt like the was dumbing her down, but he wasn't like this before the games. When she first met him, he was sweet. He was drunk but he saved her, and was still kind with her. She didn't understand the reason for his overall dismissal of her, always talking to basil about actual stuff instead of her.

The chariots started as Snow finished his speech, she wasn't sure she had it in her to smile and wave like she did before but she did anyway. The capital seemed to love her, screaming her name. She was showered with roses as they threw them over the stands, she caught one and smelled it, lifting it into the air and blowing a kiss in the direction it came from, even louder cheering emerged from the stands. She kept a smile on her face for most of the parade, but honestly - she was glad it was over.

She met back up with her district partner, mentor, and their escort.

"So! How did we do?" she said, as she smiled, excited.

"Crowd went absolutely insane when you did what you did with the rose! You're a natural in the spotlight!" her escort gushes, a smile on her face as she admired the girl. "Oh and your outfit! It was stunning ... I'm not sure how anyone could keep their hands off you!"

The tribute smiled at her, still a little upset with the idea of the games.

Once they got back to the building where they were going to spend the night, her prep team made quick work of her outfit - giving her her old clothes back and leaving her to remove her makeup by herself.

She went up the elevator, following the instructions of Allium, to go up to the 14th floor because that's where she was staying.

She walked in and saw Haymitch and her district partner, both by the coffee table and obviously discussing plans about the games.

They both looked up at her when she walked in.

"What are you guys doing?" She said, walking closer to them, her voice pleasant.

"Just discussing strategies for the games," Haymitch said, "..could join us if you'd like."

"She'd probably prefer to go play with her makeup or try on dresses.." sneered Basil, he knew she took an interest to those things and he mocked her for it. Haymitch honestly wasn't much better about it though, just sighing and ignoring Basil's words as he continues to discuss the plans.

She was a little hurt, but just said "maybe later, havw to go take a shower right now.", as she put on a smile and walked away to her room.

She didn't have much trouble finding her room, as they were all labeled. It was a beautiful room, decked out in pink and gold, unsure if they made special arrangements just for her, she walked into the bathroom.

As she explored, she found a cleansing balm and a whipped cleanser, which she used to remove her makeup. After that, she found a hair mask, and some scissors. So naturally, she decided to cut her hair. She was unsure if it was because of her newly dyed hair color or because she was unhappy with how the dya went, but it didn't matter because she picked up the scissors and snipped off a chunk. As she realized what she had doen, and how it was a very big and noticeable chunk, she gave up and kept cutting. Eventually she ended up with a medium length haircut, that cut off at her breasts, opposing to where he hair used to be - at her hips, that admittedly did fit her newly dyed hair pretty well, as did it frame her face. She brushed out any of the hair she cut out and applied the hair mask, putting on a shower cap and laying on her bed. She found what she thought was a tv remote and turned on the tv, she didn't find many shows or movies - the media allowed in Panem was mostly government broadcasts and talk shows. She ended up not watching tv and instead decided to paint her nails and take a quick nap.

She slept peacefully for almost 30 minutes, as her hair mask marinated. Once she realized it had been 30 minutes, she removed the shower cap and slipped into the shower. Scrubbing at her body as she relinquished all the bad thoughts and feelings of the day, erasing the dirt and sweat that stained her pretty body. She decided to take her time, she would exfoliate and shave and everything, made sure to be perfect by the end of it. As she rinsed off her soapy body, she reached for the body scrub, applying a lather of the sandy feeling liquid to her legs. She scrubbed for a little, exfoliating her legs as she picked up the razor, coating her legs in shaving foam, she glided the razor down, removing any hair that might've grown since the last time she did this. She repeated this process on her whole body, as she rinsed herself off and felt truly clean.

She exited the shower, engulfing herself into a soft robe, she felt truly at peace with herself at the moment. She looked through the contents of the skincare drawer in the room, finding sufficient products. She grabbed a piece of ice from the mini fridge in her room, rubbing it over her face, once she finished with that, she decided on a skin tightening toner and some rose water, which she applied to her face and neck. Afterwards, she layered a moisturizer over it, before finally adding some snail mucin to lock in moisture - a weird ingredient but common capitol beauty trend.

She patted her face as she applied a hydrating eyecream, before grabbing a hairdryer and drying her hair. Once she was sufficiently happy with how damp it was, she applied some hair oil, then grabbed a gua shua and ran it along her face. Once she finished with that, she picked up the hair dryer once again, this time fully drying out her hair. She grabbed a lash serum, applying some onto her eyelashes, and picking up a pair of tweezers, as she plucked her eyebrows into the perfect shape. The woman was high maintenance, she wasn't going to lie, but she loved it. Her little beauty rituals made her happy, made her beautiful.

As her hair was dried and she was happy with how she looked, she went into the closet they provided for her, and she picked out a pair of pajamas.

She had grabbed a satin babydoll top, lined with lace, and a pair of lacy underpants, that she put satin shorts of the same color over.

She ran her hands through her hair, adding a little bit of volume before exiting her own room, to join Haymitch and her district partner at the table.

They were still at the table but this time, Basil seemed to be yelling at Haymitch for something, with Haymitch being a little too drunk to care.

She made her way closer to them before hearing what Basil was so upset about, "you're literally a drunk why would i take advice from you" and other things, she didn't really plan on interfering except for maybe glaring at Basil a little more often, thst was until he grabbed Haymitch's drink and splashed it into his face.

The woman slammed a quick punch into Basil's face, letting out a "what the hell are you doing?"

"are you really gonna defend him, huh? hes a drunk! hes literally sending kids into an arena ever year judt for them to die!" basil said, delirious and mad.

"everyone has their problems and everyone has their way to cope for it. don't blame him for something out of his control." she hissed, as she bent over Haymitch, to help him wipe some of the alcohol off of him.

"he can control it but he just keeps ln fucking drinking - i don't even know how you can try to defend him ! he's gonna be the reason we die soon!" basil snapped, still upset.

"alcohol is not addictive," she said, wiping haymitch's jaw, "but alcohol is numbing, alcohol makes people forget. alcohol lets people escape the pain of their modern lives, it takes a while for it to develop into an addiction but getting addicted to alcohol is not something someone does for fun, alcoholics are people who have something to forget, something to hide from, something that is hurting them just to remember. alcohol is an easy way out that still lets them live, still lets them function. i promise you , just because he's an alcoholic doesnt mean he doesnt care, and it doesnt mean he doesnt fucking try." the tone of her voice was sharp, unpleasant and spearing at the moment, something abnormal for her, "if he didn't care and he didn't want to try, if he didn't have some hope for us, us as in the tributes, he would be fucking dead. sending kids into a death arena is something no one could enjoy, but if he didn't have a little bit of hope - that one of us could win, he wouldnt be here today. he was a kid too when he went into his arena, he survived and it scarred him, what he did scarred him and snows punishments scarred him. he's not a bad man for wanting to escape the horrors of his past, and hes not a bad man for being drunk while hes supposed to be helping us because at least hes still here and at least hes still trying. so you need to shut the fuck up and realize that everyone has their own problems and to stop bitching at every minor inconvenience." her tone indicated the end of a conversation, as basil walked over to his room, unable to argue with the woman, the sympathetic woman who always seemed to look into a situation more than she had to.

she leaned back down to haymitch who was watching her with sharp eyes now, questioning eyes, her little outburst wasn't something he expected. the little observations she made, the little assumptions, and how she had seen through his facade things that shocked him. he realized she looked at him with wide eyes and sympathy because she figured he was trying, still trying his best after the dozens of kids he watched die.

and at that moment he knew, he knew what she was. a people watcher, a sympathizer, a woman who knew how to wear everyone else's shoes, a woman who took nothing to heart because she trusted that whoever was delivering it had something going on for them, someone who could see through everything and still never tried to hurt them with the information she had gathered as she observed them.

she rested into his arms and caressed his jawline, her own attempt to comfort the man. she was sweet and beautiful, insanely likeable, and insanely marketable.

#haymitch abernathy #haymitch abernathy x reader #haymitch is my man #my man my man my man #my mannn #i love him #my man is going through it #my man is so fine #haymitch x reader #thg haymitch #haymitch #yummers #i need him

[leebrontide]

I suspect this isn't a normal way of developing character designs for a comic, and I KNOW this isn't a normal way of developing designs for a cast of characters for a prose story.

But this is where I'm starting to develop the appearance of my characters from the body horror mecha novel I'm starting to fiddle around with with my wife, tentatively titled Carapace and Chrysalis.

We couldn't resist a sendup to the old Sentai shows, so we have divvied up our mecha pilots by color- red, yellow, blue, black, pink and green.

So I started off with uniform colors, but since it's not a happy story I wanted to rotate off regular primary colors a bit. I went a bit vintage printing, a bit natural stone...I wanted fairly grounded versions of these colors. From there I added skintone, eye color, hair color, and an accent color, and tweaked everything to give the cast a cohesive look, as if this was for animation.

Just like with Names in Their Blood, I do intend to make a bunch of art for Carapace and Chrysalis, to show you all online. I don't intend to animate, because animating multi-armed, strangely-shaped, insect-informed mecha is far beyond where I expect my animation skills to ever reach.

But it will be nice to design some characters that are more obviously inspired by their genres, since most of my Names in their Blood cast look quite ordinary.

I'm gonna have to remember how to draw old school anime style, at least a bit.

So, here is the introduction of Xanthe, Claret, Sini, Rossa, Varjo and Chloe. Aren't they lovely?

#writeblr #writing #wip #Carapace and Chrysalis

[not-goldy]

Oh Goldy I've seen literally every explanation and excuses from this 'fandom' on why Jkk decided to enlist together

They've tattoos, they are same hometown, they didn't had option, it's fanservice, it's because Jin is there, JK is forced, they are real brothers

"Do you think it's a gay bar for gay couple to go together ? If anything this canceled Jikook ship as a whole as a couple in homophobic country won't enlist together"

How shitkookers feel after saying this: 🤡💪

If 2017 GCFT was what made them mental retraeds for 1st time... this enlistment is making them totally lose it. I hope bt travel show coming out they'll consider jumping off the cliff 🥺🤞🤞🤞 because it's better not to be alive as a tkkr to face post military jkk lmao...

They are grasping at straws because they have nothing to stand on. The best they can do is troll. That's all they doing is trolling 🤣 😂 💀

They sound as if Gay men don't go to the military together all the time. It's mandatory service they won't be exempt just because they are queer.

And yes, they are going to be under close scrutiny especially on mere suspicion of their sexuality- their privacy will be violated, people will be suspicious of them- unfortunately all that will happen because that's just what homophobia is and from what I hear it's quit prevalent in the SK military and even straight dudes who get suspected of being queer get burned.

The difference here is, Jikook have some clout and some privilege going in there. I don't expect them to be given special treatment just because they are the most successful boy band on earth right now but that type of success comes with social clout and currency.

Unfortunately they won't tell us the struggles they face in there because of their fame, looks, sexual orientation, skintone, height, features- even if we know they do face these micro discriminations- I mean we know they make fun of eachother jx because they get tanned etc.

I'm being sensitive because I find a lot of these things triggering for me. It's giving boarding school all over again.

We might wait have to wait for their memoirs and autobiographies for their honest thoughts and experiences of these things in their lives.

Whatever it is, I still stand with them.

But for me, being queer, having experienced bullying, homophobic violence and knowing the grave danger queer people face in certain unwelcoming spaces I wish people would understand just how terrified I am for them right now. And it's not just for them, but for every single queer individual that has to mandatorily serve. The stories that come out of there is brutal.

This is the most stressful moment of my life in this Fandom. And I think some of us are rightfully concerned for their safety- as any one who thinks they are queer should. Hopefully, nothing happens to them. At worst, they get outed for being queer and get prosecuted for having gay sex while in the military.

And what these dummies don't understand is- its immaterial whether they think Jikook are a couple or not. What is at stake here is, even if they should individually have sex with their "boyfriends" off duty off base- they will still be prosecuted for having gay sex while serving.

So yes, even if you think Jikook are not a couple- if you believe they or anyone in BTS is queer at all- you should be very much concerned for their safety and human rights regardless.

If they are queer, them enlisting will not make them straight and is certainly not evidence of they are straight because there are gay men, Trans and non-binary individuals in the south Korean military. Enlisting into the military is not some magical test of straighthood. All that enlistment means is enhanced risks for the queer individuals who actually enlist- but no, of course that's not what people are concerned about.

Like I said in an earlier post, I haven't come across any gay law/ regulations that prohibit queer couples from enlisting together or at all. If there is then Jikook would be violating those laws as closeted gay men which only put them in graver danger.

If such a law exists at all its cruel, draconian, machiavellian, and outright discriminatory and I don't know why people would use that as plot device in fan/ship warfares. It's downright stupid and insensitive, and oppressive against LGBTQIA's.

In times like this I think we can appreciate the privilege of silence, of being closeted, of being straight passing- because it becomes easy to move through a world that caters for straight people and is designed for them.

Not gonna lie, I find the minimalizing and trivializing of the risks Jikook face IF THEY ARE INDEED QUEER, insensitive and disgusting.

Because I'm sure parents siblings and friends of actual queer men- shit their pants, pour ash on their heads and quiver at the knee at the thought of their gay relations going into the military.

Some of you will never know how it feels and to that I say, it's not fair😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

The fact I even have to explain the reason for the fear anxiety and worry makes me sick in the stomach 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I don't hate straight people but also I do😭

Hate you all 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[leidensygdom]

Hi, so, this is gonna have awkward start, but I've started only recently expanding into drawing more POC people. I get the skintones right, but I always was, and still am, afraid I get facial features wrong and offend someone who i really don't mean to hurt. Sadly I won't get better without practice or guidance - Is it okay if I study your art, and/or do you have any resources you could recommend? I want to do this right.

Thank you for your time!

Hey hello! And hey, it's not an awkward question, it's actually great to start to look into getting these things right! I've been meaning to work on some portrait studies on my end, because I feel like there's much room of improvement for this

(I feel a bit conflicted on whether I can talk much on the matter, since while my family is a mix of many things, most notably my mother's side (which is Romani). I just don't quite know where do I fall in this whole ordeal)

HOWEVER, some of the best recommendations I can give is checking how POC draw themselves. They're going to do features most genuinely. There's a few tutorials out there that can help greatly:

This second link mentions a tag you might find of use (#drawingwhileblack). Tags like #blacktober might also be great for this!

This is also a great guide for drawing East Asian features!

This one has some guidelines for skincolor regarding Native Americans, and the blog itself might have more resources

I'd honestly also recommend checking @zephyrbug . They're both POC and absolutely fantastic at drawing faces (with so much variety!), they've put a lot of work into studying features and such! (If you're a POC artist or have any other recommendation, please feel free to let me know, I'd love to collect a few!)

Of course, if any of my followers has other useful tutorials, or want to add anything to this, please do feel free! A lot of times the will to want to improve and put the time into getting these things right is a great place to start, and I'd love to be able to add more resources in here!

#tutorial

[miqojak]

(Old - left, New - right) Since you can import your character data and keep your non-default hair, but you can't keep that hair if you go into the creator, so I wanted to still try and compare things as best I could without it yoinking Jak's hair... since there's just not a single other hair in the game that suits her! And just look at how different the eyebrows are - how much more defined they are, and how that kind of alters how the browbone looks. I'll admit - at rest, the lips look... quite different on the new 7.0 Jak (they... tuck in at the sides more?), and I don't know how that sits with me - I'll have to look at her for a while in 7.0 I imagine, before I decide if they're close enough to get used to... since a lot of this will just take playing with for a while to adjust to, as we're all so used to the old, slightly worse features! Weirdly enough, I'm even like 'look not just at the new, defined hands - but the armpit crease!' It even sits more like a real arm! AND LOOK at the texture on the Miqo racial armor! Look at the leather! The shiny metal bits!! The creases in the brown armor on the arms!

But WOW look at the texture on the new hair!! It's not even one included in the baseline benchmark, and it's still updated and looks SO crisp!! Look at where the braid connects to the temple! Look at the fine hairs! And as much as the lips look different while 'at rest' to me...I can't complain that they look less flat and fake/painted onto her like a doll, in the updated graphics! And I could get lost in the new eye graphics for any of the races - those were also empty and lifeless before, and now there's just such shine, and depth! Also, to note - even the clan marks look better, and that's a little thing that seems easy to overlook, to me, when you're so distracted by updated eyes and hair! Scarring and tattoos just look a thousand times more real, as well, instead of like stickers stuck onto your face.

(And I still say to play with skintones in the creator, if you're unhappy with how yours looks. I do feel like Jak's might feel like it has a little bit more of a red undertone to it, than the more light-orange, or goldish undertones I was going for originally...but it's still close! When the expansion drops, I'll have to fiddle with her a little to see. But you may need to go up or down a shade to get the right feel, again, now that the skintones seem to display more as intended, and have more depth to them, as well!)

A couple more 'for funsies' shots... but also - look at all the minions in this last shot!! I NEED that little green and red bird on the left!! I want that lil goat! LOOK AT THE MANATEE...THE ALPACA!

#ffxiv #dawntrail benchmark #benchmark #miqo'te #graphical update