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hockpock · 6 months
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Glasses Review - Firmoo
Hello vision impaired friends, I bring you the gospel of Ordering Your Damn Glasses Online
I have previously ordered from EyeBuyDirect (luxotica/lenscrafters'/America's Best in disguise, sorry.) and Zenni Optical ( most well known online provider, A+ would recommend) and have seen lots of ads for free pairs from a competitor, Firmoo. I have too much prescription for the free pair offers to ever work out from ANY provider, but their fun designs put them on my list.
When my current glasses broke, I was dinking around and saw their current promotion is Buy One Get One Free PLUS 20% off lenses and as lenses are the real $$$ I jumped on that like tigger on crack. I am VERY nearsighted with astigmatism and the average pair of glasses from lenscrafters used to cost me $300 minimum.
After much deliberation with a million tabs open and a poll I ignored the results of for Reasons, I ordered a pair of clear frames and a pair of purple steampunk-y wireframes . Two pairs of HIGH PRESCRIPTION glasses for $87 shipped. I could cry, y'all.
Note: I have an up to date prescription and a nifty app that measures Pupillary Distance or 'PD'. you will need both these things accurate to have the best experience buying your glasses online.
I ordered them 9/22, they shipped 9/25, I received them 9/29 with regular shipping. They came well packed - each pair was in a bag made of cleaning cloth material inside a sturdy plastic case and they come in a foil bubble mailer.
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Both pairs feel well made, with lots of attention to detail-
however I did not pay attention to detail or pay extra money for the Re-he-heaaallly thin lenses. So the clear ones are slightly too big and I hate the way the nose pieces sit, while the purple ones are a wee bit small across the temple and heavy to boot. I haven't had dents in my nose like this since I was 12.
the website lists their exchange policy as 30 days, the pamphlet that came with the glasses says 60. Either way it was pretty painless to go into my order history and select "exchange". The form I filled out with my reasons for dissatisfaction promised me I would be contacted within 24 hours.
My 'personal Firmoo consultant', 'Karen', emailed me with a code for the full price before discount of both pairs + standard shipping, as well as the usual customer service canned answers about checking the sizing information and did I know I could upgrade the lenses?
Also I could keep the failed pairs 'FOR NOW', here are some places that accept glasses as donations. (mixed messages, Karen, but sweet!)
New friends are April006, round anodized wireframes with a cute dingly gem thing, and Sandy020 , literal tortoiseshell cat eye frames.
This time I used the site's search terms to cut the temple width and earpiece length options down and double checked the weight of the base frames. (14g vs 24g for the round wireframes before my coke-bottle lenses. RIP my nose. )
New order was placed 10/5 and they arrived 10/17 . (last time I checked the tracking estimated arrival had creeped from the 19th up to the 23rd so grain of salt. This may be a tactic to make the order feel like it got here faster or legit delays. In my case there was a federal holiday involved.)
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Complete disclosure I'm gonna grab a pair of pliers and take the little dangly off the wireframes. It makes a noise when I move my head and if I don't fold the frames in the right order when I take them off it'll scratch up the lenses. I ain't gonna remember to avoid that, so off it goes.
The Good:
Large selection, Good Quality, Good Communication. Lots of Off the Beaten Path options for internet weirdos. Firmoo p much always has a promotion going.
My wallet is so happy. SO HAPPY. Frames run $20-30ish to start. lenses will vary with your prescription and options.
If y'all want 50% off your first frames and to give me a $10 credit they have a referral program and my code is T4Z8I2. BOGO20 is a better value but it expires 11/01/23.
The Bad:
Not flexible about lens options- you go down one track and pick your options within that. If there was a way to put tinting on a pair of glasses other than blue light blocking I couldn't find it. (in contrast I believe Zenni lets you choose a range of colors and tint depth on any pair, designed as sunnies or not)
You Will Get Emails. Firmoo REALLY wants you to buy more glasses and post about it and tell your friends and HERE THIS CODE IS ONLY GOOD FOR 3 DAYS, GO BUY NEW GLASSES. They are marketing themselves to fashionable young influencers who change styles every month. Unsubscribe with impunity.
like Zenni, this is a company with the majority of it's functionality based overseas. It's cheaper because you're ordering directly from a factory and not paying Luxotica's markups to itself. Customer service is mostly English as Second Language speakers and there may be delays.
Not For Emergencies. I was able to coast on a pair of glasses from a prescription or 2 ago but it's gonna take time for your order to be made and shipped.
Overall I'm very happy with them and will probably order again.
Next time I have spare money I'm aiming at Wherelight because y'all. they are next down on the list of reputable to shady AF but they have the most amazing WTF designs.
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tenpintsofsundrop · 8 months
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The Perfect Brat
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Dom!Elle Greenaway x Dom!Fem!Reader x Sub!Spencer Reid (Smut Blurb)
Concept: Spencer acts up. You and Elle put him in his place. It's an unconventional relationship, but it works so well.
Word Count: 2,900
Criminal Minds Masterlist | AO3 Link
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Full list of warnings and author's notes below the cut.
Warnings: this is primarily a smut fic; she reader uses she/her pronouns and has a vagina; this could be read with or without considering the major canon events; dom/sub dynamics - Dom!Elle, Dom!Reader, Sub!Spencer (he is definitely more of a brat in this and I had so much fun writing it); implications of an ongoing poly relationship between the three of them; punishment and reward (Spencer is punished for being mouthy/talking back); size difference kink/reverse size kink (the reader loves how skinny and easy to toss around Spencer is); Spencer is spanked, Spencer is gagged with his own tie (the tie is also used like a leash on him); general rough play; Spencer calls the reader 'Miss'; undertones of humiliation kink, mentions of subspace, mentions of pain kink, Spencer is called a whore, a slut a stupid brat; degradation kink (towards Spencer); mentions of paddling; mentions of jealousy; bondage - Spencer has his hands tied behind his back; Spencer wears a cockring; orgasm restriction (toward Spencer); Spencer is forced to watch while Elle fucks the reader with a strap-on (the reader is a bottom between Elle and the reader, but she still is 100% a dom in this); as mentioned - strap-on sex (Elle fucks the reader with a strap-on); crying kink (Spencer is pretty when he cries); mentions of pegging (from Elle toward Spencer); hair pulling (reader receiving); Elle is called 'Mistress'; the reader and Elle could both be considered mean in this. I hope that's everything and I haven't missed anything important.
A/N: the inspiration behind this is actually so funny. I was working on the second part of Lessons For A Genius and I literally thought to myself 'Spencer is too nice in this. he's too well behaved' - and then I started thinking about a fic where Spencer is a bratty sub and gets punished, and then in that scenario, Elle suddenly appeared in my head (I guess because Elle has such dom energy and she's always bossing Spencer around in the show, this is just too real, they have so much chemistry) - and next thing I know I was opening another tab to write this because I couldn't help myself. So I hope you guys enjoy it!! I would love to write more fics where Spencer is a bratty sub in the future. I just love writing sub!Spencer in general. (some people have asked me to write dom!Spencer and I am warming up to it very, very slowly.) anyway, please enjoy!
...
You were in the room for less than thirty seconds when Spencer’s pants were down. 
Usually, something like this occurred out of pure lust or need. Spencer was a very needy boy. It was rare that you felt this much annoyance building up inside of you. It was rare that you tore off his clothes out of anger. 
But he had mouthed off to you in front of the local cops, whining that you ‘weren’t his mother’ when you asked him how many cups of coffee he’d had that day and advised him to drink some water. It had been a sassy comeback that had several of the men in the room laughing, and at the time, Spencer had been grinning into that ill-advised seventh cup of coffee, thinking that you couldn’t see him. 
It was something that got a warm rage simmering inside of you. 
Generally, he had been the biggest kind of brat all day. He had been mouthing off, even going so far as to talk back to Hotch when given orders. And you weren’t taking too kindly to it. 
He had to know who was in charge. He had to know that you wouldn’t stand for him being a mouthy brat. 
The door to the hotel room had barely closed behind you before you had his belt undone, the heft of the leather causing the fabric of his slacks to drop to his ankles. This left him entirely exposed from the waist down, feeling a rush of vulnerability, knowing he was in trouble. His stomach clenched in anticipation. You weren’t entirely surprised to find that he wasn’t wearing underwear. He had been acting out all day because he was feeling needy, apparently. 
Before he could speak, only uttering out a few half hearted protests, you shoved him hard. He was so skinny, so easy to push around, it was almost laughable. You pushed him until you had him exactly where you wanted him - bent over the dresser in the middle of the room. It was a chest of drawers with an attached vanity mirror, forcing him to bend over it and brace his hands on the surface so he could look at himself in the mirror. 
So he could stare himself down and face all of his beautiful shame as you tore him apart. 
“Look, Miss, please-” He stuttered out. 
Clearly he was still trying to come back from this, still trying to grovel, trying to apologize. 
But it was too late for that. You had decided that during the car ride back. 
“Shut up.” You told him gruffly. 
You reached around his body to his front and grabbed his tie, slipping it slightly loose before you brought it partway up his head. He was confused by this, until you slipped the loop into his mouth, effectively gagging him. You then spun it so the length of the tie was at the back of his head. You tightened it harshly then, causing him to moan as the fabric scuffed sorely against the sides of his mouth. 
But that wasn’t all. 
You yanked back on the length of the tie as though it were a leash, pulling his tall body into a tense arch, forcing him to be exactly where you wanted him to be. He moaned deeply as a wave of pleasurable pain shot through his body, his back cracking slightly as you forced him into such an uncomfortable position. Your other hand was on his lower back, keeping his hips pinned against the edge of the dresser as you forced his neck back as far as it would go. 
His muscles quivered and tears easily came to his eyes. His cock throbbed harshly with all of it. He always needed to be put in his place. He needed his head to be emptied as the control was taken away from him - as he was owned wholly, his body and mind no longer his own. 
When you were sure that he would stay like this, the subspace setting in and making him slightly more compliant, you moved the hand on his lower back. This forced him to hold the position on his own, his legs becoming shaky - but he didn’t move to make himself more comfortable, which did cause you to grin. 
Then, you hauled your hand back, delivering a harsh spank across his bare ass cheek. 
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” You bit out harshly. “I know I did not train you to be such a fucking brat.” 
You delivered another spank, his soft skin already turning red from your hits. Your palm was stinging slightly, but you didn’t care. It gave you a certain thrill, and it was worth teaching him a lesson if his ass was sore tomorrow and he remembered this. Usually not being able to sit right did help him remember to behave. 
All Spencer could do was moan in response, being very effectively gagged by his own tie. His cock was angry and hard, trapped between his pelvis and the edge of the dresser as you punished him. 
“You’re just a needy little whore, aren’t you?” 
You barked, pulling his neck back even harder. This caused him to whine out in pain, such a beautiful sound that had you dizzy with pleasure as your ego swelled. You pulled him closer to you and placed your lips close to his ear, hissing the next words near his cheek with malice. 
“What’s wrong? The needy slut doesn’t get enough attention?” 
“Come on, Y/N, take it easy on him,” Elle chuckled from the corner, taking a sip of her drink. 
She had ridden with Morgan, so she had made it to the room an easy five minutes before you and Reid had. And thus far, she had been heavily enjoying the show that the two of you were putting on. But she did think you were being a bit too rough considering that Reid was a bit lippy on a good day. 
“Oh, I need to take it easy?” You chuckled sarcastically, looking over your shoulder at her. 
You tossed your hold on the tie, letting Spencer’s body relax forward slightly while you assessed Elle. He let out a whimper of relief, but didn’t make any further noise to draw attention to himself - not wanting the two of you to gang up on him and make his punishment even worse. (The two of you were devious minds, and when you worked together, it was a beautiful kind of destruction.) 
Sitting there, Elle was smug as ever, staring you and Spencer down with a clear heat in her eyes. 
“Last time you paddled him, he couldn’t walk for a week.” You added on, bringing up the memory to try and prove your point. 
“He was flirting with that waitress, he deserved it.” Elle said, speaking as though it was the obvious thing in the world. 
Generally speaking, you weren’t even sure if Spencer knew how to flirt. You thought that for the most part he just didn’t know when other people were flirting with him and didn’t know when to deflect it to stop it from pissing you and Elle off. But you had enjoyed it too much to argue with Elle about it - his bright red ass and awkward gait for the week following that paddling had just been too good. 
You used the tie-leash and a tight hold on one of his hips to spin Spencer around, tossing him onto one of the double beds in the room. He landed roughly on his stomach with a light bounce. He let out a jagged moan as his exposed cock scraped against the cheap hotel bedspread. But - true to form, trying to prove that he was a good boy, he did nothing more than lay there, staying perfectly still where you had put him. 
Elle grinned at him before she looked back to you. 
“So, what do you think we should do with him?” You asked, putting a hand on Spencer’s shoulder to flip him over onto his back, presenting him to her like a filthy prize. 
Spencer whimpered quietly and blinked up at you and Elle with big, wet eyes, clearly thinking that the puppy dog look could get him some sympathy. But there was no chance of mercy. He had already made his bed, and he was going to get fucked in it.
“I have a few ideas.” Elle chuckled. 
… 
That was how Spencer ended up in his current position. 
He was sitting in the chair that Elle had previously been sitting in, stripped completely naked. A light sheen of sweat had formed over his skin, causing his hair to stick to his forehead in that beautifully desperate way. His hands were tied behind his back with his own belt, and a cockring was secured around the base of his needy, throbbing cock. 
There was no possible way for him to get relief. Even if he became so desperate as to hump the furniture, all that he would get was a fruitless, horrible dry orgasm. The cockring so tight around him definitely assured that. And with his hands tied behind his back, he couldn’t take it off. Especially not with the way the two of you were keeping a watchful eye on him. 
You and Elle certainly weren’t going to let him get away with anything. 
He certainly wasn't going to get out of your line of sight. That was the whole point. 
The bulk of his punishment was to watch. 
To watch you and Elle and not be allowed to touch his needy, throbbing cock. To have a feast of sights before him, but be stuck, not allowed to cum. Not even allowed to feel the slightest bit of relief against his pathetic dick until you or Elle decided that he’d had enough. 
“Please.” Spencer begged hopelessly. 
His hips arched up into the air slightly, humping into nothing, fruitlessly seeking contact. His cock dribbled out precum, almost as if the pretty pink cockhead was weeping out in protest, trying to show his deep, unsatisfied need. 
“Please!” He bawled. “I’ll be a good boy! I promise!” 
His voice was so beautifully wrecked. It sent a wave of pleasurable tingles right through you. 
“Did you hear that?” Elle chuckled behind you. “He promises.” She cooed these words mockingly. 
Both of you knew that it wasn’t a promise he could keep for too long. 
Elle huffed out a devilish laugh as she raked the sharpness of her nails across your back. She sounded just as amused as you were watching Spencer’s pathetic attempts to get back on both your good sides. 
“I fucking doubt it.” You grunted back breathlessly. 
“If he wasn’t so pathetic, I might take pity on him.” Elle said, her voice taking on that mean edge that she knew Spencer loved. 
He moaned at the words, his hips flexing up once again. Unlike when he played poker, during sex, he always gave away all his cards, always showed what pleased him most and what his weakest spots were. It was one of the reasons you loved taking him apart so much. One of the reasons you loved owning him. 
“If you were a ‘good boy’, you’d shut up and watch me fuck your precious Miss without complaining,” Elle said, continuing to mock him, fucking her hips harder into you to drive home her point. 
She had you in the middle of the bed, perfectly on display for Spencer - on your hands and knees, completely stripped naked. The two of you were a perfect visual tease for him - with Elle in her bright red lacy bra, a commanding presence behind you with her thick seven inch strap-on buried in your wet, wanting pussy. You were absolutely enjoying yourself as she fucked in and out of you with an intense roughness. 
Most of the time, the two of you teamed up as a wicked force against Spencer - and combined, you were a deadly sinful team. But when the two of you took the time to enjoy pleasuring each other, it was a rough, chaotic slice of heaven. Like lighting clashing against itself in the best way. 
When you did let her fuck you, you weren't whiny or submissive to her wills. You took it well, never begged for it. And she understood you and what you needed - the feeling of a thick cock splitting you open, that rough touch that Spencer never gave you because he was so subservient to your will. You loved the fact that she didn’t treat you like a glass doll. 
“Please!” Spencer tried again, going directly against Elle’s order to sit there and shut up. 
You weren’t sure if it was him playing up again or if he actually thought he could talk his way out of this somehow. 
“Please, let me touch you! Let me help you cum! Let me service you, Miss! I’ll be so good!” Spencer begged, his words dissolving into sobs as the desperation heightening within him. 
“What? You think you’re allowed to touch this pussy? You think you should be allowed?” Elle growled, fucking into you so hard that it caused a wet smacking to resonate through the room - something that made Spencer want you even more. 
You laughed in response to Spencer’s whiny antics, and the incredible fake cock plunging into you from behind - a sound that dissolved into a loud moan when Elle reached around and rubbed your clit, clearly wanting even more from you. 
Elle hammered her hips against you like she hated you, fucked into your pussy with a brutal passion. She was partially trying to show Spencer what he was missing out on, a deadly ache growing in his gut when he thought about the emptiness he felt without her perfect fake cock. Because he did spend a fair amount of time fucked out and drooling on her strap when she wanted to fuck him with it - from either end. 
And she was partially trying to get you to be messier, wetter, louder, putting on more of a show for him. The more beautiful and pornographic you were, the more effective his punishment was (not that it was hard for you to become a walking sex dream, as gorgeous as you naturally were). 
Elle loved to fuck you like this - she loved having your tight pussy hugging the silicone of her cock. You were a challenge. You didn’t simply beg for her cock, your body didn’t just mold and bend to her wills because she touched you with strong hands. You always fucked your hips back into her twice as hard, and you laughed and snarled back if she called you a dirty bitch. 
It was part of the reason that the two of you so perfectly destroyed someone as needy and submissive as Spencer. Spencer, the type of person who got whiny and started acting up if he didn’t get enough attention from either of you in the run of a day. 
“I’ll be good!” Spencer whined. “Please! Please, just touch me! I promise I won’t do it again!” 
His eyes had become as wet as his cock, the tip glistening with precum as tears dripped from the corners of his eyes, his entire being reeking of desperation and uncontained lust. 
“Do you even know what you did this time, you stupid brat?” Elle prodded, her voice dark and lacking any sweetness as she spat the words across the room at him. 
Spencer let out a wounded sound that was barely recognizable - perhaps he was trying to compose himself to speak, perhaps he was truly clueless. 
He could be so mouthy sometimes, but most of the time, he didn’t even recognize his sass as a problem. 
“What makes you think you’re worthy to touch her? What makes you think that you get to touch her after being such a dumb brat all day?” Elle teased him. 
She emphasized her words by yanking back on your hair, delivering a pleasurable amount of pain that made you moan out as she continued to harshly thrust her hips into your wet cunt. 
“What makes you think that a brat like you gets to touch these perfect tits?” Elle mocked him, leaning over you to grope roughly at your swaying breasts. Of course, just to show him what he couldn’t have and heavily enjoying your body in the process. 
You chuckled at this, enjoying the way Spencer’s features twisted up in displeasure. Clearly he was whiny, wanting so badly to touch you - but he hadn’t earned it. Not tonight. 
He let out a few more tears before he spoke again. 
“I’m sorry.” He sniffled quietly. “I’m a bad boy. I’ve been bad.” 
“Why?” You heaved out, breathless from Elle’s efforts. “Why are you bad?” 
“Good boys don’t talk back.” Spencer finally admitted, his voice weak with defeat. 
“Look, the genius finally figured it out.” Elle commented, beautiful condescension dripping through her voice. 
“Good!” You huffed, fucking your hips harshly back into Elle’s cock while you locked eyes with Spencer’s wet, glassy ones. “Now keep your whiny fuckin’ mouth shut while Mistress fucks me, and maybe - fuck - and maybe I won’t keep that cockring on you all day tomorrow.” 
Spencer whined harshly at this, but didn’t protest. Elle grinned, planting a kiss on the back of your neck before she dug her nails into your hips and fucked you faster.
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brainicusrotticus · 1 month
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the crucial event that tied doc!sol and vace together:
they set off for the subaqueous swamp. sol drives the transport vehicle, and brings a bag for storing samples. he practically forced a second bag on vace, but that’s alright because vace forced sol to carry a plaspistol, in addition to bringing his own plasrifle, stun gloves, and a hunting knife.
they get to the swamp, and go about doing their thing. vace gets a bit twitchy a few times, but sol gives him the stern “don’t shoot at shit unless we’re about to die” look, and it’s enough to settle him down.
they’re there for hours. sol darting from plant to plant, vace just following and keeping an eye out.
it gets within about two hours of sundown, which means they’re going to need to leave soon. there’s also a heavy looking storm moving in, so sol is trying to get some last readings from another new species of plant that seems to have solid healing properties.
vace seems on edge. he’s usually been quietly pacing about, always looking out for shit. but sol takes a quick breather from this plant, and realizes vace is standing very nearby, and very still.
something feels off, but vace can’t tell what it is. and that’s not good.
sol takes him seriously, because that’s what vace is there for. he upholsters his plaspistol (for show, because it’s not like he actually know how to use the thing), goes for a sample of this last plant, and then they’ll get moving back to the transport.
first rule of vertumna: it’s never just a plant.
this plant turns out to be the hook for a creature fairly reminiscent of a snapbladder. and the second sol touches it, the trap springs.
it gets a decent clamp on sol. across his left shoulder and chest. it’s clearly not sized for human prey, but it’s bite is strong enough. it’ll bruise, and its teeth break the skin, but it’s not all that worrying.
it lets go when vace fires some non-lethal shots into it, and scurried away. vace goes to check on the doc, who assures him that it’s all fine.
but they haven’t been unnoticed. all day, noctilucent has been keeping tabs on them. waiting for a good opportunity to strike. and what better opening than worried distraction?
but he’s mean. he aims for the hard hits.
he drops a tree on them.
vace manages to swing the doc out of the way, and takes the full force of a falling tree on himself. not that solane being present would’ve changed that, then they’d just both take the full force of a falling tree. and it would end much worse for one of them.
it’ll leave some bruises on him. might’ve even left a few small cracks in the bones. but this is vace. he’ll be fine.
there’s only one major problem.
his legs are pinned under it. and he’s strong, but not super strong, and it’s hard to get proper leverage when you’re face down on the ground. sol is managed to catch his breath after being thrown to the ground (really just failing to catch himself), and is about to get up and go to vace…
but noctilucent emerges from the bushes. still dripping, like he’d crawled right out of the swamp water.
(he did)
sol hasn’t met noct before, but he knows about gardeners from sym
particularly that there are a number of gardeners who want the whole colony gone. and who think “dead” is good enough.
and in this particular scenario? he doesn’t really get the feeling this is going to be a friendly chat. he wonders if noct was the one responsible for the looming stormclouds.
noct knows how to threat assess. also, he’s been watching them all day. he knows that one of these individuals knows how to use a gun, and the other is a goddamn nerd. so vace presently being stuck under a tree? means that problem can be dealt with immediately.
so noct goes to him.
and stomps on vace’s head with those ugly ass hooves of his.
but, it’s vace. he’s built different. it’ll leave a bump, and left a little split in the skin that bleeds a bit, but it’s probably not even enough for a concussion.
(sol definitely has that brief moment of “i just witnessed a murder” before he remembered vace’s augment)
but noct keeps going. he gets another 3-4 in before sol throws himself on vace, literally wrapping around noctilucent’s leg like an octopus. screaming for him to stop.
and noct backs up a step. mostly because he’s surprised by the sheer audacity sol is showing.
and sol covers vace’s body with his own.
he doesn’t know how to fight. his plaspistol isn’t in reach, he can’t see vace’s plasrifle, the only thing he has is the knowledge that gardeners don’t die when their body is killed. he isn’t a soldier.
but he has to be.
vace is out of it. he seems to be wavering on consciousness, but his legs are still stuck and he definitely has at least a concussion now.
sol is the only one who can help them right now.
he’s shaking and sobbing, pressed overtop of vace. he can see something like amusement in noct’s eyes, and it pushes him that much further.
noct leans down. he wants to meet this human eye to eye, to mock sol for this before he kills them both. he’s absolutely focused on the full-faced misery of sol.
it’s classic, really. a common trick used by magicians in old holovids.
misdirection.
noct doesn’t see sol work vace’s knife free of the belt. he isn’t as guarded with sol. this human has only ventured beyond the colony a handful of times, and has never shown any prowess for combat.
sol isn’t a threat.
and as the doctor, lightning quick, wraps a hand around the back of noctilucent’s neck and slices so deep he leaves a cut across his own palm, he wonders if noct will remember this. feel some primal unease the next time he sees solane. or if, like his recent memories, all sense of threat melts away with his body.
the sprinkling rain is starting to grow heavier. sol uses a thick branch to leverage the tree off of vace, and wishes desperately that he had the time to fully exam the damage.
but he doesn’t. utopia will probably realize something is wrong soon—probably sent a message to the transport when stratos picked up on the storm moving in, and is waiting for a response that indicates they’re heading back to the colony.
when it doesn’t come, she’ll report them as missing. normal protocol is a search and rescue party.
but the storm would make for hostile conditions. if it raises the water too much, there are parts of the road that’ll flood, and they might not even be able to get a squad to the swamp. unless the storm blows over in minutes (which is possible, if not likely), it’ll be nightfall or later by the time anyone can make it.
and nighttime isn’t a good time for a rescue squad. it just puts more people at risk. in most cases, they’d wait until day. rhett wouldn’t get any sleep over the worry and guilt, but he’d make the choice anyway.
except, maybe, for sol.
he’s a doctor. the only one who knows what to do besides instance. he has more old-school knowledge than instance, and a xenobotanist background. he’s valuable, and he hates knowing that. that someone might consider it worthwhile to risk other lives to save his own.
but others can be trained. medbeds can handle just about any problem, as long as they stay functional. rhett knows that, as much as he knows sol wouldn’t want others to risk themselves unnecessarily for him.
the doctor honestly doesn’t know what choice rhett will make, and doesn’t envy him having to make it.
(he’ll buy something nice for the security chief, if he gets out of this.)
(when. it has to be when.)
vace is conscious enough to move, a little. support his own weight, hopefully. but that’s about it.
sol gets him up, supports his weight on one side. vace has about eight inches and ninety pounds on sol, which is a fucking problem.
sol puts on his best rhett voice, and barks orders at vace. “time to push it, soldier! if you don’t, we’re both dead!”
he can’t honestly tell if it helped. he knows vace can’t do much. he knows he was mostly saying it for himself.
because if sol can’t manage this, they’re both dead.
they might get lucky. rhett might send a squad after all. nem might defy orders to come after them herself. dys might come for sol’s sake, with her or own his own. he might even get word to sym.
but sol can’t act like help is coming. can’t let himself do anything less than as much as he fucking can.
the sun has set by the time he gets them back to the transport, drenched and muddy and shaking. he barely manages to open the sliding door with one hand, and then has to lay vace on the floor from outside, get in, and drag him the rest of the way. he pulls wads of fabric from between his own teeth, put there to keep his teeth from cracking when he clenched it shut.
he can barely get the scraps out, with how tightly wound the muscles are. that’ll hurt in the morning.
(he’ll just add it to the list.)
he locks them inside the transport, and takes a chance to examine vace. he’s semi-conscious, definitely has a concussion. he can talk, a little, and vaguely understand context.
(he swears, mostly. given the context, yeah. sounds about right.)
the bleeding has stopped. there are some cracks in his skull, but nothing that feels imminently dangerous. already bruises and a hell of a black eye, and sol is pretty sure there’s a fracture along his left orbital bone. but those are all things a medbed can handle just fine. as long as he makes it to one.
sol straps vace into one of the bench seats, and gets the transport started. as expected, there’s several messages from utopia, and one from rhett. the storm interferes too much with comms for much to get through, but sol does what he can. a distress signal, canceled after three seconds. three seconds of silence, and then the signal sent again, canceled after three seconds. deliberate enough for them to know it’s a message.
he starts the transport home.
about ten minutes of slow travel down the road, it’s flooded. sol isn’t going to risk it, not after what he just went through. he parks them.
he unbuckles vace so he can lay the soldier down on the seats, and try to get some sleep. sol takes the floor, and sleeps in fits.
eventually, he jolts awake to the sound of a quiet drizzle.
he straps vace back in. he’s relieved to hear the mumbled complaints about ruining his sleep.
the floods come fast in the swamp, but they leave that way, too.
it takes another hour and a half, but eventually he sees the lights of the colony.
utopia and rhett are already at the outer post, pacing and watching the road. they see the approaching transport before the lookouts do, but not before dys and nem.
both of whom are sequestered right next to the security chief, and looking rather dour.
sol can see how much self restraint it takes to wait for the transport to roll in, and not just run to it.
as soon as it’s parked, someone starts trying to yank the door open.
(it’s locked and dead bolted, because sol wasn’t taking any chances.)
he unlocks it, and rhett yanks it open before sol can. all the doctor manages to say is vace’s name, before he’s being unbuckled and carried out in rhett’s arms.
held like a princess, limp and soaked in a way that makes his clothes and hair cling to him, vace looks like the kid he is. barely sixteen, too young to be dealing with this shit.
(they both are. hell, all of them are.)
sol doesn’t need help to move. he knows he looks like shit, but his adrenaline has been running so high for so long that he sprints ahead to prepare a medbed.
instance is waiting, but she knows someone who needs work when she sees it. she’ll be the one who cleans and cares for sol’s own wounds later, in the quiet silence of an active medbed. tang will uncurl from the corner where she’d been watching owlishly, to play the part of nursing assistant.
vace will be under for three days. it’ll heal all the worrying injuries, but sol knows the soldier can’t stand to spend forever in a medbed, even if he doesn’t remember it.
(and he doesn’t remember the medbed. but he does remember a surprising amount of that day. remembers the dissonance of hearing sol sobbing while also feeling deft fingers work his knife loose. knows noct died, and he couldn’t have been the one to do it. gets flashes of the slog back, of sol carrying him when he could only feel frustration at his weak, sluggish legs slipping in the mud.)
they’re different, after that. sol never acts like vace owes him anything, and starts taking self-defense lessons. neither one of them actually suggested it. they just made eye contact across the cafeteria one morning a week after the event, and walked to the garrison together to start.
vace trusts sol to do what’s necessary, and to know what that is. it’s hard not to, when you know the empathetic, xeno-loving doctor willingly killed a gardener. his trust grows from there.
and sol trusts vace to have subtlety, and sympathy. he never says more about that day than what sol himself admits, even after he tells sol he remembers it. he seems to pick up on the days when it’s really bothering the doctor, and finds a way to hover nearby. whether it makes sol feel safe, or reminds him that he saved someone, vace doesn’t know.
seeing the most trusted kids from each ship suddenly get along has a deep impact on not just their peers, but the adults too.
(lum hates it. he never managed to scare them, but he could usually get them to cooperate. now they do nothing less than exactly what they think is right, and the few times he’s tried to control them, they both just fixed him with a stare that said he was a problem they could solve the moment they decided to.)
it’s the start of a new era for stratos-helios relations.
the violent soldier who toughened the kind doctor, and let himself be soothed in return.
(nothing changed in them. not really.)
(they just learned how to balance.)
(and everyone else followed suit.)
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tatakaeeren · 1 year
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GIF Tutorial
Someone asked me how I made my gifs so HD so I decided to write a full step-by-step uuuh babyyy 🎶 tutorial + useful tips on every part of the process.
It is explained in detail, so people with 0% experience can try it for the first time, and the more experienced gif makers can focus on the parts they are interested in 👍 (click on the images to see them bigger)
Disclaimers: I am not a professional, I have learned by trial and error and by watching other amazing creators. I use photoshop CC 2019 in Spanish so some of the names may vary but I tried to use the more accurate English names and used colors as references so even in other languages you can still follow this tutorial.
GIF TUTORIAL STEP BY STEP:
1.-  Open photoshop and create a new project. Then go to “files” 🠲 “import” 🠲 “convert video to frames” 🠲 this will send you to your video folder, and from there select the one you want. TIP 1: try always to download it in the best quality possible (1080p or 720p) so you will end up with “cleaner” HD gifs. 
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2.-  When you select your video, then you will have to choose the specific moment or scene you want (you do this by selecting and moving the arrows at the bottom of the image) TIP 2: I usually limit every 2 frames, but if your scene is too short (less than 20 - 25 frames) then I suggest not clicking the limit and leaving it at 0, likewise if your scene has too many frames (over 70) then limit every 3 frames 👍 to make it smaller.
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3.- Sometimes when you select your scene, a few extra frames will show up in your timeline, it’s ok, you can delete them by selecting the frames and clicking the trashcan icon at the bottom. Next, don’t forget to change the speed, you do this by selecting all the frames (click the first one then press SHIFT and click the last one, this will select everything), and then click one of the numbers below the image and select “Other”. TIP 3: Usually I use between 0,07 - 0,08 (my fav) - 0,09 from faster to slower. The speed will depend on the gif you are making. TIP 4: If you have PSDs colorings, now it’s time to add them, just click and drag your PSD on top of the image, and remember to make sure it is on top of all the frames and layers ( the ones on the side).  Personally, I do it now, because when I do it later in the process there is always a few frames that won't color.
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4.- Now that we have our desired frames, speed, and PSD coloring  (optional), we need to make it easier to keep editing. So we need to click on the little icon with stripes at the top right corner on top of the timeline (the orange square) 🠲 “Convert timeline into video” 🠲 and now you should have one long frame instead of many single ones.
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Now let’s do the same with the layers that are on the right (purple circle), once again click the first layer then shift-click on the last one to select everything 🠲 right click on one of the layers 🠲 “convert into a smart object”  🠲 and now all the layers also become one.
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5.- What I like to do next is to cut and then resize (you can do it the other way around if you’d like) select the cutting tool on the left side (light blue circle) and then it is up to you to choose which shape do you want (in the purple circle) there are some basic proportions but you can also make your own. 
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6.- Now is where all the fun begins. Let’s resize our image so we won’t end up with a giant gif. to do this go to the  “Image” tab on top of the screen 🠲 “image size”
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TIP 5: To choose a good size, please keep in mind the standard sizes on Tumblr or other social media. If you are using one gif per row then the size should range between 540px - 560px - or 580px / If you are using 2 gifs per row then the size should be around 268px / and if you have 3 per row then the size should be around 177px. Once you select the appropriate size… this is where it gets tricky. Depending on the gif you are making you will have to select a different option ex: if your gif is too blurry or has lots of movement or grains if they are too dark or too light if the colors are too different, all these factors will determine what you need to use. TIP 6: I usually use only 3: bilineal - bicubic reduction or keep details 2.0 (the names may change in English but look for something along those lines or in the same place as the ones in the image with the green ticks)
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7.-  SHARPENING TIME!: go to “Filter” 🠲 “sharpen” 🠲  “smart sharpen”
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As I have mentioned before, the amount will depend on the gif you are making, there is no perfect formula for all the gifs, so you need to play around a bit to find the perfect setting for your specific gif. TIP 7: This is what I normally use: amount: between 250 and 300 / Radius: 0,3px - 0,4px or 0,5 (but never over 0,5) / noise: anything between 0 and 50, now if you have a very blurry scene you can go up to 100 👍 and finally select the option “Grussian blur”. 
Tbh I never change the “shadows” and “lighting” settings (they are always 50 -50 -1) If you know how to use them or want to play around, then go for it…. I have no idea how to 🤣 oops. 
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8.- BLUR: sometimes the gifs look TOO sharp so we need to add a blur filter. so go to “filter” 🠲 “blur” 🠲 “surface blur” 
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then once again, depending on your needs, you can play around with the settings. TIP 8: I normally use 10-6 / 9-4 / 7-4 or 3 / etc. but I never go over 10. 
Also if you are noticing that your gif is still looking a bit blurry or with imperfections, due to the quality of the video, the scene is too complicated, etc. then I recommend adding noise on purpose 🤣 hey! if you can’t fight against the noise then put it on purpose and make the gif with a bit of texture and colors, it will look nice too 👍 go to “filter” 🠲 “noise” and then add the amount you want. 
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9.- Now we are almost done, you can leave it like that if you want or you can add some extra steps and play around with the brightness, exposure, color balance, gradients, filters, etc. you can find everything on your right (the yellow circle). Here is up to you to explore and experiment, I never use the same, it changes every gifset I make.   
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10.- You can add your watermark, images, texts, paint with the brushes, or do anything else with your gif. but this time I will skip these steps, but if you need extra information about something, please feel free to ask, and I will gladly help you 😊. 
TIP 9: Before you save your gif, please make sure all the things you added are in line with your gif “video frame” 🠲 move the little arrow so it will end perfectly with your gif, if the others are longer, it doesn’t matter, you can move them or you can leave them there, the important thing is that the line is perfectly in line with your gif.
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11.- Now there is nothing left to do, it’s finally time to save it for the web. Go to “files” 🠲 “export” 🠲 “save for the web” 
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TIP 10: Now you have two options: you can view your gif in the “optimized version” tab where it will show you one option that you can edit. If you select this option then these are the settings I always use, the only option that changes is: using pattern (the gif will have a small invisible “net” that will make the gifs look more uniform, use this especially when the lights or shadows and colors look grainy) or you can use Diffusion (to make it smoother and move flowy)  you can try both and see which one suits your gif best 👍
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and then the easier second option is to click the “4 copies” tab on top of the gif, and it will show you 4 different options, then you just select the one you like the best and it’s ready! 
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12 .- THE LAST STEP!!!  TIP 11: make sure your final gif is smaller than 10MB (Tumblr's limit) and hit SAVE! and you are ready!! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o 
This is our final result: A sexy Gojo 💙
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Thank you for reading, I hope this helped you, and I can wait to see all of your creations! ✨
Feel free to tag me in your gifsets or to ask me any other question in case you need extra information or need me to explain something better 💖
Also, if you are an expert and would like to comment, change or suggest better steps and/or settings, please let me know! so we can all learn and grow 👍
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therantingsage · 2 months
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Finders Keepers lore! Using N as a template, here are the various forms/sizes that Werewolves take in the AU. Their sizes are different each night, transitioning between phases, but all Werewolf transformations can be sorted into one of these five.
Open in new tab for full view, the text is kinda hard to read otherwise aksdjfhaksjdfh. I usually draw N in half-moon form. This guideline applies to all Werewolves in this AU aside from Cyn, who........has other stuff going on.
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quinnharperwrites · 7 months
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The Isles of Blirrosia: Chapter Four (Full)
Taglist: @anonymousfoz, @kaiarchives, @awleeofficial, and @immortaladrien
Please let me know if you want to be added!
< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >
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Saffron could faintly hear the rustling leaves from the trees outside. How peaceful. The wind didn’t usually start blowing on this side until the evening.
Saffron snuggled her head into her pillow. If only she could stay like this forever, or even for just one day. In the background, she could hear the familiar sounds of screeching tires and the city hustle-bustle. She cracked one eye open to look at the window. The sky was getting darker, but she could still see the light of the sun. It should be set in a few hours.
Wait…what?!
She jolted up from her bed and immediately leaned over to her bedside table for her phone, only to discover its absence.
“Oh, no. Where is it, where is it?”
After groggily groping around the bed and floor for an embarrassing amount of time, she found it under her bed (she didn’t even want to think about how it got there) and checked the time.
5:54. 5:54? Already?!
A wave of guilt washed Saffron over from head to toe. There was no point in showing up to the lecture now. She had missed her emotional control class. She always did her best to make that class because she felt bad for Professor Harley; no one showed up to his class on Mondays because most of them had a conflicting class specific to their aptitude—the rest usually didn’t show up. Aura manipulation is a pretty rare aptitude, so there wasn’t a teacher to instruct her. Her parents managed to find a private tutor a couple of years back who had an aptitude that enhanced his knowledge, so he was able to help her. She sees him about once or twice a week now, as opposed to every day like she did while growing up.
This day was like a roller coaster, but at least Saffron could see that the end was soon.
Saffron clambered back onto her bed and opened the news app. She didn’t want to go to the library and work on the project, but at least she could do this to pass the time. She clicked the ‘Hero Society’ tab, and after scrolling through a few headlines, she was starting to wish that she hadn’t.
Sensation Defeats an Amateur Villain at the Rosia Central City Bank! 
Ace of Spades Releases his Custom Deck of Cards!
Water Jelly Surprises a Third-Grade Class on a Field Trip!
Saffron Solis Nearly DESTROYS a Mango Nectar Billboard! 
Ginger Solis Spotted With Flowers! Has she Finally Rebounded from her Break-up?
Saffron checked the last two authors, and she wasn’t surprised by the names. Amelia Roberts of the Morning Star Chronicles and Larry McCarten of the Rosia Daily Express. Two rival reporters from two of the most successful news companies in all of Blirrosia.
Ms. Roberts was known for her extreme curiosity, but the way she satisfied it was pretty nosy. She seemed to have it out for Saffron, and everyone involved knew why. 
When Saffron was in middle school, she caught Amelia staking out in a car outside the school like a weirdo, probably to get some pictures, judging by the size of her camera. Don’t ask her why, but Saffron decided it would be a good idea to listen to Lai when she said to mimic the auras of a handful of her classmates and creepily surround Ms. Roberts’ car. She had been looking down at something on her phone, but Saffron knew the moment she saw the auras from her scream. After that, the prank went horribly. Ms. Roberts had jumped up and hit her head on the roof of her car before passing out. At first, Saffron was worried that it was from the impact, but she later found out it was from the shock. Saffron’s parents had to reimburse her and were surprisingly able to convince her not to sue; Saffron had been suspended for a week for using her powers without permission. 
After the altercation, Saffron’s name was perpetually on the news. First, it was about the incident. But after Ms. Roberts returned to her job, she would watch like a hawk for any time Saffron screwed up, then blow it out of proportion. Saffron had no clue how she still had her job, but by now, she’s learned to deal with it.
Larry McCarten on the other hand? He was a real piece of work. Despite the denials, he was a prominent member of the Anti-Hero Movement. Saffron thought that it couldn’t get much worse than Amelia Roberts, but for the past two or three years, Mr. McCarten proved her wrong. If Ms. Roberts was nosy, Larry McCarten was downright invasive. He was close to crossing the line to stalker behavior. He was constantly writing about scandals—most of them untrue. But Saffron hated him for personal reasons.
She was about to skim through the article written about her when she received a call. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw her best friend's caller ID pop up on her screen.
“Hey! How was your class?”
“I didn’t go.”
“Wha–? But you never miss class. We need to attend as many as we can so we can be the best! What happened?”
She let out a shaky breath. “Lai, you won’t even believe what happened today.”
Saffron doesn’t know why, but she never told Lai about the elevator. 
They had to have been on the phone for at least an hour, maybe two; there were so many opportunities to say something, anything! But she chose to keep quiet.
The sun was barely peeking above the horizon at this point—hues of orange, pink, and purple perfused with the darkening blue sky. After Saffron ended the call, she decided to walk to Lizzie’s Twilight Diner, the best place to indulge in spicy, crispy chicken, fried calamari, and a strawberry milkshake. Just thinking about it made her mouth water.
As she was walking to the diner, Saffron had the familiar feeling of being watched. Her pale pink skin and gray birthmarks suddenly stuck out like a sore thumb. Seven, thin, gray rings appeared on her neck when she was thirteen years old—the press had gone crazy for a week or two, claiming that she had entered her rebellious stage. The point was, Saffron wasn’t exactly difficult to recognize. She was used to this; she had to be. This was her life–full of lingering looks and stares. She should be used to it by now.
So why…why was it so unnerving all of a sudden? This isn’t like her at all; this isn’t right. She was never this off guard. First the elevator incident, then more flowers, and now this? Today was a day full of disappointments, that’s for sure. 
Before she knew it, she was in front of the diner. The white walls were grayed from age, but the red, orange, and yellow accents on the awnings and door made it appealing. The fluorescent sign with the name of the store flickered and a few letters didn’t light up at all, but it wasn’t creepy. The exterior was very inviting.
As Saffron pushed the door open, a bright bell signaled her arrival.
“Welcome!” A middle-aged woman called out as she was wiping a counter. She was wearing a floral shirt and a red apron. 
“Good evening, Mrs. Lizzie,” Saffron responded, “how’s business?”
The woman looked up at her voice, eyes glowing. “Why, if it isn’t my pinkest customer! Everything’s dandy, just dandy! How’re you doing, love bud?”
Saffron couldn’t help but curve her lips at the familiarity. Everything had been so…different.
“I’m doing great, Mrs. Lizzie!”
“Don’t just stand there,” she scuttled behind Saffron and began to push her towards the front counter, “Have you eaten yet? Sit! Sit! Order something!”
Saffron smiled as she swung her feet on the swiveling barstool, teeming with excitement and nostalgia. She couldn’t remember the last time she indulged in fast food, but during middle and high school, she loved to secretly try different places—it was by luck that she stumbled upon this place, but oh it was so worth it. She tried not to eat so much (after all, a full stomach could slow her down while she was flying) but she couldn’t resist this diner.
“Are you eating well? Every time I see you, you look thinner. Here,” she slid over a menu. 
Saffron gazed over the old letters behind the lamination. She licked her lips as she wondered what to ask for. 
She was going to order the fried chicken for sure and the calamari was always a must; however, she was still debating on if she should get red velvet cheesecake or a strawberry milkshake. But eventually, she decided on the cheesecake because she had never had that flavor before, so she told Mrs. Lizzie her order.
“Coming right up, dear! But here,” she said as she placed a platter of ribs covered a dark red sauce, “Try these for me,” she asked.
Saffron’s mouth watered as she stared at the plate—they looked delicious, but she knew that adding this to her meal was crossing the line. Saffron would feel way too guilty eating all of this.
“Sorry, Mrs. Lizzie, but I don’t think I can finish all of this. Maybe just one or two…”
“Nonsense!” she replied. “You have one of the biggest appetites that I’ve ever seen! And when was the last time you ate something that wasn’t a salad or ice cubes?” she asked. After waiting a moment, she continued. “I can tell by your face that your answer won’t satisfy me. Eat!” As she walked back to the kitchen, Saffron could hear her mutter about how much these new generations loved to starve themselves as she stared at the plate of ribs in front of her.
She needed to build good habits for when she became a hero: after all, one bite of food could weigh her down when she was flying or running—that could cost a life. But on the other had, she was only a student, so maybe a break wouldn’t be such a bad thing, especially if she was benefiting Mrs. Lizzie. After every thing she did for Saffron, it was the least she could do in return.
This was officially one of the worst days of her entire life.
The food looked so good, but after taking a few bites of one of the ribs, she was starting to feel very nauseous. And now that all her food was staring back at her, she couldn’t help but notice how unhealthily greasy it looked. Just smelling the hot oil wafting off the chicken and calamari made her head hurt. The cheesecake looked so good in the picture, but the only thing she could eat were the berries; she tried the frosting and almost puked right then and there. 
“Mrs. Lizzie, it’s getting kind of late and I have to get back to the dorms. Could you help me pack these things to go?”
“Why, of course, dear!” she responded, getting to-go boxes from a rack. “Be safe—I don’t care if you’re aptitude is Level 89 or whatever. And don’t forget to come back soon!” 
As she stepped back onto the street, the pungent odor of oil, ulfur and carbon overwhelmed her all at once. A scarlet haze tightly enveloped her head as she was forced to rely on muscle memory to take her to the dorm. 
She didn’t remember tripping on the way back.
She didn’t remember dropping the food somewhere along the way.
She didn’t remember entering her building.
She definitely remember how she couldn’t focus on anything other than how the stairwell smelled like bitter alcohol and smoke. Saffron couldn’t handle it, so she turned back to the courtyard and fell on the grass.
It wasn’t perfect, but the earthy smell cleared the haze and her mind.
Saffron felt like the same question repeated in her head over and over again today, but what in the world was going on?
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The Serpent Strikes- Magical Mystery Ride Chapter Twenty Seven
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Summary- This a continuation of the last chapter- The Dove and The Serpent. We go back in time a little bit and see things from Chaz's perspective. I confess that I went FULL ON drama and it gets dark.
Warnings- verbal/physical violence, voyeurism, domestic violence
@pattiemac1 @penstxgal1968 @juuuuuse @hockeykittee @sugakookie9 @cellythefloshie @laurenairay
Previous Chapter- https://www.tumblr.com/starshine-hockey-girl/703003404083068928/the-dove-and-the-serpent-magical-mystery-ride?source=share&_branch_match_id=link-1154860346251412887
Tuesday- January 8th-Chaz’s office-Downtown Philadelphia
Chaz opened Instagram as he sat down to eat his lunch. He checked out his usual people before logging in under his burner account. He loved to keep tabs on his Dovey. It had been almost five years since he had been in her physical presence. He had gladly taken the pile of cash her father had offered in reward for leaving her in peace. She had worn out her usefulness to him and he had grown bored that she no longer posed a challenge. She had not even fought back the last time. She had laid there like a limp ragdoll. Even the sight of the emerging bruises and bloody cuts no longer thrilled him. 
Still he could not control the urge to follow her movements. It had been a troubling development when she had revealed her relationship with Seguin on Instagram in the fall. He had been forced to follow the NHL star to see the complete picture of their relationship. Two things were abundantly clear-she was happy and in love and Seguin was completely whipped.
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His eyes widened when he saw her latest post. He couldn't believe it at first. His Dovey was coming to Philadelphia. He had procured tickets to the game already with the purpose of sizing the new man in Dovey's life. He was curious however about the choice of games on her part. January in Pennsylvania seemed to be an odd choice. He looked at the date of the game again, January 10, 2019. He smiled to himself- five years to the date. "How perfect Dovey- come to me, my little. Dovey," he thought to himself. He couldn't be completely shocked that she was coming to Philadelphia in time for Seguin's game given that date fell on their “anniversary”. As much as she pretended that he no longer existed, Chaz knew that she was still controlled by the fear of him. 
He scowled and picked up the phone and dialed Chelsea, his new girlfriend. The fact that she was part of the Philadelphia Flyers social media team was about to come in very handy. When she picked up, his voice became warm and cozy- warm enough to melt butter. 
Chaz: Hello Chels
Chelsea: Hey babe
Chaz: I need a favor. I used to hang out with Tyler Seguin back when I lived in Dallas. I would love to surprise him at his hotel to say hello. Do you know where they stay?
Chelsea: You hung out with Seggy?
Chaz: Yeah, back in my wilder days
Chelsea: I am glad those days are over. Seggy is a manwhore. I will find out and let you know..
Chaz: Thanks, Chels
He picked up the phone and called his buddy, Chandler. They worked together briefly at Chaz’s first job in Philly but stayed in touch after Chaz was fired for taking a swing at a female co-worker who challenged him during a meeting. 
Chaz: Yo Chandler-What’s up?
Chandler: Nothing much. Just watching Harper in her bounce swing.
Chaz: Do you still have that Teddy Bear with the nanny cam?
Chandler: Yeah, we don’t use it anymore. What’s up?
Chaz: Long story- but I need to catch someone being naughty. Can I borrow it? 
Chandler: Sure, want to meet up for a couple of beers tonight?
Chaz: Nah, I’ll swing by and get it
He hung up the phone and saw the text notification from Chelsea and texted her back
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Late Wednesday morning- Westin Hotel- Philadelphia
“Excuse me?” Chaz said impatiently as stood behind the tall brunette having a conversation at the concierge desk, “Are you going to be done soon?”
Jamie Benn turned around slowly and raised an eyebrow, “You got a problem?”
Chaz backed down immediately when confronted, “No, no problem. I just need to get this bear delivered and be on my way.”
The concierge cleared his throat, “Sir, I do have that reservation made for you for this evening at Club Risque for the VIP table. Is there anything else you need?”
“Nah, I am good,” he said as he went to walk away to where the guys stood. “All set for tonight.  Now let’s get breakfast. I am starving”
Chaz stepped up to the counter, “Hey, I need to deliver this to Flynn Rider.”
“Certainly Sir,” the concierge checked the room listing, “I see him here in a room. I will get it delivered right away.”
ONE HOUR LATER- hall leading to Tyler’s hotel room
“Come on Seggy,” Benn pleaded as they walked back from breakfast, “If you go, then everyone else will.”
Tyler slid his key over the door lock and laughed, “No.”
They walked into his room and Benn continued to plead his case, “Come on Seggy. It will be fun.” 
Tyler shook his head, “Teddy will be here in a few hours. The last thing I am going to do is to leave her alone in a hotel so I can go to a strip club. Why would I do that?”
Benn made his final plea, “It will be a team bonding thing.”
“You bond with the team. I will bond with Teddy’s boobs instead,” Tyler joked.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler noticed the bear sitting on the bed. “What the fuck?”, he muttered and walked over. He picked up the card and read it to himself. He didn’t notice the camera located in the eye of the bear. 
In Chaz’s office, the nanny cam notification alerted Chaz and he picked up the phone to observe. 
“The bear is for you?” Benn scoffed, “I saw it dropped earlier. Delivery guy was totally sketch. Who had a bear delivered to you?” Tyler handed him the card to read. “Aww, it’s from Teddy?” Benn read, “Why is she coming up again?”
Tyler took the card back from Benn, “Tomorrow is the anniversary of something bad happening to her. I invited her to come so she wouldn’t be alone.”
“Something bad happened?” Benn questioned, “To Teddy?” 
Tyler hesitated. Although there had been a thaw in Teddy and Benn’s feud, Tyler didn’t want to divulge too much. 
“She had a creepy boyfriend, Chaz,” Tyler finally spoke, “That’s all I can really say.”
“And he hurt her?” Benn said quietly, trying to read between the lines. 
“Yeah,” Tyler replied, “Pretty bad.”
“You should stick with her tonight. Maybe take her to some fancy place for dinner? Girls like that shit,” Benn tried to suggest in order to get out of the conversation. 
“Reservation has already been made,” Tyler smiled, “Now I gotta go get Teddy from the airport.” Tyler looked over at the large bear and had an idea. He picked it up and started out of the room with Benn following behind him. They waited at the elevator and when it dinged Tyler said, “See ya later. Don’t let Hitch catch you and the boys at a strip club tonight.”
“You underestimate my sneakiness, Seggy,” he laughed as Tyler entered the elevator. He turned to walk to his room but turned back before the elevator door closed. “I am sorry to hear about Teddy. You have to be a really twisted fuck to hurt someone as sweet as her.”
Chaz stared at the video on his phone, “Oh you have not idea how twisted I can be, you dumb fuck.” 
He sat the phone down and listened for more notifications. He was pulled into a meeting and put the phone in his pocket. He felt the vibrations of the notifications that buzzed in his pocket. After the meeting, he raced back to his office and shut the door. 
On the camera feed, Teddy stood across the room with her arms wrapped around Tyler’s waist. Chaz leaned forward and zoomed the camera in to examine her face. She smiled easily and her voice sounded different in some way. He zoomed out again and watched as Tyler walked them over to the bed. Chaz felt the anger rise in him as they embraced and Tyler spoke tenderly to Teddy. When Tyler pulled her down onto the bed and she straddled his waist, Chaz tilted his head. There was a confidence in her that he had never seen before. When Tyler pulled up her skirt to reveal she had no panties on, Chaz’s mouth dropped. 
This wasn’t his Dovey. This wasn’t the Dovey who flinched every time he touched her. His Dovey didn’t like sex, not that it mattered much to him anyway. He used her body for his own pleasure with no thought to what she wanted. His eyes were transfixed on Teddy’s body as she took the lead. “She’s enjoying it,” he thought to himself in disbelief, “fucking slut.” 
His breath catched when Tyler approached the bear and turned it around. His view was now of the wall, but he could still hear every moan and sigh. Chaz closed his eyes and listened. His mind raced with undeniable arousal at the sound of her voice to white hot rage at the realization that she had denied him this. Sex with Teddy was quiet and only done on Teddy’s part out of obligation and fear. “This- this” he thought to himself, “I deserved this.” His body responded to the sounds and his arousal became too much to ignore. He stroked himself and imagined how she would feel as a willing and active participant. The moans got louder and the cries more intense. “Yes, yes, yes” she urged Tyler, "fuck Tyler- I'm almost there." Chaz imagined it was him and it fueled the intensity of his strokes. He climaxed just before Teddy. The sounds of her orgasm hung in the air. 
When she sighed, “Oh Tyler, you fuck me so good”, Chaz’s fists balled up. 
“You fucking slut,” he seethed, “You goddamn whore.”
“I love you Sweet One,” she breathed happily, “You are the best thing to ever happen to me.” 
Chaz screamed and punched the desk. The rage took control. “So you can be a slut, just not for me,” he hissed as swept the contents of his desk on the floor. “You denied me, Dovey,” he grunted as he picked up a stapler and threw it across the room, “I got the cold fish and he gets this?” His mind raced. His initial plan to simply spy on her and plant seeds of doubt in her head changed. “Oh no, Dovey” he said to himself as he trashed his office. “Oh no,” he exclaimed, “You owe me and I am going to take it whether you like it or not. You will be mine again.”
He disconnected the nanny cam app and looked around his office. “Let housekeeping clean the mess,” as he gathered his things. “Dovey,” he said to himself, “I’m coming for ya.”
TWO HOURS LATER- WESTIN HOTEL 
Chaz had no immediate plans as he walked toward the hotel entrance. The rage had dissipated and turned into cold calculation. She was somewhere in this hotel and he was going to find her. His head was down to escape the cold, bitter wind as he approached the door. The collision with the taller brunette didn't faze him as he continued his walk. However it was the voice that drew his attention back. Tyler called out, “Hey, watch where you are going,” and Chaz froze. He turned slowly to see Tyler staring at him. 
His eyes scanned the area. He saw her red curls as she faced away from him. It was clear that they were going out. In a nano-second, he assessed the situation. “Sorry Seggy,” he called out before turning back to enter the hotel. Teddy’s head turned at the sound of Chaz’s voice. Her eyes searched the area but saw no sign of the voice. She shook her head and turned around. 
Inside the hotel, Chaz stood by the window and stared as they entered. His eyes narrowed as Teddy leaned over to Tyler to kiss him softly. “Think Chaz-think,” his brain willed him to think. They were dressed up so probably going to a nice dinner. “What a waste of money,” he continued to think to himself. Nice dinners at expensive restaurants were not a regular occurrence when he was with Teddy. He preferred to keep her at home. Besides, Teddy could always stand to lose a few pounds. “Where would Seggy take her?” he thought to himself. His mind replayed the memory of Jamie Benn from this morning getting reservations from the concierge. “Of course,” he smiled and started toward the concierge desk. 
The concierge looked up with a tired expression. It was the end of a long shift and the only thing on his mind was a nice glass of wine at home. Chaz approached him with a smile, “Excuse me, I am supposed to meet my friend, Flynn Rider, for dinner. I got tied up in a meeting. Can you tell me where the reservation is set?”
The concierge looked at Chaz in exhaustion. He seemed vaguely familiar. Perhaps he had seen him with Mr. Rider/Seguin earlier in the day. He looked down at his notes. “The reservation is for seven pm at Alpen Rose. He selected the private dining room. Would you like me to arrange transportation?”
“No, no thank you” Chaz smiled, “I’ve got it.” He walked away and the concierge put up the closed sign at the desk. Chaz selected a seat in the lobby with a view of the front door. As he waited, his mind ran through multiple scenarios to achieve his goal. He had to get her alone-, that much he knew, but how. When would be a time she would be separated from the pretty boy? He thought for a moment. “During the game,” he smiled and concocted a plan to get Teddy to him. The plan started to take shape. “I’ll need Chelsea’s help,” he thought to himself, “She will do it if she knows what’s good for her.”
He was almost lost in his thoughts when he saw Tyler enter the hotel with Teddy following behind. Chaz stood up and followed them from a distance. He couldn’t resist the urge to toy with her one more time. He called out to her as they waited by the elevator, “Dovey, Lovey Dovey- come here Lovey Dovey.” She turned to search for the voice. The fear was evident all over her face. He smiled and said, “Not yet, Dovey, not yet.” Her knees buckled and Pretty Boy raced to her. He couldn’t hear what was being said so he edged closer. Teddy kissed Tyler’s cheek as the elevator doors opened. Chaz took another step closer. “Let her get a good look,” he smiled to himself, “Let her know that I am coming to get her.” 
The elevator door opened up and they stepped inside. Pretty Boy walked backwards to lean against the elevator wall. Teddy stepped towards him and he pulled her in tight. "Are you sure I can't convince you not to sleep right away?" he whispered when Chaz came into his view. Tyler looked into his eyes as he lifted his foot to hit the door close button. "Sorry, man- I am going to do unmentionable things to her in this elevator," Tyler smiled as Teddy's hand reached down and palmed his crotch. The bearded man with dark eyes and curly hair blinked and took a step toward the door before it closed. 
Chaz stood and stared at the elevator doors. She was going to give him another taste of it tonight, he thought to himself. Frigid bitch never offered it up to him period, much less more than once in a day. He started to fume when his phone rang. 
Chelsea: Hey where are you?”
Chaz: I got caught up with something. Why?
Chelsea: I made these cookies that you wanted me to make. Are you sure that this recipe is right? It seems like too much salt to me. 
Chaz: Oh, it’s just right. Seggy will love them. I’m on my way to your place. Be ready
Chelsea: I didn’t realize you wanted to do that. You know since we…… last night.
Chaz: What? A guy can’t want to fuck his girl two nights in a row? Do you want to deny me?
Chelsea blinked at the subtle change in Chaz’s tone. 
Chelsea: No, no…. 
She said quickly to keep the peace
Chaz: I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Be ready.
Chelsea: Yes, Chaz 
Chelsea's bedroom
The headboard knocked against the wall. Chelsea's face was buried into the pillow to muffle the sounds. Chaz's hands gripped her hips as he thrust deep into her. His head was thrown back and his eyes remained closed.  In his mind, it was Teddy taking it from him. Her sounds from earlier replayed in his mind.
Chelsea whimpered as he took his aggression out on her body. "That's it. Take it like the little slut you've become," he urged. Chaz's hand reached down to grab Chelsea's hair and pull her to his chest. "I don't want you quiet," he hissed, "I want to moan for me like you did for Pretty Boy. Call me Sweet One. Say it."
 Chelsea's eyes grew wide at his words. "Chaz, you are scaring me. Who is Pretty Boy? Who is Sweet One?”,Chelsea pleaded with him. All of it made no sense to her- his words, the sudden aggression and the new intensity. He fucked like a man posessed. He pulled her hair tighter, "Don't argue with me. Just fucking do it." He pushed her back down and continued. 
Chelsea spoke tentatively at first, unsure what to say. "Yes, Sweet One,yes," she started, "fuck me hard." She gulped, 'Fuck your little slut, Sweet One. Give it to me Chaz. It's all yours. All of it belongs to you."
"Louder, say it louder," he instructed as he bent down, turned her head and kissed her.  The angle changed just enough to hit her magic spot- a first. 
"That's it, Chaz," she moaned, "it's so good." It was a new type of sex and Chelsea wasn't sure how she felt about it. Previously, he had not produced anything that felt this good. Nothing that approached this level of pleasure. She hoped that she was about to experience her first orgasm. She let go of the questions in her mind and enjoyed the ride. Pretty soon, the physiology of it took over and her body responded. Then her voice joined, becoming louder with each thrust until she exploded with screams of pleasure. 
Chaz followed with impassioned pleas. "Yes- Yes, my Dovey, that's how it should be. That's how it should have always been."
Chelsea stiffened slightly at the name, Dovey. He had never called her that before. "And what was this insistence that she call him Sweet One?" she thought to herself. All of it swirled in her mind as he kissed her neck tenderly. She sighed softly and enjoyed the moment. It was a nice departure from his usual “wham bam, no thank you ma’am” style  and if the new names were part of the game, she was willing to play along with it.
He pulled her to him and spoke softly, "Hey, I have another favor to ask."
"What's that?" She yawned as her body basked in the post orgasm glow. Finally all of the hype about sex made sense to her. This might actually make all the other shit tolerable. 
"Can you take the cookies into the arena tomorrow and get them to Seggy? To the locker room?" He asked expectantly. He focused on keeping his voice calm and neutral.
"Why didn't you give it to him tonight?" she asked innocently, “That’s where you right? At the hotel?”
“He wasn’t there,” he said as he began to spin his lie, “I got there and waited there. I finally checked with the concierge who told me that the team went to Club Risque.”
“Wait, the entire team went to Club Risque tonight?”, she said in surprise. 
“Yeah, you know those hockey guys. Nothing but trouble, right?”, he smiled. 
Chelsea flinched. Chaz’s distaste for the Flyers players had been a great source of tension between them. The memory of his first backhand slap entered her mind. Chaz had thought Claude Giroux, of all people, flirted with her. Since then she had been careful to limit any interaction to purely professional circumstances. “Yeah,” she finally said, “nothing but trouble.” 
“So will you do it, my Birdie?”, he questioned. 
“Sure, Chaz, anything for you,” she smiled. 
Wells Fargo Center- near the visiting team locker room
Chelsea looked around nervously. The pass around her neck provided her all access to the arena as part of her social media job with the Flyers. However, there was no real reason for her to be near the visitor locker room, especially not to deliver a tin of cookies. 
She had scoffed earlier that morning when Chaz put the tin of cookies in her hand. “Really?” she asked, “I can’t believe you actually want me to deliver a tin of cookies to him? I don’t get it.”
He pulled her into a hug, “It’s an inside joke. Don’t overthink it, Chels.” He flashed her a smile and felt the urge to question him dissipate. 
“Hey, can I help you?”,the Stars equipment manager called from inside the room as he readied the team’s equipment before the morning skate. 
She mustered up her courage, “Yeah, can you put this in Seguin’s locker?” 
He looked up and stared at the tin. A smile of recognition spread across his face. He recognized the tin from the multiple times that Teddy had sent Tyler into practice and/or a road trip armed with her infamous cookies. “Sure,” he walked over and grabbed them. “Did Teddy send them through you? I heard she came in yesterday.” he mentioned casually. 
Chelsea blinked and questioned how to answer. “Umm, sure,” she finally. She hoped that it would allow her to extricate herself from the situation as soon as possible. She turned to leave and was halfway down the hall when a loud voice called out to her, “Hey Teddy- what are you doing here?” Chelsea turned around to see Jamie Benn walking toward her with a smile on his face. 
“Oh, you aren’t Teddy,” he said quickly, “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. It’s the second time I’ve heard the name Teddy in the last three minutes,” she smiled as he approached her, “Who is this infamous Teddy?”
“It’s Seggy’s girlfriend,” he said as he got closer. He picked up her access badge and read it. “Chelsea, you look a lot like her. Sorry for the confusion. What are doing down in this area? Did they send you in to spy on us?” He laughed softly. 
“Yep, it’s all part of the Flyers plan on beating you guys,” she responded with a touch more flirtation than intended. 
“Oh, that plan is brilliant,” he took a step towards her. 
Alarms bells began to ring loudly in her mind. “Danger, danger, danger,” she thought to herself. “Well, it was lovely to meet you….,” she paused for an answer, “Mr. Benn. I have to get back to the winner’s side of the arena now.” 
Benn started to give a smart ass answer but Chelsea took off in a practical sprint back to her office. She closed the door and rested against the door. So many thoughts swirled in her mind. “Who was this Teddy? More importantly, what did it have to do with Chaz?” she thought. She sat down to start doing some investigation. First she pulled up Tyler’s instagram. There were at least a dozen posts featuring Teddy. She blinked at the uncanny resemblance. 
Still, what did this have to do with Chaz? His strange, albeit pleasant, behavior last night was odd. The more she thought about it, the more questions she had. “If Chaz really hung out with Seguin in Dallas, why didn’t he have his phone number? Why did he need me to get the info for him?” she thought to herself. She searched Tyler’s followers. Chaz was not listed. She searched Chaz’s page to see who he followed. He did not follow Tyler. She went back to Tyler’s page and looked at the posts about Teddy. She paused at the post from Tyler in November. In Teddy’s reply, she used the hashtag #mysweetone. “Sweet One,” she thought to herself, “That’s the name Chaz wanted me to call him.” 
She kept scrolling through Tyler’s feed. Then she clicked on Teddy’s profile. It was set to private. She went back to Chaz’s profile and checked. He did not follow Teddy. The investigation was creating more questions than answering them. One there was clear- Chaz had a fascination with Tyler Seguin and his girlfriend, Teddy. The only question that remained unanswered was why. 
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FOUR HOURS LATER- CHELSEA’S OFFICE- WELL FARGO ARENA
Chaz knocked softly on Chelsea’s door. Chelsea stared at her screen and tried to put the pieces together. Something wasn’t right and she couldn't put her finger on it. When Chaz didn’t get an answer, he cursed silently and knocked louder. Chelsea looked up, “Come in.” 
Chaz walked in carrying takeout from his favorite sushi place. He smiled and held it out as a treat for Chelsea. She looked up and then back to the screen without acknowledging it. She wasn’t a fan of sushi and he knew it. Chaz walked over to the desk and sat on the edge. His hand went to her face and turned it to him. “Birdie…..” he said in a tone that contained the slightest of edges. “What’s so fascinating that you can’t acknowledge me?” he asked. She quickly switched tabs to the Flyers instagram page. 
She turned to him and examined his face. He raised an eyebrow in question. 
“Who is Teddy?” she asked firmly. 
“Who is who?” Chaz replied. 
“Who is Teddy?” she repeated just as firmly. 
“I don’t know what you are talking about Birdie and I really don’t like your tone,” he replied neutrally. Inwardly, his heart raced. He needed Chelsea. He needed Chelsea in order to get to Teddy. 
“Fine, ignore the question,” she spit out, “Do you really know Tyler Seguin?”
“Of course, I do,” Chaz scoffed, “We go way back to when he was traded to Dallas.”
“Why did you need me to get you the hotel information, Chaz?” she quizzed, “Why not ask him yourself?”
“Because it was supposed to be a fucking surprise,” he hissed.
“So you are such good friends with Seguin that you don’t follow him on instagram and he doesn’t follow you?” she continued. Chaz blinked. He knew that he couldn’t take the chance to follow Seguin under his main account so he used his burner account, but he couldn’t explain that to Chelsea without explaining Teddy. “You know I looked at Seguin’s Instagram today. Did you know that he has a girlfriend named Teddy? She looks a lot like me too,” she prodded. “You know what else?” she asked, “Apparently her nickname for Tyler is Sweet One. Now where have I heard that before? Huh Chaz?”
Chaz froze. She stood and walked to the other side of the desk, instinctively putting a distance between her and her boyfriend who was prone to lose his temper when challenged. “Tell me who Teddy is to you and why you seem to be obsessed with her.” 
Chaz smiled, “I am not obsessed with her Birdie. That’s all you need to know.”
“Fuck that, Chaz,” she answered defiantly. 
His hand flew up in a swinging motion but he caught it. Chelsea saw it and took a step backwards. 
“Tell me the truth, Chaz,” she ordered, “Tell me the truth or get out!”
“Okay, okay,” Chaz spoke urgently, “Teddy is my ex. Teddy is my ex-girlfriend.”
 “Was all of this a ruse? A ruse to get to Teddy?” she gasped, “Why do you want to get to Teddy so badly?”
“I need to…. I need to make amends,” Chaz lied as he walked around the desk, “I need to see her so I can apologize to her.”
“Why?” she stepped back, “Why do you need to apologize to her?”
“You know me, sometimes I can lose my temper,” he stepped towards, “I want her to know that I’ve changed. I have a good woman and have changed.”
“So you are totally over her? Why did you want me to cosplay her last night?” she held out her hand, “You weren’t fucking me last night. You were fucking her.” The reality sank in and she screamed, “Get out! Get the fuck out!” She turned to open the door and Chaz slammed it shut. 
“Birdie,I am not going anywhere,” he whispered in her ear, “I am not going anywhere until you bring me Teddy.”
“Why the fuck would I do that, Chaz? Why would I bring her to you? What do you want?” she said half-defiantly and half-fearfully.
“It doesn’t matter what I want, Birdie,” he said menacingly, “Bring her to me or pay the consequences.” Her eyes flashed up at him. “That’s right. You remember what happens when you don’t obey me.” The implied threat sank into her soul. 
“Please Chaz,” she begged, “Please don’t make me do this.”
“Don’t make me ask again.” he placed his hands on her arms and squeezed tight. He pulled her forward and slammed her back against the door. “Don’t make me ask again, Birdie. I’ll have to clip your wings.”
“No, please don’t hurt me, Chaz. I’ll do it,” she said as her eyes filled with tears, “What do you need me to do?”
“Just get her to the concourse. I will take it from there,” he answered as it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
“And you will leave me alone after that?” she asked quietly. 
Chaz opened the door, “It will be my pleasure. You were beginning to bore me anyway.” 
Outside in the hallway, Flyers captain Claude Giroux stood and watched as Chaz walked away. He heard the tears and sniffles coming from Chelsea’s office. He knocked softly. “Go away, Chaz,” she cried, “I’ll do it. You don’t have to browbeat me anymore.”
“It’s not Chaz,” the captain answered, “Can I come in?”
Chelsea opened the door and stepped aside. Her head was down and she stared at the floor. “How can I help you?” she asked quietly. 
Claude looked at her tear stained face and frowned. His eyes did a quick scan of her body. They stopped at the red handprints on her arms. “I heard crying and wanted to check on you. You know, see if you needed anything,” he said gently. 
“It’s just a silly fight with my boyfriend,” she said quickly. The thought of Claude or anyone else on the team knowing the reality of her situation filled her with shame. 
Claude nodded to her arms, “Did he do that?”
Chelsea took in a ragged breath, “It’s no big deal. I’ll be fine.”
“Look at me,” Claude said firmly. He quickly added in a softer tone, “Please.”
She raised her eyes to his and waited. She waited for the admonishment. She waited for him to blame her for being involved with someone who treated her so badly. Instead his eyes were soft and she wasn’t sure if his pity was better or worse. 
“I want you to know that the team cares about you. I care about you. If you need anything else, just say the word,” he explained. She nodded her head. “You don’t deserve to be treated that way, Chelsea. Don’t let him make you think otherwise.”
“Thank you,” she said before her voice cracked, “That- that means a lot.”
“I have to go get ready for the game. I’ll see you before we hit the ice, eh?” 
Chelsea forced a smile, “yeah, I’ll be over there soon.”
“Keep your chin up,” he smiled back, “You got the Broadstreet Bullies at your back. You’re one of us. If he messes with you, then he messes with us.”
Wells Fargo Arena- Concourse
Inside the arena, Teddy and Trish made their way down to the rink for warm-ups. With the spotty service, both were oblivious to their phones blowing up. Trish glanced around the lower bowl of seats for any sign of Chaz. There were none. "Incoming," Trish whispered as a red-head approached Teddy. “Excuse me, aren’t you Teddy Baxter?” she said brightly. 
“That’s me,” Teddy answered warily. 
The red head flashed her badge to Teddy and Trish. “I’m Chelsea with the Flyers social media team. Can you come with me to do a quick bit for Instagram?” she asked. 
Teddy tilted her head in confusion, “Why would the Flyers want to do a bit with me? My boyfriend is the star of the opposing team.”
"We try to get an Instagram influencer to participate when they are at games. It can be a great way to build your following," she said cheerfully. Chelsea glanced up at the concourse, “Come on, it will be fun. We can get the Stars in on it too,” 
"Oh, I would have to run it by my brand team first," Teddy shook her head no, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Chelsea pleaded, “Please? I really need you to do this for me.” 
Teddy turned and focused her attention onto Tyler who smiled and took a running leap into the boards right in front of her. Then he turned with a dramatic flair, placed his hands on his heart and blew her a hiss. Teddy smiled and giggled. 
Chelsea slowly walked up the stairs with a sense of dread filling her. At the top of the stairs, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. “I thought I was clear in my instructions, Birdie,” Chaz hissed, “You were supposed to get the bitch up to me.”
Chelsea turned to him and cried, “Chaz, I tried. I really tried but she wouldn’t come. Please don’t hurt me.”
FIRST PERIOD
Teddy tried to focus on the game, but her mind wouldn't let her. She knew that there were enough eyes focused on her and not the game for there not to be a chance of Chaz suddenly appearing. Besides, it wasn't his style to do things publicly. No, he would want to get her alone. 
Then her mind drifted back to her conversation with Chelsea. It had been so odd and confusing. She pulled out her phone to search Instagram for her. There was no signal. Teddy shook her head, got up and started up the stairs. Trish followed her, "Teddy, what's up? You have to give me some warning." 
"Don't you think that whole thing with the Flyers media girl was odd?" She answered and continued up the stairs. They had both barely reached the top of the stairs when Teddy felt a hand grab her arm tightly and start to pull her. She instinctively pulled against it until she looked up to see her father. From a secluded spot, Chaz watched and plotted. Getting close to his Dovey was getting infinitely more difficult.
Suddenly, the arena erupted as the Flyers scored their second goal of the period. In the pandemonium, Chaz lost sight of the trio as Robert guided Teddy to the supply closet the Baxter security team had commandeered for the night. Once the door was shut, Teddy looked around the room. "What happened?" she said quickly as she observed the team's faces.
Steve stepped forward. "Remember the tin Tyler carried back from morning practice,? Turns out they were sent by Chaz as a message."
"A message? What sort of message?" she asked quickly when the more important question hit her, "How did he get it there?"
"You're getting good at this, Teddy," Steve answered, "Chaz is in a relationship with someone in the Flyers organization. She delivered the cookies to the locker room."
"She?" Teddy asked. Her mind went back to Chelsea. There was something about her desperation to get her to film something. Her desperation to get Teddy alone. It was only now that she recognized the terror in her eyes. Instantly she knew the source of the terror. "Chelsea, it's her. Isn't it?" Steve looked back in confusion. "She tried to get me to go with her to film an Instagram thing for the Flyers. It didn't make sense to me so I told her no. She practically begged me to help her. Oh God, I told her no." 
"Exactly what you should have done," Robert interjected, "Good instincts."
"There's more," Steved added. "There was a flower delivery to the conference room with a message. Chaz knows we are here."
"How would he know that?" Teddy questioned.
"The bear," Steve answered.
"The Teddy bear?" She answered, confused, "I don't understand. How could the bear tell him anything?"
"It is a nanny cam. When we brought it to the conference room and he saw everything," Steve explained, "We are leaving now."
"Now?" Teddy questioned, "What about Tyler? He will be worried if he doesn't see me in my seat."
"Then let him fucking worry," Robert yelled.
Teddy turned to him, "Don't yell at me."
"I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe," he yelled back.
Teddy steeled her spine, "You know what doesn't make sense to me, Daddio? How did nobody know that Chaz was in Philly? He has been here long enough to have a damn relationship. Why didn't anyone know about that? You told me that I didn't have to worry about Chaz, Daddio. I trusted you and yet here we are."
He stepped back with a wounded look on his face. "Daddio, I am sorry. I take it back."
Steve interjected, "Teddy, I will get word to Tyler. He will understand. Your safety is the most important thing to us."
"Give me a damn second," Teddy walked to the corner of the room. She closed her eyes and tried to process the information- the nearness of Chaz, the Teddy bear, the cookies as some sort of message, the flowers with a definite message, and finally Chelsea." 
She paced and remembered the look in her eyes. Chaz had involved her in whatever plan he had. There would be consequences for her failure. Teddy closed her eyes and imagined just how violent Chaz could and would get. She shook her head.
She couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something obvious. "Tell me about the cookies," she asked.
Robert sighed and punched the wall. Teddy glanced then focused her attention on Steve. "The cookies were bad-full of salt, inedible," he explained.
"He tried to hurt Tyler," she said plainly.
"And the flowers. Tell me about the flowers," she continued.
Steve described the large bouquet of white gladiolus and carnations and the contents of the card. "Funeral flowers," Teddy stepped back, "that was his message to me." Everyone turned with a question in their eyes. "I hate those flowers because you only see them at funerals. He knows I would think of that. He wants to kill me."
"Which is exactly why we need to get you out of here!" Robert screamed again.
"Then what?" Teddy questioned, "do you think that he will just say 'oh well' after all this? If he doesn't get me, then what?" She stared at the group, "then what? He already went after Tyler, in this arena. You think he can't get to him again?"
Steve and the team exchanged looks. "And what about Chelsea? Do you think he is just going to do nothing? He tried to use her to get to me, with the clear goal of death. You think she won't be a price for that?"
"What are you saying?" Steve asked.
"I am not going anywhere until we come up with a plan to protect her. I had no one to protect me back then. I am not going to allow the same thing to happen to her. Now let's think." Teddy said with authority.
"You heard Teddy. We have twenty minutes to come up with a plan," Steve barked out, "Someone get me the head of arena security."
Outside on the concourse, Chaz searched the crowd. "Where did that bitch and Dovey sneak off to?" he thought to himself. Shortly before the end of the first intermission, he saw Trish and Teddy leave a concession stand with popcorn and sodas. They laughed and joked as they walked back to their seats. When warm-ups started, Tyler skated to where Teddy stood by the glass. His hand went to glass and he called out, "where did you go?"
 She smiled, "a chat with Steve and team."
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me," she smiled, "I am in capable hands. Focus on scoring."
"Okay, bossy butt," he laughed and skated away. He turned around and blew her a kiss.
On the concourse, Chaz seethed. When Chelsea put her hand on his arm, he jumped. "It's just me," she said quickly, "good news. She wants me to come talk to her during the third. We have another shot."
Chaz looked at her with a question. "What had changed? he thought so himself, "You know what? I don't fucking care." He forced a smile, "Good for you, Birdie. Good for you."
His eyes were focused on Chelsea as she went to Teddy's seat. Chelsea had received a simple DM on Instagram during the first intermission that read "Come see me about your idea during the third. Maybe we can work something out." 
When Chelsea arrived at the seat, Trish got up and walked up the stairs, per the plan. Chelsea sat next to her and looked nervously. "So, when is the first time he hit you?" Teddy said without making eye contact. Chelsea gasped. "What? He told you that had never happened before, right? That it was whatever you did made him do it," Teddy continued, "It's all your fault."
"It was after the first time we…." Chelsea started.
"At least he is consistent," Teddy laughed, "So what does he want?" 
"He wants to apologize," she whispered. 
"You believe that?" Teddy asked.
"No," she answered.
"Good, at least you are not totally blind," Teddy said, "So we have a plan. I am going to need you to trust me." Chelsea looked back nervously. "Don't do that," Teddy urged, "He will get suspicious."
"We?" Chelsea asked.
"Security team. I will explain it one day," Teddy, "Tell him that it has to be right before the end of the game otherwise Tyler will get suspicious. Got it?"
"Okay," Chelsea answered got up to head towards the stairs.
Teddy turned as she started up, "He won't hurt us. He won't hurt us again. Just follow my lead."
Trish returned to the seats and slipped a tracker into Teddy's hand, "They will be able to track you and hear you, but you won't hear them. Test it out."
Teddy smiled, "Steve, how it's going out there? So much for that plan on beer and cheesesteaks? When we get out of here in one piece we'll grab one of the way to the airport, okay?"
Trish pressed on the ear piece, "Stick to the plan and we'll be fine."
END OF THE THIRD
Teddy used Benn's goal in the third period to escape to the concourse. As she ascended the stairs, she spoke "Heads up boys. The show is about to begin." Chelsea waited for her on the concourse. They stared at each other momentarily, then nodded in solidarity.
Teddy saw the fear in Chelsea's eyes. Chelsea looked around as she started to lead them to the stairs that led down to the bowels of the arena. Chelsea said quietly, "Why are you doing this? You could have just escaped."
"And what? Let you pay the consequences of his hate for me? No, we are not going to let that fucker win." She leaned forward and grabbed her face, "You can do this. I can do this. We will do this together."
Chelsea whimpered and Teddy felt Chaz's presence before he grabbed her arm. She turned and gasped, "Chaz!"
"Quit the act, Dovey," Chaz hissed.
Her eyes filled with tears, "Suspecting that you are watching me, knowing that you are and you grabbing me are very different things. The last time you surprised me, I ended up in the hospital. It's not an act."
 "I know that you have eyes on you-at least for now." He insisted, "Don't worry, we will lose them soon.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Teddy replied, "Just let us go. No harm, no foul."
Chaz twisted Teddy's arm behind her back, "Now where would the fun be in that, huh?" He glanced back at Trish who was told to keep a respectful distance in the planning session. Her gut was telling her otherwise. Chaz glanced at the clock. They had about thirty seconds before the arena would erupt in celebration of the Flyers 2-1 victory over the Stars.
On the bench, Tyler's eyes searched Teddy's section for a sign of her and saw nothing. Benn leaned over and asked, "What's wrong?" 
Tyler turned "I think that Teddy's intuition that Chaz was following her was right. She isn't where she is supposed to be."
They both looked at the section again with no sign. Benn tried to encourage Tyler, "She probably headed down early to beat the crowd. You know how these Flyer fans get."
The horn sounded and throngs of people swarmed the concourse. Chaz yelled, "Birdie, get us to our final destination or pay the consequences." Chelsea grabbed Teddy's free hand and pulled her through the throng of people. Chaz followed behind with her arm twisted behind her back. With each step the pain increased and Teddy whimpered.
"Where are we going?" Teddy cried. She knew that her team would lose visual contact in the crowd and hoped to provide any clues that she could. The confidence that she had in abundance while they planned began to fade. It was one thing to put herself in the line of Chaz's wrath but it was entirely another thing to include Chelsea.
When they began their descent into the bowels of the arena, she narrated their travels. "Why are we going down here, Chaz? Where are you taking me? Have you thought about how you are going to leave this arena alive?"
"Shut up Teddy. Shut your fucking whore mouth," Chaz hissed. He grabbed her hair and snapped her head back, "Does your Daddio know what a whore you've turned into? You were so innocent with me." He pushed both of the women as they traveled along the dark hallway. "Maybe it's time to show Pretty Boy how it's done."
In the makeshift war room, Steve barked out orders. "Get the lower exits sealed. Do it now!" He yelled. 
The head of arena scanned the possible routes. He picked up the radio, "Secure the locker rooms. Shut them down."
Inside both team locker rooms, players looked up in surprise as the doors leading out to the arena with sudden force. A chorus of "What the fuck?" echoed in each room. Tyler looked at the door and got up from the bench, half-dressed. "What's going on?" he asked urgently. In his gut, he knew. Something was wrong and Teddy was in danger. 
The security guard refused to answer. Tyler asked again, his voice rising an octave. Benn got up and stood next to him. "Do you think it's Teddy?" 
On the radio, updates flowed. "Chaz has two hostages downstairs. They are heading to main hallway. Keep distance. Teddy seems to be in physical distress. Chelsea seems fine."
In the Flyers locker room, Giroux had take a spot next to the guard in order to relay information. "Chelsea…. Boys, he has Chelsea." 
"Our Chelsea?" TK Konecy asked. "What's happening?" Claude explained what he had overheard earlier. The entire team gathered to listen. "That punk ass bitch has been hitting her?" TK questioned, "You know what he have to do, G."
Meanwhile, a similar conversation took place in the Stars locker room. Tyler raced to get dressed. Benn went to him, "Where do you think you are going?"
"Chaz has Teddy who is under "some physical distress". Where the fuck do you think I am going?" Tyler hissed. 
"Hold on," Benn said, "I will create a distraction." Benn walked over and got in the guards face. "When are you letting us out of here? Look, I don't have time for lockdown practice. You are standing between me and a plane to take me home to my extremely hot woman." 
The guard tried to respond and Tyler slipped out the door. Once in the hallway, Tyler listened to get a clue which way to head. 
"Pretty Boy? Who is Pretty Boy? Is it Tyler?" Teddy's voice became clear. "Chelsea, is that where you are taking us? To Tyler?" Chelsea nodded her head. "Fuck," Teddy thought to herself. She could only hope that Steve would have planned for that scenario. "Chaz, you won't be able to get into a locker room. Even with Chelsea's credentials, they won't let you in there. Come on, you are not thinking clearly." 
Chelsea tried to think. Chaz relied on her to guide him to the locker room. He wouldn't notice if she directed toward the security office. She made the turn as Chaz dragged Teddy behind him. Steven and Robert Baxter stood in the hallway. Chaz screamed, "You stupid bitch. You stupid, stupid bitch" He let go of Teddy's arm and and reached for Chelsea. 
"Nooo," Teddy screamed and placed her body in front of Chelsea, "Run, Chelsea, run. You can make it. They will get out safely. RUN NOW"  
She took a step toward Chaz,  "I am the one you want. She is just doing what I told her to do. Blame me- blame me!" 
Chaz took his hand, swung it hard and slapped Teddy with his backhand. He grabbed her by the hair and forced her to face Robert. Her father's face contorted in anguish. Her face stung from the blow. "I'm okay Daddio. I am okay." Teddy tried to soothe.
"Not for long, Dovey, not for long," he hissed in her ear, "I am done with you by a long shot."
Teddy examined her surroundings. From what she could gather, there were four outlets on the main hall. Chaz would have to guess between the other three options. "Walk, Dovey- turn around and walk," he ordered. 
In the Stars locker room, the team had chattered away, assessing the situation. The consensus was that they were not going to allow an attack on Teddy unchallenged. It didn't take much effort to intimidate the security guard away from his post. When word came out that Teddy had been separated from Chelsea, the team stormed past into the hallway. They arrived at the same time as Chaz and Teddy.
"Where is he? Where in the fuck is Pretty Boy?" Chaz shouted as he scanned the team, "See Dovey, you need a real man. You need a real man to keep safe. Where in the fuck is he? " He whipped her body around and dragged her down the hall to the third outlet. The Flyers blocked it. 
Tyler had mistakenly taken a right turn and landed on the hall of the fourth outlet. Chaz's words echoed through the hall. Teddy’s cries pierced his heart. He ran and stood at the fourth and final outlet. He screamed, "Hey Chaz, are you looking for me?"
Chaz pushed Teddy forward to Tyler. She fell on her knees, looked up and saw his face. He never looked stronger. He took a step towards her and saw the mark on her face. "Pretty One," he said softly, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
Chaz grabbed her by the hair again, pulling her to her feet again. "Oh Pretty Boy, don't worry about Dovey. She is used to a little discipline in her life. None of that Pretty One bullshit," Chaz taunted, "She needs it rough."
Tyler took a lunge at Chaz, who danced out of his grasp. "Let her go or I will fucking kill you," 
Chaz, "Oh Pretty Boy, you will stand there and watch. You can watch how a real man does it."
Something in Teddy snapped at Chaz's words. "Real man? She thought to herself, "No, her father was a real man- a man devoted to his family for almost thirty five years. Lex was a real man- a best friend who saw the good in her even when she couldn't. Finally, Tyler was a real man- a sweet soul who loved her without conditions or restraint." 
Teddy twisted her body around. Behind her she saw her father and Steve, poised to pounce. She turned to her side and saw the Flyers team standing together. The look in Claude's eyes was defiant, as if to dare Chaz to make a move. Her head swiveled to the Stars who waited patiently for a signal. Finally she turned to Tyler who watched with a pained expression on his face. She gave him a smile and felt her strength rise up within her. 
She thought about Chelsea. Teddy had been compelled to help Chelsea who did not have anyone else. Turns out that she was wrong. Chelsea did have an entire NHL team ready to go to blows for her. 
Then she turned her attention to Chaz. She saw him through a new set of eyes. He was so sure that he could control her and bend her to his will. She laughed as she thought to herself, "Fucker could not find a clit with a compass and a map. How the fuck is he going to hurt me?" 
The laughter became louder and Chaz pulled at her hair, "What the fuck are you laughing at Dovey?"
Teddy turned him and smiled, "You fell for it. You actually thought I was fucking scared of you. Oh Chaz, no one is actually afraid of you. You think you are real man because you hit me a couple thousand times? You are a little momma's boy trapped in a man's body. You only pick on people smaller than you- the ones that you think you can scare into submission. "
Teddy looked over at Tyler, "Say the words, Sweet One."
Tyler's eyes widened and he stared for a moment. She nodded in encouragement. "Who do I want, Pretty One?" Tyler said softly. He was confused by the request.
Teddy smiled, "Me and only me." She felt her soul rising up.
Chaz grabbed her face and pulled it to face him. "Shut the fuck up, Dovey," he seethed. He grasped at straws to keep some sort of control over her.
"Keep going," she pleaded with Tyler.
"Why do I want you?" He continued.
Teddy wretched her face from Chaz's grasp and turned to Tyler, "Because you love me and will never hurt me."
"Never, ever Pretty One," Tyler asked loudly, "Who is my lady?" 
Teddy smiled triumphantly, "Me and only fucking bad ass me." 
She turned to Chaz and spit in his face. "You just made a big mistake-huge." 
She picked her foot and stomped down onto with her stiletto heel. He doubled over in pain and shock. "I'm sorry- did that hurt?" She scoffed, "I wear real heels now that I don't have to make myself small for my man." 
She threw her favorite boxing combination of a jab, cross, hook, uppercut followed by another cross. The blows each landed with enough force to know Chaz back. She took a breath and repeated the combination as Chaz fell to his knees. "Oh, did you not know I take private boxing lessons three times a week? I probably should have told you. Oooops!"
Chaz covered his head with his arms as the blows rained down upon his body. "Wait," she laughed in his ear, "I thought you said you were going to show me how a real man does it. What happened- you pathetic piece of shit."
"Stop," Chaz's voice said weakly, "Please stop."
"Say it again," she screamed, "Say it again, you fucking.coward."
"Please stop. I am begging you," he pleaded for mercy.
Teddy grabbed his hair and pulled his face up to look at her, "Look at me. Look at my face and know that I am not afraid of you. I will never be afraid of you again." Chaz's eyes welled up with tears. "You know where you fucked up, Chaz? When you tried to hurt Tyler- that's…. that is when I decided to kick your ass. I would die before I allowed you to hurt him,” she declared.
"If you come for Chelsea again, I will beat your ass. If you come for him again, I will beat your ass. If you come for me again, I will put your ass in the damn morgue," she shouted as she stood up and walked away. She abruptly stopped and turned around, "Don't believe me? Just look at all the back up I have. Fuck around and find out."
In the span of time it took Teddy to make it five yards to Tyler, a team descended upon Chaz and restrained him. Teddy didn't look back and ran to Tyler. He swooped her into his arms and squeezed for dear life. "Pretty One," he whispered into her ear, "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything," she cried, "don't say anything. Just hold me and don't let me go."
"Okay," he swayed back and forth. In the chaos that surrounded them, they clung to each other. Both were lost in their own thoughts. 
Teddy rested her ear against Tyler's chest and listened to his heartbeat. "Your heart is racing," Teddy said quietly.
"I  was scared to death. I was afraid to try to take him down. I should have… I should have saved you," he sighed.
"You did save me. Maybe not tonight, but you saved me with your love. It was your love that brought my strength to the surface. It was your love that reminds me every day that I can do the hard things. I can do them because I am not alone anymore," she encouraged.
"You give me too much credit, Pretty One," he kissed the top of her head. 
"You don't give yourself enough credit," she kissed his chest, "Do you need the words?" he whispered yes.
"Who do I want?",she asked.
"Me and only me," he answered
"Why do I want you?", she repeated their pattern.
"Because you love me more than anyone else in the world and you know I will never, ever hurt you,” he answered earnestly.
"Who is my REAL man?", she smiled up at him.
"Lucky me," he smiled back.
"I love you Sweet One," she whispered, "I have a feeling it's about to get crazy around here." She turned to look at the crowd around them. She looked back into his eyes with tears.
"It's a good thing I am certified in handling crazy," he wiped her tears, "I love you and you can do the hard things." He paused and corrected himself, "No, we can do the hard things together." 
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dazed-and-wandering · 3 months
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Just realized that all my full page comics get compressed down to an unreadable nothing on mobile, that's kind of a bummer. I usually include a link to the "open in new tab" full resolution version on each page, but nothing seems to let you do that on mobile, I've tried messing with the upload resolution and no size seems to stop it from being compressed...
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fakehelper · 2 years
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Hello there! This is my new and (hopefully) improved tutorial on how to upload gifs for a gif pack page! Tumblr has changed in recent years when it comes to how to upload gifs and how they’re formatted (like .gifv coming in and ruining everyone’s day). People in the community have also made the shift towards more decorated and custom gif pack pages rather than strictly gif filled pages. As such, this tutorial will focus on how to prepare your gifs for those codes. Resources will be linked at the bottom!
NOTE: This tutorial is also available as a Google Doc (the recommended platform for reading this tutorial) with full size images that might be easier to see, however I know some users don’t like going outside of Tumblr to view tutorials, so it’s available on both platforms. To read the Google Doc version, please CLICK HERE.
Setting Up Your Gifs
Load all of your gifs as you usually would into a new post. I usually wait until I have around 20 gifs, then I get ready to move them. Moving them over periodically usually helps it feel like less of a strain waiting for a million gifs to load all at once. Make sure all of your gifs are under a READ MORE! This will prevent them from turning into the gifv format!
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Once you’ve uploaded all your gifs, make sure to SAVE AS A DRAFT.
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Next, you’re going to want to hit edit on the draft, again, this has to be SAVED before you can do the next step.
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This is where all the magic happens. What we’re going to do is strip our gifs of any unnecessary code in a few simple steps. First, hit the gear icon at the top of your post and change the Text Editor from Rich Text to Markdown.
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Next, you’re going to change it from Markdown, to HTML
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Now, you’re going to want to keep this tab open, and set up your sidepage!
NOTE: If you are using the beta editor, you may require some extra steps to clean up your code! Read more here.
Setting Up Your Sidepage
Now you can create your new page. You can do so by going to Customize and then clicking Add a page (I recommend using a sideblog for this as it can heavily clog your main blog, and if you ever change your main url, you can keep the url of your gif pages the same). 
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After creating your new page, make sure to change it from a standard layout to a custom layout using the dropdown menu, then give the page a url. You cannot save the page until you add a url.
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Okay, now for the next step, you can use any gif page code you’d like! I have a tag here with codes made by many different theme makers to choose from! If you’d like to use one of mine, you can find them here. Today I’ll be using my newest theme as an example. From the post, download the code and paste it into the page. It should look something like this.
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Now you’re going to want to find the section to add your gifs. In my older codes, you would be able to find it looking something like this:
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For this theme, however, I used placeholders because of the trigger warning feature. To figure out more on how to use that feature of the theme, please read the tutorial here. For the sake of this tutorial, however, you can DELETE THESE PLACEHOLDERS (highlighted by the blue box, make sure you keep the <p> and </p> tags).
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Once those are deleted, you’re going to go back to your tab with your gifs and select everything after [ [ MORE ] ] , but before the </p> tag, then copy it.
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Now, paste your code in between the <p> and </p> tags. Hit Update Preview to make sure it’s loading correctly. Every time you add gifs, make sure there are NO SPACES between the img links. (aka make sure those < ... alt=”image”><img src=”...> are back to back instead of < ... alt=”image”>    <img src=”...> leaving a space in between).
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And that’s all! Make sure to change the other parts of the theme necessary (titles, fc info etc) and you’re good to go! Always make sure to hit save before you navigate away!!
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Resources
My Gif Pack Page Codes
Recommended Gif Pack Page Codes (tag)
Previous Tutorial (How to upload to a Standard Sidepage)
Barebones Code (for previous tutorial)
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evilliyes · 11 months
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Depending on who you are, this type of post is probably much less exciting than the sort of thing I would usually put on this blog.  However, for those who are curious, these are text announcements as well as gacha odds of the Memoirs of Wrongdoings and Evillious event.
The top picture is the announcement for the Evillious announcement’s beginning, and what to expect during the campaign.
The second image, which you may have to open in a new tab to be able to read, is, if I recall an announcement that preceded the previous one.  This gave the details of the Memoirs of Wrongdoing gacha and the new characters that could be obtained, as well as some of the general mechanics of Proseka’s gacha events and how they’re used specifically in Memoirs of Wrongdoings.
The third image is extremely similar to the second, but with more details added, and was posted on the start of the gacha event.
Similarly, the fourth image is very close to the first image in text, but was posted when the event began, rather than an announcement of the event.
Moving onto the third row, these are announcements of the three new songs added in honor of the event, in the following order (one per each image): The Daughter of Evil, The Servant of Evil, and Waltz of the Deceased (also known as Waltz of the Departed).
On the last row are images taken from the gacha page itself.  The first image gives a summary of the gacha, including the new cards, as well as an explanation of how the gacha works in extreme detail.
The second gives the odds of drawing any given card.  Even in a new tab at full size, it’s a bit difficult to read.  The very top gives the general odds of drawing a certain level of card (4☆ being 3%, 3☆ being 8.5%, and 2☆ being 88.5%; keep in mind all Evillious cards are 4☆ cards) as well as the specific odds of drawing a given card.  For example, if one wanted to specifically draw one of the Evillious cards, there is a 0.4% chance of it happening on a given draw.�� Other 4☆ cards have approximate odds of 0.009% chance of appearing.  If someone would like me to transcribe a specific card name or odds, please feel free to DM me.
The final picture gives the odds of a “Guaranteed Drop Rate”, which is when a card that is either 3☆ or 4☆ is guaranteed to the player.  There are a few different ways this can happen, but the most common is using 3,000 crystals to draw 10 cards; of the cards drawn in that lot, at the very minimum, one 3☆ card will be given to the player.  One may also get multiple 3☆ cards (say, seven 2☆ and three 3☆ cards), a 4☆ card with the rest being 2☆ cards, or, if lady luck is feeling quite generous, a mix of 4☆ cards, 3☆ cards, and 2☆ cards.  For the guaranteed drop rate, a 4☆ card has a 3% chance of appearing, and a 3☆ card has a 97% chance of appearing, with odds for specific cards listed.  If anyone wants the names or drop rates of specific cards, please message me.
Note that these odds will not necessarily carry over to the re-run of the gacha; many new cards have been and will be added to the game between when these pictures were taken and the re-run, and the number of cards and their odds are bound to change.
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ARGONUS INFO: the other aeronoids
(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )
[this image is best viewed when opened in a new tab.]
[re-upload due to original being re-blog from main]
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edit 11/21/23: i changed the native range of most avibells; instead of originating in nylus/sonias, most avibels will come form the eastern hemisphere with some species in the western hemisphere. i figured it'd make a bit more sense given how diverse gliders actually are.
AAAAAND like with the elkinets, i go more into detail about the other members of the order aeronoida.
the aeronoids are the other species of "living aircraft" on argonus. alot about their biology is similar, if not the same as the elkinet. if you want more details on that (and the elkinets themselves), look at this post here [tumblr edit: this leads to the DA post, not the tumblr one which you should be able to find via the search bar]. but, i'll go over the basics:
1-they're entirely biological, with the exception of their semi-mechanical engines.
2-sometimes there exist pygmy versions of them, usually due to lack of resources. a-however, pygmies tend to be more common due to purposely breeding them.
3-colorations is usually based of respective aircraft's, though can be almost anything. a-and like with the elkinets, there's only colors, patterns and markings.
4-hybrids can exist, and have similar statistics of getting a hybrid as the elkinets (primarily with size differences between the parents) a-however naturally speaking, it only exist within two parents of the same genus. b-there tends to be a higher chance for a hybrid for the other aeronoid species, regardless of the size difference.
[tumblr edit: most aeronoid groups are monotypic, consisting of a single genus, if not a super genus at the largest]
5-their engines are more resilient than a normal, non-living aircraft. they don't fly faster than 210mph. a-while on the topic of flight, aeronoids aren't always flying as their top speed. they only have their engines at full power for long enough to get sufficient air. after that, they lower the speed so that it's just enough to keep them in the air. b-however, there are two main groups that don't have engines, later on those.
6-they have a similar lifecycle to each other, though with varying degrees of each stages length. a-these lengths obviously vary depending on lifespan. 7- there are some foot variations with the other aeronoids, like their is with the elkinets a-however, these variations are usually either your standard anisodactyl feed or webbed feet. this is dependent more on the environment they've adapted for than it is the aircraft type.
8-they're around the same length as their real-life aircraft counterpart a-exact sizes vary between individuals and species b-some aeronoids, however, are smaller than their real-world counterparts now, before we can truly get into the four main groups of non-elkinets, we first have to go through the evolutionary tree first, so you get a good idea on who's related to who.
EVOLUTION AND BASIC TAXONOMY          it all starts with the bird ancestor, a sort of stem-parrot, which may have looked similar to your average passerine, or maybe a bit like a mimicoot minus the crest and pseudoteeth. after all, on my post about the mimicoots [tumblr edit: also a link to a DA post], the tomium is purely convergent to the aeronoids. the superorder would then split into two groups: the mimicoot and the aeronoids.
 there haven't been any clear fossils of an intermediate aeronoid (at least at time of posting, maybe i'll make one later), thought most people agree it may have looked like a weird theropect-bird hybrid. between the bird ancestor, the intermediate form and the basal aeronoid, a couple major things have happened:     1-the loss of feather covering the body     2-wings becoming more thicker and longer in the absence of flight feathers     3-the loss of the secondary eyes (the smaller bottom eyes that most vertebrates have)     4-the appearances of prop engines both on the back and on the wingtips.
    after the intermediate form came the basal aeronoid, which looked like a theropect with an engine on it's back. it's guessed that this basal aeronoid uses all three engines to fly, though speculatively rather poorly. that didn't matter, though, since most aeronoids later down the line would develop better flight in there own unique ways.
    the earliest group to branch off from the rest were a group that started using less of the engines in more favor of flapping their first forelimbs. these intermediate gliders would become the avibels, the aeronoids that returned to their flapping winged ways of their ancestor, minus feathers.
    the next branch would lead to the theropects, which further developed their wing engines as their primary scource of flight, as well as re-evolving them as another set of "arms". however, before true theropects came along, another group close to them would split off and start using those arms more often than their original first forelimbs, causing those forelimbs to reduce in size. these aernoids would be the elkinet ancestor, as as they further developed their wings, not only did those vestigial arms completely disappear, but also the prop blades since they started using the actual wing itself to grab and manipulate object. this would eventually lead to the elkinet we all know and recognize.     despite the multiple arms of multiplanes (biplanes, triplanes, ect), they're not a separate group as the elkinets. the multiple wings are more of a mutation that stuck around than something that was ancestral.
    the final branchoff would lead to a quadrupedal aeronoid that had lost the prop engines on the wingtips in favor of the one on the back. one group would ditch the wings entirely and become the carnivoran-like stunits. the other, however, not only lost wings but also the engines entirely. what the intermediate "flightless" form looked like is also under debate, though it may have had small, vestigial wings and a heavily reduced engines. in any case, the aeronoid would instead opt for completely gliding and loosing powered flight, leading to them becoming the rodads.
alright, natural history lesson over, time to continue on.
    most aeronoid species are relatively smart, and have been kept in captivity by both elkinets and later down the line humans. while most of them are really tame, some species have been fully domesticated. their reasoning for being kept by elkinet usually is companionship, though some secondary usages like hunting, transportation, eggs and meat are also common. in addition, their pygmy variation are also common due to intentional breeding.     aeronoids tend to fill in similar niches to other existing animals. despite this, they rarely do ever go into direct competition with other animals of the same niche, probably due to argonus's size which allow the aeronoids to take over a niche of their own in certain areas.
  ok, ok, NOW we can get into each individual (extant) groups of aeronoids.   
THE STUNNITS (helicopters)
wild ranges:     the stunits are found almost worldwide, but are most common in the temperate and lush habitats. they can also be found in civilizations as strays/ferals. general diet:     most stunnits are generalist omnivores, but there are some variations to exactly what they eat. some of the smaller helicopters have a more carnivorous diet, as they'll hunt smaller animals and eat carrion as part of their diet. on the otherhand, some of the largest helicopter species are near-entirely herbivores, having plants as a main staple of their diet.     captive stunits are usually fed their own diet-specific kibble, though with the more omnivorous / carnivores species some good grain-free dogfood have been used as a cheaper alternative. behavoir:     most stunnits are social to some extent, at the very least they'll tolerate each other if food and water is plentiful. armed and attack helicopters have a more vulpine-like role, being carnivorous loners that only really get together to mate and raise young. larger helicopters have a more canid-like behavior. much like other aernoids, the stunnit's tail and prop blades can be an indicator of emotions. for example, their tails wag when happy or exited, or their props could twitch around to show frustration or annoyance.     stunnits raise their young in the late spring. they'll create a shallow "nest" that's either loosely made of nesting materials or no nesting materials at all. the mother will lay about 3-5 eggs, and then both parents will protect the eggs until they hatch. the babies are precocial, meaning they're born in an advanced state to where they're able to walk, run and to some extent drink/eat on their own. the parents still have to protect them and feed them until they're truly ready to be on their own.     stunnits, both in the wild and with feral colonies, have a set territory that that chase intruders off of. these fights rarely end in severe injuries/death. feral colonies tend to be less territorial. stunnits communicate with growls, howls and "groarks" (barking, but with a slight growling/roaring tone to it; best example i can give is the mane wolf's roar-barks).
additional stuff:   the stunnits get the title of "man's best friend" of argonus, and it's no secret why. they're the aircraft analog to carnivorans, more specifically bears, canines and felines. most species have been kept in captivity and used for a variety of tasks, such as transportations, guarding, herding, hunting, pest control, ect.     they have an actual full body. helicopters with a lattice tail (Like the bell 47 tail here) have an actual full tail, and like the cockpit/canopy the lattice rods are just extra ornaments. even with the skycrane, they're a more fuller body.     just like their real-world counterparts, they're incredible fliers that can hover in places, as well as dive and make hairpin turns. when they fight in the air, most of it is just them chasing eachother around, maybe even pushing eachother a few time before one of them leaves. these fights usually dont last too and and almost always ends with both parties leaving with little to no injuries.     most species of stunnits (excluding the mostly-herbivorous ones) have a serrated beak, which is good for cutting into their food whether that's be the flesh of an animals or the flesh of a watermelon.
THE AVIBELS (sailplanes and gliders)
wild ranges:    most species originally were found throughout the eastern hemispheres, with some species being native to the western hemisphere. however, thanks to the elkinets they can be found anywhere where there's civilization..
general diet:     while the avibel are considered generalist omnivores, they're more in line with being an opportunistic carnivores and have at least 50% of their diet consist of meat. most of the meat they eat are usually animals smaller than them, with their favorites being rodents, lizards, frogs and fish. the plants they eats, on the otherhand, are often fruits, grains and seeds of various plants. they've also been known to have an incredibly strong sweet-tooth from time to time, having been known to raid maple buckets and beehives for the sweet, sugary treat insides. this sweet tooth is most common in the spring.     avibels that are kept in captivity are typically content with eating a high-quality dogfood since most contain all the essential nutrients to keep the gliders happy. however, there do exist more specialized feed for avibels, especially for ones who want them to start producing more eggs. this feed usually contains a mixture of insects, dried meat, dried fruit and grains.
behavoir:     the avibels are best described as being "bootleg crows". they have the intelligence just slightly under that of actual crows and ravens, able to learn and adapt to various environments. the avibels are very social animals and are commonly seen in small groups of 3-7 (Though larger groups do occur). they're monogamous and mate for life; if one partner dies, the other will become depressed and will refuse to mate with any other glider for a while (sometimes never). avibel are expert hunters, and can be seen actively hunting small animals and insects.     these aeronoids have a decent vocal range. they made a wide variety of sound, usually consisting of hisses, screeches and "chirps", all reminiscent of various bird-of-prey. they'll also slam their tails on the ground to show anger and frustration (this is especially true to broody hens).     when raising young, the two parents will create a nest usually under a tree or any other covered places. unlike alot of other aeronoids, baby avibel chicks (which they have 1-2 of) are born both blind and deaf for the first week or two, much like some bird species. the parents swap places and take turns caring for the babies until after two months when they're ready to be on their own. sometimes the offspring will stay with the parents to help care for the next generation.
additional stuff:     unlike most other aeronoid species, the avibels typically don't have any form on engines whatsoever. instead, the go the old-fashion route and fly by flapping their wings to take off. once in the air, they'll uses a mixture of powered flight and rising thermals to stay in the air. despite their appearances as a more bird-like elkinets, they're only distantly related to them like we are to baboons.     also unlike alot of aeronoids, their beaks have sorta re-evolved into...beaks. more specifically, their beaks are curved and sharp, with the top one having a point not unlike an eagle's. the beak is much like a multitool, being able to tear, shred and cut not just their food but also really anything.     elkients have raised avibels for centuries as a source of eggs, meat and companionship, and the gliders often double as a form of pest control too. humans also took a liking to them, as their intelligence and easy tamability made them great mounts as well. however, avibels have been known to act aggressive towards humans and anyone who disturbs their nest while they're raising chicks.
THE RODADS (lifting bodies) wild ranges:     rodads originate from the woodlands and mountains of sonias. just like with the two other aeronoids here, the elkinets and their civilizations have made them a world-wide city animal.
general diet:     the rodads are generalist herbivores, generally speaking. the specifics of what plants they eat can vary by the region. naturally speaking, they eat leaves, flowers, fruit, nuts and seeds, but they'll also take grass, twigs and really any plants they can get their forepaws and mouths on. they'll also take on insects and small animals occasionally. during it's waking hours, a rodad will spend at least 70% of it's time foraging for food. behavoir:     rodad's aren't the most smartest animals out there. rodads are also not very social animals, and at most in the wild they'll tolerate each other if they're enough food and water around. however, in captivity they're alot more easier to get along with each other. wild rodads are territorial, and they can be seen fighting for the best food and mating rights.      when not eating or fighting, rodads are rather slow and chill animals, and can be see climbing and/or sleeping in trees (or any other high, enclosed place), or wonder around to make sure no rival steps foot into their territory. if disturbed, they'll either run or (if in a high place) jump off and glide to safety. and if they're really cornered, they'll try and bite/scratch the threat.     they're rather tolerable around other smaller animals that don't pose much threat to them. rodads are also surprisingly good swimmers, and many species have at least some semi-aquatic lifestyles. with their combined behavior and occasional affinity for the water, some humans called they "citybaras", seeing them as the capybaras of the city.     the aircraft are ok parents. males usually make a small cavity in the ground, just big enough for a female and her clutch pf 4-5, and he'll mate with first female that comes in. after that, he'll make sure no other guys take his girl while she lays her eggs and protect them. once the eggs hatch, he leaves her to do the rest of the work. thankfully, the babies are born precocial, so there's not much to be done other than making sure they learn how to eat and drink on their own.     rodads don't make much noise. at most they've been known to hiss and softly squeak. however, during fights they'll scream and squeal not unlike that of koalas.
additional info     the rodads are the only aeronoid, both presently and within fossil records, to ditch true flight entirely. instead they use their weird body shape to glide from one place to another. they can actually glide long distances, and in addition are surprisingly good jumpers and climbers. unfortunately, they often fall prey to many predator, stunnits and avibels being a common foe.      although they have no wings, rodads still have a small, thin tail. rodads also have evolved whiskers, which they uses to sense their surroundings since their vision isn't the best. 
THE THEROPECTS (tiltrotors)
wild ranges:     theropects are strictly restrained to the jungles and rainforest of sonias. unlike most others here, feral population are actually rare and only confined to equally warm habitats. all other theropects outside of sonias are usually part of zoos and sanctuaries, sometimes as exotic pets, too.
general diet:     theropects are all around generalist omnivores. they eat anything that's edible to them, but fruits and leaves make up 60% of their diet. sometimes they'll pick up some invertebrates, small animals, and eggs to round out their diet. they're rather infamous for raiding fruit farmers and stealing the food they grow, especially during peak ripe season.
behavoir:     one of the most intelligent species of animal on argonus, the theropects are only second to their civilized relatives, the elkinets. as a matter of fact, they're the closest thing argonus gets to chimps and gibbons, since when it comes to primates no hominoids themselves haven evolved on argonus (Only lemur, new world and old world monkeys). despite the likening to chimpanzees, they're more like gorillas, being plant-eating pacifists that rather would scare it's enemies than to actually attack.     theropects are not only bipedal like their relatives, but are also very good a manipulating objects. they use both their forelimbs and their wings (or more accurately their prop blades) to grab, hold and move things. their prop blades are especially good at this, since they move very much like the elkinet's wings. they even have a bit of gecko-padding to further hold things.     the tiltrotors are very social and very good parents. they make a very simple nest to lay their eggs in. the mother usually only has one baby, rarely ever two. while the babies are born with their eyes open, they still cling onto mom (or any other females' if she's not round) for at least two years. during that time both mother, father and other members of the group will help take care of them and the mother, and later down the line teach the offspring how to survive.     theropects make a wide array of barks, screeches, whistles, coos and hisses to communicate with each other. 
additional stuff:     since argonus lacks any apes, this is the closest they got to gibbon, gorillas and chimpanzees. in captivity, they're about as pleasant to own as a cockatoo or macaw (aka don't get one unless you're very experienced). they've been used in laboratories and scientific studies, and are common info the film industry as animal actors. however, they're not all sunshine and rainbows, as they're very noisy, nippy and often can be seen stealing things from their owners. however, with enough proper love, care, toys and attention, those issues are brought down to a minimum. still, there is alot of legality issues when it comes to owning theropects as pets, so usually it's better off to leave it to zoos and sanctuaries to take care of them.
aaaaand that's it for the aeronoids! any other information regarding them will probably be in other post.
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elk-crown · 1 year
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A ramble about the new default wikipedia layout
First of all- Big notice. IF you have an account, you can set it back to the old style in your preferences. This isn’t however, a viable solution to the issue as if you dont want to be forced to make a wikipedia account you have to deal with the annoying new one.
Let’s get started.
As of January 18th 2023, Wikipedia changed its classic, decade-old layout to a fresh, new look. This look is already widely disliked as many people first assumed that its a bug sending them to the mobile website. 
Now, I use my browser at half my 16:9 screen size, so i’m essentially on 4:3 with my browser- but that doesn’t change that I have issues with this update. I’ll mainly be using images from a fullscreen version of the site- though as someone who uses the browser at half the screen the new website is *not* good at all and is in fact, very claustrophobic with how the entire page takes up the screen instead of being contained in its boxes. So some of my complaints with varying screen sizes will also be mentioned.
Putting this under a readme bc it will be LONG
Let’s first take the front page as an example.
On the old style, this is what you see:
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Everything is contained in its boxes, there’s a little bit of scrolling to do to see the entire page, the menu is fully accessible on its lefthand side.
On the new version, it looks like this.
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There is that tiny square in the bottom right on every page that you can use to stretch the page out, but you have to do it PER PAGE every single time you load it which is not intuitive at all.
Now. Everyone will hear everyone cry “there’s so much wasted space!! Why???” And indeed. It’s wasted space. It’s pointlessly wasted. Not only that, but look at how HUGE the margins of the search bar is. The search bar area is taking up TOO MUCH space. It was easy to find before, but it was neatly nested into itself. Now it looks like wikipedia decided to do the good ol’ “Header at top body content below” style. It has a bit more scrolling to do like this, but it isn’t egregious... yet. It makes use of the empty space when you’re in FULL SCREEN. But as you know, I dont use browsers at full that often. So for me, THIS HAPPENS.
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It *wedges* itself above everything. And then forces me to scroll through all of this just to get to the front page again.
Further talk will be done using a random page.
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Besides the usual wasted space comments, there’s a multitude of big issues with this from the get go. Such as: This tiny page was shown in its entirety on the old version, but now requires you to scroll to view the bottom area with all licensing information and “about” navigation.
The menu not being always open on the left is a problem.  In both the compact and fullscreen of the old style you will always have access to the menu on the left- which is frankly one of the most important accessibility measures to have. reducing clicks by having the entire menu available is important and also helps people navigate the site faster by knowing how to get from one page to another easily. Not only that, but it also helps them find the versions of a webpage from their language faster. On the new version, all available languages are hidden under a clickable tab
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Someone who may not speak english and wouldn’t understand the symbol would really not be able to intuit that this is where they go to change the language to one they DO understand. This isn’t accessible. On the old version, all languages would immediately be displayed at the lefthand side.
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Which allows people at a glance to know how many and exactly what languages have this page translated. You don’t have to know what “languages” means to find YOUR relevant language because its already fully displayed there.
Style wise, the website has performed my detested “flattening” phenomenon that all modern websites just LOVE to do. The old version of the site had tabs look like actual tabs! You could easily tell which tab you were on at a glance because of how it existed physically.
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but on the new one, they flattened it and it not only lost its charm as a clickable button, but also just.... isn’t as easy for me to read as a tab i’m on currently?
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It’s very  easy to miss the underlining and while sure the colors differ it doesn’t feel as intuitive at a glance.
The question to me really just is: who asked for this? Sure, larger font sizes are nice they could have added a toggle for that somewhere that gets stored in your cookies so every time you enter the website it’d remember the font size you selected but.... Wikipedia, the last bastion of good wiki design, has fallen to the fucking FANDOM-style design and i am just deeply disappointed that they didn’t stick to the “if it aint broke don’t fix it” mentality.
As of now, its just lazy. They couldn’t be assed to have a proper desktop experience. Everything is mobile now and if you dont use mobile to navigate websites well fuck you then have fun on your mobile desktop experience.
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0zzysaurus · 1 year
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how does one go about making gifs? ive always wanted to try but i have no idea where to start.
Well the way I do them is super basic. I make no-nonsense gifs with minimal to no editing - but I suppose that’s helpful if you just want to get into making simple ones!
I do all of it on iPhone, so it’s gonna be iOS specific, but as long as you have a decent screen recorder on whatever device you’re using, you shouldn’t need to download any videos.
Downloading videos is mostly done to avoid quality drops if your wifi isn’t very good. I personally screen record all my clips because cannot tell the difference between gifs made from screen recorded videos versus downloaded videos, and I just don’t have the time/space to be downloading full videos that can be potentially two hours or more. Screen recording also helps you get around copyright problems if you’re trying to download videos from YouTube. It’s a personal preference thing and if people shit on you for screen recording then they need to get a life.
The first thing I do is find a movie/show that I want to select clips from. I’ll do a quick example with a shot from The Matchmaker (1958) because I could do with some gifs of that movie.
First thing I do is find it in the highest quality I can, put my phone on horizontal & full screen (so you can get the biggest resolution you possibly can) and record a reasonable sized segment I want to make gifs of. Have some buffer space so you’re not fiddling with pauses, and record long enough to maybe get one or two good gifs out of a few minutes of recording.
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Once I’ve done that, I trim the video to just be the parts I want to make into a gif. Usually something between 2 and 7 seconds helps to keep the upload size for Tumblr below 10MB, but the more colours/higher the definition the bigger the file will be regardless of runtime, so be aware. Always save as a new clip so you can keep reusing your initial screen recording.
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I’ve got three clips here I wanna make into gifs.
Now I go to the best website ever, ezgif to actually rotate (crop sometimes) and convert video into gifs. It’s 100% safe and a shit load better than the native iOS gif making tools.
I’m sure there are better ways of doing this with editing software on your computer, but a) I’m too lazy for that and this works just fine for making gifs for your blog, and b) you wanted a beginner tutorial and this is something fun you can play around with if shit like Adobe AE is too daunting/expensive.
You wanna click this option:
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And then use the following settings (the seconds are just the maximum length of the clip I chose, feel free to play around with those to shorten your clip more if you didn’t quite get it accurate the first time.)
The size and frame rate options here WILL make the largest file option available, but it will look the best. Lower them if you are okay compromising quality for file size, or shorten your gif if you are okay compromising length for quality.
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The fire size here is JUST under Tumblr’s file limit. 10.00MiB will always be too big for Tumblr. I find optimising a gif often makes the file size BIGGER 🙄 but try it if you want. There are a lot of decent options here for a simple gif tool :]] I’m just gonna quickly crop the black bars out.
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To download it, I always hit the save button and open it in View so it’s in its own tab. Then I just save it from there.
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And that’s how I do it :]]
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ARGONUS INFO: the other aeronoids
(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )
[this image is best viewed when opened in a new tab.]
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AAAAAND like with the elkinets, i go more into detail about the other members of the order aeronoida.
the aeronoids are the other species of "living aircraft" on argonus. alot about their biology is similar, if not the same as the elkinet. if you want more details on that (and the elkinets themselves), look at this post here [tumblr edit: this leads to the DA post, not the tumblr one which you should be able to find via the search bar]. but, i'll go over the basics:
1-they're entirely biological, with the exception of their semi-mechanical engines.
2-sometimes there exist pygmy versions of them, usually due to lack of resources. a-however, pygmies tend to be more common due to purposely breeding them.
3-colorations is usually based of respective aircraft's, though can be almost anything. a-and like with the elkinets, there's only colors, patterns and markings.
4-hybrids can exist, and have similar statistics of getting a hybrid as the elkinets (primarily with size differences between the parents) a-however naturally speaking, it only exist within two parents of the same genus. b-there tends to be a higher chance for a hybrid for the other aeronoid species, regardless of the size difference.
[tumblr edit: most aeronoid groups are monotypic, consisting of a single genus, if not a super genus at the largest]
5-their engines are more resilient than a normal, non-living aircraft. they don't fly faster than 210mph. a-while on the topic of flight, aeronoids aren't always flying as their top speed. they only have their engines at full power for long enough to get sufficient air. after that, they lower the speed so that it's just enough to keep them in the air. b-however, there are two main groups that don't have engines, later on those.
6-they have a similar lifecycle to each other, though with varying degrees of each stages length. a-these lengths obviously vary depending on lifespan. 7- there are some foot variations with the other aeronoids, like their is with the elkinets a-however, these variations are usually either your standard anisodactyl feed or webbed feet. this is dependent more on the environment they've adapted for than it is the aircraft type.
8-they're around the same length as their real-life aircraft counterpart a-exact sizes vary between individuals and species b-some aeronoids, however, are smaller than their real-world counterparts now, before we can truly get into the four main groups of non-elkinets, we first have to go through the evolutionary tree first, so you get a good idea on who's related to who.
EVOLUTION AND BASIC TAXONOMY          it all starts with the bird ancestor, a sort of stem-parrot, which may have looked similar to your average passerine, or maybe a bit like a mimicoot minus the crest and pseudoteeth. after all, on my post about the mimicoots [tumblr edit: also a link to a DA post], the tomium is purely convergent to the aeronoids. the superorder would then split into two groups: the mimicoot and the aeronoids.
 there haven't been any clear fossils of an intermediate aeronoid (at least at time of posting, maybe i'll make one later), thought most people agree it may have looked like a weird theropect-bird hybrid. between the bird ancestor, the intermediate form and the basal aeronoid, a couple major things have happened:     1-the loss of feather covering the body     2-wings becoming more thicker and longer in the absence of flight feathers     3-the loss of the secondary eyes (the smaller bottom eyes that most vertebrates have)     4-the appearances of prop engines both on the back and on the wingtips.
    after the intermediate form came the basal aeronoid, which looked like a theropect with an engine on it's back. it's guessed that this basal aeronoid uses all three engines to fly, though speculatively rather poorly. that didn't matter, though, since most aeronoids later down the line would develop better flight in there own unique ways.
    the earliest group to branch off from the rest were a group that started using less of the engines in more favor of flapping their first forelimbs. these intermediate gliders would become the avibels, the aeronoids that returned to their flapping winged ways of their ancestor, minus feathers.
    the next branch would lead to the theropects, which further developed their wing engines as their primary scource of flight, as well as re-evolving them as another set of "arms". however, before true theropects came along, another group close to them would split off and start using those arms more often than their original first forelimbs, causing those forelimbs to reduce in size. these aernoids would be the elkinet ancestor, as as they further developed their wings, not only did those vestigial arms completely disappear, but also the prop blades since they started using the actual wing itself to grab and manipulate object. this would eventually lead to the elkinet we all know and recognize.     despite the multiple arms of multiplanes (biplanes, triplanes, ect), they're not a separate group as the elkinets. the multiple wings are more of a mutation that stuck around than something that was ancestral.
    the final branchoff would lead to a quadrupedal aeronoid that had lost the prop engines on the wingtips in favor of the one on the back. one group would ditch the wings entirely and become the carnivoran-like stunits. the other, however, not only lost wings but also the engines entirely. what the intermediate "flightless" form looked like is also under debate, though it may have had small, vestigial wings and a heavily reduced engines. in any case, the aeronoid would instead opt for completely gliding and loosing powered flight, leading to them becoming the rodads.
alright, natural history lesson over, time to continue on.
    most aeronoid species are relatively smart, and have been kept in captivity by both elkinets and later down the line humans. while most of them are really tame, some species have been fully domesticated. their reasoning for being kept by elkinet usually is companionship, though some secondary usages like hunting, transportation, eggs and meat are also common. in addition, their pygmy variation are also common due to intentional breeding.     aeronoids tend to fill in similar niches to other existing animals. despite this, they rarely do ever go into direct competition with other animals of the same niche, probably due to argonus's size which allow the aeronoids to take over a niche of their own in certain areas.
  ok, ok, NOW we can get into each individual (extant) groups of aeronoids.   
THE STUNNITS (helicopters)
wild ranges:     the stunits are found almost worldwide, but are most common in the temperate and lush habitats. they can also be found in civilizations as strays/ferals. general diet:     most stunnits are generalist omnivores, but there are some variations to exactly what they eat. some of the smaller helicopters have a more carnivorous diet, as they'll hunt smaller animals and eat carrion as part of their diet. on the otherhand, some of the largest helicopter species are near-entirely herbivores, having plants as a main staple of their diet.     captive stunits are usually fed their own diet-specific kibble, though with the more omnivorous / carnivores species some good grain-free dogfood have been used as a cheaper alternative. behavoir:     most stunnits are social to some extent, at the very least they'll tolerate each other if food and water is plentiful. armed and attack helicopters have a more vulpine-like role, being carnivorous loners that only really get together to mate and raise young. larger helicopters have a more canid-like behavior. much like other aernoids, the stunnit's tail and prop blades can be an indicator of emotions. for example, their tails wag when happy or exited, or their props could twitch around to show frustration or annoyance.     stunnits raise their young in the late spring. they'll create a shallow "nest" that's either loosely made of nesting materials or no nesting materials at all. the mother will lay about 3-5 eggs, and then both parents will protect the eggs until they hatch. the babies are precocial, meaning they're born in an advanced state to where they're able to walk, run and to some extent drink/eat on their own. the parents still have to protect them and feed them until they're truly ready to be on their own.     stunnits, both in the wild and with feral colonies, have a set territory that that chase intruders off of. these fights rarely end in severe injuries/death. feral colonies tend to be less territorial. stunnits communicate with growls, howls and "groarks" (barking, but with a slight growling/roaring tone to it; best example i can give is the mane wolf's roar-barks).
additional stuff:   the stunnits get the title of "man's best friend" of argonus, and it's no secret why. they're the aircraft analog to carnivorans, more specifically bears, canines and felines. most species have been kept in captivity and used for a variety of tasks, such as transportations, guarding, herding, hunting, pest control, ect.     they have an actual full body. helicopters with a lattice tail (Like the bell 47 tail here) have an actual full tail, and like the cockpit/canopy the lattice rods are just extra ornaments. even with the skycrane, they're a more fuller body.     just like their real-world counterparts, they're incredible fliers that can hover in places, as well as dive and make hairpin turns. when they fight in the air, most of it is just them chasing eachother around, maybe even pushing eachother a few time before one of them leaves. these fights usually dont last too and and almost always ends with both parties leaving with little to no injuries.     most species of stunnits (excluding the mostly-herbivorous ones) have a serrated beak, which is good for cutting into their food whether that's be the flesh of an animals or the flesh of a watermelon.
THE AVIBELS (sailplanes and gliders)
wild ranges:     they were originally found throughout the old world, more specifically nylus and sonias. however, thanks to the elkinets they can be found anywhere where there's civilization.
general diet:     while the avibel are considered generalist omnivores, they're more in line with being an opportunistic carnivores and have at least 50% of their diet consist of meat. most of the meat they eat are usually animals smaller than them, with their favorites being rodents, lizards, frogs and fish. the plants they eats, on the otherhand, are often fruits, grains and seeds of various plants. they've also been known to have an incredibly strong sweet-tooth from time to time, having been known to raid maple buckets and beehives for the sweet, sugary treat insides. this sweet tooth is most common in the spring.     avibels that are kept in captivity are typically content with eating a high-quality dogfood since most contain all the essential nutrients to keep the gliders happy. however, there do exist more specialized feed for avibels, especially for ones who want them to start producing more eggs. this feed usually contains a mixture of insects, dried meat, dried fruit and grains.
behavoir:     the avibels are best described as being "bootleg crows". they have the intelligence just slightly under that of actual crows and ravens, able to learn and adapt to various environments. the avibels are very social animals and are commonly seen in small groups of 3-7 (Though larger groups do occur). they're monogamous and mate for life; if one partner dies, the other will become depressed and will refuse to mate with any other glider for a while (sometimes never). avibel are expert hunters, and can be seen actively hunting small animals and insects.     these aeronoids have a decent vocal range. they made a wide variety of sound, usually consisting of hisses, screeches and "chirps", all reminiscent of various bird-of-prey. they'll also slam their tails on the ground to show anger and frustration (this is especially true to broody hens).     when raising young, the two parents will create a nest usually under a tree or any other covered places. unlike alot of other aeronoids, baby avibel chicks (which they have 1-2 of) are born both blind and deaf for the first week or two, much like some bird species. the parents swap places and take turns caring for the babies until after two months when they're ready to be on their own. sometimes the offspring will stay with the parents to help care for the next generation.
additional stuff:     unlike most other aeronoid species, the avibels typically don't have any form on engines whatsoever. instead, the go the old-fashion route and fly by flapping their wings to take off. once in the air, they'll uses a mixture of powered flight and rising thermals to stay in the air. despite their appearances as a more bird-like elkinets, they're only distantly related to them like we are to baboons.     also unlike alot of aeronoids, their beaks have sorta re-evolved into...beaks. more specifically, their beaks are curved and sharp, with the top one having a point not unlike an eagle's. the beak is much like a multitool, being able to tear, shred and cut not just their food but also really anything.     elkients have raised avibels for centuries as a source of eggs, meat and companionship, and the gliders often double as a form of pest control too. humans also took a liking to them, as their intelligence and easy tamability made them great mounts as well. however, avibels have been known to act aggressive towards humans and anyone who disturbs their nest while they're raising chicks.
THE RODADS (lifting bodies) wild ranges:     rodads originate from the woodlands and mountains of sonias. just like with the two other aeronoids here, the elkinets and their civilizations have made them a world-wide city animal.
general diet:     the rodads are generalist herbivores, generally speaking. the specifics of what plants they eat can vary by the region. naturally speaking, they eat leaves, flowers, fruit, nuts and seeds, but they'll also take grass, twigs and really any plants they can get their forepaws and mouths on. they'll also take on insects and small animals occasionally. during it's waking hours, a rodad will spend at least 70% of it's time foraging for food. behavoir:     rodad's aren't the most smartest animals out there. rodads are also not very social animals, and at most in the wild they'll tolerate each other if they're enough food and water around. however, in captivity they're alot more easier to get along with each other. wild rodads are territorial, and they can be seen fighting for the best food and mating rights.      when not eating or fighting, rodads are rather slow and chill animals, and can be see climbing and/or sleeping in trees (or any other high, enclosed place), or wonder around to make sure no rival steps foot into their territory. if disturbed, they'll either run or (if in a high place) jump off and glide to safety. and if they're really cornered, they'll try and bite/scratch the threat.     they're rather tolerable around other smaller animals that don't pose much threat to them. rodads are also surprisingly good swimmers, and many species have at least some semi-aquatic lifestyles. with their combined behavior and occasional affinity for the water, some humans called they "citybaras", seeing them as the capybaras of the city.     the aircraft are ok parents. males usually make a small cavity in the ground, just big enough for a female and her clutch pf 4-5, and he'll mate with first female that comes in. after that, he'll make sure no other guys take his girl while she lays her eggs and protect them. once the eggs hatch, he leaves her to do the rest of the work. thankfully, the babies are born precocial, so there's not much to be done other than making sure they learn how to eat and drink on their own.     rodads don't make much noise. at most they've been known to hiss and softly squeak. however, during fights they'll scream and squeal not unlike that of koalas.
additional info     the rodads are the only aeronoid, both presently and within fossil records, to ditch true flight entirely. instead they use their weird body shape to glide from one place to another. they can actually glide long distances, and in addition are surprisingly good jumpers and climbers. unfortunately, they often fall prey to many predator, stunnits and avibels being a common foe.      although they have no wings, rodads still have a small, thin tail. rodads also have evolved whiskers, which they uses to sense their surroundings since their vision isn't the best. 
THE THEROPECTS (tiltrotors)
wild ranges:     theropects are strictly restrained to the jungles and rainforest of sonias. unlike most others here, feral population are actually rare and only confined to equally warm habitats. all other theropects outside of sonias are usually part of zoos and sanctuaries, sometimes as exotic pets, too.
general diet:     theropects are all around generalist omnivores. they eat anything that's edible to them, but fruits and leaves make up 60% of their diet. sometimes they'll pick up some invertebrates, small animals, and eggs to round out their diet. they're rather infamous for raiding fruit farmers and stealing the food they grow, especially during peak ripe season.
behavoir:     one of the most intelligent species of animal on argonus, the theropects are only second to their civilized relatives, the elkinets. as a matter of fact, they're the closest thing argonus gets to chimps and gibbons, since when it comes to primates no hominoids themselves haven evolved on argonus (Only lemur, new world and old world monkeys). despite the likening to chimpanzees, they're more like gorillas, being plant-eating pacifists that rather would scare it's enemies than to actually attack.     theropects are not only bipedal like their relatives, but are also very good a manipulating objects. they use both their forelimbs and their wings (or more accurately their prop blades) to grab, hold and move things. their prop blades are especially good at this, since they move very much like the elkinet's wings. they even have a bit of gecko-padding to further hold things.     the tiltrotors are very social and very good parents. they make a very simple nest to lay their eggs in. the mother usually only has one baby, rarely ever two. while the babies are born with their eyes open, they still cling onto mom (or any other females' if she's not round) for at least two years. during that time both mother, father and other members of the group will help take care of them and the mother, and later down the line teach the offspring how to survive.     theropects make a wide array of barks, screeches, whistles, coos and hisses to communicate with each other. 
additional stuff:     since argonus lacks any apes, this is the closest they got to gibbon, gorillas and chimpanzees. in captivity, they're about as pleasant to own as a cockatoo or macaw (aka don't get one unless you're very experienced). they've been used in laboratories and scientific studies, and are common info the film industry as animal actors. however, they're not all sunshine and rainbows, as they're very noisy, nippy and often can be seen stealing things from their owners. however, with enough proper love, care, toys and attention, those issues are brought down to a minimum. still, there is alot of legality issues when it comes to owning theropects as pets, so usually it's better off to leave it to zoos and sanctuaries to take care of them.
aaaaand that's it for the aeronoids! any other information regarding them will probably be in other post.
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mattelektras · 1 year
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WHEEERE do you get your art ;( i use comicartfans but i CANNOT find hq art on there at all these days... have they changed the ui or something? its almost like you cant display the art full-size anymore... (ik comic screenshots are an option but sometimes you just want a nice illustration or smth...) thank you for ur answer in advance!!!
artists twitter n shit is always an option because they tend to post better photos when theyre posting it themselves, wrt comicartfans i usually just right click > open image in a new tab so you dont have to look at it on their website??? honestly it's super hit and miss and sometimes u just gotta scour the entire internet unfortunately
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How to Find Routing and Account Numbers on Cash App- Here are Simple Steps?
Using the Cash App, you can perform several financial transactions, including direct deposits. You may not realise it, but Cash App's routing number is as significant as your bank's. It helps you identify which bank or credit union you are using.
After you receive your routing number, you can make your life even easier by copying it and sending it to friends and relatives. You need to have a Visa Debit card to find the number. Using Cash App's routing number, you can get a direct paycheck deposit as soon as it arrives. Usually, deposits are made within one to five business days. This is faster than many banks. The process is also easy.
To get your Cash App routing number, you must first log in. 
You will need to create an account if you're a new user. 
You'll also need to provide an email address and a phone number. 
After you do this, you'll be given a nine-digit number. 
You can find this number in the "My Cash" section of the app. You can also copy the number or print it out for future reference.
 Alternatively, you can call Cash App customer support to request your routing number. They'll be more than happy to help.
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 Once you've set up your Cash App account, you can also set up automatic bill payments. You can also change your address and region. You can also change the bank associated with your account.
What is Routing Number 041215663 For Cash App?
When you attempt to use Cash App for online or direct transactions, you must enter a Cash App routing number. The routing number is a nine-digit code that helps identify your bank account. Routing numbers are used in several different ways. For example, the Federal Reserve Banks use them to process ACH direct deposits, Fedwire funds transfers, and bill payments.
Cash App routing number 041215663 comes from Sutton Bank. This nine-digit code allows you to make direct deposits into your Cash App account. Sutton Bank is a medium-sized, full-service bank from Attica, Ohio. It has several physical locations, as well as an online banking service. It also offers credit cards and IRAs. It is a quick, secure way to send money to your friends and family.
Depending on where you're located, you can get a routing code for Cash App. These codes are generated for every user based on where they live. You can also use a Cash App to receive payments for bills if you don't have a bank account. If you're having an issue with Cash App, you can check to see if your device is connected to the internet. You can also contact the company to get help. You can also update the Cash App app from the App Store or Play Store. You can contact Cash App customer support if you have any questions about how to find routing and account number on Cash App. You can also contact Sutton Bank, Cash App's banking partner.
How to Find Routing and Account Numbers on Cash App
Cash App has a direct deposit feature, so you can have your paychecks deposited into your account. You can also set up automatic bill payments. However, you'll need to confirm your identity. Depending on where you live, you may need help finding your Cash App routing and account number. Having a Cash App routing and account number can be helpful in many financial transactions. However, it's essential to keep these numbers safe.
Routing numbers are nine-digit codes that Federal Reserve Banks use to process payments. They are also helpful for online banking and direct deposit. The first set of digits is used for your routing number, and the second represents your account number.
To find your routing and account number, you need to open the Cash App and navigate to the Personal tab.
 The tab will be on the bottom of the home screen. 
Afterwards, you'll see a "Routing Number" section below the Cash Balance space. 
The routing number will be the ninth number of the nine-digit code.
 Contact Cash App customer service if you need clarification on your routing number. They'll be able to help you locate it. You can also talk to them over the phone or through the web.
 How to Change Your Routing Number on Cash App
You can change Cash App routing number at any time. You can update the app on the Play Store or through the app itself. You'll receive a new routing number that will match your new address when you update. You can then enter the new address into the Cash App.
Changing your Cash App routing number is possible. You can create a new account or change the bank associated with your existing account. If you don't have access to your bank account, you can change your routing number on the bank's website.
First, you'll want to ensure you're setting up a valid Cash App account. You can only create a new account enabling direct deposit, so you'll need to fill in the essential details.
Next, you'll need to verify your identity. The Cash App app has a pretty good security feature that lets you confirm your identity by answering several questions. You can also print out your new routing number to send to your employer.
The Cash App also has a new feature which lets you send your new routing number to friends or relatives. This is a good idea if you've renamed your account to something more personal. The routing number and the account number on the home page will show up.If you need to decide whether or not you should make the switch, you can always contact your bank's customer support team. They'll be happy to help you with this.      
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