#should i add a fancy frame to this too?

[snapnov4]

marry me | gojo satoru

synopsis: a bad idea disguised as a practical joke turns into something way deeper than you intended it to be.

wc: 1.1k

cw: just good ol fluff!

a/n: happy late birthday to my baby daddy and man of my dreams gojo satoru. i have to marry this man. i have to i have to i have to. anyways. enjoy reading this cute little fic i wrote, meaning i thought abt gojo proposing as a joke and vomited this out. enjoy!

it starts, like all things involving gojo satoru, with a bad idea disguised as a practical joke.

you're sitting across from him, in a restaurant that’s not too fancy, more of a family-type deal. he's forgone his blindfold in favor of his square-framed glasses, but his uniform is still on. he insisted on treating you to dinner after you exorcized an unregistered special grade on your own. however, with gojo, things can't always be so easy; he always adds his patented gojo twist to things, and this time the twist is this terrible joke.

“come on, it'll be funny!” he whines, from across the table.

“you want to propose to me in this restaurant for free food? when you make well over six figures a year? and have full access to thousands of years of old clan money?” you ask, incredulously, reaching to take a sip of your drink, suddenly wishing you had gone with a stronger option.

“yes, exactly. what's not clicking?”

“uhmmm, all of it?”

“look it'll be funny. you could even say no, then you can run out and i get free food as pity points,” he smiles at you, and you find it hard to keep saying no. “i mean, they'll probably all call you heartless and tell me i deserve better but that's fine.”

“okay and if i say yes, what about a ring? or the fact that we're not even together? how is anyone going to believe you?” you ask, thinking you've backed him into a corner, until he just sighs softly, keeping an easy smile, and reaches into his pocket. he pulls out a black velvet box, and shakes it a bit by his head.

“you think i hadn't planned for that?” he asks, smirking in your direction, trying to hold back laughter at your aghast expression, you drag a palm over your face, finally conceding.

“okay. fine! fine! just…try not to embarrass me. please?”

“no promises! also the waitress is coming this way, so get ready. tears are optional but preferred.”

you roll your eyes at his statement, your gaze following him closely when he stands up and walks over to your side of the table. you look around desperately hoping that no one will actually have their attention drawn to you but the thing about gojo is wherever he goes he commands attention. consequently, when he stands at a whopping 6’7 everyone’s already looking, and when he drops down on one knee in front of you, holding that little velvet box in front of you, you catch people’s smartphones shooting up immediately, great. and you're sure the vision of jujutsu’s strongest sorcerer, taking off his sunglasses and holding up a ring box to you would haunt you forever. you think right under reverse cursed technique in his list of talents, they should add acting, because the look in his eyes almost feels real.

the way your name falls so delicately from his lips, before he clears his throat, feigning nervousness. the way he struggles at first to look you in the eyes, the ring sparkling in the dim lighting. he starts:

“you are truly the most beautiful woman i've ever met, inside and out. to know you and love you is a pleasure too great for words, and i want to continue living in it every day. will you marry me?” you roll your eyes, but the smile across your face is genuine, maybe he was right, maybe this is funny. so you have no issue, saying yes, throwing your arms around his neck as he spins you around, delicately sliding the ring onto your finger. the two of you giggle all the way back to jujutsu tech, containers of your free leftovers in hand.

and so it becomes a tradition.

satoru continues to propose to you every time the two of you get the chance to have dinner together, and despite all your better judgment, you laugh and say yes every time.

and what started as a joke, turned tradition, starts to morph into something else.

satoru notices it on a summer day. you're out with the students, supervising them as they spar. the sun’s been beating down for days, he's standing beside you his eyes trained on your hands. your left ring finger has a tan line, it's from that ring. you're not wearing it, you returned it to him last night, forgetting to give it back after dinner and then desperately trying to get your schedules to align for at least five minutes, but he'd been out of town for a week and when he finally got back late last night to find you working on paperwork in your office, he didn't know why it felt like his heart sank when you slid the ring off and put it in his hand.

now, the box feels heavy in his pocket (when did he start carrying it all the time?) and he looks at you with so much adoration that had his blindfold not been on, he'd look like a love-struck puppy to any passerby. you'd been wearing the ring so much it's left a mark on you, it's obvious you'd been wearing it, the tan line a stark reminder that it was there; and something about it makes satoru wish he could make the next proposal permanent. you turn your head to him, smiling softly.

“the first years are something else this year, gojo, did you see yuuji and maki spar? they're going places,”

and he's not sure why but before he can stop himself he's blurting out:

“let me take you on a date.”

you sputter and falter, turning fully to look at him, “are you being serious?”

he nods, that goofy smile of his making you weak to his every whim, it's the same one he gave you that night at that dinner table; the same one that made you start this tradition.

so he takes you out, and then that becomes a tradition. still every day, he thinks of the way that ring looked on you whenever he slid it on your finger, and how he felt rejected every time you gave it back. he'd clear his schedule if he knew he could have dinner with you, just to see the smile you couldn't stop whenever he got down on one knee.

satoru doesn't propose anymore. he figures the next time he does it, he should be serious about it since you're his girl now. on a tuesday night, you're sitting with him on the couch, your legs are thrown over his lap and he looks at you, focused so intently on a book you've been dying to finish, the bookmark always staying near the end as you get called into emergency exorcisms, and he knows. he fishes that ring out of his pocket, the same one he gave you in that restaurant almost two years ago, and there's no fanfare, no cameras, no theatrics. he just opens the box, looks at you, and says,

“hey baby, let's get married.”

and just like the first time, you smile and say yes.

#gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x reader #satoru gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo x reader #gojo x y/n #jjk x reader #gojo fluff #gojo satoru fluff #jjk fluff #vela is a softie #vela loves gojo #fics #trying out a new header style also #got tired of finding those stupid manga panels

[proxima-writes]

along for the ride

pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x female reader

rating: explicit (18+ MDNI)

word count:

summary: when joel finds out tommy put out a craigslist ad to get him a date for valentine’s day, he doesn’t expect it to go as well as it does.

author’s note: i finally finished something! was it anything from my extensive wip list? no! don’t think about it too hard! anyways, if you enjoy this fic, please consider giving it a reblog, a comment, or dropping into my ask box 💕

warnings/tags: explicit sexual content (18+ minors dni), no use of y/n, pre-outbreak!joel miller, no mentions of sarah, little shit!tommy miller, blind date, internet safety whomst, vaginal fingering, oral sex, woman on top, p in v, dirty talk, pet names. let me know if i’ve missed any!

“I have a surprise for you,” Tommy says at dinner. Joel pauses, fork scraping against his plate.

“That can’t be good,” he sighs. “What now?”

“Why do you assume it’s somethin’ bad?”

“Last time you said you had a surprise for me, I had chickens in my backyard.”

Tommy laughs. “It’s nothin’ like that this time.”

“Well, then, spit it out,” Joel demands.

Tommy reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper that he opens on the table, smoothing out the creases before sliding it over to Joel.

“Reservation confirmation?” Joel reads. He recognizes the name of the restaurant, the kind of place where the waiters dress in all black and the menu doesn’t have prices listed beside the items. 

“Yep. I got you your first Valentine’s Day date,” Tommy replies proudly. Joel glares at him.

“What do you mean?”

seeking valentine

36M looking to treat a lady to a date to remember. pic attached. email [email protected] with a pic and bio for consideration.

[img01.jpg]

You’re half a bottle of wine deep when you stumble across the Craigslist ad. When you click on the picture, your interest is further piqued by the handsome man that appears on the screen. He’s standing in front of a black pick up truck dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that stretches across his tan muscles. His brown hair is cut short, just enough length for you to notice that it’s beginning to curl across his forehead and by his neck. His beard frames a bright smile that crinkles the corners of his dark eyes.

Whoever he is, he’s hot. He’d be the perfect way to get over being dumped two weeks ago by your boyfriend of two years.

Your logic was lost somewhere between your second and third glasses of wine, which is why you click on the e-mail address in the ad and start typing. The reply is normal, at first, facts about yourself like your name and age and occupation, but you quickly end up derailing the message with an explanation about why this handsome guy should pick you, making sure to include that you’ve already got a reservation at a popular restaurant for the occasion. The picture you add is a recent photo from a cousin’s wedding that your aunt had e-mailed to you. 

Before you can think better of it, you click send. You take one last look at the man’s photo before shutting your laptop and stumbling off to bed to dream of brown eyes and tan skin.

Joel taps his fingers against the white tablecloth, eyes fixed on the door of the restaurant. This is stupid, he thinks. Why did he agree to this? Why did he let Tommy convince him this was a good idea? He should have just told him no and been done with it but somehow he’s here, sitting at a table for two in a fancy restaurant and feeling like a sore thumb in the only suit he owns. 

He’s lost enough in his thoughts that he doesn’t see you when you first come in, doesn’t realize you’re here until the hostess is walking up with you close behind in a beautiful dress and he suddenly remembers exactly why he agreed to Tommy’s idiot scheme. 

“Joel?” You ask. He stands, nearly knocking the table in his haste to greet you. You lean in for a brief hug and he catches the warm vanilla scent of you before you pull away and smile at him. 

He rounds the table to pull your chair out for you and makes sure you’re settled before returning to his seat. A waiter swoops by to offer the wine menu and explain the pre fixe menu for the evening while he pours two complimentary glasses of champagne into the crystal glasses beside your plates. An awkward silence settles when he leaves, Joel’s leg bouncing anxiously beneath the table as he tries to think of something to say.

“This is weird, right?” You finally say. “This feels weird.”

Joel breathes a sigh of relief. “That’s just what I was thinkin’.”

"Oh, thank god." You take a long sip of your champagne. "I can't believe I actually responded to a Craigslist ad for a date."

"I can't believe my stupid brother came up with this whole thing," Joel replies. "I could'a killed him."

Your eyes go wide. "Wait, your brother made the post? Why?!"

"He seems to think that at thirty-six, I should have had a date for Valentine's Day by now," Joel explains. "Why did you respond to the ad?"

"I had been drinking a lot of wine and having a lot of feelings and the internet was unfortunately not helping the situation."

Joel laughs, tension leaving his shoulders as he does. "We're an interestin' pair, huh?"

"Cheers to that," you reply, lifting your glass for him to tap his against with a gentle clink. 

As the dinner progresses, the conversation starts to flow with surprising ease. No topic goes untouched, from jobs to hobbies to a long list of favorites. When you’ve exhausted those topics, you move on to swapping stories about your friends and families. By the time he finishes paying a hefty check (and declining your offer to split the cost), Joel feels like he’s known you for a lifetime.

"I had a really nice time, Joel.”

"Me, too," he replies. Christ, you're pretty, bright eyed as you look at him with a soft smile. He reaches for your hand, pulling you closer until your chest brushes his and can wrap an arm around your waist. "This okay?"

"Mhm," you hum with a little nod. Joel's gaze drops to your mouth and he finds himself wondering what your pretty lips would feel like as he kissed you. Would he be able to taste that chocolate torte from dessert on your tongue?

“Joel?” You whisper. He didn’t even realize how close he’s gotten, a few scant inches separating you now. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

He chuckles. “You want me to?”

“Please.”

Joel kisses you, warm lips moving in perfect harmony with yours. It’s chaste, until it’s not. It’s chaste, until his tongue sweeps against your bottom lip and dips inside to tangle with yours. It’s chaste, until his hands are pulling you closer with a tight grip on your hips and—

“Get a room!” 

You break apart, startled by the shout from someone passing by on the sidewalk. You can’t stop the laugh that breaks free, your shoulders shaking with the force of it.

“You wanna get out of here?” Joel asks. “I can walk you to your car.”

“I took a cab, actually.”

Joel smirks. “You want a ride, sweetheart?” 

Your face grows hot from the look in his eyes, the double meaning to his words not lost. He holds a hand out and you slip your palm against his, fingers folding together so that he can lead you to the parking lot down the street from the restaurant.

Joel opens the passenger door of the truck you recognize from the photo in the ad, helping you step up into the cab and going so far as to pull the seatbelt down, reaching across your body to fasten it. He looks up at as he pulls away, hand dragging across your stomach and making you shiver.

He shuts the door and gets in the driver’s seat, pulling out of the parking lot and following your directions toward your apartment. At the first red light, he settles his broad palm on your thigh, just above your knee, giving you a little squeeze. Feeling bold, you spread your legs the tiniest bit and Joel takes the invitation for what it is, sliding his hand higher. 

The light turns green and the sudden movement presses you to the back of the seat, jostles you enough that your legs fall open further. You move to close them, but Joel’s hand moves again, high enough now that if you moved the slightest bit, you could probably get some relief from the ache that’s been building since he kissed you.

His pinky stretches, barely grazing your pussy, but it makes you gasp nonetheless, squirming in your seat from the want. At the next red light, he abandons all pretense, slipping his hand beneath the elastic of your panties and dragging his fingers through the embarrassing amount of wetness that’s already gathered there for him.

“Fuck,” he groans. You turn your head to look at him, his sharp jaw clenched tight as he circles your clit with his index and middle finger. “This wet for me already, baby?”

You moan in response, unable to form words as he touches you, alternating between soft strokes and fast circles over your sensitive clit. Your hips chase his every movement, desperate for relief from the pressure building in your core. 

“Joel,” you whimper, grabbing his forearm, digging your nails into the muscle. Your eyes squeeze shut against the overwhelming sensations.

He turns the truck and hastily throws it in park, pulling his hand from you just as you were cresting that wave. You whine at the loss but he shushes you, undoing your seatbelt and getting out of the truck with a slam of the door. It takes you a second to realize he’s stopped because you’ve reached your apartment complex.

The passenger door opens and Joel is there, gripping the door tightly. “Let’s go.”

You lead him to your door on unsteady legs. He follows you inside your apartment, pressed close to your back while you set your bag on the table by the door. 

“Where’s your room?” He asks, hands already rucking up the fabric of your dress. “I gotta finish what I started.”

You hurry down the hall to your room together and you silently thank your past self for cleaning up before your date. Joel wastes no time reaching for the hem of your dress, tugging it up over your head and tossing it into a heap on the floor.

“Fuck, even prettier than I imagined,” he groans, dropping to his knees. “Soon as you walked in wearin’ that I knew I was a goner.” He eases your panties down your thighs, helps you step out of them without toppling over. “On the bed.”

You obey without hesitation, crawling across your familiar mattress and lying on your back, head on your pile of pillows. Joel removes his suit jacket, eyes dark as his gaze roams across your body and makes your skin prickle under the intensity. His shirt and pants follow in quick succession, leaving him in a pair of boxer briefs that highlight an impressive bulge.

Joel joins you on the bed and you’re hypnotized by the movement of muscle beneath tan skin. He urges your legs apart, calves draped over his broad shoulders to give him room to settle between your thighs. He looks up at you, holding your gaze as he takes his first taste of you with a deep groan you feel through your whole body. 

Your head drops back to your pillow with a shout, legs tensing around Joel’s head. You bury your hands in his hair, holding on tight while he devours you. His tongue circles your clit before dipping down to your dripping center to curl inside of you. A thick finger follows, pressing deep and withdrawing slowly.

“You taste so fuckin’ good,” Joel says. “How’s that feel, huh?”

“So good,” you moan. “More, please, Joel.”

“Since you asked so nicely.”

He eases another finger into you, curling them along your front wall with pointed focus. That knot of release tights again, your muscles growing tense with it the longer he moves with your body. He wraps his lips around your aching clit, alternating between sucking the sensitive bud into his mouth and working it with his tongue until you’re shouting a string of curses and shatter beneath him.

Joel works you through your orgasm until you’re gasping for breath, more puddle than human. He crawls up your body, leaving kisses on what seems like every inch of you as he does and you pull him close when he’s face to face with you, kissing him deeply and chasing the earthy taste of yourself from his mouth.

His hips press against yours, grinding his length against your inner thigh. The kiss turns sloppy, his breath coming in sharp pants and thrusts growing frantic, skin dappled with sweat in the warm air of your room. You tilt your hips, pushing a hand against his shoulder to get him flat on his back with you straddling his waist, stomach flexing beneath you.

He’s deliciously disheveled beneath you with messy hair and kiss swollen lips. His hands find your thighs, sliding upward over your stomach to find your breasts, pinching a nipple between his fingers and making you hiss. Your hips rock over the softness of his belly and you reach behind yourself to palm his cock.

“Look real good like this,” Joel pants, flexing into your touch. 

“Well, you did ask me if I wanted a ride,” you tell him. 

You lean over towards your nightstand, tugging the top drawer open and rummaging around for a condom. Foil packet in hand, you lift off of Joel for a moment to allow him the chance to hastily shove his underwear off before settling back down on top of his thighs and taking his length in your hand with a slow stroke that makes his mouth drop open, cock pulsing against your palm. You lean forward, licking the flushed tip clean of the pre-cum gathered there. 

“You’re killin’ me,” Joel says through gritted teeth. “Wanna feel you, quit teasin’.”

You decide to put you both out of your misery, ripping the condom wrapper and rolling the latex over him. You lift up and he holds his cock steady with a fist around the base as you position yourself over him on your knees and slowly take him into your tight heat, twin moans echoing in the room as you do.

When your hips are flush with his, the wiry curls at the base of his cock grow damp with your arousal as you rock above him, grinding your clit against him and clenching around his length. He holds your hips in a loose grasp, not urging your movements but feeling them as you chase your pleasure. 

“Christ,” Joel moans, head tipped back and eyes squeezed shut. He plants his feet, thrusting up as you grind down and making you gasp. “Ain’t lastin’ much longer, baby.”

You lean forward, changing the angle and allowing him to pound inside of you, his cock pulsing as his release nears. You’re right there with him, the drag of his cock against that sweet spot inside of you making you tip over the edge with a shout muffled into the sweat slick skin of his neck. 

He slams himself deep, cock pulsing as he spends himself into the condom inside of you. You collapse against his chest, the two of you catching your breath in the aftermath. When you roll off of Joel and onto the mattress, he’s quick to pull you back against him, your head resting on his chest.

“That was—“

“Yeah,” you interrupt breathlessly. “It was.”

After a moment, Joel quietly asks, “What now?”

“You can stay…if you want.”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, fingertips brushing along your shoulder. “I want that.”

Joel’s phone rings at an ungodly hour the next morning. He struggles to find his discarded pants in the dark but when he finally unearths the obnoxious device, his greeting is a snapped, “What?”

“He lives!” Tommy cheers from the other end. “It was a fifty-fifty chance you were dead or in bed.”

“What do you want, Tommy?”

“Just checkin’ to see how the date went. Must’ve been pretty good, seein’ as how I’m at your house and you’re nowhere to be found.”

Joel rolls his eyes. “Fuck off,” he says. He’s about to hang up when he hears Tommy shout, “Wait!”

“What now?” Joel asks.

“Ain’t you gonna thank me?”

Joel snaps the phone shut, tossing it into the piles of clothes and crawling back into bed with you.

Joel Miller masterlist

All masterlists

#joel miller x reader #joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller smut #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x you #joel tlou #no use of y/n #joel x reader #pedro pascal character fanfic #pedro pascal character fic #tlou fanfiction #tommy tlou

[weirdgenetic-fuckup]

Sixty Bucks?

A/n: Not sure how I feel about this one, started writing it but lost motivation so hope it's not too bad lol

Warnings: Not proof read, smut and fluff, fingering, squirting, let me know if there's any more you think I should add :3

Guns had been on tour for about a month now and this was their first day off. You were touring with the band as Slash’s guitar tech, he was nice enough but fairly quiet.

The hotel you were staying in was pretty cheap, nothing fancy with the managers wanting to try and cut costs after Axl’s oblivious spending. One thing that’s started to change since the new budget was instated was that you and Slash now had to share a room. There were two beds, so you never worried in that regard, as long as you stayed out of his way and kept to yourself things went smoothly.

This particular place was right on the beach and a more tropical scene. You woke up and the warm golden glow of the sun was flooding in through the window that was open just a crack to get some cool air flowing. You woke up fully refreshed and wide awake, Slash was still crashed from last night's partying. He was sprawled out on his bed, in nothing but his jeans since that’s what he toppled into bed in. A pillow was held over his head with a small window so he could still breathe, his head facing you so he wouldn’t be blinded by the light.

You got out of bed, stretching and cracking your joints. Out the window you saw some flamingos around, beautiful pink birds poking around the small beach outside your room. You quickly went to Slash, grabbing his shoulders and giving him a shake. “Slash!” You called, trying to get him up. “Slash, come on! There’s flamingos outside!”

“Fuck. Off.” He grumbled, shifting away from you.

“Slash, come one! You’ll regret not looking at them now and you know it!” You kept shaking him and he threw the pillow covering his head at you. “Oh, pfft.” You groaned as it hit you in the face.

“Let me sleep, it’s my day off.” You rolled your eyes at his stubbornness.

“Come on! They’re so pretty!”

“You know what else is pretty? Sleep!” Slash stated, lifting himself off the bed just enough to glare at you. You chewed your cheek, crossing your arms and turning away from him to look back at the flamingos out the window. “Flamingos aren’t even interesting.” Slash mumbled, grabbing the pillow he threw back and getting comfortable again. “Fat fucking chicken wings.”

“You’re just mad you’re not as pretty.” You retorted, not even bothering to look at him.

“What was that?” He demanded.

“You heard me.” Slash didn’t say anything after that but you could feel him glaring daggers at you. You kept watching the flamingos, enjoying viewing their daily life. So calm and peaceful, they don’t have to deal with Slash when he’s just woken up.

“Hey,” Slash started, pulling you from your thoughts, “you know, if you’re already up why don’t you help me out real quick?” You raised a brow and turned to look at him. He’d rolled onto his back, the blanket pushed away from him as he lay stretched out before you.

“Help you with what?” You asked. He didn’t respond, just shrugged and rolled his body to be comfortable. Slash let out a soft groan and that’s when you noticed the not so hidden bulge in his jeans. His fly was down and basically framing it. “I-I don’t get paid for that kind of service.” You stumbled out, eyes glued to his clothed member.

“I could pay you.” He said as if this was an everyday thing. Though, for him you suppose it kind of was. “Come on, I’ll make it worth your while.” You can’t say you didn’t like the idea. Since you were hired to be Slash’s tech you thought he looked good, you were sleeping in the same room with him and can’t count how many times you’d thought about crawling into bed with him. You’d seen him with every other girl around and you were waiting for your turn.

“How much?” You asked, taking a step closer to the bed and sitting on the end. The mattress dips under you. Slash reaches a hand out to you, lightly tracing shapes on your thigh.

“How much do you think you’re worth?” He asked, looking up at you and waiting for a genuine answer.

You thought about it, glancing to the ceiling as you pondered. “Sixty?” You finally said.

“Sixty?” He asked. “Sixty what?”

“Sixty bucks?” You replied.

He stared at you for a moment before sitting up. “You think you’re only worth 60 bucks?” You thought about it and shrugged. “Jesus, I’ll give you a hundred right now if you tell me you're kidding.”

You thought about it some more. “Well, how much do you usually pay?”

“Nothing, girls throw themselves at us.”

“So, what’s different between me and those girls?” He paused, taking some time to think about it himself.

Slash shrugged and shook his head. “Come here.” He patted the bed beside him. You didn’t move and just stared at the open space. “Come.” He repeated in a more stern tone. You listened and sat beside him, leaning back against the headboard. Slash’s hand immediately found your thigh, rubbing it and teasing the sensitive inside. He tugged on your fuzzy pyjama pants. “Take these off.” His voice dropped to a whisper, raspy and deep. His breath smelled of whiskey and cigarettes and you wanted to taste it so bad.

You listened to his demand and pushed your pants off, leaving just your panties. They were a nice pair, red and lacey because they make you feel special, like a present no one gets to unwrap. Until now, when Slash slides a finger over you, pushing down at certain points just to watch you squirm. Slash pressed his lips to your cheek, trailing a few more soft kisses to your ear. “You need to know your worth, darling.” He whispered, sticking his tongue out a little and licking around the shell of your ear.

Slash moved your panties to the side and slid a finger through your wet folds. You let out a soft gasp at the feeling, hips already starting to buck into his hand. “Slash.” You whined.

“Yeah? What is it?” He didn’t give you a chance to answer before he pushed a finger into you, drawing a moan out of you. “Is that what you wanted?” He asked with a chuckle, you nodded. His finger worked in and out of you, starting slow and curling into your gummy walls. He pushed another in, stretching you out. “So tight, just for me?” He teased, speeding up his movements.

“Hah- fuck, Slash, I-I can’t-” You tried to keep your head up but it kept falling back at the feeling of his thick, calloused fingers inside of you. He put an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer so you could rest your head on him.

“Can’t what?” He asked in a teasing tone, kissing your cheek, then jaw and down to your neck. “Gotta use your words, love.”

You let out a loud whine at the name. “Can’t-can’t take it anymore!” Your legs started shaking and your back was arching. The knot in your gut was building in a way you hadn’t felt before.

Slash chuckled. “Cum on my fingers, then, I’ll lick it off.” And with that the knot snapped. Your head rolled back and so did your eyes, moans slipping past your lips without a thought going through your fucked out mind. Your legs shook uncontrollably as you squirted all over Slash’s hand and the pristine white sheets. Slash didn’t stop his hand, instead helping you ride out your high on his fingers. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the scene. “Fuck, didn’t know you’d do that for me.” He praised when you started coming down from the high.

You looked down at the mess you made, wide-eyed, Slash chuckles at your expression. Your breathing was fast and heavy. Slash’s fingers were still buried deep inside you, he kissed your temple and whispered in your ear. “Felt that good, huh?” He curled his fingers, pressing into you.

“Fuck! Slash, no more, no more.” You whined, weakly pushing his hand away.

“No more?” He asked. “We haven’t even gotten to me, yet.”

#slash gnr #slash fanfiction #saul hudson #slash smut #slash x reader #Slash fic #slash #slash x you #gnr smut #gnr x reader #gnr fic

[makeyoumine69]

I Would Be Lost Without You (commission)

— PAIRING: Daddy!Patrick Bateman x Fem!Reader

— SYNOPSIS: During a rainy day you seek comfort in the arms of your beloved.

— CONTAINS: Fluff, flirting, teasing, Daddy kink, a lot of kisses and touches, pet names, grumpy but sweet Daddy!Patrick Bateman himself.

— WORDCOUNT: 1.5k

— A/N: This is commission for my sweet @crystalrage90. I'm glad to be allowed to post it. I hope you like it!

— LINKS: [MASTERLIST] 🪓 [COMISSIONS] Many thanks to @linusbenjamin for her amazing gifs!

It was a typical rainy day in New York, and people were rushing through the streets, hiding under their umbrellas or trying to find shelter in nearby buildings. Even though you knew the forecast, you decided to try your luck and managed to get to Patrick's place before the rain started. Now you stood in front of the door of his apartment and cursed yourself as your damp clothes stuck to your body like a second skin.  

You frowned and took a deep breath before finally daring to ring the doorbell. When he didn't open the door after almost five minutes, you let out a tired breath, thinking that you probably deserved it and turned around to leave, but as soon as you made a step, you heard the door click and then Bateman's arrogant voice hit your ears harder than a thunderclap from outside.

"Sorry (y/n), I had an important business call—" Patrick paused as soon as he noticed your completely soaked clothes, his perfect face immediately turning angry. "Don't you know how to use the umbrella?"

"I didn't have one."

Bateman let out a tired sigh before rubbing the bridge of his nose to calm himself. "Oh yeah, what am I even thinking? Such a pointless thing to have an umbrella when it's pouring outside!" 

His mocking tone caused your small frame to shiver even more, you were already cold and his attitude only made you feel worse. You shifted from foot to foot, hugging yourself and dropping your eyes so that at least now you wouldn't have to deal with his snotty little side glances.

"Get in." He blurted out suddenly, stepping aside for you to enter this fancy apartment. "Go straight to the bathroom."

Damn, you always loved his demanding voice, but now it made you nervous. You hurried into the bathroom, not wanting to ruin his expensive wooden floor with the water running down your trembling frame. 

"Strip off and take a hot shower," Patrick added as he followed you, now standing in the doorway with his hands crossed over his chest. "And don't waste that soap again! It's from limited collection and—"

"I know, I won't!" You cut him off, removing your soaked dress. "Maybe you should join me in the shower instead of giving me endless notations?"

After saying that, you turned to give him a challenging look, expecting his mood to change, as it usually did, but this time not a single emotion appeared on his beautiful face. Neither of you wanted to break the awkward silence, but when you finally decided to say something biting, Bateman smoothed his cashmere robe and proclaimed:

"No." His cheesy grin was the last thing you wanted to see, but it was fine. "Listen, (y/n)," Patrick suddenly came closer to you, so that you even had to step back. "Just be a good girl and listen to what Daddy wants you to do, okay?"

As soon as his big, warm palm touched the cold skin of your waist, you almost flinched, but he managed to hold you still, trapping your naked little form in his big arms. 

"Will you be a good girl for me?" He whispered, his hand still roaming over your back.

You gasped and dropped your head, unable to stand the way Bateman looked at you with his savage brown eyes. 

"Yes..." You wanted to add something, but he wouldn't let you, covering your mouth with his.

Maybe the kiss was too passionate, or maybe it was just the difference in temperature of your bodies, but when you felt his hot tongue sweep along your lower lip, you squealed and grabbed his strong biceps to pull him closer.

"Shh, babydoll." He pressed a thumb to your chin, forcing you to raise your head and look straight into his eyes. "I know what you want."

Jesus Christ, this man was so skillful at testing your limits - making you whine like a little girl who couldn't get what she wanted.

"We'll come back to this later, after you take a shower." His velvety voice was the only thing that mattered at that moment, but then Patrick decided that what he had already done was not enough, so he made you open your mouth so that he could tease your tongue by sucking it really hard. "I promise you."

Bateman couldn't help but grin with satisfaction as he saw you melting under his touch, his ego was about to fly to the moon, but there was nothing you could do about it, he was just irresistible.

When he finally left you alone, you stood near the shower door for a while, trying to pull yourself together. Shivering slightly, you finally stepped under the warm water, which brought you some relief, because you really were very cold. You washed yourself very quickly, because every moment without him felt like torture. Although you couldn't be sure if his words weren't just another game of his, he got what he wanted, and now you were clean and warm as you walked in front of the mirror, looking at your reflection and running your hands over the new robe he had bought just for you.

Later you came out of the bathroom and saw him sitting on his white couch, and it seemed like he noticed you before you could even think about it.

"C'mere, honey…" Patrick purred, tapping the spot next to him. "Did you miss me already?"

You smiled to yourself at how arrogant that bastard was, but you chose to play by his rules nonetheless. "Yeah, I thought about you the whole time I was in the shower."

"Oh yeah?" He asked flirtatiously, watching you take a seat next to him.

You nodded in reply, making yourself more comfortable on the couch as you felt his hand on your shoulders.

"I hope you haven't done anything Daddy wouldn't let you do, have you?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" You darted him your most innocent glance, and you could swear you saw a bright spark in his hazel eyes.

"Awww, don't try to pretend you don't know what I mean." He chuckled, stroking your shoulder before beginning to massage the back of your neck. "Have you dared to touch what is mine?"

God, his words coaxed a loud gasp that fell from your swollen lips. 

"N-no, Daddy…" you turned away from his attentive gaze, but he suddenly made you sit on his lap so that your faces were only inches apart. "I'm not lying."

Thrilled, Bateman examined your features for a moment before gently kissing your neck, your toes curling once his pouty lips found the most sensitive spot.

"You need to drink something warm." He urged abruptly, bouncing you onto his lap. "How about I make you a hot chocolate while you pick something to watch?"

"Oh God, Patrick..." You couldn't stop yourself from giggling at how cute he was.

With a sweet smile, Patrick grabbed your ankle to rub it, but then his sneaky hand skittered up to your hip. "Sounds like a good plan for my baby girl?"

"It's even better than you can imagine." You gasped at how shamelessly Bateman stroked your leg. "You know, when I first arrived, I was really afraid you were going to punish me for ruining your expensive floor with water… you looked so angry."

Patrick couldn't stop laughing as he nuzzled against your cheek. "Relax, silly.  I was just worried about you catching a cold, we have so many plans for the weekend. It actually made me upset." He explained to you as if you were a little kid. "You don't want to be in bed with the flu, do you?"

In addition to his words, Bateman decided to tickle your toe, so you had to answer back.

"Stop, stop, stop!" You almost yelped as you couldn't stop giggling. "I'm really sorry!" He paused, expecting you to say something else. "I'll be more careful next time."

"That's a good girl." Patrick gave you a light peck on the nose before standing up, and you let out a sad gasp as you lost physical contact with him. "Sweetheart, I'm only a few feet away from you." He teased when he heard your whimper.

"Okay, okay." You watched him walk away, but then you mumbled: "Patrick..."

"Yeah?" Bateman turned around, and it was only now that you noticed his bare chest as his robe was half undone.

"I love you so much." The way you said those words made your own heart beat so fast.

Patrick just smirked and tittered to himself. "I know, (y/n). To be honest... I would be very surprised if you didn't."

With that he continued on his way to the kitchen, leaving you both embarrassed and happy. That bastard knew what he was doing, every little thing he did always made you feel butterflies in your stomach, every damn time. You laid on your back and looked at the perfect white ceiling above you, thinking how fucking lucky you were to be with the man who managed to fill your life with emotions and sensations you never thought you would experience before.

#american psycho #patrick bateman x reader #patrick bateman imagine #patrick bateman #patrick bateman x female reader #patrick bateman x you #slasher x reader #slashers x reader #slasher x you #patrick bateman headcanon #christian bale smut #christian bale x reader #patrick bateman reader #christian bale

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for wanting a material thing rather than an experience for my college graduation gift, and being upset I still don't have it?

I skimmed through some other AITA posts to prepare me to write this one properly, and saw someone use the term "validation bait." I bring that up because I fear this post may read like that once all is said and done, but I genuinely am worried my perspective might be skewed. I encourage you to enter "Reddit Mode" if you decide to reply after your judgement with additional context and feel the need to be blunt.

Background context: I have an older sibling who graduated before me during the beginning of COVID. While his gift was delayed as a result, we as a family (three children one father) ended up going to Disney World, NASA, and Universal Orlando in 2021 to celebrate his accomplishment. It was a great trip, aside from the horrific humidity and the hurricane that just barely missed us. Later on, I asked my sibling if that was what he actually wanted to do, and he said our father proposed some ideas because he didn't really have any and Florida sounded like a good idea to him. My asking this will make sense later, but putting it here seems the most logical.

Additionally, it may be important to know that my father goes on a lot of trips. At least, more than anyone I've personally known. I'm not gonna try to calculate the exact number, but I will say in the span of less than a year (after the family Florida trip), he went to both Canada and Mexico for a week each, on top of additional excursions to Florida and Vegas-- almost all also including bringing his girlfriend. At the same time, he claimed assistance with college tuition was out of his budget, started having me pay rent on a part time job, and told my younger sibling fixing the AC in their car would cost too much as well. Even I know something doesn't add up here, but maybe I'm taking it too personally. End background context.

Fast forward to spring of 2023, and it's my turn to graduate college. Here's the thing: my brother was asked at least a year in advance to his graduation what he would like to do. I wasn't asked; I had to bring it up myself, and I waited until my graduation was only two months out. It was also over a phone call, because my father was out of town for at least the fifth time that year already. I dropped the hint that, for my graduation present, I would really like to get a nice gaming desktop. My father's response was, "... We'll see." Later on, he elaborated through text stating, "I took everybody to florida because i think graduations should be more about memories than what material thing you can get out of your dad."

Here's the thing: it's no secret to my dad that I'm a gamer, and I like video games. Additionally, it's no secret that a gaming desktop is something I have wanted for a decade. Even since middle school I've talked about gaming desktops and how much I wanted one. Even so, I happily played games like Saints Row III on a laptop that chugged along at 12 frames per second and took every crash in stride. I also thought that this kind of gift would be a relief to my dad, as my thought process was it would be far less expensive than taking an entire family somewhere out of the state for a week. Not only that, but there wasn't really anywhere I wanted to go. I don't have the desire to travel like he does; I don't mind taking my time off at home or locally, and relaxing with the things I have rather than spending a ton on a fancy dinner or hotel or concert.

So, naturally, I was confused, dismayed, and heartbroken. While I started crafting a text response explaining why a gaming desktop would not just be for personal use, but would also be advantageous for my career (my degree was in animation and I learned surface level coding for making video games), I also wondered why it was wrong for me to want a "material thing" even if it wasn't something necessarily "useful." Because while, yes, a gaming desktop would have the power I needed for more intensive animation projects, that wasn't really why I wanted one. But I figured explaining as such would help convince my dad why it was a good idea.

My dad ended up calling me before I could finish crafting my text, so I did my best to explain my standpoint, as well as pointing out how the specs for a gaming desktop are pretty much parallel with the specs for a desktop for things like 3D rendering and animation. He stood his ground on "making memories" as well, and also hinted that I was acting entitled for asking about my graduation present. I think I pointed out to him how he asked my older brother far in advance what he wanted for his graduation, but those details of the conversation are a little faded with time. I did end up sending my text after that phone call anyway, as I felt it better explained what I was thinking and feeling than I could say in verbal conversation (I've always gotten a little flustered talking to my dad about things I want that he doesn't approve of).

Fortunately, after reading my text, my father seemed to come around, and invited me to put together a list of parts for my computer, since I wanted to build it. I got really excited and got the help of my computer-savvy friend to put together something I thought was reasonable-- it had a really good graphics card and processor, and I made compromises on some of the other parts to lower the cost. I haven't looked at the list in a while, but the total cost-- tower, two mid-range monitors, basic keyboard and mouse-- was something like 2.5k approaching 3k. Mid range (at least, it is these days) I think, but it would be enough for the things I wanted to do.

I put the list together, and emailed it to my dad. The assumption I had, was he would purchase the parts, and then we would build it together (or I would build it alone). However, later on I went to ask him if he had gotten my email, and while he said yes, he also said, "I'm not paying for the whole thing. I can't afford it, and it's not fair to spend more on you as an individual than what I spent on your brother as an individual for the Florida trip."

I find the latter point somewhat fair considering I'm the only person who benefits from this gift, but the first point, given the background context on my father's habits, I'm not sure how much I believe. But arguing with him would have been pointless. I definitely would have liked to have had that information beforehand, but it ultimately didn't change much.

This is getting long, so I'll try to summarize the rest. This was just the first instance of my father changing the goal posts for my graduation gift. First, he tried to convince me that getting a prebuilt tower would be just as good. I did the research, and a tower with the graphics card I wanted would have cost as much as building my own tower and buying a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and still not have been as good in other specs anyways. Then, he tried to tell me he was only going to give me $1000 towards the computer. I pointed out paying for my older sibling for the Florida trip would have cost at least $1500-- if I hadn't done the research, I wouldn't have known any better and just blindly agreed. Then, two days after my graduation, he stated that he wasn't going to give me the money for the computer until I had secured a full time job.

At that point, I just gave up, and agreed.

Fast forward to now. I'm still working the part time job, I barely make enough to put a couple dollars into savings, no one is hiring me full time, and my dad hinted that, instead of doing presents for Christmas this year, we all agree to go on vacation somewhere. Not only that, but his family in Canada just told him they're going to Mexico in November. Not only is my dad implying we should go too and I should pay a portion of my own way, I have a further feeling he may say that this will be our Christmas as well. I still don't have the computer, even though my dad has noticed how much I'm struggling.

If I had the computer, I wouldn't have minded the vacation-- but I feel like my wants and feelings have been completely pushed aside in favor of what my dad thinks is good and/or right, and the wind has been taken out of my sails regarding my graduation entirely. On the other hand, maybe he's right that I focus too much on a material thing and should redirect my attention to an experience and go somewhere to relax/get away from daily life.

Am I a materialistic asshole?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[aloysiavirgata]

(if you are accepting prompts!) what iffffff you wrote a soft gentle little fic in which Scully has a spectacularly unlovely head cold and after some grouching Mulder looks after her? There are so many moments of peril on x files that sometimes it’s nice when the enemy is just a simple rhinovirus, lol.

He doesn’t even attempt to make it himself. Calls ahead to Loeb’s with his order, which he accepts from a stylish young Mexican man whose name tag reads Pierre.

“A sheynem dank,” Mulder says, echoing the grandmother who called Samantha a shaineh maideleh.

Pierre nods. “Bitte, baby,” he says. “De nada.”

***

Mulder clomps up her stairs with Puritan determination. He feels that since he did not cook the food himself he must exert some other effort for it. His soul is at eternal war with itself.

He doesn’t knock; lets himself in with the Home Depot key Scully had made for him around the time that Tooms wanted into her pants for all the wrong reasons. It sticks a little still, even after so many years. He’s rarely had to use it - when aren’t they together?

A hacking noise from her bedroom, something wet being coughed. Spat.

Mulder helps himself to a bowl, a plate, a spoon.

“I’b arbed,” she rasps from down the hall. “I’b a Federal Agent.”

“Don’t shoot,” Mulder calls back, hunting down a napkin. “I am a poor boy from a poor family.” Her mother wears Revlon and his wears Guerlain.

He tips some soup and two of the matzo balls into a bowl, wedges one of the challah rolls next to it. He puts the leftovers in the fridge.

Mulder carries the plate down the hall, the nearly-full bowl sloshing dangerously atop.

He enters Scully’s bedroom. She’s been upgrading over the past couple of years, replacing her IKEA basics with good secondhand finds in cherry and walnut. The candle she’s lit smells like white flowers with thick, creamy petals.

Scully is tucked into bed like an Austen heroine, all delicate pallor and genteel unhappiness. Her nose is pink-tipped and raw, hair in a ponytail. She’s wearing a gray sweatshirt instead of her usual pajamas.

Mulder sets the food down on her nightstand, next to a vase of dried roses and her Yaqui slide holster. A speed loader. There’s a well-framed Monet print over the bed.

Pat Conroy’s Beach Music is open face down on her lap, surrounded by crumpled tissues. She doesn’t look happy to see him, her purple-shadowed eyes narrowing a bit.

“Go away,” she says. Sneezes.

“Brought you some soup,” he says, unnecessarily. Points at it, also unnecessarily.

“Bulder,” she sniffs. “Go hobe. I don’t like being fussed over. I hab a cold, dot Ebola.”

“Too bad,” he says. “I’m going to. Do you have Vick’s Vapor Rub? You really should have Vick’s Vapor Rub.”

She closes her eyes. Pinches the bridge of her nose, centering herself. “It’s dot your fault I’b sick,” she says, looking back over at him after a moment.

“I dragged you into the woods again. You fell down a hole full of corpses! You’ve been in remission for like…twenty minutes.” He jabs the spoon at her.

She rolls her eyes. “You don’t get a cold frob being in the woods. Or frob being chilly. You get a cold frob a virus.”

He feigns outrage. “Excuse me, but are you contradicting noted excellent mother-slash-world-class-epidemiologist Doctor Teena Mulder MD?”

This sends Scully into a flurry of coughing. She swats at him in annoyance. “Ugh,” she says at last. “You see why I can’t hab you here, you’re a lousy durse.”

Mulder takes her hand, pale as a kid glove. He shoves the spoon into it, squeezes her fingers about the handle. “Eat the soup or I’m calling your mom. I’m calling BILL.”

She narrows her eyes again. “You wouldn’t.”

“I think you’re well aware that I’m capable of being overly dramatic when the wind is southerly and the fancy strikes.” He holds the plate before her like an offering to a goddess.

Scully considers him. “You did get us out ob the teabwork sebidar,” she observes. “Techdically.”

“I did,” he agrees.

“You bade be sing,” she adds. Reproachful.

He grins. “The angels all were singing out of tune, And hoarse with having little else to do, Excepting to wind up the sun and moon, Or curb a runaway young star or two.”

Scully looks at the spoon in her hand for the first time, as though wondering how it got there.

“Byron,” she says, a little smile. She picks up the roll, examines it. Peers at the soup. Sneezes again. “Mad, bad, and dangerous to know.”

“Caroline Lamb,”Mulder replies. He doesn’t point out that Caroline Lamb had been Byron’s lover, that she’d sent him a clipping of her pubic hair in the mail. He certainly doesn’t think of the juncture between Scully’s thighs at all, whether it matches the drapes, whether it tastes like kettle corn and Vineyard whitecaps in July. Lobster rolls and saltwater taffy.

He’d meant it, about the sleeping bag. He wishes there had been a sleeping bag and he is so, so grateful there was no sleeping bag.

Scully sniffles again, defeated. “You got be batzo ball soup?”

He thumbs an escaped tendril of hair back from the sweep of her extraordinary cheekbone.

“I did,” he murmurs back. He sets the plate down between them. He peels the roll open, yeasty and fragrant, and dunks it into the golden broth.

He raises it to her mouth.

Scully sucks at it, draws it past her lips. She bites. Chews, swallows. She holds his eyes with hers. She catches an escaped droplet with her tongue.

“Good,” she mumbles. Watches him dip the dry part back into the bowl. “Thank you.”

He feeds her another bite. Her mouth opens like a snapdragon, like an oyster in the tide. She drops her gaze this time. Her guard.

They complete the entire roll this way, and one matzo ball. Silent, slurpy. Scully’s lids droop, her lashes brushing her cheeks.

“Sleepy,” she mumbles, curling onto her side. Her paperback falls to the floor.

Mulder returns the food to the night table. He strokes her hair until she’s out cold, snoring a little. He curls into the bed as well, his nose to hers. He touches her philtrum with his pointer finger. He traces the tender pink whelk of her ear.

They sleep for hours until she coughs awake, gasping, her thin chest heaving. Mulder rubs circles between her scapulae.

“Go hobe,” she says, knees drawn, leaning against his chest. “You deed to sleep.”

He puts his arms around her, drops a kiss on her tangled head. “Okay,” he agrees.

She’s out again in moments. He holds her upright until he drifts off as well.

They sleep until morning. He feeds her soup for breakfast, calls into work with a case of Ebola.

#xf fanfic #xfiles fanfic #msr #my fic #sick fics #detour post episode #fluff #inbox #prompt

[lululandd]

Ok I can't stop thinking about the froggie statues in the plants. (Find all the froggie figurines!) Reader should keep a teeny tiny one in her pocket so that when (if?) Ghost eventually invites her inside, she can sneak one in his apartment. 🐸

at peace;

pairing: simon ‘ghost’ riley x f!reader

wordcount: 1205

warning: fluff, froggies, simon riley is a fucking mess, part 2 of this fic

note: also on ao3

summary: what tendy said.

The last time he felt nervous to the point of nausea was a year ago, when he learnt of Graves and Shepherd’s betrayal. But today he felt even worse than that. He saw a glimpse of her daily, sometimes once every two days. The woman saunters to his balcony, waters his plants, wipes the little frogs clean—apparently he missed a little purple one by the orchid—and goes back upstairs. 

He bought different kinds of teas the other day, not knowing what kind she would like, and now the possibility of her not liking tea at all made bile rise up to the back of his throat. Why is he feeling like this? She’s just his neighbour. He’s just being polite by repaying her for making his fire escape look decent. He’s killed men numerous times before and felt nothing, but why is asking his neighbour to come insi—

Realisation hits as he ran for the sink.

He’s never invited anyone in before. Not even Johnny knows where he lives. This would be the first time since he moved here that he would invite someone inside. He looked around the place. Is this how normal people live? Could it be too… pristine? Too immaculate? Should he have at least one picture on a shelf? He glanced at the gloomy state of his apartment and decided he needed to add a little more…. life to it. 

He was caught off guard on his way back from his third trip to the store. He had a little shoe rack and some books on the backseat of his car. 

“Hey neighbour!” He heard her speak.

Fuck.

“Allright?”

She nodded. The woman had a cup of something he can’t distinguish but recognise the café it came from. “You need help?” She gestured at his car.

“Yes.” He answered without thinking. The word just fired out of his brain like a bullet; straight out of his mouth. He didn’t need her help, didn’t want her help. There’s a very empty picture frame on the desk next to the telly and he’s fairly sure she’d be weirded out by. “In a bit.”

She visibly backed off and he thought he had said the wrong thing when she just nodded, “I’ll swing by in an hour? That allright?”

“Yeah.”

He fixed his empty frame problem, placed the books down, and arranged all the extra knick-knacks he bought to somewhere he thought would look normal and presentable. It was after spraying his living space with some air freshener that he started questioning what he was doing. Why was he doing this? To what extent is he going to pretend he is a functioning human being? Would he have done the same thing if Soap was to come over?

A knock on his balcony door lets him know if he would pass as being normal to a civilian. He was greeted with a decent sized tupperware of brownies half shoved into his face. “So what am I helping with?”

Shit.

In his daze to make his place seem normal as possible he had cleaned and put everything in its place. “Sorry, fixed it actually. Fancy a cuppa instead?”

She handed him the brownies so she can take her shoes off. She left them outside by the plants, and saw they were just like them, colourful. He gestured to the sofa as he walked to the kitchen, “Any requests?”

He was unimpressed when she skipped the sofa entirely and walked with him to the kitchen. The girl probably doesn’t trust him with her tupp—

“Any would be fine, I’m not picky.” She instead sat on the dining chair that previously held his dying plant. The plant that started all of this.

“There’s a couple. White, black, earlgrey, chamomile, matcha, as—.”

“No way. Matcha? Do you have that whisk thingy too?” She moved her wrist around.

He opened a drawer and grabbed the wooden whisk and proudly held it up. “You want matcha?”

To his dismay she shook her head, “I’ll just have whatever you feel like having right now.”

“Guest’s choice.”

“I brought brownies. Host’s pick.”

“Matcha goes great with brownies.” He lied. He just wanted to see her eyes light up like earlier.

She nodded enthusiastically, “Whatever you say, you’re the tea expert.”

Fuck. She was just being polite and leaves everything to him because she thinks he’s knowledgeable. He needs more info about tea if he— If he what, actually. Why does he keep thinking about what she wants and what she thinks of him? Would he have thought the same if it was Price thinking he knows more about tea than he really does?

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that when he turned around to hand her the tea, she wasn’t in her seat anymore. She was looking at the books he had put on the shelf. He had to walk over to hand her the mug.

“You a fan?” She pointed at his freshly purchased Dune books, he sees the sparkle in her eyes again and he has to disappoint her for the second time today.

“Haven’t read ‘em yet. Thought the covers looked interesting.”

“So you just… bought the whole hardcover set because they looked… pretty?” He notices the many crinkles at the edge of her eyes when she smiles. He would like to coun—

“Gotta match my new garden.” He nodded at the balcony. It was utter horseshite from his part but he must admit that the books did make the view prettier. He needs to take that into consideration when buying things now.

The way her face lights up to look up at him mimics the first time he had offered his space to her. “You mean it?”

He took a sip of his tea with one hand and crossed his heart with the other. He hoped this would distract her from his face because he was sure he was blushing. Where’s his mask when he n—

No.

Ghost doesn’t belong here, not now. Ghost will be needed someday when someone bothers her. Ghost will be sorely awakened that day when she tells him she shouldn’t be coming over anymore, but for the time being Ghost doesn’t belong here.

He reminded her about the brownies and glad that whatever bollocks he spewed earlier turned out correct. Matcha did go with brownies. The girl said so herself.

“I’m Simon, by the way.”

—

He got a call from Price that night, and for the first time, he was sad he had to leave. His mind wandered to his books and wondered if he will ever even read past a quarter of the first one. As he walked over to look at them, he noticed something.

There was a skinny little frog covered in glitter—standing upright with an unamused face—hidden behind the books and the empty basket he had up there. He then moved the frog front and centre, where it really belongs.

Or, that’s where he thought it does, until a week later. The glitter caught his eye as he scans the room one last time before leaving, so he snagged it from its perch and slips it into his inner jacket pocket, comfortably held against his heart.

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x reader #ghost x reader #call of duty imagine #call of duty #scuffed writing

[a-devious-route]

Thank you so much for answering my question. The animations like the ones you have in your Ben Barnes gallery catch my eye (that would be the third avatar). The animations of Lee Dong Wook's avatars too. The first one above is beautiful. Have an excellent day <3

Hello again dear anonymous person!

Well, it's nothing fancy, but I made a short video. I recorded the steps to make this kind of animation! I hope it helps you! Unfortunately, my Photoshop is in French. But here are the steps will be available bellow the video :

1) You have to open your avatar (jpg or png) in Photoshop. > I like to use one that is already styled. I just need to add the animation.

2) Create a folder (I named it ANIM) in your layers panel. > This step is optional, but I like to do it to keep everything clean and easy to find.

3) Create your first empty layer in the folder, name it clearly. > I choose 1 because it'll be my animation's first frame.

4) Draw the elements you want in your animation with the pen tool in the color of your choice. > Here I choose the rough shapes of the flowers

5) Create a new layer in your anim folder and draw the second frame of your animation. > In this step I like to keep the old layer visible so I can see where I put my first animation layer. This is optional.

6) Repeat step 5 and create a third layer for the animation. > I like to do 3 to 5 layers, depending on the animation I decided to do, but nothing more to make them really light.

7) When all your layers are done with drawing, hide them all with the little eye in the layer panel.

8) Open the Timeline window. > If it's not already open, you can find it in the "Window" menu of your Photoshop) and make sure you have the "Frames" selected (if you see a timeline, you're not in the right mode, you can easily change it by selecting the 3 little squares at the bottom of the window).

9) You should have an existing frame once you are in the timeline mode. If not, click on "create frame animation".

10) Then click on the little [+] button at the bottom to add a frame near the trash. If you have 3 layers, make sure you have 3 frames

11) Select all 3, then click on the 0s and choose 0.1s (this will control the duration of the frame animation)

12) Select your first frame > then make your layer 1 visible. // Select your second frame > then hide your layer 1 and make your layer 2 visible. // Select your third frame > then hide your layer 2 and make your layer 3 visible.

13) Then you can "save for web" and play your gif to see if you like it!

Again I hope this helps! Enjoy your creation time! May you make a lot of nice things that makes you happy!

#tutorial #short tutorial #animation diy #avatar #gif avatar #a devious route explain #ressources #rpg ressources #a devious route

[queenofhyruleee]

Knight in Shining Armor Chapter 2

I did it!!

I continued the story!!

____________________________________________________________

Thud. Thud. 

The sudden noise kickstarted your heart, and your mind raced with all of the possibilities as to who could be at the door. Wrapping yourself up in your blanket for a bit more decency, you crept slowly down the stairs. 

The shop was bathed in moonlight, and through a window you could just barely make out a tall silhouette standing outside. It was not bright enough that you could make out who it was, but you could tell that it was definitely a man. 

A feeling of annoyance bloomed in your chest. Was it Elis? You had absolutely no desire to talk to or see him at the moment. The sadness you felt earlier had gradually faded into anger and you were afraid that if you had to look at his face in your current state of mind you would say something you would come to regret. 

Wrapping the blanket tighter around you, you stopped right in front of the door. 

“Go away, Elis. I don’t want to see you right now. If you wanted to talk to me you should have bothered to show up to Telma’s this evening like you were supposed to.” Your voice was clear and devoid of any emotion. You didn’t want him to know how hurt you were. 

“Well, then I might have some good news for you.”

Your eyebrows shot up, surprised to hear the voice on the other side. You immediately fumbled with the locks and pulled the door open. 

“Link?” 

Said man was leaning comfortably against a wooden beam that stood just a few meters away from the door. He was dressed in his casual civilian clothing, his fancy Royal Guard uniform swapped out for a loose fitting green tunic and tan pants. His blonde hair was partially pulled back into a half ponytail and the rest of his shoulder-length locks framed his face in a way that gave him a very ruggedly handsome appearance. He looked up as the door opened and gave you a soft smile. 

“Hey. Can I come in? I bring gifts.” He patted the bag that hung at his side. Still working through your feelings of surprise, you simply nodded and stepped to the side so that he could pass by you. 

After putting the locks back into place, you turned around and suddenly felt very self-conscious about your clothing.. or lack thereof. Underneath your blanket you were only wearing a large nightshirt that hardly covered your butt. You cursed yourself mentally for not having the foresight to put on some pants. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, squinting up at your friend. Afraid that your tone was a bit too harsh, you immediately rushed to add, “N-not that I’m unhappy you’re here! It’s just late and you’ve had a long day, I’m surprised you’re not already asleep.” 

You certainly were not unhappy that he was here. In fact, you made a point to not acknowledge the relief (and maybe a bit of happiness) that had immediately washed over you when you saw that it was him at the door instead of Elis. His presence brought nothing but comfort, which you knew would not have been the case for anyone else. The only thing that made you nervous was the fact that he had seen you so upset earlier. You weren’t sure you were feeling up to rehashing the day’s shitty events and how worthless you were. 

Link just shrugged. “Even if I wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be sleeping. There’s a fancy party taking place up at the castle right now. I should be working, but I called in a favor with Zelda and managed to get out of it.” He grinned mischievously, clearly proud of his actions. 

You were surprised to feel a pang of jealousy at hearing how casually Link referred to the Princess. It was another reminder of just how close he was to the royal. You didn’t know everything about their relationship, but you did know that whatever connection they did have with each other was unlike any other. You’ve heard whispers and rumors about the true nature of their relationship, but Link had never confirmed or denied them to you and you never brought them up. 

But it would make sense if they were together. I mean, that is the kind of woman that Link deserves. Truthfully, she’s probably the only person worthy of him. 

“Well, I’m flattered that you chose to spend your night off here… but again, that begs the question: why?” You weren’t meaning to sound so skeptical and negative, but surely he had better ways to fill his time. 

Link cocked an eyebrow. “Is it not enough to just want to come and see you?” He asked. 

The effortless way he said that, as if it were the most obvious answer in the whole word, made your heart flutter. He intentionally made time to come see you? He wanted to come see you in the first place? 

You opened your mouth, struggling to find words. 

“Do you have any clean forks?” He asked suddenly, changing the subject. His random question seemed to snap you out of the stupor you had found yourself in. 

“What?” 

“Forks. We need some forks.” He turned then, making his way upstairs to where the living area and small kitchen were. You followed behind, still feeling very much confused. 

Link rummaged through the kitchen drawers as if he lived there, taking no longer than a few seconds to produce two forks, one of which he gave you. Then, he pulled a small container out of his satchel. You frowned at it, trying to figure out what it was. 

“I managed to snag a piece for us before I left the castle,” he grinned, setting the container down on the counter. He took off the lid, revealing a gorgeous slice of white cake. It was topped with thick white frosting and decorated with blue and gold flowers. It looked delicious. You stared at it with wide eyes, then looked up at Link. He waved his hand at it. 

“Well, ladies first.” 

You didn’t even pretend to be polite and deny the offer. Instead, you happily dug in. You tried and failed to hold in the moan that came from the back of your throat as you took the first bite. It was absolutely delicious, practically melting in your mouth. 

“Lingk, dish ish amazin’!” Your voice was muffled, but happiness outweighed the shame of forgetting your manners. 

He nodded, taking a bite of the cake for himself. But unlike you, he waited until he was finished swallowing to speak. 

“I know how much you love sweets, so I figured that if I brought you a piece you wouldn’t be so angry with me for potentially waking you up. A peace offering, if you will.”  

You shook your head. “You could murder my family and I’d still forgive you if you gave me a piece of this cake.” 

Link laughed, the warm sound almost as satisfying as the food. “Alright, noted.” 

The two of you finished the treat in a comfortable silence, and Link insisted on cleaning the forks himself once you were done. You sat on the counter next to him as he scrubbed the utensils with a rag and some water. Watching from the corner of your eye, you were amused at how concentrated he was. He carefully inspected each fork, rescrubbing when he found even the smallest fleck of cake or frosting left behind. 

“Slayer of monsters and dirty dishes. What can’t you do?” You joked. 

He hummed, considering the question. “I’m not really a fan of laundry.” 

“Oh ho, so the great Link does have a mortal enemy then.” 

“The very sight of a pile of dirty clothing strikes fear right into my very soul!” He exclaimed dramatically, turning to give you a look of exaggerated fear. He paused suddenly, frowning as he looked at your face. He took a step towards you and leaned in. “Hold still..” 

You froze as he reached out towards you, unsure of what was happening. His warm hand cupped your cheek gently, and your heart started to pound so loud you were positive he could hear it. Before you could ask him what he was doing, he brushed his thumb over the corner of your mouth a few times. 

“There,” he said quietly, a look of concentration on his face. “All gone.” 

You just looked at him with wide eyes, and he met your gaze with a soft smile. Your cheeks burned underneath his palm. Both his touch and his proximity made your heart race and clouded your mind.

What is going on? Why am I reacting like this?

He held your gaze for what felt like forever, and you weren’t sure but you could swear you felt his thumb softly brushing over your cheek slowly. His touch was so light, however, that you could have just been imagining it. 

You found yourself feeling a small sting of disappointment when he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and pulled his hand back quickly. Your cheek suddenly felt ice cold and you almost wished he would put his hand back where it was. 

“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “You had some frosting on your cheek.” 

You let out a nervous laugh, and the quiet that enveloped the room as Link finished cleaning the dishes was awkward and not as comfortable as before. When he finished, he turned to face you and leaned up against the counter. You scrambled for anything to say, hoping to break whatever weird tension had built up between the two of you

“Thank you for bringing me the cake. It was so good, I might have to break in to the castle sometime to get some more.” 

Your joke seemed to do the trick, and Link visibly relaxed a bit. “Well, good thing you know one of the Royal Guards. I’m sure he could be persuaded to help you on your mission.” 

You grinned. “Maybe I could offer to do his laundry for him, think that would work?” 

The tension in the air was shattered by the sound of both yours and Link’s laughter. Whatever that awkward moment was, it was gone now. Though you could still feel the ghost of his hand resting gently on your cheek. 

Link’s laughter died down, and his face slowly morphed into something a bit more serious. He crossed his arms and his eyes bore into yours. “So.. do you want to talk about it?” 

You froze, and your smile slowly dropped as your brain took a second to register what exactly it was that he was talking about. 

Of course he wasn’t going to let you pretend that he didn’t see you crying like a baby in the midst of a large and happy crowd. 

You bit your lip and suddenly found a very interesting piece of fuzz on the blanket that was sitting in your lap. As you picked at it, you tried to fight off the tears that had begun to prick at the corner of your eyes. 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” You worked hard to keep your voice steady. 

“Where was he?” It was a simple question, but it cut through you like a knife. What hurt the most is that you couldn’t even answer it because you didn’t even know where he was. 

You ignored the tears as they began to slowly slip down your cheek. You kept your head down, continuing to focus on the blanket, but soon the piece of fuzz was joined by small water marks as the tears dropped down around it. 

“I don’t know.” You muttered. 

“What do you mean?” 

You sniffed, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit the truth. “He never showed up. I don’t know where he was.” 

The silence that followed spoke volumes. Looking up through your lashes, Link’s face was difficult to read. The muscles in his face flexed beneath smooth skin as he clenched his jaw. 

You laughed weakly. “Pathetic, right?”

“Something is pathetic, that’s for sure,” he muttered darkly. 

“This keeps happening. I don’t know what I did but obviously,” your lip started to quiver violently and your voice shook as you struggled to speak, “I’m not good enough for some reason.” The last word came out as a sob, and you slapped your hand over your mouth to try and keep the rest from coming out. It didn’t help. 

There was a long pause where the only sound in the shop was the sound of your crying. Then, “Get dressed.” 

You hiccuped, trying to catch your breath and calm yourself down. You looked up in confusion, wiping your nose in case any snot had started to make its exit from your nose. “What?” 

“Get dressed,” Link repeated, a serious look on his face. “We’re going out.” 

It took a few seconds for his words to register, and you shook your head vigorously. “No, Link, I don’t-”

His warm skin was once again on your cheek, the back of his hand softly brushing away the tears that sat there. 

He leaned in suddenly, his face just centimeters from yours, and there was a sparkle of something almost mischievous in his blue eyes. A stark contrast from the stoic expression he had been wearing moments before. 

“Last one to the castle entrance is a rotten cucco egg.” His voice was a soft whisper, nearly inaudible. You stared up at him, a dumb look on your face. 

“Wha..?” 

But before you could ask any more questions, he gave you a delishly grin and took off, running out of the room and clunking down the stairs loudly. 

“I - what? Link! Hey, wait!” You shouted after him, but got no response. “Oh fuck me,” you muttered. But you couldn’t deny the childlike giddiness that was bubbling up inside you as you ran to your room and pulled on some decent clothes as quickly as you could, determined to catch up with your friend. He had challenged you, and he knew that you weren’t one to back down from a challenge. 

As you exited the shop, you saw Link standing a few doors down, obviously waiting for you. He didn’t let you catch up, however, and with a quick grin he was off again, running through the streets of Castle Town. 

“This isn’t fair!” You shouted as you sprinted after him. “You got a head start!” 

He looked back as he ran. “Don’t blame me because you’re slow!”

You stuck your tongue out at him, and then watched in horror as an unsuspecting couple walked right into the path of an inattentive Link who was charging like a bull. You opened your mouth to warn him, but luckily he turned back at just the right moment. He managed to jump out of the way, mostly avoiding them. But he still tripped over the man’s shoes, stumbling forward wildly. You didn’t even bother holding back the laughter as you followed behind, watching as he struggled to regain his balance. 

“Sorry!” Link shouted, not even bothering to stop as he apologized. The couple gave him a nasty glare, then made to keep walking. However, they were once again abruptly stopped as you ran right into their path. You didn’t even need to look to know they were also giving you a dirty glare as well.

“Sorry!” You copied Link, also not even bothering to look back. 

You couldn’t stop the laughter that was spilling out as you ran. The sadness from earlier seemed to melt away with each stride you took. All you were focused on now was keeping an eye on Link and trying to catch up. He kept glancing back to check on you as well, and the smile on his face as he did so gave you butterflies. 

“Is that the best you got?” He shouted over his shoulder. 

“You know, it’s amazing you can run so fast with a head that big!” You shot back. His laughter carried down, filling your ears. 

“It’s part of the Royal Guard training!” 

Big head aside, by the time you got to the castle entrance out of breath and sweaty, he was already there waiting, looking completely unfazed. Not even a drop of sweat on his brow. 

He pretended to yawn as you dragged yourself up to him. “Well, it’s about time.” 

You glared at him as you leaned down and placed your hands on your knees to try and catch your breath. He just smiled innocently. 

“How does it feel?” He asked. 

“What, the stabbing pain in my side? The sweet embrace of death herself?” You panted. 

“Being a rotten cucco’s egg, I mean.” 

You couldn’t even pretend to be mad, a loud laugh escaping your lips. He joined in, and next thing you knew, the both of you were in tears and struggling for air. 

Once you two gained your composures, Link straightened up and gestured to the paved road that led up to the castle. 

“There? Link, we can’t just walk into the castle!” You looked nervously at the very large guards that stood on either side of the entrance. They looked straight ahead, their faces completely blank. But you knew that they weren’t zoned out and would not hesitate to use the very sharp looking swords they had strapped to their hips if need be. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fine. I promise.” He held out his arm to you. Hesitantly, you linked your arm with his and let him lead you. As you walked up to the guards, Link simply nodded to them. They returned the nod, and let you walk by without any issue. 

“Wow, must be nice to be the Hero of Hyrule,” you muttered sarcastically. He shrugged. 

“I guess putting my life on the line to save Princess Zelda and all of the people of Hyrule, yourself included, comes with the added perk of being able to enter and exit the castle freely. I mean really, that’s what makes it all worth it if I’m being honest.” 

You rolled your eyes at him and gently smacked his arm. He rarely ever made jokes or even talked about the events that led to him being hailed as a hero, so it was strange to hear him acknowledge it, even if he was just joking around. He just smiled down at you, and the two of you continued the walk in a comfortable silence. 

You weren’t exactly sure where he was taking you but as you approached the grand steps leading up to the front door of the castle, he quickly whisked you to the side and instead led you down a small path that disappeared around the side of the castle. 

“Where are we going?” You finally asked. He glanced down. 

“You’ll see. We’re almost there.” 

After a few more minutes, you ended up in front of a small arched gate. Thick green vines covered most of the silver metal, and you wondered if it would even open at all. But without any effort Link pushed one side and it swung open easily. He held out his hand, which you took, and led you through. 

The air grew thick with the sweet scent of blooming flowers. Crickets sang from their hiding places, competing with the sound of the leaves on the trees gently rustling in the soft breeze. The garden you had stepped into was filled with lush greenery, more vines climbing up the castle walls in a race to get to the top. The small area was dimly lit by the light of several small fairies, much to your wonderment. Some floated through the air, their tiny wings shimmering in the moonlight. Others sat perched on flowers or the trees, beautifully twinkling in the dark. 

The sound of water trickling drew your attention to a small pond that sat in the corner of the garden. The water was calm, the reflection of the bright moon and stars dancing on the surface. Small ripples danced throughout as water traveled down a small waterfall made naturally by large rocks. You saw other sporadic ripples in the water further out, hinting at tiny creatures who have made the pond their home. 

You truly had no words as you stood and absorbed the sight before you. The garden was small and magical, a sense of peace and serenity washing over you as you took in the beautiful sights and sounds under the lights of the moon and the fairies. From the corner of your eye, you could see Link looking down at you with a strange look on his 

face. 

After a few minutes of stunned silence, you finally found your voice. “What is this place?” You whispered. 

Link gently grabbed your arm again, guiding you to take steps forward. “Come on, let's sit.” 

A small bench sat at the edge of the pond, and the two of you took a seat and looked out at the water before you. You felt almost hypnotized watching the small stream trickle down the rocks and listening to the soft bubbling that accompanied it. 

“After.. everything,” Link started, his quiet voice pulling you out of your trance, “I spent a lot of time here.” 

You looked up and saw that he wasn’t looking at you, but rather looking out at the pond with a faraway expression on his face. You decided to stay silent to see if he would continue. He did. 

“It was really difficult at first. Well, it still is honestly. But those first few weeks, months, after Zelda was back and we were picking up the pieces left behind after so long of turmoil and destruction.. I really struggled.

The transition from being constantly on the road, constantly fighting, constantly throwing myself into the face of danger and being unsure if I would live to see another day, another hour even..” 

Your heart ached as you listened. You had only ever known Link to be courageous and brave. Hearing him talk about his struggles was difficult, and you didn’t want to think of him in any pain - emotional or otherwise. 

He sighed, shaking his head. “When nobody knew who I was, it was easy. I mean obviously what I was doing wasn’t easy, but before I felt like I was only responsible for myself and…” his voice trailed off, and you sensed there was something painful in the word that was supposed to come after “and”. But it never came. 

“I had pressure to succeed of course, knowing what fate would await Hyrule if I didn’t. But I didn’t have much time to stop and consider things. I just did what I had to do to get through each day.”

He nibbled anxiously on his bottom lip. A rare display of doubt and worry. “Now everyone looks up to me. They put me on such a high pedestal and for so long all I could think about was how much it was going to hurt when I fell. Because nobody really knows what I did. They don’t know the choices I had to make. The mistakes I made. How could I possibly be deserving of their love, their unwavering trust, with how many things I’ve done wrong?” 

Gingerly, you placed your hand on his knee. You weren’t sure what to say, or if he even wanted you to say anything. But you wanted to comfort him somehow. For him to know that you were listening and there for him. 

“I used to come out here almost every night. I had.. I had trouble sleeping for a while. And when I did, it was mostly nightmares. So I would come here and think about the questions I was too scared to ask out loud. What could I have done differently? Did I save everyone I could have saved?” 

You could feel your heart breaking with that final sentence. The look on his face and the pain in his voice. You had no idea how he could doubt himself when he had saved so many people, but you also couldn’t pretend to understand what he had gone through either. 

He turned to you, and you could see the vulnerability written on his face. “Luckily my nights out here have been becoming fewer and fewer in recent months. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully feel like I deserve any of the praise I get, but I am coming to terms with it. Learning to live with it. The voices in the back of my head will always be there, but they’re getting quieter and quieter with time.” 

Silence once again fell between the two of you, and you waited to see if he was going to continue. He did not. So you focused on the sounds of the night while you tried to think of the best way to respond to him. 

Link was one of your closest friends, but he had never been so open and honest and.. raw with his feelings before. While it hurt you to think of him struggling through all of those emotions alone, part of you - the selfish part - was over the moon that he had chosen to share these things with you. This was a whole new side of Link you were experiencing, but you decided that this was the most important one. This was the side that showed you the real Link. And he trusted you with that. That was no small thing. 

“Link, I’m so sorry.. I had no idea you were dealing with all of that.” Your eyes searched his, hoping he could hear and see the sincerity in your words. He gave you a small smile and shrugged. 

“I didn’t tell anyone. With all of the eyes on me, I didn’t want anyone to think I was ungrateful. Everyone believes me to be a strong and heroic person, so that’s what I’m going to show them.”

You shook your head. “But Link, I don’t think there’s a single person out there that would blame you for feeling the way you did. I mean, none of us know what it was like for you and you’re right. As soon as the dust settled, you were thrust into the spotlight and given all those fancy titles and promotions. There wasn’t much of an adjustment period, which I’m sure would be hard for anyone.” 

He was quiet for a minute before laughing softly, which confused you immensely. Had you said something funny? 

“Did I ever tell you what my life was like before? Back when I was just an average person who had never even been in a physical fight, nevermind battled monsters and evil rulers.” When you shook your head, he continued, a hint of longing in his voice. “I was a cattle ranch hand. I spent my days on my horse, rounding up the goats, cleaning stalls, and working on random projects around the ranch. Occasionally had to go and wrangle a goat or two that had gotten loose and tried to make its way down to the village.” 

You couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped your lips as you tried to imagine Link wrestling with an angry bleating goat. He raised an eyebrow and pretended to look offended. “Don’t you laugh, it was serious business. To this day I think I’d rather take on Ganondorf than a pissed off goat charging at me.” 

You nodded furiously and closed your lips together tightly, pretending to zip them up, lock them, and throw away the key. Link rolled his eyes but grinned at your foolishness. 

“Anyways, I just never would have imagined what my future would hold. And don’t get me wrong, I am immensely grateful for Zelda and the people of Hyrule and everything they have done for and given me. But a part of me I think will always mourn the life I could have had. Simple but pleasant. With the freedom to exist without the weight of all this pressure.” He sighed wistfully, looking once again back out across the pond. 

“Well, for what it’s worth, you are deserving.” He turned away from the pond to look back at you, and you continued. “You’re deserving not only because of what you did, but because of who you are. You are kind, you are caring, and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. You intentionally go out of your way to help strangers, you play with the city’s kids during your free time, you visit other villages around Hyrule to make sure they have everything they need and if they don’t you make sure they get it, you share your food with starving potion makers.. I could go on, but I think you get the point.” 

Link pursed his lips and tapped a finger on his chin as if he were thinking hard about something. “No, no I think I’d like you to continue.” 

You scoffed loudly. “Fine. You also have the biggest head of anyone I know. That’s quite an impressive feat.” 

His laugh was loud and genuine, and you didn’t even mind that it disrupted the peaceful quiet of the garden. You shoved his shoulder with yours, and he gladly returned the gesture. The two of you battled it out for a minute or two before Link put up his hands in surrender. With a triumphant smile you leaned back on your hands and looked up at the sky. 

“Thank you.” He said after a few moments of comfortable silence. “For listening to all of that. It was nice to get it off my chest finally.” 

You sat up straight and gave him a serious look. “Anytime Link. I’m more than happy to listen when you need it. That’s what friends are for.” 

He stared at you for a few seconds before nodding and smiling, though for some reason it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It almost looked.. sad. Before you could ask him about it, he looked away and changed the topic. 

“Well, this is my special place to come and think about my life and whether I’m deserving of love and kindness. So I brought you here because I want you to do the same.” 

You took a sharp breath, suddenly being reminded about the situation with Elis and why you were even out of your bed in the first place. Since stepping into the garden you hadn’t thought once about it all. 

“What do you mean?” You asked. 

“I mean,” his voice was stern, “That you need to realize that you are also deserving. And to accept anything less is just cheating yourself.” When he looked at you, his gaze was intense and it seemed to cut right through to your very soul. 

Listening to Link talk about his feelings had been easy, but now that the attention was turned on to you, you suddenly felt very uncomfortable. You didn’t want to sit and list out all of the reasons why you were certainly not deserving and make yourself look even more pathetic than you already were. 

“It's hardly the same,” You said quietly. “You’re.. you. And I’m.. me.” 

He shook his head. “Our situations are unique, sure, but that does not mean that you are any less deserving of happiness.” 

“I am happy.” You knew it was a pathetic lie, and you knew that Link would absolutely not believe you. And by the look on his face, you could tell he certainly did not. But before he could lecture you any further, you suddenly stood up. 

“It’s getting late, and I’m very tired. Walk me home?” 

He looked like he wanted to protest, but eventually he nodded. Once again he held out his arm, and you took it, welcoming the sense of comfort and security being close to him brought. You did feel guilty that he had been so open and vulnerable with you tonight, only for you to immediately shut down when he tried to get you to do the same. But you hoped that he would realize that it wasn’t worth the discussion and would give it up. 

The walk back to your home was silent, neither of you knowing what to say. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence per se, but the journey to the garden had certainly been more fun. You kept stealing glances at Link from the corner of your eye as you walked, but his face was unreadable. You had no idea what was going on in that mind of his. 

When you reached your shop, you were both relieved and disappointed. You dropped Link’s arm and unlocked the shop door. When you turned around to say goodbye, you were surprised to find that Link was much closer than you expected. 

Your heart began to beat rapidly at the proximity, which was silly because you had just spent the whole walk home arm-in-arm with him. But something about the way that he was standing, looking down at you just a step away, felt different. More intimate. 

You looked up at him - goddesses, he was tall - with wide eyes. He said nothing as he brought his hand up to your face. With a gentle touch, he caught hold of a lock of your hair and tucked it back behind your ear. His fingertips brushed your neck softly, sending tingles down your spine and butterflies erupting in your stomach. 

“Please just think about what I said,” he murmured, his voice so soft you almost had to strain to hear what he said. His hand was still holding the side of your neck, however, and really that’s all you could focus. Link probably could have shouted his words directly into your ear and you still wouldn’t have heard him properly. 

You nodded, unable to form words or even a single coherent thought. His thumb delicately stroked the sensitive skin behind your ear, triggering another wave of tingles and butterflies. 

“Promise?” His blue eyes were pleading and sincere. 

You nodded again, not even able to imagine how you could possibly say no to him in this moment. 

He stared for a moment longer before nodding, seeming to accept your answer. You expected him to pull his hand away, but instead he pulled you into his chest, catching you completely off guard. His one hand stayed placed at the base of your neck while the other snaked around your back, pressing you to him.

You momentarily forgot how to breathe. 

Had he ever hugged you before? 

Why was he hugging you? 

WHY did he smell so good?? 

You felt brief pressure on the top of your head, and then he released you and stepped back. As he did so, you finally took the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. 

“Sleep well.” His smile was warm and damn it, when did his smiles start to make your stomach flip so violently? 

Ever so smooth with words, you replied “Uhh okay.” 

Link gave a final wave goodbye and you stood there like an idiot, watching as he walked down the road until he turned and was out of sight. 

Then, as if a switch had been flipped in your brain, a million thoughts and emotions slammed into you at once. Giddiness, guilt, sadness, confusion, admiration - you felt it all. You had no idea how to even begin to process anything that had happened that night or the emotions that you were feeling. You were like a zombie as you wandered upstairs to your room and changed back into your sleep clothes, your head swimming with so many things. 

When you laid down finally, you decided to just push all of the thoughts and emotions away and shut your brain off. You would think about it later. Put off sorting out your feelings for later as you always did. 

But there was one feeling you couldn’t push out of your head no matter how much you tried. The feeling of Link’s touch. His hand on your cheek wiping away the tears. His thumb stroking your neck softly. His arms wrapped around you as he pulled you close. And how utterly empty you felt when he pulled away. 

Groaning, you smashed your face into your pillow and pulled the covers up over your head until you were enveloped in total darkness. 

“Sleep well.” 

“Fuck off,” you muttered to yourself, knowing that the very person who said those words would be the exact reason why you would not.

#Link #Link/Reader #Link x Reader #reader fic #reader insert #reader x link #legend of zelda #link lotz #lotz #fanfic #fanfiction #legend of zelda fanfic #loz fanfic

[captain-hen]

hi! do you mind sharing what steps you use to color your gifs? your colorings are always so nice

hi! since i've gotten quite a few people asking about this, i thought i'd do a full tutorial on it! 🥰 i'll go into two aspects—how i color gifs normally, for properly lit/neutrally colored scenes, and how i color when the scenes are unnaturally yellow/red/orange.

fair warning for a lot of images and me rambling way too much under the cut!

we'll start with how i color normally, i'll show you how to achieve something like this:

before we start, a couple of things to keep in mind:

i won't be going into the basics of gifmaking (screencaping, loading your frames in, sharpening, and all that). this is assuming you know the basics of giffing and have an idea of adjustment layers.

i use PS 2020, but you can do this in pretty much any version.

i always do all my editing with my gif converted into a smart object, but you can do this in frame animation too!

the way i'm coloring is quite specific to the way 911 is lit, and while this should work with any other show that has similar lighting, you can't use the same principles for shows that are washed out or have weird filters or really dark lighting.

so, i start off by brightening up my gif. i add an exposure and levels layer for this purpose:

this gives it sufficient brightness, but doesn't adjust it drastically the way some gifmakers like to do. the brightness usually isn't my focus, i'll adjust it if i need to, but i prefer to focus on color correction/enhancement, and so on. this is what my gif looks like now:

i like my gifs to have a LOT of contrast to reduce pixellation and because i think it gives it more clarity and crispness. i also like to them to be vibrant, but not in a way that makes the skin tones of the characters look unnatural. so i start off with adding a selective color layer with the blacks increased, for contrast (i know people usually use levels or curves, but i really prefer selective color in this instance) and a color balance layer to make the hue and tones of the gif cooler.

this is what i end up with:

of course, buck's skin looks way too unnatural. we'll fix this in selective color—i use a LOT of selective color layers just for the skin tone of the characters. i used at least 4 for this gif alone. the majority of your coloring process can take place there, if you're not going for anything fancy.

i'll share the settings i used, but keep in mind this is very subjective to each gif and scene. even if the scenes are very similar, you'll definitely have to make at least some adjustments.

i also added selective color to brighten majentas (for buck's lips and cheeks) and blues (for the background behind him). since there are only a handful of major colors in this scene, i didn't have to do much. but if there were green, yellow and other cooler colors, i would be working on making them look as vibrant as possible.

this was my result:

i decided i wanted my gif to look a little brighter, after all, and i used a brightness/contrast layer. i also decided to darken the reds a tad bit more, and highlight the whites, like so:

to complete it, i added a grey to white gradient map at about 22% opacity, set to soft light, to add a little more contrast. this step is optional, unless you're a stickler like me for the greys and blacks to be darkened lmao.

the finished product:

next, let's move on to color correcting!

there are a lot of layers you can use to color correct, and i'll be using channel mixer for the purposes of the tutorial. it's not too complicated—but in case you want a more detailed explanation into how it works, this tutorial is perfect!

so, this is the scene we'll be working with. 911 has good lighting compared to a lot of shows, but there are a lot of scenes—especially in s1 and in the characters' houses—that are washed way too yellow or red. the characters of color, unfortunately, seem to get the brunt of it. so i'll be showing you how to color correct, while staying true to their skin tones!

this is the gif without any coloring at all:

before brightening the gif, i'm gonna add a channel mixer layer. i'll go straight to the blue channel, and increase the red and green channels slightly.

this is what the gif looks like:

it looks better, but her skin is too majenta. we'll fix this with another channel mixer layer, this time in the red channel. reduce the red slider slightly, like so:

she looks better now! still a little too red, but our next steps will fix that. next, brighten up the gif and add contrast like normal:

of course, now she looks waay too pale. we'll fix this using vibrance:

better, but it's not close enough to her original skin tone for my liking. let's use selective color. i adjusted the reds:

i also adjusted the yellows, greens, cyans and blues; to make the other colors more vibrant. this is the finished gif:

if you want the gif to look brighter—i'm aware that the way i've done it gives it minimal brightness—you can add a brightness contrast layer, while upping both the brightness and contrast sliders. this should brighten up your gif, while keeping hen's skin tone as dark as it should be.

i really hope this tutorial helps! 💞 let me know if you have any questions!

#neethu answers #anon #*tutorial #resources #completephotoshop #allresources #userisha #useralie #tuserzee #alielook #userkourt #usergif

[samarecharm]

Ryuji learns immediately that Akira is a little food goblin and in the worst way possible 😭 He eats literally anything, he doesnt attempt to ‘chef up’ anything he cooks. He draws the line at expired food but the food he makes for himself looks so fucking sad (ryujis words) that it might as well be garbage. And its not that Akira Wont cook or is averse to Learning how to cook, hes just. Busy. And he really doesnt balk at what most would consider bad tasting food. But ryuji does!!! He DOES balk!!!! He balks alot in fact! So while he knows he himself is not the Best cook in the world, he IS someone raised by his momma, and he will use everything she taught him to make food that Akira will ACTUALLY like and not just tolerate.

So he takes Akira food shopping in the market, picks out vegetables and spices and meats that Akira admits (embarrassed) he has never touched in his life. He tells Akira what to look for in markets, whats normally in season, what the appropriate prices are, what different cuts of meat are meant for, and Akira follows him like a toddler following their mother, looking at the displays listening intently. Hes a smart kid. Scary smart. And he picks and chooses whats worth investing into, whether Ryuji realizes it or not. So Akira listens and absorbs whatever Ryuji is telling him, bc Ryuji matters to him.

Ryuji has him on prep work duty. He shows Akira the easy way to chop and cube vegetables. Remembers halfway through that Akira is actually wicked scary with a blade; shows him a video of a professional cutting celery at lightning speed and is SO excited to see Akira replicate it near perfectly. Hes like a machine; chopping with such laser precision and Akira cannot help but feel a little bit warm when Ryuji openly compliments him

Ryuji is so loud and brash everywhere but the kitchen. Hes focused in a way Akira has never seen him be; listing off instructions and tips, carefully adding ingredients and measuring things by eye. While making the stew, he blanks on the amount of seasoning he should be adding, and before Akira can try to help him rubberduck, Ryuji video calls his mom. And Akira almost panics bc what if she was asleep? Or what if shes working??? But she picks up after two rings, wearing a nightgown and smiling huge and wide into the camera. Ryuji waves at her, and then moves the phone a bit to get Akira into frame. He does a very chill, not at all panicked and anxious wave and she smiles at him too.

Ryuji shows her the pot stewing and she comments on the coloring and texture of it. She pokes fun at him (‘oo did you go to a fancy market? Those beef cuts looks very nice’) to which ryuji waves her off, used to her teasing.

‘Have that young man try to season it; this is a team effort!’ And so Ryuji props the phone up so that she can see him and Akira by the stove top as she guides them. A sprinkle of this seasoning from top to bottom, yes perfect, and a pinch of that seasoning- ehh a little more than that- okay perfect, and add a ton of that seasoning in front of you- more. More. Ryuji I said a Ton, tell him i said a Ton- oh right he can hear me I SAID ADD A TON- okay thats it i think, if it comes out too salty, scoop some out and replace it with more stock or some water.

And from then on Ryuji just chats with his mom while Akira watches from his side of the counter; Ryuji mentions the nice lake that he wants to try fishing at, and some nice natural paths to run on in the mornings, and she tells him about her shift and the movie she saw the other day with some friends. Its very nice. It comes so easy to them; Akira cant remember the last time he got to hear his mom just chat about her life with him. Kinda hurts, but not really. Not when hes got Sojiro calling him, telling him about his day while Akira tinkers about at his desk. Its basically the same thing; even better when Akira thinks about it.

And then he thinks some more. And into the realization that Ryuji is here with him in his house cooking and relaxing and chatting with his mom. The tv is on in the livingroom buzzing at a volume thats barely audible. The setting sun is peaking through the curtains. His mom makes a snide comment about her coworker that makes Ryuji laugh a bit under his breath, and Akira is like. Painfully aware of how nice this feels. Warm and easy. It feels a bit silly to even say it but it feels domestic; it feels like home. And hes always been here, always lived here, but it didnt feel like Home as much as it did in this moment, with Ryuji idly chatting with his mom as he tended to the pot on the stove. He wants to capture this moment and keep it tucked away somewhere. And later on, when hes staring at the ceiling, head swimming as he tries to fall asleep, he’ll think ‘no. I dont want to just have this moment. I want more moments like this. I want to live in these moments again and again and again.’ Hes greedy like that, he thinks. He wants and wants and wants; wants so bad it makes his chest ache.

The stew comes out good. A bit salty, which Ryuji remedies by adding a bit more stock to the pot after theyve had their servings. Akiras face is a mix of childlike delight and contentment, eyes bright in that sweet and adorable way that has Ryujis face turning pink, suddenly a bit shy. Being complimented about his cooking is a different kind of nice hes not used to. Akira does a little happy bop with his head, the same bop he’ll do when he eats sweets with Ann.

“This is Really good-‘

“Oi! Please chew everything first before talking.”

Akira thinks its an act of love. In the same way art from Yusuke is an act of love, and the way Hangout Nights with Ann is an act of love; this is Ryujis. I want you to eat well. I want you to be well. Because I care about you. Ryuji cares so much. To come and stay with him. To cook with him, to live with him, even if for a moment. ‘My place…is right at your side.’ ‘Whaddya mean? Youre there.’ Like it keeps Akira up at night sometimes thinking of how much hes loved. It feels so foreign to him, yet natural all at once. Waking up to the rest of the breakfast Ryuji left for him after cooking. Ryuji listening to him ramble about some tech shit Akira knows only he truly cares about (Ryuji pays attention and tries to follow which is more than Akira can ask for). Like its a bit overwhelming but its nice. Its warm and loving and its nice.

Ryuji finds himself napping against Akiras taller frame on the couch, the movie they picked out failing to keep him entertained enough, and Akira thinks Ryuji feels the same way; its warm and loving and nice.

#pegoryu #akiryu #also #ryuji #akira #ALSO this is palace au #but theres literally nothing u need to know aside from the fact that this is in akiras house after he gets sent home #if u ARE interested; it is post palace #like directly afterwards #so akiras feeling a bit. raw. emotionally #love love love! so much love hes drowning in it! #everything ryuji does makes his heart swell and he doesnt know what to do about it except make it happen again! #more love!!! #meanwhile ryuji is on the cusp of a heart attack everytime akira looks so pleased w him #like he cant stop himself even if he tried #ann laughs at him. hes like a dog that figured out the Thing that makes their human happy and excited #he just keeps pushing the same buttons now to get reactions out of akira and each time akira is like #SO clearly enamored w him. its too much to take in sometimes but its just so nice.

[salemsimsrender]

Beginner Blender Tutorial Basic Render: Part Three (Adjusting Render Settings, Adding Lights, and Rendering!)

(Continuing from Part Two)

Step 1: Adjusting Render Settings

I exclusively render in Cycles, and though I'll be doing some Eevee runs for the sake of tutorials, I'm going to share what I know today and show you how to set up a Cycles render the way I do

Navigate to Render Properties and select "Cycles" in the Render Engine dropdown

If you have an older system, leave CPU selected If you have a newer or beefier computer, select GPU complete I render on a MacBook Pro, so I'll select GPU

Under Sampling -> Viewport, make sure you click on the Denoise, this will clean up our render preview so we can more easily see what the final result will look like

Under the same Sampling tab, adjust your Max Samples to match mine (32 in the viewport and 128 in the render window, this will speed up your render time)

Click into Output Properties and select "Render Region" and "Crop to Render Region", and change the frame rate to 50fps In the Output tab, change the Color Depth to 16 Nothing will change in our 3D Viewport, but the settings are ready to go

Step 2: Adding Lights

Right now, if we were to change our mode to Rendered, we'd have nothing but a black box. This is because our sim is in a cube with no light source Let's add some lights! For portraits, I like to use a combination of Spot and Point lights You add in lights the same way you add in the camera and the cube, either by clicking "Add" in the top menu or with Shift+A on your keyboard and selecting Light -> Spot or Point I'm going to add a Spotlight first I like to add in lights in Rendered view, but be careful using rendered view as it ups the chances that your Blender will crash

I added in a spotlight but it appears that nothing happened Objects are added into Blender at the Cursor point. I never adjusted mine so it's at the center of the axis, meaning below my sim's feet and outside of the box Using G and X,Y,Z, I'm going to move my spotlight up

Now the light is above her, but I want it shining on her, so I'm going to rotate it forward Rotate objects using the R key and X,Y,Z directions on your keyboard

That's not bad, but I want more dynamic light. I'm going to add two more spotlights for 3 point lighting

This is looking better, and you can see where my lights are and how they're oriented Now let's adjust the background Select your cube in the Outliner panel and navigate to Material Properties Click "new" in the bar Then navigate to your Shader Editor window and you'll see a Principled BSDF Node is here

We're not going to do anything too fancy here, just change the color of the cube and some aspects of how it looks Change the color of your box using the color wheel then adjust your nodes to everything is set to zero except roughness

You should have something like this (of course use whatever color compliments your sim best)

I don't want the background to be super flat, so I'm going to adjust the Metallic value on mine Now I have this:

I like the lighting but I think it might be a little too bright Let's adjust it a little In your Outliner panel, select one of the spotlights then go to "Object Data Properties" (the little lightbulb)

I'm going to adjust the Power to 5 and click off multiple importance and click on shadow caustics, like this:

Do the same for all three spotlights and you should have something like this:

That's better, but let's draw attention to her face with a Point light Add in a point light the same way as a spot (shift+A, light -> point) or Add in the top bar) and move it in front of her face

This is obviously way too bright, so let's adjust it like we did for the spotlights I've changed the radius and adjusted the power to 8, as shown here:

Here's the result:

That's much better! Normally at this point I would probably change her hair and add in jewelry and make minor adjustments to this and that, but for the sake of this super simple beginner render, we're ready to go! Before you run your render, save this file somewhere easy to find. I'll be using the same file for future tutorials!

Step 3: Rendering!

Once you've done all the setup, rendering is actually super easy Make sure you switch your 3D viewport back to Material Preview (rendering while in rendered mode has a tendency to make blender crash) Then go up to the navigation bar and select Render -> Render Image

A new window will pop up, and your render will begin!

Rendering time will depend on how complex your scene is and how many assets you've added in. Ours is very simple so mine says it'll take about 6 minutes

And it's done! Save your render and either post it or edit it in your favorite photo editor!

UPDATE 7/17/23

As you can see, my render was looking very glowy. I didn't know why (there was no glare node in the compositing settings or anything that would cause this, or so I thought), until I adjusted the roughness values on my sim.

Now it looks like this:

So if yours is looking glowy, adjust the roughness to 0, then back up to 10 and that should fix it!

Homework:

Your Render School homework is to create a simple portrait render using these tutorials and tag me in it! I can't wait to see what yall make!

Please leave any questions in the comments below or send an ask and I'll help as best I can!

Happy Rendering!

#salemsims tutorial #render school tutorial #sims 4 render #tutorial #sims 4 blender tutorial #blender #render tutorial #sims render tutorial

[mayxthexforce]

Now that I've taken Obi-Wan as a muse, I'm subjecting y'all to my thoughts. Starting with the Hero Of The Confederacy arc of The Clone Wars comics.

First, the cover, cause it fucking kills me

Average dinner with the most chaotically dramatic Jedi lineage.

Now for real, this arc is one of my favorites because of how emotional it makes me and the depth it adds to the Obi-Wan–Dooku–Qui-Gon situation.

First, a quick summary of the plot. During the clone wars, Obi-Wan is invited to dinner with the royal family of the planet Valahari because of disputes related to the fact separatist ships that gunned down innocent people were found to have Valahari engines. Up until that point, Valahari remained neutral in the war. But given that their engines —Valahari is known for making the fastest ships in the galaxy— are benefiting the Separatists, the Republic wants to ensure that doesn't happen again. Obi-Wan insists they must try to solve this peacefully, secure an alliance, because he knows the royal family and is close to them. But Obi-Wan is not the only one trying to achieve an alliance.

So Obi-Wan goes there (with Anakin, obviously, do NOT separate them) and this is how he is received:

LOOK AT HIS FACE, HE'S SO SOFT. THE ROYAL FAMILY, BUT ESPECIALLY ELODORE, ARE SO FUCKING FOND OF HIM!

A whole extra layer of depth is added to this fondness when we read further and find out that Elodore is, in fact, an old flame of Dooku's and that Dooku still has feelings for her, to the point he helped her destroy all information the Jedi had about her force sensitive son, who she refused to give away. So, Dooku is a more-than-a-friend of the royal family, Qui-Gon was very close to them and so is Obi-Wan.

And Dooku is there, too.

This situation kills me. Obi-Wan is close enough to Elodore and her family that later —when he sneaks into her bedroom chambers by climbing in through a window— she doesn't think anything bad of him. So now I can't stop thinking about how, last time Obi-Wan was in a situation like this with Dooku: sitting at a table for dinner full of other people, he was probably very young (Elodore's words about him having grown into a handsome young man and Harko mentioning Qui-Gon's death imply they haven't seen him in a while, over 13 years), he was probably quite young. So I can't help but think about a young Obi-Wan having a fancy dinner with the royal family, being chided by Dooku about how he should sit straight and get his elbows off the table, only for Qui-Gon, sitting between them, to hunch over and put his elbows on the table, smiling with feigned innocence like he doesn't know why Dooku is glaring at him now.

Then, Harko Vane is killed by Ventress because she messed with his ship, Anakin is framed for it and while the Jedi Order knows that it was not Anakin, Valahari is out for justice and of course whoever brings them justice for their dead ruler is gonna earn their loyalty. So everything turns into a race against time as the Republic is trying to punish Anakin for a crime he didn't commit, and Obi-Wan is trying to prove his innocence (Does this remind anyone else of a certain plot with Ahsoka?).

It's a nice parallel with the Ahsoka being framed for a crime she didn't commit arc. Especially because we see how differently Anakin and Obi-Wan deal with what's basically the exact same situation. While Anakin went after Ahsoka, wanting to secure her safety before they proved her innocence; Obi-Wan trusted his Padawan, he trusted that Anakin would be able to keep himself safe and alive without him while he went above and beyond to prove Anakin's innocence. Obi-Wan succeeds where Anakin failed.

Harko and Elodore's force sensitive son, Toffen, is also out for revenge against Anakin, going down a dark path, so there's that extra threat. Dooku actually tried to save both Harko and Toffen from ending up dead, but fails and their deaths along with the fact Obi-Wan went straight to Elodore to prove Anakin's innocence showing her Ventress, Dooku's apprentice, messing with Harko's ship, completely kill any chance he had of being with the woman he loved. Which causes even more hatred towards Obi-Wan and Anakin, and towards Palpatine because later, Palpatine throws the whole "no attachments" thing back at Dooku for failing to ensure an alliance with Valahari all because of an old love.

I wish we'd gotten more arcs like this in the actual show.

#||out of character|| #||fandom rambles|| #||musings: obi wan kenobi|| #& anakin #& dooku

[xamaxenta]

Please please please tell me you have more crown prince Ace and dragon nerd, whisperer, encyclopaedia Sabo. It's so beautiful and amazing and everything I didn't know I needed. Please.

Yea I do 👌🏽

So Luffy does want the red dragon but Sabo strikes them a deal, red is a temperamental beast and will need to be monitored, Luffy also needs to form a bond with him before there can be any form of purchase made, no bond no sale thats how their business works

Dragons are prideful, stubborn and intelligent creatures and where they do not want to go, no one could possibly force them (except maybe Sabo but he’s a very specific case)

So Koala sets up what they call the training period, hopeful Dragon owners will come to visit their chosen Dragon in order to form an initial bond, if all goes well then it might even transform into a riders bond, its specific magic only Dragons wield

Luffy curious asks what a rider’s bond looks like and Sabo doesn’t hesitate to shrug off his jacket and unbutton his shirt to show the silvery blue sheen scaled pattern seemingly tattooed over his chest and down his ribs

Ace looks away if only for privacy, Sabo naturally doesnt mind if he does look, maybe he’s a little put out he couldn’t draw the eye of the handsome older prince

Koala smacks him on the arm and scolds him for not giving them any further warnings before stripping off the absolute heathen, Luffy oohs and aahs over the mark like “why over your chest tho?”

“Helps me feel closer to them. It can be anywhere honestly, most riders like to contain it to their arms, for easy identification, each mark is unique to the rider.”

“So it could be on your butt then.” Luffy says bluntly and Ace startles, hisses at his little brother to remember his manners when Sabo laughs, bright and airy, the noise carries in the small office and Ace can’t help but feel a little jealous at how free he sounds.

“Yes, there probably is some poor sucker out there with a rider bond mark on their butt.”

“Where’s yours?” Luffy turns to Koala who turns on her seat to the side and lifts her hair out of the way to show off a gleaming turquoise scale pattern running down the side of her neck and the back of her spine.

“How does the bonding work?” Ace still doesnt fancy Luffy being around such a volatile animal at such a formative age, in his opinion he’s too young but according to Koala and Sabo, red is roughly the same age as Luffy in human years which would help greatly in understanding one another.

“Mostly like any other animal, we supervise Luffy and red together, have Luffy shadow Sabo during dragon training, let them exist together and get used to each others presence. that sort of thing,” Koala says reassuringly

“But with extra steps.” Sabo adds on in a not so reassuring way, he still hasn’t closed his shirt, dusty white fabric frames his athletic shape prettily and Ace swallows and maintains his gaze above clavicle level.

“Define the extra steps,” Ace crosses his arms and tries to keep his voice level and not accidentally pitch it down in that apparently threatening manner he was often to do when it came to protecting Luffy.

“Dragons are crazy smart, they can see and understand a lot of things humans can’t, they’re not like other herd animals that can be broken in, you have to earn their respect.” Sabo explains glancing down at Luffy to make sure the little prince was payin attention.

To his pleasure, Luffy listens raptly, head cocked to the side with his nose crinkled up in concentration. Its clear he has his heart set on red and Sabo would do anything in his power to have them secure a bond. And only because he knows his dragons deserve good riders, he doesnt have any other ulterior royal motives standing in the room to persuade him.

“So they’re just like people and should be treated in the same way.” Ace surmises, thoughtfully, which if this was the case wouldn’t be hard at all for Luffy who had charisma in droves and already had the entire palace eating out of the palm of his hand.

“Yeah!” Sabo exclaims enthusiastically, leans over the desk separating them within the office, sharp teeth bared in a wild smile, “you got it your highness, not many catch on as quick.”

He looks like he wants to say so much more but Koala straightens up from her perch on the edge of the desk.

“Sabo,” Koala’s voice takes on a more stern tone, “now is not the time.”

“The time for what?” Luffy asks innocently and Ace watches curiously at the look Koala throws at Sabo briefly, equal parts exasperated, annoyed but mostly afraid.

He says nothing.

“Nothing, motormouth, I’ll end up sending you to sleep with all the dragon facts, little prince.” Sabo replies easily, but his mismatched eyes still hold a chilling fire within them that was most definitely ignited at Ace’s comments.

“But i wanna know” Luffy whines, endearingly but Ace shushes him nonetheless, they were guests.

“All in due time little prince.” Sabo says cheerfully, he finally starts buttoning up his shirt again, much to Ace’s relief, the dragon rider mark had been… distracting to say the least.

“I think North should be rested enough to take you out on a test flight.”

As if on cue, the sapphire scaled dragon rears his head up and pokes his muzzle in through the open office window, huffing smoke through flared nostrils.

The noise of delight Luffy makes may only be a sound canines would be able to hear

#saboace #sabos like dragon rights!!!! #alot of dragons on their farm?ranch? are rescues theyve breeded #idk i feel like north is a cute name for a dragon #anyway Luffy gets to ride a dragon #and then Sabo charmingly asks Ace if HE wants a go and Ace against his better judgement gives in like fine #and then its really hehe #really um hey so we have a crush on each other Ace crushing on how. cool and free Sabo seems and Sabos crushinf on Ace bc hes a mysterious #handsome magic wielding prince #xam writes

[secretgamergirl]

Console Design- Can I have my cake and eat it too?

Recently I spilled the beans that I have a little hobby project slowly brewing away where I am designing a new game console. I'm still not ready to really properly pitch the whole thing, but between sharing that, explaining computer architecture, and seeing people's feedback, it keeps pushing itself towards the front burners over more practical projects I SHOULD be giving my focus to, and while people are paying attention, I might as well try to crowdsource answers to some questions I'm getting hung up on.

So... a lot of what I'm doing here is, I'll be honest, rooted in nostalgia for 16-bit consoles. There's a certain retro appeal to the look, speed, and general immediacy of 8-bit games, and more than plenty of support for making games that evoke that feel, and even recently made free dev tools for people to just make new games for older systems, and as I'm writing this, there is this massive renaissance going on with indie devs restricting them to the constraints of early polygonal-graphics-focused consoles, but we mostly skipped right past that 16-bit period, and all its hallmarks:

2D graphics with more color-depth than people really knew what to do with. All sorts of hardware-level flashy effects like transparency, resolution changes, neat little raster effects. A soundscape of crunchy FM synth and sparingly used sampling with distortion effects. Just a little taste of support for polygonal graphics. Not enough to go all-in, but enough to make a nice spice here and there. A general push to show off with fancy jointed paper doll sprites, 3D effects from sprite-scaling, just... clear ambitions all over to make low res 2D eye candy. Plus everything was cartridge based, allowing people to add extra custom chips for things they really wanted that they didn't quite have the power for.

So that's basically what I want to deliver here. A platform where you have more toys and tricks than you know what to do with if you're coming from 8-bit style stuff, but a real tricky set of restrictions to work around from a more modern approach, hopefully with its own look and sound. To that end I've been doing a ton of research into how some of those work... and a lot of it involves fun little tricks between scanlines. In particular, if you look at that mode 7 video above, right around 7:50, we've got this real eye-popping barrel distortion background. What's going on here, on a hardware level, is we have the ability to, essentially, apply one single image as a texture to a single parallelogram, which in this case is just taking a rectangular background and squishing it in towards the center then out towards its regular dimensions... but where doing that squishing and stretching between individual scan lines as we send the video out to the screen. Several changes to the shape before we've even finished rendering out one frame of the video, and tada, weird barrel.

Being able to support tricks like THAT, specifically, is a must-have feature for what I'm working on, and I'm pretty confident I can design the hardware with that exact capability... but the original hardware doing that was, to my understanding, very much working with the peculiarities of how a CRT worked and the exact number of operations it could get done while the beam was swiping back to the left to draw the next line, and I legitimately have no idea if tricks like this are even really possible if I slap together a similar chipset and send video out an HDMI cord to a modern display.

Like, I know I can fake that. I've got a Retron 5 hooked to a cheap flat panel TV with Castlevania 4 plugged in, but my understanding is that's actually emulating an SNES in software on some very-much-overkill for this sort of thing modern processor. What I would LIKE to do is build this with a chipset you really can push to its limits, hooked to modern display, and get this sort of effect. Because while I realize a big chunk of the audience for this sort of thing totally have nice well-maintained CRTs, I don't want to be married to hardware people no longer manufacture. And I'd rather not have some way more capable sub-processor wedged in here just to get the video output of whatever cheap fast legit 16-bit chipset I use otherwise to play nice with HDMI standards.

I'm still sort of in the dark about HDMI and modern display options, to be clear. And you know in a perfect world I'd like to have support built into this if you want to hook it to a CRT, but at the end of the day I need to pick an aspect ratio, and it's probably gonna be 16:9.

A similar fork in the road I may need to pick a lane for before I can really get going is looking at ASIC chips. What I'd really love is to be able to just point people at a design files for the casing and PCBs, and a warehouse of old mass-produced chips that sell for pennies, make the whole thing a neat little home electronics kit where the total price of everything is like, maybe $10 or $20 or something, you get out a soldering iron, and assemble it all yourself. But, I might need to custom design a chip or two in the end, and there's a chance it ends up being cheaper to just build literally the whole system on one chip. Simpler, easier to make a portable version of the whole thing, but it loses that DIY feel.

And of course there's also the risk that the overall architecture and chipset I'm looking at isn't going to have the oomph to do what I want it to do at a nice steady 60 FPS (maybe 120?) I'm just kind of assuming once I commit to a path I'll be able to find a dirt cheap chipset covering all the bases I need it to that'll hold up at a faster clock speed than consoles really ran at in the mid-90s. I want people to be able to do things smoothly that historically really had some slowdown, and you know, I AM planning to have a higher base resolution than the systems I'm taking inspiration from (maybe the same height but clearly more width).

And of course the real pain is going to be prototyping all this since none of it's going to work without hooking display AND something popped into a cartridge slot. I'm at least saving myself some headache starting with a controller I can at least test in other things, but wow there's gonna be so many different potential failure points to worry about at one step in here.

#hardware design #diy projects #video signals #Youtube

[scattered-stardust]

Ahh! For the trope combo (whenever you have time, obviously). Kimchay. Enemies to lovers & accidental eavesdropping. :)

This was for some reason really hard to answer so this is version seven of me trying to answer this prompt. (the rest is on ao3) Also I hope you like omegaverse because that's what my brain desperately wanted to add to this.

Somehow hiding in the bushes underneath a window to make sure his - Rival? Enemy?- Porchay is alright is not the most embarrassing thing Kim has ever done. 

It’s not that he’s here to eavesdrop, it’s more that he’s making sure Porchay doesn’ get hurt. If those two things align then who’s Kim to question the universe. 

Porchay is talking too quietly for Kim to hear but his scent drifts towards him through the open window. It’s delicious and all consuming and it’s only one of the things that drive Kim insane about Porchay. Next to the way his short hair frames his face and always pulls Kim’s attention to his neck. Or the way he always finds something to critique about Kim’s singing or his songs or his performance. It’s maddingly annoying but still he doesn’t wish for Porchay to stop doing it. 

So here he is, listening to Porchay and some random woman talking. She’s an alpha, her scent is so strong that it’s almost pressing him down into the ground. Not that she’s doing it on purpose but Kim can’t stand alpha scents. Well he can stand his brother’s but that’s it. He’s so glad his suppressants work and no one seems to have realised that he’s an omega. Well Porchay gives him weird looks sometimes but, they’re always looking at each other so that. That doesn’t matter at all. 

“I’m not into you,” he hears Porchay say in an apologetic tone. “I didn’t even realise you saw me like that.” She snorts.

“It’s not like I wanted you to realise it. I just wanted to get it off my chest so I could move on. So don’t worry about it.” They fall silent before she says something too quiet for Kim to hear. He presses closer to the wall like that will make him hear it, but he only hears a door closing and then footsteps coming closer to the window.

Porchay leans onto the open window and looks at Kim. “Fancy seeing you here,” he says with a roll of his eyes. 

“It’s a party, I was invited,” he says defensively and Porchay smiles at him. A hint of danger makes its way into his eyes and Kim is hopelessly enthralled. He stands up and brushes himself off. “I should get back.” 

Porchay snorts at that and jumps out of the window to land next to Kim. He keeps staring at him and it unsettles Kim more than it should but he holds his ground. This is just Porchay who annoys him to no end, what’s he going to do? Annoy him to death?

What Porchay actually does, might actually kill him though, Kim realises when Porchay leans closer and closer until Kim has to look up at him to catch his eyes. And then he ducks his head until his nose brushes against the underside of Kim’s jaw. One hand coming up to brush Kim’s hair away from his neck, his fingertips touching Kim’s skin. 

And then he breathes in. Kim’s breath hitches and he can feel Porchay’s smile against his skin. “I knew it. You’re an omega,” he says softly, in awe, and Kim. 

Kim can’t help but kiss him. 

#stardust writes #kimchay #kinnporsche #stardust answers