#sometimes they do make for some nice screenshots though

[pinkpkmntrainer]

looking way too much into episode 2

ok, to start things off, pomni's dream. it was, in fact, a dream about abstraction. and may i just say that pomni's voice actor really did a good job in showing pomni's fear using her voice

what ragatha says here is interesting, simply because it seems....out of character? she's being all sassy and stuff, so either pomni is a TERRIBLE judge of character, or....she thinks ragatha doesn't like her. which it would make sense for her to think that, considering she left her behind when kaufmo attacked.

but immediately after the dream sequence, we see ragatha come to check on pomni, showing actual interest in her and asking how she is. so she does actually like and care about pomni, or is at the very least she's doing a good job at pretending she does.

ragatha reassures pomni that there's no hard feelings, but it still doesn't look like pomni believes her. poor babey :(

aww, he does like bugs! how cute!

now we've got some religious imagery. caine is god, i guess.

oh, and jax likes violence. i'll talk more about why i think that is once we get to the actual violence.

the way he just rests his chin on gummigoo's back, that's so cute

knives. that is all.

what??? what the fuck is the figurine thing???

aww look at him he's so silly when he's trying to be helpful

ragatha has stuffing inside her confirmed

THE BACKROOMS

existential crisis time

hholy shit. no wonder goose said we weren't ready for him.

bucket

her ass is NOT a handyman

i love this whole scene. i wanna go in depth about it but there's not much i know how to say, i just like that she's trying to cheer him up

also funny gummigoo screenshot

seems like a pretty good time to talk about jax's desire for violence. this is still a video game, after all, and the way he's acting is pretty similar to how i sometimes play games; using it as a sort of "rage room" to destroy and vent my frustrations in. it would even be excusable if it weren't for the fact that the AIs are sentient.

now it's time to REALLY get talking

silly man with his head in a bucket. he mentions caine here, specifically that they can ask him for help, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say he may have asked caine for help with things in the past. which, while not very important or significant, does create a cute mental image. goofy little ringmaster being helpful.

what ragatha says here is SO important to her relationship with pomni. she thinks that pomni doesn't like her, while pomni thinks that ragatha doesn't like her. so they're basically stuck in a loop, a platonic "will they, won't they" where they both think the other hates them. this is the type of barrier that prevents a friendship from forming.

kinger is unexpectedly very wise in this scene, and gives her some good advice. this is the reason i think that ragatha will attempt to pursue a friendship with our little jester later on, only for pomni to be skeptical because she thinks ragatha's just being nice. and pomni's fear of ragatha secretly hating her is going to end up being the only thing that stops them from being friends.

it's also really sweet of her to immediately run up to her and check on her. i love these two :)

ok sorry for all the shipping propaganda let's get back to overanalyzing

this is what i wanted to mention the most. even though the NPCs see caine as a god, he's a bit of a cruel one. he has no regard for their well-being and only really cares about the humans. but i don't actually think it's his fault. he's an AI and he's programmed to care for the humans, so that's his priority, not the NPCs.

caine is described as being a "rouge AI", but i don't think that's the case....yet. i think he's actually going to go rouge as the story progresses, and eventually realize how unforgiving he's being.

anyways, i still want to talk about some other theories i have. hopefully there's still room for a couple more pictures in this post.

this line from jax in the pilot is my main base for this. obviously he's referring to the centipede he put in ragatha's room, but it's the fact that he says it right before he opens the door to reveal that kaufmo abstracted. no one in the circus knew he had abstracted until this point, nor did anyone mention seeing any signs that he was going crazy.

i think it's a hint. what's being insinuated here is that no one's going to know who will abstract next. there's no trick for for discovering the order they'll all abstract in, and there's no signs when it's going to happen.

(edit: i just remembered that kinger mentioned him acting weird but sshhhhhh it's still a good theory ok)

as for the void, when caine realizes pomni wandered out there, he mentions that she'll get "totally spoiled". i think this means that looking into the void gives you visions of the future, and that pomni knows how the show is going to end; she knows all the surprises and twists, too. it would explain why she looked so angrily at caine (possibly now knows about how little he cares for the NPCs), and also why she seems so lost in thought right at the end.

but hey, that's just a theory

A CIRCUS THEORY!!!

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc episode 2 #tadc ep 2 #tadc spoilers

[cowplant-snacks]

hiya! any tips on creating an immersive save that will attract not only you as the player but others as the viewers? your aesthetic is stunning and im so obsessed with everything you do!! <3

oh wow, this is a super sweet ask, @plumday.

let's see. I interpreted this as an ask about how I setup my sim save in a way that engages me. Hopefully this is helpful!

Setting Up TS4 Gameplay

Revamp Sim Worlds

BRAVE THOSE LOADING SCREENS and leave your residential lot! (I promise it's worth it)

NEW LOTS - Each of my worlds have been renovated with lots I handpicked from the gallery - too much work? I recommend using a savefile! Here are some of my personal faves @ratboysims 1, @down-in-simsland 2, @folkling 3 & @sweetbeagaming 4.

RESIDENTIAL RENTAL - these lots help make the world feel more dense and lived in, plus condensing the local households to 1-2 lots leaves room for more non-residential lots to explore with your sims.

WORK AND SCHOOL - I recommend placing offices, schools, and daycare lots. These combined with a few mods (semi-active custom careers and Zerbu's go to school mod 2) and clubs are something I really enjoy.

Set Up Clubs

I really like @sojutrait's tutorial on how to use clubs to enhance your gameplay and is a MUST HAVE in my humble opinion. I usually have a family chore club, work clubs, neighborhood clubs, extended family clubs, etc... and it's so nice to click a button suddenly there are sims there making my game more lively.

To have more than 3 clubs per sim, I use this mod maintained by @kingzaceofsims.

I also use custom club activities so sims (MOSTLY) behave how I want them to. @srslysims has tutorial on how to make your own.

To be able to have club gatherings in vacation worlds I use this mod. It was helpful with sending my pixel kids to camp.

Set Up the Calendar

@aliennooboo made this AMAZING tutorial on setting up your sims calendar that I just adore. I find this helps me remember to do things with my sims and helps change up their day to day life.

Playing

ROTATIONAL GAMEPLAY - I find this keeps me engaged and prevents boredom. It keeps things fresh and allows me to explore different stories. Here is a great resource to get started!

GAMEPLAY MODS - I find adding various mods keeps my gameplay fresh and interesting. I recommend these creators (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) in particular.

Screenies

POSES - As a gameplay person, I try to use poses sparingly. It disrupts the game for me but I find sometimes I can't convey what I want to without them, so I try to only use a few. This is what works for me, please do what works for you. Shout out to all the storytellers blogs, though, that keep me fed.

RESHADE or PSD files can add some fun color and effects to screenies. ONLY edit as much as you want to. I felt a lot of pressure to get better at this and I am finally finding the balance of how much and what kind of editing I actually like to do. I have collected reshades/gshades and resources here.

House Keeping

Keep back ups of your trayfiles, screenshots, households, lots, etc 'cause it's sims, things break and go wrong.

Keep your CC and mods organized otherwise fixing your game is a hug pain.

Reblogs and additional tips and recommendations welcomed!

HAPPY SIMMING!

#ts4 #simblr #simblr community

[mylucayathoughts]

Little moments that I love in Red White and Royal Blue. PART 1. Man this is gonna be a long ass post.

(I can't make gifs right now, wish I could gif these moments but for now screenshots will have to do)

The first one is at the Childrens hospital where Henry introduces Alex to the kids. Henry very sweetly says how his mum is out-ranked by Alex's mum. I think Alex is a bit surprised here (maybe a little shocked) at how easily Henry can say nice things about him specially after their seemingly endless rivalry.

Then in the hospital cupboard, after Alex confronts Henry he was saying that he is sorry about being cold to Alex earlier but he was in a bad place with his fathers passing and Palace not giving him any space. Alex looks up at him, his mind is probably starting to feel sorry for Henry for the first time and he is realizing how his hatred for Henry was based on a very dark time in Henry's life. His eyes are soft here, which a moment ago was big and angry.

(plus Taylor looks like a puppy here which I love 😍)

This is rather a sad moment for Henry. He is probably thinking how this is one of the very last moments he gets to spend with Alex (even though Alex had already invited him to the new years party) and how their next meetings will be shorter and probably not meaningful enough for them to ever become anything. He so far hadn't gotten Alex's attention, it's probably not going to happen later. Of course we all know that's not what ends up happening 😏

This here where Alex asks Henry if he was surprised by Alex in any way, and he just goes like this 🤣

He is probably thinking of all the things he loves about Alex before deciding to tease him a lil bit. Not to mention how adorable Nicholas looks here 🥺

After their bedroom adventures and Henry's romantic ass kiss (😍) Alex very visibly becomes very thoughtful and you can tell how he knows that it's gonna be sometime before he sees Henry again (he already misses him), and how his mind is racing trying to think of an event where they can meet again.. my poor poor baby 🤧

In Paris scene, I love how Alex comforts Henry by giving the softest little nudge on his forehead (their hairs touch).

This is a very small moment that is seen right after a closeup of Henry's face and right before Henry gives Alex the nod to go ahead. This moment is etched in my brain and it makes me wanna cry every time I watch it.

I love their little smiles here after the famous "I'm learning", they are both so in love already it's obscene 🤧 and their smiles are so reassuring and tender 🥺

In other words Nicholas and Taylor ate. It's a long take and the timing of their expressions and their delivery of each dialogue is just top notch 👌

When Alex is on the plane back from Paris, he looks very pensive. Then he let's out this big sigh and a small smile breaks out. We all know who he is thinking about. I love how Taylor portrayed all the emotions in Alex's heart here. He is tired but happy, and thoughtful at the same time. I think this is the first time Alex gave some serious thought to he and Henry's relationship. Before it was just hooking up in places and mostly about their physical needs for each other.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

#Red white and royal blue #Rwrb movie #Alex Claremont Diaz #Alex x Henry #Firstprince #Henry Fox #Prince Henry #Taylor Zakhar Perez #Nicholas Galitzine #Queue #Screenshots taken and edited by me #If any of you want the screenies dm me #They are good quality mostly

[judysxnd]

Your gallery dating Lando

Miami GP. You were able to fly with him this time, so you got to enjoy some time with him. Lando was obsessed with this old camera he found. That’s how you ended up taking this picture while he was testing it out and filming everything he could.

Lando convinced you to go with him to the silver cup, even though you weren’t really into it. He absolutely loves golf, but it’s not really your thing. But he was so eager and passionate about it that you couldn’t say no. You took this picture when you arrived there. He was so excited, kept talking, laughing, like a child in a toy store. So cute.

Dating Lando means you get to be backstage with him. Usually it’s more being in the garage, but sometimes it’s literal backstage. You put out your phone saying “landoscar! landoscar!” Like the fans were on the other side, making Lando laugh while Oscar rolled his eyes. But you got a nice pic out of it. You teased them with this pic because they look a bit like twins.

It’s such a simple picture, but you love it so much. The view behind Lando, the sunset making the perfect light, him smiling, having fun doing his interview, his favorite biscuits.. him using the chair you almost fell of for his computer, the lamp he almost broke while chasing you, it’s little details like that, that you remember while looking at this picture. Also, just admiring Lando in general. You remember having literal heart eyes looking at him that you took this picture.

It wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t have at least a dozen pictures of Lando sleeping in random places. This man falls asleep everywhere. This time it was understandable. It was for the Vegas gp, it was a very busy week and it was extremely late. He stayed in the garage for a while but he couldn’t take it anymore so he gave you a quick kiss saying that he was going to nap and to wake him up in an hour max if he wasn’t up before. Obviously you had to go and wake him up. Weirdly no one wanted to do it so you had to. You took this picture right before.

Date night with Lando. After a nice restaurant, he took you to play some golf. You’ve never went to a place like that so he obviously did. He won’t ever let you have something you want undone. He will make your dreams come true, literally. Even though this was also another attempt to get you to play golf with him. He saw an opportunity and immediately took it. But you had so much fun. He got to teach you a bit because you kept missing the ball but you had such a good time. He was so proud, hence the picture.

One of your favorite pics. The smile is has after a race, after he felt like he had a good race. You know how hard he can be on himself after he didn’t perform like he wanted to, so the smiles are genuine. You love seeing him thrive like that. This picture always warms your heart.

That’s not a picture you took, I mean kinda. Lando was arriving at the McLaren facility in London with Oscar. He FaceTimed you because you never really got the chance to meet Oscar (yet). So this was your first encounter. You screenshotted this picture at the beginning. You didn’t know then but this was the beginning of a nice friendship with Oscar!

that’s what happens when you try to use Lando’s camera. You usually know how to use a camera, but you struggled with his. So you took a few (a lot according to Lando) blurry pictures, such as these two. You actually like them, if you even you wanted the focus on Lando, you think they’re beautiful. He may have made fun of you, but once they were out for the public eye, everyone liked them.

#fanfic #imagine #oneshot #lando norris one shot #lando imagine #lando norris x you #lando norris x y/n #lando norris fluff #lando norris fanfic #lando norris x reader #lando norris imagine #lando x reader #lando norris #lando fluff #lando norris fanfiction #ln4 imagine #ln4 fic #ln4 fluff #ln4 #ln4 x reader #ln4 x you #ln4 x y/n

[the-californicationist]

Guile & Guilt (Ch. 07)

Soap/Reader

TW: sex

MDNI/18+

AO3 LINK

I'm so sorry for the wait!! I hope this long chap made up for it. I really appreciate all the comments and reblogs. It really keeps me going. The next chapter is gonna be rough. Hope you're ready for it. I'm not!

CHRISTMAS EVE

The lecture hall slowly began to fill with graduate students and professors. A gaggle of undergrads huddled to the side with their notebooks, surely attending by someone else’s command and not of their own volition. They were all dressed in various layers of warmth. Anoraks and sweaters rustled and stretched in the cloth seats, the odd peacoat was hung carefully over the edge of a chair. It was nice to have a small crowd, but you were sure everyone had somewhere better to be. The only people that would show up to the long-standing tradition of a Christmas Eve colloquium were the die-hard academics and those desperately needing extra credit in their year-long lab classes.

You liked this lecture room the best. The big arching stadium seating made you feel like a surgeon in her theatre, carving up your poems and displaying their abnormalities, arguing in favor of their spectacular forms, illustrating your skills with grace and ease. It was all well and good not to be the patient on the table. Today’s victim would be Sonnet 91. 

The projector light blinded you in an unnatural blue, making you turn away from its lens, and you pretended to busy yourself with your notes as you waited for it to warm up. You shuffled the papers again, and you had a sip of water. Just fidgeting. If you stopped moving, you’d think about him, and you didn’t want to think about him. 

He’d gotten your message from Gaz, that much was clear. You knew because you started receiving sunrise texts again — just the pictures, though — and when he needed to go out on a mission, you’d get your little promises. You sent him back what you received. If he sent a sunrise picture, you returned it with your own. If he said that he promised, you said it, too. You wanted him to call. You wanted to drag it out, to gut it like a fish, to see all the entrails of your feelings and the bloody evidence of your battle to be together, all of its innards smeared across a cutting board, sterile and measurable. 

But, for some reason, you couldn’t do it. You tried to type out what you’d wanted to say, but none of it made sense. It was all just begging and pleading and wishing for things you couldn’t have. So, you stopped. You kept up the replies. You matched his energy. It wasn’t until he sent you a screenshot of his flight itinerary that you started to realize the other shoe was dropping on you very soon. 

He was supposed to fly in sometime this very afternoon, but it wouldn’t be only him. You’d heard from Pidge that his whole team was coming with him, eager to meet her and Hamish, apparently. You didn’t know what emotion you felt about that, but its anonymity didn’t stop you from feeling it. 

You’d sent him back a Google Maps screenshot of your apartment, since he was supposed to be your ride up to Old Kilpatrick, and he sent you back the thumbs up emoji. 

It was embarrassing to you that the slight change in send-reply patterning made your heart race. You felt like your brain could benefit from a hard reset, like an iPhone that had chosen to get stuck on the same application, unable to move forward to the next task. 

So, you’d tried to put him out of your mind. When your labmate begged you to take her place at this colloquium, you jumped at the chance. A presentation would take up so much time and energy; surely it would cure you of your obsessive behavior. Unfortunately, Sonnet 91 felt all too timely. 

You watched it populate the screen, the first four lines occupying the cold, unembellished center of your slide, professionally stark:  

Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,Some in their wealth, some in their body's force,Some in their garments though new-fangled ill;Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;

You wondered where your glory would come from, if you ever had any. Then, as if to answer your question, the hall door opened and he walked through it, carefully propping it open behind him and letting his three enormous friends through. Johnny was freshly shaven, and his mohawk was back, trimmed on the sides and groomed to stand in a tall, brown shock. You could see the prominent scar on the side of his head, a sharp cross where the hair could no longer grow. 

There was an observable air of confidence to his movements, as if this was his hundredth colloquium, as if he attended them every week. His surety silenced you, and you stood staring, rapt. 

He met your eyes. The bright, glassy blues found you, set in a pleased way, fully at peace. It was the face made when something lost had been found, when a gift was unwrapped. A knowing gleam. 

If you didn’t start talking, people were going to ask you if you were alright. So, you introduced yourself, shakily but smoothing it out as you went,

“Good evening, and thank you for joining us at the 2023 Christmas Eve Colloquium tonight. I love this tradition, and I really appreciate you all being here. If you didn’t get the, uh… the handouts,” you pushed the stack across the desk toward the undergrads who all crowded around them like seagulls with an old French fry, “Okay...”

You pointed up to the sprawling slide,

“In looking at Sonnet 91, most would argue that it is a confession of love. But, it is a tentative one, at best. The speaker claims that despite whatever glory others may have, his glory is found in his lover. We don’t learn until the couplet that his affections are at risk of not being returned.”

You flipped the slide, showing the next four lines:

And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,Wherein it finds a joy above the rest:But these particulars are not my measure,All these I better in one general best.

It was all very simple. This was an easy sonnet, and there was no real mystery, but as you came to the end, you tried to reiterate your thoughts quickly, feeling the pressure to let people get on with their lives,

“The speaker makes quite a substantial claim here, so much so that the audience may be led to believe that he is being intentionally facetious, especially if one were to consider the content of Sonnet 92.”

“No,” a deep voice from high in the back protested, “I mean, I think I disagree with you, lass.”

The whole room woke up. Everyone turned quietly in their seats, generating a symphony of creaking and rustling of chairs and coats, craning their necks to look at Johnny who, for some reason, had stood up in his aisle.

“Oh, how so?” You said politely, trying to be deferential. 

It was more than a little uncomfortable in the room. No one ever asked questions during the colloquium, even though that was its intended purpose, and certainly no one ever stood up when they asked it. Everyone usually just allowed the speaker to drone on and on about whatever topic they were into that week, and there would be polite applause at the end so you could all go home early. Ironically, Johnny had committed an act of rebellion a mere five minutes into your talk. 

“Well,” he crossed his huge arms over his chest, shoving his muscles against each other. Amongst the mostly lithe, soft-bodied academic crowd, he and his friends looked out of place. He raised his voice, sending it arching down to you like an arrow, “I’m pretty sure he’s genuine. Look at the next four lines.”

He pointed to the glowing screen. You sighed, flipping slides.

Thy love is better than high birth to me,Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,Of more delight than hawks and horses be;And having thee, of all men's pride I boast:

“Look, bonnie,” Johnny chuckled, “I dunno about you, but if I’m boastin’ about a wee hen who’s more than all that — more than wealth, more than all men’s pride? She must actually be somethin’ to boast about.”

You countered, trying to get the talk back under your control, flipping to the next slide: 

Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst takeAll this away, and me most wretched make.

“Then what of his lamentation in the couplet?” You asked pointedly, listening to the sounds of creaking chairs again as everyone turned back to look at you as you responded, “Surely he has some reason to doubt this uniquely prideful love.”

Johnny shrugged,

“He doesnae doubt the love; his life cannae be separated from his love. Love is all there is. Ye ken it from Sonnet 92 when he asks: But what’s so blessed-fair that knows no blot?”

You smiled, slowly, knowingly, and then finished the couplet for him,

“Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not.”

You were aware of the implication you were wielding like a knife down there in your theatre, staining your hands and hurling your scalpel at him, accusing him through verse of the same sin you’d thrown in his face the last time you spoke to him: of being false, of betraying Pidge. 

Johnny shifted his weight, frustrated, but standing his ground,

“It’s not… he doesnae think it’s false, hen. Tha’s not it.”

Were you still arguing about the poem? You couldn’t tell. His face had become serious and a little pleading. So, you responded in verse since it would fit the conversation either way, 

“How like Eve’s apple doth thy beauty grow, if thy sweet virtue answer not thy show.”

“And I would bloody eat it anyway, thief. False or no.”

There was an awkward silence and then a short, if a bit unsettled, polite applause. People began to shuffle out, standing, stretching, and chatting with each other as they made their way back into the hallway. A few of your labmates waved at you, and a friend from your cohort wished you a happy Christmas. 

Johnny sauntered down the stairs toward you, leaving his friends lounging in their seats, and as he came closer and closer, you felt like you were the one on the slab of your own theatre, open and vulnerable to the empty room, fully at the mercy of your operator. 

You thought he might pause, that he may stop walking and stand a few paces away, ready to talk things out, but he didn’t. He didn’t even slow his pace. Johnny grabbed you around your jaw with his enormous hand, his wide palm hot against your chin, and he pulled you into him, your lips sliding into his, pressing together like the last piece of a puzzle, completing a picture. 

His body was so warm as you crashed into his arms, and he held you down, pinning you like you would fall away from him if he let go. You couldn’t do much else other than submit to his strength; you didn’t want to do much else. You grabbed him around his waist, feeling him through the thin cotton of his shirt, tumbling into him as he forced your mouth to take his tongue. 

Johnny let go of a low moan, a sigh that couldn’t escape, and the hand that had been holding your face was now fisting your hair and running thick fingers through your soft strands. 

He pulled back without warning, gasping as he whispered to you, speaking with his forehead resting on yours and his eyes pinched closed,

“Did you mean it, what you told Gaz? Am I right? Is this right?”

You took a deep breath, smelling his soap and his cologne, the scent of his skin so familiar to you it seemed like home. His eyes remained closed, and he wore a mask of pain, holding himself back from truly letting go. You nodded, whispering back to him,

“You were right.”

Then, his eyes shot open, finding yours immediately, looking back and forth to peer into both of them at once, searching for even the slightest hint of deception,

“Are you fallin’ for me, mèirleach? ‘Cause I’m… I cannae go halfway. I’m in, or I’m out.”

“I’m in,” you smiled, laughing a little at your confession. He kissed you again, softly petting your hair, holding you close. But, you paused and looked up at him with a warning glare in your eye, “But, look, she cannot know. Maybe after the wedding, but… she cannot find out.”

“She won’t,” he was smiling back at you, making it look like it would be on his face forever, “I’m a professional spy, lass, or did you forget my wee entourage back there.”

He nodded up to his friends. The captain was asleep with his hat over his eyes, snoring in long, regular rhythms. Ghost was using a datapad, staring intently at the screen, and Gaz was using two hands on his cell phone, tapping vigorously, engrossed in some sort of game.

Johnny whistled, quick and shrill. The men stirred, peering down at him and making their way toward you. When they reached the bottom, they all towered over you, ready for polite introductions.

“John,” the scruffy, bearded one shook your hand first. His fingers were dangerously strong, and it shocked you to feel it against your own palm.

A young man was next. You knew it was Gaz, but you hadn’t seen a photo of him yet.

“I’m Kyle,” he smiled. He was even nicer in person, “We texted, before.”

You nodded, smiling back, and introducing yourself.

Then, it was the big one.

“Simon,” the tall blond shook your hand for a brief moment, just enough to squeeze and release. 

“It’s really nice to meet you all,” you said, “I’m glad you made it for the holiday.”

“We try to stick together ‘round this time of year,” Price explained, but you weren’t sure you fully understood his meaning. You just smiled and nodded. 

“You ready to head out?” Johnny asked you.

“Yeah, just need to head back to my place and get my bag.”

“Alright, hen,” Johnny smiled, “Lead the way.”

You led them up and out of the building and into the cold night air. Your apartment was only a short walk from this side of campus, so you decided to forego the bus ride. 

Johnny had your hand clasped in his so tightly that you wondered if he was alright. You looked up at him, and he smiled. You didn’t know how to say all the things you wanted to say, so you just commented on the most obvious one first,

“Where did you learn Sonnet 91? Or 92 and 93 for that matter?”

Gaz interrupted you, turning his head to talk over his shoulder as you walked behind him,

“Bloody stuck in his Kindle for months, he was. I think he read them all, and then he read them all to us. We’ve had more of the Bard than fuckin’ Lizzy the first.”

You gasped and made a face at Johnny, waiting for him to answer for his actions. He just shrugged, his cheeks flushed either from the embarrassment or the cold. 

Price walked up beside him and knocked him a bit on his shoulder, ribbing him along with Gaz,

“Especially that one. What number?”

“Fuckin’ 145,” Ghost groaned.

Then, in unison, the three soldiers all started reciting it aloud, their voices sing-song and purposefully annoying, 

“Those lips that Love’s own hand did make breathed forth the sound that said “I hate” to me that languished for her sake…”

Johnny shoved Gaz back to the front of the group with his free hand, laughing it off,

“Alright, alright, you bastards. I may have read it two or three times…”

“Two or three hundred, Sergeant,” Price rolled his eyes. 

You grinned up at Johnny, humming your pleasure,

“Wow! I’m impressed. Didn’t know you were such a Shakespeare fan.”

Gaz scoffed, 

“It’s not the poems he’s a fan of!”

Price smacked him on his arm, stopping Gaz from being too mean in his playfulness, aware that Johnny had his limits of what he would allow to be said in front of you.

“Mmm,” you answered noncommittally, squeezing Johnny’s hand as it held yours, clutching at you like the end of a rope, holding you like an anchor to his hull.

As you made it to your apartment, you pointed to the small coffee shop on the corner of your block,

“Do you wanna wait somewhere warm? I’ll only be a minute.”

Price snorted, grinning as if he had just remembered a private joke, 

“Go help her with her bags, Sergeant. C’mon, lads.”

The trio left you together, and Johnny waited for you to open the door to the lobby. You buzzed in and waited for the elevator in the quiet foyer. 

He was silent the whole ride up to your floor. You thought he’d have more to say, especially after just getting back from a tour. You wondered what was keeping him so quiet. 

You jiggled your key into the lock and pushed your way inside. Marlowe was on the futon, lounging in her favorite position, but when she saw the strange man in her house, she bristled and fled beneath your bed. 

“Marlowe,” Johnny said, recognizing her. 

“Yeah,” you smiled, grabbing your vitamins from the kitchen cabinet to put in your bag, “Sorry, she’s afraid of strangers.”

“It’s alright, hen. I love your place. Look at that view. You can see the river and everything. That’s class.”

He was being polite. Johnny was way too big for your apartment. With him in the space, it felt like you may as well have lived in a tent. It was such close quarters that you spent most of the time edging around him to get to your stuff. 

“Can I…?” He was pointing down at your bed, asking to sit. 

Recognizing your rudeness, you nodded,

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry. Can I get you a water or something? Tea?”

“No, I’m good,” he sat and smiled, still looking around the space, taking it in. To be fair, there wasn’t much to see.

You continued to pack, trying to hurry knowing his friends were downstairs waiting for you. 

“Okay, toothbrush… I think I’m all set. Are you ready?”

“No,” he was looking down at the floor, and his tone was so soft that it made you stop your packing whirlwind to listen to him. 

The silence deepened between you, and you tried to be patient. Neither of you dared to move, but he met your eyes. 

“What is it, Johnny?” You asked, still waiting. 

He stood and walked the half step it took to stand before you. His huge shoulders blocked out the light, and you could tell he was chewing on his words, working them over and over to make sure they were right. 

“I need to know…” he said quietly, running his fingers through your hair again, “I need to know if you are havin’ any doubts about this, lass. I dinnae want to pressure you, and I know I shouldnae be asking you to lie to her, but I need you, mèirleach. I need to know you’re not still havin’ doubts about the way I feel about you.”

Were you? You weren’t sure. You knew he cared about you, and you didn’t have any evidence that he was playing you, but Pidge’s warning still raged in the back of your mind. 

You sighed,

“I don’t doubt that you have feelings for me.”

“But, you think they willnae last?”

“I don’t know, but I want to find out. It’s just hard to have confidence in a secret.”

He furrowed his brow,

“I’d call her and tell her now, if you’d let me. You wanna wait, hen. And I’m fine with that. I am. But, how am I supposed to show you who I am when I’m not supposed to be showin’ you anything at all?”

You didn’t know what to say to him, and it made you feel discouraged. Maybe you were wrong. Perhaps you should have kept your promise after all, and this was just too complicated. 

Johnny watched the guilt spread across your face and chased you down with his eyes, his tone laced with dark suggestion,

“Unless you want me to show you now, thief.”

You did. You wanted him to show you everything he was. And, you understood what he was asking you for. The nerves between your legs pulsed, and blood rushed down your arms, excited for whatever he was threatening you with. You wanted him to fuck you right here in your apartment. But, you hesitated, very aware that if you said yes, if you let him show you what he wanted you to see, you wouldn’t be able to come back from that. The guilt would eat you alive. 

“Your… friends…” you picked at the zipper of his thick coat, stepping close enough to him that you could feel his heat radiating from inside the fleece lining of it. 

“My friends can wait, thief. I can’t.”

“Then don’t.”

The same way a bear trap snapped shut, its teeth digging into the writhing flesh of the creature inside its metal maw, that was how he caught you in that moment. You looked up at him, eyes wide and expectant, and you were greeted with a hunter’s smile. He knew he had you, and he went for the kill, putting you out of your misery. His arms wrapped around your body as he kissed you with a high fever, moving from your mouth to your neck as quickly as he could, devouring your soft flesh there, nipping and sucking at you frenzied and harsh. All of his gentle reservedness was gone, pushed aside in favor of sating his wild craving. 

You were on the bed in a second, your back flat, pressed into the mattress by his heavy weight. He didn’t readjust. He allowed his body to pin you down, crushing you beneath him. You tried to rid him of his jacket; there were so many layers between you, and you were eager for there to be none. 

He helped you, shucking off his coat and shirt layers quickly before returning to your mouth and throat, breathlessly panting as he kissed and licked your throat. His chest was bare to you then, and the cold metal of his tags stung your chest as they jingled out of his clothes, falling onto you like two silver coins. You rubbed his body down, pressing into the muscles of his neck and back, feeling them jerk and lunge as he moved above you. He kissed your mouth again, moaning through his nose. 

Then, he was peeling you apart, taking your clothes and tossing them away, pulling off the tissue from a coveted gift. Johnny didn’t even take time to pause at your bra; he just yanked it over your head with the rest of your clothes, unceremoniously. While you were sucking on his tongue and kissing down the scruff of his jaw, you heard his boots thump onto the floor, one after the other. 

All that remained between you were your slacks and his jeans, and he was forced to leave your mouth to deal with the barriers. He made his way to your breasts, sucking on them hungrily, but not playing. He was done playing with you, it seemed. 

He popped the button on your pants and tucked both of his hands into the waistband, grabbing your panties along with it, and ripped them down your legs with a deep grunt. You were naked, and the denim of his jeans raked against your sensitive skin. He was grinding his body against you as you were trapped beneath him, and you felt his hips rock back and forth as he rubbed his cock against your core, trying to use the friction inside of his jeans to find some pleasure, returning to your nipples to lick them into stiff peaks. 

You wrapped your legs around his hips, your thighs halfway between the skin of his ribs and the bite of his belt, letting him thrust against you. 

“Johnny,” you whispered, “Take them off.”

“Not yet, hen.”

You moaned, feeling his crotch pressing hard against yours, but not being able to find any sort of consistency in the texture. 

“Why not?” You asked and begged at the same time.

“Because…” He kissed his way down your belly, settling his face between your thighs, “As soon as I do, I’m gonna fuck you, mèirleach. And I’ve not tasted you, yet.”

His mouth was wet and hot and just what you wanted. Johnny ate you like he was on a mission. There was no careful exploration like the first time. It felt like he was eating you to satisfy his own craving, and your enjoyment was merely a fringe benefit. 

You keened as loudly as you dared, crying out for him as he lapped at your folds, hunting down your flavor. 

Then, he began to speak to you as he sucked on your clit, pausing to say his words before returning to his font to swallow more of you down into his throat. 

“Do y’know how long I’ve waited for this, hen?”

Suck, lick, kiss…

“How many nights…”

Suck.

“...in the sand…”

Lick.

“...in the bloody dark…”

Kiss.

“...waiting to have you in my mouth like this.”

Lick. Lick. Liiiickkkk…

“Oh, fuck, Johnny!” You bit down on the back of your hand, reeling from the pressure building in your center, feeling chills on your arms and chest, “Please…”

“And when Gaz told me…”

Suck.

“...I didnae believe him.”

Lick.

“But, I wanted to. I wanted to believe…”

Kiss.

“...that you were really mine…” 

Suuuuckkkk.

“...mo mèirleach…” 

Liiickkkk.

“...mo ghràdh.” 

You started to come, your hips vaulting into his strong jaws, and his eyes found yours, bright and clear, staring at you, watching you fall apart in his mouth. At the last moment, just before you fell over the peak, he wrenched his eyes shut and sucked even harder, yanking you into a furious, crashing orgasm. 

Then, desperately scrambling to taste the result, he thrust his tongue deep into your hole, his entire mouth suctioned to your pussy, reaping his soaking reward. 

“Johnny,” you sobbed, overwhelmed by the power you felt growing inside of you, bursting across your body like hundreds of little fireworks.

He was back up by your face in a moment, cradling you and kissing you with your come smeared all over his lips and cheeks,

“Shh, shh… it’s alright, lass. I know what you need. It’s what I need, too.”

You heard his zipper and watched him slide out of his jeans, kicking his socks off with them, naked with you once more, and now with full intent. His cock was drooling onto your belly, the precome leaving long, sticky trails as his swollen shaft traced its way up and down through your folds. Johnny’s cock was so hard that it felt like a warm, iron pipe was pressing into you, threatening and dangerous. 

You must have worn the concern on your face because he chuckled down at you, kissing your forehead sweetly as he humped himself against you,

“Too much for you, thief?”

You let your hands meet in the middle, holding his dick with one on top of the other, effectively jacking him off as he thrust forward and back, wetting him with his own lubrication, and you watched him throw his head back in sharp need. You smiled up at him,

“Not yet.”

“Jesus Christ,” he paused, holding his position, poised like a viper. Then, he looked down at you, suddenly serene, “Do you need a condom?”

“No, do you?”

“Fuck, no,” he said, and he immediately sank his head into your softness, melting into you with a slick slide, trusting you implicitly, believing you like a disciple. 

Your body hadn’t experienced a cock as thick and as hard as his. It wasn’t uncomfortably long, but its upward curve was particularly cruel. It was built to torture the soft pleasure-ladden spot inside of your walls, dragging across it as he fit himself inside of you. It took a few thrusts until you felt his hilt, but you were wet enough that your pussy didn’t need much coaxing. He was sighing above you, audibly and full of relief, his face bent and twisted in a perfect torment. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck… thief, holy fuck. Oh, Christ. I cannae… oh…”

His thrusts were audible. Flesh pounded into flesh, and the wet noises coming from you seemed unreal. Each and every time he entered you, pressing through you and molding you to his shape, you felt sparks of bliss within your belly, expectant and eager. 

“Johnny… it feels so good. You feel…” 

“You alright, mo ghràdh? Do you… mmmph, fuck… do you need me to slow down?”

You imagined what that would be like, and your pussy railed against it, feral and wanton, fighting any semblance of gentility with sharpened teeth and greedy claws. 

“No, please… don’t.” you kissed his cheek as he lay his head into your shoulder, deep in concentration, rolling in his passion.

Your kiss made him turn to face you, kissing your mouth so softly, with loose, relaxed lips, gently sliding his cheek across yours like a huge cat, rubbing himself all over you. He didn’t stop, but he spoke to you darkly, 

“I’ll do whatever you want, lass. Tell me, and it’s yours.”

“This,” you sighed, moaning as another wave of pleasure made you clench down around him, gripping him from within you with a fluttering squeeze, “You. Just you, mo chridhe.”

You tested out the nickname you’d used before, hoping to encourage him. You may as well have poured kerosene on a fire. He narrowed his eyes at you in disbelief, obviously hearing it and using it like war paint, covering his body in it, staining himself in it, changing himself from the inside out to fit its definition. He lay his head next to yours as he worked his cock within you, grunting through gritted teeth with each heavy thrust. His body started to tremble, shaking with his need to come, and the low, long whine that came from his throat made it sound like he was boiling over with blinding pleasure. 

He took both of his arms and crossed them behind your back, grasping your shoulders from behind in a painfully tight hold. Then, pressed to his chest, he lifted you, settling you in his lap in the lotus position, keeping his cock sheathed deep inside of you. You grabbed onto his neck instinctively, holding him like a lifeline, rocking your hips into him to chase that friction. 

Johnny sighed, pressing his forehead to yours, 

“Yes, yes, yes, thief. Take it. Fuck yourself on me, hen. Use me. I wanna feel you come, mèirleach…” 

He begged so sweetly, and you were happy to oblige. You used his shoulders to brace yourself while you pushed your body down onto him, spearing yourself over and over. At this new angle, his cockhead hit your g-spot every single goddamn time, and you were dizzy from his menacing shape. He snaked his hand between you to press on your clit, not even rubbing it but applying force, giving you something to grind against. The combination of his hand and his cock and his growling whines of struggling for control were enough to do the trick, and you saw white behind your eyes as you fell into a chaotic, plunging orgasm once again. 

“Fuuuuckkkk…” He groaned loudly, his voice turning vicious, “You are mine.”

Your body fell back to the bed and he shoved your legs onto one of his shoulders, fucking you as deep as he could go, stretching you as he did, throwing himself into you as you came down from your high. He was shouting, curses and praises, all in a filthy, animalistic snarl. Johnny just kept repeating the same phrase in a cultish chant, mindless and recursive, completely beyond himself, past reality. 

“You’re mine, thief. Mine.”

As he came, he searched for your eyes, staring into them, showing you his elation. You ran a hand across his scalp, your fingernails dragging through his mohawk, and you saw the whites of his eyes as he rolled them back into his head involuntarily. You held onto his hair and gave it a little pressure, holding his skull in your hands as he filled you with his spent pleasure, his cock throbbing, pulsing rope after rope of hot come into your belly, frothing and foaming around the base of his shaft as he fucked you through it. 

20 MINUTES LATER

You were so worried that his friends would make some sort of comment. As you walked back to the coffee shop, tucked under his heavy arm, you prepared for the playful banter and the jeering. His mohawk was destroyed, and you were both glowing with a sheen of sweat, matching in your states. You knew that they knew. You could also tell that Johnny was bracing himself for the worst, steeling his resolve before entering the cafe. And you thought you would get, at the very least, some mention of how long it had taken to get your bags. But, when you made it to the coffee shop, they didn’t say a word. They smiled, and although they smiled knowingly, there was more affection in it than mischief. It shocked you. After all the ribbing from before, to have none now seemed like some kind of gift. When Johnny realized they were going to let him keep his prize for himself, uncontested, he began to glow with pride as much as pleasure. 

The ride was not quiet, though. All of their stories from Urzikstan and its many dangers started to come out. Price told you about how Gaz and Ghost were almost incinerated in a cobalt mine, and Johnny was showing off his newest badge - a retro SAS pin Price had given him for rescuing the other two from said mine. The blue wings and the motto surrounded a bright sword.

“Who dares, wins?” You asked, trying to see the words in the dark backseat. 

Ghost, who had needed to sit in the front with Johnny because of his height, nodded, taking the pin back from you to admire it.

“Well deserved,” Price commented beside you. 

“Sounds like it,” you agreed. 

Johnny had been so sweet to you after his ferocious lovemaking, you thought all the medals in the world might not be enough to thank the man. No one had ever been so kind nor so attentive. Most of the time, you and whatever lad would clean up separately, maybe watch a show or two and then say your goodbyes. Not Johnny. He spent most of his time admiring your body, making sure you were intact and unharmed. Then, after covering you up with your softest throw, he came back with a hot towel and cleaned you up meticulously. He lay beside you until you felt good enough to get dressed, and still as you were putting your hair up, he made you a tea and finished packing your bag with the things you’d forgotten; your vitamins on the counter and your phone charger. 

When you came out of the bathroom, he had stripped your sheets and put them in the hamper, and Marlowe’s food timer had been set. Her litter box was clean, and the automated litter keeper was reset. You wondered fleetingly if he had wiped down the counters as well. 

The drive felt shorter than usual, especially since your thoughts were on other things. But, when you pulled into Old Kilpatrick, Johnny spoke up to the whole car,

“Look, no one says a fuckin’ thing about us to my sister. To anyone, alright? She’ll find out when she’s bloody meant to.”

The men agreed to keep quiet, but Gaz mouthed off beside you, 

“Sure we can keep a secret, Soap, but what about you? I wouldn’t give you a medal for impulse control, mate.”

Johnny eyed him in the rear-view mirror with a stern glare,

“Aye, but then that’s my problem, you daft bastard.”

 Gaz rolled his eyes, grinning all the while. 

By the time you’d arrived, the only open spot to sleep was a big pallet on the floor of the living room. Hamish was the only one awake to welcome you, and he set you up with pillows and blankets to camp out like a row of sardines. 

“Hey, lass,” Hamish told you, “Go sleep with Pigeon. She’d murder me for leaving you on the ground.”

He looked worn out, and although you didn’t mind sleeping on the floor, you didn’t have any real reason to insist. So, you hugged all the boys good night, making sure not to take too long on Johnny’s turn, and retreated to your post. 

Pidge was snoring softly as you entered the room, and you got ready for bed as quietly as you could, plugging in your phone to the nightstand. It buzzed, and you saw his message flash up on the screen:

Mo Chridhe: miss you 

You: i miss you too

Mo Chridhe: im still in a wee shock

You: why

Mo Chridhe: you. cannae believe youre mine

You: i am. and youre mine johnny mactavish.

Mo Chridhe: promise

You: promise

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Waking up with Johnny and sitting around the tree together with your coffee was every bit like Christmas morning as when you were a child. Instead of presents, you were content to sit as close to him as you dared, pretending to be making room for others by finding spots on the floor beside the gifts and stockings. 

All together, it was Johnny, his three soldiers, you, Pidge, Hamish, Hamish’s mum and dad, and Roger. Rodger had crashed on the couch last night, the Hamiltons had taken Johnny’s room, and now you were all crowded up in the small den, passing gifts around and chatting as you opened your presents. There weren’t many, but it was enough to feel like a holiday. 

Roger got the Playstation he’d been begging for from his brother, and his parents had bought him the games. Pidge had given Johnny a new set of headphones since his had melted in the cobalt mining fire. She also got him a pound of her shortbread cookies, which he was stuffing into his mouth with absolute abandon. He’d bought her a tea set off her wedding registry, and Hamish had landed a very aggressive knife from him. The professor was already being given a tutorial by Captain Price, and you tried not to laugh as he practiced stabbing the air with him in the kitchen. Price was scary when he did it, but Hamish looked downright silly. 

“Okay, alright. My turn. Here,” you gave out your cards to everyone in attendance, but pulled out a box for Pidge. 

“What did you do! I told you not to, hen. I am going to give you a laldy, and you’d deserve it!” She hugged you around the neck and jiggled the box. 

Satisfied with the rattle, she tore into the paper and gingerly lifted off the lid. Inside, she saw the MacTavish tartan, woven into a full shawl, embroidered with a tiny pigeon in the corner, just for her. She inspected it with wonder, her breath fully stolen away. 

“Did you… You made this? Are you doin’ your weavin’ again, babe? I thought you gave it up.”

You shrugged,

“I found a reason to give it one last shot.”

Pidge started to cry real, honest tears, and she reached out for you, clutching the shawl to her chest, sobbing, 

“Thank you, hen. Thank you so much. After they buried mum in hers, and I didn’t… I couldn’t touch it anymore, I just…”

You held her and rocked her back and forth, smiling at her outpouring of love,

“I know, babe. I remember you saying so. But, now you’ve got one of your own.”

For a moment, you stole a glance at Johnny. The whole room was a little moved by your gesture, but he looked… unwell. He was standing behind everyone, and you were the only one looking at him. His hand was clasped over his mouth, and he had tears coming from his eyes, unblinking, letting them roll down his cheeks one after the other, staring at you, frozen in place. He was so unsettled that, for a moment, you thought you’d made some error. But, as Pidge recovered, so did he, and he wiped his face to return to normal; putting on a mask of an expression, hiding whatever he had just shown you. 

“You’re the best damn friend I’ve ever had, hen. And I love you. Dearly.”

“I love you too, Pidge.”

“Here, here, open mine! It’s not as braw as all tha’ you did, but still.”

You were handed a gift bag, and you peeked inside. You found a book of poetry with some incredible illustrations inside, and a charm necklace with a silver boar hanging from it. 

“It’s our wee clan beastie. You may as well be a MacTavish by now, hen. So, I thought you should have it.”

You smiled, letting her put it on you. Then, you hugged her tight, 

“You don’t know what that means to me, Pidge.”

Pidge laughed through dried tears, still emotional,

“Ha! Says you, miss weaver. Honestly.”

You let her gush over it a little more before you retreated back to your position beside Johnny. You pulled out the four smaller boxes from your bag and handed them to the soldiers, indiscriminately since they were all alike. 

“What did you do, thief?” Johnny’s voice was low, and he was grinning up at you, staring at you through those dark lashes.

“Open them,” you urged him. 

They did, and one by one they all pulled out small compasses, made with built-in flint strikers, hanging from tied paracord. It was the most tactical practical thing you could find on such short notice, but they all seemed pleased. Gaz shook it at Price, 

“This would’ve been bloody helpful in South Tobraka!”

You laughed, 

“Well, I’m sure it’s a little too low-tech for you, but Merry Christmas anyway.”

“It’s bloody perfect,” Gaz smiled, clapping you on the back. Ghost nodded, and Price hooked it to his lanyard without questioning it. 

Johnny bent over to whisper to you as discreetly as he could, 

“Gotta sneak off to give you mine, lass.”

You smacked him on the arm, whispering back, watching Pidge like a hawk as you did so to make sure she couldn’t see you,

“Don’t be naughty.”

Johnny laughed, 

“No, no. I’m serious.”

“Alright!” Hamish clapped his hands, causing you to jump out of your skin, “Who’s ready for crackers?”

CHRISTMAS NIGHT

You and Johnny were curled up on the couch with a steaming cup of sweet wassail, scrolling through the photos you’d taken that night. You popped two crackers together, pulling out your paper crowns, your gold and his blue, snapping selfies and reading the jokes to each other. Everyone was in their crowns by the end of the night, and while Price smoked cigars on the porch with Gaz and Ghost, Pidge and Hamish had driven his parents and brother home. 

You were finally alone after having such a full house, and your gift for him was burning a hole in your bag. You were dying to give it to him, but he beat you to the punch.

“Alright, mèirleach, are you ready for your wee gift? It’s probably gonna earn me extra PT for a few months, but it’s worth it.”

“Why?” You asked, setting your cup down on the end table and turning your body towards him. 

“‘Cause I’m not even supposed to have these off-duty, much less hand them over to my American lassie.”

Johnny dug into the neckline of his shirt and pulled out the dog tags that you had encountered last night when he took you to bed. The coin jangled on the chain as he pulled it over his head, and like a medal for an award you had not won, he looped it behind your neck, letting the coin fall between your breasts, still warm from his body and now warm from yours. 

You pulled it up to read its stamp, staring at the words:

O POS 2073521 MACTAVISH SAS RC

“Wanted you to have it, lass. A wee piece of me to keep safe, if you will.”

It was hard to know why you started crying, but you felt the searing tears fall down your cheeks as you stared at the tag. His blood type was what started it all, and you began to imagine all of the times that this thin coin would have warranted such a label. 

“It’s alright, mèirleach, if you dinnae —”

“No,” you raised your hand to his face, closing your other hand around the coin and pulling it in to your chest, eager to keep it safe just as he had asked, “Thank you, Johnny. I love it.”

He turned his face toward your hand as you caressed his scruffy jaw, and kissed your palm, holding your hand with his so you couldn’t escape. 

“I got you something, too. But, it’s small, and now I’m afraid you won’t have anything to hang it on.”

You dug in your bag and pulled out a small cardboard box with a thin red string tied around it. There was no card, there was no name printed on it, but he knew it was him nonetheless. He took it from you, almost snatching it, excited and surprised, not waiting for it to be given. 

“Thief! You didnae have to do that,” he was grinning, and his eyes gleamed, full of sudden joy. 

You’d found an old locket at the charity shop, and your gift had fit inside perfectly. When he opened the clasp, he froze. You’d use a scrap of the shawl that you’d woven for Pidge and cut a little circle from it, embroidering a tiny map of Scotland over the threads, planting a little red heart over what was almost Glasgow. 

“Mo mèirleach…”

“Mo chridhe.”

As soon as you said his name, his eyes found yours and he leaned in to kiss you, clutching the locket in his fist, tight, tight, tight. 

BEFORE DAWN

That night, in his bed, smelling his oranges and cloves, his scent filling your nose, covering you with his sheets, you lay buried in his chest where his tags used to lie, your cheek now warming the skin beneath. You imagined the compasses that dangled from the four sets of keys strewn across the kitchen counter. You thought about the shawl that was wrapped around his sister as she slept in her bed. Holding his locket in your hand, you ran your fingertips over its tartan, borne of the same threads as hers. You wondered about tomorrow, and the day after that, and the year ahead of you, and you felt a tightness in your own chest as you considered the timeline stretching out before you, woven from the choices you and your lover had made together. It was as if you had altered fate’s plan somehow, shunning your intended path and forging one of your own making. What future had you created? Did you have the guile to craft the right course? You held his hand, his fingers laced between yours, and whichever way you went, you hoped that he would be braving it with you.

#call of duty fanfic #cod mw2 #cod mwii #cod #guile and guilt #soap mactavish #cod soap #john soap mactavish #john soap mctavish x reader #johnny soap mactavish #john mactavish smut #soap mactavish x reader #john mactavish x reader #johnny mactavish

[pictureamoebae]

L = no ReShade; R = ReShade inc. ReLight

Quick little shader highlight for you.

You've maybe heard me talk about the Nice Guy Lamps shader before, which lets you add spotlights and create shadows. It's a nifty little shader but it's not very precise, and the shadows suffer from jitter and noise.

Enter ReLight by Marty McFly. ReLight is a fancy and more polished alternative to NG Lamps. The shadows are far better quality, and the lights are easier to position and edit. You can theoretically add as many as you want by editing the preprocessor definitions, but to begin with there are (iirc) two for you to play with. I've set it to four, and haven't felt like I've needed more than that so far.

In the picture on the right I've used three lights, each by the light sources in the room to simulate actual light being emitted from them. The two lamps on the right have a warm neutral light, and the candle on the left has a warm orange light. I positioned them so they sat exactly where the source would be. So, for example, for the floor lamp I positioned the light right up inside the dome of the shade, and you can see shadows being cast by the shade and light only coming down where it would physically be able to fall.

You can also use ReLight to add lights to portraits, making them really dramatic with different colours on each side of the face, or just to brighten the character so you can see their features more clearly. Below is a screenshot I took in Baldur's Gate 3 where I added blue light to the left and warmer light to the right.

It's such a handy little shader that can help add both realism and a hefty dose of drama to a scene. You need to feel confident tweaking shader settings to use it, and have to edit it for every single shot because the lights stay static in relation to the screen coordinates, so you'll have to move them where you want them each time. It's easy to do though, and lots of fun.

ReLight is one of Marty's premium shaders, which means you'd need to subscribe to his Patreon to get access to it. It's not currently listed in any of his tiers because he stopped working on it in favour of other things, but it works well and is probably my favourite shader at the moment. I'm yet to set up a shot that can't benefit from it in one way or another. If you are interested in using ReLight, you need to sub to the Path Tracers tier. You can cancel your subscription once you've grabbed it from his discord server, but you won't get access to any updates until you resub (it hasn't been updated in a long time though, so I wouldn't worry too much about that).

Paying for shaders is something that doesn't sit well with some people, and that's fair. I would only recommend getting this if you're enough of an enthusiast that spending 30 minutes setting up one shot is your idea of fun (not that ReLight takes that long, it can take just seconds sometimes).

#reshade #reshade faq #shader faq #shader highlight #relight

[godisshook]

Movie Night

Zach was the best friend I could have. He was nice, a nerd just like me, and so so funny. One time, some bully tried to beat me up because I was gay, and Zach stood face to face with him and almost fought him if a teacher didn’t break them up before any fists could be thrown. He was the most genuine guy I knew, and when I found out we were both going to the same high school, I was overjoyed. He was incredibly driven, and despite him not being crazy smart, always was successful at anything he put his mind to.

Sometime during our sophomore year he started really getting into working out, and he was making some progress, but I would always joke that he was just a “muscular shrimp” to which he would usually reply, “At least I HAVE muscle.” And he wasn’t wrong, I was 5’7 and 115 pounds, not the most built individual, most definitely.

We were always hanging out until the pandemic hit later in sophomore year. All of a sudden we were home, and I couldn’t talk to my best friend like usual. We kept in touch through discord and would call each other almost every day after class. When Zach got a girlfriend our junior year, we stopped talking almost completely, and I had a breakdown. When we were back in class senior year, he had completely changed. His girlfriend cheated on him before the year started, and broke up with him three weeks before the first day of class. He started going to the gym a lot more it seemed and even took a firefighter course, which I thought was super cool, even if I would never say it to his face.

When we got back senior year, he looked completely different. A guy who was once 5’8 and only 130 pounds was now 6’2 and 185 pounds of pure muscle. He apologized for not talking to me for so long, saying that he needed time to just focus on himself, which I thought was bs but accepted because I still really valued him as a friend. In class, I would still joke with him, and he would welcome them, flexing as I said that his arms were too big, or he looked like a dorky jock if that was even possible.

The transition back made it so that we would alternate days going to class, and so we were still not seeing each other, but during one of his firefighting classes, I snuck in and attended with the teacher being none the wiser.

We also made a new tradition, a movie night over zoom. It was our way of still hanging out, even though we were busy and couldn’t just go to each other's places. I would constantly pick horror movies, and Zach would pick action every time. It was fun and allowed me to connect with my old buddy even as our lives became more hectic.

I noticed that as time passed, Zach became even more jock-ish, and would start calling me small and saying that he could easily lift me, which I took to great offense in a joking way of course. As we were watching Scream one night, I see Zach on my other monitor with his shirt off, flexing and looking straight at me. “What are you doing?” I say, looking at him incredulously. “Nothing.” he replied in a low tone. I shrug it off as him probably just being weird, and go back to finishing the movie.

I manage to sneak in a screenshot of him as he was doing it, and kept it in my camera roll for “blackmail.”

I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about that night the following week, and one day in class, while daydreaming, Zach interrupts my waking dream by saying, “Do you wanna come to my place for movie night this weekend?” I look up at him and reply, “Of course!” I felt as if the old days of our friendship were coming back, and was so excited to go. His parents were out of town, and this is the whole house would be empty aside from us two. We decide that it would be better if I just spent the whole weekend there, so packed a suitcase on Friday to bring over.

We played board games all day, and then went into playing Fortnite, which he hard carried me in, having to explain half of the game to me the whole time.

It was my turn to pick the movie again, and I wanted to pick Nightmare on Elm Street because I wanted him to see all the "classics." When I came back from a bathroom break, he said I had practically missed half the movie, to which I swiftly play-punched him in the shoulder, and then immediately regretted my decision as it felt like punching straight iron. Despite this, we start play fighting, but as I vastly underestimated his new strength, and vastly overestimated mine, I found myself pinned against the couch as both of my wrists were in his hands.

I look up at him, and as he stares back, I notice his sweatpants start to rise. As the shape of his cock takes form in his sweatpants, he begins taking off his jacket, and I rush to pull my shirt off. There's a mutual hunger, a horniness only created after years of knowing each other, and it was releasing itself tonight.

I rush to pull off his sweatpants, and begin sucking him off. "Fuckkkkkkk" he groans as I wrap my tongue around his shaft and start licking all over it. He pushes my head down on his cock as I gag, saying, "How do you like that?" "Itsthhh sooo guuuuddd" I say between breaths as his cock goes down my throat again. I had never seen him like this, it was like a beast took over him. He takes me and lifts me up, ripping my underwear and placing his cock into the hole he created in it.

He starts pushing me up and down on his cock as I'm on his chest, and every time he pulls me up he goes in for a kiss, a small bit of sweetness breaking through the roughness.

Slowly, he starts to walk upstairs, with me still being hoisted up, and with his dick in me. Every step up causes it to go deeper, and as he gets on the stair it comes out ever so slightly. I moan in pleasure as he does this, and he slaps my ass as I do. When we get to his bedroom, he throws me on the bed and rips off the shreds of underwear I had left.

He fucks me for what seemed like years, taking his massive cock and digging it all in my tight hole. It felt like it was going up into my chest, and I rolled my eyes back as he kept fucking. After the backshots, he turns me over and fucks me, hugging his body towards me, and sliding his dick in and out. His abs were grinding against my cock, and I came as he started pulling in and out of me quickly. With him going faster and faster, I felt his dick get warm in my ass, and soon he started to groan, and hot cum leaked from his dick into me, and he laid on my chest with his cock still in my ass.

As I was walking home commando, I couldn't help but think about how good it was, and texted him, "Where did you get THAT energy from?" to which he replied, "From wanting you since day one." I will admit, that made me blush. Zach was now my regular fuckbuddy, and the sex was mindblowing. I looked forward to our "movie nights" every week, and even though we would never make it through a movie again, at least I get good sex in exchange.

#muscle #nerd to jock #friends to lovers #jock tf #male transformation #muscle tf

[ambassadorarlert]

a compilation of some of my personal armin head canons. lmk if i should do another. this is kinda long, sorry not sorry. <33 NSFW 18+ ONLY MDNI

scorpio sun, virgo moon, capricorn rising.

- sun in scorpio: emotional and compassionate / intense and mysterious

- moon in virgo: service minded and shy / analytical and judgmental

- rising in capricorn: loyal and ambitious / unfulfillment and drudgerous

armin is the sweetest person to exist ever

- treats you the way he wants to be treated and more than you ever thought you could ever deserve.

- would rather die first than to hurt your feelings

- and when he does it’s never on purpose and it’s always sorry for it and will try to make up anyway he can

- always goes out of his way to make things easier for you

- his love languages are acts of service, physical touch, and quality time

- if your space is kinda messy he’ll do his best to reorganize and clean up for you

- needs to live in your skin. hugs often. holds your hand any chance he can. plays with your hair. lays in your lap. touchy touchy touchy

- date nights ever weekend, or every other weekend. tries to go somewhere nice and do something grand once in a while.

- he’s too embarrassed for full fledged PDA, but chaste kissing and holding hands is okay.

neurodivergent

- might be on the spectrum. you kinda gotta squint.

- has some kind of sleep disorder like insomnia or parasomnia.

- prone to nightmares

- also has depression, ptsd, anxiety

- does not take medication, like an antidepressant, even though he should

- he tries not to lay around too much when he’s around you or staying at your place, but when he’s alone in his own home he can stay in bed for literal days.

- his grandfather is getting older and his parents died when he was young so he has looming anxiety of death and losing people he loves.

- also has separation anxiety. he’s like one of those howling cats when their owner leaves for work.

- is kind of a picky eater. goes out and orders either alfredo pasta or chicken tenders.

- will stay up rlly rlly late until he can’t stand it

- drools in his sleep so if he’s laying on you, there’s a little wet spot lmao gross

anxious attachment style

- you remind him every single day that you love him, that he’s the only one for you, and that you’re happy in your relationship

- but he just can’t help not feeling adequate and good enough so sometimes his insecurities bleed out into other things.

- it gives him peace of mind that your location is on and he can see where you are.

- he goes through your following almost every day to see if anything has changed.

- will sometimes ask “do you know this guy?” when he sees you’ve gotten a new follower or if someone leaves a comment on one of your pics.

- super cyber stalker. if somebody leaves a nasty comment he can find their full name, place of employment, where they went to school, and their grandma’s facebook.

- he definitely screenshots the ugly stuff and sends it to their family. and says “this is how your offspring talks to people online” and that he “doesn’t appreciate you being treated this way.”

- other ppl would think he’s doing too much and sometimes it is but you know and understand him better than most people ever would.

- goes through your stuff when you’re not there

- he’s not looking for anything in particular, he just likes looking through things and seeing what you have

- smells everything. lotions and body washes. perfumes and hair products. reads the ingredients in your skin care. doesn’t know what any of it does.

- wears your house robe when you’re not there either. walks through the halls like a student at hogwarts.

cares for your animals when you’re gone or need help

- befriends whatever pet you have.

- your aloof and distant cat adores him and crawls in his lap.

- your dog follows him in every room and waits for him outside the bathroom. he cannot escape.

- if the litter box needs to be cleaned, he’ll do it.

- he’ll walk your dog and pick up your yard. might try to teach your dog a few new things.

- he’ll feed whatever you got in your cages or tank and refills all bowls and water

- gives them extra treats and snacks just because

passionate and sensual

- sex isn’t just sex for him. it’s like another way to connect emotionally with one another and be completely vulnerable and experiment with things.

- always has his mind in the gutter and is always down to jump your bones. or have you jump his bones.

- is a switch, equally enjoys being dominant and submissive.

- when he’s being dominant he wants to consume every piece of you. he kisses you everywhere, touches you everywhere, reminds you that you’re his and no one else’s.

- whispers to you about how good you feel around him. how tight you are. he loves the way you sound. he wants to stuff you full of his cock. likes to bend you over and watch how wet you get and watches his cum dripping out of you.

- wants to breed you so bad but alas. birth control.

- tries to convince you to get off of it. that you don’t need it and whatever happens, happens, and that he can support you.

- when he’s submissive, he whines and mews. he’s begging for more, harder, faster, uses his manners and says please and thank you like a good boy <33

- he turns you down most of the time when you wanna suck his dick, but he can never get enough of eating you out.

- his favorite positions are prone bone, doggy, missionary ofc, and when you ride him

- once he’s in sub-space there’s no coming out of it until he cums.

- his bookmarks on twitter is literally all porn, and he likes some weird stuff.

2023. do not copy or repost any work by arlertwitch on any other platform. violators will be prosecuted.

#my writing #armin arlert #armin headcanons #armin x reader #armin x fem reader #armin x male reader #armin x y/n #armin x black reader #armin x you #armin imagine #armin drabble #armin one shot #armin fic #aot #attack on titan

[jesi555]

𝐖𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒. | © jesi555 — kinktober 2023

𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐙𝐈. | nami

warnings. | wlw sex yessir, fem reader, recording, twt vids [im compensating for the fact that im shit at writing smut], camgirl, hints at vivi x nami, cunnilingus, scissoring, making out yum. im not super proud of this :( lmk if i miss anything.

tags : @aizensgf, @wolflover384, @bun-parade, @3v37773, @guccilaw, @immindingmyown @ruledbyproblematique

Nami loves her followers. After all, they rain money on her. Her tip menu is pricey, but her followers were down bad and As her no 1 fan, so were you. Sometimes Nami thought you were some pervy old man based on your tip, But money is money, and Nami loves money.

Nami felt generous recently, so she announced a competition. 131: one lucky winner, three entries max, one video of both of us, Her community post read. It was a tempting risk, so you mindlessly entered the competition.

At around 9:30 on a Thursday night, you silently studied at your university's library, a few other students doing the same. You were in the zone until a silent vibrating buzz broke your focus. Irritated, you checked your notifications, your eyes bulging out as you saw the email from @namimi. A soft squeal left your lips as you read over the contents of the email.

Congratulations ___! You have won the 131 competition. Your proof of winning is in this email. Please take a screenshot of this email along with the attached verification number and send it to me on Instagram as soon as possible! love, Nami!

You leaned back in your chair, your chest heaving. After a silent scream, you hurriedly headed back to your dorm. After screaming into your pillow and thoroughly contemplating the reward, you finally texted Nami.

___: hii! I received an email saying I won the 131 competition! here’s a screenshot!

You awaited her response for a few minutes, but as it turned into an hour and another, you slowly lost hope. You honestly felt disappointed. Your fave just flaked out on you!

Before you could wallow in sadness anymore, a buzz got you running towards the device.

namimi: omg hi! I'm so sry for the late response! I was getting my hair done. I see you're the lucky winner!

Before you could reply, a small notification popped up, '@namimi followed you'. You quickly accepted the request and waited.

namimi: hold on, you're a girl?! thank god. I was not looking forward to having sex with a middle-aged Discord mod.

you laughed and messaged her back,

___: haha no I'm very much a girl. so do you need any information from me?

namimi: just general stuff, I'd prefer it to be face-to-face though, is that okay with you?

___: Absolutely!

namimi: cool! I'll text you the location soon!

You bit your lip nervously. Nami was coming to meet you. The Nami. Your leg bounced up and down, waiting for her arrival. A few minutes pass as you see a head of orange hair enter the cafe. She looked around for a second before she saw your smiley face.

"Damn, you're even hotter in person." she chuckled, "do you wanna make the video today? I'm free tonight. You look good as it is."

Your mouth slightly fell open as a small 'huh' voice out of your throat. "I mean Yes!" you quickly said.

"Awesome, let's go back to my place then."

Her home was nice. It smelt like tangerines.

"You're okay being recorded right?" she asked. Nodding in agreement, you looked over her room.

"Alright, the camera's set up. do you want a dom or sub role?"

"girl do anything to me," you spoke without thinking, processing what you said. she laughed out and asked you if you were ready.

"yes"

"good. then strip"

A new notification spelled out 'namimi is live', and soon hundreds and thousands of followers joined the livestream. To many of them, the stream was pure heaven. 2 hot girls making the fuck out? Yes, please!

namiismymommy sent 10$: holy fuck namisslut sent 2$: wait is that @princessvivi? ilovevivi sent 4$: Nah bro that's the lucky winner namisslut sent 5$: I'm so jealous

"Are you reading the comments?" Nami whispered in your ear, both of you, skin to skin.

namiismymommy sent 20$: eat her out.

"My lovely followers are asking us a favor" she moaned, "let's give them what they want baby."

You dropped down in front of her cunt, giving her lips soft kitten licks until she pushed you into her pussy. Nami getting eaten out by an equally hotter chick was a God-sent gift.

This was probably Nami's best video yet. Not to mention, the scissoring was a highlight.

As the live stream ended, the two girls looked at the comment section.

ilovevivi sent 50$: Vivi, Nami and lucky winner threesome when?

It seems like you'll frequent her channel soon.

꩜ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐢𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐫. 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!! 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 !!

#꩜ from jesiya. #one piece smut #one piece nami #one piece #꩜ one piece. #nami smut #nami x reader #op nami #nami #cat burglar nami #straw hat pirates #꩜ kinktober 2023. #kinktober 2023 #one piece kinktober #kinktober

[ultrone]

can u write jackie hcs for when reader is jealous?

⟢ jackie with jealous partner

jackie wouldn’t mind that much if you're jealous or a bit possessive. she'd actually like it, since it would make her feel desired—we all know that she loves that type of attention.

but even though she’s not stupid, for some reason i feel like she’d be very oblivious when it comes to people having crushes on her—at least in many occasions.

“jeff sadecki?? don’t be ridiculous, y/n. just because he offered to wait for me after practice and drive me home doesn’t mean he likes me, he’s just a really nice friend.”

“he waited for three hours, jackie. and you didn’t even leave with him because i ended up driving you home.”

“and? it was getting dark outside, he was probably just worried. that’s what friends are for, right? 😁”

sometimes you wonder if she’s actually that oblivious or if she’s doing it to annoy you.

and yeah, sometimes she actually does it just to annoy you.

for instance, she’ll send you screenshots of questionable things people say to her, with the only purpose of making you feel jealous and tell those people to fuck off—and yeah, she could totally stand up for herself, she’s very confident, but again, she loves to feel wanted and protected by you.

however, if things get too serious, she’ll try to calm you down by laughing it off or being a pacifist.

one time, you were at a house party and this dude kept being flirty and touchy with her, even though she had told him multiple times that she was taken. you obviously got angry and tried to beat his ass.

“babe, calm down, he had a lot to drink 😅 let’s just go—”

you didn’t budge though, so she ended up grabbing you by the face and kissing you until the guy got annoyed and ended up leaving.

she then spent the rest of the night holding your hand, snuggling up next to you and dancing with you.

#𓏲 📂 ⋮ my works .ᐟ #jackie taylor #jackie taylor hcs #jackie taylor headcanons #jackie taylor x reader #jackie taylor x you #jackie taylor x y/n #yellowjackets #yellowjackets headcanons #yellowjackets x reader #yellowjackets x y/n #yellowjackets x you #yellowjackets jackie taylor

[inhuman-obey-me]

What are you opinions are the 4 Seraphs/archangels Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Raphael?

Are they like brothers? or sibling rivalry? What do you think of Michael? I always thought fanon Michael will be just a dick compared to canon Michael we know.

Well we have a lot of thoughts in general about all the angels we know in the game, which we won't get all into here. This already got long so we're focusing more on the latter part of your question.

Obey Me has actually never made mention of Gabriel, despite him being a more known angel in pop culture. The only other angel they've mentioned, funny enough, is Uriel.

When we first meet Raphael in Season 4, you can also guess that his name is Uriel of the given options, to which Raphael scoffs that you're just throwing any angel name out there.

(rest under the cut, and includes some Nightbringer spoilers)

In Season 3, Angel Lucifer makes note of three other angels when he talks about turning to angels for advice -- all three of whom are established to have been among seraphim (though, as we know, Simeon was later demoted), though how many others there may be is unknown.

We also know that the Celestial Realm has everyone calling each other brothers and sisters, very much in that brothers-in-arms/sisters-of-the-convent kind of way.

From what we've seen, they seem to interact very much as both colleagues and friends, more than siblings per se. The only ones we know were treated and acted as actual siblings were Lucifer and The Brothers (+Lilith) since it seems Lucifer basically went and adopted all of them.

So yeah, it seems more like the seraphim and other high-ranking angels, for the most part, were a "work family" of sorts, more than literal siblings. And among them, there were some genuine friendships within that, in the way that work friendships sometimes form, and some tensions as well.

As for Michael ...

It's interesting because we've gotten to know very little about him, but what we have heard paints a certain picture. On one hand, he has been spoken of as someone who is also sadistic and a tough leader. Lucifer, the one who was most equal to him before the fall, describes him in the screenshot above as someone who "overcomplicates things and twists them into something they're not".

And although Raphael is consistently described as being somewhat close with Michael -- descriptions of him include being an assistant to Michael, "the only one who understands Michael", and the one whose job it was "to look after Michael's needs, no matter how unreasonable", plus the Nightbringer website also mentions in Raphael's bio that he chose to side against Lucifer in the war because "I can't abandon [Michael]" -- he's also the one who says he takes it "as an insult" to be mistaken for Michael, and then goes on to call Michael "a socially inept weirdo".

Michael also sent Simeon with a message to Diavolo that was basically a thinly veiled threat back in Season 2.

We also know he was quite upset with Simeon when the latter went and took the Ring of Light back, which did lead to Simeon being quite harshly punished.

On the other hand, we have had him be nice to MC (after initially thinking they would be wicked and awful because the demon bros adored them). We also know that he apparently does really miss and love the Brothers, both from that same conversation with MC and Luke, who has mentioned that sometimes Michael will stare sadly at the walls where their portraits used to hang.

Safe to say, he's another complicated character. That said, considering where Michael stood during the war and his more negative qualities, we totally get him being portrayed as more of a dick in fanon because, same. He could be both a character who did/does genuinely love the brothers and still has done things that are antagonistic -- and if anything, that makes him more interesting! Plus, his role in the Celestial Realm as effectively the leader of the angels only adds more inter-realm intrigue to how to interpret his actions. We're hoping we get to learn more about him in Nightbringer so we can get a better understanding of him!

As for the rest of them, we have too many opinions to really dive into analyzing all the characters you mentioned, but here's our previous analysis of Raphael mentions pre-Season 4 before they turned him into dirty sad dishwater.

#we are still sad at how raphael ended up being a wet mop........ #he was so much more interesting from what season 3 gave us and then s4 happened lol #obey me #obey me! #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me nightbringer #obey me nb #omnb #obey me nightbringer spoilers #obey me angels #obey me michael #obey me simeon #obey me raphael #obey me lucifer #obey me uriel #obey me analysis #ask and ye shall be answered

[yanban-san]

I am getting Headcanons ready because I was thinkin' of writing something for a/b/o soon too ^^ Also I definitely didn't have to screenshot this anon really quickly because I posted the post too early and hadn't formatted anything yet

cw: Omegaverse, sfw, fluff, twins x reader, really rambly (I've not written anything omegaverse before and I am nervous)

Ω I picture their scents would actually be considered kind of unpleasant, especially in a world where people smell like flowers and spices and sugar and sweets- Both Ingo and Emmet perpetually smell like fuel and oil and sweat and iron and fire, which isn't much liked by most omegas.

Ω When relaxed, their scent is much more mellow and pleasant, though- Like fresh-cut lumber, coffee, or wood-smoke, or something heavily spiced. I think Ingo smells more like coffee and wood-smoke, whereas Emmet has a scent more like cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves- And both of them always have an underlying scent of iron and oil. Probably something to do with growing up and working around trains.

Ω Both of them are a little upset that so many omegas are turned off by their scent, and they don't have mates- Even though they're both very popular and accomplished trainers. They try not to let it bother them, but Emmet's woken up to himself nervously rubbing his wrists into his bed and wishing it was a cute little omega's nest, instead… Ingo is a hopeless romantic though and doesn't hide his sorrow half as well. He wistfully stares at couples and wishes he could've been a beta, if it would do anything to fix his scent problems.

Ω When they meet their darling omega, they're ecstatic, and can barely contain their excitement. An omega? Who doesn't hate their scent? They're also super nervous, and they have zero clue how best to catch your attention and interest.

Ω They suck at nest making, for the most part. They never learned, and so they follow your lead- They buy you lots of blankets, some pretty curtains, and any sort of lights or other things you'd like for your nest. They have a tendency to spoil you, but let them- They feel bad from not knowing how to make nests themselves.

Ω While they love you dearly, they act kind of distant- Scared to chase you off, nervous to show too much affection. You have to reassure them a lot that you really love them and want them, which is something new for them.

Ω They absolutely lose it if you ask them to scent something. Ingo gets wide eyed, and almost shocked. He gestures at himself, as if- No, you'd meant some alpha standing behind him. Once he gets over his shock, he's flustered and has wrapped the blanket or article of clothing around himself, trying to make it as Ingo-scented as possible. Emmet just beams with enthusiasm and snatches you and whatever you're holding into his embrace- Yes, he'll scent your clothing for you- And yourself.

Ω Ingo growls a lot, sometimes without even realizing it. He usually does it when he's holding you, or if he's in rut- Or in his sleep. Emmet typically whines at you. Ω Both of them are very clingy alphas, once they let themselves act more naturally around you. If you often sleep in your nest, they're pawing at the entrance to your abode- Two pitiful, half-undressed alphas almost whining at you to let them come in and cuddle, or join them in their beds for the night. If they ever catch you cuddling their clothing, they're melting and immediately jumping to join you- A coat is a poor substitute for your beloved alphas, after all.

Ω They like to spoil their omega. Not just in nest materials, but they'll probably want to take frequent baths with you, and treat you to nice things often. They practically parade you around with how much they love you and how much they take pride in being your alphas- Ingo will often take you to buy cute, comfy clothes- Emmet likes to treat you (and himself) to sweets. Ω They will also ask you to scent their own clothing! Especially their shirts, or the collars of their coats- Your scent is soothing and refreshing to them, especially if they're having a bad day.

Ω They love having you with them in Gear Station, and if Emmet spots you he practically runs up to scent you, kissing you and wrapping his arms around you. Ingo prefers to immediately invite you back to the office- He prefers to give his affections in private, unlike Emmet's PDA. If they're working and you're in their office, one of them might occasionally pull you in for a tight hug- Drinking in your scent, hearing your heart beat or your voice squeak in surprise.

Ω Cuddling you after a long day is something they love very very much- They put on a cool fan, or possibly two, or maybe three- and just lie around in bed or on the couch with you. Ingo gently rubbing his hands across your back, scenting you- And Emmet curling around you like a gremlin before he passes out.

#a/b/o #omegaverse #ingo x reader x emmet #emmet x reader x ingo #ingo x reader #emmet x reader #ingo/reader #emmet/reader #omegaverse Submas #🐍 anon #Seth.anon #Seth.chitchat #seth.asks #This is long overdue #So I hope you like it <3 #I may do ns/f/w headcanons later #But for now? Really it's all just some ideas. #This is literally first time penning anything omegaverse/a/b/o soooo #Also I have heard the masses (~10 of you?) say y'all want more eldritch boys #Do not worry I have something planned it's really rough rn but I'm workin it out #I think

[mauesartetc]

Thoughts on Helluva Boss 108 ("Queen Bee")

Yeeeah so we knew pretty much from the jump that this episode wouldn't have much substance to it. Viv Medrano herself said as much. But again, I have to wonder: What's the point of making a full episode of a show if you don't have the story to support it? You know the phrase "This meeting could have been an email"? This episode could have been a music video.

I typically include a list of pros and a list of cons when I write these, but everything was just so bland I can't functionally categorize much of it. I wasn't angry, I wasn't entertained, I didn't feel anything. All my thoughts about this episode are floating around in a soup and I just can't be bothered to sort them into the usual boxes. So this'll be more of a barely-coherent brainspew than anything else. If the writers couldn't put the effort in, why should I?

Fuck it, let's do this.

First, the elephant in the room: Beelzebub's design. That's a lengthy separate rant I'll save for another time, but I'll just say the first time I saw it, I thought it looked like some kid's DeviantArt fursona. But let's be real, I've got a feeling she only looks the way she does so Viv could make an easy reference to her "Die Young" music video.

I get that Kesha is Viv's idol and it must have been huge to land her for this voice-acting gig (though to be clear, she didn't sing the song in the episode. Helped write it; didn't sing it), but man, the self-indulgence is just leaking through the screen. This wouldn't feel so uncomfortable if Viv herself did any of the animation in this episode, but if you check the credits, she didn't. She wrote this plot cul-de-sac of pointless filler just so she could make other people animate the most complex character design to come out of the show and pat herself on the back for all of it. Again: Could have been a music video.

The episode's actual "plot" consists of Loona having a series of awkward conversations, calling Blitzo, and driving him home when he gets too trashed. There is a little development in their relationship? I guess? But of course no one mentions what went down at the beach. Much like what happened between Blitzo and Stolas in "Ozzie's", we can safely assume that event will get swept under the rug, never to be heard from again. I'd like to point out that the musical number takes about three minutes out of the fourteen-and-a-half-minute runtime. They could have cut the rest of this shit and nothing would have been lost; in fact a good amount of time and money would have been saved.

Three minutes. That's all you would have needed.

As far as Bee and Vortex, I never would've guessed they were a couple unless Vortex said so. They act more like good friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Y'all couldn't have shown us a kiss, a little flirting, or even a hug? The PDA doesn't have to be excessive, but some indication of chemistry might be nice. This would also create more tension and discomfort for Loona, as it'd be hard to watch the guy she has a crush on make out with someone else.

Also, question: In this universe, hellhounds have roughly the same social status as imps, right? Maybe lower? Why, then, is it perfectly okay for one of the Seven Sins, who outranks Stolas, to date a hellhound, but it's not okay for Stolas to date an imp? What the fuck was the main conflict of "Ozzie's", then?! Hello?? With what little worldbuilding y'all give us, could you at least try to keep it consistent?

Speaking of which, the cleanup in this one is just rife with inconsistencies. It's not usually something I comment on as it hasn't been too noticeable in other episodes, but damn. Sometimes the outlines are thick, then they're thin, then they're thick again. The screenshots below came from three consecutive Loona scenes:

And take a look at how often Beelzebub's longest eyelashes change:

I noticed a bit of this in Exes and Oohs as well, with the scratch on Chaz's nose changing thickness from scene to scene. I'll repeat what I said then: Make sure the whole cleanup department sticks to the same brush size.

As for the song "Cotton Candy"... eh. It was alright? Not really my thing, but I'm not a big pop music fan anyway. Would I listen to it in my everyday life? Nah. But it's fine. I will say there's a hiccup in the meter of the lyrics that kinda threw me off:

Hey, I don't know why I'm whatchu want but it's the truth I'm not your lie Let them eat cake let them eat pie Or better yet Let them eat COTTON CANDY!

Feels like there could've been more after "or better yet"; the "cotton candy" seems abrupt there, as if the song were playing on vinyl and the record skipped. Maybe "Or better yet/ The sweetest treat that any one of y'all can get/ COTTON CANDY!" Like I'm not a songwriter by any means and I don't pretend to be anywhere near Kesha or Drew Pearson's level, but perhaps a few more syllables would've made that verse feel more complete.

But the animation for the musical number was really good! (Sounding like a broken record here, but this could have been a music video and it would've been much more tolerable.)

Kesha's voice acting was okay, though in some spots it came off like she's never said the f-word before. Just didn't seem natural. But the rest was alright.

I did like how Beelzebub was actually a decent person, since it would've been way too easy to make anyone Vortex was dating (who wasn't Loona) a total bitch. But Bee is gregarious, generous and actually nice to Loona despite her social awkwardness. And hey, Loona had a somewhat-positive interaction with another female character, so brownie points for that, I guess?

Not sure what Loona actually learned here, though, or how she magically dropped the attitude and became more social after some rando flirted with her (I mean you were literally crying a minute ago but some dude calling you hot is enough to change your mind about leaving?). I don't know, it feels like the episode could've shown her connecting with other introverts and doing something fun in their own little enclave, enjoying the party in their own way, rather than making her extroverted in a matter of seconds. Then maybe her newfound friends would like her for who she really is, not for the arbitrary box she tried to squeeze into. There's more than one way to have fun at a party, y'know? Perhaps a way that doesn't involve drinking, which Loona seems keen to avoid (but has no problem cheering Blitzo on in a chugging contest, apparently-?).

One nitpick about the hellhound in the purple shirt who called Loona a hottie: That was not the voice I expected to come out of him. The delivery just doesn't match at all. Something deep, sure, but maybe smoother, more sultry? (Seriously, if you played the audio of that line for someone who hadn't seen the show and asked them to match it to a male character from this episode, I'd bet anything they wouldn't get it on the first try.)

I know I've said before that Helluva Boss is what happens when you write fanfic of your own IP, but this episode, more than any other, reeaaally felt like fanfic. This felt like a fan asking, "Hey, what if we saw what Loona was up to in the Ozzie's episode?", then creating a bottle story that didn't affect anything else in canon. This whole thing (apart from Cotton Candy) was truly a waste of everyone's time. I'm glad the animators got some good reel fodder out of it, but whatever they were paid, it wasn't enough.

#helluva boss #helluva critical #review #critique #criticism #long post

[archandshri]

9th feb '24 - [arch] characters, interactions and emotion - making a mini webcomic

Gahhhh Shri this has been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks!!!! Hope you are doing well :)) First of all, WOW! You have a lot of goals, and I’m sure you’ll get them done! I’ve worked a lot on my graphic design during the process of making Winter Wellbeing. If you wanna see a blog post dedicated just to that, I can do so! It would be cool to compare notes on the approaches we take for graphic layouts. If you wanna share your knowledge of camera skills when you build that up that would be awesome 😭😭

It’s been a tough few weeks, art wise. I have been reflecting on my process, motivations to create, the ego and all the baggage that’s lumped into the creative process for me. It turns out there’s a lot. I took some space from my illustration practise (literally for a weekend!) and began to realise how dysfunctional it is. I’ve been writing a lot about that so there may be a larger piece of writing coming about that at some point (no promises!!)

But for now, let's talk about little successes!

I’ve been playing with some characters for a while but I’d hit a bit of a block with the plot. I realised the expectation of having a finished project of high quality soon is unrealistic, and an unhealthy expectation to put on myself. I rarely give myself time to play with concepts for a long time and let the characters, plot and interactions evolve naturally. Maybe this in part came from sticking to the short university module turnaround. I noticed that that short turnaround was causing a lot of block, so I have decided to bench it as a comic for now and focus on using it as a playground - falling in love with the characters, creating stories and drawing them for fun. Maybe years down the line I’ll make them into a comic - we shall see! 

I *tried* to do hourly comics day this year and it didn’t quite work for me. I think I made 3 comics? And then got distracted with a bigger project that ended up taking a week or so to complete. Let’s have a look at it, shall we?

[you can find the full version here]

First of all, it’s based on an unfinished fanfiction I started a couple of months ago, which was mostly bad, but there was one nice scene that I liked and wanted to expand on. I started by having a look at the script I wrote and thumbnailing on the iPad. I’m away from home at the mo and usually would prefer to do most of my artwork traditionally, but because I don’t have access to a scanner, the whole process was digital this time. A lot of the pages got scrapped because the dialogue wasn’t necessary, and I’m not drawing pages that aren’t necessary.

some more development screenshots

I thought a lot about posing during the process, acting the scenes out in my mind and sometimes physically, really understanding the emotions of the characters, why they’re saying what they’re saying, their tone and how to convey that though their body language and expression (i find grian really annoying normally [affectionate] but I want this grian to step on me).

Pearl was hard with this because she’s quite erratic and unpredictable in this series, so I wanted her to switch from raw explodey anger to playful jabs at Grian. I’m hoping this comes across as somewhat insane, rather than tonally off and inconsistent. I did super enjoy drawing her and her explosive nature though, especially in comparison to Grian’s coldness.

I played with levels and monotone colour too - I’m not working with multiple colours much at the moment so I’m able to focus on things like values composition, characters and backgrounds. My skills limit the kind of stories I can tell currently, so I’m working to improve those foundations. Maybe when I’m back in the riso studio I can play with colours a little more.

Colours - despite the simple pallete it gets a bit nerdy here.I stuck to specific flat percentages for most of it - Pearl’s hair and Grians jumper are 60%, Grian’s hair and Pearl’s cloak are 20%. Then I added a 14% layer for shadows, using a ahrd blend eraser tool for highlights, making the images quite dark. I fill a layer with texture from Forystr’s riso brush for procreate, and turn it into a 40% opacity colour dodge layer. This gives it some much needed texture and makes the lighting feel low and nighttimecore. It also pushes the values to look really nice - I tend to be too scared to push them by myself.

I tried a few different colour layers to get a *vibe* but settled on a low percentage riso blue in a colour layer. All layers besides the riso blue are in a riso black, colour picked from a riso colour pallete. I learnt these tools - using percentages to get good values - from working with risograph. I really recommend having a look at these techniques and doing some monotone work. It's really improved by character designs, page layouts and compositions.

That's all from me today, though I have had MANY other thoughts over the past two weeks about creating, but perhaps we'll dive into them another time. If you (or anyone else) has any questions, hit me up with a reblog or an ask and I will get right to it. Lovely to hear from you! Hope your art is going great too :)) Arch :)

#archillustrates #arch is learning #project development #art #art process #art resource #process #artists on tumblr #illustration #comic #picture book #small art blog #art blog #illustration blog #female artists on tumblr #queer artists on tumblr #illustrator #book illustrator #female illustrator #queer illustrator #comic artist #comic art #female artists on instagram #artists on instagram #procreate #digital artwork #digital artist #artist blog #artist on tumblr #web comics

[tallsc]

AvM Ep 31 Spoilers

Just some commentary on various aspects of the new episode

So first, the episode in general - it was fun, looks like we're gonna be getting a more random one-off 4th season which I'm fine with, we get our plot and angst through AvA 6 XD I am somewhat curious if this is gonna be a full ten episodes or a shorter season like AvM 2 but either way having some random one-off things that are longer than the actual shorts is nice.

For the group as a whole, it's really nice to see them doing stuff like this again - and I can't help but compare it to the Cave Spider episode all that time ago. All of them have gotten so clever in their tactics, they're so much stronger and more skilled than they used to be! I did notice some individual stuff I wanna bring up of course but I had to mention how strong the group as a whole has gotten.

For Yellow - while they weren't competing, they're using the command block staff so well. I love how the flight from the Witch short was used (for some reason I love how they fly, it's so satisfying) and tbh I just love how they haven't stopped using the command blocks after all the dramatic stuff was over. Also - Yellow is the best at terraforming, Green might make awesome structures and art like that but Yellow is amazing at terraforming places, have you seen the backgrounds? Yellow built all that and it looks amazing.

For Orange - they've been getting back into the super-competitive spirit that everyone has, and considering the nature of this competition yeah they fought with each other but - at least from what I could tell from my first watch and the AVG reaction afterwards - they weren't more disruptive to the others than anyone else was, so I take that as a win. Appropriate levels of competitiveness.

For Red, SEE THEY'RE SUCH A QUICK THINKER I'm so proud of them in this episode, they were always the first to come up with whatever little strategies there were to gain ground, they had so many strategies that were so unique, they just did so well and I'm so happy for them. However their animals died and that is tragic :(

For Blue, they can be so vicious sometimes honestly, when they know it's a fun competition they go all out XD Explosives and all. I did find it interesting though that they seemed much more chill around Red - which is something that's shared in the Parkour episode a while back. They still compete obviously, but it's much less fast-paced and hostile than they are with the rest of them. Just finding that interesting.

And entirely unrelated to any character analyzing whatsoever I would like to give you this screenshot

I found this so funny what do you gain from this XDD

#alan becker #animation vs minecraft #reaction #avm 31 spoilers

[messydiabolical]

@dandenbo asked me for the art asks: 🎠What is a typical 'workflow' for a piece from idea to finished? It turns out to be a long answer so here's its own post, under the cut to save your dash! How I go from screenshot to painting: (This is not intended to be a 'this is how you do it!' kind of guide. I absolutely don't do an optimal route, this is just how I go about painting and what works for me! I've done a workflow for a screenshot to painting as I do a few different things but this is one I could explain somewhat coherently. My comics tend to be created pretty chaotically lol)

1) I take an ungodly amount of screenshots while playing. Also pester friends for their screenshots or stalk the group discord for interesting shots.

2) Go through all those screenshots cursing why I took so many, looking for those great moments that I want to paint. I’m particularly looking for nice poses/captivating moments, dynamic lighting or interesting expressions, and they don’t need to have all 3 as we can fix some of that in the next step. Here’s the screenshot I chose for my Keahi x Thane piece:

It was a cute, soft moment between them and I liked the highlight at the edge of their profiles. 3) Refine the screenshot. I don’t use anything fancy for this. I game on windows PC, so I open up the screenshot with windows photo editor. I crop the image, play around with saturation, exposure, contrast, just basic editing until it looks tastier. For this piece I wanted it to be hyper colourful and vibrant, leaning towards warmer tones.

4) Decide what I will change, then gather references for those changes. In this case I was fortunate that not a lot needed changing. I knew I wanted to move Thane’s eye position to looking at Keahi rather than the way he is slightly off focus, do a more realistic ear with earrings for Keahi, make Thane a little more smiley and lower his eyelid and give Keahi nicer eyelashes. I keep a whole bunch of art guides and tutorials on my PC so I grabbed the necessary ones and sent them to my ipad ready to have on hand for the sketch stage. I have Thane’s character model in XNApose, so I can check things like his eyelid specifically in that (this is actually for a different project but shows you what I mean)

If I was going to change up the lighting/shading I would also gather references for that. For example sometimes i’ll take screenshots of lighting schemes I love from films/tv shows (think the strong teal and orange scheme in Mad Max or the neons of Blade Runner). Or for precise shadows, I can again use XNApose. I also have a little 3d printed Thane head I can shine a torch at and take photos of to get shadow ideas. For humans there’s lots of reference to be found with online searches, I find pinterest more useful than google for this. For specific expressions or body parts, i’ll just take photos of myself (hand poses, smiling from the right angle etc.) My camera roll is an interesting place. I have drawn drell frills on my neck and on my chest before to see how the lines would fold at certain angles. 5) Setting up a canvas I work in procreate. For a piece like this I try to go pretty big, say 5000 x 4000 pixels, then i’ll crop down later as needed. 300 DPI. As I work, I’ll make duplicates and continue on the copy each fresh session. When i’m finished I make a backup save of the PNG and .procreate files on an SSD. I immediately turn the background colour down to a more muted colour to not burn my retinas. If i’m using a textured background like an oil board i’ll insert it, and any overlays like canvas effects. Set up my layers from the start basically for easy toggling throughout. I try to be good and label things to make life easier, it doesn’t always happen though. I don't wear a digital glove or use paper effect screens but I do have a bottle of screen cleaner and a microfibre cloth handy at all times. 6) Sketch. I’m still very much learning to draw. I tried for a long time to do the classic ‘ball for a head, draw the planes/lines etc. It was a constant struggle and never clicked for me, the ball especially always made things much worse, turning a circle into a 3d image in my head just does not happen. I find it better to just start drawing and work things out as I go (I use procreates reference window to see my screenshot). So I’ll have my sketch in one canvas, and i’ll also have a second canvas with the photo ref on it at the same size, and if I feel like something is really wonky and off i’ll test my lines over the photo to see what’s gone wrong, then go back to the sketch and correct the areas that revealed. Sometimes I’ll use the grid feature if i’m getting stuck.  Here's a few of the sketch stages:

Here I tried out the lines on the photo and noticed that Thane’s frills were a little too far to the left, and Keahi’s eyebrow needed to arch down towards the nose.In the next pass I correct these:

Also, and I know i’m gonna get side eye from some people for this but I really could not care less to be honest. On some pieces i’ll just trace the screenshot. Sometime I just want to get to painting, am not in the mood or mindspace for a learning experience, and this is a hobby. It’s my screenshot, no one is getting ripped off. My latest Javik piece was done this way 🤷‍♂️ 6) Painting. I’ll start by blocking in the background and the portrait flats, usually on separate layers. I try to have an idea of the background colour from the start as this can effect the whole piece overall, but sometimes you just gotta change it as you go so having it on a different layer makes this much easier.

The painting itself I’ll lay down wider areas of colours, then start going in and refining bit by bit, I tend to work on one area at a time, and sometimes I’ll get pretty well rendered on a small area before moving on, other times work on a wider area. It really depends on my mood and what i’m vibing with that day. Like you can see here I’ve done some general messy colouring all over Keahi, but done a lot of refinement on the eyeball:

7) Finshing the piece, uploading and testing: When I’m sick of rendering the painting and don’t think I can add anything more to it without gnawing my own wrist off, it is time to finish up! I make sure I toggle all the layers I want on, add a top signature layer (lol I lie I forget this all the damn time). Then i’ll upload the piece to my google drive and open it up on my big 4k monitor on my PC, and on my phone, and see how it looks (my ipad is a 9.7inch air). I find that once off my ipad, it often looks a little less saturated and contrasting as it does in procreate. So I might go back and change the levels if it’s too big a difference until it looks decent across devices (it’ll never look perfect on them all though, just gotta find that happy medium).

8) Posting online I really don’t have any strict steps for this. I know some people go for optimal posting times, and will make multiple copies of their pieces in different sizes to fit better on different sites (damn you instagram and your need for everything to be square). I… do not do any of this lol. I post when I’m done whatever time or day that is. I do tend to reblog/retweet etc before I go to bed, as I live in the UK and that will at least be getting into evening time in US. I reblog my own stuff a fair bit.

#md answers #art asks