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cal-kestis · 1 year

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HOW TO: Make a Pantone “Color of the Year” Gif

A few people have asked about my Pantone sets which use the “Color of the Year” swatch design. So, here’s a full tutorial with a downloadable template of my exact overlay! Disclaimer: This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of gif-making in Photoshop.

PHASE 1: PICKING A SCENE + PANTONE COLOR(S)

I’m starting with this because it’s crucial for planning your gifset as well as making sure the execution is smooth sailing. The steps in this phase won’t necessarily be literal steps but some tips for how I usually go about making a Pantone set:

1.1 – Picking a scene. Scene selection is everything. To make things easy on yourself, I suggest choosing scenes where the background is mainly ONE color — for example, a scene where the subject has a clear blue sky behind them. To make things even easier, choose a color that isn’t the same color as the subject of your gif. Like, if your subject is a human, I’d avoid using a gif with a red or yellow background unless you want to do a lot more work to mask their skin.

Rip me using a scene of green lil Grogu in green grass lmao. But I guess that goes to show you could really do this with any scene (I just did lots of masking and keyframe animations to perfect this green shade). BUT selecting your scenes wisely = a lot less work.

1.2 – Picking Pantone colors. People often ask me how I choose my colors and there are a few methods which I’ll go over below.

But note that not all Pantone colors have a cute name, or any name (fun fact: only Pantone textiles have official names and they end with TCX, TPX, or TPG).

METHOD A: Google Search “Pantone [Color]” Source: Google Easy but not always fruitful, all you do for this method is open Google and type “Pantone [insert color here].” For example, when searching for teal colors, I searched several things including: Pantone Teal, Pantone Turquoise, Pantone Blue, Pantone Green, Pantone Blue Green, etc. Then, just sift through the Google results and click on whatever comes up from the official Pantone website! Since Pantone’s site blocks some info behind a paywall, you won’t be able to get a hex code from them. But you can just screenshot the swatch from their site, put it in Photoshop, and use the eyedropper tool to figure out the color.

METHOD B: Color-Name Site Source: https://www.color-name.com/ This handy website lets you search by colors using the upper navigation bar. Or you can just type something like "magenta" or "blue pantone" or even “frog” and see what comes up lol. Color-name can put together palettes too! I like that this site also tells you the hex code of a color, which is really helpful for getting the right code to put in my overlay. Note: Not every color on this site is a Pantone textile, so not all of these names are Pantone-official names. You can tell it’s official if, in the Pantone row of the Color Codes table on the middle of the page, it has a code that’s 2 numbers, a dash, 4 numbers, and either TCX, TPX, or TPG.

METHOD C: User-Made Pantone Colors Archive Source: https://margaret2.github.io/pantone-colors/ For my Wednesday characters as Pantone colors set, it was all about matching the color name to the character’s vibe. So, before looking at the actual colors themselves, I wanted to find the perfect color names. I stumbled upon this page. The pros = it lists pretty much all of the current official Pantone names. The cons = it’s not convenient since there’s no filtering tool. You can do Command+F and search for keywords, but that’s it. I literally scrolled through this whole page for my Wednesday set and read every single name, which... I think means... something’s wrong with me /lh /hj

METHOD D: Official Pantone Color Finder Source: https://www.pantone.com/pantone-connect This is last on my list because I don’t actually recommend it. Unless you already have access to this resource from your school or work or something, I would never pay for it and it is a paid feature only. Boooo 👎 But there is a free trial (which I’ve never used), so if you want to see what it’s about, you can definitely go for it.

PHASE 2: MAKING THE BASE GIF

Again, just some super quick tips for making a gif that, I think, looks best with this kind of set — but if you’re still learning how to gif, I do have a basic gif-making tutorial here for extra guidance!

2.1 – Uncheck “Delete Cropped Pixels” before cropping your gif. When you use the crop tool, this checkbox appears in the top toolbar. Unchecking it allows you to move the positioning of your gif later on, which is handy in this case when you want to choose which part of your gif will be underneath the Pantone swatch. You can read more about this tip in my basic gif-making tutorial (linked above; Step 1.5 – Tip B).

2.2 – Make your gif 540px width. My gifs for these sets are usually 540x540px but I think 540x500px will also look good. I think it’s more impactful though to make a big gif to show off your coloring.

PHASE 3: ADDING THE PANTONE OVERLAY

3.1 – Download my template I made this template myself, so all I ask is that you don’t claim it as your own and that you give me proper insp or template credit in your caption if you decide to use it! Get the PSD with the transparent background here!

3.2 – Download the font Helvetica Neue Bold The font I use (and I’m pretty sure it’s the same font Pantone uses) is Helvetica Neue Bold, with some very specific letter spacing (which I determined by studying Pantone’s official Color of the Year Very Peri design). It’s already set in my .psd but here are specs in case: color name spacing = -40, color code spacing = -75 (sometimes I’ll do -25 for the numbers after the dash if I don’t like how tightly they’re packed together).

I uploaded Helvetica Neue Bold to my dropbox here!

3.3 – Import my overlay You can either drag the whole folder onto your gif from tab to tab or right-click the folder, select Duplicate Group, and select your gif as the destination document. Just make sure this overlay group is above your base gif!

3.4 – Fill the color swatch In my .psd, on the layer labeled “Pantone Swatch,” just grab the hex code of your chosen Pantone color and fill that layer using the Paint Bucket tool! I’ve already put a layer mask on the layer for you so it fits perfectly inside the square outline.

If you’re using my .psd, all the blend mode settings are already in place! I usually set the colored square behind the Pantone logo to the Color blend mode, but sometimes, I prefer the way Hue looks. It’s up to you!

You can also adjust the drop shadow settings to make your text more visible as needed. The layers are arranged in this order so the drop shadows don’t interfere with the semi-transparent part of the colored swatch.

3.5 – Insert the color name and code My .psd has two versions to choose from: (1) a color name that fits on one line and (2) a color name that requires two lines. Use the one that applies to your color name and simply type that and color code into the corresponding text layers!

Note 1: Pantone doesn’t keep their font size uniform for every color of the year. They’ll sometimes shrink the text to fit longer names, but I like being consistent. So, I use this one font size for all my colors.

Note 2: My template has all the text left-justified and matching the starting point of the P in Pantone. BUT, sometimes the gif looks better if you nudge the text a bit so it looks more centered. Use your discretion when aligning the text!

Note 3: Btw, you definitely don’t have to use the TCX/TPG codes like me. (I’m a nut and there’s no way I’ll ever do a Pantone set and not use those types of codes to maintain uniformity across this series lol.) I’ve seen others do sets inspired by mine using different color codes or even just the hex code itself!

PHASE 4: COLORING THE BASE GIF

The key here is to make a majority of your gif feature your chosen Pantone swatch. If you’re really smart with your scene selections, this should be a breeze! If you’re stubborn like me and want to use specific scenes with the opposite color of your chosen Pantone swatch, there will be a bit more color manipulation involved... However, this isn’t a coloring tutorial, so again, I’m going to give some tips and resources that will hopefully help you out!

4.1 – Color matching. Now that you have the Pantone swatch on your gif, you should be able to reference that center square set to Color/Hue to match the rest of your gif to that color. Feel free to paint a little blob of your color onto another layer anywhere on your gif so you can refer to it closer over a specific part of your gif. For example, I put a little circle over Grogu’s head to see how closely I matched Pantone’s Peapod color, then I tweaked my adjustment layers a bit more until the colors matched near perfectly and I couldn’t tell where that blob begins or ends. The left is the solid color and the right is set to the blending mode Color (like the square):

4.2 – Moving the base gif. This isn’t really about coloring... but remember when I said to uncheck “Delete Cropped Pixels” in Step 2.1? Well, here’s your chance to adjust your canvas and move the gif around so the exact part you want under the color swatch is in the right position. I personally think these kinds of sets are more impactful when you put a differently colored part of your gif under the swatch so you can see through it and the difference is clearer. In my example, I put Grogu in the center so the green box would cover some of his brown potato sack robe.

4.3 – Color manipulation. Color manipulation is when you transform your media’s original color grading into a completely different color. The Grogu gif isn’t a great example because the original scene was already a green-yellow color:

I mean, the difference is still pretty drastic but that’s mostly because my file was HDR and washed out as a result.

So, here’s an example I made using a gif from my first Pantone set for ITSV (I’m not doing this demo to the Grogu gif because it’d be too much work to manipulate a green background with a green subject. This ITSV scene is perfect bc the majority of it is blue while the subjects are mostly red.)

For the “basic coloring,” I did everything as I normally would: mostly levels and selective color layers.

For color manipulation, my fav adjustment layer is Hue/Saturation (those are the screenshots that are on the gif above). When you’re smart with your scene selection, it’s pretty easy to manipulate colors with one Hue/Sat layer because you usually only need to tamper with 1-2 colors and, hopefully, they shouldn’t interfere with skin tones (obviously you’ll do other layers to further enhance your gif’s brightness, contrast, etc. — but I just mean the heavy lifting usually only takes me one layer with a good scene choice).

All you have to do is figure out what color the majority of your gif is, toggle to that color’s channel, and fiddle with the hue slider. In the gif above, you can see that I played with both the Blue and Cyan channels. Here’s why:

If I only adjust the Blue hue slider, I get those speckles of cyan peaking through in the gif above. Unless you’re working with completely flat colors — like 2D animation with zero shading/highlights — a color is never just one, solid color. Blue isn’t just blue, it may have some cyan. Purple isn’t just purple, I often have to toggle the Blue channel too. So, yeah, be mindful of that!

I’ll sometimes go in with the brush tool and paint over some areas of my gif to really smooth out the color and make it uniform. When I do that, I just set that painted layer to the Color blend mode. Some of the resources below go into that technique a bit more!

4.4 – Coloring resources. While not all of these tutorials cover the same type of color manipulation I did in my gifs, I think the principles are similar and would be helpful to anyone who’s a beginner: – color manipulation tutorial by usergif/me: I go a bit more in depth here (I think lol) – how to change the background of any gif by usergif/fionagallaqher: a great tutorial for using keyframes so you can manipulate the background of a gif with lots of motion – bea’s color isolation gif tutorial by nina-zcnik: this tutorial has more tips about hue/saturation layers as well as masking your subject – elio’s colouring tutorial by djarin: this tutorial shows a lot of examples of first manipulating the colors then brushing over the gif with a matching color for extra coverage

And just one last note on coloring, I always try to appreciate gifs with the mentality that “good” coloring is 100% subjective. One of the only things I would classify as “bad” coloring is when you whitewash or [color]wash someone’s skin tone. So, as long as you keep the integrity of your subjects’ natural skin — especially if they’re a POC — you should feel good about your coloring, because it’s yours and you worked hard! <3

PHASE 4: EXPORT

That’s it!! If you work in Video Timeline like me, just convert from Timeline back to Frames, export your gif, and voila!

Easy PEAsy. 🥁

If you have specific questions about this tutorial, my ask box is open <3

Also, check out these other Pantone-inspired sets by my friends @nobodynocrime (Mulan set) and @wakandasforever (Ponyo set)! There are so many ways to use Pantone colors in your set, so I hope this inspires you to create something beautifully colorful <3

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lunarheslwt · 1 year

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Hi! I wanted to put together all the fics I've read and loved over November for this month's 28th appreciation, so here they are! Click on the links for full tags and summaries. If you read any of these make sure to show the authors some love by leaving kudos and comments!

🔸I know you rider (gonna miss me when I'm gone) by @cyantific

(9.4k | T | single-rider line au)

The one where Louis hates hippies and roller coasters and Harry tries to fix that with lots of fun facts, terrible puns and perhaps one very life-changing moment in a dark tunnel.

"Nostalgia inducing, simply delightful, summer 90's vibes"

🔸Adélfes psychés by pleasinglouis

(19k | E | Greek mythology au)

Harry has been hopelessly in love with a certain woodland nymph for as long as he can remember and no amount of wooing seems to be working

(summary cut so the post isn't too long!)

"poetic, a little ethereal, incredibly sweet."

🔸Everyone's entitled to one good scare by @levelofcharm

(10k | E | Halloween themed CNC vampire au)

“We can play hide and seek. Go on, try to hide bunny,” he coos as he taps the cool knife to Louis’ heated cheek teasingly, his voice switching with ease to something stern and serious, “but hope I don’t find you.”

Louis has suspected his husband isn't what he says and is determined to be right this Halloween

(read tags please!)

"thrilling, dizzyingly hot, perfect Halloween gift"

🔸Where sirens fear to tread by @aliensingucci

(28k | M | siren forbidden love au)

in the royal line, there are only a select few sirens with the ability to transform into humans once a month. harry is one of those sirens. he mostly sticks to the rules. when he's on land, he reads his books. he buys copious amounts of ice cream. he keeps to himself. that is until he meets a lifeguard named louis working at one of the luxury resorts on St Barts. and unfortunately, harry doesn't know the rules about falling in love at all.

"endearing, gripping, characters you root for"

🔸Compete against the stars by @daggerandrose

(30k | M | arranged marriage a/b/o)

“We should probably keep our distance,” Harry says, now backing up until he’s leaning against the wall opposite of Louis. It already feels too far away. “I don’t know if I can handle not being able to touch you in some small way.”

Louis nods and looks down. “The solstice will be here soon,” he murmurs.

“And with it, our mates,” Harry finishes, his voice cracking at the last word.

An ABO au where Louis finds out he's claimed to another Alpha. Angst ensues.

("ridiculously soft, smidge of tension, fuzzy vibes")

🔸When love is enough by @larrysballetslippers

(5k | E | poly relationship)

“Please, daddy,” Harry begged, he wanted Louis so much. Louis shuffled to his side and kissed his lips. Harry felt like he was in heaven, Louis’ kisses were always soul-healing but also so devilish.

Louis pulled back, eliciting a whine from Harry, and stroked his cheeks “I’m going to make you cry today, edge you so hard you don’t know how-”

Louis stopped talking when they heard the bell ring in the distance. Louis’ eyes grew large when it rang for the second time. “Harry, who are you expecting?”

Or, Harry gets an unpleasant surprise visit in the middle of a scene.

"part of a must read series, heart warming, sweet"

🔸You go undercover (you cross your fingers) by @forthetherapyy

(25k | E | kid fic)

When they reach the top of the steps, Harry puts the buggy down gently.

“Thank you,” Louis says. “My hero.”

Harry laughs.

“You don’t need rescuing,” he says.

louis didn’t think that motherhood would be easy, but he certainly wasn’t prepared for just how challenging it would be. he also wasn't prepared for a certain alpha called harry appearing each time he needs help until accepting is no longer a difficult thing to do.

"incredibly sweet, warm, and a comfort read"

🔸Every witch way by @falsegoodnight

(36k | E | a witchy au)

The last thing Harry wants to be doing this summer is running his aunt's occult shop while she's away, but that's where he finds himself, bitter and bored. That is, until a boy and his cat stumble into Harry's life and turn it upside down.

"incredibly gripping, stunning world building, flawless"

🔸A Springtime's Wilt, an Autumn's Bloom by snowcaplou

(20k | E | chauffeur au)

Harry is Louis' personal chauffeur, and although he hides his feelings for his boss behind a wall of rigid professionalism, Louis still manages to squeeze through the cracks.

"perfect for a quick read, sweet, wonderful characters"

🔸Dip you in honey by @eeveelou

(28k | E | omega x omega royalty au)

Princess Harry, the pearl of England, is set to be married to the youngest prince of France in just six months. Anxious about his performance on his wedding night, he enlists the help of his loyal handmaiden Louis to help him practice everything he needs to know

"delicate, pure, and delightfully scandalous all at once"

🔸what a wicked thing to do (to make me dream of you) by @maroonmoonlouis

(44k | E | enemies to lovers dark academia heirs au)

Heirs Louis and Harry have been promised as mates to each other their whole lives. It's expected that they will be the perfect pair to bring honor to their families. Louis cannot let that happen.

"captivating, electrifying, and perfect"

🔸Even on my worst days by @homosociallyyours

(21k | E | sick fic, chronic illness)

When they meet at a party, Louis is instantly drawn to Harry like a moth to a flame. They hit it off, and Louis is eager to get to know Harry better-- maybe even take him out on a date --but Harry is hesitant. Cautious.

Since developing chronic fatigue a few years earlier, a lot of things have changed for Harry, his once active lifestyle reduced to the occasional outing like the one he met Louis at, visits to the doctor, and doing his best to take care of himself on hard days. He can't imagine that anyone-- especially not someone like Louis --would ever really want to be with him.

It takes time to convince him otherwise, but Louis can see he's worth it. He just has to get Harry to see it too.

"beautiful, touching, characters you will adore"

🔸Wanna play you like a game, boy (what's the thrill of the same toy?) by @thebreadvansstuff

(10k | E | humiliation kink)

Louis is Harry's boss, and Harry has a humiliation kink. (for full summary click fic link 😩)

"stupidly hot, hot and hot."

🔸You Can Lay Your Hands On Me by @momrryrights

(37k | E | bdsm au)

a non-famous, established relationship BDSM AU where Harry would really like his very sweet and caring boyfriend to dom him. Said boyfriend is more than happy to do so.

"delightfully detailed, super hot, incredible"

🔸wanna wake up with you and say baby let's do it all over again by @alwaysxlarrie

(16k | M | service kink fic)

“Harry, it’s okay. This is a safe space.”

“No, it’s not. You throw cheese puffs at me any time I walk around naked.”

“Okay.” Niall tilted his head in acknowledgement, then corrected himself. “It’s a safe space for things I deem acceptable.”

“Of course.” Harry rolled his eyes. “So, what’s the thing?”

“Your service,” Niall flailed his hands in the air for a few seconds, “thing.”

“My service,” Harry paused to mimic Niall’s hand movements, “thing?”

“Yes.”

"the dream duo dynamic, equally hot and cute, a gem"

Thank you wonderful writers who keep giving us the most amazing works<3

#28th appreciation #fic rec #larry fic rec #November reads #larry

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morkitten · 1 year

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I finally read the IDW Sonic comics

I wonder if anyone’s been wondering why did it take me this long to do it. “You’re a Sonic fan, right?” I imagine some people who know me ask. I think people get the wrong idea of me.

I have strong opinions about Sonic-related things having followed the games for so long and having some Sonic games be my favorite games of all time. I was in Sonic forums, my first characters were Sonic fan-characters.

(pictured: my first character)

But I think people think that because of those things, you need to “follow the fandom”, that you need to consume and like every single thing related to a franchise. I was like that when I was young, but I’ve been an adult for a decade, and I think “liking” things should be much more complex than “is of this intellectual property”. Do the people who made the things that you like about your favorite game still work at the company who owns the IP of its franchise? People make things, not companies, although it can be fun to see other talented people do their take on a thing that you like, when they have interesting ideas and aren’t doing so cynically.

Still, when it’s something that it’s been a big part of your life and you have strong opinions about it, you feel the pull of curiosity tugging you, and when my friend asked me to read the IDW comics to talk about’em and gave me access to their account so I could do it, it felt like the perfect opportunity to jump in.

To be honest, at first I was extremely bored. It took me something like 30-something issues (yikes!!!) to start coming around to it. I thought that the writing was really boring. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t witty, it didn’t make me feel things for the characters. Especially at the beginning where they’re just introducing every single character from the games. Why? Couldn’t you introduce a handful to use for a story arc, then use another different selection for the next story? Were they worried that a kid that had Silver or the Chaotix as their favorite characters would think that they would never be a part of the story if they’re not introduced fairly early? It’s strange. So the first few issues feel like a bunch of “introduce a character and make them look cool defeating some robots”. It’s boring. I mean, there’s really no sense of danger when those characters are just fighting regular badniks, is there? You know it’s not going to be an issue. So why have them? You could argue, well, it can still be good action even when there’s no sense of danger or stakes. I think it can be great opportunities to make good physical comedy, like Tom & Jerry where the robots are Tom and Sonic is Jerry. But a lot of times the way to dispose of those robots is just a panel of like, Sonic dashing between a bunch of them and they explode. Snore! Like, remember how Sonic CD had those ending sequences of Sonic fighting badniks in different Zones and every single time he does it in a different way? How cool and even sometimes really funny it looked?

dude... he’s made’em look like they were fuckin’

now let’s compare to literally one of the first pages of the IDW comics:

Boring! Just because Sonic boosts into enemies to destroy them in the games doesn’t mean that I’d want to see him do that in a comic. Actually, especially because of that you *shouldn’t* do that in a comic! We’re outside of the boundaries of video games - you can write all sorts of scenes and actions and stories that we don’t see in a video game, that don’t work on that format, that we haven’t already *seen* in the games. Give us something new, exciting, funny!

This is actually a big issue that I have with adaptations nowadays. It feels like we’re overcorrecting the fact that adaptations in the west were often completely uninterested in the original material, now going too far into “needs to be very literal to the source”. And especially with the IDW comics at first, it feels like a barrage of references to the games, like it’s marred to this mentality that more references = better adaptation. Anyone can read a wiki nowadays, it’s not impressive. It just feels like you’re being bombarded with stuff that shouldn’t even be here. Who was asking for the Deadly Six to come back? Why do we need them? And like, because I got the Sonic brainrot I understand every time that they pull something out of the reference hat, but often they’ll reference things in ways that I’m like “how is a kid supposed to understand what this *means*”, like they’re written like you’re supposed to already know these things, already have played every single other game, and the comics are just a “sequel” to all of that.

Anyway, I think this issue with the action might also be a problem of how comic books are made. Writer and artist are often separate entities, unlike manga, so you often don’t get like, very specifically graphic comedy or action that requires that many panels to set up a joke or some specific action that is maybe only appealing because of how specifically it is drawn. I’m guessing the writer just writes “Sonic disposes of badniks” and the artist isn’t going to debate “well, if we can make some significant cuts to other things that you wrote and give me some time, I can both think up and do a whole sequence that takes up a page and a half as to how he disposes of this very small inconsequential thing in a way that’s funny or fun”. That isn’t going to happen. You’re going to get one or two panels of Sonic dashing into these inconsequential badniks unless the writer envisions a specific bit and writes it down, I’d imagine. Unless you got pages to spare. Also all the characters look like that while they’re doing it, right? The smug smile, throwing a quip or two. I really dislike that. There’s not much emotional range in the comic for a while, it’s just this emotional temperature for several issues.

And even when they start introducing different emotional temperatures and character conflict, the writing at first really isn’t great. I was also not sold by the Metal Virus story, even though there are some nice ideas that I really like in them, I don’t think it’s “there yet”. I think this page here illustrates my issues with the writing:

For context, Cream (the rabbit) is something like 6 or 8 years old, and the robot (Gemerl) is her robot friend butler who decides in its programming that the best course of action to make Cream and her mom safe is to beat up everyone infected by the virus that turns people into robot zombies - Sonic’s partially infected and is fighting off the disease.

Like, is this how a 6 year old would talk? Is this how a 6-8 year old girl would plead to her friend to not attack her other friends? It feels like that genre of tweets where it’s like “my 6 year old son walked up to this bigot in the bus and told him how racism and homophobia is bad and that you should vote joe biden and the entire bus clapped”. I think she should be scared, she shouldn’t be able to “make an argument”, like she’s not that articulate or confident in her own words, but that she knows that it’s wrong, she knows she doesn’t want this to happen and is pleading desperately to Gemerl and is maybe confused as to why would Gemerl even hurt her friend. It’s also really weak that Gemerl would just be convinced by this tepid argument like it hasn’t thought of these things before until Cream said them, it makes Gemerl look really stupid. Maybe it changes its mind because Cream is scared, because it decides in its programming that keeping her happy is part of her safety or more important than her physical safety, maybe something else happens! I don’t know! I just know that what we got instead is boring!

There’s tons of plot points or conflicts that are disposed of quickly, easily, pointlessly like this. Sonic for an issue drops down in Blaze’s dimension with amnesia but gets his memory back and gets sent back to his world extremely quickly. Like we spend maybe 4 pages total with this whole “Sonic has amnesia” bit. Why did that happen at all, then? It’s not funny, exciting, it doesn’t set up anything, it’s... nothing. Nothing happens.

Also, a lot characters are constantly written in a really flat way. Especially if they’re good guys, they often don’t feel like they have motivations other than “to do good” and their argument for someone in a moral crisis is always “well, but you’re doing *good things* now, aren’t you?” And it makes me want to scream “Good doesn’t mean anything!” I think every character should be written like they have different ideas of what doing good for themselves and others mean. I think they get slightly better about this later on, they make it a point that Sonic’s ideals are about fighting for people to be free, that he prizes freedom above all else, which then leads to him resolving conflicts often with just letting villains go. But like, Tails disposes of a bad guy in an issue by putting him in jail. I would not write that. I think Tails is too lined up with Sonic’s ideals and prizes him too much to do something that Sonic would disagree with so strongly.

The art is also hit-or-miss. I don’t like shit-talking visual artists. Illustration is hard especially if you’re banging these out quickly. Comics are hard! But the quality undoubtedly fluctuates a lot depending on what artist they got for the issue. I like a few artists and I don’t really like the rest.

---

Okay, so! With all of that out of the way, how exactly did I turn around on these comics? Just to be clear, I don’t think they completely turn around, a lot of these issues still somewhat persist, but are lessened.

Well, I think the comic really starts getting good once we get more of the original characters in. I really like them! They’re interesting concepts and they work quite well with the already established cast. Dr. Starline in particular, feels like a great secondary antagonist to play off Dr. Eggman and the rest of the cast. It’s a really welcome presence that never feels like it’s jutting out weirdly, like a guest appearance or a temporary addition.

Belle the Tinkerer is also a really fun character. What all the new characters have in common is, besides that they’re fun conceptually and that they have fun designs and personalities, is that they’re allowed to have character arcs, growth, plotlines, these things that are essential for a comic that leans into a serialized narrative like this one, that they can’t quite do with the pre-established SEGA characters. It makes me wonder if a significant part of my issues with the early stuff is just that they were very tied on how they’re able to portray the pre-established characters or what they can do. Once they create a cast of new characters and flesh them out and create narratives surrounding them, it really starts to get going.

To be fair, the thing that most made me want to read these comics was Surge. One look at her and it’s like. Oh. she’s catnip made for me.

But that made me all the more wary about her. Do I trust her to be written well? I think people often fall into these pitfalls writing the sort of character that she is and end up with stuff I find really bad. But man, I’m so glad she’s exactly the kind of character that I thought she was going to be, she’s written and drawn exactly how I would like her to be. I don’t wanna spoil people so I can’t exactly explain what that means, just know that: I love Surge, I really do. I’m just going to post some of my favorite panels of her.

The art is also consistently better in the more recent issues (look at this last panel I posted! this artist gets a ton of work on the latest issues and their stuff consistently looks great!), and the Surge & Kit, Starline and Belle the Tinkerer plotlines are engrossing and fun. I’ve been finding plenty to like even if there’s some stuff I’ve felt is less than great still persists. In short, I’m glad that I didn’t quit even when I felt plenty justified in doing so. I’m trying to be open and not dismissive of things. Try stuff out and go through with them, because I don’t ever want to dislike something, and if I do, I want to be desperately proven wrong! If you keep trying new things out, even those that you’re iffy on looking from the outside, you’ll often find some stuff to enjoy, to enrich yourself, or even to just make an enormous post that nobody in their right mind will read afterwards.

#idw sonic #surge the tenrec #sth #sonic the hedgehog #sonic

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mingkily · 2 years

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x the bees and the flowers ~ c.jh x

CURRENTLY AIRING

starring: jongho x gn! reader

features selected: small popcorn (2.3k), romcom, lumberjack jongho

audience warnings: swearing

behind the scenes: my friend said she’d slumber and i, because i am absolutely unserious, went on to say “lumber... lumberjack... lumberjohn...” and this was how lumberjack jongho was born

synopsis: other people have an office romance, but of course the biggest fan of air conditioning and wifi has to find love in the woods

you will never ever agree to go on a trip with your friends again. especially not if said friends have just entered their hippie phase and want to be close to nature and know no better way to do that than to go to a cabin in the middle of the woods, with no electricity and no air conditioning and absolutely no protection against the ruthless insects that call the forest their home and seem to love blood more than a vampire ever could. this was a horrible idea and you regret ever letting yourself be convinced to join, because you know you’re not the one-with-nature type, you’ve known this since you were a child and your father was convinced the perfect bonding activity would be to go fishing. needless to say, you found it boring, kept on complaining and the two of you ended up not catching a single fish.

when you arrive at the cabin your friends rented you have to admit, though, that maybe you were a little dramatic, because your housing does have electricity and you don’t have to shit in the forest either, contrary to what you were fearing until now. and then something happens that makes you take back every single less-than-nice thought you’ve been thinking about this trip while in the car on the way to bumfuck nowhere, and that something is a man in a half-unbuttoned flannel and a pair of denim shorts. and that man, it appears, is the one to rent out this place to whoever desires to abandon civilisation for a while.

and his name is jongho, as he lets you know while unlocking the door to let you in.

jongho shows you around and seems especially proud of the fireplace, telling your group that if you run out of firewood you should give him a call, he’ll take care of it, flexing his biceps jokingly but the way you can’t take your eyes off him afterwards sadly isn’t a joke at all. and now you almost hope that your electricity will die and some mystic happening will cut you off from all civilisation, so it’s just your friends (you choose to ignore them in your little fantasy), you and jongho.

you know not to provoke fate, though, so you quickly push those thoughts away; but not without engaging in a little fantasy of him wrapping you in a blanket and carrying you toward the warm fireplace, letting you know that in order to stay warm you’ll have to cuddle. that much you allow yourself before you return to reality.

however reality isn’t too bad either, because during the next few days jongho comes around regularly, either with some more chopped wood or with a fish he caught himself or one time he visits just to make sure everything is still okay, and the heart eyes you get whenever you are in his general vicinity are obvious to everyone but the man himself. or maybe he just chooses to ignore them. you wouldn’t be able to blame him, really, because you’ve barely exchanged more than two words - partly owed to the fact that any and all coherent thoughts leave you when he’s around and all your brain manages to come up with is tarzan and jane-type scenarios featuring him and you. that is not exactly what you want to tell him about, so you remain silent for the most part and let your friends do the talking.

you don’t even really listen when they talk, too busy admiring jongho’s voice and then getting embarrassed over how easily this man affects you, and this comes to be your demise because with your friends’ hippie phase also comes a newfound interest in “free love” and since your interest in the host is incredibly obvious they decide to set you up, telling the object of your desire that out of all of you you’re the one with the most fishing experience when he asks if any of you like to go fishing. it’s not a lie, technically, because their only contact with fish has been in pre-cooked form, but that is a detail no one finds relevant enough to mention.

and when jongho asks if you’d like to join him on a fishing tour somewhen you really can’t find it in yourself to say that no, you’d rather not.

so once more you curse your friends for your situation, except this time the presence of the perpetually flannel-clad jock - he’s a lumberjack, you’ve gathered by now - is more a reason to wail than a source of joy. because, let’s face it, you are going to embarrass yourself horribly, and you’d rather embarrass yourself in front of your friends than in front of a total snack like this. you just hope you’re not going to fall into any waters.

at least in that regard fate is on your side, because the fishing trip goes without you getting soaked, and generally goes better than you’d expected - turn out that fishing for the most part is just sitting and not being loud, and you’ve become quite good at not saying a word around jongho these past days.

maybe the success of this fishing tour made you a little too confident, though, your demise lurking just around the corner. the next embarrassment is never far; in this case it comes when you offer to help him collect all the fishing utensils but then step too close to the water and almost fall right in. you would have fallen right in if he hadn’t had good reflexes and pulled you back, towards him, and of course you land on his chest, staring at him wide-eyed and completely shocked until he gently pushes you off, your body weight seemingly no issue to someone with biceps like these.

you apologise profusely and can’t even look him in the eyes, convinced he thinks you’re just some weirdo from the city, and you’re ready to go take a swim in the lake voluntarily when you hear him laugh - anything to escape this embarrassment, anything to escape his mockery.

except he isn’t mocking you, he’s laughing off the awkward situation before he asks: “are you okay?”

“yeah, i’m, i mean, you’re the one that almost got crushed by me, so i should be asking you, uh-”

here he interrupts you.

“if that would’ve been enough to almost crush me maybe i should consider another profession.”

and again he flexes his biceps, winking when he sees you staring. okay, so maybe you have a thing for muscles. and maybe you’re not as sneaky about it as you thought.

you don’t really say another word as he walks you back to the cabin - which, you convince yourself, is only because otherwise you’d get so horribly lost -, but once there he lightly touches your elbow as if to stop you without actually stopping you. it’s enough to make you freeze in your spot.

“if you’re not too scared of ending up actually taking a bath, maybe you could join me next time i go fishing as well?”

the words don’t register immediately, and when they do you’re not sure you didn’t hallucinate them, and first when jongho says “i get if today was too scary though” with a smile that’s either teasing or masking disappointment do you realise that he did, in fact, ask you for real.

“no yeah that’s fine! i’m not scared, it’s fine!”

maybe you sound overeager. you don’t care. it’s not like today can get any more embarrassing, anyway.

his reply of “i’ll see you then!” goes nearly unnoticed, because you’re too busy staring at his smile and imagining what your wedding would be like. but he does come to see you again, two days later (now you’re glad your friends found three weeks to be the minimum time for the vacation you cursed a week ago but that you never want to end now that you have a crush), skillfully hits the last piece of wood of this chopping batch with the axe you’ve grown used to seeing him with - and makes you swoon with that - and asks you if you want to go on another fishing tour.

of course you do.

so you go to the lake again, except this time it seems like jongho wants to talk to you, albeit quietly, and you try to not sound too boring, try to not sound too much like a spoiled city kid.

you fail miserably, but he just laughs, doesn’t seem to mind, and you actually find out some things about him as well. you’d probably have found out even more if you hadn’t been so busy staring at his arms and legs and chest whenever you got the chance.

soon you get better at coordinating the staring and the conversations, because he invites you out to join him after that, too, until two days before you’re set to leave he doesn’t take you to your usual spot at the lake but instead to a small clearing, and turns out the basket he’s been carrying wasn’t food for fish but rather food for humans.

you’re surprised and don’t fully get what’s going on, but jongho is quick to explain.

“okay so uh… you like me and you’re leaving in two days so i figured i might as well take you on a date.”

he sounds confident, as if he was stating facts rather than assumptions, and that’s what leaves you dumbfounded enough to not even question it but just stutter out: “oh, uh, okay. sure.”

you’re glad it’s nothing too fancy, though, because that would have embarrassed you more than it would have made you happy, but he seems to have understood that much about you from the conversations you had while fishing. it’s just some sandwiches, some fruit, and a whole lot of water. the summer heat is cruel even in the cooling shade of the forest.

jongho tells you that he’s noticed the way you’d look at him, and since he didn’t want to be too hopeful he admits to asking your friends about his suspicions - his wishful thinking, he claims -, and those traitors ratted you out like it was nothing. you’re not sure whether to be angry or grateful right now.

he then goes on to say that he’s been trying to use the fishing tours as dates, but that’s not very romantic and also he never actually said it straight out, and he didn’t want you to go back without even trying so that’s how you got here.

“so we’re on a date?”, you ask, just to be fully sure, and he nods, though he adds: “unless you’d rather not, i mean.”

“no!”, surprised by how loud your voice is, “no, it’s… i’m glad it’s a date.”

again he smiles at you, a smile that still makes you kind of wobbly in the knees, and then you’re on a date. you wouldn’t ever have expected this kind of date, but you don’t complain, find yourself thoroughly impressed when he splits an apple in two with his bare hands and offers you one half to eat, and even more so when he picks you up with one arm while carrying the picnic bag with the other.

he puts you back down before you reach the cabin, because being caught like that would have been embarrassing and also a reason for endless teasing, though your friends find such a reason anyway when you peck his cheek on the doorstep and tell him you hope you’ll see him again the next day.

that maybe would have been forgotten after a week or so, but jongho wraps you in a bear hug that he uses as an opportunity to ask you if he can kiss you without anyone hearing, and when you confirm that he can he doesn’t hesitate at all.

you’re on cloud nine for exactly three seconds before you hear one person hollering and another three people ‘shh!’ing that person, and with a heavy sigh you pull away from him.

“i’ll see you tomorrow”, you tell him, voice laced with regret because this was so nice and you very much didn’t want to stop yet, but it appears you have no choice.

“yeah”, he says, presses a kiss to your forehead and leaves you to your fate, though he makes up for it the next day by asking if you’d like to date him for real, and when it turns out that this is just his summer job that he uses to live his lumberjack dreams and that he doesn’t actually live too far away from you you agree, grinning like an idiot from that point onwards and it’s fairly obvious what happened.

and it’s even more obvious when he, dressed in a flannel as always, takes you out on a city date, a date which ends with him bench pressing you because you were convinced he couldn’t and he was unable to accept this slight to his honour.

“so i have a hunk of a boyfriend now and you have another set of weights, i guess.”

whenever you say anything of the sorts he’s quick to shut you up with a kiss, and maybe that’s why you still say it even after you’ve hit the 100 days mark.

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appears · 7 months

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Pizzicato Five: the international playboy & playgirl record

25th anniversary

By 1998, Pizzicato Five had settled into the perfect groove: they had found their voice and niche as leading purveyors of the Japanese indie-pop/Shibuya-kei scene, were regularly releasing some of the most interesting and stylistically original music anywhere, and had also established their signature look, incorporating their love of 60s ye-ye, 70s funk, soul, and disco, and 90s hip-hop and house into the now iconic throwback looks ripped from the pages of Petticoat and Queen. This mid-90s period was their most fruitful, with almost one studio album released every year that decade (not to mention the countless remix and best-of compilations, and EPs) -- when genius burns, it positively scorches. At their height, right on the cusp of the end, they released the international playgirl & playboy record.

Pizzicato Five were one of the very rare and lucky Japanese groups to have a cult international following, with the indie label Matador distributing their music beginning with 1994's Five By Five and Made in USA, a compilation record, before finally doing the group justice enough to release albums mostly unchanged. Thus, the international playboy & playgirl record became, simply, Playboy & Playgirl for the U.S. release, coming out seven months after the original in the spring of 1999. By many hipsters' account, Shibuya-kei was mostly done by the late 90s, a hip trend taken to its logical dead-end with the number of copy-cat groups and zero-sum looting of obscure musical samples that rendered obsolete the special "insider's knowledge" of bragging rights that made the genre so fun. I can also see how some might think Yasuharu Konishi, the main writer, producer and one half of P5, with Maki Nomiya on vocals, was running out of ideas.

Certainly, the music on Playboy & Playgirl is some of their most commercial yet, tending towards a more standard J-pop sound with singles like "WEEKEND" and the title track "PLAYBOY PLAYGIRL." It's certainly some of their most lush, with the orchestral hints on previous album ROMANTIQUE '96 now making way for full string quartets and roiling brass popping up throughout the album like Burt Bacharach on caffeine. Along with the iconic jacket art, it's a very cinematic sound, the fulmination of Konishi's entire aesthetic now in its full, no-cost-spared production. It's absolutely gorgeous, and the fact that the focus shifted from showing off Konishi's esoteric musical influences to crafting actual masterpieces only made the music better and stronger on its own. Sure, you might be a more sophisticated listener for being able to name the James Taylor, Herb Pilhofer, and Richard de Bordeaux & Daniel Beretta samples, but even if you didn't recognize them, you could still enjoy the songs.

I don't want to ignore Maki Nomiya -- she may not have been the ultimate mastermind like Konishi, but you can hardly imagine P5's entire aesthetic without her. Besides being the face of the group, she has one of my favorite voices in Japanese music history. While she may not have the bold, endless range and gymnastic ability of what people in the West associate with great vocalists, like Christina Aguilera or Mariah Carey, say, she has what I consider quintessential 90s J-pop vocals: light but steady, clipped and precise, smooth, and impeccably articulated. There's nothing immediately recognizable about it in the context of her J-pop contemporaries, but her voice is absolutely perfect for the type of music P5 did, and her essential presence enhances the warmth of their sound.

the international playboy & playgirl record was released in many different versions, and since this is my favorite P5 record, I finally own all of them. It was first released in Japan on the group's own Readymade label under Nippon Columbia in a slim DVD-sized cardboard box, as well as on 12" vinyl that included selections from the album, rather than the record in its entirety. It was also distributed on the indie label Matador in the US, which came in a digipak with a booklet featuring various photos, and the lyrics printed in the original romaji next to English translations. Many of the song titles are close or close-enough adaptations of the original Japanese titles, although the Matador version swaps out a track called "THE INTERNATIONAL PIZZICATO FIVE MANSION" for a track that doesn't appear on the original Japanese release, called "La Règle du jeu." This is most likely due to the fact that the former is a track composed almost entirely of inconsequential "background music" set to Japanese dialogue. "La Règle du jeu" was originally released in 1998 as a stand-alone single with "Atarashii Uta," or "New Song." Matador also released this album on 12" vinyl, featuring different cover art than the original Japanese vinyl version (which are all different from the CD version), as well as a slightly different song selection (it also includes the missing track “THE INTERNATIONAL PIZZICATO FIVE MANSION” not found on the Matador CD).

There are a lot of Pizzicato Five songs and albums that I really like, but for me, this album really captures the essence of the group at their most commercial, and therefore, most inclusive, best. ROMANTIQUE '96 and HAPPY END OF THE WORLD might have cooler samples, but it also rendered them a bit more exclusive and closed off to anyone without the requisite hours spent in the stacks memorizing long-forgotten jazz riffs of the 1960s. Playboy & Playgirl took the snobbery out of Shibuya-kei in a way that made anyone capable of appreciating its ornate Copperplate flourishes. That’s what makes pop music so great, and while that might have contributed to the genre’s and group’s eventual dissolution, I will never pass on the opportunity to hear a sound made more accessible by appealing to more common-denominator foundations, rather than less, as long as it's done respectfully and successfully. P5 made both approaches work, and here, still managed to retain their signature sound without succumbing to a loss of what made them so unique.

Happy 25th anniversary to the international playboy & playgirl record, one of the greatest albums of time.

#pizzicato five #p5 #konishi yasuharu #maki nomiya #anniversaries #shibuya-kei #j-pop

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backtothestart02 · 2 years

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Wherever You Are, There I Am - 1/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: The Earth-2 Westallen story I always wanted, but it doesn't fit canon, so I'm just making it an AU. Hope you enjoy.

...

Synopsis: AU - Detective Iris West has a million emotional walls around her. CSI Barry Allen is determined to knock down every single one of them.

...

Chapter 1 -

When Barry Allen first met Detective West, it was two months into his employment at CCPD. He wasn’t her assigned CSI at first, but when his assigned detective, Greggs, transferred out, Detective Iris West selected Barry to be her sole CSI in all cases, and that fact alone should have made him very, very nervous.

It was no secret that Detective West was a stern, no-nonsense, intimidating cop. She took her job very seriously, and she played by the rules. Barry always felt himself developing a cold sweat when he was in her presence, and despite his penchant for being late to work, he made a point to always come on time to crime scenes she would be present at. He didn’t want to disappoint her. He didn’t want to look bad in her eyes. But mostly, he didn’t want to miss a second of required attendance in her presence.

He'd developed a crush.

Detective West was beautiful. One may not take notice of it from the way her hair was always in a tight bun, how she wore limited make-up, and her pants were wide, so as not to accentuate the curves of her long legs. It was clear she went out of her way to not appear too feminine on the job, lest she be a distraction or not taken seriously enough because she was a woman.

Barry admired her persistence, but he also took note of her high-waisted pants that, when belted, emphasized her hips and waist. The wisps of hair dangling at the nape of her neck also drew his attention, as did the vivid color of her eyes and the length of her eyelashes, which would’ve been obvious even without the limited use of mascara she put on every day.

But more than her stunning physique, Barry respected what an excellent cop she was. How she put the bad guys away, but also how she cared to the victims was a testament to her heart and character.

What was there not to love?

Okay, so maybe it was more than a crush.

Everyone around him had decided it was a crush though. They couldn’t believe it was more than that when Detective West had built such high emotional walls around herself to not let anyone in after the death of her parents – how could anyone, who was meeting her just now, know anything about her? Let alone be in love with her.

But Barry was.

His heart fluttered whenever he saw her. He yearned to break through those walls, for her to come to him when she was distraught, which he knew had happened to her before. He’d caught her rushing to the bathroom with tears streaming down her face after a particularly difficult case. He knew she wasn’t as cold and stiff as she let on, and deep down the others knew it too. They just didn’t dare approach her.

One day, six months into their association, she came into the CSI lab to hand over some files for him to process. They were cases from the previous day, and he knew one had struck a particular nerve with her. A murder-suicide of husband and wife, which while hadn’t been the case for her parents still bothered her because it was not only two people who were roughly the same age as her parents had been, but they also lived in the same neighborhood she had while growing up.

Barry was grateful the other two CSIs were out on cases when Detective West came in, because he saw this as a perfect opportunity to make his move. Not as a potential lover – he suspected he’d never be that. But as a friend. As someone who knew and understood where she was coming from, even if he hadn’t lost both parents. He’d lost one, and he might as well have lost them both.

Everyone knew the story. Henry Allen had been convicted of murdering his wife in cold blood one warm night in September when Barry was a child. Barry had seen something else that night, and he knew he was innocent. Luckily, he had family in the area to take him in, but they made it clear from day one that he was not to talk about his father’s supposed innocence in front of them, and he was sent straight to therapy for years. His cousin believed him though. Little Jesse, who was several years younger than him.

She was a child in every sense of the word, even now as she entered college, she’d always be his baby cousin. Maybe it only made sense then that she would believe her older cousin when he was so sure of something so close to his heart, but it kept him going. It gave him strength. And now, feeling so much love and empathy for his co-worker, it gave him courage and understanding.

“Take your time with these, Allen,” Detective West said, setting the files on his desk. “I’m taking off the next few days, so you’ll have only these to occupy yourself with.”

He set his hand on top of the files and the tips of their fingers brushed. Detective West seemed unaffected and started to move away.

“Detective West.”

She stilled, hesitantly looking back over her shoulder.

“If…If I may?”

She turned fully back around and gave him her full attention.

“I just wanted to say,” he hesitated. “I’m sorry.”

She frowned, her brows fusing together.

“For what?”

“For…for…” He sighed. “Your loss, I guess. I know today’s first case was incredibly hard for you, and I wanted to say…it’s okay to be sad, to show emotion. It’s only human.”

She stiffened.

“Today’s cases were no more difficult than usual, CSI Allen.” He opened his mouth to object, so she continued. “But even if they were, or if one of them was, it’s my job to handle it. I can’t afford to break down. Not on the job.”

He pursed his lips and nodded.

“Good work today, Allen,” she said before turning to leave again.

“Wait,” he called out once more, and she stopped with a sigh. He quickly scribbled down some numbers on a post-it and walked over to her, extended his arm so she would see it and hopefully take it. “Here.”

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it without question.

“My number.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“I don’t believe I asked for it,” she said.

He winced.

“People who are hurting rarely do.”

Her lips thinned.

“It’s just as a last resort. From someone who knows.”

Detective West eyed him suspiciously.

“Our cases are not the same, CSI Allen. A car crash and murder-”

“Framed murder,” he corrected, continuing before she could speak this time. “I still lost both parents. I can relate in that way.”

She nodded slowly, then crunched the paper in her hand, making him frown.

“I appreciate the gesture.” She walked over to the trash can just inside the doorway. “But I have my own means of coping. I don’t need yours or anyone else’s help. And I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity.”

Her eyes narrowed faintly.

“Good day, CSI Allen. I trust you will not cross this line again.”

Barry said nothing, so she turned and walked out. She was gone the rest of the week, and when she returned, it was as if nothing had happened at all.

#westallen #westallen fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #wherever you are there i am #chapter 1 #detective iris west

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augment-techs · 1 day

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FanFiction titles: Roll your eyes//Shake my head + anyone you like ;)

Title: roll your eyes//shake my head Rating: T Relationships: Betty Burke/Devon Daniels; Roxy/Blaze; Ben Burke & Zoey Reeves. Characters: Betty Burke; Devon Daniels; Roxy; Blaze; Mayor Daniels; Ben Burke; Zoey Reeves. Additional Tags: Surrogacy; Twin Birth; Old Fashioned Courtship; Devon is a Fucking Gentleman; Desperation; First Time Living Alone; Nobody Knows What They're Doing; Does This Count As Slapstick in Some Places?; Holding Hands. Summary:

Devon gently, gently, gently placed his hand over the top of Betty's swollen belly, the mass that made her middle look like as egg as she sat perfect still on the coffee shop couch, trying not to look at the Red Ranger. The muscle in her jaw had been ticking before the hand settled over where one of the little ones inside had been kicking away like mad all day long, the smooth skin of Devon's thump trailing a half moon above her belly button. Then the tensing diminished, then vanished. Betty glanced up, still looking unsure, but now without the guard she'd had up since she'd spotted Devon and Devon had started walking towards her, hand waving to say hi for the first time since the year before when Betty had left Grid Battleforce to try and strike out on her own. That smile of his was still genuine and surreal (and still made her heart skip a beat).

Additional Scenes:

Betty really needed money to afford her own apartment and to, like, live; but kept losing every single job she could get outside of nepotism because of her clumsiness, so she finally sucked it up and took a job as a surrogate for pregnancy for couples that couldn't carry on their own.

She did not intend to end up carrying for Blaze and Roxy, it just...happened like that. She came up in a random selection, and by the time they met face to face for the first time, she'd already been implanted with the embryos.

Fun fact about IVF: it increases the chances of twinning. And since Betty was a twin herself, nobody was surprised when two heartbeats showed up on the ultrasound--except for Blaze. Who promptly passed out first thing.

Devon has never found Betty more attractive--which sort of sent him into an anxiety spiral and made him ask literally all of his friends if this meant he had a newly unlocked kink, "Is that bad? Am I a bad person."

Spoiler alert: Everyone said it was fine, except Ben, who promised to murder Devon and make it so nobody would ever find his body if he made a move before the delivery. Just to be safe~

Devon believed him.

#boom! comics power rangers #power rangers beast morphers #Devon Daniels #Betty Burke #ask fill #prompt fill

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belle-et-inspirante · 1 year

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Elite Singles may be the premiere dating website for discerning and attractive online daters available to you. Over 85per cent of their user base have finished from college, and over 90per cent seek a significant dedication as opposed to everyday sex.

Consider the top-notch Singles overview to get more facts about how dating internet site works and how it may improve the standard online dating experience.

In 2007, Zoosk established as a Facebook-integrated dating site aimed toward 20-somethings and 30-somethings. Now, this Backpage alternative features over 40 million people, also it sees over 3 million emails traded each day.

Zoosk provides extensive interaction attributes, such as digital presents, wants, winks, pre-written greetings, and immediate messaging, and lots of of them are free to all month-to-month website visitors. Additionally provides look tools and match referrals to help singles discover suitable times.

Numerous Zoosk couples have shared their particular tales and expressed appreciation into the internet site and application for exposing them. “we married the girl of my ambitions,” said Philip in a testimonial. “we need to thank Zoosk for bringing us together, therefore we wish every person about dating website discovers their particular true love!”

Every 14 mins, somebody discovers really love on eharmony. This time-tested dating website has become inspiring deep relationships and marriages since 2000, and possesses over 2 million success stories to its title.

The building blocks of eharmony’s success is based on its Compatibility Quiz, which includes questions about your everyday routines, nature, household prices, connection goals, and a lot more. The purpose of this detailed questionnaire is to find on the heart of who you are and what you want.

The Compatibility Quiz is actually optional and takes about half-hour to accomplish. Once finished, it types the crux of eharmony’s match formula. In the event that you answer the concerns actually, you’ll find the match guidelines and being compatible scores will end up a lot more precise consequently.

One of the biggest advantages of online dating sites is singles can go after this forms of times they truly are enthusiastic about and discover niche communities built on provided values and common interest. ChristianMingle is a great example of that.

ChristianMingle is perhaps one of the most common Christian adult dating sites about, and it sees over 3.5 million monthly opinions. Our very own relationship professionals have actually trained with 4.3 movie stars given that it satisfies its guarantee to connect Christians online and generate meaningful suits.

“we understood immediately, he is unique,” mentioned Katheryn, a Yorker whom fell so in love with men she found on ChristianMingle. “it could take a while before you decide to meet that special individual on here, but, if you find yourself diligent, if are going to be worth every penny.”

Since 2002, BlackPeopleMeet has generated the planet’s biggest social networks of African-American singles, and it continues growing each and every day.

BlackPeopleMeet’s purpose is pretty simple â it presents black colored and biracial singles to each other and encourages genuine interactions according to typical prices, experiences, and objectives.

Some singles may suffer hesitant to state their inclination for black times on an over-all dating site or even in a personals offer, but that is standard on BlackPeopleMeet. People in this niche dating website wish get a hold of a dark-skinned cutie to flirt with online and go out off-line.

As a totally free dating website, many Fish can reach a great deal further than a papers individual and gives singles virtually limitless chances to link. Many seafood has over 150 million members, and it sees over 4 million everyday views.

The POF community is actually a great, varied, and flirtatious place to meet new-people. As long as you proceed with the policies and behave in a sincere fashion, it is possible to content any person about dating site and construct an on-line rapport before meeting in-person.

If you prefer evidence that POF actually works, have a look at its heartwarming success tales, including many newlyweds beginning a life together after satisfying on enough Fish.

OkCupid is a forever complimentary dating internet site and app in which relationships and relationships can blossom normally.

The OkCupid system contains advanced level search filters (by age, ethnicity, direction, passions, and various other key factors) and a swiping section also known as DoubleTake where customers can look at and match with extremely compatible users.

Since launching in 2004, OkCupid provides accumulated thousands of achievements tales, and it presently boasts creating 91 million fits every year. Its free to join OkCupid and send communications to anyone you like, and you will usually upgrade your membership to appear higher searching effects and watch that’s liked the profile.

Tinder made a huge splash into the dating scene in 2012 if it produced common coordinating and swiping methods to simply help singles discover dates more quickly than in the past.

Versus checking out extended sentences of dried out details, singles can merely look at an image and determine if they see a future with that individual. Only if two people swipe close to one another can they trade emails and organize a romantic date.

Today, Tinder accounts for over 30 billion suits in 190 countries, and talks regarding the app cause over 1 million times weekly.

Established in 2014, Bumble is relatively new from inside the online dating sites world, nonetheless it has recently made a reputation for itself once the very first feminist dating application.

Entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe-Herd founded Bumble as a female-friendly answer to the superficial hookup culture perpetuated by some swiping apps. She wanted to shield females from unwanted dick pictures and scary messages, and she desired to save men the stress of sending messages to unresponsive women.

Bumble empowers women to transmit the first message to your guys they match with (either gender can content first-in a same-sex match), plus it places a 24-hour time period about discussion, so they have an additional inducement to say hi.

In a current survey, 85percent of Bumble people stated they would like to discover a critical union, and just over 25% of customers said they had gone on a Bumble time within the last thirty days.

Some seniors have happy recollections of newsprint individual advertisements, drive-in flick dates, and pencil friend romances, but these traditional relationship tropes miss the tag for the 21st century. Based on a 2017 survey of newlyweds, brides meet their unique partners on the web more often than they are doing through buddies or at the office.

Internet dating has become an unbeatable force in the resides of singles of every age group, and we also’d promote seniors to give it a-try if they are experiencing lonely and would like to find special someone.

SilverSingles provides earned the depend on of numerous singles inside their 50s, 1960s, seventies, as well as 80s. The elderly dating site serves an older crowd and streamlines the online dating procedure to create newcomers feel close to residence.

From fast signup process on the straightforward coordinating, SilverSingles makes it easy to jump on board, make your own digital private ad, and commence flirting with individuals just who show similar principles and life experiences.

SilverSingles prioritizes online safety and customer care. Everyone can use the Assistance Center to obtain their bearings, additionally the dating internet site features a paywall set-up to be certain just verified website subscribers can send messages and view photographs.

OurTime is yet another advanced dating website made to provide seniors for the online dating world. The free of charge standard account contains limitless flirting and researching, and you will in addition revise your own personal advertising and publish pictures to your individual gallery.

As a folks Media site, OurTime features a considerable individual base that grows by very nearly 20,000 people every week. The group helps on the web suits and additionally real time members-only events to aid seniors emerge from their own shell.

Quite a few of OurTime’s members are separated or widowed and make use of the dating site to start out new in another commitment. “i recommend website to any or all and any individual,” mentioned a 70-year-old girl which discovered love on OurTime. “Thank you so much for giving me personally a guy in the world.”

When you’ve got a dating site like SeniorMatch in your corner, there is day leads, pen friends, and brand-new pals within certain ticks. The dating website’s motto is “you do not have to end up being by yourself,” also it life doing that by fostering a thriving senior-friendly neighborhood.

SeniorMatch has actually over one million people, all who currently verified as over 50, and it also encourages over 1.6 million discussions each month. Furthermore, the dating site features more than 36,600 success tales to the name. You can rest assured you’ll have plenty of choices about this busy dating individual system.

“We found on the wonderful site, and it also ended up being actually love at first web site â or picture,” stated a SeniorMatch member in a recommendation.

Back in the occasions with the paper’s individual ads area, gay and lesbian singles cannot truly get involved in the enjoyment since it will mean outing by themselves and risking harassment from homophobic men and women. Versus a totally free advertisement during the magazine, residents needed to create belowground spaces (gay bars, softball leagues, etc.) where in actuality the LGBTQ+ society could prosper.

Online dating sites has offered a much less public and a lot more specific solution to meet LGBTQ+ singles in the city, and many queer singles have hopped upon it. Today, 65% of gay partners satisfy using the internet, therefore the following dating sites and applications help singles over the sexuality range with no-cost categorized advertisements.

With more than 98 million users, MenNation features announced it self the largest homosexual relationship and hookup site available. This all-male casual matchmaking system is prepared for gay, bi, and questioning men from all walks of life.

MenNation views over 70,000 month-to-month website visitors, so that it ought to be the go-to Backpage choice or Craigslist alternative to gay males seeking everyday gender.

Whether you are one seeking a hookup or several getting a threesome, you are able to pursue your needs easily on MenNation web site. All it takes is a message target to begin with. You are able to choose exclusive login name, browse anonymously, and grab times that into no-strings-attached relationships.

LesbianPersonals is actually a frisky dating site where women can operate crazy and release their particular inhibitions. The sex-positive room promotes singles, couples, and teams to set up informal activities that fulfill their unique deepest fantasies.

Lovers whom give consideration to themselves unicorn hunters will take pleasure in this unrestricted dating area. LebianPersonals is full of sensuous playmates who would like to experiment and press the borders.

A saucy flirtation may turn with a few texts on LesbianPersonals, nevertheless could soon escalate to trading raunchy images, creating videos telephone call, and organizing a steamy hookup with some one in your area.

Designed by a queer woman on the behalf of queer womxn, HER is less about facilitating hookups and about building interactions. The dating software provides over 4 million users global, and 100per cent of its users are feminine. HER confirms its individual base through Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media marketing platforms so phony ads are not problems right here.

HER supplies a secure, dude-free region for lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans womxn looking for new pals, hot dates, and potential partners. The Community recommendations desire people as supporting, inclusive, and loving throughout the online dating sites knowledge.

The HER community develops positivity by discussing tales, posting pictures, and producing local occasions geared toward LGBTQ+ singles. You can view HER’s influence by seeing #WeMetOnHER Instagram articles and Twitter stories developed by couples that happen to be blissfully crazy.

And finally, Grindr will be the best gay relationship app known for the powerful location-based coordinating. The app can help homosexual singles come across times who happen to be in the same bar or for a passing fancy block as one another and want to delight in casual activities.

Grindr’s real-time coordinating and talking often trigger a casual hookup, but we have now also heard of multiple Grindr connections which have gone the exact distance. In reality, about 84percent of Grindr users have fallen obsessed about a person they found about software, and 56.5% state they think love is achievable here.

“My boyfriend and I also found on Grindr while he was actually checking out on a break,” mentioned a Reddit user. “connection is still fresh and long-distance is hard, but we have been writing about the long run.”

Online dating sites aimed toward relationships is generally a major pull for singles just who just want to trick around and also an informal hookup. Everyday daters and significant daters often have various objectives concerning intimacy and lasting obligations, which can lead to a rocky relationship experience in which neither celebration is pleased.

Any time you’d somewhat miss the small talk and obtain as a result of business, subsequently a hookup web site â perhaps not a dating internet site â will be the right place for your needs. We have detailed a few of all of our leading choices for singles and swingers interested in discovering a Craigslist personals option and examining the smutty part of internet dating.

As a casual hookup site, BeNaughty helps to keep circumstances informal and empowers singles to flirt outside the outlines. A person can browse by get older, sex, and location whenever they need to scope for times and everyday activities.

Highly discerning singles also can make use of advanced look details for positioning, ethnicity, frame, hair tone, and vision color. We would advise sorting the online dating users by appeal or final task for the reason that it’ll mean the quintessential earnestly month-to-month visitors show up on top of your list.

If you want to have the ball running easily, you are able to deliver a size text message to everyone exactly who comes inside your look parameters. BeNaughty can suggest a flirty message that features shown to work, you can also create one thing flattering, funny, and original yourself.

Since 1996, Adult Friend Finder has generated worldwide’s largest intercourse and swinger area and developed over 4.6 million associations using the internet.

The AFF neighborhood consists of solitary men, unmarried women, directly lovers, gay partners, trans people, and swinger teams who would like to take pleasure in adult activity and informal intercourse.

If they’re sharing sexual stories or delivering X-rated private emails through the hookup software and internet site, AFF users is generally themselves and express their intimate dreams without concern about judgment or censure.

FriendFinder-X could be the hookup web site “where great girls perform bad circumstances.” If that seems attractive, you’ll be able to establish the profile within minutes and begin chatting these angels associated with the evening. You certainly do not need a Facebook or social media account generate a free of charge advertising about private system.

Much like the dating personal offer area in a papers, FriendFinder-X has free of charge categorized ads created by regional singles getting dates. However, the everyday dating site’s users may also integrate nude pictures and nasty material, and possesses a two-way video chat selection for any individual desperate to get some face time with that someone special.

No, Craigslist no longer is into the relationship online game. The Craigslist personals section shuttered some time ago in order to avoid getting held responsible for any measures of unsavory individuals obtaining intercourse on the internet site.

In 2018, U.S. law enforcement companies cracked down on classified ads web sites with dating personal parts, maintaining that these types of unregulated places were being used for prostitution and real trafficking. After a 93-count indictment, Backpage’s CEO pled responsible to gender trafficking, while the Backpage categorized offer website ended up being turn off for good.

For the aftermath of the advancements, Craigslist shut its matchmaking personals section. “Any tool or solution could be misused,” the Craigslist staff stated in the official declaration. “we cannot take these danger without jeopardizing all our different services, therefore we have actually regretfully taken Craigslist personal traditional.”

Craigslist matchmaking is something of the past, but singles can count on renewable web pages to convey equivalent major and informal dating experience with complimentary classified advertisements.

Exactly what are individual Sites Like Craigslist individual That are Free?

many dating personal sites have the methods to develop quick associations the same as Craigslist private and Backpage used to. A few good alternatives have a comparable setup and user base to that particular of Craigslist, several may also provide a lot more matchmaking energy and {security|sa

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