What’s the smallest dick you’ve ever seen?

Probably like 3 inches?

Hii! If your still taking request i might’ve have something for you, only if you would like to make it, i just love your stories so much, and click on it when i see you have posted!!! ( it’s a Wanda x daughter!newborn y/n reader😅 kinda something)

Anyway, the storie i have thought off, was maybe that Wanda was pregnant and was about to give birth, (she’s in her late 9 month of pregnancy) when the Avengers came to rescue them, she’s in a bit of distress when they came, and feels a contraction or something, (maybe this was after they first met and she used her powers on them) the others wouldn’t help her, even tho Nat got most hit, she would help her and demand the others to help or something, and she ends up in so much pain before they reach the compound ? A little chaotic with some fluff at the end?😅

Hope this make sense, just an idea😅

Merry Christmas!

Little miracle

Y/N: newborn ——————————————————

NO ONE'S POV "Wanda, are you sure you want to do this?" Pietro sighs, worry in his eyes as he's looking at his sister and hoping she'll change her mind.

"He has to pay for what he did to our parents, Pietro" Wanda says seriously, preparing herself for meeting the Avengers once again.

The twins and the Avengers have already had one encounter and it wasn't nice at all. The original plan of the Avengers was to take down another hydra base, but the twins showed up and made some damage on them.

The team hasn't given up though. Steve is convinced that the young siblings need help, so that's why the team is headed to the abandoned place Wanda and Pietro are hiding at.

Wanda knows though and she's determined to destroy them… specially Tony Stark as the twins blame him for their parents' death. What keeps Pietro worried is that his sister is in her last month of pregnancy. He'll soon become an uncle, but another fight with the Avengers definitely isn't good for the baby.

"They're here" Wanda announces, her nervousness becoming bigger and bigger.

She won't admit it to her brother, but she is nervous and stressed that something might go wrong and her baby would get hurt. Her stubborn self just has to avenge her parents though.

As soon as the Avengers are standing in front of them, the twins are ready to attack, a red magic ball formed in both Wanda's hands… So the fight starts, Pietro using his superspeed while Wanda's using her mind-reading abilities, getting into their minds and showing them their worst fears or memories. Though suddenly something just doesn't feel right. A sudden pain makes Wanda let out a groan.

"Wanda?" Pietro looks over at his sister concerned, immediately making his way over to her.

"I'm good, it was just- ahhh" Another contraction interrupts Wanda's sentence, making her immediately put her hand under her stomach.

"Wanda" Pietro wraps his arm around his sister, not knowing what to do at all while the Avengers are either deep in their thoughts or watching the siblings confused.

"It's nothing, it's no- oh my god" Wanda groans, digging her nails into her brother's arm as another contraction hits, making him hiss in pain. "My water just broke! Do something, Pietro!" She raises her voice, nearly dropping down to her knees if Pietro wouldn't hold her.

"So, hmm… Are we fighting or not?" Tony asks, interrupting this uncomfortable moment.

"I can't do this, Pietro. I can't" Wanda whispers, panicking as her contractions are picking up on speed.

As Wanda lets out another loud groan, Natasha's up on her feet again, shaking her head to get rid off the horrible memory Wanda made her see.

"She's giving birth" Natasha say, slowly making her way over to the twins with her arms up to show them she's there to help.

"Pietro" Wanda whispers, looking at the Avenger that's walking closer, making her brother turn around and spot the redhead.

"I wanna help" Natasha assures, still keeping her arms up, so worried Pietro just nods as he has absolutely no idea what to do. "You need to breath, Wanda. Breath with me" She says softly, taking a hold of Wanda's hand and trying to get the young girl to breath properly. "Don't stand there like that! Help me get her to the jet!" She orders to her team members quickly before looking back at Wanda. "That's it, you're doing great"

The Avengers are quick to listen, Steve helping Pietro to get the young witch to the jet while Clint's already in the jet, ready to set off to the compound.

"I'm not ready, I don't think I can do it" Wanda whispers as soon as she's sitting in the jet, tears filling her eyes as she's gripping her brother's and Natasha's hands.

"Of course you can, Wanda. Everything will be okay. You'll have your baby son or daughter soon" Natasha gives the scared girl a soft smile, rubbing her knuckles with her thumb before Wanda squeezes her hand once again as another contraction comes, making both Natasha and Pietro let out groan.

"Daughter. It's a girl" Wanda whispers.

"Oh, a girl? See, you'll have your baby daughter soon. Have you thought about a name already?" Natasha continues the conversation, trying to distract Wanda from the pain.

"Mhm. Y/N… Y/N Maximoff" A small smile forms on Wanda's face, loving the name she's chosen for her baby girl.

"That's a beautiful name. Did you choose it?"

"Yeah, I- aaah. Oh my god, are we there yet?!"

———

"Few more pushes" The doctor informs, trying to encourage Wanda, thought the witch feels exhausted as ever.

Pietro being the supportive brother he is, he agreed he'd be there with Wanda the whole time. Though it looks like he overestimated himself as he got soon replaced by Natasha.

"I don't think I can do it, I can't anymore" Wanda nearly whispers, tears slowly running down her cheeks.

"Of course you can, Wanda. I know we don't really know each other, but I just know you can do it. You're such a strong girl" Natasha encourages, giving Wanda a soft smile.

"Let's push on three, okay?" The doctor says on which Wanda nods. "Good… One, two, three. Push"

Wanda squeezes her eyes shut, trying to push as much as she can while squeezing Natasha's hand for her dear life.

"You're doing so good, let's go again. One, two, three. Push" The doctor says on which Wanda repeats her actions as good as she can, Natasha trying not to hiss in pain from Wanda's tight grip over her hand.

As soon as the room fill baby cries, Wanda rests her head on the pillow, completely exhausted.

"You did it" Natasha smiles warmly, wiping away the tear that's escaped her eye. It doesn't happen often when Natasha gets emotional.

"Are you ready to see your daughter?" The doctor asks with a smile, handing Wanda the little one wrapped in a pink blanket.

"Oh hi" Wanda smiles, tears forming in her eyes once again, Natasha smiling at the sight. "You're so beautiful, sweetheart. I'm your mommy" The brunette whispers, tears running down her cheeks while she's rubbing her daughter's small knuckles with her finger. "I love you so much, Y/N/N. Mommy will always protect you, I promise"

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

I've never written about giving birth, so hopefully it's not too bad xd

I'm so glad that you enjoy my stories!! This makes me so happy!! <;33

Thank you for reading and liking! <;33

Merry Christmas!!! <;33

Wanda Maximoff masterlist

Masterlist

Wish Granted AU: The 7 Teens 👥👥👥🌟

This one was both the most fun and hardest one to do. At first I hated the idea of 7 friends in general cause its canon that the directors added them later in the story and they wanted to just have a free reference without actually doing something. But the more I thought about it, the more I could see that they were accidentally given a good opportunity to create a new batch of loveable characters. So many creative ideas with it! Even the original concept shows that they had more thought and personality to them!

And they actually did have some personality in the deleted scenes, both during the distraction plan and the dungeon scenes, they felt more like characters than the final film. They had Seven Dwarves without actually acting like the Seven Dwarves, like how....???

Sorry to say, they did nothing in the movie. (yeah, I watched Wish, it was lame. Moving on.) One thing I want to achieve here is they'll be a mix between the Dwarves and the Mane 6. I swear this makes sense. 😅 Also one big difference here is that instead of being friends with them from the start, Asha meets each teen one by one when she and Star enter Rosas. A few of them even know Flazino, but not on a super personal level, just that he's seemingly loyal to Magnifico and Amaya. The teens know each other pretty well since they all work around the same place, but having them work together to start a revolution and defeat an evil will cement them as friends with each other and Asha and Star.

So let's give a quick rundown on each one. The more the story evolves, this page will be updated for additional backgrounds or changes to them.

Dhalia: Combination of Twilight/Doc. She's still a baker in this in version, and her wish is to become the greatest baker in the kingdom. (I actually didn't know this was something canon to the movie until later, it just something I came up with by coincidence!) She's incredibly loyal to the king and queen (with a bit of a crush on Magnifico) and willing to do anything for the kingdom. And...let's just say her role in the story will be bigger than some other rewrites or even the film itself.

Simon: Combination of Big Macintosh/Sleepy. While he still retains his sleepiness, its a result of losing his wish. He was actually strong, outgoing and jovial before then. Now he just doesn't have any ambition to do anything aside from his daily tasks. His wish was to become a royal knight and protect the kingdom.

Gabo: Combination of Rainbow Dash/Grumpy. He's incredibly loyal, but he hides it behind his rudeness. He's been duped so many times that he doesn't trust people anymore, especially when finding out he's right about the king being no good. His wish he's keeping secret, but it'll be revealed somewhere in the story.

Bazeema: Combination of Fluttershy/Bashful. Still keeping her kindness and ability to sneak up on people from the movie, Bazeema adores nature and especially animals. She gets along with just about all the animals in the forest, the royal horses and even the birds. She LOVES when Star turns into animals, since he's the entire animal kingdom rolled into one! The only animal she's never succeeded with was Sabor. He's just too much like his owners to get along with. 😂 Her wish is to provide a safe haven where all the animals would be safe and recover together if hurt.

Dario: Combination of Pinkie Pie/Dopey. Now I know you're thinking why not have the Pinkie inspiration for Hal? Well, I wanted her to be a bit more of a grounded type of funny instead of zany. Since Dario is based on Dopey, he provides a lot of awkward yet endearing humor. Sometimes he tries too hard, but he means well. He always manages to make Star laugh though! His wish is to bring laughter to Rosas, as he's one of the few who notices not everyone is exactly happy there.

Safi: Combination of Rarity/Sneezy. Despite Safi's allergies, he loves animals and is a bit shy around Bazeema whenever he helps tend to the garden or animals around Rosas. He might have like a hundred allergies, but he's always generous when it comes to helping his kingdom. Even though the King and Queen don't appreciate it. 😅(I'm also playing with an idea of Safi x Bazeema. Not entirely sure. I just kinda....got a small vibe of that from watching the movie. Maybe it was just me.) His wish is to get rid of his allergies so he can carry on a conversation without sneezing. Yeah, that's it! 😂😂

Hal: Combination of Applejack/Happy. Bit of a rougher gal in this one. She, a hard worker, but has a great sense of humor. She even helps be a test audience for Dario when it comes to his jokes, which eventually leads them to become a duo. Hal feels pretty content, so she hasn't really thought about a wish to give.

At one point later in the story when all of them do come together, I got an idea for their battle cry or team signal being "Heigh, Ho!". I still can't believe they didn't even use that in the movie.

Oh and there is still a traitor in this story, but...its not who you think it is. That's all I can say without spoilers. So you'll have to figure it out as it goes along.

And there you go, that's gonna be it for the characters now! The only one that may get one is Flazino, but it would be later down the line if I did to avoid spoilers. So now, the first test chapter is coming next! It'll include the "Welcome to Rosas" song, but with a twist! And my bestie @signed-sapphire is gonna help me with it, so stay tuned! 😉

@wings-of-sapphire @oh-shtars @chillwildwave @flicklikesstuff @annymation @tumblingdownthefoxden @emillyverse @mythartist21 @kstarsarts @kenihewa

I'm sure someone has asked already but there's no harm in asking this question again, I was wondering how do you plot out your drawings? Like your proportions and stuff? Because I have never been able to get proportions done very easily, the head is always too small for the shoulders, arms aren't the right length, torso is too long/short, ect ect. Do you have any advice to help with this? Thank you :) 💜

Hey! Okay, I'll start with saying that I'm not a qualified art teacher and everything I say are just things I've noticed over the years of drawing myself and thus can only share things that worked for me personally ✌️✨

I use head to measure the height of everything and make the width whatever I feel looks good 😅 The classic art anatomy teaches us that perfect human's height is 8 heads and legs take exactly half of it. I rarely stick to that model tbh, I prefer to draw in an even more stylized way, so I usually make legs a bit longer (making it 8.5 or even 9+ heads total) and head just a biiit bigger.  Still, I started from classics and I believe it's much easier to learn it first, so I drew the 8 heads model for a better demonstration:

I've developed a little checklist of the most important proportions; usually if those conditions are met, the whole figure looks convincing enough to me.

Head + torso is 4 heads;

Elbows and waist are relatively on the same line;

Open palm is the same length as the face (head minus hairline);

Arm length ends a bit higher than half of the hip;

Knees are located at the middle of legs length minus feet.

Okay, it looks really easy for a frontal view of a standing still figure, but what about more complicated poses? My suggestion is to measure the stick figure inside the body (not forgetting about the perspective distortion though). Take the "spine" and the least bent leg to check everything, then make sure both legs are the same length.

Note that these measurements don't need to be exact as if made with a ruler! We aren't doing blueprints here. If you don't trust your eye, then try training it, whenever you have a free minute: just draw a long line and try to divide it into equal parts. Or draw a long line with many short lines of the same length; kinda like a dashline, but with no gaps.

Also, I think it's important to remember that measurements and proportions are cool, useful and make your life a lot easier, but often you may need to bend them for the final drawing to look good. And obviously, people come in many shapes and heights, so I suggest taking these classical measurements as a cheatsheet to draw a good standard stick figure, which you can shape into whatever you want later. The 8 heads canon isn't realistic anyway, it originated in Ancient Egypt and Greece and was used for art needs specifically (mainly sculpture iirc). It represents an idealized view of a human figure already, so no harm in changing it a bit further I think!

 Art doesn't really need to be anatomically correct, it just has to look like it is.

Hello, I hope you're having a nice day! regarding the relationship Zote as with the fam, what if someone saw him crying or having a breakdown, how would the members react, and what would Zote do if he was caught on the act? Would he try to hide it or something? (Sorry for the "sad" ask 😅)

He would 100% try to hide it, to the point where I don't think anyone in the family has ever seen him cry, or at the very least they've never seen him have a breakdown. He would never want anyone to witness him at his lowest point, he has to maintain the tough act, and I think he even tries to convince himself that he has no weaknesses.

That's not to say he's never cried. He's been bullied for most of his life, and sometimes that tough guy mask slips, leaving him with a lot of bottled emotions that eventually find a way out. But if he does, it's always when he's sure he's alone, he sees those emotions as weakness and the last thing he wants is to be seen as a crybaby.

What he doesn't realize, is that opening up to the family members would help him greatly. They've all been through a lot, and while they might still struggle when dealing with their traumas, they would never reject him for letting his emotions out. Even Hornet, who often fights and pokes fun at him wouldn't mock him for it - she'd even try to cheer him up in her own way, which would be very awkward, but it's the thought that counts. Holly would be there to support him, they wouldn't be able to say anything helpful, but they'd try to cheer him up with their actions. Lewk has a good sense when it comes to emotions, so even if he doesn't fully understand a lot of them, he instinctively senses sadness in others and then tries to cheer them up (it's something he kind of got from Grimm, except the only emotion Grimm can sense to such extent is fear), and there's no reason why he would make Zote an exception. The twins are similar, they don't have an ability like their bigger brother, but if Zote started sobbing in their presence they would instinctively move closer towards him - Asta in particular would be quick to respond, since she's very protective of Milo whenever he cries.

And lastly, there's Grimm and Vyrm. Vyrm cries a lot, he bottled up his emotions for many years and he finally feels comfortable letting them out, so he more than anyone would understand what Zote's struggling with. There's actually some really neat parallels between them, they both got rejected by their birth family and bullied in their childhood, and spent most of their lives playing the roles of someone they weren't. Though it's worth noting that their reasons for that were a bit different. For Zote, it was a way to fight off the bullying and act like he's better than everyone. Vyrm, on the other hand, did so as a defence mechanism, he was terrified of being rejected and wanted to prove himself, though all it did was put him through constant stress and pain. Either way, they would find something in common if they sat down and talked about it, and if Zote started crying, Vyrm would try his best to be there for him.

Grimm, meanwhile, can't physically cry, so he wouldn't be able to relate to it. But what he compensates with, is his incredible patience when it comes to others dealing with their own emotions. He's good at controlling his own emotions, but does struggle with processing some of them - his behavior after Vyrm's disappearance is a perfect example here, he would distance himself and lash out at others at any minor inconvenience, all because he had trouble processing his grief. What he's definitely good at, is being a listener. He's very patient with Vyrm, he lets him cry on his shoulder and ensures that the wyrm always feels safe in his presence. And while he's nowhere near as close with Zote, he would extend that kindness and support towards him if he ever saw him cry. To some extent, helping others deal with their trauma also helps him process his own emotions. Perhaps it's something that just comes naturally to him, after all, his original purpose was to help mortals overcome their fears whenever he entered their nightmares. Said purpose most certainly didn't foresee him having his own fears and traumas, but it's not too far-fetched to notice the link. Either way, he's supportive of his loved ones, which also includes Zote since he's part of the family.

So in short, they would try to support him, but unfortunately he keeps a lot about himself from them (instead telling lies that make him seem stronger and braver than he is). Because of that, they don't know the full extent of what's haunting him, so perhaps part of him feels like they just wouldn't understand. He's not at a point where he would open up just yet, but perhaps with time he'll do just that. It would be a huge step in his character arc for sure.

That bridgerton sneak peak had some good chemistry they might make me tune in idk, I usually agree with you on most things ship related but I have a problem with this specific ship, Colin is the least interesting of the siblings so far but that's okay I didn't care for anthony either before his season, my bigger problem is Penelope, I think they tried to go for the drama and the twists too much and made her seem kind of awful? They're trying to pretend racism doesn't exist in that era but the way she outed Marina in s1 ( who was not doing a good thing at all but I don't she had much of a choice given her other option was abject poverty) and the way she talks about her friends in her column and outs everyone's shit, things that have really serious consequences on people's lives. The writers literally called her a villain which???? They're doing something I feel a lot of shows have a problem with lately, trying to girlboss women doing shitty things, same with their brand of white feminism for Eloise who spends all her scenes lamenting her fate and being "quirky" with no actual depth or confronting her privilege or trying to help other women or really anything at all, all she does is talk like a "not like other girls" girlie circa Tumblr 2012 and they're thinking omg we're being such feminists right now 🤣😅🤣

Girllll you better tune in anyway so we can get more seasons and other ships you might like better! PRESERVE OUR LIMITED ROMANCE GENRE.

In all seriousness, I totally get where you’re coming from! I personally love polin and I’m very excited for them, but I don’t think the writing has always been the best. Obviously a lot of polin fans don’t agree with me, but I still think this season not being Benedict’s is so strange and a mistake. The general audience adores him and I think both Colin and Penelope could’ve done with another season of personal growth (and slow burn) to help them win over the rest of the audience more. I like Colin and I think he’s actually really funny when they give him a chance, but he’s done nothing to scream leading man like Benedict has yet. I guess S3 will tell us how much is on the writing so far vs Luke Newton. I want him to be so amazing, but I get the doubts because I still have some nerves about it too. I think the sneak peek looked great and is a great start so I’m gonna go in with optimism and positive thoughts!

Gotta defend Eloise because I think her thinking she’s ranting and valid but actually being more out of touch than she realizes is mostly purposeful! I like that as a character flaw and I think it’s realistic for someone in her position. Or maybe I just love Eloise lol. Penelope is a bit of a more… complex case. I see why people hate her, although I personally mostly like her even though I think she sucks for what she did to the Bridgertons. She’s just treated so polarizing one way or the other by the fandom and the producers are obsessed with her and I think that’s part of the problem.

I have doubts any of the Bridgerton ships will beat kathony for me but overall this fandom is so weird! I don’t get the ship wars amongst the ships because they are all canon and they’re all meant to have their spotlight and be enjoyed. I don’t mean you anon when I say this btw, I mean more the hardcore Bridgerton fandom. It’s why I don’t engage with them a lot lol. I just want to enjoy a cute ship every season.

I've read a lot of your stories (and liked them a lot) so I'm wondering how you plan out longer fics? I feel like I want to add to the Corazon pile but I don't really know where to start

anon.... [steps closer and kisses you on the head] thank you. i had an entire work shift to think about this and i still haven't come up with a clear answer 😅 but i will certainly offer all the help and advice i can!!

starting is my favorite part!! you need some sort of idea. doesn't have to be anything crazy. (i'm sure you have plenty!) for instance, the idea that inspired me to write 01746 was "i want rosinante to have a proper backstory." for two fights for freedom, the idea was "i want cora and bell-mere to live and have a nice family together". i think vaguer ideas are more likely to lead to larger stories, but as i'm sure you've seen, i tend to write a lot (a decent portion of my multichaps were supposed to be oneshots) but regardless of length, every good story starts with the desire to put an idea out there, and i get the feeling you've got that part covered!

in terms of physically writing, this is where things get a little tricky. bigger stories tend to involve planning. personally, i'm a pantser. my natural writing process involves no planning. nowadays i do a ton of planning, but that's because i've taken on a ton of hours at work, so i don't have the time to sit around and experiment with my writing anymore. if i want a story to go a certain direction, i need to have some sort of guideline to keep me on track with time. so consider how much free time you have. if you have a lot, you might not have to worry too much about outlining or making mistakes, because you'll have plenty of time to fool around and fix things.

(also worth noting it IS just fanfiction, and the post button is not setting your words in stone. i've edited plenty of things after posting, made some major edits too! that's always okay. it's just fanfiction :) i've never had a reader get upset about me tweaking previous chapters.)

in terms of guidelines or no guidelines, it depends on you and your story! like i said, i write by the seat of my pants, so guidelines tend to confuse me. maybe you're similar. or maybe you LOVE a guideline! outlines are good because they're flexible. even if it's a simple breakdown of some basic plot points you think would be neat. for two fights for freedom, i have an outline that lists every chapter and every scene within every chapter. pretty detailed. took a long time to make it though, and i'm constantly tweaking it. for 01746, i used a physical whiteboard with random notes and diagrams, but there wasn't any structural planning until probably the last ten chapters. with 01746, canon provided a lot of substance for me, where with two fights for freedom, almost the entire story is my own, extremely canon divergent, so it's more weight for me to bear. your need for an outline or notes may depend on how much weight you can carry to make the story cohesive.

NOW don't let any of that scare you!! usually when i begin a big multichap, i don't start with an outline. i just write something. i try my idea out, if that makes sense. sometimes what i start writing becomes chapter one, or maybe it'll become part of the summary, or maybe it'll be the plot twist in chapter seventy-two. in the beginning, it doesn't matter what comes out of your hands. get cozy with your idea and let it fill you with excitement and inspiration. you can worry about organization afterwards.

sorry if this was a bit indecipherable or unclear 😅 with every story i write, i try something new! fanfic writing for me is a great way to hone my skills and experiment, so i don't have a scientific method quite yet. i just try to learn about myself as much as possible and have fun along the way! and i hope you're able to do the same!!

i'm around if you ever need more help! you can always DM or shoot me another ask, i don't mind at all! i really flung a lot of words at you here so feel free to narrow me down to a more specific concern whenever. i wish you great luck on your projects 🍀 this world always needs more added to the cora pile ♥ and feel free to hmu if you do end up posting something!! i'd love to check it out 👀

So in doomreed, where does sue fit in all this? What does she mean to reed in this ship? Does doom hate her or is it complicated? Has this already been answered? Is this a dumb question? :/

It's a good and reasonable question. There are people who prefer the ship as a poly triad for that reason, though I'm not one of them (I see it as a lavender marriage and usually have her with someone else in my fics, or focused on business bc romance isn't the answer to everything for all people, you know?)

For myself, I prefer to focus on Reed & Victor, because I've had a whole lifetime of people demanding I focus on the romantic concerns of cis women (I'm trans, I'm gay, I have a bit of a personal aversion to being pressed to consider the feminine in all things at this point in my life) -- but I have no animosity toward Sue or any of the FF and want them to all have happy lives too.

Can't speak for everyone, that's just my answer to it. There are a lot of ships that include one married or at least involved party, and each individual creator finds their own way of working with the existing canon (or ignoring it, if they prefer--AUs are great for that)

I think Reed will always have feelings for Sue, same as Ben, same as Johnny, they're part of his family and even the occasionally unhealthy obsession with Victor can never eclipse that completely, like that's part of what keeps Reed grounded and helps him not become the worst version of himself? But feelings don't always have to mean love, and sometimes because humans are messy little things anyway, sometimes we mix up a good, healthy connection with another person and a deep, gut-churning fascination with a different person, and choose to pursue the thing that is perhaps not best for us. I see this ship as a potential study in that, and in whether that can also become a good and healthy connection given enough time and proper care & feeding, you know?

edit to add: I do think Doom is extremely jealous of Sue, in the canon. Him cattily arranging his dry state "marriage" to fall on the reedsue wedding anniversary, him kidnapping her first in issue #5 (his first appearance!) to draw Reed out so he could measure his competition for Reed's affection more precisely?

I think Sue knows that she could end the entire problem with a single, well-placed forcefield, no bigger than the head of a pin. And I think it's a measure of her love & understanding of Reed (and frankly dazzling levels of self-restraint) that she doesn't do so. Victor causes harm, but I think the hope that he might become the hero Reed sees him having the potential to be is as integral to Reed overall as his feelings for the rest of his family.

The hope generated by Reed refusing to give up on Doom is worth whatever (usually small) harms Doom manages to inflict. I think Victor is, understandably, somewhat afraid of Sue. I think Sue primarily feels pity for Victor. I've never seen anything in canon to suggest they were attracted to each other though, including the brief period on Battleworld where God-Emperor Doom was technically married to her? I could write several essays on the queer coding of Secret Wars, definitely including that whole arrangement 😅

My partner and i recently had a talk about polyamory stuff and like, we both agree that its just the thing for us. So some time they told me they had a requited crush, but of course thry wanted to ask me if its ok first and all that, which i said yes to because it really genuinely is!

But, i do get a little bit jealous and stuff, do you know like, ways to deal with it? Im sorry if this isnt the right spot to ask, im just a lil new to some of this and i also talked to them about my being a bit jealous sometimes, but im also afraid of coming off as like, pushy and whiny

Oh my gosh I'm so happy for all three of you! 🥰 And I'm sure you're really happy for your partner, but its still a big step, especially the first time! Its totally okay for you to have some mixed feelings and take some time to figure things out in a way that works for you all 💟

I do have some ways to help deal with jealousy I've found, and I encourage followers to weigh in too. Buckle up, cause I give long answers😅

Talk about it.🗣️ And you did! So you're already doing good! This is really stock advice, you'll hear it from any poly person you talk to, but that's because it really is that important. I feel like sometimes we just say "talk about it" as though that'll solve the problem though. It won't always solve the problem. Don't expect it to 100% solve it. There's more to it than just talking. I have a lot of thoughts on how to talk about things productively, so those will go below the cut.

Know your feelings really well.🧠 Metaphorically engage with them as you would a cat that doesn't know whether to trust you yet: be gentle, be curious, don't get upset with them for not reacting how you'd like. Try to observe the feeling from an outside perspective rather than sitting in the feeling and reacting to it. There's a lot of information on being mindful of your feelings available with a quick google, so I won't go into it any further than that, but you have to really know your feelings to be able to talk about them and to be able to know what exactly you need to work on (and what you may need to ask of your partner).

Be okay with feeling unpleasant feelings sometimes.😕 That's a lot easier said than done, and it'll take some practice. Over little twinges of jealousy, practice saying "ah, that's not nice. But no biggie. 🤷" and moving on. For bigger bouts of jealousy, it'll be harder, but the same method of acknowledging how you're feeling but not letting it rule you is still helpful. On that note..

Practice self-soothing.🌱 Your partner should be willing to help you with your emotions, but they are, at the end of the day, your responsibility. Say to yourself, out loud if you need to, what the "problem" is and an affirmation for yourself: "I am feeling jealous because they're having fun with [crush] without me, but they still love me and want to hang out with me, too." Say it a few times. Depending on how much it bothers you, it may help you to make a list of things that are special between you and your partner, or a collection of affection your partner has expressed to you for you to review when you're upset by your jealousy.

Distract yourself.🤹 Of course you're gonna feel like shit if your partner is out bowling and making out with someone but you're sitting at home, staring at the wall, feeling sorry for yourself and waiting for them to come back. Do a hobby, arrange to see friends at the same time, treat yourself to a dinner you like but you rarely have because your partner hates it, try something new. Make it into a positive time for you too.

Get reasonable accommodations from your partner.🤝 This will tie closely into talking it out, and this is harder to give definitives on because so much is going to hinge on what your partner is comfortable with and what exactly your situation is, but its totally fair of you to at least ask certain things not get mentioned if you know they'll make you more jealous than you can handle, for example, or you can ask for occasional reassurance they don't want to de-escalate the relationship. Your partner may not be able/willing to make every accommodation you ask for

With that in mind, back to talking about talking

"Talk about it" is near-useless advice if the conversation isn't mutually respectful and productive. What that looks like for you and your partner, you know better than I do, so please remember this is general advice and may need a good bit of tweaking to fit in your relationship. But in general, when I say "talk things through with your partner," that includes:

You and your partner should both enter the discussion from a place of non-judgement and (unless someone has crossed a previously established boundary) non-blame.

You and your partner should both understand what is happening with the discussion. Do you want to explore solutions, ask for a change, or just vent?

Part of that understanding, in a healthy relationship, will be that its you and your partner vs the problem, not you vs them.

Things should be allowed to change. Your feelings and the situation will evolve. You both need to be allowed to say "I thought this would work, but it isn't, I need to revisit this."

Not hiding shit. Even if you're not sure how you feel or what you need, say that.

Self-awareness enough to have that conversation while adhering to all the other points. Being about to say things like "I know this isn't what you're meaning, but I feel like..." or "I understood it this way, was I mistaken" instead of shit like "You make me feel" or "That's not what you said before." Classify your emotions appropriately.

Classifying your emotions appropriately. Ties in with the previous point, but don't let knee-jerk reactions dominate your end of things. Don't let your partner's knee-jerk reactions get to you more than they should.

Assumption of good faith. Get used to saying "Can you clarify what you mean by that/why you think that?" Literally. Say it 10 times aloud right now. Miscommunications happen. If your partner says something wildly out of character or hurtful, take a breath, assume there's a misunderstanding, clarify that misunderstanding. If you sincerely believe your partner would try to fuck you over in anything, leave them now. If you don't believe that, don't act like you'd think that when things get tough

Hear each other out. Self-explanatory, ties in with several other points, important enough to mention again.

And of course, all of these things go both ways. No matter how well you handle things, if your partner isn't assuming good faith, you can only get so far, and vice-versa.

That's a lot, so you can see how its easy to breeze past that and just say "talk it through." It sounds like you and your partner have a pretty solid foundation in most if not all of these (at least I hope so!💖), so hopefully some of those feel obvious, but not everyone has that! Some people "talk about things" by playing the blame game and then are confused why nothing improves, so I wanted to cover my basics.

So what does that look like in practice? Well, tumblr ask limitations mean I don't know enough about your relationship dynamic or what's bothering you to say with certainty, so I'm going to make up a more specific example based on what I got, and trust you to translate it as you see fit to your life 👍Okay cool

In this scenario, you've gotten used to spending most of your time with your partner by default. So you've already told your partner you're feeling jealous (again, that's really good!) Hopefully they reassured you they love you and stuff. After examining your feelings for a bit, you determine that while you're happy your partner is happy with this new person, you're jealous of that new relationship energy and feeling sidelined. Its hard to be away from your partner, and you dislike how much time they spend texting their crush even when its just the two of you.

You go to your partner and say, "I'm really happy you and your crush seem to be going well, but I am struggling with getting less of your attention. I'd like to discuss what we can do to make this easier on me." Partner: Yeah, of course, what's up? You: I got really used to doing everything with you, so its a hard adjustment having you away. I think it'll be easier if I have something to do while you're out, so I was thinking about trying to set up a weekly board game night with [group of friends], and hopefully that could be 'you guys's time'. Your partner takes a second to process what you said, before explaining "Crush's work schedule isn't consistent enough to commit for sure to one day a week, and if things keep going well I'll probably want to see them more than that anyway. Having said that, I'm happy to make that Crush's and I's date night when the scheduling works out, but I still want to see them when it doesn't." You nod, that's disappointing but it makes sense. "Yeah, okay. When I talk to [friends], I'll ask about making it a floating game night and maybe we can all schedule together if that's okay?" Partner: Yeah, if your friends can be flexible, that's fine with me, but if that doesn't work out, I still want to be able to see Crush on my own terms. You: That's fair. I think it will still help even if it only works out half the time anyway. Can we give it a few weeks and see how it goes and check back in? Partner: Yeah, sure. Thanks for talking to me about things You: There's one more thing, too. I'm really glad you're so invested in Crush and that you feel comfortable enough in our relationship to text them around me, but it can be a bit much sometimes. I'm not really sure how to fix it because I don't feel its fair of me to be able to demand you stop talking to them whenever I want, but I don't think I can handle it all the time either. Your partner doesn't have an answer either, and you both agree to give it some more thought and come back to it later. After a couple days your partner asks, "Would it help if we have some time set aside that's just for us? Where I don't text Crush and we watch a movie or something?" You: yeah, that sounds really nice... I think that'd be a big relief to me and help me feel special and important to you. Which I know I am, but like, it'd help me feel it more. How often would you be willing to do that? Partner: [thinks a minute] Once a week sounds fair? That's how often I'm having special time with Crush, too. You: That is fair, but... :/ I had hoped to be a little bit higher priority than Crush still. Could I at least be able to like, ask for your attention outside of that time for even just for like 15-20 minutes when its really bothering me? Partner: You knew I didn't really want to prioritize my relationships formally, plus, I thought we agreed it wasn't fair for you to tell me to stop just whenever? That's not really what you had meant, and you ask your partner for a second to collect your thoughts before saying, "I don't want to be able to do it all the time, I just-- If I need to talk to you about something really important or I'm having a really hard day and need some extra affection, I just want to be sure that's not going to cause problems." Partner: Have I not been doing a good job of that anyway? I had my phone away when you were talking about that stuff with your family the other day. Like, I still care about you, and I'm not going to be texting them while you're having a breakdown. You: You know, yeah, you have, sorry. I think that was just an anxiety creeping up on me. Thank you for pointing out it wasn't a reasonable one. And then you kiss!!1!

That last step isn't necessary, but its nice, in my experience. Obviously, this isn't going to be the whole picture. You'll see how you and your partner feels after you implement the changes. And of course, there are a lot of other solutions everyone could have come to and a lot of reactions there could have been.

I want to draw attention to some of the ways some of the numbered items earlier got implemented, just so we're extra clear. You started the conversation by establishing clear expectations on what was happening, and made it clear you didn't blame them for your feelings and were wiling to contribute to a solution (Note: in a relationship where this is common, less formal check-ins probably don't require so much of a disclaimer, but I think its good practice to still do when you're doing A Big Thing). Your partner also didn’t blame you for getting jealous, while still not compromising on things that were important to them. You allowed for the fact you weren't certain how things would make you feel and future adjustments might be necessary when you agreed to check in after a few weeks. Both partners took time to think things over when needed to avoid knee-jerk reactions. You classified emotions appropriately by realizing something at the end was a baseless anxiety instead of an actual problem.

Wow this got long! If you’re still around, I hope this was helpful! 😆 Feel free to send follow up questions if you have them, and let me know how it works out!

i have to shoot my shot and ask - HOW on earth do you make your gifs so crisp. they're so clean its literally out of this world!!!!!! when your gifs are on my dash i almost always know its you just by the QUALITY of the gif. help a girl out!!!

Hii! Thank you!! <3 I'm happy with the way my giffing process now goes but it's taken years and a few different fandoms and stumbling upon good tutorials which is why i decided to make one of my own too.

I still love figuring out new things to try and hopefully you can get some new tips to your process from me too. Under the cut is a long af post about gif making, focusing on some basic stuff and sharpening/coloring tips.

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WAY TOO LONG INTRO

Before i get to the photoshop part, the base stuff is super important: You can't turn a very bad video into great gifs since there's only so much photoshop can do BUT you can turn a good video into great gifs. So, obviously the original video quality matters a lot.

I religiously stand by the correct tumblr size dimensions (see example, the numbers mean the width. Height doesn't really matter). However in 3 column sets i’ll sacrifice that one pixel and would make them all 177px. The empty space between gifs in 2 column sets is 4px, in 3 column sets it's 4px + 4px.

Since tumblr can only properly handle 540 gif pixels in the same row, sets with two wide gifs side by side can be laggy to scroll by. So for example, 268px gif will not be as sharp as 540px gif (if you click on it to see it bigger), since it legit has only half of the pixels, but if you plan to post 2 gifs in the same row, the 268px will look better on the dash in the gif set since it’s correctly sized for the best dash result.

I download videos when i can (dl is always better than screen recording), so that's youtube, instagram/twitter etc. Streaming sites/broadcasts i have to screen record and i use OBS to do it. It's the best i've tried for hq recording. I record with 60fps and use display capture. OBS is a heavy program, as is photoshop, so a good enough computer is also super important imo. I used to make gifs with a laptop of 4gb ram/128gb emmc and lost my mind after all the crashing and spent 1k€ on a new one. Basically, have as much performance as you can afford, and editing experience will be much much more pleasant. Of course gifs can be done with an average computer too, it'll just likely be slower and clumsier and you need more patience 😫

Also, i've gotten rid of the urge to be the first to post a gif set when new content drops. I'm not the fastest, i always do every coloring from the scratch. I save to drafts to see how it looks like on mobile, i go back to ps to correct the things that don't look right (too dark/bright, too green/yellow/red, too slow/fast), i make the changes, then save to drafts again and then post. I'd rather post a set i'm happy with than to post quickly knowing i could've made it look better with just a bit more time. (It'd bother me and i'd go back and re-color for my own peace of mind 😅) And i just wanna say it's totally fine when people make gifs of the same stuff!! The more the merrier, no need to think only the first to gif something somehow now has the rights to that moment. I just never get the best result if i try to hurry, so i’ve stopped trying to get my sets out asap. I’ll post when i’ll post.

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SHARPENING

All these words and i haven't even gotten to the point yet 🫣 But fine tuning the details won't work if they don't have a proper base at first. Which!!! Finally brings us to your question:

I'm not sure if the order really matters but the main steps i do in this order: once the layers have been converted to video timeline and video timeline is converted into a smart object -> smart sharpen -> crop -> resize -> coloring

I like to sharpen things first, to me it makes sense to do it before resizing because after resizing you've already lost some pixels, so feels better to sharpen when you still have all the original pixels.

All the above steps (sharpening, cropping, resizing) will affect how the gif looks, so i do the coloring as the very last thing so i can better see how the end result will look.

To me sharpening and coloring go hand in hand, and you use both of them to get the best result. Sharpening obviously does what it says but good coloring will help to make the gif look cleaner and smoother too.

Finally, examples!! The key to a sharp result in my process is 2 sharpening layers. The main layer and the second layer.

Enjoy looking at judgy max f i giffed last year and chose to use as an example here. The source video quality was 1080px and i screen recorded with OBS.

I use photoshop CC2019 so cannot guarantee that these will work the same way in other ps versions. As always, it's about fuckin around and findin out 🙏🏻

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1. Example with resizing done, but no sharpening or coloring (blurry and ungood)

2. Example with resizing and main sharpening layer (already much better)

3. Example with second sharpening layer included (more depth, dark spots are darker, almost too strong of an effect but coloring will fix that)

4. Example with all of the above + coloring (the final result)

5. The final result as a gif

And how did we get that result?

Main sharpening layer settings (yes, it’s in finnish but i think the options are in the same place in every language):

Because the sharpening is quite heavy, I double click on this thingy (red circle) in the layers panel to lower the opacity to 50-70%

The middle layer is gaussian blur, which i’ve set to 0,2.

So basically i intentionally oversharpen the gif and use the opacity function and blur to soften the effect. Dumb or smart, who knows not me, but it’s working for me so i’m rolling with it.

The top layer is the second sharpening layer. A godsend trick i’ve learned along the way: (the difference between the example photos 2 and 3 above)

(I've created an action, so i just gotta push one button and it'll run thru these sharpening settings, ie. i don't have to manually click thru these every time, saves crazy amount of time)

Wasn't sure at which point i'll mention this so i'm just putting it here: when saving the gif for web, i almost always use adaptive and diffusion.

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COLORING

I’m not gonna go thru every coloring thing in my process since this is already so long hsdkfjdkjgkd but i’ll give some info on what i usually do and some tips i've found helpful.

My style is quite natural and i prefer colder tones. I hateeeee overly green/yellow/red skintones that are caused by bad lighting so I always try to correct that. The below stuff is more or less what i did to color that example gif too. (Everything is down to preference, these are just the way i like to color)

My most commonly used coloring layers:

Curves. Utilize the eye dropper tools, pick white eye dropper and click on a white spot on the gif (not pure white tho since it won’t do anything) and it will turn that spot to 100% white and correct the other colors at the same time. Black eye dropper will turn a dark spot you picked to 100% black. It can be super effective, just try a spot, undo, try another spot, undo, until you find what looks good. If you like the result but it’s too strong, lower the layer opacity. And of course you can just simply drag the curve up and get brightness that way. There are times when the eye droppers won't work nicely but it's always worth a try.

Levels. Works similarly to curves, they are basically the more efficient brightness/contrast combo.

Color balance. No gif of mine has been made in the last 3 years without dragging the blue in the midtones to the right. I also often drag the green to magnetas side. 

B&W gradient map. I set the blending mode to soft light and lower the layer opacity. Gives the gif a bit more depth and pop to the dark/light parts.

If the dark parts in your gif are too dark, for example details around eyes look messy but you don't want to lower the contrast, then try adding light colored gradient map (light yellow-white or light blue-white etc) and set it to soft light and play with opacity. It will give light and brightness to the gif without making things blinding and not losing much contrast.

Photo filter. I’m almost always going for cold blue and 10-20 setting. (Orange filters can give a nice effect too, if you want to bring some warmness to the gif.)

Vibrance. Always adding at least a little bit, helps colors to pop and makes skintones look nicer.

Selective coloring. Just drag them sliders to left and right to see what works, that’s really the best advice i can give. If you want reds to pop, go to red and play around. If you think the white spots are a bit blinding, go to white and then slide the bottom one (black) to the right. If you want some more contrast, go to neutral and slide the bottom one (black) to the right. Same with black (black).

Also, i don't like to do too much with one layer. I tend to do different colors with different selective coloring layers, so if needed i can lower the opacity and it will only affect that one color. Also it's handy to duplicate layers if you really want a certain color to pop, one layer often isn't enough in that case so duplicate it and if it's too strong then play around with opacity.

(Left image below). If you want to correct overly yellow/green skintones, go to yellow and you can try these settings. Then lower the layer opacity to see what looks good. 

(Right image). If you struggle getting rid of very red tones, you can use hue/saturation layer, go to red and just drag the middle slider to the left. (This is also a good tip with POC, when you think their skintone is overly orange/red but you are afraid of white washing. This setting will usually correct the orange and red tone without taking the dark/black color away.)

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THE END

Wheew this is what happens when you give me an opprtunity to talk about giffing 😅 I hope it was easy to follow, feel free to ask if i was unclear about something!! And hopefully you got to learn something new. 

Also these are obviously just my way of doing things, not the Only Correct way, do whatever you like and enjoy and don’t worry too much if other people do things differently. Most important thing is to have fun creating 🫡

The chibis that you draw are sooo cuteee do you have any tips for drawing them? ☺️😫🙏 Like are there any specific artists that you take reference from when drawing them? I’ve been wanting to learn for so longgg

Thank you so much anon!!! TTT <33

i don't really have specific artists for ref tho, sorry :(

I'll try to give the best explanation!😅😅

so when drawing chibi, and while the ways I draw them are a bit inconsistent, I kinda go for the 'little guy' feeling. like it doesn't have to have steady proportions and the detail depends on how you like it. i just want to make em big head tiny babi.

i normally go for this uh, two proportions (idk how to call it) one for the whole head and one for the body.

I think the tip is while the proportions in the head are bigger (eye, head size, fluffier hair) the body gets shrinks down! (shorter leg/arm, tiny feet, ball hand but sometimes I gave them funny fingers and thumb ) /of course this is up to your art style too

(also, just my opinion tho, I think rnm characters are good for chibified haha since there is not too much detail and a lot of it is already simplified)

and that is about it! i think there is no right or wrong in how you draw chibi you can just go wild about it!

you can do it anon!! hope this help!

not a tip but also another way I like to do is just make em into lil creature lol

In regards to the seven sentence tag game:

Let's see if I can manage this without going off into the entire plot of Gears of War and a comprehensive guide to the history, science, culture, society, and economic structure of the world of Sera. Or worse, start ranting about the themes of the story. 😅

So within the world of Gears there's a superweapon called the Hammer of Dawn. It's made up of a network of satellites that can rain down firey hell in concentrated bursts. It's a constant presence within the games, books, and comics and helps showcase the gray areas of humanity in a horrific but necessary way. Basically, big scary laser weapon from space. Not to be used lightly.

One of the bigger plot devices in Gears of War 5 is that they're trying to get the HoD back online. Most of the satellites have been lost, destroyed, or knocked offline and unreachable after the near apocalypse the world of Sera endured. The first mission in the game is to find and launch a working satellite. Unfortunately, one satellite is difficult to aim and doesn't cover a large surface area of the planet. One of the next missions you play is an evacuation of a COG settlement. Obviously things go wrong, things are looking bad and my poor sweet darling JD (James) fueled by guilt, pride, and fear decides to use himself as a targeting beacon for the HoD. It works until the satellite goes haywire and Baird no longer has control over it. And then everything goes to ratshit. JD gets hit with a blast that basically cooks him. He ends up severely wounded and in a coma for a while.

Now that you've got some knowledge to go off of this piece is a little bit of introspection on the relationship between JD and his father, Marcus. I'm kind of going for a "these are the times he remembers holding his son" thing. The first being only a few hours after JD is born. The next time being on JD's sixth birthday, only a short time before his mother's death, an event that drives a huge wedge between Marcus and JD. And the last being this moment when he has to drag his dying child to CASEVAC. I'm wanting to explore Marcus's guilt in not being there for his son and how he feels powerless as his little boy lies dying at his feet. One of Marcus's biggest issues throughout the entire series is his messiah complex. He believes it's his job to shoulder pain and suffering for everyone else. For him to be unable to do that for his own son has to feel like a major failure on his part. We don't really get a whole lot of this from Marcus's point of view within the game or the accompanying book. That's all mostly explored from Kait's perspective which is important and great, but poisonous relationships between parent and child are very important to me and I like to explore them in all their multifaceted detail.

So what did JD do? He lied. He put people that depended on him in danger. And he knowingly killed innocents. Eventually, his hubris caught up with him. And now his father has to face his own as they race for the chance to save JD's dwindling life.

And oops I rambled in your ask box. 🤦 Sorry.

Let's see if I can manage this without going off into the entire plot of Gears of War and a comprehensive guide to the history, science, culture, society, and economic structure of the world of Sera. Or worse, start ranting about the themes of the story. 😅

Me when I try to explain Ghostbur or Wilbur or Tommy or anything related to Dream SMP to someone who’s not in the fandom XD I usually end up going into a whole lotta detail lol—probably much more detail than is truly needed.

But it’s fun, so :D

Big scary laser weapon from space, gotcha!

NOOOOOOO JD *carefully covers him with a soft blanket and pats his head*

Ough… oh Deathy. One of my favorite things to read about is complicated relationships between family members. Oh gosh. Oh this fic sounds amazing oh my goodness. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!

YEAHHHHHH FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE MESSY YES YES!!! I LOVE!!! OH MY GOSH YES!!!

You absolutely don’t have to apologize, my friend! Reading rambles is one of my favorite things to do :D And this story sounds sooooo good oh my gosh-

Now I’m curious: what do JD and Marcus act like? What are their personalities? Now that I know the backstory I’m very curious about other aspects of them :0

Hey how was your wedding? Hope it was fun and you had good food. I wanted to give you an update on the chicken I was having problems with. I wont mince words, you saved her life. I honestly didn't think she would pull through but that medicine you suggested really did the trick. Here's a pic of her just chilling in the backyard with a wild rabbit.

Do you have any good advice about how to deal with bully chickens tho? If I put her back with the flock she'll just get attacked again. Im thinking about trying chicken blinders.

Oh my gosh, I'm so so happy she pulled through!!! 😍 That Poultry Cel is a miracle worker; I had a chicken with a respiratory issue a couple of weeks ago and with some Amoxicillin and Poultry Cel, she went from gasping for air with a dark purple comb to being her cute little perky self with a bright red comb again in no time ❤️ but she's adorable and what an awesome picture! 🥰 We have rabbits that hang around our barn but I've never seen a wild rabbit just sploot like that out in the open; that's so awesome!!! They're just loving that spring sun 🌞

My wedding isn't actually for 3 more weeks, so unfortunately I still have to be anxious for a bit longer but it's really coming together and I'm also very excited! It's on Star Wars day, May 4th, so we're going all in on space and star wars themed decor, and we're still trying to settle on food but I'm hoping everybody's gonna like it 😅

As far as the bully chicken goes, what I did when I reintroduced the hen that had surgery was I took the chicken that was really going after her and put her in the quarantine pen (I kept just a little bit of the old bedding for this) for a couple of days so she'd get used to the scent of the "new" chicken, plus it also disrupted the pecking order a bit and confused the flock and therefore kept them fairly peaceful towards each other. The other girls did a little bit of reestablishing but none of them were anywhere near as aggressive as my dominant hen. Some pecking is fine and normal, of course, but if you have girls jumping on or at her and really viciously attacking then that quickly becomes a very dangerous situation, as I'm sure you're all too familiar with. Anyway, after a couple of days I put her back in and all was well 🤷🏼‍♀️ chicken blinders would be a good idea, especially if you have multiple bully hens; I'd honestly never heard of them!

Thank you so much for the update; I'm so very very glad I could help and that you get more time with your sweet little fluffbutt ❤️ I wish you the best of luck in reintroducing her to the flock!!

Edit: forgot to mention the aggressive hen I removed was head of the pecking order, and since I don't have roosters she is the main protector of the flock which doesn't help with the aggression. That's also why the pecking order was disrupted; without a leader the other girls didn't really have a clue what was going on and I think the confusion led to a more peaceful transition. I think I kept her in the quarantine pen for 2-3 days, so she was still head honcho when she got back, lol! I believe I have a bigger flock (around 50, give or take), though, so I don't know how that would translate to a smaller flock.

Maybe u could try to replace your reason for living from 'her' to something simple & noble. When I lost this guy, living w/o the thought of having him in my future was v tough, so I diverted my focus on other ppl/helping ppl/making my family proud. Idk but I think to live for 'yourself'/ keeping the drive as your own self for living seems smth like.. Well, smth at least I wouldn't be able to do. Idky but it just seems too selfish/unreliable since we ourselves are supposed to be like the handlers/caretakers of our own selves in this world that keeps on attacking us w one expectation or the other. If u think this applies to you too, then u could try this instead. Keep your own self completely out of the equation unless u wanna have a revenge bod or smth.. Idky but whenever I see ppl (mostly the ones of our gen) whose sole focus is themselves, they seem unnecessarily unhappy and struggling. Are going above n beyond to prove themselves to the world, when they could just keep their jobs/appearances/etc. As smth completely external (not a part of them) n instead focus on how much they can simply give to this world. Like I, since Ive been a pretty much of an idiot with most of my decisions, can listen to ppl without judgement n can sympathise with them well.. They just feel comfortable around me so I also try to be an easy person around em instead of putting myself on a standard. I think whenever u feel worthless, u should try n be simply grateful for whatever u r, how much investment have been made to u (if u wanna be logical) n ultimately try n give the world back in whatever ways u could.. Like for eg, if you're a caretaker, be even more better. Take the focus off from u n your own problems, and think of how much blessed u r in a position to help those in need n find worth thru that help. There are some not so fortunate domestic workers, construction workers, sooo many people, whose shoes if I wear, I'd instantly feel this huge struggle for life n would wanna instantly wanna give up. Yet they accept their lives n always show up to their work which is surrounded by ppl w huge TVs, comforting rooms n whatnot. Now these are the ppl who know v well that comparisons w others/expectations with their own selves is smth which will bring unnecessary self-loathing only. So they just try to make the best of the lives they've been given. But most importantly, they still provide w whatever they got. It's just all about perspective n how you choose to view menial stuff.. You just have to realise the world is bigger than you, certainly much bigger than your darling!!.. Now I tbh do know how to live with being told that from my person😅(we have a history so that day, my long-awaited interaction w him was a bit problematic from my side) which made him ultimately say that. It hurt me, but didn't break me. Or reduced my worth (though atm I was questioning it a lot😅lol). I don't think there's anything more comforting u could say in addition to what u already said - v. helpful!! to make that better🤗I think it just has to pass🤔 u don't have to answer that "how to live with it" part😊 it doesn't affect much now tbh. (also⬆️ is just my way, works for me, doesn't have to 'right', may/may not be helpful to u)

I am glad you are doing better than before, you are a very strong person. :)

That is good advice, it is difficult to live for yourself and helping others is a noble cause. And you are right about perspective playing a large role in You have a lot of empathy and understanding for other people.

In my case, I have a tendency to be a people pleaser and help others to the point of neglecting my own wants, needs, and boundaries. I guess when I say that I want to live for myself, I mean that I want to advocate for myself more instead of living and basing my entire self-worth on how much I can give (to my darling, parents, etc.). I don't want to completely depend on other people to feel happy, if that makes sense.

Charles's strategy today compared to the sprint = ♥️

Instead of trying to overtake Verstappen at the start and being pushed again, he got right behind him, stuck with him and bided his time, putting pressure on him all the while ♥️♥️♥️

A lot of drivers would have tried to get p1 immediately. But Charles knew p2 was the best position to be at the beginning. No unnecessary risks taken and controlling the situation from the start 😭

(And getting away from Sainz as fast as possible)

He sees the bigger picture.

Binotto said he was incredibly surprised by today's performance from Ferrari and the fact that they forced Verstappen into a third pit stop

Really insane!

That first overtake really took Max by surprise it seems, and he even had to correct his path (English isn't my native language I hope you get what I mean lol)

The last laps took away about 10 years of my life tho because of the throttle and downshift problems 😅

Ferrari needs to get on top of their mechanical and reliability issues because we need more exciting races like this one!!

Hiya!

Firstly, thanks for the long asks! I love all of these! I might just take a bit longer to reply because there is so much to talk about.

Secondly, not a native English speaker either so sometimes what I say also doesn't make perfect sense in English but anyway, everything you said made sense.

Yeah they got it right which was great to see! And that they weren't pressured into things by Max pitting so early. Iirc mattia said that they used the sprint as an experiment type thing to check out the tyre deg and they knew that theirs was better than RBs.

With Charles start he did take a different line than in the sprint so Max couldn't squeeze him into the wall which would mean that Carlos could've gotten him. But it also helped that George had such a good start and Carlos was preoccupied with keeping them behind and so the first two just sped off.

Charles also said that the first few laps he still wanted to take it a bit slow and then attack which he did. I've heard it quite a lot about these new tyres that you really need to take the time to get them up to temp or you'll ruin them.

Charles definitely sees the bigger picture! It's also why he was so ready to have to keep re-overtaking Max.

I think everyone was a bit surprised by the tyre Deg differential between RB and Ferrari. Max for sure was. I think it's a thing on both sides where Ferrari were better than expected and RB was worse than expected.

Honestly, I've watched that overtake with every commentary I have access too and they were all surprised including me. He seemed wayyy too far away but he did it! He's been so incredible on the brakes this season! I mean the car definitely helps that, but he brakes soooo late and keeps getting it right without major lock ups.

And yes max did definitely had to back out a bit or he'd have risked them both. Which is smart. But I love it when these two battle especially in these new cars because they are both super aggressive but don't force it too much because they know they'll have another chance.

Same the last few laps killed me! I already was ready to faint! It was horrible! And then the gap also kept getting smaller because of Charles turn 3 because of the stupid throttle. I don't think I would've lasted another lap tbh. He couldn't downshift because the software doesn't allow that if the revs are too high and they were too high because of the stuck throttle. So that stupid pedal really tried to cause all the issues it could've on those last laps.

I think Mattia said that they know what the issue with Charles engine was and they think it's the same for Carlos and that they are fully focused ok fixing it. So that would be lovely if they could maybe do that like now. But at least they know what the issue is. That's a good start and often harder to figure out than one thinks.

I just love seeing Charles win lol but also the battle with him and Max have been so nice because they've been really clean. And they are for the lead so thats extra lovely.

How about buddy cop story starring (t)twins, who always fight, but in the end would do everything for the partner? The rest of the boys are other officers, chief, informant etc.

I feel like opening this with one of my favourite jokes:

Why do cops always work in pairs?

- Because the other one knows how to read and the other one knows how to write 🤓

Every time officers Hokka and Porko have just had lunch at a gas station and Porko disappears in the men's room, Joel knows it's gonna be at least 10 minutes until they can leave; not because Porko takes that long to pee, but because he often likes to spend an unnecessary amount of his working hours to check himself out on the mirror or, sometimes, flirting with someone he ran into in the bathroom (or on his way there) 😑 In fact, it's not once or twice Joel has contemplated driving off and dumping Porko right there and then

(One time he actually did, but felt guilty about it immediately after and drove back, only to find out Joonas was still in the bathroom 😐)

Joonas, however, thinks Joel should "live a little and finally ask the cute receptionist out on a date before you both die of blue balls"

Hokka: "At least I can keep my balls in my pants, unlike you and Officer Moilanen the other night. I wonder what chief Lalli would think if he knew what you're using your handcuffs for."

Porko: "Why, he'd thank me for the tip 😏"

And anyway, while in the lavatory, Joonas happened to have an extremely fruitful chat with one of their key informants regarding one of their biggest on-going cases, so there! 😤

H: "In a public restroom?! Fucking hell, Porko, I can't believe you could be so unprofessional!"

(actually, he can)

P: "Because sulking about whenever someone approaches you is SO much more helpful, Hokka? Jesus, no wonder they think cops are jerks, you're a real-life example of one."

H: "Better a jerk than a loose-lipped blabbermouth"

P: "Niko likes it at least 😌"

H: *turns on the radio louder*

So that's their dynamics, yeah? I haven't watched too many cop shows in my life so I'm not gonna go in too much detail with a fully developed plot (sorry!) but I can offer you these headcanons:

Joel consoling Joonas when his favourite police dog needs to be put down 😭

Joonas, in turn, consoling Joel when he finally does ask the the cute receptionist out but he declines oh nooooo!! (it's because the receptionist just been hired and doesn't want to appear unprofessional; otherwise he'd very much like to go out with Joel 🥺

(wow look at me adding some cheeky mutual pining into a buddy cop AU, who would ever have thought 😅)

Joel has to take sick leave because he's caught the worst cold of the century 🤧 and, against all odds, Joonas misses him terribly after just one day and brings him some soup and marshmallows (he's heard they're good for a sore throat). It's the first time he's been to Joel's place and he's so shocked to see the state of it that he decides to clean it up a bit while he's at it (=ends up scrubbing the whole apartment from roof to ceiling) 🤧

(Joel may be so feverish that he asks Joonas to pet his head a little to ease the heat and pressure 🥺 and Joonas does 🥺

(They don't talk about it when Joel comes back to work.)

Joonas getting offended when Joel's insults go a step too far and he proceeds to sulk for the rest of their 12-hour work shift, until Joel attempts to appease him with a doughnut 🍩 (he accepts and gives half of it to Joel 💕)

One time they get in a huge fight (as in, bigger than the squabbles they usually have) because of a fucked-up assignment, of which they blame each other. Chief Lalli gets so tired of them screaming at each other that he locks them up in the drunk tank until they have made up

(Afterwards, Tommi finds them in deep embrace, crying against each other's shoulders)

Sideplots include Niko convincing the cute receptionist that starting a fling with one's co-worker is not necessarily a fatal move if you play your cards right, and chief Lalli running into their key informant in the most unusual context that may or may not include handcuffs.. 😳