#had to save using noise to have a better quality
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Reading Mordecai Heller as a repressed gay man
The tragic attraction
This is a full post based on my response to a great analysis by @sedgewick-gayble
Let me start by saying that if you read Mordecai as being totally asexual/aromantic and any affection he has for other characters to be entirely platonic that is entirely valid and I respect that
However as this response by Tracy makes clear on the topic of fans reading Mordecai as gay there is an intentional ambiguity about it. Being 28 at the time of the main story his "lifestyle is certainly asexual" up to this point, yet "being ace and being gay are not mutually exclusive things" and people sometimes "don't know themselves or understand their own motivations all that well"
This leaves the possibility open that Mordecai is actively repressing his natural desires and feelings
Mordecai's early life didn't exactly provide much time or opportunity for "self discovery", even by the usual standards of the less than tolerant and understanding world of the early 20th century
Being born into an impoverished family and having his father die very early in his life leaving him and his Mother and two younger sisters in dire straits, Mordecai had to get to work and assume adult responsibilities pretty damn early.
As Tracy says "selling newspapers wasn't going to cut it" and so using his natural talent with numbers Mordecai starts bookkeeping for the mob. Is it any wonder someone with that background would develop such a serious and rigidly buttoned up demeanour?
Since being forced to abandon his mother and two sisters at the start of the 1920s and flee New York, being picked up by Atlas's due to his habit of collecting useful strays, Mordecai had very few people he was close to in St Louis. With his generally anti-social personality and not only lack of interest but discomfort with any sort of flirting or romantic entanglements, that would be unlikely to change
Side note: Probaby coincidence but
There are only two people who seem to make it onto that exclusive list of people that "count" for Mordecai, who he cares about and are able to bring things to the surface he would normally keep hidden
Atlas to Mordecai is not just an employer, he is the man who saved his life, the man who moulded a desperate fearful shabby young stray into the sharp professional he is today, who took him under his wing and made him his protege. Filling the empty space his father left in his life. His grief and desperate hunt for those responsible for his death are his big motivation (the strain of which is slowly tearing him apart)
That connection is undertsandable
Much more surprising on the surface is the bond with the partner Atlas teamed him up with soon after his arrival, Viktor Vasko.
The assumption at the start would have been that while their skill sets might compliment each other in the field there would have been no warmth in their dynamic.
Certainly not on Mordecai's part as Viktor appears to be a sum total of many things Mordecai hates. Viktor is unshaven, relatively casual in his attire, speaks a broken English, and hates people chattering or “noise, noise, noise” as he calls it. Clashing hard with his obsession with good grooming, high quality tailoring, correct grammar etc. Indeed Mordecai doesn't hesitate to nag/criticize Viktor for these things
Yet at the same time Mordecai has far better chemistry with Viktor than with anyone else, able to banter and bicker with him in a way you rarely if ever see with others
Its why when he gets tailored clothes for the first time Viktor is the first person he wants to show off too. Its why the one time he is intoxicated Viktor (and his large physique) are his chosen topic of converation. Its why at Christmas/Hanuhhah he gives him the gift of a tie while claiming its just because of the big guys poor fashion sense and that its "embarassing to be seen with him" (even that justification makes him sound like a nagging girlfriend)
A smaller detail is that during their iconic chess playing in the side content, set during their days staking out the remote town of Defiance, Viktor is shown very casually winning the game much to Mordecai's visible distress
This is hilarious but could also be taken as a metaphor for Viktor (possibly without even realizing it) breaking through his defensive emotional barriers
Something Mordecai doesn't know how to handle or respond to
The animated short only adds fuel to the fire
During their dispute over strategy Mordecai moves his face so close to Viktors that he almost knocks his cap off his head. His eyes at one point even dart down towards his mouth
Sharp eyed Vikdecai fans have also noted that Mordecai seems on some level to want the two of them to match
The tie being the same colour could simpy be Mordecai giving Viktor one of his own ties because its a joke gift and he just grabbed it on a whim to tease Viktor about his poor fashion choices
But think about the matching suits at the New Years party for 1926
I mean, seriously, not only is it the exact same style of suit in the same blue-grey colour distinct from everyone else, but they are standing in the perfect spots to be symmetrical to each other. Something that we all know means a lot to this compulsive man
Mordecai must have known there was going to be a big group photo ahead of time and then carefully planned this
Got matching suits made to his and Viktors measurements
Then most impressively convinced/nagged Viktor into cooperating (he may have taken off the tie and rolled up the sleeves but hey him playing along at all is quite a compromise from Viktor "I hate dressing up" Vasko)
Mordecai is intent on making Viktor retire and get out of danger, and avoid a situation where he gets sent to kill him by Marigold because he knows he could NOT do it, and his cover and investigation into Atlas's death would be over
He is horrified that Viktor is still working at Lackadaisy (though he again has to hide how much he cares) and that he has gotten not only hurt again but hurt by Mordecai again (albeit this time indirectly by stealing the guns)
Can this be read as simply platonic comradere? Absolutely
But there is something so *intense* in the fact he was willing to resort to kneecapping him. Its an extreme and desperate act that could only result from intense emotions, seemingly out of character for someone who tries very hard to appear logical and controlled.
While Vikdecai is a very fun ship when imagining them as an actual bickering married couple, I have often said that a tragic one-sided on Mordecai's part version of Vikdecai is the one that fits closest and surprisingly well into the canon.
His nagging and complaining about Viktor in that context take on a Tsundere aspect, both to protect himself from being found out and maybe even try and convince himself the uncomfortable alien feelings aren't there. He not only doesn't want others looking too hard at his feeling he doesn't want to examine them himself all that much
There is a heartbreaking but appealing angst to the idea of this extremely repressed man having such feelings for the first time in his life for his straight best friend and NOT knowing how to handle that. Having to perform the balancing act of being around him so much as his partner but being painfully aware that he can't let anyone catch on, especially not Viktor himself, as it would likely destroy his bond with the only person in town other than Atlas he is close to.
Though tragically he did that anyway later via the kneecapping, which while about trying to keep Viktor safe, he may now looking back try and tell himself its actually somehow "better" for Viktor to hate him for that
Because the big guy now wrongly thinks the feeling is mutual and that Mordecai never really cared about him, which may be better than (what Mordecai assumes would be) disgust at his partners doomed more than platonic feelings
Because he sees those feelings and his situation as a sad perfectly structured joke life has played on him
#lackadaisy#tracy j butler#lackadaisycats#mordecai heller#viktor vasko#vikdecai#repressed#gay#asexual#ace#comic#pilot#cats#gangsters#one sided love#one sided crush#one sided attraction#internalized homophobia
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just letting you know that that ask you rb'd about glaze being a scam seems to be false/dubious. I think they're just misinterpreting "not as useful as we had hoped" and interpreted it maliciously, based on the replies?
not positive but yeah!
Ah yeah, I see people fairly expressing that being “debunked” as in, not a scam; I wasn’t personally particularly aligned to whether or not its “dubious origins” are true or not… so sorry about that.
From what I’ve read, I was more focused upon the consensus that it doesn’t work, and therefore isn’t worth the effort. So having a positive takeaway on glaze outside of its “scam or not status”, as potentially saving us from ai learning doesn’t seem useful to pass around.
Correct me if there’s better information out there but this from an old Reddit post a year back is why I didn’t continue looking into it as it made sense to my layman’s brain:
“lets briefly go over the idea behind GLAZE
computer vision doesn't work the same way as in the brain. They way we do this in computer vision is that we hook a bunch of matrix multiplications together to transform the input into some kind of output (very simplified). One of the consequences of this approach is that small changes over the entire input image can lead to large changes to the output.
It's this effect that GLAZE aims to use as an attack vector / defense mechanism. More specifically, GLAZE sets some kind of budget on how much it is allowed to change the input, and within that budget it then tries to find a change such that the embeddings created by the VAE that sits in front of the diffusion model look like embeddings of an image that come from a different style.
Okay, but how do we know what to change to make it look like a different style? for that they take the original image and use the img2img capabilities of SD itself to transform that image into something of another style. then we can compare the embeddings of both versions and try and alter the original image such that it's embeddings start looking like that of the style transferred version.
So what's wrong with it?
In order for GLAZE to be successful the perturbation it finds (the funny looking swirly pattern) has to be reasonably resistant against transformations. What the authors of GLAZE have tested against is jpeg compression, and adding Gaussian noise, and they found that jpeg compression was largely ineffective and adding Gaussian noise would degrade the artwork quicker than it would degrade the transfer effect of GLAZE. But that's a very limited set of attacks you can test against. It is not scale invariant, something that people making lora's usually do. e.g. they don't train on the 4K version of the image, at most on something that's around 720x720 or something. As per authors admission it might also not be crop invariant. There also seem to be denoising approaches that sufficiently destroy the pattern (the 16 lines of code).
As you've already noticed, GLAZING something can results in rather noticeable swirly patterns. This pattern becomes especially visible when you look at works that consist of a lot of flat shading or smooth gradients. This is not just a problem for the artist/viewer, this is also a fundamental problem for glaze. How the original image is supposed to look like is rather obvious in these cases, so you can fairly aggressively denoise without much loss of quality (might even end up looking better without all the patterns).
Some additional problems that GLAZE might run into: it very specifically targets the original VAE that comes with SD. The authors claim that their approach transfers well enough between some of the different VAEs you can find out in the wild, and that at least they were unsuccessful in training a good VAE that could resist their attack. But their reporting on these findings isn't very rigorous and lacks quite a bit of detail.
will it get better with updates?
Some artists belief that this is essentially a cat and mouse game and that GLAZE will simply need updates to make it better. This is a very optimistic and uninformed opinion made by people that lack the knowledge to make such claims. Some of the shortcomings outlined above aren't due to implementation details, but are much more intimately related with the techniques/math used to achieve these results. Even if this indeed was a cat and mouse game, you'll run into the issue that the artist is always the one that has to make the first move, and the adversary can save past attempt of the artists now broken work.
GLAZE is an interesting academic paper, but it's not going to be a part of the solution artists are looking for.”
[source]
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Every Caryl Scene (S1-11) (1080p/Logoless)
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
Whew. I'm not gonna lie to y'all, this took forever. My goal with this was to recreate my previous Caryl compilation with 1.) all scenes intact, not missing anything and 2.) much better quality. I ran into many issues that I won't bore you with, but in summary - almost everything here is completely lossless from the original files, aside from S10, which I unfortunately had to reencode to fix a few issues I could not solve no matter how much I fiddled with it. However, it is still much better quality than the previous file I had up! These also have 6CH audio, which means that if you make fan videos and use something like Vegas Pro, you will be able to isolate the spoken audio from the music/random background noises and have better, cleaner voiceovers!
All of the seasons add up to about 123 GB, so I'm sorry that these will take up quite a bit more space than before, but the improved quality hopefully makes up for that! These are not perfect, so please forgive any little framerate bugs or very slight (hopefully) issues with video/audio syncing. I'm aware that the audio for S10 is a bit behind, but hopefully not to an extent that ruins anything - that season gave me quite a hard time, and I'm not really sure how to get it just right. It bothers the hell out of me, so I'm sorry, but I did my best. Otherwise, any issues should be pretty minor, but let me know if you run into anything major.
As always -
Credit is not necessary.
You are free to - and encouraged to - use these for anything creative that your heart desires. Just don't claim that you put these together yourself and I'm happy.
If you want me to see something you made with the scenes, tag me! I love seeing new creations in the tag, so don't be shy.
This is my love letter to y'all. It's not much, but I hope it sparks joy!
(Pssttt, psstt. If you would like episode timestamps for each season, click the link below. It's pretty lengthy and they're not precise, I just did my best.)
Season 1
00:00 to 02:52 - Episode 5, Wildfire
02:52 to 04:17 - Episode 6, TS-19
Season 2
00:00 to 14:21 - Episode 1, What Lies Ahead
14:22 to 20:05 - Episode 2, Bloodletting
20:06 to 21:38 - Episode 3, Save the Last One
21:39 to 26:16 - Episode 4, Cherokee Rose
26:17 to 27:18 - Episode 5, Chupacabra
27:19 to 42:17 - Episode 7, Pretty Much Dead Already
42:18 to 45:16 - Episode 8, Nebraska
45:17 to 51:00 - Episode 9, Triggerfinger
51:01 to 55:03 - Episode 11, Judge, Jury, Executioner
55:04 to 57:49 - Episode 12, Better Angels
57:50 to 01:12:48 - Episode 13, Beside the Dying Fire
Season 3
00:00 to 11:34 - Episode 1, Seed
11:35 to 20:08 - Episode 4, Killer Within
20:09 to 26:13 - Episode 5, Say the Word
26:14 to 31:12 - Episode 6, Hounded
31:13 to 33:14 - Episode 7, When the Dead Come Knocking
33:15 to 39:58 - Episode 9, The Suicide King
39:59 to 43:41 - Episode 10, Home
43:42 to 44:45 - Episode 11, I Ain't a Judas
44:46 to 46:18 - Episode 15, This Sorrowful Life
46:19 to 46:37 - Episode 16 - Welcome to the Tombs
Season 4
00:00 to 02:11 - Episode 1, 30 Days Without an Accident
02:12 to 06:11 - Episode 2, Infected
06:12 to 10:03 - Episode 3, Isolation
10:04 to 13:49 - Episode 4, Indifference
13:50 to 14:53 - Episode 5, Internment
14:54 to 16:18 - Episode 8, Too Far Gone
Season 5
00:00 to 20:07 - Episode 1, No Sanctuary
20:08 to 33:23 - Episode 2, Strangers
(^tw for emetophobia at 22:27 to 22:42, I know it might seem silly since this show is full of blood and gore, but I don't want to catch y'all off guard with something unexpected that might really bother you to see.)
33:24 to 34:19 - Episode 3, Four Walls and a Roof
34:20 to 34:52 - Episode 4, Slabtown
34:53 to 01:16:24 - Episode 6, Consumed
(^yes, I included this entire ep, y'all ain't missing a second of it.)
01:16:25 to 01:23:28 - Episode 8, Coda
01:23:29 to 01:27:29 - Episode 10, Them
01:27:30 to 01:28:14 - Episode 11, The Distance
01:28:15 to 01:30:58 - Episode 12, Remember
01:30:59 to 01:33:56 - Episode 13, Forget
Season 6
00:00 to 01:31 - Episode 1, First Time Again
01:32 to 09:26 - Episode 3, Thank You
09:27 to 12:59 - Episode 6, Always Accountable
13:00 to 14:59 - Episode 9, No Way Out
15:00 to 17:18 - Episode 11, Knots Untie
17:19 to 19:40 - Episode 13, The Same Boat
19:41 to 25:28 - Episode 14, Twice as Far
25:29 to 28:38 - Episode 16, Last Day on Earth
Season 7
00:00 to 02:55 - Episode 1, The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
02:56 to 03:55 - Episode 9, Rock in the Road
03:56 to 20:43 - Episode 10, New Best Friends
20:44 to 28:13 - Episode 13, Bury Me Here
Season 8
00:00 to 08:46 - Episode 1, Mercy
08:47 to 13:22 - Episode 4, Some Guy
13:23 to 15:22 - Episode 5, The Big Scary U
15:23 to 17:45 - Episode 11, Dead or Alive Or
17:46 to 20:02 - Episode 13, Do Not Send Us Astray
20:03 to 27:51 - Episode 16, Wrath
Season 9
00:00 to 02:33 - Episode 1, A New Beginning
02:34 to 07:27 - Episode 2, The Bridge
07:28 to 08:28 - Episode 6, Who Are You Now?
08:29 to 23:25 - Episode 7, Stradivarius
23:26 to 28:00 - Episode 10, Omega
28:01 to 29:41 - Episode 13, Chokepoint
29:42 to 31:01 - Episode 14, Scars
31:02 to 58:58 - Episode 15, The Calm Before
58:59 to 01:22:21 - Episode 16, The Storm
Season 10 (Part 1)
00:00 to 09:24 - Episode 1, Lines We Cross
09:25 to 35:48 - Episode 3, Ghosts
35:49 to 38:34 - Episode 4, Silence the Whisperers
38:35 to 39:46 - Episode 5, What It Always Is
39:47 to 53:52 - Episode 6, Bonds
53:53 to 01:06:48 - Episode 7, Open Your Eyes
01:06:49 to 01:19:18 - Episode 8, The World Before
01:19:19 to 01:44:24 - Episode 9, Squeeze
Season 10 (Part 2)
00:00 to 08:41 - Episode 9, Squeeze (continued from the previous part)
08:42 to 16:35 - Episode 11, Morning Star
16:36 to 20:04 - Episode 12, Walk with Us
20:05 to 31:45 - Episode 14, Look at the Flowers
31:46 to 40:01 - Episode 15, The Tower
40:02 to 01:02:20 - Episode 16, A Certain Doom
01:02:21 to 01:07:40 - Episode 17, Home Sweet Home
01:07:41 to 01:33:05 - Episode 18, Find Me
01:33:06 to 02:05:42 - Episode 21, Diverged
02:05:43 to 02:08:40 - Episode 24, Here's Ne/gan
^I don't want this post to show up in that character's tag on mobile, it would just be annoying for those fans since this doesn't have anything to do with him.
Season 11
00:00 to 09:55 - Episode 1, Acheron: Part I
09:56 to 15:29 - Episode 9, No Other Way
15:30 to 18:51 - Episode 10, New Haunts
18:52 to 24:27 - Episode 14, The Rotten Core
24:28 to 27:26 - Episode 17, Lockdown
27:27 to 37:24 - Episode 18, A New Deal
37:25 to 57:18 - Episode 20, What's Been Lost
57:19 to 01:19:32 - Episode 21, Outpost 22
1:19:33 to 01:20:56 - Episode 22, Faith
01:20:57 to 01:32:27 - Episode 23, Family
01:32:28 to 02:00:35 - Episode 24, Rest in Peace
#caryl#long post#kimmy.txt#caryledit#< this is here so that y'all know you can use this as a resource for any graphics/gifs/videos/etc#i am still salty that i had to reencode s10 and that the video and audio aren't synced properly EVEN AFTER THAT >.<#but sometimes you just gotta throw in the towel before you lose your mind
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Computer q. For otherwise identical monitors, is a 4000:1 contrast ratio noticeably better from 1000:1? I don't mean for fancy art but like if I'm watching a movie, could I see the difference in a dark scene? I looked into oled's, but those are expensive and I think the way I use my stuff would cause burn in.
I hope you don't mind, but I got carried away and answered pretty much every computer monitor question anyone has ever had. And since this turned into a whole thing, I thought I'd share it for everyone to benefit.
For a computer monitor I would say the most important aspect is actually the viewing angle. This is how far off-axis you can look at the monitor before the image degrades.
We sit very close to our displays and at that distance, even a change in height in your chair can affect the image. Move a little bit left or right and a cheap display could completely wash out and look terrible. And if you get a display that is 27" or above, even if you sit dead center, the edges of the screen will appear dark and washed out with a bad viewing angle.
The two best display technologies to get a good viewing angle are IPS (in-plane switching) and OLED. If you are interested in a display without these technologies, be sure it has a decent viewing angle. You can read more about viewing angles here and here.
IPS has very little concern for burn-in, but it is still a concern with OLED. In recent years OLED has greatly improved and image retention and burn-in can be avoided with regular maintenance. Displays will have pixel shift features and noise modes that work out all the pixels evenly. You can run these features every once in a while to prevent burn-in. You can also play special anti-burn-in videos on YouTube (full screen) to exercise the pixels to uniformity.
So if you don't mind the hassle, you can manage an OLED with low risk.
That said, OLED was almost exclusively for TVs and has only recently been introduced for computer displays. The current options are quite large and fairly expensive, as you alluded to. So if you are trying to stay within a budget, it might be best to seek out an IPS display.
Another consideration is resolution. Everyone is obsessed with everything being 4K now. But I think increasing the resolution brings diminishing returns with regard to increased detail you can actually notice. So if you don't mind going with a 1440p monitor (about 2.5K), you can save some money on resolution and get higher quality in more noticeable areas. Personally, I feel 1440p gives you a nice, noticeable bump in detail over 1080p. Whereas going from 1440p to 4K (2160p) is less noticeable unless you have very good vision.
Another benefit to 1440p is that video games are much easier to run on high quality settings with a reasonable GPU. And you can use technologies like super sampling (Nvidia calls this DLSS) to increase the detail you may lose from not going 4K.
The only concern I'd have with not going 4K is if you edit 4K video. It will be difficult to do a pixel level analysis of your footage otherwise. But other than that, you can still watch 4K content on a 1440p monitor and because it is being downsampled, you will still notice a nice bump in detail.
So if you don't have a reason to get a 4K display, I think 1440p is worth considering.
The next concern would be color. Or color gamut. This is how many colors the display can accurately reproduce. If you don't do any art or video color grading, you'll at least want something that does 95 to 100% of sRGB. That is the color space the entire internet uses. And if you are going to be watching HDR movies, you might want a display with a decent percentage of the P3 color space as well. Doesn't need to be 100%, but the higher the better. And for those who do art, a good percentage of Adobe RGB is recommended.
Also, many manufacturers offer displays that come pre-calibrated from the factory. If color accuracy is important, I would seek out one of these displays with a Delta E rating of 3 or less (lower is better).
A newer factor in displays is peak brightness. This is measured in "nits." In standard dynamic range (SDR), video only needed to reach 100 nits. Most HDR content is mastered to reach 1000 nits. In the future, that number will be 4000. And if micro LED technology ever becomes affordable, we may go up to 10,000 nits. But almost everything is around 1000 at the moment, so that is a good number to shoot for.
HOWEVER, because HDR is tone mapped (the brightness of your display is factored in and the content is adjusted accordingly), you can still get some benefits of HDR, even if you cannot do the full 1000 nits.
All monitors can do 100 nits for SDR content. But with more things being displayed in HDR, having more nits will give you a better experience. This does not mean your display will blind you. Usually bright stuff only takes up a small portion of the screen. But having more nits allows highlights to really pop and feel immersive. A lightsaber might actually feel hot and dangerous on a bright enough screen.
Computer displays are often rated as HDR400 or HDR600 or HDR1000 based on their nits. The HDR400 isn't great for HDR content. If you can do 600 or above within your budget, you'll get a better experience. If you are going to watch movies, this may be a feature you prioritize.
I know you mentioned contrast ratio, but I'm afraid that is a little complicated to answer. It can depend on other aspects of the monitor and the viewing environment. So I'll try to give you the info you need to figure out if the display you select will suit your needs.
Manufacturers can use tricks to fudge their contrast ratio in product descriptions, so it is best to go to an independent review website like RTINGS to see what they measured. (They do good TV and monitor reviews too.) You'll see that OLED displays are said to have "infinite" contrast ratio, due to being able to turn off pixels completely. Which means it is probably time to move to a new metric because that gives very little info on the dynamic range of the display (the difference between the darkest and brightest thing it can show).
You definitely want a decent contrast ratio for your display, but this can be subjective. If you have a nice bright screen, your brain may feel the contrast is fantastic, even if the actual darkest black point of the monitor isn't great. If something is really bright, then dark things will *seem* darker by comparison. And if you are viewing in a dark environment, the contrast will look even better. So this is where seeking out a professional reviewer's experience of the monitor can be helpful. One monitor's 4000:1 ratio might be a different experience than another with the same measurement.
Because TVs are generally larger and can have more backlighting zones, they can get decent black levels without OLED. But smaller computer displays have more difficulty in reasonable price ranges. So manage your black level expectations if you go with an affordable IPS display. They can get bright, but they aren't great at blacks like OLED. I'm afraid that is just a limitation of the tech. In fact, getting a brighter display might be preferable to a better contrast ratio. And it will be easier to see if you are in a bright environment.
Most IPS displays are going to be between 1000:1 and 5000:1 and while it does make a difference, if you sit it next to an old plasma or an OLED, you're going to be disappointed. So I would not make contrast ratio a super high priority with IPS, because non-OLED computer displays just aren't going to give you inky blacks. I would say 2000:1 or better is going to give you a decent experience. But, again, I would seek out reviews rather than trust the official product specs when it comes to the quality of the blacks.
And one final consideration you may want to factor in is the refresh rate. This is mostly for gaming. Most displays will give you at least 60 Hz or 60 "refreshes" per second. Gamers tend to like 120 Hz or higher. This won't affect movie watching very much as nearly everything except Gemini Man is 24 fps.
TLDR overview...
Get an IPS or OLED display for a good viewing angle. I personally feel this is the most important feature.
Choose a resolution. 1440p can allow you to increase quality in other areas to maximize your budget. Only get 4K if you have a legit reason or you have fighter pilot vision.
Color gamut or number of colors. Try to get 100% of sRGB for web content, 90% or above of Adobe RGB for art/photography, and 90% or above of P3 for HDR movies and video editing.
If color accuracy is important, look for pre-calibrated displays that have a Delta E of 3 or less. (Lower is better)
HDR brightness. If you want to experience good HDR, you'll want the brightest screen possible (measured in nits). HDR600 or HDR1000 are great. If you don't care about HDR, then don't worry about the rating.
Contrast ratio and black levels. It's going to be meh on pretty much anything but OLED. 2000:1 or better is a good goal to shoot for, but be sure to check independent reviews for the subjective experience of the black levels. Dark viewing environments help too.
Refresh rate. 60 Hz is fine for most things. Gamers prefer 120 Hz or faster. And if you are a competitive gamer, you may want to seek out more info on "variable refresh rate" and "pixel response time."
Pick the variables above that seem most important to you and then seek out a display that does those things decently within your budget.
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Ok all done. Here's this part. Don't know if there will be any more in the future.
I'd like to thank you and Cass for bringing me out of my long writer's block. I'd forgotten what it felt like to just let my mind go blank and throw words together to make a story.
Her breath hitched as she fell. Unable to catch herself, she her face slammed into the soft dirt.
"Ugh," she groaned as she pushed herself up. Much as she wanted to stay down for a much needed rest, she had to keep going. She didn't know how long she'd been running, or if her pursuers were still on her trail, but staying in one place for too long was practically a death sentence no matter the circumstances.
"Stupid cloak," she hissed out, taking the edges of said cloak and throwing them over her shoulder, turning it into more of a cape. The full-body cover had saved her life countless times, but it still got in the way here and there.
A twig snapped behind her, making her jump. She leapt backwards, stealthily sliding into place behind a tree. After a few moments, she peeked out to see what may have made that noise.
Nothing.
She had to keep moving.
Turning towards the direction she'd been running when she so gracefully face planted into the dirt, she took off. Her speed unmatched by most, she could duck and weave through practically any obstacles with expert ease. This was how she survived. Her small rabbit body prevented her from having the strength or reach to take on most beings in this world in an actual fight, so her survival depended on her ability to outrun her opponents. Hiding was also a skill she'd taken to using against predators. Her cleverness had saved her more times than she could count.
But she couldn't keep running.
Not right now.
She'd been running for almost two days. Her body was sore. She was covered in dirt, bumps, scrapes, and bruises. She could hardly feel her legs, and she was beginning to realize her latest meeting with the ground had left her with a growing headache she knew would be pounding soon.
She needed a place to stop. But she was in the middle of a forest she couldn't gauge the size of. Maybe she could burrow? No, no. Last time she did that she accidentally invaded someone else's underground home and had made herself another enemy who chased her down for about a week. She couldn't afford that risk right now. She was too tired to be capable of analyzing where she was digging to be sure she didn't repeat that mistake. Climbing a tree was no good either. Things lived in the trees. She'd only seen them once, but that had been enough to ward her off ever encountering them.
Suddenly, up ahead to the right, there was a gleam. She looked again to find a spot in the trees where a little more sun poked through than there should be.
A clearing.
Well that would be a death sentence as well. A clearing in the trees would put her out in the open. She'd have to avoid that spot.
A last glance told her something was already in the clearing.
She stopped, jumping into a bush to hide herself. Poking out through the leaves, she stared hard at the opening in the trees, trying to make out what she's seen.
A building.
It was definitely a building.
It was too dark and smooth to be anything natural.
That would have to do.
She darted forward, sticking to shadows and bushes in hopes that whoever may be watching her wouldn't see her heading towards the building. Hopefully whoever was inside wouldn't also develop a want for her head on a wall.
Coming up on the clearing, she realized it wasn't a clearing at all. It was the end of the forest. Weird. The trees hadn't changed like they should have. Beyond the trees was a wide field that gave way to an ocean just a mile or so away from the forest.
Sitting just outside the edge of the trees was a small group of buildings. It wasn't even enough to be a village, and they were all severely under-maintained. They had obviously been put together quickly, though no efforts had been made to better their quality in the time they'd been standing, which was obviously a few years at this point.
She didn't stop to wonder about the existence of this small popup of civilization. Moving quickly, she made her way towards the first building she had seen against the trees. She grabbed the handle, relief washing over her at the discovery that it was indeed unlocked, and shoved her way inside, closing the door quickly behind her.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she looked up to see she was in a....bar?
It looked like a bar. There were tables scattered around the room, various knick-knacks on the walls, and a few people sitting around drinking from glasses and bottles. Opposite the door, at the other side of the building, there was indeed a bar, with shabby, well-used stools along the edge of it. There were bottles of what appears to be alcohol along the wall behind it, but that's not what caught her attention.
It was the.....being.....behind the bar.
All she could see was from the waist up, but that was enough to tell her this person was not normal. Even in this world. They looked organic and robotic at the same time. There were two orange glowing eyes on a void-black face, and a jagged mouth that cracked open their entire skull, when they opened it, almost like a snake. There were....horns?....on the back of their head. Where those meant to be horns or long ears? They were sitting where ears would normally be. They also had four arms, which were moving fluidly around the bar to quickly meet the needs of a customer sitting on a stool. Their entire body looked to be housing some kind of warm flame, the lines spreading over their face, chest, and arms glowing a yellowish-orange. The strangest sight, possibly, was that the being seemed to be somewhat....attached......to the building. Wires came from their back, connecting to the ceiling and the wall at all different angles.
It was a strange sight for sure, and it was enough to make her pause in her panic to contemplate if she was really safer here than outside.
The bartender didn't give her enough time to think, however, as they'd finished serving the patron and had turned their attention towards her, still leaned against the front door.
"Well, hello there!" They chirped in a cheery voice. Much too cheery for her liking. "How can I help you today?"
She blinked, coming back to her senses. Slowly, she pushed herself off the door and cautiously made her way over to the bar. She got a wiff of something delicious from one of the tables she passed, and suddenly she remembered she hadn't eaten in at least a day, and had had nothing proper in over a week, made evident as her stomach growled and rumbled at the smell.
"Just, uh..." She started, not sure what to say, exactly. She hadn't really talked to anyone in a while. At least not someone who didn't want her dead. "Just passing through, I guess."
"Well you've chosen the best place to stop for a rest. I've got whatever you need."
They turned and grabbed a bottle of something she'd never seen before and began pouring it into a glass as they faced her again.
"So what do you need?" They asked, sliding the glass towards her. "I've got all kinds of illegal deadly stuff."
She stared at the glass, then at the bartender, trying to figure out if that was a joke and if maybe she really should just leave.
Her stomach growled again.
She sighed in defeat.
"Do you have some food?"
They blinked at her, smile never leaving their face, before turning towards a large panel on the wall in the middle of all the bottles. Warmth hit her face as they opened it and reached inside, and she had to close her eyes to the sudden change. She heard the panel close and opened her eyes to see them setting a plate down in front of her. The smell hit her hard, and she no longer cared whether this person was trustworthy or not. Her hunger consuming her, she grabbed whatever was on the plate and shoved it into her mouth.
The being watched her with a soft smile as they poured another glass of something from a different bottle. They slid the glass across the counter towards someone sitting at the other side of the bar, replacing a glass patron had just emptied.
"You're pretty small," the bartender started. "You don't have a lot of meat on you. If you don't mind me asking, how have you survived this long?"
"I'd say I'm pretty good at hiding. You know, I'm pretty fast and-" the food was too much for her fried system. She got lost in it for a moment, forgetting her surroundings.
"Oh my God, foooooood..." She groaned between bites. The bartender chuckled, bringing her back to the moment. She swallowed and looked up into their magma-like eyes.
Wait. Illegal deadly stuff? She looked around the walls. Many useless items, it had looked at first. Junk. But now that she really looked, she could tell that's just what it was supposed to look like. To the untrained eye. To someone who knew what to look for, these were weapons. Components for weapons. Tech parts that could be used to build practically anything, even super computers and cybernetic attachments.
She looked back at the Eldritch being in front of her, weighing her options as an idea sparked in her brain. Maybe finding this place had been fortuitous. Maybe this would work out for her.
"And I know some places....if you need."
Their head tilted as they quirked an eyebrow. Or, more, moved one eyelid down. They didn't really have eyebrows, though she could tell even through those glowing pupil-less eyes that they seemed to be evaluating her.
"If I need....what?"
She gestured to the walls.
"I'm sure it's not easy to get this stuff. I'd be willing to be your gopher, so to speak, in return for food and shelter. Maybe a little money, if you got it."
The bartender contemplated for a minute.
"What's your name?"
She hesitated. Was this being trustworthy? What if the people looking for her came asking? Would she even be seen as worthy of lying for? Of protecting? She sighed. Not like any of that really mattered at this point. And she didn't have to give her full name either.
"You can call me Tap."
"Tap? That's a cute name." Their smile somehow widened, cracking open their face even further. She heard some movement on the other side of the bar, then felt something on her leg. Looking down, she froze at the sight of wires poking towards her. Realizing the wires were attached to something, she followed the inky blackness they were wrapped around to see what looked like a tail curling around the bar. She looked back at the bartender.
They're a lot bigger than she'd thought. What is this....person?
"You can call me Cass," they said, voice dripping with charming honey. They reached out a hand, offering it up for a handshake. "You're hired."
OH MY GOD, I JUST MIXED IT WITH ANOTHER FIC (by @compressedrage) AND IT IS PERFECTLY MIXED OH GOD
I can't with you all, I love it!!!
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acswy ch04 update
hi! you might have seen this coming, but chapter 4 is getting pushed back to being posted tomorrow, august 5th, due to Life Life-ing and wanting to make sure that this update lives up to the same quality we've been bringing you for the past 3 chapters! we apologize for the inconvenience and any disappointment this may bring, but we promise, it will be worth the wait <3
to tide you over, please enjoy the following extended snippet from chapter 4, beneath the cut:
As the name implies, the Isolation Cabin sits, isolated, at the very top of the trail all of the other cabins are grouped off of, right at the edge of Camp Whiteman property. Most of this area is taken up by woods, towering pines of various shapes and sizes keeping a watchful eye over all of them – save for the small ropes course tucked in behind the girls’ cabins, the rest of the area remains untouched. Even the trail itself practically stops, spreading out into a clearing that they sometimes use for recreational activities, when pressed for space.
If you know where to look, though – and Mike has made knowing where to look his business – there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sign indicating the start the small path leading to the Isolation Cabin, identical to all of the other informational markers throughout the campground. A chain connects the two trees bracketing the entrance to the walkway, a small wooden notice hanging from the center that reads, in ominous, capital letters: DO NOT ENTER.
Mike has never particularly cared about it before now, only ever acknowledging that the area existed when one of his campers inevitably let curiosity get the best of them and started wandering places they shouldn’t be. He’s tapped a finger against that sign more times than he can count, watched the chain shake with the movement and the sign swing back and forth and his campers’ eyes go big as he wiggled his fingers at them and made spooky noises to get them to scurry away and steer clear.
Now, he has to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Hopper pushes past where Will has paused, pouting, and moves to unclip the chain blocking the way. The links jingle together as he smiles at them, all too cheerily, and says, “Lead the way, boys.”
Mike tries to catch Will’s eye, because if there’s one thing they can always agree on, it’s a shared, unspoken, is this guy serious? – but Will still won’t look at him, breezing past Hopper, once again, before he has a chance to even finish his sentence. Mike sends his is this guy serious? look to Hopper instead, who smiles brightly at him and shakes the chain pointedly, all clinks of metal and clattering of wood and an unspoken response of get going, Wheeler.
Things are truly bleak, Mike thinks, if he’s getting along with Will’s dad better than he’s getting along with Will himself. Still, neither of them indulged his is this guy serious? look, so he does roll his eyes, thank you very much, and starts up the trail after Will, more acquainted than ever with the back of his stupid, dumb head. The sound of the chain clicking back into place follows soon after, but Mike doesn’t look back, feeling petulant and slighted.
It’s really not a long walk to get to the cabin – two, maybe three minutes at most – but it feels like it is, by virtue of the path narrowing out, of woodchips giving way to earthy, forest floor. The foliage has started to thicken, shrouding them from the setting sun, and the silence feels like a fourth member of their party, awkward and palpable as they make their way up the trail. It’s not long before the trees start to part enough to offer a glimpse of their destination: the Isolation Cabin, in all of its isolated, lonely glory.
Mike hasn’t ever actually been up here, since he never had any reason to before now, and he’s almost disappointed, as they come up on the clearing in front of the cabin’s steps. Part of him expected something straight out of a horror movie – all dilapidated, breaking shingles, broken windows, a wrought iron fence, maybe a bat or two – and is disappointed to find it’s – a cabin, just like every other cabin they left behind on their way up here. It is a little worse for wear – the tone of the wood a little more desaturated, the bushes lining the porch overgrown, the dust clouding the windows visible, even from here – but it’s just a cabin, at the end of the day. A manifestation of punishment, where happy children and their dreams of a perfect summer go to die, but no more menacing than the Blue Cabin is right now, with how pissed Mitchell is at him.
He’s always taken those overactive imagination comments on his grade school report cards as a compliment, but now it’s left him feeling a little disappointed.
“Alright,” Hopper says from behind them, and both Mike and Will whip around to face him, duffels flying with the momentum and knocking into each other. This earns him a certified Will Byers Glare, which warrants a certified Mike Wheeler Dramatic, Theatrical Eye Roll, which causes an Act Now! Once In A Lifetime Opportunity! bucket drop from Hopper, and the sound of it hitting the forest floor and its contents clanging inside cause them both to snap their heads back to where Hopper is looking at them, somehow both amused and completely and utterly done with their shit at the same time. “Welcome to the Isolation Cabin.”
#acswy#yippee#so sorry u guys. i did call in today to get this done and it just didn't happen.#it will definitely be up tomorrow tho and i'll try to get it up earlier in the evening :)#please be kind this is just a fanfiction and my mental health is hanging on by a single fraying thread. ty <3
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Comfort Me
Pairing: Eddie Munson (Stranger Things) x Female Reader/You
Rating: Explicit, NSFW, 18+ only
Warnings: Language, mentions of drug use, vaginal fingering, oral sex (female receiving), mutual masturbation
Word Count: 3056
Summary: Part One. You have a bad day and Eddie is there to make you feel better.
A/N: Just a little soft Eddie taking care of his girl because we all need a little TLC, right? Enjoy and share with your friends! Feedback is that good shit.💗
Disclaimer: As always, reader inserts are true reader inserts. If you find any specifics in regards to reader’s appearance, kindly let me know and I will fix that.
Disclaimer: Characters are of age in my fics.
Check out part two here
Check out my other Eddie fics here
*Masterlist in bio.
************************
Your shoulders sagged as you finally made it to your apartment door, the tension in your body slowly seeping away. A scent you recognized all too well hit your nostrils as you walked through the entryway.
Just beyond the living room was the kitchen, and sitting at the small table you’d thrifted was your husband, writing furiously against a yellow legal pad. His unruly hair created a chestnut curtain around him, save for his left side which was pushed behind his ear. A joint sat perched between his lips, his eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration while his acoustic guitar sat perched in his lap.
A weak smile came to your lips, your sour mood momentarily lightened by the visual. He looked beautiful sitting there, mind elsewhere as he worked. That childlike quality you loved so much about him was present as his eyes lit up with excitement, his fingers strumming a melody of notes you’d not heard before.
The sound of your husband’s playing made your eyes well up with tears.
Today had been a day from hell.
You’d spilled your coffee, forgotten your breakfast at home, and gotten a speeding ticket. Once you’d gotten to work, it’d been chaotic and you soon became nauseatingly hungry, putting you in a state of perpetual irritation and annoyance. After all that, you’d stopped at the drugstore for a little pick me up, only to find that your favorite lipstick had been discontinued.
The day had dragged on, taking you with it. You’d been looking forward to coming home and relaxing, but all of that simmering frustration was now boiling over, causing you to hiccup with unshed tears.
The noise finally pulled Eddie’s eyes from his paper, his lips breaking into a grin at your presence.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted, the joint he’d been smoking now secured between two calloused fingers.
His voice made your spine untwist and your stomach settle. He soothed you, just like you knew he would.
Instead of verbally answering him, you hung your purse on the hook near the door and kicked off your shoes. You made your way towards him, seeing his eyes shift from excitement to concern at your silence.
“Baby? What is it?”
You felt your bottom lip tremble and you sniffled, finally letting Eddie see the exhaustion in your eyes.
“Bad day,” you replied simply, almost whispering.
Eddie immediately placed the joint in the ashtray on the table and reached for your hand, pulling you closer. “Shit, are you okay? Did something happen?”
The concern in his voice was real and raw, and it made you feel worse.
You shook your head.
“Talk to me, baby,” he pleaded gently, doe eyes searching your face for an answer.
“Can you-,” you started, biting your lip when your voice began to shake. “Can you just hold me?”
You could see the surprise in his face, but he covered it quickly, placing his guitar aside. He made like he was going to stand, but you stopped him and straddled his lap, burying your face into his hair. Your arms encircled his neck as you pressed yourself into his warmth.
You were needy and feeling exposed. It was a rare occurrence, but your husband was an expert at handling you. He knew what to do before you did.
“Is this okay?” you asked from the crook of his neck, inhaling. Weed, faded Old Spice, and something purely Eddie. It was your favorite scent.
“More than okay, sweetheart.”
His arms wrapped around your waist, meeting at your lower back. His large hands were still decorated with his many rings and you could feel them against your skin as he began to rub delicate circles. Your eyes fluttered closed.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really. Just feeling shitty,” you replied, lips ghosting over his throat as you spoke.
His hands dipped under the hem of your shirt, letting his skin dance over yours. Shivers ran up your spine, your arms tightening around him.
“Hmm,” he hummed, the sound reverberating in your ear. “We can’t have that.”
A beat of comfortable silence passed.
“What can I do?”
“You’re doing it,” you assured him, burrowing further into his sturdy body.
He continued to hold you, hands following invisible designs as they skirted over every inch of you he could reach. From your hair to your hips, over your backside and thighs, before returning to your back.
“You know what Wayne used to do for me when I had a bad day?” His voice was soft and gentle, coaxing your body to melt into his.
“What?”
“He’d make me my favorite meal. Hotdogs with mac n cheese.”
You could hear the smile in his voice, could tell he was reliving a good memory as he held you.
“We didn’t have a lot of money. And I only liked the name brand mac n cheese. So it was a special occasion when we had it in the house. But Wayne,” Eddie sighed, his voice full of emotion. Love. “Wayne always made do. He knew how hard school was for me. With the other kids. And he did his damndest to make sure I knew I was special.”
“With hotdogs and mac n cheese,” you piped up from his chest, your own fingers dancing along the design of his faded band tee.
“That’s right, sweetheart.” His lips ghosted across your forehead in a whisper of a kiss, making you smile.
“So what about you? Hm? What’ll make you feel better?”
You sat quietly for a long moment, feeling content to sit in his arms, but you knew he wanted an answer. Eddie was a doer. And he thrived on doing things that made you smile. Or laugh. And god you loved him for it.
“S’mores,” you mumbled into his neck, feeling bashful at the childish request.
“S’mores, huh?” He chuckled as he rubbed your thighs through your jeans.
“I didn’t get to have them a lot as a kid,” you explained, feeling your eyelids droop.
“Well, what my girl wants, she gets.” He adjusted you against his lap, forcing you to meet his eyes as he cradled your cheek. “How about this…you go soak in the bathtub. I’ll order the greasiest Chinese food and I’ll make my baby some s’mores.”
“I don’t think we have the stuff for s’mores.”
“Then I’ll make do,” he said with a smirk and wink, making your stomach flutter.
******
You were right.
You didn’t have stuff for s’mores. At least not everything. But just like Eddie had promised, he’d made do with what you did have.
You’d soaked in the bath for well over an hour, hearing Eddie move about the apartment as he paid for the Chinese food delivery and attempted to give you what you’d requested.
You’d been married three years. Married young and quickly. Too quickly for most. But logic didn’t matter to either of you. Eddie had never been one for doing what others wanted anyway. And you…well you were just a madly in love kid. Still were. Despite the hardships.
He was your home. Wherever he was, you were there too. And vice versa. And so far, you’d proven the majority of Hawkins wrong by continuing to be in matrimonial bliss as Mrs. Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson.
When you’d finally soaked yourself to death, you’d changed into an old shirt of Eddie’s and a pair of plaid pajama pants. You felt better already, but the sight that greeted you when you’d entered the kitchen sealed the deal.
The food had been unpacked and plated. He’d taken careful consideration to order your favorites. And beside the heaps of greasy noodles and rice were your requested comfort food.
You giggled at his attempt to fashion a s’more out of graham crackers, marshmallow puff instead of actual marshmallows, and Hershey kisses left over from Valentine’s Day. They were lopsided and messy and so adorably Eddie that you began to tear up again.
“Good?”
There was hesitation in his voice. Uncertainty about if he’d upset you or made you the happiest woman on earth.
It was the latter. It always was.
“Perfect.”
******
An hour later and after an ungodly consumption of egg rolls, you were laid out on the couch, Eddie at your feet as he rubbed absentmindedly at your calves. His touch made you sink further into the cushions, the movie playing on TV long forgotten.
“Eddie,” you began, garnering his attention. He’d showered and changed himself, now sporting a more worn band tee than the one he’d been wearing earlier. Gray sweats that’d been run through the wash one too many times adorned his bottom half. His hands were naked, rings in their rightful place on his nightstand in a hideous ceramic bowl you’d bought him as a joke. He’d loved it.
His gaze met yours, ready to walk to the ends of the earth if you asked him.
“Play me something.” You nodded your head towards the guitar sitting near his feet.
He smiled shyly. He fronted a band. He was no stranger to playing in front of people, but he always seemed to get a little nervous when playing just for you. He’d told you once it was because your opinion mattered most to him. He wanted you to like everything he did. You didn’t. You loved everything he did.
You shifted your legs to curl beside him so that he could prop the instrument in his lap. You angeled your head under your fists, looking down the couch at him as he randomly strummed at the strings.
He cleared his throat and met your eyes, the notes of the song he’d been playing earlier beginning to fill the space.
“I’ve been working on this one. It’s new. No real lyrics yet, but I think I got the melody down.” His voice was low as he spoke over his own rhythmic strumming.
You warmed from the inside, enamored with witnessing Eddie in his element. Music was his element. Sure, he worked at the garage. He loved cars. He loved fixing things. He loved Dungeons and Dragons. And he loved being Dungeon Master. But nothing compared to seeing him with a guitar in his hand, on stage or not.
He owned it.
He owned you.
The tune he played was beautiful. Softer than their normal stuff, but just as impactful. The feelings and events of the day withered away as he played for you, occasionally humming along, as if testing the lyrics he’d yet to write.
The music did exactly what you’d wanted it to. It made you forget.
He played a little longer, humoring you, and then placed the guitar back on its stand next to the couch. His hands reached for you, wrapping your ankle in his grip. His thumb soothed over your flesh, making you jolt at the ticklish sensation it brought with it.
“That was beautiful, baby,” you cooed, sitting up. You pouted your lips, asking him to meet you halfway. And he did.
The kiss was gentle at first. You’d only meant to thank him, but soon the feeling of being reacquainted with him so intimately won out. And you both got lost in the other.
Your tongue begged for entrance first. But his was the first to slip into your mouth. His hands slipped under your shirt and up your back. Yours pulled at his own shirt, silently asking for him to remove it.
“You sure?” he asked, breathless with kiss swollen lips. “It’s okay if you aren’t feeling up to it.”
You nodded your head and dove forward, letting your lips taste the flesh of his neck. He shuddered in response.
“Need you, Eddie,” you pleaded, pushing your chest into his.
“Bedroom.”
He led you both to your shared bedroom, lips barely separating. Once you both crossed the threshold, clothes were discarded. He laid you back on the bed, intent clear in his eyes. You wouldn’t be doing any work tonight. Eddie was going to take care of you.
“Love you. So much,” he slurred against your naked breasts. He licked and sucked, sending your fingers into his hair, tugging at the strands.
You whimpered, mind hazy as he pushed you further into pleasure’s arms, back arching when he glided his fingers over your folds. He grunted at the feel of you. Slick. Wanting.
He teased your clit and you angeled your hips in response, encouraging him to give you what you so desperately needed.
“Patience, baby.” His mouth was by your ear now, his finger slipping torturously slow beyond your entrance. “Wanna taste you. Can I?”
He never needed to ask. But you answered anyway.
“Yes,” you moaned, trying and failing to keep hold of him as he moved down your body, lips leaving a trail in their wake.
He was tender in his exploration of you. As if he hadn’t done this very act a thousand times over. He toggled between careful precision and wild abandon. He kept you on the edge. He was an expert at that. Never letting you drift too far before he anchored you back to him again.
You threw your head back when he sucked hungrily at your clit, his tongue buried somewhere deep within you. His rough hands skated up your abdomen and over your breasts, teasing your nipples.
“Fuck, baby…I’m gonna cum,” you confessed, pelvis tilting closer to his mouth the more aggressive he became.
“I got you, sweetheart.”
Your thighs trapped his head, tensing when he added his fingers, curling them expertly against that spot. The sounds coming from your bodies were obscene. A testament to just how devoted you were to each other.
When that familiar tingle started to spread, you reached for the hand still massaging your breast. He instinctively tangled his fingers with yours, squeezing in reassurance.
You met his gaze, seeing home, hearing him say I got you.
You came.
Your orgasm was powerful. The kind that made your limbs twist and your spine bend in an unnatural fashion. No sound came from your lips at first. And then a chant of Eddie Eddie Eddie broke through, moans interspersed between.
You felt everything. From the tips of your toes, to the top of your head. He was everywhere all at once. Making lights dance behind your eyelids and the breath catch in your throat. A mind-numbing tingle swept over you, making your come down that much more intense.
“Jesus,” you gasped, loosening the hold you had on him.
Eddie kitten-licked your flesh, prompting you to shiver with aftershocks. His hands whispered over you, bringing you back down to earth.
“Good?” The question was said with more smugness this time around, his chin displaying the evidence of just how good you were doing.
“Perfect.”
You heard him chuckle, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he shifted onto his knees above you. His stomach rippled with the movement, the subtle muscle beneath pale skin and tattoos making you widen your legs.
“Come here,” you beckoned, noticing he was still very hard, flushed pink and shiny at the tip.
Eddie shook his head, denying you. “You’re about to pass out, baby. You can barely keep your eyes open.”
“Want you,” you protested, hearing the fatigue in your voice. You didn’t care. You wanted, no, needed Eddie to cum.
“I’m taking care of you,” he insisted, ignoring the way you arched your hips towards him.
You pouted, hands massaging your own breasts. Your movements were lazy. Lethargic. Your eyes were hooded. Swirling up at him with desire that still lingered. Enticing him to trust you. That part of him taking care of you, was to see him taking care of himself. It’s what made you whole.
“Please, Eddie…”
His hand wrapped around himself and pumped, his other gripping at your thigh. You noticed the slick coated on his fingers, realizing he was using your arousal to chase his own.
He hissed when you began to touch yourself. You moaned lowly, your body still so sensitive from his ravaging.
“Just let me watch you, baby.” He spit onto his length, making the slip and slide of his hand all the more vulgar.
You nodded and writhed beneath him, feeling that fire within you begin to smolder again. He looked so good kneeling over you. Skin sprinkled with sweat while sinewy muscles pushed and pulled against you. Tattoos littered his skin, some of them looking as if they were coming to life while he worked himself over.
He was beautiful. And all yours.
“M’close,” he grunted.
You touched yourself purposefully, knowing what would get him to that place. Your body was too tired to seek out more, despite the persistent longing that never quite settled when it came to your husband.
He’d done his job. He’d taken care of you.
“Fuck, fuck…”
Eddie threw his head back at the same time warm ropes of himself splashed onto your skin. The veins in his neck and arms pulsed as he thrust against his hand, occasionally bumping into you from between your thighs. His eyes were screwed shut, teeth gritted together in what looked like pain, but you knew better.
Seeing him finish made you feel warm and fuzzy. The kind of satiation that made you feel like you were floating. The kind you’d been seeking since you’d walked in the door that day.
You watched his entire body go slack, his chest heaving as he smiled tiredly down at you, brown eyes pulling you in like a strong embrace.
“Good?” You joked, eyebrow arching up at him.
“Fucking amazing,” he panted, pushing errant strands of hair off this face as he reached for his discarded shirt. He cleaned you off, ensuring you didn’t have to move a muscle.
When he was done, he collapsed heavily next to you, instinctively pulling you into his side. You curled around him like a vine, eyes falling shut at the sound of his heartbeat in your ear.
“Better, baby?”
You nodded, your mind already dimming as you slipped into unconsciousness. Eddie’s hands played with your hair, his lips ghosting over your head.
“Thank you,” you murmured sleepily, feeling him pull the blanket over your still nude body.
“I always take care of my girl.”
His breathing lulled you to sleep. And even in your dreams, Eddie was there.
#eddie munson#eddie munson imagine#eddie munson fanfiction#eddie munson x you#eddie munson x reader#stranger things
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I’m back… and hiding! Haha no one can see me, sharing zombie thoughts with you in secret.
Anyway, love anon, makes me feel more comfortable sharing weird stuff like this. But anyway, I think Onslaught is the resident cook for our zombie survivalists. That’s all though. Actually no, I think… hmm, I think he focuses specifically on cooking eggs and omelettes and breakfast spreads. He strikes me as that strong silent stereotype, and I have ZERO reasoning behind my decision (actually my brain’s decision, I had no say in this), but he’s the farmhouse chef. Some more thoughts broken down:
1. He does all of the cooking, and no one else is allowed in the kitchen when he does it.
2. He wears an apron that says “Don’t ^ KISS THE COOK” like kiss the cook but with a little ^ thing and then don’t added in with sharpie? I hope that makes sense.
3. The egg thing, uhhhh… I see people doing so many cool things with eggs. Like soft boiled eggs, cloud eggs or whatever, eggs that aren’t scrambled, eggs that don’t explode, stuff like that. I bet he makes really good omelettes and stuff. And practices cooking with eggs because a— chickens!! Lots of chickens!! Everyone should have chickens, they’re great, and b— I don’t know, eggs are just so easy to gather? And butter too, if… like, if you have the resources. Eggs and butter, and maybe salt and pepper if you’re not lame, and then bam, you can become all culinary and such.
4. He probably has a soft spot for the kids, and he probably likes making them foods that are both healthy AND kid approved. Kids are so picky, it’s crazy, but Onslaught probably knows his way around this. He can even get them to eat vegetables, it’s insane. First Aid wants to know his secrets, seriously.
5. Honestly? Probably really quiet in the mornings, unlike his asshole gestalt/brothers who probably make enough noise to lure the ENTIRE zombie population, and do so every morning without fail. Probably decided to take up cooking just to keep everyone alive lol.
6. Uhhhmmm that’s all, but I’m gonna try to edit a picture to make Onslaught with the apron on and holding a skillet with an egg in it and standing in front of a stove, we’ll see how it goes. I literally cannot draw to save my life, so that’s out of the question, unfortunately. It’ll have to be a TF version, too, but… it’ll be good enough. Yeah, hopefully that goes well. It’ll make things make more sense, too (I think). But anyway… some love for Onslaught!
The (don’t) kiss the cook apron is just *chefs kiss*. It is leaning into his military background more but he strikes me as the guy who was always like “these MREs are acceptable. But could be made better.” and pulls out his little shakers of spices and hot sauce. When he had the time he was the commander who actually tried to get quality meals cooked up, or delegated to someone who had the time to.
Onslaught lecturing (threatening) someone on how an army runs on its stomach and if he finds them skimping out on proper nutrition he will personally kill them himself so they don’t bring the unit dishonor by passing out from low blood sugar on the field
The biggest find at the farmhouse is one of those vintage Dutch ovens. A really good quality one, and then comes more lectures on how bread was used by ancient military strategists and if any of you morons touch his sourdough starter it’s over for you
With all the eggs the chickens make, egg salad is incredibly common at the farmhouse.
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Perfect Days. (Eddie Munson X Fem!Reader) NSFW
Pairing: Eddie Munson X Fem!Reader
Prompt: An absolutely lovely post from @mantorokk-writes, thank you for letting me use your idea!
Summary: A perfect day of weed and 'quality time' with Eddie.
Author: http://lillian-gallows.tumblr.com/
Reader Gender: Female anatomy and pronouns used.
POV: 3rd Person.
Word Count: 1,117
Warnings: Drug use (Weed), Cock warming, Shotgunning, Orgasm delay (?Kinda?).
Authors note: Cross posted on Ao3, GIF by @drogonstone
Minors DNI
The pitter patter of rain on the side panels of the trailer, the sound of some horror movie playing as the TV sends flashes of light over the room, the sound of the neighbors watching their TV way too loud to be considered polite.
All these things were white noise when put against the buzz of weed in your head and the thick cock currently buried to the hilt inside you, still save for the occasional uncontrollable shift of your or Eddie’s hips, making it brush against the sweet bundle of nerves that sent shocks up and down your spine.
“You still with me, Princess?” Came Eddie’s slow and low voice in your ear, joint tucked carefully between his plush lips, dark eyes full of the same smoldering heat that they’d held since you got in his truck to come back to his place.
He took a long drag from the joint and held it for a moment before a calloused hand came up to guide your mouth to hover half an inch from his, just close enough to feel his breaths and the warmth of his skin, just close enough to make you crave to press your lips to his but knowing better than to do so you waited.
You waited for him to slowly let the smoke curl from his lips to yours, and when he did the vapors were warm and felt heavy in your mouth. What missed you went spiraling up into the air above your heads to form a cloud that perfectly matched the one making your brain fog up and slow down.
“Mmhmm…” It came out slow and a little high pitched as you let out the smoke, the hit weaker but still serving to further your buzz. “Aces...” You sighed contently, shifting your hands slightly against his belly just to feel his skin against yours only to also accidentally shift your hips and send another shock through your nerves, which made a sound that could only be described as a whimper slip from your lips.
He hummed happily at the sound as his free hand held your hip and guided it in a slow grind, causing a shiver to rush its way through you as you clenched around him. The only indication that this was affecting him the same it was you was the way his jaw clenched, and his eyelids slipped further down over his bloodshot eyes, well that and the pulse his cock gave that your body responded to by clenching again.
“My turn…” You whispered, taking the joint from his hand, which moved right down to take hold of your other hip.
Taking the joint between your lips, the glow of the smoldering tip lighting the space between your faces in low orange that came then faded slowly as the quiet sizzle of the weed burning filled the air. It was so much stronger on the initial hit, heavier in your lungs and frankly smellier, but all you could focus on were his eyes. Such a dark shade of brown that in the low light they looked pitch black, and right now they were trained on you, watching your cheek hollow with your inhale, catching on the curl of smoke from the tip of the joint, and then finally locked on yours.
Something shinned in them now, something teasing, you didn’t have to wonder long what prompted the look as he bucked up into you a little, just enough to really grind into those sweet spots, and make you almost choke on the hit of smoke you were holding, sending you into a short coughing fit that dissolved into a giggle fit that you both shared.
The room was so quiet that you had to fight to keep your laughter quiet so as not to shatter it, but even if you had, it wouldn’t have changed the moment much, it was too intimate, too perfect to shatter so easily.
“Unfair.” You admonished through your grin.
His head was tilted back against the couch as he looked down at you, looking all too proud of himself. “All’s fair in love and weed.” He joked, almost sending you both back into giggles.
Rolling your eyes, you brought the joint back to your lips and took another slow drag, letting it settle for a moment, then moved one delicate hand from where it rested against his belly to hold his cheek. His eyes rolled shut as he leaned into your touch, looking like it felt better than the drug coursing through your systems, better than being buried so deep inside you that the head of his cock was brushing your cervix.
He didn’t open his eyes again till you started to lean in, and even then, they were barely open, too busy watching your soft lips get closer, closer than his had been before.
Blowing out gently you watched as the smoke curled out of you and into him, looking like some kind of magic being passed between you, little whisps curling up into his hair, giving him the appearance of something mystical.
Once your lungs were emptied of the smoke you pressed your forehead to his, eyes open just enough to see his face as he held it for a second, then let it curl from his lips, a slow smirk finding his lips, reminding you of a dragon in human form.
With the way your brain was buzzing you hadn’t even really noticed how he was guiding your hips once more into a slow grind, not till the rolling waves of pleasure started to come in, quickly causing the muscles in your lower belly to tighten with an encroaching orgasm.
“God, Princess…So good for me…” He whispered watching you through half lidden eyes as you whimpered and sighed.
“Eds…Fuck…” You sighed into the gentle air.
The coil in your belly snapped then and all you could do was shiver against him as he held you to his warm chest, his heart pounding in your ear where it was pressed to his skin.
As the waves of pleasure ebbed away you noticed he hadn’t come, so you moved as if to ride him, but his grip on your hips stopped you. He chuckled at the foggy quizzical look sent him. “No need to rush, Sweetheart.” He kissed the tip of your nose. “Got two more where that one came from.” He nodded with the top of his head to the joint in your hand. “And I’m far from done with you…” He pulled you into a kiss then, slow and deep.
Perfect days don’t come around often, you could live with drawing this one out as long as possible.
Tags: @field0f-daisies
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🦋 - hi! If u can't recall, I was the anon who asked you about gifmaking before.
I know some of the raw videos of jannik/tennis in general may or may not have good video resolution. But your end-result of your gifs are usually sharpened but not that grainy either. How do you usually adjust your gifs' adjustments when it comes to low quality videos? Bcs your gifset tends to be in 540px wide, so it makes me wonder as well how you retain/enhance the quality of the gifs. I hope I delivered my question well 😂
i remember u omg hiiii! now i may have gone a little overboard on details here under the cut but i suppose you’ll appreciate it anyway haha
disclaimer, for a lot of these settings, i can’t remember where i first found them but i had seen them used in gif tutorials when i was just learning how to make them. i’ve basically stuck with these ever since!
so join me as i go through the process of making this jannik gif (exclusive content, never before seen on my blog, etc etc):
okay so first of all, ofc as much as possible i try to get the best quality version even if the video itself is bad. like, if it’s on streaming i would screen record but otherwise i try to download the original file. it makes the end result much better imo
i generally go for 540px width bc i read somewhere that that’s the ideal size for tumblr gifs. if the cropped video is smaller than that or needs to be portrait oriented, i would usually just put two gifs side by side (like in this gifset) bc it’s better than trying to resize it bigger
but when a source video is around 720p, i can generally work with it! so here’s a sample that i trimmed from a fairly low quality jannik video from youtube. he's presumably on webcam here, which explains the bluriness
i loaded it in using video frames as layers. this pic shows it already cropped on my photoshop, with a frame delay set to 0.08 (my personal default, which i realized after everything was saved was still too fast for my liking but oh well i’m not redoing it):
as you can see on the bottom left corner, it still has a width slightly over 540px. so then i can proceed with the next step: resizing. what i do is go to the image tab and select image resizing, which brings up this window:
i change only the width to what i want (in this case 540px) and i use bicubic (smooth gradients) resampling
when that’s done, i convert to video timeline on the timeline window. then i select all the layers on the layers window and convert into smart object
now we can move on to sharpening! under the filter tab, i select sharpen and then smart sharpen. that gets this window to open up:
my presets have the amount at 500%, reduce noise at 0%, and remove gaussian blur. as for the radius, that depends on the video. by default i have it set to 0.5px, but i change it as needed. in this case, since it’s a close-up of jannik’s face, i feel comfortable using 0.8px (my highest setting). usually, if the video is shot from afar, i use something lower like 0.3px or 0.4px. i tend to find that oversharpening some really blurry videos makes them look worse, so i prefer to keep it looking a bit blurry if i really have to. thankfully, in our case right now jannik looks fine with high sharpening!
then i adjust the color and lighting as i wish. i would say that creating more contrast between the black and white levels of the gif helps it to appear sharper! though personally, i just like having more vibrant and contrast-y gifs so yeah
the final important thing happens when i save it. here are my settings in the save for web window:
i set max colors to 256, color reduction to selective, and dither to pattern. the last bit there is what i think is most important for keeping my gifs looking non-grainy! i looooove pattern dither, and i find that the other settings do make my gifs look more grainy so i never use them
and that’s it!! this is the process i use for all my gifs tbh, the main thing i play with for low quality ones is cropping and resizing + the smart sharpening radius
hope this helps 🫶
#theres also smth abt MB sizes and whether or not tumblr will compress a gif further based on that which probably affects the quality too#but i didnt rly. pay attention to it LMAO sometimes u just cant make certain gifs any smaller yknow#asks#anon#*#*gifs#<- sorta????
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how do you make your audios? i kind of want to try doing some myself…
I've been meaning to share so this seems like the perfect chance to! Actually, it's really easy.
https://beta.elevenlabs.io/history
This is where the magic happens. There is a free trial of 10,000 letters, but you can subscribe to the next tier at $5 a month (the first month is no charge so you can trial the tool for free and cancel beforehand. You'll need the $5 tier and up to use the voice lab.
Now, setting up the voices is pretty easy but there's some tricks to it. All you need is some voice samples, the more you have and the clearer they are the better the quality and accuracy. For my voices I went through major scenes in the deathnote anime and recorded voice samples that had no background noise. L was my first attempt and some scenes involved had noise which is why sometimes you can hear static in the BG.
The best samples I found were 2 - 4 minutes of assorted dialogue saved as an mp3. I used Movavi screen recorder since it allowed me to capture desktop audio, and this is available in the free product.
I'd just start and pause recording as a convo played out, only capturing the voice of whoever I was after, then exported it when it hit the 2-4 minute mark. It helps to get a more diverse array of samples, but depending on the tone it can end up generating voices that are similar but more high-pitched. You'll have to experiment overall.
This is actually how I tackled L's voice. I used samples of myself talking really slowly, but naturally, alongside some recordings of L talking. The generations were wildly varied between the two voices but sometimes it got the right vibe so I'd save those generations and train a new voice only using those, which is why L sounds a bit odd sometimes. (otherwise he sounds deadpan - angry always) (Light's voice came out perfect)
After that you can tweak these settings. The top I push further to the left to exaggerate tone over stability, the other I push more right to maintain accuracy over clarity. Tone means more emphasis and emotiveness. Different voices will have different needs for these settings + I change them based on what I'm working on.
After that you can just plug and play. Generate a few times over if the tone isn't right but adding more ... - , . ! ? Really helps set the pace and inflection. It will naturally pick up the tone in the writing but it struggles the shorter the content is, so using more text helps.
After that you can just download and share files, but I like to take them into audacity for editing and sticking together.
So yeah. have fun! Hope this is useful, I've run a lot of voices through so far AND pretty soon they're introducing a voice editor to make custom voices so yeah. Great time to be making fan content for sure.
Here's the single file I use now for Light's voice now, so you can literally plug and play.
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poem #8
(this one is a long one and comes with a list of TWs, so the actual poem is below the cut. this one is also a lot more prose-poetry/slam poetry-esque than my other stuff :thumbsup:)
TW for school shootings, trans genocide/transphobia, abortion (mentioned), police brutality (mentioned), suicide (mentioned).
the thing about TikTok written 4 april 2023
y’know, i only opened this app because
i saw a clip somewhere
of one of my favourite bands. the singer
made a joke in Scotland last night,
and surely someone had to have posted
a better-quality video
on TikTok.
it was the first thing i saw when the app loaded,
because they just know me so well.
i watched it and saved it
so that i can watch it again
as a distraction or something later.
but then i made the mistake of scrolling.
the next thing i saw was a 5-minute video
about how people my age and younger
were screaming for their lives
just across the pond
outside of government buildings.
they are desperate not to be killed in their classrooms,
desperate to live through this semester,
desperate to be heard,
but the suit-wearing rulers
shuffled through their 1000-person sea,
one foot at a time like it was dark and they couldn’t see
the people my age and younger
lining the walls, holding their signs,
screaming for change.
i watch it, and i have to keep scrolling.
some video about all the shit you can buy
for just 8 USD
from a gas station in Japan.
i don’t watch the whole thing;
i keep scrolling.
someone with a cool haircut
is sitting on the floor of their bedroom,
crying.
the sound playing is saying something
from a show i haven’t watched
about a storybook fox
who is sick and tired of living in a hole.
they are crying,
the tags say that they are trans,
and they are crying.
their bio says they are just 14,
that’s three whole years younger than i am
and something in me surges
because that is my sibling
whose name i don’t know
and that i may never get to
because the threat of genocide
has them, 14,
crying on their bedroom floor.
not tonight, i think in silence.
i do not want to cry tonight.
and so i keep scrolling.
and the next video is an indie artist
who didn’t exist a year and a half ago,
but even so, their new single that when viral
drops in a few nights so i follow their page
and i hold my breath:
should i scroll again?
i do, i don’t learn.
and there’s a joke i don’t get
with the loudest fucking noise i’ve ever heard.
it makes no sense, i scroll again.
oh look, a 9-year-old girl
who got shot
when she went back to pull the fire alarm
so her classmates would know to
run. run. run.
her face is the centrepiece,
her smile from an earlier date
something i need to learn to shake off by tonight.
i can’t even imagine what being her
might have been like.
i scroll again.
a cover of a song, sung atop guitar chords;
another joke that the comments don’t explain to me either;
another reminder of the imposing genocide;
abortion bans are being enforced;
they’re using force against unarmed protesters again;
a poem spoken to me by a person named Lee;
more tour clips to distract me;
some statistics about teen suicide rates
rising in the States;
and one of those checkpoints that tells you that it’s time for a break.
stand up, stretch, get some water.
the song playing low in the background is one i’ve heard
maybe a hundred times by now,
but i do as i’m instructed, and i take a deep breath.
my curtains are open and i can see through my window.
i remember the song i started writing the other day about how
people like me seldom live long enough to see their hair turn grey.
i remember how i couldn’t finish it off because
something salty and wet rubbed the ink off my page
and i closed my book and i pretended that i wasn’t upset,
like how, in an hour from now,
when dinner is served hot in front of me
and they ask me “how has your day been?”
i will pretend my phone is not heavy in my pocket
and that the kids' shouting isn’t plaguing me
and that trans people aren’t losing their right to exist and be free
and that a girl half my age wasn’t shot
because she got unlucky one day.
and i regret opening TikTok every time that i do
because i always fail to miss all those kids i heard dance on here.
instead, i get singers on stages
and artists who speak
and kids who know how to barricade doors
with desks and bookshelves
and how to defend themselves with their trendy metal water bottles,
and news about the latest legislation passed
that ensures that more kids will be forcefully born
into a cyclical mess where they don’t get to grow up without routine checks
as to whether they can tell apart a juice box pop and a gunshot.
and there are not enough words to tell you
all the things i have heard scrolling through
TikTok,
where the mothers are gentle with their children
until they go to sleep,
because then they take off their soft tones
and don their broken voices, screaming out in hopes that
their kids won’t have to.
it has to be a phenomenon:
the ability you need to grow by my age
if you want to use an app as unsuspecting as
the sound of a clock,
TikTok.
if you cannot master empathy and apathy
and the way in which you must be able to switch
between one and the other at the littlest flick of your wrist
because what’s funny one minute
must always precede the latest tragedy,
death giving way to a joke and a smirk
from a pretty girl in a skirt
whose page a month ago was all about
ways you can help in Ukraine,
but clearly, she has become a master of this miracle.
and at the end of it all,
when it has been hours of hearing about Neo-nazis
and the generalised patriarchy
and the right or wrong ways to raise bread yeast,
i think three things:
one: a simmering roll of “wow”.
both my empathy and apathy have been expended,
and now, i have nothing left to give.
two: i am never coming back here again,
like a hotel where they promise
a rest, a break, a chance to get away
from your day-to-day stress.
one star.
three: oh look, my band said something funny again,
and god, i could use a distraction.
#oopsie daisy#ash writes#poetry#tiktok#poem#poets on tumblr#writeblr#writers on tumblr#writing#writers#poetsandwriters#poets#writers and poets#spilled ink#free verse#prose poem#prose poetry#slam poetry#slam poem#rant i guess#vent tbh
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The Best Way to A Soldier's Heart | Wilhelm Wicki x gn!reader
Anonymous asked: Hi, hope you're doing well
I was wondering if I could request Wicki with the prompt "I don't care if I gotta walk a thousand miles to be with you, I want you"
Hope you have a nice night and thank you!
summary: Wicki's got a little crush, but at least he knows what the best way to a soldier's heart is.
tws: swearing, smoking
Ration quality food wasn't exactly the best thing in the world, it wasn't particularly filling and it didn't particularly taste good either, but you and the Basterds made do with what you were given, and when you could, stealing from locals was another option; the few times you had managed to get cheese, real cheese, and real butter and eggs were some of the best meals you had had in years, and although everyone ate more than their fair share, and there were never any leftovers, Wicki always gave you a part of his own. He would lie and say that he was full, but in truth, he had seen how you were struggling so much more than the others, and he wanted to at least make sure that you had a full stomach, even though he couldn't do anything else.
But it was late, and your stomach was growling so loudly that it was keeping Wicki up as he tried to sleep in the hammock next to where you were on the floor; usually, such a noise was easy to ignore and easy to brush aside, but because it was you, Wicki couldn't stop himself. Slowly and cautiously getting out of his hammock so that he could search his bag for something, anything to eat; there were a few stale biscuits, and a little bit of cheese that he had intended to save for a later date, all wrapped in brown paper. He grabbed it, and gently kicked your foot, clearing his throat as he squatted down and handed you the parcel.
"Käse," he stated. "Und Kekse."
You nodded, grabbing it and tearing off the paper as if it was the most valuable and useful of gifts, shoving the biscuits into your mouth without even a second of hesitation; you smiled at Wicki, crumbs all over your lips, and allowed him to wipe them away with the pads of his thumbs as he returned the smile.
It wasn't much, but at least it stopped your stomach from grumbling so loudly, even if Wicki couldn't help himself as he sat down properly and crossed his legs, resting his elbows on his knees as he tilted his head to the side and raised his brows. "Better?"
"Much," you chuckled softly. "Thank you, Wilhelm..."
He nodded, unable to shake the thought from his head, something that his father had told him long ago; the best way to a soldier's heart is through his stomach. Wicki smiled. He had always had a little bit of a crush on you, even back when you were transferred to the Basterds from your section of the RAF; your commanding officer, Kashyap, had told you to go with them, as you had flown over enemy territory enough that you knew it well. You served almost as a sort of guide, and Aldo was pleased to have you on the team. Wicki had been a little nervous around you to begin with, mostly because he had never met a man so fucking handsome before, and when he got to know you, when he got to know your personality, it took the breath from him; his gazes would linger, he would try and make you laugh at every chance, he would sleep near you and would almost always offer to help you with guarding the Basterds and scavenging for anything other than ration quality food.
He pulled out his cigarettes, and offered you one. "Gern geschehen, mein Pilot."
You scoffed, letting him cup his hands around the end of your cigarette so that you could light it, staring into his eyes as you swallowed thickly. He pulled away, and you couldn't help but to miss the closeness. "Remember when I took you for a spin in my Hawker?"
"Ja," he nearly laughed at the memory. "You were in a lot of trouble with Kashyap for that."
"It was fun though," you pointed out. "Wasn't it?"
Wicki nodded, finally letting out a soft chuckle as he lit his cigarette. "I wasn't happy when you made us go upside down... or when you raced the Spitfire."
You grinned. "When I raced Khan, I thought you were gonna be sick."
"I very nearly was," he admitted. "But... I enjoyed it."
"I'll take you out in it again," you told him. "When we've won the war, when I go back to the RAF... if you come with me, I'll take you out in the Hawker again - as payment for the cheese and biscuits."
"Are you sure?" He asked, furrowing his brows.
You nodded, still grinning at him as you nudged his shoulder. "I'm a pilot, I'm sure of everything I do in a plane... besides, I gotta think of a way to repay you for feeding me, don't I?"
"You don't need to," Wicki told you gently, shaking his head. "You'd do the same."
"Wilhelm, I'd walk a thousand miles for you," you admitted with a soft laugh. "I'd fucking stroll through fire like it was a walk to the shops, if you asked me."
He swallowed thickly, wondering if maybe he should tell you about his little crush on you, wondering if you felt the same and wondering if he really should be honest; tomorrow may never come, you may never see the dawn creeping up. Time was short. It was better to die an honest man. "(y/n), I... feel things for you. Romantisch things."
You shrugged, tilting your head to the side and cocking a brow. "And you think I don't feel them things, too?"
He looked at you, the type of look that told you everything you needed to know; that he knew what you had meant, and that he was sitting there, waiting for you to make the first move just so he could be sure. Just so he knew what you had said meant what he thought it did. Wicki wasn't shy, not by any means, but he was careful, and he didn't want to make a move if you weren't ready for it. He didn't want to cause any miscommunication.
So you sighed, and you took his hand in yours, rubbing your thumb across his knuckles as you smiled. "I want to be with you, romantically. Not just as brothers in arms."
Turning his hand over, Wicki laced his fingers with yours, and sighed heavily when you gave his hand a little squeeze; it was the first move he had waited for, and now that he knew what you meant, he nodded slowly. "I don't care if I gotta walk a thousand miles to be with you, I want you, too."
"Then keep feeding me," you joked softly. "I've got a stomach like a bottomless pit at the moment, keep feeding me and I'll never leave you."
He grinned, doing his best not to laugh when he heard Hugo start to trudge back to the little camp, turning his head slightly. "Get some rest, mein Kampfpilot. I'll be in the hammock."
"Wait," you tugged his hand, pleading with him. "Can I... shit... can I join you?"
Wicki nodded. "Ja, natürlich, there should be enough room for us both."
"Danke," you replied gently, "mein geliebter."
if you liked this fic, REBLOG IT - you SHOULD reblog it; spam likers WILL be blocked. as will blogs that refuse to reblog or to give feedback. if you don't wanna reblog, then you'll get blocked; reblogging is the BARE MINIMUM. don't just "like", REBLOG
#mlem writes#wicki x reader#wilhelm wicki x reader#wilhelm wicki#wicki#inglourious basterds x reader#inglourious basterds imagine#inglourious basterds#inglorious basterds x reader#inglorious basterds imagine#inglorious basterds
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character writing time (i made my son today its so traumatized already <3)
okay so i did come up with it through a self-made prompt: we always hear about how the villain has better reasons then the hero, or the villain's goal is more just then the hero's. well, the hero realized this after a confrontation with the villain. as such, they quit working for those in charge, the ones wanting to fight for these ideals, wanting to go join the villain. however, being enemies doesn't stop when you switch sides, and the villain pushes the hero away. the hero now is a traitor to both sides, evil in the eyes of all parties involved, and a hero to none no longer.
another thing before we begin, my son aka the character i made uses it/itself pronouns and is boyflux! its unnamed, but ill come up with one later, rn its writing time (yes i built my prompt now differently, this is like the backstory to the scenario, and tw of attempts at suicide and general shitty quality of life) (adding while writing, talking badly about using it/itself pronouns (which i do use, nothing wrong with them)
you can also not look if you wanna just have your own written ideas and dont think mine would follow ours or whatever lol
Was it 7 months, 8? It didn't know. It didn't feel a need to care. Not after all it had worked for came crashing down. For 7 years, it had worked to be great. It was great. It saved people, it fought away bad guys, it was helpful to their cause. Then it opened its eyes, with help from their enemy.
"Do they want a safe city, or are they fighting for the control over it?" Marion had boomed. It normally wasn't enough, but it didn't leave it's head and it had to ask. And oh boy did that go just GREAT. It quit then and there, and in the process became a target for them to destroy. It had planned to maybe work with Marion, maybe even stay with her. But she didn't believe a word. She didn't want to listen long, and those eyes declared the message before she spoke it.
"Leave before I make you."
For 7 years, it was a respected individual. In these 7 or so months, it was unable to be seen as an individual by any. Out of costume and out of any shelter or anything, it had sunk lower then the care for a shot rabid dog. Maybe if it had fucking planned, it wouldn't be freaked out over any look, worrying if any food they'd get was poisoned, if the world could care for a second.
The running tired it's legs. It was tired of running. So here it was, sitting on a crummy wooden bridge, in the bumfuck area of town, where if improvements happened it came from the people's efforts. The railing creaked and it was littered with nails and glue desperately trying to hold together the pieces. The bridge's best area was how built in it was to the road, it supported it well. That didn't stop the paint peeling and uneven planks from filling one with fear. Still, the small snail painting which seemed to have new additions to it each day (new flowers, a sun, friends, anything these kids could paint) was cute. It felt fragile and strong at heart.
The rails were warm. Its hands held the plank and closed its eyes, taking it in. The noises of conversation just too far away, maybe some cars, the wind, its breaths. In, comfort and warmth and love filled itself. Out, the knowledge it couldn't be for someone like it, one who itself knows it couldn't be referred to as human. In, the musky waters about one block away from the bridge filled its brain. Out its arms went. Out its legs went. Out of this world it wished for. Holding in this final breath, even when its lungs wanted nothing more. Just like in the uppers' trainings, it thought. No pain, no gain, it thought.
In, fallen off and finally finding an answer to where the world's kindness went, it had fallen into Marion's. Her dark blue eyes reminded it of the night sky. It wondered if this was death yet.
"Now what the fuck were you doing." She was holding it so nicely. As though she'd feel pity for the rabid dog, still holding on through its pain, no matter how much it didn't want to. "God, breathe, you're not dead yet!" Without warning, it felt a quick flat blow to the stomach, forcing it to let go of whatever air it tried to hold just a little longer.
"Maybe I should have used rope, heh." It's voice was shakey and louder then it wanted.
"Well, I'm grateful you didn't." There was a moment of silence between the two. It's head just looked up at the stars, barely visible.
"...You weren't lying. You weren't trying to deceive me or whatever shit."
"...I guess."
"Why did you go talk to me first?"
"...Don't know, felt right." It lied there.
"Hey," grabbing its cheek and tilting its head down. "I may not fully fucking trust you, but your staying with me for now. If this whole thing was a trick, then fuck you, but I sadly can't let somebody try that again. Not when it's y...someone with good information on those fuckasses." Morian chose her words carefully, as though one mess up and itd try again.
Grabbing her hand, it knew this was probably how itd be going. No way people change heart so easily. Yet, it couldn't lie on this, it was one of the most pleasant kidnappings it had been apart of.
#my non jrwi friend: you gave birth today?#small detail i had to share that happened while writing this#anyways#writing prompt#literally feeling so embarrassed writing this i probs got so much wrong AHHHHHHH#that was until i internally decided this to simply be for my own enjoyment and indulgence so if yall hate it fuck you lol#it never makes sense here lol#writing#my writing#the bright smoothie of words#the (genderneutral) sons of this solar sun
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Baked with Love
TITLE: Baked with Love
PAIRING: Newt/OC
RATING: T
CHAPTER: One-shot
SUMMARY: Newt travels back to New York to see how his friends are doing.
[A/N - Written for @writer-wednesday. Also, I have not seen “Secrets of Dumbledore”, so I apologize if anything is not canon-compliant.]
“Newt! Where are we going?” Daphne asked.
The Magizoologist pulled her through the streets of New York City.
Daphne had never been outside of England before, so Newt surprised her with a trip to New York. When she asked why, he only told her that he wanted to visit some old friends.
They stopped in front of a bakery.
Kowalski Quality Baked Goods.
“A bakery?” Daphne asked him. She’d been hoping for a bookshop. She and Newt met when he did a book signing at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley.
“Yeah. Come inside,” Newt told her.
They went in and Daphne was hit the smell of freshly baked bread.
He pulled her over to a display case. “Look. Look!”
Inside were baked goods that looked like…
“Is…is that a Niffler?” Daphne asked.
The whole shop was filled with regular loaves of bread mixed in with various magical creatures like Demiguises and Erumpets.
“Newt? I thought this was a Muggle bakery?”
“They’re called No-Maj’s here.”
Daphne wrinkled her nose. “Well that’s not very original.”
“Newt!” a blonde woman squealed. She ran forward and hugged him. “What a surprise!”
Newt pulled away and put his hand on Daphne’s lower back. “Queenie, this is my girlfriend Daphne. Daphne, this is my friend Queenie Goldstein.”
Daphne was surprised by Queenie hugging her.
“Oh, I’m hugger sweetie,” Queenie said.
That was weird. Daphne hadn’t said that out loud.
“I can read minds, honey. Used to have trouble with Brits, it’s the accents, but I’ve gotten better.”
“Is Jacob here?” Newt asked.
“Oh yeah! He’s in the back. Follow me,” Queenie told them. She led them into the back.
A portly man stood at an island with flour all over his hands.
“Look who I found, honey!” Queenie said.
Jacob looked up and smiled. “Newt!” Jacob wiped his hands on a towel and embraced his friend.
“It’s good to see you, Jacob.”
“Who’s the doll?”
“Our little Newt got a girlfriend!” Queenie said, making Daphne blush.
“Daphne, this is Jacob Kowalski,” Newt said.
“Oh! Are you the owner?” Daphne asked.
Jacob nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
“If you’re a…a No-Maj, how do you know what magical beasts look like?”
Newt had explained to her that while America now allowed Muggles and Magical people to be together and get married, they weren’t on the same level as Europe.
“That’s rather a long story,” Jacob said.
“Maybe you could come for dinner!” Queenie suggested.
“I don’t think…” Newt started.
Queenie pouted. “But it’s been so long! I’ll make you that cocoa you loved so much.”
Daphne put her hand on Newt’s arm. “We’d love to.”
Queenie smiled. “Great! We’ll see you tonight. You still remember the way, right?”
Newt nodded.
Queenie giggled and clapped her hands with happiness.
Newt was frowning, but Queenie’s happiness made Daphne smile too.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Why are you so nervous?” Daphne asked Newt.
“I’m not.”
“You won’t stop messing with your waistcoat.”
It was one of his tells. That and Pickett kept making squeaking noises.
“Calm down,” Daphne told him, “Everything will be fine.” She held out her finger and Pickett crawled onto her hand. Daphne set him on her shoulder and rang the doorbell.
A dark headed woman answered. “…Newt.”
“Hey Tina.”
Daphne looked between the two.
“Tina, this is Daphne. My girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Daphne, this is Tina Goldstein. Queenie’s sister. I didn’t know you were living with Queenie and Jacob.”
“I’m not. I’m just visiting before I go back to Paris.”
There was history between Tina and Newt. Daphne wasn’t blind.
They stood there for a few moments until they saved by Queenie.
“Newt! Daphne! Come in!” Queenie ushered them inside.
Tina threw on her coat.
“Are you not staying for dinner?” Queenie asked.
“Another night. I’m going to MACUSA,” Tina said and walked out the front door.
“Well I guess tonight will just be a double date.”
Newt took off his tweed coat and Hufflepuff scarf, throwing them in a chair.
There was magic everywhere in Queenie and Jacob’s apartment. The food was cooking itself. Dishes washed themselves in the sink. Scissors and thread were creating a dress.
It made Daphne smile. It reminded her of home.
“So, Daphne tell me about yourself,” Queenie said.
“Well, I met Newt after he published his book. He was doing a book signing where I was working and well…I guess you could say it was love at first sight.”
Queenie sighed. “How romantic! It was the same with Jacob. I just knew he was the one! Normally I don’t associate with No-Maj’s much, but Jacob changed my mind about them. Being a mind-reader tends to make people uncomfortable, especially No-Maj’s.”
They talked about school, comparing Hogwarts to Ilvermorny and other things until dinner was ready.
Daphne took a bite and moaned. “God, this is so good!”
Queenie smiled. “Thank you!” She leaned over and wrapped her hand around Jacob’s, looking at him with such adoration.
The same way Daphne looked at Newt.
“It was baked with love.”
Taglist: @autumnleaves1991-blog @clydesducktape
#newt scamander#newt scamander imagines#newt/oc#fantastic beasts and where to find them#fantastic beasts and where to find them imagines#harry potter#harry potter imagines#writer wednesday
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🖤 Non-obvious Goth festival etiquette and tips 🖤
Hi! I came back from a festival, it was amazing! And I wanted to maybe give some tips to younger people who want to go for the first time. My advice is based of the Castle Party Festival in Poland.
1. Know your limits. This doesn’t only apply to alcohol and god knows what types of drugs (just don’t do drugs, it’s 2022 and no one is going to be impressed), but to clothes, makeup, crowds and noise levels. Castle Party takes place in a medieval castle - Freya from the channel It’s Black Friday described it as WGT but with hills. Well, it’s not only hills, also medeival European pavements. How do people wear Demonias and Pleaser shoes, I legit have no idea - it’s hard to even walk in pikes on these stones. Obviously not every goth festival has medieval castles, but most if not all of them require a lot of walking and standing, so heels can be painful; you could also just sprain your ankle in both heels and high platforms, if you’re unlucky or just in a hurry. Lower platforms are ok, I had 5cm / 2 inches and was super comfy.
When it comes to clothes, check the weather forecasts and please oh my fucking god, take something rainproof that isn’t an umbrella, so a raincoat or a foil cape. Umbrellas and parasols will cover the stage viev for other people. Also pack something that won’t be too awful in the heat, even if it’s not fancy and pretty. If the forecasts suggest cold weather, take a WOOL sweater or shawl with you - not acrylic, not velvet, wool. You can buy one second hand if you don’t support fast fashion or if you’re vegan (you won’t be supporting the wool industry that way). Don’t forget about high SPF sunscreen and a hat for sunny days.
Remember that concerts can be LOUD - especially goth shows with strong bass guitars, so definitely take earplugs if it’s your first time - you might end up not using them or they might save your ears.
2. If you’re a newbie, don’t try to seem experienced. Everyone’s gonna see through it. When I’m walking at a festival, I can clearly see who’s new - and it’s cool to be new. Goth needs new people and you’ll be just as appreciated as elders, if not more.
3. Don’t try to put a super fancy outfit together if you lack experience in the fashion part of goth. The entire style walks the line between beautiful and extremely tacky - if you can’t afford higher quality clothing from a store, go thrifting! Like I do! Don’t support Killstar or Punk Rave, they SCREAM polyester and other fabrics that start with poly- (all of these are plastic). I’m gonna be harsh here but it’s literally Pathetic with a big P to dress in an aristocrat inspired outfit if it’s not made of high quality materials. Silk, linen, cotton, wool, rayon and other natural fabrics are your friend. When choosing a goth outfit, look at the lace carefully - avoid nylon and raschel lace, go for cotton and embroidered tulle lace. Silk lace is also amazing, but hard to find.
It’s better to wear a simpler outfit than buy a “fancy” one on aliexpress - remember, most goth festivals have press reporters and there’s a huge chance of your pictures appearing on the internet. You don’t wanna be embarassed when you find them.
Here’s my outfit from this year, made of wool, linen and cotton + leather shoes. I also had an organza petticoat under my dress.
And under my capelet was this (sorry abt the thrift store tag):
Some older photos from ye olde days (from oldest to newest):
(these made me very nostalgic but also huh I had a glowup. Wouldn’t leave the house like this nowadays)
4. When watching the live shows, try not to bother other people in the crowd - for example, if you have a gigantic hat - take it off for the concerts (if it’s not too sunny - if you have a hat because it’s hot, that’s a different story - take care of yourself.) When you’re dancing, try not to bump into others too much if it’s possible. If you have to give up your spot to go to the bathroom for example - there’s a chance you’re not coming back, especially if it’s a famous band. It’s possible to go back to a spot just by the stage after leaving, but it’s difficult. Most of the time you either go pee or keep watching from your nice spot.
If I gave up my spot during She Past Away live show, there’s no way I’d get it back.
Basically have fun, avoid a heat stroke and don’t wear stilettos to a medieval castle.
#tips for babybats#babybats#gothgoth#goth music#gothic#goth festival#new goths#tips for new goths#trad goth#80s goth#festival#alternative music#castle party#castle party festival
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