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payidaresque · 1 year

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Photoshopping/giffing tips and tricks pt. 2

[in addition to this post i previously made]. Before we start, I want to say that i’m no expert in any way, and everyone should work in ways they're most comfortable with, i just want to share some knowledge i collected over the years with everyone who might find it useful and maybe improve their skills in making content. So, let’s get started! WARNING: IMAGE/GIF HEAVY!

Save workspaces. You can have multiple workspaces for different needs. For example, i’m making gifs more often, but sometimes i make edits as well, so having to switch the timeline panel off when it gets in a way, then go back to the view menu, then bringing it back again... idk, call me lazy, but it seems like a few extra clicks for me 💀 What you can do instead is save your current workspace and easily switch between them any time you want. To do that, align all your tools and menus as you want, then find this icon at the top right corner

Scroll down to New Workspace, and this window will pop up

Name your workspace however you want, and chose what you want to save. You can save keyboard shortcuts, menus and tools. When you click save and change your layout, nothing will happen. That is because you need to reset your Essentials workspace first (the one that’s usually the default). Now when you switch between your workspaces (if you saved multiple) everything should work as expected

How to change the speed of gif without converting to frame animation (PS 2021 and above). THANK GOD Adobe fixed the glitch where the frame rate gets all messed up when you switch to video timeline, so i would suggest upgrading whatever version of PS you currently have if you can, working with timeline is MUCH easier in my opinion. To change the speed, after you imported the video (photoshop reads only .mp4’s btw, so be sure to check if you have the correct format), click the little play button

and type in whatever number you want: 25% — the lowest value, but you can also speed the gif up by entering a number higher than 100%. Remember to do that BEFORE you convert your gif to a smart object (& before resizing it, bc after applying the changes video automatically converts into a smart object), because once you convert it, the speed can’t be changed without going back a few steps). When you slow a gif down, photoshop “eats” some parts of it (usually towards the end), so you need to extend the gif by dragging it to the right until you reach the end of your scene to fix that Normal speed

Slowed down to 60%. Sometimes slowed down gifs may look choppy, i explained the trick on how to fix it in pt. 1 (click the first link in the post).

Use plugins. There are so many great ones! For example, i found this plugin called Better Grids: it creates grids and converts them into shapes or frames AUTOMATICALLY based on the numbers you set within the plugin. It’s a lifesaver for me when it comes to photosets! DL (Google drive. M1 Mac users: for the plugin to work, you need to run Photoshop under Rosetta mode first. To do that, right-click the app, go to get Info and check Open using Rosetta if you have that option available)

If your disk space allows, do not convert media. It’s time consuming, messes up the original quality, and usually extremely hard on processors, especially not very powerful ones. Instead, just change the container to open your file in photoshop, It’s faster & less power consuming. I use Subler (mac) and Avidemux (mac & windows) to change the container to mp4, bc for me it’s the simplest ones to use

Handy thansform tool trick. When you try to fit your image into a certain sized canvas, this is probably what you’ll caught yourself doing

there's actually a much faster and easier way to resize stuff. when you activate transform tool, you'll see these boxes with numbers in the top panel

watch what happens when i change one of the numbers

isn't that neat? (make sure that little chain button is checked to mantain proportions. x and y values are for stretching the image horizontally or vertically)

Save document presets. In new document window, type in your desired dimmensions, then click "Save Preset", choose which options you want to save, name it however you want, click ok and you're done — congrats, now you have a saved canvas preset for further use!

So, i hope these little tips were useful. Have fun creating guys 🌸

#ps help #evansyhelp #allresources #completeresources #usergif #hisources

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sophiefosters · 1 year

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Gif Making Tutorial: Lightworks Edition

I also uploaded this tutorial on rentry and will link it in the source as well.

This is a guide on my own personal gif-making process using lightworks & Photoshop 2023. This does not mean it is the only way, the right one, or anything of the sorts. This is just the way that I have found that works for me and I was asked to share it.

What you need:

Lightworks -> Download Here

Photoshop

Step #1 When you first boot up Lightworks you'll be greeted with this screen. First, you'll want to hit create a new project which will show the pop-up. You can write whatever you'd like for the title & description as it does not matter here.

Step #2 Now we are greeted with Lightwork's dashboard we want to import the media we will be using. On the left of the screen towards the bottom you are greeted with a container called libraries with a bunch of different options below it.

We want to hit Local Files and find our video. You may have to fiddle around and find the correct folder (as I'm unsure where it opens originally). Once you find your video, select it, and then click the "import" option located at the bottom left.

Step #3 Our next step is a bit much so I have also included a video to help. We are going to drag the media onto the timeline as well as remove the audio. Removing the audio is a personal choice, however, I do so because I do want to hear a movie/show in 3-5 second clips :).

Text Guide:

Select media using left click on your mouse and drag it onto the timeline.

Click however many "audio" tracks you have (and make sure you have selected the video one), right-click, and select delete.

Step #4 This is where/when we'll be making the "clips" that will become our gifs. Lightworks has a similar video scrubber as many other programs (however, it happens to have two, but that matters not) which you can use to quickly go through your video. We'll be using two main functions here -- play/pause & clip.

To start/stop the video you can hit the spacebar & to clip the video you hit the C key on your keyboard.

You can let the video play and "clip" as you go, or you can go ahead and clip out parts you know your character isn't in, it truly depends on what you feel flows the best. I will include a screenshot of what a video looks like clipped.

Each spot where you see a "line" through the video is a separate clip, which in turn, is a separate gif. You'll want to do this for your entire video until your timeline has a bunch of little clipped parts.

Step #5 Our next step is taking all of our clips and exporting them as their own seperate files. Follow the steps below

Right click the video one track.

Find the option that says make.

Under make select Syncs....

Select V1 segments from the new pop-up.

Depending on how many clips you have it might take a few seconds to a few minutes. Once it loads you will see a bunch of new clips!

Step #6 Now we want to export all of these clips and Lightworks makes it really easy!

Select all the NEW clips (click one, hold shift, and select).

Right-click any one and select export.

Scroll down until you see H.264/MP4 & pick that option.

Another pop-up will appear! Make sure that it is exporting to the correct folder and then select start! Two windows will pop-up but do not worry. Window #1 is Lightworks exporting the clips and Window #2 is the tasks log.

If you go to the folder where you set them you save them -- you'll see all the clips ready to be imported into photoshop!

You're now photoshop ready!

And now you are ready to import your clips to photoshop and start gifing away! I hope this helped and if you have any questions -- please do not hesitate to send me an ask, or a DM, and I will do my best to help :)!

#gif tutorial #gif making tutorial #tutorial #rph #rpc #sf: tutorials #i tried lmao

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jcmarchi · 1 month

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Said no to tracking cookies? Good chance your data are still being collected - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/said-no-to-tracking-cookies-good-chance-your-data-are-still-being-collected-technology-org/

Said no to tracking cookies? Good chance your data are still being collected - Technology Org

When browsing the internet, it’s hard to escape those annoying pop-ups: ‘Control your cookies! Accept or decline.’ You might make an effort to decline the cookies. Privacy is key. Good for you, right? That’s mostly wishful thinking, according to the research of Amit Zac and his colleagues. Our study shows that 65% of the websites we were able to test ignore user rejection choices.’

Just a quick reminder: What are digital cookies again? ‘They’re small files installed on your computer to gather information’, says Zac. ‘Your location, IP address, previously visited pages, and email address are examples of information that cookies track and collect.’ Websites are legally obliged to get permission to gather personal data – hence the annoying pop-ups. ‘The regulation aimed to protect the privacy of EU citizens online’, Zac explains.

Intentional violations

What is the level of compliance when it comes to the requirements of consent? That’s the question Zac asked in his research with Ahmed Bouhoula, Karel Kubicek, Carlos Cotrini and David Basin from the computer science department at ETH Zurich. They created an automated process using machine learning methods, which allowed them to analyze 100 thousand websites in Europe. The results were stunning: around 90 percent of websites seem to fail at least one requirement. ‘That’s an incredibly high percentage. If this percentage of people did not follow traffic laws, they would not leave their homes. The online world seems to be different from the offline world, and I wanted to know why,’ he says.

The research differentiates between 2 types of violations. ‘Naive violations’, as Zac calls them, and back-end intentional violations. ‘An example of a naive violation is to not ask for consent to collect cookies at all.’ The research showed that 32 percent of websites visited by European users, lacked a question for consent altogether. ‘These violations are very visible and easy to detect. So visible that the France Data Protection Agency (CNIL) has already fined Google, and others, for not including a reject button next to the accept button for cookies. We found that 56% of our studied sample is still missing a reject button’.

A back-end violation is sneakier and happens behind the veil of compliance, which makes it much harder to notice. ‘It means that a website does whatever it wants on the back-end, regardless of your answer. When you click on “reject all cookies”, it still uses tracking cookies, even though you have explicitly opted out. Our study shows that 65% of the websites we were able to test, ignore user rejection choices. Websites also often collect information before you answer the consent pop-up, or register closing the pop-up screen as giving consent. The law does not allow that in most cases. Explicit consent is needed for gathering your personal data.’

User manipulation

In addition, companies use so-called ‘dark patterns’ to nudge for more consent. ‘The classic example is the use of colors. The accept button is made more attractive by the use of bright colors and the reject button is made less visible and colorful. Another example is hiding the reject option by using smaller letters, making it harder to notice. The research showed that on many websites the “accept” and “reject” buttons for cookies look very different, which might indicate user manipulation.’

The machine learning method the researchers created allowed them to differentiate between violations made by popular websites and smaller websites. ‘We found that the more popular websites score low when it comes to the easily detectable violations, such as not having a consent banner. But these websites score relatively high on the back-end intentional violations. The popular websites are a bit sneakier about violating your rights. They give you the feeling you’re protected by asking for consent. But in reality, it’s worse because they ignore your choices. It’s a facade of compliance.’

Is it then still worth the effort to refuse cookies when you visit a website? ‘I still take cookies seriously. I always say no and try to minimize my exposure to random click traps online. You can install an extension on your browser that blocks attempts to collect your data, regardless of your cookie answer or use a VPN. Although I think most users don’t bother, maybe because of the illusion that makes them believe they are protected under the system.’

Next step: new technology

‘At this point, cookie consent notices are broken,’ states Zac. So how do we fix this gap between the law and reality? ‘There are small companies that lack the technical and legal knowledge to comply with regulations. We want to help small and medium size players to become compliant by offering them useful technology. Policy makers should also help the naive players because not all companies are intentionally violating the laws.’

Other firms are purposely violating the law; for them a different approach is needed. ‘Some websites operate under the impression that they won’t get caught. This is where the internet becomes the wild west. Data protection agencies can’t keep up with the technology and the diffusion of dark patterns. We need new technologies to address this on a much bigger scale. That’s the next step. I want to approach the right people in the Netherlands and say to them: “We have the methods here to boost compliance with the law.”’

Source: University of Amsterdam

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.

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trustbuilding · 2 years

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Maschine mk controller editor template bitwig 2

#Maschine mk controller editor template bitwig 2 update

Add the code below somewhere inside your init() function. Each member of userControls is an object that will be associated with a CC in our range, and those userControls can then be attached to a parameter in Bitwig using the MIDI learn functionality. Now that we have defined our range, we can create a bank of userControls.

#Maschine mk controller editor template bitwig 2 update

If we weren’t using variables we might have to comb through a ton of code to manually update functions, which is not a good time, and leaves you prone to errors. And these numbers can be available to any functions we use in our script. If we’d like to change this range in the future, we’ll just have to change the values of our variables. There are many advantages to using variables as opposed to just using these numbers when we need them. This is how you create variables in javascript, and we will be referencing these numbers throughout the rest of the script. Add these lines of code somewhere above your init() function: You could use the whole range, but for the sake of demonstration let’s restrict it a bit using these values. There is a lot of information in there, but if you’re ever interested in a more in depth explanation of the functions and methods we use, you’ll want to get friendly with it.įirst, let’s define the range of CC values that we will be using. In there you can explore all of the classes and functions available to us. I would also open Bitwig, navigate to the help menu and pop open their documentation. Navigate to your M圜 file (or whatever you happened to name your file last time), and open it up in your text editor, or development environment of choice. You can download the script HERE, or you can build it up from the script we previously created. This is a pretty straightforward process and only involves a handful of lines of code. In this next installment we will implement freely mappable CCs so you can use any controller you have laying around to interact with Bitwig. In the previous article we walked through the setup and creation of a basic controller script for Bitwig Studio. Posted May 29th, 2015 by Evan Bogunia & filed under Bitwig Studio, Blog, Tutorials.

#Maschine mk controller editor template bitwig 2

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vittruprowe56 · 2 years

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How To Obtain Ripped Off Online

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authorkun · 3 years

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[𝙎𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙘] (001)

Jujutsu Kaisen x Male reader

Warning: Mentions of su!cide, gore, violence, and strong themes

"𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣, 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨."

A smooth honey like voice dripped with interest of the vessel that stood before him. The male's eyes casted down before traveling back up the first year's torso. He licked his lip at the sight with a smirk.

"Oya? Oya? N/n-Chan where did you come from? You were supposed to be in Hyogo." A blindfolded sensei questioned. N/n, or better known as M/n sent a small wave at his underclassmen, who gaped at both his sensei and senpai with wide eyes. "Oh the other second-years would love this." M/n took out his phone and and started taking an array of photos of Megumi.

"Anyways, I was, heard there was a SGP (special grade problem) going on. Thought I'd check it out. You too?" He lazily draped himself against the older. "The elders complained about putting my abilities to good use." Gojo chuckled remembering the annoying email from the secretary. "Anyways, who's this?" "Yuji Itadori sir!" The pinkette quickly bowed. A hearty laugh bubbled in M/n's throat at the formal honorific. "Get up no need for that, cause a nice senpai like me cares for underclassman." The male proudly pointed to himself.

"M/n L/n. Say where is the cursed object anyways?" Itadori sweat dropped. "Well I ate it." "Damn the kid has balls." M/n bluntly stated making a certain raven haired sorcerer flustered at the vulgar statement. "So how's Sukuna, or whatever his face is?" The (e/c) orbs analyzed Itadori looking for any sign of the curse. "He's annoying, he keeps on talking." Tapping his head with his palm signaling the telepathic link. "10 seconds."

"Huh?" "Come on back after 10 seconds." Gojo reiterated. "I dunno about this." "Don't worry I'm the strongest." M/n playfully rolling his eyes. "And if it gets out of hand, I'm stronger." "Megumi, hold onto this will ya." Gojo tossed a paper bag towards him. "Can you also hold onto this? It's killing my back." The second-year threw a heavy duffel bag Fushiguro's way, almost knocking him out. "What's this?" Megumi's eyes lingered on the white bag. "Kikufuku Mochi." His eyebrow twitched at the information. 'He was buying souvenirs, while people were dying?!'

"Aww Megumi they're not souvenirs. They're for the bullet train back." Sukuna was suddenly in the air about to pounce on the 'unsuspecting' male. "Behind you!" Fushiguro yelled worriedly. Gojo dodged getting close to the curse's ear. "Two of my students are watching so, I hope you don't mind me showing off." He turned sending a blow towards Sukuna's back, making him stumble. 'He's unbelievably fast. Not only that-.'

"It doesn't matter what era it is, you guys are always a pain you stupid Jujutsu sorcerer! He dryly laughed. "But that doesn't matter to me." With a flick of his wrist chunks of concrete flew towards Gojo. Who when the dust cleared stood unscathed holding the rubble as nothing. "Should be about time." M/n clicked his tongue, while filing his nails next to Fushiguro. The markings on Itadori's body disappearing. "What a surprise! You can control it!" He yelled. "He's kind of annoying though." Itadori repeated.

"It's a miracle that's the only side effect." With that, the older tapped his head knocking the first-year out. "Aww booooo I was looking forward to annoying Sasuki more." The M/n whined like a toddler throwing away his file. "What did you do?" Fushiguro asked ignoring his senpai. "He's knocked out." Gojo stated holding onto the passed out male. "I though you were smarter then that Megumiii." The two once again ignored the manic (h/c-ette). "If he wakes up and isn't possessed...he might have potential as a vessel." He reasoned. "Quick question what do I do with him?" M/n sweat dropped. "Even if he has potential, under Jujutsu regulations he must be executed..." He drawled off. "But I don't want to let him die!" Fushiguro finished with a determined look.

"Is that a personal opinion?" M/n playfully teased. "Yes, a personal opinion. Please do something about it." "Hmm a precious student's request." Gojo scratched his chin in 'thought'. "Leave it to me, and your senpai!" He exclaimed. "So with that, let me reiterate...you're gonna be executed." The blindfolded teacher waved his hands around in finger guns. "This story doesn't make sense so far." Itadori grumbled. "Hey, Man, I tried. An execution is an execution, but I managed to suspend the sentencing."

"A suspended sentencing? So it's on hold now?" The pinkette questioned. "Yup. Let me explain from the top." Gojo went to grab something out of his pocket realizing it was gone. "Looking for this?" M/n's form came out of the shadows, holding up the shriveled appendage. "This look familiar?" Itadori raised a brow. "Another finger?" "Ding ding ding. You want a cookie or something?" M/n leaned on his sensei's shoulder aggravating him even more. "Its the same cursed object you so voluntarily consumed. There's 20 total, we're in possession of six." "Twenty? Oh, including both arms and legs." Nodding his head in understanding. "Wrong, Sukuna has four arms." M/n stated nonchalantly tossing the finger up for Gojo to blast towards the wall creating a small crater like hole. The finger looked unscathed. "As you can see, you can't destroy it. It's that powerful of a curse.

With every passing day it gets even stronger." The (h/c-ette) moved from his place wandering behind Itadori, the hot breath on his neck made himself shutter. "That's where you come in. You die, the curse in you dies as well." M/n moved back rocking back on his heels. "The Elders have a stick up their ass and wanted to kill you right away. My dear Gojo and I thought it be a waste for a pretty face like you to offed yet."

A small pink flush dusted against Itadori's cheeks. "There's no guarantee that another vessel able of controlling of Sukuna will ever come around again. So... our proposal was, "if we're gonna kill him, why not after he takes in the rest of Sukuna". Killing two birds with one stone really. Your two choices right now are either to die now or wait to find the rest of Sukuna and die then." An intimidating aura surrounding M/n.

The next day

"Who died?" M/n asked picking at his nails, feeling oddly uncomfortable around the place heavy with death and sadness. "My Grandpa,he was more of a dad I guess though." Itadori hung his head. "I see, sorry to bother you at a time like this." Gojo apologized sitting himself next to the male. "Are there a lot of casualties with curses like this?"

"This is a pretty uncommon circumstance...But if you're talking about potential damage, yes." In the corner of Gojo's eyes he could see M/n's hand start to tremor. "...Let's just say, you're lucky to die normally after an encounter with a curse. Finding a body torn in two is still a light death compared to the others..." M/n stare burned into the bench a few feet in front of them. Walking off as flashes of blood painting the walls continued replaying in his head. "What's wrong with him?" Itadori asked looking off towards where the male went off to. "Not many things are known about M/n. Supposedly during a special grade case, they had found a witness around the age of 7 standing in the middle of what was assumed his family. The report was hard to read not much about the kid except the crazed look in his eyes and the astronomical amounts of cursed energy spilling from his body.

The case was left unfinished because they couldn't understand what exactly happened. The one account from the boy saying that it was a monster who killed his family. Of course when they checked there wasn't a sign of a curse. The elders shut the case down and took in the kid in, fear of his powers haunting them. From what I know, he was taught by the principal himself how to control his cursed abilities. When I was in my last year, I heard about an incident including the boy with a special grade. It had changed him from an outgoing and friendly person to a husk of one. He distanced himself and gained the liking of inducing pain on himself. He's strange that's for sure." A vision of a preteen M/n slitting his arms for an 'experiment'.

He claimed the experiment was to figure out how many cuts he could endure before passing out. Itadori stared at the older with an opened mouth. An image of the bandaged male popped into his head. 'Bandages'. "When I saw him pass in the hallways smiling like no tomorrow, made me think if the incident had never happened to him..."

"...He would have a normal life" he finished the other's sentence. "But that kind of thinking is common when you first get into the game. You learn how to ignore those thoughts. Those thoughts alone could drive a man insane. If you start investigating the remains of Sukuna, you'd probably some gruesome scenes, every sorcerer has their case that changes them wether it be for the best or the worst. Pick your hell."

"If Sukuna is eliminated, will there be fewer people killed by curses?" Itadori's grandpa's words rung in his head. "Of course." Gojo nodded his head. "You got that other finger?" "Yeah." Gojo placed the object in his hand. Itadori took a second to study it. "Now that I look at it it is pretty disgusting." He said tossing the appendage into his mouth absent mindedly swallowing it with a gross gulp. 'That's one tenth of Sukuna, how will that sit?' Black marks appeared on his body before leaving as quickly as they came. "Blaughhh, that was so gross." The male wrapped a hand around his throat at the taste. 'He's able to control Sukuna without a problem, heh.' Gojo thought. "I take it you're prepared for what's to come?" "Not at all. I am wondering why I have to be executed though. But I know I can't leave this curse alone. It's final, I'm gonna eat the rest of Sukuna. That's all"

"Yahooo! I'm back!" An overly enthusiastic voice emerged. M/n ran over waving his hands around. A bag slung around his shoulders. Something seemed off. An evident bruise starting to form around his neck peeking out from the loosely wrapped bandages. A cut lip and a few more scrapes littering his face. "What happened?" M/n shrugged still smiling. "Just a fight, this delinquent looking guy said he had a bone to pick with me, he had his fun....and so did I~" He took out his phone, shoving it into both of their faces. Sure enough a buff looking male was in tears, tied up. "The old wasabi and mustard up the nose always works like a charm." M/n shoved the device back into his coat, before handing the paper bag over to Gojo who quirked his brow.

"I went on a little trip into town and got you this~" The male's hands roamed around the bag pulling out a box. "I saw this delectable Mochi stand and turns out their family were from Sendai. What's the chance they made kikufuku? I got them for free since the owner was an old friend. Told 'em it was a gift for someone special." He winked at the end. Sukuna lowly growled barely loud enough for Itadori to hear. 'What's your problem?' 'Shut it brat.' Sukuna coldly snapped.

"This is why you're my favorite second-year." Gojo chuckled as if he were a grade school girl. "Looks like it's shaping up to be a fun hell. Get your belongings together by the end of the day." He turned towards Itadori, Megumi now standing behind him. "We goin' somewhere?" "Tokyo." Fushiguro answered with a battered face. "Ah! My little Meg-Chan is back!" M/n attacked the poor male in a tackle like hug. Snuggling his face further into the first-year's chest. A red hue danced acrossed the ravenette's face, as Gojo secretly took pictures.

Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical School The walk to the school was quiet, the only noise being the light chatter being shared between the two with occasional comments from M/n, who's interest was glued to a small book in his hands. The quietness of the curse had caught Itadori off guard, causing questions to form about his weird behavior. Sukuna seemed to keep his gaze fixed onto the object held by the other. 'The book he's holding..' Itadori's eyes flickered over to the small piece of literature questioning it's importance. "What are you reading?"

"Just an old book I'm rereading." The male had answered turning to the next page. "If you have already read it why are you reading it again?" His curiosity had gotten the better of him. "A good book never gets old no matter how many times you read it." What confused Itadori, is why Sukuna was so fixated on the older. A soft thud sounded out as M/n closed the book, placing it back into his pocket. "Anyways, you're about to have an interview with the principal." "The principal?!" He exclaimed confused.

"There's a high probability he could reject you so make sure you go all out." M/n said once again picking at his nails in amusement. "What then! Immediate execution?" He snapped making the former quirk a brow at his statement. A small mouth formed onto his cheek.

"So you're not the boss? Pathetic, a hierarchy that isn't based off of strength is worthless." Itadori slapped a hand over his cheek, keeping Sukuna from further speaking. "I'm sorry about him, he pops out." "You have quite the amusing body now." M/n cheekily said. Another small mouth popped out, this time located on his hand. "I owe you a favor you know."

"Not again!"

"Once I make this brat's body my own, you'll be the first one I kill. The male next to you will once again be my king when I take my crown back." M/n crossed his arms in confusion.

"It's an honor to be targeted by Sukuna himself, but what do you mean 'your king once again'?

"Have you ever wondered what caused the incident ten years ago? And why the Elders were so keen on raising him?" The mouth disappeared leaving both Gojo and M/n astounded at the new information.

'How does Sukuna know about that, and why did the elders drop the case as if it were nothing.' "You wouldn't do that would you senpai?" A hopeful smile painted on Itadori's face. "...." The words couldn't form as M/n stood wide-eyed at the curse's words.

'I wouldn't, would I?...'

#jujutsu kaisen #seme male reader #gojo satoru x male reader #itadori yuji x top male reader #jjk itadori #jjk fushiguro #jjk nobara #zenin #inumaki #sukuna ryomen x male reader #dazai osamu #jujutsu kaisen x male reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #top male reader #suicidal maniac #jjk

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reidyoulikeabook · 3 years

Text

Sometimes You Just Don’t Know the Answer

4 times you don’t know the answer, and the 1 time you do

This is the 2nd part to Personal Google! (You don’t have to read it to understand this, but it exists if you want to).

Ship: BAU!reader x Spencer Reid

Summary: You’d call yourself a pretty educated individual, and most people wouldn’t argue with that, given that you’re a member of the BAU at Quantico. There’s just something about your best friend Spencer Reid that gets you all tongue tied.

Warnings: Mentions of cases and case-typical violence, mentions of alcohol, Spencer and Reader being idiots again.

Word count: 3k

A/N: The feedback (in asks and the tag reblogs) for Personal Google was so lovely and encouraging and I am very grateful for it! I only made this account a few days ago and I’m already so glad I did :) I hope this is a satisfactory second part and, requests are open!

(This is the Reid I’m imagining here)

“What is up with you and Reid?” Emily’s volume is unmoderated at the best of times but right now it’s like she’s trying to alert the entirety of Virginia to your dating woes.

Dating woes might be a stretch, actually. Somehow, just her implication that something is happening between you and Spencer (even though it isn’t, unless you count two exhausted idiots falling asleep on each other and being too bashful to ever mention it again), is enough to get you feeling uncharacteristically shy.

“Nothing,” you shrug, “Well. I don’t know, honestly, nothing I guess? We haven’t spoken about that night.”

Emily’s eyes rake over you, and you can tell she’s waiting for you to continue.

“There’s nothing!” you object, “We just, it was accidental, we fell asleep because we were watching a documentary and we were tired and neither of us fell asleep on purpose.”

She laughs, dry and amused, “At this rate, you’ll be lucky to have sorted things out before you’re 50.”

You scowl, but it’s only because you know she’s right.

***

You don’t have much time to think about your situation with Spencer for a few weeks, considering the rate at which the cases come rolling in. This newest one arrives within about two days of the last one you’d just wrapped up. It’s actually kind of rude, you’ve decided, that the serial killers of America have decided to deny you two weekends in a row.

You’re briefed on the case quickly: four women have gone missing over the past 7 months from a small town in Ohio. There’s no distinct pattern that can be discerned among the victims, the oldest is 60 and white, the youngest is 23 and Asian-American. However, the first three have been found dead in the past two weeks, all within a mile of each other and all killed with the same MO: ligature strangulation.

“So we have no idea how he’s choosing them,” you say.

“No,” Hotch replies, with a sigh.

Meaning that this is probably going to take a while. Spencer senses the way you tense up a little as you absorb that fact. So he goes out of his way to sit next to you on the plane. Once the discussion about the case is done, he nudges you gently, “Did you bring a book?”

You shake your head, “I finished the one in my go-bag. Didn’t have a chance to replace it.”

“Would you like to read this with me?”

You place your hand on his wrist, gently turning it so you can see the cover, “Spencer this is written in Greek.”

“I can translate,” he says.

You move closer to him then, your head resting just against his plane seat and your chin almost jutting against his shoulder.

“Is this okay?”

He nods. The remaining 45 minutes of the flight are spent with him reading to you softly, adding in his own thoughts as he translates and sometimes going off on little tangents. By the time you land you’ve entirely forgotten about your ire with the case. You’re focused only on the characters he introduces you to, who are clearly in love even if they’re too stupid to see it, and the way his nose crinkles a little when he reaches a word with no direct English translation.

Whhat you don’t realise, is that you end up folding into him: head pressed against his chest. Somehow, neither of you notice how you naturally gravitate towards each other. Some pair of profilers.

Hotch sends you in different cars to the precinct, and you’re soon reminded of your frustration as you’re caught up in the hub-a-bub of the case. It’s not until you’re leaving the station, after a long and relatively fruitless briefing with the medical examiners and local PD, that you even have time to acknowledge Spencer properly again.

And even then, it’s only when Hotch says.

"You'll be sharing a room with Reid, alright?"

He’s only really asking as a formality. Nobody questions Hotch’s assignments for them. So why, then, do you feel yourself flush a little.

Why then, do you feel so embarassed replying, “Alright.”

***

There was nothing much to be nervous about with sharing a room, as it so happened. The past day and a half had been a whirlwind since the unsub had snatched a fifth victim. You’d been sleeping in shifts, making sure that some of you were awake at all times to keep working.

You were working on the geographical profile with Spencer, and had taken to driving around to look for landmarks at night, when there was nothing much else to do. There were maps but sometimes it helped just to get things embedded in your brain. And now, at 4am, you’re bursting into the conference room occupied by Spencer and Rossi, because you might just have got something.

"I have an idea,” you say, and before anybody can even respond you’re scribbling hurriedly on the whiteboard.

“Slow down kiddo,” Rossi laughs.

“Sorry I’m just,” you cut yourself off, slightly flustered and tapping your foot with frustration as you try to put the last pieces of it together, “Diana Matthews.”

“Yeah?” Spencer responds.

“She was the one who lived on Lakefield right?” Rossi asks.

Annoyingly, you can’t remember off rote. Spencer sees the pinch of frustration in your brow. He senses that you’re heading for the case file.

So, he answers, “Yeah 38 Lakefield Drive.”

Smiling gratefully at him, you breathe a sigh of relief, “There’s three different stores in the area for this local electronic repair company, Gladston Digital, in this area. Two of them aren’t accounted for on the maps because these are from last year, and one of the ones on Google is pinned to the wrong street, there are two Minister Avenues and one’s on the complete opposite side of town.”

Denoting the map with annotations as you go, you continue, “All of the victims had residences within a mile of one of the three stores. And we interviewed the area manager, Paul something, he manages all three stores. He came to speak to me and Hotch while we were scoping the area.”

“Inserting himself into the investigation,” Rossi notes, “Fits the profile. A stalker like that would want to remain an illusion of control.”

“I just need to get Garcia on the phone to see if it checks out.”

Spencer just watches, slightly in awe, as you make the phone call to Garcia. She manages to cross-reference bank statements and emails, showing that all five of the victims had taken something of theirs in for repair sometime in the year before their disappearance. And he feels something in his gut. Pride? Maybe. That’s certainly a part of it.

But there’s something else in there too. Your eyes meet his, with a flicker of recognition. He realises what it is then: marvel. Your brain works so fast, and that’s not novel to him, he knows you’re intelligent but there’s just something about how fast you manage to put it all together. You conjure something out of nothing, a link that he’d missed. And he’s reminded, again, that he has to try and keep up with you sometimes. He wonders if you know that.

Probably not, he thinks. You’re rambling down the phone and gesturing with your hands, in a way you may or may not have picked up from him, and all he can think is how you look so in your element. And beautiful.

He’s a little embarassed about how normal it feels for that last observation to pop into his head.

***

“To _____!” Prentiss cheers.

8pm has rolled around. Since your revelation 16 hours earlier, you managed to confirm your thinking, apprehend Paul Bader, and save the fifth victim. All in all, a pretty good days work. It’s not just down to you, but everyone’s singing your praises so loudly it’s making you a little embarassed.

Even Hotch sets a drink down in front of you, squeezing your shoulder, “Really good work today ____.”

Fair to say you’ve probably peaked there.

Spencer is sat to your left, sipping at a Mai Tai that you know is going to have him giggly in about an hours time.

“I wasn’t trying to keep you out before,” you tell him, “I was going to come and wake you up when I got back but you were in the conference room.”

He smiles, “I know. It was my shift to sleep.”

“Bet you’re paying for that now.”

“A little,” he chuckles, “It’s worth it.”

"I just didn’t want you to think I was hanging you out to dry. You know, to make myself look good,” you decide to press further: mostly just because the team has sung your praises and that kind of attention makes you shirk at the best of times. Let alone when you’re sat with the guy responsible for creating half the damn profile.

His eyebrows furrow. You worry for a minute about what he’s going to say, but then, “I would never think that about you. We’re a team.”

He squeezes your hand. Maybe that’s your favourite thing about Spencer, really. More than the fact he remembers to get your caffeine just how you like it, more than how gentle he is with just about everybody he encounters, more than his relentless enthusiasm for your questions about whatever pops into your mind. No, it’s his modesty. The way he doesn’t even think for a moment to be prideful or arrogant about his intelligence. He genuinely roots for you in every moment, you think.

“Are you okay?” he asks, “You seem a little..quiet.”

It wasn’t until he mentioned it that you realise you’d let your thoughts run away with you, “No. I’m good. Just thinking about how good of a teacher you are.”

“You think so?”

“Of course I think so. You’ve taught me. I didn’t know the first thing about geographical profiling when I got here two years ago. I could barely read a map,” you laugh, keeping your tone sincere, “You’re a really good teacher Spence. I feel like I learn so much from just being around you.”

“I often don’t give you much choice.”

You smile, “I wouldn’t want you to. Really. I’m always interested in everything you have to say. I think you know that. But I wanted to tell you anyway. So you’re sure.”

He’s incredibly grateful you get pulled into a conversation by Morgan, giving him a moment to process.

A lifetime of being insecure. Of feeling like nobody was interested in what he had to say but not being able to really control whether he said it anyway. All this time being insecure in himself, and you liked it. Complimented him on it, even. Considered him a teacher. He doesn’t think he could articulate, in any of the languages he speaks, the sense of peace that brings him.

-----

The Mai Tai’s do make him sleepy. Buzzed, but sleepy. After being bought rounds by Hotch, Morgan, and Spencer, you’re feeling exactly the same. It’s only 10:30pm by the time you decide to make your departure for the night. This is much to the chagrin of Emily, who lolls against Rossi’s side demanding that you stay.

“Some of us have been up since 4 this morning, breaking their backs to keep this country safe,” You tease, putting on a melodramatic air just for affect, “Besides, you’re going to regret this when you have to be up and back on the jet in the morning.”

“You will, especially since you still owe me that report,” Hotch teases, with a smile.

Emily rolls her eyes, “You two are no fun.”

She’s joking, goading you, but unfortunately for her you have a sleepy Spencer nuzzling against you which is a far more pressing matter to deal with.

“Come on Spence, let’s get you to bed,” You say, gently wiggling out from under him and offering him your hand.

He pouts at the momentary loss of contact. It’s subtle. You catch it though. He links his fingers through your own, holding your hand properly, and you try not to read into it too much. He’s tipsy. He’s tired.

Ignoring the deliberately obvious eyebrow-wiggling from Morgan, you make for the lift.

“You didn’t have to come to bed just for me,” Spencer says, “I feel bad for taking you away from the others. I’m not that drunk, I could get myself to bed.”

You shake your head, “I wanted to go to bed with you.”

His eyes snap to you, a grin playing on his lips.

“I mean, I wanted to go to bed. And we’re sharing a room. So I’m going to bed with you. As in we’re going to the place where bed is, together.”

He’s just enough tipsy to be confident enough to jest, “Sure.”

You roll your eyes, “You sound like Morgan.”

“What did Morgan say?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what Morgan always says whenever anybody goes off together.”

“That they’re having sex,” He giggles, tipsiness shining through again.

“Yes, Spence, that they’re having sex.”

“But we’re not.”

The elevator dings as you arrive at your floor, saving your brain from delving into the implications of what he’s just said. And whether that was a disappointed or netural tone.

He hasn’t let go of your hand. He walks to the door with you, still keeping your hand in his. It’s hard not to let yourself read into it now. How holding hands with him could be such a casual thing. Hard not to imagine walking through bookshops with him, one hand in yours and the other picking books off the shelf he thought you’d like. The domesticity of it sickens you.

Then he lets go to cross to the bed.

“Aren’t you gonna put your pyjama’s on?” You ask.

“I wasn’t gonna sleep yet,” he says, “I was gonna...”

He looks bashful, suddenly, self-consciously licking his lower lip, “I was gonna ask if maybe you wanted to watch something with me. You can pick. I always pick.”

“This an excuse to get me in bed with you again, Spence?” You tease, just past tipsy enough not to care that this is the first time you’ve even acknowledged that night.

"Yeah, the Pearl Harbour ruse doesn’t work twice,” he jokes.

You wish you could find the courage to tease him more. Unfortunately, the liquid courage seems to have run out, and the topic somehow feels too delicate to touch.. Instead, you change quickly into your pyjama’s. Together, you pick something to watch, settling down. You’re suddenly thankful for the single bed, the necessity to be cozied up against him as you watch. To feel his chest, every beat of his heart. You swear it’s beating fast. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

***

Just like last time, you wake up huddled against Spencer. Unlike last time, there’s no Emily banging the door down to drag you to the police station. No, it’s quiet.

You can’t see what time it is because there’s a Spencer between you and the clock. Your phone is in your back pocket but it’s hard to find any motivation whatsoever to move when you’re like this: face pressed into his chest, his head resting atop of yours so a single curl of his hair tickles your nose, his hand on your hip holding you against him.

His eyelashes flutter, “Are you awake?”

“Yeah. I just woke up.”

He smiles, “Me too.”

“Looks like we did it again.”

“Looks like we did,” his voice is quiet.

“Do you want me to move? If I’m...I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

His free hand comes up to your chin, tipping it so you’re looking him directly in the eyes. His pupils are dilated. In the dim light it’s hard to place the look on his face exactly. But it’s soft.

"C-Can I kiss you?” the question spills quickly from his lips, like he’s afraid he’ll change his mind if he doesn’t get it out fast, “I just. I don’t know if that’s what you want too, I’ve just really-”

"Kiss me, Spence. Please kiss me.”

The smile on his face would have made you fall in love with him, if you weren’t already. And then he kisses you. Barely. Your lips are just grazing against one anothers. You tilt yourself upwards, towards him, giving him a better angle. Then he really kisses you, capturing your lips in his. It’s sweet, it’s soft, it’s...it’s everything. It’s everything, how his hands tangle themselves tentatively in your hair, how he kisses you so deeply, drinking you in.

His hand cups your cheek, then he’s pulling back, just a tiny bit, to mumble against your lips, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

The only appropriate way you can think to verbalise your agreement, is closing the gap between your lips again. There’s an urgency to it this time. Your lips move quickly, passionately. He swipes his tongue across your lower lip and you let him in, your tongues delicately dancing together. He’s good. He’s good and you don’t even notice the morning breath or faint taste of rum, it’s just Spencer.

When you finally come apart, you’re out of breath.

“I didn’t think you’d ever do that,” you say, “I was worried I was reading this whole thing wrong.”

He frowns then, that little nose crinkle appearing again, “I thought I was too obvious.”

“So did I. Maybe it’s best if we don’t tell Hotch how bad we are at profiling each other. He might rethink his decision to take us on.”

He laughs, “Not being able to profile when somebody’s in love with you might be a cause for concern. There are several obvious phyical signs of love, including dilation of pupils when looking at the object of your affection, heart rate synchronisation.”

“How am I supposed to know if our heart rates have synchronised?”

He smiles. Pressing a finger to your lips, he dips his head in the small chasm between your two chests. In the silence, in the early morning quiet, in the absence of all distraction you can hear it. The steady thrum of your hearts, pounding away at identical paces. The sound that told you that some part of you had always known.

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

Tagslist: @takeyourleap-of-faith @sassiest-politician (let me know if you’d like to be added/removed from this list)

#spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #imagine spencer reid #reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #imagine criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x you #bau!reader

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spacedikut · 3 years

Text

exam help ; spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader

summary: a self-indulgent blurb about spencer helping with exams :) 1.7k

a/n: first fic of the year :D happy 2021!

masterlist

Another anguish-filled screech reverberates from your and Spencer’s shared office, bringing even your pet fish in the tank to attention.

It’s the third one this hour. Spencer tries to ignore it, just like you told him to, but God you sound like you’re in pain and Spencer can’t exactly ignore that, can he? He loves you and cares for you and- oh. A thump reaches his ears. A textbook, maybe? Did you punch your textbook?

He considers for a moment that the neighbours will be alarmed, perhaps call the police or tentatively knock with a, “Is everything okay in there?”

It wouldn’t be the first time.

What would he tell them? Oh, my apologies, my partner has exams coming up and just told me they get why unsubs do that now. I am also terrified.

There are many instances where Spencer feels useless. During his job, when his mother would have an episode, when his friends have problems he just wouldn’t understand. But, somehow, and maybe controversially, this is the worst type of uselessness. The type that leaves him staring at the wall, questioning everything, the type that makes his stomach drop because all he can do is watch.

He’s been watching you for the last two weeks. He’s sick of watching, of being no help, and he needs to do something before he breaks and does something illegal.

(The illegal thing is doing your exams for you - not illegal as in, perhaps, murder)

Your frazzled head pops out from the office, one hand rubbing your eyes and a permanent frown etched on your face, and with a fragile voice you ask, “Can you make me a coffee, please?”

Now, Spencer feels hypocritical, but he has to say it. “Another? Are you sure?”

He sees the internal battle within you, how you try your hardest not to snap. It’s not his fault you’re stressed. He’s just trying to help. “Yes, I’m sure. Please, Spence,”

“Of course. I’ll bring it in.”

“Thank you.” With a pained smile, you’re gone again into the dark abyss of where you’re studying.

With quick, ingrained movements, Spencer makes your coffee with too much creamer and marshmallows. Unusual, yes, but your current diet consists of coffee and whatever he can force you to consume – like marshmallows.

But then, hello, he spots a chocolate bar haphazardly close to the bin, grabs it, and hopes you let him watch you eat it.

Stepping into the room as quietly as possible, he’s smacked in the face by the smell of lavender. It makes him nauseous, the intensity of it, quickly followed by a lurch of his heart because you poor thing, you’re being crushed by the weight of your degree – literally. The other day you purchased an insanely heavy weighted blanket and you’re drowning in it.

Now, if you were to ask Spencer who the most beautiful person on the planet is, he’d say you in a heartbeat. He’s thought that since you first met and, years later, still stands by that. But now, right now, glowering at him in the dimly lit, lavender drenched study that you used to love oh-so-much? You have the face of a French bulldog, all grumpy and furrowed and too many creases on your face to make Spencer feel like he’s actually helping when he places the coffee and snack on your desk.

Despite the crabby expression, your words are filled with love and appreciation – which happens to be Spencer’s favourite mix. “Thank you, my love.” You take a sip of the coffee, hum in delight, and for the first time in days there’s a spark of something other than torment. “You’re the best.”

Spencer’s hand holds the back of your neck and he places a series of soft kisses to your temple, mumbling, “I love you. Very much. Is there anything else you need?”

“Death.”

“Okay. I’ll work on it.”

At that, you grace Spencer with a weak half-smile. It’s enough to overwhelm Spencer, overflowing and only able to be shown through a chaste, encouraging peck on your lips and a half-hug, Spencer bent at the waist to hold you in your desk chair. He noses your hair, hoping his closeness will alleviate some stress, before stepping back and praying his eyes tell you everything he wants to say but know will elicit annoyance from you.

I love you. Take care of yourself. Rest, please. You can do this, but not if you over exert yourself. I love you.

Your eyes tell him, I’ll try. I love you. And that’s all he can ask for.

But when he leaves, shuffles past his bookshelf, his eyes catch sight of an old file that reminds him of when he was preparing for his own exams.

He gets an idea.

+++

It takes another two days, full of late nights involving work that isn’t staying up and distracting himself with books to avoid worrying over you and how late you go to sleep, and reading that leaves Spencer in awe of you and everyone in your field.

A part of him is amazed by how he wheelbarrowed the resources behind you without you noticing, another is worried about that fact, and the rest of him is excited that he can finally do something that will actually help. At least, he hopes.

(When everything is said and done, despite being endlessly grateful, you also inform Spencer that simply being there and being him and getting you coffee every time you ask is more than enough, really)

With pride, he leans back on the couch, observing his creations on the coffee table. There’s plenty of different colours, all representing a different topic, and he presses the thumbs up to like the Youtube video he was using to ensure his handwriting is easy to read.

Flashcards. Hundreds, if Spencer counted correctly. The textbooks he stole – borrowed – from under your nose lie next to his feet, the weight of them combined more of a workout than he’s (voluntarily) done in eons.

He only hopes you don’t think it’s too late, think he’s overstepping or-or that he’s doing those things that he’s been accused of before – thinking he knows best (he does, but whatever), overbearing arrogance, an unwillingness to hear and accept other people’s way of doing things.

He just wants to help. He wants you to know he’s here for you, no matter what you need. This is the thing that lets him believe he’s doing something, something good and useful. Spencer just wants to be useful.

He’s convinced you to eat a proper breakfast – fruit, oats, bread, meat, a whole buffet – and you sense something is amiss when you hear slow, tentative footsteps creeping from your bedroom.

Spencer, still in his pyjamas, glasses perched on his nose, approaches with a shallow box in his grasp. You swallow your bite, turn to face him. “What’ve you got there?”

The box is slid onto the counter next to your plate hesitantly, as if he regrets his actions as he’s doing them. Peering in, you see a blur of colour, stacks on stacks of rectangular paper filled with writing and questions and even a tips! section.

You pick up the first batch, all light blue, and flick through them, heart getting bigger and bigger with every word you read. And when you realise what they are, what Spencer’s done – for you – your heartrate has skyrocketed and the watch on your wrist is asking you if you’re okay.

“You made me flashcards?” You ask, in awe, again looking at the love of your life to find he’s already staring at you.

“I did,” He tells you, apprehensive and scared, already backtracking, “But, if you don’t think they’re useful, or-or you think I’m overstepping – I’m not trying to, I promise, I just thought…” He starts nervously shuffling and reshuffling some of his creation. “Flashcards are known to engage active recall and metacognition. Research consistently finds that applying metacognitive strategies tends to ingrain memories deeper into your knowledge, and that this kind of active recall retrieval practice leads to one-hundred and fifty percent better retention than passive studying, so…”

Your hands have a mind of their own, pulling what feels like an endless amount of cards out and turning them in your hands, from the questions on the front to the answers on the back, the ones with hints and advice and there’s several with doodles that are so Spencer you hold them to your chest. You’re so enamoured by this man that is still rambling and bumbling because he takes your silence as distaste.

“I just- I hate seeing you so stressed, so I made these. You don’t have to use them, of course. They’re not even that great. It’s not that I don’t think you’re capable, you’re beyond capable, or that your methods don’t work- Just, personally, I love flashcards. I used them all the time when studying, even though I didn’t really need them, so perhaps a change of medium would do you good-“

A warm hand on his own that keep fidgeting stops him mid-stream of consciousness.

“Thank you,” You say, earnestly, “Really. These are lovely.” You leap from your seat, wrapping Spencer in warmth and love and care, and he shivers when he feels your hot breath on his ear when you repeat your thanks again and again.

When he pulls you even closer, so your torso curves into his own, you feel the lightest you have in weeks. You’re in the arms of the man you love, who knows you love him too and you know loves you so much – enough to spend several nights reading your cursed textbooks so he could create something that might help – and now you’re confident that you can do it. With the help of Spencer and his lovingly hand-made flashcards, you can do it.

And if, somehow, it goes awry, that’s okay too. Because you’ll still have Spencer, your number one fan, who will be there to comfort you and advise you in any way he can. He’ll never let you doubt yourself, never allow a self-deprecating joke if he can help it, because if he has to, he’ll love and support you enough for the both of you until you can do it yourself.

The world feels a little brighter, your breaths feel a little lighter, all because of Spencer. So you kiss him, murmur love against his lips, and get ready to take on whatever dares to come your way.

+++

tags: @pinkdiamond1016 @bluerose512 @andreasworlsboring101 @roses-and-grasses @ta-ka-shi-ma @ogmilkis @chiffonchronicles @rexorangecouny @unmistakablyunknown @goofygubler14 @gublertoon @averyhotchner @wheeledup @shadyladyperfection @joodeduarte @calm-and-doctor @

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds x y/n #Criminal Minds Fanfiction #mine #the end is super cheesy but #eeeeeeeeeeeeee

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radiosandrecordings · 3 years

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Crossposting my @summer-in-the-archives-event fic here too. [AO3] [Accompanying beautiful art]

He’d never get used to the rolling fields of quiet.

Miles behind and miles to go, not that he could see any of it through the thick blanket of fog that clung to his ankles, and his wrists, and his eyes. Miles to go before I sleep…

It was hard to describe the rain that fell, because even ‘fell’ felt like too active a descriptor. It didn’t pour, it didn’t ‘beat down’, it didn’t pelt, because those all required a sense of agency that the landscape just felt too apathetic to muster. It simply existed, and just happened to be moving downwards by coincidence.

Jon wasn’t sure if he knew or Knew that it seeped into his clothes, coating his skin, but he couldn’t even feel the droplets landing, even pinpricks of touch creating too much of a sensation for this place. He briefly wondered that, if he still had need for his glasses, would the rain even make the effort to trickle down and cloud the lenses.

The last Lonely domain he’d passed through, he’d never seen the avatar that lorded over it. He didn’t have any real interest in finding out, not like the personal vendettas that lead him to seeking out Jude, or Jared. Because with Peter dead he wasn’t left with any Lonely avatars left to chase, save the vague notions of the Lukas extended family. He was simply going to keep his head down and keep trudging, hopefully emerging through the thick banks of mist before he lost his mind to the monotony. If there was ever something to make you miss muffled cries from beneath the earth…

“Why are you here?”

The sound was accusatory, and may as well have been a shotgun in the silence. The damped chill was nothing in comparison to the ice that shot up his spine. The voice had no clear origin, no figures even silhouetted in shadow against the overgrown grass, but it came in close, delivered on the gentle, numbing breeze. Despite this, though, never in a thousand domains could he forget the sound of it. Of course it was his. Of course. Of course. “Martin?”

“No! ”

The voice sounded… Angry. But hurt, like it flinched away from the word. Like something that had been left to sit in the dark too long, that recoiled back from a stinging source of light.

“... I’m going to assume no one has called you that in a long time.” He tried to keep his voice light, as much as the stifling atmosphere would allow it.

“No one is anything here. It’s easier that way. If you’re somebody, you can be hurt. If you have too much personality, too many little facets and cracks, things start to snag and catch on it, and it drags you down to where things ache. But if you’re nothing, then they don’t have anything to cling onto. You can just slip away unharmed.” The voice sounded like it was moving, curling around him and moving from ear to ear, forward and back as it droned on in that echoing monotone that Jon had hoped he would never hear again, and at the same time, had longed to.

“And what about the good things?”

“There isn’t anything good, not anymore. You saw to that.”

Jon snorted. “Low blow, but fair.” He hesitated for a moment, trying to summon the words.

He’d had time, after he left the Lonely, to consider his actions. Regret pooled like acid in his stomach at the memory, and somehow it hurt more than ending the world. He wouldn’t say it was more important. He knew whatever he felt, and moreso, knew that one human life, was not paramount to the suffering of every creature great and small, but it felt more tangible. When he walked through the hellscapes, they were dreamlike, hazy, information in such clarity but to an extreme where it still felt nonsensical to perceive it as reality. He knew the fundamental truths that surrounded him but it still felt hard to accept them even as he lived them.

Yet despite having lived without it for eight months prior, the space beside him that failed to solidify into Martin still stung with his absence. And Jon regretted it every not-day he spent walking the hellscape, both in knowing he doomed a good man to suffering, or worse, revelry, in this new world, and in the far more personal, and far more selfish, part of him that missed him so goddamn much.

“But- But Martin, I think I made a mistake.”

“Obviously.”

“Not- Not that. I mean, when we were in the Lonely. The- The first time. With Peter Lukas.” The silence droned on, and Jon took that as his cue to continue. “Do you remember what I said? That maybe you were safer here? And that’s… That’s why I let you stay. I didn’t push you to, to leave with me because I thought you wanted to be here, that you’d be safer here than you’d be with me. But I don’t think that was entirely true.”

“I am safe here.”

“Maybe so. It doesn’t mean it’s better though, does it. Martin, I saw those people, in the last Lonely domain. I know it’s different, they were victims and you’re… You’re an avatar, here, you’re feeding off of all of this, but I promise you they were not happy. They were so alone and it didn’t protect them, it just made it worse. Think about it, the logic of this world. There are threats out there of unimaginable horror, and yet they were still assigned here, it’s their worst nightmare. And you were assigned here too. You’re all suffering, just in different ways, but all calculated to be your personal worst.”

“The Martin Blackwood you thought you knew doesn’t exist anymore. He had to be filed down, too many breaks and tears in him that grew and grew, any time someone raised a harsh word. The best way for him to be protected, is for him to go away entirely. You cannot hurt something that doesn’t exist.”

“Are you sure about that? Because you just said ‘I’.”

“What? ” That anger reemerged again, and as staunched as it was it was beautiful, a return to form amongst the dull monotone, reminiscent of the few times Jon had been privileged enough to witness a truly pissed off Martin Blackwood.

Jon found himself grinning. “You said ‘I am safe here’. Emphasis on the ‘I’. Ergo, you still have some form of identity left, and thus I would wager that the part of you left is Martin. Unless I’ve wandered across some other avatar of the Lonely who sounds like him, of course.”

“You’re always so fucking smug, you know that?”

The voice is coming from behind him. Actually, physically, presently behind him and Jon spins around so fast he’s almost dizzy.

And as much as it made his heart soar, and much as he was glad to finally, finally , see him again when he’d thought he never would, Martin looked… Bad.

His skin had darkened, mottled and blotchy with large swathes of a bruise-like blue or sickly green cropping up across his face and neck, or the parts of his forearms visible where his cable knit sleeves rolled back. It was like frostbite from the cold, or some disturbing onset of trench-foot from the damp, corpselike and unsettling. What was worse, though, were the parts that simply ceased. His hair didn’t even reach the tips, simply fading out into a grey static that merged with the mist, and it consumed his eyes whole, tear tracks streaking down his face in patterns of fuzzy, crackling grey that snapped and popped in the silence, far too reminiscent of a tape.

The sight made Jon’s heart clench like a fist, the combination of relief and horror, and in that moment he understood Jane Prentiss more completely than he ever had before. It would’ve felt like a rude comparison to consciously make, the person he cared for most equated to a pulped and writhing mass that churned out creatures that made your skin crawl before tearing into it. But he knew what she had seen in it, that call towards the thing that fascinated you, despite the turning it causes in your stomach.

Despite this, however, Jon steeled himself. This was rapidly becoming a battle, and he couldn’t afford the cost of emotions. He had to keep Martin, well… Martin. Draw out the emotion. In short, be a bit of a bastard. So instead, he cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you liked that about me?”

He could see Martin’s fists clench, the colour of his extremities dyed black from frostbite. The irritation was still clear as he started into “Fucking hell J-” but they both appeared taken aback as he dissolved into a choking, hacking cough.

It took everything in him for Jon to tamp down the need to surge forward, put a hand on his back and ask if he was okay. It was a strangely mundane thing; the man was made out of static and fog and despite seeming to have an on-and-off-again relationship with his corporeal form, this was the first recognisably human thing to adversely affect him. Why, though? What had Martin done to trigger- Oh. Oh .

“That- That priest from the statement… 0113005? Father Burroughs. He couldn’t say the name of god. Anything related to it, really. And you… You couldn’t say my…”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Martin spat. “You’re not a god or thee god, whatever your new eye magic might imply. It’s just…” He let out a breath that turned into a grumble. While his eyes had always been cloudy, he was now refusing to meet Jon’s gaze.

Regardless, it still drew a breathy laugh out of him. “No, I’m not that far gone into my own self importance yet. But… It’s about the connection, isn’t it?” Something in the conversation had changed, it’s tone or it’s flow, that felt contradicting. Tension coiling up to spring, or they’re barrelling towards a culmination, but at the same time, Jon felt like the wind had been kicked right out of him. He lowered himself to the ground, slowly, settling among the grass and trying to ignore the unpleasant dampness under him. Hey, he could feel the damp again. That was something.

“That’s more flattering, actually, I would say… The Lonely, it thinks if you acknowledge me directly, that would loosen it’s hold on you.” Jon huffed out a breath. “You know I listened to all the tapes. What was it that Daisy said to you, when I was on the run? ‘People say you two are close’? Well, the Lonely appears to agree.” He took a minute before adding, “I would, as well. And, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was too… Too in my own head, before, to admit it. Too much of a coward to do it before that, even. But you need to know I love you. And I know that you… Cared for me, at least? Even if I stuck my head in the sand to ignore it. But the Lonely seems to think you do, still. So will you please come back to me? I know it’s not- I know it won’t be much better, travelling through the domains, but it’s all I can offer and it has to be better than this. I can’t promise anything kind will be waiting for us in London, but you’d be yourself again, and I can’t… Martin, I can’t lose you again. To leave here, again, without you, I’d be losing you. Please.”

“No.”

There wasn’t even a delay to his response, stating it in monotone the second Jon had finished speaking. It felt like ice, lancing through his heart.

“Martin. Martin, please -”

“I said no. I thought you would’ve learned by now; I’m not exactly amenable when you come crawling to me with half baked plans of escape. Because you don’t love me, you love the idea of me. You are quite literally the only free man left in the world and you’re lonely . So you’re looking for a familiar face. Kind Martin, caring Martin, always there with tea and taking your side in every argument. Defending you to Tim when you’d just as soon slag him off behind his back, or on tape. Pretty appealing when everyone else is trying to kill you. At least he treated you like a god before this even started.”

Each sentence felt like another dagger to the chest, and it took him a moment to compose himself, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. Eventually, though, Jon spoke. “That’s not true, though. I- Martin I can’t apologise enough that that’s what it’s felt like, for you. But I need you to know, that isn’t true. A-At the start, maybe, I can’t deny I was stupid and spiteful, but you didn’t deserve any of it. And after that… I didn’t do a one-eighty and decide you were a doormat. I liked you because you were secretly enough of a prick as well. Any time you’d pull me out for lunch when I dragged my heels, or argued back when I said something shitty, that was… It felt like I was seeing the real you. The one you didn’t want to let people think of you as, but the one you were, because despite wanting to appear like the picture of innocence, you are a bitch, Martin Blackwood. And that’s my favourite thing about you. Maybe time is sweetening my memory, slightly, but I truly don’t believe there’s rose coloured glasses here. If we walk out of here, I’m not under any sort of illusion that it’ll be a honeymoon. We will doubtless find something to argue over, if not several, but I want that. I want you at my side to, to disagree and point out all my blind spots. We’re both stubborn bastards but I’m stupidly fallible, and I need you to keep me balanced. I don’t want a yes-man, I want you, Martin, and I’m asking for that knowing full well what it entails.”

When the words stopped flowing, he found himself gasping for breath, sobs building in his chest and threatening to spill over. But Martin was standing closer.

“That’s- I don’t- Fuck.” As Jon looked up, wiping at his own eyes, he could see fog starting to trickle from Martin’s mouth, coming in short bursts as his nostrils flared and chest rose and fell noticeably for the first time that Jon had seen since he stepped foot onto the moors. This caused a conflict of emotion in Jon, because while it seemed to be another step towards humanity, Martin letting the Lonely fall to the wayside in favour of reclaiming himself, it also looked far too close to a panic attack to be something worth celebrating.

“I don’t understand,” he finally settled on, voice cracking on the words. He slowly let himself sink to the ground opposite Jon, knees pulled up to his chest. “I left you. Time and again I left you. I left you to work with Lukas, and I left you when you tried to get me to run away, and I left you when I stayed on the beach.” His palms were pressed into his eyes, mist seeping from between his knuckles as he dragged them across his face, though Jon couldn’t be sure if he was attempting to wipe the fog away, or if he was stalling while he faltered, trying to summon the words. Both, maybe. Jon took the silence from him.

“You didn’t really choose that, though. You didn’t feel like you even had a choice. So Martin if… If you’re worried that I think badly of you for that, I don’t. Martin, I’ve done so many terrible things, so to- No, no, actually I don’t mean it like that. I don’t mean that you’re a good person, compared with me. I think you’re a good person full stop. And I just want you to be able to see that. I know the Lonely is quite literally clouding your judgement right now but… Please, just, just make me a deal?”

Martin’s palms were resting on his chin now, cupping his cheeks and curving around his neck. He nodded once, wearily, for Jon to continue.

Jon drew in a breath “I think I’m in some sort of… Bubble. Like a miniature domain, when I’m travelling. I think, if you agree to come with me, even for a little bit, that might dissolve some of the Lonely’s more adverse effects. Make it easier to think, to, to be yourself without its influence. If that is what happens, and you want to return… I’ll bring you back. But please, just… Try? For me?”

Martin sighed, hands dropping from his face. “...Fine.”

“You- Really?”

“Yes. I… Look, J-” Martin bit back another coughing fit. “Look. I am… There is a lot of me right now that wants to leave. The fog is… It’s in my head, figuratively, probably even literally, but… I remember something Basira said. When she got back, from, from The Unknowing . Melanie wanted to know how she got out, when the other three… When you, and Daisy, and Tim, didn’t. She said she reasoned her way out. So I’m going to listen to reason for a minute, as much as it’s paining me.”

Despite those final words, Jon felt his face crack into a smile. “That’s… Yes, you’re right. Well that’s… That’s a very reasonable connection to make.”

And for the first time in a long time, Martin smiled.

“Uhm, so how does this work then?” He eventually said, hand coming up again to scratch the back of his neck in an old nervous habit Jon could not be more happy to see.

“Well”, Jon said, taking a moment to brush sodden grass from his trousers as he got to his feet, “I would say, based on the dream logic that everything here seems to run on here, it should be rather simple.” He held out a hand to tug Martin up after him.

Martin took it.

It was almost cliché, how the Lonely fell away from him. It only took a few seconds, all in all, for the bruising to fade, receding their colourful splotches until his skin lay clear again. His frostbitten fingers healing themselves, sewing broken skin back together and returning to a healthy colour. His face, too, was returning to its original pallor, the change creeping up his neck and across his cheeks and leaving rich brown in its wake. Dark eyes stared down at Jon from behind long lashes, blinking away the last of the fog. He was beautiful.

“Hi,” Jon managed to choke out.

“Hi,” Martin said, and pulled him into his arms.

Jon just let himself be held in the pressure of the embrace for a moment, before bringing a hand up to card his fingers through Martin’s hair. While it had solidified into soft curls, the colour had stayed the same, bleaching it white under his fingertips. He wasn’t sure if Martin had noticed or not, but that was a conversation for another time. They were both a little preoccupied for the moment.

“How do you feel?” Jon eventually said, words pressed into the side of Martin’s neck.

“Uhm. Strange?” Martin eventually settled on. “It’s… I can remember what my thought process was, what the Lonely was pushing me to believe, but it’s like… It’s like the camera panned out, and now I can see it all clearly, and it looks… It looks stupid. Thank you, Jon. For coming to get me.”

“Of course,” Jon whispered, “Of course.”

Another moment passed before Martin spoke up again. “...Did you mean what you said, though? Or was that… Was that just to try and get me to leave? I- I won’t be angry, if it was, that- that’s very clever, I just want to know.”

Jon furrowed his brow. “Which part do you mean?”

Martin let out an agitated sigh. “You- You know which one I mean, Jon. The- The part where that you said that you…”

“That I love you?” Jon said, picking up where Martin trailed off.

Martin’s face flushed, and just the sight of colour spreading across it made Jon’s heart soar, let alone the implications of why . “Of course I did. I- I’m sorry that you would think I would lie about that, even for something like this. No, Martin, I love you. So very much. And I know you might not feel that way anymore, in which case I am very much embarrassing myself here, but I know that you did at one stage so I hope it won’t make things too awkward between us.” “I do, Jon.”

“What?”

“I do. Still feel that way. I love you too, of course I do. My hero.”

It was Jon’s turn to feel his face flush, pleasant warmth bubbling to the surface. “Oh,” was all he managed to stutter out.

“Can I- Jon do you mind if I…” Martin trailed off again, and Jon began to think this might be a recurring theme between them. He’d make it work. He was pretty good at reading Martin, and the eyeline pointed directly at his lips made intentions quite clear.

“Is- Would just the cheek be okay?” He replied. It didn’t really feel like the time for a full run down on where boundaries lay, but he figured it was a start.

“More than,” Martin said, leaning down to press his lips softly against Jon’s cheek. He lingered for a few seconds, skin largely healed but still chapped from the cold, and it was one of the most beautiful things Jon had ever felt. He slipped one hand into Martin’s, and he felt their fingers twine together.

Martin leaned back, clearly trying to calm his grin into something more close-lipped and calm. “Where to now then?”

“Uhm. Forward, really, is just how I’ve been going. There isn’t any real sense of geography to it, we’ll just…. Get there when we get there.”

“Right. Because nothing can be simple these days.”

Jon missed this. He missed him. But he didn’t have to miss him anymore, did he? He was right there.

He squeezed his hand once, and started leading the way.

#My Post #Jonmartin #The Magnus Archives #I'm maybe pushing this one a little hard but I just. crave validation okay #And I want to see what the difference is between how a fic does as a tumblr post vs ao3 #lets call it science #My Writing #Martin Blackwood #Jonathan Sims

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twh-news · 3 years

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'Loki' Full Season 1 Review: The Most Frustrating Thing Is How Incomplete the Story Feels

Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of Loki, "For All Time. Always."

[TWH-NEWS note: Tom is NOT confirmed to be on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even though the article so claims. Marvel hasn't confirmed it.]

The Loki season finale is perhaps one of the most vexing episodes of television I have seen in quite some time. The Disney+ sci-fi drama, tracking the events following Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) escape from the pre-established timeline, was never confirmed to be an ongoing show versus a limited series, with rumors of a second season on the horizon from the beginning, so the biggest twist delivered by "For All Time. Always." ended up being confirmation of a Season 2 with a post-credits title card.

However, while there were other key reveals made during the episode, those reveals left behind plenty of story to explore in future seasons. Too much story. There's a difference between a few dangling plot threads and a mess of string, and the staggering number of questions left unresolved by "For All Time. Always." crosses a line when it comes to completion — especially given the fact that there's no clear sense of when the show might return, and the real story being told is much bigger than the fate of one mischievous scamp.

In general, every episode of this show was beautifully made, with immense credit going to director Kate Herron, head writer Michael Waldron, and the creative team. The cast of known all-stars like Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, blended with new all-stars like Sophia Di Martino and Wunmi Mosaku, did a remarkable job of grounding even the most fantastical moments in raw humanity, and the writing popped with verve and wit. Also, Loki does come full circle on what was its original raison d'etre — the redemption of a character who literally was plucked out of the timeline at his worst, having attacked Manhattan with an alien force so destructive that the Earth needed a whole damn team of superheroes to stop him. On this score, the show was wildly successful, breaking down Loki's sense of grandeur and purpose in the first episode and then slowly but surely rebuilding him into a man capable of evolving beyond his past. Loki did more to examine a single character's psychology and motivations than we've ever seen in the context of the MCU, and all of the progress and growth made by the character, as a result, feels truly earned.

However, if Loki's redemption was the only thing this show had been about, it would have been a very boring show, and Loki was far from boring. The official theme of the series was "What makes a Loki a Loki?" but the real issues being raised were far more existential; in so many ways, this was a show about faith and free will, an undercurrent that deserves more exploration and frankly appreciation, especially after the questions and themes left dangling by the last episode.

This element proved to be key to so much of the show's construction, especially when it comes to the TVA, which basically functions as a religious order — its devotees slavishly sacrificing their lives to the cause of protecting the Sacred Timeline. It's not subtle, especially when the dark side of it is revealed, those devotees learning that their service happened against their will. "We can't take away people's free will, can't you see that?" Mobius pleads with Ravonna in their final scene together, before she walks away in something resembling agreement with him, telling him that she's going in search of free will herself.

Loki Season 1, by the end, becomes a show not just about a crisis of faith, but about an apocalypse. Every time a story about apocalypses comes up, I find it impossible to forget that the Greek word from which the term originates actually means "revelation." That's why the part of the Bible about the world ending is called the Book of Revelations, but beyond that, the definition serves as a reminder of why endings can matter. Endings are beginnings, in some ways. A painful breakup reveals the flaws in what might have seemed like a loving relationship. Extreme climate change is a revelation regarding humanity's callous attitude towards its impact on the environment. For the characters of Loki — perhaps the entire MCU — the apocalypse they're facing following the destruction of the Sacred Timeline also means the revelation of what lives they left behind.

Certainly there's a ton of room for speculation as to what lies ahead for these characters, but the fact is that the next chapter of Loki's journey won't even be told on Disney+, as Hiddleston is reportedly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and there's no telling when we might return to resolve the events of the Season 1 finale. Cliffhangers are one thing; anyone who grew up watching '90s TV learned the hard way how to handle the dramatic season endings of The X-Files or Star Trek: The Next Generation. But Loki didn't dangle its characters off a cliff — it pushed them off the edge, leaving them suspended in mid-air for who knows how long.

Back in the days of The X-Files you at least knew that whatever jaw-dropping cliffhanger the season finale had just delivered would be addressed by the season premiere in just a few months. (Maybe as many as six months, depending on the baseball season.) That's a sense of certainty that Loki fans do not have the luxury of enjoying; based on where the conversations around a second season currently stand, it could be a while before the contracts are even signed. Conservatively, at this point, it feels unlikely that we'll get a second season of Loki until near the end of 2022, and given that the first season took over two years from its announcement to now to actually debut, 2023 doesn't feel like too much of a stretch. Maybe Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw get to make cameos in Doctor Strange 2 as well? Nothing is possible and everything is possible. We just have to wait for the answer, and in the meantime stew in dissatisfaction.

"Only one person gets free will. The one in charge," Ravonna tells Mobius — implicitly referring to He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). Who, speaking of, is now dead, Sylvie having completed her one primary quest to revenge herself upon the ones who took her life away. That, combined with the Wizard of Oz parallels, makes this a show that's fascinating to parse (Sylvie literally killed God!), but frustratingly incomplete in its themes. Literally as the episode officially ended on the visage of Kang enshrined as the ruler of the TVA, I said out loud "Well, there's going to be a Season 2," and I suppose that thanks are owed to Marvel and Disney+ for not leaving that element in suspence for more than two minutes and two seconds.

But if I have a religion, it's my belief in the power of storytelling, how the myths we create for ourselves and others can shape lives and hopefully make them better. One tenet of that is the idea that great stories deserve some sense of completion. So, the first season of Loki committed a pretty grievous sin.

#There's no confirmation on Tom being in the next Doctor Strange film!!!#loki #loki series #review #article #collider #loki spoilers #spoilers #loki series spoilers

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kiekiecarrera · 3 years

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Tutorial - Blending + Gradually Appearing Text

Okay so I got a request from Mary (@princess-seaweed) to make a tutorial for blending and gradually appearing text, like this gif:

I still don’t know if I’m any good at tutorials, so this might be confusing/vague, in which case please hmu and I’ll try to make it as clear as possible.

Also, please know that most things I’ve learned on photoshop are through tutorials/tinkering with photoshop until I get an effect I like, so there might be easier/quicker ways to get these effects, but this is how I do it.

This is an advanced tutorial that requires basic gif making skills and basic text adding knowledge. If you need help learning how to do that, I can whip up another tutorial or find something online.

The first part of the tutorial will be about creating the blending, the second part about the text.

I’m using Photoshop 2020.

So, let’s start. Okay, so, as I said, this is an advanced tutorial that supposes that you already know how to create gifs, so the first thing you wanna do is make the two gifs you wanna blend separately, (resize, sharpen, add adjustment layers and whatever else you want to add), and then save the psd files (you don’t have to actually save if you have them open, but this is a precaution in case anything happens).

Make sure that the gifs have the same number of frames, so that they overlap perfectly when you blend.

Once you’re satisfied with the gifs, open your animation timeline bar to the frames animation mode.

I’m using these two gifs, both sized 540x400px and each one with 15 frames:

you’ll notice they don’t exactly fit the size of my whole gif, but it doesn’t matter because once we layer them over one another, they’ll align to hide the transparent sections.

I’m using the similar sizes for the gifs because I’m blending them side by side, but if you wanna, say, blend one within the other, you can use different sizes.

Now, the next step is very easy. You’re gonna copy one gif on top of the other. To do that, you go to whichever gif you want to layer on top, and select all the frames. In my case, I’m layer the gif with charlie and owen on top:

Now you’re going to click on the small menu on the right side of the animation bar, and select copy frames:

Now, you’re going to go to the second gif, select all the layers, open the small menu in the right corner of the animation bar and choose paste frames:

A window will pop up, asking what the paste method is. Make sure paste over selection is checked and click ok:

Your psd will now look something like this:

Notice how the coloring from the top gif is now also covering the bottom gif? The first thing we’re gonna do is the get rid of that, so that the coloring only applies to owen and charlie and jeremy gets to keep his own adjustments.

So to do that, you’re gonna select all the layers of the top gif which are now in the layer tray on the side, and group them by click on the folder icon in the bottom bar:

Now that your layers are grouped, expand the group, scroll down in the layers tray, select the first image layer in the top gif and choose the selection tool:

Right click anywhere on the gif and choose load selection from the menu:

Your top gif should now be selected. Go back to the top, select the group layer and add a mask to it by clicking on the mask icon in the bottom bar:

Now your group will have a small black and white window next to it, and the bottom gif should have its original coloring back, as below:

Now it’s time to blend. To do that, we’re gonna use the same layer mask we created. Click on the layer mask in the group layer (the small black and white rectangle), and then select the brush tool. Your colors should automatically appear as black and white.

Basically, what’s gonna be happening here is we’re gonna be using the brush to hide part of the top gif. If the top color is black, then using the brush will make part of the top gif disappear. If the top color is white, then using the brush will make part of the top gif appear.

So, you’re going to bring the black color to the front. I’m gonna use a soft round brush, size 183px, opacity at 33. The brush you use and how you use it really depends on the effect you want to get. For now, we’re gonna do a basic soft blending:

Make sure the layer mask is selected, and use the brush to hide the sharp edge of the top gif by dragging the brush to the gif and clicking on it. Since we’re using low opacity, you’re gonna click multiple times on it to get whatever effect you want:

And that’s it! Your gif should now be blended and look something like this:

Now we get to part 2, which is adding the text. I’ve already done a tutorial on gradually appearing text here, so check out that link to figure it out.

For this gif, my text is in “The Bold Font” set to bold, size 18. I’m using 3 shadow effects, all set to multiply and at 100% opacity, and a gradient effect (I’ll add images of the text effects below).

Text shadow effect:

Text gradient effect:

Once you’ve followed the instructions of the gradually appearing text tutorial (this takes a fair bit of time), save your gif and it should look something like this:

I know the text part is a little rushed, but I’ve already explained it in the other tutorial, so if you follow that, you should be fine. And just hit me up if you got any other questions!

#tutorials #resources #photoshop 2020 #photoshop tutorials #gif tutorials #my edits #kinda #tuts*#princess-seaweed

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bvyfriend · 3 years

Text

MY GIF-MAKING TUTORIAL

for @sunshinesquash

i use photopea.com for making gifs so if you have photoshop i’m not sure how much different these tools will be, but i hope this can help!! i also have a windows computer so if you have a mac my recording technique might not work :’( all the tools i use are pretty simple and basic so if you can’t afford to download a lot of software dont worry!

recording:

when you’re finding videos to use for gifs, you want to use the highest quality footage u can find! you normally always want to use 1080p, but if you can only find 720p then make sure its not too grainy!

for the actual recording, i use the (windows + g) shortcut. once you click that this should pop up!

if this is your first time opening the game bar, it might just show only the top bar - if that happens, click on the second icon! when the capture sidebar shows up click on the third icon and the recording will begin :] make sure that your recording is 4-5 seconds max, otherwise it will be too big for photopea to handle and there will be too many frames!

opening the recording:

all your recordings from the windows game bar will automatically show up in videos > captures.

open photopea, and then click file > open and locate your recording!

when it’s opened photopea should look like this:

this image size is 1920 x 1080 which is way too big for photopea to load your final gif and for tumblr to accept! because of this you’ll click file > new and get to a pop-up that looks like this:

the size that i normally make my gifs is 540 x 540 which is what i’m going to use for this tutorial! you can always go for other dimensions - whatever you’re comfortable with :]. click create!

ok now comes the complicated part :

select all of the frames that you’re going to work with until they become highlighted grey. make sure the folder is not selected!

right click on the highlighted area so an options bar pops up!

click on ‘duplicate into...’ and select the drop down menu and click on ‘new project.psd’. there will be a ‘new project’ and a ‘new project.psd’ option - ‘new project.psd is the one you want to click on! ‘new project.psd’ is the 540x540 project that you created.

next, click on the tab that says ‘New Project.psd’ and it should show you something like this:

the frames are really zoomed in because of the different dimensions, so we’re going to fix that! make sure all of your frames are still highlighted and then click on the little folder button that i circled:

now all of your frames are going to be under a single folder. make sure ‘transform controls’ on the top menu is selected! now single click on the edge of the selected frames:

now a new menu is going to show up where it used to say ‘transform controls’ was! make sure the little hamburger button in between the dimensions is selected.

replace the 100% with 50% and now your dimensions will look like this!

now just drag that box of frames onto the white area! (make sure only the folder is selected on the side bar):

sharpening + color:

now you’re going to open that folder and then select all your frames again (make sure the folder is not highlighted):

now click filter > noise > and type in 1%.

im adding noise here because it helps smooth out the gif and makes sure there arent any wavy/grainy lines!

after you click ‘ok’ then click filter > sharpen > smart sharpen. you don’t have to change any settings here! just click ‘ok’ with the default settings.

now your base gif is ready for coloring!

all your coloring tools will be under layer > new adjustment layer.

always remember that whatever settings/coloring that i use may be different from the way you want to do it! gif-making always starts with exploring and experimenting with your style :]

the first type of adjustment layers that i always start with are the ones that deal with adjusting brightness! depending on how dark your gif is you will either want to start with ‘brightness/contrast’ or ‘levels’. (you can also use curves but levels are easier to control for me.)

if you have a super dark gif, you’re going to want to start with ‘brightness/contrast’. no actual adjustments will be made to this layer but you’re going to make its type ‘screen.’

BE CAREFUL WITH THIS LAYER! doing ‘screen’ with brightness/contrast will often whitewash characters of color so for this gif we’re going to just use ‘levels’! (there are ways to get the original skin tone back when using this layer, so if it’s completely necessary depending on the scene, you’re going to have to work a lot with coloring adjustment layers to make sure not to oversaturate or whiten when doing this. you’ll get there with practice, but for this tutorial we’re going to work with safe adjustments!)

if the gif becomes too bright because of ‘screen’ in brightness/contrast you can adjust the opacity!

whenever you use brightness/contrast you’re also going to use a levels layer because just this layer can remove a lot of the depth

now let’s open the levels layer!

you’ll see the three squares that you can adjust - the black is shadows, the grey is mid-tones, and the white is highlights. when working with characters of color don’t brighten the mid-tones, this will also whitewash them! dragging the squares to the left will brighten, and to the right will darken. each scene will require different adjustments so explore and figure out what’s right! make sure when brightening, that you remember to give it enough depth.

now the gif has proper lighting!

after your brightening layers, you’re going to look at the scene and check whether you need a photo filter layer! if your scene has a strange filter - for example, cw shows often use a weird dark yellow filter: this is where a photo filter comes in.

for this tutorial im going to show how to use the photo filter! shawn’s face has a yellow tint so we’re going to try this out. (there are ways to get rid of the yellow in selective color, but for this tutorial we’re going to start with photo filter.)

photopea automatically provides a yellow color photo filter which is not what we want for this scene! (if you have an especially blue scene this might help though!)

click on the orange square and drag the color picker to the opposite color of the one you’re trying to get rid. we’re getting rid of yellow, so we’ll select blue.

now, we’re going to adjust the density so it doesn’t look so blue. now it looks perfect!

now we’re going to go to my favorite tool: selective color :]

you can see hints of blue, and pink in the scene already - so we’re going to really bring those out!!

click on the drop down that will bring up a list of colors! we’re going to especially go for cyan and blue. when i really need to bring out blue, i drag the cyan fully over to 100% and the yellow to -100%

if you look at the gif now, you can see that the blue is starting to come out! duplicate that selective colors layer until the blue becomes saturated enough, but not grainy. i duplicated mine’s three times for this gif!

now that you see how to manipulate the colors with selective colors, experiment and see what you can do! i felt like the skin tones were too pale so i messed with the reds :] you may think differently, that’s why coloring is subjective not objective!

one of my other favorite tools to use is the vibrance tool! make sure not too saturate your colors too much so be careful with this layer!

another really fun tool to use is the hue/saturation tool! if you have a very prominent stable color that isnt too grainy, you can manipulate it to another totally different color! this gif may not do too well, since the blue isn’t completely solid, but we can still test it out!

click on the drop down to the color you want to manipulate and have fun with it! i could make the blue a little cyan here without making it too grainy so this is what we ended up with :]

this is going to be the end of the tutorial for now but always feel free to ask me if you need some more advice. if some of it was confusing dm me or i can always make a video of my process!

[VERY IMPORTANT: REMEMBER that photopea.com is a website so it’s always prone to crashing. always ALWAYS save your psd’s after you’re done editing. a psd will save all your coloring and frames! go to file > save as psd. to export your frames as a gif go to file > export as > gif > save! if photopea starts lagging, it might be the time to open it in another tab and start making your other gifs there.]

this is our before and after coloring!:

#husband.message #*mystuff #gif tutorial.#i hope this could help a little bit!!!!#ok for anyone to rb!!!

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apricotcrisps · 4 years

Text

Stuck At the Office

Hey! This is my first fanfiction, but I saw this gif and thought of a cute prompt for it so I’m writing it! Enjoy.

Prompt: The reader and Reid get suck on desk duty after being injured on the last mission. Boredom takes over and they soon find themselves creating chaos in the BAU.

Warnings: None

Gif from @nobravery

You gave a small wave to the rest of the team as they left. You hated that you couldn’t go with them, but your stitches were still healing from your last wound. Spencer had a smaller injury, but offered to stay behind to keep you company.

“If they need anything, they’ll just call me,” he said after you voiced your concerns of him staying behind.

Rossi sent you a look on his way out, yelling at you to both behave yourselves.

You sighed as you sat at your desk, looking over your divider at Spencer, who didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular.

You threw your pen over at him to grab his attention.

“Spence. Do you not have any work?”

He shook his head. “No. Did it all earlier. Why? Need something?”

He didn’t look up from his book once as he talked to you.

You debated on what your next words would be. If you could get his help, you’d be done with your work for the next couple days, and could spend the rest of it lounging around the office. It was convincing him that was going to be the hard part.

“Well, yeah, sort of. Listen, if we tag team my pile of case files, we can be done before the rest of the team gets back. Then, maybe we could do something fun around the office? Or maybe leave early and go to that movie you were talking about?”

This time he set his book down. “Oh! You mean the Korean Film Festival in Georgetown? The entries aren’t subtitles yet, but I can do a simultaneous whisper translation as we watch.”

You laughed at his excitement. The idea didn’t really sound like something you’d enjoy, but anything to get the large stack of files on your desk done.

“Sure, Spencer. Whatever you want, just as long as you help me.”

✰

The files took longer than expected, as half way through, you realized that Hotch gave you the wrong ones, and you had to start completely over.

By the time you finished, it was already 5:00, and Penelope had stopped at your desk.

“Hotch called, he said we need to stay on call for the night. They think there’s more than one guy doing the killing, and the police are worried about another killing happening tonight. Sorry guys.”

You groaned, annoyed at the fact that you had to spend the night at the office instead of your bed at home. Garcia stiffened at your reaction, so you offered her a smile.

“It’s okay. I can order takeout and we can just hangout together. Sound like a plan?”

She nodded her head vigorously. “Yes! Sleepover at the office! I have blankets in my room! I’ll get them and we can set it up like a picnic! Oh, this is so exciting!”

You laughed, and dug through your desk to find the Chinese take-out menu that you saved for these occasions. Thankfully, you also had a blanket under your desk. The office was always cold to you, and when the team was usually dressed in lighter summer clothing, you were always seen in long pants and shirts.

✰

It was nearing midnight with no word from the team back in Utah. Garcia was taking a nap in her room, and you and Spencer were the only one’s left in the office for the night.

“You know,” you spoke, “There’s something fun about this. Like a stake-out, only we might be here all night with nothing to do.”

He spun around in his chair to face you. “Oh, come on, Y/N! There’s plenty to do. We can raid Rossi’s desk, or even Hotch’s. There’s also games in the closet. JJ put some in there last time Henry visited,” he spun around again, and it suddenly gave you an idea.

You gasped. “A spin contest! Whoever can spin the longest without stopping wins, and therefore gets a drink of Rossi’s secret stash, and gets to take a nap while the other has to stay up and wait for a call.”

He laughed. “You’re on! May the best spinner win.”

He went first, and you started the stopwatch on your desk. He went for a solid 30 seconds before he fell off, hitting the floor hard with his shoulder.

He popped up 2 seconds later with his hands in the air. “I’m fine! I’m good! How long was that? That felt long.”

You couldn’t keep your giggles in, and threw the watch over the divider to show him his time. His smile changed, dropping into a frown.

“Alright, kid genius. It’s my turn.”

Learning from Spencer’s mistake, you looped your arms through the holes in your chair, and gave Spencer a curt nod to let him know you were ready.

You closed your eyes as you felt the chair move, determined to last longer than 30 seconds so that you could go to bed at your desk.

Your head started to feel light, and you got worried about getting sick.

“Stop, Spencer! Stop! Help me, I’m gonna get sick! Okay, this isn’t funny anymore!”

You held your hands out, trying to grab onto something. You felt strong hands on your shoulders, grabbing you out of the chair!

“Okay, I’ve got you, Y/N. It’s okay now!” He was laughing.

You opened your eyes when you felt like you were done spinning, and your typical slicked back ponytail was coming undone, and Spencer brushed some of it away from your face.

Breaths heavy, you took a moment to look at him, before you asked. “Did I win?”

He smiled. “You did. 34 seconds.” You threw your fist in the air, a smile growing on your face.

“Yes! I did it! Have fun staying up tonight!” You laughed as you spoke.

He laughed with you. “Sure, sure, Y/N. I’ll enjoy every second of it.” He watched as you started to drift into sleep on the surface of your desk, and thought about how peaceful you looked.

As you mumbled him a quick “goodnight” he could only think about the fact that he didn’t have the heart to tell you your true time, 10 seconds.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds #spencer reid fanfiction #cuteness #apricotcrisps

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descendantofthesparrow · 3 years

Text

Remember your past - Prince! Harry Hook x Knight! Reader - Part 20 - The adventure begins

Hours later and Purah had finally let the two of you go, keeping Terrako for the night as so test for any possible clues to what had happened in the last 500 years and to make sure the little guardian wasn’t damaged in any way.

You were stopped just before you started making your way back down the hill, and Purah helped activate the transportation seal in front of the laboratory. Harry mentally celebrated in relief of not having to climb all the way back up the hill to come in the morning at Purah’s request.

You swiped through the tablets inventory slots, humming to yourself as you tapped on some of the new items that had been added to it. You skimmed through the description and looked up as Harry tossed himself over on his inn bed and his eyes burned into your side. “wha?” you whispered, shutting off the tablet and stuffing it in your bag, hiding it with your cloak.

“it's still hard ta believe this is all real…I still think I’ll wake up back at Auradon not even knowing this place exists…yet every morning I wake up to us on a quest to fuckin save it from a red goop demon” he whispered, grinning as you snickered from his description of the “dark one”.

“yeah…I’m still getting ahold of the fact that I’m technically over 500 years old and I was a personal knight to a prince that had some sort of locked magic and I was badly injured and yeeted into a healing shrine for 500 fucking years” Harry buried his face into the pillow and let out a small scream. “I can't tell if you're just reacting to what I said or everything in general.” He lifted his head out of the pillow and scrunched his nose (quite adorably you might add) as he laughed.

“yeeted into a healing shrine” he quoted, laying back down on the pillow and continuing to laugh. You rolled your eyes and tossed your extra pillow at him, smirking as he quietly yelped.

“Go to bed, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow” one of his eyes peeked at you from below the pillow before it disappeared, his body shuffling around until he found a comfy spot. “goodnight harry”

“g’night (y/n)”

Uma tapped her fingers harshly against her arm, her leg tapping rapidly as Ben conversed with the stable owner, asking if he had seen Harry or (y/n). “we got a lot of people comin’ in ‘an out of these stables son, if they were here, I don’t remember ‘em. Might do you better ta ask the riverside stable”

Ben sighed and nodded, walking back towards the rest of the group who were waiting anxiously “any luck?” Phillip asked, curling his arm tighter around Audrey who buried herself into his side.

“No, they haven't seen them, said we might have more luck at the riverside stable, which I think” he took out a map from his saddlebag and unfolded it “is over on this side of the peaks, we’d make our way back to the plateau then take a right just after the bridge”

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Mal butt in, stepping closer to Ben and looking over the map “I mean, Regina asked us to stay within the village because of how dangerous it is here, and it is (y/n) and Harry but, it could be more of a risk to go out and find them than to just wait for them back at the village. We don’t know what's out there”

“that’s exactly why we are going to go look for them Mal” Ben stressed, closing the map and putting it back in the saddlebag “We don’t know what's out there and they probably don’t either, I can't sit by while they go out and risk their lives if anything we might be able to help them do whatever they are doing.”

Mal sighed and nodded, while she didn’t want anyone to get hurt out in this land that was completely unknown to them, it would be hard to sleep at night knowing she had willingly left (y/n) and Harry to travel it alone and possibly get hurt “Alright then, let's get some supplies and then we'll go to Riverside stable, then we’ll go from there”

Uma let out a small huff and climbed onto her horse, glaring down at the rest of the group “What are we waiting for? Let's go”

Ben stopped Mal from starting an argument, deciding that they would get supplies at the other stable and head out now.

“Anand there we go! All runes upgraded and ready to use~!” Purah handed you back the tablet “I also tried to look through Terrako’s old files but the only thing that was there was stuff I had seen forever ago, so!” she clapped her hands then held them out towards you and Harry “everything Is ready to go! And I set up the sheikah sensor plus as well so if you need to find something specific, just take a picture with it, go into the compendium that’s within the same section as the map, and select that item and it'll lead you to it” you slowly nodded, messing around with the tablet until the rune screen popped up.

“um,” you started, showing Purah the screen “how do we use the runes?” she smiled fondly and took the tablet, tapping one of the icons and turning to Symin. The two nodded at each other and Symin threw a small teacup at Purah, Purah trusted the tablet at the cup and it froze mid-air, a glowing yellow filter surrounding the cup as it did.

“Stasis!” Purah exclaimed as Symin walked in front of the cup and wrapped his hands around it, waiting for the quiet noise of a ticking clock to stop as Purah turned to the tablet towards you and Harry “Time stopping rune, you just have to aim the tablet at the item or thing you want to freeze in time, then you can add kinetic energy by hitting it and the item or thing will fly in the direction you hit it! Easy!”

You and Harry nodded, Terrako jumping up between the tablet and you in an attempt to see the screen “Then there’s magnesis, which allows you to control any type of metal object” Purah demonstrated with the tablet, lifting a spoon into the air, a beam of red, blue, and yellow stringing the spoon and tablet. “Like that, and there's no limit of size or weight of the metal object” Purah released the spoon and switched to the next rune.

“then there are the bombs” you and Harry jumped back as Purah held up her hand and a round blue glowing bomb appeared in her hand “Remote activated as well, come along!” Purah skipped out of the lab with you and Harry following behind her, Terrako scuttling after you.

Purah tossed the bomb over the side of the mountain and gestured for you to watch the tablet as it bounced down the mountain “To activate, you just” Purah trust the tablet forward, a large blue glowing exploding where the bomb was “And that’s the bombs! These two bombs as well, the round one and the square one” Purah summoned the box-shaped one, holding it in her hand for you and Harry to see before she closed her hand, the bomb disappearing as she did. “to send ‘em back into the tablet, you just close your fist, easy peasy~!”

Purah led you back inside the lab and showed you the tablet again, the rune symbol now showing a snowflake “This is the cryonis rune, with it you can create a pillar of ice from any water surface. I can’t demonstrate this one so we’ll just move on” Purah swiped to the next run, now showing a camera symbol

“The camera, we already figured out that one” you muttered, Purah smiled and nodded, handing the tablet back to you.

“Good! There is a hidden rune on there but I've never been able to figure it out, maybe you will! But!” Purah clapped her hands, you and Harry flinching a bit at the sudden action “you two have somewhere to go don’t you~ now remember; stop at the places where the eleven pictures show to see if you can regain any memories, get the towers for the map, and free the divine beasts! Good luck! Goodbye Terrako!” the little guardian chirped and followed after you and Harry as you walked back outside. The lab doors closed behind you as you and Harry looked at each other.

“Well” Harry muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he looked around the mountain top you were on “tha’ was….an experience” you laughed a bit and nodded, pulling up the map and scrolling around, tapping on the shrine that was down in the village.

“yep” in a flash of blue light you, Harry, and Terrako were now outside the shrine, it’s orange/blue glow blinding you a bit. “let's get a couple more supplies and then well head for the nearest beast, which I think is past storybrooke, we kinda went the opposite way but there's another road to Lanayru, we’re in Necluda and we just need to take this path down this way, there is a way directly to the Lanayru tower but it crosses through storybrooke and I don’t think either of us want to risk a run through with everyone?” Harry shook his head, grabbing your arm to guide you back to the horses as you continued to look down at the map “yeah there's a path down this way that should lead to the Lanayru tower, so we’ll head down that way.” You closed the tablet and hooked it on your hip, moving to step beside your horse and leading her backward out of the stall, Harry doing the same with his horse.

“let's head out” Harry nodded, looking down at Terrako who chirped.

“uh, do yeh want a ride or do yeh jus’ want ta’ follow?” the little guardian just chirped and walked back and forth “im guessing that’s walk?” Terrako nodded its body and Harry nodded back “All right then, let's go” Harry swung up onto his horse and followed after you as the three of you rode out of Hateno and down to Lanayru.

Uma sighed and rubbed her face, they had just left the riverside stable, and while the workers there had seen (y/n) and Harry, along with the little guardian, they had no idea where the three went. so once again the trail went cold after a moment of hope. “How are we ever going to find them?” Gil whimpered, crossing his arms and looking off in the distance, scared for his two friends. “This kingdom is huge; they could already be…I don’t know halfway across the map by now who knows?”

Ben sighed and shrugged, climbing back on his horse and taking out the map “I don’t know Gil, we just have to hope for the best to find them before they do anything stupid”

“they could be heading for one of those divine beast things (y/n) told us about” Phillip hummed, scratching his chin as Audrey cuddled into his side “though she failed to mention where they were” Ben sighed again, looking down at his map.

“Yeah, we really have no clue where they are, and who knows, they might avoid us if they find us first. You heard what Regina said, they are dead set on saving the kingdom, from something their past lives had failed in.” Ben folded the map and placed it in his saddlebag, helping Mal climb up behind him and grabbing the reigns “Lets head for Faron, we might get lucky if they headed that way” the group nodded and mounted their horses, Ben leading the charge as Harriet and CJ rode in the back, Harriet's jaw clenched as flashes of the past flew past her on the road.

Regina had told her and CJ that they might have been reincarnated as well, as there were two princesses named Harriet and Calista Jane. And it seemed she was right, the longer they were in Saorsa the more “memories” returned to them, they were hard to understand and distinguish, but it was clear that along with Harry they had been reincarnated into their present selves.

“What are we gonna do Harriet?” CJ whispered, leaning over to her sister and giving Harriet a worried look “are we gonna-“ Harriet gave CJ a look.

“We are, tomorrow night when everyone's asleep, we’ll split off and look for Harry and (y/n) ourselves, and im going to drag Harry back to Auradon by his ear if it kills me” CJ looked relieved to hear Harriet’s ‘threat’ towards Harry, it was good to know Harriet wasn’t as shaken up as her so at least one of them would have a calm head on their shoulders.

“okay” CJ hummed, snapping the reins of her horse and catching up with the rest of the group.

By nightfall you were about halfway to Lanayru, thankfully there was a stable right next to where you and Harry had called it for the night so you let your horses into the stalls for the night and rented two beds till the morning.

You pulled up the map and hummed, from here you could see Storybrooke village was just past the wetlands and up the hill. And the Lanayru tower, you looked up from the map, seeing the orange glowing tower in the distance, shrouded by rain clouds that never seemed to disappear, was just ahead, maybe a half days travel from the stable.

“we almost there?” Harry softly asked, stepping so close to you-you could feel the warmth radiating off him.

“yeah” you talked in a hushed tone, turning to him and holding up the map “can't see it on the map but the tower is here, I marked it” Harry leaned in to look, glancing between the tower and the diamond marker you had placed. He nodded and stood straight, watching you turn off the tablet and hook it on your hip.

You took and deep breath and looked at him, giving a tired smile “come on, it's been a long day, let's turn in and we’ll head out first thing after breakfast” Harry returned the smile and nodded.

“aye, see yeh in the morning”

“see you in the morning”

-end-

yep, part 20 after 5 (almost six) months, not a single person asked for this so...yeah...i request validation pls.

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @verboetoperee

@remembered-license @random-thoughts-003

@rintheemolion @imtryingthisout @jatp-rules-my-life

@thecaptainsgingersnap

taglist

@the-walking-daryl @dpaccione

@redryderdesigns @forever1313

@itsmysticalmystery @adamsbubblegumbitch

@emilythezeldafan

#Descendents #descendants #disney descendants #botw x descendants #remember your past #remember your past life #harry hook #harry hook descendants #harry hook x reader #harry hook imagine #reincarnation #knight reader #prince harry

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lokigodofaces · 3 years

Text

thoughts on loki ep 2: the variant (spoilers)

under cut to not disturb your scrolling

Overall I enjoyed so that's good

Uh frick my mind blanked so sorry if things are completely out of order

I don't know, I expected the renaissance fair to be 2012 or 2021 or 2024 (Loki's time, our time, current time in the "sacred timeline"). So I was genuinely surprised when it was in 1985.

Ok, i really like the title card thing. And how the year scrolls around. It's a nice aesthetic touch there.

I wonder why the female Loki variant chooses her locations? Does she have a thing for renaissance fairs, French cathedrals, and Oklahoma?

1985 is when Back to the Future came out. And it's y'know, one of the most popular time travel movies ever. So I think they chose that year as a reference.

Again, not liking that the minutemen only have numbers, not names. It is giving me lots of Clone Wars vibes. If you don't know anything about Clone Wars, the clones are given number identifiers by the Kaminoans. Things like CT-7567. The clones would give themselves names (CT-7567, for example, names himself Rex). A really good sign throughout the series that someone is a sketchy person is if they call the clones by their numbers. The clones don't want to be known as numbers. They are people too, they deserve names, so they come up with all sorts of creative names (Rex, Fives, Cody, Tup, Hevy, Hardcase, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Jesse, Kix, Fox, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega, Tech, Matchstick, etc). The jedi respect this, and the only jedi that i can think of that called clones by their numbers is Krell, who fell to the dark side. the Kaminoans and other sketchy people all call them by their numbers and the clones don't like it. A big focus of the show is on the clone's agency (at the end, they all have brain chips that take away their agency and force them to kill jedi), and how the clones need to be respected. So for me to see in another series that people are only given numbers is bad. What's worse is that the minutemen are fine with this. They don't see it as dehumanizing or belittling. They are brainwashed into being okay with it. Which says a thing or two about the Time Keepers.

did. did the renaissance fair really have Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for their renaissance themed fight? Is this normal? Was it normal in the '80's? We saw later that the female Loki can do electronic stuff. Did she rig it to play it? For the vibes?

Also the stuff before the song was about fighting for a princess, and in the end she kidnaps C-20.

Okay, btw, I'm just gonna say Lady Loki for a while because no one has explicitly said Sylvie yet, so I'm going to refer to di Martino as Loki until she or another calls her Sylvie. Cool? Cool.

I was thinking the "Holding Out for a Hero" fight would be the roomba fight or something. It is such a good song that has huge potential for this genre. Why did they use it in a lame fight as that one?

When Lady Loki did the spell on C-20, it looked similar to what Wanda and Agatha can do. As in, it had similar visuals.

Loki reading a random magazine he finds while sitting with his feet on the desk bored out of his mind because he has to learn sh*t is a MOOD.

What is Miss Minutes? She can jump around anywhere, and pop into computers. But she can't be just a projection. She took the effort to dodge Loki swatting at her, so that may mean she was corporeal. She also could be something similar to the Kree's Supreme Intelligence?

So, did Mobius give Loki the shirt, tie, and slacks, but really didn't give him the jacket until they had to call him in? What? That makes no sense? Did the TVA not have any jackets with the variant label? Did someone have to custom design a jacket for Loki?

What is up with this show giving me things I wanted to see only in holographic form? First we saw Coulson's death, and now Loki in his Jotun form in a holograph of another variant.

Okay, Loki being someone the TVA has to constantly deal with is very on brand. Loki is a creature of chaos, of course he's going to unknowingly rebel against the sacred timeline.

Also, headcanon that the Jotun Loki we see is king of Jotunheim because that would be epic.

Also, for personal reasons I choose to believe there is a Loki variant that defeated the Avengers and immediately went queer rights.

Loki's reaction to there being many Loki variants. He's seen what his life is supposed to be. I think he is even more upset that the TVA often deals with him, that there are so many things that could have been instead if it weren't for the TVA and the "sacred timeline."

Also, I totally think Mobius was waiting for another Loki to show up to help him defeat Lady Loki. They get them so often, it makes sense.

Loki explaining the difference between illusion projection and duplication was great. And very helpful to me personally understanding lore. Also, Mobius, get your crap together. If you're a Loki expert, figure this stuff out.

Loki calling the TVA out on propaganda, we love that.

The wolf quote is actually very nice, I quite like it.

Okay, the TVA doesn't even bury or cremate or do any sort of ritual for their fallen minutemen, they just reset the timeline. Which to me seems like another way to show how little the TVA actually care for their workers.

There are statues of the Time Keepers in Ravonna's office. The camera pays extra attention to it. Keep reading for more about Time Keepers and cinematography choices.

What. What sort of relationship does Ravonna and Mobius have? What is going on there? I am really confused.

Who is this "analyst on the side?" What is going on there?

Ravonna is MEGA SUS. Along with that, the Time Keepers are mega sus.

She signs R. Slayer. Yeah. Slayer. Not at all subtle, Marvel. Letting us know that she'll do the deed if needed.

Mobius you are sending me mixed signals. What do you want?

Okay, Mobius saying Loki was a "cold, scared boy" and an "ice runt" and stuff was totally a jab at Loki being Jotun.

Mobius saying Loki is insecure because of Lady Loki is...probably true.

With the elevator, the camera stops and focuses on the Time Keepers.

The Creation of the TVA, the beginning of time, the end of time, all classified. That is sus.

Loki almost crying over Ragnarok was good. Let him cry over the destruction of his home.

Loki being the one to discover something the TVA had no idea about after a day is on brand for Loki. And it shows how the TVA really are vulnerable.

Mobius: Really? In front of my salad?

No but the object lesson was well done and actually did help me understand what Loki was talking about.

Casey! Casey drinks grape juice! Imagine how confusing this is for Casey though. Loki is captured, threatens to gut you like a fish (whatever that means), and now he's dressed like an analysist, stealing your juice box. Does Loki get Casey more juice?

Honestly, Loki looking at everything logically and scientifically is fantastic. Adds to the science = magic thing Marvel's got going on, since Loki is a sorcerer.

Loki saying volcanoes are cool is fun. I agree. Volcanoes mean the planet is geologically active, which means we won't die. Also, there is a volcano named Loki on one of Jupiter's moons. I wonder if the creators knew that and put Loki in Pompeii because he is already linked with volcanoes.

Mobius telling Loki to start off small and Loki completely disregarding that felt very personal to me.

Loki being absolutely chaotic and telling everyone they were going to die while speaking perfect Latin was iconic. I want more of that content. Let the man be buckwild.

Again, Loki finding something out after a day that the TVA never knew about is on brand.

"Be free, my horned friends, be free!" I love that way too much.

Mobius being obsessed with jet skis wasn't something I expected, but I'm down for it. Heck, even Loki admitted they were cool.

The discussion on beliefs is going to lead to saying the Time Keepers are bullcrap. Hopefully.

Grapes and nuts are "candy" on Asgard. So, when Loki was eating grapes in Ragnarok, we can interpret that as him eating M&Ms. Second, this might add to something I've seen around here. I've seen things about a book somewhere with Loki saying chocolate fountains are mythical (which is really funny to me). So, I guess Asgard really doesn't have chocolate.

Oh my gosh, so many apocalypses between 2047 and 2051...hopefully none of those happen in real life.

Roxxcart is probably part of Roxxon, something that has been around in Iron Man movies.

Lady Loki got the shovel thing from Roxxcart that she left in Oklahoma! The minutemen said it was from the early third millenia, which is where we are now! 2050 also fits that category!

I saw something about the file saying Class 8 hurricane...there are only 5 classes...which means this is a crazy storm.

Does B-15 want Loki dead? This is a legitimate question, because I think she does. Dead or pruned.

Loki looking around at the storm, I love it. This could be him loving science, or him missing Thor, since Thor creates storms. Also, at this point Loki probably things Thor dies shortly after him in the sacred timeline, so Loki would be particularly sentimental about Thor.

I love Loki drying himself off and not anyone else. And B-15 yelling about his magic. And Loki's motions are so fluid, it's so aesthetically pleasing, I love it.

Dudes, I thought B-15 was going to try to prune Loki when they were alone.

Okay, was Lady Loki bsing about the azalea sale, or does Roxxcart actually do that? I want to know.

Wunmi Mosaku did a really good job as Lady Loki, I loved it.

Loki being annoyed at Lady Loki and saying he understood how Thor felt, does that insinuate Loki can do what Lady Loki was doing?

B-15 and C-20 were both very shaken after being possessed by Lady Loki. I wonder how that felt for them? We've had different explanations of mind control/brainwashing/similar from Clint, Bucky, Daisy, Mack, Fitz, and Monica in the MCU (including AoS). I wonder what is specific to Lady Loki's possession.

C-20 kept going on about something being real. What was that about?

C-20 revealed the location of the Time Keepers to Lady Loki!

Lady Loki not wanting to be called Loki could be a sign she is Sylvie.

There's something weird where Loki's voice echoed around while the camera focused on Lady Loki. Maybe she's telepathic?

Someone needs to keep a tracker on people telling Loki this isn't his story in a show literally about him.

But, that does add to themes for his life, and how everything was always about someone else in his life. He was always a supporting character for Thor, for Odin, for Thanos. Now, even in his own story, everyone insists he doesn't matter.

I was wondering what the reset charges would be used for. I wasn't expecting a massive bombing of the sacred timeline! Wow! That was unexpected and I loved it!

Okay, this isn't from me, this is from New Rockstars. But to list all the places mentioned on chronomonitors, either bombed or not: Knowhere, Barcelona, Niflheim, Dartford, Phong Nha, Lisbon, Vormir, Thorton, Cookeville, Asgard, Rome, Sakaar, Barichara, Porvoo, Ego, Titan, New York City, Tokyo, Hala, Kingsport, Xandar, Beijing, Madrid, Portland, Jotunheim. Bolded are other planets. Those are almost all the planets visited in the MCU. So fun easter eggs there!

I like Lady Loki's aesthetic. The fingerless gloves, the cloak, I love it. And YES SHE ISN'T SEXUALIZED. So many genderbent characters are excuses to sexualize women. But Lady Loki is just as covered as the male Lokis.

Lady Loki just...left the time door open for Loki to follow...for a really long time...I'm worried he's running into a trap.

What is Loki going to do now?

Theory time y'alls: Lady Loki bombed the sacred timeline to flush the minutemen out of the TVA, leaving it defenseless. And she's gonna go after the Time Keepers themselves. We know she gets into the TVA from trailer footage, and that's what I think we're gonna see next episode. I think she (like the Loki we are following) is upset over the lack of free will, and she plans to change that. That's why she wasn't interested in helping Loki "take over" the TVA, because she doesn't want to become the leader of a new TVA, she wants it destroyed.

Alright, back to the Time Keepers stuff. They keep focusing on the middle Time Keeper. Even in the end credits they have a weird cut to focus directly on his face. I'm not 100% on this, but I like this theory. That face is similar to Jonathan Major's, the actor confirmed to be Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang is a well known time travelling villain in Marvel. Maybe he is Kang, and is using variant versions of himself (that's a Kang thing in the comics) to mess with the timeline, and no one expects that from him. Also, Renslayer was his S/O for a bit in the comics, and they keep framing her in front of that one Time Keeper's face. I feel like this would be a good way to set up Quantumania and to show how sus the Time Keepers are.

Also, Loki was absolutely adorable the entire episode. And he got to sleep! Yay for him!

Again, I enjoyed, and can't wait for next week!

#loki (2021)#loki (2021) spoilers #loki (2021) review #loki laufeyson #tva loki #dimartino loki #sylvie lushton #mobius m mobius #ravonna renslayer #hunter b 15 #hunter c 20 #miss minutes #time keepers #aaaaaaaa im excited for the next episode

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