#I’ve gotten so much better at making the text size consistent and i’m proud of that

[markedbyindecision]

I guess we both have our mysteries. Well, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.

[number5theboy]

CREATOR TAG MEME

RULES: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I was tagged by the wonderful @seance, @i-seeaspaceshipinthe-sky and @ogaferoga, all of them awesome creators themselves, thank you all!

This has been a wild year, because I’ve created a lot of gifs for this blog that isn’t even a year old, and I’ve gotten to know so many sweet, wonderful people. There were many gifs to choose from, so I grouped them, because I’m very proud of my output for this blog.

The Umbrella Academy...but it is a FILM NOIR / HORROR MOVIE

I started this series that I plan on continuing, taking the shots from the Umbrella Academy and editing them to look like a certain genre. I’m especially proud of the fact that I looked up the aspect ratio of noir movies for the Noir AU gifset. This was the initial idea, but while I was working on them, I also kept imagining how I could link these visuals, and slowly but surely I developed stories as I was working on the gifs. I really like the AUs I created, and am sad that I’m not a diligent enough fic writer to be able to write them out in the way they deserve. Also really love the touch of naming the AUs through songs that are on the soundtrack, I really think that idea is neat.

The Lost Hargreeves HERE / HERE

567 is my favourite dynamic that was never truly shown in the show itself. I like Five, Ben and Vanya separately a lot, and I love the idea of them together. I’m very proud of the first gifset I ever made for them, because it shows how similar their stories are, how all of them were pushed to do monstrous things through abuse, and how they deserve better. But I also think there is so much love between them, so much gentleness. I will never be over the parallel of Vanya reaching out for Five to clean his wound after he just killed the Commission hitmen and Ben reaching for Vanya’s hand after she just massacred everyone in the FBI office. I just love this idea of someone still loving them, still reaching out for them at their lowest, at their worst, and not judging, I really adore this dynamic, and if I may say so, I kind of went off with the colouring on both.

Soundtrack Sets HERE / HERE

I adore the soundtrack of the show, and I’m a sucker for lyrics as they are used in a scene. So far, I’ve made two gifsets about the lyrics, one that is just about how some lyrics of Season 1 would have fit some of the Hargreeves siblings but weren’t used for them, and another that shows how the lyrics of songs specific to Five scenes interconnect because I love me some thematic coherence. I just like playing with words and how they fit to images, and TUA really is a show that lets me do that. I also just really like the look of the Five gifset specifically, because I really went experimental on that one, and it was fun to figure out a colour palette for it.

Misc ‘I’m proud of the technical aspects of these!!’ Gifsets

Diego & Allison dynamic: I just love the way these gifs interplay, I like the size I chose for the gifs, and although I would do the colouring differently were I to redo this gifset, I just loved making this so much because Diego and Allison have such a great dynamic.

Vissy in the barn: I love this moment, and Marin Ireland is so RIDICULOUSLY charming in the show, but this is on here because I really outdid myself with the colouring here. Soft orange and blue, and that for a scene that is terribly lit. I’m still so proud.

It’s Tough to be a God for Klaus: I am SO fucking proud of the lettering I did for this one. It looks awesome, I think the song I picked is fun and fitting, and just. The framing I did with the text. I really am happy with it, and I’m bad at lettering usually.

Team Dumbass Relationship Growth Appreciation Post: The colours I did here pop beautifully, even though I really struggled with some of them (the light in Elliott’s home?!? a nightmare). I also just loved showing their growth through this simple idea, simple quote, with the black and white gifs from S1E1 and S2E10, and I love the orange and cyan for the font. I should continue the visual with other dynamics, now that I think of it.

Five Favourite Five Gifsets of 2020

Five: The Mammoth Project: This was THE project of the year for me. I combed through all the Five scenes of Seasons 1 and 2, and picked favourite moments. I had to make cuts, as well as the decision to only do dialogue bits. I could redo this with just nonverbal acting moments, I just adore this performance that much. I worked for weeks on this set. I love the colouring I did, and I just love the range the set showcases. Aidan Gallagher is so good in this role, and this set is a love letter to the performance.

Five + Greek Mythology: This was so self-indulgent, but this gifset turned out so pretty. Five’s story reminds me very much of a Greek tragedy in its thematics, and he has so many characteristics of an archetypal Greek hero, and this was just about me concretising this idea in visuals and writing.

 Five and the Handler on the Highway: This is the only gifset on here I think definitely flopped, which makes me so, so sad. I really like this moment and I love the colouring I did for it even more. The blue is so clear and so sharp and offsets the red, and the fact that this gifset hasn’t even cracked 150 notes really bums me out, because I love it a lot.

Five + MCR’s ‘Teenagers’: Good colouring! Good lettering! One of two MCR songs I know! I really had fun making it because Teenagers is such a song that would fit both Five and a Five fight scene, and so putting it over the Board massacre was a delight.

Five’s reaction to other assassin’s quitting: I just love this acting moment so much, the consistency of it all. How Aidan Gallagher just perfectly conveys this little moment of understanding, of being glad for someone else, a moment of recognition. I also love the colouring on this, the blues turned out so nice.

I feel like everyone in the fandom has already been tagged, so I’ll try out some, and if you haven’t been tagged, feel free to take this as an invitation to do this! @diazalex @catchingmydeatth @zavens @fivevanyaklaus @lilapittss, @hargreevesklaus, @hargreeves-ben @thecyndimistuff

[mysticsparklewings]

Big Plans Tiny Planner

Ta-da!! :D It took forever, but I think this is quite possibly my favorite book-making project I've done to date!   A while back while JoAnn's was having a sale on decorative paper (I think it was 10 sheet for $2 or something like that?) and I stocked up on a few combinations I thought would work well for future book projects, and among my choices, I had picked out a page that consisted of tiny calendar pages for a full year and a piece of heavy-duty paper that I thought worked well with the various colors on that page (not all the calendar pages were as drab as the January page here, I just didn't have the patience to try and photograph all twelve of them for this ). However, it wasn't until I saw this video by SeaLemon, my go-to person for DIY book things, that I knew how to get pages that work well for a tiny planner. I had originally gotten some small lined memo pads from the dollar store, hoping to use a couple of them for pages in this theoretical mini-planner...only to find out that nope! Those pages are just a little bit too big. Trying to get them and the calendar pages lined up to glue the spine would be infuriatingly difficult. Naturally, this left me semi-up-creek without a paddle. But then I saw the aforementioned video and learned something that had never occurred to me: You can make dot-grid paper...by printing a dot grid onto regular paper!!   It seems so obvious and so simple now, but it had honestly never even crossed my mind. I guess because I have actually tried using regular grid paper for a book before and it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, in addition to me knowing that making your own lined paper in a similar fashion would be much more tedious task. Lining up lines when you're not a machine capable of cutting pages with laser-precision is both time-consuming and next to impossible to get perfectly aligned pages from. The dot-grid, on the other hand, provides guidelines to use for writing and drawing (the biggest disadvantage to unlined paper), and a guide for cutting, but the dots are spaced in such a way that the cut has to be pretty egregiously bad for it to be immediately noticeable if they aren't quite lined up correctly. Additionally, in this case, specifically, the dots are so faint that 1. it makes any misalignment even harder to notice, and 2. they will not show up on camera for anything, and so I didn't bother trying to include a photo to show said dot-grid. That said, I just printed off the dot grid SeaLemon made and shared in the video description onto normal printer paper. Twelve pages; printed the grid onto the front side of each, then flipped them over and printed it onto the backsides. That way I had double-sided pages and I could cut multiple small pages--four 3" x 4" pages per piece of paper--without worrying about if anything was going in the wrong or right direction. Once the grid was printed, I then used a paper cutter to first slice all twelve pages to be the same size, cutting off the excess where the dot grid didn't print because of printer margins. Then I went back through and cut them down to be the size I needed. After which I counted out four pages for each calendar page, and having learned my lesson about end pages (the pages that connect the text block to the splash pages) from the SweetTarts book I made, I cut two more pages out of cardstock to put on the front/top and back/bottom of the stack. And then I carefully lined up one side of the page stack, clasped it in place with a binder clip, and got gluing. While I waited for the coats of glue on the spine to dry, I started on the covers and splash pages. The splash pages I cut and dealt with without much fuss. The covers, on the other hand... Originally, I meant to cut the covers large enough that I could have a little overhang on the edges to make the book a bit nicer. However, I mismeasured/calculated and didn't realize it until I'd already cut the covers in one direction.   It wasn't too late to adjust for the height, but it was too late to adjust for the width. However, that wasn't too terrible, as I figured I could just move the covers over slightly and covered the missing area with the tape over the spine. That did complicate things slightly in that, later on, I had to cut and add strips of paper to the spine area to cover the under of the tape to keep the adhesive from folding and/or sticking to everything. But before the anti-sticky-spine steps happened, I was playing with placement for the cover. Earlier in the process, I had recouped the frame sticker on the front cover from my sticker collection to use in conjunction with the "big plans" placard I wanted to make in a similar fashion to how the names of the months are printed on the calendar pages. While I was fiddling with how it was going to look with the covers, I also started thinking about my choices for the tape on the spine. I ended up thinking that I liked the color of the lines on one of the covers better than the other, based on the frame and the tape options I had, combined with the color of the splash pages that were already attached to the text block by that point. I tried not to. I really did. But I couldn't help myself; I cut out another cover identical to the one of the two that I liked better. To be fair, I'm glad I did because it makes my brain feel better knowing they match nicely, but part of me can't help but wonder if it really would've mattered, provided I had put the other cover on the back. So with that "problem" solved, I could then move on to attaching the covers and placing the tape. And I did. And I am still not very good at getting the spine tape straight on the first try. This was a problem this time, not because this tape was any less forgiving than the other options I've used in the past, but rather because of the thinner paper I'd put in place to cover the adhesive. It did not want to let go of the tape once they were stuck together. As a result, instead of repositioning or even removing the tape, I instead placed another piece on top to fix the unstraight edges. That piece I could reposition, and it's a good thing because it still took me a few tries to get it exactly where it needed to be. I almost thought I was done once that was taken care of and the frame and placard were attached to the front cover. Then I realized this is a tiny planner (of sorts) and a planner could really benefit from book pockets...Which I believe I had originally planned on adding to the book, but it had somehow slipped my mind among everything else. So after I spent way too long deciding on what paper to use for the pockets (and ultimately decided to use some that was leftover from when I made splash pages on the Duck Tape mini sketchbook) and to simply clip the corners instead of using my paper punch to round them because it's started not doing its job very well as of late, I applied the pockets by carefully prying the covers away from the splash pages on the appropriate corners, wedging the pockets in, and then squeezing in a bit of tape and glue to the best of my ability to reinforce them. (Normally reinforcement wouldn't've been an issue because I would've securely taped them to the back of the splash pages before trying to attach the covers.) This time I really did think I was done. And, technically, I was. I was quite proud of my little baby planner, too. The next day I videoed a little flip through of the book to show it to a couple of friends because I figured that would be faster than taking my staging photos like I normally do. In that process, I discovered that it was fairly tricky to flip through the pages and find each calendar page quickly, and also the September page decided to pop out. Apparently it wasn't quite far over enough or didn't get quite enough glue or something. Also, I was a little bothered that one edge of the sticker frame on the front didn't want to stay flat down but also didn't pop up far enough to be able to get more glue under it without making a mess. I've never attempted to reinstate a page that fell out of one of these books before, despite having at least two fall out of one of the first ones I ever made. Fortunately, it went more smoothly than I expected. A little very carefully placed tacky glue and few minutes' patience to hold it still, then some time to dry long-term with extra paper on both sides to absorb any extra glue, it appears fairly stable now. The page-turning took a little more thought, but I settled on using these teeny-tiny heart stickers (one on each side to, again, keep the adhesive from sticking to things it shouldn't) as tiny little page tabs. And when I say teeny-tiny, I'm not kidding. I have fairly small, nimble fingers, and I still found it easier to manipulate the stickers with the help of a pair of tweezers. But they are just big enough to work in this form. The only problem is that they don't stick out uniformly solely because the pages themselves don't, and they have to be stuck on about halfway down the sticker so that they stick to the page securely but still stick out enough to be useful at all once the pages start fanning open. While I had the sticker sheets out to get the hearts off, I peaked at the other options and settled on a few to stick to the frame on the front to fix that other problem about one side not sticking down to my liking. Then I added a couple more on the other side just to balance things out. It's a bit much, but it still feels better than leaving the frame to just stick up like it was. After all of that though, now it's finished. And I'm still very happy, if not even more so, with how it turned out.  It was a piece of work, but it looks so nice and it's functional, too! I'm not even sure I'll use it--I haven't decided yet since it is so nice, I'm thinking I might want to keep it as an unmarred example for future projects like it--but I just enjoy knowing it exists and how good the end product looks that it was worth it to me anyway. This was also a bit of an extra learning experience to 1. Plan these book projects out a little more thoroughly in advance, and 2. Pay closer attention before and during the process of cutting anything. Which, I mean, I already try to do those things, but evidently not quite enough, lest I wouldn't have some of the problems I do that often crop up in my making process.   I'm not quite sure what the next book project will be, but I do have a few more pieces of that paper that I picked out for some, so we'll see what happens next time I sit down and make some. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[obsessedauthorchan-blog]

Shakespearean - Chapter 10 - Wally

AO3 | Wattpad | FanFiction

Chapter Summary:

What happens after dinner.

Alternatively, the before-they-share-a-bed-awkwardly part of the story where tension is resolved so they don't have to share the bed awkwardly (unfortunately. maybe I'll write that another time.).

Notes:

Okay, everybody, I know it has been a forever and a half since I posted last (it hasn’t actually been a whole month yet, but I definitely wasn’t counting at all). I am super sorry about that. I had a really rough month, and it actually had nothing to do with the holidays or anything. I had a lot going on, as usual, but I also had some crazy mental stuff going on, including realizing that I actually am depressed (I’ve been in denial for a while) and mentally debating about whether or not I should come out to anybody as bisexual. Depression’s a bitch, and being a gay Christian can be super hard guys. Especially in the Bible Belt, not gunna lie. Anywho, with a new year comes new motivation, and feeling accomplished makes me feel happy, so here’s the latest update for you guys! Remember, every fifth chapter is from a perspective other than Jay’s, and this one is from Wally’s! I hope you guys like this one, because, as I remember, writing Wally’s perspective was a lot of fun for me. Enjoy, frands! (And thanks for putting up with my impromptu and un-forewarned hiatus!)

Story:

Wally West was satisfied.

He was almost always satisfied when it was Alfred doing the cooking. That man knew what he was doing in the kitchen. He was a food ninja just as much as he was a regular ninja. It was one of the reasons why Wally loved coming over to Dick's house for dinner.

The main reason, though, was Dick, himself.

Dick was so awesome. He was so funny and super smart. He was proud and he was a little shit sometimes, but Wally liked that about him, too. Dick had a genuine desire to help people, too, as shown by his desire to be a social worker. Criminal Justice is a difficult field in itself, but social justice was a particularly difficult and financially unrewarding career. Wally was actually really glad that Dick had elected to put off starting his career until he had gotten his master’s degree. It gave him more time to be free and enjoy his youth before the hard life of a social worker sucked all the energy and joy out of him.

Not to say that Wally didn't think that it was a needed job or a fulfilling career. Between being such good friends with Dick and Roy and knowing people like Bruce Wayne, it would be hard for Wally not to have a certain understanding for how hard the world could be for people without good parents, or any parents, and he had a definite appreciation for the people who sacrificed their time to help the kids who suffered at the hands of the cruel world they all lived in.

But that didn't mean he didn't wish Dick had picked something... happier.

Once everyone had finished dinner, they all dispersed. Jason had collected his stuff and left for the night, Tim driving him home, Damian had been sent to his room since he still wasn't behaving, Conner and Cassandra (the cutest couple ever, in Wally's opinion) were chilling like they usually do, Clark had gone home to get ready for more classes tomorrow, and Babs was getting advice from Bruce about the case she was working on. Meanwhile, Wally and Dick had headed up to Dick's room.

"You staying over, Walls?" Wally knew Dick well enough to know that he wanted him to stay.

"Of course. As if I could pass up on the cinnamon rolls Alfred is almost certainly making for breakfast tomorrow."

Dick chuckled, shaking his head at Wally's undying love for food. They got to Dick's room and went inside, making Dick remember something. "Shoot, Walls. Damian was being a little turd and broke the roll-away bed you usually stay on. We haven't had time to get a new one to replace it." He surveyed the room, taking in the modest desk, queen size bed, and the comfortable chair in the corner. Dick was only living with Bruce until he finished his master’s degree, then he fully intended to get his own apartment. He didn't like depending on Bruce for anything, something that Wally could sort of understand but didn't really approve of. "I'll just sleep on the floor tonight," Dick decided, his internal martyr complex making its regular appearance.

Wally rolled his eyes. "You are not sleeping on the floor in your own home, Richie Rich. I'll sleep on the floor."

Dick crossed his arms stubbornly. "No way. You're a guest."

"Oh please, Dick. I practically live here at this point. I know your mansion better than I know my own apartment."

They both stared determinedly at each other for a good thirty seconds before Dick relented, sighing. "Fine, but you still aren't sleeping on the floor. Neither of us will."

"Then I'll take the chair."

"Nobody is taking the chair, Walls." Dick shifted his weight on his feet. "It's a queen size bed. If you're going to be too stubborn to let me be a good host, then we can share it. We're both skinny enough to make it work."

Wally tried not to let his nervousness show. Wally West sharing a bed with the Dick Grayson, arguably one of the most attractive and most eligible bachelors in all of Gotham City, was not the best idea. Mostly because Wally was hella gay and he'd had a huge crush on Dick pretty much since they'd met.

Still, what was he going to say? 'Nah, Dick, I think I'll just go home instead. I'm too straight to share a bed with my best friend for one night.' Because that doesn't just scream closeted gay.

And the cinnamon rolls, though. Those are important. Those are worth it.

"Okay, Dickie. You're the boss." He gulped noisily, hoping Dick didn't notice.

The two of them went about their nightly routines, brushing their teeth and changing into sleepwear. Wally would have been happy that they had sleepwear at all, except that Dick's was only pajama pants. He slept shirtless, all that glorious, lean muscle on display for Wally to drool over and dream about.

Wally hated his life.

They didn't go to bed right away, because they never do. They stayed up for a figurative forever, actually, talking, playing games on their phones, helping each other with the subjects that they were having a hard time with, etc. Dick had a bachelors in Criminal Justice, but his masters was in Social Work. That wasn't really one of Wally's strong suits, but he was good at the science part of it. He himself was working on a master’s degree in Chemistry, so he was pretty useful.

At one point, Cassandra came in to say goodnight. Wally had been working on his sign language for years, but languages in general didn't really come easy to him. At all. Even still, his consistent practice – and help from Dick and Cassandra – was paying off because he was able to have a pretty decent conversation with Cassandra. She wasn't deaf, so she could understand perfectly fine if he spoke aloud, but she loved it when someone took the time to communicate with her in her own language.

When the two of them finished up their conversation with Cassandra and she left for her own room _ without Conner, to the relief of both boys (they were understandably protective, even with someone as trustworthy as Conner) – Wally had gone back to his textbook, wanting to get some last bit of studying in before they inevitably went to bed for the night.

Before Cassandra came in, Dick had been watching a documentary on social work for one of his classes. When Wally realized that he hadn't played it again he looked up, eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. Upon doing so, he saw Dick looking at him with an unreadable expression. It was actually just a bit unnerving for Wally, who had long ago learned to read pretty much every emotion and thought Dick had. It was a by-product of being best friends since childhood, and the thought that Wally was losing his touch worried him.

"Dick, you okay?" Wally wasn't sure he would get an answer, and he wasn't sure he really wanted one either, but after a few seconds' hesitation, Dick responded.

"You've put an awful lot of effort into learning sign language, Walls."

Wally was no less confused than before. What did that have to do with anything?

Oh god. Please, please, please don't mean that Dick thought Wally had a thing for Cassandra. Please.

"She's your sister, Dick. Might as well be mine, too, so it just makes sense to try, right?" Wally really hoped that explanation covered it, because this was getting a little weird and a lot awkward.

"Really? That's why?" Dick didn't look as though he disbelieved him, but he didn't exactly seem to think that was the whole story either.

"Yeah," Wally said slowly. "Why else would I do it?"

Dick shrugged. "I don't know. It could just be that you're really nice. I wouldn't exactly put it past you to learn a language for pretty much anyone, honestly."

Wally squinted his eyes, his confusion growing. "Okay? So what's the problem?"

Shaking his head, Dick turned his chair back to facing his desk and looked back to his computer screen. "No problem. Not a one. Nope." He popped the 'p', telling Wally that he was most definitely, without a doubt, hiding something.

Rolling his eyes, Wally put down his text book and marched over to stand in behind Dick. "No. We are not doing this." He grabbed Dick's chair and spun it around to face him, placing a hand on the back of it by Dick's shoulder and leaning down to put his face in Dick's personal space. "If you don't tell me what's up then it's going to bother me for a small eternity. So what's bothering you?"

Dick kept his mouth shut and shook his head, refusing to say a word. Wally sighed and resorted to his last measure. The puppy dog face.

Eyes wide and innocent, lips turned down in a small, pouty frown, and overall expression looking downcast and dejected, Wally knew Dick would never be able to resist. Sure enough, after only seconds of eye contact, Dick caved, spewing everything out at once. "You're just a really nice guy, Walls, and it's so sweet that you've put so much effort into learning sign language for Cassandra even though she understands you when you talk and literally nobody minds translating what she says for you, and you're always doing nice things like that, Walls, that's just who you are. You're such a great guy and I love it, that's why I love you, and I just- oh shit," Dick shrank back from Wally, refusing to look him in the eye, apparently displeased with what he'd said.

Wally couldn't imagine why Dick would be upset about what he said. Wally thought it was beautiful. Still, if Dick was going to shy away from Wally, how was he going to kiss him? He raised his free hand and poked Dick's cheek. "Hey, Dickie?"

Dick shook his head, eyes downcast and expression regretful. That just wouldn't do. Wally moved his hand down to Dick's chin, gently coaxing him to turn his head and look at him. When he had finally managed to get Dick to meet his eyes, he smiled. "What was this I heard about you loving me?" Wally asked playfully.

Dick groaned and looked away again. "I didn't mean it like that, Walls. No homo, right? I just meant kind of like a brotherly love. Like family, you know?"

Wally snorted, refusing to let his doubt and insecurity win. "Liar," he said, and then he kissed him.

Dick was unresponsive at first, but Wally was patient, for once in his life. This one thing he wouldn't rush, because if he was wrong, if he had somehow gotten all the signs wrong or misinterpreted them out of wishful thinking, then he wanted to make the best out of this kiss. Just as Dick finally let himself loosen up and enjoy it, Wally pulled away. When Dick tried to follow his lips, Wally smiled triumphantly. "Right, but you don't love me or anything. We're like brothers. No homo at all."

Dick sighed in exasperation, leaning his forehead against Wally's. "Shut up, you sarcastic asshole." Wally decided to comply, but only because Dick kissed him again.

Somehow, Wally thought, as he straddled Dick's hips and ran his hands all over those glorious muscles, he really didn't think sharing that bed tonight was going to be that big of a deal.

(He was right. It was actually totally awesome. Dick was a fantastic kisser.)

Notes:

So what did you think? Worth the wait? A horrible disappointment? Not a fan of BirdFlash (not that I would take it out anyway, but still a nice poll to throw out there)? Thank you so much for keeping with my story and for reading it and (I hope) liking it! I’m a huge fan of comments and they always pick me up after a rough day, so don’t feel shy! I will love every word and letter! Have a lovely week, guys! Until next Tuesday, -author-chan

AO3 | Wattpad | FanFiction