#click image to enhance

[jacksonseymour13]

What Lucerys was thinking when he met Aemond in 1x10

[hartlinez]

details from my last post

[societyfolklore]

Security Clearance

Title: Security Clearance

Pairing: Congressman!Bucky Barnes x Former SHEILD!Female Reader

Summary:  When a long day of political chaos leaves Congressman Bucky Barnes teetering on the edge, the last person he wants watching him is you.

Word Count:  3.8k

Warnings: /Explicit Content / 18+, Minors DNI, SMUT, Rough sex, aggressive dominants, biting, bruising, possessiveness, Semi-public setting (gym), Mutual physical aggression (consensual, Breathless dirty talk, Workplace-adjacent setting (Congressman x Bodyguard dynamic)

A/N:  Want to get this out before Thunderbolts* 

You hated this suit.

Not because it was tight or unflattering, but because it made you feel like part of the machine again. Like some cog wheeled into place after being discarded years ago. The synthetic fibers clung to your skin like old duty-like expectation. It itched in a way you couldn’t scratch. You weren’t SHIELD anymore, hadn’t been for years, but when the government needed someone with a little edge, a little blood on their hands and a spotless record on paper, your name still came up. So here you were-again. A private contractor with federal strings tied tight around your wrists. They called it security clearance. You called it a leash.

That’s how you ended up here, standing in the corner of a polished D.C. office suite, the walls too white, the air too cold, watching Congressman James Buchanan Barnes slowly come apart at the seams.

He didn’t like you. That much was obvious.

You didn’t blame him. You were a shadow in his periphery, always there. At hearings. At dinners. In hallways with nothing but silence between you. You were the person who never flinched under his stare, the one who didn’t try to smile or play politics. Your job was simple: observe, protect, report. And sometimes, control.

You were a living, breathing reminder that Bucky Barnes wasn’t as free as the country he served.

But truthfully? You weren’t sure he hated you as much as he hated what you represented. The collar he couldn’t shake. The watchdog the state had assigned him in the form of someone with matching ghosts.

Bucky Barnes was a former assassin turned polished representative with a jawline sharp enough to make headlines and a gaze that could still freeze a room. That was before today. Today, his hair was disheveled, his jaw clenched so hard it looked painful. His eyes-stormy, bloodshot, heavy-lidded-burned with something you hadn’t seen since the field: unspent violence.

His tie hung loose around his collarbone, his sleeves rolled up past the elbow. The flash of metal from his forearm caught the light with every furious step he took across the office.

You didn’t need enhanced senses to pick up the tension bleeding off him in waves. It was in the twitch of his fingers. The restless pacing. The way his mouth moved soundlessly before finally giving voice to his thoughts.

"Need to hit something before I hit someone," he bit out, ripping the rest of his tie off like it offended him. He didn’t look at you. Just turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

You gave it two beats.

Then pushed off the wall and followed.

~#~#~#~#~#~

The gym was cold and empty. Just polished floors, the faint smell of leather and sweat, and the faint hum of fluorescent lights overhead. You stepped inside and paused just past the doorway, letting the door shut behind you with a soft click.

Bucky was already moving, disappearing into the changing room without a word. You stayed where you were, arms folded, leaning back against the wall as you let the silence stretch. A few minutes passed, and then he returned.

He’d stripped down into a plain black workout tee and loose dark sweats. Gone was the suited congressman-the image scrubbed away along with the tie and the tension. This was the man you remembered from field briefings in shadowed corners of SHIELD operations-lean muscle, taut lines, a low-simmering fury barely restrained beneath his skin.

You turned away from him, scanning the open gym floor as he began wrapping his right hand in athletic tape. Methodical. Focused. The sound of the tape unraveling was sharp in the quiet.

You started walking, slowly pacing the perimeter of the space, each step steady. You moved like you were still checking for exits, still measuring threats. It was instinct. Habit. You let your fingers skim along the wall padding. The air smelled like sweat and adrenaline and rubber.

Then the first thwack hit the air.

You stopped walking.

Bucky was hammering the punching bag. Sharp, brutal strikes. The kind that made the chain rattle and the leather creak. The kind that left bruises if anyone got in his way. You didn’t need to see his face to know he was still worked up. His grunts came short and clipped, not satisfied. Not eased.

You slowly turned back to watch him. He kept going. Harder. Faster. Each strike was more violent than the last, fists hammering the bag like it had personally offended him. You could almost hear it in his breathing-the way his exhales shortened, the growl that hovered behind each grunt. The bag wasn't working. If anything, it was winding him tighter.

You didn’t need to see his expression to know the storm inside him was getting worse. His punches turned more erratic. Sloppier, even, like control was slipping.

Then came the sharp exhale-a frustrated huff that echoed too loud in the empty space. He dropped his arms, the bag swaying slightly from the abuse, and turned toward you like he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

His eyes were fire when they met yours.

"You got anything under that you can fight in?" he asked, voice still sharp, still clipped.

You crossed your arms and raised a brow. "We're not suppose to engage the client, Sir.."

His jaw ticked. "I thought you had to follow directives?"

"Charming." You snorted muttering under your breath. 

Still, you considered it. It had been a while since you’d had a proper spar. The last few agents assigned to Bucky’s rotation had all been too stiff, too careful. The second you got aggressive, they called you 'too much'-like they didn’t sign up to be knocked flat. Bucky, though... Bucky could take a hit. More than that, he wanted one.

With a sigh, you rolled your eyes and slowly began stripping off your blazer. Then your shirt. Underneath, a fitted black tank hugged your torso. "This work for you, Congressman?"

He just turned to dig in his duffel before tossing a pair of grey sweatpants at you.

"Wear those. I don't want to get billed for ruining those pants." 

You rolled your eyes but changed, your slacks hitting the floor before you stepped into the pants he gave you. Slightly too big. Smelled like him. Looking up Bucky back was to you while you'd been changing. 

You met him on the mats, both barefoot. The floor felt cool beneath your feet, the air thickening between you in slow increments. Barnes rolled his shoulders back, the faint mechanical whirl of his metal arm filling the silence like a warning. Then came the pop of his neck as he tilted it side to side, eyes still fixed on you, unblinking.

For a moment, nothing moved. Just the subtle twitch of his fingers, your mirrored stance, the tension coiling between you like an elastic band stretched tight. You studied him-really looked. The way his shoulders stayed high, rigid with barely leashed frustration. How his jaw was still locked, even now. He wasn’t fighting to warm up. He was fighting to keep something inside.

You could see it-every inch of him wound tight like a spring, controlled only by discipline and sheer force of will. He wasn’t here to spar. He was here to unload.

Fine. Let him.

It started controlled-simple drills, practiced maneuvers. The kind of opening movements you’d run a hundred times before. You both circled, feet light on the mat, trading calculated strikes. You blocked, countered. Tested. Pushed. Watched him do the same.

He was sussing you out.

You let it build. Let him think maybe you were holding back, maybe you were just a suit who couldn’t take a hit like you used too. But the second he shifted forward with more speed, you welcomed it. Met it. Matched it. Dared him to give you more.

You weren’t made of glass.

If Bucky wanted a moving target, you’d give him one.

His pace turned aggressive. The precision in his movements gave way to something harder, more visceral. Each strike he threw was faster, heavier-like he wanted to knock the air out of you, like he needed to feel the hit deep in his bones. You answered in kind. Your footwork shifted from reactive to dominant, testing his limits with sharper counters and quicker feints. Hits landed with satisfying thuds, echoing off the gym walls like thunderclaps.

You ducked beneath one wide swing and jabbed hard at his ribs, earning a grunt. His metal arm caught your next strike and shoved you back with enough force to make your heel skid along the mat-but you didn’t hesitate. You recovered fast, twisted low under his reach, and drove a solid kick into his stomach. The contact thudded through your leg and up your spine. He grunted again-not in pain, but with a glimmer of satisfaction flashing through his eyes like you’d finally given him something real to work with.

He grinned.

You hated how good it looked on him. Like he was finally enjoying himself. Like he hadn’t looked that alive in weeks.

You went for his legs. He anticipated it, but not fast enough. He hit the mat with a solid thud that reverberated through the floor, the sound sharp in your ears. Your body reacted without hesitation-knees planted to either side of his waist as you straddled him, sweat-slick and breathing hard. Muscles burned deliciously with effort, your limbs trembling slightly from exertion. You were already flushed, heat rising under your skin, blood thrumming loud in your ears.

Then he moved. A quick twist of his hips and you were airborne for a half-second before he flipped you like a coin. Your back hit the mat, air whooshing out of your lungs.

The fight bled into something else.

Now he was above you, chest heaving, face flushed, dark hair falling loose across his brow. His breath hit your jaw, hot and ragged. Your own lungs worked double time trying to keep up, chest rising and falling with each greedy gasp for oxygen. Your skin was tacky with sweat, the sting of motion and contact still rippling through your body. Every muscle screamed with effort, every nerve buzzing with the high of adrenaline.

You felt alive. On fire.

And you stared at each other, unmoving. That flicker in his eyes-once analytical, maybe even annoyed-had burned down into something molten. Something wicked. Something hungry.

"You wanna fight," he growled, voice like sandpaper and smoke, "or you wanna fuck?"

You didn’t answer.

You grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him down into you like you were daring him to find out.

The clothes went fast. His hands were everywhere, rough and demanding. He yanked your top off so quickly the friction dragged hard across your skin, leaving it tender, raw in spots-but you didn’t care. You were already burning, already writhing beneath the heat rising in your veins. His shirt was next, flying across the room like it had offended him. Skin met skin, fever-hot, slick with sweat.

You didn’t even make it upright. You rolled together across the mat, limbs tangled, lips locked in something closer to a snarl than a kiss. You shoved him back with your forearm; he pulled you down by the waist. The padded floor caught your shoulder as you twisted under him, teeth grazing his jaw. You ground your hips up into his like you were trying to fuse with him, dragging a growl out of his throat.

The need had been simmering since day one-and now it boiled over.

He broke the kiss just long enough to push your bra up and out of the way, rough fingers palming the swell of your breast before his mouth sealed over your nipple. He sucked hard until you gasped, his teeth grazing the sensitive peak. You arched into it, one hand buried in his hair.

Then his hand was dragging down, fast and possessive, running over your stomach and dipping under the waistband of your borrowed sweats and underwear in one fluid motion. The cold of the vibranium shocked you as his fingers slid between your legs, bold and greedy. 

"Fuck… you’re wet already."

"Don’t flatter yourself," you panted, nails digging into his waist. "Just.. sweat.." 

He laughed, low and dangerous, then sat back on his knees, eyes devouring you like he was already tasting you in his head. In one sharp motion, he shoved your borrowed sweats down. He didn’t hesitate. One rough yank sent your pants halfway down your thighs, and then he was grabbing your hips, dragging you against him like he was starved for it. You grunted, twisting with him as you rolled over, bodies grappling for dominance even now, forcing your pants off to give your legs a full range of motion. 

You clawed at his skin biting down hard on Bucky's neck, marking him, dragging a sound from deep in his chest that was nothing short of feral. He hissed, teeth bared, his hands fumbling with his own waistband before he shoved his sweats down just far enough to free himself.

You didn’t get a warning. No teasing. No buildup.

He shoved into you with a growl, thick and deep and unforgiving. You gasped, the stretch stealing your breath and making your spine arch. He filled you to the hilt, every inch forcing you open until your walls fluttered around him, squeezing back instinctively. The friction was filthy, the burn sublime, your cunt gripping him with a desperate kind of greed.

"Fuck..." he snarled against your cheek, his voice shredded, ragged with the restraint it was costing him not to completely lose control.

You could feel the power in him, muscles tensed like coiled wire as he bottomed out, holding still just long enough for your body to adjust-but it wasn’t nearly enough. Your hips rolled up, instinctive and greedy, chasing the sensation like you needed more of him. Needed him to move, to wreck you. He responded immediately, a brutal snap of his hips that punched a sharp cry out of your throat, the sound swallowed by the thick, humid air.

You dug your heels into the mat, bracing, pulling him deeper as you arched up into every thrust. Your nails raked down his spine, dragging welts along sweat-slick skin. Your cunt clenched hard around him, squeezing tight like you never wanted to let him go, like your body was just as desperate as he was to keep him buried deep inside. He felt massive, every stroke grinding against your sweet spot, slick and devastating.

"Christ..." you gasped, voice wrecked, torn straight from your chest like gravel. You rocked back against him, eyes fluttering, your whole body a raw, trembling thing.

His breath hit your neck, hot and ragged. "You like that?"

You could barely answer, too strung out on the push and pull of his body-but you weren’t yielding. Not completely. One of your hands wrenched free of his grip and tangled in his hair, yanking his head back just enough to crash your mouth to his. It wasn’t a kiss. It was a challenge. A bite.

He snarled and surged forward, dragging you down to the mat fully, but you fought him for every inch of control-hips rolling up to meet his, mouth dragging along his jaw to nip at his throat, your legs locking tighter around his waist. You bit down hard on the hinge of his shoulder, grinning at the guttural sound it tore from his chest.

His hands found yours again, slamming them above your head, pinning you like a wild thing beneath him. But you didn’t go limp. You writhed, arched, snapped your teeth at his throat like you wanted to devour him.

"Fucking hell," he groaned, voice raw and wrecked. "You want to be on top that bad?"

"And let you have all the fun.." you hissed back, eyes blazing.

When he drove into you again, it wasn’t just lust-it was a challenge met, a battle accepted. A dare between beasts. It was teeth and sweat and the raw scrape of skin on skin. Moans caught between gritted teeth. Fingernails carving stories into flesh. Each thrust came with a brutal rhythm, deep and fast, his hips slamming into you with force that rattled through your bones.

You took it. Gave it back. Your cunt squeezed around him like a vise, greedy, refusing to let him retreat. You met him thrust for thrust, voice hoarse and wild, breath panting out curses and gasps.

"Come on, Barnes. You wanted a fight-fucking take it."

He snarled like an animal, dragging his mouth down your neck as he ground against your sweet spot. "You're gonna be the death of me."

"You should be so lucky," you spat as his teeth meat your skin. 

Your thighs trembled with the effort, but your fire didn’t fade. You rocked up hard, lips dragging along his jaw before sinking your teeth into his neck again, marking him with pride. You felt his cock twitch in response.

"You're not the only one who likes to bite, Barnes," you growled into his ear.

He hissed again, head tipping forward, the movement desperate. His hands fumbled, trying to grab your hips, trying to hold you still as you took control of the rhythm, riding him from beneath with nothing but fury and fire and hunger.

"You’re fuckin’ feral," he panted.

"You love it," you breathed, grinding harder.

"Yeah," he gasped. "Yeah, I fuckin’ do."

You weren’t being fucked. You were fucking him back. And he loved every damn second of it.

His pace turned punishing, hips slamming into yours with an obscene, wet sound. The mat beneath you squeaked with the force of it, the slap of skin-on-skin echoing loud in the gym. You couldn’t stay quiet-not when he was grinding into you just right, hitting that perfect angle with brutal consistency.

Your body jolted with each stroke, every nerve ending flaring as friction sparked raw heat beneath your skin. The stretch had your mouth falling open, your breath coming in faster bursts as your muscles twitched, clenching around him. Heat bloomed at the base of your spine, thick and molten, curling tighter with every brutal snap of his hips until it was all you could do to breathe.

"Fuck-god yes-"

He didn’t stop. Didn’t soften. He just growled, pulled out with a curse, and flipped you over in one effortless move, dragging your hips up until you were on your knees, chest still pressed to the mat.

"Thought you were tough," he rasped, voice scraping hot against your ear.

You barely caught your breath, heart hammering in your chest, your body still twitching with aftershocks, when he grabbed your hips and shoved back inside you from behind in one brutal, claiming thrust. The impact rocked you forward with a gasp, your hands bracing against the mat to keep from collapsing.

"Fuck, Bucky-"

His hips snapped forward, dragging a broken moan from your lips. "Say it again," he growled.

"Fuck, Bucky!"

He was deeper like this-thicker, overwhelming. You choked out a moan as your walls clamped down hard around him, the sound raw and broken. One of his hands wrapped tightly around the back of your neck, keeping you down, the pressure firm but grounding, while the other dragged between your legs with unrelenting purpose. His fingers found your clit and began rubbing ruthless, tight circles that made your entire body jump.

"That’s it. Give it to me," he murmured, low and possessive.

You bit down on your own forearm to stifle the sound building in your throat, but it was useless. The sensation was too much, too fast. The drag of him inside you was merciless-slick and raw, every stroke grinding against your tender walls, forcing you wider with each thrust. The sound of your bodies colliding was obscene, wet and rhythmic, as though he was carving himself into your core with every brutal snap of his hips. He didn’t just fill you-he overwhelmed you, like his cock was made to split you open and stay buried until you forgot anything but the pulse of him pounding into that aching spot deep inside. Your muscles tensed-shoulders, thighs, back-locking up like you were going to snap in half.

"I’m gonna-shit-Bucky, I’m-"

Your orgasm slammed into you like a freight train-merciless, sudden, all-consuming. Your vision went white at the edges as stars burst behind your eyelids, a raw scream tearing from your throat. Your body locked up, then convulsed, wave after wave of climax pulsing through you with maddening intensity. You twitched, your thighs quaking, your cunt spasming tight around him as overstimulation clawed at your nerves. A sob caught in your throat as he kept going, dragging every ounce of sensation from you until your muscles gave out entirely.

Behind you, Bucky snarled your name like a curse and a prayer, barely holding on. He slammed into you one final time and froze, his entire body trembling with restraint as your cunt clenched and fluttered around him, milking him with rhythmic, desperate spasms. His head dropped to your back, and for a moment he couldn’t even breathe.

"Fucking-god, you feel unreal," he choked out, hips giving a helpless jerk as he tried not to lose it too soon.

His hips jerked erratically, cock pulsing thick inside you. You felt the twitch and heat of him spilling deep, his release pushing you into another soft, shuddering aftershock. He bit down on your shoulder, hard enough to leave an imprint, muffling his cry as his orgasm tore through him.

"You’re mine," he gasped, nearly inaudible, more instinct than declaration.

Your body gave out first. You slumped to the mat, arms too weak to hold you up. "You..you think you won that fight?" you panted, half-laughing, half-broken.

He followed you down, still buried inside, both of you breathless and slick with sweat. For a long moment, there was only the sound of your ragged breathing and the quiet creak of the gym around you.

He sagged over your back for a long moment, still inside you, both of you panting, sweat dripping from his forehead to your spine.

Eventually Bucky pulled out with a groan and flopped beside you, still catching his breath.

Neither of you spoke.

Not yet.

"Think anyone heard that?"

You let out a dry laugh, turning your head slightly where it rested against the mat. "If they didn’t, they’ll see the marks tomorrow."

He let out a rough sound beside you, one arm flung over his eyes like it was the only thing keeping him grounded. "Gonna have to bullshit my way through a morning meeting."

"Not my problem," you said, still breathless but smiling. "I don’t recall you complaining."

"I’m not. But if I stand, I’m going to fall."

You snorted, finally shifting enough to flop onto your back, your chest still rising and falling. "You going to get in trouble?"

He rolled his head toward you, expression unreadable but softer around the edges. "Probably. You?"

You exhaled slowly. "Definitely."

A pause stretched between you, thick with the weight of what just happened. But when he passed you your tank, his fingers brushed yours-slow, warm, deliberate. Like he wanted you to notice.

"Same time next week?" he asked, a flicker of something more in his voice.

You met his gaze, smirking.

"Sooner."

TAGS: @ruexj283, @yesiamthatwierd, @trojanaurora, @hextech-bros

[tfpage]

‘CLICK’

Kaden snapped another photo of his shirtless body in the mirror. He didn’t dare look - he already knew how he’d feel about his lackluster appearance. He whipped his phone around a clicked ‘post’ before he could see it… but that hesitance didn’t last long - he stole a glance at the image on the post and gasped. “Come on! There’s no way I’ve gotten skinnier..” he said, shocked by what he saw. Kaden turned his phone off resignedly and sighed.

Sure, he’d come a long way since two years ago, when he started weightlifting. And granted, he wasn’t quite bad-looking. Lately, however, he was certain that he was stuck on a plateau. Kaden had tried everything, switching up his workout schedule, his split, doing more cardio, even changing his diet, but nothing had shown results for months. He’d begun attributing it to genetics, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it. He looked down and poked his flaccid musculature, face full of disappointment, grumbling to himself. “If only…” he whispered, and began to grab his things off the bench to leave.

Suddenly, as he was grabbing his keys, the lights cut out, causing Kaden to stumble. His feet flew out from under him, losing traction on a small puddle hidden in the darkness. He hit the back of his head on the bench on his way down, and fell in a heap on the cold tile. “Fuuuuuck…” he groaned, clutching his head. As he began to slowly sit up, moving like a 100 year old machine, he felt a wet spot and pulled his fingers back, squinting to see a spot of fresh blood on his hands. He let out another moan of pain and laid back down. After a moment, Kaden regained his senses, no longer dizzy, and felt around for his phone. “Yes!” He whispered, finding it under the bench. Then, “DamnnnnIT!” as the screen flickered on, revealing thoroughly shattered glass, and then quickly died. “Ugh!” He exclaimed. “Why now?” As he turned around to push himself up off the floor, he spotted something shining underneath the locker.

“what the-“ he said, and lowered his eye to the ground, peering below. What he saw astonished him; a sleek white can, with strange, glowing symbols emblazoned across the side. His eyes grew wide and his hand waded through the dust and debris in order to retrieve its treasure. He ripped the can out from beneath the locker and stood up with renewed, curiosity-fueled enthusiasm. He turned the can delicately in his hands, inspecting every facet of its surface. The strange, archaic runes resembled no language Kaden had ever seen. Although to be fair, he was no linguist. The can glimmered with a radiance only polished metal can offer, dazzling in the light but in the dark locker room, it was mysterious and enticing. “No nutrition label” he noted, realizing the can must not be an official product, despite the familiar disposition of the can. All his pain and disappointment earlier vanished as he contemplated discovering what lies within the otherworldly beverage. Or was it even a beverage? Kaden had to find out. He tilted the top toward him and reached to open the tab, but noticed some small lettering, originally unnoticed in the obscurity of the power outage. “Physical.. enhancement.. Shit man this is sick” he whispered in awe. He quickly popped the lid open, and the can released a thick blue fog into the air. He admires the swirling cloud for a moment, but unable to resist any longer, he chugs the whole can, excited for the possibilities it offers.

He waited for the results - but nothing happened. He looked anxiously in the mirror, his eyes adjusting to the darkness to make out… nothing. He was exactly the same. *sigh* “Well, so much for miracles” he said, giddy grin dropping off his face.

then suddenly, he feels something bubbling up within him, pushing through his veins and out into his muscles. The throbbing sensation continues up and down his body, making him shudder. He moans as he feels his arms expand like balloons, giving him the physique he always wanted. He stares at the mirror as two thick pecs push their way out of his chest, his shoulders plump up, widening his frame. He watches his forearms tense, his abs harden and solidify, and his biceps grow to bulging, hunky limbs. Kaden’s jaw drops at the sudden, drastic transformation. His eyes glide over his image in the mirror, slowly inspection every new detail of his body. His rippling abs, his huge biceps, his boulder shoulders - every inch of Kaden’s body had developed into a well-defined sea of powerful muscle.

All of a sudden, Kaden snaps out of the shock induced by his rapid muscular growth, and realizes what has happened. “Shit, man! I look amazing!” He says, dropping the can to the floor with a clatter.

He turned to face the full-length mirror mounted on the wall, and for a long moment, he just stared.

His physique was something he barely recognized now—thicker, more defined, like a sketch brought to life in raw, living muscle. His chest, once merely broad, now jutted forward with solid mass, each pec sharply divided down the middle. His abs ran down his torso like a granite staircase, glistening under the locker room lights, the deep grooves between each muscle casting shadows that made them look even more carved.

Kaden tilted his head slightly, examining his shoulders—boulders of muscle that flowed seamlessly into thick, corded arms. His forearms were ropey and vascular, veins pulsing just beneath the surface. A layer of fine sweat clung to him, highlighting every line and curve of his form.

With slow, deliberate motion, he raised his right arm, curling it up beside his head. As his hand formed a loose fist, the bicep began to swell, tightening like a rising wave of stone. It peaked high and round, pulling the skin taut across its surface. The motion felt powerful, almost instinctive. He watched the muscle grow and shift, felt the deep stretch in his tendon, the satisfying burn as the pump settled in.

He flexed harder.

The peak surged higher. Veins throbbed along his bicep and forearm like living wires. His tricep flared out behind it in opposition, completing the perfect symmetry of raw power. A grin spread across his face—not cocky, but appreciative. He leaned a little closer to the mirror, rotating his wrist to catch a new angle.

“Look at that…” he whispered, his voice rough with awe.

He wasn’t just in shape anymore. He was something else—sculpted, sharpened, evolved. And in that quiet, echoing space, Kaden stood in front of his reflection, not just admiring himself but becoming the image he’d always envisioned. A living monument of strength.

And he hadn’t even flexed the other arm yet.

Kaden held the pose for another few seconds, relishing the feeling of power coiled beneath his skin. The mirror reflected everything—the bulge of his bicep, the curve of his delt, the tight stretch of veins threading down his forearm. But as he slowly lowered his arm, something caught his eye. Something subtle. Something off.

He leaned in closer to the mirror, narrowing his eyes. At first, he thought it was just a trick of the dark locker room—a shadow, maybe. But no. It was real.

A faint dusting of dark hair was beginning to creep across his chest, much thicker than it had been even minutes ago. The fine line of fuzz between his pecs had deepened, grown coarser, branching out across the sculpted terrain of his torso. He brushed a hand over it instinctively. It felt… new. Not like the sweat-damp hair he sometimes noticed after a long workout. This was different. Thicker. Wilder.

Then he caught sight of his face.

His jawline, which he’d shaved clean that morning, now bore a fine coating of stubble—dark, sharp, and spreading fast. He leaned closer, fingers brushing over the roughness spreading along his cheeks and down toward his neck. His skin tingled beneath the touch, warm and alive, as if something beneath the surface was pushing outward, insisting on more.

“What the hell…” he muttered under his breath.

In the span of seconds, the fine shadow on his jaw had thickened into a full-blown beard. Dark, coarse hair now framed his face, spreading along his jawline, connecting up to his sideburns, even crawling subtly down his neck. He ran his fingers over it in disbelief—the sensation was real. The beard was dense, warm, masculine in a way that made his chiseled features look sharper, wilder.

His hand lingered there, fingertips grazing the unfamiliar growth. He hadn’t had facial hair like this since… well, never. It was as though his face had aged five years in five minutes—rugged, untamed, but still undeniably his.

The hair on his arms was thicker now too, standing out against the swell of his muscles. Not just growing—but accelerating. With each passing second, his body seemed to be claiming a new form, inch by inch. Not just stronger. Not just bigger.

Something else was happening. Something primal.

Kaden stared into his own eyes— still familiar—but with a flicker of something wild glinting in their depths.

The air felt hotter now. The silence around him, heavier.

Kaden’s hand shook just slightly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, the cold metal a stark contrast to the heat pulsing through his veins. With a trembling thumb he hit record, angling the camera so both his reflection and the torn remnants of his workout shirt were in view. “This is insane,” he whispered, voice tight but excited, as he captured the faint ripples of new beard growth and the coarse dark hairs sprouting across his chest. Every few seconds he paused, zooming in on his bicep or tracing the emerging fur on his forearm, his eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and fascination. Even as the hair continued its rapid spread, Kaden’s grip on the phone held steady—he needed proof, a timestamped record of a change that felt like it was ripping reality in two.

Then, almost as if triggered by the camera’s lens, his muscles surged again. His biceps ballooned beyond anything human, swelling into colossal peaks that strained the mirror’s reflection; veins snaked across them like braided cables, thundering with life. His chest heaved outward, each pec splitting into sharply defined slabs, and the deep grooves of his abs grew even deeper, casting dramatic shadows under the locker room lights. The transformation wasn’t just growth—it was an eruption of power, turning Kaden into a living testament to raw strength. His skin tightened so much it gleamed, as though polished, while veins bulged and throbbed under its surface, mapping every contour of his new, unprecedented form.

A low hum of energy seemed to pulse through Kaden’s veins as he watched, transfixed, in the mirror. What had started as a modest dusting of stubble now erupted into a dense, downy undercoat that spread from his jaw and neck down across the broad planes of his chest. The hairs thickened into coarse, wolf-like fur, each strand growing longer by the second. Kaden could almost feel the weight of it, a soft but unmistakable mat of hair brushing against his shredded abs and wrapping around the ridges of his serratus. His arms, once smooth and bare, became sheathed in a dark, plush covering that climbed over his shoulders, engulfing his traps and creeping up into his hairline, where his scalp hair lengthened and darkened in tandem.

He exhaled sharply as the transformation engulfed his lower body: a creeping tide of hair that raced down his sides, engulfed his hips, and flowed over his quadriceps like a thick pelt. The fine hairs on his forearms thickened into bristly fur, and even the backs of his hands sprouted tufts between his newly elongated fingers and claws. His legs, too, transformed—fine vellus hair erupted into a living covering that rippled with each flex of muscle, hiding the sharp definition beneath. In moments, where once had been smooth human skin was now an unbroken expanse of lustrous, dark fur—every inch of him a wild tapestry of hair, masculine strength, and feral instinct.

Kaden’s breath hitched as he felt a peculiar tug in the center of his face—his nose stretching forward, cartilage reshaping into a broad, wet muzzle. His nostrils flared open, growing wider and more sensitive to every scent in the locker room. Simultaneously, a sharp ache behind his temples marked the migration of his ears: the flesh and cartilage sliding up and back until they perched atop his skull, now pointed and triangular like a wolf’s. As the bone structure shifted, a thick down of fur sprouted across his cheeks and jaw, brushing against the coarse growth of his beard and merging into a seamless coat. 

His nose had lengthened into a broad, wet muzzle; the cartilage reshaped itself into powerful nostrils that flared with newfound sensitivity. The flesh behind his temples creaked and slid upward, carrying his ears to the crown of his head, where they now landed as tall, triangular wolf’s ears fringed with tufts of dark fur. Fine whiskers sprouted at the corners of his mouth, quivering against the coarse growth of his beard, while a thick down of fur blossomed across his cheeks and forehead. With a final ripple of muscle beneath that fur, the last vestiges of his human face smoothed into a perfect fusion of man and wolf.

From there, the transformation painted itself across his entire body. His broad shoulders and bulging chest, already sculpted like marble, were now sheathed in a dense pelt of lustrous, charcoal-gray fur. A powerful tail unfurled from the base of his spine, swishing with deliberate force. His arms and legs—already pillars of muscle—took on a more lupine form: digitigrade legs ending in padded paws, arms tipped with retractable claws that slid free with a satisfying click. Every fiber of his being hummed with strength; veins pulsed beneath fur so taut over corded muscles that it gleamed like burnished metal under the locker room lights.

He lifted a clawed hand and ran it over his chest, marveling at the sensation of fur brushing against his fingertips, the electric thrill of raw power radiating through his core. Tilting his head, he flexed his neck, feeling each sinew and ridge in his throat as he tested the weight of his new jaw. Deep down, a low growl of satisfaction rumbled in his chest—no longer a whisper of surprise, but a roar of ownership. In the mirror, he saw not a man in a beast’s body, but a perfect hybrid: razor-sharp fangs glinting, golden eyes blazing with feral intelligence, and a physique that married human form to lupine ferocity.

With a sudden, ecstatic movement, Kaden slipped his phone into his pocket, eager to show off just for himself, no recording required, and dropped into a classic bodybuilding pose. He lowered both arms to his sides, flexing his triceps and biceps until the veins stood out like braided cables beneath the fur. He moved into a side chest pose, one paw planted firmly on his fur-covered forearm, the other pressing against his bulge, attempting to hide his glee at the situation, despite the initial strangeness of the second transformation. Muscles pressing against his fur-covered skin, Kaden watched the ripples of muscle dance under the dense coat. Finally, he lowered himself into a powerful lunge, tail swishing, claws digging into the floor, and let out a triumphant, echoing howl that shook the lockers around him. In that moment, Kaden didn’t just see his new form—he embodied it.

[thebleedingwoodland]

TS3 World Adventures - Mooncakes & Mooncake Machine Maker Remastered: Mooncake Mesh & Texture with Enhanced Graphics & Enabled to Buy Mode & Renamed Mod (All Languages) & Icons Replacement Mod

D E F A U L T   R E P L A C E M E N T

New custom Mooncake mesh & texture, to replace EA's "Fortune Cookies" machine maker and edible cake taken from machine maker with working Geostates & animation

EA's graphics from 512x512 with noise was enhanced to 1024x1024 with less noise and adding Simlish Hanzi to replace EA's "bad handwriting" texture on the machine maker. Click this picture below to enlarge.

Enabled to Buy Mode (Appliances > Miscellaneous Appliances), for easy access no need to type cheat "Buydebug" mode ever again.

STBL Renamed mod, from "Fortune Cookies" to "Mooncakes" translated to all languages.

月餅 （Yuèbǐng）= Moon Cake

ⓘ For language translations except Chinese, I use online translator to change word "Fortune Cookies" ---> "Mooncakes" & "Mooncake" depending on singular and plural context. Feel free to correct in comment section if you feel the translation and the grammar is wrong or I accidentally deleted other word.

Icons changed from EA's Fortune Cookies to Mooncake

Reason why I made the change:

Because Shang Simla is taking place in China, not American Chinatown, thus the portrayal of the cookies should be authentic of actual China in real life, not American cookies that are foreign to actual Chinese people. Fortune Cookies are U.S.A.- made cookies: American invention originating in California. History of Fortune Cookies (source: fancyfortunecookies.com) Mooncakes are cakes originated from China, dates back over 3,000 years to ancient China. Mooncakes are a traditional treat during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

Mooncakes are the must-eat Mid-Autumn food in China. They are a traditional Chinese pastry. Their round shape and sweet flavor symbolize completeness and sweetness. At the Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes together with family, or present mooncakes to relatives or friends, to express their love and best wishes. Mooncakes are usually eaten after dinner while admiring the moon. History of Mooncakes in China... (source: chinahighlights.com) Fortune Cookies are made in USA and only exist in USA, but mistaken by USA people themselves as "Chinese" cookies just because the cookies are sold in American Chinese restaurant in USA. We actual Chinese live on our country have never seen Fortune Cookies, as we only know the presence of those cookies in Hollywood (U.S.A.) movies. Not just culture inaccuracy, I enabled this machine maker in Buy Mode section for easy access because this item must have been forgotten in the corner and only been played once when the player visit Shang Simla.

Colour & Presets: Same as original EA's: 3 Presets & original EA's Fortune Cookies Machine Maker colour channels.

How to Change Default EA's Fortune Cookies to Mooncake in Shang Simla world.

Fortune Cookies maker in Shang Simla doesn't automatically change to Mooncake due to different coding in-game.

❗You must buy Mooncake Machine Maker from Buy Mode (Appliances > Miscellaneous Appliances) to load the texture first, then travel to Shang Simla world, do "Reset Textures" using Nraas' Debug Enabler.

You need to install Nraas' Debug Enabler (Core mod by Twallan) in order to work correctly ❗

Follow these steps to reset textures: 

Click on the Fortune Cookies Maker > Nraas > Debug Enabler > Options: Lucky Factory Mooncake Maker > Object… > Reset Textures > (Choose one) All Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.Appliances.FortuneCookieMaker or This Object

Requirement: World Adventures Expansion Pack

Thank you credits: - Simlish Hanzi: Komorebigo font by Deastrumquodvicis - Mooncake Vector: by Shutterstock - Mid-Autumn Festival Vector & Images by Freepik

Instance code compatibility: 0x010F16B00BA8342B

As usual, install one of these packages on Package folder. You can safely delete the package if you no longer want to use the default replacement.

[ Download Mooncake Machine Default Replacement ]

Language Translations: Click this picture below to enlarge.

[the-cosmic-cauldron]

☾𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟: 𝔻𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟 ☾

Welcome to 10 Days, 10 Posts from The Cosmic Cauldron! Over the next ten days, I’ll be sharing a blend of astrology and tarot posts, each designed to spark your curiosity and guide your journey. If you find my content interesting, fascinating, or engaging, be sure to click the follow button for more! Ready to dive deeper into your personal journey? Head to my homepage and book a reading — you won’t regret it.

𝒜𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🐏

An Aries Moon can present challenges due to the incompatibility between Mars (which rules Aries) and the Moon. Mars is outwardly focused, action-driven, aggressive, and full of desires, while the Moon is more introspective, focusing on emotions and nurturing. Because of this, Aries Moons struggle with internalizing their emotions; instead, they tend to act on them impulsively. Their emotions don’t get processed internally—they are expressed through immediate action, which often leads to impulsiveness.

Mars is aggressive, while the Moon is nurturing, so Aries Moons often struggle with nurturing others. When they give, it’s often done in an aggressive manner, rather than with emotional warmth or sentimentality. For example, if they want to give you a gift, it may be practical or something you’ve requested, but there’s no underlying emotional connection or thoughtfulness. They act, but they don’t take the time to ponder how their actions may make you feel.

Additionally, Mars is very active, and when placed in the Moon’s emotional position, it makes Aries Moons experience their emotions through actions. For instance, when an Aries Moon feels angry, they will channel it into action—perhaps by hitting a pillow or even a person. If they’re sad, they might act out destructively, such as drinking or indulging in reckless behavior. Emotions for an Aries Moon are always linked to an action, which makes them prone to acting on their feelings without considering the consequences. This makes an Aries Moon potentially volatile, as they don’t simply sit with their emotions—they act on them, which can be highly dangerous. This is why having the Moon in Aries can be a challenging placement.

𝒯𝒶𝓊𝓇𝓊𝓈 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🐂

Taurus and the Moon are in a harmonious position together because Taurus is ruled by Venus, and the Moon appreciates the beauty that Venus brings. This creates a natural compatibility between the two, with Venus enhancing the Moon’s qualities. Venusian energy is associated with physical beauty, and when Taurus occupies the Moon position, it leads to a focus on how one feels, not just how one looks. For example, a Taurus Sun might primarily focus on appearance, and a Taurus Rising might prioritize external beauty. However, a Taurus Moon values not only looking good but also feeling good. They connect their emotions to their physical image and surroundings. If they feel confident and beautiful, they want to express that through their appearance and environment. Their aesthetic is rooted in how they want to feel. For a Taurus Moon, this means creating a space that is calm, peaceful, and aligned with their sense of well-being.

The Venusian energy enhances this by providing a grounding influence. While Taurus Suns or Risings might focus more on surface-level beauty, the Moon’s influence brings a deeper connection to feeling good on the inside and outside. Taurus Moons are natural nurturers, and the Moon’s nurturing energy amplifies this trait. They are more likely to care for others, offer meaningful gifts, prepare beautiful meals, and provide nurturing in a physical, hands-on way. Whether it’s caring for people, animals, or even plants, Taurus Moons enjoy giving love and attention.

Because Taurus is an Earth sign, practicality is also important. This is why this placement is beneficial—while the Moon and Venus bring emotional depth and beauty, Taurus’s Earth nature ensures that the emotions stay grounded. A Taurus Moon seeks balance, ensuring that their emotions are steady and manageable. While Libra might be known for seeking balance, Taurus Moons crave stability in their emotions. They want to feel loved, appreciated, and calm. When their emotions become intense, Taurus Moons prefer to ground themselves, bringing their emotions back to a peaceful, centered state. This makes the Taurus Moon a particularly stable and nurturing placement for the Moon.

𝒢ℯ𝓂𝒾𝓃𝓊 ℳℴℴ𝓃 👯

For Gemini Moons, this is not an ideal placement because Gemini is ruled by Mercury, an air sign. First, being ruled by Mercury means that when it comes to their emotions, Gemini Moons prefer to talk about them and think through them. This leads to a certain detachment from their feelings, as they focus more on analyzing and processing their emotions rather than experiencing them directly. They often struggle to understand how they truly feel because they don’t give themselves enough time to simply feel before trying to dissect, analyze, or communicate it.

In an air sign like Gemini, this detachment is further emphasized. Instead of experiencing their emotions from a deep, emotional realm, they approach them from a rational, intellectual perspective. These individuals aren’t as concerned with feeling or understanding why they feel a certain way; instead, they focus on expressing what the emotion is and how it impacts them or others on a rational level. In this placement, the Moon—associated with emotions and the heart—clashes with Mercury’s intellectual and analytical nature. The Moon doesn’t like being in a position where it’s reduced to mere analysis, as it seeks to be felt deeply, not processed or dissected.

Additionally, Gemini is more social and communicative, but not particularly nurturing. When it comes to nurturing, Gemini Moons express it through social interactions—talking, sharing ideas, and engaging in conversation. This is a form of giving, but it’s not the type of nurturing the Moon seeks. The Moon prefers emotional depth and connection, and Gemini’s form of nurturing feels unconventional and may not be perceived as nurturing by others.

While the Moon is introspective, Gemini Moons tend to introspect in a theoretical, logical way, focusing on ideas and intellectual processes rather than diving into the emotional depths. As a result, the Moon feels neglected in this placement, as it is not being seen or honored in its true form. Gemini Moons are more focused on others and on how their emotions might impact people intellectually, but their emotional depth is often overlooked. This creates discomfort for the Moon, making this an uneasy position.

𝒞𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓇 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🦀

The Cancer Moon is at home in this position because the Moon is conjunct with the Moon, which amplifies and intensifies the Moon’s energy. The Cancer Moon is deeply introspective and processes emotions by truly feeling them. They don’t just acknowledge their emotions—they experience them deeply and try to understand the root of their feelings. They seek emotional depth by reflecting on why they feel the way they do and striving to understand the underlying causes.

Cancer Moons are natural nurturers, and this instinct is only heightened in this placement. They have a strong desire to care for others, tend to things, and make everyone feel comfortable and cozy. With both the Moon and Cancer aligning, their emotions are strongly connected to the heart. They don’t analyze their feelings intellectually; instead, they experience and process them from within, allowing the Moon’s energy to flow freely through them. This enables them to be fully in tune with their emotional nature.

The Moon, being cyclical, runs in phases, and since Cancer is ruled by the Moon, they naturally align with this cycle. They don’t feel disoriented by the Moon’s changing phases; rather, they’ve adapted to this ebb and flow of emotions. Their emotions constantly change, and their mind, body, and heart are accustomed to this fluidity. In this position, the Moon feels at ease and comfortable, allowing Cancer Moons to experience their emotions fully. They feel deeply, and although they may not always enjoy the unpleasant emotions, they appreciate the process of feeling.

This connection to their feelings is what makes Cancer intuitive. By not overthinking their emotions, they are able to tap into their gut instincts and connect to their hearts, which enhances their intuition. Feeling deeply is also part of what makes them empathetic and understanding. Having navigated their own emotional experiences, Cancer Moons have developed a deep compassion and understanding for others, making them sensitive to the emotions of those around them.

ℒℯℴ ℳℴℴ𝓃 🦁

Leo in the Moon position is not ideal because Leo is ruled by the Sun, which thrives on shining brightly, bringing radiance, and being extroverted. The Sun loves to be seen, while the Moon is dark, elusive, and introverted. When the Sun’s energy is applied to the Moon, it forces the Moon to take on qualities that are inherently contradictory to its nature. The Moon no longer seeks to remain hidden and introverted; instead, it is compelled to radiate and be visible. This makes the Leo Moon person uncomfortable because the Moon’s natural tendency is to be internal, introspective, and private.

In this position, Leo’s desire for attention, recognition, and validation becomes more pronounced. The Moon, which typically hides emotions, is now shining them into the open. The result is a person who feels vulnerable, yet Leo’s pride resists vulnerability. They are torn between the internal, private nature of the Moon and the outward, attention-seeking energy of Leo. This creates a struggle, as the Leo Moon person is compelled to show their emotions but doesn’t want to be vulnerable or exposed.

This dynamic can create a situation where, during times of intense emotion, the Leo Moon’s feelings become apparent to everyone. They may wear their emotions on their sleeve, but once those emotions fade, they retreat into a more secretive or elusive state, creating an inconsistent and sometimes confusing emotional expression.

Ultimately, Leo Moons experience a dichotomy: they crave recognition, yet their pride keeps them from openly showing their vulnerability. The Moon’s natural tendency to hide and internalize is at odds with Leo’s desire to be seen and acknowledged. This creates an uncomfortable tension for the Leo Moon person, as the Moon wants to dim the Sun’s shine, but Leo’s sun-like energy ensures that their emotions are inevitably exposed.

𝒱𝒾𝓇𝑔ℴ ℳℴℴ𝓃 🌾

The Virgo Moon is a better placement for the Moon than the Gemini Moon because, while Gemini is ruled by Mercury and governed by the air element, the air energy takes us too far from what the Moon craves. The Moon seeks emotional depth and connection, but the air element creates a discrepancy with the Moon’s nature. Gemini’s emotional process is more intellectual, cerebral, and detached, leading to a lack of true emotional engagement. In contrast, Virgo shares similarities with Gemini in terms of processing, rationalizing, and analyzing emotions, often leaning into their intellect. However, Virgo is an earth sign, and the earth element provides the Moon with grounding, which Gemini’s air energy cannot.

The earth element offers a stable, absorbing quality that allows the Moon’s emotions to be grounded. Earth is like a sponge that absorbs water, creating a safe and stable space for emotional energy to flow, just like water washing up on sand. This grounding is beneficial for the Moon because it allows emotions to be processed in a more stable, less chaotic way. Therefore, the Virgo Moon is not a terrible position for the Moon.

However, the Virgo Moon struggles with perfectionism and refinement, which can be challenging in the emotional realm. Virgo has a natural desire to improve and perfect, and this trait extends to their emotions. Instead of fully feeling and experiencing their emotions, Virgo strives to purify them and make them “better.” Since emotions are fluid and ever-changing, this can lead to frustration. A Virgo Moon might try to move from a sad emotional state to a happy one without truly dealing with the sadness, attempting to refine their feelings to reach a more “acceptable” emotional state.

For example, a Virgo Moon might feel sad but won’t want to experience that sadness. They will try to shift themselves into a more positive emotion, such as happiness, without fully processing the sadness. In doing so, Virgo may engage in activities like shopping, socializing, or working on a project, all in an effort to “fix” their emotional state. However, this avoidance means they don’t truly engage with their feelings. Instead, they try to move from one emotional state to another, leaving little room for introspection or genuine emotional expression.

This desire for emotional refinement can also impact their interactions with others. When someone around a Virgo Moon is sad, the Virgo might try to “fix” the situation by offering solutions or suggesting ways to be happy, rather than simply sitting with the person’s emotions. This can come across as lacking empathy or compassion, as they are more focused on changing the emotional state than truly understanding or supporting the person.

While this grounding and attempt to stabilize emotions are helpful compared to the Gemini Moon’s purely intellectual approach, the Virgo Moon’s tendency to overanalyze and attempt to perfect emotions makes this placement less ideal for the Moon. Still, it is a better placement than the Gemini Moon, where emotional engagement is often too detached and cerebral. At least the Virgo Moon is trying to ground and process emotions, even if it struggles with perfectionism and emotional avoidance.

ℒ𝒾𝒷𝓇𝒶 ℳℴℴ𝓃 ⚖️

The Libra Moon is not a terrible position for the Moon; it has both good qualities and some discrepancies, much like the Virgo Moon. Libra is ruled by Venus, and Venus is attracted to the Moon because they share an affinity for what the other offers. Venus enjoys the essence of the Moon, and the Moon enjoys the essence of Venus. Both bring beauty to the table, but they express it in different ways. Venus is more external, while the Moon is internal, creating a dynamic where they complement each other, but not always in harmony.

Libra, however, is an air sign, and air energy does not naturally align with the Moon’s qualities. Air is about facts, concrete knowledge, analysis, socialization, and communication. The Moon, on the other hand, is an internal, emotional planet, not focused on socializing. The combination of Libra’s air energy with the Moon’s internal nature creates a bit of a disconnect. While Libra desires connection, communication, and social engagement, the Moon encourages introspection, making it harder for Libra to express these desires outwardly.

People with a Libra Moon have a deep yearning for human connection—they want nothing more than to be around people, relate to others, and form bonds. However, this desire remains internalized. They feel the need for connection, but they don’t always express it, which can lead to a sense of longing for closeness without fully understanding how to achieve it. This emotional need is intensified by the Venusian influence, as Libra Moons are naturally inclined to love and connect with others.

The challenge for a Libra Moon is that, while they crave connection, they often lose touch with their own emotions in the process. They can become so focused on the need for connection that they lose their own emotional perspective. This desire for connection can lead to people-pleasing tendencies. If a Libra Moon cannot find the relationships they desire, they may resort to people-pleasing just to form connections, as their emotional world revolves around these connections.

Libra Moons also struggle with being alone. They find it difficult to exist without others, and being alone can feel uncomfortable. One of the complexities of the Libra Moon is that, being an air sign, they do not naturally express their emotions in a genuine, heartfelt way. Instead, they tend to rationalize their feelings, often explaining their emotions with logic and reason. This can give the impression that they are not being truthful about their emotions, especially to water signs, who are more in tune with their emotional depths. A Libra Moon might seem like they’re lying, but in reality, they’re simply processing their emotions intellectually. They may present a rational explanation for why they feel a certain way, even though this reasoning doesn’t necessarily reflect the true emotional experience beneath the surface.

While this is not a bad placement, it can be challenging for people who think that constantly seeking connection is a negative trait. The Libra Moon’s emotional world centers around finding connection, but the rationalization of their feelings can create a disconnection with their true emotional nature. It may not be the best placement for the Moon, but it is certainly not the worst.

𝒮𝒸ℴ𝓇𝓅𝒾ℴ ℳℴℴ𝓃 🦂

A Scorpio Moon is a very afflicted placement for the Moon, and many people don’t understand why. They often think that since the Moon represents emotions and Scorpio is a water sign—associated with emotions—it should be a perfect match. However, this is not the case, and we’re going to explore why.

First, Scorpio is ruled by two planets: Mars and Pluto. As we discussed with the Aries Moon earlier, Mars energy is active and impulsive, often driving individuals to act on their emotions rather than process them. The Moon, however, prefers to process emotions and reflect on them. The Martian energy is not compatible with the Moon’s more introspective nature, and this is the same issue with the Scorpio Moon. While Scorpio is ruled by Mars, it also has Pluto as a co-ruler, which adds another layer of complexity.

Mars energy makes the Scorpio Moon impulsive with their emotions. They tend to act on their feelings without taking time to process them, just as Aries does. However, the difference with Scorpio is that Pluto’s energy transforms this emotional impulsiveness. Pluto brings darkness and depth to the Scorpio Moon’s emotions. It is a heavy, intense, and transformative energy that deals with trauma, pain, and regeneration.

So why doesn’t the Moon thrive in this position? The Moon is introspective and emotional, but it is not equipped to handle the extreme depths of Pluto’s energy. While Scorpio’s introspection aligns with the Moon’s need for self-reflection, Pluto requires individuals to dive into the darkest, rawest parts of themselves, accessing emotions from a place of deep trauma. The Moon deals with our everyday, cyclical emotions, but Pluto takes Scorpio Moons to a far more intense and profound emotional depth. This makes their emotions incredibly intense and difficult for the Moon to process, as they are not accustomed to such deep, heavy feelings.

The Scorpio Moon feels emotions so deeply that the Moon struggles to understand how to deal with them. The emotional intensity is extreme, and emotions linger for long periods due to Pluto’s influence. This slow, transformative process stands in contrast to the Moon’s tendency to move more quickly through emotions. Pluto’s slow-moving energy means that Scorpio Moons feel their emotions for a long time, transforming them at their core. This creates an imbalance because the Moon, which seeks comfort and security, is at odds with Scorpio’s desire for change and transformation. The Moon seeks familiarity and coziness, while Scorpio seeks the opposite—radical transformation. The Moon doesn’t feel comfortable with Pluto’s need to change and disrupt, and Scorpio is not naturally inclined to nurture emotions in a comforting way.

Furthermore, Scorpio is not inherently a nurturing sign. While it knows how to be intimate, sexual, and aggressive, it doesn’t excel at nurturing in the way the Moon typically desires. Scorpio’s energy is more about intimacy and deep connection rather than the comfort and care that the Moon craves. For Scorpio Moons, nurturing often comes through sexual intimacy or deep emotional connections, but not in the traditional sense of nurturing.

In summary, the Scorpio Moon is an extremely intense and difficult placement. It deals with deep, dark emotions that the Moon is not accustomed to handling. The Moon’s desire for comfort and stability is at odds with Scorpio’s transformative, uncomfortable energy. This placement often indicates that the individual has experienced deep trauma or pain in their life—something that has left a lasting impact. It is one of the most challenging placements for the Moon, as the emotional depths and intensity are difficult to manage, and there is little room for the Moon’s usual processing and reflection.

𝒮𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓉𝓉𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓊𝓈 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🏹

The Sagittarius Moon is generally considered to be in a good position, though it does have its caveats. This placement benefits from the combination of the Moon and Jupiter, which together create a person who is typically upbeat, light-hearted, and enjoys having fun. Jupiter’s energy brings abundance to emotions, amplifying whatever the Sagittarius Moon feels. This means that when a Sagittarius Moon feels happy, they feel truly joyous and excited, and their optimism is contagious. Jupiter’s influence instills an overall sense of hope, making them confident that they can overcome challenges, even when they feel down.

However, there are drawbacks to this placement as well. While Jupiter’s energy is expansive, the Moon seeks comfort and security. This creates a conflict because the Sagittarius Moon craves emotional comfort but also has a strong desire to expand and move forward. The Moon’s energy doesn’t always align with Sagittarius’ need for constant growth and exploration, leading to a tension between wanting emotional stability and the urge to push forward. As a result, Sagittarius Moons often find it difficult to fully process their emotions, as their desire to keep moving forward can cause them to detach from their feelings.

This detachment means that Sagittarius Moons often prioritize their beliefs over their emotions. The Moon calls for emotional reflection, while Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, focuses on beliefs and the expansion of knowledge. As a result, the Sagittarius Moon may become more absorbed in their beliefs, sometimes to the point of being inflexible. This can create challenges, as their emotions may conflict with their beliefs, causing them to suppress or discard their feelings. Similarly, if someone else’s emotions challenge their beliefs, the Sagittarius Moon may distance themselves from that person in order to maintain their sense of forward momentum and optimism.

Despite these challenges, the Sagittarius Moon can be a very positive placement in certain respects. When they are happy, their energy is contagious, and others are often drawn to their enthusiasm. However, the expansive nature of Jupiter means that when a Sagittarius Moon is sad or angry, those emotions are also amplified, and their intensity can affect those around them. In summary, while the Sagittarius Moon brings an abundance of optimism and confidence, it also requires a balancing act between emotional detachment and the need for emotional growth.

𝒞𝒶𝓅𝓇𝒾𝒸ℴ𝓇𝓃 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🐐

The Capricorn Moon is considered a challenging position for the Moon because Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. Saturn’s energy is inherently heavy, but it differs from the intensity of Pluto’s energy. While Pluto seeks to delve into the depths of things to transform them, Saturn focuses on long-term goals, requiring persistence through obstacles to achieve success. This creates a tension with the Moon, which is centered on emotions, comfort, and nurturing. Saturn, by contrast, is not concerned with emotions but with structure, discipline, and responsibility.

In this position, Capricorn Moons often feel like their emotions are another task or duty they must manage. They approach their emotions with a sense of responsibility or work, rather than simply feeling and processing them naturally. This makes it difficult for them to connect with their emotional needs because they feel a constant pressure to focus on achievement, future goals, and meeting expectations. This drive to “do” rather than “feel” can leave them struggling with a sense of inadequacy, as Saturn’s heavy energy creates a burden of responsibility and the belief that they must constantly prove themselves or succeed in life.

Saturn’s influence dampens the Moon’s natural emotional expression, making the emotions more serious, rigid, and subdued. While the Moon doesn’t inherently dislike seriousness, Saturn’s rigid nature often leads to emotional repression. Capricorn Moons tend to suppress their feelings over long periods, focusing instead on long-term objectives. However, because the Moon is deeply emotional and cyclical, this suppression can build up over time, leading to emotional triggers that release those pent-up feelings in intense ways.

Another challenge is the fundamental difference in pacing. The Moon is fast-moving and cyclical, while Saturn is slow and deliberate. Capricorn Moons often struggle to process emotions quickly, preferring to move through them slowly, which can make them feel disconnected from the present. This slowness, combined with Saturn’s heaviness, can create a sense of emotional darkness or neglect. The Moon finds Saturn’s harsh and rigid energy uncomfortable, as it conflicts with the Moon’s need for comfort and fluidity.

Overall, the Capricorn Moon carries a sense of emotional duty, often prioritizing long-term goals and external expectations over immediate emotional needs. While this placement can create disciplined and resilient individuals, it also requires conscious effort to address and process emotions in a healthy and present way.

𝒜𝓆𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓊𝓈 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🪣

Aquarius moons, like Capricorn moons, share Saturn as a ruler. This gives Aquarius moons a certain similarity to Capricorn moons, particularly in their serious approach to emotions, focus on accomplishments, and drive toward achievement and upholding societal norms. However, Aquarius also has Uranus as its co-ruler. This dual rulership creates a unique dynamic: while Saturn represents structure, discipline, and tradition, Uranus introduces a rebellious, future-focused energy that shakes things up.

The moon, by its nature, is tied to the past and thrives on comfort, emotional security, and absorption. In contrast, Uranus is abrupt, chaotic, and forward-looking, creating a natural tension. Uranus dislikes the moon’s focus on the past, while the moon resists Uranus’s erratic and disruptive energy. The moon also leans toward emotional depth and nurturing, whereas Uranus prioritizes intellect, innovation, and progression, often disregarding emotional needs.

For Aquarius moons, this means detachment becomes a necessity. To stay aligned with their cerebral, air-driven qualities, they often distance themselves from the emotional core of situations. Uranus thrives on change—abrupt, unexpected change that is not like Pluto’s deep, transformative cycles. Uranian change is sudden and driven by a need for novelty and forward movement. Anytime Saturn’s steady and traditional energy feels too dominant, Uranus intervenes, creating abrupt pivots to maintain newness and progress.

This is where the moon struggles. The moon craves cycles, predictability, and nurturing energy. Uranus, however, rejects cycles in favor of unpredictability and progression. For Aquarius moons, emotions can feel like a burden, something that slows them down. They often detach from emotional matters to focus on innovation, the bigger picture, and collective ideals.

While the moon moves quickly through predictable phases, Uranus is erratic and wild, disrupting the moon’s natural rhythm. Aquarius moons, therefore, feel pulled between these conflicting energies. They may neglect or suppress their emotions to prioritize intellect and future-oriented goals. Their focus is on propelling society forward, often at the expense of personal emotional connection and intimate nurturing.

This is why the moon is uncomfortable in Aquarius. It’s not the worst placement, but it’s far from ideal. The moon prefers the warmth and emotional depth of water or the stability and grounding of earth. Air signs, especially Aquarius with its erratic Uranian influence, can feel too detached and cerebral for the moon’s natural tendencies.

In summary, Aquarius moons prioritize intellect, innovation, and the future. They often struggle to connect emotionally and tend to suppress their feelings to avoid being weighed down. This makes them focused on societal progression and big ideals, but it also creates tension with the moon’s inherent need for emotional connection, security, and nurturing cycles.

𝒫𝒾𝓈𝒸ℯ𝓈 ℳℴℴ𝓃 🐠

The Pisces moon tends to thrive in this position because Pisces is a water sign, naturally connected to emotions, just as the moon is. Both energies resonate with intuition, sensitivity, and emotional depth. However, there’s a tricky dynamic with Pisces due to its co-rulers, Neptune and Jupiter.

Neptune and the moon can work harmoniously, but this combination can also distort reality. The Neptunian influence in Pisces can amplify traits like imagination and emotional depth, but it can also exasperate a lack of grounding, practicality, or realism. This placement may cause individuals to become lost in their imagination or emotions, creating a stark contrast with reality.

Neptune governs illusions, dreams, and the unseen, which aligns with the moon’s internal and intuitive nature. The moon feels at ease with this energy, as it also operates in the realm of the inner world. However, the moon craves comfort and emotional security, whereas Pisces, influenced by Jupiter, seeks freedom, exploration, and expansion. Jupiter’s energy pushes the Pisces moon beyond the moon’s preferred comfort zone, while Neptune pulls it further into imagination and transcendence.

The result is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, the Neptunian influence fuels creativity, intuition, and emotional expression. On the other hand, it can lead to escapism, elusiveness, and a detachment from reality. Pisces moons often internalize their emotions through imagination, creating a feedback loop where their feelings and fantasies feed into each other, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

Jupiter’s expansive nature further complicates this. It craves abundance, freedom, and boundlessness, which can conflict with the moon’s need for security and routine. Additionally, Neptune’s tendency to filter experiences through rose-colored glasses can create deception or delusion. The moon, lacking discernment beyond intuition, internalizes these imagined realities, making delusions feel emotionally real and deeply believed.

Without grounding influences, such as earth energy in the chart, a Pisces moon can become entirely unmoored, caught in its imagination and fantasies with little connection to the real world. This lack of grounding can make it difficult for them to establish boundaries or take responsibility, leading to chaos and emotional overwhelm.

While the Pisces moon is not a bad placement, it can become problematic when overly influenced by Neptune’s boundless, dreamy energy and Jupiter’s expansive, freedom-seeking tendencies. The combination may result in emotional chaos, lack of direction, and detachment from reality.

In essence, the Pisces moon thrives in the emotional and intuitive realm, but its challenge lies in integrating this rich internal world with external reality. Without balance, it risks becoming too free-spirited, too unbounded, and too focused on the imaginary, losing touch with the grounded, practical elements of life.

[starryinkart]

[CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY!]

{Likes and Reblogs are appreciated as they help my work get out there more!! Thankyou!! 🥰}

Hey guys!!! Have some more King Solver N AU context!!! Hope you enjoy!

If you couldn’t tell by the image, the Absolute Solver has “enhanced” N to become a “Big Brother” figure, leading those controlled by the solver to help it reach the Absolute and Exponential End, instead of Uzi. After they were ambushed and captured at the cabin Fever labs, N was tortured after refusing to give up Uzis location to the Eldritch monster, becoming its temporary host instead to lure in his newly acquired love interest into saving him. The twist, the solver still wants her as the ultimate host of its power and will do ANYTHING to get what it wants, even manipulating the ones she loves to do its bidding.

Will Uzi fall for it and become the solvers host? Is in still in that monstrous husk of his previous self? Can you trust anything said by it? You can be the judge of that 👀 or ask some questions if you see fit!

________________

{Wordless Version of Image 2 Below!!}

[ellenhghg]

I hope its alright to request something? But hear me out!! Reader has a secret pole in her room at the ShinRa HQ (she can be a SOLDIER, Ancient or whatever) and also a honeybee costume. Well one day she finds herself stuck to the pole with handcuffs behind her and calls either Cloud or Sephiroth (you choose who you like to write for) to help her. Like what would be their reaction to the call? Btw I really love how accurate you write all of them I am soooo starved for more!!!!!! <3333

Yess keep requesting away! I wrote one for Cloud and Sephiroth since this was really fun to write. I really hope you like it! Also everything between «» are thoughts, thought that would be a cute touch. And Pre Nibelheim Thank you soo much for your love!! ♥♥

♡‧₊˚ Cloud: Cloud blinks as his PHS buzzes insistently, the ringtone he chose for you blaring tinny and shrill in the locker room. He fumbles for the device, nearly dropping it in his haste.

«The hell…? Y/N never calls me unless it's an emergency… or she's tryin' to rope me into another one of her crazy schemes.»

Dread pooling in his gut, Cloud flips open the PHS, bracing himself for the worst.

"Hello? Y/N, what's—"

"CLOUD! THANK GAIA!"

Cloud winces, yanking the PHS away from his ear as your panicked shout nearly bursts his enhanced eardrums. His brow furrows, a spike of worry lancing through him at the barely-restrained hysteria in your voice.

"Y/N? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"NO I'M NOT OKAY!"

There's a scuffling sound, followed by a metallic clang and a string of muffled curses. Cloud's eyes widen, his mind immediately jumping to the worst case scenario.

"Are you under attack?! Where are you?! I swear to Shiva, if someone's hurt you, I'll—"

"What? NO! No no no, nothing like that!"

Your voice is strained, tinged with embarrassment and a hint of… is that laughter? Cloud blinks, confusion momentarily overriding his panic.

"…Okay, so what's with the screaming? You nearly gave me a heart attack, woman!"

"Sorry, sorry! I just… Gaia, this is so embarrassing…"

You take a deep breath, the sound crackling down the line. When you speak again, your voice is small, almost sheepish.

"I, uh… I might have gotten myself into a bit of a situation. With the, um… the pole in my room."

Cloud's brain stalls, trying to process this new information. Pole? What pole? Why would you have a—

Oh. OH.

Suddenly, the pieces click into place - the Honeybee Inn costume he'd glimpsed in your closet, the way you'd been humming those catchy burlesque tunes under your breath, the mysterious 'dance lessons' you'd been sneaking off to for weeks…

«Sweet Shiva on a stick. She's been learning to pole dance. POLE DANCE.»

Cloud's face flushes bright red, a strangled noise escaping his throat. He clears it hastily, trying to will away the sudden rush of blood to his… ahem, nether regions.

"You, uh… You got stuck? On the pole?"

He cringes at the way his voice cracks, high and thready with barely-restrained panic. Gaia, could this BE any more awkward?!

"…Maybe? I mean, definitely. Definitely stuck. Very stuck."

Your voice is a mortified whimper, muffled like you've got your face buried in your hands… or the crook of your elbow, if Cloud's mental image is accurate.

«Okay, Strife, keep it together. Y/N needs your help, not your horny teenage daydreams! Focus!»

Taking a deep, calming breath, Cloud forces himself to think past the haze of embarrassment and… other feelings he's not quite ready to examine.

"Alright, just… hang tight, okay? I'll be there in five. Don't move!"

A beat of silence, then a snort.

"…Really, Cloud? 'Don't move'? I'm literally stuck to a pole!"

"You know what I mean!"

Face burning, Cloud snaps the PHS shut, already moving towards the door. He pointedly ignores Zack's raised eyebrow and knowing grin, shouldering past his friend with a growled "Not a word, Fair. Not. A. Word."

He's out the door and halfway down the hall before Zack can even open his mouth, enhanced speed carrying him towards your room in record time.

«Hang on, Y/N. I'm comin'. Just… try not to do anything else stupid 'til I get there, alright?»

And if his mind happens to conjure up a few tantalizing images of the predicament he might find you in, well… he's only human, right? Er, SOLDIER. Whatever.

«Gaia help me, I am so screwed…»

♡‧₊˚ Sephiroth: The harsh buzzing of his PHS jolts Sephiroth out of his paperwork-induced trance. He frowns, glancing at the caller ID with a mix of annoyance and trepidation.

«Y/N? She never calls me directly unless it's an emergency…»

Suppressing a sigh, he flips open the device, bracing himself for whatever chaos you've managed to stir up this time.

"Y/N. To what do I owe the—"

"SEPH! THANK GAIA YOU PICKED UP!"

Sephiroth winces, pulling the PHS away from his ear as your panicked shout threatens to rupture his enhanced eardrums. His brow furrows, a spike of concern lancing through him at the barely-restrained hysteria in your voice.

"Y/N? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"NO! No I'm not alright! I'm— Gaia, this is so embarrassing…"

You trail off, a muffled thump and clatter echoing down the line. Sephiroth's grip tightens on the PHS, his mind already conjuring worst-case scenarios.

"Are you in danger? Do you need backup? Give me your location and I'll—"

"What? NO! No no no, nothing like that! I just… ugh, I can't believe I'm about to say this…"

You take a deep breath, the sound crackling through the speaker. When you speak again, your voice is small, tinged with mortification.

"I'm stuck."

Sephiroth blinks, certain he must have misheard. "…Stuck."

"Yes! Stuck! As in, I physically cannot move from my current position!"

"…I see. And what, pray tell, is your current position?"

There's a long, telling silence. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper:

"…I'm handcuffed to my pole dancing pole. In my Honeybee Inn costume."

For a moment, Sephiroth's brain short-circuits, unable to process this new information. You… pole dancing… Honeybee Inn costume… handcuffs…

«…I don't get paid enough for this.»

Closing his eyes, he pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine coming on. Of all the ridiculous, irresponsible things to do…

"Let me get this straight," he says slowly, enunciating each word with careful precision. "You, in all your infinite wisdom, decided it would be a good idea to play dress-up as a Honeybee girl and practice your, ahem, 'dance moves'… and somehow managed to get yourself handcuffed to your own pole. Is that about right?"

"…Maybe?"

Sephiroth sighs, long and deep, the sound reverberating through the phone line. "…Dare I ask how you even acquired a pole dancing pole in the first place?"

"I thought it would be a fun workout!"

He can practically HEAR the pout in your voice, the unspoken plea for understanding. It takes every ounce of his SOLDIER discipline not to bang his head against the desk.

«Gaia grant me strength… and a bottle of Junon's finest whiskey.»

With a herculean effort, Sephiroth forces down the urge to lecture, keeping his voice carefully neutral as he speaks.

"I see. And the handcuffs?"

"…I thought they'd add a little extra challenge?"

«Of course you did. Why am I even surprised at this point?»

Sephiroth drags a hand down his face, silently counting backwards from ten in every language he knows. It's a technique Genesis taught him, back in their early days as SOLDIERs.

«One day, that man's questionable 'stress relief' methods might actually come in handy. Miracles do happen, I suppose.»

"Alright," he says at last, resigned to his fate as your perpetual rescuer. "I assume you called me because you need assistance extricating yourself from this… predicament?"

"Yes please! I tried calling Cloud but he's not picking up and I'm starting to lose feeling in my—"

"Y/N."

He cuts you off before you can finish that thought, a muscle ticking in his jaw. The absolute LAST mental image he needs right now is Strife ogling your half-naked form.

Shoving down the irrational surge of overprotectiveness (and the FAR more disturbing flicker of jealousy), Sephiroth forces his voice into some semblance of calm professionalism.

"I'll be there shortly. Just… try not to make the situation any worse in the meantime."

"…How could it POSSIBLY get any wor—"

"Don't. Tempt. Fate."

He snaps the PHS shut before you can respond, already rising from his desk with a bone-deep weariness. The stack of reports will have to wait. He has a certain someone to rescue… again.

«The things I do for you, I swear… You're going to be the death of me one day.»

But even as the thought crosses his mind, Sephiroth can't quite suppress the tiny, traitorous spark of warmth in his chest. Exasperating as you may be, you're still the closest thing he has to family.

«And family looks out for each other… even when one of them is an absolute disaster of a human being.»

With a rueful shake of his head, Sephiroth strides out of his office, already mentally cataloguing the fastest route to your quarters. With any luck, he can have you untangled and decent before anyone else catches wind of this latest misadventure.

But he'll weather it, like he always does. Because that's what you do for the people you love… even when they drive you absolutely insane.

For now, he has a damsel in (self-inflicted) distress to save

[userpeggycarter]

TOPAZ AI TUTORIAL

i was asked to do a tutorial for Topaz AI (a software that enhances screencaps), so here it is! :)

[tutorial under the cut]

i’m going to gif a 720p YouTube video from 12 years ago as an example. it’s the bottom of the barrel when it comes to image quality, but in the end, you won’t believe it was once so shitty. here’s the gif, without any editing:

THE APPLICATION

Topaz AI is a paid software for image enhancement. you can download it for free, but your images will have watermarks. here's a random link that has nothing to do with this tutorial.

you can use Topaz AI as a Photoshop plugin or use the software separately. i will explain both methods in this tutorial.

USING SEPARATELY

it’s the way i do it because it’s more computer-friendly, the plugin can take a toll on your PC, especially when you’re dealing with a lot of screencaps. 

you first take screencaps as you normally would (if you don’t, here’s a tutorial on how to do it). open Topaz AI and select all the images. wait a while for the software to do its thing.

on the left, there is your screencap untouched. on the right, is your edited version. if you click the edited screencap and hold, Topaz will show you the original, that way you can compare the versions even better than just looking at them side by side.

Topaz AI will automatically recognize faces, if any, and enhance them. this can be toggled off, by disabling the “recovering faces” option in the right panel. it’s always on for me, though. you can tweak this feature by clicking on its name, the same thing for the others.

Topaz AI will also automatically upscale your screencaps if they’re too small (less than 4k). it will upscale them to achieve said 4k (in this gif’s case, the original 1280x720 screencaps became 4621x2599). i suggest that you let the app upscale those images, giving you more gif size flexibility. you can change into whatever size you want if you want something less heavy to store. don’t worry though, even these “4k screencaps” are very light megabytes-wise, so you won’t need a supercomputer. it might take a while to render all your screencaps, though, if you’re on a lower-end computer. (the folder with the edited screencaps ended up being 1GB, but that’s because it contains 123 screencaps, which is a lot of screencaps for 4k giffing).

two options won’t be automatically selected, Remove Noise and Sharpening, you will need to enable them to use them. rarely i don’t use Remove Noise, as is the best tool to remove pixelization. the Sharpening option depends on the gif, sometimes your gif will end up too over-sharpened (because of Topaz’s sharpening and later your own). that said, i used the Sharpening option on this gif.

next, select all images by clicking the “select all” button. you will notice that one of the screencaps’s thumbnails (in my case, the first one) will have small icons the others don’t have. this is the screencap you enhanced. you will need to click the dots menu, select “apply”, and then click “apply current settings to selected images”. this way, every screencap will have the same settings. if you don’t do this step, you will end up with one edited screencap and the rest will remain untouched!

all things done, click “save X images”. in the next panel, you can select where to save your new screencaps and how you want to name them. i always choose to add a topaz- prefix so i know what files i’m dealing with while giffing.

just a note: if your way of uploading screencaps to Photoshop is through image sequence, you will need to change the names of your new screencaps so PS can perceive that as a sequence (screencap1, screencap2, etc). you can do that by selecting all the screencaps in your folder, then selecting to rename just one of them and the rest will receive numbers at the end, from first to last. you don’t need to rename them one by one.

here’s the first gif again, without any editing:

without Topaz enhancement but with sharpening:

without sharpening, only the Topaz enhancement:

with Topaz enhancement and sharpening:

her skin is so smooth that it is a bit unrealistic. i could have edited that while tweaking the “Recovering Faces” option and/or the “Remove Noise” option, but i prefer to add noise (filter > noise > add noise) when necessary. this way, i don’t risk not enhancing the quality of the screencaps enough.

i added +3 of noise, making the gif look more natural. it’s a subtle difference, but i thought it necessary one in this case. you can continue to edit your gif as your heart desires.

VOILA! 🥳

AS A PHOTOSHOP PLUGIN

if you have Topaz AI installed on your computer, Photoshop will recognize it. you will find it in filter > Topaz Labs > Topaz AI. while in timeline mode, select the filter. the same Topaz AI window will pop up and you can tweak things the same way you do when you use the software separately. by using the plugin, you don’t need to upload your edited screencaps or use screencaps at all, a video clip (turned into a Smart Layer, that is) will suffice. the downside is that for every little thing you do, Topaz AI will recalculate stuff, so you practically can’t do anything without facing a waiting screen. a solution for that is to edit your gif in shitty quality as you would edit an HD one and at the very end, you enable Topaz AI. or just separately edit the screencaps following the first method.

this is it! it's a very simple software to use. the only downside is that it can take a while to render all screencaps, even with a stronger computer, but nothing too ridiculous.

any questions, feel free to contact me! :)

[cedarxwing]

A quick method to deal with blurry action shots that have Hannibal's quintessential dim lighting + green color grading combo.

Here's the example I'll be using:

Don't get me wrong, I love the look of Hannibal, but the average person doesn't scroll tumblr with their screen brightness on max. Plus, night light filters and blue light glasses add even more yellow to an already heavily filtered show. If you want people to see your gif clearly, you have to edit it at least a little. Especially for extreme shots like this lol.

What I use: macOS 15.1.1 Elmedia Player 8.18 dupeGuru 4.3.1 Topaz Photo AI 3.2.0 Photoshop 25.11.0 LuLu 2.6.3 (optional, but it's nice to block outgoing connections from pirated programs)

Step One: Take Screenshots

Open your video file (1080p preferred) in Elmedia Player and navigate to the first frame of your gif. Hit "Playback > Record a Series of Screenshots" and let it run until you have all the frames you want. Unfortunately for mac users, we have a problem where a lot of duplicate screenshots are taken (like every third screenshot is a duplicate... it's so annoying). To save time later, I use dupeGuru to clean out as many duplicates as I can.

Open dupeGuru and add whatever folder you saved your screenshots to.

Scan the folder, then hit "Mark > Mark All" (you can see here that the program only caught one duplicate, which means more work later. it's not a perfect program -_-)

Hit "Actions > Send Marked to Recycle Bin..." to remove the duplicates from the folder

Step Two: Denoise

At this stage the screenshots are so dark that the noise isn't obvious, but it'll be more noticeable after brightening and sharpening. Here's the difference this step makes later:

Upload all your screenshots to Topaz Photo AI and add a Denoise layer. I normally go with the automatic settings.

Hit "Select All," "Apply > Current Settings," then export all your images. This can take a while depending on how many images you have.

Step Three: Create Frame Animation in Photoshop

If you've read any other gif-making tutorials this part should be familiar, so I'm gonna skim over it.

"File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack"

"Browse..." and select your Topaz output files

"Sort by Name" so they load in the correct order

"Ok"

Once all the layers have loaded, hit "Create Frame Animation" in the Timeline window

Under the Timeline window options menu, hit "Make Frames from Layers," then "Reverse Frames"

This is probably when you want to go through frame-by-frame and delete any remaining duplicates. It's very annoying to have to redo this step if you want to go back and edit your crop size later. (Not that I would know... 🤡)

Step Four: Crop + Resize

Crop, then "Image > Image Size" to adjust the width of your gif. You'll most likely want to use one of the common tumblr image dimensions:

Keep in mind that tumblr's gif size limit is 10 MB. But it's honestly best to keep it under 9.5 MB if you want the gif to load smoothly. A 540x540 px gif can have 40-60 frames while a smaller gif can be longer.

Make sure to add +2 px to whichever width you choose (so 542 px, 270 px, etc), since we'll be adjusting the canvas size later to get rid of transparent border anomalies.

Step Five: Color

The more common order of operations is to sharpen before coloring, but for dark scenes like this, it's kinda silly to sharpen when you can barely see what you're doing, so I like to color first.

Select all your frame layers and make a new group, just to keep them separate from your adjustment layers.

I always start by testing out the Auto Color Correction Options in a Curves adjustment layer. To access them, opt + click on the Auto button. This opens a window with four options.

I like to use a combination of "Enhance Per Channel Contrast" and "Find Dark & Light Colors," though either option can be used to adjust color balance. The important part is selecting "Snap Neutral Midtones" and picking a midtone that brings your gif as close as possible to the desired color balance.

If changing the midtone doesn't affect the color balance, brighten the gif first and try again.

For this gif, "Enhance Per Channel Contrast" removed the bulk of the green filter:

It's still pretty dark, so I brightened up the gif with some more Curves layers:

There's still a lot of purple/blue in Dolarhyde's black leather jacket, so I added another Curves layer and used "Find Dark & Light Colors" to improve the blackpoint:

Now we can up the contrast a little:

Nice! Good enough to move onto sharpening!

SIDE NOTE: The reason I use these Color Correction Options is because simply brightening leaves you with purple/blue shadows and sickly green over-exposed highlights that take ages to color correct. You can see the difference here:

(If you've ever wondered why so many Hannibal gifs have blue shadows, this is why.)

Step Six: Sharpen

This is where you'll want to start implementing actions, which are pre-recorded series of adjustments that you can perform with the click of a button. I mainly use three actions (download here, open the Actions window in PS, open the Action options menu, and click "Load Actions...").

The "frame animation to smart object" action converts the gif to a video timeline so we can apply smart filters.

The "legacy sharpening + high pass" action applies my standard sharpening filters. Not every gif will need the high pass filter, so feel free to change its opacity or delete it altogether. You can also tweak the smart sharpen filters by right clicking them and selecting "Edit Smart Filter..."

3. Once you're happy with the sharpness, the "convert to frame timeline" action turns the gif back into a frame animation. I use a 0.05 s frame delay for most gifs (equivalent to 20 fps; 24 fps is standard for tv/movies). I normally use 0.07-0.08 seconds for action shots, so the gif doesn't whip around so fast. Over 0.1 seconds, it starts to look like stop motion, so I try to avoid that.

Step Seven: Final Adjustments

This is where I fine-tune the colors, mostly using Hue/Saturation layers.

If I use a Color Balance layer, I only make very small adjustments and try to counterbalance them in the other tonal ranges (e.i. adjustments to the Highlights spill over to the Midtones, so I make the opposite adjustments to the Midtones to fix it). But most of the time, I'd rather play around with Curves or Hue/Saturation to fix stuff like that.

Hue/Saturation gives you more control by allowing you to select the exact color range you want to affect. For this gif, I used Hue/Saturation to get rid of the purple introduced around the highlights in Will's hair by the high pass filter.

The eyedropper tool allows you to select the exact color you want to include in the range. Then you can move the bars around until all the colors you don't want to affect are excluded.

Once you have your range selected, you can bring the saturation all the way down and set it to whatever lightness you prefer:

I also reduced cyan's saturation so that Will's shirt wouldn't look quite so blue.

[You could do a lot more to make the colors prettier... but there are other tutorials online for that. 😅]

Step Eight: Export

Once you're happy with your final product, go to "File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)..."

These are my settings:

You can use Diffusion instead of Pattern if you want. Diffusion is probably better for mobile gif compression, but I like the way Pattern looks on desktop, especially for gifs with smooth gradients. It's a personal preference thing.

Hit "Save..." and you're all done!

This isn't gonna win any gif-making awards, but at least you can see what's happening and the colors don't look wonky. And for Hannibal, I call that a win! 🥲👍

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

On the final day of filming "Being There" (1979), Peter Sellers arrived on set dressed in his character’s muted gray suit, holding the same remote control he used in the film’s first scene. Without saying a word, he turned to director Hal Ashby, pointed the remote at him, and clicked. The entire crew froze in silence before breaking into applause. Sellers had given them one last moment in character, one last bit of Chance the gardener.

Peter Sellers, known for his explosive energy in comedies like "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) and "The Pink Panther" (1963), turned in a performance in "Being There" (1979) that was startling in its restraint. His portrayal of Chance, a simple-minded gardener who had never left the confines of his employer’s Washington D.C. townhouse, demanded stillness, detachment, and blankness. Sellers delivered something unlike anything in his career, still, eerie, and deeply affecting.

The film opens with Chance quietly going about his gardening duties in an enclosed urban estate. He lives entirely within the walls of this world, absorbing reality only through television. When the elderly man he worked for dies, Chance is forced to leave the house for the first time in his life. Wearing his tailored suits and speaking with the slow clarity of TV hosts he watched for decades, he wanders into the streets of D.C. unaware of the world’s complexity.

A chance accident introduces him to Eve Rand, played by Shirley MacLaine. She believes Chance, who introduces himself as "Chance the gardener", is saying "Chauncey Gardiner", a name that soon becomes associated with mystery, poise, and profound wisdom. Eve brings him home to meet her husband, Benjamin Rand, played with commanding grace by Melvyn Douglas. Rand is a powerful and ailing industrialist who immediately believes Chance is a man of depth and insight. Chance’s vague gardening metaphors are mistaken for deep political commentary.

As Benjamin brings Chance into his inner circle, the President of the United States, portrayed by Jack Warden, seeks his advice. Chance’s slow, measured speech and simple observations about growth, seasons, and patience are interpreted as revolutionary political philosophy. He is soon being discussed as a future presidential candidate.

One of the most memorable scenes comes when Chance is interviewed on national television. He sits stiffly, responding with short, empty phrases about gardening, which the host and audience interpret as dazzlingly profound. This moment captures the film’s sharpest satirical edge, how easily image and media presence can be confused with intelligence or wisdom.

The screenplay, adapted from Jerzy Kosiński’s novel, was meticulously structured to allow the audience to remain one step ahead of the characters. Every character projects their own desires, needs, and hopes onto Chance. He is a blank slate, made powerful by the interpretations of those around him. Yet the film never ridicules Chance, it’s the world around him that invites the satire.

"Being There" (1979) is not only about mistaken identity, it is about the fragility of perception and the hunger of power to find meaning in silence. Director Hal Ashby’s calm and deliberate pacing, coupled with Johnny Mandel’s soft, jazzy score, enhances the film’s surreal tone. The visual framing constantly isolates Chance, even when he is surrounded by people, emphasizing how removed he is from the world that embraces him.

The ending scene stands apart in cinema history. Chance, unaware of his own myth, wanders across a private estate’s pond and slowly walks onto the water, not sinking. He stops in the middle, gazing around as if the laws of the universe do not apply to him. It is a moment that forces the audience to question everything they have seen and felt. Whether literal or symbolic, it captures the soul of the film, a world so eager to believe, it makes saints of strangers.

Peter Sellers called this his most important role, and it was. His complete disappearance into the quiet and enigmatic Chance was a final triumph before his death the following year. It is the quiet that speaks loudest in "Being There" (1979), and no one listens more than those desperate for meaning.

Mira Desh

[bastila-s]

Baldurs Gate 3 High Quality Screenshot Tutorial 2.0

Hi everyone, I decided I wanted to make a more specific and slightly more in-depth tutorial on how I take screenshots in Baldur's Gate 3. For this tutorial, you will need ReShade and Otis_INF'S Photomode Mod. If you do not want to download these for whatever reason, my older tutorial covers alternative ways to get some nice screenshots.

1. ReShade (skip if you already have ReShade downloaded)

For this step, you're going to want to download ReShade. ReShade is important to this tutorial as it's going to allow you to take screenshots of your game in higher resolutions. To do this, find a ReShade preset you like on the Nexus. (You can find lots of them by just typing in "reshade" in the search bar). From there, most mod authors will explain how to download ReShade in their mod description and get it working for your game.

Once you successfully have Reshade installed, a bar of text will appear at the top of your screen, prompting you to press 'home.' This will put you through a mini-tutorial if just installed it.

2. Photomode Mod

For this mod, you'll need to subscribe to a patreon to get access. Installing it is really simple, just unzip the zip file and put its contents in a folder, then run the tool once you have BG3 running.

Personally, I choose to re-map all the controls to different keys on my keyboard as I find it makes it much, much easier for me to use. Specifically, I re-map the movement, camera tilt, and starting the photomode controls. FOV is also really important to pay attention to, so make sure you like the controls for that as well.

Make sure to test the camera mod to make sure it's working before moving on to the next step.

3. High Resolution Screenshots (Hotsampling)

Hotsampling simply means that we're going to briefly make our game run in a resolution much higher than what we usually would, which often times means your game window will end up looking huge and run off your screen.

To do this, we need to make sure a few things are in place before trying to hotsample, or the screenshot won't be captured properly.

Go through this checklist to ensure hotsampling will work:

• If you have more than one monitor, you have to make sure your monitor is set to show only on one screen. (This setting is found in Displays on Windows)

• Make sure BG3 is set to borderless windowed mode

• In ReShade, go to the settings tab. Ensure you have a key set up for taking screenshots, and that you know the folder your screenshots will be saved to. It's essential to use ReShade to take screenshots, nothing else will work. Use ReShade's screenshot key.

Once you make sure you have the above done, go to the photomode mod, and click on the hotsampling tab. From here, you can change the resolution of your game. Typically, I take my screenshots in 3,840x2,160 or 5,760x3,240 if I want a very clear image. Those are just 2x and 3x my monitor's resolution (1920x1080), so you can adjust if your monitor is different. Once your chosen resolution is set, your BG3 window will likely run way off your screen and potentially make your computer lag. (This means it's working). Make sure your BG3 window is active, then hit the screenshot key you set earlier in ReShade. This screenshot should now appear in the folder that's set for screenshots in ReShade. (It typically defaults to the folder where your game is installed).

4. Extra fine-tuning

There are a couple of ways to enhance screenshots in BG3 even further.

The first way is through using ICGS Depth of field. This tool will allow your sceenshots to minic depth of field the same way cameras IRL can do it it—it makes for some beautiful screenshots, and I'm seriously impressed by how well it replicates that look. The author gives a tutorial on how to get it working—I know it seems complicated, but follow it step-by-step and play around, it'll come to you very soon!

The other tool that I just found recently is Relight for ReShade. This tool allows you to add some lighting on a character, which I thought was so cool. Here's a tutorial for this, too.

5. Post-Processing

This step is entirely up to your own creativity, but I just thought I'd share Photopea as a good, free software (that you don't even need to download) to help you edit your photos. It basically works exactly like photoshop!

Ok that's it for all but I think I will continue to update this post and add to it whenever I find anything helpful :)

& Thank you to all the wonderful mod authors out there for creating all this software and allowing us to take beautiful images, it makes me so happy !!

[meowierz]

Lego Batman Icons (i got bored)

To make ur own, follow these steps

Go on Pinterest and search up the character you want! Look for a clear or semi-clear picture! Keep tab open

Go to here and enhance the image (choose the free option)

Go to here and remove the background. Keep tab open.

Go back to Pinterest and search up the characters secondary color / accent "blur icon". Example: Red Blur Icons. That's your background.

Go back to the background remover and click the plus sign with " Background" next to it. Press the other plus sign and put your background you found on Pinterest there. Then download it (Free Option)

Download Capcut, press new project, and add the photo there. Once that, remove the ending (its annoying asf) and then click "Add Filter". Finally click the "Yandere" filter (yes I hate the name too smh) and screenshot it. Crop it to where the image is only visible.

If the image looks a bit winky still, enhance the image again and you're finished!!

[soothedcerberus]

@eeyore4 Hi!! Hello!! I'm here to help best I can! I use the program Vuescan to scan my watercolors, I do recommend this program: https://www.hamrick.com/ I use an Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner: https://epson.com/For-Home/Scanners/Photo-Scanners/Epson-Perfection-V600-Photo-Scanner/p/B11B198011 I have a cracked version of Photoshop I've been using for years, here's the link to get that: https://fatenumberfor.tumblr.com/post/160136248275 How I digitally edit my art to enhance its color (under read more)

First, under the image tab, click adjustments, then levels. (my adjustments are in a popout window done by going to the window tab and then clicking adjustments.)

2. Once you are in the levels editing window, click and drag the arrows on the ends (not the one in the middle) to brighten the whites and enhance the colors. You can also enter a number instead of dragging the arrows around.

3. Next, under hue\saturation you can bump up the colors to your liking.

4. Lastly for color editing, I like to play with the color balance. I like my pieces to have a warm feel to them, so I increase the red hue. A bit of blue too.

5. Make sure to export as a PNG and then you're all set to post!

I usually do a bit more editing, using a color-picked white to paint over color smudges or artifacts on the paper that got scanned. Hope this was a bit helpful! Pls don't hesitate to ask more questions or for clarification! :]

[rubberizer92]

🔥 The Future of Pleasure: Nanobot-Enhanced Latex 🔥

Duncan was one of the first to experience the revolution of ultra-thin latex, but this wasn’t just any ordinary suit. Laced with millions of nanobots, the latex adjusts to his every movement, enhancing comfort and pleasure in ways unimaginable. The moment he slipped it on, the nanobots activated, molding perfectly to his body within seconds, adapting to his every curve, every muscle. 🖤✨

At first, Duncan was skeptical—how could something so thin be so powerful? But as the suit wrapped tighter around him, he felt it—waves of stimulation coursing through him, the nanobots fine-tuning the sensation to perfection. It wasn’t just about wearing latex anymore. It was an experience, one that made him lose track of time, completely immersed in the pleasure it brought.

The suit cleans itself, adjusts constantly for maximum comfort, and most importantly—it never needs to come off. That’s exactly the point. Once Duncan felt the power of the suit, the idea of removing it became unthinkable. It became his second skin, a constant source of pleasure and stimulation, making him crave the sensation more with every passing minute.

Would you dare try it? Once you slip into it, there’s no going back. The suit knows exactly what you need, and you’ll never want to take it off. This is the future of latex, where comfort meets endless pleasure. 🔥

Tell us in the comments: Would you be able to resist, or would you get lost in the endless pleasure like Duncan? 🖤🔥

Want to realize your own AI fantasy? Click the link in the profile description to get your own AI images or video clips. As long as it's not too explicit, your dreams have no limits!

[afrikagora-blog]

Welcome to Our Image Compression Tool

Effortlessly compress and resize your images while maintaining high quality. Optimize your images for faster load times, reduced bandwidth, and better user experience. Our tool is easy to use and completely free!

Our Image Compression Tool is designed to simplify the process of optimizing images for various purposes. Whether you're a web developer aiming for faster load times or a designer looking to conserve bandwidth without compromising quality, our tool offers a seamless solution. With just a few clicks, you can compress and resize your images while ensuring they retain their visual appeal. Explore the features below to see how our tool can enhance your digital projects.