#i could have just resized these and called it done

[gender-euphowrya]

refreshed, healed, content, thriving, ready to take on the world <- just reorganized his desktop icons

[diazsdimples]

Buddie "wish I could carry you in my pocket"

"Wish I could carry you around in my pocket," Buck sighs as he gazes lovingly at Eddie sitting on the kitchen table. He's just a little too short for his legs to touch the ground, so he's got his ankles hooked together as he swings his legs back and forth. That, plus the oversized hoodie he's wearing have the effect of making him look like an overgrown toddler and Buck thinks he is simply adorable.

The minute the words leave his lips, Buck has an idea. A year or so ago, Buck had been messing around with one of Maddie's old spellbooks when he'd come across a Shrinking Spell. Thinking it would be useful if he ever needed to pull someone out of a mound of rubble or remove a crush, Buck had learned the spell, accidentally shrinking Maddie's laptop before figured out the reversing spell and had put it to right.

"Hmm?" Eddie says, lifting his eyes ever so slightly from the cookbook he's studying. "What was that, baby?"

Buck rolls up his sleeves and flexes his fingers a little. "Oh nothing, don't mind me." He clicks his fingers and looks pleased as a small shower of blue sparks rain onto the hardwood floors. There's a very faint smell of sea salt, but hopefully not enough for Eddie to notice. "Hold still."

"Wha-?"

Eddie barely has a moment to register Buck's words before Buck does a series of complicated wiggles with his fingers, mutters "Parvus" under his breath, and Eddie is suddenly shrouded in a cloud of royal blue energy. The room is suddenly filled with the scent of the ocean, as if Buck has suddenly stepped out onto Santa Monica beach.

When the cloud clears Eddie is nowhere to be seen, and Buck's heart is instantly in his throat.

"Eddie?" he calls out, walking towards the table where his boyfriend had been perched moments earlier. "Eddie are you still here?"

I've fucking disappeared my boyfriend, Buck thinks in a moment's panic. He hadn't read anything in the fine print about performing the spell on performing it on human subjects, and he's also not sure how to control the size of the thing he's transforming. There is a very real possibility that he's shrunk Eddie to the size of a dust mite and will never be able to resize him again.

Why the fuck can't he use his brain before acting??

Just before Buck plummets into a proper panic attack, there's a small movement on the table, just behind the cookbook resting on the edge.

"Buck, what the fuck have you done to me?"

The voice is high pitched and quiet but unmistakably Eddie's, and it takes Buck a second to locate it. But there, dusting himself off and looking decidedly unimpressed, is the smallest Eddie Buck has ever seen in his life. He's about the size of Buck's forefinger and leans against the pages of the cookbook as he glares up at his boyfriend.

"Oh my god, you are so tiny!" Buck grins as he takes in Eddie in all his miniscule glory. "I can't believe that worked!"

Buck reaches out and picks Eddie up, his fingers pinching at the back of Eddie's hoodie, and he drops his boyfriend into the palm of his hand. Eddie wobbles unsteadily before gingerly lowering himself down so he's sitting on the edge of Buck's palm with his legs dangling over the edge, no dissimilar to how he was on the table. He crosses his arms across his chest and glares up at Buck. If he wasn't all of 3 inches tall, it would almost be intimidating

"Put me back," he demands, the authoritativeness of his tone lost entirely by the fact that he sounds like he's swallowed a tank of helium. "Put me back or so help me God-"

"Or what?" Buck giggles, "You'll crawl up my nose?"

"I'll squeeze inside your dickhole and cause permanent damage with my teeth and fists," Eddie counters with a huff.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, babe."

"Buck please, we've got a shift in 3 hours. Make me big again," Eddie pleads, and Buck's completely incapable of defying his boyfriend at the best of times, especially when he's perched perfectly in the palm of Buck's hands, looking so tiny and adorable and pleading silently with his big brown eyes.

Buck sighs and holds his palm adjacent to the table so Eddie can walk across it and take up position next to the cookbook.

"Can I at least try fitting you in my pocket?" he asks, giving Eddie his puppy eyes, but it seems Shrunk Eddie is immune to Buck's charms. He shakes his head vehemently, snapping his fingers so a ball of deep green energy appears in the palm of his hands. The mellow, woodsy scent of pine trees cuts through the saltiness of Buck's magic as Eddie juggles the energy ball between his hands.

"Try it, I dare you."

Knowing when he's beaten, Buck relents with a sigh. Buck may be the one that practices magic the most but Eddie comes from a long line of powerful sorcerers, and Buck has no trouble admitting that Eddie is the more skilled magician of the two of them. If Eddie wanted to, he could turn Buck into a cockroach in a matter of seconds.

"Magnus" he mutters, channelling a fraction of his energy towards Eddie, and there's another cloud of rich blue energy and Eddie reappears.

He shakes out his arms and hops off the table. "You have no idea how weird that was," he grimaces. "You looked like a giant!"

"Don't I always?" Buck teases, referencing his slight height advantage against Eddie which was a slight sore point in their relationship.

Eddie takes two steps forward so they're nose to nose, and is about to open his mouth to scold Buck before a look of surprise passes over his face.

"Huh!" he says, stepping back so he's able to look at Buck properly. A grin begins to spread over his face as he looks Buck up and down. "I think that spell made me taller!"

Buck balks. "Absolutely not, that's not possible," he says, shaking his head. "I'm the tall one!"

Eddie steps back into Buck's space and yep, he's definitely grown an inch or two. They're almost completely at eye level, with Eddie a fraction taller, if anything. Buck gulps. Maybe he shouldn't have played around with magic.

"No, baby, you're definitely shorter than me no," he grins, and he tilts Buck's chin up (up!!!) to kiss him. It's soft and sweet, their lips moving in tandem. Eddie's smiling into the kiss and Buck can feel the smugness radiating off him.

"I'll just have to shrink you again," he points out as they break apart, but Eddie merely grins and kisses Buck on the forehead.

"I'd like to see you try."

Send me a ship and a sentence and I'll finish it!!

[tommykinrd]

hi! i was wondering if you could share the overlay and/or explain how you made the first gif in the last set you posted? thank you very much in advance <3

Hi anon! I'd be happy to share how I created the ripped paper effect in this gifset !

You’ll need a basic knowledge of gifmaking and photoshop, and I’ll put the rest of this under the cut.

1) Creating your gifs

So to start off you're going to create your gifs in separate canvases. I work in timeline mode and I add my sharpening and colouring, and I put both gifs in groups (explained here).

Here are my gifs on separate canvases. For reference, I've called the one on the left "grocery store" and the one on the right "parents".

You'll then want to copy and paste your gif groups onto the same canvas. This is what my canvas and layers panel looks like once that's done. From here, you're ready to start the ripped paper effect.

2) Ripped paper overlay

For this step, you want to obtain your ripped paper overlay. You can find various ripped paper textures/overlays using google, but I used these overlays by @peytonsawyers !

You open up the overlay you want to use, and either copy and paste or just drag it onto your gif canvas. You can then resize and rotate the texture and orient it where you want.

I then drag the ripped paper layer so that it's placed between my two gif groups. I also hid the top group just so that I can see the overlay, but this is only temporary. Your canvas and layers panel should now look like this:

2.5) Filling in the overlay

So as you can see we have an issue because the ripped paper doesn't cover the entire area where we want our top gif to show. To fix this, I just use a white brush at 100% hardness and paint in the area that needs to be covered, making sure the ripped paper layer is selected (this doesn't have to be perfect, just make sure that the entire area is filled.

Now this is what it should look like:

3) Masking the top gif

Use the command (or ctrl) key and click on the thumbnail in the layers panel for your ripped paper layer (the square highlighted in white in that last screenshot). You should get a marching ants selection around the ripped paper like so:

Now reveal your top gif group (by clicking on the eye icon), and make sure you have the group selected in the layers panel. You should still see the selection around where your ripped paper is, like so:

Now go to the bottom of your layers panel and click on the little mask icon:

And now you should get a mask on your top group in the shape of the ripped paper, and you should be able to see both gifs simultaneously on the canvas:

If the black and white areas on your layer mask are flipped after you click on the mask icon, just click on the layer mask and use the command + i (ctrl + i) keys to switch it back so that you can see both your gifs.

4) Final touches

Now if you're happy with the result so far, you can absolutely stop here. However, I wanted to show the uneven rip (like how when you rip a piece of paper you can see some white bits on the edges).

To do this, select your move tool (shortcut: click the v key on your keyboard) and making sure your ripped paper layer (NOT the mask) is selected, use your arrow keys to move it slightly until it shows between the two gifs.

It currently looks a little too clean for my liking, so I like to move it slightly up/down as well so that it looks more uneven and natural. If your overlay is too small, just use the transform function (command + t or ctrl + t) to resize it so that it fills the canvas. This is what mine looks like after I mess around with it:

And you're done! If you want to adjust any colouring, just go into the gif group and you can edit the layers from there.

Hope this helps anon! Let me know if you have any questions!

[seiya-starsniper]

For Fluffy February 15 Dreamling

SOMEHOW, I managed to finish this before February ending 🤣🤣

Enjoy the shamless fluff anon!

Fluffbruary Prompt List || AO3 Link Here

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

“Oh! Let’s look at this stall, Hob!”

Morpheus looks up from his crafting table and is met with the sight of a couple in their early thirties approaching his shop. Or rather, the woman is dragging her partner towards his shop. Morpheus thinks he recognizes her, a thought that is later confirmed as he slowly recognizes the various pieces of her outfit from other vendors on the fairgrounds. She’s adorned in one of Lucienne’s gorgeous handmade corsets, and Morpheus is pretty certain her peasant blouse and skirt are from Matthew and Jessamy’s pirate themed shop. The flower crown expertly woven into her bright blonde hair confirms that the woman is definitely a dedicated attendee. One with plenty of money to spend.

Her partner though, he’s wearing a rented costume so Morpheus thinks it’s probably his first time here. She did call him Hob though. How period accurate for the Renaissance Faire. 

“Good morrow my friends,” Morpheus greets them, falling easily into his shopkeeper persona. “How may I assist the Lord and Lady today?” The woman giggles at being addressed as a lady. 

“I’ve heard,” she stage-whispers, holding her hand up to her cheek, “that you are the best jeweler in all the lands, good sir.” Her face is full of delight as she says this, and Morpheus cannot help but play along. 

“I dare say you have heard the truth m’lady,” Morpheus answers with his own conspiratorial smile. “Shall I show you my collection of wares?” he asks, gesturing to the glass display case just underneath his hands. The woman squeals in delight.

“Oh Hob, they’re so beautiful!” she croons as she dips her head to look at the jewelry displayed inside. She points at a few items she’s interested in, some necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, but decidedly foregoes the rings. Interesting. 

“Did you hand make all of these yourself?” the woman asks as she and Hob try on a matching set of Celtic knot necklaces.

“Aye, milady,” Morpheus answers. “We can also customize any piece, and also resize, if needed,” he adds. 

“Pretty handy,” the man, Hob, says, finally joining the conversation. He smiles at Morpheus, who feels his face grow warm at the compliment.

Though he hadn’t paid attention to the man as much as the woman when they’d first entered the shop, upon closer inspection, Morpheus realizes that Hob is quite attractive. He was maybe an inch or two taller than Morpheus, with broad shoulders and muscled thighs that were clearly on display in his rented Faire outfit. His chin-length brown hair framed a kind face with thick brows and a full mouth that looked like it had been built for laughing.

And oh, that smile. Hob smiled with his entire face, creasing his brows, eyes, cheeks, and mouth all at once as he appreciates the look of Morpheus’s work around his neck in the mirror. It makes Morpheus’s fingers itch. He wants to dress this man in the finest jewelry he could craft. He wants that smile, that radiance, that warmth, to be directed at Morpheus instead of the woman he’d come here with, even though she’d done nothing to deserve such a fate. But Morpheus has never been looked at the way Hob looks at his girlfriend. He’s rather certain he hasn’t seen many men look at any of their partners that way. It tugs at Morpheus’s freshly broken heart, and he has to force himself to refocus his attention on her instead of her partner, who seemed to have his own gravitational pull.

They eventually leave with the matching necklaces, and the woman, Eleanor, signs up for his mailing list, promising to buy more jewelry on his website. Morpheus believes her too. In addition to the necklaces, she’d bought a set of earrings and bracelets for herself, insisting that Hob not pay for her purchase. Her independence makes Morpheus smile, despite his jealousy. He wonders if next year, he might convince them to upgrade to the engagement, or even the wedding bands. 

Morpheus forgets all about the couple by the end of the day, but he feels a sense of melancholy and longing that he cannot quite explain as he packs up his shop for the night. He wonders if maybe he should take up Matthew and Jessamy’s offer for drinks tonight. If only to break out of his monotonous routine. 

It wasn’t like there was anyone waiting at home for him anymore, after all.

Morpheus doesn’t recognize Hob at first when the man wanders into his shop a year later with a rowdy group of friends. They’re all clearly drunk, and Morpheus is curious as to what about his shop could have possibly caught this group’s eye.

But then he sees the Celtic knot hanging from Hob’s neck, resting on a very hairy chest, and recognition dawns on Morpheus.

“I’d recognize that pendant and chain anywhere,” Morpheus greets with a smile, which causes a rowdy set of encouraging shouts and playful ribbing to erupt from the group. 

“You do, do you?” Hob asks, his words only a little bit slurred as he smiles at Morpheus, a tankard of what smells like mead and beer in his hand.

“I do,” Morpheus answers with his own smile. “But it seems to be missing its partner. Tell me, where is the Lady this lovely afternoon?”

Morpheus knows immediately he’s asked the wrong thing when Hob’s face falls.

“Oy mate, don’t bring up the man’s ex like that!” one of Hob’s friends scolds Morpheus, which makes Morpheus wince. A small chorus of boos erupts from the group as well.

“Ignore them,” Hob says, waving at his friends to shut up. “They mean well but I walked in here wearing one half of a set, it only makes sense you’d ask.”

“Still,” Morpheus insists. “I’m sorry about—er—” Morpheus is horrified to realize he has completely forgotten the woman’s name. 

“Hah!” Hob laughs, clearly amused rather than offended. “Her name was Eleanor. I’m Hob by the way.”

“I know,” Morpheus says, then winces again. 

“Do you, now?” Hob asks, with a cheeky grin. He places his tankard of unknown alcohol on Morpheus’s display case and then leans on it. “You remember my name, but not Eleanor’s?”

“She called you by name multiple times, and Hob isn’t exactly the most common of names used when taking on a Faire persona,” Morpheus says, hoping that his explanation doesn’t sound nearly half as creepy as he feels.

“I know, that’s why I picked it,” Hob grins. “I do use it outside of here too, you know.”

“You do not,” Morpheus replies, aghast. What man in his right mind would willingly go by the name Hob and risk endless jokes on doorknobs and stoves?

“I do,” Hob says with a wink before he bows dramatically. “Professor Hob Gadling of the Medieval Studies Department of XX University, at your service, my good sir.”

“Oy Hobsie, stop showing off!” one of Hob’s friends calls from a different part of the shop. Morpheus hadn’t even noticed they’d dispersed to look around, he had been so entranced by Hob’s reappearance.

“Yeah, are you buying anything? You’re the one that wanted to come here!”

“Ah, is the good sir looking for something new?” Morpheus asks, slipping back into character, and hoping to hide his embarrassment. “Mayhaps something to help ease a broken heart?”

“Something like that,” Hob answers, sheepishly, his fingers fiddling with his right ear. Morpheus tries to show how entranced he is by the motion. “Listen I was wondering if—uh—well, you know—if there was time—”

“He wants to know if you’re single and ready to mingle!” one of Hob’s friends shouts, followed by a loud chorus of agreement. “And if you’re into men!” another one adds. 

“What the flying fuck Davey!” Hob turns and shouts at his friends, who all laugh and raise their glasses to a toast. 

“Get your man Hobsie, so we can keep getting drunk!”

Hob groans and hides his face in his hands, muttering something about ‘worst wingmen ever’ and Morpheus cannot help it. He bursts into laughter, and has to clutch at the cash register behind him for support.

“I don’t suppose we can forget this whole thing ever happened?” Hob asks, once Morpheus has caught his breath. His face is red with embarrassment, and Morpheus wonders if the man blushes so prettily on other parts of his body as well. 

“I’m afraid not,” Morpheus answers, shaking his head solemnly. “But my evening is available after the Faire closes tonight,” he adds with a wry smile.

Hob’s entire body perks up immediately. “Seriously? You’re interested?”

“As long as you intend for us to be alone,” Morpheus answers, his eyes falling to Hob’s posse behind him. 

“Abso-fucking-lutely!” Hob exclaims, nodding eagerly. Morpheus cannot help but smile as Hob’s friends continue to tease him while they exchange contact information and make plans to meet outside the Faire grounds later. He even manages to make a few sales from the group. Morpheus wishes Hob could stay longer and that they could talk more, but the post-lunch crowd that spills into the shop dashes those plans for now. 

Hob doesn’t miss an opportunity to show off again though. He takes Morpheus’s hand and kisses it, bowing deeply, and causing the rest of the shop to coo and cheer at the romantic display.

“I shall miss you dearly, beloved, until we next meet again,” Hob declares loudly as he exits the shop with his friends.

“You’re seeing him tonight you dingbat!” Morpheus hears one of his friends laugh.

After the post-lunch crowd leaves, Morpheus sits at his crafting table, looking over his in-progress projects, and wonders if custom jewelry is a bit too much for a first date. Hob had worn the Celtic knot necklace though, and it was clear he needed a replacement.

Rubies, Morpheus decides. Hob would look good in rubies. Morpheus readjusts the setup of his table and gets to work, mentally counting down the minutes until he’d be able to see Hob’s smiling face again.

[eddiediaaz]

hi alie! how are you? i was wondering if you could explain, or link a tutorial that does, how you did the first gif and the checkmarks on this (/post/713604672591659008/pscentral-event-14-your-url-insp) beautiful gifset please?

hello!! i'm good, thank youuuu ♡ and yeah, sure i can! i didn't follow any tutorial for this gifset, so i'm gonna try to explain my process as best as i can.

the first gif is fairly easy, it's just a bit time consuming. the second one for the animated checkmark uses some keyframes. i use photoshop cs5, which is rather old, so hopefully my directions still work for more recent ps versions!

tutorial for these two gifs under the cut:

gifs in text

i'm gonna assume you already have basic gifmaking knowledge, so i'm gonna start from this base gif already colored:

i started by finding a big and very thick font that i liked. for this gifset i used a font called barle. i placed my text the way i wanted it, but i used one text layer per letter, because i wanted one different gif per letter. once i had my 9 text layers placed, it looked like this:

then, you need to create a group with a layer mask for each letter. for this, i simply hold the ctrl/command key and click on the letter layer's thumbnail. it will create a selection of the letter.

with this selection on, i click on the folder button to create a new group, then on the add layer mask button. it will create a group with your letter where you can put anothet gif in.

then you just need to rinse and repeat for every letter.

once you have all of your letter groups done, you can select all of the text layers and put them in another group. we'll use these layers again later.

then you just need to bring your second gif onto this canvas and put it in the right group/folder. i usually just bring a smart object gif onto my main canva, slide it in the right folder, then resize, sharpen, and color the second gif in there.

you can just drag this layer once it's inside the group to position it the way you need it. and also use ctrl+T to resize it (drag the corners while holding shift to keep the right propertions). once the gif is positioned, you can go ahead and disable the E text layer you used to create the mask (but don't delete it!). i kept the coloring very minimal since it's a black and white gif, and the layers should look like that:

and this is the gif so far with the first E done:

then you just need to do the same for all other letters, pretty straight forward! for the first D letter, i wanted eddie's face to show instead of using a different gif, so i simply put a black and white layer in that D group. my gif looks like that at this point:

then what's missing is the outline, and it's pretty easy to make. go back to the text layers you created at the beginning. enable them all, and make sure they are on top of everything else. double click on that first text layer to bring in the layer style options, and add a 1px stroke with the color and blending mode you want. I went with yellow and the hard light blending mode. these are my settings:

back to the layers panel, keep the text layer's opacity at 100%, but bring the fill to 0%. this will make online the online show up on the gif.

to apply this setting to other text layers, you can right click the first text layer and select "copy layer style". then select all of the other layers and right click one of them and go "paste layer style". once all the text layers have their outline it should look like that:

to move the outline a bit, make sure they are in a group and select this group (i renamed mine "outline"), then just nudge it by a few pixels with the arrows on your keyboard. i transformed the outline group by about 4px left and up on mine. i also duplicated the whole group because i wanted a deeper color for the outline.

and this is my final result!

animated checkmark

starting with my base gif, i added some animated text and a little box for the checkmark to go in (drew a shape with the rectangle tool and gave it a stroke, the same way i did it for the previous gif):

for the actual checkmark, you can try to find a brush or shapes to download, but i didn't feel like looking it up lol, so i drew the shape myself with a regular brush that comes baked in with photoshop. the best way to draw a custom shape, in my opinion, is to draw the shape as a layer mask on a color fill layer. that way you can always change the color or add layer styles later (like i did).

so on my canvas, on top of everything, i created a color fill layer (layer > new fill layer > solid color) with whatever color i wanted (you can change this later if you need). you will get a new color fill layer, with a layer mask already attached to it. i put this layer at 75% opacity so i can see the gif under it and it's easier to draw the shape in the right spot:

i then selected the layer mask thumbnail and the brush i wanted to use, one of them (not sure i remember which one, sorry haha!):

with the black color selected, just go ahead and draw a checkmark where you want it on the canva. you can always use the brush in white to erase it and start over with the black color if you're not happy with it. but once you have a checkmark you like, it should look like this:

now you just gotta invert the mask so the checkmark is colored, to do this just click on the color fill layer mask you just drew on and hit ctrl/command + i. the mask will get inverted and it will look like this:

then you can add whatever layer style you'd like to the checkmark (and put the layer opacity back to 100% if you want). i added a gradient and a drop shadow to mine, and changed the blending mode from normal to difference to make it match with the text, so now it looks like that:

animation time! this is where you need to use a bit of keyframes, but i promise it's not complicated.

for this animation i wanted to mimick a checkmark being drawned. when you draw a checkmark, you usually do it in 3 steps right? your startung point, then a line down, and then another line up to the end point. it's what i tried to mimick here.

to animate it that way, you need to draw a shape that will hide the checkmark and then move it around to mimick the drawing animation. to do so, create a new group (i've named mine "checkmark") and add a layer mask to this group. you also need to unlink the mask by clicking on the little chain icon next to the mask thumbnail:

now the next steps are a bit of trial and error until you get what you want, i'm gonna try to explain it as best as i can (bear with me haha):

1- go to where you want the animation to start, aka where you want the checkmark to start appearing. for me it was a few frames after the start of the gif.

2- then, with a black brush that wasn't too big nor too soft, i brushed a bit over the checkmark to erase it for now (you may have to go back and edit this after the animation is done). no need to do a huge shape, just big enough to cover the checkmark. if you go back to the move tool and click on the mask thumbnail you have just created and click and drag in the canva, you should be able to move the mask around. this is what you want for steps 5 and 7. basically, on your mask thumbnail on the checkmark group, what is brushed in black will erase what's in the group, and the white part will reveal what's in the group. for now just make sure the shape you just drew is covering the checkmark.

3- once the checkmark is hidden, click on the stopwatch icon next to layer mask postion to start the animation. this will automatically create a keyframe where your cursor is on the timeline (the yellow diamond)

4- once your starting point is done, you want to go a bit further on the timeline with your cursor.

5- then move the mask shape so it reveals just the smallest part of the checkmark (make sure you click the checkmark group mask thumbnail first before moving the mask). once you move the mask with the move tool, a new keyframe will automatically appear where your cursor is on the timeline (another diamond). make sure you drag the shape down the checkmark to mimick it being drawn.

6- go a bit further again on the timeline, where you want the animation to end.

7- and move the shape again to reveal the checkmark (make sure you click the group mask thumbnail first before moving the shape). again, a third keyframe will be automatically created. i dragged the shape up from the bottom of the checkmark to mimick the drawing of the checkmark.

your animation should be done here after these 2 movements, so play it in a loop and see if you are satisfied with the animation you have created. if you don't like it you have options:

you can go back to the group layer mask and edit it with the black or white brush;

you can also go back to each keyframe by positiong your cursor over it and move the mask around in a different way;

and you can select the keyframes (yellow diamonds) and move them around on the timeline. if you push the keyframes closer together, the animation will be faster, and if you space them out more, the animation will take longer. it's up to you!

this animation thing is really just trial and error. you could probably do the same animation with a checkmark you find online, as long as the image file is in a group and the animated mask is applied to the group. and don't forget to unlink the mask before animating a movement or it won't work properly!

and this is what my animation looks like:

that's about it, i hope that was clear enough omg. never realized how hard it is to explain these things in english lol. let me know if you have any questions! ♡

[judithan-fr]

Tutorial: How I Render Accents

PART 1: LINES

a quick disclaimer: as stated on the title, this is how I render accents and obviously a lot of it will not apply to whatever style/method/etc that you may use. Another thing is there are some aspects of my style that will seem obvious to me that I may overlook explaining. please consider this a more generalized guide than a step-by-step.

So, first things first: the lines themselves.

I'm going to be making an entry for Brightshine for this tutorial, so it'll be the example i use. I use Clip Studio Paint for all of my accents and I specifically use the asset found in the CSP asset store called SOIPEN for my lines, specifically on a size 3. I feel it does a good job of getting crisp yet soft lines and matches well to the line weight of the dragons line art. I typically do not zoom in very far and try to focus on making the outer silhouette ares bold and the inner lines soft. This gives a crisp edge to the work and a definitive line that makes it easier to color later on.

Something to note if I utilize the line method of going back and forth between opaque and transparent colors. It's a hotkey you can set that effectively turns the same brush you're using into an eraser. It allows me to carve away segments to create that negative space (as seen on the middle of the flower above) rather than trying to perfectly draw in that specific circle shape. Negative space is a huge tool to master that can give a lot of depth to your work. It also helps to sometimes fill in segments or widen out segments that are just Barely touching. The less complications in the lines the better.

For the main feature, the flowers, I will typically find a reference showing a good clear outline of how the flowers look and simplify the shapes. The flowers in question here are Delphiniums and I've decided to render them upside down as if they're hanging. Simplifying the shapes and giving the illusion of the petal bunching is more effective than genuinely drawing each and every petal in a 100% accurate way. (also since it's for Brightshine I've replaced the flower bulbs at the ends with light bulbs)

When doing line work that goes right up to the edge of the dragon, I'll typically start with the line for the edge, then build from that. Also when it comes to narrow areas (like the tip of the wing there) I'll leave it blank and typically fill it in with gradients or other small things to not make it too busy.

A very important rule for making accents is: Do Not Invest In Details That Will Get Lost In Resizing. I don't make super small details that don't matter, for example if you look at the innermost part of the flowers they are blocky and somewhat large compared to how they actually are on the flowers. When they get resized they will barely maintain that level of detail.

With all of the linework done I'd like to point out how I do composition for my accents. I tend to have 2-3 main focal points (in this case it's the two major draping areas on the wings, and the flowing lace on the arms) and everywhere else is filled in with evenly distributed small bits. Originally the butterfly on the bottom left wing wasn't there in the sketch but when I looked at the accent lines for what I had I noticed an empty spot and filled it in with a matching motif.

Some main points of how I craft my accents include: keeping the main focal points and number of thematic motifs limited and deliberate. I could add a bunch of like, jewelry trinkets or more lace and really clutter the accent but by not doing that it gives the flowers room to breathe and be the star of the show. Also using references for flowers creates a much better image than winging it.

In the next part I'll go over my coloring/rendering process!

[ominous-feychild]

So one of the other Tapas writers rambled about armor in the medieval world in the Tapas discord server, and I figured I should share it with you all because it's some really good stuff!

So depending on the type of armor, how you'd process it for reuse varies pretty heavily. Mail, for instance, is fairly easy to resize for someone else because you can add or remove links fairly easily. Same goes for repairs. A good thrust can bust through even riveted mail, but the damaged links can be replaced easily enough. Well, I say fairly easily. It's a pain in the ass to work with. But it's still cheaper on the whole than plate armor, and it's far more likely that someone who isn't a member of the nobility can get their hands on it. Plate armor can range from a simple cuirass to a full set. A full set is usually bespoke to the person, so you probably wouldn't try to steal the whole thing. It would take ages to remove it from a corpse, and if they ended up dead whilst wearing it, the stuff probably isn't worth the effort to begin with. A chestplate or helmet that's been stoved in by a warhammer isn't exactly a candidate for the "it'll buff out" treatment. Then there's the fact that the previous owner's family might reasonably expect this expensive and time consuming investment of theirs to be returned with the freshly minted corpse. So, take the good bits that you can get off in a hurry, but stripping the whole set is ill advised. You expect a helmet to go missing, but if someone's taking the time to remove, say, the codpiece, there will be questions. Recycling any sort of armor into weapons is probably not the best of ideas. The steel you'd want to use for armor is different than the steel you'd want to use for swords. Swords, especially around Europe, North Africa, etc, were typically through hardened and made to be flexible. Armor needs to be more rigid, so it would go through a different heat treat process and would need different carbon content. Not that medieval smiths knew what carbon was, exactly, but they had their own ways of grading steel. It can be done, but there are a lot of things that can be done that you wouldn't necessarily want to. I can, if I was so inclined, go to the shooting range in a tactical maid outfit. That doesn't mean it's a good idea. Full plate would be the equivalent to rocking up to battle in an M1 Abrams. Cool as hell, but waaaay to expensive for the average man at arms. Just about everyone would have a helmet of some kind, and there were all kinds of variations on armor that were more affordable to peasants pressed into military service. Gambesons, as you mentioned, were surprisingly effective. They could be augmented in a lot of useful ways, too. If you want a really good reference for historical arms and armor, there's an anime called Maria the Virgin Witch that gets a lot of stuff right. Not only in terms of styles and types, but how it was used and how one might reasonably expect to fight against it.

This all was written by Rusty! He's a great writer and has a whole bunch of novels out if any of you guys want to check it out!

(You guys should totally reblog this to help those who could use this information to see this <3)

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

Hello, I don't know if I'm the first to ask this, but how do you make gifs?

If it's not a problem, could you explain it to someone who had never made gifs, but want to try?

As you can imagine, it's a fresh awoken need, because I think I just got a stroke watching a concert and I wanna try gifing, pls help a fangirl out 🙏

OKAY SO i use a program on my desktop called instagiffer, which actually makes gifmaking very easy once you get the hang of how it works and learn the shortcuts you can take with it. it's pretty easy to learn just messing around with it to see what everything does, but on top of that, i have a very efficient system that's been developing over the years.

this is what it looks like with no video loaded in it yet:

i had to load in a video to see these other things for screenshots, so here it is with a video loading in(one i started a long time ago and never finished but am working on now, i've posted one gif from it already though):

so it has the effects panel(which i never use except the enhance one but i've had to switch that off before on certain videos if it looked messed up):

and it has the captions panel, for subtitles or anything:

it's got the manual crop thing in the frames dropdown, so you can be more precise about cropping edges out instead of just relying on dragging the corners of the red square around:

as far as i'm aware, the program seems like it's been abandoned for a long time, the website for it hasn't been kept up, the social media pages for it, etc., but it's still available to download in places online somewhere i believe. or if you'd prefer, i could probably send it to you! i can also help with how to use it if you wanna give it a try, and tell/show you my usual routine.

besides that, sometimes i'll use ezgif .com to do things like remove frames or change speed on gifs i've already made or to resize them if i need to because it's quick and doesn't throw a watermark on it, but i think you can make them there too. i haven't done it because it didn't work for me when i was testing it out one day, but it might have just been me being impatient.

[lacefuneral]

hi!!! i love for custom blog theme,, do you have a link to the code or creator 0:?

ya!

so my theme is actually a heavily modified version of redux edit #1 by lopezhummel (current url: holyaura). i always remind users that most tumblr themes are old and that you'll need to replace all instances of "http://" in the code with "https://" so tumblr will save the theme. i had to do it with this one

these are the modifications i made to the theme. i edited this theme over the course of at least a year or so and don't quite recall how i did all of these things. but to the best of my ability:

i moved the "left side img" to the right side of the screen. i also made this element "responsive" so the image will never get cropped when you resize your screen. this was a bitch and a half to figure out and i truthfully do not remember how i did it

i deleted the text in the drop-down navigation so it appears as a little line that is otherwise not noticeable. this type of theme, the "redux edit," used to be very popular because having a drop-down menu let you cram a bunch of links that lead to sub-pages on your blog. i've done away with my sub-pages, but i still like the format of the "redux style" tumblr theme, for its minimal UI and for its customization options.

i separated my mobile description from my web description for formatting reasons. basically, most elements in tumblr themes are connected to specific text fields and toggles. i simply went to the section that was connected to my blog description and deleted it. the web description has to be manually typed inside of the CSS/HTML editor when i want to change it. whereas my mobile description is whatever i type in the "description" box of the normal tumblr theme editors.

i added code someone else made ("NoPo" by drannex42 on GitHub) which allows you to hide posts with certain tags on them. i did this to hide my pinned post, as it looks bad on desktop.

i replaced the tiny pagination arrows at the bottom with images that literally say "next" and "back" because the arrows were far too small/illegible. i know they aren't centered in the container i'm not sure how to fix that lol

i added a cursor

i installed a working music box ("music player #3" by glenthemes), and then added music by uploading MP3 files to discord and then using the links of those files as the audio sources. iirc i also had to make this element responsive and i aligned it so it would sit on the left side of my screen. i made the "album art" for each one the same strawberry pixel art

the moth is just a PNG i added and then moved around so it was behind my sidebar using the options that came pre-packaged with the theme

if you want something like the strawberry shortcake decoration at the top (called "banner" in the theme) your best bet is to google "pixel divider"

theme didn't support favicon so i added that in so i could have a little heart

ALSO:

this theme is. really weird about backgrounds. any background that i have ever set for it, i've had to do weird shit in photoshop. like making the background HUGE, mirroring it, etc. - because it would crop the image weird, or there would be a gap where there was no image. idk man, it's haunted. i'm sure there's a way to fix this but i am NOT tech savvy enough. anyway, patterns are probably your best friend. and if you DO want something that isn't a pattern, it's going to take a lot of trial and error. but i love this theme so i deal with it 😭

the sidebar image and the floating image do not scale. if your image is 1000 pixels, it will display at 1000 pixels. you'll either have to edit the code so that the theme scales the image for you, or resize any images before you add them

my white whale of theme editing (aside from the Weird Background thing) is that i cannot get infinite scrolling to work. i have tried every code out there. all of them break my theme. it makes me sad because like. i have music there for a reason. the idea is that people would listen to it while they scroll. unfortunately, the way it's set up now, the music will stop every time someone clicks "next" or "back" 💀

anyway sorry for rambling but i hope you enjoy the the theme and customizing it in the way that you want to!

[milfweirdal]

gif making tutorial for the inimitable @snowysobsessions

disclaimer: this is exactly how i do it, but im basically just winging it tbh. there may be other methods that are quicker and/or look way better. this is just the way to which i have become accustomed. i am not a fancy ass gif maker who does colouring and sharpening or uses photoshop whatever, those folks are the real pros. i just like to get the job done :) if you wanna make really fancy gifs other tutorials may be more appropriate. ok lets get into it under the cut!

step 1:

select your source. for the purposes of this tutorial im going to stay on-brand and use this video of weird al on 30 rock (aka the original Milf Weird Al).

step 2:

either download the video (i dont have a good recommendation for a website for that unfortunately, they all seem virus-ridden these days) or screen-record the part of the video you want to turn into a gif. for me, thats the part with al in it.

my computer runs windows something - 11 maybe? and it comes with screen recording software built in that saves into a folder called "captures" in the video folder, which can be activated with the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Alt + R. most phones also have screen recording functions, you could record it on your phone and transfer it to your computer? (for the record the website i use works on mobile too, but its very slow and annoying so i much prefer to use my laptop.)

step 3:

use video editing software of your choice to cut the clip down to just the part you want giffed. i use microsoft clipchamp because thats whats on my computer. it can also be used to crop away any black bars around any video clip, which is useful, because a properly cropped gif will probably be better quality. export the clip in as high quality as possible.

tip: try to keep the gif 3 seconds or under. this keeps the filesize down. tumblr gif size limit is 10MB, but i keep all my gifs 5MB or below because otherwise the loading time/storage burden is painful, and like i said, im not making fancy ones here, i dont mind them being a bit lower quality.

here is my clip. i saved it muted because its filesize is smaller that way.

step 4:

go to https://ezgif.com/video-to-gif which looks like this.

note that ezgif has tools for cutting, cropping and resizing videos if you dont have access to any video editing tool. its quicker if you do it in advance, though, i find.

upload your video and you will see this type of screen appear.

if youre uploading it to tumblr, the 540xAUTO size option is the one i go for by default, but it also has the following size options.

smaller size = smaller filesize, and you want the filesize as small as possible within reason. i sometimes make a gif smaller in dimensions if i'm really struggling to get the filesize below 5MB.

next is the frame rate: i set it to 25 because thats closest to the oriignal frame rate of most recorded video, but in order to make savings on filesize, it can be selected to 20FPS or 12FPS. i wouldnt recommend lower than that unless you want it to look weird and choppy, in which case, go ahead, and i wouldn't recommend higher unless you literally need the animation to be smooth as silk - for making it slowmo, for example.

i don't mess with the "method" drop down bc idk what it means.

the "Optimise for static background" tickbox is useful for if someone is doing something on a totally still background, because it reduces filesize by not animating every single bit of background in every frame. it could be helpful here as our background is not moving at all, just our heroine Alfina. i'm going to tick it.

now you can click "Convert to GIF". you should see something like this - itll be animated of course, this is just a screenshot.

our gif looks crispy fresh (and has 69 frames - NICE), but its filesize is 5.51MB which is more than id like it to be, but first we're gonna look at Effects, so I'm not going to click the "Optimise" option yet.

step 5:

clicking effects will provide the following options

if the video was sort of dark and hard to see, for example if it was live footage, it can be helpful to increase the brightness. changing the brightness and contrast makes our gif look like this, and makes it pop a little more.

you can keep playing with the settings and clicking "Apply selected" until it looks about right to you, or not add any effects at all - it's up to you. I hit the back button in my browser to go back to the gif before i added the effects, then I went to Optimise.

step 6:

the Optimise screen is like this

i tend to stick with the Lossy GIf optimization method. I put the compression level down to 30, and press Optimise GIF and see what happens.

as you can see, the filesize has been reduced by 41.95% to 3.2MB without a super noticeable drop in quality.

if you set the compression level to 200, this is what it looks like

much more pixely, and not much further reduced in size, so i stick to the lower end of the compression scale.

this is our finished gif! isnt she beautiful. i just right-clicked and hit save on it on the webpage after generating - on mobile, i guess you'd long-press on it to download it.

hope that helps!!! lmk if you need help with any other aspect like changing speed or overlays or anything but honestly it's pretty intuitive once you know how to do these bits.

[stargazer-sims]

Water Elements Building Experiments & Tutorial - UPDATE

Okay, since my last attempt to post this got reported, let's have another go, shall we?

----------

Hello friends! I've been experimenting (as usual), and since I'm currently obsessed with making things related to water, of course my experiments are water-related this time.

After building the play park, which incorporates a pool, a splash pad and a "flooded room", the idea came to me to see what other kinds of water objects I could combine for interesting gameplay/storytelling.

Behold! (the rest is under the cut, so people who may find these images upsetting do not have to see them)

Experiment #1

A very pregnant (and very uninhibited) Zia is relaxing in this water feature. He even brought out a toy from his inventory to entertain himself while he cools off.

how to do this

To do this yourself, you'll need TwistedMexi's amazing mod, T.O.O.L.

First, build your water feature, either inside a room or outdoors. This one's indoors, obviously. To build it, first construct a flat square in the size you prefer, then put walls around it to create a room (or a room within a room, in the case of the one I made). Next, lower the flat square by one or two clicks. Then, turn the walls you built into half-walls. Anything between 0.25 and 0.75 wall height will work. If it's any taller, your sim won't be able to get into it.

Next, go to the buy catalogue and select a the square kiddie pool. Place it wherever you want inside your water feature, and then use T.O.O.L. to resize it. I scaled mine down to 0.025 so I could still see it but it wouldn't be visible in pictures.

Now add whatever decoration you want for your water feature. Fountains, water emitters, lily pads...whatever!

Once you've decorated the area, the last thing to do is add the water. Go to the Terrain Tools in build mode and choose the water icon,and then just click inside your water feature, and it'll fill up. You can change the water style at this point as well. I used "swimming in sparkles" but you can use whatever you prefer.

Go back to Live Mode and click on your tiny kiddie pool. You should get the interaction to "Lounge". Click that, and your sim will relax in the water just like Zia is doing up there.

__________

Experiment #2

This was done with the birth pool from @pandasamacc Realistic Childbirth Mod. This one also requires T.O.O.L.

When Zia said he wanted to give birth naturally, this is absolutely not what Davey thought he meant! Zia is still working on learning English, and he was trying to tell his friend he wanted to give birth in nature. In any case, Davey's first assumption still wouldn't have been that Zia wanted to labour in a pond in a public park. But, Davey is Zia's friend, and he trusts him, so Davey's willing to humour him (and he hopes no one calls the police on Zia for public nudity).

how to do this

First, use the terrain tool to build a pond. You can make it any size you like.

Next, place a platform in your pond. It makes sense to put it fairly close to the edge of the water. You can lower it to your desired height. I lowered mine two clicks, but then raised it to one because the water was a bit too deep for my liking. Honestly, this will take some trial and error, because pond-building is by no means an exact science, but once you get it the way you like, I'd suggest saving the lot to your library for future use.

Once you've built your platform, get the birth pool from the buy catalogue and place it on your platform. It should be close to the edge, unless you want your sim to be completely surrounded by water while labouring/giving birth. Resize the pool using T.O.O.L. You can make it as small as you want, as long as you can find it to click on it later.

Lastly, fill your pond using the water option in Terrain Tools.

*** NOTE - the birth pool doesn't work in water features (like in Experiment #1). I tried it, but even with the birth pool at its correct size, the action just kept cancelling out.

I like that the midwife got into the pond with him. It's a little awkward that she's fully clothed, but at least the animations still work and the mod is still fully functional this way.

She's able to check him, and the animation still looks good.

Taking a little rest, and asking the midwife "how much longer?"

I really like how this ended up looking with the pond, although I think I want more water for the final form of this setup.

Zia didn't have much longer to wait, as it turned out! H looked like he was in agony, but he pushed like a champion when his body told him to, and...

Purple baby girl is here!

I had to censor this because there's a baby and fictional alien private bits under those flowers, but I hope you can still see the position of the midwife's hands. This actually looks better here than it does in the birth pool.

Zia's hand and arm position looks weird though, unfortunately, because normally he'd be holding onto the edge of the pool. This would look better with some sort of decoration at the edge of the pond. Even pillows would work, if you're not into the rocks and plants aesthetic.

I personally feel like I'd like the water to be deeper. Originally, I had it deeper for the cuddle animation and didn't think I liked it, but after seeing the actual birth animation, I've changed my mind. Definitely needs more water, but this still looked okay for experimentation purposes.

First snuggle with the little one ♥

Again, I think this setup could benefit with some sort of decoration /support at the edge of the pond, because it looks like he's leaning on nothing and it looks very awkward and uncomfortable.

You can also see my tiny pool here. I sized it up so I could find it, but I figured out a workaround for that. Instead of having a visible (even if small) pool, I later made the pool as tiny as I did for the kiddle pool in Experiment #1 and then just added one tile of flooring to my platform in a slightly different colour than the rest of it. That helped me figure out where to aim, to find the teeny-tiny pool

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this odd little experminent/tutorial. If you use this, please let me know, so I can see your creativity!

[atlafan]

Everything You Want 〜 An Office OU

a/n: I’ve been driven to write a jim x pam fic. I just needed to get this out of my head! Soooo there’s an episode in the third season where Jim and Pam talk on the phone for the first time since he went to the Stamford branch. They get interrupted, and it always bothered me that Pam never just called him back. So that’s really where the “other universe” aspect of this comes from because I have her call him back. What happens after that? Read to find out! Please reblog and leave notes in the tags! I’ve never written for this pairing/fandom before and I want to know what yall think!! Warnings: angst, fluff, smut Words: 11.6K

Masterlist I Patreon I Ask

When Jim started at Dunder Mifflin three years ago, he never expected to fall in love. He wasn’t quite sure how or why it happened. Maybe it was the bright smile that greeted him. Maybe it was the giggle being hidden by a dainty hand. All he knew was that his heart stopped within five seconds of meeting her. He had never been in love before, but he knew how it felt. Especially when he found out she was spoken for. She was freshly engaged, but he had no idea because she was waiting for her ring to be resized. Jim’s heart sank into his stomach. It hurt, and it hurt badly.

Here was this perfect girl. This girl who he could joke around with. This girl who he could have a real conversation with. This girl who enjoyed being silly and pulling pranks to keep the day interesting. She was taken. Jim was a little confused at first because she hadn’t even mentioned her boyfriend now fiancé. Jim didn’t know he existed until about a three weeks after he started working there.

Roy works in the warehouse. Jim thought that was how he met Pam…at work, but it wasn’t. Pam and Roy have been together since high school. Pam went to college. Roy didn’t. When she graduated, he told her he heard of a position opening up in the building where he works. That’s how she got the receptionist job she currently still has. Jim never understood how people could stay together for so long when you’re that young, especially while in college. He had three different girlfriends while he was in college.

“We actually didn’t get together until my freshman year of college. We knew of each other in high school, but he was a jock, and I…well, I wasn’t exactly a cheerleader.” She laughed while explaining to Jim one day over lunch. “We happened to bump into each other at a party. He had come to visit a friend, and I had a friend who was friends with his friend. We sort of got to talking since he didn’t know many other people. The next weekend he came back to visit so he could ask me out.” She smiled fondly. “We’ve been together ever since.”

As Jim got to know Pam more over time, he couldn’t understand how or why she was with a guy like Roy. The chemistry just didn’t seem fitting. He was never in a good mood when he’d come up to get Pam at the end of the day. Jim chalked it up to Roy doing manual labor all day. He also understood that people were just different at work. You never know what two people are like when they’re alone.

Pam was in a very committed relationship, so Jim tried to just be her friend. He could do that. He was always one of those guys that had a lot of friends that were girls. He wasn’t sure why, but he never complained. They ate lunch together most days. When Dwight started to get on Jim’s nerves, that’s when the pranks started. Pam told Jim of a few ways to get under Dwight’s skin. Jim couldn’t help but pull pranks. He liked making Pam laugh, so messing with Dwight just had to be done.

The days Roy came up to have lunch with the two of them were the worst. It was always awkward. She acted different when Roy was around. She got closed off, wouldn’t talk as much, and she certainly didn’t smile or laugh as much. It baffled Jim because Pam had no problem talking and laughing with him. They never hung out outside of work. Pam didn’t talk about the ins and outs of her relationship. And Jim never really spoke about his personal life. He dated of course. He wasn’t celibate. But as time went on, it just got more and more difficult to date. He compared every girl to Pam. It was miserable.

A stepping stone was when Pam had to drive Roy’s truck into work because Roy was out sick. Now, Jim knew how to drive stick, but when Pam told him about her being able to drive stick, he told her he didn’t know how. So, at lunch, and after work, they got in the truck and Pam “showed” Jim how to drive stick. It was the most fun Jim had had in a long time. He let himself have his little delusions. He let himself think that she’d leave Roy at some point and go out with him.

When a year went by and they hadn’t set a date yet, Jim was beginning to get hopeful. Pam told him they were just taking some time to save up, and that setting a date would be too much pressure. But then another year went by, then another. Three years of being engaged. They had set a date at one point, but they had to move it. Now it’s just TBD. And in those three years, Jim had grown exponentially close with Pam. He spent a lot of time goofing around at her desk, and she had no problem with it. She could be oblivious sometimes. Roy would come up to visit her, and they’d flirt and kiss and be cute. It always made Jim immensely uncomfortable.

Pam couldn’t understand how Jim hadn’t had a serious girlfriend in the time that they’ve known each other. He’s tall, funny, attractive, and has a good job. He’s a total catch. She even mentioned that she had a friend she could set him up with a while back, but he said he was all set. He told her he had been seeing a few different people, that right now just wasn’t a good time for something serious. They hadn’t had another conversation about his love life since.

There were times where Jim thought he was over Pam, that his crush had been squashed. But she always found a way to pull him back in. He had heart eyes for her. He’d run interference for her when Michael was being especially dickish. He never turned her down when she asked him if he wanted to hear some gossip from the meetings she’d sit in on with Michael. They were best friends. Jim was Pam’s best friend, and she felt lucky to be able to say that.

What really bothered Jim was that Pam never had the chance to hang out outside of work unless Roy said it was alright. Jim would invite Pam out for drinks after work, and she’d have to ask Roy first. Pam didn’t talk about it much, but Roy could sometimes have a temper. And Roy could sometimes be controlling. But he took care of her, so she never really minded. She’d stand up to him when she really needed to. She wasn’t afraid to let him know when she was upset with him. It wasn’t a perfect relationship, but what relationship is ever perfect?

**

When Jim would talk about Pam to his friends, they always asked him what it was about her that drove him crazy. On the physical side, it drove him crazy when she’d sit on the edge of his desk. It wasn’t like she was wearing mini-skirts and thigh-high stockings, but it was just the alluring position she was in. The way he could look up at her. He wouldn’t tell his friends this, but he’s imagined all the ways he could be looing up at her like the way he does at work. Some of those ways involve him on his knees in front of her. Some of those ways involve her on top of him in a precarious position. And not that he’s a pig, but anyone would be an idiot to not notice that Pam has a great set on her. Jim often wonders what types of bras she wears. He often wonders what it be like to be the one to unclasp it, kiss on her shoulder and down her chest until one of her nipples is between his teeth.

On the emotional, mental side of things, Jim would tell his friends that they make each other laugh. He would tell them how smart and curious she is. He would tell them about her art and how talented she is. He would tell them that she’s secretly  very good at volleyball, but she doesn’t want Michael to find out because he’d find an excuse to have a staff volleyball game just to see her in a pair of spandex shorts. Jim wouldn’t mind seeing Pam in a tight pair of spandex shorts, but he’d only want to see her like that if it was her choice.

His friends tell him all the time to just go for it, but he doesn’t want to tell Pam how he feels. He wants her to realize she has feelings for him. He’s not going to put himself out there unless he knows for her sure how she feels about him. There are times it feels like she wants to be with him, but other times she can be distant and cold.

**

The day of the basketball game between the office staff and the warehouse workers is one of the first times Pam feels different when she looks at Jim. She’d never seen him play basketball before. Sure, she’d seen him compete in the various games at the yearly company picnic, but there was something different about him today. He was so confident. She enjoyed watching Roy, of course, but her eyes kept going to Jim like they were magnetized. After he dunked one of the baskets, he smirked and winked at her. They had been talking earlier about whether or not he was actually any good.

She’d never say it to Roy, but Jim was a better player than him. Pam was impressed that Jim was holding his own. Roy is sort of beefy, and Jim is sort of lanky. Pam also kept looking at Jim because he kept pushing his hair out of his face. Normally, someone being sweaty wouldn’t turn her on, but something about Jim working up a sweat was making her feel something. It was making her heart race.

Jim felt like something was happening between them. Every time he and Pam made eye contact her face flushed. His stomach fell out of his ass, though, when he heard Pam say to Roy, “Let’s get you into the tub when we get home,” after he came up to get her later that day. The thought of Roy fucking Pam in their bathtub…it wasn’t a visual that Jim needed. When he showered after work, he imagined what it would be like if Pam was there with him. He imagined how nice it would feel to have her wet, soapy chest pressed up against his, how nice it would feel to have her fingers in his hair, how nice it would feel to have her tongue in his mouth. He wasn’t proud of it, but the orgasm he gave himself in the shower due to those thoughts was sensational. He hated that he whined and whimpered her name. He hated even thinking about her that way. She’s his friend. It’s gross, and he shouldn’t be objectifying her like that. But all he has is his imagination, so what else can he do?

**

Watching Jim flirt with Katie when she came to sell purses in the office was…interesting to watch. Pam thought about her interactions with Jim, and how he was interacting with Katie, and it seemed awfully similar. Except for when Jim leaned in and whispered something into Katie’s ear, and she giggled. He took her out that night. When Roy initiated some intimate time with Pam later that night, she told him she was too tired.

“You’ve been too tired a lot lately.” He huffed.

“Sorry, Michael’s been running me ragged these last couple of weeks.” She turned to him and smiled softly. “Maybe in the morning? You know how I like it in the morning.”

“Yeah.” He smiled back.

The following Monday, Pam waited until lunch to ask Jim how his date was.

“It was good.” He told her.

“Are you gonna see her again?”

“Yeah, we actually saw each other again on Saturday for breakfast.”

“So, you went out for drinks on Friday, and then you met up again on Saturday morning?” She furrowed her brows as she looked at him.

“It wasn’t exactly a hassle since she spent the night.”

“Oh! I thought you had a roommate.”

“I do.”

“He didn’t mind you having someone sleep on your couch?”

“Pam, Katie didn’t sleep on my couch.” He leaned in to speak a little quieter since others were in the breakroom eating lunch.

“Then where did she…oh. Ohhhh.” She nodded as her cheeks flushed. “Well, good for you.” She gave his shoulder a nudge.

“Um, thanks?” He made one of his classic Jim faces, and continued eating his sandwich. “I’m actually going to her place tomorrow night. We’re gonna have dinner and watch a movie.”

“That’s great, it’s nice that you’re dating again.”

“Again? I never really stopped, I just don’t talk about it often. You know I like to keep that stuff private.”

“Right.” She nodded and took a sip of her water. “If things go well with you two, we could double date sometime.”

“Sure.” He nodded. “Sounds like fun.”

**

The night of the Dundies was one of the best nights of Jim’s life. Not only did Pam come back after leaving with Roy, but she sat and had dinner with Jim. She had way too much to drink, but Jim was also drinking. They laughed so hard they cried, especially after Pam won her Dundie. She was so excited, that she not only hugged Jim, but she kissed him. She kissed him right on the lips. He was in shock. He took her to the bar after to get her some water. She kept looking at him and giggling. Was she waiting for him to say something?

She seemed to sober up some after her fall. She was going to ask him about their kiss until she remembered that the camera crew was there watching. Even though it was a drunken kiss, it was still a kiss. Jim could work with that. He knew what it felt like to hold her in his arms now. He knew what it felt like to have her lips on his now. Yeah, he could definitely work with that.

He saw Katie sporadically. He liked taking her out on dates. He had fun with her. But he didn’t call her as much after Pam kissed him. He felt bad for picturing Pam whenever he’d kiss Katie. It wasn’t fair to her.

**

So much happened throughout the year. Pam and Roy finally set a date, which meant Pam was really starting to make wedding plans. The night of the booze cruise he was going to tell her how he felt. He had reached his boiling point, but then Roy announced that he wanted to set the date. Pam had a new pep in her step after that.

It just got more difficult for Jim. It was killing him from the inside out. So, he applied for the open position in Stamford. He got it, of course, but he didn’t tell anyone. He wanted to try one last time with Pam before making his final decision about transferring.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” They were standing outside. Roy had just driven away. It was now or never.

“About when you want to give me more of your money?” She grinned.

“No, I…”

“Did you wanna do that now? We can go inside. I’m feeling kinda good tonight.” She smiled brighter, which just broke Jim’s heart more.

“I was just…I’m in love with you.”

“What?” Her whole world just came to a standstill.

“I’m really sorry if that’s weird for you to hear, but I needed you to hear it. Probably not good timing, I know that. I just…” His eyes became glassy. He was fighting off tears.

“What are you doing? What do you expect me to say to that?” Her heart was racing faster than it ever had.

“I just needed you to know. Once.” He takes a step closer to her.

“Well, I um…I…I can’t.”

“Yeah.” He looked off and shook his head.

“You have no idea…”

“Don’t do that.”

“…what your friendship means to me.” She’s fighting off tears too.

“Come on. I don’t wanna do that. I wanna be more than that.” His heart is breaking.

“I can’t. I’m really sorry if you misinterpreted things. It’s probably my fault.” Her heart is breaking.

“Not your fault. I’m sorry I misinterpreted our friendship.”

He walked off, away from her to try to catch his breath. He needed a second to cry and let it out. Pam raced inside the building and up to the office. She felt childish, but she needed to call her mom. She talked to her mom about Jim all the time. She dialed the number, and she told her what happened.

“No, I didn’t know what to say. Yes, I know. I don’t know, Mom, he’s my best friend. Yeah, he’s great. Yeah, I think I am.” Jim came in and made his way over to her. “I have to go. I will.” Pam hung up the phone and stepped toward Jim. “Listen, Jim…”

And that’s when he did it. He cupped her cheeks and he kissed her. It was only for a second, but when he pulled away her hands came flying to his face to keep him in place. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. They both tasted salty due to their tears, hints of the alcohol they had consumed an hour prior. They parted when they both needed to breathe. Both of their chests were heaving as they looked at each other.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He told her as he took her hands in his.

“Me too.” She admitted. He leaned back in for more, but she stopped him. “Jim. We can’t.”

“You’re still going to marry him?” All she could do was nod. She couldn’t form words. “Okay.”

He let her go. He let her go both physically and emotionally.

**

Months went by without contact. Jim announced he was leaving via a memo. It was a classic thing for him to do. He wouldn’t have wanted a going away party. Pam cried for weeks. She called off her wedding. She broke up with Roy. She got her own car and her own apartment. It wasn’t easy. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Every day she wanted to call Jim to see how he was doing.

There was one night that Pam had to work late because Michael took his sweet time getting some contracts signed. She was about to leave when the phone rang. She sighed and answered.

“Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam.”

“…hey.” Jim’s voice was as deep and gentle as she remembered.

“Oh my god.”

“Hi, uh…I was calling to leave a message for Kev…fantasy football thing. I forgot his extension, so I was just gonna go through the system.”

“Right.” She nods and sits back down at her desk.

“What are you doing there so late?”

“It was pretzel day.”

“Ah, so Michael didn’t do anything until the last second because he spent the day waiting in line for a sugar-loaded pretzel?”

“Yup.” She chuckles. “You actually would have gotten a kick out of it. The sugar rush he had this afternoon was like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah? Well, don’t leave me hanging, Beesly.”

She smiled so wide her cheeks hurt. They talked on the phone for almost two hours. She told him all about her new place, and some incident she had putting together a bookshelf. He told her about his new co-workers. She laughed so hard at one of his stories about this guy Andy that she couldn’t breathe.

Their conversation ended abruptly, though, when Dwight and Ryan came back late from their sales call. Jim thought Pam was saying goodbye to him, but really she was saying goodbye to Dwight and Ryan. It was so awkward. When Pam got into her car, she grabbed her cellphone and put in the number Jim had given her for his cell. As she added the contact she realized she could just call him back. They could continue their conversation. It was so nice to hear his voice. She chews on her bottom lip. She thinks about it the whole way home. She changes into her pajamas and puts something on her TV, but she still can’t stop thinking about Jim. Hearing his voice in her ear…she snatches her phone and dials his number.

“Pam?”

“Hi.” She presses her palm to her forehead. “Are you home yet?”

“Uh, yeah, I just got in. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just…we got interrupted before. I wasn’t saying…Ryan and Dwight got back late. They were on a sales call. I…I didn’t want to stop talking to you.” Being this honest and upfront was so hard for her, but she knew she needed to say it.

“You didn’t?”

“No. Did you?”

“No.”

“I really miss you.” She does her best to not let her voice crack. “I know I don’t really have the right to say that to you after everything, but…I do…I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too. But I couldn’t be there anymore, Pam.”

“I know, I understand that.”

“Why did you call off your wedding?”

“There were a lot of reasons. I think I knew for a long time that I shouldn’t be with him, but we were so complacent. I didn’t care enough until you came along. I’ve been reflecting a lot. I thought I’d miss him more, but all I could think about was you. I should have been more brave earlier on. I…I’m so sorry that I hurt you.” She starts crying. “I hated myself for turning you away the way I did.”

“Don’t cry, Pam.” He tells her softly. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” She swallows. “It’s not okay. I…I let myself lead you on. I let you become my work boyfriend because my actual boyfriend didn’t have the mental capacity to fulfill all my needs. I let myself flirt with you, I let you flirt with me. I…let so much happen, and I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t fair to you…it wasn’t fair to anyone.”

“I let myself do a lot of things too. It wasn’t just you. There were times I knew I took things too far. Neither of us made things easy for the other.” He pauses for a beat. “It’s only been three months…I don’t think now is a good time for us.”

“But-“

“No, just…please listen for a second. You’ve been with the same person for a long time. This is the first time you’ve ever really been on your own. I don’t want to be your rebound, and that’s what I’ll be if you jump into something too soon. I want you to take the time to just be with yourself.”

“Can we still talk?”

“Of course we can. I’ve missed the sound of your voice. I hope that’s not weird for me to say.”

“It’s not.” She smiles. “I’ve missed the sound of yours too.”

“Hey, do you wanna switch to our landlines so we don’t eat up our minutes?”

“Yeah! I’m dying to hear more about how terrified you were after Andy freaked out about the jell-o.”

“It was so scary! I had to tell the camera crew not to say anything to him!”

“That’s insane!”

**

Pam wasn’t sure when she’d see Jim in person. They texted and talked a lot. It felt like old times. On weekends they would talk for hours at night. One night, Jim was regaling Pam of how awful of a player he is at Call of Duty.

“I can’t believe it’s okay for you guys to play a video game as a bonding exercise, but we can’t watch thirty minute installments of movies every Monday.” She rolls her eyes. She’s laying in bed, snuggled up to her waist with blankets.

“Right? Josh gets away with way more shit than Michael. I don’t know how he does it.”

“I get the feeling Josh is much more discrete.”

“He definitely is. He’s an alright boss, but there are times I miss having Michael as a manager.”

“He certainly keeps things interesting.” She yawns and stretches.

“Are you getting tired?”

“No, I was just getting a little more comfortable. It’s weird, I’m not sharing a bed with anyone anymore, and yet I still only sleep on one side of it.”

“I do the same thing. Sleeping in the middle just doesn’t seem right.”

“Exactly! Good, I’m glad I’m not alone in this.”

“Do you usually lay in bed when we talk this late?” Jim can’t believe he’s starting to take things to this place, but he’s curious to see if Pam will catch on. She’s bashful when it comes to these things.

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“Sometimes. It’s kind of cute that you get all cozy in bed before we talk.”

“Don’t tease me.” She whines slightly. “It’s my favorite way to fall asleep.”

“So, you go right to sleep after we say goodnight?”

“Most of the time, yeah. What do you do?”

“Sometimes I go take a shower. Sometimes I go grab a snack, or some water. But other times…”

“Other times…?”

“It’s hard not to think about you after we hang up. You sort of just stay in my mind. And then my mind wanders…”

“To what?” She asks innocently.

“To us. To you being here with me.”

Pam sits up slightly. She can feel her cheeks getting warmer. “What, um, what does your mind wander to us doing together?”

“Do you really wanna know?” Jim sits up slightly as well, plucking at his bottom lip. “Might be too risqué for you Beesly.”

“I’m not a prude.” She laughs. “Just say it Halpert, what do you picture us doing? What would you do if I was there?”

“I’m going to deviate a little, and answer your question with a question of my own.”

“Go for it.”

“When was the last time you had an orgasm?”

“Jesus, Jim.”

“Just answer the question.”

“What does it matter?”

“I’ll tell you after you answer.”

“I…I don’t know. I haven’t done anything since my prior relationship.”

“You haven’t taken care of things yourself?”

“Oh my god.” She sighs and runs a hand down her face. “Not really. I can never…I can never get there on my own, and then I just get frustrated and give up. I know it’s lame that I’m twenty-seven and I can’t even get myself off, but I’ve never really had the time alone before.”

“You do now.”

“That’s…true. I guess I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Do you wanna think about it? I could help.”

“Are…are you asking me if I want to have phone sex with you?”

“I’m asking if you want to have an orgasm. I wanna know what you sound like. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to visit, or when you’ll be able to come here. It’s been driving me crazy for a long time.”

“I’m not really good at talking dirty.”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to say much. Just answer me when I ask you a question, that’s all. Other than that I can just guide you through it.”

“You’re going to tell me how to touch myself? That’s a little arrogant, Halpert.” She smirks. “You think you’re that good?”

“I know I’m that good.”

“Alright, let’s see what you got.”

“You’ll listen?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He lets his eyes drift closed. “Are you comfortable? I want you to lay flat on your back.”

“Okay.” She shifts down in the bed.

“Do you have a spare pillow to put under your hips?”

“Yeah.” She grabs one and puts it where he said. “Done.”

“Close your eyes.”

“Done.”

“Take a deep breath, in and out. Clear your head.” He listens to her as she breathes. “Good, you’re already doing so good, Pam.”

“What now?” She asks with a shaky breath.

“Now I want you to let your hand drift down between your legs, spread them a little. Are you wearing underwear?”

“Yes, should I take them off?”

“No, leave them on for now. Tease yourself over them.”

“Are you touching yourself too?”

“No, we’re focusing on you. Do you feel yourself? Is your underwear wet?”

“Yeah.” She licks her lips as she feels herself. There’s a wet patch where her sex is. She drags a finger up to her clit, still over her underwear, and rubs around it with slow circles.

“Spread your legs a little wider, and slip your hand inside your underwear.” He hears her breath hitch. “How wet are you?”

“I’m…I’m like really wet.”

“Run your fingers between your folds, keep teasing yourself.”

“Tell me…tell me what you would do if you were here.”

“God, I’d…I’d dip the tips of my fingers inside you and drag it up to make sure you’re wet all over. I’d spread you apart and find your clit.”

“What would you do after finding it?”

“Do you really wanna know?”

“Yes.”

“I’d spit down on it and rub it with my thumb while I slip a finger inside of you.” He hears her whimper softly, and it makes his cock twitch. But he’s not touching himself until he’s gotten her off. “How many fingers do you think you could take? You’re probably really tight due to your lack of activity.”

“I am.” She groans. “I’m really tight. I’d…I’d need a second finger.”

“I like to use my index and middle, it makes it easier to keep rubbing you with my thumb. I bet you’d open right up for me. I’d pet your front wall, and I just know you’d tighten back around me.”

“Your hands are so big, it would feel so good.”

He can hear her moving around. He wishes he could see her swiveling her hips while she’s touching herself. He wishes he could see the sweat forming on her forehead. He wishes he could just see her face.

“Are you getting close?”

“Yes.”

“Take your hand away.”

“What?” Her eyes burst open.

“You heard me, take your hand away.”

“D-done. I don’t understand why, though.”

“It feels better when you let it build up. Besides that, I didn’t tell you to come yet. You have to wait until I say.”

“O-okay.”

“Good girl.” He waits to see if she’ll say anything, if she didn’t like that he said that, but she doesn’t. “Okay, you can start touching yourself again. I want you to just focus on your clit. Rub it in tight, little circles.” He hears her moan softly, and it’s music to his ears. “You still wet?”

“Yes, very.” She pants.

“Keep going, pretend it’s my fingers touching you.”

“J-Jim, I-“ Her back is arching and her feet are digging into her mattress.

“Don’t come.”

“But I-“

“Don’t, Pam.” She groans out with frustration, making him chuckle lowly. “Did you stop?”

“Yes.” She huffs.

“Good. Now, go clean yourself up and go to sleep.”

“What?” She sits up and turns her light on. “I thought you wanted me to…to…”

“I changed my mind. You can wait until we’re in person. I don’t want the first time to be over the phone.”

“That’s fair.” She nods.

“Sorry. I’m not trying to be-“

“No, it’s okay. I…I actually kind of feel the same way. It makes sense.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m…I’m gonna, um, go…do what you said.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Pam.”

“Night, Jim.”

**

These last couple of weeks have been insane. Everyone thought the Scranton branch was shutting down because Michael said it was. Then it turned out that Stamford is closing. Which means some people from Stamford are coming to Scranton. Jim is confirmed as one of the salesmen coming to Scranton. Pam was copied on an email sent to Michael briefing him on who’s joining the Scranton team. Andy and Karen are the other salespeople coming. Jim’s mentioned Karen a couple of times. He admitted that they became good friends, and there were some feelings there, but he assured Pam that he doesn’t want to be with Karen.

On the day of, Pam is downright giddy. Jim needed a couple of days to get settled in his new apartment, so they weren’t able to see each other until his first day back. It’s fitting. They’re starting fresh. One by one, a new person comes strolling in. Michael greets each person in his own special way. Luckily, he’s not by her desk when she sees Jim approaching.

“Hi, I’m Jim, I-“

“Oh my god, it’s really you.” Pam smiles brightly and rushes over to Jim to hug him.

“See, you ruined my bit. I was pretending I’d never been here before.” He looks down at her and melts at the way she’s beaming up at him.

“I know, I don’t care.”

“Jimbo! Look who’s back!” Michael says cheerily. Jim lets go of Pam to greet Michael.

As Jim settles in he notices Ryan sitting where he used to sit. Because Jim’s a nice person, he takes the spot across from Dwight. He won’t be able to steal glances of Pam as easily, but maybe that’s a good thing for right now. He’s about ready to burst, and he needs to keep his composure. He’s been given a promotion. He’s the new number two. He’s also the only one who has worked for both branches, so he knows he needs to be a resource for his Stamford colleagues. As much as he wants to fall back into older patterns with Pam, he doesn’t want to go back to exactly how things were. He’s almost thirty-one, he wants to try to grow up a little.

That lasts all of five seconds, though. Dwight and Andy are two sides of the same coin, and Jim needs to keep that under control. So, he has no choice but to mess with Dwight. Hearing Pam hold in her laughter is also a boost to his ego.

It’s an eventful day. One of the Stamford people has already quit. Michael just isn’t great with onboarding and integrating. Pam and Jim haven’t gotten to talk much since there was so much going on. She has no idea what the plan for tonight is, if there even is one. He finds her in the kitchen later. She’s snacking on her berry yogurt. Jim refills his water bottle.

“Hey.” He says to her.

“Hi.” She says back.

“Are you free for dinner tonight?”

“I believe so.” She licks the yogurt off her spoon, sending a shiver down Jim’s spine. Whether it was intentional or not, that was hot.

“I was thinking we could go out after work.”

“Sure.” She nods. “I’ll want to change first, though. So…maybe you should follow me to my place after work, and then we can just take one car to wherever we decide to go.”

“That sounds like a great idea. Carpooling is much better for the environment.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

**

Pam’s stomach is full of nerves. Jim’s driving behind her to her apartment. He parks next to her, and she holds out her hand for him. They walk with their fingers intertwined into the building and up to her floor.

“This is even better than how you described it.” Jim says as he looks around Pam’s place. “It’s very you.”

“Thanks.” She smiles. “So, I’m just gonna go freshen up, and then we can head out.”

“Pam.” Jim loops his fingers around her forearm. He pulls her into his embrace, cupping her cheek with his other hand. “Let’s eat later.”

She nods and lets her eyes flutter closed as his lips brush against hers. It’s so tender and soft at first. She sighs happily into the kiss. Jim’s hand tightens around the material of her sweater, pressing her harder against his chest. His tongue swipes along her bottom lip. She opens up for him, and relishes at the way he moans into her.

“Bedroom.” He mumbles against her lips.

Pam tugs Jim backwards towards her room, desperate to stay kissing and in his arms. His lips moves along her jaw as he grips the hem of her sweater. Her fingers make work to undo his tie and the buttons on his shirt. She lifts her arms up so Jim can get her sweater off. He reaches around her to take her hair out of its elastic. He runs his fingers through her hair and kisses her. Her hands go for his belt buckle, and he lets her undo it. Jim kisses along her collarbones and down her chest. He kisses down her belly. He loves how soft she is. He helps her out of his shoes and she unzips her skirt. It falls to the floor and pools around her ankles.

“You are so beautiful.” Jim says as he runs his fingers up and down her smooth legs. He’s on his knees, and he’s sure they’ll hurt later, but he doesn’t care. He thinks for a moment. “Don’t you usually wear tights?”

“I…I took them off in my car to save time. I thought this might happen. Tights don’t look sexy in the light, trust me.”

“You’re so cute.” He chuckles. He presses his lips below her naval, and kisses along the band of her underwear. “Can I take these off?”

“Yes.” She nods. “Do you want me to get on the bed so you’re more comfortable?”

“No, this is how I want to do it.”

He hooks his fingers into her underwear and kisses on her pelvis as he slowly drags them down her legs. She steps out of them as he kisses along her hip bones. She’s shaking a bit. She’s nervous. They shuffle backwards so she can lean up against the door of her bedroom. She’d probably lose her balance otherwise. Jim moves one of her legs over his shoulder. He kisses on her inner thigh. She runs her fingers through his hair as he gets his fingers on her. He spreads her folds apart and leans in to kiss her. He sucks his fingers into his mouth, coating them, then brings them back to her.

“Mm.” Her head rolls back against the door as his fingers rub around her entrance. His mouth comes into contact with her clit, and licks over it. He puckers his lips around it and sucks on it while he slips his middle finger up inside of her. “Fuck.”

“Did Pam Beesly just say a curse word?” He smirks up at her.

“I save them for special occasions.” She smiles down at him.

“Yeah?” He gets a second finger inside of her, and her mouth falls open. “I’ve been dreaming about this, seeing you this way…because of me.” She bites on her bottom lip and her eyes screw shut. “Pam, look at me.” She opens her eyes slowly and looks down at him. He starts pumping his fingers in and out of her, curling and twisting them. “I want you to watch me.”

“Okay.” She nods.

He gets his mouth back on her, sucking on her clit. He nips at it carefully a few times. He’s giving her lazy strokes of his tongue, getting distracted by the sound of her arousal as he fucks her with his fingers. He uses his free hand to spread the thigh over his shoulder wider. His thumb is definitely going to leave a bruise with the way it’s pressing into her skin, but she doesn’t care. She’ll take all the marks he’ll give her.

It's getting more difficult for her to keep her eyes on him. She’s starting to pant and whine. Her fingers are tugging at his hair, pushing him closer to her. He looks up at her (to the best of his ability), and watches as her face contorts with pleasure.

“J-Jim.” She groans, thrashing back against the door. “C-can I? I’m gonna…can I?”

“Mhmm.” He hums against her as he continues to relentlessly suck on her clit. His fingers are so deep inside her. He’s making the come-here motion against her.

Her back arches off the door, and she cries out as she comes around his fingers. He fucks her through it before slowly taking his fingers out of her. He sucks them into his mouth and moans.

“You taste so fucking good.”

“I’m glad, um, that was…wow.” She places her hand on her forehead as she catches her breath. “I’ve never…that hard, I…”

“Can’t even form a cohesive sentence.” He stands up slowly, rubbing at her sides until his hands are gripping her hips. “Do you want to keep going, or do you want to stop there?”

“I wanna keep going.” Her arms wrap around his neck, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He lifts her up off the ground completely and carries her over to her bed, placing her down gently. “You’re not naked enough.”

“Let me fix that.” He smirks. His button-up slides off his shoulders, and he gets his t-shirt off immediately after. Pam runs her hands up and down his torso as he undoes his pants, letting them drop to the floor. Her eyes widen when she sees the outline of his erection through his boxer-briefs, a small wet patch where his tip is. He takes one of her hands and places it over himself. “This is what you do to me. Only you could get me this hard and ready.”

“I…you’re huge.” She looks up at him, almost worried.

“Aww, was Roy’s not as big as mine?” He asks, guiding her hand to move up and down to palm and stroke him.

“N-no.” She shakes her head. “No, he…it wasn’t…” She just looks up at him and shakes her head again. Another boost to his ego. “Can I take it out?” He nods, and she grips the band of his boxers, dragging them down. His cock springs out and slaps against his lower belly. A string of his pre-come keeps his tip and belly connected.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He tells her as he moves her hair back for her.

“I want to. Could you just…you took my hair out.”

“I’ll hold it for you, don’t worry.” He makes a makeshift ponytail for her with his fist.

She grips his shaft, dragging her thumb over his tip and rubbing his pre-come down to his base. She wants him wet all around so it feels better for him. She leans in and licks over his head. His breath hitches, which is all she needs to take the full head into her mouth. Both of his hands card through her hair to keep it back for her. He also just needs something to hold onto. She knows she won’t be able to take him too far down her throat, so she doesn’t even attempt it. Instead, she focuses on sucking and licking his head while her hand pumps the rest of him. Her free hand comes up to gently palm his balls.

“Oh, Christ, Pam.” He gasps. “You’re so good. I knew you would be.” She moans around him, encouraging him to keep praising her. “Your mouth is incredible.” He tugs her off of him. She looks up at him in shock. “I don’t want to come yet. You can suck me dry another time.” He knees onto the bed and reaches behind her to unclasp her bra. He’s mesmerized by her breasts. He cups them and runs his thumbs over her nipples, getting them hard and pebbled. “Still doing okay? I won’t be mad if you want to stop.”

“I don’t want to stop, Jim. I want this…I want all of this with you. I’m…I’m finally ready for you, for all of you.”

“You don’t know what it means to me to hear you say that.” He leans in and kisses her, having her lay on her back with him on top of her, his hands groping at her breasts. He nips at her bottom lip before pressing his forehead to hers. “I am going to treat you so much better than anyone else ever has.”

“Jim.” She whimpers, cupping his jaw to lick into his mouth.

He moves to kiss on her chest, sucking a good amount of her left breast into mouth before letting it go with a pop. He does the same to her right before kissing down her body. He spreads her wide apart and spits down onto her pussy, watching it slide down her slit. He shuffles down between her thighs and licks into her. Pam squirms under him. He licks up her slit and kisses on her clit before sitting up.

“I needed to taste you again.” He admits sheepishly. He runs a hand through his hair to get his matted locks off his forehead. “I had condoms, but I left them in my car. I’ll just-“

“It’s okay, we don’t need one.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “I’m good about taking my birth control every day, and I’m clean…are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m okay with it if you are. I…I’m sort of desperate to feel you.”

“Just sort of, huh?” He smirks. He moves to sit up against her headboard. “I’d like you on top first, is that alright?”

“Yeah, I actually prefer being on top.” She straddles him, resting her hands on his shoulders as he guides himself in. He paints the head of his cock around at first. She slowly starts to sink down onto him. She bites down on her bottom lip. He has to do the same with his.

“You’re so fucking tight.” He groans. “Should I have used my fingers longer?”

“N-no.” She pants. They both moan out once he’s all the way inside of her. “No, this feels so good.”

“Fuck, Pam.” He wraps his arms around her back, pulling her to chest.

She rolls her hips forward as she slots her lips over his. They kiss sloppily as her hips continue rolling back and forth on him. He starts to thrust up into her slowly. Her mouth falls open and her forehead presses against his. His hands splay on her back as they move in sync with each other. They both moan into each other’s mouths, unable to hold anything in. Her nails dig into his shoulders, leaving crescent indents behind. His lips move to the spot just below her ear, kissing and licking and sucking at the tender skin. She grips his hair and pushes him harder against her. He slips a hand between them so he can rub her clit with his fingers.

“Ohhh.” She whines. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

Her breaths become shallower, and she slams her hand against the headboard as she comes around him. She bites down on his shoulder as they continue rolling their hips together. He cradles her cheeks and kisses her forehead, then her nose, and then her lips. He adjusts them so Pam’s on her back and he’s on top of her.

“Good to keep going?” He asks as he nuzzles his nose along hers.

“Yes.” She smiles. “I told you not to stop, remember?”

He smiles too. He can’t stop smiling. He stays close to her, taking her hands in his and pinning them on either side of her head. Their hands stay together, fingers clasping together. Jim thrusts in and out of her nice and deep. Pam wraps her legs around his waist to pull him even closer, wanting the friction from his pelvis on her clit. He lets go of one of her hands in favor of entangling his fingers in her hair. Her nails scratch at his back. Jim can feel himself getting closer. He lets go of her other hand and slides his arm under her back to hold her tighter in his arms. Her hands grope and grab at the plushy flesh above his hips.

“Pam.” He moans into her ear. She tightens around his cock. “Pam, I’m gonna come soon.”

“Yes.” She nods, lost in a state of bliss as she can feel that coil in the pit of her belly forming again.

“Where do you want it?” He grunts.

She hadn’t really thought about it. She doesn’t want him to stop what he’s doing. Selfishly, if he stopped, it would ruin her potential orgasm. And she’s honestly not sure she could to having another building up because she’s starting to get too sensitive. This next one is definitely going to be her last of the night, which she’s more than fine with. She never came this many times with Roy in one go. Sometimes she wouldn’t come at all.

“Inside me, I want you to come inside me.” She tells him. “Keep going, don’t stop. I…I’m…”

“Fuck, I’m so close.” He moans.

“Me too.”

They both start panting uncontrollably. Jim fucks into her hard, deep, and fast. The speed pushes her over the edge thanks to the added pressure and friction to her clit, and the fact that his tip is beating up her g-spot. The burn of the stretch he’s giving her is all consuming. As she’s making a mess of his cock, Jim finally lets himself go, making his own mess inside of her. He tugs harshly at her hair, coming harder than he ever has. This is something he’s wanted for so long. It’s not just his imagination anymore. It’s not a fantasy anymore. It’s better than all of that because it’s real. Tears come to his eyes and he starts trembling. He pulls out of her and moves to rest his head on her chest. She whimpers at the emptiness.

Pam can feel a wetness on her chest. She cups Jim’s cheeks and makes him look at her. She panics when she sees his bleary eyes. Her thumbs run along his cheekbones to catch his tears.

“Was it not…was it not…” She can’t even finish the sentence.

“Oh, Pam.” He pecks her lips. “It was everything. You…you were so good. You were so fucking good.” He kisses her hard, surprising her, but it’s welcomed. “You were so good for me.” He nuzzles into her neck. “M’just a little emotional, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” She runs her fingers through his hair, and sighs with relief. “It was…that was…I’ve read stories about this kind of passionate sex, but I never thought I’d ever get to experience it for myself.” Jim chuckles softly into her neck. “I’m serious! I’ve never felt so wanted before. And…and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone as much as I’ve wanted you.”

“That means so much to me to hear you say that.” He moves to look at her, and snakes a hand between them, running his fingers through her messy folds. She winces from the sensitivity, but relaxes at the way he gently strokes her entrance. “Made a mess of you. We should get you cleaned up.”

“Good idea, except I’ve lost all feeling in my legs.”

“Music to my ears.” He grins. “Do you have any washcloths in your bathroom?”

“Mhm, in the cabinet below the sink.”

“Be back in a second.” He gets up, and snatches his boxers from the floor. He disappears into the bathroom, and runs warm water over a washcloth. He cleans himself up and pulls his underwear back on. He comes back to Pam shortly, and gently cleans her up with the warm washcloth. She winces again, starting to feel a little sore. “You’re alright, I know you’re sensitive.” He coos as he continues to gently clean up the mess he made. “Put this perfect little pussy through a lot tonight.”

“Jim.” She laughs, covering her face with her hands.

“What?” He laughs with her.

“I didn’t know you could be so…”

“Vulgar?”

“No, vocal.” She looks at him, and he looks at her.

“Think you just bring it out in me.” He comes around to her side and sits on the edge of the bed. He leans down and pecks her lips. “Why don’t you finish cleaning yourself up, and I’ll order us some takeout?”

“Chalk full of good ideas today.” She beams at him. “What do you want to eat?”

“You pick, I’m sure I’ll like whatever you want.”

“Hmm.” She thinks for a moment. “Chinese?”

“Works for me. You still like scallion pancakes?”

“Like them? I love them.” She scoffs, and reaches for one of her blankets to wrap herself up in as she stands. “And dumplings, and-“

“House rice with shrimp.”

“Good memory.” She gives his cheek a pinch and kisses him before making her way into the bathroom.

Jim throws his T-shirt on, but forgoes putting any of his other clothes back on. He orders the food and goes into the kitchen to get himself and Pam a glass of water. She shuffles into the kitchen, now donning a pair of pajama pants and a long-sleeve bed shirt. Jim throws an arm around her and kisses her temple.

“Food should be here in about forty minutes.” He tells her.

“Sounds good.”

“You feel okay everything?”

“Yeah! Do you?”

“Course.” He smiles. “I don’t think we should tell people right away, though. The teasing…I can already hear it.”

“I think I agree. I can picture Michael making lewd gestures towards us.” She wraps her arms around his waist and looks up at him. “How about this: let’s go out on some actual dates, hang out outside of work more often, and if it all goes well, which I strongly believe it will, we can tell the office.”

“I think that’s a perfect plan, Beesly.”

**

It’s tough keeping things a secret during the hot and heavy phase. Stolen glances, brushes of hands…it’s not enough during the day. They still eat lunch together, but there’s no real privacy in the break room or the kitchen. And it would be too suspicious if they were both sneaking out at noon together every day. Jim also didn’t want Pam to think that he only wanted to spend time with her just so he could touch her. He’d be fine if all they did was cuddle and talk. Honestly! And she feels the same way. She loves the connection they have.

The toughest part? Roy. He’s been trying to get Pam back basically since they broke up. He comes upstairs a lot, going to the vending machines as an excuse to see Pam. And Jim can’t really step in to tell him to back off because as soon as he does everyone will know. Things have been going really well for Jim and Pam, but it’s only been a little less than a month. Things are still new. There are things they’re still working through.

“Hey, Pammy.” Roy smiles as he comes over to her desk.

“Hi.” She hates that nickname. And she knows it goes right up Jim’s ass whenever Roy calls her that. “What’s up?”

“The guys in the warehouse have been missing you. We’re going to trivia at Poor Richard’s. I thought you’d like to come.”

“I can’t tonight. I have my art class after work. But maybe another time? I miss hanging out with all those guys too. How’s Madge’s grandson by the way? I haven’t had a chance to get down there to ask her how it’s been going with him living with her.”

“It was a pretty smooth transition from what she’s told us. Her husband’s retired so he’s able to do the school drop off and pick up. Then Madge helps him with his homework.”

“Oh good. Well let her know I can babysit any time she needs a breather.”

“I will.” He smiles softly. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.”

Jim gets up from his desk and comes over to Pam’s, taking a mint out of one of the bowls she has out. She gives him a different smile, a more knowing smile, a more mischievous, devious smile.

“How often did you hang out with Daryl and all of them?” He asks her.

“We would all go to Poor Richard’s a lot for trivia or open mic night. Daryl is very musically inclined.”

“No kidding?”

“He plays the keyboard, and he’s actually a really good singer. Him and the guys would sign up and do a little something every once in a while. We used to have him and his daughter over for movie nights. And then usually if we were out I’d end up talking to Madge since I was the only other girl.”

“Hm.” Jim nod, taking the information in. “You know you can hang out with them any time you want. I mean, you were with Roy for a long time, it’s okay if you still want to be friends.”

“I didn’t realize I needed your permission.” She scoffs quietly.

“You don’t, that’s not what I meant. I just want you to know it doesn’t bother me because I trust you, that’s all.”

“Well…thank you. Maybe I’ll go meet up with them after I get out of class later.”

“Go for it.” He smiles. “You can tell them about your art show that’s coming up.”

“That’s right! Good idea.”

**

Pam got out of art class early, so she decided to go to Poor Richard’s. She told the guys all about her art show and gave them the information. It was nice to be around them again. She ends up sitting at the bar with Roy later on.

“Can I ask you something?” He says to her, and she nods. “Have you been seeing someone?”

Shit.

“Um, Roy…”

“I know it’s not any of my business, but I can still read you like a book, Pam.” He smirks. “I can tell when something’s up with you. You’ve been different lately.”

“Yeah, yes…I’ve been seeing someone. But it’s really new so I haven’t told anyone yet. We’re seeing how things go for now before we bring it all out in the open.”

“It’s not that new guy Andy, is it? I heard he hit on you one day.”

“Oh, no, it’s not him.” She laughs. “And that was just a prank Jim pulled. Andy was asking him for advice on who he should ask out, and Jim thought it would be funny to tell Andy how to win me over, only what Andy didn’t know was that Jim told him about everything I can’t stand. So, Andy comes to my desk and asks me if I want to play disc golf with him, in pig Latin, and then later serenaded me with a show tune while playing a banjo.”

“Holy shit.” Roy blinks. “I didn’t know any of those things rubbed you the wrong way.”

“Jim just knows me really well.” She shrugs.

“Yeah, but I’ve known you way longer.”

“You’re not the most observant person, Roy.”

“So, if it’s not Andy, then who is it?”

“I…well, I’m seeing Jim.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?”

“I don’t know, I thought he was gay or something. Which is fine, being gay is great.” He clears his throat, knowing the cameras are watching him. “When did it start?”

“Technically, when he moved back here.”

“Why do you technically?”

“About a month before we were supposed to get married…at casino night, Jim and I kissed.”

“What?”

“He told me he was in love with me, and-“

“You called off our wedding for Halpert?!”  

“No there were a lot of reasons. Can you please lower your voice? I can explain more if you just calm down and listen.”

“Calm down and listen?! You cheated on me!”

“I didn’t cheat on you.”

“What do you call kissing someone else?!”

“It was one time for a fraction of a second, and I turned him down.”

“I can’t believe this!”

“Don’t yell.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Pam!” Roy throws a glass at the mirror behind the bar.

“I’m leaving.” Pam gets off her stool and rushes out of the bar while Roy continues to throw glasses and break things. She has tears in her eyes as she gets into her car. She know she did a bad thing. She knows she hurt Roy, but this isn’t the first time he’s had an outburst like this. Down the line she knows it would have gotten worse, and eventually he would have hit her instead of a wall.

**

“So…Roy knows about everything?” Jim sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose as Pam explains things to him the next morning in the break room.

“Not everything, but he knows we’re dating, and he knows we kissed while he and I were still together.”

“And then he got violent and started breaking glasses at the bar?”

“Yeah.” She nods, folding her arms over herself for comfort.

“Did he ever physically hurt you?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “But he could have a temper from time to time. I’ve never seen him that angry, and I had never been so scared to be around him. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone last night. I shouldn’t have told him anything.”

“No, it’s good you did. Maybe it’ll give you both some extra closure.”

“He was really mad.”

“Come back with me to my place after work tonight. He doesn’t know where I live, so I think it’ll be better you stay with me until he’s able to calm down a little from this.”

“You just want me to spend the night.” She grins.

“Only because I love to see you in my bed.”

Pam opens her mouth to give him a cheeky response, but Kelley comes in with Ryan. They’re having a heated discussion.

The day goes by like normal. Michael did something outrageously horrendous. Dwight and Andy blindly followed him. Jim made them all look stupid by pulling a prank. All in all, it was a great day, and Pam forgot all about the incident with Roy. That is until he came storming into the office at the end of the word day.

“Halpert.” Roy charges towards Jim.

“Roy!” Pam yells out, not wanting him to hurt Jim.

This isn’t the first time Roy and Jim have gotten physical with each other. They got into a little scrap that time Pam wanted to do the art program Jan told her about. Roy said no, but Jim told her she should, and Pam told Roy what Jim said, so Roy pushed Jim and Jim pushed him back. It was down the warehouse and Daryl broke it up.

Jim isn’t stupid. He knows Roy could probably kill him. But one of the advantages of sitting by Dwight for so long is that Jim has learned a thing or two about self defense.

Roy gets close enough to throw a punch at Jim, and Jim ducks. While Jim is ducking, Dwight sprays Roy in the face with pepper spray. Everyone in the vicinity starts tearing up and coughing.

“Pam, please call security.” Dwight says through his tears.

**

Since the incident happened at the end of the day, Toby said he would take everyone’s stories the next morning. He wanted to make sure Pam was alright, and then he added wanting to make sure Jim was alright too. A few others had already left for the day as it was. So it just made sense for everyone else to go home and process what happened.

“I’ll understand if you don’t feel like having me spend the night.” Pam says to Jim in the parking lot. “I know this drew a lot of attention to us and that people are going to be asking a ton of questions tomorrow.”

“Beesly, you’re insane if you think I don’t want you to come over tonight. I’ve been looking forward to it all day.” He smiles and kisses her cheek.  

The two decide to go out for burrito bowls and margaritas. They laugh about what happened earlier. It wasn’t funny, but they’re more so laughing at how crazy it all was. Pam just wanted to be honest with Roy, and Jim couldn’t fault her for that. Neither one of them wants to carry secrets into their new relationship.

The two drive to Jim’s. They enjoy a pint of ice cream while they watch some TV in his living room. Pam holds up a spoon full for Jim. He happily takes it, holding her wrist up in place with his hand. He kisses on her hand and up her arm, making her giggle. He gets to her neck, lingers there, then kisses along her jaw until he reaches her mouth. She clumsily sets the ice cream down on the coffee table and lets Jim lay her down on the couch. He wedges his leg between hers and groans.

“Can we just kiss for a while?” He asks her.

“Yeah, course.” She nods.

Jim kisses Pam so tenderly, and it makes her melt every single time. Her fingers card through his hair, making him smile against her. They adjust so she can get her legs around him. She has to hike her skirt up around her waist, but eventually they’re able to rest comfortably against one another. His thumb rubs circles into her hip while his other hand cradles her cheek. She rolls her hips up to his, and he presses harder against her. He pulls back to look at her, and she giggles.

“What?” He giggles with her.

“Your lips always get all swollen and pink whenever we kiss. It’s cute.” She runs her thumb over his lips, and he nips at the pad of it.

“So do yours.”

“Do they really?”

“Mhm.” He nods and pecks her top lip and sits up. “It’s late, should we go to bed?”

“Yeah.” She nods, and he helps her up, adjusting her skirt.

“Fuck it.”

He picks her up and carries her to his bedroom. He’s quick to get her naked. He just needs to be close to her right now. She feels the same way. She likes the way he pins her down, but she also likes way he makes her feel safe and comfortable. He’s always checking in, asking her if she’s okay with what he’s doing, if she likes it.

Even though the bed is right there, Jim brings Pam into his bathroom. She knows he prefers to shower in the evening. He explained that he likes showering after work to help wash the day away. So it clicks for her that he wants to have sex in his shower. She has not problem with it.

The water cascades over the both of them. They fumble around a bit, knocking various bottles of body wash and shampoo over. He lifts Pam up and presses her up against the shower wall. Pam wraps her legs around his waist and guides his cock inside of her. They both moan out. His fingers dig into the meat of her ass to hold her up and fuck up into her. She’s got one hand fisting his hair, and the other is wrapped around his neck. Jim slots his mouth over hers. It always amazes Pam how calculated his kisses are. She likes how much Jim likes to kiss during sex. She and Roy never really kissed during sex. It makes her feel even more wanted than she already does.

“You feel so good.” He presses his forehead to hers. One of his hands comes up to clutch at the tile. “Oh my god, I’m gonna come.” He looks at her. “Are you close?”

“Yes.” She nods frantically. “Yes, just don’t stop. You’re hitting it.”

Pam tightens and pulsates around Jim as she comes, driving him over the edge to his own release. He sets her down slowly and kisses her.

“This weekend, I was thinking we could go to the Evehart Museum.” He says to her as he grabs the shower head to help clean up between her legs. “Look at some of the art pieces, you know, if you want.”

“I’d love to. There’s a new exhibit I’ve been dying to see. You wouldn’t be bored?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were the only person in Scranton that likes art, my bad.” He smirks.

“Shut up.” She laughs and nudges him. “I just don’t want you to think we always have to do things that I like. I wanna do things that you like too.”

“Alright. This weekend we’ll go to the art museum, and next weekend we’ll go to that tavern I told you about that that local band I like plays at.”

“Wow, you’ve got me locked in for the next two weekends. What’s your game, Halpert?” She wraps her arms around his neck. “Trying to make me your girlfriend or something?”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.” He wraps his arms around her back and kisses her forehead. “And when I officially ask you to be my girlfriend, trust me when I say, it’s going to knock the wind out of you Beesly.”

“Looking forward to it.”

The two finish up in the shower, and watch some TV before bed.

Jim lays on his back while Pam rests her head on his chest. He keeps his arms wrapped around her while she drifts off into sleep. Having the privilege to kiss and touch and hold her is all he’s wanted for the last three years. Now that he has it, he couldn’t be happier. He wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

[captivemuses]

(How do you make your icons? Do you have any tips for beginners? What program do you use?)

@honkai-star-fun

First off hello! For once I can put my icon knowledge to use lol. But my icon process on how I do them is probably a bit more time consuming than it needs to be just from the sheer amount of steps there are but I'm too set in my ways to change.

First I'll take crops from the actual caps of whatever I want to make icons of, then I use a free program called Photoscape to resize the icons down to the standard 100x100 size that all my icons are (I know that I'm able to do that step in Photoshop but I never learned how and again too stubborn to change my work process lol). Then I go over to Photoshop to clean up all the icons (things like sharpening the image, cleaning up any backgrounds, tweaking lighting to the icon is more visible, things like that. Then the final step for me is actually putting my PSD over the icon I'm making (if it's not an icon for someone else that may or may not be edited with a border or overlay on top).

I premake all my borders ahead of time so when it comes time for the editing process I just slap them right on top of the icon and adjust the image as necessary so it's centered and make sure everything looks good. You can find pirated versions of Photoshop out there if you look enough I'm sure, but I personally just pay for an Adobe subscription every month so the software gets updates and I just do any icon work I can to justify the cost, whether it's just making a bunch for myself or making icons for friends who ask me to. But there's also free online alternatives to Photoshop that I've had to use in a pinch in the past. For me they're not the greatest for doing icons in bulk simply because I don't think you can mass upload files like you could on a legit version of Photoshop, but if you're really desperate it can get the job done. You'd just have to Google search like 'free online photoshop' or something along those lines to find a webpage for one.

As for the caps themselves that I use, a friend of mine does all my capping for me in exchange for me making icons for her own use because I've never been able to get the hang of using capping software, but if you search around on Tumblr and Google for caps blogs you can find a lot of free to use caps to make icons and graphics from or find people that do commissions for caps. It's also possible to find free to use premade icons if you search around Google enough (search things like 'Honkai rp icons' and you'll often find Tumblr posts that have free to use icons for the general public, or you'll find people that have some available for purchase through a commission like I do.

My biggest tip for a beginner is there's no shame in using free for public use icons if you just don't have the time to make your own from scratch. Do what you have time to do. I personally have been making my own rp icons from scratch for over 10 years now, but that's purely a personal preference of wanting complete control over how they're cropped and how they look and I'm willing to put in the time to make them look exactly how I want. Icon making can be really time consuming if you're making a lot of them or are icon'ing a character that shows up in a lot of their source material, so it's totally fine to do what you can to try and get through the process faster. And if you think just commissioning someone for icons to save yourself stress is a better way to go, it's totally fine to just spend a bit of money if you have the disposable income.

Anyway hope all that helped and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

[astranauticus]

ok one last post about the Project to truly exorcise it from my brain. just some process/design thoughts (also now that it's done if you want to read my liveblogged whinging for whatever reason here it is)

first off some stats because i kept stats like the nerd that i am:

time wise making this animatic took about 93.5 hours give or take (thanks procreate process replay) spread across exactly 2 months

anyway when i said i finished this project mostly through stubbornness and sunk cost fallacy this is what i meant lol like a lot of my thought process through this was just 'no way in hell am i letting some of these drawings disappear into my drafts forever'

on average each frame took about 2 hours 45 minutes but thats a bit of an overestimate since i forgot to count some of the animated bits from the first two lines (so id guess the actual number is more like.. 2 hours 20 minutes?)

btw that line with the starry apparition fading away? 12 hours total

the single longest and most painful frame to draw was the one of the crew walking through tu'narath (5 hours 30 minutes) because a. perspective b. architecture design c. for some reason i put a lot of detail into rendering the armour on all the githyanki i drew why on earth did i do that

(its especially painful bc that frame was one of the ones that didnt... feel like an important enough moment in the actual story of the show to be worth capturing the way the wish or even like, endellion is, i just needed to put that there for the storytelling flow or whatever of the animatic itself and it bothered me so much)

one other interesting little mishap was that i did all of these on canvas size 1080x720px (so that's why the youtube resolution isnt particularly high lmao) which is why procreate let me put an absolutely absurd amount of layers in one canvas (all 8 frames of with memories projected on the astral sea were done on one canvas. 159 layers) because the layer limit for that canvas size is 400 BUT. i accidentally started the starry apparition fade on an A4 canvas (my default canvas size for like all my normal fanart) and i only realised after finishing all the lineart and starting on colouring because i hit layer limit so i had to resize the canvas which did... interesting?? things to the lineart resolution

also if youre wondering how i drew K-LB that many times in something resembling timely fashion the answer is i sacrificed some... amount of sleep to 3d model and rig him in blender which. honestly? i consider it a roaring success

splitting the frames by bar was a Choice and certainly a choice ive.. had doubtsTM about but thats the kind of thing you cant really change without bringing the whole project crashing down so if the frames seem to move a bit too fast im so sorry there was really not much i could do there

idk if people actually noticed the very very tiny drawings of the crew moving around on the ship in the 4th line especially since they sometimes get obscured by the subtitles but the REASON for that is in my original drawings the subtitles went in the top left corner but they kept conflicting with other stuff so i just gave up and threw them to the bottom (also i originally included the chinese lyrics but then i got lazy lmao)

anyway that little detail like VR-LA angstily looking at the sea reminiscing about the JourneyTM and the crew sort of appearing along with the memories of their adventures together was one of those things that seemed SO COOL in my head but once i actually execute it its like. hmmmm not sure if that worked out the way you thought it would buddy. also the tiny crew was EXTREMELY hard to draw so put that down as another point in 'me subjecting myself to deeply painful and out there compositions for no good reason'

anyway i called this my magnum opus but i do actually have some thoughts about another one (a companion piece, if you will) for another song by the same band because now that i know what capcut can do im.. really itching to try something a little different because this like powerpoint presentation style? fully a product of me using iMovie as my only available video editing software for the past like 7 years of my life

[twistedtummies2]

I feel like Billy probably has a plush or something, I'm curious XD 🍧 for Billy

QUESTION: "Do they still have any objects from their childhood? What significance does it have to them? What would their reaction be if they lost it?"

ANSWER: It's funny you ask, Anon, because the answer is actually a mild retcon for Billy!

A little less than a year ago, I made a silly little post called "Billy Meets Vil," giving a humorous idea for how their first meeting could have gone down. (I've been considering expanding that into a story, of sorts, but I haven't done so yet. Typical.) In the post, I mentioned that Billy has a pink plush bunny named George. At the time, I said it was a gift from the Prefect, but since then, I've decided to change it so that he's always had that plushy since he was a "little" boy. George is a gift that Billy got from his mother when he was still an infant. The significance of that rabbit is actually both adorable and tragic at the same time, as a result. In a way, George has been Billy's sole "friend" since childhood: he never really had many giant friends in his life, which is part of why he sought out the friendship of "little ones" to begin with. And it was because of this that his parents eventually turned against Billy and effectively disowned him. When Billy left the house, he brought George with him. George is therefore VERY special to Billy: he means more to the big lug than any of the gold or jewels he has hidden in his home above the clouds. He's the only keepsake Billy has from happier times in his youth, and the only "friend" the giant knew for a long time. While he doesn't carry him around anywhere, or like to show him off, or anything like that, he still cherishes that plushy in his young adult years. He typically keeps George on a nightstand beside his bed, and uses a special magic powder to resize the plushy whenever he needs to change size. Unlike Billy, George, obviously, can't change size or shape at will. If Billy were to lose George, he'd be a mess. His first little cuddle buddy, the only little "friend" he had for so long, suddenly vanishes. He'd feel lost and confused, and it wouldn't take long for him to start freaking out, running around like he just lost his best friend or dearest pet. If he found George damaged (or worse), he would be distraught. He might even hold a little plushy funeral. No joke. That's how upset he would be. And if you dared to try and STEAL George from Billy...yeah, you're dead. You are very, very dead. Taking some of his money without asking? Billy might be convinced to forgive that. Trying to take some of his food without asking? How could you. But he may just be annoyed. But if you dare to even so much as TOUCH George without permission, thou art stepping upon the thinnest of ice. And of course, in any of these scenarios, if Billy gets George back, safe and happy, he'll just spend hours upon hours snuggling his little cuddle bunny happily. And really, I think that's the image we all like most. ^^

[zer0carrds]

hello! i know you replied to my last message a month ago, so sorry for my delayed response!

i was wondering if you knew how to get the buttons to expand into info? right now i just have section breaks on mine so it doesn’t expand into the info, it just takes me to a new “page”

gotcha gotcha. i hope you don't mind me answering this publicly, i've had this question come up a few times before! bee tee dubs this thing is gonna be image heavy, so you have been warned. also ignore my tabs i was too lazy to crop everything properly. just avert your gaze.

you can do this in a number of ways, but i'm going to use the basic "buttons" option to start!!!

here's my stinky example page. so impossible to navigate. i put my sections, so i have my things. idk i think i'm silly sometimes.

we're going to click the plus sign, and click 'button'.

when you do so, it'll put your standard button on your screen and it'll expand your customization bar (i'm going to assume you're familiar with that already!!!!) where you can first add how many buttons you want.

each button has it's own drop down where you can change your title/label, add your link, change colors and all of that. you can go ahead and change your label to whatever you want. i'll be calling mine "about me" for funsies.

second, when linking your pages in any format, you do NOT have to type the whole url of your carrd site; all you need to do is [hashtag]sectiontitle. so mine will be #page1. if you're linking to other websites, you'll need to use the full https://domain url or else it may not work. but to reiterate, you just need to link the exact section name.

my button options will look something like this!

once that's done, you can continue adding your buttons and changing the labels and URLs. to do that, all you need to do is collapse your button's options, selecting "add", and adding as many buttons as you'd like. rinse and repeat.

ta da!

since i have three pages i want to link to, i'll make two more buttons this way. so my buttons tab is gonna look like this:

so yippee!!!! these will link to their respective pages. if i could do a demo video of it, i would but my quicktime is broken :prayer hands. emoji:

you can make buttons using different features:

but in order to link in text, all you have to do is [link title](link here) in your text box.

you can to that method anywhere you use text, so you can sprinkle it in wherever you want.

IMPORTANT THINGS 2 MEMBER:

you don't have to use the full carrd url to link your pages. just use only your section title, #page1 for example.

have fun with customizing the colors. you can adjust the width of buttons as you feel, resize them, etc. you can make some rlly cute navigation with your different button options! i'll most likely make a guide about customization later on!!!

you can make as many of these as you want. you can stack 'em or keep them in a default row. up 2 u.

lmao i hope this was helpful! sorry it's image heavy i just wanted to make sure i covered as much as i could <33333 if you need clarification, please don't hesitate to let me know (^: