{Prince James' POV}
I finish putting my formal attire on for as long as an hour, I head downstairs to the ballroom of our palace. "James!" I hear my father call out my name as I freeze. "Yes father?" As fast as I can, I head to where my father is. He is chatting with the royal chef about preparations for my birthday feast. You thought correctly. I am turning seventeen today. Tonight, to be exact. Once my father, King Proteus, caught a glimpse of my arrival he claps. "Ah! James! You have arrived! And with perfect timing. Reme here, asked me what your favorite flavor of cake was. And knowing you, you love, none other than, chocolate! Is that correct?" I sigh. That's what all of this was about? "Yes. That's right." I fake a smile to Reme and Dad. "Perfect! Oh, and your mother needs to talk to you about the couples dance tonight." Couples? Dance? That sentence reeked of bad news. Still, I headed to the ballroom which is where I was supposed to go and see my Mom. Kida. Queen Kida. Must I make that any clearer? My dad's a King, and she married him so now, my mom's a queen. Easy logic. "Mom!" I call out. "James!" I see my mother who is wearing an elegant multicolored blue gown. "You needed me?" I ask as I shrug at the same time. My mother hugs my face. "I am so glad you are here. We never agreed about who you were going to dance with in the couples dance!" I always loved listening to my mom's accent. She was so fluent in it and it was lovely like listening to a symphony. "I told you. I don't want to dance with anyone." Sure I might sound rude but it's true. I'm not the kind of Prince who would be pleading to dance with some make-up faced princess. No sir. That is not me!
Once the celebration began and I had already scarfed down some cake ahead of everyone else, I decided to stay as far away from the ballroom as possible. There's no reason for some prince to arrive at his own party when no one is paying attention to him. I often feel that way. It's always about having parties, duties and taking care of royal appointments. For me, as a prince, I have to smile, see royals, and mind my own business. Yup. Livin' the good life. Suddenly I hear a certain track coming from the ballroom. My eyes widen in shock. That was my song. My favorite song that I adored every single day. And I knew what that meant. It's time for the couples dance. Surely I hope that my mom didn't put me up with some strange princess that I don't know to dance with. Some torture that'd be. I head to where everyone was waltzing. When I arrive, it felt like every single one of the guests eyes were glued onto me. Like sap on a tree. I give a nervous smile around to everyone and grasp both of my hands together. First, I start dancing with myself. Unfortunately, that's not working out for me that well. But then I come up with a quick idea. I run {royals aren't supposed to run like you're about to be eaten by a monster} towards my mother and I stop right in front of her. I reach my hand out and she sets her right hand on her heart like she was about to cry. She gives me her hand and we dance until the song is over. So much fun!
"What is it?"
"Now hold on a minute!"
“Where did you get to last night, excuse me, Miss-bugger-off-without-a-word, well?”
"Belle, you've gone pink as your dress!"
Tea for a Princess and a Piglet!
"Make him think you don't love him!"
"I think you ought to talk to your father."
Here we go! Odette is a much softer gray with Eric, though not as desaturated as we'd like. Oh well, I'll show you how to cheat with that later.
A wild background appears! Click the 'layers' tab, select 'Add Layers', and open the background of your choice. Adjust it to the preferred size, then select 'Push Back', until the kissing couple is brought to the front. Save this picture to your computer.
Open Pixlr in another tab. I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping Fotoflexer open in case you need to adjust size. Click on open photo editor, and open your manip.
Here they are, cropped because I'm lazy, with a brand new background. This is when we touch up.
Here is your tool bar. I could go on for hours on how to use these tabs, but if you hover your mouse over them , it will tell you what they are. I like to blur the edges of my couple, perfect the coloring on their lips, and fix any bad hair issues.
Save the image once you are satisfied, and go to the homepage. You can shut down FotoFlexer at this point. Now, this part is only if you are dissatisfied with the coloring. Go to 'Vintage Affects'.
Upload your manip!
You should then see your picture in this quaint little set up. You can click the individual schemes scattered along the bottom to change the coloring, I went with 'Ramona', a person favorite of mine. Once you are satisfied, save the manip again.
Before Pixlr
The finished product! If you are happy without the fancy coloring effects, go right ahead! I hope you liked this tutorial and feel free to comment with any criticism or questions!
“There’s nothing you could do or say that could ever make me think badly of you."
"What is this feeling? Loathing!"
"You know, Belle, you are rapidly becoming a very beautiful woman."
