arbitrarychaos

[arbitrarychaos]

Ways I Show a Character Is Deeply in Love (and Doesn’t Realize It Yet)

Falling in love doesn’t always come with violins and kissing in the rain. Sometimes it looks like, “Why do I know their coffee order, favorite pen, and dog’s birthday?”

They remember everything. Not because they’re trying to flirt. Just because their brain decided, “This person’s data is important now.”

They get annoyed by other people talking to them. Why are you laughing at their joke? He’s not even funny.

They show up. For dumb things. Things they wouldn’t normally care about. Your cat’s vet appointment? They’re there.

Their body reacts before they do. Smiling before their brain catches up. Leaning closer without realizing. Looking at their mouth while they talk. Oops.

They pretend they’re just "helping out." You know. Just being a good friend. A good friend who stares at your texts like they’re holy scripture.

They get flustered when the other person flirts with anyone else. “I’m not jealous. I just… think they deserve better. Like someone emotionally mature. Who knows their coffee order. Who… wears this hoodie. Okay bye.”

They panic when the other person gets too close. Not because they’re scared of them. Because they’re scared of how much they care.

[arbitrarychaos]

VALENTINE – playlist template ♡

Here’s a set of easily customizable templates for your playlist needs! Fonts used are Abril Fatface, Microsoft Himalaya and Times New Roman, make sure to have them downloaded before opening the file!

This is a FREE RESOURCE. If you decide to purchase it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me ♡ Excluding website taxes, you can purchase this template for 6 USD on Deviantart or via PAYPAL (message me for details). The purchase includes the coloring (ostara), which is a premium coloring and only available on purchase.

Please like or reblog if you use! Do not repost, redistribute or claim as your own, and please do not take parts of my work to make your own template unless you’ve asked me beforehand.

DOWNLOAD HERE !

[arbitrarychaos]

KEEGAN RUSS SCENES [7/?] ⠀⤷ CINEMATIC TRAILERS PART 3

[arbitrarychaos]

voices in my head agreeing on a new hyperfixation

[arbitrarychaos]

ALL MEN ARE MORTAL  /  network & character page

light preview / code + dark preview / code

features

mobile friendly

on-click effect to reveal a blurb with links

separate characters by categories

375 x 355 image size

scrollable description

NO Javascript

notes

full credits inside code

do not remove credit, or take portions of my code for your own page

do not claim as your own

do not use my code as a base

at this time, further customization support is available with a tip.

variation of my theme nausea, without javascript

Instructions on how to customize font/colors/size are within the code itself. If you have general questions please look through the coding tag first before sending me an ask. substantial edits are fine so long as you keep my credit link in and do not distribute your edited version.

LIKE, REBLOG, or TAG me if you use it please!

[arbitrarychaos]

if you ever have time/feel so inclined, i would love to see a tutorial or some tips from you about how to do color isolation sets!! they are absolutely incredible and I love them so much! <3

absolutely! thank you so much 💙

here are a few examples of my color isolation sets:

the substance (yellow) || beetlejuice (red) || us (red) || conclave (blue) || sleeping beauty (cyan/blue) || crimson peak (yellow) || smosh (purple) || conclave (red)

beneath the cut, i'll walk you through my coloring process!

notes: tutorial assumes basic gifmaking knowledge & i'm using adobe photoshop 2023 (though afaik, your version shouldn't matter much)

i don't color my gifs until they're sharpened and i'll give you a quick overview of my process: file -> import -> video frames to layers -> trim any extra frames -> crop to desired dimensions -> run sharpening action (i used this tutorial and just made it into an action) which also converts to timeline

once i'm in timeline, i go through my normal coloring process. unless i'm giffing similarly colored scenes that i've already colored and saved a psd for, i usually color from scratch every time. obviously, some adjustment layers vary depending on the source material, but these are almost always my main adjustments, just with differing values

a brightness/contrast layer set to screen - this is a gamechanger for especially dark scenes. note: i do not adjust the values, i leave them both at 0 and just change the blending mode

a curves layer utilizing the black & white eyedropper tools. first, i select the black eyedropper and then click on the blackest area of the gif. i do the same with the white one, using it to select the brightest/whitest spot. this can help a lot if you're dealing with heavily tinted scenes!

a selective color layer (set to absolute, not relative) where i adjust the blacks usually anywhere from 1-5 notches higher and the neutrals either up or down the same amount depending on the scene. be careful with the neutrals when giffing poc as lightening them can result in whitewashing. if need be, i will also adjust the whites, making them slightly whiter with the black slider. selective color is by far my fave adjustment layer and i use it in every single coloring.

after this, i sometimes add a black & white gradient map adjustment layer set to soft light. i'll play around with the opacity, leaving it anywhere between 5-100% depending on the scene. i think this adds depth to your colors and adds some contrast, but i don't use it in every psd.

occasionally, i'll mess around with vibrance/saturation, and that'll be my final layer, but oftentimes i won't actually add this layer until i've finished the rest of the coloring. this is just where the layer will go.

these are the main 5 layers i almost always start every single coloring with and they act mostly as a base and to color-correct any weirdly tinted or exceptionally dark scenes.

now, let's talk about scene selection. i try to set myself up for success by choosing scenes that either already have a very noticeable pop of color or have a color i know can easily be manipulated. you'll want to pick scenes that aren't drenched with the color you want to isolate though, or you won't have the contrast of the black & white.

here are a few examples of good scenes:

the only red here is the covered bridge and it will be easy to adjust only that and not the blue, green, or yellow.

same as above, apart from ralph fiennes's face, which obviously contains red undertones. i'll go more in-depth on this in a bit, but because this scene doesn't have a lot of movement, this will be able to be fixed with layer masks.

again, here we have one bright occurrence of yellow surrounded by blue that we'll easily be able to neutralize.

and a few of bad/less than ideal scenes:

while this scene is an absolute dream for making super vibrant sets or color palettes, it's no good for color isolation. this yellow covers basically everything, leaving no other colors to cancel out.

while i definitely did try this one out, the scene is ultimately too dark and too cyan-tinted to properly isolate the red of the blood or the cyan in her eyes and on the walls.

just like the first one, this scene is fully just. color drenched. would make a great base for a vibrant or color palette set but not useful for color isolation.

bad and wrong!! coloring this movie, however beloved, was a test of my sanity. you have this yellow/green filter over everything and so much of it that isolating or changing one or the other is pretty much impossible.

with all that being said, play around! the best way to learn what does what is to try it out yourself. selective color, though there are other ways of getting the same or similar effects, will be your best friend. it's how i'm able to make sets like this & this!

let's look at this adjustment layer using a scene from conclave:

truthfully, you could either isolate the orange of the wall or the blue of her outfit. i'm going for the latter at the moment.

add a selective color layer by clicking this button:

i like to really emphasize the color i'm going to isolate, make sure it's as consistent with the other scenes i'm using and that it pops. from the dropdown in the layer properties, i select blue.

each color from the dropdown will look like this. you have adjustable sliders for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. the more to the right, the more you're emphasizing that color in any blues in your image. the further to the left, the more of that color's opposite you'll adjust. each opposite pairing is as follows:

cyan + red magenta + green yellow + blue black + white

if you're struggling with this (i did at first), visualize it. pull up one of those "bad" examples. say we take the yellow scene from the gorge. add a selective color layer to it and select yellow from the dropdown. play with the sliders to see how AND how much each adjustment changes the coloring. decreasing the yellow slider all the way to -100% is adding blue to anything ps identifies as yellow. because yellow and blue are opposites, it pretty much neutralizes the scene. instead, if you use the magenta slider and push it all the way to the left, you make any yellows become green. if you move the magenta slider all the way to the right, you'll add magenta to any yellows, making the scene orange. it's all about knowing the color wheel and experimenting!

back to the conclave gif! i want to bring out the blue as much as possible, under the blue dropdown, i crank the cyan slider all the way up and bring the yellow all the way down.

is it a massive difference? no, but you can definitely see the difference between the left (with the adjustment) and the right (without).

depending on the scene and color i'm working with, i'll play around with other layers from the dropdown. but i prefer to do each color in a different layer and i right-click on the box with the eye in the layers panel and change it to the applicable color. that way, it's easier to adjust something later on. you can also rename your layers, but this is quicker and easier imo.

with this particular scene, this is the only adjustment i want to make to the blue for the time being. now, it's all about getting rid of any other colors. to do this, add a hue/saturation layer and select every color, one at a time, EXCEPT the color(s) you're isolating and bring the saturation all the way down to -100. in this case, it's everything but the cyans & blues.

and this is what i'm left with:

from here, you can leave it, but a lot of the time, i'll add a vibrance layer or even another blue/cyan selective color layer and crank that shit up.

this is after adding a vibrance layer (increasing both vibrance & saturation to 100) AND a selective color layer (decreasing the yellows to -100 in the blues).

i would consider this finished, but this can also be super fun to mess around with, again, using selective color:

and if the way her hair changed colors is bugging you, toggle your layers on and off until you find which one(s) changed it and add a layer mask, coloring over her hair with a soft black brush:

once you're happy with everything, save your gif in your preferred way. these are my save settings just for shiggles:

et voilà!

overall, the best advice i can give is to try. experiment! if you're not sure a scene will work, give it a shot. even if it doesn't, you've still learned something. i know it can seem confusing at first, especially if you're not super familiar with these layers or the color wheel, but please feel free to ask any questions. also, let me know if anyone wants another tutorial(s) where i go more in-depth on other colors. i'm happy to do it!

[arbitrarychaos]

How to show emotions

Part V

How to show grief

a vacant look

slack facial expressions

shaky hands

trembling lips

swallowing

struggling to breathe

tears rolling down their cheeks

How to show fondness

smiling with their mouth and their eyes

softening their features

cannot keep their eyes off of the object of their fondness

sometimes pouting the lips a bit

reaching out, wanting to touch them

How to show envy

narrowing their eyes

rolling their eyes

raising their eyebrows

grinding their teeth

tightening jaw

chin poking out

pouting their lips

forced smiling

crossing arms

shifting their gaze

clenching their fists

tensing their muscles

then becoming restless/fidgeting

swallowing hard

stiffening

holding their breath

blinking rapidly

exhaling sharply

How to show regret

scrubbing a hand over the face

sighing heavily

downturned mouth

slightly bending over

shoulders hanging low

hands falling to the sides

a pained expression

heavy eyes

staring down at their feet

More: How to write emotions Masterpost

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[arbitrarychaos]

KEEGAN RUSS SCENES [6/?] ⠀⤷ JUNE 7, STRUCK DOWN

[arbitrarychaos]

This was so adorable! I love a touch starved Ghost! ♡

Touch starved Ghost

pairing: ghost x reader

wc: 649

warnings: none!

It was every bit of a surprise to him as it was to you. 

Ghost had been with people before, obviously. He had a past of his own, before the military, and had indulged in his fair share of one-night stands while serving. He thought he knew his way around it—how to pick up on cues, when to approach you, how to not sound like a total moron whenever it came to having a conversation.

He’d been wrong. 

Everything about you put him outside his comfort zone. You were chatty where he was quiet, open where he was reserved, and touchy where he was reluctant. That’d been the hardest one—how much physical contact seemed to matter to you. 

It wasn’t that you wanted a full PDA whenever you saw each other, but you seemed to reach out to him at all times—a squeeze of his arm while you walked past him, a pat on his shoulder when you left a room, poking at his ribs whenever he shut down like he usually did. You were always respectful of his space whenever he asked for it, even when he could tell you were dying to close the gap between you. 

Which is why it’d caught you by surprise when, like a flip had switched, this mountain of a man now seemed to be the one who couldn’t get enough of you. You gave him space, and in return he looked at you like a lost puppy. You respected his boundaries, which, later on, Ghost would realize was the exact opposite of what he’d wanted.

Ghost now felt like the very air in his lungs was useless unless you were close enough he could touch. 

It didn’t matter if he’d just come back from an op, sweaty, covered in grime and blood, and exhausted beyond what should be humanly possible. He’d sit through debrief like a man forced to sit through his death sentence verdict until he could leave the building to find you. He knew you’d be in his room—it was yours at this point, given how often you’d sleep there against all military protocol. 

He’d find you on his bed, a book on your legs and a frown on your face, clearly disgruntled at whatever you were reading. You barely got a word out before he slipped out of his mask and gear like it weighed him down, and you had only a second to place the book on the side before this six-foot-something man crumpled between your legs like a puppet with loose strings. 

You smiled at the unbelievable sight. His head fell on your stomach while his arms wrapped around your lower back. He hummed something that didn’t sound coherent when you ran slow fingers through his hair, the other hand going down his back, between his shoulder blades. 

“Rough op?” you asked, tone laced with amusement as careful fingers threaded through blond locks. 

He grunted in return, nuzzling against your stomach without bothering to form a sentence that could be understood. His palm flattened against the small of your back, so tenderly no one would’ve believed this man had a kill-count somewhere in the three digits. You rubbed your thumb gently over his hairline, smiling when you could physically see him let his guard down. 

When he spoke, you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your lips. 

“You better not stop,” he muttered under his breath, eyes closed, cheek still pressed to your stomach. 

You chuckled, shaking your head in disbelief. “That an order, Lieutenant?”

The corners of his lips tugged upwards, something he never thought would come naturally to him. He cracked one eye open to look up at you, and the sight almost undid you. “Please?”

You couldn’t reply with words—instead, you smiled to yourself and moved your hands through his hair, thoroughly amused by the soft grunts that escaped his throat with every movement. 

[arbitrarychaos]

BADASS AJAX & RILEY MOMENTS

[arbitrarychaos]

Sometimes I think I draw his body a lil bit TOO bulky and his waist a bit TOO tiny but then I SEE HIS CANON INGAME MODEL.

I am not okay

[arbitrarychaos]

KEEGAN RUSS SCENES [5/?] ⠀⤷ JUNE 7, STRUCK DOWN

[arbitrarychaos]

Boyfriend!Price gets mad when you don't follow orders

pairing: John Price x reader

wc: 1430

warnings: some blood, nothing descriptive

You fucked up. 

The entire squad knew it. Ghost rolled his eyes at you when you exited the Humvee, Gaz ducked his head low to avoid eye-contact when he walked past you, and even Soap, who usually had your back, gave you a long sigh as you rubbed the back of your neck and walked toward the admin building.  

You hadn’t meant to. You were a sergeant, for Christ’s sake—you knew better than this. You had years of experience under your belt. You’d been under fire more than enough times to know how to keep your head cool and your hands steady. You’d gone through ops like this one countless times—you could’ve done it front to back, start to finish with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back.  

Could’ve—had you not been under Price’s command. 

He wasn’t the problem. He was a good captain—probably the best one you’d had since you first enlisted. He’d seen enough to know exactly what he didn’t want to be and how to be a man he’d follow into battle. He’d made it his mission to know his people and synergize with them. Price cared for his team. 

You two, unfortunately, cared about each other a little too much. 

He stood by the window when you entered the room, doing your best to hide the limp in your leg and the blood seeping through your shirt—a stray bullet you caught after leaving the safety of the cover Soap had dragged you to. The sun outside was setting slow, casting his face in orange light that, despite everything, felt merciless on your heart.

From his temple to his chin ran a river of dried blood. There was a frown on his face that deepened further when the door closed behind you. You let out a pained hiss as you closed the distance between you, one hand gripping the side of your abdomen while the other gripped the edge of his desk, leaning on it. Your leg throbbed in pain—you’d clearly gotten hit. 

Still, you didn’t allow yourself to say anything. You didn’t complain, you didn’t apologize. You stood still behind him, watching his shoulders rise and fall with such restraint it felt like he was trying his best not to snap.  

It took almost a minute before he opened his mouth. Even then, he opened it and closed it several times, almost like a fish on dry land. The sight was upsetting. Price wasn’t a man to be rendered speechless, which meant he was furious, disappointed, or both. 

You felt blood dripping down your shin. Price finally spoke. 

“Do you think ranks mean nothing, Sergeant?”

The question felt like someone had thrown scalding water at you—you felt it dripping, head to toe, burning every inch of your skin. If the tone hadn’t been cold enough to fog your breath, calling you by your rank had nailed the coffin shut. That was something he only ever did when he’d reached a breaking point, and it had never been you who’d been unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his fury. 

He didn’t give you a second to reply—he clearly hadn’t been expecting an answer. 

“I’m your captain,” he hissed, still looking outside. He gripped the windowsill and shut his eyes, speaking through his teeth. “When I say stay, you stay.”

You swallowed dryly, hating the way your face flushed and your neckline was suddenly covered in sweat. How your heart hammered against your chest for reasons that had nothing to do with being scolded by your CO and everything to do with the fact that John had kissed you seconds before boarding the Humvee. 

This is why he’d fought so hard against his feelings. Why he had shut you down on countless occasions. He’d warned you, time and time again, the day would come where he’d have to be your captain and nothing else. You’d assured him you could manage—you would manage, when the time came. But your head hurt, your leg shook beneath you trying to hold your weight, and somewhere on your abdomen was a wound that had soaked the entire front of your shirt. 

“He had you in his crosshair,” you bit your tongue when his name almost slipped from your lips. “I knew I could take on him.”

He slammed his hands on the windowsill with such force the window rattled. You didn’t flinch or squeal—you stood in place, even when you felt like an ice cube ran down your spine and your sight blurred at the edges. He pinched the bridge of his nose, irritation printed out on his every feature. 

“I don’t care,” he snapped, voice tinged with concern, somewhere beneath the palpable fury. He took in a sharp breath, forehead pressed to the glass. “I don’t care if you could’ve taken on a bloody tank. What I say goes.”

“He would’ve shot you, John,” you finally raised your voice, running your hands down your face. You had to bite down on your lip when the sudden movement pulled something—what you pulled exactly, you didn’t know. “Would youhave followed orders?”

He didn’t reply. You pushed yourself off the desk, struggling and limping every step of the way until you stood no more than a foot behind him. He still hadn’t turned to face you, and it hit you then that it’d been intentional—that maybe he couldn’t stand looking at the person he slept next to every night and say the things he had to say as a captain. 

“Say it,” you muttered, tone defeated now that the pain had drained all the fight from you. “Say you would’ve followed orders if it had been my life on the line. Tell me you would’ve stayed behind cover knowing you could’ve done something.”

Finally, with a tired expression and exhaustion dragging him down, he turned to look at you. Immediately, his face paled as he gave you a quick once-over, eyes full of concern. He took a step forward, and the man who lifted your shirt without bothering to ask wasn’t your captain—it was the same man who knew how you liked your tea and which drawer you put your socks in. 

When he pressed his fingers to the wound, you folded inward, shielding yourself from the pain. John supported one of your elbows with his hand while the other traced the edges of the wound gently, eyebrows knitted together. You didn’t meant to, but one of your hands gripped his shoulder while your forehead crashed against his chest. 

“Oh, love,” he breathed out. He lifted your weight further, which your leg was thankful for. 

You shook your head against his chest, almost incapable of speaking. Swallowing proved to be impossible—it felt like a hot coal had been placed on your throat. “I couldn’t let it happen, John. I—”

He didn’t say anything when you sobbed into his chest, your body finally overpowered by the pain and mental strain of seeing the man your heart beat for almost get killed. He pulled you closer against his chest, careful as to not put more weight on your leg. One hand cradled the back of your neck with care, a sharp contrast to the violent situation you’d escaped—just barely. 

“Thank you,” he breathed against the top of your head. He ran his hand down your back, and you could’ve sworn he was shaking too. “Just—please be careful.” 

You nodded your head once, all you could manage with the turmoil coursing through your mind and the blood abandoning your body.  He moved forward, gently guiding you onto his desk. He moved files, notebooks, and pens to the side until you had a space to sit on. He didn’t let you try—no, John eased you onto the table with little effort, eyes still locked onto yours. 

“Didn’t think it was this bad,” he muttered as he cupped your cheek with one of his hands. 

Your fingers wrapped around his wrist, barely any strength left in you, as you leaned into his touch. You barely heard him as he spoke into his comms—something about a medic, something about blood loss. For now, all you cared about was the feeling of his palm against your cheek and the gentle fingers that rested on your abdomen. 

You smiled. “Are you done yelling at me?”

He let out a strangled laugh, but his eyes couldn't hide the affection he felt. “You’re still on latrine duty.”

“Bastard.”

[arbitrarychaos]

Sergeant Keegan P. Russ

[arbitrarychaos]

WELL FIRST OF ALL, I DON’T BELONG TO YOU. I’M ON PROBATION! I BELONG TO THE NIGHT CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT. Ivanna (Vanya) ‘V’ Kalichava, who did not go to Atlanta, Georgia but Georgia, USSR but everyone was too busy to pick her up from the airport so they didn’t learn until she was already back in Night City and then it was just awkward.

streetkid ᛫ netrunner + headhunter ᛫ no romance (due to being chronically unlikable) ᛫ night city's most annoying hacker ᛫ currently wanted for sixteen counts of arson

[arbitrarychaos]

KEEGAN RUSS SCENES [4/?] ⠀⤷ JUNE 7, NO MAN'S LAND

[arbitrarychaos]

There's something about characters that are about to die and, instead of crying, they look at their loved ones and do/say something sweet or funny to try to reassure them... that breaks my heart every single time