#Scale Model Masks

[sublightdrive]

TIE wings mostly complete

[thecraftingwell]

Japanese Roundels - Hinamaru

Scale Modelling Paint Masks for Japanese Roundels (Hinamaru) used on aircraft during WW2.

These are made from quality kabuki sheets and digitally cut.

[originalwinnerfanfish]

Well, I did it

Megatron - I love his tfp design. Probably one of the best iteration of Megs. He is huge, heavy armoured, his face covered with scars… He doesn’t looks like an ordinary military leader who is only capable of giving orders, but like real warrior who can destroy any enemy with his bare hands.

So, in the WOF version, he definitely shares some features with Princess Burn, not only because of his might, but also because of his horns shape and dirty-dark scales (that absorbed blood of his enemies)

Starscream - Boy, I hate him so much 🤣… but in the good way, trust me! In my opinion, when the show's creators make you feel such strong negative emotions towards a villain, it means they've done a great job. Also, I think that his animation in the show was absolutely incredible, because even though he's a 3D model, he still manages to move like a 2D character, which is amazing!

I feel that in my design he still looks more like a skywing, than an icewing (which is kinda logical)

Soundwave - This one was tricky. I couldn't figure out what his mask would look like, so I just made his face a really dark color. I think Soundwave has both gifts of the nightwings, and he’s equally great at telepathy and a future vision. So he doesn't really need equipment to predict enemy movements, which makes him an ideal communicator in the WOF setting. His Laserbeak is part of the armor enchanted by Shockwave, and it might also allow him to open portals (but I'm not sure with this one)

Shockwave - My favourite evil genius. He would definitely have animus magic and mind reading. I think Shockwave is the only one who has advanced the study of magic so far, precisely because he combined it with scientific knowledge and created safer methods of using it, that don't damage the mind. It's like if a Mastermind got animus magic in books.

I also like to think that he didn't heal the damaged part of his face just so that his enemies would fear him more)

Dreadwing - This man deserved better! It's really a shame that he was removed from the show so quickly due to financial problems. It would be great if his arc got a proper conclusion in season 3.

Considering that I didn't want to make him a hybrid, it was difficult to choose a suitable color palette. So let’s just say, that I tried my best����

I don’t think that he would have any nightwing powers, but honestly it doesn’t even matter - this guy can make a bombs, what else does he need to be cool

Arachnid - Did anyone even doubt that she would be a hivewing? Damn, she even got her own “Othermind” virus. Her design was the easiest to work with - just a little poisonous ass (suspiciously similar to Maleficent).

Just like Starscream, I hate her, but in a good way. She's one of the creepiest characters in the entire series, who’s acting like a fucking heartless monster, especially with Arcee, but even so, there's always was something mesmerizing about her. I just really like strong female villains

Knockout - Wery bright and charismatic guy, definitely one of my fav cons!

I tried to draw him as handsome as possible. Worked a lot on the face shape and coloring, and as for me it turned out pretty nice (finally).

Most decepticons think Knockout is as stupid and lazy as all the other rainwings. And it's not like he completely disagrees with that. Of course he’s not stupid and lazy, but if it’s means less dirty work on the battlefield, well, he’ll continue act like a tipical rainwing

(I also believe that Megatron keeps him as an “art”)

Breakdown - Fun fact: "Operation Breakdown" was the very first thing I saw in this series. And it was an interesting experience for 8 year old me. Maybe that's why I'm so scared of eye gouging scenes in movies now…

I think that he didn't have any siblings initially due to his parents nature, and even after meeting Bulkhead, he felt uncomfortable among the other mudwings. And this is why he later chose the side of the decepticons. And maaaaybe because of one cute rainwing influence)

P.s.

I think that, being mostly nightwings and icewings, the decepticons are much more concerned about purity of their blood and rarely accept half-breeds into their ranks.

During the war, there were many animus dragons among decepticons, which is why they have so many artifacts that allowed teleportation and communication at a distance. But, honestly, I still can't imagine what Nemesis would look like in this AU

[zoe-oneesama]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I URGE YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE SEASON 6 CHARACTER DESIGNS. Mostly cus i wanna hear the salt, but also because as someone who's designed many outfits for these characters over the course of multiple years, you more than anyone have your place to talk

Honestly the episode was just *okay*, so the designs are really the only place I'm particularly heated (I mean I still have my complaints on the episode, but nothing as anger inducing as Season 5):

So I'll start with the heroes:

I'm not mad about cutting off Bunnix because nothing's different.

Viperion - I like what they did with the mask and the deeper color contrast is delicious, but the suit feels like such a downgrade from the old design.

Carapace - I guess this is the Season of the Mask Facial Hair? Viperion is encroaching on this, but Carapace's little chin bit looks like a Soul Patch. Otherwise, it's a good design and I like the additions!

Vesperia - At least it looks like they fixed the weird root issue she had with her bangs from the old model. From what I can see here, I don't dislike this, like, full inversion making the top yellow and the pants black. Dunno what the ring around her thumb is though, and why does she hold her weapon like that??

Rena Rouge - it feels like they made changes to her because they thought they had to? I'm not mad at the differences, just...they sure are there. My only complaint about her is that they colored her tail as if she has two tails but she only has one? Like...just give her two coattails.

At least they ditched the corset U_U

Rooster Bold - The pose makes it hard to see, but he looks pretty cool to me! LOVE the new mask and his bitchy heels. Didn't like the mohawk then, still don't like it now.

Ryuko - this^ picture doesn't show her off, so here's her from the episode:

The suit is still nothing amazing, but I like the scale texture and shoulders, I LOVE the bigger horns, and her hair is fire~!

Miss Hound - yikes on this picture, thank god she cameo'd in the episode:

She's cute! ...Honestly anything was an upgrade, she was just wearing a recolored version of her outfit in Season 4-5, so the fact this is it's own thing is instantly better.

King Monkey - yikes the lighting on this is scary. Anyway, I can't really glean anything from this and the only thing that stands out is the horns on the circlet. I'll pend judgement for now.

Pegasus - Similarly to KM, there's not much I can note here? He's got longer hair so that's...something, but I like that now the visor is a full visor and not a floating pair of glasses. And we'll have to see it in an episode because here I like the contrast between the browns, but the old suit also had that contrast in promo material and then lost it in the episode.

Caprikid - Loooove the fur on the pants for some reason, and I die for the boots little hooves~ Bold choice to go bigger on the horns when there was some controversy about them, but hey. At least they fixed the problem with his white mask.

Minotaurox - aww what a cute widdle hammer. It really looks stunted, a lot of the weapons here look skinnier and weaker actually. I don't think I like the yellow on the horns, but I like that we can actually SEE the details on his suit now. And I like the hoodie/hair.

Argos - yep. That's Argos.

Purple Tigress - Okay, she looks dope AF! No notes, she looks awesome.

Pigella - And on the other hand...yikes. There so much going on here, and in fairness I can't fully understand what I'm looking at. This is not what I meant when I kept adding pig ears to my Pigella design!

Polymouse - Okay, no lie, I DID like her in this still image, but uhhh she's in the episode and um...

Girl no. What's with these LED strips?! WHY is your HAIR going THROUGH you hoodie?! And I know in comparison to the other characters she's still "plus sized" but this still feels...bad.

I won't talk about Ladybug and Chat Noir, they're good. Not exciting not bad just good.

Sooooo the humans.... Mostly I'm bothered by how some are so drastically changed and some are just...not. At all.

Alya - her new Mom lewk. Idk, I just feel like they could've gone harder. She looks fine, I actually like her hair when I watch the animation in motion, it's just...she looks 25 now.

Alix - uh, yep that's Alix. Wait, did her pony tail switch sides...?

Zoe - She's found her 2000s emo girl aesthetic and is clinging to those crusty shoes. I don't like it, her dumb tshirt was really my biggest problem with her old design so of course that's the part hey keep. She just looks...disjointed. I'll hold on judgment of her hair for now.

Kagami - love the hair, hate the crop jacket. It makes her skirt look reeeeeally short.

Sabrina - AH! NO! BAD! WRONG! Hate the hair, hate the pants, I don't even think I like her new glasses. This is a chop, a CHOP!

Juleka - I don't...hate the hair. I just weep for what we lost. I DO hate her new boring-er blouse which is just a weak imitation of her old top. Her hair is so wild so why did her clothes get more boring?

Rose - Season 6 Rose can't hurt you, Season 6 Rose can't hurt you, Season 6 Rose can't hurt you-!!

Mylene - I like her new outfit, it feels like the natural next step for her! I can't get a good look at her new hair though, so I'll reserve judgement.

Nino - Damn, finally a full glow up. Nino looks good! This is probably how I would have designed him the first time around, so, yay!

Felix - you fucking loser, you didn't change here either?! Are SentiBoys just stunted?!

Kim - His big change is...getting sleeves. And his roots are more visible? I guess??

Max - Why this nerd got a smolder all of a sudden? I think he'd look good if they just finally ditched the suspenders, or had them hanging down and not in use.

Nathaniel - Have...have I drawn him in this? I feel like there's a Scarlet Lady version of this. I guess that tells you I like it, right?

Ivan - Hell yeeeeees! GLOW UP! He's like "oh, I gotta wear this nose ring all the time? Better make it ALL WORK TOGETHER!!" I didn't know he had it in him, good job!

Luka - uhhh, is he wearing a different jacket, or is that his old jacket in the new animation style? At least he stopped advertising his own father on his chest. His shirt being tucked in...it disturbs me...

Marc - ...I can't tell if he even got a hair cut because it might just be the new style.

So yeah, I have quibbles but they're overall okay.

If you really want nightmare fuel, you see the kwamis.

[johnwickb1tsch]

lessons in anatomy XVI

a yandere art professor John Wick x drawing model muse! reader AU... (also featuring Matt from River's Edge. If you haven't seen the movie that's ok, I will fill in the gaps as we go...) warnings: dark adult themes, violence, sex, drugs, obsession, yandere shit. plz don't read if u can't handle it ->chapter map

XVI.

John Wick adjusts his hold on you, gathering you close with his nose in your hair. “I told you, y/n, I would never hurt you. I won’t let anyone else hurt you either.” 

Your pulse thunders like an angry drum in your chest. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you demand, and he lets you turn in his arms again, lets you pound on his chest for all the good it does. “I’ve been driving myself crazy over this for weeks! Why wouldn’t you just tell me?” 

“I thought it was best.” 

“Best?” you snarl, so frustrated you could scream. “For who?” 

“Both of us,” he answers simply, as though it should be obvious. You think about that, and your next question comes with a quaver in your tone. 

“What did you do with them, John?” 

There is a long pause before he answers, “You don’t want to know.” He actually sounds contrite about it, which surprises you to no end. 

“What if I do?” 

“I’m still not going to tell you.” 

“I could tell the police,” you say, if only to be contrary.  

He might sense this when he answers with zero fear, “You have no evidence.”

“I have your mask.” 

He sighs, like you’re being intentionally difficult. “They’re gone, y/n. That’s all you need to know. They’ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again.” 

Is he saying…he killed them? 

He killed them. 

You’re not stupid. You can read between the lines. This man is a murderer and he’s got you in his arms…and all you want to do is argue with him. 

Maybe your survival instincts could use some work.  

Your heart pounds in your chest, but still you have to ask, “John…how?” 

He levels you with a long and piercing gaze that you feel all the way to the base of your spine, your senses clamoring with alarm. Maybe you knew it all along, deep down, that he was a dangerous man. “I wasn’t always a mild-mannered drawing teacher, y/n. And we’re going to leave it at that.” 

You stare up at him, wide eyed as your brain races to keep up as the bombs keep dropping. What could that mean? Was he a government agent? A cop? A spy? …A criminal?

“Y/n…” He sweeps your hair from your face with those long fingers, and you let him, frozen as you stare up at him like some star-struck idiot, trying to process what is going on. “Please, don’t be afraid of me.” There is a fragility in his voice that moves you to your toes. Even if he’s freaked you out tonight, you hate to admit…that deep down, you don’t believe he would hurt you. 

Foolish, perhaps, but it’s the truth. 

You’d wanted to get away so badly before. Why is it now, that all you want to do is hide from that x-ray gaze against his chest? So…you do, and gladly he lets you. Your head feels like a pinwheel, as you try to suss out your emotions from everything you’ve learned tonight. 

You suppose you should be feeling some sort of guilt or remorse–you find you have none. Is there something missing in you? Or are you allowed to be glad that those two creeps can’t hurt you or anyone else anymore? The system failed you. But your savior balanced the scales of justice in a way The Law never seems to when it comes to abusers of women. You find that all you can really manage is relief, and the growing warm glow inspired by being in this man’s arms. 

“John…” You whisper his name like a prayer, tucked under his chin. “I wanted it to be you.” You find it’s a lot easier to admit this, when you don’t have to look him in those anthracite eyes. 

“Did you?” He actually sounds surprised, and it tears you to shreds all over again. 

You grip fistfuls of his shirt, your fingers like claws as you fight to hold on to something solid while the world feels like it's spinning out of control. 

“Why didn’t you just show me your face that night?” you demand, suddenly so frustrated you could scream. All the bad things that had happened could have been avoided, maybe, if he hadn’t been so bent on toying with you. 

“I was going to, later,” he tells the top of your head. “But you were having fun with your friends. I didn't want to take that from you. When I went to find you again…I found those assholes throwing you into their van.” His voice goes dark as he recalls this, the hairs on your body lifting again. There is definitely something dangerous about this man that swims beneath the surface. Something not to be trifled with, you’re beginning to understand all too well. 

“I don’t remember much at all,” you admit quietly. “The big one, Samson. He hit Matt hard enough to knock him out. Right before that, Matt was trying to tell me something about them.”

“You know I looked up the little town where they're from.”

“Yeah?”

“A few years ago, a girl was found dead on the side of the river there. No arrests were ever made. She was in their class.”

“That doesn't mean–”

“Have you ever looked through Matt’s sketchbook?”

You think of that haunting drawing he’d taken out of your hands. Oh god.

“I can't believe Matt would hurt anyone,” you say meekly, tears in your eyes. 

“Maybe not. But I think he knew, y/n. And he nearly got you killed for it. So yeah. I hate his guts.”

You let out a long sigh, leaning against him, your knees gone weak. The truths keep coming tonight. You're not sure you can handle whatever comes next. Your fingers clench in his shirt, your throat swelling shut as the tears well up. 

Your sweet sad Matthew, the boy with the drowning dark eyes… He knew. He knew all along and he didn’t protect you. Maybe not maliciously, but how much complacency can a girl be expected to forgive? They were probably going to rape you, and murder you, and he practically let you walk right into it.

If not for John… He saved you. The true gravity of this finally sinks in. That if he hadn't been looking for you, watching out for you…you’d be another story on the five o’clock news that people shake their heads at before going back to dinner, muttering about the sad state of the world. 

Maybe initially the scope of his obsession had scared you–but no one else cared for you so much. It leaves you reeling in a freefall, and you try to hold it in, but when the first sob breaks it's like the cracking of a dam. “Shh, you’re alright,” he soothes you, holding you against his chest with one of those big hands on the back of your head as though he can shield you from the world. “I’ve got you. You’re alright.” 

“I feel so stupid!” You hiccup between sobs. “I thought you were just being mean…but it's like you knew all along!”

“I've just been around, y/n. I've seen a lot of bad things.”

I wasn’t always a mild mannered drawing teacher.

Who is this man? You don’t have the courage to ask just now. You don't feel like you have the right, after behaving like such a brat.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper against his chest, feeling impossibly small and dumb and raw after this reality check. What a weird fucking night this has turned out to be.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He holds you against his broad chest, letting you cry it out, and as you listen to his strong heartbeat you feel, for the first time in a long time, like you've finally found some sense of peace. 

In fact, you feel so secure that it's possible you go temporarily insane in this man's strong arms. Where do you get the courage, to turn your face up to his so entreatingly? Just minutes ago you were trying to run from him, and now here you are in his grasp, meek as a lamb. 

You are a ridiculous creature. You know it, but you cannot stop now. 

“You know I do remember…that you kissed me.” 

He caresses your cheek with his thumb, his dark eyes fixed upon your mouth. There is a low-burning hunger in his gaze that takes your breath away. 

“Did you like that?” he asks, his bass rumble of his voice sending a shiver down your spine. 

“It was alright.” 

He narrows his eyes at you with mock indignation, no doubt remembering the way you positively melted in his arms. “Alright?” 

“Mmm hmm.” 

He dares to rub his thumb over your lower lip, as though testing your plump flesh for the proper consistency. You've never been more tempted in your life to bare your teeth and bite. Not out of defence–but for taste.

“Sounds like I should try again.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“Brat.” 

He handles you like he owns you now, taking you in hand, turning your face up with his massive paw upon your jaw. Onyx orbs fix upon your mouth, and you close your eyes in anticipation, suddenly certain that you will wither and die if he does not kiss you. 

Yet he doesn’t move, and you are so caught up in the torment of that suspended moment that the most embarrassing little whine squeaks forth from the back of your throat. You open your eyes a sliver, and you realize he’s looking at you, as though he means to memorize every inch of you, down to the pore. It’s flattering, and a little unsettling, and you must make some minute projection that you intend to move away, because his hold tightens upon you. 

“You’re perfect, y/n,” he says gently, as though he knew exactly what you were thinking. 

You are far from it, which you know very well. 

“I’m not, John.” 

“You are, to me.” And finally, he lowers his mouth to yours, sweeping you up in a tooth-counting kiss that curls your toes and at least at the moment, quiets your fears.

TBC...

___

*further analysis of this chapter 😅 ->chapter map pinterest board/ photo credits

[tinolqa]

god I haven't mentioned it enough here. Myths of the Realm is my enemy. easily my least favorite 24-man- or rather it's my least favorite raid series of either type.

probably made worse by pandaemonium being genuinely very good? the contrast was stark.

weak answer to the question of the twelve's nature, very unambitious and mediocre visual designs that were largely too married to visual fidelity to boring statues and card designs. some real disney's hercules shit. there were some innovative or appealing elements here and there: nald'thal was genuinely great visually and conceptually, I actually respect the concept of making menphina a magical girl instead of a generically hotsexy love goddess, byregot's halo of nails, uh... the models for thalaos and perykos looked good? but overall they were a bunch of very boring idealized humans.

and my god eulogia is the ugliest thing. eulogia might actually be the most hideous execution of a concept in the game yet, you might as well just clip all of the models of the twelve into each other and play their animations at once and get the same effect. zero elegance, zero thoughtful design. it's actually shocking to see in a game where we got perfect omega as a raid boss once upon a time. even eden's promise, while superficially a hot mess, is a hot mess because it pays homage to extant depictions of artemis! art history is why it looks like that! eulogia looks like the artists were asked to recreate knife dad from monster factory using ffxiv assets.

and you might ask, well, are the mechanics of the fights better than the boss designs? absolutely not. week one aglaia was a little fun, because there being a chance of failure to people not knowing the trick of the meteors in the rhalgr fight or panicking during the nald'thal scales instead of just deliberately failing the mechanic to waste everyone's time. gear creep destroyed any chance of interacting with most of the fun bits of aglaia, and they didn't repeat that "mistake" in the other two, which were boring and easy from the jump. just an absolute void of challenge or chaos. why even bother putting mechanics into your raid at that point, apparently that's only for savage.

and the rewards... boy I hope you like ugly yellow-gold saint seiya armor and generic draping faux-hellenistic robes and vague suggestions of togas. I hope you fucking gluttons for endless less-problematic rehashes of ancient greek mythology like gaudy costume jewelry and sandals and meaningless neoclassical flourishes. did you want gear that might look like something your character would wear in a city they've visited or that has a connection to a historical aesthetic? I guess if you make believe you can stretch a tenuous bond from this tacky armor to the uniform robes and masks of the ancients. ostensibly. since we all know the ancients didn't have a societal taboo about ornamentation or making your clothes individualized or anything.

so what did we achieve? did we learn anything? turns out the twelve were real all along, but also powerless except in the specific context of having flashy anime duels with the warrior of light. it's VERY important that we say they aren't primals, because primals are only summoned by primitive subhumans like the ixal and the garleans. but we do need you to fight them to return their aether to the star because... they're definitely not primals! no. not primals. primals are fake gods, and the twelve are *aetheric constructs* based on *real people* made by *hydaelyn*, which means they're good and Not Primals. the mechanic by which they visually reflect the beliefs of their followers? definitely not the same as the one that does that for primals. their nebulous dependence on the faith of eorzeans? totally unrelated to primals, because it's apparently important for the ego of the players that *their* god is real and not fake, which makes them ontologically good and righteous.

and it's definitely satisfying to find out that the goddess whose name gave weight and gravity to the reveal of the warrior of light's past incarnation and their name... is called that because she was a failed candidate for that role? she's a consolation prize sun goddess?

for that matter it's definitely satisfying to find out that the twelve are just recreations of venat's boring ancient friends, who are largely nameless and have no significance to you or your interaction with the past aside from a mediocre sidequest. oh it's so thrilling to know that the god of crafting used to be hytholdaeus's coworker. this would mean so much to me if he had any role in the setting beyond a skill name and a rock sitting in an overworld zone.

admittedly it would also suck for the reveal to be "actually eorzea's gods did create the world and are all-powerful, boy it sure is silly that those delusional foreigners are out here worshipping kami and manusya and mrga and primals which are all FAKE, as opposed to us (non-beastman) eorzeans who have the literal mandate of heaven"

but surely there's a more elegant solution (ambiguity, leaving questions instead of a glut of answers, not making this raid series at all). was this really the best they could come up with?

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 5 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

when I first watched this I reallllllly hoped sharon was about to come back. but she wouldn't have ever called herself mrs. hart, that was an obvious giveaway

I know I'm repeating myself but - THIS MOTHERFUCKER

aw of course alice is immediately protective. that's so hot of her.

rio you'll have to stop being delighted by her antics, you're only enabling her at this point

agatha you fucker. and kudos for the excellent debra jo rupp impression, kathryn.

it's sweet and so sad that lilia fell for it. she consistently loses her seer abilities when dealing with the guilt for the people she couldn't save

jen is so done

rio is dismissive but also soft when she says this. and then she raises her eyebrows at agatha, as if dating her to deny it.

you can literally see her mask falling off.

billy shakes his head, disappointed. this is the first time he sees agatha fall so low

rio is like, come back here and face the music, my darling. she's really not letting her off the hook anymore

rio laughing in delight when death is mentioned, like yes! that's me! I'm here! just happy to be included!

agatha's panic is so overwhelming she's already at the point when she bolts. but there's no running this time. billy, like wanda, is merciless.

screaming so awful that lilia jumps back to episode 2 to escape it. meanwhile, rio.

(is jen wearing bunny slippers lolll)

yes, yes, it's hilarious that she had to spit out her retainer. but dear god evanora getting to jen first because she's the one agatha hurt the most.

now rio is casually modeling. she's making a great show of not caring about what agatha is going through

her coven turning her back on her. again.

sorry for always pointing out what rio is doing, but aubrey is killing me. now she's going oh well! you heard what the lady said! looks like I'm not the only one who thinks you're a piece of shit!

and despite it all rio (who, once again, is not allowed to kill a fly) is not doing what everybody else is doing. she's just being butthurt at agatha

the essays I could write about agatha's internalized misogyny

oh billy, no. you didn't ever realize all the shit you were stirring.

wow this particular line coming from jen really hurts

rio is trying to decide if she's into zombie agatha, lol. it's like she's always in a different show than everybody else. or rather, she's transcending genres, she's always doing her own thing because the Road doesn't affect her. while the others see real danger, she sees painted sets she can cut through with her knife.

but look what happens next. rio suddenly turns serious, and there's even a hint of panic in her voice. it's as if she realized this is not all tricks and smoke.

and finally, she fully comprehends how dangerous billy is. like, the staggering scale of it. chaos magic creates life in an artificial way that goes against everything rio stands for. wanda did not create an illusion of Vision, she made a real, alive vision out of thin air. billy himself was created the same way. and now he has effectively brought back evanora - not a pale imitation, a ghost Evanora functionally indistinguishable from the real thing, just as full of hatred and just as capable of hurting agatha. if it wasn't personal before!

you know, I didn't like this episode as much as the others on first watch, but I was wrong. there is a lot to unpack here. like many things on AAA, it's all in the subtleties.

go to episode 5 part 4

[badninken]

Gamma Knife - painting process

I had so much fun painting this piece and I want to share some behind-the-scenes stuff on how it was made.

I would like to thank MagicPoser for making it possible to try poses, scale, angles and lighting and saving my ass so many times. I use the app on my iPad but there's a free browser version too.

So I wrangled these 3D dudes into the poses I wanted and then I cut them to pieces and stretched them out to make them as leggy as they're supposed to be. Before I did that though I spent forever trying to pick the angle I wanted to paint. Including two other screenshots I considered using before settling, because it's fun. (nevermind Doffy's weird arm angle, it wasn't going to show anyway. The smoke-placeholder makes it looks like he's in The Sims though which is cute. That thing's about to go so red.)

Then I started sketching. I quickly moved Law higher up and changed his pose to make him more curled up, elbow-to-knee, legs bent etc for more intensity. MagicPoser is great as a reference but the end result gets pretty stiff and boring if you follow the 3D models too closely, and I wanted swoosh. So I painted some swooshy shapes to figure out the movement I wanted for the whole painting. Purple swooshes for the curve of Law and the direction of his jump. Pinker purple for Doflamingo's leg and spine arcs.

The b/w image below also shows the rough base for the feather coat. It's painted with a flat, tapering oil brush that created nice curves that I could refine later.

Skipping lots and lots of work to get to the next step. It's all rendering and detailing, mostly done with the HB pencil brush.

Coloring! I started by creating a gradient map bit lots of color steps. I kind of knew what I wanted but there's a lot of trial and error involved while picking colors and dragging sliders. In Photoshop I'd do this on an adjustment layer but in Procreate I do it by copying all visible layers (three finger slide, copy all visible) and making a new layer out of them where everything's merged (three finger slide, paste)

I then put that layer in Color-mode on 77% over the grayscale image after playing around and testing lots of things. I rarely know what I want before I see it. I copied that layer again and put it in Add-mode on a very low opacity because it looked neat. Every image is a new adventure when it comes to layer blending modes, there is no right or wrong here, you just have to test things until you find an effect that you like. Huge potential for happy accidents in this step.

I didn't want everything to be pink so I created a new Color-layer to paint skin, clothes and radiation. Lowered opacity to let the pink base shine through slightly, for a cohesive and more natural look. Color-mode on full opacity often looks a bit flat and washed out unless combined with something else.

There's a lot more that happened after that but it's all detail stuff, effects, lots of layers with soft airbrushed gradients on various blending modes. Also directional perspective blur where I masked out some feathers to still be sharp against the blurry ones in the back, a quick and easy way to create a sense of movement and depth.

Again, thanks MagicPoser, I would have cried so much and probably given up over the angle of Doflamingo's head without your help 🙏

[palaeosinensis]

It's SO close. So close. Making these mask patterns is not a linear process; some things don't line up quite right going from a 1/4 scale clay model to a life size mask. I have some gaps to fill, pieces to modify, and overlap zones to tweak. But it's close.

[cheesycatz]

The Making of: Life-Size Malworm Plush

(Wormton AU)

STATS

16 ft 3 in (495 cm) long

Total time: 150 hours

Material Cost: $124

Theoretical minimum cost (based on seamstress wage): $2,524

(Progress photos and commentary below)

I'll be referring to my life-size wormton plush as "malworm" for convenience sake.

Unlike my Spamton NEO, Caine, and Fake Peppino plushies, I didn't spend a lot of time on concept art. Since I planned to make the malworm plush as close as possible to its 2D design, I didn't have to add much stylization, other than simplifying some details (no way in hell was I going to make 104 separate embroidered stitches for the segments of his toes, sorry). I mainly used the planning stage to calculate how wide the body pieces needed to be, plotting it out in 1/4 in : 3 in scale and using circumference formula to find the values I needed. I planned to make it around 10 feet long, the length of a young adult malworm. A lot of this project was improv, but, I mean, it wasn't my first or second or third time making a spamton centipede.

The head was quite a complicated shape, so I carved a tiny model out of craft foam, covered one half of it in masking tape, then cut the masking tape mask (hah) into flat pieces. I then traced the pieces onto graph paper and manually scaled them up by using the fact that I wanted the nose to be 1 ft long as reference. The rest of the pattern pieces were very simple, as wormton's teeth, body, legs, etc were very easy to translate into 2D shapes. I used old school notes as paper for the body, as I needed a lot of it. It was entertaining cutting exerpts of Moby Dick and English Renaissance biographies into body parts. I ended up making the body significantly longer; I had to spend $100 dollars on fur anyways, so why not make a maximum size one?

Making the pattern pieces took around 8 hours. While waiting for the fur to ship, I started cutting out the teeth, legs, and eyes. By the time the fur arrived, I had already sewn 36 worm teeth. I did an 11hr all-nighter to cut all the fur in one sitting the day it arrived. After a long vacuuming session and an uptake in the amount of polyester fiber in my lungs, I finished cutting the pieces, taking about 18 hours and 40 minutes.

As usual, the head was the first thing I worked on. It was...kind of wonky once I flipped it inside out. I trimmed some of the fur so that I could actually see what was happening. The main issues were the lack of any forehead, the nose being way too wide, and the cheeks being too flat. I did some ladder stitching as well as modifying the thing from the inside, and eventually made the head look much better. The cheeks still don't stick out that much still, but I'm happy with how the head looks now. I think it conquered the sopping wet owl resemblance. I inserted wire into the nose and jaws to help them keep their shape.

When I started this project, I wasn't sure whether to make it based off of Wormton or just a copyright-free malworm; I decided to do both. I went with red for the non-Spamton version, as I think it really fits the cartoony fly/mothman-style cryptid look malworms are supposed to have.

I sewed a square pouch into the throat and put in all those teeth. I used hot glue to wrap blue squares around a wire for the proboscis, because I think I would've gone bonkers cuckoo bananas if I had to hand sew that entire thing. The throat pouch holds the proboscis when it's not extended, as well as anything else I wanted to shove in there. I never measured it, but it's around 4-5 ft long. I finally made the Spamton... eye patches(?) and a pair of eyelids, though I didn't end up using them in the photo shoot. I also made a new pair of nostrils, as the old ones kind of got swallowed up from all the plastic surgery I was giving him

Now that the head was finished, I got to work on the body. I sewed the white belly and segments of the body together. I left most of the tail open, as the fur was too thick for me to flip it out at a certain point. I worked on the legs, next. After living out my cosplay dreams by putting the claws on my fingers like bugles chips, I grouped the claws together and sewed most of each leg and foot together, leaving me with many pairs of charred drumsticks (did not taste good)

I attached an extra long wire structure into each set of claws, then threaded the wire through each respective leg and stuffed them. I ladder stitched the claws to each foot, then stuffed each with some plastic beans in order to give the feet weight. I then finished sewing each foot shut. I now had a pile of disembodied limbs and one very long scarf.

I wound many long pieces of wire together to create an armature for the body. While the plush's body is way too heavy to be properly posable, the wire does still give some structure. I wrapped the extra long ends of the legs' wires to the metal spine, using the body's leg holes for reference. I then pulled the body up the metal armature like a sock.

I pulled the legs through their respective holes and stuffed the body. It was the first time the malworm was huggable! It's sort of like an oversized body pillow, in a way. I had to ladder-stich all the limbs, the head, and the rest of the tail, as it would've been completely impossible to flip inside out. It was quite difficult to do on furry fabric, and my thread frequently broke from the force I had to pull with to keep the stitches tight. Eventually, I got everything attached to some degree.

The last details I worked on were the mane, tail tufts, and scopula pads. The mane and tail tufts were ladder stitched onto the body, but I decided to use glue to attach the pads to the feet. I think the extra blue details make his proboscis fit much better, and who doesn't love spider paw pads? I also glued some velcro to the eye patches so that they stay attached better. They slide under the black eye rings.

My malworm was finally finished! I tried to put a lot of effort into the photo shoot so that people who don't know about the AU can enjoy it. I wanted to make it seem like some weird entity whose only goal is obtaining more Spamton brainrot. Hence it making Spamton on Mario Kart DS under the bed, obsessing over the Spamton Plush, inspecting the Spamton Shrine, and just generally harassing the photographer (me, I guess?). I wanted to capture the silliness, creepiness, and lack of respect for personal space that Spamton is known for. I thought about giving him a bag of doritos under the bed like that one image of the isopods eating them, but went with the DS instead. I thought it would be funny to see this thing playing Super Mario 64 DS (or Super Spamton 64) and here the "buh bye!" sound effect when it closes the DSi XL.

That's all from me, for now. I have other Wormton related matter to attend to.

Don't let the parasitic Spamton larvae bite

[thecraftingwell]

German Crosses - Type 4/5 - 1/48 Scale

Scale Modelling Paint Mask Sets for German aircraft.

This is for WWII German Crosses Type 4/5 used during the later years of WWII. There are 8 different sizes in this set with 6 of each size allowing you to paint multiple aircraft at the same time.

Type 1 - Available in 1/32 and 1/48 Scale 

German Crosses Type 2 used on German Aircraft during the early stages of World War 2. These are the crosses with the black cross centre, white and black surrounds. Available in 1/24, 1/32 and 1/48 scale each set comprises 10 sizes with 4 of each size included (40 Total)

German Crosses Type 3 used on German Aircraft during the early years of World War 2. These are the crosses with a black centre and white corners. Available in 1/24, 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 scales, each set has 12 diiferent sizes, each set includes 4 of each size (48 Total).

German Crosses Type 4/5 used on World War 2 era aircrafts. These are the crosses without the cross centre and either white or black corners. Available in 1/24, 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 scale each set comprises 8 sizes with 6 of each size included (48 Total)

German Crosses Type 6/7 used on late World War 2 era aircrafts. These are the crosses without the cross centre and the thin black or white corners. Available in 1/24, 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 scale each set comprises 4 different sizes with 6 of each size (24 Total)

Multi Sets

Available in 1/32 and 1/48 scale for either early war crosses (1,2,3), late war crosses (4/5, 6/7) or full sets

[punkeropercyjackson]

Percy Jackson by all means should be a popular autistic headcanon.The evidence is there-Even in just Percy's character concept:The protagonist of a book series about neurodivergent abuse survivors who gets treated the worst even in comparison to the alleged ultimate victim of the system villain and breaks cycles by being built different than him yet being treated as a weirdo among other outcasts.There's literally a scene in the first book where Percy is called 'special' by a teacher and tears up over it with the implication it's happened a lot before.In the Pjo fandom,although the fan favorite,Percy is often demonized by trauma downplaying to make different characters look like victims of the oh so evil re-sorry,'well-intentioned idiot' and ignoring Percy going through similar things to them,if not on a larger scale with less support when it was happening.Percy also can't mask,it's stated and shown no matter how much Percy tries,Percy can't 'act normal' and has a canonical rbf and a safe food that's considered odd(blue food)

And Percy gets to be cool-that's the main reason for the insistence of allistic 'just adhd' Percy instead of the much more canon grounded audhd Percy.Percy is that cool slightly older punk it's easy for a lot of people to look up to as a role model because of how reliable and openly kind and sweet they are yet is seen as intimidating due to this too as sometimes they make people feel they'll never be as cool as them and based on their street cred too and Percy is also constantly described as etherally attractive.The only person who thought Percy isn't was a butch4butch lesbian who found Percy not masc enough for her back in her comphet phase(Piper Mclean,they could never make me hate you queen and to ME,you're an audhd icon too).And godforbid Percy's relathionship to gender be influenced by autism and manifest in her being transfem or a he/they instead of an aggro masc white boy who thinks he's a bad bitch on acting out of for attention and acting like a pervert to flirt🙄

And oh heavens,what if dark Percy ain't shit and just a tool to turn Percy boring and an ableist device to silence autistics who were always told growing up they were destined to turn out bad?I get this is the 'toxic people with a persecution complex' internet but some of us had it actually happen to them and Percy is for us.Percy Jackson is for the kids who were never malicious,who never meant to hurt anyone or be offputting but were seen as evil anyway,who were picked on by grown ass adults and treated as secret masterminds plotting the end of goodness yet as incompetent and unable to think at all much less for ourselves,who had our transgenderism disregarded as no different than cis kids yet insulted on not performing gender 'correctly',who were made to feel they should've never existed and that them existing was too much on their part alltogether,who were jabbed at they should just stop 'pretending to mean well' and put everyone out of their misery and become a bad person,but stayed strong through it all into adulthood and never gave into everyone's expections and 'traditions' to be all of themself.Percy Jackson is autistic,audhd and undiagnosed.No debate or open interpretations about it.Her special interests are blue,the sea,kidcore,anarchy,child care,the Superfam,video games,cats and energy drinks btw and the most complicated minority y'all can handle before you start getting scared is fictional mythical species'

[lilchamomil]

Hair texture tutorial.

Hello!

While I'm doing a new hairstyle, I wanted to share one topic that has been on my mind for a long time. I finally figured out a more or less easy way to create textures, and I really, really want to share it. I'm not going to explain the basics, so I expect that you already understand basic concepts like uv, and are familiar with baking ui in blender and know shader nodes basics (please, enable node wrangler...)

Also you'll need this add-ons for better uv manipulation and uv-packing

FIRST STEP - UV

To begin with, we need a hair model, preferably one you’ve created yourself. However, game hairstyles also partially fit these requirements, since they're colored in a similar way. I’m basically trying to replicate something close to the Maxis pipeline using the tools and methods I have.

The model should be unwrapped and shouldn’t have overlapping UV islands. If you used hair curves, your UVs are probably already rectangular. Just rotate and resize them as you normally would when applying game textures.

You can place some UV islands in the head’s texture space, where the hairstyle overlaps the mesh. You can also check the game textures for reference. There’s usually plenty of space used by the hair textures, not just that tiny rectangle in the top-left corner.

This is how my UV looks like:

To achieve this result, you can use free add-ons for uv packing such as UV-packer.

I prefer hand modeling over using curves, so my UVs look a bit different. I used the UV manipulation add-on I mentioned earlier to get them this way, but that’s not the topic for today.

IMPORTANT: All UV islands should be as straight as possible and oriented vertically. Otherwise, this method won’t work. This is crucial because the noise texture stretches vertically to imitate hair strands. It’s too time-consuming to handpaint them, and honestly, no one really does that.

SECOND STEP - Material setup

I - Go to the Shading tab. We’ll set up a small procedural node material.

If you’re not familiar with the shader editor or how nodes work, I recommend watching a few blender tutorials on the basics first. Othervise my instructions may be confusing for you.

You’ll need two nodes to start with: Ambient Occlusion and Noise Texture. Above, you can see an example of what you should get using this setup.

Use a UV Map node with your hair UVs. Usually, it’s called uv_0, or just UVMap if you haven’t renamed it yet. (I have multiple UV sets in my project because I was experimenting a bit.)

To get the correct mapping for the noise texture, connect the UV Map node to a Mapping node, and make sure you stretch the texture along the Y axis. This is exactly why your UV islands need to be aligned vertically, so the strands flow in the right direction.

I usually set the Noise Texture scale to 100–200 to get a nice strand-like effect.

Plug the Ambient Occlusion node into a Color Ramp to reverse the colors and adjust the contrast. Do the same with the Noise Texture. I recommend it to tone down the strong contrast a bit.

If you have the Node Wrangler add-on enabled (which I highly recommend), you can press Ctrl+Shift and click on a node to preview its output.

Use the result from the Ambient Occlusion Color Ramp as the Factor (think of it like a mask in Photoshop) in a MixRGB (color mix) node. Then, plug the result from the Noise Texture Color Ramp into the A socket, and set the blend mode to Multiply (again, just like in Photoshop).

You can control how dark the ambient occlusion appears by adjusting the color in the B socket of the color mix node.

After, I plug result into color ramp again to adjust contrast.

II (optional) - gradient.

Though not necessary, I do it to add a little variation to tones. You may skip it.

It makes little difference - but don't make mixing factor too high or it will be too dark later.

III - Principled BSDF and lighting setup for baking.

Although stretched noise texture with occlusion works wonders, hair wouldn't be hair if it didn't have shine. This “shine”, although it can be painted, is in most cases just baked-in highlights.

First, change the render engine to cycles and set following options:

You don't need too high amount of samples.

You'll need a little scene setup. If you have any lights, delete them.

Then, create two cylinders and delete top and bottom side. in the modeling make something like in the screenshot. Sometimes one cylinder above is enough.

Create material for them and use simple emission node. This cylinders are necessary for that gloss effect hair does have.

Create area light and scale. Put it above head - and set power around 10, not too strong.

In left top corner of shader editor switch to the world. Set it to black.

Go back into object shader editing. Select your hair in edit mode. Create Principled bsdf and empty image texture ( 1024*2048 or 2x bigger). Remember noise texture? Create bump node and plug it into height. Copy the values below to make effect subtle. Plug bump node to normal.

In principled bsdf, set metallic 1, roughness around 0.4. Open specular tab and put anisotroptic to 1. Create tangent node, change to Uv map, choose your map and plut tangent node into tangent.

Don't forget to plug principled bsdf into Material output node!!

Phew, setup is done! Go into render preview and enjoy results!

It should look like this:

Now we have to bake this. it's easy - go into render tab again, scroll down and open bake menu. Open margin menu and set 8 px at least - or more (just cut later to hair area). Change magrin type to extend.

Now, select your object - and select Uv map you're baking to. In shader tab, select blank texture you had created before. Go into render tab again, and in the baking menu press bake. Now wait - and voila!

Now go back into the shader editor and plug the texture into the color mixing node into B. Plug into A procedural texture we're done before. Set mode to Soft light.

Now, since you know how to bake I won't explain it over again - create new blank texture with same resolution and bake result to it.

Save the texture and color it in any graphic editor you have with gradient maps. You may adjust texture contrast we're created before, but that's all.

You're done!

[porcelainseashore]

OC Deep Dive: Wynter della Passaglia

Art by @surmatants

Tagged and dividers by @diableriedoll, including:

@toreadorcaretaker @mortifying-macaroni @hlozt @informaltorching

@swoomoo @dostoevskybignaturals - Thank you, I love you all so much! <3

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

Wynter has plenty that haunt her. One of her greatest fears is being fully consumed by Aila—a prisoner to the doppelgänger where life moves on without her, and she would be invisible while Lettow neither notices nor cares. Another is that she was truly born wrong, and no one, including Lettow, will ever accept her after knowing the actual monster she is.

Other fears concern her past catching up to her. Firstly, having to face her sire, Violetta/Chiara, whom she burned bridges with and in turn, The Family, who will always want something from her. It’s not a question whether it happens, it’s a question of when. Secondly, she's scared to think if Lucien is dead, as a life without his existence is unimaginable. However, if he is alive, will he show up unannounced and secrets be spilled?

Do they have any pet peeves?

Are you the touchy-feely sort? Don't, just don't. It’s an old habit, but she avoids touch and it takes a lot for her to get accustomed to it. Some never feel right at all. She's also suspicious of people who are friendly or over-familiar, quickly resorting to her death mask, cold-hearted and impassive, emanating an unworldly aura to keep them away. Finally, if you talk too much (looking at you, Julian 🤨), then you’re really asking for a barbed remark that’ll shut you up.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

... The very same rosary she used to pray with Lucien as a child, hung haphazardly alongside a black satin bra by the dresser.

... An assortment of weapons, including her Nighthawk Custom and a sniper rifle, modelled after her father’s old hunting rifle.

... Stashed within a bundle of clippings is a torn off news piece, yellowing and curled at the edges, in faded print, detailing a terrible incident at her old family mansion.

... (Bonus) An evidence board of suspected Sabbat hotspots in Cairo.

What do they notice first in a person?

Their pulse points and heart rate, where their blood is rushing to, weak spots, what makes them uncomfortable, how do they hurt, what can she use to her advantage?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

A pretty high number in general? This girl has had weird bodily aches and pains since young, things that she couldn’t control or understand. On top of that, experiencing the Hecata Kiss as a mortal is quite something. Violetta lingered an extra few, sadistically or not, to remind her of suffering and what The Family could bring if she didn’t take heed. Although Wynter works as a courier, she’s a hunter, first and foremost. She’s had her fair share of battles and the marks to prove it. Finally, Wynter is aware of the immeasurable pain that exists on a different plane to the one we live in.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? (or freeze and fawn)

Fight, but she’ll toy with you and do you dirty from the shadows, keeping her distance and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Don’t worry, she plays the long game and can sure hold a grudge.

What animal represents them best?

A parasite. Wynter has always felt like an entity living in a host, so much so that she’s even jokingly referred to her body as a “skin bag,” or the “skin I wear.” It has a function and purpose, and does the job. This is possibly why she has an interest in the Kuei-Jin, and wishes to find out more about her ancestral ties with them, when the Della Passaglias traded in the Orient.

She also has a methodical approach to things, and the patience to infiltrate without much fanfare. Take the auction house in Night Road for example. Let’s just say she got in and out with what she wanted, no drama except leaving Chiara and Edouard in the dust to argue with each other about whose fault it was for being blindsided.

Others see her as a parasite for latching on to Lettow, enjoying the influence that he has, where she’s the gold digger and he’s her sugar daddy. She pretends not to be affected by this, but wonders if one day she’ll drain him dry.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

“Stuck-up, pale ass bitch who gives me the heebie-jeebies. I swear, I didn’t even see her enter the room and she’s right behind me, standing there like a fucking statue. Would look prettier if she smiled.”

— Individual was found dead later due to an unknown cause.

Do they have any hobbies?

Joyriding in the desert with Elena (and Gretchen?? 😱), long walks in the outdoors (either accompanied by Lettow or alone), collecting scraps and trinkets linked to her past.

No pressure tags:

@medeaft @garygoldenbignaturals @lordturkish-robomallcop @milk-crafting

@auspex @lydia-too-late @lgbtmi @its-sixxers and any who want to do so!

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

From September, but a good read for when people have been calling you an extremist for asking them to mask :)

Hospitals are places where people who are sick expect to receive treatment to feel better. Instead, for many, it has been where they contracted COVID-19, leading to further medical complications.

In a new study published in the Journal of Hospital Infections, Burnet researchers found simple infection control measures could save lives and reduce costs for hospitals.

These measures include testing patients for COVID-19 on admission, requiring staff to wear N95 masks in clinical areas and using Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to prevent transmissions.

One of the paper's lead authors, Burnet Associate Professor Nick Scott, said on average, 15–25% of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in hospital had contracted the virus after being admitted.

"The data also showed mortality was 6 percentage points higher for people who caught COVID-19 in hospital, compared to controls who did not," he said.

The mathematical modeling in the study used data from outbreaks in Victorian hospitals and is one of the first studies to consider the economics of reducing COVID-19 infections in hospitals.

It found that although surgical masks had lower upfront costs, N95 masks offered greater protection and ultimately provided cost-saving benefits for hospitals.

Burnet mathematical modeler and lead author on the study, Fenella McAndrew, emphasized the hidden costs associated with choosing surgical masks over N95 masks in hospital settings.

"It may seem like surgical masks are the cheaper option, but when you consider extended hospital stays for patients and sick days taken by staff, it ends up being more expensive," she said.

"People shouldn't die or have medical complications from a COVID-19 infection they caught in hospital, and hospital workers shouldn't have to take sick leave due to a COVID-19 infection they caught at work."

The study assessed the cost-effectiveness of scaling up masks and testing interventions during COVID-19 outbreaks, finding that even targeting high-prevalence periods could reduce deaths and save costs.

"COVID-19 isn't going away, so there will continue to be outbreaks," Associate Professor Scott said. "My hope is this study will provide evidence to support strategies to manage COVID-19 outbreaks in hospitals in the future."

More information: F. McAndrew et al, Admission screening testing of patients and staff N95 respirators are cost-effective in reducing COVID-19 hospital-acquired infections, Journal of Hospital Infection (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2024.06.015 www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(24)00236-6/fulltext

[marinettesaltprompts]

Here's an idea for a salt prompt:

When CatWalker replaces Chat Noir, Ladybug is initially ecstatic. He seems perfect. A total upgrade from Chat Noir.

The only problem is...

Well, she's on the other side of the unrequited love barrier now.

CatWalker is polite, but professional. He doesn't joke around. He doesn't make friends with anyone on the team. He does his job as efficiently and effectively as possible and goes home. He's not rude and he is an attentive partner workwise but he's not someone to do more than provide token comfort when needed or to hang out for the sake of it like Chat Noir once did.

Even when Ladybug carefully probes for the possibility Catwalker is quick to shut any possibility of a closer relationship down. Even Viperion can't get through the model-professional mask.

Meanwhile at school Adrien seems to be quietly withdrawing as well. In truth it took them a while to notice, but lately Adrien's always had a thing he had to do at home or for his Father when Nino asked. He hasn't even really been going to band with Luka and his group anymore either. There's no sign of sadness or stress though. Just that same model smile as always.

Finally the story goes to Adrien's perspective and the truth is revealed. The day that Plagg came back with the ring they had a hard conversation about why Adrien really gave it up: the disregard. The double standards about the identity rules that apparently on he had to follow. More importantly they discussed how the increasingly one-way affection and care in the relationship between him and Ladybug was hurting him. Once upon a time Ladybug had been his first friend outside of the house. Now he felt like her pet or worse.

He *knows* that whatever she called him to talk about before time was broken had been important. And he's pretty sure there was no good reason for Viperion to have been down there having *activated second chance* when he and Ladybug were supposed to have just been talking.

Plagg then spilled something that poisoned any chance of Adrien returning as Chat Noir. During the night that Ladybug had spent trying to figure out how to get a new Black Cat, Plagg had spoken with the other Kwamis and Sass let slip the truth about why Ladybug had called Chat Noir to the tower that night.

About her scummy plan. About how she'd chosen to manipulate him over trusting him in the slightest. About how in the end all Ladybug had to do was just yell at Su-Han to make him cave.

About how Viperion hadn't even said a word to try and convince her to stop but just when along with everything. Sure the other Kwamis aren't that bothered about it- human things aren't their specialty so it's not like they care that much when it's not a holder they like getting hurt- but the implications are clear.

And just like that something in Adrien finally breaks. The scales fall from his eyes and the desire for a bond between him and Ladybug withers away. The same for any idea of a friendship between him and Luka.

And from there so to do the other threads connecting him to others. Nino had *hated* Chat Noir. Sure a lot of it had been grief, but the contempt towards Chat Noir was real. Would they really still be friends if Nino knew who he really was?

Probably not.

Alya and him were only friends by association of Nino. And no one else in class was closer to him than that. Even the others in the band were people he'd gotten closer through Luka.

Marinette... well. He'd *thought* they were getting closer, but any time it seemed like they were making progress she'd act out and... well. He'd been trying to ignore it for a while but if he was honest he knew what a fangirl looked like. He just didn't want to admit what he saw in Marinette.

Even Chloe and Felix had fallen away in their own ways.

Maybe it was time to let them all go. It hurts to accept but less than he expected. It's kind of a sad relief. He'd dreamed of making friends and a life outside of the manor but much like being a superhero, things were harder in real life than in his fantasies.

But Plagg was different. Sure he wasn't perfect. He'd kept things from him, but they'd bonded. Adrien honestly couldn't say there was anyone closer to his heart than the little Kwami, not since Mom had "disappeared".

But he lose Plagg forever if he stopped being Ladybug's partner. And Plagg doesn't want to say goodbye to Adrien either- but he has responsibilities as well. He can't just stay with Adrien and ignore the fight in Paris- even if he didn't care much about humans he cared about poor Nooroo and Duusu!

So they concocted a way for them to stay together. Being Chat Noir had been freedom once, but it had been becoming more of an obligation to Ladybug anyway. Besides, he was decent at escaping now anyway and he could only really have fun with Plagg in the privacy of his room anyway. The relationship between him and Ladybug was a source of more pain and trouble than it was worth at this point, Adrien just couldn't be her emotional support anymore. So the new Cat would be strictly polite and distant with her to avoid even the possibility of that happening again. Chat Noir had been widely mocked and devalued for his approach, so his replacement would be a calm professional who never let his personal feelings touch his work.

And so Catwalker was born.

He's easy for Adrien to slip into. He's just the same model personality he practices every day after all, only now the distance between him and others is enforced. He's the perfect fighter. The perfect soldier. No one can fault him, and no one can say that he doesn't fit on the team even if he's not part of their friend group. Adrien's heart is protected, Ladybug the partner she wanted and Plagg gets to keep his favored holder.

Catwalker is perfect.

Too perfect really. He knows what a fangirl looks like after all, and the "subtle" looks Ladybug gives him when she thinks he won't notice tug at him with a mix of bitter longing and disappointment that she's infatuation by the same hollow mask as the rest of Paris. But Catwalker also doesn't owe Ladybug his shoulder like her 'friend' Chat Noir felt like he did when she's down, she has an entire team for that- when the job's done he can just go home instead.

And Adrien? It's all too easy to slip back into a comfortable loneliness. In hindsight, a lot of his relationships at school were shallower than he thought. Nino was nice enough guy, but they'd never been able to fully bond in the way he'd wanted- and Nino's priority had been Alya for nearly as long as they'd known each other anyway. Luka and the band were circumstantial friends and the others were less than that really.

But was comfortable. Familiar to be alone in a crowd. To put on a mask of friendliness and have nothing deeper than passing acquaintances. He'd been on sports teams growing up, fencing, basketball, Karate and yet he'd never been allowed to get close to anyone but Chloe and Felix. It was normal for him to be in solitude, it hurt less than he expected to let the others go.

But maybe that was because he still had a true friend now. A little, rambunctious Kwami who would deceive his own Guardian to stay with him. Someone who actually, fully accepted him in his entirely and who he could actually trust. The very kind of friendship he'd always dreamed of.

And that'd why he's able to live like this.

It wasn't the life he'd imagined or wanted as Chat Noir. But both Adrien and Catwalker found themselves content.

I love this Idea, but I also wanted to that it's perfectly ironic. Everyone in his class and life, from Marinette to Kagami, always did say that Adrien the Model is perfect, so he gives them exactly what they wanted. A flawless model that stands alone, away from them all.

Thank you for the prompt! New post should be coming soon!