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#(edit: some colors were showing up different on my tablet
loserifer · 5 months
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short comic im working on about lucifer's meeting with heaven because i love seeing him suffer >:)
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reblogs are appreciated! :D
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cursedcola · 8 months
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TWST: The Hall Of Mirrors - Baby Update, January 24’
ART:
Guys I don’t think I’m going to be able to put art in the game because I lack a tablet. As much as I want to, it would require making *way* too many images.
So, I’m making the TW game a pure piece of interactive fanfiction as a text-based game only. I’ve poured so many hours into it and I think I would rather go extend the plot/add on details so you can visualize it rather than stress anymore about putting art in. I know I said previously that I was taking time off from it, but I actually spent a good chunk of my free time last month trying to get art to scan in. Twine does not like imagery. No, no it does not.
So I’m just going to take a wee bit more time and make the plot more detailed. I also really want to get back to writing more here >_<
PLOT:
Like I said, I’m taking more time to add in detail. Without art I feel that it needs more to make the visuals pop.
AUDIO:
I haven’t given up on this bit quite yet. Since this is a fan game that isn’t getting monetized or anything, I don’t feel the need to make original music. I’ll see if I can find anything I like enough to fit the vibes
~ On that note, this is the last written update I’m giving. I might post some pictures when I feel it's in a good place, or ask if anyone would like to test the game out (catch any technical errors or bugs)….but yeah, I’m pretty much done now? I think? Hard to believe I’ve slowly been writing this since July. It’ll be weird to not work on it anymore, but also nice since I want to write other things hehe. I will say that this is the biggest thing I have ever made for any fandom, and I hope it's something I can look back on fondly.
(Small rant below about the art because I’m me and my perfectionism demands I offer an explanation)
Like, I did the math and it just isn’t feasible to do with what I have sadly. The game was going to have 15cgs for each route’s climax. I also got a bit crazy and even did base sketches for 15 cga for the after endings without really thinking about how rough it was going to be. You can customize your Mc by their clothing, body size, eye color, hair length and color, and hair type. If I had a tablet then I could make a singular CG as the base, and then basically make a bunch of copies where I make small changes so that the proper combination will pop up depending on the choices you made. It would have took a long time but I could have done it - although using a quick combination showed that there were hundreds of different possible combinations.
I mean, there are 2 clothing options, 4 body types, 8 eye colors, 4 hair types, 4 hair lengths, and i think 6 hair colors if I remember right. I also put in customization features that have you answer Q’s that I can’t predict to edit the cg with. Regardless that’s 2X4X8X4X4X6 = 6,144 possible combinations for ONE cg. That’s kind of rough even with a tablet, so without one is just like…death. It would be 2x4x4x4 = 128 different iterations of the image (as things that are not just color changes that can be quickly altered). That’s 128 versions of 15 images. That’s 1,920 drawings. Even if they were going to be in a very simple artstyle, heck even a sketch, it’s not feasible.
I love Otomes and have always wanted to play one where your customized MC is featured in the cgs. Making a game like that is one of my life goals - but not for a fan game. If I’m doing that then it’s going to be an original work.
I’m sorry for hyping it up and making false promises. I really did want to make it happen for my mini fangame, but this is kinda just my little side project and stressing over it was zapping the fun away. So now we’re going back to plan A and just sticking to a text game >_<
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spunsugarmusings · 16 days
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Laura Bow In: The Dagger of Amon-Ra Sentence Starter Pack
Quotes taken from the game Laura Bow In: The Dagger of Amon-Ra, the wildly tonally different sequel to The Colonel's Bequest. TW for murder, death, infidelity and such. Change pronouns and tenses as needed, some entries have been edited for clarity, and please enjoy!
"There is still time to correct this most grievous misunderstanding."
"Don't let him shake you. He's tough on the outside, but inside, he's got a heart of stone."
"Don't touch it! You don't know where it's been!"
"That's what you think, you mallard rest buffoon!"
"It is a unicorn, left over from a King's Quest game."
"You're in a heck of a pickle now!"
"Death is a natural part of life, so when your time comes, it's best to accept it and go out gracefully."
"Your perky demeanor and thorough technique are making you a First Class Detective."
"Death from traumatic lead poisoning claims many lives every year."
"Stay out of my way, or I'll thrash you within an inch of your life!"
"We usually just hire men for this job. It's rough out there, and you're kind of…small."
"You mean there's ANOTHER [NAME]? No two sets of parents could be THAT cruel."
"He's got a chip on his shoulder the size of the Brooklyn Bridge. He'll try to cut you down. Just shake it off; that's what I had to do."
"Look, that was long ago and far away, okay? The room was dark and I was NOT married at the time."
"I don't know how you know about that, but I don't want to hear another word about it."
"Oh, lovely place if you like rats, thieves, and roughnecks."
"Don't bother Doctor Jazz while he's performing."
"Ya look so cute in that outfit, it makes me want to scream!"
"I find it distasteful to celebrate thievery in the name of science!"
"Amon-Ra will have his revenge!"
"Excuse me, SIR, but I see a turkey leg on the buffet table that requires my attention."
"I just happened to be standing here."
"I don't think my wife would ever have done it in a mummy case."
"Oh, I'm sure his body is crawling with maggots by now."
"If his spirit IS with you, let me know because I'd love to see it!"
"Very kind of you to say that, but there are many who misinterpret my actions."
"A delightful girl. I keep asking her if she'd like to be my second wife."
"It never hurts to have highly-placed friends on the police force, no?"
"He doesn't care a fig for what's right and what's wrong! His evil deeds will catch up to him though, just wait and see!"
"Our civilization has evolved over thousands of years, so our methods are quite well thought out and practical."
"I almost didn't recognize you with your clothes on."
"Even empty water glasses have their uses."
"Oh, wunderbar! Now we've got the AMATEURS involved."
"The food is free of bugs, if that's what you were worried about."
"That translates out to: "My Fish Dances in the Parking Lot"?!"
"The tablet says: "She who reads this cursed tablet is doomed to be eaten by a thousand voracious scarabs"."
"You might cut yourself, or you could put an eye out, or any number of other things could happen that your mother warned you about when you were little and everything in your life was dangerous."
"Your face has certainly changed to an attractive pale color, my dear."
"Remember our deal."
"You'll have to show me how sorry you are. Kiss me."
"Honestly, you men can be such crybabies."
"Because of you, a murderer is running around loose in this city, free to kill again!"
"I've got more tricks than you have braincells!"
"Nobody just happens to HIDE behind a museum tapestry!"
"The nerve, going around accusing people of stealing paintings!"
"Just be keeping in mind that I'd have to kill you if I ever found out you were sleeping with someone else."
"It's been a long time since I've been able to trust anyone as much as I trust you."
"We've got a perfectly good art burglary scheme going!"
"That's not blood, you got me all excited..."
"That man'd lie to his own MOTHER if someone paid him for it!"
"I lost a load of Egyptian cobras down there a few weeks ago, and I occasionally come across one of the little darlings."
"I need more proof before I subject him to the full force of my wrath."
"Why are you tied up on my desk?"
"If you see him, will you tell him [NAME] is dying on the desk in my office?"
"Ah, excuse me, I was looking for the women's lounge?"
"There is too much at stake here, too many important people are involved!"
"We can either test you or sacrifice you, it's your choice!"
"It's all that damned lousy reporter's fault!"
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gditrisha · 1 year
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Constancy | part 1 The Commitment
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PAIRING: miguel o'hara x fem!reader / afab!reader GIST: Pinterest Boards, Wedding Expos, and all that jazz! Fem!Reader / AFAB!Reader is having a field day sharing her Dream Wedding to her husband-to-be. TAGS: established relationship, discreet proposal, marriage preparations, fluffy, domestic, wedding au TRISHA NOTES: aside from my writing, i designed some visuals and moodboards to make these imagines as immersive as possible! CONSTANCY SERIES | WRITING MASTERLIST 
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Imagine one day Miguel initiated a conversation you'd least expect - he asks you about your "dream wedding". let's just say he once caught you peacefully curled up on the couch, remote still in hand with the TV auto-playing wedding planning videos it's taken over your algorithm, it is full of it
"Really???" you beamed then immediately retrieved your tablet, showed him your Pinterest Board, and had an absolute field day just explaining why certain details would work best
Miguel finds it adorable how your "Dream Wedding" Pinterest board is organized. He's amazed how everything is categorized with pics from attire such as rich-toned suits to dainty bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses as well as different possible motifs, venues, venue styling, and table settings
You find it so sweet of Miguel to involve himself in the conversation, "Hmmm...instead of this suit, I'll wear the red maroon one. I don't think green sage is my color."
this came to you as a surprise cuz you knew he'd rather have a civil wedding. weddings are very costly and it's the vows that matter anyway, right? but he's actually giving suggestions???
Miguel notices the furrowed brow, he runs his thumb over it cuz it isn't a good look to your sunny self "What? I said green isn't my color...and sí, cariño...let's have a real wedding."
He then slides the engagement ring box on the table. it's a simple band encrusted with diamonds. he thought the simple design would go well with any of your rings cuz he knows you like to layer it
There's a high muffled "AAAAAAAHHHH" as you cover your mouth. You bounce on your tiptoes cuz you can't contain your excitement, Miguel carries you, carefully swinging you around in the living room, and gives you a kiss on your temples and lips
You'd both attend lots of Bridal Expos for weeks to come; trying to find more inspiration for your wedding and finalize your suppliers. Miguel holding your hand and pointing at the booths for the both of you to try. Imagine feeding each other free samples of cake and drinking wine (as if it were the ceremony already) garnering some "Awwws" from those managing the booths. You'd return back to your place with LOTS of pamphlets and business cards
The prenup photos isn't your typical shoot with a theme set in the day. No. As bubbly as you are, you knew a day photoshoot didn't fit either of you. You both enjoyed the evening as there are no expectations from either of you, everything is more quiet, reserved for each others' company. The photoset features the city night lights and how you both welcome each other in the hazy glow, beautiful smiles captured in stills similar to a Wong-kar Wai film.
You change the name of the Pinterest Board to “Save the Date” and continue your discussion about the board. Editing it during your free time after kicking anomaly butt and saving the Spiderverse
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This is the motif you and Miggy come up with. A mix of rich tones and soft hues. The warmth of burgundy and amber blended with the coolness of tan and sage.
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TRISHA NOTES: I forgot I owned a wedding board myself and idk the delulu in me was like might as well. But on a serious note, I was just thinking of the possibility of it coming true someday ahihihi getting married I mean. Anywaaay, trying to have intervals between posts cuz I don't wanna rush it but Part 2 goal is 2nd week of September!
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ldysmfrst · 22 days
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Reciprocal Synergy (2) - Enigma
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Status: Ongoing series
Chapter number: 2 of unknown
Word count for Chapter: 2,393
Work count for Story: 4,246
Genre: Omegaverse Au based off KinnPorsche: Thai BL Drama
A little about the author: I am a mother of two beautiful children, one of whom has special needs, and the other loves everyone. I started a Patreon, and I would be grateful if you donated to help me make ends meet while I am out of work.
This is the very first story I wrote. I posted it here in July 2023, but I have now edited it and finally decided to add it to my library. I hope you enjoy it. I only have two chapters written so far, but I may get back into it... once I am healed up from my hospitalization and almost dying at the start of August 2024.
Each chapter starts with a definition. (thought it would be cool) 💜💜💜
Warnings: NOT BETA READ!! This chapter does have guns, violence, Alpha, and motorcycles.
Library of LdySmFrst / Reciprocal Synergy Master List
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E·nig·ma
/I’nigMuh/
noun
a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.
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“I saw the video from the alleyway,” my father informed me while sipping his tea and looking over the gardens. “You trusted, asked for protection, and gave protection to a stranger. Wait… not just a stranger but an Alpha stranger. Now, you have Arm looking for him to give this Alpha stranger money you promised after he stole your watch, which is worth more than triple what was agreed upon.”
I knew all of this already, but my father…oh, my father loved to point out every flaw that he could just to show his displeasure in the turn of events. Couldn’t he at least be happy that I was trying to correct it discreetly?
“Tell me, Anikinn, what is the point of wasting resources?” With the last question, my father looked me square in the eye, the challenge simmering just beneath the surface.
“I want to uphold our honour, Pa. We never go back on a deal and who knows, he may still have the watch.”  My father nodded his head slightly, always the ever-present helicopter parent.
“Fine. Find this Alpha stranger, and pay him the agreed rate, but then you must get him to work for us. It seems he is a strong Alpha, and it is always good to have someone like him on our payroll.” My father breathed as if to say more, then stopped to take another sip of tea, seemingly to maul over a thought before stating, “Not only will he work for the family, but he will also work for you.” 
The challenge had been given. 
I may have been getting the family’s business partners to accept me in my new position. Still, I need not forget that by codes, I cannot take over fully until I have proved myself to the current head of the family, my father. 
“Understood, Pa. I don’t know if he will, but I will find a way.” I reluctantly agreed, standing to take my leave. I give a slight bow to my father, which he ignores. 
I walk out of my father's balcony and into the hall, only to be greeted by Arm with a tablet. “What is it, Arm? Did you find Jom?”
With a hasty bow and handing over the tablet, I see first a picture of some other, not good-looking male Beta named Jom, who works as a bartender at Hum Bar. 
“Who is this, Arm? You saw the footage from the alleyway. This is not the right man. He is a beta on top of it all.” I glare at Arm, who is avoiding looking at me.
“Yes, Khun Kinn, this is the only Jom that works or lives in a 15-mile radius of where you were assisted in escaping, Hum Bar. Please look at the second dossier.” He quickly states as he clicks on a different document on my tablet. 
My breath catches slightly at the picture of the Alpha stranger. 
It is only from the chest up, and he is dressed in a white, thin, and sheer sleeveless shirt failing to cover his chest, brass buttons, and a Chinese high collar. His ears are covered in a tasteful amount of brass chains. His smiling lips are covered in the same earthy brass color shimmering in the light. His eyes are done with a slight smokey shadow, which brings out the deep yellow amber of his Alpha shining through. Finally, his hair is artfully styled with white highlights striking against his deep brown natural hair color. 
Name: Porsche Gender class: Alpha (potentially Feral) Status: Bartender at Hum Bar Siblings: Porchay Gender class: Not yet presented.
Next to this one is an equally devastating photograph that seems to be of a completely different person, yet with the same amber eyes and face sneering back. 
There is no makeup, artsy hair, or see-through shirt this time. 
The photo is just him, again from the waist up but gleaming in sweat, muscles tense, taking a classic martial arts stance. The only mark on this photo is a busted lip. 
Taking a deep breath and clearing my throat, I read the dossier. 
Name: The Phoenix Gender Class: Feral Alpha Status: Former Taekwondo National Champion and current underground fighting headline contender Status: $7.8 Billion in debt collector unknown.
If I thought my breath caught on the white photo, then my breath left me with this one.
Who is he, really? 
The Phoenix or Porsche… maybe he is both.
“I want you, Pete, Big, and Ken. Then anyone else would fit in for this venue for recon. Where is he tonight? Bar or ring? I need to pay a debt and collect a life.”
“Ring, Khun Kinn, at the old condemned swimming stadium. He is headlining tonight and is up against some heavy hitters. Seems he is past due on his payment and was added to the roster for tonight while you were speaking with Khun Korn,” Arm states, taking back the tablet and tapping on the screen. 
The guards are undoubtedly being notified of their new assignment for tonight. Within moments, a loud screech is heard from the floor above.
Hanging my head, I glance at Arm, “Khun No is not having a good day I take it?”
“Well, he set up a marathon of Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox for Pete, Pol, and myself to watch with him, and now it will only be Khun No and Pol, Khun Kinn.” Arm timidly says. 
Since he was kidnapped, my elder brother, Thankhun, has been unique. He lives his life through his dramas. His personal guard consists of Pete, Arm, and Pol. 
He will tell you that he does not trust anyone other than his family, which is not always accurate. If he didn't trust them, he wouldn’t be so dramatic when his “useless” guards get into different rotations. 
“Fine, take yourself off the list. I will have Tay and Time join me as it is in Tay’s boundary. That should be enough to make an impression and get what is needed.”
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The fight does not start until late evening, and the headlining match, where The Phoenix is rostered, won't start until midnight.
That gives us time to find additional information about the venue and the other fighters. The venues are picked and announced on the same day of the fight, which does not allow any fighters to gain the upper hand or hide anything to aid them in the ring. 
However, it will take a little longer to find out who is rolling out the cash for these fights. Since the fights are being held within Tay’s boundaries, it won’t be someone out of reach. 
Then again, for the Theerapanyakun family, nothing was out of reach.
Pulling up the parking lot, the venue is a 5-minute walk to the south. The sounds of a live DJ start flowing through the air, and the lack of mixed scents on the wind with the undercurrent of peaches let us all know that they must have hired a decently large Omega Den to help keep the crowd in check. 
Omegas have a unique ability to release a calming pheromone in the air that calms everyone. It is one of the reasons why I had Pete placed on the team tonight. His scent is more like apple pie and ice cream and decently strong. 
He always comes in handy when getting answers with minimal bloodshed or calming down Khun No when his panic attacks kick up. 
Big, Mew, Beam, and Mok are all Betas. 
Tay and Time are Alphas and a mate-bonded pair. 
However, with how pretty and delicate Tay looks, you would think he was a “high-class Omega baby,” which tends to be everyone’s, sometimes fatal, mistake when dealing with Tay and Time.  
Tonight Tay is laying it on thick in an all-white suit with a thigh-high layered slit which only shows when he walks… well, more like sashays around flashing some skin. His white high-waisted jacket only closes with a single silver button, and he wears a silver lace bodice. His hair is teased up and back with silver highlights, tasteful silver and glitter dusting around his eyes, and glossy lips that would make anyone want to have a taste. 
On the contrary, Time is dressed in a deep blue suit typical for any businessman with silver accents with his watch, pocket square, and chain necklace. 
They match, but not overly so.
They have been a couple for several years now. Still, it always amazes me how well Tay puts up with Times roaming eyes and rushing fingers, but who am I to judge a mate-bonded pair. They are hard to find and rare when they are the same gender. 
I played it down tonight. I am simply dressed in tan suit pants, black penny loafers, and a black dress shirt open to mid-chest without makeup or jewelry, aside from the family ring. 
That ring is my key to everything and anything or anyone. 
It never comes off, and it never will. 
The team has opted to dress more for the outing than to be spotted as security, dressed in jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and the like.  Everyone has been given orders to drop the formalities for the night and play as if we are all old acquaintances or work buddies when they need to come and impart any information or take direction. 
The closer we get to the venue, the louder the music plays, the stronger the scents toxify the air, and the energy of the ring creeps across your skin. 
A quick look at the team and a few of them split off in pairs, jogging through the crowd. Others hang back but never lose sight of Tay, Time, and myself. 
Looking around, the crowd is a mix of mid-game players and bottom feeders, and there is no one high-end like the three of us; so much for effortlessly blending in. 
“A’Kinn, why are we here again. This is NOT your usual scene,” asks Time, looking around with a slightly disgusted look and clinging a little tighter to Tay.
“I have a debt to settle with someone, one of the fighters, but he won’t be on til a bit later. For now, try to enjoy your beautiful date tonight. I am sure Tay will have many eyes on him.” I say while showing my heated gaze, enjoying Tay's view from his heeled shoes to the smoky silver eyes.
“Oh Kinn! You are such a tease,” Tay preens under my gaze, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. “You always know what to say to make someone feel wanted and know the work they put in to look nice pays off. If others learn the same thing, the world may not be so insecure.”
“Come on, babe, you know you look good. You always look good. Can’t you see it when I look at you too?” Time whines while burying his nose into Tay’s neck, scenting him along his mating bite and causing a small gasp to escape Tay’s lips.
“Fine, yes I can see it but sometimes words also help.”
I just shake my head. 
I never understood the point of bonds and mates.
My father always acted as if being a mate-bonded pair was the end of the world because they could make you weak and give your enemies a target with neon flashing lights how to bring you to your knees. In fact, my brothers and I are pretty sure that our mom and dad were in an arranged marriage and that mom died because she found her bonded mate and father had him murdered. After all, it would make him look weak to lose her as a wife to someone else, bond or not. 
“Hey Booouuudy.” I roll my eyes as I look at Mok, the newest bodyguard on the team. He almost slipped up calling me boss, but it was a decent save.
“Oh hey, Nong Mok, what are you doing here? Don’t you work tomorrow?” I asked to keep up the preset relationship roles assigned when everyone was briefed on the way over.
“Yeah but I switched the afternoon shift with P’Tank because I didn’t want to miss out on the Special Event tonight. Its not everyday that the main match is six to one.”  Giving Mok a slight tilt, I process what I was just told. 
Special event, six verse one, and who is Tank?
“You mean it's a gang-up on one guy?!” Time interjects, “What did that one guy do to earn such a match?”
“Word has it that Jay set this up. Apparently, the poor sap of a guy is behind on some payments, and this is how he is to catch up. The deadman’s name is ‘The Phoenix’. The dudes he is up against look like they have more than enough muscle to put down anyone here,” Mok offers, glancing around, looking like he is bored with the conversation but is really just doing safety checks.
“You mean to tell me it is one Alpha against 6 others? Are they all Alphas too, or is it a mix?” I ask, trying to keep the pit of worry and concern that has now formed in my stomach from leaking into my voice.
“Well, the match has been named ‘All-out Alpha.’ So, I am sure you can guess the answer to that question, bud. I would love to chat, but I see an old college hottie. Peace out!” Mok says as he starts to jog over to Beam, who looks stiff and cannot find a way to relax and blend in. Hopefully, Mok can get Beam to chill, or people will start to wonder.
“Umm... A’Kinn. If Phoenix is against six other Alphas, this isn’t a match. Is it a cover-up for a reminder or a beatdown, and why do I feel it's Phoenix that you owe a debt to?  Could it be because your face paled just a hint when Mok said his name?” 
Damn, Tay.
He has been my friend since primary school, and almost nothing gets by him. However, he is not wrong with anything he says. 
I am here for Phoenix. 
I owe him a debt, and we may have just got front-row seats to his murder.
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Tag List - OPEN
@bethanysnow @braveangel777 @danielle143
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feralpoodles · 3 years
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I would love a tutorial from the procreate update please whenever you have time ❤
Procreate update for sims 4 meshes tutorial!!
Just a disclaimer that I’m still figuring out the update too so this may not be the best way to do it but it’s the way I got it to work lol. The procreate update seems a little wonky at this point so hopefully in the future they’ll add support for importing textures and non-square uvs :)
Tutorial under the cut because it’s long akfskh
1. Open whatever mesh you want in Blender as per usual.
2. Go into File>export>Wavefront(.obj) and export it as an obj
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3. Transfer the obj and the image texture to your Ipad. You can do this any way you want (dropbox, email, etc.), my computer was automatically set up with a synched onedrive folder so that’s what I use
4. Import the obj into procreate. You can either do this from whatever program you used to transfer the file (in Onedrive you click on the options and select “open in another app” and then you can select procreate) or you can click on “import” from the top right of the procreate gallery and navigate to the file in your files app from there. Either method will automatically add the mesh as a new artwork that you can find in the gallery
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This is where it gets a little screwy lol. Since procreate only seems to support square uvs that are 2048x2048 and Sims textures are 1024x2048, we have to stretch the texture to fit, edit it, then squish it back (this will kill the quality a little, but I honestly can’t figure out a different to do it, please tell me if you know)
5. Color fill the main mesh you are working on (drag the color from the top right corner onto your mesh and drop)
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6. Go under Actions (wrench icon)>3D>Show 2D texture
7. Go under Actions>add>insert photo and pick your imported texture and position it up against one side of the canvas
8. Start a transform, then turn on snapping/magnetics. Then, with freeform transform, stretch the texture so it reaches the other side of the canvas, making sure it snaps to each side. You can then position the texture over the colorfilled texture to make sure it lines up
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9. Uncheck the show 2D texture option and check that the texture looks right. You can turn off the colorfilled texture too
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10. Paint/edit texture normally! I like to work on a separate layer so I can move it around and edit it separately
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11. You can also insert photos, select areas and move them around, and basically do everything you can in normal procreate, it’s pretty cool :)
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12. Once you’re happy with your texture, go into layers and merge your drawing layer with the texture layer (you could try just exporting the drawing layer and adding that onto the original texture in photoshop, might save some quality but you might not be able to get it in the exact same spot)
13. Go under actions>add>copy canvas
14. Go back into the gallery, add a new artwork, choose clipboard when it asks for a size, this should put the image texture you copied into that new artwork.
15. Save the image from there and transfer it back to your computer
16. In photoshop, select the white background and delete it. Then, copy the texture onto a sims texture template. Then you can free transform one side and squish it back to the right size, and place it so it fits correctly over the template
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17. Hide the template and save the image, then import it as a texture into s4s. Tada!
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It’s not perfect, like I said you lose some quality, but you can do some cleanup in photoshop and it’s a lot easier to draw directly on the mesh this way if you don’t have a drawing tablet/cintiq to hook up to your computer.
When I tried it the first time, I was working on a new mesh so the UVs were square. When I finished painting, I took that texture and scaled it down to fit on the sims texture, then I adjusted the UVs to fit, which definitely worked better. Hopefully Procreate will fix some things so we can import textures and have non-square uvs. Hope this helped, let me know if you have questions!! :)
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austarus · 3 years
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HR Wells x Reader - Reversal of Denouement
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*A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owner.
**Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!
***I’d also like to thank @grimtamlain-writes​ for being my beta reader.
Word Count: 8251
MASTERLIST
A low groan left HR's lips. His body felt numb, his chest ached - tingled as his heart beats steadily. Is it beating? The darkness of his eyelids eased the stinging coming from his mind – it wasn’t so bright. The headache formed there. His body screamed at him as the novelist made the slightest of movement. His left shoulder in particular had protested in desperate agony. He couldn’t move it very much, the area succumbed to restraints of some sort. HR’s throat felt raw as his body throbbed, the blood coursing meticulously through his blood vessels. The sound of a soft voice greeted his ears, but his eyes refused to open.
"I... you, HR... even if... see it." The voice was so familiar, so gentle. So sweet. "Should... better." A drop of water hit his numbed hand, static still prominent there from the little movement his body had done. “I wish…” The dark-haired doppelganger could only understand fragments of what the speaker was saying. He felt a pressure on his hand, tender skin holding onto his before something tickled his forehead. Feather-light. What was it? Who was it? A few moments passed and he heard nothing, the novelist only assumed that the voice’s owner had left. He didn’t want to be alone right now though, not with the darkness.
It had become unbearable.
Since... Since when did…? How...? Oh. Right. Savitar... Am I dead? Is this where spirits wait for their turn to pass into their designated afterlife? Have I really...? Events from earlier resurfaced to his mind, his senses coming together. Right, had to protect Iris. For Barry – it was my fault Savitar had gotten to her. My big mouth. Even if Barry didn't really see me as a helpful friend. At least... At least I proved Savitar wrong, who ironically is a version of Barry. That's hella twisted. He huffed out a breath before venturing back into the calmness of sleep. Maybe a little more rest will help?
***
HR cracked an eye open: this time, harsh filtered light had greeted him. The novelist grunted in pain, adjusting himself slightly to assess where he was. What day was it? What was the time? How long have I  been here? A yawn left his lips this time, his throat and mouth as dry as a desert.
“Well look who finally decided to wake up?” HR’s eyes met Cisco’s, who stood with a tablet in hand. “How’s sleeping beauty feeling?”
The Wells doppelganger cleared his throat. “Like I’ve gotten assaulted by an Amtrack bus, and not the good kinds.” HR’s baby blue eyes scanned the room, landing on the flower vase that was set on a table near him. Blue forget-me-knots and pink hydrangeas stood proudly in their vases, nurtured well. HR felt his heart swell, his eyes not daring to leave the delicate petals that accented the med bay in better tones. Cisco handed him a cup of water to which HR downed it immediately.
“Amtrack does trains.”
“Not on my Earth, Francisco.” The author couldn’t help but ask, his eyes lingering on the flowers once more. “Did Tracy bring those?”
Cisco pursed his lips, an odd look present on his face. He wanted to tell HR, but… “No. Um, she didn’t.” Tracy had been visiting, though it had become some sort of a nuisance to all her complaining at this point. She hadn’t even known HR for that long, anyway.
“Oh?” His shoulders dropped subtly in disappointment. “They’re beautiful, I was just wondering and…”
“Let’s just say, a special someone’s been… dropping by and bringing a new flower each day. That’s all you’re getting from me, Aurora.” Cisco reasoned with the Wells doppelganger. The mechanical genius knew, but it wasn’t his place to say. It killed him, but… “I wouldn’t move around too much, if I were you. You’ve got a fractured shoulder and that chest wound. I’ve been told to relay the message that you’re to be on strict bed rest until that shoulder further heals.” HR lowered his gaze to see the cross-body sling. He clenched his slinged hand and unclenched it to bring some feeling into the limb.
“What about my chest?”
“Miraculously, that’s been healing really well since day one.” Cisco kept the talk real, showing the injured doppelganger the schematics and pictures. “You got lucky that it missed your heart by a centimeter.” A stab wound like that should have… I wonder if she knows that I know.
HR blinked at the seriousness in his injury, the looming idea of death from his decision. “How long was I out?”
“A week and a half.”
“What?” HR’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I-”
“HR!” Tracy’s sudden voice pierced the room, stunning Cisco and triggering an ache in HR’s head. The grad scientists shuffled over to him, both forgetting that Cisco was in the room. “HR, my love, how are you? Are you feeling okay? Is there any pain?” He continued checking his friend’s vitals and adjusting dosages to the IV and morphine administered – as per your request. The room was growing ever louder with HR and Tracy. Tracy embraced him, minding his injuries as she continued to fuss over him. It made the Wells writer smile, yet… his heart didn’t swell as much as it used to.
Odd.
Cisco sent you a quick text while the two were preoccupied, but you were already at the Labs. You stopped just outside the entrance, the wall and dimly light hallway obscuring you from who remained in the med bay. They wouldn’t be able to see you from where you stood.  A shaky breath left you as you clutched the Freesia flower in hand. Your heart shriveled in your chest as you backtracked. Hearing his voice is enough. After all, with Tracy around you couldn’t be near him – those dirty and hateful looks she’d send you. Best to keep my distance, I guess. You couldn’t help but sneak a peek at him though, the man who had unknowingly captured your heart and would never reciprocate your love. You pushed down the lump in your throat. Hastily, you sent Cisco a text to check on the flowers. Silently, you trailed away from the med bay and to the upper levels of STAR Labs. I wonder if he liked the flowers. Standing at such altitude with the wind blowing lightly had calmed you a bit. Looking down at the flower, you gripped it tightly before you began to pick off the petals one by one. The little moments you had with the goofy novelist surfaced to the forefront of your mind with each petal you held. Your little curious escapades. The little talks. The nights you’d visit him when Tracy wasn’t around.
“He loves me, he loves me not,” You murmured, a stray tear trickled down your cheek. The freesia symbolizes unconditional love and honor. “He loves me, he loves me not,” Your voice cracked as more tears fell. “He loves me, he loves me not…”
***
A frown presented itself on HR’s lips as he tilted his head to crack his neck. The crack relieved him tremendously. It didn’t make sense. The novelist mused to himself, setting aside the current chapter draft he was working on. The voice I heard was… different. It didn’t sound like Tracy’s. HR couldn’t get that voice out of his mind – the tenderness that was laced in the tone of that voice. Nothing like the slight shrill in Tracy’s. He eyed the flowers once more that day, their presence was prominent. If Tracy hadn’t brought those, then who had?
The team had helped situate HR in his room in order to vacate the med bay should another imminent event occur. He had overheard Cisco tell Wally that you were preoccupied with something in Star City – a bit of disappointment twinged inside him. HR had taken up doing bits of physical therapy for the rest of his body without moving his shoulder as much. His shoulder and arm remained in a crossbody sling. The flowers sat on his bedside counter; he tended to them as best as he could with the limited movement he had. Tracy protested that they don’t need to be around, but the novelist was vehement on keeping the plants. HR won’t deny the fact that he had gotten annoyed several times with her around when he needed thinking space for his writing. He couldn’t write with noise and nonsensical chatter, especially if it’s mainly coming from someone who doesn’t want to really listen to his input. She’d go on and on about her scientific research and such, but wouldn’t hear a word from HR regarding his writing. The longer the novelist was confined to his room for rest, the more he had time to think – to contemplate. Yes, he liked Tracy, but… it just seemed that she didn’t really see HR. She does all the talking; she doesn’t really ask about how I feel about things or ask me about my life, even things about Earth-19… It’s like she doesn’t see me for anything other than a pretty face. It’s not even my face that Tracy sees, just Randolph’s. Was I too quick to jump at the first person who showed interest in me? Had I rushed into ‘forever’ with her?
He tabled those thoughts for now. HR reached for his laptop; one hand opened it to start it up. While the device loaded, he grabbed his black-clear glasses and set them on his face. If anyone saw him as such, they wouldn’t be able to tell the physical difference between him and his handsome, yet grumpy doppelganger. Except for the eyebrow scar, but that was obscured by the glasses. HR did a couple of searches with a concentrated look. Surely, it was the person with that… angel-like voice.
“Hydrangeas,” HR whispered as his eyes skimmed over the text that had popped up. “The hydrangea represents gratitude, grace and beauty. It also radiates abundance because of the lavish number of flowers and the generous round shape. Its colors symbolize love, harmony and peace.” The Wells doppelganger scrolled further. “Pink hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotions.” Interesting. HR continued his research, glancing at the other flower type that resting in the vase. “Forget-me-nots symbolize true love and respect. When you give someone these tiny blooms, it represents a promise that you will always remember them and will keep them in your thoughts. They are also considered a symbol of fidelity and faithfulness.” A particular link caught his eye, he clicked on it. The novelist read to himself the text once more, “Based on Christian lore, the story about forget-me-nots is that God was walking in the Garden of Eden. He saw a blue flower and asked it its name. The flower was a shy flower and whispered that he had forgotten his name. God renamed the flower as forget-me-not saying that He will not forget the flower.”
HR swallowed thickly; contrary to popular belief around here, he wasn’t stupid. Sure, he wasn’t a science-based genius, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t an expert on other aspects of life and had basic common sense. The author was emotionally intelligent and intact with the world around him. These flowers weren’t picked out on accident. But who would do that? Who doesn’t want me to forget about them? The dark-haired man shook his head slightly as he shut his laptop. A surge of sadness welled inside him at the notion of ‘being forgotten’. Who had he done that to? He’d get to the bottom of this mystery in due time. Right now, I need to jog my memory on what I was writing. A hand found a rough draft paper, his eyes scanned over the words he had typed out. His brows creased as the written notes he’d made on the paper as well. (Y/N) … I had… What had I been writing about again? The novelist read each line, each note he had made no drafts and scratch paper.
The hairs at the back of his neck stood up as realization hit him the more he had read on. The drafts, the notes, all of it – the little novel he had been writing regarding his adventures. But this particular part of his story – the ‘angel’ in his story. The one who stuck by him since coming here, the one who had given him a safe space… And the one he hadn’t seen since waking up. How could he forget? HR lowered the paper; his eyes became half-lidded as guilt shot through him. Before Barry had gone to the future and gotten hints of Tracy with her Speed Bazooka, HR had been working on his book. A book that he had pushed off to stick with Tracy and help in any way that he can to make the speed weapon possible. He had gotten distracted from doing the things he loves. A few conjectures arose in his mind as he slipped his glasses off, one arm end pressed to his lips. His heart hammered into his chest; you were among the last faces he had seen before passing out that night.
The irony. How could I forget that (Y/N) was the ‘angel’ in my story?
***
“Look at you, up and at ‘em.” Cisco strolled into the lounge with a cheeky grin. The mechanical genius didn’t take HR for granted anymore, not with the stunt he pulled. No, Cisco willingly checked up on him – not just for you, but for himself. HR had truly become one of his close friends in the end, especially with all the advice about Gypsy. “What are you cooking up this time?”
“Just an omelet with a side of bacon and toast, Francisco,” HR turned to the mechanical engineer who continued to tinker away at the schematics to get Barry out of the Speedforce. He offered Cisco some with a gesture only for the scientist to politely decline. “I haven’t seen (Y/N) anywhere. Um, is she also…?”
“Oh, you know how she’s like. Either up in the vents or chilling in her birds’ nest on the roof. And on that note, our resident hummingbird has become quite the firecracker.”
HR raised an eyebrow at his friend. “How so?”
“She punched Savitar square in the face then decked him multiple times over when Barry brought him in. Harry had to be the one to pull her away – well, more like carry her away kicking and screaming bloody murder at him. It sounded badass; wish I had been there to see it.”
The Wells doppelganger gritted his teeth at the mental image of Harry carrying you – touching you. The thought ruffled his feathers for some reason.  HR expertly masked his irritation, turning the stove off and assembling the food on his plate. “Why?”
“Because he hurt you, HR.”
“…”
“He almost killed you.” And that was unforgivable, especially to her. “We almost lost you. She almost lost you.”
A rough sigh escaped HR as Cisco had sent him a knowing look before exiting the STAR Labs lounge. The Earth-19 man chewed on the inside of his cheek. Only a fool would misunderstand Cisco’s subtle intentions. HR knew what he had to do – he’d been reflecting on his time here, thinking about the people around him, about the relationships he’s formed. The novelist glanced outside – the sun shined, the birds chirped, and the trees rustled with the wind. 
And the world continues to move on.
***
“When are you going to tell him?”
“…” You tensed at the abrupt voice. You snapped your head up, eyes darting to find Cisco approaching you with pocketed hands in his gray-black jacket. He wore a Bulbasaur shirt. The clouds surged by with the intensity of the breeze. Your hair blew over your shoulders slightly. Tilting your head, you turned back to watch the city. Days had passed and you refused to see HR, content on what Cisco had been telling you. He’d been recovering tremendously well, but… you didn’t really want to hear about what he and Tracy were up to. It wounded you. “Tell who, what?”
“You know exactly who I’m talking about, Ms. I’m-going-to-put-my-feelings-in-a-box.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ohohohoho, no. I am tired of the love eyes, the lingering gazes, the pining. It ends.” Your best friend came to sit down next to you with that frustrated look on his face. “I know you have powers.” Your heart stopped in your chest at his accusation. “I know you used your powers to heal HR.” You bit down on your lip, not wanting to validate his statement. Cisco saw “I analyzed the wounds, looked at his healing at a microscopic level. I’m not Caitlin, but even I can pick up a few things. His cells were excelled to heal, but there were residues of your genetic markers at the wound point. You stitched his wounds together, cell-by-cell. My point is: why didn’t you say anything? Your powers are a-”
“-A curse.”
“What?”
“They’re a curse.” You threw a hard look at Cisco, making sure your hands wouldn’t touch him. “I can’t be playing God, Cisco. And… it’s unpredictable, volatile. I could either heal the life in my hands or take it away. I could rip someone ‘cell-by-cell’, Cisco. There’s no ‘in between’, not this time. He got lucky with my powers. He got lucky I didn’t make things 100% irreversible.”
“But why didn’t you say anything?” Cisco eyed the gloves you wore; it wasn’t the season for leather gloves.
“Because I didn’t want to give anyone false hope.”
“You don’t want to give yourself false hope, you mean.”
“…I can’t even heal a plant, Cisco. No matter how hard I tried, it wilted further. It’s a curse.”
“That’s not guaranteed every time, you know. It takes practice – discipline to get your powers to work with you instead of for you.” He nudged your shoulder with his, turning his gaze to the flock of birds drifting through the wind. “You know, he broke up with Tracy.”
“Ok?”
“Happened a week ago. She didn’t take it well and let me tell you. Tracy Brand was livid – the rage and yelling were off the charts. I think she has Harry beat. I knew it wasn’t going to last anyway, it was too superficial to begin with.”
“Uh huh.” You tried to sound uninterested, but deep down you were relieved. You heard a little ring in your ear. You wondered…
“She’s gone, won’t be coming here anymore.
“Ok.”
“So, go make your move.”
You turned abruptly to face him. “Cisco, have you thought that maybe HR doesn’t want to dive into a relationship right away? That… maybe he needs space to focus on himself?” All were things you had contemplated for yourself before.
“And what better way to do that than with a new roommate.”
“Excuse me?”
“Surprise, you’re getting a temporary roommate while we fully fix up things around the labs. I volunteered you since you have the space and the patience to deal with HR.” Your blood froze in your veins.
“Francisco Ramon, I am going to-”
“-Thank me, you’re going to thank me.” He had already breached away before you had the chance to strangle him. Heat rushed to your cheeks at the idea of HR living with you, even if it was a temporary living arrangement. You scolded your heart for beating loudly in your chest. One hand gripped tightly to your other. An audible sigh escaped you as your mind played with the idea.
Shit, what am I going to do?
***Day 1***
Cisco blew out an exhausted breath, setting down another box on top of a box in the guest room. You and the mechanical genius had been breaching back and forth with HR’s things as said novelist was crippled. His arm would take about another four weeks to heal. About 20 percent of shoulder fractures are displaced and may require some type of manipulation to restore normal anatomy. Occasionally the rotator cuff muscles are injured or torn at the same time as the fracture. Fortunately for HR, his rotator cuff muscles weren’t as damaged. This can further complicate the treatment. Therefore, in that time, HR would just be handling the lighter stuff, bless his heart. The novelist entered the room with his black backpack slung over his functioning shoulder – it was the last thing that he could carry.
“I think there’s one more box left,” HR pointed with his thumb towards his back direction, the breach closing behind him.
“I’ll go get it, not a problem. Why don’t you two get started on unpacking, huh?” HR shrugged with one shoulder and stepped away to set his bag down by the bed. Cisco threw a cheeky look your way when HR had his back turned, his eyebrows wiggling. ‘Have fun love birds,’ the scientist had mouthed at you. You flicked him off with a deadpanned look. Instantly you dropped it when the Wells doppelganger turned as Cisco snickered before he breached away. He gave you a confused look, but you waved it off.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For allowing me to stay obviously. And for all the help since I’m, well, a bit tangled up at the moment.”
He was referring to the cross-body sling that clung onto him like a spider. HR rubbed the back of his neck, and you didn’t miss the way his bicep flexed at the motion in that gray short-sleeve shirt. Calm the fuck down, it’s just a toned muscle. You’ve seen things like that before.  The puppy-like smile HR sent you had your cheeks warming up. The gentle smile that made your heart melt all over again. You cleared your throat as you reached for a box. “It’s no big deal, HR.” Undoing the tape seal with scissors, you opened the box- and the first thing you see are a pair of handcuffs accompanied by a silky black blindfold.
“What’s in the box?”
A little noise left you as you shut the flaps of the box, trying to seal it again. The flaps remained downward in the box. “Nope, nothing. Just some clothes here. I’m going to get that one box from the living room.” You had backtracked right into the door, your nose throbbed in response at the collision. “Ow,” you muttered to yourself, rubbing the skin.
“You ok?”
“I’m fine,” your response was quick, but not rude. A deep chuckle made its way to your ears as you scrambled out the room, your heart hammering in your chest. Your thoughts scolded you for being so awkward and flustered around him. Be cool, just chill out… The man you’re hopelessly in love with is just living with you temporarily, it’s not like anything will amount from this. You picked up the last box in the living room, hoping that just clothes would be in here and not anymore kink toys. I mean… I have toys, too. AW SHIT, I HAVE TO HIDE THEM!
HR’s eyes never left you as you made your panicked exit. He let out a little breath before shuffling over to the box you had been attending to. Immediately, he face-palmed hard when he had opened it with one hand. His face felt impossibly hot at what you had seen. She must think I’m an idiot or something. His mind thought back to when you helped him shop for some new clothes then it had gotten ruined from a meta. His hand fell away from his face, the image of your kind grin imprinted in his mind. I am an idiot, though. A fool.
Once Cisco returned, you three continued unpacking HR’s things for the time he’d spend here. The labs were still in ‘piss-poor’ shape according to Cisco and that he’ll need to consult with Harry and Wally regarding repairs.
“HR, how are you showering?”
“Um, like a normal person?” A dumbfounded look crossed HR’s features as he set the plate of sandwiches down. The novelist had knitted his eyebrows at Cisco. He had taken up to experimenting in the kitchen when he wasn’t writing. The tea and coffee were still brewing in your kitchen.
“No, I mean with how your shoulder is injured,” Cisco snuck an evil look at you, you returned it with a glare, “must be hard handling it alone.” You knew exactly where this dumbass wanted to take this conversation, so you stayed silent as to not get caught in the crossfire.
HR thought to himself for a moment. “Just a bit, but I’ve gotten used to the mild discomforts and pain. I can mostly reach everything thanks to my long limbs. But I think the nice thing is that it’s an internal issue, not an external one. An external injury or wound would require me to really have help with showering that way the area doesn’t get infected or irritated with the contents of soaps.” A laugh fell from his lips, but his mind wondered what his friend was playing at while you were around.
“I’m just saying, if you ever need a hand well,” Cisco trailed off with a smirk, chomping on his third sandwich.
Oh, I see. Devious, but a futile effort. “I’ll make sure you’re the first one I ask for help,” HR teased with a smirk of his own for Cisco to drop his in disgust. A cough escaped you, which had HR’s eyes land on you. Your eyes met for a moment before you deviated your gaze. HR felt hypnotized for a moment. Hm… The engineer quickly recovered from HR’s snide remark.
“Alright kids, I’ll be going now. The labs require some diligent work that I, a capable and distinguished engineer, could only do.”
“Yet, we still have the occasional security issues,” You sipped your tea once the snarky comment was out. HR stifled a chuckle, but you heard it. The corners of your mouth lifted slightly at the notion.
“Hey, that’s not fair. They always come up with something new to invade our space by.” Cisco pointed a finger at you, mocking a hurtful expression on his face. It dropped into a sneaky smile. “Make good choices and always use protection, you two!” He breached away before you could throw your cup at him.
***Multiple Days Pass***
Through his time here, you noticed HR fueled to write what’s on his mind in the guest room. You could only assume that he continued his adventure story. Sometimes he would venture out for some coffee or take a walk to give his creativity a break. Keeping that in mind, you gave HR the space he needed as well as all noises to a minimum. You knew he liked the quiet atmosphere to pour his heart and soul into words as he did research for a scene. Pulling your jacket on, you compiled a list of groceries before you stepped out of your apartment. Locking the door, you headed out to the store picking up a few necessities as well as some snacks for HR. Like Harry, the novelist can easily lose himself in his task – which meant that he tended to forget about eating and such. You found a bag of Jitters coffee beans, adding it to your cart of items. Buying some snacks and fruit, you’d leave a note in the kitchen of the snacks when he emerged from his writing cave.
On the way back, you stopped by at Iris’ studio to check up on her. A few groceries for her as well were in hand. Cecile and you did your best to visit Iris. But you can’t deny that you blamed her to a certain extent. Had she spoken up once she had left Savitar’s place disguised as HR, HR wouldn’t have been hurt that night on Infantino Street. Surely, she could have contacted her father or Cisco or something. The transition could have been smoother. HR wouldn’t have been… The journalist was faring; she pushed through the pain and as Barry had told her ‘to keep living’. So, Iris did. She hadn’t been herself since Barry went into the Speedforce – she pushed too much, the smile wouldn’t reach her eyes sometimes. You sympathized; she lost the love of her life. But you almost had too.
“How are you?”
“I’m fine, just… taking it one day at a time.” You nodded at her response, a small smile on your face. “How are things with you and HR? I heard of the temporary living conditions.”
“It’s fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m in my bubble and he’s in his doing his writing.”
“Right. Nothing going on whatsoever?”
“Iris.”
Iris set her cup of hot chocolate down and raised both hands in mock defeat. “We all saw it. We all see it.”
“See what?”
“How smitten you are for him.”
“I’m not-”
“-Don’t say you’re not. If you weren’t you, Harry wouldn’t have to pry you off Savitar before you clawed his eyes out.”
“…” You just looked into your tea, the honey that settled at the bottom. Iris placed a sympathetic hand on your shoulder, but you didn’t look at her.
“The heart will want what it wants, (Y/N). Pushing your feelings into a box and denying it out loud won’t change things.”
“I know.”
And my heart wants him, over and over again. Even if he can’t see me.
***
HR tapped his pencil against the desk at a steady pace. His mind wouldn’t focus on the words in front of him, on the scene he wanted to set. Instead, it kept drifting further from it. Further towards you: your eyes, your smile, the kindness that you held; the serenity that your existence held as the world continued to turn and chaos had unfolded at each turn. HR didn’t see much of you while he was here, the novelist missed your company. You were here, but you weren’t really here. You were either in your room or at the balcony with a book or on the couch with your Switch. He didn’t want to bother you, but… sometimes HR just wanted to sit beside you and pull you close to talk. To hold you in his arms and ask you about your day, to understand what you were thinking. HR cracked his back in a stretch from where he sat on his bed, being mindful of his injured shoulder. It didn’t hurt as it had originally done a few weeks back. The Wells doppelganger noticed that you were careful to avoid touching him or him touching you. Not even a hug that you used to graciously give him. You were especially guarded with your hands. A rough sigh left him as he threw his pencil down. The frustration was setting in, he was getting nowhere. You consumed his thoughts. HR wondered if you were revolted by him but doesn’t verbalize his thoughts to you. He didn’t think you’d give him your truthful answer. Maybe she is revolted by me. She did find the cuffs and the blindfold… No, she knew about the cuff stage thing well before that.
The sound of the front door greeted his ears followed by the soft tune of music. A frown made its way onto his face. Might as well take a break. HR stretched once more when he fully stood up, a little noise of relief left his lips. He cracked his back once more before smelling himself. For safe measure, the novelist sprayed a bit of cologne on himself and turned off the candle he had on. He mentally noted to take a shower after dinner since his last was yesterday. He liked the feeling of being clean, to be honest. HR carded a hand through his hair. I need a haircut soon, too. Yeesh, I feel like I’m letting myself go. Once I’m all healed it’s back to proper cuts and the labs’ recreation room. He wanted to go back to lifting weights and doing yoga for body stability purposes – especially now because of his shoulder. HR rested a hand on his chest, the wound had healed completely, but a scar remained. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw the groceries on the table and heard you whisper along with the lyrics. The music was set to a low level that your whispers were audible enough. He watched you sway a bit with the tune.
So please don't break my heart
Don't tear me apart
I know how it starts
Trust me I've been broken before
Don't break me again
I am delicate
Please don't break my heart
Trust me I've been broken before
The guitar tune pulled at his heart, feeling the raw emotion behind the lyrics. He eyed you for a moment. HR cleared his throat to make his presence known, he knew you didn’t like to be snuck up on. However, a little gasp left you from where you were. “You went out shopping?”
You looked up from where you crouched to put away the cereal. “Uh yeah, we were running low on some stuff.” You shut the cabinet and went to the other items you had bought. The music continued to delicately play.
“Need any help?”
“Um, sure. Uh, just set these into the cabinet on the left.” Normal, be normal. He’s not going to eat you or anything. Distance is good. Distance keeps you safe. You didn’t meet his eyes, the eyes that’d pull you in and never let you out – your heart shook with him here and the song that played. You were hoping HR wouldn’t come out while you prepped dinner to have a sort of peace of mind. The next song played before you could stop it-
My last made me feel like I would never try again
But when I saw you, I felt something I never felt
Come closer, I'll give you all my love
If you treat me right, baby, I'll give you everything
“I like this song,” HR started as he was finishing up with putting his side of the groceries away. Another guitar-like song that brought out the soft feelings of love and rejection. HR mused to himself if fate had planned this out. If this was some sort of sign or a cruel joke… You had stopped yourself from clicking the button to skip the song at his comment. You don’t know what possessed you to let him indulge in another song that you’ve cried to late at night. “Hey, I can cook dinner tonight. I have something I’ve been wanting to try. I’m not that crippled so I can manage with a few cookware.” HR chuckled to himself, a goofy grin on his face. Your heart leapt in your chest; his grin caused a small smile to pull at your lips. “You can wash up first?”
You swallowed thickly, your eyes meeting his icy blues. You felt your cheeks warm up slightly as the nerves crawled up your spine. “Oh, ok. Cool, yeah. Can’t wait to see what you cook up.” You nodded, ducking your head away and shuffling out of the kitchen with that shy smile on your face. You missed the longing look he had sent you as you fastened your steps to head to your room.
God I love that smile. What goes on in that little head of yours? We used to be so close… before Tracy came into the picture. HR pulled out the spices and the chicken breast. He shook his head and proceeded to prep the food with his one useful hand. I need to consult Francisco.
***
“We need to talk,” HR’s voice broke the silence in the side lab of the Cortex. He had breached to the labs using the Breach Extrapolator after he had showered and such. His damp hair was pushed back in HR’s normal style.
“About what?” Cisco raised a concerned eyebrow at the writer, stopping what he had been doing.
“(Y/N).”
A nervous laugh left Cisco as he went back to attempting to make the necessary modifications to the Speed Bazooka. Tracy was reluctant to help the mechanical engineer after the breakup. “What about (Y/N)?” Cisco put down his screwdriver. “Did you do something weird to her?”
“What? No! I- we used to be closer. We always talked, we’d hang out after a long day here at the labs.”
“Uh huh.”
“And, maybe it’s just me, but things have changed.”
“How so?” Cisco was wondering what conclusion HR was leading himself to.
“Things changed when Tracy came into the picture.”
Cisco made a little ‘o’ with his mouth with a little nod before closing it. He pushed a rough sigh past his lips, he was getting really tired of this puppy love game. “Why do you think that?”
“Francisco, she flinches when I get close – almost when I touch her… Does she hate me?”
“I think you and I know the answer to that one. But I think the real question should be: Why do you care so much? Why does it bother you? Do you love her, HR?”
The novelist tensed a bit. “…” HR pursed his lips as Cisco walked around the table that the speed weapon was mounted on. Blueprints were scattered on one table while the glass board held variables and equations he could not decipher. “What?”
“I said what I said,” the mechanical genius smoothly responded. One look at HR and Cisco knew that he was baffled by his forward words. But they needed to be said. “Now run along and use that head of yours to think about what your heart wants. Barry isn’t going to get himself out of the Speedforce.”
***
Cisco’s words mulled through HR’s mind as he breached back to your apartment’s living room.  Only the lamp light on the side table was on. HR’s eyes landed on you, who laid on the couch with the book you had been reading on the back ledge of the couch. The novelist took off his shoes and set down his bag. He had detoured to the bookstore, looking for the next installment of your current book. The Wells doppelganger had assumed you didn’t buy it yet as it was vacant from your bookshelf. The gentle giant stepped silently closer to you; the dim light cast over you like a glow. There were slight bags under your eyes. She hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Spotting a large and fluffy blanket near, HR grabs it and lays it on top of you. He remembered you mentioned to him prior that you easily get cold, especially at night. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, HR contemplated something before his body moved impulsively. The novelist placed a gentle kiss on your forehead; his lips lingered for a few more seconds. Pulling back, HR watched your chest rise and fall.  He turned the light off and stumbled over to his room with his phone light guiding him. He knew what he was going to write. Cisco’s question pestered him enough though.
Do you love her, HR?
HR took one look out his door before shutting it, his heart squeezed tightly in his chest as he whispered, “Goodnight, my angel.” Only the shadows that lingered were a witness to the fondness laced in those simple words.
***
You woke up with a start, you hand instantly smacking right into your chest. Heavy breaths left you as your nerves were in overdrive. Cold sweat beaded your skin as you gasp for air. It was another night terror – the same one for a few weeks now; a new way in which you caused HR’s death. Swallowing thickly, you screw your eyes tightly shut and whisper the mantra that calmed you down. After a few minutes, you started to regain control of your breathing – the thoughts that ravaged your mind finally ceased like the tides subsiding after a tsunami. You blinked languidly, hating nights like these. They weren’t rare, but they weren’t an uncommon occurrence. Deciding that you needed to step out for some air, you did so with the intent of getting a glass of water from the kitchen. Your fingers found the lights for the dimmers in your room, setting it to its lowest setting for you to see yourself out.
Cracking the door open, you were instantly met with the scene of HR passed out on the couch again. He’s been doing that for around two weeks now, the couch his new base of operations. His mouth was slightly open as little snores escaped him. A lovestruck smile crossed your features at the sight. Papers were littered around him, on the ground, and on the tables. Must be the manuscript he’s working on for his final draft. I hope I can read it at some point. Coming back from the kitchen with the water in hand you couldn’t help but stop to admire the sight. You noticed the glasses still perched on his face. Moving as silent as a ninja, you inched closer to pull off the glasses from his face. They’ll break if he keeps them on while he sleeps. Then he won’t see for shit when reading things. You nibbled on your bottom lip as your eyes drifted to the papers. One peek won’t hurt anyone. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
Seating yourself on the ground, you leaned your back against the foundation of the couch. You were opposite to where HR’s upper body was. If there were any telltale signs of him waking, you’d hightail out before he could fully wake up and process what you were doing. Picking up a small stack, you started sifting through them. Your mind became engrossed with the words – the beginnings of the story he had spun about his adventures as to how he came to Earth-1. Then… mentions of an angel eluded you. It couldn’t be Tracy, could it? I know they broke up, but… on the other hand, it doesn’t mean that he can’t say that she was his angel at the time. Like a character development thing leading to their break up?? Well fuck, I don’t even think he’d mention such a personal thing in his book. I know I wouldn’t… would I? I don’t know. A little smile danced at your lips while you read on about the synonymous things regarding Team Flash that you failed to notice HR rouse from sleep.
“Do you like it?” Lethargy intertwined his words. A stunned noise left you as you clutched the papers. You turned to see HR rubbing his eyes before gazing at you.
I could get lost in those eyes if I stared too long.
“Uh, yeah, its- it’s really good,” you stuttered, setting the papers down in your lap. Embarrassment of getting caught gripped you. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I don’t mind you taking a peek. I don’t have anything to be ashamed of in it.” HR shifted his lithe body to sit next to you on the ground.
“Oh.”
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“No.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“It’s not that important, I’ll be ok.”
“If you say so,” HR’s shoulders sagged slightly. “I’m here if you want to talk.” You nodded at him, whispering a little thank you. HR ran a hand over his knee, he took a glimpse at you who stared at the papers. He noticed what chapter you hand been reading – the angel was making an appearance in the story. The hair at the back of his neck stood while you thumbed the words on the paper back in forth, just lost in your mind. Your hair was messy from sleep, the bags under your eyes were still there. It killed him how you wouldn’t confide in him anymore. But he didn’t push you. You would open up to him if you wanted to or not, even if he wanted you to do so as so his mind can be at ease with knowing what’s going on with you. Cisco’s question sprang up in his mind once more before he licked his lips, his eyes watching you. “I do.”
You gave HR a strange look. I do, what?
“Tracy wasn’t her.” Realization struck HR the more you whispered with him.
“Huh??”
“I heard this voice before I woke up.” The novelist fully turned to you with intense eyes, the enlightenment in them – the fire that burned brightly. “The tenderness in it could rival any tasteful delight in the multiverse.”
“A voice?”
“Mm, it made me think that only a heavenly deity would have such a voice.” You remained silent as he spoke. “I never got to hear that voice since my coma… until now?”
You tensed at what he was insinuating. “Now?”
“How could I forget?”
“I-I don’t understand.”
“How could I forget about you?” The baritone huskiness in his voice made you melt with the way he said those words. You swallowed, trying to calm the butterflies that raged in the pit of your stomach. “The flowers that were left – beautiful, delicate, yet meaningful. You left those after visiting me.”
“…”
She didn’t deny it. “But you never visited when I was awake because of Tracy.”
“She hates me.”
“And I was too blind to see that until I broke up with her, she threw quite a fit.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because you must have loved her so much that it would be hard to let go.” She was your angel, after all.
“She didn’t even know me. Truly know me.”
“… Did she hurt you?”
“Slightly, but the bruise is gone.” You and he were silent for a moment. Only the sound of a distant car horn was heard from the streets. “You didn’t deny it.”
“Deny what?”
“The flowers, the visit…” HR licked his lips as a rough breath left him. His nerves were climbing, but he needed to do this. “Cisco told me what you did to Savitar when you saw him. How angry you were that Harry had to pry you off him – I was so angry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know then… but I know now.”
“And?”
“Tracy was never the one written in my story – she didn’t care. She didn’t see me for anything other than a pretty face obsessed with coffee. You did.” HR tucked your hair behind your ear, carefully gauging your reaction. He saw how you tried not to flinch away from him. “Do you hate me?” He asked as he retracted a hand from you, happy that he was at least getting through to you.
“Never could I feel such a way towards you.” You hesitated for a moment before testing the waters. You started to explain, “I- the night you were stabbed by Savitar I… I just broke. I pushed Tracy away, I had Barry rush you back to the labs. You were dying, unconscious on the gurney and… I got to work trying to resuscitate you. I had Cisco take care of Tracy while I worked, I needed space to think clearly, but I couldn’t. When- when the others were preoccupied with Iris’ appearance, I used these powers.” It was now or never. “I was desperate. Your life was hanging by a thread- I didn’t think it was going to work, but nothing else was working. You were bleeding so much. But I had to try. I…” Your glassy eyes locked back on his, your hands pulled close to your body. HR understood now why you never tried touching him. Why you are avoiding getting too close. “Cisco found out, he confronted me. But these powers, life isn’t guaranteed. They’re volatile, unprecedented – regardless of how I feel in the moment the balance can tip between giving a life and taking one.” There was a tightness in your chest as your voice cracked, “I’m cursed, I could hurt you.” I’m dangerous.
“I don’t think you will.”
“You don’t know that!”
“But I do,” HR reached a hand out to hold yours. Tension filled your heart as panic started to settle. “You wouldn’t let yourself hurt me. It would pain you too much.” HR squeezed your slightly shaky hand, his other hand still bound by the cross-sling. “My life is in your hands.”
“How can you trust me so much?”
“Because love cannot be built without a foundation of trust.” He placed a sweet kiss on the knuckles of your hand. “And understanding.” He took the other and kissed it, baby blue eyes shifted back to yours with such intense emotion. The adoration that filled the author to the brim for you. Just for you. Only you. The one who saw him for everything and anything that he is. His safe space – the one other thing he wanted to be for you as well. He wanted to eliminate any fears that resided in your heart, the pain and doubt that remained.
“Do you hate me?”
HR cupped your cheek tenderly as he leaned close, your heart wanted to stop as blood rushed to your cheeks and ears. Your half-lidded eyes shut slowly as his lips skimmed over your own. “Never in my life, angel,” the novelist whispered as he captured your lips in a tender and sentimental kiss.
Never in my life could I hate the one who my heart has yearned for.
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meruz · 3 years
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i was gonna draw tonight but i dropped my tablet pen and the barrel of the pen broke off and flew somewhere underneath (??) my bed (?) and now i cant find it so I’m just gonna answer asks before bed instead. just some art asks and more mentions of infinity train LOL
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What program and brushes do you use when making your art?
@ravki hi! part of this is in my FAQ but i’ll say it again anyways LOL: I use photoshop CC and have used photoshop for pretty much....my whole art career. I’ve dabbled in clip and paint tool sai in the past but photoshop is my true wife, we eloped away from her awful father adobe many years ago and are very happy together. 
as for brushes... I should prob put this info in my FAQ too lol,... my default brush set is actually free to download here! Tho I will say I also use steve ahn’s storyboarding brush sometimes and lately i’ve been using shiyoon kim’s brushes A TON. Shiyoon’s cost a couple bucks but they’re super worth it imo
How do you choose colors?
This is kind of a difficult one to describe from scratch but hmm.... I’ll put it this way. Generally when I go into coloring or painting something I already have some colors in mind. Like for a certain piece I know I want a bright green, or a magenta, or a dark blue in certain areas. A lot of the time I know a mood I want. So I’ll start with that core color tone and build around it. I’ll use an example from a recent piece
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So you can see here that the first color I accessed was that bright cyan. So I start with that bright cyan and then bring in its “friends” in the form of analogous colors (shown below on the far left)
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greens greys etc. THEN I know I want the characters to stand out against all the blue so I start laying down warm contrasting colors for them (middle group). the mat under them is orange, skin tones are warm, ryans flannel is red etc. then to get them to work together I work more cool colors into the shadows and slightly warmer (not too warm because its a cool img overall so in this case, greener LOL) colors into highlights. 
hope that makes sense? for me choosing colors is a lot about story and composition. If you know what you want to say, the mood you want to create, where you want to go, the path to get there becomes a lot clearer imo.
Have you ever considered making an art book?
I have! But I don’t think I currently have enough...original illustrations for one LOL? Not that an art book has to be all original work but if I were putting fanart in an art book...at that point I’d just make a fanzine. I’m making more original work lately though so maybe this year....? Who knows. For now, I do have a sketchbook up on gumroad. Hoping to do one of those next year too.
Any tips for keeping background drawings from getting super stiff, especially since things like interiors have a lot of straight lines?
This is a really interesting ask. Really great question that I don’t think gets asked enough - forgive me if I get a bit art school here but I drew up some examples.
First I think we have to investigate the assumption that straight lines make things stiff. That seems true on an instinctual level and certainly proves to be true very often But I don’t think its actually the straight lines themselves but the sort of arrangements and compositions they tend to dictate. Take this for instance.
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pretty big difference, right? there’s a couple things that make a composition feel stiff and one of the most significant is lines that are perpendicular and parallel to the frame. it feels locked in and solid, like bricks. but the moment you shift these angles even a little the composition instantly becomes more dynamic because our innate senses of weight, gravity, and directionality can sense movement.
But it’s not just diagonals let’s take this one step further
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when lines meet and terminate together those tangents can flatten and lock space so the best way to solve this is with overlap and complete intersection, forms continuing past or behind each other feel more layered and less like a flat mosaic... again, even in the simplest line drawings. So how do we apply this to a background?
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ok I drew this really fast so its potentially not the best example but I think the idea is there. This space isn’t even particularly deep, it’s basically a room, a doorway, and a hallway behind it, and we’re not seeing that much of any of those things LOL. but when you draw an environmental object like a doorway in a way that lines up with the perpendicular and parallel lines of the canvas you’re automatically flattening it and making it look rigid.
and when you create tangents with objects and characters you flatten the space around them and make it difficult to tell what is actually in front or behind or if they’re on the same plane.
GOD I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE. Anyways. avoid those things and you’ll instantly have less stiff bgs no matter what kind of bg you’re depicting.
I wanna mention however that this isn’t to say a stiff bg with flat space doesn’t have its purposes.
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sometimes you want to create parallels and tangents. it can make characters feel closed in, trapped, regimented, part of a routine, etc. it’s also great for making a composition look ornamental (especially combined with symmetry).
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directors like wes anderson can even use these compositional elements to make images feel uncanny or harrowing! its very versatile. I think the important thing is to just be aware of when you are making something rigid and when that’s the last thing you want to do. conscious choices.
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Can you speak Tagalog?
@lemuelzero101​ I can! BUT NOT VERY WELL LOL ;;; both my parents are from Visayas! but they met and had me in the states lol so I’m pretty American born and raised. We go back to visit family on occasion but not regularly. My tagalog is mostly absorbed from listening to relatives at parties lol and my parents speak bisaya at home so I’m marginally better at that. Sorry to any filipinos out there hoping I’d be better educated, I’m like a little baby...
I do love meeting and talking to other filipinos online though, I grew up in an area that was relatively diverse but the asian population was small and the filipino population basically non-existent. I was like one of maybe 2 filipino kids in my highschool of 2000.
Apart from infinity train what shows are you watching now? Have you seen jujitsu kaisen?
Man this is gonna sound so boring but I haven’t watched a lot of tv lately.  It’s not really part of my daily routine. Let’s see... I was sort of watching Amphibia, Craig of the Creek, and the new Digimon Adventure 2020 but I keep falling off watching those for one reason or another. Also there’s a lot of episodes, it doesn’t feel like something I can just binge and be done with.
The last thing I binged was Succession. I want that show and Euphoria back so bad, when I’m done forcing all my friends to watch Infinity Train im cancelling my HBO subscription until Succession and Euphoria return so they know exactly what I’m on their list for LOL. 
I have not watched jujitsu kaisen but I’ve kept up with some of the sakuga news (I keep up with anime industry news and production info like x5 the amt i keep up with actual anime) for it and their compositing/editing looks dope. I’ve read the manga actually LOL or at least part of the beginning. I wasn’t super keen on the whole finger eating thing. Also to be honest I kinda feel like its the new Bleach and I never particularly cared about Bleach. Characters look nice enough tho. I wholeheartedly support jjk fans.
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Thank you! Thank you @keznodzieja​! <3
And thank you anons who don’t watch infinity train LOL...it’s always nice to hear when people enjoy my fanart despite not knowing the source material because it lifts a little bit of the “oh god am I being annoying???” fear off my chest. But also I think you should watch infinity train because it’s really good I have no reservations recommending it.
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alkalinefrog · 3 years
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hey, so, I had an art related question... if all of this is too much, feel free to ignore it.
the backstory is that I've had the same laptop since early high school but recently I had a birthday (I'm 28 now). my parents got me an HP laptop, and my friend got me a tablet, which she bought off of an online friend for $30. the problem is that I haven't had new technology like... ever? none that was actually mine anyway, and certainly nothing that could handle me using it for art.
and this is especially a problem when it comes to the tablet. my friend helped me get firealpaca onto the laptop, and get the tablet set up with the right drivers, aaaaand... I cannot make one line that looks good using it. I've been using pen and paper for so long and I have a really light touch, and it feels like I have to jam the pen down to get it to register, at which point I might as well have not set the pen sensitivity to anything at all because the thickest line is the only kind I can make?? any lighter and it won't show up on the screen at all. like I can ctrl+z and it doesn't even go back a step, the line didn't get drawn. there's like a 20% chance that any line I try to put down won't actually register. and tbh this isn't really what I had wanted... it's a huion tablet, which is the brand I wanted, but I was gonna buy myself one where you can see what you're drawing on the screen of the tablet itself. not just due to coordination issues, I think I could get used to that part, but because I feel like I wouldn't be having this specific problem with getting things to register. every single line I make looks like crap with this tablet, it makes me feel like I might as well be drawing with my feet, and I've been fidgeting with settings, and it doesn't seem like anything helps. I also still don't have a mouse for the laptop yet, so I can't click and drag anything very well because it has a trackpad, so messing with sliders is already aggravating.
I feel so lost and overwhelmed, and like if I buy anything else, I'm just going to end up with more unusable stuff because *I'm* probably the problem. I just don't know anything, and trying is mentally fatiguing me so quickly... my brain knows what I want my art to look like, and my hands can do it with a real pen. I just have absolutely no clue how to make this machine produce anything.
so I guess my questions are stuff like, what equipment do you use? are there tablets that will register a light touch or am I really going to have to be this heavy handed in order to work with one? what resolution/canvas size do you usually work on? any recommendations for what program to use?
overall, I'd really like to get myself something that feels more intuitive than the tablet... honestly, I was finding some success drawing with just my finger on the touch screen of my phone at one point. there were still a lot of problems with that, but the nail in the coffin was that my phone's memory space filled up and I had to get rid of the drawing app to make it functional again (it's an iphone, which is why). maybe I should just get an ipad or something...? though, one more thing on the mountain of potential options is the last thing my crumbling ADHD brain needs. I've been taking a break from art in general because I've still maintained my 40-hours-a-week work schedule through the whole pandemic... I do 10 hour shifts and work overnight, so I technically have free time since I only work 4 days a week, but the type of work I do leaves me with no energy at all. so I've been in an art slump and I've been wanting to get out of it, but this is just making art feel impossible, even though the whole reason why I've always wished I could draw digitally is so that I can color digitally. I had been drawing things in pen and scanning them to color in photoshop, but cleanup takes so long that I literally can't produce finished work anymore. I'm out of options that aren't prohibitively labor intensive and frustrating.
this was probably way too much information, but if you have any advice I'd be really grateful.
Huh, well first off HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!! Congrats on the sweet new tech (even if it's been a bit frustrating) and well-deserved celebration!
From the sounds of it I think the main issue is probably your tablet (this is pure speculation on my end though, so you know, grain of salt and all). You're right in that you shouldn't have to fight against your equipment. I have a really light touch too and I've never had the same issue. I personally don't have any experience with huion tablets, but if you're having trouble getting your lines to register then it might have been worn down by the previous user. It's not so much about buying a monitor (the screen one) vs. tablet so much as getting working equipment.
An iPad is a great alternative!! I've played around with the apple pencil and procreate and it's a super intuitive program with (obviously) super easy set up! You get the drawing on the screen AND really nice pen pressure. I'm really happy seeing it opening up new doors for more people to get into digital art!
In terms of your current laptop/tablet situation:
My set up rn is pretty pricey ngl; I have a PC desktop computer with a 16 inch Wacom Cintiq. Getting started in digital art doesn't mean you have to drop a bag on a ton of equipment right from the get go though! If you're looking for a safe small investment, I'd recommend getting a Wacom Bamboo pen tablet!
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This lil' baby right here is what I started with!! I think cost-wise it floats around 70ish bucks, but that's exponentially more affordable than buying a huge monitor. One of my friends who's also a pro artist uses a similar small tablet because it works great! That's an alternative that might be worth looking into.
You can also get free trials on other drawing programs (clip studio paint is a great one!) To test and see if it's a software issue with firealpaca.
You could also try checking online forums to see if anyone else is running into similar issues, or watch some YouTube videos of people reviewing different tablets. I know this might be even more overwhelming, so I'd try and narrow the scope to focus on one thing at a time.
My best advice right now would actually be to get a mouse, or any other accessories you need. I've also been in your shoes where I was completely overwhelmed, and I can say that checking off all the small easy things makes a HUGE difference! It makes you feel more in control of the situation, and even if you're still having trouble with digital art you can at least get more comfortable using your laptop in the mean time.
You got this dude!! I believe in you!!
EDIT:
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Thanks @wooliebirds!
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ct-multifandom · 3 years
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More s4 predictions? More s4 predictions.
Luka closure, duh. He will start moving on from his breakup and start existing outside the scope of Marinette’s love life
I really hope we see Adrien hanging out with him to parallel Mari hanging with Kagami but I’m afraid the parallel might just be Mari hanging with Luka as friends
Marinette will try to give Adrien a miraculous again. Near the end of the season, she’ll realize that there are only a couple if not one miraculous left without a holder, and she’ll get overtaken by the desire to work Adrien into her team. If I had to guess which one, I’d say the dog because it juxtaposes the cat and I think Sabrina, as an outsider to the group and former mean girl lackey, might be the last to go.
We’ll meet someone’s mom for the first time and she’ll get akumatized along with a mode of transportation. Maybe a motorcycle or airplane this time? Edit: I guess Gina/Befana was motorcycle mom already so we’re just missing airplane mom
Alec Cataldi will be Psychomedian. Since they rewrote Gagotor for this I’m guessing the new character was probably replaced with one we know, and Alec is a recurring, humorous TV personality who hasn’t been akumatized yet. I came across his English VA’s insta by chance on explore and he made a post about recording more Alec lines after Optigami’s release
Rocketear will be/have to do with Max who misses his mom after she leaves for a space mission. It’d be nice to see the continuation of this subplot, which was shown for a moment in Miracle Queen after Startrain. Plus, Ladybug needs to give Max a charm sooner rather than later and Gamer, a very specific akuma, already had a 2.0. Edit: I’m Stan and I was wrong.
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When Megaleech was first announced I thought it might be Bob Roth(’s sentimonster?) based solely off the name, but assuming that’s the thing in the Polymouse episode, it’s hard to tell. It’s so non-human. I wasn’t expecting Mylene to get her miraculous here based off the name either. My new theory, which I’m admittedly not super confident in, is that Megaleech is the fusion of the entire Kitty Section who got screwed over by Bob and/or XY again. That would explain the French pun and also Mylene’s personal connection to the case at hand. It might also explain why this group of heroes was hanging out outside of school. I wonder how Ladybug’s new charm animation would work with more than one charm at a time. Would they skip it altogether and just show her passing them out? Would they all match with Megaleech’s colors or would they be different for the individuals?
Edit: I am editing this post because I just saw a theory that the villain of this episode will be Andre Bourgeois again. Megaleech’s color scheme and medallions match Malediktator perfectly, and the tiny thing Chat kicks in the trailer looks like a shrunken version of him if you look closely. This is a lot more believable, but it makes me wonder what leads to Mylene being the hero of the day.
I hope Polymouse doesn’t get overshadowed by the large team, but I also hope she doesn’t get overshadowed by Multimouse. Unfortunately, there are a lot of immature kids who hate Mylene for no reason, so I hope Polymouse will be the one to come up with the winning plan, use her powers cleverly, and be heroic in general so that she can prove how well the mouse fits her instead of unknowingly competing with Marinette.
Teenage Alix will make her entrance as Bunnix when her dad gets akumatized. Both Timebreaker and The Pharaoh had time-y powers, and Alim is a historian, so if he were to get akumatized, he’d probably turn into a villain who controls time as well, leaving his daughter as the only one who can take him.
Sandboy 2.0 will happen as everyone predicted based on the voice director’s story post with Sandboy’s VA. Ladybug will probably see Chat Blanc in place of zombie Adrien, raising a lot of questions and tension. Maybe Chat will see Ladybug abandon him, or something else related to solitude rather than being trapped? We will also finally find out who the akumatized kid is.
Speaking of, I think Sandboy 2.0 might be Caprikid’s entry episode. (What?) Let me explain. I think the Sandboy kid and Marc look pretty similar, and correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure they’re the only male characters with defined eyelashes in the whole show. Both of them also have celestial thematics which would fit with Marc’s last name, Anciel (en ciel, in the sky). Sandboy looks like the night sky while Marc has a rainbow theme. It’s possible that they’re related, so Ladybug will enlist Marc to help defeat Sandboy. Here are pictures:
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I’ve also seen other people theorize that Caprikid’s power is related to dreams, I guess because of something like “counting sheep”. This isn’t my theory for his powers, but I see where it’s coming from. His kwami has the most interesting name. While most of the kwamis are related directly to their animal, Ziggy, the goat kwami, is named after David Bowie’s stage persona, Ziggy Stardust, who is an alien from space. David Bowie had other famous personas like the astronaut, Major Tom, and Aladdin Sane who had the iconic lightning bolt, all themes associated with the sky. I wouldn’t be surprised if these themes show up in Caprikid’s design, like if he has face paint instead of a mask or a similar hairstyle to Bowie.
We can already kind of tell that Caprikid and Coq Courage are matching just like their civilian selves do from their opening silhouettes with the chest fur and feathers. I predict it goes further than that with daytime/nighttime thematics. Roosters are associated with the sun, and my theory for Orikko’s power is illumination. Evillustrator’s biggest weakness, which ended up defeating him, was darkness, and I read a post today that pointed out that he can draw without even looking at his tablet so it’s more likely that he’s just scared of the dark. If he has day themes I think Caprikid will compliment that with night sky themes based on the stuff above.
I expect Evillustrator will have a 2.0 episode or any sort of comeback at some point. He’s probably one of the most iconic akumas, yet he’s only been truly akumatized once, at least on-screen. Plus, ladybug needs to get protective charms to all her hero pals asap.
We will probably meet the family of a couple more major characters who don’t have canon family members yet.
I hope we see more more-than-one-person and/or fusion akumas among the major cast. The protective charms are helpful but it sucks that they limit our possibilities for this type of stuff.
Sabrina will leave Chloe once and for all, which will trigger a big change in both of their characters. Sabrina will become more independent and leader-like, but Chloe will hit her lowest point. If not for... a certain person’s writing... I’d say this will be the true catalyst for her development as she faces cold hard reality for the first time... but I’m not so sure. Maybe she’ll just mellow down and become less bad and less relevant. Maybe she’ll snap and join evil Lila. Only time can tell.
I want to see my boy King Monkey again this season before the big finale, which will probably have everyone, and I’m pretty sure I will. I feel like they’ll all show up before that. I want him to move across the city by swinging across stuff like a monkey on vines.
We will finally see Ryuko’s full transformation and lightning dragon. I saw that the Roblox server thing featured the (oversimplified and blocky) coreo for her full transformation before the actual show did? A bit embarrassing.
I want to predict something for my boy Ivan, but he gets so little screen time that I just can’t think of anything :( I’m very excited for Minotaurox, though, and it’s possible that he’ll be involved with his family rather than Mylene or his friends.
The whole gang takes down Shadowmoth. Booyah, 17 teenage furries, bet he didn’t see that coming. And everyone has a big “pointing and laughing” moment until the obligatory Adrien angst commences
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the-hidden-writer · 3 years
Text
And Into The Fire
Chapter 4: A Not-Quite-Plan
Summary:
Months after the Mitchells saved the world, Linda gets a phone call asking if she’s seen two defective Pal MAX bots. Powerful people are after Eric and Deborabot 5000, and it’s up to the Mitchells to protect them.
Check reblogs for AO3 link!
A Not-Quite-Plan
An agent came running into the office just as Mark was about to take a sip of his coffee.
“Ma’am! We’ve got into #009181987!”
Agent Ward turned off her tablet and stood up immediately.
“About time!” She snapped. “Come on, Dr Bowman, this is where we need you.”
He barely had time to grab his coffee cup as she practically dragged him toward the door by his hoodie.
Ever since they’d locked onto the missing Pal MAX bots, Agent Jennifer Ward and her team had pretty much taken control of Pal Labs. Or at least the headquarters where Mark worked.
He’d spent the past week or so locked in his office with the scary Agent Ward herself. The tall woman had ordered him to come into work every day despite the complete CIA take-over of his company, just to keep up pretences for the public. And he also needed to be kept under supervision at all times for some reason. He was basically a prisoner.
Oh well. At least he had WiFi.
After pulling him out of his office (freedom at last!) Agent Ward led him down the stairs to the main work area, which was a large room filled with rows of computer desks.
At the very back of the room were two large screens on the wall. These were usually used for advertising and announcements, but recently they’d served another purpose.
Displayed on each screen was a status. Before now, they’d said the same thing. But for the first time in weeks, one was different.
Pal MAX #012041966 Status: UNRESPONSIVE
Pal MAX #009181987 Status: ONLINE
“Online?” Mark wondered aloud. “So you actually got into it, huh.”
Agent Ward scoffed. “Of course we did. Don’t doubt my team, Dr Bowman. Especially Agent Travis here.”
As if on cue, the young agent that had come to tell them the news before came rushing in through the door behind them, and almost glided straight into the wheelie chair next to the computer he’d been working on.
“Actually, we got through a couple of times.” Travis explained, huffing slightly from having to run. “But we got kicked out before we could change anything. This is the first time it looks stable and ready to be edited.”
“Well, these robots are based on AI.” Said Mark. “They’re not as simple to take down as ordinary machines.”
“Trust me, we know.” Agent Ward sneered. “That’s the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.”
She turned to her team, who all had their fingers poised over their keyboards ready to begin typing. “Delete any excess data and then start to rewrite the functional coding.” She ordered.
“Rewrite?” Mark had been under the impression that they would just delete it all to stop the robots for good. That’s what they were trying to do, right? “I thought-”
“Yes, rewrite. Anything more is classified.”
One of the agents raised their hands. “Uh, Ma’am? All the data here looks pretty messed up. Most of its data’s been built onto the errors presumably caused by defects, we have no idea what it actually does. There's words liked 'brother', 'mother'-”
“Do I need to repeat myself, Barker?”
Even though it wasn’t aimed at him, Mark couldn’t help but gulp at the way Ward was glaring at the poor agent.
“No Ma’am,” mumbled Barker, “sorry, Ma’am. We’ll start the rewrite.”
~-.-~
The three of them raced into the room with Monchi following close behind, probably because he was intrigued by all the commotion.
Linda didn’t want to believe it. Her robo-boys being sick was one thing, but fighting each other? That was truly unbelievable. They would never.
But unfortunately, it was just as Aaron said.
Deborahbot was kneeling on the bed with his back to the door, repeatedly hitting Eric’s screen by alternating between using the clenched fist of one hand and the open palm of another. There was a “clunk” sound with each impact, and Deborahbot showed no sign of stopping.
“Deborahbot!” Linda exclaimed incredulously.
The bot’s head turned 180° to face them but he did not cease the attack on his brother.
“Mother! Other Mitchells!”
“What are you doing?!” Demanded Rick, aggressively pointing at the bot in the bed. Aaron gripped onto the back of Linda’s pant leg in fear.
“I am more defective than my brother.” Deborahbot stated matter-of-factly, his calm voice sounding quite scary compared to the current violence he was inflicting. “I thought if he was more defective like me, he would be himself again.”
Rick waved his arms in annoyance. “That’s insane!”
“Deborahbot, stop hitting your brother right now.” Ordered Linda.
“Ok!”
Linda felt a small stab of guilt in her heart. Since they’d joined the family, they’d all tried their hardest not to order the bots to do anything. By phrasing things the wrong way, their programming would make them obey commands mindlessly, whereas the Mitchells just wanted them to be themselves. The longer the pair of them went without being given an order, the more their individual personalities shone through.
Deborahbot released Eric and stepped away. Two seconds later, once the command had been completed, he held out a warning hand to the family.
“Wait, Mitchells, stop!”
Linda was about to open her mouth to ask why, only she first noticed the movement on the bed.
Movement. On the bed.
Under the blanket, Eric looked like he was shivering. Or, more accurately, vibrating. The screen that had been full of color before was now its usual black self, and his red marker face was visible again. The only indication that anything was wrong was that the small LED in the corner of his screen was flashing an array of different colors.
“What’s happening to him?” Aaron asked from behind her, and Linda nodded to encourage Deborahbot to answer.
“I do not know for certain, but I think that the infiltrators have successfully entered my brother’s system.”
“You’re speaking normal again.” Commented Rick, though his cautious gaze was fixed on Eric, as if he would spring up and attack them at any moment.
“That is why I came to that conclusion.” Elaborated Deborahbot. “They have stopped attacking me, so they must be focusing more on him.”
Unlike earlier, Linda drew up the courage to approach Eric in the bed. His shaking was growing ever more violent by the second, and without Deborahbot keeping him down it was only a matter of time before he fell off the bed completely.
She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and made her voice as soft and calming as possible.
“Eric, honey?”
“Dear, be careful.” Rick warned from behind her but she chose not to listen.
“Can you hear me?”
It didn’t seem like he was going to respond. Feeling defeated, Linda was about to turn to ask Deborahbot what to do next when a voice spoke up.
“User recognised: Linda Mitchell.”
Eric’s voice was even more distorted than Deborahbot’s had been to the point where it was nearly unrecognisable.
“Uh, Mom?”
“Linda, get back!”
Linda understood exactly why her family was scared. The bots had never, not once, called her by her actual name. To not hear “Mother!” come out of Eric’s metaphorical mouth alarmed her, but still she couldn’t bring herself to step back.
“Brother?”
In a similar situation, the bots never called one another by their given names. It was always “Brother”. It only made them seem closer to one another in a way that the Mitchells themselves couldn’t be.
“Unknown user. Verify”
Aaron approached them with caution, one hand automatically searching for his mother’s own. She clasped it tightly.
“It’s like he’s gone back into robot-mode.” Said Aaron.
Linda squeezed his hand in agreement. Out of the two, it was Eric that always seemed more closely related to all the other Pal MAX bots for some reason. Still, Eric was their Eric, and not one of the mindless machines that tried to blast all of humanity into space.
Then a high-pitched whine echoed throughout the room without warning, causing the Mitchells (and Deborahbot, who mimicked them a second later) to cover their ears from the terrible noise. Monchi began to bark.
Once it died down, Rick frowned and used two fingers to massage his temple. “What the-”
“B-Brother!”
Rick snapped his mouth shut and all heads in the room turned to Eric, who was now sitting up straight on the bed.
“Brother!” Deborahbot called back in relief.
Eric's head twisted to face the three extremely shocked Mitchells.
“Mitchells!” Eric cried dramatically, his words accompanied by a more familiar glitch. “You are in danger. Pal Labs is taking over our systems, and it’s only a matter of time before-”
“I already told them all that.” Deborahbot interjected.
“Oh.” Eric muttered softly. “Aww.”
It put Linda a little at ease to see her boys’ dynamic return so quickly. That must mean things were getting better, right?
“Brother, what should we do?”
Deborahbot had always been reliant on Eric for decision-making. Linda had no idea how the bots managed to form such a human-like sibling relationship.
“They’ve already gotten to me.” Said Eric, solely addressing Deborahbot now. “It’s safer if you power me off until they stop. If you wait a while and they don’t, then you might have to go to Pal Labs and stop them yourself.”
Linda’s immediate thought was: No. She was not going to turn off her boy.
“How do we know if they’ve stopped?” Asked Rick.
Eric glitched before shrugging. “My brother might be able to tell you, but-”
He was interrupted by the return of the high-pitched whine. This time, Deborahbot did not cover his ears.
A few seconds later, Eric’s voice was distorted again.
“Status: online. Location-”
He did not get to finish his ominous speech as Deborahbot had quickly moved toward him and placed his hand under Eric’s head. After a few short seconds Eric’s screen went completely black with only his marker face remaining as he fell back onto the bed.
“Deborahbot!” Linda exclaimed in outrage. “Tell me you didn’t-”
“He told me a plan.” Deborahbot said nonchalantly. “First I had to power him off, then-”
“Yeah, we heard.” Scoffed Rick. “But that’s not really a proper plan.”
“It’s a start.” Aaron piped up. “I don’t really know what’s going on but I think the bots have it better together than you do.”
Linda bit the inside of her lip. She did not like how Deborahbot switched off his brother without permission. They were technically under 18 and therefore not adults, so Linda felt responsibility for their wellbeing and safety. She tried her best to keep quiet to avoid snapping at him.
“So... what now?” Asked Rick.
Deborahbot took a moment to look at his brother before turning to face the Mitchells again.
“I don’t want to wait.” He said blankly. “So I think that we should go to Pal Labs and tell them to stop now.”
Comments make my day! :)
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ink-the-artist · 4 years
Note
Its a lot harder to do with traditional art but I'd love to see progress shots of your colored pencil stuff its so neat
I wanted to wait until I had progress shots to show before answering this and I took some as soon as I was starting a new colored pencil illustration, which was the Pepto Bismol one I just posted. Gonna put a keep reading cut here bc this’ll probably be a bit of a long post lol. 
I don’t have any kind of strict process I always follow, I just do whatever works best for each specific drawing, so I kind of just took a pic whenever I finished anything that felt like it could be it’s own “step.” Also keep in mind I worked on this during different days, different times of day, and different locations, so the lighting will be pretty different throughout the pics here which will affect how the colors look and the overall quality of the photos, I did the best I could with the changing lighting.
First step is the graphite sketch. Since I’m focusing on the colored pencil part of the process I didn’t document the process of sketching, just the final outcome
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I go over the sketch with a colored pencil, I usually use a lighter color so that the lines you’ll see in the next step are lighter and not going to be noticeable when the drawing is all done, and I’ll go with a color that would be found in the illustration so that it doesn’t look unnatural wherever it may show through (I chose pink because, Pepto Bismol)
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then I go over the whole thing with an eraser, only the graphite erases completely while the colored pencil stays, even though it dulls a bit. This is so I can still have a sort of outline to color in without having to worry about graphite mixing with the lighter color pencil colors and muddying everything up (it also just cleans up the sketch a lot which makes everything easier to work with)
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then I start putting some of the colors down while also adding some basic detail that I’ll color and shade along later. I also go over the lines again just to make sure everything is shaped correctly, but I’m using the base colors of whatever the object is because I don’t actually want things to have outlines later on
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I’m kind of mapping out the colors now as well as shadows
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(also I finally found a use for this super bright neon pink colored pencil I have lol)
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I’m basically just continuously layering on more color and detail, making sure to go light to dark. I mostly work on everything evenly rather than meticulously finishing one area after another but I was a bit more meticulous with the pepto bismol tablets just because they were the most detailed part of the illustration
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I pretty much color the borzoi last because it’s the one white thing in this image and I want it to sort of “reflect” all the colors that will be around it and you can see I’m still adding new colors to the background as I go along
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adding some green, Im basically trying to get a black without using black by layering opposing (is that the right word?) colors over each other, it makes it so that the black still looks like a natural part of the image because it’s made up of the colors in it, and it gradients toward the foreground better. I’m also doing the same for the nose and lips of the borzoi
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finally putting some more color down on the borzoi, both giving it a base color and making the shading more defined
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added the pepto splash before I layer any more color on the background. Also in just about every step here I’m continuously touching up the pepto bismol tablets, maybe a bit too obsessively
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adding more colors from the background to the borzoi as well as shading it some more
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adding more green (and some dark blue) to the background and floor to darken it some more, and again to the borzoi
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I blend some of the lighter areas with orange-yellow, dunno if this is a real technique I just like the kind of glow effect it has and I do it a lot in my drawings (basically layering light colors over dark ones and sort of pressing harder with the strokes to blend/smooth everything together while giving it an almost glowing undertone of that light color)
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still layering colors to darken everything up
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Only at the very end I use a white colored pencil, I haven’t used it at all so far. I give the borzoi it’s fur texture + its whiskers, basically using the same method as earlier when I blended the yellow into darker colors by pressing harder with the strokes, here the strokes are just fur-shaped. I also add some highlights to the metal bowls, the splash of pepto bismol, and the nose and mouth of the borzoi with white colored pencil and a tiiiiny bit of white gel pen (a really tiny bit, basically a few little dots here and there)
oh and I added the “Pepto Bismol” writing to the pepto bismol tablets (or as close to writing as I could get)
also at some point in this step a mysterious black line appeared on the drawing that I couldn’t get rid of :( but its ok I just removed it in photoshop later lol
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then I just take as good a pic as I can and touch it up in photoshop, this is for getting rid of flaws like that weird black line as well as to make the photo resemble what the drawing looks like irl as closely as possible, I’ll usually have the drawing next to me so I can reference it while editing the photo to make sure it looks like the real thing. 
also in this step I usually crop the image both to hide the messy edges and to give it a better composition.
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you can see how different all these pics look from each other (in terms of lighting and quality) let alone from the final piece, which is why the editing step is important lol
hope this is helpful!
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lady-bugginette · 4 years
Text
Rose Painted Glasses (A Lila Exposed Fic)
First Next
Inspired by @chatonbean post. 
The first part is by another lovely user by the name of @time-is-a-pain. This is their original post here.
The part after this one, that I will make sure is indicated, is by another amazing user @lenoreofraven. Their original post is also here. Their entry is after the cut.
I want to quickly thank both of the amazing people above for letting me use their additions for setting up this fic. It is very much a collaborative effort between many talented writers, I cannot take entire credit for this. 😏
time-is-a-pain’s entry:
Nathaniel had noticed lately that a bunch of the art Lila claimed as hers were in wildly different styles. At first he tried to rationalize it, maybe she’d been branching out style-wise? Maybe she hadn’t actually found her own style yet? 
It got much harder to rationalize away the differences when he caught a glimpse of an oddly colored part of a background. Only a shade or two off, but it was there. And it looked like it might cover a signature? Now that he was thinking about it, only a few of the art Lila had shown the class had a signature.
It was harder, but it was Lila. They’d talked a lot about how horrible it felt to have your hard work stolen like that. She wouldn’t steal from anyone. Right?
Nathaniel shuddered, he hated the idea that someone would try claiming his work as their own. He made extra sure that his signature was on the picture, and would be hard to cover when he posted it to insta. H was proud of it, and no art thief would stop that.
And he was right to be proud. It quickly became one of his most popular posts. So when he got to school on Monday. and saw Lila showing off his work, he snapped at her.
Of course, most of the class took Lila’s side. But when Alix and Marinette got there, and saw what was happening, they took his side immediately.
“How can you prove it’s yours?” Kim asked. 
A chorus of agreement swept through the room. Nathaniel took a deep breath, his hands were trembling, and pulled out his sketchbook. Flipping to the right page, he stalked over to Lila’s desk, and slammed the book down in front of her.
There it was. The original sketch. Clear in view of the whole class. Nathaniel’s work.
Lila peeked out from behind her fingers when the class went deathly silent, and Alya pulled away from her. 
“How many others?” Nathaniel asked quietly, watching the panic appear, and get locked behind Lila’s mask. “Were any of them actually yours?” 
lenoreofraven’s entry:
“How could you say that? How could you do this? After all the conversations we had about art theft.” Lila exclaimed back, trying to extinguish the doubt in the eyes of  those that watched her. Not everyone was convinced. Alix stood by Nathaniel, trying her best to offer support. While Adrien gently touched Marinette’s wrist, as if signaling for her to stay back.
It was obvious Lila couldn’t win these artists over, artists who have had their work stolen. Instead her eyes settled to Ivan, Rose and Juleka. After the situation with XY, they were fuming the moment the accusation touched the air. It was their weak spot really. Took any logic they may have away.
“You said you wanted me to do a quick sketch, and lent me your notebook as I had left my tablet at home. Then you do this to me?” 
“Lila just stop it.” Marinette growled, but she wasn’t the audience for this little stunt. Lila could claim they were in France, and Marinette would check google maps to make sure they hadn’t moved. This was about everyone. 
Even Adrien, who glared at her from Marinette’s side, was part of the intended audience. As he could make, or break, her reputation if he so desired. Considering how Ivan responded to the demand. perhaps, just possibly, she could deal with two birds at once. Use this as Marinette was an expert on plagiarism, and if she picked the wrong side it could be ruin for her.
“Stop what? Trying to take credit for my own work? I know you don’t like me much, but do you honestly condone this? I thought you would be the first person to support the victim of art theft.” Marinette just looked back with a blank stare, not even humoring the accusation with a response.
All eyes were still on Lila and Nathaniel. Not ideal, but it could be managed. It was the wrong time for crocodile tears. Her eyes scanned the work again. When she had erased the signature from the upload she had been careful, after this she would start adding her own sign. For now she just needed proof. This was a draft, not the official upload. She just needed something.
“Maybe I have been experimenting with styles a bit, but this is mine. See, there’s an L, as in Lila. I made it subtle so it couldn’t be erased, like how you stitch your name into designs in clever ways, Marinette.” Lila explained, pointing at something that could be an L, but was just as likely to be miscellaneous lines. Alya, Sabrina, and a few others that were still on the fence squinted at it, tilting their heads to try and see it. The members of Kitty Section instantly took it as fact. Max, Alix and a few doubters all shook their heads, realizing the stretch.
Nathaniel glared back at her.
“That’s not an L. That’s just lines. I don’t erase signatures like some people because if you look on my insta it clearly had my signature, matches all my other work, and is clearly mine!”
“Then you must have added it. We all know how disrespectful you can be of other’s art.” Lila remarked, as she flinched away from Nathaniel. She made it as dramatic as possible, acting as if the artist would hit her. 
“LILA!” Snapped Alix, not sparing any notice for Ivan, who now stood as a shield for Lila.
Lila simply sighed with a shake of her head, moving slightly to the side so she could be seen, but Ivan still acted like a bodyguard.
“I know Marc didn’t want to mention it, but that couldn’t have been easy to witness. I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t here for it, but I do know you tore apart someone’s journal. I can’t imagine anyone doing that. It’s cruel. Sure you’re friends and have made up, now working on the comic, but doing that to someone’s notebook? I’d rather eat glass than have my precious sketchpads or notebooks damaged in anyway. I’m just saying, someone who does that may be the type of person to disrespect other people’s art.”
My entry:
Nathaniel flinched back, looking at the others in class. Rose and Juleka glared at him while Ivan stood in front of Lila, unmoving.
“How dare you!” Alix started toward Lila only to be held back by Kim. Max frowned at Lila while adjusting his glasses, he looked at the drawing again, and looked between Lila and Nathaniel.
“Don’t you dare talk about something you have no idea about- You Snake!”
Lila smiled her condescending smile at her opposers.
“It’s not my fault he caused an akuma because of his jealousy. I know he was angry with-”
Alix made another lunge for her, Kim had to quickly catch her body from the air before she could attack the other girl.
Marinette was fuming, she was burning with rage. Her face was slowly turning red, before she suddenly took out her phone. 
Adrien looked concerned. He could feel the heat coming off of her body. He looked to the windows, and the classroom door, fro any akumas. He knew it needed to be resolved, and fast. Rose and Juleka were yelling in defense of Lila, while Alix was screaming in defense of Nathaniel. Lila was still ‘cowering’ behind Ivan, and Nathaniel looked like he was on the verge of becoming another akuma. Adrien was about to speak up when someone else did.
“Actually-” A voice broke through the yells of the classroom. Alya looked uncomfortable, with Nino standing, just as uncomfortable, next to her.
Lila looked triumphant, she knew Alya would be on her side. She sent a smug look at the oposing group, one that earned a glare from Nathaniel, a growl from Marinette, and a lunge from Alix, again. 
Nino stepped forward, his expression placating.
“All we have to do is see where Nathaniel says his signature is, and see if the spot was altered on the photo posted to both accounts.”
The request seemed reasonable, if the nodding heads of the other classmates were anything to go by, if it weren’t all a lie.
Lila started crying her crocodile tears, lip wobbling at the pair closest to the door.
“Y-You don’t believe me?” She sniffed as Rose comforted her, and Juleka glared at them.
“Not at all!” Alya walked up, her hands waving in front of her.
“We’re not accusing anyone.” Nino clarified. 
“We’re just comparing the pictures, that’s all!” Alya hastened to add.
Lila didn’t look happy at all, but Rose was already pulling up the picture on Lila’s instagram. Marinette doing the same on her phone of Nathaniel’s instagram.
They both laid out their phones on a desk for everyone to compare. Max was looking at the two closely, as well as his own phone.
“Oh Marinette, that’s a screenshot.” Max pointed out. 
Lila smiled through her tears, sure that she could convince the class that she edited the photo for Nathaniel, because he accused her that one time too. 
“Oh, my bad” She said in a falsely sweet voice, something was up.
“Here. Oh!” She made it look like she was backing out of her photo gallery, when she just swiped over, and let the class see another piece of art work.
“Hey! That looks like one of Lila’s pictures!” Rose, oh so helpfully, pointed out. And it was, one of the ones she posted to her instagram anyway. 
“Oh but that’s from this artist. See? I screenshoted it when they posted it, two weeks ago. See?”
They looked closer, and sure enough the artist posted it two weeks before, They looked at the same picture on Lila’s instagram that she claimed she finished two days prior. With a suspicious bloch where the other artists signature was was on their post.
Max pulled back, pushed his glasses back up, and nodded.
“Yup. That picture is the original, you can see the watermark. And the convenient spot that covered the watermark from the original picture, right there on Lila’s instagram.” Rose and Juleka looked at her, confused. Ivan turned around, looking for answers as well. Before Lila could get a word in Marinette took that moment to completely pounce.
“Oh, but what about these pictures? Do they also have erased watermarks, because they look an awful like the other artists I follow that have had their work stolen from them too.”
Alya and Max descended on the photos like vultures on a carcass, picking apart every screenshot in Marinette’s phone, and every post Lila had made on her instagram with Rose’s phone.
Rose didn’t protest as the hovered over her phone, she looked at Lila with tears in her eyes.
“Is it true? Did-Did you s-steal them?” Juleka wrapped her arm around her shoulder, but gave a hesitant glance to Lila. Ivan looked lost, Mylene currently being out sick, he didn’t know who to side with.
Kim didn’t have to hold Alix back, she stood back on her won. Her arms crossed, and a smug look on her face, she knew Lila had been caught. She gave a smile to Marinette, who gave a thumbs up in return. Nathaniel looked relieved, he also gave Marinette a grateful smile that she returned.
Lila knew she was losing her hold. She looked to Adrien, but he was busy looking (out for akumas) around the room.
She had to play her ace in the hole.
She burst into tears, sobbing.
“I-I’m so sick of this lying disease!” 
The others looked at her confused.
Alix snorted.
“Yeah, you are lying, and you are a disease.” Kim elbowed her for that, but he didn’t say anything. 
Lila had to move fast.
“I w-was going to take them down. B-But I really do like the pictures. I h-had no idea they had b-been stolen b-by those artists-”
“That doesn’t explain the watermarks!” Alix cut across.
“I didn’t steal them! Someone else did! I-I got permission f-from whoever stole the art f-first. A-and-” She hastened to add when she saw that Alix and Marinette were about to interrupt her.
“A-and I couldn’t help but put that I drew them, because of my lying disease! R-Remember?” Marinette looked enraged, Alix and Nathaniel looked at her in disbelief. Max also looked skeptical. 
“L-lying disease?” Rose asked tentatively. Lila nodded.
“Yes! R-Remember? W-When I accidentally got Marinette expelled.” At the memory being brought up, Marinette’s face darkened further, Adrien looked uncomfortable, and Alix and Nathaniel shared a look of realization.
“I didn’t mean to get her expelled! It was my disease! It acts up during times of stress! And with all of the charities I help with, and my disabilities, I get too stressed out and start lying again!” She looked to Alya, who looked like she was almost convinced. Nino was looking to Alya. Rose, Juleka, and Ivam were firmly back on her side again.
She just needed to convince Alya, and the majority would follow, or join Marinette in exile.
“I-I’ve been getting so stressed out lately! And I can’t control the urge when it happens! I am so sorry you guys! I didn’t mean-”
“That still doesn’t explain why you accused Nathaniel of stealing your supposed artwork.” Marinette pointed out.
“Or the fact that you brought up something that you have no idea about and threw it in his face!” Alix added.
Lila schooled her face to guilt.
“I’m sorry that I offended you Nathaniel. I didn’t mean to.” She let a few tears come to the surface of her eyes, but never let them fall. 
It was all Juleka and Rose needed to flock to her and comfort her. She looked to Alya, who looked on the verge of joining her. She just needed a little more.
“I can understand what made you want to draw that picture you posted, it looks a lot like mine. You drew inspirations from that, I get that!” Nathaniel looked livid, and Alix was ready to blow.
But Lila only worried about the two that were in front of her that weren’t at her side yet. She needed them to keep her hold of the class.
“I can understand drawing inspiration from what’s around you, Marinette does that all the time no?” Said girl glared at her. Adrien had finally stopped his tour of the room with his eyes, and looked at the group. He glared at Lila, but she could deal with that later. As long as he kept his arm out in front of Marinette, and out of her way, she could deal with him later.
She just needed Alya and Nino.
“I don’t blame you for being inspired! Not at all! I just want an apology for accusing me of stealing.” At the start of the protests from Marinette, Alix and Nathaniel, she looked to Nino and Alya.
“Right Alya? Nino?”
Alya hesitantly nodded. Nino didn’t react one way or the other, Hmm...
“See? It;s alright! We just needed to communicate!” Rose cheerfully added.
At that convenient time, Madam Bustier entered the room.
“Alright class! We have a busy day ahead of us! Finish up your chat and get to your seats!”
Lila looked to Nathaniel, an expectant look on her face that made his stomach turn.
Was this how Marinette felt?
Rose, Juleka, and Ivan looked at him expectantly too.
 Madam Bustier looked back at the group, waiting. Kim slapped him on the back.
“Hey! It’s resolved now! Just apologize and it’s all good man!” 
Alix glared at him, but Nathaniel just sighed.
“I’m... Sorry Lila.”
She smiled her condescending smile once again, that Nathaniel was beginning to realize was the one she always gave to Marinette.
“I accept your apology.”
And everyone started to go back to their seats.
Nathaniel didn’t missed the way Marinette opened her mouth again, but stopped when Adrien touched her arm with his hand. He whispered something to her and shook his head. Alix noticed this too.
She looked angry, and gave him a look of disgust before she subtly tore her arm away from his. He looked sad, but retreated back to his seat anyway. Marinette looked back at Nathaniel and Alix, to see them already looking at her.
She gave them a sad smile and looked to her desk, to see Lila already seated there. She let out a quiet sigh, and made her way to the back of the classroom.
“Hey Marinette?” Nathaniel asked quietly. She looked between him and Alix, who was toeing the floor.
“Do you want to sit in the back with us?” She was about to ask why Alix would sit at the back when she saw her bookbag in her hand.
She smiled at them and nodded. They made their way to the back, not noticing Adrien’s frown of sadness or Lila’s frown of annoyance.
She didn’t like reminding them of her ‘lying disease’. It might give them a reason to not totally believe her,though it was a great skeleton key to get her out of any situation because of her lies.
She turned back around in her seat, plotting her next move for the two new people that joined her exiled list.
Oh well, looks like she’d be adjusting her plans to fit two more.
What she didn’t know, was that there was another person that was beginning to catch on to all of her little lies. He just had to catalog them all on his phone first, before bringing the evidence to light.
Tag List:
@bean2342 @chris-pixie @pirats-pizzacanninibles @multifacetedfangirl @might-as-well-happen @legallyspawned @firesong323 @kuroko26 @runestarchild @mariae2900 @laadychat
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azurite-writes · 4 years
Text
Problem One: The Screen(s) and Digital Workspace
Part one of my multi-part doc about what I learned from doing online college at a non-online institution. This chapter: my Desktop as a Desk
     Highlighted points: learning styles, work type/function in relation to the computer 
       My biggest problem with being pushed online after being at an in-person institution was, and still is, my forced reliance on the computer. I have to sit in front of it for hours: attending classes on Zoom; checking email every three hours; accessing Moodle pages for class and out-of-class work (Moodle is what my institution uses, other web management/e-learning software platforms include PowerLearning, Blackboard, and OU Campus, among others). And the work itself can be watching documentaries, watching seminars, accessing ebook/PDF documents, annotating documents in online portals… it's a lot. People have talked at length about "zoom fatigue," as well as the eyestrain headaches that can come with staring at said screens for hours at a time. I'll talk about my own lessons learned about that later.
       The assumption among the administrators and (some) people of older generations than those currently in school seems to be that working online with computers and smartphones is more efficient. That isn't necessarily true; it all depends on the type of task and the person being expected to complete it. In my case, I cannot, for the life of me, focus on dense sections of text presented on a backlit screen. Thus, reading and answering emails is okay, but downloading scanned textbook pages to be read on a laptop screen (along with trying to highlight and annotate them) is hell on earth.
       Why is this? Different reasons for different people, but in my case it's because reading/"writing" on a screen interferes with my learning style(s), which are visual/spatial, audio, and kinetic. Audio doesn't come into play for reading on a screen, but seeing words physically in a certain location relative to other words on a page is very important to my memory of the material. Computer screens can display pretty much anything at any given time; book pages can only display whatever was permanently printed onto them. That is, the content of a book page in physical space will always be the same unless you, the reader, manipulate it; a computer screen can have any type of content displayed as long as its pixels can light up and process the information. And for me, that's a problem because I don't have any physical space to relate the information to, plus I don't get a sense of how long the document is. Recalling a passage in a printout, for me, goes like this: "I remember it was on the top-left of a page towards the beginning, the shape of the paragraph was funny too… ah, there it is." Recalling a passage on a digital scan of the same document is much harder for me by contrast: literally any of the paragraphs could have made its way to the top-left of my computer screen, if I moved the window around or zoomed in to better read the text; documents are an endless scroll upward or downwards, with (maybe) a sidebar to tell me what page I've landed on. All of my "landmarks" are functions of the program I am using to access the document. They're static and contained to a window... that can show up anywhere on my computer screen. Not conducive to the way I learn at all.
       My kinetic learning style comes into play with the computer, too. Annotating a document? In the physical world, a pen on the document itself does the trick; going through the physical movement of circling a word or making a note are things that solidify the information in my mind. Annotating a PDF document? First of all, it's difficult to do with a mouse (and God help you if you have a trackpad), and it's highly dependent on the program that the user selects to open the PDF. I could connect a drawing tablet, if I have one, but they're very expensive and their use is, again, dependent on the compatibility with whatever reader program the user selects. All this to say: annotating on the computer doesn't work for me, either. My kinetic and visual learning styles come together with note-taking. My memory is highly dependent on seeing words as they are formed by my own hand, processing them, and connecting meaning to them as they sit in a specific place on the page (am I over-explaining this? Basically, writing notes by hand and seeing where those notes are on a piece of paper help me remember them). Typing notes isn't a replacement for hand-writing notes for me; while I'm busy fixing my typos (on words I would never misspell on paper, usually, since my fingers are just moving weirdly over the keys), the professor moves on, and I'm not listening well enough to catch the fact that I've missed new information.
       The takeaway here is figure out your individual types of work relate to being on the computer. As I said, the computer hinders many aspects of my learning when it comes to memory and efficiency. As a creative tool, however, it has almost the opposite effect; writing assignments for fiction, poetry, and screenwriting classes are much more efficient on the computer. From creative thought to keystroke, I have less time to second-guess or forget my ideas, and both the immediacy and changeability of word processing programs actually works in my favor for those sorts of things.
       What I did differently from first online semester to second:
       1) I figured out which materials helped me remember my notes the best. Honestly, I wasn't even doing this when I was at in-person college, and to my detriment, but I couldn't get away with it at all once I went fully remote. Think back to when you were in lower levels of school: were there certain types of materials you gravitated towards in the classroom? Did you like basic composition notebooks with faint blue lines? Wide-ruled or college-ruled paper? Did you discover that graph paper just worked really nicely with all notes besides math, or that blank pages were less busy for your eyes? When you used pens, did you prefer blue or black ink, or did colored ink help certain things stick? If you can control what materials you use to take notes with, consider using ones akin to those from a class you either a) remembered the most fondly or b) remembered the most information from. Scour your memories of class experiences for anything, no matter how small, that may have made your life easier. Equally, take note of what tasks actually worked well digitally. Adjust accordingly.
(Personally, I found my magic formula was a 1-subject memorandum notebook — marginless, with very narrow line rulings; while I hesitate to direct you to Amazon, they are hard to find at a decent price otherwise, and you can get a 12 pack for just over $40 from them — with black ink from a 0.38-size gel pen (I used a basic Pilot G2 pen until it ran out, then bought ink refills in the smaller size). To "highlight" my notes, I circled or underlined information with a blue gel pen of the same variety. Keep in mind again that I'm learning to be a translator; this is just what works for me.)
       2) If I needed to print something out, I printed it out. Environmental guilt is something I struggled with a lot, and there was always something about staying on the computer that convinced me I was being "less wasteful" by staying digital. But with how much time and energy I ultimately saved reading a printed document that can be recycled vs the electricity I ate up spinning my wheels in front of the ebook… to me, it was worth it. If you find that helps you, too, don't be ashamed to print certain things out.
(If conserving ink and paper is a concern to you, it is possible in some viewing/editing apps to remove or cover images, either with white squares or by taking the images out completely. I have an old MacBook Pro and on current versions of Preview, one can draw shapes and fill them in white to cover parts of the scan that would eat up ink, such as blurred black borders and scanned images. For documents in a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Pages, it may also be possible to print the documents out at a smaller size, allowing more text or even multiple pages to show up on a single sheet of paper.)
| In the coming days/weeks I hope to be posting more content about how I tried to adapt to fully remote learning and the things I’ve learned along the way! Follow for updates ♥︎ |
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rainyday-deer · 3 years
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Hi so going through some of your tags and looking at your amazing edits and gifs, I was jw what app you used for it and maybe if you could give me some tips for editing?
Awh, thank you! That's v sweet!
When it comes to edits, I usually use PS CC 2018, and then whatever art program I'm using at the time (It used to be SAI, now it's Clip)
As for tips, uhhhh... I'm not the best at explaining things, but I'll do my best!
I'll use some of my favorites as examples because I think visuals help lmao
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This one in particular is the product of me frankensteining a LOT of different parts. The characters are all from different scenes, so is the background, and even Rapunzel's mouth is from a different scene and wasn't originally part of the screencap her body was from. With edits, I try not to redraw a whole lot of pieces myself, esp if they're stylized a certain way (IE; Mouths, Eyes, accessories) and try to pull them from other screencaps I have. If I can find it in the show, i will use it, even if it's just as a base. They're almost always on their own layer.
The only thing I often draw on my own is Rapunzel's hair, and just the very ends, only when I'm giving her a hair cut, just because it's easier. This is usually also on its own layer, under the Punz cut out once I've erased her braid.
Sidenote: Changing things like eye and hair colors. It usually looks MUCH nicer and less... Obvious that you changed it if you sort of build the color up. Rapunzel's hair is changed to brown by using a hue layer first, and then a multiply layer at like 82% to get it as close to canon as I can without just slapping color over her hair and having to redraw things like details or texture or lighting that might already exist.
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It's actually WAY simpler to cut out ALL of a character, and then change things on a separate layer from everything else, esp if I want to keep the background the same, or just don't want to disrupt it, OR need to have a group layer over it (like for changing hair colors/covering something up.)
It's ALSO way easier to just... slap the character or a different background, or find the same one without anyone in it (which is easier than you think, since characters move around, or when they leave an area, there's usually a frame or two of the BG on its own)
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Of course, if that's not possible (like in the above), you can usually get away with clone stamping the bg underneath the cut out of the character to try and cover up any existing bits of what might still be there.
And also sometimes just shrinking it waaaay down makes it harder to see any bg inconsistencies-- Which is fine for things like icons, which is what this was originally for:
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ALSO HANDY: Pay attention to the BGs lighting, and even if you're going to change it later, it's generally easier to change the lighting on EVERYTHING if the BG and Character already match:
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The BG and both characters were already daylit, so it made matching them a lot easier. Not that it's IMPOSSIBLE, it's just WAY easier. (Compare Hector below, who was in darker lighting than the BG was initially. He took a lot longer to adjust just right.)
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It also kind of helps to sort of study how characters are framed in the actual show? Pay attention to scaling, the horizon line, etc. Use things like blurring or scale to your advantage to give the impression of some sort of depth, so it just doesn't look like you slapped one character on top of another. Try to make eye contact! Try to see if you can make it look like something is happening! Play around, see what looks good!
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ESPECIALLY play around and see what you can turn 100% into something else. The shadow demon was originally only Tromus' hands and arms. Goopy Punz there was once just a Normal Rapunzel cap. It's v handy to push and see what you can do.
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I draw, so a lot of this stuff I'm already familiar with, and it helps a lot tbh, since I use what I know.
That said EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING is 10x easier if you have a tablet. You have better control over the lasso tool, the brushes, color picking.
I've always kind of looked at it as like... Digital paper dolls. Everything is its own piece, and it's fun to try and see what you can get away with.
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Text
Story Time
fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony), Superfamily (Tony and Steve adopt Peter Parker as their son)
summary: Reading bed time stories to your child should be soothing and calming, but not when the tickle monster comes with a visit. 
length: 963 words
a/n: this fic is a part of my 8th Stony Anniversary and is based on this prompt! hope you enjoy the fic, likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated and needed!
—————
Story Time
There it was. One of the most beautiful things Steve had ever seen. He had lost hope for seeing it ever again. 
Not caring about people walking by and staring funnily at him, Steve pressed himself into the cool glass of the display window. What were the chances of seeing it ever again. 
After the shock had passed, Steve walked into the shop, making the small bell above the door ding and breathing in the scent of dust and old books. A sharp-looking older gentleman, who easily could be Steve's chronological age, years spent frozen included, greeted him. After a friendly chat and showing Steve around the cramped, yet impressive antique shop, Steve had left with heated cheeks and a carefully placed book in a paper bag. Somehow he would explain to Tony why he had spent a three digits number on some dusty book, while everything he needed, Tony could easily download and transfer to Steve's tablet or smartphone. 
For Steve, it wasn't just any book. It was a collection of fairy tales, with the most beautiful illustrations, the same edition he remembered from his childhood years. Growing up, Steve had been often sick, it was no secret, but the long evenings spent with fever and coughing were not so bad anymore, when his mom read stories to him. The book had no healing properties, but his mom's gentle voice, the imagination, and creativity of the tales and pages filled with colorful images were the best medicine, helping him to get better rest and recover faster. Those were one of Steve's happiest memories and one day, he hoped to repeat them with his child. The book spent many years, safely hidden away in Steve's studio, waiting for the right opportunity. The day he and Tony had adopted Peter, a small toddler with brown, fluffy hair and rosy cheeks, was one of Steve's happiest days. It took some more years until Peter grew up enough, and Steve felt confident enough with introducing his child to the special book that made his childhood. He feared Peter's reaction, knowing that his and Tony's child grew up surrounded by technology from the very beginning, but Peter's eyes shone happily the first time he saw the enormous book, framed in blue material and with embossed gold letters. A true treasure. It became their small ritual and each evening, after dinner and bath, Steve sat Peter in his lap and read his son a story, creating precious memories for both of them. Peter listened with heated cheeks to the story about the Ugly Duckling, huffed and puffed together with the Big Bad Wolf, and cried when the Pied Piper lured mice away from the town and drowned them in a river and Steve had to quickly come up with an alternative ending, meaning, that mice swam away and found a new, safe home in a wheat field. 
The father and son ritual continued, and one evening Steve had been reading The Beauty and the Beast, the part where Belle’s father becomes a prisoner in Beast's castle when he noticed Peter squirming in his arms. Steve understood, aware that it might have been a scary part for a three year old child, so he hugged Peter closer, easing him and assuring that he was safe and continued reading. The squirming didn't stop and became even more intense, but the weirdest part was when unexpectedly, Peter burst into squeaky laughter. 
"Huh?" Steve looked at his son's laughing face, not understanding what was so funny. "Peter, what -" Steve didn't finish when the riddle solved itself. He lowered the book and saw a puff of brown hair, and when he lowered the book completely, he saw his husband, sitting on the floor near the couch and holding Peter's small feet and gently running his fingers over the small sole. And the squirming and laughter were explained.
"Tony!" Steve scolded, laughing on his own and holding Peter with one hand, and trying to swat Tony with the other. "We are trying to read!"
"But Steeeeve!" Tony whined, "look how cute those tiny feet are!" he explained himself, and pressed a kiss to Peter's soft sole, the mustache additionally tickling baby's skin and causing Peter to giggle higher. 
Steve shook his head in faked reprimand. Of course, Peter was cute and Steve could just eat him up. But it was story time and sleep, not playtime, and playing the tickle monster would just make Peter excited and awake, instead of calmed down and sleepy. 
"Okay, enough of this!" Steve decided and swatted his hand in Tony's direction again. "Begone, tickle monster!"
"Begone, tickle monstwer!" Peter repeated after his papa, smiling with all twenty milk teeth he had. Tony, being the good sport, snarled and crouch-walked away, dragging his hands behind. It was a funny sight and Steve and Peter laughed some more at Iron Man's behavior and Peter turned back to Steve, settling once more in his pop's arms.
"Again!" Peter smiled, poking his small finger at the book. Steve smiled back and would resume reading, but... Peter's eyes were shining happily, his cheeks were a bit pink, and he looked like a little cream puff in his ducky yellow pajamas. There was no way Steve could resist it and perfectly understood his husband’s gentle attack.
"Pete... I think we have a problem..."
"Mmmmm?" Peter asked, his brown eyes widening. 
"I think... The tickle monster is back!"
When Steve gently ran his fingers over his son's sides and tummy, Peter squeaked, before bursting into beautiful, giggly laughter that was warming Steve's heart. What was more, the laughter had lured Tony back in, who enthusiastically took the role of the second tickle monster.
The Beauty and The Beast had to wait for a different evening. 
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