#i keep wanting to add things or change bits but its done its done and im not gonna touch it anymore

[zosanbrainrot]

PART 4!!

01 02 03 04

I stg I'm kicking yall in the shins one last time, we're ALMOST done with the angst!

Let me tell you I had this finished(!) twice(!), but no, I had to go back and change it lmao

In my first go the fight scene was much more rough, it was hard for me to draw from the beginning, I'm not really good at this sort of thing. So I took a little break from the comic and when I got back to drawing the last two panels (static ch close ups) they turned out so GOOD and CRISP! I just had to go back and redraw the previous ones. Didn't change the composition back then, just made the drawings less sketchy and fixed minor mistakes. This panel in particular went through bigger fixes, I couldn't get the pose right:

I emphasized the arch in Zoro's back so it's more clear he's hunched over, the head is lower, and the hand on his stomach wasn't looking good, so I switched its direction and I feel it looks more natural now. The whole pose is shifted to the side now, whereas in the previous ones it was more straight up, but I wasn't conveying perspective well.

So after that I had it all exported, loaded into drafts and as I scroll it on my phone I'm like... There should be one more panel where Zoro's getting kicked : | Imma need to change it AGAIN.......

It just didn't flow well. I work on the comic in chunks so I haven't put these panels together before, I always saw them side by side in my main file.

I just didn't like how you go from Zoro getting kicked to him being thrown, it just felt disjointed to me.

So first I looked through the three sole volumes of BNHA that I have at home to maybe understand drawing fight scenes just a little bit better. That's how I got to the new version of Zoro getting kicked so there's more lines showing movement etc. but most importantly you have the kick and Zoro's reaction separate. So now Zoro's face has a bigger closeup, you can see his open eye.

In the previous version it was more distant, the closeup wasn't as big and you couldn't see his expression well. With just the side view you could only see he's in pain but nothing more than that,whereas when you have a full view of his face you can get much more from that. You see where he's looking, you know he's looking at Sanji when he kicks him in the guts.

I guess that's why, in the first version, I was trying to still show his face where he's being thrown off of Sanji bcs I felt the side profile wasn't doing it's job, but at the same time it felt off, like there was less force in the kick bcs his head wasn't following the movement idk. Also he was def too big in the frame. So now Zoro's smaller to emphasize the perspective more, the head is down, the right arm is more to the side and there's more lines, the flame is more aggressive now and bursts into the sides when it comes in contact with Zoro's body to show the impact. I know they could be better still, but this is the best I can do right now and I'm happy with the result!! I'm glad I kept pushing it! These poses were VERY confusing to draw lol

Alsooo, it would make more sense if Sanji threw Zoro in the other direction, over his head like in karate/judo, but I wanted to keep my directions consistent. I had to have Sanji standing back to the carriage, so he doesn't notice the spear being thrown and Zoro facing the carriage so he can get hit from the front, right after he gets up. It's like..... did he not see it? Did he get hit on purpose? You decide lmao

Though I'm probably too rigid with my 'camera', in BNHA you see the action from any and every direction, i guess it adds to the dynamism of it all, also there's just many MANY more panels in manga lmao

Judge giving me major "isn't there somebody you forgot to ask" vibes at the end there lmao I hope you forgot he's even there and this comes as a surprise!

[amomentsescape]

A candle lit bubble bath with the slashers (and Sinclair brothers) after very bad and long day of chasing a victim who was being extra difficult?

Slashers + Sinclair Brothers & a Bubble Bath with Reader

Slashers x Reader (Separate)

A/N: I didn't really go into detail about them having trouble with their victim. I mostly focused on the aftermath. I hope that's okay!

Freddy Krueger

He's honestly worse than a teenage girl

Immediately comes to you ranting and calling the victim every name in the book

You just wait for him to get the anger out of his system

Once he's done dumping all of his thoughts out on you, he insists on spending some time just relaxing with one another

He clearly needs it

Jumps at the opportunity of a bath with you, excited to be this close to you (especially with no clothes on)

He likes when you lean against him, giving him full access to place kisses on your neck

Can change the lighting in his world to whatever he feels like

He says he just doesn't like candles

But you're certain the flames freak him out a bit

He keeps the water from getting cold, allowing you both to stay in the tub for literal hours if your heart desires

Michael Myers

Michael is pretty self-aware that his anger is explosive

So when he comes home after wasting his whole night chasing down one victim, he's fuming

Immediately locks himself in the bedroom for a good hour, not wanting to accidentally hurt you

You've been through this a few times before, knowing that he'll come to you when he's ready

Once he feels calm enough, he comes out and sits beside you, letting you rest your weight against him

Seeing how dirty he is, you insist on having him join you in the tub

He denies it for a bit, but eventually gives in when he realizes you're just going to keep asking

Has your back against his chest

He sort of just sits there for a while, letting the water do its thing

But if you start putting shampoo in his hair and help wash him up, he won't be opposed

Jason Voorhees

The only way Jason will ever take a bath is if you're in there with him

He's learned to find some relaxation in the warm water now, and today is one of those days where he feels like he really needs it

He comes home and just hugs you for a bit, trying to get rid of his frustrations from earlier

And once you lead him by the hand to the warm tub, he's already feeling a bit better

He's a little big for the tub, so you kind of have to sit in his lap when you join him, not that he minds

Practically becomes putty in your hands

Rub his back? Loves it

Give him little kisses? Melts

Literally just poke him? All yours

You're basically the only thing that makes Jason feel better after days like these

Thomas Hewitt

After the day he had, he just wants to see you

It's actually his idea to take a bath in the first place

He thinks it's the perfect excuse to be close with you

Will pull you up to your feet and lead you towards the tub

He already has the water running

Needs you to add the bubbles though

He just thinks you have the magic touch when it comes to adding the right amount of soap

Unsurprisingly, he's the one that wants to pamper you

Helps wash your back and rinse the shampoo from your hair

He isn't sure why, but taking care of you is what puts him in a good mood after a long day

There's just something about seeing you so happy that makes him feel happy too

Bubba Sawyer

When he comes home, he immediately grabs your hand and is blubbering about his day

Is making huge gestures on what went wrong and how upset he is

All the while, you are already leading him to the bathroom, Bubba not even paying attention to where he's going

You help him get out of his dirty clothes and lead him into the tub

You also begin lighting some of his favorite scented candles while he sits, him still freaking out

It's only when you get in the tub with him that he calms down

You both sit facing each other, pushing a toy duck back and forth

It's his favorite

His whines of anger slowly turn into giggles as you start throwing bubbles at him

With you, his mood can do a 180 in a matter of minutes

You both end up in a bit of a water fight though, soaking the whole floor

Brahms Heelshire

Brahms is pissed

After chasing around this victim, knocking over furniture, and almost breaking his arm, he is practically ready to burst

You have to hold him tightly to you as you shush him, trying to calm him down

It only seems to work when you suggest taking a bath together to relax

He helps light candles while you tend to the water and bubbles

About makes you fall when he drags you into the tub with him, making you sit right in front of him

Gets very touchy and wants to help you get clean

But you also switch the roles too, helping him wash up even though he insists on just washing you

He eventually relaxes though, closing his eyes as you run your fingers through his hair

You both end up falling asleep together, only waking once the water cools

Norman Bates

He doesn't quite remember what had him so upset, but all he knows is that he needs some down time

When he walks through the door to see that you've already made him his favorite tea, he gives you the kindest smile

You offer a warm bath to help ease him, and he simply requests that you join as well

You both sip on your mugs while you catch up on everything that happened today

He enjoys talking with you

And having you cuddled up against him makes it all even better

He doesn't even remember feeling upset before

He just closes his eyes and leans his head back, still silently listening to you talk

Billy Loomis

He comes home silently fuming

(He got out most of his yells and punches earlier)

Before you can even ask about his day, he is grabbing you and pulling you to the bathroom with him

Doesn't say anything, just starts the bath and begins piling his dirty clothing onto the floor

Once the tub is full, he's pulling you in with him, wrapping his arms around you roughly

You both don't have to say anything, just finding comfort in being with each other during this time

He does take this moment to just reflect though, thinking of all the ways to kill in the future so another victim doesn't give him such a hard time

But don't worry, he's back to his usual self once the water has cooled

You both end up cuddling on the couch, still wrapped in your towels

Stu Macher

The moment you see his face through the door, he's on a tangent

He's telling you all about what happened, but he's talking so fast that you can barely keep up with him

And the whole time he's ranting, he's stripping off his clothes, rummaging through bags of chips, and pushing you towards the bathroom

You still don't understand how someone can multitask as much as him

He's helping you undress, still talking about how terrible the victim was and how frustrated he is feeling

But the moment he's in the tub, he's all lovey dovey

Insists on being held by you, wanting to be babied

He didn't even let the bath fill completely before hopping in, so he's practically yelling over the sound of the water

But it's worth it to be with him when he's so needy

Eric Draven

Even just one person escaping means another crime waiting to be committed in Eric's eyes

So when he comes home, his head hung a bit low, you immediately know

He sits beside you and leans into your arms, listening to your quiet reassurances

Once his mood seems a little lighter, you hurry into the bathroom and get the water running

You already had plenty of candles lit since Eric enjoys the gentle light they provide

He gets in the tub first, making sure the water isn't too hot or cold for you

Then, he opens his arms wide with a soft smile

You sit between his legs and let his full frame engulf you

Making you feel safe and secure is a guaranteed way to make Eric feel content

It never fails

Vincent Sinclair

He's absolutely exhausted

He just wants to lay with you and feel your hand in his hair

The moment he comes home and finds you waiting by the bathroom, a soft smile on your face, he's instantly put in a better mood

And this joy only increases when he sees the gentle flicker of the candles and the soapy bubbles of the tub

Immediately pulls you into a long hug, physically relaxing in your arms

And the moment the warm water engulfs him?

He's literally in heaven

Will gladly let you wash his hair and rub the soap along his back

That tough victim he dealt with just an hour before is long gone from his mind

He knows that whenever he needs fixing, you're the one to come to

Bo Sinclair

Bo isn't very easy to calm down

When he storms in, a scowl on his face, you can tell that things didn't go well for him

You just let him rage around for a bit, waiting patiently for him to calm down on his own

You can always tell he's feeling better once his eyes meet yours

"I have the bath running" is all you have to say

Bo gently nods

He'll never admit it, but during moments like these, he just wants to be pampered and babied

Leans his full weight against you, sighing in relief as the bubbles engulf him

"You always know just what I need, darlin'"

Expects long scalp massages and gentle squeezes along his arms

But don't worry, he's sure to return the favor, pressing soft kisses to your bare shoulders

Won't let you leave the tub until he's ready, and that's usually when the water has turned cold

Lester Sinclair

Although he doesn't really participate in the killings, he's still expected to help clean up

And boy, did his brothers leave him with quite the mess

He comes home filthy, his white t-shirt no longer recognizable

"Oh, honey. Looks like you need a bath."

His frustrated gaze softens quickly when looks at you

"Please," he insists

He pulls you in with him, wanting you to hold him so close that he is literally engulfed by you

Gazes at the different candles you lit while you talk to him softly

Even if his day didn't go well, he still wants to hear about yours

It's the best way to lighten his mood, knowing everything you were up to while he was out

[shmaba]

I’m going to assume that at this point you’ve all seen Critical Role’s new show Candela Obscura and at least skimmed through the Quickstart Guide (you have done all that riiiight??) So I wanted to compile all the things I’ve done that have been shown so far. Its long so read below the line!

I’m going to try to avoid spoilers. So feel free to read without worry. I’m also going to try and avoid breaking any NDA like a good professional. So I will not be doing some deep dive behind the scenes thing. Only visuals that have already been publicly shared are going to be on here

The very first thing I did on this show was the concepts for the main set. Everything is practical. Nothing is green screen or cg or whatever. Some people think it’s just good cg but nope that's all real. You could touch it! (don’t touch it, there are ghosts)

There were multiple iterations on the design, each with their own vibe and statement piece. CR narrowed it down to what you see in the show: a sort of storage hall with an odd clock contraption behind the GM. I think I called this design version the “Abyssal Hall” or something like that (I gave the different versions names to better keep track of which design was being discussed)

The company Flip This Bitch built the physical set. They turned my silly little art into a real thing. So they did all the actual magic of making this set come together in the end! They deserve a lot of the credit for it looking so good in the end.

Also that little piece of art in the bottom left of the preshow is a section from the final concept art of the set.

That contraption behind Matt is based on astrolabes and clocks. This isn’t really meant to be a literal astrolabe or a clock as we would use them in our world. Narratively this isn’t a device that measures either of the things that a traditional astrolabe or clock does. This is a special magickal tool that does a secret third thing.

Also I did concepts for the GM screen. You don't really see it besides in the fancy-shmancy preshow. There were a number of more intricate designs for it but CR went with the simpler option since the only part that would be visible on stream is the top, so that's where I put the most detail.

I should also note that I did not design the logo! It’s pretty prominent on the GM screen but I was supplied an already existing logo for this.

NEXT is the Taliesin enclosure set that you see in the trailer. This is actually meant to be like the lantern room on the top of a lighthouse, minus the big light beacon (You could say Taliesin is the beacon).

Also in the trailer you see a couple brief sketches I did for some world building concepts:

Speaking of sketches there are a number of art pieces of mine in the Quickstart guide

A lot of my art is sketches. They’re all meant to be like notes and drawings from members of Candela as they travel and notate their findings. Most of the notes on these sketches are my actually my notes when I was doing world building concepts, but they replaced my handwriting with a font because my handwriting sucks lmao (also likely for ease of future localization).

Also the cover of the Quickstart guide uses line art of a part of that astrolabe clock set piece. This line art was part of the deliverables that was sent over to Flip This Bitch for construction. They’re just using pieces of those set concepts everywhere!

As you can see I’ve done a lot of art for this project. I was part of this project when it was still early in development. It’s changed quite a bit from where we started. 

I wasn’t the only one that made all this art happen though. Other artists, writers, and designers got to add their own vision to this. It was very much a collaborative effort that took a long time to happen. It’s very exciting to see everyone’s hard work come to fruition and there is a lot more to come!

[jessequinones]

Writing Advice: Chapters

A lot of my advice comes down to, having beta readers, and “it’s up to you” which doesn’t sound like good advice but when it comes to writing, everyone writes differently so there are different ways of doing the same thing. So, what’s my advice when I talk about chapters?

To me, a chapter is a section of the book which talks about a certain event. There’s no right or wrong way for how long the event should be, and there’s no right or wrong way of how the event can start or end. Here’s how I write my chapters and what I’ve learned along the way.

Starting the chapter:

Before I start the chapter, I need to figure out what the main event is gonna be. Will this event be informational? Action pact? Suspenseful? It can also be a combination of a few events as well, such as having my characters find information, but something goes wrong and now they have to escape.

After I figure out what the main event is gonna be, I start writing and once I complete that event I end it and move on. I try not to carry on too much after the main event has finished because I feel like my chapters might drag if I do.

Writing the chapter:

When it comes to a chapter, I try to have a beginning, middle, and end section. (Keep in mind this doesn’t work for every chapter.) Let me explain what I meant about those sections. The event in this example is Nix and Dante are tryna get information, but something goes wrong after they get said information. So the chapter starts at the beginning where Nix and Dante enter a secured location. The middle is where they get passed all of the alarms and hacked into the network. The ending is they got the information but an alarm gets triggered anyway.

Expanding the chapter:

So, I wrote the beginning, middle, and end, the event is done, but it was kind of boring. Let’s expand it to them escaping. This is where I think chapters start to become long. Some people combine two events into one chapter and some events are longer than others. Escaping a secured facility sounds more difficult than sneaking in. So, adding an escape attempt can spice up the chapter, but you need to be careful with how you do it.

I think when people complain about long chapters, one of their reasoning is “This feels like it could’ve been split into two chapters”. It might be the fact there are two separate events, both with their beginning, middle, and ends. If you want to expand upon your chapter, I would change how the beginning, middle, and end originally played out so it feels more natural when you go from one event to the next. This will take practice and beta readers can help if a chapter sounds too long or just right.

So instead of sneaking into a place, getting the information and having to escape. I would get rid of the middle part where Nix and Dante were sneaking and just show them entering the building, maybe talk for a few paragraphs before they reach their end goal because I already know escaping is gonna add several more pages. It’s a trial and error, and some readers might prefer the sneaking portion, while others might enjoy the fast pace. The end result is what do you like?

Continuing chapters:

What about chapters that don’t need a beginning, middle and end? Those chapters are what I call, continuing chapters. The most obvious examples of continuing chapters are the final climax of a story, like a big battle. The big battle might take multiple chapters to get through, and starting at the beginning, middle, and end of each chapter where the main event is the final fight, might get a bit tiresome. A simplified way of taking a large event, like a big fight, and breaking it over several continuing chapters is having each chapter be its own thing. Let’s say it takes three chapters to finish the final confrontation. The first chapter is the beginning, so there’s lots of build-up, but nothing too bad. The second chapter is the middle and is normally the longest out of the three. It’s the one with the most fighting and maybe a character dies at the end as a cliffhanger. The third chapter is where the villain is defeated and the fight is over thrust concluding the three sections.

That was a very simplified way of explaining continuing chapters, but yeah, not every event can be told in a single chapter, sometimes you have to space them out a bit. I would recommend letting the readers know that said event will most likely take a long time to complete so they'll be aware it's gonna be a long read.

Length of a chapter:

People often ask, how long should a chapter be, and there’s no real answer to that. Some can be a page, and I’ve seen others that are thirty. (Looking at you DragonFire). I personally don’t try to go for a word count or page limit. Often times when I try to make my chapters reach a certain goal, I find there’s a lot of filler that could’ve been cut. This is why I like to write my chapters as if I were writing an event and just focus on the event itself. If I need to expand or get rid of something, I can do that later.

My chapters are normally three pages in length, whenever I go over that, I try to tell my readers the next upcoming chapters will be long. This kind of tactic will depend on your story of course, but let’s go back to Nix and Dante.

In the example, Nix and Dante went into a secured location, took some information and got caught, now they needed to escape. If I want to add the escape portion in the same chapter because breaking in was kind of short, I might tell the reader before said chapter even began that “This mission won't be an easy one”, or “You’ll need to be real careful stealing the information because if you get caught, guards will come.” So, by the time Nix and Dante do get caught, the reader should be aware, the chapter will continue for a few more pages.

Oh yeah, if you’re gonna write a long chapter, make sure to have at least one smaller chapter to break it up. (DragonFire) Having long chapters, after long chapters, is, at least for me, very tiring. I don’t like to stop reading midway through a chapter, but reading thirty pages in a day is very difficult. So if you know you have some long chapters, throw in a few short ones.

Readers might also hate long chapters because they feel like there’s a bit too much filler in them. (Filler-in chapters aren’t the same thing as filler chapters).

Filler-in chapters might appear in one of two ways, either there’s too much filler to get to the main event, or there’s too much filler and the chapter should’ve ended already. Beta readers are a good way of telling you if there’s filler in a chapter or not. Keep in mind, that you, as the writer know what’s best for your story. Readers can only tell you how they feel. If you feel the “filler” part isn’t filler, but a lot of people say it is. Finding a workaround can be difficult. Unfortunately, I don’t have any advice on this kind of topic because this kind of writing problem is unique for every writer. Writing groups might be able to help as they’ll have your text and can help figure out what's going on.

Filler chapters:

There’s nothing wrong with filler chapters. Not every chapter needs to focus on the main story. I personally like filler chapters. They’re fun chapters which explore the characters and the world. A bit of a refresher after an intense fight is fine. When people complain about filler chapters, it’s often because there’s a bit too much of them. Or they came out of nowhere and killed the pacing. For example, if everything has been dark and gritty, having a chapter that’s more on the upbeat side is strange. Also if the chapter ends with a character's death and the next one ignores it, readers might not like that. This is one of the reasons why I don’t like POV swapping between every chapter. If someone dies in character (A) POV, and the next chapter switches to character (B) POV where they’re on the beach…I might get a bit annoyed. Even if Character (B) POV isn’t filler, I just witnessed someone die, I wanna know what’s going on and not swap to another POV.

Also filler chapters tend to be on the shorter side as well. If a filler chapter goes on a bit too long, then it might feel like the story is losing its focus a bit.

Beta readers can help point out which chapters are filler and where to add in filler if that's something you want to do.

Chapter Endings:

Ending a chapter is always interesting, do you want to end it with a cliffhanger or not? Does your chapter flow smoothly from one to the other? I don’t mind cliffhanger endings but try not to make every chapter a cliffhanger. At some point it becomes a bit much for some readers such as myself, I prefer to stop reading at a good stopping point. Cliffhangers aren’t a stopping point, I need to see what’s gonna happen next. Creating a cliffhanger after a long chapter, for me is a bit much. Long chapters already drain me, and forcing me to continue to get to an actual stopping point will make me enjoy your book less. (I understand no one is forcing me to read a book, but I just really, really hate stopping at cliffhangers). Not to mention if there are multiple cliffhangers in a row, I might put the book down and not pick it up for a long time because I’ll have no idea how many cliffhangers I’ll have to deal with before getting to an actual pause in the story. Personally, as a reader, I feel like there needs to be good stopping points. Places where it’s safe to stop reading and the reader can pick it back up later.

If you end a chapter in a city and the next one starts in a jungle, that kind of scene change might be a bit confusing so again, just send it through a couple of beta readers and see how you did with the transition portion of going from one chapter to the next. The same thing goes for tone as well. If the last chapter ends with a death, and the next one is in a circus, the tone shift might be a bit much. Just pass it along with a beta reader.

That’s about it for chapters. If you want some more detailed advice on certain chapters then let me know, but chapters are one of those things where it comes with practice. The length, the event, the ending, all of this stuff will be determined by your ability to write. Beta readers are a great way of pointing out how they felt while reading a chapter and you can go from there.

[gingiekittycat]

I miss the narrator

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I miss the narrator from Good Omens season 1.

I will admit, when I first watched the show it threw me a bit. Sure, the narrator's jokes were funny, but I thought that as a story-telling device it was distracting. There was just so much of it all the time, and it often felt out of place. And when I went to look up reviews online, it seemed a lot of people agreed: if there ever was a season 2, the narrator had to go.

But THEN.

THEN.

Then I read the book.

And I realized: the narrator is the footnotes. It's the little jokes in between the plot. In descriptions, in metaphors, in transitions. The narrator is what makes the magic of the novel.

The narrator is the authors.

More specifically, the narrator is Terry.

Terry's influence on the novel, on the story; Terry's influence in the way he and Neil wrote the book. Neil has said before somewhere (I will find the source eventually and add it) that he was writing in Terry's style when he co-wrote the novel. And it shows; to me, when I read Good Omens, I was reading a Terry Pratchett novel. At the time, I had no previous experience with reading Terry's work, and the only novel I'd read of Neil's was American Gods. And in my opinion, Good Omens reads nothing like American Gods.

In subsequently reading more of Terry's work, it became even clearer to me that the narrator in the show was Neil's way of keeping Terry in the story. And maybe it WAS clunky in a visual medium, maybe it WAS distracting, jarring. But it was also hilarious, and whimsical, and playful, and fun. And I don't see how Neil could have done without it and still stayed so true to the novel. The jokes, the metaphors, the descriptions, the footnotes; this is what makes Good Omens what it is.

There was no narrator in season 2.

I will say up front that, overall, I enjoyed season 2. It had so many funny moments, and so many thought-provoking, poignant moments too. It used some dialog from the first book (looking at you Resurrectionists minisode) to remind us why Good Omens is not just a romp between an angel and demon, but also a philosophical, thought-provoking piece of media. It had a lot of Pratchett-esque moments; the Job minisode stood out to me here. The end was, of course, emotional and gutting, but I like emotional and gutting (anyone who has read my fics knows this). But... I found myself missing the narrator. 

I missed Terry.

And maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was even on purpose. Maybe the lack of narrator really is illustrating the fact that, when Terry died, he left a hole in the world that can never be filled. You can't make the same show you would have made had Terry been alive. You can't even try. You can make your own thing, you can make it amazing in its own right, but you can't make it the same. And, all said and done, I think that's a very important commentary on grief. When you lose something, or someone, you're not the same as you were before; and it hurts, but you change, you adapt, you grow. Eventually, you make something new.

So... do I want there to be a narrator in season 3?

That's a good question. I think I would accept both outcomes. However, knowing that season 3 is supposed to be the sequel Neil and Terry plotted, I think it would be appropriate to have a narrator this time around. True, we have no novel to base it off of; we don't have any of Terry's footnotes, his metaphors, his jokes. But we have Neil, whom Terry influenced while writing the original novel; we have Neil writing in Terry's style, putting himself in Terry's shoes for a moment (his hat, his scarf). We have Neil, who loved Terry, who has in part made this show as a labor of love, because he promised Terry he would, and he's going to keep that promise. We have Neil to remind us why we love Good Omens in the first place.

And I think having a narrator in season 3 would be a wonderful way to illustrate that. 

[hexeddocs]

[ 9 ] . noir... 𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑨𝑫 𝑵𝑶𝑾!

Finally -- a new template, after months of being away! I wanted to say thank you so much for your patience and for the love that I've received while away. I truly have the best supporters, and I wouldn't be here without you guys.

NOIR is a sci-fiesque template that is perfect for those who love to write a lot about their character. With multiple sections to add your own unique descriptions, it showcases all aspects of your character, making it perfect for the perfect all-inclusive template!

While I originally tried to stick to a more medical-interface type of template, it sort of deviated to its own thing -- sort of computer-file like -- but I'm still very happy with it. It took many weeks to finish, but the end result was worth it!

How to edit

To edit the pictures, right click on the image and select "replace image." DO NOT COPY AND PASTE PICTURES INTO THE DOC. This will cause elements to shift and the design to break.

DO NOT REMOVE CREDIT.

Feel free to change whatever aspect you'd like, just PLEASE keep the credit!

This doc contains drawing elements. To edit, simply double click on the image and the menu will pop up -- allowing you to edit the colour, font, anything you wish!

The picture on the first page is behind the text. To click and select it, right click over top of it and click "select picture," and then move it in front of the text. From there, follow the directions on how to change the picture. Just make sure to put it back to "behind text" after all is said and done!

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As always, likes and reblogs are MUCH appreciated. I hope that you enjoy this template as much as I enjoyed making it!

Many thanks,

Kira <3

Inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/298785756542843881/

[reneezsq]

slender–mansion au — personal take.

this is, like the title shows it, my personal take on the creepypastas. i might make other part of this, and i will use this base as my own "version" for my writings. if you have any questions feel free to ask.

GENERAL OVERLOOK.

. according to popular beliefs, they all do indeed live in a big mansion. however, contrary to those same beliefs, the mansion is not in the middle of the woods in a random forest somewhere in the world, but instead hidden in a sub–dimension that can be accessed through different means and left under some circumstances. the person at the head of this sub–dimension is, without any single doubt, slenderman who is also known as the operator by the people working under him. slenderman is simply his alias in the human world, but we’ll go on that perhaps in another post.

. there is different ways to access this other dimension that might vary with individuals. the easiest way is to be given access by the operator himself, which is how a big part of the creeps managed to enter in the first place. another way is by simply stumbling across it, less likely to happen, but sometimes lone souls end up being sent here when there is no place left for them in the real world — which is what happened to both sally and ben. of course, we also have the infamous technique of simply following someone that enters the world and follow them, in this case we can count eyeless jack and jeff the killer as having done that. eyeless jack actually wanted to chase one of the operator’s proxy and ended up following them here, while jeff was simply searching for a cover and also followed close to a proxy. for the others, they all either have no access at all, which they do not mind, or have access given to them naturally by slenderman.

. the mansion in itself simply looks like a castle on the outside, a very old one at this. it also appears smaller than it is on the inside, and following its unnatural and even dare i say magical origin (mystical would be more fitting i believe), it is no wonder such a thing is possible. around it, there is a lot of forest with some sort of areas nearby like a lake, a river or even an open field for anyone that wants to do nothing and take a walk around. the area changes occasionally to either add something or erase something. this actually doesn’t happen because of the operator, it’s natural because of the nature of this sub–dimension and he has no say in all of this.

. inside the mansion, it works the same say: some things might change, a random radio appearing on a piece of furniture in an alleyway where nobody will notice it, or an unused room simply disappearing out of thin air as if it never appeared in the first place. it is all a bit random and can get confusing at first, especially because some corridors tend to move around at some points and change the layout of the whole interior (it is actually a sort of defense mechanism to protect from outside threats that would not understand how all of this work, it gets them confused and make it easier to simply dispose of them once taken by surprise).

. although some rooms do stay the same: such as the living room, which is always a few doors away from the entry, never moved from the left side. the kitchen also always stayed connected to the back door, a protection measure if anyone puts it on fire, and it sadly happened more than once for the mansion to decide to keep this room here forever. at least it is easier to get snacks since it will never move. as well as the dining room that remains near the living room at all times. it doesn’t change that much though, mostly once or twice a year, other than that it stays stable most of the time.

. remember how i said everyone lives in the mansion ? that was a bit of a lie actually. in fact, everyone has a room in the mansion where they can go to unwind or if they want to stay here in calmness for a few days, or weeks, but most of the creeps come and go as they please. the only exception of people that always stay here are slenderman as it is his mansion after all, sally who has nowhere else to go, same for ben and some proxies.

INDIVIDUAL CASES.

jeff the killer — definitely lives in an abandoned apartment he found somewhere in city. it’s easier there to get what he needs to survive like food, and he is close to people so for a quick murder that’s nice. his room in the mansion is a simple one with a more often than not undone bed (with a bunny plushie he hides under his bed, he will never admit sleeping with one after all) and some basic furniture to keep his things where they should be. not many colors, but not strictly monochrome. think like some gray sheets with beige walls and the furnitures are made of different kinds of wood. he drops by the mansion a lot, like, half a week at least he will be there.

homicidal liu — he found for himself a small abandoned house at the outskirts of a small city. nobody visits it so he is free to do as he pleases here. as for his house in the mansion it is, like his brother, quite basic. the only difference is that unlike jeff he has quite a lot of books around his room for when he is bored and the color scheme in the bedroom is very much green and light gray. it creates a soft atmosphere that feels safe, and sully likes the room like that too so no big problems.

jane arkensaw — she lives with mary ! the two of them have a nice house in a neighborhood filled with mostly old couples that all know each other very well. as for her room in the mansion, it does not exist as she mostly just drops by to check up on sally and leave something here for liu when he is here, sometimes eating dinner or lunch with everyone before leaving to go back to the human world. the most she stayed was when she was injured and eyeless jack had to convince her to stay at the infirmary for a bit until she could at least walk straight towards her home.

ben drowned — he lives in the mansion all the time, so he doesn’t have a home outside of it. his room is probably one of the biggest, which is understandable knowing how much he stays in here all day. he most definitely has posters around about perhaps miku with his favorite anime merch a bit around (not too much, just a few figurines here and there). there is a couch in his room where he is watching shows on TV most of the time or playing with one of his consoles. of course there is a desk with a pc for when he needs to go on the darkweb for a mission or when he wants to play on it. he has a bed, without any doubt, that’s very warm. his room is a mix of green, black and white. it looks cozy and is very comfortable.

eyeless jack — he probably lives in some ruins in a forest in the human world, there are a few rooms here that he can go into to be comfortable enough and he often just relaxes here when he wants some peace away from the chaos of the mansion. his room at the mansion looks like a college student apartment, it is his own way to relish the past and give himself a sense of normality that he lost when he became a demon. it’s nice there and smells like coconut, helps him stay calm and keeps his nerves down.

laughing jack — he doesn’t have a room in the mansion, his music box is probably stored somewhere that nobody can reach so he is left in peace and he drops by whenever he wants to. in his music box there is his carnival he mostly stays in for a majority of the time. the lost souls of all the children he has murdered stay here to keep him company, friends that will last forever for once.

brian and tim — putting those two together because they actually live together outside of the mansion. both have found a cottage where they do their own things with separate rooms and all the necessary for survival. unlike other proxies, they do not stick around in the mansion for too long, having been forced to become proxies and still feeling bitter towards the operator even if they cannot disobey his orders any time soon. they have a room awaiting each one of them, but everyone knows those rooms will be left unused.

ticci toby — he mostly stays at the mansion in a small room that belongs to only him. some things are scattered around, like drawings piled up in a random corner of his desk and a box filled with rocks under his bed. a lot of candles around and he strictly refuses to use the big lights, it creates too much brightness in the room and hurts his eyesight. so instead he uses the candles that give off a warm vibe all around the room.

natalie — she doesn’t stick around the mansion too much, especially after she broke up with toby. so now she simply drops by, a bit like jane, and stays for meals before going back to the human world. there, she managed to find a way to pay for an apartment where she mostly chill around when there is nothing to do for her. she changes the furniture a lot and arranges it quite often, that’s why she’s on the lowest floor in the complex.

helen — in the human world, he has a studio that he took from one person he has murdered. he continues to pay the bills normally and his victim was a loner so no one really suspects anything. in the mansion he doesn’t really have a bedroom per say, more of a room where he hangs around his paintings with another room next to it that has a small bed and enough things that it can be considered a small room, yet he uses it more to store things than to really sleep.

sally — she only lives in the mansion so she does not have any other home. her room is one of the biggest just like ben. it’s actually separated in two, with one part where she has a desk and her bed filled with many plushies that have been given to her on multiple occasions, and another part where she has all of her toys and a small table with chairs for when she wants to do her tea party. definitely has a corner where she keeps all of her fake makeup (or is it ?) that she will never hesitate to show out and use on her esteemed guests.

jason — he doesn’t have a room in the mansion, but a workshop where he keeps some of his dolls. it’s just more room to store for him honestly. in the human world he has a shop, and with it he has a small apartment, like just over his shop, where he lives most of the time. he has everything here, a kitchen, a living room and all of those things. he doesn’t particularly need them as his body does not need to indigest things, but it’s good once in a while to have a good taste in your mouth !

puppeteer — definitely still lives in a house. he doesn’t pay the bills but the house has been abandoned for quite a while so he does not really need to worry himself with such things. he has a room in the mansion but it is pretty basic as he spends like one day in a whole month here when it’s getting too late to go back home, but most of the time he always make sure to leave early and eat his meals at home while spending the days at the mansion bothering everybody or just hanging around with helen and jason.

nina, candy and zalgo do not visit the mansion at all. zalgo is slender’s rival so i do not see him even paying him visits, nina works under zalgo as a well trained assassin and candy just works for himself most of the time, he comes occasionally to go say hi to both jason and jack and leaves quickly before anyone else can notice him.

[hunterbunter3000]

I think it's also about the way sweetheart touches them. She's gentle with them, which is something rare for absolutely all of them. Sweetheart doesn't assume because they're in the military that they don't need kindness and support and delicate hands. She knows they already think that they don't deserve anything like that so when she sees them wanting it and craving it, she is so willing to give. Her love cup is so full for her team and the people she cares for.

She handles ghost like he's still just Simon Riley, a sad kid deep down. Sweetheart offers up affection that she can just feel is so foreign to him. Yes he can take care of himself but everybody knows it doesn't extend beyond the basics and she takes time to try to heal his aches and pains that he's gotten so used to living with

She's delicate with price, knowing how hard he's worked to keep the team alive and well. How most of the time, he gets no recognition for his efforts. Sure, she teases him and calls him an old man when he complains about his back but in the same breath is offering a massage to get the ever present knot out

She's attentive with soap, hating how he looks like a sad puppy when people try to brush him off as a loud and brash grown up child. She wants him to hold on to that because she knows if it goes away, he'll seem like a shell of himself. She's seen what too long in the field can do to someone like johnny and how it can change them for the worst so she always encourages his jokes and such.

She helps gaz as much as she can. She sees how he pushes himself and how it sometimes ends up in neglect of himself. How many meals has he missed due to trying to just get one more thing done? How many hours of sleep has he skipped to try to figure something out? With a firm hand, she always guides him into taking care of himself and to give himself a much needed break.

IM RAMBLING IM SORRY

AAA NOOO DONT BE SORRY- DONT EVER BE SORRY FOR RAMBLING THIS IS AMAZING 💖✨️✨️💕

(I'm terribly sorry this took so long- BUT GARRICK'S IS PRETTY LONG SO ITS A WIN WIN-)

But holy cow I agree with this so much

Tw: mentions of depression, insecurities, trust issues

I'm really gonna start with Soap because what you said is her biggest fear. She cares deeply for Mactavish and always pays a little bit more attention to him than the others because of that terror.

It would be a nightmare if she didn't see the life in his eyes anymore. Her heart was already broken when her second uncle came back a zombie from being in the army. Didn't talk to anyone, and if he did he would always snap at them. He loved his family still. He really did. But the happiness, and the compassion was gone. He couldn't let go of the guilt, of the regret he had in his choices. He didn't really talk about it, but when he did Sweetheart could see the black tar oozing out of his mouth. All the internal pain and suffering. She doesn't want to see Soap be like that, since their personalities are quite similar. Fun, chipper, determined and kind. She will protect his internal being with everything she has, just like she did with her uncle. So she will always laugh at his jokes and add on to them, making them both double over. She will always stand up for him when someone calls him loud and brash. Telling him it's okay to express yourself how you want to.

If she fails, if she even sees the shine leave his eyes for a second, she knows she failed her uncle again and will never be the same.

--

Now with Ghost-- GOOAAHHHHDDDD he needs all the hugs and cheek kisses he can get (and really just hugs) he doesn't like to be touched unless he knows you knows you (kinda like König and Roach) it took Sweetheart a WHILEE to get close to Ghost. Yes, he did have a small soft spot for her, but he would NOT let her touch him. It took like five months just to let her touch his shoulder. Because of his insane trust issues and paranoia, he didn't let her get close. He couldn't. He couldn't risk getting hurt from Sweetheart. Kind, charming, thoughtful, Sweetheart. Caring, strong, smart, Sweetheart. He craved for her touch so badly that he knew it was what he needed, but he couldn't handle the pain afterward. But there was no pain when she first hugged him when he came out of that explosion alive. There was no pain when she held his hand through his panic attack. There was just warmth. And love. Through every touch she gave him, it spoke of love and care. She gave him time. She gave him so much patience so he could trust her. So he could love her. And he does.

Price-- that man deserves a hundred medals I swear. As you said, he gets no recognition of his effort from anyone, because that's what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to get everyone out alive, he's supposed to succeed everytime. It's just built in the job with that expectation. But Sweetheart knows in order to keep that kind of task going, he needs support. And my god, does she give it to him. Always patting him on the back and saying good job. Checking for any injuries, and if there are, she would fix them. Listening to anything he's talking about and giving her opinions on it. Giving him some tea and something to eat if he's up late. And just giving him any form of affirmation. He deserves it. He deserves all the support, the back rubs, the massages and the teasing, the tea and the naps, all of it. And Price is so grateful for it. If she wasn't there for him, no one would be.

Kyle. Gaz. Garrick. Goodness, that boy has put so many expectations on himself that NO ONE ELSE has put on him. It's weighing him down. Since he's the youngest and has less experience than everyone else, he thinks that he has to catch up to everyone else or be better than them in order for people to see him. See him being one of the members of Task Force 141. The best of the best, right? Like Sweetheart? How she carries herself through chaos, how she handles dire situations, how well she works with others, how physically, mentally, and emotionally strong she is? Can he be skilled like Sweetheart? Calm and collected like Ghost? Well-armed like Soap? He doesn't know. His insecurities are always getting the best of him, making him forget to brush his teeth. Or eat breakfast. Or even get out of bed. Is he even fit to be on this team? Sweetheart knocks on his door. Is he even worthy? She knocks again. He has so much to catch up on. She opens his door. How will he catch up to them? She sighs, walking towards his curled up figure on his bed. He's in their shadow. Maybe he should leave. Sweetheart comes into his view, shocking him. She has a slight concerning face, but more anger than anything. Angry that he hasn't been taking care of himself. Concerned on why he hasn't been taking care of himself. She grabs his hand and brings it to her lips, closing her eyes. His entire body feels warm. Awake. She breathes in and opens her eyes back up. She urges him to get up. Get up and take a shower. His brain says no, but his body is moving subconsciously. She waits outside the Men's Bath Unit until he's done. She waits for him, quite closely, when he's brushing his teeth; Sweetheart tells him not to forget to brush his molars. She waits for him when he dresses himself in clean clothes, still in the same room as him, just turned. She waits for him to finish eating a big breakfast, which he eats fully. All with silence. All with a neutral face. Yet her actions are firm. Caring. Helpful. She sits him down on his now cleaned bed, the help of Sweetheart, and they just... talk. Talk about what's been going on, talk about why he feels this way, and when. It helps. She's giving her opinions on what he can do to be better, but it's up to him to take them. She sighs, eyes studying him. 'I hope I'm not crossing any boundaries with you. But I couldn't sit aside and let you make yourself disappear. Especially when you're valued as a teammate and a friend.' She says. Gaz feels like crying. And he does. He hugs so tightly. Tight enough that she could feel his appreciation through his touch. He's thankful that she saw him. And she continues to see him.

[m1sa-w1sa]

Harbingers (+ Scaramouche and Signora) finding out that your dating the traveler :3

(Mentions of drinking, Harbingers speak other languages, maybe a bit OOC? This us my first time writing something like this)

Tartaglia

Hes happy that your happy! But even though he might know the traveler (definitely more nice to them than the others) his personality would change like a light switch, he would ask the traveler questions like a over protective dad questions as such “do you drink? Put [NAME] in dangerous situations? Are you reckless? (Tartaglia is the most reckless person you know)” etc etc but overall he wants you to he happy but also safe :D

Arlecchino

Alrlecchino is kinda like Tartaglia but slightly worse, as a father Arlecchino is more protective trying to keep you away from getting into a relationship not wanting you to go down the wrong path. She would give the traveler death stares whispering cuss words in french silently knowing you would be angry if she cussed put your significant other (Traveler) but like Tartaglia she wants you to be happy and safe

Scaramouche and Signora

These mfs would try to CONVINCE you to NOT date the traveler “But he is really nice!—“ “The traveler looks filthy” “His clothes are stingy”

He didn’t hold back by criticizing the Traveler about how he looks, acts, ESPECIALLY having Paimon around, how he didn’t take you on a date yet etc, using those as reasons for you to NOT date him or even better not to hang out with him in any way shape or form! They want you to he happy but especially not with him

Dottore and Pantalone

For them Im kinda stumped but I feel like they would take action if the traveler hurt you in any kind of way but they would be like Scaramouche and Signora commenting on how the traveler is presenting “ Couldn’t he wear something nicer..?” “[NAME] at least find someone with a sense of style..and maybe mora to..” but overall they don’t really say that much besides maybe ask the same Questions that Tartaglia asked but not to big

Coloumbina

She would try to manipulate you to not date the traveler saying it in a calm soft tone to really get to you “Sweetheart..Maybe you should choose them..Would they really choose you to..?” And maybe after the meet up she would go into your room talking about how she thinks its not the best choice or its not the best idea for you to date the traveler (Maybe trying to convince you to close your eyes like her so you wont fall in love with the traveler again.)

“Are we finally done meeting all of them?”

“Nope! 4 More to go!”

“WHAT-“

(Thats all!! If you have any tips or things I should add please lmk^^ Tags: @jadestone2

[dhrubajjj]

pomefiore pirates/seven au!

pomefiore had a super vague theme in my mind compared to the other 2 dorms i've done, regal and fancy, which doesn't give me much to work with. surprisingly so far they're my favorite of the bunch i've designed and feel pretty coordinated which was what i wanted.

more under cut (i figured out how to do it + got a lil rambly)

vil -> he took me the longest to design and is the one i'm least pleased with out of the three of them, if i changed anything it'd be his top, that is the main thing that bothers me. but putting that aside i wanted to keep his regal 'i'm better than you' vibe hes kinda got, his dress (cape?) thing drags behind him and is made of raven feathers which is a reference to the evil queen's pet raven. his design was pulled heavily from his dorm uniform which is one of the things that bothers me but overall he looks cute.

he's more of a singer than an actor in this au since i don't think as a sea fairing pirate theres gonna be too many people wanting you to act in their plays. vil tends to work at the mostro lounge at times, either to repay a favor or for his own benefit, singing songs and sometimes when the mostro lounge puts on a performance he'll play a part in it too.

ortho has taken an interest in vil and the two chat whenever they're both there, mainly when idia just meets up with azul to play their games, but the two of em have become friendly. vil teaches ortho how to sing or act and ortho pays attention (drama club canon wow)

rook -> his design was based on his masquerade outfit which made my job super easy. the leather armor, or protection, on his left arm is the protect his arm from the drawstring of his bow whenever he shoots which was a fun bit to add. his collection of vials and the bottle on his belt i took from his science clubwear, then there's his hat, the black feather on his hat is actually a raven feather from vil's outfit.

i can imagine rook showing up to every one of vils performances at the mostro lounge cuz that's just how he is. floyd hates him, whenever rook shows up at the lounge its hard to find floyd which only spurs rook to harass floyd further even if his actions are motivated by curiosity.

i think how rook went from being apart of savannaclaw crew to pomefiore probably went like a couple of fights, vil threatens to kill him and then rook is just like "wow!!!!!! beaute!!" then he joins them or smth ill figure it out

epel -> another easy one since he has a masquerade outfit, his scarf and socks were made by his grandma before he joined vils crew. his design is pretty simple compared to the rest of them but i like it, the tassel on his belt is from his dorm uniform and the gloves were taken from his masquerade outfit. i pulled his hair into a half ponytail hairstyle(?) which just clicked w/ me.

epel does a lot of the heavy work around the ship despite being oh so small and while he doesn't mind going to the mostro lounge it isn't his favorite place. i can see it being too fancy for his taste.

anyways 3/7 dorms done! i might do ramshackle for funsies but characters like the staff and other students/family depends on my mood.

[gold-pavilion]

An analysis of Kakucho-related changes in S3E01

So it turns out that the first episode of Tokyo Revenger's 3rd season differs a bit from the manga chapters it covers. Mostly, around Kakucho's introduction.

And I'm all for those changes! Whew! I believe very very strongly that those small choices improved the script, straight up. So, here's a rundown of what's different and why I like it so much.

Firstly,

The anime turns Kakucho's matchup against Smiley into a challenge to Takemichi. As much as Smiley was totally up for it, in this version, Kakucho himself zeroed in on Takemichi and requested to face him.

And, man, I adore Smiley and looked forward to seeing them fighting. But this change eases into the conversation Kakucho and Takemichi have after the fight much more smoothly, doesn't it? 

As a plus, we can perceive Kakucho being more active about what he's interested in here. Not just in his approach, but in the whole following conversation, where he exposes his thought process and strategic stance with a ton more clarity.

Reviewing how that talk goes in the manga:

- Kakucho reconnects with Takemichi, messing with each other amicably.

- After that, having established that Takemichi is Toman's First Division Captain, he asks him to save Izana.

- He explains that Izana is surely being used by Kisaki, for a conflict he doesn't agree with.

And that's kind of it. The conversation is flashbacked (Takemichi reminisces about it afterward, when headed to the next Toman meeting) so we could guess that they talked a bit more, but that's all we get from it.

Now, in the anime version:

- They still reconnect and mess with each other, wiiiiiiiith the addition of this tidbit: 

A nice detail imo, as it always struck me as odd that Takemichi didn't notice it/react to it in the manga. He tends to… not be great at observing things LMAO, he misses a lot of stuff, but this is someone he remembers from his childhood, who showed up now with a HUGE facial scar and a damaged eye (personally, my take is that Kakucho's white eye is from cataracts developed after his accident). It's something that sticks out. Takemichi asking about it gives me the impression that he's more invested in his reunion with Kakucho, displaying care for an old friend and also giving Kakucho the chance to show he doesn't like to talk about the scar, which is nice to add to his character.

- Instead of asking Takemichi to save Izana from Kisaki, Kakucho asks his own questions about the guy. Which makes perfect sense!! Kisaki joined Tenjiku just recently, Kakucho has his doubts about him and found someone he can ask, so he takes the chance. Maybe he does already suspect that Kisaki is using Izana, BUT…

- Takemichi asks for help reaching Kisaki, and Kakucho refuses. Right now, Kisaki is a high-standing officer in the gang. It's Tenjiku's/Izana's internal affairs that Takemichi is trying to disrupt, and Kakucho is too loyal to go with that. Rather, being enemies, what Takemichi should do is fight and achieve his way through; despite the situation, that's the fair and square way Kakucho knows things must be done.

- Kakucho keeps to himself his distaste about the conflict as a whole. Instead of asking for Takemichi's help or telling him more about the situation, he just advises to be wary of a certain traitor he can't name (Mucho, most likely), and leaves it at that.

End of "spot the difference"!

Now, I'm not gonna say "the anime did it better", like a short-sighted dummy. The manga is the original material, the blueprint, the birth of all these delinquent dudes and their story. Manga is also its own medium, inherently different from the audiovisual version. Anything the anime adds starts from that source material.

But what I can and want to say is that the anime did a great job making adjustments to expose Kakucho's character to us sooner. It exposed him efficiently and profoundly.

Thanks to the changes to the script, we got a much bigger window into where Kakucho's standing, what he's wondering right now, and what he's trying to do on his own while everyone else is chasing other objectives. We can see him try to be an active guardian to Izana, making his own moves. However, we can also really really appreciate the depth of his loyalty and sense of honor, as he's respectful and careful even when it comes to someone he doesn't like at all, 'cause that someone is his current staff officer and Tenjiku comes first. Likewise, even though he knows Mucho is about to act traitorously to Toman as he switches over to Tenjiku, it's not in his power to snitch, much less to the enemy. The separation between him, loyal to his king, and the outsider to the gang that Takemichi is, also reflects the same values of loyalty and honor.

As a huge huge fan of Kakucho, I'm super pleased. As a lover of storytelling in general, I'm applauding the smart little changes and how effective they were.

It's not the first time the anime adaptation differs a little or adds something, so it probably won't be the last. Those touches have always been great so far, so I look forward to watching the rest of the season and seeing if any more new content appears!!

[chuuyanakaharalegalwife]

Your Umbrella (Dazai x Reader)

I love him. My baby, my love, my sunshine is safe and happy in my bed.

Wrote this before watching today's new episode! This feels rushed because I was too excited for the new episode to wait to write it out. Sorry babes, Dazai is my top priority.

Post episode Mars: I giggled and kicked my feet like a little girl! That was some gay shit, but HELLO DAZAI IS ALIVE! My babyboo ahh.

(Also did you guys see the chapter236 JJK leaks?! I shall write for Gojo...I'm coping)

Writing is how I cope.

In which we talk with Dazai while we both overlook the setting sun (see what I did there hehe)

Bye now - Mars ♡

Together on a bench, onlooking the sunset, you and Dazai sat in silent. The rays of the warm sunlight pleasant on your skin and face. The clouds, a pretty colour of orange and yellow. The blue contrast of the sky blended nicely.

“Why are you a detective?” you asked Dazai, you were in a sulky mood today, you felt… drifty, for lack of a better word. It was one of those days where you wake up and question your existence. Why were you you? Why did you want to do this job? Why did your life turn this way?

Dazai shifted his gaze to you, his eyes looking at yours. He let out a silent sigh before giving you a smug smile.

“Don’t I look like I belong here? Plus it’s quite interesting” He looked up at the pretty clouds and then muttered under his breath, “This job comes naturally to me”

“Brushing my teeth comes naturally to me but that’s because I’ve done it a million times” you stated, and you heard him chuckle.

“I suggest you don’t compare your little daily routine to my life darling” he snorted, eyes still on the sunset.

“Do you take pride in your job?”, you continued to probe. Your mind was curious, but your heart wasn’t. Your heart feared triggering him and making him angry, a product of your own troubled past. But you knew Dazai, you wanted to believe you did, and he wouldn’t snap like that. He was too much of an unserious person. But what if?

Dazai gave a small nod, confirming your assumption. He turns to look at you, “it’s because of my job that I’ve been able to accomplish many things” his smile smug, “Impressive, yes? Heh.”

“Many things like?” You seem to not take the hint to not go further but you couldn’t stop yourself.

“Handling guns” he jokes and you chuckle, it wasn’t even funny. His voice just made everything sound giddy.

���Have you accomplished happiness?” you tilt your head and look back at him.

Dazai freezes up but quickly basks it with a little laugh and turns backed to face the sun. A desperate attempt to avoid your eyes. “Do I look unhappy?” he muses, his voice teasing.

“I’d rather not judge a book by its cover. You tell me.”

Dazai laughs, “What a curious thing you are, asking me such a thing” he smiles, it’s not pretty you think.

“Should I be irritated by your little question or find it funny how straightforward you are” He asks you with a little smirk. When you don’t answer and just stare at him, he adds “Happiness had abandoned me, I’ll say, a very long time ago.”

Abandonment? Was this the closest Dazai will ever allow you to be? Desperate and lovesick, you grabble at any piece of crumbs he gives. It’s pathetic. You attempt to keep your cool, but you’re sure he knows how you really feel. He seems to always know everything.

“Doesn’t that contradict the philosophy ‘Happiness is found inside of us’?”

Dazai glances at you for a moment, then back to the sun, he let out a small hum of interest. You really had a way of surprising him, not that he’d ever let you know that.

“I suppose so, however the happiness I’m searching for cannot be reached. I assure you that.”

You stole a glance at his face, he seems to be reminiscing on something. Or maybe that was just another façade to lead you astray from his true feelings.

“Why not?”

With a bit of hesitation, he smiles, eyes bright. A change that catches you off guard, Dazai shifts closer to you. The edge of his trench coat brushing up against your pants. He lowers his voice several octaves, almost in a forbidden whisper, “Because I am searching for one thing that cannot be obtained.”

Your eyebrows shot up, “And what’s that? Dinosaurs?”, a futile attempt to lighten up the conversation. You wanted so badly a shred of him, the real him, but now that you think you’re getting it, you’re not sure. You’re running away.

Dazai laughs amused by your response, the corners of his eyes crinkling up as he closes them, letting the laughter overtake him. “Good observation, but no” he clicks his tongue playfully, “To put it simply. I am searching for one thing to fill…” he sighs out and shakes his head a little.

“Ah” he giggles, “I’m not sure what I’m searching for” he deflects. He doesn’t know if he should share, if he could bare to say it out loud. Because to say it out loud would mean to admit it. To acknowledge it.

Bullshit. You knew it was a lie. He was a liar. Damn your heart for falling for him.

Looks at him, “It’s okay” you said with a sigh, “I’m searching for myself in a way,” you decided to turn the conversation on you to avoid going to go down the road of awkwardness.

“The thing…I’m searching for doesn’t exist, love doesn’t exist.” He sounded like he was in pain. Like it pained him to say that. To tell you that. You find yourself feeling guilty, did you pressure him?

“Love isn’t limited, so again, why?” you continue.

Once again for the multiple time, Dazai laughs “Curious little thing indeed” he turns to look at you, “Think you have a chance, Bella?”

You find your face heating up and keeps your eye on the sun to avoid his gaze.

“Do you think you could meet my standards? They’re quite high” he teases and once again you think he’s deflecting. A big distraction to avert your eyes from peering at him.

He holds his head up high, his gaze on you unwavering. You aren’t looking at him, but the intensity of his eyes pins you to this old bench.

“Are they high to protect your heart?” you blurt you before you even knew what you were saying. “Sorry!” you instantly apologize.

Dazai was surprised by your statement, yes that was exactly what it was. He stayed silent for a moment, contemplating your words. “Perhaps,” he sighs, shall I take a chance? He questions himself, a battle between his brain. “I have set out expectations that I’m even unsure about myself.” He spoke and then stayed silent. He waited for your next words. His heart was pounding yet his face had a smug smile.

“Expectations are like umbrellas, they stop rain and sun from reaching us” you state, and then laughs.

“Indeed, but what’s your point?”

“Rain is like pain, yes your umbrella, your walls, protect you from it” you cross a leg over the next, eyes drinking in the sunlight. “But you miss out on the warm sun too.”

Dazai ponders to himself for a moment. It appears you’ve managed to grasp a greater sense of him. Did he underestimate you? No, he wouldn’t be so careless. “Quite the profound analogy you have there, it’s fascinating.” He smiles at you, “How did you come to this conclusion, might I ask?”

“You know, I like sun especially in the mornings and evenings, it’s like a warm hug” you fiddle with your shirt, “but I also like rain, though sometimes storms are too harsh for my umbrella.”

Dazai observed you for a while, the silence between you two comfortable. He noticed the light pink tinting your cheeks and the way you avoided his eyes. You had intrigued him, maybe he truly had a soft spot for you.

The silence was not comfortable for you, did you overstep? Did he find your analogy dumb? Your mouth acted on its own, “I always use my umbrella” you stated, “But one harsh storm broke it, and I was drenched with a skeleton of an umbrella” your eyes have this faraway look, he notes.

“And then the sun hit me and I wasn’t ready and I was scared” you breathe out, closing your eyes. Dazai thinks the sight is better than the setting sun, “But it dried up my wet clothes and wet skin and wet hair. It felt warm and…yellow” you laugh softly, “yellow is such a beautiful colour, yes?”

He hums, “Are you saying that you decided to get rid of your protection and walk and bask in the sunlight that you so adore” his voice is light and teasing. His eyes laser focused on you as if you’d burst open and come up with a new revelation.

“Yes, sun being metaphor for love. Rain for pain, umbrella for protective walls and wet for I guess, depression?” you break down your words, trying to make him understand. He already understands, he just loves your voice so much.

“To translate from my understanding, you’re saying you choose love regardless of the costs?” you nod.

“You fascinate me,” he admits boldly, “Do you have someone in mind?”

“Someone in mind?”

“For love, the person you choose will be a caliber of that, do you?” He shifts his eyes to the clouds. A blissful sight.

“When I say sun is love I don’t speak of lovers. I would say I’m my own sun. A lover would be a mirror, reflecting to me how bright my own sun shines.” Your lips presses together into a thin line.

“A mirror, I see” he chuckles. “Oh, you curious little thing” he smiles.

“Then can we test this?”

“Test what?”

“Let go of your umbrella and let me be your mirror,” he takes a hold of your hand, “Belladonna,”

“Osamu”

His heart stops when you whisper his given name. It sounded so beautiful falling from your lips. “Say it again” he leans in and connects your lips together.

[grvyrd-drms]

creepypasta piercing hcs!!!???!!!

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

A/N: inspo from me finally stretched my ears to 0g!!! i also didn't include brian or tim, because their irl actors didn't have any. :)

characters: toby, jeff, ben, e. jack, nina, sally, jane, liu, jane, clockwork/natalie, zero, kate, jason, helen/bloody painter, puppeteer, jason, judge angels, cody/x-virus, sally

cw: mentions of piercing infections, manic episodes, and pps LOL

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

toby: my boy is DECKED OUT in shit!! double eyebrows and nostrils, bridge, smiley, septum, snakebites, cheeks, practically every ear piercing. had a belly button at one point (someone please draw this) but was too insecure to show it off so he took it out. on top of this sluttiness he also has dreams of getting a pp one 🤭 but only when he's manic. prefers to do his own, mostly does them during his ✨episodes✨. the one good thing about his CIPA is he can just get whatever he wants. has to be reminded to clean them.

jeff: his skin is super sensitive and he absolutely does not take care of anything so he's had to take a ton out, but he's managed to keep a few. he def has 00g gauges and a septum, left eyebrow, a few helixes, tried a lip ring and tongue but they got nasty infections. the infirmary hates him.

ben: since he's in link's body, he already has basic lobes. i like the idea that he can kind of change his appearance (being a ghost and all) so he added some more hoops along his elf ass ears. keeps trying to dare jeff into getting his nipples and belly button done (it's not working).

e. jack: has his basic lobes. was too much of a mama's boy to get any facial piercings and was too much of a wuss to get more ear piercings. and honestly??? he's been deterred away from getting more because of jeff.

nina: OMG snakebites, medusa, tongue, septum, nostril, triple lobes and helix on either side, nipples. belly button with cute ass Y2K dangly jewelry. owns half of the claire's store earring collection.

sally: has her basic lobes with the cutest little gold bow earrings <3

jane: kept her basic lobes and her seconds, both are little hoops. silver girly for life!!! doesn't really like any other body mods or such.

liu: do his staples count has one basic lobe on his right. lil hoop in it :3 wanted to be 'rebellious' 👹.

natalie: eyebrow (on the opposite side of the clock), triple lobe, industrial on left side and double helix on the right. belly button. has a nose ring on her right, with a skinny gold hoop in it. doesn't care for metals at all, they're all mixed (monster) she learned from her clock eye to keep her body clean, so she regularly cleans them. go girl!!'

zero: stretched her ears to 16mm, tongue and septum. doesn't go crazy but she's dedicated to her gauges.

puppeteer: he's sexy so has to have stretched ears. they're only at 00g cause he likes them noticeable but not too big.

bloody painter: literally nothing except an eyebrow on his left. toby thinks its odd. secretly afraid of needles so he sticks to what he has.

judge angels: basic lobes, both tragus and a helix on her left and she's happy with it. she likes that it adds a bit of sparkle to her look but its not excessive unlike some people.

jason: he's a SLUT!!!!!!!!! has dick piercings. im not gonna look them up cause i don't feel like seeing pps but he... he has a few. has his basic lobes, nipples and belly button as well.

kate: i feel like she doesn't really care about her appearance, so she used to have basic lobes but they closed cause she never put them in. is intrigued by the idea of having a ton but she knows she could never commit herself to the upkeep. admires toby's from a distance.

cody/x-virus: got influenced (peer pressured) into getting a few due to toby. HAS to make sure everything is properly sterilized beforehand and will usually do them himself to make sure. double lobes, a tongue, both eyebrows, both helixes and a snug on his right. cleans them all twice a day.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta if I told my best friend they can no longer move in with my family next year?

Me (17f) and my friend (17) have been friends for about 5 years. Around 6 months ago we were discussing university and they mentioned they wanted to study at the university that is in my city. We discussed them potentially moving into my house while they study here. They would still be paying rent, it would just be a bit cheaper for them and we would get to live together. I discussed this with my parents and after a while they said yes. 

The problem is recently I haven't actually been feeling very supported or understood by my friend. This feeling kinda started when I expressed doubt about being able to succeed in the career I have been working towards because my mental health is shit and idk if I can deal with the pressure involved, and they said that they were glad I reached this conclusion myself because they didn't think I could do it either. Which kinda hurt yk like they were correct and I have switched plans as of now, but I feel they couldve been nicer. Other than that I feel like neither of have done anything wrong I just think this is an aging thing, we're no longer 13 and have changed in similar ways, but I've begun to realise the way we see the world is vastly different. Also we recently keep getting into petty arguments, which is kinda my fault bc im autistic and have very strong opinions and never know when to shut up, but they're also like that we're both just very stubborn and opinionated people. Basically I feel the friendship isn't as strong as it once was and I don't like the idea of having to live with them during uni (also dont really like the idea of living with anyone tbh I fucking hate socialising and want to live alone). 

I feel like it's important to mention that although them living with me is cheaper, their family is financially very stable so they could comfortably afford to live in the uni halls or some apartment. Telling them they can't live with me wouldn't be financially that bad, its more so that I said they could and I feel that going back on my word might be quite cruel? 

Also recentlyish we've been making plans of living together and buying a house etc and yeah basically a lot of commitments have been made at a young age and I feel quite trapped. Also feels relevant to add that this feeling is definitely not mutual and they have no idea I feel this way, I'm 99% sure they are still very eager to go through with all this. I'm generally quite a communicative person, it's just these are all pretty new feelings and I'm not sure exactly what I feel.

Also sorry another thing that's probably relevant, they're aroace and our relationship idk what it is but I think it kinda goes deeper than the average friendship its kinda like a qpr but not lol.

So yeah wibta if I told them they couldn't live in my house for uni and should find somewhere else?

What are these acronyms?

[pictureamoebae]

your post about ReLight is really interesting! I wanted to try it out but I understand nothing lol would you share some tips/tricks/little tutorial for dumbs like me on how to use it/setup for The Sims?

Hi anon!

It's not a massively involved shader, it's really simple, so a full tutorial would probably be a little over the top. Using it in TS4 is no different to using it in any other game.

The first thing I'd do is look at the preprocessor definition section at the bottom of the shader settings and change number of lights to 4 and hit enter. It'll reload and then you'll have 4 different lights to play with.

For the settings at the top, you want Use Smooth Normals turned on, and then all the boxes under Shadows ticked. For Shadow Mode you'll get the best quality with Trace All selected, and Ultra for Shadow Quality, but you can play around with these if your performance suffers (bear in mind I'm using a 980ti and hotsampling to larger resolutions and I'm fine with those settings).

Leave Shadow Sharpness at its default unless you want to go for a specific look, and you can keep Z Thickness at default too. You can play around with Z Thickness if shadows look like they're starting or ending in weird places. They're never going to be 100% accurate anyway, but you can sometimes coax them into not being truly awful.

One of the most important settings is down at the bottom: Visualize Light Position. Turn this on and it'll show you a round dot where your lights are positioned. This is really useful for lining them up exactly where you want them. Then, when you're done, you can turn them off (although they will disappear when you close the ReShade menu anyway, but this setting is useful for people like me who sometimes keep the ReShade menu open when taking screenshots so I can keep tweaking).

You'll see 4 sections that each start with a checkbox that says Active. Those are your 4 lights. Tick the ones you want to use. Then you can start moving them.

Next to Position there are 3 boxes, and they each represent respectively: left-right, up-down, backwards-forwards. Play around sliding each of them and see where your dot of light goes. You'll quickly get the hang of how to move the lights around using those position numbers.

Below that is Tint. It's easiest to click on the box of colour and colour pick than it is to manually change the RGB numbers. This controls the colour of your light.

Below that is Intensity. I think by default the lights are set up at the maximum level of 1.00 but that's super super bright, so bring that down considerably. You can use this to fine tune exactly how much illumination you want once you've set up the position.

And that's really it. You can use the lights to add more accurate light fall-off and shadows from in-game light sources like lamps, streetlights, windows, etc. You can also use it to just brighten a character's face a bit more for a clearer picture. Or you can really go to town and add completely fake and dramatic lights. It's up to you.

If you find that 4 lights isn't enough, you can't add more without editing the actual shader code. However, you can just duplicate the shader, so then you can have 8 lights, or 12, or 16, however many times you duplicate it.

To duplicate ReLight, create a copy of the shader in your shader folder, and give it a unique name (for example, qUINT_ReLight2.fx). Then, open it up in a text editor (I use Notepad++) and scroll all the way down to the bottom. You'll see a section that says

technique qUINT_ReLight

edit that so it matches the name you gave your copy, so in this case

technique qUINT_ReLight2

Then you can use them both alongside each other. I do start to experience a performance impact when using a second version, so bear that in mind.

I'm sure the better option would be to edit the shader code to add the ability for more lights directly in the first shader, but you'd need to be semi-knowledgeable about what to change. You're not often going to need more than 4 anyway, so it's overkill.

[masterindaras]

gif tutorial

@bakedbakermom requested a tutorial on how i made the gifs in this set, so i've put together a little walkthrough of the process for this gif under the cut!

(disclaimer: this tutorial assumes that you already have basic photoshop/giffing knowledge - i.e. how to make and colour gifs using correction layers, how to use things like layer masks, etc. if you don't, i recommend these tutorials, they're very comprehensive)

alright! so as stated before, i'm not going to go in-depth here on the basics of gifmaking. for this one in particular, i blended three gifs, but we'll get into the third one later.

(i should also mention that blending gifs as i did here is usually easier if you have scenes with shadowed/dark areas like the ones above, so to keep that in mind when picking your scenes! i also find it easier to use scenes where there isn't a whole ton of movement going on- again, not a requirement but it's easier to plan and position gifs if the characters aren't moving across the whole canvas)

first, i started by making the base gifs of mulder and scully in "paper hearts". both are cropped to 540x540 px, and the same length (around 50 frames). i did some standard sharpening, brightening, and adding contrast (my usual process is curves, a b/w gradient map set to "soft light" at around 20% opacity, and messing with the levels a bit) before using selective colour and hue/saturation layers to highlight the teal and peach colours in the gif. sometimes this is enough colouring on its own, depending on the gif and the look you're going for, but in my case i wanted to add more.

so, on top of my colouring, i used a combination of layers set to "colour" and "hard light" to paint over the background of my gifs in teal and peach. on mulder's gif i also used a gradient fill layer in the two colours set to "colour" and used a layer mask to erase anywhere i didn't want the colour to be. the opacity levels for all of these layers again just depends on how vibrant you want your colours, i just mess with that on a gif-to-gif basis.

so we have our two gifs, cropped and coloured to fit the palette we want. next, i converted each coloured gif into a smart object, by selecting all my layers, right clicking, and hitting "convert to smart object."

once that's done, you should be able to click and drag one of the gifs onto the other gif's canvas, so that it's sitting on top. then change the blending mode of the top gif- most people use lighten or screen, this again depends on the look you want and the gifs you're using. for this one, i used screen. it'll probably look something like this:

at this point you can move your gifs around and position them as you like. for mine, i just moved scully a little off to the right, as you can see. in order to get rid of the part that's covering mulder's face, i added a layer mask to the scully gif and used a large, soft brush set to black to erase it.

(another note: i didn't need to do it here, but if you want to move/erase parts of your bottom gif, add a layer of solid black underneath both gifs.)

usually i would stop blending here, but for this set i decided to add a third gif, so i made and coloured the gif of mulder and scully holding hands, using the same methods as the first two. this one was cropped to 540x405 px to make it fit better on the canvas, since i knew i only wanted it to cover the bottom part.

i converted it to a smart object and dragged it onto the same canvas as the other two gifs. this time i used "lighten" as my blending mode, positioned it in the bottom right corner, and again used a layer mask to brush away the parts i didn't want.

on top of all three gifs, i then used layers set to "normal" and "hard light" to brush some extra colour onto the gif. this part i also just play around with on a gif-to-gif basis, but for this set i mostly used a combo of colour, hard light, and normal layers at varying opacities until i got the look i was going for. i generally just like to use big soft brushes to add colour around the edges, as i did here.

now, i have a bunch of texture/grain pngs saved on my laptop that i like to add to gifs for some extra flair, so i opened one of those and cropped it down to 540x540px. i then added a gradient map to give it that peach colour. (any textured png/jpg should work fine for this, as long as you have your gradient map set to black and white/your accent colour)

like i did with my gifs, i converted the texture + gradient map to a smart object and dragged it onto the shared canvas. i set the blending mode to "screen", with the opacity at 70%. i like to put these textures underneath the extra colouring i've done on the gif, as seen here. i don't always do this, but i feel like it sometimes helps the texture blend into the finished gif. you can also use a layer mask if needed to erase any unwanted parts of the texture.

now for the text!

for these gifs i used the font "IM FELL DW Pica" in both regular and italic, in black, at 16px. i didn't do anything fancy with the text itself besides adding a drop shadow in the blending options (right click on the text layer and hit "blending options).

then, underneath the text layer (i was working one word at a time) i used the rectangle tool to draw a small rectangle around the text- i wasn't too picky about the size or evenness since i was going for a collaged look. i set the colour of the rectangle to a light cream colour, and added a drop shadow in the blending options.

then i just selected both the text and rectangle and duplicated them using ctrl+j, changing the text for each word and adjusting the size of the rectangles as needed. once i had all of the words on my canvas, i just moved them around until i found a positioning i liked. again, since i was going for a purposefully scrapbooked look, i didn't overthink this part.

i exported my gif the way i usually do, with these settings:

and that's it! i used pretty much the same process for all the gifs in this set, give or take. hopefully this little walkthrough made sense, but i know i'm not always the best at explaining my process, so if anything needs clarifying feel free to shoot me an ask or dm!