#is it because I added images with my files? I don't think I'm supposed to do that...maybe?

[aggiepython]

rachel lindt cosplay!!! WIP images and more info under cut

i used blender to model a rough dog head shape. it's super low poly because i used the export paper model addon (comes with blender, u may need to enable it in settings) the addon makes a PDF that can be printed and taped together. i found it works best with lowpoly and all triangle objects.

i printed several mockups on printer paper to get the size and fit right, then printed it on cardstock. forgot to take a photo before i started paper mache-ing it sadly. i can share the .blend and .pdf files for the mask if anyone wants them, although they aren't very polished.

i used paper mache (newspaper and elmer's art paste) to add definition to the cheeks, lips, nose and eyebrows of the mask, and to make it more durable. i'm especially pleased with the shape of the nose, and the wrinkles on the nose and around the mouth. rolling newspaper into a tube and holding it down with a single layer of gluey newspaper worked well for finer details. i wish i made the eyeholes a little larger since this mask isn't too easy to see out of. but the mouth hole incidentally makes it easier to breathe and talk wearing the mask.

i painted the mask with acrylic paint and added teeth, made of newspaper rolled into cones, wrapped with masking tape, covered in paper mache and painted. i formed the horns in a similar way. painting the mask wasn't too hard, it's all solid colors except for the muzzle and horns.

this is supposed to be the mask that taylor made for rachel. (it turned out slightly lumpy which i think kinda works to my advantage since it's a homemade mask in-universe :P) i misremembered and thought it was a hybrid between a normal dog and a transformed dog, not a normal dog and a human. i like my idea better tbh. (also why would taylor make it from chicken wire that sounds so poky and unpleasant to work with)

the outfit is clothing i already owned or bought from goodwill. i added a fur collar to a jacket i had. i traced the collar onto newspaper to make a pattern, cut it out of fake fur, and jankily hemmed it and sewed it in by hand. i don't enjoy working with fake fur, cutting it is so hard. i have a lot of respect for fursuit makers.

[shinakazami1]

Rhys AI au snippet nr 2 - Personal project

Jack used to love fast travel years ago and while he still found them as if not more useful, his body seemed to disagree. For whatever reason, it was his muscles that kept getting smitten by it. It didn't matter that he felt them already on the planet - he still could run errands quite well, and there was nothing a bit of healing couldn't fix. Too bad that didn't work on the nausea that kept lingering for a day.

He gave a finger gun and a wink to the secretary - whoever this one was, and walked into his office.

"Welcome back, handsome."

"Hiya Rhysie! Missed me?"

"Always, it's not like you carry me in your echo watch everywhere."

Jack bounced from one leg to the other, and then with a last swirl sat in his throne, to turn on the computer.

"Jack, you will have a meeting in two hou-"

"I know I know, cupcake, don't remind me. Dahl just wants to lose some men and piss me off. They are really taking that l in the name seriously."

"Because they're losers."

"Precisely! But there I got my morning coffee by lessening the bandit... number..."

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

Jack's brows furrowed.  As per usual, he first checked his echo device, to see if anyone tried to spy on him. He never thought it was likely for bandits to figure out how to multitask, and since they were all busy dying, they certainly wouldn't even think about doing something like that. It didn't mean, however, that someone else couldn't use that thinking and opportunity to their advantage.

Seeing the few gigabytes added to Rhys' files was not something he expected. He thought he encrypted and hid the guy's code well enough for nobody to even be able to tell he was even there but the number of gigabytes added from the past copy seemed just too suspicious.

"Rhysie, are you feeling any... Different?"

"Different in what way, sir?"

"Heavier."

After a moment of silence, Rhys sighed.

"I really don't think comments about weight are good for your image, sir. It can come as really-"

"No, as in yes, I know that but- I meant your files. Had anything happened to them? "

"Happened?"

"Yeah like, like uh, something was added. Your travel notes are never THAT heavy, even if they are boring."

"I try to get all the details out there and it's not my fault you need everything to be a dopamine rush experience. I like focusing on things that might be useful."

"That one Loader Bot corpse still hadn't come in handy, Rhysie."

"It has been as we updated their shields and weak spots."

"Yeah, it's pretty funny how their crotch was--wait, we are getting off the topic. And you're not panicking so, this means you know what the additional files are."

"You could always open them, sir."

"Yes, since I see it's your encriptions system but what is this supposed to be, kiddo? You working for someone else?"

"You know that's impossible. If I were to do that, I would just cease to exist. You made me this way."

Once the code breaker finished encrypting the files, Jack opened the folder and felt his brows furrow even further.

"Pictures."

"Yes."

"Of what."

"I... Would prefer for you not to open them. I'm going to count the sand grains on them when I'm bored."

"What's the password."

"Jack, you told me I can have my personal project."

"Personal doesn't mean secret. What is this, huh? Are you planning to sell these pictures somewhere? Maybe get some of my angles on Echo Net?"

"No... it's a stupid little project."

'And you would know that if you already opened it but you want to torment me', Rhys thought.  Yet, he decided Jack's blood pressure was already getting into grade 3  hypertension, so he wasn't going to make him angrier.

It was Jack's weird way to show trust but also, to assert dominance and Rhys never understood why humans wasted their energy on being a walking box for paradoxes.

"Sooooo... Cupcake, short and simple. What are these pictures."

"Of you. Sir."

Jack was really checking the boundaries of furrowing eyebrows.

"Rhysie, I was just joking about selling some pictures on Echo Net. Are you..."

"I do edit them, sir. Personal project."

For the first time since Jack Sat next to the desk, his facial muscles finally relaxed, letting the eyebrows rest. Something seemed to click in Jack's brain, letting him not feel in danger anymore.

"The new posters! My, you've been trying to get them out before my birthday to make me a present? Rhysie, you know I hate surprises! I despise them and I could in fact destroy you for one! You should remember it by now! Especially since I check the propaganda to seem most a-hole-like! "

"Yes, and you do a great job with it. A true antihero."

"A true anti-villain. Which is a hero."

"Of course, sir."

"Well then - show me the pictures, Rhys."

Rhys saw that the 'sweet' mode didn't lower Jack's pressure. He liked to shift in emotions so much to make people confused but Rhys was - well, rather embarrassed to say what the photos were actually about. He was happy to have at least had the project hidden for a few weeks, keeping the amount in control but for the past few weeks of Jack just killing bandits most of the time, he had enough time to spare on that.

He knew Jack would take a look somehow without him knowing one way or another. And with how little censor he had on himself, Rhys wasn't willing to risk getting back to the Nice Kid phase. Jack's poster acting was top notch - but the fake familiarity was a technique many fell for. Rhys fortunately couldn't.

But in the end, Jack got what he asked for, as usual.

"These... You've made my body, right sir? You remember that 3D model you've made?"

"Cupcake, I don't work, I commissioned someone to get your sweet ass there. Get to the point."

"You hadn't let me use it for a while now and I thought that I still like it. So, since it's in my programming, I... Just open the first picture, sir."

Jack didn't even let the mouse twitch for a moment. He wanted Rhys to open it, to commit to confessing to whatever bad thing he imagined but Rhys only found it stupid.

Unfortunately for him, though, the anxiety protocol, while a bit tamer than in the past, was still strong. And Rhys was really not looking forward to repeating the last time it got too high, especially since Jack made it this much better for this whole mission he has been on. And Rhys really didn't want to feel something so unbearable nearly all the time, again.

With the need to just get it over with, Rhys opened the newest file and waited for Jack's reaction.

There was a momentary spike in blood pressure but just a moment later, both it and the pulse lowered. The analysis of Jack's facial muscles made Rhys relax again, as the anger and frustration morphed into joy and laughter.

"Rhysie, I know I have been upgrading you with the generative processes but you still like the old photo manipulation ways but this, this is just hilarious! Are- oh my god all of them are like this?! How many edits have you made?"

At that moment, Rhys was very happy not to have a visible face, since he probably wouldn't be able to look at Jack for too long from the embarrassment he probably should feel.

"I... We have been going on these journeys together for a while now and I thought it would be...a nice thing. I have been browsing EchoNet and noticing that people like to take pictures like that. And I want to keep some memory of being on these trips with you."

The folder contained pictures of Jack, from different angles, mostly from the echo watch, and Rhys' body edited into such a level of precision, that it would be hard to tell they were edited at all.

"And the facial expressions..."

"I added them to the model, based on data I've gathered. It wasn't hard to edit the rig and get that to work."

"Wowie, Rhysie, but these..." Rhys let Jack gather his thoughts. "These need to be deleted."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, nobody should know what you look like. Delete them, immediately."

"I...no! They are well encrypted, you have seen that! And without me, they can never open them. Nothing bad will happen, Jack. Nobody is going to try and steal me."

Jack was skimming through the pictures, seeing the model seem to look like it was holding the device to take the picture and ground himself more into the scene. Smiling, eating together, riding in cars and... just looking at a sunset together, backs facing the camera.

"I won't delete them, Jack. And I ask you not to delete them, either. I worked hard on these and I want to keep them. They will never go anywhere but just on the drive."

"Why would you want to keep a memory like that?"

Rhys felt it was a trap question with no good answer. Nothing he would have said would be able to exactly revert the process, but, he knew Jack wasn't exactly in patient moment for him to analyse each answer.

"I thought it would be nice to share these with you, to remind you I was there."

Rhys didn't expect Jack to leave the office without the echo watch. He rarely did that. If it was for the bathroom - even if he had one hidden in the office, or it was to cool down, it wasn't important.

If the pictures still stayed - they would stay there. And that was enough for Rhys.

Jack wanted him to develop a hobby and there it was.

Nothing bad could come out of it.

[the-enzyme]

I modified my 3D artist OG-RE4 Leon S. Kennedy head sculpt. I also repainted him, for the gazillionth time, if that wasn't obvious. I have to say, modifying a tiny eyelid was pretty easy to do with the Vallejo Plastic Putty, the only issue is, it doesn't seem to sand all that well. It started to crumble when I tried to sand it. I let it cure for longer than 4-hours, when is supposed to take only one to two hours, according to Vallejo's own website. I had read mixed reviews about it sanding well, or not. I guess it doesn't? Kind of weird, considering it is meant to be filler for models, and then it goes without saying, meant to be sanded afterward for a perfectly smooth finish...?

Regardless, I feel it works well enough for me, for tiny modding projects. I am definitely going to use it again for my Leon, whom I feel happier about right now, but I still know that he's not accurate enough. He'll never be, because he wasn't sculpted accurately enough, and that's pretty sad. However, the only thing I can do is try to make mine as accurate as I can without having to pay someone else to 3D sculpt another one for me. I could try myself, but I live in the middle of nowhere and I don't want to have an adventure trying to figure out how to create a 3D sculp/mesh/file to then have it 3D printed somewhere. I haven't (3D) modeled anything in more than a decade. I feel like my old dusty 3D Max and Maya, are probably not it, for 3D printing and that's all I know. Since those were the programs, we were allowed to use in college, back in the dark ages. When I learned how to 3D model. I believe blender is the popular choice for 3D printing nowadays, but that wasn't allowed so I didn't even bother trying it. Of course, I am not going to be 3D modeling a head at this stage. I much rather mod this boulder of a 1:6 head sculpt. It's a huge head for what it is, and not accurate, but it's all I got! DX

I am happy that I found something that is less wasteful than a tiny .25 oz container of Aves Apoxie, and less expensive as well. I am probably going to try modding my Myou Bettina next, since I wanted to give him smaller eyes, but still don't want to waste money on Aves' clay, when I know I won't get even halfway through the tiny container. Now, I can actually try, without fear of wasting clay, money and possibly sanity. Modifying (relatively) tiny heads is a huge pain in the gut, but I still want my Leon to be more accurate, but not enough to pay anyone again for another failed likeness. I also want my Bettina to have much smaller eyes. He looks too baby faced for my taste. I do love my Leon so far, I feel he makes a gorgeous looking figure. However, I want my OG-RE4 Leon to be accurate and this is not it. I sanded his upper lid a lot, the 3D sculptor gave him te droopiest lids ever, I also sanded his jaw quite a bit -- Leon has a very roundish head. Not sure what the artist was thinking. I added an actual upper eyelid with the Vallejo putty, because the 3D-sculptor didn't give him any. Certainly not even close of an eye-shape as Leons, but I feel like I'm doing good progress. I wanted to see what the putty was like, before doing heavier eye mods. Now I kind of know, so I am comfortable moving on. I will try first on m Bettina, however, because that is an even larger head, with huger eyes to try plenty of times, without worrying too much about heavy damage (I hope!).

The 1st image and the last two were taken with my older than dust cellphone. I like the way those look, the "newer" phone adds a lot of noise/grain, for absolutely no reason, and also the colors are kind of gross, but they are all samsung phones, so I have no clue why the "newer" ones suck so badly -- I suck at taking photos as well, but I need all the help I can get. The "newer" phone, doesn't do me any favors. Sadly.

[hollowsart]

My reviews of free art apps I'm testing on my phone:

NOTE: These are based on my preferences and opinions. I don't use a lot of apps and tend to stick to just 1. Please do not use this as a basis for whether or not you yourself should get the apps, it is best if you test them out yourself as they may be beneficial or even different for you and your set up.

Medibang Paint: 8/10 (not uninstalling, keeping for the files)

it was a 10/10 but then they updated and now it's not as great. lost another point when it started bugging out. Otherwise the app is extremely good. zooming, the image is still crisp, the strokes may be pixels, but I don't mind it. the UI is very clean and clear. you can see and understand the icons for each button and tool, easy access to everything you need + you are able to customize the brush settings and get some fun and unique textures out of it. it's super user and beginner friendly without the need for a "tutorial" to hold your hand in figuring out what things do and what they are.

I would gladly accept suggestions for free drawing apps similar to Medibang. or any cheap app that may cost money, because if Medibang refuses to behave, I may need to make a decision that I really would rather not make.

Ibis Paint X: 1/10

confusing UI. doesn't matter the DPI, you zoom in and every brush stroke is extremely blurry for some reason and that really messes with my eyes. extremely tedious to figure out, you would need to spend an extensive amount of time trying to find everything to understand the app. this app is like the opposite of Medibang. Even with the tutorial holding your hand to figure out what is what and where, it is still extremely confusing and unclear.

Autodesk Sketchbook: 2/10 (used to use you on kindle)

nothing like how it was on my kindle. on an older phone of mine it lagged so bad and had a different type of overall UI setup going for it, but I was able to at least draw something on that one despite the ungodly lag. this one? just as bad and unclear as Ibis Paint X, except the tools and settings are not scattered on the screen. you have to click an unclear button to find the brushes to change them and then another unclear button to customize them. the quality of the strokes are just about the same as Ibis Paint X in that they are extremely blurry.

Infinite Painter: 3/10

the UI is still sparse. a tutorial is shown telling you what is what and overall less tools visible than the previous 2 apps, this is unfortunate. However, the brushes are not blurry, but are pixelated like Medibang. a slight odd latency when making a stroke, not something I'm fond of, personally, but the selection of brushes aren't too bad, I suppose. Not for me tho. got distracted playing with the brushes and textures, but I don't think I'll be drawing anything. I would say if you're not put off by things here, you could probably get used to this and enjoy it. definitely better than the others listed besides Medibang.

the brush collage:

Clip Studio Paint: 1/10

first time trying this one out. took the longest to install. it takes a weirdly long time to start up?? definitely not a great first impression here. too clicky and sticky with the rotation, tedious to navigate to do anything. wow this app is not great. it looks horrible with the UI, too. clean screens are not good. it's off-putting. also it is by default recording me draw??? the heck? seems to be only 1 brush option, little to no actual customization of the brush. no clue where the layers were if there were any at all. overall?

Sketchbook Lite: 0/10

immediate ads. forces you into an ad that says 'start free trial then pay $14.99 a month uwu' instant hate. stroke quality is blurred, UI is WAY too empty. I like the dark mode, but YIKES. you exit out of the app for a sec and then back in and you are smacked in the face with the same invasive ads as you started out with. you are NOT getting my money that I do not even have to begin with. instant uninstall.

[pankomako]

there's probably like a million others out there already, but since im seeing a lot of my friends hop on tumblr due to the twitter situation i figured i'd give this a go. so, welcome to

panko's guide to tumblr!

i've been using this site for almost a year now, so i suppose i'm at least somewhat qualified to do this. i mainly just want to do this for fun honestly. i think lots of people have covered more of the setup and what to expect from tumblr as a whole so i think i'll focus on more of the usage of this site, because it's definitely much different from twitter, and, in my opinion, FAR better, plus that's the thing people seem to be the most confused about. so, here we go!

Post Features

the first thing you may notice is that tumblr has no character limit on posts! if you want to post a 10,000 word essay on the motives of your favorite character from the video game or tv show you're super into right now, nobody's stopping you. already so much more convenient than making threads on twitter.

there's a variety of options you can use to make your text more visually interesting, add emphasis, and/or organize your post! when you highlight text (at least on browser, i dont use the app), these options will appear above what you highlighted. you can make your text bold, italicized, bigger (on a new line), smaller, crossed out, or even colored! under the drop-down list there are other options too such as cursive text and lists. you can also add hyperlinks to text if you want. (this is all in the rich text editor, you can also switch to HTML or Markdown by going to your post settings.)

you can also add plenty of other media to posts! you can add up to 30 images which you can arrange however you please, although from my experience arranging images is kinda clunky, but still way better than twitter lol. you can also add gifs, videos (one per post), audio files (10 per post), and embed links. you can also add a cutoff line where everything under that line is hidden under a "read more" button, which is very useful for longer posts.

when you make a post, there is a space to add a title, but it's not required. most people don't add titles unless it helps with formatting.

you can also schedule a post to be posted at a certain time, queue posts to be posted on a consistent schedule, change who can reblog a post, and even save posts as drafts if you want/need to come back to them later.

Tags

Under every post you make/reblog, there is an option to add tags. these are in their own section under the post itself. you can add as many as you want afaik, but they can only be so many characters long. on tumblr, tags have multiple uses.

you can add tags that correspond to your post such as the topic or fandom (and characters/people involved), or whether it's art or photography, for example, to try to help get your post out there. it's preferred and just better in general to only add tags that are relevant to your post. don't tag character fanart as sports or food or pop music, but ESPECIALLY not an unrelated fandom.

you can also use tags to organize your blog and make it easier to find specific posts. you can tag your own art as "my art" and art you reblog from friends as "friends' art", and even create your own tags for specific topics you frequently post about, such as your oc world or a fandom fic or au you have. i personally don't use tags for organization much, but i do have my own tags for the two oc worlds i have. (you can do this even if you're not a fandom-goer or artist, these just serve as an example bc im both lol)

you can even use tags to add extra comments to a post. lord knows i do this a lot myself. lots of people will use tags to sort of ramble off-handedly under a post when it's not the main content of said post. this is especially common under reblogs - more on that later. since you can add spaces within tags, writing full sentences in the tags is easy and a very common practice. just be careful when using commas; adding a comma starts a new tag.

Notes

similarly to how twitter has likes, retweets and comments, tumblr has likes, reblogs and replies. however, these are all combined into one sum of notes. all notes on a post are compiled under the source post. by clicking on the number of notes under a post, you can see a list of all replies, likes and reblogs on a post, if you're curious like me.

on tumblr, likes act as more of a bookmarking tool. you can look at a list of all the posts you liked, and you can have this list displayed on your blog if you want, but likes do NOT increase the visibility of a post. if you want to help a post gain traction, you need to reblog it. if you don't want that post on your blog, but you want to let the person know that you've seen and enjoyed their post, you can leave a like as a small but kind gesture if you want. if you were playing minecraft, liking a post would be akin to punching a mob, but reblogging would be like using a sword. it may not necessarily be a powerful diamond sword, but it does more than a one-damage punch. i should also mention - you can only like a post once; if you like a reblog of a post, you like the source post and can't like separate reblogs of the post.

reblogs are the core of tumblr's functionality. this site does not have an algorithm, so reblogs are the only way for posts to circulate. it's probably pretty easy to figure out, but reblogs put another person's post on your own blog and on your followers' feeds. this is likely the biggest difference between tumblr and twitter: you can reblog a post as many times as you want, and you can add on to a post directly by reblogging, which is much different from a quote-tweet on twitter. also different from quote-tweets, all notes on reblogs are notes contributed to the source post. in a reblog, you can add a comment either in normal text or in the tags, and you can add images and gifs as well. it's common courtesy to put comments that don't contribute to the post in the tags, such as saying you think a post is funny. lots of famous tumblr posts are chains of reblogs - unlike on twitter where you can only retweet one tweet/reply at a time, you can reblog these reblog chains. you can also add the tags of the person you reblogged from to your own reblog if you want, though usually people just say "prev" if they liked the previous reblogger's tags.

replies are a convenient way to have a conversation under a post without repeatedly reblogging. although convenient, replies are limited in what you can do with them. they're text-only and have a character cap. but they're still a good way to add a quick comment to a post if you don't want it on your blog. you can also reply directly to a person in the notes of a post by mentioning them in your reply. replies can be deleted from a post or be turned off for a post entirely by the original poster.

I think that's about all you need to know to get started posting and reblogging, but please feel free to add on if i did happen to forget anything. thanks for reading and happy tumbling! :D

[majorprojectalex]

Really long Blog about the whole week

I wasn't able to write anything on Wednesday and I thought that trying to write the blog on another day would interfere with my workflow, so ill make up for it with a longer blog today.

I had a meeting with Leo on Monday where I got feedback about the design of the trick

Leo advised that if I get more time I should make an explanatory chart of the booth, Something kind of like an Ikea instruction manual.

I also run past him the idea to change the schedule and doing the UI design next instead of the magician, and he agreed, as long as I thought it wouldn't interfere. So, I changed my Gantt chart to reflect this change. Basically all I had to do was switch the tasks of week 4 with week 9I felt like the change works as I'm only switching things around for character and UI design and already have rough concept for that character

During the week I also tried learning RenPy in order to see what was possible to do with the UI instead of trying to guess and hoping that it might work if I decide I want to put together a demo at the end of the project.

I also experimented a bit wit a colour palette and started thinking about the design of the start screen. For the start screen I looked at a few recent games and how they did it and sketched some thumbnails of them. (TGAA Chronicles, AI Solminum Files, Dredge, Mask of the Rose, Frog detective, and Tangle Tower)

I saw that some of them used zoomed out locations from the game as screens for the menu, and I thought it could be a good idea to try that, as designing the locations was my next task so i would be getting ahead on and killing two birds with one stone.

I ended up coming up with this. The design of the cave exterior is pretty bland for now, but this is just the first idea, and it was very quickly sketched and put together. I liked the idea of having contrasting colours, so I experimented with bold orange and blue colours for it.

When I showed it in class, the feedback was that the orange/red colour is too intence and gives horror vibes, which wasn't really what I was trying to do.

On Wednesday we also had the symposia, which ended up being pretty useful because it turns out I was a bit confused about what the forefront posts are supposed to be

After the feedback I tried making the colour scheme for the menu screen

After that I spent some more time learning ren-py. What I found most useful in the very beginning was going into one of the default games that ren-py has, called 'the question' and editing the code to see how it aggected the game in real time, and which lines of code cause what. I only learned incredibly basic things like this, but it got me over the initial fear that I had about approaching programming

After that, I started following 'Coding with B and E' his Ren-Py for complete beginners.

Make Your Own Visual Novel! | Ren'Py Tutorial Part 1 - YouTube

I managed to learn a lot of the basics a lot quicker than I had anticipated. And the experience of learning it ranged from incredibly frustrating to really satisfying. I deceided that I wanted to see what I could do with what I had learned and created some placeholder art to use for a prototype of the game

the place holder art was for three in game locations, which was again killing two birds with one stone as it got me started coming up with ideas for the environments. I created three backgrounds with the hope that I will be able to reach my wishlist goal of adding an extra location.

I ended up creating a game loop where you can move from location to location in the game using some arrow simbols. I also added some characters, as I imagined that in the game you will be able to click characters and talk to them. (In the prototype it just notifies you that the character has been clicked, since I don't have any of the dialogue yet.)

I was able to do this through the use of image buttons, where you can code an image to trigger certain action. I also added a hover state where there is some light glow around the image when it's hovered on so that it is easier to tell that something can be clicked.

I found image buttons incredibly difficult to figure out at first, but now I feel like I got the hang of them and I could use them for finding clues, creating UI screens ect.

So that gives me a more clear impression of what I could do in terms of UI.

I also created a small icon for the game. It's really small in the video but you might be able to see it.

I also did some research about UI:

I watched this video about it:

(4) 5 TIPS for making prettier UI for games, faster. || Resources and Tools for User Interface Design - YouTube

And took some notes of what I thought could be useful in my sketchbook.

I also looked at Aviary attorney, as I really like the UI they have for the inventory and the and culprit UI)

Then, I brainstormed some ideas about the UI in my sketchbook, and thumbailed some ideas about how the dialogue screen could look like, about a screen where you can examine the characters, and about a people's file screen, kind of like the Aviary attorney's culprit UI screen.

I also sketched out some ideas for what the puzzle's UI could look llike

Then, I also came up with an idea for a mechanic where you can characters, clues or statements together and prove something by showing how they contradict or connect to each other.

I am not exactly sure how I would implement that yet, and the idea is really fresh in my hed still ,so I think I need to think about it more.

Schedule for next weeks:

I still want to create a better design of the booth puzzle, so I have to try squeezing it in between working on other tasks. I've gotten more of an idea for the other designs byu creating the placeholder art, so I'm hoping that that will make the process of their design faster.

Also, even though I have done a lot of work in terms of UI and prototyping, I still have a long way to go with it, especially now that making something playable seems more possible. So I will have to try doing it in paralell with other tasks too

Bibliography:

(2019) AI: The Somnium Files on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/948740/AI_The_Somnium_Files/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

(2021) The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1158850/The_Great_Ace_Attorney_Chronicles/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

5 TIPS for making prettier UI for games, faster. || Resources and Tools for User Interface Design (2020). YouTube. 10 July. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVe6D2flpI&ab_channel=AmalieKae (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Dredge on steam (2023) DREDGE on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Frog detective 1: The haunted island on steam (2018) Frog Detective 1: The Haunted Island on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/963000/Frog_Detective_1_The_Haunted_Island/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Make Your Own Visual Novel! | Ren’Py Tutorial Part 1 (2020). YouTube. 28 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vith10gG8L4&list=PL8gnyyQEz5CGTzHWF8thIfUg92ffs7T7P&ab_channel=CodingWithBandE (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Mask of the rose on steam (2023) Mask of the Rose on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1769980/Mask_of_the_Rose/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Tangle Tower on steam (2019) Tangle Tower on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/359510/Tangle_Tower/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

[hermit-ratings]

If the rulers in empires smp were soup who would be the best soup?

EMPIRE SMP RULERS AS SOUP:

A/N: I love everything about this ask, I love absolutely every image that came to mind when I read this, listening to mama Mia for the 5th hour straight did not help me. You've given me too much creative freedom, anon. Scott Smajor if you see this.......no you don't ❤️ and yes I took this so seriously..I'm invested in this fake review.

Scott:

9/10, this man as a soup would either taste like the most divine and exotic ice cold soup from the Gods above, laced with Ichor and the purest Gold, or like a 5 year old dumped glitter glue in a bowl and added five entire packs of sprinkles and topped it off with a single blueberry on top.

Would I eat it? Yes to both. Edibility of soup does not scare me.

+9 points for creativity and color

-1 point for the glitter glue drying...hard soup is not good soup

Jimmy:

2/10, he wouldn't even be soup.. it'd just be green homemade slime in a bowl with some raw fish in the middle.....it's not soup, it's also not actually food, apart from the raw fish.

would I eat this? Yes! if only for the nice experience...or trauma! we're gonna find out! I'll keep you guys updated.

+2 points because I DO like slime....and it's green :]

-8 because it's not in fact soup, it's slime..then again I don't think any of these people are soup matieral.

Gem:

8/10, Gem would be good soup! has berries and some distantly exotic meat from unknown origins, then sprinkle some herbs and shiny rocks and you've got yourself the entirety of the cottagecore aesthetic in a bowl! Sparkly? yes! worth the digestion problems? probably!

would I eat this? Yes, if only because it would probably bump up my net worth with all those crystals.

+8 points for the aesthetic and the fact it'd probably look like the presttiest soup ever.

-2 for the fact it has fruit in there...warm fruit? awful!

Joey:

5/10, I don't know this dude very well aside from funny empires compilations...he's definitely got relationship issues with that demon dude. Him as soup? a mess! both sweet and salty, maybe some weird void black specks in there...what are they? hell if I know!

Would I eat this soup? Maybe...if Joey's willing to pay for my hospital visit afterward and a possible exorcism.

+5 points for risk of possibly making a contract with a handsome demon, can't blame Joey for being down bad.

-5 points for the therapy needed.

Katherine:

7/10, I know 0 about this girl but I love women so I'm baised and going off the ✨vibes✨.

Mushrooms and probably moss...yanno not the worst combo out there, probably in a wooden bowl and Wooden spoon. Average and plain, neutral if you will!

wood I eat it? Yes! but absolutely not with a wooden spoon, it makes my skin crawl at the thought of wooden utensils in my mouth. Moss? also sounds tasty.

+7 points for being eco friendly!

-3 points for the absolute pain that's a wooden spoon in the mouth, I can write an essay about how that texture makes me cry tears of anguish and fear, even the thought alone makes me weep in pain and wither like a worm in the harsh hot pavement of summer of '95.

Lizzie:

9/10, seafood soup sounds delicious! however I don't think seashells are supposed to be there...or coral..or glitter. I can also see Lizzie just being flat our a fish on a plate, obviously the superior soup...fish.

Would I eat it? yes to both! I've got teeth, I can handle some crunching.

+9 points for my basis for my neverending love of seafood

-1 point for the seashells, not an enjoyable trip to the breakroom.

MythicalSausage:

10/10, here he is! finally some good soup! normal soup! soup that you can possibly ask to be made in a restaurant without being filed for some crime against the cooking gods. Very meaty.. obviously. Thick soup with big chunks of sausage....also from unknown origins, maybe some mushrooms and a sprinkle of veggie..

Would I eat it? absolutely! though maybe slowly, id rather not choke on any meat......I should have worded that better...will I? nope! I will die upon the grave I, myself, dug.

+9 for normal soup. life is good, all is well.

-1 for the sausage is very much in the soup, however it is not Mythical, false advertising.

Pearl:

7/10, I feel pearl Would be something that resembles those shiny bathbombs. they look edible. very shiny and smooth soup, kinda like when there's an oil spill in a puddle or something, and the water gets all colorful and reflective. that's soup! sprinkle in some flowers and weird magical berries and you have Pearl as soup!

would I eat this? yes!!! it sounds like a potion, looks like a potion, and it will probably give me permanent weakness to every body part forever!

+7 points for effective potion making and making me feel like I'm Hogwarts about to accidentally create a major plot point.

-3 for the fact I can no longer feel my bones.

Pixlriff:

8/10, copper dad....melted copper, and some veggies in there. overall it sounds nice, copper coins are funky tasting, this is probably no different (I don't condone coin eating. I know being a vending machine sounds cool, but it's not worth it...)

would I eat it? yes! copper shiny, me like shiny, shiny thing in my MOUTH right this instant.

+8 for appealing to my primal instincts to shove any shiny thing down my throat like that one Penguin of Madagascar clip. yanno the one.

-2 for the choking hazard and the fact the copper will eventually turn greeny-blue and that's not a vibe.

Shubble:

3/10, she would be those red and white mushroom soup and those are big bads to eat plus some weird gnome things..rocks and..uh, I don't know anything about gnomes.

would I eat this? yes!!! though Miss.Shubble better pay for my funeral, I'm not eating that soup for nothing, you're all invited for FREE :] !

+3 because I like mushrooms and also the banger rave party after I'd eat this.

-10, I spent half an hour trying to read her empires Wiki page and I was wondering why it was so hard until I realised i forgot to wear our glasses.

Joel:

4/10, I feel Joel as soup Would be the definition of MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE. it's soup but also somewhat also not exactly soup, but still under the soup guidelines.....Soup made with water, sticks, entire raw pototoes, salt and clay. TECHNICALLY soup ingredients, but also its horrible enough in taste that you're not sure if it is soup or should even count as food.

would I eat this? Yes, with great hesitation....but I will. God has failed to nerf me yet.

+4 points for soup ingredients and Malicious compliance

-6 for being on thin ice with what it means to be Soup.

Fwhip:

6/10, Dr.Doomf vibes from his wiki...evil? evil shop? evil soup. Made of evil things like...Evil bacon and very evil tiny carrots and evil potatoes....

would I eat this? Yes...in my evil house on my evil chair with an evil spoon.

+6 points for the vibes and because it would taste like (evil) soup and I like me some free villain arc juice.

-4...evil soup is suspicious. why is it evil? what does it do? Scientists hate him.

Xornoth:

1/10, I feel like it would just be solid sentient tarr In a bowl. Awful! not edible, put him in a jar and shake him like a maraca for his crimes. Time out for naughty demons.

would I eat this? if he tested my paitent, I would not hesitate to eat this slime demon like I'm a hungry street urchin.

+1 point for reminding me of Venom somehow.

-9 for literally everything else. Not soup, not even a friend, but a fiend and Thot enemy of the state.

[cocochannel00]

The Azoff Family: A Case Study on one of the Music Industry’s Most Connected Families

(ft. a breakdown of the Grammy voting process and problems)

This is very long so I will try and split it up into categories for everyone (sorry I got carried away- I spent like 2 hours writing this) but enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I want to preface while the majority of this is based in research, some parts may be speculation. I don’t know the family personally so I can’t tell you what goes on behind closed doors but I can tell you how parts of the entertainment/music industry work. I’ve had 5 internships in the industry (one in marketing at one of the big record labels) and the rest of my work is publicity (what I enjoy) and events and a former advisor used to run in the same circles as Irving Azoff (and he spilled some tea last year) I’m not out here to diminish the hard work of any artists or their teams, I’m simply here to showcase parts of the industry that aren’t always shown.*

Please also see: Story Time: How Fan Pages Directly Impact Columbia Records Decisions and Harry Styles Image

IRVING AZOFF: NEVER STOP THE GRIND

Let’s begin with the great business man himself Mr. Irving Azoff Irving Azoff is the literal posture child for connections and power in the music industry (he was also inducted into the 2020 rock and roll hall of fame class which is like a huge fucking deal for a manager to be inducted so you know he's the real deal)

In conclusion, I love Irving Azoff and his drive.

Irving Azoff: Early Years Run Down:

He came up middle class (dad was a pharmacist, mom a bookkeeper) in Danville, Illinois

He dropped out of college to run a small Midwestern concert-booking empire and managed local acts in the era

Opportunity came knocking and he got the chance to manage the Eagles and the rest is history

He's one of the best negotiators and has negotiated business on behalf of stars like Stevie Nicks, the Eagles, and Jimmy Buffet

Azoff has been an incredible manager and his drive to always advocate for his clients while basically not giving two sh*ts about what people think of him has gotten him the incredible reputation he has today.

All of Irving Azoff’s Major Job Positions:

Former President MCA (major label)

Former CEO of Ticketmaster and executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, the behemoth formed from Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation.

In 2013 he and Cablevision Systems Corp. CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan formed a partnership, Azoff MSG Entertainment (Currently still CEO)

----> Azoff also ran the Forum in Inglewood under Azoff MSG Entertainment after MSG purchased it in 2012 (it was sold in 2020 to the owner of the Clippers) — why do you think Harry played the forum for the Fine Line show? Azoff connection

Azoff MSG Entertainment encompasses all of the other companies including Full Stop Management, Global Music Rights (performance-rights org), and the Oak View Group (arena developing company)

He also is the co-founder and manager of the lobbying group Music Artists Coalition, a group that helps lobby for artists-rights issues such as royalty rates, copyright issue and healthcare insurance (see he's not all bad)

Essentially what I'm getting at is this man knows anybody who's anybody. He's the man you want on your team to help promote your music, plan your tour, and get you on that Grammy nom list.

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

JEFFREY AZOFF: THE CHILD OF NEPOTISM

So for those of you that don't know, Jeffery Azoff is Harry's current manager and the son of Irving Azoff (the third of four kids). He's currently a partner at Full Stop Management, the company owned by Irving and the one artists such as Harry, Haim, the Eagles, Kings of Leon, and Meghan Trainer are signed to.

Jeffrey graduated from the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business and started working fresh out of college at his father's old Management company (Frontline Management) working under Maroon 5's manager Jordan Feldstein (the only way you get that kind of internship/job as a 21 year old fresh out of college is if your family or family friends gives it to you). He worked here for 5 years.

Direct Quote from Irving Azoff to Jeffrey (really tells you a lot): "Listen carefully, because I’m going to say this one time. You have a phone and you have my last name. If you can’t figure it out, you’re not my son."

After working for his father, Jeffrey moved on to the talent agency CAA (Creative Artist Agency) where he worked for roughly 3 and half years before joining his dad in forming Full Stop Management in 2016.

While he was at CAA, Irving moved over clients like Christina Aguilera and the Eagles to the talent agency to help with tour booking instead of doing it internally through LiveNation (he was CEO).

Even though I'm sure Jeff has had to work somewhat hard to get to where he is (or at least to mess up his dad's work as he doesn't seem like the type to take laziness well), the door into the industry and every job was basically handed to him on a silver platter.

Not to mention if you watch episodes of keeping up with the  kardashians (like myself) you can actually see Jeff hanging out with kendall and the rest of the fam at their Palm Springs house (you know you're a nepotism kid if you have an in with the Kardashian crew). Invite me next time Jeffrey!!!

Think of the Azoff's as the mafia family of the music industry, you don't mess with the mafia

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

THE GRAMMY AWARDS: STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS ON STEROIDS

Ok so here's where we’re going to get into a bit more of the speculation/grey area. I don't need to tell you that award shows are corrupt (See the Golden Globes Emily in Paris scandal) and the Grammys are not an exception. Think of the Grammys as one big student council/government elections where despite the fact the teachers tell you six times to vote for the best candidate, you're still going to vote for your friends even if they aren't the best.

A simplified break-down of Grammy voting:

1) Recording Academy voting members (artists, producers, musicians- anyone involved first hand with the creation of music; All voting members must have been producers, performers or engineers on six or more tracks of a commercially released album (or 12 or more digital tracks) and record labels will submit nominations in various categories to the grammys (songs need to be released commercially between October 1 of the previous year and September 30th of this year). You can also become a voting member by either winning a grammy or being endorsed by a current voting member (hint hint)

2) Once received, the recording academy with have the academy of trustees and its reviewers organize them and approve any changes to the 30 categories/fields (aka they can add new categories or remove old ones; so no best ukulele album of the year -- this is where things get funky)

There's speculation that during this stage when these special groups of 8-10 people are organizing genres, there's an "unwritten rule" that you need to be careful what album you green light (especially for famous artists) if you don't want them to win) (Rob Kenner said this- he used to be on one of these committees). Famous people tend to get more votes from clueless or lay Academy members that don't know the specialized categories or don't care enough to listen to songs that aren't radio trending.

3) After the nominations occur, Voting members begin their first voting. Members can vote for the four general categories of record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist and a maximum of 15 categories, all within their areas of expertise. Now the interesting thing is that while these are the guidelines there is literally nothing stopping them from voting in whatever categories they want (i.g. a rapper voting in the opera category despite not listening to opera). Theses ballots are all tallied and the top 20 entries are determined in each category (funky moment #2)

In 12 of the 84 categories those top 20 go to the ballot and it's done; for the rest it’s not like that. 59 categories including the big four go to a "nomination review committees" (identities are protected so they can't get lobbied... sure) who take a look at the top 20 and narrow it down to 7 or 8. (these are the special committees the Weekend talked about when he was snubbed). They're supposed to choose the nominees "based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible recordings" which lets be real if that was the case Watermelon Sugar (along with most of the others in the category) I don't think would have been nomimated as they are very generic pop (none of them are special... sorry to the WM lovers out there).

This committee is basically held to THE HONOR CODE SYSTEM... I mean tell me when the last time the honor code system worked in literally any scenario (literally wtf). Don't take my word for it though the former CEO of the Academy Deborah Dugan (a queen) filed a complaint against the Recording Academy basically claiming that the nomination review process was rigged (she was fired after 5 months on the job).

Quote from Deborah Dugan "Members of the board [of trustees] and the secret committees chose artists with whom they have personal or business relationships... It is not unusual for artists who have relationships with Board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end up receiving nominations."

These review committees can also exploit there power by adding up to two nominees that don't appear on the top 20 list to the final voting ballot (except in the 4 big categories - which watermelon sugar that one wasn't nominated for)

They also have craft committees for like non performance stuff (like album notes, engineering and arranging) that don't even get voted on by the academy voting members

4) After all of that fucked up mess, the grammy's decided is ok, the ballots go back to the voting members for the final vote. Deloitte (an accounting firm) then counts all of them, seals them in envelopes, and delivers them to the Grammy award show.

** The Grammy's just announced this year they're removing the "secret committees" so let's see how things shift in the next couple of years**

So obviously I'm not saying this to discredit Harry's nomination or his win as Fine Line was in the US top 20 albums for the majority of 2020, however, we must acknowledge privilege. Harry has a big name to him and a huge following, and while all of that shouldn't be taken into account, it does. He also has the Azoffs, a very well connected family with friends in lots of places that would be able to put in a good word here and there to get support behind Harry. Harry won best pop solo performance for Watermelon Sugar in a category with Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa. Look at the names there, the songs (ya'll can try and remember them cause I'm too lazy to write it out) and tell me that those top names with all of the music produced didn't get there through some connections.

Do with all this information what you will and if you are interested in learning more about the entertainment industry on your own Endeavor (owners of WME, a big talent agency like CAA) is hosting a free online program called the Excellence Program to help guide the future generation of industry executives. The program is a-synchronous and starts on July 12th. Highly recommend giving it a go if you're interested!!!

Alright ya'll that's it. Feel free to message me with your thoughts!

Extra Sources if you'd like to read:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdndn/how-grammys-voting-actually-works-and-where-the-alleged-corruption-lies

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/voting-process

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-11-05/irving-azoff-eagles-manager

https://celebrityaccess.com/caarchive/jeffrey-azoff-exits-caa-to-launch-new-management-company/

https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/grammy-awards-secret-committees-945532/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/grammy-awards-eliminate-secret-committees-voting-changes-1163887/

[marvelmusing]

Making Time

Mobius M Mobius x Reader

Part 2

My Masterlist

“1985, huh?” You say, looking up from the briefing Mobius has just handed you.

“Yeah, maybe we’ll spot a delorian?” He jokes, making a Back to the Future reference. You smile at him, remembering when you’d first mentioned the movie. You hadn’t been at the TVA long, to your knowledge.

You’re sat in one of the cafes, explaining something about the timeline to Casey, and you make an offhand reference to the movie. To which, Casey looks even more confused. You glance at Mobius, who’s been sat next to you, watching your teaching with a smile. You offer them both a small smile, at yet another reminder that you’re from somewhere very different from the rest of them.

“Neither of you have seen it have you?” Mobius shakes his head.

“Not a lot of chances for watching movies when dealing with the timeline. Should we get the chance, I’d love to.” It’s a few days later when you give him the chance.

“Honey, I’m home.” You hear Mobius call out, which brings a smile to your face. Whilst you had your own apartment, you much preferred staying with Mobius, like you did when you first arrived at the TVA. You hear him set down a pile of papers in the kitchen, before making his way into the lounge where you’re sat waiting for him. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“What’s all this?”

“Back to the Future. I went through my file, and managed to find a version that I watched that was uninterrupted. Then I isolated it, and copied it onto one of those cassette reel things, so that it’ll play on your mini projector.” You pause, before adding, “I probably put too much effort into this but, I thought we could have what my time considers a movie night?”

“A movie night?” Your face falls slightly, feeling embarrassed by your suggestion.

“We don’t have to-“ you start. He shrugs off his jacket and settles down next to you.

“Did I not tell you I wanted to watch it, should I get the chance?”

“Well, yeah.” He gestures to the projector.

“Let’s get this show on a roll.” You grin at him, before quickly pressing play on the projector. Mobius leans an arm on the couch and pulls you to his side. “You finally have clearance to access to your file, and you use it to watch Back to the Future?”

“What else was I supposed to do with it?” You joke.

You and Mobius head to the cubicle where you left Loki this morning. You spot him wapping against the desk with a magazine.

“Training going well?” You ask him. He leans back in his chair, attempting to look casual.

“Yeah.”

“Is that my jet ski magazine?” Mobius asks him. “Put it down. Gear up. There's been an attack. Let's go.” He hands Loki the jacket he’s been carrying. You set the briefing down on the desk, and follow Mobius. Loki trails behind you. “Put it on.” Loki shrugs the jacket on, adjusting the collar before posing.

“Nice.” You tell him with a smile.

“Good. Yeah, smart.” Mobius says distractedly. You soon reach the Timedoors, where a small group of hunters have gathered to wait. B-15 opens up the briefing.

“C-20 and her team went dark shortly after they jumped into the 1985 branch. All signs point to another ambush. We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Loki Variant. But which kind of Loki, remains unknown.”

“They're the lesser kind, to be clear.” Loki specifies. B-15 sighs,

“Let me see the back of that jacket.” Loki does a small turn, showing the group the back of his jacket, where the bright orange letters reading VARIANT stand out. Everyone is the group shares a small smile. You’re glad you don’t have to wear one of those anymore.

“Very subtle. Well done.”

“I don't want anybody out there to forget what you are.”

“Oh, your only hope of capturing a murderer?”

“No. A cosmic mistake.”

“That's enough.” Mobius interrupts.

“Lovely.” You hear Loki murmur.

“Here's the deal.” Mobius begins. “When we get out on the branch, we're not just looking for a Time Criminal. We're looking for a Loki. A variation of this guy. A type we should all be very familiar with, because the TVA has pruned a lotta these guys, almost more than any other Variant.” He skims through a few of the Loki Variants that the TVA have caught before. “And no two are alike. Slight differences in appearances, or not so slight. Different powers, although, powers generally include: shapeshifting, illusion projection, and my favourite-”

“Duplication casting.” Loki interrupts

“Illusion projection.”

“No, they're two completely different powers.”

“How?” You ask him.

“Illusion-projection involves depicting a detailed image from outside oneself, which is perceptible in the external world, whereas duplication-casting entails recreating an exact facsimile of one's own body in its present circumstance, which acts as a true holographic mirror of its molecular structure. But you already knew that.” He explains. You catch a glimpse of Mobius’s smirk before he says,

“Okay, take a breath. Noted. We're gonna break into two teams, including myself and Professor Loki.”

“Why?” A hunter stood beside you asks.

“Because whoever this Variant is, we haven't been able to find him. So let's bring in an expert.” Loki looks around at the group before adding a quiet,

“That's me.”

As the hunters prepare themselves, you hear Loki ask, “Do I get a weapon?” You laugh lightly,

“No chance.”

“Well, I'll have my magic back. Is no one concerned about that?”

“Of what?” Mobius asks.

“Me betraying you.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You know that we’ll just catch you again.” You tell him.

“And how's betraying us gonna get you any closer to the Time-Keepers?” Mobius adds. Loki leans forward, his attention fixed on Mobius.

“An audience with the Time-Keepers is on the table?”

“Keep that focus.” Mobius tells him. The three of you follow the hunters through the Timedoor, and out into 1985 Wisconsin. Your group makes their way through the crowd of the Renaissance fair before entering a large tent. It’s dark inside, with only a few lanterns to light your path. You watch as B-15 bends down to grasp examine a helmet left abandoned on the floor.

“So he's taking hostages now?” She says, turning to Mobius.

“The Variant's never taken a hostage before.”

“Maybe he's upping his game.”

“Or he pruned her.” One of the hunters remarks, you frown at his callousness towards his colleague.

“A Loki couldn't have gotten the jump on C-20.”

“I think you underestimate, actually...” Loki begins.

“Fan out and search for her. And hurry up, we're at three units until red line.” B-15 orders. Mobius sets a hand on your arm, and the two of you head to the exit.

“Come on.” He says to Loki.

“Wait. If you leave this tent, you'll end up like them.” Mobius stops beside Loki.

“What do you see?”

“I see a scheme, and in that scheme, I see myself.” Loki begins to ramble about an old Asgardian saying.

“Two units. He is wasting our time.” B-15 interrupts.

“Okay. Come on, Loki, make a long story short.” Mobius encourages.

“We need to look for C-20.”

“That's exactly what the Variant wants you to do. It's a trap. He's waiting for you outside this tent.”

“Should I secure the reset charges?”

“No. He wants me. I'm the key to his plan. He knows that I'm stronger. And he rightly believes that together we can overthrow and rule the TVA. But that's not what I want. I have a new purpose. I'm a servant of the Sacred Timeline. And knowing what I now know about his tactics, I can deliver you the Variant, but I need assurances.” He says, looking to Mobius. You glance up at Mobius, frowning slightly. Surely he isn’t believing what Loki’s saying? His eyes catch yours and there’s a small twinkle in them. You hide your smile. Loki circles around Mobius.

“Yeah?” Mobius offers.

“Assurances that I won't be completely disintegrated the moment the job has been done.”

“Right.” Loki leans forward, before whispering,

“We'll need to speak to the Time-Keepers at once. They're in graver danger than we realized.”

“He's lying. Just playing games. There's no one out there.” Mobius calls out to the group.

“Reset the timeline.” B-15 orders.

“You had me for a second. My ears are sharp too.” He points at Loki’s chest. You follow Mobius out of the tent.

“Well that went well.” You remark, hearing Mobius sigh. He runs his hand over his face.

You’re tucking into your lunch when you spot Mobius. He picks out a drink and a salad before making his way over to you. You give him a small smile,

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“How did it go with Renslayer?” He sighs, leaning his head back, before getting comfortable in his seat.

“Well, our Loki hasn’t been deleted yet.”

“That’s good then?” You offer. He sighs,

“Yeah. Though he’s getting more and more talkative.”

“You did say he loves to talk. Where is he now?”

“I’ve left him with the archives, hopefully he’ll be reading for the next few days. Or at least long enough for me to finish lunch.” He begins to eat his salad. Just then, Loki scampers in looking like a manic puppy.

“I found something.” Mobius shakes his head, keeping his attention on his lunch,

“No, I said don’t bother me until you've read all the files.”

“I have.”

“Every file?”

“Yes.”

“Pertaining to the Variant?”

“The answer isn't in the files, it's on the timeline. He's hiding in apocalypses.”

“Which apocalypse?” You ask.

“Any time in history? There's, like, a million of 'em.” Mobius adds.

“Ragnarok. Are you familiar?”

“Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of its people. I'm sorry.” Loki pauses looking down.

“Yes, very sad.” He immediately perks up again. “Anyway, it got me thinking. Nexus events happen when someone does something they're not supposed to do, right?”

“Well, it's a little more complicated, but, yeah.”

“Great. And then that thing they're not supposed to do, cascades into a whole range of other things that aren't supposed to happen.”

“And so on and so forth, until eventually, a new timeline branches. Yes?”

“Chaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome.”

“Exactly. So, let's just say...” He picks up the salad bowl from in front of Mobius.

“Mm-hm. What are you doing?”

“...your salad is Asgard in this scenario.” Loki continues.

“It's not Asgard, that's my lunch.” Mobius complains, the pouting clear in his voice. You lean forward, a hand on your chin to hide the smile at Mobius’s reaction.

“It's a metaphor. Just hang in there.”

“I want that salad.”

“And I could go down to Asgard before Ragnarok causes its complete destruction and I could do anything I wanted. I could, let's say, push the Hulk off the Rainbow Bridge.” He picks up a salt shaker and puts a large sprinkling of salt across Mobius’s salad.

“There he goes.” You say, feeling rather invested in this metaphor.

“The salt's Hulk?” Mobius asks, clearly not as enthusiastic as you.

“And I could also... Set fire to the palace.” He picks up a pepper pot and shakes the pepper across the salad.

“No, just stop. Don't set fire to the palace.”

“Okay? I can do whatever I want to do, and it would never matter. It wouldn't go against the dictates of the timeline because...” He sets down the shakers after nearly emptying them both. He heads to the table behind you. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, God!” Mobius sighs.

“You!” Recognising the voice you look up to see Casey looking very confused.

“Nice to see you. I just need this for a second. Thanks.” Loki picks up Casey’s carton of juice, before sitting back down at your table. “Because the apocalypse is coming. Ragnarok, Surtur will destroy Asgard no matter what I do.”

“No, don't do...” Mobius sighs as Loki empties the carton over the remains of the salad.

“There's the apocalypse.” You say with a sigh, offering Mobius your bag of chips.

“That's the apocalypse?” He asks, taking a handful of chips from you with a smile.

“Ragnarok obliterates the salt. Ragnarok. There it is.” Loki gestures to the ruined salad with a proud smile.

“What am I lookin' at?”

“Okay, it was a clumsy metaphor. But you see what I mean. It doesn't matter. It could be any apocalypse. It could be a tidal wave. It could be a meteor. It could be a volcano, a supernova. If everything and everyone around you is destined for imminent destruction, then nothing that I say or do will matter, because the timeline's not gonna branch. Hence, the Variant could be hiding in the apocalypse and do whatever he wants, and we wouldn't know!”

“Not bad.” You offer.

“Take me to a real apocalypse, to Ragnarok, I'll show you.” Mobius chuckles,

“Yeah. So you can run away back to your homeland? No.”

“No, I'm not going home. We can go anywhere.”

“I'm not taking you for a stroll along the promenade, much less an apocalypse.”

“Oh, Mobius, come on! What could possibly go wrong? We gotta properly test this theory.”

“Well, here's a fun theory. You lure me out into the field, and stab me in the back. And that's a theory I don't wanna test.”

“I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal.” He most definitely would stab someone in the back.

“Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like 50 times.”

“Well, I'd never do it again, because it got old.” You both laugh at this. Mobius looks at you, and you shrug.

“Might as well try it?” You offer. Mobius nods,

“Okay.”

“Okay, look, you don't trust me, you can trust one thing. I love to be right.” Loki adds. That certainly isn’t a lie.

Tagslist: @n0obmaster69 @mackycat11 @wibblywobblyjeremybearimy @boriqs @morganwilliams @greeneyedblondie44

If you’d like to be tagged just ask!!

[hyporheicflow]

Hey do you have a list of brushes you use for fabrics? They all look absolutely stunning!

aw thank you!! i am actually probably the worst person to ask for this, because i really only ever use two brushes. i work on Photoshop & learned the program for file manipulation way before i ever tried to paint with it, so my approach to painting textiles is much more focused on that. these are the two brushes i use, at various sizes and/or angles:

(when it says the chalk brush is 'modified' it's talking about the squeeze i put on it to flatten it out. i use that chisel brush for literally all my coloring and shading, and the soft round is used for special effects like ombré on textiles and when i'm adding dimension to skin)

if you're interested in how i put the patterns and textures onto my drawings i added more images below the cut :^) i have a lot of fun with it and i think it's pretty user-friendly for people that don't have great tablets or any kind of pen pressure sensitivity (like me lol):

most of my pattern files are from modified stock prints and as i use them they look like this:

i isolate a repeat from the larger file and reduce it to black and white pixels. for ones taken directly from pictures of textiles that can look like this as well:

or i'll take textures and use them as overlays:

i add the patterns in using layer masks after i've blocked in my colors. before assigning the patterns colors my files look like this:

then i use the magic wand tool to select either the white or black pixels and fill the colors i actually want in on a new layer. the 'matrix' layer will either be deleted or kept unseen.

from there i have two main stylistic additions i like to do—if the textile is supposed to have a depth or pile to it, i'll add a drop shadow layer effect to simulate that depth:

or for textiles that i want to look more complex or embroidered, i will add an additional 'stroke' layer in an accent color, usually one that references the metal tones i use in the rest of the drawing:

in this case i used a darker blue to make the pattern have a clearer contrast!

but yeah basically it's not at all about brushes lol! if there's a specific pattern or image you're interested in making into a pattern file i would be happy 2 run down how i make those if you'd like :^)

[roccinan]

In ref to all that 'kid at 14' stuff. Yes I agree with everyone, LCDP writers have some serious continuity problems. Not to be the devil's advocate, but LCDP was a done for thing that was meant to end in S2 until Nerflix decided to pick it up. So when they originally made it, it didn't matter if Andrés was 30 something cause it didn't change anything. Then Netflix arrived and made S3, 4 and 5 and things HAD to be added (so there were bound to be plot holes, it was inevitable). So now Rafael comes along and it's just easier for plot purposes to give Andrés Pedro's age. So okay. Kinda can forgive that.

What I still don't get is their surname's and all the family history. Because yeah, actors decided they were bros from dad and that got confirmed in S5, okay. BUT then what about the 'your father' along with the fact their surnames suggest they have dif father but same mom.

Also when Andrés reveals his illness he says 'tengo la enfermedad de mamá' as in mom's illness. NOT 'my mom's illness' but 'mom's illness' which just makes things a little confusing going by their surnames🤷‍♀️. And then (if I remember correctly) his file says 'de Fonollosa García' (or some such surname like that) so where the fuck does Marquina fits in in all this, and also who the fuck is García then? Because okay, if for some reason Papá Marquina didn't give his surname to Andrés and de Fonollosa was the mom (which again why????) it still leaves me confused about where the hell do you get the García from.

And this is all a plot hole that originates from S1 and 2 so for that they don't have the excuse of 'Netflix made us add to a finished product'.

So that's it, I hope this is at least somewhat comprehensible. And sorry for the rambling😅.

(P.S: remember I'm a biologist (in training)? So I have this thing where in thanks for bothering people with my nonsense I sometimes drop bio related stuff. I work a lot with bats, so here, have this little guy I was with a couple days ago. And sorry if you don't like them😅. But honestly how could you not? Just look at this cutie and that smiley face🥺. We decided to name him Dukúr, and we got pretty close.)

Hi! Thanks for joining this cursed convo haha! Your rambles are more than welcome ;)

Yeah lol I still think it’s hilarious that they tried to set an age and height for Andrés for no reason, only for those two specific details to be proven wrong at every turn. But I agree that we should look at S1/2 with a different context since like you said, Netflix picking it up meant new additions that don’t quite match up (like Andrés’ age) were inevitable. Still funny but understandable.

re: surname: Despite how on board I am with the same father hc now, literally all clues in S1-3 pointed at same mother. And you pretty much pointed out why! Anyone watching would have assumed they shared a mother. I guess we could say Papa Marquina was just blatantly not there for Andrés so he felt the man was more of Sergio’s father. We could also say Andrés is just self-centered and assumed he could say “mom” and Sergio would just know he’s talking about his own mother lol.

The de Fonollosa Garcia thing is throwing me off too though LOL (also funny thing is I was literally just wondering what his second surname was and then you sent this ask, answering my question haha). OK so I’m sure you understand this way better than me, so I hope you don’t mind me asking the following series of stupid questions in response asdfaadf:

To my understanding (correct me if I’m wrong!), Spanish surnames go “father’s first surname” then “mother’s first surname.” So if Andres for some reason took his mother’s surname, would he be allowed to take both of hers? Or is that just not a thing? As in, could de Fonollosa be his (maternal) grandfather’s surname and Garcia his grandmother’s surname?

The other alternative (again, I’m not sure if it makes sense in the cultural context?) is that Andres was a bastard child, but his mother was married to someone else. So Garcia really is his mother’s last name and de Fonollosa is his stepfather’s last name? 

OR, the theory that I hate the most because it feels in-line with lcdp writers asdsdf, Garcia was supposed to be Sergio’s last name, but they changed it to Marquina at the last minute and forgot to change Andres’ file. Moral of the story: writing as they film has its perks, but it also leads to objectively awkward plot holes about basic details LMAO

P.S Yes, I do remember! I see your biology pics a lot on Tuuli’s blog haha Listen, I may not personally go near bats for no reason IRL, but I feel so blessed seeing these adorable images. He has such a cute little face omg, so pure, so blissful- thank you so much for sharing these pics of Dukúr with me :D He has blessed my crops, cleared my skin, filled me with humble happiness!

[overseer2020]

Hero Work 4

The first side story I'd like to show is this idea that would have to be put in another set entirely if I ever use it. In the vein of Platinum Angel and other creatures that present obstacles for the opponent and must be destroyed before victory can be achieved, I dreamt up Rubberbanding Angel.

I don't have fateful hour in my design for Heroes & Villains. I suppose at the end of the (major) story, I could see a case being made for including fateful hour. Heck, Ethra only has the one Angelic Caretaker, so I guess it wouldn't be unfeasible to see her eventually beaten down, exhausted and at her most desperate. Maybe this is a Heroes & Villains card after all!

----

When I was coming up with the "Avengers Alliance" cycle of keywords (Blaster, Infiltrator, Tactician, Scrapper and Bruiser), I didn't stop there. After all there were a few common keywords left over.

On an unrelated note (because this keyword doesn't necessarily belong on this card), in addition to working on Part 2, I'm also revising Part 1 so it dovetails well with the rest of the block. While I have so far only hinted at there being a contingent of self-actualized, unofficially authorized crimefighters (aka private detectives and vigilantes), I don't think I hit that nail hard enough, so I intend to introduce the concept of The Man of Mystery.

I suppose you could say that a Man of Mystery should probably be wearing a mask. But maybe this person doesn't need one or hasn't thought of it yet. This isn't final art anyway.

As for the new keyword, I considered a bunch of keywords to go with double strike. Flanking, provoke, skulk, poisonous, wither, ward 2, bushido 2, and "{This} can’t be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less" (daunt) were all contenders for at least a moment. Flanking was closest to what I wanted. Provoke was almost the final keyword, but I backed away from using the actual keyword as I wanted the opponent to choose how to block. Also, gaining provoke after the attack trigger window is counter-productive.

Including Frenzy in the design file is actually a distinct possibility since I'm already bringing Absorb in (they debuted at the same time in Future Sight). Both abilities (as well as Provoke) play into the combative nature of the block. Introducing a new keyword in Crimeworld, however, at this stage would have largely negative effects on the balance of cards that have already been designed, requiring an extensive rethink on the entire set.

----

While Men of Mystery don't need their own "lord", I had this name pop into my head, it made me chuckle, so I mocked up a card for it and tossed on another "Alliance"-style keyword. The name is an intentional mash-up of actual pulp heroes in the vein of some of the other creatures I've designed. The keyword almost had Absorb in the mix (but once you have indestructible as an option, what's the point?) Despite neither element being designed for the other, they work surprisingly well together.

At the last moment (literal moments ago as I type), I added the p/t bonus and Vigilance -- because the preeminent Vigilante should probably have Vigilance. I almost put in unblockable, but protection from creatures is a bit more useful in a world full of creatures with activated abilities.

For those who may not know, The Spirit, The Spider and The Shadow were all "mystery men" pulp heroes.

The image comes from the surprising number of eldritch horror-affiliated images I came across when looking for pictures of 1940s-type detectives. I suddenly really like this image. (And this card; I might just have to use it somewhere.) I considered using the following image for one of the above cards, but as that's a real cover for The Spider, I didn't think it was wise nor creative to use it for my original characters.

I love the way he's swinging into action while hanging from his own noose. I don't think that imagery would fly in a Wizard of the Coast product, though. The gun is also a Magic: the Gathering no-no. I left the text box blank because I couldn't think of anything interesting and this was about the art anyway. At the last moment, I gave it a name like it was the first issue of the comic/magazine. (Saga?)

----

The final Alliance keyword bucks the trend by triggering when an opponent attacks you. As such, I mocked up a defender to show it off.

Suddenly gaining reach implies jumping up to stop incoming creatures and I had to give it some power because blockers with first strike are a pain to deal with.

Also, for symmetry, here's where Absorb slots in. I didn't put Absorb or Frenzy into the first five because I didn't want to force those keywords to only be useable on Ethra. It also feels wrong to "introduce" a new keyword and then incorporate that keyword inside the functionality of another new keyword. Perhaps the ancillary products or "Return to Ethra" will make use of these keywords.

----

Wow! I didn't think I would have enough to say about these idle thought cards. Now I'm excited about testing them out in real games. (I really need a playtest group. I've seen some societies online, but I never quite got the hang of having virtual friends.)

Next Time: ????

[lunawolflight]

Spies In Disguise, "alternative course of the story" (FANCREATIONS)

Hello there!

So I'm still fangirling over Spies in Disguise, I knew I was going to really like the movie but not LOVING it so much! In fact I saw it a second time just two days ago eheh x3

I don't usually do this, but I wanted to share with you a little "alternative course of the story". There will be SPOILERS of course, you've been warned, if you want to read GO SEE THAT MOVIE! (If you want eheh, believe me it's really good)

Okay so, my favorite part was the Venice's part, all of it, but more specifically the part where Killian kick Walter out of the moped and when he's about to kill him. Now, my "alternative course of the story" is from start from this point:

Walter spear bread's crumbs to Killian and all the pigeons "attack" him, but instead of run away, Walter, took by the adrenaline and a courage that has grown for had being with Lance, he put first the track on Killian and then steals the database from him.

Little discussion from Walter's choice: this bravery has been earned thanks to the admiration he had towards Lance and, the more time he passed with him (other then prove his inventions) he starts to have a little more confidence in himself and, in the "birdnado" scene, he took by this courage that has grown inside him and face directly the bad guy, stealing the Agents' Database (before taking it I imagine that Walter at first is scared but then he takes conscience of the situation and face Killian).

After he runs away with Lance and the rest of the flock, Killian now directly concentrate his attention towards Walter and from then on he became a target like Lance (also he remember that the kid called Lance's name so he suppose that the two are a team or work together). Then there's the scene that's like the movie where Killian flees away from Marcy and the other agents.

In the submarine, Walter is totally excited for had take from the bad guy the database and he's really proud of that while Lance, like in the actual movie, rethinks about the huge risk Walter had take, also because (I haven't specified it before so I do it now), Killian injured Walter while the kid was stealing the database (I imagine it could me the arm or the shoulder).

It's not a bad wound, Walter bandages himself quickly, still it's not so superficial and even if Walter is more concentrate on his victory, Lance starts realizing how much he's putting Walter's life in danger (like in the movie). Anyway, the scene goes on like in the movie, Lance doesn't tell his feeling to Walter, he compliments to him, the two hugs (ASSGDBDHEB LOVE THEM), Lance lays an egg and there Walter realize the formula to bring Lance back to normal.

Now that we arrived at this point, Walter propose to bring the database to Marcy and prove Lance's innocence to the agency and so stop all together Killian.

Lance immediately refuses because that's the first thing Killian would have expect and they can't let expose theirselves or, imaginary conversation:

"Dude, that's the first thing robot hand would expect us to do and so you-!

*clear his throat*

We and the rest of the agency will be in danger."

So after some more thoughts and ideas, the two decides to hide the database in a place safely far from Killian's location and Walter propose to add a protection to the files but Lance refuses, without explaining the reasons. The two hide the database, go to the island to stop Killian and here there's the same argument between Lance and Walter, in this case Lance points out also the wound that the kid earned and that he wasn't to be an agent, Walter refuses but Lance tranquilized him and send him away to protect him.

Same dynamic from then on; Lance goes to Killian to destroy the machines but eventually he reveals to have more of them and hits the spy unconscious.

Once he woke up there's the revelation part and then Killian wants to know where the files are, Lance of course doesn't talk but then Killian mention Walter and then Lance freeze.

Now I'm getting a little be into my own "story's style", but anyway, Killian pressure Lance talking about why he would had had a to do the "dirty job" for him (since he of course doesn't know he was a pigeon) since he "flies solo" and such, imagine an evil and chilling speech from him eheh x3

Now here, I can't decide between two choices, and one of these it's because I'm falling too much into my own "angst style" and it would totally turn into one of my story eheh xD

Well anyway, this certain first choice, is that Killian reveals to Lance to had capture Walter with one of his drones ('cause he had placed lookout drones and thus tracing the boy) and, from both of them, wants to know where the database is and since his revenge is towards Starling and wants to see him suffer (also he thinks that the kid would have break out first), he decide to tortures Walter and after a bit of pressure, the kid doesn't talk but after awhile Lance breaks down and reveals the position of the database.

Seeing how Lance revealed the care for Walter, Killian keeps him as a guarantee and goes to get the database and eventually kill him in front of Lance, but Walter is able to escape before they get back to Lance and like in the movie Killian tries to kill him with the drones but Walter saves himself.

From now on the things progresses is like in the movie with a bit more confront in the scene where Walter frees Lance.

The second choice it's like in the movie with a little changed dynamics: Walter is about to get back for Lance and Killian treats to kill him if Lance doesn't talk, after a lot of pressure Lance talks but Killian doesn't eventually keep his word, sends the drones to kill Walter, he's alive and the movie goes on.

So yeah I let my imagination slip on the writing again, in my mind things gets a lot more interesting and I'm not too good to put them on a proper writing eheh. One thing I'm not really convinced on is how Lance reveals the database to save Walter, I think that in the contest of the movie Lance would have find another way to not sacrifice the agents, his character reveals to me that he would have do anything to not sacrifice anyone, but I think that for Walter he would have done it, adding more deepness to their relationship, even though Walter wouldn't have agree on that since, like he shows in the end, he would totally sacrifice himself to save the others. Gosh if the movie would have follow my own idea it would at least be a two hours or more movie xD

Maybe I some things that I exposed may have other solutions or maybe don't even make sense, but after all the movie came out just few days ago and this "alternative continuation of the story" came up in my mind two days ago indeed eheh.

Well I've write another poem spending pretty much two or more hours for it and I enjoyed doing it, hope to not have done too many grammar errors I need to fix my english better eheh x,3

Oh good that's all I had to say, I'll probably make some fanarts since I'm really into the movie, GOSHHHHH

*I didn't choose these picture because I love these scenes and the fact that I just exposed such an an angsty concept doesn't imply that I really love Walter, NONONONO*

EDIT: I wanted also to clarify why I imagined this topic, I forgot to mention it my bad eheh

Anyway, I imagined it would have been cool to bring to Killian more attention to Walter since he's the real protagonist of the movie (with Lance as a co but the story is the most centered about him, his idealogy and the wait he has to face through the whole film). Plus, I find that Killian could at least failed a mission for just one time and made him involve with Lance and Walter as primar targets that interfeer with his plans. (Also I love writing and imaging angst so yup)

Sorry if I forgot to add this part of my fancreation, I'll also reblog it so the one that already read this will have a double check x,3

[bumblesimagines]

Pretty Monster

Part 4

Request: Yes or No

Who should pt 5 be about? Veronica or Swangs (Sweets x Fangs)? Should pt 6/7 be the ending or should Malachai join this mess?

(Y/N) looked around Betty's room.

"Why is everything so pink?" He asked. Betty shrugged.

"It's always been like this." She replied. (Y/N) sighed.

"If only your dark side helped your fashion and interior design sense." He mumbled. Betty frowned, closing her door.

"Dark side? What do you mean?" She asked, crossing her arms. (Y/N) reached up, twirling a piece of her hair around his finger.

"I'm a demon, Betty." (Y/N) reminded. "You can't fool me."

"You get this feelings where you want nothing else but to know how it feels like to take a life. To feel in control.. To make people afraid." (Y/N) said softly. Betty stared into his eyes. She blinked, shaking her head.

"No, no. We're going to the archives today with Jug and Archie." She said, stepping back.

"I thought this whole thing was about keeping me away from Hiram."

"We can all keep an eye on you if we're together." Betty grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of her bedroom. They went outside, meeting the two boys. (Y/N) followed them to the towns archive, watching them look for files. He snuck away, looking for a certain file. (Y/N) found it, putting it on a nearby table and opening it. He didn't have time to go through it before a pain shot through his shoulder. He hissed, black liquid spilling onto the table and file. (Y/N) took the arrow out of his shoulders, facing the hunter.

"Asshole." He mumbled as the three friends found them.

"So, you escaped because of these annoying little shits." The hunter mused, glaring at them. (Y/N) lunged forward, grabbing the hunters face. He felt a sting in his stomach but ignored it as he watched the human turn pale and his veins start to turn black.

"You hunters are always so rude." (Y/N) said, letting the guy go and watching his body fall to the ground.

"Is he dead?" Archie whispered. (Y/N) took the dagger out of his stomach, looking at the teens.

"Self defense." (Y/N) stepped over the body.

"You guys got what you needed?" He asked. Betty nodded, speechless as she clutched the papers. (Y/N) hummed, crouching down by the body.

"Go wait outside." He instructed. The teens were quick to do so. Jug was in awe, Archie shocked, and Betty speechless. They had completely forgotten that they didn't know the extent of (Y/N)s powers. (Y/N) stepped out moments later.

"Alright. Let's head home." He grinned.

Betty rubbed her arms, the image of the man implanted in her head. She watched (Y/N) entertain himself with the cube that Archie had given him. His wounds had slowly healed but he was pretty calm about it.

"We have to keep you with the gang." Betty finally spoke.

"If Hiram knows we have you, he'll send the Ghoulies." She stared down at her nails. (Y/N) hummed.

"What's the deal with them? What'd they do to the Serpents?" (Y/N) asked.

"They've always fought over territory-"

"Humans are so complicated. Make a truce and get over it." (Y/N) huffed. Betty sighed.

"People say they're cannibals." She mumbled.

"Did I forget to add that humans are fucking weird?" (Y/N) stood up, sitting on the bed.

"God made a mistake making y'all." (Y/N) said.

"But at least I'm stuck with attractive humans." He grinned, placing a hand on her cheek. Betty was supposed to be the logical one.

"Only idiots fall for your charms." Betty whispered. (Y/N) chuckled, leaning in.

"I guess that makes you an idiot, Elizabeth." (Y/N) replied. Betty swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling dry as her heartbeat picked up. (Y/N) pulled back, dropping his hand. Betty furrowed her brows but quickly understood when her mother entered the room.

"Oh, I wasn't aware your friend was a guy." Alice said, eyeing him. (Y/N) gave a small wave. She put some pillows and blankets down for him before leaving the room. (Y/N) glanced at Betty.

"She's kind of scary." He chuckled. Betty nodded.

"How's your wound?" She asked. (Y/N) raised his shirt. The area was back to normal.

"Your blood is black, right?" She gently touched the area. (Y/N) nodded.

"It's poisonous to other creatures. It can heal humans but if they take too much, it can kill them." He explained. Betty hummed.

"Our bite can turn humans into demons if we bite in deep enough." (Y/N) added, leaning down and nipping her neck. Betty flinched, giggling softly.

"You're ticklish?" He asked. Betty covered her neck, smiling shyly. (Y/N) pinned her to the bed, hands going to her sides. Betty squealed.

"No! Please!" She laughed, trying to get his hands away.

"(Y/N)! Please! I'm begging you!" Betty laughed, eyes watering. (Y/N) smiled, finally having mercy.

"I have to pee.." She whispered, giggling softly as she wiped the tears away. (Y/N) got off her, letting her go to the bathroom. He looked over at the small book by her bed and grabbed it, opening it. A diary. (Y/N) flipped through the pages until he got to the date when they had found him.

'Hiram is worse than we thought. He had a demon trapped in a warehouse. What the hell were his plans? To rule the world? Scare his enemies into submission? Whatever it is, it isn't good. The demons name is (Y/N). He's attractive. He kissed Archie. I'm surprised V didn't throw a fit. Archie seemed to like it though. Maybe Arch likes him?'

'Jug told me everything. They only made out but he said that (Y/N) might go after Fangs and Sweet Pea. We know Archie will give in. Arch told me that he's starting to really like (Y/N). Jug said that I'll probably start to like (Y/N) eventually. I don't know. I have to focus on bringing down Hiram. Not pretty boys.'

'We watched him kill someone. I think he might've taken his soul or something. I don't know what to think. Archie and Jug definitely like (Y/N) but I don't know.. We know almost nothing about him. Arch said he was born on Earth but what does that mean? Is he half human? Who is he? And why did he want that file?'

(Y/N) put the mini notebook back, looking at Betty when she entered.

"The file from the archives was my adoptive mother. My mother died during the witch trials back in Greendale. She was a human but they found out she had helped a witch and murdered her." (Y/N) explained. Betty sat down on the bed, watching him.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"I raised myself afterwards.. I had no family so I basically pimped myself out." (Y/N) chuckled sadly. Betty leaned over, hugging him.

"You have us now."

[friendelius-writes]

Through the Window |:| Tom Holland

Mob!Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: As Tom's new neighbor, [Y/N] didn't know that a look through his window costed them lots.

A/N: Low-key a bit creepy, but hey, I would be curious too. (This is my first official fanfic on this blog! Thank you so much for reading~)

Written by @friendelius-writes

Warnings: Guns, swearing, some violence, angst??

NOT MY GIF

It was a tough two months at [Y/N]'s new home as everything was, well, new. They were completely alone in this new, clean, neighborhood for the first time.

For a while, they didn't know what to do as they were used to hot dinners and nagging, but now, they've been stuck with frozen dinners and the sound of loneliness blasted across the house. Wanting to scratch that itch of going home diminished after meeting their next-door neighbor, Tom Holland.

During a cozy, summer morning while [Y/N] was setting their garden, he was the first person to introduce himself to them. The simple interraction made them feel welcomed and known in this unexplored territory. Now and then, if [Y/N] was outside at the same time as him, Tom would simply make small-talk with [Y/N] before being swallowed by his home.

However, something was tugging in [Y/N]'s mind about him. From generic observations, they have never seen anyone going in nor out of that house besides Tom. Most of his windows were crystal clear and displayed furniture in the room, but [Y/N] hasn't caught sight of that brown-haired male. [Y/N] assumed it was because he's busy, but the amount of time [Y/N] spent at home looking through his windows proved otherwise.

He seemed to be invisible for most of the day as [Y/N] seen no sight of him until those rare moments where he leaves his house and starts up his fancy car [Y/N] doesn't know the brand of. They've never seen Tom return, but he's leaving the house again in a few days. All his groceries were delivered to the back of his house and were always gone by morning. A gardener came once a week as well as someone from the cleaning department.

Once, on a warm, summer evening, with the darkening sky speckled with faint white, [Y/N] was slurping a smoothie as they gazed at the blaring television. The AC was blasting, and [Y/N] was snugged into a reclining chair. A commercial for the next big oven invention was dancing off the white walls, and the smooth hum of the microwave warming their T.V. dinner was the added touch.

Once the microwave chimed, a black van slowed right in front of Tom's house. While rising to grab her T.V. dinner, [Y/N] spectated the van through the kitchen window and observed two men dragging along another person towards the front door with another man dressed in a suit following behind. [Y/N] didn't catch a glimpse of the person, but [Y/N] immediately snatched their chicken nugget dinner and sat back down to watch it unfold. This could reveal more about him.

Bashes at the door alerted Tom, so, he swung the door open and, immediately, confusion jumped onto his face as he glanced between the well-dressed men.

"Why the hell are you here?" Tom demanded as he ushered the men inside in case any prying eyes were watching.

Once [Y/N] shut the television off, they maintain focus on the show unfolding before them as they finally see Tom Holland interact with human life. Unfortunately, they couldn't hear a thing, so they resorted in making up their own dialogue in their head, totally oblivious of the truth.

"We're sorry, mate," started one of the men, "but this little pipsqueak," he gestured to the cowering man, "was so fucking adamant about seeing you about his debt."

"You weren't picking up your goddamn phone, Tom," the other man added quickly with a sprinkle of irritation in his voice. Tom's jaw tensed and shoved his hands into his fluffed hair.

"Well, maybe, Sam, I fucking was purposefully ignoring to get a good night's sleep."

"It's, like, eight o'clock! Why are you fucking sleeping when you could be out having fun with the ladies?"

"Well, maybe, Harry, I'm tired," with a faint growl, Tom rubbed his face roughly, "how many times have I told you to not fucking appear at my fucking house when it's about work?! For all I know, someone could fucking be watching right now!" The twins rolled their eyes simultaneously, and Harry shoved the frighten man towards Tom.

"Just deal with him quickly, then," Harry spat. Tom ran his tongue against his bottom teeth, tightening his jaw. With arms wrapped around himself, he sighed of defeat and faced Harrison.

"I assume you have his file, Haz?" Harrison grinned as he whipped out the manila folder.

"Of course! Did you think I'd come empty-handed?" Tom seized the thin folder and opened it to glance at its contents. Once his eyes laid upon the man's history, Tom tutted and leisurely ambled towards the man who instantly found the pattern in the carpet more interesting.

"Oh, Chase Walker, what am I gonna do?" Tom slapped the folder shut and clutched Chase's chin to snap his head upwards.

"You are here because you wanted to see me, but as I clearly see in the database that you were supposed to return that 250 grand you borrowed from me," he released Chases's chin with a thrust and handed the folder back to Harrison, "the task was simple: get me that 250 grand by today." Chase's eyes wavered as he glanced at Tom and clasped his hands together after dropping onto his knees.

"Pl-Please, I beg you. I-I've only got a hun-hundred grand. I need more time! The re-recent tests on my wife are co-costly! Our insurance—"

"I don't care about your fucking problem!" As if on cue, Harrison handed him a piece of paper with scribbles at the bottom. Tom shoved the paper towards Chase's face.

"Do you not remember this? This was the damn contract you signed, indicating when you'll return the money." Chase shattered as his hot cheeks felt wet while feeling like he was being suffocated in a plastic bag, choking on his words.

"B-but I—"

"No 'but's," Tom tossed the contract to the side and eyed the twins, "take him upstairs to my office." The twins complied and hauled Chase up the carpeted steps.

"Where are they going?!" Exclaimed [Y/N] as they noticed they moved to somewhere else. Hurling their dish onto the table, they shot up and waited to see where they'll be by the windows. They caught sight of the five walking along the second floor through the wide window and then disappeared. For quite sometime, [Y/N] didn't notice them until they saw a barely noticeable Tom far from the window. Where Tom was, [Y/N]'s equivalent was standing in front of their bedroom window. Assessing the situation, their eyes widened and their hand rapidly covered their mouth that flung open at what was in Tom's hands.

"N-no! Wh-what are you doing?! Don't shoot me, I beg you," Chase crawled along the floor and gripped Tom's legs, wailing and pleading to let him live, "please! I'll do anything!" But Tom simply ignored him. He let Chase beg; he let Chase scratch his legs; he let Chase suffer knowing he's going to die.

"Harrison, throw me that silencer over there." Harrison tossed a slick, black, cylindrical silencer to Tom, and Tom caught it right before screwing it onto the front of his pistol. With Chase's cries slowing down, knowing it's not going to do anything, Tom kicked him off and aimed right between Chase's eyes. Once Chases's eyes started to water again, Tom pulled back the safety and pulled the trigger.

With a heavy sigh, he turned around and instantly noticed a figure right across at the neighboring house. His face hardened as [Y/N] realized he saw them. With fear bubbling inside them, they ran as far as they could to reach their phone downstairs. Tom swiveled to the men in the room, and pointed to the window.

"We've been spotted. Catch the person nextdoor, and bring them here!" Ordered Tom as the men sprinted out the door with no delay.

[Y/N] snatched their phone and dialled the police while running out the back door, hoping to get to their vehicle quickly.

"What's your emerg—" [Y/N]'s phone cracked against the ground as another tackled them. Harrison stomped onto [Y/N]'s phone as Sam forced them up while keeping a firm arm around their mouth to prevent loud noise.

[Y/N] whirled around in Sam's arms as Sam kept his stance and hauled [Y/N] towards Tom's house as quickly as possible. Inaudible sounds escaped [Y/N]'s mouth as their arms continuously pulled Sam's arm away from their mouth. Clearly, Sam was stronger than [Y/N], but they didn't give up anyway because anything was better than nothing.

[Y/N] was thrown onto the carpeted floor in the blood-splattered room and caught sight of the dead man lying against the chair. [Y/N] felt their stomach turn inside out and gagged at the image. They turned their head around to avoid it.

"Well, [Y/N]. How much did you see?" Tom's sickly soft voice penetrated [Y/N]'s brain that gave warnings that this guy just murdered a man in his own house. They looked up but refused to make eye contact with the murderer.

"Everything," [Y/N] announced with venom soaked in it. Tom threw his head back as a throaty laugh echoed in the soiled room.

"Pity. You've started to grow on me," informed Tom in a faux sweet tone. He took a few steps back and pointed the gun at their head.

"Sweet dreams."

And he pulled the trigger.