#just messing around with techniques and layering

[pencilofawesomeness]

In honor of the rainbow fire man being a @fairytail-redraw prompt, I did some color experiments :3

[swampybogg]

☠️🥀

[madwomansapologist]

stay soft, get eaten | tanjiro kamado x hashira!reader

tanjiro was accused of treason, and there was more than enought proof for you to cut his head and damn his existence. that was your duty as a hashira. but as a friend, you couldn't. you could never.

cw: angst. hurt/barely any comfort. childhood friends to strangers to lovers. kny level of violence. death and gore. more than one character actively trying to kill nezuko.

an: messing around with the idea of an oc. can anyone rec an artist that accepts commissions? another chapter of me finding a way to put a undertale reference on my fics.

A ghost stood before you, forcing you to face your past.

Once more you were that innocent girl unaware of how your life would change. Focused on the basket between your hands, making sure to protect the bread inside it from the snow, you had no real worries.

You didn't saw the blood. You didn't smell the putrid stench. It was right in front of you, and still you noticed nothing. How you despise that clueless girl. She knew the world was a kind place. She didn't believed that, she knew that: nothing bad has ever happened for her to think otherwise.

How dumb you were. To only notice the blood after stepping on it.

You never truly understood what it meant to be a person until that very moment. To be alive is to have a body, and to have a body is to suffer. A layer of skin, a layer of fat, a layer of muscles, a layer of bones. Nothing can change that.

And blood. So much blood. You threw up on the snow, and continued until your throat burned. With the scarlet red carved on your eyes, you saw the graves. That made you remember exactly where you were.

Kie Kamado. Takeo Kamado. Hanako Kamado. Shigeru Kamado. Rokuta Kamado. Nezuko Kamado. Tanjiro Kamado.

All dead.

You were shaking when he came. Was it because of the snow falling on your skin for hours on end, the empty on your stomach, or the violent cries taking over your body? When you left with Giyu Tomioka, you knew why: you were enraged.

From then on, you trained. You almost died, then did it all again. Until you reached perfection. Every movement, every breath, every muscle of your body. You made yourself excelent. You protected those that couldn't, killed oni after oni, slayed a kizuki without hesitation.

That innocent girl you despise died because of what you saw that night. That girl you envy, that had silly dreams and could afford not to learn it was already time to grow for a few more years died that night. So why you're looking at Tanjiro's sleeping face?

Unaware of the string muzzling your heart as if it was a beast in need of taming, the Pillars argued around you. You couldn't quite catch their words, all meaning lost in the air around you.

You pinched yourself, as if you didn't already knew it wasn't a nightmare. Life taugh you a funny trick: when you don't know what's happening, all you had to do is to imagine the worst possible scenario and accept it as reality.

And so you knew: you were late that night. More than you could ever imagine. Late so you couldn't see they alive, couldn't help Tanjiro, couldn't save Nezuko. And Giyu lied to you. If not, he at least omit the truth from you.

"Tomioka", you interrupted Tengen, just now realizing the voice you heard belong to him. You have never been so upset, and still your concentration on your breathing technique never shattered. "You knew from the start, didn't you?"

"I believe Shinobu said-", Mitsuri thought you had misunderstood Shinobu's report, but decided to remain silent when she noticed your clenched fists. She observed you, more carefully now, and saw the truth.

After all, when someone does their best not to cry the only decent thing is to pretend they're doing a good job.

Giyu didn't return your gaze. You were almost grateful for it. You don't know if you could endure his coldness now. "You found me mourning his family, and knowing he was alive you chose to say nothing."

How loud the silence that came after it was. Not a single breath was heard by your attentive ears. In the absence of an response, you found one: your trick never fails you.

Kyojuro turned to you, his smile brighter than the sun. "All slayers involved in this case shall face punishment", Kyojuro's energy had no effect on you. "We'll find a way to punish the Water Hashira."

Instead of moving forward, you looked back. "Tomioka", your calm voice made him look at you. This time, you were ready for what you would face. Even know, he was so aloof. What a nice act.

Giyu Tomioka gave you no comfort when he found you that night, only the truth. Giyu Tomioka told you a tale of demons and slayers, of blood and ashes. Giyu Tomioka gave you a reason to get up, clean the vomit on your face, and pray one last time for the family that always treated with care.

"What I do now?", the wind shoved your tired words towards ears. "How can I stop then?"

Giyu thought about your questions for a while. Just when he decided it was best to turn his back on you, something on your eyes stopped him. They burned. "There is a cultivator a few cities away."

You smiled.

Mitsuri gasped. She can still smile at him even now, her dreamy eyes gazed upon you. Sweet like sakuramochi. And as pretty too.

You thought about hiding yourself behing Gyomei when Tanjiro started to wake up. You didn't, you couldn't move. As he tried with sleepy words to protect his sister, you stood as quiet as you could. But his eyes found you, and for a second the world around you faded away.

⋆✦⋆

Tanjiro was dreaming again.

As the Pillars argued about his future execution, Tanjiro couldn't quite believe it all was really happening. Broken bones, exhausted mind, sore muscles. He must be hallucinating from the pain. That's the only possible explanation.

Because you're right in front of him, and that only happens when he dreams.

And still, even so sure it was just a fantasy from his tired mind, Tanjiro could do nothing but to stare at your sweet eyes and pretend it was reality.

How he wish to go back in time and be that boy who worried if you would look at him at during his daily walks throught the village. He could almost feel the softness of your hair against his once scarless palm, hear the poems you declamed with such a passion, see the careful way you treated your siblings.

Tanjiro isn't that boy anymore, and your perfume reminds him of apple and cinnamon. You smell like exhaustion and regret. Like hopes and dreams. Kindness and duty.

"Were you happy?" He interrupted one of the Pillars, not that he ever heard about them before, and in response to his disrespect Tanjiro was shoved on the ground. He contorced his body to look at you, ignoring everything else. "Was life good to you?"

Your smile burned your cheeks, so big it showed a bit of your gums. Usually you tried to keep it cover, but not this time. This time you could afford to smile without a care. "No, it wasn't", you answered with a voice covered in honey. "But I made it good."

Tanjiro smiled. The pain, the loneliness, the fear: it all disappeared. Smelling joy, Tanjiro was glad it wasn't a dream. But of course that meant the execution discussed was real too.

"That won't be a problem, right?" Shinobu questioned. "As a Pillar, we expect you to do what must be done."

Looking into his eyes, a stare so strong you felt hazy, you didn't hesitate. "The only mercy a demon deserves is a of a quick death." You turned to Shinobu, so she could see you meant it. "It's our duty to do so."

"And the boy?" Shinobu smiled, but it was so emotionless. It felt like a performance, but to what audience? Who Shinobu was trying to fool? You can't imagine.

You could feel his gaze burning your temples. "I won't pretend to be our Master and decide his fate", you wondered if your eyes were emotionless too. Were you trying to fool someone? "I know my place."

As Rengoku reenforced Tanjiro was to be killed by his act of treason, you looked at him again. Hoping to see disgust on his eyes, you saw something you couldn't really comprehend. Something warm and soft.

You saw your Tanjiro again. That sweet boy who would protect you from the snow, even if he would get sick because of it. You wondered if he saw that girl you once were. If he could remember your tales and desires.

You hope that girl is still alive somewhere safe. It would be enough for her to be alive on his mind.

She would've protected Tanjiro now. Don't matter the size of the threat, she would fail but would never give up. Now you're bigger than most threats out there in the world, but nothing could change the fact Tanjiro protected a demon.

You stood quiet, dreaming about a world were demons were still just tales. You smelled like defeat.

⋆✦⋆

And still, despite your desire to never speak again, you couldn't ignore it.

"Nezuko glowed, Master", you gather all your strenght to disagree. It pierced your very soul to do so, but how could you agree with that? "She was the jewelof our village. A dear friend, my Flower, so kind and generous."

You felt the weight of his gaze on you, knowing that Tanjiro would never look at you again. You love him, you really do, but if he really wanted to protect Nezuko he would let her go. You would be kind. You would do it swiftly, and endure the weight of her death for him.

"She doesn't deserve to be remembered as one of them", you said. "If her body won't be respected, then let her soul be. Allow me to free her, please."

Mitsuri would do anything Master asked for, but that made her desire he would want something else. That's a sort of strenght I didn't knew you had, Mitsuri thought to herself. Am I strong like that?

Looking into Tanjiro's eyes, you didn't noticed as Sanemi moved. You only understood when he screamed, and Iguro decided to put him down on the ground. Again and again, Sanemi pierced the box, offending Nezuko.

"Master, forgive me for this", you raised your voice. You would never do that in front of your Master, but he was the one to start this. In a instant, you were besides him with your sword on your hands. "But if Sanemi will be cruel, I will be fast."

But before you could cut off her head, Nezuko looked away.

"Flower?" You asked, sword falling down on the ground. "Are you in there?"

Nezuko hugged you, and once again a Kamado shattered your world.

if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡

general taglist: @lovelyy-moonlight

@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

[zerobasekazuha]

“Shhh quiet we can’t get caught!”

Pairing: AMAB Venture x Fem reader

Warnings: Oral (fem giving) cursing

Genre: Fluff/Smut

A/N: So I came across this tweet in Twitter from the same user who inspired me to do the pizza person Venture. They have such amazing ideas and y’all should def follow the twitter @/staplesquid thank you for the ideas!!

Who told Sloan that this would be a great idea?Oh right, Y/n did. So how did they get stuck in this situation where they are body to body pressed against their best friend in between a very small alleyway with their hand over her mouth? And to top it off with police who are looking for them. Well it started earlier on that day..

Y/n was an artist. They used many different materials and techniques. Her art style changed ever so often. This point in time it was graffiti. She brought multiple cans in different colors. She researched spots in town and even asked around on online forums and eventually came across the perfect spot. However it was in one of the most crime ridden spots in the city. And with no other choice she contacted Sloan to come with her.

Sloan just finished in the shower their hair was dripping wet as the windows and the mirror was fogged up. They noticed their phone light up, quickly turning down the music they had blasting then right back up to the main volume. It was a text message. They took a quick glance at it only reading the words city and alone.

It alerted them and they quickly picked up their phone trying not to drop it in the toilet as well before opening it and reading over the text. They took a sigh of relief when they read the entire text. Y/n asked if they wanted to go to a certain part of the city together because she didn’t want to go alone. They quickly sent a text saying that they would and they would be finished getting ready.

Y/n told them to wear baggy clothing and that she had a gas mask for them. And soon enough there they were taking the number 67 bus down to the worst part of the city. They looked unsuspecting enough. Two people wearing baggy clothing, one with a larger tote bag and the other carrying yet a smaller one. Both however wearing black masks. Any normal person would think they were a couple. Eventually they got off at a stop down the street from where the location was.

It seemed to be a poverty stricken street. There were deteriorating homes and people sleeping outside. Depressing to look at. The streets were also a mess with all kinds of trash around. Sloane looked at Y/n and wondered why the hell she was bringing them out here. “So…Sketchy part of town…? Going to explain why we’re out here?” They asked not knowing what was even in her tote bag.

“You know how I mentioned I wanted to do something new with my art?” Y/n asked smiling at them. They nodded wondering what point she was getting at. “Well we’re going to do some graffiti.” She said quieter than before. Sloan was completely surprised. They didn’t expect this from her. Especially considering that graffiti was a crime in their city. They continued walking with Y/n with their heart pounding in their chest as it progressively seemed to get darker.

The two ended up at an abandoned subway. Ever since the city built new lines older ones like these got left behind to just deteriorate. Little did they know the cameras were still in tact. Walking past all the other pieces if art Y/n stopped them at a close enough blank canvas. She set down her tote bag and the cans seemed to clatter inside as she opened the zipper.

“Take this.” She tossed Sloan one of the gas masks. Making sure that they changed the masks in the dark so nobody could suspect the two. After she turned on the flashlight. Pointing it at the canvas. “So take a can and go nuts.”

They spent around an hour doing what they could all the different colors and layers. Eventually it was an outstanding piece of art that differed all the others there. While Sloan drew mini stick figures. Sloan stood back to admire the painting of what had been made. “You’re such a great artist! How did you ever think of that!?” Y/n smiled under her mask. “Oh just some inspiration.”

But their time to bask in the art was limited. They could hear police sirens in the background. Then footsteps and the sound of a radio got closer and closer. The two ran off, leaving behind the extra spray cans and the flashlight and only took the empty tote bags with them.

The police chased after the two not too close behind them but not to far as well. Sloan hadn’t felt the first rush of adrenaline in forever. They kept running and running turning corners and going any direction to loose them. Sloan then found an alleyway and pulled Y/n in there with them. Pressing their bodies right next to each other and with them covering her mouth.

And that’s how they got there. The two were slowing their breathing as the police walked down close to where they were. She almost began to panic. Sloan could feel it with how she was beginning to hyperventilate. Sloan leaned down to reach her ear. They whispered in it because the last thing they wanted was a felony for abstracting federal property. “Calm down. Hush be quiet before we get caught.” They said slowly but also almost sweet like honey.

Y/n listened to them fixing her breathing and just resting against them. But feeling how close Y/n was to them was so…addicting to them. Of course she’s sat on their lap before when needed but this was different. This was the worst time to be getting aroused but they almost couldn’t help it. They thought only for a split second how sexy it would be to do what they wanted there while also hiding out away from the police. Public indecency and defacing federal property didn’t sound like two terrible charges to them.

Sloan had to think straight. They shook their head as the gas mask rested against their neck. They must have taken it off when they ran. They were thinking about her, until she seemed to be moving against them. Knocking them out of their slight daydream. The friction Sloan was feeling made them clench their jaw just slightly. “What are you doing?!” They whispered trying not to enjoy how it felt.

“It’s just a tight squeeze. My legs are falling asleep.” She whispered back trying to get comfortable. The police footsteps getting closer. She stopped moving, feeling something rest against her. She looked back at Sloan in the darkness. “Really? Now?” She whispered to them. Sloan blushed trying not to look back at her.

“I can’t help it!” Sloan whispered. They covered her mouth once again as they heard the footsteps get closer. Walking right past them. She squirmed in front of them almost on purpose feeling how much harder them seemed to get. In Sloans mind they could only wonder what she was doing to them? Was this to tease them on purpose?

The police seemed to get only slightly farther before stopping and having a conversation. “Those damn kids. Those little fuckers do this all the time. We ain’t gonna catch one.” Said one of the officers kicking a rock into the distance. “Let’s go back to the station. They need to hurry up and demolish this piece of shit so we don’t have to keep going down here.” The other said. Eventually the footsteps and the radio chatter faded. And now it was only the two of them left.

Y/n managed to turn around to look at them. “Okay their gone we should-“ Sloan kissed her. One hand on her waist and the other on the wall to support them. Y/n was surprised but kissed them back. Once Sloan broke away they looked down at her, loosing all sense of rational thought. “No you don’t get to go just yet.”

“W-what but the cops-“ “I don’t care about the cops they’re gone now. You don’t get to do that and act all innocent.” “Do what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Very clear lie from Y/n. She knew she was lying. Something about seeing their best friend try to hold back from her is arousing to say the least. In her opinion.

“So how about I show you because you don’t know.” Sloan took her hand pressing it to the bulge that seemed to be proud in front of the cargo pants they wore. Y/n looked down at it then back up at them. “So what?” She asked almost hoping they would give her the green light to do something about it.

“Well genius, you dragged me out here, nearly got both of us a felony…a misdemeanor couldn’t hurt.” Y/n looked around it was dark, nobody would catch them but public indecency isn’t just a misdemeanor. “You mean us being put on a list?” “Oh right. Well it won’t happen if we don’t get caught. You just have to stay quiet.”

It didn’t take long for Sloan to kiss her again, this time much more passionate and deeper. Almost like they were yearning for her all this time without saying anything. But there was something else underlying in the kiss. It was hunger. Their hands first rested on her waist, however they could feel hers pulling them closer in the already cramped alleyway.

Sloan wasn’t even sure they could fully go through with anything here but anything is possible. They had to rush however, it was getting darker and darker and they wouldn’t want to miss the last bus that ran in this area. They could feel Y/n wrap her fingers around their belt loops, unbuttoning the front of their cargos and sliding it down their legs. Sloan almost was at a loss for words.

Feeling her hand palming their boxers made them sharply inhale, their head tilting back against the wall. They were too in bliss to realize that instead of her hand they felt her lips around the tip of their cock.

Each second that passed feeling Y/n take more of them down her throat, the saliva running down the side of her mouth as she looked up at them in the darkness. Sloan grabbed the top of her head squeezing her hair feeling each movement of her tongue on them.

Sloan bit their lip to prevent themselves from moaning. They didn’t want to make more noise than they were supposed to. They took sharp breath before looking down at her, their eyes almost showing how desperate they were. With each moment that passed the closer they got to their release. Almost like it was within grasp.

“Oh please I-I’m going to-“ Y/n pulled back using her hands as she heard Sloan. They couldn’t stop themselves as they came on her hands. They tried to catch their breath as she looked at the mess on her hands.

“So uh…again at my place?” Sloan asked as they walked out the abandoned station together, going back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus. “I don’t see why not.” She added smiling at them before the bus pulled up.

This came out extremely late but I had severe writers block and I had to use that time to do other hobbies. But it’s here like I said it would be!!

[elinordash]

Thank you @cobbbvanth for asking me for this; I’ve never been more flattered! ☺️ I’ve only been making gifs for a little more than 2 years, so I’m really still only figuring Photoshop out, and my colouring owes everything to other people’s tutorials (some of which can be found here). To be honest, I was only asked some tips, but I have no clue what to include and what to leave out; so, here’s my complete (if random) colouring process.

NOTE: This is a colouring tutorial, not a gif-making one. The tutorial that taught me everything I know about that (and to which I am eternally grateful) is this one by @hayaosmiyazaki.

I. SHARPENING My standard sharpening settings are:

One Smart Sharpen filter set to Amount: 500 | Radius: 0,4

A second Smart Sharpen filter set to Amount: 10 | Radius: 10

One Gaussian Blur filter set to Radius: 1,0 and Opacity: 30%

One Add Noise filter set to Amount 0,5 | Distribution: Gaussian

II. BASIC COLOURING This is the part where I add most of the adjustment layers available and just play around with them. Obviously different settings work for different scenes, but I do have some standard ones.

Brightness/Contrast I usually up the Brightness to +10-30, and the Contrast to about +10.

Curves

For the first Curves layer I go to Auto Options > Enhance Brightness and Contrast, and then adjust the opacity until I’m happy.

I might repeat the above step if the gif still looks too dark to me.

I add another Curves layer, I go to Auto Options and this time I pick either Find Dark & Light Colors or Enhance Per Channel Contrast, and check or uncheck the Snap Neutral Midtones option, until I see something I like. I will then adjust the opacity.

Levels I add a Levels layer that usually looks something like this:

Exposure I add an Exposure layer, where I usually set the Offset to around -0,0010.

Selective Color To make the faces look okay, I create a Selective Color layer, select the Reds and usually add some Cyan (+10-20%) and play around a little (±5%) with Magenta and Yellow too. I might also add another layer, select the Yellows and make slight tweaks there too.

III. FUN COLOURING About colour manipulation: PiXimperfect just uploaded a tutorial that explains everything so much better than I ever could, so I highly recommend you go watch it. It’s made for static images though, and things are more complicated with moving images, so I also recommend @elizascarlets’s tutorial.

The reason I usually go for a softer colouring is that a more vivid one requires a lot of patience and precision, and I honestly can’t be bothered. Instead, I try to tweak the colous only a little, so that the edges can be a little rough without it looking too wrong.

One thing to remember is that each gif is different, and there isn’t one foolproof way to do this, so you will need to use a different technique depending on the gif you’re working with.

Okay, so, after I’ve decided what colour I want my background to be:

1. I create a Hue/Saturation layer and change the greens, cyans, blues and magentas to that colour. That’s easy enough, since it doesn’t mess with the face colour. I then set the blending mode to Color. If your background doesn’t include any yellow or red, you might be done here, like in the case bellow:

2. To change the yellows and reds, I create a new Hue/Saturation layer, select the yellows/reds, move Saturation to 100 (temporarily) and then play around with the sliders until the face colour isn’t affected. I then change it to whatever I’ve chosen and change the blending mode to Color.

3. If for whatever reason step 3 doesn’t work (the background is white or black for example, or just too red), I might create a Solid Color layer set to whatever colour I want, set the blending mode to Color and then select the layer mask and carefully paint with a soft, black brush over the people’s faces/bodies. I will then lower the Opacity, to whatever looks smooth enough. If there’s a lot of movement in your gif, you might have to use keyframes (see elizascarlets’s tutorial linked above). However, my main goal is to avoid using those; that’s why I try my hardest to tweak around as many Hue/Saturation layers as needed and not have to create a solid color layer.

4. Once my background looks the colour I want it, I might add a Selective Color layer that matches my background color and then try to make it look more vibrant. For this Aziraphale gif below for example, I’ve selected the Cyans and then set Cyan to +100%, Yellow to -100% and Black to +60, then created another one, selected the Cyans again and then set Cyan to +20 and Black to +20.

5. If the gif has a white area, I create a Solid Color layer with a colour that matches the rest of the background and then set the Opacity low. I might also create a Selective Color layer, increase the Black and then play around with the colours.

IV. FINISHING TOUCHES

I create a Vibrance layer and set the Vibrance to around +30 and the Saturation to about +5.

I create a black and white Gradient Map layer (with black on the left end of the spectrum and white on the right), set the blending to Luminosity and the Opacity to about 20-30%.

AAAND that’s about it I think! This ended up way too long and perhaps a little incoherent. I tried to make it as general as possible, so you might have to mix and match for best results. Feel free to ask me for further explanations about any one of these steps, and please tell me if you want me to go through the colouring of a specific gifset (although, as I said, I'm by no means an expert). Happy gifmaking!

[acapelladitty]

Captain Boomerang/Female Reader - Unexpected Visit

Summary - Digger interrupts a 'private' moment and the fallout is more fun that you could have anticipated.

It wasn’t the fact that you were two fingers deep in your cunt - curled digits stroking along those sensitive parts within your walls that made your breath stutter as your toes curled against the sheets. It wasn’t even the fact that your bed directly faced the door which Digger was currently filling like he owned the place.

No.

The issue was the headshot of Digger which lay clenched in your free hand and the fact that the shit-eating grin on his face told you that he had heard you moaning his name as you stroked frantically along your aching clit.

“Thinking about old Digger, eh?” Digger announced, his laughter somewhere between a growl and a giggle as he palmed his rapidly-stiffening cock with his left hand. “Maybe, if ya ask nicely, I’ll see fit to replace those fingers with something almost twice as big and throbbin’ for a quick root.”

Shame burning across your face, the heat in your cheeks as your fingers pull free of your hole with an obscenely wet noise flares in an instant; your throat tightening across the moan which threatened to break free as he pulled his fat cock from his jeans and gave it a quick tug, readying it for a chance at your willing hole.

x-x-x-x-x

Not that he was bad at it. Far from it. What he lacked in practised technique he more than made up for in enthusiasm as he quickly read the signs of what movements made your thighs tighten around his ears as your lips moaned and vibrated around his fat cock. His beard and muttonchops even provided a wonderful sensation as the graze of the coarse hair on your thighs and soaked cunt added a layer of burning discomfort that made you writhe all the more desperately in place.

Following your embarrassing little impromptu show, Digger seemed determined to experiment with various positions and it had been his stellar idea to indulge in some mutual oral sex. His appetite was ravenous and even the very thorough fucking he had only just finished delivering didn't seem enough to appease him.

But still, even you had to admit that the man had a talent for suggesting amazing ideas which very quickly went awry.

So, no.

He wasn’t bad at it.

However, this did not prove to be the issue either.

But where Digger’s good idea went to die was in his decision to take the ‘below’ position in your sixty-nine adventure. A surprisingly gentlemanly choice given that he seemed to enjoy the sensation of you pinned beneath him, held in place by his thick frame while he railed you with a messy ferocity.

Being on top had suited you to begin with, the freedom of movement allowing you to set the pace as you hollowed out your cheeks and worked slowly around his pulsing shaft. His cock wasn’t the longest but the sheer girth of the thing made it a difficult task as any attempt at taking further into your mouth essentially plugged your throat entirely.

What Digger had failed to consider, when proposing this little game, was the impressive strength which you could muster with your inner thigh muscles and how tightly you were able to hold him – his face buried deep within your cunt as you rode your orgasm out on his thick features. In that wonderful moment, his natural need to breath was long disregarded and it wasn’t until his blunted nails dug bloodied crescents into your outer thighs that you recalled that little facet of the human condition and pulled yourself free of his face with a panting gasp.

“Not the worst way to go.” Digger exclaimed cheerily as he sucked in huge, desperate inhales of air. His lower face was a mess, glistening and visibly wet with your juices as his pink tongue lapped at his own lips like a particularly thirsty dog. “But I don’t think me old mum would appreciate a retellin' of the story at my eulogy.”

[kinokkotsu]

The Dim Light — Yuuta Okkotsu x F.Reader

Today’s Music Recommendation: My Love Mine All Mine By Mitski.

You did not believe in love at first sight until you saw him walk into the room. The pure appearance and the innocent personality of his caught you off guard. How could a person like this get cursed by a curse?

You stood tall next to him while he was avoided by the others during training. You thought he’d appreciate it, which he did. His nervous behavior and awkwardness could break a chuckle for all you care but you didn’t want to seem like you were harassing him so you’d bare with it.

The more you get to know him, the more you figured his heart belonged to someone else.

Someone who isn’t on the surface of earth anymore.

Someone who still stood next to him no matter what, even as a nothing.

Rika, that was what he called the special graded curse which almost took away your life when it noticed you glazing at him with full of passion and admiration.

He was a nice guy, you admitted.

A really..really nice guy.

There was a saying that goes — Whoever meant to see your light shall see it no matter how dim it is - you supposed he was no different from the others who shall not see the brightest stars within your dim light.

It was somewhere around December, you suppose it was on the 24th. You found yourself running back to the Jujutsu Tech from your mission as you were informed that a thick layer of veil had covered the whole area.

And the first thing that appeared in your brain was to protect Yuuta Okkotsu. The innocent and pure little guy who would always mess things up as a beginner. But that was just an underestimation of yours towards him. while you sweat bullets trying to enter the white pale veil, you noticed how the entire estate glowed in pink flash.

Was this a technique of Gojo?

No, you weren’t familiar with this kind of curse technique before.

All of a sudden, the energy that was produced by the veil weakened to the point where you could break through it.

You didn’t waste any moments and immediately rushed in. Arriving near the shrine, your body tensed up at the scene of your friends’ bodies laying on the solid floor. Your eyes detected every person on the ground but there was no sign of the special graded sorcerer.

you dashed deeper into the ruined buildings. Each step taking a thousand thoughts running feral within your brain. What you dropped all your worries was the sight of the 6 feet tall man running towards your direction.

Your pace slowed down as your vision focused on his divine face. “Gosh, I have been looking for you for goddamn sakes, where have you been!?” You raised your voice, watching him give you a relieved grin.

Before you could take another step forward, he pulled you into a hug. Your cheeks reddened as immediately as he did so.

“—thank goodness you’re okay..Maki, Panda and others..I-”

“They’re okay..I..I’m Okay.” you returned the hug awkwardly, feeling yourself get suffocated.

For the very first time in your life, you felt something that was so genuine in the hug that both of you couldn’t pull away for the next few seconds. Then you saw a small little girl standing behind Yuuta where you both caught off guard when she called him out.

Then many things happened after. apparently this girl was Rika who had been acting crazy over everyone that tried to get close to Yuuta. You saw how pure and genuine was their relationship when you watched Yuuta sobbed on his knees as he held onto Rika.

In the blink of an eye, you watched the girl disappear into the thin air while the male before you still remained silent.

You put a hand on his shoulder, holding back your envy and the pity you had for this guy.

You supposed you would somehow cope with these feelings that craved to burst out.

You supposed loving someone would never be a waste, nevertheless if they’re alive or not.

At this moment you somehow figured loving someone did not require for them to return the same favor as you.

To love was the best thing you could do — for him and.. for you.

Sorry if the writing is ragged. The new episode, the leaks and this song got me fucked up for god sakes.

[e-vay]

Looking back at your aurora and sage besties comic (its one of my favorites, only being beaten by were amy and sonic being a Simp) and I've got to ask, HOW DID YOU DO SAGES GLITCHING SO FRANKEN WELL??? IT LOOKS AMAZING AND I PERSONALLY LOVE HOW THOSE GLITCHS TURN RED WHENEVER SHES ON NEFARIOUS TIMING ARVDGDBABA

YOU ARE MY FAVORITE SONIC ARTIST.

...just wanted to say and ask.

You are so kind, thank you! I'm so happy you like them!

I do a lot of experimenting in Procreate until I find a technique I like. To achieve Sage's glitch, especially if she's doing something a little more wicked so her "red" side is showing, I'll start by drawing her in her blue version and her red version:

I'll select random rectangles from the red version and mask them/cut them out, so she's mostly blue but some red is showing:

I'll duplicate this layer and keep a copy of the "clean version" and apply effects to the duplicate. In Procreate, I'll use the "Glitch" effect and use the “Artifact” setting and mess with it until it achieves a result I like:

This may take several passes.

I duplicate the layers again, because again I always want to be able to go back if I don't like it. Then I'll play around with "chromatic aberration" under the “displacement” setting. She only needs a little for a subtle glitch effect, but if she's meant to look more menacing then I can go hardcore with it:

Then, I'll turn that original "clean" layer back on and I mask out the effect layer so only parts of it are coming through. When computers glitch, normally most of the image stays in tact and only some parts are scattered/messy so that's why I only have the effect in some areas.

I might even slide bits of those rectangles to the left or right. It's just a matter of playing with it until I like how it looks.

I hope that explanation was easy enough to follow along!

Again, thank you so much! I'm really really happy you enjoy my art and stories 🥰 (and I'm delighted to hear you're a fan of Were!AmyXSimp!Sonic hehehe)

[devoutekuna]

Babyshower

Includes- Toji, Sukuna, Nanami, Gojo, Geto

Sukuna-

"What's the point in a stupid Babyshower?" Stuffing his face with sugar cookies decorated like teddy bears since those were the chocolate ones. He was laid out on the floor with you sat beside his head, trying to figure out how you were going to cut the cake since it was 3 tiers, he personally didn't care how it was cut as long as he got some, having 3 separate layers for each of your favourite flavours, that's how thoughtful he was without showing it, it matched your dreams in a Babyshower cake the pink and blue ombre decorating the layers. "So we can find out the gender!" Picking off a fondant decoration which was sin the way, passing it to him. "No kidding." Annoyed with how you pointed out the obvious. He had kicked all the guests out just so you two could have this special moment to yourself.he wasn't a fan of your friends, always plotting to eat them if you dropped them.

"Hurry up woman" cutting the cake for you with his cursed technique, a slice falling perfectly onto the plate, revealing the icing colour as he passed it to you. It took you a few seconds to realise what he had done but looking down at the colour only made you squeal.

Nanami-

"Here" handing you the knife as he sat down next to you. He baked a vanilla rectangle cake for the gender reveal. "Thank you" nodding in response. Despite baking the cake he was still in the dark about the colour since he got someone else to do it. "Actually, pass me the cups" motioning towards the wine glasses. After passing them he leaned on your shoulder, feeling the frame of his reading glasses dent into your arm. "Ready?" "Yes" digging into the corners of the cake to reveal the pink/blue icing. "Guess we're having a girl/boy" he didn't seem happy to someone else's eyes but since you knew him best, he didn't show much emotions.

Geto-

Alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks all around as he celebrated the gender of his baby soon to be revealed. "When you want to do the cake, tell me." Arm around your shoulder, kissing your miserable face. "I'll kick them all out" he hated the fact that he had to invite some of his followers and your friends and family. But he was on cordial terms with them even if it was one-sided, he couldn't invite any Jujutsu sorcerer friends you had, as they were enemies.

"Sorry about that love" kissing your cheek once again, seeing how much happier you were after they all left. Knife already digging into one side of the cake. "It's fine" cutting him a slice of cake, the baker had made it so the cake only had white icing inside, but cupcakes ontop held the secret. "There's no colour Y/N" confused as to why it was neutral. "Take this then" teasing him coming to an end as you picked off one of the cupcakes. Gracefully biting off one side, only to reveal the icing filled inside coloured.

Gojo-

"If it's a boy we should name him Satoru JR, or if it's a girl we should name her Satoshi!" Slapping the back of his forehead as you heard how he wanted his kids to carry atleast some resemblance to himself, they already get some of his name with the surname 'gojo' become a hyphen to yours. "I'm not naming my kid after you" biting into a cupcake to reveal nothing but white icing, the baker had done it so that you two had to guess which one had the icing in. "Why? I've got a beautiful name" taking another cupcake just to reveal more white icing, you two were getting down to the last 5 cupcakes, him having accidentally eaten some whilst the guests were still here. "Yeah but I'm not naming my kid after you, end of" he was getting on your nerves at this point with his ego. "Fine" sighing in defeat, he loved to get on your nerves but stopped since you got pregnant, afraid of causing an premature birth.

Stuffing a cupcake fully in his mouth, he was supposed to ake a bite then show you. "Satoru!" Scared that he may have messed it all up if he ate the one with colour in, "What?" Mouth stuffed with cake as he asked, resting his arm on your shoulder, as he tried to comfort you. "What if that was the one?" "Then it was, the past is the past baby" kissing your teeth at his response, oh how you hoped that it wasn't the one.

"Look Satoru! It's blue/pink" shaking him as you showed him, white icing decking your bottom lip as you licked it clean off, too excited to care about your appearance.

Toji-

Laid out on the sofa wearing nothing but sweatpants, he couldn't be bothered to put on a shirt. Placing the tiered cake on the coffee table, neutral themes to keep you both on your toes as you knew he'd try and guess what gender it was by the way it was decorated. "What are we doing, normally or that thing you wanted to do?" He was very attentive when it came to you, always noticing small details, especially since you have been watching so many videos of couples using wine glasses to take a bite. "Cups" smiling at him, grabbing your waist as he brought you closer, fingers tracing the side of your baby bump. Handing him a cup, bringing the cake closer. "Go on" he couldn't even hide his excitement, face plastered with smiles as he watched you reveal the gender, pink/blue frosting peaking out from the side of the cup.

[reegis]

Yo! Do you have any notes/tips for your coloring process? I've always had trouble with that part of drawings looking good lmao and I really like yours! If not for your specific style, do you have any tips with that in general?

Iv gotten a few asks about how I color but iv always avoided answering because

A) I am absolutely awful at explaining things, and

B) I am a very Very lazy artist you should probably Not do the things that I do

BUT i feel bad gatekeeping(?) my horrible technique if it helps anybody ig ill try and explain so

✨✨✨Welcome to Reegis’ Probably Not Reputable (But Very Long Winded) Art Advice✨✨✨✨

line art of a random character for the example, just pic whatever colors you have in mind for your base colors, you can try using palette generators or basing it off of existing palettes/characters/whatever I have absolutely no idea how color theory works (& this is why you shouldnt listen to me) so im solely going off of vibes. but it is Rough so onto step 2 & 3

(edit to add i usually start off with the skin hair & clothes on separate clipping layers and merge them together towards the end.. i think i forgot to say that at all here oops)

I abuse the hellll out of layer blending modes. overlay, saturation & multiply mainly, but also difference, brightness & screen. (just doodle something & try all of em out to get a feel for them honestly ik theres a Lot and they can be intimidating) for this i just wanted a more cohesive warmer tone to start with so i added a peachy overlay & a slight ombré to the hair to add a bit more interest to the character.

then just the most basic of rendering, some blush & highlights just wherever i think theyd go.

Another thing they tell you Not to do, my next step is to block out all my shading in a vaguely purpleish multiply layer!!! i cant be assed to do it any other way im sorry…. once i have the basic shading down, i lock the layer & go in with air brush eraser & also airbrush in other colors wherever I think the purple is maybe too harsh/clashing

still wasnt 100% happy with the colors so messed around with some more layer filter/modes/whatever you call them then colored in my line art! i think this is honestly the saving grace for all of my art shshsdhhf color your lines people. doesnt have to be all (i dont, i like the contrast) but it usually helps to make some at least a little less harsh

then with a little more color tweaking im done! one random sleepy dude, fully colored (by my standards)

and then if a piece needs more dramatic lighting you justttt

im so serious play around with layer settings! these are just basic multiply & add(glow), there as so many others you can abuse the shit out of & nobody will know or care in your finished piece.

was this?? in any way helpful???? I hope so.

[tgcg]

randy gradient tests & findings

hey guys ive been experimencing with new gradient techniques to get phun-nu-FX (fun new effects) and i have some pretty cooll stuff to share

i explained how 2 make a gradient >>>here in this post<<< so employ that tek here

spray can haze

this is something that looks fuckt when you set it up but really delivers. using spraycan to "blur out" the gradient gives it this layered, grainy FX. you can put lines of other colurs in with the spray brush to add interesting tints to the haze. i used this on my recent snow drawin for the sky with white+light blue.

crayon sunset

usin the crayon for this gives a softer effect w less scanline-y a texture. its very soft and pretty. i personally prefer this over using the paintbrushes for gradience because i literally just dont like mspaints "paintbrushes". do what you want tho

i realy encourage messin around with this and seeing what you can make

width makes columns

so the standard 4 the gradient method is to reduce the width to 1px then resize to orignal. well, its also pretty fun to mess with diff widths cus you can get some interesting abstract shit.

this is what happens if you set the width as 5px instead of 1px. you get 5 equal-size columns that kinda deconstruct ur image. its very interesting

here is the last gradient design if i also did 5px width to it. you can get a bunch of gradients from one gradient basically

i thought this was worth sharing because well its fun to look at & think about

rainbow art +

rainbow art is cool as fuck. rainbow art is what icall it when you make a fun gradient and shift+drag it to use it as its own brush

you can make really cool+nasty backgrounds using rainbow art over itself like this kinda ocean-y pattern. i included what my "rainbow art brush" looked like to make it

well i hope this helps you to think about fun ways to use mspaint to its full potention. its a very fun thing to do. take care

[descenacre]

Art Tutorial (aliased brush, oil painting look)

I've been using Pikmin Echo as a springboard for myself to practice new art techniques!

I had a few people ask me how I draw backgrounds in paint dot net, so I quickly drew this image you see below!

Now, there isn't one process I use, I mostly freehand it straight from the noggin to the paper. I barely use references, and I really should use them more often!!

But this should show an outline of generally what's going on in my mind when I'm doodling a doodle :)

Step 1: Choose sky color

I personally like to use either a light blue or a light orange!

This reference uses a light orange so I'll steal it.

Step 2: block the main contrast out with a big brush

There is a foreground and a background to this scene, a clear light and dark.

It's much easier to work with a blocked out pattern! It's like the sketching equivalent in this technique.

By the way, I'm using an aliased brush because I'm a pixelart nerd (so retro 🤓☝️) and also because it makes selecting blocks of color much less messy! But trust me, it will look soft in the end :)

Step 3: Look for blocks of common color

I see big patches of blue and orange when I squint my eyes, so I plot those in!

Look at how the light comes from the top right, it illuminates the trees on one side!

Step 4: Look for hue variations in the lights

Natural colors are never going to be flat or homogeneous--theres variations everywhere!

Add in greenish, reddish, bluish and yellowish patches, and even if at first it's a little scary to stray from such bold colors, I promise, gray is essential to making a truly vivid image!

Step 5: move on to the darks

The tree trunks in the left shade looked blue to me! So I toss in some blue splotches.

Don't worry if it looks messy. You can always clean up your messes later <3

Step 6: Fine detail in the very back

Going just like a traditional painter, painting the back first is perfect because you will later paint over the back layers with the front ones, creating realistic layers of texture!

It is much easier to go back to front than the reverse.

Think about the shape design and the flow of all of the elements.

The mountains curl up and down in very specific ways, and the trees look like circles from very far away, with leafless outliers few and far between.

Step 7: let's take a break from the canvas and do homework

learning how to simplify incredibly complicated shapes is crucial!

Trees, grass, rocks, everything in nature has very complicated structure, but you can simplify them very much!

With newfound respect for the complexity of nature, start noting down the elements of your scene in more detail.

You can move your reference around and crop it so that it's easier to perfectly replicate what you wish to draw....but....

personally, I like to use the reference more for vibes and just ad lib the rest!

Study the general shapes of your reference, and apply them in new, unique ways!

I hope this tutorial was helpful for you!

Please feel free to rb this post with any art you make with this! I'll be excited to see what you create :)

Thanks for reading!

[who-dat-homeless]

Okay sibs there's an almost 2k wip that I will never finish because I suddenly felt like I don't like the idea at all and I really really don't want to finish it. But I guess I can put it here bc it's not bad for a wip imo Dunno how you usually put wips so.

Spock accidently experiencing death whilst in a mind meld with a dying creature

For lack of a better metaphor it feels like a fourth degree burn.

Not in a sense of a great pain, more like in a sense of a great loss of any sensation. Layer after layer losing any ability to feel anything at all, be it an agonizing pain or a soft touch of a spring breeze. 

What’s even worse – he’s vulcan. Oh how he prides himself upon being one, but with pride goes its coast – he’s too well aware of what’s happening in his body. He can shut off any pain, he can stop impulses from running up his brain to disturb his precious mind, he meditates, he knows over a dozen breathing techniques, he can pinpoint a source of pain down to millimeters. 

And now he feels how senses in his body die. One after another. He feels as all five layers of epidermis from stratum corneum down to stratum basale all one after another lose their functions, lose their sensitivity. It is painful, of course it is, but more than painful it’s frightening. He’s not in control. He can’t stop it. He can’t even take another breath to hold himself together. He screams. His mind is a mess but a little part, the smallest little patch of logic, stoicism and everything he likes to call *vulcan* feels ashamed of such a pathetic show of pain. He must control himself.

Even though it’s impossible.

He’s dying.

There’s nothing to control. Only to accept. 

Even though he can’t. He has no right to accept it. 

He’s on duty. He’s a valuable officer. And he must protect himself. 

Pain worsens with every second and he can’t feel his legs, he can’t feel his forearms, his head cracks and big sweat droplets run down the neck. So ticklish. Such a strange sensation amidst the pain.

He’s dying surprisingly fast but not fast enough to relieve him of this pain. He must fight back, he must survive, but how? How?.. His mind is not his own anymore, his mind is suppressed by fear and pain and it doesn’t seem to rebel in the nearest future.

It’s not even cold. He thought it would be cold, how many times he heard about how cold death is, how many times he touched a corpse only to find it considerably cold, but now neither cold nor warm. It's an absolute nothing and he can't comprehend it. The small part of his brain, the one that fears, the one that bare teeth as a stupid display of happiness, the one that screeches and slither around like an ancient reptile, the one he calls *human* screams and tries to take another breath.

It’s useless.

There’s no need for oxygen for a dead brain. 

Vulcan shuts his mouth – he must not show any fear or any pain. If he must die he must die in a vulcan way – with dignity and cold certainty of what is awaiting for him.

Human bares his teeth – he must survive at any cost. He must try until he runs out of breath. If he must scream – he will. if he must roll in dust – he will. If he must cry – he will. The horror of non-existence is incomprehensible so he must live. In agony, in pain, filled with fire, filled with cold, but he must live.

But then he dies.

And there’s nothing he can do.

***

– Spock!

He can’t stop shaking him even though he knows it’s useless. The creature died while Spock was still in the mindmeld with it and now his eyes are rolled backwards and he inhales and inhales but he can’t exhale. If nothing is done soon enough Spock will just suffocate. 

Kirk stops shaking him, puts him back on the ground and lightly slaps his cheeks. No response. He clenches his teeth and withdraws his arm to slap Spock across his face when Bones finally comes and grabs his hand midst air. 

– Jim, for god’s sake, snap out of it! Step back.

It takes Kirk two seconds, no more, to blink and process what's been said to him. He gets on his feet and lets McCoy work. For a moment in the darkness of this enormous cave shines the metall of an ampul. Second later a quiet sound of injection, so loud in the cold silence, died down. Kirk didn’t feel an ounce of relief. He's been friends with McCoy long enough to know that no injection, no pill or mixture is a total cure for all. Especially now, when Spock isn’t even hurt, not actually, not physically. McCoy can help when it's a physical injury. But when it’s mental…

Spock finally takes a long inhale and loudly exhales, all the muscles in his body loosens and for a moment it seems like he’s going to be okay.

McCoy leans back. He takes Spock’s wrist, adjusts his hands and then…

And then he furrows his brows. Kirk remains quiet but he already knows – Bones will find no pulse at the wrist. Nor at the neck. Nor at any other point. Yet still he’s silent. He’s not a medic after all, just some stupid little captain with a professional deformation called “Hope for the best, expect the worst”.

McCoy tries to find a pulse at the wrist but at some point his hand races to the neck. Same deal. Seconds past. Kirk flexes his jaw. He’s useless now. He tries not to think about it.

McCoy's face flashes fear and he leans on the Spock’s chest. His mouth agape. He licks his lips waiting for anything. The scariest part is anticipation. He waits for anything – for him to respond, for him to not respond, for literally anything.

McCoy’s eyes racing – ancient brain tries to find the source of the sound he’s looking for, not understanding that it’s hidden beneath meat and bones. Kirk clenches his fists, nails sinks into the flesh. He wants this pain to distract him but his eyes ache from how much he focuses on Spock’s lifeless figure. 

Moments passes by.

A single droplet of unknown liquid drips from the cave’s ceiling.

Kirk bites his lower lip.

And then McCoy takes a sudden loud breath, squints his eyes and sits straight.

– I swear to god, – he whispered on the exhale, – one day I’ll kill him with my bare hands…

– Bones-

– He’s alive, okay? It’s just that his heart decided it would be oh so funny to slow his pulse to the point it almost doesn't exist and call it a day.

– But it’s… bad, isn’t it?

– For humans – yes. For vulcans – a regular self-preservation measure. He’ll be fine.

Finally Kirk’s tensed shoulders drop. He lets out a tired exhale.

– Would it be dangerous for him if I “transport” him myself or should we wait for a gurney?

– There’s no physical injury as far as I can tell so you can get him up. Besides I don’t want to spend another minute in these caves, not only can we be killed any other minute but it smells absolutely horrendous in here.

Kirk paid no attention to the remark. Right now, the moment they speak, dozens of Enterprise personnel beamed up injured from caves collapse and creature’s assault. Actually it’s better than the operation on the Janus IV. But only in the matter that almost no one died. But injured… Kirk knows McCoy already thinks how to arrange people – sickbay of Enterprise is spacious by comparison to other ship’s but at the end of the day it can accommodate oh so many people. And then he has to decide and decide quickly – who can wait for help and who needs it right away, what injuries he has to inspect himself and what he can delegate to nurses. 

McCoy is on edge and it does no justice to his temper.

Kirk knows to ignore it.

He steps closer to Spock, squats, takes Spock’s one hand and in one swift motion get’s him on his own back. Spock is much taller than Kirk and weighs accordingly, it takes Kirk a second time to stand up. It still fascinates him that the unconscious body seems to weigh more. He tries to entertain himself with such a silly lil thought rather than thinking about how his friend is lying on his shoulders unconsiouse because he just quite literally experienced death in all of its glory.

– Can we beam up from here? 

McCoy got the empty ampule and was ready to go.

– No, we gotta return to the station. For some reason the ship can’t get to us down here.

– Oh mother of-, McCoy started but quickly aborted, – Okay, let’s waste no time I have a job to do.

– Get your phaser ready. Don't hesitate to use it.

– Is it of any use?

Kirk stares at him. He gives McCoy a little smile. 

– Get your phaser ready. 

McCoy wants to shout at him, Kirk can tell from just one look at him, but he draws his phaser and doesn't ask any further questions. 

Of course phasers are useless there, but what else could've Kirk said? Of course McCoy would've appreciated it if Kirk just finally admitted that they're helpless in this situation, but how could he admit it when his whole career is based on him looking confident enough for people to not get into a state of maddening panic every time something goes wrong? Of course Kirk himself would've like to show this little pathetic, yet still very human, fear – his first officer is out for good, almost third of his personnel injured, almost third of miners is dead, they all being chased by unknown creature that still showed no sign of being injured or at least tired –but he's not a human, not on duty, he's the symbol, the beacon, people look for him for guidance, more than guidance, they look at him for reassurance. He's a glacier, he's stoic, he keeps on smiling in a dire situation. He can't just say “it's useless”. He's the last hope for people around him. If captain James T. Kirk still smiles, it means it's not that bad. They'll figure it out somehow. They'll be fine. 

They start to walk. McCoy paranoingnly turns on each sudden sound he hears and the only thing Kirk can do in this situation is to pray to whoever listens that this little walk be uneventful. McCoy is a healer, he's more than useless with a phaser. 

Creatures lure in the dark seeking revenge for a killed brother but are too scared of the barbaric humans to come closer. Kirk is scared. Not in a typical sense, not like usual people are. Sometimes he feels like his gland in charge of fear atrophied long ago – you can’t be scared in the middle of operation, you can be either before it or after, never in the midst – and instead there's a mechanic substituted in its place.

“Hey, Jamey, don't want to bother but this shting is pretty shpooky to me and if I were you(which I'm obviously not) I would've been pretty damn scared. But you're your own man, I mean, do what you think is right, I'm by no means telling you how to act. So, here's your adrenalin, cortisol, lactic acid and some other chems, you know what to do with them  too-da-loo~”

And this one silly thought keeps him focused. Imagining your own fear as a friendly machine that just does things it's programmed to, as a separate from you entity, makes it easier to manage. He's not his fear, and suddenly he can think logically, and suddenly his mind is in control.

Spock's tunic brushes against his cheek. Ticklish. Such a strange sensation amidst the chaos. 

[saltedsnailstudio]

how do you print your linocuts so beautifully on fabric?? every time i try it’s so salty and illegible! :0 is it the ink you use?? thanks!

Aw, thank you!

So, honestly, there’s a lot of different things that go into a successful fabric print. Experimentation pays off - try a bunch of different things and take note of what works! I’ll share a bit of what I’ve learned in my own trial and error:

Choosing the right fabric is absolutely CRUCIAL. You want something with a nice, tight weave and a relatively smooth surface. I’ve gotten to a point where I can usually tell by touch if a fabric is going to print well, but I still screw this up occasionally. I’d suggest snagging an old bedsheet from a thrift store and going to town testing different techniques with it. Seriously, old bedsheets tend to print beautifully, especially the cheap ones that are a blend of cotton & synthetic fibers.

You’ll have to ink your linoleum block slightly more for fabric prints than you would for working with papers. Laying down many thin layers of ink onto your block rather than one thick layer is the way to go. Build up the ink gradually. I then lay my blocks face down onto fabric to print, the opposite of how I print onto paper. With paper, the paper lays on top of the block. With fabric, the block lays on top of the fabric.

I use a woodzilla lever press to get an even distribution of pressure but I’ve seen folks achieve beautiful results just by pressing hard with their hands, barrens, or standing/stepping onto the block. In my experience, it’s very easy to accidentally shift the block when printing on fabric by hand so you want to be extra careful to press straight DOWN and not at any sort of angle that may smudge your print.

I know other printmakers who prefer to work with rubber (such as speedball’s speedy carve) when printing fabric rather than linoleum. I always prefer to work with battleship grey lino, but there are some benefits to working with rubber. Linoleum is slightly porous, meaning it will absorb some ink, where as the ink will just sit on top of a rubber surface. The slight squishiness of rubber tends to mean you need a bit less pressure to get a legible print which can be really useful when printing on fabric. I’m not a huge fan of the way rubber carves but if it doesn’t bother you, you might have better luck with that.

Finally, you mentioned ink. I use cranfield caligo safewash inks for all my prints, both paper and fabric. I absolutely love working with these inks. They’re oil based inks but they’re water soluble before they dry, so they’re a bit easier to clean up than traditional oil inks. (Please keep in mind you should never be washing oil ink down drains, though! It pollutes our water!! A tiny bit of vegetable oil and wet wipes/alcohol will do the trick when cleaning up.) once the print is dry, it’s no longer water soluble thus it’s safe to hand wash any of my fabric prints with cool water. I’ve messed around a bit with speed ball’s inks before and honestly…………………. I hate them. I know they’re super popular but I despise working with them. I greatly prefer the texture of the cranfield inks.

Sorry for chattering on and on, but there really is a lot of different variables when it comes to printing on fabric (and honestly I just love to talk shop). I hope something in this monologue is useful to you, anon!

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP autistic-coded characters: Runaan

Inspired by this post, which gave me the kick I needed to create my own for Runaan. I’ve always kinda pictured Runaan as “Zuko but instead of befriending Aang he grew up and married Ethari.” 

I’m not going to go into how precious this headcanon is to me. You have headcanons that are near and dear to your heart. This one is near and dear to mine. Let’s go:

Physical traits

Sensory dampening

Autistic people often have sensory issues that result in them feeling overwhelmed, overloaded, or hypersensitive. It can result from a combination of mental and physical input, and autistic people develop a variety of coping mechanisms to deal with it.

One way to dampen an overload of physical sensation is with clothing. Loose and baggy works for some, tight and gently constricting works for others. It can turn overwhelming nerve input into a kind of white noise background so it’s easier to focus on other information.

Runaan wears a lot of clothes on missions, leaving only his face and upper arms exposed. I’m not talking about layers so much as skin coverage. While there’s a variety of coverage among the assassins, Runaan is the only one with long hair covering his neck, long pants, high boots, and gloves.

Though Rayla’s dressed very similarly to him, her hands are bare, giving her a more approachable and vulnerable look, as befitting a character trying to find out who she is. 

With all his layers of insulation, Runaan appears as if he’s trying to separate himself from, or protect himself from, the world around him.

About those gloves and leather gauntlets. It seemed a little odd (read: foreshadowingly important) that those gauntlets would get a mention in Callum’s Spellbook as part of Runaan’s look, but they’re in there. Runaan’s gloves are black, a nice dark undistracting color. When he moves his hands around in front of him, he won’t be visually distracted by the light hue of his own gloves. And he does use his hands a lot, as a major form of his communication with others, so keeping that contact to a comfortable level, both visually and tactilely, lets him touch and move as much as he needs to without overwhelming himself in the process.

Meditation

Meditation is another way to calm an overload of input, or to psych oneself up for something that will require a lot of focus.The first time we meet Runaan, he’s meditating while the others set up camp. 

Rayla’s been gone a while and he’s probably worried. It’s her first mission, and he vouched for her skills, so he can’t just go traipsing off to find her. He has to wait and trust her, so he spends his time calming and focusing. 

We also see him meditating in the dungeon, several times.

Even though the room was dark and quiet, all that sensory input from his injuries must’ve been intensely stressful. Falling back on his meditative coping mechanism was the only tool he had to handle the stress and pain of his environment and situation. But all his years of using this technique means that he’s pretty good at it. Every time Viren came in to pester him, Runaan was always able to keep his wits about him.

Stimming

Autistic people stim as a self-soothing technique when they’re hit with intense emotions--good and bad alike. They’re basically a way to anchor during a storm of feels until it passes, by doing something familiar and repetitive.

Runaan’s stim is clenching his hands. His hands are very clenchy when he’s stressed. With those dark gloves on, it’s not terribly noticeable, but they’re opening and shutting constantly when he’s worried over Rayla and how she’s endangering herself/messing up his mission.

Runaan is an elf of action. His skill set is entirely physical. When Rayla acts insubordinate on the mission, he knows he should punish her--a harsh physical tactic--but he quietly refuses to do so. Instead, he talks to her. And though he keeps his voice calm for the most part, he’s upset, nervous, off book. It takes him a while to be able to make eye contact with her (more on that later). And his hands start twitching, possibly because he’d be far more comfortable with a  physical fix to the situation, a tactic he’s far more familiar with but in this case he’s deliberately choosing not to employ.

Long hair

Devon Giehl confirmed way back when that Ethari braids Runaan’s hair for him (awww), and he’s really good at it. It’s possible that Runaan had a very different hairstyle, or not much of a style at all, before he fell for Ethari. Autistic people sometimes struggle with haircuts or complicated personal hygiene routines. Some very much enjoy the asmr of having their hair brushed, or the comforting weight of long hair. A warrior needs to see what he’s doing in battle. A Moonshadow needs to look stylish. Enter Ethari, who probably still cannot believe he gets to play with all this long glorious braidable hair every day. 

Maybe this beautiful hairstyle that we all love and adore and draw over and over in our art is Ethari’s creation, tactically designed to bother Runaan as little as possible. It’s not hanging in his eyes or tickling his neck or bugging his ears. He has a clear line of sight in all directions. No dangling fringe, unlike almost every other Moonshadow we’ve seen.

Those hair cuffs Ethari made keep Runaan’s side tails out of his way when he’s spinning in battle, too. There’s basically nothing that will get Runaan’s hair in his face.

And he hasn’t cut it in a very long time.

Interaction Issues

Processing time

Runaan comes across as a stoic and calculating character. He uses silence and stillness on the regular. These techniques can be used deliberately to give an autistic person time to process new information. Autistic people can have processing issues, hearing issues, and comprehension issues, and our first instinct upon hearing new information can be to blurt, “What?” because we don’t collect all the details on the first pass. Letting the mind continue to process for a few extra seconds can help to fill in the gaps, though. Remember this iconic moment? 

Runaan takes 17 seconds to make his way from “Give me the egg” to “Don’t do this.” He stands dramatically, the clouds part, it’s all very epic. But he could’ve acted the second that Rayla defied him. He didn’t. Looks like he genuinely needs a minute to process what Rayla is doing and how to handle it. It’s very unlike her. He wasn’t expecting it. He has no plan for this. He has to stop everything and think. So he holds still and keeps his reactions under wraps, until he has formulated a plan. Runaan lives by plans and rules. More on that later, too.

The Kiss

 Autistic people can be sensitive to being approached and touched. And martial arts training does wild things to your personal space. You have none and all at the same time. It’s vastly more comfortable to keep everyone at arm’s length because there are so many options to choose from if they get close enough to touch.

An autistic person and their loving spouse can easily create little rituals--social and verbal cues--to be recognizable indicators of desired behavior. Ethari’s line, “My heart goes out with this one,” acts as a code that Runaan has heard over and over. Ethari’s worried, and he’s seeking comfort. So he prompts Runaan and patiently waits for Runaan to respond and initiate the kiss in his own time. And Runaan does so, with the smoothness of long practice. He reaches out, he steps forward, and then he also steps back, breaking the kiss. 

Ethari chases the kiss as long as he can, but he does let it go when it’s clear Runaan is backing up. It’s clear that Ethari is an enthusiastic lover, and Runaan knows it. Though the kiss is complete, Runaan takes time to reassure his husband that he loves and trusts him, and he does that by ensuring a long moment of close eye contact and physical touch--both things that can take extra focus for an autistic person to offer. But for Ethari, it’s definitely worth doing.

Eye contact

Eye contact can be stressful for autistic people, and we often avoid it when we’re already uncomfortable. When Runaan takes Rayla into the woods to tell her she’s off the mission for being too soft, he can’t look her in the eye for the first part of their conversation.

He keeps looking in her general direction from the corner of his eye, but he can’t look her in the eye and tell her she failed him. It’s too uncomfortable for him. He has to work up to it for a couple of minutes. And though he does manage to meet her eyes for a short while, he ends the conversation by walking away while he’s still talking. As far as his plans extend at that moment, he’s never going to see her again. He believes he’s marching off to die, and he can’t look at her then, either. .

This look is Runaan’s emotional lockdown. Everything is tense and no feels are getting in or out. Hands totally fisted up.

Time Out

Autistic people can get so overwhelmed that we lose our temper, go nonverbal, or otherwise shut down, and we need to step away from the environment that’s caused the overload. Runaan lost his cool and yelled at Rayla when he learned that she’d lied to him about Marcos.

Losing his temper wasn’t good because he yelled at his daughter. But it was also bad because he lost his professional cool in front of his team. He had a little domestic right there in front of them. When you’re supposed to be in charge, especially in a culture that prides itself on cooperation and perfection, falling apart in public has got to be humiliating. 

The next time we see Runaan, he’s taking a break in a tree with his second while the other assassins chill, clearly waiting on him. He might have been here five minutes. He might have been here for an hour or more.

My favorite part about this is how Runaan isn’t alone. His friend has come to sit with him, but silently. He doesn’t ask any questions, he doesn’t try to touch Runaan, he just waits. And eventually, Runaan gets his focus back and talks about the mission. 

This moment is also an instance where Runaan needs time to silently calculate until he creates a whole new plan out of nothing. In this case, he’s deciding to set Rayla off the mission for being too childish to complete it properly, rather than executing her or otherwise punishing her as a full-fledged assassin. But first, he needs the time out, because he can’t make that plan until he’s emotionally calm again.

“Enough Brooding, Elf.”

When Viren dumped the coins out and Runaan saw that they were cursed objects that somehow contained his dearest friends, Lain and Tiadrin, he was so overwhelmed, shocked, and upset that he had his only eyeshake of the whole series, and he ended up going nonverbal. 

Everything that Runaan had done with regard to Rayla over the last several months turned out to be for nothing. She didn’t need to avenge her parents’ honor because they never ran away. Runaan didn’t need to fight with his husband and go into emotional lockdown. And he, his husband, and Rayla never needed to ghost Lain and Tiadrin in the first place. All that stress and emotional suffering was for nothing. And on top of that, the man who’d taken him prisoner had cursed his friends and imprisoned them this whole time. Runaan just can’t catch a single break. His voice drops into a stressed whisper as he says, “You’re a monster.” And then, judging by the next words Viren says a whole scene later, Runaan doesn’t speak again. 

Viren leaves him alone after the coin threat backfires, because he realizes he’s not going to get anything out of Runaan in his condition (and he could recognize this state because Soren is autistic-coded as well!). When Viren returns, he calls what Runaan was doing “brooding.” 

Brooding is generally defined as being two things: quiet, and thoughtful. No one broods out loud. But a nonverbal shutdown while chained to a wall is going to look pretty similar. Runaan can’t do anything to physically escape Viren, so his brain just switches off his mouth for a while. He has a lot of bad things to process and he has no room for responding to Viren in his state of extreme emotional distress.

Courtship Rules and Replies

From interviews with Devon and Iain, we’ve learned that Runaan fell in love first, but that he also needed Lain’s prompting to confess his true feelings to Ethari. One way to describe the difference between autistic and allistic people’s thinking patterns is to call one oft them Microsoft and the other Apple. They can generally do the same things, but the ways they get there are always a little different. Because allistic people outnumber autistic people, they have generally framed the society we live in, and we often feel like we must rote-memorize the rules of the world around us instead of using our own system. This does create a strong reliance on rules, and specifically on knowing the rules before proceeding. 

If Runaan had never courted anyone before--or if he’d tried to and it had gone poorly because Runaan didn’t fully understand the rules--he would be very, very hesitant to make the first move with Ethari. 

Additionally, Runaan was making all his good-faith efforts to show interest in Ethari via the proper channels, but meanwhile, Ethari was skirting the rules. He was interested in Runaan, but he’s a playful elf and was teasing his suitor by pretending not to be interested That Way. This might sound cute, but to an autistic person, such a lack of hoped-for feedback would be intensely exasperating. Runaan was trying to communicate in what possibly felt like a foreign language, and he didn’t feel like he was doing a good job of it. He was probably doubting his metaphorical grammar and accent constantly. Autistic people aren’t always good with reading facial expressions or unfamiliar moods, so he didn’t pick up that Ethari was genuinely interested and just teasing him. He was too uncertain and vulnerable to take the matter to Ethari straight out, but there was an elf he trusted fully: Lain. 

Lain could probably see Ethari’s interest when Runaan couldn’t. (And if I had to guess, I’d say Lain’s clue was Ethari’s intense eye contact, which Runaan wouldn’t notice if he was avoiding eye contact due to anxiety!) If Runaan was really so uptight and protective about his feelings, Lain wouldn’t have encouraged him to share them unless he was confident that Ethari would reciprocate. And because Runaan did trust Lain so much, he took that next step, confessed his feelings, and sure enough, Lain was right! Ethari loved him, too.

Free Time

Runaan’s birthday post for 2020 told us that he would prefer to spend the day reading alone, but he considers Rayla’s wishes and lets her decide otherwise. Runaan is more introverted than most and he’s perfectly fine entertaining himself, but Rayla drags him to the adoraburr meadow to spend time together, and because he loves her, Runaan lets her do it. If he were truly uncomfortable, he could put a stop to the whole thing. But he understands that this is how Rayla shows love, and so he lets her show her love through shared companionship, instead of shutting her out and keeping to himself.

Special Interest Sharing

Runaan tells Rayla that there’s an instinct to being an assassin. He has it, and he’s realizing now--only now--that Rayla doesn’t.

Callum’s Spellbook tells us that he began training Rayla to fight when she was just a toddler.

Autistic people often have special interests that appeal far above everything else, and can last a lifetime. For some it’s coding, photography, marathon running, or collecting something. Could be anything, really. Runaan’s special interest is combat. He’s a deeply physical elf who feels very present in his world, and sometimes too present (hence the gloves and the meditation). It’s only natural that he takes the body he’s got and trains it as hard as he can. Being ready for battle is a form of freedom for him. He can run anywhere and fight anything. His intense dedication to his training contributed to his promotions through whatever ranks assassins have, allowing him to contribute meaningfully to his community and his society through his service. Runaan’s special interest has made him uniquely qualified to lead the assassins.

When we meet someone we like, we tend to use our special interest as a form of communication and bonding with them: “I like you, so I will share this thing I love with you.”

Lain and Tiadrin had a precious baby girl, and Runaan and Ethari helped them raise and care for her. And the moment Rayla could move around, Runaan was right there, showing her all his favorite little tricks and techniques, steadying her, patiently demonstrating and explaining every little thing. Stances, physics, trajectory, angle of attack, center of balance, weak spots. All the physical things he knows and loves, he shared with his tiny new friend.

Having a full-grown adult pay her the respect of assuming she could learn all these things, even as a little child, must’ve been so important to Rayla and her self-image. No wonder they bonded so tightly. He truly believed she could do everything he taught her--and he was right.

Mental Effects

Hyperfocus

Autistic people can experience hyperfocus on a new and interesting person or thing. The more ways a person, like say, Ethari, appeals to someone like Runaan, the stronger his focus will be on them. All free time--and time that isn’t free--will immediately be diverted to thinking about and experiencing this delightful new phenomenon.

Runaan is described as putting his duty first, and he takes his job very seriously. But this is also the elf who deliberately damaged his weapons in order to have an excuse to see Ethari and ask him to fix them. To Runaan, the one thing he and Ethari had in common was weapons, so that’s where he started. Runaan gave himself a crash course in Ethari and his interests and ways of expressing himself, and found a way to speak the same language in order to ensure they’d connect. He literally hampered his own ability to do his job in order to find a way to connect with the craftsman.

Once they were a couple, he threw himself into learning How To Boyfriend so he could continue to communicate his feelings to Ethari in an understandable way. It was of the utmost importance to Runaan that he be able to speak a language Ethari could understand, so that he could tell him how much he loved him, and so that Ethari would believe it and trust it.

Small Talk

Runaan learned Ethari as a language, and he learned Rayla’s language as she learned his. He probably speaks Lain and Tiadrin fluently. But everyone has slightly different tics and cues in their speech, and they can all seem like separate languages sometimes. It takes true effort to connect with someone, to truly get to know them and all their little quirks. Runaan simply doesn’t have time to learn every single elf in the Silvergrove as a separate language. He’s learned how to connect with those he values most, and that’s all he feels he needs. Everything else is just small talk--a jumble of things Runaan doesn’t have room to care about beyond his special interest, his duty, and the few elves he’s taken such pains to learn so well.

[unfinished tdp meta]

[dggmsk]

hi! i love your art and what really sticks out to me is your grasp of form (like how you can depict a person with just a few lines) and how you arrange shapes and colors

is there a way you studied that, if at all? i'm looking to improve both things i listed as i think my art looks pretty flat lol again i love your art and you're a major source of inspo :)!!

aww omg first of all thank you so much! second, seeing this message made me really excited because this is something i'm very mindful of and really enjoy about other peoples art so i feel really honored to fit into that description! to answer your question directly: i used to paint abstract and i think i have learned a lot about shapes and color from that experience as well as studying other abstract artists.

while painting i found it liberating to use difficult and/or hard to maneuver brushes. there is a lack of control that comes with attempting to paint with a cloth or the rough end of a broken crayon that can make the creative process feel less restrictive. this is absolutely possible to do with figurative art as well. the key for me was to let the brush strokes dictate the shapes and not put too much focus on making a silhouette look 'realistic'. another thing i really love to do is to paint with 'negative space'. back when i was painting with oils i would often paint several layers of solid color and 'carve' shapes into the canvas with something like a palette knife. this is a basic layering technique that i use for digital art as well. u can see a sort of example of that with these drawings that i have posted:

it is essentially two layers, a solid color background with another solid color on top of it that i erased parts of to make a silhouette. i find this method not only to be a lot of fun, but the contrast between void and life makes you take the form a lot into consideration. another thing i like to do is to use a big, hard to maneuver brush and create the silhouette by painting the shaded, darker parts first. while that works really well with solid colors and flats, it can definitely be used for any sort of talent and style. using these two very different illustrations i have done as an example:

of course this is a matter of taste and style (like no need to use these strong contrasts and overwhelming shadows, that's just what i like to do lol) but these methods where sort of my gateway to getting a better understanding of shape and form. as for colors, i can only recommend to try and mess around with it but from experience i think some sort practice with figuring out how to balance different shades of black really helps.

my tip! if you are into character drawings, try illustrating a character as if they were only one solid color, build out their shape without sketching beforehand, let your hands go wild, then try to fill in the solids with details. or do the reverse, fill a paper with nothing but color (even graphite works great!) and try to make the silhouette by erasing. let the materials you use decide the outcome of shapes then consider what works and what doesn't, then do it again! and keep an open mind! what didn't use to make any sense eventually will (-: