#may or may not change gray's outfit later on

[dailyhatsune]

hi! not exactly a request but i do wanna ask, whats your process when you're rendering more paint like art? (if that makes sense, English isnt my first language so apologies hdskhsjdbd) i really love how you use the colors and im curious how you do it :0

i’ve been meaning to answer this one for a while so here’s how i painted miku in today’s post (put under the read more because yeah prepare for a long post

i’d also like to preface this by saying that i never follow a set way of doing things, so in terms of what my personal process is like, these are only broad strokes of what i do! sometimes i’ll combine or skip parts entirely, depending on how i feel. also, this is not a tutorial, just how i do things, so please don’t treat it like one :’D this will read like the ‘how to draw an owl’ picture if you do

first, like every artist, i sketch. more specifically, i’m getting an idea of what i want to paint later on. this could be how a scene is set up or in this case, how a character is posed. here i’m not concerned about details or getting everything perfectly, i’m only planning how the thing will be composed. maybe a lot of canvas size changing, or adjusting what miku’s doing (note how busted miku’s right hand looks from all the transforming!) however, i still have to be concerned with how clear the sketch will be to future me, because the sketch won’t be any good if i can’t read what miku’s doing

after that, i lay down a flat gray under the sketch, mainly focusing on giving miku a clear silhouette. this is also a good time to make adjustments to the composition on the fly if i suddenly feel like something can be improved upon, like shortening miku’s left arm from the sketch!

after painting a flat silhouette, i start shading in grayscale, focusing only on lighting. i usually do it in two passes, one for the lightest and darkest tones i’ll use (not black and white) and then a second for midtones to blend them better with the base gray but i forgot to screenshot the result of the first pass 🗿 nevertheless, here is where i can start adding some amount of details. i’m not including any extra accessories yet, just focusing on the base design of the outfit and the character herself (for anyone wanting to draw characters from That Gacha Game, this is how i personally make the process more bearable for myself.) i still use the dark gray to separate where certain details (like the facial features and fingers) begin and end, mainly to make colouring more bearable later.

now here’s where i get the Good Colours. it’s a cheat lol. i put a gradient map layer over the grayscale painting so that there’s a little bit of color to start. some gradient maps can be applied as is, some need the layer settings adjusted to make it look good. this one, for example, is a (free) gradient map set from the csp assets store that needs you to set the layer opacity to 20% and to set the blending mode to color to achieve this result. in general, i tend to pick which gradient map i want to use based on vibes, or basically whether i want the work to be warmer or cooler, colour-wise. but this does do quite a bit of lifting for the colors in my stuff.

and then, finally, i add the colours. i add flat base colours in an overlay layer. at this stage, i’ve made the character silhouette clear enough that i don’t need to refer to the sketch anymore for what miku looks like. also, the gradient map layer does its magic by making the shading a bit more vibrant than it would’ve been without it. after that i paint over with a new layer to add details like the lace.

and then i put some extra shading on top. basically this is where the ‘better lighting’ happens. again, this isn’t a tutorial, so i’m not here to say what each part of the lighting is, but i’ve labeled which layers do which job. in other works where the lighting within a scene is more defined (from a window, from a small crack in the walls, etc) the glow dodge layer may be more opaque and sharper, but since this isn’t a work with that, the lighting was applied using an airbrush. the linear burn layer is also there to make the whole thing darker so the glow dodge doesn’t end up oversaturating miku. i also usually match the lights to the vibe i want, and use a complementary color for the shadows. so here you can see i have warm colors on the glow dodge layer, but light purple on both the linear burn and multiply layer.

and that’s it for the character—here’s a gif showing how each layer adds to miku! (sorry it’s so toasty)

as for the background, depending on the complexity, it may go through a similar process, or if i can settle with flat image backgrounds, i just go for that. it’s ok to use external image materials. i didn’t have a background in mind for this miku in specific, so i got some default csp materials and threw together something

and that’s about a rough overview of what my process for more finished works looks like! again, art is a fluid process so i never specifically stick to certain steps all the time, and you shouldn’t either. i can probably answer why i’d pick this colour over another in one particular work, but it’s something that kinda has to be learned on a grander scale. i think everyone can already feel what colors work with what atmosphere or what setting, even if they can’t immediately explain why. colors and composition do take some level of experimentation to find what works best!

[patentedsun]

Rapid fire Fairy Tail rewatch thoughts. May or May not expand upon each point later on.

THIS IS LONG AS HELL BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP.

for reference, I've reached tartaros so far. I am aware of the canon happenings after that tho.

The female cast is so good idc what anyone says obviously the fanservice is awful BUT I will say, in the earlier arcs, it actually felt decently balanced because of Gray's whole stripping shtick + Natsu's cunty vest wasn't particularly modest either LOL.

Erza is such a wonderful character. I've seen comments that she goes downhill like 100yq onwards but. Um. 100yq characterisation.... that's a whole post of its own.

I never expected to like Lucy so much. idc that it takes her like 200 episodes to win a fight solo because when she FINALLY DOES IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF THE SERIES BY FAR. characters who's defining traits r kindness and compassion <33

Interesting how Lucy is the traditional shounen protag (underdog, skills develop overtime) because the rest of team Natsu sans Wendy were all like ... already kinda OP established mages even at the beginning.

I know there are debates ab who really is the protag and imo the narrative skews towards Natsu more BUT. it's bizarre how unexplored he is for a main character. Like yes he is my favourite character other than Lucy but his inner psyche is barely explored it's so weird. He doesn't really have a character arc either??? I'll expand on this more once I finish post tartaros (lolll not looking forward to that) and once again it seems like he's completely regressed from what I've seen of 100yq.

I fucking love all the ships.

I don't agree with comments that Natsu can't be traditionally romantic. Like, I definitely don't think he would ever have the natural inclination to be that way as a part of his character on its own. BUT considering iconic rainbow sakura moment I fully believe he would do whatever it is that would make Lucy happy. And if that includes red roses and candlelit dinners he would absolutely try his best.

Nalu moments r seriously. so good.

I totally see why Juvia stans don't like gruvia. But unfortunately I like them. And I've slightly rewritten them in my head so that juvia doesn't get completely flanderized LOL.

the Natsu Erza Gray sibling relationship goes soooo hard.

Just in general there's something beautiful about the way Fairy Tail handles it's numerous platonic and romantic relationships. Nothing feels secondary yk. Everything is given its due time (except maybe NALU goddammit).

I LOVE THAT FEMALE CHARACTERS HAVE DEEP COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS IRRELEVANT TO THE MALE CAST. Lucy and Levy, Lucy and Yukino, whatever combination between Erza Lucy Wendy, Lucy Flare, Wendy Shelia, Wendy Carla etc

Even when the relationship involves a man in some kind of way like eg Lucy Cana or Erza Kagura it's still not like... in a bad way. The friendship itself is still there, it's just that the inciting incident tends to involve a dude.

Speaking of Lucy having so many deep female friendships is a big reason why I like Nalu so much lol. Like I literally do not care ab ships in media but fairy tail.... just has that something...

Love how often everyone changes outfits.

This show desperately needed a mini arc somewhere with just Natsu Lucy Happy going on a low stake job, where Natsu actually opens up ab his emotions and his relationship with Igneel.

Needed more Natsu and Igneel flashbacks in general.

Wendy triple combo abandonment issues are not talked ab enough holy shit. Grandeeny, Mystogan and then her entire guild???!

Lucy's relationship with her dad was objectively so well written. I skipped starry skies arc sorry the pacing was destroying me so I can't speak on that. But everything else was just BEAUTIFUL.

The fact that she returns to him just to tell at him. The fact that he comes to her with money problems and she STILL stands her ground. The fact that it's HIM who has to better himself and earn HER forgiveness.

Even after it seems like they're on ok terms, Lucy mentions in tenrou that they don't keep in contact, which is soo... realistic...

and then his death... Shout-out to Natsu who actually is emotionally quite mature (as the author himself seems to have forgotten) and dealt with it wonderfully. He gave Lucy her space, he let her vent, he stopped Happy from interfering too much. + Lucy being conflicted ab it and clearly grieving what could have been instead of what was. sighhh. .

idc ab no deaths but I do wish they didn't do fake out deaths as often. Because when actual loss sticks, it's done super well imo. Ultear, Aquarius, I haven't hit this part yet but Igneel... (yes I'm ignoring 100yq)

the episodic fillers r INCREDIBLE.

Rogue and Frosch are so special to me.

Wish they expanded on Jellal and Meredy's relationship a bit more it seems quite wholesome.

I love Virgo.

Really hate the muted colours Ft2014 onwards, but I do like that Lucy's hair became blonde and not yellow.

Pacing 2014 onwards was GOD AWFUL. I WAS SO SAD because I think the story beats in eclipse arc is actually super good but it was DRAGGED OUT SO MUCH nothing had the impact it should've.

Snow fairy, FT, Masayume chasing you will never be forgotten.

Lucy underutilizes Gemini so much it drives me mad. They were terrifying under Angel so like... cmon...

idc what anyone says GMG and edolas were top tier.

Edolas Natsu X Edolas Lucy... yes

objectively speaking gajeel is a top tier character too

Someone pointed out that Natsu didn't reallyyy hang out with anyone other than Happy pre canon and it changed my life. Every time I notice him and Lucy casually hanging out now I start screaming.

HAPPY IS SUCH A GOOD CHARACTER IDC. His edolas character arc was incredible, his relationship with Lucy is just as (if not more) fleshed out as his one with Natsu and that's part of what makes them such a great trio.

Whenever he goes LUUSSHIEEE . my heart ...

OST top tier no notes

the writing was actually so tight up until GMG part 2

I generally don't care ab the powerscaling issues but laxus v jura... no.

The anime kinda fucks up his face a lot but manga Natsu was genuinely soooo adorable in every single panel (once again IGNORING 100YQ).

Wendy also great character arc.

Sting's whole design is SO GOOD and ten years too early. the fur lined vest, the crop top, the one dangly earring, the scar, the loose fitting pants, good God now that's a Look.

Seriously I love Nalu so much...

That's all for now folks. If you want me to expand upon anything just lmk bec believe it or not all of this is a summary.

[iridescentpull]

Day six of Hideduo/FitPac Kiss Week – Soft/Tender Kiss & Stardew/Supermarket AU

[ Ao3 link here ] [ Fic below cut! ]

It’s five fifty-seven in the morning when the first rays of the sunlight slip through the windows, hitting Fit’s face first.

He squints, his hazel eyes fluttering open, blinking rapidly as the sunlight fills the room. Once his eyes focus, he comes face to face with a mop of black hair belonging to a still-asleep Pac. The American smiles, all love-sick and warm, and gently breathes into the other's hair.

Pac has his arms wrapped around him, his head laying on Fit’s chest. His eyes are still closed, his eyelashes dusting over his cheeks. His nose and lips twitch every so often as his hands unconsciously tighten and loosen their grip around Fit.

Slowly, one of the ray’s hits the other’s face, and Pac groans, eyebrows furrowing, as he moves his head to avoid it. Fit chuckles, the sound vibrating through his body.

The vibrations wake up the Brazilian and the man grunts in displeasure, slowly opening his brown eyes. They focus on Fit, and his face brightens, a smile gracing his lips.

“Bom dia, Fabio.” He says, all soft and warm and sleepy. Sleep is still evident in his voice, making his accent even more pronounced than usual.

Fit chuckles, smiling at him with all the love in the world. “Bom dia, Pablo.” He says, and Pac leans up to press a soft kiss to his lips.

It’s lazy, it's comfortable, and it’s all either of them could have wanted.

“We have to move.” The American says, rolling his eyes when Pac groans. “We have to water the crops and pick the grown produce for you to take to the mercado.”

The Brazilian pouts. “Five more minutes?” He asks, and Fit raises an eyebrow. “We stayed up late last night cleaning and fixing the chicken coop, I think we deserve five more minutes to sleep in, não?”

The other sighs, his heart swelling, and pressing another tender kiss on the other’s lips. After they separate, he breathes. “Fine.” He concedes, and Pac grins, moving up to lay on his chest again. “But if you’re late to open the mercado, it’s your fault.”

Pac hums, already half-asleep. “Yeah, yeah– whatever you say.” He mumbles, and Fit just laughs. “Sleep now, worry later.”

And they do.

The next time Fit wakes up it’s six-fifteen, and the rays of the sun shine brighter through the window. Pac is still sleeping, and Fit sighs.

“Pac.” He says, pressing gentle kisses all over his partner’s face. “Pablo, come on. We gotta get up.”

The Brazilian groans, swatting him away. “Nãoooo, mais cinco minutos.”

Fit sighs, sitting up, and the other falls to the side. Pac grunts, finally opening his eyes and glaring at the man. The American laughs, full of love.

“Come on.” Fit says, getting out of bed. He stretches, hearing his joints crack, and turns back to his partner. Pac has sat up, the blankets falling around his waist, and he rubs his eyes. “I’ll start making breakfast, you check on Rosa, okay?”

Pac hums, stretches as well, and gets out of bed. Fit’s heart does a little somersault in his chest. He can’t believe this man is his. It feels like yesterday he arrived at Pelican Town, alone and confused, and met the slightly too-nice employee of Joja Mart.

Who would’ve thought they’d be together for almost seven years now, owning a very successful farm and a blooming store in town while raising the best daughter they could hope for?

The pair change quickly, Fit wearing his usual outfit of a gray shirt, brown jacket, blue jeans and boots, while Pac changed into his usual light gray flannel shirt, white t-shirt, blue jeans and brown boots. The Brazilian puts on the glow ring Fit had fished up during one of their hangouts. He has a more formal ring now, but Pac likes to wear the first ring Fit had given him.

Especially given the fact that when Fit notices, he always puffs out his chest in glee.

They both walk out of their room one behind the other, Fit walking into the kitchen while Pac makes his way to their daughters room. The American goes about the motions of making the coffee and preparing breakfast, when a few minutes later he hears the door open. Pac walks in, Rosa in his arms. The six-year old yawns, rubbing her eyes, and Pac chuckles, walking towards him.

“Bom dia, flower of my garden.” The older says, kissing the forehead of the young girl, who giggles and beams at her father. “Did you sleep well?”

Rosa nods, reaching out to the man. Pac smiles, giving her to Fit, who holds her tightly against his hip as he flips the pancakes on the stove. “Sim!” She says, excited. “I dreamt I was on the moon! And I got to play with the stars!”

Fit chuckles, pressing another kiss to the girl’s head. She's always been obsessed with space, and it warms his heart. “That’s wonderful, Rosinha.” He says, humming. “Did Xereta sleep with you tonight? I didn’t see her.”

“Yup, she was sleeping on Rosinha’s bed when I got to her room– I think she entered through the window.” Pac says, grabbing Fit’s straw hat and placing it on the top of his head. “I’ll go feed the chickens and water the crops, okay?” He says, pressing a kiss to the other’s lips tenderly and on the corner of Rosa’s cheek. “You finish breakfast, tá?”

“Can I help you with the chickens?!” The six-year-old asks, looking up at the two with an eager glint in her brown eyes. “I wanna see Beans and Toast!”

The Brazilian laughs, nodding. “Of course you can, minha flor.” Pac says, taking her from Fit’s hip “You’re my little helper, after all. Just change out of your pajamas and meet me outside, sim?”

“Sim!” The girl shouts, excited.

Pac smiles, kissing the tip of her nose, and places her down. The moment the floor is under six-year-old, she runs off, the door closing loudly behind her. The men chuckle, and the Brazilian presses another gentle yet quick kiss to the other’s lips.

What can he say, he loves kissing his partner. Sue him.

“Alright, be right back!” Pac says, walking out of the house.

Fit chuckles, shaking his head fondly, and continues cooking. It’s not long before the door opens again, and Rosa runs back in, her pink pajamas now gone and replaced by her white shirt, yellow overalls and black boots. Her hair is wild, but she has her rose headband on her hand.

“Dad! Dad!” She exclaims, stopping in front of Fit. “Can you fix my hair? I can’t do it myself.” She pouts, frustrated.

The American laughs at her expression, nodding. “Of course– turn around.” He says, motioning for her to turn around. She does, and Fit takes the headband, making sure no strands of her black hair fall onto her face. “There!”

Rosa grins, turning around, and throws her arms around the man’s legs. “Obrigada!” She says, and Fit has to force himself not to drop to the floor and cry. Once the older lets her go, Rosa runs to the door to join her pai. “Pai! I’m ready!”

He hears the door close, and once again, Fit is left alone. He continues cooking breakfast, flipping the pancakes, scrambling the eggs and making sure the coffee doesn’t burn.

He arrived at Pelican Town around eight years ago now, after he discovered some relatives of his had passed away and left him their farm. Fit, done with the corporate life and the draining routine of the city, decided that moving to work on a farm in the middle of nowhere was not a bad idea.

It was there, a few days after he arrived in town, that he met Pablo– or Pac, as he liked to be called.

Pac worked on the Joja Mart that was in Pelican Town as a cashier. Fit had wandered into the store because of curiosity, and left with a certain cashier in his mind.

Slowly, they bonded. They slowly started hanging out, Fit asking the Brazilian to join him as he did some fishing to earn some extra cash. The other agreed, and a lot of their evenings were spent on the beach, fishing and enjoying the waves and breeze.

It was a few weeks later when Fit invited Pac to his house on the farm, and the other stayed over because it was late. And the next. And the next. One day turned into two, then turned into a week, and then to a month.

And if there was only one small bed, so what?

There was never the question– they both knew they loved each other. It became ‘official’ the day Fit fished up that glow ring and gave it to Pac on the dock under the starry, dark sky and surrounded by the smell of sea salt and the light breeze.

Then the Joja Store closed down, and Pac was without a job. Fit offered him a spot to help him take care of the farm, and the other eagerly agreed. They were then dubbed by Pelican Town as Tío Fabio and Tío Pablo, the couple that owned the farm a little bit out of town.

The way Rosa came into their lives was… an enigma. He and Pac went to Ginger Island as a vacation, where they found a tiny and wailing baby deep into the forest, surrounded by roses. The pair took care of the child until the next boat back to Stardew arrived, and by the time that happened they got too attached.

Fit hums as he places the last pancake on one of the plates, raising an eyebrow when he realizes it’s already seven.

“Breakfast’s ready!” He calls out, putting the plates of pancakes and the eggs on the respective places on the table. He fills one glass with fresh orange juice and two cups with the black coffee he brewed. “Rosa, Pablo! Breakfast!”

He hears shuffling. “Coming, Dad!” He hears the six-year-old exclaim, and soon enough the door bursts open and a very excited Rosa runs inside, holding some grown strawberries in her tiny arms. Pac quickly follows right behind her, his hands holding a basket of eggs. “What did you make?”

“Pancakes and scrambled eggs.” He answers, and the girl beams, placing the strawberries on the container Fit is holding. Once she’s done, she jumps excitedly on the chair, staring at her food with joy. Pac places the egg-filled basket on the kitchen counter and the three settle down to eat. “How was the chicken coop?”

The Brazilian grabs his mug of coffee. “Great, the addition of the new nest helped them stay calm and stop fighting over the other nests.” He answers, taking a sip. “We got a good amount of eggs too, the hens are producing them pretty quickly. They’ll sell really well in the mercado today."

“That’s great.” The other sighs in relief, taking a sip off his own mug. “That’s one less worry before winter comes.”

Nodding, Pac grabs some eggs with his fork. “Sim, all that’s left is to check on the greenhouse and make sure nothing’s broken.” He says, glancing at the window. “By the way, the parsnips and green beans are fully grown. We’ll need to harvest them today.”

“Oh, wonder why we have to pick them up now.” The American teases, and Pac pokes his tongue out. “Ey! Calma, calma.”

They continue eating, occasionally talking and joking, and enjoying the morning. Rosa rambles about how Toast and Beans are doing and her fathers listen to every word she says. The sun is warm and the air is cool. Everything’s perfect.

After breakfast, Pac quickly washes the dishes while Fit and Rosa are in the fields, harvesting the vegetables. The man is humming a random tune as he picks up the green beans, Rosa helping him out as best as she can, though her height isn't doing her much good.

“Dad? Is this one grown?” She asks, pointing at the floor where a parsnip lays.

Fit looks down, squinting, and nods. “Yes, Rosinha. Good job!” He grins, and the six-year-old beams. They pick it up, and the man places it in the basket. “Okay, I think that’s the last one.”

The child grins. “Finally!” She exclaims, grabbing the basket. She drags it towards the crates placed on the cart beside their house for Pac to take to the market, and her father follows behind her. “Do I have to go to school tomorrow?”

“Yes, you do.” Pac answers as he walks out the house, and the little girl groans, dragging the basket faster. He chuckles, catching up to her and picking the basket up. He carries it the rest of the way. “Don’t you like school, Rosinha?”

“No.” The child grumbles, crossing her arms.

Fit raises an eyebrow, amused. “Why not?” He asks, placing the crates on the cart. “I thought you liked school.”

“Ms. Penny’s class is too boring– she never talks about space!” She explains, her voice full of irritation. Pac snorts, and the child glares at him. “It is! She started talking about math and stuff, but I didn’t understand it.”

Pac hums, opening the crates and dumping the vegetables in. “Well, you know what the solution is, don’t you?”

“What?” The girl asks, tilting her head.

He grins. “You’re going to have to pay extra attention next time.”

Rosa’s face morphs into a scowl, and the Brazilian chuckles, shutting the crates. He picks her up, placing her on his shoulders. “Anyways, since today is Sunday, want to join me at the mercado?”

“Sim!” The girl squeals, looking at her father like he hung the moon and the stars. “Do you think I can help you sell things, pai?”

Pac smiles, looking up at his daughter. “Of course.” He says, grinning. “Who else can do it better than you, minha flor?”

Fit rolls his eyes fondly, placing the last crate full of cauliflowers on top of the cart. “Alright, that’s the last one.” He says, and Pac walks towards him, Rosa still on his shoulders. “Do you have everything?”

“Yep.” The Brazilian says, looking at the contents of the cart, before turning back to Fit. “Won’t join us today?”

The American waves him off. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Gus is in need of some salmon and I offered to fish some up for him, so I’ll be doing that today.”

Pac nods, smiling. “Okay, be careful.” He says, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his lips. Fit hums, placing his hand on his boyfriend’s neck, pulling him closer.

No matter how many seasons pass, Fit will never get over those lips against his.

Rosa giggles, and the two laugh, pulling away. “I will, I will.” Fit says, giving him another kiss and quickly kissing his daughter’s cheek.

Pac grins, winking. “You better.” He says, and grabs the handle of the cart in one hand while his other hand makes sure Rosa doesn’t fall off his shoulders. “Te amo, Fabio.”

“Eu te amo também, Pablo.” The other responds, smiling, and Pac starts walking away, dragging the cart with him. “Bom dia!”

Pac salutes him, a wide grin on his face. “Bom dia!” He shouts, and Rosa laughs, waving and yelling her goodbyes.

Fit watches them walk into town, a love-sick smile in his face. He is so lucky.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Observations on the Hollow Mind Portraits

Rebecca Rose has answered my wishes today by releasing HD versions of the portraits used in Hollow Mind. Here are some things I noticed:

They're churning butter <3 This is one of the pictures we saw more clearly, so there's not much to say here. Liddol bois <3

Another picture we've seen pretty clearly in the episode. Someone's already noticed that the rope trap Phillip sets to catch Caleb looks kind of like the one he set in Hollow Mind to catch the palisman monster. Parallels, I guess.

Here the boys are getting ready for a witch hunt. Again, we've seen this. The expression on Caleb's face seems more aggressive than Phillip. Guess he's older and therefore understands what the witch hunts mean better.

These boys only have one shirt and one set of overalls. Judging by the rip on Phillip's overalls, and the fact that they each only have one strap, I guess it's an indication of how poor they are. How did they even manage to get a house on their own? I doubt little boy Caleb could have built it himself. Must be an already vacant house or the townsfolk did chip in because they can excuse hanging innocent women but god forbid these two boys be homeless.

The brothers are older in here. They still have similar hairstyles, but their proportions definitely look less "baby." Phillip still has the same overalls, but Caleb either got new ones or got a new strap for it at least. They also got new boots. While in the previous picture of a witch hunt, the brothers were playing with sticks while the adults did all the work, here the brothers have a torch and a pitchfork and are going with the adults.

We can't see Phillip's face, but it's notable that Caleb looks both excited and malicious here. It's not either of the brother's faults that they were indoctrinated into a puritan society where witch hunts are okay. But this does indicate that Caleb wasn't as horrified by the witch hunts as fanon makes him out to be. I like that. I like the idea that the brothers both started out as bigots, a byproduct of their upbringing. The difference between Phillip and Caleb is that Caleb decided to change when given the chance. Phillip didn't.

We also saw this one pretty clearly but here's some more detail. They look even older here. Phillip no longer has the buttoned shirt, I think? And if this takes place right before the next picture, then Phillip has tied his hair into a ponytail as well in this scene. Plus, Caleb was holding a torch in the last witch hunt, but now he's holding a pitchfork. So this is probably a different hunt. Moreover, Evelyn's fire looks like it has a purple-pink hue? Maybe that's just the color palette.

And here it proves that Caleb entered the Boiling Isles through the gate in the graveyard. From what I can see, part of it was also a lake back in the 1600s, though it was definitely more flooded in Thanks To Them. While Caleb is rushing in, (which is definitely reminiscent of the scene where Luz entered the portal door) Phillip seems to be lagging behind.

If this is the first time Phillip entered the Boiling Isles, then there was definitely a timeskip between this picture and the last. His hair is longer, he looks older, he has a bag and a journal, and he's wearing a whole new outfit. This looks like part of the outfit Phillip wore in Elsewhere and Elsewhen. He isn't wearing his brother's jacket, though, but he may be holding it with the arm that isn't shown well in the picture. I guess after Caleb ran through the portal, it closed and Phillip was trapped on the human side? And somehow, he managed to go through the portal again after a timeskip. He still looks young here. But more like in his late teens than early teens like in the last few pictures.

Not sure what order these pictures should have come in, but this happened a lot later than the last pictures. Phillip's hair is already fading from brown to blond. Perhaps a side effect of palisman magic? Or maybe he's just graying weirdly.

I've seen people point out this picture as Phillip misremembering "Luzura and Dirtrude" but now that we have more detail, they...really don't look like them. They're wearing nothing remotely similar to what Luz and Lilith wore in that episode. Plus, they both have their palismen. The only similarity is that one is tall with black hair and the other is short and has brown-ish skin. But they're both obviously demons. I assume these are just some followers he's trying to brainwash.

(Also, it's funny that they had black garbage bags even in the 1600s in the Boilins Isles lol)

Phillip is going Sonic the Werehog on Caleb and his wife! I guess this means Evelyn did have brown hair. Unfortunate, because I kind of wanted the Clawthorne sisters to have inherited their red hair from Evelyn. Also, it looks like both Caleb and Evelyn were in possession of The Hair Skrungly. I wish Eda and Lilith also had it.

This one's also really commonly talked about. Nothing much to add here just Phillip being outraged that his bro is slutting it up with a hot witch I guess.

This one's also commonly talked about. What I'm unsure on is when all this happened. Phillip's beard is around the same length in the last few pictures so I assume at around the same time. But then, what? Did he see his brother with Evelyn and get mad, making the curse flare up, and after Caleb hugged it all out of him he left, only to come back later to kill Evelyn? Or did his curse flare up during the fight? I love those angsty fanarts where Caleb's trying to hug Phillip only to get stabbed. Also, why is Evelyn facing her husband, not Phillip? This is commonly thought to be Caleb trying to introduce his wife to his brother, so it would be weird for her to stand like that if that's the case.

:((((((((( But also, where are they? Are they in Caleb and Evelyn's house? Why are they in a forest later, then? Maybe I just read too many comics of this scene where Caleb died in his house. They've probably been in a forest the whole time. But now that we have more detail, Phillip is very clearly not looking at Caleb, but to the side, where Evelyn would have been standing previously. Guess it's pretty much confirmed that Phillip wasn't trying to kill Caleb, but Evelyn. Also other people have mentioned this but Caleb fighting his brother to save his wife, using the knife he used to carve his brother's mask???? :'''''''')

Again, when did this happen? Looking at it again, I feel like Phillip isn't even cursed at this point. At least, the curse isn't flaring up here. He's not goopified at all like in the show. You can even still see his sleeve. I think here, and the other picture where he looked like this, are just him looking extra demonic bc of how much he wanted to kill Evelyn. The picture where he's charging at Caleb and Evelyn looks like the background is on fire. And the couple is even positioned the same as the picture where Caleb is trying to "introduce" Evelyn to Phillip. Phillip wasn't out of control due to the curse in here, I don't think. It's lighting, plus dramatic effect that he looks like this. He found out where Caleb has been, flew into a rage and tried to kill Evelyn, and Caleb tried to hug him and calm him down, because his brother loved him anyway...

...and in return, Phillip kills him. Caleb is posed the same way as the Boiling Isles is. Looking at the reflection in the knife, Phillip also hasn't been punched in the nose by Lilith yet, either. Guess those bones we see in Phillip's lab in Elsewhere and Elsewhen really were Caleb's. And also Phillip has already long since started his descent to madness by the time he met Luz and Lilith. Kind of weird to think that they may have run into one of Caleb and Evelyn's kids running around in that episode, if they happened to travel a bit beyond Bonesborough.

We've seen this picture too but goddamn, they really did this over Caleb's dead body. Before I didn't agree with the idea that Evelyn gave Phillip his curse, because of the pictures we saw of him in black and having glowing eyes while Caleb was still around. But if All That was indeed for dramatic effect, then yeah, I believe the theory now! Evelyn Clawthorne still fucking up Phillip 350 years after the fact.

So with Flora Desplora's appearance in Elsewhere and Elsewhen, her appearance here, and her name on the book Bill the titan trapper was reading in Edge of the World, I'm certain she was meant to be more important. Again, while I'm pretty sure The Shortening was announced after Eda's Requiem was finished, with how cartoons are produced, I wouldn't be surprised if they already had work done for episodes up to Reaching Out. It would explain the Azura B-plot in Any Sport in a Storm, the Edric B-plot in Reaching out when they couldn't give Emira a B-plot elsewhere to balance it out, the implication that Warden Wrath and other EC members were suspicious about the Day of Unity, and of course, Flora Desplora's existence. They probably established all of this expecting to have more episodes to explore it. But they got shortened and had to cut some follow up episodes. But they weren't given more resources to rewrite the old episodes to not include any plot threads they couldn't follow up on.

Flora Desplora didn't need a whole backstory and relationship with Lilith, as well as a whole character design, to serve her purpose in the plot. She just needed to be someone Lilith knew in the EC, who was doing better than Lilith was, and rile her up enough to do the whole time travel thing. Lilith already has a track record of mentoring multiple EC members-to-be. They could have had a character say they're her old student and accidentally rile her up. They could have done that with Steve. But originally, I guess they wanted to set up Flora Desplora to use her later.

We already saw this picture too, of Belos mutilating his ear to look more pointed. But now that it's clearer uh...that's...that's his ear floating in the sink right there! He's a lot more blond than some other pictures, so I guess this is later into his conquest. But the green streak across his face isn't as big so I guess it isn't THAT late? Also, the mirror and sink look pretty fancy, so did he already have a castle by then?

Here he is, carving some glyph combos onto his arm. He's bleeding green here, which I guess would be from Evelyn's curse? Either that, or the color palette, or the knife is rusty and Belos got tetanus after this. We never found out if the curse or these glyphs were responsible for his goopy appearance.

He's snorting a palisman! This is still pretty early on in his journey, since his hair is still brown and his beard is shorter. In fact, it's only slightly longer than it was when Evelyn cursed him. Maybe this is when he discovers that palisman magic can help his curse?

Ah, the Golden Guard graveyard. This was the guard in Belos's first flashback in Hollow Mind, where he blew up that town. Look at that collar. This Golden Guard's staff has been shattered, and he's probably being killed by Belos's own staff, red magic and all. Funnily enough, this Guard didn't have a staff in the flashback. Guess Belos made one for him at some point.

Here's Belos's lab to make grimwalkers. Notice the ribcage in the background, probably Caleb's. I guess it's confirmed that you can use fragments of bone instead of just one whole bone, since some of the ribs are snapped. Guess Belos really did do the Biblical thing like some people said, where he used Caleb's rib to make a grimwalker. In fact, based on his outfit, this may have been one of the first grimwalkers he made. He probably ran out of rib bones by the time Hunter came around.

People speculated that this Golden Guard was Darius's predecessor, who was likely petrified in the public ceremony that Kikimora mentioned happened 30 years ago in Young Blood, Old Souls. However, this Guard's outfit is the same as the one who was with Belos in the mountains. Phillip seems to have ditched his journal by this point, so Belos definitely knew the petrification glyph. This Guard also got a staff at some point when he didn't have on in the Hollow Mind flashback.

Yo it's the guy with the really wild hair! You know, the one we saw as a hallucination in For the Future! Not much to say about him. He looks polite. Maybe HE was Darius's predecessor. He definitely has the Clawthorne genes with how his hair looks.

Portal door! I don't think I actually saw this picture when I watched Hollow Mind? Guess I just missed it. Me and most of the fandom lol.

And lastly, another golden guard. He looks like he's from Gurren Lagann lol. Maybe HE is Darius's predecessor. He's also being killed by Belos's red magic, it seems.

I think that's all the pictures? Feel free to chime in with anything that I didn't notice. These portraits kind of recontextualizes some of the fanon around the Wittebanes, I think.

[shanamahtopoeia]

Porting Models from Dragon Age: Inquisition to Dragon Age: Origins or Dragon Age 2

Part 3: Converting Textures using Paint.NET

Tools needed: Paint.NET BoltBait's Plugin Pack

In hindsight, I probably should have started with this tutorial. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For reference, I'll be converting the HF "prisoner" model (largely unused in Inquisition; only female NPC I could find using it is the infected woman in Sahrnia Quarry) I chose this model because it doesn't have any transparency or exposed skin. If your model does have exposed skin, you'll have to paste the outfit map together with the skin texture map, and adjust the model's UV map accordingly, unless you're using one of the very rare DAI models whose skin texture is on the outfit diffuse.

Normal Map:

I usually start with the normal map, since I follow magpie's method and paste it onto the diffuse. So, let's open up that DAI normal map. It should look like this:

If you're used to Photoshop, the first thing you'll likely notice is that it hasn't been nicely divided into RBG layers. That's something we're going to have to do ourselves. A lot.

Hopefully, you'll see a Layers box, probably on the far right. If not, hit F7 to bring it up. Now click 'Duplicate Layer' at the bottom of the Layers box.

DAI puts the X in the red channel, and Y in the green, while DAO and DA2 have X in the alpha channel, and inverted Y in the green.

With the upper layer selected, use Curves or Levels (both under 'Adjustments') to reduce the red and blue output to 0. Then do the same with the lower layer, reducing green and blue output to 0.

Using Curves: Change the Transfer Map to RBG, and uncheck the box for the color you want to keep. Then reduce the other colors to zero by clicking on the tiny dot in the upper right, and dragging it to the lower right. Hit 'OK'.

Using Levels: Uncheck the box for the color you want to keep, then reduce the other colors' Output to zero by either clicking on the uppermost bar and dragging it to the bottom, or by changing the 255 to 0. Hit 'OK'.

Now, turn each layer to grayscale with the Adjustments menu, Black and White+. Change the 'Conversion Algorithm' dropdown to 'Maximum Method'. To help keep the layers straight, you may want to rename them by double-clicking on the layer in the Layers box, or clicking the little wrench.

DAO and DA2 both use an inverted Y map, so you'll need to invert the colors. With the Y layer selected in the Layers box, do Select+A to select the entire image, then Ctrl+Shift+I to invert. Your Y layer should look like it's an stamped impression of your texture--concave when it should be convex--while your X layer will pop out like the actual texture.

The next step involves transparency, so we should do a save as a PDN in case we later need to go back and make adjustments to the individual layers. (other image formats will combine the layers - "flatten" - so it's good practice to save a PDN before saving into another format, or combining layers manually)

In the Layers box, hide the Y layer with the checkbox, and make sure you have the X layer selected. Then do Ctrl+A to select the whole image, and Ctrl+C to copy.

Then unhide the Y, and hide the X.

In the Effects menu, go to Object, Paste Alpha. Make sure you have 'Replace current Alpha with' 'Shades of gray from clipboard' selected, and hit 'ok'.

Now we almost have a proper DAO normal map! :D Despite the color, it'll work fine in DA2, too. (DAO & DA2 both read Y from the green channel and X from the alpha, but DAO has duplicates of the Y in both red & blue, while DA2 has a perfectly red red channel and all-black blue channel).

If you want to mimic the DA2 orange, you can undo the transparency for now, then add another layer in the Layers box. Move this one above the Y, and fill it with red FF0000. Using the Curves or Levels adjustment, change the Y to fully green. Double-click the all-red layer, and change the Blend mode to 'Additive'. In the Layers box, use the Merge Layers Down button to merge the red onto the Y. Then copy the X, and use Paste Alpha.

Delete the X layer.

Save as a .dds. The only setting you'll need to change from the defaults is to put the compression at BC3 (Linear, DXT5).

Diffuse Map:

Open up both the diffuse map and the specular. You'll probably notice that the diffuse map looks rather flat compared to DAO & DA2 maps. We're going to fix that by overlaying a bit of the normal and specular maps (thanks again, magpie!!).

First, we need to separate the specular map into RGB layers. Use the Layers box to make two duplicates of the base layer. Like with the normal map, you can use either the Curves tool (Adjustments, Curves) or the Levels tool (Adjustments, Levels) to make the three color channels.

With either method, Paint.NET remembers your last adjustment, so you'll have to undo it when you change the next color layer. You should end up with the layers like this:

Go back to your diffuse map.

If your diffuse has transparency, make a duplicate layer, and turn the bottom one into a transparency layer with Effect, Object, Switch Alpha to Gray. Hide this layer. We won't be using it again for a while. Turn the other layer completely opaque by clicking Adjustments, Transparency, and moving the slider all the way to the right.

Make two new blank layers above your diffuse layer.

Open back up the normal map PDN you made earlier, and copy the Y layer.

Paste the normal Y layer into the lower blank layer on the diffuse map.

Go to the specular map, copy the green layer, and paste it into the upper blank layer on the diffuse map. Sometimes one of the maps isn't the same size as the other. In that case, first adjust the size with Image, Resize. The sizes are multiples of 256, usually 1024x1024, 2048x2048, or 4096x4096.

Run the Black and White tool to turn the specular layer grayscale. Do the same to the normal layer, if it's the orange DA2-style. (You can close the normal PDN if you want now; we don't be using it again. Keep the specular map open, though.)

Your diffuse map and layers should currently look like this:

Hide the spec layer, and double-click the normal layer.

Change the Blend Mode to 'Overlay', and play with the opacity slider a bit. You can see that creases/shading are added, but the colors are also whiter. I usually end up with the norm opacity in the 170-190 range. You might want to invert the normal layer (Ctrl+Shift+I), or use the X normal layer instead. See what works best. :)

Unhide the spec layer, and set its Blend Mode to 'Overlay' as well. Play around with the opacity slider. This darkens the map and adds contrast. I usually end up with the spec opacity around 130.

If your combined texture doesn't quite look right, you can also try different adjustments to the diffuse. Keeping all layers visible, have the diffuse layer selected in the Layers box, and try one of the Adjustment tools. The ones I use most commonly are Brightness & Contrast and Hue & Saturation.

If you want to do larger recoloration, the tint map can be quite useful to select all areas of a certain component: Open up the DAI tint map, and copy it. Back on the diffuse map, make a new blank layer above the diffuse layer, and paste the tint map into it. The Magic Wand tool in the tools box will select a contiguous area of the same/similar color (the Tolerance scale at the top is used to set how picky it is). Holding Shift and then clicking will grab all areas of the matching color. Once you have a selection in the tint layer, hide the tint layer in the Layers box, and select the diffuse layer. Now any edits you do will only affect that selected area of the diffuse layer. I'm going to use the Color Balance tool to change the cloth shirt to light blue, and the leather straps & pants to brown.

Once you're done with your edits, save the diffuse map as a PDN.

Delete the tint layer if you have it, merge the normal layer onto the diffuse, and then the specular onto the normal/diffuse combined layer. (merging the specular onto the normal and then onto the diffuse will result in a slight color difference)

If you have a transparency layer, we are now going to apply it.

Select the transparency layer in the Layers box, then use Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to select and copy the entire image. Select the merged diffuse layer in the Layers box, then use Effect, Object, Paste Alpha. Delete the transparency layer.

Save as a .dds. Diffuse maps without transparency should be set to BC1 (Linear, DXT1), while maps with transparency should be BC3 (Linear, DXT5).

Specular Map:

A specular map consists of two layers: the main layer, and a transparency layer. The main layer controls what color is reflected, while the transparency layer controls the shine (more white = more shiny).

The main layer will be an edited version of your opaque diffuse map. (if you still have the diffuse transparency layer from earlier, delete it)

If you haven't done any significant changes to the diffuse, you can copy the green layer from the the DAI specular map as your transparency layer by making a blank layer under your diffuse layer, and pasting the green specular in it.

If you have made large changes to the diffuse, duplicate it, and use the lower layer as the transparency layer.

Turn the bottom/transparency layer to grayscale using the Black and White tool under 'Adjustments'.

Select the top/main layer in the Layers box, and then open the Hue & Saturation tool under 'Adjustments'.

The specular texture should be both darker and less saturated than the diffuse, so reduce them to around 60 and -50, respectively.

If your texture has large metal areas, you may want to exclude them. The DAI specular's blue layer is a metallic mask; you can copy/paste it into another layer and use it to select the metal parts like we did for recoloring above. Ctrl+I inverts your selection. Now you can use the adjustments without affecting the metal.

Save your specular texture as a PDN (separate from your diffuse PDN).

Select the transparency layer, then do Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to copy it.

Switch back to the main layer, and then do Effects, Object, Paste Alpha.

Delete the transparency layer.

Save your new specular map as a .dds. The compression should again be BC3 (Linear, DXT5).

Tint Map:

If you don't want/need tinting, this will be really easy--don't bother with a tint map, and set the semantic in the .mao to NoTint, or AlphaNoTint if your diffuse has transparency. :p

If you don't want the armor/cloth to tint but you have exposed skin, this will still be pretty easy:

Open up your diffuse map, make a new blank layer above the diffuse, and fill it with black (000000). Hide the black layer, go to your diffuse, and select the skin, either with the magic wand or the lasso select. Invert your selection (Ctrl+I), and fill that with black. Fill your skin with white (for DAO, use FFFFFF. For DA2, start with E5E5E5. The vanilla maps aren't terribly consistent: sometimes they're as light as E4E4E4 or as dark as DBDBDB). Unhide the all-black layer. Save your tint map as a PDN. Copy the transparency layer, and then use Paste Alpha on the all-black layer. Delete the transparency layer. Save as a .dds, with compression BC3 (Linear, DXT5). The semantic in your .mao file should be 'ArmourSkinTint', or 'AlphaArmourSkinTint' if you have transparency.

If you want material tinting, be prepared to love layers. ;) Open up the DAI diffuse map (if you've made a lot of changes to the texture layout, like adding/removing sections, use your diffuse instead).

Make the diffuse grayscale using the Black and White adjustment, and then make two duplicate layers, and four blank layers.

Open up the DAI tint map. If you exported it from DAI with the alpha channel and have transparent areas, make it completely opaque with the Transparency slider in the 'Adjustments' menu.

Make two duplicate layers.

Using Curves or Levels, like we did earlier, change these three layers into red, green, and blue channel layers. The red channel is usually for cloth tinting, and the green and blue channels for leather tinting.

Go back to the DAI specular map, and hide the red and green layers so that only the blue layer is showing. The blue channel in the DAI specular is for metal tinting.

One-by-one, copy each of these tint layers, and paste them into the blank layers you made on the DAI diffuse map. To keep your layers straight, you may want to rename them.

If you haven't seen it already, I highly recommend reading sapphim's and Ottemis' tutorials about textures.

In short, what a tint map does is allow you to easily re-color items using a RGB system (+ skin on the alpha). A tint file (.tnt) holds three colors, one to apply to the tint map red channel, one for the blue, and one for the green. The tint map is overlaid on the diffuse map, and the colors from the tint file essentially painted on. This is why if you look at the base diffuse maps for DAO and DA2 (or at the untinted models in-game), they tend to be rather bland: neutral colors take tints better than bright colors.

What we're going to do is use the tint maps' color channels to select different sections of the diffuse map and make the RBG layers for the tint map.

As you might have realized, we have 4 tint layers, but only need 3.

If making a robe/clothing model for DAO, you can just delete the metal tint layer. Otherwise, the simplest thing to do is combine the two leather layers, or delete one of them entirely. You might want to open up a similar model's tint texture from DAO/DA2 (whichever you're modding for) to see what materials each color layer corresponds to. The tint map will open up mostly or completely transparent - you can turn it opaque with Adjustments, Transparency.

Depending on what kind of model you're texturing, you will probably need to re-color the layers.

I'm going to port this outfit to DA2 as a light/mage armor, which usually seems to use red for the heavier leather/cloth areas, green for lighter leather/cloth, and blue for metallic accents. First thing I do is combine the leather layers by hiding the red tint layer, and use color picker to grab the green color code from the green leather layer (it's 00FF00). Then I fill the blue with green, using the paint bucket. Then I'll double-click on the upper green layer in the Layers box, and set the Blend Mode to 'Screen'. And finally, merge the upper green layer down onto the lower green layer. Now I'll swap the colors of the red and green layers. I already have the color in the Colors box set to green, so I'll unhide the red tint layer, and use paint bucket to fill all the red. (holding Shift and then clicking will fill in all the red at once) In the Colors box, I'll swap the green to red (FF0000). I hide the green cloth tint layer, and fill in the green leather tint layer with red instead.

Now we'll start combining the tint layers with the diffuse layers.

Click and drag the layers in the Layers box (or use the Move Layer Up/Down buttons) so that the layers alternate red/diffuse/green/diffuse/blue/diffuse.

On each of the color tint layers, change the Blend mode to 'Darken'. If you have skin tinting, make another duplicate layer of the diffuse, put it at the bottom, and hide it. We'll come back to it in a bit.

At this point, it's a good idea to save as a PDN, to make it easy to adjust tinting later if necessary.

Then merge each color layer onto the diffuse layer beneath it.

Finally, change the Blend Mode on the red and green layers to 'Additive'.

Then merge the layers into one, starting at the top. Now it should look like a proper tint map! :D

One last thing - if this texture is for armor/clothing, we need deal with skin tinting.

If you don't have visible skin, simply turn the whole thing transparent using the Transparency adjustment.

If you do have visible skin on your textures, unhide that last diffuse layer you made a few steps ago.

Select all the skin with the magic wand tool or lasso select. Invert the selection (Ctrl+I), and fill it with black. Now fill the skin with white (for DAO, use FFFFFF; for DA2, start with E5E5E5). In the layers box, have the skin layer selected, and hit Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to copy it. Paste it as an alpha on the main layer. Delete the skin layer.

Save your tint map as a .dds, BC3 (Linear, DXT5). The semantic in your .mao should be ArmourSkinTint, or AlphaArmorSkinTint if your diffuse map has transparency.

Here's what my model looks like in Blender, in-game with no tint, and in-game with the red "mercenary" robe tint:

It's kind of shiny for cloth, so I'm probably going to go back to the specular texture and darken the cloth parts, and maybe slightly darken the diffuse texture.

The difference between the untinted and the tinted is also…disappointing, so I also need to brighten the tint map. (there are two ways to do this: either go to the .dds and turn up the saturation on the selected areas that need it, or open up the PDN and turn up the brightness on the individual diffuse layers before you merge them) Alternatively, I could desaturate the diffuse a bit.

But, what I have is a pretty good start. :)

[liminalchasm]

art is not about perfectly copying an image from your mind to a canvas/paper/medium. art is not about the exactness of the literal image that you have at the end.

it is a verb. it is an act. it is an act of creation. it is an action you take to express something, which involves translating, yes, which is different than perfectly copying. art is an action, to make something new out of the sensations and perceptions you have; creating a symbol, a series of ciphers, to express those sensations and perceptions in ways less bound by language and personal context.

art does not look like a perfect copy of life, because it is a instantaneous snapshot of perspective. real life is dynamic. the sunset moves slightly across seconds, the breeze distracts you from the way that cloud glows, and the hues are a mix of wavelengths across a moment that you cannot possibly recreate with pigments. real life is not lived the way art is perceived.

which is why art has value. it expresses symbols. it communicates. it generalizes. it evokes. it extends a sensation long after the first blush, and allows other people to understand it later.

art does not exist to be a wholly technical and indistinguishable copy. that is an aspect some people study, but art is not that.

a crayon drawing and a notebook doodle and a silly tune you make up with friends and the way you put an outfit together are art. expression. they are your way of making your perspective visible to others. art is subjective, and inherently changed by being perceived, just as all expression is.

there are tricks in making a created symbol to look more like a potentially existing object, or making an art piece easier to interpret as intended. those tricks are an aspect of art that some people focus on. those are a set of skills within the broad field of expression and art. but art is not that.

which piece of art moves you more: a photo-copy of the picture on your ID, a perfect recreation of your image in that moment from that perspective,

or a portrait hand drawn by someone who loves you, using only your favorite colors?

which comes closer to symbolizing 'art' in your mind?

what about a canvas the size of a building, filled over a year with perfectly uniform perfectly gray dots of paint, spaced perfectly by hand to fill the canvas with gray?

what about a charcoal still life made by a twelve year old who hasn't gotten facial proportions down yet but really did some cool things with lighting?

the act of copying directly can be art. the act of creating something in as close an approximation to a true copy as possible can be art. a stick figure and a speech bubble can be art.

do not disparage the part of your soul that partakes in creation because it doesn't follow an arbitrary rule. don't scorn your hands for not being miraculously born with arbitrarily chosen skills. don't stifle your expression, your desire to create, your desire to communicate your perception and be understood. why would your greatest good want you afraid like that? why would it matter whether you created art in a mass-marketable, highly technical, and easily digestible way?

you may judge a piece of art by its technical skill, but it never stops being a creation. it never stops expressing something. a deliberately blank page and a page stared at for 3 hours but still untouched, only faint hand-prints in the moisture levels where someone began to move it, tell two different stories.

everyone can make art because everyone is expressing something just by being around others. we exchange meaning in every perception of one another. you cannot help it. you have the ability to make art in your very core. you cannot help it. you are human. you are perceived by others. presumably, you express parts of your personality, your beliefs, your self-concept, and your social frameworks with other humans. congrats: you are a qualified, bona-fide artist.

[tomboyjessie13-artblog]

I've decided to combine the previous fashion charts together so I wouldn't have to go back and forth between charts just to look for outfits to draw, I also took the opportunity to add new outfits and edit some of the original outfits on the chart because I felt that the original felt..."lacking" to put it bluntly.

I did however kept the original versions for documation purposes and because I felt that some of you guys may like the old outfits better.

Originals: Link Link

Outfits:

~Stardust Crusaders 1988 - 89~

- Main outfit: This is what she wears most of the time throughout Part 3, you'd think she look harmless but looks can be deceiving when you're a servant of DIO. The outfit consists of a black and orange baseball cap worn backwards (possibly a San Francisco Giants hat), a light and dark purple hoodie that exposes her shoulders, a black crop-top with white lining, a red belt, bluish-lilac jeans with rolled up legs, light purple socks, and almond colored high-top sneakers.

- Pajamas: This is what she wears to bed during 1987, just a simple baggy t-shirt and sport shorts similar to Asuka Langley's, except for the color changes to blueish gray and white and has a Morro Bay, California logo, she does however mostly forgo it for the next outfit of course for reasons. 

- DIO's servant: While serving DIO during her stay in Egypt, she wears more conservative Egyptian clothing during night time hours whenever he's active at night, even when she goes to bed. This is mostly to avoid DIO "noticing her" like he does with his women but makes up the excuse that Cairo gets cold at night. This is comprised of a long grayish-purple button up gown and dark grayish-purple pants, a gray shawl, and white slip ons, I also added colorful beads and golden bracelets to spice it up and match DIO's other servants.

- First arrival to Egypt: This is what she wore during her first arrival to Egypt after agreeing to join DIO's side, taking place a year before "Stardust Crusaders". I know it looked a little too touristy, but it would make sense since this her first time in Egypt, with the only thing she knew about the country are ancient civilizations, historical monuments, and very hot weather.

- DIO's World: She wears this shortly before and during "DIO's World", the last arc in "Stardust Crusaders", right after she befriended a hospitalized Kakyoin, showing that she's slowly shedding her DIO's slave persona and becoming an unofficial Crusader, the star accessories she wears pretty much shows this. She also wear's Joseph's breathing mask rigged with Hamon to gain the Crusaders' trust, being warned that it will go off if she removes it.

- End of Part 3: This is the same outfit as the previous one, except it's all dirtied up, torn, and bloodied from her last fight with DIO, furious with him for using her and murdering Kakyoin in cold blood. It was during that fight that she lost her arm to him and got as badly injured as Polnareff, putting her out of commission. She would later get a prosthetic arm from the SPW Foundation before taking the plane to Japan with Jotaro and Joseph.

~Diamond Is Unbreakable 1999~

- Wedding dress: The dress that Medea wore for her and Keiji's wedding a few years before "Diamond is Unbreakable" took place. I mean come on, she becomes a wife and mother in Part 4, right? We might as well show off the dress for it... And yes, she wore her glove over her mechanical arm, gotta make your prosthetics look fabulous to. Sorry if it doesn't look fantastical though, that's the best I can come up with.

- School Teacher: This is what she wears during her stay in Morioh, Japan as a History Teacher in Josuke's High School. Medea had noticeably aged and takes on a more mature and feminine look while still maintaining some of her traits from her younger years, her hair also grew longer and straighter down to her lower back. She is seen wearing a orchid purple suit with a black turtle neck underneath, and grayish brown slip ons, she also has her hair tied up in a bun. I also added a white belt to spice it up a little, give it a stylish 90's look.

- Casual outfit: On her off days, she wore a white button up shirt and a pair of bluish-lilac jeans with cuffs rolled to the ankles, her hair is also let down, and wears the same slip ons from her School Teacher attire, you'll also notice that her right arm has been replaced by a mechanical prosthetic after her last fight with DIO, similar to Joseph's last fight with Kars.

- Pajamas (circa 1999): This is what she wears to bed during the 1990's, her pajamas comprised of a grassy green tank top and gray sweats. It's not much but it's a change up from the purple-colored clothing she normally wears.

- Summer time: This is what she would wear during the first few days of Summer, contains a pair of summer shorts and a baggy "Prince" T-shirt, the only downside is that she gets mistaken for a foreign tourist by the residence of Morioh before being recognized by her friends and coworkers. This is inspired by this outfit from Evangelion.

- "Great Days": This is the outfit she wore during the 2nd half of Part 4 after Kira goes into hiding as "Kosaku Kawajiri". It's based on the schoolteacher outfit she wore except she wears her hair's down and forgoes her jacket, revealing that her black sweater is actually a sleeveless turtleneck with removable sleeves. She also wears a star neckless and bracelet to go with it, symbolizing her snapping out of her depression to find and defeat Kira alongside Jotaro Kujo.

~Stone Ocean 2011 - 12~

- Main outfit: This is what she wore for the majority of "Stone Ocean", having grown a lot older and wiser since Part 4. She wears a stylized jacket with pumps and a turtleneck dress underneath instead of flats and trousers, she also wears a band on her arm with a SPW Foundation logo on it, showing that she is now affiliated with the group to bust her daughter Noriko out of prison, save Jotaro's life, and kick Pucci's ass. Her hair has also been cut short into a pixie cut, symbolizing her growth and wisdom. 

~Non-Canon stories~

- "A Date with a Vampire" It's an evening dress that DIO gifts her for her 19th birthday as a way to "express gratitude" for her services, Medea of course doesn't want it because she knows DIO's just finding any excuse to objectify her or flaunt her around like a purebred puppy. The outfit mostly consists of a plum purple dress with long sleeves, short bottoms, and exposed shoulders, light purple footwear, silver braceletes, a fake wedding ring, and a silver necklace with three garnets, she also wears heavy makeup(curtosy of Mariah and Midler). This attire is mostly for RPs and dribbles, not Jojo OC canon, but I'm drawing it anyways because she looks fantastic in it.

OC belongs to me Base belongs to Rainfall-Bases Blank base here: BASE 272 - girl with no boots by Rainfall-Bases on DeviantArt

[jasminarts01]

Rachelle’s (Rachel) Character Sheet

Inspired by the two beautiful and amazing @tinkabelle24 with Val Scott and @miss-andromeda with Andi Rhodes! 🤭

WARNING: There may be themes that could trigger so please be care while reading (Mentions: Bullying and brief sexual harassment)

……………………

Face Claim: Katherine Langford

……………………

Name: Rachelle (Rachel) Aria Jones O’Neil

Meaning: It’s a French name, meaning “Lamb”. Often people assume that because it looks and sounds a bit like Rachel that it is the same name and the same meaning, this is not so. The name Rachel in the Hebrew for female sheep or ewe and, although it is the root name for Rachelle, they do have differing meanings. Often people need to be reminded that the extra ‘I’ and ‘e’ are not just for decoration.

Age: This all takes into the TMNT 2014/2016 timeline which in this au I have made April and Casey a bit older so it would mean that April was with the baby turtles at the time even more longer, as Rachel starts at 15 years old in 2014 film, later on she is 16 years old during the 2016 film, and 17 years old on the aftermath of the 2016 film

Birthdate: December 4th

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Physical Traits:

Height: 5’2”

Hour glass body but is cautious with her chest size as she has had a few incidents where men were very disrespectful and gets cat-called

Soft Ivory Skin, light rose cheeks

In the 2014 film, she had medium/long semi-wavy hair golden brown hair with bangs always in a ponytail but in the 2016 film, she has short/medium shoulder length, straight golden brown hair with bangs in a ponytail and etc.

In 2014 film, she has brown hazel eyes but in the 2016 film; her eye color can change between completely light gray or her original eye color

Has many small beauty marks all over her body and a few on her face (Two under the corner of her right eye and one under the corner of her left eye)

Style: She’s always in a shirt with pants/shorts but if she’s feeling it/ in a good mood/ performs she’ll wear skirts and dresses.

2014 film: 4 different outfits shown

When April comes home about remembering the turtles: Gray hoodie, black shorts, knee-high socks, two low ponytails

First encounter with the turtles: White shirt, navy high-waist jeans, black Converse, high ponytail w/bangs

Performance after stopping Shredder: (Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson/Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne/Heart Attack by Demi Lovato) White polo shirt, black cargo pants, Timberland boots, Dutch braid w/bangs

After performance, meeting up with the turtles: Black hoodie, wavy hair w/bangs, dark gray leggings, black Converse

(Performances are from her high school)

2016 film: 6 different outfits shown

(This would take a few days before the 2016 film starts) High school uniform -Navy blue blazer w/school logo, white short sleeve button up shirt, navy blue with multi colored white/orange/yellow outlined pleaded skirt, multi colored white/orange/yellow tie-, and shoulder length hair w/bangs

(Exposes her powers when the turtles come back from the Knicks game; Splinter already knows about her powers btw) Red t-shirt, light blue high-waist skinny jeans, red Converse, small bun

(Performing while being grounded for keeping powers hidden but Raphael helps her sneak out and performing with her best friends, it goes into Shredder’s escape) Cheer Up by TWICE (Sana’s light teal/white dress outfit)/4 Walls by F(x) (Luna’s red top navy blue pants outfit) /Me Gustas Tu by GFRIEND (Yerin’s blue jumper outfit)/Gold by Britt Nicole (Pastel pink off the shoulder shirt, white high-waist skinny jeans, white Converse, hair down)

(Shows up with the turtles when the turtles meet Casey/also when the turtles come back from the police station exposed) Lilac/white pleaded dress knee length, white Converse, hair down

(Fighting with Jax, Shredder’s son during Krang fight -Story later on-) -Just think about Winx Club Bloom’s Bloomix outfit but in hues of red and her hair is grown long just during her form- -I still don’t have an official art of it so ye TvT-

(Turtles get rewarded the key to the city) Cream/light beige sweater, black knee length skirt, black leggings, timberland boots

Personality: Rachel is a nice person by default, April and Casey showed her how to care a lot for her family and friends, she has been bullied at a very young age (4-5 years old) but she didn’t let it get to her (until 6-7th grade) as her best friends (Mackenzie, Taliana, Leah, Millyanna, and Oliver) where there for her as she would be there for them. She respects everyone (especially to Splinter, elementary teacher, and her high school art teacher) unless they lose that respect because she WILL show the same attitude to that person.

She was tested in 3rd grade as a “gifted” and with an IQ of 148, making her a genius but at times she thinks like a rock, as with that intelligence she can be sarcastic without realizing it at certain moments. She has also bring herself down if she can’t understand a situation which makes her panic and have extreme anxiety because she doesn’t want to let anyone down. She has a very good memory as she can remember things at the age of 2 years old and at times it scares Casey because she says it with high details, April got used to it since Rachel helps her with her reports and would say the most random things.

Also, with her anxiety it has make it difficult for her to connect with people (especially when she met the turtles) and whenever it has to do with a project at school, she’ll panic for days but it all goes away when she is reminded that she can do it. If someone gets her in a bad mood, she’ll lose it and start being rude to others around her so at times she just stays in her bedroom so she wouldn’t hurt anyone with her words (later on her powers).

She has always wanted a relationship with her special someone which turned out to be a huge turtle with short-tempered but she still loves him as she has found ways to calm him down. She’s has become more open to him and the other turtles and talk like if they known each other since childhood. And as it goes on, she’ll always have them as her family and she’ll forever be grateful for them all.

Some of Her Favorites:

Color: Pastel colors and red

Music: K-pop, J-pop, Lofi, and Pop

Book: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Hobbies: Drawing, Singing, Dancing, Reading, spending time with Raphael, and being a menace to Leonardo cuz why not

Relationships with Others:

Mom, April O’Neil: She is very close to her mom as she has been with her since birth and is very protective of her, at times she would take her journalistic duties majority of her time and not look at Rachel for days which she has regretted doing but it did make them distant for a long time as until meeting the turtles. Later on, when she found out about Rachel’s powers; she felt like Rachel didn’t trust her to even explain to her which led them to have a huge argument and they didn’t talk to each other for days until Rachel found out she was in jail because of the turtles breaking into police headquarters; they regain their trust in each other and start to have that mother-daughter relationship that they started with

Dad, Casey Jones: She has made it possible to be daddy’s baby forever as she would do anything to be with Casey when she was little (calling him from elementary school to take her out cuz she is “too smart” which was true). Even with his job as a police officer, he made it possible to not miss anything that was going on in Rachel’s life; he just didn’t expect that a 6’5” ninja turtle would become his daughter’s boyfriend, now that made him lose it. But he just wanted to make her happy and let her know that he is happy for her. Also, didn’t expect his daughter to have powers which he was chill about but still cautious.

Mackenzie & Jax: Both of them are Shredder’s children and twins but they are still close to Rachel as they also have powers and even fought with her against their own father besides Jax as he was secretly following his father’s wishes

Leah & Oliver: Also siblings and Rachel’s friends with powers, they help as much as they can so Rachel wouldn’t have to stress to much as Rachel is the “Chosen one”

Taliana: Also friend with powers, she and Rachel have been friends 1st grade when Rachel found her getting bullied but after that they have been very close. Taliana also helps Rachel a lot with her calculations and other materials that seem too complicated for her

Millyanna: Millyanna and Rachel have a sister relationship as Rachel helps her so much and helps her with her confidence. Even though she is just like Pinky Pie from My Little Pony, she also has her serious moments with her powers while fighting alongside Rachel

Miscellaneous Information:

Rachel has been diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety Disorder (Later on gets diagnosed with Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) but isn’t talked as much in the storyline

She has fire powers (Fire flames, lava, magma, etc.), telekinesis, and gravity powers, voice changer power (Lets her talk like someone else’s voice) and her weapon that she uses is a bow and arrows which she can light them on fire and a sniper because she played too much Call of Duty

She does use she/they pronouns and is Bi but uses she/her pronouns because she doesn’t want to deal with people and their actions towards her

Voice Claim: Jenna Ortega

Songs Matching Her Character:

……………………

This may have taken 2-3 days but it was so worth it lol 💗

[yourassimcomingforit]

Gonna go sob my thoughts of season 2 into this enjoy spoilers under the cut

So the ending of season 2 it was something

Beeelzebub(beez) and Gabriel are queer as hell and fucked off together

The girl kissers like each other but aren’t dating yet cause they need time

Aziraphale(az) and Crowley kissed but aren’t together

Az is leader of heaven and tried to make Crowley an angel

Crowley was likely a high ranking angel

We’re gonna start off talking about number 5 cause that’s the easiest one and I really wanna talk about my hc that Crowley was Raphael the archangel. So first the little things in heaven everything is a pure white the walls the floors the pillars their outfits the only people not in pure white are the archangels in a light gray and the metatron in a dark gray/black. Now Crowley when changing his outfit to fit in goes with a metallic off white which while may be just cause he’s a demon the fact that he was trusted with a task like creating stars and nebulas which we see were created along side Saraqael who I cannot remember whether they were specifically mentioned to be an archangel but I believe they are. And the biggest thing is that Crowley could access confidential files that only higher up angels can even open and he did it with ease.

Onto another point number 1. God I loved Beez and Gabriel together I’ve done been shipping them and the way they fell in love and we got to see snippets of it was amazing. And the hints throughout it with the fact that it was a fly that came out of the box and who else but the lord of the flies would have something to do with flies. Gabriel being mentioned to come in regularly with someone but we didn’t know who and it turns out to be Beez and the way they have a song that’s special to the both of them. The song is a simple little love song and Gabriel doesnt even know what a song or music is but he loves it simply because Beez does and miracles the Jukebox to only play that song and the way he remembers it even with his memories gone. The entire thing is sickeningly sweet with them confessing their love to everyone by holding hands they’re just so precious.

Point number 2 while it hurts me so much that out girls didn’t end up together I love that way it was done Nina had a toxic ex we see throughout the season and getting into a relationship right out of that just wouldn’t be healthy for either of them seeing Maggie pine for Nina but not doing anything cause she respects her to much to do that when she’s already in a relationship. The season ending with them acknowledging each others feelings but leaving it at that cause Nina isn’t ready is just so bittersweet.

Numero tres out dear ineffable husbands finally had their kiss!! But it wasn’t at the right time it’s just so bitter sweet it’s right after az said that he’s going to lead heaven and wants to make Crowley an angel which goes against everything about having their own side no heaven no hell. Crowley gives az a final kiss and just says I like you but I can’t be with you the way you want I won’t be an angel and lead heaven alongside you that goes against everything I want and believe in and az just can’t believe that Crowley doesn’t want to be an angel again which just shows a fundamental misunderstanding he had about Crowley. It leads to Crowley just confessing his feelings kissing az and just watching him leave him to go up to heaven.

Now the final point number 4. Az accepting the deal and wanting to make Crowley an angel again. Az clearly loves Crowley and he knows it so he wants to have Crowley by his side when he does this but he just isn’t ready to take the leap like Crowley is and to make a side purely their own no heaven or hell. We can see since the beginning how’ve they’ve already drifted apart since season 1 with Crowley no longer feelings it’s their side but his and az thinking that they have their own side but it’s clearly still aligned with heaven as we see later in the season dying our little grave robbing sesh. While it is before Armageddon’t this is az thinking back on it and we can see how he still thinks he did the right thing trying to fix our little grave robber so she stops being so “monsterous” so while az definitely had some big brain thoughts about what’s right and wrong from that experience he still thinks he did the right thing. Going back to the original point az when offered the opportunity to help change heaven to something better he jumps at the opportunity to go back to heavens side and even take Crowley along as an angel even!! Which isn’t what Crowley wants he’s happy as a demon on his own side he doesnt want to be doing work for hell or for heaven and az just can’t understand that who wouldn’t want to go back to being an angel, so he leaves Crowley and his bookshop behind going up to heaven with the metatron leaving the place he loves the store he built and loved and man he adores and wants to spend the rest of his life with. Much like Nina and Maggie they don’t get together but there’s not as much hope of them ending up together as with those 2, az and Crowley are going their separate ways apart from each other.

Wahoo if you somehow finished this entire jumbled mess have a gold star ⭐️

[yuuniee]

“If you look carefully at some places, you may discover a brand new thing... Though, I cannot promise if it’ll be something good or bad~”

Name: Auburn Sinclair

Japanese: オーバン・シンクレア

Birthday: 9th June

Age: 18

Height: 189 cm (6'1 ft)

Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous, but mostly uses his right hand.

Homeland: Abyssal Sea

Family: Unnamed Father

Voiced by: Yuuma Uchida

Nicknames/Aliases: Monsieur Charmer (Rook), Player (Leona), Aubbie (Iris)

Grade: Junior

Class: 3-A (no. 18)

Club: Basketball Club

Best Subject: Swimming

Hobby: Imitating handwritings

Pet Peeves: Getting interrupted

Favorite Food: Meat wrap

Least Favorite Food: Takoyaki

Talent: Tying a cherry stem in his mouth

💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍

Appearence: Auburn is a young man with crimson long hair that’s usually in a ponytail, ocean blue eyes, pale skin and sharp teeth. He tends to wear rings on his fingers in most of his outfits.

In his school uniform, he wears the usual school uniform with black shirt, gray vest and a striped necktie. He also wears black pants with two vertical gold stripes facing outwards and black sneakers.

In his dorm uniform, he just wears the usual Octavinelle uniform with the scarf wrapped around his neck instead. He also wears several silver rings beneath the white gloves.

In his merform, he has a scaly back and a large dark blue tail with large fins. His skin is as dark blue as his tail and he has black sclera with red eyes and slitted pupils.

Personality: He is rather outgoing and polite, but also flirty and often cracks jokes to release any tension in the air. And he is also a bit arrogant and can get cocky at certain times.

🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙🤍💙

Unique Magic: “Be My Doll”

It allows him to create something like a doll or an object that resembles to the target. Whatever he does to that object in question, the target feels it as if they are the one who's experiencing it first-hand. They only experience the feeling without any wound or marks.

(neka)

———

An old art of him drawn by yours truly (⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

Yes, I changed some stuff :)

———

— Facts:

His kind is known as “Reddeath Merman” because of their venom that could off a hundred man which they have a special part of their mouth to store it in their body.

His father is a merchant with a silver tongue while his mother is a housewife and they both hate humans and expect Auburn to be like them too. However, he seems to display affection to those around him despite what his parents say or do.

He used to have a childhood crush on Fawn, but he later started to see her as a sister even when something bad happened to her.

He may appear to be a flirty guy, but he does this to not feel lonely as reddeath merpeople (especially males) are seen as extremely dangerous and intimidating. That’s why he couldn’t have any friends other than Fawn, who was another outcast due to her appearence, until he came to Night Raven College.

He often twirls his hair when he feels bored.

In his P.E Uniform card story, it’s revealed that he would often race with Fawn from one rock the another, but they would usually end up with a tie.

In his Dorm Uniform card story, it’s revealed that he was chosen to be a royal guard for Fawn at a young age and that he has a promise to the former queen (Fawn’s mother) that he will protect her at all costs.

In his Tearmaid Attire story, he mentions working at a florist when he came to land. He says he did this to understand the land plants better, but his real reason is revealed to be that and he finds all flowers pretty unique.

In his Dorm Uniform card story, he reveals that he makes his own food instead of buying from cafeteria. Later he says that he can easily get indigestion and he makes sure to not put anything that causes him to become like that.

[tayfabe75]

When I found old diaries from my childhood and my teens, they were covered in dust. I'm not just saying that for poetic effect, they were truly dusty with pictures drawn of first day of school outfits and inspirational quotes I used to retrace over and over to get me through doubtful moments. I'd practice my autograph and tape my guitar picks to the pages. In the entries, I daydreamed on paper and mused about who might ask who to the dance or how nervous I was saying the national anthem at the local baseball game. I frequently and drastically changed my opinions on love, friends, confidence and trust. I vented, described memories in detail, jotted down new song ideas and questioned why I would ever try to shoot for a career I had such a small chance of ever attaining. But what shocked me the most was how often I wrote down the things I loved. Writing a new song, riding in the car with my mom, the purple-pink skies of the soccer field on the walk home, the one night in middle school when none of my friends were fighting, the dazzle of opal necklaces I couldn’t afford gleaming from a department store jewelry case. I wrote about tiny details in my life in these diaries from a bygone age with such… wonderment. Intrigue. Romance. I noticed things and decided they were romantic, and so they were. In life, we grow up and we encounter the nuanced complexities of trying to figure out who to be, how to act, or how to be happy. Like invisible smoke in the room, we wonder what kind of anxiety pushes you forward and what kind ruins your ability to find joy in your life. We constantly question our choices, our surroundings, and we beat ourselves up for our mistakes. All the while, we crave romance. We long for those rare, enchanting moments when things just fall into place. Above all else, we really, really want our lives to be filled with love. I've decided that in this life, I want to be defined by the things I love- not the things I hate, the things I'm afraid of, or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. Those things may be struggles, but they're not my identity. I wish the same for you. May your struggles become inaudible background noise behind the loud, clear voices of those who love and appreciate you. Turn those voices up in the mix in your head. May you take notice of the things in your life that are nice and make you feel safe and maybe even find wonderment in them. May you write down your feelings and reflect on them years later, only to learn all the trials and the tribulations you thought might kill you… didn't. I hope that someday you forget the pain ever existed. I hope that if there is a lover in your life, it's someone who deserves you. If that's the case, I hope you treat them with care. This album is a love letter to love itself- all the captivating, spellbinding, maddening devastating red, blue, gray, golden aspects of it (that's why there are so many songs). In honor of fever dreams, bad boys, confessions of love on a drunken night out, Christmas lights still hanging in January, guitar string scars on my hands, false gods and blind faith, memories of jumping into an icy outdoor pool, creaks in floorboards and ultraviolet morning light, finally finding a friend, and opening the curtains to see the clearest, brightest daylight after the darkest night. We are what we love. This is Lover.

August 23, 2019: Taylor releases Lover, outlining the concept of the album in its foreward. (source)

[a-master-procrastinator]

fashionably late but Xaele for the outift designer meme?? 👀

Time is a concept anyway, you cannot be late to send me asks!

Seriously though, I love you for doing this a lot <3

Xaele has 6 outfits (well, 8 actually, but the other two are winter clothing and prisoner cover, and I'm not sure if they are worth showing).

This is their uniform, usually worn to Imperial Intelligence meetings and other official business that doesn't involve working in the field.

Pieces:

Weapon - DLA-13 heavy blaster rifle with red color crystal; Chest - Mullinine Onslaught jacket; primary black dye; colors unified; Hands - Mythran gloves; Wrists - Mythran Hunter bracers; Waist - Remnant Resurrected Knight belt; Legs - Force Apprentice pants; Feet - Skiff Guard boots.

Here is one of the two outfits Xaele wears in the field in the agent storyline. This one is used when there's no need to cover her face.

Pieces:

Weapon - DLA-13 heavy blaster rifle with red color crystal; Chest - Remnant Underworld Agent chestpiece; secondary medium gray dye; colors unified; Hands - Remnant Dreadguard Agent gloves; Wrists - small bracers, not visible; Waist - Remnant Yavin Agent belt; Legs - Frontline Slicer pants; Feet - Remnant Underworld Agent boots.

Now this is the other field outfit that includes a hood and a helmet to cover the face.

Pieces:

Weapon - Aratech Advanced blaster rifle; Head - Inscrutable Pursuer facemask; Chest - Belsavis Agent chestpiece; primary black dye, colors not unified; Hands - Intelligence Agent gloves (unified); Wrists - small bracers, not visible; Waist - Frontline Slicer belt (not unified); Legs - Bounty Tracker leggings; secondary black dye; Feet - Frontline Slicer boots (not unified).

When Xaele erases all records about their existence in the end of the agent storyline, they change clothing. This set is usually worn to missions where their imperial ties don't need to be hidden (say if imperial authority is required for a mission, like the mission on Kaon). There is a helmeted version, but unfortunately it's now permanently hidden bc of preferred status (maybe I'll make a copy later).

Pieces:

Weapon - Primordial blaster rifle; Set - Intelligence Agent armor set; primary black dye; colors unified.

But Xaele still needed at least one cover without imperial ties for more covert operations, like on Makeb. This set is an attempt to resemble some sort of nobility (still working on exact details of this cover), so the first impression wouldn't be "Imp!". While it may not look suited for combat, Xaele has a bunch of hidden weapons and tools (knife, darts, blaster pistol, etc.).

One significant difference from the in-game outfit and what I imagine is that Xaele doesn't use a rifle, instead hiding a small blaster pistol, so the threat from them isn't so obvious.

(also I just wanted to give the new nightlife set to one of my characters)

Pieces:

Weapon - Royal blaster rifle; Chest - High Roller chestpiece; secondary pale brown dye; colors unified; Hands - Onderonian Targeter (tier 3) gloves (ones from 6.0); Wrists - small bracers, not visible; Waist - Zakuulan Security belt; Legs - High Roller pants; Feet - Onderonian Targeter (tier 3) boots.

The newest outfit at the moment, that Xaele wears after joining the Alliance. I had another outfit in mind, but I cannot buy it, so this is an affordable alternative. In the Alliance Xaele gets rid of many Imperial ties, including the choice of clothes.

Pieces:

Weapon - Grantek blaster rifle; Chest - Duststorm Survivor chestpiece; primary black dye; colors unified; Hands - Freelance Hunter gloves; Wrists - Shadow Initiate bracers; Waist - Duststorm Survivor belt; Legs - G.A.M.E. Security pants; Feet - Remote Outcast boots.

[the-coffee-fandom]

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

The most important part of a story for me is probably details. I just love details and descriptions.

I feel like they can add another depth to your piece. For example, symbolism is something I lay great importance to. It adds a story behind the story. Like in my hanahaki, the flowers always have a meaning behind it that relates to the situation or relates to their feelings or even creates it’s own story unsaid.

And it can replicate a scene so you can hopefully see it in your mind and place your readers there so they know what you’re going for. When I write describing scenes, I typically work background to foreground.

Example:

The day was somewhat dull, the horizon splattered with a hazy mountain view and puffy clouds of gray. The sun rose, letting its rays blanket the right sides of the mountains. It was still early so the water was quiet, gentle ripples gliding over the water, centering from a single tree rising from the great lake, bent like a graceful swan head. The sunrise has its leaves glowing golden like a thousand dabloons. Near the tree was a splatter of rocks and pebbles, the only other thing atop the surface of the water. No one touched natures beauty, it was just the tranquility of silence.

And describing outfits. It can be such a challenge to get everything you need from that but sometimes for the scene the outfit is important and you have to describe it. I suggest going from top to bottom, a little trick I learnt from a friend.

Example:

Scene: School uniform; Private school; Female

Her brunette hair was tied into a twisted low bun, two curly strands of hair framed her pale complexion. She wore nothing more then some mascara and brazen caramel lipstick. Her outfit consisted of a white, loose, long sleeve collared button down with a two golden button waistcoat on top. A name tag was situated on the left side of her chest, last name proudly presented and a tie tucked beneath the waistcoat. A plaid skirt, differing shades of blue including navy and cornflower with white lines crossing through. To complete the look, she wore navy blue fashion boots with a golden latch. Her school supplies tucked into a laptop bag that matched her uniform.

It may not necessarily be necessary, but it’s fun. There is a point where there is too much detail though and I try not to cross that line. Too much detail can make it boring. I know I personally have skipped paragraphs because there was just a bombardment of detail that bored me to death.

You have to know where to draw the line and when it’s important to add descriptions. If it’s important to the story, lay more importance to it. If it’s not, skim over it.

For example, if your character is in a hotel room, you don’t need to describe every little thing about it from the crimson curtains to the tiny ruffle in the sheet. Skim over it if it’s not important to the story. Place more importance to the things that will come later in the story like the spot on the wall that’s a slightly different shade then the rest of the wall as if only that spot was repainted, later to find out there was something hidden in the walls. Or perhaps the hole in the ceiling and later on there’s scurrying you hear every night. A rat falls out of it and you assume that’s all it was and request to change rooms, planning to leave the next day but then you have to go back to pick up something you left in the room and there’s something bigger that’s definitely not a rat coming from the hole.

I got a bit carried away in answering this and it may be far more then you were anticipating, but to sum it up: Details and descriptions ✨

Thank you for your ask!

Ask game

[madhattersez]

Model Kit Build: "The King of Fighters XIV Nakoruru" by Degenerator Industry

This one was interesting. To start with, I had no idea these models were even a thing!

I went "Christmas money" shopping at HobbyTown USA for some new kits to put together. I had already picked up the Devastator model from my previous post, but this Nakoruru one caught my eye immediately (even though it was stacked up high and pretty much out of sight).

I am an absolute Neo Geo freak and I love pretty much anything SNK-related, so I started flipping out. I think I took a look at the front of the box, then the side, then I just hugged it for several seconds. What a crazy, cool kit to stumble upon!

Interesting to see nature's protector here with her trusty hawk suddenly turned robotic. Nakoruru is also sporting some sort of mecha skirt, but... Okay. I was down no matter what.

I asked the people behind the counter if there were any more in this series, and they had no idea - Said a guy just came in and ordered it through them because he was gonna put it together and display it inside one of his anime rides at a car show, but then he never picked it up. My score, I guess!

By the way, there -is- a series, including Mai Shiranui, a transforming Metal Slug tank, and more.

I got home and opened the box... My initial reaction?

Holy hell, why the fuck are there so many sprues?! This looks like what you get in an MGEX Gundam kit, haha. Wow.

So, how does Degenerator Industry stack up against Bandai when it comes to instructions and quality?

Not great, I'm afraid.

While the instructions were far better than my experience with the Flame Toys kit, there were a couple flaws.

First, as seen above, there were a lot of the "your choice" icons, much like you see in Bandai kits.

This usually means that there are two or more styles for the part you're working on. However, unlike Bandai kits, there were no pictures of the differences between the two versions anywhere to be found. How am I supposed to pick if I don't know the changes between them and have no image to guide me? I didn't design the damned thing...

This led to me taking multiple pieces apart and switching to a different part when I later realized the actual functions of each option many steps later.

Just about the only "your choice" part that made sense was when I got to the "breast unit" step:

I would be terrified, too, honestly.

Well, after building both units, I had to choose between "smaller, rocky gray boobs that don't match the outfit" or "bigger, rounder boobs that match the rest of the figure.

After trying both out and consulting a Wikia to see that Nakoruru was now at least 20, I went ahead with the better matching, larger dodonhonkeros.

Another hidden problem I found in the directions and even the initial photos on the outside - I figured out just why there were so many damned sprues in this kit: There were nearly two complete sets of everything in the box. Why, you may ask?

Well, there are no pictures of this on the box or in the instructions in a completed state, but you can basically build a "more accurate to the games" version of Nakoruru, or choose to craft a "wacky cyber armor version" because reasons. Surprise!

When I got the model, I had no idea this was even an option.

There are separate directions for making this version of her, which makes sense, but there are two versions of Mamahaha (that's the falcon) - an alternate white and red motif and a basic Samurai Shodown brown motif - but only one set of instructions.

You see, they use the same sprue letters and instructions for both colors... That wasn't obvious until I'd already built the white and red version, but that's okay - I wanted to match it to her anyway.

So, you know how I said there's almost two copies of everything in the box? Well, the only thing preventing you from building both versions of each model is that there is only one torso for Nakoruru and one head for Mamahaha. If they would have included pieces for a second set of those, then there wouldn't be so many wasted parts when you're done.

I mean, if you don't plan on changing out the parts often, which... I imagine not many people would.

But, whatever, check out the finished product:

She's got an attitude because of the troubles I'm about to mention.

These both came out looking super cool, even though (much like the Devastator kit I built previously) it took a lot of physical force to fit some of the parts.

I even had to soak the head in boiling water for a bit to get the neck joint to pop in! Pretty annoying.

Aside from all that, the sprues had thick sections connecting to the parts instead of thin or precise ones, so I had jaggies on literally every single piece I snipped. It took a long-ass time to fix those as I went along.

I guess no one can beat Bandai at their own game, huh?

Ah, well. They are both done now! Nakoruru and Mamahaha look really rad.

One more mention of waste - With double the parts and such, check out how much bigger the box was than the model, lawl:

For more of my model kit builds on Tumblr, click here:

[covenlegacy]

the appearance of the future spouse, and which outfit he will choose for Halloween

tune in to the question, choose the stones that you are most attracted to, that you like the most. I will add a description later.

Gray-gold pebbles

There is an option that someone here has not decided who will be the future husband? It's as if there is a thought process and a choice of two people. Weighing the pros and cons. Appearance - dark hair, dark eyes (the second option is most likely the exact opposite. Light eyes, light (or colored hair). NOT particularly tall, medium build. If this is one person, then most likely often changes hair color, clothing style. Everything goes according to his mood. One day he is in a classic suit (she?), the second day in an incomprehensible dress, hoodie, etc. Possibly vision problems, wears glasses. The look is sharp, cold and piercing. If the girl is plump, if the guy is, then there is a tummy. And skillfully hides it. And in any case, handsome, statuesque. The hair is curly, unruly, something like an Afro hairstyle, or very fluffy hair. Image on Halloween: Something with wings, or something related to freedom. Children of the forest, druids, speed. Flash. The Joker, the Grinch. Levi. Something green. Stanley Ipkis!

Colored stones

And why do you watch such readings if you don't want to get married and have a family? Very handsome, probably wearing makeup, feminine, (or she). An appearance that screams something like "I have a lot of partners, I'm a playboy." This depends both on the manner of behavior and on the look. Not emotional, indifferent, a minimum of empathy. He simultaneously shows disinterest and interest in finding a variety of options. Most likely it is a mestizo, because he has traits from two races, and they are all manifested together. And since all mestizos are beautiful… Most likely dark hair, dark eyes. The same height or slightly taller.

Image on Halloween: God of fertility. Fauns, aphrodites, Greek tunics, etc. Maybe even one leaf per naked body. Or Loki. Zeus and all the gods are "walkers to the left". Well, or a deer

Sunset stones

Looks like a lawyer or something. Office work. Big salaries, a suit, a diplomat. Light eyes, hair from light brown to black. There may be overgrown roots. Gives the impression of a family man. But most likely somewhere there lies a romantic, under the bangs streaked with red strands. (big ass) The hair may be longer than it is customary for you according to tradition. Cute face, style in clothes from classics to grunge. It all depends on what impression he wants to make. Someone who keeps up with the times or a respectable man. Slight negligence in the image. Can love hats, caps.

Image on Halloween: Something beautiful and illusory, vampires, witches, sorcerers. For whom it is not necessary to try a lot, and who will not spoil the image. Perhaps one of those who draws the third / fourth eye on the face. Or just draws something on his face.

[byneddiedingo]

Anna May Wong in Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929) Cast: Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, Jameson Thomas, Cyril Ritchard, King Hou Chang, Hannah Jones, Gordon Begg, Harry Terry, Charles Laughton. Screenplay: Arnold Bennett. Cinematography: Werner Brandes. Art direction: Alfred Junge. Film editing: J.W. McConaughty. I share the opinion of the contemporary reviewer of Piccadilly that Arnold Bennett's screenplay is more interesting than what its director, E.A. Dupont, made of it. Bennett was a major novelist who, like such contemporaries as John Galsworthy and H.G. Wells, fell from favor with the ascendance of modernist writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. It was Woolf's riposte to Bennett, who had written an unfavorable review of her 1922 novel Jacob's Room, that severely damaged his standing among intellectuals. Her essay, "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown" contained the much-quoted observation that "on or about December 1910 human character changed," Woolf's way of saying that an exhibition of Post-Impressionist art indicated a new way of approaching existence through the arts. Bennett's naturalistic fiction began to fall in critical esteem. It may simply be that Bennett was so prolific a writer, with more than 30 novels, scores of stories, a substantial number of plays, and hundreds of essays, that he simply spread himself too thin. But his script for Piccadilly shows his interest in marginalized characters, including the lowlife of Limehouse and the backstage competitiveness of the London theater. And most of all, it gave Anna May Wong one of her most prominent and interesting roles, that of a scullery maid named Shosho who becomes a night-club sensation, but falls victim to jealousy tinged with racism. Unfortunately, Dupont's direction is often a little sluggish, and his staging of Shosho's big dance scene doesn't make it clear why her finger-waving hoochie-koochie -- she's outfitted in a costume more Balinese than Chinese -- causes such a sensation. Still, the film benefits from atmospheric sets by Alfred Junge and cinematography by Werner Brandes. It's also full of watchable actors, including Gilda Gray, who rose to fame for her shimmy, as the dancer Shosho replaces in the interest of the audiences and of the club owner. We first see Gray's Mabel when she's teamed with Victor, played by Cyril Ritchard, in a dance duet modeled on Fred and Adele Astaire. Dupont seems more interested in shots of the audience than in the dancers, partly because the plot is set in motion by an unruly diner complaining about a dirty dish. The diner is played by Charles Laughton in his feature film debut. His complaint leads the club owner, Valentine Wilmot, played by Jameson Thomas, to discover that the dishwashers are goofing off and watching one of them, Shosho, dancing. Though he fires Shosho on the spot, he later takes her to his office where he watches her dance, which gives him the idea to give her a big number in the club. When she succeeds, and Mabel discovers that Valentine has fallen in love with Shosho, the plot, as they say, thickens. Although made as a silent film, Piccadilly was enough of a success that the producers decided to add some scenes with sound and a music score. TCM, however, shows a silent version with a score added in 2004 after the film was restored.