#usually just stars & then i outline them a different color

[rockoblanco]

this was me on Valentine’s Day! i drew lil hearts on my eyes :)

[logicpng]

WEW I made. references. I think I'm pretty happy with how they look now

for those who are new to my blog: Aster is a virtual assistant in an abandonware operating system named CaelOS. Aster isn't one AI however, it's a collective name for two AI's residing in it - Rigel and Vega. Both of them have separate functions with different levels of access to the system.

Rigel is more focused on the actual user experience and is your usual virtual assistant deal - talkative and happy to answer anything for you. ...As long as it doesn't involve troubleshooting. Rigel is rather cheerful in demeanor, always ready to assist, but that image quickly breaks if something goes wrong with the OS- No- of COURSE he's qualified to fix that botched driver for you! He just needs a little time :) haha

Vega's area is the background system things the average user doesn't need to bother themselves with: system maintenance, actual troubleshooting Rigel has no way of doing, updates, and searching + handling malware. However his access to the resources necessary for composing speech are pretty limited in comparison. He's able to express himself but is confined to more choppy, short sentences, occasionally just using any text that's present in the system already.

While the two can cooperate verbally, to be able to actually perform in their respective areas the two have to let the other take charge. Only it seems like there's... a few issues to take care of first.

[First image ID:

Turn around reference of Aster: a humanoid being in a tuxedo-esque suit, with round poofed up shoulders and a triangular tail on the coat, round rays resembling a star. His right hand has a long poofy sleeve, the other has a elbow-long glove. They're shown standing in front view, back view and side view.

Reference shows Aster with Rigel fronting: the tie and backs of his hands feature the astronomical symbol of the Sun, and he's colored in a white-orange-red color scheme, with a smiling expression.

Text reads: "Aster. Module: Altair [stricken out] Rigel. User Experience agent. Adult. He/him".

First image ID end]

[Second image ID:

Turn around reference of Aster (cont.). Reference shows Aster with Rigel fronting, without the coat on, revealing the shirt with a long sleeve on his right arm and a bare arm with a long glove on the left side.

Text reads: "Aster. Module: Altair [stricken out] Rigel. User Experience agent. Adult. He/him".

Second image ID end]

[Third image ID:

Turn around reference of Aster (cont.). Reference shows Aster with Vega fronting: the tie and backs of hands feature outlines of the crescent moon, and he's colored in a black-blue-pale blue scheme, with a neutral expression, eyes halfway closed. Otherwise he looks identical to Rigel, due to the body being the same.

Text reads: "Aster. Module: Vega. System maintenance and security agent. Adult. He/him".

Third image ID end]

[Fourth image ID:

Turn around reference of Aster (cont.) Reference shows Aster with Vega fronting, but without the coat on, showing the shirt with right long sleeve and a bare left arm with a long glove.

Text reads: "Aster. Module: Vega. System maintenance and security agent. Adult. He/him".

Fourth image ID end]

[riptide-if]

What are the fashion senses of the ROs? What do they wear on a day to day basis?

ANON. im seriously so glad u asked u dont understand.im actually going to attatch the long descs i wrote of their everyday outfit (like in a vn..) also theres more fashion/makeup inspo on their boards on my pinterest! there's also boards for bg charas on there:33 so if u r interested in lee's band or aria there u go;p

HILO: an orange tank top with a ruffle trim paired with an off white maxi skirt. A pair of dark brown double strap sandals are on their feet. A gold ring with an infinity symbol is on the pointer finger on their right hand, accompanied by two thick threaded bracelets; the first one being yellow and orange, and the other [MC fave color] and orange. They have long almond shaped acrylic nails; colors varying. They tend to get a new set every three weeks. They wear a pair of orange bead earrings with a gold moon charm on the left ear and a gold star charm on the right ear. A pair of gold hoop earrings goes through their upper lobes in both ears.

LEE: a black shirt that’s cropped just above their stomach, with a graphic of a black skull outlined with white. A black zip-up hoodie is either halfway zipped up, tied around their waist, or discarded. A black and grey striped fingerless glove is covering one hand the other is covered in an assortments of rings including a silver skull ring and a silver ring with a red garnet stone, gifted to them by MC on their one year anniversary. Elijah wears short black cargo shorts while Elaine wears a black cargo miniskirt. They both have (optional) distressed tights underneath them. They wear two black earrings on each upper ear, a pair of silver skull earrings, two black rings on their lips, silver eyebrow stud piercing, silver septum piercing, and a silver star shaped tongue ring.

NOEMIA/NIKITA: a white long sleeved compression shirt is worn underneath a yellow, purple, and white color block windbreaker; either unzipped or balled up and put in their bag. A pair of black athletic shorts with a white adidas logos in the corner is covering their legs. They normally carry a yellow crossbody bag with an assortment of different pins on it (bisexual flag, mang, surfboard, bmo, spiderman, no pain no gain, shark, pufferfish, wave). They wear a pair of green pair of star skate shoes over a pair of colored socks; always mismatched. An anklet with white beads is around their right leg, a similar one with teal beads underneath it. A gold ring with a white teardrop shaped opal ring given to them by their grandma sits on a leather chain around their neck. Two to three hair ties are always around their wrists.

ARLO: an untucked white short sleeved t-shirt is usually worn under his rotation of lightly colored button ups, sweater vests and cardigans. A pair of light denim overalls is over it; with some barely visible paint stains here and there. He wears a pair of black oxford shoes with this. On his wrists are a few braided leather bracelets. He wears a gold vintage coin necklace around his neck along with matching small gold hoop earrings. A thing elastic headband is sometimes holding back his bangs while he works.

as for key words in my notes i have; hilo is whimsical, lee is emo (lol), n is sporty, and arlo is cozy!

[xxl1zardb3ansxx]

TADC AU time!

Since everyone's doing it thought I might make a TADC AU!!!

It's about Mire, (Not me the character) Faltor, Filorin, Falia, and Sninlia! The original characters are included too though!

Mire: Their head is an animated scribble that you can ever so slightly see the shape of an eye something. They wears a light-ish pink hoodie and black jeans, with one purple and one blue sneaker. However, when they are depressed, they wear a black and red striped over-sized sweater, with black runner sweatpants, and simple black and red sneakers with skull designs on them. They have the ability to basically transform their arms into tentacles to reach stuff. However, their entire body is actually made of one really long line thus they can only stretch so far. They can also store things in their stomach like it's a void of holding. Because of this, Jax likes to randomly shove stuff into Mire. They play the guitar and have anger issues. (Hint VERY gay)

Faltor: His head is a 2nd grader's impression of the sun. A yellow circle with yellow spikes. Yep. He has one eye placed vertically in the center of the sun shape. His iris is blue, but his pupil only shows when he's mad. Also when he is mad, all his visible outlines get fuzzy and static like. He wears the same demeanor of clothes as Caine just with different colors. Black button-down shirt with a white suit vest over it. The vest has a blue lining and little light blue clouds on it. He wears a blue ribbon around his neck, tied in a loose bow. (Although I should note that the sun shape floats a few inches above the neck.) He has white pants, and black fancy click-clack shoes. (Idk what they're called XD) He eats and drinks by just dumping the said food/drink in his neck. Jax likes to run his hand in between Faltor's neck and head, bc he's thinks it funny bc he's dumb. (Fight me)

Filorin: His head is a flame, glowing brighter or dimmer depending on his mood. He wears a simple back wool button-up shawl, covering his torso. He wears dark navy blue pants and simple buckle leather boots. He also has a little brown leather satchel. His eyes are little white circles that float a centimeter or two in front of his head. The circles are usually semi-circles as he is tired most of the time. He is very shy, and hates talking to people. (Unless it's Faltor) Yes, the fire that is his head will hurt and burn other people/items. Jax likes to toss random flammable objects into Filorin's head, to see if he can land a shot and watch it burn. Even though he hates talking, some people still try to be friends with him.

Falia: She is viewed as gorgeous by the other circus members, (Except for Faltor and Filorin and including Caine) Her head appears to be made of ink in a smooth sphere. She has a silver crescent moon shape on the front of her face, and a large purple eye filling most of the empty space left. She appears to be wearing 4-point star earrings (Despite having no ears) She wears an elegant black spaghetti noodle dress, that flows down, were there is almost a cape like section of the skirt that drags behind her. It seems to flow into stars and nebula's, looking like a piece of space was placed upon her dress. She has a cool, collected and royal manor. She speaks in a calm almost dead voice, the same every time. And no she doesn't get mad, or sad, or anything! That would be silly... (Heh heh, trauma related) Faltor is her brother, and she views his fondly. Jax will occasionally just...take scoops of Falia's ink to throw at Filorin. She acts like she doesn't care.

Sninlia: Sninlia's head is a snow flake. It has a very intricate and complicated, yet graceful design. (Which is why it makes it so difficult to get the shape back every time Jax melts her head) She wears a royal looking robe, (very similar to kinger's) except it's icy blue, and has icicles coming out the bottom. A light snow also drifts from the bottom of her robe, so you can always tell where she's been. She is rather quiet, but when she does speak she is very serious. Jax makes fun of her a lot for this. Jax also finds it fun to use Filorin's head to melt Sninlia's snowflake, forcing her to go place it in a mold like thing and freeze it again. Sninlia and Falia are dating (Although neither of them will admit it) and they are very close. Despite how Sninlia seems, she loves dancing to classical music or just dancing. She favors music quite a bit and will sometimes even listen to Mire play guitar, even though it's most definitely not her style of music. Sninlia is also Filorin's sister, and she wishes he would socialize more.

Jax: He is much more annoying with these new peeps around. Although, Caine and Bubble have noticed him blushing a little when he's around Mire. (Don't worry guys this isn't a cannon ship!)

Caine: He has a really big crush on Falia and has no idea she's already dating someone.

Ragatha: Yes, ButtonBlossom is cannon, but she likes hanging out with Filorin and Falia. Sometimes Mire, but only if she sees their lonely.

Pomni: She loves her girlfriend very much, and likes hanging out with Filorin. Although not that often, because she gets a bit weirded out by him.

Kinger: He didn't really like any of them but if he had to choose one to hang out with, it'd be Faltor. So they could autism together.

Gangle: Prefers to just hide from Jax, but occasionally try to talk to Filorin. *Ahem,* emphasis on the try

Zooble: Hangs out with Mire a lot and doesn't like any of the rest of them.

I post more about it if y'all send me some asks.

[amphiptere-art]

Interesting facts about my mind.

I always try and copy noises into text. It doesn't matter how ridiculous it looks, I will do it. Heah? Huh? Mmmeerrrmmm? Ahhhbabap. Literally anything. I will find some way to put it into text.

I'm going to burn you, There he is, what?, are some of my favorite sayings.

I appear to lean towards male pronouns when no pronouns are given. Trying to change that, not quite there yet.

Cheedon Is one of my oldest and one of my favorite avatars to this date. You can see them on my pinned. They're supposed to be a cheetah, smilodon hybrid. They are covered in spots and have stripes breaking them up. If I wanted I could probably redesign it to be more realistic nowadays. They embody that sort of childish Glee. When I withdraw just to draw I've made them the god of paper.

Sun's are always they/she mentally for me. They just listen to he for convenience. Like they're okay with he. But they always act more like a they/she figure. That's usually why I refer the to them as they.

Moons are usually almost always neutrally frowning. Like they have that resting face that just makes them look like they're irritated. I honestly cannot think of a situation where this wasn't the case. He's always got a grumpy face for me.

Before Earth's redesign. She was always skinnier. Her portions were always more DCA and more well-rounded. It was a little different from the redesign. But similar nonetheless.

I always imagine solars that play into their mechanic role more, have a rustic red and orange look. Like their ribbons and frills were this rustic orange color. With their body being red but looking like it was rusted out. They always kind of looked old and worn? Sometimes they get goggles sometimes they don't.

Lord Eclipse's posture is always rigid. No matter how playful the eclipse. I'm very much going to imagine them with a rigid stance. Not unless they are actively emoting.

For eclipses that aren't lords. Their posture is always lazy. Like it's tiring to hold themselves up. Unless it's in the characters bio to look formal. Like Butler. They're always going to look like their slunched and kind of tired with the day.

For some reason the eclipse's always have a black outline? It's hard to describe in my brain. But there's always a black and white texture, which might be why black star is so black. But I don't know, fact nonetheless.

Everybody's lords worlds has a generic mental look. I drew them once. Although for many of the Lord worlds. It is a very tall vertical Castle, with gold, white, blue, or sometimes deep black colors. Usually always matching the sky. Most gardens are fields. That is just kind of my generic go-to shape.

@madcatdaderpydrawer-blog Lord night usually has purple hallways with brighter purple accents. Usually they have flowers and pictures everywhere. Sort of like a standard mansion but purple. They're castles are usually very tall. Like a giant hotel Tower. Their city sprawls out from that tower. Little homes sparkled about with roads all leading tonight's Castle. They're balconies I always imagine as square but with arches as windows and the tops are domes. Most of the windows are arches.

@sigery Rle usually has grand arching rooms and hallways to match them. Like extravagant castles that almost feel like museums. Big and wide. Decorated with golden tints. The colors are generically off white and gold accents. Rooms usually follow the same accents. Though are changed up for each individual. The gardens though. I usually imagine them as sprawling flower fields. Almost put out like vineyards. Trees kind of separate the atmosphere every once in a while. The outside looks like a Persian Palace but stretched out.

@digimonlover09 Lord infero usually is smaller. The hallways are white and blue. There's carpets down every hallway. And doorways that usually don't have doors, are arches. Otherwise most of the doors are wooden and have a golden or decorated brace. But otherwise the whole place looks like a, spruced up hospital? The hallways are very bland. Unlike nights they don't have any decoration. Not unless you go into a room. Then there is stuff.

Lost Lord has that vertical castle look. Their colors are a lighter gray with a Royal purple. All area around the castle is a bit more explored. With the city looking like a.. crowded Urban sprawl. Like something you would see in Chinatown or something. Just without all the bright lights. This is actually my favorite city landscape. I use it for a lot of fantasies. The world is also covered in kind of destroyed rubble from the spikes.

Most daycare environments are the same. They look like they are in the show. I do change the bedroom quite often though. I make sun's closet room. An actual room, usually taking over the hallway that leads to the daycare. The living room is usually bigger. So is the balcony. There's usually more space around the computer. And moons room usually has a desk opposite of the bed. The whole area just looks more livable.

[bells-of-black-sunday]

His bronzed fingers stroked through inky tresses as they lounged upon pale crystallized shores - far away from the bloodied fields of the European countryside; instead the landscape was draped in silver outlines. Haruko glanced downward at Tarhos with lazy eyes, his expression softening while his gazed traced over the scars and contours of his companion's face. Ah - what thoughts ran through Tarhos' mind when he looked at Haru?

Did he feel anything?

It isn't as though it mattered. Haru wanted to offer him freedom, not at the cost of his autonomy - not if Tarhos thought he'd have to somehow pay him back somehow. Regardless ... At least there was peace here. He was sure that was one of the greatest gifts he could offer. He had found the Knight dripping in sanguine poison and bruised beyond what any human should be able to withstand. He had been beaten down over and over - until any semblance of flickering dignity was extinguished by his own blood.

The skies endless navy reflected in the pools of his iris, gleaming stars shimmered across each wave of color and glistening hue - the expanse of sea and sand, however, seemed pale in comparison to Tarhos. How could anyone or anything match what he saw inside of him? Haru found himself staring down at the man's head in his lap, his eye widening in focus as he remarked the peach sunburn reddening the Knight's cheeks; pure unadulterated intensity. That's how he always was: a burning inferno incapable of fully fizzling out. And not even the cool azure of Tarhos' returned stare could drown it.

How far had they gone now from the Knight's home? Where did he like best? Surely these white beaches and clear waves doused in moonlight had to be at the top. If not just for the fact he was holding him with a tenderness he wouldn't dare share with anyone else; he only hoped Tarhos was smart enough to figure it out. Lust was easy to talk about - a fleeting wisp of an interaction that resulted in nothing but a night of pleasure. Love was - if that's what this was - ... much harder to discuss. It held risks. Maybe too many. Fucking up this wouldn't only result in his own heart breaking, but Tarhos' too - he'd lose a friend, an ally, someone he loved to listen to. There was no way he could risk it first.

"It's nice here. I love the crew but - heh - they are crazy shits sometimes. I'm glad we could be alone for a little while, I feel like I haven't seen you at all since that storm came through." He had, but the ship was in chaos and everyone was on desk trying to keep the damn thing from capsizing. Not the best 3 days. "Is, I imagine, is a lot different than those shit and gore covered fields of your home? Or is it too warm for you?"

Pirates

The night was calm, though compared to the past three days both of them had, standing in the middle of stampeding cattle would still be calmer. He swore he got a few new scars just from the boat trying to fight him on what it wanted to do, but.... this was nice. The gentle roar of ocean waves that fell into a gentle lap once they met the shore. The knight never imagined he'd enjoy things like this so much. He usually hated the ocean. Being packed on a ship to head to some foreign field to fight for whatever noble needed their dick stroked that day. Tarhos always swore he got sick after, like the very idea of being so far from his few comforts made him ill and ate him from the inside out.

This. This was different. It was something he chose to do. Haru was someone he chose to follow and he'd yet to regret it. Not when nights of raiding turned into passionate kisses behind closed doors.... even if he knew he could never have him. He'd resigned himself long ago to knowing the captain would never hold the same affections. He flirted with men and women alike, Tarhos just so happened to be his favorite. He much preferred being his favorite dog than anyone else's even with the melancholic taste it left in his mouth watching Haru sleep. Tarhos knew he'd leave as soon as he found someone to settle down with and all he could do was cherish the moments he had.

He never had the luxury of enjoying other's company, this was new. Probably the only thing that scared him was that he craved his touch. The way the captain's fingers stroked his scars and traced his jaw like he were something fragile to be treated with care. The knight never got to feel that way with anyone else. His eyes slowly fluttered open to look up at Haru hoping his gaze didn't betray his emotion like it had done many times before. How badly he wanted to kiss him and be held close.... he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Hm?" Haru's voice caught him off guard freeing him from his thoughts as he focused back into reality. Ah- right. Where he came from before this man became his home, "....I liked the fields. Both gore covered and not. When spring would hit it'd light up in color from the wildflowers and animals. I used to dream of dying that way... sinking into the earth and finally being one with it. I think I'd make a beautiful patch of flowers." Despite how grim it was he had a soft smile, closing his eyes and leaning into his touch like it was the last thing he'd ever feel.

"This is nice too though.... It feels like the few times I'd been to Greece. Without the statues. It's warm and it feels like summer most months, but the sea keeps it from being unbearable and it almost gets too cold sometimes below deck when we're sleeping. I miss the fields sometimes though... Just the spring. The flowers and everything, I don't need to repeat it. The ocean starts to look the same after a while, but there's good company. I couldn't imagine leaving, not now." The words died on his tongue, the ghost of a confession lingering unsaid.

He didn't need to ruin the moment.

[ecliip]

just gonna list some stuff i really like about the rain world slugcat designs i see since im redesigning my own slugcat designs right now

-i loveloveLOVE it when Survivor gets individualized. like,,, different ears or scars or markings or even some color. put some flavor on that bad boy

-same goes for Monk, though i really do love when they and Survivor also match each other with body features like ears or natural markings! siblings :) also think is cute whenever Monk is short

-I like it when Hunter looks more predator-ish! and I also like it when they look like a test tube baby. and how could I forget the rot? accessorize your Hunter with The Horrors

-Same goes for Artificer with the predator thing. Love it when she has more scars too, and, i especially love pansears Artificer because of the little wick on their tail, its so clever to me!!

-Every iteration of Gourmand is perfect to me. i love the gentle giant interpretation. however i ALSO love the fierce and world-weary versions where Gourmand looks like they can, will, and are currently approaching to come beat your ass. mf has 3 spear damage and can crush a lizards spine theyre TERRIFYING! and i love them so much

-love it when Rivulet is Even More Fishy. fins and (slug)catfish whiskers and an extra set of gills. fishie fishie!

-Pointy Spearmaster....... touch them and you can and will begin to bleed. also love it when, like Hunter, it looks like a test tube Critter

-i love that yellowy-orange tail fade some Saint designs have!! also i think i once saw a design where the little dots on Saints head were tiny eyes, loved that too

-When Inv/Enot looks like some kind of fucking Thingy. like sketchy/messy outline around eyes/mouth, orange and blue light on sides of the body, EYELASHES,,, i also once saw an Enot that looked like a sparkledog (sparklecat? sparkleslug?) and that is PEAK Enot

-i go crazy whenever Nightcat has stars or sparkles. thats just so lovely to me... i love Nightcat so ,uch

BONUS SLUGS:

-i like it when Survivor and Monks parents and sibling are drawn, like, at all ... i never see them drawn Ever. okay maybe i see them drawn a bit more than usual now, but still. bonus points if their parents have similar markings to Survior, Monk, and their baby sibling :') famly...

-in AUs where Artis pups survive and they have scars from where the spear/leeches wouldve killed them... auuauauauguuhughhghghuauhhhh

[you-will-return]

For once, I'm actually doing what I said I'd do in a timely manner.

So this will be jacket post part two: electric boogaloo, bc I didn't want the other one to get too long.

Anyway so yesterday I finished all the sewing (you'll see what I mean) and on Wednesday I finished the painting at Maxi's place (who btw came over and helped me finish my uni stuff so everybody go thank Maxi bc otherwise I'd still be sitting here crying over my shitty printer.... anyways)

Let's get to it

Here we have the front of the jacket (I'll show the collar area in more detail in a sec). On the right pocket I added my LOTSAD pin (yes, I still think the abbreviation is funny), originally I wanted to put the Blind Channel one there but then I realized 'sewing inside of a pocket sucks ass, as does sewing through two layers of jean fabric at once', so here we are. The sewing doesn't look very clean but fuck it (it's just rock'n'roll, okay I'll shut up). Maxi told me 'It would've looked better if you had cross stitched it' to which i replied 'Honey, I'm just glad that it's on there'. Anywho underneath the ghost, between the buttons I added the word(s) 'care fully' (which can be read as one or two words and I kinda like that. It's a Mitski reference but also I just love playing with language).

Here we have the LOTSAD pin (and shitty sewing job) in more detail and as you can see I finally added the GIANTS pin above the Get Up coward.

The Joonas smiley got some company. Tbh sewing the beads on like this was so much easier than trying to sew on the pins.

More beads!!! I decided to make the rays two-colored bc why not? And I know the bead placement is a bit on the nose, but eh who cares? Also I added the birds last minute bc freedom and the sea and all that (in my heart they're evil lil seagulls).

(This is nothing new but I just wanted to show it to y'all colored in)

From bottom to top: The knife (!!) is finally colored in and I couldn't be happier. Imagine walking by someone and then boom KNIFE!! (I hope you can tell how much I love this stupid bloody knife). Above this I added one of my favourite songs off of the new album. But yeah it has a star in the middle, bc they're burning (again lost an arm and a leg on the creativity). And you might notice that these beads are different, and that's bc I did this arrangement at home, where I had a greater variety available :)

My favourite part of the jacket, still. It's so simple and yet it just works. Again, I know that you've seen this before but I just wanted to show it outlined and coloured in :)

Now for the back:

Top to bottom: since my collar is usually down, I put the Watching Over Me mainly here for myself, but it's for good reason. This lyric really means a lot to me on a personal level and it's from the first MCR song I ever listened to (so it's double special), so no one but me (and you guys now haha) has to see it or know it's there, but I still wanted it to be included. Secondly: the Bad Idea back piece is done!!! Yaay!! And the roses don't look like colored in 8s anymore (double yay!!). I'll admit it looks pretty edgy (what about this jacket doesn't) but I really enjoyed painting it. I think I might have also done it out of spite for my 9th grade English teacher, who, after I had done a presentation abt MCR, told me:"Nice presentation. But Anna, all that blood and gore? Is that really necessary?" Yes, yes it is ma'am.

Lastly: the rest of the back. Yeah I kinda just went ham with the beads and pins, but it was fun (for the most part). Bottom to top: The 747 is finally colored in, bc of its position it's kinda reminiscent of an incomplete license plate but if you knew my history with this number, you'd agree that it makes this just that much more fitting.

Above it the Blind Channel beads, kind of as a summary of everything above them.

Then we have Balboa (why is there a heart bead? Bc Maxi had some lying around and I thought it looked pretty). I really like this song and I would give a lot for that skeleton Breakdowns for Breakfast t-shirt.

Above Balboa we have a part of glory for the greedy. No deeper reason for why it's here just 'mwah'. This was the first bead arrangement I sewed on btw and lemme tell you it was a struggle.

Talking about struggle we have the Don't Fix Me pin arrangement that made me want to throw myself into a river. I struggled so much with this but I ended up really liking it. Pink + edgy??? Fuck yeah, that's what I live for. I know the song itself is not everyone's favourite, but I've been listening to it on repeat ever since it came out so lol

Lastly we have the Left To Die beads (yes alive or only burning, again, that song has been living in my head rent free ever since I first listened to the album and not just bc of the jupiter line haha). When I first heard the chorus I was like 'huh' and then i thought about it some more and I was like 'hUH?!?', anywho needless to say this lyric hits me every single time (:

Soooo.... that's the jacket. Edgy, wonky and with a certain.... diy-charm.

Hope you enjoyed this journey and its outcome as much as I did.

Bonus: The diy saftey pin necklace (by me) and saftey pin earrings (by Maxi), that I'll probs wear at the concert. Alongside a Revenge bracelet that I wanted to sew onto the jacket but sadly didn't know where to put.

[seungstarss]

hi anon from this ask I guess specifically speaking how do you usally go about picking photos of idols, color schemes, background/ decorations?

Like the cupid's law banner or even your theme/navi for example? I assume the two processes were different but if you could explain one?

(also I'm not very good at explaining what I mean, sorry if this is not clear enough T-T)

Oh no worries,,, I'll do a small explanation but if you need anything parts in detail just let me know! (I'm not on my comp rn so I'll exactly show u all the tools, but I'll try to use Google images to find them)

So using the cupids law banner as an example

The first thing I did here was go on photoshop and create a new banner,,, however what I did was make a transparent banner(1280x480)

Saur that's what the transparent banner would look like compared to a white or black.

The next thing I do was to create the curves using the pen tool and it automatically fills your shape with a colour so u can just change the colour to whatever u want.

After this, I woul basically use the object selection tool to cut out the heeseung photo. (On a different layer)

The on another layer(under the heeseung pics layer),,, I use I usually use the angular lasso tool to create the white outline around him. (This will create a sharp look)

For example my old yeonjun banner

The purple is very sharp and clean cut.

However for this specific banner, I didn't use the lasso tool instead I hand drew the white behind him which usually creates a rounder look.

After this was the text ontop of heeseung. What u do is just type on something (in those case "heeseung") and play with the layers.

So for the two that are behind him, you would put those layers underneath the heeseung pngs. And for the on on top, u just put that layer on top of the hee png.

I can't add any more photos bc of the blr photo limit. But the next steps are pretty easy.

For the text on the left (title and stuff) I use phonto for the fonts. You can download fonts from dafont and import them into phonto. If u need font inspo just go on pinterest and search up "font inspo."

As for the decoration, just search them up on pinterest. For example if u want a heart, search up "heart overlay" (Yes it usually has a black background)

Then you import the picture into photoshop and for the blending options and press "screen." This will remove the black background.

—

As for how I choose my background colours and all,,, I usually use a darker colour that is already in the photo. (Or a darker variant of a colour in the photo)

So for the cupids law banner, I used the pink of Heeseung's hair but then made it darker. For the yeonjun one, the background is the same colour as the stars on his shirt.

So the key is I'd to make sure the background colour makes sense. Don't randomly make the background a colour that doesn't appear in the photo.

—

Hopefully this helped a bit, if u need anymore info lmk!!

[akumajoaurora]

In regards to this excellent post, I’d also like to make a post on how I designed my own logo. Zenith’s post gives an excellent breakdown of what elements go into a VTuber logo and things to keep in mind, but not so much how one gets from an idea to a finished logo. So I wanted to share my process, which goes through most of the basic process I learned while studying graphic design in community college.

Before doing anything else, I had to do research. I knew the general style I was going for; I wanted to evoke the y2k aesthetic, or at least somewhere in the late 90s/early 2000s. In particular I wanted to evoke the bright, optimistic aesthetic of certain games I played as a kid (DDR, late 90s to early 2000s Sonic games, Kirby Air Ride, etc.), as well as the Eurobeat music genre, which I’m a big fan of and is part of my overall “theme”. 

(Granted, I mostly find myself streaming gothic horror-esque games, but... A bitch can contain multitudes)

So with these ideas in mind, I spent a lot of time looking at y2k graphic design, researching different logos (for example, I looked at some racing logos as well), and eventually I put together an inspiration sheet with logos I wanted to evoke. Not all of these are from the same period, but they have a lot of similar vibes

Do you see some of the common elements? Text in dense blocks, lots of bold outlines, often a sense of motion, blobby geometric shapes, sans-serif fonts, bright colors. These were some of the things I wanted to keep in mind for my logo.

With my research done, it was time to design the emblem. I really like motorcycles, and they’re... technically supposed to be part of my theme even though I always forget to post about them... So I wanted my emblem to be a motorcycle helmet. (This also fits in with the eurobeat theme, since racing and driving fast is a common theme of eurobeat lyrics, albeit usually about cars and not motorcycles lol.) I sketched out a few variations on what I had in mind.

I incorporated my horns into the design, since they’re a big part of yknow, me. I also tried a few different decorative elements; The shooting stars are a motif sometimes seen in y2k graphic design, and the fangs are meant to emphasize the demon thing. As for the triangle stripe with the star, it’s meant to evoke the flag of Puerto Rico, but also has a classic racing flair.

After examining the various options and getting input from my friends and family, I settled on the design on the lower right. Next step was doing the black and white lineart.

This is a really important step. A good logo should, ideally, work in plain black and white. Even if you’re limited to just one color, your logo should be readable; This can be useful for things such as printing, stickers and T-shirts, things like that. Ideally you should be able to slap your logo on anything regardless of technical limitations. Am I, or you, necessarily going to do these things? No, but it’s good to be prepared anyway. You never know! So it’s always good to have a black and white variant of your logo.

This is the design I ended up with. In keeping with the y2k/late 90s/early 2000s style, I used bold lines with heavy weight variation, rounded corners, and a double outline. Now if I were really trying to be professional about it, I would have done it in a vector program rather than Medibang Paint, but I fucking hate vector programs and the only person who needs the files here is me, so I can afford to be sloppy. There’s programs out there that’ll let you vectorize black and white images anyway, so eh.

Next, it was time to add color to the emblem. Again, I had a bunch of different options, so I made several variations and asked for input from my friends and family. (I also put the BW version in the corner for reference.)

I already had some standard colors I use in my model and my graphics, so it was really just a matter of deciding how to arrange them. By the way, you can really see in the shading just how much inspiration I took from 2000s Sonic the Hedgehog art! Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from things that mean a lot to you, or... Well, inspire you, lol.

Once again, I ended up choosing the last variation as my winning design. With the emblem done, the next step was choosing a font. Zenith’s post already has some great notes on choosing fonts, so I won’t go into too much detail there, but once again I chose several options and asked for input. Getting feedback from others is a really important part of the graphic design process. It helps you to learn what works and what doesn’t, especially when other people may have different backgrounds than you (Is one of your friends colorblind? Does your art effectively convey its message to someone who doesn’t have the same knowledge of design history? Etc).

I actually chose 15 different font options, but for the sake of brevity I’ll just show four of them.

In general it’s good practice to do variants in regular caps, no caps, and all caps, but I didn’t do that because uh... I don’t remember why. Anyway, I largely looked for y2k or racing fonts. Admittedly Excelorate is super cute, but I ended up going with Hemi Head, because it’s nice and readable. I believe it’s a popular font in the Eurobeat world as well? I know Odyssey uses it in her graphics sometimes, at least. In any case, it looks nice, it’s not too generic, and it’s really easy to read.

After choosing both an emblem and a typeface, it was time to combine them both into a logo. Again, I started with black and white, both because it’s useful to have and it’s also just easiest to add color later on.

I spent quite a lot of time fiddling with spacing and such to get it to look neat and tidy. I added a line at the bottom to add balance to an empty space, as well as a sense of motion. To tie it all together, I encapsulated it all in that big chunky outline we’ve seen so much of.

Finally, color. Since I already had a colored version of the emblem, it was pretty easy to build the rest of the logo’s colors from there. I incorporated the purple and pink gradient I’ve used for header text in a lot of my existing graphics, and again I added a fun outline, and... That was it! The logo was finally finished!

Now, I’m not claiming it’s the most perfect logo in the world. I’m sure there’s things to criticize about it, and plenty of people who just won’t find it appealing. But I think it looks alright, and above all else, I hope this breakdown of how I went from square one to a finished logo is helpful to those of you who may be looking to design your own. I encourage you to do other research as well, and again, to check out Zenith’s excellent post on VTuber logos. (It’s worth noting as well that VTuber logos often have a particular look to them that I personally chose not to go for, but Zenith’s tutorial does a good job of explaining how to achieve that look.)

As a bonus, here’s this thing I made while messing around and trying out different techniques that ended up looking hilariously like the iCarly logo, lmao.

[lokigodofaces]

For ffwf: 1. What is your typical writing process for a fic? 2. I remember you we're thinking about a Tesseract!reader fic at some point, and even though I'm not usually into /reader fics, that concept intrigued me - could you tell more about it?

Good question. I have no frickin clue. Well, in all seriousness, I start off with wanting to write a fic with a certain ship or trope and have no clue how to put that into a fic. Overtime I come up with ideas and make an outline. And less than 20 chapters in I throw the outline out because I came up with more ideas that are better. So then I kinda make a new outline (but most of it is in my head which is a bad idea). But it's a much more fluid outline. I take so long to write fics that I get more ideas so I usually start off with a semi-fixed outline and toss it for one that is more fluid and easier for me to play with later. Then I slowly write it over years. I'm going on hiatus for over a year in 100 days (I just made a countdown...aaaaaaa 100 days!) so I guess we'll see in a couple years how that changes my writing. But as far as writing goes, I kind of just throw it on a google doc? Write write write. Can take anywhere between a day and a week for me to push out a chapter. Also, since I write multiple fics, I rotate between which one I'm working on. I finish a chapter of A, and move onto the next chapter B, etc. When I write, I try to edit as I go and at the end, but I'm really bad at catching typos and skipped words (so is google docs). Then I publish it when it still is basically a first or second draft because my brain will not let me edit too much or else it just shuts down with that fic. Every once in a while though I go through my chapters and edit them all at once. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes it's just fixing typos. But, yeah, kind of me just bsing my way through writing.

Okay, so this is still in the "I start off with wanting to write a fic with a certain ship or trope and have no clue how to put that into a fic" stage of this fic, but I'll tell you what I've got so far. Okay, the easiest way for me to describe it right now is to compare it to Avatar: The Last Airbender (this might suck for you if you haven't seen it). So the avatar is reincarnated into a different nation every life, right? And the avatar gets special abilities no one else has that have been passed down from earlier avatars (ability to bend all four elements, entering the avatar state, communicating with previous avatars, being a link between the human world and the spirit world), right? I'm doing something similar to that with the Infinity Stones. There isn't a cycle for the Stones' reincarnation like the avatar has, but the Stones will reincarnate into different forms with every life. This can range from stones to flowers to mosquitos to stars to comets to whatever. There are only a couple rules. 1: It has to be something naturally forming, they can't reincarnate into a commercial airplane or whatever. 2: All of the Stones will be in the same form together. If one's a daffodil, the rest are daffodils. 3: If one dies before the others, it stays dead until the others die so that they can all reincarnate at once. 4: There are notable differences between the Stones and whatever the average object of their form is, often resulting in unique colors, texture, etc. 5: Each reincarnation makes distinct people. You wouldn't say that Aang and Korra are the same person in the Avatar world. Same is true for the Stones. They can access the memories of pasts lives, communicate with them, and certain things are influenced by them, like preferences, but they are their own people. Adding to that, they have to learn how to use their powers again and they don't immediately know they are these infinitely powerful cosmic beings.

So, the Stones are killed in Endgame and are reincarnated into sextuplet humans. Loki is alive because duh, of course he's alive. He and Tess were in a relationship and he's really had a hard time with her loss. And 30 years later, he happens to meet Space's new reincarnation. This is really hard for him because there are some things about [Y/N] that are so much like Tess. Some of her mannerisms, her voice is eerily similar, her hair is Tess's color (okay I haven't decided if I want it to be naturally blue or if she dyed it because she was innately drawn to that color because I like both ideas), they both have the same favorite moon, etc. Loki is the one to tell [Y/N] and her siblings what she is and some sort of plot thing will happen. But Loki misses Tess so much but knows that [Y/N] needs help learning about who she is. [Y/N] feels drawn to Loki because of Tess's relationship. I haven't decided if I want them to end up in a relationship or not since both could be intriguing. But, yeah, that's what I've got so far!

ffwf

[nyjajene-blog]

Kara Walker

Nyja Holland  

Alysia Kaplan  

DSGN-100-F42  

10/8/22  

                                 Kara Walker, An Eye-Opening Artist

"The work is difficult because the history is hard. But don't you want to see it?"  (Walker and Haldemann Kara Walker: A Black Hole is everything a star longs to be: Drawings 1992-2020)

    Kara Walker was born in 1969 in Stockton, California, and studied in Atlanta and Rhode Island. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design, a Master's in Fine Arts at Atlanta College of Art, and awarded a MacArthur Fellowship when she was 28. She is primarily known for her unique take on silhouette cutouts; however, she is a truly diverse artist. She is not only a creator of silhouettes but of sculptures, paintings, books, essays, and films. One of her biggest influences was her father, Larry Walker, whose artistic style was visual art, more specifically collages.  It is from him that she obtained her passion and skillset for collages as well.  

One of her most famous and controversial artworks is titled "A Subtlety," which was exhibited from May 10th to July 6th of, 2014. It was a 70 ft long and 35 ft high "mammy sphinx" (Walker and Haldemann Kara Walker: A Black Hole is everything a star longs to be: Drawings 1992-2020). It was housed in an old Domino sugar refinery in Brooklyn. This exhibit was the last use of the refinery after it was torn down. The exhibit was in direct contrast to its title as it had no subtlety, instead, it was lurid, riveting, and attracted massive crowds. It was made of polystyrene foam that was coated in pure white cane sugar. Only wearing a handkerchief around her head, the mammy sphinx had highly exaggerated breasts and buttocks, with exposed genitalia, and was surrounded by 13 blackamoors (a name with an origin also rooted in racism and slavery used for art pieces depicting black people usually as slaves or servants). The blackamoors were made of molasses-covered resin, with some carrying baskets for collecting sugar cane. Kara wanted to convey that the very lucrative sugar cane industry was established by the gruesome exploitation of black slave labor.  They were unpaid and overworked Black men, women, and children who toiled away to be able to provide the white population with sugar at their tables. This art piece really gives a gut-wrenching feeling, imagining what it was like and how recent it was. It really is a powerful piece and one of my favorite pieces by Kara Walker.

The most common art style Kara Walker does is her version of Silhouettes. They are wall-sized, black in color and usually placed on a white background. They can have anywhere from 1 to over 20 figures creating a scene. The black silhouettes really speak to me, "The "blackness" is only visible in and against the "whiteness" of its containing ground" (Walker and Berry Kara Walker: Narratives of a negress).  I was so used to seeing silhouettes used for simple outlines of a person (usually white) that I did not even connect the fact that her art was considered the same type of silhouette used for these human portraits. They are so vastly different and yet brilliantly detailed that to call them silhouettes is too simplistic.  

Kara Walker is an artist that is not like any I have seen. She is a complex and a deeply controversial artist, whose works have multiple layers of meaning to them; she is diverse in her art as well, using different mediums and styles to convey varying messages. These messages all lead back to one thing: The African American experience and struggle. She focuses more on slavery than modern struggle, which is just as important. She is exceptionally raw and refuses to sugarcoat things; she wants you to be uncomfortable because you should be, especially about the silenced history of America’s journey to global economic success. This, of course, can be perceived as highly controversial, but I feel you will always be considered controversial when speaking against racism. Some pills are just hard to swallow.

Works Cited  

Brophy. "The Stickiness of Instagram: Digital Labor and Post slavery Legacies in Kara Walker's 'a Subtlety.'" Cultural Critique, vol. 105, 2019, p. 1., https://doi.org/10.5749/culturalcritique.105.2019.0001.

Haldemann, Anita, et al. Kara Walker: A Black Hole is Everything a Star Longs to be : Drawings 1992-2020. JRP Editions, Geneva, 2020.  

Walker, Kara E., et al. Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress. Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY;Cambridge, Mass;, 2003.

Walker, Kara E., Friedhelm Hütte, and Deutsche Bank (1957- ). Kara Walker. Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main, 2002.

Walker, Kara E., et al. The Ecstasy of St. Kara. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2016.  

[reviews-by-shelby]

Inside Cat by Brendan Wenzel

              Inside Cat by Brendan Wenzel was chosen for the 2022 2x2 reading list. It follows Inside Cat, who is exactly as it sounds: a cat who stays inside. As it wanders through its home, Inside Cat sees the outside world through an assortment of windows. It thinks it has the outside world figured out, but the cat soon realizes that the world is much bigger than it originally thought.

              I found this book when I looked on the official 2x2 reading list on the Texas Library Association website. I thought the book looked really cute since I love anything that has to do with cats. I have an inside cat of my own, so that played a big factor into adding this book to my list. I also thought this book seemed humorous just by looking at a few sneak peeks of the illustrations online.

              First and foremost, the illustrations of this book are what really made me enjoy this fun story. The colors were the first thing I noticed. Inside Cat’s world in the house is seen in whites and greys while the outside world is in color. This represented the cat’s wonder about the things outside that they were only able to experience while looking through the windows. The reader’s eyes are instantly drawn to the things going on outside because of the colors, which gives us a little insight into the thoughts of Inside Cat. When the cat is thinking about things outside, their thoughts are also seen in color, just like the things out the windows.

              The lines of each illustrations are also distinct. The inside furniture is created in various sized lines that are just dark enough for the reader to make out what they are against the white backdrop. Inside Cat itself is created using messy scribbles of brown, black, and tan. There is a slight outline of the shape of the cat, but then the inside is filled with the messy strokes, which make it easy to find Inside Cat on each page.

              My favorite thing about this book was how the illustrations showed Inside Cat’s different viewpoints about the outside world, which were usually far from the truth. A lot of them were not explained in the writing, so the reader will have to study the illustrations to find out this information. One example of Inside Cat’s wrong perceptions of the outside was how it thought snow fell outside. One page shows the cat observing salt falling from an overturned saltshaker, so later on in the book when there is snow falling outside, Inside Cat thinks the snow is coming from a large saltshaker. Wenzel really added a lot of fun details to his illustrations that will be engaging for young readers to try and find.

              This is one of my favorite books that I read for this project, which surprised me because the concept of the story is so simple. I think this book is a great example of the power great illustrations can have. This is a perfect choice for younger readers to pick up. I give this book five out of five stars.

Wenzel, B. (2021, October 12). Inside Cat. Chronicle Books.

[bummie]

00 | 進撃の巨人 | ATTACK ON TITAN !

18+ | suitable for work.

( g.neutral reader )

levi’s december: day one — sweet tea.

content warnings: kissing, fluff.

synopsis: to think that humanity’s strongest soldier could be so.. sweet.

love note: day one of my ‘levi’s december’ series where i write a lil somethin’ about levi every day until his birthday! hope you enjoy <3

the sound of raindrops beating softly on the rooftop echoed throughout the dimly-lit room. every now and again, the sky rumbled lowly, creating a soft symphony that subdued the silence between the two of you. it was comfortable. peaceful.

weeks worth of dirt and other debris rinsed smoothly down the sides of buildings, splashing and jumping around on the cracked brick below. the rain gave off that familiar damp, organic scent of petrichor. the earthy-smell of soaked wood — combined with the former — soothed your nostrils.

your body lay sprawled out across levi’s bed, calves dangling off the side. the pure-cotton sheets were extremely soft, and well knit. no doubt they were crafted by experienced hands.

there was no sign of wear — it was as if they’d never even been used. the mattress pressed firmly against your back as your weight all but sank into it. there wasn’t even a small divot where one would usually lay. you knew levi didn’t sleep much, but when he did, it clearly wasn’t in his bed.

levi’s chair was a different story, however. the cushioned seat was pretty much perfectly fitted to the shape of his bottom-half. it was kinda funny seeing the outline of his butt indented into the chair, but you’d never say anything. it’s something only you and hange have the privilege of seeing, and you planned on keeping it that way.

thick, humid air seeped in through the poorly sealed window, cooling the room down, while also making it heavier. it sent a wave of goosebumps over your body, not phasing your wandering mind in the slightest, however. your eyes were trained on the ceiling, absentmindedly tracing the patterns engraved into the large slabs of wood above you. each intake of breath you took was silenced by the rain beating on the roof just above it. not that you were loud — quite the contrary.

levi sat peacefully at his desk, attentively flipping through stacks of letters and documents. the tea you had prepared for him minutes before let off a consistent stream of steam that danced beautifully as it battled with the cold air surrounding it. it was putting up a good and graceful fight.

you turned your attention toward his desk, watching as his fingers periodically rested gently on the rim of his porcelain cup, settling there until he lifted it to his reddened lips. the heat of the brew stung the delicate, plush flesh, resulting in the attractive color.

his eyes were low, as usual. fixated on the detailed sentences of each page, studying every word, re-reading it over and over just to make sure he hadn’t mistaken any information. he was thorough.

hange tended to lessen his load of paper work, knowing all too well how much levi struggled with reading and writing. he would turn the page every few minutes or so, gaze gliding across each sentence, again and again.

it was clear that he was struggling with whatever he was currently focused on, but you didn’t want to interfere unless he asked. eventually, he’d get frustrated by it, and only then would you step in. he seemed to be doing just fine for now, so, once again, you turned your attention to the ceiling.

it was sparkling now, the light of the lamps reflecting on the droplets of moisture hanging from it. shining like stars you’d never get to see so up-close.

you hadn’t realized how heavy your eye lids were becoming until they were actively opposing your own urge to keep them open. it was short-lived, however, as you decided to let them rest. only for a short while, of course.

“dozing off already?” your heart jumped as you were awoken, rolling your gaze toward levi’s chair, where you met his eyes. his damp hair hung messily over his forehead, a few strands clinging to his skin.

you couldn’t help but get trapped in them, mesmerized by the contrast of his dark hair and blue eyes. the lamp’s flickering gleam shone in them just as they’d done in favor of the stars, emulating that same dreaminess and peace within him.

he’s so perfect.

“the rain is making me tired.” you smiled, amused by your own words, stretching as you spoke. “it’s early. are you sure you can’t stay up a little longer?” you took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “don’t think i can.”

for a second, a flash of disappointment formed in his expression as he shuffled in his chair, breaking eye contact for only a short time. “why don’t you make yourself a cup of tea?” he asked, getting a little bit antsy at the thought of not having your company. “there’re no more tea leaves left.” he turned his head back toward his hand, gripping the rim of the warm tea cup again, only to turn, making a silent offer to you.

and you accepted.

levi’s eyes followed you as you made your way over to him, tenderly receiving the cup into your own hands. the heat of the tea warmed the tips of your cold fingers, the bitter smell making you uneasy about drinking it. you liked sweet things.

“i’ve never had black tea. ‘m not really fond of bitter flavors.” you stated, embracing the warmth of the cup.

a small pout formed on his lips, brows furrowing as a mask to cover it. it was barely visible, in fact, but you could see it. you mirrored his expression, pushing your bottom lip out into a pout. “aw, don’t do that..” you say, lightly tapping the underside of his chin with the knuckle of your pointer finger. the small gesture elicited an unexpected heat to prick at his cheeks. to his luck, you didn’t notice the pink tint.

er, at least, you pretended not to.

“you could at least taste it first.” he said, forcing an attitude, unable to calm his excited heart. your gaze snapped toward his, causing him to stiffen.

you placed the smooth china on the wooden desk, the quiet thumps it made as it was set slipped into your subconscious.

steadying your body with your arm on the seat of his chair beside his thigh, you loomed over his figure. your eyes flicked all over his body, trying to read his every movement, every feeling. he leaned his back into the seat, pressing his legs together.

with your finger, you angled his chin up to meet your lips. it was a quick movement that caught levi by surprise.

his lips were hot to the touch, probably because of the tea, shocking the nerves of your own. he didn’t reciprocate it, as he had no clue what was going on. he was stunned, unable to process your sudden closeness.

you were actually pretty shocked yourself. his eyes were wide, lips parted. may as well have been the most he’s ever used his facial muscles.

levi’s heart was beating out of his chest, nervous you could hear it pounding against his ribcage. he calmed down after a few seconds, and though he was still a bit wary, he didn’t pull away as you leaned in for the second time.

your breath felt feather light on his damp lips, and he wasn’t even sure if it was real or a feint of his imagination. you paused, waiting for his approval. his fists gripped tightly around the arm rests of his chair, the color returning to his knuckles as he loosened up a bit. levi’s eyes were darting between your eyes and your lips as he prepared for you to do it again.

and you obliged.

he angled his chin upward, this time of his own accord. though his breathing was shaky, his nerves were attempting to settle themselves down from the sudden rush of adrenaline.

and again, this time more gently, you pressed your lips to his. he made a little sound as you did so, squeezing his eyes shut, and indulging in the warmth of you. though, most of the heat was caused by the excitement of the intimacy.

it took a second, but levi imitated your movements, hesitantly reciprocating the kiss. you could feel his nervousness as his lip quivered against yours. the bitter taste of the tea was accompanied by an unexpected sweetness as you pulled away.

standing up straight, turning toward the cup of tea, you brought the liquid to your lips, taking a small sip. you were shocked to find that it was completely bitter. your eyebrows furrowed, “it’s not as sweet as you, but i guess it’ll have to do.”

“a..are you doing that on purpose, brat?” levi asked, putting on an angry expression to try and mask the fire burning at his cheeks. a snide smile spread across your lips as you let out an amused chuckle. “doing what on purpose?” the room was silent for a moment before he huffed and looked away. “you’re annoying.. you know what i’m talking about..”

setting the tea back down, you resumed your previous position. again, moving in closer to his face. “what?” you leaned in a bit closer, watching as he averted from your intense gaze. “this?” your tone lowered at the last word, yet it remained soft.

your lips ghosted his. “y-yes..” his voice was hushed as he met your eyes once more, anticipating your next move. it was almost as if he wanted it more than you did, but didn’t have to guts. he was so caught up in what you were gonna do, that he subconsciously leaned in — just a bit.

happily accepting, you felt your heart flutter for the nth time tonight.

levi’s sudden neediness was so adorable. it was honestly hard to believe that he was not only comfortable with this big step forward, but he was asking for it. it was heartwarming to know he truly does trust you, and that trust is attractive.

he really does love you.

without any more hesitation, your lips gently met his, molding to eachother’s shape, consumed in the warmth of eachother, completely engulfed in the feeling of not being alone. finally, he had someone that he knew would be by his side forever.

you. you were gonna be his.. forever.

so this is humanity’s strongest, huh? he’s so.. cute.

[nolpat0]

love isn't enough | s. crosby

summary: they've decided to take a break to reevaluate their relationship but when she finally returns his text, things have changed

wc: 1,633

warnings: lots of angst ofc

The rough pad of Sidney's thumb brushes over the soft, smooth skin of her calf, a distracted, subconscious habit of affection he developed over the years he's known her. His coffee-hued eyes watch the flickering images of the daily news play across the large-screened TV, a crease forming between his dark brows as he drinks in the information humming in the background. Subconsciously, the flat of his palm presses harder into the unblemished flesh of her legs, prompting her watchful gaze to linger on his illuminated side profile in silent question. He's lost in the depths of his thoughts; his mind rolling around a specific worry. She wonders in hidden curiosity what's prompted the far-away look etched onto his strong features, and what it might be.

"Sidney?" she calls softly, her tone dulcet and calming, the edge of her fingers cascading over the broad flat of his shoulders, catching his attention.

His cinnamon-colored eyes burn into hers with a strange intensity that she's unused to. The edges of her chapped lips twitch as her mind snags on the intensity burning in his irises and what it means. Sidney's pink lips part, as if he's trying to form the words on his tongue and actually breath them to life. She can sense the wheels turning behind the gleam of his eyes, and it sets her nerves on edge, the soft material of his shirt sliding against her thighs as she props herself up, as if physically preparing for whatever he's about to confess.

"Is this it?" he breathes the words out slowly as if testing the way the syllables battle against the hum of the forgotten TV. The taught muscles of her shoulders drop in relaxation as her delicate, sleepy features twitch in a flicker of confusion.

"Is what it?" Sidney watches with a heavy expression as the edges of her lips curl into a confused, genuine smile that she usually gives him whenever his low, heavy-accented mumbles reach her.

Swallowing the sudden lump formed in his throat, Sidney steels himself, the tightening flicker in his strong jaw sending a new wave of apprehension through her tensed, upright body. The soft tips of her fingers fall from the thick material of his gray t-shirt and he feels the absence of her warmth-filled touch like an ache that's settled into the marrow of his bones. But he forces the sharp-edged words from his tight throat.

"Us. Are we gonna pretend that something isn't wrong here?" as soon as the words hit the air, Sidney knows they sound wrong; a cruel twist to the intended soft lilt of guilt. He's trying to plead with her, beg her to understand they want different things and the divergence is increasingly clear in every one of their late, star-lit, wine-fueled conversations. Sidney wants her to understand what he's saying, but the syllables rearranged themselves, sketching him the antagonist. The shock and waver of her easy expression rip through the soft tissue of his heart and burrows deep.

"I can't pretend if I don't know what's wrong, Sidney."

Her words are soft, a raw tenderness that almost has him flinching back, knowing he doesn't deserve the helpless look smoothing over her features or her permissive tone. She's giving him a chance to go back and restart his confession.

So he slides his hands against the smooth skin of her thighs, rough palms brushing against the worn fabric of his t-shirt that's draped over her figure until the curve of his fingers fits over hers. His dark eyes bore into hers, the quiver of his brows telling her how much he's hating the conversation.

"We want different things," he says firmly, his full lips drawn in a tight line. "Eventually," a whisper of a loose breath through teeth as he pulls together every loose, weakened string of himself and yanking them together so he can give her the graciousness of a soft, mutual goodbye. ".. we would've grown apart. Maybe we just need to step back and evaluate what we want in life outside of each other, and then see if we can do those things together."

She takes in the serious, unrelenting tone of his firmly confident words, and understands this is what he must've whispered to himself over and over, selecting and choosing words to hand to her; to let her down easy. Before she gives in to the request, she allows her silver-lined eyes to drink in the curve of his full lips, the gleam of his caramel-hued eyes, the unruly angles of his midnight locks, and the sharp lines of his strong features. She quietly places each memorization in a specific category in her mind; saving the last, unblemished memory of her Sidney.

"Do you want that, Sidney?"

Another sharp whistle of his breath sounds as his chest contracts painfully, the arrow of her permissiveness twisting deeper, searing apart nerves and blood vessels. It's a necessary wound- for survival- but he wonders if it'll scar permanently and leave a sour taste between his molars and tongue. But he hates the ceaseless, aching feeling, the sorrowfully understanding look she's wearing, and the fact he has to do this.

"It'll only be a step back," he quickly assures, fingers tightening against the joints of hers, suddenly fearful that he won't know how to sleep between the cold sheets without the press of her cheek against his bare chest or her scent lingering in the gray bedding. Or that he'll find himself lost in the rows of the grocery store without the messy scrawl of her hand on brightly colored sticky notes clasped in his fist. The breath in his lungs is stolen at the future now clearly outlined; devoid of her silvery laughter and the wink of her smiling eyes.

"Step back?" she retracts slowly, the bones of her fingers sliding from his as she physically recoils at the words, brow creased in concern. "What does that even mean, Sid?"

"Just a few weeks- not even," his words curl into a panicked octave of heartache, the tips of his lashes beaded with unshed, salty tears.

"Weeks?"

Sidney hears the hopelessness laced in her disbelieving tone, and his breath hitches, now returned with a bruising weight as he feels the situation spin wildly out of his control. He watches the emotions flit across her face, the understanding ruining the last ruins of composure she has, releasing the tears she's fighting in minuscule rivers down her flushed cheeks.

"If you think it's best," she whispers, the subdued decibels yanking savagely at the carefully replaced strings of himself, threatening to break. Her silver-lined eyes slide to meet his, hardened and determined. "Maybe it'll be good."

Sidney nods quickly, his thumbs returning to their habitual place on the tops of her thighs, a comforting motion that they understand is a final goodbye. His soft lips press against the crown of her head, a proclamation of his love whispered in her hair, too quiet for her ears to pick up as he pulls away.

"Two weeks, okay?" he promises, the gravel lilt to his voice tenderly soft.

"Two weeks."

———

The unforgivingly promised timeline of their reunion expires sourly, the date pushed back in an anxiously guilty voicemail left on her phone in the early morning of the Sunday, explaining how even though Sidney detested the eerie silence that seeped into his apartment without her off-key humming, he needed to know she wasn't conforming to his futuristic dreams for the sake of not losing him. So she settled into the itchy, unfamiliar fabric of her couch, stretching out her legs, frowning at the absence of Sidney's fingertips, and packed her emotions in a flimsy cardboard box and hid it in the back of her closet in her mind, sending the dark-haired man a simple text allowing him his request and agreeing that maybe she did need to find out her own wishes.

———

He pressed the screen of his phone to the couch, red-rimmed eyes staring in an empty reverie at the blank screen, the familiar press of heartbreak on his sternum knotted his shoulders and ached in his rough palms. In these moments, he craved her presence; aching for her mid-night kisses against his temple when she woke up, or the scuff of her feet against the hard-wood as she moved down the hall, the tilt of her head as she sang along to the music she played when they cooked. In these moments, when he felt as if the very bones of his ribs were caving in and piercing his shattered heart, he wanted the press of her palm in his or the comfort of her words. But now, Sidney can't feel the warmth buzzing in his hands from her touch or the slide of her skin against his and he feels lost, disoriented without the steadiness of her unconditional love. He wonders what moment over the tedious course of two months was the one where he lost her.

His dark eyes flicker to the flipped-over phone laying on the couch's soft surface, the burn against his cornea's too much for him to fight, and he allows the salty flow of his tears to bring him to his knees. A shaky, broken breath surpasses his chapped lips as his lashes brush his cheek, guarding himself against the text of betrayal lingering on his phone. He tries to rid his mind of the memorized line of text, but the words cling to him, refusing to let him slip away from his misery.

You were right, Sidney. We don't want the same things, and sometimes, even love isn't enough.

Sidney desperately wished it wasn't true, and that they both ended up being right, but he couldn't run from the truth. Sometimes, love really wasn't enough.

[galateagalvanized]

@ahhrenata I accidentally deleted your ask (!) but here’s #28 for the touching prompts meme:

#28. Feeling for each other in the dark

Cody doesn’t do anything so unprofessional as ask are you sure, but he does hesitate—for a single precise second, just long enough for Obi-Wan to change his mind—before sending out the order.

“What will we lose first, do you think?” Obi-Wan asks next to him, as casually as if he were inquiring about the weather.

Cody can’t quite bring himself to comment with his usual wit.

“Everything, sir, at once,” he says, but he relents at Obi-Wan’s raised eyebrow. “Oh, fine. Unshielded solid state electronics will be a complete wipe. Pretty much everything in my bucket, and all but our short-range radios if we disconnect them prior to the pulse.”

“Hm, and the lights will go out too, I suppose,” Obi-Wan muses. Through the transparisteel of his helmet, he looks as if he’s debating whether or not to put the kettle on, not hanging from the broken wing of a ghost ship in the dark depths of uncharted space. Cody had always been amazed by his general’s ability to embody calm and level-headedness in even the direst of straits, but here, now, Cody can see the lie of it. In the flickering emergency landing lights of the broken warbird, Cody can see the sweat on his general’s forehead and the too-tight grip on the curling metal sheets they’re both hanging from.

All luck, even luck built through meticulous planning and exceptionalism, can eventually run out.

“Our air supply should be fine for a while,” Cody says, more quietly. “These suits have manual seals, and the rebreathers are chemical, not electronic.”

“You’re saying we’ve got a chance, hm?” Obi-Wan says. He’s found a grin somewhere just for Cody, and Cody nods.

And, just before he disconnects his radio, he adds, “We’ve always got a chance when you’re here, sir.”

The EMP hits a few minutes later.

Cody doesn’t feel a wave moving through his body so much as he feels the lurch of the ship underneath him and the choke of his suit as it collapses under the surge of differential voltages. His HUD crackles with blinding, bitter static before shutting off completely, and then there’s nothing. He breathes carefully in the darkness, focusing on the easy movement of air through his nose and down his throat, on the expansion and contraction of his lungs. He’d meant what he’d told Obi-Wan about the rebreathers, but it’s good to be right.

The inky black darkness is complete, as black as sin, as the night without stars. When Cody closes his eyes, his eyelids spark with little lights and colors as if trying to make up for the lack of stimulation.

He loosens his grip just a little on the broken wing in front of him, testing the feeling of the metal beneath his gloves. Somewhere on the other side of this hunk of metal is, theoretically, over a thousand droids. Somewhere behind him, the 501st is bringing their ship back out of safe range from the EMP and scanning every inch of the ghost ship for Obi-Wan and Cody. It’ll be a painstaking manual process even with infrared scanning, and all Cody and Obi-Wan can do is hope that more Separatist forces don’t show up in the meantime.

It is, as the 212th has taken to saying, a real Skywalker of a plan.

Cody reaches one hand back to the side of his helmet and spins the dial that manually reconnects his short range radio. It’s designed expressly for this purpose, for running on battery if the suit’s dead, but Cody panics when nothing comes through his helmet. After a second, and then two, he hears someone else’s breathing.

“Obi-Wan?” he asks into the darkness. He wouldn’t usually use Obi-Wan’s name over comms, but, in this exact instant, he can be sure no one else is listening.

The first thing he hears from his general is a curse.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, thank you,” Obi-Wan says with a sigh, and Cody’s heart settles back into place. “It’s just. Well, I’d hoped that my lightsaber might have survived, but the diatium power core must be fried. We are truly alone in the dark, Commander.”

There’s an undercurrent of throttled panic in his general’s voice that Cody’s never heard before. Perhaps Cody’s hearing is sharpened because his other senses are unoccupied, or perhaps there’s something more that Obi-Wan knows about the dark. Hanging here, blind and waiting, isn’t a comfortable situation by any means, and Cody might be praying if he were a praying man.

He isn’t; at least not to gods. Obi-Wan’s answered more prayers than any god ever could.

So he reaches, stretching through the darkness in Obi-Wan’s direction, and maybe it’s something a little like prayer that guides his hand. With his eyes closed, he almost thinks he can see the outline of his general, limned in glory and a sweetly molten kind of love, and he smiles when he finds a hand reaching back. He twists their fingers together, tight enough to bind the fabric of their space suits, tight enough to feel his pulse through the grip.

Over the radio, Obi-Wan sighs as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

“There’s a saying on Coruscant, you know,” he says, and Cody can’t help but grin. If Obi-Wan’s finding a teachable moment in a situation like this, they’re definitely going to be alright.

“What do they say?” Cody hums.

“They say that… they say love is different for everyone, that it’s a different road, with different lessons, for every combination. But that love, at its heart, is simply reaching out a hand in the darkness and knowing someone’s reaching back. And, even in the darkness, knowing you’re not alone.”

Cody doesn’t know anything about love, not really, but he knows Obi-Wan. And he has seen Obi-Wan’s darkness, and his solitude, and he has rarely seen Obi-Wan reaching out.

Not alone, Cody thinks. Not here, not now, not ever.

He swallows. This, too, will be a confession. “Obi-Wan. As long as you’re reaching for me, I’ll be reaching back for you.”

And they hang there, together in the darkness, until the bright white searchlights of the Resolute shine upon their joined hands.

.

.

.

—Neil Gaiman

Thank you so much for the prompt! Sorry it took so long; I had to do enough research on EMPs to put me on a government list hahaha