#(like a gradient from blue to white basically)

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

YOU'RE GREAT!!!!

You're right, I forgot that ask.

But it's even better to discover it now!

GORGEOUS! I LIKE THE HAIR, THE EYES, THE SHINE OF HER SKIN AND HOW THE VITILIGO LOOKS LIKE THE TEARS/STRINGS MARKS UNDER THE EYES

Thank you for this beautiful sight.

-anon

ANONNNN!!!!!

man i did not expect to see you so soon again :'D buddy how are you doing??

and waaa THANK YOU!!! your words mean a lot >:')c <333

[alfheimr]

My Favorite Cheap Art Trick: Gradient Maps and Blending Modes

i get questions on occasion regarding my coloring process, so i thought i would do a bit of a write up on my "secret technique." i don't think it really is that much of a secret, but i hope it can be helpful to someone. to that end:

this is one of my favorite tags ive ever gotten on my art. i think of it often. the pieces in question are all monochrome - sort of.

the left version is the final version, the right version is technically the original. in the final version, to me, the blues are pretty stark, while the greens and magentas are less so. there is some color theory thing going on here that i dont have a good cerebral understanding of and i wont pretend otherwise. i think i watched a youtube video on it once but it went in one ear and out the other. i just pick whatever colors look nicest based on whatever vibe im going for.

this one is more subtle, i think. can you tell the difference? there's nothing wrong with 100% greyscale art, but i like the depth that adding just a hint of color can bring.

i'll note that the examples i'll be using in this post all began as purely greyscale, but this is a process i use for just about every piece of art i make, including the full color ones. i'll use the recent mithrun art i made to demonstrate. additionally, i use clip studio paint, but the general concept should be transferable to other art programs.

for fun let's just start with Making The Picture. i've been thinking of making this writeup for a while and had it in mind while drawing this piece. beyond that, i didn't really have much of a plan for this outside of "mithrun looks down and hair goes woosh." i also really like all of the vertical lines in the canary uniform so i wanted to include those too but like. gone a little hog wild. that is the extent of my "concept." i do not remember why i had the thought of integrating a shattered mirror type of theme. i think i wanted to distract a bit from the awkward pose and cover it up some LOL but anyway. this lack of planning or thought will come into play later.

note 1: the textured marker brush i specifically use is the "bordered light marker" from daub. it is one of my favorite brushes in the history of forever and the daub mega brush pack is one of the best purchases ive ever made. highly recommend!!!

note 2: "what do you mean by exclusion and difference?" they are layer blending modes and not important to the overall lesson of this post but for transparency i wanted to say how i got these "effects." anyway!

with the background figured out, this is the point at which i generally merge all of my layers, duplicate said merged layer, and Then i begin experimenting with gradient maps. what are gradient maps?

the basic gist is that gradient maps replace the colors of an image based on their value.

so, with this particular gradient map, black will be replaced with that orangey red tone, white will be replaced with the seafoamy green tone, etc. this particular gradient map i'm using as an example is very bright and saturated, but the colors can be literally anything.

these two sets are the ones i use most. they can be downloaded for free here and here if you have csp. there are many gradient map sets out there. and you can make your own!

you can apply a gradient map directly onto a specific layer in csp by going to edit>tonal correction>gradient map. to apply one indirectly, you can use a correction layer through layer>new correction layer>gradient map. honestly, correction layers are probably the better way to go, because you can adjust your gradient map whenever you want after creating the layer, whereas if you directly apply a gradient map to a layer thats like. it. it's done. if you want to make changes to the applied gradient map, you have to undo it and then reapply it. i don't use correction layers because i am old and stuck in my ways, but it's good to know what your options are.

this is what a correction layer looks like. it sits on top and applies the gradient map to the layers underneath it, so you can also change the layers beneath however and whenever you want. you can adjust the gradient map by double clicking the layer. there are also correction layers for tone curves, brightness/contrast, etc. many such useful things in this program.

let's see how mithrun looks when we apply that first gradient map we looked at.

gadzooks. apologies for eyestrain. we have turned mithrun into a neon hellscape, which might work for some pieces, but not this one. we can fix that by changing the layer blending mode, aka this laundry list of words:

some of them are self explanatory, like darken and lighten, while some of them i genuinely don't understand how they are meant to work and couldn't explain them to you, even if i do use them. i'm sure someone out there has written out an explanation for each and every one of them, but i've learned primarily by clicking on them to see what they do.

for the topic of this post, the blending mode of interest is soft light. so let's take hotline miamithrun and change the layer blending mode to soft light.

here it is at 100% opacity. this is the point at which i'd like to explain why i like using textured brushes so much - it makes it very easy to get subtle color variation when i use this Secret Technique. look at the striation in the upper right background! so tasty. however, to me, these colors are still a bit "much." so let's lower the opacity.

i think thats a lot nicer to look at, personally, but i dont really like these colors together. how about we try some other ones?

i like both of these a lot more. the palettes give the piece different vibes, at which point i have to ask myself: What Are The Vibes, Actually? well, to be honest i didn't really have a great answer because again, i didn't plan this out very much at all. however. i knew in my heart that there was too much color contrast going on and it was detracting from the two other contrasts in here: the light and dark values and the sharp and soft shapes. i wanted mithrun's head to be the main focal point. for a different illustration, colors like this might work great, but this is not that hypothetical illustration, so let's bring the opacity down again.

yippee!! that's getting closer to what my heart wants. for fun, let's see what this looks like if we change the blending mode to color.

i do like how these look but in the end they do not align with my heart. oh well. fun to experiment with though! good to keep in mind for a different piece, maybe! i often change blending modes just to see what happens, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. i very much cannot stress enough that much of my artistic process is clicking buttons i only sort of understand. for fun.

i ended up choosing the gradient map on the right because i liked that it was close to the actual canary uniform colors (sorta). it's at an even lower opacity though because there was Still too much color for my dear heart.

the actual process for this looks like me setting my merged layer to soft light at around 20% opacity and then clicking every single gradient map in my collection and seeing which one Works. sometimes i will do this multiple times and have multiple soft light and/or color layers combined.

typically at this point i merge everything again and do minor contrast adjustments using tone curves, which is another tool i find very fun to play around with. then for this piece in particular i did some finishing touches and decided that the white border was distracting so i cropped it. and then it's done!!! yay!!!!!

this process is a very simple and "fast" way to add more depth and visual interest to a piece without being overbearing. well, it's fast if you aren't indecisive like me, or if you are better at planning.

let's do another comparison. personally i feel that the hint of color on the left version makes mithrun look just a bit more unwell (this is a positive thing) and it makes the contrast on his arm a lot more pleasing to look at. someone who understands color theory better than i do might have more to say on the specifics, but that's honestly all i got.

just dont look at my layers too hard. ok?

[userpeggycarter]

hi! someone requested me to do a tutorial based on this gifset!

this tutorial requires an intermediate knowledge of gifmaking. i won’t teach you how to do gifs from scratch, there are other tutorials for that out there.

[tutorial under the cut]

THE BASICS

AN INTRODUCTION

first off, the gifset in question is based on this gifset by @/eddiediaaz and i got permission from them to explain the process. i won’t be sharing the template because it’s a near replica of theirs (that isn’t shared to the public) and i don’t feel comfortable doing so, but you can recreate it by yourself just like i did!

also, ESL, so please pardon any mistakes.

THE FONT

Circular ST (Medium & Black). download it here & here.

CLIPPING MASKS

clipping masks are the way i put images and gifs inside of shapes. i used that method in the first and second gif of the Spotify gifset as you can see here. what does a clipping mask do? basically, it links two or more layers together in a way it follows the “shape” of your base layer. ie, everything that is shown follows the “shape” of your main layer and nothing more. your base layer can be anything: a shape, an image, a gif, a text, an adjustment layer, really everything. let’s see an example:

CLIPPING MASKS & SHAPES

the original image (Gun 'n' Roses logo) is intact, as in, it’s not cut like a circle, something that cannot be undone. instead, everything outside the limits of the blue circle is just hidden. if i delete the base layer (the circle layer), the original image will appear as it originally is, as an rectangle. talking about layers, let’s see my layers panel (some things are in Portuguese, but i think you can understand):

notice the little arrow pointing downwards to the “circle” layer. that is the clipping mask symbol. the base layer always needs to be below what is being clipped. if the base layer is deleted, the chain is broken and every layer clipped will now act independently and have its original shape. you can have as many clipped layers as you want. you can also have multiple chains going on in a .psd, each one with its own base layer. to clip a layer, you just need to press ctrl+alt+G or cmd+option+G while having the layer you want to clip selected (NOT your base layer). or, you can go to LAYER > CREATE CLIPPING MASK.

CLIPPING MASKS & TEXT

let’s see the same example, but with text instead:

A TIP

because adjustment layers are clippable, you can completely gif by using clipping masks. this is very useful when you have more than one gif inside a canvas and don’t want an adjustment layer to affect everything besides a certain layer/element.

let’s take my first gif of the Spotify gifset as an example.

the circle is the base layer. the “Carol smiling” layer is my gif converted to a smart filter. above that “Carol smiling” layer, there is a black and white gradient map and two color fills of white so i can achieve the coloring you see. all those layers are clipping onto the circle layer, making my now b&w gif have the shape of a small circle as well. those layers are in a folder in the .psd of my first gif, so i don’t have multiple files sitting on my PC to assemble just one gif. i could have giffed that small gif separately and pasted it onto my canvas as well, but i like to do this way so i can adjust everything i want in real time instead of redoing a gif over and over every time i want to change something.

HOW TO MAKE EACH GIF

all gifs are 540x540px.

THE FIRST GIF

the first gif has 6 elements. the elements are: a big gif serving as a background (a close-up of Carol), a smaller gif inside a circle (a b&w gif of Carol smiling) as a profile picture and four static images for the featured artists. i giffed as i normally do (loaded screencaps, resized the gif, sharpened the gif, etc) for my background gif. to achieve the coloring, i’ve added a gradient map (layer > new adjustment layer > gradient map) purple to pink. to the profile picture, i made a 160x160px circle in the top left corner. the color of it doesn’t matter. the next step is a matter of taste: i giffed the smaller gif in the same .psd thanks to clipping masks that i explained earlier, but you can do it in a separate canvas too. for the featured artists, i made four circles with 98x98px each. for the images, i had to check Spotify for their selected PFPs. after that, i googled “[band/artist] spotify” to find the images. the PFP of bands and artists in the Spotify app are displayed in black and white, so you might have to make them b&w if you happen to find them only in color. to make the artists PFPs pop a bit more, i transformed them into smart filters and added a bit of sharpening to them (intensity 10 x radius 10). you can adjust the colors and the brightness if you want, too. the sizes of the texts in the gif are: 58px (username), 20px (top artists of the month), 15px (name of the artists), 12px (only visible to you + show all + profile) and 11px (following and follower numbers).

SECOND GIF

for the chart, i created a black rectangle (490x308px) that i set its blending mode to lighten (thus making it transparent) and i added an internal white stroke. i added the text and the little squares next to the top 6 numbers. the font sizes are: 17px (top tracks this month), 11px (only visible to you), 14px (song title, show all, top 6 numbers), 13px (artist/band, album title, length of the song). i added the album covers — that i made b&w — by clipping images onto 32x32px squares. for the coloring, i added a gradient map (dark purple > light purple).

THIRD GIF

there are three types of playlists in this gif: a Spotify original playlist, a playlist made by a user and a Mix. you don’t have to follow this formula if you don’t want to, but in the case you do, here’s how i did it: browse Spotify for an original playlist of theirs. chances are, if you google the playlist’s name, you can find its cover on Google Images. at least, i found the “All Out 80s” cover that i used in my gifset. you can also create your own. for the user playlist, just pick four songs and find their (album) covers, also on Google. create a square canvas on Photoshop and make four squares, each in one quadrant of the canvas. paste your images onto your canvas and clip the images to each square. then, add a gradient map (black + whatever color you want) to all those images and title your playlist (font size: ). save that collage as a PNG and load to your gif canvas or merge all the layers+transform into a smart filter and drag the smart filter layer onto your gif canvas. now, the trickiest one. while you can invent your own Mix, i wanted to use a real one, but i had no idea on how to find them. thanks to reddit, i discovered that, if you search “made for you” on Spotify, you will find their Mixes! some of them are very whacky and specific! i just picked the Mix that made the most sense for Carol from that (gigantic) list. before doing the next step, i would advise you to google the name of the Mix you picked to see if you are able to find the cover of it with good quality. i wasn’t able to find mine (Karaoke  Mix), so i just screenshotted my Spotify app, pasted that screenshot into Photoshop and cut the Mix cover and pasted that onto my canvas. the quality wasn’t great, so i transformed the cover into a smart filter, added a bit of gaussian blur and then sharpened it (intensity 10 x radius 10). the color wasn’t what i wanted either, so i used Hue/Saturation to change the hue. because the original image for the Mix was smaller than i wanted and i stretched it to make it bigger, the quality of the text and the Spotify logo was botched. i painted over the Mix cover and created a text with the font i linked earlier to replace its now pixelated title. i also painted over the little Spotify logo, found a logo in the internet and pasted over the Mix cover about the same size of the original logo. to achieve the “3D effect” of the gif, i made my b&w gif, the base. then, i duplicated all layers and added a gradient map (black > pink) and merged all the layers of that duplicate. i made a second replica of my gif, now with a different gradient map (black > blue). i set both replicas to the ligthen blending mode. you will notice that the replicas will "disappear" and only the original b&w gif will remain. if you move the replicas a bit, that colored border will appear. this doesn't work much in very bright gifs without a lot of dark areas, btw.

FOURTH GIF

this gif used an altered (by me) version of this template. (i changed the fonts to match the rest of the gifset, too.) for the color text effect, you will have to gif with the timeline bar. take your gif’s length and do the math to find how many frames are ⅓ of it. take your lyrics’ layer and cut it into three equal parts or close to it by using the scissors icon in the timeline panel. in each third, change the color of just one line, line by line. when you play your gif, the colors of the lyrics will change like in Karaoke. you can do the same thing with frames iirc, though. i explained the timeline method because that’s the one i used in this gifset and use in general gif making. for the coloring, i added a gradient map. to make the colors pop a bit more, i add two gradient maps: the first one is in black and white, the other is in color. that adds depth to the blacks and darker colors of the gif.

FIFTH GIF

like in the Top Playlists gif, i wanted for my Daylist to be real as well. to achieve that, i listened to my Carol Danvers companion playlist (that you can listen here) for a long time until my Daylist refreshed itself. (Daylists refresh in certain times of the day — don't worry, Spotify will tell you when.) then, i just copied what it told me — the title and the genres i listened to generate such a Daylist, plus the genres i should check it out. you can invent your own Daylist if you want, but because it is generated by AI, i find very difficult to mimic its crazy titles, but you can try! you can also search in the web for other people’s Daylists if you want, but usually people don’t tell you what they listened to to get those playlists and nor what was recommended for them to listen to and i, at least, find that information important for the gifset. be aware that Daylists aren't available for every country yet (like in mine), but i found a way to work around that. the browser Opera GX offers a free "VPN" — not exactly a VPN, but it works close enough — so you can set your location to the US and listen to in-browser Spotify. i recommend not log into Tumblr while using Opera's VPN as there is a myth (that could easily be true!) that Tumblr terminates people's accounts that use a VPN. font sizes: 43px (daylist title), 13px (text), 12px ("daylist" & "made for"). for the flare effect, i searched for flare overlays on YouTube and downloaded one of those videos with 4K Video Downloader, a free software. i loaded the overlay into Photoshop and added a gradient map (purple > pink) over it, thus changing its color. i pasted the overlay onto my b&w gif and set its blending mode to screen. voila!

that's it! i hope you liked it and that i was able to express myself well. if you have any questions, feel free to contact me, i love helping people about their gifmaking questions! 💖

[candyje11yfish]

ty! \(^_^)/ feelin good so ill try answer in detail for ya!!!! 

most of the time i just do basic cell shading. here ill explain my rendering process after i choose my base colours, ill try keep it short & sweet!! nvm warning buckle up its really super long.

flat colours -> fully shaded!!

⭐️Picking shading colours!

usually it's just the base colour with +saturation OR a hue shift! i dont really lower brightness.

This is what i mean by HSB, i never use the colour wheel i prefer the sliders!!!

i like my art to look super colourful so i do things like shading pink with blue instead of with a darker pink or red, as shown in the above callie piece.

examples ft lumity:

skin: i always keep it very simple & cartoony! over the nose, below the eyes, the neck & sometimes the tips of the ears is where i'll put shading

hair: as u can See, it's not darker than the base colour at all!! for dark hair like luz's, i brighten & saturate the colour, and for light hair like amity's i just shift the hue a little!

⭐️more kewl tips:

colourpick from yourself!!!! instead of making a new colour for everything, try using a colour u already have down!!!! like below: by limiting my colour palette, it looks more harmonious

really messy image but i hope u get what i mean. also the "off white / black" thing is a separate choosing base colours thing!! i can expand on that if anyone's interested 😙

shove halftones in wherever they fit. here are the 2 pngs i use!! there a rlly good alt to gradients, i used a LOT of them in that callie piece!!! clipping mask over where u want it & alpha lock to change colour.

⭐️here's a WHERE i put the shading:

look st the environment ur guy is in!! pick where your light source is coming from & look where that light will hit and where it is blocked by something.

bounce light: the sun's light is also shining on the grass! so powerful the green reflects right back!

this is kinda more realistic lighting now.

i kinda just put a circle wherever theres a corner!

and i put that Beautiful Shape a lot wherever. i change it a little depending on the character, sometimes its triangular or squarey but thats the base shape! i dont even know what its called but i love it.

look at this hello weird shape guy!!!

actually, my grandfest art are probably some of the most detailed art i have! u can see urself where i put shading & stuff - they do have more desaturated colour palettes though:

& here are some additional examples ^_^ flat colour -> shaded -> multiply layer -> lighting

in this one u can see the hand & leg at the back are completely in shadow too :)

anyway i think that's kinda it? i dont really know how to explain it, i just do what feels & looks right to me??? remember that im Not an expert & this is just how i do things :)

i will always repeat my no1 tips tho: keep drawing!!! and copy ur fave artists!!!!!! it really will hell u find what u like!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope this post helps a little & answers ur question😇 never be shy to ask me anything cuz i love answering & chattin w u guys!!!!

EDIT: just saying these arent set rules or anything!!!! u can see just how many times i Dont follow my own advice LOL. my artstyle is super inconsistent, i rarely draw things the same every time

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

cumulus / nephos / “cloud” / ☁️

[plain text: cumulus / nephos / “cloud” / ☁️ cloud emoji]

[id: pastel fem looking person in pastel manual wheelchair looking down to slug in lap. there also slug on head n slug slide down skirt (don’t ask how). (all color pastel). person hair pink bangs, purple side hair, & blue low loose pigtails go below hips. purple eyes & medium-light ish skin. wearing bright turquoise ish color shirt collar with pink ruffles, & white shirt body with blue ruffles decorate, n green long sleeve cardigan over it also with ruffles. rainbow midi above knee skirt with white ruffles overflow from side of wheelchair. wear mismatch stockings, person’s left side rainbow stripes, n person right side turquoise blue with clouds on it. person not wearing shoes.

their wheelchair has yellow headrest, teal stroller push handle, green contoured backrest with supportive panels on two side lateral, teal to blue transition arm rest, orange big wheels with rainbow windmill candy swirl as cover & red push rim. frame is turquoise blue gradient to pink, has dump/slant, with yellow slug on one side’s turning point. purple fat caster wheels. attach to backrest is big white angel wings, & above arm rest has glowing yellow halo. their AAC device floating by them, has turquoise blue case with white cloud patterns. is saying “slug” icon. border of art lined with rainbow gradient lace. end id]

☁️.

(otherwise known as hate names terrible at decision)

VERY pastel n rainbow overload >:)

they level 3 autistic (“requiring very substantial support”) with high support needs—meaning they cannot independently do most adaptive functioning skills, needing other people physical help to do/do for them. they also need 24/7 supervision & physical help for all iADLs & bADLs.

they nonverbal & use AAC full time. their AAC is symbol based speech generating device.

their (most likely [<haven’t decided] partner who act as their) disability caretaker is hyacinthos shinya🪻🌌.

they also full time non-ambulatory wheelchair user with very specific posture & seating positioning needs so not out of it for long or really much at all.

angel wing on back of wheelchair is power assist! is magically powered by hyacinthos (who angel) & can be powered even remotely / far away. way control wheelchair & power assist part by intuitive / hand motions & gestures / etc, part by halo hover above armrest that act as joystick. can use it like traditional joystick or wear as bracelet n control that way! (gimme it i want one) (if you recognize this setting it may be because previous version)

they do mix of self propel, power assist, & caregiver push. their wheelchair have stroller style push handle instead traditional push handle for easier caregiver push, especially one handed.

is set in magical world & they do some magic (< haven’t decided]!

character not slug obsessed, artist the slug obsessed one

character sheet below cut!!

artfight character profile (VERY wip)

please do feel free draw them (with credit) n tag me!!!!!!

reblog welcome but please don’t repost

will fight you if debate about autism levels & support needs

.

hi under cut

[character sheet. functionally described below]

top left is full character clothing (with wheelchair translucent in background) because in original there some key parts blocked by wheelchair especially arm rest.

skirt around waist have purple band with blue small ruffles. center have rainbow bow with rainbow star on top.

n also have front n back of AAC device. what drawn here is 5x7 grid with various colored squares showing different parts of speech but grid size more so because like. is how much could fit comfortably. so even when redraw n isn’t exact 5x7 with colors exactly right where is right now, is okay. colors & where they are based on own AAC device >:) because of course

design of aac device case basically same as above. back side just have bigger clouds. oh also device has handles. tho it float around so handles get used less. float around so don’t have worry about how to carry it how to mount on wheelchair etc etc etc it follows you it automatic come to your hand when you wanna say something (kinda also acting as prompting bc sometimes think about say something but don’t actually say in device) it get out way when you don’t want it. if only like this irl lol

bottom left is info about character already said

bottom right is wheelchair design

parts covered up by person: rainbow gradient side guard, blue contoured cushion.

n also drawing of back of backrest: when not in use, wings power assist shrink to small decoration on back. not big there all time.

also have stickers! sticker of nessie, banana slug, sheep, cloud, star, rainbow, & an AAC symbol of “AAC”

wheelchair may also have magical tilt & recline & elevate. how? don’t know!!! why not just make full powerchair? uhhhh like manual chair look better

n picture of irl windmill candy

border of art also rainbow gradient lace.

yea that all please draw them 🥲

praise me put lots work into them

pls be nice to them

[dreemurr-skelememer]

May I ask on how you choose your colors when you color your art pieces? It is so pretty to look at the colors of your art, and I want to color like that, but color picking is very hard q-q

here's!! uh, the general areas in the color wheel where i try to pick depending on the vibe

highly inaccurate because tbh i just color pick directly or try to guess the colors from my references and just adjust them to be a little bit more pastel or to the atmosphere and if i have their colors memorized (such as ink or dream), i just pick by memory or by my modified colors LOL

color your scrunkly!

set your line work to multiply and lock opacity

i use warm tones for white ish colors so uhhh idk whatever warm color from here

color the line work!!!!! ofc, shift the hue depending on the undertones of the surrounding colors the skull color is a warm off-white, the undershirt is a blue-ish off-white, scarf is warm brown, so on and so on the multiply function rly helps just blend things into the palette a little more, but if ur confident enough, you dont have to set it to multiply at all for extra variation

minimal shading by just taking the surrounding colors n adjusting the hue slightly n its value n saturation gives it a very messy cel shaded look! been into it lately and stuff

and then i add a few overlays using the pin light layer mode! i usually use these two colors together, it gives the right amount of pastel colors that really appeals to me

if you have access to gradient maps, i recommend using them lots! it makes the pieces look a little more cohesive the pin light layer mode imitates it n is very versatile if u cant use them though (like me when im just doodling on sai)

that's it!!! that's the basic rundown of how i color i'm not very well versed in color theory so i can only do very basic color picking tips, but maybe next time i can offer ways on how to color more atmospherically!

have a nice time coloring your blorbos ✨

[licollisa]

Im so so so so sorry for the dm but I gotta do, how did you do the lighting for these two??

https://twitter.com/Licollis_a/status/1657703869068234754 https://twitter.com/Licollis_a/status/1657631596198125569

(dm wouldnt send on twitter so I'll send it here!)

Be not afraid, for I will reveal my secrets in rendering step by step.

1. After I'm finished with lineart, I added the base color. It's faint, but putting in gradient will make it pop.

2. In order for the whole thing to look harmonious with each other, on top of the base color I added a multiply and overlay layer. The color I use for multiply is usually desaturated, kinda pastel-y. The overlay one is more saturated (see alternative colors below).

3. The result should be kind of dark. Which is what I'm after, because what you're seeing is already shadowed. So instead of adding the shadow to the base color, I'm adding the light.

On top of the multiply layer, I added an overlay layer. I keep in mind where the light source is coming from (see the blue arrows). The color of the overlay can be whatever -- it depends on the vibe you're trying to make (e.g if they're in waterfall, I'd use light cyan).

Also, see that normal layer clipped onto my overlay? It's how I added my "fringe" (aka subsurface scattering). I often use pink. Just line it on the edges of the light.

4. Now I added a multiply layer again, just to give the piece more depth and details (like the skin)

5. Now I'm adding what's called reflective light (google to see examples irl). Basically, I covered the darkest parts of the drawing with something lighter. For this one I just added pastel purple in the normal layer, but there are other layer types to lighten it up!

6. Now, I colored the lineart through clipping. I usually just matched the surrounding colors by adding a darker one (e.g dark red for skin).

Optional: I like to make 2 copies of the lineart, make one red and another cyan, and respectively slide it to left and to right. Sometimes it doesn't even look good tho....

7. Highlights time! To do this I disable the background so it's transparent, click right and choose 'merge visible to new layer'. Which flattens the visible image onto a new layer. Now I can add in these white lights by clipping on top of it!

(It's a lil tricky to do this right with a brush, so I used the lasso fill tool.)

To top it off, I add some sparkes. My simp art is done <33

Edit: I forgot!! By the end of it all you can add a texture by setting said texture into overlay with low opacity (on top of the finished art). In CSP you can add a perlin noise, one of these:

You can use other kinds of textures for ur artwork, like watercolor etc.

[sexisbetteronthemoon]

Do you have any references/more in-depth descriptions of what Keith and lance’s outfits look like for fanart reasons?

yo thanks for the awesome question! it took a bit to put this together.

i gathered a few references off the internet for ya.

Keith starts off wearing a fancy reddish brown wool overcoat (gifted by dad) over a canvas jacket (rust red) lined with red plaid flannel (his own pick) over a red long sleeve and a white undershirt. images for reference, colors not accurate. 👇

his pants are those hiking zip away kind, black. 👇

he's also wearing a side/thigh pouch (black). 👇

he's also got black hiking boots with an attached sheath (sheath would be slightly larger than picture). 👇

Keith's got a beard and a good amount of hair at the moment. i'd say about a bit longer than shoulder-length, but it's unkempt and he looks about as groomed as a lion. (he wasn't expecting company.) i would say he's about early thirties in age since he ages slower (post canon Keith, technically).

currently, Lance has combed Keith's hair out and he gave him a french braid with smaller braids snuck in there for funsies, and he used a strip of his romper to tie it off.

Lance is more difficult to describe. i came up with his outfit entirely using my imagination instead of using any references.

it's basically a long-sleeved and wide pant romper with ties all along the arms, a boat neckline, and multiple sheer layers in petal-like shape all along the material. iirc, i didn't give it a specific color in the story, but i imagined it at the start as a silver or forest green gradient, maybe even multicolored. have fun with it, it's nbd. and it shimmers as the light hits it, like water.

shoes are the same deal, but easier to describe. they're basically fancy, pretty ballet flats in blue. beaded with crystals and lace. some pics of the kind i mean. 👇

bird woman's boots, but black and shorter.👇

i didn't give Lance any jewelry (but earrings are fair game) and he's definitely NOT wearing any kind of coronet since he's supposed to be incognito.

the white security uniform is basically an asymmetrical zip-up blazer with a mandarin collar and straight leg pants, all white with no discernible markings except "security" depicted on the back and on the breast in altean.

the parka from the emergency pods is basically a white puffy jacket with with synthetic fur for the hood. (this bit isn't mentioned in the fic because it's useless on Planet Red, but if electronics worked, Lance would have been able to change the color of the parka. it's got a scanner to camouflage it to hide better in its surroundings, or conversely, make it super visible.)

at this point in the story (chapter 13), Keith is down to his undershirt and shorts. Lance, on the other hand, has cut the romper he's wearing into shorts. it's likely uneven because he used Keith's luxite blade for it.

Keith's pack. 👇

Lance's backpack, also white. 👇

if i missed anything or you'd like more info, feel free to shoot me another ask.

[noemintshine]

meet my ponysona Mintshine! :] she’s a toothpaste inspired pony ❄️ I made this updated version of her design.

❄️Things I added❄️

-A really soft darker blue gradient on her back, neck and part of her face, a white gradient on her paws, 2 snowflakes on her right paw, darker and thinner highlights on her mane & tail and some snowflakes on her cutie mark. She’s not a crystal pony anymore, she’s more like an ice pony…? Ik that’s not a real thing in mlp but I like the idea of it (she basically can become really cold and “frosty”, like an ice statue). She smells like light blue from dolce & gabbana and mint.

I also made a more specific ref about the design itself, it has no shading and I specified all the things needed about her design.

You can find more info about her on my Toyhouse (check my carrd

[tartiflvtte]

First Encounter | Homelander

hello! here's the very first one shot i've ever written for Homelander (and hopefully the first of many). This is based off the first time Homelander meets Qilin. Even though this is based off of my OC it's can also be read as Homelander x Fem Asian!Reader as no physical description occurs in this except powers/shapeshifting descriptions.

Summary: Homelander meets the path of something, or someone? That will change the course of his life. Timeline: Pre-Canon (2014) Words count: 1,1k Warnings: None!

It was a sunny day, with a few clouds in the sky, and a usual boring patrol. Fucking annoying, Homelander thought. The only thing that kept him from missing them was the cheers he was getting when he was a bit too close to regular people. Honestly, it was a bit nice, just a bit though. He was flying so fast, soaring through the city clouds, he was only checking if someone needed any help. But to be honest? He didn’t care. Nothing thrilling was happening today. Homelander debated whether he preferred patrolling or shooting the most random ad for a useless Vought product. 

Ugh, he thought, either way, that day was as basic as usual, an ad or not wouldn’t change how bored Homelander was. Not enough spectacular saves, not enough cheers, not enough praises. Can we get this over with, he thought. He wanted to get back to the Vought Tower and just have a break. Until he smelled something unusual, well, more like, unknown. It was the first time he smelled something like this. He rushed towards it, not even questioning anything.

And that was when he saw it, for the first time. The Cloud Beast, people called it. He always found the name ridiculous because he wasn’t able to visualize how massive The Beast was. It was… probably bigger than an elephant. Homelander couldn’t process the information, because The Beast saw him. It approached him, leaving a trail of clouds behind it, and made a long eye contact with Homelander. 

The Beast was impressive. It looked like a horse… Or a deer, maybe a bit of both. But with scales, oh a lot of scales, a large tail that fades with the clouds, and a mane… a mane that moved as if it had a will. Its fur was a sort of blue canary, and the scales were darker. The mane was white but with a black gradient on the end. Oh and did I mention the long almost ethereal gold mustache that Asian dragons also have? Yeah, Homelander was struggling to process what he saw.

The Beast was still staring down at Homelander, not moving. It looked almost like it was amused by the Supe. The Supe couldn't draw his eyes away, until he heard his heart beating faster, and felt some sweat on his neck and forehead. Oh dear, was he scared? The Beast felt it. Homelander was scared, so The Beast just approached him a bit closer. But it drew Homelander to the edge, and he fled as fast as he could.

Oh shit, Holy fucking fucking shit! He thought. He fled to the Seven Tower roof and stayed on for a few minutes. It felt like hours. Homelander knew that this… beast existed, but he never saw it from his own eyes. And now what? He was supposed to be the greatest American Superhero, and he fucking fled because that… thing scared him! He felt ridiculous. He ran his gloved hand into his hair, sighing. Compound V did incredible things, yes, but its range was so unpredictable. He knew that there was a person behind the Beast, the question was, did it talk? Did it even have a human form? It should have one because you can���t fucking hide a monster that big! 

But wait, was it really a monster? For Homelander, it was one for sure, but he was curious. Too curious. He quickly made his way into the Vought Tower and called for Madelyn. He stormed into The Seven’s Room and quickly took a seat, fidgeting with whatever he could find. Madelyn came a bit after, obviously in a rush. 

“I have work to do. I hope it’s important Homelander.”

He took a moment before answering.

“You wouldn’t leave your office If you knew it was not serious. I’m going to be straightforward, do you know anything about « The Cloud Beast »?” 

She froze. And Homelander saw it very clearly. He raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to answer.

“We…” She cleared her throat. “We have barely any information on it. We just know that they call themselves «Qilin», Cloud Beast is just a name that people gave them because they’re scared each time it flies in the sky.” She paused, feeling the intense gaze of Homelander on her. 

“From what we know it’s a Supe that can shapeshift into this creature. Apparently, it’s a creature from Chinese mythology, that’s why they want to be called Qilin. Not a lot of people saw their actual human form but it seems that some sources describe them as a masked woman in a Chinese-inspired hero suit.”

The Supe clenched his fist, the more he listened, the more he was curious. He wanted to know who was behind this enormous creature. He wanted to know if it was powerful, he wanted to know everything. Homelander wasn’t the curious type, oh no, but this moment when Qilin and he were staring at each other made him feel so many different emotions.

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he felt weak, and powerless, in front of the Beast. It was the main reason why he ran away, but at the same time, he was drawn to the creature, he wanted to stay, observe it, follow its path. It was so conflicting for him, he never felt so… confused. Madelyn was still talking but he was lost in his thoughts.

He clenched his jaw, then looked back at Madelyn. His expression was unreadable and it threw Madelyn off. 

“Thank you for all of this important information.” He didn’t seem sincere, as usual, but it seemed he was thinking of doing something he shouldn’t do. He stood up pretty abruptly, which made Madelyn jump a bit. 

“Homelander, I hope you’re not thinking of doing anything irresponsible?” He snorted.

“I’m serious. We barely know anything about this woman, let the other supes and the Crime Analytics take care of this.”

He sighed as he headed towards the door. “Fine. But I’ll need reports! Every little thing, whatever saves or little apparition she makes I want to know.” His voice was firm. Madelyn didn’t feel like questioning any of his decisions when he was as stubborn as he was. So she just agreed without complaining.

He then left without saying a word, directing himself to his penthouse. He was tense, and a bit frustrated. The sun was already setting down. As he made his way inside his penthouse, he took off his gloves and let himself fall on the couch while running a hand into his blonde hair. Little did he know that this day was about to change his life. Little did he know that he would think of this first encounter every day until he would see her again. Little did he know that The Beast was so much more than just a mythical creature and that he would be the one that we call a Monster.

taglist: @sunshinetomioka

[tgcg]

randy gradient tests & findings

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

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

spray can haze

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

crayon sunset

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

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

width makes columns

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

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

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

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

rainbow art +

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

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

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

[redbelles]

hello! I just found your blog via your recent titanic gifset with hozier lyrics and it truly is the most gorgeous thing I have seen on this site in recent times... so so amazing! could you talk about the fonts you used and a bit about the coloring/blending process? thanks so much and hope you have a wonderful week. - A

hello! this is such a sweet ask— thank you so much! i'm so thrilled to hear that you love my silly little titanic gifset 🤍

i spent,,,,,, way too much time on it as a way to try and distract myself from a) politics and b) the bomb cyclone. we live in a time.

anyway! it's probably the most labor-intensive set i've ever made: lots of frame by frame coloring, layer masks, etc., and honestly i would love to talk about it!

all of the gifs were challenging to some degree, but i'd be here for another two weeks if i went through the whole set, so i'm going to narrow the focus to just the second gif. info on how i made this guy below the cut!

i tried out probably six different scenes before i settled on the two that i used: rose wading through the corridor (top blend gif) and jack and rose embracing (base gif). i went with them because even though there's a lot of motion in each gif, they lined up more neatly than any of the other options— rose sort of wades through the embrace while staying pretty much centered in the gif

so, scenes selected! however, the color and lighting situation was... well. it was this:

dingy! dark! the hallway lights are a problem! me @ me girl what are you doing!

basic coloring/lightening on both gifs took me from here:

to here:

a good start, but i needed to drastically reduce the brightness behind rose in the base gif and manufacture some blue tones for the top gif to match general color scheme of the set. to that end, i turned each gif + coloring into a smart object, converted to frames, and sat down to do so much goddamn frame by frame coloring

for rose, i used a black color fill layer, normal, 65% opacity

for the embrace, i went with a custom blue gradient map, soft light, 100% opacity

once each gif was back in smart object form, i got to work fine tuning the color: amping up the blues, doing a little bit of lightening, making sure rose's hair really popped. after that, i did some final layer masking to make sure the blend was nice and soft

don't worry about how long the scroll bar is! everything is fine! yes there are multiple copies of both smart objects! it’s all good! <— actively lying.

the before vs. after is pretty great though:

on to text! i wanted to use a different (but complementary!) font for the large text on the gifs that didn't have orpheus/eurydice. i went with against— a little rounder, but still in the same vein as sunroll. the small text on all the gifs is tw cen mt std

to get the fancy color effect on the large text, i slapped a color overlay (bright blue, multiply, 61%) on a white text layer set to difference. to make sure the blue stayed blue, below that text layer, i duplicated the layer, cleared the layer style, and set the blend mode to color. as a final step, i went back to the top text layer with the color overlay and added a drop shadow (pale pink, normal, 29%)

the small text got the same color overlay + base color layer treatment, except the overlay (pale pink, linear burn, 100%) was different

there you have it! one (1) gif from the set that consumed two wholeass weeks of my life!

if you'd like more technical information on my personal giffing/coloring process, i have an absolutely massive tutorial that covers everything from start to finish. for blending, becca @nataliescatorccio (one of tumblr's undisputed giffing queens!) has a great tutorial that goes into more depth than i did here

all that said, blending/coloring/giffing in general really are just a matter of trial and error; practice and patience are your best friends

thank you again for the very sweet ask! i really had fun breaking down the work that went into the set 💕

[codingquill]

Day 1 - 100 Days CSS Challenge

Welcome to day 1 of the 100 Days CSS Challenge! In this challenge, we'll bring a design to life using only CSS. Our goal is to recreate the image we're provided with on the challenge page using HTML and CSS.

On the challenge page, we see:

A small preview of the design we need to replicate.

A starter HTML template.

A submission form to showcase our work alongside others who have taken on the same challenge.

Let's dive into the process step by step.

Step 1: Screenshot the Image

The first thing I always do is take a screenshot of the target design. Even if the design includes animation, having a static reference helps me focus on the basic structure and colors. Here’s the screenshot of the design we’re aiming for:

Step 2: Extract the Color Palette

Next, I identify the color palette that we'll need. This helps ensure that we maintain consistency with the original design. Here’s the color palette I’ve created:

Step 3: Identify and Create the Image Elements in HTML

Now that we know the colors, I break down the elements in the image:

Background: This is a linear gradient.

The 100 number: This is the main challenge, and it will require some work.

Text: “days css challenge,” which we’ll place to the left of the number.

Here’s the HTML structure for these elements:

<div class="frame"> <div class="center"> <div class="number"> <div class="one-one"></div> <div class="one-two"></div> <div class="zero-one"></div> <div class="zero-two"></div> </div> <p class="sentence1">days</p> <p class="sentence2">css challenge</p> </div> </div>

Now that the elements are in place, CSS will bring them to life.

Step 4: Bringing the Elements to Life with CSS

Linear Gradient

To create the background, we’ll use a linear gradient. Here’s a basic syntax:

background: linear-gradient(to <direction>, <color-stop1>, <color-stop2>, ...);

Parameter 1: Direction/Angle

This defines the starting point of the gradient. You can either specify a direction (e.g., to top, to bottom) or an angle (e.g., 90deg, 180deg).

Direction options:

to top

to bottom

to left

to right

If you want more precision, you can specify angles:

0deg: Gradient starts from the top.

90deg: From the right.

180deg: From the bottom.

270deg: From the left.

You can also combine two directions, specifying both horizontal and vertical movements, like to left top or to right bottom. This means:

The first keyword (left or right) controls the horizontal movement.

The second keyword (top or bottom) controls the vertical movement.

For example:

background: linear-gradient(to left top, red, blue);

This gradient starts at the bottom-right corner and transitions toward the top-left.

Parameter 2: Color Stops

Color stops define how the gradient transitions between colors. Each color stop specifies a point where a color starts or ends. Here's an example:

background: linear-gradient(to right, red 10%, blue 90%);

This means:

The element starts at 0% fully red.

By 10%, the transition from red begins.

Between 10% and 90%, there is a smooth blend from red to blue.

At 90%, the transition to blue is complete, and the remaining part is fully blue.

Once we understand the concept, we can apply the background we need. In our case, the gradient flows from the bottom left to the top right, so the code will look like this:

background: linear-gradient(to right top, #443DA1, #4EC3C9);

Bonus: Stacking Multiple Linear Gradients

You can also apply multiple gradients on top of each other:

background: linear-gradient(180deg, #f00, #0f0), linear-gradient(90deg, #ff0, #f0f);

Step 5: Making the "100" Number

Creating the Zeros

We start with the zeros. These are simply circles created using CSS. To make a full circle, we use border-radius set to 50%.

The white border gives it the appearance of the number zero.

.zero-one, .zero-two { position: absolute; height: 100px; width: 100px; border-radius: 50%; border: 24px solid #fff; box-shadow: 0 0 13px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.2); }

This gives us a nice circular zero. We adjust their positions using properties like left and top, and manage the z-index to make sure the zeros stack correctly.

.zero-one { z-index: 8; left: 17px; } .zero-two { z-index: 6; left: 100px; }

Now both zeros are positioned, and they overlap in the way we want.

Creating the "1" Number

The number "1" is made of two div elements:

One-One: This part represents the slanted part of the "1".

One-Two: This is the straight vertical part of the "1".

What make the one-one element slightly slanted is

transform: rotate(50deg);)

the one-two is created simply with a little height and width nothing too particular then it is placed directly on top of the slanted part, giving us the full "1". Its z-index tho has to have a higher value than the slanted part of our 1 to ensure it stays above the slanted one.

Step 6: Adding the Text

For the two sentences “days” and “css challenge,” the styling is basic CSS. You can achieve the look with just a few font changes, some padding, and adjustments to font size. It’s as simple as:

.sentence1,.sentence2{ text-transform: uppercase; margin:0; padding:0; } .sentence1{ font-size:82px; font-weight:700; } .sentence2{ font-size:25px; font-weight:700; margin-top:-20px; }

And just like that, we’ve completed day 1 of the 100 Days CSS Challenge! Each part of the design is carefully crafted using CSS, giving us the final result.

Happy coding, and see you tomorrow for Day 2!

[olderthannetfic]

What I dislike about the pride flags is honestly how deep people try to make the meaning colors over aesthetics. Guess that comes from the OG rainbow flag getting some meanings? Or maybe it was always a thing about artistic color analysis, either way it always felt a bit tryhard. Especially since people seemingly don't even agree on what the colors mean. Only thing people seem to agree on is that anything not-pink/blue is up for the NBs. And it also really isn't apparent what the meaning even is, considering how deep people try to make it, and how apparently important the meaning of them is.

Bi? Blue is man, pink is woman, purple is because you're not het. But I've also seen it means pink same gender blue is any gender not your own, and purple is the fluidity/gradient of bisexuality. But I've also seen that purple is bisexuality, and blue and pink is het and homo respectively. Yadda yadda.

Trans flag UwU it's a girl-pink, it's a boy-blue, and it's the rest I mean, it's white-NB! Or girl:pink boy:blue, but white means the transition between/the transition period where you're between woman and man.

Aro and Aces: You get black, gray, and white because you're the boring (not-)fucks, you're only one color removed from the (sarcastic) cishet straight flag. How do you feel about that? Huh? The only difference between you and the cissy-hetties on the flag pole is purple, which maybe means something, or green which also only just maybe means something. -Seriously though, unless you're aro/ace, have you actually even just a single inkling as to what the purple and/or green means? Do you? Maybe purple is another one of those "UwU blue is boy pink is girl, combine them, purple is neither." -Or maybe it's supposed to be violet, which is a color that doesn't actually exist, and it's supposed to be super deep and tell us that "Just like the color violet doesn't exist, just like that sexual attraction doesn't exist for aces." Yeah would work great if it was violent, but it factually is just purple. Maybe green is another one of those, "it's not a mix of blue:boy and pink:girl, so that's enough to tell us it's not about romantic attraction.)

The progress pride flag has a nice sentiment, but looks ugly as all sin, and is honestly an insult to anyone who understands basic color theory. It's also a bit ridiculous how the triangle is slowly taking over all of the flag, and I'm just waiting for the bi flag to get included because of the historic rampantness of biphobia. Maybe the ace flag after that. Why not just make the triangle as it's own thing and leave it at that.

--

[imogens-temult]

Hi!

I sent this ask to the UserGif blog and they directed me to you. I was wondering how you created this black widow layout set:

https://www.tumblr.com/usergif/709701351905624064/black-widow-2021-dir-cate-shortland-insp

The layout is so cool and creative, I love it so much.

Thanks in advance!

hey! first off, thank you so much i really appreciate it.

now i will attempt to explain it, but i am never the best at these things so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! (all this is assuming everyone has a basic knowledge of gifmaking etc.) we're going to recreate a gif from my original set here.

FIRSTLY, you need your basic layout, now i used the rectangle shape tool to create the space for the big gif, and the little palette boxes, and fill them black so you can see them easily and move them around until i'm happy with the layout. and then move onto my text, the posters i was originally inspired by on etsy no longer seem to be there but the font i used which i *think* is what was used on those (as i wanted to get as close to my insp source as possible) is Nimbus Sans L for the title in bold, and Nimbus Sans Rounded for the rest (semi bold for the director and the genre/date and italic for the starring actors) and once i perfected the layout, and added a white layer for the background i saved that as a psd for future use. (make sure you're in timeline mode, and that the frame rate of this canvas is 23.976 fps - as that'll stop any issues when creating the whole gif.)

from here, you're free to gif make your first gif as normal, colouring it and putting it all together in a smart object so then you're ready to just paste it into this canvas, clipping it over the big rectangle, resizing as needed and then sharpening. (if you're unsure about clipping masks - this gifset relies on them - there's a handy tutorial here!)

so, here's how it looks with the main gif in place, and i've filled in my movie details for the film i've picked (i try to keep my layers as organised as possible so i recommend labelling things so you know exactly which text layer is which) i put all the text layers in a folder, and make a folder for all the palette rectangle boxes too.

next is the fun bit, or at least it is for me (personally i like to zoom in for this bit) but it's time to colour pick for the palette. before you do this make a new layer for each palette and clip one to each of the palette boxes like below.

like i said, i like to zoom in for this, but select the eyedropper tool, and start picking your colours, i try to do it in a gradient, usually starting with either the brightest or darkest colour etc. for this gif i want to go from browny red to blue. once you pick your first colour, go to the layer clipped to the rectangle you want that colour and fill it with your colour. keep repeating this process until all your colours are picked and you're happy with your palette.

and here is what you're left with. so now, just do what you'd usually do when saving your gifs, i personally put everything back into frames, so i can save with a timing of 0.05. and then repeat for each gif until you've got a beautiful gifset that you love!

i hope this made sense, and is easy enough to follow! sorry if it's a bit rambling and ridiculous, me and explaining things are not compatible.

[xxscarletlightxx]

Gluttony's Embrace: First Meeting, Day 1: 1/2

Word Count: 2,151

Ships: Loona × Bee-lzebub (HoneyMoon) + A little Vortex.

This is my first full Fanfic so constructive criticism is always welcome. :)

As she pulled up to the glowing gold mansion, Loona checked her phone. This must be the right address. Right? It fit the description Vortex had given: a huge mansion, surrounded by palm trees and a crowd of people. The seemingly endless sunlight reflected off the hundreds of hexagonal segments that made up basically every glass amenity, including the ginormous dome that served as the main party space. The parts that weren't glass were pristine white marble, encircling the dome in three rings.

Loona texted Vortex on her phone, “Hey I'm here where are u?”

“Hey! Loona! Over here!” Her head shot up as she looked around for the owner of the voice. A shadow suddenly loomed over her. She spun around, panic jolting through her veins.

“Shit! Vortex, don't sneak up on me like that.” She sighed, relaxing slightly.

“Sorry, Loon.” Loona looked up to meet Vortex’s eye, the one that wasn't blinded. He stood above the crowd of hell hounds, his hulking frame looming over anyone he talked to, his jet-black fur contrasting with the pastels and party colors of the hounds around him. Vortex grinned apologetically, and Loona returned an awkward smile.

“T-thanks for the invite,” she said, averting her gaze while nervously tucking her hair behind her ear and blushing

Vortex led Loona inside, nodding at the bouncers who promptly stepped aside, allowing them through.

“One sec, let me get us some drinks.” Vortex smiled while retreating into the crowd.

“Okay… good luck!” Loona yelled after him, and then immediately cringed. Good luck? Ugh, it's going to be so awkward when he gets back. Her ears drooped slightly.

Suddenly, the crowd behind her started cheering wildly. Loona spun around, her eyes widening as the lights dimmed. A giant disco ball descended from the ceiling, casting colorful beams of light around the room.

“Heyyyy, bitches!! Who's up to par-ty to-night!?” a voice called down from the disco ball.

A figure dropped from the disco ball, twirling gracefully through the air. Loona’s jaw dropped slightly as she recognized the figure as a hellhound. They flew through three floating rings made of some golden liquid. As Loona studied them, she noticed they had a small pair of insect wings on their back, along with two pairs of arms. An insect-hellhound hybrid, then? The demon did a loop-de-loop around the disco ball, followed by a steep dive, before landing with a flourish. The lights focused on her, allowing Loona to finally get a clear look.

The demon, a fox hellhound-insect hybrid, was pastel yellow with black fur on her legs and arms. She had huge ears with maroon markings on them and her face. Her eyes had long lashes with hot pink pupils. Her long hair and tail appeared to be made of honey, with a gradient of blue to gold to pink. The Hellhound was wearing a pink crop top and light pink booty shorts that revealed one of her most interesting features: her stomach appeared to be clear and filled with the same honey substance as her hair.

“Y'all ready to party with the Queen Bee of Glu-tto-ny? Come on!”

The Queen of Gluttony? Loona swore she had heard that name before. Oh,shit. That’s Bee-lzebub. She realized as Bee-lzebub jumped into the air, cheering and howling as she used her magic to conjure sweets and indulgences only possible in Hell. She flew around the room, enlarging food, even growing a fruit punch bowl into the size of a swimming pool.

At this point, Loona started to feel nervous. Where is Vortex? This wasn't what she had come for, she had come to hang out and shit. Not this. This wasn't her kind of party—actually, most parties weren't her kind of party—but this was too much. Her hands began to shake, and she covered her ears to block out the noise.

A comforting hand suddenly pressed down on her shoulder. She looked back to see Vortex, his face full of concern. In his other hand he held two red solo cups filled with a golden liquid.“You good, Loon?” he asked, studying her face.

Loona forced a smile. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I don't get out much, so this is a bit overwhelming for me.” Vortex looked at her with a puzzled expression but handed her a drink.

“Awooh! Vortex!” Vortex and Loona turned to see Bee-lzebub flying straight at them. Loona flinched as she stopped at the last second. “The party’s buzzin’ now!” Bee exclaimed, looking at Tex. “Fuck!” she shouted, dusting herself off. “I think I went a little too hard with the confetti this time. I have, like,” she waved her hands, materializing a mini rainbow, “a rainbow... in my vagina right now.”

Loona's jaw dropped slightly. This is the Queen of Gluttony? She was flabbergasted.

Beel-zebub abruptly turned her attention to Loona. “Oh, hey! Is this the adorable pup you told me about?”

“Excuse me?” Loona snarled defensively

“She's such a fuckin’ cutie!” Bee-lzebub flew around her causing Loona to spin dizzily in an effort to keep an eye on her. She laughed as Loona stumbled. “Where you been hiding girl?”

Loona glanced at Vortex who laughed along with Bee. Ugh This is so embarrassing, I'm making a fool of myself. Loona felt anger bubble up inside her. “Is there something funny**?**” She growled, grinding her teeth, her ears pinned against her head.

“No, no.” The Queen held up her hands in mock defensiveness, while smiling. “I’m just so high in all this tasty energy right now!” She flew upwards spinning around with her hands out, as if basking in the light and attention. Bee-lzebub’s attention suddenly snapped back to Loona, she dove stopping until her face was inches from Loona’s “Tex says you don't get out much,” before pulling back, she gestured around. “I hope this itty-bitty get together as a fun intro.”

Loona glanced behind The Queen as two hellhounds started aggressively making out. “Mm-hm.”

“I would have thrown a bigger one but Belphegor wouldn't let me break into her stash of party drugs.” The Queen put her hands on her hips and crossed the other pair, seemingly pouting. “Fucking lame! I usually steal them, but she changed the locks.”

“Heh. Anyway, yeah Bee, this is Loona. And, Loona, this is my girlfriend Bee.” Vortex stepped up putting an arm around Bee-lzebub.

“Nice to meet ya bitch!” Bee shot finger guns at Loona.

The realization hit Loona like a truck. “Oh, this is… she’s hot!” That's what you did with couples right? Compliment them?

Bee laughed “Ha! You didn't tell me she was hilarious!” She glanced back at Tex. When she turned back her Loona swore she saw a confused half smile, before quickly pulling back into the grin Bee had on at all times. “Like seriously, so funny! You don't care how freaky you come off and I think that's. Fuckin’. Beautiful.”

Loona forced a smile “Yeah…” She turned to leave.

Hey, you good? You're given’ off, like, not good vibes right now.” Bee spun her back around, trying to look her in the eye. Loona glanced at Vortex who was looking at her, concerned.

Loona felt rage flow like lava in her veins. Why was Bee acting like she knew what Loona was feeling? She had it all and Loona had nothing. She could never relate. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She brushed Bee’s arm off.

“You sure? I'm always here to talk if you wa–”

“DON'T FUCKING ACT LIKE YOU KNOW ME!!” Loona spun around, screaming at Bee. “You act like you know what I'm feeling but you could never relate to me! We are not alike!”

Bee-lzabub’s nostrils flared, she stepped towards Loona. “What's that supposed to mean? You got a problem with me sour cream?” Suddenly Bee-lzebub, who Loona was just looking down at, was taller than her. She was growing, her eyes turned fully red and the mark on her forehead that Loona had thought nothing of had opened up like an eye.

You wanna go? Let's fucking go! Loona thought, reflexively she glanced at Tex, he averted his gaze. Suddenly Loona was jolted to her senses. What was she doing embarrassing herself in front of all these people and probably getting herself killed? She made one last aggressive glance into Bee-lzebub's eyes before stepping down. “You're right, I’m sorry. I’ll leave.” She looked down and dejectedly stalked away.

Bee shrunk back down to her normal size. Glancing at Loona with something like regret before turning to Tex. “Sorry, sorry. I got a little spicy there.” She took one last glance at Loona, who leaned against a wall, staring into her drink. “Now come on, let's party!” She pulled Tex back into the crowd.

Loona glanced up at the crowd and saw an imp couple dancing together, their smiles genuine and carefree. The sight made jealousy bubble up in her. She averted her gaze to look instead upward, taking in the interior of the dome. It looked even more impressive than the exterior, with grand staircases lining the hall, a huge open bar in the middle, and multiple levels along the sides, resembling a beehive.

A great disco ball spun on the ceiling, connected by what looked like a stripper pole, casting colorful lights across the room. Loona sighed, looking down at her drink. Feeling out of place and sick, she tipped her cup, pouring the contents into the plant next to her.

“I hope you aren't wasting my good honey,” a voice suddenly remarked.

Loona started, righting the cup's angle and looking up. Bee-lzebub stood not ten feet from her.

“Come to yell at me more? Listen, I’m gonna leave in a few, so you can go back to partying—”

“I don't want you to leave.”

“What?” I took all the willpower in Loona not look shocked. She stared Queen Bee in the eyes; this was the same person she had tried to fight just minutes ago. But when Loona locked eyes with her, she saw regret? That couldn't be right.

Bee walked toward her, stopping to lean on the wall next to her. As she slid down to Loona’s level, she sighed. “Look, I'm sorry for what happened back there,” she began, staring off into the crowd. “I- I can taste the flavor of people at my parties and I could tell that you weren't having a good time, so I tried to fix it ‘cause you know—the more people who are happy, the happier I feel. But I was thinking about what you said, and it's true.”

Loona couldn’t believe it. Did an actual Sin just validate my feelings? “Look, I see what you're trying to do, but I'll be leaving soon so you won't have a damper on your party, and you can just move on with your life like I never existed. That would be easier than this—”

“SHUT UP!” Loona froze as Bee stood up from the wall to look her in the eyes, then rubbed her temples. “Sorry, what I mean is, stop talking to yourself that way! I bet you could have SO much more fun at parties if you just let yourself go.”

Loona gave her a confused look, and Bee sighed again. “And maybe I don't get it, maybe a Sin could never truly understand someone at the bottom of the hierarchy. But something I can tell you is that you're so focused on not being a bother and impressing people that you don't let yourself have any fun.”

“I- I don't know what you're talking about,” Loona stuttered, breaking the stare.“

Look, I won't pretend I didn't see the way you look at Vortex. We’re totally up for new partners by the way\~” Loona turned red instantly. In some rings, a Sin would kill you for looking at their partner the wrong way, but Bee was inviting her into their relationship?

Bee guided her chin to look her in the eyes. “But that's the thing about parties, they're a place where people let themselves go. If you pretend to be this stuck-up, party-hating bitch the whole time, no one's gonna want to date you. Plus, even if they do, they're gonna find out it's not the real you pretty fast.”

Loona narrowed her eyes. “So, what is this about?”

“This is about you letting yourself enjoy the party!” Bee moved back, looking up with her arms out. “And letting your true self shine!” She looked back at Loona. “So what do you say? Wanna give it a try?”

With that, Bee-lzebub, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, extended her hand to Loona, a Hellhound at the bottom of the bottom. Loona hesitated for a second. Maybe Bee was right; maybe she was acting like a stuck-up bitch. Perhaps it was time she just let herself go. Loona looked Bee in the eyes, then grasped her hand, allowing herself to be pulled into the vibrant chaos of the party, ready to embrace whatever came next.

Like for a Pt.2 :)