#also apologies for the long post

[kohamarsonist]

did anybody ask for this long post? no but you are getting it anyways

This is so funny to me because like take Stoker's Dracula novel, for instance. It's undeniably gothic literature and the thing about gothic literature is that it's indeed born out of romance - the modern and the ancient one. During the 18th century, when novels were often viewed as trivial, romance was actually synonymous with Gothic tales. The term itself - Gothic - is essentially an anachronistic descriptor which just means it's a term coined years after the era these Gothic stories were coming out in. So these stories were initially and originally labelled as Romance, not Gothic. They thrived around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries which is like a time characterized by decay, decadence, and degeneration. We've got beautiful works like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Yellow Wallpaper and ofc Dracula exploring themes of the unconscious mind, repression, fear, desire, guilt, dreams, nightmares, and the uncanny.... yada yada yada, you get it, all of these things are very much Gothic.

Now, I'm just throwing in my 2 cents here but to expand on what I mean by ancient and modern romance, the Gothic genre tends to focus on ancient spaces and old crumbling structures y'know the general hallmarks of gothic form, certain kinds of iconic images that pop up when you say Gothic, but it always makes comments on the contemporary. By creating that tension between the old and the new, it offers us a contrast between ancient romance, filled with imagination and improbability, and modern romance which is governed by probability drawing heavily on Walpole and the Walpoleian model here btw . In its core, the genre provides us with supernatural tales and far-fetched adventures while simultaneously instilling a sense of uncanniness, and suggesting these events could possibly occur, could possible be Real. This distinction between romance and realism lies in the possibility of occurrence: romance embodies the impossible, while realism portrays what could happen.

The thing about romance, as well, is that we might initially think of love stories. Romantic comedies and plays. However, romance as a form isn't holy or solely preoccupied with love, though it does surface as a theme and this is because romance springs from folklore. From legends and mythology; from quests and tales of chivalry and magic and monsters. Think Old Breton Lays, the Arthurian Legends, Don Quixote and their equivalents in other European cultures and folklores.

Yet another thing that spring from folklore is the vampire - it is deeply ingrained in folklore worldwide. Shocker. Anyways. It's like an omnipresent archetype kinda similar to that of rebirth - vampires don't literally exist but their ubiquity across cultures suggests they hold symbolic significance (kinda like the undead, ghosts etc). The demonic entities drain one's life force through blood and in most folklores they often merge with seductive, femme fatale figures like Lamia, succubi, sirens, strigoi, gumiho, rusalki... you name it. So what we see here is sex and death side by side. And we see a tonne of sex in Stoker's Dracula ngl blood drips from every page and sex steams off every page so again it is hilarious to me when peeps complain about the modern vampire being sexualised

Going back to modern times though, the 19th century witnessed growing disillusionment with empire and colonialism, alongside fervent desire for female suffrage. The "new woman" that challenges traditional gender norms and her voice are everywhere in Stoker's novel - Lucy Westerna asks why should a woman marry one man, why can't she marry like three? lmao hella valid question sis, I wanna know the answer too But the point is we get this increasing awareness about the injustice women in society are facing. It goes back to me saying Gothic stories address old structures, as well as new existing ones, the contemporary issues in society. You might ask, how did gothic literature use vampires to explore such contemporary issues when the bloodsuckers were merely wild creatures of the night feeding on rural livestock? Well, it has something to do with the development of the vampire into an aristocrat.

Making them aristocrats allowed the vampire characters to move around. To travel vast distances, and to go to Europe; to walk the streets of town; and to mix in with the rest of us, with the money they now have. It meant the vampire became mobile and introduced new dynamics at play. With these new dynamics, with the vampire entering high society and becoming an aristocrat, they also became more overtly sexualised. oh noooo people lamenting about the vampire being corrupted by sexualisation... besties i don't think you can corrupt a vampire figure more than it already is by definition, bye

Basically sexy vampires ain't nothing new and the only thing that's changed over the centuries is how explicit we're allowed to be wrt to that ✨ sexiness. ✨ For some reason, rn there's the trend of bringing back the fearsome side of vampires which like am all for but plz keep them sexy xd

“vampirism is too romanticized these days” damn that’s crazy. I’m romanticizing it even more now though because you’re whining like this

[skyartworkzzz]

Like The Other Ones

HI YES IM FINALLY DONE HOLY SHIT

OKAY SO this was based off on my own gameplay of COTL, I noticed that everytime Id put food orders in, Narinder would usually be the one to prepare them And honestly? We love a malewife in this house so I dig that for him, ma guy is a skilled cook <3

As I wrote down the dialogue, it just got deeper than I expected SO HERE YALL GO WITH A FULL ASS COMIC ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP, ENJOY!!!!

This shit took me weeks Ill go recharge my soul now brb-

EDIT: I DECIDED TO PUT A UNDERCUT Tab so yall dont have to scroll too much in order to read and see other posts ure welcome 🤼‍♀️ <3

[delioncourtes]

He wasn't fine. I let go of him. It wasn't a misunderstanding, it wasn't an accident. I let go of him. I watched him clutch the air. I saw him swinging wild as he fell through the clouds. I did it to hurt him. And it did hurt him.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE - 2.07 I Could Not Prevent It

[typing-catastrophe]

jealous!ford x reader headcanons

pre relationship:

depending on his current mood and state of mind, his reaction to someone showing romantic interest in you ranges from:

1) heartache,

feels like he doesn't deserve you, that he isn't good enough for you, he's not your type and also he is too old for you

self-esteem on the floor, feels like a kicked puppy seeing you flirt with someone else

over 2) mild annoyance; 'what's so interesting about them?'

what could they possible give you? why are you even talking to them, you already said you aren't interested in them

to 3) almost hostile towards the other person

all in all just one big mess of feelings

he's not good with them okay

confused and frustrated by his emotions; spends a lot of time overthinking them, in order to rationalise and understand them

too insecure and doubtful to tell you about his feelings, but too easily agitated to not be jealous when someone comes up to ask for your number

tells himself he has no right to feel that way, and yet...

in relationship:

protective and maybe a little possessive. maybe a bit more than a little. okay, a lot

definitely a lot more than he shows

(related to the first points pre-rls) very rare reaction: amused. god complex activated. who do they think they are? do they really think you would be interested in them? tch, please.

when he sees a guy flirting with you, he will come up behind you, put his arm around your waist and stare the guy down

the scene where he intimidates the bus driver, just to any shady guy who won't leave you alone.

insecurities, so soo many of them

'You could have anyone you want. Why would you wanna be with me?' *

that man was bullied his entire youth, never had a proper relationship and holds so much trauma and shame - it's the glue that holds him together at this point

ford is deeply afraid to loose you

through something supernatural or otherwise dangerous yes, but also trough some stupid mistake on his side and interpersonal problems

he is afraid he will mess up one day. then you will start seeing him as someone not worthy of your love and find someone better

it is one constant battle between his low self-worth and his god complex/admittedly somewhat inflated ego

-------------------------------------------------- thank you for reading <3 reblogs are appreciated

a/n: longer piece with this trope will follow soon(ish), stay tuned :P poor ford, doesn't know how to feel his feelings appropriately (same dude, same) * 'jealous' by eyedress

[valgeristik]

This scene for Gale triggered for me in the funniest place possible

[sketchupnfries]

I've been having a bit of an art block lately, and I decided to draw Ahsoka since I haven't drawn her in ages! These were a ton of fun to draw

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Snap: *draws a Megaman-inspired Magneto*

Me: ...Perfect modernization.

wait now that its not 3AM i can do you one Slightly better

bonus:

[cecoeur]

How do you sleep at night? No one to hide behind Betrayed every alibi you had You had every chance to make amends instead you got drunk on bitterness And you still claim that you're innocent, it's sad

[doyeons]

doyeon through the eras ↳ for @itsays ♡

[dousycentral]

DOUSY IN EVERY EPISODE ★ 7x09 | as I have always been (part four)

"hey. what're you doing up?"

"why do you care?"

"because you don't."

"I have to do something... and I don't know how."

[clownsuu]

Mini psa:

Please stop comparing my au to a preexisting au in the undertale fandom-- it's getting really tiresome and frustrating to constantly be compared to it

[stil-lindigo]

ABC News in Australia covers the story of how community groups all over the country are coming together as a community to provide for returning Gazan families.

El Rahman Inc. stands at the forefront of this community effort in Naarm/Melbourne, and on the organisation’s Instagram page, regularly posts updates on what supplies are currently needed. It accepts monetary and supply donations at drop off points (which are currently closed until the 28th Dec).

The PCIA has also been instrumental in organising resources for returning Palestinian families. For more widespread support not limited to Melbourne, please consider donating to the Arab Council of Australia, another independent non-profit which has a long history of supporting their community. They are based in New South Wales, which is home to Australia's largest population of Arabic-speaking Australians.

--

ABC's news report also highlights that between October 7 and November 20, Home Affairs granted 860 visas to Palestinians, including those seeking to depart Gaza. However, what they fail to give proper attention to is the fact that Israel has been preventing Palestinians from leaving.

[ link ]

Of the around 860 visas distributed, only 143 Palestinians have managed to successfully arrive in Australia, with the number of new names being added to 'the list' falling to a pathetic degree. To understand the grave conditions of Palestinians awaiting safe passage, this is a great article to read. And although politicians like Penny Wong insist they are doing everything in their power to help Palestine in this time, Australia still shamefully stands by its strongest ally, the US, and actively provides military surveillance of the Gaza Strip to Israeli sources through Pine Gap, a military base in Alice Springs.

In this time, it is imperative to maintain pressure on the Australian government. Protest and vocal pro-Palestine movement is the only thing that caused Australia to eventually vote for a ceasefire in the recent UN resolution, after their cowardly performance earlier. Resources like vic_socialists on Instagram, regardless of where you may stand on their performance as a party itself, has been outstanding in organising regular protest movements across all of Victoria. APAN also maintains a list of pro-Palestine events all around Australia on their website, although I'm not sure at this point if it's exhaustive.

[ohno-the-sun]

Oh uh forgot to ask in the previous ask (the one with the digital piece of candy and scurrying and stuff)

How do you draw art so good

Like

Is there a method you use or is that just the style you've gotten over time?

you've activated my trap card

I'm just gonna preface that this tutorial is from someone who was not professionally trained and didn't have a lot of free time for art, so a lot of the tips I have is short cuts I use to get the best results quickly

If you genuinely want to get better at art then please look at references and practice that is always the best

However if you are like me and only really do art for fun but want to go faster then these are for you pfppt

Overall I'd say my style is influenced by speedpaints I would watch when I was younger, I like analyzing how people do things and what makes something look "good" to me

I always recommend watching them because they will often have techniques you've never seen before or do things a certain way that you can try out yourself

I consume good art, it feeds me

but seriously it can be super helpful when developing your own methodology, or just generally trying something new

Usually it starts with me pulling some references from artists I really admire and sort of sketching out how they do the things I like

For example 8um8le has like super good anatomy and poses so I focused on trying to replicate how they do that

venemous-qwille is super good at color and pulling focus so that's what I focused on in my study of them

In general I'd say my process is sketch -> silhouette -> color -> shading -> render

I really don't like doing lineart lol

I'd say for the sketch the most important part is using references and just kind of fudging it until it looks correct anatomically/physically

General rule of thumb is spend time on areas of interest, and keep non important areas light (like the stitching on his pants)

I don't do lineart because I think its unnecessary for most paintings I do

I naturally tend to put more time and focus on areas of interest (like hands and feet) and if you use a brush with opacity for the sketch, those areas are naturally going to be darker in the final sketch

Of course this is gonna be different for everyone but it's what works for me

Sometimes I do a really really sketchy layer underneath my sketch/lineart, just so I know where everything is going

Use thumbnails! They are great to help figure out the general layout of things and what pose I wanna do

Next is what I call the "silhouette" layer

This is super important for me cause it helps me refine the figure and make sure the pose/anatomy looks correct, also depending on what color I choose for the silhouette helps guide what colors I'm going to use on top

This piece is a good example of how it works. The silhouette shows me how the figure interacts with the background, how the pose looks and if its any good

The silhouette layer doesn't have to be super clean, as long as it follows the sketch decently well and shows where the figure is then its fine

I also sometimes make the silhouette layer multiple colors to help guide shading and vibe

Next is the coloring layer. I usually make this a clipping layer on top of the silhouette layer, or I change the silhouette layer to alpha lock, either way it saves me time on coloring everything in

Sometimes I am super rough with the coloring too, using like an airbrush or my fav watercolor brush just to generically block in color where I want it

Works out cause most objects have like a bounce light to them from surrounding objects, so this is sort of a cheat I use to get that effect without all the work lol

Also don't be afraid to have the lower silhouette layer shining through, having multiple colors sort of subtly shining through the piece helps lots

Next is the shading layer, this is usually another clipping layer, usually set to "multiply"

The colors I pick here is usually within this range, any color works, just depends on the piece and vibes.

Since this piece is set in a sunset forest I choose a more desaturated orange for the shading layer

I know there's a whole thing about multiply layer being a crutch (and it kind of it) but it is a useful tool when you just want some darker values across the piece but don't want to go through the process of color picking every single darker shade

Also in my opinion it looks better than picking a darker color and setting it to a lower opacity, idk I just think the color has more "depth"

Next is the hardest to explain, sort of the vibes layer

Usually its just a layer of more concentrated color on top of the normal color and I fudge with the settings and values until I get a result I like

Next is the longest step, is the "extra" or the render stage.

Usually I add a background before this step so that if I need to merge the figure better with the background I can

If I render with a white background but he's supposed to be in a dark forest, its going to mess with the lighting severely

Also this is when I add more "vibe" layers on top to get the figure to match the background better

Backgrounds in general I recommend checking out @/derekdomnicdsouza on instagram he's got lots of great tutorials for breaking down backgrounds simply

I'd say general rule for the rendering layer is to focus on the areas of interest and spend less time on areas you don't care about

I even blur stuff out on the edges I don't want people to see, partially to save time on fixing mistakes in areas I dont care about (oop), but mainly to help draw the eye to the areas I do want people to focus on

Theoretically parts of the background should like mesh with the characters, parrallel lines are a no no unless they are directing a viewer to look somewhere, things that are perpendicular help bring things together

tbh I'm still not the best at layout and probably need more practice, but overall this is what I like doing

Overall this is what my layer set up ends up being

Sort of a sandwich with the lineart/sketch as the "meat" lol

Color and basic shading below the sketch, clean-up and rendering on top

I like this method cause it's super flexible if I ever want to try something different or try to replicate someone's style

I can make each step less or more messy depending on the end result and can add a lineart layer if need be. Also if there's a part that is straight up not working or needs to be removed its super easy to do cause I can just paint over it on the "extras" layer, color picking from the surrounding area to get the same vibe

Generally rule of thumb for my style is: get the initial layout of colors, form and shading to look good, then the rendering should be smooth sailing

Really the best advice I can give to get better at art is to enjoy what you're doing and become very very obsessed with drawing a silly little guy

You'll eventually get very good at drawing them pfptpf

[petite-phthora]

Hell yeah

[DP x DC fic]

[Love at first… murder? - part 17]

<< Prev | Next >>

Part 1

Ao3

---

Danny opens the door to see Red Hood on the other side. They smile and greet each other before Danny steps outside.

“What’s with the bags?” Red Hood asks, gesturing towards the bags Danny has with him.

“Well, this one,” He starts, holding one of the bags up, “is filled with the tp for the manor. While this one,” he holds up the other bag, “has to do with the second part of the date.”

“It’s a surprise for later, so no peeking!” Danny says, wagging his finger.

Red Hood holds up his arms in surrender and nods in response.

“Alright, I won’t peek.”

“Good.” Danny nods, satisfied with the answer.

“Though, would you like me to carry one of those?” Red Hood asks, pointing towards the bags.

Danny opens his mouth to respond but pauses, giving Red Hood a suspicious look.

“This isn’t some ploy to look inside the date bag, is it?”

Red Hood shakes his head in response.

“Nope. Just a genuine question on whether you want me to carry one of those bags or not. No ulterior motives.” He says, not sounding all too convincing.

Danny, who has his eyes still narrowed, gives in.

“Alright. But you carry this one.” He says, handing over the bag with the tp in it.

Red Hood takes it with a nod. They then start walking towards the entrance of the building. Once outside they head over to where Red Hood parked his motorcycle.

“Here, you can put the bags in the saddle bag,” Red Hood says, opening said saddle bag and putting the bag he was carrying inside it before gesturing for Danny to put the one he was carrying in.

After everything is secured and ready, they take off towards the manor.

Instead of going to the front of the manor with the gate, Red Hood takes a different route. They stop somewhere around the back of the manor, beside the stone wall surrounding the property.

Danny takes the bag with the tp with him, leaving the other at the motorcycle.

After looking over the wall to see that none of the manor’s residents are near, they go over it. Luckily for them, the wall isn’t too high and they climb and get down from it with ease.

They go over to the manor and once close enough they stop. Danny holds out the bag he brought between them and opens it up. He takes out some tp rolls and hands one over to Red Hood. They grin at each other.

“Let’s give this manor a little make-over”

“Hell yeah”

Those are the last words spoken between them before they start throwing the rolls at the manor.

---

Danny has another roll of toilet paper in his hand, preparing his next throw. Red Hood is next to him, helmet under his arm, having taken it off a while ago.

They’re both grinning at each other, Red Hood giving Danny a thumbs up in encouragement.

Both grins are quickly wiped off their faces when they hear a pointed ‘ahem’ from behind. Danny turns around startled, the toilet paper roll he was holding falling into the grass when he drops it.

Red Hood, who hadn’t jumped like Danny had, turns around curiously to look at who was interrupting their fun.

Behind them stands an older man with gray hair and a mustache. He’s dressed in an impeccable three-piece suit. He looks at them with a kind and open expression, as if they aren’t trespassers currently defiling the place he works/lives at.

“Good afternoon, Red Hood and guest. Would either of you care for some refreshments? The cookies are just about done.” The newcomer says.

Danny and Red Hood turn to look at each other. Danny gives him a questioning look. Red Hood just shrugs in response. They both turn back to the man in front of them and Danny speaks up.

“Hell yeah, we would love some cookies. If you don’t mind, sir…?”

“Alfred Pennyworth, I’m the Wayne family butler. And your name is?” Mr. Penny inquires as he starts leading them inside the manor and towards the kitchen.

“Danny Fenton at your service, Mr. Pennyworth,” Danny says, doing a silly little bow and almost tripping before he manages to right himself again with a sheepish grin.

“Please, call me Alfred, Mr. Fenton.”

“Only if you call me Danny.”

“Alright. Now, Mr. Danny, Red Hood, would either of you care for a cup of tea?”

---

Jason is looking at Danny and Alfred from a small distance as they are chatting over some cookies and tea. He has his arms crossed and a soft smile across his face.

He doesn’t jump when a voice coming from his right speaks up.

“New Brother?”

He turns to look beside him to see Cass curiously looking over in Danny’s direction. Jason gives her a slight scoff.

“That’s in-law, for you,” he pauses, the next word coming out a lot softer as he turns back to look at Danny who seems to be laughing at something, “hopefully…”

Cass nods in response.

“You’re happy?” She asks with a tilted head.

Jason nods seriously.

Cass smiles.

“Good. Then I’m happy.” She says before disappearing, leaving them be.

---

Behind Danny’s back, Jason catches Alfred’s eye and signs to him.

“I just remembered, the laundry should be done now. Please, excuse me.” Alfred says before leaving the room.

Once Alfred is out of sight Danny turns towards Jason, shoving the last bits of the cookie he was eating inside his mouth.

“So, you ready to get that autograph?” Jason asks him, holding out his hand towards Danny.

Danny glances over at the door Alfred just left through before looking back over at Jason and smiling at him.

“Hell yeah.” He says before taking Jason’s hand and using it to get up from his seat.

Without letting go of his hand, Jason starts leading Danny through the manor.

There’s no way they’d have been able to avoid all cameras in the manor, especially since they went inside with Alfred, so Jason doesn’t bother trying to be sneaky.

They already know of Danny anyway…

While they’re walking towards where Jason knows Tim’s room is, Danny looks curiously around the place.

“Say, how do you know your way around here so well?” He asks Jason.

“I’ve been around here a few times.” He replies casually.  “You don’t wanna know how many of their gala’s have been attacked or the amount of times the Wayne’s have been held hostage” He rolls his eyes. Jason stops walking.

“Alright, I’m pretty sure this is Mr. Drake-Wayne’s room,” Jason says, opening the door of one of the various rooms in the manor and stepping inside.

“Do I want to know how you’d know which rooms belong to which residents?”

“Probably not.”

“Alright, then I won’t ask,” Danny replies with an unconcerned shrug.

Danny looks around the room, inspecting it while taking care not to touch anything.

“Hmmm, do you think he’ll have any documents with his signature here? Or does he keep them all at that Wayne Tower thingy?

“Might’ve been a smarter idea to have gone there for something of use…” Danny says, muttering the last part more to himself than to Jason.

Jason shrugs in response, walking towards the desk.

“He probably has something lying around we could snatch. But if need be, I wouldn’t say no to breaking into the tower and getting the signature from there.”

“More breaking and entering, huh? Would that be another date?” Danny says before fake swooning. “How romantic” Danny grins, trying to ignore how warm his face feels.

Jason snorts at the bit. He then starts looking through the papers lying on the desk,  picking up one of the pieces of paper. He scans it, finding it to be some sort of agreement contract between Wayne Enterprises and some other tech company.

It didn’t seem too important and, knowing Tim, if it were he’d probably already have multiple copies and back-ups at another location.

Now that Jason’s thinking about it, this paper is most likely already a copy and not the original. So he feels no remorse handing it over to Danny.

“Here, check this out.” Jason points to the bottom of the document where Tim’s signature is located.

Danny takes the document from him, glancing over the signature with a smile.

“Alright! This is perfect, thanks Red!” He looks up from the document and beams at Jason, who makes a ‘don’t worry about it’ gesture.

Danny then puts the paper into his bag for safekeeping before speaking up again.

“Soooo… Wanna finish our tp project before ditching this place for the second part of the date?”

“Hell yeah,” Jason responds with a grin.

---

Taglist:

@i-always-say-yea @uraniumwizard @why-must-i-be-like-this @griffinthing @i23432i @imsotiredfanficlovertm @jaguarthecat @arkita-shadow @ilydana @jai-twin

[pineappical]

in light of tedtrent becoming so real, im also jumping on the tedtrent epilogue 😊

there's just no way ted wouldn't keep in touch with the others (and have weekly zoom meetings just like in the christmas special) and I just love the thought of the whole team having reunions once in a while.

and going back to trent's arc in s3, the sunflowers conversation, "And your daughter?" "She's never been happier." I think it could go the same for ted.. we've never really properly saw how henry felt about his dad being in london, it's always other people that told ted his son misses him, who's to say henry would rather see his dad happy because that in turn would make him happy too? he was there to win the whole thing, right? I just know ted’s story isn’t done yet when he still hasn’t learned to let others take care of him in return and who else to pair him with than the man who blew up his career because a man was nice to him (and also because they were so. so cruel for the fakeout tedbecca scenes for that finale) 🥺

I'm no writer so just pretend these are snapshots of a slow burn fic where ted visits london for their team reunion and slowly realizes that trent has a crush on him and they kiss about it 💛

[chesthighwater]

guy who wants to be emperor SO FUCKING BAD but isn't and has to actively conspire to get there. guy who is in cahoots with him and refers to him as emperor/your highness/my lord/other unearned royal titles in private- perhaps as a show of loyalty, or ingratiation, or certainty in their mutual success, or just 5d chess manipulation. and also it is a sex thing i mean you get me you see my vision