#also if u have a specific set that you liked the colouring of i MIGHT have saved the psd not a big chance but i might

[arcadia-of-pluto]

Twist of Fate; Chapter Seven

Pairings; LADS OT4 X reader

Word Count; 2,876

Themes; isekai, eventual smut

Rating; 18+ for swearing and some mature context

Notes; you have a slight existential crisis, a kiss (but it doesn't get too intense unfortunately), another Xavier-centric chapter with a small cliffhanger, also a reminder that 💛 is Xavier! Also, I accidentally posted this so I guess y'all are getting this chapter early 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Masterlist

I would also like to mention, once more, that the reader isn't aware of anything relating to Sylus. Just his looks, the appearance of his evol, and all of that. Think of her as all of us during Sylus's trailer release! Even though she doesn't know anything, the story will go as it does in the original story. I'm definitely not creative enough to change any of that, but there will be major differences after we finish the final chapter (in-game, chapter eight)!

You have one more day of freedom before you enter the Nest as bait. How will you spend it?

You woke up a bit later than usual, wanting to spend as much time with Estelle in bed as possible before you had to leave her for an unspecified amount of time. You hope she remembers you. After you make yourself something to eat and give Estelle her food, you check up on your flowers. The bluish pink flowers sat in a vase you had made at a pottery class with Zayne. Your thumbprints in the shape of a heart and the vase was glazed in the colour arctic blue, which was a beautiful light blue. The vase was sitting next to the fox Xavier got you and the painting Rafayel made for you.

You decide to lounge around the apartment today, unwilling to go outside and do anything since you knew today would be your last day of freedom. You were honestly worried, after tomorrow you were in the dark on what comes next. Your gaze flitting across the notes you made of the past and near future, hoping to come up with a nice game plan for your next decisions. You could tell the other guys you know about your past lives, but if you don't know everything then what's the point? You knew Rafayel would throw a fit if you didn't remember everything. Zayne doesn't really remember or, at least, you're not sure. Most of Zayne's past life you're in the dark about since you never got his cards. For Rafayel, you know two specific instances of past lives but the bigger one where he was the god of the sea? You only know part of it. You never got those cards either. With Xavier, you know of both lives- one more so than the other. You know he's Lumiere, the man who saved the main character as a child and protected Linkon during the Chronorift Catastrophe..you also know he's quite jealous of himself. Any time Lumiere is mentioned, he gets jealous.

But Sylus? Nope, you know nothing. Besides his looks, that he's the leader of Onychinus, and what his evol looks like. That's all you know. And you think you remember a crow, but you could be mistaken because of meeting Mephi at the animal shelter.

You know you need the aether core at the auction, but you don't recall why. Maybe to help your heart? You don't dare ask because it would look weird if you were intent on finding something, but forgot why you needed it. And after that? You assume winning Sylus’ heart like you have with the others. So he can't be a real bad guy if he's a love interest. You've read theories that the Ever corporation, which is the biggest company in the world- branching from biotech to aerospace to evol energy and even international trade- might be evil or working with Onychinus, but that's the only lead you have. You'll just have to figure it out as you go along.

You put on the TV and laze around with Estelle for most of the day until you step outside to sit on your balcony to watch the sun set.

Your phone buzzes and you look down to check it, seeing a text from Xavier.

💛 :”whatre u doing outside this late?”

A smile tugs at your lips and you tell him that you're watching the sunset to which he doesn't respond. Instead his response comes in the form of a figure hopping down from the floor above you and grabbing onto the concrete wall of the balcony. ���Watching it together would be better than watching alone.” He says, reaching out toward you and you grab his hand, tugging him fully onto your balcony.

“You scared the hell out of me, Xavier.” I say, looking up at the sky. “Give me a warning next time, please?” “I'll try my best.” He smiles, propping his arm up on your shoulder. “Aren't you nervous about tomorrow?”

“Ah…a little bit.” You look down at your feet with a small sigh and decide to sit down in a chair. “I'm nervous, but also anxious, but also I don't know what to expect. I have a plan and I know it'll work, but I'm unsure of where to go from there.”

“Well instead of worrying about it, how about you just go with the flow?” He crouches down next to you since you only had one chair, he rests his chin on your knee as he looks up at you. “Don't stress about what hasn't happened, just focus on right now and you can worry about the future when it comes.” You rest your hand in his hair and smile, tilting your head back to look up at the sky. “You know, you talk like an old man.” Your thumb brushes against his forehead, “but…I don't mind it.”

“Besides watching the sunset, I know of another way to calm down. Do you want to hear about it?” Xavier asks, his hand reaching up to cup your cheek. His thumb gently brushes against your fully healed scar and your eyes flutter closed for a moment. “Have you tried it with other people and that's how you know it works?” You tease with a raise of your brow. “How do you know it'll work, huh?”

“Well… you won't know unless we try.” He stands back up, resting one hand on the armrest of your chair. His other still on your right cheek as he leans forward to rest his forehead against yours. “May I?” He asks and you go to nod, but remember before that he told you to speak. “Yes,” you say before adding softly under your breath, “please.”

Xavier's eyes close as he closes the distance between you, his lips gently brushing against yours before fully connecting. He doesn't try to deepen the kiss, leaving it as a soft, yet intimate moment between you both. After a few moments, he breaks from the kiss and leaves a few scattered kisses across your face. His final stop was at your scar, his lips brushing along the scar from the top of your eyebrow all the way to your cheekbone. Your body immediately jerks in surprise at the touch since you realized your scar was rather sensitive. “Better?” He whispers, going back to resting his forehead against yours. His ears as red as yours probably were.

“Thank you.” You say softly, cupping his cheek and you rub your thumb back and forth across his cheekbone. A loud meow coming from behind you both finally breaks the moment and allows Xavier to pull away from you. “It seems like Estelle was jealous.” He chuckles, picking up the large cat with ease. “It looks like she's worried about her mommy.”

“She'll be fine because she'll have her daddy looking after her while I'm gone.” You say nonchalantly, not noticing the blush that spread across Xavier's cheeks or the way he buried his red face into Estelle's fur. “You really have a way with words.” He chuckles, shaking his head.

“We missed the sunset!” You realize, quickly standing up as you whine. “Damn it.”

“We might've missed the sunset but didn't we make a better memory in place of it?” Xavier muses, glancing over at you with a soft smile. “I guess we did.” You reach over to pet Estelle behind the ears and Xavier takes the chance to say, “Be safe tomorrow. Promise me.”

“I can't make any promises, Xav. You know that.” You sigh, hugging both him and Estelle. “But just know I'll do my best to come back in one piece. I can promise that. I'm not going anywhere any time soon.” You murmur into his chest and rest your forehead against it.

“That's…” Xavier lets out a heavy sigh and gives you a forced smile before he nods, “That’s enough for now.”

D-Day

Finally, it's Hunting day. Your last day of knowing what comes next. You spent most of the night tossing and turning, mulling over what would happen and worrying over getting hurt, but you felt a bit better now. Especially as you changed into your clothes for the day. In the game, the main character showed up at the Nest in her uniform and while that would be the best kind of bait, it seemed impractical. If you're trying to be bait, wouldn't being obvious bait deter people? If you're too on the nose, people might think it's a trap. So instead, you opted to put on a strappy, red ruffled shirt that was tucked into a white skirt. You added a belt and you set your red low heels by the door. You spray some perfume and spend a few minutes getting ready to look your best.

A stylish outfit is a good weapon for a woman. That and your actual weapon in its holster under your skirt. You shrug on an expensive black jacket, one of the only things you own that wasn't in game, to hide your obvious weapon. You weren't sure when the right time would be to leave so you decided to have your last meal. Well, it wouldn't be your last meal but it definitely felt like it. After you ate, you'd leave for the Nest to meet up with Rafayel. Your last message to him being ‘Meet me at the Nest and show me how to fish.’ to which he replied that ‘the biggest fish come out at night.’ So you assume 10-11pm would be an appropriate time to leave?

You still have time today so what were you going to do?

You took a few more notes on what to expect after and made sure the tiny tranquilizer was in your pocket. The antidote vial sitting on your kitchen island ready to take before you leave. You double, no triple, no quadruple checked that you have everything and spent a few hours anxiously pacing back and forth and petting Estelle. You were never good at waiting, especially when you were anticipating something.

You decide to leave at 10pm, giving you an hour to get to the Nest, which makes sense since you'd be walking. You down the vial, tossing it in the garbage as you head toward the door. You slip your shoes on and lock the door behind you after feeding Estelle for the night.

Honestly with all this walking, you should probably just bite the bullet and learn how to drive since you already have a license in this world. But driving is scary and you have bigger issues to deal with right now so that'll have to come later.

As you walk through Azure Square, you pin your ‘family’ crest to your jacket, trying to make sure that not all of Jeremiah's hard work went to waste and even though you have your hunter's watch on, it is covered by your jacket sleeves so you assume it'll be fine. A pretty bait is what you're planning to be tonight, no need to go too overboard with it. You enter the Nest and it just looks like your average nightclub. People were standing and drinking, some slightly dancing to some music or talking amongst themselves, not many people were at the bar though, besides the bartender.

As you look around, your vision is blocked by someone stepping in front of you. “Hey there,” the man’s eyes glance at your crest as he continues, “Actually-”

“Isn't it a bit weird to do business with newcomers?” Rafayel steps into frame, practically shoving the other man out of the way as he fixes his sleeves, not even sparing the man another glance. “Come.” He loops a finger with yours as he pulls you up to the bar. “So…do you have your bait ready?” He asks, leaning his chin onto his hand.

“Mmh, I'll play their game and allow myself to be caught. Act like a clueless little worm on a tackle.” You say, nonchalantly. Not mentioning the N109 Zone since you didn't want to catch others' attention just yet. “You'll still need to cast your line though…that should be easy enough.” Rafayel drums his fingers against the bar counter before he hands the bartender a coin. He picks up an embossed card, sliding the blank side over to you. “Go ahead. Write down what you're looking for.”

You take a deep breath, nodding your head as you grab the black feathered pen that was sitting in a nearby cup. You write down ‘aether core’ and the ink disappears a few moments later. Rafayel scoops up the card to hand it to the bartender who nods and disappears into the back. “Who's he going to tell?” You ask, turning your body to face the well dressed artist. “Doesn't matter. If they're interested, you'll know.” He muses, moving his hand over to trace random shapes on the back of your hand.

“Rafayel?” He's still silent before he takes your hand, kissing the back of it. “Now, we wait for the fish to bite.” “How long?” You ask after he lets go of your hand. “Hmm..not long. The Nest lives up to its name, you know? An underground intelligence network that's well known to match supply and demand.” As Rafayel finishes his sentence, the bartender comes back with a shot glass. He places it in front of you before stepping away once more.

“And this?” You ask before assuming this means a fish has taken a bite so you reach out for it and Rafayel suddenly grabs your wrist. “Think about it first. The glass is black, that means you'll have to pay a high price and if it doesn't go smoothly, you'll be the payment instead.”

“Well, being the payment is better than sitting here and doing nothing.” You shrug, downing the shot in one go. “Since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you.” Rafayel chuckles, placing his hand on top of your head to ruffle your hair. “I hope you find the answers you seek.” He stands up from the barstool and doesn't look back as he walks away, just puts his hand up as he waves.

“Alright, I guess let's look around until the hunting starts.” You murmur to yourself, rising to your feet as you walk around the bar. You notice a board off to the side, a wanted board. You see a head shot of Lumiere who looks obviously like Xavier except with a white mask and an outfit you've never seen before. A small chuckle leaving your lips before you notice how much he's wanted for. “100 million? Geez, what did he do?” You step a bit closer to look at the other wanted posters and you only catch a glimpse of purple hair on another poster before someone runs into you.

“It's starting, it's starting.” The drunken man excitedly mumbles to himself as he walks further into the crowd.

The lights suddenly shut off and a modified OTTO patrol bot rose up from a podium in the center of the room. The circular robot flies high until a voice booms from it, “There's a price to pay when a wish is granted! Will you be the hunter or the hunted tonight?” The robotic screen was a deep shade of red, the camera on it shaped like an eye. “Hunting day will now…commence.”

As your gaze lands on the eye, you feel your blood run cold. This…this reminded you of the red eye from your nightmares but you couldn't put your finger on how. You decide to play it safe and try to find a place to hide but honestly, where can you hide? You're in an unfamiliar, crowded place so you're not even sure where the bathrooms are and why would you hide if the plan is to be caught in the first place?

Your thoughts are cut short as the voice says one last thing. “Now.” It's red gaze lands on you, effectively spotlighting you to everyone in the crowd. “Shit.” You mutter to yourself as a few people in the crowd walk toward you.

“There she is…we've been looking for you.” One person says and another one chimes in, “This is the prey.”

You're a tad bit overwhelmed as people close in on you and as you try to dip out of the crowd, you feel your breath leave you as you're hit in the back and your knees hit the ground hard. “Hey-” you say, trying to turn toward the person and elbow them in the gut but they grab you by your hair and hold a vial in front of your face. “C-003, a neurotoxin. If you're smart, you won't put up a fight.”

You sigh, head hanging down and your hair covers your face to hide your smile. At least everything still went according to plan. Now what comes next is a complete mystery. Your smile leaves your lips as you feel the butt of a gun hit your head and you fall to the ground.

I'm keeping the extra spaces in this chapter to show a comparison, so just let me know which you prefer and I'll keep doing it for the up-coming chapters! Also, this won't be a cliffhanger for long since I'll also be posting chapter eight today. I decided to spoil y'all 🩷

I do want to add that I change up mc's dialogue compared to what she says in-game sometimes because I don't like how it's worded or I don't like specific actions she does (like shaking Mephisto, you'll see). I also make comments on her stupid actions- like her trying to hide in the original chapter or wear her hunter's uniform as if she wants to scream to the Nest, "I'm a hunter!! Please, take me!" Instead of being more low-key and under the radar.

Taglist; @orphicmeliora

[vechter]

do u have any fics addressing dick’s trauma?? specifically like maybe discussing his SA with the titans or bruce? or bludhaven blowing up? just like having ppl he can talk to for once? kind of in a cycle of learning more abt him! tysmm if u answer!

hi anon

your continental divides by isawet, reisling: it's one of the first dc fics i read and it set the bar way too high- probably one of the best dick grayson fics out there. directly addresses the whole catalina event (although blüdhaven hasn't been blown up in it). it's beautifully written and shows dick's connections, both to the bats and the titans. but my favourite thing about it is that it doesn't take away dick's agency. in a lot of the fics i've seen, it's always something leading to dick being forced to reveal what happened or people finding out and confronting dick about it.

The Center Cannot Hold by Kieron_ODuibhir: one shot that only vaguely alludes to SA but it does focus a fair bit on dick and the various instances in his life where he's had his agency taken away. tim and bruce are around and even though, no one explicitly talks about anything too heavy, there's a wonderful level of comfort.

When it Rains by vellaphoria: dick and tim centric, with an initial appearance by cass. set in the red robin era. their relationship hasn't fully healed yet but the love is still there! it builds off of the whole league of assassins arc and tim's own experience with attempted SA.

Bet Your Bottom Dollar by husborth: dick and bruce!!! bruce's love and concern for dick and his well-being are like a laser in their intensity and the author really captures that. unfortunately, while the writing and character arcs are excellent, it does stick with morrison's version of talia and damian's subsequent conception which is um... not my cup of tea. but the comfort element is great.

goal-oriented mindset by BeatriceEagle: okay, this is a conversation between catalina and dick after everything. it's catalina's pov and focuses on restorative justice. this one might not for everyone but devin grayson's portrayal of catalina was so deeply warped by racism and misogyny; dc has a long standing habit of caricaturising women of colour. and while i completely understand being furious and wanting revenge from a rapist in universe, the place where catalina was written as one feels wrong when you consider the ramifications and reasons for/of it out of universe. dick's character, in this, feels very authentic.

sorry, these are all i got. i can't think of any about blüdhaven being blown up- most fics just pretend it didn't happen? i guess it's because they brought the city back in n52.

also, none of the other fics i've read (admittedly, there are very few with the titans) about miriam/liu/catalina have felt authentic to any of the characters, especially dick. and too many of the ones with the bats are about jason wanting to kill her or all of the bats acting in a way that's... out of character. but if anyone else has any recs, please drop them in the comments!!

[k-tarotz]

https://www.tumblr.com/k-tarotz/748310935714791424/hello-can-u-do-theo-p1harmony-ideal-type-tysm?source=share thank u for the reading! now i wonder if he's an old soul cause the reading is very wise?🤔 can u describe his energy during your reading? like is he easy to read/very open or maybe the opposite etc? also im so excited for the next reading again thank u!!!

Theo’s Ideal Type;

appearance

DISCLAIMER tarot is a form of entertainment, not a set in stone truth. please read this with a light heart, don’t take it too seriously. whether you fit these or not, you are pretty.

his energy… is pretty shy, but also honest. his higher-self didn’t back away from telling me his preferences. it’s almost as if he aimed to perplex me, in a playful way. pretty playful guy.

nine of cups, the emperor, knight of swords

tanned skin - everybody has a preference for skin tones and he might prefer tanned skin. sun kissed, a deep shade of beige. (completely unrelated, he might also think freckles are cute.) regardless, he also thinks pale skin is pretty, but if it’s harmonious with the rest of xyz features. (for example he might like light hair on paler people. not necessarily blond, I am getting more of a white or brightly coloured one with red/orange in a pastel way. just something unique.)

long hair - he doesn’t really care too much, he just prefers it both on himself and his partner. no specific length, anything below your shoulders is probably long for him already. even if his s/o or crush has short hair he doesn’t really care much.

pretty hands - came through really strong, for whatever reason. he prefers ones that look elegant? clean, neat and well looked after. he doesn’t expect anything to have a routine, he just likes pretty hands.

shorter than him - like around 160 - 168 is the ideal in his eyes? that’s just a guess from the vision I got though. he would prefer a shorter s/o due to him finding it cute and an easier opportunity to playfully tease.

dark colours - darker hair, darker eyes, darker clothing style. it’s a natural attraction. he seems more attracted to people with a little bit of diversity but still feels more comfortable with a darker “pallet” if that makes sense. say someone who often wears black clothes but they still have colourful ones. it’s hard to explain, because he doesn’t really care so he doesn’t really think about it. it’s just there.

feminine and masculine - someone with balanced feminine and masculine energies. not in a forced kind of way though, just one that comes to him naturally. for example if he is attracted to men then he likes masculine guys who paint their nails, but not black to seem cool and get flirting points but because they genuinely enjoy it. if he likes girls then girls who can dress up cute, have make up on but also know when to lay back at home and just allow themselves to be messy? have messy hair, pjs on while doing whatever. I don’t know his sexuality and I won’t assume because it’s neither mine or anyone else’s business, my point is he likes the diversity in movements and behaviour. the way a person carries themselves. to him that has a lot to do with how one appears. (might be true for personality as well, he doesn’t seem to like people that lack depth.)

naturally inviting - as in, energy wise. someone you look at and know that they won’t judge you. that they are friendly and accepting of people. he mainly wants someone like this because he could enjoy cuddling and being close to people. so, someone that is nice to cuddle. (he might also think some people are more comfortable to cuddle than others.)

smells good - smells have a lot to do with how one is perceived looks wise! for him, he prefers someone who smells good due to naturally viewing them as someone who takes care of themselves and their appearance. his favourite might be baby powder & soap (reminds him of xyz being freshly showered) and/or floral scented fragrances.

thank you for reading!~

- C

[sailxrmxrs]

so. it's been a few months. OOPS. the creative juices have not been flowing lately BUT WE ARE SO BACK. and getting festive!! today we're decorating for christmas with our beloved infinite blue boys. this one won't be full fics but more so thoughts strung together. throwing my brain at my computer screen and seeing what sticks type beat. shoutout to itsu for the art that made me go insane abt the boys and desperate to write smth again. also shoutout to ito for listening to me ramble my thoughts aloud. always a pleasure to brainrot with u. determined to try and get back to regular writing but we shall see how that goes LMAO. for now enjoy christmas decorating gamers WOOOO.

♡ leo ♡

Leo gets SO excited for Christmas time. He loves seeing the neighbourhood lit up with strings of lights and bright displays of festivity. He's not one to hold back either with his own decorations. Leo has built up a rather eclectic collection of decorations and baubles for his Christmas tree, most of them being movie references or themed. Stormtrooper wearing a Santa hat, a resin hanging decoration made to look like a stack of Lord of the Rings books, that sort of thing. He excitedly asks what sort of fun decorations you own or want to get because he wants the tree to match both of your interests. Definitely surprises you with a few that he thinks you'll like, barely able to contain himself. Leo is bad at keeping presents a surprise. He just loves seeing how excited you get!! Very much the embodiment of golden retriever boyfriend. Always. I can see Leo also having some decorations with sentimental value too. Like this one bauble he painted as a kid that's definitely not the prettiest mix of colours, but it brings back memories of childhood and excitedly trying to stay up late to see Santa leaving presents behind. He LOVES good christmas tradition too. Every Christmas Eve he's watching the same movie (probably Home Alone) with an array of snacks laid out to enjoy. He loves getting to share it all with you too as well as starting new traditions for future Christmases together. For example, this year he dumped strips of coloured paper on the floor, put his Christmas playlist on, and declared you were both making paper chains and paper snowflakes to hang around the house with the tinsel already on display. There's no such thing as too many decorations in Leo's world so I hope you're prepared for your home to look like a festive spirit exploded in every room. Bonus note he also owns sets of festive pyjamas specifically for December and will only wear these. If it's not Christmas related he isn't touching it. Also owns slippers made to look like reindeer.

♡ milo ♡

Milo might just be the worst one to decorate for Christmas with. He's never really been overly fussed about buying decorations or a tree and has literally nothing of the sort at home. He hadn't even considered the thought that you might want to indulge a little and spend a day or two putting up lights or finding a tree for your shared living room. When you do mention the idea to him, Milo is somewhat surprised, but will nod along that sure you can get a tree. Will suggest you buy one of those pop-up trees that comes with the ornaments already attached because it's easier and will only take a couple minutes to set up and put into place. It takes a lot of convincing to sway him away from that idea. He doesn't seem to realise that half the fun is spending hours fighting the tangled mess of lights, or finding that one specific ornament you bought a few years ago just to hang front and centre on the tree. Will only agree to it if you promise to buy him an early Christmas present too. Bribery is a wonderful tool for convincing Milo to join in all the traditional couple behaviours and outings. He'll enjoy it once he's there and sees how much you're enjoying yourself, but will make a point to complain about the weather, or that he's getting bored looking at different variations of the same lights. His boredom is easily cured by a request to get food before heading home. Once you're home, he offers to reach all the tallest parts you can't reach, but not before making a smug joke about how you only asked him to help because you wanted the extra pair of hands. At the end of it all, he'll be stood behind you, arms enclosed around you and pulling your back against his chest. Will rest his chin atop your head and admit that yes, he had a lot of fun today and yes he will do it again next year. Offers to take you out again next weekend to go ice skating or put together gingerbread houses. Just as long as you don't make him wear one of those awful Christmas jumpers Leo sent a picture of himself wearing the other day. You don't make any promises.

♡ rory ♡

Ever the hopeless romantic, Rory equally adores and despises this time of year. He loves the romanticism of the festive atmosphere, the twinkling fairy lights, the decadence of the food. He's secretly been craving the chance to share it all with someone else. But he would never admit to it. Which is also the cause for his self-proclaimed hatred of the holiday season. He likes to lament about how so much of it is commercialised and specifically catered to couples wanting an excuse to show off how cute they are. He'll acutely ignore the fact that you came home to him watching one of those cheesy Netflix Christmas rom-coms. The type where a prince gets isekaied into the suburbs of New York and falls in love with generic city woman. Will try to hide his face in the neckline of his sweater while you set down boxes of decorations to dress up the room. Claims he wants no part of it and acts all indifferent to your enthusiasm, though it is blatantly evident on his face that he actually means the exact opposite. So you get to hanging baubles from the tree, singing along to Christmas songs as they chime from the speakers. It's when you notice Rory stand up, eyes flickering from you, to the tree, to the floor, that you ask if he would like to give you a hand. Will say no, but you should move that one ornament a bit higher up. It will look better there. Or maybe add a different coloured one there to brighten up that section. Pass a box of ornaments to him and tell him that if he's going to comment on your decorating then he better just do it himself. Rory acts as though this is some large inconvenience but within minutes he's quietly singing along under his breath, a rosy colour staining his cheeks. Pull out some mistletoe and watch him turn an even brighter red. Do it I dare u. And once the room is sufficiently dressed up for Christmas, Rory will collapse back on the sofa, shyly admitting how much he loved spending the time with you as you burrow into the warmth of his side. Will get a little flustered but tries to play it cool until you tease him about finishing the rom-com you caught him watching earlier. Goes to push you away but immediately pulls you back in. Maybe he can be a little more affectionate than usual today. Maybe.

♡ alexei ♡

Alexei doesn't usually decorate a whole lot around the festive season. It's not for a lack of wanting to, nor does he dislike it at all, but rather he just never felt like he had a reason to before. For him, Christmas always felt like a very family-oriented time of year so after he moved out, the thought simply never occurred to him that he could go out and buy a tree and ornaments, even just for his desk at work. When you pose the idea to him to get your home all decorated up for the season, Alexei's interest is piqued. He will scroll for ideas on how to pick a colour theme and will get really into the colour ratio of the baubles too. He lines the tree with golden fairy lights and makes sure the balance of red and green baubles is even. Makes sure to find tinsel that matches the exact shades as well so it doesn't look mismatched at all. It's really rather cute how focused he'll get over it, eyebrows furrowed and this tiny little crease in his forehead. Stands with a look a pure concentration in the way his eyes are surveying the tree from top to bottom, his finger tapping against his lip while you watch from your spot on the sofa sipping a hot chocolate Alexei made for you. You tried to tell him he doesn't need to take it so seriously with the way he's alternating between different coloured baubles but your voice falls on deaf ears. He'll stand back to admire his handiwork, looking to you for excitable approval. Once he deems it good enough, Alexei will lay down, his head just beneath the tree, and he'll gesture for you to join him. He feels all tired out after a day of decorating and has a distinct urge to nap under the tree like a cat. Will sleepily ramble about how he's been looking forward to spending the holiday with you, how he's excited to try all these new things and start ned traditions with you until eventually his eyes betray him and they blink slower and slower and he's falling asleep in your arms.

♡ brooklyn ♡

Brooklyn's home on Christmas is a sight to behold. The man knows how to decorate no matter what the occasion may be. He always loves to make a day of it too. Expect him to wake you up with a cup of tea, already dressed in a cosy Christmas sweater with his hair unstyled and a little messy. Winter Brooklyn is a delight for the eyes. Especially when he's got a hand-knitted scarf bundled around his neck and matching gloves warming his hands. Drives you to a local Christmas tree farm he always visits on the first weekend of December every year without fail. The owners know him by name at this point and are particularly excited to see he has company this year. His hand is entwined in yours as you wander around, talking and musing together over which tree would fit best. If it's snowing, expect Brooklyn to flick a snow-covered branch at you, a dusting of cold powder freckling your cheeks. Will laugh but lets you throw a snowball at him as payment for the attack. Once you pick out the perfect tree, Brooklyn takes you to a local Christmas market to pick out some new decorations. He has a rather rigorous theme he likes to stick to but wants to add something meaningful to signify the two of you—especially with this being your first Christmas together. He tries not to go too overboard and is only stopped by the sight of a stall offering decadent mugs of hot chocolate. Once you're back home and in the warm, Brooklyn is lighting the fireplace, along with a few festive themed candles, and rolling up his sleeves. It's at this point you see just how serious he is about Christmas decorating. And it certainly pays off because once you're both done, the tree looks like someone opened pinterest, found the most visually pleasing tree and managed to extract it and place it directly in your living room. Brooklyn looks very pleased with himself as you praise his well thought out planning. Ends the day with a surprise gift for you because his family always had a tradition of giving a gift on Christmas tree day and he wants to keep that going with you. Is generally just the embodiment of Christmas rom-com love interest with how perfect he makes the day turn out to be.

♡ tobias ♡

Decorating with Tobias is so unbelievably chaotic. There is no rhyme or reason to the scattering of ornaments all over the floor. Decorations are everywhere except where they are supposed to be. He claims he's got a strategy but you're not so certain. He also doesn't really bother with any particular colour theming and just picks out what he thinks looks cool. Loves to have a range of different shapes and colours for the ornaments. Also buys a string of multicoloured flashing lights to drape around the tree because 'regular white lights are boring'. Tobias doesn't care too much about whether you put up a plastic tree or a real one, that is until he sees Brooklyn post a photo of his own Christmas tree on instagram and suddenly Tobias wants to buy a real tree too and make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. So he's dragging you out into the cold to go and buy one. Finds his idea of the perfect tree after a good hour of deliberating over which one looks best. Wants one that's got a good shape to it and has plenty of branches. In doing so, however, he very much overestimates how big his car is and how big his apartment is. Drives home with the top of the tree sticking between the seats it's basically sitting on the passenger seat with you. And then there's getting it into his apartment. It's just a little bit too tall so the top of the tree is bent over a little against the ceiling. Tobias rejects your idea to buy a saw and cut the trunk down because surely you can just trim to top, right? No, Tobias, you cannot. Ends up deciding to bend it so the top is angled down a little since you won't let him take the kitchen scissors to it. You're about to attempt to put the star on top until Tobias stops you, claiming he needs to make some adjustments before it goes up. Runs into the bedroom and returns like five minutes later with the star but now it has a picture of his face taped onto the front. Reaches up to put it on the tree but because it's a little too tall, the star is angled down so it looks like star Tobias is watching over like some cursed angelic watchman. Leo is very unsettled when he comes over to visit.

[theoraclenextdoor]

paid readings— open + as i’ve gotten more requests for paid readings, i’ve put together a list of services below! feel free to message me if you have questions or perhaps have something in mind that i don’t explicitly offer yet. + as a reader, my strengths lie in my affinity for all five clairs, energy work, and my empathic abilities. if this resonates, please read with me 🖤 for readings that list a clair description, it means that i will explain, show, and/or tell you whatever has come up for me in one of those areas during your reading.

+ please note that the descriptions underneath my reading types are there to guide you through what the reading may look like and get a general feel of what i will be looking for. i do not always follow this exact format. feel free to include any context or specific questions in reading requests.

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SERVICES AND PRICING

general readings 2...3...4 pricing includes: number of cards pulled (ex. $3 = 3 cards). please specify type of reading (ex. love, career, general) energy/energetics 7…11…22 -> where is your energy at currently? where is it stuck? where does it flow freely? are you in your wounded masculine/feminine energy? (note: energetics is not about gender) pricing includes: 2-3 cards (general overview)… 4-5 cards + a colour of your energy as it is now… 5-6 cards + a description on how your energy feels manifestation 7…14…21 -> what are you currently manifesting? what’s blocking you from your manifestation? what area of your life has the strongest potential for positive manifestation? pricing includes: 1-2 paragraphs… 3-4 paragraphs… 5-6 paragraphs + ‘clair’ description the oracle’s advice (channeling) 3…6…9 -> wisdom is knowledge gained through experience. though i possess much wisdom on my own, in this reading my advice is blended with the divine’s channeled wisdom. pricing includes: 2-4 sentences (best for: yes/no questions)… 1-2 paragraphs… 3-4 paragraphs, includes ‘clair’ descriptions or signs to look out for the bigger picture 18..36 -> ask me anything and i’ll pull a nine card spread, read and reflected on in 5 different ways: by column, by row, diagonally, as a whole, and with the centre card in consideration. pricing includes: 2-3 sentences on each card set… 2-4 paragraphs + further reading of the 2 directions that intuitively feel the most pertinent (ex. row & column, diagonal & centre card) dream mirror 7…8…9 -> do you have a dream you feel means something? i’ll need as many details as possible. let’s interpret it together. pricing includes: depth of reading. experimental pricing. this will also depend on how much you can recall monthly or weekly forecast 5…15 -> similar to a weather forecast, here i will tell you what the allotted time ahead looks like for you. pricing includes: general 3 card forecast (can specify love, career, etc) … mini astrological forecast & analysis based on your natal chart + 5 card draw for specific question (ex. is december a good month for a fling?) yahtzee (dice divination) 5 -> dice can be a helpful tool in divining the future in simple terms. while a yes/no question is essentially what can be answered, my dice always yield more than you are expecting pricing includes: yes/no [sample dice reading > “should i go the party on saturday?” dice roll: u: 5, d: 2, f: 6, b: 1 , l: 4, r: 3. oracle’s answer: yes. it’ll be a good opportunity for you to get out and grow socially! although you might find yourself worried about the logistics, now is the time to leave behind that need for structure and planning. i think you’ll be surprised at how fun it will be.] mini astrology reading 6…9 -> send me your natal chart and ask me that question that you know is written in the stars. pricing includes: 1 questions answered in 1-2 paragraphs… up to 2 questions answered in 3-5 paragraphs (*reading does not include interpretation of personal transits or chart degrees) dealer’s choice tbd -> unsure about which service will yield the best answer? tell me a little about yourself (>2 paragraphs please) and i’ll let you know which reading i think you should seek with me.

legal disclaimer: these readings are for entertainment purposes. my readings should not be used in place of legal, medical, mental health advice. as readings are subject to the reader’s interpretation, they should not be regarded as absolute.

[mercyisms]

wld love for u to expand on your thoughts about asian jewish mercymorn?? my beloved hater girl

(:<<<< i was delighted to receive this ask and rolled it around in my brain for days and days, even though the real answer is "i'm silly and i like to have fun." to preamble: very, very generally, i think it can useful to have fun with white characters in works written by white novelists. i think it can be a lot of fun, too, to see a fancreator re-interpret a work into a culture they know a lot about and bring out different textures or tensions. but i also think it’s fun to reconsider specific characters (sometimes especially the ambiguously raced ones) and tease out tensions that might feel interesting or ones that somebody without cultural context may have overlooked. i like resisting the idea that whiteness is the default or a neutral default.

though! on the flip side and despite routinely joking that augustine being canonically blonde is a hate crime against me somehow, i also recognize that, for example, augustine’s whiteness (or presentation towards whiteness) seems intentional and is doing work in the text. (when i joke about john always having one six foot plus blonde around, it’s funny! but it’s also reflecting something the text is engaging with with regards to race.) so, anyway, that man can stay white. but to speak, at last, to our beloved hater girl. i think the first thing that opened the door for me is one of the initial descriptions we get of mercymorn.

The face beneath the icy parti-coloured hood was a prim, virginal oval; much in shape and feature like the shape of a saint’s face in a portrait, or a death mask. The nose and jaw and forehead were all carven and serene, and therefore had the same indifferent dullness of a well-formed statue.

i am fairly certain tamsyn is consciously trying to evoke one of the infinitely funny and also very beautiful medieval paintings or sculptures of the virgin mary (etc.) (divine conception: difficult mode, am I right, lads?). but for me, the refrain of mercy’s oval face is a great example of a descriptor that isn’t exclusive to whiteness. very practically, when i started looking for references to make humble sketches of mercymorn, i first turned to michelle dockery (expressive eyebrows! a face that can be cold and severe but then melts into heartbreaking, childish expression!) and then more and more to (an aged down!) kim seo hyung. (for the record, when i make stabs at augustine, i am usually drawing on a richard ii era fiona shaw, with dashes of young peter capaldi and perennially ancient jeremy irons. recently, my go-to for cytherea has been ophelia-era—of course—helena bonham carter.) but it’s rooted in more than just me dicking around in procreate. the idea of an asian mercymorn became more compelling to me when i considered how that would change the texture of her character. to try and be as brief as possible, there, as you may well be v familiar with yourself, are longstanding stereotypes of (largely east and south, but it all gets homogenized) asian immigrants being depicted as cold and unfeeling robots, as excelling only at rote memorization and lacking critical thinking or social skills, as being dangerous or suspicious or obnoxious over-achievers, and as, depending on the day, being too sexy or utterly sexless. (i am not claiming any of these are unique to the very broad category of ‘asian,’ just setting the table.) and i think mercymorn becomes really compelling reinterpretation and rebuke to expectations if she is asian. because she is so many of those things: overachieving med school graduate; someone who (though she seems to have excelled at the magicky part) gift comes from stubborn, rote memorization; someone deeply repressed; someone who is told and believes herself to be unfeeling and inhuman (”Every time you’ve said that I did not understand the human heart, that I was unfeeling, that I only knew worship without adoration”)—but is also a disaster of emotions, despite it all, and is driven by incredibly messy emotions and whose skills (the memorization, the drive to overachieve, even the repression) come from this vast and terrifying well of emotions that even she can’t really look at head-on. before mercymorn, i don’t know that i had seen these tropes reworked in exactly this way or thought to rethink these stereotypes in this way, and so that’s some of what mercymorn-as-asian does for me. (obviously caveat that i’m very strongly drawing from a north american context and i totally confess to not knowing what stereotypes are present in new zealand! but anecdotally through friends in australia and england, these stereotypes certainly seem present throughout the globe, and i would not be surprised if they were also present in nz. but just recognizing that!) i also, personally, find this a lot more satisfying than just going off tamsyn’s canon sheet and being like, yeah, got it, isaac is the one canonical east asian. that’s nice! that’s lovely! but it doesn’t really do anything for me or the narrative. i’m not upset about it! but the lyctors, those who lived pre-ressurection and lived closest to john and carry some of their biases with them, are people who have been shaped by a society where race is very present. vs. the younger 10,000 years out gen who ostensibly (though of course they are in a text written here and now) live in a “post-racial” society, at least from what we see within the house system. (i mean, i say this, but then i also feel like... have u met east asian christian converts. there is some eighth house energy there is all i will say. so, again, i just like to have fun.) re: the jewish thing, i am a hater girl myself and cannot like catholics have anything not ever (hashtag joking, tbc) and a) would love for a foot in and b) as myself and others have pointed out, mercymorn would love to kvetch, she’d be so good at it, she understands it implicitly and she deserves to have a community to kvetch with and c) as i think the inciting post for this ask pointed out she’d be so good at saying ‘oy vey’ and d) idk i just think it’s even funnier if a lapsed jewish woman and a nun walk into a bar and then kiss. in general, i also feel a vested interest in opening the door for mixed race readings of characters and one’s that, again, reinterpret or add to the texture of that character’s presence in text and are done in a thoughtful, fun, interesting way. i could possibly say more but i think this is enough for right now!! maybe!!! sorry this took me so long!! uhh but that’s a taste into my thought process, anyway, for how i like to interpret and reinterpret les lyctores and specifically best beloved hater mercymorn m. nolastname i love u. it is (obviously!) not the definitive or only interpretation, but is the one that currently speaks deepest to my soul. but i do love to see all kinds of interpretations and reinterpretations of our beloved necro-cast.

[literalite]

literally just me talking about edit stuff because im in a mood

these r what i would call like my base level of ingame edits (i dont reallyyyyyy count my cas screenshots as edits unless i spend an actual amount of time actually working on them rather than my usual blur+chromatic aberration+sharpen combo) theres usually very little? or like no actual basis in the characters "canon" or lore like its just done to make them look nice. right. or like its fun lighting practise for me really. theyre usually pretty simple in execution like in the two examples there its just plain yellow background for sunny and the neon cross for vin so i have to put a little extra oomf into it because the backgrounds are like not super detailed so theres less of an "interest" factor from that so the sims themselves have to look REALLY good to make up for it. the ones i end up happy with though usually look really dynamic so it balances out

so these are more sort of abstract edits to me bc they have a basis in the oc lore or themes or whatever and most of my ocs have at least one or two visual markers (in the examples lucari or even just ari specifically gets a fair amount of celestial/sky imagery, i handled the colours here a bit sloppily but its meant to be blue and purple which are ari and luca's text colours, heiya's emphasis being on her muscles and scars and the clouded solar eclipse, redacted gets a lot of water/reflective surfaces/birds/rainbow flares?? and also lightning but that isnt being used in this specific one and sunny gets a fair amount of fire/smoke stuff as well as emphasis on primary colours like his more blue toned edits r usually in his darker stages of his life while warmer yellows means more positive stuff, red usually is just for uhhh violence oriented stuff) and like none of these are Actually happening. right. redacted isnt actually ever in that position with that era of hair in the water with the birds and sunny was set on fire at 13 not as an adult and they certainly never had a portrait of his family like that. but its symbolic, it means Something even if you as the viewer doesnt know it yet 😅 or ever aha

OKAY LOL I PRESSED POST BY ACCIDENT LOL but these are my full lore edits or something likr theyre totally rooted in the background of the ocs. like these are scenes from their lives for real. obviously i fiddle with lighting angle composition a tinyyyy bit to make for a more pleasing or dynamic image at the end but if my ocs all got dedicated like. movies or shows these would be ripped straight from the scene. i take creative liberties with some stuff but in essence these could be story posts (like the 3rd example with idris/redacted is literally in the story itself in one of the posts) the difference is usually amount of images in the post and orientation of said image/s. to me an edit stops being an edit when it has more than likeeeeee 4 images and then i will usually keep that bulk all in landscape or maybe one as portrait for emphasis. edits will be 4 or less and mostly in portrait because i want the less images to take up more room on the dash. the backgrounds for these will usually be way more complex like ill build a mini set or use existing sets for each one. i just think that ingame edits have a lot more capability than you might think (u dont have to go into blender for every little thing promise 🙌🏼) its just like. u can do a lot with this game i swearrrrrr just treat it like an art medium. im serious

ALSO the song almost always is sooo relevant to the edit i swear its not enough to sound good. i have to be unwell about it as well and it has to make sense with what im showing u

ok thats my random unrequested ted talk for the day im going to go home now bye thank u for reading if u did that 😁

[pictureamoebae]

hi there! ive been meaning to see how certain shaders alter this specific preset im using, but since there are so many, i have a hard time knowing how the order should go. i found an answer from u abt load order from two years ago, but i wonder if that has changed with recent reshade updates. any help is appreciated! thank u<3

Hi there!

Load order is such a big topic! There are some golden rules you should always try to abide by, and then everything else is just personal preference.

MXAO should go at the top. Then other depth effects like SSR, Adaptive Fog, Depth Haze, RadiantGI etc.

Next comes SMAA/FXAA, followed by any sharpening. I usually keep DoF below SMAA even though it's a depth effect, because it seems to perform better with jaggies that way, but you can experiment a bit with that. I also put the Flashlight shader above DoF because otherwise it can cause a bit of weirdness in the blurred areas.

DoF is a big one to get right. Some shaders can look really messed up in blurred areas if DoF is in the wrong place. The above placement seems to work best in my experience. But there are always other shaders I've never used that you might stumble upon that you have to just test and see how they work. Just try and remember, if something looks weird in blurred areas, try moving it in relation to the DoF shader and see what happens.

At the very bottom should come any film grain shaders, and just above that the Deband/Debanding shaders. Don't put Deband below film grain shaders or it'll ruin the grain pattern.

Everything in the middle of those top and bottom sections is pretty much personal preference. I see a lot of people say bloom shaders (including Ambient Light) should go above any kind of colour correction or colour grading shaders so that the colour grading applies to the bloom. Personally I don't think it matters a huge amount, I've done both before, although that is the way I'm favouring at the moment.

If you use more than one bloom shader you'll notice a difference when you move them up or down the load order amongst themselves as they react with one another. Again, that's entirely down to personal preference and what looks best with your preset.

Then we come to the various colour grading shaders and light/contrast shaders. This is where it's really, really all about trial and error. There's no correct answer, it's all about what looks best with the settings you've chosen. You don't have to stick with a specific load order for them. I often swap things around a bit if it looks better in particular lighting/weather conditions.

If you have Prod80's shader pack installed you'll see the shaders come prefixed in the shader list with numbers. That's the general order he suggests they go in. If you take a look at that it can give you an idea of which shaders often work best in what order. But again, especially for colour grading and light/contrast shaders it really is whatever works best for you!

It is really overwhelming, especially now there are hundreds of shaders. When I started with SweetFX (which came before ReShade), and then early ReShade, there were far fewer shaders. You could still get stunning results. For someone starting out who wants to learn all about how ReShade works and how to tweak shaders and get them working well together it would probably be a good idea to only have the standard and SweetFX shaders installed, and maybe the Legacy shaders too. You'll have less choice, but you also won't be as overwhelmed. Early SweetFX and ReShade presets were pretty much exclusively made with the backbone of Levels, Curves, LiftGammaGain, and Tonemap, with the odd bit of DPX, HDR and BloomandLensFlares thrown in. They're really simple and basic shaders but you can achieve a lot with them.

[melon-milku]

Yooo, that picture with Donnie and Leo hugging is awesome and heartwarming :0 But I've a question. How did you do that sparkly scale texture on their skin? It looks so pretty!

Aww thank you!! :D

A lot of the time, its a mixture of trying different brushes for textures, flipping through layer filters and colours. I'll try and show my process, but apologies if its not so clear! (Also just so u know, I use CSP! :])

I try to find a speckle-like brush! This one is called "Wall Tzu SP hard" which is from a brush pack i bought from PharanBrush, but you can use any sort of speckle brush, i just like this one especially (good for freckles, too!)

I used a really bright blue and dappled in the areas that I wanted the sparkles to show.

Set the layer to glow dodge (sometimes colour dodge is good too!) and lower the opacity (I put it to 48% but again, you can play about with this at any stage)

Next, I pretty much do the same in a new layer below the last, but used the darker colour of the base skin and faintly go in similar spots as before. I set that layer to multiply and lower the opacity to anything between 20% and 40%.

I just think it kinda defines the shinies a bit more!

In a similar colour to the blue I used for the sparkles, I lightly use airbrush on a new layer. Kinda helps with the form and make him more shiny. (I keep this on 100% opacity because I am very light-handed with it, but you can lower it if need be)

And lastly, if you want more texture and you have a dot grid tone brush, make a new layer and colour pick random parts of the shiny areas. I don't really know how to explain this, I just do whatever til it looks good PFF! (Might be a less is more scenario)

annnd yeah! :D This is just how I did these specific textures, its lots of layering and tbh you can add even more with different opacity. You also don't need to use the exact same colours as me, I usually try different hues to figure out what looks best, literally go ham!

HOPE THAT MAYBE HELPED? I do not know how to do these little tutorial ask things BWHAHAHA but if theres anything else you want to know, feel free and I'll try my best to answer!

[messylustt]

Sorry! Should have been more specific but I would like both 😭 (writing)

no worries hon! (pls note that these might not work for everyone it’s just how i personally write)

for fic writing: know the character’s personality/past — it makes it so much easier to write either their pov or just about them in general (this is also YOUR take on their character. doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else’s version). people either right ‘you, y/n’ or ‘she, he, they’ doesn’t matter which way you write the reader, totally up to you (as u can see i use ‘you, y/n’). i also base my plots (if they aren’t requested) around the specified character. like can i imagine them acting like this or being in this type of situation?? no?? yes?? stuff like that. since a lot of the time i don’t want my fics to be ooc.

for original writing: starting with an overall plot for me is the best first step. that includes the time period, the main conflict, a brief idea of ur main characters (after i’ve come up with basics of the story then i go into detail when creating my characters) etc. i like to do this thing with colours, where i have my book set in certain colours. like blues — more moody with more rainy weather (it might become a gradient with a different colour at the end as the plot continues) i just find it easier relating the vibe of a book to a colour since i personally have set out moods and feelings for each colour.

with writing in general i prefer not to write in the grammatically correct way. like i’ll start sentences with ‘but’, and play around with full stops etc. a) it makes it more fun and b) i feel like i can express my writing the way i’d like it to come across.

god i hope some of this helped at all 😭 if u have any more specific question feel free to ask <33

[sollucets]

Hi, this is Dani (aka @5racha) and I just saw your "event 12: loss" gif set (which is a spoiler for me but i don't care) and I absolutely love the fact you can do black and white with the gold showing. Is there a tutorial out there how to gif black and white with a colour? I mean, an easier way than to just colour each frame individually. Do you have one or is there one? I've been wondering about that for a while now and your gif set is looking absolutely incredible.

ah hello!! thank you for liking my set ;u; <3 fair warning, i notably love talking about this kind of thing and i am incredibly longwinded so i'll get the direct answers out of the way first and then i'll ramble at you about my own gif process for a bit

here is a color isolation tutorial (found via @usergif, who have many such good things). i havent specifically used this one but it's good and im basically about to rephrase it for many words

and basically.... there are ways to do it and sometimes it can be genuinely quite easy (hue/saturation is your friend!) but if your scene is problematic (lots of movement, the color youre trying to isolate is a skintone, low contrast between colors etc) it's still going to be really hard, and in the end some things Will be an every-frame or close to it kind of deal if youre still determined to do it

my eclipse prefects set basically demonstrates -- the blue ones were really really easy, since you just have to desaturate all colors except blue. the reds, because some of the backgrounds also contained red and because it's a skintone you then need to readjust, is much harder. you can kind of tell by the curtains in the first gif how this might cause a problem

and now im going to talk your ear off trying to explain applying that to the gaipa set in. far too many words. sorry

this set, being that the color is "yellow", is one of these problem children, some more than others -- for example, i tried to do the first one like this but gave up (check out the cool gray spots near his temple and his collarbone :'D)

the middle two were problematic using keyframes too, but a bit easier because they have less movement and the backgrounds are also darker, so ill try and show you, in case it helps??

here is the base coloring (ignore the orange skin, i knew i wasnt keeping this and also moonlight chicken is kind of like that)

then, the bw layer is added (i use gradient maps for grayscale usually), and then i crop out the section i wanted to stay colored using the ps pen tool -> path -> selection and then use that to apply a layer mask. you can also kind of handpaint this sort of thing if that's easier for you

the next couple layers up are color adjustments for this section, to make the yellow that already exists at base brighter & tone down the red. i have four more layers at the very top to do this and adjust the colors golder & more vibrant.

now then the actual trick is in keeping the layer mask on the correct part of the gif. so if i just did the layer mask on the b/w layer like that and didnt keyframe, because this gif moves itd stop working - it isnt Super movement, so it's not actually that big of a difference, but you can see (no keyframes on the right:)

the gray creeps onto the vase, the table, and the upper part of the flowers. if you overcorrect in the other direction, the skin of the woman right behind the flowers will become visible. so ! problem solving: keyframes

that's how it looks like - you start at the beginning of the gif with your layer mask selected, then click the stopwatch next to 'layer mask position'. then i usually use the move tool and arrow keys just to shift it along with movement of the object, and you press the yellow diamond at each point you do so

this is not foolproof and im still sort of new at it, so it can sometimes look odd. case in point if youve spent as long staring at this gif as i have you probably noticed the keyframe movement (it kind of jumps.....) but i decided i could live with that. sometimes you just have to figure out where your standards for 'looks bad' are, too OTL

gif 3 is like this too -- the only notable difference is that, instead of just desaturating the colors i didnt want i covered over them with a gold gradient map layer

so, basically, all of these gifs do originally have yellow in them, but i bass boosted the shit out of it and also colored over it in some places, and i used keyframes to fix movement

i hope this is at least interesting & that you can get use out of the tutorial, hehe. thank you for asking! enjoy finishing moonlight chicken, my belovedest of series

[anna-neko]

ahoy hoy @misterdadguy. I figure we could start Discworld bookclub next week?

And remember, if u see something that sounds like a pop-culture reference - I promise it absolutely is. Probably at least 3 references in a pun overcoat

ok! Here comes a few notes before we dive into it! I do have some notes for like… when we stop at certain bits, because there's some jokes or references too good to just walk past!

so, Discworld! a series of a loooooot of books by the late great Sir Pratchett. The only thing to remember, really, is that he does break them down into sub-series (City Watch, Witches, Rincewind, Death, and miscalleny) and the world is always moving forward!

The biggest fandom meme is if u so much as breathe "which book to staaa..." at least 5 diff fans will pop up with flowcharts and PowerPoint presentations outlining which series is superior, and why you should start there I am NOT one of those (too lazy to make charts) buuuut will concede on the "never start at book 1" point (Sir pTerry himself have mentioned it a few times as well)

but here is why we are going with MORT (book 4 in the series)

It is the first book to read closest to what this world will become, but easiest to dive into as all you really need to know is "flat world on back of turtle floats thru space. Magic is real. footnotes full of puns" Humor and characterization - sure a few things are still a bit off ... but gettin there

It is the first of the DEATH sub-series (even if he still doesn't always act as himself just yet), but also works very well as a stand-alone. The previous books do technically set up a few world-building things, but they might as well be an entirely different universe (hell, Colour of Magic is 4 diff genres in a parody skit) Nobody in prev books acts in-character (Rincewind is always Rincewind, but Death and a certain Witch were completely different people)

really, next book - Sourcery - is 70% in-character for the universe, but only in book 6 - Wyrd Sisters - does everyone finally act like themselves and thats a freakin Witches sub-series. Thats kinda too far in for a starting point, ya know?

ALSO, and this is a personal thing more than anything, Mort is from the late 80s. Pop-culture refs closer to 'our' time as it were, so can understand them! Yes a well-written scene or joke should still work if one hasn't years of relevant memes.... but it hits that sweet spot when can point and go "this is hilarious, but extra so because i remember that show!"

_______________

The book hasn't proper chapter breaks, we gotta pick stop-points. It's only 300 pages, shouldn't take too long anyway.

on Kindle - how about the 23% mark! In actual physical book - you want the paragraph break (it should be end of page as well) that reads: "Why so soon, O hardworking son of the desert?" "because," said the man, "I have just sold the Patrician's champion racehorse."

ALSO it isn't really a spoiler, because haven't proper context to place it in. This is a good punchline, show goes to commercial break on the good cliffhanger kind of break

If you're doing audiobook…. ooof … we can try and see what the file formatting is and how they break it down? Then you can just tell me where to stop (can search for specific quotes and mark them for myself)

[bailesona]

META / DRABBLE ( 1/? ) + POV: you just had a shitty first date at the diner.

gonna start this off by saying that stanley and aisling would notice that shit instantly. like, from the reddest of flags to just seeing that you feel a little off about this person, or maybe they notice that you look truly elated whenever a waiter drops by to check in on them. depending on the date, it's usually either of them that goes to you, but today i wanna talk about the squad!

so stanley comes over and pretends that you're his eldest niece/nephew/nibling ('how's your mom?? oh, i'm sorry to interrupt, but golly if we never see this one again it'll just break my heart! honey, come on over, i've got so much to talk to you about...')

he gently guides u into the staff room, just pulls a blanket from one of the piles in the corner and passes it to you with an earnest nod. ('i'm gonna be right back, okay? you just sit tight sweetie. i need to unleash the hounds.') and he gives a little wink, a little hair-ruffle, and heads back outside.

you're sitting on the sofa, the blanket in your lap, and it's been about ten minutes of texting your friends and family to let them know that you're alright but holy shit if they ever set u up on a date again, and then the door opens and rani sweeps in, bc if there's anyone who's soft and harmless in the squad, it's rani.

she's already pulling the blanket around ur shoulders and telling you that it's all okay now, that danny kicked out the date, your meal is still being cooked, she'll bring it out once it's ready, and then the door opens again.

this time wyll is bending his knees to allow his horns to enter first, and he's holding a big mug of hot tea that's sweeter than a sack of sugar soaked in honey. ('it's good for the nerves. you know, i've faced my share of horrors, but by the gods, your companion was insufferable! you handled the ordeal with the grace and resilience of a dozen soldiers, know this well.')

so when the door opens again, this time it's ramsay, and he's carrying a big tray of food for you, and once he's sitting on the coffee table he just offers you a stack of tissues bc "it doesn't matter what they did, what matters is that you were supposed to have a nice time here tonight, and thanks to them, you didn't. so i got my man laszlo to fix you a little drink to try and brighten the evening."

henri starts cursing in french outside, so wyll leaves, and rani has to go calm down a customer, but then laszlo and sanji arrive, bc sanji was determined to protect ur tastebuds from whatever the hell laszlo was going to make. sanji delivers a few compliments, but laszlo is more focused on your companion, and "how upsetting would it be, dear, if something were to happen to this person?" and u can see the camera crew outside the door, but sanji manages to cut the conversation short before it evolves.

danny is also vital to stopping u from becoming an accidental accessory to murder, bc he walks in and he's assuring you that your date is gone, but then stanley and richard appear and they sit on either side of you to explain that they need to go and fetch a few of aisling's kids from some valentine's parties, so danny will take you home.

danny seems a little uncomfortable, more at the idea that he might make YOU feel uncomfortable, but then jennifer arrives to have a meeting with aisling ('seriously, i show up and suddenly she's not here anymore?') and decides to accompany you and danny to your home. which is how you end up in a fancy SUV with about three bags of food and aisling's phone number so that you can let them know you got home okay.

the next time you visit the diner, they're all so glad to see you. they're welcoming you by name, they're waving for you to take a seat at the counter so they can talk with you, rani has assigned you a specific mug that matches the colour of your shirt the previous night, laszlo has decided your lack of answer is a form of permission and thanks you for "being so amenable" and shows you the cocktail he named after you, which is surprisingly delicious. sanji has decided that he needs to be responsible for your dating life. basically, whether you wanted it or not, you got adopted by the squad.

also aisling makes sure you never have to pay for a thing at the diner ever again.

[dragontamer05]

I get game comparison’s happen but I really do firmly believe that even if you wanted to try and take Sword/Shield or Scarlet/Violet and compare it to anything on the Switch BOTW is like probably the worst to choose.

1) As it is Zelda games have years worth of experience of home console 3D graphics to have improved to the level they are today

2) Where as Pokemon (main / core games) by comparison is still somewhat new to 3D- again compared to Zelda games- and newer still to being programmed and made for something like the Switch

3) Stylistically they are very different - While the characters might be much less chibi-esk the general aesthetic is far more cartoony, maybe a little fantastical but simplistic in nature- isn’t trying to aim for some hyper realistic design which I don’t think it should.

Where as LoZ while also not going pure realism - at least not say compared to what TP still seems aim for a more detailed design and I guess in away a believable sort of fantasy

4) Going back to the first point BoTW is hardly a new game either with years to have had graphics tweaked, bugs patched and whatever since it first released on the Wii U (idk how much or how little it changed between the two upon being ported but still)

5) i can only imagine the team set up and handling of their games is different- for one Zelda games seem to be allowed a lot more time to be worked on before a new big game releases out side of any smaller games here n there, like the hand held titles. Where as idk if they just aren’t allowed more time or what but Pokemon for better or worse tend not to have as large of gaps between games

6) Hot take but in someways it kinda looks better then Arceus. Now I like Arceus I really do and I’m not saying it’s a bad game or looks bad perse but Sw/Sh and specially S/V have a lot more popping colour to them.

There’s just a lot of areas in Arceus that feel like nothing but muddy and a bit samey at times

7) Who cares what one damn tree looks like - feels nit picky. Sure it’s basic and maybe the texture appears a bit flat but so what. You can tell it’s a tree and you can still tell that the texture is meant to be bark- doesn’t have to look real.

8) It’s Pokemon good or bad aside why would you expect it to be able to compare to or look like Zelda. Colosseum and Gale of Darkness sure as heck don’t compare to the graphics of Twilight Princess but over all I’d say they’re still good looking games

9) Having played both now, can it feel a bit odd going from looking at BoTW graphics to Violet’s sure but I still think it looks fine for a Pokemon game.

10) General thought but in a sea of games where so many are aiming for more realistic what’s wrong with the cartoonish / less detail focused- or at the very least I’m sure most people wouldn’t expect for a LoZ game to look like a Pokemon game so why would I compare and expect a Pokemon game to look like LoZ

11) Equally bad comparison or examples I think are when people take try to point a mod as ‘see it’s so easy’ when although I won’t knock the work that goes into mods and the like that’s still someone working with an already finished product - as well as working under their own time, without deadlines, having to work within someone else is specifications or anything else that comes with game development.

12) I know shit about coding but what I do know is sometimes even the smallest changes can make things go weird so maybe some of the design choices are just what worked without causing something else to bug.

13) To repeat they are fundamentally different games, whether at their best or worst graphically it’s simply unfair to compare them or at least compare them so closely without taking into account each games style (and the teams behind them)

I’m not saying there aren’t improvements to be made, or that it’s bad to compare games in general but I am however tired of the only game comparison I see people doing with Pokemon is to Zelda / Botw and whether intended or not just ends up sounding (to me) like Pokemon bad because it’s not realistic / detailed enough.

[theworldgate]

Okay, so, we know that there's some color-pair stuff going on, and it's likely that PWs get assigned based off that (for mono-color PWs it's a vibes thing).

I'll also guess that they have to be human-ish to make the correspondence work (and also because there are limited slots it's best to go for immediately 'legible' characters with decent cards in the past).

And I put too much thought into it so here's a cut:

We're presumably getting Chandra (I'd say, like, Badger if those are Rx (or a Raccoon? Raccoons may be RG going by the commander decks), or maybe the Spiky Lizardfolk) and Liliana (I'll go for Bat for now, she does a lot of metaphorical wing-spreading so the opportunity to literally do that feels fitting).

I think we're getting at least one Squirrel (it'd be weird if we didn't because the Lead Designer famously loves Squirrels, and there's probably the slots for it [again, assuming a dozen or so new SPG cards]), which I'll guess is Nissa (Squirrels are Green/Black - even if we get a mono-Green Nissa (incl. MAT Nissa) it fits. And she is quite squirrelly.). Although I could also see Vivien. (though, I think getting a Nissa isn't unlikely, and I haven't found anyone else for mole. Unless that's Vivien because Vivien's thing is searching for home and Nissa's things include "posing in trees" as-is). We might get both of them as Squirrels, of course, with no mole.

For Rabbit/Hare I'd say Thalia, because it includes creatures and I feel like that rider is specifically to include, like, Thalia, specifically.

We might get a second Otter [vis a vis Ral] in Saheeli, and if so, uh... maybe Mouse Huatli? Or a second Rabbit - if we're looking at a dozen Special Guests, we'd have at least one repeat. We might not get Huatli though - I don't know whether they'd go atemporal for the PW cards (so desparked walkers can be PWs for the purpose) or not and we're probably not getting a double-sided Special Guest unless double-sided cards are the whole shebang.

For our token Frogfolk, it probably has to be Kasmina for irony points, even if frogfolk aren't Blue/Green (though those or the Gecko Lizardfolk sure look it - I wonder if the Lizards are separate to the whole shebang, as we have a Rx looking Lizard, too).

Mu Yangling's thing is birds, but she hasn't appeared much, so I'll guess Narset instead (who also works if they go for keeping desparked walkers desparked, which is why I'm skipping Sarkhan). And okay maybe not one per critter because Niko could also go there? But Niko's single card is a 50 cent one so I'll guess not.

Mouse Nahiri feels really funny to me so I'll go ahead and 'predict' that - I think there has to be at least one PW who is Not Pleased at the transmogrification and. Again. Nahiri funny, and being a white mouse works for making her design legible (though I guess if it's MAT Nahiri, who has an equipment theme which might match the mice in this set too! - we'd also have the post-Phyrexian scarring that can be reflected in some way).

If we have Nahiri then we have to have Sorin who is a vampire so has to be a Bat, right? (I think his fit isn't sufficiently iconic that, like, they could get away with anything else)

Okay you know what I said up there about being "Human-ish"? I think Niv-Mizzet being a Lizardfolk of some description could fit regardless (especially if the Lizardfolk are outside the colour pairs, which they might have to be because we have a Gecko who is visibly Green/Blue and a different type of Lizard who is very obviously Not That).

I think that kind of leaves one slot. I think Teferi is the biggest name I haven't hit yet (who fits the theme) - the big issue there being his apparent desparkedness not being matched with a card, though we could bring out Mage of Zhalfir. If so... like he has to be another Fox which feels annoying insofar that we'd be missing one of the critter types but also. Like. They made Otters U/R and then made Ral Zarek a literal Otter. They could easily make the chill middle-aged-coded dude a silver fox.

ok so does anyone have predictions for pw fursonas in the bloomburrow what ifs

[twise]

Hi it’s me again (the one who asked about the gif thing) I’m both interested in the process and the colouring and sharpening and thank you so much for being willing to help it means a lot

hi again! no no it's really nothing and as i already said, im more than happy to help! idk if you want to know how i make my live performance gifs or mv gifs but i'll describe both processes!

it got a little bit long lol

- process: so for my mv sets, i first search for either a bugs, melon or master (master > rest) online. i then use mplayer for mac to screenshot the parts that i want to gif (found a tutorial online on how to screenshot with mplayer, idk what settings i had to change again but i can look for you if you want to know!) -> open ps and with "scripts" ("load as stack" i think?) import the screenshots -> convert to video time line -> convert to frames -> convert to frame animation -> reverse frames and delete the first frame. i then crop it using the ps crop tool and select the dimensions that i want (540 x 400-540 px depends on what looks the best). for live performances i use vapoursynth with denoise (6.1.1.1.2 ? something like that? idk) and sharpen in ps

- sharpening: for my mv sets, it really depends on the file im working with. i have three different kind of settings i can use, and if these don't fit i just do smth else lol, but i use lens blur, radius 0.3, 500, select "use legacy" "more accurate" + lens blur, radius 10, 10 OR gaussian blur, radius 0.3, 500 + lens blur, radius 10, 10 OR lens blur 0.2, 500 + gaussian blur 0.2, 500 + lens blur, radius 10,10. and if this doesnt look good i fool around a bit with the settings :D. for my live performances, i dont really know .. i think i fool around a bit with lens blur 0.2 or gaussian blur 0.3 ? idk i try something and select what fits

- colouring: okay so for my mv sets i stay true to the original colours. i like to add contrast and to make the colours really pop (im still struggling with this btw) but qua process i dont really have a standard psd i use i just colour from scratch everytime cuz every mv or scene is different . itd be kinda weird to make everything look the same imo. anyways i usually use the levels layer and select the brightest + darkest spot. most of the times this adds a lot of difference. so much sometimes that i only need to add one other layer but those moments are rare. i then add some contrast (still with levels) . i then move on to selective colour and make the neutrals/greys darker. i then go the colour balance and see what fits. then go to brightness contrast, add some brightness + contrast. go to vibrance and add some vibrance. then go back to selective colour and change the settings of some colours if needed. but this is not my standard process. sometimes i use 7 layers and sometimes 2. really depends. btw this is my own preference!! there are so many different kind of styles of colouring id advice you to just look around and try something for yourself and see what you like the most :D

so for my live performances i always struggle lmao. i do the same as above but with live performances its far more difficult. i make tiny adjustments and i have no idea honestly. i use levels/selective colour/colour balance/contrast+brightness/photo filter/vibrance/gradient map sometimes/colour lookup/channel mixer sometimes/hue+saturation to get rid of some colours. i just use everything basically sjfjsf

im sorry anon it got a little bit too long hshhs i hope this helped tho! if anything is still unclear or if you have additional questions, feel free to ask them!