#at least my attempt

[tartarusknight]

I don't know what you're hunting. It's not me, it's something else - Part 5/10

Also on ao3 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5: But you listen to the tone and the violent rhythm. And though the words sound steady, something's empty within 'em

The forest was filled with the sounds of sounds of rumbling growls and the crackle of fire. But Robin didn't slow down. She rushes towards where Nancy should be, unwilling to lose any more people. Just as she's running, she sees in the corner of her eye a figure rushing at her.

Robin raises the bat too slowly as she's tackled to the ground. Her back hit the ground, a root digging into her spine. She squeezes her eyes shut, expecting the pain of teeth digging into her flesh. Instead, a hand covers her mouth, stopping her from speaking.

Imagines of Eddie's long fingers with talons that could kill her in a second flash through her mind. But the person on top of her isn't attacking. They were keeping her still and quiet. She squeezes her eyes shut and for a moment she thinks it's Steve's hand. His body against hers. But she's been tackled by Steve before and this wasn't him.

Her mind lags until it settles on Nancy. The small but rough hands of hers, the gun on the ground next to them. The smaller form that was always surprisingly strong. Her eye peaks open to see black blood on Nancy's cheek and her chest heaving. She was out of breath but trying to stay as quiet as she could be. Robin stays still in her grasp, trusting Nancy.

Slowly Nancy's hand is removed from her face. “Boys?” Nancy mouths in question.

Robin nods to the road. “Car,” She mouths back, watching a little of the weight on Nancy's shoulders slide off.

Nancy's eyes narrow, “you should have run too.” She mouths and Robin glares back. It makes Nancy's mouth twitch like she wants to smile.

She rolls off of Robin and they slowly stand, the forest silent around them. Robin looks around, expecting to see the monster that took over Eddie's body, leering, waiting to attack. But nothing. The dark was hiding any signs of him. Nancy tugs on her hand making Robin turn to look at her. “We're closer to Steve's than the car,” she mouths and it takes Robin a second to understand it. “We can radio the others when we get there.” She continues silently.

She nods and gestures for Nancy to lead the way. Nancy moves forward a little before Robin reaches over and takes Nancy's hand on impulse. She can't see Nancy's reaction but she doesn't let go of Robin's hand. Nancy stays silent as she guides Robin through the woods, how she can tell where they are, Robin has no idea. But Robin kept a tight grip on her bat; the same as Nancy's grip on her gun. Robin's heart feels too loud in her chest as they creep onward.

The Harrington house comes into view in, what feels like an eternity later. The house always looked too big and lonely to Robin. Even before Steve told Robin how often his parents left him home alone. It made the house feel like a daunting pressure and it wasn't even directed towards her. It looked worse paired with the Upside Down's leaking atmosphere around them. The small flicker of ashe in the air made the house look haunted. 

Still, it was their best option. Once inside they could contact the others and hopefully learn that Dustin and Mike got out of there with the car. Then they could stay there either until someone like Hopper could come and get them now or they could bunker down until morning.

Nancy doesn't let go of Robin as they get to the door. She lets Robin pull her around as she grabs the hidden key under the gnome Robin bought for him. Robin looks over at her as she continues to scan the trees and Robin gets the door open. They slip inside and Robin doesn't go for the light switch just yet.

She leans back against the door next to Nancy, the two of them catching their breath for a moment. “Radio,” Nancy says so quietly that Robin almost misses it. The girl grabs the radio from a pocket in her small bag and switches it on. Instead getting loud arguing between Dustin and Will.

But Robin's distracted by a smell. Hawkins was smelling rotten as the Upside Down leaked into their world but this was different. It wasn't the normal cleaning product that the house usually smelt like. It smelt putride... acidy. “Robin and I are hiding out, go home if you haven't started driving yet,” Nancy states, her voice coming out not as strong as normal. Making Robin focus on the conversation.

The voices of the kids are all frantic. “Oh thank god,” Mike says in the background of Dustin's “Where are you? We can pick you up. We lost Eddie a little while back. We had to drive off pretty quickly and- fucks sake Mike watch the mailbox. I guess Ted Wheeler doesn't have the best driver's training advice.” Robin smiles at the kid's distracted ramble.

“You guys are okay?” Jonathan asked.

Nancy's hand grips hers a little tighter. “I think so, after I shot at him and ran we haven't dealt with much of anything. But we're staying alert.”

Robin leans closer to Nancy, “Dustin you head back to the cabin or Wheelers. We don't need you out looking for us right now.” She says and Nancy nods in agreement.

“Do you want Hop and I-” Jonathan starts to ask but Robin's distracted by the sound of something upstairs.

Her eyes go to where the stairs are but the dark house is hard to see. Nancy tensed up as well and Robin gestured to the light next to the shorter girl. She gently handed the radio to Robin before sliding over to flick on the entryway light. Instantly Robin's stomach is twisting.

The walls are covered in blood. So much blood. The blood was inky black, some fresh some crusted and old. Claw marks littered the walls like something had been locked in. Some of it dripped down the wall but most of it didn't look a few hours old but instead looked days old.

Something was wrong. Robin shut off the radio, plunging them into silence. Except for a very soft footfall above them. Nancy glanced back to the door but Robin was focused on the walls. Steve disappeared not even 3 hours ago. This was too old to be from tonight.

She looked over at Nancy, hoping the other girl wasn't as lost as she was. Nancy let go of Robin's hand to get two hands on her shotgun. Pointing towards the stairs. Robin swallowed, gripping the bat tighter. “Should we go?” Robin whispered and Nancy looked at the door. It reminded Robin of what they had just run away from. What was the smarter option?

Nancy took a step further into the house and Robin wondered if Nancy was thinking logically or trying to solve the puzzle. Nancy seemed to get distracted by something by the sliding glass doors. Robin grimaced but moved away from the door, following after her.

The doors were shattered, the glass on the outside, meaning something broke out . But that wasn't even the worst part. A gate pulsed from the bottom of Steve's pool. Her throat felt tight and she began to shake. She thought of the distance Steve had put between them this time. Robin had thought it was because they lost. But now...

A low rumble came from the house and Nancy glanced back, her eyes going behind Robin. However, she turned her back on the gate. Robin shot forward as a vine shot toward Nancy. She barely registered Nancy's shout of her name before her hands reached Nancy as the vine did the same.

It curled around Nancy's chest tight enough for the air to leave her lungs. Nancy didn't have a second to breathe before she was pulled backward into the pool. Robin refused to let go of Nancy even as they hit the water and were pulled through the gate. It tossed them against the now-empty pool wall. Robin forced herself to keep moving and rolled to her feet.

Nancy's hands scrambled at the vine, her shotgun on the ground away from her. She struggled to sink in a breath as the vine held her tight. Robin dropped the radio to bring the bat down on the vine. Doing it again and again until Nancy sucked in a deep breath and was able to rip herself away from its grip.

They stumbled to their feet, grabbing the walkie that was now waterlogged and Nancy's shotgun. Before Robin can take a step towards the portal Nancy's pulling her away from it and to the ladder. “Nance,” she whispered as she felt Nancy shaking.

“We're going out a different portal.” She demanded and Robin remembered Steve's short admittance that Barb Holland died in that pool. She wouldn't be surprised if the portal was there because of that.

But she also knew Nancy was smart and brave enough to go back through that gate if it was the fastest way out of this hellscape. “Nancy, we need to get out of here as soon as possible.” She argued but Nancy was already climbing out. Robin grimaced before following her. “Nancy is it smart-”

“We need to be fast,” Nancy demanded, her hand grabbing Robin's once again.

“Fast would be that gate,” Robin stated but didn't stop Nancy from pulling her back inside the Harrington home and to the front door. “Nancy-”

Nancy tugged her closer, “You can- you wouldn't want to go back that way. Now let's just keep moving.”

Robin's eyebrows furrowed, “what do you mean I would-” she goes quiet at the sound of a familiar guttural growling. She tenses up and stops fighting Nancy. Jogging to pick up the pace. Repeating to herself that you can hear their world from this world. Before they could even get out of the too-big Harrington house, a scream that was far more human than a monster, roared in the silence.

She could hear the gate's squelching as something came out of it. Following them into the Upside Down. The sound of nails scratching the ground as something raced into the house had Robin panicking. Nancy pulled them into a room and shut the door behind them. Before they can even lock the door, something slams against it.

They both jolt, barely able to keep it from slamming open. They put their weight against it, holding it shut to the best of their ability. Robin couldn't get Eddie's monstrous face out of her head as she wondered if she might die right here and now. In Steve's spare bedroom with its shitty window that could never lock because of Tommy and Carol.

“Rob, Rob, I'm sorry,” The voice from the other side of the door is wrecked. Like someone who had been choked out and drowned. But it was Steve's. “Robbie, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry, please just open the door. I'm sorry, please let me in. There's- there's shit out here.” Steve begs and Robin looks over at Nancy.

Nancy is shaking her head, looking even paler than she had when she had Eddie's blood on her face, dripping down her neck. She doesn't even lessen her stance against the door as if they were trying to keep Steve out. “Not him,” she mouths and Robin doesn't understand. How couldn't it be him? It sounded like him.

The door nob twists and jerks, like Steve's trying it. Nancy presses even harder as Robin feels frozen. She thought- but that was Steve. Steve was okay, he got up like he always does. “Robbie, please let me in. I- I'm sorry about earlier. You know I love you.” He promises and Robin starts to let up against the door. “You know I do. You're- you're my soulmate.” He says and Robin's ready to open the door and tackle Steve into the biggest hug.

Then he continues, “You're mine - my soulmate. You know this. It's the two of us against the world. The love of my life.” As the door jerks, she braces against it. Nancy looks shocked at the help but Robin's brain spins with information. “ Stop being so - I'm sorry okay, just let me in. We need to get out of here.”

Robin moves her hand over and clicks the lock in place. It won't do much but it'll give them an extra second. Her chest heaves as she hears a choked-off grunt that isn't completely human. She bites her lips and looks at Nancy, nodding her head to the window. “Run to the pool,” She mouths and Nancy's eyes widen.

“I'm not leaving you behind.” She mouths back and Robin's eyes squeeze shut.

“Robbie, I know you're panicking but I can protect you. Just- just let me in. We can work together and get out of here. We can finish this together. Like we do everything.” Steve's voice seems to be getting raspier the longer he speaks.

Nancy grabs Robin's hand, “Together.” She mouths and Robin shakes her head.

But before she can respond the door slams again, hard this time. Robin can almost hear the wood starting to break. “ God dammit Nancy stop poisoning people against me. Let me in, ” Steve snaps and there's a low rumble paired with the words. Like he couldn't hold back on the sounds any longer.

“Robin, we're- why aren't you letting me in? Don't you care about me at all? I thought- don't you trust me ?” The voice was off completely now and Robin refused to think it was her best friend. The door shuttered against another slam.

As soon as they stabilized the door, she ran to the window. She pried it open and waved her over. Nancy looked at the door before moving over as quickly and quietly as she could. Robin crawled out and gave Nancy a hand. They ran across the yard and Robin ignored the ladder to drop in on the swallow end.

She winced as she heard the door splintering in the room they left behind and dove into the water. It was confusing and took her a second to get her bearings before she was able to break the surface. She wiped the water from her face and relaxed a little as Nancy broke the surface right next to her.

Robin never got out of a pool faster though. Nancy gave her a hand after pulling herself up with more ease than Robin had. She had lost the bat at some point but felt at least a little safe with Nancy holding her shotgun. Nancy tugged her back inside the Harrington's house and this time they were just running. A roar emitted from the pool as they stumbled down the steps and started to run down the driveway.

This is not what I had planned. It's out of my control (Waiting For the End - Linkin Park) Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Tags: @ellietheasexylibrarian @nburkhardt @artiststarme @flowers-that-sing @juleswashere3 @indiearr @remosdeerica

[hinamie]

oversaturate

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

[choccy-milky]

💖🎊the end, & thank you for reading!!🎊💖

im so thankful for all the support i got on this story, and i wouldn't have finished it if not for all of you, and for the love i got for seb and clora. so thank you again for giving me the motivation to write this 600k+ monster, and to see it through to the very end. LOVE YALL💖🫶 (ao3/wattpad)

[kandismon]

totally lore accurate swanqueen screencap redraws 1/∞

i'm trying to learn how to draw emma and regina and figured just kinda redrawing some screencaps is the best and most fun way haha

bonus:

[tubbytarchia]

Missed drawing these two too

Bonuses

[the-lions-art-cave]

cold spring morning

[benevolenterrancy]

@mikkeneko they were told it was a bad time to go night-hunting! what's mu qingfang supposed to do with sect siblings that don't LISTEN??

[turtledotjpeg]

much art has been made of kurapika leaning/napping on melody and i love all of that art. so much. but i also wanted him to return the favor :)

he is doing his best to be a comforting presence in his own way (◡‿◡)

[sonic-adventure-3]

the answer is a resounding yes from all parties (except tails, who doesn’t really appreciate being stolen from)

[televenus]

keep swinging that hammer... im sure ur feelings will go away soon enough

[tartarusknight]

I don't know what you're hunting. It's not me, it's something else - Part 4/10

Also on ao3 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4: Don't go around tonight. Well, it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise.

Robin crept down the steps, leaving Nancy as she got distracted talking to the others threw the walkie. She thought about waiting to hear what El saw but she couldn't stay still. As she got to the door she froze as she saw Dustin putting on his own shoes. He froze as he caught sight of her.

"I can't leave him." He snapped and Robin looked over his face. He had a backpack on and a heavy coat, going for safety. It makes her pull the letterman jacket she had borrowed from Steve and never gave back, tighter around her. "You can't stop me," he crossed his arms, trying to look like he was nervous to head into the night.

She didn't say anything as she walked closer, pulling on her shoes. "We should go while Nancy's distracted." She huffs and looks over at his shocked face. "You think I'm going to let my soulmate die out there? Is Mike distracted or covering for you?"

Before Dustin can respond, Mike in his own protection comes out. "Let's go," Mike orders before he freezes at the sight of Robin. "To bed," he finishes lamely.

Rolling her eyes she grabs the baseball bat out of his hands. "Let's just go before the others realize we're gone," she sighs.

Robin lets Dustin lead the way with his flashlight. Her own eyes keep track of their surroundings. The sounds of the night have them all on edge and she vaguely wishes Nancy had just come with them. She could feel her nervous rambling at the back of her throat but she did her best to stay silent.

They switched to walking on the roads and in the woods, taking the most direct route to where Steve's car had been. Hopefully where Steve would be. It had been so quiet that when she heard the sound of a car it felt like a shock to her system. It's loud and the three of them stumble into the ditch.

Only it stopped a little bit further and she recognised Nancy's Station Wagon. Nancy is getting out and looking back at the three of them. “You couldn't even wait for El to look for him!” She whisper-shouted and Robin wanted to argue, but she also felt tense being loud in the dark, in the open. Like anything could attack them out here. It made her mouth dry and her tongue twist.

Nancy moved over, grabbing a shotgun out of the passenger seat. “I care too! I care and want to find him.” Nancy spits and Robin knows deep down that their behavior is unfair. Nancy's got tear tracks on her face and her grip on her gun is so tight Robin can see the way her knuckles go white. “I swear if I miss important news because I had to come and join you in the physical search, I'll kill all of you.” She states and it makes Robin blink.

Nancy had done the stupider option. She didn't wait and plan. She ran out of her house to them. She wanted to help them find Steve more. Robin didn't know if it was a good thing. Because she knew they should've been smarter but she couldn't just wait. Steve would always come first to her.

Nancy gestured to her car, “I'll bring us closer. Not too close, if the Demo-creature is still around his car, we don't want to alert it.” She states and Robin nods dumbly. “All of you will take one of the weapons in my trunk and listen to me. We do this as smart as we can. That way when we get back to the house we can radio the others so they don't want to kill us.”

Robin nods and heads to the passenger seat, her eyes scanning the trees. “I had my radio with me, just in case,” Dustin says and Nancy looks over them. She raises her eyebrow, “it's just shut off. I didn't want it to alert anything to us.” He mutters and she nods in understanding.

They drive through the apocalyptic world until the car is barely in view. Nancy pulls over and they all get out. Nancy puts her illegally sawed-off shotgun on a strap while holding her pistol in hand. Mike opens the trunk and Robin looks over to see the mix of weapons. Mike takes one of the spears, Dustin following suit. Robin grabs the axe Steve had used last time. 

However, Nancy moves over to her and hands her a bag. Robin takes it easily and looks in to see a couple of bottles inside. She swallows and fixes a couple into a Molotov with too much ease. Then they head over to the car as silently as they can. Only the small clink of bottles and crunch of glass under their shoes.

Robin holds the axe tightly in one hand, the same feeling she had when she had been walking through the Upside Down. The fear that had her feeling like prey. As they reach Steve's car, Dustin's light goes to the puddle and a couple of steps that had been in the black goo. It wasn't shiny anymore but it still looked... wrong.

“He must've gone into the forest,” Mike says as quietly as he can.

Dustin nodded, “That- the footsteps are heading west which is where Steve's house is,” He stated. Robin isn't sure about it, but she trusts him.

Nancy moved a step towards Steve's house. “Like he couldn't get to his car, so he went to the woods.” She decides and Robin's hands shake.

Robin moves toward the woods, and Nancy's hand jumps to her arm. “We should back to the car and drive to his house.” She says and Robin wants to argue. She wants to deny it and head into the woods. She looks at the two kids in their group and knows Steve would be pissed if she got them into danger.

But Mike is already almost to the edge of the woods, Dustin not too far behind. She gives Nancy a small shake of her head before she jogs to catch up. The woods are dead silent and she remembered reading something as a kid, that the world would go silent in the presence of a deadly predator. Her fingers dipped down to grip one of the bottles that were made into Molotovs.

There was a blur of movement, something pale in the corner of her version. She turned quickly, eyes scanning the dark woods. However, they all jumped, looking to the right at the sound of a loud scratch on wood. Robin's mind went to the claw marks on the trees. She moved next to Dustin, ready to light up a bottle if needed.

A soft chittering sound came from behind them. As Robin turned towards it, it shifted and changed into a rumbling growl that slowly, as if it needed to build ,  became a piercing shriek that cut the quiet of the night. Robin's hair stood on end, and Dustin's light flickered as it moved against the trees. The flashlight flashed faster until the light bulb burst. Shattering so harshly that Dustin let it fall to the ground.

The darkness took over them and Robin blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus. The night was all-encompassing, no moon, no stars, just the swirling clouds that came from the Upside Down. Just the darkness that had no business in their world. Robin pulled out her lighter for the Molotovs but didn't light it. Not when it wouldn't do much of anything.

Something felt off. Wrong. To their left, she saw movement. She tried her best to brace for it, to be ready for whatever was coming their way. The sounds of skin shifting, and splitting broke through the night. And it was as if it was just as loud as the monstrous shriek that had stopped them. But her eyes couldn't find it in the darkness.

As she reached over and grabbed Dustin's arm, she finally caught sight of it. The movement was horrifying as it stalked toward them on all fours. The limbs sticking out at unnatural angles for any animal but not quite human either. It was as if a human's limbs were pulled out of their joints and twisted enough so that the creature could get as low to the ground to hunt their prey.

It let out a low warble and Robin felt more like prey than she ever has. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the creature. The two large black bony membranes dripped black inky liquid, the wings shot out and it was so close that she felt the liquid hit her face. The creature let out another terrifying sound, the growl that Robin could feel in her bones.

The pale creature's mouth ripped open like petals, a sickening squelch as it did. It reminded Robin of the Mind Flayer and she remembered what Steve had told her about Demogorgon's. Only this didn't look like the Upside Down creatures she'd seen before. The frighteningly human aspects of the nose and black eyes that followed their even slightest movements. The almost black curly mane of hair hid bits and pieces of the face.

But Robin had seen enough to make her heart drop. Even in the dark night, even so different than what she was used to, she recognized that face. “Eddie?” Dustin's voice shook and she wanted to reach out and talk Eddie out of whatever this was. But as she watched the unnerving way Eddie's head tilted in their direction she had a feeling that wouldn't do anything.

Eddie- this creature wasn't moving like he remembered his humanity. He moved like a predator. The low rattling sound he let out gave Robin just enough of a push to light Molotov. As he ran towards them, his mouth open and ready to attack, she threw the bottle. It smashed into the ground between them and lit up the area. The fire spread quickly, creating a barrier between them.

It had Eddie rearing back and skittering not like he was scared but like he was pissed. “Go,” Nancy ordered and Robin grabbed Dustin, pulling him with her. Dustin seemed frozen but Robin didn't slow. She pulled him, taking most of his weight before Mike took Dustin's other side. The two of them half dragged Dustin towards Nancy's car.

Nancy grabbed the bag of Molotovs from Robin and shoved her keys into her chest, Robin barely was able to catch them. That determined look on Nancy's face appeared and Robin's heart beat wildly. She turned from Robin and back to Eddie. Robin didn't stop to watch her light a Molotov up and throw it.

Only hearing the snarl from Eddie as she pulled Dustin made sure to keep the boys moving. But she couldn't stop listening to the way Eddie's growl had an underlying human aspect to the sound. Mike was slowing, glancing back to where his sister had gone. Robin swallowed and shoved the keys to Mike. “Bring the car as close as you can.” She ordered.

Mike only hesitated for a moment before he let go of Dustin and ran. Robin pulled Dustin closer, “come on kid.” She pushed but Dustin looked lost. “Panic later,” she tried to order but it came out more like a plead. Dustin was shaking but he nodded and took most of his weight. He was slow because of his leg but Robin didn't let that slow them down. The sound of a gun going off had Dustin let out a sob as Robin's heart picked up the pace if it was even possible.

The sound of squealing tires sounded and Robin shoved Dustin toward the sound. “Go, now,” she ordered before she turned around. Her eyes tracked the dark forest, seeing a little bit of fire from the distance but not Nancy or Eddie.

“We don't leave people behind,” Dustin argued and Robin straightened up. Gripping her bat wouldn't be enough against something like Eddie.

“Go, Dustin, now,” she snapped.

Mike appeared back and even though he was breathing heavily, he looked ready to keep going. “Go the second anything goes wrong.” She tells them and sees Mike look where Nancy is. A shot rang out again. “We don't have time, listen to me and be ready.” As Mike looked ready to argue she backed up a few steps.

“Be ready to get us outta here,” she ordered, and that at least seemed to get the boys to understand. Dustin's eyes were filled with angry tears as he nodded. Mike huffed but he grabbed Dustin instantly, grim determination on his face. Robin nodded before she ran back for Nancy.

I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin'. I see bad times today (Bad Moon Rising)

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Tags: @ellietheasexylibrarian @nburkhardt @artiststarme @flowers-that-sing @juleswashere3 @indiearr @remosdeerica

[sleepis4theweak]

Inspired by my one of my little cousins (who is the youngest of three) who has this LOOK that she does that IS SO INFURIATING but also like really works. I think all youngest children have it lmao-

Anyways, Next part

[twitter-sakuranokaze]

FF14 Battle Portrait Tutorial

For the past few weeks I was trying to find a way to recreate the battle portrait from FF14 as there was a few characters that I want to see in that style but don't officially have one yet. I think I got it down more or less (see image below) so I thought it's a good time to share what I did.

First of all, I made a few files that would help make life a little easier. They can be grabbed here .

Note: I did use Reshade to do a bit of work at the screenshot stage to help speed up the process but the same effect can be recreated in Photoshop with a vanilla screenshot. There are a lot of tutorials on how to do comic/cartoon effect in photoshop and those would make good bases to work off of.

Step 1: Take the screenshot with the PortraitBase Shader on. I usually take two screenshots. One with "Comic" on and one with it turned off. This is so that I have more to work with if needed.

Step 2: Drag all the screenshots into photoshop and remove the background. In photoshop, arrange the layer so that the screenshot with the Comic lines visible is on top of the one with the effect off.

Step 3: Duplicate the the layer with the "comic" effect and apply Blur->Gaussian blur (radius 0.5)

Step 4: Take a look at the hair. In Eric's case, It still doesn't look blur enough to me so I used the blur tool and blurred it a bit more

Step 5: Create a new layer above the layer in the previous step and use the brush tool to start outlining the edges. Where to outline is up to you but the idea is to make edges defined so that it looks more like a drawing.

Step 6: Duplicate the outline layer and then hide that layer. Step 7: Merge everything under the outline layer. Step 8: Drag and drop the "Texture.png" into the project and Clip it to your character layer. Set the blending of the texture to "soft light". Step 9: Drag and drop the "stroke Texture.png" into the project and Clip it to your character layer. Adjust the size till you are happy then set the blending to "overlay". Step 10: Adjust the opacity settings of both texture layers until it looks good to you.

Step 11: Click on your character layer and go to image->Adjustments->Hue/Saturation (note: you will see I dragged in the official Hades portrait as a point of reference to work off of). Adjust the saturation till you are happy.

Step 12: Go to image->Adjustments->Color Balance and adjust the color till you are happy. In this example, since Eric is also wearing the Sophist robe, I tried to match that color to Hades' Sophist robe color.

Step 13: Once you are happy, drag the "Template.png" into the project and scale that to the size you want. Make sure it is completely covering the character. If it's not, you can just use paint more of it with the brush tool to extend it till it covers everything.

Step 14: Hide the "template.png" layer and select your character layer. Use the magic wand tool to select the outside of the character.

Step 15: With the selection still selected, click on the "Template.png" layer and press delete on your keyboard. You should now be left with a blank in the shape of your character.

Step 16: Drag the"Template.png" layer to be below your character layer. Then click on your character layer and clip it.

Step 17: Click on the "Template.png" layer and add a 2px stroke and shadow to it.

Step 18: Drag "Back_Deco.png" into the project and place it behind your character. Scale it till you are happy with it.

And that's it! Now you can recreate portraits for any NPCs that you want (in theory). A lot of it is also fine tuning to what you want but this should at least give you a decent base to work off of :)

[whoviandoodler]

been thinking about pok a lot again and that moment when riz told him sklonda was dating gorthalax (in some capacity or another) and pok just went quiet for a bit before he wished her well and like. he's riz's father to such a degree that it hurts. he died young, got to paradise and then said, ok time to go back to work, chop chop. and he does take breaks to listen to riz at his grave and he works in a beautiful meadow when he's not down in hell and -literally speaking- he does sit down but metaphorically he keeps on going and going.

and i'm just imagining that- obviously he knows that he's dead, right? but the human* brain is weird in that way where you'll know things, and you might even sit with them and think you've processed them, but then something will hit you out of left field and you'll realize there are so many aspects of the situation you hadn't internalized yet, and i think that one of those aspects for pok was sklonda, or rather all the dimensions in which her life branched off after he died. because with riz he'd always been painfully aware that his kid was growing up and changing, but with sklonda it's a bit more complicated, it's a bit easier to process the grief of being apart from her, purely on an unconscious level, as being away for work. he's working, she's working, she probably tells him about her work and about riz and riz includes his mom in his stories and it's like, oh this is horribly painful, that i can't be there, but in a way he and sklonda share a lot of what they used to when he was working abroad, no matter how far apart- they're always connected by their love for each other and the quiet but omnipresent nuptial tie and the state of being riz's parents.

and then he's suddenly hit with the reality of an area of sklonda's life that hadn't been on his mind before, considering they were happily and monogamously married. truly just a matter of like, this is not a space you occupy anymore, you're fucking dead, until death do us part and all that, and she might still love you but she loves you like a dead husband like a source of grief like the man she once knew not a living partner. and it's neither of their faults, it's purely a tragedy, and he genuinely wishes her the best because he loves her, he doesn't want her to be alone nor does he expect her to be faithful past reason and the vow they made to each other. but the grief of it still really fucking stings, doesn't it?

[sunnibits]

decided to join in on @quezify’s eggtober again this year as a little art warmup and I actually ended up really enjoying it!! it’s obviously way outside of my usual comfort zone so I’m very happy that I was able to create an end result that I’m proud of :)