#best lens

[idlesuperstar]

this speaks to me on a molecular level

[nazbruhh]

Vocaloids/Virtual singers World link cards

[bixels]

I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.

Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.

So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.

I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.

Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.

You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.

[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]

[m0e-ru]

say cheese !

[riyo-soka]

Why tf were the dog and Crosshair consistently better at sensing incoming danger than the guy who was literally engineered in a lab to sense incoming danger. You’re telling me that when a brainwashed assassin ordered to capture Omega was literally in the same room as him, Hunter “overprotective father figure” badbatch couldn’t pick up on that but their new dog did?

[spacebubblehomebase]

"I promise you, my dearest brother, never again will we be lonely. Never again will we be without a home. We have each other now and I'll always be here. As you were there for me."

I am not ashamed to admit that I repeatedly daydream about how, to a much younger Tim, having a baby brother is an actual wish come true! These two would grow well in each other's care as they would be able to rely on the other, if given the chance. They'd be quite the fun team! I am also still proud of my essay about why these two birdies have so much in common and ya'll should read it. >=D (It's really old though. Somewhere in the pits of Tumblr hell, it's been cooking. Dare I even say, boiling.) They are my baby boys and these boys are brothers, your honor!

-Bubbly💙

[deuynndoodles]

[id: a colored, digital drawing of legend, ravio and marin from linked universe. they all sit in a cuddle group on the ground. ravio gesticulates to marin, saying something inaudible, with marin smirking in response. legend lays his head in marin's lap, reaching his left hand up to hold hers. he holds his right index finger up and says, "not how that happened". not is in all caps. end id]

protip: don't gossip about a certain someone's adventures when he's right there to correct you

trade w @caramel-catss ! read their thing here :]

[idrawvocaloid]

also heres all the treats (and tricks) from this years trick or treating asks, thanks for all the asks everyone!!

[front-facing-pokemon]

[screwsfall0ut]

Tim Drake Befriends a Bee Minific

When Tim was young and very lonely, he befriended a bumblebee. 

Back then, he was curious in a way that teased wonder on every rusted fire escape. At 9 years old, even Gotham’s grimiest streets sparkled under the right light and perfect Summer days were for adventure, not dread. 

It had been one of those perfect days - balmy, sunny, fresh, and crisp - when Tim almost stepped on a bee. He paused, one leg raised, light up sneakers still flashing, and hopped to the side. 

He carefully picked it up. The poor thing didn't have wings. It was so delicate. Its tiny legs tickled Tim's palms.

Tim was stricken with fear that it would die on the hot pavement, alone and scared. It needed to be protected. It needed a chance.

An eyedropper of sugar water and 30 minutes later, the bee was moving - crawling all over the table and, eventually, over Tim's hands. He brought the bee out into the garden, letting it examine the roses, the lavender, the yarrow.

Tim couldn’t leave it out there, defenseless, with no one to watch over it, to make sure it wasn't eaten or crushed or lonely. 

He named the bee Sisko, after his favorite Star Trek character, and because it was an onomatopoeia of the strange buzzing sound Sisko would make while traveling up and down Tim’s arms.

Day after day, Sisko and Tim would make new sugar water, then go explore every flower and bush and stone on the Drake property. Sisko’s favorites were the yellow roses, which had bloomed brighter and taller than anything else that season. Sisko would always crawl back to Tim’s hands in the end, or his arms, sometimes even up Tim's neck and into his bushy hair to keep Tim company while heating up chicken nuggets or peeling open protein bars or chowing down cold pizza. 

At night, Sisko slept in the ratty, soft stomach of Tim’s favorite stuffed animal, a bunny his Mom had given him when he was too young to remember. Tim moved the stuffy from his bed to his dresser (he was nervous about rolling onto Sisko in his sleep) and every night checked that Sisko was safe and sound before turning out the lights. 

They were friends - best friends. 

With Sisko, Tim lost the urge to wander off in Gotham proper for batwatching. Instead, he’d re-learned every step of Drake property, fell in love again with the flowers and trails, the old, old trees, and the pond out near the property line. 

Tim knew Sisko was on borrowed time (of course he did) but against all logic, Tim was certain that Sisko wasn’t any normal bumblebee. How could he be? Not when he’d chosen Tim, not when they'd made a home together. Anyway, why should it be so ridiculous to think that Sisko might be a witch's familiar or a companion like Jiminy Cricket. Magic was real, and there were stranger things on Gotham's streets every day.

Tim started to believe, actually believe, that one day he and Sisko might slip into Narnia or Wonderland or Middle Earth. Every day was an adventure.

Eventually the cold began to creep back, hardening the ground, taking the flowers, and turning the leaves. It was a chilly Sunday afternoon when Sisko crawled into Tim’s palm, fell asleep, and never woke up again. No matter how much Tim begged and begged and begged.  

He'd died so quietly. So unceremoniously. Tim wasn't ready. It wasn't fair.

Sisko was just a bee, and Tim was just a boy, and there were no magic wardrobes waiting for them.

Tim buried Sisko under the yellow rose bush, long gone spindly and brown. He cried so much that he'd thrown up in the dirt. 

Later that week, Scarecrow broke out of Arkham. For the first time since June, Tim pulled out his black clothes and his camera bag to watch Batman and Robin save the day. 

The click click of his camera shutter, the smoggy sky, the sweet rot smell of the dumpsters: that was familiar. Tim was a shadow again. He could lose himself: in the dark, in the night. 

Tim tucked his bunny stuffy into the back of his closet. He stopped waiting for magic to find him, at least, not the kind you'd read about in storybooks. Magic may have been real, but it was for people like Robin, people who swung from rooftops and laughed loud and made the world brighter. It was never meant for someone like Tim.

[turtleblogatlast]

The fact that Leo can go literally anywhere on earth to be alone with his thoughts at a single moment’s notice is something that shakes around in my head all the time. Like, portals and teleportation are amazing and convenient abilities both in and out of battle, but they could also so easily be used to run away as well.

I don’t think Leo ever would, at least not most of the time. He loves his family too much, and is too dependent on their love and attention to cut himself off so suddenly like that, but it’s a very real possibility nonetheless.

It’s a good thing Leo’s overall temper is more on the mild side and he prefers going to his room or something to complete solitude, because it really is dangerous for a kid to have the ability to isolate themselves like that at their fingertips.

[terakabil]

"ANA DE ARMAS " as EVE MACARRO

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025), dir. Len Wiseman.

[keratoconusgroup]

[mercisnm]

3x03

[fictionadventurer]

The essay about the fairy tale influences on the Little House series goes into great detail about all the fairy tale elements of Little House in the Big Woods, and mentions how the series ends with Laura marrying her "Prince Charming", but I'm disappointed that it completely failed to mention:

Mr. Edwards is portrayed as almost a magical helper. His "wildcat from Tennessee" characterization draws from tall tale traditions like Davy Crockett--a distinctly American legendary figure come to help the frontier family. The fact that he's portrayed as literally meeting and collaborating with Santa Claus. The way he shows up several books later as a deus ex machina to help Pa get his homestead--almost like the fairy tale trope of the magical creature getting help from the hero early on and then coming back to help the hero.

The moment with the wolves on Silver Lake that's portrayed like a mystical encounter with some grand and tragic fairy king.

The moment in the fairy ring at the end of Silver Lake, and how these two moments create a fairy tale theme about the tension between the magical and the mundane as the prairie is settled.

Cap Garland having an almost magical sense of direction that helps him to reach the town and get help when the schoolteacher is leading the rest of the students the wrong way.

Almanzo and Cap going on a fairy tale quest to find the potentially-mythical supplies that could save the whole town.

[kenobihater]

enjoying 2012 les mis is like. yes i love parts of it. yes aspects of it are absolutely sinful and straight up bad. the acting is terrific. the singing is dogshit (please give jackman a glass of water) except when it verges on angelic (redmayne, barks, and seyfried). the casting is iconic (blagden served cunt for his .2 seconds of screentime and barks is legendary). who let tom hooper direct this (it was mackintosh (derogatory)). why did they cut parts of the songs only to ADD an entire new number. would i recommend watching it? absolutely. should it be your first exposure to les mis? absolutely NOT. was it mine? you know it babes! is it the most well known/popular/easiest version to find? again, yes, but i'm begging you on hands and knees to watch it live or find a bootleg or the 25th anniversary concert or ANYTHING else as an introduction or i promise that the version of the musical that burns itself into your memory will include ugly singing (i speak from experience)