#excuse to try lasso painting

[rad-roche]

we're in the sunset of his year...!

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Dante x Reader Halloween Edition

More old shit I forgot about uploading. Enjoy even though it's not Spooktober.

Dante

Halloween

It's all Hallows eve and it turns out that this is one of the busiest days for all of dmc. Turns out that demons really do show up in groups on the devils night and citizens are willing to pay top dollar for anyone to exercise them. You were watching a movie on your boyfriends shitty CRT that Morrison somehow managed to fix and your favorite Halloween movie was playing. Frankenhooker! Dante almost shot the VHS case with Ebony and Ivory but you had to convince him that it wasn't possessed by a demon, the box just talked.

Suddenly the phone rang and the demon slayer picked up. "Devil May Cry, how can I help you?" Turns out there were some demons in a haunted house and the client was willing to pay $25,000. The team assembled and everyone got into Nico's van (which was still painted like the mystery mobile). Dante was decked out in a Ghostbusters uniform that you swear he was just waiting for an excuse to put on while you were more modest and went as a mummy (cough GILVER cough) and you had to put the costume back on the roll because Dante couldn't afford to buy more rolls of bounty. Nico was dressed as a teletubby while she somehow managed to drag Nero and Vergil along for the ride as well. She had made a Freddy Krueger style devil breaker for Nero but he had chosen to replace his arm with a plunger and go as Luigi. And finally Vergil was dressed up as Sepirtoth so he wouldn't look suspicious while carrying Yamato in public (which was never going to work).

You reached the house and drove up to the gate. All of a sudden there was an ominous flash of lightning and crows began to flee. "That's always a good sign!" Said Nero. He looked around and noticed how tall the fence was. "Anyone know a way in?" he said. Dante then perked up and mentioned how they could pretend to deliver a pizza and Nero scoffed. "You fucking idiot! I guess that punch of mine really did give you brain damage." Next thing they knew, the vans headlights turned on and a "GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!!" could be heard. Turns out that Nico thought it would be a great idea to just drive through the gate.

"Well that takes care of one problem." You said and then the narrator made it a note to not give you anymore lines in this chapter. Vergil used judgement cut on the door to try and flex on Dante but everyone ignored it. As they made their way inside they noticed how the building was actually just the vanilla ghost house from super mario world. Suddenly there was a giant green bubble and Dante yelled "I AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS!" and used his cowboy skills to pull out a lasso and try to wrangle the creature.

Like in Ghostbusters though he just ended up getting slimed. You knew someone was going to have to hose him off before he entered the van again. Nero raised his fist to claim dibs on not having that job and accidentally released his plunger breaker. It grabbed on to the chandelier and pulled it down, causing the mansion to crash and turn into rubble. "Guess I'm not getting paid again..." said Dante as he took a roll of toilet paper off of you and wiped himself off. Nico smiled and said "Maybe the reward was the adventure we made anyway." and then everyone laughed like they were in the end of a cringey 80's movie.

As they drove off, you could see another house nearby. They had visited the wrong location and Casper the ghost would live for another day.

[nn-ee-zz]

Hello! I'm dropping by to tell you your art is absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

If you dont mind I also had a couple of question. What's your art process? Do you do your lineart on paper and color digitally? What programs do you use?

Thank you!

The answer is yes! The lineart has a traditional feel to it because it is indeed made traditionally.

The drawings for personal work are very small (mechanical pencil for comparison), for the sake of saving time. Larger sizes are used for commissions and if the character requires the space.

The next phase is coloring. I use Photoshop Portable but any program with the following tools can work: Layers (Normal, Multiply, Color, Overlay mode), Lasso Tool, ability to Create Clipping Mask, and Image Adjustments (my faves being Selective Color, Photo Filter, Levels, Brightness/Constrast, and Vibrancy).

The lineart layer is set to Multiply mode. I advise you make a light grey base under the lineart layer. Then use the Overlay and Color layers to place the colors on top.

The process that follows is very experimental. I try different approaches in therms of texture and color, and often end up with several layers for minor adjustements. I do recommend you eventually merge them all down.

The following aren't rules, but things I have in mind and learned as my process progressed.

Lineart; The lineart is there to serve as a base and guideline, not as a restriction. You can go over the lines, erase them, shift them, paint over them, add to it. Since you're not meant to be so attached to it, you shouldn't worry about making it perfect and clean traditionally.

Rendering; Falling into the trap of over-shading is so easy! The thing with shading is that if you put a lot of effort into one area, the same level of effort should follow all else. I excuse my 'roughness' by telling myself that I'm doing concept art and not illustration. The goal is just to get the idea across.

Light; Following the point above. You don't want to over-do it, but you also want to making it stand out. Unless something is incredibly reflective, like armor or jewelry, I use very minimal lighting. The darker shadows are minimal and usually added during the inking process.

References; I see a lot of people complementing me on how well I draw fabrics. I use references. I grab a blanket or a scarf and take pictures in the mirror in the poses I want. Same for hands. If you have a hard trouble with those, don't be hesitant to trace your own pictures for help.

Idea; Just get the idea across! The big picture needs to show the character, the details are just....details. Leave those for illustrations!

Be honest with yourself and the character you want to see.

There's a short version of my process!

Have fun, good luck, and thank you for the support!

[writers-post]

Do you want this? ~ Jack “Whiskey” Daniels

Not a request just for fun. @siempre-pedro​

Warnings: Angsty, Fluff, Pregnancy

“Morning darlin,” The sound of his thick southern accent filled the kitchen as Y/N was serving some biscuits and gravy just the way jack liked it on a Friday sunny morning.

“Hey cowboy how did you sleep?” Y/N asked walked over to the table setting down their plates and leaning over to kiss jack softly. 

“With you by my side I always sleep good baby girl, plus I could feel kicks every now and then from our little cowgirl.” He smiled and placed his hands down her lower belly feeling around, Y/N giggled while placing her hands on top of his. 

“Your really sure it’s going to be a girl don’t you.” She reached up spreading her fingers through his hair softly.  

“Darlin, I'm totally positive it’s going to be a girl.” Jack lean in kissing her belly before he started eating his breakfast. 

“Here love don’t forget your hat.” Y/N waddled quickly towards jack placing his cowboy hat on his head wrapping her arms around his neck kissing his lips softly. 

“darlin, I swear if you weren’t so fertile I would take you right here right now.” He smirked and kissed her neck, Y/N felt his arms wrapping her rubbing down her back just the way she liked it. 

“Alright cowboy you better go before your late.” She giggled and kissed his lips letting him go, she watched him leave closing the door. It felt like a million years when jack would leave for work but Y/N would always try to find ways to get herself busy and with being pregnant it was pretty easy. 

She went to go buy groceries at the store and getting stuff for the baby, as she was checking out she got a phone call hoping it was jack only for it to be her doctors office reminding her of her check up tomorrow. She got home stocking up the kitchen with the things she bought meanwhile hearing the door open. 

“Darlin, I’m home.” Jack took off his hat and boots. 

“Hey we missed you, jack I have to tell you something.” Y/N walked over to him holding his hands while feeling nervous and the baby moved around feeling like butterflies in her womb.

“Yes darlin, I'm listening.” He winked. 

“Well my doctor called and I have an appointment tomorrow at 1, I was wondering if you could come with me this time.” Y/n bite her bottom lip. 

“Darlin, I have a very important mission tomorrow but I'll try and make it.” Jack reached down rubbing her belly not knowing that Y/N’s heart shattered. 

“Oh it’s okay it’s just another appointment.” She faked a smile. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning she woke up and jack wasn’t in bed with her which meant he already went to work. She sighed and sat up getting up to take a shower getting ready for her appointment. she got a text from Jack asking for the address which made her smile softly and she send the address to her doctor’s office. 

Y/N soon got there and signed in taking a seat waiting for jack to come, she meanwhile looked around and saw all the other couples holding each other and rubbing their wives bellies while Y/N was by herself. Her phone buzzed and she got a text from jack. 

“Sorry darlin, I can’t come I'm really busy on this mission.” 

“It’s alright I’ll see you at home.” Y/N managed to text back putting her phone down covering her tears that were glistening in the light. 

“Y/N L/N” The nurse spoke in a sweet tone, Y/N wiped her eyes and walked towards the nurse giving her a smile. The nurse took her to the room and waited for the doctor to do the ultrasound. 

“And it’s a healthy baby girl congrats Mrs. L/N.” The doctor smiled and continued moving the wand before wiping the gel off. 

“Thank you.” Y/N smiled while feeling tears in her eyes again. 

Y/N went home finally letting the tears fall and taking a nap on the couch, Later she felt someone touch her shoulder and kiss her cheek. Y/N flinched and sat up looking at jack, She didn’t know how to react as she got tried of the bullshit. Y/N slapped him right across his face. 

“How dare you stood me up.” Y/N let the tears fall as she sob. 

“Baby we have been through this I can’t just skip a mission.” Jack looked at her with sad eyes. 

“Really? So what are you trying to say? That your married to you’re job? Ever since I told you we are expecting you haven’t been there for me you just always go to work. You miss all my appointments so far and I have been the one working on the crib and buying all the stuff for the baby. If you can't handle this jack just tell me and I’ll go.” Y/N sobbed and wiped her eyes while reaching for her purse grabbing the ultrasounds. “It’s a girl.” She placed them against his chest going upstairs laying down on the bed. 

Later in the morning she walked downstairs to hear music playing and the smell of freshly cooked breakfast. She looked at the table to see a beautiful rose boutique. 

“Darlin, please let me explain. I thought about everything you said and your totally right I haven’t been giving you my all and I should be especially since your carrying a life inside you..My life..” He reached down kissing her belly and rubbing it softly. Y/N smiled and stroke his hair as he got down to his knees

“But anyway I’m so so sorry darlin, and I promise that I won’t miss a single appointment and I will always be there even when you go shopping for the baby. I already called the boss to give me more excused leaves which means I could leave whenever I want. After we eat I'm going to fix that crib and paint the walls the way you want it.” He smiled softly 

“I was just scared Jack I really was scared that you didn’t want this. Me or the baby and I was scared to be a single mom.” Y/N felt tears before feeling his thumbs wiped her cheeks softly. 

“Don’t cry please I hated to see you cry.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead softly.

“I’m sorry, I'm just happy that you didn’t give up on us and your right about the baby being a girl.” Y/N giggled and rubbed her belly softly. 

“Damn right she’s going to be the most baddest cowgirl anyone has ever seen.” He smirked and laughed. 

“In your dreams Cowboy she will not being throwing lassos cutting people in half.” Y/N smiled kissing his lips softly. 

[super-hero-girls-netflix]

What if a superhero accidentally killed a villian? How does the crew react to that?

Wowza, uhmm there are a lot of layers to this question and I'm very glad you asked it.

1. Who the villain was- what kind of villain was killed? What kind of crimes did the villain commit?

Obviously if the villain was a serial killer his/her death wouldn't be as much as a scandal if (s)he were a common burglar.

And they wouldn't mourn Starro's death the way they would if they killed Catwoman. Since Catwoman is human with a human mind.

If they killed a brainless monster or a being of destruction the heroes as a whole wouldn't mourn as much. Maybe a bit of regret but to them Starro's death would be equal to the death of a deer. Or maybe even a rabies infested dog. Most likely killing Starro would be a victory.

If they killed Catwoman, who is human they would all be terribly guilt-ridden. Same for any of the other villains. I wouldn't be surprised if they fell into a state of depression. Of course how hard they take it depends on the rest of the questions.

If they killed a common burglar- a petty thief- they'd be absolutely horrified. They'd question their morality, they'd be miserable. And depressed. But this also depends on the rest of the questions.

If they, by chance, kill a serial killer they'd be able to justify to themselves. That 'way goes around comes around'. They'd still feel terrible but it wouldn't be the same as the scenario above.

2. When did it happened?

Did it happen during the day? The night? People are more vulnerable at night and daytime can add detail to the memory of the kill.

Did it happen before the villains scheme to go into action? After?

If it's after, and if the scheme is nefarious like...say, letting Metropolis get destroyed by a meteor then it's likely that the sting of killing someone wouldn't be as terrible as if it was before the villain did anything and we're still technically innocent.

3. Who killed the villain?

Okay this may seem weird but depending on who did it the reactions of the killer and the team can be very different.

If Diana did it the team might fall apart because Diana would definitely fall apart. Diana, at heart, believes that most people are good. And strives to protect them. If she were the cause of another's death no matter how terrible the person she'd come undone. The team might follow her example or strive to help her amend her mistakes.

If Jess did it she'd be a total wreck. After all after becoming a superhero her pacifist ideas have loosened a bit. She went from avoiding and actively discouraging violence to getting involved and actively protecting. (Remember the misgiving tree? She mourned a tree.) She'd shut in, depression would claim her. She might even forfeit the ring and refuse to become a hero ever again. The team would try to convince her otherwise but she is pretty stubborn. Of course the reaction would greatly depend on the rest of the questions.

If Zee did it she'd be completely blindsided and fears her had pushed aside will come back full force. Fears of her magic, of her own darkness. Depending on the degree of the criminal her response will very much vary. If it's a petty crime she'll be a wreck. Same if it's the popular villain gang. But if it's a serial killer or something she might pretend to brush it off. Pretend to believe her friends consolation. Pretend she doesn't feel guilty. But it would eat her up and she would self-destruct. The other variables will also be mentioned later. The girls would react accordingly seeing through her acting and trying their best to help her move past it.

If Kara did it it would bring a lot of darkness. All of the times someone called her evil or dark or stupid will consume her an either...she will believe it or she will rise from it. This largely depends on who she kills and how she does it's and how the girls react to it. The girls reactions will range from supportive to worried for her.

If Babs did it her whole mindset would shift. Maybe she'd become dark and gloomy. Maybe she'd become paranoid after all her father is a cop. Maybe she'd numb herself to the guilt. Of course this largely depends on who she kills. If it's a petty thief she'd definitely throw in the towel or at least seriously question her worth as a superhero. Same if she kills the popular villain gang. A serial killer (this is just an example) or Starro would just grey up her mind set not quite enough to take down her will to do good. A lot also depends on the other questions. Her team would be terrified for her, after all Babs isn't Babs without her excited smile and will to do good...but they'd be supportive if not overly protective. Just like they would for the rest.

If Karen does it I don't even know what will happen. She is so complex and has anxiety and is angry, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how she'd react. Especially since she's so human and contradictory. An enigma. But I think it the death can be justified it will be. Karen is very practical. But then again her anxiety might kick in and bring with it depression. She might find herself as lacking, think everyone hates her. I don't doubt that the SHG squad would work hard to put her at ease and protect her from her own thoughts.

4. How was the villain killed?

This is also an essential question to ask yourself when imagining the girls reactions.

Please imagine this:

Don't read if you are the squamish type.

Batgirl slitting a villains throat with a throwing knife.

Now... Zee sending them to another dimension in where they can't breath the air and die.

Both terrible gruesome deaths, right? But how come Babs' scenario sounds so much worse? It's more personal, a blade stained with blood is more vivid then a (wo)man disappearing and never returning, isn't it?

If the villain- forget the level of evilness- was strangled to death by the lasso (intentional or not) it would be deemed worse than one superpunch to the head...worse than instant death.

It's simply deemed worse when a person suffers before their death. Simple as that. It's also worse when you can see the death or when it's ugly- like a super shock to the brain (courtesy of Bumblebee) would be less scarring to see then having your intestines ripped out.

5. What was at stake?

This is a curious question. One often overlooked but it's actually very important.

If the kill was done as many civilian lives were at risk the kill can be seen or even interpreted as something heroic. If the kill was done by someone who was torturing people or holding hostages than it can be see as if the death was nesecary even.

But if the kill was flat out without saving other lives it isn't as 'acceptable'.

Hey, don't look at me! The human mind is weird.

6. Was it purposeful or accidental?

Okay obviously if the death was purposeful there is going to be slim chances of redemption or even regret. In fact if it's purposeful it shifts from kill to murder. Which is bad. (Though I can't see this ever happening)

If it's accidental then there's a lot of emotional turmoil. And pain and regret. It will be a long road to recovery if it's even possible- knowing these girls they will bounce back- and even longer or shorter considering the other mentioned aspects.

(I'm just adding this for anyone wondering but don't worry I remember the question. 😁)

7. Where there any witnesses?

The media and the view of others can grandly affect how the SHG squad heal.

If the media paint them as hero's depending on the circumstances they might bring to believe it or it will in turn make them feel more guilt. A life is a life after all.

If the media paint them as dangerous vigilante threats (as no doubt Lex Luthor would try) then either they'd get on the defensive (insisting it wasn't their fault), believe and submit to the public opinion (like Kara has done before), or become bitter and forget their original mission to do good.

Media and the public opinion can greatly support or hinder their overcoming of the death.

Also, having another account of what happened can warp how the killer remembers the kill. That's why in investigations the detectives don't like when witnesses discuss what they saw to each other since it might alter the memory.

8. Was the villain more at fault for the death or the hero?

This is pretty straightforward.

Did the villain trip over Wonder Woman's lasso and tumbled to their death? Or did the villain misuse one of Batgirls gadgets and blow themselves up?

If so, the heroes aren't truly at fault. Just maybe partially responsible.

And I have no doubt the SHG squad will recognize this and support the hero sort of responsible for the death.

9. Was the villain already injured before the fight? Or was the hero?

This is kind of a weird question, right?? Well it can be a real game changer. If the villain- say they are human- was already dying of cancer it might not seem as terrible. Or if the hero was sort of drugged and that affected their performance than can they truly be held accountable for their actions? (OF COURSE) Like isn't it the drugs fault that Kara wasn't able to fully control her strength or that Babs' aim was muddled?

Of course it doesn't excuse the death, of course not. But now there's an excuse. Something to blame.

Same if the villain came out with an injury. Is it truly the hero's fault that the villain wasn't as capable for the fight as usual?

It might seem silly and morally dubious but it is a legitimate factor that would come to play in their moral crisis. After all human minds seeks to justify their actions, even the purest and goodest (yes, I said 'goodest'. Deal with it) of minds do that.

10. What emotions were involved?

This is truly a game changer.

Was Zee angry when she cast the curse?

Was Kara angry when she threw the punch?

Was Diana angry when she attacked her opponent?

Was Babs angry when she aimed the blade?

Was Karen angry when she aimed dher blasters?

Was Jess angry when she fought the villain?

That anger can be confused by themselves in the fight as murderous intent. Anger or any negative emotion can be confused as hope for the villains harm.

If the reason for the fight was revenge than the SHG killer would think themselves evil. Which will affect them greatly.

...

So.... that's that. In case you didn't know kill means to take a life. While murder means to take a life with malicious intent.

Thanks for being patient!!

Note: I know this was long and a short reply was probably expected but I really liked your Ask and how complex it was and I wanted to make sure it was paid the proper amount of attention.

Happy day!!

[lycorogue]

Latest Story: Perfect Doesn’t Need to be Perfect

(Thank you to my husband for coming up with this story’s title)

I’m back! Well... I’m sorta back. I had every intention of having this story DONE by yesterday so I could promote it in a blog update today, and when that didn’t happen I hoped to have it done by tomorrow at the latest...  ya know, because the end of Christmas season and all, but that is definitely not happening either.

So, instead, I’m waving the white flag. I’m just publishing the first 3 chapters tonight. I’m aiming to drop the next 3 tomorrow, another 3 chapters on the 7th, and the final 3 on the 8th; assuming I can actually get myself situated enough to get this story done by then.

Also, I completely hijacked this entire story off of @thetauruspixie​, and thus, as a thank you for unofficially letting me run away with her Muse, I gift this story unto her.

Thank you, Pixie, for the glorious story Twelve Days of Chatmas. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving as my reread on AO3 this past Christmas inspired Perfect Doesn’t Need to be Perfect. I had been severely struggling with being even remotely creative in 2020, and barely wrote anything. You, Pixie, gave me back my inspiration. Thank you. And thanks for the piggyback ride here. I hope you enjoy my interpretation of your fantastic story.

Perfect Doesn’t Need to be Perfect

**Contains Spoilers for Taurus Pixie’s story Twelve Days of Chatmas**

Summary: Chat Noir has run into a long streak of poor luck, all in an attempt to give Ladybug the perfect Christmas gift. Little does he know, his first try was already perfect in Ladybug’s eyes. Now it’s her turn to try to navigate around Chat Noir’s failed attempts in her own pursuit to find something equally fantastic for him. **A Switched-POV Unofficial Companion Story to Twelve Days of Chatmas by Taurus Pixie**

Rating: General Audience

Chapter Word Count: 2073

Story Total Word Count: 37,973

Status: chapter 1 of 12; complete

**For reals, if you haven’t read Twelve Days of Chatmas yet, read that first so my story doesn’t spoil anything for you. It’s cool. This story will still be here when you get back. ;) **

See below for chapter 1, or find this story over on AO3, on FFN, or on DA. 

CHAPTER 1:

Ladybug paced the rooftop her and Chat Noir agreed upon as a meeting spot. They were supposed to go on patrol nearly ten minutes ago, and he was still nowhere to be seen. It wasn't like him to be late for patrol; for any sort of scheduled meet-up with her, actually. If anything, he was typically the one waiting, eager to spend as much time as possible together.

“It's getting close to Christmas,” she reminded herself. “Maybe he's caught up in some family festivities or something. He's fine.” She tried picturing him hanging up Christmas ornaments on a tree, which ended up a bit amusing since she could only picture him how she knew him: as Chat Noir. She imagined him perched on his extended stick so he could reach the top of the tree to place the star or secure the lights or sprinkle some tinsel on everything. Ladybug then had a nice little chuckle at the idea of Chat Noir just tossing tinsel like some overly enthusiastic flower girl.

“Yeah,” she breathed out in assurance, “he's just covered in tinsel right now, or tangled up in lights, or freaking out his family as he juggles the Christmas ornaments or something. He's fine, just lost track of the time. That's all.” She let out a shaky sigh and checked her yo-yo again.

No akuma alerts, so at least it seemed fine that their patrol was starting late, and Chat Noir wasn't caught up in a battle she didn't know about. Ladybug again walked the length of the roof, hoping maybe Chat Noir was just out of view of where she was waiting. Still nothing.

Another check of her yo-yo. No messages from Chat Noir either.

“Where are you?” she asked the wind.

The sun was nearly set. While Paris was typically lit up fairly brightly at night – especially with all the added illuminated Christmas decorations – and she could see well enough, it still bothered her that she no longer had the daylight for their patrol. Potential akuma victims could be hiding in the shadows, trying to find somewhere to be alone with their pain, and she'd have a much harder time finding them now. She really needed Chat Noir to help her, and he was over ten minutes late.

Where is he? Did he forget? She opened her yo-yo once more. Still no messages from him. Her thumbs hovered over the touch screen as she debated sending him a text or calling him. With an audible sigh and drooping of her shoulders, she closed her yo-yo again. There was no point; he wouldn't be able to get the messages unless he was Chat Noir, and if he was powered up he should be coming to meet up with her.

“Please be okay.” Her fingers gently brushed across her yo-yo, hoping for some sort of contact from her partner. Shaking the nerves loose, she paced the rooftop once more. “Five more minutes. Then I'll just patrol on my own. He's fine. He probably just forgot. Or he got caught up in something. Or-”

As she turned a corner she spotted him. Chat Noir stood on a rooftop across the street from where she was waiting. He was just staring at her with a goofy smile on his face. No. He wasn't staring at her, he was staring past her, as if he were lost in thought or something.

“Chat Noir?” She was getting worried and he was lazily daydreaming? Without so much as a text to let her know he was alright and on his way? How long had he been standing there?

Chat Noir jumped when Ladybug called out to him; ripped out of his reverie. He blinked a few times, clearly trying to catch his bearings as she walked to the back ledge of the roof she was on.

“I was starting to get worried. Where were you? What are you doing standing over there?” Before he could answer, Ladybug lassoed the chimney beside him with her yo-yo and swung herself over to him. As soon as she landed she rushed to Chat Noir to look him over to make sure he was alright. He didn't seem to be puppeted by an akumatized villain, but she wasn't sure how to be certain about that.

Chat Noir didn't answer her. He didn't move. He simply gulped as she stretched her body out to get a good look at his eyes. They weren't glazed over like they tend to be when he was being controlled. Ladybug couldn't figure out why he was acting so strange.

“Okay, now I'm really worried.” She waved a hand in front of his face and watched as his eyes followed it. “You're never this quiet. Has something happened?”

“No!” Chat Noir snapped back to normal as he blurted out the first thing Ladybug heard from him all night. He gave her his goofy grin that he clearly thought looked suave. His eyes had their usual twinkle. He was fine, a bit distant at first, but now he was himself again.

Tension released from Ladybug's shoulders and neck, but her face still scrunched in confusion. Where was he just a moment ago, and why hadn't he tried to contact her?

“Then what's going on? Why were you so late?” As she asked the questions she wondered if he could even answer. If it was something that might reveal who he is would he withhold that info, or use this as an excuse to drop her hints?

No, she told herself, he knows the rules. He may want us to know who the other is, but he wouldn't purposefully try to reveal himself or figure out who I am.

“I...errr...” He started scratching the back of his head as he broke eye contact.

It was something personal, and I'm over here demanding to know! I'm such an idiot! Ladybug berated herself. As she opened her mouth to tell him to not worry about it, he preemptively cut her off.

“I-I got you a Christmas present.” This was the most nervous she had seen Chat Noir. To know it was over him getting her a present was kind of adorable. “Well,” he continued with a small squeak in his voice, “made you a Christmas present.”

Ladybug took a step back as she finally noticed Chat Noir had been protectively cradling something in his hands. He shot it forward to show her his surprise.

He held out a tiny terra cotta pot barely five centimeters tall and fitted snugly with white foam. Sticking out of the foam was a charming, albeit clumsily cut out, card stock tree with curving branches. Almond-shaped leaves cut out of green construction paper and doused in green glitter filled out the tree in a fluffy circle arching around the trunk. It must have taken him hours to cut out and glue on the dozens of leaves, and Ladybug could picture the poor guy still finding the green glitter in his home for months to come with the amount he used. Plump looking pears were cut out of yellow-green construction paper and scattered throughout the tree. Perched atop the trunk, nestled within the main Y of the branches, was an adorably round bird made out of brown card stock with little gray accents colored in with marker. The smallest wooden clothespin Ladybug had ever seen was painted red and glued onto the bird for its beak. Clasped within the beak was an equally tiny note with Ladybug delicately written across the front of it. The finishing touch, however, were the two dozen or so red valentine hearts – also cloaked in glitter; Chat Noir's poor table – hung throughout the pear tree sculpture like romantic Christmas ornaments.

There were bits where the glue was clumped and poking out from behind the leaves or hearts, and some of the hearts were cockeyed or stuck to the trunk instead of the leaves and branches; clearly they had shifted before the glue could dry and he hadn't noticed. The tree also leaned forward a bit from the weight of the clothespin and note not being counterbalanced. The whole thing was a bit unpolished, and a bit rushed in places, but it was also clear that so much time and dedication and effort was put into it. The little card stock tree was a bit goofy and clumsy, and maybe not the most well thought out, but it was also endearing in its imperfections. This project was just so Chat Noir that Ladybug couldn't think of a more perfect present.

“Aww, Chat Noir, you didn't have to-”

A sharp winter wind startled them as it whipped past, tilting Ladybug slightly off balance with its force. The tree did not fair as well.

Chat Noir stared in shock, one eye twitching, as he held tight to the pot. The card stock tree was nearly ripped out of the foam; dangling by a small corner as the trunk itself, now terribly bent, leaned against the side of the pot. A good quarter of the leaves that weren't quite dry were either shifted out of place or blown off completely. Three of the pears were lost to the wind, and the rest were stuck to the trunk of the tree or the edge of the pot. Not a single heart ornament remained. The partridge now dangled upside down on one of the branches, with the note ripped where the wind tried to tear it from the faithful grip of the wooden beak. A long glue smear trailed behind the paper bird, and glitter was stripped from the leaves the partridge passed through.

All of that work, and one good gust wrecked it. Ladybug knew that pain all too well.

“Chat Noir, are-”

“And this wasn't it! This wasn't the present I got you.” Chat Noir forced laughter and too broad of a smile as he took a step away from Ladybug. “As if I would get you something so horrible.”

Ladybug's face fell into a little pout. It pained her that he thought so poorly of his gift. “Chat Noir, it's fi-”

“Next time I see you, I'll give you the present you deserve.” Both of their eyes drifted to the damaged pear tree sculpture. “This was just a joke.” Chat Noir gestured with the pot and then forced another laugh. “But I promise,” he continued, taking a few more retreating steps, “that you shall have a Christmas present worthy of someone as amazing as you! You'll see!” He hastily placed the pot on the roof as he took his stick off his back. The second the pot was out of his hand, the stick extended to jettison Chat Noir into the sky.

“Chat Noir! Wait!” Ladybug rushed towards him, arm outstretched. “What about-”

He propellered his stick to glide a few houses down the street; definitely out of earshot. In a flash he was leaping across the Seine and was gone.

“-patrol,” Ladybug finished with a sigh. It was probably too late to bother anyway. Plus, her heart wasn't really in it either, not after her partner was so crushed.

She bent down and gingerly picked up the little sculpture off the roof. Turning it slowly in her hands, she admired the craftsmanship Chat Noir had put into this immensely heartfelt gift. Picking at the partridge, the bird slid some more; the glue still hadn't set. She glanced in the direction that Chat Noir disappeared, and gave a little smile and knowing head shake. She delicately played more with the bird until she could wiggle it free of the sculpture. Placing the pot back on the rooftop, she opened up the magical pocket within her yo-yo, and placed the bird and note gently inside. Next were the pears and loose leaves. As she stood back up a few of the hearts caught her eye. She managed to collect five of them and put those in her yo-yo as well. Once she believed she had cleaned up as much of Chat Noir's project as she could find, she cradled the sculpture and started home.

She was determined to find a way to prove to Chat Noir how precious this present was to her. In the meantime, her mind whirled with gift ideas for him in return.

Thank you for reading. Read Next Chapter

Please let me know if you want me to add you to the tag list.

@discoveringmiraculouswriters

[alienantichrist666]

I wanna be yours (Agent Whiskey x reader)

Request:Hi! Can I request and Agent Whiskey x reader where they’re partners. And she’s really sassy and doesn’t take shit from  anyone. They both like each other but reader just thinks whiskey treats her like all the other girls but then he confessed to her and it involves a steamy kiss.

Words: 1,358

A/n: Hi, first of all english not my native language so please excuse some nonsense. Thank you so much for reading ♥️♥️😘 enjoy.

You were leaning against the bar counter, a pretty silk red dress wrapping around your body perfectly and a neckline exposing most of your back. Eyes fixed in the drink between your hands as you tried to get him out of your mind without much success. He could be an asshole sometimes, but there was something in Whiskey that made you smile like an idiot every time he was around. It pissed you off the fact that every time he call you by a pet name your knees went weak, though you would always deny it. You hated how damn fine he looked when he used his lasso and you wished he'll used on you.You hated the way he flirted with you cause he always knew how to get under your skin, he was a god in that, but what you hated the most was fact that he flirted with everyone, it didn't matter who it was. 

Having Whiskey as your partner was great, the missions rarely failed and you always learned something new. You loved working with him until you started to feel something more for Jack and it was driving you crazy.

A cold hand on your lower back made you jump back to reality. You quickly turned around to face whoever dared to lay a hand on you just to find out it was the man you were thinking about.

"Easy there, dollface" he said almost whispering "It's just me" he sat beside you and ordered a drink as well.

"You're late" you reproached him.

"I know" he said "I'm sorry sweetheart" his hand stroking gently your back sending shivers down your spine.

"What took you so long?" you asked and gave a sip to your glass 

"Couldn't find the bar, not  till i saw you sitting here" Jack said in a cocky tone "I'd recognize your pretty silhouette any fucking where" 

You tried not to smile at his comment but it was useless, it was frustrating how easily this man could made you blush just by looking at you with those beautiful brown eyes. You shook your head in a desperate attempt to push your thoughts away about him. For a brief moment you had forgotten you were still on a mission and this was just a cover, an act well played so both of you wouldn't look suspicious.

"We should go" you told him. He nodded and finished his drink.

"Alright, let's go baby"

Jack and you walked outside the bar to the neon streets of New York. You continued walking  for a couple of minutes until he spoke.

"You got the information?" 

"Yeah, you?"

"Yup" he said with a satisfied smile and playfully showed you an USB. Of course he had it, he was good after all. "What about you, agent Brandy" he looked at you with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "That sweet body of yours got you the password? I bet the old man almost died when he saw you" you rolled your eyes.

"The dress was just for enter to the party, idiot" you told him "Compared with you I don't flirt my way to the target"

"Auch" he joked "You offended me, Y/n"  

Both laughed for a moment before Whiskey's hand was on your back again, but he removed it immediately.

"Holy shit!" he shouted "You're freezing, sweet heart"

And before you could say or do anything he took off his jacket and put it on your shoulders. It was warm and had the intoxicating smell of his cologne. 

"There, that's better" Jack said and stared at you with a smirk painted in his face "You know, you should wear my clothes more often."

"Or better not" You rolled your eyes, feeling the  warm of his jacket spreading through your body "But thanks for this, I guess" 

"Anytime, Brandy"

After walking two blocks in complete silence Whiskey gently pushed you to a semi dark alley. 

"The hell are you doing? " you asked anger mixed with confusion in your voice. He stayed in front of you, a serious look in his eyes as if he was searching the right words to say.

"There's something we need to talk about, sugar"

 "No I don't think there is"

"What about this unspoken thing between us?"

"There's no "unspoken thing", Jack" 

"Ah no? Then why the fuck have you been avoiding me?" He said getting closer, your heart starting to beat faster. 

"I'm ...I wasn't …" you tried to say and he took a step forward.

"Look, what I'm trying to say, angel, is that I feel something for you" your heart stopped by his words "and if I didn't know better, I think you feel the same way about me"

You stared  at him, gosh you wished you could believe his words, unfortunately love wasn't a thing Jack Daniels knew, he had forgotten what it really meant a very long time ago. 

"Save your pretty words for the other girls, cowboy" you said letting out a sarcastic laugh "I won't fall for that"

"You don't think I talking serious, right?"

"No Jack, I know you aren't" You told him without even look at him "you are just trying to get me in bed"

"I'm being honest here, y/n" he said taking some steps closer to you.

"You say that to every woman that comes your way"  

"And what you want me to say then?" He said getting dangerously close, with every step he took, you would back one until you hit your back with the wall.

"That I spend way more time than i should thinking in that pretty face of yours? That everytime I see you my heart skips a beat? That I feel something I didn't feel since a long time ago?" He just said, his voice sounded genuine. His eyes focused on your face, but there was something else in those beautiful brown eyes that made you shiver: he was being sincere with you  "The fact that I get jealous when someone is near you because I want you for me only? That you are driving me insane? Or do you wanna know how fucking hard it was for me try to deny it? To hide it? That I wanna be yours?" Jack paused for a moment mare inches from your face, waiting for a response, but your mind couldn't find the words, "is that what you want me to say, darling?"

"Yes" was all you managed to say.

He lowered his face and his lips met yours, the moment you had dreamed of for so long, your heart rushed sending a wave of happiness over your body. He placed his hand on your waist and drew you closer deepening the kiss. His hands slipped down the smooth curve of your sides to rest on your hips as he drew you in. Your hands moved to play with his dark hair while you enjoyed the intoxicating taste of Whiskey's lips.

Soon you were out of air. As both parted you saw his eyes sparkle and lips curve up into a smile and you couldn't help but smile back. He pick you up and hold you against the wall with your legs wrapped around his waist and he kissed you again and again, his expert lips dancing along with yours while you ran your fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between you and him and you could feel the beating of his heart against your chest. 

"I fucking love you, baby, I really do" he said breathless in a low tone, resting his forehead on yours. That was it, that was all you needed to hear, all you ever wanted.

"I love you too, Jack" you told him looking into his eyes. 

You never imagined the famous Agent Whiskey would ever want you for more than a one night thing, but now you knew he loved you and it was all you could ask for.

[mxtantrights]

˚ · · . · ✵ ✷PART TWENTY-EIGHT

word count: 2.7k!

Warnings: jessie gets high but it’s not detailed, just the after part. ALSO FLUFF 

HAWKINS, INDIANA

DECEMBER 26, 1984

I watched as all the kids sat around the game table and exchanged gifts. It was the day after Christmas- friendsmas as I'm dubbing it- and we were all held up in Mike's basement. I know they wanted to see each other all on actual Christmas day but their schedules and families wouldn't allow it. So I called everyone up this morning and arranged this.

They all thanked me with a hug when I got here with Mickey and Dayton.

Speaking of which,

I find Dayton sitting on the couch fiddling with his hands. He's been back for about two weeks now and we haven't talked much about the elephant in the room.

I take a seat next to him and smooth down my skirt. "Why are you fiddling with your hands so awkwardly?"

He stops and looks to me. "I feel like I left you here and I let you down."

"You didn't. You did the best you could do for someone who was in a different time zone. Trust me." I clap his shoulder hard- like really hard, he hates it when I do that. And he winces. "You raised me right."

"Ha-ha."

Theres footsteps coming down the steps and quickly at the bottom is Steve. He waves to the both of us before saying his greetings to the kids. Dustin and him are up to some new handshake and I think if they don't find one soon we'll all be in trouble.

After that he finds his way on the couch next to me and my brother.

"I think we met last year at the fourth of July party. Steve right?" My brother asks Steve so un-smoothly. Did he really think I didn't know that he had Steve look over me while he was gone? He even holds his hand out for Steve to shake.

Steve awkwardly laughs. "Yeah Dayton she knows."

"What? She knows?!"

I try to stifle my laughter at his outburst.

"She used her abilities on me to make me tell the truth! What was I gonna do?" Steve argues his point.

It's true he couldn't have done anything about it.

Dayton only shakes his head in annoyance.

Lucas and Dustin come up to us on the couch with two bags in their hands. I looking between the two of them and their shit eating grins.

"If this has anything to do with milk I'm giving y'all both wedgies."

Dustin passes me a red bag. "It has nothing to do with you being milk girl."

Lucas gives Steve his bag as well.

I move around the fancy tissue paper and see jeans? I pull it out with my hands and I see that it's not pants but a jean jacket. And the back is painted on with some eye popping colors but the patches on the sleeves are what gets me.

One of them is the state of Texas. And next to it is a Hawkins patch. There are a few notable patches besides those. A lasso. One says Cherry bomb. And one with a brain on it.

I look up and it's not just Dustin and Lucas anymore. The rest of the gang is behind them now watching me.

I pull the jacket on and it fits loosely. It's the best kind of fit.

Looking over at Steve I see his gift. It's another jean jacket but his is different from mine. His has got no patches on it just the paint on the back. And I can't miss the big 'MOM' on the back.

"We wanted to thank you guys for everything you did for us." Mike- the kind asshole- Wheeler speaks up.

I get up from my seat and hod my arms out. "Hugs right now or so help me I will cry on every single one of you."

Max and Mickey are first in almost making me fall over. Then Dustin and Lucas, lastly Mike. I quickly place a kiss on the top of their heads, almost missing Mike because he pulls away slightly but I pull him back.

"Okay Jessie, give me my kids now."

HAWKINS, INDIANA

JANUARY 1985

My stomach grumbling was getting annoying. I needed to put food into my system before I combust. I just didn't feel like leaving Mike's couch. After sitting here while the boys play their precious D&D after a whole year, I'm growing attached.

I'm laid on the couch like a mad woman. My legs are leaning off the side arm, only one of my arms is slanged over the back of the couch. The other one is holding me up properly.

Steve comes down the steps. Hair flopping around like usual.

"Steve! Good you're here!" I say as he descends down the last steps.

"Hey!" He waves to me.

Then he's saying hi to the kids. I watch as he makes his rounds and then walks over to me and the couch. NO if he sits down then we're not leaving here. And I need food.

I bolt out of my seat. "I'm revolting I need food."

"Why don't you ask my mom for something?" Mike asks me.

I didn't want to trouble his mom. I also didn't want to have to interact with any adults. My mouth is a little crazy as Mickey and Dayton keep saying. I'm not good at holding back my opinions.

I shush Mike and look at Steve. "Please can I get food? Please? Pretty please? The D&D is making me want to eat the floor."

"Hey!" All the boys and Max say at once.

Steve chuckles and puts his hands on his hips. Oh no what does he want. He only does that when he wants something. What could he want from me? Wasn't being friends with me enough?

"I need your skilled handwriting for some envelopes." He puts rather simply.

Okay I can do that.

"Alright I'll do it," I grab his arm and start dragging him the way he came. "I just need food. Food. Steve my stomach is like boiling. I need food."

"Alright alright. I got you." Instead of letting me drag him up the steps he falls in line with me.

Always the gentleman, he opens the door and lets me out. I let go of his arm, and let him lead the way. He takes the both of us out the back and I see his red BMW. With a spur of energy I run to the passenger side and dive into the seat.

"Come on, faster pretty boy. I'm trying not to die of starvation here."

-

"Have you been getting any memories lately?"

I turn to look at Steve in the drivers seat. I had just finished a whole meal and now he wants me to talk? I need my post-meal nap pretty soon.

I guess I could just talk to him and wait until we get back.

"Not really, no. It's been radio silent up here." I knock on my head twice.

He can't help but laugh when I do. Maybe that will ease this conversation back to a more friendly topic. I don't want to think about all the bad things today. I was trying to just have a nice day. I could think about it tomorrow. Or the next day.

"I'm serious though. You'd tell me if you did?"

"Yeah." I shoot back.

We continue on the drive in a comfortable silence. It feels like it should be awkward but its not. We have some weird upside down bond now. We haven't seen it all but we've seen enough together.

It doesn't take long before I see Mike's house appear outside my window. Steve's quick to get out of the car but I'm not, I just ate! I need to take it slow don't wanna pull a stomach muscle or something.

I've got the itis.

Slowly I open my door and roll myself out of the car. As I do I know Steve is watching me struggle. He loves to do that sometimes I swear if he wasn't my friend I would yell at him, I swear it.

He's back at my side in an instant holding his arm out for me to lock with mine.

"Ah Steve, such a gentleman."

-

HAWKINS, INDIANA

JANUARY 1985

I try to smoothly make it to my desk in one piece without raising suspicion. I don't trip, or look anyone in the eye as I make it to the back where Steve is sitting. However I do see his floppy hair and I have to clamp my mouth shut to not giggle.

His hair!

How does he do it everyday?

How?

I sit down and put my notebook on the desk.

"Are you okay?" Steve asks.

I turn slowly to nod at him, I don't wanna do it to fast or he's gonna think something is up with me. I can't alert the troops. I can't alert anyone!

He studies my face, and then his face changes. Did he just figure it out? Did he just find out that quickly? Maybe he won't say anything.

"Are you high right now?" He whispers to me.

My head is nodding again even though I wanna deny it. I was about to deny it. But my head is faster than my mouth.

Ha!

I watch closely as Steve pulls my chair and then my desk close to his. My fingers start playing with the loose ends of my knitted sweater. I wonder how those little dangling threads happen. Why did they happen? I didn't cut my sweater.

I hear our english teacher clear her throat to get the class to settle. It's then that I roll my shoulders back and face the board with the straightest face I can make.

The class settles after a few moments pass and our teacher begins to write names on the board. I watch with confusion. Why was she writing down our names? Did she forget them?

Then she writes down my name. And Steve's.

I look at Steve.

"She was picking random students to read their essays today- Jess we are fucked." He whispers to me and the way he sounds is so funny I start laughing under my breath.

I pull my sweater over my mouth to try and hide it. My eyes are watering before I know it and I have to put my head down on the desk to hide my laughter.

"Ms.Glendall whats the matter?"

Then that makes me laugh even more. Holy shit I'm about to get caught! I'm about to get caught and I don't even have an excuse to give! I'm gonna get detention! Holy shit have I ever gotten detention since I've been here?

No I haven't. I would remember.

"Jessie's not feeling to well, can she read her essay another day?" Steve asks for me.

I can feel his hand come to pat my head like I'm some sort of dog- I'm laughing even harder now. My stomach is starting to hurt with how much I'm dying from this.

"Sure Mr. Harrington."

Steve peers in close to me, close enough to whisper in my ear. When I can feel his hot ass breath on my ear I stop laughing. "You owe me big time Jess."

Oh god how am I gonna make it to Lunch. Hopefully Jon doesn't mind skipping with me to get some food. I am not eating slop while under the influence.

-

I can't believe I'm this much a wuss. I mean I tasered a demo-dog for crying out loud. You'd think I've grown some macho in me.

But no.

Here I am with my envelopes for colleges. Ready to send.

And I'm holding them in my hands like they're about to fly away.

"Step away from the applications."

I swiftly turn around.

Steve's leaning against his car.

"You know I can just go right back upstairs and cancel our plans to hang out." I quip, already turning away.

It's not long, what with his long ass legs, before he has my arm in his grasp and he's stopping me. I turn around slowly to face him, ready for that stupid look on his face. He's gonna make fun of me. I know he is.

He sent out his early applications and I'm standing here, fiddling with my regular applications.

But he doesn't have a look on his face. He looks serious.

"Alright so do you want me to do them for you or do you want a pep talk so you can do it yourself?"

I look between him and my mailbox. A few times. Maybe it's actually more than a few because he snatches the envelopes from my hands and does it himself.

Instead of letting him get the final touch I do it myself. I raise the red flag on the box.

"Well ladies and gentlemen I think Jessica Glendall has finally finished with her applications! How about a round of applause for the girl!" He starts yelling. I try to cover his mouth but he's too tall. And he's fighting me off a bit.

"Cut it out you weirdo! I have neighbors!"

"Is that what the other houses are for? I thought it was decoration."

HAWKINS, INDIANA

JANUARY 1985

"Did you actually have a lasso back home?"

I stop eating and look at Jonathan. He's got a big smile on his face because he knows he's being a little shit. But he wouldn't come up with this on his own. I know this is Steve's doing.

"Steve put you up to this?" I ask him back.

He shakes his head but can't hide his laughter.

"Nah. I just heard it from Will, who heard it from Dustin, who was told by Steve." He explains to me.

"I don't care that we're the same age I will give you a wedgie you do know that right?" It's rhetorical as he puts his hands up in surrender.

"I'd love to see you give Steve a wedgie. Or put him in a lasso."

"Yeah I'd love to see it too."

-

I was cheering Steve on in the gym not too long ago. He's playing really hard right now so that the scouts can see him. I know that he feels like he has to overcompensate with sport because his grades are too hot.

But neither are mine. We're in the same boat here.

His car chirps and I look around for him. I was waiting for him on his car after all. I find him walking my way with his sport bag slung over his shoulder. They didn't win today but he did carry his team the whole way through. That's gotta count for something.

He doesn't say anything to me- no snide remark, no sass, not even a hello. All he does is get into his car and slam the door. Maybe he wants to be alone right now?

I hop off the hood of his car and he turns the engine on.

Maybe I should take the hint and leave.

I put my bag over both of my shoulders and start to turn my body away when I hear the horn honk. So I turn back.

The window is rolled down on my side.

"Aren't you coming?"

I open the door swiftly and get in. "You sure you don't want to be alone right now? I mean I can understand-"

"No I'll be fine. I just need to drive around for a little bit." He says to me and starts pulling out of the parking lot.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I offer

I remember the forth of July party and what he said. About College and parents. This was definitely a topic that he dreaded.

He pumps the breaks on the car when I say it. I almost jolt forward but he holds his arm out to brace me. It makes me let out a breath that's all I know. His arm retracts back to his side as he keeps his eyes on the wheel.

"My dad sucks. And my grades kind of suck. And he's riding my ass about college."

I carefully put my hand on his shoulder. "Look all you can do is your best Steve. At the end of the day it's all anyone can do. Your dad might not see it but it's you who needs to start seeing it. It's your life."

"Y-yeah."

"Plus all of the shit you did with those monsters from hell is pretty badass. You'd probably get a metal for it if it wasn't top secret."

He laughs. "Thanks Jessie."

"Of course Stevie."

"Jessica!"

"Stephen!"

[happy-haunts]

The Hostess

Chapter one | Constance pt.1 : Constance pt.2

Chapter two | Mister Topper pt.1 : Mister Topper pt.2

Chapter three | Madame Leota pt.1 : Madame Leota pt.2

Chapter four | The Hostess

Chapter five | Captain Blood pt.1 : Captain Blood pt.2

Chapter six | Emily DeClaire pt.1 : Emily DeClaire pt.2 : Emily DeClaire pt.3

Chapter seven | Finale

I walked with Red and Constance behind me as I held my lamp up beside my head, leading them to a door that said ‘Cast Members Only’ and upon opening they were flooded with the overwhelming pinks, on my walls were several prominent heroes, princesses, magical girls, and fantasy posters. I had bookshelves filled with books- sitting atop them were the animes, manga, and novels of the characters on my walls if not more, hanging in a closet with black beads as curtains were cosplays and an assortment of pastel clothing, my bed was just a standard queen with regular pastel pink sheets(and a body pillow of a really hot anime girl), and last but not least my pink desk with my tiny chibi figurines, pink desk chair, pink headphones, and gaming set up.

I felt rather embarrassed that Red and Constance had to see this side of me but I attempted not to show it as I took a seat in my desk chair. Constance sat on my bed while Red kept standing- she seemed visibly uncomfortable in my room.

“Okay so pushing aside all of the questions I have about just this...” Red gestured to everything, “Maybe you can tell us how you managed to break Constances’ amnesia? Because that would be helpful in the future.”

“I can tell you that but it might involve alot more context.” I poked my fingers together nervously.

Red sighed and sat beside Constance on the bed, “Fine! Tell us your life story!” Constance gave a smile as she poked the body pillow.

❧

I am a twin, but my sister and I aren’t very close since she tends to be so depressing! She asks me if I want to know when I want to die, tells me the world is eternally doomed, and will sometimes quote outdated jokes from the internet. I’m the opposite to my sister, I read manga, cosplay, do seances in my room at 2am because I desperately want a date even if that means I need to sign a pact with a crossroads demon, and sometimes I actually drink the recommended amount of water in a day. Our home life was normal enough, we lived in the suburbs of California which could be kind of dreary at times with how sunny it is, so when my sister and I received a letter to work in a haunted mansion (TM) you could see how we would jump at the chance! It was a dream job for both of us! My sister would get to do more research in the powers of the undead and I could spend all day reading manga and messaging my devil boyfriend who won’t return my summons.

And that was that, I was sent to Liberty Square to await the inevitable rising of my undead ancestors and make sure they didn’t do anything damaging to anyone in or around the mansion.

When I arrived to the rather well-put together mansion I was greeted by a gentleman named Fletcher Hodges who was there to welcome me to the mansion. “Ah you must have been the Hostess assigned to the Liberty Square branch of Gracey manors?” He extended his hand for me to shake as I accepted it.

“Yes, I heard there would be ghosts...? Where are they?”

“Oh they haven’t risen just yet, but according to our calculations they should be due to show in a couple months - if they show at all.”

“You don’t believe in ghosts Mr. Hodges?” He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.

“Not exactly, I know they exist since I’ve conducted many experiments and what I’ve recorded is that ghosts are seemingly everywhere - dozens of people who have unfinished business (or in this case cursed) roaming on a plane parallel to our own, but we are unable to see or interact with them without the aid of technology or a highly remarkable gift.”

“Wait if they can’t interact with us then what is the threat of this curse? They’ll all just exist on their own plane.”

“Ah, not exactly! I was reading up on this type of necromancy in ‘Necronomicon on the go’ and there is a footnote similar to this situation -it states that if an apparition gains the ability to raise the dead then it can have a dramatic side-effect, which may cause the user and those risen to exist in the same plane as us mortals while also having their spectral bodies.”

“Well that could be a problem.”

“And as a descendant of the Gracey bloodline we believe it is your responsibility to care for your elderly.”

“Would they really be considered elderly if they’re dead?” Mr. Hodges waved his hand at me and handed me an envelope as well as a box.

“Lets not get into the finer details, here is your first paycheck - you will receive one at the end of every week, and here is your uniform.”

“How will you know I’m even in uniform?” He looked at me with a stone cold expression.

“We know everything.” I raised my eyebrows - that was disturbing. “Now if you excuse me I need to be in Tokyo tomorrow - so I must get to the airport.”

“Wait, isn’t there anything you can give me? Maybe a spirit wrangling lasso?”

“I’m afraid not, but Leota’s headstone is out back so perhaps you can ask her once she’s risen.” He gave me a wave and walked back to his car.

“Well that’s not very helpful.” I opened the paystub and almost choked $400 for doing nothing in an empty mansion! “You know maybe I can figure something out.”

❧

I wasn’t sure how long it would take for these ghosts to appear - or if they even would - but I got started on my room almost immediately, painting the walls myself and buying cheap shelves so I could save up for the books and figures that I always wished I had enough money for.

I remember a very specific weekend when I was putting together a second bookshelf (I had filled the other one up already)and was out of uniform - it wasn’t anything awful just a pink shirt with fuzzy blue pajama bottoms. I heard a voice coming from the hallway and quickly threw on my uniform before walking out to investigate - but we will ignore the fact that I had forgotten I was wearing pink bunny slippers.

Walking down the hallway was a blue apparition, he shimmered like water, his wavy hair floating around his features.

“Emily?” He called, but when he turned his head he only saw me. “Who are you?”

“The Hostess - who are you?”

“William Gracey, is Emily here? Have I risen her?”

“I’m not sure? Maybe die again and come back later?” He gave me a skeptical look.

“I don’t think I can be killed again.”

“I could figure it out probably, I’ve been watching this show about two brothers who fight monsters and -.”

“I’ll stop you, I don’t care.” He then kept walking - mumbling something to himself.

“Maybe if it hasn’t worked you just need to try harder?” William glanced back to me with a dark glare- his glowing red eyes piercing me.

“Fine, why don’t I just raise the entire graveyard!”

“No, no, no, no!”

But I guess I hit a nerve because he raised everyone...

Ballroom dancers were swaying in the parlor, an undead horse charged down the halls, some guy kept throwing around hat puns and making his head appear in his hat suitcase - it was overall a mess.

“Perhaps this is better?” William smirked and disappeared into the walls.

“What a dick!” I shouted, but I had a job to do ... oh crap I had a job to do. “Well lets start with ... A catalog.” So I grabbed a spare journal and began to catalog all the names of of the inhabitants and a short description of them.

Constance Hatchaway : Attic bride - I walked into the attic to try and find that William guy who made my life 999 times harder than it needed to be, sitting on a chest was Constance.

“Hello? I’m making a catalog of ghosts in the mansion, could I get your name and if you can recall - a brief summary of your life?” She stood up and when she turned to face me I noticed the hatchet in her hand.

“Constance Hatchaway - the Hatchaway bride, I killed all of my husbands in life because they were trash.”

“Mhm, mhm, ma’am please set down the hatchet.” She looked at her hand and gave a little chuckle.

“I’m not going to do anything to you...” She sat back on a chest with her chin in her palm. “I just wish I had made some different choices when I was alive.”

“If it helps you have a whole afterlife to do things that you wanted to before? I can come back to talk more with you after the catalog is done?” She perked up and gave me a warm smile.

“That would be wonderful if you did.”

Hatty : origins unknown - I had begun to notice when I approached the inhabitants of the mansion over time a lot of them couldn’t much recall their lives, most of those in particular were quite old ghosts, I’m talking Egypt ghosts which made absolutely no sense! But the puzzling thing was when I approached Hatty - a rather skeletal looking apparition - he couldn’t recall his name, life, or death let alone recall the room he just came out of. I took it upon myself to just go ahead and write down a name for him, Hatty seemed rather suitable given that was his preferred pun.

Madame Leota : Psychic and Scorceress - When Leota finally appeared in her crystal ball she was rather puzzled, not knowing that she would be buried on Gracey soil -thus immortalizing herself within the curse.

“Just call me the Hostess.” Leota eyed me up and down before finally flashing a smile.

“Alright, so what else is it that you need of me?”

“I’m glad you asked, I need to have more power over the mansion’s ghosts than that William guy.”

“Well if you remain inside the mansion’s property you’re out of luck, I gave him all the powers he desires so long as he died and was forgotten.”

“Isn’t there some kind of loophole you can give me just in case this dick decides he wants to go on a power trip?”

“I suppose I could give you something to ward off his presence in a limited manner...” She made a lantern materialize before me, “When a candle is lit inside this lantern, any control William has over the inhabitants of this mansion will be lifted - as well as William cannot step foot into the light to do harm to any apparitions he may wish to hurt.”

“This is fantastic!”

“I could, however, give you all the powers I possess if you want to make a deal?”

“Nah that’s okay and anyway the groundskeeper has been complaining about not having a light at nighttime, so this can double as his little walking light.” I exited the seance room and began looking through my catalog - so far I recorded 998 ghosts, but I hadn’t ran into any named Emily? Maybe William’s attempt to bring this girl back from the dead really did fail?

❧

I walked along the large windows of the ballroom as I watched the dancers spin in circles, but something outside caught my eye - a glowing specter in the distance.

“I am not about to lose a ghost on my first day.” I grumbled and marched outside, it was further away than I expected - sitting atop a hill of wildflowers overlooking the river that reflected moonlight from it’s surface. “Hey! You’re too far from the mansion property, I’m going to need to escort you back inside until I see about drawing up some travel papers - because honestly I don’t think those hitchhikers are going to stay in one place very long.” I placed my hand on my hip with a sigh - I needed a raise.

“I danced with a boy on that river.” The ghost mused, her hair was a dark violet, skin purple, and wearing a white wedding dress with a matching flower crown that left petals scattered through her hair. “I remember that ... I remember everything...” She turned to face me, her eyes glowed blue unlike all the other ghosts, and on her chest was a bright red beating heart.

“I don’t think I’ve met you...” I mumbled, sitting beside her and pulling out my catalog. “What is your name?”

“Emily DeClaire, what is your name?” She adjusted herself so we faced each other.

“I’m the...” I blinked, my heart tugged in my chest as I was about to tell her my job description. “I’m Tera Normal.”

“Good to meet you! But you aren’t a ghost?” She hesitantly reached out her hands and passed them through my arm.

“No, I’m the Hostess I work here to try and keep all of you contained - seeing as you aren’t supposed to be on this plane but rather the one parallel to us.” I sighed “But William really missed you I guess and is looking for you.”

“Oh dear, well I can help in any way that I’m able!” She clenched her little hands into fists, smiling with determination. “But I suppose first I should go see William if he is missing me that much.” She bounced up in realization, “Oh! Is Mister Topper here too?”

“I don’t have a Mister Topper listed...” I furiously flipped through my catalog, “I have an Ezra Topper?”

“No, that’s just Mister Topper’s brother.” She gave a huff as another startling feeling came across my heart, I felt like it was breaking in two. “I suppose he can’t be here can he?”

“Not if he wasn’t buried here.” Another sharp pain pierced my heart. “But maybe William can sort this out?” Part of the aching lifted.

“Do you really think so?” She smiled at me then twirled into the air, “Okay! we can go see William, maybe he knows how to get my Topper back!”

But once we walked back into the mansion I noticed there was something strange going on with Emily. “So does this Mister Topper have a first name or is it just Topper?”

“Who?” Emily turned her gaze to me now.

“Um, Mister Topper? The guy you’re missing?”

“Topper... Top hat...” She mused- but was overcome when she thought about top hat and began crying. “He lost his head!”

“Whoa, okay what is going on with you?”

“Hurry back!” She screamed as her deafening heartbeat made the walls shake. “Please, Hurry back!”

“I’m right here, Emily...”

“Now look what you’ve done.” William scolded as he walked from the walls and wrapped his arms around Emily- who cried in his chest. “Hush, just forget and all the pain will be gone.” His hand slid over her head making her blink - a smile spreading across her lips.

“I can’t even remember what I was doing again, you must think I’m an air head.” She laughed to William, but tears were still streaking down her cheeks.

“What did you just do?” I hissed to the man, he glared at me - releasing Emily and lifting his hand to her.

“Emily can you give the Hostess and I some privacy?”

“Sure!” She sniffled and began floating down the hall, “I sure am crying a lot today.” William watched her disappear behind a door and then turned his gaze back to me.

“You can’t mention that name to her, where did you even hear it?”

“She told me his name! Are you the one making her forget? What is your problem!”

“It’s for her own good, you didn’t see her when she first came back ...” He closed his eyes and sighed, “She can’t remember, just trust me.”

“Well forgive me but I don’t trust you.” I lifted my lantern, reaching into my pockets to find some of the matches I stowed away.

“What you’re going to blind me?” He laughed and made a fist, slipping the hallway rug out from under my feet and knocking me to the ground, I clutched the lantern against me to keep it from breaking- William approached me now, I began crawling backwards in a panic. “I know, how about I have you join the mansion? We are just dying to have you!”

“Or you can shove it six feet under.” I lit up the match and ignited the lantern - shining it on William which pushed him backwards, I could see he was annoyed.

“Fine, you can do whatever it is you do - but leave Emily alone as well as make sure no one interferes with her memory, or there will be deadly consequences.”

“Just keep making death puns, I can sit here all day.” His cheeks glowed with a dark blue as he turned away and walked back into the wall. “He is SUCH a dick!”

❧

I sat at my desk and kicked my feet in my chair, Red and Constance looking at me with great interest. “Fast forward to today I had come across Hatty being crazier than normal, and whatever had been pushed on Hatty was spreading into the other ghosts - they didn’t seem to remember who they were or who I was! The ballroom ghosts were in a panic because they all forgot how to dance, and the Quartet forgot how to sing! So I lit my lamp and decided it was time to find the source - I ran from room to room till I came across you two! And now I know why the mansion is acting strange- because you two are prying into ghost business and William doesn’t want you to.”

“Well someone killed Emily and we think the murderer might *be* William, which means we need to confront him.” Constance had determination in her glowing yellow eyes, “Emily deserves better than to be played like a puppet.”

“Enough.” Came a deep voice, I turned quickly to my lamp to see the nub of my candle was out- the flame had been doused by the wax. “If you are all so curious to have a conversation then lets talk!” The voice boomed and my figurines were thrown across the room making me scream, books flying from the shelves, floor shaking, and lightbulbs bursting leaving us all in complete darkness other than the three glowing bodies before me.

Wait.

Three?

There he was, the first ghost I had laid eyes on when the mansion came to life.

“William?” I whispered in disbelief, Red seemed to be unaffected by this as though she might have guessed.

“What? Cat got your tongue? I thought you wanted to talk.” He grinned.

[taiblogcomics]

Superfight Shutout

Hey there, chocolate pancakes. Like, I promise you, Teen Titans is going to get bad. And we'll be here to document it when it does. Maybe it'll even be this issue! But you'll have to read along to find out~

Here's the cover:

Can any of them defeat Superboy? Well, Kid Flash seems to be making a good go of it, judging from this image. But, like, really look at this cover. It's just awful. It  might as well just be plain orange. This is just a blur of noise. Visual noise. This cover gives me a headache just to look at it. And if you're wondering, this is going to be a problem as the series goes on, yes~

We open right away with Tim ordering the rest of the group to attack. Superboy responds by demonstrating his ability to shout his powers out loud, and then his power of tactile telekinesis. He rips up the street into individual bricks and knocks the crowd over. Bunker's gotta be thinking that's pretty ironic. Kid Flash recovers first, rushing in with no plan other than "hit Superboy a lot". Superboy retorts that he should try reading a lot instead, since he clearly needs to learn the definition of "tactile". Guess what, it means "touch". Even punching counts as a touch, so Superboy is able to just push Kid Flash away.

Kid Flash starts spinning faster and faster, and Superboy keeps pushing him faster, until he's going faster than he can control. Know what's faster than running? Thinking. Hey, that's sort of Kid Flash's character in a nutshell. Cassie gets in and kicks Kid Flash out of reach, sending him sailing over the horizon. Solstice flies off to try and catch him before he splats. While they're out of action, Superboy then takes Cassie out with one blow. Bunker plays "guess who" with Superboy, who gives him a suplex in response. Ah, so "guess who" was a wrestler all along!

Bunker exposits about his own powers, since Superboy did so earlier. It's only fair, ye? Bunker's powers are also psionic, manifesting as bricks he can control. He can shape them into things, and manipulate their density. He demonstrates the heavy density by shaping them into purple Hulk Hands and decking Superboy. It's their psionic nature that actually lets them slip through Superboy's invulnerability and start to affect him. This only goes so well, however, and Superboy grabs a nearby piece of road and dunks it across Bunker's face, knocking him out. Superboy taunts Bunker, then calls into his handlers at NOWHERE to complain that Cassie had friends.

We get a brief scene of Solstice saving Kid Flash, but in order to do so, she has to blast apart a ship so they can land in the harbour. Other sailors in the harbour complain at how little regard the metas have for them normal folk. We also check in with Superboy's mission control, who refuse to send him backup, on grounds he should be able to handle it. Nice guys, that lot. Finally it's Tim's turn to leap into the fray. He cuts into the matter by pointing out that "just following orders" is not an excuse, and it's gonna come back on him eventually. Superboy asks why he even cares, since Tim doesn't have powers, so NOWHERE's not even interested in him. And Tim replies that he would know if he walked away, and that's enough.

The one thing I don't like in this conversation is when Tim says "I don't want to hurt you, and I sure don't want to kill you, but I will if that's what it takes to stop NOWHERE". That's just your New 52 edginess talking, Tim. I don't believe for a minute Tim Drake would kill someone, even if he had to. He was the Robin who took up the role to keep Batman from going too far. Either way, though, Superboy says he should've pressed the advantage instead of talking him to death, and uses his telekinesis to short-out TIm's suit, which is deceptively full of tech for how skintight it is.

Cassie leaps in with her magic lasso. Hers doesn't make the target tell the truth, but it is unbreakable. Superboy decides to test this by then just flying into the ground and digging a tunnel with his telekinesis. Cassie's bracelets generate more armour to protect her, but Superboy points out that while her equipment is invulnerable, she's still just a regular girl underneath it. And that's why he's dug underground: because a subway is also passing underground, and it plows into them both, knocking Cassie out. Probably this also endangers a bunch of train passengers too, but since it happens offscreen, we shouldn't think about it.

With Cassie knocked out, Solstice is the last on standing. And she's not really a fighter. So she's going to talk to Superboy. She points out that whatever NOWHERE has told him, they haven't told him everything. They can't merely be after study and control--look what they did to her, after all. She's heard whispers of something coming, a culling. And if Superboy continues to help them, he's going to have blood on his hands.

He's conflicted, but decides to just knock her out as gently as he can. Apparently this involves him headbutting her into unconsciousness, which doesn't strike me as all that gentle. Surprisingly, though, he decides he's done enough damage. He tosses the spy van his handlers are using into the harbour, and leaves all the Titans--lncluding Cassie--unconscious on the ground. He then flies off to do some soul-searching, presumably in his own titular series that was going on simultaneously.

I think this is one of the problems with this series. It expects you to care about Superboy and find him interesting. But if you--like me--weren’t reading his solo series as well, his struggles don’t really come across. They’ve put all the character development for a major character into a separate book. I assume, anyway, since I still haven’t read any of it eight years later. But yeah. This issue is a long fight scene, and the guy painted as the antagonist wins. In fact, you could say this is really the first major fight of the series, and our heroes all lose. That’s not a great look for your team~

[maichancreating]

MaiChan.Creation FAQ

(It has finally come...)

ART TOOLS 🥝

🍀What program/tools do you use?

Photoshop CS6 with Wacom Intuos Pro Medium

🍀What brushes do you use and where did you get them?

I primarily use these two brushes when painting + the soft round brush (excuse the language lol)

I think I got them from this guy named, Houstonsharp.  If I’m wrong it’s one of these people (whom I’ve also possibly downloaded over the years): Jonas De Ro, DanLuVisiArt, TheEchoDragon, AaronGriffithArt, Sakimichan, WLOP

For the character, I use a combination of the soft round brush and “THE SHIT” brush. The “AWESOME” brush is usually for hair and sometimes part of the background.  Any other type of texture you see is from whatever brush I pick out of those downloaded ones I mentioned above 😅.

🍀Canvas size?

11 x 12 in. canvas (usually) with 300 dpi :)

ART TIPS 🍯

🌾How did you get so GOOD!!??? PLZ TELL ME UR SECRETS!!!

Take a deep breath and hope for the best. 

🌾Any advice for beginner digital artist/realistic portraits!?

This is all based on personal experience so whether this will work for you or not will depend on your learning style (I suppose??) lol.  

I’m a visual learner so I just watched a bunch of speedpaints on how other people approached the medium. I had to read a few tutorials to learn what the tools were in Photoshop (i.e. keystroke commands, lasso tool, liquify, etc,), but the major bulk of my learning was from watching the pros do it and trying to emmulate/integrate their methods into my own paintings.

Some good channels include sakimichan, sinix design,  brushboost, etc. :)

I also have a pinterest board filled with my favorite speedpaints/tutorial vids to check out if you want.

After I became accustomed to the tools, I just did a lot of photo studies and photo-referencing because the only way to learn how to do realism is to practice from the source 😉

🌾How do you draw [something actually specific]?

You can click here to see if I’ve covered that topic.

If not, as long as it’s specific and not just the general question, “how do you draw???,” I’ll try my best to answer you (a secret: the more specific, the better 🙃).

🌾How do you handle Art Block?

Other than getting frustrated and crying internally from my lack of creativity, I usually do photo studies to force myself back in lol. If I can’t be creative, I study.... 

PERSONAL 🍑

🌷How long have you been drawing?

A lot of seconds since I started.

OTHER 🥐

🌟Do you do commissions?

Yup! Check my prices and conditions here!

🌟Can I repost [a certain artwork] on [whatever website]? I’ll give you proper credit!!

Yeah, as long as there’s credit and you don’t remove my signature (essentially not altering the painting) -- it’s cool.  Thanks for asking :)

🌟Can I use your artwork as my profile pic?

Yup, as long as there’s credit, its totally fine :)

comment below or message me any more questions you'd like me to add onto the list :)

[teabreakpancakes]

Hands Off My Husband Naib x GN Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warning: A bit suggestive

(Name) pushes past Norton, eyes trained on Naib who's currently about to get chaired. They run to a phone booth, buying Dovlin, a syringe and a flare gun. They set the Dovlin and syringe aside, tightening the laces of their boots before running towards Kevin.

They yanked his lasso from the back of his pants while passing by, "I'll be borrowing that!" they shout at the cowboy in a cheeky manner. Kevin smiled proudly and pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes, "They learn so quickly" he praised like a proud parent, earning a weirded out stare from Vera who was decoding with him.

(Name) runs to where they last saw Naib, eyes filled with visible displeasure when they see The Ripper near a chair. "Hands off lamppost!" they shout, shooting Jack and using Kevin's lasso to pull Naib to them before pulling him away from the stunned hunter.

Jack recovers quickly, making his way towards the couple when he's met with Entomologist's swarm of insects. Melly and (Name) meet eyes from the across the bridge, a silent message being said between the two when they face each other.

"Get out of here while I stall him"

(Name) nods at her, already thinking of baking her some treats after the game in order to thank her.

They turn Naib to the direction of the portal, "Stay right there on the other side, I'll be back with stuff to heal you with" they say in a soft voice before pushing Naib into Fiona's portal that they asked her to make beforehand.

They run to where they hid the Dovlin and Syringe, thanking Hastur and Yidhra—what? they were the first gods they thought of—because Kreacher didn't steal them.

They run back to the portal, closing their eyes before going through so they don't get dizzy. They meet Naib's amused face when they get to the other side.

They make a facial expression as if to say "What?" causing Naib to chuckle. Naib walks closer to them, pushing their back against the wall before leaning in, "Usually, it's me saving your ass but it seems that our positions have switched—of course, only in this game" Naib whispers into their ear that only seemed to get redder with each passing moment, his eyes suggesting a more uncouth topic.

They bit their lip nervously, eyes desperately shifting around in order to find a way to escape before Naib put any more lewd thoughts into their head.

(Name)'s eyes fall on a decoy on the ground, quickly using it to flee from their situation. Naib closes his eyes and waves away the smoke that was produced when they made their escape.

A small smirk makes it's way onto his face when he sees the decoy of his beloved in front of him. looking down to see the bottle of Dovlin and a syringe at his feet.

He hums, stabbing the syringe into his arm as if it was normal, paying no mind to the Dovlin on the ground since he needed to have a clear head in order to think of what was in store for his darling tonight.

Naib was already thinking of making a letter after the game to excuse (Name) from their matches tomorrow since they would 100% not be able to move after tonight.

A devious expression painted itself on Naib's face, scaring away Axe Boy who was about to go in his direction.

The boy shivered at the look the mercenary had on his face, "Adults are so weird" the boy mumbled, quickly shifting his attention to a Luca that was currently trying to sneak away from his sight.

it's obvious that i love naib right? weird part is that i don't actually have him in game

edit: well, i've got him now - lawless

[galaxystiel]

Hi there! All of you fandom grand masters of original content have inspired me to dip my toes into creating graphics (and maybe gifs?) and I was wondering (if you had time) if you could give me some tips on like what not to do? I always see good starting tips, but I know there are general "no-nos" too. Thank you!

Hello! Well we could always use more original content in the fandom! ;) there are a lot of generally not-done things, but then there are a few things that people do that baffle me personally. I’ll try and give you a list of my personal no-no’s, but remember that there isn’t a Graphic/Gif Making 101. 

Using bad quality caps or using screencaps that have been coloured by someone else. The first is laziness, the second is theft.

Following on from that, not actually colouring the caps at all. It will not look good.

For gifs, using episodes that are less than 720p or watermarked. There’s usually a watermark free HD download of the episode available within twenty minutes of the episode airing, so there’s no excuse to settle for anything less? If you can’t find one, ask around. There are lots of people willing to share files!

Fonts are kind of the most offensive things I think for graphics. Like using distorted or barely readable fonts. There should be no more than two fonts per graphic (three at THE VERY MOST if you’re focusing on typography). Like stick to a sans serif and a pair it with a tasteful script font for graphics. if you’re doing a gifset with fonts, you should really only use sans serif or serif? Very rarely a script will work, but sans serif definitely is the most readable when it comes to a gif. It took me a while to learn that but it’s the most useful tool I have learned in graphic/gif making.

Jagged cutting out of caps. If you’re cutting using the polygonal lasso tool, you’re going to get jagged corners and it’s going to ruin your graphic. Try to at least soften the edges and get rid of the harsh white line that you sometimes miss by defringing the graphic. Layer >> matting >> defringe.

Not using textures. Solid colour as a background very rarely works, and it can make your work look like it was made on Paint, not Photoshop.

Sharpening is a balance. Don’t oversharpen or undersharpen.

Making a graphic that is shorter than it is wide. That’s not a graphic, it’s a banner, no matter how you spin it. In theory, graphics should be taller than they are wide, whether you have one panel or five.

That’s all I can think of right at this moment! Feel free to ask me specifics or any more questions, lovely anon!

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Imagines: #145-199

Previous List (#101-144)

145- Imagine being a mutant with powers like emma frost (the ability to turn your entire body into a crystal ) and you join Thorin’s company

146-Imagine a modern AU where you and Thorin are married and whenever he takes you on dates people think you’re his daughter

147-Imagine confiding in Dwalin, Fili, and Kili about your suspicion that Thorin doesn’t like you, only for one of them to let slip that you just make Thorin nervous

148-Imagine Thorin making up excuses to get to spend time alone with you

149-Imagine a modern AU where you and kili go on a date to the aquarium and kili is convinced that the tuna in the open ocean tank has it out for him

150-Imagine Thorin getting all huffy and puffy when you call him cute

151-Imagine the dwarves having a shirt busting competition

152-Imagine Ori teaching you to knit so you can knit Thorin a Sweater

153-Imagine getting into a debate with Thorin, only he quickly realizes that he’s going to lose, but he lets it happen anyway so he can see the full extent of your debate skills

154-Imagine Thorin meeting Trevor Belmont

155-Imagine a modern AU where Dwalin lives in a log cabin, rides motorcycles, and owns a BBQ joint

156-Imagine having a son with Thorin who looks like a Dwarf but has human height and Thranduil is so intimidated by your baby.

157-Imagine comforting Thorin when you learn thunder is one of his PTSD triggers

158-Imagine being really good with a lasso, and the company not believing you until you hog tie an indignant Dwalin, which he’s not happy about.

159-Imagine being super flexible and absent mindedly doing it in front of the company and they freak out

160-Imagine showing Nori true slight of hand with bar/street magic

161-Imagine learning that Thorin wears glasses

162-Imagine being one of the lesser known Valar and being so in love with Thorin you give up your divinity and immortality just to be with him

163-Imagine opening a BBQ Joint in Erebor and you become very successful because all of the dwarves of Erebor absolutely love it

164-Imagine having a small, short, secret wedding with Thorin because you both agreed that a big wedding would be too much of a hassle and too stressful

165-Imagine Fili and Kili stumbling upon you and their uncle passionately making out in the woods during the journey

166-Imagine attempting to seduce Thorin

167-Imagine having to be careful about what you complain about because the dwarves are so selfless

168- Imagine being a child( 4,5 maybe 6) falling into middle earth and being found by the company

169-Imagine Thorin letting you paint his nails

170-Imagine Fili and Kili overhearing you muttering naughty things about Thorin to yourself

171-Imagine a modern AU where all the dwarves of the Company are really into robot fighting

172-Imagine the Dwarves wanting to dissect any and all technology you bring with you from our world just to see how it works.

173-Imagine pissing Thorin off by kicking his ass in Halo

174-Imagine that many Dwarves refuse to except you as their Queen until you give birth to the next reincarnation of Durin

175-Imagine what the dwarves would sound like on helium

176-Imagine that Fili and Kili give a heart felt speech at the reception to you and Thorin’s wedding

177-Imagine helping Thorin ward off unwanted advances by pretending to be a couple and doing all the cheesy stuff couples do and it makes Thorin realize how badly he wants to have that with you

178-Imagine Thorin getting annoyed by the fact that you quickly picked up his tells

179-Imagine winning a bet with Thorin and as your reward he has to wear the Virgin Killer Sweater

180-Imagine that you are the person that the company calls on when Thorin is being too stubborn even for him purely for the fact that you feel zero obligation to kiss his ass.

181-Imagine finding and adopting a kitten while on the journey

182-Imagine the dwarfs fawning over the fact you wiggle your nose whenever you’re trying to make a decision

183-Imagine catching and stopping someone who is trying to cut Thorin’s glorious hair

184-Imagine Thorin purposely getting little cuts, bumps, and bruises because he loves having you fuss over him.

185-Imagine teasing Bilbo with Gollum quotes once he’s out of the goblin tunnels

186-Imagine Thorin not telling you how he feels about you until he’s in the midst of his Dragon sickness

187-Imagine Thorin liking the way you smell so he has you wear his shirts or sweaters to bed so that he smells like you for the rest of the day

188-Imagine the fact that you and Thorin keep dancing around each other drives the rest of the company nuts

189-Imagine learning that Thorin has never had a birthday party so you plan one for him as a surprise

190-Imagine getting Dwalin really into your favorite type of ASMR

191-Imagine a modern Au where Thorin is very famous and can’t go out with you unless he’s in an inflatable T-Rex costume so no one recognizes him.

192-Imagine Thorin sabotaging your braids every night so that way you eventually ask him to help you

193-Imagine trying a bathbomb out for the first time in middle earth with Thorin

194-Imagine having a talking parrot and the company loves it.

195-Imagine having a physical attribute that in middle earth only dwarves have and the company is like convinced you have dwarvish heritage somewhere in your family tree

196-Imagine introducing the company to new creative insults

197-Imagine Thorin having a nightmare about you dying in battle and it scares him so much it makes him realize how your presence comforts him

198-Imagine Bofur forgetting humans are not as tolerant of the cold as dwarves and when he remembers he lends you his gloves

199-Imagine the guilt Thorin would feel after you get hurt protecting him

Next List! (#200-229)

Bonus:

Cuddling headcanon

Brain freeze headcannon!

Things you do absent-mindedly that turn them on

Math homework

[alexbrockart]

Gargoyle Process

This painting started from a sketch in 2015 that I didn't touch for a bout a year, then came back to after ruminating on it on and off over that lapse. It's loosely centered around this legend of the walled city of Agartha, and the guarding demons and djinn that would keep the unworthy from entering. 

Here I sketched out the environment surrounding the figure and arranged the composition a bit. I wanted the environment to have a sort of Mediterranean feel to it, almost classical ancient Greek/Roman with a little hint of tropical. I ended up changing the perspective quite a bit because I wanted to paint in a lot of texture in the landscape of the background, and also wanted to drive home a feeling of the figure standing on a really high wall far above the ground below. So I raised the horizon line almost to the top of the canvas and redid a lot of the figure to fit in with a more top down perspective.

Here you can see the new perspective and wings, and my attempt at dumping colors all over the place that I felt gave off the feeling I wanted for the piece, which was a sort of bright and sunny warm day in the afternoon, soon approaching the golden hour.

Here's some images that I felt captured the mood and lighting I wanted to portray

Let the render fest begin! As I was painting the torso my power supply for my computer started crapping out and it was pretty terrifying to paint for fear of losing work. I had finished just about the entire torso and arms when it crashed when I tried to save it, and had to do it over, about 5 hours of work. The second version definitely came out better though. I threw in a crazy weird mandala-lever-table-mechanism I thought would be interesting but ended up chucking it for the sake of time and it threw off the composition a bit. It's inspired by this talk I listened to about the physicist Wolfgang Pauli and his therapy sessions with C. G. Jung. From what I remember, through deep trance or in a dream, Pauli saw this mandala that represented perfect rationality and other dimensions or concepts like increments of time integrated into each other. The idea was to sort of have the Gargoyle in control of one of the levers, hinting that your perception of reality may be manipulated or something along those lines. I mostly wanted an excuse to make a shiny 3D object and render it so that I could have perfect shiny reflection in the painting. I got my jollies in that regard with the mace that I replaced this mandala with. 

Here's the talk and a picture of the mandala: 

Here's some of the references for the skin and torso. In the old master painting with the man pointing toward the sky I really liked the way their skin looked really pale in some parts and very tan or oily/dirty in others and tried to replicate that effect on the figure with a sort of red-grayish green and a more yellow green. I imagine there being less callous spots that would be lighter and more "juicy" like when the skin is stretched it'll lighten up in those areas, kind of like when some plastic bends it gets lighter in those spots that are really stretched out. It's sort of an effect or look that produces a sensation that I wanted to portray and think looks cool and not much more. 

Here's about where I had gotten before I lost my file to the dark lords of psd corruption. Lots of rendering and minute fiddling, pulling and pushing forms and moving around muscles underneath the skin. Reference is a lifesaver when it comes to anatomy, or anything really, but especially anatomy because of how complex it is and how easy it is for people (who all have bodies) to recognize when something is off. I remember this is where I really felt like I was going somewhere with the painting and it had some potential. 

Got the rest of the human parts nailed down. I almost went fully Egyptian with his undergarments but decided against it. I found out the name for this type of clothing though, "shendyt" if you ever need to know that. Lots of challenging but enjoyable intricacies worked out here. If I could give a tip on picking color it would be to learn how to really feel it out. If you try to do this with only your intellect and calculate every aspect of surface color and lighting and reflection you mostly end up getting in your own way (not that this isn't important). If you can grab a color that feels ok and run with it you're better off than being indecisive and worrying that the color isn't perfectly accurate.  Make a choice and observe the result. What happens when you lay that color next to the others, how does it feel deep down in your gut and heart. What does it need more of? It's like tasting pudding, when you put it on your tongue and smack it around in your mouth how does it taste? What would make it taste more like the most perfect pudding you can imagine? You also have to have good taste to make things that taste good. 

Focused heavily on the wings and tree here. I took a big leap with the dappled lighting and just went for it. I knew it would be really hard to make it look realistic and it kind of became abstracted, but I learned a lot. After having finished it I've seen multiple images that would have been much better reference for the dappled lighting than what I used, but such is life. In place of accurate lighting effects I had fun making cool shapes and swirlies. I tried to create an effect similar to some sort of vectoring of light blobs where their outer edge sort of merges with the nearby blobs, similar to when you squint your eyes and look at lights out of focus. On the upper/outer edges of the wings I tried to pull of the effect of something being in shadow on a sunny day and heavily reflecting the blue of the sky. Since that surface isn't being blown out by sunlight you can really see other ambient light sources reflecting on it. 

I darkened the shindyt loin cloth by plopping a multiply layer over it and touching it up a bit. I though the lightness of the previous color was attracting a little too much attention and contrast. But when I look at it now I almost like it better.

I also tried to get down some of the awesome patterning on eucalyptus trees that I see here around town. They're some of the coolest looking trees in my opinion and really wanted to capture that dramatic contrast of values and colors they have on them along with the smooth swirly lumps. This tree was extremely difficult and I redid it at least once. I still don't think I pulled off the look I was going for with it but I like it in it's own right. 

Here's the bottom before and after the redo. I really wanted to pull off a section of surface that's lit evenly but has two different values/surface materials and have it look cohesive. This was a pain but I'm starting to come around to the idea of doing stuff over even if it's really close to what you want or it feels like too much work. It almost always comes out better.

I also had a friend help out and do a paintover to try and tie up the values which explains the darkened corner on the ground. Much more moody and dramatic. He also taught me this technique to strategically adjust the levels with brush strokes using a mask.

Create a levels adjustment layer. Depending on how you want to adjust the levels (lights, darks or midtones) move the sliders around to a spot you like, and this is the awesome part is it doesn't have to affect the whole image, so you can pick an area you want to change the levels of, adjust accordingly, and target that spot. To do this click on the blank white square (red X) and paint bucket it fully black, then go back to the levels adjustments (click on the layer name or graph square) and start painting or lassoing in white in the spot that you wanted changed. This helps a TON.

More progress! I started experiment with texture in the background by making some brushes and messing with them. I was really inspired by the way Craig Mullins can pull off seemingly intricate detail with abstract shapes and textures and wanted to try something similar. Maybe next time lol. I was also inspired by Dean Cornwell and looking at his work for the texture on the ground, trying to make nice big juicy blobs of paint that almost look like clumps of mud or stones. I also really had fun with trying to make a compelling pattern that was still in perspective. For the background I was looking at the Walter Everett painting above a lot, trying to get a beautiful harmony of really light values and colors, having forms be defined with only hue and not much value change at all. It's really hard to pull off. 

I went nuts on the background. I replaced the original idea of a golden glittering canyon with a more earthy and gradient filled landscape. I also tweaked the values much brighter, which I think I darkened back down later. I was heavily inspired by Whit Brachna and had at least one of his paintings open the entire time I was working on the background. 

These are some of my all time favorite paintings. Just look at them, gotdang. 

3D mace! Mostly inspired by spiky black metal aesthetic. I made a very rough (but that's really all I needed) model of the mace in Cinema 4D. The most tedious part was obviously all the spikes. There's probably a way you could pull them out of the sphere in 2 seconds but I'm not versed enough to avoid tediously scooting each individual spike one at a time. I then took it into ZBrush and just scrubbed it over with a cool texture brush that gave it a bunch of amazing details that you can't even see in the painting. I tried to set up a scenario in C4D that was as close to the painting as I could muster to get the lighting right. I copied a bunch of disc tubes to try and replicate leaves and branches. Since the figures hand, and most of his upper body was cast in shadow I tried to strategically place some "leaves" over the top half of the mace. 

I messed with a bunch of different surface materials and render settings and ended up going with the shiniest one, heh. 

Here it is before and after being painted on, very minute adjustments. 

I'd say the rest is pretty straightforward and can't really think of any extraordinary advice except maybe doing more quick studies of your weak spots. I'm realizing I could get a lot of benefit from doing a higher quantity of less elaborate stuff to really improve more. 

  I really hoped this helped and if there's anything you'd like me to elaborate on or that you felt was left out please don't hesitate to ask!

Here's some meaty juice for you. I made a 2000px tall resolution gif of all the process images which is included in the .zip, containing over 30 of the aforementioned 2000px res process pics, some full resolution (8000px) crops of the final image, and a few other random in progress shots. And finally here's the full resolution (8000px) final .jpg, the final .psd file (2000px), and my brush presets. Enjoy!

I'm not sure how to export your presets as new brushes and you may already need the .abr file for the presets to work, so if you have any tips on that let me know. Most of the brushes I use are straight from other sets or slightly tweaked and saved as a preset. 

Anyway, I think this will conclude this massive post. I truly hope it's helpful, or at the very least mildly interesting. Thanks for reading!

[rileywrites-parker]

Congratulations on hitting 800!!!!!! You're writing is amazing and it's only a matter of time before you're celebrating 10k! For the celebration could I please request: If you have a crush on him. Congratulations 🎊 again!

Thank you so much! You’re very generous throwing words like that around, sweets. I’m not sure exactly what you were wanting, so I took said crush and ran with it. I hope you like this!

“P-Peter?” The sound of your voice, small, wobbly, andunsure had you cringing internally, nerves already running rampant and startingto crumble at your resolve. He didn’t really need to know, right? Thingswere OK as they were; you could go on admiring from a distance, and then upclose, and then so closely that that beautiful smile he so often directed atyou was almost painful.

That smile that was made of sunlight, sweet candy, andblushing spring-time flowers.

When he turned his attention to you from his phone, brightness of the screen casting dramatic highlights and shadows across pretty, angledfeatures; white light contrasting harshly against the neon blue and pinklighting his hair from behind, sounds of the city at night loud and obvious asyou walked; a pair of old sneakers and well-loved boots smacking wetly against thedamp pavement.

“Hmm?” The pleasant sound of inquiry moving beneath thehollow of a pale, freckled throat; that funny, always mused brow quirking as thin,bubblegum lips pulled into a smile.

Even the way those long eye lashes framed the darkchocolate earth of his eyes made your heart flutter as he looked at you; toffeecolored waves frizzy in the humid air despite the way he’d carefully styled itearlier.

You needed to tell him.

You had to tell him.

Your heart was pumping, stomach flipping, and your veinssinging, pleading, begging for him to know; asking a question, hoping thatmaybe, if he knew that particular query existed in the depths of your chestthat he’d provide the answer to it.

That funny brow of his quirked as your face grew serious andyour boots quieted; he tucked his phone into his pocket and offered a warm hand,fingers laced with concern wrapping around your shoulder as he took in thesight of you.

“What? What’s wrong?” Peter-infused tingles trailing downyour arm as that hand slid towards your sweaty palms.

Your eyes were caught on his fingers, the color of his knucklesand the way his nails whitened just a little as he squeezed at cold, rainsoaked skin; “I – umm, Peter, I - ” your eyebrows were furrowing as your nerveslassoed your words, last-ditch attempt at desperately trying to pull that secret back in before youcould set it free.

A sigh of frustration pushed past your lips.

“It’s OK, take your time, whatever it is,” he was leaningtowards you, angling his face so that your eyes had no choice but to see thesincerity in the brown of his, reassuring smile candy coating his lips. Withhis face so close to yours, white puffs of chilly, moist air mixing with thepuffs leaving you; the dewy sunshine smell of him lingering, honeyed brown ofhis eyes turning your veins into honey themselves, you couldn’t help but tosmile, couldn’t keep the blush from painting your cheeks as you looked down atthat hand that held yours so sweetly.

He noticed the colors staining your skin, noticed the wayyou had held your breath as his skin had slid over yours, when eyes met andhearts fluttered; the way your lips responded to his every time he showed youthat jittery happiness his body felt.

He noticed you hadn’texactly noticed all of the same things in him.

He had a secret question of his own.

If the blush and nervous breaths were anyindication, perhaps, he’d thought, this was the night you’d finally ask.

“Peter, I –,” there was one more unsteady exhale,determination glazing your eyes as you looked at him, cheeks pink and messyeyebrows climbing up a pale forehead, “I have a crush on you.” You were sureyou sounded ridiculous.

“O-oh?” If it were possible for his face to redden anyfurther, it had as soon as your words had hit his burning ears.

“Actually, I think it would be more accurate to say that Ireally, really – um – like you,”words pouring out of you now that your feelings were out and already fluttering above yourheads, little secret embers floating and waiting to be ignited or die out athis response.

You’d decided that whichever way it went, it would be OK.Peter was gracious and kind. Peter was good. It would be OK either way.

It would be OK.

It had been a second too long and your face was alreadyfalling, your heart with it.

It would be OK.

Had it been seconds, a minute, hours? You were alreadyretreating, looking for clever words to talk yourself back out ofthis, to make excuses that he would be able to use to smooth this over in that way that Peter always could.

It would be OK.

Your fingers were withdrawing from the warmth of his hand,pulling itself back towards the cave of your heart to hide away from thefeel of his skin that, maybe, shouldn’t have been touched, because, maybe, it wasforbidden.

But he tightened his grip, calloused thumb stirring at youremotions as he swirled his skin over top of yours; your heart fluttering again.

Would it be OK?

He surprised you when a beaming smile broke out across thewhole of him, white of his teeth blinding in the dark, pink and blue tingednight, and he was laughing, palm running through dampened chocolate waves whilethe other touched, “Oh. Oh, this is great, oh man, I’m so - ” and then both of his hands were on your shouldersand he was pulling you towards him, “I was justtexting Ned about this, and - ” excited chuckles like commas as he spoke, “I’vebeen wanting to tell you forever, Ijust – you’re so – so –just you, andI was afraid you didn’t – but I was - ohman,” your face was buried between the folds of his hoodie, warm hand atthe back of your neck, fingers weaving through the damp hair there as heheld you to him; engulfed in him, the feel of him, the warmth, the happiness, and the relief.

Then you just stood there, wrapped up in each other, skydrizzling and dampening hair and faces, hanging from eyelashes; conversation onpause as your chests moved together and your hearts pounded at each other,knocking on that door waiting to be opened that would lead you into a new pinkand blue space; trail unblazed and ready to be explored.

“Peter?” his muffled name spilling from you in question as your smiling lips spoke over thefabric that smelt like sparkling, sunshine infused grass in early spring.

“Hmm?” Sound of him pushing through his nose and tickling atyour ear.

“So, this means you like me back, right? Because it got alittle confusing, and all of the sudden you were hugging me, and I just want - ”

He cut you off with a quick, soft kiss to the cheek, heartstopping at the feel of those candied lips dusting your skin with sugar, “Yes,that means I like you back.”

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