#hide us in the shadows

[honey-tongued-devil]

Rain Design (huits)

As I was saying in the Phantom post, since I've resumed writing the missing chapters of "Hide us in the shadow" (you can find it on ao3 or clicking the link) , I've decided to finally post some designs of the various ghouls. The two forms of Rain are because, in my headcanon, water ghouls are the ones who, to stay on dry land, need to find a more fake solution, as if they were constantly at 25% glamour, because the body wouldn't function properly. So that's the 75% ghoul version of Rain. (not gonna say why is it only 75 and not 100%)

If you want, feel free to drop suggestions, ideas, random headcanons. Chapter 14, for those who are caught up, will be out in a couple of days (since I'm graduating tomorrow). Just a moment of patience

[brotheridontknow]

I think he has a boo boo

[bet-on-me-13]

Bruce Wayne was never Batman.

So! The night that Bruce Wayne's parents got shot, he developed an Unbreakable Resolve. He needed to get rid of the Crime that had taken his Parents away from him, no matter what.

But that night, he also developed a deep-seated fear of Death. He was face to face with his own Demise and instead of dying himself he saw his Parents die instead. He was Terrified of ending up like them.

But he still needed to stop Crime. He couldn't just let criminals go unpunished, and while he was still using his wealth to try and prevent it before it began, he knew there needed to be something to stop crime After it had been committed. And the Cops were useless on that Front.

He eventually found a solution while looking through his Parents Family Heirlooms.

Ancient Books dating back to the founding of Gotham and even before then, telling of a Creature from another world who his Ancestors had helped in the Past. A Being of Fear and Shadow, who owed a debt to the Wayne Family. He needed that Being. A Monster of Shadows and Fear was exactly the answer to scaring criminals away from committing crimes and punishing those who did.

But he needed to find the Being from another world first.

So he left home, traveling across the Globe training with the best Magicians and Demonologists in the world in search of the Monster who owed his Family a Debt. His travels took him far, from the streets of LA where he met a man named Zatara, to the Snowy Mountains of Nanda Parbat where he learned of the Lazarus Pits and the Demon's that came out of them.

While studying the Lazarus Pits, he was trained by the organization who guarded them. They despised Weakness, and while their leader was in awe of his Intelect he was less impressed by his body's conditioning. If he was to study the Lazarus Pits, he would first have to earn the Right in Combat.

He eventually managed to pass their Tests and eventually left them, having handed over a Copy of his research as the price for being allowed to Study the Pits.

Years later, he finally returned to Gotham, fully equipped to Summon the Being that owed him a Debt.

Bruce drew up the Summoning Circle as perfectly as he possibly could, he had one shot at it.

A drop of his blood and a splash of Lazarus Water later, and the Circle began to glow an ominous Green. Slowing, a shifting shadow began to emerge from the Circle, at first only a mass of writhing darkness before their form Solidified.

The Books he had found on the Spirit said that it would take the form of the Summoners Greatest Fear, which just so happened to be Bats for Bruce. The Form that the Spirit chose reflected that, with large Dark Wings falling over their form as if they were a Cape, and horns looking like the Ears of a Bat. From the Darkness, two glowing eyes appeared.

"Spirit, hear me. My name if Bruce Wayne, and I am calling in the Debt owed to my Family centuries ago. My City is plagued with crime and malice, rotting from its Core. My efforts to prevent Crime from the side of the Light have been in vain, Crime persists despite my efforts. In order for my vision to be fulfilled, the Criminals of this City must have their hearts pierced by Fear. Fear of Retribution. Fear of Consequences. Fear of Vengeance."

Thoughout bis Speech, the Shadowed Figure stayed silent.

"That is why I have called you here. I want you to stalk these streets, punish the criminals of this City and strike fear into their hearts from the shadows, so that they know to stay in the light. I don't want you to Kill them, never kill them. Let them live with that fear in their Hearts until their final days."

After he finished his speech, the Figure finally spoke.

"Your Quest is an Honorable one. You seek the betterment of your people's, and are unafraid to resort to drastic measures to achieve that goal. It reminds me of my Liege's resolve." It Spoke, it's voice low and rumbling. "Very Well. From this day forth, I shall protect your City from the Darkness in its own Heart. I shall be your Dark Knight."

...

Had this idea out of nowhere and needed to write it down. In this AU, Bruce still wants to protect his City from crime, but is understandably traumatized from seeing the Deaths of his Parents. He has a deep-seated fear of Dying, so he chooses to forgo fighting crime himself.

Instead, he finds out about a Spirit that his Ancestors helped long ago, and decides that the most logical next step out be to Summon a Demon to protect his City. Instead of training his Body for a decade to become Batman, he trains his Mind and Studies as much about Magic and Demon's as Possible.

He still knows how to fight because he trained with the League. He approached them with an offer to study the Lazarus Pits and give them his findings, and they accepted. But Ra's didn't want a weakling on his Base so he also required Bruce to train his body. He saw his potential for combat, and was so disappointed that Bruce had chosen a different path. He could have been Great!

Bruce still has a thing with Talia that produces Damian, he is still a point of interest from Ra's since he is insanely smart and has huge potential, and he knows how to fight pretty well. Albeit not as well as in Canon.

Bruce becomes the Benefactor/Guy in the Chair for Fright Knight (who is the one he summoned if you couldn't tell), who looks like a "Bat Man" because of Bruce's fear of Bats. Fright Knight agreed to this because 1.) He had a debt to pay, 2.) Bruce reminded him of Danny, and 3.) He respected Bruce's ballsyness to Summon a demon and command it to protect people.

Bruce still adopts his Kids, but there are some changes.

Dick is adamant about fighting Crime, and eventually Bruce is forced to let him go on patrol with Fright Knight, who has started going by Batman. Thankfully Frighty managed to give him some blessings so he had minor powers and would be safer.

Jason is mostly the same, and he is so excited that Robin actually IS Magical. When he dies, Fright Knight, who had gotten attached to their Family, goes into the Zone to search for him. He is unsuccessful unfortunately.

Tim is kind of funny. He figured out that Dick was Robin, and Jason was the 2nd Robi , but assumed that Bruce was Batman. When he approached Bruce about becoming Robin so he would stop going down his violent Cycle, Bruce Redirected him to talk to Fright Knight, who was not taking his failure to find Jason well.

Damien grew up knowing that his Father was a Genius, and the Master of the Batman, which gave him a bit of an Ego. At first he thought of Fright Knight as a Servant, and tried to command him like he did with Alfred. Frighty corrected him quickly enough.

Any more ideas for this AU? I have so many, but I think I need to stop for now.

[saint-starflicker]

I, for one, welcome the Grishaverse nerds to the Next to Normal fandom as warmly as that fandom is sure to welcome a deluge of theater kids.

[cptnbeefheart]

last year in my sketchbook: can representational art be more sustainable for me if i take it less seriously? can i balance the two? | my art

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

The Fantasy High player characters get in so many combat situations where I would just leave. I would just be like 'this isn't our problem' and encourage the rest of my party to withdraw as quickly and safely as possible. They're teenagers. Apologies to all my GMs but if I don't have to be in a fight and there's no clear benefit I simply will not be. I would've prioritised getting my party out of the nightclub and left the zombie DJ to his bloodbath. Now they're facing a concrete golem, fuck that. I would just leave.

[bri-cheeses]

personally I think that all queer books should have a “special edition” with a subtle cover (and a code name if it’s necessary) for all of the people in homophobic areas

[cacodaemonia]

Just cancelled my Tumblr ad-free subscription because if they're going to keep incorrectly flagging my sketches as mature and then hiding them from from searches and people's dashes (even if they have mature content filters off), then they don't deserve my money. I'll just keep using ad blockers on desktop and not use the app, which is no hardship.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

How I've seen most people write Rangi coming out to her mom:

Rangi: Mom, I have something to tell you.

Hei-Ran: Go on.

Rangi: Kyoshi and I.....are.....together.

Hei-Ran: Oh I'm so happy for you.

*they hug it out, much wholesome*

How I think the coming out scene went:

Rangi: Mother. I need to tell you something, Kyoshi and I are together.

Hei-Ran: Oh thank the spirits. It finally happened.

Rangi: ???? You knew????

Hei-Ran: Sweetie, everyone in the mansion-no, all of Yokoya knew about it! Well except for Kyoshi.

Rangi: ????!! WHAT?!

Hei-Ran: I'm pretty sure Jianzhu thought you were dating, that's probably why he kidnapped you, you know?

Rangi: WH-HOW?!

Hei-Ran: Oh please, we saw your gay little ass running all over the damn mansion just to be near Kyoshi and to impress her. We were mute, not blind and deaf!

Rangi, having a crisis: I-wha-but-

Hei-Ran: Well, you aren't very good at hiding your emotions sweetie.

Rangi, flipping a nearby table: The fuck you mean I'm not?????!

Hei-Ran: Oh curses, go get Atuat, I owe her $5.

Rangi: YOU BETTED ON THIS????? WITH YOUR DOCTOR?????

Hei-Ran: Well Kelsang is dead, so I had to keep our bet alive somehow.

Rangi: I-*inhales* YOu know what? Doesn't matter! Do you accept Kyoshi or not?

Hei-Ran: Anybody who gives my girl that much cardio is 100% welcome into our family. In fact, I already added her to our family registry 2 years ago. As far as the Fire Nation is concerned, you two have been married for a while.

[kasieli]

Chapter five of A Reign of Shadows is out which you can read here ft. my fave sassy demon Cassia and the appointed babysitter Finn

[honey-tongued-devil]

Phantom design (huits)

Since I've started writing "Hide us in the shadow" again (click here for the ao3 link), I've decided, albeit very late, to bring my design for Phantom/Aeon. I'm the biggest preacher of ghouls with black/gray skin, so all my designs have in common just the palette changing for the hair and eyes.

If you want, feel free to drop suggestions, ideas, random headcanons. Chapter 14, for those who are caught up, will be out in a couple of days (since I'm graduating tomorrow). Just a moment of patience

[soullessseraphim]

I like to think that to regain and hold onto some shreds of his humanity Adam tries to have a very physical relationship with Judas. Because what is more human than seeking companionship and intimacy, both physical and emotional? It benefits both of them - as Adam now has someone to lean on to navigate his newly discovered nature while Judas gets to participate in a human experience, further defying Gabriel and his plans. Kissing is a win win. They shall kiss.

Also noticed that drawing nonhuman men kissing brings good luck. Guaranteed.

they're so

coded. At least at the beginning of their relationship, when Adam's transformation is still ongoing / just finished. BECAUSE YES JUDAS HELPED HIM GRAAAH IM SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM.

[tatzelwyrm]

One of my favourite parts of Sekiro's narrative is the sweet irony of how Wolf receives immortality.

Owl is the one actively seeking immortality. He installed Wolf as Kuro's bodyguard so he could keep an eye on him (and to ensure no one would beat him to his goal). Owl cutting the branch off the sakura tree shows he was trying to figure out how the Divine Heir's immortality worked (and potentially, maybe caused the land to become cursed by wounding the Divine Dragon in the process). He somehow arranged this massive attack on Hirata Estate, even got the Ministry involved to unwittingly do his dirty work. He even kills Wolf to stop him from getting in his way.

But at the end of the day, it all amounted to nothing. Not only does Owl not obtain immortality, he goes into hiding and plays dead for the next few years. The only one to profit from Owl's scheming was the Ministry since the attack managed to wipe out a clan allied to Ashina.

Kuro shared his immortality with Wolf instead. To save him from the wound Owl inflicted.

And why did Kuro do it? Simply because Wolf returned to Hirate estate at the right moment and proved himself as someone Kuro could trust. Simply by showing up and doing his job.

No plotting and scheming necessary.

Owl could have easily been in Wolf's place. He could have easily earned Kuro's trust himself. All he had to do was do his job.

Instead, his plotting ensured that he would never attain immortality himself.

[swiiivet-screamathon]

The ocean splashes in accordance to the great speeds that Smilk is flying trying to catch up to the airship.

A soul piercing stare at the destination before him, with such a focused expression you'd be forgiven to imagine that he had nothing but a singular thought in his head.

Exerting as much magical power as possible he dashes around the propellers and reaches the back of the ship, planting himself firmly on the captain's balcony.

After having made it his attention finally wanes and the glare instead shifts to the landmass they had just been on. The propellers spun slowly enough to block the view occasionally but that didn't stop the glare, not even the chattering that had soon begun above him took his gaze for even a moment. Simply watching everything that he had just lost and abandoned, sailing away from everything.

The few minutes that passed could've been mistaken for hours or even days, and each silent breath he took lasted years. Surely closing his eyes for just a fraction would take even longer, to doubt that notion was foolish.

Eventually though, the conversation above them seemed to near its conclusion, in which he finally managed to break free from his thoughts for just a moment.

With a wave of his wand he-- he...

He...

Nothing happened.

Nothing at all.

It passes across his eyeline with a glow of its orb, and that is all it does.

He takes his deep breath as quietly as he can manage; the ships engines might cause enough noise to let him relax, but best to risk as little as possible on this horrid ship.

He waves his wand again, seemingly with different intention this time, and this new intention did indeed cause something to happen, the summoning of a small paper puppet appears before him, wafting violently in the wind. He quickly disperses it as the fluttering was, as paper normally does in high winds, flapped loudly. Though fortunately it seemed to bring no unwanted attention.

He stares back up to the stern, the hands of that traitor dangling off the edge.

That........ Traitor...

He takes another breath and diverts his gaze, there's no winning with dangerous impulsivity-- any more impulsivity.

With a good look around what's available to him there wasn't much to work with, but there was one option that wouldn't risk being spotted, though it's far from something he'd define as 'ideal' by any means. A seemingly decorative set of railing that went around the hull.

With an annoyed grimace he does his best stretch in the scenario given to him, and then with a moment of concentrated anticipation, flies up and immediately grabs onto the rail, immediately regretting his action but persevering anyways, clawing onto the fixture to the best of his ability. The power of flight does help, but with the ship flying as fast as it is the arms of a poet is not one you want to rely on in this kind of exercise.

But he continues anyways, utilizing his flight to assist as much as possible when looping around from the back to the side of the ship.

With spite, anger and determination the journey from the back all the way to the front is an arduous and terrible one, but that's what he gets for believing that gnat.

But eventually, as gruelling and tiring as it was, as much as his arms sting from the exertion, as much as holding even his wand became an impossible task, he made it. Fortunately for him at the front there was a spot he could recoup at, simply let the wind blow him back into the hull with no risk of falling off. watching the sun set ahead of them.

He massages his sore arms as well as he can whilst relaxing every other muscle in his body. He might be on a timer but there's no land ahead yet, he's got the opportunity to take as long as he needs until the next step of his plan.

The sky was still bright, the light blue transitioning gently into the yellow sun that shone wonderfully in the sky...

He grimaces once more and rolls his sleeves back down, getting ready to enact what he came up here for. With the mimicking of clearing his chest he then belts out a perfect recreation of a whales call, heard loud and clear across the generally quiet ocean. Immediately the pitter patter of the cookies above to check on the noise erupts: 1... 2... 4-- where he then swiftly summons a massive paper puppet, a dark blue whale, and lets it float across the water below. With the plan executed he quickly but carefully returns to the side of the ship he came from, lets the wind drag him backwards and then uses the last of his energy to fly back to the balcony.

Not a lot of time to spare-- The balcony door is of course unlocked, so that's no hurdle. He of course couldn't stay outside as he'd be spotted by any random passenger when they reached their destination, but without any ability to get smaller being inside isn't much better. As he entered he immediately got a glance through the window on the entrance's door, seeing everyone at the head looking at his creation.

After darting out of view of those filth he instinctively raises his wand once more, but realizes quickly the his thought process was flawed, and with a twitch of one eye he scans the options available to him inside.

The most ideal place to be would be a spot where he doesn't risk being spotted by anyone who's either on or off the ship and has a decent enough exit strategy that he can take advantage of quickly once the ship does dock. There are two small windows he should be able to fit himself through once the time comes, though figuring out which direction the ship will dock in is going to be a risky one. All that leaves is somehow ensuring that either no cookies enter into the room or that he disguises himself as to not be spotted... He prefers the former, a little more.

He grabs whatever looks the most like a sturdy thin object and discretely hides himself under the window, sliding it into the handle, hopefully keeping it locked enough for his needs.

After all that, it's now just a waiting game.

[snail-noodle]

2 weeks left before the update

i'm gonna be sick– 😵‍💫

i haven't felt this excited for a character since longan dragon cookie first came out!

the villains for the cookie run world can be a hit or miss with me, and shadow milk cookie managed to hit all the right boxes for a good villain!

same goes for the other beasts as well, but shadow milk is just a tiiiny bit more special to me, personally 💙

his colors are also just very pleasing to look at as well <3 blue characters rarely catch my eye, but shadow milk is the exception. man– from what they've shown us so far, i just know his castle and his land will be beautiful

[waroferas]

feel like it deserves its own post but i also regularly get super emo thinking about how the colors all add up to link at the end of four swords. he was broken down into Exaggerated Pieces but in the end it was really him all along. every time they fought he was fighting with himself (including shadow), every time they made up it was him ending an internal argument, it's all him.