#i want all of her scenes in hd right now

[sskk-manifesto]

What a good episode. Maaaaaan

[herejusttosufferalong]

ust when I start to feel like I have a grip on what happened with the part 2 premiere and papgate, I learn or remember something that completely throws me. I feel like I need to lay out some evidence for my own mental clarity. 

I had a bad feeling something was brewing the night of the London premiere before the BackGrid pictures came out based on L’s energy on the red carpet. Here is evidence that SOMETHING was up.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRoTmvL4/ People have focused on how cute this is of N and LT, but it’s telling that LT and Claudia form a little huddle of love around her and Hannah joins in. People were feeling very protective of N that night. I can almost imagine LT whispering in her ear, “How are you doing?” and Nic saying with a smile plastered on her face, “He brought her.”

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRoT9dYE/ Some interpret this as Golda smirking at the lovebirds, but I have never seen anything other than pure disdain in her expression. She is thinking “You motherfucker” and you can’t convince me otherwise. 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTNbowwQu/ I was reminded of this clip here a few days ago and holy shit. Sam and Joanna are protectively huddled around N, the expression on Sam’s face as he looks directly at L is…not friendly, and I totally see the “stupid arse” thing. That’s not to mention L, who legitimately looks like he’s going to throw up. He is paranoid they are talking about him and, guess what, they are. 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRoTvvuH/ Let’s not forget this little dig. N is too classy to reveal anything outright, but her response feels so pointed and L’s reaction is so awkward.  

A few more random thoughts about the night:

I can’t find clips right now that illustrate this, but I remember noticing that L was constantly flicking his eyes upwards throughout the red carpet. He was hyperconscious of the fact that A was watching him from up in that glass box AND that N and the cast knew A was up there.

It struck me recently that I hadn’t seen any pictures or videos of C or LT with LN on this red carpet. LN had a hug with HD and there were those documented moments with Simone, but I would find it very telling if we couldn’t find a single pic or video of C interacting with LN that night. Happy to be proved wrong on this one #showittomeRachel.

I know the official story is that N left the afterparty early because she started filming TMFT the next day, but let’s be real. This was the final event for HER season of Bton. This is a project she loves and a cast that she cares deeply about. If she had wanted to shut the party down, she would have. 

So far, all of this awkwardness could be explained simply by A’s presence and nothing at all related to the paparazzi. The thing that is still SO suspicious to me that makes me think L knew the paparazzi would be there when he left the party is that he was the last to leave the party. Think about everything you have ever read/heard about L in social situations. That sort of gathering is absolutely not his scene. He’s talked about how much he loves an Irish Goodbye. I also feel like it’s sort of cringey to be the last one at a party like that, especially if all of the other main actors have left, including your costar. Why would he have waited until literally everyone else had gone if not because he didn’t want anyone else around for the pap pics? I know people really don’t want to believe L was involved because it is shitty to think about, but I think there are too many odd things that stack up for him to have been blindsided by it. 

The thing that haunts me is that he seemed AWKWARD about everything that transpired that night. This was not a man who felt confident and in control of his life decisions. If this was meant to be the hard launch of a girlfriend, a million different things could have happened. He could have told interviewers how excited he was to have his mom, sister, and gf with him for the event. He could have put his arm around A, grabbed her hand, smiled at the camera, kissed A’s cheek, etc. while the cameras were flashing.

So, that leaves me convinced of two things: Luke knew the paparazzi would be there AND he didn’t want to be photographed with A (at least in a way that would confirm a serious relationship). After tossing around different explanations in my mind, here is what I have come up with.

L is a serial monogamist who really struggles to be alone. He kept A around during the WT because it gave him comfort and a feeling of power to know he had a romantic partner. This would have been important to him for various possible reasons: maybe N was attached to someone during this time and he didn’t want to be the single one; maybe N had rejected his advances and he wanted to seem unbothered; maybe neither he nor N had made a move on each other but he was feelings things towards N he didn’t know how to cope with and A was a distraction. Regardless, he kept A in the picture, though their relationship obviously had a LOT of asterisks surrounding it. He invited her to the premiere at a time when he was feeling especially insecure (for any of the reasons I mentioned above). In his mind, it was going to feel good to have her there. And I think at some point right before the premiere, she convinced him they needed to launch the relationship. If it’s true that something had been going on between them since the fall, then it had been at least eight months of her letting him keep her hidden in the shadows while he flirted shamelessly with his gorgeous soulmate–I mean costar–for the world to see. He agreed to this at a time when he wasn’t secure in whatever he and N had and couldn’t find a compelling reason to say no to A’s request. 

But I think he underestimated two things:

1) How shitty it would feel to have A at the premiere as his date after getting so close to N in those last few legs of the tour. I think Ireland especially shifted something and he realized not just how much N meant to him but, very importantly, how much he meant to N.

2) How much N would care about A’s presence. I think N must have played it very cool about A during the tour. Either didn’t really acknowledge her or brought her up in a casual way to show she was unbothered. But I think the sequence of Brazil, Toronto, and especially Ireland hit N hard and she became emotionally invested in (and available to?) L in a way that she hadn’t let herself be before. I’m not sure she said anything to him, but I think they could both feel it. A’s presence at the prem ended up feeling like a slap in the face to N in a way that L did not anticipate. 

I think L initially thought that having A at the premiere would be a confidence boost, but having her there backfired. He didn’t realize how awkward and embarrassed he would feel by A’s presence. When it’s just L and A  or when they’re with R and S, L doesn’t feel as self-conscious about things like A’s age, her SM antics, her unseriousness. But when he, N, and A are all in the same space, the silliness of his relationship with A and the differences between N and A really hits him. Frankly (and I don’t say this to be cruel to A), I think he feels mortified about N witnessing his relationship with A up close and personal. So I think what we’re witnessing at the red carpet and in the pap pics is a man who committed to a plan (inviting A and setting up the pics) at a time when he felt a) insecure in his connection with N, 2) unaware of how much N cared about him, and 3) unaware of how much he would care about N’s opinion of him (sorry, that’s convoluted). We know he is not a decisive person, so he let this nightmare scenario play out and is now living with the consequences of his passivity. 

That is ALL TO SAY: I think it’s possible to believe that L was involved with the pap pics AND that he cares about N/didn’t want to hurt her/is totally in love with her. Anyone else out there who feels like it’s possible to hold these two truths in your head at once?

so this is more of a take I saw floating around in the wake of it all

curious to see how it lands with y'all now

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Crazier Bastard's Chapter 305

Brief summary: 5 people from CP came. HD meets his disciples, Clopeh and Hannah. HD wants to spar with CH.

==========

The first batch of CP people came, and they were:

Heavenly Demon - leader of the Demon Cult

Fist King Mok Hyeon - representing the imperial family

Jegal Mi Ryeo - female general commander of the Murim Alliance's military force; Caleism believer (?)

Tang Yu - Poison Queen; 50 y/o matriarch of the Tang Clan of Sichuan

Sima Jung - Trash of the Evil Alliance; son of Sima Pyeong, the Evil Alliance leader; Toonka's friend

All of them were surprised to see Cale's true appearance. Sima Jung immediately searching for Toonka was cute though. 😂 There was a funny scene between him and Raon:

Sima Jung: I greet the great elder. Sheritt: ??? eyes shaking Sima Jung: My father told me to always ask the great elder how he is, and to treat him with courtesy. Raon: tilts head ??? Sima Jung-ya! Why am your great elder? I'm only 7 years old! Sima Jung: No. He is my father's teacher, so I should call him with a great title, but please understand that I have not forgotten the lessons of the great elder, so I can only call him this. Raon: Hmm. I don't mind! Sima Jung: That's what I want to do. Great elder. Raon: Then do so! Cale: confused Fist King: Before we came here, he was beaten up by Sima Pyeong for three days and nights. Cale: Aha. immediately understands

Sima Pyeong is a great dad... 😂😂😂 Now if only Deruth had disciplined trash Cale... but I guess everyone secretly knew that og!Cale was just acting trash? Anyway, Sheritt's reaction to her son being called great elder was so funny. 🤣🤣🤣

If I recall, Jegal Mi Ryeo was somehow converted (?) to Caleism in the CP arc by the end, so I'm now excited to hear Kim Hae-il's current reputation in CP. Did Cale get more murim titles? 😂

What happened to Tang Yu was sad. The Dragon Lord of Aipotu destroyed her hometown of Sichuan, and half of her clan died during that time. Fortunately, the kittens were interested in her. Tang Yu and Hong recognized each other's poison, and On (and Ron) seemed to be interested in her assassin-like skills.

While the four were led to their rooms by Ron, Cale personally guided HD to HD's assigned room in the Black Castle. Why? Because Cale wanted HD to meet his "disciples", the people who inherited his power.

Hannah was acting awkward, but grateful to HD. But she was shocked when HD said she swung her sword ignorantly. She thought he was calling her ignorant, but HD was actually complimenting her. He said that it was just her style, and did not mean she herself was ignorant.

However, HD said that CH would be a better teacher to her. He described HD as someone who pretended to be gentle but was clever, and pretended to be ignorant but was troubled a lot. If you think about it, Hannah and CH are similar. Well, except the gentle part? Did Hannah ever pretend to be gentle in the past? Ah, that's right. She was gentle when in her holy maiden days.

Clopeh though... 😂😂😂 HD correctly figured out that he was a snake bastard, and both Cale and Raon were impressed. 😂HD described Clopeh's sword to be like an imoogi, and that Clopeh had the potential to surpass CH. Clopeh kept smiling all the time, and CH just shrugged.

The author showed her bias towards Clopeh again. Like, is there a need to mention his white hair and green eyes every time he appears in a chapter? Or be constantly reminded that he had a noble or holy appearance and smile? 🤣🤣🤣

HD was such a Male Lead-like character, and I think a lot of people agree, perhaps even the author herself. He even dropped the famous "How interesting" line (to his disciples). And then being revealed to be the most powerful person in Central Plains. I want to be excited with his upcoming spar with CH, but knowing the author, this would happen behind the scenes.

Ending Remarks I am so happy to see the CP people again, especially HD. 🥰 Next up would be Cale's talk with Exion regarding the Dragon Lord. Hopefully, this would be short as I would like to see Cale's interaction with the CP people again.

[spookberry]

i know this pic is pretty old and canon may have changed since then but do you have a more hd version of the lineup of the color guardian generations over the years? its from 2022 on your deviantart but dA compressed it! id love to hear about the older teams, like anita's first squad

You mean this thing??

Honestly the other teams aren't super relevant outside of a few characters and I like the idea of leaving it vague enough that there could've been even more guardians embetween the ones here.

But yeah I can tell you a little about everyone!

-Anita was one of if not the first Color Guardians. She was actually very close to her Green specifically. They were Best Friends even before becoming Color Guardians(this leads to conflicts with Rin later because Anita tends to compare the two). Their group wasn't around for very long, no one knew the stakes or how serious everything was back then... That is until one colorless attack that ended with Robin dead and Anita having disappeared with a spark of light. Robin was cheerful and kind. Seeing him die left a bad mark on his teammates that they haven't let go of to this day.

-because of her disappearance Anita was assumed dead too. Both by Layla, the police and even her own family. Octavia showed up on the scene shortly afterwards. She never knew Robin or Anita, but Layla's trauma and the fact that it was just them two for the longest time left a deep impact on Octavia.

-Even after Octavia outgrew her role as Blue, she still worried for the next generation. She made a point to track down the next Blue to as soon as she could in order to teach him everything she knew. She's an adult now and teaches self defense classes to the general public, but also special classes for Guardians specifically. All the Blues have met her, and Chiyo even introduced her to Kimi so Kimi could get better at fighting. Layla wants nothing to do with the newer guardians, so Octavia avoids bringing them up, but the two do check in with one another still.

-The teams are generally organized by which Blue is active, because theres always an active Blue. I labeled him Remi up there but I eventually renamed him Russell, he's the second Blue. Much like Octavia, he spent most his time as part of a Duo, up until she was killed in the line of action. It was only near the end of his career as Blue that Nia and Charun became Colors. Nia met Sue a couple of times and can remember her fondly, but Charun never met her.

-Dimitri is also an interesting character. The only other Pink that anyones aware of, he was an active antagonist for most of his time. He often got in the way on purpose and would sometimes help colorless out just to see what would happen. With the power of friendship and gay tension he eventually turned a new leaf. Though not before Russell hit him with a car(they're married now).

-Marcy and Nia are the most relevant past Guardians to the modern group. Marcy has a tough start as Blue. Everyone on the team had been a Guardian longer than she had and already expected her to fill the leadership role that Russell had. Not to mention the youngest and littlest Guardian Veronica appeared right after Marcy. It was a lot of pressure to say the least. But the four of them developed a pretty intense bond cuz of it. Unfortunately much like the others, Marcy's time as Blue did not end without tragedy. There was a really hard fight once that they almost lost. Charun and Nia got hurt really bad to the point where Charun outright rejected being Green(a painful process) and now hardly speaks to any of them outside of the occasional pesters from Nia. Nia herself was already disabled, but the fight has made it harder to manage. She always knew the physical stress of being Red would have negative impacts on her but she doesnt regret her time as Red nor does she regret any of the choices she made during that time. Marcy broke a leg as well during this which permanently ended her dance career.

-More on Nia actually, she was always the heart of her group, encouraging everyone to keep face no matter what. Even after it all she still continues to push her friends forward and check in with all of them. Her younger sibling, Benny, looks up to her a lot, his Guardian form mimicking hers in many ways.

-The only one who came out unscathed physically was Veronica, though having watched the emotional fall out made her wary of teaming up with any of the Guardians outside of Benny for a while. Benny's a simp too so he follows her lead on everything.

-Marcy's only 20 when she meets Chiyo but immediately takes it upon herself to support and take care of the new team in a mentor-y role. The way Russell did for her and Octavia for Russell. This usually turns into more of an emotional support role than being active on the field. (She's had to talk Chiyo through her crush drama SO many times). Marcy isn't that much older, but when you're 15 but 20 seems pretty mature in comparison. Due to her own angst about what happened to her last group too Marcy tends to put a lot of the pressure of being The Adult for them onto herself. (no anita you dont count as an adult)

-Anita was gone for approximately 15 years mind you, so the teams are pretty spread out with the occasional overlapping member. She hasn't gone to see Layla yet since coming back to the right time. She's scared of all thats changed during her time trapped in the timestream tbh.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Is this the same undercover thing you and Tim were discussing the other night? I already told you that kiss didn't mean anything. Right, right. It was for the case. Make out. Stop crime. That totally tracks. Go to school. Okay. Well, have a great day. With your boss. Who you kissed.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 5.01 - Double Down

Words cannot express how much I love this scene… I mean, what a way to start the episode - and the season! This serves as a perfect reminder of the seismic shift that happened in A Day in the Hole… and as an acknowledgement that this was more than a mere kiss, no matter how many times Tim and Lucy want to pretend otherwise. Their reactions made that very clear, be it right after their makeout or the morning after. And Lucy's dream emphasises this again, as it takes place a few days later. They're still affected. They're still reeling. Although, technically, this isn't the first time Tim appears in her dreams… Back when she was a rookie and fell asleep on their night shift, he was already present in her mind, in his full sarcastic and sassy glory. Even her dreams showcases the growth of their relationship...

But the way she is smiling in her sleep… So much for this being just a kiss! She is absolutely enjoying replaying that moment. With her boss. Not her boyfriend. And what makes this even better, is that this isn't the same footage. It's the same angle, same ambiance and all… But this is a steamier version. One where Tim is being more assertive and emboldened. Her dream is so telling… It does get interrupted in the same manner than their kiss. Tamara is nothing if not consistent. Lucy being so flustered, caught off-balance, looking a bit guilty proves how far gone she is.

Thankfully for Lucy, Tamara doesn't bring that up yet, giving her some time to recover. This part of this scene tends to be overlooked with everything that goes on, but that Tamara wants to be there for Lucy is so touching. She did something similar for her for the prep trial. She tries to act casual, giving her some options on how they could spend the day together… Just so she wouldn't have to think about it or be by herself on this day. Something that is incredibly thoughtful because Lucy wouldn't necessarily confide in her, to avoid burdening her. I like that she has a support system… Better yet, that this system is one she created herself. This is exactly what she would do without question if their roles were reversed. These two have such a deep connection and love for each other, it's really heartwarming.

But the teasing is never far with them… And Tamara can't help herself the second Lucy mentions her undercover op. She is having too much fun at her expense… And honestly, who can blame her? 'I already told you that kiss didn't mean anything'… Says the woman who was replaying that kiss in 4k full HD in her dream a minute ago… Who's the lying liar who lies now?! But it's the fact that apparently Tamara brought that kiss up before that sends me… The way Lucy says 'I already told you' makes me think that they've had this conversation several times in the past few days. And not just after Tam got home that night. Her shit eating grin says it all… 'Make out. Stop crime'. So iconic. Once upon a time, Tim told Lucy that 'cop eyes stop crime'… Talk about a different approach.

'Have a great day. With your boss. Who you kissed'. I could quote this whole exchange, this is so hilarious. And I like that it shows how comfortable Tamara and Lucy are with each other. That they are family. Who teases mercilessly each other. For kissing their boss… Who has to deal with something quite similar...

[basil-does-arttt]

DMC Questions Anon here!

As we all know today is the 23rd anniversary of the first Devil May Cry game, and the series as a whole. So I want to hear you talk about DMC 1, what you love about it, headcanons you have about it, alternate scenarios you want to share, anything DMC 1 you want to talk about.

Hello again! This is gonna be a long post i have a lot to say lol

DMC 1 was my introduction to the series way back when as a little kid, when i watched an older cousin play it and eventually tried it out myself. This was also the PS2 version, and i was gifted the disc + console as well at some point.

The Alastor cutscene stuck in my head for literal years after i first saw it as a kid, that and DMC 3's mission 20 arena. Every so often it'd pop into my head as a memory, untill recently when i decided to get back into DMC fully rather than just occasionally remembering it.

DMC 1 holds a very special place in my heart because of that, its a huge nostalgia thing for me and is my favourite game in the series.

I love the setting and tone of the game, its so unique compared to the others, of course all in thanks to DMC 1 starting out as RE4. That whole gothic castle, almost horror vibe is something you dont really expect from hack&slash games these days, and even though it made for some real clunky and annoying moments in game (cough cough Nelo 2 and Griffon 2 cough cough...) to me, the good far outweighs the bad.

Oh and the soundtrack! Its so good, every theme works so well in the scene it's used for, even the abient tracks. I will say however, the bg music got real messed up on the HD remaster which is very dissapointing. (it sounds flat and doesn't have any echoing anymore, specicially the divinity statue room and Phantom's church arena in the start of mission 3). It may not be noticable to some who have only played the HD release, but i noticed it immediately coming from the PS2 version oof. I guess i have to be greatful that a HD release exists in the first place though, and it is a very old game. Still.

The combat also, (and this might not be an opinion shared by everyone which is fine) i feel is the smoothest out of any Dante in any game. All the attacks are so responsive, and although you're limited, you can still style on enemies pretty easily.

Finally the bosses. Arguably the best lineup of any DMC game, every boss is fun in it's own way and brings something new to the table in terms of mechanics. Phantom is a lot of timing correctly, Nelo pushes your fighting style to be more agressive and direct, Griffon challenges your dodging skills, Nightmare is a puzzle solving boss, and Mundus is all three. The designs are also amazing, and most of the arenas are perfect. Griffon 2 and nelo 2 aren't so great arenas but their 3rd arenas more than make up for it.

Okay enough of me gushing about how much i love the mechanics, some HCs i have for it!!

1/ That motorcycle Trish bust the door down with (and then throws at Dante) wasn't hers, right? We see it in the into cutscene before it cuts to Dante at his desk. Well, its my HC that was Lady's bike (she was not happy).

2/ (aside from gameplay mechanic reasons) The reason Dante cant use DT at the start of the game, despite having awakened it in DMC 3, is because Dante wants to push away from embracing his demonic side even more so now after his brother has been "killed". He always disliked being part demon and preferred not to tap into his demonic abilities because of that, demons are evil creatures after all and Dante is far from that, but that hate is even further exemplified after Vergil fell into hell.

3/ When Trish split off to fly solo as a devil hunter, she kept the name "Devil Never Cry" for her business. People do often confuse her for Dante's "Devil May Cry" especially when the names are abbreviated. Dante finds it mildly annoying, Trish finds it hilarious. (Sometimes she'll direct clients to Dante out of pity too when they call her number asking for Devil May Cry rather than Devil Never Cry, instead of convincing them she's the right person. Dante however always sends them over to Trish if they've called the wrong number.)

4/ Dante probably knew Trish was trying to lure him to his death on Mallet island, but he went anyways to avenge his family's death. We know he'd been searching for Mundus ever since DMC 3 (it says so in DMC 5's "history of DMC" cutscene), and he knows that finding and killing Mundus wouldn't be nearly as easy as Trish made it seem. Wether he came back or not, he was going to kill Mundus, or at least try.

As for alternate scenarios, i dont have much in mind. Maybe it would be interesting to see a scenario where Trish never betrayed Dante, and instead she tried to help him during the nightmare fight. It still would've ended the same way for her, but maybe also Dante wouldn't have gotten so angry with her when he saved her.

Ugh i just love DMC 1 so much, like i said before it holds a special place in my heart. I hope that answers everything :> <3

[restesdelune]

*A Richonne Content Rant*

> Comin' Soon on Restes de Lune ?

Hi TWD fam, Richonners, gals, guys and theys

I've been editing like crazy but the youtube algorithm won't let me post my 20min edit of HRWB #3 - Next World Lovin' (A day in the life of Rick Grimes) without butchering my work. Looks like I won't be able to finish this series with a bang like I hoped.

So here's a load of stills to give you an idea since for now, all my hours on it just went down the drain. I still want to share something though, as I know others are just like me :) Maybe I'll share snippets, bits by bits... :(

Here's the first part

Idk, looks sexy and funny to me! ^^

I still don't understand why so many channels can host whole scenes of the show online, HD scene packs and longer edits and seem unbothered (good for them!) but I can't ?

Whyyy Ô Whyyy ?

My Richonne rabbit hole originally started with an Ultimate Edit From the prison to Alexandria. It was right after watching The Ones Who Live as it was released and I needed to go back and re-experience Richonne all over again. Unfortunately, it was too long of an edit and my hardware could not keep up...

That's when I took on smaller endeavours, exploring the origins of Richonne further from behind the scenes. I love listening to Danai talking about her work. So many actors tend to respond quite superficially to questions about their characters, Danai has such a profound understanding of Michonne, it shows both on and off screen and I'm here for all of it.

Then, I've explored more behind the scenes with Andrew and Danai's chemistry, and how it showed and still shows up on screen years later, and have many of us hooked, locked in a love chokehold everytime we see Rick and Michonne gazing into each others' eyes. That's how HRWB #2 came to become Dandy On Set and Off.

Yes, I'm fluffy like that and have no shame about it :)

Anyway...

I'll still try to edit further HRWB#3 and share it with you what I can, but I need to cut back my Richonne hours and find new ways to engage with the fandom if I can't find a better solution.

My series How Richonne Was Born was supposedly a lighter prelude to the deeper and more interesting work I want to share (see The Ones Who Love Live On teaser). Might take a while though, as I work too slow for the algo, so don't hesitate to sub to check me out here, on youtube and twitter to follow the work.

And yes, I'm gonna get even fluffier with these ones, and a lot more political too. Fingers crossed!

I still plan to share everything I wrote (essays and fanfic), it will only take yet a lot more time and creativity. Maybe I should just forget video and do a podcast? Just brainstorming in the tumblr open...

If you're into any of it let me know, feedbacks and advice are welcome! I may have started this on a whim but I found people along the way, and it's always easier when we're not alone and have support, right?

My posts about

"The Last Grimes"

The Michonne effect

Mother Michonne

**** See You around and Happy Shipping ****

[kittick-art]

Wahoo, time for another Animatic Deep Dive!

I did this on twitter after my jeanmarco animatic came out last year, and I wanted to do something similar for the Royai animatic! This post will include HD stills from the animatic, as well as some nerdy insight into some shot choices and such, bc I need an outlet to geek out about it. Everything is under the ‘keep reading’ break! :]

Ok to start off, I wanted to show some behind-the-scenes stuff, including my first thumbnails I drew in my sketchbook, as well as part of the shot sheet that kept me organized (and sane) throughout the animatic.

Also, fun fact is that I'm primarily a 3D animator, so I used that knowledge to sculpt a rough version of Mustang's office for the final shot :]

Ok so now for actual stills...starting with one of my FAVORITE sequences to draw, which I have dubbed 'the scrolling bit.'

And a fun little composition tidbit about this sequence is that I tried to show the passage of time through Roy & Riza's placement in the shots. So in order, they progressively go from the right of the screen to the left. It was actually a really last-minute decision, bc originally I had two different shots (see below) which got scrapped in order to do that silly compositional thing. I think it was a worthy sacrifice because that drawing of Black Hayate on Mustang's head was just so fun to draw.

OKAY, now I want to move onto my favorite part of any animatic, which is the pretentious stuff about 'character placement' and "the deeper meaning." Blah blah, all that art-school kind of stuff that you'd hear in some film analysis class.

It's not intentional whatsoever, but I realized after the animatic was finished that Hawkeye is almost always on Mustang's righthand side, other than a select few times when he's the one supporting her. Feel free to look into that if you'd like, but just know it was not intentional and isn't consistent 100% of the time.

What was intentional, however, were these 4 shots, and specifically the placement of Mustang & Hawkeye within them:

These 2 sequences are meant to be direct parallels to each other, in everything including how Mustang turns to Hawkeye, and Hawkeye is already facing him. They were also my favorite shots to animate, especially with Riza coming out of her salute. Seeing them in the final animatic almost made me tear up, ngl. They're just so dang in love!

Finally, the last part that holds some artsy deeper meaning is a sequence I actually shared a long long time ago. I've dubbed it the 'spotlight section' bc idk how else to describe it.

Back when I teased this sequence, I alluded to some "deeper meaning" behind the use of red in the tags. And while the use of red is a pivotal thing throughout the entire animatic, it's most important here. It starts on Hawkeye's back, then transfers to Mustang's glove, and finally goes back to Hawkeye as her blood. Basically what I was trying to get at was something about consequences, and where flame alchemy has led them. In some way or another, Riza's decision to show Roy her tattoo ended up leading to her own (near) demise. So the red was supposed to show that transfer of consequence, if that makes sense.

ANYWAYS. Enough of me rambling. Thank you for reading if you somehow made it this far. All the love on this animatic - even since I first started teasing it back in November - has been insane to me. I still feel like I can't wrap my head around it. I'll leave you all with one last sketch from when I first started making the animatic. Have a good night, everyone!

[baronaliswritingcorner]

Tales of Symphonia Stray Thoughts #11: Meltokio Sewer/Sybak Again/Gaoracchia Forest

-Zelos: ..."Well, in the end, we're of the same lot, really.

Genis: What do you mean?

Zelos: No one wanted us to be born."

There's so much to be said here. Despite having a hand in every faction, Zelos is clearly apathetic in whoever's the winning side so long as they serve his interests -- enough to even swallow his own prejudices. Cynicism born from four millennia-long theocracies will do that to you.

-Those knights at the gate are real bros.

-“I used these to sneak back home.”

...hmm, but Meltokio's a gated community. Where was he sneaking back from? I know we all use our headcanons to imaigne towns and inns populated across the landscape, but "sex clubs littered across Tethe'alla" is territory I'd rather not traverse.

-Colette stop casting judgement on those snakes. they're snakes. save that tp.

Also listen to those low-quality hissing effects HISSISHSISHSISSHSISHISS

-“…I guess so.” Isn’t a very Presea line.

-“Now I can do this and that without anyone finding out it’s me…”

Sexual harassment! Also another one of those weird vague, low-context lines they don't bother cleaning up for silent dialogue.

-man it sure is convenient how those spider webs keep popping up just in time to help solve the block puzzle huh gang

-sneaking into the mouse holes while you're tiny is a clever gimmick but uh

who's stuffing these weapons into tiny bags and shoving them into mouse holes

-That shot with the group's feet is good. Tales of Symphonia is hardly known for its chorography, but there's some good shots now and then.

-Any digs at Zelloyd aside, Zelos’s queer-coding is pretty, well, evident. You got the pink outfit, Masaya Onosaka's flamboyant performance in the JP version, annnnnd him randomly hugging Lloyd at random intervals (As seen here.)

Combined with all the women hungry for his status and good looks, and you got a classic recipe for repressed homosexuality. Not exactly a wonder that's Symphonia's most popular boy's love pairing.

-Regal’s theme is gooooooooood. Listen to that sax. Damn!

-Love how nonchalant Sebastian is about everything -- guy just doesn't give a fuq his master's wanted. Almost like that's not the first time. (Hmm...)

I channeled this quality for my Colloyd Week 2024 fic to fun results.

-Speaking of queer-coding, “bud” is good localization for “hunny.”

-"You’re pr-pr-pretty." is peak relatable. Poor Genis!

Well, then again, I guess most of us haven't tried to put the moves on victims of Exsphere parasitism.

-This is where the game does this weird habit of pointless gags/scenes with Colette, although her crickking her neck in her sleep's pretty funny.

-Man-made summon spirits…geez don’t tell me they ended with up eldritch FMA abominations lol. "Shee...na..."

-Geez, the half-elves're stuck down there too. There’s a door in the side of the lobby – at least they have beds there, right? Right? Racist bastards.

-“I thought Kuchinawa had talked to you about it, but I guess he didn’t.”

lol don’t tell me he tried to steal the freakin' EC

-Okay wait did he lock the gate at the bridge too lol that’s like the pettiest plan ever. “Yeah this’ll stop them!”

-“Are those decoration things Exspheres?”

how do these things even work. Are they like containers or something. namco pls

-Raine says the EC was a land vehicle but I dunno how that could be anything but a boat. Sheena and Zelos complain about it too but, I dunno, it looks like

-So do wing packs work like hoipoi capsules in Dragon Ball? At any rate, love the Sylvarant teen trio losing their minds over it. Such child-like innocence.

-I've mentioned before how the HD ports remove ellipses, but Presea's "...Professor?" here has the "professor" removed as opposed to said ellipses. Weird.

-The EC music is so purty. Trying to remember why I’d always get stuck here though since the port’s straight ahead LOL

-So you know those optional cutscenes where Kratos's travelling around Tethe'alla to find ingredients for the Eternal Ring? I know I've seen the Ozette one numerous times before, but while the script/descriptions for the others sound familiar, I'm not sure I ever watched them in-game? Hmm.

Anyway, uh, interesting they just had a broken machine from the Ancient War lying around the academy.

-“It seems monsters existed in the prehistoric era too”

yo then why’d you imply cruxis made them

The guy’s second line here references criminals – I could’ve found out more if I talked to him sooner. I'm dying for some lore here, man!

-“Was the warrant put out for you because you were using strange chemicals?”

what

-“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m talking about rune bottles.”

what

-“It’s not a mistake for humans, who are unable to use magic, to pursue magitechnology.”

This guy repeating history aside, they never explicitly mention magic works in the main story, do they? As in, the whole "Kratos and Zelos can only use magic thanks to Aionis" deal. You'd thiiiiiiiiiiiink that'd catch attention sooner.

“If we capture some of the monsters that have reappeared and force them to continuously use magic, we may be able to confirm the effects of pushing the limits of magic-usage”

lady

chill

-Zelos: "Hello, hunny."

Girl: “Hehe, here you go.” GIVES ME EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS.

...y'know, as fun as this gag is, I wonder if it's aged well, lol.

-The Gaoracchia Forest opens with...Colette apologizing for being too cheery. Um, okay.

-“Zelos, you are in the way of the pope.”

“Heh, I’ve known that since I was a kid.”

Hmm, how so? I demand to know the history here.

-THE BOXER IRIIIIIIIS

I could discuss Tales of Symphonia's enemy variety, but I know some of you are curious about this particular baddie following my Colloyd Week fic -- as it happens, I never had any particular affinity for them until recently when @frayed-symphony's illustration of all the Gaoracchia Forest monsters was reposted before Colloyd Week.

Somehow, my eyes fell upon the Boxer Iris with its big weepy eyeball and bulbous boppers and I just went, "...you know, that's a really fun enemy design. I gotta use that critter somehow." How that morphed into "non-verbal mugger", I dunno, but it became one of my favorite details. Now I feel kinda bad slicing it up.

Anyway, she's now living happily with Fred in one of those thorn bushes, I'm sure. They'll be back.

-Ugh I swear shining the light on those bushes drives me crazy. Y'all know what I'm talking about? why you gotta come at them from different direction

-Colette’s one-armed strength…is that how angelic senses work? Housework must be a breeze for her -- imagine her just lifting furniture around. There's a fic here!

-Ya’ll, have I ever mentioned how much I love the Recover/Resurrection sound. So heavenly. Mmm.

...Oh yeah, I didn't discuss any of the Presea and Regal stuff, huh? We'll get to that next time. Lots of ground to cover.

[nobleriver]

Your richonne gif sets are everythaaaang! As Rick would say. ;) I am currently working on new gifs and they somehow look blurry due to the coloring. You are so talented and I thought I'd take my chance and ask for your advice. You are a true artist! Marlene x

Awww! Thank you so much, Marlene! 🥰 You’re so kind! Also, love the little Rick nod. Please forgive my delay in responding. I try to give people my full attention when they ask me a question, and I was quite busy yesterday and today. So, I am a day behind schedule in answering this.

First things first, if you make gifs, this tutorial by redbelles breaks down the entire gif-making process from software to sharpening to the best time to post. I would recommend it to anyone.

There a few things that can make a gif look "blurry". The file could be grainy, the image could be low contrast, or the gif just hasn't been sharpened enough.

I will address all three scenarios and demonstrate how I would manage them.

Grainy HD/Pixelated Video

Depending on the size and definition of your source file, the video itself may be pixelated, which will show up even the more once you start brightening, coloring, and sharpening. In general, the higher the GB, the higher the resolution, the more you can manipulate and stretch the gif from its original appearance before it starts to disintegrate.

I have learned not all 1080P files are made equal. Some are pixelated and will just give you grainy gifs (which you then have to compensate for).

Usually, I lean towards very bright, vibrant gifs. However, for videos that start out pixelated, I sometimes brighten it less or manipulate the colors less. For example, check out the gifs below.

The original looked like this. Incredibly dark with a ray of light coming from the left (how can they be outside in the daylight and the scene be this dark??).

Then I start brightening.

The innocuous light coming from the left is now making the pixels stand out even more, washing out the color.

When a gif looks grainy, I will often switch to smaller dimensions such as 540 x 270 or 540 x300 to compress the image and (hopefully) minimize some of the graininess. The graininess remains, but the gif and therefore the most offensively grainy areas are also smaller.

Example: 540 x 400 v 540 x 300 (Brightened to show contrast)

Yet, for this particular gifset, I wanted to do 540 x 350, so I had to find other means for decreasing the graininess.

Tip: If the source material is not the problem, usually, the culprit for grainy/pixelated gifs is overmanipulating. If you make everything too bright, you start to see the individual pixels, especially if the original scene is very dark. Same thing can happen if you oversaturate or over sharpen.

Therefore, I tone down the brightness. Though still there, the pixelation is less noticeable. Nevertheless, when I add Selective Color to make the greens more vibrant, the pixels go haywire. Green and cyan pixels across her face, on her lips, in her hair.

So, I add a mask to the Selective Layer to remove the green/cyan from her hair.

This is the final PSD.

Turning Low Contrast to High Contrast

Take a look at this picture. Beautiful scene, but a gif-makers nightmare. Her entire face is covered in a blue-green wash. The highlights and shadows have also been grayed and tinted, drastically lowering the contrast, making the gif duller. The first action I take is to remove the wash and blacken the shadows.

Now, the blue film that was clouding her face has been stripped away and I can see her features more clearly. However, the base color scheme still isn't neutral. I can still see the yellow-green wash, and the gif is slightly darker now.

So, I now select the brightest area to be the whitest (here I chose the bright spot on her hoodie on the far right). If you look at the screenshot below, you can see her the yellow-green wash has now dissipated. There are still hints of blue at the top and bottom, but it looks more natural (imo), and it's not over her face, which is the most important part of the gif. SHE has been returned to a neutral color scheme. Also, the contrast between the shadows and the highlights have been increased, making the gif look sharper. The overall brightness has been restored too.

To summarize: Using the curves eye dropper works as a color correction. When a scene is covered in a color wash (blue, green, or yellow filter), the shadows and highlights also become tinted. By selecting the darkest shadow to be black, the curves layer strips the gif of the color wash (this works best when there is a wide range of shades). When you do the same with the brightest highlight, it removes the wash even further. Using curves to color correct is usually my first step in the gif-making process. Then, I start brightening.

I use most of the brightness options. I rarely use exposure. The order in which I put them in changes all time, and often, I move the layers around throughout the process. This time, I started with Brightness/Contrast first. I left it on Normal and moved the brightness up by 50. A lot of people use the Contrast on Brightness, but nowadays I prefer to use the Curves eye dropper and Levels Contrast options instead. Again, it's all a matter of preference. There are a thousand ways to get a satisfying end result.

For your first brightness layer, you can do another Curves layer. It's honestly my favorite brightening tool. You can manually adjust your Curves or you can use the Auto feature, and let it self-adjust (I usually still tweak it even if I use Auto as a base).

OR you add a Brightness/Contrast layer set to Screen instead of Normal, and you would get similar results. For this one, I adjusted the opacity to 40% (or whatever the gif can withstand. Sometimes, it's as low as 15%). This brightens the mid tones and shadows as well, so I rarely ever leave it at 100% on screen.

For this gif though, because I'm a brightness lover, I used both lol. Instead of manually adjusting the Curves, this time I pressed the Auto button and let it self-adjust (I think I just find pressing the button fun lol). The gif is already so bright, it only moved the brightness up a smidge.

Technically, at this point, I could call it quits and be done with the gif, but I never finish a gif without some color manipulation. So, I immediately turn to color balance.

There were still hints of the original blue green/yellow green wash, so I adjusted the color balance away from green and away from cyan (cyan also affects green).

Then I added a 2nd Color Balance to adjust the highlights. You can do this on the same color balance but I like to keep them separated (just so I can play with the colors freely without worrying about ruining the previous color balance I liked).

I also decided to lower the Brightness/Contrast layer which I set to Screen to 30% instead of 40% because I was seeing too many pale, grayish pixels (because they had been lightened too much). I also replaced the 2nd Curves layer with a Levels layer (see below), so I could have more control over which area was being brightened. I only adjusted the midtones by .05 in Levels and left the highlights and shadows alone. The result makes her skin glisten just a smidge less.

Sharpening Your Gif

Last step: Smart Sharpen. If done properly, sharpening your gif should completely remove any blurriness. In addition, the Smart Sharpen tool further enhances the contrast and brightens the highlights. I sharpen my gifs twice. I got this method from another gif-maker, and I've been a fan of it ever since. The gifs just come out crisper. If I feel it's too sharp, then, I can just remove the 1st smart sharpen filter (the 10%, 10 pixels), but I rarely do that.

See steps below:

Convert Frame Animation means convert frame animation to timeline. If you do not have timeline, see this tutorial on sharpening without timeline.

The blur has been removed. However, the highlights are too bright now.

As a counter, I turn off the 1st Brightness/Contrast layer and push the 2nd Brightness/Contrast layer which I had set to Screen back to 40%.

Side note: I got rid of the 1st Brightness layer because Brightness/Contrast set to Normal affects highlights more, whereas set to Screen it affects the midtones more. By removing the 1st and increasing the 2nd's opacity, I mitigate the glare of the highlights without sacrificing the overall brightness of the gif.

Final version (sharpened):

Original version (sharpened):

Original version (unsharpened):

As demonstrated, sharpening, contrast and color all play a role in making a gif look sharp and crisp. Hopefully, I addressed your issue somewhere in this tutorial. If not, DM me a gif or a screenshot of one, so I may offer more specific advice.

[koroleva-nazyalensky]

I have my grievances with season 2, sure, but one thing they did do is conclude it in a way that I personally would have loved the Grisha Trilogy to have ended the first time around.

Like obviously, I would’ve loved more Darklina. BUT, we’ve been living off of crumbs for years now, and they made Mal less of an asshole in the show, so I knew we weren’t going to get much post war room anyways. I’m sad the tethered scenes got cut short (RIP this isn’t real—let me) and he didn’t die in her arms, BUT he didn’t say she was nothing so I’ll take that as a win.

That said, I’ve always thought that an intriguing aspect of Alina’s character development is her affinity for power.

In the book, it scares her how much she wants it because it positions her in league with the Darkling.

"You were meant to be my balance, Alina.  You are the only person in the world who might rule with me, who might keep my power in check."

"And who will balance me?"

She fears it, and quashes her hunger for it time and time again, for Mal, for her own sanity. And yet, she doesn’t get a choice when she loses it. That loss permeates through everything, even her quiet life in Keramzin.

“Sometimes he would find her standing by a window, fingers playing in the beams of sunlight that streamed through the glass…”

This quiet life she defaults to makes sense for her character because her agency in the books wavers frequently and she’s very affected by Mal’s disdain for her abilities (for like the first TWO BOOKS–). But is frankly, boring as hell for a former saint. And, like the Darkling in a way, I did think she could deign to accomplish more.

In the scenario she’s placed in at the end of season 2, not only has she distanced herself from Mal willingly, but she gets the chance to be Grisha without the Darkling looming over her. She uses Merzost to revive Mal, has full control over her powers with all three amplifiers at her disposal, and used the cut, completely destroying a Grisha under the influence of Jurda Parem. On top of all this, she has fully accepted her role as Sankta Alina and is on her way to be Queen of Ravka. 

Think about the implications of this. A big theme in the books is that *ouat voice* all magic comes with a price, dearie. If Alina gets to keep her powers, it’s implied that she also gets to keep her prolonged life. She is at an all time high, her impulse controls are dead and out at sea, and her inflated pride has the potential to lead her to THE MOST satisfying fall.

When she uses the cut (in the same way the Darkling does) the upshot and shadow in her eyes as her mouth upturns slowly–UGH I’m honestly living for it. And like, we know she needs something to do while the crows are out there ice court heisting right? RIGHT? I’m not saying this is where I saw this show going, but since we’re here in this HD fanfiction world why NOT have Dark!Alina? How would show!Alina, crack under the Apparat’s influence? Who’s going to be her balance when the Darkling and Mal are gone and Nikolai is literally dealing with his own demon?*cough* and falling for Zoya *cough* What would it take to get this girl’s hair white? And what do I have to do to get a Yurified Darkling in the same room as her?

On that thought, (pardon my unabashed love for drama, I am a Darklina girlie in this Malina world above it all) if we even get to some version of the KOS Duology, does this mean she’ll still be Grisha when the Darkling comes back as the Black Heretic? Will she be queen? A mad saint shunned in the same way he was? A self-fulfilling prophecy? How absolutely delicious would that reunion be? For her to stab the monster and then become him? She wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes and take the high ground like she did in the sanatorium scene. Everything he tried to warn her about would come to fruition. They could face each other as equals who made some decisions and just like retire together for eternity. (My delusional Darklina shipping ass is brought to you by Start a War btw… I read it immediately after Ruin and Rising on ff.net the first time around, I highly suggest it if you too are suffering)

To get back to the point, were it not for the Duology and the Zoyalai of it all, I’d honestly be for the Sol Koroleva route all the way. I mean, look at her!!!

Don’t you just want to see her gain the world, and then lose it all in the time it takes the crows to break Matthias of Hellgate? You can’t tell me a season 3 with an OP Sankta Alina dealing with post-civil war Ravka wouldn’t be entertaining at the very least.

Like, of course at the end of the day I want Zoyalai endgame with blue ribbons and rings the size of an acorn, peep the url, besties. But GUYS come ON we know how these things go. Mal’s gonna come back, reign her in and they’ll eventually end up in that boring orphanage with a cat or whatever anyways. In the meantime, we could have so much fun!

If you approach the show as you would fanfic, it’s not as maddening. Trust me, I’m a Darklina shipper and a Zoyalai shipper– you can’t even get to one of those without stabbing and burning the other. I know the showrunners would sooner give us some random love triangle with Tolya and Inej (a topic for another day) than all this but a girl can DREAM.

In conclusion, I did not prematurely lose David for nothing, I need to know where they’re going with this, so please be more chill so we get that unhinged season 3, thank you.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Crazier Bastard's Chapter 304

Brief summary: DHB naming scene gets delayed because of DHB himself. Dragon Lord Neo knows about Cale's existence. HD arrives in Aipotu.

==========

According to Sheritt, DHB was so excited when he saw the light pillar, so he headed to Cale to brag about seeing it. But when DHB found out that Cale and Raon also saw it, and more accurately at that, he flew away in embarrassment... 😑 Problem was, Cale was about to tell DHB his new name at that time before he scurried off!

Thus, the naming scene got delayed again. Cale even grumbled because he wanted to tell DHB the name he thought of in order to find out if DHB would like it or not.

Sheritt and DHB were still awkward with each other. Sheritt kept glancing up the sky where she could see DHB, and DHB glanced away when he saw Sheritt looking at him from afar.

DHB was confused and in denial of his feelings. He kept trying to push away the emotion he felt when Raon included him in "the three of us" statement Raon exclaimed. Or when he accidentally thought of the Black Castle as his "home" to return to, and "corrected" it as just "a place to stay". DHB, please, just be honest with your feelings! 😭

The author had some confusing typos today. First off, in Cale's message to Alberu, he used the words "Your Majesty" (for kings) instead of "Your Highness" (for princes)... 😂 I don't think Cale knew that Alberu's game alias was "The Irreverent Emperor" yet, so this must be the author's mistake?

And the last typo was so shocking that it even caused confusion among the Korean readers. It was this line:

딸 도도리를 데리고 왔다.

Translation: She brought her daughter, Dodori, with her.

Like what?! 😮 딸 means "daughter" in Korean. But all of us thought of Dodori as a boy, right? Unless Dodori magically transitioned into a girl, this was definitely a typo. After all, in Part 1 Chapter 630, there was a line where Mila called Dodori as "her son". We'd have to wait if the author would correct this in the future or not.

Moving on, we found out the name of Aipotu's Dragon Lord. He was called Neo, and his human form walked unsteadily like a drunk. But he was aware of Cale, calling him "the human whom wanderers and gods focused on" and "a potential god". Cale, even your enemy is thinking that you'll soon be a god. 😂😂😂

Now for the exciting part, the portal between Central Plains and Aipotu was opened, and the first person to come out was Heavenly Demon!!! I soooo miss him! Welcome back, HD! 🥰🥰🥰

HD shook hands with Cale before asking if Cale was Kim Hae-il. And then we got a cliffhanger... At least we still have Friday to look forward to, right?

Ending Remarks I'm disappointed that DHB naming scene was delayed. Fortunately, HD's appearance hyped me up for the next chapter! Those typos though... 😂

[jazlynriddle]

Deleted Scenes Ch 7:

In light of Revelation

Summary:

Anne wasn't the only one who changed after the curse, Ominis swallowed the words, grieving once more for the brief happiness they'd had together.

A series of fill in snippets of interactions between Sebastian and Ominis in-between quests, starting with Ominis confronting Sebastian after he catches Main Character leaving the Undercroft.

Ending with a longer epilogue chapter that takes place post-game, where Sebastian and Ominis find a way to move on and mend their friendship.

Warnings: Spoilers

Link to AO3 can be found here (with additional tags)

Notes:

This chapter takes place directly after the last, I was going to make this the last chapter, but then I started writing one more, so there'll be a fairly long epilogue chapter after this one xD

I actually wrote the first chapter and this chapter before everything else, so I hope the snippets have managed to flow from and to this point smoothly, I also made some art for this, hope it looks good haha

My art can also be viewed in HD for free on my Patreon here!

Sebastian looked up at the sound of the iron grates lifting. He shuddered, caught between wanting to leap to his feet and run over to demand that Ominis tell him Anne's verdict immediately, and wanting to run in the other direction or perhaps disappear into the floor under the bench entirely.

He settled for simply staying put, every one of Ominis' quiet footsteps felt like a drumhead judge laying down his sentence. Sebastian heard, more than saw, Ominis come to a stop a few steps away from him.

"Ominis…"

"Sebastian…”

"...I'm sorry." Sebastian felt his heart stop. Ominis shook his head as he continued. "She can't bear to see you. She won't turn you in, but…she may never be able to face you again."

Sebastian closed his eyes in pain, a part of him was relieved that she didn't hate him enough to send him to Azkaban, but it was swallowed up in a sea of agony. He might never see his twin again.

What was he supposed to do now? He'd never allowed himself to even entertain the thought of losing her for good. Now he was going to lose her forever and she wasn’t even dead. She would rather die before seeing his face again. Somehow that hurt far worse.

Sebastian covered his mouth with a hand, choking back a sob, feeling Ominis sit beside him on the bench. He wanted to lean into his best friend for comfort but didn’t know if he would be welcomed. If Ominis pushed him away right now, Sebastian wasn’t sure he'd be able to keep what was left of his sanity.

Ominis sighed, hearing the heart wrenching sounds of despair. As much as his mind told him that Sebastian had done this to himself, his heart longed to soothe that pain.

"Anne wrote this for you." Ominis murmured, offering Sebastian a small rolled up parchment.

It took every scrap of Sebastian's willpower to force himself to take the parchment, unrolling it with trembling fingers to read the short writing. Praying, hoping beyond hope that there was some form of salvation on this paper.

I will always love you, but I don't know if I can ever forgive you.

The parchment fell from Sebastian's hands, which immediately seized up, his arms trembling from the force of his convulsions. The tears he'd been holding back filled his vision, spilling down his cheeks in streams, and a broken whimper forced its way past his throat.

Sebastian barely noticed his body collapsing under his grief, until he felt a firm grip around his shoulders.

Sebastian was confused for all of a split second. Before he realised that Ominis had pulled him into a side embrace, stabilising him, and preventing Sebastian from falling off the bench. He couldn’t stop himself from grasping onto the arm supporting him across his chest, clinging to the familiar quiet strength of his closest friend.

"Why…what did I do wrong? I was just trying to help, I was so sure…where did I go wrong?" Sebastian choked out the words, his usual mask of confidence completely shattered, the stubborn self-righteousness he'd worn like a cloak for the past year turning into vapor, leaving him as exposed as a featherless chick in a storm.

Ominis sighed again, resting his head against Sebastian's. "That's the problem, you've been so caught up in thinking only about saving her, you forgot to ask what she wanted. You forgot to ask if she would ever forgive herself for even existing if it drives you to hurt other people just to save her. Having cruel things done in her name shifts the blame to her."

He felt Sebastian balk at that, but he was still listening quietly, that was a good sign. Ominis continued.

"And you may have felt that Solomon was never there for you, but he was caring for her this whole time, he was there for her, and she loved him." Ominis rubbed a thumb against Sebastian's collarbone.

"You showed her that you didn't care about how she felt or what she thought, and then you selfishly satisfied your own personal hatred in a way that took a loved one from her." Ominis had never wished so dearly that he could see, that he could watch Sebastian's face, to see if his words were getting through.

This was the breaking point. If Sebastian still couldn’t recognise and face his mistakes, Ominis was sure that he would regret convincing Anne to not turn him in.

The seconds turned into minutes as Ominis waited with bated breath, feeling Sebastian shudder and sob against his side. Every second stretched on to infinity, fear tightening his grip on Sebastian's shoulders, Ominis desperately didn't want to lose him.

"...how can I possibly make this right?" Sebastian's voice was so small, so lost and so full of regret. Ominis felt relief crash over him like a wave, he felt lightheaded as oxygen rushed to his head. Sebastian got it. He understood.

Sebastian shook his head. "...I fucked up so bad and I didn't even realise… I should have listened to you… how can you even stand to be by my side after everything? You must be so angry with me."

Ominis straightened as Sebastian lifted his head to stare into his cloudy eyes searching for answers.

Ominis smiled sadly. "I was angry with you because you put yourself in danger. Because I didn't want to lose you. I've lost everything I ever loved to dark magic. I was terrified that I would lose you too."

Sebastian's breath caught in his throat at the gentle expression on Ominis' face. He saw everything he needed to see in those pale eyes, understanding, care, and a forgiveness he hadn't even properly asked for yet.

"...I'm a fucking moron, aren't I." Sebastian gave a watery laugh, relieved when Ominis huffed lightly in return, pressing their foreheads together.

"Yes, you certainly are."

Notes:

My art can also be viewed in HD for free on my Patreon here!

I do not acknowledge the option to turn him in, I think it's absolute rubbish to turn Sebastian in for Solomon’s failure to support him and his inclination to take out his own personal frustration on a child he is caring for. Solomon is responsible for provoking a child to violence, and honestly, after he attacks us alongside the Inferi, I would have loved to kill him myself.

I also feel that Sebastian might have been caught in the heat of the battle as well, I mean he’d been fighting Inferi and in battle mindset, if something’s in the way? Kill it. In war soldiers on the other side cease to be people, they’re just enemies, they’re just NPCs, it’s how the human brain deals with the stress of killing people like that.

We even see Sebastian drop his wand after casting the killing curse. he also refers to his actions with “I never wanted to hurt my uncle”, he can’t bring himself to use the word “kill” at all, and he keeps fixating on “being with Anne” to escape the situation, showing a clear disassociation with his actions, the inability for his mind to reconcile what happened with his conscience.

This is basic criminal psychology, when determining if someone committed premediated murder. Behaviour like this is evidence that he can’t take responsibility for his actions. Which of course follows that he should never have been allowed to take action in the first place, poor kid’s brain is fucked. He needs a psychiatrist.

[tutuandscoot]

📍Worlds 2017 Post FD

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this moment.. discussed, and as I was watching this comp to make another post recently I got stuck on this moment I’d seen several times, but it hit me in the feels more significantly this time round.

First let me set the scene (which you can go watch for yourselves on the full video here starts at 3:30:40).

Once the competition has finished, VM make their way from backstage under the stands to the k+c/ marshalling area for the medal ceremony. But before that they are to give an interview. A camera person has followed them out to this area and there are a few different people wanting their attention. First, someone from the US fed/team who shakes their hands (says congrats) then one of the competition officials asks them something, then the lady who congratulations them and tells them she will do their interview. They can’t go straight to the k+c yet however because the team who competed last (right after VM), HD are still there (and after a disappointing skate are still being consoled by their coaches). So VM patiently wait off to the side. Then it’s here when this gif starts.

TS only had Marie with them in the K+C, however both Marie and Patch watched their skate and knew they had won- despite not being the last team to skate, they had a large enough lead after the short to essentially render them unbeatable (even with his misstep). When they left the K+C after their skate, they unlikely watched the final team or knew the final result as it pertained to HD, so as they came out for their interview they were probably not fully aware of what was happening in the K+C- obviously they saw they were sad but maybe didn’t know their final placement. Both Patch (and that other coach I don’t like) were with HD in the K+C, so Patch comes from there over to VM.

Now, let’s not kid ourselves, we all would like to admit that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with two men embracing like this- and we’d be right- there absolutely is not. But inevitably just bc of.. society (more so social norms of the past- it’s hopefully changing now) this is not the most common thing to see, and therefore, at least for me and I would assume many others, illicits more of an emotional reaction just bc we don’t see it all the time. It shouldn’t be weird- it’s not weird, but it’s still not something you see everyday.

So with that out of the way… what a truly beautiful moment this is.

I’m not gonna go all on again about Scott and what he was dealing with personally that season (iykyk if not hmu and I’ll tell you/look at some previous posts), he’s said even by earlier 4CC that season he was emotionally wiped, so by now, with the relief of the season finally being done, they had won, there was no needing to hold it all together for the sake of competition anymore. You could tell in the K+C after their skate how drained he was, at least to me it seemed it wasn’t just exhausted from the skate or the misstep, it was a culmination of things.

We’ve looked at previous posts the wonderful way T took care of him in those moments in her own quiet way and just being herself- being there with him was everything he needed (being with her (holding her hand/looking in her eyes) was the only time he felt ok 🥺).

But of course they were not alone in this comeback- and they made sure everyone knew that. The support they had from their team was as important as the support they gave each other, and it’s interesting the different ways that support is displayed- the similar yet different ways between T&S and either of them with a coach.

As I said-in the k+c, he was so obviously drained of energy, emotion, I felt so bad for him but also so proud of him and them for achieving what they did that year, and bad that it wasn’t as excellent as they wanted that final skate to be. Here waiting off to the side, it may be the lighting on his face but he almost looks like he’s about to cry, just so depleted of energy. It may have been that he saw Patch walking over and that was the look of near tears.. The way P seemingly doesn’t even say ‘congrats’ to him/ them. Obviously all skaters/athletes in general have special relationships which their coaches so it’s not like this is whole exchange is unique, but just the way there is communication without words- same thing S has with T but in a different way that is unique to them. The way S almost falls into P, like he just needs someone to hold him up bc he’s so exhausted. P goes to him like ‘here, let me hold you’- that’s what S needed to ‘hear’ in that moment rather than ‘congrats’. Also to see two men embrace like that (& esp when you know the relationship in this case is very special). It’s not a hug of ‘congratulations’ because he doesn’t really need to congratulate them, they don’t need that from their coaches, or more they don’t need it verbalised in that way. They have a deeper connection with them and for P+S, P knows what S needs in that moment is to just be cared for as a human.

I’m so freakin attracted to S for this reason- that he’s so open with his emotions and accepting and giving of affection. Describing him/them often as ‘soft’ isn’t a joke- it’s what they are and it’s an umbrella term to describe their affection and sensitivity.

Then if all that wasn’t beautiful enough, the way T just gently steps back a little to give them space. She is not being excluded, P is of course going to hug her as well, she does not find this awkward. She knows S needs a hug from P and so she gives them that space. I’m really not explaining it very well but I know what it says when I watch it and I’m just hoping y’all reading are getting what I’m trying to put into words.

This all goes back to TS’s just unbelievable level of knowing of one another and now having coaches who they trust enough and want them to be on some sort of level of knowing with them. The way she can be part of that hug without being part of that hug. How they can support each other with out being the one hugged/doing the hugging. The way they are so gentle with their emotions towards each other and create a safe space for each other to feel what they need to feel.

[lumosatnight]

my year in fic - 2022

I was tagged by @the-francakes (x), @schmem14 (x), @broomsticks (x), and @danpuff-ao3 (x) for a fic roundup/2022 review/stats something or other, so I'm combining them all here.

2022 was definitely a year of fests. Fests fests fests fests!!! I joined and modded so many fests that I'm taking a month long break in January. But I also had SO MUCH FUN. Fests are addictive and there's a reason for that.

Alright, here we go. Let's start with some stats.

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Word Count: 151,378 (alas I did not make my goal of 200k but I'll take what I can get. That's still the length of a full length novel!)

Hits: 56,307

Number of Fics started and finished: 21 works (+ just as many double drabbles/microfics/minifics)

Number of WIPs started: um.... pass

Ships I wrote this year (not including background ships): um.... also pass. There's literally too many to list. I write so many ships it's hard to find a trend. But I guess I gotta answer.

Drarry (10), Wolfstar (4), Rarry (3), Parvender (3), Flintwood (3), Deamus (2), Linny (2), and Fred/George (2) eep

Favorite ship(s): Yo this is such a hard question. Idk EVERYTHING. Drarry, rare pairs, and femslash. That's my answer.

Least favorite ship(s): Fenrir ships. I just can't get into them, but also, I dare you to convince me.

AO3 Fic Writers/Artists/Creators/Readers who have inspired me and my writing this year: ohmygod sososososo many. I'd be so annoying if I tagged them all. Maybe I'll just pick a few

@broomsticks and @consistentsquash for their rec lists! AMAZING STELLAR PHENOMENAL. Jackie also leaves the absolute sweetest comments and Squash is the best hype person you will ever find. I strive to be more like Jackie and Squash.

@thistlecatfics, @bluesundaycake, @danpuff-ao3 for their wonderful characterization. The depth and grittiness to their fics floors me every time.

@the-francakes for her humorous writing and @vdoshu for their creativity. Seriously, you never know what Doshu is going to do next. Every one of Francake's fics makes me laugh.

@crazybutgood, @sugareey-makes-stuff, @anaxandria-writes, @digthewriter for their art. Every time I see their art, I just want to write and write and write because it's so inspiring. I also want to leave them a million and some kudos. Why won't AO3 let me live my best life 😭?

@schmem14, @articcat621, @paulamcg for their lovely comments and dedication to keep reading what I put out. I'm STILL surprised that people like my writing enough to keep coming back 😅

Everyone in the HP Saffics and Rare Pairs server who constantly bring up new ships and headcanons and I NEED TO WRITE THOSE RIGHT NOW. I love you all 💖

Now with stats out of the way, let's do a countdown of fics.

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5️⃣ Top 5 works I'm most proud of from 2022 (not necessarily my most popular)

Your Cigarette Smell [Sirius/Narcissa, E, 9.7k] — My fic for @hprarepairfest 2021! Which might be cheating a bit, but technically the fest ended in Jan of this year, and I love this fic so much that I really wanted to count it. But what could be better than Blackcest hate sex for the ages?

What is this, fucking Jeopardy? [Drarry, E, 20.5k] — Written for @hd-cluefest this year and an absolute blast! Cursed Draco and Curse-breaker Harry were a dream to write. This was my most popular fic from 2022!

Rosmerta's Special Brew [Andromeda/Rosmerta (but mostly gen), T, 6.0k] — My fic for @hpqueerfest that is a testament to queer joy and queer love. I love this fic with all my heart 💖

Call me baby (I'll be on the way) [Neville/Blaise, E, 6.3k] — Written for @hp-soulmates which I also modded 🙈. So much MISCOMMUNICATION and oblivious boys in love. Also filled with rare pairs galore!

Death and Undeath [Fred/George, E, 3.1k] — Written for @hpcestfest where I got to dip my toes into the Dead Dove scene. This is a fav of mine because I got to combine magic and science and wove it into George's desperation as he tries to bring Fred back to life.

4️⃣ Top 4 current WIPs that I'm most excited to release in 2023

Oh baby, here we go again. I'm SUPER excited for my fic for @dronarryfest 2023. I can't go into details because it's anon, but I am SO EXCITED.

I've started a longer Cissamione fic that I hope I get the chance to work on next year. Will it ever be published? We'll see.

Time travel Tomarry! I've read a lot of Tomarry but never really written it, so I'm trying it out for the first time.

Might finally continue my Drarry Squid Games-inspired fic. Maybe. Possibly.

3️⃣ Top 3 biggest improvements in my writing over the past year

Brevity: I think I'm finally getting the hang of cutting down scenes so I'm not info-dumping too much on the reader.

Confidence: I've definitely become more confident in my writing. I still wouldn't say I'm the best, but confident enough that I enjoy reading what I write.

Angst: I think I can write a fairly good angsty ficlet now. Fluff and smut, I might need to work on a bit more.

2️⃣ Top 2 resolutions (ways I wish to improve my writing/blog) for the new year

FINISH A LONGER WORK. I would love to actually finish something over 50k words and publish it chapter by chapter.

Cut back on fests (lol, yeah right) and make more room for myself. Be more mindful of my fandom limits and when to step back and take a break.

1️⃣ Number 1 favorite line I've written this year!

What if that was not the end?  Flip back to the beginning. Reink the quill. Rewrite the page.  Would that be enough to forget? Would that be enough to remember?

From White, the colour of flowers, my Drarry Hanahaki fic [M, 3.2k]. Lots of angst, multiple endings, and (un)requited love. I used this quote as a transition between sections, and it's still one of my favorites.

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Happy New Year! 💜💙💚💛🧡❤️

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 5.06 - “Dead Ringer” review

Oh boy, the Miggy feels this episode gave me. 

Actually not just them, it just gave me feels all around. Rick being adorably awkward and wanting hope and TC and Kumu being them and the case being so sweet and Gordon and his son being goals. Even Higgy and Thomas showing up to ask for a favor and wish him good luck with his thing was so cute and on point. 

So yeah, new favorite episode?

Starting to feel like I say that every week but this one really *Chef’s kiss*

So we got Magnum and Higgins being Magnum and Higgins and disagreeing about how to go about the mystery case. They haven’t really done a lot of real disagreeing since being a couple and I think showing it and how they can still be them and together was really nice. And part of why I think Higgy can so confidently say it is “definitively working”. Because it is.

I did enjoy this bit though, where Magnum is just being sooo annoyingly smooth and Magnum...

But yeah, Magnum and Higgins working a case and being awesome PIs is def. just my favorite thing ever. Especially now with them just being a little extra adorable with their looks (okay, okay, they were always adorable with the looks!)

We also got this one! 

Isn’t it kind of funny that the long awaited kiss-lift moment really (while cute) was the one I cared the least about? Funny world.

Case of the week was really good. I liked that they found their “client” (even if I though getting DNA testing took like a bit of time even for the cops, but maybe I’m just not up to date on crime lab time frames.) and got the story using both their skills and method. I suspected the ‘dead’ girl would be alive as soon as we got the story from her dad, even if makes the whole “they’ll never find her body” kind of weird. Like maybe, I guess, because she’s not dead, no body to find, but still kind of weird.

Gordon being nervous and saying his peace and his kid being there and just all around them being an adorable father/son duo makes me happy. 

I wasn’t sure Gordon actually would get his badge back, I thought he’d be denied and like go into a dark depressed spiral of doom. Question now is - what does that mean for Childs? Maybe he stays until mid-season finale? I guess time will tell.

Rick and the Ohana at La Mariana being a hoot and then finally Rick and TC asking Magnum and him being all “Yup, that’s my girl and I’m all about happiness and joy now” was nice. 

Call back to last season with the Nuzo moment right? With the framing?

Final scene will forever be in my heart. Like doubtful I could have written a more fluff Miggy scene myself if I tried.

Yeah... peak Miggy right there! 

No Greene case stuff at all, but that’s fine (we’re worried enough about our TC as it is.) This episode was better off just focusing on the main plot of Magnum and Higgy (and Childs) investigating + Rick being all “they’re doing it” and Gordy’s hearing as side plots.

(Side note;I can’t wait to watch it the  whole episode in HD, because there was a distinct 2010 quality to the ones I’ve found so far!)

Next weeks promo looks... confusing. But from the summary “Magnum and Higgins investigate the robbery of an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's. The ohana tries to help TC overcome a past trauma.” It seems we might get both a bit of Higgy backstory (if someone remembers her mom backstory) and TC and backstory is always fantastic. Plus more Miggy team up, that’s what we love to see!

I’m also excited for 5.08 which according to the summary will see Higgy undercover at a mental hospital. That is simply a to die for concept and I can’t wait to see it!