#i actually have a lot of it mapped out and I’m pretty set on the third act/climax

[monsterbroth]

i woke up early today and am way too energised my brain is like spilling in circles but I still have not the right energy to be coherent or focus on actually doing anything with it

[gilbirda]

Personal coach Red Hood

Idea by @impyssadobsessions where Jazz needs a personal trainer from a gotham hero and chooses red hood. Eventual ship content. This is more of a setting so far but i have ideas. I accept ideas too, im just balling

I'm going to try a more chill and lax posting with this bad boy. I feel like my rigid way of organizing is making me feel restricted so this will be 1000% vibes and let's see where it goes.

Part 2

---

Jazz knew this was a stupid idea. Dangerous. Suicidal, maybe, depending on who would answer her call. But she still had to try.

You may be wondering how a twenty something young woman ends up following Gotham heroes around with a notepad. She wasn’t looking for an autograph, or for the latest scoop on the heroes, trying to uncover their secrets.

She was actually writing down their patterns and observations in behavior, trying to map their patrol routes and create a decent enough file and expectations of the heroes.

What did she need the information for?

She needed a personal trainer.

No, not the kind you hire at the gym. She already tried that and it didn’t work. She also tried MMA, and kickboxing and just to see if she could do it, Judo. All were interesting and gave her a pretty good picture of what her body was capable of, and a guesstimate of her physical limitations.

But no. She needed something else, something more… tailored for what she actually needed the training for.

She needed to intern with a hero. The term “sidekick” felt wrong for what she had in mind, since she didn’t want to be that hero’s trainee forever. Or was interested in the current superhero scene at all. They were doing just fine without her.

She just… she felt left out. Danny was amazing but he didn’t need her, not as much as she would have liked. He was a hero, and a pretty good one, but he wasn’t in any place to train her. Not that he wanted to, since he usually avoided her every time she brought it up.

Her baby brother was all grown up and he didn’t need his older sister anymore. 

Jazz shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Danny would always need her — she just needed to do her homework and keep up with him on her own. If she just trained enough and could hold her own in ghost fights, she was sure Danny would be grateful and appreciate her support. Who knows, maybe he would be happy that he didn’t need to be wary of ghosts day and night, and actually rest and focus on his neglected studies.

She yawned, lamenting another night that looked to be a bust. Maybe the heroes were busy tonight? Maybe they were on a big mission away? Unlikely that all of them were away, there were usually at least a few of the Bats flying around the city.

Why Gotham, you may ask? Of all the funny-dressed crime fighters on Earth, why these people? 

Easy.

They were human.

That piqued Jazz’s interest. She had been between the Arrows and the Bats, but finally chose the Bats because Gotham had one perk over Star City: unlimited supply of ectoplasm. The place was almost as coated in the thing as Amity, which she was grateful for. It saved her from going back and forth to places rich with ghost activity and fishing blobs to eat.

Don’t ask too many questions about the consuming blob ghosts part. It was a necessary evil.

However, it’s been a few months and all she got to show for her efforts was a notepad filled with scribbles she painstakingly copied to her computer and a lot of frustration.

Until one night she caught Red Hood alone as he checked his phone. She waited until he was done texting — she had manners thank you very much — and jumped in front of him before he had the chance to grapple away.

“Hi— oof.” 

Thanks the ancients for her reflexes and Judo training, she blocked Hood's punch and following kick. It would probably bruise but it wasn't the end of the world.

“What the fuck?” 

“Hi,” she tried again, “I'm Jazz.”

He didn't punch her again, which she took as a good sign. Instead, he took a step back and squared up like he was expecting a fight.

“I’m not looking for a fight,” he scoffed but let her continue speaking, “I’m looking for… I guess you’d call it a mentor? That sounds weird… A personal trainer? No, that’s wrong too. Hm, I wonder if there’s a word for ‘person who is the only one that can teach you very specific information in a field of interest that legally, or otherwise—’.”

Red Hood cleared his throat, making her jump.

“Are you for real?”

“Yeah? I am real.”

Hood looked at her in silence for a few moments. Then, he sighed and rubbed one gloved hand against his helmet. 

“Listen, girl.”

“Jazz!”

“Jazz,” somehow she got the impression he grumbled, but the voice modulator did its job really well, “I have things to do, ok? Crimes to stop and stuff. So… yeah. Goodnight.”

He turned around and picked the grapple gun from inside his jacket.

“Wait!” 

He jumped and misfired the gun, hitting the wall of the building instead of the roof, like he was supposed to. As the gun recalled the rope, he looked over his shoulder at her. Jazz understood he was glaring at her, she could feel the daggers on her skin.

“Hear me out, ok?” He didn’t move or said anything. “I need— I have tried hiring a trainer, at… back at the gym. You know? But that wasn’t enough. I think I need to train with an actual hero—”

“Listen,” the word was accompanied by the hook of the grapple clicking into place, “whatever it is you are looking for, you definitely are not going to find it with me. So. Scramble.” 

He made a shooing gesture with one hand and aimed the gun without looking, shooting it and amazingly enough, hitting the edge of the rooftop. He made a salute as he was launched to the air at high speed.

Jazz didn’t follow, mesmerized by the skill. Hood landed with a flip and without breaking momentum, started running to the next rooftop, jumping impossible lengths. The way he moved was confident, powerful and measured.

She wanted to do that. She needed Red Hood to train her.

---

Back to Main Archive

Back to Danny Phantom Archive

Do you like my stuff? You can support me here!

[crappymixtape]

because of you • part five

PART I • PART II • PART III • PART IV • EPILOGUE // REQ -> @sattlersquarry ❝ an enemies to lovers fic with Steve? 💙 maybe they have to put aside their differences to fight upside down stuff and realize they actually have a lot in common 👀 • 18+ | ( 2.5k – little bit of king!steve, mostly angst with a dash of fluff, enemies to idiots in love, steve x reader )

B E C A U S E O F Y O U • P A R T F I V E 🎶 silhouette, aquilo

❝ DEVIL’S ON YOUR SHOULDER, STRANGERS IN YOUR HEAD, AS IF YOU DON’T REMEMBER, AS IF YOU CAN FORGET ❞

Light fell through the open window in Steve’s parents’ bedroom, washing everything in a soft, eerie orange. Bright, hopeful rays of sunlight choked out by plumes of ash and smoke creeping out of the ground. The curtains billowed softly over the window ledge, carrying with them the all too familiar scent of decay and dirt, damp rotted leaves and thick vines. Demobat wings and the suffocating press of desiccated scales on your neck and–

You started with a gasp, hands fisting into the sheets as you turned in bed and found pain. Sharp and pinching. Freezing you on the spot and pulling a whimper from your lips as your wounds from the night before made themselves known again.

Death had dragged you so close you could touch it, had felt it wrapping around you like a dark cloak until…

Something warm and soft brushed against your waist, a hand moving gently over the sliver of skin there, exposed when your oversized shirt had shifted in sleep. The same hand that had shattered death’s grasp and pulled you back to live the rest of your life. A hand that had so carefully tended to each cut and scrape and gash, had so tenderly patched you up and held you through it all.

Steve.

Brows knitted together in discomfort, you turned your head ever so slightly, lashes fluttering open to see another set of eyes looking back at you – burnt caramel, honey and brown sugar.

Worried, relieved, apologetic.

“You okay?” Steve asked quietly, voice scratchy with sleep and fingers still resting gently at your waist, afraid to move them, afraid you might disappear if he let go.

“It’s my leg,” you squeezed your eyes closed, wincing at the friction of the sheet against the stitches.

“Shit,” Steve whispered, quickly rolling onto his back and bending his knee to create a pocket of air between your body and the fabric. “Better?”

All you could manage was a small murmur of thanks and it pulled his gaze back to you, eyes searching for something. What it was he didn’t know, but he was sure he would as soon as he saw it.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his hand seeking you out, tangling his fingers together with yours.

The long sweep of his dark lashes brushed the tops of his cheekbones, freckles dotting along the bridge of his nose, twin moles pressed at his jaw, lips pulled down in concern. Pretty even like this. Even when he wasn’t smiling.

“Guess I couldn’t handle it last night,” you half-laughed thinking about the way you’d paled when he’d looped thread through the needle and it pulled a little grin out of him until you winced again.

“I don’t think I could have either,” he reassured you, “Six stitches, you took ‘em like a champ.” The look he gave you then set your heart skipping in your chest before settling between your ribs, warm and reassuring.

“Six?” you gaped.

Pulling the sheets up to look down at your leg for the first time since last night you expected to feel sick, but instead found something surprising. Six neat stitches, not quite straight, but clean and tidy and done with care.

“You…you did that?” you asked, eyes blinking back at Steve.

“What? Didn’t think I could?” he teased gently and it made the corner of your mouth pull up into a half-smirk.

“Well–no, but…” your cheeks warmed, heat creeping across your face as you bit your bottom lip in.

He studied you then for a minute, eyes mapping over your face and memorizing every little detail, every little piece of you, pieces he wished he could keep forever.

“Can I ask you something?” he said quietly, fingers still looped between yours and you answered with a silent nod. “Last night, before I went to the Creel house I wanted to ask you if–if I could take you out. You know, after we saved the world or whatever–” he huffed a small laugh and shook his head, “Guess we botched that.”

You almost laughed at the way he’d tried to soften the weight of his question, but his words were running on a loop in your head — take you out. They set something fluttering in your chest, your stomach flipping over and cheeks warming again.

“You want to take me out?”

“Yeah. I do. I really, really do.”

The way he was looking at you, like you held his world in your hands, had you breathless, heart hammering against your ribs and his palm pressed to yours under the sheets sent a flicker of heat up your arm, crept into your bloodstream and swam through every inch of you.

It had been survival, instinct how you hardened yourself against having to watch him walk away and how the sight of it put an ache in your chest more painful than the stitches on your thigh, but it all came back now when he looked at you. Washed over you like a wave on the sand, wearing down all your rough edges and smoothing them slow and sure – you realized you’d been carrying those feelings all along.

At Max’s trailer when he swore to stand by your best friend.

In the parking lot when he pulled you back from Vecna.

With your back to his chest and his hands pressed into yours over the handle of his bat.

The moment he all too willingly put himself between you and death without hesitation.

“Steve…” your throat squeezed around his name and his hand tightened on yours.

“What–what is it?” his brows pinched together, “Dammit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you—”

“No-no, it’s not that,” you sucked in a breath and squeezed your eyes shut against everything this boy, this man, made you feel. “I just…I hated you, so much. I didn’t believe Eddie when he said you’d changed, told him he was full of shit, but I was wrong. I don’t hate you. Not even a little bit and I’m sorry–”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay,” he hushed, bringing his free hand up to gentle brush away the tears that had started to spill quietly down your cheek. “Don’t be sorry. I’ve done a lot of shit I’m not proud of, so I don’t blame you,” he shifted closer to you under the sheets, careful of your leg. “I hated me too for a long time,” he chuckled a little under his breath and gave you a small smile. “And I know I have more work to do, but…maybe-if you want to-you could give me another shot? A do over.”

You were surprised at the laugh that fell from your lips, a small wobbly thing as you wiped at the rest of your tears. “A do over?”

“Yeah. Here–” he let go of your hand and scooted back just a little and the distance made your fingers want to reach for him again. Come back. “Hi,” he said, smile growing.

“Hi?” you said, more question than statement and a little confused and it pulled a full grin out of him.

“I’m Steve, Steve Harrington.”

You bit back a snort, who was he James Bond? And it made him laugh until his hands found yours again and your skin sighed in relief – finally.

“Nice to meet you,” you said and he shifted back into you, hip to hip, chest to chest, careful still of your thigh and the touch of your skin on his skin melted the smiles from both your faces. Laughs quieted into hitched breaths and racing hearts.

Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, Steve’s jaw ticked as he swallowed down the nerves you’d pulled from his belly. “Would you–I mean…can I–can I kiss you?” he asked, unsure and unsteady, vulnerable and exposed, the real Steve and the Yes that fell from your lips came fast, sounding so much more like please, please, please, and you didn’t have to ask him twice.

His lips caught yours, fit them against his like two sides of a locket, perfect, and it made you lightheaded again, but this time when you opened your eyes you found his – honey and whiskey and liquid amber, warm like the sun and your heartbeat tattooed Steve, Steve, Steve on the inside of your ribs.

He smiled as you traced the curve of his cupid’s bow with your gaze, so soft, so lovely, so much more than you ever could have imagined and his gravity drew you back into him, pulling his bottom lip between yours – more, more, more – and he sighed, running his fingers through the baby hairs at the nape of your neck.

It was slow and languid, searching and curious, but heat simmered just under the surface. Waiting, patient, warm, and when Steve’s tongue traced the seam of your lips your reservations cracked, kerosene on the flames, and you both caught fire.

❝ IT’S ONLY BEEN A MOMENT, IT’S ONLY BEEN A LIFETIME, BUT TONIGHT YOU’RE A STRANGER, SOME SILHOUETTE, HOLD ME ❞

Grazing your teeth over his lip, you bit down softly and a groan rumbled in his chest, a low sound that made you press your thighs together, the want between your legs suspending your pain for a moment.

“Christ,” Steve choked, pulling away from you just enough to suck in a breath, chest heaving and eyes squeezed shut, wrecked already. “Sorry,” he half-laughed, “You’re gonna kill me if you keep kissing me like that, Princess.”

“Kinda defeats the purpose of last night,” you tried to joke, but when he opened his eyes again and looked at you it scattered all of your faux confidence to the wind.

“Yeah,” he breathed, inching closer and closer to you, running his thumb along your bottom lip and settling it at the corner, “But dying like this doesn’t seem so bad.”

And then he kissed you again, but this time it was heated, his fingers pressed into the plush of your hips while yours tangled into his hair and it pulled another groan from him. He swallowed the soft, sweet sounds you gave him and then begged for more as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss, your lips parting to let him in to taste you.

None of it felt real – lying in bed next to Steve as he sucked pretty, little, lilac marks onto your skin, not wanting it to stop, wanting him to be this close forever.

He nosed at your neck and your chin tilted up to give him more access, your hands leaving his hair to trace the muscles stretched across back through the threadbare fabric of his shirt.

“Y’okay? Gotta tell me, Princess,” he said, lips moving on your skin as you pulled in a shaky breath.

“Ye-yeah, yes,” your voice pitched up at the end in a whine as he kissed the hollow behind your ear.

He smiled against you and your mouth twitched with a smile of your own.

“What?” you asked wryly, chin still tilted and he pushed himself up on his hands, propped up over the top of you, so he could look down at you.

“You don’t hate me,” he beamed down at you, echoed your words from just a minute ago and it made you blush, your lips twisting. Caught. A little bratty and a lot enamored.

“I don’t hate you, Steve Harrington,” you said again, softening under his gaze and unable to help the way your heart skipped when he dipped down to press another kiss to your lips.

“Say my name again. Please,” he murmured, trailing his mouth down your shoulder, your forearm, your wrist – his hand gently taking yours to lift it and place a kiss to your palm.

“Steve,” you whispered, but it caught at the end when you felt his tongue on your skin. It pulled your gaze up to look at him and you found his brows pinched together, eyes squeezed shut. “Steve?” you said again, your hand turning his to tug it down and hold it close to your chest.

“I just–Christ. I thought you were gonna die out there and after all that awful shit I said to you–”

Leaning up you pushed your lips to his and swallowed his words, mumbling to him, nuh uh. “But I’m still here, make it up to me,” you told him, eyes locked on one another and suspended in time, held in the muddled, amber light falling through the window.

“How? Tell me.”

And you took his hand, the one still held in yours, and trailed it down your chest, over the soft plush of your stomach, across the thigh that wasn’t hurting and down between your legs.

“Fuck,” Steve hissed, eyes closing again for a minute at how wet you were, and he pulled in a shaky breath.

“I’m here–” you whispered again, “–and I want this, with you.”

Nodding he leaned down and pressed his forehead to yours, fingers moving slowly where you’d placed them, slipping in your slick and it make you gasp. “I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he said and god, you believed him.

He moved his fingers slow at first, a little tentative, a little shy, but the minute he pulled a moan from your lips he found his confidence again. Picked up the pace and moved over you at just the right speed in all the right places. Circled your clit with his thumb and slipped first one finger then two into you.

“Faster, Steve,” you gasped and he answered with the press of a kiss to your jaw, the corner of your mouth, pulled your bottom lip between his and sucked and you felt yourself sprinting to the edge.

“I’ve got you. Let go, baby, let go,” he murmured against the shell of your ear, fingers working you closer and closer. “Here, look at me,” he breathed, heart hammering in his chest, and when you met his eyes – warm honey, burnt caramel, safe, Steve – your hips stuttered.

Wrapping your arms tight around the back of his neck, you wanted – no needed – him closer, closer, closer until finally the coil settled deep in your stomach snapped and you fell apart on his fingers. Arched your back up off the mattress and pressed your body into his, the stitches on your thigh screaming, but the feeling of Steve between your legs was louder.

And there in that room, while the world burned outside the window, you made a promise to each other that even if everything was falling apart, even if you didn’t know what happened next, you’d be there. You’d choose to try again. Choose forgiveness and surrendered to each other. Let go of the past in favor of what was there in front of you. Beating hearts and handfuls of sheets, kisses dragged over skin and breaths taken away and Steve. Steve. Steve.

[ NOTE: THIS IS PART FIVE OF A FIVE PART SERIES, POTENTIAL BLURBS MAY COME AT A LATER DATE ;) ]

crappymixtape™ • steve harrington masterlist // stranger things masterlist♥️ reblogs and comments keep me going, friends! ily! ♥️

[dokries]

venus

pairing: hong jisoo (joshua) x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, established relationship

word count: ~1.1k

warnings: weird period era speech at one point, calling each other idiots lovingly, a few kisses

author note: okay so apparently i needed to write compensation after goldleaf so this is the fluff to make up for that 😭 special thanks to regina song for releasing the fangirl album cause this fic would not exist without it! lots of love 💗

masterlist

you come back with a water bottle to see your boyfriend staring at the abstract piece he stood by when he said he’d wait for you earlier. 

“figured out the secret, shua?” you sneak up from behind him, causing him to jump a little before he smiles when he realizes it’s you. joshua wraps a hand around your waist to pull you closer. 

you had been looking at this specific painting for a whole, trying to make sense of its contrasting strokes of blue and orange as best as the both of you could—after all, two minds are better than one, right? …yeah, no, not in your case, considering you were still stumped.

joshua turns back to the painting, and you take his sheepish grin as a no. a few moments later, he pokes your shoulder with wide eyes. “i think i figured it out!”

you raise an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue. he leans in and whispers into your ear, “i think it means i’m in love with you.”

you look at him from the corner of your eye, and can’t help but giggle at his silly remark, even if you’re already used to the cheesy lines your boyfriend says all the time. 

“is that because you’re the blue strokes in this piece, and i’m the orange that compliments you? hey, wouldn’t that be seungkwan…?” you trail off, suddenly remembering the boy from jeju you’re both friends with. 

your boyfriend shakes his head fiercely. “you first, always.” joshua brings your hand up to his lips, softly kissing the side of it with a wink—your cheeks turn into a red he loves more than any painting, and his laugh echoes throughout the exhibit. 

“you’re cute,” is all he says before taking a look at his fancy watch—you two had dressed up to seem more intellectual than you actually are—to check the time and he winces. “oh, we should leave, the museum closes pretty soon.” 

you nod before waving goodbye to the curator nearby, and walk outside to the hallway, joshua’s hand still interlocked with yours. his friends like to tease him for how they’ve never seen him not holding onto you, whether it’s your hand or arm—he could be very clingy at times if he wanted to annoy you (which he did more often than not).

however, you have no idea where you’re going once you turn into an unfamiliar hallway, lined with doors that lead to ballrooms, judging by their signs. you look back at joshua nervously but he only smiles. “oh darling, don’t worry. i’m sure there’s a map or something in case of an emergency here somewhere, right?” 

you split up to look for any indication of how to get back to the parking lot you came from, roaming up and down the hall after you call joshua a genius—he corrects you, saying he’s your genius only. a few minutes pass as you search along the walls before you hear your boyfriend calling your name. “over here!”

you follow his voice until you get to a partially open door, one that leads to an empty ballroom. this must’ve been used for an event earlier, considering that there’s still tables set up around the main section of the floor for dancing; the person in charge of cleaning it all up is probably on their break. 

you walk over to joshua, who’s standing in the middle of the open space, before whistling lowly. “wow, some fancy stuff must’ve happened here.”

joshua’s eyes sparkle like the huge light gold chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the numerous candles on it still lit up from the extravagant night, as he grabs your hand with his own, and twirls you around a couple of times before stopping with a giggle. “let’s dance!” 

so you do. though you have no music to listen along to, you make due with the sounds of your shoes hitting the ground, and joshua’s light humming of his favourite song at the moment. you spin and twirl, and you now wonder if your boyfriend’s had training in the waltz or something because of how well he’s leading you through the ballroom as you travel along the edges of the tables, the white cloths a whisper on your legs as they move away. 

you don’t know how long it takes for joshua to stop, his hair and clothes slightly untidy, and you suppose yours are as well. he bows, your hand still in his, mocking the period dramas you’ve watched with him. “my wondrous partner, i thank thee for this magnificent dance.” 

you giggle, bowing back to play along with his act, and speak softly. “why, my dear sir, i believe i must thank you instead! if it was not thee who led this dance, i would have been dancing as if my legs had been attacked by a donkey!” 

joshua looks at you in shock before laughing, falling into you as he does so. “what do you mean, a donkey?”

you shrug, wrapping your arms around him in a loose hug, which he returns. “hey, i don’t know! you’re the one who started the weird roleplay, not me.” 

he pulls back and grins at you before grabbing your cheeks gently to kiss you all over the face despite your protests. he stops when you chuckle, hands now pressing your cheeks together so you look like a little chipmunk. “oh, i love you so much, don’t i?”

you puff out your chest and roll your eyes. “well of course you do! i’m quite lovable, am i not?”

joshua smiles softly before placing a sweet kiss on your temple—thankfully, only one this time—murmuring, “yes, you really are.”

when your eyes soften as he pulls back, he smiles mischievously and adds on, “my little lovable idiot, that’s for sure.” 

you groan loudly. joshua really can’t go ten seconds without insulting you lovingly, can he? but you smile nonetheless, and pinch his cheeks as punishment, earning you whines of pain before you let go. “and you’re my lovable idiot, okay? no one else gets to call you that, not even jeonghan.”

your boyfriend chuckles at the mention of his best friend’s name, holding his pinky out. “i promise i won’t even let jeonghan call me that.”

you grin before intertwining your pinky with his, before placing a peck on his cheek. “good.”

[critterbitter]

I finally got all my brain ducks into enough of a row to send this! I just wanted to say that Tumblr recommended your art to me on a whim, and I am actually OBSESSED now lol. I had no prior investment in Submas or anything tangentially related to it prior to this (aside from liking Pokémon generally lol), but I couldn’t help but tear through everything you’ve drawn for these silly little rat children and I love them so much now!!! I wanna pick them up and shake him around like little action figures! The shenanigans and the heartfelt moments are just,, UGH so good! I have no words! Thank you for the food I am going FERAL over them <3

Your art is also high key goals for me now tbh. I absolutely ADORE your coloring and rendering style, and also they way you draw Pokémon in general?? Very animalistic but still recognizably Pokémon?? Literally galaxy brained. I’m going to SCREAM. I know you already posted a bit of your art process, but I’d love to know if you’ve got any rendering tips and/or how you get that clean but sketchy look. It looks so good I want to eat it lol.

(Also I really love the way you’ve been formatting Elesa’s dialog, with the extra lines around the letters. It really gives the vibe that her grasp on Galarian is currently shaky at best and idk, I like that you’ve managed to find a way to convey that over text. I think that’s pretty cool :D)

I SAW YOU REBLOG A WHOLE BUNCH AND IM,,, (throwing hearts at you)

Thank you so so much! I’m glad you love these terrible little guys wandering Unova just as much as I do, haha!

As a treat, lemme pull out some drafting for the mini illustrations. I usually start every snapshot with a run down of what I remember from the area, possible shenanigans encountered, and then a doodle of ideas to come.

From there, it’s a SUPER rough sketch, followed by lineart and rough color, and then cleanup!

(More thumbs and their finals below!)

At the end of the day, all my lines are VERY sketchy. I’m a lot stronger when it comes to mashing colors. That, and if you set your line layer from normal to multiply, the lines will always be automatically darker then whatever layer is placed underneath. It’s a trick used quite a bit for placing cel shadows in animation, but it’s useful for lineart in a pinch.

For colors, I like to stick to a limited pallet and branch out only after setting my primary colors. This entire series has been very experimental for me though, as you can probably tell.

As for the last bit— YES… YOU GET IT! As Elesa grows, the lines in her dialogue will start appearing less and less. It’s the little things that map the span of time for these guys.

Yippee!

[skittlesfics]

something soft

name: something soft

pairing: Joel Miller x gn!Reader

word count: 1212

summary: Settling down in Jackson has given you and Joel back a lot of things.

content/warnings: FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF, established relationship, Jackson!Joel, vague references to outbreak difficulties, unbetad

author's note: OMG, so I have been writing Joel fics/Pedro character fics for over a year now and have been too much of a coward to actually post anything. I decided to finally suck it up and join an event so that I was forced to post. This is a valentine for @beskarandblasters . Hope you enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day, y'all. -

Joel’s hand was warm where it wrapped around your ankle, his thumb stroking idly at the skin just below the joint as he turned to the next page of his book. It was a large-type Western that you had looted from an old library as a joke – but one that he became more appreciative of as the strain of years on alert made it harder and harder to focus on smaller script at night.

Many things were different now that you were settled into Jackson proper, but this was definitely one of your favorites.

Quiet moments out on the road meant that Joel was planning your next move or that all three of you were gathering energy for whatever horror was to come next. There was no space for leisure or relaxation in that quiet, even if there were rare moments of levity dappled into the shadows of survival. Here, though, in Jackson, you were both learning to let the quiet in.

Joel pushed his thumb into your ankle a little harder, just enough to pull you out of your reverie. Those memories were a dangerous path that you both had trodden too many times; He could see the spiral starting in your expression even before you knew it was there. When you lifted your eyes to meet his gaze, he smiled, sliding the bookmark Ellie had drawn for him as a Christmas gift into place. (Holidays were another thing that Jackson had given back to the three of you.) You let your eyes get drawn to the sketch of the astronaut floating over something that vaguely resembled the moon. I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!

“Got something to show you, if you’re amenable.” He said after setting the book down carefully on the fraying arm of the couch. His voice was rich and low, thick with an emotion you couldn’t quite place. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, his eyes seeking something in yours. If you didn’t know any better, you might have said that Joel Miller was nervous.

You couldn’t hold back your own soft smile, swinging one leg off of Joel’s lap in an attempt to sit up. He held onto your other ankle for a moment, tracing idle circles into your flesh with his thumb before realizing his error and releasing you.

You sat up and bookmarked your own novel. Well Read Mother Clucker is what yours said, with a drawing of what you supposed must be yourself as a chicken. “I suppose I’m amenable.” You answered, nudging his shoulder as you stretched to loosen your taught muscles.

He huffed, fond smile still crooked on his lips, and stood.

“You stay right here and close those pretty eyes. Give me a minute.” He commanded. He pushed himself up with an audible complaint from his knees, a soft grunt marking the effort in the motion that he had hidden from you for so long before Jackson. You bit back your giggle, letting him believe that the sound blended in with the staccato crackles from the wood in the fireplace.

With your eyes closed, you tried to map Joel’s path through the room. You could hear his footsteps leading away towards the kitchen, the board next to the dining table groaning in protest. He didn’t say it, but you could already hear his grumble. Gotta fix that come springtime. That was a new thing in Jackson as well, planning for the future in this one place. Building a home. The thought brought a warmth to your chest that distracted you from his next movements.

Firelight danced behind your eyelids, and you let yourself sink back into the couch, shifting into the pocket of warmth Joel had abandoned as you heard him open a cabinet door. It creaked only slightly – the China cabinet perhaps? You wondered if he had finally listened to your complaints about chipped plates and managed to loot something whole to eat off of. Or maybe he’d managed to find another bag of stale coffee out there somewhere to replenish your dwindling supply. Practicalities that felt like luxuries.

Joel didn’t leave you waiting long. You followed the path of his footsteps back to you, tilting your head towards him even with your eyes closed. He leaned in and pressed a soft, warm kiss against your forehead, reaching out to cup your cheek before straightening again and placing something on the coffee table in front of you with a heavy clunk. The plates then?

“You can open.” He said, sinking into the seat you had abandoned in pursuit of his warmth. “It’s not much, but…”

You weren’t sure if he trailed off or if your brain simply stopped processing sound as you opened your eyes to reveal a small red crock speckled with white and black spots. There was a clumsy ribbon tied out of strips of sun-bleached red fabric from God-knows-where around it, but inside. Delicate, carefully crafted roses were arranged in an explosion of natural wood tones. If it weren’t for the colors, they would have appeared lifelike, almost. You reached out, carefully stroking one of the petals. It was nearly translucent, but undoubtably wood. He had made them.

When you looked over at him it was through watery eyes. He was watching you, expression impassive, betrayed only by the slightest quirk at the edge of his mouth.

“You made these?” You asked, breathless.

“’s hard to get fresh flowers in February up here.” He explained with a shrug, like that explained it. Like it hadn’t taken hours of painstaking labor to shave each individual petal out of wood that he had cut down and prepared with his own hands. Like he hadn’t filled your heart to bursting.

He opened his arms and you slid into his lap, throwing your arms around his shoulders and squeezing tight, like he might try to get away. A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as you rained kisses across his face, one large hand finding your hip and resting there, the other finding your chin to pull you in and kiss you properly. It was a slow kiss, soft and reverent, like he wanted to memorize the press of your lips against his, the soft sigh you let out against his mouth, the way your body relaxed into the warmth of him.

“They’re beautiful, Joel, they’re everything.” You whispered finally, dropping your head down to rest against his strong shoulder.

“They’re alright.” He deflected, cradling you against his chest, “Next Valentine’s Day, I’ll get you something nicer.”

It struck you then, the date. Another thing that Jackson had given back to you was a calendar to go by. You hadn’t gotten used to tracking the days as the passed yet, more focused on the weather than a number. But of course Joel would notice, especially after he saw what Christmas had done for you and for Ellie. Valentine’s Day here, after the end of the world.

You burrowed your face into the warm cotton of his shirt, knowing that he would feel the wetness of your happy tears against his chest and not caring. He held you there, pressing a kiss against the crown of your head. Something simple, something soft, something yours.

[thewritetofreespeech]

Fly me to the Moon

Astarion x Tav

WORDS: 2.6K RATING: T PAIRING: Ascended!Astarion x Tav SUMMARY: just as they were settled, plans seem to change. (sort of a sequel to [x])

Despite having all the luxuries and money available to him now, Astarion preferred to sleep in a smaller bed.

When you had finished redecorating the castle, an arduous process as you didn’t realize how big it was until you started, Astarion had been left the bedroom per his request and actually did it a lot more modestly than you thought he would. Somehow you envisioned gold for every nailed down surface, ornate rugs patterned across the floor, mirrors or reflective surfaces anywhere he could put them to preen at his reflection any space moment; now that he had it back.

There was a bit of gold. 1 larger rug under the bed to keep the feet from touching cold marble first thing in the morning. More than a few mirrors. But the part that surprised you was how…average the bed was. Along with the grandeur, you thought Astarion would want a lake of a bed to dominate the room. He corrected you and said that a bed like that wouldn’t be necessary as his intention was to be wrapped around you every night for eternity, so all of it would go to waste.

That’s why it was so strange when you realized he wasn’t there beside you in your sleep.

You awoke and sat up. Scanning the dark room and landing on a small light by the desk on the far side with Astarion sitting at it. His handsome face pursed in thought but warmed by the candlelight. You slipped out of bed onto the soft rug and walked over to see what he was doing so late at night.

"Oh, hello my love. Did I wake you?"

You shook your head. Coming up beside him to see what he was working on. "What's all this?"

"Maps for our travels." He announced. Showing you one that was faded and worn. "Although, we may have to engage a new map maker or literary archivist for some updated ones. I think some of these are older than I am."

"But not nearly as pretty." You reply with a chuckle. Kissing his cheek. "Why the sudden interest in geography? I thought we agreed to stay in the Gate for a while. 'Set up camp'. Establish a base for your great dark empire."

"Eh. I changed my mind." Astarion said that as if he had changed it on a whim. Perhaps he had. But the work he had poured himself over led you to believe this was a thought that had been seeping for a while. "I realized; I haven't actually left the city at all in 200 years. Where that Nautiloid spit me out was the furthest I had traveled since....I can't remember when. And, if it hadn't, picked me up and spit me out that is, I would still be here. Trapped in the city. My new gifts have left me with a literally world of possibilities to break free of these walls. It would be a shame to squander them.”

You supposed that was true. Astarion’s ascension had given him a lot of new abilities. Including, but not limited to, his continued ability to walk in the sun. Which made leaving the Gate all the more possible. There was a big, bright new world out there. You could see why he would want to leave. “Hmm…so, where do you want to go first then?”

“I…don’t know.” He told you honestly. “I have the means to go anywhere and yet somehow…that seems more challenging than no choices.”

“A burden of options.”

“Exactly!” He seemed incredibly pleased that you got it, without having to explain or dumb it down for you. “Just so long as we don’t have to sleep in the dirt again, I really have no real opinion on where we go.”

“No feelings of nostalgia bedding down by a campfire?”

“Oh please….” He seemed less pleased with that quip. “Have you traveled anywhere? You know, for all our near deaths and how intimate we are now, I also just realized I know almost nothing about you. Other than your body and parts of your mind from the tadpole.” Astarion leaned in close to take your hand. “I’m such a cad.”

You chuckle at him. But you tell Astarion no, you haven’t traveled before. Not really. Not the far off, wonderous, exotic, or lavish places Astarion probably had in mind to show you. Different beaches down the River Chionthar. The country side. Nothing special.

“Good!” He announced when you told him. Spinning around and standing from his desk. “I want us to share all of this together. See it all for the first time, side by side, as my consort. And, be the first to make love to you on every continent imaginable.”

You lean in close when he leaned forward to kiss you. Coiling your fingers through his wavy hair as he pulled you in by the waist. “I suppose we should start packing.”

“Hmm…yes. But that can wait until later.” You let out a surprised sound when Astarion lifted you up in his arms bridal style. Grinning at you with that cheeky smile of his. “For now, I think we should practice a bit before our journey. You can’t just expect to make love on every continent without a little stamina training, yes?” You giggle as he carried you back to bed.

Once you were done, and sufficiently exhausted, you fell asleep dreaming of far off places and exotic shores. The smell of salt air. The warm feeling of tall grass. All of it in your mind’s eye, along with Astarion.

[canarysage]

…make a psd?

this is a question i get pretty routinely, and i’m going to tell you upfront: there is no one way to make a psd. there’s no ‘better’ way, no ‘easier’ method, you just have to figure it out yourself.

with that said, this post is going to be how i, personally, make my psds, just for the sake of reference. my way isn’t better or worse than anyone else’s—it’s just the way i do things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i. making a showcase/moodboard

depending on the psd you want to achieve, your moodboard will probably look different—if you’re making a blue psd it will be mostly blue, if you’re making a psd based on a certain character or card set it will be based around that, etc. i made myself a general showcase that i test my psds on that includes both irl images and darker skin characters, because i like for my psds to work for those purposes most of the time. my showcase is below if you’d like to use it!

it’s best to include sources you edit frequently so you know what works on them and what doesn’t but how the moodboard looks exactly is up to you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i also recommend using swatchies (original by zeroresources on d*viantart) as long as you bear in mind that swatchies is not a great guideline for actual dark skin

ii. creating the base

actual step two is creating a folder but that takes like two seconds. do make a folder though or you will be sad.

after making a folder, start making the base of your psd; whatever the foundation is going to be. depending on how you want your psd to look, this will look very different. i personally always start off with a gradient map, just to get things going

my settings for this are the default black and white gradient map set to reverse, and it’s set to blending mode soft light at 35% opacity. i typically do something in the range of 20-45% opacity depending on how i want it to look

i’m honestly not sure where i picked up this habit but it does make it a little easier to get things going for me personally. it’s a simple change but it’s a good start. if you want higher contrast you can do the same thing but without reversing the gradient map

next thing i do when creating a base is add a selective color layer, which helps things pick up the pace. i’m too lazy to write it all down but these are my settings:

worlds ugliest collage so i don’t max out my images LMFAO apologies. obviously depending on what colors you want to focus on this will look different. for this one i completely axed magenta and emphasized blue and red/yellow. i also maxed out the black in white, which is extremely typical in my psds. this is what our psd looks like now:

pretty different already, right? nice!

next thing i typically do is another selective color layer. it’s typically pretty similar to the first, but once again that depends on the psd! the worlds worst collage again:

pretty much the same but a little different. and our results:

as you can see, this is pretty saturated and a little all over the place. not to worry—let’s move onto the next step!

iii. let’s get serious

this step varies a lot depending on what my psd needs, but because this one is pretty sayurated right now and that seems to be my main problem, i’m going to add a photo filter in a light grayish-blue to help desaturate and cool it down

(i unchecked preserve luminosity here because i think it looks neat. i don’t recommend doing that if you’re using a darker color bc it gets hard to see, but you can do whatever forever)

obviously this isn’t the only way to desaturate but i find it fun. observe:

definitely better, at least to me, but still not great. we’re going to add another selective color layer bc the skintones look kinda wack. welcome back world’s worst collage:

i only adjusted some of the colors in this one because i wanted to fix specific problems; namely that the darker skin tones were too dark and ashy.

mission accomplished

with that done, it’s time for hue/saturation! for funsies ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ this part i just had some fun with. a new collage:

and the results:

purple! this wasn’t what i originally had in mind but it was much more fun to do tbh LMAO i decided to turn the cyan/blue into purple because it looked better in my head

iv. okay now get silly again

now that the main meat—so to speak—of our psd is done, we can add some fun layers. if you want ideas for this, i have a post about it, but what i’m gonna add as my first silly layer is channel mixer, which is one of my personal favorite layers

pretty simple adjustments for channel mixer honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but i thought this would look fun. as a general rule of thumb i don’t mess with the red channel so much because it tends to screw over my skintones, but, as with anything, you’re free to do whatever forever

next fun layer i’m gonna add is a noise gradient map, also just for funsies

i randomized until i got a nice pink-ish kinda one. i was hoping for blue but all the blue ones were too green and i got impatient LOL

a little fucked but for sure fun. i set the gradient map to soft light at about 15% opacity. it gave the psd a fun texture and a bit of extra warmth

v. finishing touches

sometimes i add a couple more layers, sometimes i add less, but this psd feels about done so imma wrap it up. i typically don’t save my psds as the showcase for my storage’s sake, so i’m gonna grab something to use as an icon. i typically go ahead and size it at about 300x300

hello, haruka! once i have my icon set i duplicate the folder into the new project and name both the project and the folder. how you name it is up to you, i usually either use a random word generator or just whatever comes to mind. in this case, i’m just naming it ‘tutorial psd’ lol

then go to file and save as psd, bada bing bada boom you’ve got a psd ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

as i said at the beginning, there’s no one way to make a psd. this isn’t the only process or even the best one, it’s just how i personally work. the best way to make a psd on your own is fuck around and find out <3 canarysage out

…so that’s how you do it.

P.S. the psd i made here will be posted under the tag #tutorial psd. you’re free to poke around in it and use it as per usual. if you want to copy it, feel free, but don’t claim it’s your own or repost it as your work. thanks!

P.P.S. wondering about adjustment layers? see photopea for dummies. wondering about something i haven’t covered yet? shoot me an ask ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[theroseiswithoutawherefor]

Well, first of all, I have to thank @yridenergyridenergy for selling me the ticket! It was literally the best experience I had throughout the year; I really, really, sincerely appreciate it.

As promised, this is my repo of the gig in Wakayama. To be honest, I’m really a bad recorder as I can only recall the sensation or vibe in general and forget the details every time. Am I the only one?? Anyway, I guess my drawings may not be precise at all and it would be more like a summary of the year.

And this repo will be focusing on Kaoru, Toshiya and Kyo. I’m sorry but I stood on the left in both times.

Kaoru

It’s so strange that I can easily feel my love for him grows with time and what a coincidence! I visited them twice this year and I was right in front of him every time. I always assumed that I would be in front of Toshiya when I checked the hall map in December, but no! It was Kaoru again! It kinda shocked me the time I located my seat and noticed his microphone stand was there, just about 2 meters away.

I think probably it has been known by all of you, the show started with a semi-transparent screen showing some AI-generated footage(sorry, I hate this part). It covered most of the setting but just revealed some shadows. I could only see Kaoru, his side profile, priest-alike gown and silver hair. He looked so focused and indifferent and so good-looking…my hands are still sweating as I recall it now.

That was my first time listening to Rinkaku on-site. I got caught up in emotion when you could easily compare themselves in reality and their sketches in the video. You could see how much they have changed and it also just reminded me a lot of moments, staying at home and staring them on the screen. The real vs the virtual.

Also, at the beginning from the distance, I could only see some sort of marks on his chin that looked pretty much like piercings? It turned out to be his makeup; so brilliant.

Kyo

I didn’t see Kyo that much this time, but I feel he is that kind of vocal that you would fall in love with once you’ve actually seen him in the venue. He looked so nostalgic to me this time, maybe bc of the ghost face makeup or the fact that I have seen him too much this year. I also went to HK for sukekiyo this year.

The gig of sukekiyo was more emotional, floating and spacey (and less aggressive, obviously). Kyo’s dedication was so contagious. Although he looked a little bit nervous at the beginning of the Day1, forgetting the lyrics now and then lol.

It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between Diru and Sukekiyo, like looking at different reflections of the same mirror.  

Btw probably he is the most inspiring Diru member to me I guess. Idk why drawing kyo always begins with a pretty satisfying draft then it becomes a big challenge to my expertise and patience ahhhh. But yeah, I can improve a lot after finishing it. So, kyo, thx? lol

Toshiya

I’m not quite a fan of his white outfit that day(the one worn in the pic of their tweet on 16th Dec). Actually I even failed to recognize him the first, waistcoat and palazzo trouser are ok but definitely not the most stunning look of him. It seems that his style is becoming more gender-neutral this year, with hair dyed brown, pearl jewelries and feminine makeup.

But I still quite enjoyed his performance, his body language was so beautiful (ugh! It’s such a shame that I can’t recreate it)and he was the first one going to the left terrace and saying hi to everyone. Toshiya is always the sweetest person in Diru to me.

I prefer his encore look more and he took off the shirt and threw it to the gift right in front of him

（and a random sketch）

That’s it! I could have drawn more but, sorry I’m a perfectionist, these pics really took me some time, but I may keep going if I have spare time.

And I’m not used to talking so much on the Internet, it is embarrassing somehow.  

The year of 2023 has treated me rly good, I hope it would be the same for all of you and Diru members, see you next year.

[dqmeron]

here's my quick tutorial for making layouts in photoshop! i'll be going over how to make this 4-panel square one! ↳ requires basic knowledge of photoshop

「 step 1: making your file 」 make a new file, 540 x whatever height you want (just make sure it fits within tumblr’s image size guidelines), and make sure the background is set to transparent. for this specific layout, i want the overall shape to be square, so my dimensions are 540x540!

「 step 2: mapping out 」 the best way to make sure your layouts are even and spaced equally is using guides! go to view > guides > new guide layout. the color of your guides doesn’t matter at all (i just like green so mine are green lol), and you can have as many columns and rows as you want. since this is going to be a 2x2 layout, i’ll have 2 columns and 2 rows. the general rule of thumb for gutter is 4px. 

once your guides pop up, select the rectangle tool by pressing U on your keyboard. make sure shape is selected from the drop-down menu at the top (right by the home button in the top left), and make sure that you have snapping on (view > snap). 

using the rectangle tool, trace out your layout panels! as long as you have snapping on, your path should naturally snap to the guidelines, making it a LOT easier to do this! when you’re done making your rectangles, you can turn off guides by going to view > guides > clear guides (i usually keep them on until i’m done adding in my gifs but this is up to you). i always name each shape layer after where it is in the grid to not get confused.

「 step 3: adding gifs 」 some quick things before i go over actually adding in your gifs: 1. make each of your gifs in their own individual files. you’ll be adding them into the main one later.  2. your gifs have to be the same length — you can cut them down to length in their own individual files or later in the main one. either way is fine, totally up to you!

now you have your layout set up, you can make and add your gifs! in order to make sure that they fit into the panels, check the dimensions of each shape you’ve created by selecting the layer and looking in the properties tab. my panels are each 268x268.

i’ll actually be making each of my gifs 270x270, just to make sure that i don’t have any weird gaps or anything (i’ll talk about how i’ll be getting rid of the 2 extra pixels on each side later).

once you have your gifs done, you can duplicate them into the main one. convert your gif and anything else (coloring etc) into a smart object (right click > convert to smart object), and then right click it and select “duplicate layer”. make sure the document you’re duplicating to is the one with your layout in it. 

layers automatically duplicate aligned into the top left corner. since this is where my first panel is, i can just leave my gif there, but for the other ones, drag your gifs into place using transform and your mouse (once again making sure that snapping is on). 

now to get rid of those extra pixels. this step also makes sure your gif is perfectly in line with the shape you’ve outlined the layout with. make sure your gif is right above the shape layer in the layers tab, and then right click and select “create clipping mask”. this makes sure your gif doesn’t go outside the limits of your guidelines. this is what it should look like in the layers tab:

「 step 4: exporting 」 exporting a layout gif is pretty much like exporting any other gif, but you do need to check your matte settings before saving. the wrong ones can make what should be the transparent dividers solid, which can throw off the look of your gifs. make sure matte is set to “none”, and then save as normal!

here's my finished gif:

happy giffing! feel free to send me an ask/message me w any questions!

[sly-s-n0nfusion]

Hello octopathers I woke up in the mood to share opinions online so today it's the time to talk about

💫 Erhardt's War Crimes 💫

as well as explaining why I don't, never did, and will never like him as a character

/!\ Disclaimer: I'm not here to judge anyone who likes Erhardt, truly. I'm 100% okay with liking morally gray characters in fiction (and I do myself, as a fan of characters such as Ogen, Oshka, Kaldena and Ceraphina, which are pretty bad/terrible people as well, some of them are much worse than erhardt lol) so if he's your favorite character and your little sopping wet meow meow, that's great (you're also part of like 98% of the octopath fandom so if someone has to be the weird one here that'd be me lol) so this post is completely judgement-free 🙏 /gen

I just felt the need to address the full extent of his actions in game as some sort of reminder because I feel like the actual consequences of those are often overlooked or straight up not acknowledged, also because we see a lot of that in CoTC and many people who played OT1 did not play that one, and because I have seen quite the number of fans out there being like "Erhardt did nothing wrong" or "I'm an Erhardt apologist" or "regicide ain't that bad" when I think what he did was actually pretty bad and here's why!

TW children death, spoilers for Olberic’s story and CoTC Bestower of All

Okay so we can all agree with the fact that what happened to him was horrible. Man had to watch his hometown (and family, too) perish in a fire while Hornburg did nothing to help and he's been indoctrinated since he was just a child by Werner, who we know as being great at manipulating and inducing fear in people. Like no wonder he wanted revenge.

In Ot1 we only see him killing King Alfred and thus causing the fall of the whole kingdom of Hornburg as stated by Olberic at the beginning of his story, and then his "redemption" speech during Olberic's chapters 3 and 4, and that's pretty much it. We aren't exactly told what happened to the people of Hornburg after that.

Well, Champions of The Continent tells us as the fourth chapter of the Bestower of All storyline is set in Hell, where Hornburg and its ghosts still stand. And I say ghosts because those are all that's left of its population, with the exception of a few other NPCs we encounter in game who were lucky enough to flee in time.

Now the part of map we can walk on is quite big but it’s still a small fraction of the Hornburg capital (as we can see from the huge amount of buildings around the castle) and there are approximately 30+ npcs’ souls wandering around the streets, inside the castle and outside the capital (again, they’re just the ones we’re allowed to see)

(Don’t let this image fool you, he’s dead. All of them are dead, he didn’t make it out alive)

The most tragic part of all of this are obviously the souls of two children that can be found in a house, discussing which one of the Twin Blades is stronger. And honestly this piece of dialogue broke my heart

I’m afraid to inform this poor kid’s soul that Erhardt actually played a major role in the events that caused them to get killed.

And this brings me to the conclusion of this saying that no matter how strong Erhardt’s desire for vengeance was, and how manipulated he was, it still doesn’t excuse what he did. “Regicide ain’t that big of a deal” well no it isn’t, but the consequences of it are. I refuse to believe Erhardt didn’t foresee what would happen to all the inhabitants of Hornburg, children included, after he’d killed king Alfred and gave complete access to Werner’s army. Of course the ones who couldn’t flee in time would get killed. Of course he knew, but that wasn’t enough to make him think about stopping his rage.

He’s not a war criminal because he killed a guy with a crown, he’s a war criminal because he sentenced to death the whole population of a capital city and if we had doubt at first, cotc gives us undeniable proof.

Yes he lives hating himself. Yes he does regret all of it. But he had a choice. And yes, being afraid of Werner hunting him down is a solvable problem when you’re at the apex of one of the biggest kingdoms’ military force, he could’ve asked for help if only he spoke. Causing the death of so many innocent people isn’t going to bring his family and hometown back and he knew it.

That’s why I think what he did was, in no way, excusable.

“Erhardt isn’t a villain” doesn’t stick with my view of things.

Now, on to the personal reasons why I don’t like him in particular as a morally gray character lol

And that can be summed up as “Olberic’s first two chapters made a pretty damn good job at making me hate him”

But no for real it has to do with me valuing trust more than anything else in life and having the habit of self-projecting a lot on every character I play. I tend to ask myself “what would I do in this situation, how would I feel” etc, so it came natural to me to wanting to punt Erhardt into the sun instantly as soon as I saw Olberic (the guy that was my main character in his ch1) literally start his story having nightmares and being depressed because of this guy.

Of course it was instant, deep hatred from me I swear I’ve rarely wanted to kill some guy in a jrpg as much as I wanted to make him pay for what he did (even if I knew well that Olberic’s main goal was just to seek answers).

Now imagine my utter disappointment when the game didn’t let me kill him lol (just kidding, of course after his backstory traumadump I ended up sympathizing a bit with him).

Also no, Olberic never forgave him for what he did, as precisely stated by him in his chapter 3, but he does give him another chance to redeem himself because Olberic is a much better person than I am.

I… have been wanting to write this long post for a while now. I hope I didn’t upset anyone with it as that was not my intention. I get why erhardt has so many fans, with the whole emotional trauma he has and his pretty face and fabulous hair, I really do and I don’t think you’re weird for liking him. I just like to ramble about fictional characters from time to time lol

Peace ✌️

[morphinejunkie]

hii how are you? i hope you’re doing well :) i really love your fanfic crush, i’m writing a mello fanfic myself, but i’m having such a hard time capturing his essence, sometimes i get carried away writing him but then i realize it’s not really accurate, i either make him too angry, too much this, too much that, idk, do you have any tips for me? (only if you want, i just really love how you portray him, i think it’s really accurate so i thought what’s better than to ask you?) <3 ✨🌸

thank you very much!

mello was a character i struggled to write at first too. he’s a delicate tightrope walk between intelligence, aggression, coolness and (in my opinion) brevity. personally i find that the hardest thing is striking a balance that encompasses all four.

so i’ll break it down, this is what worked best for me.

1. use canon

the way i wrote mello, i referenced the original manga (and voice/diction in the dub anime) a lot. i would first listen to his lines and try to internalize his voice. and then i would study his body language in his panels and try to shift that body language and attitude into whatever scenario i’m writing.

mello is a pretty layered character, which i think a lot of people struggle with. he plays up the characteristics that people often associate with him (i.e. in the call with the president, he acts taunting and brash) when on his own turf he’s actually very calculating and careful (i.e. any scene in the mafia - he’s often staring into space, sprawled into a relaxed but aggressive position, and thinking).

i think a big thing to remember too is that mello made many decisions in canon that need to be backed up to create a holistic view of who he is. reverse-engineering mello’s character from his actions was a huge part of how i developed my mello as well - “why did mello do this? what motivations were urging him to do the thing he did? why are his emotions this way while he’s doing it?”

general rule of thumb is: if your mello would not do the things that canon mello did, the way that canon mello did, he’s probably ooc.

2. take him as a whole - not parts of him

i focused a lot of my energy on trying to capture mello as a whole. a lot of it is meeting mello where he is, not where you want him to be. assuming he is fully formed, an actual person, and you are getting to know him, not creating him from scratch. when i was no longer concerned about making mello do things that i wanted him to do, and instead interacting WITH mello as a fully formed character, i found it natural to hear his voice. near the end of crush i felt like i was just documenting them with a camera while matt & mello did what they did. they moved almost completely on their own and i was just there to capture it.

for me, especially in the beginning, i would often “practice” by throwing both matt & mello into a scenario with no expectation or plot, and seeing how they play off each other, without trying to move them from point a to point b. i found that let me understand their characters better — better than say a character study or a self-reflection would. in fact the bar scene was that exercise for me, and ended up setting the tone for the rest of the fic.

3. figure out all the different ways you can read mello, and figure out which works best for you

the one thing is, even if you study mello and take him as who he is, there’s not a lot to work from off the original series. a lot of him is further developed in fandom, and so there are various camps of interpretations of mello that are all equally valid & sound. i found that mapping out exactly how mello can be interpreted and figuring out where my mello lay on that scale helped me a lot in determining what i found was personally ic/ooc.

funnily enough this matrix was really helpful even though it was just a stupid joke post from back in the day. i really liked the way “mihael keehl” talked, i found it so cool and grounding. “priss” still exists though the details or manner of speaking has changed over the years, in fact twinky/glamourous mello remains one of the most common interpretations of his character which i personally rejected (i don’t think it reflects his body language in canon at all). “batshit” mello is time and place for me, but ultimately, not how i like to write him (as it only explains some of his actions in canon but not all).

of course writing mello in the end is wholly depends on your personal preference - you could do all of this and still end up with a different vision of mello as i did. as long as he is fully fleshed out to you, the details don’t matter.

[klaprisun]

One Sunny Day

(Stardew Valley) (Haley x Female Farmer)

Chapter 7

The pool brackets for the tournament have been completed. Elliot had shown up after all, so it resulted in it being an even 10 which makes it a hell of a lot easier to map out. The brackets are as follows: 

Leah v.s Alex

Maru v.s Sebastian

Sam v.s Elliot

Haley v.s Penny

Danny v.s Abigail

“The winners of these first 5 games will go on to play each other,” I explain just in case anyone needs a refresher. They all nod their heads in understanding. Everyone except for Haley. 

“We know how it works you idiot,” she snarls from across the room, still sitting on the couch. She has her arms crossed as well as her legs with a pout on her face. Everyone turns to look at her with frowns. She just shrugs, rolls her eyes and brings her hand up to her face to look at her nails.

Leah and Alex grab their pool sticks and start setting up. The rest of us kind of linger around and watch. Maru and Sam take a seat on the couch with Penny, and Abigail and Sebastian take a seat on the couch next to Haley who doesn’t seem too thrilled. 

I know better than to even try to go anywhere near Haley so I kind of stand off to the side on my own… on the other side of the arcade room. I lean against the wall and cross my arms nonchalantly. Elliot must’ve pitied me because he came to stand with me after a bit.

“What did you do to Haley to make her hate you so much?” Elliot questions.

“What do you mean?”

“She has been glaring over at you since I got here. I assume it must’ve been happening before I got here too,” He replies.

I do a deep sigh before responding, “I actually have no idea. I just exist and she yells or picks on me. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. It doesn’t bother me though. She is all bark no bite,” I say while turning my head to look over at Haley on the couch, and just like Elliot said, she was glaring at me. She looked away quickly after she noticed I looked at her.

“That’s weird. She may act like she gives us all crap for existing too… but with us she is actually pretty calm. She has seemed very agitated since you’ve gotten here actually,” Elliot remarks, “But what do I know. I’m not the Haley expert out of us, you’ll have to ask Alex about her if you are curious. I barely talk to her. She kind of scares me if I’m being honest.”

“Are her and Alex… like a…” I interlock my fingers to gesture to their relationship, “thing?” I finally spit out.

“Kind of. They are very off and on with one another. One minute they are making out on that couch, the next they are angry at each other and not talking. You arrived during their ‘on’ season I guess. Except Haley has been turning down any of Alex’s advances. I’m surprised they are still ‘on’.” Elliot explains. I just nod my head along while I get the rundown.

I look back over at Haley to see what she is up to. Alex and Leah had finished their pool game so Alex is back with her on the couch. He has his arm resting on the back of the couch behind her shoulders. Almost as if he is scared to actually touch her. I don’t blame him. Haley is just staring off into the distance, not really sure at what, but as if she knew I was watching her, her eyes darted over at me. 

Holding my ground and not looking away, I give her a little wink. Her face goes bright red, and she ducks back against the couch behind Alex’s torso so I can only see her bright blonde hair peeking out.

Alex had won the match up between Leah and him, so he gets to move on to play the winner of Maru and Sebastian’s match up. They seem to be halfway through their game already. I really haven’t been paying attention.

“She seems… threatened by you?” Elliot pitches in after watching the whole interaction, “or maybe jealous of you..?” His face is scrunched up as he thinks. The gears in his head are really working overtime on this one. He just shakes his head as if he gave up thinking and went back to watching the pool match. 

Threatened by me? Jealous of me? I think to myself. I shrug it off and also go back to enjoying the tournament.

Sebastian ends up winning the game between him and Maru unsurprisingly since he plays against Sam and Abigail so often. I expect them to go pretty far in this tournament because of that. That means Seb and Alex play against each other in the next round.

Elliot leaves me to go and play against Sam next. I’m left standing alone once again. I go over to grab a round of beers for everyone. 

“I really hope I get some good crops soon, because I’m going to need all the money I can get after this!” I holler. I get pretty loud and confident when drunk.

Everyone starts laughing and cheering as they come over to grab the beers from me. Alex brings Haley hers because she never got up. Penny and Sebastian decline the beers, so I drink Penny’s. I give away Sebastian’s to Alex since I don’t think I can drink another one. 

Elliot and Sam’s game ended pretty quickly since Elliot isn’t a big fan of pool. Which means it’s now Haley and Penny’s turn. Neither of them seem like they want to be playing, but they both do it anyway to get it over with. Before Haley makes her way to the pool table, she grabs the beer out of Alex’s hand and chugs it down, not even leaving a drop. Alex just stares at her dumbfounded, but just grabs the other one I gave to him. 

I loudly start clapping at Haley for her little show. Everyone seems to join in jokingly once they realize what I’m doing. I do a little cat-call whistle at her to add to the fun and she starts majorly blushing. She grabs the pool stick closest to her and gives Penny a nod. 

“She really does seem friendly to everyone else,” I say to Elliot since he is back to standing with me. 

“You really like to get her going I see?” Elliot says back to me as he takes a sip of his beer I brought. 

“It’s fun. Someone needs to put her in her place. She can’t be rude to every new person that arrives.”

“Except that doesn’t look like teasing. It looks more like flirting to me…” Elliot trails off.

I gasp and shake my head, “That’s absolutely not what I’m doing. I would never flirt with her… she is like the last person I’d ever even flirt with. It’s not like that,” I say defensively. I have my hands up in surrender and continue to shake my head, “no way in hell.”

“Now I don’t mean to pry, but you ARE into girls I assume?” He guesses. As he says that, his voice gets a bit louder and it kind of echoes in the room. Nobody even paid attention though… so I thought.

I chuckle and nod my head. I don’t really care that Elliot asked. Everyone was going to know anyway eventually. He just took one for the team and broke the ice on that first.

“I must just radiate that energy, huh?” 

Hia mouth moves to the side and nods his head in agreement, “I figured I’d take my chances with guessing.”

Haley had ended up beating Penny during their match up. They shake hands with one another and Haley gives her an empathetic smile. 

“You did really well though, you almost had me there!” I overheard Haley say to Penny. Penny just smiles at her and shrugs.

“My turn!” I exclaim to Elliot.

I grab a pool stick and start setting up the table. I’ve played several times before, enough to be considered good I’d say. 

“You’re going down,” Abigail taunts me. 

“Let’s not be too sure about that,” I taunt back while tilting my head to the side. I push back the escaped pieces of hair from my braid and crank the white ball into the pool balls at the end of the table, causing them to explode across the table. Two solid color pool balls go into the side pockets.

“Guess you’re stripes then, Abigail,” I declare while slyly jabbing the end of my pool stick into the floor and leaning on with a bit of my weight.

“Doesn’t matter which one I am, I’ll do great either way,” she sneers playfully. At least I think it’s playful?

The rest of the game flies by since we are both nearly pros at it. Somehow, I came out on top.

“Looks like you went down,” I joked to Abigail who was standing there dumbstruck.

“Wha-? How? I didn’t know you could play so well?” She howled.

Seething with confidence and the need to embarrass myself, I take the pool stick I was leaning on and point the end of the stick towards Haley. She immediately straightens up in her seat with her eyes glued to me. 

“That win was for you pretty lady,” I blew her a kiss and gave her a wink. The whole room erupted with hoots and hollers.

“Ugh as if!” She shoots up off the couch and grabs the pool stick from Abigail. She has definitely been drinking more than the one beer I brought her because she seems very tipsy. She points the end of her pool stick back at me and shouts “You’re on!”

“But that was supposed to be our game next,” Alex says with a pout.

“Alex, let them have it. There is clearly a lot of sexual tension in the room right now. They need to let it out somehow!” Sebastian laughs.

That really did it now for Haley. Her face went beat red. She got into position and whipped the pool stick at the white pool ball towards where the other pool balls set up at the end. At least that’s what we think she meant to do. Her aim was so off that the white ball ricocheted off the ledge of the pool table, popped into the air, and smacked me dead in the eye. There was so much power behind her shot that it actually did some damage.

Everyone in the room gasped and went silent. I had turned away, holding my hand up to my eye, gasping in pain and holding back tears

Haley is the first to say something. She comes running over as fast as she can. Which actually was more her just stumbling into things on her way over. I feel a gentle hand on my back and another one on my chin. She softly tilts my head over to her so she can take a look at what she had done.

I let her move my head so she can see, and I'm met with her entrancing blue eyes looking into mine. Except, only one of my eyes is able to see her. I then move my hand away from the damage. 

She recoils in shock and covers her mouth with her hands.

“I’m so so so sorry. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” She puts her hands on my shoulder and takes another look at my eye. 

“You really hate me that much, huh?” I tease with a weary smile.

“I promise it was an accident! I didn’t mean to!” she has almost broken out into tears at this point, “Let me take you next door to Harvey’s or something. At least let me help?”

“I’m so sure it was only an accident. There must’ve been a bit of hate and satisfaction in that,” I tease again.

“Shut it, you. Don’t make me feel worse than I already do!” she wipes an escaped tear from her eye.

We end up calling it there and shutting down the pool tournament early.

“This isn’t over. We need to know who the Pelican Town pool champion is!” Sam exclaims.

“Don’t worry Sam, we aren’t going to erase the board, and nobody will forget you get to move on to the next round.” Leah insists.

Haley takes me by the arm and gently tugs me along. I have my hand back over my eye and still aching in immense pain.

“Gus, do you have any ice by chance?” Haley asks.

“I sure do. Emily, mind grabbing me some ice?” Gus answers. Since Emily is closest to the fridge, she goes into the freezer part and grabs a couple ice cubes. She takes a clean cloth out from behind the counter and wraps the ice into it and passes it over to Haley.

“You are so rough with people, Haley. You gotta take your anger out in some other way that doesn’t involve people.” Emily chuckles. 

“Shut up Emily!” Haley sneers. She yanks the homemade ice pack from her and holds it up to my eye. I give her a little smile and go to take the ice pack from her hand to continue holding it in place. My hand lightly cups over hers as I do. Her cheeks flush their signature pink, and she slowly moves her hand out of the way so I can hold the ice.

“Harvey is asleep so you can’t go there,” Maru chimes in. The clock on the saloon wall reads 11:30 p.m.

“Right…well… I guess you have to come back to my place, Danny,” Haley says.

“I will be alright Haley. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself,” I give her a genuine smile and soften my eyes… well… eye, “I don’t want to intrude on your night. Plus I have to be there to water my crops in the morning.”

A wave of sadness seems to wash over Haley as I say that. She sadly nods her head in agreement, “Yeah I guess you’re right. What was I thinking?”

“I’ll return the ice pack tomorrow. I swear,” I hold my pinky finger out to Gus and Emily while walking backwards to the door. Haley goes back to the arcade room with everyone else and plops right back down beside Alex. She wears a pout on her face and crosses her arms, tightly across her chest.

I yell my goodbyes to the group in the arcade from the front door and give them a goofy wave with my non-occupied hand. They all, except Haley who is pouting at the wall beside her, return the wave and from where I am standing, they are also giving sympathetic smiles. 

[sun-and-moon-mushroom]

Day 14: Blood-Stained Tiles

AO3 link

(I call this one: ‘My New Roommate is an Immortal Cultivator?!’)

Shen Yuan had been looking forward to the convention. He had brought tickets months ago, marked out on the map where all his favourite fanartists would be selling merch, and had eaten a large meal before setting out so he wouldn’t be tempted by overpriced vending machine food. He had wandered through the stands for a few hours, picking up some posters and fancomics as he went, and taking some photos of cosplayers, until the convention came to a close. There was a lot more Proud Immortal Demon Way fanart going around now — with the sudden surge it had in popularity after the Immortal Alliance Conference arc, it was to be expected, and Shen Yuan was looking forward to the new readers catching up to the latest chapters of the Abyss arc and making fanart for it.

He had just left the building when he heard the disturbance, and his head twisted towards the sound — almost missing the woman in a somewhat revealing outfit running past him in a panic. Freezing for a moment, he wondered if he should run as well, before he spotted a body slumped on the ground ahead of him, not moving. It was late and the area was usually a quiet one after work hours, so no one else was around to help… He rushed over to him without really thinking. Wasn’t that what you were meant to do? Well, if he died, at least he might get a segment on the local news.

The slumped over figure turned out to be a man, one wearing an ornate xianxia cosplay. It had to be homemade with the level of detail, and Shen Yuan felt oddly jealous of it. What was more concerning was the bloodstain quickly spreading across the fine green fabric, some of it dripping down onto the stone tiles of the path beneath them. Shen Yuan fought back the panic as he tried to remember what little he knew about first aid — he should apply pressure to the wound to try and stop the bleeding, right?

As he pressed down the man seemed to notice him for the first time — he really had a handsome face, and Shen Yuan wondered if he was an actor he didn’t know — only to try and push him away.

“Who are you?” he asked with an odd intensity.

“Um” said Shen Yuan. “My name is Shen Yuan. Did you get stabbed?”

The man nodded solemnly — really, if he wasn’t an actor already, Shen Yuan would volunteer to be his agent — before explaining that he’d seen a man harassing a woman about her clothing, and had stepped in to help, only to discover that the man was armed with a knife. He hadn’t reacted fast enough to avoid it, but luckily the man had run away after the first stab.

Shen Yuan felt that he was being a bit too casual about attempted murder, but maybe it was shock?

“Do you need me to call an ambulance? You’re bleeding a lot, it’ll probably need stitches…”

“Oh no,” said the man, seemingly unaware of the bombshell he was about to drop on Shen Yuan, “I’m a cultivator. Whatever brought me here might have disrupted my qi, but I’ll be fine once I have a chance to stabilise it”.

Shen Yuan froze. Could this be — no, he needed evidence first.

“… if you’re a cultivator, can you show me something that only a cultivator could do?”

The man — Shen Yuan suddenly realised he never asked his name — smiled, something like approval in his eyes, although Shen Yuan couldn’t guess why, and lifted up his hand — only for some of the leaves on the hedge lining the pathway to snap off, dancing around them in a flurry of green. Shen Yuan could barely bring himself to speak — this was really… an actual reverse transmigrator! Right before him!

“I just realised I never asked… what’s your name?”

The cultivator — a real life cultivator! — paused for a moment before introducing himself.

“My name is Shen Jiu.”

(Note: if you think SJ is being too nice here — he currently thinks SY is a girl because he’s a self-described pretty boy and SJ doesn’t know the cultural standards of this new world yet. Also the blood loss).

[humbledragon669]

Lockdown Episode Write Up P1 – tableaus

Introduction

So, first things first, just in case you haven’t seen it, or want to see it again, you can watch this little bonus episode here. It takes place between seasons one and two and consists of a series of static “tableaus” with a voiceover of a telephone conversation between Crowley and Aziraphale. In truth, I think its purpose was largely to serve as a public service announcement for people to contribute to the “Stay At Home” campaign that the UK government had enacted as part of its Covid-19 prevention/reduction efforts, though I’m sure it was also a bit of fun to make for the anniversary of the book, and probably gave Michael, David, and some editing crew something to do for about an hour or so. The script never mentions Covid-19 directly, but I think we can assume (given the timeline between the seasons) that the time setting is 2020, May 2020 to be exact.

Despite the fact that it’s less than 4 minutes long (including opening and closing credits), there’s actually quite a lot to say about this sweet little thing (I’m going to call it a minisode from this point on – yes, I know that word has particular connotations for season 2, but we’re not there yet, so minisode it is). I don’t think there’s much linking the dialogue with the images (apart from the cake sequence), so I’ve broken this write-up down into tableaus and dialogue, because there are just as many Easter eggs (maybe more) to be had from the tableaus as there are from the script. Some of the later tableaus are reiterations of earlier images, so I’ve bundled them together where I can for brevity. I have also only commented on the items in the tableaus that can be clearly seen and aren’t out of focus.

This part of the write-up will address just the tableaus, with the dialogue addressed in a separate write-up. As a final bit of uniquity, I’ve placed tableau #12 at the end of the write-up as it’s a wider shot of a lot of the objects we see in other images, so anything left not yet addressed can be done there. Right, housekeeping done, let’s get stuck in shall we?

Tableaus

Tableaus #1and #18

Contents:

A plate of sushi, complete with chopsticks

Multiple piles of books (unfortunately I can’t discern what any of them are).

A drawing of Aziraphale.

What looks like the edge of a map – this will be covered in a later selection of tableaus.

Nothing too cryptic in this compilation of objects – it’s fairly obvious from them and the effects on Crowley’s voice that we (the audience) are in Aziraphale’s bookshop. The sushi and the books are pretty obvious connections to the angel, but I don’t think we’ve known him to be an artist (and a pretty good one at that) before now. The one thing I will say about the use of a plate of sushi in this first tableau is that it makes for a nice parallel to the opening of season 1 – the first time we see Aziraphale in the present day, it’s in a sushi restaurant.

Tableaus #2 and #17

Contents:

A G.K. Chesterton book.

A drawing of Crowley.

A plate of Welsh cakes (links into the cake sequence).

An old map of Oxfordshire – this will be covered in a later selection of tableaus.

A magnifying glass, presumably for looking at the map with.

Alright, now we’re getting into some neat little Easter egg territory. I’m fairly sure there is a reference in the book somewhere to Chesterton being one of Crowley’s favourite authors, but I’m not sure where. It is singled out in the dedication in the front of the book though, so it must be in there somewhere. And then there’s the drawing. It’s very difficult to tell, but in tableau #2 it looks like it might be the other half of the drawing we saw of Aziraphale. Which would mean that drawing is of the two of them together. Drawn by Aziraphale. In a very romanticised way. As much as I really want to believe that, we can see in tableau #17 that this isn’t the case. It’s a nice mental suggestion though.

Tableau #3

Contents:

More books.

A steaming mug (presumably of cocoa).

The objects here are pretty innocuous. The mug is the same one that we see Aziraphale using in season 1 when he sits down to look at Agnes Nutter’s book (and we see it used again in season 2, but we’re not there yet).

Tableaus #4 and #11

Contents:

A bottle of Courvoisier (cognac).

More books.

A glass, presumably containing Courvoisier.

I can’t quite work out what the text on the spine of the uppermost book is – all I can make out is ???WEN ?????YSON – so if anybody has worked this one out I’m all ears (I did Google for all of about two minutes). As far as the Courvoisier is concerned, I have assumed that’s what Aziraphale and Crowley are drinking at the end of episode one, although it comes from a decanter and there’s no bottle in sight (and in fact the Script Book stipulates that they’re drinking whiskey at this point), so an assumption is all it is. I can’t think of any other times that our hero pair drink hard spirits together in season one, but I’m happy to be corrected.

Tableau #5

Contents:

A stack of books, including:

Homer’s Iliad, Vol. II.

Something by G.K. Chesterton published by The Bodley Head, possibly Orthodoxy.

Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century, by Richard Kieckhefer.

Collected Verse, by Hilaire Belloc.

The Club of Queer Trades, by G.K. Chesterton.

A framed picture. The image in the frame is part of this work, described as a woodcutting of witches and devils dancing in a circle from 1720.

Alright, let’s take a look at those books. First up, Homer’s Iliad, specifically Vol. II in this instance. Honestly, I tried to do a bit of research about what this book might contain, but I got bored within reading the first paragraph of the summary, and I have never read the classic poem in its entirety. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read (I mentally inhale books if given the chance), but I have always struggled with classical literature. If anyone can sum up what this volume is about in three sentences (instead of the three long paragraphs I found), I’d very grateful. For now, let’s just say it’s about the Trojan war, specifically the setting of the scene for that coming war. Maybe that’s a subtle reference to the events to come in season 2, but it feels like a stretch.

 There are two Chesterton books in the pile. Given that Chesterton is supposedly Crowley’s favoured author, I find it interesting that Aziraphale has so many of the author’s works lingering around within reach. Has he pulled these out of his collection to gift/lend to Crowley? Or is he reading them purely because he knows that Crowley likes the author? Has he placed them there to make the demon feel at home when he’s at the bookshop? Whatever the reason, there’s perhaps something to be said about the choice of these particular books. The first, Othodoxy, is a companion book to Chesterton’s earlier work, Heretics, which was a collection of essays refuting non-religious beliefs and defending Christianity. Chesterton described Orthodoxy as an account of his personal journey to embracing Christianity and its values, including the concept that biblical paradoxes are actually essential for satisfying the human need for conflict. Bit of a mouthful all of that, isn’t it? Pretty sure it ties it rather nicely to the ideas put forward in both seasons that Heaven and Hell must both exist in order for free will to be effective. I think. I don’t think I’m wording that very well, but you probably get the message. On the other hand, The Club of Queer Trades is a much lighter book of short stories, each one detailing a case taken on by a private detective agency that involves someone who has an unusual occupation. These occupations include a raconteur (someone who tells anecdotes in an amusing way), a vicar, a professor who insists on dancing, and a Lady who refuses to be rescued. Seems like there are quite a few similarities between those descriptions and a certain angel to me…

I find the next book, Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century, to be an interesting one for Aziraphale to have on hand. This is said to be a collection of medieval magic, along with a commentary. It perhaps fits in with Aziraphale’s penchant for books of prophecy, but its contents seem a bit too practical for that.

The final book that I was able to identify in this pile is written by a gentleman I admit I had never heard of before – Hilaire Beloc. I found it difficult to identify what the contents of Collected Verse might be, but the author himself is referred to as one of the Big Four of Edwardian Letters, alongside H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and… G.K. Chesterton. So perhaps that’s the reason for this book’s inclusion.

Moving on to that picture. Being of Pagan background, that image is one that I have seen many times in my life. The full image shows a circle of four women and four demon-like creatures dancing together, apparently created in 1720. It was doubtless used as propaganda to justify and document the witch hunts that took place during this time in history. This feels like an especially odd object for Aziraphale to have, particularly as it’s framed. He of all people would know that the events depicted in the image were nonsense, and none of the figures in it are recognisable as anyone in particular, so why has he singled it out for such reverence?

I’m sure there’s probably a lot more analysis that could be done on these items and how they tie in to the Good Omens storyline and sub-text, but this was only meant to be a quick write up of a minisode that’s less than 4 minutes long, so if anyone wants to take up the mantle on that one, you’re more than welcome.

 Tableau #6

Contents:

A preserved butterfly in a bell jar, held in place with what looks like a clockwork mechanism.

I don’t think I have much to say about this object except… huh? My initial thought about it is that this thing is ODD. I know people do preserve butterflies in jars, but I’ve never seen one with a cog literally threaded through the wings. I actually spoke to a friend of mine about who’s a qualified etymologist (she studies bugs) and she’d never seen one either. She did manage to tell me that the butterfly in question is called an “autumn leaf” or “leafwing”, which originates in Asia. None of which really helps me understand what this thing is doing here. What is its purpose? Why does Aziraphale have it? IT’S JUST SO WEIRD. Any ideas about this one welcome, because I can’t get my head around it.

Tableau #7

Contents:

A copy of Orthodoxy, open at a page of an essay entitled “The Ethics of Elfland”.

So firstly this would seem to confirm my supposition of the G.K. Chesterton book published by The Bodley Head. I will confess, I haven’t read the whole essay pictured, but you can do so here if you so choose. No, I skipped ahead to the end to see if I can get a feel for what the subject of this particular essay was. In doing so I found the following quotes:

Thus ends, in unavoidable inadequacy, the attempt to utter the unutterable things. …magic must have a meaning… …the proper form of thanks to it is some form of humility and restraint: we should thank God for beer and Burgundy by not drinking too much of them.

The first of those you can just about make out in the tableau, and I’m not surprised that this particular piece of prose has been selected by the editor – the is the very definition of something being “ineffable”, is it not? That which cannot be uttered? The quote about magic seems to me a very obvious link to Aziraphale’s penchant for magic, and that last quote about exercising restraint around good food and drink?

It’s the very antithesis of Aziraphale, so it’s interesting to apply this philosophy to his relationship with God (and Heaven in general).

Tableaus #8, #14, and #15

Contents:

An old map of Oxfordshire.

A magnifying class (presumably for looking at the map).

A plate of cakes (links into the cake sequence).

A newer looking (probably OS) map of Lower Tadfield, annotated with spiralling lines centred on the village.

An open book.

I can’t quite make out what the book is in tableau #15. No matter, the presence of the maps is plenty interesting enough. I think it’s likely that the older map is the one we see in the back room of the book shop:

The newer map is one that I feel like we’ve seen in the show at some point, but I can’t find it. I have a sneaking suspicion that it belonged to Anathema, and that the lines plotted on it are ley lines that have readjusted themselves in light of Adam’s emerging power. If that is the case, I’d quite like to know how and why Aziraphale has Anathema’s map. More importantly, I’d like to know if the presence of these maps in the bookshop is because the angel is still keeping an eye on the ex-Antichrist. Perhaps he’s just looking over his research for nostalgia. Maybe he just hasn’t tidied up properly for a while. Personally, I think there’s probably a reason he still has them – might be something for season 3? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Quick side note: the map explicitly states Lower Tadfield, but Adam’s home is never referred to in this way in the show, only the book.

Tableau #9

Contents:

A piece of paper with Crowley’s full name written on it in cursive script.

A wax seal stamp with what looks like some sealing wax, smouldering.

Now this is a curious one! When I first saw it, I thought it was supposed to be Crowley’s signature, but it’s pretty obvious that this must be Aziraphale’s hand when we compare it with the demon’s request for holy water:

So the next thing I wondered was what Aziraphale was doing “faking” Crowley’s signature. I don’t think that’s right either though, which leaves me with two other possibilities. Firstly, that the paper we see is an envelope, which has been addressed with Crowley’s name. This would fit with the use of the sealing wax, but I can’t explain why Aziraphale would be writing a letter to Crowley, or why he would be sealing in this antiquated way. I know the angel is a little behind the times, but he knows how to pick up the telephone, so I don’t think he’d be writing letters, particularly given he would have to leave the bookshop to post it, and in case you’ve forgotten, this minisode is supposed to be encouraging us to STAY AT HOME. And let’s not forget the addition of the title “Esq.” at the end of Crowley’s name. It’s a pretty outdated term now, and would certainly look out of place if used, even if it was on a letter.

The second possibility is that this is the writing from the drawing of Crowley, providing a description of the subject. This feels more appropriate than the letter explanation, although it does mean that the wax and accompanying stamp become somewhat meaningless. This explanation might also go some way to explaining the title that Aziraphale has given to Crowley, and actually fits quite nicely with the romanticised style applied to the portrait.

Tableau #10

Contents:

An armillary sphere.

I didn’t know what this was, other than something to do with astrology/astronomy, so I had to Google. Turns out they were historically used to predict/calculate and map celestial movements. Taking this into account, this seems like a strange thing for Aziraphale to have, though it would feel right at home in Crowley’s apartment. But. I did a bit more digging, and it turns out that the image of an armillary sphere has been used in classical paintings of saints to represent the presence of Heaven.

Mind. Blown.

Tableau #13

Contents:

Satanism and Witchcraft, by Jules Michelet.

Magic: An Occult Primer, by David Conway.

As with Forbidden Rites, both of these books seem like very strange books for Aziraphale to have at hand. The first of these two books, published in 1862 (!), is widely regarded as being one of the earliest known publications sympathetic to the history of witchcraft, although nowadays it is considered to be largely inaccurate in its facts. The second is a practical guide and introduction to magic rituals. Whilst I can see how Aziraphale’s interest might extend to the former as far as research goes, perhaps into Agnes Nutter’s history, I cannot imagine why he would have need of a guide for how to conduct Pagan rituals. Answers on a postcard.

Cakes

There is a sequence of cake images that falls between tableaus 13 and 14. These tie directly into the dialogue at this point in the minisode, so I’m going to cover them in the part of this write up given over to the dialogue.

Tableau #16

Contents:

A flickering flame.

I don’t think there’s much to say about this particular tableau. I have assumed that this is a candle burning, but it is rather difficult to make out. You’d expect to see the shape of a candle underneath the flame if that was the case, and the burning wick looks distinctly unlike one you would see on a candle, but I have nothing else to draw on for this so “candle” is what I’m going with.

Tableau #12

As a reminder, I’m only looking at the things in this tableau that I haven’t covered elsewhere in this write up.

Contents:

Piles of books, which include:

Several more G.K. Chesterton titles.

A copy of Pilgrim’s Progress.

The Lore of the Land, by Jennifer Beatrice Westwood.

Unfortunately, I can’t make out the titles of the majority of the books in this image. The book on the right of the tableau, The Lore of the Land, is a charming sounding little thing about the legends found in all the different counties of England. Whilst I can’t see an immediate link to the Good Omens storyline, I quite like the idea that Aziraphale and/or Crowley are responsible for the vast majority of the entries in that book! On the other hand, Pilgrim’s Progress has a much clearer connection to the themes and ideas of the show, detailing one man’s life journey through life and his relationship with his faith. What we don’t get any indication of is whether Aziraphale would have this on hand because of his ability to relate to it, or whether it’s simply because it’s considered to be one of the most significant works of theological fiction in all history.

I already covered the creepy mechanical butterfly in a previous tableau, but there is something extra in this image that we can now make out – there’s a plaque on the bottom of the jar. I can’t make all of the writing out, but I think part of it says it’s a science award. Where from and what for I can’t read, and I can’t see what the mechanism is powering or anything in the base of the jar. Still seems like a weird thing for Aziraphale to have if you ask me!

Pre-credits message

What a perfect way to end this little treat. Not just a tip of the hat to the ending of season one, but a message of hope for everyone watching in what was a very dark time in recent history. I’ve no doubt that there was a lot of comfort had from these four minutes of film when it was released, and not just because the fans for this show are deeply invested in its development. This single line seems to convey so much of what couldn’t be said in words (or images), and I’m not about to try here, so I’m going to wrap this part up and move on to the dialogue in the next one. As always, comments, questions, discussion: always welcome 😊

[skyrimfuckery]

Working on my Squire’s Plate redo is partly an exercise of looking back and seeing how I’ve progressed. I finished the gauntlets today, and I’d like to take the opportunity to compare the textures for the inside of the glove for all the gloves I’ve textured so far. The reason I chose this area is because it’s easy to ignore during gameplay and barely gets shown during screenshots, yet it has the potential for the most personality as it’s literally the palm of the hand. Furthermore, this has been an area that I have always needed to texture, no matter the design of the glove. It allows for a good 1:1 comparison between things.

Starting off with the Blackened Steel Vambrace, I must say the leather texture has nice folds and creases showing off personality. It is very rough around the edges, and could use more detail in the color maps and more nuanced creases in the finger areas. The seam work is done quite messily, too. At the time I was set out on creating a good leather material both up close and at a distance, and not so much on creating a leather glove. I can tell you right now that my current work, which I will show last, still does not meet my imagination’s standards.

Moving up, the leather on the Evermorin Gauntlet is downright disappointing. I put in very little effort in the palm texture and only added the bare minimum: the cushioning but at the base of all fingers is accentuated, that’s all. There aren’t even any creases worth mentioning in the fingers. That’s not to say this gauntlet sucks, because if you flip it over you’ll find something I’m proud of to this day. This texture work perfectly illustrates my earlier point of the palm being easily missed, meaning shoddy texture work goes unnoticed.

My first venture into Substance Painter was with the Lorisian Glove. You’ll see that t he seams are way cleaner and not as squiggly as the previous two gloves. I went in the right direction by adding yellowish highlights to the top of the creases to simulate natural wear. Too bad it’s not enough and the palm is not exactly convincing. The thumb, however, looks fucking nice though. Note the lack of detail around the fingers, once again.

Then we have the Dragonstar Gauntlet. The leather was supposed to be a rough suede esque thing, which means it starts to look crusty really fast. The creases, however, are done pretty nicely. There is defined geometry, with major and minor details. Note the shaping around the base of the fingers, which is cleaner than the previous work. Apart from some deformed stitching, I’d say this is a pretty okay texture. This work builds upon my previous stuff because it uses both larger and smaller creases. None are hand-drawn, all are the result of a rotated overlay and clever masking. All in all, it doesn’t come across as convincing leather.

The Dark Witch Gauntlet technically isn’t leather. But a palm’s a palm. The fingers are very detailed and got a splendid 3d-look to them. The palm, however, is relatively barren. That’s because fabric doesn’t leave crease marks with use like leather does, but I could have added a few here and there because the thing is being used, and it would make it look less like shrink wrapped latex. The few creases that are there are subtle because they are supposed to convey the pulling of fabric close to the seams. Overall, I paid a lot of attention to actually painting the shape of a hand in this one, which you can see around the thumb webbing and the base of the fingers.

Closing up, we have the palm of the Squire’s Plate. The redo. This is the first gauntlet I textured using a high poly bake. I sculpted all the finger details in blender and transferred them to the lowpoly. The thumb has creases running perpendicular to its axis. The details that I’ve added to other gloves are here, with a few more. What this workflow allowed me to do, though, is to add worn areas based on the sculpt data. So you’ll see that the top of the creases are lighter and their bottoms are darker. One thing to note is that I underestimated the normal strength resulting the baking process, because areas like the base of the fingers are not as defined as I’d like.

The workflow that I used for my most recent project, the Squire’s Plate redo, has allowed me to produce the most lively glove out of them all. Yet I must say that the dragonstar glove has the most intricate details, with creases everywhere running in directions that make sense. The Lorisian glove was made with a good mindset, I just lacked skill and experience. My first glove, the Blackened Steel Vambrace, remains a great work for the time. For a while it was head and shoulders above my other leather work.

This post was for showing you my journey thus far, and for me to learn from my older successes and mistakes. I’ll definitely go back to the Squire’s gauntlet for a little bit to add some more juicy creases because I still have the project files so it’s literally no big deal.

Included are also some pics of the Gauntlet as it looks like right now!