#it's also darker than the other two dark modes

[wimpy-imp]

of the available themes you can give tumblr goth rave is unequivocally the best and there's not a single thing you can say to change my mind

[lovinggreeniehours]

hilarious thing about arifer is that them at their most violent is also their most horny

[chiptrillino]

How do you get your drawings to be high quality? Whenever I post art the quality is SO bad 💔

uhm... sorry this is got long. for some reason you activated my work mode. i don't have a constumer service voice but i have like an explenation mode for clients so... uhm. here is way more information that you asked for. my apologies...

Resolution is what determines the sharpness of the artwork. The low-resolution illustration will appear pixelated when scaled in large sizes. this is why it is recommended to work on a digital canvas with a resolution of at least 300 dpi when you work. (i prefer 400dpi)

dpi are Dots Per Inch. dots just being a different name for pixels. the more pixels are contained in an inch the smoother lines and gradients are. an indication of higher quality. but, the device you are working on has to use up most of its ram/power to calculate the preview on the screen. so higher quality demands more capacity from your device but also from websites that display your artwork. Soo... 

I have two files.  One on 400 dpi is way larger for me for smooth comfortable drawing. and the second drawing is sized down to 150dpi to accommodate the recommended resolution of the website I want to post the image. 

luckily for us, most social media sites have a similar resolution.  Tumblr's Dashboard images have a minimum size of 500 x 750 pixels, a maximum expanded the size of 2048 x 3072 pixels, and a recommended size of 1280 x 1920 pixels for a 2:3 aspect ratio.

I use a with of 1280. the high depends on the drawing

It's way easier and recommended to size images down rather than up. 

sizing artwork up would put them through an interlacing process, which means that the graphics program of your choice would calculate the average between two pixes and add it in between them. It adds pixels to make the image larger. easy answer it blurs your image.  it isn't the end of the world if you have to size up the image a tiny bit.  I kind of have to do a bit all the time for work. and most of the time it's fine! it depends on your art style and how forgiving it can be. 

It's also a difference if you post images in a JEPG or PNG.  uhm... without going into much detail... take PNG just trust me. 

now... a tiny little last trick out of my sleeve. 

if you... use photoshop. and you want some extra sharpness.  you can sharpen your images with the high pass filter.

Duplicate your artwork

Filter > other >highpass 

As soon you select High Pass, your image will turn grey

It works by filling the entire image with flat, neutral grey. It then looks for edges in the image and highlights them by making the light side of the edge lighter and the dark side darker.

Don't overdo it. keep the contrast low. a radius of 1,5px is enough most of the time!

Click okay to exit the menu and set the layer on overlay. 

ta-da! it is sharp and crisp!!!

It's all a trick!!! vary subtle... i know but ehh i like it

I am sorry I don't know if other programs also have this option. I know CSP has a sharpening filter. but... you can keep images crisp by keeping resolution and dpi in mind too. 

uhm... well so... -hides-

[odditycircus-2002]

Medusa!Reader and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 1 Story Mode Part 11

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Spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1 Storymode: Proceed with Caution

The first thing you did when you and your group were finally able to get a safe distance away from Ying's Fortress was punch Shang Tsung in the face and then Quan-chi.

"That's for your part in the Other Shang Tsung's plan!"

Jerrod has to physically hold you back from doing more to them before reminding you there is a more pressing problem. He promises that both Sorcerers will face justice when this crisis is averted. Jerrod's assurance is enough to placate your fury for now. Shang Tsung scowls deeply at the Emperor's words but, for once, doesn't say anything.

You then turn to look back toward the fortress, finding legions of stone warriors marching as one in a long line, similar to ants. You listen as others start speculating about the army and strategies to defeat them, along with Titan Shang Tsung and Titan Y/N. Until the Shang Tsung you know, comes up with a good question about more than one timeline. Although, you looked like you physically wanted to vomit when agreeing with the Sorcerer.

"As much as it pains me to say, Lord Lui Kang, Shang Tsung is actually ri- ... Not wrong to think like that. My Titan self mentioned a timeline of her own, meaning there has to be more than two timelines."

"Precisely. We lack strength, but we could find it in other timelines."

Lui Kang appears surprised by your argument before his expression takes on one of deep thought. This gets the ball rolling as everyone starts strategizing to gather allies from other timelines in an overwhelming opposing force against Titan Shang Tsung, including a plan for Lord Lui Kang to reclaim his Titan powers again. You just hope he’ll be able to do so in time.

Meanwhile, your Titan self conspires with Titan Shang Tsung while overwatching the construction of the Portals Nexus point. Titan Y/N instructs Shao to defend the portals at all costs, as Titan Shang Tsung commands Geras to find Lui Kang. Although Titan Shang Tsung expresses frustration toward Lui Kang’s development, Titan Y/N assures her husband that they will succeed, and when they do, watching Lui Kang suffer will be all the sweeter to savor.

”You always know how to brighten my mood, my love.”

Meanwhile, you were observing the Dragon Army with the rest of Earthrealm’s champions, regrouping with them to talk strategy in Lord Lui Kang’s absence. Kuai Liang tasks you as the field medic and air support.

You’re not ashamed to say that when both Shang Tsung and Quan-chin opened their mouths again, you were seconds away from biting them both. Again, Jerrod had to hold your shoulder to silently tell you to drop it for now.

With everyone’s role assigned, you take to the skies. Immediately, some stone soldiers spotted you and started hurling boulders towards you. You were barely able to dodge the barrage of the first one, and even then, you got scrapped and bruised. So not only did you have enemies on the ground to assist against, but you also had them in the air, so nowhere was truly safe. Fortunately, you could stop constructing a newer portal by dismantling the scaffolding.

While you were supposed to be general air support, you often found yourself having to assist both Raiden and the Sorcerers. Such as with a Darker Rain and Smoke, turning both of them to stone after Shang Tsung and Quan-chi defeats them.

”Thank you so much, sweet Y/N.”

”Don’t tempt me to cut out your tongue and force Quan-chi to eat it.”

You finally got to take out some of your fury on a Dark Shao, which you 100% enjoyed helping to beat down. The fact his life force was connected to the portals was just a bonus. Although, he almost caught you off guard when you went to tend to Raiden to heal up his fractured ribs. Luckily, and unfortunately, Shang Tsung and Quan-chi saved the young Earthrealmer just in time. You didn’t miss Shang Tsung’s flirtatious look as he walked to confront Dark Shao. As much as you wanted to end Shao, you knew you had to heal Raiden first and even more this time considering he took a lot of hammer blows.

Fortunately, both Sorcerers succeeded and took both Dark Shao and Reiko’s souls, stranding the Dragon Army within Earthrealm. Saving your timeline. However, your relief was soon replaced with irritation when Shang Tsung reminds you and Raiden about how he and Quan-chi risked their lives to save the realms.

”I have to agree with Raiden. What you did hear was simply cleaning up your own mess.”

However, there wasn't a time to squabble amongst yourself. Not when there was still the remaining Dragon Army to defeat.

...

Back with your Titan self, you accompanied your Titan husband to Lui Kang's Hourglass. You arrived flanked by either side of your minions, some Shang Tsung crafted explicitly in a way so they may be gifted to you.

”Titans fighting Titans? Now that’s something new.”

You comment in amusement when noticing that Lui Kang has found Titan allies while giving them all an unnerving smile. A shiver of anticipation goes down your spine when Titan Shang Tsung reiterates the new plan he told you earlier of annihilating Lui Kang's timeline from existence.

"Shall we begin the process, my flower?"

"Let us proceed, darling."

Both of you then released your minions onto Liu Kang and his allies to keep them occupied. Shang Tsung and you walk hand in hand toward Lui Kang's Hourglass, stopping when you're both close enough to combine your magic with your Kitana and Mileena. The cracking of glass ringing out like chiming bells in your ears. Of course, Lui Kang's ever-faithful servant, Geras, attempts to save the Hourglass with his own blast of magic.

You let out a hiss before directing some of your magic to Geras, just enough to gain his attention so he looks directly at your eyes. Your gaze worked like a charm to turn Geras into stone. However, before you can celebrate, the construct shedded the stone off him like dried mud. So you bare your fangs in frustration as you try again to turn him into stone, only for him to then unpetrify himself. This cycle repeats long enough for Lui Kang and his allies to band together and use their power to overpower you and Shang Tsung's attempt at destroying the Hourglass, simultaneously repairing the relic of any previous damage. The magic overwhelmed you both to the point you and your husband were brought to your knees.

"Dearest!"

You shout as your face morphs into one of concern, with your snakes slithering in his direction and hissing in your shared distress. Shang Tsung gives you an assuring look.

"I have survived worse."

You both supported one another back on your feet to retreat into your timeline with the rest of your defeated minions. You glare at the rest of your fellow Titans, who were wise enough to not even look your way. Which only frustrates you more.

"Shang Tsung, I believe it's about time we gather some new allies of our own."

"Agreed." A/N: Remember to like, reblog, or comment! We just got one or two posts left to go!😁😁😁😁

Playlist

“Redemption” by Besomorph and Coopex

“Bloody Mary” by Lady Gaga

“Fix You” by Danny Olson

[wutheringmights]

Chapter 24: The War Ended & The Heroes Reunited Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Additional Tags: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Alternate Universe, Character Study, War, world building, Trauma, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Political Intrigue, Found Family, Angst and Humor, Warriors is a very complicated person, Warriors also does not know Time is Mask, Warriors (Linked Universe)-centric, Canon-Typical Violence, Heavy Angst, Manipulation, Morally Ambiguous Character, Please read content warnings before each chapter, Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Physical Abuse, Implied Sexual Content, Power Imbalance, Implied/Referenced Torture, Blood and Injury, Disabled Character Summary: “You are going to hear a lot of terrible things about me. Most of it is going to be true.” Being the hero who saved Hyrule from a bloody war was a thankless job that left Warriors with more regrets than he cared to remember. He only started to heal after meeting his fellow heroes from across time and joining them on their quest to defeat the black-blooded monsters. But when his time-hopping journey takes him back home, he finds his kingdom on the brink of war once more. This war threatens to ensnare not only Warriors, but his newfound family as well. Warriors will do whatever it takes to keep them safe, even if that means becoming a traitor to the kingdom he gave up everything to save. But the harder Warriors works to protect his family, the more the secrets of his dark past come to life. Who is Captain Link Walton, the Hero of Warriors? What happened to the two other heroes he had once fought alongside all those years ago? When this is over, will Warriors even have a family left to save or is he doomed to repeat his past mistakes? (Once, there were three brothers: the captain, the engineer, and the child. Their story did not have a happy ending.)

Surprise update!

Guess who was so surprised that she finished the chapter that she didn't have time to tease it?

Please note that while the rating for CTB has been upgraded to Mature, this story is not going to be any darker than it already is. The people have spoken via poll, and I can finally acknowledge that CTB should have been marked as Mature since the beginning.

In this chapter of my 100% adult, no kiddie bumper fan fiction:

Link cries over a pudding bun

Time and Warriors have an honest talk about what happened in the past and what the future will look like

A newly rescued Twilight enters pack leader mode and cleans house

READ IT HERE⏩

[demodraws0606]

The very weird plays in Tsukasa and Rui's last event and how they can be analysed and the weird detail that links them together

I made a post about this before but it was poorly made (and also not really a theory or analysis it was just me having brainworms) so I deleted it and I want to actually make an analysis about it. Unfortunatly this also means this post will be long as fuck which can be a positive or a negative depending on how you view it.

Warning for mentions of suicide and drowning

So Tsukasa and Rui both have plays that are kind of the focus of the event, to the point where wxs literally stop to basically explain to us the plot of them (in world they're just talking about it but like it's clear it's also meant for us the viewers to understand the plays they're doing).

And these two plays are already very interesting and...well dark on their own but they have a extremely strange similarity that I don't believe is a coincidence (because that would be insane) and also just kinda shakes the foundation on how colorpalet write these sorts of topics in general.

First I want to preface this by saying that me analysing these plays isn't some kind of fool's herrand as colorpalet has explicitely hid backstory information, future lore hints and overall just little bits of character into WxS's plays more often than not. Of course some plays are more explicit than others.

A huge exemple of this, is the first arc ender where the play they do to save Phennyland is one that obviously is meant to parallel Emu's backstory with her grandpa. It also stands as Very early foreshadowing between the parallels of Emu's grandpa and Tsukasa that Emu sees in Admist a Dream.

So yeah, from a writing standpoint, makes sense you don't want the plays you spent a lot of words describing to the audience to be useless especially considering colorpalet has a limited amount of time to explore these stories.

I also want to get this as early as possible before I get possible criticism because I know how this fandom acts towards analysis that delve into darker topics. Don't try and respond with "colorpalet wouldn't write something like that" or "this is too dark for colorpalet". Not only because I'm not insinuating that they will actually go full dark mode and depict something graphic.

But also because this is something that is already IN the text, I'm not making up darker themes here, that is something that colorpalet chose to add in WonderlandXShowtime's event stories. I'm only bringing up how odd this is for colorpalet and how it could relate to the overall story.

I'll bring this up later because this specific criticism gets very silly once you delve deeper into it but I don't want to stall the analysis any longer.

So now with this out of the way, let's get into the plays.

This is the story of the first play showed in Tsukasa's event

Of course the first thing that stands out is how much darker this play is compared to well...almost anything colorpalet addresses in stories ? This definitely shocked when I first read it, there is no usage of "disappearing" and it Actually describes the method as to which the protagonist wants to end their life which the only thing close to that we see is Kanade hinting on wanting to starve herself. But I'm gonna get into how weird this is for colorpalet later.

Extremely dark topics aside you can easily draw parallels to this story to Nene and Rui specifically already. The story is vague enough that those parallels don't hold too much water (ahaha get it) BUT it's still something that I feel is important to point out nontheless.

Nene and Rui were both unsuccesful in their dreams before the main story. Nene having given up going on stage and Rui never being able to be a director being forced to use robots for his plays.

Both were pretty jaded and well "worn out" until they met Tsukasa and Emu which would be a stand in for the protagonist of this play going through various encounters with many people and deciding to live a little longer.

(The reason I don't compare this protagonist to Tsukasa and Emu here is because I don't think they fit as well. Tsukasa's issues wasn't being unsuccesful its more so him forgetting the reasons behind his dreams and Emu's situation while similar just doesn't feel like it fits this story in particular)

So yeah this story is pretty simple so there is not much to analyse or pick apart. I could go scene by scene but then I would be distracting from the main point I want to make so I'll just be using the simple descriptions of the overall story.

NOW this one is a doozie, I didn't put the whole story that's described but I think compared to the last one this one is way more obvious as to what this could paralleling (or even foreshadowing if you want to be spicy).

I don't think this play is meant to be interpreted in only one way but the most obvious interpretation is the parallels to the disbandement arc. I think it particularly fits Rui in the disbandement considering how Katsuyuki is described but it can also work with Emurui in general as well.

Someone struggling meeting someone who brings joy in their life before they seemingly have to leave, said person being desperate for that not to happen.

I do think it's also meant to be a sort of double meaning here as if you have seen my cyberpunk deadboy analysis, the idea of someone leaving silently with the other trying to chase them down is something that just feels...idk intentional. But I don't have any evidence other than vibes here.

Now that I analysed these plays I want to get into the one common thread they have that is extremely baffling and concerning.

They both have the main character contemplating suicide by drowning.

Now you can be nitpicky and point out how the play in Rui's event doesn't explicitely say that this dude wants to drown himself but I just find it more likely mostly because of how this and the description of Katsuyuki's characters are phrased.

When Katsyuki is said to be "without the will to live"

THAT is a literal translation

Unfortunatly I'm not a japanese speaker so don't take my research with 100 pourcent certainty

However if you look at how this sentence is phrased in japanese, this translation is pretty much word for word

And also just what Hajime says doesn't feel like what someone would say to someone if they're just leaning to close to look at the ocean or just being reckless.

Anyways now that I've made my point that there is a 95 pourcent chance this is Heavily implying Katsuyuki was plannign on drowning himself the question is....

what the fuck ?

Now one time is already a big deal considering colorpalet's insitance on censoring explicit mentions of suicide and for it to be implied twice in the span of two events in a row ? And have it be specifically be by drowning both times ?????

I don't understand people just brushing this off because Colorpalet Actively chose to make the plays like this. These plays often take a large portion of the screentime, and I've showcased how they can hold story significance so such a blatant connection between them feels extremely intentional.

This is why complaints about expecting Colorpalet to get too dark and that it's unrealistic would be legitmatly silly because what's more unrealistic ?

That colorpalet has tackled this dark topic twice in a row to foreshadow or hint at possible topics that will be addressed in the future of WxS's story ? Weither it's through flashbacks or implications like 25ji OR even just symbolism.

Or that colorpalet just went and made the plays needlessly dark, for no reason ?????? Twice in a row with it being drowning both times ??????? With the same actor and both being the protagonist of the play ?????? Have those plays that take a lot of screentime being described just being completely devoid meaning ???????

I think I made my case about why the fandom's usual kneejerk reaction wouldn't make sense here, this isn't a "X character is secretly suicidal/depressed" situation.

Either way, I actually don't legitematly know what this could entail. This is clearly important enough that colorpalet is obviously shoving it in our faces but I do not know the meaning of it towards WxS's story just yet.

It could be hints at some of the members backstory (BTW by that I mean it could be hints at basically anything, it doesn't have to be explicitely 1/1 "they wanted to drown themselves") specifically Rui considering how suspicious they are at handling ms Rui but that is it's own can of wringling worms. But that could also be my fav character bias speaking tbf.

It could also just be meant to be some kind of like, message of colorpalet saying that they are willing to go darker with WxS's storyline if necessary. In a way showing that the gloves are off if they're not censoring dark topics that they usually censor.

Anyways I'm not delving further into it because otherwise i'd get into unhinged rants but honestly this subject just gives me so much brainworms because legit what the Fuck is colorpalet doing rn.

They are being so weird for literally no reason with WxS's story and I just have to sit back and watch them just drop weird shit out of nowhere.

Edit : One of my friends pointed out how one of them is a movie and one of them is a play and i realised I might've mixed those words up while writing this so yeah 😭

[winterdeepelegy]

Prompt #1 - Steer

Ciel sat upright from where she worked in her garden, and turned her eyes skyward at the echo of a terrible rumble. She had at first wondered if the weather was taking a turn but the fact that the sound failed to subside and only grew louder confirmed that it wasn't thunder. The source of the racket came closer, and a little brown rabbit that basked nearby in the grass fled for cover. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand, a motion which also forced the brim of her straw hat upward a couple of ilms and opened her view to the path in front of her house. Ah, there it was... one of those two-wheeled contraptions which were becoming more popular modes of transportation in recent turns. The odd metal beast rolled to a stop and fell silent just outside of her gate and its rider, decked out in dark leathers and a helm, swing a leg over and stretched as soon as he had both feet on the cobbles. There was only one person it could be, to have such a thing and arrive with no forewarning. "Glace," she lifted a soil-smudged hand to greet him. "Why are you bringing such a thing to my doorstep? And in the middle of the Twelveswood..." Surely the Elementals had opinions of such things and the noise they made. His helm, removed, was left on the motorcycle's seat and he passed a hand over his hair to smooth out any misplaced strands. "Hello to you, too, Plum. Happened to be nearby and thought I'd check in." He looked around, "Frankly, I'm surprised you're here. I thought for sure you'd be following the droves headed for western shores." "Not quite yet, but soon enough." The mostly-Wildwood stood and brushed bits of grass from her knees. "You look well," she noted on approach. "I take it everything is well in Understone?" "As right as it could be. The others have settled in well enough, or most of them anyroad. A few have moved on to find their own way." The coalskinned fellow tipped his head toward the bike, "Care to have a go at it?" "What? No, I'm quite content with my path in life as it stands..." He clicked his tongue against his teeth, "The motorcycle, I mean. Have you ever ridden one?" She glanced from him to the machine, and back again, nervously. "No, I don't think I'd like it. It's so... metallic." Glace couldn't help but snort a laugh at her reasoning, after all, she was somewhat of an old fashioned Elezen in a woodsy kind of way. Oil and ceruleum machines had little or no place in her small corner of the world, seldom welcome and more often reviled than viewed with so much as a shred of curiosity. "Come on," he prodded. "At least sit on it." "Your pick-up lines are getting worse." "What pick-up line? Just go sit on the bloody bike." He gestured beyond the gate, stepping to one side to clear her way. With a huff of defeat, Ciel passed by him and approached the thing. She eyed it as carefully as any unfamiliar steed which might show its cantankerous side if she tried to climb on, and doing exactly that felt every bit as awkward as she expected it to. Her view of the world suddenly felt darker and confined, and it smelled like Glace. His helmet was on her head now, and the motorcycle bounced slightly with his added weight so close behind her. Just as quickly, she found that her breath escaped her when he grabbed both of her hands and wrapped them around the handles with his palms over her knuckles. "There, that's not so bad, is it?" She heard the question but couldn't muster an answer or a breath until the bike roared to life again. "Wait, what are you doing?" A broad hand patted on top of the helmet, "Trust me. We're just going for a quick spin around Lavender Beds... I'll teach you how to steer an' all." "No, no no no no, I don't --" The bike sped forward and her protest crescendoed into a short scream. This was neither a chocobo, nor a coeurl, nor was it a horse. This was something altogether different, lifeless and unnatural and she didn't like it one bit, but there was no escaping the lanky prison of the Duskwight's frame around her.

[wjbs-bonkle-au]

Random Human-AU character-design notes, some of which probably won't make sense to anyone else since I haven't actually properly designed them yet.

Whenua is bald, even before becoming a Turaga.

Vezon looks basically the same as Vezok but thinner and younger. The Ignika is fused to his mechanical skeleton (since the MU inhabitants are actually extremely humanlike robots).

Masks are replaced with geometric, "artificial"-looking face markings that roughly resemble the canon mask designs, sometimes supplemented with other things (e.g Onua has a series of horizontal lines on his cheeks, along with two beads threaded into his beard that match up with the small circular holes on the Pakari's chin); the markings glow when the characters use their mask powers. The Inika's are smoother and more natural-looking.

Nidhiki, the Hordika, the Rahaga, the Barraki and the Mistika Makuta are all animal-human hybrids with varying degrees of (semi-technological) body-horror. Pre-mutation they just look like the rest of the MU's highly-humanlike beings. The eel-mode Piraka also look more fishlike rather than just being disembodied heads and spines. Since the Magnans are actual humans, the Vorox and Zesk are fully organic and have some actual body-horror going on, with insectoid mandibles made of bone, arm-like tails, and extra eyes with uneven sockets and distorted pupils.

Spinax looks like a wolf made out of crustacean parts.

The VNRT have stitched together, decayed "skin" that leaves their endoskeletons partially exposed, with outsized limb-sockets visibly attached with crude weld-trails and irregularly-placed rivets. Their weapons are attached to their wrist-sockets. Also their eyes are pitch-black, as a reference to their set-forms' lack of eyestalks and also partially due to author-appeal.

The Inika have glowing lines extending back from their fingertips, all the way up to their wrists; the lines' shapes match with their respective elements (Jaller's are curved like flames; Hahli's flow like waves, with bubble-like circles mixed in; Nuparu's resemble crystalline facets; Kongu's look like stylised clouds, with lots of swirls and spirals; Hewkii's resemble cracked stone; Matoro's are long and jagged, with small points that branch off). Upon becoming the Mahri, the lines stop glowing, becoming markings that are slightly lighter than their regular skin tone.

While wearing the Adaptive Armour, the Toa Nuva look like more solid versions of their 2008 set forms, with different proportions.

The Vahki look like their LOMN designs; the Maxilos robots look like their set-forms, but slightly more "filled in" and with extra details like a glowing mouth-grille in their "mouth", and bioluminescent barnacles growing on parts of them.

Roodaka wears the Makuta-stone fragment as a necklace.

Tuyet's hair is based on Galva's original Mask of Intangibility design. Her Toa Empire counterpart has it tied back.

Av-Matoran (and, by extension, Shadow Matoran) have exotic hair-colours, as opposed to everyone else whose hair is more realistically-coloured (with a few exceptions who explicitly have dyed hair, e.g Dalu). Shadow Matoran have darker hair that fades to dark-grey towards the tips. Takua's hair changes from teal to literally-golden when he becomes Takanuva.

Toa Tools that "replace" the arm/hand of a character (e.g Hewkii's Cordak Blaster, Pohatu's propeller things) are either just handheld or take the form of gauntlets (in terms of the examples, the former is handheld and the latter become gauntlets).

Toa Ignika looks a lot more artificial than everyone else, with a wood-like texture on his body and frame, visible joints on his hands and limbs, and no face underneath his mask.

Mata Nui's form while on Spherus Magna looks like an animate sandstone statue with faded paint.

Shapeshifted Makuta retain some element of their main form (e.g Antroz's vehicle-piloting form (which, in this AU, is his default form) looks like his main '08 form but smaller and without the additional vampire-y bits; Miserix has feathers resembling his main form's hair).

Hydraxon's helmet covers his entire head and face, and has opaque lenses. Dekar!Hydraxon looks exactly the same underneath the helmet, but without a beard and with red eyes instead of green.

After being possessed by a Krana, Lewa has a marking on his face where it was; this vanishes when he becomes a Toa Nuva.

Annona is still a horrifying eldritch monstrosity.

Marendar looks like a heavily mutated human with mechanical parts sticking out of its body.

Prior to going to Karzahni, Velika's Matoran form looked almost exactly like he did as a Great Being, but shorter.

Helryx's "skin" has mostly disintegrated, with her face and some of her torso being the most intact parts; her upper arms and thighs have their exposed endoskeletons wrapped in cloth and leather, and strange hoses connect from her abdomen into her face. Her hair is mostly missing.

Pohatu's sideburns turn into a full beard when he becomes a Toa Nuva.

While Onua is technically one of the tallest Toa Nuva, he's hunched over so he looks a lot shorter.

Scopes are attached like eyepatches; when Nuju becomes a Hordika, his scope fuses into his head. Instead of losing the scope when he becomes a Turaga, he accidentally drops it in the ocean while taking the Matoran Spheres to Mata Nui and doesn't notice until he gets there.

Sidorak is balding and has a large beard.

Keetongu is a big bug.

Krakua is old.

This isn't a design note, but love is canon and Axonn X Brutaka not only happened, but they're also canonically divorced.

[comicaurora]

how did you do the fancy gradient linework for vash in starfire form? and also, what was your logic behind which parts should be white and which should be black? i've been curious about it for a while, but it only occurred to me that i could ask now

That's a fun one! Drawing Vash's nova mode was an on-the-fly learning experience, so the effect I ended up using was more "whatever works best to my eyes" than anything planned.

Without the colored lineart overlay, with standard black lineart like everyone else, he looked like this:

Not bad, but I really wanted that powerful glowing-from-within look that light lineart can provide, so the first thing I did was take the whole lineart layer, duplicate it and recolor it to his glowy blue shade. This is also the layer I drew the outline of the fire on.

This looked good almost everywhere, but I didn't like what it did to his facial features. It felt weird to make his mouth and nose sort of reverse-outlined, so I soft-erased all the parts that just looked wrong to me.

That was better, but it needed intensifying. So I did two opposing things: I made another copy of the lineart layer, recolored it a dark blue, set it to multiply and whited out the parts I thought looked best with light lineart -

AND I went back to the very base lineart folder and I recolored all his base lineart (outside the deliberately dark sections) to a pale blue to intensify the glow.

The general rule I used was that anywhere a shadowed section touched the outline of the figure (chin, nose, the hair around his face) the lineart needed to be dark to blend with the shadow effect. Underneath all the fire and rain it looks like this:

I also had to play with it when showing him in profile, because I hold that his nose and mouth just didn't look right with white outlines, but I REALLY liked what the white outline did to the eye glow. You can see how I mostly kept to my rule about darkening the lineart where it touched a shadowed section - like the line of his right arm where it touches the shadow of his leg, or the curve of his left shoulder when it overlaps with his chest or the shadows on his hair. Because his facial features were mostly shadowed, I felt comfortable darkening the lineart on them specifically. It also made the effect feel better and more coherent than just darkening the facial features in isolation.

In the version below, you can see why lightening the lines uniformly starts looking really weird in the face area and makes the expression hard to parse. A nose is mostly defined by its shadow and a mouth by the contrast between light teeth and a dark, shadowed interior - if those shadowed areas are flipped to being bright instead it makes the entire face look Off. The lines of the nose no longer make sense, and we see the lightened interior of the mouth as where the teeth must be when that's not at all where they go.

What's cool is that clearly I'm not the only person who noticed this problem, because they used a similar effect in the W.I.T.C.H. comic when a character glowed in a similar fashion! Every other line is full radiant, but the facial features are kept outlined in a color darker than their surroundings!

Fun stuff!

[rebeljyn-moved]

The blending in your Lucas gifset was absolutely gorgeous! Do you have or know a tutorial on how to do it?

Blending Tutorial!

Firstly, thank you for the compliment anon! Now, I'm going to go through the process considering that you already know how to make regular gifs and know how to use adjustment layers, so I'll be focusing specifically on blending but if you need those tutorials I can make them, just ask!

This is gonna be our end result after the whole process:

This specific gif from this gifset(with the typography removed) is focused on a color palette with only two adjacent colors so it's a bit easier to make the blending look good but this process works for any kind of gif! So let's start the tutorial!

1. Get your desired gifs into the same canvas

These are the two gifs I'll be blending for this gifset. Make your gifs and resize them to the size of your final gif. Remember to turn the layers of each gif into Smart Objects so that you can move them around properly when blending.

I usually make the gifs and just copy and paste one of them onto the canvas where I made the other one. You can also make your gifs and save them separately from each other first and then put them into the same canvas, but I prefer to make all adjustments except for resizing in one canvas so I can tweak the positioning of each gif as well as the coloring so everything looks the way I want it to.

2. Put each gif into a folder

This will make it easier for when you start using adjustment layers on each gif so that the adjustments don't interfere with other layers.

3. Set layer mode to screen

Set both folders to Screen, this will help blend them together better than if you were relying only on the opacity of the layers. I also usually create a new layer and use the paint bucket tool to color it black. Your gif should look something like this:

And your layers like this:

The black background makes sure there aren't any transparent spots in your gif when you use the layer masks to blend them as you can see here:

4. Create layer masks

Select each group one at a time and go into Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Your layers should now look like this:

5. Start erasing each gif on the layer mask

Use a soft airbrush to erase each gif to your liking. With layer masks you can use the eraser tool or the brush tool. Layer masks work based on color value(how light or dark the color is). The darker the color you paint with your brush the less opaque it will be. Painting in black will erase the area completely and painting it white will make it completely visible. The eraser defaults to the same effect as if painting with a brush in black.

This is the final result of the blending:

This is how each of the gifs look after I erased them with the layer masks:

This is what my layers look like:

As you can see I've erased one of the gifs way more than the other, that's because I only erased parts of the gif that would interfere heavily with the gif I wanted to be more visible. Make sure to move around the timeline of your gif to see if you need to erase more or less of each gif since the person or thing you're trying to keep visible can move around and get covered.

6. Make your color adjustments

If you've already made your adjustments before pasting both gifs into the canvas you can skip this step. Since this gifset was focused on orange and yellow I adjust my colors to match that. I keep my adjusment layers in groups inside the respective gif's folder so I can turn them all on or off easier and so they occupy less space in my Layers tab.

And this is what the colors look like in the end:

7. Export your gif

This is what my export settings look like:

This doesn't interfere with the blending and a lot of these settings are personal preference but I thought it was worth sharing.

And finally we've arrived at our final result as shown previously:

Other blending tutorials:

Now the links to some other blending tutorials that might have different methods(sometimes because of different desired outcomes). I'll be tagging the creators for if anyone wants to look at their content!

Tutorial using gradients and lighten mode by @linda-darnell

Tutorial using erasing with layer masks by @eddiediaaz

Tutorial adding color on top by @miriammaisel

Tutorial using screen and color layer modes by @disaster-lineage

That's it! Hope this was helpful!

[vlazed]

The Fascinatingly Inconsistent Design of Dark Matter Blade

Being one of the most infamous Kirby villains, Dark Matter has been subject to many cameos and references since its first appearance back in Dream Land 2. Throughout that time, it has varied from appearance to appearance, and that’s what I’ll be diving into today!

I’ll specifically be dissecting their Dark Matter Blade form in this post, I will likely make a separate post for their orb form, as while less numerous, it has still undergone interesting changes over the years.

Kirby’s Dream Land 2

This is the form Dark Matter first takes when expelled from Dedede’s body to battle Kirby and their Rainbow Sword, also referred to as Dark Matter Swordsman. What an epic swordfight to start out the final boss fight with!

Due to Kirby’s Dream Land 2 being a Game Boy game, Dark Matter Blade lacks any color in this first iteration. But worry not, they received official artwork to accompany their first appearance, have a look:

Ahh, much better! It is here that the mainstays of Dark Matter Blade’s design are established. Cloak with strips of triangles going up the middle, shoulder pads with golden trims, flowing black hair, and a visor containing a single eye. Two details I want to specifically point out here are:

Their eye. Specifically, the dark grey pupil and white sclera. This stands out because of how it differs from most eyes on Kirby characters, as they often don’t have sclera to speak of, making Dark Matter Blade’s stand out in that regard. It gives them a sort of creepiness factor, having a plain old eyeball up in there.

The piece directly below their mask. Due to it’s similar coloration to the shoulder armor, it is typically interpreted to be a third piece of armor, though the lack of detail in this illustration can cause it to be confused for a scarf as well.

Kirby Squeak Squad

After a significant span of time with only their orb or “Real” form appearing, Dark Matter Blade finally got new artwork for the release of Kirby Squeak Squad! Oddly, this is not because Dark Matter Blade appeared in the game itself, rather because it appeared in a graphic depicting itself and other final bosses of the series. Strangely, Dark Matter Blade is the only one of these bosses to have received new art for the unlockable graphic.

Regardless of the reason for this art’s existence, the design of Dark Matter Blade here is roughly the same as Dream Land 2, barring some slight differences in color and shape.

Their hair is less smooth, rather being sharp and angular. The neck piece has sharper angles, making it clearer that it is meant to be armor here. In terms of color, their cloak has more of a purple hue than the previous red, their shoulder pads are a much deeper violet, and the pupil is black as opposed to the previous grey.

Given that this appearance was mostly meant to give them new artwork to reflect the newer style of the series, it makes sense that they underwent very few changes for this iteration.

Kirby Mass Attack

This is quite a big one. In the Kirby Quest sub game in Kirby Mass Attack, Dark Matter Blade undergoes a drastic redesign for their appearance as the final boss of the mode, differing greatly in terms of shapes, color, and even receiving new elements to go along with it.

To start with the new elements, the bottom edges of their cloak have received a lighter trim, and it has received new jewelry in the form of a necklace starting from their shoulder pads, featuring green and blue gems.

In terms of shape, their hair is now more curved and flowing again, their mask has received rounded edges, and their neckpiece has been retextured to be a scarf to accompany its new red coloring.

Speaking of colors, most notable is their eye, which has received a vibrant cyan sclera, making it feel less realistic and more in line with the series typical aesthetics. The way it flashes makes it come across as a manifestation of energy more than an eyeball too! Their cloak is now darker, with its hue being more blue-green, their shoulder pads are a lighter blue, their hair and body have been given a slight purple tint, and as mentioned before, their scarf is now red.

This is a redesign I must say I am quite fond of, though one could argue it is somewhat cluttered, the added jewelry helps add more of an ancient, royal vibe. The neckpiece being a red scarf is lovely in helping add a break in color along with reusing the other reds in the palette. I personally love the eye of energy and having colored sclera, though I do wonder if it being blue adds a bit too much to the palette as a whole. Overall, a lovely makeover for a lovely little appearance.

Kirby Planet Robobot

Returning in the form of the Dark Matter Clone fought in the side mode Meta Knightmare Returns, this is Dark Matter Blade’s big return to the series, as it had not appeared in a central mode since Dream Land 2!

This new appearance is, for the most part, a return to form for Dark Matter Blade, mostly mimicking its original design from Dream Land 2 barring some specific exceptions.

Their neckpiece has been given more definition, jutting out in the front and sporting the same texture as the shoulder pads. Yes, its now clear that it is a piece of armor! Alongside this, the cloak is now a slightly lighter white, no longer having a warm grey tint, and their shoulder pads are now a much more vibrant purple.

However, what stands out most about this appearance is their eye. It’s orange! Both the pupil and sclera are orange, in fact, turning red once the boss enters its second phase. It is unclear why this change was made, as no previous art or appearance depicts blade with an orange eye. Perhaps it was meant to invoke the look of the more energy-based eye from Mass Attack? It is unclear.

What is even more unclear is whether or not this is meant to be taken as a retcon to the eyes design entirely, or if it is meant to be a clone specific trait (and no, future appearances don’t clear this up.) But regardless, Robobot was a refreshing and simple appearance for the dark sword.

Team Kirby Clash Deluxe/Super Kirby Clash

Expanding on the subgame featured in Planet Robobot, Dark Matter Blade’s likeness appears in this game as a piece of armor equipped by Kirby. How cute!

Though simple and seemingly matching its appearance from Robobot, there are a few notable changes present:

The eye has returned to its previous white sclera, with the pupil being given a new violet tint.

The neckpiece is now depicted as a scarf, despite keeping the same purple coloring.

Those two changes together are incredibly confusing! If its meant to signify that only the real Dark Matter Blade has white sclera, why is the neckpiece a scarf instead? This adorable armor set is a pile of contradictions!

Kirby Star Allies

In this title, Dark Matter Blade makes a cameo in the “Big Boss Brothers” puzzle, appearing alongside other final bosses of the series. Despite being such a small appearance, the design still technically features changes!

Specifically, the neckpiece is back to being a piece of armor (even more obvious now due to its shine) and the eye, which is now a burning red! It technically has no visible pupil, but I assume that’s only due to the size of the art.

What makes the appearance of the eye such a head scratcher is that this is the first time the original Dark Matter Blade has appeared with a red eye, a trait that was previously only locked to its clone (we know the Blade depicted in this piece is the original, as only final bosses appear in the artwork). Is this meant to mean that the original has been retconned to have an orange/red eye? If so, why did Clash feature the original white sclera? So many questions… at least they look stunning in this iteration, the red eye fits them very well.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe

Rounding out this post is the most recent depiction of Dark Matter Blade, appearing as a dress up mask sold in the remake exclusive Merry Magoland. Ah, it seems to have taken its appearance from Planet Robobot. Does that mean we’ve established the new canon design..?

…wait, Clone? Yes, the Mask in Dreamland Deluxe is, bizarrely enough, made of the Dark Matter clone. This is especially odd because there is no non-clone mask present, and order wise the mask is put with the other Dream Land 2 masks in the shop. No other character is treated like this, there is no “Sectonia Clone” or “Dedede Clone” mask or what have you. If Magolor could make a mask of Zero and so many other villains, why not go the extra mile and make the mask of the original? Perhaps this is purely done to keep it ambiguous what the true design is meant to be?

Regardless, this final appearance is a (slightly confusing) fine place to end this journey. Dark Matter Blade has remained one of my favorite Kirby villains, especially design wise. Out of all of these, I’m torn between Star Allies and Mass Attack in terms of a favorite. I have no doubt that, if this dark sword makes another cameo one way or another, it’s design will have changed one way or another as it always has.

[ask-meowscarada]

i would ABSOLUTELY love to hear more about how you use colours for this blog i love your art

(( omg i missed this one when i was answering all those munday posts, so i'm sorry about that--but, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! <3

it's kind of hard to describe i think without going into full tutorial mode, but i can try and walk through my process!! i WILL say i got a lot of my methodology from other artists and guides throughout the years, which is the most important part of any art process! (i wish i had links to specific tutorials, but alas, social media sucks for archiving)

now, before i go any further, i'm in no way a professional. this isn't the "right" way to do things, and i certainly don't think i'm better than anyone else at this!! this is just how i do it, and my method makes me happy, so! that's what matters most!

i'm putting the rest beneath a cut, but i've documented my process for designing the palette for a new group of pokemon characters i'm working on! ))

with regards to colour palettes, the two most important things to me are contrast and unity. i'll explain both as i go!

when working on palettes i'll do a fairly quick doodle of the characters together, and then fill in their colours and markings on separate layers. i try not to put much thought into the actual swatches right now--they just need to be distinguishable!

Pesky and Baron already had their colours tweaked to match each other, but Lily and Frog (not their actual name i just haven't come up with one yet LOL) have not been. as a group, their colours look fine together, but we can bring them even closer.

i'll start with Frog (who i got as an adopt from @psychicduo <3)--i LOVE their palette, but it's darker than i normally work with, so i'm gonna brighten them up a bit.

in order to bring some colours closer together (unity!), i changed the hue value on the dark teal so it matched the hue on Baron's light blue. i don't want to change Frog's colours too much, but i applied similar changes to every other colour except the beige and the off-white (which are the same).

here's where contrast comes into play. i will say, i'm extremely anal about this in my own work, but having low contrast is not necessarily a bad thing! it's easy to visualize contrast in hue, but it's important to consider how your values and saturation may look to other people, especially for accessibility reasons. an easy way to do this is to view the colours in greyscale.

as you can see, the values of these two colours are too close, and therefore difficult to distinguish. i can fix this by making one of the colours a little lighter or darker. for now, though, i'm going to move on to the other characters.

this one's straightforward! instead of having multiple, very similar shades of yellow, i'm going to change Lily's body colour to be the same swatch as the yellow on Pesky (which is also the same one on Baron).

now, i feel as though Pesky's blue, being closer to purple, doesn't really look right next to Frog's blue-greens. i'm going to employ a trick i frequently use--the hue/saturation/luminosity sliders.

a bit more tweaking, and i have a colour that looks MUCH nicer next to the others!

at this stage, i'll admit that i'm not sure if i'm totally happy with that colour for Pesky; there are times i'll spend hours tweaking colours for one character. but, for the sake of this post i'll move along.

so here i have a choice to make: the darkest colours on all four characters can be unified better, and i have many options for how i can do that (and i should try all of them, to see what looks best to me). i can make Pesky's navy the same colour as Frog's, or vice versa; i can make Lily's purple the same colour as Baron's (in order to make the contrast between Pesky and Lily's purple better); but there's one more trick i like to do that i haven't shown yet.

do you have two similar colours, but you don't want to make one lighter or darker? blend them together!

so, using the techniques above--bringing the colours closer together, and checking the contrast between them--i'll keep tweaking all four characters, until i have a result i'm happy with. (note: most of the time, i'll make exceptions for the insides of their mouths and their eye colours--those can be whatever!)

one more thing! i love having an art program that lets me compare my current colour with my new one, especially if i have a particular swatch i do not want to change! photoshop does this, clip does this, procreate does this... not sure what others, but i'm using clip.

some additional tweaking, and here's the newest draft!

it's very likely i'll go back and make more changes, but for now, it's good to take a break so i can come back to this with fresh eyes later. :D

unfortunately i can't go back and show the exact process for picking the palettes for ask-meowscarada, but i can show you how some of these techniques were applied!

here's an example of a set of characters from my WIP project, without any notes (the designs are outdated but the colours are basically the same):

these rules don't just apply to character palettes, either--here's a commission i did last year, complete with the palette i used for both the character and the background!

WHEW... if you read through this entire post, thank you for sticking with me!! there are MILLIONS of ways to apply colour and i don't think any way is necessarily correct, but these techniques have helped me stay satisfied with the colour in my artwork for a very long time! thanks for the asking, anon, because i can go on about this for a REALLY long time... if this wasn't evidence enough LOL

[fox-sama97]

Ignore at Your Own Risk- Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long to get this out but it's finally here! It's probably a little rougher than before due to the length of it, but also my friend who read over my other chapters was busy and couldn't read over this one. Wanted to post it tonight, so let me know what y'all think! Here's a snippet of the beginning for some Jazz motivation! Later in the chapter we get into body horror and eldritch horror so be warned!

--------

Ectoblasts, a subdued, barely glowing green, lit up the night as Jazz fired, wavering until they burst like fireworks around a thousand feet out. The illumination was just barely bright enough to show the shadow of a woman flying through the air on a sled.

With the barest twitch of her finger, Jazz swapped firing modes. Three thinner and brighter ectoblasts firing from her Fenton rifle, two splashing into the shadow of a woman, pushing her back and lighting her up like a flash of lightning, as the other shot went past her face.

Dark red full bodysuit, small dented wooden circles resting on vital areas, and a large blaster resting on her shoulder that let off a brief red glow as it discharged.

Jazz ran, weaving around the shots, muscles burning, lungs pumping, mind straining to predict the erratic flight path of the woman as she readied her next shot. Barely a hitch in her step as she raised her rifle and fired another burst of three, only registering one more confirmed shot before the light was gone and her finger twitched to swap firing modes again. Another three shots, fatter and darker than before, exploded in the air, the green starburst splashing onto the woman, dimly glowing residue sticking to her suit and the wooden circle on her torso.

The woman immediately spun around, flight pattern more erratic as she zipped around, left, right, a steep dive only to pull up less than a second after, all the while red blasts raining down around Jazz.

Barely sparing a glance as she dodged by the thinnest margin, Jazz raised her rifle again, the smallest hitch in her step as she swapped modes and fired, three blasts slamming into the wooden circle, only the first slightly off center.

She slowed, her legs wobbling, body screaming to rest, but she ignored it, staying upright and forcing her body to be still by sheer force of will. She watched as the woman reached the ground, suit and sled folding up across her body until it seemed to seep into her skin, not a trace left by the time she reached Jazz, broken wooden circles all that was left to showcase their practice.

"We'll need to go again. I'm still stumbling when I start firing and my aim is still off." Jazz stated, forcing herself to breathe normally.

"Well damn, give me some credit too, Jazz. It's my job to not get hit."

Jazz felt a rush of anger through her, fire tingling in her limbs, before she forced calm on herself, allowing one slightly more forceful breath out. "It's also your job to hit me and I'm unharmed, Val. Your patterns are predictable again. You'll need to change them before the real thing."

Red lit up Valerie's eyes before she closed them. A slow even breath filtering out of her lips.

Shame settled in Jazz's stomach like a lead weight. "I-I'm sorry Val. I appreciate you training with me like this."

"It's okay, you're right. I need to work on it some more." Valerie's eyes opened again, back to their normal green color. "Do…do you wanna talk about it?"

"No need, you can just get out your suit and sled and we'll start again." Jazz's eyes tracked to the side, intently sweeping the area around them, not looking at Valerie.

"You know that's not what I meant Jazz. Do you wanna talk about what's happening? Do…do you wanna talk about Danny?"

Jazz froze, shoulders tensing, eyes closed, her breath catching in her throat as she suppressed a sob. Mind tumbling over itself to throw her failures into her face.

—---------

Jazz was a good sister. This fact she'd written onto the core of her being. She'd practically raised Danny, her parents too scattered and preoccupied with their portal project to give either of them the time they needed, much less the attention they deserved.

She'd been the one to walk him to school.

She'd made his breakfast and lunch, and usually dinner too.

She'd helped with his homework and pinned his drawings to the fridge.

She'd listened to all his troubles and tried to give him advice.

She was a good sister, she had to be a good sister.

But when she got to high school, well Danny was old enough, smart enough to take care of himself. He'd made friends and started pulling away a bit, and she'd let him.

She wanted to make friends too, have a childhood too, even if it felt too late for it. Not that she had as much luck in that as her brother. They'd both been thoroughly branded as the Weird Fenton kids, and unlike Danny, even the weird kids in her grade didn't want to hang out with her. Too unreliable for them, she'd never had the time to hang out and no one expected that to change. Didn't matter anyway, Spike was gone too.

Jazz had to be a good sister. She hadn't been.

Learning that she'd looked away, neglected her duties and found out that her brother had died when she had?

It broke her, just a little. When had she stopped paying attention to him? Good sisters don't let their brother die and not even notice it.

She knew she could be overbearing and annoying but she didn't think she'd hurt him so much he wouldn't tell her.

She'd tried to support him, to earn back the trust she'd obviously lost when he hadn't come to her with this. She'd started sabotaging Jack and Maddie's not her parents anymore, not after what they did inventions, leading them away from Phantom and retraining her body in the martial arts that Maddie had shown her years ago.

And it worked! She had her brother's trust again too late and she was a good sister. But not good enough.

He told her about the portal accident, eventually, how he'd died but not all the way. She'd comforted him as he'd cried like he hadn't since he was six and gotten a chemical burn, her fault, for not pushing Jack and Maddie's chemicals farther back on the table.

He'd never wanted to be Phantom, he was only doing it because it was his fault the portal even worked and he couldn't admit it was Jack and Maddie's fault for making the damned thing in the first place. He still loved them, unlike her, still wanted them to love him.

Jazz wasn't a good sister.

She knew how Danny got his powers. Knew it worked as well as it did because of how liminal he'd already been from a lifetime of exposure to ectoplasm. She could make it work again, turn herself into a Halfa. She may not have been as liminal as Danny, but she was close. Closer than Vlad was at least.

But Vlad had spent months dying slowly, getting his powers even slower. Danny had died all at once, taken days to develop his first powers, and months learning to use them.

And as far as she could tell, they'd been lucky. Most would have just died, their ghosts may have even been ripped apart or been driven insane. Or been trapped between realms forever, never to be heard from again.

She loved her little brother, would take his place in a second, and die for him in less if it would save him. But she'd seen what her death, his friend's deaths had done to him. How it had turned him into a monster he still had nightmares about. She couldn't recreate his accident on herself, not when she didn't know if it would work, not when it would destroy him if she died, killing him all over again.

And now, with Sam and Tucker dead, Danny throwing himself into self destructive grief and revenge, there was nothing she could do.

Now when he needed someone to take this burden the most, she could afford the risk the least. Losing her now, so soon after Sam and Tucker? He wouldn't survive it and neither would the world.

She wasn't a good sister, not when the best she could do for him was to stay alive. She had to be better, had to train more, until she could support him against the Justice League and keep him from making a mistake, from going too far, becoming something he'd never forgive himself for.

She couldn't help but feel it still wasn't enough.

—-------

"There's…there's nothing to talk about. We've compromised on what we can live with. I'll support Danny. That's all there is." Jazz stated, voice almost fragile at the start, but firm with her resolve as she continues.

"Red, I know you hate the plan, you don't have to lie to me. You certainly haven't made it a secret."

"I want justice just as much as you do, Val. I just think…we all needed more time to grieve first. Danny is…he's hurting so much right now. We all are. I just don't want him to do something out of grief that he can't live with afterwards."

Valerie hesitated, before slowly clapping her hand onto Jazz's shoulder. "He won't, he's got you there to make sure of it."

Jazz let the ghost of a smile cross her face, about to continue when the crunch of dead grass reached their ears.

Jazz raised her rifle, green light sparking in the barrel as she wiped around, noting Valerie's blaster folding out of her arm, both aiming towards the noise.

Slowly a boy, just as dirty as the rest of them, walked into view, hands already raised in surrender. "Paulina's group caught Batman, he's sitting pretty in the jailhouse." The boy didn't even stay to make sure they heard, turning around and jogging away the moment he finished.

"Uuuughhh, she's gonna be even more insufferable now. Why couldn't literally anyone else get him," Valeria groaned, lowering her weapon. "I gotta go look into this. Make sure they actually properly disarmed him. See ya later, Red!" She said, jumping into the air, jet sled unfolding beneath her and shooting off with a whisper of wind.

Jazz watched her go, rifle still in hand. There was no turning back now, all she could hope to do was mitigate the damage.

[astarab1aze]

💙 for KAEDE and LUKA

FUCk IT

muse relationship headcanons game

who curses more?

i'm going to say kaede, going in blind, because he has an attitude and he's in permanent 'cornered animal' mode. but he can also be so unbearably formal and reserved and aloof and i'm not talking to you too. hmm. luke curses. r-right- yeah. but not more than kaede, who thinks in 'fuck'

who is more patient?

this'll depend heavily on context, but kaede has so little self-respect, he will tolerate anything for extended periods of time. but this is more him being submissive than anything. luka seems like he'd be more patient in a social sense. like he's not going to pop off like kaede will? they might trip all over each other too hmmm

who does the driving?

kaede should not ever be allowed behind the wheel of a car, so if luka's got one, he's driving.

who is louder? who is quieter?

it depends, but luka strikes me as more active, more like he'd get excited and hoot and holler. but kaede'll scream at god any time and tends to yell a lot. he just also clams the fuck up and relies on stoicism to escape uncomfortable topics, humm

who is more physically affectionate?

i'd imagine them both to be. kaede is very very physical in a similar fashion to vayn and loux crossed. down whenever but also a little there's a time and a place cos he's a private person. loves publec sex though and giving head is an act of love and affection for him, so hope luka's into that-

who is more likely to tease the other?

depends on where they're at in their relationship enormously. kaede's a huge tease, sexually-speaking, comes with him being a bit of a brat by default, but he also makes jokes and pokes & prods in that playful sort of way when he's comfortable enough to be normal with someone.

who is better with time management?

kaede, but not by much skjkjd i can't remember the last time he was punctual unless someone drove for him. he did used to be super weird about being on time though.

who wins the arm wrestling matches?

prooobably luka. kaede has severe nerve damage in his hands and also can't be assed. make it a competition and he'll go ham, probably win then

who controls the music in the car ride?

tbh kaede doesn't give a shit. luka could have full control all he likes. if he really wants to listen to something specific, he'll suggest it or suffer in silence

who covers dinner when they order in?

i feel like...luka would try, then kaede would tell him he already paid for it and not to worry about it. rich dysfunctional boyfriend-- no i mean this. kaede loves to share food and drinks and sometimes considers this kind of thing to be a date, depending on what they get, and for that reason just let him pay the bill dammit--

who is more outgoing? who is more shy?

hmmm. luka strikes me as an introverted extrovert ksjdfh and kaede is just an introvert to the max. luka comes across as shy? bashful. where kaede is less shy and more standoffish, leave me alone, aloof, etc. he can be goofy and friendly with people he likes though. luka's probably friendlier though, or at least nicer.

who has the more outlandish fashion sense?

of the two? kaede probably, but like. not because his outfits are specifically outlandish. just traditional japanese with modifications, sexy club outfits, and hoodies. luka's isn't all that out there either. idk this is tough and i got too stoney

who starts the tickle fights? who ends them?

kaede could never, but luka could all he likes. it's just going to end with kisses, suggestive comments, and laughter that sounds no different from a dying cat

who has the darker/more “edgy” sense of humor?

hmmm i'm gonna say kaede? but both seems like the more accurate answer to me in a way? it's not like their humors are specifically dark tho

who is more competitive when it comes to games?

kaede is very competitive, like loux, except he gets a little wild with it. if he feels he's been challenged, he feels obligated to meet it no matter how stupid or small it actually is. flirting? he'll commit to the bit until it's the next morning and he remembers they boned

who has the bigger appetite? the bigger sweet tooth?

kaede eats small things all day but luka seems like he either can't eat very much at all or also eats all day eternally. either way, kaede's sharing all his snacks with him

who is more likely to get in a confrontation in public?

kaede'll fight anyone 2/3rds of the time, but he's gotten better about picking his battles and conceding. it also depends on the context cos kaede'll still throw down and has killed people on principle before. this isn't to say luka wouldn't, just is less likely to

who hosts the parties/hangouts? who organizes them?

no they plan together. they're all over the place, but they do it together i feel like. that makes sense mhmm

who is better at cooking? do they ever cook for each other?

kaede can cook but he doesn't want to unless he has to usually. he will cook for luka, eventually. i don't know if luka can cook, but even if he can/can't/whatever, kaede is going to suggest hitting up the local restaurants

who is more likely to engage in dangerous and/or illegal behavior?

both of them. the sharpest lives unu

who is more likely to notice when something is wrong with the other?

kaede's hypervigilant but i kinda get the vibe from luka too, so both? he'd also obsessively try to 'fix' or remedy whatever's bothing luka. it kind of doesn't matter what it is either

who does the talking in public settings (i.e. to the waiter at a restaurant)?

motormouths, both of them. kaede's very don't speak for me, but i don't think that would be a concern. they'll just talk to each other the whole time, maybe quietly, maybe not, and take turns taking care of the bill

who is more likely to extend a helping hand & provide emotional support?

hmmmmmmmm. hmmm. i really want to say luka but i can't explain why it wouldn't be kaede

who is the bigger prankster? do they get the last laugh or do they suffer for it?

another one i really want to say luka on because kaede is so so serious. but he's also petty and competitive so if the prank way started, he'd do his damnedest to win. either way, luka suffers for it r.i.p. luka also gets to take a w cos...kaede will blow him. simple as

[waitmyturtles]

Couple of dorama notes to help me keep track of things, woop!

1) THE NEW EMPLOYEE NEW EPISODE, EEP!: I’m not going to peep the tag until after I watch it tonight. Now that I binged the manhwa, I think I know the direction of this episode, but I’m still looking forward to the NYS flashbacks and seeing how Jong Chan handles it.

2) The Makanai: Cooking For the Maiko House: A couple of IRL friends recommended this to me because they know I love shows about food -- I started it yesterday and I’m in full binge mode. It’s directed by the legendary Koreeda Hiroyuki, who directed After Life in the late 1990s and who now has the film Broker out (which is making its way around the awards circuit).

I hadn’t heard of this manga (Kiyo in Kyoto) before, but I understand it to be quite popular -- I even think NHK aired an anime of it. I want to take some time, if I can find it, to research the background and popularity of the manga, because I think the drama is a bit darker than it’s set up to be on the surface. Quickly: two 16-year-old girls leave Aomori Prefecture to apprentice as maiko, or junior geishas, in Kyoto. One of the teens is a natural at her training; the other teen (Kiyo) is expelled from the school and becomes the cook for the okiya (lodging house) (wild wild wild).

I admittedly know next to nothing about maiko/geisha culture, but it struck me as surprising that young teenagers can still leave school to apprentice and live in an okiya. (EDITING TO ADD: Phew, okay, this part is fictional, according to this interview.) I think there are a few stories being told underneath the surface (but I’m only on episode three) -- rivalries between friends and students, unrequited loves, and this undercurrent about young girls doing labor for the lodging house and for clients, including teenage maiko accompanying clients to bars.

I’m kind of in a whirlwind headspace to understand it all. BUT: THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS SPECTACULAR, and there are some great names acting in it, including Lily Frankie (I love this guy’s name so much), Morisaki Win (a darling from Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo), and Makita Aju, who is simply killing it as an antagonist against maiko culture (and who also played an amazing foil as Micchan in Okaeri Mone). Also, Hashimoto Ai and Matsuoka Mayu going head to head -- their competition is totally sizzling.

I’ll have a bigger review of this, but it looks like this dorama is extremely popular in Japan, so I’m glad I’m catching up with it in real time. 

3) Besides my real-time BLs (The New Employee, Ameiro Paradox), I’m going to start on Bad Buddy later this week as part of my essential BL series, once I’m done with The Makanai. 

4) But ALSO: I found a three-part NHK miniseries called Ototo no Otto (My Brother’s Husband), from 2018 -- and I’m seriously excited for it, because I am a huge stan for NHK’s boundary-pushing work on discrimination. The show is about a Canadian man who comes to Japan after his same-sex Japanese partner passes away. The “widower” meets his late partner’s twin brother and the twin brother’s kids, all to learn more about his late partner’s life in Japan.

The show looks like it focuses on current issues regarding LGBTQ+ discrimination, including the homophobia that the late partner’s brother himself has -- which may have led to estrangement between the twins.

There’s only a few posts about this show on Tumblr, but the posts say the show was seriously good. I’m so glad I found it, and I think I’ll need to watch it before diving into Bad Buddy.

And after Bad Buddy: Dark Blue Kiss, to prepare for the eventual GMMTV adaptation of Cherry Magic, which damn it -- I still can’t shake. 

5) FINALLY: Um, we may be getting new The Novelist/The Pornographer material?! (cc @gillianthecat). According to Twitter, there will be an announcement about something related to the franchise on 1/24. Let’s see -- the very last short film hasn’t been translated or released internationally, so maybe that’s the update? Give us SOMETHING, FUJI TV. 

YAY, updates! I honestly love writing these posts when life gets crazy, because it helps me set my priorities!

[noddytheornithopod]

Started playing Jedi: Survivor! Gonna post miscellaneous thoughts I’m having as I play through it. For reference, I’m also playing on Story Mode (I just want to be safe cuz I have no idea what will be thrown at me lol).

And of course, if it wasn’t obvious, spoilers under the cut.

So we begin with Cal being “captured” and taken to this Pau’an senator (the same one as in the first teaser). He seems to be like a big shot... or at least is hoping to become one, since he’s hoping to gain the Emperor’s favour by saying he caught a Jedi. It’s really just a ruse (the cops holding Cal are actually fellow rebels working for Saw Gerrera), and well soon stuff gets crazy.

Probably the most notable issue so far is framerate? Like, for reference, I’m playing on PS5 and am using Performance Mode (it would be pointless to do anything else since my TV only has a max 1080p resolution). It’s not exactly bad, like it definitely isn’t the nightmare that PC players seem to be experiencing, but I find that especially between the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes it can get kinda choppy. I get why the cutscenes have a lower framerate, it’s so they look more cinematic, and honestly I’m more than fine with that, but the transitions and even a few gameplay moments feel slow.

Also maybe it’s just because I already know how Fallen Order played and I’m also on Story difficulty, but I think the opening level dragged out a bit too long? It makes sense it’s an easy and simple level, but eh, who finds tutorial sections fun anyway, lol.

On the other hand, being in the Coruscant underworld was a pretty cool opening setting. There’s a lot of narrative parallels to Fallen Order already, and there’s parts of Coruscant that actually remind me of Bracca in some ways. Many parts looked a bit dark, but IDK if that’s just my TV or what, but that aside it all looked cool.

Nerd moment: the first enemies you fight being the patrol troopers from Solo was fun. What’s more fun than killing stormtroopers? Killing COP stormtroopers.

Bode seems cool, I guess. I do feel like them emphasising the monetary involvement he’s working with Saw for is gonna come into play later on though, like if someone offers him more to pay for him and his kid he could pull something on Cal. Also they introduced the buddy AI system, which lets you tell your friend to do certain things, and command them to help you in fights. IDK how effective it will be (especially on Story mode where so far I’m cutting through Stormtroopers like nothing lol), but it’s still cool to have your pal show up and fuck with some enemies.

Cal’s already got some fun quips, but I’m also interested to see he already seems darker. Like, when they eventually capture the senator, he basically makes a death threat, but what really stood out to me was when you learn the confusion power. Like, he literally says something like “I don’t think Cere told me to use it like that”. And like... that line only made me think of Ezra at the start of Season 3 of Rebels even more than already recalling Ezra puppet that walker off that base. Two Jedi who feel like they need to do more to stop the Empire and Dark Side, but are flirting with darker tactics to get there.

So Ninth Sister returns. The way she talks almost makes it sound like she’s some recurring enemy Cal keeps running into. KESTIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!!!!! But yeah she’s the first boss (which feels a lot like the first Trilla fight on Bracca, speaking of which another parallel has Cal pull a Trilla on one of the gunships surrounding them). Cal... fucking decapitates her. It’s an interesting moment to me, another sign he’s darker of course, but I’m getting a lot of different feelings here. Like on one hand, he doesn’t seem to relish it at all, even trying to reach out to her, even calling her Masana Tide, her original name before she turned dark. But on the other... he’s like “I’ll set you free” and decides who must live or die. Like sure, Masana wouldn’t listen to him, she’s just full of rage and pain, but still, playing executioner like that was still a dark moment to me.

I should also mention the lightsabre stances, because the boss is where you first lean dual blade. So far... I’ve barely used single blade, lol. I’m fine using double and dual blade for now, honestly. IDK how it is on harder difficulties, but I think they compliment each other nicely. Double blade for crowd control and more defensive fights, and dual blade when I feel like being more offensive. Also, nerd brain just thinks it’s neat to have a sabrestaff you split and put back together.

Controls are mostly similar, there’s some slight changes here and there, I’ll get used to them with time probably. Force powers still work as expected. I’m a monster that loves using confusion to make enemies fight each other, lol. It IS cool that it can’t work on all enemies though, like purge troopers are immune since they’d obviously be trained to resist mind tricks, some creatures you can’t seem to affect I guess because they’re just too weird or whatever, and you can’t use it on droids because they’re not organic. Making Bedlam Raiders kill their own droid underlings they’re in charge of is funny.

Oh yeah, Koboh. Only gotten up to Greez’s cantina and I just stopped right after I found the part we need for the Mantis, but it already feels massive. Interesting scenery too, like it reminds me of a savannah in like Australia or even Africa. Also, I’m guessing the bogling population came from the Mantis stowaways in Fallen Order, lol.

The minimap is much more helpful actually. Still a bit complex, but there’s a lot more notified to tell you where you can go and even traces where you’ve come from, and it helps give clearer directions on where to progress too. It’s not so easy like say Lego Skywalker Saga where the default just lets you follow markers that tell you exactly where to go, you still need to look around sometimes to find how to progress or solve a puzzle, but for someone like me who can get stuck for pretty stupid reasons, it is handy to have these extra hints.

So the scene with Cal and BD looking at old footage they had of the crew together was definitely sentimental. It seems to be around or soon after Fallen Order since the characters still have their looks from that game, but it’s nice to see the times they spent together, and you can tell how much Cal misses them all even if they all parted ways.

On the other hand... we got TWO Greez salt jokes within the span of a few minutes. They KNOW and they really want to remind us, lol. First, one of the videos displayed has Greez say to Merrin say something like “too much salt is bad for you”, which well, yeah, the irony is obvious. There’s also what used to be the Mantis’ terrarium now holding some old belongings, and one of them was Greez and salt related, I think it was his salt shaker? But yes, salty Greez fans, you will not be disappointed.

The locals at Koboh seem interesting enough so far. Little frog due and big Klaud dude! Rayvis had an... interesting first impression. Like at first he’s all shouty and dramatic to the point where I found it a bit much, but after Cal kills his enforcer, he actually starts acting more honourable and subdued? Hard to read guy, I guess. Sounds like he’s building to something, though I have no idea why harassing people on some Outer Rim world is necessary for that. Like, the people in the bar talk like they just show up and cause trouble because they can. Cal stepping in to defend the frog dude was cool though, nice reminder that at heart he’s still a Jedi even if I have... questions about some of his new tactics, lol.

Greez reunion! Was a pretty sweet moment, honestly. And there’s also a sassy droid at the bar who co-runs the place (I think their name was Monk?). Greez is rightfully concerned about Cal though, like Cal misses the crew but it sounds like his own obsession with fighting the Empire was a key factor in what caused the rifts to form in the first place. Something definitely seemed to happen with Cere especially, like when Cal talks about Merrin Greez is like “actually I was asking if you’ve spoken to Cere”. Cal does lose it for a moment, too. He feels like because he might be one of the only Jedi left, he has to shoulder that responsibility to fight the Empire. It’s kind of like the opposite to Obi-Wan’s situation - right around this time, Obi-Wan has given up hope and thinks it’s pointless to do anything, while Cal is so into the fight it seems like it’s consuming him. Like, Greez made this room for Cal to chill in even for a bit, but Cal’s all GOTTA GET ON THE MOVE. Also, for more parallels, a callback to the sleep talking scene, lol.

Anyway, stuck underground and Cal noticed something weird, I’ll get to it later and we’ll see what else happens!