#its been forever since ive drawn in this style and

[moonlit-dreamers]

been doodling for a while and made this bullshit for @bloodmoons-knife long live the king fic/au

was originally just gonna be a doodle and figuring out wut she looks like then went "wait this looks like a meme-" and realized wut it was so i just. i just had to man

i swear ill draw lunar and binary soon OTL

reblogs appreciated :)

ramblings under le cut

about the art- i decided to take advantage of this moment to fuck around with my art style. they have noses (ik, wow, crazy) and i tried to let myself be as imperfect as possible (ofc i was still annoyingly nitpicky but- i still like how it all came out). i didnt even sketch a single one of these. was that a bit stupid? maybe. but it was still very fun to fuck around and find out

when drawing nebula i wanted to have him look both very soft and kind but also fucking exhausted. at first i was unsure if i had gotten the wet cat energy right until i put a photo next to it and i was like "yeah. thats a fucking soggy man."

rust is forever gremlin, even if they just turn into a teddy bear the moment eridanus picks them up.

eri was actually quite fun to draw since ive never drawn mermaids before but- no time like the present and a pretty lady who must be drawn.

but onto the fic! i am. incredibly normal about it (lying)

the dynamics between everyone is just so fun to read through. especially when theyre all here for similar reasons: grief and loss.

watching them all grow and learn to cope through each other is so sweet to watch. and even tho nebula seems to be more content watching them heal rather than healing himself they wont let him neglect himself any longer it seems :) theyre grabbing a towel and fucking getting him whether he likes it or not. and if they dont then i will.

im so curious as to how lunar will come to fit into all of this as well.

we r putting these beasts into situations and watching them fight to survive and its wonderful

[finsterkiibo]

not sure if you're still using tumblr, because it's been a few months BUT I just wanted to say your art is absolutely incredible!! literally one of my favorite drawing styles I've ever seen(the hair floofs?? oh man) and your blog has so much insanely good saiibo content, I adore how you draw both saihara and kiibo, and you've inspired me so much and your quality and quantity of art is just super impressive to me :D

and yeah saiibo is one of my favorite drv3 ships so it's super cool to see this many amazing ideas and art pieces for it!

HEY!!!!!! im still alive i promise!!! i DO still use tumblr!!!! AND I WANNA THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SEND THIS TO ME !!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS MEANS THE WORLD ACTUALLY.!!!!! GAHHH ESPECIALLY CUZ IVE BEEN FEELING SO SO LOW ABT MY ART LATELY AUGHH it overjoys me knowing people still love my art of these goobers even if it’s been a bit since ive drawn em!!! i kinda just . lurk on tumblr nowadays cuz i find artists to be way easier to find here than on instagram but. i dont. really post much anymore ahah. you know how hyperfixations are, despite my 4 year saiibo streak i got enamored with an old childhood media i used to love (mcsm) ((and arcane got its claws on me more recently too lmfao)) and i kinda ! haven’t been able to find the motivation to make any saiibo content since , unfortunately ,. BUT I STILL LOVE AND ADORE THEM DEARLY FOREVER THOUGH !!!!!!! i appreciate them and hold them dear to my heart and what DR and its community in general have done for me and my art journey!!!! i DO still make occasional art over on instagram if anyone’s interested in seeing my other oc/fandom work though!!! (finnyfoxx) ((being experimental rn so my stuff is gonna be inconsistent)) and!!! who knows!!! may haps the saiibs will take over my brain again in the future…

[neonmetro]

HII ive been a huge fan of your art for forever and i never get tired of seeing it in my feed. you have this very specific style of design and composition (the fonts, the colors, the symbols) that scratches my brain really hard and i'd love to hear about the thoughts behind them!!!!

AHHH THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!! ofc :D i hope you don't mind the rambling

i'll be very honest most of my compositions just follow the triangle rule (making poses follow a triangle) and filling up the page (with text, icons, etc) and lots of going back and forth seeing whether or not smth looks good 😭 like spending literal hours on the placement of sparkles

i REALLY like using text in my art and i usually have a certain phrase or highly specific vibe where i'll then go and look for a quote that'll fit that vibe and i'll usually place it somewhere midway through lineart

i kind of use the same few fonts and i think its pretty noticeable (kozuka mincho std h, hanmingwang mainly) but its mainly bc i can use it for both chinese and english words, i think it gives off a really cool vibe to use both languages with fonts that have serifs

i also just. make shit up as i go tbh i usually draw the pose first and have to work a background around it and maybe add some sparkles to fill some more space

the ahab piece i just knew i wanted waves at her feet and the composition to feel like its at sea, with her hair mimicking oceans. once i was done rendering the fullbody i just looked up vintage ships line art for the bg and thought maybe the white circle/halo would look cool) and the outis piece i only had the half body and chibi drawn out and kinda framed everything around it

i usually pick text that's kinda on the nose references, the ahab piece's chinese text is "moby dick" and "WHITE WHALE HOLY GRAIL" is from blood and thunder about. well. captain ahab. the outis is again just more direct references, w. corp, her trailer quote, and her own name. there was some extra space in between the chibi and the halfbody i wanted to fill and originally wanted to do a train icon but it wouldn't fit in such a small space, so i decided to go for sign icons instead (thinking about it, if i didn't do the exit sign i might've done a wet floor sign or smth but i like the little detail of adding the X on the arrow leading out, giving her no exit)

i always feel something is missing from the composition so i spend a long time trying things out since i usually don't have this planned out but also backgrounds are uniquely weird because i want the characters to stick out but contrast is very important to me

i remember trying to figure out how to make the background of this piece both cohesive with the rest of the art and also make it not blend in together (so i opted to add shading to the leaves while also doing another gradient from the right corner up), the sparkles were also there to fill in space

most of my colors are just slightly more saturated vers of the character i'm drawing's canon colors and then i slap 48762793832 filters on top to make it even more saturated lawl

like this is a sneak peak of art that's queued up ^ and there's a pretty massive diff before gradient maps/filters and after lol

[starredfishing]

Tell me more about the way the new superman show portrays Lois and her heritage, Starry.

thank u for sending me this ask so i can go insane. also disclaimer: i am korean american but i was raised by white ppl so i cant be an entirely accurate source! slappin a read more on this bc oh boy. i say words

so just in the first 4 episodes i think they do a spectacular job of making her heritage subtle yet noticable. in the first episode she does the lil heart hands thing, which is the way i've seen kpop idols do it but my brother told me its just kinda the korean equiv of heart hands

and then in the 4th episode she wears a jeogori, which is the top of a hanbok (korean traditional wear)

(image taken from the 'jeogori' wikipedia page)

i also wanna note the little top shes wearing under her jacket looks like a traditional viet top (source: my friend who is viet) so double slay

and then beyond that, i really like the way she's designed visually. she doesn't fall under the classic tropes and stereotypes that most animation companies do when designing east asians. she isn't pale (which is a colorism issue, i actually have the same skin color as her), she doesn't have long flowing black hair or on the flip side she doesn't have a purple streak or anything, and she isn't drawn with stereotypical slits for eyes. she's just a normal korean-american woman!!! she's also voiced by a korean, which is super nice to see! i know people joke about her looking and sounding like luz but, yknow.

and then in episode 4 she goes to this fancy high-rise party where she isn't taken seriously and is even insulted on her mannerisms and looks. she's the only woman there wearing something that isn't 1. a dress and 2. western-styled. so they're ostrasizing her based on her heritage as well as her class, though it's interesting that all the women ivo points to as 'classy women' are woc so it is more abt classism. jimmy, a black man, gets disrespected as a photographer and people ignore lois entirely even though some people are willing to speak to clark, who is white. its subtle but like ive been there. she also strays away from the model minority myth--she refuses to take the safe route.i think its a rlly nice and subtle way to show classism and racism without it like, just telling you. i could go on forever abt clark being a jewish immigrant adoptee too he's part of the group even tho he's white (passing). i like the way the show kinda plays around with "but hes not like us/hes dangerous!" no matter how nice he is-- its the same model minority stuff nimona touched on with no matter how nice you are people will still see your worst. but i digress

and just generally abt how they portray lois: i really like her!!! bc it's a younger version of her (superman origin story), it makes sense that she's super spunky and peppy since she's an intern rn. but she's still the kind of woman who runs headfirst into danger without thinking. i like that her character is 'i hate being lied to' because of her past with her dad which then in turn makes her a super nosy reporter who wants the truth. cant wait 2 see what happens next week now that she figured out clark is superman

[uninformedartist]

That anon has a pretty good point. Fandoms have been making the kinkiest, most transgressive and perverted shit for decades and will continue to do so. That’s just fandom. But it feels like Viv and the others want to be part of their own fandom.

Obv they’re allowed to enjoy and be proud of their own show, but there’s a reason you don’t see other show runners openly making and promoting fetishy content of their own property, unless that property is itself pornographic in nature.

Like, there’s nothing wrong with making erotica. But you gotta kind of own the fact that this is what you’re doing. Viv wants people to take her show(s) seriously and get invested in the themes and personal journeys of these characters. But she also wants to advertise these same characters as sex objects and sell sexy sexy merch of them. Idk, I just think selling sexy merch of a character you identified as a victim of s*xual abuse is a bad look.

Idk how she can’t see that?

Yeah, we can't blame fandom culture for doing that because it comes with the fandom territory, been done since forever and a fandom is full of individuals good and bad it is what it is. Viv definitely wants to be part of her own fandom, seeing how she interacts like a fan with her fans, liking and even making fanart of her own characters. Not saying thats all bad but believe there should be a level of separation from a professional standpoint because Viv's fandom is unsavoury for the most part. I look at Dana Terrace, she does the same as what I mentioned but still keeps her distance from her fandom for professional reasons, to not make a parasocial relationship with fans good or bad ones and also to prevent being lumped together with the... unsavoury side of her fandom, they're yuck. You're so right, Viv basically wants to have her cake and eat it too, have fetishising fanart/premoting it/having staff do the same but still want to have a show with sensitive themes, characters with trauma etc.

You cannot have both, its disingenuous and inappropriate and just plain wrong but she sees nothing wrong with it. Its profitable and fandom loves it and thus they also see nothing wrong with it and will shut down anyone who may be a victim speaking out how they feel about this or anyone else. Its ultimately a weird parasocial relationship Viv has with her fans that works well in her favor when it comes to backlash, accountability and criticism.

Also going back to Viv and staff making such fanart/merch or whatever that are fetishising in nature about their shows . Ive seen always in the past show runners or staff that did this faced serious backlash and ridicule. Happened with Rebecca Sugar (yes it was not of her show property but Viv has drawn "unsavoury" art of other shows and got no backlash she's still going strong) and thinking off the top of my head staff members of the rise the TMNT got caught drawing show styled p*rn. But so far nothing with Viv's show, yes its raunchy but not straight up sexual in nature plus the serious themes it contains.

Comes really down to the fandom at large calling it out and not agreeing with it. But Viv has cultivated the perfect hive mind fandom, nothing she does or says is wrong to them and thats unlike other fandoms. Taking the SU fandom who yes watched the show but were critical and didn't praise Rebecca like some god who can do no wrong (there is the other part of the SU fandom but talking about the SU fandom in general). Thats not what's happening with Viv so she's getting away with doing all this.

Also I say unsavoury but mean other egregious words.

[ofcowardiceandkings]

me rambling about "Staring at the Sun" by Jacob Gellar and how much it smacked me in the face under the cut lol (contains exactly ZERO spoilers for TotK 💙)

AS SOON as i saw that his video would touch on the quests it does in some way i knew it'd fuck me up for a week or two but i didnt expect it to go that way - he rarely dives into the base plot of these things so i knew that was safe but ohhhh man

ive not played The Last Guardian but i know its one of my best friends favourite games, though the light in watching my partner play Shadow of the Colossus was amazing to see, but this really hit me hard because it pin-pointed one of the things i love most and maybe why i just love being in the world of Tears of the Kingdom (and BotW) so much ?? ive always been a fan of impressionist art too, and Turner as well, i've been trying to push myself into that space in my own art for so long. i always feel mega cliche saying these really well known artists are my favourites but i truly mean it jfdkjf ... this is probably one of the reasons i appreciated how bright and chipper the art style for Skyward Sword was with its fading blues and 'brush strokes', but it just doesnt compare to Breath or Tears with the amount of work the light puts in now, i spend so much time just STARING and ive just realised its usually at the light playing the forms and atmosphere in a real but beyond real way

i'm stuck in two art world of really enjoying doing linework and texture - and being reasonable at it - but wanting to go into colour and light though ive never been comfortable with doing so for some reason ??? im trying but i often just forget to try when im just drawing something self-indulgent and silly (most of what i have time for)

the play of light off cave art and that theory has lodged in my head forever too, As A Nerd On Such Things, there's something absolutely stunning about cave art, how it was made how it was put there and why how it was supposed to be viewed if at all, anything. absolutely fascinating, especially with the seemingly shifting images of Chauvet & Lascaux caves ??

a thing that always stuck with me as well - it might seem like a bizarre pull but it feels the same to me - is actually how the sun is portrayed and animated in the 1978 Watership Down ??? pulsing and moving and quaking with pattern and colour, not to be seen properly by us on earth, but you cant NOT look. i've not shaken the imagery of the sun from that movie from my mind since the first time i saw it as a child im STILL obsessed, it STILL almost haunts me

additionally, as someone who's repeatedly defended how these games look to people who complain about framerates and textures and whatever, i appreciate this. don't get me wrong, it doesnt HURT, especially from such a large gaming company (not that Nintendo have ever put heavy focus on the technical specs of their products though lets be real) but Breath/Tears just emphasises how much art direction or a vision can carry a project compared to other high-spec but ultimately forgettable titles. maybe a little much salt in that sentiment on my end but boy it bothers me when its all people can think about.

i'm gonna be stuck here for another few weeks lol this happens every time Jacob posts a video theyre ALL so winding and drawn out and beautiful gjfkds fuck

[luuxxart]

so i noticed you have eridan as your icon... bro i have to ask if you have any blood color hcs for the phantom thieves + akechi lol

you have forced my hand, anon.

more info stuff below the cut

ok so uh. i added mishima, shiho, and hifumi bc like. i wanted twelve <3

it wouldve been easy to go along w their birthdays but thats sort of a disservice to their characters and what would fit them best,,, esp. considering akechi is a gemini and well. yanno. cant help being a gemini!! but i think being candy while pretending to be a teal is just. too hard to pass up.

also im not a fan of purples sorry :C (their music always f/cks tho)

so w/out further ado

Akira

Rust

Derse

Daggerkind

Thief of Heart

just a general rusty. people take him seriously though, despite everything.

Ryuji

Bronze

Derse

Bludgeonkind

Thief of Breath

don't let this line-up fool you. for being a bronze he is shit at communicating with animals. up to and including akira's lusus.

Ann

Olive

Prospit

Whipkind

Thief of Rage

should probably be derse but i liked the prospit sign better lol. the only, like, unbreakable/unchanging quadrant in this thing i can see is Ann/Shiho being moirails.

Yusuke

Indigo

Prospit

Katanakind

Thief of Space

you and i both know he would probably almost fuck up the session by selling the matriorb for paint and forgetting to grab the right frogs to breed.

Makoto

Teal

Prospit

Knucklekind

Thief of Time

tired of everyone's bs. 100%. she manages to set yusuke back on the right track. she's also very obsessed with the Njiima legacy sort of like Terezi and the Pyropes.

Futaba

Gold

Derse

idk eye lasers. she'd probably hit someone with a wii remote

Thief of Light

she would game the system soooo hard dude. she would probably advance the session into like. endgame in like an hour if akechi wasn't such a little sh/t.

Haru

Fuchsia

Prospit

Axe-Tridentkind

Thief of Life

definitely a benevolent fuchsia. but not towards akechi.

Akechi

Candy red Teal

Prospit

Lightsaberkind

Thief Prince of Mind

he's only in this session in order to enact his 108-step plan to kill akira. having a flush-pitch vacillation on him was not the intention. knowing he's lower on the spectrum than akira literally drives him up a wall.

also he would probably pretend to ascend to a prince and then turns out. nope. no he's just a thief same as everyone else.

Sumire

Violet

Prospit

Ribbonkind

Thief of Well. i think Tumblr Mobile Took me Out of the Tag for this one.

she is sort of going through the kasumi thing but. not to the same extent. she mostly has her sh/t together by the start of the session.

Mishima

Rust

Prospit

Hammerkind

Thief of Hope

why couldn't you have put the bunny . back in the box.

Shiho

Jade

Derse

Ballkind (shoots a volleyball. right at your head.)

Thief of Void

wanted a life outside of the caverns, so she took up volleyball. it's just volleyball on alternia. volleyball is love. volleyball is life.

Hifumi

Cerulean

Derse

Shurikenkind

Thief of Doom

pay no attention to the third eye.

[clumsyhusky06]

has this been done already

[humanmorph]

maybe still my favourite thing ive drawn in recent memory

[radlegowaffle]

this was a neat game @markiplier

[tempestaurora]

in another time, a gladiator stucky au by @tempestaurora​

image IDs under the cut

IMAGE ID:

FIRST IMAGE: 

i.

 Sunlight dappled across the stone floor, casting cool, dancing shadows in the summer heat. Bucky yawned and stretched, flexing his toes into the sunspots and smiling from the warmth. He watched the newest boy to the school, a scrawny thing called Steve, stand alone in the courtyard.

He tipped his head to the side and called out, “New boy! Over here!”

Steve had straw blonde hair and eyes like the Aegean Sea. He seemed hesitant for a moment before heading over. When he arrived, he looked at Bucky like he might bite, but after sitting, he simply melted into the sunspot Bucky had found.

“You’re pretty small,” Bucky observed. “Your family sell you?”

“What? No, they didn’t.” Steve’s eyebrows furrowed; he seemed insulted by the mere notion. “Your family sell you?”

Bucky shrugged. “Indentured, actually,” he replied. “But they’re practically the same thing. Why are you here, then? You have dreams of being a gladiator?”

Steve scoffed. “No. I don’t. But it was either this or live on the streets.” He paused, twisting his fingers into his tunic. “My mater died, recently. She was all I had.”

Bucky stilled. “Oh,” he said. “Perhaps she is better off now; perhaps she is in the Land of Joy.”

Steve nodded, barely. “There are few places better than the underworld, these days.”

SECOND IMAGE:

ii.

Steve may have been small, but he was fast. He twisted and turned in combat, picked up the skills with ease, and learnt to use his size to his advantage. If he got hit, he was down, so Steve learned to avoid the punches thrown his way.

They trained year-round, through summer heat and winter snow, and soon they grew. Everything Steve learned about being small and fast was discarded when he hit his growth spurt at fourteen, suddenly taller than half his class and finally able to make the attacks, not simply dodge them. He watched Bucky often; the two of them nigh inseparable since his arrival at the school. Bucky was not a golden student, but he was a golden boy; his eyes were like Jupiter’s sky and his hair grew thick and dark in a shaggy mess.

There were few things Steve found himself caring about more than the only boy in all of Italia who knew him, inside and out.

[Beneath is a photo of  the ruins of a temple of Saturn, backlit by the sun. It is ethereal and quiet-looking, with green fields interspersed with crumbled architecture.]

THIRD IMAGE: 

iii.

 They had climbed up onto the roof of the gymnasium to gaze at the sweep of stars painted high above their town.

“Do you think you’ll be up there one day?” Steve whispered in the dark.

“In the sky?”

“The stars,” Steve clarified. “All the great heroes are immortalised in the stars.”

Bucky shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll be a hero – there’s not a drop of godly blood in me. What about you?”

“I don’t want to be a hero,” Steve replied. “I just want to travel; to see all of Italia and beyond. Pompeii and Corinth – maybe even see the Oracle of Delphi, one day.”

Bucky smiled. “I’d like that. I don’t want to be fighting forever.”

“Come with me,” Steve said. “We could go anywhere. We could go everywhere.”

Bucky stared at Steve under the star-lit sky and smiled.

FOURTH IMAGE:

iv.

                                        When they were eighteen, they moved to Rome. The Ludus Magnus gladiator school sat in spitting distance of the coliseum, and this was where they trained. They had long been learning their preferred style of combat – Steve, after shooting up and broadening, fought as a Thracian, with his broad-rimmed helmet, small rounded shield and curved sword. His only armour consisted of thigh-length grieves, while Bucky was granted a chest plate and greaves as a Dimachaerus, dual-wielding two swords.

They fought regularly in practice, but never in the ring drawn into the sand in front of an audience. There was a palpable fear Steve felt at making Bucky bleed. Some nights, he whispered prayers to whatever god might deign to listen – perhaps Mars, for war, or Venus, for love – and pleaded with them to never pit him against Bucky.

[On the right hand side is a close-up of a temple’s columns, with sunlight poking between.]

FIFTH IMAGE: 

v.

 Bucky knew Steve was watching from beyond the Gate of Life as he stepped into the ring for his first gladiatorial combat in the arena. Steve had already won his earlier that day in front of roaring crowds and amused royalty in the Emperor’s box.

Now it was Bucky’s turn, and he twisted his swords in his fingers, facing down his opponent across the ring. Bucky knew their job was to fight – fight and possibly even die – but he also knew his job was to give them all a show.

And Bucky was nothing if not a showman.

In the end, blood stained the sand a vivid red, but Bucky strode towards the Gate of Life, triumphant.

SIXTH IMAGE:

vi.

 There were always popular gladiators, and Steve didn’t know how to react, finding himself to be one of them. Women lined up outside the bathhouses he frequented; shared rumours that dipping their hairpins in his blood might bring them love, that his sweat would work as an aphrodisiac.

“I can see their point,” Bucky whispered one night, his mouth ravenous against Steve’s after a long day of training. Their bodies were always animalistic in these moments, whilst the school was empty and the others were out drinking the night away. They took everything they could get from each other; swallowed each sensation whole.

Steve never wanted these moments to end. He would throw all the glory and money away for more time with Bucky, for more nights like this.

SEVENTH IMAGE: 

vii.

 After amphitheatre fights, admirers and buyers alike would flock to the school where the gladiators lounged on cushions and benches, drinking wine and eating expensive foods. These were the nights Bucky enjoyed the most. No one was allowed to approach unless beckoned by a gladiator, and Bucky would often spend time toying with the admirers, allowing one or two over before sending them away again. Eventually, after the show, he’d slip away into the sleeping quarters or empty storage cupboard, and find Steve waiting there for him.

There was a miles-long list of things Bucky loved about Steve’s body, but number one on the list was how it fit against his own in the dark.

[Cut into the left side is a photo of the Coliseum in Rome.]

EIGHTH IMAGE:

viii.

 A few days before the festival, culminating in three days of games at the coliseum, their master told Steve and Bucky that they were scheduled to fight.

“It’ll be fine,” they told each other in the dark. “The fights rarely end in death. We’re not fighting to kill. We’re fighting to entertain.”

“We’re performers,” Bucky would say. “We’re just there to give them a good time.”

“Don’t act like no one ever dies,” Steve would reply, each and every time. “Don’t act like we haven’t killed our opponents before.” Sometimes, friends would enter the ring with them and never leave it. Sometimes, the audience called for their deaths.

It was blood lust, through and through. The men caught hold of that first splash of red and couldn’t let it go; they had to see more, they had to see death in all its forms. The gladiator could’ve fought bravely, wonderfully, and they might still end up slumped in the sand afterwards.

“Soon,” they would say, “we’ll retire and leave this for good. Soon, we’ll travel the world, like we always planned.” They would whisper lies and truths to each other, desperately tangling them together until they couldn’t tell them apart.

NINTH IMAGE:

ix.

 On the day of the fight, Steve stepped into the ring opposite Bucky and breathed in the cheering crowd; the hot, midday sun. They had kissed in the shadow of the underground corridors, and now faced each other, weapons raised, poised for battle.

It was bloody from the get-go; they were entertainers after all, and the audience was only entertained when they saw the streak of blood dampening the sand. They twisted and turned as if they were dancing, as if there was music playing and this was them, centre stage, having the time of their lives rather than anxiously hoping their blades wouldn’t cut too deep, that the bruises would soon heal.

And then Steve’s sword slashed too harshly at Bucky’s side and he faltered, hissing.

“Bucky—” Steve said, not moving in on the advantage, not moving at all.

Bucky straightened, removing his hand from his side, darkly red. “What are you doing?” Bucky asked, before raising his swords once more. “Fight me.”

“Bucky—”

“Fight me,” Bucky hissed, slamming his swords forward. Steve barely had time to raise his shield. He couldn’t stop staring at the thick blood leaking from Bucky’s ribs.

“No—”

“Steve—”

“No.”

Steve stepped back, feet almost at the ring’s edge. He dropped his shield, his sword to the sand. He held his arms out, palms towards Bucky, and said, “I won’t fight you, Bucky. Not ever again.”

So Bucky took the win, and the crowds jeered at Steve, and the Emperor held his thumb outstretched, unamused by the champion’s surrender.

“You won’t fight me,” Bucky spat, “but you’ll make me kill you instead?”

[Cut into the right hand side is an edited shot of the movie Gladiator; two gladiators rush towards each other to battle, with the crowds filling the stands. Much of the image is in shadow, with streaks of sunlight pouring down from the left side.]

TENTH IMAGE:

x.

 The sand was hot beneath Bucky’s feet; no lazy afternoon shadows in the centre of the amphitheatre. In front of him, Steve knelt facing away, his head tipped low to bare the spot at the top of his spine, all smooth skin tanned and unblemished.

The crowds roared around them and Bucky lifted his sword, pressing the tip at the base of Steve’s neck.

Steve flinched and said, just barely loud enough for Bucky to hear: “Perhaps I’ll go to Elysium… I hear there are few places better to be than the underworld, these days.”

But Bucky knew Steve would not go to Elysium. He was a warrior, but he was not dying righteously, not for fighting well. He was dying for surrendering, for caring about Bucky more than himself.

And Bucky—well he cared for Steve more than himself, too. They were the same that way. They always had been.

So Bucky stepped back, lowering his sword in his hand. He looked up to the Emperor, shadowed in his private box, and shook his head.  

“I won’t kill you, Steve,” he said, and Steve looked around in surprise, like it was really all that out of character. He held out a hand and pulled Steve to his feet, ignoring the roaring of the crowd, the anger that came from mercy.

“They’ll come for us,” Steve said, eyes wary. “They’ll kill us both.”

With one hand, Bucky cupped Steve’s cheek, thumb against his cheekbone, and with the other, he lifted the sword and twisted it. “Let them try,” he said. “But we have plans to travel the world. We’ve got no time for dying, Steve.”

And in the summer heat, they ran for the Gate of Life.

ELEVENTH IMAGE:

[A close up of two marble statues kissing.]

[END OF IMAGE ID]

[reanimationstation]

Weekly whats goin on in the dnd campaign update ask!! :D

WELL. we havent actually played this week due to being busy with life and stuff BUT last session was still absolutely BATSHIT

SOOO. SAMMY FINALLY GOT MERGED WITH PROPHET. he is so much weirder (affectionate) but honestly i dont think everyone has noticed. he keeps on rolling really high on "keeping it together" when he is quietly trying to cope with double the traumatic memories he's used to. also hes a golden ink monster (which ive drawn a lot of). oops. once he rolls low more prophety traits will surface and then it'll be obvious that this is no longer the reflection of the past sam that everyone got used to

but in more WORLD SHATTERING news, the ink machine. it uhm. well for some backstory, sammy pretty regularly gets forced to make deals with it, be it to revive someone or to get someones soul from the machine. and the ink machine tends to use very vague wording. so in exchange for three people from the studio, it offered to unlock the exit door forever.

sammy took that deal.

and when he opened the door, everything was in the same style as the studio. uh. crap.

turns out during one of sammys very first few deals, his wording gave the ink machine power to access the outside world and tURN IT INTO AN EXTENSION OF ITSELF. THE OCEAN IS GOLDEN INK. GOLDEN INK IS FLAMMABLE.

so sammy now has to break that news to the found ones in the harbor :/ yikes. but hes planning on staying in the studio until things are sorted out and the world isnt in chaos because he doesnt really want to deal with the implications of a flammable ocean and literally everything else being studio-ified. things are going great

but ALSO since henry and linda are currently stuck in the ink machine their two kids have kinda been being watched by relatives for about a month (its been like 5 months in studio because of how time moves faster inside it). so sammy is planning on going to get them and bring them in the studio to watch them himself because he thinks that being inside the studio is safer than being outside while the world panics. he also needs to get one of the people he kidnapped's son since yk he has morals. (when sammy died the deal he made to get put back in his body was that he couldnt refuse any of the ink machine's orders SO its having him do a lot of bad stuff and he cant refuse otherwise people he's keeping alive with deals might die again :[ he's terrified of the ink machine rip)

back to the found ones harbor, hes organized a meeting to make a list of what people want from the outside world before they hunker down for a more permanent living situation. they're pretty self sustainable rn but people dont have phones and stuff so getting that would boost morale. he, bendy, norman, shawn, lacie, and maybe tom, are all gonna go out and get the stuff before the outside people start raiding walmarts and stuff out of panic. they r also gonna get an animal shelter's worth of pets to bring to the studio and keep them safe. maybe even a petco. also a lot of fish. we have canonized that norman really likes fish. its very cute. OH ALSO ALLISON IS PREGNANT SO THEY ARE GETTING BABY SUPPLIES

BUT YEAH A LOT HAS HAPPENED. im skipping a LOT of stuff that has happened since the last update and now (traveling through universes uncontrollably, dying a few more times, a terrible and evil forest full of nightmares, a handful of deals, gabriel dying and being brought back, etc) but thats the gist of it :]

[havin-a-wee]

Stars Align

pairing: harry styles x y/n

warnings: fluff, ig you could consider it angst but its really just mysterious

word count: 2k

hello! i apologize for kind of disappearing, my fic rec account has kind of blown up and ive been super busy with that.

this is my entry for @sweetlygolden 's Harry On Holiday Challenge! i chose strangers in the same city, and the line prompt “That is the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen.” i honestly already have a part 2 planned out but we'll see how it goes!

“How much longer are you going to stare at that pretending like it’s interesting.”

Her soft voice surprised him, and he whipped his head around to see who had been speaking to him.

For the first time in a while, Harry was able to get away for a little. Of course, he travels a lot for work, but this was the first vacation since he can remember where he was alone, doing whatever he pleases. He chose Italy for this special occasion, because it’s always been one of his favorite places, and he missed the freedom of wandering around the boot shaped country without a care in the world.

The day's adventures had brought him to La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, which is a museum that he's been wanting to see for quite some time. He started the day off by getting a cappuccino and a crespelle from a wonderful little cafe down the street from his hotel.

Right afterwards he walked to the museum, taking in the sights around him on the 20 minute trek to his destination. Before the woman behind him snatched his attention, he was staring at a painting of an abstract house. The house was only painted in blue, and the artist had used the different shades and tones of the color to create the details in the painting.

He had been staring at it for a good amount of time, which he assumed is what prompted the stranger to talk to him.

It’s his 3rd day on the trip, leaving him 4 more until he has to be back in L.A. for work. He has no plans, no schedules, no job to do. It’s just him and the world. At least, that’s what he assumed it would be. The vacation is supposed to be a solo one, however, he’s currently staring at a stranger that decided to speak to him. And for some reason, he is drawn to her. Compelled to spend time with her after just a simple sentence was spoken between the two of them.

When he fully turns around she jumped, a bit startled by his bright red complexion. “That is the worst sunburn I have ever seen!”

It was true, Harry had managed to get himself a nasty burn on the first day in Italy. He usually tans instead of getting a sunburn, but when you’re used to the dreary weather of the UK, it can be hard to forget how strong the sun is in other places.

So he had laid out on the beach and fell asleep, waking up a few hours later with tomato red skin and a burning sensation covering the exposed skin.

“That’s what happens when y’fall asleep on a beach in Rome,” he chuckled, smiling awkwardly at the woman before him.

She’s beautiful, there is absolutely no denying that. She was wearing a simple spaghetti-strap black dress that cut off right at the knee. There were no designs, no embellishments, just a black dress that hugged her figure perfectly. Her lips have a deep red lipstick smeared across them, and he couldn’t help but notice how the color complimented her skin tone. Her simple black pumps completed the outfit, and her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, with a few of the front strands falling out of the hair tie and framing her face.

“I’d assume so.” Her demeanor is serious, even though there's a smile on her face. She’s…..intimidating?

Harry hasn’t been intimidated by anything since he was a teenager. Once you perform in front of thousands of screaming people, who also happen to idolize you, things don’t tend to phase a person anymore.

But for some reason, her presence caused butterflies to fly around in his stomach, a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time. He actually enjoyed the feeling, it reminded him of when everything was normal.

What also reminded him of normality was the fact that she seems to not have the slightest clue of who he is. If she does, she’s sure as hell good at hiding it.

“You’ve been looking at the same painting for 10 minutes, just wanted to make sure you hadn’t fallen asleep.” A small laugh escaped her lips, and the noise agitated the fluttering butterflies residing in his tummy. Her voice is mesmerizing, and she sounds like what Harry imagines an angel to sound like. She has an American accent, and it eased his nerves slightly that she was also a tourist.

He turned back to the painting to look at it, but it was also convenient in that she wouldn’t be able to see his undoubtedly flushed cheeks.

“Yeah m’not sure what it is ‘bout it but there’s somethin’ special with this one.”

“That’s Prismi lunari by Fortunato Depero, he was very talented.” Harry spun around once again to face her, shocked at her knowledge of the random artwork.

“You know that off of the top of your head?” He tilts his head and looks at her, furrowing his brows in confusion. He’s pretty sure there was no label for the painting, and if there was it was way too small for her to see from where she’s standing.

“I know a lot of things.”

The statement was simple, but Harry wondered if her words paired with the smirk on her face are code for something else. “How long have you been here?” Her question snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at her and smiled. He flicks his wrist and directs his attention to it, reading the Gucci watch adorning his wrist.

“Well I got here at 11, so about 5 hours.” It honestly surprised him when he realized it was 4 o’clock, but he knows how wrapped up he gets in artwork so he must have lost track of time.

“Jesus christ! I can barely stand to walk around a museum for an hour!” She blows out a puff of air, mocking being out of breath. They both laugh at her comment, Harry laughing a bit harder than her. “What’s your name?”

“Oh! M’Harry, s’nice to meet you.” He stuck out his ring-clad hand, and her delicate fingers wrapped around his as she shook it.

“Well Harry, wanna get out of here and walk around with someone who knows the city?” She points at herself, and the small smile she gave him earlier transformed into a silly grin.

“Well m’not sure how well an American can know the city, but I’ll bite.” Usually he would never do this. Going off with strangers is never a good idea, especially because of his status. But there’s something about the girl that makes Harry feel safe. They had just met yet he feels like he could trust her with things he hasn’t even told his best friends.

“An American who’s been living here for a year, that is.” His eyebrows raise slightly, intrigued by her new admission. But before he can even open his mouth to speak, she grabs his wrist with her daintily manicured hand and whisks him out of the quiet museum.

The air was humid, quickly drawing beads of sweat from his forehead. He’s also quite baffled at how she was completely unphased. Not a single drop of sweat was dripping on her body, her soft skin untouched like an old porcelain doll, preserved for years in perfect condition.

“I’ll show you around a little, we can go to this wonderful little vintage store I know.” She had turned to face him, her hand moving from his wrist to cup his one hand in both of hers. “Um- at least, if you want to.” For the first time, she was nervous. Although she will never admit it, Harry makes her extremely nervous. Extremely.

When he turned around when they first met, her jump of surprise wasn’t just because of his bright sunburn. In fact, it wasn’t about that at all. It was about how fucking attractive he is. He really looks like one of the statues that was put up in the museum. His sparkling green eyes send a shiver down her spine, and the tattoos peaking through his thin white t-shirt cause a fire to build in her stomach.

Having someone to talk too while he traversed the streets of Rome is a lot more enjoyable than Harry had anticipated. He purposefully told all of his friends that he was going to be MIA while on this trip. But the fact that she is a stranger changes it in some way, in a good way.

The cobblestone streets are surprisingly smooth, and they walk next to each other in a comfortable silence for a long amount of time. The silence would only break when she would point out something in their field of vision. At one point, Harry pauses, standing still in the middle of the street with a thinking look on his face. He realizes that he doesn’t know her name, which seems ridiculous to him because they were walking around a foreign country like the best of friends. She turns to him, matching his confused look when they lock eyes. “I just realized I don’t know y’name.”

Instead of reacting like he would expect one to react when asked that question, her pupils dilated and for some reason she appears to be scared. Why would someone be scared when you ask for their name?

‘Maybe she thinks her name is embarrassing’ Harry thought, still looking at her with a confused look, but now it was laced with a bit of suspicion.

He watches her sigh, and her hand went up to her ponytail and pulled the black elastic out, her soft hair cascading down her shoulders. With another sigh she said, “Y/N. My names Y/N.”

“That’s a really beautiful name.”

“Oh! There’s the store!”

He found it odd that she was so eager to switch the subject, but goes along with it nonetheless.

The vintage store is lovely, and Harry was able to find a beautiful ring and necklace set, matching gold roses on both of them. They looked around the shop for about 15 minutes, Harry being the only one to make a purchase.

The sun had set by the time they went outside, which isn’t surprising considering that it was almost dark when they walked into the little shop. They stood, facing each other outside of this small little shop in Rome. Two strangers, who just happened to cross each other's path. Harry knows this won’t last forever, and he also knows that he wants to see her again. In a leap of faith, he pulls the gold necklace out of the small brown bag and looks up at her.

“Here, I got them so we could match.” It was bold, but Harry feels connected to this girl, and he doesn’t know it, but she feels the exact same. The smile she gave him when he handed her the necklace was bright and genuine, the creases next to her eyes proving its authenticity. He motioned for her to turn around, wrapping the necklace around her neck and clasping it while she held up her hair.

“Thank you Harry. This is the best day I’ve had in a while.”

“Likewise.”

“I hate to do this, but I have to go. Have a wonderful rest of your trip Harry.”

It was then that she placed a small, tender peck on his lips, barely lingering for a second before pulling away.

“Wait! Can I get y’number?” Her smile slanted into a smirk, and she pulled a small card and a pen out of her small black clutch. She placed the card up against the brick wall, leaning it against it and scribbling something down on the paper. When she finished writing, she pressed her lips against the card, handing it to Harry.

He looked down at it, expecting to see a series of numbers, but he was met with a simple note, scribbled on the piece of cardstock next to the red lip print she had left.

May the stars align in our favor once again. - Y/N

He looked up frantically, planning to ask her to write her number down as well, but he was met with nothing.

She had disappeared into the night, leaving as quickly as she appeared earlier that day.

[thefloatingstone]

One last Daicon IV post before bed but;

I unironically and very legitimately LOVE the rough, amateurish, derpy look to the Bunny Girl's face both as a child and as an adult. And I mean that VERY seriously.

She's not derpy in EVERY scene, and is clear some of the animators had a better grip on drawing faces than others, so there are shots were she still looks rough and unpolished but a little better done.

But I am very serious that I have genuine love and affection for the rough, amateur, unpolished look of her face (and child body in most of that segment).

Since Daicon IV, the Gainax crew have gone on to reference the Bunny Girl countless times in its later productions, the most direct being in Otaku no Video

But although the bunny girl in Otaku no Video has a MUCH more polished, clean and overall professional look to her face in every shot she's in and it is clear she's being drawn by what were now veteran animators of almost 10 years... what makes the derpy Daicon IV Bunny Girl's face so special to me is you can SEE the college kids making the animation for Daicon IV were copying Nausicaa and what was going to become the Ghibli art style.

Sometimes she looks a little more like a Macross or Gundam character, but for the most part, her art design is most clearly a copy of Miyazaki's art done by a college kid who didn't really know what they were doing.

And like... that's the whole POINT. That's WHY people care so much about Daicon IV even 40 years later. It's WHY people continue to try and restore the copies we have access to. it's WHY people keep uploading different versions of it to youtube and it's why the laserdisc is currently being sold for $2000 on ebay.

Daicon Iv was made by 12 college kids who didn't know what they were doing, imitating an art style from a master animator they revered (and if Otaku no Video is to be believed- slept in a queue overnight to see Nausicaa on opening day for) for a sci fi convention in which they tried to cram every single thing they have ever loved about sci fi, fantasy and anime in one 5-ish minute short film.

The animation in Daicon IV is incredible for ANY level of skill or experience. But if it was TOO perfect and TOO amazing we'd just take it for granted.

The Bunny Girl's imperfections remind us that this passion project was made by a bunch of kids because they loved Scifi, Fantasy and anime. They poured every single drop of their passion into those 5 minutes.

And Derpy faced Bunny Girl is here to remind you that they accomplished this INSANE feat which dropped like a bombshell at the Daicon convention in 1983 and literally changed anime forever... all while not being completely sure what they were doing and not being "that good at it".

The Bunny Girl has been drawn a few times by highly skilled artists, both from Gainax as well as just fanart, but I truly don't believe you could really re-capture what made her so special in the original short.

Things are too polished, people are too practiced and talented.

But Rough, bootleg Nausicaa, "eye trying to escape her face" Bunny Girl is absolutely, without making a joke about it, completely perfect.

[franeridart]

Anon said: Would you draw SukuFushi? (Sukuna x Fushiguro)

maybe? *thinking face* if I ever got an idea for it, why not. I find sukuna’s obsession with fushiguro entertaining so I don’t count fanarts for it as impossible haha

Anon said: I looked and I couldn't find if you've answered this already, so apologies if you did, but how do you draw your faces? I always struggle with face shape and yours are always super good with really expressive features! Anyway, thanks so much I love your art <3

HMMMMMMMM how do I do that indeed, the basics are honestly what you’d find on any basic tutorial about drawing a face (circle, cross in the middle of it, build the face around that - I really still can’t avoid that step and probably never will). As for the expressions, to be honest with you my way of going about them is thinking them up in emoji/kaomoji form first and then go from there. Emojis and kaomojis have to simplify expressions to the max since it’s such a simple format, right? But they’re still super expressive and convey exactly what they’re trying to say with one single glance, so using them as some kind of reference sheet has helped me a lot in figuring out what’s essential to express what I’m trying to say - still working on it though! I’m rarely satisfied with my expressions, they really do make or break a drawing don’t they............ you never stop learning, I guess!

Anon said:  Ahhhhhhh I just spent like hrs scrolling thru ur oc tag and they’re all amazing I love them so much but I keep confusing the everloving SHIT out of myself cuz I too have a child who is Leo and he’s literally so different from ur Leo lol. Anyway tho ur art is amazing and it honestly just makes me so happy so ty and hope have a good day!!

OHHHHHHHHHHHH MY LEO! It’d been forever since I’ve last drawn him, I kind of miss him............... glad you like my stuff, by the way! Especially about you liking my ocs, that means the world to me!

Anon said: hi there !!! i was wondering if i had ur permission to ur ur itafushi art in one of my edits ! i wanted to be sure before using it <3 total respect if its a no !! thankyouuuu

Sorry but I’d prefer if you didn’t do that!

Anon said:THERES A OCTOPATH TRAVELER LIGHT NOVEL AND ITS SO COOL BUT ITS ONLY IN JAPANEESE ! ;^;There's four stories with centered around pairs of characters and alfion is one of them !Idk if itll be transleted but i hope itll be cuz it sound awesome

OH I KNOW!!!!!!! I saw the art for the alfion one a while back, it looks so soft!!!! ;;;;; 8path is kinda niche as a game though, so who knows.............. let’s cross our fingers!!

Anon said:  hello, i am here to recc Skeletons by New Years Day because i think it might fit a few of your ships<3

Thanks anon now I’m emo ;;;;;

Anon said: bakubro gives the best hugs. kirishima is the only one who knows this. everyone is absolutely incredulous when the question "who gives the best hugs" goes around and kirishima answers bakugo. (bakugo thinks kirishima is the best but he benefits from kirishima bodily hugging him and he's biased)

Definitely!! He’s strong and warm after all, bet hugging him would feel the best.... the only one who shall ever know is kiri though, as I bet his hugs are only that nice when he really likes the person he’s hugging hahaha

Anon said: Hi! Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your JJK art! The colors and style are absolutely stunning.

Thank you so much!!!!!!! I feel like I’m mostly drawing for myself lately ngl hahaha so knowing you like it means a lot!!

Anon said: Hi!! This isn't a request I just really like your art! I found you from Pinterest on a kiribaku thing you drew! Your art is so cool! I wish I could draw like that!!! I'll keep looking for new art you've made :D

Aw pinterest.......................... glad you could find your way back here though!! And thank you!!

Anon said: This happened a while ago, but i wanted to say it anyway. I remember when I started watching jujutsu kaisen and I was looking for content arter finishing the first 10 episodes in less than a day and I found your first jujutsu kaisen post (it was posted that dame day) and i was like ???? One of my favorite artists got into jk at the same time than me!!! I just thought it was a neat coincedence to share! I really love your art too, you're amazing!! Happy New Year!!

It’s!!!!!!!!!!!! a pretty dang neat coincidence for me too, since it’s always nice to know at least some of my followers are still into the stuff I make hahahaha

Anon said: i think a lot abt ur art and how ive been seeing u since middle school and now im graduating highschool and we're still in the same fandoms, i hope this doesnt make u feel old but rather VERY cherished qwq

No anon this makes me feel amazing you’ve been around so long!!!!!!! I can’t believe you’re still here with my thank you so much for that!!!!!! I think I’m gonna cry a little here.......... ;;;

Anon said: Hi! I love your art so much!! 🥰 Have you read a KiriBaku fic called The Pit??

Probably not, haven’t been reading krbk fics in a while by now! I’ll add it to my for-later list, thank you so much for the rec!!

Anon said: can u believe that (sans sero) the entire bakusquad can be put into some form of punk/goth fashion? the realization was a galaxy brain moment for me. also realizing that tokoyami, kirishima, and tamaki are all varying levels of goth/emo (some more concerning than others)

Sero’s the hippie friend every punk friend group needs, he balances things out and that’s why he’s very cherished and necessary!!!!

Anon said: your bakugo drawings convinced me to finally start stretching my ears and tbh i'm extremely excited (i've had off and on thoughts of stretching my ears (again) before this so it's not as impulsive as it sounds haha)

Anon that’s so cool!!!!!!! I love gauges so much.....................glad I could give you the last push for it!!

Anon said: uhhhh, i love the style of that top left goge drawing dude!!

THANK YOU I LOVE DRAWING IN THAT STYLE THIS ASK MEANS THE UNIVERSE TO ME

Anon said: i sent the dragon!kiri and bakugo tug-of-waring over a piece of meat and honestly your response is exactly what i thought

Great minds!!!!!!! hahaha

[sarady]

just felt like drawing tempest shadow because she cool af