#under layers and layers of bright patterns lol

[skreebat]

The OUAW brain rot continues.

I love their designs! And I wanted to have a little fun figuring out how I want to draw them, with my own little tweaks and self indulgent details. :)

Originally, I only meant to draw Frost, to figure out what kind of body type I wanted to give him. Then I ended up drawing the whole part, partially as a reference to myself. Also got their canon heights on a chart and put them all together for fun and for reference. c:

Some design tweak notes under the cut, if anyone’s curious! These aren’t redesigns or whatever, I just had some ideas in mind while sketching them in a way that fits my art style.

Design notes copied directly from my server:

🔥Gid THICK BOY. He's not really a bodybuilder but he exercises and is very muscular. And he eats! A lot. So, thick boy. Scars from all the fighting. The wrists and ankles are because of his past.

I like giving his hair and beard a lot more fire. Body hair also glows fiery, it's just less bright.

🐊Kremy I figure he's the skinniest of the group after Torbek. Most of what I did is a happy medium between references of alligators, the official art, and just my art style. Mostly game him scale patterns, more alligator-like feet, and changed the tail a bit, but it's hard to tell from this angle. Not much body definition because he's a squishy magic user and a gator lol

🐯Frost Fit but not defined. Kinda thick-ish, since he's a tiger, so there's loser skin and thick layer of fur. Digitigrade because I say so.

☹️Torbek Not much changed, mostly gave him more tubes, gave him bald patches where they connect to his skin (and didn't make those are infected looking as I imagine tbh), made him fuzzier, and gave him bigger ears because I like em. Also you can't see it in this angle but I like giving him a small fuzzy tail.

🐾Gricko Fit arms, but he doesn't exercise, so he gets a bit of a tummy. Scars because of his interest in monsters, and his various accidents. Wilder hair. Freckles and moles because I say so. Decorated hair (including feathers from Hootsie!)

🍄Twig Not much really?? Went by her description, the plushie and an emote of her that exists. Made her chubbier because I wanna. Originally made her hair all curls…might go back to that. Also freckles because cute.

Do you have your own headcanons for details of what they look like? :)

-- [BTW I do commissions]

[robolvrr]

medical malpractice. ‿⁠✷｡

pharma x human! gn reader.

warnings: medical play. sharp objects. temporary blindness/sensory play.

nsfw under the cut. this is a bit darker but this is pharma we are talking about here. not enough of this rat on my feed.

"are you sure ratchet isn't available?"

the cooling bulbs shine bright in your eyes and you itch the sleeves of your uniform, gaze wavering between the flawlessly polished floors and an elaborate monitor with a screen that easily dwarfed you lengthwise.

the fucker doesn't speak for an uncomfortable five seconds. you are convinced he purposefully does this just to have the pleasure of your wariness wither.

"yes, my dear. he has far more pressing matters than a simple organic check-up. i do apologize if my cycles of experience in this profession is.. lacking for your standards."

his back is all you see when your face twists, mouth slack as you struggle to seek a response.

sarcasm must be a species thing. almost every cybertronian on this ship seems to have a snippy remark.

"it's not that."

you don't know how to describe it. pharma is sardonic and precise. the crew members don't seem to have too negative of an opinion as his performance precedes his mannerisms.

when he first laid optics on you, there was a tiny voice in the back of your head that itched.

he did not share the warmth of his companions. granted, it was not as if you were adored by all mechs — plenty still had their reservations of allowing such an easily harmed creature aboard on a personal journey that they could not even hope to relate to.

however, unlike the other medics, you felt trapped under his leer. vivisected no matter the layers of insulation and nylon hiding flesh that blazed under unrelenting attention.

he never strayed far from your thoughts after that introduction. you can hear his croon at night and see those genuine, icy stares when you close your eyelids to toss and turn to sleep.

he's dangerous.

no one shows to share your beliefs. you don't speak of them out of fear of alienation. he triggers your survival instincts so strongly it starts to make you angry, because he hadn't done anything to warrant the disapproval.

he's a voyeur to your discomfort. sooner or later, you learn his subtle language and realize he's pleased.

you make efforts to avoid him. it's easy, given your skills don't overlap with his duties. you're just an engineer and more than half of the technology they possess is outside your education. you forget about his stalking frame and find members that treat you nice, treat you gentle.

this very situation is nightmarish.

"distracted, little dove?"

a yelp leaves your lips. his helm is eerily close and his smug smile remains firm on his dermas. you're so alarmed you don't notice the velcro round a forearm until he clasps the straps, tight.

the iv bag is clear. you breathe shakily.

"please keep in mind i do have your best interests in consideration."

"... just get on with it, doctor."

he hums, doesn't react to the bite. his digits graze your elbow. when did he yank up your sleeve? goosebumps freckle up your skin and he pinches.

consideration. the gravity of that word sinks in the pit of your gut. too easy to miscontrue.

"i understand your.. unease. alone, far from home, far from your own kind. under the scrutiny of what you cannot predict."

the medical stretcher slowly creaks back. the rusty pop of cogs startled you. a giant light nearly hides his calm demeanor, just the shadow of himself and a halo of sterile white behind him.

the electricity sparkling in your veins runs blood hot. faint beeping climbs in measure — you assume the thumping pattern of your heartbeat is what that is.

suddenly, your mouth is coaxed open.

metal - tool and him - slide across your tongue in a practiced sweep. it clinks against your canines and molars, scraping inner cheek until you feel just shy of pink, sticky sinew shredding.

a swab is after. it isn't rough but far from tender. this is no lollipop ending appointment and you become faintly aware of a chemical stench starting to waft around your vicinity.

"healthy. teeth all accounted for. funny, how these bones work. brainstorm had spoken to me about ah, what is it called for you. cavities. fascinating, your inner workings aren't close in nature and yet it can poison you, just by chance. find that small, plump heart and send it right into failure."

this conversation tinges dreadful again. you make a protesting noise that careens into a groan before he shushes you, sifting through equipment. having him in your mouth has your jaw throb sore.

"yes, yes, i know, keep it quick. while we are on the subject of brainstorm however i want to be frank. he has assisted me in creating a method to better examine your parts. you're just so.. fragile. small. i would hate to hurt you."

".. and what exactly does that entail?", you whisper dubiously, twitching at the thought of anything from brainstorm being near you in a ten mile radius.

he laughs.

"well", you blink and he is still difficult to see with all the lights and proximity, something wet and slimy dropping in both of your eyes. you squirm with a gasp and go to rub out of nature. he stops you.

"it's difficult to explain on your terms. but it's dropped into your eyes. microscopic cameras are effortlessly mixed with the solvent. it'll adapt to the shape. almost like a thin casing. it connects to my screen aaaand.."

you can't see. confusion driving the monitor to grow louder and louder.

"you put fucking cameras in my eyes? wh— what?! i can't fucking see! does ratchet know-"

"ratchet is not here. i suggest you find your bearings before you scare yourself to death, dear."

he sounds unapologetic. you fully drift to panic and think about the crawling sensation around sclera, unsure where your imagination and reality separate.

pharma sounds distant. this very room is almost closing in and your senses heighten in natural hopes to extend your survival.

his voice is charming and thick with something you can't identify. whispers hot in your ear. a cut has been made.

"excellent, little one."

this is torture.

one by one, the pain of an incision you can't even detect when it was sliced sutured with practical movements. unwoven, stitched again. you start to huff.

thumb catches moisture. you hear a rumble and it isn't the ship engines, it's him.

"just what else can the human body do?"

your throat closes up.

"how much could you take, hm? i simply want to know. there is no... allure of a broken body. perhaps in a dream. perhaps in my fantasies."

in and out, you fade. body trembling, hair sweaty on your forehead. he is an issue you cannot solve.

"perhaps, perhaps."

------------------------

"how did the examination go?"

ratchet doesn't pull from his work. the gruffness and bitter edge you have learned to navigate and know his inquiry is made out of concern, not forced.

"i... fine, i think. i can't remember."

ratchet keeps working, though his pace has slowed.

"... mm."

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

after 500 years, im back to working on line-ups for the oxventure PCs for each campaign, this time the hobby horses :3 as with the oxventurers guild, i put a good amount of thought into this, though maybe not as much as the guild haha but regardless, i'll go into more detail under the cut for anybody curious :]

once again, they all have their own eye shines (or, in barnaby's case, are dead behind the eyes lol), though theyre simpler shapes this time. edvard gets stars, lilith gets a squiggle, kasimir gets a hooked shape, and zillah gets hearts.

edvard - i see him as just kind of. soft around the edges from his rich upbringing, but generally is on the thinner side, kind of rounding out in the middle. very Just A Guy with his build and body hair. i went with brown hair rather than black because otherwise, everyone besides lilith would have black hair and it was just to monotonous for me XD still, i tried to keep it dark and not too bright so it would fit the vibe. also, for some reason i thought his vest was floral until i started coloring this, but it totally is not in canon??? :') i liked it too much to not do a floral pattern anyways.

lilith - i really adore her canon outfit, i just get very confused about the layering of everything. so i tried to do distinctive color-blocked for her outfit, while also restricting her outfit's palette to just purples and teals/blue. i am so bad at drawing snakes. i am so so so bad at drawing snakes XD also, i decided to give everybody at least one tattoo because i just thought it would be fun and im taking advantage of the gritty setting. theyre all cool and tough so they have tattoos and totally not because i just love drawing tattoos lmaooo

kasimir - kas is not much of a leap from canon. i love kasimir's design. i just gave him plenty of tattoos under that massive jacket of his. based vaguely on johnny's tattoos, i did my best to reference their arms but ended up more going off of the vibe rather than copying anything specific. johnny's tattoos are simply too intricate and beautiful for me to do repeatedly djfgbdfhd and okay i say this constantly but my faaavorite kasimir design element is his whale belt buckle. its so cute. i love it

zillah - she was also easy for the same reason, i just adore zillah's design. its simple and very fitting. so i just gave her exactly what she has, but like lilith, i simplified the color palette. since my art style is much more cartoony than colin craker's, especially when i dont hatch or shade, restricting the colors makes the designs look cleaner. i almost forgot to color in zillah's hand wraps by the way and i literally put my hand over my mouth, i only caught it as i was typing this XD it was so needlessly over-dramatic

barnaby - i dont know fully how to explain it, but barnaby is definitely the design i am most pleased with. not because i think he has the best design here necessarily, but because hes just so perfectly what i picture in my head. with a lot of my designs, ill adjust small details based on my mood or i just won't fully be confident in my decisions, but with this design? thats just barnaby. chef's kiss. like edvard, i gave him brown hair instead of black for some diversity. i also kept his very thin hair and high forehead because it makes him so endearing to me <3 no five o'clock shadow though, he has to keep himself looking young

[harrumphingtons]

rough sketch of a Lila Rossi redesign… what do y’all think?

(the goal is eventually redesigning all the major characters — stay tuned!)

me yapping about decision choices (both mine and the original ones from the show) under the cut - and feel free to give feedback/criticism! I’m very undecided on a lot of things lol.

i completely changed her color palette from the show (image below for reference) because, well. I’m really not a huge fan of that combination of colors. I feel like the polka-dotted gray-blue romper with the bright red-orange jacket and the gray tights and the brown boots was just wayyy too much going on. it honestly looks like something a child would pick out to wear (no hate to kids, kids can pull off any crazy color and pattern combos solely by being cute and small), which isn’t really suitable for a character who ends up being a model for a major fashion brand. I’m also a big fan of color symbolism and considering her whole thing is her slyness and her foxiness I decided that orange-red-brown was the way to go (the green on there is solely for her eyes). That’s also the reason I want to add in some purple elements, to bring her transformation into the new Hawk Moth into her civilian design. Currently the only purple in there is the linings of the boots and the jacket, as well as the bracelet. I feel like there needs to be a little bit more but I’m not sure where. Any ideas?

The other thing I knew I had to fix was the hair, for obvious reasons. That’s the other detail that really undermines the whole “she had major model potential” thing. I know Gabriel picked her for other motives as well, but. Come on. When I look at that I do NOT see model and it’s not because she doesn’t have potential (she has a LOT of potential) but because the design choices are all wrong. The color scheme is bad and the hair is just… awful awful. I do like the bangs and the long hair, and I guess the goal with the sausages in front was to give her layers? And I don’t really know how the hair tie at the very bottom of the rest of her hair in the back ever got approved as a design decision. So I decided to keep the bangs and the long hair but leave it loose and make it a bit wavy-curly for the volume instead, but I’m still undecided on layers or not. Any thoughts? I think layers would look good but… do I want to draw that? Perhaps not.

I’m also still undecided on the boots. Still considering staying a bit more true to the original design and making it booties as well as tights, but I really like the look of the tall boots. If you have any opinions on that as well, I’d love to hear them!

[zevrt1]

hello! in awe of the way you render metal and armor ... any tips for how you get it to look so defined and shiny? or just like your process in general? much appreciated ty!! and i love your art!!

Hiiii ty Anon (づ๑•ᴗ•๑)づ♡

I'm bad at describing stuff with words but I'll do my best with some screenshots from the process :'D (apologies for my handwriting in advance lol)

First I sketch the silhouette of the armor/prosthetics etc. with a dull dark shade that will be the middle tone of the armor. On this silhouette I draw the approximate location of the highlights with a lighter tone.

(Btw I'm usually drawing render all on one layer, and mixing colors/tones with a flat brush, so it makes the piece look more alive idk)

Next step is sketching details, this is done in a darker shade, mixing black, also adding some cold tones in accordance with light

And then my favorite part :3 I highlight the “convex” parts of the armor with a bright light tone, as well as parts that fall under the lighting. Brush pressure and mixing with already applied colors also matter here. I also highlight elements such as armor joints, seams, and patterns in bright colors.

And then I add some stripes or scratches with a bright color used for final highlights rendering (I usually do this with a standard brush textured with "Jeans" and some random lines).

All done :D

Ah and these are colors that I mixed during the rendering process

[technician-the]

Yamaha FM sound expander EMT-1

As is seen in the picture, the yamaha EMT-1 is part of a line of home keyboard expanders Yamaha made in the very late 80 (and early 90s). these halfrack units were designed to stack, and apparently the EMT1 is the bottom of the stack, because it comes with little plastic feet installed. they also originally came with little clips to lock the units together, but I don't have those :(

The EMT-1 is the little brother of the FB01, which was a fully featured dx100 in the same half rack box. the EMT-1 is a preset only machine built around the same FM ic, and although that makes it much more limited, it is probably Yamaha's only FM synth that is actually easy to use. 

there are 32 presets, each with two macros, (slow/fast bright/mellow). there are 5 positions for each macro, (Ie from normal up to +2 bright or down to -2 mellow). this is unlike the EMR1, which only has large, normal, and small versions of each pattern, (also on that machine the slow and fast are sequencer tempo controls.) 

there also an lfo, with tremelo and vibrato mode, controllable only by midi, so if you can untangle this chart, you get lfo;

(lol)

Anyway, the machine has 8 voice polyphonie which can be split into either a 6 + 2 right hand + bass mode, or a 4 + 4 split mode.

The sound

The EMT-1 actually sounds pretty good, it has pretty much all the classic yamaha FM presets, and it is a really vintage FM synth under the hood. the macros are surprisingly useful, and can either lesson the FM cheese factor, or let you shovel it on, as required ^^   

I recordered a little piece with this one, using it for the synth lead, and trying the 'drum' voice. I wanted to try controlling it with the EMR1, but I coldnt get it to work. I think that unit might just send clock (?).

 the drum preset was cool, but didnt exactly offer as many different sounds as I might have hoped, so needed some support. the lead is the trumpet preset with bright at +2, then filtered externally, and some layered 'strings' and 'horns' preset. with the brightness cranked the trumpet had a fantasitcally buzzy synth sound that took the filter very well, not realistic, but nicer in its own way.

also featuring me playing bass, and some drum samples (kick, crash, and 2nd snare). I layered the bass with a synth bass from the sq8x, (free vst emulation of the sq80) which I filtered for just attack.

[megsamforever]

Thank you for tagging me @iri-vail, tag games are fun!

rules: share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns!

pictures from a flood (harry potter)

James’ shout was abruptly washed away in the bright flash of green light downstairs, followed by a muffled thump, and she knew distantly what that meant but her mind refused to process it.

self-plagiarism (scum villain's self-saving system)

“Zhangmen-shixiong.��� Shen Qingqiu was perfectly polite, expression tucked carefully away behind his fan as he made his way to his seat.

tame every monster with light (scum villain's self-saving system)

Shen Qingqiu didn't take as many night hunts as his martial siblings, being the Peak Lord of a peak more known for scholars and artists.

these autumn hands (scum villain's self-saving system)

“My king.” The words were spit out like a taunt, Shang Qinghua grinning with bloody teeth as he wiped his face on his sleeve.

two drums in the grey (mdzs)

Had she thought about it more, Lan Wangji would have left Cloud Recesses under the cover of night.

a small spark (mdzs)

It had started, as many things did, because Wen Qing was worried, and Wei Wuxian had learned early on that she wouldn’t budge until she’d gotten her way.

the big moon needs the tree (mdzs)

Desperation drove him, when he should have collapsed.

underneath your teeth (it feels just like home) (mdzs)

Jiang Wanyin was both exactly what Nie Mingjue expected and nothing like he’d thought.

my fears tell me I'll never win (hockey rpf)

Claude is young and stupid, with his missing tooth and unkempt ginger hair, and Danny wants him in a way that he hasn’t wanted anyone since he and Sylvie split.

limned in gold (hockey rpf)

It’s a story, more than anything else, less a fairy tale and more the kind that starts religions.

Apparently I like to make it clear who's POV it's in and/or sort of set the stage for the fic, I kind of knew I did this but it's fascinating seeing it laid out like this.

Also I need to finish and publish more of my scum villain fics, I've definitely written more but apparently it's all sitting in my wips folder. Though once you get past the mdzs layer it's alllll hockey rpf fics lol.

(For full disclosure I skipped one mdzs fic because then I could include one of my favorite hockey pieces I've written. Limned in gold is one of those fics that I was delighted to write and reread a lot because I love how it turned out.)

I'm trying to remember who I know who writes, tagging @theonceandfuturequeenoftarts @theeternalghost and whoever else wants to do this.

[thelooniemoonie]

Guess who fell into the trend ever since the ATSV release-

Anyways here's my spidey-sona! I dont have a lot going on for her, but I wanted to blurb a bit under the cut:

I wanted to go for a more Eastern-Asian designed spidey, I was originally gonna go for a hanfu-styled design but it looked a little wonky with the layers, so I decided to go for the classic skintight suit but with embroidered flower patterns as one would see on a hanfu.

Also idk if others used the spider lily design yet but I thought it would be a funny play on words- and naturally I wanted to give her a design that kinda followed like...themes? Like spider lilies, themes of life and death, but also making her web bright red as a theme of embroidery and the "red string of fate"

She doesn't have any special powers compared to the others in the spider society (partly because i never read the comics lol) but I wanted to give her enhanced healing over other spideys, so that if injured she could stitch/embroider/web(?) her wounds back together.

Never the less this leads to interesting interactions--

[turtblurts-pkmnirl-hub]

☀️ I LOVE Z

I LOVE HER SM. She's so fun, I love her paranoia and at the same time, stubbornness to give up how she sees the world, her desire to narrate it all.

ALSO I KEEP NOTICING THINGS IN HER DESIGN THAT MAKE HER LIKE A BUG AND IM LIKE HOLY SHIT

Also!! Z- Her name is Z, and she uses Z themed tags in her ask games and posts.... I don't know if the name is intentional to sound like a buzzing sound that flies make but!! but!!

Aughghuaghu biting and chewing

YEA YEA YEA YEA!!!! she sooooooooo!!! forgive me for being probalyb a bit incoherent but its like almost 1am and i have school in the morning but i wanna fuckinnnnn answer this ask before i go to bed yippee yay

her name being z isnt inherently bug-related NOR is it totally porygon-z related (its a factor but its not the sole reason lol). and while the Z-theming in her tags and posts is more related to the porygon-z than the bug thing, its a silly side effect that i think she gets a kick out of!!!!

OUGHOUGHOUGH im so in love with z's character design!!! a lot of it is based around bugs, particularly flies! aghgahgahgaghgh actually ykw lemme fuckin. rant for a moment abt z's design

putting this under cut for insect imagery!

overall color scheme inspired by common green bottle fly

her bright deep-pink glasses are reminiscent of the big, red compound eyes that flies have

Grey face mask with zigzag line down reminiscent of mandibles

Scarf that goes down behind her back meant to look like the wings of a bug

Kind of hard to tell from this reference alone, but both the backpack and the winter vest are kinda meant to look almost metallic like a bottle fly. The backpack is meant to give her silhouette more of that fly-like appearance.

Black pants and arm warmers meant to be reminiscent of fly legs. The hexagonal patterns are kinda just meant to break up the monotony of the design

BUT! the use of hexagons in particular is meant to tie into both her motifs with tech AND with the bug typing, as it alludes to the shape of honeycombs.

also its a bit hard to see on the colored version but if you look at the doodles on the side you'll notice that the strands of hair that fall to the sides of her face kinda curl into themselves a bit. this is another thing meant to tie her back to her being a bug specialist because this is something you kinda see with some of the recent bug trainers in the games. its meant to be kind of reminiscent of either bug antennae (viola) or a proboscis (katy), but i focused less on what it represents and more on the fact that it is intrinsically connected to bugs and bug type trainers. i tend to draw a lot of inspiration from character design philosophies from the games to make my own trainer characters, so seeing a pattern like this established within the games and implementing it into my own designs can help to add another layer onto the established motifs.

and last but not least...

even her shortass height is meant to tie back to bugs. bugs are small and hard to notice. she relates to them a lot. she wants to be a fly on the wall: small and hard to notice

[stepswordsen]

LimGuda WIP doodles

I wanted to compile my collection of LimGuda doodles mostly from 2021 ~ 2022. They’re rough WIPs, but I wanted to post the ones I still like. I’ll put them under the cut, along with some rambles I have on LimGuda wearing Việt phục, traditional Vietnamese clothes! I’ve been meaning to redraw these sometime in the future.

LimGuda my comfort headcanon NBLNB couple!!! 🥺 💚 🧡  God I love them so much it's unreal. 

Việt phục talk 

I’m planning for Douman and Ritsuka to wear matching Việt phục (“Vietnamese traditional clothing”). The specific type of Việt phục they’re wearing is called áo tấc (“10 cm dress”). It’s also called áo tế (“Ritual/Ceremonial dress”). Tấc is a unit of measurement. In modern times, 1 tấc = 10 cm, and it’s the width of the hem of the dress or bound seam. 

Áo tấc is the historical predecessor to Vietnam's national dress, áo dài (“Long dress”). Áo tấc is also called Áo ngũ thân tay thụng (“Five-panel robe with loose sleeves”). It’s a type of Áo ngũ thân (“Five-panel robe”) with large loose sleeves. Áo tấc was worn by all classes for various occasions. 

I have an art idea of Douman and Ritsuka wearing green and red áo tấc... Red is a colour worn by Vietnamese brides. I usually see Vietnamese brides wear red, pink, or gold, etc., or bright colours at their weddings. Red, blue, green, and pink are common Vietnamese wedding colours! So that’s why I want LimGuda to wear green and green áo tấc.

That reminds me, I've had the idea of LimGuda wearing áo tấc in my head for the longest time and I haven't refined the rest yet because I haven't been able to decide whether I want Douman’s hair in braids or ponytail LOL. These are my ideas for them:

Douman

Green áo tấc with black trousers, hair based off his 1st Ascension design, but styled into braids or a low ponytail. I think I’ll end up going with the braids! I’m also thinking of another version with him wearing black and red áo tấc with black trousers, based off his 3rd Ascension design.

I think for Douman, I'd use the same muted emerald green he wears. Áo tấc are usually simpler in style compared to outfits like áo nhật bình (“Square collared dress”). 

Ritsuka

Red áo tấc with white trousers, maybe a red khăn đóng (turban headpiece), white and red beaded necklaces, and elaborate gold hairpins. As for their hairstyle... maybe I can have their tied back in a bun with some loose strands (the common Vietnamese bride look). Or their hair could just be let down loose.

LimGuda in in Việt phục… wearing my culture’s traditional clothes??? I AM ON THE FLOOR. The Nguyễn dynasty's áo tấc and áo nhật bình make great wedding attire. Red is such a classic colour for traditional wear and weddings to, and Ritsuka would look so kissable in red áo nhật bình~ My wifey wife wife...

I wanna draw them in áo nhật bình eventually, but the patterns on nhật bình are more colourful and detailed, so I'm saving that for another time.  

Extra rambles

Douman has such a good design. Their design is amazing, but it’s so detailed and complex, so I wanted to draw LimGuda in áo tấc so I can have simpler designs to refer back to whenever I want to draw them quickly.

I still have to redraw the áo tấc Ritsuka though, it's an old doodle from 2021, and I improved a lot since then, so it’s outdated compared to my current art style. Somewhere around ~2022, I started using a weighted inky brush instead, and I think it suits my art style more! I love using weighted inky brushes! I've been using it as my sketching/lining brush ever since.

I read an article before that talked about how combinations of green and red in Viet weddings were considered a symbol of courtship and marriage... and romantic with erotic symbolism... Oh my god... LimGuda...

I read a post by @/lotusinjadewell that in Southern Vietnam, Viet brides would wear 2 áo ngũ thân on top of each other, with the outer layer being green, and the inner layer being red. That reminds me of Douman colours...

LimGuda wearing green and red Việt phục (Combusts) I wanted to choose those colours because green and red are also notable wedding colours! Anyways I'd have many more things to say about them, but it'd be an essay, so I just wanted to let people know about my immense love for them!!!

I wanna draw them more, since they’re one of my top favourite ships ever and incredibly important to me, but Douman’s design is the most detailed and complex out of my faves. Still, I'd like to become powerful at drawing them someday. Plus, I wanna give myself simpler outfits to fall back on whenever I don't want to draw their canon outfits (especially Douman's which has too many details)

They give me constant brainrot I think about them every single day. I’ve been down bad for them since December 2020. LIMGUDA

[sheliesshattered]

In my last couple of Batuu bounding prep posts, I've referenced my latest sewing project for that upcoming trip (3 weeks from now!!) but I've been buzzing along on it so well that I haven't done more than pause to take a picture now and then while I work. It's getting close to finished, so I figured it was time for a post about it!

Last sewing update, I was working on my blue linen vest, drafting the pattern and fitting the lining. The issue with the bust seam that was driving me crazy turned out to be a mistake with my notch markings, which didn't transfer correctly between patterns, so the two edges were mismatched. Once I figured that out, I was able to correct the error, get that bust seam sewn, and try on the lining for fit.

There are a couple of small things I want to change before I cut out the exterior layer of the linen, but the major thing that fitting revealed was that I needed to decide on which shirt I'm going to wear under it -- or at least, the thickest shirt I'm likely to wear under it. I tried a couple of things in my closet to see what color and texture looked best with the blue linen of the vest and the gray and black herringbone of the hooded wrap. The white shirt was too bright, the black shirt was too dark, the gray shirt too flat, the green waffle knit okay but still not quite right.

And while I was going in and out of my closet looking for options, I kept seeing the Solstice dress I sewed in December, with its pretty blue-gray cotton sweatshirt knit fleece. Since all the shirts I tried on just weren't working, I put on the Solstice dress instead and put the linen vest and the hooded wrap on with it. The color was perfect, just a lovely mid point between the blue of the vest and the gray of the hooded wrap. The dress itself wouldn't work, but maybe a shirt made out of that fabric?

The only problem was, I didn't have very much fabric left over after making the Solstice dress and the wide-legged pants I layer underneath it on especially cold days. I had a couple of pieces that were a yard or yard and a half long, but only one scrap with that sort of length that was 14" wide. Everything else was in the 6" to 12" wide range, and all with curvy uneven edges left over from the princess seams of the dress. I thought about maybe ordering another yard of the same stuff, but that would mean waiting for it to ship, then washing and drying it before I could even start on this shirt. And everything else I'm sewing for this Batuu day are all stash-busters, using fabric I already had on hand, nothing but a zipper and some thread bought new.

So I decided not to order more, and just draft my pattern around the blue-gray sweatshirt knit fabric that I do have on hand -- and thus the 'scrappy sweatshirt' was born. After looking through all the scraps I had, I drafted a pattern based on a fitted rashguard I made in 2021, which had princess seams (because that's the only way to get something actually fitted on me, lol), and a narrow contrast stripe on the body under the arm and a matching one on the underside of the sleeve. I used the neckline from the Batuu vest so those V-neck angles will match, made a couple of adjustments to the bust shaping, then cut out the pattern and started looking for scraps big enough for all the pieces I needed -- 14" wide center front and center back, shaped side front and side back pieces, narrow rectangular side pieces, and six pieces total for the long sleeves.

I decided to do lapped seams throughout the project, for a couple of reasons: First, I know from sewing the Solstice dress that regular old plain seams end up being a bit bulky in this fabric, especially on places like the bust seam where both sides of the seam allowance like to fold to one side, creating an area that's three layers of heavy knit fleece stacked together. Since this shirt will be going under a fitted vest, the less bulk the better. And secondly, since I was working with so little fabric, I knew that I'd get more mileage out of what I do have with lapped seams rather than plain seams. With a plain seam, I lose 1cm on each side of the seam, but with a lapped seam it's only about 1cm total -- and with fabric scraps this narrow, every centimeter counts, lol.

I tried a couple of techniques on some scraps that were too small to be much use in any other way, and decided on a tiny raw edge on the exterior, with one line of stitching, and 1cm of seam allowance on the pieces that go underneath in the lapping process. I had to use chalk to mark out that 1cm from the edge distance on every under piece, and then draw on markings for any notches, but besides that being a bit tedious, the seams went together nice and easily, and I very quickly had a front and back of three pieces each, connected at the shoulders with an under-lapped piece about 2.5" wide.

I cut similar 2.5" wide strips for the side seams and for the tops of the sleeves (since I'd had to split the sleeves down the middle just to be able to find enough fabric to cut them out of). The sides of the body went on easy as can be, exactly the right length -- and then I started in on the sleeves and realized that I had cut four strips to the shorter length of the body, rather than two at that length and two more at the ~5" longer length for the sleeves.

I had one moment of feeling like I'd screwed the whole thing up and wondering if I could possibly find enough fabric to re-cut those long thin on-grain strips. And then I realized, wait, this is the scrappy sweatshirt project, and the unusual piecing of the whole thing is half the point. So rather than even try to find enough fabric to cut out new sleeve stripes, I decided to do some intense (and decorative) piecing on the wrist end of the sleeve. The hooded wrap covers to about my elbows, and the vest will cover the main body of the shirt, so really that lower section of the sleeve is the thing that will be most noticeable, anyway.

I cut out 16 little rectangles at the same 2.5" width, and about 3.2cm tall (literally just the width of my metal ruler I use as a cutting guide, lol) and marked the 1cm overlap so I could start sewing them together. My plan has been to do an edge facing in that same ~3.2cm length at the neckline, hip-level hem, and sleeve hem, so making those all match seemed like a good idea.

I really like the final effect of this funny little shingled detail, especially for something that came out of a mistake in my pattern drafting and the restrictions of my very limited fabric. Once I had the shingles all added to the end of the long strip, I sewed them into the center of the sleeve, what will be the outside of the arm, with that same under-lapped style I'd done at the shoulders and the side panel of the body of the sweatshirt. It's a little bit similar to the pleated panel I'm adding to Jack's jacket, but without the pleating and with more raw edges.

With those panels set in, I then trued up both sleeves so that they match each other and the long seam is the same length on both sides, then added that 3.2cm wide hem treatment, for this final look:

The shingles end just below my elbow, so even with the relatively tight fit of these sleeves and the extra stiffness from all that stitching, I'll still have full comfortable range of movement. The strip at the hem is cut with the grain of the knit running perpendicular to the sleeve, which means it won't curl up or fray as much as the knit going the usual up-and-down direction.

The only place I couldn't do a lapped seam is in turning the sleeve into a tube -- or, I could have, but I would have had to handsew it, and I am so not about that right now, not with three weeks to go and Jack's jacket still needing handsewing too, lol. So I did a regular old plain seam with the raw edges facing inwards, but it's so normal looking that it really just melts into the background of all these other interesting looking lapped seams and raw edges.

So to repeat the first pic in this post, here's the current state of the sweatshirt, with my little leather gloves as an accent:

Tomorrow's tasks will be to attach the sleeves to the shoulders with another lapped seam (after possibly bringing in the edges of the shoulder top under-lap a little bit, so it matches the sleeves perfectly). Once I can try it on with the sleeves attached, I'll mark any changes I want to make to the neckline, then do the same hem facing treatment there as I did on the sleeves, with the narrow on-grain strip. The very last thing will be to even out and level the lower edge of the sweatshirt, and apply a similar hem treatment there, too.

I'm hoping to be able to get through all those steps tomorrow, and officially be able to call this piece of my Batuu outfit done. Then I'll be able to wear it while I do a final fitting of the vest lining, make any changes to the vest pattern based on those changes, and cut out the exterior fabric. After that point, I'm hoping the vest will come together pretty quickly, and we'll see if I have any time for adding little detail bits like functioning pockets or loops for code cylinders.

At the very least I would love to have a pocket specifically for my pilot's license, just so I can keep it both handy and safe from getting scratched up. But that's the sort of thing I can think about once the sweatshirt and the vest and the pleating stripes on Jack's jacket are all done. Three weeks isn't a ton of time, but on the other hand, three weeks ago I hadn't yet started on the pleating for Jack's jacket, much less these two other scratch builds. So if I can keep up a good rate of progress, I think I'll be able to get through all the projects and detail work I want to finish before our Batuu day.

And with that, I should wrap this post up and go get some sleep, lol.

[erigold13261]

what are your choices for element accent colors

here's mine

fire: shades between red, orange and yellow

earth: shades between orange and brown

electricity: yellow, straight up

wood/nature: green with some amount of brown

ice: ranging between cyan and white

water: deep blue to indigo

wind: purple, assuming greens, blues or yellows aren't already taken

darkness: black with some purple or red

light: white with light blue or gold

Accent colors? These seem more like predominant/main colors than they are accent colors. Like an accent color would just be something on the trim that contrasts the main colors. A very small amount compared to the main colors that just give that extra POP!

With fire for example, the main colors should be reds, oranges, and yellows. Very warm colors to represent fire and heat. As a small accent color, usually I would go with a bright gold, but that is if I am just using mainly orange and reds. If I am using all three of those colors then I think a purple that is still warm but leaning towards the cooler side would be nice.

Earth: Main colors would be browns, greens, and some of the more muted oranges. I think a strong bright yellow or red could be a good accent for this palette.

Electricity: Yellow for the main color, but maybe a blue or white for the accent colors. OR, you can have the main color be a very dark blue or purple, even just a charcoal or black. And the accent color could be a very bright yellow.

Wood/Nature: I was thinking earth was this. This and earth are the same for me. I guess with this added section I would change earth to some silvers/greys and have those accents be red/oranges. Making earth kinda look like magma but not as fire-y. Wood/nature will get the description I gave for earth from above.

Ice: Main colors being a lighter blue with darker green-blues as a secondary color. White would be the accent Possibly some very minute pinks can be added to this palette I think.

Water: Green-blues for the main colors. Maybe a gradient into a deep sea green. A water pattern with some light teal and hints of light purples/violets could be nice (very light hints of the purple). A layer of just dark blue or an average blue over the deep green-blues could be nice (I am thinking of these colors as wizards for some reason, so like an under robe with the deep sea green-blues and an upper robe/cloak with the dark solid blue).

Wind: It's hard to think of wind for colors. Usually I think blue, but that's from Avatar the Last Airbender I think lol. I also think just going with light greys and whites, maybe silvers would be good for main colors. Then you can have accents of very light, pastel colors. I'm mainly thinking of mixing warm and cool colors on the red and blue side. So reds, purples, and blues. Mainly leaning towards reds and purples, maybe some oranges and some blues. All of these very light pastels and in patterns that are broken up, no solid colors (like wisps of winds or fallen leaves).

Darkness: Depends really on the vibe you want. Cold darkness? Dark blues as the main with purples and greens as accents. Suffocating darkness? Very dark cool grey/black with the tiniest hints of dark colors. Probably like a very dark red. Just keeping the colors dark, not really having that high contrast is what you would want for darkness.

Light: Basically the opposite of darkness. Which would basically be what I explained for wind lol. Maybe wind can keep what I said but just have all the colors be matte colors. Light on the other hand is a dark silver that reflects all kinds of light. Basically think of those holographic fabrics used for skirts, jackets, and bags.

But yea. It all really depends on the vibe you want to go for. Like with water, I was going for like a swamp or deep ocean vibe. But you can also go with a waterfall or crystal clear lake vibe, which would be more of light blues, whites, and maybe some moss greens. You can change the accents to show different feelings and effects while still having a cohesive theme.

3 nature/wood characters could show off something like fruits and berries, flowers, or trees just based on their accents (as well as pattern/designs). As long as you keep the main colors the same or at least similar, you can have fun with the accents and still make them all look related to nature/wood.

Accents are just supposed to be hints in a design, not take up the whole piece. It's why they are called accents and not main colors/primary colors (primary colors as in the most prominent, not as in red/yellow/blue).

[nonasuch]

Cyprus absolutely could have Maria von Trapp'd this out of some spare banquet tablecloths and no one would be the wiser.

Miss Czech Republic was like, I want to celebrate our national heritage of making gingerbread, but I also want to encourage people to become bone marrow donors. Rather than choose one thing, I'm going to get a seventh-grade art class to decorate a bunch of kraft paper hearts about both. It's a bold move, Miss Czech Republic.

You know what, I'm a little unnerved by the the face on the mask (?) at her hip, but I love Miss DRC's makeup and everything else about this is great. Interesting silhouette, bold pattern, easy to move in.

This is the second year in a row that Miss Denmark has tried to pass this sort of thing off as somehow Viking-inspired. I'm not saying Vikings wouldn't have liked to have access to this many rhinestones and bright red feathers, I'm just not sure the historical record shows that they did.

Miss Dominican Republic is not breaking any new ground with this Sea Queen, but it's still a solid effort.

Holy shit, Miss Ecuador. In addition to wearing a model of the entire capitol of Ecuador, AND multiple transforming elements (the big feather wheel unfolds in back and the skirt had a mural hidden under the top layer), the birds are motorized so their wings flap. I hope that thing has wheely supports in back to take some of the weight.

Is Miss Egypt breaking new ground here? No, but it does have a giant blinged-out King Tut mask that flips back over her head, and it's ornate as hell, and I like her makeup. Again, one step closer to drag.

The flavor text for Miss El Salvador's costume was some word salad about transformation and The Future. Sadly this is just making me nostalgic for the year Miss Puerto Rico was the Sexy Arecibo Radio Telescope.

This does feel a bit ticking-off-a-checklist to me, but I will say that Miss Equatorial Guinea's doing a great job walking in it, so either the headdress and backpiece are super light or her balance is good as hell.

Ugh, I wish I had a higher-res picture of Miss Eritrea's costume. She looks gorgeous, and I love when these costumes are actually made of nice fabric. This would have killed at the Catholic Met Ball, too.

Somehow Miss Estonia is evoking a Valkyrie and a football cheerleader in exactly equal amounts. She does have a sword, at least.

I think this is fine? except I can't tell whether Miss Fiji's bodice is badly fitted and showing her strapless bra, or if that's an intentional design element, and it's distracting me from her actual costume.

Miss Finland, wearing a look rejected by the Rings of Power costume department for being "too plain, even for us."

Miss France, voting "Present." This is so "generic Concept Of France" that I'm just gonna move on.

lol Miss Germany this IS a drag look. Like fully. Come on now.

it's that time:

Miss Universe National Costume 2024

is Here!

that's right! Everyone's favorite justification for the continued existence of beauty pageants has returned. with Looks!

Some of this year's top Themes include:

foliage!

gold!

weapons!

giant birds!

letting seventh-graders make your costume, apparently!

I did watch the video, but the most complete version I could find is missing a bit at the beginning. So I can't tell you what the inspiration was for anything before Bolivia; on the bright side that's fewer shitty rhyming couplets I had to suffer through.

Let's begin with:

Miss Angola! Tone down the color palette a little, and this honestly could have worked for that year the Met Gala was Catholicism- themed.

Miss Argentina, looking just thrilled about the sparkly toucan on her head. I feel like this is supposed to read as some combination of jungle/river/waterfall but this is from the part that I couldn't find on video.

Miss Aruba, I don't know if your giant spangly bird headdress was supposed to look like a potoo, but I am choosing to believe that it's on purpose and I love that for you.

(okay I checked, it's an endangered Aruban burrowing owl. even better!)

This is like the fourth year in a row Miss Australia has just worn a regular-ass gown. Do better!

You know who's doing better? Miss Bahamas, is who. Look at that giant fish. I wish I had video of this, I bet it moves.

Ah yes, when I think of Belarus I definitely think 'verdant tropical foliage.' also is it just me or is does the bodice fit very weird.

Holy shit, Miss Bolivia. This is where the video kicks in, so I can tell you that she somehow managed to dance in it. I'm a little afraid that this costume is going to eat Miss Aruba.

Miss Bonaire is from a Caribbean island that I don't think has ever competed in Miss Universe before? They have a national marine park that this costume is based on, which is is nice!

Miss Botswana's costume is made of leather and cowrie shells, and she is clearly having a great time being able to move freely without 75 pounds of headdress or platform heels. She did a very cute dance that kind of felt like a flex on her more heavily encumbered competitors.

Miss Brazil is wearing a tribute to Brazil's mineral wealth, which is something that basically every country with a mine in it has done at some point. I like the pannier-esque things, I guess.

Love a Tribute To A Weirdly Specific Thing, and Miss British Virgin Islands' mail-themed costume is a wonderful example of such.

Miss Bulgaria showed up dressed as a supervillain, her outfit is vaguely themed around 'the strength of women' and she just spat out a MOUTHFUL of BLOOD? on stage??? No idea how to react to that, frankly.

I'm going to pause to get the next batch of images together, and also to recover from the 'spat out a mouthful of blood' thing, because I was NOT prepared for that.

[onedivinemisfit]

So I heard there was some talk about Zen needing more of a happy ending in the obiyuki verses! Very well, challenge accepted! My friend @bubblesthemonsterartist and I sat down to fix precisely that! Anything for some world-building and character creation 😈

Here we go! Zen marrying a foreign queen! I agreed with Joanna that he would surely do really well as a prince-consort, as excitable and driven as he is! He’ll be the easygoing to her strict, the extrovert to her introvert, the blush to her smirk~ It would do him well to humble, but also be humbled.

More to come later, bc this impulse design of ours has already garnered some interest on the discord 😘

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata

Art: More

[linusbenjamin]

Can you give me the simplest explaintion on how to make gifs. It’s literally 2022 and I’ve no clue lol

Hi! Hope you're doing great :) Hahah there's nothing wrong with that, I personally don't think learning to make gifs is something you'll regret being late for :D First off, I don’t think I can explain it simply, this is a complex process that requires constant practice. When I started making gifs again after 5 years, I realized that I actually knew nothing and I was never open to learning at that time. Now I’m constantly exploring every feature in Photoshop and reading blogger's tutorials on coloring and various other features to improve myself. I also will try to explain this process but if you want, you can check out this amazing tutorial made by one of my very dear mutual Nia <3

First you need to download Photoshop (I use CS5, I tried CS6 but not my type), you can buy it if you can, but here in my country, it's extremely expensive, so I downloaded it from t*rrent with a crack. Then you need to install MPV video player to take screencaps from videos (MPV is literally the best video player I’ve ever seen in my life when I started giffing again, like, it’s not just for giffing but other stuff as well ‘cause you can adjust it as you wish) Here’s a tutorial from this precious person I’ve never met (x) You download the first link (x) then you install it and you create a config folder (you can make as you wish but here’s mine x,) Also you can change jpeg to png if your pc doesn’t crash like mine :D

You need to download HQ videos if you want HQ gifs. I again use t*rrent to download videos, and after setting up and creating a folder for MPV player, you can start taking screencaps. As I said, screencaps are saved in a folder called “Stuff” in my PC, you can create a folder with a different name if you want but make sure to change it in config file too. After taking screencaps, open Photoshop and go to File > Script > Load Multiple DICOM Files. 

I take multiple screencaps of multiple scenes and I create folders where I put these screencaps to put them in order. Here, there are lots of screencaps in my folders, I choose the folder with the scenes I want to gif and open it. By the way, Tumblr gif sizes are:

You select Window > Animations. Animation section pop up at the bottom. Now everything should look like this:

And then you should select all frames to change the speed of gifs.

After converting the frames below to timeline, select all layers on the right side and right click > Convert To Smart Object. Now everything should look like this:

Crop the gif from the edges and zoom in 100%. Select Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. These are basic sharpen settings that everyone uses. I also add Unsharp Mask before that, you have to practice these things to find out what’s best for you.

Also there’s something called Actions to make things much more easier and quicker. You record and save some steps when you’re making a gif and later you can just click it and it does everything for you, it’s literally God’s blessing. Select Window > Actions, and it should appear on the right side.

As you can see, I have various actions for various steps which saves me from 15 minutes. After that, we colour the gif.

For this gif > Brightness: 80 / Contrast: 10 > Levels: First box = 10 / Last box = 230 > Selective Colour: Reds = +15 -3 -5 +5 / Yellows = +5 0 -5 -5 / Blacks = 0 0 0 +5 > Brightness (again): +15 > Colour Balance (lastly): Midtones = -5 +3 +3

And yay, we’re done with this part! Now you select File > Save for Web Devices. (or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S, so fun to do this) My settings and my gif looks like this.

You should select Adaptive always, and I personally love Pattern but you can also select Diffusion. (that’s what most people do to reduce MB size ‘cause it should be under 10 MB) But my work hasn’t finished yet. I open the gif again because Photoshop somehow changes the speed of gif from 0.05 to 0.07 so I should change it to 0.05 again. (I searched every single forum to find the answer but nothing) I do one more Save for Web Devices and yay I’m done!!! It’s complicated and tiring, isn’t it but once you figure it out, it’s so fun and easier <3 Here’s my gif:

Well, colouring looks like shit but this isn’t the case... That’s pretty much it, I really wanted to explain it simply but it’d be literally impossible :D If you have any questions, feel free to ask :) Have a good day.

[kotaki]

If you don't mind answering, what's your gif making process/apps?

tumblr deleted my response the first time, but it’s under the cut!♡

i don’t mind at all, i use cs5! i have CC too, but i don’t like it so i don’t ever use it.

i think my process is what most people do, which is import video frames to layers, delete the layers i don’t want or need, convert for smart filters and timeline and then sharpen and color.

when it comes to sharpening, i know a lot of people prefer that kind of “smooth” 0 sharpening look, but i don’t, i like it to look really sharp and “defined,” so i use 2 unsharp masks at 40%, radius 1.0, threshold 0.

this is what it looks like before (top) and after (bottom) sharpening.

as for coloring... i’m probably not the best person to ask about that lol i use about 40 selective color layers and i don’t have any artistic sense, i just like bright and vibrant colors. i tend to focus more on aquas and pinks because i like those colors.

i will say though, i personally think gradient maps usually look good. on the above gifs (and most of my other ones) i use a pink to white gradient map at 60% soft light at the very top of all of my layers which really helps in brightening it.

sorry that i’m super unhelpful, i don’t really do anything special so i’m not sure what else to say😅

edit to add: i also don’t use pattern when saving. i think diffusion looks much better and cleaner, especially on anime gifs.