#we'll see how much more background painting i can get done

[bigautomaton]

[genericpuff]

Hello! I’m just here bc I’m a little confused on what you meant by Smythe drawing out “each individual asset” when she was making comics? Now, granted, I can see that it made her file ginormous, but me personally as someone who knows nothing about making online comics but is really wanting to get into it (and also as someone who has a ‘too many layers’ problem myself), is there a way to avoid using too many layers?

My current way of making comics has been to draw the panels individually and then format them (which I know is terrible management wise and also messes with the quality) but I honestly have no other idea of how to do it properly, and seeing how stunning Lore Rekindled looks, I don’t know how you would manage to put all that lighting effects and little details on the same layers. (But also I may be thinking of it wrong so I’ll let you talk qwq)

Ah I can actually give you a visual breakdown of what I meant by that!

So in this you can see there are a TON of layers, and not even all of them are visible because some of them are stuffed into FOLDERS that have been left closed. BUT if you look REEEEALLY carefully-

^^^ These layers right here? That's specifically Minthe from this panel in Episode 61:

(the unique pose here makes it real easy to tell that this is the corresponding panel, you can see the matching body shape with the dark shading that's clipped to the base layer below it!)

So what this means is that Rachel didn't draw all her characters on one base layer, she drew every single character in every single panel separately. Now of course, she could merge all these layers together as working on separate layers helps make it easier to work on elements that collide separately (like one character being 'underneath' another character like Hades is here) but because she has all of those clipping layers with the shading already added in, she likely didn't merge them afterwards because that would actually create MORE problems (because if she merged the Minthe layer in with Hades, then the shading for Minthe that she painted outside of the lines would show up on Hades and then she'd have to erase it which is just a bunch of extra work).

You can also tell all these characters are on their own layer because the layer thumbnail EXCLUSIVELY shows those characters. A layer will show as much canvas length as it needs to cover what's in that layer, so if the thumbnail is only showing one character, that means there's NOTHING ELSE on that layer. If there were more elements on this layer than just Minthe, the layer thumbnail would look more like this:

Now let's compare it to Rekindled's layers! I'll use a completed page to make it fair as we use a lot of extra layers in the post-production phase where we add the texture effects and glow and all that fun stuff, plus I'll even make it a more complicated page like that big nymph explanation spread from Episode 51:

So I'll break it down to make this make more sense:

BG 2 Copy (technically this is supposed to be BG 1) - Basically the panel shapes, what I'll do is mark out the panels with flat blocks and through that we'll add background elements in a clipping layer (usually done by Banshriek). Often times they'll do multiple layers to make the process easier and then merge them all together in the end. With these shapes operating as panels, it means I can just auto select the whole layer, invert the selection, and easily erase whatever's outside of it (such as the lineart and base colors that I put down afterwards). I could just use masking layers like I did in [AFTERBIRTH] but I find this way works better for the process of making Rekindled.

BG 2 - This is where we add objects / foreground elements. So stuff like furniture, interactables, anything that needs to be kept separate from the larger background to make it easier to work with. This can also include "floating" panels that need to be above other panels, such as this:

All of the backgrounds are then nested in a folder for organization purposes (we also sometimes use clipping layers on top of those folders to apply extra effects over anything contained within that folder without affecting other folders, that's a common technique that Banshriek applies)

Then we get into our Characters folder:

BASE - This is where I do the majority of my work, all the characters in every panel on a page are flatted into this layer. Sometimes I do have to create separate layers to, again, make it easier to work with overlapping characters, but usually those layers will be merged before I go into the shading process. I simply shade on a single layer by using the lasso / magic wand tool to select my area for painting, the flat colors make it really easy to do that. Sometimes I need to create a secondary shading layer if I've put down dark colors that start to bleed into the lighter colors, but again, I merge when I'm done into a single shading layer. We also sometimes employ an Add (Glow) layer into the clipping set if we need a glow effect that's exclusive to the characters and doesn't travel outside of their base colors.

There's a (leaves) layer here that I used for the dryad because I needed the leaves to be above the base layer, after that I selected the leaves elements so that I could erase the lineart in the layer above it where needed.

LINEART - It's lineart, enough said haha That said, I do think Rachel actually uses clipping layers for her lineart in places, it seems to be visible in some of her process videos where you can see the lineart present in a clipping layer, and that would explain why there are panels where the lineart suddenly 'cuts off' and doesn't travel outside of the base layer, like so:

GLOW - This is where we do an Add (Glow) layer that isn't restricted to the base layer, it's where we add all the fun lil' glow and sparkle effects over the characters !

The CLOUDS layer is, like the leaves, a background element that needs to be above the base layers rather than constricted to the background.

Above the Characters folder you can see what I mentioned earlier where Banshriek has added more post-production effects that are exclusively clipped to the contents of the Characters folder. This means the effects / blend modes do NOT affect the background layers or anything above it.

The BLUR (Overlay) layer is something we just started doing over the past several episodes, it's a technique I actually picked up from 66 of City of Blank where I merge all the layers into a new visible layer which I then apply a Gaussian Blur to at around 60% and then set to Overlay (and then I adjust the layer opacity until it looks right, usually around 25-35%), it gives it a bit of a softer "dreamier" vibe in the final colors and really helps unify everything!

CANVAS - This is an Overlay layer which is also set to an opacity of 25-35% where I go over the panels with the Add Canvas brush from the Kyle Webster set, unlike the Canvas overlay texture in CSP I can actually choose the colors I want to use which means I can match the canvas texture color to the mood and environment of the scene (ex. I'll use a very light blue for scenes in the Underworld). Not only does it give it that signature texture from S1 of LO, but it also helps balance out the effects of the BLUR layer.

The SKETCH layer sits on top of everything and gets turned off once all the base layers and lineart are down, and ofc the SPEECH folder is just where all the text is kept.

I know everything I just laid out is a LOT but ultimately it's how we operate, it works for us! But it also begs the question of why Rachel operates the way she does because a lot of it seems extremely unnecessary and more likely to bite her in the ass (the more layers there are, the bigger your file size gets, the risk of drawing on the wrong layer increases as well as the risk of posting a panel that's missing elements because the layer was left turned off by mistake, etc.) And it's more so concerning with how she operates with her assistants because if she's still using this many layers when collaborating with other people, hooo boy. Though based on what I've observed of what her assistants contribute, I get a lot more of the sense that she circumvents this by having the artists do the flats separately and then importing them in as separate assets that she then just imports into the page and places them where they need to be. Still not a great workflow IMO because it's what's led to a lot of the issues of characters "floating" rather than feeling like they're actually in the environment-

-but that's still an issue that could be solved by Rachel just taking more time to actually flesh out the backgrounds and lighting to give more of an impression of the characters actually existing in the space. Like that Hestia panel could easily be fixed by just giving the background a bit more detail and putting actual shading underneath her (and lighting from whatever direction it's coming from).

Either way, regardless of whether or not Rachel's process is productive or not, I hope that breakdown helps explain how we do it in Rekindled! Learning how to manage layers is definitely a skill that can be tricky to harness, but once it "clicks" there's a lot you can get away with. Ultimately how you do it is up to you, but my best piece of advice to offer is to just be open to other types of workflows because you don't know how much you might be shooting yourself in the foot doing things the hard way when there are often way easier and more efficient ways to get the same job done. That's basically the vibe I get from observing Rachel's workflow, it seems like she's still using methods that she thinks are working for her (and probably did work just fine for her when it was JUST her) but could be vastly improved for her and her team if she'd just get over the initial hump of stepping outside of her comfort zone. Would probably make for a better comic too LOL

I hope that helps! Good luck! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

[lucy90712]

Can you write domestic fluff with joao felix?

WC: 2.6k Over the last year Joao and I have moved a lot with him going on loan to Chelsea then coming back to Atletico and now moving to Barcelona it's been a lot. When we moved to London we only rented a place as at the time we weren't sure how long we would be there which was a good choice as it only turned out to be 6 months but now moving to Barcelona we want to actually have a place of our own. There's a few reasons for this one being that Joao wants to stay here as even though he's currently only on loan he wants to stay beyond that and two we are awaiting the arrival of our baby who will be here before we know it. I was ok with renting somewhere if we had to but Joao wanted us to have a place to call home where we can decorate a nursery for our baby to grow up in. 

As soon as the move was confirmed we were looking at loads of houses all of which were lovely but we both fell in love with one place. It needed some updating and definitely some decorating to make it our style but we just loved the place so much that we decided that we would make it our project and do it together. I thought it would be fun to redo the place together as it will be our last big thing we do together before the baby arrives and Joao loved the idea so that's what we've been doing. 

As soon as we got the keys to the place we moved all of our things and went straight to the diy store to get loads of supplies. Walking around for the first time and looking at all the paint was a bit overwhelming but with some help from the store workers we found out what we would need and we picked it all out. While we were there we looked at all the colours we could have for the nursery but we decided to hold off on that until the rest of the house was done. By the time we had everything we had so much stuff which took ages to bring into the house especially as Joao would only let me bring in the light things like paint brushes. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Our decorating journey was put on hold after we got all the supplies as other things took over like Joao's debut for Barca and actually getting furniture for the place so we can live here properly. Now however we are officially starting our project and we have to get it done by the time the baby is due so we have a little under 4 months. Having such a strict deadline is kind of scary but I think it will motivate us to get it all done. 

Joao set an alarm last night which woke us up bright and early but it was fine as we both got up and got changed straight away so we could start right away. I was way more excited than I really should've been but it just felt so exciting to be making this house our own by ourselves without any outside help. I've always wanted to get into diy and nows my chance although taking on such a big project as my first isn't the most sensible but it's ok as it's our house so it can look however we want it to. Luckily I have done some research so I know exactly what we need to do it's just about whether we can actually do it but we'll figure that out as time goes on. 

Our first job was to wash all the walls down so they can then be painted. As there's a lot of walls to be done Joao and I needed to work together. He didn't want me going up a ladder just in case so I did the lower half of all the walls while he did the top half and the ceilings. We were having so much fun talking to each other while we had music on in the background which we were dancing to or at least I was. At some point Joao went mysteriously quiet for a bit too long but before I could look to see if he was ok I felt water being dropped on my head and down my back. Once the water stopped I looked up and Joao was laughing so hard at me that I couldn't help but laugh too as I can't lie it was a good prank. I couldn't let him get away with it though so I used the water I had and poured it on his feet to make his socks socking wet which he hates so it was good revenge. 

I won't lie we messed around as much as we worked but this is exactly why we are doing this together it's all about the memories and if that means it takes us longer then so be it. It also took us longer as I needed to take a break every so often because it was really tiring washing the walls. Joao joined me on my breaks which he said was to make sure I was ok but I think it's because he needed a break too he just wouldn't admit it. By the end of the day we had done every wall we were planning to paint throughout the entire house which really felt like an achievement. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Day two. Well more like week two something came up last weekend so we never got round to actually painting anything but this weekend any free time we have is already reserved for paining, no distractions. I've been looking forward to painting all week as currently our house is all a dim white which sure looks ok but I want some more colour. To decide what room to paint first Joao and I picked a room out of a hat and we got living room which is the room I've been looking forward to the most. My idea for this room was to re do the white paint on most walls and then we found this lovely sage green paint to go on the wall with the fireplace as an accent wall. I've been waiting ever since we got the paint to see what it would look like in real life so hopefully we can execute it well.

Joao prepared the paint while I put tape around the edges so we didn't get pain everywhere. When Joao came back he asked me to come over to him so I waddled over expecting him to show me something. I did not expect him to have a paintbrush in hand and bend down to paint something on my bump but that's exactly what he did. Luckily we had the forethought to get pregnancy safe paint which turned out to be a good idea as I'm now covered in it. 

"What have you drawn?" I asked 

"A happy face" Joao replied 

"I would ask why but there's no point" I laughed 

"I did it because I thought it would be cute if every time we paint a new room I paint something on your bump and we take a picture to remember our decoration journey" he said 

"Aww that's actually really cute" I said 

"I know sometimes I have good ideas" he said 

"You keep believing that honey" I teased while walking away with some paint 

He laughed at me before following me to help me get started on painting the accent wall with whatever paint isn't on my belly. Joao put on some music and the both of us danced and sang along to as we painted. Now I know for a fact that you should paint everything evenly and in a proper pattern but I find it much more fun to paint little smiley faces and hearts before covering them up. Joao noticed me doing it and started doing the same and then we started communicating with each other on our wall. All you could hear was our laughter over the music that had been turned down which is exactly how I want this house to be all the time. When we have our little family I want the place to be filled with laughter and happiness as often as possible as my childhood wasn't so I want to have that for my own family. 

For the rest of the day we painted every wall in the living room and then we also managed to paint the hallway. By the time we decided to stop for the day we were both covered in paint and all of my muscles were hurting especially my back. I had a bath which Joao prepared for me before I just got straight into bed as I just needed some rest. Joao joined me with some food for the both of us which we ate sat in bed before he got me to lay on my side so he could massage my back for me. I was hoping the days where this was needed would be further down the road but clearly that was too optimistic as for the last few days Joao has been having to do this for me so I can sleep. 

"We did good today I'm proud of us" I said 

"I'm proud of you, you are 6 months pregnant and spending all day painting a house that's pretty impressive" he said 

"Thank you also I appreciate you massaging my back it makes it feel so much better like I can actually move" I said 

"It's my pleasure babe remember when we found out and I promised you that I'd spend all day everyday looking after you this is part of that and it's not going to change anytime soon" he said 

~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a few months but we are finally at the point where we only have one room left to decorate the room I've been most excited about decorating, the nursery. The entire time we have been decorating the rest of the house Joao and I have been buying things for the nursery which we have been waiting to put up but we have held off until now. I was really hoping that we would get round to it quicker as I wanted to help but I'm now 8 months pregnant and really struggling to do too much each day so I won't be too much help. The one thing I have been able to do is to pick out the colour for the room with Joao's help of course. 

We decided not to find out what we were having as we don't mind if we have a boy or a girl we are just so excited to have a baby. Not knowing means it's a bit harder to decorate the nursery but I didn't spend hours on Pinterest when I couldn't sleep for nothing, this room is going to be perfect for our little one I'm sure of it. Since finding out I was pregnant I have been determined not to be one of those people that just paints their baby's room white or grey and I'm not going to be as Joao and I decided on a really nice yellow colour for the nursery as well as some wallpaper that has some other colours in it too. 

When I woke up this morning the bed was empty which freaked me out for a minute until I heard music coming from the room next door which is going to be the nursery. After a few attempts I hauled myself out of bed and waddled my way into the room where I saw a shirtless Joao up a ladder refreshing the white paint on the ceiling as we decided to keep that and just put little glow in the dark stars up when the baby gets a bit older. I must say it was a wonderful sight my handsome fiancé shirtless a with bits of paint over him as his arms flexed while dragging the paintbrush back and forth. 

"Wow what a wonderful sight for 8am" I laughed 

"Good morning love how did you sleep?" Joao asked as he got down from the ladder 

"About as well as someone who's 8 months pregnant can how are things going in here?" I asked 

"Pretty good I've almost finished the ceiling then I thought we could do the walls before I put up the wallpaper but if you're too tired I'm happy to set up the chair so you can just sit and watch" he offered 

"I want to help but I don't know how long I'll be able to help for" I said 

"And that's ok just tell me when you're tired and I'll take over" he said giving me a kiss before heading back up the ladder 

While he was getting on with finishing what he had started I took my place on the floor so I could do the lower half of the walls. This has become routine as I can't stand for too long as it hurts my feet and back so I sit down with a roller and do as much as I can reach. Actually painting is the boring part of this room so we worked pretty quickly or Joao did as I did as much of all the walls as I could but then I needed a break so I watched on as he finished everything. After that came the exciting part the part I've been looking forward to since finding out I was pregnant and moving into this house. 

All day we've been working around the tons of boxes that are in piled in the middle of the room. The boxes are filled with all of the furniture we've been buying for the baby and I'm so excited to put it all together. Joao and I have never been very good at putting furniture together for a long as I remember we've always got something wrong and had to start all over again. Today is the day we challenge that because first we are putting together the crib. My job is to read the instructions and hold things for Joao as he puts in the screws and hammers things together. We were doing so well but when we finished something didn't look right and I realised we'd put something in backwards so yet again we'd failed and had to start again. 

After finishing the crib we got started on the changing table which we actually did first try and after that we were on a roll. Everything went together so easily and before I knew it all the furniture was put together and was in a place we were happy with it. Then came the really exciting part getting to put up all the little decorations we had which were all animal themed so there was loads of stuffed animal all over the place and decals for the walls. All of the decorations really brought the room to life and helped me see us stood in here in just a few short weeks holding our little baby. 

"I can't believe there will be an actual baby in here in a few weeks" Joao commented as he came over putting his hands on my bump

"I know I can't believe it either this baby will be here soon and will be enjoying this room we've worked hard decorating for years to come it will get filled with pictures and toys it'll be amazing" I said 

"Yes it will and I can't wait for that day" Joao said giving me a kiss as our baby kicked his hands 

[smileydk]

Noona!

Pairing: Idol!Niki x OC

Summary: Jiwoo and Niki were in a relationship. Niki had a tendency of doing as he felt, which in this case meant bringing home a kitten, to Jiwoo's apartment since Jay and Jungwon are very allergic.

cw/tw: None, fluff, fun, comedy, crackheads (not literally)

Note: I just have a new obsession with Ni-Ki. OC = Jiwoo, is a December, 04-liner.

Working as a kindergarten teacher was usually fine. But today all the kids seemed to have planned to make Jiwoo's life harder than necessary

She had to tell one kid, Changmin, that he had to drop of their kitten, because they weren't allowed in class. Changmin wasn't pleased with the answer but did as told.

''Ms. Kim, why can't I bring my kitten to class?'' Changmin pouted as he held his kitten close.

Jiwoo couldn't deny it. The kitten was adorable. But the some kids were allergic and some were horrified by the small animal.

''Changmin, your little kitten is adorable, but some other kids in here are allergic and it's against the rules. You don't wanna break the rules, right?''

Changmin shook his head. ''No Ms. Kim, I don't wanna break the rules''

Jiwoo was honestly more surprised that Changmin's parents allowed him to even take the kitten with him to kindergarten.

''Right, so how about we leave the kitten with eomma and appa so we can finger paint?'' Jiwoo gently grabbed the kitten from Changmin and walked outside with the kitten. She found Changmin's parents and handed the kitten back to them.

''Uhm, I don't know how Changmin convinced you a kitten was okay, uhm, but you need to take it home''

Changmin's father's eyes widened. ''Oh my God, he told me it was pet-day, I'm new to... children''

Jiwoo chuckled. ''You're doing a great job. But just letting you know, if we were to have a pet-day, we'll send out a newletter to the parents''

''Okay, thank you'' Changmin's father took the kitten and bowed before heading out.

Jiwoo watched as the kids finger painted. She loved her work, but this particular day seemed to drag on forever. She groaned quietly as Ara threatened to cut her friend's hair.

Why?

Because she took Ara's purple, favorite crayon.

''Ara, put down the scissors, now!'' Jiwoo sighed and took the scissors from her grip. She doubted the scissors would even be able to cut hair, they could barely cut paper.

The hours ticked by and soon the kids were being picked up one by one. Changmin apologized for his morning rendezvous. Jiwoo only chuckled.

''It's okay Changmin, just don't do it again, okay?''

Changmin saluted Jiwoo and ran out to his dad. Ara also apologized to Jiwoo for her attempt of a haircut. Jiwoo didn't see the harm. Ara apologized to both her and her friend, she had gotten her crayon back and she was (probably) not gonna repeat it.

The day ended and Jiwoo settled in her car. Finally.

All she wanted to do was sleep. Maybe eat. Depends on how much energy she had when she reached her home. She knew she had some old kimbap in the fridge.

Her phone, connected to the car, rung. She answered after seeing Niki's name popping up on the screen.

''Niki, hello. What's up?''

''Hello... uhm... what's your favorite animal?''

Jiwoo was chuckled. ''What?''

''What's your favorite animal? Like... cat, dog?

''Uhm... cat I suppose. What did you do?'' Jiwoo stopped by a traffic light and stared at the caller ID. She knew he'd done something stupid and irrational.

''Noona, don't be mad, but I got us... something'' In the background cars were heard pulling out and driving away from NIki.

''What did you get us? And why did I hear the cars leaving you behind?''

''I might have gotten a kitten... that has to live with you because Jay-Hyung and Jungwon-Hyung are allergic. Also... I need a ride''

''Where are you?''

''MusicBank...''

''Niki... that's half-across town'' Jiwoo mentally cursed Niki but steered the wheel towards MusicBank.

''Please Noona~ you can name the kitten!''

Jiwoo chuckled. He was cute. ''I'll be there in like 20 minutes''

''Love you Noona!''

''Love you too, Niki''

Niki got into the car and smiled sweetly. ''Look! Cute!''

Jiwoo stared at the small kitten in Niki's lap. She then lifted her gaze to face her boyfriend. ''Niki, you don't have the time for a kitten. And to be honest, I don't really have time for a kitten either''

''But look at it Noona!'' Niki carefully picked up the small kitten and held it closer to Jiwoo. ''It's so cute~''

''And you can't return it?''

Niki gapsed dramatically and held the kitten close to his chest. ''How can you be so cruel? I can't just kidnapp it from it's mother and then return it. It's attached to me already, look!''

The small kitten, that basically fit in Niki's giant hands, nestled into Niki's chest and fell asleep. Jiwoo had to admit, the kitten was very adorable. And Jiwoo wanted to keep it.

But none of them had time for it.

''Fine'' Jiwoo sighed and started the car. ''But you better come by and take care of it''

''Promise!'' Niki saluted Jiwoo and turned his full attention to the little kitten in his lap.

Jiwoo shook her head, but a small smile grew on her lips. ''You're lucky you're cute''

Niki smiled. He had the best girlfriend in the world.

Niki stayed true to his word. He came over at least 5 out of 7 days of the week to hang out with the kitten, which Niki named Oreo because it was black with a white patch on it's stomach.

But if he had schedule Jiwoo gave him time off. His idol job was more important than the kitten. According to Jiwoo, if Niki was in charge he'd probably spend 24/7 with the kitten.

Niki also had his own key to Jiwoo's apartment. Only thing was he had a messed up sleeping schedule, so sometimes Jiwoo would wake up at 2 a.m to Niki playing with the kitten in the living room.

Like tonight.

''Niki, what the fuck?'' Jiwoo raised an eyebrow as she turned on the lights.

''Heeey~ Noona, you're so pretty-''

''Cut the crap. Why are you not at the dorm? Sleeping? Like a normal person at this hour?''

''Kitten'' Niki smiled innocently and held up the tiny kitten.

Jiwoo sighed and closed her eyes. ''Please go home to sleep. Or at least go to bed''

The boy stood up and walked over to his girlfriend. ''Sorry, Noona'' He hugged her tightly. ''I'll stop''

''I don't mean you can't come over. Just... stop coming over in the middle of the night because a, one day I'm gonna think you're a murderer and hit you, b, we both need sleep'' Jiwoo wrapped her own arms around Niki's waist and rested her head against his chest. ''And you need to stop growing''

''Never'' Niki smiled and squeezed her harder. ''Now let's go to sleep- is that my shirt?''

Jiwoo peeked down at the hoodie she wore. ''Yeah, got a problem with it?''

''No, you look good''

''I know''

Niki and Jiwoo both headed to bed. The small kitten, Oreo, followed the two humans into Jiwoo's bedroom. Since Oreo couldn't get on the bed, he resulted in just meowing loudly.

Niki peeked down on the floor and spotted Oreo, who stopped meowing as Niki stared at him. ''Can I-''

''Do whatever. Just sleep'' Jiwoo mumbled, already falling asleep again. Niki cheered quietly and picked up Oreo from the floor and laid him on his chest.

''Now be quiet, Noona has to be up early, okay?'' Oreo simply titled his head to the right. ''I'll take that as a yes''

Jiwoo giggled as she heard her boyfriend's conversation with the kitten. ''You're cute''

''I know''

''I was talking to Oreo'' Jiwoo opened one eye and smirked. She knew she was a tease. But in all fairness, Niki broke into her apartment at 2 in the morning.

''Ha. Ha'' Niki pouted and turned back to the cat. ''Oreo, Noona is mean'' Oreo let out a small "meow", as if he agreed with Niki.

''Great, now the cat is on your side'' Jiwoo turned to Niki and glared at Oreo. ''Also, why would you name the cat after a cookie?''

''He looks like an Oreo'' Niki held up the kitten and showed the white patch on his stomach. ''Look! The white... filling thing. And I was at a lack of better names since you refused to name him''

Oreo got off Niki's chest and walked across the bed. He settled on Jiwoo's shoulder, nestling closer to her before falling asleep. ''Ha, fuck you, my kitten''

Niki looked offended but shrugged. ''At least 1 out of 3 is sleeping now''

Jiwoo smiled. She kissed Niki's cheek. ''Sleep''

''Yes, ma'am''

[izloveshorses]

we're almost to the halfway mark, so i thought i'd share another progress update on this little (big) project!! (previous update)

i've almost finished drawing half of all the assets (according to my spreadsheet) and then we can start assembling them into a "book." the bulk of the assets are characters/costumes, but i've also completed several props and started working on some backgrounds as well. I need to decide how the book will be laid out before i make much more progress on those, though. i've been trying to hold off on finishing the principal cast because i think saving them for ~dessert~ will keep me motivated to power through the rest, but i'm so anxious to get to them because i want to play with them in photoshop and put them on their associated backgrounds like little paper dolls 🙈 so that's why ballet tuxedo!dmitry doesn't exist yet, and why i've yet to color the rest of anya's act ii wardrobe.

anyway. progress in my workflow is hardly ever linear, but you can kind of see how i approach the rendering process from these images, i hope. the drawing carries the weight of the image so that step always takes the longest, since getting the likeness, the proportions, the folds, and the expressions right is the most important. if any of that looks off no skillful painting or rendering can save it.

and then i always color skin first because everything else (clothes, hair) goes on top of skin. you can see the color palette i'm using is the same for almost all of them, though act ii requires a few more saturated hues than act i (bright blue, some reds, and green every once in a while). coloring the rest in doesn't usually take very long. once the flats are down i go in for a final pass, laying down those patterns and textures that always give me a hard time lol. and then i clean up and recolor the line work and mark it as done! since i'm working digital i use alpha lock and clipping masks for that.

director's cut commentary of each image included (under the cut bc this post is already so long):

anya's act ii lineup. her phtk outfit is the only one i've marked complete (the linework on the others is still black and need just a few more touchups). I've yet to lay in the flats for the maroon travel coat because i think the drawing needs more work. i might change a few things on big red, maybe her expression, but i haven't decided yet.

dmitry's act ii lineup (sans tuxedo). he just needs a final pass on the first two on the left, and then his finale look is finished, because it's the same from act i :)

vlad's act ii lineup. he's almost done, just needs a final pass on the finale and phtk outfits.

lily's act ii lineup. i'm going to redo the pattern on her neva club dress (linda cho i love u but god) but otherwise she's all finished.

the dowager's act ii lineup. she's done! :) maybe i'll find something to pick at later but rn i'm marking her done lol.

petersburg citizens from rumor! i think these guys are all done. there are more people i could include, but there isn't enough variation on the costumes to make it worth it imo.

neva club patrons. the only two marked complete are the two on the left, sergei the doorman/the male server and count leopold. i still need to find a good reference for the female server lol.

the press! just the men for now lol. i used the obc program as a reference for this one, so i'll get the two ladies in soon :)

the hussies! i've marked it complete, but. we'll see if there's more adjustments i can make.

there's still more i've completed that's not pictured, but i'll definitely share more soon. act i is nearly finished entirely, which is cool, and the only big ensemble sheet i've yet to make much progress on is everyone in phtk. i may end up just drawing one or two people from that and then copying them with different patterns because, honestly, the shape of the dresses and suits are all very similar. hopefully that won't be boring to look at lol.

if there's anything in particular you'd like to see/have any questions, or even suggestions, lmk!! and follow my 'anastasia illustrated guide' tag for more updates :)

[thehobbyhypothesis]

Day 83 -

Throwing out the idea of backdating posts since I'm starting to realize that a post every day is the least fun part of this project! See: I just skipped two weeks or so of updates despite continuing my hobby every single day. But so here's a summary of everything I've done over the past two weeks or so!

I have become deeply addicted to Stardew Valley. I continue to mostly play my individual file but yesterday got together online with friends to do our little Co-Op game and that was super fun too!! I like coordinating with them about how we'll divide and conquer for the day, and battling monsters in the mines feels 10x easier just by tripling up.

I've given Super Mario Sunshine maybe two or three tries but I am struggling not to get overly frustrated with it :/ controls are hard & I get sad when I die & get sent back. Might try revisiting it another time or two, but I don't think this is gonna be the game for me (at least, not right now)

I've also tried another platformer - this time, on my partner's Steam account on his PC - called Braid, and I LOVE IT. I didn't realize at first, but it's kind of a Mario parody, and it is beautiful, with these lovely painting backgrounds and a truly gorgeous soundtrack. But it's a 2D, side-scrolling, puzzle-based game and I'm really enjoying it. You can control time in it, which makes for interesting (but totally solvable) puzzles, and means that when I die (which I do frequently), it's more fun-frustrating (and sometimes just downright funny) than getting sent back to the start.

MAJOR success found in playing It Takes Two on Switch with a childhood bff (who occasionally reads this despite not using tumblr anymore bc she is loverly). It is. SO MUCH FUN. It's a really well done co-op game, where your characters are working on everything in conjunction with each other and you need the teamwork to make any of it happen. We were on for like two? straight hours and I loved playing with her so muchly. They give like, juuuuuuust the right amount of hints too. And it was super fun to play together, at the end she was like "wow, we're masters of positive game talk" bc it was just a very encouraging & supportive vibe. We love to see it.

My only other update is that this is DEFINITELY a successful hobby addition, 100%, no doubts about it. I played Braid & my two Stardews for I think 6 hours combined yesterday. g4m3r gurl lyfe here I come

[humansbgone]

(This is content for Humans-B-Gone!, an animated sci-fi series about a giant praying mantis who works in pest control--those pests including humans. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/c/humansbgone )

All paintings for Gregorsa's lecture are done, and I'm even fairly happy with them!

Not only that, but all sound work--final recordings, editing them together, final music, sound effect gathering, editing and placing--is also done!

Next week, work begins on sets and props for the animation itself. Aiming to keep things simple, so hopefully done within the week! After that, three weeks of animation, a day or so for notes, and we're done! Boy, this one flew by. However, next episode is looking much harder....

(By the way, if last week you guessed "diatoms" for the mystery organisms in the paintings--you are absolutely correct! Award yourself five secret Gregorsa points.)

This is the last update of the year. Looking back at my progress is a marvel. This marks three years that I've been at work on HBG, and each year has been a major milestone. 

The first year, I conquered years of writer's block, and a lifetime of despising my own work too much to seriously take on an original setting. I finally had the confidence to work on my dream project, and wrote novels' worth of content. (Granted, mostly disjointed snippets, but I'm still pleased.) I also made tons of concept art, and had fun exploring the range of voices I could do for different characters. (I can't wait to introduce you to them!) I also tackled my most ambitious 3d modeling tasks yet!

The second year, I made even more models. I made myself animate, putting into practice things I had previously only passively absorbed. I released the project to the public for the first time, and from barely animating at all, made the jump to releasing entire short animations, and even a short episode!!! I'm still amazed to think of the leaps and bounds I made that year. I even did some music!

This past year, the third year, I made three episodes and a bonus video, each close to five minutes long, released faster and faster. At the time it felt laboriously slow, but looking back I'm stunned at how much I put out. Real episodes of Humans-B-Gone! Wow!!! I learned to make concessions along the way, and ended up rewriting much of what I had plotted, but in the end was able to meet my goal of introducing Sophodra in the main series before the year was out! I also got in much more worldbuilding than I had anticipated.

This coming year will be the fourth year. Over the past three years, I increasingly created things I never would have dreamed myself capable of. Though the growth of the viewership sadly hasn't matched my own enthusiasm for the project, I intend to keep at it, and get out the characters, setting and story that I've wanted to for so long. 

What will I be capable of this year? Who knows? I'm excited for what new capabilities Blender (the program I create HBG in) has been developing, which will make things easier and easier, especially as I create more and more assets. I may even try crowdfunding so I can hire on some help with backgrounds, animation and music! With any luck, we'll make it to the introduction of some major plot points before we hit the fifth year.

Thank you to all of you who supported HBG along the way! I hope you're excited to see the new sights and meet the new characters that are coming. Until next time!

[rogdona]

Look man- just wanna say your art is literally gorgeous bro- It's very catchy and cool- but uh- that aside- I hope ya don't mind the question- but would ya mind giving some few tips on how to draw anatomy and how you color? because your art is so pleasing to look at- like bruh it's so pretty-

first of all THANK UUUUU!!!! im sososos happy u like my art!!!!!!!!!💕🌺🌷💕🌺🌷💕🌺🌷❤️♥️💕🌺🌷💕♥️❤️🌹🌹❤️♥️🌺💕!!!!!

i dont mind the question at all!! ill give u some tips on how i draw!!

BTW! these are just some tips ab what i do to draw the way i do, this is not an universal rule let alone mandatory!!

NOW ONTO THE STUFF U CAME FOR! under a read more so i dont clog ur dash bc i got kinda tecnical w some of it..! IT GOT WAY TOO LONG IM SORRY!!!

lets start with color then!! 🎨

i always see ppl saying that color theory is rlly hard and they never understand it, and tbh u dont need to learn it in depth at all!!

to make colors look good you need to think them as a group instead of choosing them individually...

though what i do is different, theres a post going around that says tinting all the colors w one brings the drawing together, and it does!! its a p good tip if u dont want to eyeball it like i do!!

but heres my process; lets say u have a sketch and an idea of what colors you want; your character is in a forest walking through the trees! what i do is choose background color and start from there

if you chose a cool color, when you start painting the rest of the picture drag the hue a little closer to blue or purple! if you chose a warm one, closer to yellow or red! if you want your drawing to have a greenish tint drag it closer to green or yellow! you get the gist of it, bring the colors closer! if theyre on opposite sides of the wheel it might be difficult, but usually bringing them closer to gray does a good job!!

also unless youre trying to get contrast on purpose, choosing colors w similar saturation(intensity!) helps unify the drawing!

say you want a drawing that is mostly grayish tones, make sure all your colors are desaturated (less intense, pigmented)

-

now say you have an existing character w a set color palette (we'll take my character elias as an example) and want to draw him in green and yellow or bright magenta and blue

i saw this explanation on a tiktok long ago but i literally cannot word it better and found it real useful

to translate the colors properly u need to think them on a scale, which ones are the darkest, lightest, and where does the rest sit?? Once you have that you can make ur own scale w the colors you want to use, and as long as the difference between the colors stay mostly the same u will be able to translate them p much to whatever!!

my drawing was done quickly so its not the best example but u get me

i think thats it for color now, but if i think of something else ill add it and tell u!!

now onto anatomy 🧍🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️

and ill be honest w u here, i have no clue how i learned anatomy, let alone how to teach u but ill try my best here!!

and tbh, learning every bone, muscle, etc is smth rlly tedious to me so i cannot assist u there bc i dont know

ALSOO references are ur best buddy, use them!! even if its not the exact pose or angle ur wanting to draw it can help u visualize what u want and tell u what goes where!!

even if its not for the pose or angle, a skeleton can help u see how the body part works!! i look at animal skeleton legs all the time to help me draw my ocs!!!

but yeah!! i think anatomy is smth that u shouldnt take very seriously bc most of what gives personality to characters is exageration!! or made up parts!!

but like, if u want to know my way of drawing smth specific u can tell me!! i have no problem showing u how i do things!!

but since i wasnt very helpful when it comes to anatomy, im taking the liberty of adding an extra bullet point to the post

composition!! 🌇🌃🌆🏙️

composition is the way you show the image, how you place things in your drawing!!

in school they make us take audio-visual production classes, which truly isnt as interesting as it sounds but they taught us some p cool photography tips that also apply to drawings!!

one of them is the rule of thirds! basically, you divide the canvas in 9 equal parts, and the places where the lines join are the places where the eyes are most drawn to!! heres an example i found on the internet

so if you place something on those spots it will get the attention, bc the brain is used to the focus being on the center so taking it out of there makes u want to look why (or at least thats the explanation they gave me!)

also, to draw even more attention to those spots u can make a visual path that leads there!! here some crude examples by yours truly

the first one traces a path up to his head, the second one all start from there outwards

they also gave us tips for cropping images though these dont rlly matter that much, but like for example it looks better if u dont crop it at the joints, and if a character is looking somewhere you should leave some space in the direction they are looking to! heres some doodles to show u what i mean

i used to have a document full of things like that for photography but i cant find it rn, if i do ill tell u!!

moving onto the final thing, this is not quite a composition thing but rather something to give characters more personality: make them interact w their enviroment!

rather than standing looking at the camera make them use, touch, see whats around them, even if u draw them in a blank space the way they take it up shows u a lot ab them

for ex, if theres a wall they can lean on it, if theres a window they can be looking through it(maybe u can see them from the outside! framing inside framing was also smth that they taught us in that class!) if theyre standing they can be fixing their sleeves, holding their hands behind their back, tucking a strand of hair behind their ear, scratching their neck, etc!

AND YEAH!! thats what i keep in thought when i draw!! i hope u find it at least a little useful or interesting ahdhjska ill admit i got a little carried away but i love drawing and these are topics that interest me

ty for the ask!!! 💕 👋

[pbandjesse]

It was a good day. I had a good time at work. And I made a bunch of art. The pretty great Tuesday.

I slept okay last night. I woke up a bit cold though. Jamess woke me up about an hour early and covered me up and I went back to sleep. When I woke up for real I wasn't thrilled but I was okay.

My hair looked great and I was very cozy in my outfit. I grabbed my totebag. Made a snack. And kissed James goodbye.

I had a nice drive in to the museum. Even with traffic. I stopped for breakfast and ate in the parking lot.

I had three programs today. So I went to set up the assembly line. Jim joined me so I could show him the video. And then Rosia came and I showed her some stuff but I don't know what was wrong with me but I wasn't the best trainer. Mostly because she told me Gaby showed her so I was questioning myself about what she knew and what she didn't.

I ended up sitting and talking to Jordan for a while. He got a haircut and it looks really nice! And we would chat a lot today. It's nice having friends at work.

Once the group got there there was some confusion about how the groups were broken up. But it was whatever. I let Mike handle it. And then I had my group and me and Rosia headed back to the classroom.

We honestly had a great time. There was some timing issues because towards the front of the one line there were three kids who were struggling but we figured it out. And it was great. I had a really good time and they finished all their cars and it was excellent. Rosia did a really good job for her first one! She would have two more chances today so I hope it kept going well!

Next I had my tour. Meril joined me. We had to wait for Jordan to split up the group. And so we had some time for them to check out the car. And then tour time.

Which went well but man do these kids have so many questions and were just jumping around. But it was still fun.

After the tour they had lunch. And I would go and eat my sandwich. And chat with Jordan and Meril. We talked about how shitty the health care system has treated us. How the body mass index is a crock of shit. And it was fun. Infuriating but fun.

Finally we had the cannery. I was leading that and it was good. I got distracted by a couple kids who were trying to be class clowns but just weren't actually funny. But the entire group was good and did excellent jobs. The other educators did a great job too. Mostly. There was some weird timing stuff. But then they were done. I had a good group for shuckers. I let them do an extra oyster because they were enjoying it so much.

And then it was time to say goodbye. Which was slightly awkward because the teachers had them in a specific way and I didn't understand. But we got them on the bus and I went to do supply stuff.

I went to talk to Stanley and Phil about a lightbulb. And then back to do car parts with Jim and Rosia and Cindy. We talked about weird dreams and cruises and food. I got really tired though. So I would leave a little early.

I had some emails about art with a heart. I have been approved for all three of my desired locations! Background check passed!

So once I was home me and James went through the wall calendar so I could write down everything and we found a couple conflicts but I sent off emails to get those sorted out and I am pretty set until the summer. Working every day of the week basically but I feel excited, also tired, but mostly excited.

I would work on art a lot. I demolded my bears and it worked great. So I was able to cast the resin pieces and I did it 5 times throughout the evening. And overall they came out great. I also figured out how to use the extra resin to fix the last batch and fill in any miscasts. And now they are painted and we'll see how they look tomorrow and if they need more layers or what.

I would order pinbacks and me and James talked about ordering stickers. We also talked about doing some debt consolidation so we can get a smaller interest payment. And then James made a special potato soup. And while I had a pretty bad headache I felt happy being with James. And Sweetp. Who insisted on laying on my chest and purring so much.

I would eventually take a shower. And get all comfy. And that's where we are now. I am very sleepy. Today was an early day. And tomorrow will be too. But I am there all day all day. So it will be a lot. But I think it will still be very good. I hope you all have a good night's sleep tonight. Take care of each other. Goodnight!!

[lemontartca]

Progress on my River Styxx custom (tentatively named Anais). They had more damage than I thought (to the point where I'm worried I created some of it removing their hair) and stained discoloration pretty much everywhere their hair was touching them. I tried to cover it up with pastels but I think in some places that accentuated it. It's not noticeable head-on, at least.

The first layer was to sketch and do the pastels while the second layer was filling in the brows and lips and painting on the eyes. This was my first time working with paint (I mean... it's my second doll ever and the first is only half finished, but I used to draw with colored pencils a lot so I had familiarity there) and the first thing I put down was the white eyeliner. The moment I did, I went "oh no." It was so messy and wide. It took me awhile to salvage it but I did eventually figure out how to make it passable. I then tried to do the rest of their eyes in pencil before I realized that it just wasn't possible. Some combination of River's skin-tone, the kind of shimmery/translucent plastic her head is made from, and how pale and pastel the colors I wanted to use are made it basically invisible on her (the entire eye is drawn out and even filled in on the first image! You wouldn't know it) so I had to pick up the paints again. I must have gone over each area a dozen times, but I did finally figure it out and I'm happy with how it looks. It doesn't match my plan, but I'd rather it looks good than "accurate."

Layer three darkened up and finished the brows and lips and then added dimension to the eyes. I'm a little on the fence between liking the eyes on the second or third layer more because my perfectionist brain says the irises in the second image are better because they're smoother and blended... but irises don't actually look like that, they have more dimension like I added in the third layer. The image quality is bad for the third one, I know, but I wanted to get the plan sketch in the background too. I still want to give her 3D lashes, but I want them to be white, so I'll have to find some (that aren't expensive since they're "specialty") first and then add some gloss varnish to her eyes and lips before her faceup will be done. Once I've finished the rest of her, I'll take nicer pictures.

In regards to her hair... I considered saving it because I liked the color, but it was matted, dirty, and I hated the bangs. I tried to look up precedent for wigging on top of rooted hair remnants, and I couldn't find anyone doing that specifically, but I did find someone wigging a Gooliope without even removing her hair first, just braiding and tucking it away so the wig can be taken on and off like a normal human one would be. Of course that's on a larger scale than a regular-sized Monster High, but it did make me think I could probably get away with leaving the roots, especially with the hairstyle I'm planning since it does still incorporate bangs that can hide some hairline sins. We'll see how it goes, but if I can avoid removing heads and scraping roots in the future, then I definitely will whenever it won't be obvious. It's a good experiment and I was just really worried around busting her head open trying to get her roots out since she's showing signs of degradation.

[haeyeongs]

hey can i ask how you get the bg into such a smooth green of you run on 'Most girls don’t last a month chasing him around because he’s boring.' i think most people use soft brush but mine always looks too much and not soft at all

Hi, I indeed use soft brush! It's not very difficult but it takes a bit of practice to understand how it works so I'd recommend using shots with a plain/neutral background at first because it is easier to make a smooth background out of it! Another tip is to use a shot in which there isn't a lot of movement (especially no camera movement!!!!)

As for coloring the background, I think you need to be patient and play with the brush settings (size and opacity) as well as your layers settings (blending modes and opacity). I'd also say that some colors might be quite difficult to master and each gifmaker have their own preferences. I personally feel like blue/cyan and yellow are easier to blend (which is why I make a lot more gifsets with those colors). However, there's no universal way to do it and that's why you need to experiment a bit!

The post will be long so you’ll find the process for this gif from this gifset below the line!

Here's Seongyeom's shot before I colored it. As you can see, the background is quite plain around his face so it will make my process easier. As I said before, having a solid and static background help a lot so keep that in mind!

First step: base layers

My first step is to make the background more even so I pick a color from the background and paint over it with a soft brush. You can see on the right that there are different columns of colors in the background: since I knew I wouldn't be able to make the very fine rusty brown line disappear completely (at one point, his face goes over the line, which means I would have to paint over his face/hair and it would ruin the smooth background, right?), I decided to pick a color between that brown line and the lighter one on its right. Here's the result:

Second step: color

Now that we're done with our base layers, it's time to color! I initially meant the background to be cyan so it would be harmonious with Seongyeom's jacket, that's why you'll see me using cyan at first. Once again, I add a new layer on which I paint the background blue with a soft brush. I don't have any fixed settings as it varies with my gifs but I'll tell you what you can use for a big gif such as mine here! Obviously, you need to set your brush's hardness to 0% but also keep in mind that the bigger your brush is, the smoother your result will be! I don't remember what exact size I used when I was making the gifset so I made some tests while making this ~tutorial and I used a 374px brush. This might seem to be very big and weird because Seongyeom's face will end up blue but don't worry!!

Here are some tips about this step:

Don't forget about the eraser tool! It's fine if you paint over your character because you can erase it. It's usually easier to paint the background and then clean up your character with the eraser tool later. Also, you can lower your eraser's opacity (it is quite useful!)

If your character is moving and it's hard to get a smooth background, you can use multiple layers of soft brush painting! You don't need to paint over the whole background to have a smooth background, you just have to color it gradually. Sometimes, playing with the layer's blending modes can help (we'll get to that later)

I actually usually like to use a soft brush with a 100% opacity on the sides of the gif and then a brush with a lower opacity when I get near the character's face

Basically: play with opacity!

Back to my gif: I'm done with the first soft brush layer! I like using gradients instead of only one color so I actually painted a bit of green on the bottom left (left image below). When I've done my painting, I can play with blending modes. Usually, I like setting it to overlay, soft light or vivid light but I actually really loved the result saturation gave me here so I ended up setting the blending mode to saturation.

Blending mode set to normal (left), blending mode set to saturation (right)

So... cyan is gone. Let’s make the background green! I pick a light green and a darker one and I will add more soft brush layers with those colors! Here, I used 3 additional layers. I will detail their settings but I can't explain in details why I've used those because that's just how I go: I improvise and experiment until I feel satisfied with my result. Keep in mind that I like using gradients so that's why I picked two colors but it's not necessary! The darker green will be on the bottom left corner and the light one on the opposite side.

First green layer: blending mode set to overlay (result shown on the right)

Second green layer: blending mode set to soft light (result shown on the right). I've only painted on the left side because I wanted to make it slightly darker and more saturated

Third layer: blending mode set to linear dodge and opacity to 42%. I wanted to make the right side of my gif more vibrant so I mostly painted the top right corner! Here's what it looks like now:

I feel quite satisfied with how the background looks so I apply regular coloring layers and we're done!

Here's the final result:

[mathmusic8]

Book of Boba Fett Episode 3 Reaction

Spoilers under the cut

Oh hey, it’s the spider dude from the trailer!

(Aaaand nothing happens. It's just a setting-placement shot. Nice.)

-

“Well now I am insulted” XD

-

Hmmmm. Are these water thieves the same gang that we saw in the flashbacks? Or is this merchant dude playing a double deal to get rid of some competition or something? I dunno, just smells fishy.

…oh, okay, they really are just punk kids (pardon the pun lol—the steampunk vibes are strong with these ones)

Ah, but they do have a reason, according to them

-

“Then you will work for me.”

Oh, I LIKE that! We’ll see how the kids take it, but I say smart move on Boba’s part

-

Hmmm. Making some friends is good. But also making enemies can be not good.

We’ll see how this plays out.

-

Always a bigger fish/bird/toad haha, nice callback

-

Oooh goodie, flashback time

-

WOW IT’S A TOWN

-

Pffft poor Boba’s missed a lot heehee, there ain’t no Empire round these parts no more

-

Ah, so Boba’s gonna single-handedly take out an entire gang. Lovely.

-

Wow, Banthas have long tails

-

Smoke? Somber music? This better not be—

Oh. Oh NO YOU DIDN’T

NO NOT THE CHIEFTAIN GUY

IS THAT THE KID’S STICK

noooooooOOOOOOO

DESTROY THEM, BOBA

(where’s the boss lady? Does that mean there might have been survivors?? PLEASE??)

-

Ahh, bottle up those feelings of rage until the next flashback, then

Oh. Hello Wookie. What a face to wake up to in the morning.

How did he get in?

-

Oh goodie, the new kids get to play too

-

Aww, he lets the Gamorrean use the bacta tank. That was kind of him

-

Hmm, so they gonna keep the Wookie as a replacement for the rancor or what?

-

Pfffft that’s so much food

Shand is enjoying it at least XD

-

Hm, so they’re meeting with the Hutts outside the palace. That’s probably smart. Make everyone sweat a bit more.

-

Oh. A pet rancor.

How… considerate.

-

And he gets the Wookie thrown in, too.

Okay, he’s building up his crowd. That’s good.

jk, he frees the Wookie. Even better.

-

Oh, it’s a depressed rancor.

Lovely XD

Also this trainer guy’s got a top grade chain smoker voice haha

-

“It is said that the Witches of Dathomir even rode them through the forest and fens”

“I want to learn to ride this one.”

“…you what.”

Oh buddy—

That is a face of Instant Regret XD

And Boba baby talking a rancor wasn’t something I knew I was longing to hear, but apparently it was XD

-

[Boba walks up to the mayor’s office followed by the kids on their brightly color-coded bikes]

Okay, I’m sorry, I just can’t take these kids seriously—they look like they walked straight out of a cartoon about moody cyborg teenagers XD

-

Haha, this major domo guy is starting to learn that Boba means nothing but trouble for him XD

-

…why chase the major domo? The mayor’s not with him

…why does this speed chase feel like it isn't very speedy?

…wow major domo, you’re causing like thousands of credits of damage. Hope it’s worth it to you

-

WAIT WAS THAT PAINTING—

PFFFT yup, that was Jabba with Boba standing there in the background, and Bib's there, too

Who in town commissioned that, I wonder? XD

-

Nice jetpack entrance, Boba :D

The Pykes again, huh?

I wonder how things settled up when Boba dealt with them the first time. Guess we'll find out.

-

Is that the Star Wars version of a phone booth? XD

-

Aaand that’s the end

I’m still severely upset about the Tusken village.

And the Pykes are always bad news in this franchise, so I’m seeing the beginnings of a plot, too. I guess I’m getting invested.

Well done, folks

[anime-onlys]

Spring '21 anime list: What I tried, what I'm watching, and first impressions!

Shaman King (2021)

I hadn't heard about this show until the reboot was announced, and it seems neat so I'll give it a shot! Hesitation isn't quite the right word, but I am watching cautiously because there's a lot about early 2000's anime that should stay in the early 2000's. I'm prepared to take a certain amount of product-of-its-time-ness, but only so much.

I really like its unique visual style. It feels like it's got a similar vibe to Soul Eater and TWEWY with its chunky proportions and face design, and the squash-and-stretch animation really lends itself to comedic moments. I feel like there are some eminently cosplayable designs in my future.

Character-wise, it's only been one episode but I'm taking a liking to Yoh. Based on the OP I hope that Ryuu will be an early-antagonist-turned-loudmouth-friend like JJBA's Okuyasu or Sk8's Shadow. That's one of my favorite character tropes.

The World Ends With You the Animation

My friend is a huge TWEWY fan, so our group was really looking forward to this anime. I saw a little of the gameplay when the Switch version was released, up to the end of episode 1's plot. I know it's going to be excellent story wise, and I already may be planning on making cosplay of that Reaper with the skeleton hoodie.

I love a unique visual style and an awesome soundtrack, of course TWEWY already had that coming in. The CGI Noise are a little clunky, but allow for some really great fight sequences. The characters' CGI models are nearly seamless with the 2D. It feels like the plot is moving fast, but according to my friend they just skipped some fetch quests and puzzle solving that wouldn't have been interesting to animate.

I'm really looking forward to this one each week!

Dragon Goes House-Hunting

One of those "eh, we'll give it a shot" shows. A bunch of us have been eyeing real estate lately, so at the very least it's topical. If done right, the concept could be fun!

We spent most of the episode HATING the dragon's character design. Its proportions are just...awkward in every way. The neck is extremely short and thick and leads into a human-muscled torso, the arms are tiny twigs, and the legs are a little too human and a little too thick to be anything but unnerving. It's bad.

Oddly, except for the dragon, the rest of the creature designs are pretty great! In contrast to a lot of anime, they let them be really non-human and had a good design sense. The humor was solid, the Monster Hunter references were on point, and the character interactions were fun. The OP is GREAT, too!

We'll be continuing this one! If you can make your eyes stop hating you for forcing them to look at the Monster Factory reject of a dragon, I'd say give it a shot.

You Can Make A Mug Too

Now that Yuru Camp is over, we wanted another lighthearted anime that might teach us something while it's at it. You Can Make A Mug Too was one of our picks to sample because one member of anime night has recently acquired a kiln.

My impression is an approving but unenthusiastic "Fine, really." You can definitely tell it's an anime made to bring in tourism to the town it's based in. The characters don't really grab me, but they set up a solid emotional backbone for the story. The production quality isn't stunning, I was hoping for some nice pottery wheel animation but didn't get any.

It's probably a decent show, but we won't watch any more because of the next one on the list.

Supercub

Going straight from You Can Make A Mug to Supercub was like going from store-brand ice pops to fresh gelato. I can already tell this is my favorite anime of the season, hands down.

First, the production quality is excellent. The backgrounds are beautiful, the score is understated but well done to the point that Debussey's Clair de Lune felt like it had been made for the scene it was used for.

More than the production quality alone, this anime's direction is exceptional. It takes 'show don't tell' and uses it perfectly, using body language and soundtrack and shot composition to communicate as much or more than the sparse dialogue. Like, they made my heart skip a beat with nothing but color grading. THAT kind of exceptional.

I haven't spoken much about the plot because I really have no idea where it's going to go. Will we fill in why Koguma is so alone, or will we only move forward to seeing her connect? Will the past of that Supercub come back to haunt her? This feels like an anime that can and will absolutely wreck me, but at the starting line all I can say is I'm READY.

If you only watch one thing this season, watch Supercub.

Continuing anime:

My Hero Academia Season 5:

This season is interesting because for the first time, I think I'm going into it with almost zero spoilers (Dabi's real name is the only one I have). The only plot spoiler I thought I had, that Hawks was somehow working with the League of Villains, was revealed at the end of episode 1. I really enjoy going into things blind so I'm looking forward to this season!

However, the OP is the most disappointing thing out there. Nothing about the song, animation or composition is memorable or even noteworthy. Bones and MHA have access to all the money and talent in the industry and they best they can do is "Fine, I guess".

Yuukoku no Moriarty season 2 (Split cour):

I really enjoyed Moriarty's first season, but the second part of a split-cour always has the risk of running off the rails. What I enjoyed most about the first cour was the reverse-whodunit formula: Here's a terrible noble and the people they hurt, how does Moriarty get rid of them while making it look like an accident? The end of cour 1 started to focus heavily on Sherlock and I don't want the show's namesake to end up sidelined.

Knowing Irene was coming, I was really hoping for a Scandal in Belgravia that follows the books...at all, where the end of the story is that Irene escapes with the photo (except this time aided by the Moriarty brothers). Few or no Sherlock adaptations actually want to engage with the sexism of the era or today's, and just want to paint her as a blackmailer or temptress instead of a woman holding onto the power to protect herself. The beginning was extremely promising, but that went off the rails pretty quick. I still haven't yet seen an adaptation of Irene Adler that I like.

Zombieland Saga: Revenge

I watch this show because it's fun and ridiculous, and I get to hear Mamoru Miyano having the time of his life in the recording booth. I love this show because it always ends up surprising me with its solid emotional backbone. It looks like this season is shaping up to be more of the same!

What blew me away was this episode was the first time I saw a CGI dance sequence that I LIKED. Ever. The characters used different mocap so they weren't eerily in sync, the song and dance itself was well made and supported by excellent camera direction and shot composition, there were 2D cuts to closeups of the dancers as well as audience, and they actually pushed facial expression!

It's a good time. Give it a shot.

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

[Image description: a banner with a photo of space, with bright stars and a purple nebula in the background. In the center of the banner, “The Foolish, Foolish Stars” is written in big, white letters, and “A day and a half before the Grand Coronation” is written in smaller letters under it. /end ID]

TW/CW: Nothing, but please tell me if there should be!

A/N: Did I tell you Irik is pretty power-hungry? Irik is pretty power-hungry.

Word count: 607 words

For context: [WIP intro], [chapter 1], [chapter 2], [chapter 3] [chapter 4]

Taglist (contact me to be added/removed): @viskafrer @47crayons @apocalypsewriters @drippingmoon @chazzawrites @wizardoface @drbibliophile @dragon-with-a-pen

A day and a half before the Grand Coronation

“So, you’re telling me that Earth is… round?”

“Yes.”

“No tortoise?”

“No.”

“No elephants?”

“No.”

“And that big snake thing going around the world, that the Easterners talk about?”

“Not there.”

“And the tree? The Northerner’s world-bearing tree?”

“Sorry.”

I pause. The absurdity of it all matches the dreams where I get chased by shoes. No elephants! And how can the Earth be round? Wouldn’t everyone fall off? Wouldn’t the oceans spill out?

The two sergeants of the Flip-Flop’s army, as they introduced themselves, give each other tired looks and go on the second round of explanations.

“If you’re wondering why things stay in place, that’s because of gravity. It’s the force that attracts smaller objects to larger objects. Earth is big, so you don’t fall off.”

Well, that sounds like an extremely made-up reason.

“And the firmament? It’s just a lot of nothing? And there are other planets like Earth there?”

“Yes, you’ve got it” Biological Organism class B number 2786-something, or Bob for short squeezes out a smile.

“You know, you should really try your hand at writing plays. Comedies, especially. I’m sure you’d gather an audience.”

“Aah, I can’t. I just- why us?” Bof (Biological Organism class F number 126-and so on) grabs his head, rocking side to side in frustration.

“They’re the only candidate, and we don’t have much time left. We won’t have to deal with this for much longer, anyway. After we bring them to the Capital, we'll just plug them into an AITM and be done with all of this,” Bob pats him on the back, trying to calm him down.

“AITM?” I ask

“Automatic Information Transferring Machine,” Bob explains or at least tries to. It doesn’t make things any clearer.

“So, let’s return to the whole Emperor thing. Are you sure you're not mistaken? I mean, the prophecies I heard are normally pretty vague. You could’ve gotten the wrong person.”

Without saying a word, Bob pulls out a small, flat box from one of the many pockets of her… what did she call it? Space-suit? The box unfolds into something that looks like a scroll, with my face painted on it. No, it's too accurate to be a painting. I can see everything. If I tried, I could probably count the hair on my head.

“This is what the person we’re looking for should look like. I hope you can see the resemblance,” Bob says.

I stare at it, trying to find a difference. A misplaced mole, a difference in hair color, anything. Reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, a pointed chin, a small mole under the lips. A complete match. The face in the picture looks much more serious than mine, but I suppose that’s what an Emperor should look like.

“So what are the risks? Is there a mutiny brewing? Are the Emperors hanged every two years or something?” I ask, staring right at them. For a brief second, their tired expressions harden, a fake smile flashing over Bob’s face, Bof hiding his worry under a mask of anger.

“Who do you think we are? Savages?? We respect and protect our Emperor, their lives are full of pleasure, and their subjects are concerned about them as much as the Emperor is concerned about their subjects!” Bof booms, his anger a tad too extreme, faintly theatrical.

“My apologies, I did not mean to disrespect your traditions!” I bow, courtesy oozing out of my voice, “now, could you tell me a bit more about that ‘space-travel’?”

After all, a trap where an empire is bait is a trap worth stepping in.

[fritae]

The Missing Piece - Ch 10

Worries 🌸

gang! au / ceo! au

characters: dabi x f. oc, lov

status: ongoing

read on ao3 here.

I spend hours turning in bed, replaying Dabi's words to me earlier.

He cares about me.

Right?

That's the only way I could interpret what happened. He got angry on my behalf, even though he didn't look it.

My cheeks redden as I recall how warm he was to hold, despite most certainly being the most awkward hugger I've ever met. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to remember what it was like.

It wasn't a short hug...but I wish it was longer.

Snap out of it, I tell myself with a groan.

I'm so touch starved I can't believe a hug from Dabi would make me feel this way.

I jolt in bed when I hear the front door open.

"Aliyah?"

Within moments, my suite mate bursts into my room, jumping onto my bed.

"Who is he?!" She screams with glee. "That's your boss?!"

My heart paced with excitement. "Yeah. Nice, right?"

"Nice?!" She jumps up again. "He's so hot - but something about him -"

She suddenly stops.

"What?" I ask her cautiously.

But after a few moments of consideration, she shrugs. "I don't know, forget it. I feel like I've seen him before."

I shrug. "Might have run into him at a corporate event or something? The company may not be all that but Dabi looks like he's been around."

She nods. "You're right, that's probably it. And oh my god," Her voice picks up, that excitement creeping in again. "Mr. Lane's face! He's so pissed you don't even know, oh my god, he's probably still fuming! He didn't even last for the whole dinner, he called his new secretary and told her to run a background check on Mr. Dabi and the company."

"He's a psycho," I laughed. But then a troubling thought occurred to me. "But he wouldn't do anything to the company, would he?"

Aliyah shrugs. "Beats me. You can never tell with Mr. Lane."

I shake the thought out of my head. Choosing to focus on the good (and the fact that Aliyah is here early for once!), I eagerly share what life has been like for me at the Blaze. I leave out certain details of course, especially those conferencing Dabi and company intel, but I'm overjoyed by Al's interest.

And when we finally say goodnight, hours after we were supposed to, I lay in bed again - already thinking of tomorrow.

- --

"Dabi won't be in today," Tenko tells me in the morning.

I pout.

"Why not?"

He shrugs. "He told me and Jin to put a pause on new intake for the next few days so I don't think there's much to do, either. Honestly, if you want to go home from now, you probably can."

He didn't ask for any updates or give me instructions this morning either. I thought maybe he was waiting for me to come in to let me know what we'd be doing today.

He said he'd see me tomorrow, I remember. I try not to feel disheartened. He's a CEO, after all.

It's just...I was looking forward to seeing him today.

"You gonna go?" Tenko snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Oh," I say apologetically. "Nah, I'm used to being here all day. I'll try to make myself useful somehow."

I leave him and head for Dabi's office and go through his correspondence, rescheduling any meetings he would have had today or tomorrow for later in the week. If he isn't in the office today, he'll likely want to be briefed whenever he comes in. He won't be in the mood for a meeting.

Hours and hours pass as I spend my time overlooking the company employees and making a record of potential clients.

After I finish a few late night phone calls for Dabi and make notes of the most urgent things he should know when he comes in tomirrow, I decide to go find the others.

But when I walk into the lounge, the only ones I find are Atushiro and Toga. They're huddled together on the couch, talking in hushed tones.

It is pretty late at night. Perhaps they went home already.

"Hey guys," I say with a smile, carrying a few sodas with me. Immediately, they sit back and put some distance between them.

"Hey," Toga says. They accept the sodas with a smile.

"What've you been up to?" I ask them. I pop open my can. "It feels like there isn't much to do today."

"Why do you sound upset about that?" Atsuhiro comments with a laugh.

I get flustered at that. "I know, I know. I'm a workaholic. I don't know what to do with my life outside of work."

"Go home!" Toga says with a groan. "You've done more than enough today! Dabi specifically didn't give us work and you're over here doing extra."

I groan. "I don't want to go home though, what would I do?"

They both laugh. "Normal people things! Watch a show, paint your nails, order Chinese - you know, hashtag self care or whatever."

I roll my eyes, stalling for time. I don't know why, I just don't feel like going home just yet.

I put my phone down and lay back on the couch.

"Maybe I'll just stay here."

"Go home!" They shout.

I laugh and put my legs down.

"How come you guys aren't going home?"

The two of them share a look.

"We have things to take care of later tonight." Atsuhiro says.

That makes me sit up. "Ooh what kind of things? For Dabi?"

He nods.

I feel a pang in my chest. Why did he give them something to do and not me?

But they've been here longer, I try to reason with myself. They're friends and partners. He's known them for years. If anything urgent comes up, of course they'd be the ones he reaches out to.

I think quickly. "Is he coming in later or something?"

Toga hits me. "No, he isn't. Are you trying to find an excuse to do more work?"

I shake my head with a laugh, but I secretly feel...disappointed. It's not that I want more work, I just...was hoping to see him. Work just happens to be the only way I can do so.

Of course he isn't coming in later, though. It's already 10pm. Most of the company clocked out hours ago. And he undoubtedly has things to do if he hasn't come in.

He didn't even have time to respond to my text.

"Okay," I sigh in defeat. The two high five each other, and I pout as they lead me downstairs.

"I'll be back tomorrow," I tell them quickly as I leave. "If you guys need anything at all, just shoot me a text!"

"We'll be good, don't worry about us!" They wave.

I shove my hands in my pockets and make my way to the bus stop.

They'd text me, right?

But something dawns on me just before I get to the bus.

I freeze, my fingers digging around.

But there's nothing.

I pat all around me and check my purse for good measure.

"Shit, I forgot my phone!

I quickly run back to the Blaze.

---

I enter the marble doors again, only for some reason there's something different in the air.

As I make my way upstairs, I hear a murmur of activity. There's a frown on my face as I try to figure out what is going on.

I head up to the lounge, but this time it is empty and the lights are all off.

The only sounds come from Dabi's office at the end of the hall.

Is something wrong? I wonder with a frown.

I make my way to his office, my heart pounding in place.

With a single knock, I turn the knob. And my heart falls as I lock eyes with Dabi sitting behind his desk.

Dabi immediately sighs, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "Shit."

"What's going on here?" I ask.

Standing around him are Tenko, Jin, Toga and Atsuhiro, the last two staring back at me with wide eyes.

No one answers me.

I look from one face to another.

Eventually Dabi looks up at Jin, an unforgiving glare in his eyes. "What the fuck happened to she left?"

Jin shrinks under his gaze. "That's what Toga told me!"

I feel my heart fall. Was he avoiding me?

"Do...you not want me around?" I swallow.

I don't look at him as I ask, afraid of what I might find in his face. So he was. I glance around, hooking my purse on my shoulder and turn around. "Sorry, I just came back because I forgot my phone. I'll- I'll go-"

Dabi pushes his chair back. "Rina, wait-"

But when I look back at him, I gasp.

My hand unconsciously covers my gaping mouth.

"Dabi, you're- you're..."

He's bleeding.

Not a drop or two this time.

But a circle of red adorns his lower left side. He holds a now equally red rag to the area to stop the flow. I look at him in horror but he turns his face away from me.

"Fuck," I hear him mutter through gritted teeth.

"Dabi, what's-" I feel my eyes water.

I immediately run up behind his desk, my hand clutching the one he holds to his wound.

"What's wrong? You're gonna be okay, right? What do I do- we need to take you to a hospital - Toga, help me! You're gonna be okay Dabi, I'm here."

Toga shuffles forward but Dabi glares at her. "I'm not going to a fucking hospital, I'll be fine." I feel bad for the way he yells at her. After all, it was my suggestion. "I just need to stop the bleeding."

I turn back to look at the others, but the lack of shock on their faces stuns me.

"Did you guys know about this?"

Atsuhiro runs his neck and avoids my gaze too. Suddenly the frequent questions about when I'd go home made sense.

"I see." My voice cracking. "Is that why you guys were waiting for me to leave?"

"Well, that NNTV douchebag-"

"Toga!" Dabi growls.

I turn to Dabi, my blood turning to ice. "Does this have something to do with Mr. Lane?"

He ignores me. "Take everyone and leave." He tells Toga. When they don't move immediately, Dabi snaps. "Now."

The team scrambles out the room. If it weren't the circumstance, I'd laugh when Jin stumbled. But as soon as we're alone, I turn back to him and clutch the lapels of his jacket.

"Don't lie to me," I say. "Please Dabi."

The man groans and sits back on his chair, as if there wasn't blood dripping out of his side. I pull up a seat and sit next to him, my hand closing in on his, holding the rag in place.

"We're gonna have issues with Lane," Dabi mutters. "I uh, went to see him today. But...it's like he was expecting me."

"Why would he be expecting you?" My mouth drops. "You mean to tell me Mr. Lane did this to you?"

Dabi sighs.

When he takes to long to reply, I press the rag harder.

"Hey!" He grimaces. "Okay, okay. You know how I told you I have business to take care of on the side?"

"Yes."

"Well. I think he found out a couple things."

I lean in closer. "My friend told me about that! She said he ordered a background check on you, he wanted to know everything."

Dabi shrugs. "Yeah well, if he knows who I am, then he doesn't just have everyday knowledge. He probably deals with shady shit too."

Too?

My heart pounds in fear.

"And who the hell told you to go pay him a visit!" I hit his arm. Dabi immediately groans and I recoil. I cautiously touch his arm. "Sorry."

He shakes his head.

I motion for him to go on as I find a little bowl of water under his desk.

As he talks, I absentmindedly take the rag and rinse it into the bowl. He probably intended to do that himself had I not come in. I squeeze the blood out and just as I am about to press it against his skin, I wince at the sight. The blood was dripping out slowly, meaning the wound wasn't too deep. But that's clearly a stab wound. Dabi got close enough to someone that they were able to pull a knife on him.

What if it had been worse? What if I had lost him today?

"Dabi," I interrupt him. He looks down at me, the blue in his eyes could be green in this light. I softly brush my thumb against the wound. His eyes darken in response, and I feel my heart ache at the way he grabs my hand. "Stop."

"Who told you to go to him, you idiot," I punch his arm again. "What the hell were you thinking."

He grips both my hands now. "I had to send a message."

"What kind of stupid message was worth this?"

"Now he knows not to mess with my people." Dabi replies. My eyes go wide.

I'm part of his people.

The thought brings a blush to my cheeks and I get angry at myself. Look where that got him.

If he is like this after hearing one conversation between me and Mr. Lane...

"Besides..."

I wipe my eyes into my elbow.

"He probably won't be taking any more cars for a while now," Dabi smirks. "If that guy of his didn't pop up out of nowhere.."

He leaves that open ended.

Did Dabi really plan on hurting Mr. Lane?

The thought sends a shudder down my spine.

Just who was Dabi.

What did Mr. Lane find?

"Were you going to..." I whisper. "..you know."

Dabi looks completely nonchalant, as if he had gone to leave Mr. Lane flowers or something.

"I was just gonna scare him." He says, and despite everything, it sounds honest. "Sure, he didn't think I'd go that far. But I miscalculated too. Now I gotta fuck him up before he tries to fuck me up."

I swallow. Is this what Dabi meant by information comes with a cost over here?

"I'm sorry Dabi," I tell him, my tears falling over my now bloody hands. "I didn't want you speaking to Mr. Lane and if I-"

"Relax," Dabi cuts me off. "I'm going to make use of that guy. I'm just trying to find the right moment."

I let go of the rag.

"You can't be possibly planning on seeing him again."

Dabi doesn't respond.

The tears start to fall again. "You promised me I wouldn't need to worry about you," I say, my voice getting shakier and shakier. "You said goodbye and see you tomorrow, knowing you were fucking going to Mr. Lane today!"

Dabi looks at the door in alarm, and his eyes narrow. He grabs the hand I'm waving in his face and I could tell his patience was running thin. "Rina, I'm trying here. If you saw what Mr. Lane looks like now you wouldn't be so worried about me. But I'm gonna need you to lower your voice."

I turn my face away from him and wipe the tears from under my eyes. Dabi suddenly gives me a weird look and I glance at my hands.

Fuck.

I grab a napkin and rub the blood off my face until I can wash it off later.

He watches me cautiously. I don't meet his eyes as I take the rag off to rinse it again.

"Stop moving," I mutter, lightly dabbing his skin with the wet cloth.

Dabi hisses.

"Sorry. Does it hurt?"

Dabi groans. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"Just...shut up. Stop moving so much."

Dabi grows silent.

For the next half hour, I continue my ministrations, avoiding his gaze. I know having me so close to him makes him slightly uncomfortable. But I don't care.

"Take off your shirt," I tell him once the bleeding seems to stop. "I'll try to wrap it up."

"No."

I look at him, my eyes ever more hurt.

"No," He repeats, his voice more stern. "I'll do it myself later."

Without thinking, I lean against him and close my arms around his torso.

"I know you keep saying not to worry but what am I supposed to do when you walk in looking like this?" I whisper against his chest.

He looks up at the ceiling, trying to hold his breath.

"You've gotta stop doing that, princess."

My heart beats faster.

"Or what?" I challenge him, hugging him tighter.

He glances at my lips ever so briefly and looks away.

"You'll fuck me up."

I ignore him and hug him anyway, not caring about the stains that undoubtedly cover my shirt now.

I don't know long we stay that way.

Dabi doesn't hug me back this time...but he doesn't move away either.

I wish I could know what he was thinking. What he means by Mr. Lane knowing who he is, and what uses he may have for him. What he did to him today and how he was able to slip free.

But every day, I discover that more and more secrets exist between us.

[nightshadeshadow123]

Paw prints on the Agent's heart🐾part 7:

Hey guys back to gift ya'll with part 7, hope you guys enjoy this part.

Tag list:

@retro-aesthe @blackluthxr @samustar @aznblossom @ibe-anne @lezzzbehonesthere

🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾🐺🐾

"The two of you together is absolutely impossible." Alex groaned out, folding her arms over her chest.

Kara's head whipped around to her sister. "And why's that? We haven't done anything." The blonde Kryptonian questioned before going back to patching your shoulder up where she have removed the kryptonite bullet from.

Alex rolled her brown eyes for what seems to be the umpteenth time the whole time you were groaning as Kara removed the kryptonite bullet, surprised she haven't eye rolled herself into another dimension yet.

"You two know very well what I mean, and you did do something wrong. Don't try to pretend this was nothing. You two could've gotten hurted more that you already are or even worse...killed." Alex said icely, trying to keep the worry from her voice and trying not to pay too much attention to how pale and weak you looked from the kryptonite bullet.

You grimaced but huff out, (e/c) eyes flickering to the clearly worried agent. "Alex, we are both okay now. We had to stop those CADMUS agents before they could've caused more harm to the innocent people."

"I know that, but you two didn't pay attention to the agents sneaking up behind you and haven't waited for the signal. I swear the both of you are going to give me a heart attack if you guys keep that up." Alex explained and sat down on the medicine counter in the lab near you and Kara.

"Besides that, what have gotten you distracted anyways? You usually pay a lot more attention and don't get easily distracted." Alex questioned curiously as Kara finally finished up and sat down next to you on the hospital bed.

You looked back at Alex before looking to the wall behind her. "Eh, it was nothin' really. I just thought I saw somebody I know but yeah there were a lot of people so...it must have been a stranger anyways." You explained before looking back at Alex and making eye contact with her beautiful eyes.

Alex raised an eyebrow at you. "Who did it look like?" She questioned, not sure if it was good or bad to ask that when she noticed you tensing up.

"For a moment back there I could've swore I saw Lillian Luthor lurking but I couldn't be too sure because she disappeared back in the crowd before I could have a better look." You explained and rubbed at your shoulder, playfully glaring at Kara when she flicked at your hand when you got to near your bandaged wound.

Alex heaved out a breath and looked at you and Kara again. "If that was her that means she's probably plotting something again to show her face out in public after hiding for awhile."

Kara hummed in agreement while putting and arm around your shoulders and pulling you into her side for a comforting hug, one that you gladly returned.

"If that's the case we must try and sniff her out." Kara said, smiling at you after you pulled away while Alex kept her happiness inside at the hug you shared with her sister, she's just glad to see you getting closer again just as much as Kara is too.

"We'll talk about the CADMUS problem another time, I'll talk to J'onn first." Alex said and Kara agreed.

"Let's get going." Kara grabbed your arm and pulled you off of the bed and towards the door. "I'm hungry like a lion and we need our share of potstickers." Kara paused, causing you to collide into her back with a grunt and making a money motion with her hand at Alex.

Alex rolled her eyes and got out her card and stridded over to Kara and placing it in the blonde Kryptonian's hand.

"Ugh why did I made that deal with you anyways. At this rate you will make me as broke as a church mouse." Alex joked as Kara smiled innocently at her sister and pulling you away to the door again as you gave a tiny wave at the agent.

"Luckily it's just one month and two weeks left of that deal!" Alex yelled from behind but Kara simply waved her off with her other hand that isn't holding your arm as you both disappeared out of the door.

"And don't drag (Y/N) around too much, she needs rest and time to heal!" Alex shouted, knowing full well that you and Kara can hear her due to Kryptonian superhearing.

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"These potstickers is yummy but pizza still stays the best." You said to the blonde Kryptonian that is sitting in front of you, two plates of potstickers in front you along with your drinks.

Kara fake pouted at you. "No! Potstickers are the best!"

You just laughed softly at her and took a sip of your drink before nearly jumping out of your skin when feeling nails slowly trace up your spine, goosebumps rising to your arms as a familiar feminine chuckle rang through your ears.

You whipped your head to look at the familiar woman standing next to your chair, a teasing smirk pulling at her luscious pink painted lips.

"Lena! Don't scare me like that. I nearly spitted out my drink and that tickled." You playfully swatted at her as she dodged and laughed softly.

"Hello to you too. I always manage to startle you. I wonder how because it's not easy for enemies to sneak up on you but it's easy peasy for me." Lena looked down at you with soft green eyes as she hugged your shoulders and you returning the hug after putting your drink down.

You patted the chair next to you, inviting Lena to sit down next to you as Kara clumsily waved at her when she sat down.

"Hi Kara." Lena greeted her back before turning her attention back to you.

"(Y/N), want to have another movie night at my place? I'm finishing up on my new project early tonight and I am in the mood for some good movies and also want to show you my project." Lena asked, toying with a piece of her dark hair.

You took a sip of your drink and looked at her. "That sounds like a good idea, I don't have any plans for tonight anyways and I wouldn't miss a movie night with my friend." You eagerly accepted her request.

"Wonderful. I'll order us pizza just before I get home and just pick it up on the way home." Lena beamed happily, a bright smile tugging at her lips and crossing her leg over the other causing her black higheels to clank against the white tiled floor.

"You can join us too if you want." Lena briefly looked at Kara.

Kara looked at the two of you before shaking her head. "I would've liked to but I already have plans with my sister and a friend." She said nervously.

Lena smiled and then looked back at you before getting up again.

"Well I must get going, I've just came to get myself a coffee and then get right back into that project." Lena said, squeezing your arm lightly. "See you tonight." Lena said over her shoulder before walking to go and grab her coffee.

"Bye Lena Boo! See you tonight and good luck." You called after the Luthor that shot you a closed eyed smile over her shoulder as she left.

"I also must get going, I want to go down to that new store that have opened a good few blocks away from here." You took the last sip of your drink before getting up.

"Okay. Have fun and hope to see you tommorow. I'll be helping out the new recruits, just glad it's my day off and away from Cat." Kara also got up and hugged you goodbye before going to pay for the food and drinks while you left.

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It was almost past midnight when Kara's phone rang catching the attention of Kara, Alex and James away from the movie they are watching.

"Who can possibly be calling at such and hour?" Kara questioned and picked her phone up that is on the table next to her while Alex paused the movie.

Kara raised her eyebrow at the caller ID.

"Lena?"Kara said confusedly before pressing the answer button.

"Hello Lena." The blonde answered, paying no mind to Alex scooting closer to her.

"Kara!" A worried Lena said through the phone. "Sorry I'm disturbing at such an late hour but I want to know if (Y/N) is at your place. She haven't showed up here and I'm worried now."

"Wait, what? No she isn't here. And that's strange she didn't show up at your place, she wouldn't miss a movie night at your place." Kara said, trying not to get too worried just yet while Alex now looked even more interested in the conversation.

"That's true. I though she was just running late but the later it got I started to think she forgot or was at your place, and she's not answering her phone either." Lena started to sound even more worried. "I hope she's okay and just at home and maybe had fallen asleep."

"Lena calm down, I'll go check at her house, I've been there once a few days ago when I went there for a visit. You go sleep and I'll tell you if she's okay tomorrow, you sound tired." Kara assured her, trying not to have Lena more worried.

"Okay I will thanks but do be careful when you go out to check, you never know what kind of aliens and villains might be lurking around and Supergirl might not always be around the corner to save the day...er well night." Lena said while Kara chuckles to herself.

"Oh I'll be just fine don't worry Lena. Now go get some sleep, I'm very much certain that (Y/N) won't be too happy to hear you like this. Now goodnight Lena." Kara urged and listened as Lena grumbled in the background before saying her own goodnight before hanging up.

Kara sat her phone down on the table again before jumping up, getting a confused look from James and a concerned look from Alex.

"What's wrong?" James was the one that broke the silence.

"It's (Y/N). Lena said that she haven't showed up at her house and she isn't answering her phone. I must go check if she's okay." Kara explained while Alex looked even more concerned now.

James gave her a confused look. "Who is (Y/N)?"

Kara smiled akwardly. "She's a friend and perhaps later I'll introduce you two but I really must be going." The blonde rushed out, already halfway to the front door but James grabbed her arm.

"I'll come with you."

"No James. I'll go. It'll be faster." Kara pulled her arm away but James tried to reason with the Kryptonian until Alex cutted in.

"Olsen, it's okay. I'll go with Kara. You can go home and we'll tell you everything tommorow." Alex's voice was firm, leaving no room to argue.

James let out a defeated sigh but then nodded. "Okay but you two better be careful and tell me everything tommorow, I dislike these secrets between friends." He quickly got his phone and jacket from where he have sat at and spared one last look at the two sisters before leaving through the door.

"Let's go Alex!" Kara urged, slamming the door close behind them and pulling the agent down the stairway and hall before running to a nearby alleyway while Alex tried to stay on her feet as the Kryptonian ran, glaring at her sister when they finally came to a stop in the ally.

"Gosh, chill out, I don't have super running speed like you."

Kara rolled her blue eyes but smiled. "Sorry." She muttered and zoomed into her Supergirl suit and holding out her arm to Alex.

"Shall we go now slow poke?" Kara teased before holding onto Alex.

"Yes you goof, let's go."

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When arriving at your apartment Kara set Alex down and Alex immediately went to knock at your door but Kara firmly grabbed her arm.

"Alex wait, something is wrong here. I detect kryptonite here and it's already weakening my senses and powers by the second." Kara warned her, eyes full of concern.

Alex gave her a worried look. "So you mean Lena was right to be worried about her?"

"Yes, something must have happened, let's go check if (Y/N) is in there and still alive." Kara ran to the door with Alex following right behind her, gun already pulled out before Alex stopped her.

"Kar, let me go inside, I don't want you even more closer to the kryptonite." Alex went in front of her.

Kara went to argue but Alex fixed het with a glare. "Please, I'll be okay and you'll be near incase anything happens. Give J'onn a call and let him send in people." Alex reasoned until Kara agreed reluctantly.

"Okay but yell if you need help. Be careful." Kara warned but walked a few steps back.

Alex took the last few steps towards the front door, noticing it's half open by a few inches. Taking a deep breath, Alex pushed it open and pointing her gun in front of her, scanning her surroundings carefully but found no threat and proceeded further into your apartment after going through a dimly lit hallway and into what appears to be your bedroom, eyes widening at the state it was in.

It was clear that a struggle and fight have broken out here by the cracked dent in the creamy white painted wall along with dried blood that is on the wall and the floor and kryptonite bullets lodged into the walls and the whole rooms furniture was knocked over and even a few were broken and smashed.

"This is very bad." Alex muttered under her breath worriedly, brown eyes scanning around the place until they landed on a lump on the floor against the other wall that also have a rather large cracks in it.

"(Y/N)!" Alex exclaimed in desperation and worry and rush over to the lump after figuring out it's a person instead, turning the figure around until they were on their back, a snarl escaping her lips when she realized it was just a young man that couldn't be older than twenty.

The young man coughed weakly, dark eyes opening into tiny slits and meeting with the angry eyes of the agent, a cruel smirk already starting to form on his lips.

"Well we'll, if it isn't the*cough*agent of*cough*DEO!" He weezed out, clearly in pain as he gripped his chest with his left arm that wasn't broken like his right one was, the bone that was punctured through his arms flesh making Alex cringe a bit at the thought of how painful that must be.

"Where is she?" Alex growled lowly through gritted teeth, grabbing him by the front of his black uniform he's wearing, earning a painful grunt from the man as his broken arm was knocked against the wall.

Alex's anger grew even more when seeying the all too familiar CADMUS logo badge on the front of his black uniform.

"You mean that bitch of a wolf? Boss have taken her but." He coughed more, a little blood dripping from his mouth. "The little bitch wouldn't have come willingly, the bitch was stronger than expected and managed to knock me against the wall but not before I got a good few shots in her." He grunted out, a wicked grin settling in his lips once again when he caught onto Alex's worry and anger, groaning internally at the familiar sirens of the police in the background.

"I hope the bitch die from all those kryptonite bullets." He decided to add cruelly to worry Alex even more.

Alex jabbed at his broken arm and pulled him up making him let out a pained yelp and bitting hard down on his teeth to keep from yelling out in pain when she angrily dragged him through the house and outside where they already found Kara, J'onn and a few more agents in DEO polices cars and vans waiting outside.

Kara and J'onn both looked up at Alex when she went outside the CADMUS agent still in arm.

"CADMUS have taken (Y/N) but they left this one behind." Alex hissed out, throwing the agent infront of J'onn's booted feet.

J'onn folded his arms over his chest, looking down at the young agent that is groaning and squirming in pain on the hard and cold unforgiving pavement.

"You are in a lot of trouble young man." J'onn said in his stern voice, before turning around and motioning to two other agents to pick him up and escort him into one of the cars.

"Alex." Kara rushed over to her sister after the man was in the car and out of earshot.

Alex let out a sigh and looked back at her sister while combing some strands of hair that fell into her face away with her nimble fingers.

"They've taken her Kar. From what I've seen in there and heard from the guy, they've injured and weakend her a lot and..." Alex paused and looked down at the floor with a frown plastered on her usually stern face.

Kara nudged her before pulling her into a comforting hug. "You worry about her I can see." The blonde Kryptonian confirmed.

Alex went to deny but Kara fixed her with a knowing look.

"Don't even try to deny it. I can see you like her and worry about her. But hey don't worry, we will get her back alive." Kara assured her, squeezing her shoulder a little tighter.

Alex blushed a little at what Kara said but gave her sister a warm smile and squeezing her arm back before frowning again.

"But what if we find her too late and she's d-" Alex began to voice her worry but Kara sternly cut her off.

"No! (Y/N) dying is not an option. If she dies I swear to Rao I'll hunt her soul into oblivion and back. I've just gotten her back a few weeks ago and I won't let either one of us loose her again." Kara's voice trembled a bit but it stayed firm as she comfortingly rub hers sisters back.

Alex nodded and quickly wiped a tear away that escaped her eye but Kar already saw and gave her a warm smile.

"If we get her back you better make a move on her before she's swooped away." Kara teased and pouted as Alex softly punched her arm.

"Get swooped away by whom?" Alex asked a bit tensely, trying to not show the jealousy in her tone and ignoring the way how her ears turned red in embarrassment.

Kara laughed softly before they slowly make their way back to the cars and vans.

"Oh you know all too well who." Kara said teasingly until J'onn walked over to them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, giving the the slightest of smiles.

"We'll get her back, but for now let's get the agent back to the base. Maybe we can get answers out of him." J'onn removed his hands.

"Some agents will stay back here and remove the Kryptonite from this place but when we do find her she might need to stay away from here for awhile just to be safe." J'onn informed and walked next to them back to the cars and vans.

"That might be a good idea. She can stay at my place when we get her back." Kara agreed eagerly, already thinking back to the sleepovers you two had together back on Krypton along with her aunt.

"Thank you, I'll see you two back at the base." J'onn said and got into the back of a matt black van with the famous DEO logo.

As the cars and vans began to leave, the CADMUS agent looked through the window at Kara and Alex, glaring at them coldly and full of hatred.

Alex and Kara glared back, not faltering under his gaze even one bit until they were out off eyesight.

Kara let out a tired huff before facing her sister again. "We need to let Lena know what have happened but...I don't want to call her awake and just drop that bomb on her, she'd be worried and restless and we can't have a restless Luthor running the LCorp." Kara tilted her hand and frustratedly run her fingers through her blonde locks.

Alex let out a grunt in agreement. "That's true. We'll just have to tell her tommorow then." Alex said, taking a few steps towards her.

"Yeah, but she'll be angry that we've waited so long to tell her but I'll go to her work and tell her." Kara said calmly and picked her sister up easily, getting ready to take flight.

"I know but we can deal with her anger tomorrow. Now let's get back to base and try to get some answers from that thug."

"Let's do so. The sooner the better." Kara agreed and took off into the sky with Alex.

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By the time they've gotten back to the base, the CADMUS agent was in the medic bay to get his arm fixed and in a cast before they could even begin to question him.

J'onn watched Alex pace around until he decided to stop her pacing by stepping in front of her.

"Alex, you need to calm down. Pacing around won't make his operation go faster. It will take a long time and he won't be able to talk properly until the medicine wore off. Go get some rest, Winn is already on the look out on the computers along with others to see if he can track down a location they might be keeping her." J'onn adviced her in concern, worried that the agent might collapse in worry if she kept this up.

Alex looked up at him and flinched slightly when Kara came from behind and putted a arm around her.

"J'onn is right Alex, let's go rest for awhile." Kara urged and led Alex to a chair and sat her down in it, asking one of the agents that passed them to get them both coffee.

"Will do ma'am." The agent said hurriedly before rushing off to the cafeteria of the base.

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Hope ya guys ave' enjoyed this chapter. I'm going away on the vacation today but I wanted to leave you guys with a chapter before I go because I can't say for certain when I'll be back and when I'll be able to start on the next chapter. When I'm done with writing this whole paw prints on the agent's heart series I want to start on a Lena x reader story or even a Kara x villian reader or a Sanvers(Alex and Maggie)x depressed villian reader story where reader is villian by night and a typical depressed young woman by day that constantly gets in trouble with the cops and do drugs to cope with her homophobic family, but only if you guys would be interested in it.