#working in monochrome has been really fun :))

[mariasont]

HI i have an idea and its making me really giddy

ok so reader is a translator for the bau and they’re always reading and translating texts or calls or anything like that. and the reader to spencer is basically like penelope to derek. they flirt all the time and all of those lovely things.. and it’s kinda just where they’re flirting on the phone and morgan teases reid about it and reid gets all flustered

IDK IF IT CAN WORK I JUST LOVE FLUSTERED SPENCER :(

anyway i’ll probably be in your inbox a bunch uhhh so call me h or something

-h

Warm Under the Collar - S.R

summary: spencer insists he is not flirting. morgan insists that spencer absolutely is. one of them is lying. pairings: spencer reid x translator!reader warnings: heavy flirting, pre-relationship mutual pining, verbal sparring as foreplay, workplace hr violations, use of angel wc: 0.6k

“Are you thinking about me, Dr. Reid? Because I’ve been thinking about you.”

Spencer exhales, tugging at the collar of his dress shirt as if loosening it might alleviate the sudden stranglehold of your words. He wasn’t sure if it was always this constricting or if it was conspiring against him at the mere sound of your voice.

He rolls his eyes, performative, really, because you can’t see him, and it’s easier to feign exasperation than admit the effect you have on him. His mouth, however, twitches in betrayal, flirting with a smile before he crushes it. 

The crime board he was supposed to be focusing on, filled with monochrome photos and reports, was now blurring into meaningless scribbles as his thoughts veer off-course, plummeting headfirst into you.

“I’m always thinking about you.”

The words come easily because they require no effort to be true. Always isn’t hyperbole, it’s a mathematical constant, an irrefutable fact.

He was thinking about you before he even called you, felt the shape of you in his mind like an afterimage burned onto his retinas. 

Thought about what color you were wearing, whether your hair was up or down. He wondered if you’d eaten, if you were drinking enough water, if you’d remembered to bring a jacket to the office because the temperature had dropped unexpectedly. 

“Always? Spencer, if you wanted me that bad, all you had to do was say so.”

He isn’t sure why he hesitates — why his brain takes a detour through all the ways he has said so, if not in words, then in the way his thoughts orbit you like a law of nature. 

“I feel like I did say so. Quite literally. But if you’d like me to be more explicit about it, I’m happy to oblige.”

Another pause. He wonders if you’re smiling.

“Mmm, well, I’m certainly not going to stop you.” You sigh, a little dramatic. “Go ahead, be explicit.”

Spencer physically winces at how hot his face gets. The very concept of explicit sits indecently in the pit of his stomach.

“Tempting.” He exhales, rubs a hand down his face, forcibly redirects. “But I do actually have a job to do. And, lucky for me, it just so happens to require your specific set of skills.” 

He leans against the crime board, half-smirking despite himself, because if nothing else, this is fun — the sharp back-and-forth, the way you press all the right buttons just to see what happens.

“I have a recording that needs translating. Think you can focus for long enough to help me, or do I need to, I don’t know, compliment your intelligence first to get you in a professional mindset?”

“Complimenting my intelligence to get what you want? Interesting. Manipulative, even.”

He groans, tilting his head toward the ceiling, appealing to some higher power for patience. He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t say I was going to —”

“Too late, you put the idea in my head, and now I expect it. Preferably in an eloquent, well-structured speech. Bonus points if you make it poetic.”

“Or,” he counters, “you could translate the recording first, and I’ll… circle back to stroking your ego at a later, more convenient time.”

A small pause. The kind that feels intentional, like you’re weighing your options.

“I guess that works,” you say. “Send it over, pretty boy.”

Spencer shakes his head, fingers moving on autopilot as he sends the file, because if he thinks too hard about the way you lilted that last pretty boy, he might die. “Alright, thanks. Be good, angel.”

He hangs up, still grinning like an idiot, still entirely too warm under the collar. He exhales, staring at the phone in his hand like it might have the decency to cool him off, maybe undo the physiological mess you’ve left him in.

“If I have to listen to one more of your phone calls with her, I’m sending y’all an invoice.”

Spencer freezes when he sees Morgan standing behind him.

He clears his throat, ignoring the flush he knew was climbing up his neck. “Flirting is an unsubstantiated claim.”

Morgan just stares at him. Stares. “You don’t even believe that.”

Spencer mutters something about professionalism because he’s nothing if not a walking contradiction.

💌 masterlist taglist has been disbanned! if you want to get updates about my writings follow and turn notifications on for my account strictly for reblogging my works! @mariasreblogs

[couthking]

Little thing inspired by @isjasz's isat au and @mochiwrites ramblings!!

(on a side note, this does not actually happen in the game, but if you haven't yet you should 100% play in stars and time, it has plenty other angsty moments like this one!)

[crazyw3irdo]

WAIT A MINUTE ITS DARKIPLIER’S 8TH BIRTHDAY I CAN’T BE MAD ITS MY BOY’S DAY

[py-dreamer]

@dynamicsimp hope ya like it!

EYESHOT AU DITY

I literally did this in one day- help.

So yeah, I tried out the gosh-dang challenge and honestly?

Quite happy with how it came out! It was very interesting and actually very fun working on a piece with a monochrome pink palette!

Gosh, I haven't gotten to use my REAL lineless style (I use it for stickers but I haven't done any stickers in forever) where all the cel shading is real harsh and as it says in the title: no outline.

Lately, I've been more focused on lighting and texture in my digital works and just making everything 'softer' and more 'realistic' but dang, I forgot how much I missed just using my harsh and more cartoony style.

But because it looked good, here's the one with some light:

I am very happy especially since I do believe there is some improvement in the style.

(In that it doesn't look as amateur as when I first started out. But I think that's mostly cause I used monochrome here)

Does anyone else get that struggle? Feeling like you're not advancing then keep pushing yourself to change and improve but also really missing the original style?

Anyways some of y'all might be wondering where I've been for pride month....

I PROMISE IT'S NOT CAUSE I HATE PRIDE MONTH OR LGBTQ+ PLEASE PUT YOUR PITCHFORKS DOWN!!!!!

Mainly it has mostly been art block and just demotivation especially since I'm STILL WORKING ON THAT BIG PROJECT UGHHGHHHGGGHHGG.

(I'm not blaming y'all I'm just feral)

And just general procrastination.

BUT.

I do have another project in the works. So to any of my lovely marshiemallows who have seen my previous posts,

you'd know that I'm very...opinionated about Macaque. More specifically his attitude in canon and how the fandom treats him.

(Keep in mind the thing was planned before s5)

DISCLAIMER: Again, I do enjoy Mac's character. I just think he's a bit of a d!ck and kinda hates how a lot of the fandom (not all) brushes that over and throws the bucket of Wukong's sins down on the king's head.

(I also would not hesitate to wack him with a stop sign on the chopping block if given the chance /hj)

But without further ado I decided to do something other than complain and present you guys this:

Yay! So if you're into Macaca bullying, join the Mac bullying train! CHOO CHOO!

(also big thanks to @furornocturna for beta reading and helping with characterizations and stuff. There will be another post just detailing bout the fic later but yea go check them out, their work's great)

AND HAPPY ANIVERSARY TO DYNAMICSIMP FOR THE AU!

[tailsdollr]

hi everyone. This is a story I have been working on for a while. I begun working on all of this maybe a month or two ago. So here it all is.

◇ Details of Monochrome Ink ◇

Monochrome was created due to one of Ink's arms being separated from him. It grew into a separate, unstable entity. Since they were made from only an arm, their time is limited. They bleed due to their body collapsing slowly overtime.

Their design is based off from Ink's own desires and thoughts. His love of colors being obvious in how colorful their deisgn is. Which is ironic since Monochrome as the name implies has full color blindness.

Ink didn't have good first impressions of Monochrome. An extension of himself, someone to finally relate to, someone like them. They couldn't see colors, but they could feel. They were like them but weren't.

Ink didn't know how to react to this. He was never able to actually create life despite being an artist. Only creators could. And now he did. It was him but the mirror was warped.

Monochrome was created with no previous memories. No clue what the world is around him and can't see the world for all it's beauty. Despite this and his limited time, Monochrome had fun. He loved seeing all the AU's he got to see. Even if he didn't truly grasp the art behind it.

When his body finally collapses, he turns back into the ink that makes up Ink's body. And by definition, doesn't exist anymore.

If you have any thoughts or questions please share. :) I have more OC's and AU stuff to share. But this is one of the first I've done since I haven't really interacted with this fandom since 2016 ??

Ink has always been a special character to me. His entire existence depends on us creating and loving art. I wanted Monochrome to represent those who love and support art. As humans our time here is limited. Whatever we can create in our time is important.

To those who see our art and are inspired. Whatever it sparks in us. Whether it be our own concepts or just that we love the art. Art is a beautiful form of expression.

Undertale came from a place of love. For love for RPG's and art as whole. And I think all the AU's this fandom has created shows how much we love Ubdertale. We saw art, were inspired, and created something of our own.

Ink - Comyet

Error - CrayonQueen

Dream - Jukoblog

Monochrome- Me

[eldritch-nightmare]

heyy!! can i request LJ and Candypop ( ,,if you write for him) sharing a fem!reader? (headcanons or something else) i don’t mind <33

a/n: I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT CANDY POP WAIT omg he's one of those creepypastas that i heard about but never really looked into so. first time writing him so i hope i did him justice for you! i wasn't sure if you wanted something more lighthearted or something darker so i did my best to keep it balanced.

LJ and Candy Pop sharing a fem!reader.

warnings: my knowledge of candy pop comes from the creepypasta files wiki page so just a heads up if i get something wrong, opted to make reader a creepypasta here but it's very vague, lj and candy pop are like frenemies in this i suppose, sorta hints that the reader might've been forced into this relationship, my hand slipped and i dropped a 'good girl' in here somewhere i couldn't help myself, possessive behavior from both of them, implied unhealthy relationship.

Man, what's it like having a 7ft tall imaginary monochrome clown that terrorizes children and a 7ft tall colorful Night Terrors possessed jester be in love with you? It's probably a strange experience.

They both argue over who caught feelings for you first. LJ swears up and down that he fell for you first, but Candy Pop claims it to be love at first sight. Honestly, you've just chosen to believe that they both fell for you around the same time.

The two of them were definitely hesitant to share you, though that was more on Candy Pop's side than it was LJ's. Listen, sharing a body/soul with the literal demon king makes you a bit possessive over things, okay?

You don't particularly mind either way, to be honest. They're both a bit... much to handle at times, but you guys make it work. Like... literally. You had to plan out an entire schedule and everything because they kept bickering about how much time the other spent with you.

LJ gets you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while Candy Pop gets you on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sundays are days you spend alone because it's always good to have some time for yourself.

Of course, they don't... follow the schedule that often. Why would they? They aren't confined to the mortal chains of schedules.

They are both equally romantic in their own right, and you won't lie, you certainly have enjoyed a few of the spontaneous dates they've taken you on. Sometimes, they'll even get together long enough to plan out an outing for all three of you. They can get along, see?

Now, we can't forget that they are both murderous entities. One is an imaginary friend turned serial killer and the other is... something. A demon? A poor possessed soul of a jester? Whatever he is, he's deadly. Shall I provide some examples?

Example one: Laughing Jack was abandoned by the one person he was created to befriend, so trust me when I tell you that he has some deeply rooted abandonment issues. He's all fun and games until there's even the slightest possibility of you leaving him. Even if someone makes an offhand remark about how you should leave him, his entire persona does a complete 180.

Suddenly, his hold on you is just a bit more tighter than it normally is, and you can feel his nails digging into your skin, threatening to draw blood. It's a subtle, silent threat of what he could do to you if you ever tried leaving him.

Example two: Candy Pop, as a whole, is somebody you have to be wary around because his mood can flip like a switch. He'll be happily humming away about some random topic one moment, and the next he's pushing you up against a nearby wall and looking at you with such a crazed look that it's almost hard to believe that this is the same person who claims to be in love with you.

He's the type to remind you of where you belong. You belong by his and LJ's side, so don't you ever forget that, okay? You really don't want to see what'll happen if you do.

In the end, though LJ and Candy Pop have a habit of bickering with each other, they'll make one hell of a team if it means keeping you in their grasp. You don't fit with anyone but them, and you don't need to fit with anyone other than them. They're the perfect match for you, and you'll come to see that sooner or later. So, all you need to do is be a good girl and stay by their side, got it?

It's Sunday. Sundays are supposed to be your day. You had plans to hang out with the other girls, maybe even play dress up with Sally if she was up for it. So, why the hell were you currently stuck in bed, sandwiched between a clown and a jester?

You have no clue because you just woke up and they were already here. Sure, you could just… wiggle your way out of bed but then they would wake up. Do they even need to sleep? They aren't mortal like you are, so sleep doesn't seem like a necessity to them. But it's not like you can just stay in bed all day either. You had things you wanted to do!

So, with a very silent sigh, you slowly start to sit up, untangling yourself from the mass of limbs trapping you to your bed. You were able to sit up with relative ease, the hard part would be crawling over either LJ or Candy Pop to get out of bed. That would be… that would be difficult.

Even if you were to try and crawl over one of them, you weren't able to because before you could even decide which one to crawl over, you were being pushed back into laying down again by Candy Pop.

You let out a small 'oof' as soon as your back hit the mattress.

"Where do you think you're going?" You hear LJ ask, and with one quick glance at him, you can see a slight pout on his face. It was almost enough to make you forget about the feeling of his nails gently grazing your stomach.

If he just decided to dig them into your--

"She's not going anywhere." Candy's voice murmurs directly next to your ear, effectively cutting off your train of thought. You only belatedly realize that he had buried his face into your neck, his hair brushing against your face, "Right, angel?"

Well… it seems like you're not going to be getting rid of these two today, so whatever plans you had for the day were going to have to be put on hold until next Sunday. You just hoped the two of them didn't make a habit of this.

[at1ias]

@existencebringsonlypain I had to make this a post cause it got too long {side note, hi I'm in the soul segment now, I wrote this when I just started, IT GOT WAY TOO LONG HOLY FUCK} TW: mention of suicide Also, I might get things wrong: feel free to correct me. ALSO: for more in depth stuff, go look at Genius I guess cause as much as d love too, I don't wanna spend all day here- ALSO ALSO: Go listen to the album! It's really good!

The songs referenced in this post are Chonny's {who I will refer to as CJ} covers of Miracle Musical's "The Mind Electric". The covers are from CJ's album, "Chonny's Charming Chaos Compendium" {I will refer to this as CCCC}, which consisted of "covers" of Tally Hall, Miracle Musical, Rob Cantor, and Joe Hawley songs. I quoted the word cover, because sometimes he writes entirely different lyrics. Now for the explanations.

Take a description of the characters I wrote a month ago! FYI: they're all parts of this guy called Whole {he represents CJ!}

Heart is one third of the whole, and is seen as the “emotional one” by Mind. He is also the one seen in more control of Whole in the beginning of the album. His voice in the album is represented by having no effects added, along with being softer. He has a mutual hatred to Mind. He is blind, and therefore also wears a blindfold. It is not specified when he was blinded, and is up to individual interpretation, though seemingly the most popular one being after the “Juno incident”, which I will cover later. Fun fact, HE HAS A GUN?! He represents the Moon, and has a mostly purplescheme. HMS each has a monochrome color that represents them, Heart’s being white. He has also been referred as “Resident Heart”, “The emotional side”, “Juno”, and “Artemis”. He has purple lipstick.

Mind is the second third we talk about, and is the “cold, logical” one, and finds Heart useless due to his emotions. After “The Ruler of Everything”, he is seen to have more control of Whole. His voice is the most distinct, which, THANK GOD- and is deeper and more monotone. Due to “The Ruler of Everything”, and Heart’s last lines in “The Heart Acoustic”, a majority of the fandom sees Mind as an android/ automaton. He has a blue color scheme. He represents the sun and the color black. He’s referred as “Mr. Mind”, “Automaton freak”, and “Apollo”. He has blue lipstick.

Soul is the final third. He is the peacekeeper, working to bring together Heart and Mind, and is determined to do so, saying he’d die trying. His voice is slightly distorted, and I don’t really know how to explain it. He is the one most representing Whole, and is seen in mostly two ways by the fandom, “Mom and Dad are fighting again”, and, “The children are fighting again.”. He has a glowing red trident, matching his red color scheme. In fanon, and sort of canon, Soul has a chicken named Darrel, created by Socialc1imb due to Mucka Blucka (Intro to Cacophony) having chicken noises, and was canonized in the music video for “The Bidding” by OpalTheThing. Confirmed by Chonny, Soul does drink Monster Energy {I think that's true, probably???}. He really wants Whole back and hates the constant fighting. He represents the color gray and the stars {some people see it as something else though}. He’s referred as “The host”, “a madman”, “insane”, “peacekeeper”, and “Atlas”. He has red lipstick. 

Finally, Whole. Also known as Harmonia {though some people see them as separate entities} , he is what happens when HMS goes into concord. Not much to say here. Again, he’s also a representation of Mr. Jash himself!!! {EDIT START} Oh wait also here's a quote from Mr. Jash's QnA mostly for me to save but uhm. How are Soul’s, Whole’s and Heart’s vocals distinct from each other? How did you decide on these differences? Why did you make Mind’s voice so distinct from the others? The main difference between Soul and Heart is the type and intensity of their pitch-correction. Heart is made to sound like a normal take, using pitch-correction only to fine-tune the notes that they sing to sit better in the music, while Soul’s is heavily cranked to sound almost robotic, even though each is in the same register. For some songs, Soul’s vocals also get layered on top of a Vocoder that’s programmed to replicate the melody of the song (noticeable in Two Wuv and Light.) The fact that Mind’s voice is so distinct isn’t really a specific choice I made, just that out of the three characters, he seemed to best suit it. Finally, from a sound/mixing/production point of view, the voice of ‘Whole’ as you all seem to refer to me is almost identical to Heart’s. This isn’t really for any thematic reasons, and instead just because it feels the most natural. {EDIT END}

Alright we aren't going to talk about Whole much by the way- So, The Heart Acoustic {I will refer to this as THA} is Heart singing a song from Apathy {I'm pretty sure Apathy is a hole}. He is in Apathy, from what the fans dub, "The Juno Incident", an event where Heart attempted to shoot Mind, but missed. He got sent to Apathy as a punishment. It's what I like to call, Heart going on a rant. Importantly, at the end of the song, Heart says this, "Do what you want, you automaton freak, no I can no longer bring myself to care, this hollowed out vessel's beginning to creak, so take control, let's see how you fare." Automaton freak refers to Mind and vessel refers to Whole, by the way. This is Heart's way of saying, "I give up." The Mind Electric, {TME} Is what I like to call, Mind's third and final "diss track" to Heart {The "diss tracks" in question being songs, "Be Born", "Storm and a Spring", and "The Mind Electric"}. Most of the song consists of him mocking Heart, here's a quote I like, "See how his feet miss the ground, and he falls inside a hole he dug for me.", This refers to Heart being in Apathy, a hole he dug for Mind as his grave for after the Juno incident. The Soul Eclectic {TSE}, A.K.A. my favourite song {yes, I'm biased cause Soul is my favourite but also this song goes HARD} Also, this song is real hard to sum up. So, the first verse is Soul kind of introducing himself. The second has Heart calling Soul a "Damn madman", and Mind calling Soul a "Depressed fool". This could also be taken as Heart and Mind talking about each other though. The last line in this verse Soul says "You seem to forget to you answer to me." This is Soul trying to claim any power he can, and he is telling the truth, Heart and Mind *do* have to answer to him. Third verse, Soul says "Neither is wrong, yet neither is right", referring to Mind and Heart's fighting. At the end, Heart and Mind share a line saying, "Condemn him to the infirmary", which I see as them trying to get Soul out of their fighting. The bridge Soul says, "You must be so arrogant to think That either of you can control The Soul so wholly, when To be one whole you can't hold solely" This is Soul talking to Heart and Mind, saying you can't control me, and you shouldn't think as such. Also, I took the usage of "Wholly" and "solely" as puns for Whole and Soul. Starting in verse 4, Heart and Mind finally start listening to Soul. In verse 5, Soul is pretty much like "I'm done with y'all's bullshit." The second bridge isn't notable, but in the interlude, Heart, Mind, and Soul all say, "I. Am. Me." {I'm only writing that because in the sound it sounds cool as fuck lmao} In the chorus, Soul says: "See how the brain plays around And it splits what once was whole down into three And you fall inside a hole, inside a- Someone help me Understand what's going on behind my eyes Doctor, I can't tell if I'm not me" The brain refers to Mind, and splitting refers to how they're all parts of Whole. The hole, again, refers to Apathy. The last three lines are Soul saying he doesn't exactly know what's happening between the three of them, even as their "host". In the second part of the chorus, Heart and Mind are fighting. Again. Shocker. In the third bridge, Soul again talks about their fighting, saying this: "See how they fight all day The other half won't hear what's had to say It's just the game they play here in this labyrinth maze" Yes, the last lyric is a reference to Labyrinth by Miracle Musical. In the outro, Soul is now fed up, and starts to threaten them. Here's the lyrics: "Screams with no sense for why One more day and more night One more black and one more white One more chance is all you've left to turn the tides Tridential regicide I won't hesitate to kill my Heart and Mind I will abdicate these deviants sat inside I'll take you down in tandem when this rope is tied"

Day / night, black / white refer to Heart and Mind's corresponding things. Soul then says he's giving them one more chance. In the last three lines, Soul threatens them, saying he'd rather die than do this. And I'm pretty sure the rope refers to a noose, which.., y'know.

SIDE NOTE IVE BEEN WRITING THIS FOR OVER AN HOUR, WHAT.

[exsiopicore]

"MISTAKES" - AN ORIGINAL PIZZA TOWER COMIC

Before (or after) you read this little comic I made, I wanna say some things.

First of all, this comic was inspired by @gabaobab 's absolute masterpieces. She has been inspiring me since I knew her on Twitter. She gives her best into her animations, art, and even outside Pizza Tower. Knowing that she gives a bit of her living experience in some of her comics, characters and more, really inspired me making my own Pizza Tower comic based on how I feel. Absolutely worth it.

Second thing, thank you ALOT for stopping by and reading this Comic (and this text). I am not a great artist, but I try my best !! I really enjoyed working on this little comic, it made a little side project outside of work for me to enjoy. I am so proud of it :')

Finally, just wanted to say that I had lots lf fun working with the monochrome palette and the light effect with the firefly. It gives a little "more" that I love to bits. No regret. Would do it again.

Hope you will all have an amazing day.

-Exsio

[imthepunchlord]

Do you think that Claw Noir would be a better character than Adrien cause from what I'm remembering Claw Noir seems more involved with his plot than Adrien ever is.

To my knowledge, that's not true. They gave very little details on Shadybug and Claw Noir's world, and what's given is just... conflicting. But I don't remember it's revealed that Emodrien is more involved in his own plot, he's just playing villain instead of playing hero, acting out his frustrations instead of bottling them (like despite being good, Gabriel is still a terrible father? Apparently?).

Either way, to get to the answer, it depends on if you want a changed dynamic for the leads and your preferences.

There is some merit to doing Emodrien over Adrien.

Adrien, by narrative set up, is meant to rebel against his father. He should reach a point of "enough is enough". Why, in Origins, he's rebelling against his father, running away twice to go to school. And then there's Simon Says where he's not so welcoming of his father's hug and relief for his safety.

But it never bears fruit.

To do Emodrien would work off Adrien rebelling against his father at the start, to show that he's had enough, he's going to do his own thing.

Emodrien would also work off Ladybug having a dicey partner. Adrien cares enough to help out as a hero and work with LB, but clearly not that much given he'll be a brat during a fight when she upsets him and won't shape up until he receives an apology, will detransform during a flood to demand answers instead going about and helping those caught up in the flood waters, actively checking to see if someone's going to be akumatized so he can see his crush, will prank her in the middle of an akuma fight, and won't go out to help in fights because he's bummed about his partner working with other heroes.

It really shows the Miraculous it meant to be used with duty, goodness, and responsibility in mind, it's meant to be used to be a fun outlet for him, to exist outside his father and pressure in civilian life; which would've been fine at the start but it would also need to be addressed.

It wasn't.

So Claw Noir could better work off Ladybug having an unreliable Cat as a partner. He's here to lash out, pull pranks, mess with her and Hawk Moth, and just be a neutral wildcard who will help Ladybug when it suits him (as Hawk Moth is also after him), otherwise he's not into this hero business, too much work. He doesn't want more work or pressure on him. No thank you. But he'll take pleasure in ruining his own face cause that's not his look anymore. Extra bonus it pisses his dad off.

If going a route that characters are expected to have growth and evolve, Emodrien has a more defined path to take for himself than Adrien does. Not to say Adrien doesn't, but it's not well defined. Like, Origins set ups wanting friends, but we never see him engage in friendship, or with others that's not Nino, Chloe, or Marinette, and then Party Crasher everyone is just friends with him. He could have a route of learning to be a hero, but they never take that path. You got the set up of his father being the villain but he's just not involved in plot. So Adrien's just kinda aimless.

Now for Emodrien, he's at a stage learning to live for himself, but it's more centered around his grief, anger, and frustration, so his path is learning to get past those emotions, to expand the world outside of himself, to bring color and warmth into his life and not the coldness of monochrome.

And there's the bonus that he's more set up to be involved in his own plot, because he's more against Gabriel, so when he finds that book in Volpina, s2 would definitely be more around the truth that Gabriel is Hawk Moth. And Emodrien may have a decent enough reason to drag this revelation through s2, cause he's pissed at his dad, but he also still loves his dad. So, what does he do with this information? However it goes, s2 would probably be a reveal between Agrestes, and the crossroads they'd find themselves at.

Another big appeal is how this would effect the Love Square.

For one thing, for those that don't ship it, this is in the realm of possibility to just have it not be, cause Emodrien is in a bad spot emotionally and Marinette I don't see all that impressed or happy with either side of him.

For those that do, you're hitting the breaks and set up to get a more gradual and cohesive romance. Marinette is set up, at some point, to learn the reason behind Emodrien/Claw's actions, and because she's empathetic, will open her up to trying to bond and connect with him.

And Emodrien is still Adrien at the core, he's just Adrien letting all those ugly and frustrated feelings out instead of bottling them. And you can set up that he's going to be drawn to her still, and thanks to the Special, we can go either route.

He could come to like Marinette because she's animated and spirited, literally a source of color to his monochrome life. I can't say how Emodrien is as a civilian as we don't get to see how he is, but assuming he's at least brooding and not going out his way to pick on others, Marinette should be open minded, friendly, and inclusive. And Emodrien is still a lonely boy, so he appreciates the gestures.

For Claw Noir, you can work off that he does have fun messing with her, but there is some admiration to her passion and resolve, and he doesn't want to see her fail or hurt. And for all of her annoyances at him and nagging, she does keep a look out for him, helps him with needing to be asked, and will just have his back. And just to be decent, he'll extend his own claws to help, as needed. And gradually, he becomes the shadow that follows light.

[reginadraws]

CSP brushes & assets

hello people! i decided to remake my long-gone twitter thread of some of my favorite CSP brushes & assets with some new favorites! each will have the direct link to the CSP asset website

🖼️monochrome texture pack | link good for throwing noise over top of a drawing. i like the cardboard and steno paper ones. i literally use this on almost everything

🖼️abstract seamless 01 | link mmm. squiggles. i love me some ambient squiggles

🖼️risograph texture | link it looks good. i like the papery look

🖌️filbert dual | link i like how loose and scratchy this one can get. it lays down really well

🖌️tiger brush | link these 3 are color changing ones with different brush shapes. i like tiger bite cause it has like rough edges

🖌️ square texture brush | link i love this for just laying down big color. nice and square

🖌️lazy brush | link i use this thing all the time. multifaceted legend

🖌️ flashito | link nice subtle color changy brush with a little roughness texture

🖌️ MYNQZO brushes | link a brush set with 5 - i like them and they work together well. 2 inky smooth, 3 chalky

✒️ sambfen | link this is a pen brush i've been using lately. it's nice and smooth and quick

✒️little ink | link jittery little pen! comes out loose and globby i like to set it on a small size and use for small details

✒️wiggle brush | link i have been using this one so much. i love the scratchy texture

✒️hhh 2 | link similar in look to wiggle brush but more spiky? almost chalky

✒️ MUGZ BRUSH COLLECTION | link this is a set of 5 - i like the pens in there

⚫️simple retro halftone | link i like to sprinkle this on top of stuff to blend one color into another, or erase something into a fade

⚫️grunge dot | link i use this in background or same thing as ^that one to blend stuff together. good size variation

⬛️ ez mosiac | link easy way to get some fun color / shape details

[guster-animations]

Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 21 Production Blog

i don’t have anything funny to say this time (i’m saving it for next week)

taken from this website

TOKU TRANSLATION MASTERPOST HERE

Looking At the Next Episode

A dark Shoma has appeared. Chinen seemed to have a lot of fun preparing for the role. Everything is different from Shoma’s character, from the smile to the voice. He looks somewhat animated. Who on Earth is this bitter Gavv?! He will naturally be very active in the next episode.

Valen… is once again being defeated (cries), but since he’s human, it’s amazing that he’s transforming at all! I really like Shoma’s line where he says, “No, it’s not about whether he needs help or not.”

Shoma hasn’t been able to tell the truth since episodes 9 and 10– that was last year. In this era with a surplus of entertainment (everyone’s busy!), it might be a challenge to see how far a long story can go. I previously wrote that episode 20 “starts while having a lot of breaks”, but there’s also a huge moment in the story at the end of the episode. Everything is tightly connected. Bittersweet… Don’t miss the next episode.

The Episode in Short

Thank you for watching episode 21!

Director Tasaki helped Chinen in the “Gotchard” movie, and Shoji experienced working with him for two episodes in “Kiramager”. The cast members have met him before, but Tasaki’s episodes took on a new feel for “Gavv” (he’ll also be part of a new program in two weeks)!

A bitter new character (?) has appeared, and it seems like the relationship chart surrounding Shoma has not settled down yet.

Hanty’s Confusion

After witnessing a passionate battle (not in the romantic sense!),

(Rakia: “This is awkward…”)

The previous episode ended with Shoma’s secrets bursting out all at once. Hanto impulsively punched him, but he wonders what his situation is like.

His confusion only grows when Suga tells him what he knows about Shoma.

Director Tasaki also directed multiple episodes in “Zenkaiger”, but he seemed to have a great amount of fun filming the scene, saying, “Even though Zenkaiger has the same combination of Komura and Asanuma, his attitude and role are completely different! The way he plays Suga is so interesting!”.

Just as Hanto begins to want to hear Shoma out again, the Dark Shoma/Bitter Gavv appears, and he becomes even more suspicious, but what really is going on here…?!

Now’s the time to show the true value of journalism! Go, Hanto!!

We’re Sorry About Dark Shoma.

Dark Shoma’s identity and origin are a mystery, but the clothing creates a new form for him. The zipper on the stomach is still alive and well. Normally Shoma wears a lot of highly saturated colors, so his appearance changes quite a lot with the monochrome (almost black!) outfit.

Even though he’s smiling, he somehow looks scary…! There aren’t any drastic differences in the hairstyle, to make it more convenient for Chinen to film when switching between characters, but you can feel that it’s “different from how it normally is” with the changes in expression and pose in just this photograph alone.

His love for food and hungry condition seems like Shoma? He ate both oden and pasta with his bare hands.

The steam was created by our machine operating team and not from actual heat, so no one went, “I didn’t hear about this!”, or, “I’m gonna sue you!” (Laughs).

Though not malicious, Dark Shoma does things that Shoma would normally never do. Chinen was challenged by his new role and put all his energy into every scene. Director Tasaki took cuts while smiling and saying, “Interesting!”.

Yasuhiko Imai played the role of the oden stand owner who was attacked.

At the end of the year, he stirred up excitement as the cunning Kani (the Granute Rojo), but here, he appears as a regular human. Dark Shoma attacks the shopkeeper played by the veteran actor Imai, who plays an extensive amount of roles in countless Toei tokusatsu works, from everything from heroes to robots to villains…

I’m so sorry.

The unlucky restaurant employee attacked by Dark Shoma is played by the promising young Shotaro Kajiyama.

He’s stepping on him, but he’s not actually doing that, he’s just hitting a stake that you can’t see (Laughs). I’m sorry!

Now, Dark Shoma finally finds the key snack, cola-flavored gummies.

Similar to the normal Shoma, he can’t give birth to Gochizos with oden or pasta, but it doesn’t work for every snack, either.

By the way, the normal Shoma couldn’t produce a Gochizo when he ate a macaron (and he also seemed to collapse afterwards…), but that was a little different from usual.

The owner of the penny candy store is played by Naoko Kamio.

She’s also a legend among legends, having played everything from heroes to villains to mascot-like characters. Kamio’s characters have a hard-to-dislike cuteness, and boast of a menacing survival rate (in my personal opinion, haha). Kamio, you know how secure the set feels when you arrive…

Oh… apologies. (But I’m glad that you were as strong as you always are after Hanto saved you, haha.)

From JAE’s [Japan Action Enterprise’s] young members to their big veterans, Dark Shoma attacks recklessly! He makes use of everyone’s feelings, and his brutal depiction intensifies.

His expression while transforming and the way he turns the handle are different from usual as well, and somehow seem dangerous. This is a guy who doesn’t want to act stealthy!

He’s slanted down even more than normal…!

The black Gavv’s shape is similar to Shoma’s red Gavv, but the sounds have an entirely different flavor. You should definitely get it for yourself and check it out.

The Too-bitter Gavv Rampages!

This is Kamen Rider Bitter Gavv, which the dark Shoma transformed into using a Sparkin Gummy Gochizo. The “Bitter” in the name is from the show’s snack theme.

Yuji Nakata serves as his suit actor. There are a lot of people on the production team who were in the staff for “Geats”, so we always wondered if Nakata would appear somewhere. After much anticipation, he took the mound as the peculiar character of Bitter Gavv!

He creates action where the character fights without knowing how strong he is, and battles while fixing a joint that was accidentally dislocated. The widely known respect that Nakata and the action director Fujita have for each other shines here.

In post recording, Chinen is challenged by speaking with a tone that’s different from normal, and vocalizing at an un-hero-like tempo.

It’s innovative that the Bitter Gavv Sword that he created seems extremely heavy to wield!

The letters appearing in the action are “juwa”s that weren’t on the “menu”. [??] It’s foaming like a carbonated drink…! There’s a brutal feeling coming from the kanji, too, in its shape and dakuten.

Rakia, who is now in the OP but has his cell phone deactivated, both due to betraying the Stomach company, sluggishly goes into action.

If the jellyfish is here now, that makes it a Rider battle… He’ll definitely target Bitter Gavv, who’s attacking Valen, but how will this end…?!

By the way, Rakia wasn’t just edited on top for the Hapipare shot in the OP; the other three danced for it again! Rakia hasn’t been in this colorful room before (Laughs).

Don’t miss it next week!

(Written by Minami Takishima)

[mushroomjar]

Did you think I forgot about it? The Halloween vocaloid playlist is done!! I'll include the links in a reblog so Tumblr doesn't bury the post, there's a YouTube playlist and a Spotify one, the YouTube one being the longer one with nearly 100 songs... yeah, I got carried away lol Reminder for those who have forgotten/not in the know, this playlist starts with cute lighthearted songs about Halloween and monsters, and gets darker in tone and sound the deeper down the playlist you go

I don't want to make the post too long so I'll just include a general content warning for the songs in the playlist, and under the cut I might list all the songs and ramble a bit about what it was like to make the playlist. I hope you enjoy!^^

Content Warnings: flashing lights, bright images, loud sounds and jumpscares, disturbing images and noises, death, body horror, gore, cannibalism, abuse, stalking, potentially paranoia-inducing songs/lyrics

The playlist has been done for days, I've just been procrastinating on actually making the post until now lmao sorry! I had a lot of fun making the playlist and going through the suggestions, it also made me fall in love with some producers I hadn't paid much attention to before (shout out to all of the people who sent in Babuchan suggestions, as you can see I went down a bit of a Babuchan rabbit hole and added tons of his stuff to the playlist, same for machigerita lol)

I'll admit that one of the reasons the playlist kept getting longer was because I'd look at other creepy/scary vocaloid playlists on YouTube for inspiration, and every time I was nearly done I would write down 20 more songs to check out, which is why it took me a whole month to get this playlist done lol. I hope it was worth it! I'm very pleased with how it all turned out

There were also many songs/producers I really liked but decided not to include in the playlist, for example I found DaijoubuP, who I really like, but I didn't think it fit the vibe of the kind of Halloween playlist I wanted to make, so none of his stuff is in the playlist. Same goes for SEIKAI, his songs sound very creepy but I found the lyrics a bit too dark and I wanted to try to keep the playlist a bit more lighthearted. Maybe I'll make a more general vocahorror playlist sometime to highlight all of these producers' work! Who knows

Something else I realized because of this playlist is my standard for creepy vocaloid music might be a bit different than other people's. I got many Maretu suggestions, and I love the guy and completely understand why some of his music was suggested (such as Coin Locker Baby), but it surprised me just how much I'd see him suggested in the notes of my post or in Spotify playlists, he's never really given me the creeps even with his darker lyrics. Not judging! Just an observation I had

You'll notice that I've been using vocaloid as a bit of an umbrella term, since there are a couple of songs that use UTAU and even Synth-V voicebanks^^

I think that's all I have to say for now, so I'll just list all the songs in the playlist and hurry to put the links in a reblog! Thank you so much to everyone who helped with the playlist, all of your suggestions were really appreciated, I would not have as good a playlist if it wasn't for you^^

The song list is mainly because I tried to link back to the original producers whenever possible, and also sometimes the songs were very hard to find, so a lot of the titles are in Japanese, so I figured having the songs and producers written out here would make it a bit easier for you to navigate the playlist^^ Anyway, songs:

Happy Halloween - Junky

SLASH/ER - Circus-P

Ghosts Play To The Audience - PinocchioP

Kikkai Kettai - Meddmia

Zen'yasai no akuma - mayuko

Furaan Furaan Zombie - nem

Fake-Cryer Pumpkin - CycleP

Zen'yasai no kuroneko - mayuko

Halloween Patisserie TrickaTorka - machigerita

Halloweenya - Chinozo

Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku - nem

Creepy Toast - CircusP

Pumpkin March - momocashew

Selfish Princess - fujiwo

Pumpkin Head Spooky Dance - machigerita

Dream Meltic Halloween - machigerita

Giga giga witch - Kurosawa Madoka

Trich, Trach, Trick Parade - sasasaP

Happy Hollow And The God Club - Nanou

Saa, Docchi? - HINATA Haruhana

Propaganda! - Crusher-P

What Gave It Away - R.I.P

Shadow Shadow - Azari

Splatter Party - Camellia

Who? - Azari

Pandemic - YuugouP

Twilight Homicide Song - Kiraboshi Hikaru

Greedy Halloween Candy Nights - machigerita

Gochisou - Xitoo

Spiral-Luvox - Tune Tonic/Switch

Mrs. Pumpkin's Comical Dream - hachi

trick and treat - OSTER Project

Strange Masquerade Halloween - machigerita

Oxidation And Dream Monsters - Ghost

Oz no Kaitai Show - Ankoku DouwaP/Joruzin

Sadistic.Music Factory - cosMo@BouSou-P

Hourglass - HiiragiKirai

Dance With The Dead - Ghost

Alice of Human Sacrifice - Yugami-P

Candy Addict Full Course - machigerita

The Boy Who Went To Hell - SHUDDER

Crazy Clown - Intro-P

Ideal Picture - NanoritaP

Serial Contraption of Malice - Ghost

Twins - Babuchan

Not As It Seems - Creep-P

Amydgala's Rag Doll - Ghost

Hyouhon Shoujo - Kiyozumi

Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance - machigerita

Grotesque Love Song - shoutarouP

That Woman - shoutarouP

Musunde hiraite rasetsu to mukuro - hachi

Hide And Seek - Ho-ong-i

Tokeru Sakana - Yuzuri_Hal

Greetings From The Bottom Of The Well - machigerita

Color & Electricity - mushiP

Patchwork Toxin - machigerita

Bacterial Contamination - Kanimiso-P

Song for Great Satan - Nanka-P

Taiyou-sama - Abuse/Abuse-Ken

Fear Garden - Chaa

Despair The Burguer Factory - Groy Anderson

The Cyclops - David K.

Tears of Artificial Flowers - Babuchan

Moon Prescription - Babuchan

Rugrats Theory - Crusher-P

Monochrome Ward - Yugami-P

Bone Dead Mansion - Babuchan

50/50 - Risshuu

Dark Woods Circus - machigerita

Wide Knowledge of the Late Madness - machigerita

Tell me you'll love me - Babuchan

After School - Okashi-P

Lavender Town - neku

???????? - SocialPhobiaSynaps

behe-laino_hotza-bihotza - sakizakisaki

In A Rainy Town, Balloons Dance With Devils - hachi

Sand Gum - MOL.

Nodoka na Kyuujitsu - HikkieP

Broken Toy Mania - Babuchan

Red Flower - Babuchan

Cry Baby - Babuchan

Fuzai - MondaijiP

Boku Yaranai, Kimi Itooshi - nicol

Ant Observation - Healing-P

A 13-Year Old Killer - Sunazame

0 People's Waltz - Babuchan

Varicella - Babuchan

Kagome Kagome - Zawazawa-P

potatoman - MondaijiP

Okaasan - machigerita

VOCALOID UTOPIA - dennoko-P

Hyperpnea - Hikkie-P

Crushed Mary - Mondaiji-P

Nakazu to mo Rokkaku Wrench da Hototsugi - MondaijiP

Complex - Watashi no koko

[loveselenade]

Madoka 1.5

Since I’m watching PMMM for the first time (with a lot of it spoiled due socmed lol), I figured it’d be fun to write my thoughts so far, 1.5 episodes in. It goes without saying, but don't send me any further spoilers, as this is only fun if I can manage to remain as ignorant as I am now.

Things I knew before hand:

-Kyubey is a bastard.

-It has Shinbo Akiyuki's artistic sensibilities all over it (reason I started watching, tho I'm unclear what exactly his involvement in this is lol). Also, Urobuchi Gen is the main writer for this lol

-Madoka dies.

-Madoka is the paragon of good.

-Lesbian Satan.

-Homura has catholic guilt??

-Someone's backstory involves a brother or something.

-Guns

-Time loop.

-Jewel seeds but evil (this only makes sense if you've watched Nanoha, sorry lol)

-Witches

-Madoka saved a cat

---

--

-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Illusory motion.

[image id: top view of a monochromatic, distorted staircase that looks like a spiral.]

An upwards climb or a downward spiral? The irregular curving of the stories and the pattern alternance sure makes it look like it's spiraling inward. As our lace curtain lifts so the play can begin, this is our first look at the kind of world that awaits us.

[image id: gif showing a close up to Madoka's legs and then a panoramic top view as she runs through a monochromatic hallway with a chessboard pattern]

I don’t have a lot to say about the witches’ labyrinths yet, but I’m always a sucker for dreamscapes (I loved them dearly in Flip Flappers, where they had the incredible work of Studio Pablo strengthening the storybook look), and I’m assuming the labyrinths symbolize something about the interiority or the difficulties the witch in question faced. I don’t have a lot to go by with the two labyrinths in episode one, but I did love the glimpse of the one we get in the opening sequence. I love the effect that it creates when alternating between panoramic shots or extreme close-ups to Madoka’s legs and back as she runs—respectively making her look too small against this overwhelming set piece or claustrophobically trapped in her impotence. As the camera moves along, there’s a sensation that the different patterns in the floors are moving. Because of the way we perceive depth via ascertaining the apparent parallelism or convergence of lines and value/color contrast, among other things, the pattern alternance in this monochrome set piece creates illusions of either motion or that each row is a step more elevated than the other. It’s a properly trippy place. I enjoy it. The straight white for the lighting and tiles creates an artificial and alienating atmosphere. The uniformity of its looks is disorienting. Is Madoka going the right way?  It’s really a fantastic introduction to the world of Madoka Magica.

The path you must follow has been prepared for you.

[image id: A green, flourescent exit sign is centered in the screen, hanging above a dark path framed by silver chain fence]

Despite the disorienting feeling, Madoka follows mostly straight paths and there's a clearly labeled, correct exit. This brings to mind the predetermined paths present in Revolutionary Girl Utena's imagery.

Additionally, I find the way Madoka’s run is boarded reminiscent to Utena’s chase after Anthy in Adolescence of Utena:

[image id: gif showing a panoramic view of of landscape shwoered in sunset lighting and red, square pillars towering over the space. Utena, looking tiny, runs further into the place.]

[Image id: gif showing a top down view of a long monochromatic corridor with chessboard pattern that Madoka, a mere pink dot in the screen, crosses running. The corridor is right in the middle of the screen and surrounded by different equally black and white mandalas that turn slightly.]

We get panoramic overhead shots emphasizing the disorienting, geometrical maze and the impotence of our heroines' tiny figure against them.

Before reaching their destination, they both cross a stairs-bridges of sorts; Utena, towards the dueling arena where Anthy waits for her to continue the dueling cycle with Utena as champion; Madoka, towards the foyer where she can find her exit to where Homura is struggling against another hopeless, fighting cycle, one which Madoka choses to perpetuate when making a contract with Kyubey…

[Image ids:

The image to the left shows shows a stich of two Adolescence of Utena's screenshots: the one on top showing Utena crossing a bridge; due the top down angle and the inclination of the bridge, the planks on the bridge look like stairwells. The image on the bottom shows Utena crossing the bridge against the creamy, pinkish sunset sky. The bridge railing is shown a black silhoutte in the foreground.

The image to the right is a stich of two monocrohmatic Madoka Magika episode one screenshots: the on the the top shows Madoka crossing a corridor, the foreground is dominated by abstract geometric shapes. The one on the bottom shows Madoka going up an ample stair well, and the surrounding walls have a similar geometric patterning.]

Absolute Reality.

[Image id: Predominantly black and white screenshot showing a dark tree on the foreground and black debri flyaing around. A little to the right of the middle line stands Madoka, with Kyubey sitting on top of some fallen pillar. The subtittles are Madoka's dialogue and read: "Can I really do something to help?"]

The offer that tempts Madoka into a contract is the promise of agency. She can’t stand the reality where there is nothing she can do, thus it's the promise she does actually have power to influence the narrative and help others and stop their suffering what Kyubey dangles in front of her. Madoka feels deeply moved by the pain of others and has a strong empathetic response that makes it very easy for her to be preyed upon by our resident ugly cat here. It’s detrimental to her. Maybe Homura has a point in reversing her wish to be the divine embodiment of Goodness. 

It’s then interesting that she expresses disappointment upon waking up not only in the premiere but in episode 02, as well. Her waking up animation might as well become bank during this introductory arc (I’m betting it does, can’t wait to be wrong). When confronted with the thought the world her senpai Mami introduced to her, one of great danger but also apparently fulfilling and actualizing, might be nothing but an illusion, Madoka expresses disappointment. Even though she has a happy, easygoing life full of friends and family that love her and that she loves in return, there is something else she is looking for.

Confronting your own humble plainness again.

[Image id: Screenshot of Madoka's room dimly lit. Madoka is drawn towards the bottom left edge, hunching and hugging her huge body plush with a beleagered expression.]

Appearances, facades.

Trained confidence. 

[Image id: Screenshot showing makeup labelled with numbers, as if to indicate the order of steps.]

Following Madoka’s "dream", we learn about her homelife anchored around her interactions with her mother as they talk about the love lives of the people around Madoka, contrasted to Madoka's own assertion that no one has an eye on her. Their whole bathroom conversation could be characterized as "girl talk": they go on about love and the need to maintain an appealing image as means to reach it. I could easily accuse this scene of being sexist (and it did rub me the wrong way initially), but the dialogue is naturalistic enough to paint a trusting, warm bond between mother and daughter; plus the repetition of the make-up motif in the second episode while interspersed with Mami's explanation draws attention to themes of appearance and desire.

A remark that can easily be taken as reinforcing gender essentialism lol

[Image id: Screenshot showing the sinks at the foreground barely visible at the bottom edge, with Madoka and her mother in front of them. Madoka is holding her red ribbons with her left hand hesitantly, while her mother has her hands over her hips, talkig matter-of-factly: "A woman's appearance is the one thing she can't afford to get looked down at."]

The contrast in the way mother and daughter carry themselves is apparent. When Madoka relays her reports about her homeroom teacher's love life, her more experienced mother offers keen observations about the possible state of the relationship. Where Madoka takes things at face value, her mother can see deeper. The same applies to the image they project to the world— where her mother has a set (numbered) method to achieve her ideal image, Madoka fumbles and fusses about her ribbon choice and not being seen as too much. The frame pan showcasing the end result has Madoka standing timidly with her hands folded over her lap and her back reflection shown in three different angles in the background mirrors, as if she's being thoroughly scrutinized. While her mother confidently observes her reflection in the mirror, Madoka shrinks at being observed.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka in the middle with a dopey and hesitant expression and her arms drawn close. Her reflections are shown in the mirrors in the background.]

I can't say that Madoka’s self-confidence is worryingly low given what we’ve been presented with—while she lacks the self-assurance her mother possesses, she doesn’t seem particularly self-deprecating. While her affirmation that no one looks her way reflects that self-consciousness, Madoka doesn't further put herself down. Instead, it could simply be that she's a teenager only now discovering her identity, what she's comfortable with, what she wants and what place can she carve for herself in this world. Her mother advises her to train the image and behaviors of someone confident as a first step to grow more certain of herself. The scene places emphasis on the process of purposefully building the image you project, which becomes relevant as episode two's layouts play with a reflection motif around talks of desire. 

While thinking back on Kyubey’s proposal of granting them one wish in exchange of risking their lives, Madoka ponders about what she wants. Her waffling contrasts to her mother’s immediate, cutting  response concerning pragmatic concerns from her work life when Madoka echoes the question to her. Although, of course, her mother lacks the whole context that makes the decision heightened, Madoka’s roof talk with Kyubey and Sayaka reinforces that there isn’t anything she wishes for that strongly. Yet. 

Additionally, when Madoka proposes a bigger ambition to her mother (“Wouldn’t you rather become CEO yourself?”), the image her mother projects into the mirror changes drastically into a more fierce and dangerous look, complete with the repetition of her labeled make-up symbol. This ties a connection between the image people project and what they desire. And just like Madoka has a rather inhibited persona, so do her desires appear mild.

This takes us to Mami, their helpful senpai.

A slightly distorted image seen from below the glass table totally screams trustworthy.

[Image ID: Screenshot of Mami drawn in a low angle, showing her sitting with her legs neatly folded under her backside and her hands resting on her lap. Despite the sunset light filtering through the windows, she's very dimly lit. Most of her image, from the waist up, is shown slightly distorted as its filtered through the glass of the table. The table legs curve outwards and frame her the image in a strange way. The subtitles present her offer: "You should see for yourself what it's like to do battle with witches."]

Knowing the spoilers that Homura is trying to save Madoka from death via time loops and preventing her from forming a contract with Kyubey has an interesting effect— that is, it casts suspicion over other characters. Mami is the helpful senpai that shows up in the nick of time to save them from the witch, heals Kyubey, explains the situation to them and even promises to protect them from Homura at school. She also offers to show them the fieldwork so they can make up their mind about whether to become contracted! The earlier, careful portrayal around purposeful appearances and the reflection motif repeating during their talk can’t be coincidence. Clearly, she wants to be seen as someone who’s dependable, and whether this has more sinister implications or is stemming from personal wishes is unclear to me yet. Mami feels more like Kyubey’s sales associate than anything else. “You can come observe” it’s the pitch you give someone unsure whether to join a club so you can lure them further in. She’s encouraging them to take on a responsibility that can have rather grim outcomes, despite her early assertion that magical girls don’t necessarily work together to reap the rewards of fighting witches—a statement that further reinforces the narrative of Homura as an antagonistic force to our young heroines. Mami either is very upstanding and thinks it’s a duty they should take on since they were chosen or there is something deeply fishy going on here.

For all intents and purposes, Mami is a completely separate entity to our young heroines, not unlike Homura. She’s the one who’s a magical girl already, they’re the uninitiated. They sit on the same side of the table, opposite to her. This shot emphasizes their separation through the black leg of that foreground furniture.

There’s clearly a lot we don’t know about her.

[Image id: screenshot showing Mami's living room. There's sunset light still filtering in, but the room is mostly dimly lit. Mami is on the side of the wall, so she's in the shade. They're sitting at the table, Madoka and Sayaka together on the same side and visually opposite to Mami. The black legs of a furniture are shown in the foreground, creating a strong visual barrier between Mami and her juniors.]

Isn’t it just so fun how this reflection shot obscures her face? Like she’s covering it with her hands in sorrow. Seems charged that it coincides with her explanation about witches causing suicide and murder, does she know of someone who was a victim of them? OR better yet, someone who became One?

I know that magical girls become witches in this series, which also poses interesting possibilities…

[Image id: Screenshot showing Mami's lap with her hands resting on top of it as she sits in front of the table. Because of the top angle, the reflection of her face shows dimly on the glass table. Her face overlaps her hands. The subtitles read: Many of the inexplicable suivides and murders that occur..."]

Are my suspicions on Mami’s intentions totally off-mark? I have no idea, but it’s incredibly fun to doubt her  lol

Speaking of despair lore, I usually raise my eyebrow—think it’s full of shit— when there’s worldbuilding that links suicide and violence to supernatural entities; it’s a run-of-the-mill battle shonen explanation, Noragami also uses it with Ayakashi as amalgamation of negative feelings and energy from the people of the places they haunt. Now, this could still work on an allegorical sense of how oppressive environments lead to such emotional outcomes, since most stories don’t engage with the structural causes of such problems… It can be that, or end up attributing a metaphysical cause as the source of all darkness without even so much extending understanding and sympathy to the people who suffer from it. Where does Madoka Magica fall, I wonder…

Blessed fools.

A pained smile framed behind by bars, a surefire sign that someone isn’t totally trapped. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sakaya's back with her face turned in profile towards the right. She's smiling ambigously and her right hand is holding to the white chain wall that dominates the background against the bright daylight sky. The subtittles read: "Well... Maybe the pair of us are just fools?"]

Given our young heroines lack of direction, ardent ambitions or anguishing desires, Sayaka muses that perhaps the fact they don’t have anything they’d die for is a sign they’re blessed fools. This rings true for Madoka. She’s a happy kid with a supportive family and friends. Despite her longing for something more—her own agency? confidence? Romantic love?—, there doesn’t seem to be anything that is making her actively miserable. Her mild adolescent ennui is not necessarily something pernicious and would’ve likely resolved itself as she experienced and tackled more challenges in her life with the guidance and support of her family. This whole business paints more ill-fated for her (and I mean, I know it is. What a tragedy, hers).

But is this true for Sayaka? This brief shot with its ominous red sky and its bedridden figure shrouded in darkness begs to differ… The fact she feels guilty over being chosen, thinking there’s people who’d make use of a miracle much better than them makes me think it’s rather someone she knows… Is this her motivation to get into Kyubey’s magical girl agency? I don’t have a lot to go by…

[Image ID: Screenshot representing a short-haired person in bed shown facing right . Most of the shapes are represented as black silhouttes, sans the translucent curtains and the ominous red sky framed by the window. The subtittles read "We've been so blessed.."]

Sayaka and homoeroticism.

Welcome back, Shinohara Wakaba. 

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka, Sayaka and their irrelevant friend Hitomi at the park. Sayaka is hugging a slouching Madoka from the back, saying "You must be my bride, Madoka!".]

The Girl Talk in episode one continues as we follow Madoka’s commute to school with her two friends: the blue one, the to-be Magical Girl, Sayaka and this one random girl that I'm surprised it's even there. The banter and physicality to Sayaka and Madoka’s interactions is fun and warm, selling their chemistry as friends. And near the end, Sayaka playfully proclaims Madoka must be with her, which immediately brought to mind Revolutionary Girl Utena’s Shinohara Wakaba's own ambiguous, very physically affectionate date-play with Utena. 

Rather than being a maiden in the sidelines, however, Sayaka is positioned as Madoka’s protector against Homura. Given Homura is fighting to be Madoka’s silent protector herself, this is unbelievably funny to me. When Madoka finds Homura's staring off-putting during P.E., she hides behind Sayaka. When Madoka— with Kyubey in her arms— is alone facing the inscrutable, darkness-shrouded, threatening Homura, the one who shows up to save her is Sayaka. When they're alone within the creepy labyrinth, Sayaka protectively embraces Madoka. When Madoka is worried that Homura might try to attack them at school, Sayaka offers to punch Homura. This antagonistic placing of Madoka's two protectors is hilarious, and I'm curious to see if the dynamic fizzles out as we delve into Sayaka's innermost wishes and struggles or if the tension will boil over into something interesting.

'Get behind me, Madoka! I got the fire extinguisher!' 

Such a hilarious way to break the tension.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka in a dark parking lot, with most of the background shrouded in shadows. Sayaka is holding a fire extinguisher that she's shooting towards the left, and Madoka stands behind her, holding Kyubey.]

Even their sitting order in class positions Madoka behind Sayaka lmao Does Sayaka have a thing for Madoka or just a hero complex? 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka sitting in their classrooom. Sayaka is shown sitting a row in front of Madoka, a column to the left. Madoka is holding Kyubey in her arms. The subtittles read: "If she tries anything on you, I'll punch her lights out!"]

The show acknowledges the homoeroticism between the two in a tongue-in-cheek manner during their commute in episode 2, when their normie friend feels put off by the apparent intimacy of their silent (telepathic) communication:

"You've been staring so intently into each other's eyes… What on earth did you do after I left yesterday?!"

This girl is too homophobic to become a magical girl, smh. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sayaka, Madoka and their friend Hitomi drawn in profile at the park. Sayaka and Madoka are positioned on the left side of the screen, with a tree in the background subtly serving as visual barrier between Madoka and Sayaka. Madoka is slouched and halfheartedly reaching to Hitomi. Hitomi is positioned on the right side of the screen, with her hand to her heart and running towards the left. Her dialogue reads: "Don't you see that it's a love that can never beeee?!"]

Madoka points out that their normie friend's remarks sound a lot like what Sayaka tells to her on a regular basis, lending credence to my Wakaba comparison lol This gag could simply be an acknowledgement of the charged homoeroticism present in the series, but it still amuses me so far a lot of it has circled around Sayaka and Madoka. 

Akemi Homura

Her soundless, despaired scream as she catches sight of Madoka with Kyubey was so cinematic ❤️

[Image id: gif showing a zoom out of Homura's face as she screams. She's resting on a tree branch that's represented as a black silhouette, with debris floating around represented in the same way.]

Speaking of homoeroticism, it's time to talk about Homura. I actually felt a little sad that I already know about her motivations because she's so incredibly off-putting, I'd have had a lot of fun speculating about the meaning of her actions, the way she's framed and the meticulous way her micro expressions are portrayed. However, it's not like there isn't still some room to have fun reading into them. She enters the picture via the classic transfer student trope. From her introduction alone, she creates an awkward atmosphere with the way the standoffish silence lingers due her laconicism. 

Despite her aloof demeanor, and in pure transfer-student fashion, Homura still stands out both in academics and physical feats (she even breaks the regional high jump record lol!); as such garners the attention of her peers. Nonetheless, she couldn't be more uninterested in them, as the one she can't keep her eyes off is Madoka. Her taciturn, blank-faced and cutting demeanor can paint her staring as downright aggressive. This is further reinforced by being color coded with the darkest values in the cast so far: black and purple are her signature colors, classic villain palette. 

Her conversation with Madoka as she rehashes the "could you show me where the infirmary is" routine is the big standout of hers in episode one —the tropey nature of this encounter makes it very easy to imagine how their first interactions went down the first time—. The low angle that emphasizes her head tilt and the accentuated shadows on her face and body make her look haughty and intimidating.

She's literally staring down Madoka lol Worth noting this same framing is repeated as she warns Madoka in a few minutes, complete with rotating animation for gravitas, contributing to Homura's bad vibes. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's face and shoulders slightly turned to the right side of the screen. The right side of her face is heavily shadowed and so are her shoulders. She's looking down on the viewer. Her dialogue reads: "May I ask you to accompany me?"]

While one could think that the reason she approached Madoka was to issue her warning, I'm actually not that certain. It could be due the way her anguished reactions to being around Madoka make her look quite erratic as she tortures herself with these distorted echoes of her memories—but I also have to point out the abrupt way she brings the interaction to a halt, stomping and suddenly turning. The way she behaves through the whole interaction feels quite impulsive, which gave me the impression of Homura purposefully trying to recreate the past (whether out of indulgence or to torture herself, I'm not really sure).

It's really fun the way this obscured close-up to her profile hiding her eyes— making it difficult to parse her emotions— paired to how the next highlighted extreme close-ups have her clenching her teeth led credence to the "Homura is a hostile party" narrative. Personally, the timing is what gets me. She reacts deeply upset to the fact Madoka politely yet impersonally addresses her as "Akemi-san" lol This girl was in the trenches. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's shadowed profile facing left. She is holding her face up, seemingly imperious and her mouth is tightly shut.]

The way the timing makes it seem like she's really pissed at Madoka’s remark that her name is weird + subsequent fumbling is very funny lol I wouldn't say she's not upset from it, but mostly in the "it's painful to be around you" way. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Homura's clenched mouth, as she lowers her face. There's heavy shading on the left side of her face and lens flare coming from the right side of her face.]

There's a lot of natural verticals in the panels of their classrooms and the windows they transverse that create visual divisions between the two. I found it particularly noteworthy that while there's a natural sense of distance and awkwardness between the them, Homura is the one who accentuates it and fully brings herself to the other side of the threshold when she suddenly skips forward ahead from Madoka. The idea she's intentionally cultivating a distance between the two is very intriguing and appealing…

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura and Madoka facing left as they walk through the corridor with blue window panes. There's a particular wide vertical division in between Madoka and Homura, placed more or less in the middle of the screen. Homura is on the left side of the screen, but closer to the blue vertical division. Madoka is falling behind, with more white space between her and the middle.]

Their sitting order reinforces this idea, situating Homura all the way to the front, completely out of reach. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura sitting in the front row, looking back at Madoka's seat.]

They look fully at odds with each other thanks to the high contrast between the bright windows and the shaded frames. The dark values to their visual barriers fully bring out the tension brought by Homura's sudden halt-and-turn as she issues her warning. Homura is framed as thoroughly oppositional to Madoka, and she herself doesn't bother to correct any misunderstandings. It's pretty interesting she's fine with being vilified if it might grant her any slight chance to get what she wants.

[Image ID: screenshot showing Homura and Madoka drawn in a symmetrical composition, separated visually by the regular window panes. Homura is drawn towards the left edge of the screen, facing right and standing imperiously. Madoka is drawn on the right side of the screen, towards the edge as well, slightly slouched and in a timid pose. Subtittles show Madoka's dialogue: "Yes, really! I couldn't lie about that."]

Homura's dead-eyed ominous warning vs Mami's personable, smiling offer of support, fight!  But this is truly why I can't trust Mami lol Should you really be tacitly encouraging them, Yellow Senpai? A cutting warning really seems more befitting here…

[Image ID: Extreme close up to Homura's blank left eye with the right side of her face being heavily shaded. The subtittles read: "Because if you do, you will end up losing all of those things.]  

Odd ends. 

There's a lot of small gestures that really bring out charm to the interactions and feelings, but if I pointed out absolutely everything, I'd never finish this lol 

There's one thing from the Madoka-wakes-up Bank I do want to point out, though: the odd feeling Madoka’s head turn with the hard shading gives me. Now, I know it's a Shaft™ thing, I've watched another TV series directed by Shinbo that was produced there and I've heard of it. But I still find the timing peculiar— after the opening sequence with her running to the rooftop in episode one and the brief recap with Mami's transformation in the second, just before she wakes up. Of course, this reinforces that sense of being at the verge of waking up from an odd dream, which Madoka fully believes, but it can also get a sense of deja vu. Typically, one would assume that Madoka’s run towards the rooftop is a glimpse to an event that will happen later down the line. But given the nature of this being a time loop and Homura's insistence on preventing Madoka’s death via preventing her contract altogether, which it's implied to happen in that sequence, I don't think there isn't any reason to think that it's not something that didn't already happen. If this ends up being the case, I'm curious how that'd affect further loops.

Tell me your secrets, you pink little one. 

[Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Madoka's eyes facing towards the left. Her face is drawn almost facing front, leaning towards the right. There's heavy shading on her face and a black background.]

Expectations for the rest of the introductory arc:

-Second half of episode 2 will end in a cliffhanger that'll destabilize routine while they fight a new witch. 

-Said cliffhanger will involve Mami (I HOPE IT DOES). I'm suspicious of her and hope she does something terrible, but I think it's equally, if not more, likely that something terrible happens to Her lol

-🤷🏻‍♂️

Hmm that's it. I'm not very good at imagining scenarios lol 

I'm also half-expecting to be wrong about nothing making Madoka miserable, mostly because I've been obsessing over Takamachi Nanoha, another seemingly well-loved, normal kid who turned out to have Important Baggage lol

[spockandawe]

Hello! I've been thinking about binding some danmei novels in my native language, but I don't know where to start. I found your blog recently and find it very inspiring! I was wondering if maybe you could share with me what tools and materials would be good to get started with?

Sure!!!! So, I'm on mobile and don't have links at hand, but if you go back through my bookbinding tag, there are other replies I've got about the materials for making a book specifically. The renegade publishing blog also has resource documents that walk through the bookbinding process and include links to educational materials, etc. So for here, I'll focus on the danmei side of things!

So, a fun feature about these books is that they tend to run LONG. I've seen a number of people try to take up bookbinding in google docs, and honestly, it's doing things on hard mode. For many danmei, it's basically impossible. I think my EARLIEST earliest attempt at svsss began in gdocs, and that's not a super long novel, but gdocs was choking on it. A word processor on your desktop is going to be your best bet. Personally, i invested in a microsoft office license, because it was familiar and i could afford it. But the free parallel to that will be libre office, which does basically everything word can do, with just minor differences.

On the fancy end of bookbinding software, affinity, indesign, and microsoft publisher are also names you may hear tossed around. These can do fancier, more artistic layouts, but also come with a heavier price tag. And because i had webnovels on my radar from the start, i wanted something ROBUST. I wanted to be able to dump all of the husky and his white cat shizun into a single file and work from it. And i did eventually do that! Being able to typeset a single file rather than repeat each step across several is great, especially since i tend to tweak design choices as i go.

For danmei, you're also going to want a robust printer. I have a color laser that's been an absolute beast of a machine, but a black and white laser can get you a long ways, and monochrome designs can be very elegant. You don't want an HP brand printer, their toner subscription practices are downright predatory, but Brother and Canon are names I've seen recommended highly. You probably don't want an inkjet printer, because long books take a LOT of ink. The one exception would be if you can find an affordable ink tank printer.

And the last major thing i can think of is that if your main computer is a laptop, consider typesetting with an external mouse and keyboard! Danmei novels are split into lots of short chapters, frequently split across just as many web pages, with lots of footnotes to format, and laptops are convenient but not ergonomic. Doing too much on there is just asking for a repetitive strain injury. I've done it, but often paid for my sins in pain! And your laptop keyboard may start complaining too, I'm almost certain my first typeset of mdzs was the nail in the coffin for my last laptop's keyboard, haha

I hope that helps! Best of luck to you! Ive found binding cnovels to be EXTREMELY rewarding, even though my original reason was because these things would NEVER be licensed in english 😂 I'm delighted to see people experimenting with it for other translations in other languages, I really hope it goes well for you!!!!

[sparklingdemon]

take care!! i really hope we can figure out how to start this thing up.. ive been trying to finally go and read thru the whole thing to get a grasp of the full image of the story thus far so i can better puzzle thru it but its taking me a while 😭 hell hyperfixating on it def rubbed off on me hshfsjgz they kept bouncing their theories offa me

either way, im excited for whatever it'll be! but also more than willing to wait. updating blogs daily in any capacity gets really taxing (i keep having to learn that the hard way.. it was always insane to me seeing how often monochrome updated at times), so please take as much time as you need- ik it'll be more than worth the wait!! its kinda scary to know thisll be a big event but it makes it more exciting :O

and of course, best of luck!!

thank you starry!! i appreciate you taking the time to go back and reread everything! speaking from experience, it's a LOT of posts to go through, so feel free to chip away at your own pace. i hope that with everything fresh in your mind, it'll make the upcoming parts hit even harder for you. glad to hear you and hell both have been having fun with it though! i love hearing you guys' thoughts on it <3

i'm excited too! this plot point has been TWO YEARS in the making, so it's crazy to think it's fast approaching. i wanna make sure it's the best reading experience it can be, so i promise to work as hard as i can to get it ready as soon as possible! i know it'll be worth the wait. thank you!!

[divisionull]

It's a parody of the image from WORLDWID3 by Femtanyl. Thought they'd fit in perfectly. Who do you think stand behind the camera?

Another parody piece! DINNER! by Femtanyl.

The alternative ver. Horrortale.

It tastes different, doesn't it?

I know I should've drawn Papyrus taller, but it was really difficult to change size and adjust positions to make it look good.

By the way let's start Manga. It was the first time for me to try clip studio ex and new tablet which are my Christmas present, though it's already March😂. So, it's entirely experimental!! Hope you have fun!!!

I created a key chain with my 3d printer!

☝︎The eye glows in the light of 365nm wavelength.

☝︎Size comparison with an older work

☜Gaster10®️ and ☞Gaster (temporary).

Does anyone know there's an otc drug for stomach called Gaster10 in Japan?

By the way I made seven keychains. One is for mine, five'll be for sale, the rest is spare. I tried my best, but the quality is by far less than real products. The biggest issue is the painting, easily peels off and get dirty. It might not suit for carrying around, although it's keychain.

I opened a BOOTH shop for this with a password. The password is the trade-name in real life I've just referred to (of course you don't need to type ®️ and space, but you need the capital letter).

The reason why I decided to create the keychain is an announcement of the official capsule toys. I want to collect every character! Please check the link too☟

Bonus stuff

No translations and bad lettering

☝︎ Remembering there're two jokers in a set of cards, I drew Jevil's twin. I just felt Jevil represents monochrome joker, so I made colored one naming Jugel (Juker + Angel and also maybe +juggle?).

If you reading this and having not read the manga on the link (ep1), please have a try! It has been almost an year since the last update, and I cannot say the sequence will continue... I've had primitive phase of ideas for several episodes, but it's a hard work to output any kind of story into manga especially they are continuous. I awe anyone who creates amazing stories more and more.