#zoom in to see the cool textures!!

[calboi-creates]

Woooaaah digital painting of Julia Drawfee!! Thanks for the inspiration @bardace !!!

[moregraceful]

It feels like getting pulled underwater—the sharp sideways tug, the slight drag of resistance, then falling, falling, till the waves close over his head. But Logan can breathe when he rights himself again, even if the light has a watery filter to it and the voices have a distant echo. // Sometimes Logan gets a glimpse of guys who've been long gone from the teal, clustered at the far end of the bench or sitting in the box across the ice. He heard Jason's voice in the hallway loud and clear, that infectious laugh. And he could have sworn he saw Raffi fucking Torres getting out of a car in the players' lot. Something tells him not to look up the rosters.

Commissioned @impmakesart to make a painting based on the Sharks' Cali Fin hype reel + the flip side by frausorge. Imp was amazing to work with and I could not be more emotional about this piece and so, so pleased with how it turned out!! 🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️ Commission him here. Thank you Imp!

[amirasainz]

hi! Could you maybe do something like reader is Lando's baby sister and it's her first time at a GP so he shows her off to all the drivers?

Enjoy reading and send some requests!!!

- xoxo babygirl 🧡

Proud big brother

Lando was bouncing with excitement as he led his six-year-old sister, Y/N, through the paddock at the Silverstone Grand Prix. It was her first time attending a race weekend, and he was beyond thrilled to have her here. He'd been talking about it for weeks, sending her little videos of the track, the car, and the crowd. He’d told her everything he could think of to help her understand what a race weekend was like.

Today, though, seeing her tiny hand in his, wide-eyed with awe as she looked around, he felt a mix of pride and protectiveness. He was determined to make this the best day ever for her.

Lando grinned as they entered the McLaren garage, and his engineer shot him a look of amusement, clearly surprised to see him accompanied by someone so small.

“Y/N, meet the team!” Lando gestured with a grand sweep of his hand. “These guys keep my car fast and safe.”

Y/N looked around with big eyes, giving a shy wave, which earned a couple of chuckles from the engineers.

Just then, Lando spotted Carlos walking by, and his face lit up. “Oh! Y/N, you have to meet Carlos.” He crouched down beside her, whispering, “He used to be my teammate, and he's one of the nicest guys on the grid.”

Y/N’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as Carlos approached, his expression softening immediately when he saw the young girl.

“Hola, Y/N!” Carlos crouched down to her level, extending his hand for a handshake. “I’m Carlos. I've heard so much about you already, niña"

Y/N giggled and shook his hand with both of hers, looking up at Lando as if to say, isn’t he cool?

Lando chuckled, ruffling her hair. “You know, Carlos is really fast too, just like me.”

“Like a race car?” she asked, eyes widening as she looked back at Carlos.

Carlos laughed. “Exactly like a race car. Maybe even faster than Lando.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Lando teased, giving Carlos a playful nudge.

As they chatted, the crowd around them started to notice the heartwarming scene. Cameras from media outlets and phones of fans began focusing on the Norris siblings. Lando noticed the flashing cameras and shifted uncomfortably, glancing down at Y/N, who was too enthralled with Carlos’s explanation of “how to go fast” to notice.

Oscar walked over, intrigued by the gathering. “Who’s this?” he asked, bending down to give Y/N a warm smile.

Lando's eyes sparkled with pride. “This is my little sister, Y/N.”

Oscar’s face lit up as he crouched beside her. “Hi, Y/N. I’m Oscar.”

Y/N looked up at Oscar, studying his soft hair, and before anyone could say a word, she reached out and began gently petting his head as if he were a small animal. She tilted her head, seemingly fascinated by the texture.

Oscar froze for a second, clearly surprised, but then he let out a soft laugh. “Guess I have soft hair, huh?”

Carlos burst out laughing, clapping Lando on the shoulder. “Looks like you’ve got some competition here, Lando. She’s already got a favorite driver.”

Lando’s face flushed, caught between amusement and a sudden urge to shield his sister from all the cameras and teasing.

“Y/N, don’t bother him too much,” he said gently, giving her a small, protective smile. “Oscar needs to save his energy for racing.”

Y/N giggled and looked back at Oscar, who just winked at her, clearly enjoying the attention. Lando could feel the eyes of the media zooming in on their little interaction, the moment drawing attention from fans and reporters alike.

Max strolled over, smirking when he saw the scene. “So, this is the famous Y/N I’ve heard so much about?”

Y/N looked up, wide-eyed. “You’re the one who’s always beating Lanno!” she said with innocent frankness, making all the drivers burst into laughter.

Lando groaned, covering his face with one hand. “Thanks, Y/N. I feel the love.”

Max chuckled, bending down so he was eye-level with her. “You know, it’s only because I have more experience,” he explained, trying to keep a straight face. "And because I'm just a bit better than he is right now," he teased gently.

Y/N tilted her head, looking from Max to Lando. “Will you beat him, Lanno?”

Lando nodded, trying to sound confident, though he was smiling at her earnest expression. “Of course I will, Y/N. I’m going to win a championship one day.”

Y/N’s face lit up with excitement, and she threw her arms around him. “You’re my favorite driver, Lanno!”

The other drivers couldn’t help but chuckle at the sweet interaction. Charles had joined the group by now, observing everything with an amused smile.

“Don’t worry, Lando,” Charles teased, folding his arms. “Y/N’s loyalty clearly lies with you.”

“Yeah, for now,” Carlos chimed in, smirking as he watched her go back to petting Oscar’s hair. “But give her a couple more races with us, and she might just change her mind.”

Lando rolled his eyes, but there was a smile tugging at his lips. He gently tugged Y/N’s hand, leading her away from Oscar. “Alright, alright, don’t get too comfortable with my teammates. You’re here to support me, remember?”

Y/N nodded, but her attention was soon stolen by a nearby display of miniature cars in the McLaren hospitality area. She tugged on Lando’s sleeve, pointing at them with wide, sparkling eyes.

“Oh! Look, Lanno! Tiny race cars!”

Lando chuckled, letting her excitement distract him from his nerves about the media coverage. “Want to pick one out? Maybe we can find one that looks like my car.”

As she eagerly examined the toy cars, the other drivers exchanged grins, clearly entertained by Lando’s newfound protective side.

“Just wait until she wants to attend all the races,” Charles teased, nudging Lando. “You’ll be too busy babysitting to focus.”

“Right, and she’ll be rooting for Oscar,” Max added, giving Lando a playful shove.

Lando gave them all a playful glare. “You all wish,” he shot back. “She’s my number one fan, right, Y/N?”

Y/N looked up, clutching a toy car that she’d chosen. “Yep! Lanno is the best driver in the world!”

All the drivers exchanged looks of amusement, sharing a laugh, but Lando’s expression softened as he glanced down at his little sister. She didn’t understand the rivalry, the pressure, or the spotlight. To her, he was simply her big brother.

And in that moment, as he held her hand and watched her excitement, he realized that he wouldn’t trade this for anything.

[reachartwork]

the process

a lot of people like to ask me about my process and how ai can be "creative" because they're under the impression that it's just kind of a big slot machine. you pull a lever and art uncontrollably comes out. well, let me show you my process

this is going to be a long thread tagged with #long post, blacklist that if you want to skip it.

so how it starts like most art is that i have an idea. in this case, earlier i made a post about witch-knights "surfing" on swords, so i'm going to try and make that - a witch-knight flying through the air atop one of her swords.

it starts with this picture.

i think this picture is dogshit so i discard basically all of it to try and find something closer to my original intent. there's a couple of uninteresting regenerations so it's clear i have to go back to the drawing board and teach the machine what it is i'm trying to do

let's start with a witch-knight on a broom. it's definitely not great but it gives us a better pose that i can work with.

i start by erasing the broom and replacing it with a skateboard - the machine understands skating better for what i need it to do.

there's a ton of small, subtle errors in this image and it overall looks like dogshit but the most important part right now is blocking and the overall pose structure - i need her "surfing" a large, lengthwise object, in the sky. i start by erasing pieces of the skateboard

now we have a sword, which is good. but the sword itself looks... bad. i'll spare you the abortive attempts at selective regeneration of the sword and just show you what happened when i rolled it back a couple of times from this pose and let it regen entirely.

again, tons of small little shitty errors, but this is something i can work with. i do another regen for a less shitty sword. her boob armor gets replaced with, like, generic scale mail.

this image has a great sword and decent pose but like... everything else is kind of futzy and i dont like it. instead of trying to pick and choose i just throw it back into the oven for a second. much better! but now she's going to cut herself on the sword, oh no!

again, i'll save you the agonizing thirty minutes of trying to get it to understand where the foot should go. unlike before i didn't really have a choice except to muscle through. there! now she's surfing safely :)

so it's done, right? well, i mean, i could post this. and it would probably do okay. but *i'm* not satisfied with it. there's stiffness. dozens of minor errors. the eyes look weird when you zoom in. let's start by fixing her hat, and then maybe her hands?

but she's missing fingers on her left hand so let's go ahead and fix that too. and i don't really like the tip of her sword and the ocean looks really flat and boring. so, VERY CAREFULLY, i have to etch out the parts of the sword and her body i have to keep, and also write an entirely new prompt to tell it "i want an ocean w/ rolling waves please :)"

this is better but not great. i try again - serendipitously, it makes this really cool variant with a shadow over the water, but i know working with that will take more wrangling so i'm considering it an evolutionary dead end and discarding it for now.

i proceed to spend 30 minutes trying to make the ocean look better but it's really not working imo. i'm gonna go back to the shadow version and see how that works

i'll spare you the other 8 minutes - i'm satisfied with the following picture. the sword isn't *perfectly* straight, her eyes aren't perfectly textured, the scale mail is... weird, in texture, but anything else would be greasing the wheel and i think beyond the machine's ability to do fine detail.

i've also attached the starting picture for comparison - it has better, "higher quality" clouds and ocean but i personally cared more about the pose and the sword surfing - the background is mostly tangential. could i get back ocean and clouds of that quality with another two hours of painstakingly cutting and re-generating bits of the background without destroying any of my existing work on the pose? probably. but i don't want to.

total time spent on this piece from start to finish was one hour and twenty one minutes. and now you know!

[chiiroptereh]

[Please zoom in, there's a lot of detail! And a massive file size...ouch]

Hi guys, long time no post! Been working on Art Fight and life stuff, but I've got something kinda fun for you.

This is a compilation exploring how a mortal Bill may interact with our world if there were still some kinda Euclidean instincts buried in there. Y'know, before the Book of Bill ruins all my headcanons >:P (EDIT: IT HAS BEEN READ. YAHOOOOOO)

Also quite an experimental piece as you can probably tell. Lots of details on both said headcanons and the art stuff under the cut, but I invite you to study the colorful texture yourself beforehand and think about what it might be representative of, just for fun because I got some really cool answers from my friends when asked :]c

TL;DR: the headcanon is that Euclideans have exceptional eyes for geometry. They find things like symmetry, tessellating patterns, graphs and fractals very aesthetically pleasing. If pushed into our 3D world, they feel comforted by the familiarity flat objects/spaces bring, as well as high-contrast patterns. Shadows especially are a familiar dimensional reduction that may bring them much comfort.

Bill would surely not be happy about these inclinations, constant reminders of a past long gone, but I'm not sure he's even aware of them here :P I think his ego gets in the way to the point where he just views these interests as common sense, which, of course, us lame humans just don't understand because we aren't nearly as cool as him. Of course he likes perfectly symmetrical leaves and staring at the kitchen floor, it's called taste, look it up!

And yet, he can't seem to shake the strange sense of melancholy he gets from viewing his own shadow.

~ End of TL;DR, long version below! ~

🔺 Headcanon Development

So, the catalyst of this idea was in relation to my friend and I's AU ( @love-triangles-au ). TL;DR, Bill's brought back mortal, meets another triangle named Y.V. (it's his hand holding the paper in the piece, actually), at some point they fall in yaois together, you know how it is. And, in writing a pair of triangles (or, more broadly, writing from the perspective of a different species), something I've had to consider was that you really can't get much further removed from a human being than sentient geometry.

The anatomical aspect was mostly figured out (see my piece on Bill's eye-mouth), but I wanted to consider what psychological differences might be at play. I wanted them to be weirder, more alien, double-so for Bill. At first I explored these possibilities through the lens of Bill and Y.V.'s relationship, specifically the question "what might a triangle find appealing about another triangle?"

Well, really the only things that came to mind were straight lines and symmetry, anything related to the geometric form of such a creature. That's more-or-less where that ended until the thought struck me that there's no reason this aesthetic appreciation couldn't extend to the rest of the environment, and then further when I realized, "wait, this is a species that is designed to live in a 2D environment. Like, they should seriously be really weird. I need to push this like 200% more."

So...yeah! I did some thinking and brainstorming with others and came up with a pretty long list of things a Euclidean in our world may be inclined to enjoy or find some level of comfort in. It's worth noting again that in this piece specifically this is a mortal/powerless Bill, so he can't really escape this Earthly environment. IF he's aware of these instincts at all (and that's a big "if"; when have you last been cognizant of your own instincts let alone known where they were stemming from?) I think he'd have snuffed them out in immortality and/or purposefully gone against them; he doesn't take kindly to being told what to do.

In order from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, here's an explanation for each!:

Flat objects such as paper are something he may find particularly engaging. It's basically 2D!

Tessellations are especially fascinating, and our world has them everywhere in the form of tile floors. Symmetry and such a predictable pattern...as the infinity of the starry sky might for us, the infinite potential of tessellations might invoke a similar sense of awe in him. Add on the maximum contrast of black on white kitchen tiles and the forms are only even better defined! A sensitivity to contrast would be very helpful for a 2D being navigating their environment.

Fields are flat and open, much like Euclydia itself. Laying flat may make him feel a little more at home.

More tessellation in the honeycomb of hymenopterans (bees, wasps and friends)! It helps that pain is hilarious.

The city is an absolute treasure trove. Rectangular buildings, precise architecture, square sidewalks and straight lines abound...he may as well be looking at a rainbow or an art gallery! I think a Euclidean's brain is very fine-tuned to mathematics, especially in regards to trigonometry. What may appear to be a straight painting might appear obnoxiously crooked to him.

Zebras are high-contrast :]

Another flat surface, another relaxing space <3

I think graphs are about as high as high art gets to most Euclideans.

I've touched on shadows before, and for good reason; truly they must be something borderline magical to the Euclidean and perhaps bitterly nostalgic.

This one kinda speaks for itself. Dweeb.

🎨 The Artsy Stuff

Lately I've been trying to find ways to fit more color into my work, as color is perhaps one of my favorite things in the world. My wardrobe is rather garish; my dad jokes that you could see me from space. My fursona is obnoxiously bright for a reason -- I feel my soul is a very colorful one!

I also realized recently that I don't actually know the exact style that speaks to me. I could talk about the phenomenon of the "style crisis" that many artists have all day, but in my mind the best cure for this feeling is to go against it entirely and begin stealing as much as possible.

So, I've tried to keep an eye out for more sources of inspiration everywhere I go, physical and digital. I've tried to train my mind into making a habit of considering, "can I do anything with this?" everywhere I go, and it recently paid off!

The glittery rainbowy texture you see plastered all over Billiam is this one, a photo-manipulated set of fruit stickers. I must confess I've been obsessed with this image for the past 72 hours, and this seemed like a good excuse to try it out!

I worried throughout the process if it might be so abstract that it loops back around to being horribly deliberate, if that makes sense -- like each sparkle was not a piece of a whole but rather an object in itself -- but it seems like that hasn't been a problem, so I'm grateful for that :Dc

I hope it can dazzle and delight you as it does me, but as long as you find it fascinating at the very least then I consider it a success! I really enjoyed hearing my friends' interpretations while workshopping it, and got tons of amazing answers from opal to kaleidoscope to fossilized bone marrow! I truly believe that the best art has some room for interpretation and it really excites me to be surrounded by that kind of creative energy that follows said pieces. That definitely adds to my pride in this work. It's weird, it's colorful, it's detailed and yet ambiguous. I'm feeling pretty autistic about it

Alright, I think that's about it. Thanks for listening!

[ondeemand]

Transformers One Review

For the sake of convenience, I’ll be referring to the characters as their new names (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee) instead of their old ones (Orion Pax, D-16, B-127).

Also, I didn’t grow up with Transformers, so this will be mostly from an outsider’s perspective. I can’t tell what possibly was or wasn’t a retcon or how accurate to the source material it was, but I think the background info on their world held up very well and they were able to explain it clearly to new viewers like me. It definitely would have hit harder if I grew up with Transformers and knew more than just facts from cultural osmosis, but I still enjoyed the movie a lot.

Notes/Things I’m Neutral On

Very weird to hear my name (Dee) being said throughout most of the movie by Chris Hemsworth’s bad American accent.

Also, I forgot that Megatron has transformed into ground vehicles before. I only ever knew him to turn into a jet, so I was kind of confused that he was a tank in this movie. I hope we get to see him get upgraded to a jet in the next one, but the tank is still cool.

Pros/Things I Liked

Simple but effective color theory with their eye colors. Main good guys have blue while Megatron has yellow, sitting between good and bad. Still a friendly color at first, but slowly turns closer to orange and then fully red as his anger and hatred consume him (and after he met the red-eyed Starscream, a cowardly man who ends up enabling Megatron‘s more violent/aggressive tendencies)

○ Also I don’t know if I was just seeing things, but it looked like Megatron’s eyes got more yellow whenever he looked at Optimus which is so sad and so gay.

I really thought they were gonna push a romance between Elita and either Bumblebee (goofy manchild x competent woman trope) or Optimus (male lead x female lead, blue x pink), but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t. Sadly, there’s still time for it in future installments, but I can dream.

Not to be gay, but spider woman sexy. Airachnid was so obviously evil that it was funny, but I can’t fault Sentinel for having her around because I, too, would want a deadly goth woman to be my right-hand lady. They felt like the evil, less developed versions of Mustang and Hawkeye. I am in love.

The animation is gorgeousssss. The environments, the character designs, the fight choreography, the transformations, the lighting, the texture, mwah mwah MWAH STUNNING!!!

○ Sorry, I’m never gonna stop talking about this. The way they were able to make square/blocky figures move so fluidly was fantastic (and proof of concept that a fully animated Minecraft movie would have worked). ○ The camera angles were also great for framing both the dramatic, intense, and/or high-action moments like fights or chase scenes, while also adding a lot to the comedic moments. Like when the camera stays tracking Optimus’ face when running through the forest, only for him to suddenly fall down a cliff neither he nor us saw coming, only to then zoom out to the perspective of the guards below, showing them stumbling and falling. ○ The contrast between the mechanical and organic elements on the surface were really cool, and the way it was introduced was able to convey this idea that organic life was this strange, alien thing. ○ The way the surface just rebuilds itself into these jagged, blocky terrains was really unique and interesting! It felt like a glitched computer model because of its rougher shapes which really added to the fear and hostility of the surface.

90% of their jokes landed and they landed hard. The bit where Optimus looks like he’s about to transform and then just fucking books it is incredible. The audio and camera work help add to these as well, like the music building as Optimus pretends to transform, the camera zooming in close to different parts of him, only for all background noise to cut out as it shows Optimus running away. I won’t name every joke and quip I found funny or we’d be here all day, but they’re certainly a highlight of the movie.

I love Keegan-Michael Key, but I wasn’t a fan of him as the comic relief character of Toad in the Mario movie. When Bumblebee showed up I got a little nervous, but I really loved his performance of the character.

I really liked the midpoint pep talk about hope. That’s a really nice reason that Optimus is the leader despite not being as skilled as other people. He has the hope for a better future and it was a core part of his character from the beginning, and I really like the idea that a leader is someone who can envision a brighter future no matter what.

Alpha Trion transforming was SICK AS FUCK!!! I love that he was more animalistic when the rest of the cast become vehicles. His final fight was so cool, and it actually made me kind of emotional to see him at the end with the rest of the Prime ghosts.

The stabbings? The beheadings?? The branding??? The way Megatron tore Sentinel in half and then ripped his heart out on-screen holy shit???? This movie was incredibly brutal and I loved it. It’s such an interesting phenomenon that children’s media is allowed to be about as graphic as they want as long as it’s against robots, even incredibly sentient ones like in the Transformers series.

○ I watched the 1986 Transformers movie for a class earlier this year, and while it also had a lot of brutality in it’s fights, the new movie felt more intense. Part of this could be attributed to me watching the 2024 movie on a big screen vs the 1986 movie in my living room, but there are other reasons as well. The 1986 movie had more upbeat songs playing over the fights, specifically songs like The Touch and Dare, which helped keep the tone lighter and more exciting. The 2024 movie didn’t have anything like that, allowing the action, while still cool and exciting, to take on a more serious tone. This is also emphasized by the graphics of the movie being 3D instead of 2D. While the 2D 1986 movie is a stunning masterpiece, people still view it with the idea in mind that, since it’s a cartoon, the stakes and story will be less intense. The 2024 movie being 3D with very detailed graphics and lighting already has more visual intensity. The characters are still these bright, poppy colors, but they can come across more moody and dark due to the environments, lighting, and textures that the 3D medium more easily allows. And while the painted backgrounds and cell shading of the old movie are great, the CGI backgrounds are a lot closer to realism, so the harsher elements like metal and rock, which make up a vast majority of the environment and characters, look real too.

The way Megatron’s hate consumed him to the point where he started acting more villainous and, while not entirely similar to Sentinel, still ended up hurting innocent people was tragic. Trying to push away and deny everything about a person only to wind up being just like them. This was perfectly shown in the end credit scene where Megatron is branding himself and the new Decepticons with Megatronus Prime’s face. To him, it may be him reclaiming the traumatic experience and literally using it like a badge of honor, as well as thinking he’s honoring Megatronus Prime. But in reality, he’s just inflicting the same trauma done to him onto others, just like Sentinel. Such a cool way to show how every villain is the hero of their own story.

The doomed yaoiiiiii I’m never gonna get over them. The only other Transformers media I’ve consumed is the 1986 movie, which kills off Optimus Prime in the first 25 minutes and Megatron becomes Galvatron, so I never knew the depths of their homoerotic relationship.

I’m a sucker for “the hero and villain used the be friends (and maybe even lovers?)” trope, so Optimus and Megatron���s relationship and the general premise of the movie was already a slam dunk for me.

I’m also a fan of legacy stories like Avatar and She-Ra. While this movie didn’t get as in-depth with the concept, I enjoyed that they played with the idea of legacy and taking up the mantle of the former Primes.

I absolutely loved the end message that Optimus gives us. Hope, freedom, and autonomy are incredibly important things to learn, and as a trans person who very much wants to keep control over what I do with my body, I really resonated with that last one. I think it’s really cool that they included a message like that in this children’s movie about robots that turn into cars.

Regarding the message of autonomy, I love that it gives the term Autobots a new meaning. Auto meaning “automobile”, since they transform into cars, and Auto meaning “self”, as they are now fully their own bots with control over themselves.

Cons/Things I Disliked

Mid vocal performances from everyone except Brian Tyree Henry and Keegan-Michael Key. And as I mentioned before, it was hard not to focus on Chris’ attempts at an American accent, not to mention how recognizable his, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s, voices are.

The plot felt a little disjointed in the first 1/3-ish.

○ Good setup with the main characters being an oppressed working class with one dreaming of better things and the other hesitant to fall out of line or take risks. But then suddenly there’s a race, and then they’re in it, and then they lose, and then their leader wants to promote them. At first it feels like there are hints that he’s a scummy celebrity-type and that meeting their hero is what will spur on the disillusionment with their society. But then some random douchebag that doesn’t like them reassigns them which goes against their leader’s command, and that’s how the plot kicks off? ○ Also, Elita’s involvement felt kind of rushed/hand-waved. They all get stuck on the surface, but instead of trying to make her way back to report them like she was saying she would for the past few minutes, she makes a complete 180 and heads the expedition herself. ○ It all just felt a little strange, but once it got going the rest of the plot felt fine.

Megatron’s descent into “evil” felt kind of rushed. I understand that he feels betrayed and I really love where the character ends up by the end, but it felt like a real 180 without a lot of build up.

Some jokes fell flat or felt annoying and kinda cringe. That’s the territory of children’s movies though, so par for the course.

TLDR

Overall, this movie was a really fun watch and I’d love to go see it again. While some parts fall a little flat, the movie is lifted from mediocrity by its many Pros. From the stunning visuals, to the quick humor, to the tragic origins of two friends driven apart by their ideals, I’d recommend this movie to anyone interested in animation or the Transformers brand.

8.82/10

[sirfrogsworth]

Backyard Mystery

My security camera detected some motion in my backyard.

When I opened up the app to have a look, I noticed a blob on my fence.

I thought maybe it was a neighborhood cat. We have two that roam around these parts. But... that didn't make sense. This blob was just casually sitting on the fence. Which would be really uncomfortable for a cat for more than a few seconds.

It's just... this thing was huge.

And then it struck me that this had to be a bird. I thought maybe it was that vulture I caught flying around a few weeks ago.

So I grabbed my high powered flashlight and my smartphone and thought maybe I could get a better look.

And my smartphone can see in the dark better than I can so I just snapped a photo in that direction without looking at it. And then I shined my light out into the yard hoping to see what this thing was.

But my dumbass didn't think about the light spooking the creature. And it instantly flew away.

I then looked down at my phone and realized what I was looking at.

"Holy shit, that's an owl!"

This was a novel experience for me. I had never seen an owl in person. I didn't even know we had owls in this area. And at first I was thinking about how cool it was that I just saw an owl. And then I got angry that my dumbass scared it away without getting a better picture with a proper camera. I could have set my flash to zoom mode for a long distance beam and got a shot before it flew away. And I'd probably get that cool laser beam effect from its eyes.

I thought maybe I could use my new upscaling software to see the owl better. But it just added some crazy texture to the blob.

And then I looked back at the security cam footage of me scaring it away...

And I did get some cool glowing eyes due to the camera's infrared light. And I did get a few frames of it flying away. But it seems to literally disappear. Which is kinda spooky.

I went out into the yard after to see if I could find it in a different tree but I'm afraid this owl hooted off without a trace.

[theblackfemininesociety]

B.F.S Spring Lookbook:

Hey Besties! Spring vibes are hitting different this year, and The Black Feminine Society is all about that fresh, fly wardrobe reset. We're mixing up the style game with our latest Spring Lookbook: Classy Elevated Casual. It's where comfort meets chic, and where every Black woman can find her vibe and flaunt it. Let's get into the trends that are about to dominate your Insta profiles.

Say Bye to Basics: Flowy Pants & Trousers Takeover

Leggings and sweatpants, step aside. 2023 is all about those breezy, flowy pants and trousers that scream "I woke up like this" elegance. Picture yourself in airy wide-legs that catch the breeze or statement prints that pop for that perfect OOTD post. Pair 'em with a snug tank or an oversized tee, and you've got that effortlessly cool look down.

Shorts + Blazers & Button-Ups = Game Changer

Rethink everything you knew about shorts. This spring, we’re elevating this staple with sleek blazers and sharp button-ups for that ultimate power move. It’s about creating a look that’s as ready for a café hangout as it is for that Zoom call. Aim for high-waist picks and get playful with textures and prints to really stand out.

Long Pleated Skirts: A Must Have !

The long pleated skirt is having its moment and it's not hard to see why. These beauties add a level of sophistication and fun to any look, swaying with you with every step. Dress them up with a fitted top for that silhouette-snatching effect or go casual with a simple tucked-in tee. Pleated skirts are all about versatility and statement-making this season

Maxi Dresses: The Ultimate Classy Flex

Maxi dresses are here to claim their throne as the go-to for that flawless transition from day to night. We're talking flowy fabrics that feel like a second skin, patterns that demand attention, and cuts that flatter every body type. Whether you're channeling beach goddess vibes or city chic, a maxi dress is your secret weapon.

Accessorize to Maximize

The right accessories can take your outfit from 0 to 100 real quick. This spring, it's all about making statements with bold jewelry, killer shades, and bags that pack a punch. Think of accessories as the exclamation point to your outfit – they're there to make your look pop and show off your unique style. So, layer up those necklaces, stack those bracelets, grab your cutest silk scarf and let your personality speak through your fashion style this season!

Spring 2023 is calling, and it's all about embracing that Classy Elevated Casual aesthetic. You're B.F.F, The Black Feminine Society is here to inspire you to mix it up, try new combos, and own your style with confidence. Remember, it's not just about the clothes; it's about how you wear them. So let's make this season about expressing your femininity in the most authentic, trend-setting ways. Let's do this, Spring!

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[ooppo]

i zoomed in on your hair drawing because i was so impressed by the realism of the textures and zooming in seeing some of the strokes honestly makes it more impressive, how the hell did you do that??? so so cool

Here's a closer look at it! It's been so long since I made it, but I believe I used some references? I googled "Hair Typology" and found some letters that I probably used as reference. Other than that, no clue tbh. It was one of those instances where at the end I paused and thought: "How did I do that?"

I honestly think the 'a' carries the whole drawing LOL. But thank you! I really appreciate it :)

[doiefy]

nct 127 as cursed college profs

very partially based on stupid shit i've had the pleasure and misfortune of seeing in my own classes. happy finals season girlies </3 i rise from my casket of inactivity to bring you the shit post i wrote on the subway on the way to an exam. whose class do you think you'd survive?

cw: cynical college humour because i'm coping, adult humour

taeil: not even that old, but barely knows how to use technology. spends the first 15 minutes of lectures trying to figure out zoom, then the rest of the time poorly explaining quantum mechanics from a textbook written 20 years ago. trips down the stairs two days into the semester and goes on medical leave, only to be spotted on vacation a week later. no one even gives him shit for it.

johnny: originally the cool, chill prof who occasionally went out for drinks with his classes, until he realized he was cool and tried to get even more hip with the kids. now he uses bad memes in his slides and films tiktoks in his lab. the number of students who ask to get drinks with him significantly boosts his ego, but no one tells him they’re doing it just to cross “drinking with a prof” off the frosh bingo card.

taeyong: the sweetest, loveliest, kindest soul you will ever meet—except he’s only taught twice in his life, just got put in as a replacement for a prof who tripped down the stairs, and gives you the most god-awful final exam known to man. he’s also stressed out (on your behalf) at any given moment, to the point where he just passes everyone with an 80 and calls it a day.

yuta: the hip, fashionable prof who only serves looks and random commentaries on society in the middle of his lectures. undergrads fight to the death to join his research group, but the ones who make it eventually realize he spends most of his time partying with the department’s money. yet still, groundbreaking work comes out of his lab every year…

doyoung: retired from research a few years ago to teach full time, but not a single person knows why. he may offer the clearest, live-saving explanations in his lectures—but he constantly looks like he wants to go home and will decimate your entire existence with a single look if you ask anything about the syllabus two weeks into the semester.

jaehyun: the hot single prof. every single freshman girlie has a sickening, concerning, fanfic-esque crush on him. some go as far as nearly failing his class and then booking office hours with him before finals, only to find out that he’s been using Doyoung’s teaching material for years, without credit. he is very much horrendous at teaching on his own. and very much gay.

jungwoo: wanted to go into early childhood education, somehow got coerced into doing his masters, then his phd, then post doc, then— still fulfills his dreams by treating his students like kindergarteners. this includes gentle parenting of frat boys who won’t shut the fuck up during class, handing out healthy vegan treats, and encouraging “mindful moments” while you write the hardest exam he has ever administered.

mark: refuses to teach because he doesn’t think any of the kids will take him seriously, is forced to anyways by the department. as a prodigy so fucking removed from what it’s like to be stupid, he ends all his quantum lectures with “this is pretty straightforward,” and books it back to his lab on an electric skateboard. yes he built it himself. no he won't let you try and ride it.

haechan: shares an office with mark and spends most of his free time figuring out which organic compounds he can mix together to perfectly recreate the texture and smell of cum. if he doesn’t show up to class, it’s because he’s terrorizing pigeons on the street for science. shows gruesome videos of explosions and chemical fires for a chemical safety lecture. has had the fire alarm pulled on him at least twice.

[jadethest0ne]

O.M.G!!!! Did you see the new mutant mayhem trailer yet??? Please give us your thoughts!!

I DID!!!

I get more and more excited about this movie as more is revealed! As for reactions/thoughts, here are the main points (in no particular order):

Lots of cool team shots/poses, and I think I detected an homage to the Mirage Issue #1 cover in there as well

I like where they're going with the plot of trying to be accepted - I feel like that was always sort of beneath the surface of most of TMNT, but this is the first time they're bringing the concept to the forefront.

I'm betting this shot from the beginning of the trailer links up to the later shot of Mikey, so I put them together here

The lighting and the textures of the film are just VISUALLY ASTOUNDING! I can't get enough of them! Everything feels so tangible and real and, to borrow a phrase from a friend and fellow fan, "lived in"! I wanna eat up the art style of this film. It's unlike anything I've seen before

Love how murderous and manic the boys look at various times in this trailer. Yes, one can point out Raph's anger issues, but Donnie looks ready to kill someone here (maybe he already has? XD)

Speaking of Raph's anger issues: "You've got a rage problem, Raph" "IT'S NOT A PROBLEM!!!"

I know he's his own villain, but Superfly is somewhat giving me Lord Dregg vibes (at least in terms of intimidation factor). Mostly 1987 Dregg, not so much 2012 Dregg, to be clear. '87 Dregg had that "I'm pretending to be your friend" but had nefarious schemes underneath that made him interesting so I'm curious to see how Superfly compares (is this a thinly veiled excuse to get y'all to watch TMNT '87? maybe!)

Also SPLINTER!!! I love how dad-ish he looks/sounds! Hearing Jackie Chan's voice coming from him makes me a little choked up

Ok but seriously, I actually didn't watch much TMNT growing up, but Jackie Chan films were my main martial arts inspired media as a kid. To me, he is the martial arts dad, so to hear him voicing Splinter is kinda hitting a specific and personal chord in me

THEIR ROOM!!!

Love this set up! The Raph and Mikey bunk bed. Donnie has a tent. Leo has a piece of calligraphy that says "ninja" in Japanese in his nook. It's the perfect location for late-night heart-to-hearts, which they absolutely are doing in this trailer and I adore it!

And last one, but I zoomed in on this little sunshine duo interaction cuz it made my heart happy :3

I am so incredibly fired up to see this film!

Thanks for the ask! Have a turtley day!

[ckret2]

no idea if anyhting of the sort has been asked before but i was wondering mostly based off my past experiences

would bill be the kind of guy who is just Very Aware of like . sensations in his body and have it lead to shit like having a problem with chewing off old skin and stuff. In the sense that oh crud its just a Smidgen of old skin peeling off it's going INTO the Chomper or just out of boredom because He Can Do That

maybe both

like ohh . i think i feel a corner of my lip peeling off im gnawing that off or ohhh is that a little bit of skin slash nail at the tip of my finger i see i wonder if i can bite that off . Seems Cool .

apart from that your fic is feeding me so well and it took me a week to realize "lord almighty thats the same author that wrote those really fucking funny Alastor In Situations fics". i think a small part of my brain was in denial for whatever deranged reason there was .

ALASTOR IN SITUATIONS FICS LMAO. That really is what most of my fics about him are.

I think Bill is really aware of body sensations, but the sensations he is/isn't aware of have really low correlation to what a human who's overly aware of body sensations would be aware of. Like, this is the guy who's violently nauseous trying to comb his hair but who mixes mustard with maple syrup.

You and I have an idea of what our body should look like when it's Right—when our skin is whole and healthy and smooth, when our nails are cut correctly. If a little flake of skin is peeling off, if we have a hangnail, if there's a tear or a bump or a ridge that shouldn't be there, we know that's a Little Bit Wrong, and for some people that Little Bit Wrongness gets really really irritating until they remove it.

Bill doesn't have an internal conception of a Right human body. For him there's no such thing as a Right body that's human. You can't pick/chew at individual flaws when you perceive everything as one unending flaw. A human body is all skin flakes upon skin flakes, dead cells waiting to peel and slough free, odd little bumps and ridges and pores and wrinkles and folds... He could exfoliate his entire body down to the bone and then he'd find fault with the bone's texture.

Look at this image and remove the dots that are wrong.

Do you have the slightest idea which of these dots are supposed to be "wrong"?

What criteria do you base it on? It's all just visual noise.

It's hard to even focus on any particular dots.

Even if I tell that the yellow dots are what's "wrong"...

... is it any easier to see them in the image above? Even knowing what you should be looking for, you have to hunt for them. It takes hard focus to see the yellow dots separately from their neighbors in all that noise. You'll never find all of them unless you zoom in and go pixel by pixel. They just don't stand out. And still nothing about the yellow dots really feels "wrong" to us on an instinctive, visceral level. And if you do take out all the "wrong" yellow dots—do you know which color you're supposed to fill in instead? Even knowing what's wrong isn't enough for you to figure out what's right!

That's what flaws on human skin are like to Bill. It's nonsense on a plane of more nonsense. He's still grappling with the fact that he's bones slathered in meat rather than pure energy under a foil-thin shell of electrified gold. He is NOT in an emotional place to even NOTICE a hangnail.

When his skin starts to bother him, he's less likely to pick at little bits of it and more likely to be fighting the urge to claw it clean off.

He's more often bothered by things like the sound/feeling of his own breathing and choose to stop it for a few seconds just to get some GODDAMN PEACE AND QUIET FOR ONCE before reluctantly starting to breathe again because he knows he has to, ugh. Sometimes he moves his arms and is conscious of ribs under his chest. Sometimes he turns his head instead of his whole torso and gets a queasy sensation from being reminded he has a spine rather than a hard exoskeleton. He still sticks food in his eye when he's distracted and he's uncomfortable that he can't see his food inside his mouth. THAT'S the level of "bothered by bodily sensations" he's on.

(However: if he gets a cut/scrape, he definitely licks the blood off. He's the specific kind of weirdo that fits the "licks his own blood as a deliberate conscious thing" archetype. You know the type. Adolescent pseudo-goths keen to develop morbid fascinations.)

[lr31o]

hi! i’m an artist and i just watched your render breakdown video on the hades art style!! it was super helpful! your inclusion of palutena has me wondering if you had any plans to do a render breakdown for the kid icarus uprising portrait style :0

if you aren’t, do you have any tips on what to look out for when mimicking that style?

i can’t wait to see more render breakdowns, the series seems super cool so far!

hey! maybe i'll make a video on it one day, but i have the rest of the year blocked out.

i'm going to assume the portrait art style is done in the same way as these official promotional artworks:

(the in-game portrait assets are far too small as they were scaled down for the 3DS)

a good first step i usually do is try to copy an artwork or part of an artwork 1:1, try to figure out how it's drawn. also try to understand the anatomy of the Kid Icarus: Uprising art style. seems like the hands and feet are exaggerated to be bigger.

to me it seems like majority of this piece was done using a simple default circle brush. you can really tell when you look at how the fur on his boots on his left leg is drawn, and the way the texture on his wings are drawn (they don't taper out into a sharp point)

something else i'd point out is the way the shading is done. the lighting is realistic, however, the piece *does* have a very soft line art. look at the yellow band on his right leg, it has black outlines. as well as his scarf against his white robes.

overall, i would describe this art style as anime with realistic lighting + soft line art

so yeah! in general, i just zoom in on pieces to see the details, then try to copy them until i feel confident with working on an art piece of a different character

thanks for the question!

[thenativetank]

VA Native Fish Hunting - 23

With Winter just behind us, I figured it would be an opportune time to pick up the fish hunting again! I went to a local area that has both freshwater and brackish access with a few cool finds!

Macro algaes are always so interesting to me but I'm bad at identifying it. I'm pretty sure this a filamentous Ulva spp. but hard to say. They range from little clumps like this to big sheets over a foot long - and according to at least one book are edible for people too.

More Ulva spp, I pulled this up from a log off shore - it seemed more to rest on it than grow from it. This batch was SO COOL partly on how much there was but also the texture. I'm super tempted to get some for an aquarium.

In the brackish section, I did a number of net dippings and only managed to catch one fish - a Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). This species has so much variety to them; some populations like the one this guy is from, there's an iridescent blue and black dot on the dorsal fin. A handsome fish in a subtle way.

What I did catch a lot of were shrimps! These Grass Shrimps (Palaemon spp) are super common around here. There are a few species in this state and I have a book that helps distinguish them, but I'd need better zoom in order to make that a reality.

A little easier to see their features here.

Before I left the tributary, I saw this cloud of striped fishes swimming around. My knee jerk reaction were Striped Killifish, but I've never seen them this far upstream. I did my best to catch only a small amount.

Makes more sense - Sheepshead Minnows (Cyprinidon variegatus) are freshwater to fully marine pupfish and found around this area. I have never seen them school like this, though, so that's pretty awesome.

I also tossed around a couple of minnow traps in this freshwater pond to see what I could wrangle. Turns out, not much.

One (1) female Mummichog, and...

One (1) male Mummichog. I love comparing the freshwater to brackish to saltwater populations of these fishes. Such diverse coloration!

Not aquatic but a first for me - I found a neat friend! This Wharf Roach was nice enough to pause for a few photos before being sent on their way.

Bonus pic - after the hunt I stopped by a new bait store in the area. They had a fantastic deal on American Eels! If I had room for a 3 to 4 foot long predator slash escape artist, I know where I would go buying one!

[pocketseizure]

fic prompt: epilogue botw-pre totk Link and Zelda starting a cooking show in front of a live audience

“Thank you for joining us once again on Hyrule Kitchen! We’ll close tonight’s episode with an elimination round.” Aurie Taamu flashed a smile at the cheering studio audience before returning his attention to the camera. “We’re jumping right back into the action with the grand reveal of our two chefs’ creations on the theme of ‘Cool Treats for a Hot Summer.’ Chef Link, what have you got for us on this sultry summer evening?”

“I’ve prepared curry rice, a summer favorite in my hometown,” Link announced as he lifted the lid from his dish to reveal a plate of smooth amber curry paired with glistening white rice. “I added fresh apples for sweetness, and it’s so spicy that the heat will be the last thing on your mind. I hope you enjoy this taste of Hateno Village.”

The first judge, a restaurant critic from the fashionable Riverside District named Gotter, sat behind a half-empty plate of Link’s curry. “The spice is lovely, and I can taste the freshness of the apples in the render,” he said, “but it’s evident that the dish was prepared with ready-made roux. It aims for a flavor that would more properly be brought out with time. I give it a six.”

The second judge, a bestselling travel writer named Beedle, hadn’t left a single grain of rice on his plate. “I appreciate the pumpkin you’ve added to the curry,” he said. “It’s a welcome bit of texture, but far from sufficient. After sweating all day, I want sustenance, not delicacy. Without carrots or potatoes, the curry feels meager. I give it a four.” 

“And with that, Chef Link receives a commendable ten points. For those watching at home, please check our website for Link’s apple and pumpkin curry recipe. Now we turn to Chef Zelda. What have you prepared for us?”

“Well, sir, I read your Notes on Cooking in the Wild when I was young, and it made a big impression. Inspired by your work, I’ve whipped up banana crêpes with chocolate, fresh cream, and a special ingredient – smotherwing butterflies!”

Zelda beamed as she extended a crêpe to the center camera, which zoomed in to capture the detail of a glistening black wing nestled next to the chocolate garnish.

“That’s certainly a surprise! And might I say, what a marvelous idea. Smotherwing butterfly essence is indeed a panacea for intense heat. What do our judges think?”  

Gotter’s face seemed somewhat green. “While I admire your choice of unusual ingredients,” he began, “a few drops of essence would have sufficed. I would never have guessed that anyone would mix actual insects into the cream. It’s not inedible, but the thought of eating bugs is difficult to stomach. I must regret that I’ll have to give this concoction a one.”

Beedle, on the other hand, was overjoyed. “Marvelous!” he cheered. “Wonderful! Fantastic! What a bold stroke of genius to dice the butterfly into the cream.The crunchy texture adds an evocative originality to a simple dish. I felt like I’d stopped on the road across the Akkala plains to watch the butterflies on the mountainside meadows. Delicious! I give it a nine.”

“What a surprise, folks!” Aurie Taamu crowed. “The elimination contest has ended in a draw. It looks like both Chef Link and Chef Zelda will continue to the next round. I know I speak for all of us when I say that I hope they’ll continue to learn from each other, and I can’t wait to see what they create in future episodes. As always, keep checking our website and socials for news and recipes! Who knows, perhaps we can persuade Chef Zelda to share some tips on unusual ways to use traditional ingredients!

“That’s all for tonight, but I’ll see you all again on the next episode of Hyrule Kitchen!”

.

“The live audience responded well to the tied score,” Aurie Taamu explained. He glanced at the executive producer, who frowned as he watched a replay of the footage. Being alone with the producer in the upstairs recording booth put him on edge, and he found himself losing his usual cool.

“No one wanted to eliminate either of them, of course,” he continued. “We think this initial confrontation will add a spark of drama to pairing them together later. But perhaps you had other plans? I realize now that I should have consulted you first.”

“No, you have the right of it,” Ganondorf replied. “Those children are our top audience draws, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. Their choice of dishes was uninspired, and their recipes are basic. Neither of them used seasonal ingredients, and their preparation was sloppy. They didn’t clean after themselves as they worked. I’d be surprised if they washed their hands. Their only talent is their enthusiasm.

“Regardless. I just made an arrangement with our Hebra affiliate. The next challenge needs to include salmon. Keep it subtle, but make it happen.”

“Understood.” In his relief to be dismissed, Aurie Taamu was struck by a bolt of inspiration. “You know, sir, the two of them should compete against you at the end of the season.”

A sinister grin spread across Ganondorf's face at the suggestion. “Maybe they will, one day. If they make it that far.”

[insertdragonpun]

THE FINAL REBLOG (To the tune of the final countdown

[Image ID: a pencil drawing of a girl sitting underneath a cherry blossom tree while reading a book. There is a city background behind her separated by water that's reflecting the sunset in the sky.]

HELLO

So, today I'm working on my art final!

I thought it would be fun to put it step by step on here like I did for my first assignment.

So here we go! Base!

[Image ID: a light pencil sketch of a girl in a beanie sitting against a tree and reading a book. There is a city outline behind her]