#I made it to see how layering white over black and combining that look with my orange would look

[robinsceramics]

fox head— this one works really well as a fidget. It's a satisfying shape to turn around in your hands; you can rub your thumb along its ears and play with the tips of them and the groove between its ears, and the glazed surface is glassy-smooth. The base it sits on is unglazed and ceramic-rough.

Anyway! [image descriptions: a ceramic sculpture of a gray fox's head. The shape is smooth and minimalist, colored with rough grey and orange and white pigment under its clear glaze. The fox's eyes are black almond shapes with white dots in them.]

#ceramics #ceramic sculpture #fox sculpture #fox #fox head #sold #the fox head was practice for surfacing my self-portrait bust #I made it to see how layering white over black and combining that look with my orange would look #didn't end up going with the gray fox look for the final project but the process was a good experiment and very useful

[throwaway-yandere]

"If the pedestal is beautiful, then the statue must be even more beautiful." (Yandere!Zhongli/reader)

a/n: I do not regret this one bit. while i do feel bad abt yaoyao's suffering, at least i wrote something unhinged again + it aint a zhongli fic without me referencing proverbs lMAO--

unreliable synopsis: “(Y/n) must be a really important person if Rex Lapis made them a statue, right?”

Yaoyao found a realistic statue inside Mt. Hulao.

As she was exploring the area with Qiqi to find herbs, Yaoyao discovered a secret domain that was only accessible to children her size and smaller creatures like Yuegui. It was horribly muddy and extremely narrow. She wouldn't go there on purpose if she hadn't fallen inside after exhausting herself trying to climb a hill just for a stem of violetgrass.

She anticipated a dense mixture of dust and fog inside the cave, with layers of spiderweb adornments, but it was unexpectedly unscathed with the typical filth that embellishes a place over time. The table was piled high with multiple apparatuses that she was unable to identify, but its aesthetics screamed that it was an adeptus' prideful handiwork. Despite not being refused entry as most adeptal abode should do, she came to an unspoken conclusion that this must have been an adeptus' place, and her curiosity grew by the minute when she noticed a life-sized statue sitting in the middle of it all.

Yaoyao was unable to take her eyes off it as a halo of soft yet lurid orange light enveloped it. The statue wore a brown hanfu that was encrusted with citrine jewels fashioned into dragons and the Geo element's symbol. Their clothes looked ruffled on areas near the waist and thighs as though it was frequently hugged and touched around those parts. But what Yaoyao couldn’t forget the most was their black earring with a white tassel that hung on their right ear. She can't recall who she saw wearing that earring when she first saw it, but she had certainly seen it before.

Admittedly, the statue was nearly perfect if it weren’t for the fracture the child had caused upon bumping into it. Yaoyao would have mistaken it for a real person and apologized if it weren't for the diaphanous and stony texture it possessed.

Still, the farrago between real and fake stirred around the lost child’s head as if it was a major dilemma. She swears she had seen that earring somewhere and that chipping its pointer finger off the statue was an inexcusable and grave mistake. Was this statue designed after someone in history or a character from those fictional tales Master loved to talk about? Yaoyao couldn’t decide which is a likelier story, but she certainly didn’t want it to be the former.

In addition, what made it eerier was the anticipation of calamity on their face. It’s a look not at all visible. The majority would undoubtedly dismiss Yaoyao's perspective and assert that the monument exuded a stoic aura. But if such were the case, why does she see the look of a rabbit about to flee in their eyes? The statue’s face exhibited a great firmness that declared that it wasn't as it appeared on the outside.

The statue looked like it was fearing for Yaoyao’s life after what she had done.

To avoid amplifying her trepidation, the young girl focused her attention elsewhere. Near the statue laid a red baize-covered table full of tapestries and books Yaoyao could only reach by tip-toeing and underneath it was stacked with clothes, herbs, vulneraries, and letters without indications of the sender or addressee’s name. If so many offerings were being made, then someone really cared about whoever this statue stood for. A commendable devotion considering how the last letter was only dated about two days ago.

Whoever this statue was and whoever maintained this shrine must’ve mortified a penchant for humorous literature and scientific breakthroughs. It would've been a strange combination if it weren’t for how everything was aesthetically arranged. It was obvious that the domain was kept immaculate out of love and adoration. Under the watchful gaze of this statue, philosophy and science had united into one entity, and Yaoyao was positively enthralled.

However, it was a seasonable night and due to the touch of Nyctophobia children inevitably have, Yaoyao couldn’t tell the murky difference between excitement and fear as she quickly stumbled out of the cave. 

When Yaoyao came back the following week after a busy lantern rite, the domain’s opening vanished. She brought Qiqi along and attempted to show her in quailing distress that asked for confirmation that should’ve been a hole in that wall— but Yaoyao was only met with the zombie’s catchphrase of: “I’m sorry. I forgot.” 

There was no reinvasion of the cave's darkness. Not a single hump was left to indicate that something was concealed behind it.

And that led to Yaoyao hunting a certain “illuminated bird” down.

——————

“Aunty! Aunty!”

“Must you grate One's ears with your incessant shouting, child?”

The bird continued to coast on its two legs while Yaoyao halted in her tracks, gasping for air. Although Yaoyao found it excruciating to attempt to keep up with the adeptus' quick treks in the mountains, it was obvious to any outside viewers that the crane was being merciful with her slow and tiny steps.

“P-Please stop aunty! I-I just want to ask a few questions!”

Cloud Retainer sighed and did as commanded.

After letting her describe the location and what she had seen inside it, Cloud Retainer nodded in the affirmation that what Yaoyao experienced truly happened. Yaoyao felt triumphant when the adeptus did not dismiss her babbling as some silly delusion, but she was unable to completely express it when she noticed a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.

“Of course it was real. One knows that location quite well, but One was never permitted to enter. That statue you spoke of would be none other than Rex Lapis’ depiction of (Y/n), the Wayward Pharmacist.”

(Y/n)?

Softly, the adeptus continued, “oh, (Y/n)… One remembers them rather fondly.”

Cloud Retainer did not raise her chin or adopt her customary condescending tone. Instead, her message matched her voice. Yaoyao was not the least bit confused by this sudden shift in demeanor.

They both know that name.

After all, (Y/n) (L/n) was Streetward Rambler’s first human disciple.

Yaoyao never inquires about (Y/n) with her master. All of Madame Ping's disciples were aware that they shouldn't broach the matter. Grief swarmed against Streetward Rambler so frequently that she bathed herself with distractions to wash away the acuteness of such regrets. She had done the most of what she could to relieve certain difficulties she had over the years, including mastering inventions and raising mortal children. While the majority of these were in her favor, the final diversion was less successful. 

How can it not be painful when Streetward Rambler always sees (Y/n)’s old cheerful and ambivert nature in Xiangling and Yaoyao's eyes?

This was a rare chance to learn more about (Y/n) than just the faceless figure that her Master frequently likens her to. Madame Ping only ever briefly narrated (Y/n)’s deeds. Yaoyao relied heavily on individuals around her for her adepti history knowledge because she wasn't book-learned enough. Hence, inflicting a sense of confidence that she did not fully possess, the child continued to inquire.

“What were they like, Aunty?”

“You must understand how broad that question is.”

“Oh, r-right. Sorry!” Yaoyao sheepishly laughed. “I wanted to ask what was their personality like. Did they have friends? Or, well, what did they do?”

“(Y/n) was…” Cloud Retainer chuckled. Yaoyao couldn’t see a smile, but she heard it from her laughter. “—an obnoxious human.”

“E-Eh?!…” Yaoyao trembled. “S-Should I be worried that Master always compares me to (Y/n), aunty?”

“What nonsense— of course not. Take such compliment with high honor!” The bird towered her gaze above Yaoyao, clearly offended. Effectively, it seemed as if Yaoyao’s needless worries kindled afresh the snobbish Cloud Retainer everyone knew of. “There are only a few humans One regard as almost equals. Their obnoxiousness is what makes them wholly endearing and wholly human. If there was one true flaw One would nitpick out of all their traits, it would be their inherent obsession with longevity.”

Cloud Retainer shook her head. “Rex Lapis often debated with them over this, but (Y/n) was a stubborn mortal. Many occasions led to them being confined in a miniature domain that he keeps in his pockets. We did not agree with their dreams of becoming immortal. But other than that? (Y/n) was a humble loyalist.”

Yaoyao was inclined to believe that she was right because there were a few biological research sprinkled across the statue's domain. She had even read portions concerning Inazuman beliefs regarding stress and "ikegai" which might be related to a human's lifespan.

“Rex Lapis liked them despite arguing with him a lot?”

“Why, if you were there, you would see how adorable they were whenever they deluded themselves they could win a debate against an Archon,” the bird quipped humorously.

"Immortality had always been (Y/n)'s goal. One often told them to not be afraid of death or die worthlessly, but they never listened. They even tried to curse themselves to accomplish this, and astonishingly, they almost succeeded if it weren't for the Conquerer of Demons' unsleeping vigilance while acting on Rex Lapis' orders. The Archon always has an affectionate expression on his face when they pout over his interferences. One would have jokingly said that her friend is in love with a mortal if One didn't know any better."

“Wow…” Yaoyao covered her mouth with her tiny hands in awe. Neither of them seemed to realize that something was incredibly off about that ‘fun tidbit’. “(Y/n) must be smart if they constantly got Rex Lapis’ protection!”

“Indeed they were— were you doubting One’s abilities?! Had One not said they were close to One’s competency?”

“Ah, right.”

“They were an obnoxiously hard-working individual. Grinding their bones in hopes to grant impediments as a rival to Guizhong and I’s intellectual plays. (Y/n) lived a short life filled with effort and virtue, it is to no one’s surprise that Rex Lapis had conceived a great liking towards them,” she mused.

“Rex Lapis nearly caved and made them immortal at one point. However, he changed his mind after finding out (Y/n) had a human lover…” Cloud Retainer closed her eyes. “Perhaps that was an act of mercy. An Archon’s goodwill so that they wouldn’t have to suffer the fate of grieving for their beloved for all eternity.”

If only she knew the truth.

“They must be really important if they got a statue,” Yaoyao tilted her head, emanating a soft chime from her bell accessory. “Master only said that they were very kind and that they had a lover with green hair, and—”

“And?”

The adeptus was interested to learn what her old acquaintance talked about (Y/n). Did the grandmother compliment them on how cute they were? How, in essence, they were one of her greatest sources of delight and pride? Before Streetward Rambler took up the name “Madame Ping”, these were the typical musings she had over tea with both her and Guizhong. In a sense, Cloud Retainer merely pressed the question because she missed these times—

“And that they had a nice big family around Qingce Village! Two sons, one daughter!”

Cloud Retainer made a choking sound.

Impossible.

“Family?! Goodness gracious, it seemed Streetward Rambler has turned into quite a fabulist over time,” Cloud Retainer shook her head. “No, (Y/n) (L/n) unfortunately did not produce such a legacy.”

Legacy?

“I’m so sorry, I don’t get it, aunty. What do you mean?”

“They did not leave a child for me— for us to look after.”

Cloud Retainer cringed at her uncontrollably bitter tone. There was a point in her life where she cursed (Y/n) for this. Death was not something they can control— yes— but she used to be an ignorant fool who did not respect (Y/n)’s decision to never have children. Perhaps, in a way, this was because she wanted to see a new generation of like-minded people like them, but she will never forget the uneasy looks they gave her whenever she launched into one of her rants.

They may have been Streetward’s disciple but to Cloud? She was like their true mother. Much like most mothers of the old generation, she selfishly wished they left behind even a non-blood related grandchild for her to rear after (Y/n)’s name.

“They… have gone missing. They did not die with a family of their own— we did not even find their corpse. One does not know why Streetward Rambler would tell you that.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know... It must’ve been a sad loss for the adepti and everyone else.”

Cloud Retainer only looked away.

“There was no pecuniary loss for us when it had happened, sure,” she said. “But yes, it was indeed a sad time for the adepti to lose both Guizhong and (Y/n) at the same time. There could’ve been a new province of knowledge and ventures— these virtues of arts were never grasped because death had stolen their privilege of penning down their strange yet wonderful conjectures.”

“Time and time again, they had failed to accentuate any alterations in their mortal structure,” she continued. “While others sought out their writings regarding their enlightened art pieces, few looked for their progress on human mortality. One only remembers a singular human who came to find (Y/n)’s transcendental medicines. One believes his name was Baizhu. If One’s explanations were inadequate, perhaps you must seek him instead.”

Yaoyao perked up. Well, that’s lucky. She was just about to head to Bubu Pharmacy to look for the pharmacist later.

“Ah, there you are, Yaoyao!!!”

Out of the blue, Ganyu and a face unfamiliar to the adeptus disrupted the scene. This human had indigo braids wrapped up in a tight bow for hair and amber eyes. Had it not been for Ganyu and a cute little bear clumsily climbing the stairs behind her, Cloud would’ve left immediately.

“Marchosius, it has been a long time...”

“♪~?”

“Woah… Is that Cloud Retainer, Ganyu?” The unfamiliar human gawked.

“That is that. One will no longer entertain questions. One shall take their leave at once.” The adeptus did not waste another moment upon noticing Xiangling’s curious gaze. However, Cloud did give Marchosius a look of respect before taking flight.

The little girl frowned.

“Yaoyao?”

“Oh, sorry,” Yaoyao smiled forcefully. “I just remembered I didn’t get to ask her the most important question.”

“Hmm? What question were you going to get an adeptus’ advice for?” Ganyu placed a hand on her chest. “Perhaps I could help? I may not know all the answers, but I do have some connections.”

“I’m just curious…”

Yuguei jumped off the basket as Yaoyao hastily removed it from behind her. The smaller adepti treasure leaped over her head and peered attentively over as if to assist her in locating the object she was seeking. When she did grasp it, she did not do so carefully. Instead, she held it out like a young child showing off a crayon during show & tell.

Ganyu and Xiangling’s blood ran cold as the child presented them with a dismembered finger.

“Ganyu, do statues made by the adepti bleed?”

#ansy-writes #yandere zhongli #yandere zhongli x reader #yandere genshin impact #yandere genshin #yandere male lead #yandere #tw: yandere #yandere genshin impact x reader #yandere genshin x reader #yandere genshin imagines #yandere fanfiction #yandere oneshots #yandere male #male yandere #zhongli #genshin impact #x reader #x reader fanfiction #zhongli x reader

[mtkay13]

My version of the wardrobe template! yay!! I had a LOT of fun doing this and feel like I could elaborate a bit more on each of those.

It's already linked up here, but here's once again a > link to the post.< Anyway! More about these designs below!

So first, for WKX's template! - Chapter 2: Grey robes I had already made my design of those for the full TYK lineup I made a while back. I really, really like those, and took inspiration from some of the robes SHL!WKX wears in the show for the shapes. - Chapter 69: dark robes with dark red belt I expected to like that style for him, but not that much! I had seen a tutorial on how asymetrical hanfus were worn by archers in the past and that inspired me, purely on a fashion level of course. I like how intimidating he looks with those and enjoy the touches of blue in the inner layer of the robes. - Chapter 75: dark red robes The GVM robes! which I also designed a while back when researching for the illustrations of the Mt Fengya battle scenes that I wanted to make. I reworked them just a little bit and got rid of some details that I didn't like anymore. I tremendously pleated skirts for WKX so I went at it once again. I also used shifts in hues to make it look like it could have been drenched in blood. - Extra 5: deep red robes For the reminder (since apparently some people are not aware of extra 5's existance), this extra is set 5 years post-canon. I wanted WKX to wear something that looked comfortable for traveling but also practical and fashionable. The teal jacket is of course another nod at SHL since the red and teal combo was an absolute banger. Let's say I didn't want WKX to just sport an all-red look. Furthermore, the teal really works to adorn the red hues. - My personal favourite I actually don't really know whether those are my actual personal favourites, but I've come to LOVE WKX dressed in red and white thanks to @kwehxing's designs. I think it really suits him and on top of that it avoids the question "is this Hua Cheng" LMAO--okay jokes aside, I combined most of the shapes that I really like for WKX (wider shoulders, wide sleeves, and long robes with pleated inner robes) and I find him very elegant like this. Now, for ZZS! - Chapter 1: sapphire blue scholar robes Those had already been designed before as well! They're my go to generic TC!ZZS robes, haha. I was a bit extra with the blue colour here, but oh well. I'm quite obsessed with the silver brocade cynching his waist, haha. - Chapter 2: stolen farmer robes A classic as well as far as I'm concerned--of course, inspired by his hobo fit in SHL because it was quite efficient. I'm forever fond of my scruffy hobo!Xu and his toes poking from his sandals. - Chapter 18: luxurious robes from the Gao family Those were a new design! Which I had a lot of fun coming up with. Putting ZZS in a different colour scheme was also really nice. For those who don't remember, ZZS feels quite ridiculous when he sees himself in a mirror wearing those fancy robes while being so emaciated and still sporting his hobo mask. I wanted to give this "out of place" feeling; and also work on a very "wuxia" style for the robes, since this is jianghu and they were provided by Gao Chong. - Extra 5: black robes I'm incredibly fond of this design. I worked quite a bit on it, since I wasn't sure of where I wanted to go. My main guidelines were: practical and cool. I really like ZZS having a lot of room to move so ideally not too much fabric in the way, and I think he also needs arm braces to be rid of annoying sleeves. Of course, him looking much healthier and having a dynamic ponytail really works to "complete the look", and I find that he looks really cool there haha. - My personal favourite This one has been refined over the months, but it's definitely, overall, my favourite look for him in terms of shapes and construction. I like that the robes are short, I like the more fashionable jacket. I'm especially into the "pants tucked into the boots" silhouette, as well as the little ribbons keeping them tight around the ankles. I'd say that this leg shape + short robes + a bun (or sometimes a ponytail) is THE ZZS design combo for me, haha. It looks practical and fun and adventurous, just how I like it.

To conclude the whole post, I had more fun doing this than I even expected, and needless to say that I'm very excited to see other versions of them following this template. It was a good opportunity to try and project what the characters look like throughout the book, and a fun design exercise as well. I actually don't really like doing character design usually, but for characters I'm obsessed with, it's of course a much nicer experience. Anyway, thank you for reading!

#tian ya ke #wenzhou #meta #character design #wen kexing #zhou zishu #tyk #zzs #wkx

[sanctus-ingenium]

I was wondering how achieve such a wonderful textured finish on your pieces? They are wonderful and I love their resemblance to aged photographs and the speckles of colors in the backgrounds. Your art is mesmerizing :)

you can see some of the texture brush sets i use in my #info_asks tag but i have some more (procreate) tips aside from just brushes

also hi i made this whole thing and then stupidly hit ctrl z to erase ONE word and i lost the entire bottom half of the post and all my image descriptions so fuck you tumblr i had to make this twice

to get a faded photo or old digital screen look, consider duplicating the canvas (once all the layers are merged) and using a gaussian blur tool on the new duplicated layer. then set that to low opacity to add a misty sort of look. looks nice in combination with some chromatic abberation and a small bloom effect. then a subtle noise filter on top:

for faded print effects, it's really worthwhile to learn how to use layer masks. you can use a layer mask to non-destructively 'weather' blocks of colour or lineart, without erasing the layer itself. the weathered ink/block print effect here was made using layer masks which means that if i just hide the mask, the lineart becomes solid black again and easy to alter or colour in:

for old paper effects you can just set a paper texture on multiply over the art sure, but you can also combine it with the blur & bloom thing, a really subtle drop shadow and canvas tilt, and highlights to make it look like an aged photograph of a card. this originally had a transparent bg but i'll post it here with a white bg so that the drop shadow is more obvious. the scuffed edges of the card (left) were hand drawn, simple white stucco brush. the bigger patch of scuffed ink (top right) was a texture stamp.

for block print looks you can move the colour layer out of alignment by a few pixels - but only after you're absolutely sure you're done with it, otherwise you'll get something like this -

i forgot to erase out her eye before i moved the red layer so now her eye defeats the 'look' of a misaligned print. the black lineart and red layer were also given the same layer mask treatment as described above to make them look faded or like the ink didn't stick down right to the paper

you can do this with multiple colour layers too. if the colour layers are separated and set to multiply (as in this cmyk example), it'll leave halos and edges around each shape which mimic old comic book print

just to show what you can do WITHOUT any special brushes, here's a piece of one of my mez tarot cards from before i got any extra brushsets at all. for this one, i added a green tint over everything to mimic a sun-bleached or faded print (my actual goal wasn't 'medieval illustration' but actually 'trading card from the 60s that got left on someone's windowsill for decades'). the background texture is the procreate noise brush. the texture under the green lion drawing is the procreate concrete brush (to make it look painted onto a wall). the lettering and lineart is procreate's 6B pencil. but to properly aim for The Look of it being a printed physical object, i also used a perspective blur so that the edges are out of focus, and metallic gold highlights which don't match the lighting of the actual illustration and appear to be catching some other external light. that texture was made from the procreate noise brush

it's pretty simple compared to my later stuff but i still really like the effect

in terms of colours, you need to keep them unified so that they all appear to be acting under the same external light source, like if someone is holding up a torch to a painting then the painting colours will be glazed with firelight even if there's no painted fire. a really easy way to do this is to slap a multiply layer over everything in one shade - grey-yellow for a weathered paper look, or greenish blue for sunbleached photos. this unifies all the colours of the drawing. or you can apply a gradient map at a low opacity so that there's only a subtle change. or just do it by hand - if you want everything to be slightly tinted yellow, just pick the colours you normally would, but move the colour wheel towards yellow to get a yellowfied version of the base colour. easy

it's really important to consider how fading and weathering can affect printed colour. white paper yellows, black fades. you will rarely see pure black or pure white. which means you can use pure black or pure white to add external effects like the white scuff marks on the hierophant card. if the whole drawing is yellowed from age but there's some white somewhere, it's an easy shorthand to show that the scuff mark or whatever was not originally part of the drawing (great way to add some nasty stains lol)

#info asks #i don't have like a specific set of steps i follow i kind of freestyle it every time #obviously i have favourites i like to use but like that sphinx drawing? don't ask me how i did it because i don't remember #i just played with it until it looked nice. the blue dots are ... some sort of effect layer i don't remember which

[orkbutch]

ok ok, i know this isnt a wicked blog but its time for me to say my thoughts on the Wicked movie trailer.

I'm not stoked. I'm not much of a musical version lover already, but two things really rubbed me wrong, and I believe they apply to the musical as much as the book in their importance within the Themes.

Elphaba being played by Erivo and being black is cool. Erivo is a great singer, and her hair looks sick, and Elphie's hair is important. However, that casting choice being combined with a white Fiyero (who is Not White in the book, and very much experiences colonialist racism) and with no prosthetic effort to make Elphaba Not Beautiful (which is a Significant Element of Her Experience And Character), spoils any truly transgressive or progressive bite to that casting decision.

The only of the core mains thats not white is the character that is green. Interesting. The character who is extremely belittled for her appearance because she has a deformity, and because she's unattractive by conventional standards (esp because of her hawkish nose and strong chin), is a beautiful woman. Interesting!

Something about this just rubs me wrong. I think the musical has always made me skeptical in this area because its core adaption decisions were always bent toward stripping Wicked of much of its commentary on racism. In the book Fiyero is Vinkan, clearly coded Native American, and Winkie is a slur. They made the slur the name for the Vinkans in the musical. If I recall correctly, Quadlings aren't even mentioned in the musical. But Fiyero in the musical... I don't even know Why they keep him being a foriegn prince because he isnt written like hes foriegn from Gillikin at all. His ethnicity seems totally flattened, a slur that indicates no cultural or experiencial distinction from Gillikin.

I think that may have happened because Animals were already considered an allegory for racism, and they wanted to make that allegory cleaner and easier to condense into a musical plot. Thats my theory. However, that is a misreading. The Animals are not a perfectly singular allegory, and I think you could argue several inspirations, but the most apt interpretation for sure is that the Animals are an allegory for people with disabilities and neurodivergence, as Elphaba's experience is.

The Animals are not merely culturally different or isolated. They are not falsely believed to be different from the Gillikins or the Munchkinlanders or Vinkans. They ARE different, not because they aren't people but because their basic needs are different, and are not adapted to by society. They have hooves, and different skeletons, and different senses, and different mouths that can't necessarily make the kind of speech humans use.

This is important because Elphaba uniquely relates to the Animals, and its because Elphaba has a deformity and is super autistic. This is the other thing that always rubbed me wrong about the musical: it always implied that the only thing that made Elphaba "ugly" to people was her green skin. Thats... weak shit!!! In the book, Elphaba is Not beautiful. She is hatchet faced. She is tall and androgynous and looks weird. And this is IMPORTANT, because it makes Elphaba a genuinely transgressive character!! Her experience is layered! She is green but also breaks gender rules, is awkward, is self hating, is rude, ect. ect. It strengthens her empathy she feels toward Animals, because she feels so othered from society that she feels non-human, alienated.

The book also handles Elphaba's attractiveness much better; it does a great job of depicting someone who is not beautiful but is nevertheless Hot, which Elphaba is. When Glinda looks at her for the first time and thinks that shes beautiful, she is not looking past Elphaba's skin and she does no make over. She puts Elphaba in an orange hat as a joke, and sees how it matches her skin and suits her, and it makes Glinda realise that the green of Elphaba's skin can be beautiful to her. And that changes how Glinda sees Elphaba; Elphaba does not change.

okay im just complaining about the musical now. But idk, I wish that they'd used this opportunity to do better by Fiyero, make the themes a bit better... and just... put some light prosthetics on Erivo. Just make her look a little uglier! A little more hatchety. Its not like it'd be out of place, Ariana Grande as Glinda looks spooky as fuck. Why does she look like that. I like it bc I like Glinda looking intense and spooky but it IS weird

#Wicked #Fiyero being white is always the most annoying thing with the musicals tho. Come on. #just musical fiyero in general. they really butchered u king

[rootbeerworshiper]

Summer (part 2/3)

Reader x Matt Sturniolo

summery: Summer camp has always been your favourite thing, but as you enter you last year at the camp, as a councillor, you meet someone that changes everything.

warnings: so long omg sorry LMAO, mention of suicide, just so much fluff

alsooooo definitely accidentally posted this when i had already written like half of it and i’ve been writing it while it’s private so it will most likely be far down on my page hahah

part 3 here

love, sienna <3

surprisingly you slept well last night—between the noisy children and Matt intruding your every thought, you weren’t sure it was possible.

you can’t get him out of your mind, his eyes, his sudden kindness—his hands.

yeah you were obsessed with some guys hands, that’s how perfect he is.

camp is only a week long, which doesn’t really leave you enough time to muster up enough courage to actually do anything with him—but that does not mean you won’t be thinking about it.

he’s the kind of person that has so many layers, like a complex character in a novel—you just want to know everything about him.

looking at him is nice too—you can’t get the image of him by the fire out of your mind.

never in your life did you think you’d become so infatuated with someone who’s currently avoiding juvie, but here you were, journaling every waking thought you have about him.

normally you’d tell Amara, but for whatever reason a part of you wants to keep Matt to yourself. he’s the one thing in your life that makes you interesting and the moment Amara sees him you’re sure he’ll switch his gaze towards her—most boys do.

maybe you were interested in Matt purely because he approached you first, another thing that usually happens to your best friend.

whatever it was, it’s slightly embarrassing.

the two of you had one civil conversation and you’re already head over heels.

as much as you’d love to sit here and daydream about Matt, you are a councillor and you do have a job to do.

so you muster up the energy at 7:30am to wake up all the kids as they begin to get ready for breakfast.

you yourself also have to get ready, which feels like a task in it self because now you had something to look good for—well you had someone.

taking out your braids from the day prior, you brush through your curls that are now more defined than usual.

you’re grateful they aren’t frizzy, the world being on your side for once in your life.

a mental battle ensues on whether or not you should apply makeup. normally you wouldn’t. you usually don’t even pack any, but for the time being you’ll do anything to be more desirable, especially next to Amara.

the kids are finally ready and so are you, now just wearing your red councillor t-shirt and white linen shorts that you thrifted a while ago, along with a few bracelets you had made at prior years at camp.

you along with the campers put on your shoes before walking outside, the feeling of your black converse sinking into the gravel that resides outside your cabin combined with the smell of the morning brought you serenity that was truly incomprehensible.

with that you begin the walk to the dining hall once more, trying to avoid rubbing your sleepy eyes as to not smear your freshly applied mascara.

the menu for breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs and french toast which had your kids jumping up and down at the thought of.

you were just grateful that councillors were allowed coffee in the morning—maybe you didn’t sleep as well as you thought. it was hard to tell how much of the dreaming you were awake for.

instinctively, you look around for familiar faces. you and Amara hadn’t really spoken last night after the fire, just a goodnight text and her saying that she has to catch you up on her life—she always does.

its clear when you spot Amara she has a pounding headache, you have a talent for telling when she’s hung over—and yet she still looks like she’s straight off the runway.

you don’t know why your thoughts of jealousy had gotten so bad recently, but for whatever reason it was overtaking you.

there’s no time to look around for Matt as you begin placing food onto your paper plate, asking the kitchen staff for a coffee with cream and sugar.

momentarily you forget about him, caught up in the mess your campers were making and smiling as they grin ear to ear alongside you.

that is until you see him again. somehow he got more beautiful.

you could tell that he was also tired by the way he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sipped on his coffee, but nonetheless you were infatuated with him.

something about the way he was so incredibly good with kids caused your heart to do actual backflips. it’s hard to even tell he was forced to be here from the way he lets the kids tease him and pull on his clothes.

the sight is too funny not to laugh at but the moment his eyes meet yours from across the room your focus changes to your plate.

it was probably incredibly obvious how obsessed with him you were, and you were sure he’s used to it.

the itinerary for the day is basically every activity you can think of, including rock climbing, archery, arts and crafts, swimming and more.

the way it all works is that two cabins are paired together and each day they complete two of many activities.

you knew that your activities were rock climbing and crafts, but you weren’t sure what cabin you would be paired with.

the camp leader begins to list the pairings, and slowly, there is less options for you to be put with.

“and lastly councillors y/n and councillor Matt’s cabins will be paired!” the leader says enthusiastically.

you weren’t sure how you felt about this.

sure, you can spend more time with the boy you can’t get off of your mind, but on the other hand you fear the more time you spend with him, the more likely you are to scare him away.

so for a moment you’re anxiety kicks in, thinking about what your going to say to Matt, how to not make a fool of yourself in front Matt, or how-

Matt.

you’re eyes meet his once more. now lingering longer than before.

he’s the first to break the eye contact, chuckling to himself as he begins to assist his campers in putting everything away.

butterflies enter your stomach immediately, one small smile from him is all that it took.

as much as you’d love to stay in this spot forever, watching him, you have to assist your own campers with their sticky plates and interesting questions.

once everyone has poured out of the dining hall and into the open area, the cabins are split into their respective groups.

you don’t say anything to Matt at first, paralyzed by the fear of making it awkward, so you just sort of… stand next to each other.

“how’d you sleep?” he asks, catching you off guard as you bring your gaze towards him.

he’s not much taller than you, maybe two inches or so, but you still had to look up slightly to make eye contact.

somehow, you muster up the courage to speak. “it was okay, kids were pretty loud till like midnight and then i got asked about 4 times to walk people to the bathroom so you know” you kick the rocks beneath your feet, looking down at them to avoid eye contact. “you?”

“it was pretty weird sleeping in a room full of ten year old boys so not a lot of sleeping happened for me” you both look up to see that it’s time to head to your activities, the first of which being rock climbing.

as councillors you didn’t have to actually rock climb, just assisting the kids in getting their gear on and such.

other than a few stolen glances between you and Matt, nothing really happens, and there’s not enough time inbetween kids climbing for anymore small talk.

after every kid has gone, you’re about to begin heading over to the craft area when one of Matt’s campers speaks. “Matt and y/n you should do a rock climbing race!” he says enthusiastically, earning cheers of agreement from practically every other camper.

you and Matt immediately look to one another and before you can even say no to the kid he smiles. “sure, it’ll be fun” your breath practically hitches at his words but you’re in no position to say no.

so you swallow your pride. “okay sure. Matt you are so on”

the two of you walk over as the station leader assists you into your harnesses. “you’re all set” she smiles at you.

as you and Matt lined yourselves up you were met with an abundance of cheers from the campers.

the one leader now speaks again, this time counting down. “on your mark”

you look to Matt and he has the cheesiest smile on his face, one you haven’t been able to witness until now.

“get set”

he looks back to you, but doesn’t hold the eye contact long as he looks back up at he wall ahead, and you do the same—it’s unlike you to lose to a boy because you’re too busy staring at him.

“go!” she waves her hand dramatically as you and the boy to your left begin climbing up the wall.

rock climbing was one of your favourite activities growing up at camp, and up until this point you hadn’t lost a race to anyone.

so here you are, putting in your full effort as you scale the wall, Matt continuing to keep up with you.

this goes on for a moment longer until you go and reach for the bell at the top, feeling victorious.

the feeling doesn’t last long because another hand comes into your line of sight, reaching for the same string.

you tied.

ten years of winning every race and you’ve now tied for the first time.

the bell rings and everyone below you cheers as you look to Matt—it’s hard to be mad at anyone that looks that good. “good game” you say as you begin to make your way down the wall, reaching your hand out to shake his.

he reaches for your hand and does the same. “same to you” you try your best to avoid the way his hand makes you want to melt, focusing now and getting down to the grass that awaits you below.

_______________________________________________

the rest of the day is pretty standard, and after arts and crafts you had new beaded bracelets to add to your growing collection.

dinner goes smoothly too, and by the evening the kids have full control over what they wish to do before lights out.

this gives you a chance to talk to Amara, which is something you feel like you haven’t done in forever. the two of you are sitting at the dock by the lake, watching the sun set as you talk about everything that’s happened so far.

“i don’t know why you won’t peruse anything with him he sounds perfect for you” you groan.

she’s now filled you in on the older camp councillor from last night, and it’s safe to say you were growing more annoyed with her inability to commit to a guy, especially one as good as the councillor.

“he gave me the ick i don’t know” she ponders for a moment, gaze still fixated on the scenery that surrounds you. “wait how was it doing the activities with that weird kid?”

you furrow your eyebrows, not entirely sure who she’s referring to. “Matt?”

“yeah that’s his name” she replies smiling as if the idea of him is just that funny.

it’s hard to not feel a little sting, but you’re used to this, you and her have very different taste in guys. “i don’t know why you think he’s weird, he’s pretty nice actually”

“i don’t know he always looks angry at something and like i’ve never seen him not wearing a long sleeve it’s just odd”

now you’re definitely annoyed. normally you’d play along just to get her to stop talking, but for whatever reason you feel the need to stick up for Matt—maybe it’s because you aren’t sure anyone else would.

“you don’t know anything about him Amara you shouldn’t be judging him over nothing” you reply with a harsher tone than you were really expecting.

“why do you care so much? do you have a crush on the kid or something?”

yup you sure do.

but Amara doesn’t deserve to know that, not when she’s acting like this.

so you just get up, replacing yourself with your feet on the slightly wobbly dock.

you open your mouth to say something but ultimately decide against it, the last thing you want to do is speak out of anger and regret it the next morning.

“y/n i didn’t mean it like that i’m sorry” she calls out but you continue walking towards your cabin in a fit of anger.

_______________________________________________

it doesn’t make a ton of sense why you were so offended by her words. deep down you knew there was more of Matt for you to learn about, more backstory behind his complexity and you couldn’t judge him without it.

you shower quickly, although you hate the camp showers with a passion. all you can do is be as fast as possible and pray no bugs join you in the stall.

once you’ve dried off fully you change into some random boxers you own and your moms old crew neck that you brought with you everywhere.

it brought you closure wearing it, having a physical way to feel close to her was needed in your time of grief.

the campers all settle in to their bunks and you drown out their talking as you return to your book from earlier.

usually reading was an escape from your life, a way to forget—now as you read you can’t help but wish these romantic things were happening to you.

it’s too much.

so you attempt to sleep, putting the bookmark on a page that brought you particular sadness and letting out a huge sigh as your head meets the pillow.

you wish it was easy to turn your fast moving brain off, but it’s a battle that you know all too well—a battle you lose every time.

so once it’s clear that all the campers are asleep, you make your way out of the cabin, tip toeing as much as possible and quietly picking up your slides.

you squeeze your eyes as the door creaks ever so slightly and pause as you await a reaction, but nothing happens, so you continue out.

the moment you shut the door behind yourself you take a few breath. if only breathing was enough to shut off your mind.

you bend over to slide on your shoes and you begin to walk to the dock, hoping to gain some peace and serenity while you watch the stars.

it’s a short walk and soon enough you find yourself at the same spot you fought with Amara at hours prior, and the thought of the fight alone makes you feel sick.

you’re unsure of how it got this bad with her. it’s not like you actively hated her or anything, she’s still your favourite person. but something in the way you continuously watch her reject guys just to disprove at the one guy that actually looks like at you like you’re human makes you really upset.

camp used to be so different. always filled with lifelong memories, but you want nothing more than to forget what happened tonight.

you wipe the tear that’s creeps on to your face and lay down, knees bent and your hands on your stomach—having your hands placed there is something Amara taught you to do when your brain moves too fast for your breath to keep up.

the use of that strategy is ironic now.

after a few short moments you hear footsteps behind you—there is no way you are ready to talk to Amara yet, not when you still feel like shit.

“Amara i don’t wanna speak to you right now please leave me alone” you call out without looking behind yourself.

the footsteps pause for a moment so you assume you’ve successfully caused your best friend to walk away, but you’re met with a voice that is all too familiar.

“i’m not Amara”

Matt.

the footsteps continue as you look back to him. “mind if i sit here?”

you wipe your face quickly, the last thing you need is any more lingering tears left on your cheek and a boy to make fun of them. a quick nod of your head and he’s sat next to you, closer now than at the fire.

he’s the first to lay back now, in the exact position you were in before being interrupted. “do you wanna talk about it?”

you match his position on the dock, sighing to release all stress. “are you gonna get annoyed if i sit here and ramble about girl drama?” you knew it was more than that, but most people you have tried to confide in didn’t see it the way that you did.

“i think calling it girl drama just undermines the pain you’re clearly in” his gaze is fixed on the stars but you can’t help but look to him.

“that was a big word for you” you smile slightly and earn a shake of the head in return—it’s clear he’s hiding a smile you just aren’t sure why. “but yeah uh i kinda fought with Amara in this exact same spot like a few hours ago”

you pause. it feels extremely weird to be confiding in someone who was a stranger to you yesterday but somehow he feels like the only person in the world who will listen.

“she just said some mean shit about this guy that i’m into as if she doesn’t shut down every guy that looks at her. and i wish i had her problem, i do. but it doesn’t come that easy for me, guys don’t usually look at me that way”

“and this one does?” he asks, looking at you as if on cue.

you fight the stupid smile that creeps onto your lips. “he does”

it’s silent for a moment again, you aren’t really sure how to continue this conversation.

“you’re telling me no guys are into you?” he asks. as much as you wish the words didn’t have the effect on you that they did, sadness looms over you once more.

“that’s exactly what i’m telling you. they all look to Amara before i can even get a word in. i’m used to it now, but it’s still a hurtful reality check that my life isn’t one i read about.” once again you were unsure why you were being so open with Matt, you had never said these words out loud before, something about him made it flow so effortlessly.

he sighs at this, as if the sadness that looms over your head has travelled to his. “i don’t see what everyone sees in Amara. i prefer the other friend”

you just laugh. “that’s funny” as confident as you were that he was joking, his face is dead serious. your eyebrows furrow in disbelief. “wait you’re serious?”

“way to make it a thing” he laughs but you can’t even begin to imagine what you’re meant to say in return in order to continue the flirty banter—god where was Amara when you needed her.

“wait why did you sit next to me yesterday at the fire? i thought you hated me” you muster up the courage to speak.

he clears his throat slightly and you can tell he’s uncomfortable. “i never hated you. i was just mad that my parents sent me here. i sat next to you because i thought you were pretty, it’s really not complicated.”

you allow your jaw to drop at this. to most people this may be a normal occurrence, but for someone as hot as Matt to be hitting on you is not something you could prepare yourself for.

he looks to you and you immediately cover your face with your hands—you were flustered over nothing.

the last thing you expected him to do was gently remove your hands from your cheeks. “this isn’t gonna work if you’re terrified of compliments”

“sorry i’m not used to it” his hands are still holding your own. “can i ask you something?”

he nods, not letting go.

“why do you always wear long sleeves?” you were expecting a more uncomfortable reaction from the boy, instead a smirk enters his face.

“you wanna see?” you could melt at the words but instead you nod as he lets go of your grasp.

he sits up and his hands grab the bottom hem of his hoodie and lift it over his head—momentarily exposing his stomach.

you can’t help but stare until he pulls his tank top down and places his hoodie to the side. “holy shit” is all you’re capable of saying. it’s unclear what you were anticipating but it definitely wasn’t this.

Matt’s right arm is completely covered in tattoos. from flowers on his shoulder to a seashell on his forearm he practically had a full sleeve.

you’re fully sat up now too, hesitantly reaching out to his arm to further inspect the ink that covers him. “you can touch my arm i won’t bite” he says, speaking more quiet than before, but it’s an offer you take up—grabbing the boys arm and tracing your fingers along the numerous tattoos.

the longer you graze his arm the more you can feel eyes burn though the top of your head, so without thinking you look up and your eye’s immediately meet his—now closer than ever before.

you fight every urge to back away and cringe of embarrassment, because deep down this is all you’ve thought about for the past 24 hours and now it’s real.

the eye contact lingers for a while, your arm still on his as the two of you practically breathe in sync.

“can i kiss you?” Matt asks and immediately you nod your head, unable to think about anything else.

he leans in and a sense of comfortability washes over you in the most unexpected way. as much as you lack experience, this feels so incredibly right.

you’re the first to deepen the kiss and his hand makes its way to your cheek—you could melt at the touch.

it’s something so simple but so intimate. your hand rubbing small circles on his arm while his fingers bring you impossibly closer to him.

as far as kisses go, you’re sure this is as good as it gets.

after a moment the two of you back away, looking into each others eyes immediately.

you can’t fight back the dumb smile that forms on your face, and for once, he doesn’t either.

he lays back down and you follow suit, now placing your head in his chest as his arm wraps around your waist. “i wish everyone saw you the way that i see you” you say—his one hand now making its way to your hair to toy with it as you speak.

“you want everyone to want to kiss me?” you smack his chest as he laughs.

“obviously not Matt” you sigh, sinking further into him. “i just mean like everyone sees you as this tough guy who doesn’t care about anything, but that’s not you at all”

“what am i then?” his voice is deeper now, more tired than you’ve heard him before.

your own arm wraps around his waist before you speak again, it still doesn’t feel real. “for starters, you love kids, i can tell. most councillors don’t put up with half the shit your cabin does to you but you just allow it and i don’t think it’s because you don’t care, i think it’s because you like to make them happy.”

he just hums in response. “you also care about other people. like when you saw me sitting alone, part of me just assumed you were coming to make fun of me but i think you just didn’t like seeing someone so social sit alone. and i saw the look in your eyes when i opened up to you. it wasn’t pity, it was empathy”

it’s easier to speak to him when you don’t have to look at him in the eyes, and with his hand in your hair guiding you through your words. “you just don’t let people see that side of you and i don’t understand why”

he shifts slightly in his spot—you definitely struck a nerve and you were not expecting to.

“you don’t have to uh tell me if you don’t want i get it if it’s personal” you say quickly, desperately trying to not ruin what has barely started.

“no it’s fine uh” he thinks for a second, fingers still gently scratching your scalp. “when i was younger i was the happiest kid, like you would never see me without a smile on my face. and uh i had this best friend, his name was Nate, and he was my everything growing up.” you can hear him sniffle above you and you subconsciously squeeze his tighter, wanting nothing more than to make the boy feel better.

“a little more than a year ago today i had to read his suicide note. everything in the world felt so unfair. i had to watch his family suffer and no words of comfort would fill the void that Nathan left. i guess uh since then i haven’t really been smiling a lot because i haven’t had much of a reason to.”

the thought of this made your heart hurt. “i’m sorry. i know what you’re feeling, i mean a little bit anyways. my mom was my best friend and it never felt like i got enough time with her. it’s terrifying how death happens so fast you know?”

he just nods in response, fighting back the lump in his throat as you speak. “one second i was watching The Office with her and laughing on the couch and the next i had to prepare a speech for her funeral. and you can never say enough in those few pages to encapsulate someone’s entire life. never”

you both feel a sense of heaviness as you sit in a more comfortable silence.

“what’s your favourite memory of Nate?” you ask, hoping to lighten the mood.

it seems to work because Matt immediately smiles. “it was in middle school and we went out to Mcdonald’s and decided to play the penis game.” he laughs softly. “we were practically just yelling the word penis in an almost empty restaurant and peeing ourselves over it” you laugh along too, the mere image of this is enough for you to find it funny.

“what’s your favourite memory of your mom?” he asks in return.

you think for a moment before landing on one specific one. “when i was 12 she taught me how to make her signature chocolate chip cookies. she was already diagnosed with cancer at that point and she was determined to leave her mark on the world in any way she could, including her many recipes. i didn’t know at the time that she was dying, and there was no way for me to. she was the happiest she had ever been and we had so much fun together, eating the chocolate chips while we waited for the cookies to bake”

“she sounds like a really good mom” he says, looking down at you.

“do you think we’re put on this earth for a reason?” you ask, you’re eyes now feeling heavy as you cuddle with Matt.

he takes a moment to respond. “i do. i just don’t know what mine is, or if we’re ever really supposed to have that figured out”

“it just sucks because currently, my reason to be on this earth is to be a supporting character in an interesting movie, and i don’t want that”

“so make your own movie” those words alone are enough for you to smile. you look up to him to see his eyes already on yours and you place a quick kiss on his lips.

“i like kissing you” you say sheepishly, both hands now under your own chin as you look up to him.

he smiles back.

knowing what you know now, the fact that he’s smiling at you—because of you, could make you melt.

“you should do it more often” he replies, looking at you with a new look in his eyes, one of admiration.

you didn’t see that look often, and when you did it was directed towards your best friend.

so you kiss him again. and again. and one more time for good measure. if you could, you’d be here forever, just like this.

“we should probably go back now, the sun looks like it’s about to start rising” you laugh. the last thing you want to do is leave but you don’t have much of a choice.

he sighs dramatically. “what if i just wanna stay here forever?”

you sit up now, looking down at him as you place a hand on his chest. “well that would simply be unrealistic”

it takes a lot for you to muster up the energy to stand up but you do, and you reach down to help the boy up.

the short walk to your cabin used to be a good thing, but seeing as you don’t want to leave the boy at your side, you’d be okay walking three miles to make it back.

you’re now at your cabin, directly outside of the door as you and Matt just stare at each other. neither of you want to leave, but you both know that this night needs to come to an end eventually.

he places his hands gently on your waist, almost as if he’s testing the waters, but by the way your arms immediately wrap around his neck he knows he made the right choice.

“goodnight Matt” you whisper in his ear, earning a simple “goodnight y/n” as he kisses your temple and inevitably lets you go.

you watch him walk away, screaming silently the moment he’s out of sight—fighting every urge in your body to jump up and down like one of your campers at the mere thought of tonight.

a/n: this feels so incredibly long but i finally finished part 2!! part 3 will be the longest one so if you didn’t get a snack for this chapter you’ll want one for the next

taglist: @inlovewithmattstur @lolasnoww-blog @tastesousweet @ivypoison @disturbedwoodelf @sturnswift @junnniiieee07 @ellie-luvsfics @sturnified @alicejwebster @s7urnfilms @madsdogst @justlivinglive @sluttycupsworld (some users didn’t work to add)



#sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #sturniolo #matt sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo oneshots #matt sturniolo headcannons #matt sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets smut #sturniolotriplets fanfic

[mikelogan]

Hi, I love your blog and your edits. I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how you combine multiple gifs into one in the first gif of yours MIKELOGAN’s 5K FOLLOWER CELEBRATION || GET TO KNOW ME MEMEFAVORITE ACTORS [2/10]Colin Firth (September 10, 1960) set? Thank you for reading this and helping me.

thank you so much, that's so kind!! this is the post in question (which was inspired by this gorgeous set) and i'll break down how to do it step by step below the cut!

i ended up saving this gif as a psd because i remember it taking me so long and being really frustrating, i just wasn't sure why. for reference, i posted that set back in september, just over four months ago. looking at the psd, i can see just how far i've grown as a gifmaker bc that thing is a hot mess. i made it about 3x more complicated than it needed to be, so let's do this the right way lol note: i was still using 0.07 frame rate at this point. i have since switched to 0.05 for smoother, quicker gifs.

what we're going to do is create all of these gifs separately and put them together at the end. in total, there are 6 individual gifs. let's start with harry.

i gif by importing video frames to layers, but if you prefer to screencap, load those in instead. because this ends up being a pretty large gif, both in size and length, i kept it to 20 frames per clip.

once you're satisfied with the frames you've chosen, crop your canvas to 540px x 540px. this is what i'm left with

this is when i sharpen my gifs. everyone's process is a little different. i created my own sharpening action, which converts my frames to video timeline and then sharpens.

the next step is to color your gif. if you're going for the overall look in mine, here were my layers:

a brightness/contrast layer with brightness set to 31 and contrast to 5. this will depend on the scene you're working with

a levels layer using the black and white eyedroppers. the top one is your black eyedropper. to use it, click it and select the blackest part of your gif. do the same with the white eyedropper and select the lightest part of your gif. you may need to play around with selecting different points depending on your scene and the original coloring

finally, a simple black & white gradient map layer on top

now we're going to add the thin rectangular border in the middle of the gif. i use the rectangle shape tool for this (press U on your keyboard) and these are my settings (x and y coordinates don't matter):

to center it perfectly, i use ctrl+T and drag it until it snaps into place with both the vertical and horizontal guides.

next, let's add the "choose your gentleman" text that goes at the top of the border. here is the font i chose and its settings:

once again, press ctrl+t and drag this to the vertical center of your gif and to the center of the top of the border. you should feel and see it snap into place. this is what we have now:

now, we're going to use a layer mask on the border so we can read the text. select the rectangle layer and click the layer mask button

with the layer mask selected (as shown in the second image), use the rectangular marquee tool (M on your keyboard) to draw a rectangle around your text, taking care to keep it just a little larger

as you can see, you'll know when you're perfectly centered through your text layer and vertically on the entire canvas. select your brush tool without deselecting this rectangle (B on your keyboard) and paint the selection with a black brush. this masks that part of the border!

let's add the small square gif that goes at the bottom of the border now. i think the easiest way of doing this is to use the rectangular shape tool (U) again. the size of this gif is 110x110, so create a black square of that size with no stroke. Use ctrl+T to drag it to the center of the bottom of the border (the x and y coordinates don't matter):

now duplicate your original gif layer (ctrl+J) and drag it to the top of the layer panel. right click on it and create clipping mask. this will make it so the gif only appears within the confines of the square we just created. resize your gif by using ctrl+T and, making sure the proportions are locked, drag the corners to the edges of the square.

this gif is not colored at all as we only duplicated the gif itself and not the coloring layers. i duplicated those as well and dragged them on top of our small gif, but it's important to make sure those are using the clipping mask as well. you can click this on the properties layer of each adjustment layer to make sure they do.

you'll know you've been successful when you see the small arrow next to each of your coloring layers. this keeps them from affecting the coloring of the larger, main gif.

we're going to change the gradient map adjustment layer from black & white to black & lime green (or the color of your choosing). click on that layer and then on the map. this will bring up the gradient editor. click on the small white color stop at the far right end of the gradient and then on the color picker, choose a new color.

the hex code i used for the lime green is #00ff0c

our last steps are the angle brackets on either side of the gif and harry's name in the center. here are the settings i used for those (angle brackets on the left and harry on the right):

the layer styles for harry's name (double click on the text layer to call up this menu OR right click > blending options):

and for the angle brackets:

by now, you know how to utilize ctrl+T to move these layers where you'd like them. harry's name is centered horizontally and vertically and rotated at a bit of an angle and the angle brackets are centered horizontally and i just eyeballed where to put them in relation to the space between the border and the edge of the gif.

this is the complete first gif. what i would do for your own sanity since you have two more of these two create is 1) save it as a psd just in case something crashes and 2) don't convert it to a smart object until you have all 3 gifs completed and are ready to put them together.

the nice part about having the first one done is you've ultimately done the hard part. create your two other gifs, but you'll be using at least roughly the same coloring and all the same text, just with the colors adjusted, so you can drag those layers from your completed first gif to your others as you work on them.

once you have all 3 gifs completed and still on 3 separate canvases (and saved as psds bc this is adobe friggin photoshop and shit breaks all the time), convert all layers on all the gifs to smart objects. this will simplify the final gif and make things much easier.

then, bring gif #2 and gif #3 both onto gif #1's canvas. this is what it will look like at first on the timeline and in your layer panel:

(full disclosure, i'm not making the other two lmao, i'm lazy and i already did it once in a way harder way 😂)

to get the gifs to play after one another rather than simultaneously, you just have to drag them after one another on the timeline!

a little bit hard to show the actual process, but you're just clicking the bertie layer and dragging it down to harry's line after the harry layer. then do the same with the jamie layer, dragging it down to the harry layer after bertie. when you're done, it should look like this:

btw, the little slider i circled is what enlarges or shrinks the timeline view, so if you need to see something broken down a bit more/slower, drag it to the right. if you need to zoom out, drag it to the left.

and that's it! export and save your gif!

if you have any questions or anything is at all unclear about this, please let me know! i'm happy to help!

#answered #Anonymous #gif tutorial #my tutorials #gifmakerresource #completeresources #dailyresources #LISTEN. the way i did this 4 months ago was SO FUCKED #i made it SO SO much harder than it needed to be #you know what that is? growth.

[kingdomhate]

Getting Them Pets (Part two)

Luke Skywalker: You both had agreed you wanted something to take care of, and given your guys' history with other animals: stray dogs, cats, birds, fish and a few bunnies, it was no problem. The only problem was: what to get? Luke wants a couple hamsters, and you? You wanted a rabbit. Now, as you and Luke speak to store-owners and even random traders, you cannot seem to find neither.

Sighing, Luke thanks the store owner and walks out with you. "I don't think today's our day." He frowns, crossing his arms to his chest. "What? Have a little faith, Luke." You urge, determined to get a pet. "You're right." He sighs a bit, regaining his normal smile. As you both walk down the road, you see a pen, filled with a group of pigs, chickens and two cows. In the big group of mud covered pigs, you can make out a tiny little figure, it was sniffing the mud and eating some scraps. "Oh!" You gasp, eyes lighting up with a radiant fire. "Luke, let's go here!" You practically scream with excitement and hope. "Huh? Why? What is it, Y\N?" He tilts his head, but you grab his arm and scramble over to the store. "Can I help you?" The owner asks, his voice bored and uninterested. "Yes! I'd like the baby pig that you have in the back." The store owner nods. "Sure. $230." He demands, and Luke's face contorts in disbelief, but seeing that your mood resembled determination and fierceness, he paid. The owner gave you the piglet, which was actually a girl. That night, you both had a fun time giving the piglet a bath, staying up discussing name ideas and just having fun getting to know the new addition to your family.

Anakin Skywalker: It was the first time you guys discussed anything of the sort. Ani asked you multiple questions regarding what kind of pet, what would it be, look like, etc. Of course, you had no idea what you wanted, so you did a LOT of research on what could be suitable for a couple. Ultimately, you decided a bunny would be good, coming to Anakin with the idea wasn't going to be difficult.

And it wasn't. Quickly, you both travelled to the planet in which the bunny was likely to be in, picked one (and had fun petting, feeding and playing with the others) and then bought it. Along with the crate, food, collective toys and a few treats and a cozy little interior. The bunny was a fluffy white girl, in which the naming seemed perfect, you wanted to settle for Leah, or Amy. Again, the idea with Ani was settled as soon as he heard the names. In the end, Leah was picked. The three of you eager to start a new chapter of your lives.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Immediately, he was open to the idea. Knowing it was something like a new chapter, and you seemed very adamant and enthusiastic about the idea of a pet. Even better, you had a plan for which one and damn, did you have a great convincing plan. However, Obi-Wan being the kind, open-minded man, he did not need convincing (or at least too much, seeing as though looking at you convinced him in the first place.)

So, you both started your journey for a Belgian Malinois, a stubborn, alert and protective dog breed. The thought of having something as intimate as a shared pet to strengthen your bond was something that sparked excitement and determination in your heart. As you met the breeder of the herding dog, Obi-Wan started speaking of how it was your and his first pet and you had been very set on a Belgian Shepherd. The breeder nodded in understanding, indulging Obi-Wan in a short conversation about the breed, as you went to observe the dogs and puppies. The gorgeous amber eyes, black muzzles and a combination of amber and black in the two layers of coat, made you swoon even more. Eventually, the breeder and Obi-Wan disengaged and went over to pick one, and yet again, you found the perfect one: a boy, and about a year old so not impossible to teach. You plead with your boyfriend for the dog and he caves in easily, the breeder offers a reasonable amount of money and you two bring the dog back home. At first, he was weary, but he came to after a few months, now as loving and compassionate as you dreamed.

#star wars #fluff #obi wan x reader #anakin skywalker x reader #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #luke skywalker #luke skywalker x reader #star wars scenarios! #hope you enjoy #awaited part two!

[taybatwo2]

Vampire Heart Draculaura Review Part 3

Wait Draculaura, come back this way, we need to take a closer look and review your clothes! They’re all removable and separate pieces (a wonder for current day Mattel). And surprisingly fairly easy to undress and redress.

Her whole outfit looks lightly inspired by Elissabat’s movie persona: Veronica Von Vamp and Draculaura’s flashback version of herself in “Why do Ghoul’s Fall in Love?” More close ups of all the individual clothing pieces under the cut, as these reviews are long suckers.

She has small satin ribbons on both wrists and black lace (the same that is used for her neck and hems of both her dress and skirt). Out of curiosity I checked Haunte Couture Draculaura, and it is different.

The rose on her chest is also made of metal (it doesn’t feel like plastic), another surprise from Mattel, and is a very light pink/lavender.

Now let’s get a closer look at large bow that also works as a shawl (I love that idea).

It’s so long and elegant, and like a longer version of Dawn of the Dance’s bow.

Here is the bow off of her. It was very easy to remove.

And here she is without her shawl/bow on:

Another really cute look for her. She just looks so cohesive and well designed!! Let’s now take some closer looks at her large skirt.

A close up of one of the panels to her skirt. The pearl beads are also the lightest of pale pink as well. I’m very glad to see their not glued on, but instead sewn. The panels really don’t feel like pleather, more of a rubbery plastic (hopefully they will not rot and peel). And there are two layers. It’s attached over this thicker plastic (vinyl?) that feels like one of those old blow up beach balls….or a pool toy. Hopefully it will not get sticky over time.

There you can see the two separate layers.

A better look at the scalloped edges and the ruffles layer over the edge (which is also a nicely hemmed, multi fabric piece).

And the patterned ruffle laying back down, more cute bat designs. You can see how the nylon(?) pieces seems already kinda rough at the ends; like it was cut with a dull pair of scissors.

It is connected to the “mini dress” in two spots with a little bit of thread that is easily cut. And has velcro in the back.

The bell skirt off the doll. The vinyl is nice in that it helps the dress keep its full shape. Even if an actual fabric bell skirt would have been great to see as well.

A picture from above and underneath the skirt. The pattern closest around the doll looks like a bunch of bats, and I love that detail.

Without the bell-skirt, you get Monster High’s more traditional mini dress silhouette. But even just these two pieces look so nice together.

Another photo of her lovely face and a better look at her lightly puffed sleeves, and the black lace around her throat.

She’s also giving me some Duchess Swan vibes from Ever After High. Must be all the black and white.

Okay, now just the lace jumpsuit. I love the extra details of black thread along the front. Such a lovely addition! Also, I am surprised at how quickly I have gotten used to Draculaura on her shorter, chubbier body in G3 because she almost looks out of proportion here. But, I do miss the more delicate hand molds used in G1 over G3….anyways back to her outfit…

Just the mini dress and the bow together also don’t make a bad combination. I also didn’t want to keep removing her hands, so have a handless Draculaura in some of these photos.

I literally couldn’t stop taking photos of her……

Okay, and here are all of her fabric clothing pieces lined up:

In my fourth and final part of this long review, I’ll be comparing her to some other dolls in my collection, including some of her other collector dolls, and the actual Queen of the Vampires.

#monster high #monster high doll #aleta’s toys #doll collecting #monster high dolls #dollbr #Monster high review #toy review #Doll review #monster high gen 1 #monster high G1 #Draculaura #vampire heart draculaura #doll collector #vampire heart

[the-insouciant-scientist]

@fallenlondonficswap @tales-from-the-neath Here's my part of the secret swap! Hope you enjoy. A Stitch in Time

Nyx Darkhelm & Irving Merritt, General Rating, 1118 Words

The sound of a popped stitch. The irritated swish of a gold-furred tail. Nyx’s ear twitched as they moved to inspect the seam of their armscye, and they frowned to see that it had indeed split open, revealing a starched white shirt beneath. They had been on their way to a very important appointment at Beatrice’s, but there was no way they could allow themself to be seen in such a state of disrepair! Appearance was everything. They curled a claw protectively around their golden rose lapel pin as if it might pop off too. Nyx turned their gaze upwards towards the shop signs of Spite, searching. They really didn’t want to have to buy an entirely new suit coat, especially on such short notice, but what choice did they have with so little time? If only they could… ah! There! A tiny little tailor's shop, wedged between a fabric store and a lacemaker. The sign named it as "Violet & Pansy Tailoring". It seemed a friendly enough space, lit from within by gentle yellow lamp-glow. Nyx hurried over, tail sweeping back and forth hopefully. 

A clear, bright bell-sound rang out as they pushed the door open. Nyx heard a little 'oh!' from somewhere near the back of the shop, and then the shop owner came into view from around a corner. She was tall and broad, with twinkling eyes and an impeccably groomed goatee. "Hello, my dear, and welcome to Violet and Pansy! You can call me Irving. How may I help you today?" The shopkeep asked, one hand idly brushing loose thread and tiny fabric scraps from her skirts.

"Hello, Irving, a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nyx Darkhelm, and I was hoping to inquire after a small repair job if that's alright?" Nyx said, gesturing gingerly at their popped shoulder seam. 

Irving approached, murmuring a soft "May I?" and waiting for a response before running a gentle hand along the damage, plucking at the loose thread. "Yes, certainly, I can repair this. Would you mind taking it off? This won't take long at all." Nyx removed their rose pin and then obediently shrugged out of their coat, careful to not damage the shoulder further. They handed it to Irving with a polite nod. "Come, sit with me for a moment." Irving said, gesturing to a couple of brocade-upholstered chairs in the corner. 

They both sat, relaxing slightly into their seats. Nyx smoothed the front of their waistcoat and shook out their sleeves, feeling a little naked without their outer layer. Irving picked through her chatelaine for her needle case and thread scissors. "What fabric is this?" Irving asked, rubbing the raw edge between her fingers with an appraising look. "Parabola-linen?" Nyx nodded, ears swiveling forward to stand proud and tall. "A very fine fabric. Luckily enough, I do enough work with it that I always keep linen thread on hand." Irving said with a smile, before turning and plucking a spool of gently iridescent thread off of a nearby thread stand. 

Nyx watched as Irving made a tiny snip in the seam of their coat lining and reached through to tie off the loose thread. She then threaded the tiniest silver needle they had ever seen with the Parabola-linen thread, and began to sew. Her sewing had an odd hopscotch sort of rhythm to it, going forward and then back to meet the previous stitch. "What kind of stitch is that?" They asked, black eyes glittering with curiosity. 

"A combination stitch. Somewhere between a running stitch and a backstitch, it's sturdy while still being fast." Irving explained. And true enough, by the time she finished speaking she was already tying it off with a neat knot. After snipping her needle free she turned her attention to the lining. She pinched it gently, testing its drape and texture. "Silk," she murmured, "alright, I can work with this." 

The Parabola-linen thread was returned to its place and Irving's hand hovered over a few different threads, deliberating. She finally grabbed a thin, rosy gold silk thread and pulled a line of it through her needle. At this point Nyx was leaned forward in their seat, watching with open intrigue.  

"This is sorrow-silk thread, dyed by a dear friend of mine. It's very fine, but very strong, so you shouldn't have to worry about it snapping." Irving explained, piercing the needle through the hidden side of the lining and then pulling it towards herself. It was stabbed back in directly across from the first stitch, then slipped upwards by a few threads and then darted back over. "And this is a ladder stitch. It's the best way to close up seams like this, from the right side. A bit like a running stitch turned sideways." She said, continuing to sew. Once she had reached the end, her eyes flicked up to watch Nyx's reaction. "Watch this."

She pulled the thread taut, and the seam neatly zipped itself back up into invisibility. Nyx gasped softly, sitting up. "How?" They asked, but Irving just tapped the side of her nose and grinned.

Irving tied off the thread and pulled the knot through to the back. "If you want to learn, I'm open most mornings." Nyx smiled, a hint of their canines showing. Irving took one last look at the seam, brushing a thread clipping away, before nodding in satisfaction and handing the coat back to them. 

"So, how much do I owe you?" Nyx asked, slipping their coat back on and sighing in relief to feel its warmth again. They pinned their rose back to their lapel, and everything felt right in the world again. 

"Owe me? Hmm." Irving mused. "Do you bake?" 

That gave Nyx pause. "I… know of a good bakery? I fail to see how that's relevant, though." They said, tail swishing. 

"In that case, you owe me two small pastries, whatever your favorites are. One for each of us. Come round for tea sometime, and we'll call it even, alright?"

Nyx laughed, a high and delighted sound. "That sounds fair enough to me! Good day to you, Irving. Take care, won't you?" 

"You as well, Nyx." Irving replied, mustache quirking as she smiled. She waved them off, and they returned to the street with a skip in their step. Hm, which way was it they needed to go? Ah, yes, onwards towards Veilgarden, and Beatrice's. With plenty of time to spare, even. 

London's lone fox made their way down the cobblestone road, towards tea and warmth. Their mind was racing, full of excitement about their appointment and what might come of it.

And, just a bit, wondering what pastry they should bring next time they visited.

#fallen london fic swap #tales-from-the-neath #the scientist scribbles #fic #others ocs #nyx darkhelm #c: irving merritt #a copy of your bazaarine tale

[boymeetswerewolf]

I love your art! It’s so high quality. What program(s) do you use to achieve that effect? And what tips do you have for aspiring artists wanting to reach such levels themselves?

Hi Anon!

Thanks a lot for the lovely compliment.

I mostly create my art using a technique called overpainting where I paint over reference images. I have an art background (took art at school and at college), but it was focused on abstract art so my experience with realistic proportions is exceedingly terrible and I've just never had the patience or put in the time to learn proportions from scratch. I've always admired artists who put in the time and effort to learn how to do that!

As for what programs I use, I tend to stick with Photoshop since that's what I was trained on and am most familiar with. I use a combination of brushes, filters and textures to give my art the look that it has. I tend to work at a resolution of about 3000px for height or width (whichever is the largest for the layout I'm going with) and a fixed brush size so that I can add a lot of detail and that it looks consistent throughout the piece. I also use tons of layers so that the lining, shading, colouring and any extra adjustments are all separate from each other and easily changeable. My PSD file usually averages between 300mb to 400mb in size because of all the layers.

The tool I probably use most outside of Photoshop is Color Cop. I'm partially colourblind, so when I want to use specific colours I need the hex codes or RGB codes otherwise it takes me ages to get the colours to blend right.

Below are some progress examples (from the "Sacrifice" theme for Sterek Week '23) of how I usually start out when I'm creating something. I go hunting for images and make a collage/edit of what I'd more or less like the finished piece to look like. Usually during this part I also play a lot with different ideas to see what works best. (Sometimes the final result ends up looking how I wanted, sometimes it takes on a life of its own and goes in a completely different direction!) The "Sacrifice" piece is made up of a promo shot of Stiles from Season 6 and a screenshot of Derek from Season 3 (I think). The background is made up of official images from Stranger Things that I blended together and added colour filters to.

Once that's done I start painting with pencil brushes to get the lines, then follow up with texturing and shading. I like to use a soft neutral colour like a beige as a base canvas so that I can paint with black as well as white. Lastly I'll paint in the colours and then finish off the piece by cleaning up the linework and by adding filters to adjust contrast/balance or colouring. Occasionally I've worked "backwards" by roughing painting the shading and some of the colours out first before adding linework.

As for specific tips, I think mindset and believing in yourself is important. It's very easy to get overwhelmed in the beginning, so don't compare yourself to others. If your art makes you feel something, then you're on the right track. Regardless of whether or not you work professionally as an artist, if you express yourself creatively in a visual medium - whether it's an oil painting or making lewd doodles in a sketchbook - then, in my opinion, you are an artist.

Once you're over that hurdle, the next part is just to keep at it. I hate using the word "practice", so I'm rather going to say keep making art consistently, and - most importantly - have fun while you're doing it. If it's fun, you're more likely to stick with it and improve. If you're trying to go in a specific direction with your art, I think there are two important areas to focus on: expanding your creativity and your familiarity with the tools you use. The latter especially will make your life a lot easier.

For me, being familiar with Photoshop is what allows me to make digital art the way I do. I've used it for a long time so I know a lot of tricks and shortcuts to help me achieve what I'm going for. This goes for any program you choose to use, though. And you don't have to limit yourself to one. Play around with different tools and programs and see what works the best for you. The internet is also a fantastic (and often free) resource, and YouTube especially has a lot of tutorials that can help you get started or help you build on your existing skills.

To expand your creativity with regards to your art, I recommend studying other artists - and not just one specific kind of artist either. Look at the old masters, look at modern art, look at fan artists, look at photographers and cinematographers. (And, of course, Mother Nature - the greatest artist of all.) Look at how they use composition, how they use colour, how they use lighting and shading. Try and incorporate some of those aspects into your own work and see what works for you.

TL;DR - Experiment and play… and most importantly, have fun!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

~ Bren

#anon #asks #art related #my art #this reply ended up being way longer than i intended

[chamaleonsoul]

hi ana <3 could we have your fashion enthusiast thoughts about milan luke pretty please?

Hiiiiiiiii

an opportunity to ramble about two of my favourite topics??? Thank you!! And also another excuse to scroll through my gallery looking at pictures of Luke that make my cry and wonder how i haven't been admitted into a mental institution yet? THANK YOU. Also, i'll do you one better and give you my professional thoughts about it 😌 (i'm still a few months away from graduating but idc!! fashion designers are made not graduated).

Okay sooooo, let's begin in chronological order shall we? First we have, the White Stripped Suit™:

This one is my Favourite visually (<-this will make sense later) for many various reasons. 1) While white is a colour that suits literally everyone, it's one of Luke's star colours since his colour profile is light (light eyes, skin & hair. This means light colours make him stand out [if that were possible, he is the sun in its human embodiment but whatever 🙄]), and I appreciate the person who assembled this outfit together because they knew what they were doing. Also, i have a liking for striped/grid fabrics, so.

2) While the fit is very modern (slim, simple and clean) the combo with the open collar shirt with print on the chest, chain necklaces + chest hair showing😵‍💫💫 make the whole look very 70's and i, a person who loves the sluttiness of that decade, like that very much.

3) I'm a big fan of the signature Luke Hemmings ring set™😵‍💫😵‍💫 + the double charm necklaces😵‍💫 in silver, with matching silver glittery eyeliner???😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 12/10.

This suit gets bonus points bc it's similar to one used by one of my favourite blorbos<333 Louis de Pointe du Lac in Interview with the Vampire (2022).

Overall, it's a simple outfit, but it's leaning towards a statement outfit (because of the almost total-white-look [the shoes break that but it's fine]) and i personally Love that🤍🤍

Then we have outfit #2:

Unfortunately I did not find many pics of this one? Sad bc i can't give it such a detailed analysis, but I can say that I love love love the sharpness dark colours bring to his features. And this black on black pattern/stripes over knitted shirt? Mwah. Once again a very harmonic and cool combination of colours + silver complements (makeup, jewerly) that fit him perfectly!! (And the way the pearls just sit on his neck like that? Absolutely ridiculous).

In spot #3 we have what sent me into cardiac arrest and almost made me throw my phone into the abyss (aka plaid purple outfit):

This one,,,,, this one right here🥲🥲🥲 First of all, it makes me so happy (as a Luke fan, as a designer and as a person) to see he's experimenting with clothes and image and the way he presents himself to the world. This is what modern fashion is made for!!! To help you find a visual representation of who you are!!! And it really makes me so sentimental to see this and remember things like that old tweet where he said he felt weird putting on lip balm and now here he is, daring to do so much more than that, enjoying himself, being happy– it just🥹🥹🥹 I cry.

Solely because of that, this could be my favourite one, but in addition we have:

-The punk touch of it all🖤 that i so love!! Starting with the plaid of course, then the chunky studed shoes with the usual delicate jewerly he uses layered with that industrial chain (and all the rings😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫).

-The loose fit of both the skirt and jacket makes me think he's comfortable experimenting but also not throwing himself head first, which is great!! The jacket is wide enough he can cover himself naturally if he feels the need to, and the long skirt is a safe new territory because it covers almost the same as pants do, and the pleates bring some texture/volume to the fit since he's not wearing a shirt (i feel so dizzy).

-Gorgeous matching hand bag!! I love seeing him with one don't text.

-Makeup is subtle but also matches the whole outfit (boy obviously enjoys an harmonic combo, he's just like me<3).

All that makes this outfit my favourite one because of what i'm getting from it<3 (although visually #1 is still my fave. There's just something about it that scratches my brain the right way).

Moving on to #4

Yet another star colour of his!!! (since his colorimetry is light+cool, blue is His colour). And this particular shade is very, very close to the colour of 2023, we love a superstar🌟 on trend.

This is what i call a standard Luke Hemmings, which means a casual combo of a nice 2 piece suit with a comfy/fun top and boots (can be alternated with tennis shoes). I'm obsessed with his shirt collection🥲

Of course i can't go by this one without making a reference to Miami Vice because come on. It's right there!! This fit is obviously looser and following the oversized trend that came (and that'll stay for a while) with quarantine and the whole 80's<3 revival. I also love me a good italian lapel ngl. So this outfit earns a #3 spot on the list!

And last but not least we've got:

This gorg plaid beige + black shirt combo of which I also didn't find many pics of :/ however, it's safe to assume this was a tank top situation with brown/black shoes to match.

Once again we have a beautiful set of rings that scorch my braincells<3 with a sky blue wristlet i want to steal immediately!! It's so pretty and i wonder what he keeps in his purses besides his phone and maybe some lip product. I don't need sleep, i need answers.

Anyways. While beige usually is considered a warm colour, this one in particular leans towards cool, which stays on line with all i've mentioned before ((:

I also like that the make up is a little more noticeable since the outfit is more subdued. This one is a #4 on the list, which weirdly makes the black jacket outfit last?? Surprising since i'm personally married to black, but whats a girl gonna do

And sooooo, overall i think the outfits are simple, comfortable and kinda classic even, but have a few modern touches that elevate them for the occasion🤍 I love that since I both personally and professionally prefer that mix of styles.

Not gonna apologize for the long ass response bc you brought this unto yourself!! Licherally!! Anyways, thank you for coming by and asking my thoughts, i really appreciate it🤍 (:

#supermodel!luke #asks #anon #long post #op

[winns-stuff]

Hi,hello! Not sure if you remember me, but I'd submitted some asks and brought up discussion topics in this blog way back then! I'm back from the dead after an exasperatingly long school year and some other daunting crap!Hope you're doing fantastic!🧡❤️💜💖

I saw that thread of beyonce's beautiful pink gown and thought about how I would've designed a dress for persephone's wedding . I did some digging and found a drawing I'd painted earlier this year inspired by lore olympus and RS's long- discontinued gothic-neovictorian comic "the doctor foxglove show".

The flowers are asphodels to represent persephone and I feel like the gothic traditional regal vibe would fit her nicely.

I also have other ideas that unfortunately I'm not gonna translate into drawings anytime soon 'cause of a bunch of other stuff I'm busy with

So I'm afraid you're gonna have to use your imagination.The wedding dress doesn't have to be white( how they made demeter "force" perse's dress to be white to further antagonize her and STILL ended up drawing persephone in a white dress anyway is still beyond me tbh )her symbols could beautifully be incorporated into her dress .

Exhibit 1:a "portrait of madame x" black outfit with a bat wing-like two part cape(her sacred animal:bat) that is bejeweled with black pearls and diamonds and smokey quartz ,the tiara in that portrait is a reference to diana the roman goddess of the hunt AKA artemis,so it could be a nice tribute to her friendship with artemis in the comic .

exhibit 2: a fully bejeweled gown made out of her symbolic gem stones:Lepidolite, Rhodochrosite and Smoky Quartz, signifying her marriage to the god of wealth(I know she's meant to be anti -capitalist but the comic doesn't follow through with it so ...)the sleeves or other parts (like dress layers)could take the shape of the flower petals of asphodel or Narcissus. Maybe a jewel faux- lily crown too. Along with rubies and spinels to form the shape of pomegranates all over the whole fit.

Exhibit 3:an elegant coat-like dress made out of deer (her own sacred animal)and black ram (hades')and fur . It would be a good nod to the fur coat hades gifted her in S1 and the underworld is cold too so why not(holy ginger snaps I just realized how impractical her official queen outfit is! Like we've been told in that episoide that underworld is cold and yet persephone's dress is sleeveless!girlie's freezing!) Also pearl/alabaster-made faux deer horns could be sprouting from her back like wings

Exhibit 4:a feathery dress as a tribute to her sacred animal:parrots most of the dress could be a nice shade of green with some red and yellow feathers which would be common colors for a parrot and also the color of the bridal dresses for ancient greek and roman noblewomen .

Exhibit 5:Like I said red and yellow /gold were bridal dress colours for greeks and romans,what other things are red and yellow?!wheats and tulips! Demeter's symbols!this could've very well been a sweet tribute from daughter to mother ! Imagine a multi -layered flower gown with deep scarlet and black petal-shaped fabrics to look like tulips and a multi-layered veil to match!!! And then imagine golden embroidered threads in the shape of wheat branches and golden wheat shaped necklace and earrings too! And an emerald ,olivine and topaz choker in the shape of a gecko(demeter's sacred animal)

Of course one could also go ham and just combine all these ideas together and make a maximalistic, artsy,chaoticly gorgeous outfit.I personally like it because it could be a symbol of how playful and fun spring is but also how unpredictable and strange death is!I feel like if rachel took her time and didn't rush things she could give us something extraordinary!!!!!!

As always I hope this ask finds you in good health! Bye bye🌹☘️💖💜🎀💚🌺🌸❤️💕🧡👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

I remember you! I’m so glad to have you back! Your design is so beautiful by the way and honestly it’s very easy on the eyes too! I could see Persephone wearing something like that and also I’m honestly gushing about all of your exhibits because they’re so sweet and I absolutely love the detail you put in them. The tributes would’ve made the dress not only memorable but also very impactful to her character since Persephone was always supposed to be a more family oriented person (at least in season one when was characterized to be most comfortable with physical touch and around people) and it really would’ve showed us how strong her relationships have become over the past seasons, her friends are really just accessories at this point and they’re only brought up when it’s convenient. Hell even some signifying detail about Hades’ details would’ve been romantic like if they both wore parts of each other’s sacred animals or something like you incorporated, Hades never wears anything to represent Persephone and yet Persephone is supposed to be the one wearing dark colors now it’s just so one sided honestly.

But enough rambling, this was honestly such a sweet ask and I absolutely loved going through all of your ideas! They were genuinely so sweet and I hope everything is going great for you! <3

#lo critical #anti lore olympus #anti lo #lore olympus criticism #lore olympus critical #antiloreolympus

[beauty-and-passion]

Somebody call the firemen, because we have a third-degree burn here.

The good thing is that Thomas is a theater man and he knows how to physically characterize every Side. He uses stereotypes in the best way: as a means to make each Side recognizable and with a clear, evident style.

Patton is a father figure, so he should dress as such. Roman is a prince, so he dresses as a typical prince. Virgil is an angsty teen, so he dresses like an emo.

Remus is royalty like Roman, but with an horrific twist and his outfit expresses the same concepts: it’s based on a Stuart era duke outfit but with creepy additions. Janus is dangerous, suave, full of things to hide and a snek, so his outfit is based on the idea of Jack the Ripper + the colors of a mangrove snake: layers of clothing, 19th century-style outfit and everything in black, except for small touches of yellow - just like a mangrove snake.

So Thomas knows how to pick the right tops for his outfits, he made it very clear. The problem is with the pants.

Some Sides have been blessed with good (or at least coherent) pants: Virgil has simple, ripped jeans. Janus has elegant straight pants and business shoes (a double win). And Patton not only has straight pants as well, but their color works well with the light blue of the shirt and the light gray of the hoodie. A color combination and it works well!

Then we have the… uhm… questionable choices. Like these kinda-yoga-pants for Remus: they have nothing to do with the Stuart era or with Remus’ outfit in general, because they’re way too simple compared to the overly decorated top. But hey, AT LEAST they’re black and they don’t make me cry blood everytime I see them.

In this category, walso have the infamous Logan’s jeans. They have nothing to do with anything: Logan clearly needed some elegant straight pants to get a more business casual look and not a “I’m a teen with dad’s shirt” look. But, again, AT LEAST the color isn’t something completely casual like mustard or “brown poop” or something hideous. They make me question life, but at least I don't feel like I want to tear my eyes out. I am very close but

Then, we have the I-refuse-to-believe-it choice. Like the supposed black pants for Roman. Well, I decided they do not exist. I don’t care if you have a photo, it’s fake. Roman has white pants, because he is a goddamn prince. The black pants are an illusion of light. They’re photoshopped. Roman spilled paint all over them. No other explanations. No black for Roman.

#sanders sides #ask #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #I want to raid Thomas' closet #And help him find decent combinations #It's impossible he only has these pants #And he should have some decent shoes as well #I want to do shopping with him #and help him buying stuff

[alonelystargazer]

it's still a distant goal for me since I'm just in the beginner stage of my sewing journey but I really want to cosplay Choso from JJK and make a costume from scratch, and after some research I think I've figured out how to do it. I'm hoping these notes will motivate and inspire me to actually go through with this haha.

(heads up: I'm gonna get super detailed with my notes, it's like a legit blog post)

At first I didn't know what type of clothing Choso was wearing or how to deconstruct his outfit until episode 37 of the anime Red Scale came out recently and we got to see him in action, and it made it way easier for me to analyze his outfit (and draw up some sketches, none of which are shown here haha)

BTW my goal with this isn't to create a costume as accurate to canon as possible, but I do want to have it as a foundation that I can later modify to suit my beginner sewing skills and to add any personal touches.

Vest

I had the most trouble figuring out the purple vest (there's probably a more accurate name for it but that's what I'm calling it), but the breakthrough came when I realized that the sides from the shoulders down are completely open and tied together with a separate belt/obi at the waist (although it looks like it could also be sewn from the waist down to the hips; the ribcage area is definitely open though)

I'm still unsure about how that crisscross shape of the neckline works, probably folding over fabric, but to simplify it, I could just make a rectangular shape for the torso panels and cut a slit down the middle for the neck part and it would drape down the shoulders, or just cut it into a V-shape neckline

Choso's fandom wiki page says it's a gi (like the uniform used in martial arts) but this one doesn't have sleeves so idk I'll probably disregard that, I don't trust fandom wiki haha. That's probably where the crisscross neckline comes from though; I just wouldn't know how to make that.

The scarf also looks really simple too, probably just a circle scarf made of the same material as the vest and obi.

for the material, maybe a medium weight cotton? it looks like it has a texture to it but I won't be too picky if I can't find anything like that

Top

as for the white top I could borrow from a haori design and modify it so it's just not open in the front (more so just to make the long flowy sleeves)

material: maybe a light or medium weight breathable cotton or linen (but not too thin or see through), or a polyester/synthetic or poly blend (I probably won't use synthetic fabrics though)

Pants

I'm not sure what style of pants/trousers these are, but I've seen a style called bontan that are pretty similar which are baggy like this and I'll probably refer to that; and it's not shown in these examples, but there's also a black (elastic?) waistband; there could be an elastic cuff but also the hem could just be cut shorter and have bandages wrapped around the shin/calves, or I could also use kyahan leggings. I think I'll just go with the elastic cuffs on the hems though since the boots will cover the ankles anyway.

I'll probably just use the same material as the top but add a lining or double layers as a reinforcement

I briefly considered that the pants could be a tattsuke-hakama style and combine it with the kyahan (kinda like designs for the characters in demon slayer), but those are pleated, and Choso's pants aren't like that, they're just wide and baggy.

I have a few pairs of combat boots I can wear to complete the outfit (if I wanted to be dead on accurate I would need a pair of Doc Martens boots but I'm not too picky about that, I'll just use what I have)

Hair & makeup

I'll probably end up buying a wig and style it into the bangs and buns bc my natural hair is very fine and doesn't hold any style!

I've already tried a few different makeup looks just for funsies, but generally I go with either a reddish or purple-ish eyeshadow all around the eyes and heavily line my eyes with black gel liner. Plus contour the nose and inner eye socket before creating the black mark across the nose with liner (and shadow to set it). Also, bushy brows.

I'm not one of those girlies who wears makeup all the time, and when I do it's not really heavy, and I don't wear foundation or any other complexion products, but since Choso kinda has pale skin, I could maybe use it and powder and contour my face to enhance the tired/ghostly look. I don't really want to do that though bc I don't think I want to keep touching up my makeup through the day if I ever go to a con. It might look weird and unbalanced to not have a perfect smooth base with such heavy eye makeup but that's just my thing.

I also think he would look good with dark nail polish and piercings, so I'll add those as my own little details.

Final thoughts

Generally speaking, since I'm a beginner and my goal is to create this costume by May/June 2024, I still have a lot of time to practice and to do further research. I just wanted to put my notes together now to inspire and motivate me.

I've seen so many people cosplay Choso already and I love their interpretations! They're also giving me inspiration on what I can do with my own cosplay.

I realize that cosplay doesn't need to be accurate to canon, and being 'accurate' doesn't make it better, but I'm just using the canon accurate clothing more as a template so that I can then modify it to suit my preferences, like following a recipe precisely and then making changes to it once you've learned the basics.

And I'm gonna try to avoid using synthetic fabrics bc I don't wanna create more plastic waste, even if they may be cheaper (and more durable?) than natural fabrics

Anyway, idk if anyone is actually interested in this except myself, but I'll be providing updates whenever I can. Once I've reached a point where I'm ready to start making clothes, I'll start off by making a mock up using muslin or some other cheap fabric I can find in a thrift shop like I've seen others do, before I fully commit to making the final costume.

If anyone actually read this whole thing, thanks! And if you've made cosplays before and would like to offer some advice, I would appreciate it! 😊👍

#I'm getting myself hyped for something that's just an idea right now #but I really want to make this cosplay and want to write down notes to inspire and motivate me #bre's posts #choso #cosplay #cosplay stuff #sewing stuff #I think those will be the tags I use for these updates

[words-after-midnight]

Find the Word (x3)

Thank you @ceph-the-ghost-writer for my third Find the Word tag in two days. :3

Tagging: @nanashi23, @klywrites, @pertinax--loculos, @daisywords, @late-to-the-fandom, @ls-daydreams and anyone else who wants to join in!

My words were: layer, orange, miracle, guest, rear

Your words: accept, apologize/apology, smell, touch, prize

Two snippets each from The Dotted Line and Life in Black and White for this one.

Layer

N/A

Orange

From The Dotted Line, XI – “Green Light”:

Before we know it the leaves change, drifting lifeless into the yard beneath our windows. Two days ago, I watched them curiously, thrown about mercilessly, as they were, by a ravenous gust of wind. I thought to myself how funny it is, the way the smallest things will amuse minds so deprived of any real source of life or entertainment; how ironic it is that we are the dead fall leaves of this place, only we exist not in reds, oranges and yellows, but rather in the black, white and grey monochrome of an extremely, painfully boring 1950s C-list movie. All day we walk, as though invisible, among hundreds of men whose former iterations, whose zest for life vacated the premises long ago and forgot to leave the porch lights on. Pathetic wastes of skin. Men greyed and hardened, either by age or by misfortunes each more dire than the next. Usually, when I look into their eyes, I see next to nothing. I’m thankful for it. It means I have to make next to no effort to blend in.

Miracle

From Life in Black and White, Act II (previous version):

I handed him his bowl, setting mine on the bed before heading over to the window. Pointing to my bowl, I said half-seriously, “You touch this and I’m flushing Shrek for real.”

He laughed. Took a long drag. “Whatever you say.”

He made it all the way to the part where Shrek is showing Donkey constellations at the makeshift campsite before falling asleep next to me, which was honestly a miracle considering he’d been on a combination of narcotic painkillers, beer, and three quarters of a joint for the past half-hour. He’d already been lying down again for a bit by this point (the popcorn didn’t last long, as you probably figured), but hadn’t bothered with the covers this time. I pulled them up a bit so that they were like he had them before. Even sleeping, he looked exhausted, which was probably a combination of pain, healing, and the drugs. I could still see the remnants of black eyes in the corners, near the bridge of his nose.

Guest

From The Dotted Line, XII – “Scarface”:

Do you know what I see when I look in the mirror?

Victory. Wrath. Beauty.

Certainly not an empty shell of aimless implosion, or a harbinger of gratuitous destruction. Certainly not a mere guest in my own skin. Never a shred of what I’d have you believe when it’s convenient. 

Rear

From Life in Black and White, Act II (previous version):

Heart beating quickly now, as though to catch up, I casually pull up to an empty spot in a string of meters up ahead, pull my hood up, slide a pair of sunglasses on, and stare into the rear-view mirror. The figure approaches, walking just as casually along the sidewalk, oblivious to anyone watching.

#tag game #writeblr #libaw #tdl #snippet