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nowen422 · 9 months

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Nowen Talkin Bout Bleach

Bleach TYBW Episode 15: ok I know this looks bad (or “why I think Soi Fon and Marechiyo are cool”)

Literally the title. So. *uncomfortable silence here* how we all feeling after that? The last time the Wandenreich invaded, s*** got bad real fast. And it looks like the same has occurred again. Or has it? Yes. It’s bad, very bad. But before it gets too bad, we get a lot of great things for this episode. We get a lot of great entrances in this episode and already Mayuri is stealing the spotlight (literally he is wearing it). But we get to start the first round of rematches and new fights off with Toshiro vs Bazz-B! We catch up with Rangiku and Marechiyo, find out what Soi Fon has been up to and we get to see BG-9 naked! Oh also Mayuri and Askin show off against each other in an epic clash. But who cares about that? Not me, no sir.

Also, it may just be me but these episode are just FLYING by. 22 minutes is not a long time because it is going fast.

Shinigami deaths: 8

Quincy deaths: 6

Mayuri crimes: 3

(The crime is against interior lighting design)

Spoilers below

I lied. I care, I care a lot!

THINGS I LIKED:

I’m a sucker for a good war table scene and we get it! Also great to hear As Nödt’s creepy as voice more.

All the sternritter just being super chill with with the invasion. These guys know they’re going to stomp the Shinigami and are just exuding confidence.

Kyouraku and Haschwalth just having a damn conversation the whole episode. The man who takes nothing seriously vs the man who is serious 110% of the time.

Askin just insulting the 12th to their faces, only to have the spotlight stolen by Mayuri! I know he is a monster, but damn does he know how to make an entrance.

I really like the effect on Mayuri’s light clothes. I figured it would just be golden colored but they went with a digital effect that still kept the detail. Whoever is doing the shading on this show really should be getting a raise now that Mayuri is here.

Mayuri just casually slinging Askin’s insult right back into his face!

The shaky footage of the fight near the squad 10 barracks. We get sidetracked by what the captains and lieutenants are doing, we forget the rank and file are also fighting for their lives

Toshiro lookin cool in his head wrap and Rangiku posted up behind him like the bad bitch she is!

Toshiro just not caring about Rangiku explaining how the ice wall works

We get to see Nanao in action finally! In the manga we see her throw out a kido or two and try to execute Chad in the Ryouka invasion, but after that, nothing. It has been literally a decade in real time since she has done something.

Ok, here’s where I talk about Marechiyo and Soi Fon. I like them, I know a lot of people don’t, but I do and here’s why because I love this fight and I like these two a lot.

I even dropped the bullet format cause I care that much! Soi Fon is a ninja, and she is a serious ninja who doesn’t take kindly to people screwing around and not taking her as a ninja seriously. She trains to the extreme not only to increase her own skill but to try and surpass Yoruichi (that’s another thing for another time). Then there’s Marechiyo. You’d think the 2nd in command for the stealth force would be some badass ninja master but it’s this flashy, goofy, wears too much gold, lazy, good for nothing guy. But as we see in the Fake Karakura arc, he clearly knows what he’s doing. I don’t remember if it’s an actual thing, but I remember hearing about a type of ninja whose job it was to distract other people so that the regular ninja could do the main mission. I’ve always felt that this was Marechiyo’s purpose and that’s why the two are Captain and Lieutenant respectively. One draws attention so the actual threat can do their job. Point is Marechiyo shines in this arc and people should appreciate him more.

And yes I think the “Aizen bypassing Soi Fon’s shikai ability because he’s stronger” is bull. That’s some Hogyoku interference I tell you h’what!

It’s nice to see the 2nd division captain uniform in all its glory. I know it’s Kubo’s excuse to draw side boob, but it’s a cool fit and Soi Fon deserves some love.

Askin just leaving cause Mayuri is too hard to fight. And then mayuri just telling him “fine, f*** off!” Accurate to the manga, and I love the nasty face that Mayuri makes as he leaves. “I don’t care for you and I am going to poison you before this is over!”

All the animation in the Soi Fon fight is awesome, great job there.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

They’re burying a lot of what Ukitake is doing and I know it’s only the second episode, but it’s gonna be a long time before the reveal so I was hoping they’d be doing more.

Ywach doing the explanation of the Quincy shadow situation is good. But I feel like with the dramatic reveals from the first core, this one’s gonna have a lot more explaining to do.

I know it’s in the manga, but I hate Nemu’s low cut light outfit. There is shadow in cleavage Mayuri! Also it looks goofy, but I like her little hat.

I just know that BG-9 is going to die without us knowing his damn Schrift. People have been wanting to know, FOR YEARS!!

Bazz-B’s burner fingers have never been my favorite schrift or ability. He’s cool, but it takes a while to warm up to him in the manga.

I like BG-9 but the missiles were gross. No one wants to see your weird nipples man

I didn’t care for Hitsugaya’s fight taking a back burner to the others. I get that they are the first big ones, but I feel with how much love he gets, Toshiro should have gotten a bit more. Oh well, more time for angry hornet lesbian!

And that’s that! The second invasion is underway, and the first two big fights have already started. Good to see we’re still catching up with Ichigo and Ichibe and their training. Real cool. Downright neat…..WHAT IS IRAZU SANDO??!?!!

It translates to “no entry to the road of the shrine” it’s super reiatsu and Ichigo becoming more than a Soul Reaper, one could say, kingly

#nowen talkin bout bleach #bleach #bleach tybw

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cheswirls · 4 years

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a wildfire from this fic

#drawing is difficult #op #/cries i did this for a warmup #then i went back to it and spent the last 2 days finishing it #rip last week of inktober ig #okay but! i did rly like how the words came out i had so much fun w that #also the mask is like. not the same ik i was messing around bc ive never done a mask before #and then i rly liked what i drew so i said fuck it and kept it #me: i know what a color scheme is #also me: am i willing to ruin this color scheme for the sake of a red hat? yes yes i am #god also i tried something dif w shading that i rly liked #bc the coat and bg are black i colored in all the light and then blended it #i rly like!! how it turned out #even tho it ended up as the bg playing more of the shading #also i spent like a good 30m trying to get a white border and then decided the lines were too light and it wasnt working #i should still have it on the file... but not this vers hah #i rly wanted his metal arm somewhere then i remembered gloves #i actually had to go back and see which one it was rbwglwhgw im still rereading thru it #i was prepared to have the left sleeve all wavy then i was like wait.. is it the left #and then wait.. didnt he get a new arm #anyway you cant rly see it but theres grey poking out from the right glove thats supposed to be metal #this came out a lot darker (colorwise) than i thought?? oops #ANYWAy im glad im done w this i had fun but i need to do other stuff now

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swansong-if · 2 years

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few more updates on what i changed

got more feedback on the visibility issue; sadly everyone has different (and often contradictory) opinions on the matter because eye strain is something that can actually be so personal... there’s no way to make everyone happy, but i did try to find a decent common ground and i hope it works for the majority! let me also say that @phanosis was a HUGE help in finding out which colours and settings might work best and is really the person you should thank because i doubt i could’ve figured it out so quickly on my own! 🥰

there are now 3 possible themes: the light theme has a pure white background, since some of you said it makes it easier to read; the links are a darker shade of blue and bolded, which should make it easier to spot/read the choices. there’s also a secondary light theme that is labelled ‘Low Contrast’ in the settings, and it maintains the same colour scheme as the light theme but with a grey bg and lower contrast between bg/text/links. i’ve also made the text in the dark theme a bit darker to match the luminosity of the links; dark mode is the one that changed the least, both because the opinions on it were very split and because like i said before, it’s the only one i can work on and i need to be able to read the story.

i mentioned it yesterday but in addition to the colour changes you can also find the toggles for cycling labels and choice descriptions in the game settings... those additions wouldn’t have been possible without @queerbrujas who is endlessly patient and likely the reason i get any coding done 90% of the time 😂💕 big thank you, love you silv!!!!

i will upload the new file shortly, in the meantime i am once again asking to please not fill in the form if you have nothing to report/suggest!

#dev.txt

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lamatisse · 4 years

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not sure how to make an introduction for this tutorial. i might have gone too extra because it’s so long...but this is highly requested and i said i would do this as detailed as possible, so here we go!

adobe photoshop 2018 (ahoy, matey!)

topaz lens effects (just for grain)

srwe (sometimes, but not for this tutorial)

reshade (i dont use a specific preset)

drawing tablet (wacom intuos art)

macbook pro mid-2015 (but bootcamp)

//part one

grab a screenshot from your own lovely screenshot folder! mine is straight from my reshade screenie folder. then crop it how you like it! my original screenshot size is 2560 x 1600, and i almost always cut the background out. this is how i do it:

click color range, then click on the background of your sim. the little screen above will look like that. the background should be white. it’s easier when it’s a fully solid color. those are my settings above. click ok! the selected area will have those teeny tiny marching ants.

click quick selection tool, then select and mask...

i drew over these circled areas using the “add brush” i showed above. use “on black” viewing mode, then make sure that the sim is completely filled black (it’s the unselected area). use shift edge so there wouldn’t be any of the original bg left over. my settings are shown above. then click ok if you’re all done. press delete and then ctrl + D to unselect. the marching ants should be gone. go ahead and crop it!

after cropping, i resize the width of the photo to 1280px! always!

i create a new layer for my background, then add in the psd that i use for my edits. (i hide my psd layer while drawing)

sometimes i also use liquify to edit things like this:

//part two

i use a soft round brush to do everything! it’s literally from adobe, but i changed a few things like the flow jitter in transfer.

red areas are usually where i put the shadows, purple areas are usually where i put the highlights

i usually do the shadows before anything else! it’s pretty simple. using the brush i showed above, i create a new layer.

use the eyedropper tool on her skin, then pick a slightly darker shade. change the blending mode of the layer to multiply, then draw the shadows.

right click on the layer, then select “create clipping mask” to make your life a little bit easier. an arrow will appear beside your layer.

//part three

this is where i draw over the features. let’s look at her face. these are basically what i think it needs:

pay close attention to the imperfections and clean it up! that’s what makes it “sharper” in my opinion. small brushes will do the job! something like this:

define the edges!!! define!! zoom in and take a look!! even though these are tiny little details, it makes a whole lot of difference! the eyedropper tool is your best friend!

i start with a big brush and then i use smaller and smaller ones as i go, which creates the sharpness. go a little darker as well! im not very skillful with my graphic tablet, so i add stuff bit by bit since it tends to become too harsh when i just go for it! im not as talented as some of u here ;-; i just wing it and pray it doesnt look too bad. half of the time im just experimenting since i literally do not know where some shading goes

i wont be showing every single thing, but basically that’s the idea! i’ll add in the stuff i pointed out above and more shadows. sometimes i might turn down the opacity of some layers if they look a bit too much. here’s what we got so far:

i also like adding some face pores using this amazing “skin texture 1″ brush from this brush pack!

//part four

for the highlight layer, i change the blending mode to either overlay or soft light. use a slightly bigger brush for the bigger areas. use the eyedropper tool on her skin, and instead, pick a lighter shade.

let’s start adding highlight to the purple areas i marked above!

try to enhance the highlight on tiny details too such as the eye corners! if you want something more dramatic, create a new layer and do an overlay layer this time! don’t be afraid to add some on the hair, eyes, lips etc.

//part five

ok lets add some not decent looking hair strands. i almost always avoid this part because i literally have 0 idea on how to draw hair. i use the “hair base” brush from the same brush pack i linked to above and also have smoothing on to about 35%! the eyedropper tool is still your best friend! just follow the flow of the hair and i guess you’ll be fine ???

i’ll also fill in the annoying gaps beside her neck

unhide your psd layer and wooowweee

//part six

select all the layers, then click create a new group!

select the new group, then hit ctrl + J or right-click the new group, then click duplicate group

right-click the duplicated group, then click merge group!

i do this so i have a backup of the collapsed layers and can make changes anytime.

i use the sharpen brush on small details i circled below. i used to do stylize > oil paint or topaz clean before, but since the personal action that i use blur things a lot, i try to keep small details visible and sharp.

next is smart sharpen, my settings are below. sometimes i go for a smaller radius, but it looks like this most of the time.

my personal action set consists of this:

duplicate the layer that you just used smart sharpen on, then click lens blur!

below are my lens blur settings

turn the opacity of the layer (that you just put the lens blur on) to 40%

select both layers, right-click then merge layers!

duplicate the layer again (yes, again) then right-click, choose blending options.

uncheck the R located on the “channels” under “advance blending” then click ok.

an icon will appear on that layer!

make sure you have that layer selected, then click the Move tool

then hit your arrow left/right key once or twice! i do it once because i only want a subtle 3d effect! go ahead and merge those layers!

last step is the grain effect. i use topaz labs > topaz lens effects. if you don’t have this, you can also use filter > noise > add noise that photoshop has.

these are my settings:

//final look!

here’s a before and after gif! (here’s the finished edit) i hope everything’s clear! i’m really bad at explaining things (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

feel free to tag me when you use this tutorial for an edit!! i would like to see it! i hope this helps! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

#ts4 editing tutorial #ts4 tutorial #mine #tut #this took a long time fjghdkfjgh

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kicktwine · 2 years

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I saw your comic where ven gets down on his knees and calls Sora his liege. Do you have any more headcanons for that?

no shade anon this makes it sound like he’s proposing that’s not the intended readi—

anyways not really, most my thoughts r in the tags. Sometimes you get possessed and make an idea and then throw it on the table and walk away yanno? It’s not an au or anything. a phrase attacked my brain and clawed at it and screamed until I did something about it. Though I’m CONSTANTLY thinking about the wayfinders. I really badly want to know Daybreak-Scala-Twilight Town/Radiant Garden etc history?? Ansem the Wise is (was) apparently king?? Eraqus is of royal descent? Were we like legit feudal there for a while or what? Like HOW feudal, were we. Knights (graduated students) and apprenticeships and stuff fantasy feudal? I feel like Daybreak ran on oligarchy or whatever with like the master kind of in a monarch position. Did Scala do that? Like have a monarch? They seem to have a dark academia oligarchy… aristocracy… thing. Happening. Organization. This is not what you asked for

Anyways. yes. Actually the answer is yes I lied to you. the wayfinders are, barring yen sid who doesn’t seem like the Sharing Information At Will kind of guy, the last living remnants of a dead culture, and I think they’d try to introduce some of it to everyone else. I don’t think it’ll ever be revived the same just like daybreak is not scala is not twilight town but we have holidays (I think they would celebrate the equinoxes! I also think they have a spring holiday where it’s kind of just a celebration of life and how nature relies on other pieces of nature to live like bees need flowers and birds need bees and foxes need birds and worms need foxes and flowers need worms, I think they should have a lot of flower decorations. I also think they have a harvest holiday that marks the end of the year for them as fall is the LAST season and winter the first — like. yknow. out of darkness into a world of light this is how it goes you start in darkness. New Years is in November. This may coincide with the winter equinox holiday (FREE WEEK OF HOLIDAY TIME OFF) I am getting into my headcanons a little much) and important life milestones (obviously visiting a world is a big deal, but I think PICKING a world to keyblade-master-graduate in would be so HARD… not to MENTION picking a world or worlds to celebrate your marriage in!! They have to be symbolic and important to you and willing to host and — and you have to get gifts from each one and—) and history books saved from wreckage and recipes that are more useful because they use things you can gather and, importantly, bonds. I have always thought d-links were kind of funny! It’s exactly what Sora does, just, not, and not for summoning your friends all the time just keeping them in your heart literally? They were all taught how to do that. It must be or have been important. Lots of different kinds of bonds… mastery, acquaintanceship… etc. play the hit ttrpg Interstitial ANYWAYSlove is very important. Loyalty is important. Having love and loyalty as links would be like Yes we are part of each other’s lives now you can talk to me okay! we are here for each other! That’s what he means, ven I mean, he sees it like look I’ve known you for 16 years and in a place where people die a lot and travel a lot I would stick by you and die for you until you no longer need me and then further you understand this right and soras like (100% only seeing the very real implications of this and none of the background that led to this point because he was born in literally regular fantasy the phillippines but small or something) HUH! Meanwhile in the bg all of soras other friends are like yeah that sounds right I could do that but idk if thats appropriating anything or not,

well sorry for lying to you anon but also naw I don’t really have more headcanons about it. Ven’s like 1000 he gets to be a slightly terrifying reminder that all of these things are much, much older than you and you can’t possibly understand them not because you can’t know them but because you can’t Know them, you were not there and will not have the presence of mind to fully grasp them, and only three other live people in the whole universe will ever get close, because I say so

#hey did you know at least in the Korean listing fantasy keyblade chess is called Alba et Ater? That’s cool #ask #anon #well I guess the sentiment is similar! anon you caught me at a weird time I’m just saying things

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angelanimedesaray · 3 years

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Wings in the Dark Chapter 2: Suspicions

AN: Yeeaaahhh this one’s pretty much all from Levi’s POV. Get ready for some cat and mouse, guys.

Also I’m working on a playlist. hehehe. I love my playlists. Some songs just fit SO WELLLLL!!!!

Characters: Levi, Vampire!Reader, Erwin, Various BG Characters

Pairing: (Eventual) Levi x Reader

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 5102

<----Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter---->

*Levi’s POV*

Levi leaned against the stone wall beside him, arms crossed over his chest and the shade of the roof mostly hiding him from view as he stared pensively out at the open field. The horse training was finished for the days, and the horses were being allowed time to roam in the open field for the time being. One individual, however, was spending some one on one time with a mare, walking through some common techniques to get a horse to trust you.

At first, he’d wondered why she was using such a long rope, since he was fairly certain the distance between a horse and a potential rider during this exercise wasn’t supposed to be that far. Quickly Levi realized that if she got much closer, the horse was not having it. It was truly afraid of her, though she appeared to be making some headway, if she was able to lead the horse around on the long rope while the other horses stayed clear.

Horses that had been trained and bred to retain nerves of steel and ignore their fears, especially in the presence of Titans and the chaos of a battle, and apparently all of them were at least skittish around her. That’s what he’d heard from the stablemaster, anyway.

Not a minor detail to be overlooked. And a problem, if she couldn’t get around it. Clearly, though, she was putting in the effort and time to fix it, and she didn’t mind going at the proper pace instead of trying to rush it. From what he’d been able to observe, she was also approaching the situation with an admirable amount of patience, no outward signs of frustration or anger when she reached a setback and had to back up a foot or so on the rope instead of shortening it a little more. Her approach changed slightly each time, too, attempting to adjust to fix whatever she’d done wrong the previous try.

Well, at least she had some positive character traits to be discovered alongside the worrisome fact about the horses he wasn’t going to ignore. So he could give her some merit while his suspicion raised a little more.

“Captain.”

Levi turned at the sound of his title, noticing the individual approaching him from the main building, a file in hand. He snapped a salute when he reached Levi, then held out the file for him to take. “You asked for the file on Cadet Y/N L/N.”

Levi nodded and took the file from him. “Thanks. You can go,” he said in a distracted tone, already opening the file as the soldier walked away.

His eyes scanned the information in the file, which was surprisingly scarce. Her place of residence was formerly Wall Rose, there was no living family, no record as he thought there might be after their spar. She ranked sixth in her class--which didn’t at all match the spar they’d had, and gave further credit to his belief she was purposely holding herself back even when it mattered for placement. Maybe she wanted to avoid the spotlight? She wanted her talents to be recognized, but she didn’t want them front and center since she was still trying to scrape by without her full potential being noticed. She excelled in individual evaluations, especially the physical and instinctual, but seemed to have some problem with others. It was noted in her file that she was a loner and outcast during training, suggesting teamwork might be a point of issue with her. The opinion of her classmates might shed some light on that matter--it could have easily been the other party and not necessarily her that was the issue. Some of her classmates had joined the Scouts as well, if he remembered correctly, so there were some around that could be asked.

Levi reached the end of the file far sooner than he expected.

There weren’t any official documents giving age or place of birth, just an inked in note marking that she was in her early twenties--older than most new recruits, strangely enough--and the name of the town she was born in. There weren’t any legal documents, and no visible records of her existence before she started leaving a trail behind in Wall Rose two years ago, with a rented space in her name and her official application to join the Cadet Corps the only real official documents here.

That shouldn’t have been possible. Of course, if she lived in the Underground beforehand, it would make perfect sense for her to have no trail until she surfaced, but it was right here in ink that she was born within Wall Rose.

Had she lied? Had she somehow managed to get topside without official immigration and slipped right through the fingers of the authorities? The Underground would have fit a little comfortably in his working picture of her--loner, exceptionally skilled in combat and other physical areas, not having a record before two years ago, the street fighting skills…

He wasn’t going to write off the Underground yet, but how she might have gotten topside needed some fleshing out before he could consider it more seriously.

Appearing out of the blue and an unknown past only made Levi’s unease grow. Maybe if there was more, he could have deduced what her reason for joining the military--hell, joining the Scouts--was.

More questions, and not much in the way of answers.

Dissatisfied, Levi returned to his position resting against the wall with the file now tucked under an arm, watching as the speckled grey horse with the black to white mane gradually came closer to her as the rope slowly shortened, but it’s caution and unexplained fear still kept it out of her arm's reach.

The new recruit in front of him was so nervous he was trembling. He might have thought he was hiding it well, but it was plain as day to Levi, who was leaning against the wall sipping on his cup of tea with eyes fixed forward on the recruit sitting on the other side of his desk. He’d called the young man in as a sort of character reference for L/N, asking him to state his opinion on the young woman’s abilities and if they were an asset to the Scouts.

His final question, however, had caused the recruit’s suddenly shifty demeanor, and Levi’s gaze narrowed slightly at him when he hesitated.

“Are there any qualities you feel she possesses that would be harmful to the Scouts?”

The recruit across from him couldn’t look Levi in the eyes, on the brink of saying something, but for some reason holding himself back. Levi waited for several moments before there was a spark of impatience starting to grow in him.

“Spit it out.”

The recruit’s shoulders hunched slightly, and he started to haltingly speak. “She doesn’t exactly get along with other people.”

Well, that could mean a lot of things. Levi wasn’t the friendliest person in the world, but that didn’t stop him from doing his damn job. Antisocial didn’t necessarily count as something that negated her ability to perform in the field. This kid needed to be more specific.

“Does she start fights with her comrades?” Levi asked bluntly.

“No, but she has been in a few--”

“Does she fail to communicate in the field?”

“Never, though--”

“Is she incapable of working as part of a group?”

“Not really--”

“Does she take actions that could cause harm to other members of the team in the field?”

“I haven’t--”

Levi let out a slow sigh. He kept interrupting the recruit because he didn’t need long winded answers that spun the narrative a certain way. He already knew he couldn’t entirely trust the feedback this kid was going to give him, because either he would downplay her abilities and up-play her flaws to make himself look better, or vice versa to make her look better, all based off the assumption Levi was asking because Levi was looking to have her join his squad.

It wasn’t too far off the mark, but Levi was considering adding her less and less the farther he dug into her background. And while he knew he couldn’t trust much of what the kid was going to say to his face, that wasn’t the point. It was what came after this that mattered the most, and it still gave him something to work with to get a little further in his investigation.

She communicated and worked just fine in a group, and while she had been in fights before, she hadn’t been the one to start them. It was starting to look more like harassment of some degree on the other side that kept her from interacting much with her peers. Aside from the pretty much confirmed antisocial behavior outside of the field, of course.

“You have to be more specific than ‘she doesn’t play well with others.’ I don’t always get along with other people--that doesn’t keep me from doing my job,” Levi deadpanned.

The recruit was really struggling to get it out now, his face all twisted up as he tried to rework his words. “While her skills are undeniable, socially, her relationship with her peers is...poor.”

Is that really what this amounted to? No one liked her because she wasn’t friendly enough with them? “Your complaint is that she’s not a social butterfly?”

“It’s more than that, sir, she’s not…”

Levi waited another five seconds before he decided this wasn’t being productive anymore. Time to kick him out of the office and go on to the next part, then. “Either come up with a solid answer, or I’ll take your silence as a no so you can leave to take care of that constipated look on your face.”

The recruit looked put out and frustrated, but he ended up standing from the chair and leaving, Levi watching him silently from over the rim of his cup and eyes lingering on the door after it had closed.

This sneaking around behind the scenes getting dirt on people was usually more Erwin’s speed, but Levi had been around Erwin long enough to pick up a few tricks of his own to use when necessary, like in moments like this. Levi could be subtle when he wanted to.

A few moments after the recruit walked out his door, Levi finished his tea, set down the empty cup on his desk, and followed after him, keeping far enough back that he wouldn’t be noticed. Just as he’d suspected, the recruit found his way back to another pair of recruits and proceeded to go about cathartically bitching about the situation.

Levi missed the part where the other two asked why Levi wanted to talk to him in his office, but since that wasn’t the important part, Levi wasn’t too concerned, stopping just around the corner and pressing his shoulder against the wall to listen in to what they really had to say about L/N when it wasn’t being filtered by the intimidation of speaking with a superior.

“Of course miss ice princess is being considered for Captain Levi’s squad. Why wouldn’t she?” the recruit who had been in Levi’s office was fuming.

“I don’t get why you two are so upset--if Captain Levi’s already asking about her, surely that’s because she has the potential, right?” asked the young woman in their group.

“You didn’t train with her--you didn’t see how downright infuriating she was! If it wasn’t for the occasional lost spar round or missed question on a test, or a margin behind someone else in an endurance test, whatever it was, she still somehow managed to look perfect. Even if you were ahead of her, it was like she was right there behind you!”

“Not to mention she didn’t even seem to try,” the third one muttered.

“Exactly! We’d work our asses off, and then she would waltz in and do whatever they asked her to as if it was as natural as breathing! It was so--so--so infuriating!”

“Sounds like you’re jealous,” the woman surmised.

“Wouldn’t you be upset? She didn’t even try! Then to make matters worse, she always acted like she was above us. Yeah she usually beat us all in everything, but she didn’t even try to be nice about it.”

“Yeah--I know this girl who tried to be friends with her part way through training. But she was always treating her like a plague--she’d move further away from her, or she’d ignore her attempts to talk to her or actively dodge her. She made it pretty damn clear she wasn’t in the Corps to make friends. And she was like that with everyone--she never let anyone get closer than necessary to her. Sure, she’d give you some tips in the middle of training, but it was always just what was necessary, and she never let the conversation move to anything personal. She’s a bitch,” the friend added.

“I figured all that time spent by herself, she was just focused on her training. It got me certain that she was going to be top of the class--some say she should have. Hell, I thought she’d be pissed when she got sixth, but I swear she looked pleased. Pleased! And I thought she wanted to at least make the top five with how fucking perfect she seemed.”

“Okay, so she was antisocial in training and she’s good enough at what she did that it made you all jealous. I still don’t see anything that would make you hate her so much. I’ve seen her around a few times and she doesn’t seem nearly as frigid as you all say. Distant, yeah, but she seems...warm, if a bit melancholy,” the woman said thoughtfully.

“Don’t let it fool you. She’s probably just trying to make a better impression now that she’s where she wants to be and is about to get placed--possibly in the best squad, now, too, apparently.” There was the sound of a boot scuffing the stone, then a thwack of a broom handle being thumped against the offender’s head. “Ow! And she’s not warm and she’s not innocent. I don’t know what she was doing, but she was up to something during training, even if we couldn’t prove it.”

“Oh? And what was it? She managed to get an extra loaf of bread on her plate?” the woman asked almost mockingly. Clearly she wasn’t convinced by their ranting.

“One of the most infuriating things about her was how she could break the rules and still get away with it! She used to sneak out all the time at night while we were in the Cadets, but no one could ever catch her. Even when we gave the instructors a warning that she would be sneaking out again soon, she still wouldn’t get caught, and we’d get in trouble for lying about a classmate. Not once was she caught, and we had classmates that could attest to her not being in bed at some point in the night, so we knew it was happening! But we could never prove it. It still drives me nuts to this day!”

“If you kick this floor again, I’ll hit you even harder--you are not messing up the cleaning job I’ve been working so hard on!” the woman fumed suddenly, and there was a bit of a scuffle before things calmed down again.

“I swear, if Captain Levi puts her on his squad I’m going to be so fucking--”

“Look at the bright side, you probably won’t have to deal with her anymore if that happens, because you’re nowhere near that league,” the friend teased. It sounded like there was going to be another scuffle breaking out, so Levi finally stepped around the corner to make himself known.

“Oi.”

The two boys immediately panicked, while the woman snapped to attention, eyes flickering to a fresh scuff mark on the stone with a clearly upset face to see the two were already back to mucking up her hard work. Levi ignored the two who were scrambling to their feet and trying to snap to a salute, walking past all three without even glancing at them.

“Get back to cleaning. And find another place to bitch about superiors,” he added before he continued down the hall and out of earshot once more.

Idiots.

There was nothing wrong with a little bitching to get it out of your system, but at least have the decency to do it somewhere less public where anyone could find and hear you.

However, Levi officially had some honest first hand accounts of her relationship to her peers, and a lead he could follow further into this mystery.

She snuck out a lot at night when she was in the cadets, huh? He wondered if she was still doing that now…

It seemed he had something to do now in the hours insomnia kept him from sleeping. He could keep an eye out to see if she was sneaking out, and try to figure out where she was going on these little escapades if they were, in fact, continuing after leaving the Cadets.

The more he looked into her, the more uneasy he became. He was already at the point where he knew he was going to have to bring up his concerns to Erwin, but he was going to make sure he’d gone as far as he could with this investigation of his before he went to Erwin.

For the first few nights after hearing about L/N’s nightly escapades in the cadets, Levi didn’t catch anything amiss. He was well aware of the best spots in this building to sneak out at this point, and had several points he liked to retreat to for some alone time that just happened to give him a good view of the surrounding area. He was fairly confident that if she tried to sneak out, he would be able to spot her as long as he was looking--which he was.

By the fifth night, he seriously considered the possibility that if she was doing something shady such as meeting a co-conspirator in the the night, the wise thing would be to cut all communication once she was inside the Scouts. If her nightly actions were something dastardly like that, then it was entirely possible that he wouldn’t see her sneak out because she wouldn’t make the attempts now in such a high risk area.

Still, Levi kept an eye out, always near a window at night so he could peer out into the darkness and see anyone trying to slip away if it did happen.

At long last, almost three weeks after the recruits had first arrived, he managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of a hooded figure moving in the darkness away from the building. Believing it to be L/N, he got up from his seat immediately, taking the less forgiving but more direct route of climbing out the window and down to the ground so he could close the distance before she left his sight entirely and he lost track of her. Going through the building down to the ground floor and to a proper exit would have taken him too long, so his unconventional route was one he didn’t second guess.

Landing quietly on the paved stones, Levi crept forward at a walk that was barely restrained from becoming a jog for the first few moments, keeping to the shadows like his quarry as he attempted to follow after her. He wasn’t armed in case there was trouble, mostly because he didn’t get the luxury of enough time to grab a weapon--he’d only caught a fleeting glimpse, so he’d had to act instantly.

Levi managed to catch up to where he would want to be on a tail after two streets, feeling himself settle down internally once he was the desired distance away. She didn’t slow down, plowing forwards with a purpose that told him she knew exactly where she was going and she was going to waste no time getting there--he just had to keep up.

Yes, she. He didn’t have confirmation that it was her, but he was operating off the assumption it was between the story he’d heard and the fact he’d been waiting for something like this to happen and her to be the culprit.

He continued to follow her street after street, taking several corners, occasionally losing sight of her before he caught movement again and continued on the path. After a few minutes, however, he realized these direction changes weren’t exactly pointed and purposeful, but random. They happened too suddenly and without warning for them to be planned.

She knew he was following her, and she was trying to shake him.

Hoping to make her think that she lost him, Levi slowed down his pace, allowing her to pull a little further ahead, far enough away it would be more difficult for him to follow, but at the same time it would give her the impression that he was too far away and that she lost him.

Levi managed to make it a few more streets this way, catching the edge of a cape or a flash of movement as she turned a corner to give him a direction, until suddenly, he realized he couldn’t hear footsteps or any other sound in the night, and he no longer had even a fleeting visual on her in order to give him a sense of direction.

That wasn’t possible. Pulling back had been risky, yes, but he’d been sure he could still keep track of her. And he should have at least been able to hear footsteps in the distance, because she would have had to speed up to lose him so suddenly.

Did she have ODM gear hidden under her cape? Had she taken for the skies to get out of visible range of the streets?

Wanting to test the theory before she could get too far, Levi used window sills, boxes by stalls, wooden awnings, whatever he could to climb up to the roof of one of the buildings, turning around swiftly with his head on a swivel as he tried to catch a glimpse of movement, a figure moving through the night either on ODM gear or on the streets down below.

Nothing. It was just him standing alone on this roof in the night’s silence.

Where the hell had she gone?

“Levi...why didn’t you bring this to my attention sooner?”

Levi scowled, meeting Erwin’s serious expression head on before he turned to move again, occasionally crossing the floor at an extremely slow pace, stopping for a while before he would turn around and move again. Considering Levi usually remained stationary, it counted as a sign of unease.

He had just come to Erwin with what he knew about L/N, which admittedly wasn’t much. For the most part, he was simply telling Erwin about his concerns and a bad feeling that he’d been harboring since meeting her. He did have some legitimate red flags, like her apparent trips out into the night that were continuing here at the Scouts and her lack of a record from before two years ago with nothing to show she might have been from the Underground.

“Because it was just basic curiosity at first, but the more I heard, the more I had to be concerned about,” Levi said pointedly, lips pulled down in a prominent frown as he mulled over everything in his mind.

“Well, based off what you’ve been able to find out, if she is a threat, how much of a threat would she be,” Erwin asked patiently, his eyes continuing to track Levi as he moved about the room. Levi stopped, turning his head slightly in Erwin’s direction.

“Erwin...she had me. In that spar on the training grounds. But at the last second, she shifted and threw the match,” Levi explained quietly.

“...I see.”

Levi turned around all the way to see Erwin sitting forward in his chair, hands laced together in front of him and pressed against his lips, eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation.

“Don’t mark her as an enemy in your mind, yet, Levi. Let this play out a while longer, first. This may be a situation where we need to spring the trap after it’s set to truly know the situation. So far, she hasn’t done anything to hurt humanity’s mission regarding the Titans. I don’t like how many unknowns there are with her, either, which is precisely why we have to approach this correctly. There’s as much a chance we could be wrong as there is that we can be right about her intentions.” Erwin’s hands carefully folded back over one another on top of the table, Erwin turning his gaze on Levi with that expression of his that usually appeared when he was mentally calculating a gamble. “Continue your investigation as you see fit, so long as you don’t outright antagonize her. We don’t want to risk driving her off, if these skills your glimpsing are as strong as your intuition tells you they are. She could still be a great asset if she’s truly on our side. Keep an eye on her, try to figure out at least if her intentions align with our own or run against them.”

“And you?” Levi asked suspiciously, looking to see if that gambling air about Erwin was tipping over into the dangerous side of things.

Erwin hummed. “I’ll do some digging of my own, see what I can find. Of course, if you can’t find anything concrete by the next expedition, going beyond the walls will allow you to get not only a stronger grasp on the skills she’s bringing to the table, but will help with figuring out her general intentions.”

“I don’t like the thought of having to babysit while we’re out there,” Levi returned flatly. Expeditions were far too unpredictable as they were without adding a mysterious woman of unknown capabilities and intentions along for the ride with the task to keep a sharp eye on her and evaluate her every move.

“Then perhaps you’ll want to find out if you can trust her out there or not, first. I know you can’t guarantee finding the answers to all of your questions in such a short amount of time, but you could at least find out if she will have the back of her fellow scouts on the first expedition,” Erwin said with a pointed look. Levi could already tell this mess might get a little ugly, but at the very least, knowing he could trust her not to turn and kill someone on the expedition would go a long way in making his job digging into her background a lot easier.

After Levi gave a nod of confirmation, Erwin continued. “In the meantime, I’ll make sure she’s placed in the formation so that she’s within your sight at all times. Considering the rumors you’ve stirred up that you might be looking to recruit her to your squad, it would only make sense for you to be watching her out in the field to see how she does. It’s also a nice excuse for you to make a few more direct inquiries to L/N, herself. You’ve done plenty of work in the background, I think it’s safe to say you can start approaching her as well. Subtly, of course.”

“After she shook me last night, she might already be on edge,” Levi pointed out. She had to have known someone followed her. There were no guarantees that she knew it was Levi, and he didn’t think she’d had the chance to confirm who was following her any more than he’d had a chance to confirm if he was following her.

“Then be careful about it. But whenever you come to a decision about whether she’s a danger or not, I want to know. This will go a lot smoother and faster if we’re sharing information.”

“I’m not stupid, Erwin,” Levi said with a long-suffering sigh, straightening up. “Anything else?”

Erwin’s lips twitched upwards towards a smile, his hands moving to a drawer to pull out some paper and ink. “Have fun making a new friend.”

Levi scowled again, turning to leave after it was clear Erwin was ready to move on to the next thing. He was a little worried about this task to test L/N’s intentions to help the scouts before going out into the field, especially because he knew that look of Erwin’s meant he would set it up and Levi would simply have to observe.

But, he did have his own ways of testing her out as a person, and some people he could get to help without having to inform them of everything behind it. He was already observing her from a distance and could safely continue to do so. With the rumors going around he was looking to take her in under his wing, he could use that to his advantage to ask a few questions and approach her at the right times.

Yet, despite the fact he knew he would have help in prodding at her to see a bit more of what she was made of, he couldn’t help but notice that his sense of unease that had been tickling in the back of his mind was not shrinking. If anything, it only seemed more prevalent. As long as he continued to have this feeling of unease about her, he wasn’t going to let the matter rest. He was going to figure out what she was hiding, if only so he could assuage or confirm his suspicions before they grew wildly out of control.

At least it seemed Erwin shared his concern, confirming it wasn’t all in his head, and there was cause to worry. He only hoped they could figure out what was going on here before they had to spring the trap, as Erwin had suggested.

Levi shook his head. He could worry about that, later. First, he had a recruit to get a feel of before they went outside the walls, and he had to make sure he didn’t spook her while learning what made her tick.

Thankfully, he already had a pretty good idea where to find her in her down time, with all the work she’d been putting in to fix the one glaring flaw in her ability to go outside the walls.

The stables.

Next Chapter---->

Levi Tags: @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier @whalerus @sunny-flo

Wings in the Dark Tags: @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs

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leoswritingcorner · 3 years

Text

summer vibin- pt 5

it’s BACK, now ft the dread corps and Amaya’s new pool. I imagine this song in the bg

Rei pushes Arata’s head underwater, as Masa points and throws his head back in laughter. Bright sunlight catches in the choppy pool water as Arata thrashes around.

Amaya pushes her sunglasses up, watching as Rei finally relents and allows Arata to catch a hard gasp of air. Maybe next time he’ll watch his hands. She wipes a few droplets over water from her thighs and rests back against the lounge chair. After a month of nothing but work, it was nice to finally enjoy what summer and a brand new pool had to offer.

Her skin warms under the warm sun, and Amaya lazes further into the chair. Her eyes slowly close to the sound of splashing and laughter melding with the music from the speakers. Every tension that had worked into her body over the last few weeks eases away. Rei and Masa begin to bicker over the next playlist choice, and Amaya can’t help but smile

“Only one Taylor Swift song,” She calls out, keeping her eyes shut. Masa’s defeated groan answers back. Amaya arches her back with a stretch, and sighs softly. Just what they needed, what she needed. Rest, and some sun.

A cool shade crawls over Amaya, drops of water pelting onto her. A shiver racks her body as she opens her eyes. Instead of a storm cloud like she expected she found something just as bad.

“Sachi,” She grumbles, glaring at him. “You’re in my light,”

Sachi grins lazily, his hair soaked, sticking to his face and neck, in a more alluring way than Amaya would ever care to admit. “Senpai, your dad spent all that money on this pool,” he sweeps his hand to the pool.

“You’re in my light,” Amaya repeats, shooing at him.

“I’m just saying,” Sachi continues with a shake of his head. “You could make all that money worth it and-”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Amaya cuts off, snapping her finger with each word. “My light,” She reaches up, pushing him away. Sachi stumbles, catching himself.

Amaya only has a moment to react when she feels Sachi’s arms sweep under her, and lift her up. “Sachi!” She shouts, her eyes alight in anger. Wind brushes by them, and her arms wind tightly around his neck, and her eyes widen with realization “Sachi!” She squeals, kicking her legs. “Don’t you da-”

A giant splash erupts around them, Amaya tenses as the cool water chills against her sun soaked body. Sachi keeps his arms around her as lifts them above the water. Amaya’s thick hair blocks her face, but she can hear Arata’s loud laughter. With her hands, she parts her hair and glares up at Sachi, who still keeps his infuriating grin.

“You’re dead,” Amaya declares.

Sachi laughs, dropping Amaya. Her startled cry is cut off as she goes under again. “You’re welcome to try,”

#summer vibin'#otp: the dread corps #I’m honestly too tired to tag

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pumpkinsandsuckers · 4 years

Text

I think we should get together now

Catradora, BG Scorfuma.

Summary: Karaoke AU. The only thing is that Catra and Adora never met, and there was no war. Scorpia and Perfuma host a (couples) karaoke night. Catra gets jealous. Between singing a song or be subject to a penalty? Fine, she’ll sing a stupid song.

AN: This has been heavily inspired by @ CambieArt 's tweet about which songs Adora and Catra would sing to each other during a Karaoke session. She makes good art too, so feel free to check her out!

I also died from embarrassment writing this.

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The blinking of the traffic lights, the smoky, dusty street lights were something Catra was used to. The thudding of bass from bars blasting music, the edgier, grittier music she had grown up with.

But not now. She had been dragged into the heart of the city of Etheria. The fluorescent glare of neon pink and yellow dazzled her, and she scowled. Everything was so… poppy here. Even the bars! It was, as Lonnie would have called it, a “bastardized fusion of jazz and pop”. Catra was beginning to regret joining Scorpia.

But that was what friends were for. If Scorpia needed a wingwoman for her date, Catra would gladly accompany her. A bright blue hologram flashed up, an advertisement for some fizzy beverage from Dryl. Catra weaved past the diverse crowd, grumbling under her breath as she followed her communications pad. Scorpia had dropped her the venue address, but this district - well, everything nearing Bright Moon City was just so confusing.

The roads in the Fright Zone, and even Dryl, were crooked and winding, but so much easier to distinguish from each other. The layout in Bright Moon though, was repetitive, grids and grids of identical buildings and crossings.

Catra growled as she passed by a familiar statue of what looked like a tall, muscular athlete in a tight costume. She had a ponytail flowing behind her, frozen in this marvellous pose. ‘Mara, Our Hero’ it read.

“Not again.” Catra sighed. It was the city probably. Navigational systems functioned poorly in areas of congestion. It was a bloody miracle how she made her way here.

‘I’m at the Mara statue. How! Do! I! Reach! The! Enchanted! Grotto?!!!?!’ She typed out a message to Scorpia, hissing when a beep alerted her of Scorpia’s rapid response. How did she even type with her claws?

‘ Whih? ’

Frustrated, Catra swept her hair back and sighed, looking around.

‘ w, there arr 10 Mara statuesd ’

‘You have got to be kidding me!!!’

‘ Whoopd, 20 Maras tautes ’

Catra clenched her fists and took a deep breath, finding a safe space to calm down. 20 statues around Bright Moon City?! If they were supposed to be landmarks, they had failed. If she had been winding around a single Mara statue, it would have been fine. But 20!? She could have been walking around the entire city and not realise it.

She switched to the navigational app. Curses. Her icon flickered and jumped from location to location, eventually settling in a blue blob marked as a lake. Her eyebrow twitched. She was this close to flinging her pad at the floor.

“Scorpia can handle it.” She grunted, as she looked around cluelessly, trying to find a sign, anything that could guide her to the Enchanted Grotto. She had never been to Bright Moon much. Seen it on her screens, yes. Seen more of it on Entrapta’s screens, yes. But Bright Moon was unfamiliar territory. She definitely wasn’t scared. Nope, just uncomfortable with how bright and loud everything was. Okay, she had to do this. It was simple.

Catra took a deep breath, patted her shirt and pants, and approached the first stranger she saw. A young girl with a bright pink shirt with ‘Kawaii AF’ smacked across, in even horribly brighter pink. She wore a skirt and black leggings, and had her hair tied in two buns.

“Hey! Where’s the Enchanted Grotto?” She asked, realising how small this creature was.

The creature blinked at her once, twice, then grinned. Catra thought she saw a creepily long tongue slither out. Probably not.

“I know where it is! I can lead you there!” She beamed, and Catra raised an eyebrow. Suspiciously bubbly. Eh, any help was appreciated.

“Heh. Great. Where to?” She followed the stranger from a distance, looking around for any other paths. She wasn’t going to be blindly led into an alleyway for a mugging. And even if she did, she would hold her ground. It would be a great tale to tell when she finally arrived at her destination.

“Uh, hell no.” A stern voice cut through them, and a hand extended, separating Catra from the small pink creature. “Double Trouble, cut this out.” It was a girl, and her body followed her arm, becoming a barricade between Catra and … Double Trouble?

“Aww, but I was having so much fun!” Double Trouble winked at Catra. “Maybe I’ll see you again, Kitten.” They slinked off, pink visage blending with the crowd.

“Whew, that was a close one.”

“What?!” Catra frowned, as the female in front of her turned around. She had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. A white long sleeved shirt was partially covered by a half-sleeve red jacket. Grey pants accentuating muscular legs followed down, and Catra realised she was checking out a complete stranger. She brought her eyes back up, hoping she had not been caught.

“Yeah, Double Trouble doesn’t mean harm, they just like dragging people around Bright Moon like a tour guide. You’re looking for the Enchanted Grotto? I can take you there.”

“I could have handled that myself!” Catra spat out, furious. The adorable snort mixed with laughter from the girl killed her anger instantly.

“Of course you could. I’m Adora. I can bring you there.”

‘Oh. OH.’ Catra smacked herself. Adora. Relative of Mara. The Adora. The same Adora she had been stalking online. Seeing her in real life… was really different. A good different. Without filters and angled shots, Adora looked… real.

“Catra.” Catra stuttered out, and froze when Adora grabbed her wrist.

“I’m headed there too, what a coincidence.” Adora grinned, a real, sincere grin, not what Double Trouble had presented. “So, Catra, what brings you to the Enchanted Grotto? It’s a very niche place.”

Catra tried to focus on walking. ‘Left foot. Right foot. Adora is holding my wrist, fuck, fuck fuCK! Left foot? Or was it right?’

“Catra?” Adora turned around to check on her companion once they reached a crosswalk.

“Hnh, yeah.” Catra’s brain struggled to think of something, grasping at anything she could use to hide the fact that she totally did not hear what Adora was saying. Her eyes landed on yet another familiar sight.

“Hey Adora,” Catra squirmed internally as she almost purred out Adora’s name. That was not supposed to happen! “Why are there so many statues of Mara, they got me lost.”

Adora laughed, and used her free hand to point to where Catra had laid her eyes on. “That’s the Mara statue of Hope. I met you near the statue of heroism. There’s an inscription reading ‘Mara, Our Hero’. Each Mara statue has a similar inscription, except the statue of friendship. It reads ‘Friend Of Mara’. Mara actually looks towards different directions. It’s supposed to guide us around.”

“Well, it clearly didn’t work.” Catra muttered, and wished her fur wasn’t so sweaty. She swore Adora’s hand slid down for a moment.

“Oh, green light, we gotta go.”

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Catra’s communication pad had been silenced, but was vibrating furiously near her rear pocket. It had caught Adora’s attention as they walked from the bustling streets to a quieter pathway.

“Hey, your… butt is vibrating?” Adora cocked an eyebrow at Catra.

“It’s called a communication pad, genius.” Catra rebutted, and whipped the small device (modified courtesy of Entrapta) out, detaching her wrist from Adora’s grip. A regrettable decision.

“What?!” She answered, crankier than usual. Adora kept an eye on her, switching between several awkward poses to rest her now very empty hands.

“ Catra, where are you? Perfuma is going to show up anytime soon! ” Catra noticed Adora’s hands shifting from her hips to being folded, her biceps and triceps flexing with that change.

“Then let her! I’m on my way!” Catra hissed as Adora’s hands drifted back down, her fingers tucking into the belt around her pants.

“ But the surprise will be ruined! ”

“Surprise?” Catra frowned. “Scorpia, what do you me-”

“ Oops, I didn’t say anything! See you, Wildcat! ”

As much as that nickname brought a smile to Catra’s face, she rolled her eyes at Scorpia’s panic. A surprise, huh? She forgot all about it when Adora’s fingers wrapped around her wrist again.

“We’re almost there.” Adora stated as Catra slipped the block back into her pocket. “I’m really curious though.” Catra felt Adora’s eyes on her entire body. “I had no idea… Well, here’s the Enchanted Grotto.”

Adora waved at a group of people outside what seemed like a rundown, dead shop. The windows were pitch dark, but as they neared the building, she could make out some sort of weird singing and music blasting from speakers. Heh, the perks of having heightened senses.

“Hey guys!”

“Adora!” the group, consisting of three individuals waved back.

“I see you made a new friend.” The tallest of the trio, a boy with dark hair, a clean undercut, and a tight muscle shirt waggled his eyebrows. “I’m Bow, nice to meet you!”

Behind him was a shorter female, her hair dyed(?) a shade between pink and purple, seemingly glittering as the sole lamppost hovered above her. Clad in a loose, sleeveless outfit, she was engaged in a whispered conversation with another female.

“Perfuma!” Adora waved, trying to get her attention. “Meet Catra!”

“Catra?” Bow’s head could have snapped with that speed, switching between Catra and Adora abruptly. “Catra?”

“Yep, that’s my name.” Catra crossed her arms. “Got a problem with it?”

“No! Not at all!” Bow shook his head, hands in front of him in a defensive stance. Catra immediately pegged him down as a softie. Just like Scorpia.

“Bow!” Adora nudged her friend, and he shrugged. “Catra, these are my friends. Glimmer.”

The one with sparkling hair gave a curt wave..

Catra smirked. What an appropriate name. “Nice to meet you, Sparkles.”

“It’s Glimmer.” she corrected, and Adora released Catra’s wrist. Again. “This is-”

“Perfuma.” Catra and Perfuma said in unison, and relaxed their tense postures.

“Yes, you’re acquainted.” Adora mumbled, and Glimmer wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into the establishment.

“It is nice to see you again, Catra. I hope you will enjoy this evening.” Perfuma smiled, and Catra gave a generic response absent mindedly, eyes fixed on Adora and Glimmer.

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Inside the Enchanted Grotto, things were very different. They had stepped past a screen of magic properties, which had blocked out most of the noise coming from within.

The whole group seemed familiar with the place, waving to the staff and strolling in with a sense of confidence. Except Catra. She didn’t hate it, surprisingly. The decor was pleasant. The whole floor was dimly lit, save a few brighter bulbs along a separate corridor. There was a main stage, and a few tables scattered before it.

Instrumental music was blasting, and a man was belting out a cheesy love song on stage. He was practically wailing the high notes into the microphone, and Catra winced as she shuffled along to the brighter bulbs.

Bow was behind all of them, herding them towards a private room. The bulbs in the corridor led to a quieter, secluded lobby, different coloured lights hanging before different doors.

“The Red Garnet.” Perfuma squealed, and pranced towards the red light.

“You know, not everyone approves of this place. Some even disapprove of it.” Bow whispered to Catra, and she shot him a questioning look.

“The folk here are what some consider to be… different.” Bow explained.

Catra thought about Scorpia and Perfuma. Or Adora and Glimmer. Could it be? They were about to enter the room, and she wanted to get an answer from Bow.

“Is it because Bright Moon doesn’t support G-”

“Group Karaoke! You’re absolutely right!” Bow clapped Catra on the back, and she nearly fell over.

“Group Karaoke?” There was no time to process her thoughts and Bow’s statement, as she tripped straight into the private room.

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Of course, she regained her balance, turning an unsightly fall into a proper entrance. As proper as a very wide stride could get. Her eyes, luckily, adjusted to the lighting quickly, and she spotted Scorpia in the corner, Perfuma already by her side.

“Oh hey, Wildcat.” Scorpia had that look. THAT LOOK! Catra was familiar with it. Everytime Scorpia had something up her sleeve (an ironic phrase, as Scorpia wore sleeveless clothing exclusively), she had that look of guilt. She couldn’t hide it, and it was a telling sign.

“Scorpia!” Catra lunged forward, squeezing Scorpia towards Perfuma, and lodging herself in the corner. The couch rounded into a three-quarter, with Adora and Glimmer sitting on the other end. Bow found his spot between Perfuma and Glimmer, looking at everyone excitedly.

“You knew about this, didn’t you. I really overshare sometimes!” Catra hissed into Scorpia’s ear, and Scorpia laughed nervously.

“They’re friends of Perfuma!” Scorpia protested, as Catra narrowed her eyes.

“ She ’s a friend of Perfuma. And you didn’t tell me!” Catra gritted her teeth. “And they didn’t post pictures online?”

“They did! You just don’t follow Perfuma.” Scorpia pouted, and Catra gave up.

“Fine, my bad. Say, you never told me what’s going on.”

“Oh.” Scorpia looked genuinely surprised. “Oh.”

“GROUP KARAOKE!” Bow yelled, opening the wooden box in front of them, revealing 2 wireless microphones.”

“I thought he was joking!” Catra groaned, and buried her face into her hands.

“There, there.” Scorpia patted her with her heavy claws, and Catra choked.

“Alright, you know the drill, guys. Everyone has to sing a song.”

Perfuma cheered, and Bow continued, “No singing, and you get a penalty issued by all members present.”

“This is horrible.” Catra moaned.

“As we all know, we have two new participants joining us today! Perfuma’s girlfriend, the lovely powerhouse Scorpia!”

Scorpia waved as Perfuma leaned into her.

“And Scorpia’s friend, and also, Adora’s new friend, Catra! She appears in Scorpia’s feed so much!”

Bow was dragged down by both Glimmer and Adora, unintelligible muffles unable to be deciphered. Catra looked at Scorpia, who evaded her gaze, crossing over to sit between Perfuma and Bow instead.

“Wow, look at that, I’m going to sing first!” She reached for the microphone, aided by Perfuma. The rest cheered her on.

Catra sank back into the couch, training her gaze on Adora and Glimmer. Were they…?

Adora was leaning against Glimmer, who was patting her hand. The same hand that held Catra’s wrist.

“Ew! Adora, your hand’s all sweaty.” Glimmer complained, and Adora blushed.

“Sickening.” Catra muttered, her eyes refusing to leave them. Her ears however, had shifted to appreciate Scorpia’s amazing singing. Damn, she knew her friend could sing, but ever since she moved to Plumeria, she had not had a chance to hear her strong vocals. Scorpia was a completely different person in her element, full of raw confidence, charm, and even some cockiness as she winked in the middle of her song. Perfuma swooned and even Catra could see why Scorpia had won her over.

Bow was next, belting out a song about friendship, with Glimmer joining in. Catra however, was still focused on Adora.

The same Adora who held her hand and made her heart skip a bit, made her feel giddy. The same Adora who snorted in such a cute manner. The same Adora whom she had stalked online, with so much determination Scorpia had suggested Catra make a move. Catra had refused, of course, instead scrolling her feed of Adora’s pictures. The professional athlete, relative of Mara (effectively making her a princess of Etheria), was actually in the same room as her.

AND FLIRTING WITH GLIMMER, APPARENTLY! Catra growled at the last thought, causing Perfuma to look at her with alarm.

Bow ended his song with a deep bow, passing the microphone to Adora.

“Uh, not now.” Adora looked at Perfuma desperately.

“We all know I like to end Karaoke sessions with heavy metal.” Perfuma took the other microphone. “I think we should let Catra sing.” she smiled at the astonished girl.

“Absolutely not!” Catra pushed the microphone away.

“Penalty! Penalty!” Bow chanted, and Scorpia joined in.

“Catra’s penalty should be to go out on a date with someone we choose.” Perfuma clapped her hands together, and Catra balked at the suggestion.

“Penalty! Penalty!” Bow resumed, and Catra felt betrayed by Adora’s addition to the cheer.

“Fine, fine!” She snatched the microphone, and the controls. “I’ll sing a stupid song!”

Scorpia actually lifted Catra with her claw, shifting her to the middle of the couch.

“Urgh! Why are all the songs so old?!” Catra grimaced.

“That’s what’s so great about the Enchanted Grotto!” Bow gave her a thumbs up.

From the corner of her eye, Catra caught Glimmer whispering into Adora’s ear, and they both giggled, Adora snorting again. Alright, that was the last straw. A familiar song was an easy choice, although Catra barely remembered the lyrics. She only remembered her preteen self being fuelled with a sense of rebellious courage and the melody of the song.

“Oooh, bold choice.” Scorpia pushed Catra up, and she responded with an angry yowl. “Go get her, Wildcat! I mean, er, go get ‘em, Wildcat!”

The mini stage had a mic stand, which Catra ignored. A display in front of her lit up, the lyrics appearing with a countdown. Ah yes, those familiar words. Just like how she remembered.

As the background music started, Catra smirked, her usual confidence returning in a snap.

Hey! Hey! You! You!

I don't like your girlfriend

No way! No way!

I think you need a new one

Hey! Hey! You! You!

I could be your girlfriend

She saw Glimmer’s eyes widen, and Bow’s jaw drop. Heh. The lyrics were… more embarrassing than she remembered, but what the hell, she was already going with it. Perfuma and Scorpia actually joined in the background

Hey! Hey! You! You!

Catra smirked, looking directly at Adora

I know that you like me

Oh shit, she was mouthing the lyrics and staring at Catra

No way! No way!

You know it's not a secret

Catra turned back to the mini screen, glancing at the lyrics.

Hey! Hey! You! You!

I want to be your girlfriend

Oh god, what was her preteen self doing? Not looking at the lyrics, for sure.

You're so fine, I want you mine, You're so delicious

Not a lie.

I think about you all the time, You're so addictive

Don't you know what I can do to make you feel all right?

Her mind worked quickly as she changed the lyrics

Don't pretend, I think you know I'm damn precious

And hell yeah, you’re my mother fucking princess

Catra enjoyed how Adora’s blank stare evolved to a blush. Hell yeah!

I can tell you like me too, and you know I'm right

Glimmer let out a “whoo!”, fist pumping along to the beat. Heh, maybe it was her preteen anthem as well.

She's like, so whatever

You can do so much better

As the hook rounded to the chorus, everyone was cheering now. Except Adora. And of course, the adrenaline and defiance egged her on, as she took a step off the stage and towards Adora, practically stalking around her with the aura of a predator.

I think we should get together now

She looked at Adora with sultry eyes (Glimmer would describe it as bedroom eyes later), and Adora let out a strained gurgle. Catra pushed off, leaping back onto the elevated platform.

And that's what everyone's talking about

She repeated the chorus again, her preteen self roaring with pride. She licked her lips, deciding to strike again.

I can see the way, I see the way you look at me

And even when you look away, I know you think of me

I know you talk about me all the time again and again

She pointed at Adora, curling her finger towards her.

So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear

Adora actually nodded dumbly, almost rising from her seat.

Or better, yet, make your girlfriend disappear

I don't wanna hear you say her name ever again

Her steely glare at Glimmer was met with a bewildered look and a high pitched “I’m not?!”

Catra rolled her eyes, grinning triumphantly at that realisation. The next verse meant nothing, but she was way too pumped up.

Because

She's like so whatever

You can do so much better

I think we should get together now

And that's what everyone's talking about

She entered the chorus again, Bow joining Scorpia and Perfuma in yelling the alternate chorus verses.

Uh!

Adora wiped at her mouth at that sound as Catra started the bridge.

In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger

'Cause I can, 'cause I can do it better

Catra was now brimming with an absurd assertiveness, bending over the stage to meet Adora’s eyes.

There's no other, so when's it gonna sink in

She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?

Adora looked away quickly, her head turned but her eyes still darting back to the stage.

In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger

Adora yelped as her chin was grabbed suddenly, pulled back to look at Catra who was right in front of her.

'Cause I can, 'cause I can do it better

There's no other, so when's it gonna sink in

She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?

Glimmer joined in the chorus now, sliding beside Bow. Their fingers intertwined, raised as they sang the background vocals.

The chorus seemed to repeat itself forever, and Catra could do nothing but lean in real close to Adora while singing. As she approached the last verse of the chorus, she switched off the mic, leaving the ensemble chanting.

I want to be your girlfriend

She softly finished the song, her breath tickling Adora’s now bright red ear.

Hey Hey!

The rest finished, and the music died, slamming them back into reality.

Catra was now panting from her performance, and strangely, Adora was as well.

“Pee break?” Bow jumped up and nearly ran into the door trying to get out.

“Uh, right. Pee breaks. Be back in five.” Glimmer hugged Perfuma and Scorpia, and teleported out in a shimmer.

“Uh. Huh. Mmm.” Adora babbled, looking at Catra’s face.

“Oh my god, I’m an idiot.” Catra pushed off the couch, releasing Adora from that pin. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh no!” Adora stood up, grabbing onto Catra’s wrist again. “Don’t be?”

Catra realised it wasn’t her wrist and fur being sweaty all along.

“So, er, yeah.” Adora covered the bottom half of her face, doing little to hide her blush. Not that it was obvious with the lighting.

“Huh?”

“You want to be my girlfriend?”

“Oh hell yeah.”

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

Epilogue:

“I’ve actually been following you on some pages with my personal account.” Catra admitted.

“What? I’ve been trying to find it since forever!” Adora pouted, ruffling Catra’s short hair. “Catra! What’s your account name?”

Catra paused, giving into Adora’s pets and scratches near her jawline.

“Tell me~”

“Only if you kiss me.” Catra grumbled and Adora gave her a short, swift peck.

“That totally didn’t count.” Catra huffed, and Adora placed both hands on Catra’s cheeks. “Tongue and we’ll talk.”

“Is it AdoraFan01? Or WatermelonCrusher? Or TinyBaby4Adora?”

“Hey!” Catra yelled before Adora pressed their lips together, tongue sliding in with Catra’s gasp. Catra gave in completely, Adora licking her lips in victory when they parted.

“Fine.” Catra passed her her pad.

“You can’t be serious.”

Catra rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Yes, I’m ApplesauceMeowMeow”

#souhiwrites #catradora #fic #spop #catra #adora

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japanne · 3 years

Text

Making Comics Process 2020

Someone mentioned in a comment on some page that the brief thumbnails I was posting would be interesting to see as a comics making compilation, so I decided to make a current one (the last one I did was from 2015 or something?? I was still doing my pencils and inks on real paper).

So let’s commence using chapter 47, Page 12 as the example.

I usually do something a little differently every time I do a chapter, but one thing that has never changed over the almost 20 years I’ve been doing this, is my affinity for using Microsoft Excel to organize my chapter writing.

This details the page in question. I’ve got a basic description of the events in the first column, the year in the second, the chapter in the third, and details in the fourth. (I pulled out the rest of the scene so as not to spoil it).

After the writing for a scene, it’s time for thumbnails! I still enjoy doing these in a notebook.

I use a dedicated spiral notebook, split my page into quarters, write in the dialogue, and maybe adjust it at this time if I need to. I changed Collamair’s dialogue to: “Oh. Whoops. Sorry. This is my room. I forgot to give you one, didn’t I?” (you can also see I misnumbered my pages somewhere earlier so 11 here is really the comic’s 12th).

I use the frixion erasable pens for this, so if there’s small changes to make I’ll just erase and fix. For major changes I’ll just move onto the next open page space. You must not remember to set hot things on your pages or the ink will fade. Put it in the freezer to try and return it!

Following the success of paper thumbnails it’s time to move to Clip Studio Paint. At this early stage I do a couple of chapter wide passes.

1. Create all the page files with the grey and red bordered template page I have.

2. Put a ruler on that file rough in the sizes of the panels. Think about panels that might go for full bleed and delete the template border as a note for myself.

3. Put in the text.

4. Translate thumbnails digitally which brings us here:

I shifted Collamair’s dialogue a little more, and I flipped the last Collamair from my thumbnail. For some reason he was facing the opposite direction, even though it’s a general rule to keep your characters facing the same way if possible in a conversation.

After the first pass of real rough sketches are laid in, I do a second slightly more detailed pencil pass

I’ll get all the expressions in, and the outlines of the clothes on the characters. I’ll adjust the size of the people and the position of the text bubbles. And this is as detailed as I get for my pencils.

I will also mention here, I’m not sure if I forgot to include this or actively decided not to, but “Colly and Struan laughing and having a good time” got dropped at some point??? Who knows when or why now???

Once I’m done with these sketch layers, I merge them together and start inking. This is done in a scene by scene basis. First I’ll open all the files for a given scene, flip all the canvases and draw the faces of the characters.

Then I’ll flip them back to look for weird parts and ink the rest of their bodies.

After inks are done, I’ll make another very rough sketch pass on the old sketch layer for the backgrounds.

Then, again, scene by scene, I’ll go through and ink them. These backgrounds were blissfully easy.

I started something new this chapter. I saw a video on twitter randomly talking about how to make panels with Clip Studio, and it’s SO EASY. So I started doing those in this program as well. That was one of the last 2 things I used to do in Photoshop.

After all the inking and the panels are done, it’s time to color. I have a shitty swatch file that you can see below where I keep track of colors for outfits and backgrounds in every chapter.

The second new thing I started to do was flats in Clip Studio. I’m excited about it so I broke it down a little bit in detail. Below is a Struan that I have used the fill bucket tool on a new layer with the inks marked as a reference. I do this for backgrounds and foregrounds. You can see just plain old fill bucket leaves some stray pixels that are hard to get, especially in Struan’s sleeves here.

Well, worry not, for there is something else I saw on twitter, the Filter>Correct Line>Adjust Line Width

When you do that you can see the color overflows the lines a little bit. But all the internal white pixels are gone.

NEXT! you take you fill bucket with the color marked “clear” and some area scaling, and you just click a bunch of times in your panels outside of the characters.

Ta-daaaaahh. There’s a few places where a little bit of manual cleanup is needed, around his elbows, but this method appears to be much faster than the old B-Pelt method I was using in PS, and I am happy with it!!

Here’s the fully flatted page with this method used on the bgs and fgs. Eyes are also added in, but on their own layer so they don’t get desaturated at all. And Colly’s shirt has his pattern to add at some point.

When flats are done, it’s time to move, scene by scene, through the shading process. I’ve started using “Hard Light” blending for the shading since the last chapter, so this is also pretty new!

The bg and fg again get their own shading layer. I’ll cover the bg in the shade color and then paint or gradient fill the highlights in over that. I might add on some other extra mode for fancier lighting or if I want to shift all the colors, but I always add on an adjustment layer for desaturation at the end.

Brushes that I use are almost all from Frenden. The pencils are blue and red “real” and “layouts.” Faux-rel Painter Scratchboard is my inking pen. Most of the shading is Concept Craig normal and Wet. Hair highlights are Painterly (Wet), and I also use the default soft airbrush on a variety of things. The plaid is “real pencil.”

And here’s a final view of the total layers I’ve used for this page, and also the ridiculous palette file if you’re interested in that!

#comics #making comics #all roses have thorns #vampires #clip studio paint

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verved · 4 years

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I really like how you color things! Do you think you could make a tutorial, maybe? I'm trying to get better and I'd really like to learn from you :D

Thank you! I’ve never made a tutorial before, but I’ll try. I experiment A LOT with every piece, so I don’t have a 100% set in stone process. (Always experiment! You might find something new that works for you!)

First off, make sure you’re working in RGB color mode. This is so you can abuse Camera Raw Filter later, and you really should be in RGB mode anyway unless you plan to make prints.

So start with your line/sketch on a multiply layer, or even just a normal layer mode if you want. My lines are usually dark blue but I often change them later on.

Use the wand tool (w) to select the negative space around your lines, invert your selection (command>shift>i), and on a new layer use the bucket tool (g) to create your base layer. On this layer, go to (filter>other>maximum) and set the radius to one or two pixels. This will clean up the base a bit so you don’t get a weird halo around your lines.

Before you start adding colors, change the background color to a mid-tone grayish color. This is to better judge tones and contrast. This doesn’t have to be the end color of your background; you can change that towards the end. If you actually are drawing a background, you might want to choose the general color of that background instead, but checking your colors against a gray background periodically can still help.

Now is when you start using clipping masks. Make a new layer directly above your base. Make this layer a clipping mask by right clicking on it and selecting “create clipping mask” from the pop up menu. Do this for every base color.

As you choose your colors, try to visualize what you want the end result to be. If you want a warmer or cooler piece choose colors accordingly. I do this mostly by eye, so I don’t have a specific process. You can play with each color by going to image>adjustments>hue/saturation.

Once you’re happy with your base colors, create another clipping layer over all the base color layers (except for glowey bits like optics/biolights), and set it to multiply (sometimes another layer mode will be better but I usually go with multiply). This will be the shading layer, so now is the time to figure out where your light source is. You can add your shading using the brush tool, but I tend to visualize lighting better by erasing where the highlights are, so I just fill in the entire layer with the bucket tool and start erasing. Change the opacity of the layer to whatever you think is best. A higher opacity creates more dramatic lighting and a lower opacity makes softer lighting. For the shading color I usually choose a darker, desaturated color, like purple or brown, but again you can just play around with the hue/saturation until it looks right. Sometimes I will make a second shading layer to add even darker shading in areas.

So now the shading is done! If you want, you can make another layer for highlights but I don’t always do this. I don’t have a specific way I do highlights except that I usually add them only in the most intense lighting or on the most reflective areas, but do whatever works best for YOU. If the subject is backlit, adding highlights around their silhouette can add a dramatic effect.

I usually leave my lines as a single color, but sometimes I will use multiple colors over each base color. I did that for my last piece of idw Blurr. To color your lines, lock the transparency of the layer using this button, or make another clipping mask over it. A lot of the time changing the layer mode to overlay will make the new colored lines look nicer. You may need to touch up some of the darker colors though.

Next is when we start getting really experimental, by which I mean I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing. I make one or twenty new layers with various gradients over all the colors and play with layer styles. These layers are to soften the shading, bring colors together, etc. Something fun I do a lot is set the gradient tool mode to dissolve and then play with the layer mode and opacity on that to get a textured effect. If you still have a gray background switch to your actual desired bg color. Upon doing this you might want to make even more adjustments. If you have any glowey bits like optics, make a new layer for that. I usually use the gradient tool or a blurry brush at a low opacity around the glowing parts and set the layer mode to screen, but again experiment. You can also add reflected light from these secondary, less intense light sources onto the surrounding surfaces.

I don’t always work with clean lines and end up having to render and clean up a lot towards the end. I do this on a new layer above everything. Rendering is tedious but can make the end result look a lot softer and painterly, or sharper and more defined, depending on how you do it. Make use of the dropper tool (alt+left click) here to grab colors as you go and define shapes. This step is only necessary if you are going for a painterly look (or you were lazy with the lines and now regret it like I often do). This step must be done only when you are as certain of your color choices as you can be, because after having used the dropper tool to color grab, you will not be able to adjust the layers individually.

So hopefully, you’ve chosen colors that work well and you are happy with how they look at this step. If not (like I usually am), you’re going to cheat with Camera Raw filter. It’s like hue/saturation adjustments but better. Make sure you’re happy with how everything other than color looks here because we’re going to do the thing where we suddenly work deconstructively and probably regret it later. You might even want to do this step on an entirely new canvas so if you fuck up you still have the version with all your layers. There’s always control+z, but if you end up playing around a lot it could be annoying to go back.

Flatten your image. You can do this by right clicking any layer and selecting the option from the pop up menu. Now that everything is merged into one layer, go to filter>camera raw filter (or command+shift+a). There is a lot you can do here. You can change the temperature of the whole piece and play with values and clarity until things look nicer. You can even go into HSL adjustments and tweak individual hues. I also use camera raw filter to add grain or a vignette sometimes (not color-related but still nice to mention). Also, when I want the piece to look really soft, I lower the clarity to give it a soft, glowing look. I did this for the idw Blurr also.

So now hopefully the colors you weren’t happy with look better, but you can still play with gradients even after this step. Sometimes this last step barely changes anything and other times the colors will be wildly different from what you originally had planned.

So to be honest, my colors are mostly all experimental. I’m constantly changing and adjusting colors as I go along. Try to put thought into your initial color choices, but also it’s fine to change things if you need. I mostly go on instinct, so I’m sorry if this is a lackluster explanation.

If you have any specific questions or don’t understand something I said here feel free to ask! I’ll try my best to clear things up!

#Anonymous #tutorial #my art #it's also like 6 am so this probably is confusing im sorry lol #my art process is mostly me doing something and being pleasantly surprised it worked lmao #the images look like shit on desktop but fine on mobile????#ok tungle thanks

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kitty-does-stuff · 4 years

Photo

Hey there! got some money? want some art? well guess what? I’m opening up art commissions, for now it’s a 1st come 1st service and aren’t slots as i don’t have a limit of how much money I’m trying to make. (Though i will only do one commission at a time, meaning if someone hires me for two pieces of art they’ll get it before i go on to working on doing a commission for the next person)

now a few things to know:

I must receive the payment before, or I won’t start

please don’t rush me

give me a full reference of the character(s) you want me to draw (unless i’m making a character reference from scratch though i’ll ask about things and want pics of inspo)

you can commission me more than once

I can say no to a commission and i may not give a reason (though that would only really be if the commission is clearly on the won’t draw list or is something i don’t have the skill to draw well)

Also on an unrelated note if you plan on making money with something my art on or in it then please tell me about it as it matters to the prices of art

Anyways here are my rules and then under the cut are my prices, if you’d like to hire and/or are wondering something please pm me here on Tumblr.

Will draw:

Furry art (though I’m still new to it so it may take longer)

Humannoid characters

Ships (unless they fit the won’t draw list)

Fandom art, oc art,

Won’t draw:

Anything along the lines of hate art, so nothing with racism, queerphobia, ableism, anti semitism, ect

pedo, incest or abuseive ships

There are some fandoms I won’t draw for some of them being: He///ta//lia, ki//lling stalki///ng, c/am//p ca//mp, ect

Nsfw

Ect:

character reference: $35 (plus $5 for each extra outfit, starts with two outfits and a close up of the face, along with test outfits that didn’t work out)

Icon: $10 (500x500 chest up)

Chpi: $15

Comic: $25 - $160 (or higher)

Character art (can have simple background):

Headshot: $15 (plus $5 for shading and lighting)

Half body: $20 (plus $5 for shading and lighting) ($10 for each extra character)

Full body: $25 (plus $5 for shading and lighting) ($10 for each extra character)

Full illustration:

Flat colour: $45 ($10 for each extra character)

Full colour: $55 ($10 for each extra character) (Though cold go higher for BG very complex)

#art commisions #commissions #commission #art commission #artists on tumblr #kitty says stuff

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bangtanger · 4 years

Note

how do u color ur gifs like what settings do u use they are so beautiful

ahhh!!!!!!!!!! thank u so much!!!!!! idk if u noticed tho but i fuck up backgroud colours most of the time sldfkglsdfkd dont make me show u lol

i use almost everything esp curves, selective colour, hue/saturation, invert, gradients (i played with blending mode to find what i like) but even colour balance, vibrance, levels etc etc etc (mostly do those changes on separated layers for example i have around 10 different selective colour layers when i change settings)

once upon a time!!!! idk why did i decide to do it but i tried ‘colour’ (it was some kind of orange/yellow-ish) and used one blending mode (idk how its called in eng sorry) and it had this effect there r a lot of blues purples pink-ish shades or here or here this made colours on gifs pop up more and its literally an accident lol

but lemme say one thing i still scream inside most of the times esp when i need to color performance gifs buT its not my point my point is what do u want it to look like for example as we noticed most of performances have lots of blues in them i reduce that in curves-blue plus u can reduce it in selective color or hue/saturation orrrrrr u want green to look more blue right u do it in selective colour and hue/saturation again orrrr u have some kind of blue again u change it there again

but be careful cuz when there is blue there is cyan or purple of sth near green if u have red there may be yellow and purple as well so when u change them the edges of those colours can be too harsh so do it smoothly and check it on every frames cuz lighting changes a lot too (the worst shit to me is when both bg and face r yellow and i literally dont know what to do i saw ppl making good colourings with it but i need to figure it out too hdsgdfljshf)

if u want it to look some kind of way on some frames and different way on others in one gif (for example gif where everything is in black and white and u need a colorful something) u need to copy layer with color and place it above every frame layer u want and link (????) (i mean to make it affect only one frame layer that is below this coloring layer) and add mask and do it there with white/black brush ………………………………… its so hard to explain in eng im so bad at it if i need to know this i can try to explain ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i feel so bad and dumb

idk how ppl make those only cyan/red-ish colorings and similar with only couple colours i mean i can look for info or experiment again im sure there is shit ton of stuff on yt and even tmblr

so yeah sorry it took a while and still none of my colouring settings r the same i have some kind of ‘base’ and i change the rest the way i need idk if u needed those details but i hope it will work out -_-

#asks #ew i looks like one text again from the app #u know qhats the dumbest an funniest thing tho #on my pc everything looks more blue on my phone it looks more yellow and whenever i make a colouring i like and check from my phone it never #looks the same and im just........................................................................................ok whatever then

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tryinghuman · 5 years

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First of, gonna warn you about tumblrs new update. Everything NSFW related is kind of being deleted left and right, and I know some of your art includes as a bit NSFW. But besides that, what I wanted to ask you was, do you have any tips on coloring for someone who just does not get it? (aka me). I'm trying to make a short comic and coloring is just really hard for me. How do you get all the colors so clear, different, harmonious AND get the characters to pop out of the background??

Thanks for the heads up. I saw the announcement. ;n; ANYWAY:

Practice. :U But here are a few tips. WARNING LONG POST IS LONG.

Work in black and white with just a few colors and move out from there. My MAJ12 areonly a few colors each. Roger is yellow, black, and white, 6is grey, black, and white, 8 is purple, black, and white.

Limit who and what get certain colors. Each character’s color palettes have rules so they can only wear afew colors throughout the comic (minus stylish accent colors~) Rose only wears the primaries colors (red, yellow, and blue). YEAH I KNOW THE NIGHTGOWN, EAT ME. Donwears the secondary colors (orange, green, purple). Phillis onlywears opposing colors green and red. The Greys have one color that represents them, the Nordics allshare the same color palette, and the Reptoids only wear earth tones.

Bland up stuff that’s not important. Secondary human characters all have bland color palettes (Walter, Glasner, and other MAJ12 members share a ton of desaturated ‘real’ colors). This is to helpsteer interest and sympathy to certain characters within the story. This is really common in anime:

Backgrounds and sets need tobe desaturated if they are literally in the background. If there isa character standing in front of a something, try to push it backwith either desaturation or a ‘fog’ of another color.

Quazky and Rose are at their full saturated palettes and the background has a light blue ‘fog’ over the top to help push it back (compare the roses on the shelf to the roses on the floor). Objects closer to them or thing they’re actually holding/touching/interacting with are more in focus and brighter.

If the background is in an establishing shot it should be full saturation and all the characters pushed back with a color ‘fog’. Basically flip and reverse the standard rules of full color comicking.

When in doubt, knock up the saturation (in Photoshop it’s under Ctrl+U) on your shading. In my redos, the flat colors of the characters are the same between the old (top) and new (bottom):

But the saturation on their shading is cranked waaay up, which completely changes the mood:

A lot of the BGs in the redone pages are the same, they just are super saturated now.

SO YEAH. I hope this helps a little. I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing but I think I’m doing the best full color Trying Human. :D

#trying human #tryinghuman #coloring #shading #tutorial #ask #hue #rose

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nom-the-skel · 5 years

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Sans Tutorial?

Last year someone sent an ask for a tutorial about how I draw Sans, but I have been pretty busy and not gotten around to making it! I don’t know how helpful this will be, because it turns out my technique is basically:

1. draw a circle

2. draw the rest of the skeleton

But anyway, I’ll post the steps for this picture here :3

I have picked up some good tips from tutorials but I don’t use them very much because some are too basic, some are too advanced, some are written too proscriptively, and usually the example art looks way better than what I’m doing if I follow along. So my tips may be a mix of too-obvious and not-adequately-explained, but perhaps a few beginner or intermediate level artists will find something useful here :3 I will assume you know what layers are and have software that can do layers. I use Paint Tool SAI, which is pretty affordable, and there are other programs that are free.

First I draw a circle where I want the skull to be. I don’t necessarily stick with this circle as I continue sketching. And one of the advantages of drawing digitally is that I can move parts around if it’s not working. If I’m planning out a complex picture, Sans will be a circle with two more circles for eyes and a vague cylinder/blob as a body, at first.

Then sketch in more detail. Fingers are important, and I often have to go back and refine the sketch of the hands in the middle of doing the lineart.

There are many different and valid styles for drawing Sans. I always draw his eyes as this sort of arch-like shape, like a half circle that’s stretched out vertically. Even if they’re half-lidded, I start with the whole eye shape (and if they’re half closed they tend to end up pretty rectangular).

In this picture, I made his legs too short, then too long, and you can see some artifacts of how they got moved around and adjusted. (I pretty much never draw him just standing there in full-body, I guess owo) It’s much easier to adjust things in a sketch than after it’s been lined, so take your time. If I wasn’t feeling confident, or if I wanted to make the linework easier, or if I wanted someone to approve the picture before I did lines, I would do another, more-refined sketch on top of this one. But I’ve been drawing a lot of Sanses over the past few years so I didn’t :3 I do have a brush for sketches that is not totally opaque.

(Beginner tip: If you’re using a serious art program, you can reduce the opacity of the sketch layer and draw the next sketch in a new layer on top. This is how you’ll do the linework too. I also put Sans’s legs on a separate layer when I was adjusting them in this pic. This is also a good time to adjust the framing of the picture; I usually drew it too small and off-center. This pic is a bit off-center because I thought I might add text on the right side about the steps. But then I didn’t.)

Next is lines. In Paint Tool SAI, I can have multiple layers in a folder and select the whole folder as “selection source” (so I can fill in the colors later). This makes it easy to use a Lineart layer for the smooth curve of Sans’s skull, and a regular Raster layer for the rest of the lines. Of course, make sure the line width is similar. (Being able to choose a selection source other than “current layer” or “whole image” is one of the advantages of SAI in my experience.)

I used thin lines here. I don’t always, but sometimes I try to use thin lines and add plenty of detail and I’m pretty pleased with it. (Often if I want to save some energy I use thicker, rough-textured lines, so that you won’t be able to tell so much where I got the curve of the skull wrong and then adjusted it.) When I first started drawing Sans, I gave him too many teeth. Then I overcompensated and gave him too few teeth. Now I’ve settled on about this many teeth. I like to draw bony, skeletal hands. For any bones, Google image search is your friend. You don’t need to know the proper name of the bone; just search for the body area + bones. I usually draw the nose hole a bit more simplified. I don’t always bother with the drawstring. Sometimes I give him a turtleneck sweater so I don’t have to draw a glimpse of collarbone, ribs, spine inside his shirt. Idk why his tibiae are so thick today owo

Flat colors and cel shading. I like to put a bright color that contrasts with the colors I’m using in the background, so I can easily see corners that got missed by the fill tool. Usually, I do multiple layers of the base colors, so that I won’t have to worry about the edges when shading. (All the color layers are collected in a folder. Not the bg though; if it’s complex it will have its own folder.) Here, I used a shading layer for each base color layer (the shading layer is a clipping layer, so the shade color won’t be visible unless it’s overlapping its correct base color). I don’t like to be organized and label my layers, so I do the shading right after the base color, while I still remember what layer it’s on :3 You can also do the flat colors on one layer (or just in one folder) and then put a multiply or shading layer as a clipping layer over that for the shading (many fewer layers to deal with but you must pay more attention to the staying inside the lines). Aside from the sketches, I still haven’t used any brush other than the default pen. You can of course use more layers and more colors for fancier cel shading. I have used a few extra darker shades on Sans’s neck.

More shading. I usually choose between cel-shading and more shading, but I tried adding a little bit more here since it’s a tutorial. It doesn’t make a huge difference though; if I hadn’t done cel-shading, I would have made the blendy shading stand out more. You can do each color individually (here’s a tutorial about that), but you can also make a clipping layer over all the colors (flat colors on one layer or all the color layers in a folder) and make it a multiply or shade layer, and shading for all the colors there. I like to fill in this shading layer with white so it blends more between the light and dark. This is also a great technique for adding shading to something that has a pattern on its surface (e.g. you can add fur texture to your rainbow cat without painting the texture in every color of the rainbow). This is where I use brushes I adapted myself or stole from other artists :3 and another place where SAI has an advantage because it’s specifically designed to be good at painting. I lightened the background and added a little shadow (blurred with the watercolor brush).

Extra cross-hatchy lines. When I do thin lines, I like to add these lines as a little extra shading/detail. I usually do them before color, and on a separate layer so I can keep them out of the “selection source” when filling in flat colors. This time I did them at the end. They add a little texture to everything and I think they work well on the hand bones.

#nomtheskel art

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