#and 2. pick based on vibes

[origami-butterfly]

*Excluding Diggory because we all know they'd sweep

#hfth #hfth polls #it feels mean to tag diggory in a poll they aren't in but. I'm doing it anyway #diggory graves #leyland blooms #stitchery pins #cookery potts #huntington waites #tattery stabs #floris scrubbs #townsend rhodes #kind of expecting either Leyland or tattery to win but I'm not sure #also if you see this and aren't a hfth fan- 1. get of tumblr and go listen #and 2. pick based on vibes

[liquidstar]

WOW I FINALLY FINISHED THIS SET. There were a lot of things I wanted to get right for them so I took some extra time but hopefully it was worth it! The guild for this set is Cobalt Heart- a guild with focus on maritime missions, lead by (of course) guildmaster Neptune. There was no other planet I could've picked for his namesake lol. They're the guild I jokingly call the most jockish, but some moreso than others. I really do hope I did all the characters justice, but if you wanna know more about the individual members, it's under the cut as usual!

Name: Neptune

Name Origin: The planet named for the god of the ocean

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 52

Guild rank: Guildmaster

Weapon: Trident

Ethos (Power): Ocean wave (Control over water- stronger with sea water)

Flaw power is based on: Originally based on his overly relaxed go-with-the-flow nature, but since becoming a father and guildmaster he's matured, and his power grew from simple wave control to more powerful control over the ocean's water. Waves aren't always peaceful, but he's become someone who understands their power and the responsibility needed for it.

Notes: If it's unclear, the marks on his chest are meant to be top surgery tattoos, but in cool wave shapes!

Name: Triton

Name Origin: Neptune's moon, aptly named for his son

Pronouns: He/they

Age: 24

Guild rank: 4 star

Weapon: Twin sai

Ethos (Power): Ocean breath (Underwater breathing as well as other aquatic adaptions)

Flaw power is based on: His ardent wanderlust, especially in regards to the ocean. They literally cannot leave it alone despite any possible better reasoning, which is when it becomes a problem.

Notes: Was his other parent a mermaid or did they just do the fish thing on their own? The world may never know.

Name: Otrera

Name Origin: A trojan asteroid named after the queen of the Amazons

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 32

Guild rank: 5 star

Weapon: Brass knickles

Ethos (Power): Preflexes (Hightened reflexes)

Flaw power is based on: Her overly-guarded and cagey nature.

Notes: But her brass knuckles are pink so its quirky when she knocks your teeth out.

Name: Naos

Name Origin: A star whose name means "ship"

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 21

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Modified crutches

Ethos (Power): Helm (He can change the direction of inanimate objects. It's not limited to projectiles, he can change the direction of objects while they're in someone's hand too.)

Flaw power is based on: His avoidant tenancies, especially where more serious responsibility is concerned.

Notes: Honestly? Joined the guild to boost his playboy status.

Name: Aitne

Name Origin: One of Jupiter's moons, named after the personification of Mount Etna, a stratovolcano

Pronouns: They/them

Age: 27

Guild rank: 4 star

Weapon: Spiked gauntlets and armor

Ethos (Power): Molten Core (Lava manipulation)

Flaw power is based on: Their brash and destructive nature.

Notes: Likes all their food to be charred.

Name: Ariel

Name Origin: A moon or Uranus, named after an air spirit!

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 16

Guild rank: 2 star

Weapon: Baton

Ethos (Power): Harmony (Perfect balance on anything)

Flaw power is based on: Her own difficulty maintaining emotional balance under stress

Notes: She's a gymnast! And even though I didn't make the character named "Ariel" a mermaid, you can still see a scale pattern in her leotard!

Name: Maru

Name Origin: A white dwarf whose name means "Sky." It's orbited by the planet Ahra.

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 18

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Claymore sword

Ethos (Power): Sky walking (She is capable of interacting with air as if it were a tangible object, creating leverage for herself to walk and balance on as if it were solid)

Flaw power is based on: Her somewhat vain tendency to place herself above others

Notes: Complete and utterly confident she's the cooler twin

Name: Ahra

Name Origin: A exoplanet whose name means "Ocean." It orbits the star Maru.

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 18

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Claymore sword

Ethos (Power): Wave riding (Creation and control of tidal waves to ride on, as if she was surfing them with no board. But she does have to be on them.)

Flaw power is based on: Her arrogance and recklessness

Notes: Completely and utterly convinced she's the cooler twin.

Name: Pipoltr/Pip

Name Origin: A star named for "a bright and beautiful butterfly."

Pronouns: Whatever really?

Age: 8

Guild rank: 1 star

Weapon: Giant lollipop

Ethos (Power): None yet!

Flaw power is based on: N/A. This doesn't mean they're flawless, but until their power develops they're really just here to go on fun little adventures.

Notes: This child hangs around with sailors all day long. The words they know....

#finn's ocs #finn's art #oc references #FINALLY POSTING THIS SET #there was a bit of a delay bc i wanted to make sure i got the crutches w naos right #i ended up not making just the crutches a weapon but like. with modifications based on a real self defense item i found #but slightly different for both fantasy reasons and also i think its patented lol #his pose is also based on a real self defense w crutches video that my friend sent me (hiiii thank you for that once more btw <3) #so like hes very much in motion here. thats not how he usually stands w the crutches lol he usually like. uses them as crutches lol #the little trigger on them is what releases and returns the blade in them btw #also as for the rest of the group! i think neptune is absolutely the most fitting of his namesake out of all the guildmasters #i mean they all have aspects of it but he's fully embraced it. despite what i said abt him growing into responsibility and all #hes still such a chill nice guy. just in general. it would take a lot to get him angry (and if you did the sea is NOT peaceful!) #and in a lot of ways triton is like how he was when he was younger. responsibilities dont matter he needs to go to the challengers deep NOW #also the reason i picked twin sai to be his weapon is bc i didnt wanna do a trident twice. even tho like thats kind of the typical motif #but sai are like. also a 3 pronged weapon. so i felt it kept the energy. but smaller and 2 of them #omg speaking of weapons i completely accidentally added a trans flag to ariel's baton design lol. but i left it in why not #i had such a hard time w her colors bc i wanted her to be flashy but also to make the leotard mermaid esque #also for it to not be too revealing. like leda (from the lunar flare set) can have an exposing leotard tutu sure but shes an adult #and i wanted to give ariel more of like an 80s home gym workouts vibe. with the legwarmers and scrunchies lol #and the twins!!! i wanted to make them samey but differeny. in a way i havent done w matching outfits before #bc the actual shapes of the clothes are very different but the colors totally match! #plus the twins are fraternal. i feel like thats obvious what w their different hair colors but there are more subtle things #like slightly different eyes. the height and weight differences arent part of that tho bc that can happen to any twins even identical #otrera i also had a lot of fun with. especially the blonde hair in an emo bang with like a pink sporty outfit #the crown logo references her namesake being a queen too! #she really was fun tho bc shes just no nonsense trusts nothing but her gut. and shes meant to be like an MMA type #aitne was also super fun but a bit tricky to make it clear that their eye is half lidded from the burns and not just like a drawing mistake #but i think i made it clear! its important bc their vision is also impaired on that side #and the burns themselves were most likely an accident on their end. remember they're brash and destructive. even to themself!

[bylertruther]

the byIer fandom really is a hivemind bc every time i think i came up with a cool fic idea i'll eventually see posts or fics from other writers spring up showing tht we all had the same exact idea down to even the same exact nitty-gritty details and headcanons for them without ever interacting with each other at all. like... bro. 💀 We're Connected..

#wood elf!will au? check #asoiaf inspired royal/fantasy au with the same sigils for 4/7 houses n ruling byers family? check #will never left the upside down au? check #hades x persephone / gen greek mytho au? check #necromancer!will au? check #will n mind flayer team-up s5 spec fic? check #werewolf!mike au? check #vampire!will au? check #bro we really share the same brain or smth like How Does That Even Happen BFBDJDNDND #and the spider-man au now... thts been a thing for a long time but now Everyone is on board with it so now new fics #are springing up left n right w tht idea etc etc #the hivemind isn't a theory or sci fi thing it's Real and we are Living It #its jus funnie to me how so many strangers can come up w the same thing. if anything it jus shows how hard these AUs fuck tbh #i will read every single one of them idc!!!!! n continue to pick at my own ofc. #and im being vague by just saying the gen / main trope but so many different authors will simultaneously come up with similar stories #(similar stories =/= similar writing or experiences tho they are still separate entities based on diff things w diff vibes etc all unique) #independently and it's jus like. How Did That Happen #hivemind brain 2 brain communication baybee thts how!!!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

The Billions Showrunners Go To See Bway Bmc like lgw "the problem has always been me" and they look at each other approvingly and nod like now he's getting it :) and then the squip's deactivated and everyone's embracing the realities of being a person and rejecting the idea there can be, should be, and is a set of standards to meet to get everything you want and preclude yourself from being mistreated and they're like nooo what a powerful tragedy :(

#then the nyt critic listens in on their conversation like Jot That Down Jot That Down ''jeremy deserved to stay In Crisis & bullied'' #it'll be a lingering irritation with billions just like w/any other work that is supposed to earnestly engage w/anything But Then #is ultimately / reverts to being about Vibes instead when it was in fact not meant to be a work ultimately about vibes #like good news i in turn earnestly engaged with your work. that's why it's on sight #winston billions #bmc #was gonna say obviously don't know if anyone from billions went to bmc but No....daniel k isaac confirmedly did lol iconique #can't fathom the thoughts the showrunners would really have lmao #just like i have to assume their thoughts abt will as jared was the typical/superficial ''wow guy we find bothersome rude & undeserving!'' #maybe it wasn't maybe it wasn't....but they did only give him a would've been one time bit part whose job was to be so rude & undeserving #like jk save for tossing in an inadvertent? misgendering of taylor for good measure quant kid 2 was wholly in the right #having him be an object to be crumpled up & thrown into the trash was Their intended bookend. but really it's that wags should die #and that winnie n tay was everything. the way quant kid 2 wasn't meant to be a character in 3x03 #winston was barely handled as a preexisting character in 7x03 besides the [object to be crushed] & [computers?] angles #Except the flickers of specific interaction w/taylor; totaling like 3s overall fr; were what was most like ''yeah he's someone specific'' #anyway again ''you were purporting to make something about anything but ran over that w/your Vibes Based approach in the end'' annoyance #couldn't lose in s4....yearning to be able to film winston more; which would've been him being [winston: __ everyone: get his ass] #but b/c he wasn't very available winston is presumed locked in a supply closet somewhere not invited to meetings or gatherings. works too #k&l surprised at ppl not picking up on an intended Literal Death Exception to think not Everything the main epic winner does is epic win #like well yeah sure but your show was then in fact about how all that really matters in the end was being in the superior Winner class #whereupon it's then not about your actions & their consequences so much as it's about your feelings & intentions #and it's not so much about That (relevant specifics expire 6 eps later or by the end of the season) as it is abt being that Winner #then thinking losers Could get organic aba (abuse forcing compliance) like well yeah of course! #the classic excuse about a hypothetical Conversion into winnerdom/correctness to uno reverse blame/responsibility #anyways like i said it's on sight; a testiment to that attentive & earnest enough engagement w/your work out here lmao #everything Else abt billions making it more & more incredible they had Taylor in the midst of it all #but by in fact going ''this character is supposed to Contrast w/usual 'winner' traits'' you Do disrupt that Vibes Based approach #and ofc can't consider some kind of ''oh nooo they've become fr thee Typical winner'' b/c failed step one they stay nonbinary #casting winston just as serendipitously more than billions deserved or could handle #will roland acting it tf up right away even w/quant kid 2 in a way the writing would never step up to lmfao. beautiful

[lollitree]

is Liro gonna become a bug type specialist or just really love bug pokemon? Like are they gonna become a mono-bug trainer (including the obviously bug type pondo)?

She just really loves bug pokemon! A lot of the cooler bug type pokemon are in later gens, so I didn't want to go a full bug team, plus I think it's more interesting if it's not just bug types!

#I personally did the pokedex as I played through so I used every pokemon at least a bit and picked based on what I vibed most with for Liro #part which pokemon I like and had fun using and part which pokemon I thought matched Liro #that and I wanted to spread out new pokemon and most of the bugs are right at the beginning of the game rip #XYLiro #this all being said I love people on instagram talking about pondo having protean which would make him a bug type too technically #which I think is a really cool idea but liro isn't going to have an all bug team so it doesn't matter anyway sdkfjsh #also I personally didn't use pondo much in my playthrough because he was so squishy #he was boxed quite a bit skdfjhs but I wont do that with liro because that's kinda mean and unnecessary #it turned out once I finished the game that most of the team had really bad IVs skdfjhs #which explained a lot with how the playthrough went #leggy had the best ones but that's because I went out of my way to catch a level 2 scatterbug with good IVs #which is really hard to tell at level 2 #but I managed to do it!

[hoperays-song]

So we know Johnny has his truck, Mike and Miss Crawly like their red sports cars and Rosita probably owns one of those cars in her apartment driveway. If Buster, Ash, Gunter, Meena, Porsha and Nooshy had their own vehicles, what would they drive?

While I personally do not drive and have about as much car knowledge as a stack of bricks, I surprisingly have thought about this. I hope you enjoy! - <3 Gooseless

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

Ash

In a lot of my (still in the works, sorry) fics, I actually have Ash driving a motorcycle! One, it's cheaper than a car, two, it's easier to find parking in a city with a motorcycle, and three, to be like her idol Clay Calloway.

Gunter

Small, shiny, and yellow were obvious choices to me for Gunter's car. He actually brought it with him when he moved to the states! It helps that it's so bright when he's watching Rosita's kids because it makes a good landmark for them.

Buster

Jointly owned between him and Eddie, Buster has a grey Mini Cooper. Why? Idk, it just screamed Buster to me. Eddie ends up using it the most however since Buster prefers to bike.

Meena

Meena is in the same boat as Johnny, as in her car is actually her mom's like Johnny's is his dad's. It's pretty old but runs decently well so Meena doesn't really mind. She doesn't drive much after all.

Porsha

A fancy silvery-blue car formerly of her dad's collection. He gave it to her on her 18th birthday so it's only a year or so old. She rarely uses it however since it is back at her house and she's staying in the city due to the show.

Nooshy

When Nooshy does get a car, it is on sale and hardly working. But she does cover it in stickers for a while instead of fixing it, so when it inevitably breaks down, Johnny and Marcus both yell at them for being careless.

Johnny

Once Johnny gets his own car (and stops sharing one with the rest of his family), he does not actually get a truck. I think he'd also get something vintage but more subtle (at least than the truck). And probably refinished it in the garage with his dad.

#sing #sing 2 #sing ash #sing gunter #sing buster #sing porsha #sing meena #sing nooshy #cars #i just kinda picked cars based off their vibes tbh #sing johnny #i hope you like these

[doodlboy]

I hate how many character playlists r painfully straight

#like fuck dude #i want 2 listen 2 a playlist of a guy i want 2 smooch #and not get misgendered by the person who put the playlist 2gether & added 10000 songs that r very explicitly heterosexual #theres 1 thing when u can tell the song was picked based on vibes & then there's “cis white girl x whatever character playlist” #where is the flavor #mixing my brew of queer longing in2 every playlist so its more universal & also better #elliot rambles

[simplyghosting]

I have trouble differentiating between directions (left/west and right/east in particular) and so during my college days I would rely on either a literal compass or use the sun to tell how to get around campus because I can’t orient myself with a map.

#ghost posts #please never volunteer me as navigator I pick routes based on vibes #if I can figure out which direction I’m facing I’m usually okay #usually I just find landmarks and then go step 1 step 2 step 3 #if something changes I turn into the ants from a bugs life #I also can’t tell if a key goes up or down in a song #like I can tell there’s a change but not which way

[fingertipsmp3]

Only stressful thing about Stardew Valley is trying to pick who to romance tbh

#i went into this game knowing nothing but that there are 12 eligible people you can marry #and i was like ‘okay i want to meet them all organically and try to discover their personalities and decide who i want based on that’ #but everyone is adorable and i just. whoooo do i pick #i mean the first person that i was like ‘oh he’s cute’ was harvey which is Really funny because apparently part of his description is that #he’s not that noticeable and isn’t a very interesting guy #so why did i on day 2 burst into the clinic with the express purpose of trying to flirt with him 🧐 explain that #i like elliot as well though. here is proof of how much i like elliot: i saved up 300 logs before i managed to upgrade my inventory AND #while desperately trying to save up money (i.e. could’ve reallllly done with selling those logs lol) just so i could repair that bridge #by his cabin. i really thought that might be the way to his heart lmao. but zilch! nada #at least i have a new fishing spot now 🫠 we’re just going to pretend i didn’t try to handyman my way into his life #but then i really like alex’s himbo vibe! and i already have a heart with penny!! and abigail is super cute!!! #i don’t know what to DO. i don’t even know how to do this lol. currently i just try to talk to harvey and elliot and tbh whoever else #is around at least once per day. but like. should i be bestowing gifts? should i get my shit wrecked so i land in the clinic? idk #i mean i haven’t even expanded my farm yet so that has to be a priority. i can’t move anybody into my shack. i don’t think the dog #even wants to be there lmao #personal

[aldieb]

the way that my job has totally sucked away my ability to actually write any of this due to constant intellectual exhaustion but on the flip side has developed my skill of creating fire promotional copy for a nonexistent novel in like 3 minutes flat

Change is coming to the Six Cities. After hundreds of years locked in high-tech feudalism backed by the reality-bending powers of the quasi-military Visionaries, the ruling Crown families are threatened by a growing underground rebellion. After the unexplained disappearance of his fiancée, Crown heir Gideon Drace is sent to live under the protection of one of the most volatile, notorious Visionary divisions. Among the Ninth Division, ex-Crown Cail Maireth is on the edge of a research breakthrough that could destabilize everything known about the dreaming—adepts’ gateway into an alternate dimension that shapes to their will. And rank-and-file nobodies Nishiane Arai and Syras Neale swerve off-course in their semi-sanctioned investigation of a rebellion cell, drawn by strange gaps in the history of Nishiane’s deceased mother, a Visionary before her. Beneath it all, a living city sleeps with one eye open.

#text tag #winterbreaker #bizarre to have the ratio of 3 men : 2 women (arcie just gets to be fiancée bc this is already buckling under the weight of names and mostly #she is busy being mysteriously awol) given my authorial hallmark of having implausible oodles of women and one token dude in everything else #also like that this implies that anyone told cail to do this. no he assigned himself homework like a weirdo and now he’s discovering #the higgs boson (analogy based on vibes; not really) #would u pick this off the shelf at your local bookstore n then write an angry review abt bury your gays when blorbos get slaughtered 300 #pages in

[inceledwardcullen]

I’m workin on a theory about the set list mcr does is based off of the vibes of their openers

#I’m looking at all of LAs dates and their openers and am putting together set lists that are based on the vibes #and by god I better be right #the 12th is all girl fronted bands with that classic girl band surfer sound and riot girl were gonna eat so good #riot girl esque* #night one we’re gonna get heavier #night 2 already mentioned #night 3 is laid back #night 4 were gonna pick back up with the fast paced #night 5 has. ad vibes solely bc if water parks but it is the last on the la run so we may get a nice set list

[ipcearn]

I think the funniest thing about Elden Ring now that I finished it once is looking for the missing talismans, because some of them are just the base variants that I just never found apparently

#shut up ip #elden ring #going to check if I did every boss and grabbed every unique armor set and weapon after I am done picking up the talismans #i know I missed out on one of the legendary armaments since I apparently overlooked it in Leyndell before it changed #gonna do ng+ with this character as well and maybe even ng+2 #i was contemplating waiting for the dlc but since it apparently has a different progression system #i will just vibe with exploration #also tbf I am missing some +2 but most of my missing ones are the base variants

[hua-fei-hua]

i'm finally importing the last of my playlists to my new mp3 player (bc i have been lazy otherwise lol), n on one hand, i feel okay just letting some of them vanish into the aether forever, but on the other hand, the tiny archivist in me wants to at least keep an xml file for nostalgia purposes

#there were only two that i felt like i really had to import (lighthouse 2 and zenith) but i've been importing others anyway #n now i'm staring down ye olde Bb playlist like. 'do i *need* to save these vibes? #can i not just rebuild it on the small off-chance i actually return to that series? i already have the title playlist #i'm also thinking of like. sorting my mp3s into folders based off their Vibes or smth i'm honestly not sure #but then i'll have to like. redo my playlists again bc the players pick them up based on their file locations lol #i have so many it would probably be worth doing for future purposes but like... man..... #花話

[alfheimr]

My Favorite Cheap Art Trick: Gradient Maps and Blending Modes

i get questions on occasion regarding my coloring process, so i thought i would do a bit of a write up on my "secret technique." i don't think it really is that much of a secret, but i hope it can be helpful to someone. to that end:

this is one of my favorite tags ive ever gotten on my art. i think of it often. the pieces in question are all monochrome - sort of.

the left version is the final version, the right version is technically the original. in the final version, to me, the blues are pretty stark, while the greens and magentas are less so. there is some color theory thing going on here that i dont have a good cerebral understanding of and i wont pretend otherwise. i think i watched a youtube video on it once but it went in one ear and out the other. i just pick whatever colors look nicest based on whatever vibe im going for.

this one is more subtle, i think. can you tell the difference? there's nothing wrong with 100% greyscale art, but i like the depth that adding just a hint of color can bring.

i'll note that the examples i'll be using in this post all began as purely greyscale, but this is a process i use for just about every piece of art i make, including the full color ones. i'll use the recent mithrun art i made to demonstrate. additionally, i use clip studio paint, but the general concept should be transferable to other art programs.

for fun let's just start with Making The Picture. i've been thinking of making this writeup for a while and had it in mind while drawing this piece. beyond that, i didn't really have much of a plan for this outside of "mithrun looks down and hair goes woosh." i also really like all of the vertical lines in the canary uniform so i wanted to include those too but like. gone a little hog wild. that is the extent of my "concept." i do not remember why i had the thought of integrating a shattered mirror type of theme. i think i wanted to distract a bit from the awkward pose and cover it up some LOL but anyway. this lack of planning or thought will come into play later.

note 1: the textured marker brush i specifically use is the "bordered light marker" from daub. it is one of my favorite brushes in the history of forever and the daub mega brush pack is one of the best purchases ive ever made. highly recommend!!!

note 2: "what do you mean by exclusion and difference?" they are layer blending modes and not important to the overall lesson of this post but for transparency i wanted to say how i got these "effects." anyway!

with the background figured out, this is the point at which i generally merge all of my layers, duplicate said merged layer, and Then i begin experimenting with gradient maps. what are gradient maps?

the basic gist is that gradient maps replace the colors of an image based on their value.

so, with this particular gradient map, black will be replaced with that orangey red tone, white will be replaced with the seafoamy green tone, etc. this particular gradient map i'm using as an example is very bright and saturated, but the colors can be literally anything.

these two sets are the ones i use most. they can be downloaded for free here and here if you have csp. there are many gradient map sets out there. and you can make your own!

you can apply a gradient map directly onto a specific layer in csp by going to edit>tonal correction>gradient map. to apply one indirectly, you can use a correction layer through layer>new correction layer>gradient map. honestly, correction layers are probably the better way to go, because you can adjust your gradient map whenever you want after creating the layer, whereas if you directly apply a gradient map to a layer thats like. it. it's done. if you want to make changes to the applied gradient map, you have to undo it and then reapply it. i don't use correction layers because i am old and stuck in my ways, but it's good to know what your options are.

this is what a correction layer looks like. it sits on top and applies the gradient map to the layers underneath it, so you can also change the layers beneath however and whenever you want. you can adjust the gradient map by double clicking the layer. there are also correction layers for tone curves, brightness/contrast, etc. many such useful things in this program.

let's see how mithrun looks when we apply that first gradient map we looked at.

gadzooks. apologies for eyestrain. we have turned mithrun into a neon hellscape, which might work for some pieces, but not this one. we can fix that by changing the layer blending mode, aka this laundry list of words:

some of them are self explanatory, like darken and lighten, while some of them i genuinely don't understand how they are meant to work and couldn't explain them to you, even if i do use them. i'm sure someone out there has written out an explanation for each and every one of them, but i've learned primarily by clicking on them to see what they do.

for the topic of this post, the blending mode of interest is soft light. so let's take hotline miamithrun and change the layer blending mode to soft light.

here it is at 100% opacity. this is the point at which i'd like to explain why i like using textured brushes so much - it makes it very easy to get subtle color variation when i use this Secret Technique. look at the striation in the upper right background! so tasty. however, to me, these colors are still a bit "much." so let's lower the opacity.

i think thats a lot nicer to look at, personally, but i dont really like these colors together. how about we try some other ones?

i like both of these a lot more. the palettes give the piece different vibes, at which point i have to ask myself: What Are The Vibes, Actually? well, to be honest i didn't really have a great answer because again, i didn't plan this out very much at all. however. i knew in my heart that there was too much color contrast going on and it was detracting from the two other contrasts in here: the light and dark values and the sharp and soft shapes. i wanted mithrun's head to be the main focal point. for a different illustration, colors like this might work great, but this is not that hypothetical illustration, so let's bring the opacity down again.

yippee!! that's getting closer to what my heart wants. for fun, let's see what this looks like if we change the blending mode to color.

i do like how these look but in the end they do not align with my heart. oh well. fun to experiment with though! good to keep in mind for a different piece, maybe! i often change blending modes just to see what happens, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. i very much cannot stress enough that much of my artistic process is clicking buttons i only sort of understand. for fun.

i ended up choosing the gradient map on the right because i liked that it was close to the actual canary uniform colors (sorta). it's at an even lower opacity though because there was Still too much color for my dear heart.

the actual process for this looks like me setting my merged layer to soft light at around 20% opacity and then clicking every single gradient map in my collection and seeing which one Works. sometimes i will do this multiple times and have multiple soft light and/or color layers combined.

typically at this point i merge everything again and do minor contrast adjustments using tone curves, which is another tool i find very fun to play around with. then for this piece in particular i did some finishing touches and decided that the white border was distracting so i cropped it. and then it's done!!! yay!!!!!

this process is a very simple and "fast" way to add more depth and visual interest to a piece without being overbearing. well, it's fast if you aren't indecisive like me, or if you are better at planning.

let's do another comparison. personally i feel that the hint of color on the left version makes mithrun look just a bit more unwell (this is a positive thing) and it makes the contrast on his arm a lot more pleasing to look at. someone who understands color theory better than i do might have more to say on the specifics, but that's honestly all i got.

just dont look at my layers too hard. ok?

#process #art tutorial #unsure what else to tag this as. if this does not post properly i will cry.

[hailmaryfullofgrace55675]

for a few years now (like since at least 2021) i’ve been occasionally seeing isolated individuals try on “AFAB trans woman”, “AFAB transfem”, “AMAB trans man”, “AMAB transmasc” and dreading the possibility of this becoming an inclus/exclus thing where there’s a huge vicious debate and a ton of people develop calcified stances that it’s “valid” because they are straight ticket voters on uses of language being “valid”. i’ve recently come across multiple fairly high-note promotions of each of 1) yeah, sure, anyone can be a trans woman (normal understanding of the language of AGAB, replaces meaning of “trans woman” with “someone who is a woman and also trans” or, worse “someone who identifies with the vibe of trans womanhood”) and 2) your AGAB is whatever you decide it is, maybe even a neolabel (completely opposite the concept of gender assignment at birth). i’m crossing my fingers that these uses somehow go no further, or that if they do the ensuing fight blows over quickly.

as an individual topic, it’s frustrating because it points to the complete failure on a lot of people’s parts to absorb or understand the basic premises of this idea of transgender.

we live in a world where, when humans are born, the adults around them decide what role they are going to have in a system of male/female boy/girl man/woman. usually they pick based on a quick look at the child’s external genitalia. if the quick look doesn’t match their idea of what a baby boy or baby girl is supposed to look like, they might or might not do further physical investigation, and either way they will pick a role for the child. if the child doesn’t look one of the ways expected, they might enforce this decision through surgery to conform the child’s body to their ideal for the role they chose. whether the decision was immediate or after deliberation, whether surgery was performed or not performed, this process of role picking is coercive. a first act of coercion in a childhood of coercion in a lifetime of coercion.

children are raised to the roles they were assigned. sometimes this involves the deliberate imposition of a lot of restrictions and expectations about how the child will look and behave, sometimes fewer, sometimes almost none but that they will agree that they are what the adults said they were. even if it is only the last, the child will sooner or later feel the weight of much greater expectations, because they will become aware that wider society says girls should look girly and do girl things and boys should look boyish and do boy things. sometimes it becomes apparent that a child’s body is growing to not match the adults’ idea of what a male body or a female body is supposed to look like or do. if this happens, the adults might allow or force the child to switch roles, might ease or double down on their expectations, and might or might not give the child a choice in whether they biomedically intervene in the child’s physical development.

sometimes, a person grows to refuse the role they were assigned and adopt a new one. sometimes they only refuse the role they were assigned. sometimes they only adopt a new one. sometimes they only refuse the expectations and restrictions. sometimes they refuse being a boy-male-man or girl-female-woman. sometimes they first do this as a child, sometimes as an adolescent, sometimes as an adult. sometimes they conform to the expectations and restrictions for the role they adopt on purpose, other times less so, other times not at all. sometimes they seek to change their body. rejecting one’s assigned role is an opportunity to escape the pain of the old coercion and find new joys in new, chosen ways of being.

to adopt a new role is simultaneously to adopt that role and to adopt the social position of a role-adopter and the social position of one-who-has-moved-from-that-role-to-this-role. these social positions come with expectations and restrictions in addition to the ones associated with the role adopted. having rejected the assigned role, more possibilities are available to a person. there is a great deal of free choice available for those who are willing to make it. sometimes there are special roles that are never assigned at birth and can only be taken on by someone conscious enough to choose.

gender assignment at birth isn’t an identity, it’s an act of coercion. trans womanhood isn’t a feeling, it’s a particular confluence of adoption and abandonment in a social system premised on gender assignment.

the prospect of discourse fights over “AFAB trans girls” and etc. is unpleasant because they’ll suck super bad and exhaust tons of people for nothing, but more present and disturbing is this even being an issue. understanding the nature of gender assignment is such a keystone in trans theory that i genuinely do not know what models of transness people are functioning on without it.

#trans #transgender #gender #longpost #effortpost

[gaywarcriminals]

Rating Scum Villian characters based on how milfy they are:

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu: an easy 10/10. You can’t tell your disciplesonwife that you wouldn’t abort him without becoming a milf.

Luo Binghe: and on the opposite end of the spectrum, 0/10! He’s just a little baby. He is 1,000 years younger than shizun and he likes it that way! He’s a wife, but an 18 y/o, husband’s-third-remarriage wife— he’s the same age as his husbands kids from the first wife. no milf vibes to be seen.

Liu Qingge: 1/10. Deep down he might have some parental traits, but as-is he is somewhere between weird (autistic) uncle and half-feral farm cat.

Liu Mingyan: 5/10. She’s still in her larva state of milfdom but someday she will be an excellent Mommy.

Ning Yingying: 3/10. Right now she’s baby and she likes it that way, but she has the bite of authority to her, and maybe in the far flung further she’ll spec into the Dommy Mommy skill tree.

Sha Hualing: 0/10. She’s baby, she’s a brat, she’s going to bite you and have a temper tantrum.

Shang Qinghua: 2/10. I have to give him a few points for being Binghe’s daddy, but we all know he’s a deadbeat dad who ran off with his new wife and left his kids alone with their step mom. The closest he gets to being nurturing is homoerotically saving his sexy OC, which is a Whole Different Thing.

Mobei-Jun: 5/10 for them tiddies.

Yue Qingyuan: 10/10. No I will not be explaining.

Shen Jiu: 9/10 because he’s abusive as only a mother can be 💖

Luo Bingge: -10/10. This man canonically has a fuck ton of kids and I don’t believe he knows any of their names. He is simply too Babygirl to parent 😔. SY come pick him up.

Qi Qingqi: 8/10 step on me mommy

Mu Qingfan: 6/10 I believe he can to unspeakable things to you while shushing you with a gentle smile

Tianlang-Jun: 7/10 for breedability, tits, and nephew raising, small point deduction for fumbling his actual son.

Su Xiyan: 0/10. She’s a Daddy, there’s a difference.

Zhuzhi-lang: -3/10 he is so tiny so small he is just a little guy just a snek

Madam Meiyin: 9/10 I fully believe all those succubi are her daughter-wives who she raises and teaches to hunt and comforts them when their prey gets away—

Six Balls: 6/6 six balls.

#I know I skipped GYX and several wives but none of them score above a five so. #svsss #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #liu qingge #liu mingyan #ning yingying #sha hualing #shang qinghua #mobei jun #yue qingyuan #shen jiu #luo bingge #qi qingqi #mu qingfang #tianlang jun #su xiyan #zhuzhi lang #madam meiyin #six balls #fish.txt