Thanks to the talented @artsyaprilmr for another commission that has me kicking and crying, and to the talented @ice-knife who decided to cherry on top my giggling with the ID, below:

[ID: a full-body digital illustration of Malakai, a thin Black man. He is standing as if he'd stopped mid-step, one foot on the ground and the other behind him, and he has his hands behind his head. He is looking at the viewer with a neutral, almost annoyed expression. Kai is bald, and he has cool deep brown skin, light brown eyes, a flat nose, full lips, a short and well-kept beard, and a strong jaw. He has a silver ring over the middle of his lower lip, and two silver studs under the lower lip as well; he also has a straight scar across his left eye. He is wearing a thin red sweater, a black pleated A-line skirt that reaches below his knees, tall black socks with a red stripe near the top, and simple black sneakers; because his arms are raised, his midriff is exposed. The background behind him is a cyan-to-magenta gradient. /end ID]

My first art of the year, have a little Sunhinged :]

The bitches at AMC be doing the terror anthology wrong. They should be. Just putting jared harris in new fucked up gothic horror situations forever

Currently thinking about the symbolism of orange with Sasha’s character. How it’s a metaphor present both in Sasha’s mind and lab/office of having a very cold exterior(black/white or greys and blues) and having the smallest pop of color in the interior specifically with the color orange.

The first obvious appearance of this is in his level. When he pops out of the trapdoor/hatch in his mind there’s orange light streaming out from wherever that portal leads to deer within. This is then mirrored in the sequel seen in his office, which has the same cube design with geometric framing. The general feel of the lab is cold and almost inhuman in a way. There’s no windows and all the light is artificial. But the small corner of his office is brightly lit and warm on the inside. And the couch and pillows on top are orange along with bits of the rug on the floor.

It’s also in his outfit. The dark pants, shoes, gloves, glasses and coat cover up the sweater he’s wearing that striped with tans and browns, earthy colors and a less saturated orange. Three places, that’s a pattern.

Then there’s the detail of where the orange is, in comfortable things. It’s the surrounding light for wherever Sasha’s hanging out when chaos is absolutely rocking his entire world. It’s in his turtleneck sweater, something you usually wear to combat cold. It’s in the couch cushions and pillows, something you usually interact with to talk a break or rest in.

It’s such an obvious metaphor. Sasha is such an intimidating figure initially, cold and detached from the world and others. But then you actually spend a little time with him and he’s actually a dork who cares a lot about the people he’s close with. The most glaring time is when he calls Lili ‘darling’ that one time in RoR, completely unprompted. For most the jet ride he’s barely acknowledging that she’s crying her eyes out and mostly has the air of “don’t make me turn this car around.” But then just out of nowhere when he gets good news about Truman’s location he just pulls out the “I think we might know where he is, darling” while clearly putting on the softest tone he can most definitely but imitating Milla. And it just shows that he’s been aware the entire time and just saying something now while trying so hard to be comforting is so much. Fantastic characterization.

I love all the small details in this series, even with something like color and where it appears and how that links up with the character themselves. Just wow. I love the writing here.

And I keep talkin' like I'm taller than the trees

But my eyes never see much higher than five feet

And I keep on telling everyone the truth

But maybe that's not the move

And they say honesty is the best policy

If that were true

Don't think all of my friends would hate me

-THAT BITCH, Bea Miller

summer shade

I don't know who else to yell at about this AND YOU JUST HAPPENED TO BE IN MY CROSSHAIRS -- COME HERE, LISTEN /strangles

Mr. Compress being a flamboyant, charming, and sly individual was definitely a big factor in why you liked him. That, and the air of mystery he seemed to exude. It was the mask, wasn't it? You found yourself staring at his face -- or lack thereof -- more often than you cared to admit. Truly, you were a MASTER of subtlety. He must have caught you staring about a dozen times, but always played it off like a gentleman. "Have I enchanted you yet, my darling (Y/n)?" he would ask, laughing as you scrambled to compose yourself. Fuckin' smooth, dipshit. Why'd he always have to catch you gawking?

What you didn't know was that this little charade went both ways. Sako was simply better at covering his tracks. Less blatant about his admiration. The hold you had over him was beyond what you could have ever imagined. Sako finds himself wanting to impress you -- make you smile and laugh. Ah, your voice is so angelic. The utter joy he gets from watching your eyes sparkle as he performs an impressive sleight of hand trick is enough to motivate him.

"Every magician worth his salt needs a lovely assistant, wouldn't you agree?" He flirts RELENTLESSLY, but you're either too dense or too reserved to make a move back. At some point, he gets fed up with your reluctance to acknowledge his advances. If subtlety isn't a language you speak -- ✨extravagance✨ will have to do.

When you walk into the room, you're dumbfounded. Flowers, wine, candles and music. Sako was there waiting for you and claps his hands in anticipation at your appearance. "I thought perhaps this would erase any doubts you might have in regards to my intentions with you," he says, closing the distance between you. "You're quite easy to fool, my darling, but so very difficult to seduce."

Oh. You got it now. Finally.

"A dance, my dear?" he asks, offering his hand to you with a bow. After you take his hand, he brings it up -- moving his mask aside just a smidge to place a kiss upon your palm. "I've been craving this ever since we met. Let us make this a night to remember."

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SHORT BUT OUUUGGGHH I SCREAM

four. words. for. sako: SMOOTH AND CLEVER MOTHERFUCKER.

he's (just like all the other LOV members) so used to be subtle and cautious with every little one of his move. but if for some reason you don't get the hint or try to ignore it, he would take every chance of you being near him to shamelessly flirt with you and be upfront about his feelings towards you, to corner you and get the words out of you. he ain't going to let you run away from these feelings.

would literally shower you with compliments from the moment you wake up to when you're about to go sleep. he's definitely the one to blame for the praise kink you've developed.

not to throw shade on ben starr, because he did a great job with clive final fantasy don't get me wrong, but matthew porretta should take it for best performance in a video game this year for this one scene alone:

do you even realize how hard it is to run that gamut of emotion from scared to desperate to confused to furious to grieving and sell every single one of them as believable?

when he nailed the delivery of "you're in my story! get out of my story!" as just pure fury coming off of a series of lines that were informative/revelatory, i stood up and actually said out loud GIVE THAT MAN AN AWARD because that transition in emotion is like changing key mid-word in a song. it's so hard to do.

i don't think i've ever seen this intense kind of up-down-up-down in emotion in a game before. not even a master of the craft like nolan north in a game like spec ops: the line goes this hard.

and this is just one scene. he does this several times in the game (this one is just the most intense).

what matthew porretta pulled off for alan in this game should be taught in voice acting classes and i'm not joking. it's that impressive. it's that skilled.

Finally finished the Archie sygna suit to go along w Maxie! Wahoo!

This was supposed to be a Juliet

For hypokits, Fireraven?

three fanta members have changed their hair colours ever since Tell Me single this can only mean one thing

NEW ARTIST PHOTO!!!!

bc i like to talk talk talk i truly think the worst part of the dlc is just that i already had like 60 hours in the game and the environments felt extremely bland at that point. it just ended up being me staring at the map half the time going from one checkpoint to another trying to skip platforming bc i didnt feel like exploring kronos 2 electric boogaloo. no motivation to wander or even fight the upgraded minibosses. ouranos was like that in the og ending too. frontiers rlly suffers from the art direction i think

Gavin but its his first day at DAMN

^^^ credit to this 💙gorgeous💙 pic from @moonlovingvampire for driving me back to the palettes because i love everything about it (including the moon lamp *eyes it enviously*)

under the cut, the original suggested colors -

i know it looks for "accent" shades but COME ON

all those soft subtle organic hues and it grabs ... black, and the yellow of the one light in the background? for sure they are contrasts i guess

when i see a glowing moon at twilight it definitely evokes images of ... bees??? warning signs? crime scene tape? lol

Gotta love the annual "Art Fight is down on the first day of Art Fight."