#chyronsmaiden

[thalasseus]

consider: kookaburra?

[greyfen]

Mithra 02: Rictus

A second piece following Mithra from my Sunday D&D game; this one taking place a few sessions later after we returned to Boroford, the town we’d started in, and found it to be overrun with death and weirdness.  Things got even weirder after this but that is a story for another day. As ever if you read these, I hope you enjoy; apologies if they are a bit rough, it’s been years since I wrote consistent prose.

It was strange to be back. 

She’d been at this place a week before she’d met the others and they’d gone chasing what felt now like some sort of wild goose chase. As Nilsa and her made their way back towards the centre of town, Nilsa striding ahead in what seemed equal parts determination and concern, the latter tinged with a little fear; Mithra found herself casting a look across much of the settlement, still scarred from the goblins that had purportedly raided a few days previously. 

The small town of Boroford had been less alien than a larger settlement might have been when she first arrived to meet that cursed emissary of the Queen, Bromm. She’d camped outside for about a week, arriving early to get the lay of the land, her brain too accustomed to monsters in the shadows to simply assume all would be well on arrival. But on the surface it seemed like a simple town, similar to where she grew up, if a tad larger. She’d enjoyed its rustic charm almost in spite of herself, ignored the curious looks and loitered in various spots throughout the town, simply enjoying the presence of people again; even if they were ignorant strangers, they were people, easing an ache for company she hadn’t known she’d had. 

Even then though, something had seemed strange. 

Back then some of the folks in town had only ever smiled, no matter the situation or insult given by others; even the hunter who had accidentally shot her in the forest when she’d been exploring the area cheerfully stated they’d both learned a valuable lesson that day before strolling away whistling. At the time she’d been wrapped up in her own problems and put it down to her own decades-long semi-isolation in the Verdant Thicket leaving her socially inept in this new environment. Now though…

She was no expert on humans beyond those she’d known growing up, and those memories seemed like they’d happened to a different person now, but she was pretty sure that they didn’t cheerfully smile and laugh about their mother lying slaughtered and unburied in the abandoned tavern next door. The words of Amelia the baker echoed in her mind as she chased after the agitated paladin.

“You should buy these cakes, the last my mother ever made! Aha!”

“Well you know, we’ve all got to die some time!” 

Then there was Nilsa, seemingly convinced that this ‘David the Caretaker’ they’d heard of was her brother, a bit of questioning had revealed that he could be human or aasimar, that Nilsa was not on great terms with her family and a joint agreement that whatever had happened in this place something was very wrong. 

Things only got worse when they arrived at the town hall. 

The woman behind the desk had the same smile, the same casual attitude; Nilsa was scary to most people or at least mildly off putting when angered. She approached problems like a charging bull with about as much tact; and the smiling old woman seemed only to become nicer, as if she were intentionally provoking the increasingly frustrated and distressed paladin. 

Watching her mannerisms and attitude though, the idea that the deceased caretaker, (verbally acknowledged to potentially be the deceased brother of the angry and heavily armed woman in front of her), was dead seemed to be an annoyance, something that simply caused more work. It was as if the woman was incapable of empathising or caring, or had been rendered unable to do some by whatever had happened in the town. As she delivered the news that the caretaker named David had likely been killed and left in the tavern they’d passed earlier; the smile, wide and horrifically cheerful, never left her face. 

“You didn’t even bury him?!” 

Nilsa’s sharp anger burned openly for a moment, a shift of tone that would have rung alarm bells in a sane person’s mind, Mithra was immediately on edge as she saw Nilsa grasping the hilt of the blade on her belt. 

“What kind of people do not even bury their dead and leave them to rot!?!”

The old woman’s smile never faltered, never moved; there was only the slight tilt of the head as if the question was foolish. 

“Well the caretaker hasn’t been doing his job has he? Clearly we need to find one that is better at what he’s supposed to do.” 

The blade began to leave its sheath as Nilsa’s face darkened and fury played across her features, her mismatched eyes burning into the older woman behind the counter. Mithra wanted to be disgusted and felt for Nilsa’s potential loss; but they couldn’t start something here. This town, these people: they were either mad or magically compelled and confronting either situation with their companions scattered across much of Boroford would only end one way. 

Her hand reached out, hesitating for a moment before gently resting on Nilsa’s shoulder in an attempt to both check her actions and reassure her. 

“This isn’t worth our time right now, this isn’t normal. We should go.’ 

Mithra was grateful when Nilsa released a breath and nodded, offering an irate comment to the woman before turning sharply on her heel and leaving the building, Mithra a few paces behind her. Before crossing the threshold of the town hall she gave one last glance over her shoulder. 

The woman was watching them leave, the rictus grin having never once left her face. 

[badghostmods]

consider: donut shell

Finally some good fucking food. 

[thexostranger]

chyronsmaiden replied to your post “why does the dawning hope shader just…..refuse to stack”

Bungo posted this on twitter: Duplicate Dawning shaders will sort into separate stacks depending on where they were received from. Dawning shaders received through Eververse will fall into one stack, and shaders earned through activity rewards will be sorted into another.

hrtsgdrs guess im deleting all the shaders i get - thank you for the info! 

[cameronaugust]

I love how you colored your last piece! I also struggle with getting past the ugly flats stage. Do you have any tips or maybe a tutorial somewhere regarding your coloring process?

I’m not very good at tutorials, truth be told. I can try to explain my process a bit if that helps though!I try to ink in a way that the gaps are minimal. I’ll then grab the outside area with the magic wand, invert selection, then contract the selection by 1 or 2 pixels. With the shape of the figure selected I’ll create a folder in the layers and quick mask the folder. I’ll keep all my flats and colors in this folder.

For the lines, I try to complete all my flats before I start coloring the ink. I’ll select the alpha lock on the layer properties to begin. A rule I have to make 2D shapes more 3D is coloring only the inside lines of separate objects. 

Before you get here your lineart is going to look godawful with black lines on skintones and such. At least for my style it’s this way, I know a lot of artist that don’t have this hangup! So your case may differ. Best advice I wish I listened to years ago would be to use layer-masks, alpha lock your layers, and work in high resolutions.

Sorry, this looks like ramblings as I read it back. I’ll try to revisit this and be more helpful!

[thexostranger]

chyronsmaiden replied to your post “Are you a Hunter main?”

leaving my friends to die is my favorite hunter ability

mood 

[sbeep]

In your pieces with blurred/out of focus backgrounds, how detailed is said bg before you blur it? Would it be possible to see? I love the way you work and your mastery of cinematic scenes and lighting is very inspiring, so I'm very curious to know your process!

The long and short of it is: I draw as much as I need the viewer to see. 

The more detail going on in a picture, the more the eye will move around it and this is true regardless of if a background is blurred or not. When I need the focus to be tight on the character, I add less. When I need the character to feel grounded in a setting, I add more.

As an example I’ve drawn up one of my characters (Nelle, FFXIV) and about as simple of a background as possible.

In this picture I want Nelle to be the focus. I have created as few structural elements as possible-- the horizon line and the rain-- to demonstrate how BG detail works better or worse. 

Add your blur (and some handy colour overlay). With the picture on the left-- Nelle is the focus, but the sparse background makes her feel more abstract to the scene. What is she doing? Where is she? This lack of detail leaves questions unanswered and makes for a weak shot. This type of shot requires more detail to make it work. 

With the picture on the right-- the setting does not matter. Her face, expression, and the hint of highlight become much more prominent. We do not require more detail or a busy background in order for us to see and understand her expression is the focal point of this shot.

When you come to add background detail, remember to ask yourself: what will work for my shot? How much do I need people to see in order to understand it? 

But most importantly, how lazy are you feeling today? ;)

[ewyy]

I hope you have/ had a very happy birthday!!

thank you! yeah, I'm having a good day 💖