#GREEN sketchbook. its awesome

[yellowcorps]

"still watching bleu play tftbl" I freaking love tale from borderland

current as of making thisnpost

[bmpmp3]

w

[falling-skyzz]

How. How does one make good character design and pleasant color palettes. How to make a color palette without reusing colors. How to make patterns or designs?? 😭🙏

cracks knuckles. you see theres but one trick i reuse over and over.

✨color theory✨

(well, at least i think it is. i never learned this stuff properly, so i dont have names for these things)

its gonna get a little long so ill put all of this below the cut, but tldr be aware of certain color combos relating to their positions on the color wheel + remember scales (??? they prob arent actually called that erm) + fuck it we ball with markings

OKAY SO im typing this at 1:21 am on my phone and my right eye is hurting so pls forgive any typos and mistakes, and if i sound like i know my stuff but i dont PLEASE point it out to me so i can correct myself ;;;;

first of all, color combos. yes, all the stuff u learned in grade 5 art class actually works.

take a look at this bad boy. (i use autodesk sketchbook to draw, not ibispaint, but its the same on both programs)

color combos are always relationships between any given color with other colors based on their positions on the ring around the diamond.

for example, complementary colors are always opposite each other on the ring.

i use this for opah (my oc)’s design, with her dark blue-green and orange.

(as far as i know color combos dont care about the diamond in the middle, just the ring, so the actual colors themselves are pretty flexible)

(bonus auklet)

theres a lot of other combos besides complementary but you can research that urself, ill just provide an example if i have one of the most common ones

—

triadic

ermm i actually dont use this one very much so im just gonna put a hilda (which is an AWESOME show that has INSANE color theory)

(this isnt technically triadic but its the best example i have and vaguely in a triangle trio formation okay…….)

—

analogous

this is my FAVORITE combo ever, because it lets me stay in the strict wof tribe color range while still being interesting. honestly u could take any design of mine and 99% chance theres analogous in there

if u wanna know more combos just google color theory schemes, theres more than i could ever remember and i dont really bother to use them all; for wof, i usually just stick with analogous and complementary.

uhm i dont know if tumblr has a word limit but i dont wanna make this too long so i shall reblog with part 2 soon !!!!!! (if u dont hear from me in the next hour i fell asleep)

[niceinchnails]

Painting my sketchbook cover making the base white then im going all in with radioactive green slapping warning symbols and barcodes and chains everywhere but since the books weirdly textured its really a "trust the process" kind of experience. this will either be really awful or awesome

[neurodivergent-multishipper]

Pens and gears chapter one: The meeting

(also on my ao3) general fic summary: What if, in a universe where there are no quirks and All might is fictional, Katsuki and Izuku meet as young teens, and end up going to the same schools for the rest of their teenage lives. While Izuku is getting better at art Katsuki struggles to find what he wants to do, as he grapples with the fact, he might have a crush on his best friend

It was a normal summer day for Katsuki. At least at the start, He grabbed his All might backpack in the morning just like always when he woke up. He filled it with his normal snacks just like always too. They were the only snacks he’d ever eat honestly, a crab onigiri with spicy mayo in the middle, kept in a small glass Tupperware cube. Two packs of Goldfish, some fruit snacks, and a ham sandwich his mother made him pack. He took his noise canceling headphones, and his phone as well. He roughly shoved his phone into his pocket and carefully put all his food into his bag to avoid anything getting squished. His headphones were placed around his neck for now. The Allmight stickers adorning them matching the rest of his outfit, littered with pins, bracelets in his homage. Katsuki has started all his mornings in a similar fashion to this since he was a small child and was still being walked to the park by his parents.

Katsuki was 13 now, he was just about to enter his last year of middle school. He could walk to the park alone by now and honestly preferred it. He loves his parents but he always struggled with small talk since he was a small child if it wasn’t related to the things he liked, mainly Allmight. He was seen as rude or brash as a kid most of the time so he learned to wing it by himself from a young age.

Once he finally got himself out of the door he slipped his headphones on, on occasion he’d stop to admire a cool art installation or a nice car. He grew up in a nice neighborhood since his parents were fashion designers before he was born. The air was hot and humid, summers in Japan were always like this ever since he was a little kid. He’s always hated the feeling of humidity on his skin so he does his best to cover up as much as possible without getting heat stroke in this weather.

When he got to the park he went straight to his spot, there was an area underneath the main play structure where no one would bother him. He slipped under the metal base of the play structure and sat in the mulch. He set his backpack down next to him, making sure not to drop it to protect his snacks.

For a while he sat there watching all the merch collection tours on his phone. That was until he heard a soft but excited voice. It seemed to be a boy his age.

“I like your Allmight backpack!!, i really like Allmight too! he’s like…the coolest ever!” The boy said. He had messy green hair and freckles that dotted his face like stars in the night sky. He seemed to be slightly shorter than Katsuki.

“May i sit here with you?” The boy said quietly snapping Katsuki out of his trance. He nodded quickly.

“Yeah…what's your name?...I’m Katsuki, nice to meet another Allmight fan in the wild” He chuckled slightly, he rolled up his sleeves to show off his Allmight themed bracelets.

“Oh!, i forgot to introduce myself shoot, I’m Izuku, nice to meet you too!...and woah your bracelets are awesome!” Izuku said, with the way his eyes lit up you’d think he’d just seen the most amazing thing in the world. Bakugo chuckled at the reaction.

Izuku moved to sit across from Katsuki, when he sat down he picked up a piece of mulch and began to flip it back and forth in his hand as they talked. Izuku broke the silence after a bit, grabbing a sketchbook from his small backpack.

“Wanna see my Allmight fanart?...its not the best but i really like how they turned out!” Izuku said, seeming to get shyer.

“Hell yeah I wanna see them!” Katsuki said, chuckling slightly. He watched as Izuku flipped through the pages of his sketchbook. The art was actually beautiful, the lines were messy but in a stylistic way, and the expressions and posing were immaculate.

“Woah! you've got some real talent, these are awesome!” Katsuki said with a big smile. Izuku blushed slightly hiding his face behind his sketchbook.

“They really aren’t all that special…but thanks anyways” He flips his sketchbook shut and slides it into his small bag.

Katsuki just chuckled at this, shaking his head.

For the rest of summer they continued meeting like this, they’d discuss their opinions on new manga updates, Izuku would show off his art, and Katsuki would talk about whatever plans he had.

After a while they grew closer, Izuku beginning to call Katsuki “Kachan” Katsuki normally wasn’t a fan of affectionate nicknames but for some reason he didn’t mind this time,

When the end of summer was nearing, they were discussing what school they went to and realized they’re in the same school but have always been in different classes. Katsuki was amazed and slightly annoyed the two hadn’t become friends sooner.

[bagea]

your art is sooooo awesome. whats your process

OMGGG!!!! tyyyyy that really means a lot :3 <3

typically my process involves working with a certain programs bitmap, sometimes krita and mspaint but only if im in the mood, and i start by doing outlines/rough sketches in the default color, with variations on the same color slider if something needs to be different than the previous colors ones, i typically work all on one layer so (old examples shown here ⬇️ i dont rlly have much wip art stuff so i dont really save things that are unfinished)

then i redraw over that with actual linework, typically either black or an extremely dark color so things match up, (ex, dark green if im drawing something green) and then i usually convert the whole thing to vector so i gain layers again, then i use the colors i selected for the base linework and fill in the entire background layer with that, then i convert it back to bitmap again, then i use the clear bucket tool to get rid of all that color but it keeps the clean linework, then i do cleanup so everything looks right. then i add color with the bucket tool again, (a good example shown here in an old draft of another previous art thing,and so i dont feel like remaking the entire process for this ask so im using old examples)

then afterwords i add detail like shading and little tics and notches and highlights and a lot of times ill fill in shadows with the color of the linework and sometimes ill thicken the linework in places, i usually do this on 4-1 sixed pixel brushes

and then ill add a real background and final touches and yapyap whatever im pretty much finished, for a while i used to just screenshot my art but i realized that you can export files so i do that now for a crisper finish.

and i cant really explain what my process is for sketchbook and physical stuff, i just draw whats on my mind, for more important stuff ill use pencil for an outline then erase it after inking. for animations its just the same process i always do but i ignore the details besides sometimes shading, it makes the process go faster and cheaper, and then i just import all the drawings individually into davinci resolve8 to string together and animate. and if this ask was looking for like. my process for drawing things. i usually just simplify details and make note of shapes and body language and stuff you knoww, its how i simplify complex mecha into niche character designs.,,

[celestetheseaunicorn]

I’m still working on my OC Rosa Scarlett (for the background of the drawing i’m currently working on I was messing with the many digital brushes lol) …I think I might switch up her design a bit/reveal more backstory for her. I think I have her pose down. In the picture i’m currently working on she is darting across a frozen lake after her secret identity is discovered by Donita. (Its still a work in progress though but I really wanted to reveal a bit more of her backstory)

Soooo a little more backstory for her,

Eventually she ends up joining the wild kratts crew after escaping from Donita once she is discovered and her identity is revealed to them. She gets settled in and joins on the next creature adventure. She feels that things have really changed and even though she was fighting Donita alone for a long time she is happy to finally have some people she can count on and that she can relax a bit without having to be on guard all the time.

Although…since before she joined the wild kratts crew she was a fashion designer, she feels really insecure being on the team since she feels like she lacks the skills. She tries her best to help with everything and everyone and joins the bros on many adventures but still doesn’t feel good enough. One day, she brought a camera, sketch book, and pencil with her on an adventure seeing some hummingbirds. She tried to sketch these hummingbirds (although it took her a couple of attempts, she wasn’t used to sketching creatures) and add in some notes of what the bros said about the hummingbirds. She also tried to take some videos and even though her camera almost got broken a couple times in the chaos (or shot with flour by Gourmand) she managed to get some videos. Talking to Koki, she decided to post the videos and sketches (although she wouldn’t be taking any more videos until Aviva made her an indestructible camera.) She found many people were fascinated by her sketches, pictures, videos and notes. It reminded her of when she was little and would look through all the books she could find with creatures, fascinated by them and wanting to learn all she could about them. She was incredibly joyful she could show these creatures to many people and see them be fascinated by the creatures like she had been. That is when she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to show people the awesomeness of nature and she would do it with the help of her camera, sketchbook and pencil. Since the hummingbird adventure helped her figure out what she wanted to do she decided to change her red clothing theme to a light green with different colored highlights to represent how she is inspired by everyone on the crew and hopes she can help on the team and make a positive impact.

Also another note, she sees everyone on the wild kratts crew as good friends although…she does of a crush on another OC that will be revealed later once I have more details figured out about him.

[leanne21]

Unleashing Creativity: The Awesome World of Art

November 27, 2023

Hey there, fellow artist! As a teenager who loves to sketch, I can’t help but get excited when summer vacation rolls around. It’s the perfect time to unleash my creativity and dive into the awesome world of art. Join me on this artistic journey as I share my passion for sketching and the joy it brings to my life.

When the school year ends and the warm weather arrives, I grab my sketchbook, pencils, and erasers and head outdoors. Nature becomes my muse, offering an endless array of vibrant colors, intricate shapes, and breathtaking landscapes. Whether it’s a blooming flower in the garden or a majestic sunset at the beach, I find inspiration everywhere I look.

One of my most cherished sketches is a painting of a serene sky with a little garden. It’s a piece that represents tranquility and the beauty of nature. The soft strokes of blue and green create a peaceful atmosphere, transporting me to a place of serenity.

As a teenage artist, the world of art has become my sanctuary. It’s a place where I can freely express myself and let my imagination run wild. Sketching during vacation not only helps me relax and unwind but also allows me to connect with my favorite characters and bring them to life through my own interpretations.

One of my favorite subjects to sketch is the iconic character from “Spirited Away.” The whimsical world of Studio Ghibli never fails to inspire me. I try to capture the magic and innocence of this beloved character, bringing her to life on paper.

Another source of inspiration for me is the animated series “Adventure Time.” The vibrant characters and imaginative landscapes fuel my creativity. Sketching the characters in their unique styles allows me to explore different techniques and experiment with colors.

Sketching isn’t just about replicating what I see; it’s also a form of self-expression. Through art, I can convey my emotions, thoughts, and imagination onto a blank canvas. Sometimes, I let my pencil wander freely, allowing my subconscious to guide the lines and shapes. The result is a creation that is uniquely mine, reflecting my inner world.

The beauty of art lies in its versatility. There are no rules or boundaries, only endless possibilities. I experiment with different techniques and styles, from realistic portraits to abstract compositions. Each stroke is an opportunity to learn and grow as an artist, pushing the boundaries of my creativity.

As a teenager, art has become an integral part of my identity. It helps me relax, express myself, and connect with others who share the same passion.

So, fellow art lovers, I encourage you to grab a sketchbook and embark on your own artistic adventure. Let your imagination soar, embrace the beauty around you, and unleash your creativity onto the blank pages. Whether you’re an experienced artist or just starting out, remember that art is a journey, and each stroke is a step towards discovering your unique artistic voice.

In the awesome world of art, there’s always something new to explore and endless possibilities waiting to be discovered. So, let’s pick up our pencils and embark on this creative journey together. Happy sketching, my friends!

[littlenahsstuff]

In love, I swear.

A/n Literally my first time writing actual fanfiction. This might be a flaming dumpster fire idk. I will persevere and cringe later, but for now, enjoy.

supreme!Cordelia Goode x reader

TW:nothing much, just a big old fluffernutter sandwich. A little angst. Swears I guess.

Synopsis: Cordelia has just recruited you to be a counselor at Robicheauxs and it's safe to say you are head over heels for the supreme. Unfortunately, you aren't the one to tell her.

You always thought that you weren't too special of a witch, you had the basic witchy spells down and specialized in the people who struggled on the inside... but in a more witchy sense. You also helped the witches who needed to get their powers more developed or who ones that are just behind in school. A sort of glorified counselor you suppose. It's sorta funny, especially since you aren't the most confident, how you can talk to all of the girls. When it boils down to it you are just a witchy gal searching for love. Specifically Cordelia's. It could never happen though.

Your love life wasn't the only area you lacked in before Robicheauxs, you had been struggling to find a job suited for your interests. Let's just say that you have a lifetime ban from one of the Mcdonalds in Louisiana. Fire and grease doesn't mix.

Of course, if it wasn't for dear, sweet, precious, Cordelia, you would be living on the streets. Luckily that didnt happen and so here you are today, three months in to your teaching position at Robicheauxs.

Oh, the moment, "You're hired. I look forward to expanding the academy's family and getting to know you better especially," left the Supremes lips, the better off you were.

And yet, even with all of the joy that comes with finally getting paid, there were the challenges as well. For starters, everyone was extremely nice to you, even though you kept mostly to yourself, there was this one person that made this heaven more hellish. Madison the bitch witch Montgomery.

You had been warned by Zoe, your closest confidante in this new place and also Madisons freaking girlfriend, that she was no pleasant peach. Never in all of your doubtful thoughts, had how bad it actually was crossed your mind. It was never the cockiness that got to you, you had a different appreciation for it than most. Found the confidence refreshing almost. No, no no no no. It was in fact, that she was constantly trying to dig up dirt on you.

"You're too much of a goody two shoes y/n," she once stated with a glare. The same day you had heard Zoe squabbling about something and your name came up. Your name and the fact Madison had stolen your wallet to look at your license. It turned up later on your bed stand.

Madison's a lover of Zoe and drama you've come to find out.

It's harmless though really, you dont mind the extra bit of attention that comes with it. Its flattering so no need to complain to anybody, especially not Cordelia.

Cordelia, mmm, yeah now shes the biggest threat here. She is the reason you got this job and might be the reason you lose it.

She once caught you with your doodle journal. It was a harmless question,

"Y/n, what're you drawing?" She looked over your shoulder. You almost jumped out of your skin and your sketchbook went flying.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" She worried her lips a bit. Her big, plump, kissable lips. Come on Y/n, get out of it.

"Yes," you squeaked. Sinking farther into the sofa. She chuckled her beautiful chuckle and sat on the couch arm.

"So, what was my favorite school counselor drawing just then?" She questioned. Glancing to the thrown book.

Your face went red.

"Uh-" you paused, come on you're making it a bigger deal than it has to be, "you." You couldn't look into her eyes.

She gazed at you at you and it felt like a hole was being burned into your skull.

"Okay," Cordelia said, leaving it at that. Stood up and made to walk away.

"Wait!" She paused and turned back to you, seeing you scramble to get your sketchbook.

"Yes?" Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I- don't you want to see it?" You said and you slapped yourself mentally for about the hundredth time she walked in.

She smiled softly at you, "Of course, I thought you didn't. You looked scared to death, like bambi."

"Okay," you flipped back towards the page and cringed. It wasn't your best peice. You could never capture her beauty right.

Her eyes scanned over it, widening before squinting with her grin.

"It's so good!" She gasped.

"Yes, that is Cordelia Goode," you joked in a monotone manner. She slapped your shoulder jokingly, making you snort.

"You nerd, I didn't mean it that way. Either way, you did a fantastic job! I wished I looked as good as you make me seem," she muttered the last bit, bit you heard it. It saddens you to remember the damage Fiona did.

"Hey, Cordy," you started. You realized that you used a nickname that Madison did, but she doesn't seem to care.

"You know what I think? I think that you're wrong. You see I just can't for the life of me get your soft proud loving smile right. Your eyes aren't as warm and glowing as they are in reality. I couldn't manage to picture the right placement for those worry lines or crowd feet you have. You might not like them, but to me they show that you worry and care and that you laugh at the stupidest of things, which is a trait I adore. You are more perfect than any Davinci or Van Gogh," you say. You don't like when your friends feel bad about themselves.

Cordelia's tearing up a bit and wiles it away. "Didn't know you were a goddamn poet too?" She joked with a giggle, "thanks y/n, sometimes I need to hear something like that."

"No problem Cordelia," I can't help it, you're my muse, is what you want to say.

"Well, I have some paperwork, but it was nice to see ya," she hurriedly excused and rushed out.

Unbeknownst to you, Madison was watching. She knew exactly how to get dirt on you now. She had something all along.

The next week you spent daydreaming about Cordy...elia, you couldnt help but go back to that conversation. You needed to be more discrete, way more descrete.

So you made sure to draw your crush no more. That didn't change the fact you forgot to destroy the evidence in writing.

You had slept in a little too late, so in a rush you were to get to your office. The reason you had being you daydreaming about Cordelia and yours faux life together a little too long.

A bunch of new juicy stuff for Madison as she snatched it from your bedside table. It was too easy really.

She opened it up to the first page. It acted like a normal diary, just stating checklists of things to do and things you did. The size was fairly large, so skipping a few pages till she got to the juicy stuff and the part where you actually did know Cordy wasn't harmful.

It was a barf fest of emotion. "Oh Cordelia is so awesome, oh I'm so lucky to work with Cordelia, oh my, I won't ever get a chance with Cordelia, she's the supreme!"

"Ew," Madison groaned, whipping out her phone.

Then she found it, the goldmine of confessions. It was all the way in the back, meaning you had wrote it recently.

"Dear, myself

Cordelia today caught me drawing a picture of herself and said something I didn't particularly enjoy listening about herself. I can't believe Fiona would send her into such a deep hatred of herself that even with her gone she's hurting. She's no mother. Cordelia is the love of my life, even if I'm not hers, she deserves all the love I can give. She's not broken, but she just needs someone to love her and I do. I promise to give her as much love as possible without her finding out what kind it really is, I'm in love, I swear.

Sincerely, Y/N."

So she snapped a picture of the page.

After school was over Cordelia was not expecting Madison to barge into her office. Let alone with something regarding YOU of all people.

"Cordy, I've got something to tell you about y/n!" Madison sang out, waving her phone in front of Cordelia's face as she sat on top her desk.

Madison was just careless with others and too carried g about herself. It was the perfect storm. The only person who could ever take it too far to just prove a point. That there was something wrong with you.

If Madison Montgomery had taken one moment to actually think about it, she was just jealous. Jealous that another person at the coven was better than her to Cordelia. She was one spoiled bitch growing up. Guess it backfired.

"What?" Cordelia questioned in concern, "Is she okay? Madison what did you do to her!?" Her thoughts raced, Madison's pranks often went a little too far. She did kill Misty.

"Now now Cordy, don't get your panties in a twist. Here read this," Madison demanded to her supreme, she shoved it into her face and Cordelia grabbed it.

Her eyes expected headlines on the news or a mugshot, but she realized it was just your writing.

"Madison," she warned.

"Come on, I know you can read!" Madison poked Cordelia's forehead, prompting a slap from the Supreme.

Ms. Goode exhaled, "Fine."

Her eyes fluttered over the words, brows furrowing with every sentence. She couldn't comprehend, could she read?? It seemed to her as if her brain was creating what she wanted to see, but no, you wrote it. Unfortunately.

Everything's silent. Then the thought flits across her head, you like her back.

"In love, I swear."

Oh she's mad. Not at you, no, she could never. Madison on the other hand better,

"Get out of my office right now," Cordelia whispered. Madison's smile faltered.

"What, didn't you want to know your feelings are reciprocated? Come on, I'm just trying to get you two to speed up the process." Madison hopped of the desk and sauntered out.

What has she done.

Cordelia was wracked with guilt for awhile, with no way to tell you either. How does one even go about telling someone they read their deepest darkest secrets. How!?

She couldn't, so she did what she could. She pulled away from you and into her work. All of those lunches spent together stopped. The nights in the green house gone. Reading together on the weekends by the fire, gone.

And it left you empty. You had no idea what you did, but you must've done something.

So you decided to confront her, you hadn't gone much sleep since, so you were literally and figuratively tired of all of this shit.

Your knock on the door startled Cordelia, but your presence startled her even more. Both of you looked like wrecks.

"Oh, Y/n! Please, come in," Cordelia gestured and you did, closing the door behind you.

It was then that you finally broke down.

"What did I do Delia!?" You sobbed, falling to your knees. Yes it was dramatic and not even you expected it but you were holding your emotions for so long.

"Oh," Cordelia briskly moved over to you, concern painted on her face. She was watching you carefully, you looked so fragile. Just like she had felt at times.

"I'm sorry," you whimpered, "What did I do?" Her hand tilted your head towards her, but you still couldn't look into her brown eyes, opting for the floor. If you did, you probably wouldn't be able to look away.

"Y/n look at me sweetie," the nicknames never failed to make your heart soar. It was your weakness, your eyes met and they were glued there.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing nothing!" She took a deep breath, "I saw a page from your journal."

You froze, terror crept up your spine.

"Oh my god. Um Cordelia I am so sorry, you, wow I- god I'm so creepy! It's perfectly fine if you want to not be my friend or fire me. I didn't do it to be weird, it was how I expressed myself. I was trying to hide it I promise, i dont even know what happened!?"

"I'm gonna kill Madison, faster than my mother did," Cordelia groaned.

"Wh-" your brain malfunctions. Is-Is Cordelia kissing you? Right now?

Indeed she was and just like you dreamed about, her lips were so soft and her kiss gentle.

Maybe Madison could be forgiven... but not without a harsh talk.

"In love, I swear," she repeated in a whisper against your lips.

[soemthingsparkly]

Julie and The Phantoms Coffeeshop AU.

Part one | Part two | Part three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six

The LA Caffeine Scene

Ray is surprised to find his daughter on the sofa in her sweatpants that evening, with her sketchbook in her lap and gel pens roll down the sofa cushions behind her.

Ray picks up a blue one from the floor and hands it to her.

"Here," he says and her eyes flicker up to him beneath her reading glasses. She takes the pen and tosses it back on the couch.

"The set starts in twenty minutes, you're not dressed?"

Julie sighs. "I'm not going."

Ray blinks and frowns. "What? Why not?" He asks, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. All your friends will be there. Reg'll be there. Why don't you wanna go?"

Julie pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and swaps her green gel pen out for a pink one. "I'm just not feeling it."

Ray lowers himself onto the coffee table opposite and clasps his hands together. Julie senses him staring and lifts her head again.

"Are you thinking about Dr Green, again?"

"Are you?"

"No."

Ray quirks a smile. "Me neither."

Julie huffs and caps her pen. "Dad, I just don't want to go, okay? That's it." She closes her sketchbook and drops it to the floor.

Ray throws up his hands, palms out.

Julie clutches a cushion to her chest and glowers at the space between her dad's feet.

They sit in silence for a while, before Ray lowers his hand and lays it gently on her leg.

Julie sniffs and rubs her nose with the heel of her hand. "When does it stop hurting like this? It's like every morning I wake up, it feels like it's the first day all over again."

Ray slips from the table, brushes aside the gel pens, and slumps into the sofa besides her. He wraps his arm around Julie's shoulders and hugs her close to his side. She rests her head on his shoulder. She plays with the zipper of his jacket at his collar.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Sure."

"I'm not sure it does."

Julie sags and her hand falls. "Well, that's great," she mumbles.

"But avoiding things that'll make you happy isn't going to fix that, mija."

Julie draws circles in his palm with her finger. "I'm not..."

"Are you sure? It seems a little like your punishing yourself. You're allowed to have fun, Julie."

Julie blinks and her finger stills again. When she blinks this time, a tear slips down her cheek. Ray catches it with his thumb.

"She'd want you to live your life, honey."

--

Later, when Ray arrives at the cafe, he finds the chairs, tables, and sofas packed with people. He spots Alex in blacks behind the counter, with a couple of baristas he recognises but doesn't know the names of. Reggie is behind the counter, too, but in his white tee and red plaid.

Clearly they didn't expect it to be this busy.

Reggie spots him and his face lights up. Ray throws up a hand over his head.

"Mr Molina, you're here." Ray turns to see Luke, whose appeared at his elbow.

"That I am," Ray says, lifting the camera at his neck to demonstrate. He catches Luke's quick glance either side and raises an eyebrow.

"Julie didn't–"

"Dad, your keys." Julie dangles the set of keys over his shoulder and jangles them.

Ray takes them. "Found it?"

"Yeah, in the console."

When Ray looks back to Luke, he notices the way the boy is smiling at his daughter.

"You came."

Julie shifts, drags her fingers over her ear to tame her explosive curls. "Yeah. I figured it wasn't that early, tomorrow, so."

Luke bites his lip. "Awesome."

After a moment, his eyes dart back to Ray and he remembers his place. He clears his throat. "Uh, sorry."

Ray taps the top of his camera, still in its case. "Where do you want me?"

"Yeah, over here. I was hoping you could get a couple shots before the set. Of the band and the crowd and... yeah."

Ray nods. "Lead the way."

As Luke steps through the crowd, Ray catches him as he glances back over his shoulder. A dopey smile spreads over his face, before he regains his focus and continues to the stage.

Ray looks back at Julie, who crosses to the counter, to talk with Reggie. He's glad she came.

--

"Reg, Alex," Julie calls, leaning over the counter. Reggie, on shots, looks up and grins at her. Alex on milk, looks a little more troubled. "Why is it so busy?"

Alex pours cappuccino milk into a cap and douses it in chocolate sprinkles.

"Luke went a little OTT on the advertising," he says with a grimace.

"Yeah, he was down handing out flyers on the pier and everything."

"Which is great for business, bad for us. Sam didn’t schedule enough staff. Can you take this to table four, Jules?"

Julie blinks. "I'm not working."

"Neither is Reggie, but you know where table four is. Thanks."

And before she can say no, Alex is off again in a flurry of nervous energy. She raises an eyebrow at Reggie, but he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet, and she knows he’s just happy to help and be a part of things.

With a sigh and a smile, Julie takes the cappuccino to table four.

--

TBC.

--

Taglist:

@rightontheborderz @spookyghostalex @gutsy-wutsys @julemmaes @khat58 @fangirlwithanxiety @allhailthesanders @random-nerd-3 @alexpjoyner @whale-mafia @chaoslaura @lyra-pador @doveflight44 @soni-dragon @rainbowbookcasesandlargemugs @endless-navigator

[purrincess-chat]

Rejected Heroes Club CH2 (Adrinette Zine)

I got kinda busy yesterday, and I was out of town, so here is chapter 2 of my @adrienettezine fic. If you’re impatient, you can read the entire work right now in the full zine as well as a ton of other really awesome fics ;) Chapter 3 will be posted this Wednesday. 

Read on AO3

Chapter 2

A breath passed Marinette’s lips as the last picture from her wall landed in a bright pink box. She trailed her fingers along the rim, staring down at the pile of photos smiling back at her. Adrien was coming over to be measured for his hero costume, and even though he knew she kept them up, something about having him around all of them made her nervous. 

She closed the lid on the box and moved it to the chest beside her chaise-lounge, stacking it neatly atop several others just like it, and found herself reaching for the Miracle Box. It felt different. Foreign. Wrong. Wayzz and Tikki assured her that Master Fu had always intended to make her the next guardian, but she never imagined the price that came with it. 

“Marinette! You have a visitor,” her mom called up the stairs, and Marinette tucked the box back into its hiding place and shut the lid. 

Her allies might have been taken from her, but she could still be a guardian to them through this club. She could still give them hope. After everything that happened, she was in need of some herself.

Grabbing her sketchbook and a tape measure, she braced herself as the wooden stairs creaked until blond hair popped through her trapdoor. His face lit up when he saw her, and she willed her heart into slowing its pace to no avail. 

“Doesn’t your dad have your measurements already? Couldn’t you have just sent them to me?” She asked, and Adrien averted his gaze with a smirk.

“Well, yeah, but this gives me an excuse to get out of the house for a bit,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Besides, I wanted to hang with my new partner for a while.”

She didn’t even try to stop the butterflies in her stomach that time. Why did he have to be so perfect? 

“I guess I can show you what I designed for you,” she said. “I’ve never seen your costume before, so I drew up a few designs. If you don’t like any of them, we could try to work up one that’s close to what your actual costume looked like.”

Adrien looked over her shoulder, standing closer than necessary as she flipped through the pages. His arm brushed hers as he moved to get a better look, green eyes devouring every pencil stroke. Marinette did her best to keep her breaths even, resisting the urge to reach out and trail her fingers through his silky hair.

“These look awesome! They’re way cooler than what I had. Now I kinda feel lame,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“No, no! I’m sure your costume was cute. I mean- I’m sure it was fine,” she said, and he trained those gorgeous eyes on her.

“Thanks,” he said. He sat on her chaise, his countenance deflating. “My costume was probably the only good thing about my time as a hero. I wasn’t exactly successful, so Ladybug ended up picking Luka instead. I feel like I really let her down.”

“I’m sure Ladybug appreciated your help. She wouldn’t have picked you if she didn’t believe in you.” Marinette sat beside him. 

“I guess. I feel like such a failure,” he sighed. “I don’t even deserve to be in this club.”

“No, no!” She waved her hands frantically. “I-I think you do. Maybe this can be your second chance to show the world that you can be a hero too.”

His face softened at that, “Thanks, Marinette. I guess I just really want to do a good job.”

“That already makes you a hero, Adrien.” She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Having superpowers and a mask aren’t what makes someone a hero. Doing the right thing and trying your hardest to help are, and I’m sure Ladybug understands that.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, shifting his gaze to his feet. “I know you’d probably rather have Luka as your partner, but I hope you’ll settle for me.”

“No! I’m happy that you and I were paired up. Now we can spend more time together,” Marinette said then quickly added, “-helping others! I mean. We can spend time together helping others.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said, pulling her in for a hug. “I’m glad we’re friends, and I think Alya was right to pair us up. I really needed to hear that.”

“No biggie,” Marinette said, cheeks hot. “Now, about those measurements.”

***

“The costumes you made turned out really awesome, Marinette,” Adrien said, examining the detail work on his new suit a few days later as his bodyguard drove them home. “Those kids at the library really thought we were superheroes.”

As cute as Aspik’s original suit was, Marinette wasn’t technically supposed to know what it looked like, and once she started designing new versions, she couldn’t stop. Adrien was just too handsome for words, and her brain was running wild with possibilities. Should she use this time to try to get closer to him? What if he didn’t like her? Why did he look so gorgeous in a green mask?

“I’m glad you like it. I was nervous when I designed them because I’ve never seen your suit, but I think it turned out okay,” she said, trailing her fingers along the stitching in the shoulders as an excuse to touch him. 

“You’re really talented, Marinette, or should I say, Multimouse?” He said with a wink. “By the way, you look really cute with your hair up. You should wear it like that more often.”

“Y-You think?” 

“Of course. I think it’s pretty.”

“Not as pretty as you,” she said with a dreamy sigh before snapping herself back down to earth. “I mean, uh, you’re so handsome- I’m just me, and you’re you, and-”

Adrien chuckled at her blundering, seemingly unbothered by the sentiment. The fact that he’d gotten used to her stammering should have been incredibly embarrassing, but somehow it gave her comfort.

“This club was a really good idea. Having heroes to look up to meant a lot to those kids we read to today,” Adrien said. “And I think it means a lot to Alya and the others too.”

“Well, after their identities were exposed, they all seemed so sad, and I was hoping that they’d realize that just because they’ll never get their Miraculouses back, that doesn’t mean they aren’t still heroes,” Marinette said. 

“You did all this just so your friends wouldn’t be sad?” Adrien asked, tilting his head to the side then shaking it. “You really care about everyone. If any of us deserves to be a hero, it’s you.”

“I-I dunno, I just want to help my friends, that’s all. I’m no Ladybug,” she said, waving it away.

“I think you could be Ladybug,” he said, and Marinette held her breath. “I mean Ladybug is smart and kind and always thinking of others. You two are a lot alike—always trying to solve everyone’s problems. I know I’ve said it before, but you really are our everyday Ladybug.”

Marinette relaxed, a smile curling on her lips. “I just always lookout for my friends and the people important to me, and if I can do anything for them, I try my best,” she said with a shrug. “If I can be a hero for them then…that’s enough for me.”

Adrien’s bodyguard slowed to a stop in front of the bakery, and Marinette reached for the door.

“Today was really fun. I think Aspik and Multimouse make a pretty good team,” she said, holding out her fist. 

“Definitely,” Adrien agreed, touching his fist to hers. 

“See you tomorrow at school,” she said, and Adrien nodded.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow…”

[thephantomofthe-internet]

Read Into Me-Chapter 1: Wuthering Heights

Steve Harrington x Shy! Reader

CONTINUE READING THE SERIES HERE

Word Count: 2,849

Date Posted: 04/27/2020

Warnings: Swearing

Author’s Note: We starting something newww friends! If you liked or commented on my post about this series, you’re on the tag list! If you want off lemme know, it’s seriously no big deal. I’ve been working on this one for awhile, so if you liked it, please flash me a reblog or a reply! Criticism is always appreciated!

Tag List: @divinity-deos @thecaptainsgingersnap @wolfish-willow @scoopsohboi @herre-gud-nej @aclockworkballerina @maddie1504 @i-am-trash-so-much-its-scary @banjino-the-hole @buckysarge @wildcvltre @stanleyyelnatsiii @t0rment0 @10blurredsmoke10 @unusuallchildd @n3wtscaseofniffler5 @alwaysstressedout @peterparxour @linksispink1995 @asharpknife @alex--awesome--22 @baebee35 @marvelismylifffe @lilmissperfectlyimperfect

Flowers poked up between the sidewalk cracks, little white and yellow daisies blooming skyward, their heads turning to bask in the sun. Spring was bursting all over Hawkins, making the town reborn in pastels and Easter bonnets. Babies crawled around in the parks in white outfits, their mothers not worried about grass stains and cooing over their precious bundles of joy.

You crushed the daisies under your boots on your walk to school. You made a point to. They were begging to be crushed, stamped out by your heavy black soles. You didn’t like spring, you hated babies in their grass stained diapers and drool covered cheeks. You couldn’t place why you hated the season, it wasn’t as if you hated the cold or the rain which plagued March and early April, you adored the sound of rain on the Plexiglas roof of your family’s sunroom, thunder in the distance and swirling grey clouds swarming the sky. Then again, that wasn’t what spring wanted to be. Spring wanted to be beautiful bursts of colour and birds singing from their nests, babies crying into life and everything turning green.

Your hatred might have sprung from all that green, your mother had insisted on you taking up an artistic skill, supposedly because it made young women more worldly and affable, and sat you in art classes where you painted bouquets of flowers and bowls of fruit for hours every week. You didn’t hate art; it had become a release for you, a place to vent your emotions and makes something from your mind’s spinning thoughts. You’d filled sketchbooks and canvases with images of aliens and stars and snails. You liked to doodle snails and hourglasses on the margins of your homework. But your favourite thing was to draw your classmates. You were a quiet person, a sensitive soul according to your grandmother, and so often time’s people would ignore you flat out or discount your presence. This didn’t bother you so much, it gave you the chance to look at them without anyone asking any questions, to sketch out their image in charcoal and graphite, covering your hands in black and grey smudges. Your hands were constantly stained black, up the side of your hand to the tip of your pinkie, which meant that your jeans and shirts and sweater cuffs were smudged and stained.

You were sat on the football field’s bleachers one cool April morning, your best friend Samantha Cameron sat next to you, thin headset around the back of her head. She was unable to pull the headset around her black spiked hair, purposefully ghastly pale with black lips. You could hear the muffled sound of Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees playing at top volume as her head bounced to the beat, her black high tops kicking at the seat below you. You had your sketchpad out, trying to capture the stiff movement of her hair with the graphite piece clutched in your hand.

Samantha turned to look at you with a smile “You get it right yet?” she asked. She could see the annoyance in your face as you rubbed at the drawing, trying to smudge the stray hairs trying to escape the harsh gelling she’d done that morning. Just like your drawing, you suspecting that she’d been unable to get it to do exactly as she wanted.

“It’s getting there, it’s not moving right yet…” you muttered, pulling your lip into your teeth, chewing hard on the skin.

“You have like, four of me as is, I think you’ll survive if it isn’t perfect.” Samantha chuckled, pulling her headset down around her neck, twisting her long strand of pearls around her index finger.

“And I like this one best, your hair is moving so interestingly today…” you swiped at the page, pulling the eraser gum out of the coils and rubbing out the mistake you’d made, adding more shake to the tips of the centre point.

“Besides,” you chuckled “I’m not gonna have the time to get any good sketches of you with post-its in your hair this year.” Usually, you and Samantha would try to take one class together a year, but she had to switch her English class to first semester so she could snag a gym credit to train for potential college reps. She wanted to be a Wellesley girl and get a scholarship for soccer and she needed to be a top performance to get one.

You sighed, turning away from her. “I still hate that Mr. Lawrence insists on group work…” you muttered. You understood her decision, but you felt a bit nervous about being on your own. You’d gone to school with the same kids for your whole life, but being on your own with no one to depend on socially for a whole semester scared you.

Samantha wrapped an arm around your shoulders “You’ll be fine, you know that he usually assigns partners anyway.” She said, rubbing your bare skin gently.

“I know I just really don’t want to get stuck with some nitwit.” You replied. On cue, the bell blared from the outdoor speakers and you closed up your notebook, sliding your graphite and eraser gum into the coils and shoving it into your backpack, stringing it around your shoulders.

Mr. Lawrence’s hair had gone white long before he’d begun to show to process of aging on his face. His only wrinkles were from tension on his forehead and around his mouth.  His white hair was a sort of burst of smoke around his head, always puffed up around his head and never fully settled into a style. You smiled when you walked into his classroom, taking a seat in the far back corner. You’d already gotten a sketch of his puffy cloud hair, so you left your notebook closed.  The rest of the class trickled in, clumped in their little groups and chattering loudly, taking up the seats around you. Nobody paid much attention to you, which didn’t bother you as much as it used to. It still left a weird feeling in the pit of your stomach. You wished that you had your headset, so you could block out the sound from your peers.

You hoped that the seat next to you would stay empty, that people would avoid you and let you sit quietly. It hadn’t before the break, but the room had been set up in little table groups of four. Now, the room was set up in three rows, two desks pushed next to each other all the way down. Mr. Lawrence had already had to yell twice for people to not move the desks, a sign of little cliques forming. Vicki Clarke had tried to pull the desk next to you over to turn the end of the middle row into a fire hazard, causing Mr. Lawrence to yell out for a third time. Vicki rolled her eyes, but released the desk, taking the desk next to the free one, leaving a clear space between her and you. You didn’t mind; Vicki always smelt like artificial apples, from the cheap body spray she slathered herself in at her locker and the scent gave you a headache.

Tina Martins practically ran to Vicki as the bell rang out, immediately calling to Vicki “Move that desk over!”

Mr. Lawrence rolled his eyes “Miss Martins we are not moving any desks in this room. Take a seat.” He announced. Tina’s shoulders sunk, but she obeyed without an argument, taking the seat to Vicki’s right. Then, the reason for all the commotion walked in, late slip in hand.

Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington was still something to talk about, even after being horrifically dumped by Nancy Wheeler, he was still a hot object around the school, especially for girls burned by the newest small town hottie Billy Hargrove. Vicki and Tina were two primed recent burn victims, Tina having tried and tragically failed to get Billy’s attention at her own house party and Vicki being the first ‘hump and dump’ victim of the notorious man whore. Steve’s sad boy behaviour had attracted the attention of many bleeding hearts throughout the school, letting themselves get their hearts drained by his succubus heartache. And here he was, puffed up like a robin, his bright red member’s only jacket mimicking the red breast on the bird, his hair perfectly coiffed and glinting in the florescent lights. Heartbreak had done his ego good, teaching him that girls were a dime a dozen if you were hot and sad. The concept of preying on vulnerable girls made you sick to your stomach.

Steve handed his late slip off to Mr. Lawrence and he stamped it with the date punch he kept on his desk. “Welcome Mr. Harrington, please take a seat so we can begin.” He said, his rectangular glasses sliding off his nose as he spoke.

Suddenly, the energy in the room changed. It was then that you realized the class was mostly girls and every single girl in the room was staring at Steve. It was obvious to you in an instant: they wanted Steve to sit next to them and they were all out of luck, sat next to friends or other girls desperate for the same attention. The bargaining began, girls whispering to the person next to them to move, sliding cool erasers or lipsticks over onto the other desk, peace offerings they hoped someone would take. Mr. Lawrence’s classroom had fallen to jailhouse rules and you sat wondering when the first person would pull their shank. No one moved as Steve made his way to the back of the class. Then, another thing became clear-you were the only person with a free desk next to them. Vicki waved shyly to Steve as he took the seat and you tried to disappear. The whole room’s eyes were now on you and unlike Steve you absolutely hated it. You wanted to disappear. Now, you were enemy number one to every girl in the room.

“Alright, let’s begin then, yes?” Mr. Lawrence clapped once and commenced the lesson “Welcome to your last two months of English! I’m passing around the breakdown for your final assignment and copies of our last reading for the course, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.” The class groaned. You’d been hoping for a lighter, more modern read, something at least from that century. But you knew that Mr. Lawrence loved a classic and had to follow the suggested readings for your grade dictating by the state. You took your tattered copy and wordlessly handed the pile off to Steve, who didn’t notice that it had landed on his desk until Vicki pointed it out with a giggle.

“Now, everyone turn to their desk mate. He or she will be your editor and writing partner for the final essay of the year!” your heart dropped. You were stuck with Steve. And he was an idiot. Every stupid thing you’d heard uttered from a classmate’s mouth had always been from his. He once asked who the US was fighting in World War two. He spent one class arguing with a teacher that Beth didn’t die in Little Women, not believing it even when the teacher sourced the exact page when Alcott revealed it. He once failed a health assignment because he mixed up the names for the parts of the male and female. Literally mixed them up, your seventh grade health teacher had provided them for the worksheets and told the class to cut the out and glue them on and he mixed up all the words into a pile. He was an idiot!

Tina’s hand shot up fast and Mr. Lawrence called on her. “Mr. Lawrence, can we be a threesome with Steve?” She asked loudly, smirking over at you. Vicki giggled at the word ‘threesome’, hands clutched over her mouth.

“But then what will Y/N do? She won’t have a partner.” Mr. Lawrence flashed you a small smile and you just about threw up. This was all too much for you, too much attention, too many people looking at you.

You raised your hand timidly “I’ll be fine if that’s what they want to do. I don’t mind working on my own…” you said, your eyes locked on the course breakdown.

“See, Y/N can handle herself.” Tina said. If you knew Tina to be anything other than mean and condescending, you would’ve taken that as a compliment.

“I want every student to have work edited and reviewed by a classmate before I look at it. I’m sorry, but I’m not making exceptions to the rule. If your desk mate wants to switch with Steve, then that’s another thing entirely, but you cannot be a group of three.” Mr. Lawrence laid down the law on that and moved on with the lesson. While Tina and Vicki attempt to convince one another to switch seats and let the other have Steve, neither would budge and Steve seemed utterly uninterested in their spat. To be fair, he didn’t seem interested in the lesson either. He had taken to drawing on the surface of his desk, scratching his initials into the wood.

“Now, for your first assignment back, I’d like you to write me a piece on your spring break. Nothing fancy, just one page typed. We’ll write the first draft today and exchange it with our partners to be edited and rewritten for Friday.” He announced “When you’re done, read chapters one through three of Wuthering Heights.”

With that, the semester had begun again and everyone went to work. Voices took over the room, people chattering around you. You felt a pair of eyes on you, but you flipped open your binder to a clean sheet of paper and began writing out your simple description of your break. You knew that Mr. Lawrence didn’t actually care about what you had done or had to say, only that you’d done the work and had proof of editing for it. This was a practise for the main event. Still, you could make a page out of art classes and driving to Carmel with Samantha to see some random band in the basement of a dive bar. You could even make it interesting for him. But, something still made your stomach churn. You didn’t want Harrington looking at your writing. You didn’t consider yourself the next Hemingway, but you could write an essay. What worried you wasn’t being told that you were wrong. It was letting him into your mind at all. You didn’t know Steve and he didn’t know you, what if he didn’t understand you? He wouldn’t understand you.

You looked up from your work to see Steve looking blankly at you. You met his eye, raising your brow at him. He looked away fast. You didn’t know what it was about, your hands came up to your face, wiping at your cheeks and mouth. Maybe there was something on your face. Maybe your hair looked silly. Maybe he was making fun of you. That had to be it. He was making fun of you. Vicki and Tina were always bugging you and Samantha, maybe he was joining in. It wasn’t your fault that Mr. Lawrence had forced you two to be partners. You pulled your body away from his, curling into yourself.

When the bell rang, you pulled your work into your bag, making a break for the door. You had your free period next and were desperate to finish your drawing of Samantha. You didn’t need to have her in front of you to catch the right details; you’d drawn her a million times.

You had barely made it into the hallway when Steve grabbed your arm, pulling you back with a cocky grin “Whoa, slow your roll there kiddo,” he chuckled. Your skin prickled under his hand and you wanted nothing more than to disappear. You stopped dead in your tracks, pulling away from his hand carefully.

“So, how’re we doing this?” he asked, his attention moving from you to the yelp of Tommy Hanson. You didn’t need to look to know that Carol Perkins was beating him with her bag again. That was a weekly occurrence.

“Write your stuff and hand it off to me in class. I’ll edit anything up till forty-eight hours before it’s due. I’ll give you my stuff when you give me yours.” You said quickly, crossing your arms tightly over your chest.

“Sounds cool,” Another cry from Tommy, this one more directed at Steve, drew his attention fully “Alright, I’m coming Hanson! See ya around.” He directed the farewell to you, bounding off towards the source of the sound. Even when his presence was gone, you still felt his fingertips on your arm.

Samantha threw her arm around your shoulders, rebooting your systems again. “Hey, what was that about?” she asked, leading you away from Mr. Lawrence’s classroom and towards the gym, her next destination.

“That was because you fucked me over.” You sighed. It was going to be a long month.

[silverwhiteraven]

Borne of the Stars - An MLB Kryptonian AU - Chapter 1

Kryptonian AU Tag List:  @eve-valution @weird-pale-blonde-person @kris-pines04 @soulmate-game

[ Posted on Ao3 ] [ Chapter 2 ]

[Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a normal girl with a normal life. 'Was' being the proper tense. Her family takes a trip to Metropolis in the States while waiting for renovations of their bakery to be completed. An unlucky encounter with danger and the two Kryptonian cousins of Earth leads to a reveal that means Marinette shares a very similar past with the Superhero duo. At the same time, she becomes a Superhero, too. Oh, what a mess... ]

Many things began to change for Marinette Dupain-Cheng when she was 14. Specifically, the great domino chain was set off in the summer before her last year of collège. She would not notice the change that had come until an entire year later, but it was that summer in particular that started it all. Her entire life was about to be irrevocably altered forever, all because her family’s bakery needed a renovation, and chose America to vacation to while it happened.

~~~

Marinette steps out of the elevators into the hotel lobby, a black accented pink messenger bag slung over her shoulder, and glancing around for her parents. It was late morning and they had been dealing with calls from Paris involving the Dupain-Cheng Bakery’s renovations. 

Her parents had purchased the connecting building behind the bakery, planning to move the kitchens back into the new area and expanding the front of the bakery enough for both extra displays and a café sitting area. Even the menu was getting an extension, including drinks, to go along with the new look. 

However, the contractors were having a bit of trouble involving the building’s supports, and it was unfortunately taking time out of the family’s down-time. 

Marinette found Tom and Sabine standing in a corner of the large lobby, back to back like they were ready to take on the world together, phones to their ears as they talked away. Their daughter smiled at the image of them and walked up, kissing their cheeks in greeting as they leaned down to meet her like it was second nature. Not once did they break a beat in their conversations. 

“I’m going to go explore,” she states to them, quiet enough not to distract them but enough for them to hear. “One of the city parks is nearby and I've been dying to check it out. I’ll be back later, call me if you need me to come back sooner or want to join me when you're done. Is that alright?”

Both her parents smiled proudly at her and nodded in unison, Marinette beaming right back at them. With a final wave goodbye, she turned on her heel and sprinted out the door with excitement.

Metropolis was such a bright and beautiful city in her eyes, and it only helped that it was protected by one of the most awesome beings on the planet. 

The dark, gloomy city of Gotham and its equally awesome vigilantes only a scant few hours away certainly helped in giving the sunny city some extra contrast, too. 

Just thinking about the heroes though gave her a mixed sweet and sour taste. Superman and the Bats certainly tickled at her sense of style as a designer plenty often, and having come to one of the very cities they resided in did nothing to ease it. 

Alya had been no help when she first joined their school the year before, either. The first thing she had done was bring up heroes. It hasn't been until then that Marinette had started really paying attention to the masked people and their choice in clothing. Casual and semi-formal had been her forté then, but now, supersuits had become a large part of her hobby as a way to get more creative. As well as to ease her frustrations at all the heroes and villains and their range of great to terrible fashion choices that Alya would bring up on a regular daily basis. 

However, the designer could admit that in recent years, the heroes, and some villains, were getting better with their costumes. She could also admit that, looking through the eyes of past generations and their preferred fashions, the heroes had been rather on point and with their times. And like the good heroes and vigilantes they are, they evolved with the times and switched things up before they became nonredeemable. To Marinette’s eyes, anyways. 

But there's always room for improvement. And today was a great day to be inspired to make them.

Marinette stepped into the park with a wide grin, looking around at all the proof of life it was filled with. Most of the benches were filled; joggers taking breaks, parents keeping eyes on their children, and office workers leisurely eating lunch.

She looked up past the trees to see a clear view of one of the most well known and iconic buildings in the entire city: The Daily Planet. Grinning and giggling out of excitement, she picked up her pace and beelined for the side of the park closest to the building. There was nothing like the most well known place to spot the local superhero in order to get inspiration for redesigning his suit.

Finding a vacant bench with a clear view of the Daily Planet, Marinette lays her bag on her lap and pulls out her sketchpad, sticking a few extra pencils over her ear and into her hair so she wouldn't have to stop and sharpen one when it goes dull.

She sat there sketching away, occasionally looking up again before resuming her task. It took a bit of time before she noticed the occasional odd whistling in the air, an odd pitch between that of a plane high above and one you’d hear from something small and fast like an arrow. As she glanced up once more as the sound grew loud enough to take note of, she had to blink, unsure if she really saw something streaking through the air above the tower. 

Marinette stood and squinted, setting her bag and sketchbook to the side. She took a step forward, shielding her eyes from the sun and continued to stare.

Then the sound returned once more, and before she could question it and look for the streak she was about to hope was the local superhero, a loud clang could be heard, ringing through the air like a warped bell toll of Big Ben.

Her eyes went wide as she took a half step back and realized the Daily Planet’s planet had shifted, and was moving forwards towards her side of the tower. Her body froze and tensed as it continued to tilt.

Then she just, reacted.

“Everyone, MOVE!!” Marinette bellowed as loud as she could, for once in her life channeling the commanding voice of her mother and the volume of her father. 

“THE TOWER IS COMING DOWN,” she continued to yell, and she watched as the message was received by those out in the open, and the message quickly spread. She was a bit relieved to see that they were managing to stay level-headed despite the panic that was undoubtedly rising. 

She then rushed forward into the middle of the four laned street, signalling to drivers of the cars that couldn't hear her. “GET OUT OF THE WAY!!” It was agonizing to continue watching above, the golden sphere moments from tumbling off its remaining perch, as she motioned for the vehicles to turn back. She was once more relieved to see that those who got stuck were evacuating their cars before they got desperate behind the wheel.

In one last check, she saw an older teen stepping out of the building, earbuds in his ears, face downcast into a book. 

“Oh no,” she breathes out, and breaks into a sprint for him. 

When she reaches him, hearing the final creaks of the orb above and a crash as it falls down and smashes one and then another of the corners of the tower’s step-like upper levels, she slams his book closed and shoved it into his chest, startling him, a headphone falling from his ear. 

“Move,” she says breathlessly, and his blue-green eyes widen in comprehension as a third crash sounds out, and a chunk of rubble falls to the ground behind her. She shoved him backwards, back into the lobby of the Daily Planet. He stumbles and falls as she steps back to balance herself out from having pushed him too hard. 

The doors close and she’s too late to follow as another, larger chunk of building falls between her and safety, more coming down all around. 

Looking up, she sees the brass sphere fully overshadowing the sky, finally free-falling right for her.

Marinette barely manages to slide behind another huge fallen chunk and between two of the building’s outcropping walls before the Daily Planet’s signature symbol comes crashing down into the ground.

[hazelenergy]

How I Digitally Paint like a Scenic Artist/Designer

Aka: how I did this and put my degree to good use. 

LONG POST WARNING

Step 1: Research. 

First off, get to your image search. If you are going to be using Google, you may want to type “-pinterest” in the search to eliminate the countless boards. 

I had to figure out clothing that is vaguely late 1800s. I found a multitude of reference images that were fancier clothes- but I wanted to find images of clothing for kindred across all social classes. Photographs from the era and paintings are your friend. They will more accurately showcase what was worn. 

After Fashion research comes location research. The 1890s in America is known for the rapid industrialization. Factories were getting bigger and work days were getting longer. But, I wanted the moonlight to be cascading into the place, illuminating the scene. This means I needed to find a structure that had skylights or let sunlight in. And the best images I found? Slaughterhouses. Fitting, huh?

The same rule for fashion still stands- if you can find photographs or paintings from the era- they’re better. There are tons of places still standing today from the 1800s. But today, they look WAY different. Ya know, Abandoned! So just be sure to take this into consideration if you search “abandoned slaughterhouses” or go trespassing like I did.

Lastly, pose research. Finding the poses for a fight scene can be tedious. So, I enlisted some help from a few fight choreographers and stunt men. You can record their fights and play them back at quarter or half speed. You can also get a mirror and flop on the floor a bunch. I did both. This lets you see the action/motion lines you are going to replicate in the drawing.  Heres how we initially did fina’s pose:

And sometimes you have to go back and get a clean shot. I ended up using this pose for the axe.

Step 2: Set up and Background!

When you open a new file, set it to the dimensions and resolution you want. I was working at 600. Usually, I’m working at 300-350. You can always reduce resolution. Its hard to prevent fuzzy lines if you increase it later. 

I cannot stress the following enough:

You work background to foreground. Big Shapes and areas to little shapes. Work your way forward. What this means is you need to fill in as much space as possible first. Then build your details. I prefer working as follows: Big Solid tones, Soft shadows, Dark Shadows, Highlights, then final blend. Once you finish this, put an overlay on top. This knocks everything back and helps create the illusion of depth. See this at work with the video below or here

Step 3: Figure Drawings + Composition

Utilize that research and images you collected to pose your characters. I create subfolders for each set of figures. Organization is important here. This will help keep you on the right layer and prevent the eternal digital artist struggle of “Fuck that was on the wrong layer!”

Even after you move on to lineart and shading, Keep the sketch layer as a reference. You may need to see what youre original notes/ figures looked like as you do the lineart and shade. Don’t be afraid to move them around and alter the composition rn. You want to be able to make changes. Make notes! Detail light sources! 

I’m about to through out some art jargon:

You want to think about asymmetric balance. The easiest way to achieve this in an eye-pleasing manner is to use the Fibonacci spiral. Yeah. This boi:

Place your figures and actions in a similar sequence to the spiral and the viewer’s eye tends to naturally follow it. This is sometimes called the Golden Ratio in the art world. 

Doesn’t need to be perfectly on the spiral. You can break it- but its an excellent tool to plan how things move in the piece. 

Step 4: Lineart

Once you got things sketched- its time to do the lineart. I’m using clip studio paint’s standard brushes. Nothing fancy. I often switch between the G-pen and the For Effect Liner. Mapping and Turnip are for thicker lines. 

Usually I set these pens to a specific thickness depending on where I’m drawing.

My background figures are lined at 0.05 thickness, the midground is .1 to .2, Fina is .3 and the foreground is .4. I set my stabilization high to help keep my lines smooth. Stabilization 100 means there’s a significant delay between where the pen is and the cursor. I like the stabilization to be at 20 for freehanding and at 50 ish for outlining. Dont become completely reliant on the stabilization though. Good and smooth lineart is drawn from the arm not the wrist. Your range of motion is severely limited if you only move your wrist. Practice moving from your elbow and you’ll be surprised how much smoother your lines get. 

Once I finish lining the figures, I usually go around it with an outline. This does three things: 

1. Solidifies the figure and cleans lineart for paint bucket tool. More on that in the next step.

2. Its a stylistic choice. Helps give it that comic book feel with a heavy outline. 

3. Pushes figures forward or back in the composition. Thicker outline helps denote that a figure is farther forward than another. My background figures have no outline to push them away 

Step 5: Digitally coloring

For each figure you are going to select outside the lineart. 

Create a new layer under the lineart

Invert the selection. Paint bucket. You should now have a solid shape of the figure under the lineart. Do not deselect.

Create a new layer above the one color. Title it solid colors. Paint in thick, solid tones. I like to use the mapping pen and turnip pen to color in my solid tones: skin, clothing, hair, etc.  

After that, deselect. Create a multiply layer if you can. If your program does not have a multiplier function, Pick a tone you want to use for shadows and lower the opacity (usually 30-40% I like to use lavenders or blue tones). It will not be as vibrant, but you can edit it in post. Select off of the solid colors layer. I like to start with skin tones. Use the airbrush tool to create soft shadows. You don’t want to create harsh lines on this layer.

Then repeat this process with harsh lines.  

Then knock it all back with an overlay. If you dont have the ability to create an overlay, you can again drop a solid color and lower the opacity, but you’ll have to mess with the color balance/ brightness/contrast to let all the hard work come through. 

You’re going to repeat this for every single figure. Here’s a few color theory tips though.

Your overlay colors should be darker (not more vibrant) in the foreground and lighter (avoid using pure white) in the background. This helps with the depth of the piece. Things closer tend to be darker (not always true, depends on lighting)

You can choose to use color theory to aid your shadows. Instead of choosing black or grey for shadows, choose a complimentary color. I used a lot of green for this piece, I used red for really dark shadows. Its not that black drains color- its just loses some depth if not used carefully. 

Keep your colors consistent. Helps unify the piece. You can strategically break the consistency to draw focus. For example, Fina is the only figure with a true blue overlay. This helps her stand out from the other figures who have reds and greens. 

Step 6: Touch Ups and Final Renderings

Now comes the most tedious part. If you’re like me, your computer fans have been whirring for the last few hours trying to render this monster of a file. If you havent already,  SAVE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD

These are the last four layers I have for the entire piece. Here, I am trying to create effective and believable lighting. This kind of work I have only been able to achieve in clip studio or photoshop. You can do it with normal layers, but choose your colors CAREFULLY. Stay away from pure white. Carefully utilize your knowledge of light and shadow to create soft highlights. Harsh lines tend to be a stylistic choice for me. The final layer, subtract, dulls out harsh red tones. I used this as a final overlay to help put everyone and everything in the scene. Without it, things are a little too green and skin tones are a little too blushed for vampires.

The challenge here is I want to tone down the red, but not lose the vibrancy of the blood. So, shift it to a blue. This also helped reinforce the “nighttime” effect. Its only a slight change.

Final thoughts:

Whenever you finish something, its important to reflect.

1. I am so FUCKING PROUD OF MYSELF. This is easily one of the most complicated pieces I’ve done in a while- and I’ve made 16′ tall faux stained glass. Brag. Let yourself feel awesome cuz you just made something awesome. 

2. I timed myself on the piece. I could have easily spent another 7 hours on it. But its important to know when to stop messing with it. Partially for budget reasons but also when you get down to the details you can make yourself go insane. Theres also a ton of detail work I lost cuz of overlays or its just too small to notice. Fina’s face? hard to see cuz its not close enough. 

3. I needed to take frequent breaks for this piece. That was good. Resting and stretching was very important. That is one of the reasons why I was able to work so fast. 

4. I started doing more digital art in April 2020. I have to say, practice makes perfect. I practice drawing and digital painting for at least 3 hours a day. 

That discipline has allowed me to improve so rapidly. So- I don’t wanna hear shit about I can’t possibly get this good! Or I couldn’t even draw a stick figure! BULLSHIT. You can. Get yourself some free software like Krita or Autodesk sketchbook and start playing! 

And thats what I got! Thanks for coming with me on this long post! 

[glamourzombie]

More goodness from Liminal 11! This time, I am presenting the Cosmic Slumber Tarot (by Tillie Walden) in all of its glory: the Special Limited Edition, strictly limited to 1.111 copies, only available from Liminal11.com, and never to be reprinted again! This deck ask a question: if the Universe were to sleep, where would her dreams lead? Liminal 11 adds: “hand-painted and bursting with colour, The Cosmic Slumber Tarot evokes imagery from subconscious and subliminal states. It’s a tarot deck energised by a soulful warmth from award-winning comics prodigy Tillie Walden”.

Let me start with the deck in itself: this is a radiant, vibrant work of art where colour plays a huge role. The palette is very saturated, leaning towards warmer hues without leaving aside rich blues and purples. Its lines are very organic, in such a way that characters, elements and symbols flow in each card, as well as connecting seamlessly with each other. Under the strength and power of the artwork lies a tenderness that can be appreciated in the small details, and in the extremely well-chosen symbols. These cards aren’t only visual pleasure, but also a beautiful tarot experience that walks in the verge of dreams and reality. One of my favourite examples to illustrate this is the Tower, with its three hands that make us wonder: whose hands are these? are all three destroying the Tower?

The deck features 80 cards, with The Morning and The Night as extra guests. The minors are scenic, and in them colour remains important within each suit (for example, greens are almost exclusively found on pentacles). The characters’ faces are lovely, and convey lots of meaning. The hardcover book, at 56 pages, is a great companion. I particularly love the intro to the deck, as it really encapsulates its energy and intention: “dreams allow us to connect what does not fit together [...] This deck is about the peace [of] deep slumber, [with] the Universe revolving and dancing as she sleeps”.

The Special Limited edition enlarges this experience. In the round tin box, there are more goodies than the deck to be uncovered. First of all, the deck itself has mirrory silver edges not found on the standard edition (though the awesome magnetic slipcase box is included). The embroidered velvet tarot bag can hold the cards without the box into place, and the illustrated 3-panel ‘stained glass’ triptych looks absolutely delightful in the reading table. This edition also includes a custom cotton reading cloth, and one of my favourites: the ‘Sketchbook’ booklet featuring Tillie’s original sketches for the major arcana. This is topped by a signed and numbered authenticity card.

The Cosmic Slumber Tarot is an explosion of gentleness. Its vibrant colours and flowy artwork fill it with movement and life. The messages it offers are rich and multi-faceted, and though it has a dream-like quality, it speaks precisely and concretely. Tillie Walden has truly brought to life the deck’s intention: connecting the pieces. This is a deck I would recommend to beginners and seasoned readers alike, and the Special Limited edition in particular is the perfect addition to a deck collection. For more information and pictures, head over Liminal 11 - and make sure to keep up with them, as they have yummy preorders and new releases right around the corner!

[theres-no-protocol-for-this]

Amusement Park

Part 11 of the Guardian fanfic (and we’re almost to the end)! If you would like to read this in chronological order and don’t feel like tag surfing, this is also available on AO3.

Not everything my humans do ends in tragedy. Occasionally, they have something resembling fun.

Digging in the Archives led them to one of those traveling amusement parks that sometimes took over parking lots for a week. I'd seen it at a distance but frankly, the screaming and the smell of cotton candy hadn’t instilled much confidence.

You'll hate it, the house informed me. It had given me a pendant through which it talked, sometimes. I was still getting used to the mansion’s constant presence.

For once, the entity was uncharacteristically wrong. I didn't totally hate the amusement park.  The place was loud and there were far too many people, plus it all smelled vaguely of vomit. But my humans had a good time, and that somehow made up for the rest of it.

Arada and Overse held hands and bought themselves giant hot dogs. Baradwahj kept stopping to doodle in her sketchbook. Even Gurathin, who as far as I knew didn't like anything that entailed having fun, was having a good time as he argued air resistance and thermodynamics with Volsecu.

I was walking alongside Dr. Mensah, on two legs at that.

"Have you ever been on a Ferris wheel?" she asked.

I shook my head. If wolves had been intended to leave the ground, we'd have wings. And seeing as how we didn't, I didn't want to chance it. It must've shown on my face because Mensah laughed and touched my shoulder.

"You look like I suggested an execution."

"Yeah, maybe."

"It's perfectly safe."

"It doesn't look safe." How was I supposed to protect my clients if they were going to get on something that rickety?

The house offered unhelpful information, starting with when Ferris wheels were invented and the statistics of accidents and injuries.

Mensah shook her head, clearly amused at the whole thing, and stopped in front of a food vendor. Money exchanged hands, and suddenly she had this puffy ball of sugar on a stick. It was a hideous shade of pink.

"Want to try a bite?" she asked.

"Hell no!"

She snorted. "You could use more meat on your bones, you know."

"That... thing isn't food."

The rest of the group was up ahead, stopped in front of a small building that read "Fun House of Mirrors." These words didn't look right together, but fuck it, I don't understand humans and I couldn't care less what they considered fun.

"Over here!" Arada yelled, waving her hands.

Mensah waved back and started walking again. Normally, I do at most a half-assed version of my job. A decade in, I've come to the conclusion that humans are somehow drawn to danger, and frankly, stopping them is a waste of breath. But these humans... I didn't want anything to happen to them, so I'd been paying attention.

So, when a clown walked between me and them, I growled at the weirdly-dressed human. Except, it didn't smell human at all. It smelled... like me, like another were-creature. I didn't see a collar, so it wasn't a guardian. Just a free were-creature, one that hadn’t been caught by the department.

We’re supposed to report unregistered users of dark magic to the department. But, my binding almost never picked up when such a creature was around—it certainly wasn’t reacting now—and I had no plans of telling the department a damn thing.

The clown planted itself in front of me. "Oh wow," it—correction, she—said, suddenly excited. "Oh my god, you're like the only other shapeshifter I've met. Shit! This is awesome. Oh, god, can I...uh, take a picture?"

The team noticed my absence and came over, and then, there was nowhere to run. I stood around awkwardly while they chatted with the other were-creature, whose name was Tasha and who turned into a bear but had started as a human. And then they exchanged phone numbers. And I was just standing there, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt.

"You OK?" Tasha wanted to know all of a sudden.

"Fine."

"You look about a mile down the road from fine," she pointed out. "I can practically see you trying to crawl out of your skin."

"So?"

"So, you need to relax a little," she told me, oblivious.

Mensah carefully explained that I was currently working. Tasha patted my shoulder, and I almost jumped backward. It took effort to stay still and not bite the were-bear's hand off.

"Stop that," I growled.

Tasha handed me a balloon, one of the many she was holding and giving out to kids. I just stood there, string in hand, and tried to puzzle out what the fuck I was supposed to do with it. You can't really kill anyone with a balloon, and you can't eat it.

Ratthi said, "It's very purple."

I looked up at the floating ball. "What do you do with it?"

"Hold it for a while and then let it go and watch it fly away."

"What for?"

Humans often engage in rituals that bring them joy. It doesn’t always have meaning, the entity told me like I didn’t know. I wished I could glare but there was no one to glare at.

"Fun." Tasha was in my face. "The whole purpose of this place is to have some fun. It makes living a little easier, a little lighter."

I looked at Dr. Mensah like I needed rescuing all of a sudden.

"Come on," she said quietly. "Let's go see if we can find you something that's actual food." She smiled at the were-bear. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Tasha. Feel free to reach out to us anytime."

After lunch, we entered the funhouse.

I know humans are supposed to be delighted in things that bend the mind, but the house of mirrors gave me the creeps. I felt sufficiently unnerved to switch back into my wolf form. On the off chance that we got attacked three steps past the front door, I was ready.

I walked ahead of the rest of the investigative team, using my superior senses to seek out our target. But, frankly, I doubted the sanity of any creature that would make its home in this horrible place.

I stopped in front of a set of mirrors that distorted human proportions. Standing on four feet and only half as tall as the floor-to-ceiling mirror, I could still mostly identify what I was looking at. Trust humans to enjoy something as convoluted and mind-bending as this place.

And then a shadow walked straight out of the mirror and past me toward the investigators. It was a silhouette of a person, outlined in gray and green sparks of light. It sang as it moved, each word visible in the fog-shrouded room.

The words were literally spilling out of its mouth like confetti and falling on the ground.

I decided that this monster had bigger problems than a group of curious investigators to deal with.

"Indeed," said the strange spirit and the word plopped on the ground like a meatball. "This is what you might call a curse."

I yipped at it softly. "What kind of curse?"

It, of course, had no idea what I was saying. The mansion helped translate, somehow able to communicate with the creature just because of the pendant's proximity to the monster.

"The kind born of ill intentions," the spirit answered just as the humans caught up.

I placed myself squarely between them and the spirit, moving so that, if it tried anything, it would have to go through me.

Mensah put a hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, as a heads-up that she was standing beside me. I shivered at the unsolicited touch. Baradwahj was taking notes, and in the brief silence I could easily make out the sound of her pencil scraping against paper.

"I wondered why so many beings of light were suddenly in my domain," the creature said, and the words floated away, carried by an unseen breeze. "But now, I understand. The humans beyond these walls never cease to surprise me."

Overse, whose magic also had a connection to words and writing, stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"A difficult question, human." The cursed being rose above the floor on bare feet and twirled before us. "Once, perhaps I was human. But then I was cursed, for speaking the words that needed to be said. And the curse is renewed with each passing moon. For fifty years now, unceasing and unfailing."

"Can you tell us who cursed you?"

"I never knew her name. But she was... beautiful. Like the light of a new moon falling on a still, silent lake."

I heard whispers among the group. Finally, Overse said, "If we could find the one who cursed you, perhaps we could convince her to lift it."

"Perhaps."

The spirit flittered past me and between the humans. It passed through them untouched and didn't appear to cause them any harm. Sparks of green light landed in her wake.

I knew the humans wouldn't leave this alone, so I shapeshifted and became human. The spirit turned to face me now that there were eight people between us, haphazardly arranged and staring.

"So you're more than a wolf."

"And you're more than a prisoner," I countered.

"A curse is a curse." The creature shrugged.

"Not every curse is the same. Why the mirrors?"

"So that I might remember the importance of the human shape, the wonder of what it means to be born a human being." She spit the words out.

I had a sudden, inexplicable moment of clarity. "The head of the department did this, didn't she?"

"You're a smart one, little wolf."

No, not smart. Just good at remembering terrible things at inappropriate times. Mensah did this complicated thing where she got a little closer but didn't touch, like just existing would somehow prop me up. I don't know why. It's not like I cared what happened to this spirit or the uptight asshole of a human who chaired the department.

Overse and Arada grasped hands. Ratthi looked so very, utterly sad.

Mensah made a decision. I like how she thinks hard about her choices but once she's chosen, it's full steam ahead. I hate humans who waffle about things.

"We're leaving," she told the team. "There's nothing more we can do here. The Archives got it wrong this time. Guardian, we have some things we need to do tomorrow. So you have the day off."