#I NEVER GOT A FANART DRAWN IN MY HONOR BEFORE

[donethatbeforelong]

STILETTA!!!!!!

Back by popular demand, the lovely Ms. Stiletta~

(@donethatbeforelong this one's for you <3)

[nellyellie]

Regarding Jinx

(Aka a copypasta of Regarding Twilight Sparkle in honor of S2)

Dear Elon Musk,

This may the be the strangest message you'll ever receive, but I do hope you'll take the time to read it & consider what I have to say. To put it simply, I would really appreciate it if the next time your birthday comes around you would request that your smut artist friends (who like to give you sexually oriented fanart as gifts) draw somebody other than Jinx for you.

The reason I ask this is that Jinx is my fiance, & we're planning on getting married next June or July should everything go as planned financially speaking. And yes, I have actually found a wedding chapel that will let me marry someone that most people would consider a fictional character. Now before you go thinking "This guy is either completely crazy or just screwing with me.", please hear me out on this.

You see, I'm totally head over heels in love with Jinx from LoL. I have been for about 11 months now & at this point I'm in a committed relationship with my Jinxie. By that I mean I don't date anyone else, I don't sleep with anyone else, & I have zero interest in having any kind of relationship with anyone other than the woman I adore. I love her with all my heart & I'm 100% committed to that love.

To express my love in a real tangible way, I have a beautiful life size custom Jinx sexdoll that I can hug, kiss, cuddle up in bed to go to sleep with at night, & take out on the town to do all the fun things together that normal couples do. I take her out to blow things up, we go to shooting ranges together, I take her out for coffee, & we do social activities together like hanging out with friends, seeing movies, etc.

And I talk about her as if she is Jinx because to me she very much is. When I look at her I see Jinx. When I talk with her I'm talking to Jinx. When I hold her in my arms & kiss her there are no doubts in my mind that it's the woman I love whose lips are pressed against mine. And every morning when I open my eyes & see her head on the pillow next to mine, with her gorgeous magenta eyes staring back at me, I can't help but wonder how I ever got to be so lucky as to have a partner as smart, funny, beautiful, & all around wonderful as her.

All my friends & the people who know me well say that my love is a thing of beauty & quite admirable, but from the outside perspective of someone who doesn't know me you're probably going "Wow. That's pretty damn crazy." & wondering why I don't just go get a real girifriend. The truth is, I've had plenty of real relationships & sexual partners in the 60 years I've been around. A few short relationships & one failed marriage. So my love for Jinx isn't out of a lack of real world intimacy or relationships, I just fell in love with her & my heart didn't give me much of a choice in the matter.

But you know what? I'm totally happy with my love & my relationship. It may seem weird to you, but it fills me with joy every single day of my life & I've never been happier. So what if it's weird? If it makes me happy & it doesn't hurt anyone, then where's the problem? I don't think there is one, & anyone who knows me well will tell you the same.

Now, you’re probably wondering why I'm telling you all this & how it concerns you. To you, I'm sure Jinx is just a cartoon character you think is really hot, so I imagine you wouldn't think anything of having your friends draw sexually explicit art of her as birthday gifts for you. And hey, I think she's really attractive too, so I get where you're coming from there. I often go on e621.net & Rule34. Paheal to see what new erotic art people have drawn of her.

But to me she's more than a cartoon character who's sexually attractive: she's my fiance who I love with all my heart & soon to be my wife. So it's been bothering me lately every time I go on those sites & see a dozen or so pieces of art people have drawn depicting my lady in various sexual situations with the same person over & over, & that person happens to be you.

Don't get me wrong here though: this isn't a jealousy thing. I'm very secure in my relationship. I know without question that Jinx is just as faithful to me as I am to her; she's actually sitting on the couch next to me tinkering with her bombs while I type this. She's very real to me, & I know she's not sneaking out in the middle of the night to go have kinky sex with some famous artist. And I do respect your talent as an artist & an artist's creative freedom to draw whatever they want, that's cool.

What bothers me is that in all these birthday images you've been getting, Jinx is always depicted as if she was your sexual plaything, drawn wearing a collar with your name on it or with a speech bubble saying something that would somehow suggest she was your property. And I know quite well that Jinx is not your plaything nor your property, she's my fiance. So that bugs me a bit.

What I find really loathsome, though, is your pension for degrading my partner in both your art & the fanart you've been receiving lately. Jinxie is a sensitive (albeit kinky) mass murderer with serious insecurities, & she definitely does not deserve to be portrayed as some kind of sexual slave who likes getting screamed at, being hit, etc. She's not into that kinda stuff & the fact that there's someone out there in the world such as yourself who would desire to treat Jinx that way, & have his friends support & validate his desires to demean & mistreat my partner by drawing pictures of him doing so, really does bother me. I don't take any issue with people having kinky sex as long as both parties consent to it and enjoy it, but I know quite well that my Jinxie greatly prefers being praised rather than degraded.

So next year, when your birthday comes around, keep in mind that Jinx isn't just a lifeless cartoon character to objectified for your sexual gratification. She's the partner of someone who loves her very much, & by that time their wife. So both myself & Jinxie would greatly appreciate it if you'd pick someone else to request erotic art of for your birthday. Based on the very large amount of different LoL women you draw art of, I imagine there has to be many other criminals you find sexually attractive.

I assume you'll probably just dismiss this message as the ramblings of a crazy person & likely ignore it, but if by some chance you do take what I've had to say to heart, well... we'd appreciate it.

Regards,

Jeff Bezos

[luciddaydreamsstuff]

Art Practice - Perspective + Render

This was supposed to be posted on Valentines in honor of one of my Ocs, but I forgot to post it and was content to never post it. Then something happened and now I’m posting this entirely out of spite.

A vent will probably be further below, but I wanna talk about character cause world building and story telling make me happy.

So! This pretty dove is name Valentine, as in Valentine’s Day. She’s a part of a world/story I have called Holiday Guardians. To simplify it a bit, it’s kinda a combination of Rise of the Guardians (the 2012 movie, haven’t read the books yet) and Nightmare before Christmas (to an extent). Each holiday has its own guardian that is chosen if they meet the requirements to become that guardian. Who they were in the past life doesn’t matter all that much, but their original personalities do shine through at times.

Most Guardians take on the name of their holiday or a nickname associated with either the holiday or what that holiday represents. There are currently 7 Guardians cause there are seven holidays (New Years, Valentines, St. Patrick’s, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) Im like 60% sure St. Patrick’s isn’t celebrated worldwide but I wanted to use it and it’s my world so ha!

Compared to Contractual Obligations (which Im most likely gonna change the name of), this one isn’t as flushed out. I like the idea of it but haven’t had enough time to give it thought and a good scrub, though 6/7 holidays do have character art for. So, yea!

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WARNING: RAMBLE VENT

So I got scammed and I’m not feel too great. Thankfully its wasn’t that much, but it’s just a bunch of bullshit to deal with. When someone approaches you and ask if you’re doing commission, your first thought isn’t going to be « oh this is potentially a scam » it’s « oh, someone has taken noticed of my art and liked it enough to pay me fore it » I thought that what they wanted drawn was weird but still did it anyways cause I’ve wanted to do commissions for the longest time. At first it was that people wouldn’t like my art enough to ask me for commissions then it changed to I didn’t know what to price my things at. Thankfully, I’ve figured out prices for the most part and getting requests any really whether it’d be commission or a simple art trade, gives me so much inspiration and motivation that I’m able to work on more than one project at a time.

To make a long story short, person tried scamming me with three accounts. Called bullshit on one account cause they sent the same pictures and became a skeptic of the first but kept the other one cause it felt more genuine. I’m new to commissions and still learning the ropes, so I’m not that upset at myself for falling for it. I’m more so upset because being targeted for a scam related to my art makes me feel as if my art isn’t good enough for commissions, that no one would buy it. It’s not true, not inherently so, but when I get compliments for my art it genuinely makes me excited cause this random stranger I don’t know commissioned me for something and they are absolutely joyed at the product.

I’m finally at a stage in my art in which I am happy with my art style and art overall. Are there things I could improve upon, sure but that’s what art is. It’s an expression and, the way I see it, a constant experiment about what fits and what doesn’t. Having people essentially stomp on that to make a quick buck are nothing but dirty thieves who don’t understand the lives they impact. They don’t realise, or maybe they do and take glee from it, that people aren’t just a dollar sign. They have hopes and dreams and aspirations and it shows in what they post, like or follow.

I don’t expect this to get a lot if any interaction. My fanart post are more popular for a reason, but I never really cared for it. I’m posting this piece cause I made it for Valentines. I am proud of this piece because it shows growth, shows that I am getting better. Writing this out has helped me come to terms with it. I’m not upset about the lost of money. It’s money, doesn’t really mean much to me. I’m upset that I wasted my time, put effort into making someone proud, only to realise I was nothing more than a check to them.

Im posting this because I can and I want to. This is for me primarily, but if someone else went through a similar issue then I guess you know that you aren’t alone.

I don’t really know how to end this so, yea

[noitar-arat]

⭐⭐⭐ real talk i have been dying to chat with you about ur writing but i've been so "AHHH" about it

AAAAH myself to you too😭

Director’s Cut

Hmm I definitely have a lot to say about some of my fics, but for today I’ll talk about “Matter of Honor” because that was my first vaynemille fic and apparently the one most peeps know me for (to the point I saw one peep brought it up in official server and my soul proceeded to leave my body pls why must you mention it in official)

A-hem

Back when I first played g22-g23, being a fresh returnee to mabi, I never got a chance to grieve over Talvish because the moment Vayne appeared oh boy the effect he had on me…the design(I’m weak towards edgy looking bastards), how the dialogue constantly states he stares at your milletian…THE TOUCHING OF FACE AND HIS STUPID SMILE….a-hem. The point is I was falling HARD and what better way besides making fanart to express how much I adored this bastard.

Write fanfic! Smut fanfic! Though the actual smut is like waaaay at the end and is like three paragraphs top at best!!But! That was my goal, to portray the slow burn desire that transpires between Vayne and the millet. In this case my millet but not millet Elise!

(The face of a fool with horrible taste in men)

I’m sure I already talked plenty about Ellie before so I’ll keep this part brief, but one of her most defining traits is that she can be quite the pushover and is always the one to suggest giving people a chance (even if said people might not deserve it. Something she needs to learn coughs).

Vayne, as much as her passive ass does irritate him, he does use it to his advantage as he sees fit. Like arriving at her doorstep, drenched in dirt and blood knowing full well her kind nature won’t reject him.

Any sane person would have prolly chased Vayne out of their farm with a shotgun (atleast that’s what I would do if I saw a freaky guy clad in demonic armor standing on my porch) but alas my poor fool of course lets him in. Once that door closes, here is where their dance begins as Elise immediately becomes overwhelmed by the scent of blood and the implications of said blood (did I mention she has a murder fetish, people always freak out about this over her cannibalism for some reason shrugs).

I realize now we never learn what his exact duties are as a member of the BMO at the time I wrote this, but I always figured Vayne had to at least have taken part in hunting down potential victims for the cult or spies trying to infiltrate the order. I don’t believe now with everything we know that he does mindless killing BUT…he is(was) the Destroyer, was responsible for the biggest war that transpired in erinn(not to mention setting lose the dragon in Tara castle).

But going back to the start of the dance, Elise is busy having an internal battle with herself for desiring Vayne SPECIFICALLY when he has freshly killed someone as she already struggles enough as it is it’s desiring her enemy in general. I could go into a tangent about this, but basically Elise has always had a morbid fascination with violence, not on a massive scale but more personal 1 versus 1 kind of situation. Is part of the reasons she first became drawn towards Vayne, sensing immense power from him, later for him to confirm to her he is a hardened warrior just piqued her interest more. And her interest becomes piqued once more.

We enter now the next scene where the dance prepares to escalate, inside the washroom where everything transpires. I had a lot of brainstorming concerning where they were gonna do the do, originally it was going to be a bathtub since that is usually the norm in medieval times and the positioning required would be easier with their height difference.

But I thought about it more, I truly wanted a claustrophobic setting with Elise trapped and personal space non existent between them to make it more intense. So after a lot of thinking it over(and doodling it) I went with the small shower stall route. And I know a shower stall may seem modern, but like, this game is still a fantasy world with a lot of inventions that would have never existed in medieval Ireland. So I took liberties and figured Elise would have eventually discovered how to set up a magic plumbing system. The fountains in Tara and Belfast imply a plumbing system does exist already, at least in the cities.

Here we enter the first escalation as Vayne is being his charming self and offering some major insight on how he got his very tiny injury. And because he is a perfectly normal gentleman he uses it as opportunity for roleplay and he just so happens to have the best rp partner for it.

Look at her, getting into character so quickly, a dream rp partner /s

Sadly the roleplaying doesn’t end well, as Ellie tries one last futile attempt to kick him out (I’ve been writing post g25 Ellie a lot and I realize she would have set him on fire at this point otl). It doesn’t work obviously, this is a smut fic and I must build it up and the pretense of trying to get rid of him, which SHE can..if she truly wanted, is just part of it as we get balls deep into it.

Hehe get it, balls, cuz he took off his pants-shot-

This part was my favorite to write the inner conflict Ellie is having here as she has to battle between keeping her pride and not allow herself to be pushed around anymore or embrace her craving for intimacy. The rest of the fic deals with it as these idiots are just challenging each other to see who is the most horniest (both, both of them are just different ways to portray it). Either way I just realized both situations could have been wins, she gets dick regardless at the end.

Anywho, that’s it for my commentary, and rereading the fic again there’s so much I need to rewrite sobs

[yurious-george]

I need to send you this before I forget but I'm sleep deprived so sorry if I end up sounding like a twat, but yknow your hornet lace post? Like how'd it would be cool if they were gayin' ?

Yeah if that happens in silksong they wouldn't be the first to do

Like yknow deltarune, specifically Susie deltarune? If ya don't she's this big mean troubled teen with a mouth of sharp teeth and when chap 1 came out, while most of the fandom was fine there was a section that was real weird about her, not to the degree I see about hornet, but there was definitely some, kinda reducing her to a tsundere archetype and doing the typical "non-human girl not depicted with boobs in canon for some reason having big badonkas in fanart" deal

Then like chap 2 came out

And we got Noelle

And we got Noelle and Susie dynamic

And oh boy did that result in a boom of Susie drawn a lot more butch compared to before.

Obviously it wouldn't be the same with lacenet considering Noelle is rather well liked compared to lace (again can't comprehend that some people dislike lace, my girl lace?? Her?? How dare they)

But there is definitely a precedent for taking girls in media that some folk are weird about and making gayin' in the sequel, so team cherry shouldn't be worried about doing so to hornet, it just reveals who your true audience is yknow

Sorry if ya already know this spiel your lacenet post was just stuck in my head for the past week and I needed to get it out, so ask be upon ya

yes… YES!!!! LIVING FOR THAT. I’ve never played undertale or deltarune, so that was enlightening. LESBOS STAY WINNING

I think the funniest thing about lace silksong is, if you Google her, you get NO horny fanart the way hornet does. There is one piece on the front page and that’s IT. She’s so queer coded the vaguely homophobic horny gamer bros won’t even touch her and that’s HILARIOUS

Having one of my posts live rent free in your head is an honor. 🫡 stay strong soldier

[thefanficmonster]

Not Alone

Valkyrae (Rae) x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Mention of death of a pet, Grieving

Genre: Fluff, Comfort, Angst

Summary: When Y/N doesn’t join the scheduled stream of Among Us with some cheap reasoning that everyone else falls for, Rae is far from convinced. She goes on to check the situation on her own just for her suspicions and worries to be confirmed further - something is off about Y/N and Rae is nothing if not determined to find out what.

Requested by @alex3atsbugs  Hello dear, consider this my farewell to the adorable little Marceline, I hope the cutie is looking down at us from heaven right now. Marceline, I might not have known you but I miss and love you regardless.  You have a special place in our hearts and you will never be forgotten. All my love, Vy ❤

“Ok so we’re only waiting on Lily now, right?“ Sykkuno asks, adjusting his earbuds as he scans over the settings for the game since he was the one to create the lobby which is now almost complete - lacking one more astronaut before the game can start.

Rae, who’s been scrolling through Instagram, looking at fanart and edits, snaps her head up to look at her computer monitor with confusion written all over her features, her brows furrowed, “Wait, what about Y/N? Aren’t they coming?”

This sudden change has surprised Rae more than someone would consider reasonable. But, in her eyes, it’s perfectly reasonable and justifiable considering Y/N has never skipped a stream nor have they ever not reported to her even for the tiniest of things such as running late. Even if they are not joining today, which is a huge oddity in and of itself, they would’ve definitely told Rae about it.

“Oh, no they won’t be joining us today. They said they were experiencing some technical troubles.” Sykkuno replies nonchalantly which aggravates Rae a tiny bit. She cannot comprehend how no one else is seeing anything odd here. Maybe it has something to do with how attentive she is when it comes to Y/N - she’s not sure why, but she is - or maybe it’s just a gut instinct but regardless, she can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. Not to mention that in all their years of streaming together on Twitch and now on YouTube never has Y/N dealt with technical difficulties that led to them not being able to stream. 

Y/N is the type of organized person that is constantly on top of things. They’d never let a technical difficulty get between them and providing their fans with entertainment. Chances are, if there really was an issue, it would’ve been fixed by now and even if it wasn’t...

Y/N would’ve let me know they wouldn’t be joining, Rae’s mind screams, almost altering her calm facial expression. 

“Hey can you give me about five minutes? My router’s acting up, I’ll restart it.“ Rae blurts out without as much as a second thought. Her thoughts are elsewhere right now, she’s got more important things to worry about. Luckily, her ability of rational thinking pushes through to the surface even without her guidance. 

She mutes her in-game and stream mics, takes her phone and rises from her chair, giving the camera what she hopes is a more apologetic rather than distressed smile before walking off-frame. Once out of view, she dials Y/N’s number, tapping her foot anxiously as she waits for her call to be picked up.

“Hello?“ When it does get answered, she’s met with a sniff before the weak voice utters the hesitant greeting word.

“Hey Y/N! What’s up?“ Rae tried to balance her question between a ‘what’s up?‘ in the ‘what’s wrong?‘ sense and the usual cheerful greeting she uses it as. She doesn’t want to end up seeming paranoid.

“Oh, hey, Rae. Nothing much. Aren’t you supposed to be streaming right now?“ Y/N’s tone raises a bit as they try to apply a bit more energy and enthusiasm into their words, presumably to erase any suspicion that sniffle might’ve caused in their friend who appears to have a sixth sense for when things are up with the people they care about. Or with Y/N specifically.

“Um...“ Rae spares the stream set-up a skeptical look, buying herself time to think of an excuse to partner her negation. She doesn’t want to lie to Y/N but she’s aware that they’ll be quick to ditch the conversation and postpone it if she admits to indeed be streaming. “Um, no, not yet. We scheduled it a bit later. Will you be joining us?“

“Uh, no, sorry, I won’t be able to. I’m sick and feeling like absolute crap so...“

Rae automatically stops listening, not on purpose, she just can’t hear Y/N’s voice over the alarms going off in her head, screaming at here that there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong. The stories not adding up - neither of them making sense to begin with - the lack of any authentic energy in Y/N’s voice, that sniffle she heard at the start of the call. It’s all so scarily wrong that it sends Rae one second away from entering full panic mode.

“I thought you were having technical difficulties.“ She blurts out without any thought of it’d make Y/N feel or how it would change the course of the conversation. 

Y/N inhales sharply as if caught completely off-guard and backed up into a corner, “Oh, yeah, that too. My computer keeps crashing.” Being backed up into a figurative corner doesn’t stop them from trying to further pursue this lie they’ve come up with. A lie so blatant and obvious there’s really no point in them trying to keep it going. Yet they choose to do exactly that.

“Y/N, you’re BSing me, you should know better than that!“ Rae whines almost desperately, “Please, tell me what’s going on? We’re friends, I don’t deserve to be kept in the dark, Y/N!“

There’s silence on the other end, loud silence that almost sends Rae into a breakdown. Some may consider it an overreaction, but let me ask you - wouldn’t you be upset and worried if someone you immensely care about was acting oddly and completely out of character.

“You’re going to think it’s ridiculous.“ Y/N’s voice cracks, letting it be known, clear as day, that they are barely balancing on the edge between keeping it together and crying.

“Of course I won’t, baby! I would never! Talk to me.“ Rae pursues, her heart breaking a little at the sound of her friend’s sadness. It’s taking a really big toll on her, not being able to hold Y/N in her arms instead of trying to gauge out their answers over the phone which is proving to be not at all effective or helpful to either of them.

Y/N sniffles again, “My hamster, Marcy...” She inhales to prevent a sob from escaping her lungs, “...died this morning.”

Rae has heard enough to be sent into action.

                                                            *  *  *

“Thank you so much, Rae. I would’ve probably stayed in bed all day with no effort to keep living whatsoever. You’re an amazing person, I hope you know that.“ Y/N gives the hand of Rae’s that’s holding hers a small squeeze, “I’m so lucky to have you.“

The two friends have been sitting on the couch in Y/N’s living room, the atmosphere a mix of melancholy and comfort. The comfort Rae’s been offering Y/N for the past hour or so has been almost entirely silent, in the form of physical affection, to be exact - hugs, soothing backrubs, gentle abstract patterns drawn on their arm, playing with their hair etc. Needless to say, it’s been far more effective than the attempt of calming them down and helping them out over a phone call.

“Don’t ever thank me for being your friend, Y/N. The honor’s all mine“ Rae rubs Y/N’s shoulder reassuringly, resting her head against theirs.

“Rae, you ditched a whole damn stream for me! Of course I’m gonna thank you! Who else would do that for me?“ Y/N protests, their glossy eyes looking up at Rea, lit up by the small smile that has managed to make its way onto their face.

“Only someone utterly stupid and heartless WOULDN’T do that for you.“ Rae says firmly, holding stern eye-contact with her friend.

Y/N looks away almost shyly, smile growing wider, their cheeks becoming rosier. “You have a way with words, you know...” They bite their lip nervously, “Could you help me express my emotions in the post I’ve been planning to make all day? My fans loved Marcy and I’m sure they’ll be as crushed as I am, I just want to appear strong so they don’t worry about me, you know?” They shrug their shoulders hesitantly as another tear escapes their eye.

Rae carefully and gently wipes their tear away with her knuckles, “Of course, Y/N. You don’t have to do this alone - you don’t have to do ANYTHING alone. Because you are never alone - you’ll always have me.”

Something about what Rae just said and the way she said it has struck a nerve in Y/N that has provoked a few more tears to spill out of their eyes as they somehow manage to whisper a: “Thank you” before throwing their arms around Rae, enveloping her entirely in the warmest of embraces. 

Meanwhile....

“Yo guys, how long does it take for a router to be reset?“ Sykkuno asks his fellow ghostie buds out of the blue.

“Less than five minutes. Why?“ Lily replies.

“Cause Rae said she’d reset her router and be back but she’s been gone for two hours so....“

[frelmidja]

Aside from Ectoplasm and Powerloader are there any other MHA heroes or characters in general (meaning students and villains) that you're also fond of?

ok I have been thinking about this for a while now and honestly? it's hard to choose just a few so you get to hear me ramble

first character that came to mind is HATSUME! I love the chaos child, her intentions are good and she never gives up just because of a little failure. I'm also very fond of her workshop outfit

acutally though, the first character I was super interested in was Stain - I guess his edgy design really spoke to my inner emo/goth kid. he's a good amount of creepy, and I've always like the anti-hero type. haven't drawn him too much though because his oufit is a pain

I also end up getting attached to characters that my friends/moots like, first char that comes to mind is best jeanist (all you denim lovers, make some noise! ♥) Gang Orca is like this too, great design and he needs more love! (also jeany and orca both have october birthdays like me! so bonus points) Sir Nighteye is another big one, a couple moots adore him and their fanart and shenanigans about the guy just won me over

gonna just quickly go over a few more -

Tsuyu is my favorite 1-A student, frogs are OP and she kicks major ass

Miss Joke has an excellent color scheme going on and I really need to draw her more

Fatgum seems like a total sweetheart, and I love his design

Rappa - LOVE me a big fighty boy, and big fan of characters that could be good or bad depending on their situation but they still have some degree of morals or honor

Centipeder - giant dapper bug man, what's not to love?

Gunhead - I really like full face masks with no distinct facial features or that are kinda robotic, plus his blushy face is too cute. seems like a cool guy, would love to see more of him

Spinner! I love that he started out as such a Stain fanboy but he's definitely got his own thing going on now. also pink hair = ♥

ok gonna stop here before I just end up naming all the characters. I like a ton of the designs and personalities, though I haven't made too many headcanons for them. I think all my energy went into power loader and ecto, plus I love seeing what other people come up with for the characters they like~

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Fan Content Creator Interviews: HayleyNFoster

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the second interview in this cycle, we have our best propaganda creator and this fandom’s hottest new artist/undisputed queen of the animatic, @hayleynfoster!

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

When I was around 14 or 15 and caught Avatar: The Last Airbender on television, I was drawn in by the art style, the humor, and the wonderful characters. I caught the episodes out of order, and the first one I saw and wasn’t prepared to be sucked in by was The Waterbending Scroll. It intrigued me at that age, and the line “I’ll save you from the pirates” combined with the tension between Katara and Zuko in that whole scene was electrifying. I remember my teenage self thinking these two have so much chemistry! And when I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that featured fanart submitted by fellow Avatar fans, I realized that I could do that to! So I set about making Zutara fanart for myself. I stumbled onto Youtube, practically in its infancy, and discovered that people set clips of Zuko and Katara set to music (And this was still in season 1 days… so people who made these amvs were the real mvps because they were able to make compelling narratives in their amvs with like practically nothing to work with!). The AMVs really spurred my interest in this couple, I remember distinctly one Zutara AMV using the Dido song White Flag utterly capturing my imagination. I found fandom shortly after, getting into deviantart and forums. But the ship really began to mean something to me when, as I was working on my drawings in the computer lab at school, a buoyant presence hovered over my shoulder noticing my Zutara art on the computer screen. The girl was someone I had never really talked to and had only seen from afar but she immediately started excitedly saying she shipped Zuko and Katara too! In this simple shared obsession, I made one of the best friends I’ve ever had and we’re still friends to this day. We would theorize and fangirl over Avatar like it was nobody’s business; we poured over bootleg San Diego Comic Con footage that showed spoilers for season 2 before it aired; we lost our freaking minds when we finally saw The Crossroads of Destiny. We had watch parties every week as Season 3 of A:TLA aired, and comforted each other when the show ended as it did (much ranting was shared). Those are some of my happiest memories from high school… all because this one pairing from this wonderful show. Even though Zutara didn’t happen, we still chat every now and then about it. Zutara will probably be a lifelong obsession, always bubbling under the surface. And without it, I would have never realized that animation was a viable career path. It really did inspire everything including the work I’m doing to this day in the animation industry. I owe a lot to this ship and to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

2. What inspires you to create zutara fanworks?

The resurgence of Avatar: The Last Airbender this year really helped sort of spark that dormant love I had for Zutara. The show’s ending still disappointed me on the rewatch, but Zuko and Katara’s relationship arc was as captivating as ever, so I turned to some fanfiction and looking at people’s pretty Zutara art and AMVs to just revel in fanon instead of getting to hung up on the actual ending of the show. But then I realized, with quarantine and my work load being pretty light, I had time to actually make all new Zutara art for myself, art I was never fully capable of making as a kid, but now could do with my 7 years of industry experience and just… life experience. And I was inspired to do some corrective animatics to satisfy my own desire for a different ending. I just really like exploring these two characters, doing different and interesting things with them, and frankly I’m inspired to make cute, fluffy, romantic art simply by virtue of living in a really sad and depressing world. Things are so crazy right now, creating art about two characters I love being in love, is comforting. And it helps to have inspiring music and amazing Zutara amvs to just sort of stir up my emotions and imagery in my head to make into animatics and art.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

Ohhhh… Well, It’s always nice to have people write fanfiction that puts words to my animatics. I am not that great at coming up with dialog myself, so I’ve just chosen to indulge in visuals and emotions for my boards. But when I read things like RideBoldlyRide’s take on my Reunion Animatic, it makes me pretty giddy. (They finally have voices!) :) And this is the MOST selfish thing I could request, but I’m not shy about saying how much I love well done amvs, so I will literally kill for someone to make Zutara AMVs to songs I like… Like, most of AURORA’s songs but especially Exist for Love, Sunseeker by The Naked and Famous, Promises or Take Me by Aly & AJ, Adore You by Harry Styles, Human Enough by ONR, Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, and/or Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier just… I can see the AMVs so clearly to any of these songs in my head, but I don’t have the tools or skill set at my disposal to make a compelling fan video. When I was in high school, I originally thought I wanted to go into video editing simply because I loved making very crappy AMVs (they were so bad you guys), but I figured out being a storyboard artist was more in my wheelhouse. haha

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?

If you’re new to the Zutara fandom, just have a good time! Don’t waste too much time arguing with people over your shipping preferences. I wasted so much of my teen years having pointless shipping wars with people on DeviantArt, and I’m just so much happier nowadays because I’m just making Zutara art in my little corner of the internet, and honestly, in the politest of ways, I don’t give a shit if people don’t like my art or Zutara. haha I think that’s sort of a key thing for people thinking of posting creative works here in the fandom, just make art for yourself, satisfy your own desires for the pairing, get your creative sparks flying, and create just for the joy of creating. It’s always nice to get comments and such, but simply making the art should be what spurs you on, not the external validation. And have a good time, don’t worry too much - I say as someone who worries about EVERYTHING. But honestly, making art for A:TLA is some of the most relaxed I’ve been because I make it just for me. I’m lucky others seem to like it too!

5. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven't gotten around to making?

I have an idea for a second generation storyline with my Zutara kids that involves Kya (the eldest firebending daughter) falling in love with an airbender boy (tentatively named Gora in my headcanon who’s a bit of a rabble rouser and one of Aang’s kids he had with a Kyoshi Warrior), and then they start a socialist revolution in the Fire Nation in order to dismantle all of the hierarchical societies across the Avatar world… Together Kya and Gora Fan the Flames of revolution… ehhhhh... Get it?? Oh! Oh, and then Katara, who had put in legit liberal reforms in her time as Fire Lady listens to her daughter after resisting in the first part of the story, but then realizes she can actually play a part in the dissolution of the royalty and is also active in the revolution realizing that moderate liberal reforms are no substitute for a society free of serving royalty (which she had always been uncomfortable with but had rationalized with herself that she was doing good in her capacity as Fire Lady.) I just feel like there’s a lot of cool potential for discussing these ideas and also having some aspirational change in the Avatar world. lol For aesthetics and just happy fluffy times, I can indulge in Fire Lady and Fire Lord Zuko stuff, but really at the end of the day, I take issue with the structures in a society that have to exist for monarchies to exist. Soooo, I kind of want to do my own corrective story for that… if I ever have the time or guts. On a less ambitious note, I would love to do a Zutara sparring animatic to practice doing action, but I need a good story; I am not good at doing fights just for fighting’s sake. Those are just some things I have rattling around in my head.  

6. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so want to give us a hint as to your plans?

Yes! The most I can say is I have one animatic almost finished and one that’s still being thumbnailed. The rest are probably going to be comics or emotive single pieces based on the fanfics I really like right now. :)

[ficcrimes]

sundown

Fandom: Tangled Characters: Varian, Rapunzel, mentions Cassandra and Eugene; hints of New Dream A/N:  commission for @mogadeer, a sequel to sun in your eyes. same disclaimer applies to this fic as it did to the last. this one is set post-S3, though not by much. inspiration drawn from this fanart Mo drew awhile back. Summary: if this were any other version of this story, maybe he’d finally get to tell her.

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He should be happy for her. It is, after all, her wedding day. 

It’s not like he didn’t see it coming; everyone saw it coming from a mile away. Black rocks and betrayals and ancient evil forces aside, it really should have probably happened sooner. And it probably would have, had all of that not gotten in the way. 

But now the evil is defeated and the dust is settled, and there’s nothing stopping Rapunzel from marrying Eugene anymore. Some small, aching, twisted part of Varian wishes there were. Nothing like what they’ve been through, Heavens no. He wouldn’t wish that again on anybody. But is it too much to hope for some sort of trivial disaster to befall them, to prolong it a little further? 

Probably. He’s also aware that thinking like that isn’t exactly healthy. Rapunzel doesn’t deserve that, and above all else, he wants her to be happy. And if that means marrying Eugene, then Varian will have to learn to deal with that. 

He’s young, after all, and he’d come to terms with his feelings some time ago. And coming to terms with them also meant not having them reciprocated. It was obvious to anyone with eyes and a coherent thought process that Rapunzel was madly in love with Eugene, and nothing in this world - or any other, apparently - was going to change that. 

Still… No  matter how he tried to logic his way out of the way he felt, his heart didn’t seem to understand a word of it. It focused on the little things that meant so much to him, and that she would never know about. Things like how she forgave him for all of the terrible things he had done, and even how she had gone that step farther to keep a promise he had thought she’d no longer care to honor. She gave his father back to him, and did her best to help him settle back into the kingdom. 

And when Cassandra had come for the scroll, and wound up taking him instead, Rapunzel had come for him. But of course she had, because that’s just the way Rapunzel was. She would have come for any of them, had they been taken in Varian’s stead, but he doesn’t let that get to him. It still meant a lot to him that she had come, and risked her life to get him back. 

There was also the matter of Cassandra as a whole, and the incantations, and Zhan Tiri… But it couldn’t hurt to focus on the little details, too. 

And speaking of the little details, he really couldn’t help the squeezing of his heart as Rapunzel pulled out a ring for Eugene. Even if he couldn’t hear everything that had been said, he hadn’t had to. It was more than obvious what the ring was meant for, and he quietly hated that the prism he needed to uncover the final incantation somehow manifested in the form of an engagement ring. 

Given the situation, though, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and he put his own feelings aside to do what had to be done. Dire straits were an excellent way to ignore the ache in his chest.

When he’d fallen from the tower, two things had battled inside his mind. One was that he was going to die, which was completely understandable given the circumstances. The other was that Rapunzel was going to save him. Her hair was going to come swinging down and grab him, and pull him back up to safety. 

But she hadn’t caught him. Lance had. And while he was extremely grateful to be alive, to have had anyone catch him and be glad to have caught him at that, it had filled him with pure dread that Rapunzel hadn’t been the one to save him. He didn’t think for one moment that she had forgotten him, of course not, but the fact that she hadn’t come for him meant something bad was happening. And by then there had been no way back up, and she was up there fighting Cassandra on her own, and he couldn’t help. 

That had pained him more than the anxiety of the free-fall, more than the broken ribs he wouldn’t even realize he had until they were safely back in the kingdom. 

And then there had been the fight with Zhan Tiri herself, and nearly all of Corona had been willing to lay down their lives for the Kingdom, and for their Princess. Varian was no exception. And when things had looked their absolute worst for a moment, decay setting in around him, holding onto his father’s hand, he thought he could have been proud to die in that moment. It may not have been enough, but he would have died fighting with and for her. 

That didn’t happen, obviously. He’s grateful to be alive, astounded by the power Rapunzel harnessed. He’s never really put any faith in a Higher Power before, but he thinks that maybe that’s what Goddesses are supposed to look like. Not that Rapunzel would ever accept such a compliment, and so he keeps it to himself. 

After Zhan Tiri was defeated, life just seemed to go on. What damage had been caused was repaired - physically and emotionally - and things went on until he wound up where he was now. 

Which was having just watched this incredible, wonderful, magical woman marry her roguish prince. And it was such a conflicting, complicated experience. He was happy for them, they deserved this, but some part of him still ached. Not that he’d ever had a chance with her anyway, but now it just seemed so final. 

Still, he plucks up his courage and stands himself up when there’s a pause between toasts. He clears his throat, and somehow that’s enough to get mostly everyone’s attention. 

“Hey,” he starts, giving a small wave while glancing about the room. “Hi, everyone. It’s Varian,” he introduces himself, as though no one in the room knows who he is. It’s silly, unnecessary, but his nerves are getting to him and he’s only just started. 

“I - I’ve got something to say to the happy couple, too,” he says, and mostly everyone is smiling approvingly at him. “I hope nobody minds,” he adds quietly. 

He’s met with a few encouraging words from the crowd, but that doesn’t make it any easier. 

He takes a deep breath, and turns himself to face Rapunzel and Eugene at their table. They both look incredible, and Rapunzel is simply glowing. His heart gives a little jump, and he smiles so softly at her. 

“First, I want to say congratulations. I really am happy for the both of you.” He is. He means it. “But especially you, Rapunzel,” he says, and he gives a quiet, airy laugh at the look of surprise she’s suddenly giving him. “After everything you’ve done, for all of us, you deserve to be happy.” 

He moves closer to their table, to her, without even really thinking about it. The nerves he’d worked up over speaking in front of such a large crowd have dissipated and he focuses on her, only on her. 

“For Corona, and for your friends, and for me. You never gave up on any of us, even if we deserved it.” That’s another can of worms he’ll open up one day, but not today. This isn’t about any of that. 

“There’s no way for me to really express how much it all means.” 

He reaches across the table, and takes up her hands in his. He catches a glimpse of Eugene’s soft smile, and Varian gives Rapunzel’s hands a small squeeze. 

“But I can try.” 

And he’s there, holding her hands and staring into her eyes, and if this were another version of the story, maybe he’d finally get to tell her - 

I love you.

But this isn’t that story, and maybe it never will be, and so he settles for the next best thing, and he hopes that she understands just how much she means to him when he says, 

“You’re my best friend, Rapunzel.”

[fruithoods]

in the eye of the beholder (long hair au)

inspired by this fanart on my original au idea. i have never been so inspired and honored in my life.

jaskier had seen many beautiful sights in his life. young though he may have been, his travels had brought him far and wide. he had gazed upon the plains of temeria, climbed mountains and seen the horizon stretch so far he could barely comprehend. he had seen the forests of etolia, so ancient and tall. and yet through all of his travels, he thought, staring at the love of his meager life, his words failing him for possibly the first time in 20 years; he had never quite seen anything as beautiful as this. wow.

you see, when geralt had first grown out his hair, the braiding had been automatic, a reflex. he had grown up with sisters, and honestly, he was secure enough in his masculinity to admit that seeing geralts nest of hair, tangled and matted, had made him physically cringe. so of course he had done it for him, because melitele knows that geralt would have been hopeless without him. again. and maybe it made him feel useful. maybe. (it did)

anyways, as time passed, it became more. he wasn’t quite sure what had changed, nor could he pinpoint the exact moment when it had, but he did know that eventually geralt automatically say at his feet while cleaning his sword, a piece or two of leather lying suspiciously on the ground next to him. geralt started leaning into his touch, keeping his head still while still managing to make the mechanical movements of sword cleaning (how he did that was a mystery to jaskier, but he was a bard, not a warrior).

as their small routine continued, jaskier decided to challenge himself a bit. it wasn’t as if geralt’s hair stopped growing.

and for a mutant who had had who-the-hell-knows done to his hair, geralts hair was thick and grew almost annoyingly quickly.

so jaskier got creative.

soon he was braiding multiple braids into one, smaller ones that started near geralts ears (he had seen it on an elf before and had thought it looked pretty badass, if he did say so himself) and grew larger and thicker until there was a single plait falling over geralts back. he twisted and turned and pulled at the witcher a hair until it was exactly what he had imagined to himself. and geralt, for all his bluster as the Big Scary Witcher (™) was surprisingly patient.

why, if jaskier didn’t know better, he might even say that geralt enjoyed it.

now, the flowers had been an accident. sort of.

one day jaskier had woken up and thought to himself “would geralt let me braid flowers into his hair”. now, as the witcher’s bard, it was his sacred duty to annoy geralt as much as possible. so he had asked, half joking.

to his great surprise, geralt had rolled his eyes and grumbled a soft “fine”

to his great delight, geralt had helped him pick the flowers (dandelions, of course, after his name. geralt didn’t have to know that though) and then he had actually let him braid them in.

honestly this was probably the one thing jaskier was the most proud of. in his (not so) humble opinion, this was a greater accomplishment than “Toss a Coin” by far.

of course, geralt had to leave to do his “witchering” and so of course jaskier followed him.

as they walked into the small town of nowhere in vicina, heads turned. jaskier stifled a laugh. of course heads would turn. in walked the Big Scary Witcher (™) and he had flowers braided into his hair. the fact that jaskier hadn’t even been slightly phased by that was a testament to the fact that he spent far too much time alone with geralt and a horse.

geralt, on the other hand, was as adept at ignoring humans as roach ignored the swarms of insects that they sometimes encountered. swiftly and soundly. as a bard, jaskier could appreciate how poetic the parallel was.

when they finally arrived at the tavern where the flyer said to go to, one of the dandelions had fallen from geralts braid, and a little girl came running after them.

“uh- pardon me, sir w-witcher?” she squealed, likely intimidated by the hulking giant in front of her. jaskier definitely couldn’t blame her. she had shown more courage than dozens of grown men simply by approaching the witcher.

geralt slowly turned around and knelt down to look her in the eye. jaskier heart did a figure eight in his chest.

“i believe you have something of mine, little one” he rumbled, holding a massive hand up for the child to deposit the flower into. she did, and smiled shyly at him.

“ELISABETH!” a cry from a house down the street drew their attention. the little girl looked at geralt, then jaskier, then geralt again, turned on her tail and fled.

the witcher stood, his hand curling around the dandelion. a part of jaskiers mind told him this would be a lovely metaphor for the way his witcher held his heart. jaskier told that part of jaskiers mind to shut up.

“here” he said softly, his hand dropping the plant gently into jaskiers’.

they entered the tavern together, and this time is was jaskier who held the flower.

they were quickly pointed in the direction of a dryad who had been causing mayhem on the outskirts of the town. a short ride away.

they arrived, and geralt drew his sword.

he walked to where they had tracked the dryad, turned, and looked at jaskier.

and here they were.

jaskier staring at geralt, at his witcher. with his long, gorgeous hair braided down his back in a simple yet elegant braid and dandelions woven into it. with his plain shirt and pants, his sword drawn. a scar on his face, and his golden eyes reflecting the sunset behind them.

“i’ll be right back, jas.”

geralt turned and left.

and there jaskier stood, the bard of a thousand ballads, his mouth hanging open, speechless.

he was in love.

fuck.

[ravenwolfie97]

2019 Art Summary

Once again, it is time for the annual art summary! I can’t believe this is the fifth year in a row I’ve done this, so I’m very proud about continuing to make art throughout the years and getting better at it every day. Anyways, let’s get into the good stuff!

I kicked off the year with a big inspiration from The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys comic series and made up my own original Killjoy just before the new year began. Their name is Violet Crime, and I had created an entire backstory with them being involved with the Ultra V’s, and even proposed running a roleplay blog with them and introducing story events such as meeting a pornodroid, but that never came to pass. Maybe next year I can try getting their story off the ground.

This month, I had suddenly gotten the idea for a TOME (2011) AU where the Forbidden Power slowly corrupted and altered Alpha’s model and mind, and I did a bunch of art of the different stages of corruption and drafted certain scenes that would play out if it happened in the show. I continued exploring this  a little more throughout the year, and I hope to flesh it out even more later on.

This batch has an interesting background - I was taking a Religions class in the winter quarter, and for my final project we had the option of creating our own religion based on principles from those we learned about. So, since I had already made up a religion in Legends: Children of the Dragons, I jumped on that opportunity and started expanding upon it! Because of that, I started thinking about Legends a lot, and got inspired to write and draw a bunch! I worked a lot on figuring out the story’s structure and plot, since for the longest time it’s been very disorganized, so that inspiration boost was really helpful.

I didn’t draw too much this month, but I did want to showcase two more detailed drawings in particular. The first is a climactic scene from my friend Mana’s story Empire Tale: Starlight Speedway, where Argento (the character shown) finds out his friend was in alliance with the heir of his empire’s rival nation. The second was drawn for Adam Tilford, creator of the book and webseries Shattered Heaven, as part of an opportunity to feature fan art of a certain character in part of the show. I did my best to emulate Adam’s art style in both lineart and coloring, but it still definitely looks like mine, which is totally cool. Still super honored to have contributed it!

The TOME fandom is still a huge part of my life, and this month in particular was chock full of RPG content to draw. First was my own idea based on the official fanart contest, where members of my TOME Discord server paired TOMERPG OCs and drew a picture with them interacting, and my OC Circutree was randomly matched with @scribblehooves​ and her OC Valentina! There was also a trend (I forget who started it) where we designed our own versions of the White Hat Hacker, and since my choice was the Animalistic one, I gave it some details that more resembled my personal TOME OC / overall persona. Lastly, I just... really love Phaxal from TVTOME Adventures, and I felt an overwhelming need to make him into a TOMERPG character. He’s obviously a lot different from his aughts’ counterpart, but he’s still got that dark snark goin’ on.

June was actually rather slow in terms of art, with me being more preoccupied with binging TV shows and video games, as well as going on adventures in the outside world. However, I did make a cute piece for Mana with Lux and her girlfriend/wife Nexus from ETSS as part of an art trade. In the middle of the month, I had had a dream with a super cool character in it, and immediately I went to go and draw him, and that’s who the other character is; he doesn’t have a name, but he’s supposed to be a secret agent type of guy. Definitely inspired by Azure Striker Gunvolt, which I got super obsessed with again during that time.

I worked more on developing Legends stuff, so I wrote and drew out some more scene ideas along with various sketches. My big pieces for this month, though, were very summery and all about the TOME RPG and me and my friends’ OCs having a fun time. Not much to say other than it was really weird drawing everyone in swimsuits instead of their normal designs.

My favorite piece this month, by far, is my entry into Adam Tilford’s Shattered Heaven fanart contest. I got to draw a mecha, for goodness sake - I NEVER draw stuff like that because it’s so complicated. I’m really proud of the lighting on the piece, too. In addition to that, me and @mew-cake​ did an art trade of our personas! And it was super cool and fun! Friendship! :D

So, the Steven Universe movie came out this month. And that made fall super hard back into the fandom. And now I can actually draw the characters decently, which I think is super cool. Also TOME stuff continues to be a thing, and I continue to try new perspectives and poses and lighting and everything because I need to GROW and LEARN.

I participated in the actual #Inktober prompt challenge this year, and did so for a lot longer than I thought I’d be able to. I made a lot of pieces I’m actually quite proud of, and even though I didn’t complete it, I’m happy I did it as long as I did.

November was a pretty experimental month in terms of art. I tasked myself with drawing in the Pokemon and Hazbin Hotel styles, and I randomly got inspired by a color palette to do a very minimalist digital painting. In addition to all of these personal drawings, I got to work really hard as a member of my university’s fledgling Queer Art Collective (QuAC for short), and our first big project was to decorate a canvas for Trans Day of Remembrance and Resilience, and I contributed five pieces to that: the trans flag with a human silhouette, the NB flag with a heart, the pastel genderfluid butterfly, the construction paper PROUD 2 B TRANS, and the lyrics to “Masquerade” by Tokio Hotel.

As the year closed, it’s been slow, with finals and holiday break and stuff. I can tell that I’m improving in my art, but there are still a lot of things I don’t know and things that I need to continue to improve upon. Hoping I can keep up the work in my last months of college and my transition into full-on adulthood.

See you all in the new year.

[i-am-parsec]

Unaddressed Letters - Part VIII

                                                                                                              04/08/2018

Eighty-three days. Ana called. You can imagine my surprise after over two years of absolute silence. She said Henrik contacted her as if that explained anything but I didn’t press for more details, I didn’t want to know…I didn’t want to hear her voice at all - suddenly concerned, pretending to be the loving big sister she should have when I was little, claiming she was there for me, no matter what.

Fucking lying bitch.

Why all of a sudden does she care about me? What does she really want? I don’t know what to make out of this. She wouldn’t pick up my calls when we were about to lose the house, when I found out about mom getting arrested, not even after Samuel was born! And now…she wants to storm into my life, as the hero who rushes into the story at the last minute to save it all. Fuck that. Fuck her.

By the way, I googled what the pills Henrik gave me are for. Sleeping aid, my ass.

Chlorpromazine. In case you don’t know what that means, just like me before our dear friend the Internet enlightened me, I’ll tell you - it’s an antipsychotic. I can’t fucking believe this man. He owns me an explanation - actually, no, he owns me a fucking lot of explanations but…I don’t know if I want them. If I ask and he answers, I will know it’s over between us, our trust will be gone and I will be all on my own. Despite everything, even those pills, somehow I still want to believe he’s only looking after me. Why am I so stupid?

I don’t want my sister here but I need someone I can trust and whether I like it or not, she’s all I have. Besides, as soon as Henrik told her about “my condition”, she bought the plane tickets, the call was to simply let me know she is getting here next week - not asking, just telling me.

She’s arriving on Wednesday. I don’t know how the kids are going to react, Hope hasn’t seen her since she was 3 and I’m sure she doesn’t remember her and Sammie gets so nervous around strangers. That saddens me, the fact my own sister is a stranger to my children, even if that is partly my fault. I know she is not the easiest person to deal with but I am not either. If I really wanted her in my life, in Sam and Hope’s life, I should have tried harder. I should have forgiven her when she gathered the courage to say she was sorry about leaving me with mom. I should have told that I understood, that I was angry but I knew why she did it. But that’s how our family is, isn’t it? We feel too much and we say too little. That’s how I lost you as well.

Maybe I’ll call Henrik when he gets home tomorrow - he’s on the night shift now. Truth may hurt when we say it out loud but it hurts a lot more when we keep it roaming inside.

If I can tell Ana I forgive her - if I can forgive her at all - would that help? Would I feel less lonely? Would I be able to believe her when she says she has my best interest at heart? Would I finally get one night of proper sleep with her by my side, looking after my kids - after me?

Would I feel at home again?

I really hope so.

I need so.

 Esperanza just came by our room. She’s drawn something for me, a field of flowers with a girl dressed in a dark summer dress with red roses on it sitting in the middle. She’s very talented for her age and I’m always telling her so but her teacher told me I shouldn’t encourage her “useless hobby” - her words, not mine - too much. She claims Hope is drawing during lessons and not paying enough attention, and yet her grades haven’t dropped. I won’t take this away from my little girl, especially not now. When I asked who the girl was, she looked at me shyly and said “it’s you, Mommy, that’s your happy dress!”

I had completely forgotten about the dress. Lately, I forget a lot of things and that bothers me beyond words but that dress…that dress isn’t happy anymore. It once meant we had succeeded in life and now it’s nothing but a pathetic souvenir of better times. I guess our little Hope must have seen it in my eyes because she tried to apologize for her gift. I simply opened my arms and she jumped into a hug. Such an affectionate little girl. She got that from you. I never thanked you for giving me the sweetest child I could have ever asked for. Kind and intuitive just like her father.

She told me I’ve changed too much. She literally used those words. “Mommy, why have you changed so much? You don’t sing anymore.” I explained I was worried about Daddy, about some other adult problems, about her baby brother who cries more and more lately. I gave her all the excuses I had and she saw through every single one.

Now she’s on her bed, Sam on his crib and I am here on this bare desk. Nothing but our letters on this place. She might be right. Perhaps it is not the world the one mutating into a twisted hell, perhaps it’s just me.

I bought my own sleeping pills. I’ll go to bed and give them a try, wish me luck, love.

More info, previous chapters and tag list under the cut

All chapters in chronological order, here. Previous chapter, here. Next chapter, here.

FIRST THINGS FIRST, GUYS, @saltyweirdbi MADE THE MOST A-MAZING FANART FOR THIS STORY AND IN CASE YOU COULDN’T TELL, I AM YELLING BECAUSE OF HOW GREAT IT IS, SHE’S SERIOUSLY SUCH A HUGE MOTIVATION AND THE BEST READER ANY FANWRITER COULD EVER ASK FOR AND IT’S AN HONOR TO HAVE MY STORY DRAWN BY HER, HERE’S THE LINK TO GO SEE HER WORK, PLEASE LIKE AND REBLOG IT, SHE DESERVES ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD 

❤️Tag list❤️: @amyxmiaplay @awkward-bullshit @beck-pma @closedworldofmathiel @darktrash-drash @fanfictionrecommendations-com @flyingfishflopsthings @fruitycasket @happysingingturtles @hiimizzyxoxo @hishex @kitnkas @mcomegalletas @mijako98 @mjjau @mysterious-cupcake-ninja @mysticalanimallover @novasingalaxies @plutoandpolaris @probablyghosting @randomartdudette @saltyweirdbi @sassy-in-glasses @scarlet--raven @septicuniverse @skyewardlight @thevampireauthoress @youllnevertaketheskyfromme

Thanks for reading!!! If you enjoyed it, please reblog!!!

[franeridart]

Do you care for any of the dekusquad?

I care for most if not all hero-related characters in bnha! But if with care you mean if any dekusquad member is between my favorite characters/if I care enough about any of them to draw them more than once every blue moon, then my Todoroki tag might tip you off, there lol

Anon said:Will you ever draw Bakukamikiri again? I rlly loved how you did them!!

Thank you!!! And I think I will, though I don’t have any project to do so in the near future, sorry!

Anon said:Soo KyouHaba day (6/16) is coming up and was wondering if you could do some seijoh next gen stuff. Yahaba is often forgot about a and Kyoutani isn’t really included in a lot of Aoba Johsai stuff. Feel free to not do anything just suggesting something

Aw sorry anon but I don’t have the time to do day-themed stuff right now! KyoHaba is currently the hq ship I’m most likely to draw for, though, since they’re the only ones I’m still reading fics for! So I don’t think any will come around 6/16, but I don’t exclude I might draw them anyway in the near future! :D

Anon said:Omg your taking part in a zine!! I’m so excited! And it’s a BakuSquad one too! Ik I’m definitely going to be buying it when pre-orders open up!

I’m taking part in TWO zines, actually!! Both the @takemyhandzine and the @sixthwheelzine !!!!! I’ll be making comics for both, and if you do decide to buy either I really hope you’ll like them!!!!

Anon said:whats a zine?

In general, a zine is an amatorially published magazine! Specifically tho here we’re talking about fanzines, so magazines put together and published by fans for other fans! The ones I’m taking part in are both about kiribaku, and will include both fanart (fancomics included) and fanfics! Depending on how much you wish to spend on it, you can also buy a bundle with fanmade merch too, and the Sixth Wheel zine is gonna have a pdf version too, in case you’d prefer to buy it like that! They’re super cool projects I’m insanely happy I got invited to take part in!!!!

Anon said:Your art style is so pretty and I love to see your amazing bnha drawing on my dash

There is literally no way I could ever stop being into d gray man ever and I’m also still following hq’s manga, yes! I dunno if and when I’ll draw for either fandom next, tho, sorry! ;^;

Anon said:Everytime you draw kiribaku I gain 1 life,,,,, tysm I love ur art SM ur such an inspiration,,,💖💖💖

Oh my g o d s thank you so much ;^;

Anon said:Your Kiridragon is the cutest, I love him and want Katsuki to protect him forever. Thank you for sharing that last story with us!!! (Ps. Can we expect more Kiridragon adventures in the future? *puppy eyes*)

Thank you for liking him!!!!!! And if you’re talking about the fantasy AU in general, I’ll 100% for sure draw more for it! If you’re talking about them as kids tho I can’t say for sure - I definitely want to, tho, right now!! ;^;

Anon said:As a suggestion, could you maybe do Kiri*Deku, whether it be romantic, platonic, or misinterpreted by Bakugou and he takes Kirishima because that’s his sunshine boy thank you very much, get your own

Aw anon sorry but krdk is…………. really not my thing, so I don’t take suggestions for it ;-; I might end up doodling them in the future anyway since I have in the past, but that’s only gonna be if I find an idea I really really really wanna draw, I’m sorry

Anon said:Just wanted to say that I love your art and I just went through a majority of your blog. But I noticed you used to draw erasermic but haven’t recently and I was wondering if you still ship it??? It’s okay if you don’t or if you just haven’t gotten the inspiration recently, I’m just curious. Anyways, keep doing what you do and being amazing

Thank youuuu!!!!! And I’ve actually always drawn erasermic super sporadically! They’re one of my main ships in the fandom honestly, but since they’re sorta hard to draw for me I rarely end up drawing them? I do still love them with all my heart tho! You can expect to see more of them in the future, for sure ;u;

Anon said:I came for my kiribaku fix (it HAD to be him I’m dying all over again) but. God ur art always blows me tf away ur so good and skilled and ur improvement in like… everything inspires me SO much so bless u and I hope u have a WONDERFUL day

I’m so glad I can inspire anyone, oh my g o o o o o o d ;O; thank you so so much!!!!

Anon said:Wow your dragon kiribaku art is so cute! Will there be a sequel!

Not for the immediately after, for now! Since Horikoshi is yet to give me the official design for Kiri’s mom //sob - but as I said up there I do want to draw more with them as kids in the fantasy AU, so maybe, yeah!!!

Anon said:I absolutely love EVERY SINGLE facial expression that Bakugou makes in your Fantasy Babies comic strip. He’s such an unapologetic little shit.

THANK YOU!!!!! I was mostly trying to convey the fact that he’s too young to think about the consequences of his actions before doing stuff like calling the rage of a dragon mom upon his city l m a o glad you liked him!!! :D

Anon said:The way you draw the baby bois has me weak 💖💕❤️💗💞💓💝 That baby dragon Kiri 💯💯💯💖💖💖😊😊😊

Thank you so muuuuuucccchhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:EYYYYY! Love your art, the newest comic made me laugh so hard that I almost chocked to death :D (Jk, I just couldn’t breathe normally) God bless youuuuuuuuuu

I’m SUPER HAPPY it made you laugh!!!!!! heck!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;^;

Anon said:You content makes my heart go doki doki doki doki doki

THANK!!!! YOU!!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:the way you draw wings is so cool, i love it. your art is just amazing in ggeneral to be honest, like akjdjkhdlkdl

AAAAHHHHHHHH I’M HAPPY YOU LIKE THEM I have so much fun drawing them, honestly!!!

Anon said:I love the fact that mina and kiri are cannonically childhood friends (middle school counts as childhood right??) Like I love their friendship so much and they both deserve the world.

Real, they’re adorable and I wish Horikoshi would actually have them interact a bit more in the manga, since as for now their scenes together are pretty much non-existent aside from their backstory ;^;

Anon said:THEY ANIMATED IT!!! THE HAND GRAB!!! IT’S IN MOVING COLOUR!!!

HELL YES I DIED IT’S BEEN NEARLY A WEEK AND I’M STILL DYING WHAT A BEAUTIFUL TIME TO BE ALIVE

Anon said:You with your beautiful beautiful art and Chonideno with her beautiful beautiful writing about Kiri and Bakugou makes my heart so happy and warm and just… Thank you for existing and love Kiribaku! I don’t know, your art makes me so happy

Ohhhhhhhhhhh boy what an honor to be put at the same level as mag ;^; I love her and her writing so much, honestly !!!!!! thank you so so much for the compliment, anon!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Kirishima braiding his hair while he talks is both adorable and relatable. Thank you for that.

I’m!!!! mostly happy you caught it hahahaha thank you !!!!!!

Anon said:Hey. You seem insecure but your art is great. What kind of color scheme do you see for Hawks?

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I honestly don’t like thinking about stuff I think Hori will give me in canon soon enough? But out of instincts I mostly imagined him in shades of brown, I think - typical birds of prey and/or aviator colors, you know!

Anon said:I love ur drawings but i also love reading ur tag. They re so funny sometimes

lmao that’s good too!! As long as I can make people enjoy a couple of moments of their time I don’t really mind how I do it hahaha

Anon said:your art is beautiful anfndfnd

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Hello fran, just wanted to say i’ve been here for a long long time (since the h/q times :‘o) and today i was thinking about some of your old art and if you remember, you had a soulmates au for b/n/h/a that was super good and i really loved so i wanted to tell you!! You as an artist have such an impact on me and that au is my fave of yours!! ;0; have the nicest day ever!! -soulmates anon (4 future ref!!!)

OH MAN I’m so happy to hear you still remember that one?? It was such a fun experiment to play around with, I’m glad you liked it this much!!!! Thank you for telling me omg !!!!! ;^;

Anon said:Hi, so where did you go to watch Haikyuu (I’m assuming probably Crunchyroll but ya never know) and where might I find the dubbed version?

Aw anon sorry I don’t watch the dubbed version! Since I’m Italian, I don’t really have much use for the English dubs haha I’m pretty sure you can find it on kissanime, tho!

Anon said:could you briefly go through the process of making and completing one of your comics? I wanted to start some short bnha comics but idk where to start, thank you!

Sorry this took me an age to answer - I have answered this question a while back, I think it might be in my art tips tag! But to go through it fast, my process is something like

find a line or an exchange I want to deliver, or a topic I want discussed (usually happens randomly as I’m doing other things)

spend a million years just staring at a wall or at my ceiling or anything else as I build a whole scene in my mind to have the lines or topic take the form of an actual comic (might take two minutes, might take a month)

draw a rough sketch of the whole comic - I do this with all panels (and pages, when I separate a comic in pages) on the same canvas, so that I can look at the whole scene all together and get a good sense of the general flow of the storytelling. This process includes cutting panels, moving panels around, reshaping panels, trying different poses and angles for the same panels to find the right one, writing and deleting and re-writing lines till I’m sure the wording is what I’m going for*

line the panels - I mean the actual panels, the straight lines delimitating the panel, I line them all first and put them on a separate layer

line the people!! All the characters in every panel are lined in this stage

line the backgrounds! In case there are backgrounds and the comic is meant to stay in black and white, if not then color the backgrounds! (I always start coloring from the backgrounds cause they’re the boring parts and if I leave them for last I never do them ever #rip)

in case of black and white comics, we fill in flat, gray-scale colors at this point (or, as I’ve lately started doing, I only put down shadows and leave it at that). If it’s in colors, we color the people!

Write down the dialogue!! *at this point we change a lot of the dialogue again because enough time has passed since I sketched it that I changed my mind on everything, don’t be like me

you’re done!

All of it is done on one single canvas, unless it’s a comic with separate paneled pages in which case they’re all done on their own canvas but still drawn all together. That’s about it, hope it was at least a little bit useful!

Anon said:Hi! I just wanted to thank you for your art, especially your KiriBaku. I was exactly in the same situation than Bakugou in the post tagged “bakugou being blunt about his feelings” (except we are 2 girls) , so I used it to confess to her. She said yes! X3

OH MY GOD I’m so super happy to hear that!!!!! Congrats on your gf, anon!!!!!! *throws hearts at u*

[meenasmoon]

How about a Johnny x Meena fic (Beach themed) where Johnny gets sunburnt

Sunburnt

Okie dokie guys. I felt that in honor of the first beach themed prompt I would do a human AU interpretation. Also I don’t think that I could justify a gorilla getting sunburnt. Any and all Human AU descriptions come from my own mind and are generally inspired by real people or fanart. If you have any questions about these depictions I am ever so glad to detail them out for you. And now let us continue on with the story.

When Meena Jones finally pulled up to the beach in her grandfather’s old beat up Lincoln Town Car she was practically bouncing in excitement. When Buster had organized this little barbeque on the beach she had been so excited that she packed her bag for the beach days in advance. She didn’t have a huge selection of swimsuits but she spent at least an hour trying them on and selecting her favorite. She had dropped her mom off at the diner with a kiss and a promise to pick her up at ten so that she could keep the car and then drove as fast as she dared to the beach.

She prectically leapt out of the car, gathering her bag and rushing towards the thin wisp of smoke that was originating from the grill. Once she hit the sand she slipped off her flip flops and dashed towards where her friends were gathered around a few beach chairs and a grill. As she neared her friends soft beach music reached her ears and the sweet smeel of barbeque filled the air. When she reached the beach chairs Ash was laying out on one of the chairs, safely ensconced in the shade of a nearby umbrella. Her face was buried in a book but surprisingly she was wearing a black and red bikini instead of her usual long-sleeve shirt and skinny jeans. Her dreadlocks had been pulled up in a large ponytail and she was wearing big, black, rounded sunglasses.

When Meena arrived she set down her book and stood with a lazy groan. Once she had finished stretching she pulled Meena into a quick hug and the two girls began to chat aimlessly. As they talked Meena set down her bag and nervously fiddled with the clothes that concealed her bathing suit before deciding that she could wait a little longer to reveal her suit.

She looked around and saw Rosita and Norman running around with their kids by the water. The five little hooligans were running around splashing in the waves, building sand castles and burying each other. Meena giggled affecionately as she watched the adorable little troublemakers keep their parents busy. Buster was manning the grill, whistling to himself as he flipped the burgers and turned over hot dogs. Eddie and Ms. Crawly were laying side by side in beach chairs, snoring loudly and in sync. Finally, way out in the distance two figures were sitting on surf boards waiting for a good wave. She could only assume that it was Johnny and Gunther because upon receiving his invitation to the beach Mike had sneered and said he wouldn’t be caught dead there.

At the thought of Johnny her mocha colored skin flushed slightly. She looked back and found Ash smirking at her knowingly. Meena just shrugged and fiddled with her shirt. Before Ash could make a comment about her obvious attraction to Johnny she slowly took off her shirt and shorts, revealing her favorite purple bathing suit. It hugged her body in all of the right places and was amazingly comfortable.

“Nice suit.” Ash commented as she stood up and began leading the way to the ocean. The two girls ambled down the beach over to Rosita and Norman who were taking a break while the kids took turns burying each other. They watched as Norman leaned over and gave Rosita an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Meena felt her heart flutter at the absolute cuteness of the scene in front of her but the peacefulness of the scene was quickly broken when two of Rosita’s boys ran over to Ash and Meena and began throwing balls of wet sand at the two girls. Ash got hit in the leg and Meena was struck directly in the stomach. She faked falling down to the ground and dying, calling for Ash to avenger her. Ash grinned as she grabbed two handfuls of sand and began chasing after the piglets.

Meena watched them go and Rosita appeared next to her to help her up off of the ground. The short round woman did her best to heave her curvy figure into an upright position once more. Meena valiantly tried to brush wet sand off of her body but the stubborn substance clung to her like glue.

“Hi sweetie.” Rosita said cheerfully and pulled her into a tight hug, “I’m so glad you could make it today. It’s gonna be so much fun.” Her grin grew impossibly wider and Meena gave her an affecionate squeeze before pulling away from her embrace. Almost like a magnet her gaze was once more drawn to the two forms sitting on surf boards in the middle of the ocean. Rosita followed her gaze and shook her head in exasperation.

“I wish those two boys had put on some sunscreen before they headed out there, but noooo I’m just being overprotective.” She mumbled to herself, making Meena giggle happily.

“How long have they been out there?” She asked curiously as she watched Johnny effortlessly ride a huge wave. She only half heard Rosita’s response.

“About an hour or more I think.” Rosita puzzled over for it for a second and then her attention was stolen as her children cane back for vengeance with more wet sand globs. This time, however, Ash was attacking along with then, an evil grin on her face. Meena and Rosita tried their best to defend themselves but they were outnumbered and quickly covered in sand. A truce was called after Rosita decided enough was enough and scolded her children, including Ash, with her mom voice. The kids ran off to tackle their father as soon as the scolding ended. Ash quickly rinsed off in the ocean and trekked back to the chairs where Buster had roused Eddie and Ms. Crawly and was serving food.

Meena slowly waxed into the ocean, savoring the feel of the warm water as each wave washed over her hot skin. She dipped under the water for a second, submerging her dark curls in the warm sea water. When she emerged, dripping with water and she tossed her head, trying to shake out her thick locks. She looked up and jumped slightly in surprise when she found Johnny staring at her as he leaned casually on his surfboard. His chiseled, tan chest was gleaming with sweat and ocean spray and his black hair was tousled by the wind.

Meena walked out of the ocean and up to him, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Hey Johnny.” She tried to say as suavely as possible, but it just sounded dorky to her.

“Um ‘ey Meena. Ya look nice today.” He seemed flustered which instantly made her feel more comfortable.

“Thanks so do you.” She tried not to linger her gaze on his green swim trunks and only gave them a slight glance before her gaze shot back up to his face.

Johnny smiled crookedly and opened his mouth to say something else but he was cut off by Ash’s voice as she called out to them from the grill where everyone else was waiting.

“Hey you two!! Hurry up or I’m gonna eat your food.” She called out and Johnny and Meena exchanged an amused look before hurrying over to where everyone else was eating. They loaded up their plates and grabbed two beach chairs, effectively securing their food from Ash’s bottomless stomach and joining the circle.

They sat around joking for about an hour, the sun beating down on them the entire time. After lunch Rosita wrangled her children and began rubbing sunscreen on the pale freckled skin that they had inherited from her. Once they were all lathered up she released them and went after Johnny, who was showing off his surf board to Meena and Ash.

Rosita snuck up behind him and slapped a sunscreen-covered hand onto his back. Johnny jumped away and turned to face her, crouched in a ready stance. Rosita adopted a similar stance and the two faced off while Meena and Ash watched.

“Johnathon. Bannerton. You will come here and let me put sunscreen on you or so help me…” she left the sentence hanging, her mom voice making all of the young people present straighten up reflexively. Johnny’s expression tightened in slight fear but he held steady in his stance. With a yell Rosita launched her small but formidable body at him, sending the startled guy to the ground. They wrestled for a minute before Johnny scrambled away and took off running down the beach. Rosita leapt to her feet and darted after him, moving faster than anyone had ever seen her move before. When Johnny looked back and saw her hot on his heels he sped up and ran for the water at full speed. Just as he was about to launch himself into the water Rosita leapt through the air like a ninja and tackled him into the ocean. Johnny hit the water with an audible slap that made everyone watching flinch reflexively, yet no one came to his aid.

Eventually Rosita stomped back to shore in a huff while Johnny watched from farther out in the water. She sent him a glare before returning to her sunny expression and her lounge chair where Norman was patiently waiting to be sun screened up. Everyone watching looked at the portly man and hole just shrugged, still smiling.

“It’s best to just let her have her way.” He said and then everyone scattered to put on sunscreen as Rosita neared the group. Even Meena, who never burned, lathered her skin in sunscreen.

About twenty minutes later Johnny felt that he was safe enough to return to land and he cautiously approached Meena and Ash. Rosita paid him no mind as she sat in the sand with her children making a huge sandcastle.

“Anyone wanna play some volleyball?” Johnny asked eagerly as he retrieved a volleyball from his backpack.

Meena, Ash, Eddie, Buster and Gunther agreed to play and they all began setting up a makeshift court by drawing lines in the sand. When it was finished the split into two teams. Johnny, Buster and Gunther and Ash Meena and Eddie.

Thus began a truly epic game of volleyball filled with needless dives into the sand, many losses of the volleyball, and so much laughter that no one could keep score. By the time they decided to call it quits the court had been destroyed and they were all laughing through their panting breaths. They stumbled back to the chairs to rest and Johnny collapsed on his designated chair. Because he was the most athletically inclined on his team he spent most of the game attempting to score until he gave up and played silly. As a result he was exhausted enough that all he could do was roll over onto his back, put on sunglasses, and go to sleep.

His soft snores made Meena giggle but after grabbing a soda she joined Ash in a walk along the beach. The two walked up and down the beach, playing in the waves and looking for exotic shells. Meena stumbled up a beautiful conch by accident and eagerly carried it back to the beach site to show everyone. By now the sun had started to set and the last couple days were reaching out over the horizon. When they got back to camp Buster and Norman were starting a bonfire while Rosita set up a snores station.

Unsurprisingly, Meena volunteered to go get Johnny so he could join them. Ash rolled her eyes as she dashed away but her smile gave away that her annoyance was affectionate in her own way.

When Meena found Johnny he was still passed out on the beach chair with his sunglasses on. Meena reached out to shake him awake and then pulled her hand back with a gasp. Every inch of visible skin was as red as a tomato.

“Johnny…Johnny!” She whispered, trying to hold back her giggles. He jerked awake and sat up quickly, looking around for the source of his name. When he saw Meena a sleepy smile spread across his face and he took off his sunglasses so he could wink at her.

Unfortunately this only made Meena laugh harder when he revealed the obvious sunglasses marks on his face.

“Wot’s so funny?” He asked, confused but Meena couldn’t say anything through her giggles. He waited slightly impatiently until she calmed down and was looking down at him with mirth filled eyes.

“Oh Johnny….Oh I’m so sorry but you look so funny…” she giggled but quickly schooled her face when he gave her another confused look.

“Wot do ya mean?” He frowned and Meena grabbed her phone so he could see himself in the front-facing camera.

“Johnny, your entire body is sunburnt.” She said as solemnly as possible. Johnny gaped at the red face that stared back at him on her screen and looked up at her, still in shock.

“But….But I never get sun burnt.” He whimpered and then hissed in pain when his hand slapped against his reddened stomach.

“You should have listened to Rosita.” Meena admonished him but the look didn’t last long as an idea occurred to her and she hurried over to rifle through her bag. Johnny watched her bemusedly but his eyes lit up with recognition when he saw the bottle she was returning with. This blue substance would save his ass.

He eagerly took the aloe gel from her and began lathering the entire front of his body with it. Cautiously Meena walked around behind him to see if he had been burned on the back too. What she found was a sea of red on his back, only broken up by his waist line and a single, tiny handprint impression.

Meena snorted as she desperately tried to hold back her laughter, trying to preserve at least a small amount of his dignity. Johnny stiffened and turned his head to catch her gaze, his eyes filled with an empty hope that his back had been spared. Meena shook her head and Johnny hung his head in disappointment. When he finally had the courage to look up he gestured to his back and then the bottle, his cheeks suddenly even redder.

“Could ya….could ya put this on my back?” He asked haltingly and Meena’s giggled immediately disappeared as her heart began to pound loudly in her chest.

“S-sure.” She stuttered out and accepted the bottle from him. Shakily she squeezed some aloe onto her hand and began to spread it over his back. Johnny moaned aloud as a pain that he hadn’t even been aware of was soothed by Meena and the magical blue gel. Meena’s heart almost stopped when he moaned but she kept spreading the aloe until his entire back was covered. Reluctantly she pulled her hand away from his warm smooth skin and stepped back.

“Whelp. That’s everything.” Johnny got up and grabbed a jacket, delicately sliding it over his reddened skin.

“Thanks Meena.” He said sheepishly and when she went to hurry past him and towards the bonfire he reached out a hand to gently grip her hand. She stopped in her tracks and breathlessly turned around to face him. His eyes were wide just like hers and his hand was sweaty but he was still smiling that adorable crooked smile that set him at an advantage.

“Wahn more thing.” He looked down and then back at her, “Could we keep the whole sun burn thing between us? I daan’t think I can ‘ankle Rosita’s ‘I told ya so’ right nah.”

Meena’s breath suddenly flowed back into her and she relaxed slightly. She squeezed his hand slightly in reassurance and then smiled brightly up at him.

“Sure thing Johnny. Just us.” She promised and just when she thought she would escape without embarrassing herself Johnny leaned in and bestowed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Meena froze and gaped up at him for a second, her expression causing him to chuckle quietly. Slowly she shook herself out of it and managed to walk with him to the bonfire where they joined Ash in the beach chairs that she had saved for them.

Ash looked over at Meena teasingly and elbowed her in the side playfully.

“Hey Meena, why are you so red? Didja get sunburned?” But Meena remained silent, her entire face bright red.

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Content Creator Interviews: GrapefruitTwostep

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the fifth interview, I’m highlighting a full-fledged fandom legend: @grapefruittwostep! Author of such works as “Modern Love” and “Moonlight and Sunshadow,” you can find GrapefruitTwostep’s works HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrapefruitTwostep/pseuds/GrapefruitTwostep

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you? The first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender came out when I was about fourteen, so my preferences were already pretty set when it came to the fictional couples I liked (for reference, I was a really big Star Wars fan so Han and Leia were pretty formative to my life). It sounds kind of weird to say, but Zutara really just slotted right into the spot already waiting to accept it, right in the "literal opposites attract, enemies-to-lovers, oh no they bicker all the time please kiss" spot, but that's exactly what happened. A few measly years later, I rewatched the show in college, just after it had ended, and as an adult, I found myself more drawn to the dramatic parallels, the play between two characters who are so old before their time in a way that other characters in the show aren’t. I’ve always loved constructed family tropes, and the “mom friend/dad friend” thing is a real draw to me. So I guess the short answer is because I’m enemies-to-lovers trash. 2. What inspires you to create Zutara fanworks?

As a semi-professional writer, I’ve learned to get my inspiration from media I enjoy in a non-work context: so far, that’s been punk rock, Norwegian folktales, 80’s teen comedies, and Jane Austen novels. I love lots of other stuff too (like Dungeons & Dragons and urban fantasy and superhero comics) so I don’t think I’m ever going to run out of stuff to take inspiration from! 3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create? I’ve had people send me some pieces of fanart and every time it is a joy and a delight. If I could ask for anything, it would probably be more Suki and Toph. I know! Weird choice! But writing those two is pretty much what I live for — Zutara is almost an afterthought, oops. I like to think “Jock Best Friend Suki” is one of my greatest contributions to this world/fandom and that’s the fanart that would just make my life. 4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time? I didn’t write my first fanfic until I was twenty-six. I came into this fandom so late and I did so with an incredibly self-indulgent work that I wrote entirely for me. And it went over so much better than I’d ever expected! Zutara fans are super nice. I think we get a crummy reputation from the old days of the shipping wars, but I’ve never actually experienced anything terrible. Everyone I’ve ever interacted with has been incredibly nice and really understanding about my bullshit and the support is amazing. They’re good people and they were super nice to an old lady like me who had no idea what she was doing. 5. What is your favorite Zutara-related thing you’ve made and why is it special to you? I wish I could say I love all my children the same, but Twist Me to the Left is my favorite. My father has this saying about music: “You have your whole life to make your first album, and then you have six months to make the second.” Twist Me to the Left was the reason I got into writing fic and so there’s something special about it for me that none of the other things I’ve written quite have. I feel especially bad saying that because it's not the thing that’s gotten me the most notice, but it’s the thing that’s closest to my heart and includes the most elements that were a personal influence on my life. Also, it’s got metalhead Toph which I find both generally awesome and a great joke. 6. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven’t gotten around to making?

Well, I just started my Jane Austen influenced fic, which is difficult to write and I think difficult to read (sorry), so that’s taking up my fandom brain right now. But I do really want to do a Much Ado About Noting fic so maybe when I burn myself out trying to sound like my girl Jane, I’ll do that instead. I’ve also been planning a cyberpunk AU but it has a mask aspect that, in the current climate of the world, feels … a little too soon.

7. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so, want to give us a hint as to your plans?

I would like to participate, certainly! (It’s right at the end of NaNoWriMo so I may not be at my best, but I’d really like to participate anyway, let’s see if I can do it without burning myself out.) However! I actually don’t read nearly as much fic as one would expect and so what I would really love are some recommendations! If anyone has art or writing they want me to look at, send that shit right on over to me so I can get some inspiration! I like very slow burns and AUs, but seriously, people, hook me up with whatever you’ve got.

[roi-chan]

I rlly love your art style,,, do you have any drawing tips for a beginner orz

THROWS MY DINNER TO THE SIDE, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS KINDA ADVICE HSDKJFHSDF-!!

Ok, first all! I’ve been drawing a very long time for I am past being a Young Adult and now am a full blown adult, lols! When I was first learning to draw, I didn’t even have a computer in my home- that was fancy business man.

That being said, I quickly figured out why beginners can get disenchanted really easily (and how, I, too, fell into that disenchantment after a few years of drawing).

First, never compare yourself to others. This is so stupidly hard, and it can crush you easily. Especially to those much younger than you, and are beyond what you consider your skill level. People are being exposed to amazing creative ideas at younger and younger ages, and are inspired by that. Keeping up with what feels like the entire world is difficult.

Instead of seeing other people’s art and being crushed that you may never be as good, ask yourself, what is it I like so much about this art? You have admit, some artists just stick out to you. It’s a matter of preference. There’s some artists who I love their art style, some for their coloring style. Figuring out what you love about art pieces can help you develop you creative voice!

For example, in a more broad scale, my lowest interest is in color. It’s why my pictures tend to be clean cut and boring. Because that’s my jam. I love dynamic styles and poses tho! Nobody told me this tho, so it took me years to realize that’s was my interest and to start developing in that aspect. Now that I’m happier with my dynamics, poses, that sort of thing, I’m slowly pushing towards color!

Just. Please. Remember that, above all else. You can always learn and practice anatomy, backgrounds, styles, but strengthening the heart for always feeling overlooked, under appreciated and not good enough takes a long time.

But for literal art tips!

To be honest, I started with fanart. Sailor Moon, Hamtaro, Powerpuff Girls, Zoids, Tenchi Muyo!... ya, them oldschool Toonami shows lol!!

It helped me because I had a set character design to work with. I had something to compare to. “If I draw her legs longer, it’ll look better!”

I’m not kidding. I used to record Sailor Moon episodes on my VCR, pause frames, and draw them lol! But when I got a strong enough foundation, I started drawing my own original fanart! That gave me the confidence to push past redraws of frames and making even original characters! ^_^

And don’t worry if you have troubles with certain areas of the body. Honestly, I worked so hard on drawing faces and hair. That was my favorite- especially eyes. Slowly, I’d draw more of the body as the months went on!

Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew, basically. Don’t feel pressured to make every piece a flamboyant, full body treasure. Half bodies just mean you can put extra love into the details, right~?

Oh, oh! And don’t always feel like you gotta push your boundaries! If you like drawing girls in lacy dresses but are bad at drawing boys, well god dammit, draw them girls! It’s what you enjoy. When you feel up to the challenge, try the dude.

Pushing yourself too much, too hard, just ends with a lot of bitter feelings.

On that topic of learning how to draw things! Tutorials are great! Don’t be afraid to be picky about them tho. Some tutorials just aren’t made in a way that teaches you well. It’s no different than a teacher- some teaching styles just aren’t for you. Don’t feel bad, just keep looking for the ones that make you go “Ohhhhh!!”

Bouncing back to something I said up there! ^ This might sound mean, but also look for things you dislike in others’ art. For example, I’m very particular about chibis. I hate when they have pointed chins, most of the time it’s not very cute to my eye. It’s all a  matter of opinion! You gotta take notes of what you like and dislike, it’s all part of growing! You aren’t being mean. Unless you purposely go out of your way to tell the artist what you dislike and that’s it, then I hope you lose your tablet pen. :(

Don’t toss things! I started with traditional art, and I have a lot of art from as far back as 2003! They are embarrassing reminders of your newbie days, but to compare what you did then versus now is incredible! Be proud of the smallest of growths, because you’re even just a decimal point better than what you were yesterday!

One other thing. The people that have grown in this generation tend to be shyer than previously before. Even as recently as yesterday, I was looking down at my own art. But then I saw this ask in my inbox and it made something click.

You just never know how many people actually enjoy your art. There’s so much that goes into  it. Not just how well the art is drawn, but the concepts, aspects, detail, love you put into it. People can see that, a point of view that’s obscured from the artist’s sight because we see it from our mind’s eye. What we envisioned versus what we spat out on paper.

I know this isn’t a very helpful ask in term of literal drawing tips. ;;; But these are things I wish somebody told me, it’d have saved me from a world of heartache over never being good enough.

Art is one of the many things that can be learned- by anybody. It’s up to your determination, creativity, and your unique view on how you see the world and showing us, the audience, how the things that have inspired you became your unique, creative voice!

It can be a slow process.

It can be a painful process.

Sometimes it’s like taking 1 step forward, 3 steps back.

All you have to do is take a step back and look at it from a different angle. All art is art, regardless of how much time or effort you put into it. And you know what? I can’t tell you how many times I hated something I worked on, saved it, and a few days or weeks later I reopen to it to realize... it’s actually not bad. I’m just being hard on myself.

For those days, just sketch. Loose, scribbly drawings! Or maybe try new things. Buildings. Interior shots. Nature. Animals. A new style. Anything!

Just remember. It’s okay to feel discouraged, it’s okay to feel proud. Remember that art is never a perfected ability- but something you are always growing and learning. But never, ever, give up!

Giving up is absolutely the only 100% way to never get better at art.

And lastly, thank you, anon! This is a well timed ask, because I needed to hear these words, too. I have renewed determination! ^_^ I’m honored to hear such words. ;;;;

So, good luck, anon! I believe in you!