#I had to redraw this like twice but I was able to finish it...!!

[asteralley]

Here's the page I did for @conanredraw <3

It was so cool being part of a project everyone joined because of our collective love of detco...everyone's works are so amazing please go check out the full PDF!!

[eybefioro]

Soon :) when I have the guts to post it :)

(Ramblings and timelaps under the cut)

First of all. I wanna say that tumblr ate this post. Twice. This is my third go at it, so bear with me if it's badly written/confusing/whatever. I am tired.

I still don't have a date to post this fic. I'm having trouble finishing it and letting it go – not because I don't know how to finish it (the last scene is written, I just need to edit the chapters) but because I want it to be the best it can be, and the moment I post it there's no going back; I won't be able to go through over it again and change things (at least in my mind).

Now, that's the thing, it will never be perfect. It will never be as good as it is in my mind. This is the type of situation that will never end if I don't let go. I just love this fic too much. To be fair nothing much happens in it, and there's an extremely high chance it will only ever be special to me and anybody else; this first part (8/7 chapters, a little less than 30k) is just Crowley taking care of Warlock. I do have arcs I want to develop after this, I have a bigger plan (lol) but this part 1 here is the core of it all, and works pretty much alone.

And I love it. So much. With all its flaws, with the weird bits, even if it will never be perfect. I had so much fun writing it. It was so good, and I really wanna share it with everyone (I just need to get over my arse first).

Hence this cover art. This is a promise to myself that I WILL post it (my guess is a week or so). You can see by this time lapse that I did and redid things a bunch of times, and let me tell – you I had so much fun testing different backgrounds, finding the perfect brushes, redrawing them like 5 times until I was satisfied.

This cover isn't perfect, probably not even interesting or good for most people. This cover is... well, it is what it is. I struggled doing it since I almost don't know how to draw, but the challenge was amazing. I found so much joy in the process of creating this – and the same goes for my fic.

If I ever decide to create another cover, it will be better than this one (knowing me I will not be satisfied still but alas). The next part of TBAG will probably be better than the first one.

If I keep on writing, in a few years I will look back to this and probably cringe over each word I wrote. And that's fine. That's good. I just need to let go and accept this story for what it is, in the same way that I did with the cover.

Anyways. I hope that if you perchance read To be a Guardian, you will have a good time 💛💛💛💛 I did it with so much love, I hope that you will be able to feel it a bit too.

[sunny6677]

RAMBLE ABOUT MY DAY

Morning was the same as usual. Humid out, beautiful looking view. I didn't see my friends cat today tho.

The bus arrived, I rode on it and drew the usual stuff (drew the Tom stuff, and then another redraw cuz I forgot to). Got dropped off at school a little later and took this while on the bus still.

I packed two colas for lunch this morning since I wanted something different from Gatorade, and just drank some cola while making a bunch of polls and watching tiktoks til it was time for Psychology.

In Psychology, we discussed addiction and some people chimed in with their own experiences or questions about it. My teacher also approved of a suggestion I made so I got happy. Then I made test corrections during Advisory, and played Roblox when I was done.

And then in Spanish, we took notes about a story over a really sweet heroic dog named Wilson who they lost while searching for missing children in Colombia. It was pretty heart breaking the whole time as I was listening, and most of my classmates seemed pretty upset about Wilson possibly being dead. We're gonna analyze a Spanish song tomorrow because we didn't get to today like we usually do for Wednesdays.

In Chemistry, we did our bellringer and then took some notes over chemical properties. There was also an ant in my journal. Someone ended up squashing it for me though and I felt really bad afterwards.

In Technology, we practiced animation, and I finished pretty quickly with a slightly choppy 24 frame animation of a ball bouncing. And I just kinda spent the rest of the class watching random stuff on YouTube and playing Roblox til we had to go. I also got hugged twice by my friend today so my touch starved ass is feeling great./lh

Then at lunch, nothing much really happened—I played roblox, with one of my friends joining in as I played Natural Disaster cuz we added eachother on there yesterday. And we all kinda joked around the whole time, with one of my friends randomly sitting in my seat when I went to throw my food away, and I just saw them saying "HI I'M [REAL NAME] I'M A LESBIAN AND I LIKE SPOOKY MONTH THATS IT" in a heavy ass accent. Made me giggle even after lunch was over lol.

Then in English we read a little more of our book which.. kinda had some slurs in it?? It was said by a really immature brat of a character so it's obviously not normalized in the book but still jsndsnns. We played Blooket afterwards though and I kept laughing while stealing from other people—and I was also doing pretty good already cuz I'm good with English anyway.

In Theater I sat with my partners from yesterday, and we went over plans for the skit. It's basically gonna be like a peaceful salonist doing a Karen's nails only for her to get pissy cuz she lost her job, then a happy go lucky customer walks in and it turns out they're happy cuz they happened to take the woman's job jsnsns. I also complimented one of them because they had a trans flag on their backpack and he said he made it himself.

And then in Geometry, it was just kinda boring but at least a little more quiet than yesterday. I think I did somewhat better on my assessments online today, so that's at least good.

And finally for World History, I worked on annotations and reading and writing for documents regarding the Noah's Ark flood. This one dude kept complimenting me the whole time cuz of how fast I write and how well I read. And he kept calling me smart. It felt nice but I wasn't sure how to reply so I was kinda quiet the whole time jdndns. That's kinda it tho. We were able to finish before the bell rung luckily so no work for me tomorrow I guess unless we do something.

Other photos I took today

[quibbs126]

So I’ve been trying to do this darkrasp kid for ages, but I swear, I just cannot draw them

And it’s not so much from lack of ideas (I mean, I don’t have many ideas for them but I do have a few, though mostly for design), it’s just that I cannot will myself to. I think it’s because I’ve tried and failed to draw them twice already. It’s like when you’re trying to draw something, and it just doesn’t look right, so you erase and redraw the same thing over and over again, and by the end the paper’s gotten ruined from the constant erasing and drawing

I first tried to draw them way back in I believe March (which was…Christ like 4 months ago now), around when I drew Raspberry Cheesecake, as I was doing them both at the time. Hell I even mentioned the darkrasp kid in that post, and that they both existed in the same universe as second cousins, since I imagined that they would be finished next. And at that time I think I was doing well, I had an idea of where I was going

But the problem came in the form of their sword. See, Raspberry has a fencing sword (I believe a rapier), and Dark Choco has what I believe to be a greatsword. So I wanted to try and come up with something in the middle for this kid, something that still looked like a blade like Dark Choco’s, but not nearly as wide. Then I discovered basket hilt swords and decided that was the perfect solution

I was able to come up with the blade just fine, but then the problem came in the form of the hilt, because I just could not make a hilt that looked right for the blade. It looked like I stuck two completely different swords together, and the hilt always looked too small for the blade

I don’t have any pictures of the hilt, but I can show you the blade and how far I got in the original drawing

I really liked the blade and how it looks, but I could not get the hilt to look right, so eventually I just gave up and decided that I’d simply come back to them another day. However unfortunately, I didn’t, probably because I knew I still had no solution for the sword, and so they remained, currently being one of the two oldest requests I have, right next to velvetgatto (which I also mean literally, as the canvases are right next to each other)

(Also I should mention, the blade would have gone under the arms. Which now that I’m thinking about it, may have just covered up the hilt entirely, but also for the type of hilt I was going for, it probably would have still shown)

Anyways, so then, when we were flying over to England, I decided I’d take another stab at it, seeing as how I’d drawn Ficelle and he’d ended up pretty good, so I was on a roll it seemed

I was trying to just draw the character, and I got farther than last time, but on the plane ride, I couldn’t really focus and get much done, possibly because the plane was shaking a bit as we lifted off, and I can’t really focus on drawing in a moving vehicle. I also believed perhaps I was a little burnt out, like how I felt when I talked about Vanilly some time ago, so I thought I should just leave it for now and resume again later

But then, I never did, partially because I just couldn’t figure out where to go next, and this was all I had

I tried again earlier today, but I end up just staring at the screen. So then I thought “maybe I should just start over once more, start again with a clean slate”. But then I’m looking at the empty canvas, and I have no clue what to do

I think at this point the canvas might just be so tainted with the past failings that I can’t bring myself to think of anything. Like I’ve created this stigma against them, and now this one has been in a deficit and just mindset of “I’ll work on it later” that I just can’t think of anything

And it’s not so much a Zuccotto situation where I don’t do anything because I have no clue what to do for the character. I have some ideas, like they’re a swordsman and wear white (bc both Dark Choco and Raspberry have Costumes where they wear white), and that their hair has black and pink, with both streaks and a gradient that goes into the same pink (though I’m also considering the idea of changing the black to a very dark pink, in part because of a new name for them), but I just can’t draw them

I feel like I need to just start from the ground up; like I don’t have many ideas about their actual character, other than they’re a swordsman, and they seem to be a more nervous and/or cautious individual, possibly due to the legacies of both their lineages, but that’s not much to work with. Plus I’m realizing that sounds a bit too much like Choco Madeleine. But then what should I do?

Oh also, something I was gonna mention but didn’t know where, I’m also thinking of changing their name. Originally it was Black Forest Cookie, since I couldn’t find any big thing with dark chocolate and raspberries, so just change raspberries with cherries, but now I’ve got two new ideas in the form of Black/Dark Raspberry Cookie (bc black raspberries), or Raspberry Jam Cookie (bc of my recent headcanon that Dark Choco and his dad have some jam in their dough flavor, and here it would end up being raspberry jam)

Honestly, at this point maybe I should just delete the original canvas and just make a new one, because the original has just been tainted at this point

[malbenita]

Was tagged in a self-love game by amazing @juuyeah and @rlbbackup !

List your top 3 favorite works you’ve done (art fics whatever u want) AND WHY :D gotta make sure to do the why👹no self deprivation here🕺Feel free to rope anybody else into this chain we gotta self lovo 🤸‍♀️

I don’t have much in stock since I was only actively drawing digitally for about a year, but I have some milestones here

First is… banana???

OKAY LET ME EXPLAIN before banana July 28 I had little to no experience with render and colour. I was silly. My colours were BAD. I just got something other then default brushes and I rendered these bananas to the limit. And it was indeed fun! Still proud of the way these turned out

Second one in my first finished ambitious work and is dedicated to sxf. As always - big ideas small experiences. And it took me over a whole month to finish! I was struggling endlessly with each character here and amount of render is crazy, I would change a lot here nowadays and actually maybe will redraw it someday. Like saturation levels on Anya hello??? Arms?? These poor flowers?… But I still love this one for trying and for it being associated with my first fandom memories 💖

Now I’ll talk about brand new drawing. It isn’t much of a redraw but it’s vaguely resembles concept from an old work of mine and does Tell A Lot.

First one was meant to be Halloween special that… took Oct 30 - Nov 23 lol girl slow. (Poorly censored blood because im lazy) and a fresh 4h remake next to it. Tumblr ate colours sadly since red is the most hated part of spectrum by media it seems, but I am really proud of made progress. I wasn’t able to finish first one because I was putting too much effort. And recent one is like… at least 28 times faster and DONE.

Sometimes less is more. I learnt where to spend more time and put more details and where I can save time. I wasn’t trying even twice as hard as first time and it worked! This drawing is basically “I’ve grown, I’ve learnt” with all techniques and shortcuts and an idea of what am I even doing.

As to who to tag I am not sure (few weeks late with response), so anyone actually! I would love to see what others made, so I’m tagging You - freely use me in “was tagged by”! No matter the skill personal achievements are valuable and admirable ❤️

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for the Avengers’ days off

Avengers x reader

warnings: stabbing mention lmao, guns

a/n:

prompt: anonymous: “can we have a y/n just chilling with all the avengers?”

over the years, it was hard to have a peaceful day off, but sometimes that was the priority

each avenger had a preference on what they liked to spend their free time on

but we all know that there’s never a true stress-free day when it comes to your team

most of you preferred sleeping in, but not cap or sam, it was 6:00am sharp for them

you had begged tony to soundproof this place, but noooo

“it’s just not practical, what if someone’s being stabbed? what if we cant hear them yelling for help?”

so you could hear the clattering of the kitchen and buried your face into your pillow

sooner or later you’d roll out of bed and find breakfast had been cooked for the whole team

“‘morning, y/n! we made eggs, toast, bacon, waffles, and cut up some fruit! here’s your plate and here’s some juice”

“oh, wow, smells great”

it could’ve been worse, at least there were no coffee grounds in the disposal so you didn’t have to hear tony complain

speaking of tony, he emerged from the hallway in his silk robe with bags under his eyes

“well, i dont know about you guys, but i slept great!”

“how many hours of sleep did you get, tony?”

“you know, like...two”

sooner or later, the rest of the avengers had been woken up and everyone gathered in the living room to watch the news and talk about their plans

“can we watch something other than the news? i’d honestly be down to watch spongebob, anyone else?” -rhodey

you were in charge of the remote

“hell yeah, i thought you’d never ask”

this full group of adults peacefully watching nickelodeon together until everyone was finished

now there was a pile of dishes in the sink and a very dirty kitchen but everyone just kind of forgot about it and went on to other things

so what relaxed the avengers?

well, most of them liked to train, but they had other hobbies too

like steve, he liked to draw (every once in a while he showed you his sketches and they’re honestly really good?? especially the redraw of a monkey in the ‘40s)

sometimes he even asked you to model poses for him

“just another minute, y/n, you’re doing great”

*you standing on one shaking leg in a kick position*

steve made u draw with him

“it’s therapeutic”

you left your art in his room and now it’s hung up on the fridge

and then there was tony, who was working on some new inventions that you were a bit worried about

you snuck past the lab, but FRIDAY told him that you were near

“y/n! come help me with this really quick!”

“damn, so close”

“can you try this on and shoot it at that target over there?”

“why cant you do this?”

“because your body is able to ‘take the heat’ or whatever that dumb catchphrase you have is”

luckily it worked, but “not good enough” and you ended up helping tony hold the thing in place while he worked

“so, how’s your day off going so far? do anything fun?”

“hung out with steve while he was working on some sketches”

“so i’m going to take that as a ‘no’”

tony relieving you of your duties so that you could roam the compound once more

hearing wanda play guitar!! you loved hearing her play!

“knock knock”

“come in”

you laid in her bed for a while and listened to her soothing voice, it made up for tony’s lab assistant thing

“do you know what’s for lunch?”

“i think today’s special is ‘serve yourself’”

you and wanda went off to the kitchen to make macaroni and cheese (because why not??? im about to make my own mac and cheese)

(also u made tony a pb&j bc u knew damn well he wasn’t coming out of that lab for a while) (u gave him lightly salted chips too bc he needs to cut down on his sodium)

“tony, eat lunch”

“aww, for me? you shouldn’t have”

yall think wanda watches shameless?? bc i kinda do and these are my headcanons so she watches shameless

“we’re more unstable than the gallaghers, they should make a show about us”

she almost choked on her mac and cheeseeee

“keeping up with the avengers”

“‘tony, what the fuck is up with your wifi, you have this big-ass compound and you can’t afford a wifi box out here?’”

“‘it’s not about affording, it’s about radiation’”

“‘you’re gonna die anyway! you understand that, right? die with a good snapchat going through!’”

nearly pissing yourself laughing

but vision asked wanda a favor and you wandered off to another part of the compound

ah, yes, the training room

clint, nat, sam, and rhodey were all in here; it was target practice day

“y/n, grab a gun and get over here!”

“a gun? let’s teach y/n some archery”

“nobody wants to learn archery, clint”

“what? you said you wanted to”

“yeah, but you never taught me”

“well, i can teach you right now”

“fine, let’s go!”

red-wing flew very close to your head

“watch out, y/n!” -sam

“dude, you’re gonna kill them” -rhodey

“seems like now is a bad time?”

everyone was just kind of bickering as per usual, you were just a teeny bit bored

but sam agreed to a round of hand-to-hand combat that really relaxed you

no, really, the best stress reliever is a peaceful fight between your roommates

you were kinda glad it wasn’t nat you were fighting because she’d probably put you on the mat twice a minute

soon, each of you worked up a sweat and you went to your private bathroom to take a shower

there was always hot water at the avengers compound, so that was a comforting thought

after you were out, you got dressed into some cozy pajamas and walked out to the kitchen, where wanda and vision were making dinner

a few avengers were already out on the couches, just watching the tv

you joined them and suggested that they should all watch a movie tonight

“what kind of movie?”

“i dont know? hot tub time machine?”

everyone agreed

and side eyed steve when sebastian stan popped up on screen

“guys, i really dont see the resemblance! cant we just watch the movie?”

“are you blind??”

“his 90 year old eyes deceive him”

it was a good dinner

“sam, you stink”

“i havent taken a shower yet”

what a loving family

[lilyharvord]

The Chain (Part 9)

Thank you to everyone for being so patient with my update for this fic. I’m officially done with my first semester of graduate school and since I’m on break, I want to try and post as many chapters as possible to get as close to finishing this as possible. We’re time jumping after this by the way everyone. It’s about time we kicked it up a few notches and got to the meat and bones of this fic. 

Tag list: @delilahlbard, @king-maven-calore, @thatoddgirl777, @elliekratzzz, @evangelineartemiasamos, @evangeline-of-montfort, @scxrletguardsdawn, @freaky-freiday, @petergrantkavinsky, @kuwei, @whatsup-gorls, @katiemoore,  @redqueenetwork, @tranquil-dusk (I’m trying to add you but for some reason it wont @... the same problem happens with @thatoddgirl777 and I have no idea how to fix it)

Find the rest of the fic here: part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 

Enjoy everyone (: 

(/Mare/)

When I run from my lesson with Julian, it feels fake and I wonder if he even buys into it. I have far too much control over my ability now, and it is hard to fake going out of control. Still, the rain feels good on my face when I finally find a balcony. I couldn’t care less about the paint that is most likely being washed away. I tilt my head back and inhale, letting the rain drench my hair. Today is just a bad day, and it is only set to get worse. 

The rain is warm as if washes over my face. I wish it were cold. I’ve felt too much lately. I want to be numb for a few minutes. 

Thunder rumbles in the distance. A moment later, the air changes as another bolt of lightning prepares to races across the sky. The storm is right overhead. I miss the electricons more than anything as the pressure escalates around me. 

We’d go storm chasing on a day like today to hunt down the elusive bolts of lightning so that we could harness them ourselves. Harnessing natural storms is like wrestling with my brothers when I was little. It’s pulling against an impossible force, but the power that roars through my veins when I manage to get what I want out of it is exhilarating. 

Gripping the banister, I inhale the smell of ozone and open my eyes to watch the flash of white as it shoots across the sky. Change, lightning is change. Storms come and wash away the old to bring new, brighter things behind it. Tyton had taught me that. Ella taught me it could be elegant. Rafe taught me it was beauty. I taught them it could bend but never break.

A hand closes around my arm and I almost yelp at the freezing touch. Two Sentinels stand over me. They must have followed me out here and given me a careful berth until they were certain I wouldn’t electrocute them. 

“My lady,” One of them growls, his grey eyes like dirty snow. Probably a Gillican judging by his touch. He’s twice my size, but nowhere near as powerful. I still hate the sight of them. 

“Let go.” I insist as I tug my arm. But he grips me tighter and steel panic laces through my bones. They had found me before, but who knows why they have come looking for me now. Has Elara decided to make a move? Has she found something out? 

Tugging against him, I bring my other hand up to grab his wrist and shock him into letting me go. I never get the chance though. 

“You heard my bride.” Maven. My blood runs cold as he steps onto the balcony, looking over the two guards like they are common dirt. “Let her go.”

The relief I should feel is replaced by cold fear. I’ll take the Sentinels over him any day. I’m not in the mood to play games with him. 

“Apologies your Highness, but we must keep Lady Titanos to her schedule.” The one holding me speaks in a baritone that makes Maven’s lips pull down in a frown. His grip is already loosening though. I can’t believe I never realized how in pocket Maven and Elara had the Sentinels. These soldiers stopped serving the king a long time ago. “It’s orders, sir.” 

“Then you have new orders,” Maven’s voice is colder than ice. It reminds me of the freezing nights in Paradise Valley when the wolves would howl at the moon and the wind would answer back. “I will accompany Mareena back to her lessons.” 

I’d sooner let him walk me off a cliff. But the Sentinels drop my arm none the less and leave us on the balcony. The buffer they put between me and Maven leaves with them, and then I am alone with the man who destroyed me. 

“We have working showers inside, you know.” 

I push my wet hair out of my face before turning away from him. Jokes aside, I don’t want to see him. My nightmares have returned in all their supernatural fury. Every night I dream of chasing him down a hallway, the burn of the knife as it cuts my side, and feeling of dying in a Silent Stone room. I wake gasping and on the verge of screaming, but no sound comes out. I’m grateful for that at least. Still, I miss Cal’s warmth, and being able to curl against him to tether myself to reality when the dreams refuse to leave. 

“I want to be alone.” I murmur, setting my head in my hand. My patience is holding, but not for long. 

“I understand that.” 

Oh, I know you do. I keep my lips from curling into a sneer by sheer will alone. Lightning flares across the sky again. The storm is creeping beyond us, but I could still pull a bolt down and hit him if I wanted. My aim is perfect. I could cook him to a crisp like I did Elara. 

I grip the banister again to settle my thoughts. I can almost feel the char of her hair between my fingers and the weight of her head if I close my eyes. I can hear the hum of the cameras as I hold up the head of a she-wolf and promise to come for the pup. 

“I understand how difficult it is.” He continues as he steps up next to me, bolder than he ever was. My eyes snap to him, but I’m more curious now than wary. What has made him so certain? Before, he had still been wary around me. It wasn’t until we joined the Guard together that he truly pretended to open up to me.  

His eyes are cold as he stares out over the palace grounds. “These people. They make it impossible. I can’t say what I want, do what I want—with my mother around I can barely even think what I want. And my brother—!” 

“What about him?” My blood runs cold. What has Cal done now? He promised he would stop prying—

The words stick in his mouth, and he pales with a blush. He’s not the perfect statesman that locked me in a cage yet. He’s not the boy listening to a ghost in his head yet. There is still a part of him that is Maven, and not the thing his mother created. “He’s strong, he’s talented, he’s powerful—and I’m his shadow. The shadow of the flame.” 

The part of me that always understood that part of him, and even loved it quakes. I step out of Gisa’s shadow because of him, but he never does leave Cal’s. He never gives himself the chance. He keeps chasing the edge of Cal’s shadow like there is one. Maven casts his own shadows though. They haunts me and they haunts Cal in the future. If only he knew that. 

When the words come to me, they are true and that is what makes me feel sick. “Then maybe you should try to be more than that.” 

His eyes widen at my words, and I find myself unable to stop. “You could be more. I think you could. Stop chasing the edges of shadows, you’ll never find them. Find a way to be alone with your own heart, and be happy with it.” 

His entire face folds in on itself, pinching in places I never saw before. I’ve never seen this emotion from him, and I have no idea what to call it. For a moment I wonder if I’ve said the wrong things, and done exactly what I told Cal not to do. But a part of me still wants to save the boy that I thought was trying to save me. Even if its hopeless, and he is too far gone to save. Monsters aren’t born, they’re made. Julian told me that once. Well if monsters can be made, they can be unmade too.  

“That’s something you should know about us Silvers. We’re always alone. In here, and here.” He gives me a tired smile as he touches his head and then his heart. The line sends a shiver down my spine though. He’d said the same thing last time too. It only reminds me that perhaps we’re on a track, and there is no getting off. There are no other exits, only the ones that I know are coming. 

“I don’t believe you.” 

“You better learn to hide that heart of yours, Lady Titanos. It won’t lead you anywhere you want to go.” 

My heart aches more than he could ever know. This is the boy, this is the truth. There is nothing to save. I am trying to fix a shattered mirror and cutting my hands on the pieces to spill my blood for nothing. I turn my eyes back to the sky, closing them as lightning strikes again, and thunder roars above us. Battle lines were drawn before; I have to redraw them now. 

“I think I can help with your problem.” 

I turn my eyes back down to him, and instantly he is the Maven I dreamed about. The mask is so perfect. I forget there are cracks that the darkness slips through. 

“What problem?”

“You’re homesick.” Holding out his hand to me, he nods down to it when I don’t take it. His skin is like ice when I slide my palm into his. I thought I remember him being warm by this point. Instead, he’s a corpse before I make him one. “I can fix that.” (/////)

The wind cuts through my hair, ripping it from its braid as Cal and I race toward the Stilts. I’ve ridden a cycle with him numerous times since this night. Nothing takes away the rush or competes with the feeling of flying that this generates though. Usually we tear down mountains roads and I close my eyes, trusting him to keep me safe as he cuts around turns. He’s taken Gisa once too. I had to peel her off of him when they returned because she was gripping his body so tightly. 

Right now, his body is warm in my arms, warm and real. It reminds me that I’m safe with him. Even if I’m terrified of the situation we’re in. 

When we finally reach the branch in the road that will bring us into the Stilts he brings the cycle to a stop, and cuts the engine. I’m the first off, and I peel away from him like a second skin. He pushes it into the trees, his eyes dancing to me every so often as he does so. I know that look he is throwing over his shoulder. I’ve seen the worry that creases his brows and the concern that flares like a light show in his eyes many times when he’s uncertain what’s going through my mind.

“Do you want to talk?” He eventually asks after throwing a few leafy branches over the cycle to hide it. I tuck my hands into the pocket of my coat to hide the shake in them. 

“There really was nothing to save.” It’s a thought that’s been going through my mind since Maven confronted me on the balcony. 

His expression melts into true concern faster than I can swallow my words. But he swaps that for a different mask of emotion. There’s no jealousy in his eyes, but I can see the beginning flares of his panic. His one true fear before we started this was that I would choose Maven this time around; that maybe he really was the consolation prize all along and I only chose to try again because I lost my chance to be with Maven. 

“He’s still a ghost.” I whisper to him before reaching out for his hand. He lets my fingers interlace with his. I squeeze them tightly, trying to get him to understand. “That doesn’t mean I won’t mourn a chance lost.” 

He nods tightly, his jaw squeezing until a muscle in it feathers. I cup the spot with my other hand, caressing it to soothe him. “I love you, you know that. Even if you drive me up a wall sometimes.” 

With a light laugh, his worry melts away, and I’m glad for it. We can’t be questioning each other right now. There’s too much at stake. There can be no edges. We filed them down after the war so we could fit together after all. That is where the real truth lies though. 

Maven carved himself to fit with me. But Cal and I smoothed down together, cutting off the edges that mattered so we could fit. I didn’t need to change for Maven because he melted what he needed to make the perfect mask. It had been a lie from the beginning. A beautiful, wonderful lie. Cal had been real though, had never bothered to hide what he was, even when those parts hurt. He made me better, and I made him better. Nothing about Maven had made me better. He made me strong sure, but a brittle kind of strong that hurt anyone that got too close. 

Reaching out, he pushes my hair away from my face, his smile falling fast. “I wish you didn’t have to go through this.” 

He could be talking about anything. Shade. Maven. All the New Bloods. Losing myself. Losing people I love. Even losing him for a bit. 

“I don’t.” I insist, even though the words cut up my insides like glass as I speak them. The truth cuts sometimes. I’m used to the sting. (////////)

The meeting with my family still stabs like a knife. Kilorn’s rage burns like a brand. Gisa’s wish rings in my ears.  I feel like I’m drowning, being swallowed up by the old emotions. It’s like reading a book where I know the ending and hesitate to turn every page. I hate every second. Even as I make my way straight of Will’s wagon. 

Cal trails me, making sure to stay hidden in the shadows so Kilorn doesn’t see him, and so Will’s spies don’t notice him ether. Kilorn knows who Cal is, I know he does. He had known from the moment he first saw him. I couldn’t be more grateful for my friend keeping his fat mouth shut around my family though. I think my dad would have found a way to stand and kill Cal where he stood if he knew he was the Crown Prince. 

I hold my hand out, telling him to stay back silently, while I take the final ten meters to the wagon on my own. He melts into the shadows, playing the part of a shadow so expertly I have to do a double take. But even his eyes are gone. Maybe he turned and went back to the cycle. I hope he did. When I step into the wagon, it’s to see Will smiling, already waiting for what I have to say. I tell him everything. And just like he did last time, he admits to knowing everything.

Tristan waits behind the curtain, ready to pounce. I can see the toes of his boots before he announces his presence. He’s more arrogant than I remember. I still see the pole Ptolemus shoots through him though, and the mental image makes me shudder. 

“The royal monkeys have chosen a queen this past week.” Tristan’s smile is cold as he looks me over. “You’ve been all over the screens Lady Titanos.” 

I hate that name, and all the implications of it. “They aren’t all monkeys.” I insist, and the fire that lights in his eyes makes me wish I hadn’t said anything. 

“Are you talking about the prince you’re engaged to or the one waiting outside in the shadows?” Will asks as he leans back and rests his hands on his stomach. 

My heart does a jump and a skip, and I’m sure all the blood drains from my face. I thought we’d been careful and I had been incredibly impressed with how Cal disappeared. Still, I should have known, Will is a spy in the Guard for a reason. 

Tristan erupts though, and takes two quick steps for the door, his hand flying to his pistol. I leap and grab his wrist though, twisting it expertly and spinning to put myself between him and the door. And ultimately between him and Cal. 

“You brought a Silver here?” he hisses down at me, even though my hands are already lighting with sparks. “The Crown Prince? Do you know what we could do if we took him in? What we could bargain for?”

Relax, I want sneer, you get him eventually. And he will do far more this time than he did last time. My words when I do speak are low, like thunder in the distance as I glare him down. “You leave him alone.” 

Tristan’s lip curls in disgust. “A few weeks in the lap of luxury and your blood is as silver as theirs,” he spits, looking like he wants to curl his fingers around my throat and throttle me. “Do they take turns?”

“What?” I gasp in surprise. That’s not in the script. 

“Do they take turns rolling in the sheets with you?” His lips curl at the surprise on my face. “Or do you pick one over the other? I’m going to guess the one hiding out there gets the most time.” 

Fury like nothing before sears through me. I bring a hand up that sparks as I sneer. “You idiot. I’m protecting you from him. He’s a trained soldier that would turn you inside out like a shirt if he wanted. And he’d burn this place down if you so much as tried to go after him.” 

You’re only alive because I haven’t burned the oxygen from this room. A real threat, one I believed when Cal said it the first time, and one I believe now. I have to keep Tristan away from Cal. I can’t have a stray bullet finding its way into his chest or his head. 

Tristan deflates, his anger melting away as I slowly lower my hand and disburse the sparks. Will lays a hand on Tristan’s shoulder, calming him further. “That’s enough,” he whispers. “What did you come here for, Mare? Kilron is safe and so are you siblings.” 

This is what I came here for. To put the pieces in motion finally. To start the game for my side. “Shade was a member of the Guard, and they killed him for it.” The only fact I can trace. “I have to pretend it doesn’t bother me.” 

“You’re dead if you don’t.” Will reasons. 

“I know. I’ll say what they want. But I’m in the palace, the center of the royal family. I’m quick, and quiet. And I will help the cause.”  

Tristan sucks in a ragged breath. His eyes light with a new fire, this one vastly different from his anger. He rises to his full height, beaming at my words. “You want to join up.” 

“I do.” My words are final, and I don’t bother to look at Will, only Tristan. 

“I hope you know what you’re committing to. This isn’t just my war, or Farley’s or the Scarlet Guards—it’s yours. Until the very end. And not to avenge your brother but to avenge us all. To fight for the ones before and the ones to come.”  

The ones to come. My chest squeezes as I picture Clare’s toothless grin at the same time that her laugh rings through my ears. My own hand curls into a fist on my stomach. There are plenty to come. I swore myself to the Guard to protect them before I even knew about them, and now more than ever my heart pounds for that future. I will fight tooth and nail for it. I will spill my blood and others so that someday, someday I can sit on my porch and watch a little dark haired boy run rampant in the backyard. So my brother’s name can live on in his daughter. So that someday my family never has to be hungry. So that someday, I never have to be afraid. 

I slip my hand into Will’s gnarled one. Cal warned me of war once, of what it brings. We both know the cost now, but I know what waits for us on the other side. There is a light, there is hope, there is good. I will do whatever it takes to get back there. Even if it means mucking my way through blood and mud once again. 

“I am with you.” 

“We will rise,” Will breathes in unison with Tristan. The words are like hope burning in my chest, lighting up the room around us as I speak them too. “Red as the dawn.”

(////////)

Cal is quiet as we walk through the halls of the palace. And I am too. My silence is contemplative though, his is patient while he waits for what I have to say. He’s always waiting, waiting for me to cross the bridge. He waited for me to say yes too. He asked seven times before I said yes to him in the dead of night wrapped up in cool sheets and half delirious with sleep. I’d pressed a kiss to the space between his brows and said yes without him asking. He waited almost two years for me to say that word after he asked the first time. Now he waits without asking. He knows I will talk eventually. 

“I have to tell you something.” I eventually whisper, and grab his wrist. The cameras whisper around us, and I turn my eyes in their direction before saying, “Your rooms are safe.” 

When Maven brought me there, I made sure to do a sweep. There are no cameras in Cal’s room. I wonder why, but I don’t bother to question it too much. It’s a silent blessing, the perfect meeting place. I don’t have to wait until the guards change to speak with him. 

He nods and takes me a back way. For a moment, I fear we’re lost, until we turn a corner and he brings us to his door. He glances over his shoulder at the same time that I swipe my hand to surge electricity through the camera’s wires, shorting it long enough for me to slide in the room and him to follow me without us being seen. 

In the dark of his rooms, I feel like a ghost. He goes to turn the lights on but I catch his hand. And for the first time in a long time, almost shock him. The hairs on his arms rise as my sparks threaten to explode out from under my skin. I haven’t been this nervous in so long. It makes him jumpy. 

“What happened?” He asks quickly, spinning to face me and grabbing my shoulders. His shadow looks different in the dark, smaller and less imposing. Strange how that is what made him most human to me the first time as well. 

I slip out of his grip only to dive into his chest, wrapping my arms around his middle and burying my nose in his shirt. He smells just a hint like the river as spending a couple of hours in the Stilts, but underneath it, that scent of burning wood clings to him. It relaxes every muscle in my body as I inhale. 

He wraps is arms around my shoulders in response. For a moment, I think he’ll repeat his question. Instead he just reaches up to threads his fingers through my hair that I pulled out of the braid long ago, tangling them in the slightly wavy locks. I can’t hold the secret in any longer, not now that I’ve signed up for this, and he will someday too. I should have told him the moment I found out, but I wanted it be a surprise, a little secret that I could tell him with a laugh. Instead, I feel like I’m telling him before we walk to the gallows. It taints the joy, the happiness of what is to come. 

“I wasn’t completely honest with you before all this.” 

His shoulders stiffen as I bring my hands up to close them in fists on his back. I’m never good at starting conversations like this and I immediately regret the words I spoke. He’s already on edge, and I made I worse. Squeezing the fabric of his shirt softly, I murmur, “before we got here.” 

He relaxes again, and disengages from our embrace to lift my chin. He needs to know, deserves to know. 

“I didn’t want to go after Giselle that night. I told you I was tired, but there was another reason.” It has never been so hard to put something into words. I wish I had just told him in the first place, maybe this whole mess could have been avoided if I had. 

His brows furrow and his face twists as he tries to think back to that strange night and morning. I grab his hands and squeeze tight, willing him to pay attention to my words, more than the memory of what I said. 

“I was going to tell you we had to call off the wedding—”

His eyes widen in surprise, and he opens his mouth to speak. I press my finger to his lips to keep him from doing just that. “For just a little while. Something came up.”

He sits with baited breath, his expression confused and fearful. A mix that’s dangerous for a soldier, especially one like Cal that is used to knowing everything. My lips curl into a weak smile as I say, “We have to get back because something’s waiting for us. Or it may have come with us. I’m not sure. If it did, I have to be more careful than I thought.” 

His eyes dart around the room like someone might be listening, and he slowly takes my hand to pull me into his closet where our voices will be furthered muffled. Has he grasped what I’m about tell him? Cal’s observant, even with all his bullheaded tendencies, and he’s not stupid. He knows me well enough to notice when my habits change. And they had been changing, little by little. I’m a subtle creature, but he’s very good at reading me now. 

In the safety of his closet, I can smile bright. I can let the warmth of my news pulse out of me like sunlight. It had terrified me the moment I knew what was happening, but slowly that panic had been replaced by a strange joy, a strange curiosity. And now, it was longing. 

“You can talk freely now.” He whispers. 

The words die. They won’t come. Like stones, they sit in my throat and choke me. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him. Is it cruel to get his hopes up about something we may never be able to return to? And yet, this is not just my burden to bear. This is our future. I am in this to get back to my family. He is in this to get back to what we had in Montfort. He may need something else, something to fight for that isn’t just me. Even if it’s not as tangible as it is for me. 

I’ll just have to say it, push the words out one by one. “I was pregnant.” 

They come easier than I thought, and honestly come out more like a garbled rush than the wonderful phrase they should be. As soon as I speak those words into existence though, the joy leaves, only to be replaced by trepidation and the air around us is leeched of its warmth. 

“What?” Cal’s question is a wheeze, a word not quite formed. 

“Three or four months, I wasn’t sure.” I grab his hand and squeeze as his eyes widen in the dark to the side of moons. “I told you we had so much waiting for us. That’s what is waiting for us. We have to follow everything to the line because of that future.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispers, his eyes darting as he thinks back over everything, every action I committed before that night, every word I spoke. 

“I was going to tell you that night, but then we got called to deal with Giselle.” I shake my head, laughing quietly. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am not the only one privy to this secret knowledge. 

His eyes darken though. Storm clouds gather in his irises as he leans down to whisper.  “You said you didn’t know if it came with us.” 

“All my knowledge and memories came with me… and I’m in the same body theoretically just--just five or six years younger. It might have come with me.” It’s a long shot, but if I’m right, we have far bigger problems than we originally thought. 

“You don’t look like—”

“I didn’t look like it in Montfort either.” I reason dryly. He would have noticed if I did. His lips twist and he nods. 

“What do you want to do?”

“I’m going to wait and see if anything happens.”  

He pales at the prospect, but I grip his fingers tightly again, forcing his gaze back down to me. “This is what we are fighting to get back to. Why we have to be so careful.”  

“I wish you’d told me sooner.” He murmurs before reaching down to circle one of his arms around my waist. In the dark I’m not quite sure if he’s smiling or grimacing. Not until he cups my jaw and presses his lips to mine. He pours every ounce of the joy that is about to explode out of him into that kiss. It mixes with mine until I’m certain we are glowing like a small sun. 

And in that closet, nestled in a nest of snakes and wolves, I finally let myself breathe.

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

Behind the Mask

Hi. This is, a lot. Like five pages of work. I’ve spent days working on it and I’ve rewritten it twice, so I hope this is as good as I think it is. I’ve left the ending open because I’m thinking of writing a part two, let me know what you think. 

Master List

~~

“What on this blue earth do you mean you need another suit, Hyunwoo? The party is tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Lin, I know its last minute.” The large muscular man bows deeply, and you can just feel in his words that he’s truly sorry. 

“I was supposed to be out of the country, my plans only just got cancelled.” The other man apologizes, also bowing. Your boss glares at them, her steely gaze made worse by the black mask covering her face. 

“I can make it.” The moment the words leave your mouth you regret them. All three of them turn their gazes on you, and for a few moments you want to sink in on yourself. 

“I don’t want to impose on you.” You can’t speak for a few seconds, too busy being absolutely stuck on the man in front of you. He’s tall and so muscular he could probably kill you with a hug. “Y/n,” Lin begins, “You really think you could create an entire suit in a day?” You square your shoulders, this was the moment you had been waiting for, a chance to show your skills. 

“I designed all the other suits, every other costume you had me work on is done. I already had a mock up of his suit finished when he cancelled originally. If I can use fabric from the workshop, and if I work all night, I can get it done.” The group exchanges glances, and you can see just from their eyes that Lin and Hyunwoo have very little faith. 

“I think you can do it.” The other man vouches, eyes twinkling and making your heart skip more than a few beats. “I have faith in you, and I’ll help as much as I can.” You choke on your own words for a second but finally manage to nod. 

“Thanks.” 

“Alright, Y/n, if you think you can do it, go ahead.” Lin nods, “Hoseok is going to be your assistant.” 

“Great.” You breathe, unsure if you’re going to be able to function properly with him around. “Follow me.” You lead him back to the workshop, which is just a huge warehouse connected to the back of the tailors shop filled with fabrics, lace and all the bits and baubles needed to make whatever clothing customers wanted. 

“Woah.” His small gasp has you smiling behind your own mask as you head over to your workstation. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, but we’re asked to clothe most artists these days. Dragon Tailors is the official tailor for JYP, Big Hit and P Nation, but we get clients from all over.” You explain, dropping your sketchbook on the table and motioning for him to take a seat. “Alright so this is what I designed a few months ago.” 

The suit was, arguably, simple. It was just a black lace vest, and a deep red jacket with matching pants. The jacket had the wings of Eros embroidered on the back in gold, and doves on the lapel, while the pants had rose vines going up the legs. It was simple but elegant and sexy, and a good representation of Eros in your opinion. The other boys in his (former) group were also going as varying gods. While the other boys were going as much more major gods, Hoseok had chosen Eros, maybe to only lowkey match the other boys. 

“Wow, that’s a lot. Are you going to be able to make it in time?” You shrug, your shoulder brushing against his. 

“I have the rose patches for the pants, and I have a dove program on my embroidery machine for the lapels, I can hand stitch the wings, if I get the rest of it done quickly.” You explain, glancing at your watch. “I’ve got roughly 40 hours, luckily you guys came in early.” 

“Is there anything I can help with?” You finally look over at him. He’s handsome, even while wearing his mask, with strong brows and deep brown eyes. For a few seconds you’re stuck, drowning in his eyes, until you finally manage to pull yourself out. 

“You need a mask and some shoes. The mask should be red and gold, and the shoes should be black, and Oxfords.” 

“You guys don’t make shoes?” He wonders and you shake your head, walking over to the rack of half finished designs you were working on. 

“We design them, but typically the people we work with either have a pair already, or we order them, usually from a brand the star is partnered with.” You grab the mock up you had already built. “Before you leave to get those, try this on for me. I need to know it fits.” You toss the material at him, pointing to the changing room behind him. 

Of course it fits, but you still make a point of reminding him not to work out between now and the party, or he might burst out of the jacket, which you would pay to see. Before he leaves to get his missing pieces you give him your number, telling him to text you pictures before he buys anything. And with that, you’re alone in the workshop. 

“So, he’s kinda cute.” Lin greets, sliding your sketchbook towards her while you’re focused on the bolts of red cloth on the wall. 

“He’s an idol, you told me they’re off limits.” You retort, “Satin or silk?” 

“Silk, with satin for the liner.” You nod, grabbing the cloth you want. “And they aren’t off limits, at least, he isn’t. Are you making him body chains?”

“If I have time,” You drop the cloth on the table, grabbing your patterns. “I mean, he’s hot, no cap, but there’s no way he’d go for me. He probably has girls throwing themselves at him all the time, I’m not about to do that.” Lin nods understandingly, walking over to the lace collection and picking one. 

“What about this for the vest?” You glance over at her, nodding approvingly at the selection. “He’s a broad boy, are you sure this is going to look good on him?”

“He could make a garbage back look good, Lin. Hey don’t you have a Hyunwoo up front?”

“He’s getting the two of us lunch, as payment for stressing me out.” 

“Sounds like a date to me.” You tease, earning a chuckle from her. 

“Maybe it is.” She pats your back as she walks by, “Good luck, I believe in you.” 

“That makes one of us.” 

~~

You weren’t sure how much time was passing, there were no windows in the workshop, so you just kept going. The pants were finished, you had decided to forgo the vines, and just add roses in a few different colors. The vest was done too, the lace Lin had chosen was made of small birds and flowers, like it had been made for this project. Hoseok had texted you not even an hour after he had left, showing off the mask and shoes he had gotten, which looked really good. 

All that you needed to do was stitch these wings, attach the liner to the torso of the jacket, and put it all together. Oh and make the body chains and the choker. It was going to be a long night, the wings were going to take hours to finish, and the chains probably an hour, but Hoseok would have to be here for that, so it could wait until after the jacket was finished. Then you just had to steam everything and make sure he picked it up on time. 

Good thing sleep is an illusion. 

“Hey google.” You don’t look away from your work as your phone pauses your music to listen to you. “Place an order at Dalcomm Coffee.” You adjust the glasses on your nose, lining the sketch paper up with the jacket. “One large white mocha, no whip with an extra shot of espresso.” 

“Confirm order, one large white mocha. Subtract whip. Add espresso.” The device asks. 

“Confirm.” 

“Order total is-”

“Confirm.” 

“Order placed. Estimated time of arrival: 7:16 pm, Korean Standard Time.” 

“Thanks google, play my work playlist.” 

“You thank your google?” Hoseok’s voice has you glancing up, finding him standing in the doorway with two bags in his hands. Somehow, he looked even better than earlier, now in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts. His face was still hidden behind the mask, like yours, but you could tell he was smiling from the crinkle in his eyes. 

“Yes I do, you don’t?” He shakes his head, laughing softly. 

“Can’t say I do. Maybe I should. May I come in?”

“Yeah sure. The pants and vest are done, if you’d like to try them on.” He shakes his head, perching on the stool next to you with his bags at his feet. 

“I’ll wait until the jacket is done.” He decides. “How are you doing?”

“Working. The lapels are on the machine, so I just need to finish the wings and I’ll be almost done.” You explain, pointing to the machine on the other end of the table. 

“Have you eaten today?” His question shocks you enough to make you look up from your work. Had you eaten today? 

“Uh, no.” You focus back on the chalk in your hands as you tediously redraw the wings onto the fabric. “But I am getting another cup of coffee.” 

“How many cups have you had?” You chuckle, knowing your smile is hidden. 

“Many.” 

“Well, goodthing I brought you dinner.” 

“I’ll eat when I’m done.” 

“How about when you’re done drawing that?” 

“I’ve really got to get this done.” You insist, waving at the jacket. 

“You really need to eat, you still have plenty of time to finish this.” His voice is soft but insistent. “If you don’t eat you’ll get sick.” You huff, tapping the chalk on the table. 

“Alright fine,” You relent, “But let me finish drawing this first.” 

“I can deal with that.” He begins unloading the food, setting it on a nearby table, seeing as your workstation was covered in fabric. 

“You know you didn’t have to buy me dinner.” You comment, eyes still glued to your work. 

“I wanted to.” The way he says is so matter-of-factly has your heart beating a little faster. 

“A man after my own heart.” You joke, glancing over at him. You can tell he’s smiling behind his mask, even though he isn’t looking at you. 

“Maybe.” He mumbles, and you’re pretty sure you weren’t supposed to hear that. “This is beautiful.” He breathes, fingers trailing over the roses on his pants. “You’re very talented.” 

“Thank you. If I’m being honest, this is my first chance to make a full outfit of my own.” You confess. 

“Really? I would have assumed you’ve been doing this for years.” 

“I generally just design, and then Lin and the others actually make them. I usually just get to make accessories and take measurements.” You shrug, re-aligning the original sketch over the fabric. “This is my chance to prove myself.”

“Well, you’ve proven yourself to me.” 

~~

Time moves both too slowly, and too quickly for you. Wonho leaves later in the night, several hours after you’ve finished dinner, telling you to get some sleep and not worry about the jacket. You lie, of course, telling him you will when the lapels are finished, but even when they are, you only move them to the side to continue working on the embroidery. Your hands hurt, your back hurts, your eyes hurt, but as the hours pass, the golden shimmer of the thread expands, unfurling into stellar wings befitting any god. You’re halfway through the second wing when a coffee is set down in front of you. 

“Hoseok, I told you to go to bed.” You respond instantly. 

“He probably is asleep, its only 5.” Lin’s voice is tinged with laughter. You finally look away from the needle, finding your boss standing next to you, and a few of the other designers setting up their workstations. 

“Am?” She nods at your question. “Good, if I started at 8,” You pause doing mental math, “I should have the wings finished by 8, the choker should only take about 30 minutes, I might have this ready for steaming by 9-9:30.” You inform her, focusing your face back on the project at hand. 

“Y/n, did you work all night?” Max, another designer asks. 

“Yeah, I’ve still got a bit to finish, but it will be ready for tonight.” 

“Wait, this is for tonight?” Sungwoo gasps, examining the vest and pants hanging on your rack. 

“Yeah.” You answer curtly, trying to just get back to work. 

“Why are you just working on it now? You should have had it finished yesterday at the latest, we need your help with-”

“Kami, you should be praising Y/n.” Lin interrupts. “While you all got the day off, Y/n was given this task yesterday, and she’ll have it done today. How many of you can say you’ve made a suit in under 40 hours.” Your face is warm as the room goes silent. “That’s what I thought.” Lin scoffs, “As for the rest of you. Kami, you’ve been contracted by Jung Seojoon for an upcoming award show, he’d like to meet at his house at 7. Sungwoo, I believe you have a dress for Perry’s upcoming tour that needs finishing. Max, Harden and Dojoon, you’re on call for repairs and styling for tonight, Rain already called this morning about a broken cufflink, Harden if you could.”

“Yes ma`am.” 

“Good, and leave Y/n alone until the suit is done. Understood?” The room was filled with confirmation and Lin patted your shoulder. “I’ll be in my workroom.” 

~~

You were right, the embroidery was finished by 8, but the entire suit wasn’t ready until almost 11, thanks to the choker taking forever. Sitting on your stool, you gazed at your masterpiece, marveling at how well it turned out, and praying it fit properly. 

“Looks good. Hoseok will be here for pick up at 5, why don’t you head home for a bit, get some sleep.” Lin greets, coming up behind you. 

“I should stay and help with-”

“No. You’re going to go home, until 4, at least. If you wake up before he’s supposed to come pick it up, you can come back and help. Otherwise, we’ll call you if we need you.” She orders instead. “Do not argue with me.” 

“Yes ma’am.” You finally relent. 

The exhaustion hit the moment you walked in your front door, and you ended up passed out on the couch instead of your bed. When you finally woke up, it was thanks to the incessant ringing of your phone on the table next to you, and the sudden lack of being able to breathe thanks to your cat deciding to pass out on your chest. 

“Hello?” You mumble into the device, absently petting the naked kitty. 

“Y/n, it’s Lin. Get up and shower, I’ll be at your house in thirty minutes.” Her words have you sitting up slightly, confused, and knocking the cat off. 

“Sorry, Berus. And what do you mean you’ll be here in 30 minutes?”

“I’m playing fairy godmother tonight. Go shower, now.” Her voice is stern, and something tells you not to question it. 

“Um, alright.” 

The doorbell rings just as you exit the bathroom, still toweling your hair dry. Lin is standing outside with Max and Sungwoo, with a dress bag slung over her shoulder. 

“Uh, hi.” You manage to mutter as they push past you into your apartment. 

“Oh good, your hair isn’t dry, that’ll make styling it easier.” Sungwoo remarks, “Max and I will set up in the kitchen, the lighting’s probably better.” 

“I’ll put this in the bedroom. He’ll be here at 9:45, so that gives us only about two hours for hair and make up, think you can do it?” Lin asks, hanging the dress bag on the curtain rod over the couch, giving you and Berus the chance to ogle what's inside. 

The suit is while, with pale pink and gold flowers adorning most of it. The buttons are ivory with golden trim, and a mask, the same white and gold, with the same almost pink flowers, hangs from the hanger. 

“What is going on? Why are you here and why do you have a suit? And who is going to be here at 9:45?” Sungwoo and Max turn to Lin. 

“You didn’t tell her?” Lin smirks at Max’s question. 

“I told her some. Like I said, I’m playing Fairy Godmother.” She turns to you as she speaks, excitement glittering in her eyes. “You are going to the ball, Cinderella.” You wanted to respond with something intelligent, but all that came out was a very undignified, 

“Huh?”

“Come on, Psyche,” Max laughs, guiding you towards the kitchen, “Your Eros awaits.”

[catpella]

FFXIV Write Entry #1: Emerald Assessment

Prompt: crux

the decisive or most important point at issue

Words: 1813

The carbuncle test at the Arcanist’s Guild will be the defining moment of Valle Serreta’s life.

Dawn's golden light was washing over the island of Vylbrand, illuminating the fact that a port city like Limsa Lominsa could never be truly said to ever sleep. It was always abustle with some type of activity, whether it was the steady rhythm of the experienced workers at the docks tending the early boats going in and out, the merchants and hawkers setting up their wares, the guilds opening their doors as their members shuffled in, and the scents of food wafting all over as the eateries which had been working on breakfast opened up to let patrons enter and get their well-earned breakfast.

Two bells to go before the exams at the Arcanists' Guild.

Every young Arcanist who had an exam or presentation of some kind was stuffed somewhere with a source of caffeine and their notes and books surrounding them. Some were currently inside the cafe known as Jewels and Java, a carbuncle-themed cafe run by a Miqo'te and incredibly popular among young arcanists and students and lovers of fluffy things. This morning, despite the early time, it was full of nothing but the students collaborating and reviewing together.

Valle Serreta was on her third cup of Thanalan tea and her hand was trembling slightly as she ran her quill over the pages of the grimoire to inscribe equations and passages. She _knew_ she'd done well in her basics courses and passed those exams. She'd gotten to the stage where she was allowed to qualify to summon the basic emerald carbuncle. There were plenty of would-be arcanists who didn't get to this stage.

She'd inked passages into a grimoire already and cast spells from them, adjusted aether and made effects happen. By those standards, she was already a fledgling arcanist, ahd succeeded at the basics. But it was the love of carbuncles, those beautiful aetherial creatures, that had started her on the path to being an arcanist. The carbuncle sign had led her to Jewels and Java. Being headbutted by one had introduced her to X'erys. Summoning her own carbuncle would make her feel like a real arcanist.

Was she ready?

She'd looked at the equations, traced them and hummed them. She'd thought about the mapping of aether to mathematics, the entire principle of arcanima. How the symbols represented the state of the aether, the way it took this flowing, changing substance that made up the world and changed it from a powerful force that affected lives and twisted and changed and reshaped Eorzea and seemed immense and immovable and impossible to truly grasp or understand, and instead broke it down and turned it into something you could refine into smaller parts, understand bit by bit and comprehend. How once you grasped the symbols and the theory, you could understand how aether did what it did, and measure it, and see what it had done before ; what it was doing right now; and predict what it might do in the future. Most importantly to Valle, if you truly grasped the theory of arcanima, you could understand the symbols, adjust the way they were laid out, and by doing so manipulate the aether to how you willed it to be. You could re-create the world.

Or, at least for this test, you could create something new to the world. One carbuncle. Something brought into being by you and you alone.

Assuming she could do it.

Surely she could, with all that preparation. She knew the equations by heart, and they had to be right. The guild did give you the basic equations for a reason, they didn't expect you to design your own for the first time.Though some people, Valle knew, _had_ modified their carbuncle equations. Typically it was arcanists further along in their careers modifying later carbuncle summons, though she'd heard tell of a few bold ones who had modified her first. And when she had read over the base equations, it hadn't just been a few recitations till she was sure she could scribe and pronounce them without stumbling. No, she'd gone over them over and over again on paper, until she could redraw them entirely from memory in ink without any mistakes.

Then she'd felt ready to copy them into the practice grimoire they'd been given. Which is the task she was doing now, in the time remaining before the exam. Halfway through, with plenty of time remaining, to finish copying, and then perhaps manage one pastry, before heading back to the guild headquarters, in time to present herself to Mistress Ingolia for book review and then the test... Oh. Out of ink. Fortunately she'd caught it at the end of a passage, she hated the idea of running out partway through one and then re-dipping and continuing. What if the change partway led to a change in the strength of some of the pieces, unbalanced it somehow? She moved her hand to re-dip the ink and continued with her work, until finally, it was done.

She cleaned up her papers and books into her bag and then set out for the short walk to Mealvaan's Gate and the Arcanist's Guild headquarters. There was a line of other baby arcanists outside, all ready to take their tests. She joined in and smiled at the ones she knew and were friendly with, but didn't take time to talk with anyone, continuing to run through carbuncles on a loop in her head. As the line descended down the stairs to the practice grounds in the basement where trainees summoned carbuncles and ran assessment trainings, she was able to see what changes they'd made for the test. The round training area was clear of all people. Spaced equidistant from each other around the ring, looking down into it, were two senior arcanists. Mistress Ingolia checked people's grimoires, spoke a few words to them, then let them into the ring before taking the third point of the arcanist triangle. The student would channel aether into the grimoire. The carbuncle would appear.

It all looked so easy. She hoped it would be true for her.

Finally she reached the head of the line and it was her turn to face Mistress Ingolia. The dark-haired woman was short for her race, and while her accent was something crisp and not-Limsan, her voice was warm and did not have the air of cool reserve many Elezen displayed. "Ah, Miss Serreta. Let me see your grimoire please."

She extended the book and waited, shifting her weight from foot to foot as subtly as she could to try to burn some of her nerves, not sure if it was escaping notice.

The book was snapped shut with a noise that sounded like a resounding slap echoing through the entire hall, but it must have been Valle's overactive imagination. "Your penmanship is exquisite and your work reads true. I gift you a summoning foci."

Atop the grimoire, which Ingolia was extending towards her, was a small faceted emerald. Valle's hands trembled only slightly as she took the emerald and the book into her hands and bowed to the instructor.

"Enter the ring," she added, opening the door for Valle.

Valle stepped forward into the ring. It was her first time there. Tradition was that fledgling arcanists could observe carbuncle summoning and training from outside but not step into it until they'd summoned their own - it was said to be bad luck if you did and that it would curse you from ever successfully summoning your own. She hadn't wanted to risk it, even though X'erys had told her how stupid the idea was and claimed she'd pranced all around the ring twice before her summoning and it had gone fine -

"You may begin," Mistress Ingolia said, interrupting Valle's racing train of thoughts.She bowed quickly to the other two senior arcanists as well, then flipped open the grimoire and held the quill an ilm above the page.  Next, she took a deep breath. This was going to be an emerald carbuncle - wind aether was concentrated around the gemstone already - she would need to infuse a touch of wind into the aether from herself she was going to pour into the quill and into the book to launch it. Thus, breath, wind.

She filled her lungs as deep as she could, thinking about the strong breezes and the sea air, and then she breathed out onto the top of her quill, a spark of green touching the top and making it ruffle. She touched it to the first line and began to chant softly, moving the edge of her quill, infusing her aether into the stored pattern set out.

The grimoire glimmered in her hands and aether shimmered around her as she began...

a circle of runes and markings appeared in the air as her voice built...

Valle's voice gained in strength and speed as she reached the key part, all fear and doubt gone as only the purity of the passage, the expression, remained, and she was its conduit...

another circle of marks appeared intersecting it at a 90 degree angle, now both rotating...

Valle took the summoning emerald from underneath the grimoire and threw it into the twisting circles, where it caught in invisible winds and hung, suspended...

from out of the vortex, something twisted and turned, aqua light too bright to stare directly at...

and an emerald carbuncle sprung from the circles to land delicately on the ground of the ring.

It cheeped and wriggled its body and shook its paws and waggled its ears and swished its tails and looked up at Valle.

The circles faded away, the winds died down, and Valle had to reach out to catch her grimoire before it fell. "Hello there," she said, beaming at the beautiful carbuncle. She could feel its presence in a way she hadn't expected, it tugging on her own aether in a way she'd understood in theory but hadn't expected in practice to make her feel instantly smitten. Her lips curved in a reflexive smile at her carbuncle.

"Valle Serreta, you have passed the trial," announced Mistress Ingolia.

That announcement broke Valle from her moment of surprise. She bowed again at the two supervising seniors, then turned to bow at Mistress Ingolia, and accepted the guidance out of the ring. Then she headed up the stairs, carbuncle in tow beside her.

For those who had passed, there was a congratulatory event in a lounge in an upper tower. As well as lectures on proper uses and caretaking of carbuncles, she was sure. Not that she minded the idea of lessons. She'd done it - summoned a carbuncle - become a real arcanist. She'd proved that this guild was the right place to spend her life. That meant she needed to learn all she could, now, to make sure she kept doing it right. Not just today, but forever.

[boulbilehibot]

Sam and Tommy, a Villain/Hero friendship

Sorry for my bad writing and bad English!!!

Hero had always been proud of himself for not showing when he was having an hard time.

Always strong, always here to protect and help others. Protect the town. His town.

And tonight, when he heard about Big Villain terrorising people on the central place, he didn't think twice before going.

Even if he feels sick. Even if he's unsteady when he walk. Even if the fever is only rising. Even if the ribs that Big Villain had break at their last fight torture him as he walk.

Just showing may make the Big Villain leave and he knows it.

However tonight, Big Villain doesn't redraw just by seeing him.

Well, he should have expected that. He looks terrible. Not really frightening...

So he jump into battle. Assaulting Big Villain with his all arsenal of fire techniques. Only rising up his fever more and more. After about twenty minutes, Hero is just exhausted.

Big Villain his breathless and try to regain strength. His hands on his knees.

It's hero's last chance.

Hero focus, closing his eyes and after a couple seconds, let go a deflagration who encircle him. Touching Big Villain and his sidekicks.

Hero hear Big Villain scream something. But he can't find out what. Probably to finally redraw because everything become silent and calm after that.

Everything his fuzzy... Blurry... Fuck... He won't be able to make it to his base... He has to try so...

He limps awkwardly in some direction... He thinks it's the good one... Maybe... This little ally remember him of something... Maybe... Damn... He's awake enough to know that he's beginning to lose it but not enough to remember his way home...he must return to his base... Home... Anywhere safe and with some...

He freeze.

Villain, a childhood friend who had take a different pace his standing right in front of him on the ally... Hero tried to steady himself a little and stopped holding his chest like to protect his broken ribs.

He had never tried to fight him... Always avoiding him... So why now... They are always friendly to each other when they meet unexpectedly in their everyday life...

-What are you doing here? Ask villain rising an eyebrow

-Going home... Not today Villain... Need to-go. Answer Hero advancing towards him to continue his hard travel.

You're in my perimeter here Hero. I have a reputation to maintain you know it, we've talked about it. Said Villain.

-'M not! Let me go Sam. Hero half yelled, half mumbled , continuing to walk right in front of him.

-You are. And you'd better walk back in your district. Said Villain noticing the fact that Hero calling him by his nickname in this context was more than strange.

Hero continue to walk slow to keep it steady. He try to inspire deeply. He can't breathe well. It's bothering him. He shake his head, like if he could do something.

"Don't approach. Hero, I'm not playing here! I'm warning you! " Villain yelled toward Hero who just keep walking to his direction.

Well, hero his arrived to Villain side. He barely look at him. Villain had no choice, but he doesn't go on him to hard. Villain just put a low kick on him. Trying to stop hero and make him react.

It stopped him a little to well. Hero's knee give up with the kick and hero start to fall limply on the ground. Not fast enough to put his arms in front of him for protection. Instead, he managed to fall on his shoulder.

He wasn't moving after that. His helmet resting on the concrete. Turning his back to Villain.

Villain looks at that with round eyes.

He had noticed that something was weird, the kick he gived him was far to weak to make his former friend fall like that. He was supposed to be a strength of nature... Was he playing games? Had he had a problem?

Villain carefully kneeled behind him.

Slowly turning Hero to lay on his back. His helmet rolling on the ground as he switched position.

-Hero? Are you ok?

No answer. Hero's chest his rising and falling really fast, moving only inches each time. He noticed the few pieces of skin that he could see was too pale and sweaty.

Villain gently begin to took Hero's helmet off.

Hero raised his arm to prevent it.

-No~ don't.

-It's me, Tommy, I need to take your helmet off, you seem struggle breathing properly with it...

-Sa~Sammy?

-Yes, it's me, no one else can see us, trust me. Said Villain soothingly.

Hero let go of Villain's arm, his own arm falling on the ground loudly.

Villain managed to slowly take of the helmet.

Hero's face was white as sheets. His cracked lips shivering like his all body. Sweat was literally dripping from his forehead.

His breathing was too fast, rattling, wheezing.

Their eyes sweeping everywhere, loosing focus. Blinking longer than it normally takes.

- Tom? Are you with me here? Villain asked shaking Hero's cheeks softly. He was getting more and more worried.

- 'Am? ~ Silberm'n... Hero mumbled.

Silberman? The high school nurse? What the fuck was he talking about?!

- What happen' to you?! What's wrong?!

- n'thing... Can't breathe...

- You idiot, you can't answer "nothing" And " I can't breathe " In the same sentence! Yelled Villain.

- 'op screamin'... Groaned Hero, grimacing and imperceptibly moving his head away from Villain.

- Look at me Tom. Said Villain while checking Hero's forehead's temperature after quitting his gloves. You're burning up! He added.

Hero's eyes couldn't stay fixed on Villain. They kept fluttering away.

- You're coming with me. I'm not letting you die in here. Said Villain, beginning to raise Hero's Back with one arm.

- 'ome... Hero blown, his head lolling limply with the movement of his upper body.

-Yes, don't worry okay? Try to stay awake, we are at my base in a minute. Tried to soothe Villain in hero's hear while putting his other arm under Hero's knees.

He stands up. Hero's eyes widen in agony with his moved wounds and broken ribs, before rolling back.

- hgn! No Sam 'lease, hff" Hero puffs before passing out. His head lolling on Villain shoulder as he began to walk towards his base.

- Who did this to you?... Gonna fuckin' murder them...Villain whispered in the night.

Hero doesn't wake up when Villain lay him on his table to undress him... Well more cut of his clothes off... He's now naked on Villain's table. Shivering and spamming against his wooden table.

Villain needs hero to wake up in order to assess his injuries.

He already sees a wound that looks infected.

As if he couldn't take care of it. It wasn't even stitched...

He moved a little bottle under Hero's nose.

"Hey, wake up Tommy. Come on, open your eyes." Villain say while shaking Hero's shoulder.

It work a little to well. Hero jerks and scream before sobbing, trying to touch his shoulder, only to scream again as his broken ribs are disturbed by his movement. His hand fall limply on the table. Hero gasps while his eyes are rolling back again.

-No, no! Need you to stay awake! Tell Villain while putting Hero's face in his hands and shaking a little.

-hur~ hurts... Hero say with broken voice.

- I know buddy... Villain bit his lips with compassion. But I need to know where you're hurt to fix you up...

-Just sleep... Sobbed Hero, tears rolling on his hot cheeks

- Soon Tom... Villain tried to soothed him by stroking his hair out of his face. Now, does this shoulder hurts? He asked while touching the shoulder on which Hero had fall earlier.

-Arg! Fuck yeah! Stop! Yelled Hero. This time, pain seemed to waked him up.

- I think it's dislocated.

- Sweet! Now get out!

- It's my place... Replied Villain teasingly before Parcouring Hero's Arms and legs with the tip of his fingers. Nothing except bruises.

Hero was only breathing faster and faster. Taking less air with each gasps. Stars dancing before his eyes. Sobbing and groaning between his teeth. Clenching his fists.

Villain moved to Hero's ribs. Applying a little pressure on every one of them.

At some point, Hero jerked and vomited bile before opening his mouth to scream, only to struggle taking his breath.

-Ngrbl~ 'top! Tried Hero

-Can't. Replied Villain softly, continuing to asses the number of broken and cracked ribs.

By the time he finished counting them ( 3 broken and 5 cracked on his left side) Hero wasn't really here anymore. He was babbling and sobbing incoherently. White and clammy skin. He seemed too much in pain to breathe or even think. Spasms jerking his body against his will. Hurting him even more.

-You're badly wounded... Whispered Villain more to himself.

- Sa~ Sammy, can't- 'nt brea- Hero's tried. gulping for some tiny amount of precious and unreachable air. Panic in his unfocused eyes who tried to fix his old friend.

- I know. I got you. You're safe. Villain said to him, gently applying an oxygen mask on his face.

Hero's eyes widen in surprise before closing slowly. His body beginning to fall limply again and relax as oxygen was filling his cells again.

Soon he was dead to the world and Villain begins to wash him gently with wet cottons and disinfectant, sew him up, put his shoulder back in place, bandaging him, and finally, applying fresh tissues all over him to make his fever drop a little.

When he wakes up again, bandages are all over he can see on his chest and belly... It's hurt...There is something warm in his hand... He looks. Sam?! Sammy is holding his hand while sleeping next to him... What happened?... Yes, Big Villain... He was sick and went for a fight anyway... He had lost? Sam had found him?

He try to move and regret it. Groaning in pain.

Villain wakes up too.

- Don't try to move... You're pretty messed up.

Villain say while scrubbing his eyes with his free hand. Once he noticed that he was still holding Hero's hand, he blushes and remove it.

-'t 'pen? Words comes weird from Hero's dry mouth.

Villain helps Hero to sit a little.

Hero his hissing and sight with pain.

-Here. Drink and swallow that up. Said Villain after giving him a glass of water and some pills.

Hero is far to weak to even rise his arm more than a few inches.

Villain sigh and put the pills in Hero's mouth without ceremony before putting the cup of water on his lips.

Hero struggle to swallow and cuffs a little before sipping the rest of the glass.

- Now, tell me who hurt you so bad? Said Villain with a sparkle of anger in his eyes.

[comicteaparty]

May 23rd-May 29th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from May 23rd, 2020 to May 29th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

If someone came to you for advice about starting their first comic, what would you tell them?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

The biggest hurdle I see beginner comic creators (including myself) struggling with is the fear to begin because they "aren't good enough yet." I would tell them to just start. The best way to learn how to make comics is to make comics. You can always go back and fix old pages. Or you don't even have to. The improvement throughout your work can be encouraging. So I say, just begin.(edited)

carcarchu

know your ending before you begin! so many webcomics start and then have no idea how to continue. at least have some kind of idea of the direction you want to go to and at least a basic outline before you begin. you can always change things but going in without a roadmap is a recipe for disaster

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I would tell them to consider a few things: your desired scope, your current skill levels, and how likely you are to still love the project months or years later. I didn’t start with a small scope, so I can’t tell people to keep it simple no matter what, but it absolutely helps. Doing a short 6-10 page comic as your first thing will totally tell you if this is something you like, or totally hate. Assessing your own skill level is hard, but I try and encourage people to practice anatomy and perspective and other skills before diving right into creating a massive world. I’d encourage them to practice some writing as well. But even the act of creating a comic can help with all that. So, YMMV! And you gotta love what you’re drawing! I didn’t feel comfortable creating a story until my late 20s because I felt I hadn’t settled on something I’d be indefinitely passionate about. My likes and dislikes were still changing so much. If you can look at your idea and pretty confidently say you want to draw this stuff over and over again for years... that’s a very good sign

eliushi [a winged tale]

I find my advice will vary depending on what their vision is for their comic! For instance, if it’s a short form, I would recommend looking at different styles and experimental storytelling to find ways to best explore their work. For a long form I would advise as y’all have done so as well: start and keep going to improve. Have an ending in mind. Know the basics of character/plot and storytelling; essentially if you know the rules then you are more easily able to break them in an informed way. Most importantly is to have fun drawing, have fun with friends, have fun sharing your work

I guess sort of as a follow up... did you all receive any advice before starting your comic?

carcarchu

i didn't ask anyone in particular but the advice i read before starting mirrored what has been said so far

the advice about just starting and not being afraid is probably what helped the most

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I was told to make my first comic shorter... but with the caveat that if I absolutely could not, it was okay to try a long-form one from the get-go

carcarchu

another thing that i often tell people looking to start is that comic making is actually a gigantic time sink and requires a LOT of discipline. a lot of people i talk to really don't realize how much of a time investment it is. i don't want to dissuade anyone by telling them this but it's important to realize

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I agree with lazuli! Right now I'm actually feeling more motivation for my long comic than my short story.( I will absolutely finish both though)(edited)

carcarchu

x2 agree with claire, i've realized i'm not good at short stories

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've been asked this question before, about first comics. I always say the most important thing is to draw what you like, for yourself.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Short stories are hard! I’m often jealous of all the marvelous one-shot comics on twitter, telling an affecting story in such little time. I often wonder if my own stuff will ever be half as successful in the emotions department. Short stuff is easier to digest but requires a ton of skill to craft well.(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Absolutely. Two of my favorite comics are 3 pages and 5 pages long and years later I am still thinking about them.

I think it takes even more skill to craft a compelling story, world, and characters in only a few pages

It is witchcraft, I swear

carcarchu

there was a beautiful short story i read about a cat before, i'll see if i can find it and share it in recs

eliushi [a winged tale]

I think a lot about the unfinished comics! even though they aren’t finished, they still stay with me. Ultimately if you draw comics, it will touch people and people will remember

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've always wanted to do a short story like that but am not a good enough writer yet unfortunately

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Also agree with @Eightfish (Puppeteer) - you must make something for yourself. You can try and tailor it to certain audiences, but don’t stray too much from your own sensibilities. Make a comic that speaks to your soul, and people will feel it.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Pick something you love, you‘ll spent a lot of time on it.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

If you don't love it, who will?

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

And short stories are their own medium with their own rules, needs and patterns; they‘re not interchangable with longform and the otherway round.

That‘s what annoys me about the „start with 8-page shorts!“ advice. It‘ll teach you how to do shorts, not how to do long form. And I‘ve seen so many treating shorts as a stepping stone to „proper“ long-form comics, and that format deserves better.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I do see the merit in that though. There are a lot of unfinished long comics. If you have a good short story, might as well make it first. For me though, they are way harder than long stories.

I did give myself the option to end puppeteer after about 80 pages though

Luckily I fell in love with making it and won't be doing that now

But it was an option

Capitania do Azar

Yeah I'm gonna have to repeat the points already stated. Everytime I get the chance to give advice to a starter, I do focus on the discipline aspect. Webcomics (any comic actually) does take a lot of work and if you wanna make it in the long run you gotta know your pace and you gotta know where you wanna go so you can make the best use of your time

You don't need to have super solid plans but it's good if you know how much time it takes you to make one, five or twenty pages, so you can get organised

And at least in my experience being organised is one of the most important aspects

That, and liking what you do but also allowing it to change because things take time and you will change too

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

^^^I can't reiterate this last point enough

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

For sure cap! I spent a lot of time experimenting with art style before starting and I think choosing a simpler but still nice looking (to me) style has been vital for me being as consistent with my comic as I have

Having a schedule was really important to me starting out

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I think I would have said..... MAKE SURE YOU DRAW IN ADVANCE BEFORE POSTING.

I've made this mistake, and I know many people have made this mistake, but it's really easy to get stressed and demotivated when you realize that you might not be drawing as fast as you want...particularly if you're starting out.

So make sure you have buffers so that you can post those updates as consistently as you can.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I'd say for my past self that make sure you have.... at least almost everything ironed out for your story first if you want to make a long form comic as your first try because trust me if you don't, you'll end up redrawing the first chapter twice lmao. knowing how it begins and ends, knowing your drawing speed and also recognizing if you're just either motivated to work on it or you're doing it despite motivation. Because those are like the main factors that affect burn out and if you don't watch out, you'll get fucked over from it. have a good sense of your self in terms of your work ethic, and your writing. Art will be supplement for that writing but you're pretty good at least understanding the basics you should be aight Also if you don't feel doing your long story first, you can always make a short story to test waters. but if ya like me and rather just jump making a long ass comic first, go for it lmao

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

I think the biggest advice I'd give would be is to accept what you've already done, kinda related to the "you're good enough to start" advice. A lot of webcomics stall out in the "gotta redraw this to be Good Enough" phase, and it's easy to get caught up in the cycle of redrawing early pages (especially once you get a few years into a comic), but learning to sit back and appreciate early pages for the stage you were when you drew them is important!

also something I don't hear creators talk a lot about, is having a support group. Getting positive responses from strangers from the internet is a rush, but it's not always going to happen, and relying on it isn't a great idea mental health wise. Having a group of friends you can bounce ideas off of and that can support you in your story helps make the lonely art of making comics a little less lonely. I wish I had known about this group sooner because it seems like a really great resource of creators coming together and being supportive!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh yeah that last point especially

like honestly if I didn't met other webcomic creators I probably wouldn't be working in webcomics tbh

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

It's so nice to have outside perspective both for art advice/critique stuff, but also just the general "hey guys drawing pages amiright"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah lmao

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

plus if/when you ever meet up with people at conventions, it's always so nice!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, I would second that. Starting out I had a really hard time knowing how to take praise from my real world friends who are into my comic. It felt like maybe it wasn't real praise and they only like it because they liked me. But honestly the longer I make comics the more I just want my friends to like them and the less I care about what an internet stranger might think X'D Also, I watched the video on new creator tips that Joichi post in #writing_n_misc_resources last night before bed and those tips are super solid. I think folks have already hit on all of them but writing something you really like and is for you first and foremost and being being prepared for a lot of work are super important. Also, get that buffer!

kayotics

I think this was touched on already but having an idea you’re really passionate about, especially for a long form comic, is kind of essential to keep you going. You gotta keep up momentum for years, not just a few weeks. The thing that helped me, personally, was building my comic in a way that let me end it after the first story, but also let me continue if I liked it. My first chapter was definitely like a pilot for a tv show. If I didn’t want to continue, I’d just stop. But I ended up writing the second chapter before I knew it so I guess it worked out

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I don't have too much new things to add but I agree that webcomics, is a lonesome job on your own. But once I started hanging around this discord, sharing frustrations, comic compliments. The support made a big difference, no longer having to shout in the abyss of Twitter to be heard. I know when you first start out, it's overwhelming. There's so many platforms, do I do color or grayscale? (as it felt that way for me.) The best is to begin small baby steps, write scripts. Draw thumbnails, talk about it with people you trust. Generate ideas and put them on paper. Something I learn, is finding a good group community who raise you up, than put your works down(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Seconding/thirding/etcing about support. Other than that, I really don't have a single advice that I could give to someone starting out. Because it would need to be tailored to their situation. Someone who's in my exact same situation back when I started my first webcomic? They don't need ANY advice honestly. They just need to do it (which they will anyway) and learn from the experience.

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

https://tenor.com/view/doit-gif-5247874

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(Again, I'm talking about a hypothetical person who's exactly like Younger Me. Not every beginner will "do it anyway.")

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I corrected my definition, as I found out what the topic was about! I thought from everyone's comment, they felt like talking about internal feelings about community spirit.(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I think that "just do it!!" Attitude is probably what I'll echo, it's what I'd have needed to hear and what I think there's probably the biggest hangup on. I think everyone tries to wait til they're ready, and it's like "you are gonna learn so much so fast and never stop learning once you start making your comic" so just, start learning now! Make changes later. You can't fix something that doesn't exist yet!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

One thing I often think about is when artists completely relaunch their comics once they become a bit more intermediate in skill level. They've improved so much during the creation process that they feel a need to go back and totally start over. I've even run into some comics where they... almost seem in a constant state of relaunch I often wonder about how to encourage new artists to move forward instead of reiterating existing stuff. Or is the reiteration not necessarily a bad thing?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I mean I guess it's not a bad thing if they're still having fun? Sometimes they're still having a blast; other times it's a form of torturous perfectionism.

Sometimes it's a bit of both, even

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, I always frame it as "unless you are rewriting, don't redraw."

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I have seen a redrawn comic go well only once

Deo101 [Millennium]

Cause if it's just to fix your art but nothing is really fundamentally changing, then you'll get stuck in a loop I think

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

and that comic kept updating latest pages while redrawing the first ones

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I've seen people do that. Where it's not a rebooot that basically stays the same, just a revamp of old stuff.

I could see myself doing that eventually tbh.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The guy had very messy art in the beginning. Not bad art, he just didn't put much effort into it. The comic just evolved into something way bigger and more professional than he'd expected so he went and made the first pages professional looking as well

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yup Cause conics make your art improve so fast, every 50 pages you'll feel like your first one has sooo much wrong with it! So you can't get stuck just remaking pages

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Deo I don't think your first pages are any impediment to new readers. I have noticed a ton of art evolution though :0

Deo101 [Millennium]

Unless, yeah, you are rewriting and need the content on the pages to be different.

Yeah they might not be impeding but they're uglyyyyy

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I didn't notice your art changing much while reading your comic but then i went back to the first page and, woah.

big difference

Deo101 [Millennium]

It would be smth like way off in the future though if I did do it. It's not currently in my plans

I'd rather make new pages and new comics

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

has anyone ever commented on your art evolution?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah my art has changed uhhh a lot LOL I think maybe a couple times? I don't have a good memory

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I think it's probably different for everyone. Personally, I don't think really believe in going back and redoing stuff, but I also say that as someone who just spent the last year redrawing most of my first five chapters. For me, Ive always wanted to print my comic, and I felt a lot of self-created pressure to have my first book look really good. Because it's going to be new readers first introduction to the series and if I don't feel 100% proud of it, sell it to other people was going to be impossible. I kind of just felt embarrassed by my old art and writing(some of it was like 8 years old and hadn't aged well). And also if I was going to use up resources to print something, then it should be the best version of that thing. But on the other hand, redoing the old stuff has also made me really sad that I haven't been able to move forward with new chapters. I definitely second Deo. And I also think you have to know where to draw the line. Like "ok, I'm going to redraw this once and then not again" or "I'm going to redraw up to X point and call it good. I think can be a really easy perfectionist trap and time sink if you aren't careful.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it is also hard to get your existing audience to follow the same story twice

OH, webtoons features are rebooted comics oftentimes

I guess that counts as going well!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, since getting featured by Webtoons is kinda like going print; it's a form of getting Published

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah. For this other comic I've not launched yet, I've redrawn the intro 4 times. The intro onky takes like, 20 hours absolute max (latest) but I still find myself looking at it and thinking.. I could have been making new stuff :/ BUT! I did rewrite it every time so it did need to change. I should have just waited to start it til I could commit more so there wasn't a year between each intro

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But since webtoons features update so fast I don't really mind following the same story again. Lone is already almost to where the canvas version was

Deo101 [Millennium]

And yeah wt features need to reboot for a lotta reasons, there's also probably a lot of times like. At least lengthening updates to fit the requirements

They're not necessarily redrawing it, too. They just have to post from the beginning which totally makes sense

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I'm giving myself a mantra, don't redraw, don't look back. Just move on with what you got. There's chapters I want to cover. It's just years ago, I had constant panic that the story's theme was going to change as it went, so I 'must' change the first chapter to suit the general overview of the story. But it resulted in me burning out and being self destructive to my work. I'm going to take better care of myself(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i think most redraw significantly though

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I mean, wouldn't u?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'd have to! My whole story is only like. 20 webtoons updates?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Truuu

If that, 40 panels.. a page is like usually around 5

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

agreed on redraw hell. tried it and I didn't like it at all lmaO

I'm kinda glad I have a good footing on my current comic and I don't want to redraw it at all unless it's adapted for something else. still like

work what you have, if you can orz

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"Don't look back" is hard when you feel like the first X pages are dragging all the future pages down with them. I agree that you need to draw a line (no pun intended), set some criteria

The thing Eightfish mentioned -- not so bad that it'd deter new readers -- is a very useful criterion IMO

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

if you must, i wonder if redrawing the first scene would be okay?

Just as a taste of what's to come for new readers

Deo101 [Millennium]

Do you think they would notice the difference in quality and question that?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip maybe

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I've read a long webcomic where only the first chapter was redrawn, and when I got to the second chapter and saw an immediate drop in quality, I knew what exactly happened XD

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, but you're a creator! Readers don't have the same background to necessarily be able to assume that

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Just put in a note saying that it's art evolution

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

As someone who redrew their first scene for a lot a reasons, I will say that I personally think it's worth it.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Also same, I've seen it and knew exactly what happened

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, it was mentioned in the notes, but I didn't read the notes at first because I knew the archive was huge, and I wanted to Get Through It

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

if i were to do that, i'd put a note in the page itself

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That sounds like a good idea

Deo101 [Millennium]

What were your reasons for redrawing crona?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not Crona but I redid a big chunk of my chapter 1 for writing reasons. (This was in addition to a whole reboot done prior.) The writing was... not 'this screams terrible writing' kind of bad. But it was extremely misleading/ unclear on what the overall story was going to be

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

dang tbh I did kinda redraw some panels to make the dialogue flow better. But I also tried my best to match up the quality of the pages drawn the time so it doesn't look jarring.

kinda what keii said but just minimizing the effects of shockkkk

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think this is one of the reasons why i don't want to do a comic that goes on for more than a couple years (well, for now that is. Maybe that'll change as i improve)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I redrew one intro 4 times, cause I kept rewriting the whole story.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

after that I was like "don't touch Ch. 1 again" lmao(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. Several panels didn't properly show what was happening in the scene. 2. Rewrote some of the dialogue 3. My art had improved so much that even if I hadn't redrawn it, the next scene would look very different. 4. I wasn't super far along, so I thought it would be good to give this another go, knowing much more about paneling, page-layout, and pacing.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

do you think there's a chance you'd eventually redraw wotp as it is now?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Hell no(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lol then i think it's fine that you redrew!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Even if I go back and clean some things up later for print, I'm not completely redrawing anything about WotP anymore

I finally got it to a point where I'm happyish with the way it looks

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I've never totally started over, but I did a ton of drawing edits (and a few writing edits!) on my first chapter before releasing it to the public. The previous version of the chapter does look far less polished. But even then, I really only completely redrew 1 or 2 panels. The rest was just liquifying wonky faces and whatnot. Still, once it got printed, I basically locked the artwork. With how long new pages take, I really don't have time to look back much anymore which is its own kind of blessing!

In that way, I'm very glad I kept it private for a while. I wasn't confident with my skills yet - and I wanted some wiggle room. It's part of the reason I encourage people to at least have some sort of foundation, so that the jump in improvement isn't so... startling

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I actually kind of love to be startled by art evolution

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I could see myself editing wonky faces and things like that more than I can see myself redrawing! My pages only take me like 2 hours and I still wouldn't redraw, can't imagine what your timeframe would look like...

But not in your own work, crona?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

It happened with a lovely comic called Wind Rose, and it is so inspiring

I wouldn't say I don't like it in my work

More that I was completely changing art styles too

Deo101 [Millennium]

I see

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think starting a comic is a good way to get those foundational skills though, lazuli

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Even if you didn't post it online, you did start

Which I think is enough

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

one of the biggest examples of art style shift I've seen

Comic is still doing really well though!

I don't think anyone minded the art evolution at all

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Yeah, that's my dilemma! I've seen a couple very new comic artists burn out quickly, or say that they're relaunching because of their own unhappiness. And part of me wants to tell them to slow down - they don't need to post anything, just use it as a training ground.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Of course, if you yourself hate your old art you're probably more important(edited)

hm

It's still nice to have your story read though

even if just by a few friends

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I haven't read through it, but I know this is another good example...

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

another one!

This was intentional though, to convey a change in setting

It's kind of fun to look at these comparisons(edited)

I think most readers would feel the same

carcarchu

my most inspiring art evolution is from zero point idol chapter 1

chapter 90

the artist also got better at panelling too. also not only did the art change but the genre completely did too. it started out as a comedy romance then slowly became a drama romance

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Looks like you switched the images around?

carcarchu

oh it's in the right order on my side

the more bishounen looking one should be the newer one

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh! I think the more colorful one looks much better actually?

But perhaps the author chose a different style to draw more quickly?

carcarchu

uh i think the opposite

the newer art looks objectively better

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

okay i'm gonna look it up maybe I will think differently if i see a bunch of panels in context

looking it up it is definitely clear that the author is putting much more effort into later updates.

Though skimming it I still sort of prefer the style of the earlier pages?

carcarchu

i have never heard someone say that before

people usually complain they got gipped in the first chapter lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Can't say anything about the paneling or anything like that because I just skimmed it

Well, I like the style of the things in the first pages that they tried harder on

There are a lot of like, chibi or messy panels there

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I'm looking up the titles for these screencaps you guys presented!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The first one I shared is A Matter of Life and Death!

The second is YU+ME Dream (highly recommend)(edited)

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Seconded, YUME is very good and it's complete!

kayotics

I think there’s a lot of good reasons to restart or redraw past pages, but there’s a lot of people who DO get trapped in the constant iterative state of restarting/redrawing their comic, and then they don’t get anywhere with it

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

It's hard to come up with any consistent advice because people have different goals starting their comic. Like, some people just wanna do a comic to get better at art, or because they have a bunch of OCs that they want to do something with. And to those people... like, just have fun with it. Now, if you have a full story in mind, and your goal is to complete it in a timely manner that isn't overwhelming (without sacrificing on quality), this is the advice I give: 1) Plan out your story. You don't need to do a full script or whatever, but do try to have at least an outline, with an estimate of how many pages each part will be. 2) Spend a typical month (like, a month that you also have other work to do) drawing the first few pages of your comic. Don't post them yet. Count the number of pages you drew. The number you post per month should be less than that. e.g. if you drew 6 pages in that month, you should post 1 page each week. That way, you can have a bit of leeway to build a buffer without burning out. 3) Look back at that outline. How many pages did you plan it out to be? And how often are you planning on posting each page? Let's see... carry the two... this comic's gonna take HOW many years to complete?! 4) If you're comfortable with the task ahead of you, continue on to step 5. Otherwise, cut some stuff from your outline and repeat step 3. 5) Have fun with it! You might change your mind on future plot points, and that's ok! Just... try to do so in a way that doesn't create more work for yourself.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My advice is to just get started. I see so many people caught up in the idea that you need to perfect your art skills before starting a comic and then they just never start working on it

Your art is never going to be "perfect" and its better to have a tangible comic than a perfect one

I don't mean that in a discouraging way I just mean like no one can really achieve perfection and it's better to just create things

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like snuffysam's advice because I have noticed there are different kinds of approach to webcomics. Some do it for fun and practice like I do nowadays. While others have a big long form series they are deeply passionate about but to start it seem overwhelming. Everyone's advice is pretty great! (edited)

DanitheCarutor

Fff I don't feel like I'm really qualified to give advice to people. I don't take art and comics seriously enough to follow most rules, so I would just be a bad influence if anything. Lol (Also everyone else has already said what I would.) I guess the one thing I would tell someone on the fence about starting their comic is to do it when you're ready. Like, I wanted to start doing comics when I was 15 but I wasn't quite mentally ready yet? I was used to doing illustrations so I couldn't stick with doing anything longer than 1 page, throughout the years I experimented with doing 1-2 pages of random scenes in stories I wanted to do, it wasn't until I hit my 20s when I was like "Okay, I want to do this!" In a way I didn't totally get into comic mode until my current project, since I was still feeling things out with the previous ones. Kinda went on a tangent there. Lol But yeah, comics are a huge commitment, I don't think it's super good to push yourself into starting if you're not mentally ready yet. Give yourself some time, do some casual stuff to prepare for the comic you really want to do in the meantime (brainstorming, concept art, character studies, etc.), or don't think about it at all if that's how you do things, then when you really get that itch go for it.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

My advice won't be anything that hasn't been touched on in this chat (so many good vibes ;_;) but I do wanna say that if I had any advice for someone to get into comics, it's to do it for yourself as the main priority. Webcomic popularity has been on the rise very quickly in this past decade, with copious amounts of creators trying their hand at their One Story, competition, exposure, and pressure are sure to set in with this wild ride that is comic making. So what do you do to combat that? How do you stay above water, make sure you have fun, or avoid turning this into what seems like never ending homework? You make your goal you. Whether You want to improve, whether You want to explore characters, or whether You just want to experiment- such a large project (let's be real, there's no easy way to do comics!) should be handled with that initial fire you had when you wanted to start the project, when you felt inspired to lay those panels down and tell that story. Don't compare your journey to others, don't feel that pressure to always Be Something.(edited)

Comics are a medium, just like film, canvas, or Video games for that matter, they have their own process and steps. Find what works for you and enjoy the ride, because it could easily turn into a long one!

eliushi [a winged tale]

I love it Krispy! You gotta do what you love

I’m just curious. What are your personal goals that keeps you going for the comic if you don’t mind sharing?

(And for anyone to answer too!)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I get what you mean and 100% agree with you. But I wanna bring up a caviat -- some people use the whole "do it for yourself" thing to shut down creators who are doing it for themselves, but also want some recognition. It's not their main priority, but it is a thing they want and it's okay to want it. I guess that goes back to the other advice about getting support. Find support, find people who won't make you feel guilty for simply wanting some recognition. People who will understand and support your goals.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

told myself that I won't let my self to lay my soul to rest till I'm done with the projects I have

so lmao that's somethin that drives me contracted to keep living till everything I do is finished lmao(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One of my friends got told she wasn't a Real Writer simply because she wanted a readership. That kinda disrespect is not okay

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh dang

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

oh that is a whole different level from what i'm saying for sure

first off those people can go away lol

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeeeah

Again, not what you were saying, just... how SOME people twist the advice

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

and secondly, if you're not doing your work for yourself, you can easily fall into pleasing others and drown in Trying to Stay relevant, burning your creative drive too (i mean, if you can make ur comic and do that , good on you woah) but i've seen multiple comic artists crash and burn for the sole purpose of doing the comic in competition with others, convincing themselves that 'other styles' are crap bc their own work doesnt match up (gosh that was a rough one) and all in all, them just becoming so bitter with their work! THOUGH! this essentially applies to all creative fields and not just comics! And those entitled ppl who do that suffer from jealousy and nothing else. I cannot stand for those types who tear others down when faced with their own insecurity

and creators have every right to ask for help too. y'all deserve that recognition for the hard work you do, sometimes however, that isn't always available to them

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yea

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

(which is why we gotta lift eachother up!)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

You bring up a good topic that's very relevant to my struggles. It can be very difficult to know: is it okay to disregard this criticism. Am I allowed to do that? Am I allowed to like this thing about my work that people are pointing out as the bad part? Or does that make me a.... bad creator. Unprofessional, bratty, whatever. I'm not even talking about picking a fight/ getting verbally defensive. Just, silently disagreeing. I WANT to say the answer is yes, we are free to have our own opinion about our work. But dang if it isn't hard to feel guilty for doing it.

eliushi [a winged tale]

I think any trailblazers and pioneers feel this sort of sentiment.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That sounds about right

I don't really think of myself as a pioneer, but it is still something I feel in my bones

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I guess that’s the beauty of a self-run webcomic. You are the boss. Your viewership can give you critique, but you can choose what to listen to. You’re not beholden to a higher power (producer, director, patron, etc) to change things no matter what. It’s your project to run, and oftentimes only YOU know where it’s going, and you know how that criticism would change things.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ya lmao. idk like I don't see a lot of stories that run in conflict of towards what I'm doing so it's kinda nervewracking when you're like "oh god am I setting a good example or what? Should I be worried when I just want to create and share a story?"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If you can be proud of the story as-is, I think there’s power in that, and it comes through in the work. A confident comic is a lovely thing.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

That makes me really sad that you have these struggles Kei. Your work is a project of love. Love for the things that inspire you, love for the way to tell your story, and love for that process. You are allowed to proud and tell the world about it, you are allowed to embrace the success that you gain from your work. We as comic makers do SO MUCH WORK and wear SO MANY HATS to make this mainly free to read story available, and that should be celebrated. SO YES, you CAN and you MUST choose what you want to take from others comments, their feedback, reactions, etc- but in the end, it's still about what YOU wanted to make of this work, bc in the end, you are the wheel that keeps this whole thing spinning

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I dunno about confident, but I can say my comic is an honest one. Even if I don't feel confident, I still don't let outside criticisms change what I do.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

webcomic creators aren't given the space they need to grow a lot of times too-- we're essentially producing work that easily requires a small studio to create- there's gonna be ups and downs to the process. But you have to keep in mind for your own sanity that this is still your work and your vision. If you want to explore options of improving then you should be in control of that. (we all know how i feel about crits from randos too XD!)

eliushi [a winged tale]

Agree so much Krispy. I think everyone’s goals and visions for their project are valid and if they sustain your project, then that’s a success in itself

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

agreed!

eliushi [a winged tale]

Often I see this tip and pass on to other writers that when they write their story it’s important to think of a logline or something central that is the heart of the story. I put that as my first page so every time I open my document I see it. I think it’s the same for webcomics. Find the heart of your story — why you want to write it and remind yourself of that. I find it’s helpful to keep me going

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

omg eli....i love that!!!

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

wow that is really great advice eliushi!! I'd love to steal that if you don't mind?

eliushi [a winged tale]

Please do!! It’s a gift!!

take ittt

Miranda

these are all such great suggestions. You people are a fountain of wisdom.

Deo101 [Millennium]

I wrote in the header of my documents, "everything bad that happens in the story is because of me, and everything good happens because of them." Basically to remind myself not to do any sort of ex machina or whatever. And also put my tagline. It definitely helps!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think it's a good guideline -- the "pure luck can only be the bad kind" thing. But my bro brought up the Walking Dead (I think? either that or some other really well known zombie thing?) as an example of going too far in that direction. He said the characters take a turn, open a door, etc. and the zombies just come pouring out like an unholy explosive diarrhea all of sudden, to a point where he was like "lol?" He said it was like the universe was setting it up against the characters, and he couldn't take it seriously. He's played/watched lots of zombie stuff so he's no stranger to jump scares or zombies appearing in hordes, but that one was still too much for him.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

wh lmao about that spoiler part like

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh yeah no, too much of anything is bad.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah like, I can see that kind of extreme bad luck being used in farce comedy

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ahaha yeah

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I wonder what a story would be like in the opposite direction where everything bad that happens to them is because of them and everything good that happens to them is because of the writer

Deo101 [Millennium]

Everything Goes Bad Man A horrible superhero trying to do his best

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

A comedy! Could also make it a Shakespearean tragedy

Deo101 [Millennium]

Horror could make it work too

I was meaning my thing more like uhh, make them earn their good things and success kinda thing

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Depressing drama about a person who tries to succeed in life but fails at every turn

Nah I got it deo

Just throwing out hypotheticals

Deo101 [Millennium]

I would hate to watch or read any of these horrible things btw

But it's fun to hypothesize

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think for like, most stories, your direction is much more engaging

I don't want to watch someone fail over and over

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There's also that trope where everything goes bad despite their effort, and then Luck just drops success on the character's lap, leaving them feeling empty

Deo101 [Millennium]

Me either LOL coming out of stories like that is always like 0_0 well nkw I'm just depressed

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But I think something like watamote, a comedy about a socially inept girl, might be an example of what I said that a lot of people like. I haven't watched it though so I'm not sure

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, I don't know that specific one, but there are cases where people feel comforted by reading about tough luck in that "I'm not the only one" way. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, though.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh

Grave of the Fireflies

That movie seemed more like a message about war though. It seemed like it was trying to say something

I think I could enjoy a depressing story like that if it was nonfiction or historical fiction

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It was sorta semi-autobiographical (not 100% but inspired by his own experience)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Something that feels real

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yeah, grave of the fireflies WAS based off of the author's experiences

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I personally am okay with depressing fiction if it feels real

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Same

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Doesn't have to be based on true events

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

his sister and him were taken in by the aunt and they were actually left that way the sister died of starvation (edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Hey, spoiler tag that!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

whoops mbad

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'm one of those who is 100% not... I can be okay with and love depressing stories after having seen it and then getting time away from it, but watching or reading them is a horrible experience for me

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

My Sweet Orange Tree is thought to be at least sort of based on the author's own experience, and I think that adds something to the book. (Can't confirm because the author's dead.) But even if it were pure fiction, it would remain a lovely, compelling book.

@Deo101 [Millennium] Nothing is for everyone!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I remember feeling really depressed for the rest of the day after watching grave of the fireflies

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Not everything bad that happens to them was their own fault, but Grave of the Fireflies was sort of a story about pride though. A boy who refused to suck it up and apologize to his aunt, resulting in his and his sister's deaths. I think that did make the story more powerful

hubris and all that

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

so I can definitely relate to only watching short bursts of depressing stuff

Deo101 [Millennium]

I honestly try to avoid them entirely, not even short bursts tbh

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

correct! however, a lot of viewers also blamed the aunt for not keeping them. Apparently the real life aunt felt a lot of remorse for being indirectly responsible for their deaths, and her daughter was angry at her. However, the aunt was also feeling depression from her husband who recently died

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I read them rarely, but I feel like they make me more? Grounded? I liked the way Man's Search for Meaning (Holocaust survivor's book) changed the way I thought of the world

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'm just hyperempathetic and they really hurt me

Not like I'm like "I wanna be ignorant" or anything

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think that one scene with the farmer telling him to suck up his pride was highlighting that he could have been taken back in but refused to even try

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Deo101 [Millennium] 100% Valid!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah. Entertainment is supposed to be fun or meaningful and if it's not then don't read it

Although, I do really believe we should learn about these topics in school at least

You have to be exposed to them somewhat

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I just don't like the kind of idea that gritty depressing stuff is more realistic, I understand learning about history and hardships but it's not something I like to think of as like "the truth jusy is that the world is terrible" it makes me feel very alone because I work very hard to see the world nit like that.

Miranda

Re: the extreme bad luck/I cause all the bad stuff for my characters I saw a tip that said coincidences can happen to get your characters into trouble, but not to get them out of trouble, and I thought that was an excellent way of putting that. (sorry to plop that in the midst of the most recent discussion)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

TBH as someone who has lived in Eccentric Relatives' House under not so great circumstances, I didn't even get any hint of "the boy should've sucked up" from Grave of Fireflies. My experience may have been worse than the boy's in his aunt's house though, and maybe my bias led me to see his experience as being just as unfair as mine. In any case it's been years since I watched it, so maybe I'm forgetting some key details.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think "realistic" means a mix of good and bad

My favorite nonfiction books contain a lot of cruelty, but also very good people

Reading about people's good work and outlooks despite tragedies really got to me

Or like, perseverance

Perseverance as a theme really, really hits me

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I like perseverance but I hate stories that are hopeless or treat hope as naiive

It makes me angry tbh

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oof same yeah

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

the aunt was still feeding them though, and allowing them to stay. If he had left his sister at home and tried to get a job like his cousins did, I think it is implied that they would have survived.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I do like my dark themes but lmao i dont want to go to wreckless cruelty. there's an art with that(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Endless pessimism is as unrealistic as endless optimism(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I feel like there's hopeless stories and there's stories that treat hope as naive. The former is like, yeah sure, not everyone's cup of tea, but the latter is like "if this isn't your cup of tea, then you're dumb" which is

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I don't mind dark themes it's just that sort of grittiness, humanity is inherently evil, hope gets you nothing kind of stories that I hate

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Btw. My favorite nonfiction books: Man's Search for Meaning The Gift of Fear The Gift of Pain (no relation to the gift of fear) All showcase a lot of cruelty and suffering but all are still very hopeful

I know it's unlikely you guys will read them but

They're good and I still reccoemend them highly

They are books that changed the way i think

They are also all written by people who have gone through and seen terrible things and yet made it their life's work to help others

I just can't reccomend them enough

But I will stop talking about it now

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

for me, uhhh it's from famial experiences mostly

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Do you think your stories err on the side of optimism or pessimism?

@ everyone

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

since most of my family suffered from the vietnam war, a lot of stuff they told me were fist hand accounts of war and cruetlty

like from my mom, my dad, my aunties and uncles

even like the older members of my communties so that stuff is still fresh lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

Optimism. I want to say neither but I know nearly no one would read it and say it's realistic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh, I've had similar stories. My great grandmother had her whole family except her killed by a Japanese bomb and my family, despite traveling a lot, has still never visited Japan out of respect to her

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

but since they already living better lives I see that the darkness in those times have at least kick started them out to their kind of propserity or still striving towards

so I see myself as a realist lmao

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I think my stories usually go a bit more on the pessimistic side I’m afraid. People have remarked that my more emotional scenes can be surprisingly dark, so I’m trying to introduce some more heartwarming scenes

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't wanna say "err on the side of".... I do bittersweet and slightly LEAN towards the bitter more often than not! But I think this particular aspect may be partly up to the readers to gauge.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think my story is realistic to me. The worst my characters experience is similar to mine, and the best is also similar to mine. But I have no idea if my own life has had more good or more bad than the "average person"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"Sometimes life super sucks in ways you have little to no control over, but you can still be there for each other, and that really, really counts" <--- is this too bitter or just right? That's up to each reader to answer, I think.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Hey you said optimism or pessimism you gotta pick

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like there is hope and optimism but that is meaningless without the critical side of things. and I want to depict those sides in life.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Optimism

But I'm optimistic

Deo101 [Millennium]

Keiiii that's the way I write too and I think it's optimistic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

My life has shown me that I can escape bad things so I don't think optimism is unrealistic though

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

You can't fix life but you can give love

Deo101 [Millennium]

Exactly

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i guess for my stories they kinda like what keii said like there's good side of things but lmao I somehow add some painful elements that they have to endure in order to have those good times(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

personallly I think stories work if you give people hope

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Eh, not every story is meant to give hope

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

but it's a good goal

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

like as long as you give people a semblance of hope, even if you throw some depressing stuff.....it can work. Oh, I meant as a bittersweet story

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But I think not giving hope is unrealistic

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao I guess I'm a target since the last story i write

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Though perhaps I only think that because I haven't experienced true tragedy(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it was just bleak in a hopeful light

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It depends, like I can imagine a short story that hyperfocuses on something extremely depressing.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Y'know what I have actually hopeless things in my life and I have 0 interest in reading a story that's hopeless

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye and that's fair

Deo101 [Millennium]

And even though I have hopeless experiences I don't think my life overall is hopeless

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

i wonder if people actively look for stories that focus on not having hope because i know many people read these stories as a way to escape their lives

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I agree on that. idk. for me writing stories that lead to an end that really don't work with both parties... could be just my morbid curosity in just seeing how things won't work out as planned for both persons.

could be like a philosophical thing maybe? or giving a different perspective of some sorts?

like "things are the same but given with the option you gave me, I can't go through with that"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can relate to curiosity being a motivation for exploring dark stories. It's why I check out horror stories -- horror stories (games especially) show the MC in an extremely "wrong" situation at the beginning, and I check them out to find out the presumably equally extreme "why" for that wrongness. I don't think I could write stories like that myself, though.

Psychological horror specifically

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah, horror has been uh ingraned in my life to this point. and I like writing stories with that kind of edge in mind, more of the psycholgial aspects than horror.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Do you guys think some people search for morbid stories like these to not only satisfy their curiousity....but also to make themselves feel better about their own lives?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't particularly care to find out why Mr. Chainsaw is going around killing everyone in a splatter/slasher horror, for instance X'D

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it's a possibility tbh.

sometimes I do that but I also had experienced simalar kinds of sorts that seeing those works i'm like "dang not alone in these wack feels"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I guess it depends on each person?

"Gee, at least I don't have any literal demons coming after my eyeballs" is not very comforting to me, personally

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i mean lmao

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Sometimes sad stories do make me feel more thankful for my own peaceful life but I don't seek them out for that reason

Deo101 [Millennium]

Imagine if ur disabled and that's the narrative used to make other people feel better about their lives

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

DX

Deo101 [Millennium]

Off topic but that's why disabled people hate "inspiration porn"

It's something that's really hard to explain cause "do you not want to inspire people" is really hard to answer

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah, those kinds of stories I really don't like at all.

Deo101 [Millennium]

So I wanted to jump on the opportunity to explain even though it's really off topic sorry

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

No, don't be sorry. "Life sucks but hey, at least you're not me!" is not something anyone should have to put up with

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it's understandable tho!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

To be honest I do seek out stories about disability because I find it fascinating how people adapt to mental and physical changes. I find ingenuity very interesting?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I guess I look at it more towards like how some relationships with people don't work, and also the diaconomy between individuals interest me. Not for those kinds of stories but I've seen elements of that appear in some works i read in the past

Deo101 [Millennium]

I also seek out stories about disabilities, but only hopeful ones not like "my life is ruined and this is my driving motivation, to not be like this"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

One of the books I recommended was by a doctor who spent his life working with people with leprosy and the workarounds for missing limbs and sensation he and his patients would come up with was just so fascinating to me to read

It's something that's really hard to explain cause "do you not want to inspire people" is really hard to answer

@Deo101 [Millennium] I think I understand you but just curious- how do you respond to that?(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

It's usually like "I want to inspire people to be like me because they're proud of what I can do" but they're always like "I'm proud of what you can do in spite of-" and it's like. Idk just a deep sigh

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh yeah rip

i had that happened to me before like "Dang you do did this and you're from some a family that suffered so much--"

"uh huh please focus on the work not my life thanks lmao"

Deo101 [Millennium]

Like don't hold me to a different, lower standard. Don't pity me

Yeah exactly

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Hm it's sort of true but also if someone said "I'm proud of what you can do despite not having a dad" I'd be like fuck yoooouuuu

Deo101 [Millennium]

Like there's other things please

It's like, pity. It's not actually inspiration I think

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'm proud of what you can do in spite of not having a brain

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

pity has left the building

like sure, yeah let's go with that but there's other experiences other than my background and my identity the brought out this work too. that's how we can get some unique voices into the field.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

so yeah, I can understand rip people saying fustrating things like that. maybe they don't have a better way of phrasing it. orz

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

At the very least it's better than the opposite side

"your experiences were not that bad" angle

Deo101 [Millennium]

I get that a lot also

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

and sadly I too experienced that angle LMAO

Deo101 [Millennium]

LMAO tuyetnhi same hat

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

no one wins

hurrah

most of it came about because of my mixed idenity like I don't get hit by the usual racism my viet friends experienced

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

This is overall a very small thing but I casually mentioned I was attracted to women to a long time friend yesterday and she went full on "thank you so much for coming out to me this doesn't change my opinion of you I love you you're a great friend" And then the conversation got hella stilted and awkward after that and AG I Hate that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

but er.... I have seen people look at me and was like "mixed baby? that's hot"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Wtfff

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"please no."

it's wack like u put me in a scale where that scale is already wack to begin with

it don't make sense lmao

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

wait what the fuck

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

People are like why TF are u using a cane you're young and I tell them I have a condition and they're like, what does it do and I say the symptoms and they're like :/ I get those too :/

Freak out and tell them to get tested right away

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

also i really get annoyed when I see people just.......treat people with personality disorders like we're all psychos and tell others

hey at least you're not like these psychos

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh the telling others bit(edited)

Nooooo

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like my experience isn't that universal but it's already terible enough knowing that if you have mixed ethncities then you're treated as an "exotic creature" and i'm like "I'll shoot you down"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Mann luckily I grew up in a place where that doesn't really happen

I hope

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh my god i'm glad i live in a really diverse city and yeah deo....they do

we get labelled "troubled people" particularly if we're female in the mental health sector

a LOT of psychiatrists push us around and they use it as code for "difficult"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip I live where 80% the folks here are mostly er homogenous white folk

and they ask me these questions that I know boil me blood

I'm too poor for cali man

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

oooooof I feel that tuyetnhi i went to a really white uni town for my alma mater

i got called a tall chink by a frat boy there

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah I experienced that shit durring uni

it sucks

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yoooo you can also come to toronto if you can't go to cali ;3

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I can travel to toronto but lmao maybe next year

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

maybe ;A;;

also @Eightfish (Puppeteer) wait what do you mean by your question? is it pertaining to personality disorders or to the race questions?

......yeah people tend to treat you better if they don't know you have a personality disorder

LMAO I MEAN TRUE, that's pretty obvious XD

because people think that personality disorders are untreatable. And I would like people to be more informed about them

Heck, a lot of people don't even know about BPD. So I'd rather that people stay informed about it, even if it means that I might suffer for it.

What if there's another person with BPD who needed help but the people around them didn't know? And I don't think it's fair to keep it hidden when it can easily damage relationships.

Deo101 [Millennium]

And also, "why don't you just hide that part of yourself if people treat you badly for how you are?" Is hardly ever a healthy way of dealing with things

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

better be informed than being ignorant

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah...I've actually considered just...putting a joke warning label on myself lmao

(but thank you guys for understanding <3)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

negatively changed? rip

ohhh nooo

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yeah.....it's kinda like.....just because you have these negative experiences, you try not to let it stop you

because there's ALWAYS a chance that you'll meet people who understand

........I actually told a good friend that I had bpd and she started ghosting me. She was scared of me and thought i was...."weird"

and scary.

She was scared that i was gonna go psycho.

but I think it's important to know that not everyone is going to be an asshole.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it really is

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

i had a psychiatrist tell me that i probably lost friends....because i was a bitch ;A;

after formally diagnosing me with bpd

yeah and i had one psychiatrist just....diagnost me with anxiety disorder and he wouldn't listen to me just gave me a survey to fill out

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

makes them feel like they're 2d?

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yeah and they are usually very complex and have very VERY varied pasts doesn't help that the media paints us as monsters in horror movies a lot

you see sociopathy and antisocial disorder in the news a lot and then they see people with bpd and they're like

LOOK! YANDERES!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooooffff

that's not even part of the DSM lmaO

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

screams every time i see an article about how to "save yourself from someone with BPD"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

speaking from my experiences as a former psyche major

like that can't be determined solely just by those factors alone

cormidbity is a factor too

oh my godddd

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I get that a lot

also yeah psychiatrists..........they need to keep themselves updated man

they put a lot of blanket terms for people with pds because it's easier or maybe because psychiatrists are simply not equipped to deal with people with pds?

i mean look how many psychiatrists i've met or heard fuck it up with bpd

and that's one of THE EASIEST pds to rehabilitate

imagine rehabilitating someone with narcissism or sociopathy

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

APD

is the proper term lmao

or ASPD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

also eightfish....nope. it's a really long LONG road to rehabilitation. Some take years.

but it's kinda...a relief to be diagnosed OH WHOOPS

mbad

OH MY GOD THE TRANSGENDER THING

coughs in victorian times exCUSE me

hugs

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip this is from my understanding but if the condition of the disorder is either: a combination of bringing harm to yourself, restricting yourself from your routines, harm to others, or sense of losing control of your daily life then they will mostly likely dianoise. though that's what I

I've known years ago rip. idk if they hold up those standards today

or changed things from it

it really bites when you're seeking help and the folks that supposed to help you say like "but you're normally functioning so I see no problem ya u free to go"

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

"if we can't see it you're not injured so get the fuck back to work"

psychiatrists who just brush you off because it doesn't fit THEIR narrative piss you off

like you're going to them for help....and they categorize you as they see fit

and when you try to go against them they label you as "difficult"

eliushi [a winged tale]

Hey friends, good discussions here but just wondering if it’s best in #general as this will be archived? Just want you all to be safe

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

ah okay! Thank you Eli

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Oof wait archived?

In what way?

eliushi [a winged tale]

Check pins(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

OH GOD

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Ahh

I'm deleting every message lol

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

(And this convo is off topic)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

will do man

Deo101 [Millennium]

already on it

I just deleted everything to about 1 cause I think thats where we went off topic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh shit yeah this is creator babble

I will delete messages as well

[foolsiwillshowthemall]

This was a last-minute prop that I designed and printed for my wife to take to DragonCon.

My wife is going to DragonCon this year, mostly to meet up with friends she knows from various online games including City of Heroes.  She’s going to be attending a steampunk-themed ball, and also a City of Heroes seminar, and she asked me about two weeks before the convention if I could 3D print for her a Nemesis Staff, a weapon used by a steampunk-themed villain group in the game.  It wasn’t completely out of nowhere, as I had mentioned in the past that I could probably make one, but it still only left me just over a week to design the prop and print all the parts.

There are tools for ripping 3D models from City of Heroes, but they’re complicated to work, and the resulting 3D files need a lot of cleaning up.  Furthermore, from looking at the prop in the game I could see that I was going to have to redraw it from scratch anyway, so I decided to just freehand it using screenshots as a guide.  This is a 15 year old MMORPG, and the 3D models are painfully low-poly and low-resolution to begin with.  Most of the actual fine details are only hinted at, with barely-visible engraving at the limits of the low-resolution surface maps, and the mechanics of the game models don’t actually work anyway with the moving parts actually clipping through each other during the animation cycle.  

Rather than try to precisely recreate the game prop, I decided to try and figure out what the nemesis staff should look like as a real object, which meant trying to reverse-engineer the intent of the original artists.  Dark stripes on the sides of the hub and inside of the outer ring are implied to be gear teeth, so I redrew it as a planetary gear mechanism with working gear geometry.  I wanted the outer ring and gears to be able to freely rotate, even though I didn’t have time to actually make it motorized.  I ended up having to add a few additional support pieces to hold the gears and outer ring in place, as the model in the game doesn’t actually work and would fall apart if you built it in reality.  The planet gears are basically just floating in place, and while I might have been able to make everything fit just by the shape and friction of the teeth I thought it safer to add frames to actually hold the planets in place.  There’s also a support piece added into the arm to help secure the ring gear and keep it from shifting off-center.

At times I had to guess whether the low-poly nature of some of the parts was intentional or not.  The outer ring is implied to be a circle, so I redrew it as one, and printed those parts with a high level of faceting to try and get as close to a smooth circle as possible.  On the other hand, the detailing on the planet gears strongly implies that they should be hexagons, not circles, so I kept them that shape.  I also spent a while squinting at the pixel-level detailing, as there’s a lot of engraving and embossing implied on some of the surfaces, which I had to translate to actual 3D geometry for printing.

To simplify travel, we decided that rather than build an entire staff I would make a topper that would attach to my wife’s cane.  Her walking cane has a knob that screws off the top, revealing a threaded rod that lets the cane be used as a tripod to mount a camera.  I designed a piece that would screw on there instead, letting her still use the nemesis staff as a walking cane while still keeping most of the appeal of the prop.  It’s not quite the same as the one in the game, but a lot easier to take on a plane flight, since she needs to bring the cane along anyway.

The resulting Nemesis Staff would be a bit smaller than the ones in the game, although it’s hard to say for sure since the in-game prop scales to your character model anyway.  If I wanted to do this again for a more game-accurate prop, I’d probably scale everything up by 25% and also design a printed staff and the square piece that goes on the butt end of the staff as well.

When possible, I prefer to print in the final color that a part is going to be, rather than paint it.  There were some nice shiny metallic filaments available that I’d been wanting to try out, so we overnighted them as I worked on the Solidworks designs.  We used Silk metallic filament, in copper and gold, for nearly the entire part, with a few pieces in black and clear as well.  The geometry is probably not ideal, but I was in a hurry while designing this.  I tried to make everything fit together through friction pins as much as possible, with glue only being used as a final fixative to keep things from sliding apart.  The end result was a prop that needed no painting, and only a little bit of cleanup on the finished parts.

It took about a week to print all the parts, and I had to leave my printer running nearly 24 hours a day to get it done in time.  I even dusted off the old Monoprice Mini that I got for free a year ago and used it to print many of the smaller parts, mostly pins and spacers that weren’t cosmetically important.  It should have come as a warning when the metallic filament came with a spare nozzle and a vial of nozzle cleaner needles.  I had constant problems with print failures due to clogged nozzles, probably lost a good 15 hours of print time due to them.  After several parts lost due to clogs I started just preemptively cleaning and flushing the extruder once or twice a day.  Total print time came to about 130 hours, but that doesn’t include time lost from clogs that happened in mid-print.

The geometry is not quite ideal.  There’s more friction on the planetary gears than I’d like, and it’s hard to rotate the ring gear.  I was worried that it would fall apart when printed as a proper planetary gear arrangement should have at least three gears, so I added a frame to hold the planet gears in place and a brace in the fork to add additional support for the ring gear.  The result was actually a lot more solid than I expected, and I really should have gone with more clearance on the gear tooth faces and other moving parts.

If I’d had a few more weeks to work on it, I would have tried to actually make it motorized, and add light and sound effects to make it act like the ones in the game.  Maybe for next year.

[joonie-beanie]

Oh, Baby (Namjoon x Reader) Pt. 19

[Pt 1] [Pt 2] [Pt 3] [Pt 4] [Pt 5] [Pt 6] [Pt 7] [Pt 8] [Pt 9] [Pt 10] [Pt 11] [Pt 12] [Pt 13] [Pt 14] [Pt 15] [Pt 16] [Pt 17] [Pt 18]

Pairing: Namjoon/RM x Reader Rating: M Genre: Smut/Mafia-ish AU

Words: 4,988

Summary: You were only supposed to have seen him twice. Only twice, no more, but now you’re getting dragged into situations you never wished for and Namjoon just keep showing up.

A/N: Bet you guys weren’t expecting this update, huh? It’s only been a week and yet the second to last chapter is suddenly done xD Well, I’ve finally gotten motivated to finish this series, that’s why! Last time...I believe we left off with a lot of you mad at me, right? Well...read on and see this time if the ending leaves you feeling any more satisfied.

“Oh fuck.”

Those are the first words that come out of Yoongi’s mouth as soon as he realizes that it’s none other than Namjoon who has just been shot, and not a second later Namjoon sways on his feet.

His eyes shut, blood dripping from his chin as his knees buckle, and he sways forward. Immediately Jungkook, who is stood between you and Namjoon, reaches out and braces the taller, wincing in pain as Namjoon’s dead weight smacks into him. Thankfully, Yoongi is there just one beat later, taking his friend from Jungkook’s grasp and lowering him to the floor.

Despite the sirens blaring—and the additional shot that rings out behind you as Taehyung disables Jeon for good—your mind goes quiet. Suddenly you become unable to speak or move—you can only watch this nightmare play out before you.

On the floor, barely awake, Namjoon shakily lifts his hand and presses it to his chest. Without hesitation Yoongi bats his hand away, eyes frantically scanning the area he had touched for any kind of bullet wound. However, to Yoongi’s surprise he finds no wound, let alone any blood, which can only mean…

Grabbing the collar of Namjoon’s blazer, Yoongi rips downwards, and then repeats the process with his shirt, buttons tearing from the clothing as Namjoon’s torso is exposed. However, it’s not pale skin that greets your unwavering eyes, but a thin, black vest instead.

Yoongi rolls Namjoon onto his side, wishing more than anything that he was in possession of a knife at the moment as he’s forced to maneuver Namjoon’s shirt from around his shoulders—a clear blood stain visible on the backside of the white fabric.

“I fucking told you that we shouldn’t have used one of these old, thin vests,” Yoongi grumbles more to himself than anyone as he spots the point of entry through the back of the outdated bulletproof vest. In his arms Namjoon laughs breathily, but the laugh quickly dissolves into fit of coughs, another small amount of blood escaping from his mouth.

“If we had they would’ve been able to tell I was wearing one…,” he responds to Yoongi weakly, and Yoongi clicks his tongue as he works to undo the buckles on the vest.

“Shut up, you dumbass. Don’t talk.”

Finally undoing the vest, Yoongi discards it on the floor beside Namjoon and takes a look at his friend. Having been heading for the exit with Jeon collapsed on the floor in the center of the room behind them, it makes sense now that he had managed to shoot Namjoon in the back. And from the looks of it, the bullet had struck just below his right shoulder blade.

Yoongi narrows his eyes, palm moving to splay against Namjoon’s skin below the wound. He knows this isn’t good—they need to get Namjoon out of here and get him to help as soon as they can. Being hit where Namjoon has been means it’s not immediately putting his life in danger, but with time that doesn’t mean his condition won’t change.

Yoongi’s jaw clenches, a vein popping out near his temple. At least the old bulletproof vest had kept the bullet from ripping clean through Namjoon’s entire chest…

“Y…Yoongi,” you finally manage to speak, hands shaking where they grip your dress. You return to reality slightly, but your breaths still come out shallow and quick. “Is Namjoon—?!”

Your feet move on their own as you intended to rush to where Yoongi and Jungkook are surrounding Namjoon a few feet away, but you hardly make it two steps before a hand is gripping your elbow, forcing you to stop.

Shocked and inexplicably angry, you whip your head around, prepared to curse or fight or just scream, but when you’re met with the sight of Taehyung—his face contorted with such a look of empathy—your anger disappears. You’re still upset with Taehyung…there’s no way you can forgive him right away for the things he’s done, but…right now you know that he’s on your side, and you don’t have the energy or will to fight him.

Noticing how Taehyung has momentarily stalled you from coming to see your injured boyfriend, Jungkook crouches down and leans in towards Yoongi.

“Hyung…”

“We really need to get him some help,” Yoongi responds, voice loud enough to be heard over the alarms, but quiet enough that you won’t hear his sincerely worried tone.

Jungkook nods, lifting a hand to card it through his hair—a sign of his stress. He takes a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, and Yoongi allows his gaze to wander to the young heir for a moment. He worse for wear—bruised and battered thanks to his father—and Yoongi can see the fear that still lingers in his gaze, but he hasn’t given up hope yet.

“Jin hyung is still downstairs, right? Let’s go now, before the cops start arriving.”

Despite his anger towards the current situation, Yoongi nods. He knows that Jungkook is right.

“You’re better with a gun, so let me carry him,” Jungkook says, flipping around so that his back is facing Yoongi and Namjoon. Yoongi looks skeptical—worried that Jungkook is too injured, but the younger flashes him a half-smile, half-grimace.

“I’m tougher than I look, right now.”

Not really having a choice, Yoongi helps maneuver a barely awake Namjoon onto Jungkook’s back. The younger loops his arms around Namjoon’s legs, and Yoongi makes sure that Namjoon’s arms are locked around Jungkook’s neck. He truly feels like dead weight right now, and the thought makes Jungkook cringe.

“Let’s head downstairs and find Jin and Hoseok,” Yoongi speaks up once Namjoon is taken care of. He looks up in the direction of you and Taehyung, and then meets your eyes. For once, the light in your eyes has begun to fade. You simply look sad and defeated, and Yoongi bites his lip. He doesn’t want that…he needs you to be determined right now. They still need to get out of here.

“Y/N,” he says, redrawing your attention. You blink, focusing on him again, wondering when your attention had wandered.

“It’s not fatal, but we need to get moving. Let’s go and get away from this hellhole, yeah?”

Clearly the news that it’s not a fatal wound gives you some relief, and you take a second to inhale a deep, calming breath. Yoongi is right. You need to get out of here, still. It’s not over yet.

“Yeah,” you agree, thankful for his words, and Yoongi nods, turning back towards the door.

“Stick close to me. Taehyung, cover the rear. Let’s go.”

Back in action, your pack of five finally exits the suite, leaving the unmoving body of Jeon Enterprise’s CEO behind. Your pace is cautious, yet swift. Yoongi leads the way, Jungkook directly behind him, and you keep near Jungkook. Taehyung lingers a small ways behind you, eyes narrowed as he watches for any potential threat.

If they had been paying more attention Namjoon’s injury could’ve been prevented, after all…

Finally, a minute or two later, the ballroom comes into sight. Near the entrance greeters are urging people to leave the ballroom—giving instructions on where to wait, and what to do. Save a few lingering guests, the few hundred invitees had cleared out, making it very easy for you to spot Jin and Hoseok in the middle of the dance floor, a passed out Jaehyuk still on the ground beside them.

“Please, sir, you need to leave--!” you hear a member of the event staff urge them as your group nears.

“He’s still out cold! Please trust me, we’ll just wait until the paramedics get here!”

“But we can’t let you stay in the building! We have no idea if a fire has broken out or not!”

“Don’t worry about them!” Taehyung suddenly speaks up, brushing past you and Jungkook. He momentarily tucks his gun away, digging in his coat pocket to show his verification, identifying himself as a member of Jeon’s security unit.

“I’ll stay here with them until the cops arrive. Please, stay safe yourself and don’t worry about them. Everyone else has already gone,” Taehyung points out, motioning to the door. He steps closer to her, blocking Jungkook and Namjoon from her line of sight, and at realizing the other staff members are the only ones left—waiting on her to join—the woman bows and quickly excuses herself.

At her retreat, realizing that the remaining occupants of the ballroom are now leaving and that for the most part the coast is clear, the 5 of you who have just arrived turn to face Hoseok and Jin, who immediately turn their attention to you as well.

“Did you pull the alarm??” Yoongi questions Hoseok, and the younger male raises his hands defensively.

“I’m standing down here and all of the sudden I hear what sounds like a gunshot! The people around me started murmuring and getting worried, so I figured it’d be better to pull it sooner than later. Last thing we need are people hearing even more gunshots to clear up their doubts.”

“Fine, fine—,” Yoongi responds angrily, and then notices the way Jin’s eyes are lingering on the newest addition to their crew.

“Is he…?”

“Taehyung,” Yoongi sighs. “But he’s on our side now, don’t worry.”

Taehyung keeps his face carefully blank as Jin begins glaring at him.

“I have a bone to pick with you later,” Jin hisses, and Taehyung blinks, but isn’t appalled. He had never expected to be able to switch teams without encountering some bridges to rebuild along the way. But either way, Taehyung shouldn’t be their focus right now, it should be—

“Namjoon,” you speak up, stepping out from behind Yoongi and motioning back to the male being carried by Jungkook. Jin’s heart lightens at the sight of you—because thank god you’re ok—but as soon as he looks to where you’re pointing and sees Namjoon nearly passed out on Jungkook’s shoulder, he knows that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

“What happened?!” Jin startles, rushing to Jungkook and Namjoon’s side. Jin can see the dark bruises blooming on Jungkook’s face, but considering he’s walking and Namjoon isn’t, Jin assumes he’d better check on the mafia boss first.

As Jin busies himself with checking on Namjoon’s condition, Hoseok, Yoongi, and Taehyung gather to discuss what comes next. How are they getting out of here? What can they possibly say about Jeon? They don’t have much longer before the police should be arriving, so they really need to hurry.

Caught between the two groups, you can’t help when your attention wanders. Your ears tune between the group discussing your getaway and Jin and Jungkook, who are mumbling about what had happened upstairs. At this point you just want to grab them all and drag them away from here. You need to get out.

“Jimin should be out back waiting for us right now,” Yoongi announces, looking at his phone screen. He turns to Jin and Jungkook, opening his mouth to speak, but you end up tuning him out when you see movement in the corner of your eyes. It puzzles you, since no one of your group is standing over in that direction, and you turn to face the cause of your concern.

Immediately your heart drops.

Jaehyuk.

Having woken up just moments before—the effects of Jin’s drug wearing off—the supposed-to-be-dead man had opened his eyes only to be assaulted by the sound of sirens blaring. Glancing around, he noted the abandoned dance floor, and immediately surmised that his and Jeon’s plan had failed. Anger flared in his chest, palms pushing against the floor as he struggled to prop himself up.

However, it was in that moment that he had picked up on the voices nearby and turned his attention towards them, blood boiling as he spotted the doctor who had tricked him, along with you, the waiter who had bumped in you, the Jeon heir, a male he hadn’t seen tonight and Kim Taehyung. That double crossing motherfucker.

But then…where had Namjoon gone? Wasn’t he the boss in charge of your second rate rescue team?

Scanning the group again, Jaehyuk almost laughs when he spots Kim Namjoon—oh so fearless mafia leader—being carried on the back of Jeon’s son, obviously injured in some way.

Which meant that…now was his chance.

Finally managing to struggle to his knees, Jaehyuk claws at the gun hidden beneath his belt, glad that the damn doctor hadn’t taken it off of him. He can shatter your and Namjoon’s dreams right now. He can win—get his revenge, completely destroy your happy ending.

He snarls, lifting the gun and aiming it on Namjoon. So what if he hits Jeon’s son, right? Clearly the boy had betrayed his father anyway. However—

“Look out!!” you suddenly scream, frantic, as you move towards where Jungkook and Namjoon are standing. Startled, all the other males whip their heads around, eyes finally spotting Jaehyuk as well.

Hoseok, who is still stood closest to Jaehyuk, rushes to knock the gun out of his hand, but not before Jaehyuk changes his aim and tightens his finger against the trigger. But, he’s not aiming at Hoseok, he’s—

Your eyes widen as you realize the barrel is now pointed at you, and you freeze in your tracks, pushing back on your heels as you attempt to scramble in the direction you had come from and avoid his current trajectory.

“Shit--!” Hoseok curses, knocking the gun from Jaehyuk’s grasp, but Jaehyuk manages to pull the trigger before the firearm is smacked from his hand. You feel pain rip through your leg, and as soon as your ass hits the floor you cry out, hands movie to grip your calf, warm blood staining your fingers.

“Fuck!!” Yoongi yells, moving forward and raising his gun. Disarmed thanks to Hoseok, Yoongi fires two rounds into Jaehyuk without remorse, and the man collapses back to the floor, blood beginning to pool around him.

Finally managing to open your eyes—which you had squeezed shut in fear—you look down at your leg. You lift your hands shakily, the fabric of your dress and your palms stained red. It…it hurts, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be in danger of losing your life anytime soon.

“Y/N!” Jin exclaims. Suddenly he’s right beside you, lightly lifting your bloodied hands away from the wound so he can examine it better.

“It just grazed you,” he mumbles after a few seconds, brows furrowed. “Nothing a few stitches can’t take care of. But still, we need to find something to stop the bleeding…”

“What we need to do is get the fuck out of here!” A new voice pipes up, and all eyes are suddenly on Jimin as he runs into the ballroom, hand waving over his head. He stops half way, looking exasperated.

“Cops are coming! I can hear their sirens outside!”

“Fuck,” Yoongi curses, his eyes flitting between where Namjoon is passed out on Jungkook’s shoulder and where you’re currently seated on the ballroom floor, leg injured. Dammit! If he had just been more careful then you wouldn’t have been injured too! But…Yoongi clenches his fist at his side.

“Jin, you have to come with us.”

“Wha--? She’s injured!” Jin responds indignantly, turning to face Yoongi. The second in command sighs in frustration. Taehyung moves past him towards you and Jin.

“I know she is, dammit! But Namjoon--!”

“Then Y/N should come with us too!”

“She can’t! Oh, Jin, don’t give me that fucking look! She has to stay with—”

“Me,” Jungkook butts in, stepping forward. His face is hard. “Someone will have to explain to the cops what happened tonight—we discussed this already. I have to stay.”

“And Y/N is innocent, Jin. Compared to all of us,” Yoongi explains. “She can find a reason to be here—she’s Jungkook’s friend. Hoseok, too--,” he adds in, meeting Hoseok’s gaze, “he’s innocent. He can find a reason to be here. But Taehyung, Jimin—me and Namjoon—we can’t be seen here. And Namjoon is dy—”

“Stop. I’ll come,” Jin cuts him off, eyes narrowing. He motions his head behind him to you, who is now preoccupied with Taehyung—the double-crosser ripping the skirt of your dress and tearing a strip of the fabric away. Yoongi holds his tongue, watching as Taehyung uses the strip of fabric to bandage your wound. It’s a half-assed patch up, but right now they don’t have the time to do better.

“Hyung, take Namjoon,” Jungkook says, stepping forward. Sparing you one last glance, Jin presses to his feet and moves to Jungkook. The younger passes the mafia leader off to Jin, and then moves to your side, Hoseok following right behind him.

Lifting your gaze, you stare at the group parallel to you. Yoongi, Taehyung, Jin, Namjoon, and Jimin…God, you don’t want them to leave now, but you know this is the only way…and it sucks.

“Keep me updated,” Yoongi speaks, meeting Jungkook’s eyes. The maknae nods.

“Same to you…”

Dipping his head, Yoongi turns his back, and the others follow suit. They run from the ballroom, disappearing into a back corridor, and you’re left sitting there—leg throbbing, dress stained with blood. You really, really want to cry.

“Hey…,” Jungkook speaks, kneeling in front of you. He smiles, and then reaches forward, looping his arms beneath your knees and around your back. Careful of your leg, he picks you up and cradles you against him. Lifting your palm, now flaky with dried blood, you press it to his chest and look up at him worriedly.

“Are you okay?”

Your voice is so quiet, so tired, and Jungkook feels his heart ache. If only this night would end already…

“Don’t worry about me. Let’s head outside. The police should be here any minute.”

He purposefully glances to Hoseok, who nods his head in understanding. Keeping pace beside Jungkook, the three of you make your way from the ballroom and out into the cool night air. The area outside Jeon Enterprises is packed with guests from the ball and other patrons who had been in their hotel rooms when the alarm had sounded.

Looking over the crowd, Jungkook spots the police lights reflecting off the buildings in the distance, struggling to make their way through the congested traffic. It looks like it will still be another few minutes yet…

Moving a small ways from the main door, Jungkook presses his back to the chilled brick and slides down to the cement, still holding you in his arms. He rest you in his lap, legs bent, and stares at the top of your head as you begin to shake.

You want to stay hopeful and want to stay determined that everything will turn out alright, but…you can’t keep your hopes up any longer. Your walls crumble, and you descend into tears, forehead moving to press against Jungkook’s chest. You feel terrible, you don’t want him to see you like this, so broken and defeated, but you can’t…you just…it’s too much--!

Jungkook’s hand pets against your hair.

“It’s ok. You don’t need to hold it all in anymore.”

A sob rips from your throat at his words, and you hold onto him as the flood gates open. He pulls you close, heart panging with sadness as you cry your heart out. So much had happened…between getting kidnapped, being held at Jaehyuk’s mercy for nearly a week, and then everything that had occurred at the ball tonight…Jungkook is honestly surprised and proud that you had managed to stay so strong until now.

“God, this sucks,” Hoseok suddenly speaks up, guilt on his face as he crouches down in front of Jungkook. His eyes flit to you, and he winces. “I don’t want to keep adding to the burden of tonight, but we really need to talk about what we’re gonna say when the cops get here. We need a story…”

“Shit, I know…,” Jungkook sighs. How are they supposed to create such a huge lie?

“Any ideas?”

“Well, we’ll have to let them know that it was me who pulled the fire alarm. At least if I fess up to it they won’t have to go looking for the culprit.”

“True, but what about my dad and Jaehyuk? They’re the only two casualties, right?”

“As far as we know…and you—you’re all beat up too. We’ll have to explain that.”

“I’ll just say I got beat up by someone,” Jungkook grumbles. “The main thing we need to agree on is who killed my dad and Jaehyuk. If we don’t decide that then none of it will make sense.”

“I…,” you suddenly voice in, and both males pause in surprise. Raising your head, you wipe your tears. Your cheeks are flushed and your eyes are red, but it seems the release of emotion has given you some of your determination back. Both Hoseok and Jungkook are happy to see the small amount of life that has returned to your face.

“I think I have an idea, if you want to hear it.”

“Right now we’ve got nothing, so go for it,” Hoseok says urging you on. Nodding, you set out to explain your plan. Hoseok and Jungkook listen intently, taken aback by the complexity of your idea, yet when you’ve finally finished talking, they can’t think of a place to change. And that’s a good thing, because it’s at that moment the police finally squeal to a stop in front of the building.

“Well, fuck, it sounds good enough—let’s stick with it,” Hoseok says, pushing to his feet. He reaches down, offering you a hand, and you take it. Jungkook grips your waist, helping you stand, seeing as you can only balance on one leg currently. Once you’re stable on your feet, Hoseok’s arm wrapped around your shoulder, Jungkook presses to his feet as well.

Squaring his shoulders, he peers across the now scattering crowd. The cops are hurriedly making their way towards the front doors.

He breathes deep, and then, just as the police appear in sight, takes a step to the side, blocking the double doors. The cops halt in surprise.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Jeon Jungkook—heir to Jeon enterprises,” he says with confidence, and the police look startled.

“Sir…?”

“I need to speak with you regarding the events that took place within the ballroom tonight.”

Nearly 4 hours later—the clock striking midnight—Jungkook steps through the front door of his silent home, you and Hoseok trailing behind him.

With the building finally having been cleared for reentry 2 hours after the police had arrived, the residents of the hotel had been allowed to return to their room. However, posing yourselves as the main 3 witnesses to the murders that had occurred tonight, you, Hoseok, and Jungkook had been asked to stay behind.

Jungkook, the second of Jeon’s sons, and heir to the company. You, his good friend who he had invited for the night, and Hoseok, an acquaintance of yours who had been working as part of the camera crew. Together, the three of you had explained to the police what had occurred tonight—including the causes of your and Jungkook’s injures, and who you had witnessed shoot Jeon and Jaehyuk.

If Jungkook wasn’t an heir to Jeon Enterprises, you hardly doubt that the police would have given him a second glance, but with the authority and status accompanying his name, the police had compliantly listened to your story. And, luckily, they had seemed to accept it as well. The investigation of the crime scene—which likely would have been extensive and long winded—ended in just 3 hours. The bodies were taken away to the corner, the ballroom was blocked off from the public, and the police decided to call it a night.

Two people were dead, and they already had a story to run with—why keep digging? They can finish up in the morning anyway.

So, after taking your personal information for documentation purposes, the police had released you for the night. Despite the first aid the paramedics had used to treat your leg they still insisted that you come to the hospital for further treatment, but you had refused. And, before they could say more, Jungkook had stepped in to come to your aid as well, assuring them that he had a family doctor on staff who would be more than capable.

The police had been weary, but never bothered to speak back. With a promise to send an escort to pick you all up in the morning in order to take you to the station and officially give your reports, the police had cleared the scene.

“Jungkook!” A female voice rings out, and Jungkook looks up to find their resident maid bustling up the long hall towards him, worry painted on her face. He smiles at her tiredly, allowing her to touch his swollen cheek when she reaches where he’s standing.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’ll be fine. More importantly,” he motions back to you and Hoseok, and the maid’s eyes widen when she sees you passed out against his shoulder, Hoseok’s grip on your waist the only thing keeping you from falling to the floor. And not only that, but all that blood on your dress…

“She passed out due to exhaustion as soon as the police left, but they’ll be staying the night. Please get them each a room, and call up the doctor.”

“O-Of course!” the maid stutters, bowing, and then rushes up the hall, mumbling something about finding a suitable room and how the doctor better not give her attitude for calling him up so late.

As she leaves, Jungkook sighs. “Sorry, you probably didn’t wanna stay the night here, right?”

“Its fine,” Hoseok shrugs, glancing around. “I probably would feel better staying with you guys anyway. After everything that happened tonight…it may sound a little silly, but I don’t think I want to be alone.”

“It’s not silly at all,” Jungkook responds honestly. He feels like he could pass out at any moment. He wants nothing more to get some sleep before a new day of trouble arrives.

“I’ve readied two rooms and the doctor is on the way!” his maid calls to them as she rushes back up the hall, a little out of breath. “Shall I help you with her?” she asks, motioning to your sleeping form, and Jungkook steps back toward Hoseok.

“I’ve got it, don’t worry.”

“O-Okay. Their rooms are in the right wing, close to yours—the first two empty suites on left.”

Jungkook nods, looping his arm around your limp form. Together, he and Hoseok carefully heft you up the hall—the position awkward, but luckily the trek isn’t too far.

Suddenly, the maid looks around.

“Jungkook…where is your father?”

Jungkook pauses.

“…let’s talk about that tomorrow.”

“I’ll be heading out on the first train in the morning.”

Jungkook nods, keeping his cellphone pressed to his ear. On the table beside his bed, his clock flashes 1:32AM.

“Okay.”

“And you’re sure that’s what all three of you told the police? Your story is solid?”

“I’m sure, hyung. I told you exactly what I told the police. They don’t seem to find our lie outlandish, so it should be fine.”

“Alright, good. Then I’ll make sure the building security files are destroyed by the time the police come back to wrap up in the morning. If they notice, blame it on Jaehyuk’s party.”

“Got it. And dad’s security?”

“We’ve got enough money to pay off a few guards, Jungkook. Don’t worry about it—you’ve done enough. Get some rest. I’ll take care of the press, and whatever else. Just focus on your role as a witness, and stop stressing, got it?”

“Yeah…thanks, Junghyun hyung.”

“I should be telling you that, brat. Go to bed.”

“Yeah, yeah~,” Jungkook responds, but can’t help his smile. With one final goodbye to his brother, Jungkook ends the call and pushes off the edge of his mattress, muscles aching. He peels off his shirt, his chest blotchy with bruises and he sighs, flopping back down.

Despite getting what he’d wanted…rescuing you and getting his father out of the picture…he still can’t feel satisfied with the way things had turned out today. After all…

“Namjoon hyung…,” he whispers, and at that moment the phone which he had set down begins buzzing again. He reaches over to grab it, assuming that his brother must’ve forgotten to tell him something, but his heart nearly stops when he sees that it’s Jin who is calling him instead.

He hesitates to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Jungkook? Oh good, you’re still awake.” Jin sounds so tired. “Did things work out with the police?”

“As far as I know,” Jungkook responds, gnawing at the inside of his cheek. “They seemed to buy what we told them. They’re coming to get us in the morning so we can officially give our statements at the station, but…it seems like things are finally starting to wind down, hyung.”

“Well, that’s good, at least…”

There’s a beat of tense silence.

“How’s--?”

“How’s Y/N?” Jin interrupts him. Jungkook sighs.

“She’s okay. Like you said, the bullet just grazed her. My family doctor took care of her when we got back here. She’ll be fine.”

“I’ll have to double-check their work later, just to be sure,” Jin says, but Jungkook can’t find it in himself to laugh at the joke.

“Hyung…”

“I know…Kookie. I just…”

“Seokjin. Hyung. Please. How is he?”

The line goes quiet, and Jungkook hears Jin sigh—and it’s not one of relief.

“Namjoonie…he’s…”

At the words that follow Jungkook throws his forearm over his eyes and bites his lip painfully.

“Fuck…”

[Pt 18] | [Pt 20]

[kimjongdaely]

Ninth [Chapter 6]

Superpower!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Warning: Language

Summary: Seven supernatural beings are captured and imprisoned in the governments’ most secure and secretive department. The eighth is on the loose and agents are hot on his tail. What they don’t know is that there’s a ninth member that has never appeared in any records, and you are in charge of finding him.

Prologue│Chapter 1│Chapter 2│Chapter 3│Chapter 4│Chapter 5│ Chapter 6│Chapter 7│Chapter 8│Chapter 9│Chapter 10│Chapter 11│ Chapter 12│Epilogue

You spent a long time drawing out a map, erasing and redrawing over and over again to make sure you made no mistakes. You had to get this perfect.

When you presented your finished map to them, Baekhyun and Snowflake eagerly grabs it from your hands, surveying the layout of the Headquarters.

“Thanks,” Yixing gives you a soft smile, and to your surprise, comes to pat you gently on the head.

Not really knowing how to react, you give him a small smile back before going over to Baekhyun and Snowflake as a way to escape the awkward tension.

You grab your map, smoothing it out over the table placed against the wall of the small room. “There are basically two entrances of the Headquarters. The main entrance is here,” you point at the large doorway located in the front of the Headquarters. “This is the doorway we always used. But it’s heavily guarded and can’t be entered without a pass. There’s a backdoor here.” You point to it on your map. “Which is less guarded and more easy to access…but…” You trail off, sinking your teeth into your bottom lip.

“It’s still risky.” Yixing finishes for you, and you nod at him.

“Yes.” You answer. “It would still be hard to get in.”

“What if we just turn invisible?” Baekhyun suggests. “If we turn invisible we can easily get through.”

“But the guards won’t randomly open the door for nothing.” You tell him with furrowed brows. Then a thought hits you, and you let out an excited grin. “Wait, I know how to get in.”

You turn to Snowflake, who looks taken aback by your enthusiasm, but you brush this aside. “Can I borrow your phone?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” She stammers before she pulls out her phone from her pocket, handing it to you. You gladly accept this, punching in the number you’ve memorized since you were a child.

You let the phone ring, your heart hammering as new hope refills you. You hate to do this, but it’s the only way left.

“Hello?” A familiar voice asks from the other end of the line.

“Unnie, it’s me.” You say, and the line goes quiet for a moment.

“Oh my gosh.” Your unnie breathes out in disbelief before she starts bombarding you with questions. “Are you okay? Where are you? I heard what happened. How did you get out? Why haven’t you contacted me in so long—”

“Unnie, unnie!” You interrupt with a short breathless laugh, so glad to hear her voice after what seems like ages. “I’m fine, I promise. But…I need your help.”

She goes silent again, before cautiously asking, “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to get me and my friends into the Headquarters.” You tell her urgently. “You’re the only one who can help.”

She contemplates this for a moment. “But even if I try to help, they still won’t let you in. They’ll definitely lock you up!”

“I just need you to open the door for a moment.” You say. “I’ll explain everything to you.” You do, telling her of your encounter with Baekhyun, then meeting Yixing and ultimately joining together to try and free the Seven. You tell her about how you wanted to rebel against the Red Force your entire life, and this is your chance to do so. She listens quietly before finally agreeing to help you. You know that she, along with many other agents, also hate being in the Red Force. She will help however she can.

That night is spent planning for your mission. You make Yixing and Baekhyun memorize the map in case you get separated with them, and decide that the main objective is to turn off the door that keeps the Seven locked. Once they get their powers back, it’s much easier to get them out.

You barely get any sleep that night, nervous for what’s to come.

It’s early in the morning when you, Yixing and Baekhyun arrive at the backdoor of the Headquarters. It’s around 3am; the sky is still dark which keeps you hidden in the trees and bushes.

Just as promised, your unnie arrives as well, wearing the standard agent uniform that mirrors yours. She glances at the bushes where she knows you are hiding, a slight nod of her head informs you that the plan is about to be put in motion.

You quickly nod at Baekhyun, who concentrates hard at bending the light around the three of you to turn you invisible. There is barely any light at the moment, so he draws his power from within himself, unable to rely on his surroundings to help him. You know it takes up twice as much energy, and that fatigue will eventually catch up with him. You must be quick. He holds both your hand and Yixing’s, to make sure you stay together.

You watch your unnie speak to the guards, showing them her pass and speaking of a small mission she was out on. They let her in with a few short questions, and the three of you immediately jump out, rushing to follow behind your unnie before the doors close.

To the guards, the three of you are no more than a gust of wind.

You safely make it in, your unnie waiting for you. Baekhyun lets go of his powers, letting you alone reveal yourself to her. She gasps in surprise, her eyes wide with wonder. “How—?”

“Light.” You answer her with a lopsided smile. “Light bending, to be exact.”

You hear Baekhyun let out a breathless laugh next to you, making you grin. “Anyways, we need to get to the control panel for the door.”

She nods, taking off her jacket and placing it around your shoulders. “Cover your face. It might buy you some time.”

You nod gratefully at her, knowing this is the most she can do. If she is found as well by the Leader, she will definitely be locked up. You didn’t want to do that to her.

You motion for the invisible Baekhyun and Yixing to follow you. You then feel Baekhyun’s slim fingers around your wrist, turning you invisible once again. Your unnie lets out a quiet gasp, still not used to seeing their powers.

You reach out to her, making her jump, but then you whisper, “Thank you so much, unnie.”

She smiles softly at nothing, her head bobbing in a small nod. “Please be safe.”

You nod, even though she can’t see you, and then you’re off. You quickly head off to the main lab, where the Seven are located. It’s still early in the morning, so there shouldn’t be many agents walking around. You know security is tighter in the main lab, but you should be able to make it in fine while invisible.

You make a turn, heading towards the metal door that requires a passcode. You sink your teeth into your lip, typing in the passcode you know, but just as expected, it’s wrong. You groan mentally, knowing the Leader changed all the passwords to keep you out. He’s not the Leader for nothing.

“What do we do now?” Baekhyun whispers to you, but you shake your head in dismay as you don’t know how to get in either. You were prepared to take a chance, but the Leader is too cautious for his own good.

You need to think of a way, fast.

“Baekhyun.” You call for him skeptically, wondering it it’ll work. “Can you cut through the door?”

There’s a pause before you feel Baekhyun shift to stand in front of the door. “I’ll…try.”

You wait for Baekhyun to work his magic, watching in awe as you see a ball of concentrated light appear, shifting and growing until it takes a form of something similar to a lightsaber. The thought makes you laugh, because this is literally a lightsaber. You watch the pole of light touch the door, it’s high concentration producing heat and successfully cutting through the metal.

You quietly squeal for joy, blindly searching for Baekhyun and giving him a tight hug when you find him. “You did it!”

“Baekhyun.” Yixing’s worried voice cuts through your excitement. “Are you okay?”

You haven’t noticed from your joy, but you see yourself and the two of them flickering, wavering unsteadily between being solid and invisible, almost as if you were covered in mist—unclear but definitely seeable.

Baekhyun’s flickering face is pale, a thin layer of sweat covers his forehead. He stammers out, “I-I’m fine.”

“No you’re not.” Yixing hisses as he grabs hold of Baekhyun. “You’re overexerting yourself. You need to let go of your powers.”

“No.” Baekhyun stubbornly refuses, squeezing his eyes tight and taking a deep breath to regain his concentration. Your body flickers once more before going invisible again.

“Baekhyun!” You hear Yixing seethe, but you feel Baekhyun’s hand on yours again.

“Let’s go.” Baekhyun tells you quietly, ignoring Yixing’s worried protests.

“Wait, Baekhyun—” You try to stop him, but Baekhyun pulls you along and heads straight for the control panel that was on the other side of the large room.

Yixing’s hand is in yours a moment later, careful not to get separated.

There’s no one in the room, just as you had hoped. There are security cameras around, but that can be easily avoided with your invisibility.

You can slip in, turn off the door, and slip back out.

The three of you carefully head to the control panel. It takes you a moment to figure out which button to press, since there are so many.

“Hurry!” Baekhyun whispers harshly to you, his voice strained. You know he’s already tired from shielding the three of you for so long, but the pulse of the door is already weakening his powers.

Your heart quickens as you scan the buttons, trying to figure out which one would turn off the door.

Your hand reaches out, and you see yourself flickering. “Fuck.”

Instantly, an alarm sounds, and Baekhyun completely loses his control. The camera must’ve detected you when you started flickering. You become solid again as you scan the room in panic, the alarm blaring loudly through the speakers and you can already hear hurried footsteps coming.

“We need to go.” Yixing grabs your arm, motioning for Baekhyun to follow, but Baekhyun is already too tired.

“Just go!” Baekhyun hisses, his breath coming out in harsh pants as he leans heavily on the control panel, his strength depleting rapidly.

“Baekhyun!” Yixing yells, letting go of you and going to help Baekhyun.

You start to head for the door, but it’s too late.

Guards, agents and, more importantly, the Leader have already arrived, the latter looking smug as he approaches you.

“So, you decide to come back.” He throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh. “You make this too easy for me, sweetheart.”

You feel your body grow cold, your hands shaking as you search frantically for a way out, even though you already know there’s no other exit.

From the corner of your eyes, you see a warm green glow, but you don’t have time to dwell on that before guards come to grab you, forcing you into submission as they bend your knees, making you kneel.

“Now then.” The Leader sneers as he glowers down on you. “I’ll show you what I’ve been doing with the Powers.” The Leader gives the guards a curt nod, and they start to drag you away.

“No!” You scream, struggling from their strong grasp with every fiber of your body. No, no, no.

I will not lose to them.

You feel tears prick your eyes as more guards come to hold you still, dragging you to the dungeons.

You know you will never escape this time.

Yixing…Baekhyun…

You sob quietly when you are thrown into a dark room at the end of the dungeon, a place where only great offenders are put.

They’ll definitely lock up Yixing and Baekhyun as well. All nine of them will be locked up and stripped of their powers. You have no chance of fighting back.

You curl up into a tight ball as you glare at the guards who stand at the doorway, loud footsteps echoing through the hall and into your soul as the Leader approaches slowly, a sickening smile still stretched on his face.

“You silly child.” He coos, letting his voice ring out in the quiet room. “You should’ve just listened like the rest of them.”

And then you see his assistant hand him something. You squint to see, but the glowing tint of celeste blue and the icy chill that hits you is unmistakable.

It’s a Power Orb.

“Extracting power orbs from them allows for any person to use their powers freely.” The Leader explains with a large grin. “And now, you will be my first test subject.”

You shiver involuntarily as you see ice spread wildly from under his feet, spreading over the floor and walls of the room. You cower and back away, but it’s useless as the ice starts to move up your body, freezing you.

You hear the cackle of the Leader’s laugh before the door is closed shut, the click of the lock unmistakable.

You scream, scrambling for the door and begging for them to let you out, but it’s futile.

The ice covers the walls fully now, the temperature dropping rapidly until you can see your breath fog up in the air.

“No…please…” You sob, banging against the ice cold door. “Let me out.”

Previous Chapter│Next Chapter

Ninth Mini Masterlist

Elyxion Chronicles: Masterlist

A/N: Back to updating my original series! Please give this lots of love and tell me what you thought about it! Thank you so much for reading~ Love you!

©kimjongdaely

Request and let’s love!

[miaou-ml]

Another year of progress!

Oops...this is getting posted a little late because I forgot about it... XD

January: Nothing here because I wasn’t doing too good at the start of the year. Things happened...I lost some friends. I do have some hidden doodles from this month, but the only art thing I posted was a vent comic, and I REALLY didn’t want that to be in the art summary. On a positive note, I did manage to create a complex MMD model, custom physics and everything.

February: Another somewhat slow month. College ate up pretty much all of my time, because I wasn’t aware that I was taking too many classes. The piece from this month I did for my illustration class, in which we had to create a new design for a playing card.

March: So this was when I got into Bendy and the Ink Machine, and it quickly became my [autism] special interest. I drew a LOT of art for it within two months, both digitally and traditionally. I don’t do a lot of traditional inking stuff, but BATIM got me more into wanting to do it.

April: More BATIM stuff! This month I had my Animation 101 final due. The assignment was to make an animation that copies a certain animation style, so I went with a 30s look. You can see the animation here. I drew this poster a few weeks later because I got the idea from the animation. 

May: I went to redraw some old af humanized Viva Pinata designs this month, cus I felt like rewatching the show. I was able to post a bit more art this month since the college semester was over, although most of it was just doodles. Other notable things I drew was my second BATIM contest entry, and the fake SU screenshot that people believed was real.

June: This was the month that I made Mimi, and my best friend Kurt established Raziel’s character. I watched Howl’s Moving Castle for the first time, because he said that Howl’s personality was similar to Raziel’s, and that’s where this month’s pic came from. Their relationship gives me life tbh.

July: Huge month for me and my art. I participated in the annual Artfight, which is basically a series of spontaneous art trades. People on the opposing team will draw your characters to “attack” your team, and you have to draw them a revenge attack in return. Last year, I drew 40 pieces, and I’m definitely going to do it again this year! Constant drawing massively improved my art.

August: This month was pretty slow. I began to focus on creating a more complex painting style, to better myself from last year. This painting I did is of my character, Mallory. At the end of the month I started attending community college, to transfer credits back to my main college later this year.

September: Another month where I didn’t post much. A lot of my time was spent focusing on college work. When I wasn’t doing that, I was either doodling (traditionally on paper, preparing for inktober), or playing Overwatch with my friends. I’d gotten the game when it first came out, played it for a bit, but then stopped for over a year after my main computer couldn’t handle it, so this month I finally started playing again.

October: Second biggest month for my art. I completed inktober, and I’m proud of myself for sticking through all the way! This piece however, was what I painted for Kurt’s birthday. It was the one single digital piece I did this month.

November: After inktober, I became lazy and pretty much just doodled, without fully finishing any pieces, which is why there is such few art in the last two months. This was one of the few things I did finish. I’m most likely going to draw these guys a bit more, since I really like the designs that I made.

December: I literally only posted twice this month. I was in a really bad slump for several weeks after the semester ended, so all I was doing was doodling and playing Overwatch. I didn’t have the energy to really finish anything until the end of the month. Marvin the Martian has been my favorite cartoon character of all time ever since I was a kid, and I’ve been trying to draw him ever since I first started art.

[haggsyy]

Digital Video Production

04/11/2019

Week 7

Gathering Video Clips for YMCA Promotional Video + Ideas

YMCA Footage

Over last week, I went down to the YMCA to start getting some video clips to try and start editing for my YMCA Promotional Video. I was unable to get all the shots I needed within the opening times of the YMCA. Some of the reasons were there weren’t enough people, one of my shots listed is going from an empty room to a busy room but for that, I need a lot of people, during this time, this was not possible. The other reason was the age group at that time is not what I wanted, what I want is teenage people, not only are they easier to work with but it is more what you usually see in the YMCA. 

The clips I did get however did work but I am definitely going to go back and retake the shots to see if I can frame them better and light them up slightly to emphasis a focal point. Some of the shots that I shot can be found below, the “Pool Ball Break” & “YMCA Painted Board” I can reshoot. The shot of “Leader Speaking to People” I am unable to do, at least in that environment because, at that time, the YMCA was doing a limited-time event but besides that, it is not a massive inconvenience as I can work around it.

Below is a screenshot of some of the video clips that I filmed at the YMCA, you can see on the bottom right corner, there is three clips with the nearly the same thumbnails, that is because they are the same shot but with different methods to try and get a better shot. I will be going through each clip to see if they are what I am wanting in my film, any that is not, they are removed to make it easier for me to see later on what clips I have to use.

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Pool Ball Break

This is one of the first shots I took when I visited the YMCA after getting my test shots. Like mentioned before, I decided to get more close-up shots to capture detail. The shot you see below is a quick Rack Focus shot of someone staring a Pool game and it is them breaking the balls, at the start, the video is focused on the person lining up their shot but as soon as the white ball hits the red & yellow balls, the focus quickly swaps to the coloured balls for a subtle effect. An idea that was suggested was using the breaking of the balls for a transition shot, as o what it transitions into, still needs to be planned. 

An issue occurred that I didn’t notice until I left was that I didn’t centre the shot too well, in the video below, you can see the balls is offset to the left slightly and because the balls are vibrant against the blue table, it stands out clearly. Next time this will be reshot and fixed, as well as make sure the camera is not canted and is level as if you look closely in the video, the pool table looks as if it is on an angle, which doesn't appear even.

YMCA Painted Board

Below is one of the shots that was taken at the YMCA, the painted board is new, it was being created during one of my previous visits and last week was the first that I have seen it finished, it was created to celebrate the 175 years of the YMCA which you can see below in the video. The board itself is large but long, getting it all in one still shot is possible but you would be able to see the areas above and below the board which is not the most appealing to see, trying to get it at a Dutch Angle would make it hard to read the text. My next option was to do a slow Close-Up Pan-Shot, this did work although there are problems, the biggest issue is the shoot is too laggy, the reason for this is the video is required to be filmed at 25-FPS but as you can see, even a slow pan can cause jitteriness. Throughout my next visits to film, I plan on raising the FPS up to 50-FPS so that the camera can take in more frames a second, it will basically be twice as smooth which will look a lot smoother. I plan on borrowing a LED Panel to help highlight the board’s multiple colours, the YMCA’s ceiling light doesn’t give the board justice, they don’t highlight the vibrant colours.

Leader Speaking to People

Below is a Pan Shot of a leader giving a talk to some children, this group specifically is PAKT which, as stated before, are a subgroup of the YMCA. During this time, the YMCA was doing a limited-time event so unfortunately, I am unable to redo this shot, the only way is to recreate the shot in a different scenario.

The Pan Shot is to show off how many people were listening and in attendance to the leader to show the age groups of parents and kids together like what the PAKT name stands for. The issue that I ran into above with the low FPS for the pan shot wasn’t a problem for the Mid-Long-Shot High-Angle shot below which I feel the reason for this is that above. The camera was close-up focusing a large subjet whereas below, there is a lot of open space, there is no focus point specifically so you don’t notice the issue. This was shot with the kit lens for the 700D, 18-55mm lens to try and get as much of the room in the shot as I can as the 50mm, I was unable to do this as there were obstacles in the way that could not be moved.

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YMCA Promotional Video Ideas

While editing some of the video clips, I realised that I do not have enough usable footage, I needed more shots but that is simple enough to work around as I visit the YMCA weekly. I went back to rewatch my inspiration promotional videos, the “Strada Eateria (Coffee Video) and the Outdoor Activity Centre to get some more ideas. 

The first idea was at the end of the Strada Eaterie video for when the business’s logo shows up while the background is blurred out to emphasis the red logo against the grey background at 1:14. I want to replicate that kind of effect but with the YMCA logo, one idea was to have someone draw the YMCA logo on the blackboard, take it into Adobe After Effects to trace it, highlight it and make it appear as if it is coming out of the blackboard like in the promotional video.

The next idea was involving the blackboard again, as mentioned before, the blackboard below has some history of the YMCA, I asked if it could be wiped and drawn back on by was quickly rejected. The other side of the board is the same material so it could be possible to draw on that side of the board is flipped. If possible, I want to do a time-lapse of someone redrawing the history of the YMCA like on the original side but throughout the promotional video, keep cutting back to it, football is drawn on, the next shot is people playing football etc. It is as if it is happening in real-time to emphasis what the YMCA has created since it was founded many years ago.

One of the last times I visited, I got some footage of the Heath Hub playing football, I had the camera positioned in the corner to get everything in the shot, now that I have some more Close-Up shots, the Wide-Angle, Long-Shot of the football seems too out of place and empty. Next time, I plan on getting a close-up of some of them playing football, one idea is to have the camera closer to the ground and have people run past the camera with the ball to highlight the activity that they are playing.