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prince-rowan-of-the-forest · 2 years ago

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The Official Sanders Sides Emergancy Sleepover

Patton decides that with the recent tensions in the mindscape after their last video, the best course of action would be to host a sleepover.

Somehow, it didn't end in a complete disaster, despite the two gatecrashers, Roman's inability to cook, Logan's complete cluelessness and Virgil's incredibly long list of doubts.

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| Ao3 | The art in this fic posted separately |

warnings: Remus typical level of weirdness, Sexual innuendos, Some slightly gory imagery

pairings: Roceit, background Anaroceit, everyone is friends <3

Word Count: 6777

Notes:

I wrote the last 1500 words of this while I was half asleep at 3am, I can't be blamed for anything that happens.

Remy broke down the door and forced themself into the story, also I'll be using they/them pronouns for Remy, why? I have absolutely no idea, it just kinda felt like what I was supposed to do. I literally don't know.

There's some art some ways into this fic, I can't even be bothered to work out exactly how far in, but all you gotta know is that credit for the picrew in the art goes to @korruptbrekker on Tumblr, I did not make that myself because I am big dumb and big stupid, so thank you so much, my heart was dead set on having a picrew in the art, so you saved me, lol.

Also, another note, I know this was originally from like- August- that's just how long I take to write stuff, sue me.

“Emergency Sanders Sides sleepover in the commons! Now!” Patton practically screeched, stomping his foot to put even more emphasis on the ‘now’ part. Virgil, who had been happily curled up under the blanket playing some cute game on his nintendo switch on their armchair jumped so much he fell right off of the chair.

“Jesus Christ Patton!” Virgil huffed, standing up and trying to untangle himself from the blanket, “What the hell was that for?”

“We’re having a sleepover,” Patton said way too cheerfully, “Tensions have been really high recently-”

“And who’s fault is that?” Virgil muttered.

“Yes yes I know, I’m sorry Virgil, And you know I’ve been trying to do better, and since Janus-”

Virgil grimaced and Patton winced, he knew Virgil wasn’t too happy with Janus’ recent acceptance.

“Since Janus might be coming to join us up here soon, I figured we ought to do a group bonding activity!” Patton said, ending with a smile that was way too forced for Patton to really be fully confident in the idea.

“And you think a… sleepover will help?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow, “...sorry for seeming doubtful but- how? Don’t we live together anyway? And besides couldn’t all of us sleeping in close quarters make the tension situation worse? What with my uh- tenuous relationship with sleep, Roman’s sleepwalking and Deceit- uh- Janus’ himselfness, don’t you think it could just serve to make it all worse?”

“Now kiddo, I know it’s your job to look at the possibilities,” Patton tried to reason, Virgil scowled, “But just consider that it could also help make things better! We’ll be bonding, we can spend some time with Janus that isn’t just- spent arguing, and it’ll make things better kiddo,”

“But what if it doesn’t ?” Virgil protested, he knew he was being irrational at this point, but- “They’re dangerous, Patton, I keep trying to tell you- I was one of them- Patton- if this all goes wrong I-”

“Calm down Scaramore,” Roman said, appearing from the stairs, seconds later a hand was placed on his shoulder, Virgil jerked away, before feeling guilty about it, he took a deep breath, “I’m… kinda with Virgil on this one though, padre, are you sure it’s a good idea? Also- text the group chat next time, instead of just yelling,”

“Guys please! I’ve thought this out, ok? We’re going to bake cookies and make a pillow fort together here and watch movies all night. It'll be fun, just give it a chance, ok?”

“ Fine .” Virgil said, crossing his arms, “But if this goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you,”

“I’m gonna send out a ping on the chat to meet in the common room,” Roman said with a sigh, “I’ll… try to be civil with Janus.”

“I’ve… been meaning to speak to you about that,” Patton said softly, “Just- if you get a chance, kiddo, maybe you can apologise for laughing at him?”

“Yeah I- I’ve had a lot of time to think about it,” Roman huffed, “I’ll try and find a good moment,”

“Thanks, kiddo,”

“I, for one, think a sleepover might be a beneficial idea,” Logan said as he walked down the stairs, Patton seemed to droop in relief.

“Thanks Logan,” Patton sighed, thankful for the support of the smartest side there, at least.

“Yes, from the small amount of research I had the chance to do upon hearing your call, sleepovers are a very good way to strengthen social bonds, and are very often portrayed in media as a fun way to improve relations between peers, it will also be a good exercise to get us all used to having Janus around in a domestic setting rather than simply in the videos,”

“Nerd,” Virgil huffed, pressing the blanket to his face, “Fine, I guess I don’t have the option to back out of this?”

“Absolutely not!” Patton said, tone way too cheery.

“I don’t apologise for taking so long,” Janus’ voice sounded from the entrance of the dark sides’ mindscape, he began to… limp? Towards them, “I came upon a few issues when attempting to leave,”

“Uh- you’ve got a little something on your leg there, kiddo…?” Patton said, Virgil noticed that Remus was clinging to Janus’ leg with what looked like a vice grip, the deceitful side seemed disgruntled at best.

“Yes, fortunately he refused to let go after he saw the message on my phone, So I didn’t struggle at all to climb the stairs,”

“Remus!” Roman cried out, “What are you doing here!”

“Awe come on Ro! You weren’t planning to leave me out of your sleepover, were you?”

“You weren’t invited,” Virgil hissed at him and Remus slumped off of Janus’ leg (he quickly stepped away, inspecting his leg to make sure Remus hadn’t gotten any of his gunk on his trousers) putting a hand to his heart with a massively exaggerated look of offence.

“Virgil! I can’t believe you would say such a thing! Of course I’m invited, Daddy-o said it was a sides sleepover after all, and I’m a side!”

Patton grimaced, before taking a deep breath and plastering that smile back on his face, “N-now kiddos, um- since Remus is here, we should try to be welcoming, ok? What’s one extra addition, huh?”

Virgil ground his teeth, but didn’t say anything.

“So… what exactly are we doing?” Janus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re having a sleepover!” Patton grinned, before explaining everything he’d already explained to Virgil to Janus too, who nodded slowly.

“Alright, so a sleepover, what exactly do we do first, then?” Janus asked.

“I propose we all submit an activity and then we may all vote on what we do first?” Logan proposed, “And then continue to go from there,”

“Truth or dare!” Remus yelled, while at the same time Roman yelled “Makeovers!”

Both twins turned to glare at each other. Logan flipped over a large portable whiteboard and wrote ‘sleepover ideas’ along the top in big capital letters, before writing both ideas underneath it.

“Baking!” Patton smiled, “So we can have sweets to eat!”

Logan nodded and added the idea, looking between Virgil and Janus to see if either of them would pipe up, neither did.

“I propose we hold a friendly debate,” Logan said, writing down his own ideas. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if that was a normal sleepover activity (it wasn’t) but he hadn’t had enough time to research what people did at sleepovers. He wrote it back on the board and turned to the others, “Janus, Virgil? Anything to add?”

“Shouldn’t the first thing we do be getting the room sleepover ready or whatever? LIke- setting up pillows and blankets and shit so it’s all comfortable before we get into the stupid games?”

“I wasn't going to say card games,” Janus said, “But I actually disagree with Virgil.”

“Yeah same here actually, that’s a real good idea, kiddo,” Patton nodded.

“That does seem like a logical first activity,” Logan nodded, before writing Janus’ card game suggestion down on the board, “Perhaps, if everyone else is in agreement, we should ready the room first, and then decide between these activities?”

“Sounds good to me!” Roman smiled, Remus jumped up.

“Can I-”

“No,” Virgil said, “Whatever you’re about to suggest, no,”

“But I was just gonna-”

“No,”

“Virgil,” Patton chided gently, “Let’s hear him out, ok kiddo?”

Virgil slumped in his chair, arms crossed, he pulled his hood up.

“I was just gonna ask if I could put up those awesome halloween fairy lights we have downstairs,” Remus said with a pout.

“That actually sounds like a great idea!” Patton said, trying to hide his worry about the fact that it was Remus’ idea, Virgil sunk further into the hoodie as Remus cheered and ran for the door, only to be caught by the scruff of his costume by Janus.

“Remember to get the ones in the living room, not the other ones, you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about,” Janus told him, before letting him go.

—-

Virgil- begrudgingly- contributed a couple of blankets and pillows to the area downstairs and Roman and Logan shifted the furniture around so there was a large clear space in front of the TV (with the coffee table shoved in front of it to house snacks and such) where they planned to sleep. The sofas and chairs that usually made up their living room set up surrounded the clear floor space and the dining room table had moved so that it was pushed up against the back of one of the sofas. Fairy lights with the bulbs shaped like various cartoon halloween monsters hung around the space and Roman had draped thin coloured sheets over the usually bright lamps. It was still daytime right now, so the room was bathed in natural light, but once the sun set they had ensured that the whole area would be bathed in a lovely colourful glow.

Once they were done, Virgil opted to grab his weighted blanket- which he’d brought from his room knowing he’d need it, and curl up on the armchair he’d been sitting on before just as Logan once again returned to the whiteboard.

“Alright, everyone cast your votes, don’t vote for your own,” Logan said, placing his vote next to Janus’ card games suggestion (It was the only one he either understood the premise of or found appealing) before handing the pen to the closest side (Who happened to be Remus) and moving away to sit on one of the chairs. Remus added a vote to Roman’s suggestion before throwing it at his twin, who somehow caught the fast moving projectile before it hit him in the forehead.

“Hey Roman, add my vote for Truth or Dare,” Patton called from the kitchen, he was getting stuff out to bake, “I’ll bake while we play!”

Roman nodded and added two votes for Remus’ suggestion, before handing off the pen to Janus, who quickly drew a line next to Patton’s suggestion.

“Virgil, would you like me to add a tally for you?” Janus asked, voice sweet and Virgil was almost slammed back into the past, back when they were friends, instead he yanked himself forcefully back to the present, he grunted.

“Just- truth or dare,” He huffed. He didn’t really want to do any of their suggestions, and he hated that Remus’ was the best of the bunch, “As long as we make rules and follow them,”

“Of course, kiddo!” Patton nodded, “Um, So, dares can be refused if it makes the dare-ee uncomfortable,”

“Boooring,” Remus whined, rolling over, “There's no fun if people don’t do any of the dares!”

“Alright, only refusing dares if you really really can’t do it,” Patton compromised, Remus still looked upset, “And- maybe we could set up a penalty for refusing dares?”

“Like being hit over the head with my morningstar!” Remus yelled.

“No-”

“OR having to eat a rat-”

“Remus-”

“Or losing a finger!”

“Remus!” Patton yelled, “None of those- I was… thinking something more like… we could make a really gross combination of drinkable liquids? So if someone refuses a dare they have to drink some?”

Virgil could’ve sworn he saw anime stars in Remus’ eyes.

“That sounds perfect! Can I help you make it?” Remus asked with a big grin that almost brought tears to Virgil’s eyes.

“Sure!” Patton smiled, Remus practically bolted over to the kitchen.

“See Pattycake, I think you’ve got a ruthless side to you yet!” Remus grinned, pushing up his sleeves. Patton just chuckled nervously as he opened the fridge, quietly talking to Remus as they created some horrible concoction.

“Any more rules we should take note of?” Logan asked.

“No dares that’ll result in injury,” Virgil piped up, “And no destroying things that can’t be replaced,”

“A person is allowed to refuse a truth with the same penalty as a dare,” Janus said quietly. Logan quickly sectioned off some of the whiteboard and wrote down these four rules.

“If that is all, who shall begin the game?” Logan asked.

“I’ll start!” Remus cried from the kitchen, “Patton you keep mixing that over there I’ll be riiiight back! JanJan, truth or dare!”

“Dare,” Janus said without hesitation, Virgil shrugged, he was Deceit after all, anyone expecting him to pick truth was stupid.

“Hmm,” Remus tapped a finger to his chin, “We’ll start off easy, no wearing your hat for the rest of the evening.”

Janus let out a noise of what could only be mortification as if Remus had just asked him to strip naked. Virgil hid a cackle in his blanket as Janus aimed a middle finger at Remus while taking off his hat and letting it disappear. He shot a glare at Roman, who was gawking at his unruly curly hair. Remus cackled before rushing back to the kitchen.

“Roman truth or dare?” Janus asked with narrowed eyes.

“...Dare?” Roman practically asked, slightly worried for his safety.

“Since Remus started this ‘easy’, genderswap yourself,” Janus said with a smirk, “Clothes also have to change,”

He didn’t anticipate the fact that Roman would actually very much enjoy this dare, he spun around, his regular prince outfit transforming in a show of glitter into a long red skirt, fit with a corset and poofy shoulders, it didn’t hurt that he in a feminine form filled out the outfit quite well. Janus thought for a second that that dare may have harmed himself more than Roman, because apparently Roman was attractive even as a woman. Well, Janus could ignore the bi crisis currently raging in his brain for now, because Roman had moved on to daring Logan.

Janus decided he was going to go and help Patton with his baking in between his turns.

“I dare you to swap clothes with Patton,” Roman told Logan, who groaned, before informing Patton that he was swapping their clothes and clicking his fingers, now burdened with a cat hoodie around his shoulders, he sighed.

“This is so impractical,” Logan sighed mournfully, lifting one of the sleeves hanging around his neck

“This is so stiff!” Patton called, “How do you wear this!”

“It’s practical and sophisticated,” Logan huffed, “Virgil, truth or dare?”

“Dare,”

“You all are so boring ,” Roman groaned, “No truths!”

“You literally picked dare,” Virgil rolled his eyes, as he watched Logan scroll through his phone, reading quickly, “Logan are you looking up dares?”

“I am new to this game, it will take me a while to get used to it,” Logan says by ways of answer, “Let Roman post whatever he wants on your tumblr,”

“What the fuck! No!” Virgil yelled, Roman smiled at him sweetly.

“You want some of this stuff then, my sweet Virgin?” Remus asked, carrying a blender full of awful smelling yellowish sludgy liquid into the room and placing it on the coffee table, Virgil gagged and held out his phone to Roman. Who took it all while snickering at Remus' nickname

“How long does he have?” Virgil asked sadly.

“Until either he finishes or the game ends,” Logan decided. Virgil groaned, burying his face in the blanket and trying to suffocate himself for a moment, before Logan spoke again, “From my understanding, it’s your turn to ask someone, Virgil,”

“Patton?” Virgil called with his face still buried in the blanket, “Truth or dare?”

“Um,” Patton said, looking over at Virgil, they stared at each other for a moment, “I feel like I’m going to regret this but- dare…?”

“Eat a spoonful of Roman’s extra hot hot sauce,” Virgil said with an evil smirk. Roman audibly gasped.

“Ok kiddo…” Patton said slowly, heading towards the fridge, “Since I might be out of commission for a while afterwards I’ll ask now, Remus, truth or dare?”

“Truth, because you’re all wimps and I wanna get into the juicy stuff!” Remus grinned, making a gesture that made just about everyone uncomfortable.

“Give everyone here a compliment,” Patton said with a sweet smile as he poured a spoonful of the sauce and stuck it in his mouth. Almost immediately he was coughing and fanning his face as his cheeks went red. Janus poured him a glass of milk and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder as he tried to recover.

“Oh my god you are all so boring ,” Remus huffed, “Pattycake, you’re not so bad when you’re not being a goodie-two-shoes, Roman you have big tits as a woman, Dork you look like you could break my spine into three pieces even wearing a cat hoodie and that’s cool,”

“I- what?” Logan asked, confused, Remus took no notice. Roman looked practically violated, covering his chest with an arm.

“Jan, you’ve got really big tits as a man,”

“I what ?” Janus asked, sounding worryingly calm.

“Look up ‘snitties’ on tumblr,” Remus said waving him off before continuing, “Virgin, you’re really fun to jumpscare because you do this cute little squeak and it’s absolutely precious,”

“How can someone make a wholesome truth into… that,” Logan said, stunned.

“I’m sure I want to look that up,” Janus said, glancing back at Patton, who was still recovering from the last dare.

“Don’t,” Virgil said, “I’ve had the displeasure of Remus showing me when he found it, you don’t want to see it, also that nickname is not sticking,”

“It’s like a massive tumblr post dedicated to your massive ti-”

“Alright time to move on, who are you asking Remus!” Virgil cut in loudly.

“Janus truth or dare!” Remus called, Virgil smacked his forehead into the armrest. Unfortunately it was soft.

“I’m not going to like this,” Janus said, “Am I,”

“No-pe!” Remus grinned, “Unless you wanna choose the truth?”

“I would love to, just say the dare already,”

“Read the tumblr post I just sent you out loud to the group,” Remus said with a wide grin as he scrolled through his phone, “Make sure you show off the pictures too,”

“This is going to be horrible, isn’t it,” Logan said quietly.

“Quite,” Roman agreed. Virgil buried himself in the blankets.

It took ten minutes for Janus to read through the entire Snitties post on tumblr, and by the end he was trying to resist the urge to crack his skull open on the wall and Roman was trying not to pass out from the amount of blood rushing to his face- which was flaming red with blush. Remus was cackling like the menace he was.

“Virgil,” Janus said weakly, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Virgil said from inside the blanket.

“Sit on Roman’s lap for the rest of the game,” Janus said, waving him off.

“Are you guys actually trying to kill me?” Roman squeaked, “Why me? Why am I the target of this unprovoked assault?”

“Shut up and sit down so I can sit on you Princey,” Virgil huffed, “I like this no more than you do,”

With a lot of effort (in terms of the dress) Roman managed to sit himself comfortably on the floor so that Virgil could sit in his lap, still wrapped in his blanket because he feared that he might just burst into tears and/or have a panic attack without it, Virgil ended up sitting on Roman’s lap. He wouldn’t admit it, but their position was actually rather comfortable.

—-

After about an hour, Virgil found himself in a ‘e-girl gamer kitten’ outfit (Remus’ description, it consisted of cat-ear headphones, short shorts and knee high cat socks with garters and fishnets, at least he still had his blanket to snuggle in) Roman had gained a tiara and earrings too, Deceit was now in an 1800s victorian ball gown and wearing Kyoshi Warrior makeup on the human side of his face, Logan was wearing cat facepaint and had been the first to drink some of Remus and Patton’s goop when he’d been dared to talk about his feelings. Virgil had also had a drink of the mixture when he’d been asked which of the sides he would rather kiss, and Janus and Roman had practically made out when Janus had been dared to answer the same question more physically (by the same person, Patton) and Virgil wasn’t jealous at all.

Remus had ended up coming out as aromantic after being asked his stance on having a romantic partner, which the group had readily accepted, on a similar note, he had dared Patton to be his queerplatonic partner (Patton had drank some of the goop and told Remus he would think about it).

Remus had also been the main reason about half of the blender of goop was gone- he kept daring people to do things like eating dead rats or dissecting eyeballs and not many of the sides wanted to do those things (Logan had promised to dissect some things with him later, though). Patton had ended up being dared by Virgil to not touch the floor until the game ended, so Janus and Remus had been periodically passing him cushions so he could still get around the kitchen to bake his sweets.

Logan had taken a photo of Virgil and Roman on Virgil’s phone (Per Roman’s request near the end of the game) and Roman had completed his earlier dare of posting on Virgil’s Tumblr and the fact that the post ended up getting over five hundred notes before the game had even ended was absolutely mortifying.

Otherwise, Virgil had managed to avoid being emotionally vulnerable and avoid the worst of the dares, so he counted that as a win. Hey, and they were all laughing by the end of it, which was a pretty big win, it almost felt like they were all finally getting along.

Quickly, while everyone was destracted and still calming down from the game, Virgil opened Tumblr to see what atrocity Roman had posted.

"Oh my god," Virgil mumbled at he stared at the picture in front of him.

"Why the fuck does it look like an Instagram post?" Virgil yelled, before opening Instagram, only to see that Roman had posted it there too, "You dick!"

Roman just laughed.

“So!” Logan called everyone to attention, successfully distracting them from the Tumblr mishap, they'd already cleaned up the mess and gotten back into their regular outfits, so now the sleepover could continue, “Now that that ordeal is over and everything is back in order, we can remove that from the board and decide what to do next.”

—-

After truth or dare, Roman had ended up insisting on painting everyone’s nails while they held a Dance Dance Revolution tournament (Remus ended up winning, somehow he and Janus were the best at the game). Despite protesting at first, Virgil was quite happy with his sparkly purple nails, Roman had told him that he knew he’d like it. The only side who’d avoided the nail painting was Janus- you couldn’t paint nails when the person refused to take off gloves, after all.

“Shall we change into more comfortable attire?” Roman asked during a lull in the atmosphere after they awarded Remus with an interesting looking crown for winning DDR. Patton had once again retreated to the kitchen to prepare some food for dinner and the conversation had died out a little bit. Roman obviously felt awkward around his brother and Virgil didn’t exactly want to talk to Janus or Remus. Logan was busy looking up ideas for more sleepover activities on his phone, so he wasn’t exactly open to conversation at the moment. Virgil was quite happy for Roman breaking the growing uncomfortable silence.

“I agree with this idea, getting into pyjamas or more comfortable attire may make it easier for all of us to relax, seeing as the atmosphere created by the game seems to have… soured, slightly,” Logan agreed, putting his phone away.

“Are we getting into onesies?” Patton asked, popping in from the kitchen.

“I believe we aren’t,” Janus confirmed, “Fortunately, though, I do not own a onesie,”

“I sleep in the buff!” Remus contributed, Virgil winced, he really didn’t want to see that.

“Well, if you plan to stay for the night, we must ask that you wear something we deem appropriate,” Logan told him firmly, “Otherwise, you must sleep elsewhere,”

Virgil shot Logan a thankful glance, the logical side nodded.

“Fine,” Remus huffed, plopping down next to Roman in a pair of ghastly ripped up sweatpants and a green crop-top hoodie that read ‘intrusive THOT’ across the chest. He collapsed into his brother, who yelped and shoved him off. Remus picked up a pillow and whacked Roman over the head with it, Roman jumped up with a grin that startled Virgil a little bit, hitting Remus back with another pillow, and thus a pillow fight began.

Patton joined in pretty quickly, giggling like a child as he picked up a cushion and jumped into the flurry of soft blows. Logan was dragged into it too, at some point, and eventually Virgil got involved after Remus whacked him in the face with a pillow and he couldn’t help but retaliate after that.

While the pillow fight was going strong though, Roman took the opportunity of the destruction to sneak away, heading quietly to the kitchen, where Janus had taken over the cooking when Patton had first gotten involved.

“Hey, um, Janus?” Roman asked as he came up behind the side, maybe right now wouldn’t be the best time to have a serious conversation, with the sounds of the others laughing and yelling in the background, nonetheless Janus turned, setting the tray he had just taken from the oven down on a cooling rack and removing the large oven gloves (patterned with pink and blue hearts, stars and butterflies, a design that just screamed Patton) to reveal that he was still wearing his yellow gloves underneath.

“Hello, Roman,” Janus said, leaning on the counter, “I’m totally not busy right now,”

“Ah- sorry, I just… wanted to talk to you while the others were… occupied,” Roman said, glancing back over at the others, still fighting, he shuffled his feet awkwardly, Janus raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know to continue, “I um- I’ve been thinking a lot since- um- yeah- and I just, I wanted to apologise… you know for… laughing at your name and being incredibly un-prince like towards you otherwise as well,”

“I don’t accept your apology,” Janus said, a hint of a smile on his lips, Roman relaxed minutely, “And besides, it’s not like I have anything to apologise to you for as well, I don’t think I deserved that at all after everything else I did to you too,”

“I… well-” Roman huffed, “Consider it even, then,”

“Alright,” Janus nodded, before smirking, “I suppose I also should apologise for the eh- kissing- earlier,”

“It was a dare, Pretty Little Liar,” Roman waved him off, though he knew he was blushing, he was pretty intrigued to note that Janus was also blushing.

“Would you like to help me finish the dinner preparations?” Janus asked instead of continuing down that road, gesturing to the array of food that still needed to be cooked before they could set up the mini buffet that Patton had planned.

“Um- I’ll gladly assist but… I am banned from a reason, you know,” Roman said, gesturing to a piece of paper taped to the fridge which showed their cooking schedule, Patton, Logan and Virgil alternated days they would cook, and underneath a thick header underlined three times that read ‘BANNED’ was Roman’s name.

Janus laughed, “What on earth could you do to get banned from the kitchen?”

“I almost blew up the house trying to make a mug brownie…” Roman said, looking away, “And got the entire kitchen covered in glitter and goopy sugary goop when I tried to make a confetti cake… I also lit the stove on fire by accident while trying to cook bacon-”

“Alright alright, surely you’ll do fine with instruction?” Janus asked, waving him over.

“That’s a lie, but sure go off,” Roman rolled his eyes.

“Patton let Remus help him earlier, did he not?” Janus asked, smirking at Roman, “And he is of course, way better than you are, I see every issue with enlisting your help,”

Roman snorted at that one, but shook his head, “You know what, fine, I’ll help with dinner, but if there's a fire I’m not taking the blame you Bananaconda!”

“I completely despise that nickname,” Janus said with a small smile, before they got to work.

Somehow, with Janus’ instruction, Roman managed not to start a fire or even make too much of a mess. The others had been adequately surprised to learn this as Roman and Janus set out the fully edible (and only slightly burnt) food on the table for everyone to pick at as the night went on.

—-

“Thanks for roping me into cooking,” Roman said, as he slid onto the sofa next to Janus with his plate of food, Virgil squinted at them from his chair across the room, “I had fun,”

“I despise that,” Janus said, shooting him a half smile, Roman beamed back. Virgil glanced around- at Patton and then Logan- Patton just shrugged with a smile, he just seemed happy that they were getting along but something had changed.

“I’m not eating the food if Princey had a hand in making it,” Virgil huffed, Roman gasped, raising a hand to his forehead dramatically.

“I’m wounded! Wounded by my beloved stormcloud!” Roman cried, Janus hid a chuckle by shoving a fork full of food into his mouth.

“Look, I’m just going by past experiences, your food hasn’t exactly been edible before,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes, Roman squeaked in annoyance.

“There’s every need to worry, Virgil,” Janus said, “I neither helped nor supervised, everything is inedible, I assure you,”

“Thanks, liar,” Virgil huffed, before glancing around at the others again. Remus was quite happily drinking the remaining blender sludge from the truth or dare game, while Logan and Patton were both starting to fill their plates with actual food which… did look good, despite his suspicions. Virgil stamped down the ugly feeling he got when he looked over at Janus- who was now laughing openly at something Roman had said- and stood up to get food himself.

Not long after that their energy had lulled into quiet discussions happening around the room. Remus had opted to collapse on top of his brother, successfully inserting himself into Roman and Janus’ conversation, whatever they were talking about and Patton and Logan were quietly discussing something whilst they sorted through the vast selection of DVDs they had stored in the corner of the living room and Virgil had once again returned to his chair, armed with a pillow and his weighted blanket once again. He had summoned his phone and was trying to reply to the onslaught of Tumblr asks he’d gotten in response to Roman’s post.

Being the only one not currently engaged in a conversation though, meant that Virgil was the first to notice the intruder almost break the door to the subconscious off of it’s hinges.

“Heyyy-” They said, successfully grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, they looked around at the setup before gasping in offence, “OMGoodness! I cannot believe you guys! How could you host a sleep over without inviting me ?”

“Perhaps because the goal of a sleepover is to… not sleep?” Roman basically asked, “And that kinda uh- goes against your function, Remy?”

“Hey Remy!” Patton called with a wave, “You’re welcome to stay! We’re just about to start movies!”

Remy ignored both of them, the ice in their starbucks cup (who knows where they got Starbucks in the mindscape, we don’t question their methods) rattling as they pointed it accusingly at Virgil.

“Virge! Gurl I swear I haven’t seen you in like for-ever! How have you been, bestie?”

“Uhm- sleep deprived?” Virgil answered, Remy burst out laughing.

“I knew you’d miss me!” They grinned, before muttering quietly, “They always come back in the end,”

Virgil just rolled his eyes, “God you’re insufferable, just- come and sit down if you’re joining us,”

“Oh well of course, if you’re offering!” Remy smirked, and before Virgil could protest Remy had sauntered over and suddenly the extra space on Virgil’s armchair had been stolen from him and so had half of his blanket.

“If you’re going to put your legs on my lap at least have the decency to take off your shoes,” Virgil hissed to Remy before going back to watching Janus and Roman coversate from across the room. Remy rolled their eyes before snapping their shoes away, leaving their rainbow socks on show.

“Alright kiddos!” Patton called, getting everyone’s attention, “Time to decide on the first movie we’re going to watch!”

“Something with songs!” Roman called out immediately.

“How about a musical?” Janus asked, “I completely despise them.”

“Ok but consider,” Roman said, “Disney.”

“What about…” Patton thought for a second, before picking up a case, “A Disney distributed musical?”

“Hamilton!” Roman cried happily, throwing his arms in the air.

“That’s an absolutely horrible choice,” Janus nodded in agreement.

“Awesome! Any objections?” Patton asked.

“Hamilton is adequate,” Logan said.

Remus shrugged, “As long as we get to watch something interesting later!”

“I don’t even want to know what you’d consider interesting,” Virgil grumbled.

“I could give you nightmares about it if you want!” Remy said, all too cheerily, “Me and Re collaborate on them quite often, actually!”

“Do you want me to avoid you for another two weeks?” Virgil hissed elbowing them under the blankets. Remy pouted.

“No,” They muttered, before shifting all of their weight onto Virgil, who groaned.

“Just start the film already.” Virgil huffed.

—-

As the film played, Virgil couldn’t help but watch as Janus and Roman sang the songs together- some of the others joining in too just for fun- somehow they did it seamlessly without even discussing who would sing each part, first Roman as Hamilton while Janus played Burr, and then Janus as Hamilton while Roman played Eliza.

“Looks like your man’s being stolen, gurl,” Remy whispered to Virgil and Janus kissed Roman’s hand, mimicking Alexander and Eliza onscreen. They had actually stood up to dance along with the cast to ‘Helpless’ and Patton couldn’t help but start giggling as he filled in Angelica’s lines for them. Virgil grumbled something unintelligible in reply.

“Looks like you’re Angelica in this situation, huh Virge,” Remy whispered in his ear, sentence punctuated by Remus’ belly laughs as Patton tried to get through the line about Angelica wanting to form a harem.

“Fuck you,” Virgil said, putting his hand over Remy’s face and shoving them away.

Roman managed to manipulate them all into watching Frozen next, much to Remus’ dismay. Logan begrudgingly gave in and quietly sang along to Elsa’s parts while Roman sang Anna’s after what seemed like a fair amount of coaxing, bribery and possible blackmail. in the build up to ‘Love is an Open Door’ Roman offered a hand to pull Virgil up.

“Sing with me?” Roman asked, leaving the offer of his hand there, Virgil just stared at it, “Oh come on Virge! We sound so good together on this one!”

“He’d love to!” Remy grinned, picking up Virgil’s hand and placing it in Roman’s, allowing Roman the chance to pull him up. Virgil gave Remy the middle finger as the song started, the other side just did it right back.

After the annoyance and the feeling of not wanting to sing in front of everyone had died down, Virgil found that it was actually really fun to sing with Roman, letting himself fall into the rhythm of it as Roman harmonised with him while they danced in circles over the small cleared space inbetween everyone. Patton clapped and cheered for them when the song was over and Virgil collapsed back onto the chair, bad mood from before all but evaporated. He didn’t even care that he’d mostly fallen on top of Remy, it was the payback they most definitely deserved for one reason or another.

Of course, Remus made his obligatory ‘Kristoff fucks the reindeer’ comment during Fixer Upper, successfully interrupting the fun Patton, Roman and Remy were having singing it together- though they managed to get back on track pretty quickly- though Patton had stepped down from singing to instead chase Remus around the house armed with a pillow.

“Did we ever finish that Frozen rewrite that we started during the episode?” Logan asked after the film was over, “Because I may have to remind Thomas of that particular idea if not, I must check my records later.”

“The rewrite! Gosh that feels like only yesterday despite it happening like what- two years ago?” Roman sighed wistfully, “We should definitely dig that back up sometime!”

—-

For the next film, Patton (after finally catching him) begrudgingly let Remus choose with Janus’ guidance (just so he wouldn’t choose something so gorey or sexual that the rest of them couldn’t watch it) and they’d ended up settling on some horror film that Virgil was decidedly not watching. He had summoned his headphones and covered his head with the blanket at the earliest opportunity presented to him. He was glad for it when he heard Patton screech even through the noise cancelling.

Somehow, halfway through what sounded like a pretty gruesome horror film, Remy fell asleep, so Virgil took the excuse that had fallen into his lap (literally) and swaddled them up in some spare blankets and carried them upstairs so that the others wouldn’t wake them up with the screaming.

—-

They managed to get to about half past three in the morning before Logan began insisting that they should start heading to sleep, so they’d decided to pack it in after this film ended (thankfully something more light hearted after that horror film, Virgil didn’t want worse nightmares than usual, thank you very much).

So, as promised, after the film had wrapped up, everyone started getting ready for bed. Roman summoned sleeping bags and yet more blankets and pillows for everyone, as if they needed them and soon everyone started winding down.

At some point during this process, Remy returned, aviators askew and Virgil’s blanket wrapped around their shoulders. Without saying a word they grabbed the closest sleeping bag and got in it before flopping down onto the ground incredibly ungracefully, once again dead asleep in seconds.

“Virgilll,” Roman whined from his sleeping bag on the ground, Virgil was just in the process of zipping up his own bag on the other side of the room, “C’mereee- I wanna cuddle,”

VIrgil just rolled his eyes at the way Roman was making grabby hands in his vague direction and shuffled over to where Roman was lying. Sleeping next to Roman wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Goodnight kiddos!” Patton called.

“Goodnight, Patton,” Janus said from somewhere past Roman, “I don’t apologise for the spiders in that film, by the way, I forgot they featured so heavily, and I also hope all of you have nightmares and sleep terribly,”

“Thanks Jan!” Remus called from somewhere near Patton, taking the lie at full sincerity.

“Thanks, Janus,” Patton said, accepting the truth he could gather from the statement.

“Goodnight all,” Roman said, Virgil kicked him, though it didn’t have much impact with the sleeping bags.

“Everyone just shut up and go to sleep already,” Virgil groaned.

Finally, after an even more long-winded chain of goodnights that Virgil thought was possible (he was sure they were doing it to spite him). Everyone went quiet.

—-

“Hey guys, whaddyou all think about forming an orgy right here right now,”

“Re, shut the fuck up and sleep before I sew your mouth closed with silly string.”

“Sounds like fun! Lets make it a date, huh Virgey?”

“Both of you shut up!”

“Some of us aren’t trying to sleep here, you know,”

“If I hear another word out of any of you kiddos I will not be making pancakes in the morning,”

That shut everyone up pretty quick, no-one wanted to miss out on Patton’s breakfast pancakes.

—-

Somehow, when he woke up the next afternoon ( all of them- excluding Logan who had an immaculate sleep cycle- had slept all through the morning) Virgil found that he had ended up sandwiched between Roman and Janus in his sleep. He was almost 100% certain that Janus had been on the other side of them both when they first went to sleep.

How odd.

Well, Virgil thought as he let himself relax between them, it could be worse.

He heard the click of a camera mixed in with coos and giggles that sounded suspiciously like Remus and Remy.

Virgil had jinxed himself. It got worse.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #virgil sanders #janus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #remy sanders #crack fic #sanders sides art #rowans writings

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ialwaysknewyouwerepunk · 3 years ago

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perfect now - a close reading

only pure and true love for this one. it’s soft and sweet because the one he wrote it for is and needs cheesy uncool romcom soundtrack-worthy affirmations and it’s the most wonderful thing oh my the flurries

some album booklet art for your viewing pleasure

((just a warning for below: while the lyric analysis was kept fairly neutral and close to the words and their meaning, more and more parallels did ensure me larrying out by the time the analysis kicked off so if you’re not into that, you can skip this one!))

⟼ check out @bluewinnerangel ‘s magnificent post with all the parallels to 1d/h&l bc it’s exhaustive and was a source for mine <3 thank you again for your service <3 bc this song really is a fanpiece of every song that has been important to them throughout their career so far, whether they wrote it or not, and it’s honestly kinda impressive

SUMMARY

you’re sad and i love you so much i will do anything to make that undone but while you’re sad know that i sill very much love you and you’re also strong enough to conquer all of this on your own but i’ll be by your side anyway

lyric breakdown ft. the many parallels, incl. little things, through the dark and wmyb

what this says about louis, his partner and the relationship he is in

never gonna dance again frenzy

identity

louis is a marvellous majestic sonofabitch basically <3

walls, track 10

～ little things “you still have to squeeze into your jeans, but you’re perfect to me”

You don’t feel pretty and it’s hard to miss

later lyric: “like a neon sign” - i see through you trying to hide away your insecurities

I wish that you could see my point of view As someone staring back at you

“you” is also staring at him, but perhaps is too insecure to realise how mutual the adoration is

i wish i could get you out of your own negative spiral and give you a look at yourself from my perspective

～ wmyb “everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you”

～ wmyb “right now i’m looking at you and i can’t believe you don’t know you’re beautiful”

～ little things “you never love yourself half as much as I love you, and you’ll never treat yourself right darling but I want you to. If I let you know, I’m here for you, maybe you’ll love yourself like I love you”

On Friday night when we’re all out I turn to you and you’re looking down And you don’t wanna dance I know you love to dance You never stop given half the chance

heavy echoes of kmm again, but the opposite: the “nightmare on the dance floor” doesn’t want to dance

when “you” is confident rlly not being subtle with who i think that is, they love to dance <-> tpwk “feeling good in my skin, i just keep on dancing”

“i know you love to dance” = i know what you love bc i love you

“given half the chance”

～ tpwk “giving/given second chances”

given a chance tattoo, making another appearance (see below for more tattoo meltdowns)

Just keep your head up, love, keep your head up

term of endearment <3

～ dlibyh

this album is full of encouragement to keep going and as much as it gives me life it ruins me

Don’t hide away, don’t ever change

“be happy, proud”

～ “just hold on”

“pick someone who’s supportive”

Keep your head up, love, keep your head up Don’t look away, don’t look away

don’t look away from me

～ through the dark “and I can see your head is held in shame”

Cause everybody’s looking at you now, my, oh my

they have the stage to themselves / new career paths they’re doing on their own

could also mean ppl they’re going out with are looking at them, which “you” interprets as sth negative, which makes them self-conscious, while they’re actually admiring them bc they steal the scene

～ wmyb “you’re turning heads when you walk through the door”

I guess some queens don’t need a crown And I know why Even when your tears are falling down Still, somehow, you’re perfect now

“you” is royalty to louis, to put it simply

they don’t need something on their head to make it known to everyone else - they’re a queen and everyone knows it

gendered: female - also used in drag contexts - the only time L has used any gendered word to identify his partner on the entire album (more on this below)

～ steal my girl "she's been my queen since we were sixteen" can't believe i forgot this one thank you @mortalenemiestolovers for reminding me!!!

～ falling

～ through the dark “you tell me that your tears are here to stay”

You never do, but if you asked me to I’ll tell the truth lying next to you

“you” never asks for affirmations directly, but by saying shit like their pants are too tight make it clear enough to L that they do need to hear once in a while that it’s not true

Cause you’re the only one when it’s said and done You make me feel like being someone

Good to you even at your worst

～ always you

i love you so much you are a force of life to me, and even when you hate me i want more

～ drag me down “If I didn’t have you there would be nothing left, the shell of a man who could never be his best. If I didn’t have you, I’d never see the sun. You taught me how to be someone” (sung by louis first, harry second)

～ through the dark “even if you scream and shout, it’ll come back to you and I’ll be here for you

You steal the scene and it’s unrehearsed

reference to working on a stage - their natural presence wins everyone over - that charisma is never manufactured

Don’t you wanna dance? Just a little dance I’ll never stop given half the chance

L keeps encouraging them, will also not pass by any chance to dance with them

Every insecurity, like a neon sign, as bright as day If you knew what you were to me You would never try to hide away

“it’s hard to miss”

L sees through them trying to hide their insecurities, pretend to be strong

～ through the dark “but I know you were only hiding”

SYNTHESIS

Perfect Now is not a fan favorite and I am so not here for that discourse, so please do not pester me with negativity about this chocolate drop of a song.

As others have pointed out, the parallels with other songs written by Louis, Harry or for One Direction are extremely present. Especially Little Things is echoed loudly, but there’s so much more to be read, as you’ve seen. These are songs that are clearly near and dear to Louis, bc he wrote them or bc performing them was special, like with Little Things and What Makes You Beautiful. A lot of the same emotions come back in Louis’s writing, so much so that you can’t help but see the larger story behind it all. Throughout Walls you can hear him singing about not giving up and holding your head high despite hardships, and if you look back at his earlier writing, it’s always been there. Through the Dark is an early and striking example of this style of Louis song: you’re sad and i love you so much i will do anything to make that undone but while you’re sad know that i sill very much love you and you’re also strong enough to conquer all of this on your own but i’ll be by your side anyway

basically through the dark’s chorus:

Oh, I will carry you over Fire and water for your love And I will hold you closer Hope your heart is strong enough When the night is coming down on you We will find a way Through the dark

It is very clear that Louis is faced with a partner - I can freely say it’s Harry now right? are the antis gone by now? i think so - that struggles with his body, with his identity, with how he wants to present himself vs how opinions on that might push him down and dampen his spirit. Louis, always the supportive boyfriend, then tries his best to make him see the light, while keeping that space for his sadness, his struggles, or their joint struggles. Accept the sadness but don’t lose your heart to it.

I’ve linked @bluewinnerangel ‘s post at the start of this post, but I need to stress how good it is once more as I also shamelessly insert a screenshot from it here bc it makes me feel a lot and summarizes perfectly just how deeply Perfect Now is woven into the history of their lives, relationship and especially “you”s/Harry’s personal struggle with their identity/body/confidence...

Because yes, i absolutely think these tattoos are being echoed in the song. “Never gonna dance again” as a lyric and then as a tattoo on Harry’s legs like shackles around his ankles represents the sensation of shame, of being stuck, bc of your desires, bc of your sexuality. Obviously we can never know why Harry got the tattoo, as in what experience pushed him to choose those lyrics or what exactly he recognizes in himself, but it’s safe to say it’s about the struggles of being queer and navigating relationships with that identity and with others.

Most importantly, the sense of shamelessly dancing, dancing like no one’s watching, dancing together with your lover, as a celebration of self, life, love, is the key here. Harry got that tattoo ages ago, at a time when he undoubtedly felt way more stuck. When he couldn’t dance freely the way he wanted to and with whom he wanted to. Perfect Now is a reminder to him, an encouragement to still dance if he wants to, no matter what people say or think. Significantly, then, Harry’s own Treat People With Kindness heavily features that same sentiment, but in an extremely positive light: i have found a place (in life and in myself) where i feel like i have given and was given second chances and now i dance bc i finally feel good in my skin.

Louis has obviously been there from the start, or at least from when or before Harry properly started experimenting with/questioning how he likes to present and how he identifies as. Before he ever dared to consider pulling on a pair of women’s skinny jeans, never mind a ball gown. Louis has seen him limit himself as well as being limited by others ofc and has always seemed to have been there, with a secure hand on Harry’s back, to encourage him. Even at a time when boys wearing nail polish or skirts was unthinkable. Just remember how much encouragement Harry needed when growing out his hair; Louis literally joined him. yes this might make me cry okay i need to stop bc i’m going off track and this is just becoming a larry breakdown while i was trying to hype up this beautiful song.

What I’m trying to say is: Louis has always seen all of Harry. He’s always had his back, no matter what. He’s loved every part of him. And now, on a completely gender neutral album, in the sweetest, softest song off of the entire thing, Louis puts in the word “queen”, and that is so very deliberate it makes me want to scream. It’s Louis confirming his love again and again while affirming the multitudes contained by Harry, including everything involving his gender journey. brb crying

It’s a raw Louis, an honest, sweet, kind, loving partner, and both of them are fucking lucky to have each other, and I also wish that all of us end up in a caring and wholesome relationship like that. I truly do.

#wow i thought this one was gonna be easier #i always do why do i think that???#every time i look closer into l's lyrics i see more depth #this is all just a perfect mushy mess so it's on brand for me #perfect now analysis #lyric analysis #my posts #parallels

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meruz · 4 years ago

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once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous)

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL.

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close.

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

#ask #trying this new thing where i tag people in the body of the post instead

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emjee · 4 years ago

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MG has read...a lot of TOG fanfic this autumn: a rec list

Hey y’all, @morallygreywaren asked if I’ve done a fic rec list yet, and I think I’ve done bits and pieces but not a full list. Fortunately, I just put one together for a friend who watched the film for the first time on Sunday, so I’ve got something close at hand! I’m keeping the category divisions I used for my friend, because I like them. I’m gonna star the E rated stuff for your avoidance/exact opposite of avoidance needs. Off we go!

Joe and Nicky (historical)

Ars Poetica by superblackmarket. Actually read everything by superblackmarket, they’re amazing. (*)

The Other Matter by survivah. Sometimes I lie awake at night staring at the ceiling thinking about this fic. If you like your Joe/Nicky get-together stories with a tall glass of pining/idiots to lovers, run don’t walk.

Salt and Harvest by @hollybennett123. Joe and Nicky + bread through the ages. Literally what more could you want.

for all hearts torn by stonecarved (figure8) (@lgbtmazight on tumblr). Joe and Nicky + pilgrimage. Len is one of the greatest gifts this fandom has.

The Gold of Your Body by @azephirin. This contains the tag “Catholicism as a gateway drug to BDSM” and it is. Incredible. (*)

The Subtle Approach by survivah. The great thing about this fandom is that your Regency AU doesn’t actually need to be an AU.

The Profession of my Fingers by mellyflori (@werebearbearbar on tumblr). 5+1, Nicky’s Hands In Joe’s Curls Throughout The Centuries (*)

Joe and Nicky (modern)

My heart as green as weeds by KatStratford (@katrinastratford on tumblr). In which they have to peace out to Scandinavia for Lying Low purposes and Joe Does Not Vibe with how cold it is. It’s a huge quarantine mood. (*)

While we’re young by hyb (@h-yb on tumblr). *pinches bridge of nose* listen they are IN LOVE

Stop, listen, feel, believe by Tam_Cranver. This is my favorite fic set almost immediately post-film. Hot as hell. Emotional intelligence off the FUCKING charts. (*)

Joe and Nicky + Nile + being immortal family

Three Immortals and a Puppy Walk Into a Bar by survivah. What it says on the tin, a fucking delight

A nice story and The art of remembrance by @sixth-light. Joe, Nicky, Nile, and discussions of war crimes.

Straight up Joe/Nicky smut, you are WELCOME (these are all E)

Taking instruction by @sixth-light. feat. light dom/sub, in a really sweet way.

Literally everything @bakedapplesauce has ever written, special shoutouts to:

The present is nothing but an interruption of the past

Hora somni

There is no “I” in “team” (but there is one in “vibrator”)

You want some Joe/Nicky AUs? I got you

Explaining is Losing by @sixth-light. Academic nemeses to lovers. I have read this fic an EMBARASSING number of times.

Good Enough to be True by @sixth-light. Modern AU, super soft fluff/healing where Joe’s gotten out of a terrible relationship and Nicky’s the first guy he’s dated since

sine qua non by mellyflori (@werebearbearbar). Modern AU friends to lovers with all the trimmings. (*)

Extremely niche genre of Nicky Bitches About The New English Mass Translation:

third for a word and the song keeps going by Macremae

INAIED gets its own heading

If Never Again, If Every Day by @gallifreyburning and @takiki16 is the light of my Thursdays. 2021 Nicky ends up back in 1099, 1099 Nicolo ends up in 2021, we all lose our minds over the emotions that ensue. Someone once described the 1099 plot of this fic as “Yusuf: I truly hate this and I’m annoyed that killing you doesn’t work. Nicky: You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid.” I think about that description every fucking day.

Book of Nile (I know one of the rules of this ship is that you have to say you hate it here and were forced to ship it against your will but LISTEN these fics are so good that I can’t bring myself to hate it here at all)

The Last Man on Earth by survivah. Five times Booker and Nile find themselves in a romance novel trope. Delicious.

son rêve d’opaline by stonecarved (figure8) (@lgbtmazight). Sleepy. Sexy. I’m obsessed. (*)

everywhere on earth you go (you’re gonna have me) by nondz (pinkjook). There is a swing dancing scene in this one that I lost my fucking mind over. (*)

This is by no means comprehensive, and I encourage you to check out all the fics of all the authors mentioned here. I’m having a great time reading in this fandom.

#mg says stuff #fic rec #rec list #the old guard #book of nile #kaysanova

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neojayink · 3 years ago

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“Neighborhood Watch” - Concept for Hero mode Protagonist

Story Demo:

In this world, Octolings way of life now would be threatened by a change coming from forces which they have little understanding of. In order to not lose everything they have some players will work in teams of 4 to watch over the city by night. As in, there will be a future concept for a hero multiplayer mode. It’s still a fresh idea in my mind but I wanted to share it because it sounds cool and I like how multiple agents look working together. The main goal of the hero force would be to keep unauthorized tech off the steets for the safety of turf wars. The protagonist will work with an outsider that knows and recognizes Octoling tech well to get to the source. (Which will be the main hero mode missions)

I sketched these two while brainstorming for the hero mode story I wanna tell. Agent number reserved for their proper introduction but I’m sure it’s not hard to guess. The protagonist is kinda rhe embodiment of the whole cities want for survival. So one “number” that represents all numbers.

They’re waiting to receive the location of the next enemy sighting from their leader. I imagine they’d stake-out and travel through a cityscape much like spider-man for their overworld missions. Orange looks good as default ink colors, but I can see the Hero rocking Black ink a lot of the times especially for the fact that the octoling’s hairstyle is based off of ferrofluid using my previously explained tentacle/hair techniques.

I’m torn between how I want to represent the agent as one main default look (the way all the others are just the default hairstyle mainly) The inkling girl to the right would be the more traditional way to do things. Chances are I might represent the heroes in both genders as a duo team and maybe even do both Octolings seeing as the story has big plots stemming from Octoling history. Most of the hero concepts i drew are an Octoling girl which I’ll be sharing over time. The Octoling boy above gives the stern energy of agent 3 with the spiky hair and I really like that about his design so chances are he will be the main male agent.

The story’s first chapter is nearly complete in idea form and I’m gonna redo the prologue slightly once that’s set. In the future I’ll definitely be doing a lot of writing for the story. My heads full of too many ideas for this project and they all probably won’t get drawn or sketched. I’m making a personal rule for myself now to at least post something sneo related once a month even if it’s not a big art piece. Too many ideas and already made content as sketches for me too just keep it all to myself.

#my art #inkling #octoling #sketch

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linawritesocs · 2 years ago

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my ocs (+ ships) as palette names!

here it is!! all titles are from this post AND HONESTLY I LOVE THEM SO MUCH SOME OF THEM SOUND LIKE REALLY COOL CHAPTER TITLES

all palettes were assigned based only on the titles and not the colors! though some palettes (the (name)-core ones) do have my ocs' vibes ndjdkddk

avery: wishing to rant about fanfiction but not wanting to show how much of a nerd you secretely are, you can’t just ask a guy why he’s in love, some days i’m afraid i will cut my eyes by the sight of glass shards (yes i picked this one only bc of his surname jdksksdkl IT DOES HAVE HIS VIBES THOUGH)

vance: only the floor candy can sustain me (vancecore), the act of balancing a bottle of juice on your head, some days i feel like a lobster on a skateboard

merrill: next time maybe don’t go into the forest at night hm buddy? just a thought, you are who we say you are because public opinion beats self worth every time, putting on a show to seem alive / when i don’t feel alive (wow these last two are SAD)

allen: focus on me (ignore the blood), do you remember when you told me that you love me when you told me that you love me when you told me that you, murder and other expressions of love

roland: stand still as the darkness grows roots in your mind, i loved you i did so how did we end up like this, men like us die alone because we think we deserve it (;w;)

fake!jay: hey quick question are we really about to commit arson? (literally his dynamic with allen), the doctor tried to check my heartbeat only to find out i don’t have one (a reminder that he's not really human!), the privilege of being born somebody else (THIS ONE. OH GOD THIS ONE)

real!jay: the lack of self esteem i’ve felt since i learned how to read or write (;w; AGAIN), soda cans are great i love accidentally spilling liquid on myself, when i was a small child i held an iguana once

austin: i’m always at least a little bit scared hopeless and frustrated, a classmate of mine once borrowed one of my pens and then decided it was such a good pen he’s just gonna keep it (austincore), crying because cats are cute and deserve the world

minnie: this is the third time someone put strawberries in the bathtub who keeps doing this please stop (minniecore), the horrifying ordeal of having loud neighbours, unexplainable excruciating pain that started suddenly and will never go away

hayden: an unhealthy relationship with one’s own identity (THIS IS LITERALLY HAYDEN), what flavour is your mind (a reference to him trying to understand other people's personalities more so that it's easier for him to manipulate them), the only thing greater than my ego is my impostor syndrome

riley: i’m a weirdo who likes to eat chalk, have you found yourself or your loved ones suffering from a case of empty eyes, an overemotional state projected upon the unsuspecting public (LITERALLY HIS UNIQUE MAGIC)

angel: this will hurt you more than it’ll hurt me - and that’s okay!, the girl in a blue dress that lives in every village ever (angelcore), the magical princess’s strawberry-scented battle axe of infinite bloodshed

bunny: wasting your life feeling like an underperforming tool in someone else’s hands (her relationship with angel..), the eye lips eye emoji face fills me with unbridled rage, what do you MEAN there was a fire

seth: your house has no anomalies but i’m reporting you for bad taste in art (YEAH THIS DOES SOUND LIKE SETH), you love them now you’ll hate them later (sethcore), i haven’t left the house in months (his backstory 😔)

and now, the oc ships!

avery x allen: what are you doing in my house / now now i don’t usually make it a habit to - stop yelling - break into people’s homes but as you can see sometimes i do, once again i am forced to ask what in the world did you bring into our home / what do you mean what did i bring it’s very clearly a radioactive waste barrel don’t pretend you don’t know that, the tall faceless lad out the corner of my eye who watches me sleep while pointing at the door

vance x riley: the man who looked at me so sweetly in soft flavours of deep beige, wish me luck honey (i couldn’t ask for more), just friends but we kiss sometimes

merrill x cater: can you help me find what’s wrong with me, men like us aren’t supposed to feel these things, it’s past my bedtime and i’m thinking of you (i don't talk a lot about this ship but trust me, i love them SO MUCH)

merrill x austin: of all the things you could be doing why are you romancing soda cans, wish we could go out for coffee but you hate me and i hate coffee, sorry that your rant about how the game i like ruined the whole series forever didn’t make me like it any less

allen x nemis: my girlfriend said i eat corn weird which now that i think about it would explain why i’m consistently covered in butter (listen it does sound like them), look at her go biting everyone who comes near her like a champ, here’s cheers to the man who stole my heart away

allen x hayden: let your tender hands rip me apart, what’s a little murder between friends, i’ve been chugging poison waiting for the day you inevitably take me up on my offer and take a proper bite out of me (THIS ONE. POWERFUL)

minnie x sebek: your love has brought me to the point of no returning, don’t try to tell me how i’m supposed to breathe, people ask me how i manage to think of you everyday and to be completely honest i never know what to say because it feels so natural

hayden x elpys: i need you to understand that i really do want what’s best for you - and that simply isn’t me, you are a dream in a crowd of nightmares, you must have real self confidence mortal to attempt flirting with something all holy

seth x riddle: dunks you in tea LOL, get your shoes off my bed you animal (these ones are chaotic and i love it), he to whom the cake’s dedicated

seth x rollo: i touch you and my hands burn my hands burn my hands burn (what have you done) (yeah it was painful to type this one), give me salvation i swear i won’t bite, well first of all i am positive what you did is a criminal offense / and second of all why didn’t you invite me (hiii i love "seth x rollo as a villain couple" so much <3)

#beauty with self grown thorns: avery #a gamer skater boy: vance #idia's e boy servant: merrill #the ultimate simp: allen #the gardening club leader: roland thorn #the literature and animals lover: jay #the lonely mechanic: austin #the mouse girlboss: minnie #the chameleon with a god complex: hayden #allen's kuudere cousin: riley #a strange but loving dorm leader: angel #a stressed vice dorm leader: bunny #the isolated prince: seth #friends' ocs!

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themeanpea · 2 years ago

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Ah shit here we go again-

I told myself I would stop writing long emotional inner ramblings to the void of the internet, but um…new year old me I guess. Well technically it’s not the new year yet but time is an illusion, tear it apart.

I’ve been putting off reflecting on my relationship with art and drawing and work and life and blah - but seeing as things are coming to a volcanic peak irl (or at least, it feels so in my head, but then again I react to stress badly), I decided I might as well take the leap of returning to tumblr while also forcing myself to finally, finally - reflect.

Why have I been putting off reflecting? Because it’s easier to just come home from work and blast my brain juice out with YouTube and podcasts. Real life problems don’t exist when you have liquid content coursing through your veins at all times. Facts.

Anyways here we go…strap on in if you’re interested in the epic saga of millennial mundanity - artist version:

The past few months have been pretty tough art-wise. I lost a lot of confidence in my art, and posting to the great wide world waiting for people to respond wasn’t helping. Yes I know that sounds naive, and I hate admitting this because it makes me feel vulnerable but it’s true - I was seeking that validation. Why? I don’t know. I guess I was excited to share my art with others and it was tough to swallow when no one responded. I don’t think I was seeking compliments so much as interaction - Ig I kinda wanted an art community but social media wasn’t giving it to me. And I know it’s wrong now but I thought that creating good art was how I gained that artist acceptance. And when my art was ignored I thought it was a silent pass of judgment, “You’re not good enough yet to join the inner circle”. I know this sounds dramatic and over-the-top but I’m just really trying to figure out why it was affecting me so much - it must have seemed that bad to me even though it really wasn’t (story of my life lmao).

Anyway, I had taken a 6 year break from art previously (not gonna go into it but it was due to school and life, not anything related to social media), I was making drawings maybe 3-4 times a year? Barely anything. My art skills stagnated tremendously, and I was at that point in the art curve where I couldn’t even realize how weak my art was - and frankly all I cared about was churning out fanart like a little goblin lmao. That’s all fine btw, to each their own - but looking back on my non-existent progress, I felt dissatisfied. I wanted to see progress in my art, and I listened to a lot of YouTube talks by Industry Experts TM - but wait! Their advice was not trite and profit-oriented, they gave really, really motivational talks - about why they pursued art, and how you could improve, and why it would be worth it. I was honestly really touched by the talks that I watched, and it inspired me to work on my art to create the worlds that I wanted to create, and visualize the stories that I saw in my head. Also, I just really like aesthetics and pretty stuff.

Social media was draining me like - exhausting and felt like a total chore. I just wanted to draw, I didn’t want to post and be judged. I conducted a thought experiment - if I could either have bad art and have a huge social media following, or good art and a non-existent social media following - which one would I choose? I knew the answer was the latter hands down, so I decided to just stop posting to social media.

In the meantime, I’d also signed up for an online art class, bought more art books, and started practicing the fundamentals and doing homework from the online course. I didn’t even think about posting or anything of the sort, and I was the happiest I had been while doing art in a long time. The online course was amazing - I loved the assignments and homework and the feeling of being in school again and being guided by a teacher who could critique my work. I never learned art professionally and I felt like I was larping as an art student lmao (No hogwarts halls tho, just my ipad on a standing desk in my bedroom :D). I was really going through a low-confidence + low-motivation patch around the same time that the course started, and honestly having weekly structured assignments to do was a life-saver. I didn’t feel inspired to draw anything of my own because my skills were at a level that meant they never came out the way I wanted them to look. I was very insecure about my rendering ability, and the more I looked at my human faces the wonkier they got. I wanted to table-flip so bad but the standing desk is heavy af. So to be forced to paint greyscale bargue plates and map out black-and-white silhouettes…honestly it was boring at times, but it was something very new to me and it gave me something to do to feel like I was improving in art. I mean maybe I wasn’t but hey we got feedback from our mentors and were told how it could help us to improve. I knew nothing about values except the bare basics, so I was happy to just do a shit ton of greyscale stuff tbvh - it gave me the illusion of improvement at the very least.

The thing is…I think the course really did help me to improve. I was amazed at this realisation myself since I couldn’t figure out how drawing moustachioed old men in greyscale could help me to draw cute anime boys in color, but somehow it did?? Wild I know. Which is why I’m swearing up, down, left, right, sideways, frontways, and back on practicing the fundamentals now. Most importantly, 3D form and structure!! It’s a must. The weirdest feeling ever was that painting with awareness of the 3D form actually helped to improve my drawing as well. Dear lord I could write an entire essay about the importance of learning the 3D form so I’ll stop here for now. But 3D form, shape language, structure. So, so, so freaking important.

Wow I went on a tangent. So anyway, when I focused on the art again - taking the course, doing assignments, reading art books, scrolling through pinterest - and blocked out social media, I was the happiest I had ever been art-wise. Negative feelings - all-time low. Even when I sucked it felt ok because I didn’t have any pressure to share my art! I was literally just drawing for my own eyes (and for my partner - who is super lovely and supportive). And yeah, I don’t know - it made me realize again why I wanted to do art. Because I love creating, even if it’s just for one person, even if it’s just for myself, I’m a creator. I’ll draw and write about worlds and characters that no one will ever know about, and I really don’t mind. I mean if someone’s interested I don’t mind sharing, but I really, really don’t mind just doing it for myself as well. But I want to be proud of the work I do. When I draw my characters, I want them to look the way I see them in my head. When I see the greats, I want to be able to draw like them, render like them - not because I want the adoration or fans, but because…it’s inspiring. And also I often feel my favourite content is in my head, so I have to like…get it out to enjoy it myself lol. I’m the producer and the consumer. I’m used to shipping rarepairs and writing fics for myself and the one other person in the community lol. Like I didn’t care who saw my ship art, I just needed to create it, damn it. And I feel the same way for my OCs too - I needed to do them justice by bringing them to the life the way I envisioned them, not…flat faces and wonky smiles.

Anyway, I’m not sure where this post is going or if it’s going anywhere, but I felt like I needed to force myself to reflect on my art journey and question…why do I draw? Because if I don’t figure out why…then what will come of it? No end goal in sight or whatever. Don’t get me wrong, I think if something makes you happy you shouldn’t need an end-goal, and that’s what I’ve been doing thus far tbvh. I just draw - no thoughts, head empty, just draw and listen to podcasts and chill. But lately as I open myself up to others, as I come under more scrutiny for what I do in my free time, as people get genuinely curious to see the stuff I’ve been doing and perhaps question why I spend all my weekends locked away in my room…I start to feel a need to come to terms with what I draw. I’m not revealing the full story here but tl;dr I’ve been…procrastinating on something huge, to say the least, and I’ve just thrown myself full-fledge into drawing with even more intensity than ever. And that’s when I realized:

I draw to escape. Escapism. It all makes sense. It’s not limited to just OCs, though OCs are the easiest way to build an escapist world since you get to control all the variables. You can do it via fandoms too, e.g. fanart, fanfics. I used to feel guilty for indulging in this escapism, a day-dreamer. And now I guess that lingering guilt is still there - I should be doing Real Adult Things TM, but instead I procrastinate by drawing and working on my art. Because if I can’t control the real world…at least I can control the one that I literally crafted from scratch? If I think too hard about where my own life is going, it scares me - so full of uncertainty and I don’t have protagonist protection - anything could happen. But my OCs, they’re safe. Even through all the fictional tragedy and romance and drama, they end up ok because as the creator, I said so. And their world is beautiful, aesthetic (tbh I’m still rly bad at drawing environments but it’s on my goals list for 2023!), I don’t feel the same way about my world. At least not right now. Hopefully things will change.

And I need to tell myself - escapism is a good goal to have. I don’t know where I would be without escapism - without tales of heroics and drama and problematic faves and ships. Without purely fictional fun to laugh and talk about with friends, to wonder and expand on while doing the mundanity of everyday tasks. And If I’m working towards making that escapism even better day by day, to make my visual storytelling even more immersive, my aesthetics even more attention-grabbing, to bring you away from the troubles of real life and into this fictional world that I created to make myself feel better first, and hopefully others can share in that joy as well…maybe that’s a good goal to have. That’s something I shouldn’t shy away from sharing or feel ashamed to admit that as a 25 year old adult, I’m locked up in my room on the weekends to keep working on my craft towards the goal of enhanced immersive escapism.

There’s no conclusion to this thesis lol. So…back to drawing! 👾

#art rant #personal rant #dear diary #ted talk #I’m 25 and I’m very deep #ponderings #escapism #capitalism is a construct tear it apart

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novaiya · 4 years ago

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The Portrait of Charles Smith - Charles x Reader

Summary: Based on this request: Can I get Charles catching the reader drawing him? I feel like it’d be so cute to see him all bashful n embarrassed that someone finds him attractive enough to make art of.

Words: 1369

Warnings: None.

A/N: Guess who just finished the Picture of Dorian Gray and is now making it her entire personality.

Your pencil was making swift strokes on the paper as your eyes flicked between the journal on the table and your subject. You watched his arms, muscular and thick, swing down as he chopped through a log. He used the back of his hand to wipe away the sweat from his forehead, and then reached out for another log, placing it down and once again chopping through it.

You enjoyed watching Charles work, doing different tasks around the camp such as cutting logs for the firewood, fixing up the old wagon or taking care of the horses. He did all those things with grace and ease that always captivated you and that’s why you were drawing him now. The way he was swinging down the ax captured your attention, the way his muscles flexed, and you couldn’t help but get out your journal, quickly scribbling down before he finished his chore.

“Drawing him again, aren’t you?”

You almost jumped out of your chair when you heard Tilly’s voice behind you. You were so engrossed in your thoughts and your art that you didn’t hear her approach you from behind.

“Tilly,” you breathed out, your hand on your chest, “You can just sneak up on people like that.”

“Sorry,” she said with a smile that said she really wasn’t.

You tried to discreetly push your journal to the side, but Tilly was quicker, snatching it away and looking over your sketch. You tried to pry it from her hands, but her grip was solid, and if you kept fumbling with her, you were bound to bring more attention to the two of you. So instead you huffed and turned your head to the side, not wanting to see her face as she looked over your drawing of Charles.

She said your name, making you turn back towards her. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “You have to show it to him!”

“I can’t, Tilly,” you said, shaking your head. “I have put too much of myself into it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If he sees the drawing, he’ll surely understand how I feel about him.” You took the journal from Tilly’s hands and looked over the sketch that you’ve done so far. “Every line that I have drawn is like a love confession. This drawing is nothing if not a love letter to him.”

“Love letters are meant to be sent, not kept in the sender’s possession.”

“That, you might be right about,” you said, closing your journal. You looked in the direction where Charles was chopping the logs, but he was gone now. You’d have to find another opportunity to finish the portrait.

It was a few days later when an opportunity presented itself. You have just finished your chores for the day, and saw Charles by the hitching posts, tending to the horses. He was, as always, engrossed in his work, oblivious to you as you took a seat in by a tree nearby, taking out your journal and drawing him.

The shade from the tree kept you cool and safe from the sun's rays as you sat against it. With the journal in your lap and the pencil in your hands, you went to work, continuing where you left off. The portrait, at that point, was almost finished, it just needed some minor alterations with the shading and the details.

Charles was none the wiser, you thought, as you kept looking at him, memorizing every detail that made him him and transporting it onto the paper. When you told Tilly that every line that you drew was like a love confession, you weren’t exaggerating. If someone was to see the portrait, they would easily tell that it was made by someone who loved Charles. The attention to details, to every freckle, wrinkle and scar, could only be done by someone who loved the subject, loved Charles.

“Tilly was right, it is a beautiful portrait.”

Your head snapped up to where the voice came from. Charles was leaning against the tree, looking down at you, a soft smile on his lips. You could practically feel your face heat up and your heart beat wildly against your rib cage. The mix of embarrassment and surprise that flooded through your veins was so strong, you felt you were gonna faint.

You turned to look at your journal, and then at Charles, stammering and trying to think of something to say. Should you apologize? Give him the drawing? Mount one of the horses and ride out into the sunset?

In the distance, the sound of camp could be heard; a mix of chatter, arguments, and laughter. But where the two of you were, it was quiet, and Charles swore he could hear the sound of your heartbeat against your chest.

He sat down next to you so he could better look at the journal in your hands. The drawing was indeed beautiful, just like Tilly said a few days ago. She pulled him away from his chores to tell him about the portrait that you’ve been drawing, and how beautiful it was and that he should see it. He thought that she might’ve been pulling his leg. A portrait of him? Who would in their right mind spend time to draw him, of all the people, he thought. Seems that that person is you.

After a moment of silence, you mustered up the courage and said, “Do you like it?”

He chuckled and replied, “I do, but…” he trailed.

“But?”

“It’s too beautiful, and I’m anything but that.”

“The portrait doesn’t lie, Charles. I simply captured what I saw.”

Both of you were surprised at your boldness, and Charles asked, “Is this how you see me?”

Charles wasn’t the most confident man when it came to his looks. He was confident in his strength, in his intelligence and his skills, but beauty wasn’t one of them. He was okay, he thought, not the worse, but also not handsome by any standards. So to see this portrait, and see the love with which it was drawn, to see all the details that you paid attention to such as his scars, his lips, his eyes, it struck him.

After a moment of silence you replied, “It is, Charles. You’re beautiful, don’t deny it.”

Despite seeing the portrait you’ve drawn, he was still surprised to actually hear you say it. The words left him speechless, and he found himself averting his gaze, a light shade of pink already making its way to his cheeks.

The effect of your words didn’t go unnoticed by you. You reached out and placed your hand on his cheek, turning his attention back to you. How could he think he was not beautiful, you couldn’t understand. You traced a scar on his cheek with your fingers; you wondered where he got it. You took liberty, and traced his lower lip with your thumb; his lips were big and plump, and you have caught yourself way too many times thinking about how they’d feel against your own, the same thought now coming back full force.

You wetted your lips by an instinct, the act not going unnoticed by Charles who kept his eyes on you the entire time. You raised your gaze, and your eyes met. The air was thick with tension as you inched closer towards each other, more and more, until you met, your lips colliding against each other.

Your imagination couldn’t do this moment justice; it felt so much better than anything you could imagine. His lips were soft and gentle against yours, and the kiss itself was nothing if not tender and soothing. Your journal fell on the ground, forgotten, as your hands made their way to Charles’ hair, tangling your fingers in his locks and bringing him closer to you, deepening the kiss. One of his own hands was on your cheek, caressing your skin, wanting nothing more than to memorize the feeling of you.

If the two of you weren’t busy exploring each other’s mouths, you’d see, in the distance, Tilly smiling to herself, proud of her work as a cupid. You’d have to thank her later, she thought. Maybe you could draw her a portrait.

#charles smith x reader #charles smith x y/n #red dead redemption 2 #Red Dead Redemption #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 imagines #charles smith imagine #rdr2 imagine #rdr2 imagines #red dead redemption 2 fanfiction #red dead redemption 2 fanfics #red dead redemption fanfics #charles smith fanfiction #charles smith

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the-ghost-king · 4 years ago

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the term malewife isn’t a very nice term to use...

A man who acts as a wife and is inferior to his #girlboss girlfriend.

Person A: I just got myself a malewife. He's gonna clean my kitchen and watch me download custom content for the sims.

Person B: Sweet! You must be such a girlboss

^^urban dictionary. It’s just confirming to the sexist stereotypes that perceive and expectation of what a wife should act like. It’s quite harmful

It's a parallel to girlboss which is conformity to the sexism within corporate America:

"it becomes inescapably clear that when women center their worldview around their own office hustle, it just re-creates the power structures built by men, but with women conveniently on top. In the void left after the end of the corporate feminist vision of the future, this reckoning opens space to imagine success that doesn’t involve acing performance reviews or getting the most out of your interns." (here)

The word girlboss comes from a book quite literally called #girlboss, in parallel to the negative aspects of this book people eventually rebranded the term "malewife" to parallel it (malewife was originally an nsfw type thing)

In the malewife/girlboss "system" it's essentially the swapping of the problematic aspects, expectations, and socialization of men and women within a relationship

"Girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep" was a meme started to pick on the idea that women should become men and enforce the sexism within corporate society, and I'm sure it was a jab at the book the word came from as well.... "Manipulate, mansplain, malewife" was created to parallel the original meme

So yeah, the whole concept is mocking sexism within corporations and and modern relationships and showing how ridiculous it is. Girlboss mocks the idea of 2014 (largely) white feminism within America.

In example the original meme (created on Twitter) is intended to make mockery of Karen-types:

On January 12th, 2021, Tumblr user missnumber1111 posted, "today’s agenda: gaslight gatekeep and most importantly girlboss," garnering over 43,500 notes in a month (shown below). On that day, Twitter user @CUPlDL0VE posted, "my agenda is gaslight gatekeep and #girlboss," the first instance of the phrase on Twitter.

And a day later on January 13, 2021 Tumblr user a-m-e-t-h-y-s-t-r-o-s-e reblogged the post along with a photoshopped image of "Live, Laugh, Love" wall art instead reading, "Gaslight every moment, Gatekeep every day, Girlboss beyond words" (shown below). On January 18th, the image was reposted to Twitter for the first time.

Malewife doesn't hold those same implications however... The term malewife which is now being used to parallel girlboss achieves it's origins from p*rn, now I'm not an nsfw blog or someone who blatantly discusses nsfw concepts on my blog so I'm not getting super into it but there's a few places it comes from: femdom, bdsm, and feminization kinks... All of which have a connection to queerness in their own right but I don't feel comfortable going into the complexities of that with so many younger people following me.

On February 15th, Tumblr user @relelvance posted, "Manipulate, mansplain, malewife" as a male-themed opposite to "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss," garnering over 27,000 notes in four days. The post was screenshotted and reuploaded by Twitter user @nortoncampbell on the same day, garnering over 14,200 likes and 2,800 retweets in the same span of time (shown below).

Urban dictionary's explaination of "malewife" is not only harsher than what malewife was intended to mean, but also removes the context of origin from the word- making it something new, different, and erasing the history of who originally used this word.

Because of Malewifes origins vs Girlboss origins, malewife is a less problematic term than girlboss and is more "affectionate" because the term malewife and it's use (up until recently) involved the man acknowledging that he wanted to be the "wife" in his relationship. There's a variety of reasons someone might do this, but it can generally be summed up as a mixture of personality and also personal wants.

I do think it's important to also note that although these words are being "glamorized slightly" they're still intended and being used in a memeing manner, but they're also used to quickly denote arbitrary traits in an individual and categorize those traits...

Although there's lots of conversations to be had for a variety of reasons about the origin and use of the word "girlboss" in relation to sexism, up until recently the world "malewife" was something claimed by men, something men wanted to be called, and something that men who used the term wanted to reference them.

Malewife is about "stepping-up" to "take on" "female" social roles, and it's something that at least some women would be happy to see in society:

"...We have been told that we can have it all, but so far we have noticed that it is extremely hard work having it all, because you still have to do everything that your mother did but now you have to do everything your father did as well. Except that your father had your mother waiting at home with a gin and tonic and his slippers when he came home from work, and you have the washing up and the shopping and a few screaming brats as well as a bloke with his feet up on the sofa watching the football... " (via. Victoria Mary Clarke)

And I don't think that she's wrong at all. Women are still expected to do so much more than men in society without equal reward.

Malewife exists as a a sort of fantasy removed from the truth of society. It's an idea that a husband can be waiting at home to care for his wife, and in this instance it benefits the woman- unlike Clarke's situation above, the woman comes home from a long day and is able to relax without the pressures of society and her life.

Where housewife is a word that holds its origins in forced subservience, malewife is a term that is showcasing men "picking up the torch" in regards to housework- where housewife is socially forced, and girlboss is reversed social compliance, malewife is the rejection of social expectations.

Malewife is about men finding a place in their life's and relationships to make themselves more than a paycheck. To say "I can be emotionally there for my spouse, I can clean a toilet, and drive kids to school, and I don't treat my spouses wants as something expendable". In a society in which men are often demeaned, mocked, and scorned for picking up socially female roles (say hello to misogyny and gendered contamination!)

The Urban dictionary definition, is not only too harsh- but not the way in which the word is intending to be used, because that's ignoring the origins of this word, and the fact that men had a choice in becoming malewifes where women didn't have that choice. It should read more like:

Person A: Ah yeah, I have a malewife waiting for me, he's going to clean my kitchen because I've had a hard day at work and need a break, and then he's going to watch me download custom content for the Sims because I enjoy the game so much and it helps me take a break from life!

Women's wants were often ignored in favor of men's wants, so by the malewife saying he's going to watch his spouse play the Sims, he's really saying "I care about her interests" and by him picking up the kitchen cleaning after she's had a stressful day he's saying "I have a lower stress job so I can handle that for her and make her life a little easier" (because malewife doesn't mean he doesn't have a job).

In a society in which a man's worth is tied to his ability to bring home money and be emotionally distant, malewife is the rejection of this norm. Malewifes are going to be there for their spouse, they're going to step up and take on traditionally women's roles and they're doing it because they want to, because they like it, and because dividing chores into pink vs blue is wrong.

I also want to say, you can't flip a word around and say it does "this" because that's not how it works... Men and women are forcibly socialized in very different ways, the two binaries have very different treatment, and expectations within societies social constructs. If you could flip the forms of oppression that men vs women face (because yes, the patriarchy oppresses men) then you could also flip the forms of violence faced by trans masculine people vs trans feminine people- but that doesn't work either, because women will always be oppressed in the most public way to "make an example of them" while the patriarchy expects anyone who is male to "keep his mouth shut and fall in line". (I know that's worded poorly, but I've just written at least a couple hundred words and my brain is a bit fried already from various other things today- basically anyone perceived female or male will be treated in a certain way as a result of others perception of them)

Anyhow, all this isn't to say that the term "malewife" is inherently free of any form of flaw ever... Malewife is a newly mainstream word, it wasn't popularized until February 15 of 2021... So?? 5 days ago?? The origins of malewife and the social implications of malewife combined with the history of the word, don't make the word bad or impressive and it's not "upholding the ideals of a housewife" but instead a word which provides men freedom from male social expectations.

Can the word malewife come to be a word which enforces expected female social behavior? Yeah it absolutely can become a word to mean that, erase the history from the word, and give it to someone who doesn't know the history of the word, and someone who doesn't have an intimate understanding of gender theory, and you've got a recipe for hundreds more asks like the one you've sent me...

I can't find a single positive reason to use the word girlboss in an empowering way, but I can find more reasons to use the word malewife in an empowering way than not to do so.

So at the very least if all you come away from this with is that I don't personally use the word malewife to uphold female social expectations in a relationship but instead I use this word to provide space for guys to be allowed to be feminine, soft, caring, emotionally present, and worth more than their monetary value, then I guess that's okay.

#long post #asks #Anon #malewife #sorry for clogging your feed #i don't have a desktop rn

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