#Maybe I’ll post the whole sketch page once it’s finished

[thefanciestborrower]

Roommate made me watch Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and idk tiny pre-Hydra Bucky did something to me okay

Bro is yappin

[bvannn]

Weekly Update June 7, 2024

I’m in a sour mood right now because I got differed from plasma over paperwork. I’ll try a different chain next week, since the one I’ve been going to is super crowded now anyway. We also got a cat this week, that was the correct answer to the post on Saturday. It’s my mom’s cat, but mom has been out most of this week so I’ve been left alone with her. I’ve been really tired. Like insanely tired. But I still got a good amount of stuff done.

Artfight stuff: I’m planning on revamping the thumbnails and redoing Romeo’s refsheet, plus adding Josh. Luckily at work this week I was put on a job that’s pretty relaxed as far as timing goes, and I have lots of little gaps of time to draw while I wait for the balance to stabilize. As a result I got Romeo and Josh’s refsheets sketched, as well as all the thumbnails planned + several sketched. Tomorrow I’ll try to get some of those rendered.

Comic stuff: Comic is going to be on the back burner this month and next most likely, but I did finish off page 7 and started sketching page 8, which I plan to continue slowly. Every once in a while I’ll get stunlocked with indecisiveness and what I’ve been doing to combat it is 15 sit-ups and then roll a wheel of small tasks and do whatever it says, then repeat until free time is over. So it’s still getting done in those little bursts where I don’t have enough time for something bigger.

Music: another quickie is generally done, but I’m going to hold off on it until I decide to do lyrics for it, because it would probably be perfect for an animation meme if I add some quick generic poppy lyrics. Like I can just channel my rage into a couple stanzas and call it good. I really want to release songs specifically for animation memes because I like newgrounds and respect newgrounds’ copyright policy so I want to make some nice music for animation memes that’s copyright safe for whoever to use with credit. Also still making progress on re-mixing my older tracks, OEB needed a complete redo, some VSTs needed to be swapped out entirely, plug I’m learning a bunch of fancy new tricks, so good chance I’ll post another sample of that once I get it figured out. Unsure if I need to actually redo the vocaloid track or just to redo the effects, but I can figure that out after the instrumentals are done.

Also got a good amount of lyric writing done, RR is 88% done, BATB is still a cool 71%. I’m getting into the groove of doing that at work too, so hopefully those should be done quick, plus the quickie I have on hold. Once I have energy I’ll also finish up that other quickie and the Zelda medley I’ve had in the pipe, hopefully that’ll be this weekend, but good chance it’ll be Monday night.

Other things: OEB is at 32% on storyboards, and like 17% on the Kyo rig. A whole bunch of assets are done but need to be imported/exported, plus I’m taking a couple shortcuts too to make things a bit easier, and I can flesh out the rig more as I use it more. Also, my strategy for the sketchy lines is a success! I may also be able to apply it to other areas and fix the issue of flash being shit for drawing, but that’s a bit ambitious. I’ll try chipping away at having the rest of the clip assets *drawn* by the end of the month so I can import/export them at work next month. But again that’s currently in the ‘if I have a little free time’ bracket of priority.

Miscellaneous: I’m getting a couple TTRPG things done too, little bit of writing, little bit of drawing, again not too high a priority but it’s getting done.

Tonight I’m tired and in a bad mood so I’m going to just chip away at re-mixing OEB tonight and maybe sketch a comic panel or two. Maybe. I have one more regular general drawing I want to get done before the end of the month but I don’t know when that’s coming, this weekend I’ll try to focus on Artfight stuff, with breaks in between to spin the wheel of small tasks I need to accomplish. Lots of housekeeping, hopefully next week is kind to me with plasma so I get more time.

[agenderelf]

Here’s a fun little sketch I put way too much effort into. To be fair I could do more to make it look better, but I’m not really a patient person so animation isn’t great for me… I’m really loving campaign 3 though, my early faves unsurprisingly being Ashton abs Fresh Cut Grass. Maybe I’m just excited for characters who also use He/They pronouns? Well either way I’m happy. I also still love all the EXU people so I’m happy to see them back! I’ve got a whole page of half finished sketches from this episode, so I’ll probably post them once I’m done.

[icollectyoursins]

Kishibe Rohan x Reader SFW + NSFW

Anon said: “Consider Rohan sfw and nsfw hcs? And in nsfw Rohan could be a top,,? Prrtty pleade hhh, since there is only one work of Rohan ;;”

I hope these are good, not too familiar with Rohan, so I hope you like it!

Wanna know what I’m willing to write? Rules here!

Have a character, but no idea? Prompt list here!

Looking for more? Master post here!

WARNINGS: Making out, stands used in inappropriate ways, fingering, voyeurism, dildos, fucking machines, spanking, hand jobs, blow jobs, oral, face fucking, cock warming, nipple play, nude modelling. 

Word Counts: 2201

SFW

Rohan is a jackass who cares. In the beginning, he’s very private and stand-offish, but he does warm up to you eventually, though he’s still nicer in private than he is in public. He claims this is because he’s a “celebrity” and can’t have his fans see you too close together yada, yada. It’s bullshit and you know it, but you have the feeling it’s because he’s not used to people being close to him. 

Yes, he does have a binder dedicated to paintings, drawings, sketches, etc. all for you. Some are a little on the artistically lewd side, but most of them are of your hands holding something or your smile, your face and shoulders. Some of them he asked you to model for, others he quickly sketched down while you weren’t paying attention and then finished later.

When he’s not holed up inside, he enjoys walking down to either parts of Morioh where he can people watch or down to the park where he can study wildlife (and maybe draw you playing with ducks). 

You are literally never bored in his house. He has every book under the earth and so many loose painting supplies that he painfully lets you use to fool around. (Though let’s be honest, He likes that you take an interest in his job and would be more than happy to give you tips.)

You know what? Rohan is a backseat artist. He watches every stroke you make over your shoulder and tells you maybe you should move the hand this way to make it more natural or add some light shading here to make it dynamic. It may come off as a little pretentious at first, but if you keep with it, he’ll notice the improvement and (occasionally) tell you how good you’re doing while being a total blushing mess.

    You sat in the window seat, knees up with your back against the wall. Resting on your thighs was a sketchbook. Currently, you were just idly drawing lines of shading onto a face. Rohan himself was also busy colouring in his most recent page, though every now and then he would catch himself looking up at your silhouette, lit up by the light in some kind of halo effect.

     Finally, he caved in to his curiosity. Setting down his pencils, he strode over to you. You didn’t notice until his face manifested itself over your shoulder. Startled, you jumped, causing your pencil to make a long line on your artwork. 

     “Jesus, warn me next time.” You said, grabbing your eraser.

     “Have you been struggling with the nose?” He completely ignores you, still staring at your drawing. The paper was clearly marked up by the eraser with deeper marks from where the pencil was.

     “Yeah, actually. It’s either too big or too small. Kind of just gave up.” You carefully tried to erase the long line but wound up taking away parts that you were actually happy with.

     “Be more gentle with the pencil, it’ll make it easier to erase.” He suggested with a monotone.

     “I tried-”

     “And then you got frustrated and pushed harder. I admire your persistence, however, if something isn’t to your liking, walk away and come back. Remember to look at the picture as a whole, not just the nose.” You rolled your eyes, gently tossing your pencil onto the window seat. As much as you wanted to appreciate the advice, you had heard it all before. You were getting sick of it, frankly.

     Rohan took note of your agitation, studying your face carefully. “You’ve improved, though!” You looked up, a little shocked. What? “The eyes are well done and your shading is very even. Good job.” 

     What? Your cheeks grew hot. That was the first bit of praise you had heard from him. About your drawing, at least. He looked down into your eyes, then felt his own face getting hot. He turned away. “Go take a break. I’ll help you when you get back in an hour. I’ll be timing you, don’t be late.”

Like I have said, he’s not overly fond of affection in public (in the beginning), but he can’t deny that holding your hand or feeling you on his arm makes him feel pretty good. The first few times, he’s internally a mess, though he won’t show anything other than a light tint of blush on his cheeks. But when he’s relaxing at home, he enjoys having you under his arm, leaning against him or with one of your heads in the other’s lap. He’s not used to people and even less so used to affection, but can be worked up to being more comfortable with stuff like kissing in front of the Morioh gang and the like.

When he’s comfortable, he is so cocky. Like, boarder line makes out with you in front of literally anyone just to prove you’re his S/O. This always makes you blush so much (unless you’re into that.) More often than not, he’ll have an arm around your shoulders, hand in pocket, looking so smug and proud and cool. 

Pet names? He can either go one of two ways, depending on his mood. Either it’s just your name or babe OR it is every teasing name under the sun. Oh, darling can you do this for me? Oh, baby, oh, honey, oh, my love, oh, my flower. It’s usually used to get something from you or to get you to do something a little out of the box.

I can see Rohan as being the kind of person who is very strict about his bath time and hates when people interrupt him. On the rare occasion, he’ll let you in with him with the promise of either massaging him or something else *wink, wink*

NSFW (Dominant specifically)

Rohan literally does not shut up during sex. Praise, degradation, mocking, you name it! As a writer and an artist, he knows how to stitch words together in a masterful way that never fails to make you hot in the face.

Uh, yeah. He’s used Heaven’s Door on you before. Did he do it to learn your kinks? Maybe to put some kind of loose control over you in certain situations? Looking for people you find attractive for potential erm... art inspiration (voyeurism)? The world will never know.

Staying-on brand with HD, he absolutely uses it to learn everything that you enjoy in the bedroom. He knows how to make you squirm, where to push to make you scream, how to make you beg. He knows everything.

Particularly enjoys using this “power” to finger you, pressing into every sweet spot (that he made more sensitive with HD), licking over the edges of your hole in a way that just makes you dumb (either hole, not picky!)

     A delicate finger was trailed up your twitching hole, making you shiver. Rohan had already stretched you open enough for it to easily slip in again. You were so sensitive from being teased over and over again, but with no relief that you cried out, tears threatening to burst forward.

     He curled his finger up into a particularly sensitive bundle of nerves, slowly pushing into it more. You groaned and whined, blabbering out his name along with various ways to beg. He shushed you carelessly, sounding annoyed by your desperation. God, you wish you could move! You would give anything to be impaled by him right now. Or anything for that matter.

     He removed the digit quickly, then promptly smacked your ass with a flat hand.

     “Quiet.” You had no choice but to listen to him, involuntarily shutting your mouth and stifling your whimpers. “If you want something, be polite about it. Do you know how to be polite?”

     You nodded your head, a single tear trailed down your cheek. Your hole was teased again, repeating the same process as before. Rohan was such an asshole, but god if you didn’t love it.

If you have established a relationship where he has complete control over everything you say or do, he will abuse it so much. Just, tells you to sit still, turns on a wand or vibrator and just tortures you to the point of tears. You can talk, he didn’t take that away (mostly because he wants to hear you beg), but the position he put you in on top of the order. It’s too much for you. 

He’ll do the same with a dildo, a fucking machine, his own dick, does not matter! Once you give him that power, RIP to your organs.

Alright, now. Voyeurism. This man is a freak and does not try to hide it when it’s under the guise of “art.” Again, if established, he will hire random people to do whatever he wants to you. If you’re okay with it, he’ll record it for later research. 

Rohan is a weird jealous type, so he checks out every person you meet and makes sure they’re perfect (ie. not competition and someone you’ll enjoy). Very rarely does he let you pick out the people. Like I said, he’s a weird jealous type. Likes to see you with other people, but not with other people, you know?

There is only one person who he considers competition that he wants you to fuck at least once and it’s Jotaro. Are we surprised? No. Dude is built like a god and has the goods to match. Even Rohan can’t deny it. He would probably want to join in as well, but Jotaro would never do anything like that.

Mmmm, punishments for being bratty? Ooooh, yes. Smack my ass like a drum! Makes you count, absolutely. If he’s in a bitchy, lazy mood he’ll use a paddle or something like that, other than that, he uses his hands. 

As you’ve probably surmised, he likes having control over you in the bedroom, so it’s no surprise he also enjoys tying you up and has a particular fondness for swings where he’ll hang you up and tease you until you can barely walk. 

I mentioned baths in the SFW section, now let me elaborate. Doesn’t like sex in the bath, he hates when the water gets everywhere, but loves when you worship him while scrubbing him down and will allow you to work him up with a light hand job. This usually leads to a blowjob of some kind whether it’s gentle or rough.

Speaking of! His favourite part of sex is probably oral. From sucking bruises into each other’s necks, rough kissing, right down to holding you against the wall and choking you with his dick. Or a dildo, if he wants something a little more adventurous like mirror sex with him taking you from behind and making you watch yourself choke over and over again.

Cock warming is only ever used as punishment for being too needy, but he will keep you in his lap until you’re in tears. He is absurdly patient when it comes to sex.

     You whined, grinding yourself onto Rohan’s dick. He chuckled before letting out a theatrical sigh. Your grip on his shoulders got harder and you buried your face into his neck more.

     “What’s wrong, (Y/N)?” He trailed a soft, teasing hand up your thigh. “You wanted attention, yes? Then, why are you complaining? Now, up, I need another look at my reference.”

     You sighed, tired and riled up at the same time. With new vigour, you sat up, leaning back to show your artist his latest obsession. He hummed in appreciation, taking a minute to admire his muse before licking a warm stripe up your sternum making you gasp. He stopped, giving you a look of warning.

     “Don’t move.” You gave him a curt nod, trying your best to follow your command while he returned his tongue to your chest, exploring your skin’s taste. He flicked over your nipple with the tip, testing your resolve before wrapping his lips around it, sucking harshly. A moan fought its way through your throat as he became more feverous with his suckling. 

     Rohan hummed with you, theatrically mulling over the saltiness, then switching to the next one. Satisfied with the redness around your nipples, he pulls back, looking you over once again. A lightbulb seems to go off in his head and he reaches for his sketchbook which only made his cock shift inside you, rubbing against your walls in a delightfully painful way.

     “Rohan-sensei,” you moaned out. Admittedly, you didn’t like calling him that, but he insisted you call him sensei during times like this. 

     “Stop moving, you’re ruining the picture,” he chided. “Go back to the way you were, darling.” He leaned back, rolling his hips into you to punctuate his words as well as tease you. 

Model nude for him. Whether you like it or not, he will ask you to do it and, if he’s in a sexy mood, you will be asked to do uncomfortable positions that will definitely leave you sore the next day. “It highlights how the muscles work for a new character I’m drawing” or so he says. Other than that, he’ll just let you pick somewhere comfortable and sexy to lie down. 

[hongnanglen-arina]

The Ulzzang Project - Part 3 | Jeon Wonwoo

 Read part 2  Read part 4

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Genre: a little fluff and angst, crack

Pairing: Jeon Wonwoo x female reader

Warnings: well, not too angsty I guess but I didn’t re-read.. oh and alcohol consuming

Words: 3.3k

A/N: Hello hello! Sorry for the rather long wait! I thought it could spice it up if someone else is thrown into the pot hehehe (: as always, I’d be happy to know your thoughts about it. Please remember that English isn’t my first language so excuse my grammar ♡

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You tapped the pencil against your chin. Working on a presentation wasn’t your thing and especially the beginning was the most stressful part, always. A brainstorming sketch was on a sheet of paper in front of you and between the person you were with. It was nice to work on it at a public place and you loved to have cafe sounds in the background. That’s why you suggested this cafe in the first place. You’ve already finished on a couple of presentations here and the vibe this cafe was giving you helped a lot. But you weren’t sure if it was the right decision today - for this presentation. You couldn’t hear the familiar sounds of people talking and relaxing with the coffee machine preparing the next order. All you could hear was whispering. Loud whispering. And you could feel the stares shooting holes in your body from every angle possible.

“We should write down some notes for the first part. Hasn’t be too much. Like in 20 minutes we compare our notes and decide what’s best?” You tried to ignore the glares you got, looking at the boy in front of you.

Yoon Jeonghan.

Actually you liked your professor but his idea to team you up with Jeonghan for this statistics project was stupid. All your prayers that he would change his mind or that Jeonghan would complain so much that you would get a different partner were useless. After he saw who you were, he even insisted doing it with you and you didn’t understand why.

So you just settled with the thought of doing it. Not that you had another option anyways.

But all those girls who were watching you two made you uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

Your project partner leaned back. “I’m fine if you start. I’m sure your pretty head is very useful for this.”

Somehow it didn’t surprise you. His attitude was exactly like you had assumed after everything you head… and also after seeing his Instagram. Was this boy really of no use? Tall and handsome but an asshole? Although you weren’t surprised, you still had some hope that not all good looking people were bad. Best example, your best friend Wonwoo.

The thought of Wonwoo caused you to sigh. Yesterday at this time, you were sitting outside on a bench with your friends. You could even see the place from where you were stuck with Jeonghan if you looked outside the window. After you discovered the new post with Wonwoo’s text, your break was over and everyone left for their next subject. Up until now you weren’t sure what he meant with it. It had to be a joke. Just something to gain more followers and likes. Something fitting for your fake couple page. But why did it make your heart skip a beat when you first saw it? You didn’t know what to say to your best friend or how to address the topic so you thought you would let him take the first step, which hadn’t happened. It made you angry for no reason.

You sighed again. This time louder.

“Are you mad at me?”

Jeonghan’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. “What?”

“You didn’t react when I was talking to you so I got worried.”

Quickly lowering your gaze, you flipped around an empty page, readjusting the pencil in your hand. “Oh no no, don’t worry. Everything’s okay. I already have some ideas for our project. Just give me a moment.”

The person in front of you smiled widely at your reply, which you missed out on because you were already scribbling down while your brain was working and distracting itself from your male best friend.

“Oh great! I can leave then, yes? Thank you y/n. We can discuss our project later. Maybe tomorrow, same time same place?” He got up from his chair and was about to turn around with a ‘bye’ when you stood up as well, calling his name.

“Yoon Jeonghan, let me remind you. This is a group project. A group project is supposed to be done as a group. In a group. You may decide who will focus on which part but what you just said sounded as if you expect me to do everything alone. Please tell me I’m wrong.”

He turned around to face you again, the smile still on his lips. “I knew your pretty head was useful. You got it absolutely right. I’m looking forward to the outcome. See you tomorrow then, y/n!”

He really was an asshole.

“Stop you little shit!”

Suddenly it was quiet around you but you didn’t care. You were angry.

“The fact that I was writing and actually trying to be productive wasn’t a hint for you to stand up and go away. I want to do this because I have to. No matter if you’re my partner or someone else. Knowing you better shows me that I would probably be happier with someone else that’s not as ignorant and dumb as you. I really hoped you would prove me wrong but it’s just the looks that you have. Everything else is bad. Anyways, if you leave now, I will talk to our prof and tell him about it. I won’t do it with you if you let me work alone. I will give you one more chance or I’m the one that’s off. So?”

Jeonghan looked at you with wide eyes. 

You were the first girl. The first that wasn’t following him. That wasn’t only agreeing to everything he said. The first girl that wasn’t head over heels for him.

You were different.

“So?” You repeated, slightly impatient. There were quite some places you would rather be right now than here with Yoon Jeonghan and is admires who were glaring at you for not treating him as the hottest and most wanted man on campus. Who came up with this nonsense anyways!?

“What.. do you… want me to do?” He finally asked you and the way he was standing in front of you seemed as if he was confused, scared even.

“The presentation. It has to be done. And for that, you and I will sit here and work on it.”

He slowly flops down on his chair again and for once you thought he looked cute but you quickly shook the thought off before sitting down again as well, taking your pencil again.

As you wanted to continue writing, you heard him clear his throat, causing you to look up from your paper. “What is it?”

“… can you give me a pen and paper?” 

It took you a second until you gave him the things he asked you for. Maybe he had nothing to write. Whatever the reason, you felt great that you made the ‘holy’ Jeonghan work on the project. Maybe he wasn’t an asshole after all.

—

You sat on the floor, back resting against you bed as you took a sip of the new smoothie your mother made. There were too many ingredients, you could only remember it had apple, chia, spinach and banana in it. 

Without noticing, your sleepy mind trailed from how you were working on your presentation with Jeonghan to the boy from your shared Instagram account. There was still no message on your phone from him. Did he just write it underneath the post without a meaning? Were you the only one who was trying to read between the lines to understand what he might wanted to say?

Absentmindedly you grabbed your phone to catch up with the things you missed while being with Jeonghan the whole day after your classes. After seeing again that there was no new message from Wonwoo in you chat app - only one from Chan, asking you if you had seen the new choreography video of a dance team you two liked - you changed the app and scrolled through your Instagram feed. Nothing interesting nor new. On Wonwoo’s personal page was no update. On your shared one was no update. Bored, you clicked the like button on a photo of Dokyeom and his selfmade pizza which looked amazing and a photo of Hoshi’s tiger plushie with the text ‘horanghae’. 

Sighing, the thought of your friend still bothered you. It unusual for him to be this quiet all day. Maybe you should take the first step and just start a conversation? Casually? There was still a high possibility that he wrote the sentence without a meaning so why not say hi?

[Y/n] Hey, what’s up?

Was that casual enough?

2 Minutes passed. No response.

5 Minutes passed. Still no response.

“Why is he like this?!” You whined, letting yourself fall to the side so you were lying on the floor when your mother came into your room after knocking twice. 

“Are you alright dear? Are you exhausted from uni? Or is my smoothie bad?? You can tell me honestly, I won’t get mad, I promise.”

You pouted and mouthed ‘uni’ and she nodded understandingly. “Rest then. You know, if you need anything, tell me. I can cook your favorite dish or prepare dessert. I can read you a book or cuddle you to sleep-“

“Mom!”

She laughed and waved apologetic. “Understand. My little girl isn’t so little anymore. Just call whenever you need me. I’ll be in the living room watching my drama.”

You thanked her and watched her leave your room.

Automatically you looked at your phone again, opening Instagram. While you were working on your presentation with Jeonghan, you two exchanged numbers and followed each other on the app. You had an actually nice conversation and got to know him a little better. He wasn’t so snobbish as you though he would be.

Your eyes were glued on Jeonghan’s update from 2 hours ago. It was a photo of you how you were concentrated on writing down your part from your project, two milkshakes in front of you. His had less while your own drink was almost full and untouched because you had a rush of ideas and decided to write them down before it disappeared. You didn’t know he took a photo. That’s when you saw the text he added to the photo.

Interesting. She might become a candidate (:

A candidate for what?? Cocking your head to the side, you wanted to know what he meant with it when your phone chimed, telling you about a new message. When you saw that it was from Wonwoo, your fingers tapped faster to read it.

[Wonwoo] Bored to death. You?

[Y/n] Same. Park in 30? Crave ice cream…

Maybe you replied too fast but you didn’t care. You were just happy he was talking to you even though you weren’t sure why you were worried he wouldn’t. There was no issue between the two of you or was it?

[Wonwoo] Deal. See ya

Although you were relieved he replied and even agreed to seeing you but something in you was still worried for some reason. But you couldn’t deny the little excitement in the back of your mind.

After finishing your smoothie and making your mother happy with it, you complimented her before leaving the apartment to meet up with Wonwoo. Even though it was dark outside, the fact that you were going to meet your childhood friend made your mother worry less. She knew that he was a good person and if something scary would occur, he would defend or help you first. 

With the familiar cheers and wishes that ‘your mother would be overly happy if you two would finally get together as a couple’, you left your home and made your way to the little park. You wondered if Wonwoo was already there. 

While you were walking, your thoughts traveled to everything that happened over the last few days. 

Last weekend, when you decided to start your shared Instagram and act as an ulzzang couple just to see how many likes and followers you could get within a month. The seemingly normal texts under his posts that made your heart skip a beat. The way he babied you more than once which he had never done before. The overall vide he gave was different. You could still recognize your bestie but there was something that had changed but you weren’t able to tell why that was or what it caused. 

Then to uni. Your presentation with the infamous Yoon Jeonghan who you disliked from the second you were introduced to him through your friends and their knowledge about him. He was too handsome that he just had to be arrogant and ignorant. It turned out that he is from the outside but strangely after you scolded him in front of everyone else in the cafe, he was very nice and cooperative all of a sudden. He even told you that he would work on the middle part and you could go through it tomorrow. You still didn’t fully believe him so you might prepare something in case it was all a lie. But you could do that tomorrow. Today your priority was Wonwoo.

When you arrived at the park, he wasn’t there. Maybe you were too happy and walked too fast?

Looking around and making sure that he really wasn’t around, you slowly made your way to the swing and sat down, slightly moving back and forth with your feet on the ground and hands around the chains on each side. You looked down when out of nowhere fear crept up your spine. 

Oh your friends: the ‘what if’s’.

What if he was disappointed in you for whatever reason? Maybe for not texting him sooner? What if he was mad at you for not using your shared account? At least not as often as he did? What if he wasn’t happy about Jeonghan teaming up with you for the presentation? But then again, it wasn’t your decision. He couldn’t blame you.

You shook your head. Those questions should go away. 

You knew why they have appeared.

Because you missed your best friend.

And combined with the fact that you felt his attitude was different over the last week just added to your pile of anxiety. 

A soft tap on your shoulder caused you to snap out of your thoughts. Wonwoo was standing beside you with melon ice cream in his hands, offering you one.

“Heard you wanted ice cream?”

Immediately, you smiled at him, a warmth rushing through your body as you finally saw your friend again and him paying attention to you intensified the relieve.

“Thank you.”

You took one and started eating it while Wonwoo sat down on the other swing, both of you enjoying your ice cream in silence. The noises of your surroundings were kind of far away from you, looking for words to start a conversation.

Once you finished, you looked at the boy beside you, just to notice that he was looking at you too.

“I missed you,” you said in unison and the moment your brains progressed it, you two looked away sheepishly.

It was stupid, you had to admit. It only had been a little over 1 day that you haven’t seen your friend but because of the overall situation, you were were like this.

Again, you were looking for words to form a sentence and to distract yourself from the red cheeks. “W-what were you doing when I sent the message?”

His head turned back to you when he started to talk, “I was playing an online game but it wasn’t my day today. They always killed me with ease. Wherever I was hiding, whatever I thought was a good tactic, they found me and ended my sad life. Your message helped. What about you?”

“Did nothing. Well, complimenting my mother on her new smoothie?”

Suddenly Wonwoo was chuckling. “Sometimes I envy you for not living alone as I do.”

“You’re not alone. I’m literally always at your place.”

Your reply made Wonwoo sigh and you tried to figure out why he was feeling down all of a sudden, waiting for him to answer your silent question but he asked you something else, changing the topic.

“How is your presentation going?”

It took you by surprise but you decided to give him an honest answer, just being happy to have a topic to talk about.

“At first I hated Jeonghan but he’s okay. Really. After I got angry at him, he actually worked on it with me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he even volunteered to prepare the middle part. You know, the most important part of the whole thing. He also listened to me and-“

“You got angry at him?”

“U-uh… yeah. That dude wanted to leave me alone and don’t help with it. Can you imagine? He really thought he could get away with it. But not with me, ha!”

He chuckled again, seemingly approving your previous outburst of anger with the other.

While you were watching Wonwoo from the side and admiring his crunched laughter, you remembered his Instagram post and started chewing on the inside of your cheek.

Wonwoo didn’t notice your nervousness as he was shaking his head at the thought of you making a scene in front of his fanclub. He wished he would have seen it happening. Something told him that it wouldn’t be the only occasion for you to lose your temper with him and that he may see it the next time if he sticked to you more often.

“Wanna skip tomorrow’s morning lectures with me?”

The question left your lips faster than you could think and surprised you as well as him when you met Wonwoo’s expression, but his was quickly followed by a smirk.

“Do I smell a mario kart session with greasy food?”

“Yep.”

Hearing his amused snort made you happy for some reason and when he got up and held his hand out for you to grab and follow him, you did as he wordlessly asked and went to his place, hand in hand. Like you often did.

It seemed as if your anxiety was for nothing. He was the same when you arrived at his place, got out of your shoes and offered you a can of beer. He was the same when he asked you what you wanted to eat. He was even the same when he took the last bite of your dish without asking beforehand. And he was the same when he started a fight when he lost against you at mario kart 4 matches in a row. You felt as if it had been a decade since you laughed as much.

You made a mental note not to think too much again when it comes to your best friend.

After a while you two changed to more comfortable clothes as you opened your third can of beer, Wonwoo was on his fourth. That was exactly what you needed. Although it wasn’t the best decision but numbing your previous doubts and fears and enjoying the company of your bestie was the best right now.

“I love spending time with you y/n.”

Thanks to the alcohol in your system, you weren’t too shy to react to his words and felt kind of adventurous. “Thanks for the kind words but to be honest I expected to hear that you want to take your sexy photos now that I’m drunk.”

“Ha ha ah… you’re not completely wrong though.” Wonwoo readjusted his glasses and took a sip of his beer when you said, “Okay. let’s do this.” Your friend nearly choked on the alcohol but asked again what you just said, just in case he heard wrong.

“I said, let’s take those photos for our Instagram.”

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but how do I write whump? I can't think of any ideas for my writing in general, even if they're stupid ideas my brain just goes blank trying to think of anything at all and I can't get past that.

I think probably you’re maybe putting a little too much pressure on getting the ‘right’ kind of idea, or that something needs to be a certain way. Whump is a very wide open genre of writing to explore!

One way I found inspiration early on was by looking up whump writing here, searching ‘whump’ or ‘whump series’ and checking out what others were doing. I mean, that’s how I learned in the first place there was a whole community of writers here who were into the same kinds of stories I was!

Think about what kinds of whump you like most to read, and that might give you a good starting point. Do you like isolation and captivity? Whipping or branding scenes? Pet whump and dehumanization? Spicy whump that gets into the nsfw side of things? Long-term whump with stores that take place over the course of years, or shorter ones that portray a month or two in the life of an OC?

If you’re drawn to, say, branding scenes, you might consider writing a little branding scene of your own. And my number one advice would be to not tell yourself you are writing it because you’re going to post or publish it. That can immediately put an internal pressure on you that might make it more difficult to keep writing. Instead, just tell yourself - it doesn’t matter what the ‘quality’ is, just get the thought on the page. Even if it’s just a plot synopsis more than a fully written piece, describe the idea you had and you might find that once you see the concept sketched out in broad strokes, it’s easier for your brain to focus on the ‘prompt’ and keep going to fully flesh it out.

I would also tell you that odds are good they’re not stupid ideas, because that’s not how ideas work. Your imagination is a good thing! It sounds like you’re getting a little down on your ideas before you ever give them a chance to breathe. Some of my pieces are based on seriously the weirdest random thoughts that ran through my brain one day. Don’t apply judgements to a daydream because some of your best plotting or writing work can happen before you ever put your fingers to a keyboard, and you need to give your thoughts the time to coalesce and breathe without value judgements.

I like to do what I call “blocking out the scene” before I get into a piece - a short couple sentences at the top on what I expect to happen and how the scene will be initially set up. For instance: “Chris wakes up hungover and sad, Jake brings him coffee and they talk, Jake reveals childhood” becomes a much longer piece - but that little bit of blocking gave me a place to jump off of.

Or I’ll start with dialogue. If you look, you will likely see that a huge percentage of my work begins with a single sentence of dialogue I use as a jumping-off point for the rest. Or a single action works well for this, too.

In the end, the best advice is to write it. Get the words on the page. Even if you don’t end up finishing the scene itself, or you don’t like it, you may find bits of writing or dialogue you DO love and can use in another piece later on. I have TONS of abandoned WIPs I didn’t like that I shamelessly steal fragments of for finished pieces later on. I have entire folder in my google drive called “Well That Didn’t Work” where I keep them. 

Think of the whump you like most to read, maybe sketch out a quick little prompt or concept idea that pops into your head, and then just keep expanding it. You may find that once you get going, the words come more easily than you expected. 

Hope this helps!

[misssophiachase]

The Luck of the Draw

For @klaroline-events KC Bingo -  Sketchbook - On FF and AO3

Klaus loses his sketchbook at school and Caroline (his sister’s best friend) finds it. The problem is it contains drawings of her and Caroline has enlisted his help to track down its owner. What could possibly go wrong?

“I need you now.”

“I know I’m amazing, but…”

“Would you just shut up and get in here?’

“If you wanted a tour of my bedroom, all you needed to do was ask, sweetheart.”

“Shhhhh,” she hissed, pulling him inside the room and shutting the door behind them. “Do you want the whole house to hear you, Mikaelson?”

“Says the girl who invited herself into my bedroom.”

“I’ve been trying to get your attention all night. What did you think I was doing under the dinner table?”

“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure if that was you or Arabella doing that,” he smirked. Arabella was the Mikaelson’s pet cat. Although friendly, Klaus knew exactly who was doing the rubbing. “Now, is there a point to all the dramatics, Forbes?’

“You infuriate me.”

“Enough with the compliments, love,” Klaus replied lazily, lying on his bed and placing his hands behind his head.

“You promised to help me find, well you know.”

“If we knew who it was you wouldn’t need my help.” Her response was an exaggerated eye roll. “Fine, I don’t have anything for you.”

“Unbelievable.”

“To be fair, you only brought me this proposition a couple of days ago. I need time to track down that kind of information.”

“Okay, calling it a proposition, which it so isn’t, makes it sound untoward,” she shot back. “How difficult is it to ask around?”

“Artists aren’t like cheerleaders and jocks; we do things differently. You know less flashy and more…”

“Sullen and brooding?”

“I personally take offence to that.”

“Says the broody guy who called me flashy,” she muttered. “How difficult is it to ask all your arty people if they’ve lost a sketchbook? One that just happens to have drawings of me on every page.”

Hearing that reminded Klaus just what was at stake here.

Sure, he’d lied when she’d brought him the sketchbook. He’d been looking for it for days when she presented it to him after finding it on the bleachers post cheer practice.

After kicking himself mentally for leaving it in such a public place, Klaus assumed she’d worked out it was his and was madly trying to decide out how to explain himself.

Sure, it probably looked creepy to an outsider, but Klaus had been sketching her for the last two years.

Given Rebekah had told him in no uncertain terms “to keep his mitts off” her friends, he had no choice but to draw her instead. Klaus considered it his way of dealing with his unrequited feelings.

They were worlds apart in the school hierarchy. Caroline was a junior and did pretty much every extracurricular activity on offer. Klaus, a senior, liked his space far too much to go to football games and parties. He much preferred spending time with his few close friends, reading books and drawing.

What he wasn’t expecting was for Caroline to ask his help in tracking down the sketchbook’s owner. At first, he considered coming clean but then had no idea how he’d explain himself so went with the alternative.

Tracking down someone who didn’t really exist.

What Klaus hadn’t expected was to have so much fun being around her. He knew she was beautiful, intelligent and all-consuming but the past few days had given him a glimpse of what could be. Or, given his sister’s views, what could have been.

Although, Klaus wasn’t going to let those thoughts get in the way. He was having far too much fun to stop now. One thing, however, had alluded him. What were here plans once she discovered the secret artist?

“I’m curious, Forbes. What exactly do you plan on doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Once you find your mystery artist, what happens next?”

“I, uh,” she faltered, her blue eyes filled with uncertainty. “I suppose I haven’t worked that out yet.”

“Why’s that?’ Klaus asked, hoping his voice didn’t sound as desperate as it felt. 

“Caroline! Where are you?” Rebekah’s voice pierced the air. Even with his door shut she could still be heard. “I need help removing this face masque before it decides to stick on me for good.”

“Quelle horreur,” he joked in French, earning a knowing smile from her best friend. “Sounds like you better go tend to the screaming banshee given this disaster could rival the Titanic.”

“I’m not finished with you.”

“I kind of figured,” he nodded thinking that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at all.  With another eye roll and a hair toss for good measure, she made her way towards the door. “Next time try and refrain from accosting me in my bedroom though, love.”

“You wish, Mikaelson,” she retorted, turning around one last time before pulling the door closed behind her. 

He really did wish.

It was only after she’d left, leaving a scent of vanilla and strawberries in her wake, that Klaus realised he already missed her.

2 days later

“What exactly are we doing here?”

“Why are you whispering? This isn’t the library last time I checked.”

Klaus had suggested they stake out the school’s art studio at lunch to try and track down her sketchbook owner. Yes, he was lying, but couldn’t resist being around her without the whole school watching them.

She’d been texting him a lot the past day and they’d fallen into their usual banter via cell phone. If he knew how fun this would have been he’d have started much earlier. 

C: How does someone draw like this?

K: Like what?

C: I always thought my stick figures were lifelike but then I saw these.

K: Stick figures get way too much criticism if you ask me.

C: Now you’re just being facetious.

K: That’s a big word for such a little girl.

C: It’s okay, I’ll buy you a dictionary so you can look it up, Mikaelson.

“So, this is where everything happens?” She asked, looking around at the myriad of paints and brushes, easels and canvases. Klaus liked the art studio, he found it incredibly relaxing and tranquil.

“You mean the painting?”

“No, dumbass, I mean the brooding.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re hilarious?” He teased, swatting her playfully with a paint brush.

“All the time,” she replied deadpan. “I’m thinking of majoring in drama at college.”

“Well, you have that drama queen thing going for you.” She gave him a look which clearly said he’d gone too far. “I’m not saying you’ll win an Academy Award for best dramatic performance though, that has my sister written all over it.”

“I’ve never understood how you two are related,” Caroline mused. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love Rebekah, but she’s so loud and bossy and you’re…”

“Not?”

“Obviously you missed out on that and she missed out on the smart-ass gene,” she laughed, her whole face lighting up. Klaus loved watching her love, hell he loved watching her do anything.

She was wearing her cheerleading uniform as there was a game that night. Her blonde waves were piled into a high ponytail and the school colours only made her eyes that much bluer.  

“So, how are we going to find this mystery person when no one is here?”

“That’s the whole point,” he insisted. “Take a look around and see if anyone’s artwork looks familiar.”

“Where’s your work?”

“Why?” He asked curiously but also probably too quickly. Was she onto him?

“Well, we’ve known each other all this time and I’ve never seen your work,” she offered. “You must be pretty good if you’re going to RISD after graduation.”

“How do you know about that?” Klaus was shocked, although they saw each other frequently he didn’t think she ever actually saw him. 

“Your sister must have mentioned it,” she murmured. Klaus noticed a slight blush cross her cheeks and decided it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “So, I, uh, guess I should take a look around.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he only just managed to get out. 

“Not many stick figures and here I thought I had a future in art.” 

“I can teach you.” It just came out before Klaus had time to process his offer. Maybe it was a stupid thing to suggest but it was too late now. 

“I might be a lost cause,” she admitted. 

“Come on, let’s give it a try.”

“Now?”

“Well, there’ll be less embarrassment if you draw a stick figure without the judgmental, brooding artist crowd watching.” Before she could argue, he’d moved in behind her, placing a sketchpad on the desk and a pencil in her hand. 

He was trying to ignore just how good she felt against his chest. He noticed her breath quicken, hoping for even just a second that she felt even a shred of what he did for her. 

“Okay, so point the pencil towards the paper,” he instructed, placing his hand over hers and tilting it slightly. Her skin was just as soft as it looked. “This is how you need to hold it.” 

“So, that’s what I was doing wrong all this time,” she teased. He smiled against her hair, thinking just how comfortable he felt, his hand guiding hers gently to the paper. 

Later that night

“I thought football games were a waste of time,” she teased, approaching him on the bleachers. The crowds were long gone, the field empty. “I seem to recall you saying something only a few days ago about cheerleaders and jocks being too flashy.”

“Well, if the shoe fits,” he muttered. “I was bored, what can I say?”

“Did you at least catch my halftime act?”

“I did actually,” he smiled, thinking he quite liked what he saw. The pure athleticism on display was impressive and it didn’t hurt that she looked beautiful doing it. “Those spirit fingers had to be my favourite part though.”

“Uh, huh,” she growled sarcastically. “I knew you were secretly watching Bring It On when you thought Rebekah and I didn’t notice.” 

“In my defence, Finn and Elijah watched it too and I had a crush on the Clover’s Captain.”

“Wow, he even remembers the team name,” she laughed, taking a seat and putting her pom poms down. “You sure do like this spot.”

“Excuse me?”

“On the bleachers. I remember you used to watch me and Rebekah practice before try-outs from here. I could tell you weren’t really interested but it meant a lot that you did it for Rebekah.”

“It wasn’t just for Rebekah, Caroline,” he murmured, his gaze now downward, finally finding her red pom poms a much needed distraction. 

“The reason this spot stands out to me is not just because of that,” she said, moving closer. “This also happens to be where I found the mystery sketchbook.”

“Really? What a coincidence.”

“You know, I don’t think it was, Klaus,” she pressed. “I know it’s your sketchbook.”

“You do?” He asked, finally looking up into her eyes. 

“I’ve known since I found it and looked inside,” she admitted. “It seemed too much of a coincidence that it was in this spot and those sketches were of me.”

“So, you were testing me?” He asked, suddenly put out that she’d known and didn’t feel the need to be honest. Klaus felt stupid enough about her finding them as it was. 

“Maybe,” she murmured. “But not for the reason you think.”

“Why then?’

“Remember in your bedroom the other night, you asked me what I’d say to the person who owned the sketchbook?” He nodded by way of response, unable to get much else out given what was transpiring. “I didn’t know because it was yours.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course I knew what I wanted to say but I guess I but didn’t know if you wanted to hear it,” she admitted. 

“Why would you think that?”

“You didn’t own up to it, I thought maybe you didn’t feel...”

“Feel what?”

“Hey, no fair! You’re the one who drew the most beautiful pictures that, by the way, I’ve only looked at hundreds of times. Which gave me all these feelings and emotions and I’m the only one having to fess up?” She was rambling but Klaus thought it was so adorable it didn’t matter. 

“I think what you wanted to say is exactly what I wanted to say back to you.”

“This conversation has become awfully confusing but what I think you might be trying to say is...”

“I love you, Caroline Forbes.” She was silent for a moment, obviously processing not only his interruption but what he’d admitted. Maybe he’d gone too far?

“Wow,” she whispered. “Way to steal a girl’s thunder.”

“Is that all you’re going to say?”

“How about we stop talking all together and do something else instead?” She grinned, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. “But for the record, I love you too.”

“Rebekah is going to kill me, isn’t she?”

“You’re really thinking about your sister right now? Just shut up and kiss me, Mikaelson.”

[moonlady9]

I checked out your wip list and I'm really curious: how do you decide which wips to work on? I noticed you had a lot of projects listed but I personally have a problem where if I start too many I have trouble finishing others, and yet your updates are always so consistent and you've finished so many oneshots!!! How do you manage it?

Thanks for the question Anon! ❤️

This is going to be long....

To be honest, being creative and actually creating is all about diligence. I can’t wait for inspiration to strike, or my muse to come around. If I did that, I would hardly ever write, draw, or paint. I am a person that likes structure so I have a schedule for myself where I allow myself to practice my creativity and create something. What I post is a result of me practicing. 

I may not always feel like following a strict schedule so I give myself permission to do something else instead. Like, if I was supposed to work on Candy but I don’t feel like writing angst and feel more like writing something fluffy, I’ll work on Epistle or Land of Fire instead. It’s why my chaptered stories have different tones. If I’m really not in a writing mood, I’ll draw or paint. The point is to exercise my creativity so its easier for me to call on my muse or harness that lightning strike of inspiration when I need it. I have control of my inspiration, the thing that is out of my control is usually energy or time.

There are times that I do become possessed with an idea and get consumed with it and I will write for three days straight and 40k words later I have a rough draft (this happens often, especially with my chaptered stories). My trick here is that I don’t post it all at once. I hold on to all those words and then I’ll schedule in when I work on it to clean them up and post updates. I have created a cushion for the times I don't write anything but still want to have something to post.

Of course sometimes life happens and I really can’t be creative and create, it’s times like those that I fall back to my prewritten stories and polish them up. It's easier to go back and edit, rewrite, and change more quickly than if I had an empty page. This also helps to restart my creativity, to warm it up, like a muscle, until it’s up and running again.

For one shots, it maybe that I have a scene but don't want to write a whole story and doesn’t fit the tone of any of my wips. One-shots can also be a away for me to test readers interests or even my own. If readers don’t seem engaged in a one-shot, I won’t continue to post it, if I’m not interested I’ll just leave it as a one-shot. The rewards system in my brain needs some validation, hence why I crave engagement, as do other creators.

One-shots are also a nice mental break to write something completely different. It’s a new exercise to add some variety and not get bored. Also, I might write a rough draft of a one-shot and not post it, and then when I feel like finishing it, I will come back to it. I have many half written or outlined stories so that if I haven’t gotten that lighting strike of inspiration, I can still create. I do write for myself a lot (as you can see from the wips list, and those are just the ones I’m sharing with you guys, trust there are more that will never see the light of day)

This is just how I work and my system. Everyone has a different way of working and creating, but my production really changed when I finally realized, inspiration isn’t something I need to wait for. I went 10 years without writing because I was just waiting for that fabled strike of inspiration, thinking I wasn’t meant to be a writer because I hadn’t been chosen by the gods. Nah, creating is just practice and diligence. Now, I can control it, I can jumpstart it by doing something small like an outline, a sketch, a rough draft, a writing or painting exercise, even a walk with my camera but doing it with intent to find something interesting. 

It won’t be good more than likely, and that’s okay. The goal isn’t for it to be good, I have no plans on writing the next great American novel, or painting the next Mona Lisa. I just to get my inspiration jumpstarted so I can enjoy the process of creating. And every piece I complete, it’s never perfect, there will always be room for improvement but I don’t hold it against myself, I just learn from it and do it better next time. I share my creations in the hope at least one person likes it or likes to see my progress and that's enough for me. Engagement helps me grow and improve and that great too. I have accepted that perfection is unattainable and not only is that okay, but exciting.

Wow, I know this is really long, but I hope it’s helpful to someone out there. Be patient and kind to yourself.

Much love and stay safe!

[quickspinner]

Take a Chance - Ch 1 First Meetings

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Summary: Lukanette college AU.  It all starts with a little mix-up. One look in her notebook and Luka is intrigued. One look in her eyes - and he’s in love.

This story came from the prompts for the first week of Lukanette September 2019. I was still pretty new to posting my stories and I wasn’t confident committing to the whole month but I figured, I could manage a week!

This story is complete on AO3

Marinette didn’t get a lot of phone calls, and she never got calls in the middle of the day. She stumbled a bit as she tried to get her phone out and walk at the same time. The number on the screen wasn’t a known contact, but it looked familiar. Wasn’t that Juleka’s number? But then why wouldn’t it show up under Juleka’s name? Frowning, she answered the call, trying not to sound too breathless. “Hello?”

“Uh, hi, I’m looking for Marinette?” The voice was male, so, definitely not Juleka. 

“I’m Marinette,” she said cautiously. 

“Cool, I’m Luka, I’m Juleka’s brother? I think we might have met once a few months back.”

“O-oh,” Marinette stammered, confused. 

“Jules gave me your number because I have something of yours and I’m kinda hoping you have something of mine. A plain black notebook that basically looks exactly like yours, except mine has music inside instead of clothes. Sound familiar?”

“Oh gosh—um, hang on, let me check.” Marinette dug through her bag and pulled out her sketchbook. She flipped it open and her stomach dropped as she found that it wasn’t hers at all. It was full of music notations and scribbled notes that might have been song lyrics. “Yes, I have it,” she confirmed. “I’m so sorry, I’m such a klutz. You live with Juleka right? I was over there this morning and I knocked over a stack of things and I thought I put it all back but I must have switched these. I hope you didn’t need it, I’m so sorry—“

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Luka said, soothingly, a touch of amusement in his warm voice. “As long as you have it, that’s fine. I do kind of need it tonight though, is there somewhere I can meet you and trade?”

“Um, let me think. I’m on my way to class now...it’s Tuesday, so my next break is at 3.”

“Okay, I’m in class until 3:30, but I could meet you right after? Um...there’s a coffee shop near the music building, do you know it? I can’t remember the name, but it has a red awning. I can meet you there after my class is over.”

“That sounds perfect,” Marinette agreed. “I know the place, I’ll meet you there.”

“Great.” Luka seemed to hesitate. “Okay, I hope this isn’t weird, but I was wondering if I could look at some more of your sketches? I only saw a few before I realized it wasn’t mine and found your name, but they looked really cool and I’m really curious to see the rest.”

Maybe it was a little weird, but it was also flattering. Marinette appreciated that he asked instead of just snooping through and not mentioning it. “Um, sure, there’s nothing really personal in it, just designs for one of my classes.”

“All art is personal,” Luka said easily, and then she heard someone calling to him. “Shit, you’re right,” he said, voice a bit distant before returning. “Marinette, I’m sorry, I’ve got to go before I’m late. I’ll see you a little after 3:30.”

“Okay, see you then,” Marinette replied, half expecting him to hang up before she finished speaking. 

Instead she heard, “See you soon, Marinette,” before the line cut out. 

***

Luka headed to the coffee shop with a quicker step than strictly necessary after escaping yet another boring, pedantic lecture from his least favorite professor. He hadn’t even heard half of it, fascinated by the book in his hand. He knew less than nothing about fashion in general and even less than that about the process of design, but there was so much life in the sketches covering the pages of the misplaced notebook. He couldn’t judge her talent, but Marinette’s passion was clear and he was curious about the girl behind the designs.

He found her easily enough, sitting in a booth facing the cafe’s entrance, his composition book placed prominently towards the edge of the table. For a moment, he felt disappointment. He wasn’t sure what he expected, and there was nothing wrong with her exactly, but...she didn’t really stand out, dressed in shades of pink and black, sweet but without any of the edge he’d seen in her art. 

But it wasn’t like him to judge on appearances and he silently berated himself as he made his way over to the table. “Marinette?”

Then she looked up and locked eyes with him, and the deep blue of the sea fell into the endless blue of the sky and he swore he heard music.  

***

Marinette had met Juleka’s brother once before, if you could call a hurried introduction and hello-goodbye a meeting, as he was rushing out to perform with his band. All she was really left with was the impression of blue, and lean muscles highlighted by body glitter.

She could see neither muscle nor glitter at the moment, but the blue was there, in his eyes and the tips of his shaggy hair. He wasn’t classically handsome but he had an interesting face, and she thought to herself that she’d like to dress him. It would be a nice change from cookie cutter models and he looked like he had a fun style. 

He smiled and gestured at the empty bench across from her. “I’m Luka. May I?”

“Oh sure, of course,” she said quickly, shuffling her things ineffectually before realizing there was plenty of room. He slid in across from her, sleepy eyes a deeper shade of blue than her own fixed on her. She blushed faintly without really knowing why and his eyes flicked away. 

“Thanks for meeting me,” he said. “I hope It wasn’t too far out of your way.”

“No, it wasn’t too far, and I’ve gotten some work done, so it’s all good. I’m so sorry about the mixup.”

He took her book out of his bag and slid it across the table towards her. “Thanks for letting me look at it. Way more interesting than my music theory class.”

“Oh,” Marinette blushed deeper. “A-are you interested in fashion?”

“No,” he admitted. “Honestly I never thought about it much, I just wear things that are comfortable and make me feel good. But I am interested in art, and I can see now that fashion is art too. So, thanks. For...a new perspective, I guess.”

Marinette couldn’t help smiling, there was something so sincere about the way he said it. He must have a really interesting way of looking at the world. 

Which maybe shouldn’t surprise her so much. Juleka was hardly known for conventional thinking. 

“I wish I could get as much from yours,” Marinette said, gesturing towards his notebook where it still lay on the table. “Not—not that I looked through it or anything, but just what I saw when I opened it, It’s only gibberish to me, I’m afraid.”

Luka smiled slowly. “You think so?” For a moment Marinette was afraid she’d insulted him, but he only took his notebook up and turned the pages for a moment. Then he laid it back down and turned it so she could see the open pages. “What do you see here?”

She looked, and at first it was only gibberish, as she’d said, a mix of notes and musical terms, with occasional notes that made sense but didn’t, like “dark, flash flood, drowning.” Marinette glanced up at Luka, who was watching her with a small smile on his face. She looked down at the page again, and this time she noticed the dark lines and deep grooves, the places where things were not just crossed out, but scratched through or scribbled black. The whole feel of the page was frustration, maybe even anger. “This,” she said slowly, looking up at him. “This was not a good day.”

Luka’s smile widened. “See? You can’t read the notes, but the feelings still come through. I felt the same way about yours.” Marinette slid the notebook back to him, smiling herself. “Can I ask you something?” Luka asked. “You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.” He gestured to her notebook again and she handed it back to him. He thumbed quickly through the pages until he found the one he wanted. He put it back down in front of her, watching her face. “What happened?”

The page was scribbled over with thick black marker lines, zigzagging across the dress that had been coming to life on the page. Beneath the thick scribbles, there were notes written around the sketch, some scratched out and some visibly messier than others. Marinette winced looking at it. “It couldn’t do what I wanted to,” she said, after staring at it for a moment. “It was...the dress wasn’t right for the concept, or the concept couldn’t be a dress at all, and the more I tried to fix it the more frustrated I got. Then my TA reviewed my work for the week and ripped me a new one over it, and...I just knew I wasn’t ever going to be excited over it again, so I scrapped it.”

She felt ashamed as she said it, like she was admitting she was a quitter, but Luka just nodded, as if she made perfect sense, then reached over and turned a couple of pages.

“Not that my opinion’s worth much, but this one was my favorite. It just has so much energy. It feels...hopeful. Like it’s waiting for great things to happen.” He glanced up at her, looking uncertain for the first time in their conversation. “I hope that came out right. I’m not always great at explaining things.”

Marinette just stared at him in wonder, a bright smile slowly spreading over her face. “No, I think you got exactly what I was thinking. It’s a first date dress, I mean, that’s what I was thinking when I made it.”

Luka nodded slowly. “Potential.”

Marinette beamed. “Yes, exactly.” She leaned on the table and put her chin on her fist, looking at him with renewed curiosity. He looked back for a minute, and then straightened abruptly.

“I think I’m going to get a drink, would you like anything?” Luka said, sliding from the booth.

Marinette blinked. “Um, yeah, that would be great. A cinnamon latte?” 

“Got it. Be right back.”

Marinette sat back as he walked away. 

He seemed nice.

***

Do you believe in love at first sight?

He’d heard the question many times before, usually from people trying to pick him up after performances, but until now he’d been largely agnostic on the matter. It could happen, but I’ve never seen it.

Luka was a thorough believer now.

Of course he knew the term coup de foudre but he’d never known it was so...accurate. He’d never experienced a shock to his system like the one he’d felt when he locked eyes with Marinette.

They were supposed to just exchange books and go on their way. He was bad at small talk, he knew it, but jumping into such an intimate conversation hadn’t been his intention either. He fervently hoped he wasn’t scaring her off. He knew his natural intensity could be off putting when he was too focused on a single person, and right now he was very, very focused on Marinette.

Luka ordered the drinks in to go cups, just in case. 

When he returned with the drinks he felt a bit better. Marinette looked more comfortable and relaxed, and made no move to flee once he set her drink in front of her. 

When he was back in his seat, Marinette surprised him, asking, “So, um, is music your major or just a hobby?”

“Music Ed, actually,” Luka replied, wrapping his long fingers around his cup. 

“Really? You want to be a teacher?”

Luka chuckled. “I’d like to be a musician and not starve. Honestly, I’d like to give private lessons so I can work one on one with the kids and still work on my own music.”

“I remember you play in a band,” Marinette said. 

“Yeah, we’re playing this weekend actually.” Luka rummaged in his bag for the stack of fliers, grateful for the opening. He pulled one out and handed it to Marinette. “I’d love for you to come.” Her eyes met his again and he felt that same shock run through his system. He wondered if she felt it too. 

He flexed his fingers, wishing for his guitar. 

[bvannn]

Weekly Update January 26, 2024

I am still very sick. I just took my second increased dose of the medicine, hoping it will help. Whatever stomach issue I was having a bit ago appears to have returned as well, or it could be more side effects from the surgery. Or something else. I don’t know. I tried fasting on Wednesday and felt physically better but also guilty, and I don’t want to keep doing it because I know it’s dangerous. I’m still a healthy weight for my height so I can probably get away with doing it like, once a week, but I don’t want to accidentally lose too much weight either because I’m already a 22 year old adult who buys clothes in the kids section I don’t need to be any smaller. I’ll figure it out, I’m trying to focus what I am eating on fruits and nuts, hoping it’ll detox me a bit.

I did a couple drawings this week. Kinda. The one I posted was actually sketched back before the surgery I just hadn’t digitized it yet. I only posted the one drawing because I want to hold on to the other for a bit because it’s part of that epithet prompt set I made. I’m fully not expecting to do every one of those prompts, but I figured hey since I missed a few I can do a batch of the missed prompts and release them at once. I sketched the one for this week and planned on finishing it on Wednesday but I got sick again. Once I’m feeling better I’ll try to focus more on drawings. I think I gotta scrap the big animation project I was working on due to circumstances beyond my control, which sucks but theoretically I can try other animation things too. I’ve been sitting on an idea for a short Detective Conan animation, maybe I’ll do that. Or maybe I’ll stay sick. Idk. I kinda want to figure out how I would animate Shaun, since he’s a ghost so I’d have to deal with both transparency and glow effects, plus certain aspects of his design that were meant to be more flowy, like his shirt-tail-thing. I could poke after effects again but it seems a lot more tedious than I had hoped.

I did review over comic stuff this week too, although I haven’t made any progress since I really started getting the surgery after effects. I like how it’s flowing for the most part, but I’m probably going to have to do second drafts of a few pages. Kinda sucks that everything feels so rushed, since I want to fit the whole introductory chapter into ~32 pages, which I’m totally able to do but I have to hold off on some little dialogue exposition conversations that I think people would like. Any story with ghosts is going to have people wanting to fully understand how the ghosts physically work, especially when it becomes relevant, but some of that can be put off until later because character moments are more important. Whatever, I can always keep going.

I feel super bad about not being able to do anything but I’m still so screwed up. I want to take another stab at music, and maybe I will, but I need to sit upright to play piano which screws with my stomach, and in order to pick out VSTs I want on a song I need to be able to have a midi that resembles what the final will sound like and I need to be in the headspace to listen to music without going into sensory overload. I’m pretty sure all of this is sleep related, I have the weekend to hopefully catch up on sleep, but I need to do some homework as well. And I need to stop waking up in the middle of the night. I’m afraid to double dose on sleep medicine because even though I know it’s safe after 6 or so hours, I don’t want to be reliant on sleep medicine because that’s how Michael Jackson died. Might have to wait for my surgery bs to subside before I can try to detox though.

I don’t know what to do with myself right now. I feel awful, I feel like my insides are rotting, but I know they’re not since I’m not in pain from it (or at least not enough pain to really believe that). Plus surgeon looked at me before I moved back to Uni and seemed really impressed with how quickly I was healing. Even though I probably disobeyed her ‘don’t lift more than 20 pounds’ rule. Like a lot. I did feel better this week than I did last, so I’m hoping I can bounce back pretty quick. I’ll give it another week or two before I ask my primary if I need another medicine. I’m hesitant right now because both she and the surgeon seemed to agree beforehand that I wouldn’t, and I want to trust them. I don’t know. Time providing I’ll try to do more drawings this week.

[vonnyphant]

1st Chemo

Oh boy, today did not go as planned. I will be honest with you in a minute, but for now, let’s enjoy the fantasy I had concocted in my head about this moment : 

I wake up in a good mood to fight the Big Bad.

I eat a healthy, responsible meal, I dress sensibly, with access to my port but still warm and stylish and I pick a hat that says ‘maybe I have cancer, but it might just also be that I like whimsical hats, who are you to say?’. It has elephants on it- cute in a kawaii sort of way, and absolutely no flowery grandma pattern in sight. My granny would never.

I put on a smattering of make-up to accent my eyes- not too much because I am not Like That(tm) but just to make myself seem accessible and friendly underneath the hat and the mask covering most of my face. Oh, and earrings, to show the buzzcut did not deminish my feminity.

I am driving to the clinic, I arrive, we all have a hearty laugh as they install me in a luxurious chair in a well-aired but warm enough office room and there’s a drip in (as the blogs say) a lovely shade of pink that matches my hat. I get out my laptop and read some overdue stories people sent me to critique; I might write a chapter or two of my own work, just for bragging rights (’oh, you got writer’s block? I wrote my fic during chemo.’)

I possibly nibble on a healthy snack that I brought in wise foresight. When I get tired of writing, I read a self-help book, use my new sketch book to artistically document this step, write a letter to my kids about how much I love them, or I take out my phone and post a few selfies of me on the drip which show the reality of everything but still manage to look cute. Time flies by. 

Everyone would tell me I am handling this like a hero and call me their inspiration. I go home, pick up the kids, and resume life as normal. I possibly get awarded the nobel peace prize.

Well. Here’s how it really went, with a not so glamourous selfie.

My driver was 5 minutes early and kept the motor running outside. I was still shoveling a not-so-responsible breakfast into my mouth while I combed kids’ hairs and help look for a second sock (I am telling you it was on the couch last night I don’t care if it’s your lucky sock mommy is gonna be late ffs!) I wonder if I am allowed to have a double espresso before chemo. No time, so I leave the house grouchy without coffee.

In the bustle, I forget my phone at home.

I arrive early, and the clinic is still closed. They open on time, but it’ll be a while before they can get to me. I read a few pages of my book, but it’s almost finished and I grumble how I would have time for a quadruple espresso at home if I had known they’d stick me in a waiting room for half an hour.

At the preliminary, they tell me the pain in my arm over the port is normal and expected to be endured for at least another 6 weeks. (Noice). They scold me a bit for looking up blogs on the internet that write about the port being ripped out by a seatbelt or the skin bursting open for no reason. I am at least a little reassured this won’t happen irl.

They show me the lovely office with the chairs- three of them. It’s empty and sunny and well-aired. This is it, I think, my leisure time without the kids. I install myself comfortably and wait for the drip.

Instead, a nurse brings bags of frozen coolpacks, and explains my feet and my hands will be wrapped in them the entire time; 30 minutes before the drip, and during the 1,5 hour infusions. 

It feels like hell. It instantly feels like the way your appendages feel after you spend an hour on the playground listlessly pushing a swing going ‘can we go home yet mommy is so cold and she needs a pee!’. It starts hurting insistently, and after a few minutes I imagine my feet and fingers are turning a purplish shade of black and I look like a soldier in Napoleon’s army stuck in the snow in Russia. (I can’t see my actual feet and hands but the mind is creative like that)

Worst of all- I can’t do anything. No laptop, no book. No art. Just me and my brain. My terrible brain that can’t stop thinking about frostbite and trenches and Tolkien. And the drip isn’t even pink! Why did I wear this hat. This is the longest I have been without my phone in years. I am a literal cold turkey.

Two other patients arrive. I notice with envy they are getting comfortable with their phones and a laptop- they are on a different kind of drip and it looks cozy af.

Meanwhile I think that if I move, one of my toes will break off and I wonder how many I can lose before I lose my grip on the world. A nurse comes and, despite wanting to be the perfect patient, I ask instead if I am really to endure this icicle torture and what they’d say about this in Geneva. (actually, I ask if this isn’t maybe worse than the nerve damage it’s supposed to protect me against)

The nurse is taken aback (which my brain immediately interprets as ‘SHE HATES YOU’) and she tells me patiently (brain: snippishly) that nerve damage is not to be joked with and feeling ‘a little cold’ is uncomfortable but the alternative is losing my fine moter skills and not being able to walk anymore.

I manage to nod until she goes away, then I cry. My perfect smattering of makeup runs and tears drip into my FFPE2 mask. I accept that maybe losing a toe or a finger is worth enduring this because with no sensation in my fingers how would I type, paint, sew, sculpt- without my feet how would I dance? I take off my earrings, because they are starting to hurt and that is, at least, something I can do to make myself feel better.

The ice burn turns numb and I dose off for a little- only half, because the other guests (with their fucking laptops, netflixichilling! All I get is chills) constantly have beeping monitors going on, signifing their drips are ready. Not only do they get to entertain themselves, they are there less long than I am. Oh, and both have a lovely head of hair or very convincible wigs. I tell myself I could spot a wig from a mile and can only conclude they are getting the VIP chemo, that does not make your hair fall out and does not require freezing. Must be privately insured. Another patient arrives, gets a drip, reads his newspaper in comfort, and leaves before I am done. (what an asshole). The only small mercy is that no one tries to chat with me - though I admit me wearing a hat, noise cancelling earmuffs, a mask and runny make up is not very inviting, and my scowl at them probably least of all.

Time passes slowly (and never ‘all at once’ like falling in love in YA fiction).

I am finally done. The needle removal from the port hurts so much I instinctively jerk away and jostle my bad shoulder; which is like pulling away from a spritz of butter from the frying pan with the pan still in your hand, only to launch the entire contents of the pan on yourself in reflex instead. (have you ever done that? because I have). Good times. I get to go home and spend the whole drive home complaining to my father in law. He valiantly tries to cheer me up, failing. I am not inspiring anyone. I am not picking up the kids. I also didn’t write any letters.

I take a sad selfie for documenting sake, take a long hot shower and put myself in bed. I take a nap under 3 blankets, wondering if I’ll ever feel warm again. I am no one’s hero- I am tired and feeling very very sorry for myself.

[sadaboutniall]

something about you;

introduction | masterlist | tag | wattpad

Twenty Seven. November, 2017. 

‘Are you sure you think I look okay?’ Isla’s smoothing her hands over the front of her trousers, eyes meeting Niall’s in the mirror. He can see her hands trembling slightly, an anxious look in her eyes.

Maybe he’d been naive to think that taking Isla to the AMAs would be smooth sailing. He half thought that the glitter and glitz of Hollywood would outshine her anxiety, that she would realize that, although the things here are pretty and expensive, the people are no different, and she fits right in. He’d thought she’d feel confident and sexy with him showing her off in front of everyone else tonight—not nervous and shaky and unsure of her worth. 

‘You’re beautiful,’ he tells her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, letting one hand travel up to rest on the skin of her belly. After making Niall’s suit, Paul Smith had offered to make Isla a dress as well, and Niall’d joined in on the meetings, flipping through pages of fabric samples and silhouette sketches with Isla, Ellie, and Paul. At the end of it all, though, Isla’d settled on a custom suit instead: tight, curve hugging trousers and a matching blazer, low cut enough to expose an intricate, lace bralette and more than a little bit of skin. He couldn’t keep his hands off her the first time he saw it, and he doesn’t feel any different now. He rests his chin on her shoulders and keeps his eyes locked on hers in the mirror.  ‘Everyone’s going to love you.’

Isla sighs shakily, her hands coming up to cover Niall’s, to entwine her fingers with his. ‘Sorry,’ she says. ‘I know it’s not about me tonight, I shouldn’t be—’

‘It’s always about you,’ he drops a kiss to her neck. ‘You feeling comfortable is more important to me than any awards show.’

‘Don’t be an eejit,’ says Isla quietly, but there’s a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Niall feels triumphant, heart soaring in his chest. 

-- 

He walks the carpet alone. They’d agreed that they’re not ready for any kind of public appearances just yet—that what they have is special, precious, and shouldn’t belong to anyone other than the two of them. Still, he lets his mind wander a little as he poses, thinks about what it would be like to smile for the cameras with Isla on his arm, his hand resting on her waist, the look in his eyes showing the entire world how lucky he is to call himself hers. For all Niall values keeping his private life private, he’s been feeling an itch lately, a pull to make sure every single stranger knows how much he loves Isla. 

It started with Colm’s comment and Isla’s confession, Niall knows that. But he doesn’t think that makes it any less genuine, his desire to start bringing her to more work events, to ease her into his world. It’s a mad, mad place, but he doesn’t want to be in it without Isla, and it makes his stomach churn to think she ever felt excluded. So, slowly but surely he’s been bringing her along where appropriate, introducing her to more and more of the people he works with. But tonight feels like a test of its own, her very first big event, coupled with her first ever trip to LA.

With Tara by his side, Niall stands for quick interviews along the carpet, dodging relationship questions and One Direction digging. He hugs and kisses friends for the camera, talks about his album and tour plans, and tries not to worry too much about Isla, inside the theater with Mully and Emilia. It feels weirder than he anticipated, being separated from her and having to do his job while he knows she’s watching him. She can’t sit with him either, won’t be able to hold his hand when they call out his category, kiss him when he loses—or wins. 

But this is better than nothing, he tells himself, shoving his hands in his pockets as he and Tara make the final stretch down the carpet. Having Isla here, even if she can’t be next to him, is as good as it gets for them right now. 

-- 

Winning hadn’t even occurred to Niall. 

When they call his name it’s genuine shock—enough that he almost thinks he’s imagining it for a second, until Shawn claps him on the back and Tara launches into a hug and holy shit, fuck, he’s actually won it, an AMA, all on his own. 

He stumbles up to the stage shaking with adrenaline, heart soaring, and it’s not until he gets to the mic that he realizes he hasn’t prepared a speech at all, hadn’t even let himself consider the possibility that he would actually, for real, win this thing. For a split second he’s staring out at an expectant room, filled with the faces of his friends, his colleagues, his idols, with nothing to say. 

And then he spots Isla. She’s next to Emilia, only a few rows back but all the way on the side, so it’s no wonder he hadn’t seen her before, and she’s got this glint in her eyes that Niall thinks might be tears, her hands covering her mouth, Emilia’s arm over her shoulders. It’s enough, just seeing her, to wake him the fuck up. 

The speech comes out easy, then: thank yous to his team at Capitol and at Modest, and a hearty thank you to the fans, for making this possible. It feels like his heart is screaming at him, though, as he clutches the bulky, heavy award with both hands and raises it into the air. 

All he wants to do is be able to thank Isla. 

-- 

Someone, Niall can’t remember who, suggests ditching the afterparty, and somehow they all end up at his house: Shawn Mendes, Nick Jonas, Selena, the lads from The Chainsmokers, Julia, everyone. It feels a bit like sneaking out on a school trip, like they’ve escaped the teachers and can spend the night doing what they want, instead of something boring and educational, and Niall feels like he’s at the center of it all, like the hero of the night, like the most important person in the room. 

That might have something to do with Isla, though, the way she’s taken off her blazer so she’s just in her trousers and her bralette, the way she’s talking to Julia and Emilia but keeps glancing back in Niall’s direction, smiling privately when she catches his eye. It’s warm in here with all the bodies and Niall’s slowly shedding his clothes, too: his jacket is off and so is his vest, and he’s already undone the first few buttons of his shirt. He keeps catching Isla trailing her eyes over his chest, his collarbone, his neck. The feeling of her eyes on him is like lightning in his lower belly. 

‘She’s stunning,’ Nick tells Niall, jerking his head in Isla’s direction. They’re in the kitchen, him, Nick, and Shawn, leaning up against the counter and sipping on gin and tonics. ‘Good for you.’

Niall feels a rising in his chest, pride, happiness. It outshines even the feeling of winning his award tonight. ‘She’s brilliant,’ Niall says. ‘I’m lucky.’

‘Where’d you meet? She’s Irish too, right?’ 

‘They’ve known each other since, like, kindergarten,’ Shawn answers for him. ‘Dated in school, broke up when he made it big, got back together after things settled down. The whole nine yards.’

‘Oh, hometown hero?’ Nick’s smirking. ‘That’s sweet, bro. You keeping her around for a while, then?’

‘Forever, hopefully,’ says Niall. He and Isla haven’t talked about that in explicit words, but he can’t imagine anything else. He watches Nick raise his eyebrows, tipping back another sip of his drink. 

‘Good for you,’ he repeats, once he’s swallowed. ‘She seems like a good one.’

--

As the night cools off, Isla does, too. Slowly but surely Niall notices her loosen up, expanding her circle from just Mia and Julia to include Selena, and then Nick and Shawn. By the time he and Mully come back up from the basement, where they’d gone to fetch more wine, Isla is in the middle of it all, sandwiched between Tara and Mia but chatting excitedly to Shawn and The Chainsmokers, laughing into her vodka soda. He feels a swell of pride again, a twinge of hope in his heart. She can fit in here. He’s known it all along. 

He and Mully join the group to cheers and shouts, hands reaching out for the full bottles of wine. Tara squeezes over, closer to Selena, and Niall’s able to fit in between her and Isla, his hand coming to rest on her knee. With a soft squeeze he meets her eyes, mirrors her smile. 

‘Okay?’ He mouths, just for her. 

She nods, hand coming up to rest on top of his. 

‘Isla was just telling me,’ says Nick, who pronounces the ‘s’ in Isla’s name. Mully snorts, but Nick doesn’t notice. ‘About school in Ireland. I never knew you played soccer, bro.’

‘Star of the team, he was,’ says Mully. He squeals when Emilia elbows him in the stomach. 

‘We should play,’ Nick carries on. ‘Five a side or something. Isla?’

‘Oh,’ she blushes, shaking her head. ‘I’m pretty shite at football, honestly. Sean, though—’

‘Fuck yeah,’ Mully interjects. ‘Five a side is my shit. I’ll get jerseys made up and—’

Nick looks a little put out and Niall can’t help it: he feels smug. He snakes his hand around Isla’s waist, resting his palm against the bare skin of her back, his fingers playing gently with the lace of her bralette. She casts him a sly look and he feels on top of the world, like a king beside her. And what a fucking feeling it is.

--

‘You know,’ he says, later that night, Isla resting against his bare chest in bed. His limbs are heavy with exhaustion, alcohol, post-orgasm bliss.  ‘I think Nick Jonas has a crush on you.’

‘If you told 2008 Isla that one day she’d have to choose between you and Nick fucking Jonas,’ she glances up at him, her eyes glinting with supressed laughter. She looks heavenly like this, Niall thinks: naked, hair cascading down her back, legs tangled up with his, bed sheets pooling around her waist. 

‘You’d totally choose me,’ Niall finishes for her, leaning down for a kiss. Isla laughs into his mouth, hand coming up to cup his cheek. When they pull away Isla presses her nose to Niall’s, holding him there for a moment. 

‘Thank you for tonight,’ she says eventually. ‘For including me, for being so patient with me.’

‘I always want you included,’ he tightens his arms around her waist. ‘I don’t want to do this without you.’ 

‘Me neither,’ Isla whispers, eyes locked on Niall’s.

‘Not even with Nick?’ He asks, smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Isla laughs too, crinkles at the corner of her eyes, nose scrunching up, giggles carrying through his quiet bedroom. Contentedness settles over Niall’s body like a warm blanket, like Isla on top of him. 

‘Not even with Nick Jonas,’ she kisses Niall gently, lips brushing his as she speaks. ‘No one but you, lover.’

####

taglist: @stylishmuser @thicksniall @stayclose-holdsteady @niallhoranruinsme @ajayque @flickerswinehouse @1dfangirls35 @crocodileniall @halfpinthoran @awomanindeniall @booksncoffee @edgeofmyniall @kare38 @emmathefantomes @coconutdawn @irish-nlessing @niallspeachybum @perksmikey 

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[shhhhyoursister]

you ever think about,,, david drawing on matteos back (i think matteo would either fidget the whole way through or fall asleep idk)

okay yeah.....yeah i do think about this (also forgive me i know nothing about art)

***

It was hot in the room when David finally got into bed, not yet ready to go to sleep, but wanting to at least be close to Matteo, who was lying on his stomach, his arm out in front of him as he scrolled on his phone. He wasn’t wearing a shirt because of the heat, and David couldn't say he minded. 

He had brought one of his sketchbooks, and a new set of pens he had gotten that day. He uncapped one, and tested it out in the corner of a fresh page. He smiled at the smooth black line, the ink dark and heavy against the white of the paper. Matteo sighed and shifted, distracting him, and he quickly looked to his side where Matteo was laying.

He had just changed positions, but the way he moved had given David a better view of his bare back. Long, pale white, smooth skin. David smiled when the thought he’s almost the same color as the paper ran through his head, but that was followed by and idea that had him putting down his book.

“Hey,” he said, smiling when Matteo looked up at him, and he reached out and poked him with the pen and said, “you should let me draw on you.”

Matteo looked down at the black dot that was left on his arm, and then looked back up at David and sighed, “But I’m tired.”

“You won’t have to do anything, wait,” David said, getting out from under the covers and moving until he was able to place a hand on Matteo’s back to hold him down so he could carefully straddle Matteo’s upper thighs.

“This is a new position,” Matteo said, and David rolled his eyes.

“Hey, none of that, this is for art purposes, not sex.” David said, pinching his side. 

“So I’m not allowed to find this hot?” Matteo asked, tilting his head back so he could smirk, arching his back a bit under David’s hand. David shoved Matteo’s face away as he giggled at his own teasing.

“The first thing I’m going to do is write ‘annoying brat’ right here,” David said, moving the pen to Matteo’s shoulder blade and quickly wrote the words, grinning at Matteo’s protests. 

Matteo started pushing himself up and David sat back on his heels, still grinning, and Matteo turned around to glare and said, “If we’re doing this cheesy shit you at least need to make it nice.”

“Fine,” David said, and shoved Matteo back down and quickly drew a messy heart around the words, “is that better?”

Matteo sighed, but got himself comfortable with his head resting in his arms, and muttered, “If I feel you drawing a dick I’m throwing you off.”

“Don’t worry baby, it’ll be a masterpiece, just like you.” He said, half kidding and half sincere, and he smiled at Matteo’s sarcastic laugh as he tried to pick where to start, and what to draw. 

His options were somewhat limited considering he only had a black pen but he got an idea after glancing around the room and seeing an older sketch of his that Matteo had taken and hung up on his wall. He smiled, and started drawing on Matteo’s shoulder blade, opposite the one he had written on. At the first touch of the pen Matteo shivered, and David bit his lip as he tried to concentrate.

His idea started with a sunflower that had petals extending up and over Matteo’s shoulder, the center dark, and Matteo shivered again as he drew the first long line of the stem all the way down his back. He completed it, adding a couple of leaves here and there, and then started drawing another, smaller flower next to it.

It was quiet in the room as David ran the pen over Matteo’s skin, drawing different flowers of different shapes and sizes, the only sounds being that of their breathing. David got a little lost in it, the way the pen glided over his skin, making sure every stroke and mark was right. He had been mostly joking earlier, but he didn’t want to mess up when he was being offered such an opportunity.

He finished by turning the mean words he had written into a kind of abstract sun, and it didn’t fit completely with everything else but it was better for the picture he was going to ask to take.

“Okay, I think I’m done,” he said, sitting up and stretching his slightly sore back, “is it okay if I take a picture? I’ll show it to you so you can see,” he continued, and when Matteo didn’t respond, he put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Matteo?”

Matteo didn’t respond, and David leaned down so he could see his face. His eyes were shit, hair flopped over his forehead, his lips parted as he breathed in and out much slower than any conscious person would. 

David grinned, and squeezed his hand, and shook a bit until Matteo’s face scrunched up. He brought a hand up to rub at his eyes, and then he blinked them open, and asked, “Oh shit, did I fall asleep? Are you done?”

“Yes and yes,” David said, bending down so he could kiss Matteo’s cheek, “do you want to see?”

Matteo nodded, and David grabbed his phone. He favorited the picture once he checked it, knowing ti was one he’d want to go back and look at. Maybe even post it on Instagram if Matteo was okay with it. He admired it for a second before handing his phone to Matteo,

Matteo looked at the picture, his cheeks getting pinker as his eyes darted around David’s screen, and David smiled when he saw him bite his lip. He handed the phone back, and somehow managed to flip over onto his back.

“You’re so fucking talented,” he said, and David felt himself blush as he dropped his gaze, focusing on his hands that he had placed on Matteo’s stomach.

“Well,” he said, looking up and matching the small smile on Matteo’s face with one of his own, “it helps to have such a beautiful canvas.”

[stry-someone-to-remember-you]

Plan(ed) to Have Something Ready, By The Ball Drop &/or Tomorrow!!! If Everything Works out...

Hey Everyone, 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Wow, this is the second message without any art added or anything... LOL... Seems odd really to do this without having something up by now... By the way, yes the current avatar pic is related to the comic as you’ll come see soon. It’s and early sketch so some kinks aren’t worked out in the current image. But it was the one I was ready to have when I made this blog so there was at least something...

So as you probably can see by this title, I do plan on having something posted... I just don’t know to what extent. Due to some family drama, and continually piling on work I wasn’t able to get my Christmas Pic out to you guys, which was just a static scene with a few of the characters to get us started here. But... well family got in the way, continually decorating till Christmas day... a lot of things going on, bickering (though we all love each other) it’s just... you know life. I fully expected this as well, which is why I promised something before New Years, but didn’t specify as to what.

I postponed that idea to be released today or tomorrow, after seeing how I was completely unable to get to the work by Christmas Eve. But, by the looks of the progress I made on it and my families continually need of me till we get some things done in this house (that always has something to be done in it... LOL, at least things are coming fairly together).  So lets just say, I may not have anything out by tomorrow. But with hopes I want to have something out. So We’ll see. I could release early the character sketches. But I want to keep this blog clean as possible, so I feel releasing the character profiles, cards and blogs together prior to the Prologue, would fit better and keep this page having a cleaner look to it at the start.

 Maybe even by midnight tomorrow PST I could have something... But that again depends. I need to clean stuff for the internet/cable guy and I’m seriously allergic to dust... So the next few days I may be in an almost sickly comatose state regardless of the precautions I take. If dust gets kicked into the air at all and isn’t properly vacuumed up, than I’m often sick for days... I feel like all I’ve been doing the whole month is cleaning or working story wise on this comic... Mostly cleaning if you ask me, but at least after Saturday things should be more relaxed and I can have a better work schedule planned out. So yeah, that’s my life...

But DIDNT’ WAN TO LEAVE YOU HANGING with this Negative Nancy Talk ;D ;P ;D lol....

I want to tell you what I have so far:

I have the Christmas Image at least with the basic building blocks to complete it. Like I’ve drawn where I want things, but not detailed anything... So that’s why it may be a day or so... Technically its a Happy Holidays and New Years piece, but with the Christmas Tree in it I have the habit of calling it such...

I may have plans to detail it a bit more then I plan on having the comic, but that also depends on things. I may just leave it in the same style and not fully decked out to make it easier to finish...

~Several Characters for the beginning have their final forms created. These are major characters that will be scene in the prologue. I’m just having to figure out out little things with background characters in some instances.

~The prologue is almost completely written out. I had a change of heart a week ago on some things and had to change it around, which is why the written format for the prologue isn’t complete as it initially was. I just felt some things didn’t fit, so I added and took away some things so it flows better and also works both fanfiction wise for the story, but easily mixes for the Ask AU... I also have at least the beginning portion of the Intro script written, the parts unaffected by the changes. However, parts of the intro will be written out, depending on the questions you ask the characters in this prologue so these portions I’m leaving open on purpose. It’s the plot driven portions I’m mentioning that I’ve changed slightly. ;) I have fun plans for the prologue. Remember this story has a clear direction I’m taking it with plot. But the Ask portion will be a part of it, I have such a fun way of Ask’s being tied into the plot driven story, and it will change depending on the context, person and setting which makes this really fun to plan out. 

                   -With that said, here’s an early heads up, that for Ask Questions, I will allow any sort of asks, but if it has potential to spoil a part of the story, then I won’t answer it. Alongside this, I’ll allow Anon magic to a small degree. I won’t include Asks that like spoil something for a character, or tell the character where someone is, give away what someone else is doing to another character, etc... Unless it may fit the context, but generally I won’t use these types of asks. I will allow Anons to appear occasionally rather then just be unseen voices, as I have fun ways of incorporating Anons into the story that also works with different points in the plot. I will accept things like... say a dog or cat to appear for ex. amount of asks. I already know who they’ll be and have been planning out their designs, but I may draw the line at other animals (e.g. horses, fish, racoons, squirrels, lizards, etc.) Although, I do really love rabbits, I chose to make it concise to just two animals that if asked could appear. It’s not because I can’t draw them but I don’t want things getting out of hand. Types of anon magic I’m not going to use if put in the Ask portion, are things like giving people certain powers or items that may completely effect the tone or plot of the story, accept maybe if I did a non-canon AU to this au for fun one day. I will go more in depth in the general rules later. In no way is this to discourage anyone from asking such things. I may set reminders at times if I get to much of something. But, in general I’ll do what I can to make this a fun Ask blog all the same.

~The Larger Summary, I promised like a trailer would be in the comic form I have rendered the Script for, and have two slides so far drawn out, just not completed. (for the time I didn’t have around the Holidays compared to normally I actually surprised myself with this)

~The story itself is really coming together, I already have a starting and stopping point (which I had prior to this blog) as it will have several Acts and Arcs, some which have greatly changed and take on new depth since the point I started this blog. The themes and story in general are drawn out pretty well.  I don’t have all the chapters I’d want fully written. As I have my plan, but I also want to get the prologue in first, just to see if there’s anything I should change with my concept. It’s just a precaution, something I’ve learned well when taking on something new. So I don’t have things that are written in stone and hard to change if the form I’m hoping to take doesn’t work out and needs to be retooled or something. But these are minor and shouldn’t change the overall scope and plot I’m taking this story on either.

~I’ve created several of the character bios, many in fact are already written in true Henry Stickmin fashion. But as I took inspiration to make this into a AU as well, I will possibly make both the bio cards and show a static shot of the characters alongside it or something... It’s an idea, but I want this to also be the easier comic. But, considering that I’ll always have a static shot I use as reference for any character I make, this is what makes this more realistic to occur as well. ~I’ve nearly drawn out all the characters for the intro portion. And already know how I’ll handle Anon’s in the story. In the Prologue itself, I’ll actually have you Anon’s being referenced as audience members in a conference of sorts. Think of it like those conferences when a new Apple or Microsoft product is first advertised as something new to the news conference, those big rotunda’s where someone's being interviewed and presenting the hot new item. Think of the opening to the prologue being something like this scenario. So the questions directed at the character in there, who... *cough* I will introduce later after I fully render both their character profile and have their character bio(s) fully done. Which considering how fun and easy it’s been to do this so far shouldn’t be to long now... Although to keep from getting questions to soon on them, I may hold off on posting the Characters and Bio’s till I have that Intro/Trailer completed... I’m still considering which to do first actually. But top on my list out of all of these is having my cover art for the top completed. That’s something I admit though I have the layout I have hardly started on and should focus on first.

~I’m also taking close looks at how to properly make the rules for this group. When I posts either the Character Bios, Holiday Pic, OR the Trailer Comic... Maye even just the cover art... Then I will try to have out an official Rules list. The one I have on the group posts is just general stuff... But I’m reconsidering some rules I already wrote... Basically keep things family friendly, be kind an courteous, nothing vulgar or disturbing. 

I may change this from a PG-13 comic to maybe PG-15. I’ve realized recently, there are some points that some characters do swear... sometimes more then once. I’m not someone who talks with vulgarity myself, but I sure can write characters with it.... Let’s just say I’m going to see if in those scenes I might just bleep out words and see if the dialogue still comes through. But, I dunno... LUCKILY, we don’t have to worry about many of those scenes till way further into this comic. So lucky for either of us, this isn’t a major concern at the moment. And on the plus side it’s not the crudest words I could have chosen so... it may still work as a PG-13 work... I’ll make this decision soon as possible. 

Another reason for the sudden change, came as I realized as the story goes, and even in early chapters there will be scenes where blood is shown and physical mortal danger and peril is experienced by the characters. I do have heavy theming sometimes, later on it may seem constantly about. As this story is heavily Drama/Mystery and some suspense based. As the story progresses it will become less Drama/Mystery and more based around the drama/suspense itself. This will obviously be some more intense scenes that showing less blood would allow me to make PG-13, however I also don’t want to undercut the certain tones using representations of a mortal wound would bring. I also want to look at things like these future scenes realistically. Which is why I’m mostly considering changing this story to a PG-15 or at least more certain I am. I just don’t want people shocked that I’m doing this. I don’t feel this story will be R, there was a time where I heavily considered it. But for once I decided no, I didn’t want that. I just didn’t want to open the door for scenes I didn’t intend to have in this story. There will be heavy themes that my have TW for some people. But I didn’t want some TW’s  that having a R rated story could potentially have. I mean certain themes people are free to write fanfictions for, and depending on the content can make art for. But again this will be family friendly group... As You can see I’m considering more then a little here when it comes to the official rules. These details will be followed up on the official rules post.

~~~~~~

Now I apologize for the length.

The structure of this and the previous Authors Notes will probably fall under their own category for length. I’ll work to make sure posts in the future won’t be so long and hard to read. It is early morning for me when I woke to write this, and I found once much of the day passed that I still wanted to include the stuff I did into this update.

I have more to tell you, but I think this post has spurned the energy in me out. Anything that I missed in this post, I’ll try to remember to update in the next post (hopefully after I get some art on here). What I can’t do at the moment is promise dates right now till I’m more certain of schedule to work on this or can promise that my general allergies won’t cause me to delay this at all. But I can confirm that I should have several things coming out this next month, including the comic Prologue I hope. Depending on the traction the comic and fanfic gets, I may try to work on it quickly, or take my time with it. I may do a mix of both as my perfectionist self won’t let me just shoot something out without giving it my all first. I’m shushing that side slightly so this comic will be easier on me then the more detailed one I have planned. All the same, I’m planning to work on this one more at the moment till I can get an idea of my work flow. Sometimes the easiest route of work is better for planning, rather then diving head first into the deep end right away. You don’t learn to swim by jumping head first into the ocean. Piece of advice that it took years for me to learn myself ;). Anyways, I figured since I did promise something hopefully by today or tomorrow, I’d give you a formal update... Also... Well I can’t promise that updates won’t be like this in the future. I’ll try to keep them concise. But as people who know me, well have learned when it comes to personally talking I tend to write or talk out epistle. So... When I give updates, I may have lengthy ones... I’ll try my best to keep this side of me out of updates, if I can help it. Anyways Happy New Years Everyone!!! I hope everyone's Christmas and Holidays were extra special, despite the state of the world!!! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY!!! Sincerely, <3 (Mod) Sweet Heart Blaze

[turning-dreams-into-chaos]

Figures

Figures

*Not my Gif*

Request: Fred Weasley x reader imagine? Could you make it a soulmate au? If not could the reader and Fred go on a first data and it’s fluffy? ThAnk you :)

Requested by: @hahaboop

Request: Can I get some Fred x fem!ravenclaw!reader fluff? I'm not feeling super picky, but I didn't want to give a wonderful writer like you nothing to work with. ^-^

Requested by: @seppys-return-to-madness

Post Date: 9-17-19

Paring: Fred Weasley x Reader

Word Count: 2K

A/N: Not sure if it’s edited well but I just wanted to get it posted! More Harry Potter posts on their way!

~Master Lists~

People say soulmates are star-crossed lovers destined to be. And sure, maybe sometimes they are. And maybe sometimes they leave you with a weird figure sketched into your body with no explanation. Soulmate tattoos weren’t something people talked about out loud. It was a sacred thing only you knew. You found the whole thing dumb and felt like it gave you no true decision in who you loved. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to believe in soulmates, it was just in a world of wizards and muggles, it gets kind of hard to believe in something so universal. You always wondered what would happen when you realized who your soulmate was, was he someone you knew? Or hated? Or maybe someone who was already close to you.

Your tattoo was on the side of your hip in a big bolded area you hid. You didn’t even know what it had looked like, there were just too many lines running past each other and you couldn’t figure it out. Apparently, your someone was supposed to draw the figure and boom, soulmate. But who knows, at this point you’d be really surprised to see someone naturally draw this disaster of a figure.

“I need your help.” Someone whispered as they sat down on the bench next to you knocking your book out of your lap. They caught it before it hit the floor and opened it pretending like they were reading it with you. You were shocked to say the least looking at the red head taking the seat next to you before McGonagall came around the corner, holding a first year who had a head triple the size of normal. You instantly realized what had happened as she neared you both. He needed an excuse.

“You buy me whatever I want at Zonko’s and I’ll play along.” You bargained as the boy raised his brow and gave you a once over. “Time’s ticking.” You smirked as he nodded, letting you scoot a little closer and point to a word on the page. “Weasley! For the last hour, the answer’s right there! What’s the point of tutoring you if- oh Professor! What happened?” You never knew how good your acting skills were until you gawked at Professor McGonagall and she looked between you and the dork next to you.

“Ms. Y/L/N, pardon my interruption, you and Mr. Weasley had been working all this time?” She asked incredulously as Weasley put his hand on your knee, taking the attention onto himself.

“Of course, Professor! Need to study for the test you’re giving us, Y/L/N here is probably my only hope.” You tried to hide the shock in your face and put on a smile. “If you’re looking for my brother, he ran off that way.” He pointed towards the end of the corridor opposite from where they both entered as you nodded your head. McGonagall had glanced between you both before pursing her lips, dragging the poor first year along with her. You flicked the hand off your knee and turned to the boy.

“Reckon that was all you?” You asked rhetorically ignoring the stifled laughter trying to escape him. “Well, which twin are you?”

He stuck his hand out and you met it, letting your fingers accidentally linger a little longer than you needed. “Fred Weasley. At your service.”

“Pleasure. ‘M Y/N Y/L/N.” He tossed your book into your bag and threw it over his shoulder, grabbing your arm to pull you along.

“Well Y/L/N, I think this is the start of a great friendship.” He declared as you rolled your eyes, trying to drown the smile on your face. Fred wasn’t wrong, the next 2 years brought you two closer together and he became your best friend, George found you interesting as well, agreeing that they could use some of your Ravenclaw book smarts to help with their pranks. Sometimes you had to remind them you weren’t just smart, Fred seemed to understand that better than George. He was always the one you’d laugh around with and make up new pranks. Turns out you had quite the knack for it. Almost all of your free time was spent with your new best friends and you couldn’t have been happier.

You were about to enter your sixth year at Hogwarts before Fred invited you to the burrow for the first time, trying to answer Molly as to why he hadn’t brought you around sooner. They were going to the Quidditch World Cup and were bringing along Harry, Hermione and you. As soon as you reached the burrow, Fred was there to bring you into a hug.

“Aww, careful Weasley, I might think you actually missed me.” You joked as he faked scoffed, letting his brother hug you before throwing his arm over your shoulders.

“Mum said you and Hermione could bunk with Ginny for the next few days before we’re off.” He said and took the bag off you, making a soft smile across your face. You completely loved the burrow when you first entered, it was small, sure, but it was homely. Fred watched as you took in all the little items in the house. He couldn’t help but laugh anytime you stare at something in wonder. His hand started moving in a weird pattern as he sighed, looking towards his family. He knew you would be fine if he left for a few minutes. He moved up to his room with out anyone seeing and grabbed his paper and quill.

After your long look around the house you thanked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for having you, earning a ‘it’s nothing dear’ in return. You saw George right away, watching as he bickered with Ron before you turned to Ginny.

“Hey, Ginny did you see where Fred-“ you didn’t even need to finish your sentence before she was telling you his location. You trudged up to his room, trying not to sound tired by the thousands steps you had to climb. “Fred! Why’d you disappear on me like that?”

Fred looked surprised to see you when his door was thrown open, and he began scurrying around to rid the several hundred drawings around the room before you saw them. He ripped them from the walls, grabbing them off his bed and desk faster than you thought possible. His only problem was you had already seen them, but the drawing you’d seen 17 years before that, on your hip. You bent down to grab one of the papers he dropped as your head raced. Fred stuffed them all in his desk and sighed in relief, resting his hands on the desk before facing you. His eyes widened as he snatched the paper out of your hands, leaving you staring at nothing. He didn’t really know why he wouldn’t let you see them; they were just weird drawings he’d have no control over doing the past two years. It just felt like something he was supposed to keep to himself, or his brother since he had seen them thousands of times.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to see these.” He mumbled and stuck the picture into his pocket. You finally looked up at him trying to figure out what was happening. He drew the figure you’ve dreaded your entire life. You hadn’t said anything and Fred just looked at you with drawn brows when you took a step closer, reaching into his pocket and pulling it back out.

“What are these Fred?” Of course, you already knew, you only asked him to see what his excuse for this was. Fred just shrugged, letting you move past him and open the drawer crammed with paper. They almost flew out with how tight they were, making you jump back. A splash of color caught your attention, them more and more until you finally nabbed the piece with Red and Black lines.

17 years, you had been staring at the mark for 17 years and not once did you ever see the giant F and W colliding with the Y/F/I and Y/L/I. you almost felt stupid, running your fingers across the now obvious red lines marking the FW.

Fred Weasley. The FW meant Fred Weasley and the other initials were for you. He was your soulmate.

“Y/N!” Fred exclaimed when you began to pull your pants down just pass your hip. His worriedness was put to rest when he saw the black ink staining your skin. He reached out to run his fingers across the figure and a sense of warmth over came you. He locked eyes with you again before coming closer and closing the distance more. “Is that…? Are we-“

“Soulmates?” You both asked at the same time, falling into a bit of laughter together before Fred realized his hand was still on your hip and he smirked.

“I’m really glad you’re my soulmate, now everything’s starting to make sense a little.” He admitted and it was your turn to scrunch your brows. He let you cover your hip back up before pulling you to the bed. “It started that day we met. After you left, I couldn’t help but tell George about you. You were amazing, just jumping in and saving my arse. That was the first time my hand started going crazy. I thought nothing of it, thinking it was just my hand but then the next day when you smiled at me, it started doing it again. I went to Madam Pomfrey, but she just smiled and told me next time it happened to pick up a quill and ‘let it happen’. So, I did. Then I started to draw these, these things.”

“They’re our initials.” You informed him as his jaw dropped, looking at the colored pictures and chuckling.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that. You know what else I didn’t see until I told you the story? Every time I thought of you, I’d draw the figures. How have we gone 2 years as Best Friends and not realize we were so close to our soulmate?” He asked as you nodded, realizing that for the first time ever you truly didn’t know what to say. It all made sense. Fred and you clicked without even needing to try. He rushed into your life and you had no complaints about it.

“I think part of me already knew.” He grabbed your hand and you both laid back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “So, what now? I mean, what are we?” You felt awkward asking but you really needed to know, everything you believed, everything you wanted to believe about soulmates flew out the window when the man you were supposed to spend your life with turned out to be the man you would’ve choose.

“Now, my dear Y/N, we become enemies. We spent the rest of our lives trying to find a way to prank the other until one of us gives up and-“

“Oh, just shut up and kiss me.” You moaned as he listened, kissing you before he could make another joke or before you could regret him. If the figures alone wasn’t enough to convince you that you and Fred were soulmates, the kiss definitely would’ve done the trick. It felt completely natural, like you were supposed to be doing this your whole life. And even though you really were supposed to be with him, you were glad you got together now. You couldn’t imagine having figured out he was him when you first met. Maybe you wouldn’t have became friends. Perhaps the whole idea would’ve scared you both off and you’d live the rest of your life regretting not helping the red head running through the corridor. But you were meant to help him, you were meant to be together. He was your soulmate.

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[otterloreart]

good news everyone! I’m making serious progress on... a comic! yay! sorta!

Since I’ve been posting more about my process and art here is a little process post!

Panel 1: final background + frog princess (speech bubble: Giddafuck out my swamp)

Panel 2: marker drawing with color correction

Panel 3: Marker with lineart added

Panel 4: White fog has been added for fog effect

Panel 5: more shadows on the stones, plants, building, reflection in the water, and light has been added, but before more color correction was done

Panel 6: a “bright” alternative color version (eg less moody lighting)

So... if everyone doesn’t know, I really struggle with making comics in particular and more detailed pieces of art as well. I simply find it very difficult to come back to a project I have “started” in some way, I basically give up or have to really push myself and that takes a long time and is not very fun for me, so I tend to drop comic projects fairly quickly. There’s also the fact I find digital painting, particularly for backgrounds, really difficult and not fun.

That’s one of the reasons my first comic project, Hand of Crystalline, looked like this:

It’s backgrounds were a (kind of sloppy) mix of gouache and watercolor! I really love those mediums but they can be a pain in  the ass in terms of drying times which does not make for a smooth drawing process. Like I said, my ability to concentrate on a whole project at a time is kind of nonexistent! So! Waiting for watercolor to dry made this much more difficult to do all at once.

From what I see on the internet, most comic artists go like this: Script -> thumbnails -> layout/ full sketches -> lineart -> color -> text/bubbles and, besides doing the backgrounds separately, thats what I /tried/ with Crystalline. Which is probably why both times I tried to start it, it took so long to complete each page. When starting a project I can basically do Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 as long as they’re all at the same time, but if I start Step 1, I have a lot of trouble motivating myself to go back to Step 2, essentially.

So! To solve my two main problems (backgrounds and Motivation) I’m doing things a little differently this time around. I have already done thumbnailing, script, and laid out panels, and I’m going to try and just fill them in step by step so I don’t struggle so much motivating myself. That way, one panel can be complete and I can move on to the next one, etc, and even if im not totally satisfied with it I don’t have to look at it 300 times while coloring!

And I’m drawing in marker!

I’m not like super good in marker! (And I’m still shit at perspective lol) heres my first draft of that drawing which i way overdid

which i managed to make like... half better digitally but still ended up redrawing

but I’ll be learning, trying to improve. If you’re wondering why i dont just *try to improve* at digital painting I just... don’t find it that fun, its a completely different way of drawing and I simply don’t like it very much! Maybe someday I can but right now i dont have a super amount of time to practice drawing 24/7 *before* starting a comic and I’ll be way happier with the comic if I’m trying in a medium I actually enjoy.

Finally, the actual post above: is not quite the finished picture but a preview of a background from the first section of the comic. more to come soon!